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That ending was... wow. Just wow. Right in the feels.

Absolutely spectacular AU, Zing—I might just have to play in this world sometime.

Specifically, one for Doktor Trollenfisch und Gabrielle.

More on this as it develops.

One thing to know about me is that I'm extremely susceptible to AUs. I've always loved them, and it's very, very easy to get me to start developing them.

Over the past couple years or so, I've been coming up with increasingly more AU versions of Jacques. He's strangely easy to make AUs for--maybe because he himself is something of an AU.

Put them together and what have you got? Well, you've already seen the subject line, so you know: Young Wizards-verse AU. Last night, Delta Juliette asked if there was already a YW Jacques; I said there wasn't, since I read the series long enough so it never occurred to me. Discussion ensued, and then six-ish pages of writing happened.

And so I bring it to you now: the (unbetaed) tale of two wizards named Jacques and Dawn facing off against the Lone Power. Warning for violence and some description/discussion of it--T or so, maybe a little higher. Comments and concrit welcome, particularly on YW elements and characterization.

(Also, Jacques' manual is his wrist strap. It just makes sense. Dawn's is quite likely a book or her laptop, though I'm not sure.)

~Z

We’d have to read more writing by hS? Oh, the horror, the horror! :P

I’d volunteer my services for this hypothetical manual, but I think other people would be better suited to write for my usual departments.

I went to see it rather by accident today (a group of friends went to see Avengers: Endgame, but the showing was sold out by the time we showed up, so we went to Aladdin instead). My expectations weren’t particularly high, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.

Schenectady is a good bit of younger Tom/Carl, featuring a rather interesting elaboration for the noodle incident that got brought up in So You Want to be a Wizard.

It's got a good balance of heavy and heartwarming running around, and I can't think of much more to say that won't spoil it.

- Tomash

("I think so, Brain, but where would we find that many mangoes?")

One of the recurring occasional questions is 'what makes this department different?'. A book where an agent from each department describes what it's like to work in that department would neatly answer that, while also being fun to read.

To delve into theorycrafting for a minute, I'd think it would go best if someone(s) with recent experience with a department wrote for it, to ensure that the way it was presented was up to date. I believe Scape has written for WhatThe more recently than me, for instance, so I would yield to her. (Departments with no active writers are beyond the scope of this musing.)

That would still land me with a lot of minor departments for which I'm the only writer on record, but them is, as they say, the breaks.

hS

I feel like this depends a lot on the kids themselves, their interests and reading levels, ect. I’ve always been a bit wary of assigning age ranges to children’s literature just because children the same age can have a broad range of experiences and comfort levels, both with reading/vocabulary and with various kinds of subject matter.

There is a story, though, about my sister reading “Alanna: The First Adventure” for the first time. She was six, and there’s a scene in there where the protagonist gets her period for the first time. My sister, confused, asked our mother what was going on, and our mother was rather taken aback. She did her best to explain and resolved to pay a little closer attention to the books we were reading in future.

(I, on the other hand, remember reading right past that scene as a kid. “Women in this book-world bleed once every moon? Definitly just another odd fantasy thing...”)

I mean, update it and finish it, so basically make a third edition. But no. That is not the most productive use of my time. I reckon the wiki can be considered the third edition, for all intents and purposes.

What we could use is a modern Handbook, though, by the agents for the agents...

~Neshomeh

Thank you for the reccomendations; both of these were lovely!

*ahem*
I read the original Redwall in first grade then devoured most of the series over the next several years, finishing it off sometime in middle school when I finally grabbed the last of the books. So elementary school seems to be a good age bracket provided the reader isn't put off by book length or density. Or violence.

HH gets more graphic IIRC.
Still, it's a good intro to the setting.
Honestly, I'd suggest an omnibus of short stories like my first lorebook was. Generly gives a broad overview. And the newer ones don't assume prior knowledge, to my understanding.
Crusade and Other Stories seems to be marketed to new players, who are often kids wirg starter sets and not much else. So that could work.

There's a lot of children's media based on much darker originals. Have you read the traditional versions of the various fairy tales adapted by Disney? I know the Little Mermaid dissolves into sea-foam, for instance.

Oh, or one of my favourite examples: remember the Spielberg A.I. film, a couple of decades back? They said at the time that they'd deliberately given it a happier ending, which - given that it ends with literally everyone in the film dying - always seemed a bit of a bizarre claim.

Then I read the original story, which ends with the robot child protagonist being sent back to the factory to be disposed of. You know - for kids!

For that matter, I think Greek mythology can lay convincing claim to the 'most non-PG13 setting ever' title, and look at Percy Jackson...

hS

I was given a copy of... what's the second Gaunt book? Ghostmaker, by someone who was definitely a friend from Primary School (ie, up to age 11), but I think it may have happened after starting Secondary School. Probably 12-13.

Of course, Gaunt's Ghosts are surprisingly non-gritty for 40K. I'm continually surprised by the lack of smut-and-swearing issues (cursing in Tanith-Verghast dialect don't count), though of course they're stuffed with violence.

(Currently waiting for 'The Victory Part 2' to come out so I can read the final(?) two books and finish the collection. No spoilers please!)

hS

That's kinda not really what the subject was about. No need to go off on one bashing 40kA just now.


Although I will say that 13-16 is roughly the correct range of introduction for 40k. Start them off on Cain, or Horus Heresy. Or Gaunt...

Did like Will Smith's performance as both the Mariner and The Genie.

Our lilac has already been and gone; we have this problem every year. I did wear my Pratchett ribbon pin, though, which has nice enamel lilac which doesn't die. :)

And thanks! I worked from a photo of a certain six-year-old (who was told 'this is your magic staff, now keep me away from the fluffy ball'), and I think it does show in her pose. The monoliths were not present at the time. (So, do they come across as non-Euclidean, or just fisheyed?)

hS

I've been amused by the swing-and-a-miss marketing at the local supermarket: they've been putting out clothes with the animated characters on. 'Hey, kids, there's a new Aladdin out, so here's a reminder of how good the old one is! It's also much cheaper!'

hS

The most complex question I've been asked so far is 'what's a Hobbit?'. ;) I don't think they've invented a Pocket Me yet, though you can always bounce me an email and see if I can come up with a quick answer.

Doctor Who works wonders at 8 - we got through Series One, and then Series 11 as it came out. It didn't manage to hold the six-year-old, but that's a child who tends to be dubious about anything scary (down to and including 'mild peril' in unfamiliar films). We'll try again in a year or so.

hS

I remember that. ^_^ At one point I had printed-out 'book' versions of the completed volumes. :D

It's amazing how proto-Wiki parts of it really are - Chapter 3, for instance, is just an early version of several Wiki lists.

Thank you for saving it!

hS

Anything really goes when Games Workshop is writing children's novels set in one of the most violent, depressing, gory, grimdark, non-PG-13 settings ever:

https://warhammeradventures.com

I mean, seriously?

Children?

Warhammer 40,000?

Who the hell thought that was a 'good idea'?

But I celebrate nonetheless.

Because I fixed it.

As much as it could be fixed, anyway. It was never finished, it's super old and out of date, and some of the content makes me cringe a little bit now, and it's not really much good as a reference in-universe or out... but heck, hS and I and a bunch of other people put a lot of work into it back in 2006-2008 or so, and even though the wiki is bigger and better, that doesn't mean the Manual should die an ignominious death because Webs is all stupid.

~Neshomeh