R. T. Jenkins
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rtjenkinsauthor.bsky.social
R. T. Jenkins
@rtjenkinsauthor.bsky.social
He/him. Writer of (mostly grimdark) fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Clinical psych Ph.D. by day. I don't respond to most DMs (nothing personal). Cheerful nihilism (though less of that first part lately). There will also be pets.
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It’s September and I finished a draft of Rise of Villainy book 2, so, here is an update all of my #WIPs to reflect where things stand for things I #amwriting and #amrevising! (This is a slight improvement in my updating timeline) #WritingCommunity 🧵(1/?)
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#Febchantment Day 7

Spencer disassembles a necromantic construct.

#writingcommunity #writesky #Wrencer
February 7, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#Febchantment 7

Mireia uses a crystal to break out of a room.

The spell she does here (Deconstruction) isn't all that impressive itself...

What's impressive is that this is her 1st time using a crystal, with no training, & she does it intuitively without the "correct" incantation 👀
#Atlantis
February 7, 2026 at 12:45 PM
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#FebruaryWorldbuilders 7

Many in Atalantis! One of my faves is Lake Taaloue near the west coast.

It's the largest lake on the island, encircled by mountains, & its name means "Starry Lake." People love to take flights out over the water, & it's sacred for followers of the Goddess of Fate, Ilu'ue.
February 7, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#Febchantment Day 7

Fox lays claim to her flames for the first time, much to the annoyance of the demon that was previously defeating her easily.
February 7, 2026 at 6:38 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#Febchantment 7: Towards the climax of Silver in the Ashes, and the start of the deeply experimental and deeply dangerous ritual the crew's been working on for most of the book - which, so far, is going far better than they'd been worried it would.

( saranadosfiction.com/2025/01/03/s... )
February 7, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#Febchantment
Uuhuhughguhgugh I have nearly 200 Shadows & Sorcery editions to comb through for that, but this passage from Issue 144's Wind of Dark comes to mind. Here we have the red wizard Carloman doing this thing and banishing a Dark-tainted wind bearing illness...
February 7, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#Febchantment
So, Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn doesn't have much magic in it at all. And every 'impressive' use of magic in my other books is a huge spoiler.

So screw it, I'm just gonna share part of a demon summoning in WttGRI. Gotta be impressive to summon a Demon Lord, right?

spoilers redacted
February 7, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#Febchantment 7. Here's a sneak peek at one of my favourite scenes in Eternal Flame: when Ashrah weaves her second skin.

It's not a "spectacle," but I do find it impressive nonetheless. I wish *I* had the magic to craft whatever appearance I wanted for myself.

#ChroniclesOfTheRealms #SayaAshrah
February 7, 2026 at 12:00 PM
#FebruaryWorldbuilders
7: Karnassia (co-created with @jmaxwell-author.bsky.social) is surrounded by oceans that have numerous cities settlements on their coasts, while the continent has three major lakes: Lake Whisper, Mistwood Lake, and Alaesi Lake. Lake Whisper, in particular, is surrounded by…
Good morning, friends and #FebruaryWorldbuilders! Do you have any notable bodies of water in your book/world? Tell me about them. What's in it? What significance does it hold for the people living near it?
February 7, 2026 at 12:07 PM
#Febchantment
7: So I have drafted next to nothing from the bub trilogy yet, but I have a vision of the first time Snori enters a city of the Great Northern Empire and sees how magic is woven into aspects of daily life like weaving fabric, food and drink, payment for goods, etc.
#Febchantment Day 7

It's Snippet Saturday!

Share a snippet from your story which features a particularly impressive or awe-inspiring use of magic!

If you don't have any scenes written yet, feel free to share ideas for a future scene featuring impressive magic!

#writingcommunity #writesky
February 7, 2026 at 12:04 PM
#Febchantment
6: This is probably going to be incoherent and make it clear how much of a hodgepodge the entire bub trilogy idea of a story is, but here were the threads I was thinking of as I conceived the magic system and the story: the false distinction between cleric and warlock (and potentially…
#Febchantment Day 6

Tell us about why you developed this magic system! What drew you to the concepts? Why did you choose to make it the way you did? Were you inspired or influenced by any other works?

#writingcommunity #writesky
February 6, 2026 at 11:54 AM
#FebruaryWorldbuilders
6: In Karnassia (co-created with @jmaxwell-author.bsky.social), in the rainforests of the Atmoriel archipelago, the honeyed noniel is a fruit true that grows to about the size of a breadfruit which various tale attributing as the source of both the long life and intellect of…
#FebruaryWorldbuilders What are some flora or fungi found in a notable forest of your world? Are they real or did you make them up?
February 6, 2026 at 11:42 AM
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#FebruaryWorldbuilders 5

The Southern region of Atalantis is divided into two subregions, the peninsula & the desert.

The Kaadurat Desert (of the hot variety) lies inside a wall of mountains. The dried up Kaadur River & the ruins of some ancient cities imply it was more fertile at some point.🧵1/2
February 5, 2026 at 12:55 PM
#Febchantment
5: In the bub trilogy, magic is technically available to everyone, though the practice of it is highly taboo in the Petty Southern Kingdoms (except among the Sorcerer-Gods), while in the Great Northern Empire, magic suffuses everything, even very minor everyday tasks (regardless of…
#Febchantment Day 5

Tell us about who can wield magic in your world!

Is it available to everyone, or only a special few? Is it a gift you're born with, or a skill you can learn? Is the knowledge gatekept in some way?

Don't forget to read & interact with others! 😁
#writingcommunity #writesky
February 5, 2026 at 11:17 AM
#FebruryWorldbuilders
5: Two deserts exist in Karnassia (co-created with @jmaxwell-author.bsky.social): the hot desert of Avenad, where several stories take places (though mostly in the tunnels beneath it that make up the Nation of Avenad) and the frigid tundra on the island of Laecia, where no…
#FebruaryWorldbuilders, we're talking about the physical worlds of our fantasy/sci-fi stories. Do you have any deserts? Either of the extremely hot or extremely cold variety? What's it like? Do your characters ever go there (hope they came prepared!)
February 5, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
The Imperial Capital of Grace is vertically built up the cliffside of a sandstone mountain. More than half the city is underground in six caverns districts and the catacombs/waterworks.

Caves offer natural temperature control. The wealthy live in arid, shrubby grasslands highest up the mountain.
February 4, 2026 at 5:18 AM
#Febchantment
4: For the bub trilogy magic system, I still need to build this, but I need some way to refer to the subjective “feeling” state of an emotion, that more ephemeral part that, when I last reviewed the topic, affective science had struggled to name (though maybe that’s changed since then)
#Febchantment Day 4

Vocab time! Tell us about some important terms we need to know to understand your magic system. Obviously, make sure you include the definitions! 😁

As usual, interpret the prompt however makes sense to you! Don't feel limited only to conlang words.

#writingcommunity #writesky
February 4, 2026 at 11:40 AM
#FebruaryWorldbuilders
4: In Karnassia (co-created with @jmaxwell-author.bsky.social ), the Avenad dessert bordered by the Errias Mountains on one side and the Velas-guv Mountains on the other. Both ranges are rich with precious metals, othe more functional ores, and gemstones, particularly at the…
#FebruaryWorldbuilders, let's talk some specific geographical features for a few days now. Is there a mountain in your world? What is it like? What sort of minerals or gemstones can be found there? Anything interesting going on there?
February 4, 2026 at 11:39 AM
#FebruaryWorldbuillders 3: For Karnassia, @jmaxwell-author.bsky.social and I have some hand-drawn maps of the continent and of various cities that my 2026 goal is to digitize. What I am really hoping to be able to do is create a base map that can be adapted to a number of different “in-world” maps…
Good morning, #FebruaryWorldbuilders. Do you have any maps? It can be of your whole world or just a small part of it. Share what you have!
February 3, 2026 at 11:43 AM
#Febchantment
3: So the overall magic system idea in the bub trilogy is based on “magic as the harnessing of emotional ‘energy,’” and while I’ll speak more about this in day 8, it does mean that several seemingly disparate magic systems (music based, art based, and story-telling based) are all…
#Febchantment Day 3

What is the central concept of your magic system? E.g. Elemental magic? Music magic? Name-based magic? Something else? (Note: this isn't the "source" of magic - that's Day 8!)

If you already answered this previously, feel free to go into more detail!
#writingcommunity #writesky
February 3, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
February 2, 2026 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
one of my loudest and wettest Writer’s Opinions™ is that italics are a load-bearing element of the orthography of modern english and in many cases are Not Optional. english makes Extremely heavy use of prosodic stress to clarify the meaning of sentences, up to & including disambiguating grammar!!!!!
February 2, 2026 at 12:12 AM
#FebruaryWorlebuilders
2: At this time, all Karnassia stories (co-authored with @jmaxwell-author.bsky.social) take place either on the mainland continent of Karnassia or the nearby surrounding islands of Atmoriel, Cyra, or Freeport. That said, any given story is usually more contained to one spot…
#FebruaryWorldbuilders. What is the scope or size of your world, or the 'space' of the story you're writing? Does it take place on a planet? Across a galaxy? Perhaps you're only writing about one small country or even a city. Or perhaps you have many planets/worlds?
February 2, 2026 at 11:50 AM
#Febchantment
2: So the plan for the bub trilogy magic system is for it to be a hard magic system based around manipulating and harnessing subjective emotions. I think my plan though is for it to appear at least partially soft to the characters rather than having a larger “tutorial” section of some…
#Febchantment Day 2

Do you have a "hard" or "soft" magic system?

In other words, does your magic system have strictly defined rules (think: Brandon Sanderson's books)? Or is it more undefined, mostly vibes/rule of cool (think: Gandalf from LOTR)? Somewhere in between?

#writingcommunity #writesky
February 2, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by R. T. Jenkins
#FebruaryWorldbuilders
Demiurge time, Carlofans rise up!

The world has no name, I call it the material world, but it could also be called Demiurge. It's composed of an ocean and a single, vast supercontinent, both nameless. The tiny region we explore is referred to as the Known World.
1/2
Welcome to a new month of Monthly Worldbuilders! Here's your first #FebruaryWorldbuilders prompt. This week I'm asking about the physical world you are writing about/creating/whatever you're doing. Does your world have a name? Is it a planet? A country? Something else?
February 1, 2026 at 9:45 AM