>>> Sunspot now also has a website! https://sunspot.gay/ <<<
Change hurts. Hurt changes.
Seven years ago, magic crashed down to Earth, imbuing a fraction of a fraction of the world's population with incredible power. Dalton “Ezzen” Colliot was a near-miss, scarred but left powerless by the Frozen Flame. Today, he is a reclusive genius of glyphcraft, recognized for his deep expertise in magical theory. He longs for a Flame of his own, for the right to don the carapace of the Vaetna, the foremost wielders of magic and bloody paragons of this new age. Maybe then the gnawing jealousy would go away.
Then he gets lucky, touched by the Flame in a twist of fate so unlikely that it may not have been luck at all. It certainly doesn’t feel lucky, because nowhere is safe for freshly minted flamebearers, the most valuable resource in the world. Worse, his attempts to evade capture reveal the cruelty at the center of the Flame, one which casts doubt on the Vaetna and the pure, mathematical beauty of glyphcraft. Through desperate self-mutilation and a counter-kidnapping, he finds himself on the other side of the world, amidst an eccentric group of flamebearers: the Radiances, self-made magical girls who see opportunity in his arrival.
Never again can Ezzen sit on the sidelines and study theory in lonely anonymity. Instead, he is thrust into drama, politics, and danger beyond imagining from cults and militaries, all while vastly out of his depth and doubting everything he thought of himself. The Radiances’ ability to protect him only goes so far; to survive, he must weave a stronger self from his Flame and struggle toward his ideal of the Vaetna, even as every new insight about magic and himself makes their image crumble a little more.
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Sunspot is a webserial about transformation, identity, and pain. It features a mix of slice-of-life drama with lifelike characters, political maneuvering in a rich alt-Earth setting, and covert magical warfare using a complex magic system.
It is inspired by Katalepsis, The Wandering Inn, and sadly Worm. It also has Bioshifter vibes, allegedly, but I haven't read it.
General content warnings (these go untagged per-chapter):
- Dysphoria
- Gore (violent & medical)
- Body horror
- Kidnapping
Additional CWs will be listed at the top of chapters when relevant.
Also on Royalroad: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/94582/sunspot
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/RYCGg4H8kj
Boost the story on TopWebFiction: https://topwebfiction.com/listings/sunspot/
Sunspot is just stunning, one of the best stories we've read in a very long time. So far there's a lot of mysteries, a lot of unknowns, but presented in a way that makes it very clear that the characters know these things, there is a real answer, things are grounded and feel real.
On all levels of setting the stage, it's been outstanding. The worldbuilding and implications of it are fascinating. The magic system is deeply interesting, it's a hard magic system, and while as reader we don't know a lot, it's very clear the characters do, and the hints we've seen are very intriguing. The characters... they just feel so incredibly real, true. I don't know how else to phrase it, beyond that they feel like they could step off the page at any moment.
We're still early, a lot of things remain unknown, it's just setting the stage, but Sunspot is fantastic, and I highly recommend reading it if you're at all interested in the concept. - Alutia of Sapphire
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I’m extremely impressed with Sunspot.
It’s rare that I get hooked by a story so quickly. The author throws the reader in amidst the action and respects the reader’s intelligence to pick things up organically. A masterclass in “show, don’t tell”: no eye-rolling exposition here! This is excellently written, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here on!
The characters and world building are great; the characters feel real, the world is compelling, and both feel believable. If “Magical Girls” were real, this is how it’d go. The author really knows how to draw an audience in with tantalising hints (so much subtext) and compelling themes! The grammar and prose are excellent; so far, it has been a very pleasurable reading experience with an evocative writing style that I really enjoy.
If you’ve loved thought-provoking, tightly-written, carefully-crafted web serials like Katalepsis, Necroepilogos, or Bioshifter, you’re in for a massive treat with Sunspot! Read it!!!
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A heartwarming story in which getting what they always wanted costs Ezzen everything, but their new life is full of vibrant colors and hope.
Contains exceedingly well handled relationship building, interfactional cold war, and excellent writing of a subject matter expert *actually being* a subject matter expert.
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Sunspot truly stands out as deserving all its praise and more.
The way this story so deftly plays to its genre speaks to the keen understanding and affection the author holds for magical realism tropes. At the same time, the author proves their commitment to nuance and innovation by fully exploring their subversion of often immature fiction tropes like the harem or the isekai. Instead, Sunspot takes the idea of our world suddenly introduced to magic fully seriously, giving this fresh spin on a classic milieu all of the detail it deserves. I especially love the adaptation of online streamer and techie culture to a magic setting -- it displays a level of easily-overlookable care that makes Sunspot live up to the promise of its premise.
Sunspot is far from amateur. The professional quality of writing, character, suspense, and tone consistently belongs in the published world, but the lengthy serialized nature of its format means every scene gets its chance to breathe and develop organically. This allows the complex themes of identity to naturally emerge, creating a thrilling narrative in a slow-paced story.
This is the real deal. All my love to the creator for the hard work of sharing this with the world.
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I read all of arc one in three intense deep-read sessions of eight hours, taking marginalia and scribbling down personal notes and thoughts on nearly every interesting beat or detail. I speculated on character motivations and personalities, the implications of lore and magical engineering, geopolitics and recent world history, power dynamics (interpersonal and organizational), and simple personal ramblings of my own reader reaction, all gleefully positive.
Sunspot is great, rewarding all that attentive and hyperfocused reading with equally thorough attention from the author. It has enough carefully layered detail and implication to not only survive that level of scrutiny but thrive under it. I'll be continuing to read this carefully.
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