On a quest to explore the land of Media and restore peace, Video and Radio end up in a battle with the last living mage currently known only as "the Jester." Together they represent technology in the battle against magic and prove without a shadow of a doubt, that strong hearts are mandatory.
The Cast
🤍 Video of the Rich Top Mountains is a feisty courier built for combat with a no-playing-around attitude. Her snap judgements and commanding attitude gives the impression that she's older to her peers, but she's actually one of the youngest verified subjects in all of Media.🖤 The Radio Star of Meridian Stretch is a noble feline fresh out of her home for the first time by herself. She has always wanted to see the world and learn everything she could about her land, but it wasn't until she was called by the Council of Media to find the fragments that will bring back the missing king that she had the opportunity.❤️ Pictures of Clowder City is one of the few monitor consultants of the land, receiving high power early in life in return for giving information of one of the most hunted individuals in Media. He is mischievous and a touch dubious, but his bleeding heart gets in the way of ever doing anything malicious beyond repair.🐒 "The Jester" of the Unending Labyrinth is a recent danger to Media. Bent on revenge after the genocide of mages, he doesn't allow any obstacle in his path of crime. All mages were thought to be dead until he made his return, but he reintroduced himself by taking away the King of Media and making a prophecy for the Council to be able to bring their king back. All he wants is a bit of fun while he throws Media into a spiral of terror.
Story
"Strong Hearts Are Mandatory" is a tale revolving around three domestic cats who live in the land of Media. It begins with the heroes, Video, Radio, and Pictures, on their task to help take down magic once and for all, even while being constantly trailed by the malicious Jester, Curiosity. The novel series branches further into new villains not planned to be explored in the web series.Mandatory is a book series and a planned animated series on YouTube. There will be six books and a full season of episodes, covering the first and second book.The first book is what you often see around the author's YouTube channel, following the story of Video, Radio and Pictures on their way to restore what's been taken by the elusive mage known as the Jester and to restore the Crystal Heart that's been scattered as shards across Media. They are supported by the monitor surveillance team, Recorder, Tape, Widget, Cassette, and Sensor, and meet allies and foes such as Studio, Film, Screen, and Stereo. As the series progresses, the chosen three come across others who help them complete their task, guiding them to the next objective, and work efficiently to get their job done.Radio, Video, and Pictures were not familiar with each other prior to the story's beginning, and learn a lot about each other on the way, such as what keeps them together, and what will drive them apart. The first two books will be compressed into ideally six 11 minute episodes, that will be available on Youtube as they are completed.
♥ Books ♥there are currently four out of six books published.
Heart of Glass is the first book, starting with Radio, Video, and Pictures first receiving their quest from the Council of Media. The three must work as a team to piece together the fragments of the Crystal Heart in order to get their king back, and not allow the Jester to thwart them along their way.
Straight to Video is the second book, now following Video's path as everything has gone wrong. Video must restore her name after a grave misunderstanding and bring Radio to the Council to prove her innocence. It's easier said than done when she has every Median after her, but thankfully she has the help of the monitor director, Film, to ensure her success.
Stars of the Silver Screen is the third installment of the series. We now have a new POV thrown in the mix, Video's own mother, Audio, and it's at high stakes when their new opponent doesn't hesitate—like the Jester would—to take down his enemies to reach his goal. Video teams up with her sister, Jukebox, to take down their enemies and try and defeat the mage once again.
Truth and Phantasm is where we receive the answers to who, or what, this Jester really is. In the fourth novel of Mandatory, it's all or nothing once the mage has revealed his intention of having all of Social Media crumble in his grasp. Video and Radio have to do the unthinkable to stop this mass murder across Media, and team up with a few unlikely "heroes" to make the most formidable team they can against this merciless mage before it's too late.
♥ ♥ ♥To Be PublishedBook 5 - Overcoming Adversity is the fifth book of Mandatory. Video and Radio knew the moment things seemed calm it wouldn't last, but after a dramatic decision on Video's part, Media is attacked and invaded by not only enemies from multiple lands, but also within their own borders. Video has to call in all her favors when she's face to face with enemies at every direction, as well as an individual who's hated her since her kittenhood, Adversity.Book 6 - Beyond the Shadow of Doubt is the end of the Classics arc. All of Social Media has to reach back to its roots when suddenly faced with the raw abilities of the Mage Creator, sent into a conduit who has seen the crimes of the land since the Overthrow of Magic. With this power, the host has decided to make a case of divine intervention. It might not be so bad, except that the new mage has decided to go by the title of Vengeance and immediately takes malefic action against the land and its inhabitants. The clowder has to seek the most unwilling allies to help them as they put an end to shadow magic once and for all.A Sequel?The Main Hiatus may be the direct sequel to the main series and currently is planned to be a standalone following Irony in different forms as he interacts with a new generation of Media. The land is thrown into peril by a brand new threat, a mage that disguised himself as a loyal Median now known as Virus, and Irony is the only one that can stop him—with a few friends, of course! Irony ties up some loose ends to bring his old friend Galore in for help, and they come across a Median archivist under the handle of Preset who has done extensive research of the mages in their previous life (or two...) The three outcasts aren't the population's first choice to help stop Virus, and frankly Irony and Galore aren't exactly sure they want to help, but they have been slighted, the heroes Social Media has come to love are nowhere to be found, and desperate times come for desperate measures.
♥ FAQ ♥
That's all fine and dandy, but why the technology names like Video and Radio?
In Media, after removing magic from their land, they named themselves after the objects that helped them reclaim the region. Over generations of populating, the name purposes became diluted, and were simply random technology-pertaining titles given to those who swear loyalty to Media and its Council. Those who earn verification of a name are generally a year or older, unless born noble or decide to remain unverified.Who are the nobles and unverified?
The nobles are those such as the Studio Star and the Radio Star, individuals born from the bloodline who were of a direct part of removing magic from Media. Their descendants are honored with privileges and riches for their acts, and receive a starred title to separate them from the regular subjects of Media. The unverified are sometimes unnamed individuals, or 'simple noises' like Radio's servants, Leil, Hana, and Stella. Very often they do not receive benefits or protection from Media's officials and are seen as disposable.Are there more ranks?
Media is currently lead by a king, the former ruler of the land being a queen, and the current rank follows as:King: Complete power with advisement from his council.
Council: A cabinet of nine individuals consisting mostly of nobles and high ranking monitors who make the most decisions concerning the followers of Media.
Nobles: Descendants of the group that were responsible for the take down of the Queen, given high power and influence by the Council. They wear collars as well as other jewelry to establish their rank.
Monitors: High ranking verified officials who are responsible for observing and protecting the lower ranked followers of Media. They generally report directly to the Council, nobles, or a higher ranked surveillance officer.
Verified: Those who swear loyalty to the Council and Media's king who have been approved by the Council or a noble official. They work an occupation of their choice unless assigned one by the Council, and are offered protection by the land.
Unverified: Those who either choose not to serve the Council directly, or did not succeed in being approved. They generally serve under verified followers or work beyond the general route of officials in secluded areas or parts of Media that garner no interest from the Council.Alright, that's the tech names and titles, why are characters like Curiosity and Adversity different?
Curiosity and Adversity are individuals who were named prior to the Overthrow of Magic, Media's past government, or living in lands surrounding the region. Magic being removed from the area was the story that took place generations ago, but Curiosity's manipulation of health and form magic kept him alive through many regular lifetimes. For those like Adversity, Iris, and her pupil, they reside in other lands that still allow magic and have a different naming process. In Adversity's population, individuals are descended directly from the escaping mages fleeing Media lifetimes ago, which is why they have a similar titling system as Curiosity, which are emotions or attributes that you most often cast onto others or that portray and define yourself.What's the heart thing?I do hope you're referring to the symbol of the series! The broken, bleeding, and frozen heart are what makes up Mandatory's logo and main stamp of the series. Although no appearances of it are planned in the animated series except for openings and endings, it represents the Chosen Three and are for Radio, Pictures, and Video respectively.What's the cube thing the Jester has?
That is the Queen's Artifact, an object the previous leader of the land, Queen Satisfaction, created to give magic to those who were born without it to try and settle the rebellion. During the overthrow, the mages theorized the cube not only gives power to those without, but majorly enhances those with magic, and it's been continued to be passed down (or taken) by rebellious mages since the first holder stole it back from the new government. Magic strains its user and ties them, but the cube acts like a filter, removing old energy and providing the holder with new so they can continue with their use. This is why the Jester can continue to use his magic at any time when the cube is near.Why are they all cats?
Any animal who can survive Media's harsh climate resides in the land, however, a small cat, the Studio Star, commonly known as Studio through the series, is a noble descended from one of the main individuals responsible for making the overthrowing possible. Gifted with riches and fame, Studio did not remove herself from the regular verified and unverified followers of Media like most of her fellow nobles and family members. She instead projected herself into the land with guidance, and created Clowder City, (also known as Aureate City) a city built exclusively for the protection of small felines against the elements of the land. The city celebrates its four year anniversary in the first book, which gives a fair timeline on how long cats have been able to prosper in the city. With a domestic cat averaging 1-3 litters per year, and Clowder City being one of the only safe and enforced areas in the entire region, the cat population boomed. In any habitable structure, cats have only continued to learn how to function through the cold winters and how to receive titles with the education Studio has offered in the city. Titling individuals meant even more protection was given from Media's government, which offered the citizens even more protection and right to populate the land.When's the series gonna come out?
The animation will be teased and worked on during all of the writing process. I don't plan on the episode production taking long at all once I'm started, but the thing is when I start... You will receive updates on my Youtube, then! For now, most information is found within my livestreams, and descriptions of deviations and uploads on YouTube! Until then, I've made the novels available for purchase, as they are my scripts for the animated series.Who published the books?
They were self published through KDP under a little company name of Phia Studios! I published the first book through a website that was called CreateSpace, but after it was bought out by Amazon I migrated over to kindle direct publishing and now publish my novels through them under the Phia Studios name. I've helped a few others publish under Phia Studios and hope to help build it into a publishing company of some sorts in the future. All of my works, as well as a few others, have been and will be published under the name of Phia Studios and it's been a lot of fun ♥How long have you been working on this?
That depends on what you really go on! I announced the reboot of the series more or less in June 2015. The characters and story that I originally created was back in 2012, and the novel series was started with the first book published in April 2017 after I finished it in November 2016 for a NaNoWriMo challenge. It's been quite a wild ride!Can I help?
Absolutely! If you attend my livestreams, you'll also very often find me brainstorming with regular attendants. Everyone is allowed questions, and with questions, answers I may never even have thought of are given! Sometimes a lot of productivity is done that the participants end up being part of. (Most Book 5 villains have been created through the streams, as well as many other side stories!)I absolutely love assistance and interest in the series, just a comment leaving your support, familiarizing yourself with the character's names, or talking and asking questions about the story shows your interest and brightens up my day with your contribution toward making this continue! If you're unsure about anything, I do try my best to answer every comment and encourage communication! I host a Discord Server about all my stories called Phia Phanatics, where you can share your stories and novels you're working on, as well.-I hope these are the answers you're looking for! Thank you very much for your interest!~ Teelia Pelletier
