#fiction as escape

[theartofmadeline]

lil 16 page zine that i made at the coffee shop this weekend! a sort of pick your path style mini game, because i love wizards + interactive fiction. hope you get out of the wizard dungeon!!

[the-modern-typewriter]

I really like your terrifying villains. I don’t know if you’ve done something like this before, but if you want could you write a piece with the villain giving the protagonist a head start to run away from them?

The protagonist rounded the corner and - froze. They didn't breathe. It was futile to think that the villain hadn't spotted them, the protagonist was directly in their line of sight, but the protagonist still prayed for a miracle.

The villain paused. Their head tilted, the only vague emotion they gave away at seeing the protagonist so unexpectedly in their compound.

The protagonist wet their cracked, dry lips.

The villain smiled slow. "Hello, thief."

Mute with horror, the protagonist said nothing. The villain inadvertently blocked the path the protagonist had taken to sneak inside in the first place. What other exits were there? Front door. That would be guarded. Maybe there was somewhere they could hunker down and burrow and hide? Not if they couldn't lose the villain.

"Would you like a head start?" the villain asked, after a beat. "For the running. People do like to run when they see me. Screaming is optional - could be fun though!"

The protagonist's stomach lurched. "Why would you give me a head start?" It came out hoarse.

"Well, it's not free." The villain's head tilted the other way, unnerving attention trained on the protagonist as surely as the barrel of a gun. "You have an option of two prices. One will give you a five minute head start. The other will give you a fifteen minute head start. But I'm not going to tell you which is which. Would you like to hear them?"

The protagonist was fast. They could do a lot with five minutes. Even five minutes would let them slip past the villain and sprint. 15 minutes was better. They could be clear of the building and on the grounds by then!

The villain raised their eyebrows when the protagonist once again said nothing. The protagonist quickly nodded.

The villain's smile broadened and they shifted their weight, getting comfortable where they stood.

"Option 1," they said. "You give me back that stolen prize you have tucked away in your pocket."

That was probably the 15 minute option. Mild mercy for a theft returned. Or, at least, an execution stayed for a more leisurely hunt.

They could come back. Try the theft again. Who were they kidding?

"And option 2?" Their heart hammered.

"Kiss me."

...it was the last thing that the protagonist expected. Their eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"Come here and kiss me. Then I'll give you a head start to run."

"Do you have some kind of deadly poison coating on your mouth?"

"You'll have to assess the risks for yourself."

The kiss was the obvious choice. Too obvious. Was the villain counting on them being too prideful to go for it? Too humiliated by the desperation of the act? Or was that the trap?

The protagonist's gaze darted to the villain's mouth. It was a nice mouth for a decidedly not-nice person. Its cruelty was terribly softened by how often the villain smiled amused amidst their monstrosities.

Maybe the villain would kill them if they were bold enough to risk getting that close. Punish them worse later for taking such intimate liberty.

The poison coating definitely seemed possible. They should not discount the poison coating. Or some other nightmarish toxin.

"Tick tock," the villain said softly. "You have thirty seconds to decide, little mouse."

Maybe the villain would grab their prize back anyway if the protagonist was stupid enough to get close.

It couldn't just be a kiss. There had to be some kind of catch.

But if the villain had their prize back, there would be nothing to stop them from continuing their plans, and precious little left to save anyone who got in their way.

The protagonist swore quietly, took a steadying breath, and crossed the hallway to the villain.

The villain merely radiated the same placid amusement as before, holding still, as the protagonist hesitated just out of touching distance. Their gaze flicked over the villain's mouth again. It was so much better than looking at those eyes.

The villain held out a hand for their prize. Even the small shift was enough to make the protagonist flinch.

They imagined venus fly traps. They imagined snakes coiled in the grass. All manner of ambush predator.

They whimpered, despite themselves, very quietly in the back of their throat.

Then they leaned in and kissed the villain.

They'd meant it to be short and chaste but the villain's arm coiled around them lightning fast, holding them close as they deepened the kiss.

The protagonist hadn't somehow expected them to be a good kisser. Maybe there was some kind of slow-release paralytic to explain the way that the protagonist's knees went jellied? Some vicious thing to explain why their mind went so completely blank.

When the villain eventually pulled away, they were both breathless.

The protagonist felt like someone had scraped open something cavernous and hungry inside them. They swayed in the gentle steadying curve of the villain's arm. Their lips gave an ominous tingle. They met those clever, world-ending eyes.

"Run, run, run my little mouse," the villain whispered. "Because ready or not here I come."

The protagonist checked their inside jacket pocket in numb autopilot. Still there. Their prize was still there.

Now they just had to escape. Survive.

They ran.

[dlartistanon]

"How about you simply open yourself up to me, and allow me to search your heart?"

[sarathrwizard]

We could use a LifeSaver (Rottmnt comic)

This is a one off comic I made for a challenge! The story theme for the challenge was 'Escaping a Flood'.

So I made this short comic last summer, and just remembered I still had it in my files! 😅

Hope you enjoy/enjoyed this comic with no reasoning to where they are, how they got there, or why any of this is happening.

Action flick, ya know?

[radio-zephyr]

orv spoilers (?) ahead-its a small moment

i think genuinely one of the moments in the novel that really stuck to me, was a quiet small moment between kdj, when kdj was talking to lgy about his sponsor and he raises his hand- and lgy flinches. So kdj holds his hand until he stops trembling.

like that moment is just SO TENDER and quietly devastating. Because kdj loves lgy. But he also sees himself in lgy. And he can't love that reflection of himself.

Yet he still does love lgy sm, and when he raises his hand and realizes lgy's fear, he just holds his hand in silent comfort.. and just sits there with him. until he's able to calm down again, kdj just sits with him.

[intotheelliwoods]

Just wanted to say that you draw the ooyest gooyest eyes on poptart, and if he asked me to murder someone.... I- I don't think I could refuse him with those eyes-

Idk know how you get such emotion and sparkle in your eyes- but I love it! ^-^

AH MY SON!!

[potatobugz]

eek! scary!

[copia]

THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF GHOST ⛧ DAY ONE

first song you heard — Mary On A Cross

September 1969; Papa Nihil and the beginning of the Ghost Project take to the stage at the Whiskey a Go Go club in Los Angeles, under the watchful eye of Sister Imperator. Fifty-three years later, in Tampa, Florida, Papa Emeritus the Fourth performs Mary On A Cross, unaware that he is singing the story of his parents—and that of himself.

[qpjianghu]

 “It’s not that you don’t forgive others... it’s that you refuse to forgive yourself.”

Li Xiangyi / Li Lianhua - Mysterious Lotus Casebook, Ep. 40

[escapismthroughfilm]

⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡. ⋆⋆˚｡Arrival (2016) dir. Denis Villeneuve⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡⋆⋆˚｡⋆

[coffeeacademia]

these are a few of my favourite things (ft summer)

[syringaledraws]

Big bird, small cage

[amrubrum]

reasons why thomas cresswell is one of the best and most underrated book men

has the sorest, biggest sweet tooth and is not afraid to make it known

he's quite literally the most intelligent man alive

his deductions are too impressive (seriously how can he even do that like????)

is audrey rose's number 1 fan

is SO down bad for audrey rose

audrey rose's simp

literally the biggest flirt alive

made and designed SEVERAL custom shoes and slippers that are practical and pretty for audrey rose because she missed wearing her slippers because of her injury

not to mention had a special dragon knob cane with a hidden blade inside made for audrey rose so that she'll always have a piece of him with her no matter where she is or if she's in danger (i need him so bad plss)

he is mischief personified

is a feminist

lets audrey rose be free and do whatever she pleases and is so supportive of whatever she does

never EVER thinks of audrey rose as less than just because she's a woman

is always making sure that audrey rose gives him her consent whenever they kiss and or do the deed

always making sure that audrey rose is comfortable

has the most amazing, badass, and hilarious older sister

is literally so patient

INTELLIGENT please his intelligence is so sexy

the biggest flirt EVER

outranks the wadsworths and their extended family yet you'd never even notice because he's so humble about it

"my love for you is a constant in a sea of variables."

[prolibytherium]

Would kill to read animal POV fiction that has the animal POV’s interaction with humans be like, semi realistic to the level of caution most predators take with large prey and/or competitors (including humans).

Like instead of the usual - “the human is such a weak, pathetic creature... so slow, no claws, blunt teeth… completely helpless without its 'Fire Sticks'. how is it the master of the earth?” type crap it’s like, the bear protagonist or whatever approaches some dude who spreads their arms and yells and the bear is like “FUUUUUUUUCK THAT THING JUST GOT HUGE. IT'S LARGE AND MAKING NOISES. HOLY FUCK.”

[rhetthammersmithhorror]

The Bamboo Saucer | 1968

[scrimblyscrorblo]

Once again thinking about Poe being able to bring parts of his ability to life, in very limited ways ofc otherwise he’d be too op lets be real

Like you back the man into corner and he sets you on fire, you die but then all the burns go away like it wasn’t ever real. It felt real. But you’re alive and now you know what it is like to die

A bit of cheeky horror 👁️👁️