#sentences that out of context make zero sense

[mistressemmedi]

I can't believe FIA wants to investigate and penalize Charles. Man's only crime was to be the meat in the worst sandwich of the world

[repressedqueen]

I'm GAGGED

He looks so soft 🥹🥹

I am vibrating !! I want to watch NOW!!! I wish I wasn't such a good best friend 😭

[imagineacoolusername]

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY

thank you for the tag @chen-chen-chen-again-chen! <33

this time i do have six sentences to share, and i'm actually really excited for this fic, but i don't know how it'll turn out

anyway

He comes out of the cabin and flashes me a cute little smile.

He looks angelic.

He’s dressed in white, and his hair is flowing in the wind. He’s holding the flower between his thumb and index finger, and is nervously fiddling with it. I take it from him as I step closer to him, and place it in his hair.

“You look absolutely beautiful.”

this fic was inspired by a video i saw the other day, but knowing myself i'm not sure i'll ever finish it. i'll give it a few tries, and if nothing comes out of it then i'll share it as a prompt or something

tagging: @thewholelemon @themandilorian @enbysiriusblack @queerdeadwizards @euphorial-docx @raenestee @ivelovedhimthroughworse @ileadacharmedlife @larkral @aroace-genderfluid-sheep

i hope y'all have a lovely day! <33

[exaltedfuzz]

Goddammit, your last lanamia comic made me cry.. What master storytelling spirits are you channeling that make you know these characters better than the original writers?

Deepest apologies... I have worse planned. Poor Mia. (and Lana... but you'll see why I say poor Mia soon enough, I hope...)

As for writing characters, it really helps to talk to yourself in their "voices" to try and figure them out. Mumble to yourself when you're cooking, when you're walking and nobody's around, but also listen to people speak. When you put what you know into dialogue it sounds way less phony than if you're purely trying to advance plot with ham-fisted exposition... Though you need a bit of that too, if you're trying to drive something. It's good to write stuff down in a script, get a recording app out, say it all (put on a different voice for each character, why not?) and when you stumble over the sentences because they suck to say out loud, rewrite them so they don't. Your most powerful tool in writing speech is speaking. 

Think about the context too, it's dead important. Surrounding events and characters are what keep things grounded... Nothing exists in a vacuum. It's really useful that AA has such a packed world, with so many characters in proximity. Makes it easier to de-vacuum things. I guess the same is true for most fan works. 

Having a start and end point really helps. But, more so in a sense of "where is this character at the start of this scene, and what do they want to achieve". When you're writing "aspirationally" like this, you can get into the groove better than if you have a point A and a point B that you are looking to get to overall. And then considering the dynamics between the characters and taking that into account when understanding how those goals may be compromised, ignored, pushed for... Who has the most power in a scene generally decides what goal is pushed towards. 

Another thing is focalised narrative. Usually when I'm doing these comics (at the moment), I follow Lana, and most of the emotional core is in her reactions to things. You don't want to zero in too much to one character, or you'll end up flattening the rest, but having a core character is a good way to keep things simple. It's tempting to just chuck as many characters as you can into something, but you have to remember that you're then going to have to have them all exist... 

Also, honestly, going back to the source text plenty, and with an eye for specifics, is really useful. Take note of how characters refer to each other, which is a huge thing in AA specifically... And also what humanity is in them. For Lana, for instance, she's quite witty, and quick to make light of herself with that wittiness. ("Oh, this? I cut myself by accident. When I stabbed him, that is. I'm not very good at being a criminal, I suppose.") I try to put this slightly irritating joking into how I write her. With Ace Attorney characters, you're looking at them at very intense points in their "lives", so they're probably acting differently to normal, but picking up on these little things can make all the difference. Obviously, as well, there’s the “that… was probably why she was attracted to me” line. I take this as a reluctance to publicly acknowledge the mutuality of said attraction… (“Intellectually” seems like a Lana-ism to deflect that Ema picked up, to me. Lana doesn’t seem to be very comfortable with who she is in general. She wears her King of Prosecutors medals when Edgeworth seems to think the award is tacky, and even Manfred, obsessed with achievement and perfection, and apparently winner of multiple King awards, doesn’t display his medals. Obviously this is because when they were designed, it was before the idea of King of Prosecutors existed, but I think that Lana pinning her achievements to her chest where they can clearly be seen in order to convince to both those around her and, more pressingly, to herself, that she is competent is interesting.) Her own goals also always come second to Ema. I think she’s probably felt quite suffocated by having to spend her whole adulthood so far being a mother to her.I have a lot of thoughts on her as a character, both in the context of lanamia and outwith. She’s very compelling to me, and although most of the time when I'm drawing her, it's the "used to be so gentle, always smiling" Lana that we never actually see in game, I want to push some of these key aspects of her in game identity into her, so I interpret that "gentleness" as a slight nervousness, and that "always smiling" as something mostly for Ema's sake, so she doesn't have to see her rock crumble, so to speak. Anyway, that's enough on her...

I don't know if you really wanted my dialogue writing tips, but anyway. There they are. I wrote way more than I meant to, so sorry about that, haha! Hope some of this could be useful.

I don't know that I know the characters better than their creators... I only hope I'm doing them and the stories I think they could have lived in justice. Thank you very much for the ask, haha!

[besttropeveershowdown]

The Most Annoying Trope Showdown: Semifinals, Poll 2

Out-of-Context Eavesdropping

Someone overhears a conversation and, lacking the full context, misinterprets it as something more serious.

Propaganda:

I hate all miscommunication tropes but this is the one that makes me want to strangle people the most. "we need to fabricate a reason for A and B to hate each other, but not one based on their actual personalities or situation. Instead, Person A talks about something personal and important, but they decide to word it in the dumbest way possible. Person B decides to listen in on a private conversation and then gets so mad at this stuff they weren't supposed to hear that they don't even listen to the final sentence that completely recontextualises the whole conversation. also 90% of the time A would never express feelings this way AND B would never snoop this way. just poor writing to inspire the world's most insipid conflict between morons.

Pair the Spares

Every or nearly every character who did not get together with someone during the story is paired off in the epilogue or very end. The characters are often shown having kids together as well

Propaganda:

This may just be my aromanticism talking, but it's annoying seeing everyone getting shoved into a relationship at the last minute. It doesn't even make sense most of the time. Let! People! Be! Happy! Single!

I am aroace and I hate this. just let them be happy on their own, don't just pair up characters for the sake of pairing them up, even if they have zero chemistry. this happens so often in all kinds of media, and fandom is also guilty of this. not everyone needs a partner! leave them alone!

I love romantic subplots but this is just amatonormative bullshit. It has all of the "romantic partner=happy ending" bullshit that fucks people up in real life, with none of the fluttery crush feelings or the angsty decisions. It doesn't add anything to the character arcs and is only detrimental to the themes of a work as a whole. It can cast a shadow over other romantic subplots in the series I might have enjoyed up until this point, because I start to wonder if those romances were really about the character/themes/plot, or if the writers simply think "leading lady goes with leading man, sidekick with sidekick, etc. etc."

It's fucking stupid. A lot of the characters that end up together either barely interact, make no sense or both. It also implies the only happy ending requires love and marriage. It makes no sense for some of the characters to want to settle down and have kids even if they are with someone they love.

[spiritsglade]

for that dvd commentary ask thing, from the latest fic!!

He knows how he managed it, this time, but it still doesn't feel real. His limbs are numb and he can barely hear the clack of the teeth in his mouth, clattering against each other. The winter air burns in his lungs and with every breath it's like he can feel his body a little less.

He looks up at the stars. He thinks maybe if he knew the constellations, he'd have figured it out earlier. They move throughout the year, don't they?

So what if he doesn't know? What if he died again? He's alive now, Bruce is coming, and the sky above is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

for context, this is about my fic redux.

i wrote the first draft of this entire fic on the notes app of my phone at a christmas house party thing on… i want to say the 21st? i was very close to deleting the entire second half of the fic after the divider, and ending the first on something similar to that last little line ("the sky above is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.") the only reason i kept it was literally just because i already shoved too many immortal jason todd foreshadowing bits into the first half and having them there without any payoff felt silly. but it was supposed no bruce, no batfam at all!! because the core of what i wanted to communicate with the fic was really captured in an earlier line: "He doesn't remember this part last time, the part where he's here and alive and the world feels impossibly open." [yes i was heavily considering cutting the superhero rpf. i will gladly kill my darlings!! (unfortunately this is a lie, seeing as i caved in the end.)]

because last time breaking out of the grave was only the beginning of jason todd's journey through hell. the hospital, the convalescent home, the streets, league training lazarus pit etc. there's a very frenetic energy to his first resurrection? he keeps going and going and going. time keeps slipping by he's catatonic and then he's fueled by rage, the entire timeline is filled in from retrospect. when under the hood first came out, it did not fucking matter how he came back to life, it only mattered that he came back (and came back wrong). which is to say, jason never got the chance to just. revel in being alive again? we're too busy playing out his revenge tragedy. he never had a moment where he could appreciate everything being alive offers that the nothingness of death does not. zero opportunity to sit and breathe. and i wanted to give him that.

that was, at conception, the point of the fic. i feel like it's a little weakened because now instead it's about bruce fucking wayne again but whatever i'll get over it.

okay a break down of the lines:

He knows how he managed it, this time, but it still doesn't feel real.

i'm gonna be for real, this is here because him being able to break out of a professional, expensive hardwood coffin six feet under while it's RAINING and he has FRESH injuries from the crowbar + explosion? literally fucking impossible. realistically he would have asphyxiated in there again within an hour and superboy punching the universe would have changed absolutely nothing. jason doesn't know how he managed to crawl out of his grave last time. the author doesn't know, either. but it makes sense how he managed it this time!!! i did my research!!

it does not feel real because it's still taking him time to process that he died again + probably the hypothermia's playing a part in that.

His limbs are numb and he can barely hear the clack of the teeth in his mouth, clattering against each other. The winter air burns in his lungs and with every breath it's like he can feel his body a little less.

Just descriptions of him being cold <3 and dying of hypothermia <3 i really enjoy descriptive writing. i probably could have edited it further to improve the flow of the sentences but. yeagh. cold air hurts my throat so bad it's upsetting.

He looks up at the stars. He thinks maybe if he knew the constellations, he'd have figured it out earlier. They move throughout the year, don't they?

jason does not know his constellations propaganda. i just think this city boy should get to witness the sky a little more often!! i don't know if you've seen those photos of how the sky looks with zero light pollution. personally, i will believe that's how it looks when i see it with my own two eyes. in the meantime, even my suburban hell has a pretty sky that is leagues better than what you'd get in pollution central.

So what if he doesn't know? What if he died again? He's alive now, Bruce is coming, and the sky above is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

this is feeding back into the original point of the fic. he wasn't alive before, sure but he is now!! live in the moment and appreciate it!

bruce is coming because i cannot fucking escape this asshole. if i write about jason he's always there hovering on the peripheral until i am forced to acknowledge him.

(sidenote: this is why he and jason have a face to face meeting in lies of omission ch.7 instead of the original plan, which would have saved any sort of confrontation between them for chapter like… 20. bruce just demands space. he's so annoying. go away.)

anyway this fic is pro-batfam and pro-bruce, which means! bruce coming is a good thing! it's a change to the ending of his death [bruce was too late] and his first resurrection [all the near misses that prevented bruce from finding him]. like in some ways this is meant to be an opposite thesis to then batman kills his son. if you squint. this time bruce will be here when jason needs him!!

i could not fit it in easily so i gave up, but bruce here has been forcibly benched in the cave, stuck running comms, due to injury. that's why it takes him all of 2 seconds to get on a batplane directly to jason's location.

and again stars are pretty propaganda. like guys i am so serious go out and look at the sky. i am an unironic 'do you like the color of the sky' post liker. i like that post so fucking much. you don't understand. the sky. guys. it can be blue and orange and pink and yellow and the stars and there are so many different kinds of clouds i don't think you understand how gorgeous it can be and and- gets shot

anyway.

this fic is a second resurrection for jason, one that is different from the first in every way that matters.

bruce wayne also had a support system this time so he didn't fall the fuck apart like the last time jason died <3 i didn't really have an exact figure in mind for how long jason's been dead but it's somewhere between 3-6 months. from their perspective, he straight up disappeared after a fight, so there's this weird mix of thinking he's dead but holding out hope that he'll come back. the grief is still very much present but they've managed to hold themselves together because they have each other! waves my hands around vaguely can you see where the title came from.

hm. in conclusion. being alive is pretty awesome. i recommend.

[slightecho]

Out of Context WIPS

Rules: if you're tagged, make a new post and share one or two sentences (or lines for artists) from your most recent unposted WIP with zero context.

I got tagged by @fynn-arcana !! Thank yoooouu friendddd 😆🫶

This is from the chapter I’m currently writing for Ashes, so I guess this will double as a preview of sorts lmao. I did three sentences, which is a little bit more than was asked, but oh well 🤪 the full paragraph was only three sentences so it didn’t make sense to cut the last one off.

This time, the sound wasn’t just clanging, but crashing as Hunter unceremoniously let go of the bar without letting them down easily. His hands slipping as his stomach suddenly cramped up in intense pain, jolting through him with a yelp. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Wrath quickly reached forward to put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder, steadying him as he collapsed forward, desperate to just get a break.

Sorry it wasn’t more happy go lucky 🤭 that’s just where we’re at!

Tagging: @silvvergears @childlikegoblinqueen @threegoblinart @oh-cramity-its-amity @unniebeans @daydreams-and-honeybees and anyone else who might want to! Sorry if I forgot anyone!

[brofightiscancelled]

hi! i just have a quick question about the literal translation you made of the dialogue of pizza. when he says "the true nature is still unknown to you" is he referring to karamatsu's true nature? like, is he saying that karamatsu doesn't know his true nature? or is he saying that the true nature of karamatsu's thoughts are unknown to him? OR is he saying that the true nature of karamatsu's exclusiveness (closer to the official tl) is unknown to him? also thank you so much for the tls of karamatsu's brand new world!

short answer: it's not stated, so it's up to your interpretation! this is a grammar translation quirk; in japanese, sentences often don't have a subject.

long answer: grammar lesson. for example in english a standard sentence would be like: "She was sad and cried." -> "she" is the subject of the sentence, we know who was sad and cried. but in japanese a standard sentence would essentially be, "was sad and cried"; who was sad and crying is usually implied via context.

the original sentence is "得体が知らない" (lit. "don't know [the] true nature"), with the subject of this sentence to be interpreted via context. english sentences sound very weird if you try to leave the subject out, so japanese -> english translations usually have to lock down on what they think the subject of a sentence is.

in the context of the original skit, where everyone is talking about karamatsu, it is pretty strongly implied that the subject of the sentence is karamatsu, so the translators translated it as "don't know [your] true nature" -> "you're a mystery". anime subtitles need to be read and understood quickly, so it makes sense to sacrifice nuance in favor of clarity.

when this sentence "得体が知らない" (lit. "don't know [the] true nature") is reused in the doujin, the wording is the exact same- the only thing that's changed is the context around the sentence, so the evidence you use to determine the subject of the sentence is is different. for a doujin that you can read slowly and are free to interpret, leaving room for nuance is arguably more important than clarity, which is why i included the translator's note; frankly there's like an 90% chance that the subject of the sentence (whats nature is unknown) is the same as in Pizza, which is why i didn't alter the wording in the typesetting, but there's a non-zero chance that it's referring to something else (like true nature of the reality he exists in), which is why i put the translator's note in :-)

(and actually even my literal alternate translation locked in on a subject where it was only implied: i decided that karamatsu was the one who doesn't Know, but it's never actually said who doesn't Know. for example it could be the Brothers that don't know. etc)

[antsday]

the last 500 words of in the palm of your hand for the ask meme!

I'm putting it all under a "Read More" because it's a little long. This is the fic, for reference, and this is the ask meme. Thank you so so much for the ask!!!

“So,” he says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his slacks so Deku won’t see how fucking sweaty they are. “You’ll have it ready by lunch tomorrow?”  Deku takes the laptop and tilts his head. “Uh. Yeah, I will. In fact, I can get it to you earlier than that-” “I’ll be busy for the rest of the day,” Katsuki lies. All his incident reports are done, and he’s got the night shift on patrol tomorrow. “You’re done by 2 tomorrow, right?” 

This passage was basically Bakugou trying to secure a lunch date with the IT nerd of his dreams and being painfully obvious about it- and he knows he’s being obvious about it, and he’s kind of freaking out because he’s never been in a situation like this. Personally, the nature of Bakugou’s quirk leads me to believe that he’s a really sweaty guy, and that it gets worse when he’s stressed - which makes sense in the context of battle, but is woefully inconvenient anywhere else. Like his palms are wet. 

“...Yes?” “Great. Look, I have to stop at that fucking- crepe place, down the street, right,” he says, praying to every God there is that he looks cool and casual and not like a ‘Deranged Goblin Man’, as the Hero Times described him a few months ago. “So. When you get off work you should meet me there. At the crepe place. Tomorrow. At two pm.” He doesn’t know what’s worse- the fact that he’s really doing this, being reduced to the same sort of emotional sap he would have made fun of only five years ago; or the fact that Present Mic’s lessons on subtlety and hidden meanings in text were actually good for something.  Look at him, effortlessly weaving together words to create sentences with underlying motives. He’s like a modern-day Shakespeare. He’s golden. He’s killing it. Bakugou Katsuki, master of words. He’s on cloud-fucking-nine. He’s- …aaaaand Deku isn’t responding. 

Honestly, one of the main reasons I wrote this fic to begin with is that I really really enjoy it when Bakugou’s blatantly pathetic- and when other characters think he’s pathetic. It’s so great to me. And I personally enjoy it a lot more than when he’s always put together and effortlessly suave- I feel like that’s how he wants to be perceived, but it’s not really how he comes across even when he’s trying. And he’s really trying here. He really likes Deku, and knows his usual unique charm isn’t going to work in actually getting someone to romantically like him, so he pulls out all the stops. One thing I really like to do and always try to do in my writing is to give hints about other character’s interests and personalities within a separate character’s inner monologue- like here, where I mentioned Present Mic having classes like that. I always like reading little details like that in fics and stories because it always gives the impression that there’s more going on in the world. 

Deku blinks. He opens his mouth. Closes it. He sets the laptop down, staring up at Katsuki intently, and Katsuki starts to sweat.  You are Bakugou Katsuki, he reminds himself. You might be down bad, but you’re not weak. It will not kill you if he rejects you. Well, it’ll kill you a little. But not that much.  “At the crepe pla- to give you the laptop, right?” says Deku slowly. His face is turning bright red. Katsuki goes a little weak in the knees.  “Sure, yeah,” Katsuki says half-heartedly. “Look, if you want, I could. I dunno. Fucking- buy you a crepe or something. As payment.”  He’s so smooth. Eat your fucking heart out, Dunce Face. ‘Zero game’, his ass. 

This might just be me but I always think it’s really funny when characters say one sentence, and then blatantly and immediately do a 180 in like, a sentence after that. It’s especially funny when it’s Bakugou- also kind of sad, though. I feel like his superiority and inferiority complexes were in constant battle in his first year, and he still has moments like that. He really wants Deku to like him back, and while he doesn’t doubt his own capabilities to put in the work, he is doubtful of how that’ll affect Deku. Luckily for him, Deku finds him sorta endearing. 

“Sure,” Deku says, scratching the back of his neck, smile just a tad bit shy. His face is still mildly flushed. Katsuki swoons (and does his best to not let it show on his face). “I- uh. I’d like that. I guess.”  “Cool,” says Katsuki. “Cool. Great. Okay, bye. Be there or else. Bye. See you.” He turns on his heel and power walks out of the room, not once looking back, even when Pigtails nearly crashes into him or when Deku makes a noise suspiciously like he’s slamming his head against the desk. He walks out of the room, into the hallway, back to his own office. The door slams shut behind him. He takes a deep breath. Squeezes his eyes shut. A breathlessly excited grin forces his way onto his face, and he pumps his fists, victorious.  He's got a date.

I am a Deku enjoyer first and foremost, and so everything I write kind of reflects that. In a way I think it’s sweet that Bakugou's so smitten, that he’s being such a disaster and that Deku’s all perfect- even if Deku’s equally, if not slightly more- of a disaster than he is.

All in all, this fic was so sweet and fun to write and I was satisfied with how I ended it, which I rarely ever am. Thank you to everyone who read it, and thank you, anon, again for this lovely ask! If anyone would like to send me a similar ask or anything, please feel free to hmu!

[sweet-william-writes]

For the ask game! 🖍 ♻ 🤔 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

🖍 Post any sentence from your wip-

Okay I've got SO MANY wips rn lemme see which has the juiciest option...

Lol okay Imma give yall more than a sentence cuz that just seems fair-

“Have I ever told you… that you have a pretty mouth.”

“Um… no.”

“You do. Have a really pretty mouth.” Kim said, reaching up and pressing his thumb to Porchay’s bottom lip, pressing down on where it was full and plump. "Pretty mouth that makes too many pretty noises…” He slurred, almost like he didn't know he was saying it out loud enough to put in the effort to enunciate.

“K-Kim?” Porchay stammered, the movement of his words making Kim’s thumb slip forward until it was almost touching his tongue.

“Pretty…” Kim couldn’t help repeating, pushing it the rest of the way forward, groaning when Porchay’s tongue flinched back for a second before instinct seemed to take over and he licked at the digit, a moment later taking it even further and closing his lips around it and giving it a shy suck.

ANYWHO ENJOY THAT WITH ZERO CONTEXT

♻ A scrapped idea for your current wip-

There was a more messy version of events planned originally for I Just Want To Stay Here, where instead of Chay catching Kim on the phone with Chan, he was able to keep the mafia stuff a secret longer and started to kinda have a crisis about what to do cuz he couldn't just keep being a creep and hanging around a teenager's house "taking advantage" of him indefinitely, he either needed to stop lying and come up with a more permanent solution for Chay's safety or lie more and break things off AND find a permanent solution he could keep secret. His emotional messiness is visible to Chay who also gets angsty cuz he draws all the wrong conclusions why Kim is being weird.

With this set up when the truth came out and they ended up at the compound, Kim was going to be a lot angstier and emotionally unstable, especially cuz he hates being at the compound and feels super guilty for dragging Chay into Theerapanyakul Mess, so he shuts down emotionally and Chay is caught between angsting for his own copious reasons and wondering why Kim is so different now that they are around his family and not at his house. Does he not want something real and out in the open, did he only want Chay when it was a secret? Is he ASHAMED of Chay?

It was going to be super fun to torture both of them way more, but by the time I got to this part of the plot, honestly it just didn't fit anymore, they were way too bonded and in love, not to mention had learned to communicate and open up to each other too well for this to work. Plus the reveal I came up with was just, mwah too perfect.

🤔 What's a story you'd love to write but haven’t even started yet-

Apologies this answer got SO long lol I have made ALL these answers WAY TOO LONG

Oh god SO MANY to pick from, I have a ridiculous amount of fic ideas sitting in various google docs or notes on my phone that I have no idea when or if I'll ever get to them. I guess the first one that comes to mind is the sequel/prequel to Where You Fell. I technically have started it in the sense it has a tentative name (These Days You Tend To Lie) and some ideas I've already had, but I've never actually tried to Start it yanno?

I have only a Very rough idea of the plot and also whose pov it would be in, an important choice since the changing povs that never switched to wwx was one of the best parts of wyf in my opinion, but I'd been playing with ideas for a prequel way before I even finished wyf.

It would be set years in the past and be about Jin Guangyao and the story of how 3zun got together, with interspersed flashbacks to all their childhoods like wyf has AND flashforwards to events after wyf like an almost-sequel-epilogue kind of thing. It would be a great way to explore jgy and nhs more which I Really wanted to do (and honestly the mostly unfair hate they got in comments on wyf just made me want to do it even more) AND (yes I'm officially rambling now lol) I could show how chengsang's relationship healed after wyf.

Plus honestly I've always been dying to write a 3zun fic but no other idea I've ever had seems good enough. It would be a HUGE project so idk if I ever will, but it is there, sitting in my backpocket, Waiting

(If anyone wants any details feel free to message me and I totally will ramble more about this lol)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥-

😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

[tellmeallaboutit]

WIP game

Tagged by the one and only, my fellow Zhent @littleplasticrat

Rules: make a new post and share 1-2 sentences from your most recent unposted WIP(s) with zero context – Let your followers guess!

*** (2 sentences lol)

"By the Black Hand... it is you... Selene," Gortash murmured as his gilded hand reached out to skim her cheek. Eileen took a step back further causing Gortash's claw-like glove to scrape nothing but thin air between them. His surprise was palpable—hurt evident in his gaze—as was a malicious sense of satisfaction that now tinged the crowd’s whispers. The name he called her (Selene?) was unfamiliar, neither was the intense yearning in his voice. She had heard tales aplenty of Lord Gortash, but none had painted him as a lunatic; at least not of this variety. She corrected him tersely: "I am Eileen, Lord Gortash. It is a please to finally meet you." There was very little pleasure involved. His bloodshot, weary eyes locked onto hers evoked a feeling that she should recognize him somehow. The same feeling told her to stay away. His poise faltered momentarily at her words before regaining its composure. "Ah, I see now," he finally said, spitting out every word if it was bitter in his mouth. “A new name for your new heroic life...” Gale's worried eyes found hers and she shook her head - this man was a stranger. Gortash's gaze flitted between Gale and Eileen before settling back on Gale with a hardened expression. "And a new lover too?"

****

Tagging @coreene @dodorimo @beesht

[green-like-the-sky]

tagged by @johnwatsonsbeard my beloved

the rules: if you're tagged, make a new post and share one or two sentences (or lines for artists) from your most recent unposted WIP with zero context.

Martin, the gaoler, unlocks the gate, and holds it open for him. He steps, but not quite through. A pause, on the threshold, one foot in the cell and one in freedom. He wants to say something else and he turns back to More, still sat as he was left; silent, small, his papers and books piled up like barricades around him.

He forgets what he meant to say. If there even was anything. The scholar meets his eye, unsmiling. He, Cromwell, starts to turn away again.

A sensation. When he tries to describe it later, he won't have the words. Something like a shudder, a shimmer, in the air. A missed step, on a staircase. Coming down a mountainside and feeling your ears pop. He almost wonders if he's having a stroke, maybe, but it's over nearly as soon as it starts; less than a heartbeat later the world seems as it should be.

But still. Something feels different. Like everything has been picked up and set back down in the wrong place, a fraction beside where it belongs.

Martin, stood on the other side of the bars moments ago, is no longer there.

He blinks, in surprise. He hadn't sensed the man leave, hadn't felt a footstep or heard a clink of armour. He looks left and right, around the antechamber outside the cell. He calls out, the name echoing along the stones. Nothing.

Well. The man must simply have gone down the passage without him noticing.

Maybe it's the heat. Maybe he's unwell. July, and rumours of sickness back in the city. That would be just my luck, to fall ill in the middle of all this.

He steps fully through the gate, and closes it with a clang. The problem is, without a gaoler, he has no means of locking it.

"Well. I know you won't be so foolish as to leave, until I fetch him back" He looks at More, then looks again. "You're bleeding."

A bead of scarlet, trailing down over an unshaven lip. More does not wipe it away. He's squinting back.

"So are you."

He puts fingers to his nose and feels it, wet and hot. He wipes the back of his hand against it, and looks down to see a thin red stripe on his skin. He'd known this to happen when he was a boy, during the change of seasons. He'd wake up in spring light to specks of blood on his pillow. Never in July, though.

"Did you feel something, just now?" More sounds only mildly curious.

He ignores the question. Ignores any relief, that it wasn't his own imagination. His mind is turning. Perhaps it was an earthquake, or a comet? Hopefully not the reckoning.

"Wait here." He walks away.

Tagging @tenderbittersweet @gufettogrigio @effervescentdragon @succession anyone else who wants to, absolutely no pressure <3

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

AAAAA i REALLY loved 'to the other side' !! i havent read much of your works (i'd like to read more when i have time, especially of rollo hehe) but WOW its so good 😭 the writing style (?) is very fun to read and its like every sentence has an impact on the fic (like it gets better with each sentence?)

the doctor diagnosis part was amusing too! i recently rewatched pinocchio bc of twst and it was a really fun scene to watch~ (this is. completely unrelated but i was surprised at just how many similarities there were between fellow and honest john like phrases or clothing details)

anyway! the point is that i really enjoyed the fic and as someone who is doing writing more (bc of school TT) i find you inspirational,, i also see some of ur other posts on my dash and reading your opinions and thoughts about things is very interesting!

that is all! thank you!

call me pinocchio the way fellow could effortlessly convince me to come to playful land idc if i get scammed he's SO fine-

[Referencing this fic!]

WEH 😭 I’m glad you liked To the Other Side so much!! I hope you get the chance to read my other stuff!! (I recently counted, and I’ve written over 2400 pieces, whether short interactions or long full-fledged fics, for TWST now…) The Rollo interactions have been some of my favorites to do, I’m very happy with those ^^

chisvsjekd You had fun reading the fic? 😌 Then Fellow’s UM must be working on you… Watch out, he’s gonna nab ya for Playful Land— When writing, I tried to capture the essence of crescendoing music from the songs The Greatest Show and The Other Side. They both start soft and progressively grow louder until BOOM there’s an explosion of sound and spectacle. I wanted my fic to invoke a similar feeling, even when it’s just the characters standing around and talking.

I actually haven’t gotten around to watching Disney’s Pinocchio in myself so I had ZERO context going in who Honest John and Gideon were. I referenced some clips of them on Youtube to help me visualize their mannerisms and then superimpose them over Fellow’s and Gidel’s. (It makes sense, given that Fellow and Gidel are twisted from those two!) That’s how I came across the diagnosis scene. I thought it fit so well with Rollo’s Forever Alone and Mad About It personality, so incorporating the diagnosis scene in was so easy to do!

Good luck with your own writing!! I hope you’ll continue to hang out here and enjoy reading my stuff in your free time.

Ah. Fellowife spotted 😂

[acetypeface]

Out of Context WIPs

Rules: if you're tagged, make a new post and share one or two sentences (or lines for artists) from your most recent unposted WIP with zero context.

I wasn't tagged, but I'm procrastinating on my WIP so I'ma do this. :3

*sobs* Please, someone, help me defeat my executive dysfunction, this isn't okay--

(WIP is a young Viktor Hargreeves-centric one-shot! He's pre-transition for the first bit, hence the use of "Vanya" and "she/her" pronouns.)

Something scratched at the back door, jerking Vanya out of her thoughts. She froze, half-hoping she had imagined it in the eerie stillness of the night. But it happened again; someone was picking at the lock.  Vanya scrambled back behind the table, her pulse throbbing in her throat as she raised her butter knife out in front of her. Peanut butter dripped off of the dull blade, splattering against the table top. She wasn’t sure what her chosen weapon would do against an intruder, but she didn’t have time to go for one of her siblings. Chk chk. The lock clicked open. Vanya took another step backwards, fear making her head spin. The knob was turning now, slow and careful. She took a deep breath, preparing to scream. With a soft squeak, the door crept open, and- “Klaus?” Vanya clapped a hand over her mouth; that had come out louder than expected. But she had never once had a visitor down here, and seeing her brother silhouetted in the doorway was almost as startling as seeing a stranger. Klaus froze, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Vanya could practically see the flimsy excuses flitting through her brother’s green eyes, before he landed on a shaky, nonchalant, “Oh hey, Vanya.”

That's way more than 1-2 sentences, but I'm far too wordy for 1-2 sentences to make sense.

Tagging... @childlikegoblinqueen @slightecho @unniebeans @willowsz-plantsz @kazoosandfannypacks

I can't remember any more mutuals who write, so feel free to join if this comes across your dash and I didn't mention you!

[amatchinwater]

WIP Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @edgy-girlboss 💚

Rules: If you’re tagged, make a new post and share a few sentences from your most recent unposted WIP(s) with zero context -- Let your followers guess!

---

Snippet 1:

“Excuse me.” “Jesus,” Stiles startles up from the counter. He didn’t even hear the bell go off. “Sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Stiles is lifting his gaze, ready to lay into the stranger. Who just calls someone by a pet name when you don’t even know them? It’s gross, and he’s not a fan. Until he’s staring up at gorgeous blue eyes, a sinful smile, and a jaw that probably cuts diamonds. Then, he’s more than okay with it. Stiles’ tongue dries up so badly that he has to actively focus on removing it from the roof of his mouth. The scratchy muscle fails at wetting his lips, but they drag along them just the same.

Snippet 2:

“You’re not serious,” Isaac states, all panic in his chemosignals gone. Only to be replaced with disbelief. “So we’re obviously not in the same part of the preserve you thought we were.” The wolf tries to take a step forward, only for Stiles to stop him again, “no. I’ve been coming here for months, Is. Months. There’s no way this isn’t the place. See?” He points to the tree beside the wolf, “carved my initials and everything. What the hell-” All of the flowers have begun to sway, bumping into one another, causing small particles to dance above them. “Whoa,” Isaac muses, Stiles too busy looking at the flowers to notice the wolf getting closer to them for inspection. “I gotta say, they are pretty though,” his voice sounds off, like he’s not quite himself. Transfixed by something, Isaac’s hand reaches out before the fox can stop him, and he touches one of the vibrant petals. The reaction is instant. The flower shudders before releasing a plume of shimmering, purple smoke into the air. Isaac sneezes, coughing the intrusive substance from his lungs.

Snippet 3:

Victoria rolls her eyes, “and here I was told you were the smart one. Did you really think I would let my daughter be friends with one of your kind?” The huntress sneers at him. “I’d never hurt Alli,” the wolf argues, yanking on his restraints. “Please, just let me go. I won’t talk to her anymore if that’s what you want.”

Snippet 4:

Stiles has never even seen the gates of Olympus. What hurts even worse, the reason Stiles is laying at the bottom of his pool, is he was promised a place behind those golden gates. With his husband. Other than Hades’ children, Stiles has always been skeptical of any descendant of the big three. It’s a tale as old as time, Stiles was blinded by a pretty face that spoke even prettier words. Only to be betrayed by beauty that rivals Aphrodite herself. Which kind of makes sense considering his husband is a son of hers. His father being Zeus himself. Theodore, a beautiful man with a wicked heart. Bringing his hand to his face, Stiles looks at the branded ‘T’ on his ring finger.

I have so many more, but I restricted myself to 4!

No pressure tags: @msmischief101 @saphire-blue @ksbbb @robo-dino-puppy @colethewolf @theoraeken

[the-scandalorian]

out of context

thank you for the tags, @chronically-ghosted and @toomanystoriessolittletime 🩷🩷

the rules: if you're tagged, make a new post and share one or two sentences (or lines for artists) from your unposted WIP with zero context

Weeks would pass between interactions, sometimes longer, and to his irritation, each time he saw you, he’d feel a foreign, faint sense of relief that you were alive. Whole. Still fighting. An instinct would rear up in his chest and insist, quiet but adamant: keep, protect, know. He ignored it every time.

np tags: @frannyzooey @pentechnics @keldabe-kriff @swiftispunk @fuckyeahdindjarin

@saradika @flightlessangelwings