#storyblog

[harmonyhealinghub]

Introducing “Tales of Gratitude” – A Year-Long Journey of Stories by Theme Shaina Tranquilino November 1, 2024

Welcome to a fresh chapter in storytelling! As November unfolds and the holiday season approaches, I’m excited to introduce the theme of “Tales of Gratitude” for this month’s series on my short stories blog. Over the next year, I’ll be weaving narratives around a unique theme each month, immersing you in worlds that explore the nuances and flavours of each concept. With twelve months and twelve themes, each month will open up a new lens for reflecting on human experience, connection, and wonder. Whether it’s exploring kindness, mystery, or adventure, each story will invite you to delve into a fresh aspect of life.

November’s Theme: Tales of Gratitude

Gratitude. It’s one of the simplest yet most powerful feelings, and November feels like the perfect time to honour it. With the autumn leaves falling, warm gatherings around tables, and a season of thankfulness in full swing, it’s a wonderful moment to pause, reflect, and appreciate the meaningful things in life.

In this series of “Tales of Gratitude,” I’ll explore different expressions of gratitude through characters who find it in unexpected places. You might meet an old man who uncovers gratitude in a friendship he’d almost forgotten, a young woman who learns to see the beauty in her imperfections, or a family who bonds through loss and love. Each story will capture a unique perspective on gratitude—how it enriches lives, changes perspectives, and deepens connections.

Why This Year-Long Journey?

Storytelling allows us to tap into diverse experiences, and exploring one theme at a time lets us dive deep, seeing how it plays out in different lives and settings. The idea of dedicating a month to each theme emerged from a desire to give each concept the space and attention it deserves. Just like in life, each theme will unfold slowly, each month delivering new dimensions and nuances.

How You Can Engage

If you enjoy delving into the themes, share your thoughts on each story! Feel free to drop comments, ask questions, or even suggest themes you’d like to see in the future. Storytelling is a shared experience, and I’d love for this blog to be a space for discussion and inspiration.

So, here’s to November’s “Tales of Gratitude” and the continuation of this year-long journey. Let’s celebrate the beauty of storytelling and dive into themes that remind us of our shared humanity. Thank you for being a part of this adventure—your presence, thoughts, and engagement bring these stories to life.

[sibyl-the-bookkeeper-blog]

The Girl and The Tree

There once was a tree that stood on the far outskirts of my village near the edge of a cliff. The tree was old and decrypted, and yet, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. With its many twists and turns of its branches. The different shades of bark along the trunk and various branches. To its towering presence and its many green and brown leaves that sway with every soft blow of the wind. Sending its loose pink flower petals that grew in the spring, and its leaves to the mercy of the breeze. And sending them wherever the wind may take them.

From my point of view, the tree was absolutely beautiful even when it lay bare in the winter. Nothing I had ever seen in my entire 15 years of life has grasped me in a way that this tree had. Its beauty lay far beyond the surface. But my admiration for this tree only grew from afar. I was not allowed near the tree because it was too close to the edge and mother said that I could fall. But I could not stand to look at that tree from a distance any longer, I wanted to get a closer look. I wanted to touch the tree with my own two hands, climb up its many branches, and feel the touch of its flower petals against my skin. I wanted so badly to get a closer look. And one day I got my wish. 

The sun was high and my village was silent. Not a sound was made and no one was present. At first, I thought it was strange but then, when my eyes landed upon the tree all I saw was an opportunity for me to get my wish. The tree called out to me and I felt my village in a hurry, running over to the tree as fast as my legs could carry me. Upon reaching the tree I slowed down and gently placed my hands on the tree. The bark was rough, dry, and cracked. Almost like sandpaper. My hands left the trunk of the tree, but only to reach up, grab one of its branches. I pulled myself up into the tree and began to climb. The branches felt rough yet smooth against my bare feet and hands. The green leaves were soft and the brown ones crackled and crunched when I touched them. And the flowers. They smelled sweeter than I had ever imagined they would. And the petals felt like silk between my fingers. It was so wondrous and breathtaking. Never had I thought that I would ever get to be anywhere near this tree in my whole life and now I stand at the very top of it, looking out over the canyon that stood beneath the tree. 

A soft breeze hit the side of my face blowing my hair with it and taking the loose leaves and petals away from the tree. The petals called to me, asking me to join them as they rode the breeze to their next journey. I slowly shut my eyes and slowly began to walk toward the edge of the branch where I stood. As I approached my final step I spread my arms out wide and let myself slip from the tree. I felt the rush of the wind as I fell through the air and you might think that I hit the ground and am now speaking to you from beyond the grave, but that is not the case. For I never once hit the ground, but rather, I instead grew wings made of silky pink petals that glowed sunset orange in the light. And with one large flap of my wings, I was sent flying high into the sky. High up into the clouds and close enough to where I thought I would be taken in by the sun itself. From first glance, you may have thought I could not do such a thing or that this tree was beautiful. But one's surface is only the beginning of their story. For so much more lies within.    

[citadelofswords]

wait what do you MEAN i don't have an ot3 in my dossier of ocs to write. SHIT. i need to make a power triad.

[laugtherhyena]

I wonder if i was ever able to trick someone into thinking Hitaru, Jiro and Akemi are canon characters

[idv-elysium-investigation]

August 13

As with all investigations, I shall record my findings as they occur. They will be written informally until such time I have need to transfer a report back to the agency. Lady Truth, if you would kindly refrain from transferring these notes as reports, I would be ever so grateful, and perhaps I shall return with some souvenir in return. The train ride is longer than that of our usual clients. Travel time is rarely over an hour; this journey is expected to take most of the day on the train alone. My final destination lacks a train station, so I will need to pay the services of a carriage or automobile, should one be available, to make the final leg of the journey. The client is a noble estate housed in a town named Elysium. I would expect it to be a small town as there are no records of trade imports or exports, and it is quite frankly nestled in the middle of nowhere. There is not an official map that shows the town's location, and as such we had to resort to other means of locating it. I find it suspicious. Moreover, the noble house is not recorded in the London Registry, nor in the English Residency. Were I less dedicated, I may have had reservations about this contract. As it is, the lack of information and the amount of digging we had to do to garner what little we have suggests any number of untoward scenarios. For all we know, this could lead to my death. That is why I took the case personally, Lady Truth, and requested you remain in London. I suspect you may follow regardless, but I would prefer that you did not without further information. What information we do have is sparse. The client sent a letter to the agency requesting our services. They vaguely described a monster, which has been responsible for the destruction of property and livestock. As they fear its wrath turning upon the townsfolk, they requested our services to track and eliminate the threat. Not outside our usual parameters, but I do wish they had been more forthcoming. I will see what my investigation brings and decide how to handle it accordingly. Naib Subedar Inference Detective Agency Occult Division

[yakketymax]

[veilrenders]

dagda's reading foreshadowing arina's return, isgarren fuckery and zojja facing a choice ...

all referenced cards

[wellingtonextra]

Lo and behold, an update! Didn't even take me 2 years...

[caedar]

Honour The Belt: #10

Honour The Belt By the author of BARD:  Owner of the Gemstone *This is a fictious story and homage to professional wrestling #10 Autumn Spring takes a long swig of her water.  The last match is going to be bizarre.  A 7’2” (218.5 cm) wrestler taking on a 4’ (122 cm) wrestler.  She grew up around wrestlers.  The height difference is unusual but the fact that the wrestlers are fraternal twins…

[inkyprince]

About Inky

Hi I'm Inky, I use they/them I'm an adult (21+) who gets brainrot stupid easily. Murder drones being my current brainrot. I do art and comms! I am easily able to get ahold of on Discord! You can also get ahold of me on toyhou.se: https://toyhou.se/InkyPrince

I do a lot of stuff there. I have a twitter and a bluesky but again I don’t really do much there either. I've got some rp blogs here; Murder drones: @inkysdrones (most active) @sd-ssam (18+ only due to certain themes(just a lot of manipulation themes)) Ocs: @inkhell-propietor Shadow Milk Cookie: @lightofdeceit Specific Art Blog: @inkyprinceart Resource Blog: @inkys-many-resources (not my own)

Barebones but I also have AU/Storyblogs; Murder Drones 'fan world': @kepler155 Commission information: Here

[goofyrpmaniacs]

RP/Storyblog rules

Inbox rules:

1) Don’t put in anything weird or nasty. You’ll get blocked or ignored.

2) Don’t ask me any Tiny Toons, Freakazoid, or Pinky and the Brain questions since I didn’t watch any of them.

3) Don’t be a jerk.

4) If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the inbox or messages

5) If your ask contains something sensitive, be sure to put in a warning.

6) No questions about the prototype Warners

[torireactstohdgstories]

I'm reading a story right now (way too tired to storyblog it but maybe I'll post about it later) and it's about an independant human getting a cold and an affini visiting her because the human's hab unit ai reported her. It got me thinking, imagine affini have like an app for this, that notifies them if there is a human in need around, like those apps that tell you about good deals around you, or however Uber works. XD

[simstryingtheirbestok]

I have to jump out of that asinine story for a second.

I was playing Velma last night like, just playing The Sims 3. Just playing her. Not trying to coax her into making the right faces or talking to the right Sims or any of that pose-y storyblogging horseshit, right? Just, let's get her set up in her new house and acclimated to Aurora Skies and all that. It was meant to be fun, and it was fun.

It was also obnoxiously demented.

The nonsense began, as it always does, with an invitation to a party.

Vivienne and Violet, and their respective families, live together in a huge farmhouse in the country. I have no idea what that farmhouse looks like on the inside, because Velma was in only two rooms of it, and one of those was the foyer--but okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Point is, Violet's sleazy husband Nick invited Velma to a party they were having, and I thought she ought to go, so she did.

Above, we see Velma at the party. In response to being flirted with by Devon, Velma has chosen "Complain About Dirty Dishes." This, right after she responded to having her hands held by Devon with "Enthuse About Magic."

If you were wondering why it's been nearly a month of gameplay since Devon came on the scene and this gal is not pregnant yet? This is why. I can't let her do anything with him autonomously because she always chooses the most mood-breaking things like, well, Complain About Dirty Dishes.

So I took over the controls, got them back on track, and noticed that behind the door you see in the shot above, there was a really luxurious-looking shower.

I also remembered that Velma had finally got Inappropriate But In A Good Way.

I completely forgot that Devon does not have Inappropriate But In A Good Way.

So no sooner had he stepped into the shower, eager for fun times with Velma, than the owners of the farmhouse appeared. I mean, instantly. They ran into the bathroom so fast, and I was so astonished by it, that I didn't get a shot of them all in there.

I was laughing too hard anyway. Velma hadn't even gotten in the damn thing yet when BOOM! busted by the partygivers.

Nick also brought his teenaged son along. How sweet.

Nick is heckling Devon because of course he is. He's such an asshole. I never should have paired up Violet with him.

David is, as usual, looking at the lights.

(It is my firm belief that David is not actually a doctor. In my mind, he never made it past bedpan cleaner, so he stole a lab coat and a nametag, and now every morning he pretends to Vivienne that he's off to do some doctorin'. But David is too dumb to have graduated medical school. David might be too dumb to have graduated any school, for that matter.)

Anyway! As they were leaving the bathroom, a drum set suddenly appeared before Nick and David. It is a testament to how well-trained she has me that I immediately flipped the camera around to look for Wendalyn.

But no, apparently it's David's drum set.

The drumming woke up his (Light Sleeper) daughter, Marcella. At first, she was pissed.

But then she got into it.

Meanwhile...

I thought the least Velma could do was greet her host and compliment the party.

I shouldn't bother thinking things. I should go sit in the hospital parking lot with David pretending to be a doctor, because.

Nick or David must have booted Devon from the party once Devon came out of the bathroom. How do I know?--Because Devon called to talk to Velma. Yes, while she was still at the party.

"Wow, we have a lot of catching up to do!"

[citadelofswords]

me last week: oh i have an idea for a little story. maybe like 10k, 11k. possibly novella length, but i'm not holding my breath

me now, staring at my half-empty miro board and thinking about the research i need to do and the complexity of my pov character: well fuck

[despair-to-future-arcs]

Apologies if i already mentioned this, as my memory fails at the moment, but although i had a few problems in a couple of the Multi-missions, overall i really enjoyed the format of seeing multiple things that happened at around the same times and if the remainder of the briefcase missions are written in this format i think i would enjoy them a lot since it's a change of pace from the standard format of this askblog and were pretty smooth to read through since we were always going from point A, to B to C instead of starting in point A, cutting to Sub-point A, and other side plots before returning to point B.

I'm not saying the standard format is bad by any means, that's just how storyblogs with lots of characters go and it's completely fine and enjoyable on its own right, but a change of pace is always fun to watch.

-Critic anon

//Ah yeah, I get it and probably this might be the only time I do something like this again but it's fun to write down what everyone else is doing and getting a lot of characizations done for a lot of characters; especially for those like Juzo and Kyosuke. ^^

//Yeah, I do think after this and the next episode, the next ones are going to focusing on certain missions that happen on the same days from here on out.

[idv-elysium-investigation]

August 13 (cont.) … … {It's been half an hour…did you get in?} … I have found talismans in the branches. I {oh thank heavens!!} may need you to {You can't scare me like that!!} … {Right. Go on.} … I will need you to find our files on rune talismans, especially those involved in obfuscation. Burning it would normally do, but there is more than one talisman, and a number are out of my feasible reach. Alternative methods are required, and I would rather know what I am doing rather than spend the rest of the evening - … … … {?} … {You either got distracted by something or you've been eaten.} … … {Please tell me you haven't been eaten.} … {Don't make me come out there!}