sparrow-orion-writes

[sparrow-orion-writes]

AriEdward.5: Cannot help but smile in response to the one already on the other’s lips.

~ M <3

The thing was surprising enough that Edward paused, rooted in the doorway where he'd stood, poised to ask a question. What it was had escaped him with the quick impact of a smile. Ari's smile, to be precise. Holding a half-smile between a shake of his head in response to something that had been said in the seconds before Edward had entered the room. The slight wrinkles around his eyes became indented, and a dimple - which Edward had never seen - showed beside the curve of his dry lips. And how does he keep his teeth so white? He thought to himself. Then he caught Edward's stare, and his smile didn't fade. Instead, his smile widened - starting a tremble inside Edward's chest that felt like his heart was shaking. Yet, outwardly, all he could do was smile back, somewhat enraptured by the sight of some kindness in Ari's otherwise tired eyes.

Prompt Fill Taglist:

@rickie-the-storyteller @mayarab @gabe-killed-me-with-ace-cream @kaylinalexanderbooks @sender-paulson

#short and sweet #my writing #ship; AriEdward

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Happy STS! What book are your characters getting emotionally attached to?

I think it's only Ari and Edward that read, to be honest. April can't read properly, he can make out some names and words that are familiar, but he's both dyslexic and didn't come from a setting that favoured written texts. Ember can read better than April, but he never had a formal education so he's largely self-taught apart from things Ari has helped him with.

Ari reads a lot. Don't know what he'd get emotionally attached to, but he definitely has a bookshelf, which at this time is like collecting antiques.

Edward can read and does read for fun, and has written texts (that he wrote down himself, or have been passed down to him!) from his home town which are like folk tales, or legends, or warnings.

#ask game answers #tori #sts

[sparrow-orion-writes]

9- Write about your ship getting dressed up in fancy outfits together.

Listen, AriEdwardTune, maybe they gotta infiltrate somewhere and gotta go undercover, maybe it's just someone else hosting a party (my brain supplied AnaLucia wedding as an example 👀) but either way

Hot

~ M <3

"It's a party, you have to dress nicely," Neptune had insisted, much to Ari's affront as he looked down at his oil-stained hands and worse-for-wear waistcoat.

"And I don't dress nicely?"

"Well...it's not the style, so much the..." Neptune gestures loosely, before glancing over at Edward, who only slips away from the conversation as though he were never there in the first place.

But an argument was always pointless, because Neptune always won, and he always let her.

Which is how he found himself wearing the deep tones of crimson red amongst his familiar and comfortable black. It was the most he would allow. The waistcoat, embellished in these floral swirls, standing firmly against the charcoal black of his shirt and trousers.

He still misses his monochromatic style; the comfortable grey wasn't a broken feat of his wardrobe - and thus did not need fixing.

The jacket was that same deep red, startling to look at. He felt almost foolish as he slid it on. This was a suit for a younger man, he felt, and someone twice as attractive as himself.

Ari greased his curls back, pinning them neatly to some semblance of control, but allowing some strays to fall forward of his forehead. He considered faking an illness, his red cheeks redder and body tense with unfamiliar anxiety. He was not the social butterfly that his partners were. It's largely why he had the two of them - so they could entertain each other whilst he locked himself in a dark room, neither speaking nor moving.

Neptune's demanding knock tore his gaze away from his petrified expression, just in time for her to step into the room. Suddenly it really didn't matter much. No-one would be looking at him, because she was absolutely beautiful. She was always beautiful, of course, but for a moment his mind turned over and his heart stuttered, and air became a scarcity far removed from his lungs.

She looked like a drawing of the sea he'd seen once - or at least that's his approximation. Her blue curls soft, the cobalt dress flowing the same way air might. She sparkled in the light of the room from the jewellery.

To him, she may as well as been as rare and precious as that untainted water, frozen in time, beautiful enough for an artist to sketch. If he had the hands for it, he might've entertained the thought himself.

"We're waiting for you," she smiled, pretending not to notice his dazed expression, though her chin raised a little higher - and that smirk was undeniable.

Edward was just as much of a sight to behold. He'd spent the better half of the day putting his braids in, claiming both excitement and exhaustion at different phases.

He'd made an effort, in some way, to match Ari's style, but the darkened red was replaced with a shining, brilliant gold. Which much matched Edward's personality, Ari thought to himself, enraptured by the way his lover almost seemed to radiate light.

He'd been reminded of the two of them, sat on the windowsill smoking and drinking, looking up at a shooting star expectantly, discussing the old world tradition of wishes. What he would wish for. But in truth the wish had already been granted and the only star he needed was right there.

A little winded by it all, he leaned his head against the doorway and exhaled. "You both look amazing," he uttered, feeling as though he meant to shrink away from them both.

"As do you," Edward whispered, hand suddenly on Ari's chest, "...I love this colour on you," the words hold an edge he rarely hears in Edward's voice, something that returns the blush to his cheeks in full force.

"You look good enough to eat," Neptune presses a warm, lingering kiss on his hot cheek, her fingers intertwining gently in his own "...but for now, sadly, we do have a party to attend."

"That we do," Ari whispered, more than a little flustered. He clears his throat, "...but I'm glad you like it."

--

Prompt Fill Taglist:

@rickie-the-storyteller @mayarab @gabe-killed-me-with-ace-cream @kaylinalexanderbooks @sender-paulson

#nothing fancy just trying to get my brain to work at This Point

[sparrow-orion-writes]

formal apology to everyone who tagged me in tag games i did really want to do them but my executive functioning has more similarities with a snail on a sunny day than its actual function. furthermore as the tag games piled up i become crushed by crippling inability to sort through them. i love you tho. one day you'll catch me in the fleeting moment of pure adrenaline and desire to write, and we will be in sync.

[sparrow-orion-writes]

diversity loss this trans man is just as much of an emotionally unavailable avoidantly attached brick as any cis guy

#oc; ari

[sparrow-orion-writes]

fertile decay

i want her to consume me, as if im made for her taste her teeth to my skin, chewing tender flesh as if i am a meal for her; or a dog, or a lamb, or going to the slaughter of her desire, i go, so willing and wanting, chest rising and falling the cusp of my bones to her starving lips, i obey every word, a sacrifice to a patient god bleeding all so well so - she calls me her good girl and i am weeping with the ecstasy of my own death as her hands remould my flower-burdened ribcage and mycorrhizal nerves my decay, oh-so fertile for her.

#love and consumption #love and consumption poems #my writing

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Happy STS! What are your characters' favorite songs? Bonus: Why that song?

I think that April would probably really like the typical weirdcore music like will wood, mother mother, i always include the family crest because the sudden trumpets are just Enough for me. I don't know about favourite song though.

Ari listens to jazz, and i dont blame him.

#sts #ask answers #tori

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Writeblr Introduction

Suppose I should introduce myself per the writeblr Very Friendly Suggestions. I'm PB, or peebs if you prefer, I'm in my 30's, bisexual, dyspraxic, and as behooves a man of my standing I'm also grappling with considerable depression. I like to write, like it a lot and I always have. My main WIPs are: a clockpunk love story titled The Clockwork Boy, a Lovecraftian Horror Romance titled His Impossible Brushstrokes and a 30s-punk portal fantasy serial titled Thereafter. I also dabble with smaller projects I won't get into here. Mostly coherent and concise synopses of The Clockwork Boy, His Impossible Brushstrokes, and Thereafter follow below.

The Clockwork Boy

My NaNoWriMo 2022 novel was initially conceived because I couldn't find much fun MLM genre fiction to read, so I decided to get myself good and wedged into that niche. The story follows Jake, who's stuck in a dead-end job of machining gears and sundry parts as well as lifting heavy things until a small, yet deceptively strong young man crashes into his life, and also his arms. The young man is called 13, his entire body from the neck down is made out of impossibly complex clockwork parts, and he's on the run from multiple powerful people and factions.

13 is stronger and faster than anyone has the right to be, but several broken parts hold him back. Jake is immediately smitten by the complex mechanics of 13's clockwork body, not to mention his sad, blue eyes, and so vows to help repair 13. The complexity of the task at hand is only increased by the two being pursued by local goon squads as well as other clockwork-bodied people with numbers for names.

The world of The Clockwork Boy and the Hearts In Clockwork series, provided I get around to writing more of these things, is languishing in a peculiar type of anarchy. The Age of Steam has come and gone and after a series of destructive colonial wars known as The Coal Wars, the power of government and nation has all but eroded. In their place, an alliance of powerful merchants and holders of capital keeps an iron grip on what passes for law from their seat in the massive tower known only as The Spire. Their power is exerted through monopoly and other economic maneuvers, but also by their rowdy Enforcers, who rule through intimidation and sheer brutishness.

13, as it turns out, is part of The Clockmen, a hitherto hidden faction within The Spire, whose acerbic leader is working to create an elite force of clockwork-powered individuals to overthrow The Spire and their enforcers, but even within the clockmen, agendas differ. 13 was originally made to fight and kill rogue clockmen, but so objected to this that he fled, searching for his memories and what freedom could be found.

Jake and 13 eventually find themselves under the auspices of The Northwest, an underground worker-owned coop parts workshop that takes them in and offers them succor in their time of need. In the relative safety of The Northwest's hidden workshop, Jake and 13 get the time they need to perform the sizable number of repairs needed, and perhaps ask the question of what they are becoming to each other and what comes next.

The current status of the project at the moment is going through the old rewrite and editing wringers. I'm currently having the thing beta read and I'll make whatever changes I need after that before attempting to hook an agent to help me get the thing published. In the meantime, I post about it a lot. If you want to be up-to-date on the most recent rambles in the setting, check out the tag list post here

My final goal with this project is to somehow get it published and, provided I am not met with immediate scorn and ridicule, get started on writing one or more sequels. I don't have the entire series planned out or anything, but I have several stories in this universe planned, and I know where and how I want it to end.

His Impossible Brushstrokes

My 2023 NaNoWriMo entry and current Lagrange point of my life. Continuing the trend from last year of writing novels that I wish someone else had written already so I could read it, Brushstrokes is a male-led queer horror with a mspec protagonist, exploring the shared points between love and fear, admiration and obsession, and art and madness.

The story follows Oscar Skerry, an obsessive San Fran art critic who goes to progressively more extreme measures to understand the works of his favorite artist, a pan-European enfant terrible by the name Tomasz Gildebrant. Gildebrant is an obscure artist, whose paintings nevertheless go for exorbitant prices on account of his cult appeal.

Following the thread of an art patron going berserk and attempting to destroy a Gildebrant painting by eating it, Tomasz unravels the urban legend of Gildebrant Psychosis. This sickness allegedly drives some who see a Gildebrant painting into acts of brutality, depravity, or the profoundly absurd, and Oscar starts to suspect there is something deeper and darker going on than repeated failures of the mental health system.

Seemingly out of the blue, Oscar gets an invitation to join Gildebrant in his home in the southern Carpathian Mountains. Eager to get to the bottom of things, and share his theories with Gildebrant, Oscar accepts.

Once there, two things become readily apparent. One, Gildebrant is incredibly charming, so much so that Oscar finds himself doubting that Gildebrant could be the man behind the dark, disturbing paintings he obsesses over. Two, there are way too many things not adding up, like how the doors to his guestroom in the Gildebrant household lock automatically at midnight, and how many pairs of shoes fill Gildebrant's hallway.

Per April 2024, the first draft for His Impossible Brushstrokes is complete. The plan remains to seek tradpub or indie publishing once I've edited the thing.

Thereafter

My first self-released project. The first chapters of Thereafter is slated to be released via buttondown starting May 1st 2024. This story follows Michael, a man in his 30s who traveled to, and saved, a magical cave-world populated by kindly molefolk at the tender age of twelve (and a half.) Now, 20 years later, Michael struggles in life and finds himself wishing for those simpler days of adventure again. Life is not without a sense of cruel irony, as the phenomenon that spirited him away all those years ago reoccur. Michael doesn't find himself in the serene caves of the molefolk, however, but in a desperately ramshackle city built from the flotsam and jetsam of thousands upon thousands of worlds.

This strange town goes by the name of Thereafter, and it was the surviving population of the cave world, as well as many other worlds, built with what they could salvage after The Calamity. Few who saw the world-destroying catastrophe lived to tell the tale, and the few who have, tell conflicting and surely nonsensical tales of it. Either way, the few that survived being flung into the void between worlds found their way to this nexus of the dispossessed, where the despair of dispossession percolated under the pressure of resource insecurity and a general sense of the world quite literally coming to an end.

To assuage some of these fears, The Council of Thereafter, a hastily assembled collection of wizards, wise men and the occasional cryptic hermit, decided to summon heroes of the old to their side. Due to the way time flows differently in the realms of magic, centuries and even millennia have passed since Michael saved the Molefolk, and the tales of his exploits have only grown in his absence.

Fortunately, Michael will not be alone in his task of portraying a heroic figure far beyond what he is able to actually be. Unfortunately, his colleagues in this endeavor are all messed up to an equal degree to him. Lex, the Polish enby scientist, is cynical on a level that borders on the parodic and worryingly horny. Felipe, the Mexican pro athlete archer, is arrogant, flighty and seems physically unable to take anything seriously. Finally, Alicia, the New York-based fitness influencer, seems restless in a way that either speaks to undiagnosed ADHD or truly world-shaking rage contained under the athletic facade.

Together, this rag-tag band of 30-somethings must unite in their quest to portray the heroes that history have made them, all the while grappling with what it means to be a hero in a desperately imperfect world. The city of Thereafter is full of crime born of desperation, hatred born of fear, and runaway magic, but that is not all. After all, the only thing anyone can agree on about the Calamity is that it is still out there and may one day turn its destruction upon Thereafter.

With Thereafter, I plan to work more with character and group dynamics than I have in my earlier works. The dysfunctional found family of the Heroes is supposed to be a big draw of the story, alongside the mystery of The Calamity and more pressing concerns about survival. As usual for a Peebs story, there will also be rumination, politics and philosophy involved, tigers don't usually change their stripes after all, but we're also getting a fantasy post-apocalyptic tale of love, bravery, and the many obscure pains of growing up.

Thereafter will, as mentioned above, be released on a chapter by chapter basis via Buttondown, with an archive also being kept on Cohost. A subscription link will follow as release date approaches.

#author; pb-dot #yasss

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Writeblr Intro

20’s, bisexual, she/her, deaf, disabled, college student

Not new to tumblr but coming back slowly 

Looking for some mutuals, feel free to ask questions, tag me in games!

Currently drafting a dark academia horror science fantasy about a power-hungry girl looking to murder some people. 

Love anime, fantasy and science fiction genres, animals, and drawing

Undergrad pursuing international studies & bio, which i love adding aspects of into my stories 

My favorite color is purple

#prev tags #purble supremacy

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Hand revealed

Characters: Near Hallow, Lewis Atteberry

Story: Second Chance At Life

TW: none

WC: 276

Near clenches his hands into fists as he stares at Lewis, trying desperately to keep your voice level. "Even if he is your father, that man doesn't care about you."

"That's- you don't know that!" Lewis is shaking, and Near can't quite figure out why exactly. Normally he'd say it's anger, but... something about that doesn't seem right. "I'm his son! The heir!"

"And that's the only thing he cares about!" Near takes a breath, flexing his fingers. Stay calm. Turning this into a shouting match won't help anyone. "He doesn't care that you're his son, he only cares that you're the heir. He's manipulating you every step of the way to turn you into a version of himself." It had been that way the first time around, and despite everything that's changed, it was the same this time.

"You- you're just mad he won't recognize you as his child!"

Oh. So Adrian had told someone this time. Still.

"Oh, wake up already, Lewis. I'm happy where I am. I've got the support of both Owen and Val, I'm respected. Why would I ever wanna give that up for a snakepit?" He'd done it once. Never again. "I'm trying to help you. I'm not saying you have to denounce him, or anything like that. I just need you to watch out, to stay aware. To stay your own person."

"I- whatever! You don't know what you're talking about!" Lewis storms away, but Near can feel himself relax. That look on his face at the end... It's the start he needed.

And maybe... Maybe in a while, Lewis will come to him, and really let him help.

---

Flash Fiction Friday taglist: @flashfictionfridayofficial

SCAL taglist:

General taglist: @simkarta333 @sparrow-orion-writes

If you want to be added to/removed from a taglist, you can either let me know, or do it yourself in this document (yes that's a link).

#OOOH #the frustration there is just deliscious #author; e-lisard

[sparrow-orion-writes]

So I just saw a post by a random personal blog that said “don’t follow me if we never even had a conversation before” and?????? Not to be rude but literally what the fuck??????????

I’ve had people (non-pornbots) try to strike conversation out of nowhere in my DMs recently, and now I’m wondering if they were doing that because they wanted to follow me and thought they needed to interact first. I feel compelled to say, just in case, that it’s totally okay to follow this blog (or my side blog, for that matter) even if we’ve never talked before.

Also, I’m legit confused. Is this how follow culture works right now? It was worded like it’s common sense but is that really a thing?

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Sometimes women are hotter when they are evil. Actually always. When theyre my ocs at least. I kiss them all

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Flash Fiction Friday Babey!!

In Memory / When he felt fear.

You have stood here before, once. You were smaller then, breathless and scared as you stood surrounded on every side. The thick bark of the trees had grazed you, the twigs snapping under your feet. There was blood from the grasp of thorns. You see this moment as you stand here. Your face calm, your eyes closed. You grew into your skin so well that it has become like paper - translucent over your aching bones. Your jaw is tight with the memory. You can feel the way your teeth press into each other - bone on bone. You remember that, too, don't you? Prying your little hands free of barbed wire and exposing bone like a wrapper peeling off a cake; taking muscle and sinew in your inexpert fingers. You bled, and you screamed, and you realised for the first time that you only had yourself as a hero. And only yourself to blame. Now, you open your eyes, you look up at the sunlight (it is not night, and the trees do not swallow the moon) and you remember what that child had felt. It rocks through you with a gust of wind - gentle and yet it tears through like nothing you've ever known. You sway where you stand, green eyes watering the leaves beneath you. You begin to cry. How did you forget? When did you forget? You have stood here, before.

Prompt Fill Taglist:

@rickie-the-storyteller @mayarab @gabe-killed-me-with-ace-cream @kaylinalexanderbooks @sender-paulson

.

@flashfictionfridayofficial

#flash fiction friday #prompt fill #wip; the poison complex #oc; april

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Then, 2. can we get some "i can't imagine who i'd be without you in my life"? :0

I just can't decide if it'd fit AriTune or AprilEmber better,,, :0

~ M <3

In the spirit of this being a prompt so. I can do whatever I like, have a poem.

Someone well-rounded, maybe less guilt, held in like a dam waiting to break water reaching, pushing, determining a path - to you? to us? to something we can never be; but reaching, still weak against brick weak against you trying to reverse through time and choices back to you.

#my poetry #prompt fill #AriTune

[sparrow-orion-writes]

xD this would be AriEdward if they were over 50. It will be them.

love relationships between fictional ppl over 50. you skip all that teenage hormonal shit and go straight to what counts: war crimes and making each other worse

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Assigning Pokemon to OC's (to combat writer's block) tag game. I used this Pokemon team-builder

These are a group of teacher friends shown early in bloodless heir book 1

Princess Astrea (child of fire and stars)

William (ray of sunshine farm boy)

Galhad (stoic leader of the group)

Renn (sarcastic woman who also just wants to plant a food forest to help starving kids)

Nikolai (copes with his grief by playing pranks and being a jokester)

No pressure tagging @pen-of-roses @sparrow-orion-writes @the-void-writes @sleepyowlwrites @forthesanityofsome @jezifster @flowerprose @innocentlymacabre

#i know very little about pokemon but this is so cute #wip; bloodless heir

[sparrow-orion-writes]

Almost forgot, I've been tagged!!

OC Questionnaire Tag

Tagged by the lovely @sparrow-orion-writes

Rules: Answer the questions provided with your own OCs perspective. Then create new questions for those tagged to continue the game.

Gonna do this for Lana of Ihinells, my DnD character (a high elf artificier from space)

What brings you peace?

Honestly, there's nothing better than coming home from a long fucking trip and just collapsing on the couch with Miriam.

Alternatively, I like to go to the workshop and just tinker for a bit to clear my head.

How do you deal with your anger?

Healthily, obviously, what kinda stupid question is that?

(authors note: if you couldn't tell, she does not, she's got a very short temper and has threatened to shoot her colleagues when they annoy her on more than one occasion)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

I travel so much for work already, I don't really have any dream vacation goals in mind. Maybe a hop and a skip back to Khior, indulge in some primal desires, or Mxyrglenrugenlstyakrav, they had some fascinating tech there. Although I also still owe Tarou a visit...

Tagging: @emthetimelady @mintmilk-art @evenedelweiss and @andy-andromedus (and everyone else who wants to do this)

Your questions:

How do you feel about your family?

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

What event in your life shaped you most?

#LANA!!! #other people's ocs #i lovE her