book-of-fallen-stars

[book-of-fallen-stars]

Sleep

So it was that upon that day when the princess was laid to bed, she did not sleep. 

She closed her eyes to the world and began to pretend. 

Pretend to not hear the whispers of the maids putting away the last of her jewels. 

Pretend to ignore her mother’s soft hands gliding through her hair. 

Pretend to ignore her father’s prayers at her bedside. 

She resisted the urge to eat, stand up, or even call out. She pretended to sleep until she truly passed into Morpheus’ embrace and when she awoke once more she kept her eyes closed until she passed back and forth between these two states for years to come.

This was how the tale of the sleeping beauty came to be.

For by some mystical means she did not age, nor wither away as long as she remained in her bed. 

And once you put on a show long enough the show begins to become real. 

The mask becomes flesh. And the lie becomes truth.

So her sleep which began as a mysticism to give the people hope became truth, and the sleeping beauty awaited the one who would awaken her to bring a new age upon the kingdom.

(But in all honesty when the prince arrived to wake her up he was quite the fool. Mind filled with grand adventures and desire to see the world the princess let him go and leave, rather than stay and fall in love. Instead, the princess took up the reigns of the throne herself and through her competency brought the kingdom to its Golden Age.)

#the princess #the princess who must sleep #sleepy time #part 3 #the end...or is it? #so i want to explain why it worked as just magic and plot armor but #i actually do have a legit explanation #might post it later as a continuation or prequel thing #we stan a qween #like no joke an actual queen #hehe #i really want to see this fleshed out but I don't know what comes next #her story with me is done i think

[book-of-fallen-stars]

What if I can’t fall asleep?

Unfortunately, the princess was never asked her opinion of the matter. 

Fortunately enough while the prophecy was indeed foretold for her, the princess had always been a curious child and eager to fulfill her duties as best she could she pestered her royal tutor with questions.

“When will it be time for me to sleep?”

“It is said you will sleep on the day of your birth after four squared years of contentment, your highness.”

“How will I know when to wake up?”

“The magic inherent in your sleep will be what calls forth your awakening, your highness.”

“What if I can’t fall asleep?”

And it was this question, this most curious inquiry by a child which truly stumped the tutor. “I suppose...I supposed you will simply have to do your best, your highness.”

“Do my best? Do my best at what?”

“Do your very best to fake the enchanted sleep. Do you understand?”

“No sir, I’m afraid I don’t”

“You see, young one, this kingdom has placed all its hopes upon this prophecy and the promise inherent in it. If they are disappointed it will truly become the beginning of a new era, one of bloodshed and civil wars.”

“So I must...pretend? Pretend on that day to sleep? Even if I cannot?”

“Yes, your highness, I’m afraid you must.”

#the princess #the princess who must sleep #part 2 lol #bit of dialogue #princess and her tutor #dutiful princess #responsible #we stan #sometimes you gotta fake it til you make it #tutor out here teaching the real life lessons #even in a world of magic fake it til you make it is valid #confidence is everything #smol child #learning life hacks for surviving at a young age #royalty #magic #gotta go to sleep gurl #time for bed once ur 16 #fairytale

[book-of-fallen-stars]

The Princess

Ages ago there was a princess. 

Long before her birth it was foretold that she would fall into a great sleep, and upon her awakening bring unto the kingdom an era of great peace and prosperity. 

Therefore, since she was of three summers she had been prepared for this task. 

She was gifted for every name day sheets of the finest make, pillows as soft as clouds, and a mountain of blankets that would never draw her out of her bed. 

She knew since her first lesson that falling asleep was of vital importance even as she was customarily taught the basics of governing as all royalty was entitled to. 

Thus, when the dawn of her sixteenth birthday arrived preparations for her last day awake for years to come began. 

Her favorite foods were prepared, she was allowed to wander about as she wished, and when the sun set she was tucked into bed.

#the princess #beginning of a short story series i wrote last year #alternate sleeping beauty #based off of sleeping beauty #a couple more excerpts to continue this #i kind of made a small world for this one but nothing complete #the princess who must sleep

[book-of-fallen-stars]

The Wanderer

When she was born her name was her prophecy.

She was declared Luz to her village, the one would would be light to teach, to guide, to illuminate the way forward.

She was extraordinary but not in her skills or her work. Her heart was the glow which warmed her people and led them to happiness.

She cared in the most busy body way possible, remembering names, worries, problems, and finding solutions. Her village was small and remote but peaceful.

When Luz came of age to learn a craft she chose magic. Magic to bless, to bind, to bring forth miracles. It was a secretive profession that often time borne forth rewards that were invisible to the mortal eye but infinitely protective.

That was when the invaders arrived.

They came upon the village, first in peace bringing forth beguiling words. Twisting what was once straight and turning the men, women, and children who did not practice the craft against they who did.

Next in secret the invaders passed on their advancements in weaponry and medicine to only those who listened and obeyed them. All who did not practice fell to their trickery and converted themselves in dedication to the foreigner’s god who refused the existence of miracles not wrought by his own hand.

In the end it was not the invaders who brought about the end of magic in this small village on the edge of the world.

Their kinsmen, struck with fear put in place by newly gained knowledge, came forth in the night seizing the practitioners and the apprentices and the servants who aided them and bound them to the trees. Purifying their souls of witchcraft with the most holy element of fire and returning them to God’s embrace.

Luz, the kindest of them all, was blessed by one last miracle from the hands of her master. She was freed by a sharp whisper of wind, a silent caress from the fire, and ran for her last hope.

In the home she held with her master, practicing magic, there was one final miracle conceived during the twilit hours for the most desperate times under the boughs of the tree which served as their foundation.

A spell that would sacrifice her connection to their land in order to fling her being to safety and a new home. It was untested but her last hope, which she seized with both hands and stepped forward.

She landed in water and breathed air untouched by ashes of misery or hate.

#loosely based off of Worlds by SillyFanboy #the concept of an accidental world traveller who ends up stumbling into a young world and shaping it #using magic in a different way than they know it #dying at the hands of those who hate the influence an outsider gained #witch during the witch trials who fled through magic #into another world #the world of fire emblem heroes (kind of - more like the spin off version created by SillyFanboy) #supposedly she would eventually meet some orphans and raise them to become thrasir and lif #who would then found askr and embla #this is just what my head came up with as a reason she had to leave her world in the first place

[book-of-fallen-stars]

Path to Hell is paved with Good intentions

Nothing spells out unintended consequences better than creating a social media platform to connect the world and spread love only for a foreign country to use the ad space to spread propaganda and use it as a recruitment space for hate crimes and further the extremes of the political spectrum.

The ways in which a pure hearted motivation can become corrupted by the hidden tides of society are devastating to witness and even more difficult to find the courage to combat.

#thoughts #social commentary #state of social media #2020 commentary #world is rotting but we are alive and surviving #not religious but this quote fit too perfectly #not to call out any social media platforms specifically but this is a problem #and we don't know how to deal with it #political commentary

[book-of-fallen-stars]

Su(n)mmer 2020

[Seattle, Washington]Picture this.

It’s 2020 the world is burning literally and figuratively around your ears.

The Golden Gate Bridge glows red as it stretches over the Bay, and the famous tourist location fades into the past as the future of technology grows looms brighter.

California is on fire. Oregon is on fire. Washington is on fire.

The Pacific Northwest of the United States is set aflame and for once it’s not because it’s blazing the path to the future for humanity.

Instead, San Francisco is consumed by the rising costs of living. Portland is subsumed under an inferno of fury from racial prejudice. Seattle is choked by the clouds of smoke echoing from both.

That’s the figurative bit.

National parks disappear under the weight of lightning strikes. Hidden fires burn underground even as firefighters battle uncontrolled blazes on the surface. Homes disappear in ashes and property that millions of dollars were spent on vanishes in an instant.

This is today. This is reality.

Now, what comes next?

I’ve just come out of a two-day break drowning myself in a 59 episode long Chinese drama in an attempt to flee from this.

And all I’m left feeling is more empty, hollow, and desolate.

The momentary kick from watching people fall in love, fall apart, and conquer their challenges fades quickly.

The lasting reminders of what is happening around me don’t go away.

Belarus is in an uproar as they rise against President Lukashenko who has reigned supreme for decades. A bright moment overshadowed by the horrors occurring to protestors as they fight for democracy.

China is once again purging those who don’t fit in quietly, bypassing judgment from the world. The Uighur population is crushed and their culture destroyed as President Xi Jinping continues to bring China to glory on the global front.

The United States is a chaotic landscape divided in half by political ideologies which only become more extreme as technology advances. The poor lose more while the rich climb higher and the income gap only increases.

Russia poisons an opposition leader to President Putin and Germany issues a warning. Russia continues to unapologetically hack into other governments. Taking advantage of the lawless landscape that the Internet provides as a haven of information, both real and fake.

Countries are more opposed to opening borders than ever, and for the first time in over a score, there are worldwide bans on flights from specific nations.

Across the world, there are more natural disasters popping up year by year as global warming takes its toll even while people continue to steadfastly deny its existence.

It’s expected that by 2050 we will be on a fast track to irreparably damaging the earth with no way to hit the breaks.

Question is, will it be the fire, the air, or the water that ruins us first?

Fires rage across the United States and Australia has taken a severe hit as well recently.

Air pollution is at highs never before seen as air quality indexes continue to issue orders to stay indoors.

Oceans rise, empires fall is not only a quote from Hamilton now, but the reality we face as sea levels continue to grow higher and Venice is soon to become the next Atlantis.

Maybe I’m overwhelmed by the vast amounts of ghastly news which streams in daily to my iPhone X, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is our reality.

This is what we have to determine how to face and tackle so it might become something we can live with.

One way is to turn away from it all, continue living in escapism searching for the next high from Netflix’s Top 10 shows, or the latest re-runs of last year’s football games.

But the other is to expose yourself to others, share your thoughts, open your mind, and listen.

Don’t get defensive, hateful, or interrupt them because you disagree.

Show them the respect that you would like in return as fellow humans struggling to deal with an increasingly mad world and create discourse.

Dialogue is the only way for us to move forward and determine what issues there are and how we might resolve them.

It creates drama because we are a species of social individuals who have our preferences, but it also creates an opportunity for those of us who could be more but never got the chance.

I think the craziest part of what I’ve written so far is that these are the issues happening without even including the worldwide pandemic hitting us at this moment.

No wait, I’m wrong. The craziest thing of all of this is that everything I’ve mentioned is problems that can be fixed by us. We can avert and minimize these disasters, not as “I” but as “we.”

#world commentary #political commentary #thoughts #quarantine #written like an article #newspaper style #originally written 9/17/2020 #how to move forward #pandemic #west coast #pacific northwest #USA

[book-of-fallen-stars]

It’s not that she was particularly bothered by her situation, she pondered sitting by the lake. It was new, unusual, and unique—all things she had once professed to adore greatly and all the things which now made her feel like a stranger in a stranger’s land.

The mansion itself was gorgeous of course, seeing as how she was born into a rich family such things were to be expected. And the beautiful pond had a wonderful pagoda she loved to play under.

Water—her fascination with it hadn’t ended even after she died. Sometimes she still stared into the depths and wondered what if...but then her flock of siblings would descend to disrupt her contemplation and she would banish the thought for a later time.

All she truly needed to do to thank her parents was meet the men they picked out for her and be kind and courteous. Inevitably she would need to pick one in order to strengthen the bonds between her family’s faction and another, or gain a valuable new alliance for the family.

#reincarnation #noble/rich family #future marriage #original work #probably died drowning

[book-of-fallen-stars]

When did I forget the way your keys looked?

The way your bed feels?

The way your warmth would surround me and make me forget the world?

How did I forget the happiness your kisses gave me?

The joy of knowing you love me?

The excitement of waking up to know you’d be beside me?

What finally broke the camels back?

Turned loving words into bruising attacks?

Changed adoring caresses into sharp knives?

Forced us apart and never to reconcile?

When did we drift apart?

How did it start?

Where did it forge a gap between us?

Why did we let it stop us?

Who made the first step away?

What made the separation clearest?

#poem #very freestyle i suppose #actually two stanzas were accidenatlly deleted so its supposed to be longer #originally written for my mom #interpret as you wish

[book-of-fallen-stars]

Miraculous Ladybug Reincarnation OC-Insert

I woke up to cold limbs and an ache in my throat and knew, “It’s time.”

My life started and ended with tears the first time around. Typical family used to success and logic and unable to deal with a girl run by feelings and empathy. They tried to of course, they were a good family, but they just didn’t get it. And now I guess it’s too late.

The start of the end was my selflessness. Stupid, idiotic, altruism. If I hadn’t volunteered at that quarantine hospital, if I hadn’t offered to stay and deal with the crisis—well, let’s just say there wouldn’t have been a heroine to this story.

I died, surrounded by family that loved me and didn’t entirely understand my motivations and kindness.

I woke, embraced by an ecstatic mother and father who help no expectations for me other than a happy life.

To be fair all the insanity didn’t start until I hit lycée. France was a gorgeous place to live and while I constantly worried after mes parents financial states to afford it, we were happy. I grew up with the smell of vanilla and baked bread in the air, learning to dance and sing with the latest Eurovision winners, and appreciated. My parents loved my big heart and I loved them.

At school I had the same classes with the same faces for years—Nino, Mylène, Kim, Alix—and I was used to them and their habits.

I decided early on with a passion fueled by expectations from another life and desire to support my parents that I would be a doctor. A psychologist, maybe, or even a family doctor?

All of that changed when I met Alya Césaire, the girl who would be my best friend and the cause of my immense stress levels. She was fun and sporadic and convinced me life was only worth living if I did things that made me happy instead of things I felt obligated to do. So I switched over to little designs and doodles. At first I only ever showed them to Alya, but eventually I gathered my courage and began submitting some smaller designs to companies via mail to earn prize money.

Of course hitting lycée was when it all got screwed up because of one Adrien Agreste. To be fair Adrien was nice. Almost horribly so. And it was with his introduction on the first day in lycée that I freaked the fuck out. I hadn’t realized how similar my circumstances were to another Marinette Dupain-Cheng until then and my reaction ended up being an outburst of epic proportions which didn’t fit with the crime. Gum on my seat. Yikes.

Author’s Note

I’m probably not going to come back to finish writing this piece. I actually began writing it a couple years back when I noticed the severe lack of SI/OC or just SI fanfiction for Miraculous Ladybug. I do still love the fandom, but I’ve lost my inspiration.

I would love it if someone decided to pick this up and give it a chance to bloom. My only request is that a message be sent to me so that I can read it as well. I’m willing to serve as an open ear for any brainstorming or questions.

#miraculous ladybug #Marinette Cheng #Original Character Reincarnation #Original Character Insert #probably never coming back to this #excerpt writing #my muse comes and goes like the wind #please give this a home #and let me know if you decide to write more for it