leahnardo-da-veggie

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

OC Questionnaire tag!

thank you @drchenquill for the tag! Gonna use Hans-el, who is going to be extremely pissed off by most of the questions haha

Are you named after anyone?

"You noticed my name is not typical of my people, I see. My father had an infatuation with mortal cultures, and my mother, may her ectoplasm soak the earth, thought the silly little folk-tale about the brother and sister quaint. Shame she did not have a chance to give me a sister. What a sight that would have been, two spirit siblings with human names."

When was the last time you cried?

"Has Hash been going around tattling on me? I am the great Spirit Emperor. I do not cry. Last night was but a... fluke. As were the nights before it."

Do you have kids?

"Do I look like I want a usurper of my throne? Of course I do not. Nor would I ever want one. My bloodline ends with me, as it should. Better to go out with a bang than a whimper."

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

"I am far too sweet and kind a man to do that. Of course I do. What better way is there to get my advisors' braids in a twist? I do try to avoid using it on Hash, though. Now there's a darling who's truly far too sweet and kind for that."

What's the first thing you notice about people?

"Their magic, by and large. The kind of mage they are tells me the kind of person they are. 'Tis the magicless that are the ones I am often wary of. Those tend to conceal hidden depths, and of the shark-infested sorts."

What's your eye colour?

"My people call it iil'kalre, or autumn-leaf gold. Honestly I prefer yellow. There is nothing poetic about eyes, except their taste."

Scary movies or happy endings?

"Believe it or not, I prefer a happy ending. The sort where the hero trying to save her family does, in fact, succeed against all odds. Those sorts of stories inspire hope, and I like hope. It is fun to crush."

Any special talents?

"You know, those who ask uncomfortable questions should be prepared to receive uncomfortable answers. I am Spirit Emperor, the closest thing to a god in this day and age. Let us leave it at that."

Where were you born?

"What sort of question is that? In my home-clan, obviously. If you meant to ask me where my clan lay, it was in the Celitane forest. The Godhuntress destroyed it long ago, and what remains is merely bad memories and death."

Do you have any pets?

"Do human children count? If so, I had one a while back. She is all grown up now, but I still visit her from time to time. She gives me special rates on smuggling artifact in from Luxatia."

What kind of sports do you play?

"I do not play sports, though I practice some forms of martial arts. 'Tis rather unbecoming of a gentleman, but absolutely necessary for an Emperor."

How tall are you?

"How well can you survive a fall off a mountain? Those two may well be the same question, if you continue prodding me. And for the record, foresters are simply less vertically inclined than mountainers. There is nothing peculiar about my height."

What was your favourite subject in school?

"School? Do I look like a woman to you? Egalitarian though we are, even the foresters did not educate males. Today's boys are fortunate beyond belief."

What is your dream job?

"When I was a little boy, I wanted to showcase curios, in one of those museum humans seem so fond of. But I am Spirit Emperor, and the only way one leaves that post is with their ectoplasm returned to the earth."

Tagging @rivenantiqnerd, @pluppsauthor, @beloveddawn-blog, @kaylinalexanderbooks and open tag!

#writing #writeblr #Tag games

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

🏝 - Do you often stick to one WIP and finish it, then move on, or do you bounce between WIPs?

I bounce more than a pinball in a machine operated by the strongest man in the world during an earthquake :))

#Me and my 10 WIPs dying together in that earthquake #I still have a fairly good completion rate tho

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Whoop whoop watch me fail :)

May Writing Challenge

This May I want to get back into writing. I’m not at all consistent. I’m at a point where I don’t feel like I can work on bigger things, because I can’t guarantee myself to keep working on it in a week from now. So I will take this month as a training month to get back into the habit of writing. I will do this by writing (or trying to write) 200 words every day. Topic is irrelevant. How great my writing is that day is irrelevant. Just 200 words written down. A habit taking 21 days to form was debunked, it does take a lot longer, but 31 days are a start I would say. These are already 140 words, so 200 words every day are hopefully manageable. You're more than welcome to join me if you like 😊

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Productivity boost tag game!

Thanks @shukei-jiwa again ;) These are always so fun!

Goals: In the short term, I wanna downsize my WIP folder and in the long term I need to keep up that perfect GPA haha :/

Productivity tip: When your head starts feeling fuzzy, load up with some cold water! Also use alarm clocks when you take breaks to force yourself back on track

Current Project: Gonna bore y'all with my UX design project cos why not :) I'm making a website for a fictional castle hotel in the Carcassonne region in France, and it's turning out super cool, I love being able to play house with a hotel and brag about my horse stables and wine tasting

Exchange something: Go listen to Butcher Vanity by Vane Lily cos it's awesome (it's about cannibalism)

Quote: "This quote only looks profound when it's in script font over a sunset" -xkcd (I'm sorry I couldn't resist)

Tagging @ramwritblr, @possiblylisle, @urnumber1star, @dorkypals1, @diabolical-blue, @ashing-blogging, @asterhaze, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @willtheweaver and open tag!

#Tag games #Productivity boost tag

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

The Devil drives a good bargain.

"I'm a good salesman. I don't mean that I'm good at selling things. I'm ethical and I sell fairly. All the same, I have to make a profit, so I drive a good, fair bargain.

Your soul for your dreams.

I mean, you don't exactly need it after you die, right? So why not just hand it over then?" I looked hopefully at my customer. He seemed torn, uncertain. I needed to strike fast, hard. I needed to sell this now.

"Come on... You said you wanted to fall in love again, right? I can do that. I can make you and your wife feel as though you were both teenagers in the throes of passion. Or, if you want, I can get you to fall in love with someone else? And I'll throw in a clean divorce too. Or perhaps an open marriage? The possibilities are endless!" Still, the man hesitated. What was wrong with the bastard? I gritted my teeth. He had been standing there for weeks, quietly contemplating. Wasting my time.

"I've decided," he said. My hope soared. "I don't want any of that." My hope crashed into a tree and died. 

"Then, what do you want?" I asked, giving him a winning smile.

"I want to make a bet. If I win, I get a wish for free. If I lose, I'll give up my entire family's souls. Deal?" He suddenly seemed infinitely more confident. I was nonplussed. Some people tried to fake me out, trick me into giving them free wishes. 

"What's the bet?" I leaned on the countertop, bringing myself to his level. We stared each other in the eye.

"We swap places. I be the Devil, you be the everyman. First to give up loses. You in?" He smirked.

What was I to do? I could hardly resist a gamble. It was a deal.

Perhaps I was a fool, I thought, sitting at a desk. Overseeing a herd of imps was not fun. They drew markers everywhere, squelched mud, and somehow had the ability to cry on command. But as I was sitting there, rifling through unartistic crayon drawings, an idea struck me.

I did not have to stay in this job. I did not have to go home to a dumpy wife who was cheating on me and a pair of whiny teenagers. That fool lent me his body and by hell, I was going to get a good deal out of it.

I decided to think of it as a vacation. I took out all the cash from the accounts, including the kids' college funds and the retirement money. Then I borrowed an unthinkably large amount of money before disappearing off to the tropics.

I spent my days in luxury, traveling, seeing the world, gambling when I needed more cash (for the Devil always wins). I saw the world from the rose-tinted glasses of the rich, and enjoyed luxuries beyond imagination. After a while, I began to dread the end of the bet.

And then I grew old, and still the bet had not come to an end. My heart was on the verge of dying on me, and I lay bedridden with kidney failure. So I did what anyone who was not in their own body would do in that situation. 

I jumped off a 50 story building. The impact did not hurt that much. It all quickly faded to black.

I reappeared on the other side of my counter. The man whose body I occupied stood manning my shop. When he saw me, he laughed maniacally. "So you just couldn't stand the old missus, huh? Guess I beat the Devil at his own game," he said. I merely smiled, and got back on the right side of my shop. He hopped over the counter, grinning wildly.

"So… About my boon?" he asked. I steepled my fingers and sat down, leaning backwards.

"I'm afraid not. We only serve living customers. I'm afraid your body died while under my care. But thank you for the free vacation," I replied, allowing myself a satisfied smile. 

His face turned thunderous. "What do you mea-" He was whisked off to the afterlife in a flash of light before he could finish. Cheerfully, I waved at him as he went.

"Thank you for shopping with us. Have a nice day!" I called after him.

#An oldie but a goodie #Wrote this when I was 14 #If the punchline reads a bit weird it's because it's replicating the self-checkout jingle at my local supermart #my writing #writeblr #writing #creative writing #writerscommunity #writing community #fantasy #spilled ink #short story #humor #Microfiction #From the days when I wrote that sort of thing

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

I'd totally be in :))

writeblr how do we make art fight but for writeblrs to just smash each other's ocs around for an entire month asking for a friend

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Once you get this, you have to say five things you like about yourself, publicly. Then you have to send this to ten of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool~)

I love my memory. It's nearly photographic, by which I mean I can remember the answers to game shows I watched once 5 years ago. Really convenient when I try to cram study stuff.

I like being able to write. It's a way to pass the time and probably my favourite hobby.

I like how lucky I am. It's sort of weird, but I'm really, really lucky. Like mysteriously answer all the mcq questions in my final Chinese exam (which I've failed my whole life) correctly and get a B+ lucky

I like my dreams. I haven't had nightmares in years, and most of my dreams are epic adventures or multiple pov stories

I like my nails (just painted them using cat's eye and it's so good)

#Not writing #Asks

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

For WIP weather ask game ☺️

☀️ Sun - What's your favorite part of your WIP?

🔥 Wildfire - Who is your most emotional character and why?

Aww, thank you!

☀️ Sun - What's your favorite part of your WIP?

I love writing Lich-Queen cos it's patching up quite a bit of the plot that I've yet to flesh out. Iraela's actions help explain a lot about why modern Luxatia is the way it is, and also how Hash ended up separated from the rest of the shifters, as well as explaining the cause of the Runic war in the first place.

🔥 Wildfire - Who is your most emotional character and why?

I'm not sure, actually. Hash's probably the most sensitive, bur she's old enough to clam up and pretend nothing's wrong until she feels safe enough to let it out. Maya (from my wanderer series) is big on the whole crying thing, but that's just a natural response to being stranded in 5 alternate universes in quick succession.

#Asks #Yay I love asks :)

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Thumbprint challenge!

Thanks @willtheweaver and @ramwritblr!

Rules: look back on your works, both past and present, finished and unfinished. What are five to ten narrative elements or tropes that continuously pop up in your work? Give a list of these things!

Characters who blow things out of proportion (ie 'oh you lied to me about something minor? Prepare to die.")

The idea of vengeance being a vicious cycle (this one's seen in almost every story, because pretty much everyone's plot is just the result of a angry vengeful predecessor)

Similar to 1, but people going too far. Taking grudges all the way to the grave, making a mountain of corpses, throwing down an entire species in the name of one person, and it turning out to be a bad idea after all.

Main characters who really didn't want to deal with this crap. Both my novel MCs straight up tried to run away from the plot before getting dragged back by their superiors.

Nobody is better than someone else. Magicless little girls can kill gods because the gods were magicless once too.

No romance, full stop. Seriously there's 0 couples in almost all of my writing

Tagging @bodoramzap, @calliecwrites, @mywipsdontend, @possiblylisle, @possiblyeldritch, @shukei-jiwa and anyone else interested in having a go!

#Tag games

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Story tag

Rules: Tag someone and write one sentence. The person tagged writes another sentence and tags someone else. It can be something that has already written a sentence.

Thanks @sharktopusnadozilla! This reminds me of the games my friends as I played as kids, in a good way.

---

Henry was the optimistic kind of person, you could tell by the way he walked. He had a skip to his step, a kind of bounciness that permeated the very air around him.

---

Tagging @ramwritblr to continue to charge :)

#writeblr #Tag games #This isn't one I've seen before but I like it

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

🌌 ?

Also <3

I've been working on my novel since December last year, Lich-queen for about a month, and most of my wips last about 1 day to 2 months, depending on the length of each one.

And Ɛ> to you too!

#Ask games

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

🌈 Rainbow

🌈What do you think makes your story unique / stand out?

I'll use my novel for this one, and I think the thing that's strongest about that would be the narrative voice. I think I've managed to keep a fairly consistent internal narration of the sort that I've not seen so often, especially since Luna's not a typical protag by any means.

#Ask games #ask away

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

🌙🌈 ^-^

' ⏝ '

🌙: What's the most common / reoccurring theme of your WIP(s)?

Revenge, mostly. Particularly the hollow sort of revenge that doesn't quench the fire within the protag's heart, but instead kicks them off onto the path of darkness.

🌈:What do you think makes your story unique / stand out?

Let's pretend the story in question's Lich-Queen, because I've dropped everything else to go wrap it up. I'm quite pleased with the general vibes of the story, and how the world's being shown through Iraela's eyes

#Ask games #ask away #writing

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Lich-Queen pt 3

I stepped forward, sketching a quick curtsey. She returned the gesture with inhuman grace and grabbed my forearms. We shook each other's arms, and I said, in her language, “Welcome, Empress. It is an utmost honour.” 

That statement alone exhausted most of my Cescereli vocabulary, but she seemed delighted by it nonetheless. “You have made an effort to learn my people's tongue,” she exclaimed. “I am impressed.”

From a spirit, and from their God-Empress, that was high praise indeed. I tried not to melt with delight. “Please, have some refreshments,” I said, switching back to trade-tongue. Compelling a revenant to bring some shrimp over, I left her to coo over the food with her entourage, a crew of heavily scarred spirit women, who, while small, looked like they could have taken down a dragon without breaking a sweat.

I turned back to the shifters, but they had disappeared into the crowd. The number of people had been growing steadily, I realised. It was a minor effort not to crumble and flee, for fear that someone would stop and mock me, so out of place in this hall of grace was I. 

As I scanned the milling inhumans for them, a man approached me. He could have easily blended into any group, with his generic dark hair and classical suit, save for his eyes. They were a mismatched yellow and purple, giving him a startling appearance. The Chosen of a god, perhaps. I plastered a welcoming grin onto my face, and he returned it with a genuine smile, unnerving eyes brimming with friendliness. 

“I represent Lord Ako,” he told me, before I had to hazard a guess as to his identity. “I wished to warn you of something. Do not take up the shifters' offer. It may be alluring, to bring carnage to those who wronged you, but it will be your downfall.”

Lord Ako was the God of Chaos and Evil, as far as I could recall. Ceredell had been no friend to his followers, and I had extended an invitation to him on the basis that he was an enemy of my enemy. From my limited knowledge of his theology, he had no reason to warn me off from causing carnage. He was a god of evil, after all. By all reasoning, he should have been pro-murder-all-humans.

I told his envoy so, and the man pursed his lips. His purple eye blinked, like a wink, before the golden one followed. “Not all gods were born as such, little Iraela,” he said, a hint of sadness in his honey-voice. “And for all that I- I mean, Ako is the God of Evil, he has no wish to see innocents be hurt.”

“No offence, sir, but that is rather contradictory, is it not? Evil is meant to cause destruction and harm,” I said, gently as I could. “I mean, that's rather like Death going off and healing people.”

The envoy's left pupil contracted. “It is exactly like that,” he said, shaking his head quietly. “You are more accurate than you realise, young Queen. And perhaps you have the smarts to survive after all.” He began walking away, then stopped. “I will tell you this, Lich-Queen: You will live long enough to understand this moment. When you do, do not blame yourself. None of us will hold it against you.” He gave me a sad smile, and slipped away.

What in every accursed being's name? I shook my head. “Whatever, man,” I murmured. “It's not like I've lived my whole life with a cryptic soothsayer of a sister.” Was it too much to ask for a break from all the prophecies and holier-than-thou crap? Evidently not.

The worm of doubt gnawed at my core again. Ramaeria just wouldn't leave me be. She was dead, I knew she was. But that man spoke just like her. He was not her, of course. That would be paranoid of me, to presume that the strange Chosen was out to get me on behalf of my dead sister. 

But that line about Death… Were the Gods conspiring against me? Of course they were. I should have seen it all along.

No, that was ridiculous! I was nobody, to garner such attention. Yet here was the Spirit Empress, and most of the Elven Council, and perhaps half of the Shapeshifter triarchy. I was someone. And not just that: I was Queen.

I just had to prove it.

With perhaps more force than necessary, I grabbed one of my ghouls. “Find the ‘shifter Matriarch and tell her to meet me in my throne room. We have business to discuss,” I told him. 

Stalking off to my rooms, a plan began formulating in my head, bubbling like the chef's gumbo that all us lesser beings gulped down, whilst the nobles feasted. I was going to make sure I never suffered that again. 

My heels hit the floor in a harsh staccato, clicking against the stone floor. I slammed open the door, heart festering with rage. I was going to be Queen, and they would all recognise me for what I was. 

Starting with my love. “Iraela,” he murmured through cracked lips, when he saw me. His chest was littered with bruises, and his cut lip dribbled blood. He had tried and failed to escape, as I expected. I shook my head disappointedly.

“I thought you smarter than that, Tamaris,” I whispered in his ear, kneeling next to me. “You should have known I am smart enough to stop whatever you do. You cannot escape me, any more than my sister could outrun her fate.” But she had. I had meant to break her, and she had the gall to deny me the pleasure. 

Tamaris let out a choking laugh. “I thought you smarter than that too, Iraela. You should have known I had to try nonetheless. I cannot let you do this. I will not let you do this.”

My wrath reached boiling point, and I slapped him. Claws raked his cheek, blood bursting forth in little red streams. He took the blow with a hiss, then met my eyes. “Even if you control my body, you will never have my soul.” He laughed bitterly. “The most farcical aspect of this is that I would have given you my heart on a plate, had you asked. We could have been great together.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “In another world, we would have been great. But this is the one we live in, and I will rule. It is a shame that you have chosen the stand against me, but it will hardly impede my coronation.” An idea occurred to me, and I added, “It might even aid it.”

Snapping my fingers, I called a revenant into the room. This needed to be a surprise, which meant my ghouls, precious though they were, were not the men for the task. Tamaris cringed as the shambling corpse of his brother-in-law grabbed his shoulder, and his sister tied a halter around his neck. “Ira, please,” he hissed, glimmers of fear sprouting beneath his facade like the shimmering of fish scales in a murky pond. “Don't. It's not too late. We- we can undo th-”

A revenant clasped their hand over his mouth, and I watched Tamaris be dragged out of my room. Quietly, I fussed with my hair, tightening the braids and puffing up the curls. There was really nobody to impress, anymore. My new allies cared not for my court manners, my pallid skin and my claws. Finally I belonged. In a fit of pique, I undid my hair, letting it fall loose around my waist, and gave a triumphant grin to the monster in the mirror.

Read part 1 here & part 2 here

#I call this piece 'Iraela loses her shit for 10min straight' #This entire story is just her descending into insanity #You know you've fucked up when the god of evil himself drops by to tell you to take a chill pill #my work #writeblr #writing #my writing #creative writing #writerscommunity #fantasy #spilled ink #writing community #short story

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

❄️ Snow - Who is your coldest / most stoic character and how do they express themselves (if at all)?

The coldest character would be Deer-shade, protector of the Syvniko Mountains, but that's more because she doesn't think the same way than out of any true disdain for the younger species (or what she calls New-worlders). She can't understand why fire is used to cook food, or why people wear clothes, and she can barely grasp language. As a result the closest thing to a proper conversation with her that anyone can get is mono-syllablic words.

A particularly nasty elf once suggested she didn't possess the ability to love, and decided to test that by leaving orphans at her cave entrance. When she worked out who did it, there was a remarkably localised avalanche over his cabin.

#Asks :)

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

WIP Weather Ask Game

Inspired by the random thunderstorm that just popped up out of nowhere. Enjoy.

💧Rain - What's the most emotional scene you've ever written?

❄️ Snow - Who is your coldest / most stoic character and how do they express themselves (if at all)?

🌨 Sleet - What's the most you've ever written in one sitting?

☀️ Sun - What's your favorite part of your WIP?

🌫 Fog - What was the hardest part of your WIP to write?

🌬 Wind - What was the easiest part of your WIP to write?

🌪 Tornado - Who is your most impulsive character and why?

🔥 Wildfire - Who is your most emotional character and why?

🌌 Clear Skies - How long have you been writing your current WIP?

☁️ Cloudy - What inspired you to start writing your WIP? (or in general)

⚡️Lightning - Have you ever spontaneously added something to your story that you wouldn't have added normally? If so, what made you do it?

🪹 Drought - What do you do to help with Writer's Block?

💦 Flood - How many WIPs do you have?

🏝 Hurricane - Do you often stick to one WIP and finish it, then move on, or do you bounce between WIPs?

🪨 Landslide - Which WIP has the most worldbuilding?

⛰ Earthquake - Which WIP has the least worldbuilding?

🌊 Tsunami - When and where do you like to write?

🌋 Volcanic Eruption - What's your biggest flaw as a writer?

🌈 Rainbow - What do you think makes your story unique / stand out?

🌙 Eclipse - What's the most common / reoccurring theme of your WIP(s)?

#Pleaaasseeeeeee send me asks :)

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Okay, super weird qn but do y'all ever dream of being your OCs?? Like having dreams where you actually are them and are living through their plot and stuff?

I'm asking this because according to my friends that's not normal

Reblogs are appreciated because the more people who respond to this, the more likely my friends are to believe me when I say I'm totally normal

#writeblr #ocs #original character #oc polls #writer stuff #writerscommunity #writing community #Err so yeah please reassure me that this is perfectly fine #dream #dreams #sleep #dreaming