No pressure tagging: @sam-glade @writernopal @captain-kraken @angelicminds & my open tag!
Your words are: DOUBT, AFRIAD, & CANNOT.
My words were: star, sand, write, buy, blood, been, and break. Origin under each excerpt. Hidden under the cut.
Star(s)
My vision lurched and suddenly I was on my back, staring at the glittering ceiling but not this ceiling, a ceiling of stars and then I was back on Skane’s End lying on the bay door with--
with--
with--
Animatronic Saga
Sand
Before Skane’s End, I’d never seen sand. Emerson Haryl laughed when I told him; he found it hilarious to then henceforth dump handfuls of sand in my shoes and throw it at me whenever the opportunity presented itself.
I never liked sand, but he did.
Animatronic Saga cut
Write
“That’s why I write about dreams. I write about people figuring out what their dreams are and chasing them. I write about people like you. People like us.”
Short story
Buy
“What’s the special today, May?”
“You’re in luck,” I smirk. “It’s Buy Your Own Damn Drink Night.”
“Shame,” he drawls. “I was gonna buy you one.”
Secondary Series
Blood
I think the bastard broke my nose.
Blood is accumulating in a nice little puddle under my chin and the pressure in my head refuses to dissipate. Also, I broke the kid’s nose back on Skane’s End when I was 15 and I am starting to feel sorry for him.
Secondary Series
Been
The stone receded, drawn away by an ancient technology, revealing a barren stone room. It had once, long ago, been beautiful, I’m sure. Now, everything was slashed in stripes of red and brown, dust covering the floor. We stepped inside.
Animatronic Saga
Break
A break.
Some time.
Enough.
But I didn’t hurt him. I didn’t do anything. Did I?
I didn’t hurt him. You know I didn’t hurt him. You know that!
Sky, Meghan, and Kaylee! As promised. I did Kaylee with white & black because shes both described with blonde hair and brown hair. And also I just needed an excuse to fill up a fourth slot.
the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again
Every time i purchase a moderately expensive item the Karl Marx on my shoulder is like "For shame... you purchase yet another pair of jeans when you have 5 already at home, you despicable commodity fetishist? In my time, a man with five outfits would consider himself blessed beyond measure, and yet you want for more, while there are children starving in the world??" to which the second Karl Marx on my other shoulder says "Objection! Those 5 pairs of jeans all wildly uncomfortable or have holes in the ass, due to the decline of clothing quality driven by the fast fashion industry, unfortunately making this purchase a necessity... Plus, by purchasing a slightly more expensive pair of jeans from an independent brand, seeking quality over 'brand recognition', they are deliberately trying to avoid engaging in conspicuous consumption!" to which the third Karl Marx clinging to my back like that beetle from Doctor Who says "Remember, my friend; the less you eat, drink, buy books, go to the theatre or to balls, or to the pub, and the less you think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you will be able to save and the greater will become your treasure which neither moth nor rust will corrupt — your capital. Buy the jeans," to which I say "I don't know if any of you have actually read Karl Marx"
Thank you @the-stray-storyteller & @authoralexharvey !
No pressure tagging: @lavender-lotion @authorlaurawinter @winterandwords @writeintrees & my open tag!
Your words are: BABE, JOY, & CANCEL
My words were: vice, brutal, rain, nerves, and hollow & blue, music, puddle, gas, and cloak. All excerpts from The Animatronic Saga or my secondary series. Hidden under the cut.
Vice
May looks up to the boys-- more people she’s let right back in and vice versa-- and smiles softly. It’s still disconcerting to see her do anything even remotely soft.
Brutal
The sun was brutal today, but the stares from the pavilion were worse, so we followed the path until we found a decently flat rock to eat on. We were on the edge of the island, a sheer story or two drop-off beneath us.
Rain
I watched the sky for minutes, or hours maybe. I wanted it to rain. It never rained here and I longed for water droplets collecting on my skin and in my hair. My arm was going numb, from my fingertips to my shoulder, and the logical part of my mind knew I needed to move. But I wanted it to rain.
Nerves & Hollow
On the other side of the stone, back in the compound, it would have been easy to dismiss everything that had just happened as a dream. But my hands were still tingling, an unprecedented strength in my nerves. And Jade, who’d seemed so washed out and hollow the days before, was filled with new-found energy, her hair streaked with dust that had been settled for decades. “How did you know to do that?”
Blue
The kind of forced that’s necessary when the guy you’ve slept with twice walks up to you at a party looking like the pale blue frosting on a daydream and you stare into his quite lovely eyes and. you. can’t. remember. his. name.
Music
“No. I don’t regret that.”
Saying nothing, Esme just nods. I wonder, briefly, if she’s disappointed with my response. “Well, I’m going to see if we can get some music playing before I have to hear the fifth rotation of the only songs he seems to know. Enjoy your lemonade.”
Puddle
Electricity had raced from her body to his, sending out a shock wave so far that I was blasted onto my back. Sparks had jumped to and fro on each hair on my skin until I thought I would dissolve, melt into a puddle and die.
Gas
I found myself staring at the stars in silence. Had there always been so many of them? What terrible things had the great balls of gas witnessed from billions of miles away? Did they even know we existed?
Cloak
Her short hair was pinned up with gems and feathers, giving her the appearance of some long-forgotten royalty. A simple white dress cut to her calves met the top of a pair of worn brown boots. Around her shoulders hung a cloak that almost gave her the illusion of a pair of wings. “You look good,” I repeated.
i hate when people call marcille a girlfailure btw like SHE ISNT. and shes not a ”girlboss” either. this is a neurotic and Permanently On The Edge of a Breakdown overachiever late 20s virgin just out of her phd program with permanently shaky hands from an addiction to overly sugary coffee and a deep desire to be crushed to death under falins giant jugs no matter the cost. the only thing shes ever ”failed” at is going to theraphy
Tumbleweed needs everyone to know that I am his most cruel and heartless mother for decreasing the amount of food he gets due to him gaining a third again his body weight over the last year no that is not all fur Tumbleweed you are shaped like a pregnant sheep!
He has spent much of the day stomping from room to room while yelling his immense displeasure.
Me: I shouldn't disturb Neil Gaiman. I shouldn't send an ask unless I really have no way of getting the information otherwise. I'll check old interviews and all the articles that vaguely mention the subject. Of course it goes without saying that I'll read though the FAQ in its entirety. Only then, will I send an ask. However, I'd be very polite and praise his work, as anyone would. I'd also keep it short, because I don't want to waste his time. But I'd keep it very very respectful. I'd be sending a message to a very talented, amazing author that deals with god knows how many like me. Or I'd just stay in the dark and not send him an ask. Yeah, I'll do that.