Okay, so. You may or may not have seen one of the compilation posts currently going around - y’know, the one with the modern quotes that sound like they could belong in a Classical Epic of some kind.
I (stupidly) copied some onto a document because I thought thought they were cool. And thus a random scene appeared. I don’t know who any of these characters are, or the context of this event, but I’ve written it so, I may as well release it. There will... probably be more of these, as the WIPs I’m attempting to write have all stalled, so. Minific to combat writer’s block?
Quotes used:
You kneel before my throne unaware that it was built on lies.
I am a monument to your sins.
"I'll do whatever you want!" "Then perish."
"No-one can lie to me! No-one!"
His voice was crazed, eyes wild. Perhaps, she mused, that is why they cannot lie to you. They are terrified of what will happen when they get caught. Stretching languidly on the generous throne provided for her, she turned her head to more fully focus on the confrontation happening at the foot of the dais. He was looming over a rapidly paling young peasant, who was looking around desperately.
As if any here would come to your aid, little fool. Her head rolled back, bored of the scene. You'd really think the people who live here would learn. A loud note rolled through the cavernous hall, ringing in the heads of all there. The altercation halted, as all attempted to locate the source of the sound. All except her. Finally. Rising to her feet, she strode forward with a rolling, unhurried stride, drawing the eye of all within.
"Your Worshipfulness, what-"
"Hush," she purred, interrupting him. "All will be revealed."
"You-!"
Before he could finish the proclamation, the peasant's head hit him in the chest. The body collapsed, blood spurting from the neck to pour over the floor. The corner of her mouth lifted. He looked at her, preparing to move her away from the corpse, when the guards and courtiers also began to collapse, heads rolling across the floor.
Drawing her weapon from her skirts, she directed him back up the dais, back towards her (guest) throne. Blindly, he followed her, reeling from the sudden destruction. Her support poured into the echoing hall, flowing around the dead like water. She seated herself, and watched her own line the walls, as he stood, dazed. A vicious smirk graced her face. Victory is sweet.
"Kneel!"
Her command was abrupt, shaking him from his blank state. He turned to look at her, surprise clear on his face. His mouth opened to speak. A shot rang out. He collapsed, grunting in pain, as he gripped his now useless knee.
"Her Worshipfulness told you to kneel."
He didn't seem to hear her loyal support. He started to shake. Her eyebrows rose. Is he really so easy to break? I had thought better of him. His shakes grew more pronounced, until he threw his head back and howled with laughter.
"Ah, Your Worshipfulness, you are magnificent. However did you do it?"
She gave an elegant shrug.
"You claim to know when people lie to you. That is not true. You know when people are bad at lying to you. And so you knelt before my throne, unaware it was built on lies. I am a monument to your sins, Your Grace. I am what you made me. And it is time to pay the piper."
"Extraordinary woman." The look on his face had slipped from shock to desire. "Keep the kingdom, keep me. I'll do whatever you want."
Thanks for the ask, @jaimistoryteller! Here are the answers again.
What is the most obscure piece of information or lore that you know?
Um. Probably that you can crystallise FlutterBuds? Most people harvest the ‘Buds to weave before the FlutterBuds mature from them, and when they don’t, the FlutterBuds are generally just... allowed to fly away? But if a FlutterBud flys across an active Wixen Ward... Um, yeah. They crystallise. Uh- maybe don’t ask how I know that?
Have you ever wanted to travel?
Have I - Yes! Well, I don’t know that I really want to leave Adytum, but travelling all over is part of why I chose the speciality I did - I’m a Keek, I find things. Some of the higher-level Keeks can even find things like ‘the best place to make a home’, but I’m not there - yet! I’ve just finished my training, so I’ve started the years of compulsory service. I’ve covered quite a lot of Adytum, and I love it!
What is your favourite sorts of food?
Oh! The GemWoods’! The fruits can be plucked before maturity, and they taste sooooo good! They’re used as decoration when mature, because they’re hard, and pretty to look at, like small, single colour bits of ArtisanGlass. But when they’re young they’re really sweet, and refreshing, and the flavour varies by colour, so there’s quite a variety to choose from.
@jaimistoryteller tagged my general, @essagandana, so here goes!
Word - Sand ‘Sand’ isn’t actually in any of my WIPs at the moment, sadly, so there’s nothing for this.
Word - Shatter ‘Shatter’ is in two of my WIPs, so have two scenes as there isn’t one for ‘Sand’.
Scene 1 - Rebirth from Fire
He places his head in his hands. His fault. It's all his fault. He glances back up at the screen but can't bear to look at it now that he's out of crisis-mode. He lays his head down on the desk, wishing that this hadn't happened. He should've - should've -
He nearly jumps out of his skin when someone rests a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see and-. Ah. His Second. She's looking at him like she doesn't know what to say. He smiles tiredly at her. Or at least, he tries to. When her face falls even further, he doesn't think he was particularly successful.
"Look Boss, why don't you go home? We can handle things from here, and you shouldn't have to. You've been working nearly forty-eight hours straight now. You need to rest."
Her voice is unbearably gentle, as if she thinks he'll shatter at the slightest pressure.
Scene 2 - Down the Rabbit Hole
Alice Greer Bond is seven when her new life shatters like so much spun glass.
She's with James, trying to focus on the conjugation sheet she's supposed to be doing whilst he tries to cajole her into sneaking out the window and exploring. Or going into the garage. Or building a pillow fort. Or sneaking through the priest hole to the chapel. Or- He stops abruptly as the door opens but breathes a sigh of relief when it's revealed to be just Kincaid. He turns back to her, mischievous grin in place, but it slowly furrows into a frown at the look on her face. She's not taken her eyes off Kincaid since she looked up. Her face slowly gets more ashen, as he stands in the doorway, running the brim of his hat through his hands, face set, eyes achingly sad for them. James slowly looks between the two of them. For an endless moment, no-one says anything. Clutching her brother's arm with a death grip, she clears her throat.
Word - Flower ‘Flower’ is present a three times in one scene of Down the Rabbit Hole, so here’s one of them.
"Laurel leaves denote victory, Jem, and snapdragons mean strength and concealment. And you are very good at hiding precisely how strong you are. Nasturtium… that's battles, and journeys, and patriotism. I'll be honest, the first two I've been planning to have for a while. The third is new as of you deciding to join Her Majesty's Service."
He lets loose a bark of laughter. "HA! And what's the flower for ambition, luv? I'll need a reminder of you whilst you're off gallivanting around the world."
"Hmm, ambitious would be a violet or a calendula. If, however, you want ambitious woman-" Her eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth, her tone affectionate "-it would be a white hollyhock instead."
A and Z for the NSFW ask-- those were fun! (dealear's choice on OC)
Thanks for the ask, @raevenlywrites! Let’s see, answering for… Alice Bond, Down the Rabbit Hole.
For context: Alice is Aro-Pan, and ends up in a polyam/friends-with-benefits relationship with Ellery and Regina part way through events.
A - Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)
Alice is the most put-together of the three post-coitus, so she tends to take charge of clean-up. Ellery is generally still a bit floaty, and Regina is still blissed out, so she manhandles them around into the clean spot and sorts out the practicalities that come after sex.
Z - Zzzzz (How quickly they fall asleep afterwards)
That depends on how long she’s been awake. She tends to view sex as a good way to de-stress, and so is a lot more relaxed after, but that can mean anything from her lazing about for a while before going back to work, to snuggling into bed with the other two and sleeping for up to twelve hours.
Moving to the door, she looked through the peephole, and a slight smile curved her lips at the sight of her nephew. Opening the door, she felt an eyebrow ride up at the sight of the gaggle of teens at her door - My Nephew, His Girlfriend, Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge, and that must be Kevin Keller, the Sherriff's boy - but backed up and waved them in regardless. Locking the door behind them, she turned to see them all just standing in her living space. Conjuring a smile - Jughead's frowning slightly, wonder if he's noticed it's not quite real? - she urged them to sit.
"Please, take a seat. Why're y'all here? Not that I'm not happy to see my nephew and meet his friends, but ya look a little too grim for this to be a purely social visit. So, what's goin' on?"
Keeping her smiling countenance, but allowing a little worry to seep into her face and tone, she took in the teens. They shared glances, the Keller boy nodding at her nephew, his girlfriend squeezing his hand. Turning to fully face her, it was her nephew that spoke up.
"Aunt Vivi-" Her smile widened. Inwardly her eyes narrowed - he's not called me Aunt Vivi before, why is he trying to call upon familial affection and obligation now? - she reconsidered her nephew and the level of subterfuge she credited him with. "-do you know something about why Dad has been charged with murder?"
Looking at their expectant faces, she calculated what the best path to take would be, - why is he asking that? What did they find out? Also, when did he stop believing Fors was guilty? Interesting - she made sure to keep her thoughts off her face, before she responded, having decided on her course of action.
Alice spends a long moment staring at her phone, battling with herself. She knows, she knows how the story went. She should call James, let him know, reveal the treachery before he gets his heart broken. But.
But.
Things are already different. (Isn't she proof enough of that?) And she can't, she won't condemn this woman she's never met for a crime she might not have even committed. So. The only thing she can do is look for proof. Evidence to absolve or condemn her. The Lovely Ms Lynd must be martyred on her own sword.
Alice looks. She knows roughly what she's looking for, is the thing. And that means she finds it - finds enough to suggest foul play. Not enough to guarantee it, but enough to justify her cautioning her brother. And maybe Ms Vesper Lynd as well.
(That was the tragedy of Vesper Lynd in the stories. No-one told the truth to her either, and so they both suffered for it. Maybe if she knows, things might change. Maybe-)
Here’s the answers you were actually asking for, @mukur0writes! So, this only really works for my fictional ‘Verse Adytum, the setting for A SolarGlass Sanctum. So:
2 - What inspired the setting?
…The Solarpunk aesthetic. Not gonna lie. That was the very first inspiration. Then I thought: how can I make this somewhat unique? My immediate answer was MAGIC!, so it might not actually be too unique. Then I saw a bunch of stained glass and visited a glassworks and it all kinda started to coalesce in my head. Yes. This was the central uniquity of my fictional verse. Magical Stained SolarGlass. And Solar=Sunny, so I’m getting a lot of new (to me) info and inspiration pics as I am from a cold country, and the country the story is set in doesn’t even really have a cold season. Learning curves. All the fun.
12 - How big is the world? Does it encompass one planet? A solar system? A galaxy?
Technically it covers a universe? There are Active Deities, and the First, Central Deity, Illum, created all of absolutely everything. (There are some of the myths of Adytum on my page @essawrites if you’re interested). But, the story I’m focusing on from this ‘Verse is called Adytum. Yeah. The same name they give their planet. They’re self-centred, what can I say. The country is pretty dang large, but is ringed on the outermost edges with nigh-impassible mountains, so there isn’t a huge amount of culture crossover, and there was even less before the inception of air travel. (They have flying gardens. This isn’t likely to ever come up in the story, but I just think it’s cool, so now you know. They have giant floating islands in their sky.) The characters don’t ever leave the country of Adytum - at least not in A SolarGlass Sanctum - so I guess you could say that the world is as big as… idk, Russia?
22 - Who makes the stuff the characters use and wear? Factories, hand-labour, do they do the jury-rigging themselves?
Wyrta make most of the things in Adytum. Wyrta are like your craftsmen. They make things, generally specialise in a type of thing, and trade it around to the people within reach. There is a currency - Bawbee - but it isn’t really used for much in country. It’s used to settle trade values with other countries, but internally it’s generally used a bit like pocketmoney. You’d buy a sweet or a snack with Bawbee, not your clothes or food or equipment. Wixen make their own ‘Lights, everyone grows a whole bunch of vegetables, but specialities - carving, weaving, glass-making, jewellery - those you’d trade for, either in goods, time, or services. Most people pick up how to do bits and pieces of most things. Like, everyone who counts as ‘adult’ can mend clothing, even if they couldn’t make it. Everyone knows how to keep the common plants alive, even if they can’t necessarily grow the unique stuff.
I’m going with the ‘super detailed oc asks’ questions as that’s the most recent one I can find on your page, that alright? I’ll be answering for… Vivi Jones!
2 - Do they have any titles? How did they get them?
Little Jones was one when she was younger, that was as much a title as a term of affection. She got it for showing exactly how much of a Jones she was, even as a little girl. She gets talked about occasionally, but, Vivi Jones means enough to (some) people to almost be a title in its own right.
12 - What is their favourite food?
Does Hot Chocolate count? It’s kinda her thing. When In Doubt, Make Hot Chocolate. She associates it with a lot of good memories, and also a lot of trying times.
22 - What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back?
Fool is used a lot, but also very affectionately. She likes to make snide comments in her head about people who’ve pissed her off, or under her breath so that only the people closest to her can hear it. Or she just goes for the throat with wordy, snide, condescending insults. She’s quite willing to listen to people bitching, but aside from a short session doesn’t tend to find it terribly productive. And she doesn’t really trust a lot of people with her inner commentary, so she tends to keep her bitching internal.
Thanks for the ask, @mukur0writes! These were interesting to consider. I hope I got the right questions?
ABCs of your OCs - E1, P1 & Q5 for character of your choice
Answering for… Alice!
E1 - Does the way they do things portray their internal personality?
Not all the time. To characters that know her, her actions make logical sense, but a stranger looking at her actions might not make the right deductions as to her reasoning.
P1 - What is their best personality trait?
Probably Loyalty - or Practicality, but she sometimes does very ridiculous things, even if they do serve practical purposes.
Q5 - Are they curious?
Very. Most of it is based in that she needs to know things to be successful, but part of it is the Ooh-Shiny-New impulse.
oc questions: sleep edition #11, 16, & 19 character of choice
11 - Does your OC remember their dreams?
The only OC I have who I know remembers their dreams, is also the only one with plot relevant dreams. Renette, from ‘Rebirth from Fire’.
16 - Which OC sleep talks?
Hmm. I think Vivi might’ve. But it was always the kind of nonsense that was bizarre to listen to. “No! Not the Frog!” and things like that, with no explanation.
19 - Which OC is an insomniac?
Alice. She’s too busy to sleep. She eventually passes out for 10-12 hours about once every couple months though.
Massive Color Ask Questions - Rouge, Currant, Lipstick for the first character who comes to mind
Answering for… Hyades.
Rogue - Does the character like to get massages?
Yes. She moves a lot, and not always in ways that are natural/comfortable for a human body to move in. She practically melts into a pile of goo.
Currant - Does the character like giving small gifts to their date?
Yes. Hyades likes people she values to know she values them, so will often randomly give them things - things ranging from something she saw and thought they’d like, something she made, or Wixen Wards around them.
Lipstick - Does the character use cosmetics when getting ready for a romantic evening?
Not really? Hyades doesn’t hold the belief that anyone is ‘supposed’ to be a certain way, so disagrees with fashion as an entity. She does sometimes, as she likes the way Byx looks at her.
Thanks for the ask, @jaimistoryteller! Sorry it took me so long to fill this.
Thanks for the ask, @jaimistoryteller! Answering for… Alice.
8 - How do they cope with losing a friend?
Not very well. The extent to how badly she’d handle it depends on how she lost the friend. She’s lost a lot of people - six close family members have been lost to death by the time Alice is 8 years old - so she is very close to the people she does keep.
32 - How would they respond to being handed an infant?
Pats the beleaguered parent on the shoulder, directs them to a place to freshen up / have a nap, and rocks the baby to calm them down. Once the nappy is checked (and sorted as needed), food is offered, then the baby is placed down in a crib / play-pen and left mostly to their own devices. An upset baby is carried around in a sling on a chest.
33 - How would they respond to being asked to watch over a child for an afternoon?
If she’s working: under-three’s would go into a play-pen under the watchful eye of her or one of her workers, three’s-to-seven’s would get put into the break room with books, toys, and the tv playing a kids show on low, eight’s-and-above would be left mostly to their own devices, with periodic check-ins.
If she’s not working: they would all get as much of her attention as wanted or required. Five’s-and-above would be asked if there was anything in particular they wanted to do whilst in [Location], and depending on the feasibility of the request, might end up doing it. She’s spent a lot of time at parks.
Part of her job includes getting people out of untenable situations, including out of an abusive household, so she has spent a lot of time around teens and young parents. As a result, she has gotten far better at handling children than she expected to.
3. How do you feel about your last name? Your surname?
…Which last name? Before-me had Lott, which was kinda - eh. I was born Alice Bond, which I can appreciate for the pun of ‘Sibling Bonds’. I ended up changing my last name to Liddell when Jem joined the SIS. I like that, but it kinda makes me sad that the character of Alice isn’t in the Wonderland series here.
4. Is there anything you’d like to thank your author for?
I suppose - the fact that I didn’t die? This time, anyway. Jem’s lost enough people, he doesn’t need another death of a loved one. Also, for not giving me a ridiculously angsty Before.
5. You can only eat three foods for the rest of your life, what are they?
This is any three foods, right? Pomegranate Turkish Delight from that one shop Madre used to bring home Before, Stovies like Kincaid used to give us when we were little (I can never get the ratios quite right), and the Beignets Marc Ange always had available in the mornings (his chef adds a spice to them, but I don’t know which one, and it is profoundly irritating that I can’t find any that taste quite right anywhere else).
6. Have you ever done or said anything that surprised your author?
Jem dropped in on me for a heart-to-heart about the realities of his life as a spysassin and I let it slip that I had organised some ‘accidents’. I don’t think Essa was expecting that - or at least, I don’t think Essa was expecting me to admit it.
7. You have limitless funds, what kind of party are you going to have?
Probably a themed masquerade ball. I’ve never attended one, and they look fun. Oh, and a chocolate fountain big enough to swim in. Because why not?
8. Tell us a quick story about something that happened to you that not even your author knows… yet.
I think Regina might have a crush on me, which makes me… slightly uncomfortable, because saviour complex is not a healthy beginning to a relationship, so I’m thinking of trying to set her up with Ellery. They have complementary temperaments, and the banter has been edging into flirtatious territory a few times, so hopefully they’re happy together.
[Alice, Alice why? Your minions do not need to be in a romantic relationship; and when did Regina even get a crush on you? It was just hero-worshipping / idolising you five minutes ago.]
9. Do you have a favourite hero?
Probably Julie d’Aubigny or Virginia Hall. They were badasses.
10. What do you plan to do after this?
Aside from dinner with Jem and getting Regina and Ellery together? I’m afraid I can’t answer that, on the grounds that, as long as no-one knows I’ve done it, it’s not illegal.
SO! Tagging time, right? Hmm, @fairlyfantasy-writerblr, if you wanna play?
And from the writeblr tagging spread sheet… @authordai, @bymeganwithmeraki, @writing-at-dusk, @teacup-universes, @travwrites.
Rules: Pick a WIP, and make a bullet-point list of what you consider to be its ‘secret ingredients’ (not actual secrets!) These could be any details and/or plot elements, big or small, that you love most about your story. You can list five or fifty, but for however many secret ingredients you share, you must then tag that number of people.
The WIP in question is… A SolarGlass Sanctum!
- A Generous Dash of Magic
- Three Queer Main Characters
- Two Lost Royals
- An Attempt at a ConLang
- A Hint of Big Secrets
Stir well, stand back, and wonder at the results!
Tagging: @breakeven2007, @dramaticvoiceover, @damawrites, @endlesshourglass, @inknindecision if you want to play!
I don’t currently have access to a copy of the James Bond movies, due to it being exam time, and my needing to eventually collect enough credits to get my degree! SO! I thought I was going to be able to ignore Down the Rabbit Hole until I could rewatch the films, and thus plan out the intersecting scenes. NOPE!
Turns out, my brain went “You know that conlang you’re trying to build? The one with sign language as well? For your ~Big Shiny Project~ that is Adytum? Guess what! You don’t get to work on that right now! Nope! You get the dialogue of a scene from a completely different fic.”
I was kinda like “??? Um, brain, this is not at all convenient, I was actually trying to revise, but if we’re going to do fic, can it please be-”
“And here’s some stage directions! That’s what you wanted, right? More direction for how this scene that you didn’t know was going to be in the fic is going to go? ‘Coz that’s what you’re getting!!!”
“Brain plz.”
“Ooops~ You lost some of the lines of dialogue~ Silly Essa~ Write this down before you lose it all and I refuse to give you anything else for months.”
*Sigh* “Fine.”
So that is how I currently have a word document detailing a scene that, yeah, I do actually want to include, but like, it’s in the format of lines of dialogue and [bracketed] descriptions of setting and actions. I feel like I really shittly attempted to describe the sweeping details of a minimalist scene from an old indie movie. It’s a good scene, I think. But it isn’t at all written in the correct format, nor was it what I wanted to write, so... *shrugs* What can you do?
Ah well. At least it isn’t a new plunny, I’ve quite enough of those.
SO. One of my irl friends asked something about one of my characters. This then caused a seismic chain reaction. I have recently discovered that, despite what I was originally planning for, no, Ahlos is in fact not a small child whilst the events of ‘canon’ occur. No, he is, in fact, nearly 20 years old. Which means that all of the characters who interacted with him and his sister on something of a level, have also aged up.
This has completely changed the interactions of three of my characters -Ahlos, Hyades, and Byx.
Younger!Original!Hyades-and-Byx interactions were quite fraught, as Hyades was very protective of bb!Ahlos and aggressively didn’t trust Byx.
Now that they’re older, they’re introduced in a different order - Byx meets Ahlos first, and gets to know him somewhat before she and Hyades are introduced. As the scenario has changed, Hyades is p much ambivalent to Byx when they first meet.
Byx is staring at Hyades in horror going ‘oh. oh no. she’s hot. fuck.’
So now I have a pining!Byx sending lovelorn glances at an oblivious!Hyades.
Accidental lesbian relationship that I didn’t even know was going to happen until I spotted Byx shooting metaphorical puppy eyes at Hyades, and just. When did that happen? How? They were never going to end up in a relationship, until suddenly, BLAM! Surprise! Accidental lesbianism!
Like, Hyades is Pan and Byx is Bi, so both being in straight relationships was statistically unlikely to happen, but. They’re happy? And there are enough broken/dysfunctional/will-they-won’t-they relationships in fiction that I don’t reeaaallllly wanna break them up just so that they can get with their original partners.
Now I just gotta figure out what to do with the person that was supposed to get with Byx before canon. However... things have moved enough that they might not even meet, so maybe I’ll create a different ending for them? Yeah, they can be happy offscreen.
