a sentence starter prompts list comprised of quotes from the novel blood over bright haven by m. l. wang. please be advised that this list may involve topics including, but not limited to, murder, death, violence, alcohol, and religion. change verbiage as needed.
was that a veiled dig at my intelligence?
leave your tools and weapons. theyβre just weight.
while you can still breathe, keep moving. stop for nothing. turn back for no one. not even your own blood.
it must be hard to be you! how terrible to be so singularly talented!
since when do you really care about people who arenβt you?
i take it that wasnβt supposed to happen?
be cold, be hard, and donβt give them an inch, you understand? no matter what they say of you.
when i care how attractive you find me, iβll let you know.
youβre certainly not going to survive playing against me.
i already missed my train. iβm going to sleep here.
the world isnβt about love for me. itβs about power.
i think iβve just had a problem with magic since the first time i tasted itβlike some people have a problem with alcohol.
magic is the one area where i can shut myself in a room with my books and my thoughts and come out more powerful than i went in.
the unbreakable rules of magic are unbreakable for a reason.
donβt play dumb with me. it doesnβt suit you.
is there something unreasonable about wanting to do my own work correctly?
brilliant menβeven moderately intelligent menβin this city get showered with opportunities to succeed. brilliant women have to fight for those opportunities, and, when we get them, we have to defend them tooth and nail, or theyβll be snatched away.
iβm not married, iβm no oneβs apprentice, and iβll be damned if i let a man find some other way to take my glory from me.
women are always told to be kind, be forgiving, be nurturing. as far as i know, itβs never gotten them anywhere. the men, who have the real power, wonβt return the favor when it matters.
if you are capable of everything they are as a group, then who can say youβve been arrogant or unvirtuous?
if i canβt clear that clouded glass, thereβs nothing left to do but break through it.
i never said i didnβt believe your god existed. i just donβt believe heβs the greatest or only deity at work in the world.
a ravine wonβt water crops or quench the dying. at some point, there has to be a river, or what good can you really claim? if the man of good intentions never manifests a river, only calamity, should he not go to hell?
this is the balance of the universe. it is only right for the world to bring back upon him what he brought upon the world.
anyone with enough self-delusion can admit himself to heaven. this is nonsense.
itβs much easier to tell yourself youβre a good person than it is to actually be one.
i canβt work with you if weβre not honest with each other.
iβm not trying to twist your words. iβm trying to make sure you mean them.
you want me to be honest. i want the same thing from you, but you can do that without disrespecting me, my discipline, and my culture.
i can be civil, or i can be honest. you canβt have both in their entirety.
my knowledge of magic and history is obviously nothing in the face of yours.
maybe youβre not remembering clearly. sometimes, when an event is too upsetting to wrap your mind around, your memory gets muddled.
youβre that committed to your god of greed? go on, then. serve him. destroy me.
youβre the worst kind of murderer, i think. the kind who wonβt even acknowledge their crime.
you never worshiped a god of truth. you worship a delusion.
i lost myself a little. and it took todayβtook something terribleβto bring me back to reality.
let me pose you a question thatβs been troubling me for hours: must i forgo brillianceβno, not even brilliance; must i forgo any sort of intelligence; must i forgo the baseline mental functions that come with being aliveβfor stability?
you must be the dullest conversation partner iβve ever met!
theyβre either evil or theyβre the stupidest people who ever lived!
you have to play along. pretend to buy his cover story. whatever he wants you to believe, act like you believe it and go about your business like nothing is wrong. donβt ask questions. donβt antagonize.
swear to me on your god and your motherβs grave.
iβll be happy when i see you alive and whole tomorrow morning.
i just want you to be smart. be careful. acting on your every emotion the way you do is going to get you into trouble.
the most powerful minds and hardest hearts have a breaking point.
your head will clear, you will remember who you are, and you will move beyond this.
your devotion has always been to magic. none of that has to change because youβve uncovered a few skeletons.
it seems i misjudged you. my theories about you were flawed.
for many, the denial must be a necessary shield against the guilt.
weβre surrounded by devils.
someoneβs going to bleed and nothing bleeds like a mageβs ego.
things are about to change. the future has to be different. it will be different.
are you really going to do this? is this the mark you want to leave on the world?
iβm realizing how ridiculous it is to demand civility when the world is so disgustingly uncivil upon closer inspection. so, iβm not here to ask for your friendship or your politeness.
mages are detached from reality. theyβre obsessive, socially stunted egomaniacs. you know, like me.
good people will turn monstrous when itβs down to their survival or someone elseβs.
all i can say isβ¦ if youβre going to do this, i donβt co-sign it. donβt do it for meβor for anyone else. be selfish. be arrogant. do it for yourself.
i donβt want to be the reason anyone gets hurt. i donβt want to be the reason you die.
is it better to be safe and broken than it is to be dead?
all this agony for your goddamn ego.
i canβt believe i ever called you my family.
the forces of darkness are nothing to the light of god.Β
sorry about your reputation.
you couldβve been something great.
as far as the public is concerned, you will be forgottenβall your skill and innovation.
i never helped you for glory. i did it because it was the right thing to do.
iβm not your glory. iβm your penance.Β
we have done a great evil, and youβre smart enough to know that, deep in your soul, no matter what lies you spin around it. and iβm your attempt to get out of that feeling, arenβt i?
we all bear the burden of knowledge in different ways. some of us endeavor to do good.
have i dragged you anywhere you werenβt determined to go by your own power?
if i was to be your penance for what you have done, is it working? do you feel absolved?
you want me to throw away honesty in exchange for my life?
i donβt know what youβre capable of.
i think itβs important to be honest with the people you care about.
i donβt want your protection! do you hear me? do you understand? if you harm any of those people down there, itβs for yourself, not me.
you still have a chance to do the right and honest thing.
you have a long way to go yet before youβre half the monster i am.
if iβm going to die, i want to go knowing i left you safe and right with yourself.
if this is the last night of the world as we know it, i want to spend it with someone who can appreciate that with me. i want to spend it with youβ¦ if thatβs alright?
donβt stay because youβre hoping to talk me into your plan over the course of the night.
honestly, i donβt know why i indulge your pessimism.
remember all this grief and terrorβand try to do something good with it.