Rules: share the first sentence of your last ten stories. If you haven’t written ten stories, share as many first sentences as you have.
I'm going to treat Marika + Lorelei's stories as separate, even though they're both a part of Whispers, just because they are So Dramatically Different, so <3
Since this is rather long, I'll tag people up here: @writeblrfantasy, @calicojackofficial, @authoralexharvey, @vacantgodling, and @faithfire!!
As always, absolutely 0 pressure to play, and feel free to treat this like an open tag if you'd like to join in!
Whispers (Marika POV):
The tattoo coils and curves like the rope of a noose crawling its way up his forearm, faded only a touch in the decade since he got it. And like rope burn, even looking at it stings my skin where the same one should have been drawn long ago.
Whispers (Lorelei POV):
I do not often meet Commissioner Arkady Starsent in his office.
Firebreathers (Ember POV):
I need to switch patron Goddesses.
Echoseers (Ember POV):
Muted sunlight glints off of shards of cerulean glass, the blood painting their edges stark as shadow-tar and steaming against the chill in the air, a calmer rendition of the panting breath clouding the shattered window. The breeze at my back shivers up my spine as Nimbus finally lets go of my waist and rips himself out of the harness, falling to the floor.
Goddess-Touched (Ember POV):
The charcoal that was once [Redacted] sits still and silent, but for the waves lapping at the cliff beneath the plateau of blackened bone and the calls of carrion birds circling overhead.
Experimental worldbuildy WIP that will be a serialized anthology eventually:
Ursa Riyón was five years old the first time they met someone from another world.
The Traveler (the 2022 horror short):
As the moon rises over the empty white horizon, the traveler knows they have made a mistake.
Deity Complex (from the police report prologues):
Witness reported seeing a school bus flip over the guard rail and roll down the mountainside.
The Lost:
In a coliseum drifting among the wastes of shattered stars, the last of the Varied chews on a crystal, choking the shards down with the knowledge that they will be fighting for their life once again in a few hours.
Mark of Legend (its a backburner wip but i do like the opening):
Tashmi Alir was leaning against the railing of the airship, back to the water below and gazing lazily at the clouds roiling overhead, when the captain first made the arrangements.
I was tagged by @calicojackofficial to post a line each from the midpoint of 10 projects!!
i unfortunately dont have 10 projects to share but oh well Content warnings for death mentions in 4 and 5, and mention of injury in 6.
Firebreathers
“I do believe that is the first truly entertaining thing I’ve heard in a century,” [Veratrum] says.
Echoseers
“If you want riches, third window in from the eastern corner on the short side of the building is a good place to start. That man needs humbling."
Goddess-Touched (mid-drafting; 31k words so far, this is taken from ~16k through)
“These chucklefucks took my ship to Delya. I wasn't going to stay behind.”
Whispers (mid-drafting; 6k words so far, this is taken from ~3k through)
Maybe that’s what he expects. Suicide over servitude.
The Lost (from exploratory writing)
She is going to die today. She wonders if she will be ready, when the time comes.
Deity Complex (mid-drafting; taken from ~5k through)
By the time I realize that I landed on a discarded, shattered bottle with my right shoulder, I’m too numb with shock to feel it all that much.
The Halloween 2022 short:
Perhaps they are too preoccupied with their mumbled prayer of thanks and the glittering stars above to notice.
..........and any others I've got are either a) Ancient Projects that Should Not be Unearthed, or b) things that I'm considering putting up as patreon early-access when I start a patreon at the start of the new year, so I'm not really comfortable sharing those right now.
I'll tag @writeblrfantasy, @writingamongther0ses, and @writersandpoetsunited!! You guys are the only people I can guarantee in my head to have 10 projects, so <3
But this doubles as an open tag, as always!! And there's absolutely no pressure to play for those I tagged <3
Idk if you do blorbo day but if you do can you tell me what the most self-indulgent character you've ever made has been? Are they still a character you write about? Would they get along with whomever your current blorbo is? Why or why not.
hi!! i've never done blorbo blursday before, but now is as good a time as any to dip my toes in :D thank you for the opportunity!!
The most self indulgent character I've ever made... honestly? It's probably a tie between the Shadow of Fowden and Hunter Carrol. Who are from completely separate WIPs (and worlds) and who have almost exact opposite vibes and morals.
The Shadow is an excuse to take the idea of an Evil Almost-All-Powerful Ruler and a Vindictive Crime Boss and blend them together, and also dive into like... cult-ish mindsets, the horrid extremes of devotion, falls from grace, and revenge (at least in Whispers - she shows up in Millennium Saga, and plays a fairly big part, but you'll never get to know as much about her as she clearly knows about everything and everyone else).
And also I like writing her particular brand of hyper-intelligent villainy that makes a point of leaning into the whole "parents use me as the boogeyman to scare their kids into behaving" thing, including lots of unnecessary but terrifying violence, from the point of view where she's a protagonist. (Again, in Whispers. She's tied up in the plot of TMS but you'll never get her POV.)
Hunter, on the other hand, is an outlet to complain about the US directly, as well as damaging social media crazes, the school system and gifted programs in particular, and generally just. A lot of real-world issues being addressed through the thinnest of magical veneers, since they're literally a parallel Earth where the only difference is that little magics are real and ubiquitous with rare Big Magics thrown in the mix.
Also I get to use them to reference memes and puns that don't work in the rest of my worlds. And complain about endless boring corn fields.
In terms of whether they're characters I write about still: the Shadow, yes absolutely, she is deeply entwined in the parts of the plot of TMS that I'm currently exploring, and I'm thinking I might work on Whispers between arcs 1 and 2 of TMS as a bit of a change of pace. Hunter... well, Deity Complex has been untouched for about two years, I think? And while that's a story I definitely want to revisit, I'm... very focused on the Ehlverse right now. Too much so to focus on them.
Would/Do they get along with my current blorbos?
... The Shadow is actively trying to destroy Tieling's entire immortal life and legacy because he fucked up, and in the process is causing unimaginable problems for Annie, who is trying desperately to not let the entire government go down in flames right before the apocalypse. Also she hates Annie and by proxy hates all of my blorbos because they are her family/friends who all love and support her. As they should.
Hunter would absolutely chill with the blorbo crew though. It'd be a great way to disconnect from the internet and they'd get to bond with Ice + Lakia over traumatic experiences with government entities and gods of death.
Hello!! My name is Pax, and I use he/him pronouns! I’ve been running this writeblr for about a year, as of early March, and I’ve made some good friends here, so I figured it’s about time to reintroduce myself, so I can meet more!!
A little about me:
- I’m 20 years old
- My favorite genres are High Fantasy, SciFi, and Horror, especially those with complex worlds and morally gray characters!
- However I’ll read just about anything I find here on writeblr!! so if you have a WIP you want to plug in the tags or reblogs, absolutely do!!
- I play D&D and other TTRPGs regularly! I’m currently DMing a campaign with my friends, and I’m also playing a Numenera arc with them! I also binged all of NADDPod and half of critrole campaign 1 last year so feel free to come talk about D&D with me!!
- I also like Stardew Valley, Minecraft, and Divinity: Original Sin 2!
- Worldbuilding is one of my favorite creative pastimes, outside of art and writing!
- I talk a lot in the tags of posts, outside of my navigation tags, because I often feel too awkward to add on to reblogs a;sldkf
As for what I post here, I tend to reblog advice, memes, and general writing woes, as well as promoting the content for taglists I’m on, or other pieces I’ve come across on my dash. But I also post my own original writing and artwork here!
As far as writing goes, I currently have one main project, and several side projects.
My main WIP is a High Fantasy novel/duology called Firebreathers, and it follows a pickpocket named Ember as they join a rebellion aiming to overthrow the immortal, Chosen king of the Ehlves, while said king scrambles to pull everything together in time to keep magic from disappearing from their world once and for all... a thousand years after he tried to do the same thing the first time.
Themes discussed in this story include the stigma surrounding mental health, what family means to different people, the affects of organized religion, and the differences between vengeance, justice, and atonement.
More details on my other WIPs will be behind the cut, since I don’t want to make this too long for your dash! Thank you for reading, and feel free to pop into my inbox or DMs to say hi!!
One of my side-WIPs is called Whispers, and is set in the same High Fantasy world as Firebreathers, just at a slightly different time, and a very different place. It follows three people, and their involvement with - and attempts at escaping from - a widespread criminal organization known for brutally exploiting the idea of owing someone a “life debt”. The three main characters are: Marika Swiftfoot, a woman who ran away from home and started a life of vigilantism, indebted when avoiding a blizzard with the help of a young man who was working for the Whispers, who have finally found her after ten years; Ivan Greyheart, that same man, with a new name, and several more behind him, who has always longed for adventure and has found himself trapped inland for a decade, and who has never forgotten Marika’s smile; and Dakarsa Silentstep, a young man who is far more than the fragile child he seems, and who has, apparently, never existed at all.
This is the only one of my WIPs I would currently describe as having 18+ themes, as it deals quite a bit with revenge, bloodshed, and implied sexual assault, but I won’t be posting any scenes like that here any time soon. Still, I try to keep minors and adults on separate taglists, just in case I do post something that toes the line.
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Another side-WIP of mine is called Deity Complex, and it is set in an Alternate Earth/Hidden Magic type world. This story follows a person named Hunter Carrol as they evade a government that is trying to exploit Hunter as a host for a primordial deity of Death to win their wars overseas, while Hunter longs to go home and see their mother again. Most of this WIP takes place in a roadtrip-type format, with a strange girl at the wheel, who seems to understand Hunter’s predicament to an uncanny degree.
This WIP is probably the closest I’ll ever get to writing YA, simply because of the age of the characters and tone of the narration, though it does attempt to tackle themes like militarism and imperialism, consent, existence, and shared trauma.
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I’ve also started work on a sci-fi WIP, as well as a couple of other fantasy WIPs, but I won’t talk too much about those until I’ve actually introduced them here! Just know that the world that includes Firebreathers and Whispers is expansive, and includes many of the WIPs I plan on writing in the future.
As much as she’s clearly holding back laughter, I can’t help the seed of doubt in the back of my mind. You’ll think I’m joking if I tell you. Was that just a set up to fuck with me?
“I don’t believe you.”
She laughs. “Told you.”
I shake my head and drop the plastic bag to the floor by my foot, slipping a water bottle out and cracking it open. “Unless you can show me one of these “aliens”, I’m assuming that was a set up.”
“You can’t prove I’m joking,” she counters, still grinning.
“I can’t prove you’re not, either,” I say, raising the water to my lips, glad I finally have another human being to talk to. Even if she is, currently, trying to convince me she’s met aliens.
“What would I have to gain by lying about this, of all things?” she asks.
“The pleasure of knowing you successfully gave a rando from nowhere an existential crisis.”
My words to find are: strike, ring, soft, and fall!
I have no idea who to tag for this, so take it as an open tag for everyone who’s always wanted to do one of these, but has never had a chance to!! Your words are: Strand, hush, edge, and drown!
Strike (Firebreathers):
“And our surprise contender, Ember Timber, landed a frankly ridiculous”-- he casts a wink my way, as he enunciates each number clearly--”7.88.”
I feel myself choke a bit, this time, as several members of the crowd start loudly complaining about being barred from betting on me. They’re quickly drowned out by the noise of conversation and shouts congratulating me, however, and as I try to process how fast I must have been on the bonus shots, my siblings run up, whooping for me.
As Ash goes in for a hug, I look out at the crowd beyond, overwhelmed by the noise. Spot two familiar faces--one with silvery hair and wide, awe-struck eyes, and one with greying pink, nodding in approval.
Ring (Whispers):
Cussing quietly to myself all the while, I look around desperately, trying to find some way out of this starsforsaken situation.
The crates further back - are they big enough to hide behind? If Ivan doesn’t find us quickly, will I be able to get them open? Will we fit inside?
I jump down, slipping on the ice momentarily when I land, and end up scrambling on my hands and knees up to the crates. The rough, sharp edge of the bricks I land on cuts into my pants, and the pain that rings up through my leg on impact makes me wince, but I keep my yelp in as the bricks slice my hand.
Soft (Deity Complex):
I don’t know how long it’s been by the time a silhouette passes in front of the lights on their way out of the bathrooms. Within moments, the smell - no, aura - of heat wafts towards me on the same gust that ruffles her disheveled hair, and I can’t help but imagine that washing her hands must be a pain, with the steam that must roll off of them. And then I wonder why that image came to mind.
She doesn’t notice me, at first. She’s too busy talking in a quick, hushed voice at the speaker on her phone, which she holds flat, so the mic can pick her words up. She’s probably recording herself, though I can’t imagine why. The blue light from the screen casts soft shadows over her face, and I can’t help but wonder if her brightness is actually that high, or if it just looks like a beacon because of the darkness everywhere else.
Either way, she stops talking and walking at the same time, once she spots me.
I haven’t smelled fear so clearly since the crash.
Fall (The Lost):
Perhaps it’s entertaining precisely because none of them will ever fall victim to it.
The pod stops, as she has the thought. For a moment, her pulse rises, sending the strands of antennae beneath her carapace into a spin around her head. Could they have heard what she thought? She’d seen the telltale marks of Psyche implants among the keepers - were they angry? Did they plan to prolong her suffering here?
Within a moment, she is proven wrong. The capsule breaks open above her, like the cracking of an egg, to reveal a bright, deceptively welcoming sky. Wind breathes through grass, sending the shivering sounds of rain across the field.
I was tagged by the awesome @purgatorydotexe!! Thank you so much!!
RULES: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20 stories just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag others!
I don’t have anywhere near 20 stories, so a;sldfkj
Firebreathers:
The only thought that runs through my mind as I slip my hand into the stranger’s coin purse is I need to switch patron goddesses.
Whispers:
When that bastard Alexei finally shows up to collect, I’m not ready.
Deity Complex:
There’s too much fucking corn in America.
the Secret Scifi WIP™:
In a coliseum drifting among the wastes of shattered stars, the last of the Varied chews on a crystal, choking the shards down with the knowledge that they will be fighting for their life once again in a few hours.
Marked (not introduced At All yet):
Tashmi Alir was leaning against the railing of the airship, back to the water below, gazing lazily at the clouds roiling overhead, when the captain first made the arrangements.
I think my favorite, right now, is the opening for the scifi WIP, simply because it’s a) the newest one, and b) the one with the most intrigue so far!
I’ll tag: @ashen-crest, @akindofmagictoo, @mel-writes-with-her-dragons, and @maximised!! As always, absolutely no pressure, and if you want to join in, consider this an open tag!!
Now y’all know why I haven’t been on here in a few days haha 😅
But yes, it’s finally here!!!! The official intro for Deity Complex!!! I’ll probably be posting the portraits individually on my new art blog in the next couple days :D
The map of the US is from here!
Also, once again, shout out to @rhikasa and their lovely ask from last FAF that sparked the conspiracy theory plotline, and subsequently sparked an increased urgency to get this presentation done :D Thank you so much!!!! Everyone, go follow them, they’re awesome!!!!
I already have @apricotwrites and @cabvswater on my Deity Complex taglist, but I’ll also tag @adaparkwrites for the intro, since she likes to see these, and @keen2meecha, since she liked my initial stuff for DC!!!
Let me know if you would like to be on the official taglist!!
