Hello there! Thanks so much for this ask (and for the kind words you said about me in the tags of that one post about saying nice things about previous poster. Several amazing folks have said such kind things about me today, I don't deserve the praise, thank you all so much!)
Anyway, already answered the Velociraptor ask in a previous post but don't mind doing so again. I'll just pick a different scene from The Heralds of Blood to answer this:
Velociraptor - share an ominous or scary scene
The previous scene I shared was from the Blood-Wraith attack from Chapter Nine. I also shared a scene I liked from Chapter Ten that was also ominous and disturbing. Given that chapter is dark and disturbing throughout, I'll gladly pick another bit from there to share. Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't read this far along:
From Chapter Ten: Hearts of Darkness:
More bodies, more burst chests and broken ribs, more music marching towards a fortissimo fever-pitch. On the sixth floor, directly below the Arch-Magus’ study, Eli came across a trio of fallen Subalterns, their youthful features marred by the spatter of their own blood. One of the senior acolytes he didn’t know but the others he was quite familiar with.
Handsome young Ravi Patel would never casually flick a spell again nor would Eli ever get to see if he could make sour-faced Amelia Turner laugh. Their hearts were ripped free of their mortal cages, the light of their lives snuffed out forever.
Kettle drums and cymbals clashed and clanged as Eli stepped over the threshold of the Arch-Magus’ door, the smooth black monolith barrier already crumbled to coal dust. He breathed deep, closed his eyes and walked once more into hell.
Swelling shadows joined the swelling music, purple specters dancing to the madness of the unseen orchestra. Nearly all in the study was the same as it always was, dark décor and baroque brilliance. The alembics and beakers were empty of their experimental contents, the grimoire on the bat-wing bookstand freed from its chains. None of the inky candles were alight, for a bold green glow rippled from further into the study.
Above the empty fireplace, the jagged sword of darkstar iron yet remained. With a simple Blast spell, Eli freed the blade from its mantle-mount and wielded it in his shaking left hand.
As Eli pressed into the study, the source of poisonous green light now overwhelming, the music climbed to a cascading and calamitous crescendo. The acidic aura burned at the core of the hexagonal reading chamber, hutches and bookcases pushed back to make room for a web of crystalline dust. At each corner of the six-sided web, silver bowls worked through with golden veins rested, each vessel containing a lump of purplish-grey flesh steeped in pools of blood.
The stolen hearts of the mages murdered by Sylvester Flint.
The Arch-Magus himself sat in the center of the web, legs crossed and eyes closed, his suit and robes fastidious and free of any blood or viscera. By his feet sat another elegant bowl containing a charred heart, which only a short while before was beating inside a living, breathing person. In Flint’s lap, a massive gold-chased grimoire lay open, the single phoenix feather he’d kept in a bell jar now balanced in mid-air above the flapping pages. Where once the phoenix feather burned a bright coppery scarlet, it now was the source of the sickly smaragdite flame.
Flint opened his eyes and the maddening music came to a dramatic close.
--------------------------------
All right, thanks again so much for the ask! I enjoy answering these so anyone else who wants to, feel free to send more in!
I hope you have the best birthday ever, and you get to eat your favorite foods, and spend time with all your favorite people and animals!!! <3
May I please request Troodon, Brachiosaurus, and Apatasaurus for the Dino Asks? Thanks!
~ Morri 🗡️ (@memento-morri-writes)
Thank you! I will get to eat my favorite foods tonight, my mom is making orange chicken with rice and my sister is making me a chocolate cake, so I'm excited!
Dinosaur Asks~! & Send Asks for my Birthday?
Troodon - share a scene that is really important to a character’s development
(this one is a bit more subtle and a little silly, but it is part of Max’s growth and i like it)
“Come on jump!”
“I’m not jumping from there!” Max half whispered, half yelled down to Monty, “I’ll break something!”
“No you won’t, I’ll catch you!”
The echoes of heavy footsteps and soldiers shouting got louder, bouncing off the walls of the mining tunnel. A warm glow of fire got brighter, shadows flickering around the corner.
Max stood, squeezing his eyes shut and clutching the satchel with the mysterious letter inside. “Mother Hallya bless my broken body…”
And he jumped.
Both boys crashed to the ground, mostly unharmed thanks to Monty breaking Max’s fall.
Monty started to hiccup and ribbit, and with a puff of purple sparkles, he turned into a frog again. With a glare, Max picked Monty up by the back of his slimy green neck and held him up to eye level. “Some catch.”
Monty stuck his long frog tongue out at him, and Max stuffed him in the satchel before slipping into the secret passage
Brachiosaurus - share a sad or tragic scene
(oh ho ho, so many to pick from, I like this birthday present >:))) have the potential Finale of Sleeping Beauty’s Bodyguard because I’m really fucking proud of this glorious angsty shit, this isn’t even the whole scene, just the angstiest bit, under the cut cuz it's LONG )
Hesitantly, Raven cradled her head with one hand and rubbed the knuckles on one of her hands with the other. “Sapph’?” His voice came out barely louder than a whisper. “Wake up, come on… Please…” He shook her, but she didn’t stir in the slightest.
There was maybe one time when Raven had felt so helpless in his life, and that was when he was a small boy and was being picked on by a bunch of bigger kids.
That was nothing compared to the overwhelming dread and helplessness that filled him now. It was so suffocating he was drowning in it.
A sleep like death, the witch had called it. Raven was beginning to understand now, much to his dismay.
She was still alive, technically, as she was still breathing and her heartbeat could still be felt.
But she was never going to wake up.
It was almost worse than if her death had looked more like death- at least then it wouldn’t mock him with the feel of her heartbeat and movement of her breathing that amounted to nothing.
Getting desperate, he shook her again. “Sapphire, please, you can’t do this to me… you have to wake up, please, please-” His voice cracked at the last word as his hands started to shake.
She didn’t stir or make a noise at all.
Down the stairs, he could hear people shouting and looking for the princess. Someone mentioned that they saw the traitor- him- take her up the stairs, and the voices got louder, joined by footsteps racing up the staircase behind him.
“I’m so sorry,” He whispered to Sapphire, and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m gonna fix this, I’m gonna fix this I swear.”
Then he gently laid her down on the floor, and made his escape through the open window.
Apatosaurus - share some of your favorite dialogue
Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order:
“I’d protect you even if it wasn’t my job.” - Raven in Sleeping Beauty’s Bodyguard
~~~
“I will come back for you.”
Hestia looked away, slowly shaking her head. “No one’s ever stayed this long. And I know you’ll forget about me.”
“Hestia.”
She hesitantly looked back at him, tears starting to burn behind her eyes.
Elliot dropped both her hands to gently cup her face. “It’s not goodbye forever. Once my father is well again, I’ll come back for you. We’ll see each other again, I promise.” - Elliot and Hestia in Handsome and the Beast
~~~
“How many times have I told you that you need to be more careful with sharp things, princess?”
Sapphire sighed, “Oh, we’re back to calling me ‘princess’ now? I thought we were past using formal names.” -Raven and Sapphire in Sleeping Beauty’s Bodyguard
~~~
‘My hands aren’t that pretty,” Cassandra wrote, looking at her calloused and rough hands, made that way from years of sailing the sea on a ship. She added, “They’re rough.”
Erica thought for a moment, and wrote, “Yes, but they can also be gentle. And they’re rough because of hard work. And they’re yours. Nothing more beautiful than that.’ -Cass and Erica in The Little Pirate
Do you have any recommendations for good paleobiology books? Or even other blogs that post good stuff! I'm very interested in paleoart but my knowledge is very limited atm
Unfortunately I don't do a lot of physical book reading these days. Much of my current paleobiology knowledge has come from paleoartists and palaeontologists I follow on twitter and their associated blogs.
Mark Witton is a definite reccomendation when it comes to good art, and a good place to start with a very approachable readings for a beginner in the field.
On Tumblr, I dont actually follow many palaeontology blogs, since my obsessive dinosaur posting sort of spilled over from my twitter feed. But I can recommend a couple. @paleoart is a fantastic artist and often accompanies their art with interesting factoids about the animals they post. @bestofpalaeo is a good hub for finding more specific blogs on topics you're pursuing. And @speculative-evolution is an interesting blog that posts and reposts not only stuff on extinct animals, but extant animals and other more otherworldly biology concepts.
There's a lot of good smaller creators on YouTube that have vast libraries of paleo-knowledge to consume if you're looking to just binge that sort of content. I recommended some in my Friday Media Recommendations last week.
Triceratops: what would you do to protect your friends?
Whatever it takes. Although most of my suggestions get turned down because ‘where are you going to find a rusty chainsaw?’ or ‘you can’t bury people alive in the middle of the woods’
Spinosaurus: are you concerned about others backstabbing you?
Idk how that would happen??? Like my best friends have other best friends? Good for them! They get a uni/job offer I wanted? They worked just as hard, they deserve it!! The people that matter to me would never pull shit to hurt me and the people who would can go fuck themselves with a rusty chainsaw :)
Iguanodon: If someone said you were their inspiration, how would you react?
I’ve done nothing for others to be inspired by?? I’d just be very confused tbh
Reiji: I would think this question would be obvious. Miss Igarashi is clumsy, loud and has no respect for the way that this household is run. She is a frequent bother to not only myself, but to the others here as well.
Hikari: Well excuse me…. I thought that I was learning the ways of the mansion pretty well. Plus I would think that it was you that gets on everyone’s nerves.
Reiji: What do you mean by that?
Hikari: Well….. Laito-kun and Ayato-kun are always complaining about all the things you make them do…..and how you always ruin their fun.
Reiji: Do they now…..perhaps I should ruin their fun more often. -walks away-
Hikari: Wait Reiji-san!!! You’re not going to tell them that is was me who told you, right!?
Question from the Dinosaur Themed Ask Game - Still Accepting!!
Parasaurolophus - share a scene where a character is/gets embarrassed or flustered; and Allosaurus - share an action or combat scene. For the ask game!
Hello there and thanks for the Dinosaur Asks! Loved reading the bits you shared so let me see if I can find something equally fun to share from The Heralds of Blood:
Parasaurolophus - share a scene where a character is/gets embarrassed or flustered;
From the recently posted Chapter Twelve: Strange Matter:
It was a frustrating tableau to witness, given that Juno thought the night had been going well so far. She knew she wasn’t the greatest host but even so, seldom had she seen such a risible reception. You walk away for one moment and all hell breaks loose, absolutely typical…
Of course, a moment’s observation was all that Juno needed to see why her guests were all keeping their distance. Travers’ words hadn’t done the scene justice.
Bowls of upturned crème dip and thick cheese sauce decorated the table, scattered shrimp, toast points and light garlic puffs half-chewed and tossed about, cracked plates of crudites, fine linens and shining silver service trays dragged onto the floor. An entire bank of refreshments assaulted and destroyed by a single adorably chunky culprit, his massive tongue licking out the contents of a bowl of bouillabaisse with a gleeful series of smacking slurps.
“Jenkins, NO!!! Down, boy, heel!”
One click of Juno’s tongue and a louder click of her boots against the dark marble floor was enough for her leathery-jowled old bulldog to back away from the bowl and plop his plump little body down. He waddled on over, eyes big, brown and bright, and immediately planted his haunches by her feet. Juno crossed her arms and gave old Jenkins her sternest stare, but all cold feeling melted away the moment her faithful hound let out a pleased little Woof!
“Oh, Jenkins, you silly old rapscallion, I can never stay angry at you. That’s no excuse for your behavior, however. What you did was very naughty and there shan’t be treats for you tomorrow! No whining, you’ve had your fill.” She glanced at Travers and the bewildered serving staff, backed up against the tall red-and-white paned windows. “There wasn’t anything chocolate here, was there? No? Oh, thank the Elder Spirits for that!”
There was much tittering and nervous coughs as Juno apologized to her guests, waved Travers away so he could take Jenkins for his evening walkies, and assured them all that such future functions held at the White Crescent Tower would not be nearly so disruptive.
Provided anyone ever actually darkens my doorstep again, Juno’s inner monologue groused. After tonight, that old moniker of The Empty House may well return to The Tower and Palecliffe Manor! Such a shame, after all the work I’ve done bringing this estate back to life. Another dream of mine dwindled into dust.
Allosaurus - share an action or combat scene.
Not exactly a combat scene but it fits the action bill IMO:
Also from Chapter Twelve: Strange Matter:
Tugging at the lapels of her navy frock coat and tidying her elegant mess of oaken-dark locks, the reluctant Baroness of Argenthall alighted away from her favorite second floor gazing spot with every intent of returning indoors, attending ten or twenty minutes of tedious talk among her cultured guests. Truly, she had no wish for the evening to proceed in any other fashion.
Only, in the corner of her eye, flickering down among the shadowed hedges, the most curious glimmer ghosted along the edge of her vision.
“Red lights at night, sailor’s delight!” Juno’s murmur switched to sotto voce swearing as she glimpsed a second quicksilver flash of crimson lightning dancing among the plum trees. “Though only for those with full hearts and full purses…”
She gripped tight the mother-of-pearl handle of her favorite hyper-pulse pistol, wary of the wood-wraiths beloved of local legend. The pistol’s matching companion was unfortunately under repair, lovers sadly unable to join each other in dance and song.
No matter, one of my beauties will be more than enough.
Another flicker of scarlet lightning, a rustling of the bushes and trees, sparks and smoke.
Juno’s breath caught in her throat. Her pistol was cocked, aimed, ready to fire-
Then a sudden tugging of her sleeve stole away her noble gaze from the night.
One quick flickering motion dispatched her unexpected assailant, tumbling him to the tiled ground with a swift flip, a cracking thud and a gravelly groan.
Another quick and far more unfortunate motion led to her twisting the pistol about and firing a searing shot in the opposite direction; she only hoped the fiery salvo didn’t tear through some poor hapless innocent’s flesh. The sharp shattering sound of a big-bellied garden urn exploding into stone shards a moment later was satisfactory enough to quash Lady Juno’s troubled thoughts.
“Dross and damnation!” Juno snapped as she peered out into the shadows, crystal charge chamber in her hyper-pulse pistol cooling down. With a wicked, well-practiced flourish, the silver-and-pearl flintlock returned to its holster. “Where has the wretched beastie gone off to?”
In the split second of her distraction, the crimson mystery mist had disappeared.
Hello there and thanks for the ask! These are from the Dinosaur Writing Asks I shared earlier, which specifies sharing bits of your writing appropriate for each dinosaur-related question, so I'll go track some snippets of The Heralds of Blood to share. This will likely be long so answers and very spoilery (so caution if you're reading along and not caught up) Answers are below the read-more:
Megalosaurus -share an scene that begins a chapter/story arc/etc
All right, I'll share both the opening to the prologue (and thus the entire story) and the book itself (aka Chapter One):
From The Prologue: What The Keymaster Saw:
Lightning split the night sky over Silvergard into a thousand searing shards of storm-cloud and shadow. Wind whipped and whistled across the dark waters of the spring-chilled lake and over the cobbled squares of the capitol’s eastern wards, cold and keening. A night of fell omens in the ancient lore of both faith-keeper and free-thinker, so said the runes carved into the memory-stones of the island city’s foundations itself.
A night when ancient and accursed terrors were said to come alive once more.
Beneath the white stone arches and through the gilded grilles of the rarely opened Opaline Gates staggered a man seldom seen away from the royal spires atop the hill, his footsteps quick and unsteady. His balance was that of a drunkard’s, his breath ragged as if he’d raced a marathon.
From his throat, there sounded a sharp, simple scream.
From Chapter One: Sword, Sphere and Crystal:
The bacon smoked and sizzled away in the copper skillet, with just enough grease leftover in which to fry the bread. On the other burner, eggs and cream bubbled together with a dash of salt, pepper, cumin and shreds of sharp white cheddar for flavor. And on the far-left counter, wisps of steam from the silver service indicated that the coffee had, at long last, percolated to pitch black perfection.
Ian Greencross looked down upon his breakfast domain and, with a nod of contentment, proclaimed it good.
“Arses in seats and elbows off the table for morning mess!” Ian shouted, craning his neck away from the cramped cellar cookery so the others could hear him throughout the tower. “Come and get it!”
Spinosaurus - share a scene that ends a chapter/story arc/etc
I'll share the ending of The Prologue and Chapter One as I've got those up (so the end of the beginning, if you will):
From The Prologue: What The Keymaster Saw:
Quigley looked on in horror as the Arch-Magus returned to the pulpit, looking down upon him like a raptor ready to feast upon its prey. His owlish eyes gleamed golden in the dark.
“Now, a bit of quiet if you please. Cease your weeping, cease your heart and listen.”
Far above, the chapel bells tolled out exactly once to mark the hour: One o’clock in the morning.
And yet, Jerome Quigley heard in his head and in his heart the true tolling of the hour beyond midnight. Nocturne’s Lament, sad and beautiful.
Thirteen tolls of the bell.
And lightning struck the painted moons.
All the panes of crimson glass in every chapel window surged and spilled their savage light into the nave, surrounding the Keymaster in a pool of jewel-bright blood. The screams torn from Jerome Quigley’s throat in his earlier race through the night were nothing compared to the screams ripped from his ravaged lungs now.
As the wraith of wildfire consumed his spirit and flesh, as darkness swallowed the last flickers of consciousness, The Keymaster of Silvergard saw upon the Arch-Magus’ face the smile that would damn the world and heard the sound of the scythe that would harvest it.
Then there was naught but the silence after the storm.
From Chapter One: Sword, Sphere and Crystal:
“There’s a time and a place for in media res, this isn’t it. So, Sit rep, Status Update, what’s up with the nobs?”
“No delicate way to put all this, much as I wish there were. Guess I’ll just be blunt, then. The Opaline Vault has been breached. The Keymaster has been murdered, found reduced to a pile of bone, blood and ash. And all the signs and portents point to darkness and destruction on the horizon, the return of forces and powers unseen in millennia. Is that a good start for you?”
Silence reigned over the kitchen. The air itself seemed frozen. Then Eli coughed into his clenched fist, disrupting the quiet pall.
“Oh, I was a little too blunt, wasn’t I?”
Therizinosaurus - share a scene that you’ve put a lot of work into
Hmm, I put a lot of work into all my scenes. However, I'm probably most proud of my writing from Chapter Ten: Hearts of Darkness, very emotional, dark and disturbing. Let me share a snippet from that:
From Chapter Ten: Hearts of Darkness:
Eli stepped into the lift, the walls lined with silver trim and black wood paneling, then headed for the third-floor commons, just outside the Amethyst Reading Room. When the lift’s golden grilles clattered open, strange swirling music and a savage massacre awaited him.
Drums and woodwinds played softly from somewhere in the background, slowly building like the first steps of a dance to an unknown point. As Eli examined the blood-streaked hall, he heard harp-strings join the drums and high flutes, the swirling smoky sounds of a contrabassoon.
The doors to private chambers along the main corridor were closed, the absinthe-green lamps shining furiously. Scorch marks blackened the walls; the plastered molding crumbled along the vaulted ceiling. A frisson of leyline energy ran along the outside of every chamber, wards and spell-shields in place to protect occupants from the unknown dangers without.
Eli’s first instincts would’ve been to name those mages cowards, his brain boiling in a bitter broth as it was, but then he saw the bodies on the floor.
More dead glassy eyes in the faces of mages he barely knew, more lifeless limbs. Purple robes and scarves almost lost against the carpets, even darker now that they were soaked in fresh blood. One-no, two-of the corpses had messy ruptures in their chests, the rib cages puncturing through the flesh, their hearts ripped free.
The food from The Filigree Falcon soon made its way into the nearest decorative urn, Eli’s insides no longer able to stand the sickening sights and smell of the ashen hallway. The unusual background bolero gained strength as Eli wretched, brazen trumpets and string instruments joining the repetitive tapping of the drums.
Eli staggered upwards, wandered the common rooms with their faceless six-fingered statues and alien flowers, in search of someone, anyone who knew where Flint could be found. It was true that most mages kept to their own devices, lost in studies and experiments and abstract lore for hours on end, but the sheer lack of living bodies genuinely had Eli worried. Piccolos and horns added to the building march of music, enhanced the surrealism of the scenario.
Parasaurolophus - share a scene where a character is/gets embarrassed or flustered
There's a couple scenes that could fit from the story but the first one that came to mind was this bit from Chapter Eleven: The Empty House:
From Chapter Eleven: The Empty House:
Eli sat up slowly as Carmen and Moira entered the cubicle, tugging the thin sheets and blankets further up his exposed torso with a blush on his pale face. Carmen rolled her eyes, of course, having seen all the boys in their beach-attire before (and the usually modest mage in the lightest amount of all, no less!) Priestesses saw all sorts of things in the process of healing those who sought their aid; a want and need for privacy was all well and good but sometimes patients could just be so silly.
Velociraptor - share an ominous or scary scene
Hmm, there's a few from the story I could use (already feel the answer for Therizinosaurus counts for this). I think I'll go with the scene where the main characters first encounter the ferocious Blood-Wraith:
From Chapter Nine: The Fall of The Blade:
Somewhere in the seconds where Carmen thought herself surrendered to the void, her merciful Goddess had instead decided to send guardian angels to her aid. A dome of light veiled them all, a rippling golden-blue shell holding back the scourging hellfire. Carmen raised her silver-and-emerald leaf pendant to her lips and looked down towards the dreaming earth, breathing a word of thanks to Verdana.
A moment later, the initial dazzling motes vanishing, Carmen saw her guardian angels were not literally so. No Crystalline Princes to watch over her, no Knights of Blessed Stone.
The dome of light was cast by Eli, kneeling upon the ground with his staff held aloft.
And casting the haze of blue firebolts slithering across the reflective dome, Paladin Primus Tabitha Rook lead her wards Ian and Hugo in defending against the vile wraith. The points of their spell-swords thrust upwards, enjoined together in a thin, steely tripod, projecting a mighty shield of fire to bolster Eli’s Mirror-Wall.
“Captain Holborn! Sister Summerfield!” Rook shouted over the ear-splitting screams of their ancient foe. “Get the others out of here! Find a place of safety!”
Carmen’s head was fuzzy, but she responded immediately anyway. While Holborn shooed out his underlings and stood his ground at the foot of the steps, Carmen tugged at Moira’s robes and pushed the groaning councilors to their feet. An unnatural wind coursed throughout the chamber, the demon’s breath lashing at their backs while they lurched towards the surface. She pushed her dark, sweaty bangs out of her eyes and, hopeful she wasn’t reduced to a pillar of salt and ash, Carmen looked back towards the shield of light.
And up above the mirror wall, the bloody hammer of hell rose and fell hard and fast.
Carmen let loose a shameless shrill shriek as the amorphous cloak of living scarlet mist thundered down, down, down. A brutal fist pounded against the spell barrier and she covered her ears as the drum-bursting fury resonated across the Vault. The others rushing past her did the same, hunched over and crying out in fear and pain; there was little else they could do.
Iguanodon - share a character introduction scene
Seeing as my most recently posted chapter introduced the new POV of Lady Juno Sharpe, I'll use that particular intro scene:
From Chapter Twelve: Strange Matter:
Lady Juno Sharpe stood upon the balcony of White Crescent Tower’s west wing and watched the trio of moons dance overhead, a stinging tear in her pale grey raptor eyes.
Jewel-bright beauties they were, Selenia’s shining spheres. Albeine’s silver-white surface waned gibbous and her smaller, colorful siblings Rubeus and Nexa danced along the velvety night sky in similar phases. Caught in their halos, one could almost make out the bronze hulls of Lunarian bioships darting hither and thither. So captivating and majestic.
Yes, that must be why she was suddenly overcome with emotion, barely holding back the waterworks. What else would provoke such a reaction? Juno was as much a poet as a stoic, after all. More so, these days, a proper patron and playwright as she’d always wanted.
So she told herself when looking beyond the white iron balustrades and the resplendent manor gardens, down south across the rolling wooded hills of Silvergard Isle. Her land, her home, her birthright and charge no matter what Father’s final will and testament had said.
Juno’s land still, in her heart and in the ink she spilled across every page of her many works, her pen and sword equally mighty in their steely thrusts. Sharpe was more than just an ancient name and sigil she bore, after all.
Ever and truly, it was the very core of her spirit.
(I'd love to post Juno's full intro-shifting from her emotional state and elegant, verbose view of her surroundings/self to the side of her that is the hunter/fighter and then to her slightly eccentric, silly, whimsical side but that would take too long, oh well)
Apatosaurus - share some of your favorite dialogue
Ooh, there's a number of dialogue bits I could pick out (ordinarily I feel I'm not the greatest with dialogue, being quiet, autistic and having something of a tin ear, but I feel I've improved dramatically). I already shared this bit of banter in a tag game yesterday/earlier today but don't mind sharing again.
From the upcoming Chapter Thirteen: Lost In The Woods:
“Sorry we left you two gentlemen stranded here. Melissa and I needed a few moments to sort things out. What seems to be the trouble?”
“Surprised you didn’t open with “What’s all this, then?”’ Eli huffed, tugging at the lapels of his black blazer with a sulky expression. “I’m getting a head-start on the necessary maintenance to bring this old jalopy back to life, re-establish the central vortex core, that sort of thing. Trey here, on the other hand, was giving advice about as useful as his little side-quest while we were nearly made a meal fit for a wraith-”
“Hey! You better believe what I learned on that katabasis will be plenty important later, that memory-stone was full of useful stuff! I just got to find someone to help me translate it all. Also, I’ve fiddled about with skimmer engines before, I know my way ‘round a flux capacitor!”
“Hmph. You did at least use katabasis correctly in a sentence, I’ll grant you that much.”
“Word-a-day calendar strikes again! Now let me handle this, you fix that valve…”
“Katabasis?” Melissa whispered while Ian sidled to Trey’s side of the skimmer.
“Fancy term for a catacomb crawl,” Ian replied, thumping Trey on the back and leaning forward so only his friend could hear. “Listen, for sanity’s sake-yours and mine-let these two deal with the engine while we go off on a different side-quest. Where’d Carmen saunter off to?”
--------------------
All right, that was a lot to share but it's fun seeing all those bits and pieces of my story laid out like this, enjoying how I've developed my story so far (and its giving me motivation to get back to Chapter Fourteen, which has been slow to start due to the heat and pressure making me a touch ill, sigh) Thanks again for the ask!
Hi! Iguanodon and Stegosaurus for the dinosaur ask game? 😊
Hey! Thanks for the asks!
Iguadadon- share a character introduction scene (Space Don’t Dictate Fate)
The girl lifts Arc by their suspenders, holding them like a human backpack before restarting the countdown. As soon as the countdown hit one, they were flung haphazardly into the beast containment.
Arc wouldn’t even bother to scream, it wouldn’t be the first time that girl did this. Arc grunted and rolled onto their back as they gasped for the air that the ground slammed out of them.
A massive weight that shook the ground. A person who really would have appreciated not being thrown into this situation. What more could be expected from the exhausted twig with dwindling aspirations? They slowly raised to their feet, holding a hand over their nonexistent stomach as their heaving became soft pants.
The ground was reverberating beneath their feet and a sudden shiver went down their spine, realizing how frigid it was. Arc trudged along in attempts to encounter whatever beast they were being forced to face off with. They then put their arms beneath their armpits, attempting to keep the cold from stiffening their joints.
Stegosaurus- share a humorous scene (Robots & Gardens)
“Wait what’s a kazoo?” Donnie questioned with their hand hovering over the keyboard.
“It’s those tacky plastic things they used to give kids at parties before they exchanged it for huffing whipped cream and paint fumes,” Hollis said laughter overcoming her.
Green looked at her slack-jawed, “How dare you think so lowly of my kazoo? Those plastic ones squeak too much. It drives me insane.”
“A metal kazoo is just a flute isn’t it?” Donnie questioned once more.
Green grabbed the knife’s handle from her holster tossing the harmonica to Peace. She swiftly removed the blade from the holster and pointed it irritatedly at the engineer who was beginning to recover from laughter and the robot thing quickly put its hands up to guard itself.
“How dare you disrespect my instruments?”
“Are they really yours if you stole them.” Peace said quickly looking away from the menacing glare that followed.
Hollis's roaring laughter followed, accompanied by the occasional little squeak that came from their mute robotic friend.
Green reholstered her knife and grabbed the harmonica, “I don’t like you guys.”
