He glanced over and saw his partner’s hands were clenched around the wheel, ice white. J reached over and placed his own hand on R’s forearm, and the magic thrummed between them, throbbing steady like a heartbeat.
It was blue and smooth and, although it did nothing to relax R’s grip, J felt the instant when R’s breathing began to even out. His magic did this. Their magic did this. J wanted nothing more than to hold onto R for the rest of their lives and never let go.
I’m beginning serious querying once again tomorrow on my adult fantasy (M|M asexual romance) book. Throwing this little teaser out because I chatted this to myself in the car and it sounded really good. Don’t know if I’ll swap it for what’s already in the scene, but it’s similar vibes anyways.
I turn 30 in 11 days and if I have to send out a query every day of age thirty to have an agent by 31, so be it. I worked really dang hard on rewriting this book and it deserves to get seen.
(I post writing related posts and book reviews from a “what I learned as a storyteller” perspective on IG if you’re into that sort of thing)
The words I had to find are crystal, rage, weak, stars and ghost.
In return I'll tag @giftedpoison, @marinesocks, and @alistonjdrake!
(no pressure ofc. I've been in a lot of tag games recently so I'm tagging outside of my normal circle if that's ok)
Your words will be Glisten, brace, churn, weight, and weather!
responses under the cut :)
Crystal
I follow the wind's current with my eyes, and it takes me to the sky.
I gasp against my own will; the sky was a plain blue earlier, cloudless and unrelentingly bright. Now the light shifts as though the very air were crystal, and pastel colors blend and mix to form what I thought was just blue. I follow the wind further, to the rows of buildings, where the faded facades I saw earlier are alight with color and life. The peeled gildings, the forgotten roots, the very warped wooden boards they’re built with shook off their tired looks and shine as though they’ve been freed.
This one is kind of cheaty because it's not from any of my listed WIPs, but a new idea I had yesterday and promptly wrote 4k words for in a few hours. It doesn't have a name yet (though I'm calling it Stained Glass Punk for now) and I'm not sure I'm going to do anything with it yet.
Rage - Pro. 6
“It was a mistake!” Melisande hisses, her face shadowed and half-crazed, not far from the woman Maple saw in the forest. Deron’s emotions are strong enough to choke Maple, forcing her attention away from anything else. Terror that Maple has never felt before takes her over, pulsing with every heavy heartbeat.
“He’s crazy!” Melisande continues, “It was stupid to think we could go behind the gods. He’s dangerous, love, and wants to drag us into it.” Her voice sounds teary by the end, a complete turn from her rage just a few moments ago. Deron reaches out to comfort her; she latches on to his arm like it’s a rope.
This one's a little confusing, but for context Maple is being forced to relive Deron's memories from his perspective. Melisande is Deron's love, and they're the villains in the first act of the story.
Weak - Pro. 6
“Well…” Amil said, finally getting his journal out. “You were right about these being new creatures…” he said woefully, and crossed out a majority of his notes. Using the light of the fire he wrote in what they know now. All three of them bounced details off of each other, but eventually Ryker grew quiet, out of information to add. As he broods Amil and Maple continue, both frustrated by how little they really know. The night around them grows old and the fire starts to die.
Amil pores over his notebook, weak orange flames waving, barely lighting his silhouette. He holds his notes out open and low, trying to catch the brightest of the dying light.
“Nothing about Varena’s condition…” he says, looking over and over at the same details.
“It’s corruption.” Ryker says, with a conviction that makes Maple’s stomach turn. Amil looks up at him, brows furrowed.
“It has to be,” Ryker continues, throwing more wood on the fire. Embers swirl, a bright red blaze following their heels.
“You really think so?” Amil whispers, afraid.
“Someone created those things. We need to get rid of them.” The flames reach high, higher than they should. Ryker’s unnaturally ice-blue eyes pierce right through the fire, looking to the base of the pit.
I actually posted this full scene like... a year ago, I think? I'm still pretty happy with it.
Stars - Pro. 3
“The stars are so bright tonight! Or maybe I just missed them,” Defra says, in her own little world. I force myself out of my thoughts and look up with her.
The sky looks like glass, inky but close, pressed against the tree tops, close enough to reach. The stars wink and shine, and in my head they’re liquid light, falling and splattering against the tinted glass sky. Shooting stars streak across the plane, leaving a melted silver trail behind. The movement is mesmerizing, until I catch a strange shadow.
Every time I describe the sky I do it a little differently. I'll never get sick of it.
Ghost - Pro. 6
By the time Maple is telling Varena about the hike back to camp, Amil wakes up. He looks terrible; there are bags under his eyes, and the way he’s clinging to his notebook strikes Maple as ghastly. When he sees Varena, sitting up and well, he stops and rubs his eyes as if he’s seeing a ghost.
“Morning,” Varena said.
“You’re actually- I mean- the creatures- huh?”
For context on this one, Varena was attacked by ✨ mysterious magical abominations ✨ the night before and should really not be up and moving now. But magic is strange here...
These words were a lot of fun! They managed to hit like all the description I've ever written so enjoy my messiest and most nonsensical moments ;)
«Η βασίλισσα...», «Εκείνη ξέρει καλύτερα.», «…μα δεν έχει πρόσωπο.», «Είναι σκληρή, όλο κρίνει.».
Σιωπή. Για ακόμη μια φορά, σιωπή. Οι χωρικοί παύουν να μιλάνε, όταν η ορχήστρα αρχίζει να παίζει μια μελωδία γνωστή. Σε πολλούς αρέσει να την αποκαλούν “Το βαλς της Ανασφάλειας„. Αλήθεια, όμως, γιατί αυτή η ονομασία;
«Το επικριτικό της βλέμμα, η υπεροψία… λες και οι κορδέλες και τα χρυσαφικά την κάνουν τόσο ισχυρή. Αν δεν είχε τον Εγωισμό...», «Μακάρι μια μέρα να της μοιάσω.» ακούω, καθώς κατεβαίνω την κεντρική σκάλα του παλατιού. Αναρωτιέμαι. Γιατί να θέλει κανείς να μοιάσει σε εμένα; Ποια είμαι εγώ στην τελική; Ποιος φταίει για όλα;
Εγώ.
Η ίδια η ανασφάλεια που ‐τόσα χρόνια‐ μοιράζω απλόχερα, με την πάροδο του χρόνου άρχισε να επηρεάζει και εμένα. Διαπέρασε τη σκληρή μου μάσκα, έγδαρε το πρόσωπό μου, πέρασε μια θηλιά στον λαιμό μου και άφησε μελανιές σε όλο μου το σώμα, τις οποίες δεν αντέχω να αντικρίζω. Ο καθρέφτης που κάποτε αγαπούσα τόσο πολύ, βρίσκεται στη γωνία της κάμαρης, καλυμμένος με ένα μαύρο πανί, να μου θυμίζει τον πόνο και τη δυστυχία στην οποία βουλιάζω καθημερινά όλο και περισσότερο.
Κάποτε υποσχέθηκα να κάνω περισσότερο καλό παρά κακό. Ώσπου ανέβηκα στον θρόνο, έχοντας τον Εγωισμό μου στο πλευρό μου. Μα, σε ποιον κάνω πιο πολύ κακό; Σε όσους μας υπηρετούν ή στον ίδιο μου τον εαυτό;
Ο βασιλιάς είναι αμείλικτος και τιμωρεί κάθε κακή πράξη. Εμάς, όμως, ποιος θα μας τιμωρήσει; Ποιος θα μας σώσει από τα λάθη μας;
Το βαλς τελείωσε και ένα αίσθημα ανασφάλειας έχει απλωθεί στον χώρο.
If you've been on the Interac-if Discord lately, you would have seen me talking about reworking this game, or at least this story. A while back, I also mentioned figuring out an issue with the code, one that I had been frustratingly trying to fix all this time.
Reworking the story was something I had planned to do at some point. If you've played the game (and more than 4 rounds in the story mode), you would have seen how repetitive the dialog ends up getting.
So I've planned 30-ish new story-rounds, with each passage giving a specific story or a two-part story, and each reveal having different dialogue/response from the NPC. That is about 45(?) mini-blurbs. Currently, I have completed 6/30 rounds.
I am hoping to figure out having or not an ending for each round you stop the game. I would want at least some of the text to refer to what has happened previously, with the NPC having different reaction depending on when you stop the game. If this happens, there would be about 32 (?) different endings at most, 5-6 at least.
ANYWAY
The point of this whole post was to complain about the fact that I am using the word paper and its synonyms so much they have started to lose their meanings (also trying to avoid repetition, it's so hard...)
(?) because I can't count and it's late. Final number will be revealed when the update is out.
Play the current version of Exquisite Cadaver here. It's still fun and you'll get weird results.
Hi! I hope you're doing great! ☺️ I can't wait to find out more about those personal projects I have seen you mention 🥰 Lots of love ❤️
🥺 cyn!!!
thank you so much, it's always nice to see you here ❤️
i do have these two projects going on. one is a book, and it's a story about two girls that meet and get together under not so common circumstances. i'm honestly loving to write this story because i have full freedom to do it so...
the second project already has a definitive shape and i can tell you this:
it's an IF, with 4 endgame li's: three exchangeable characters that can be male or female, and one sexless and non binary. i say 4 endgame because there are others that won't be available for romancing (just some stuff lol).
there are six other characters who are friends and companions and will take part on a huge portion of the story.
i can also say there's going to be three volumes (one is already done), and there will be individual conversations and intimate scenes with each li (and non-endgame characters as well).
there's a couple of pets as well. can't really have a fantasy story without pets and i think these are the cutest i could come up with!
i'm working on this project by myself, and i can tell you this: it's been really hard. it's a long, and sometimes a dull process to get everything in place, but oh my god, i love it!
i have no clue when i'm gonna be able to release it because i want to make sure the three volumes are ready to go when i do. it's a full time commitment that i can't make right now but i'm still working on them.
when i have more details i'll start a page exclusively for the IF. feel like that would be the best way to organize everything.
thank you so much for the love cyn! sending some right back! 🥰🥰
