Amelia, desperate for a break from her daily routine of too much work and not enough sleep, books a two-week vacation at a Victorian manor transformed into an "immersive bed and breakfast", where the staff dress and act as if they are from the 1800s.
On her first night there, she has a vivid dream that she herself is a maid in the manor, being courted behind closed doors by the handsome son of the house's lord. Imagine her surprise when, the next day, she is exploring the manor and finds the room from her dream... and the gentleman, too, who seems as surprised to see her as she is him.
And then he disappears.
post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
Thank you for the tag @drchenquill 🤍
Under this pseudonym, I currently just have the one. But I do have some other WIPs floating around that I love, just haven't been able to commit to for various reasons, so maybe talking about them will inspire me. At the very least, it might be entertaining!
The Victorian Rose (the story I post about here)
Beyond the Veil
The Starsong
Afterworld
Okay, that gives me four tags. I think I know y'all's stories, but maybe you've got some WIPs hiding like I do. 👀
Hey there! I would love to know what "Afterworld" is about!
Hello! 🤍
Afterworld is the least fleshed out. It's currently a series of unconnected scenes, a couple characters.
The basic gist is the protagonist wakes up in a waiting room. She finds out that she died, and she's now in the afterlife... where she is offered a job: sorting out incoming souls. It's a corporate environment, where demons and angels and once-humans (referred to as "temps") are trying to keep up with the constant amount of souls coming in. Humans reproduce SO much faster than the original system could keep up with, so there's now the Afterworld.
It's a mix of office humor and romance, as she's undeniably attracted to her supervisor, Zavriel. (It's hard for me to NOT write romance.) There's some pining, there's crashing together in a blind haze of lust, there's miscommunication over how to proceed given he is supposed to be helping her get "promoted" to the next stage of life beyond the Afterworld.
I don't really have much of anything for this one. I just keep the WIP file around because it delights me when I think about it, so I don't want to let it go.
post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
Thank you for the tag @drchenquill 🤍
Under this pseudonym, I currently just have the one. But I do have some other WIPs floating around that I love, just haven't been able to commit to for various reasons, so maybe talking about them will inspire me. At the very least, it might be entertaining!
The Victorian Rose (the story I post about here)
Beyond the Veil
The Starsong
Afterworld
Okay, that gives me four tags. I think I know y'all's stories, but maybe you've got some WIPs hiding like I do. 👀
Rules: share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!
tagged by @taranorma, thank you! Orion dialogue, naturally... I only looked through chapters 4-6 for these (except one of them is from ch. 8 or 9)
"You should go for the top shelf stuff if you want to impress me."
"Your pity put you out seventeen dollars for one glass, so I hope it was worth it."
"I'm a goddamn professional, thank you."
"An old, kitschy B&B is not where I'm going to die."
"If you don't like my tits, then don't look at them."
"I understand the situation perfectly. I'm dying, and it's at least partially your fault, and to make it up to me you're going to help me get home."
"I would devour you right now if I could... Until nothing's left. All to myself."
OPEN TAG because I'm tired lol. please @ me if you do it though!
Tagging: @the-golden-comet @taranorma @winterandwords @fortunatetragedy and an open tag for whomever!
Your words are: Intense, Rain, Resolve, Silent
Finally:
From Cara and the Will-o'-the-Wisp
Cara sat down beside the girl, looked out over the woods. They just existed in silence together until Rowan finally broke it. “It’s usually a thirty minute walk through the woods to get to Haven Bay.”
Startle:
From The Orphanage
“So, were are you from?” Ceri asked after a moment.
Somewhat startled out of her thoughts, Sara shook her head. “Oh, outside of Bar Harbor. My family’s been on the island for a hundred years or so. How about yourself?”
“Swan’s Island. Father, hell, my whole family were fishermen. Which is booming because of the war. The courts actually gave me a choice. I figured, since you read so much about government-run places in the papers, that the Catholic choice would be best.”
“You don’t seem the religious type.”
A short chuckle came from the teenager. “Raised Catholic, actually. Even if they’d rather me be a bit different than I actually am.”
Dark:
From The Last of the Orc
She was unconcerned to the distance her feet had covered until the narrow path widened, which revealed what once was a serene glade. But now, looked more like a horrific sacrificial sanctum. Bones littered the ground—both human and animal. While an ancient stone altar, its surface weathered by time and bore the faint remnants of dark brown stains. While within a bowl-like recess, deep within, there rested a viscous liquid of a sanguine hue, still fresh and tinged with the subtle scent of iron.
Light:
From The Act
In the dimly-lit antique shop, the soft glow of the lights above head, along with an old flickering lamp that stood on top of the tallest shelf, gave the former living space an almost mysterious ambiance. Which set it apart from all the bright shops, restaurants, and bars nearby. The walls, covered in wallpaper long out of fashion, adorned the captivating collection of paintings and photos—each exuded a sense of timeless beauty. While, perhaps the oldest thing here, an old metal breastplate with what appeared to be a gunshot hole in almost dead center. On both sides, shelves that groaned under the countless books and tomes of long ago, their pages whispered stories of the past.
My tag list, as always, is under the cut. If you wish to join the tag list, click here and interact with the post. If you want off the list, please send me a message <3
She walked with her arms wrapped around herself. She was wearing a white, sleeveless dress that reached to her knee, she was barefoot and her whole body was shaking. She had strained herself and was soaking wet to top it all off. She needed shelter.
Hot and cold
His fangs dug into my skin. It burned as something coursed through my veins. My heart pounded like crazy as it felt the change. At first I was cold, then terribly hot.
dry
The half-breed was dry and sat with us in the kitchen, where he drank another cup of blood.
Let's do some objects ~
Your words will be: dagger, candle, stone and sword
Tagging with no pressure, @icarianauthor , @minamaybe , @theink-stainedfolk , @frostedlemonwriter
@finickyfelix , @leahnardo-da-veggie and open tag~
not to be controversial bc I know this is like…not in line with shifting opinions on fanfic comment culture but if there’s a glaring typo in my work I will NOT be offended by pointing it out. if ao3 fucks up the formatting…I will also not be offended by having this pointed out…
‘looking forward to the next update’ and ‘I hope you update soon!’ are different vibes than a demand, and should be read in good faith because a reader is finding their way to tell you how much they love it. I will not be mad at this.
‘I don’t usually like this ship but this fic made me feel something’ is also incredibly high praise. I’m not going to get mad at this.
even ‘I love this fic but I’m curious about why you made [x] choice’ is just another way a reader is engaging in and putting thought into your work.
I just feel like a lot of authors take any comment that’s not perfectly articulated glowing praise in the exact manner they’re hoping to receive it in bad faith.
fic engagement has been dropping across the board over the last several years, and yes it’s frustrating but it isn’t as though I can’t see how it happens. comment anxiety can be a real thing. the last thing anyone wants to do is offend an author they love, and that means sometimes people default to silence.
idk where I’m going with this I guess aside from saying unless a comment is outright attacking me I’m never going to get mad at it, and I think a lot of authors should feel the same way. ESPECIALLY TYPOS PLZ GOD POINT OUT MY TYPOS.
rules: find the words in your WIP and share the excerpts.
my words: wet, hot, cold, dry
wet:
As the rain pours down around us, Jace pulls me tight against him, holding his coat over our heads as a makeshift umbrella. The closeness makes it impossible not to watch the wet drops cling to his long dark lashes before rolling down his cheeks.
hot:
The heat from the Florida sun makes the air unbearably hot. It feels like I'm gulping down steam from a boiling pot of water, seemingly weighing down my lungs. Yet Jace doesn't even seem phased by it.
cold:
The cold night air sends a shiver up my spine and Jace, being as observant as he is, takes his jacket off before wrapping it around my shoulders.
dry:
I lick my dry, chapped lips and his eyes track the movement.
tagging: @ashwithapen @ddbirb @wait-a-minute-lassie @frostedlemonwriter + an open tag!
Rules: Using the 3 random words given to you, you have to write a scene either using all 3 words in one scene OR write three separate scenes using each word separately.
Sicne this got a little long, I'll tag everyone right up top.
Your words are: organ, jump, cold
Tagging: @foxys-fantasy-tales @noblebs @vacantgodling @taranorma @sigridhawke @ink-enchanted @hallwords @leahnardo-da-veggie @rachaellawrites @wintherlywords @ettawritesnstudies and anyone else who wants to write something!
My words were: volcano, heaven, and means, and I wrote the following scene(s) for P&J!
~
The awkward silence grew exceptionally long. Pride stared at a stain on the wall, pretending to wonder where it came from. He didn’t know why he was still sitting there, listening to Justice sniffle into a tissue an arm’s length away, but couldn’t force his body to move. All his muscles clenched, waiting in suspense for permission to slink off the couch and forget this ever happened.
“Thank you,” Justice suddenly mumbled.
Pride almost jumped. “For what?”
“For listening, I guess.” He crumpled the used tissue in his fist, staring down at it with a wet smile. “I can’t really talk to humans about this, so.”
“You probably could. Just don’t say you’re homesick for Heaven. Let people fill in the rest themselves.”
Justice scrunched his nose. “I don’t know, I’m not a good liar.”
“It’s not lying, technically.”
“Sure, but it feels better to be able to tell the truth.” He gestured between them, the empty cushion on the couch even more exaggerated. “To talk to someone who gets it.”
“I don’t.”
Pride’s mouth answered so quickly he didn’t have time to think about what it said. Justice blinked his puffy eyes, taken-aback.
“What… do you mean?” he ventured.
“I’m not homesick,” Pride said. “I don’t miss anywhere, really.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope.”
“You don’t miss anyone?”
Pride snorted. Justice would never know how funny that question was. “Abso-fucking-lutely not. Hell sucked ass and I’m glad I’ll never be able to go back.”
“Oh.”
Justice sat back on the couch, confusion overtaking the homesickness that Pride discovered mere minutes ago. The longer he sat there, eyes far away in thought, the more a suspicion grew in Pride’s mind. A suspicion that seemed completely ridiculous.
“You don’t think demons actually like it in Hell,” he said, “do you?”
Justice turned to him and shrugged. “Why wouldn’t they?”
It was, perhaps, the dumbest thing Pride had ever been asked in his life. If he didn’t have his horns safely tucked away, he’d assume he was getting high off his own demonic fumes. “You’re fucking with me, right?”
“I don’t know anything about Hell, and you lived there, so—”
“’Lived there’? I existed there. I survived, barely.”
Justice looked as astonished as he felt. “But—why? Didn’t Lucifer create it for you?”
That was the second dumbest thing Pride had ever been asked in his life. “I fell with Lucifer. Hell was waiting for us—it existed before we ever got there.”
The silence was not awkward this time. It was electrified with unspoken questions. Pride spun through a dozen different ones—mostly consisting of What the fuck? in different volumes—and watched Justice silently spin through a dozen more. When it seemed like neither of them would ever speak again, Pride blurted out the first thing that landed on his tongue.
“Is that what they teach you about us?” he asked.
It was Justice’s turn to snort. “Most of that was my own guesses. Heaven doesn’t teach us anything beyond the basics.”
Pride didn’t need an elaboration past that—he could figure out for himself what “basics” an angel in the army of God would learn about a demon. That they were singularly focused on bringing down Heaven, by any means necessary.
“Things have definitely changed,” he mused.
“Changed how?”
“Back when I fell, all anybody could talk about was Lucifer’s rebellion, and how crazy it was that demons existed.” Pride stretched his arms over his head in perverse satisfaction. “I guess being the new kids on the block meant more back then.”
Justice didn’t share his enthusiasm, watching him gently. “You were part of the rebellion?”
“Oh, sure. I even had a hand in planning it.”
“Really.”
It was a bluff that almost no one would be able to check him on, especially not Justice, so Pride plastered on his favorite smug smile. “Really. No big deal.”
Justice didn’t look totally convinced—not that Pride needed him to be—but nodded along. “I can see why you wouldn’t miss Hell. Plus everything else.”
Pride just made a noise, pretty done with the conversation. Reliving his very, very short glory days aside, there was little else he had to say. Homesickness was as foreign to him as humanity. Earth was slightly better than Purgatory. It was a hundred times better than Hell, not that Hell was a very high bar. So to be honest, there was nothing else Pride had to say about this.
“Do you miss Heaven, then?”
He froze. All feeling drained out of his body until he was cold, still, and strained. He forced his mind blank so he wouldn’t think of anything.
When he didn’t respond, Justice tried again. “I know it’s been a while, but you were an ang—”
“If you finish that sentence, your teeth go out with it.”
Pride jumped off the couch, rattling with the desire to go somewhere, anywhere else. He planted his feet, eyes spinning around the room. His tail lashed around his ankles, appearing out of thin air. Thick, black smoke poured from his horns like the mouth of a volcano.
“I—I’m sorry,” Justice tried. “I didn’t mean to—”
“I don’t miss Heaven,” Pride snarled. “I never fucking liked it there to begin with, and as far as your kind are concerned, I was never one of you.”
His nerves snapped into motion and his legs carried him away. Pride didn’t care where he was going, barely noticed his hand reaching out the door, could hardly see the outside world through the scarlet haze covering his eyes.
William turns, slowly. His face is the very picture of a dog who tore up the couch and knew they’d done something wrong. “Amelia, I—”
easy
I reach up and try to grab him by the back of the neck, even though I know it’s not that easy. He makes the effort of following where my hand indicates and smiles as it guides his lips to mine.
twitch
My hand twitches with the urge to punch his shoulder. I wonder what kind of reaction that would have gotten from him; I bet no one’s ever done that to him before.
no vicious, but I do have some dangerous
“You would know of such things,” he cuts in with a low, dangerous edge to his tone. One hand lifts to gesture at me—at the book I’m holding. “I believe you and I have this in common.”
Hmm. Let's see... How about some tactile words: wet, hot, cold, and dry
If I tagged you and you'd rather not be tagged, just drop a note in my inbox and I'll not do so again! If I didn't tag you and you wish you were tagged, let me know and I'll remember to tag you in the future!
Her fingertips skate beneath Orion's jaw, following the upper edge where teeth break ragged through the skin of his throat. Her thumb presses against his larynx, a featherlight touch that crushes the breath out of his lungs. No one risks touching his teeth. But she is cautious like they are fragile, not dangerous. "I know I might not look it, but I know what it is to be lonely. One of a kind isn't all it's cracked up to be." Orion's appetite swells once more to the front of her mind with such a ferocity she barely keeps a grip on her impulses. Madrigal looks at her with such intense honesty; her hands are so confident. This was what she sensed, the hound in her blood catching a scent, even from more than fifty feet away. She wants to sink her teeth deep into that expression on Madrigal's face and never let her go.
rust
He peels his shirt off while Devilant rumbles from within the bedroom. "Like I said, I'm gonna do what I can to catch up to her, after…" He trips, quiet for a second too long. However long he lay dormant and isolated in his miserable little house, any tactful social graces he might have once had must be layered thick with rust. "For now, we'll keep you comfortable. Least I can do."
great
In four hours a great concrete tumor swells up out of the Iowan plains. They call it the Tinwick pyramid, a military relic turned headquarters for Annex. The interior has largely been converted into research labs and archival storage—she's heard there are still barracks and some kind of training room from Annex's more militant days, but she's never bothered to go deep enough to see them for herself. A small, boxy office building sits in the pyramid's shadow. The plane rolls down the taxiway toward the ramp in short order; the silver lining of Annex's single operating aircraft is never waiting for other traffic.
celebrate - I...couldn't find anything, not a synonym, not a general vibe, nothing. the EWT cast is not a celebratory bunch, lol
@fortunatetragedy @coarsely @taranorma @words-after-midnight @writernopal pestering you fine people once more... your words are wrong, easy, twitch, and vicious.
tagged by @ink-flavored, thank you for so many tags! I'll be chewing through them slowly probably lol
"How do you mean?"
The burn in his eyes flares, which Orion doesn't know how to interpret, and he only says, "Fickle."
"I am not—" Only after opening his mouth does Orion find no self-defense springs to his tongue. He makes a disgusted noise from the back of his throat—Devilant's low laughter makes the back of his neck bristle. "Whatever. I think I'm justified, all considering."
The young, slender trees have given way to towering old pines, blue-green needles fanning high above their heads. The ground bubbles and craters unevenly around the network of roots, and the underbrush claws thicker and higher at Orion's clothes.
thank you for the tag @taranorma ! some of these have me dying of laughter 😂 (and at least two could totally happen)
I'm using Maeve, Jace, and Taylor since those are the only characters I've revealed so far in AO3 <3
Jace: I’m a reverse necromancer!
Maeve: Isn’t that just-
Taylor: No. Shut up. Shut the fuck up. You are literally so fucking unfunny that it hurts. It physically hurts my body knowing that people still think murder is funny. I cant believe im saying this but do you guys know how chronically online you all are, thinking that saying “oOh iM a rEVeRsE nECrOmANcER i LOvE tO kiLL pEOpLe” is genuinely funny and will get everyone in the room shitting themselves from laughter?? cause its not. It’s fucking not. In fact, its the unfunniest fucking joke ever. Not just any joke about killing people. This one specifically. Its so unfunny and stupid. Nobody is fucking laughing at that, Jace. It makes you look like a greasy emo kid who has never been outside once in their life and uses tumblr religiously. Like not even the funny side of tumblr. the fucking unfunny side filled with overused jokes about murder and illegal acts. Honestly, youre so unfunny, Jace. Fuck you.
---------------
Maeve: Do you love me?
Jace: We’re literally married.
Maeve: Yeah, but as friends or—
---------------
Jace: We both look very handsome tonight.
Maeve: You know, if you'd just said that I looked handsome, I would have said, "So do you."
Jace: I couldn't take that chance.
---------------
Taylor: Are you good?
Maeve: In what sense?
Taylor: Generally.
Maeve: Oh, definitely not.
---------------
Jace: Cause your pretty and your smart, and your ignoring me so your obviously my type.
Maeve, who was distracted: I'm sorry- what were you saying?
Jace: Perfect.
---------------
Maeve, throwing their head into Taylor's lap: Tell me I'm pretty!
Taylor, lovingly stroking their hair: You're pretty fucking annoying, that's what you are.
---------------
Jace: The first time I saw you, you stole my heart.
Maeve: But I'm a kleptomaniac, so that doesn't mean anything.
tagging: @that-0n3-shr00mi3-guy @kbwritesstuff @clairelsonao3 @katwritesshit + an open tag if you'd like to join :)
Rules: Use this link to generate some incorrect quotes for your characters!
This game is always SUPER fun!!! I'm going to do so many of these
Pride & Justice
Justice: The first time I saw you, you stole my heart.
Pride: But I'm a kleptomaniac, so that doesn't mean anything.
Justice: Hey, wanna take a shower with me?
Pride: I have a gun in that nightstand beside the bed. If I ever say no to that question, I want you to take it out and shoot me because I’ve obviously gone crazy.
Justice: Are you ready to commit?
Pride: Like, a crime or a relationship?
Pride: So you like cats?
Justice: Yeah.
Pride: tries to impress him by slowly pushing a glass off the table
Justice: Hopefully Pride has learned a lesson about respecting other people's feelings.
Pride: Oh, shut up and die Justice.
Justice: I feel like doing something stupid.
Pride: I’m stupid, do me.
Justice: We both look very handsome tonight.
Pride : You know, if you'd just said that I looked handsome, I would have said, "So do you."
Justice: I couldn't take that chance.
Justice, acting tough: You guys don't want to mess with me.
Kindness: Yeah, Justice will straight up cry in public. Don't try him.
Justice: Exactly, I will straight up-
Justice:
Justice, tearing up: Kindness, why would you say that?!
Kindness: Happy October 32nd! Second Halloween!
Justice: That doesn't exist.
Kindness: Not with that attitude.
Kindness: Love makes people do stupid things.
Justice: I love everything!
Kindness: That explains a lot.
Ollie: Who would you kill out of the four of us, Dante?
Dante: Sofia, easily.
Sofia, laughing: What the fuck, man.
Dante: Well, Pride would be too easy. He’d probably be into it.
Pride, now standing in the doorway: What the fuck, man!?
Sofia: What’s it like being tall?
Pride: Is it nice?
Dante: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards?
Ollie: We live in constant fear of the short ones who, in my experience, will climb four chairs, two boxes, a small coffee table, and six oddly placed stools to get what they want.
Pride: sees Sofia and Ollie together
Pride: They're cute. I would put them on a boat.
Dante: You mean… you ship them?
I could do these forever honestly, but I will arbitrarily stop here so it doesn't get even longer
Tagging: @foxys-fantasy-tales @noblebs @sigridhawke @ink-enchanted @friendlyshaped @vacantgodling and anyone else who wants to have fun with this!
@taranorma hit me with this tag. OMG my face hurts from laugh.
Rules: Use this link to generate some incorrect quotes for your characters!
I decided to use the squad from Doom Metal Love Story... 2! So we get bonus Melanie Gott and Clara Hofer.
Erik Hofer, gardening: Hey, can you bring me the hoe?
Cole Sullivan: Yeah, sure. A few minutes later
Cole Sullivan: Here you go.
Erik Hofer:
Cole Sullivan:
Arthur Royston: Why am I here?
-
Erik Hofer: Is letting someone win at chess sapiosexual bottoming?
Arthur Royston: Can everyone in this godforsaken group please learn the skill called "Think Before You Speak"?
Cole Sullivan: Ya know… it might be.
-
Cole Sullivan: If you water water, it grows.
Arthur Royston: …What.
Erik Hofer: He's got a point.
-
Arthur Royston: We'll talk about this later.
Melanie Gott: Fine, I won’t be listening.
-
Clara Hofer: Why is everyone so obsessed with top or bottom? Honestly, I’d just be excited to have a bunk bed.
Cole Sullivan:
Cole Sullivan: I'm gonna tell her.
Erik Hofer: Don't you dare.
-
Arthur Royston: You know my motto: carpe diem, carpe noctem, carpe coles.
Cole Sullivan: Seize the day, seize the night, what’s the last one?
Arthur Royston: Seize the dick.
