I was tagged @natalieironside and given the words inscribe,terror,star, and joyous. Thank you!!
FromRemnants:
INSCRIBE
He laughed again, his face pressed into her hair, then slowly disentangled himself. “Maybe later.”
“Later,” she agreed, a bit too enthusiastic despite the sudden weight on her chest. It wasn’t doubt, or panic, or even fear. The only way she could describe it was a terrible sense of foreboding, like maybe fate was finally done waiting for her and had decided it was time to drag her towards the inevitable conclusion to her tale.
TERROR
“Radka!”
She jerked her head up to find him sprinting towards her, bag and rifle abandoned behind him. A sudden, violent terror seized her. Stand up, stand up—her boots slipped, sending her sprawling backwards. A gun fired to her left and ice shards exploded to her right. She shrieked and covered her head as the fragments pelted her.
STAR
These were the people who deserved more. These were the parts of Kethyia she would die to protect. Fate wanted a life to restore balance, and she would give it one—her own. She would force it to be satisfied by that. Or else she would tear through the very fabric of fate and rearrange the stars to fit her needs.
JOYOUS
“Say the word, and we can leave,” Damir said quietly.
“You better not be saying that because you want to leave,” she teased. Her tone was slightly off, but nothing that couldn’t be blamed on tiredness. She wanted to enjoy every last second with him and wouldn’t allow fate to take that away from her.
Another lawkeeper was down. The third was crouched over them, along with two newcomers, attempting to help. Ailin couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead.
If they were alive, they had better help than she could give. And if they were dead, it didn’t matter anymore.
Ailin charged past them, leaning forward, using her weightto gain the momentum her trembling legs couldn’t. She half-sprinted, half-fell down the hallway, panic rising.
Everyone is going to die.
Heavy (Deathdancer - Ailin POV) fun fact this is currently the book’s first line
Ailin stood in the dust. Knives heavyin her hands, she flexed her toes as the crowd cheered.
Lift (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)
Ailin slipped back into Aramzind proper, scorching wind liftingher robes as she hurried away. She was a fool, no matter how she looked at it. But if, by some incredible twist of time, she pulled this off…maybe this was her way out. Maybe this was how she left it all behind her, and never looked back.
Pressure (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)
Curious how she’d [Ailin] react, Zaul reached for her hand. She took it easily, fingertips settling between his knuckles. She squeezed, but it didn’t hurt this time, the force distributing through her long fingers, pressing into the more padded parts of his hand, between the bones.
He squeezed back, keeping steady pressureas they headed into the crowds around the gates, leaving the Oasis behind.
I was tagged by @akindofmagictoo and given the words deep,drive,dare, and deft. Thank you!
FromOpen Seas:
DEEP
She raised a brow. “Caspian Saville?”
“Caspian Saville!” Lina squealed.
“Who?” Flora asked.
Lina whirled on her. “What do you mean, who?!”
“I mean I’ve never heard of him before.”
“How have you never—?” Lina cut herself off, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re actually related.”
DRIVE
Aunt Eugenia waved her off. “Does anyone need any last minute touch ups? Does everyone have their jewelry? Everyone’s garters tied tight enough?”
“I believe we’re ready to go,” Tess said.
Without waiting for her aunt’s approval, she ushered her cousins down the steps to the main floor of the house. Aunt Eugenia followed, too flustered to be disgruntled, and allowed Tess to orchestrate the loading of the carriage. Once everyone was seated and comfortable, with Flora and Lina landing in the backwards facing seats, she signalled the driver and they set off.
DARE
The man holding Tess’ arm backhanded Petra across the face with enough force that she released her other arm and stumbled backwards, tripping and ending up on her backside in the straw.
“Howdare you strike her like that!” Tess snapped, curling her lip and shoving the man. It only pushed him back by a half step, and even that might’ve been more from surprise than the actual strength behind her shove. “She is already your prisoner and yet you disrespect and demean her further. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
DEFT
“I can’t undo my stays,” she said, wincing as she pressed a hand to her side. “Could you please assist me?”
“Of course, dear.” Thana unlaced her with deft fingers and placed the stays with her other layers.
Tess paused, already feeling more exposed than she would have preferred in front of a stranger. “Do I have to remove my chemise?”
“It’s thin enough… I think I’ll be able to examine you through it,” she replied.
She exhaled her relief, and allowed the other woman to begin her assessment. It was quick and efficient, done with practiced ease and gentleness. Thana narrated her every move and touch as well as her findings. She had extensive bruising but nothing was broken.
Delightfully, these are in chronological order!!
I tag @drabbleitout,@sharraus,@rowenkrahn, and anyone else who wants to play! Your words are approve,heel,scream, and fun. As always, no pressure!
I was tagged by @akindofmagictoo and given the words ghost,glare,gale, and grime. Thank you!!
FromOpen Seas:
GHOST
“Ah. I talked him into coming to the party. It would be rude to ignore him all evening,” she said.
The corners of Nic’s mouth turned up again with the ghost of a smile as he looked at her sideways. “I thought it was odd for a Saville to attend a ship launch party. It’s not really their usual scene.”
“I can be very persuasive.” She popped her eyebrows up on ‘very’ for effect, getting another genuine smile from him.
GLARE
“You could always get a new hat to go with it,” Caspian suggested.
Flora turned a critical eye on him. “She already has enough hats to wear a different one every day of the week. If she gets many more, her hat boxes will fill the entire house.”
Linaglared at her sister, undoubtedly horrified by the frank way she’d spoken, but there was nothing for her to worry about as Caspian laughed. “Forgive my suggestion, Miss Tull. I wasn’t aware of how many hats she already owned.”
“You are forgiven,” she replied. Her face had gone from its usual golden beige to a deep red, and she quickly turned to busy herself with a display of clasps.
GALE
“You look lost,” Thana said. “Have you ever travelled by ship before?”
“Yes, many times. I’m used to knowing most of the people on board, though,” Tess replied.
“That makes sense. Dorian mentioned you’re the heiress to The NightingaleLine.”
“A fact that has brought me more harm than help throughout this unexpected excursion.” Her hand fluttered along her bruised torso, mind flashing to the cruel twist of Barros’ face.
GRIME
“To market? Like a hog?”
“I feel like you haven’t really grasped the whole slavery concept yet,” Dorian remarked. “Yes, like a hog. Except, if we’re lucky, it’ll be for the purpose of serving a lovely rich family for the rest of our lives.”
“And if we’re not lucky?” she asked. Her nausea, which had subsided as she followed the fast-moving conversation, suddenly surged back.
He opened his mouth, eyebrow quirked like he was going to make another smart comment, but then looked at her. His sarcastic smile faded to a grimace. “Let’s not get into it.”
I was tagged by @akindofmagictoo and given the words tag,tour,train, and taper. Thank you!!
FromJust Jane:
TAG
The walls were eggshell white, the floor was tiled a pale grey, and a large claw-foot bathtub occupied an entire half of the room. A vast collection of soaps and other products dominated the shelves on one wall, glass bottles with elegant paper labels or tags attached by colourful ribbons. The half-circle windows had frosted glass that allowed lots of light to reach the room but maintained the privacy of those inside.
TOUR (cw blood + gore)
More light spilled down the passage and lit up the ground and the soldier himself. Jane recoiled.
Blood soaked the dirt beneath him and made a trail behind him where he’d seemingly dragged himself up the slope. One of his legs was a gory stump just a few finger lengths below his knee, dirt coating the exposed muscles and ligaments. A tourniquet had been tied above it but it was still leaking blood. His right arm appeared shattered beyond repair, with obvious breaks in multiple locations and mottled purple skin. Four long gashes ran across his abdomen, his tattered shirt saturated with even more blood, viscera protruding from the deep rends.
“How are you still alive?” she asked. Surely he would run out of blood eventually.
TRAIN
“We’ve all lived in army camps for the past fourteen years,” Nic said. “Things like social rank tend to matter less when everyone is miserable in the mud.”
“Speak for yourself. Fourteen years ago, I was only a year into my training at the College,” Pavia replied.
“How old were you when you shipped out?” Nic asked.
“Eighteen, same as you.”
He paused, ticking off his fingers as he counted. “You were thirteen when I left for Thesta?”
“Gods, I’m old,” Percy said.
TAPER
“How much of the map can you memorize?” she asked.
“Not enough of it.”
“Then we’d better hope there are more maps ahead of us, unless you’re carrying ink in your pocket.”
He patted his pockets and withdrew a thin black stick that tapered to a point at one end. It was about the length of her hand and had a series of glyphs carved into it. “Do you have anything to write on?”
I am so sorry for the description in ‘tour’ it is so gross.
I will leave this as an open tag with the same words I used! Due to the graphic nature of ‘tour’ I don’t wish to tag anyone who might not want to read that kind of thing.
“Are you lot safely hidden away?” Hita asked, glancing over Zaul’s shoulder as a small group passed them, chattering happily. Ailin’s head didn’t move, but her eyes followed them along the street. “Do you have a place to get off the street?”
“Hidden,” said Zaul. “If I say ‘safe’ I’m afraid I’ll jinx us.”
“You should stay with me and Bala,” suggested Hita. “It wouldn’t be hard to sneak you in, and no one would guess your important friend is associated with me.”
It was more temptingthan Zaul cared to admit. Hita and Bala lived in an apartment on the edge of the Oasis, near one of the guard houses. Ailin could get from their roof to the wall in three jumps, and it would be nice to have proper furniture around them again.
It was also a huge risk.
Train (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)
“Ailin, not everything is a pit fight,” said Zaul. His footsteps moved out of the center, and the bed creaked with his weight. Ailin didn’t turn around, staring blankly at the dark wall.
“You have no idea what it means to fight for your life,” she snapped.
“You’d be surprised.”
“It’s easy for you to say,” Ailin rounded on him again, face flush with heat. “You mess up in training, your teacher isn’t going to run you through to teach you a lesson. Do you even know how to stitch yourself up with whatever you can find? You don’t spend all your time looking over your shoulder in case the shadows are full of knives. You have no idea how to actually survive because you’ve never even had to.”
Zaul gaped at her, mouth hanging open, and for once in his life didn’t speak. The silence rang between them, Ailin’s ears buzzing, and shame settled into her stomach like wet sand. All the fight sunk out of her, leaving her heavy and hollow.
She had no right to be angry that Zaul didn’t have to fight like she did. Who was she, to wish that on anyone? Especially him.
Turn (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)
The other two stayed silent, watching him, clearly waiting for him to continue.
And Zaul, being Zaul, obviously obliged.
“Come now, or don’t come at all.”
Dymas blinked at him.
“I heard it. I know how it sounded. I will not apologize.”
Ailin frowned, eyebrows drawing together over shimmering eyes, but Zaul didn’t think this was the moment to explain the joke.
They both looked at Ailin. Her eyes were alight with stars. It would be beautiful, if Zaul weren’t learning her eyes only looked like that when she was either very worried or losing control.
“You could stay,” Dymas offered. “You-”
Ailinturnedher back on him, facing the window, movements sharp as glass. Zaul’s skin prickled, all the hair on his arms standing up. It wasn’t a dismissive movement. It was a prey response.
“Fine,” snapped Dymas. “Ignore my-”
Ailin was moving. Putting herself between them and the window.
A shadow shifted. The pane flew open.
Dymas squeaked again, as a figure in a tight-fitting suit lunged for him.
Ailin was in the way. She already had daggers in her hands. How had she drawn them without Zaul seeing?
Dymas was bellowing, calling for the guards. Zaul retreated, dragging the man towards the door, Ailin’s words echoing in his head. They’ll send someone effective.
Apparently, effective had arrived.
Tease (Deathdancer - Ailin POV) she’s teaching Zaul how to use his incessant talking to his advantage in a fight
“You do realize you just gave me an excuse to literally never stop talking?” said Zaul, his entire face lit up with a smirk now.
“I’ve created a monster.” Ailin probably should be annoyed, but she just chuckled with him.
Zaul moved, starting to circle. She moved with him, slower than he wanted, forcing him to adjust his pace.
“I created the monster all by myself,” he informed her. “You just set it free.”
As much as she wanted to teaseback, Ailin didn’t answer.
I was tagged by @akindofmagictoo and given the words assist,avid,airy, and adorn. Thank you!
FromOpen Seas:
ASSIST
“I can’t undo my stays,” she said, wincing as she pressed a hand to her side. “Could you please assistme?”
“Of course, dear.” Thana unlaced her with deft fingers and placed the stays with her other layers.
AVIDEAGER
Tess rolled her eyes. “Is this your way of buttering me up before asking to come with me when I call on him?”
“Was I too obvious?”
“May I come, too?” Flora asked eagerly.
“You didn’t even know who he was two minutes ago,” Lina shot back.
“You’re the one who made him sound interesting,” she pointed out.
“If I bring anyone with me, I’ll bring both of you,” Tess cut in before the bickering could escalate. If they were together, they would at least be able to balance each other out a bit. They would also be able to distract each other while Tess spoke with Caspian.
AIRY
“I wasn’t trying to find trouble.”
“And yet once again you stumbled into it,” Petra teased. She bounded to her feet and offered a hand to Tess, easily pulling her upright despite her small stature. “Come on, it’s almost sunrise. Nothing’s better than the first sunrise out at sea.”
Tess didn’t argue and allowed Petra to lead the way to the steep staircase in the middle of the room and up to the gun deck, where there were more crew members sleeping or lounging, then up the ladder to the main deck. The water was calm, the air crisp, and there were only a handful of crew around operating the sails.
ADORNDECORATE
Lina had kept with the Polperro style and had only darkened her eyelashes, but did look very nice in her yellow dress. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders, the front bits kept out of her face by a decorated clip at the back of her head, and she was only wearing a gold cuff on her left wrist.
Flora had ended up halfway between Tess and Lina’s looks. Her green dress had a natural waistline that was accentuated by a ribbon, her light brown hair was in a simple updo, and she’d gone with a minimal amount of makeup that included darkening her lashes and eyelids and adding a touch of red to her lips.
“Is everyone ready?” Aunt Eugenia asked, bustling about the room. “Are you sure you don’t want more colour on your face, Lina? You look so washed out next to Tess.”
“She looks her age, you mean?” Flora countered.
Oops, none of the male characters appear in these snippets. The first one is very short as I recently shared it!
I was tagged by @laufire-writes! A very long time ago! Thank you!
FromJust Jane:
Jane crouched over a slime-covered leg that sat in the middle of the tunnel.
It was really only the bottom half of a leg, severed just below the knee. It was still wearing a leather boot, and part of a dark pant leg that’s original colour was obscured by blood and goo, and it didn’t appear to have been gnawed on or digested at all.
“I definitely think this belonged to the guy who tried to stab me in the face,” she said, loud enough for Kell to hear where he sat against the wall several metres behind her. She’d been narrating her findings to his distinct displeasure.
“I don’t know why you’re telling me this,” he repeated.
She bounced to her feet and returned to him. “Because you seem like the kind of person who had a monster phase growing up and might be able to identify what we’re dealing with.”
“I—” He stopped, pressing his lips together. “I don’t remember much of what I learned back then.”
[ID: a digital sketch of Ambrose and Eli cuddling on a couch. Ambrose is napping and leaning against a few pillows. Eli is leaning against his chest, reading a book. A lavender blanket is draped over Eli and the couch. end ID]
pose reference I found on pinterest is the gift that keeps on giving
I was tagged by @the-writing-avocado! Thank you! My words are sleep,belief,memory, and photograph.
FromJust Jane:
SLEEP
“Where are you headed so late at night, Jane?” Wilamin asked, narrowing her eyes.
“I can’t sleep. I’m going for a walk.”
“With Isaac?”
“Maybe.”
Wilamin pursed her lips but couldn’t say anything in front of her patron.
She cast a glance at the man, then turned away from him so she and Wilamin had something like privacy. “It’s nothing nefarious, I’ll be back in a bit.”
“I don’t believe you,” she replied. “Be careful.”
BELIEF
“What the fuck?”
She startled, stumbled, and landed on her ass. The man who’d spoken was standing in the doorway in just knee-length trousers, his brown skin shiny with sweat and his black hair pushed back from his face. The earthquake must’ve interrupted his workout.
He noticed her. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Nothing!” she said, scrambling to her feet.
He gestured to her clothes, expression pinched with what Jane would call annoyed disbelief.
MEMORY
Kell’s boot scraped the dirt as he adjusted his right leg, failing to hide his grimace. “May I ask about how efficiently you killed that imperial soldier back there?”
“Sure, but there’s not much to tell,” she replied with a shrug. “I picked up some things while living on the streets but most of it was just instinct.”
“You’ve never had any training?”
“Nothing formal. My friend Isaac always says that if you’re going to choose violence to solve a problem, then you have to mean it,” she said. A memory of Isaac showing her where to place her fingers on someone’s eyes to best pop them out of their sockets flashed through her mind. It had been one of the first things he’d taught her.
Nothing for photograph, which isn’t surprising given it’s set before the invention of photography!
[id: a photo of a hand holding a paperback book. The title reads The Stray Spirit, Lutesong Book One. The author name is R.K. Ashwick. The cover shows a red and orange lute with gold swirls coming out of it, flanked by blue floral patterns on a black background. End ID]
no it’s not saturday yes i forgot yesterday and no i don’t care
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
He knew how it would end, of course. He called her the second but that wasn’t the truth — not really.
She wasn’t the second. In fact, he couldn’t have counted her place in line even if hard pressed. So many had come before her, all beautiful with kind eyes and soft smiles. All there for him, just as planned.
Until the next one came along.
But he called her the second because she was the only one that mattered.
Even without a metric for it, he knew he was in love with the second. It felt different with her, his world bursting full of color after so long in black and white.
It was different with her but it didn’t matter worth a damn.
one cool part about reviewing your outline to address notes/solve problems is that you notice cool things you did that you didn’t realize you were doing
for example, I have two pre-commission beats where Eli and Ambrose are unconsciously attracted to each other. They’re still rivals, but they’re making positive observations about each other. It’s subtle, and something I’m going to lean into in draft 3 to help address a note.
But these specific beats are both where Eli and Ambrose are seeing each other in their element. Ambrose is watching Eli as he navigates a networking night, Eli is watching Ambrose brew a potion.
I don’t know, something about that makes me happy.
Some days, Twitter is a simmering hellbroth. Other days, the landscape is made glorious by people like this.
@ashen-crest all I could think of was Aspen doing this and pulling that sarcastic “Aww, boo-hoo! Let me play a sad song for you on the world’s smallest lute!” at Emry
LOL that’s incredible. I love it
I can also picture aspen just doing it bc they love emry and want to be like him
[ID: a banner showing line art of three potion bottles, in white, blue, and yellow, against a dark brown background. The white text on the right reads “A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit.” End ID]
The Bard at the Jumping Ogre
I try not to tag the taglist on weekends, but if you need something silly as a Saturday night read, here you go!
Synopsis: Ambrose and Dawn listen to a bard at the tavern- and his song is about someone very familiar.
Word Count: 1,443
TW/CW: alcohol mention, blood mention
The Jumping Ogre tavern had one problem and one problem only.
It wasn’t the adventurer brawls. Those were at best free entertainment, at worst a nuisance. Easily cleared up with a repair wand and a healing potion.
It wasn’t the food or the drink, either. Both were edible, even delicious, if one didn’t inspect any of it too closely.
No, no—the problem with the Jumping Ogre was that the owner was tone-deaf.
My vision of Delphene (del-fee-nee) has never been consistent or solidified but currently she is referred to as an “opal dwarf” dragon in the AU. Originally she was quite big but in order to keep it consistent with New RS, I made her small, roughly the size of a dog.
She has soft, iridescent blue scales, and stumpy legs like a corgi. She can’t really fly, only hover. She loves to eat flowers (in Original RS she constantly chews on the flowers in Mira’s hair) and would devour human food if Mira would let her—she mostly gets to eat fruits instead.
although Delphy can’t respond in human language, she can understand Mira because of their special connection (in RS, Mira has a kind of latent magic I won’t get into). So while Delphene will generally act and react like a pet, she is highly attuned to Mira’s emotions and whatever she says when she’s speaking. In the college AU, Mira disappointedly expresses that even though Delphene is her constant, Delph can’t understand her “like a person”, when in fact… she kind of can, since communication is based on their emotional link. AU!Mira isn’t aware of this though because she doesn’t have access to her magic, whereas in RS they can understand each other fine.
in the hopes of manifesting the free time to actually do them, here’s what I want to do:
actually for realsies draw an Emry Karic portrait that I think accurately represents him in my style (I feel like I’ve never gotten him quite right, but I’m happy with my original Cal and Aspen portraits)
start writing the Rival Most Vial reader magnet (Ambrose at his first potion convention! teenage Ambrose! teenage Dawn! guest starring Ambrose’s mentor (derogatory) Master Pearce!)
write a scene where Ambrose overhears a song about Eli’s adventuring group and goes “wait he dID WHAT on that quest? son of a- he told me he hadn’t gone anywhere NEAR the dragon! and that man just sang about how he STABBED the DRAGON”
start actually for realsies writing The Spirit Well draft 0
I really ought to be compensated for how little I sleep, and no, the unfortunate ability to maintain my grasp on reality after too many hours awake does not count. @spacetimewraithwrites(tagback)
decision(summon story d0)
The Dusk wasn’t really part of the city. At least, it didn’t behave like it was. It started in amongst the other buildings, and then it continued past the city wall, eating through it and plowing through the countryside. The river ran along the opposite edge of the city, which, like most architectural decisionsmade, had been on purpose.
Zan couldn’t imagine if the factory district had been perched along the river, instead of rising up like man-made mountains trailing off to the north. It would ruin the view, for one thing, but more importantly, the river wasn’t contaminated further by the billowing smoke or leftover ash and soot. As it was, the Dusk consumed the sky in its corner of Sinderport, claiming its space like a beast claiming prey.
dark(dirt in the doing)
Jet watches her gulp at her coffee before drinking his own at a slightly more moderate pace. Rune dumps her mug in the sink and sighs, running a hand through her hair. Belatedly, he sees she’s got darkred streaks in it, peeking out from underneath the ends. It suits her instead of looking out of place. How he knows this is beyond him. He finishes his coffee and tries not to have any unearned thoughts about this mysterious girl.
“You done? Let’s go.”
He’s really losing his touch, letting her just tell him what to do. Shadow could tell him he’d taken notes for him on a day skipped and he would’ve responded much less placidly. Just because it’s a girl shooing him out of her apartment doesn’t change his personality. Supposedly.
drop(dirt in the doing)
Cam backs up one step, then moves forward two. “You should come home, Cloud. You know how Max is. He’s really unhappy about you being away. He’s-”
Rune cuts off his next sentence with a fist to his stomach. Cam doubles over and she kicks him hard in the knee. He dropsto the ground with a cry. “Max doesn’t get everything he wants and I’ll fling myself off a bridge before I return to that house. You can tell him that.”
“He’ll just come after you himself,” Cam says breathlessly, looking up at her. What a pathetic guy. Two hits and he can’t even get up. “You know he will.”
“I know.” Rune sounds so resigned that Jet tightens his grip on her wrist instinctively. “And then I’ll fling him off a bridge, instead.”
door(the sleepy stash, 2021)
The room was a room. Sometimes it had walls. Sometimes the doorlocked. Sometimes I was in the room when it blinked and for a microsecond I was a cosmos. But then I opened my eyes. The room was a room.
drunk(dirt in the doing)
So he’s wandering the streets just after sunset while not being nearly as drunkas he would like, and of course, as luck would have it, he stumbles into a fight. And he’s Jet. He doesn’t walk away from a fight. Not before. Not now, either. He fends off the attackers’ fists with ease despite his clouded mind, instinct taking over where reflexes are slow. Soon enough, both sides of the fight part ways and scurry off in opposite directions. Jet leans against a wall and breathes out slowly, feeling the adrenaline leak out of him and the weariness he can’t seem to shake build back up in his body.
He’s so tired.
dare(I don’t have the words, 2021)
limitless, really, are the options here. I have every color from which to choose and a million moments to reflect on and move into the spotlight and explain precisely what I mean when I open up my tiny fists and place my train cars down. this track, for instance. I know where it goes. or that one. I see where it’s been. and the newest one, over here? it runs through the tunnel under the mountain where only dragons dareenter.
I was going to do one for each shop on Rosemond Street, but…that’s a lot of energy that I don’t have right now. So for now, you get just the boys.
(Still wish I could romance them in a viddy game. I’d know exactly what gifts to give them and dialogue sets to choose. I’d crush it.)
Image description below:
[ID: two digital paintings, each one showing a man standing at a shop counter, with a piece of paper overlaid on the right side of the image. The top image shows a white half-elf in a blue robe, surrounded by dark wood cabinets. The text on the paper reads: Ambrose Beake. I’m in urgent need of spirit flower, and the traveling merchant has been delayed by trolls. Could I trouble you to find me four blooms? You can find them in the northern sinkholes. Then underneath: Collect a spirit flower in the Giant’s Footprints. Deliver to Ambrose. Reward: 200 talons and one healing potion (level 5). Accept/Decline. The bottom image shows an Asian man standing near floating shelves. The text on the paper reads: Eli Valenz. Hey, this is embarrassing, but I think I lost my potion notebook somewhere in the Elwig market. If you’re headed that way, could you look for it? I can’t leave this potion while it’s brewing. Thanks! Then underneath: Find notebook in the Elwig Market. Deliver to Eli. Reward: 25 talons, 3 dried herbs, 2 healing potions (level 1). Accept/Decline. end ID]
[ID: a black and white, digitally drawn map. The text on the border reads “Thalis.” The province in the middle of the map is “Vidanya.” It’s framed by mountains and a sea on the north side, and is dotted with forests and lakes. The lines criss-crossing the province are labeled in the key as “underground river routes.” end ID]
The Stray Spirit has a map!!
I meant to post this earlier- oops. But TSS will have a map at the front of the book!
Lucia Vasquez de Prada designed this, along with the six illustrations in the book & the chapter icon. I knew early on that TSS would benefit from having a map (and, like, maps are cool?). I’m so glad I was able to find Lucia, who is an incredible artist and an author herself who drew a map for her own book! How cool is that??
Slowly inching closer to publishing this thing :) :) :)
community self-esteem boost time: reblog, reply, or send me an ask with a line from your writing that you’re proud of. not anything super long— i’m thinking a sentence to a paragraph at most. there doesn’t need to be any context to it; just that you’re proud of your work!
here’s a little something from a quiet kindness which is not my main wip but shhh
Kaven wanted to shake them all and make them understand. He wanted to reach into their chests and carve out the hearts he didn’t believe held any compassion. He wanted to rip out his own and compare them, the uncaring against the grieving.
