Whisper.
Whisper.
F
L
U
T
T
E
R.
The butterfly tries
to find a place
must be thousands of butterflies resting here,
no, millions
the butterfly wouldn’t know
because, of course, it cannot count.
Its wings drop from exhaustion
flying so many hours
Miles
It needs to do what it has been trying to:
lay its eggs
so that new monarchs
will emerge
but the trees
they’re gone, gone, gone.
Suddenly it falls to the ground,
wings failing to save it,
a rush,
a blur of color,
one thought still racing through its mind:
My babies. They still need me.


Lumi pushed her fingers under her backpack strap, adjusting it lightly. Absentmindedly she walked into the classroom, saved from crashing into anything by routinely habit.
“Good morning!” said the teacher politely, repositioning the papers on her desk. Lumi smiled weakly; she didn’t have the courage to say anything. She watched some other kids respond with things like, “Good morning!” and “How are you?” How she wished she could do that.
Her teacher stood up on her toes to touch a tab on the big screen, zooming in on an image and waiting for more students to come in. After she’d made sure everyone was in the room, she started to talk. “Are we all good? Yeah?” She watched some nods flow around the classroom, a few at a time, almost like dominoes. “Alright. We’re starting with science today -“
“Awww!” yelled some kids in the front. “Ms. Kelley!”
Ms. Kelley frowned slightly, turning back to look at them, the light from the screen reflecting on the side of her face. “I thought you guys liked science first.”
“No, THEY do,” blurted a girl whose name Lumi knew was Reagan, pointing at some boys clustered together beside her.
Ms. Kelley shrugged. “Well, that’s the way it’s going to be today. Rowen, can you please turn off the lights?”
The girl named Rowen walked to the back of the classroom and flipped the light switch off. Their classroom was dark now, except for the small amounts of light spilling in from the blinds on the windows and the classes nearby. Ms. Kelley switched to a slide with a video embedded, and she leaned over slightly to tap the play button. The video started to play after a small moment of pause in which the screen announced ‘LOADING’ in large letters. Lumi watched silently as images of animals and plants were displayed one by one.
“Deforestation is a huge problem in our world. Parts of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, which gives us a lot of our oxygen and houses a vast number of animal and plant species, is being destroyed at one and a half acres per second.”
One and a half acres per second?! Just in the few seconds that thought had taken had destroyed 4.5 acres. She imagined it right then: hundreds of trees were collapsing over and over and over, the logging machines still greedy for more.
“Animals are becoming endangered and extinct, which is ruining our ecosystems.”
A small animal was tangled in plastic. Lumi gasped. She looked around at the others, but they were watching with emotionless faces. The teacher was just sorting papers again. Lumi wondered how they were so calm about all of this; it was like, right then, she could hear those trees and animals calling for her. Because no one cared, clearly. It was visible right here to her. They seemed so bored while Lumi’s world had been flipped upside down. The world was not as perfect as she thought it was. It was broken and burnt and bare, and Lumi couldn’t handle it, watching those that could not speak suffer. She was silent, staring at her surroundings with fresh eyes, a girl who had been opened to the real world.

Whisper.
Whisper.
F
L
U
T
T
E
R.
The butterfly tries
to find a place
must be thousands of butterflies resting here,
no, millions
the butterfly wouldn’t know
because, of course, it cannot count.
Its wings drop from exhaustion
flying so many hours
Miles
It needs to do what it has been trying to:
lay its eggs
so that new monarchs
will emerge
but the trees
they’re gone, gone, gone.
Suddenly it falls to the ground,
wings failing to save it,
a rush,
a blur of color,
one thought still racing through its mind:
My babies. They still need me.


Lumi pushed her fingers under her backpack strap, adjusting it lightly. Absentmindedly she walked into the classroom, saved from crashing into anything by routinely habit.
“Good morning!” said the teacher politely, repositioning the papers on her desk. Lumi smiled weakly; she didn’t have the courage to say anything. She watched some other kids respond with things like, “Good morning!” and “How are you?” How she wished she could do that.
Her teacher stood up on her toes to touch a tab on the big screen, zooming in on an image and waiting for more students to come in. After she’d made sure everyone was in the room, she started to talk. “Are we all good? Yeah?” She watched some nods flow around the classroom, a few at a time, almost like dominoes. “Alright. We’re starting with science today -“
“Awww!” yelled some kids in the front. “Ms. Kelley!”
Ms. Kelley frowned slightly, turning back to look at them, the light from the screen reflecting on the side of her face. “I thought you guys liked science first.”
“No, THEY do,” blurted a girl whose name Lumi knew was Reagan, pointing at some boys clustered together beside her.
Ms. Kelley shrugged. “Well, that’s the way it’s going to be today. Rowen, can you please turn off the lights?”
The girl named Rowen walked to the back of the classroom and flipped the light switch off. Their classroom was dark now, except for the small amounts of light spilling in from the blinds on the windows and the classes nearby. Ms. Kelley switched to a slide with a video embedded, and she leaned over slightly to tap the play button. The video started to play after a small moment of pause in which the screen announced ‘LOADING’ in large letters. Lumi watched silently as images of animals and plants were displayed one by one.
“Deforestation is a huge problem in our world. Parts of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, which gives us a lot of our oxygen and houses a vast number of animal and plant species, is being destroyed at one and a half acres per second.”
One and a half acres per second?! Just in the few seconds that thought had taken had destroyed 4.5 acres. She imagined it right then: hundreds of trees were collapsing over and over and over, the logging machines still greedy for more.
“Animals are becoming endangered and extinct, which is ruining our ecosystems.”
A small animal was tangled in plastic. Lumi gasped. She looked around at the others, but they were watching with emotionless faces. The teacher was just sorting papers again. Lumi wondered how they were so calm about all of this; it was like, right then, she could hear those trees and animals calling for her. Because no one cared, clearly. It was visible right here to her. They seemed so bored while Lumi’s world had been flipped upside down. The world was not as perfect as she thought it was. It was broken and burnt and bare, and Lumi couldn’t handle it, watching those that could not speak suffer. She was silent, staring at her surroundings with fresh eyes, a girl who had been opened to the real world.

Writers use a lot of figurative language, and today we're focusing on just one type: pathetic fallacy. Similar to personification, pathetic fallacy is when a story utilizes the environment to convey emotions by using typically human actions (ex: weeping raindrops, dancing leaves, etc). For 300 points, write a story of at least 250 words using pathetic fallacy to convey an emotion. Then, post it in the comments for 150 more points and see if anyone can guess which emotion it is!

03/22 ✲ March 22nd ✲ 278 words

Rina pushed back her soft curls and spun around in the purple hyacinths.
There were cars and roads and a bustling city in front of her only a few yards away, but that didn’t matter too much. This was her favorite place.
The purple hyacinths swayed back and forth like they were listening to music, the breeze gracefully sweeping the sky orange. A green leaf fluttered like a butterfly to the ground.
Rina sat down, her back facing the neon lights of the city. “Can you hear me?” she asked the lone pink hyacinth by her.
The hyacinth silently waved in the breeze, saying hello.
She sighed and turned toward the tree in front of her. Moss had spiraled its way up the trunk, and the sun was setting, dipping itself into the ground shyly.
Rina picked a yellow dandelion and tucked it behind her ear, standing up and leaving for home. The path curled out in front of her. Raindrops whispered their songs in the air around her, and she closed her eyes.
Her umbrella thumped against the ground of her living room. Her mother was watching TV, and the soft noises waved like fumes toward her. She smiled and walked upstairs.
Her room had curtains the same color as the hyacinths. It rolled outwards without any wind. Her iPad made a sound as she turned it on and slid on her headphones.
The roses on her shirt crinkled as she slid into her chair and listened to music as she let her pencil dance across the page effortlessly. The drawing was practically moving, and its eyes were looking right at her.
Friday was a good day.

critiquitaire with @PoppyWriter/Poppy <3

I rip off the cuff of my jeans to staunch the bleeding in my left leg.
He’s beside me, leaning against the dumpster in the alley we’re hiding in.

aaa i love this, i love the beginning and the way you describe the setting

The two of us are just outside of town, watching the vaguely-blue smoke rise from the center of the city.

just a personal choice, but i’m a little confused as to how blue can be vague? maybe that does make sense and my brain is fried rn ahah ^^’ but that’s a little thing i wanted to mention anyway <3

It smells like moss, and the earthy scent makes my head throb. I slide down against the dumpster.

the description omg <3

The rain from last night has made the metal cold and wet, and it seeps through my shirt to chill me further.

the wording sounds a bit strange here to me - maybe “it seeps through my shirt /and/ chills me further”? or something like that?

He and I have talked about those sirens.

i’m a little confused on who “he” is, and also maybe mention a bit about what the sirens are? i’m feeling a bit confused here.

I shake his shoulder in line with the rhythm of my shivering.

oooo

I pull my legs up to my chest and lean my forehead against my ratty jeans.
“Hey,” he says. “You gotta keep your eyes open.”
I look up.
He looks down at the ruined soles of his shoes and laughs to himself quietly.
“I don’t know why.”

ah i love the repetition it’s so cute and effective and i just love the effect it adds to it <3

i loved it poppy! you did such a good job with everything, especially with the dialogue and description <3 i just think you needed to clarify things a bit here and there, but it was great overall! i love your style hehe <3

Happy Holi! Holi is a Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil and the arrival of spring, typically celebrated with large, colorful gatherings and people throwing colored die on each other. Use color imagery to symbolize change, whether in time, setting, or anything in between! Since today is also National Hobbit Hole Day, try setting your daily in your hobbit hole for an extra wink from the daily team ;D 500 words for 300 points, with 100 points for proof!

03/25 ✲ March 25th ✲ 626 words

The wind blew cold in Helen’s ears.
The lamp flickered in the corner, a warm dull yellow. The streets were a sweeping gray-brown, the light rain shimmering blue and teal with every passing second.
Helen shivered, her eyes leaking like a tap faucet. She was done.
She let out an ugly breath and kicked at the dreary brown newspaper on the floor. It was the same color as the dirty floor. She watched it fly away.
She was done with the expectations, the weight of burdens on her shoulders. She was done with the crushing responsibilities that she was expected to take.
The world swam a hundred different shades of teal and blue as her eyes continued to rain. Her navy blue cloak was high over her head, covering her happy peach dress. It both contrasted and matched the middle-shade of the world around her.
She didn’t know where she was walking. Her dainty slippers made her feet ache, but she’d had nowhere to change - like she had anything more comfortable to change into. She fell into the rhythm of her soft footfalls, like the music that played out of her radio. It was that music that led herself into the glittering cave in front of her, her eyes on the ground, struggling not to leak more like a broken faucet.

Aimee pulled off her helmet sharply. The blinding white lights of her bedroom startled her, which made her both angry and upset. She threw the stup1d helmet on the bed. It ricocheted off the bed and onto the floor.
She hid her angry red scream underneath her tongue. Everything was unfair and complicated. There were secret criteria, it seemed, to please people. Criteria she never fit in.
The flashing lights glowed off the glasses on her table, glasses she was always told not to wear despite the blurring white dots surrounding her.
Her foot was sore from kicking that ball. She h@ted that ball with every fiber of her heart and soul. Her brothers could do it, maybe, but that didn’t mean her. She disappointed her parents and friends with every kick and throw. She didn’t want this ball to be the symbol of her life.
Aimee’s face was angry red as she rose up from her chair and began to run. She ran out of her room, with her laptop still glowing, the helmet still on the floor, and ran out of her living room. Out the door.
She didn’t know where she was going, or what she was doing, really. Everything was red and orange in her vision.
She took a sharp turn into some kind of cave. Her common sense had dissipated into the air, because if she weren’t feeling like this, she’d stay away from an unfamiliar place like this.
She stopped inside and slid down into a curled ball.

Helen saw the girl arrive only moments after she had. She blinked, her tears still turning the room shades of purple and blue. But now she could sense red and orange radiating from this girl. She was shaking. Her rhythmic shakes made her unleash a sob and collapse on the floor, into somewhat the same position.
The girl looked at her. Her face was angry, layered with sadness. She tilted it, watching Helen. She was wearing shorts and a shirt, something very unusual for Helen. Helen watched her, her face still streaming rain. The girl’s eyes softened. She reached her arm out to Helen.
Helen reached out and touched the unfamiliar girl’s hand.
They were two who had never met. Two from different worlds.
Their hands touched, and Helen’s tears began to whisper to a stop. The other girl’s shaking slowed.
They looked at each other again.
They’d be okay.

Getting back into the classics… it’s time for a fan favorite! Head on over to google translate and switch up the lyrics of a song of your choice. Once they are completely different, and probably silly, write a 300 word story inspired by your new words! Then you can take home 200 points for your cabin and an extra 150 points will be added for providing proof

03/27 ✲ March 27th ✲ 464 words ✲ song: Insane Sometimes by Grace VanderWaal

translated version:
Get up and look at your watch.
I tried to look happy when you came out the door
But it was clear
I have to get all this out of my head
Just put on some music and close your eyes
Well, they call me “ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I'm calling it ``Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooa
Turn it over and I'll sing it out loud
And just close the world
See the colors
Feel it in my bones
Go, o-o-o
Look for the baby lizard
In my mind
Here we are, on this crazy journey
Here we are, in this crazy life
And oh-oh
Why don't you know?
We all get angry sometimes
It gets louder with every thought
Move down and the pictures come off the walls
The walls
The walls
So we turn it up and sing it loud
And just take the world
Find the colors
Listen to my bones
He goes, oh-oh
Look at the baby's nose
In my view
And let's go
And a waste of time
Here we are, on this crazy journey
Here we are, in this crazy life
And oh-oh
Why don't you know?
We all get angry sometimes
Don't you know? uh uh
Well, I was like, “Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
We all get angry sometimes
Look at the baby's nose
In my view
And let's go
And a waste of time
Here we are, on this crazy journey
Here we are, in this crazy life
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO effort
Why don't you know?
We all get angry sometimes
We all get angry sometimes
]

Auntie Lina leaves out the door with a swish of her pink dress behind my parents, leaving me with baby Eva.
Eva wails loudly the second Auntie shuts the door. “MAMA!!!”
I shut my eyes, willing Eva with my mind to not throw a tantrum. I can’t handle one of her tornado tantrums again. I didn’t even want to babysit Eva in the first place, but here we are.
“Eva. Eva - calm down,” I say gently.
She starts to wail even louder.
“EVA SOLOMON, BE QUIET!” I snap.
She shuts it immediately, shocked at my tone of voice. I grimace, realizing that I can’t scream at a baby. That was not good.
We all get angry sometimes, I say to myself.
After an hour of trying to get Eva to not chew things (THAT was a whole crazy journey) she settled with a few of her dolls. She’s not old enough to pronounce certain words and sounds, so she likes to call one of them “Ba” and the other “Boo”. I’ve been here at my cousin’s place long enough to recognize them all - Ba is the pink one, and Boo is the blue one. She’s taken a particular liking to Boo, because she sleeps with it every night.
Boo and Ba are princesses in the kingdom of who knows what, and I’m done doing that. I run to my room, shut the door, and exhale. I’m free. Thank goodness. I am so tired after school today…maybe a tiny nap wouldn’t hurt.
I sit down on my bed, put on my AirPods, and open up my favorite Spotify playlist after switching from my study one. I smile and relax. I don’t even realize I’ve fallen asleep, dreaming about lizards, until much later.

“OOO!”
“Wha - AAAAA!” I shriek, then see a baby’s nose in my view and big blue eyes. I exhale and make a giggling noise. That’s just Eva.
I blink. Was I just dreaming about lizards?
I think I was.
Eh. Not the weirdest thing I’ve ever dreamt up. Finding lizards in my head isn’t too surprising.
“Wes pway!!” Eva shouts at my face. “PWAYY!!!”
“You wanna play, Eva bear?” I say, slightly sleepily.
“Yesh, OOO! Hewe!”
Is she calling me Ooo? That’s new. I make a weird laugh-cough noise.
I look at the clock. I slept for an hour. An hour dreaming about lizards. I don’t think I’m okay.
“0 effowd!” she screams at me.
Excuse me?! I just spent four hours babysitting her, and she’s telling me I put in ZERO EFFORT?!
“EVA, BE QUIET!” I yell.
Then I remember she’s a baby. And that she has no idea what “effort” even means. (Auntie Lina probably said it at some point.)
Oops. I really need to stop doing that.

Once upon a time, in a land far far away… the story isn't over yet! If you've ever wondered what happened to Cinderella's mice after the ball, or what happened to Oz after Dorothy left, now's your chance to continue the story and find out! Write 500 words playing off a familiar fairytale or children's classic for 400 points, and a bonus 100 for sharing.

03/81 ✲ March 28th ✲ 621 words ✲ Jack and the Beanstalk

“I will give you five magic beans.”
His famous line, his only line. The one he said to Jack as the boy tried to sell his cow.
The bearer of five beans, the mysterious man with which no identity was held.
Except he did have an identity.
He has more to his story. Had, has, will have.

“I will give you five beans,” the man said. “Magic beans.”
He looked like quite a normal man. A little old, maybe; brown hair, gray eyes. He held powerful beans in his hand, powerful beyond power. All he asked for was a cow.
Was the giant really the villain of this story?
Jack was little. The man had noticed that the second he walked in. Jack was only a small boy, one who only looked about 8 or 9. Younger kids - they were gullible. They believed.
The man approached him with a kind smile, told him about the beans. He watched Jack’s eyes widen with delight. He watched him let go of his cow and take the beans carefully in his palms.
What the man had said was not a lie, exactly. They were magic beans. Magic, in a child’s head, is only wondrous and airy and light, rainbows and cupcakes and sparkles.
No, these beans were the dark kind of magic, enveloped with secrets and shadows and laced with evil. These beans were the shade of dark black, the opposite of a shining rainbow.

Jack had, after that, somehow escaped.
Jack and his mother lived happily ever after. The end.
The end.
There’s never really the end. It just keeps on going. More lives added. Characters whose stories extend past decades, families who pass down stories and create new ones.
So…not quite the end. After all, there is the man’s story still left to tell.

The man walked across a dreary street, his head down towards pavement. His eyes were thoughtful. The sky raged of Jack’s easy escape. Jack had reached a world where there were allies to help him. The beans were capable of much worse than that.
They pitied him, the man figured. They had never been in the hands of such a young boy.
He had been a young boy then; now he was a grown man, a father and husband. So much had happened over the years. But still the man plotted.
The street curved sharply into a small alley by a coffeeshop, an old one which not many chose to go into. But there was one, muttering to himself quietly.
“Happy anniversary of Jack escaping the giant,” the man said drily.
The figure laughed grimly. “Why, hello, there.”
“No need to be so formal, Burton,” sighed the man, waving his piece of paper in the air as if to swish the words away. “I’ll need more of the beans. Get to business.”
“Don’t order me around. I can shut off your supply of potions if I really wanted to,” said Burton airily, a tone not too appropriate for the situation. “Why the beans? They didn’t work fifteen years ago. Jack won’t fall for it again -”
“Ah, but what if it isn’t Jack who I want to bestow the beans upon?” the man interrupted casually, smirking. “Jack has a boy now…a young and gullible boy.”
“The beans will take pity on a young one. Leave the idea be.”
“The beans are made only to do our bidding. We left the beans then. We control them now.” The man smirked again at Burton’s outstretched hand and swiped the beans. They felt almost natural wrapped in his fingers again.
Another generation. A young and gullible boy who climbs the beanstalk. History will repeat itself, but also - not quite…

two shadows intertwined
❝forever is a long time❞
Two shadows, intertwined.
That’s what we were.
Two of us, intertwined, the moment we saw each other’s eyes; your blue ones, ocean-like, and mine rich brown.
We grew up together.
I saw your hair, your tiny head of poofy blonde hair at the park. Sea eyes wide, shiny, following the soccer ball. Content and alone, your back to the wall. Just watching.
I was the energetic one. I’d pounce and raise my arms to the sky and I’d jump and practically fly. Something in my body was always moving. But you were silent, peaceful, more so than any other girl I’d ever seen in my life. I was mesmerized by your calmness. I walked up to you and lowered myself to the ground. And for the first time in my life, I was quiet, still.
You looked over at me and giggled. A tiny sound, escaping like bubbles.
I giggled, another tiny sound. I tapped your shoulder softly with my tiny fingers.
“Come play,” I said. You followed me. Your hands grasped for mine. Something formed between us, like a rope knot. It tightened the second you touched me, a knot that would never come loose. Two of us, intertwined. Our shadows, spilling on the ground.
Our shadows have never been apart since.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
“Come play,” you whispered, a smile on your face, the same way a sunflower beams at the sun. Your hair was shoulder-length now, years later, and it had grown to ringlets.
I reached for your fingers and let you pull me outside. I’d let you pull me anywhere, I knew that even then. I’d let you pull me anywhere even with my eyes closed and hands tied.
We squealed at the flying birds with the midnight captured in their wings, at the airplanes that left ribbons of white in its wake.
I taught you to raise your hands up to the sky. I taught you to scream, I taught you to depend on people. I taught you to fly.
You taught me to sit. You taught me to stay long enough to see my name in the stars, to see the wisps of clouds. You taught me to listen, to watch, to be.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
Your clear rings of laughter echoed through the hallways of middle school. Your hair rippled down your back in rolling ocean waves.
I noticed your sea eyes were dulling with the weight of burdens. They shone like diamonds with tears, diamonds that carried sadness in them.
I grasped for your hand and offered you a small smile. I saw the whispers of sad begin to fade away with every step we took together. You knew I’d be there. Our hands were still intertwined, our shadows on the ground.
Secret notes passed to each other, silent giggles and expressions across the room, even as we began to be pushed apart by other people. Other people who marched into our lives.
I still remembered you, though. I found you again.
We shared food at lunch.
New friends, new classes, but the two of us were still together.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
You let me cry onto your shoulder that day. That day when the world shattered into glass pieces. When someone broke me into glass pieces, treated me like a porcelain doll.
But you were there, even though you’d suffered worse. Your ocean eyes told me the way the world burdened on your shoulders. But you sat by me, thinking of me. Only me.
You let me cry onto your shoulder that day. I let you cry on mine. Your waist-length ringlets, mine a pixie cut. Your ocean eyes sparkled the same way. Never changing.
“It’s okay,” you whispered. “Being 17 is hard.”
“It’s okay,” I repeated quietly.
I looked at you and realized that a whisper of a smile had made its way onto my face. The kind of smile only you could pull out of me.
I saw you smile too. I could see the shadows of the same sunflower-smile in it from when we were younger.
I’d be okay. I had you there.
Our fingers laced, our shadows intertwined.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
Only years later, we had to say goodbye.
“Don’t leave,” I whispered, anguish in my voice.
You turned to look west. “I have to.”
We both knew you had to. We both knew we had to rip our shadows apart one day. Would they bleed? Would it break us?
Your car shimmered like the tears in your sea eyes as you stared at me. You would be hours and days away.
My hand, reached out for yours.
You touched mine, slowly, slowly, slowly.
Our fingers curled around each other, like a flower’s petals.
Our shadows spilled on the ground.
“I’ll call you every day,” you said.
“I’ll miss you.”
“I will too.”
Tears began to block my vision, leaving only blurry dots. There was a small smile on my face, shadows of sunflowers.
Our shadows broke apart for the first time in twenty years.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
You’re not here in front of me now. Your laugh rings not as clearly anymore, muffled because of my phone.
You reach out towards the camera, a bittersweet smile unfolding.
All those years, the two of us. I was lost before I met you. I found myself because of you.
I reach out to you. I need you. I know I’m nobody without you. You’re nobody without me.
Two shadows, intertwined. We’d be intertwined forever, even if you kept us universes apart.
Two shadows, intertwined.
Two shadows, intertwined.

critique for cecilia
i love this piece! it's so mysterious and beautiful, and i love the way you make it sound almost as if the main character is speaking. i also noticed how it's in a poem format! i love that!

maybe it's a gift i couldn't recognize

ooh i really love the way the speaker is sort of uncertain about that :0

i'd go anywhere with you– miles and miles traveled

this is a bit confusing, the way you worded it - maybe try “i'd go anywhere with you for miles and miles”?

and all the guilt and pain i feel dies

i absolutely love this line and the way you phrased it is gorgeous!

breathtaking and beautiful and bedazzled–

a little bit confused as to what you're describing here?
i loved this piece, cecilia - i think you'll do great with this one and i can't wait to see your other pieces!

Nadine smiled a little bit as the memory played before her eyes. That had been a long time ago, when she was a sweet, innocent girl. Almost two years. When she didn’t know about the books, or the words. She remembered the way her mouth subconsciously parted when she saw rows and rows of unfamiliar capsules of knowledge, words she could somehow read on pages.
She would never have guessed she would be leading a secret rebellion.
A secret rebellion of logophiles. The ones who devoured words, pages and pages, never full, and the ones who grabbed them and twisted until they formed sentences on a page for someone else to devour. Words that were banned because of their sheer power.
Words, if spotted, would get them in great trouble.
“Charlotte, are you done?”
The girl named Charlotte looked up. “Almost.” She paused. “When are we starting the book exchange?”
Nadine studied the large stack of books beside her. “I think tomorrow.”
She realized everyone had been listening when she heard Jupiter suck in a breath. “Tomorrow…”
“Are we sure about this?” Sophie repeated uncertainly for about the hundredth time. “The consequences of getting caught are -”
“Terrible, I know,” said Nadine. But she also knew she didn’t even know the worst of the consequences. Her mind wouldn’t let her venture into the what ifs. “ But what about the kids up there who don’t know about the words? Are we just going to…let them live without books?”
The group looked around at each other. Sophie still looked uncertain, but let Jupiter say, “We’ll do it. The same way we planned.”
“Good,” said Nadine.

thank yous:
reese
reese's peanut butter cups the rice the crow!! thank you for being such an awesome leader and an amazing person <33 you make me smile hehe and i loved the conversations we've had this session and i had a lot of fun with you this session you're literally so amazing and kind and funny - hoping for more amazingness in sessions to come and you are one of my best online friends and i am so glad for that <33 (and please ignore my grammar skdjfhfkl XD)
moonlit
aa moonlit! we only started to talk during the last few days of the session, but you are such an awesome wonderful person <3 thank you for being an amazing leader and always checking in with us when you can, especially since you were busy with life and being a hostie, and for being so cool <33
luna
thank you for being such an amazing leader! i know we didn't talk much, but you seem like a really cool person and you helped make mythsy an amazing cabin hehe <33
ember
hehe i saw you a lot this session! your enthusiastic, positive energy was infectious and you really boosted morale this session
win, indigo, mystic, silk, ember
you lot CARRIED during cabin wars this session - i saw all of the words you guys added in awe. thank you guys

mouse
mousiedragon!! as always our conversations bring a smile onto my face you somehow have the knack of making someone feel happy instantly <3 thank you for being so awesome and so fun - dystop-yum was such an amazing cabin omg <3 i feel like there is so much more to say but i cannot think rn so just know i had a lot of fun with you this session <33 (also i'm still ready to take on your nightmare monster :shrug: ) (if you're eating smth while reading this skdjhfgjll stop eating so much young lady AND SLEEP TOO /lh)
alana
banalanaaa - thank you for being so amazing and thoughtful and kind and my friend <33 you were so nice to us during cabin wars and i owe you for that one hehe. i loved our conversations and your cabin omg fairy tales was so put together and had so many elements and you guys did so well with it aaa <3 you were so helpful to so many people asw and you're just so amazing thank youu <33
rockie
kyanite rockie aaaa what do i even say - i remember thinking “wow she seems so cool” the first time i met you and you're still so cool <33 i love all of our little conversations hehe and you make me smilee <3 and you were such a good leader!! thriller was so cool aaa everything was so awesome <3 you are one of my closest online friends and thank you for being an amazing rockie ;D
bella
taco bellaa - i have no idea how our friendship started (i have a really weird memory, so if you do lmk bwahah) but i'm so glad it did!! you are so kind and friendly and i love love having conversations with you, from your amazing novel to our canadian teachers to your psychic-ness (very very much arson oracle :0) thank you for being such a wonderful friend and i'm wishing for more fun in the sessions to come - you better be theree <33
sienna
cece the eni the sea the cecelery from siena - i had SUCH a blast with you this session omg and you make me laugh so hard i actually cannot phrase this into proper grammar-ed sentences bc ohmyactualgosh i feel like our friendship grew so much in the span of this march - all of those long conversations from me eating dairy tales, you eating mythsy macarons, our weather, and who knows what else and fairy tales!! was so cool!! thank you for being the best celery!! <33
poppy
ploppy the soda popsie <33 our friendship grew SO much asw this session and i had so so much fun with you - you're hilarious and kind and thoughtful and so fun and i had a huge grin on my face every time i talked to you <33 trust me i might have laughed more at your comments than you have at mine ;D everything i talked about with you was just so fun aaa <3 you did amazing with thriller hehe it's so gooddd and also thrillermisu was delicious ;D although you ate mythffins as well (to which i have told you isn't edible, but ah well XD) thank you for being such a wonderful amazing poppy!!
pepper
pepper-eloise! ;D you're so fun and optimistic and i really enjoy talking to you - it makes me smile <33 i definitely got to know you better this session hehe and i hope we have more fun in sessions to come! i always thought you were so so cool and i never thought you'd want to be friends but it happened thank you <33
vi
vi!! we met in nov ‘23, my first session, in lit-fi, but i think we got to know each other better this session hehe i love talking to you - i’m so glad you're my friend and you're such a nice person <33 thank you!
chloe
chloe bwahaha i'm smiling right now ;D thank you for making this session so fun!! your chaos and kindness brightened up my days even after all of that burdening homework (homework :sigh: ) i'm so glad we're friends please be there next session we need the chaos <3 even if they're p01s0n0us, i owe you many apples <33
artemis
artemis!! my amazing desi friend i'm so so glad we met in lit-fi two sessions ago - you're so fun to talk to and we have long conversations that make me smile aaa <3 i hope i see you again next session (please be there hehe) thank you for being so cool! <33 (#ricecookersalwaysandforever)
lily
well i had to include you didn’t i ;0 thanks for being in a very delicious cabin and making my eating experience even funner than i thought it’d be i very much enjoyed that and i like your chaoticness that brightens up swc hehe so ty! <3
tilly
tilly! you were so active this session and you seemed so optimistic and so kind <33 every time someone needed it you were there, and you seem like such a genuine person and i hope we can get to know each other better <3
yume
yume!! i saw you a lot this session and you are so nice and fun <33 i loved our conversations this session and i hope we can get to know each other more, and please be back next session hehe <3