I am making this my Word War thread now
Word War against StarUnicorn_5 || 11 minutes || 664 words || Apologies for the misspellings || For context, as a continuation on something I started writing a while ago just for fun, I analyzed Bug Fables characters heavily to figure out what level of energy (based on what I learned from drama class, because my teacher wouldn’t let me explain my thoughts on the Bug Fables casts’ energy levels) each character was

I personally believe that Tanjerin would be a level 4. I can see how there would be arguments on how he’s a level 2, being that he’s just a cute innocent little guy, however I do think the argument for 4 is more valid. Sure, he’s a social little creature, however he’s clearly hardworking. He put effort into moving that rock, and he managed to make it happen. I also think that his will to fight and just pure excitement around near people makes him more than a level 2. If you count his supposed shadow form, I suppose you could also make the argument that he can reach level 6, unless you consider his broken horn quest already him at level 6, although I doubt that. I think that’s more a level 4, he isn’t going wild in terms of how much he’s crying, it’s more a slight whimper. It could even be a level 3. Although he perks back up to a level 4 regardless.

In terms of Maki, I sincerely think he’s anywhere between level 3 and level 5. Level 4 is easy. He’s always begging for a fight, and does a whole 6 damage in one fell swoop, probably no effort to him. However, level 3 and 5, I find hard to distinguish. He’s meant to be stoic, being basically the Queen’s right hand man, however whether or not he’s always on the lookout for a way to help the queen, or if he’s genuinely just standing around patiently without much energy bundled up, it’s hard to tell. Some moments I do believe he’s only a level 3 is when he’s testing Team Snakemouth. He’s very easy on them, and I think that he didn’t put too much effort, considering he only did 2 damage per attack, and not 6. Plus, would you really need to be that harsh to new explorers? I also think most of the time you see him in or around the castle, his energy level is fairly low. He seems sort of casual towards the team after chapter 1, although I think he was also just trying to do his job, meaning he does not lower to a level 2 in this scenario, as much as Team Snakemouth might’ve been willing on stiking a conversation with him. I do think he’s a level 5 in a few certain scenarios, such as chapter 5. I feel like this is rather obvious. Everyone’s kind of on their guard in this chapter, so him having is guard up and ready to fight makes sensse. After his tiem to shine when protecting the queen from a harsh blow to the wasp king was also kind of a moment he was at a level 5, trying to relax from a rather important and shocking moment, I could see him having his guard up because off that.

The wasp King is kind of interesting, I’d say he’s a level 3 or 4 for most of the adventure. He has a goal and he sticks to that goal, acting regal, as he should as the kingdom’s supposed king, however he’s ready to be harsh when he needs to. I’d say this switching between 3 and 4 is prevalent up until the final battle. Even when fighting as just the wasp king in chapter 7, he’s mostly calm, attacking the team as a means of getting what he wants, not being harsh, not relishing in his power quite yet. He also kinda acts like this after chapter 4, reaching a level 4 when he attacks team snakemouth and the queen. However, once he reaches the everlasting sapling and becomes the everlasting king, he clearly become a level 6, showing off his power, doing absolutely EVERYTHING to stop team snakemouth from stopping in. He has a goal, and he won’t let anything stop him formt that. However, that also brings up the question, what if it was just the sapling controlling him that lead




Word War against fireblood23 || 279 words

Yoshi is the best Nintendo character and here's why. First of all, he's green. Green is the best colour, aside from purple. Second of all, he has a bunch of costumes in Mario Kart World. I love his swimsuit, his soft serve, and of course the Japanese one, but my favourite one is biker Yoshi. Which I named Boshi. I love using him with that motorcycle looking thing that bikers ride on. I also think he's adorable in the Thousand Year Door. Multiple colours, cute hairstyles, and those adorable pants! Beautiful! And he's so spiteful in a cute way. I also love him for his sound effects. Wow! Broung-ha! Adorable! I just love Yoshi, he's so cute. He's the most loyal Mario character, he's related to the Koopas, his full name is t yoshisaur munchakoopas, like isn't that such a silly name? I thought so. And that name further proves he's part of the Koopa crew but went to the good side. That and he's referred to as bowser jr's “cousin” in Mario party 5. Isn't that so weird? I think it's weird. Oh, and we can't forget his final smash in smash 4 where he becomes a freaking dragon. Oh, and the fact that his shield is unique and he can go into an egg in that game. He eats people and makes them eggs. I love eggs, especially the spotted colourful yoshi eggs. I think it's neat. Please help, my grandma is trying to distract me, I literally can't think as I write this. I have 20 seconds and she won't (be quiet). Help please. Seriously, she won't stop no matter how many time I tell her

go to main post

Word War 1
prompt: I'd heard revenge was a dish best served cold, but the catering staff seemed to have other ideas.

I stared at my lunch, breathing heavily. This can't be real… What did I do to deserve this? That's when I remembered.

Someone was there, spying at me behind the trees as I scooped the shovel as hard as I could. I heard it. The snap of a twig. I wasn't alone. Nervous, I ran off, the body buried deep in the ground and hopefully out of sight.

Was that person the catering lady? I thought to myself, because there was no way someone would've known except for her. The moment I received my lunch, it wasn't cold and chilly like the cold noodles everyone had for the day. My serving felt warm. Everyone had Bolognese spaghetti today, but the red sauce I had in mine was definitely not tomato sauce. My sauce was just slowly leaking out from a heart that was placed in the middle of my noodles.

I dropped the lunchbox, splattering blood all over the place, and ran off. What is this sickly idea she had? The moment I ran into the dormitory, a figure was already there, standing over a body that was laying on the ground, blood seeping across the carpet. I tried not to choke as my friend lay motionless on the floor. “You took away my daughter, now I'll take your closest companion away.”

222 words

1st July - Word War
Words Written: 207
Opponent: gorflik
Status:
Prompt: NO! NO! DO NOT SET IT ON FIRE!



“No! No! DO NOT SET IT ON FIRE!” Evanescence found herself shouting at the top of her lungs. “Seriously, what are you thinking?” She asked Idol Skylar.

“I wasn’t setting anything on fire,” Ifol Skylar protested. “I was only cooking up some food for us, there is absolutely NO FIRE! You can calm yourself down, Evanescence.”

“Okay. Okay, but… we are currently in a time machine, you do know that, right?” Evanescence asked.

“Well, you’re the one who dragged us in here, so you’re the one who has to figure out why there isn’t a stove,” Future Skylar said. “Admittedly, I would build one, but I am not that kind of engineer.”

“The principles would be the same though, wouldn’t it?” Secretary General Skylar said, curious. “After all, I was a scientist before I became a politician.”

“For the last time - you’re not a politician! You’re a representative, that’s a completely different thing-“ Evanescence groaned, trying to get Secretary General Skylar to understand.

Well, I say I’m a politician because I, for all intents and purposes, am one,” Secretary General Skylar said. “You know, also because people lnwot romper the difference.”

“Well, I do, so you better say things correctly!” Evanescence groaned. “Please, for my own sanity.”

Part 1 - Maximilian's flaws

Naive - Maximilian lives in the countryside, his family's farm and their economical problems as his only preoccupations. He lives far from the court, is only dimly aware of the political tensions throughout the country, and has not seen what cruelty can do to a man.
Unafraid - he follows his gut, does what he thinks is right without thinking of the costs; but perhaps in a society where status is a matter of great importance and where there are strict rules of conduct, ‘unafraid’ is as much a negative trait as a good one. As he begins to venture into the world at the very tip of society's triangle, Maximilian must learn to think before acting, even when he believes his cause is right.
Compliant - this trait is generally perceived as complimentary - and is certainly considered so by Maximilian's father when they work on the farm. The boy has never learnt to refuse, even less to disobey.
(156/150 words)

Part 2 - Maximilian's Character Development

Maximilian grows up on a farm in the countryside in the early 19th century France. He starts as a simple, obedient boy with no dreams. He believes he will grow up to inherit his father's farm, as he is the oldest son in the family after his older brother disappeared.
Things will take a turn when he is employed, by some apparent miracle (according to his mother) as a duke's apprentice gardener. He steps into a world full of etiquette and status, and he has to adapt quickly in order to keep his job. The balance of his life is further threatened by the encounter of a young woman from a rich family with whom he falls in love. He is unjustly charged of —- by the latter's parents who deem their love unacceptable.
At the end of the story, Maximilian emerges toughened by the society's challenges. He is no longer the naive boy with a poor farm as his only hopes of a future. He becomes a strong man with great ambition, and is ready to fight through storms and waves to achieve what he wants. He also becomes more cautious, his trust becoming hard to earn. He develops a cunning mind and learns to foresee potential dangers.
(208/200 words)

Part 3 - Maximilian's Motivations

At first, Maximilian's only motivation was to help his parents earn money and improve the family's economical situation. This leads him to work hard on his father's farm and eventually accept the job as apprentice gardener. This is also a reason why he wills himself to do his hardest and continue working as gardener despite the challenges of a complex society and its complex people.
As peasant revolts become more and more frequent, Maximilian joins in and demands better salary and living conditions to the government. This is another one of his motivations.
His motivations are once again altered as he encounters Mademoiselle Vivianne Chambon, a bright young lady from a renowned family of merchants. The two fall in love despite social differences and Maximilian fights for their mutual happiness. Her love and their dream of a better future helps him survive the long days in isolation.
Throughout the story, Maximilian develops a need to prove himself. Combined with his love for his family, he will eventually embark on a ship to the continent that was known as the New World. This contradicts his love for Vivianne, who will not be able to come with him because of family problems.
(200/200 words)

Part 4 - Short Story

Vivianne drew a shaky breath and clutched the cloak tighter around her shoulders. Autumn had begun to crawl in, its rustling breeze whisking the summer sun away and drawing a thin veil of fog around the city. At another time, in another world, she might have been enjoying herself, but now all she could think about was a lean boy with deep brown eyes and the heavy cuffs that bound a pair of strong arms. Shutting her eyelids, she could still feel his cool breath against her cheek, still hear the soft thumping of his heart against her own as he ran through the manicured gardens of the duke's estate, rescuing her from the heat of the flames.

“Mademoiselle?”

The coach's door flew open, and a valet offered her his hand. They'd arrived at the prison gates.

Vivianne stepped out, surveying the grim fortress with weary eyes. She hated to think that because of her, among thieves and murderers and criminals, a young man was locked away from the light of day within those very walls. Gripping the valet's arm harder than she intended, she bit her lip and marched, forcing herself into a calm composure.

It had not been easy to persuade her father of letting her go. He seemed convinced that a man in shackles could do harm to Vivianne even behind solid iron bars, and of course he stood firm in believing that the gardener boy had done… inappropriate things to her. “Utterly nonsense,” Vivianne muttered beneath her breath. Her body would have been nothing but ashes if not for the young gardener.

She watched as her valet exchanged a few words with the prison guard. Then they were walking down a steep flight of stairs and emerging into a narrow corridor. The air was damp, and in some areas the floor was covered in moss. As they went deeper into the prison, stench filled her nostrils, the smell a mix of excrements and rotten fish. Vivianne wrinkled her nose, brows furrowing. /Did all prisons have to smell so badly?/

She nearly bumped into the guard as he stopped abruptly in front of a prison cell. He pulled out a rusty key and the door groaned open.

“Here you are,” he grouched, “you have five minutes”. He turned, and vanished in the darkness of the corridor.

Vivianne turned slowly towards the heavy iron bars, her heart beating ferociously in her chest. She had been so focused on convincing her parents to let her come that she hadn't prepared herself at all for this encounter. There was no time to do that now. She squared her shoulders, tilting her chin up slightly, and strode straight into the prison cell.

The young man looked up from his seated position, his brown eyes glinting in the light of the valet's lamp. Vivianne took in the pallor of his skin, the ragged clothes hanging loosely from his thinning body, the trace of scars on his hands. At least he was still alive.

Blinking away her tears, she forced herself forward in slow steps. The boy rose, sudden realisation in his eyes.

“Mademoiselle.” His tone was cold, his features blank. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” what could she say? That she loved him with her life and would gladly be his forever? That she was incredibly sorry her parents had thrown him in a dark prison cell? That the one thing she wanted now was to leap into his arms and cry in his lap?

“Have I not sacrificed enough for you? Are you demanding more of me?”

“No! I- That is not the intention of my visit-”

“Your visit?” he snorted. He was mocking her now, harsh and unforgiving. He trailed on, his voice rising and his anger swelling, but Vivianne heard none of it.

Her vision blurred, her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the dirty prison floor.
(649/450 words)

weekly no. 1 <33

part one: creating a flawed character

Rinaya, known simply as Ri, is a confident and arrogant young pilot with an iron will. She is not easily deterred from doing an action she has set her mind to, especially if it is something incredibly stupid. She has a tendency to believe that she is always right, which causes her to make poor decisions when she refuses to listen to others’ reasoning. Ri can be brash and rude at times, leading to her regretting her choices later on. Many of her flaws trace back to the same problem: she doesn’t listen to others and their opinions. She can be impulsive, often acting without thinking through her plan that is barely a plan, and struggles with thoughts of not being good enough for the people around her. In reality, they don’t like her all that much. Ri has trouble fighting her instincts, a flaw that causes her to often get into danger. Rinaya’s flaws, such as impulsiveness, rudeness, and over-confidence, are the main reasons behind her decisions that put her life and the lives of those around her in danger. Ri must learn to overcome these instincts, a hurdle that she will have to face.
Ri understands her issues. She sees the problem every day she looks at her reflection in the polished, bare walls of the Earthbound- the spaceship carrying the entire human population back home to Earth. The problem is, Ri isn’t sure how to fix it. Fixing her problems would be the same as telling a fire to stop burning by asking politely. Her temper is a wildfire, untamable and always ready to flare up, unprovoked. Ri doesn’t know why. The only thing that Ri knows is that she will be the bringer of death to them all if she doesn’t put the fire out.
And soon.

301 words

part two: outlining how the character will develop

In the beginning, Ri is more short-tempered and impulsive, landing herself in dangerous situations most of the time. Although she was chosen to be a pilot and fly a small starship, many officials and high-ranking generals questioned her abilities and motives. This caused her to become more frustrated and confused with herself, because her main goal is to prove to everyone that she’s worth their time and sleepless nights. She also partially takes what she has for granted, as this is shown when her father, a fellow pilot, becomes lost on an expedition to a potential planet. Ri finds out that, like any normal human being, she is indeed afraid of something. Of many things, loss being one of them. Following the incident, she sees in her father what everyone else sees every day: an impulsive, over-confident pilot asking for trouble. Coming to the realization that perhaps, if she didn’t want to get lost like her father, she needed to change.
Over the course of the story, Ri begins to understand the values of respecting others and their opinions, and sees the dangers that could await her if she acted too recklessly. Over time, Ri becomes more level-headed and rational as she takes her father’s incident into consideration, determined not to follow in his footsteps, a path that would have led to certain doom.
By the end of the story, Ri is able to calm herself down, although she can still be short-tempered and easily angered at times. She uses her memories of her father as a reminder to herself of what could happen, what would happen, if she lost control of her actions. Ri turns into a mentor for younger pilots, teaching them how to react in difficult situations, and is looked up to by the young. She finally earns what she wanted: respect for what she could do.
Far into the future, Ri has grown old, but is still a pilot. Her fiery temper has long faded away, yet she still guides younger pilots towards their goals. Eventually, she meets the newest pilot, who experiences what Ri had seen long ago: loss.
But that is a story for another day.

362 words

part three: understanding character motivation

Ri’s main motivation throughout the story is to show everyone aboard the Earthbound that she is worthy, since they harbor doubts about her, due to her recklessness. She also wishes to earn some respect, as many people do not give that to her. This is the main reasoning behind her growing, frustrating temper, and her decisions that cause her father’s loss. She mainly wishes to do something amazing, ground-breaking, to show the people who regard her as less that she is something they should be proud of. However, she takes this a tad too far at times, causing her impulsiveness.
Ri searches for someone who can appreciate her for who she really is, not who people think she is-arrogant, self-centered, and bold. This motivates her to push herself harder to prove herself worthy, although it only seems to make her reputation worse. Pushing herself too hard ultimately resulted in her father’s disappearance while searching a planet’s surface, as she acted before thinking- or rather, thinking it would benefit the people. But it didn’t, and instead what happened on that fateful day was able to teach Ri what she needed to better understand what people saw when they spotted her in the halls, rather than the girl she saw in the mirror. Her motivations and goals eventually are met in the end, but only after they pushed her to make decisions that affected where she is today.

236 words


part four: tying it all together

I wish they saw me.
I wish they actually saw me: not the girl who causes trouble, not the girl who is trouble, not the girl whose middle name is danger. Not literally.
I wish they saw the girl that stares back at me every day. The one who tries too hard to say, “I can prove I’m worth your headaches,” and the one who withstands disapproving head shakes and whispers behind her back.
They do not. Typical.
I sulk in the hard, plastic chair, absently picking at a stray thread on my knit sweater. The best thing I could be doing right now could be getting ready to step into that cockpit yet again and feel the accompanying thrill like a lightning that jolts your spine. Or I could be searching for that pair of bright pink socks that mysteriously disappeared from my drawer (I had my suspicions). Ordinary things that seemed far too ordinary now.
No, I was sitting here. Alone.
And unsure what to make of the world.
Alone.
That’s what my father was now- alone. Thanks to me. Left stranded on that watery, stormy planet because he had followed orders and chased me into the middle of a hurricane. In my defense, it looked fascinating. It looked interesting. It looked… like a perfectly good way to get in trouble. I sigh aloud, silently chastising myself. This was not the time to defend myself. I had to own up to my actions. My very, very, very bad actions.
What haunts me the most is what I saw in my father as he chased me into the heart of the storm. True, he was following orders- but he was reckless. He took dangerous routes because he wanted to, not because he had to. He showed off, over-confident in his skills. I saw a dangerous man, one with good intentions, but evil actions.
I saw me.
I saw what they saw- the girl that they despised, their eyes burning hatred, bright with the light of a million burning suns poised specifically to destroy you and you alone. The girl who would bring death upon them in her careless decisions.
And that’s what terrified me the most.
I am reckless, and impulsive, and too confident, and everything they thought I was. They have a right to hate me. But because of that, I try harder than I should. I push myself.
I need to be better. Somehow. They’ll see.
I’m sitting in the waiting room, staring at bare white walls with peeling paint, stuck sitting in a blue plastic armchair that squeaks every time you move so much as an inch. It’s ages until my mom walks into the room, the door swinging swiftly open and hitting the wall with a loud bang. I wince at the sound and force myself to not stare at my mom as she barrels in like a whirlwind.
I stare.
There she is, in all of her bright pink sock glory. Effortlessly styled raven-black hair, tall heels that click when she walks. The poised picture of perfection. Wearing bright pink socks.
Interesting.
She barely spares me a glance as she breezes by me to walk towards the receptionist. On the Earthbound, a large spaceship carrying the entire human population back to Earth, everyone knew everyone. It was as simple as that.
The paperwork is simple, calm. My mom takes me home- or rather, farther down the hall to our quarters aboard the huge spaceship, all of the walls the same boring, bland white. I briefly wonder for a moment if Earth is much more colorful than this. It probably is.
As we walk back, my mother lectures me on simple, trivial things: her opinions. But instead of usually snapping back, I do something that surprises both of us.
I listen.
Rather than normally cut her off- I listen to her words with surprising ease. It doesn’t bother me as much as it did before the incident, like something clicked inside of me and turned off the fire inside of me somehow.
Maybe this was proof that I was going to get better. Get better at controlling my actions and everything else. Get better to show them what I can really do one day.
It’ll happen one day. I know it.

716 words

—–

1615 words total <33

Maybe jumping off that cliff was a very bad idea… after all, the cliff could have been 20 feet eep or 200 feet deep. Who knows? Either way, the only way to chase after those thieving bunnies was to jump down the gliff. So i jumped down the cliff, and immediately regretted it when i screamed, scaring the birds away. What an interesting observation. As i neared the ground saw that the bunnies with my bright pink socks were running awya. How dare they! I dropped to the ground and chased after them because it ws not a very big drop but that is ok. After that i chased after them as fast as i possiblhy and humanely could, not caring that i was tripping over roots and bushes and prickly thorns. It was very hot and dusty so i couldt see much but i was counting on the fact that my bright pink socks were somewhere out there. My precious bright pink socks were there. They were very precious u see because they were passed down to me from my grandmother nad she died last week. A very bad and convincing sob story to anyone not thinking about it. Too hard. I tripped and landed face down in the dirt. Yes falling down the cliff was a very very very bad idea indeed but i hda to keep going because the socks were out there, and they were important. I caught a glinmpse of bright pink socks moving away and i knew that ht bunnies were running away with my sockS!! I gave chase immediately and caught up with them. I decided i would have a nice littel chat with them, because obviously who can get too mad at bunnies? They kindly handed by bring pink socks bac, but tehy were all difrty. Boo hoo hoo, i cried all the way back up the cliff. I knew jumping off the cliff was a bad idea, a very bad idea indeed. But what could i do about it> i ahd cno choice after all they were my socks.

do not read this i beg of u i couldnt write WHYY
u cant read it if u tried it makes no sense i missed so many letters ahhhhh
348 words <3

word war against @essayist

–

prompt: “NO! NO! NO! DO NOT SET IT ON FIRE!”

“why not? won’t it diffuse the bomb?” the girl frowned, then put the match closer to the red explosives.
“it will not!” the other yelled. “are you an idiot? have you been paying attention at class at all?”
“…no?” she admitted. “besides, Aria, if it goes in flames, at least there won’t be a bomb left.”
“clearly someone’s an idiot,” aria hissed. “if you set that on fire, the bomb will explode. that’s why there’s a spark next to the explosive line.” she pointed at the only blue wire, which had been shrinking from a small, little flame, inching the spark closer to the red tubes of dynamite.
“ohhh,” then the girl frowned again. “what should we do?”
“cut it!” aria said. “cut the wire, mira!”
“ i don’t have any scissors,” mira said, scowling. “i suppose,” she untangled the sharp clip from her hair, and tried cutting the blue wire.
“uh,” mira frowned. there was no marks on the blue line.
“the wire’s thick. we need pliers.”
“i don’t havy any!”
“then we’re screwed,” mira scowled. “it’’s better to run now, then try and diffuse this think” she pointed to the bomb, “and die.”
“there’s still 5 minutes left,” aria noted. “maybe…”

202 words

Word war with @AnuMaria
210 words
5 mins
On mobile TOTTT (specifically my phone)
Prompt: I nearly exploded once, it wasn’t the most pleasant of my experiences.
————————————
The king gazed down at the socialite peasant, her eyes wide, and filled with excitement. The kings voice roared over the thousands of citizens spectating the girls feat.

“Explain yourself.” His voice roared, and his eyes fiery, but deep down, all you could see was the kings hurt. A whole kingdom burnt down, thousands killed, and this girl was found right in the middle of the crime scene. Caught red handed.

The girl giggled, then stood, dusting her ash covered dress off, and making sure there weren’t noticeable tears

“Sir- don’t seem so mad! It was just some good fun! I was almost burnt in the process, it was not the most pleasant of my experiences.” She started, and smiled up at the king. She was quite the charming girl, such a shame she would be executed at exactly 10:15 PM. The king sighed, this was quite the case.

“Guards, take her away.” The king said. No one moved. “I said… TaKE HER AWAY.” The king yelled. And so the guards scrambled, and took her by the arms. She laughed, Like a sociopath, the whole way out.
The kings justice would take care of her. He’d probably have the royal lions tear her to pieces, or something of the sort.

This is my weekly #1 post!

Part #1: Create a character
I watched two episodes of House and I want to write a doctor. Our doctor's name is Nathan Eylam. I chose that name because Nathan originates from a Hebrew word that means “he gave”, and the last name comes from a Hebrew word for “eternal”. You can interpret this as in “eternal gift”, or “gift of eternality”. He is a clinician that is typical of his job. He's fine at it. He's nothing special. His positive trait is that he's just an ordinary doctor that handles patients with a respectable amount of bedside manner. Some would say that in a drama, that would be his negative trait. But I don't mind watching regular, “boring” procedure in shows as long as it has some accuracy. I might be the only one who would watch real court cases as a legal drama. Quote this if you agree. But our character's negative trait is that he's terrified of death and pain. That may not sound abnormal, but this fear is debilitating. Every time a patient has a lethal disease, he will work at full capacity to make sure this patient lives as long as possible, even if it's a singular second. He's willing to sacrifice all his time for someone to live for a single second longer than they would have. He's counting every second, cherishing every moment everyone's alive, because he cannot fathom dying. He's also an extreme germaphobe. And I mean EXTREME germaphobe. He'll wear a lab coat to a date. He's afraid of cooking with knives. He's paranoid to the highest level.

word war against @_midnight_rain_

I reach for Molly’s hand as she holds the lighter over the stack of baseball cards, “NO! NO! NO! NO! DO NOT SET IT ON FIRE,” I yell frantically. She pauses, her hand with the lighter a hair length from the doll, she amber eyes move up to meet mine, her expression a mixture of confusion and annoyance. “I thought you wanted to do this,” she says irritably, “please do not tell me you made me go through the trouble of stealing Anthony’s combo and breaking into his locker just for you to get cold feet.” “I know, I know, just… wait one second,” i panic, searching for an excuse, anything to get her to drop the lighter. “What if we get in trouble, if Anthony notices that they’re gone, he’ll surely know it was us-” Mollly raises a brow at me, “he’ll just assume that we somehow managed to get our hands on his combination, and steal a stack of baseball cards?” I nervously pick at my lip, “I mean we did kind of do just that, so clearly we’re capable.” Molly rolls her eyes, igniting the lighter, “come on the traitor deserves it,” she says moving the lighter back over the stack of cards. “Molly- stop, I said to wait,” I say grabbing her wrist again. Molly tries fights against my grip, “* it zara, let go,” she says, tugging her hand away. In the act she sends the lighter flying. It hits the floor and slides another twenty feet down the hallway. (255 words)

Word war with Sky! @skyblssxm-unwrittcn
Duration: 4 minutes
Prompt: “Maybe jumping off of the cliff was a bad idea…”
Word count: 195

“Maybe jumping off of the cliff was a bad idea,” I say, rubbing my scratched up leg with a salve.”
“You think so?” My friend, Clarissa, asked sarcastically, “We practically almost died.”
I nodded. “But you understand why we had to do it, right?”
Clarissa nodded. I didn’t need to explain how we weee in a life or death situation and that jumping was out only way to survive.
“Sometimes I think you kids have been through too much,” Doctor Eliza, our local nurse, says.
I laugh. “Doc, you say that every time we land ourselves in here. Which is like every day.”
Doctor Eliza laughs, shaking her head. “But it’s true!”
I laugh but inside i sigh. It’s true but that’s the problem. If it weren’t for the entire government being after us we wouldn’t be landing in Doctor Eliza’s office everyday. I can do toy remember a time where we were normal kids. A time where jumping off of a cliff never even crossed our minds. Of course, those days were long over. They had been over since i was ten years old. I was now seventeen and those seven years really made

word war with @co0lcr34t10ns:

“NO! NO! NO! DO NOT SET IT ON FIRE!” she screamed, the words hurting my ears and resonating in my head. I blink and come back to reality. What am I doing? What have I done? I'm standing over a pile of ripped up letters from her. Everything is from her. The flame on the match touches my fingertips and burnes my skin., and I hurry to put it out. She stands there, in front of me, wondering how I would dare, how I would dare betray her. How could I? How would I? And most of all, how didn't I realize? How didn't I realize what was happening to me? And how didn't I realize what I was doing to her? Torturing her without even knowing. Breaking her. Killing her. Burning her… She looks at me, right in my eye, I know that look, I invented that look. I used to be the one looking at her with those huge brown eyes filled with disapointment, with fear, with… disgust. How dare I? What is happening to me? Why can't I just

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

◪ Word War 1
Wordcount: 424
Person warred: silverlynx-
Win/Loss: win
Prompt used: yes, Maybe jumping off a cliff was a bad idea.
Time: 5 minutes
Cabin: Dystopian

Maybe jumping off a cliff was a bad idea.

Yep, totally a bad idea. I can now hear Sarah screaming in the corner as we plummet to our dom. There wasn't really a choice after that crazy sick dinosaur had been chasing us, so of course we had to escape somehow. unfortunately, Teddy led us all the way up here, and the only way away from this situation was to go down. We could have always gone up, I suppose, but that would only really be our souls.

“What;s WRONG WITH YOU?” Sarah screaned at me. Right, I had been the one who had pushed her off in the first place. And Teddy. And Rachel. And maybe Coco too, but he was a dog and that didn't really count. He was riding in Teddy's backpack anyways. He looked like he was having the time of his life, his tongue lolling out as the dalmation fell with us to the pits of hell. It looked like it was his average day, sticking his head out of the car window when mom drove too fast past the truck drivers while she screamed with her road rage. Now that i Think about it,there wasn't really a time when mom didn't have road rage. perhaps thats why coco seemed so calm in thi sistuation where everybody was screaming at me. It must have been a normal Sunday for him on his way to the pet house when someone tried to cut mom at the red light signal just seconds away fro it becoming red.

Im spiraling, aren't I?

Well techinacally, I am actually spiralling. The hole turned out to have this huge rock pillar in the middle as well, so half of us had to choose the right and half of us had to choose the left to survive. It honestly looked like something out of the cartoon, or like those rolly slides you found in our neighbourhood park. I wasnt going to visit that anymore. Unless ghosts were real and my spirit wanted to visit. However, Im not sure if our spirits would be able to find their way up from the hole once we fall and pass away.

Sarah was still screaming at me but i wasnt hearing anything she said. Coco looked like he was n a roaler coaster. I think Teddy had passed out, and rachel had started to chant verses from the BhagvatGita. If we werent about to pass away I would think this was the funniest sight I'd ever seen.

Word war with Teddyyy-
216 words
5 mins
Prompt: I nearly exploded once, it wasn’t the most pleasant of my experiences.
——
I nearly exploded once. It was not the most pleasant of my experiences.” But that wasn’t the worst compared to the other time when I almost burnt my Girl Scout meeting just because I wanted to add strawberries to my smores but oh well that’s a story for another time … today is about what not to do when you’re best friend gives you a hydrogen pump and a skipping rope and not to I mean just don’t to do what I did. Which is um.. tying the hydrogen pump to the pole on the staircase and wanting to jump so I kinda sorta maybe used also it’s tyre skipping rope to the pump and BANG and I barely got skip I mean So not fair ? Right but come oh wait also the hydrogen pump was kinda sorta maybe next to this water tank which was kinda sorta maybe next potassium which kinda sorta definitely caused the whole EXPLOSION thingy but oh well come what would you do just keep it idle like your friend sara oh come no way hose mister cause quoting a song lyric from my fav song I’m jus a girl so yeah but keep in mind kids potassium and hydrogen and water is a big no no from my experience.

Weekly #1

(Yet to be named character that is real and part of a story though)

Part 1. This character sometimes views things as overly simplistic and yes/no. They feel like things are either good or bad, no in between, and don’t always notice nuance in situations. For example, they might make a risky decision for a good reason and believe that it was the best possible course of action, when really the situation was more complex. The reason they had was important and right, but they could have gone about it in a better way. Another flaw is that they sometimes feel like everything would be better if they were a certain way, when that actually wouldn’t help all that much and is not the real problem. Or the thing they want would help, but it’s not as simple as they want it to be, and even if things were like they wanted, a situation would still need work and time. Finally, they can struggle with wanting and needing help but pushing away anyone who tries to help them, and struggling on their own.

Summary: Florian struggles with viewing things as yes/no instead of more complex, they want things to be simple and hang to the idea that they are, and they push away help from others even when they want and need it.
Words for this part: 207

(Okay I came up a with a name, although possibly just a temporary one: Florian or nicknamed Flori)

Part 2. At the beginning of the story, Florian is conflicted between wanting to explore and use their magic, and also listening to their parents and believing them. Their parents think that magic is not necessarily bad, but could be dangerous and generally shouldn’t be used to comply with the rules. Florian feels guilty about their magic and partially wishes they didn’t have it, but since they’re also a little interested in it, they feel bad and confused about which is correct. Florian doesn’t have many huge life goals at this point, and is pretty focused on their own life. Things change quite a bit when they rescue a young dragon that was being experimented on in the place they live (which needs more development), and their primary motivation becomes taking care of the dragon and going on the run with one of their parents. They start focusing on trying to change the entire system in a kind of apocalyptic world, and believe that it’s all broken and wrong when there is slightly more to the situation. It’s largely a bad system, but parts are helpful, and destroying it might not be the best option. Florian also begins to learn more magic from other survivors who aren’t affiliated with a building/complex/group thing in the world, and the become friends with the dragon and the two protect each other. Florian becomes more determined and passionate as well as seeing the world as a worse place.

Summary: Florian grows from being afraid and confused of their magic to liking it and embracing it. They also start to realize how messed up many parts of the world are, and start to protect their family and break rules.
Words for this part: 242

Part 3. Florian’s main goal is do to what they believe is right. That involves protecting their family and friends, standing up for others, and even changing the entire system of how the world works. They usually don’t have a easy time with this and tend to pour themselves into their motivations too much and get burned out, but they are dedicated to trying. They want to do the right thing so much because they have felt injustice themselves for being a magic user. What they experienced with rescuing the dragon and going on the run was also difficult and changed their perspective about just how much is wrong with the world. Another motivation for themselves is for them, their family, and their friends, to be happy and allowed to just live and enjoy life. They struggle with accepting this goal, especially for themselves, but they do just want to be able to be safe and loved. Florian struggles with believing this is possible, but with help from some people they try to see that the world can actually be amazing and they want to make it better and improve on what is wrong with it. One of the ways they want to improve the world is to show the beauty and joy in magic, and make it normal and celebrated instead of something to contained and feared. They want to show others how brilliant magic is, and connect with other magic users. That all comes from how they’re slowly learn and try to embrace and accept magic, and their own joy they get from being a magic user.

Summary: Florian wants to do what they think is right, which means protecting others and improving the world. They want to make their family happy and safe, as well as create safety for themselves. One of the ways they think can be achieved is by teaching others about magic, and embracing it.
Words for this part: 319

Part 4. Every word Florian was hearing made their stomach sicker. They were standing behind their half closed bedroom door, listening to their parents increasingly loud and angry whispers echoing from the kitchen. “That dragon is being experimented on and captured. No dragon deserves that, and this one is just a baby. How is this fair?” That was their mom. “I know, love. I know. Can we talk about this? I think we could raise enough interest, at least some people would care.” Their dad replied. “And how many of those people would do something, even if they did care? And most of the complex would be scared and just glad it’s a young one, and contained.” Florian only realized that their legs were shaking when one of their knees jerked and bumped into the door frame. Actually, it wasn’t just their legs, it was their whole body. A dragon was being experimented on? A dragon was here? A young dragon was captured, imprisoned, and used for experiments, and multiple people were just letting that be and were okay with it. This was wrong. Florian hesitated for a moment, briefly thinking about the fact that going into the main room and arguing about this was going to reveal that they were listening. But that didn’t matter compared to what was happening. The pushed past their door, trying to ignore the shake in their legs. Both of their parents turned to look at them, pausing mid frustrated discussion. “And of course you heard all of that and know exactly what is going on?” Their dad asked. In response, Florian said with a distinct note of panic mixed with anger in their voice, “Who’s experimenting on a dragon? Here? For what?” Their mom groaned loud and long, and smashed his fist down on the counter. “I’m sorry, I’m not mad at anyone here. I’m frustrated that this is happening and I don’t know how to make things better. This isn’t right.” “I know” Florian almost yelled. “Hey. I know we’re all upset but let’s try to calm down. This isn’t a good situation, but we’re not powerless. Flori, do you want a hug?” their dad asked. Florian stepped over and leaned into their dad’s arm. But it didn’t help with the panic and anger that was washing through them. Their mom sighed. “In answer to your questions, the scientists I work with are doing the experimenting. They want to understand the genetics of magic…so they can potentially change it from happening at all. Change dragons from being magical.” Florian felt a fresh wave of fear and anger. Trying to experiment to erase the magic from a dragon would probably erase the dragon itself. Dragons just were magic, that was who they were, the magic couldn’t get taken away without…destroying them. But maybe that wasn’t a barrier or a problem to the researchers. And it wasn’t just dragons who were magic. Florian was too, everyone who was magical were too, their own dad was magical. And being magical sometimes, actually often, felt the same as being hated.

(Skip to breaking into the lab because I’m too tired to write it all)

Florian stopped in front of the door to the lab. Their palms were soaked with sweat and once again, their legs were shaking frantically. The winced as they stared directly into the blinking light of a security camera perched on top of the door frame. They had really not thought this through. Or at least they had, but that was just making them more anxious and more useless, so Florian had just done it. They could still technically back out. But on the other side of the door there was a dragon be contained and experimented on. There was no other way to do this, and they had to. Florian stepped forward and tried to turn the door knob. To their not at all surprise, the door was locked. They pulled the key out of their pocket and after a few awkward attempts they slid into the keyhole and turned, opening the door with a quiet click. Inside the lab lights turned on automatically, showing a surprisingly messy space. It was kind of weird to see a lab that was being used for horrible, cruel, things, but it also had sweatshirts thrown over chairs and empty mugs scattered across tables. In the center of a room there was a big case with a cover thrown over it and wires snaking out of the back, connecting to a beeping monitor. Florian slid the cover off and stared at the small dragon huddled into the corner. The dragon was fast asleep, with twitching paws and frantic breathing, like they were dreaming. The case had a door, but it was locked with a keypad, not just the standard key hole that the door had. There was a panel at the back that connected some wires to the monitor, but pulling at it did nothing and there were no obvious screws or clasps. Even if Florian did manage to get it off, the gap it fit into was small. They smacked their forehead lightly into the glass with a thud. Of course! Of course there was no easy way to open this stupid case. The dragon inside suddenly jerked up, flattened against the wall and growling. “Hey, I’m really sorry. I’ll help you. I’m trying to get you out.” Florian whispered, pulling back from the case and trying to speak as calmly as they could. The dragon whimpered and growled softly, but for the most part was quiet. Which was good, because as logical and deserved as screeching loudly would be, that would alert other people fast. Florian took a shaky breath. There was one other option for breaking open the case. They didn’t even know if it would work and it was wrong. Or at least hated. Was there even a difference? But they were already stealing a key, sneaking into the lab, and rescuing a dragon, so why not keep going with the rule breaking. Florian rubbed their hands together, trying to take deep breaths and draw every scrap of magic they had. A small flame appeared in their palm in shades of soft, almost invisible rainbows, like the mist from a shower of water on a sunny day. They pressed the flame into the keypad, trying to weave through the mechanism. Whatever they were doing, it was working. Magic was swirling and sparking around the keypad but it was opening. Florian changed tactics and just shoved all the magic they could right at it. It didn’t unlock, but it did break. After a minute of pulling on it, the door to the case finally opened with a crack, leaving the broken and mildly melted padlock hanging off the door at a awkward angle. Florian hesitantly held out their hand to the dragon, not touching them, just saying hi. They were painfully aware of the passing time, the security cameras, the stolen key, and the broken case, but the dragon had already been through a lot. They wanted to be as nice and non-threatening as possible. The dragon hissed at them but edged forward and sniffed their hand carefully. Florian gently rubbed the dragon under the chin and then immediately got nipped on the hand, before the dragon leaned in to hesitantly and allowed the chin scratches. Florian wrapped their arms around the dragon, who squirmed a little bit and kicked them in the stomach multiple times before calming down and holding still. Florian grimaced. They had broken so many rules. There would be no going back, they were probably going to get in a lot of trouble, they had no idea how to actually save the dragon, and they used magic. They felt so stupid. Their magic had helped them but also it was wrong and they were confused and angry that this had all even happened. But looking down at the dragon in their arms, they were glad for at least one thing. The dragon was safe for now, even if everything else was falling apart, and it was going to get even worse soon.

Words for this part: 1,341

Total words: 2,151

‹‹ back
Hahaha not me procrastinating by coding this

⋅ ─ ── ✦ ── ─ ⋅

Weekly #1 ✦ Character Development

Progress ✦ 4/4 done

☑ Summarised your character's flaws in at least 150 words
☑ Written at least 200 words outlining how your character will develop
☑ Written at least 200 words explaining your character's motivations
☑ Written a short story of at least 450 words incorporating what you've learnt in this weekly

Total word count: 1048/1000 words

Part 1: Creating A Flawed Character ✦ 179 words

Characters aren't realistic or relatable without their own flaws, and sometimes these weaknesses end up creating a more intriguing story. To begin this weekly, figure out an idea of your character's flaws–their negative traits that might drive them to make poor decisions. Summarize the flaws you've come up with in at least 150 words to complete your first part!
(written by Sophia)

Ivy is that popular girl everyone meets at school. She wears expensive clothes and has the newest iPhone. She knows the most interesting gossip and isn't the best student, but somehow everyone wants to work with her when making groups.
She hates that.
She hates being that person, she always feels a pressure, she always feels that she has to do what people expect instead of what she really wants to. And she has always done it. Her biggest fear is to be ignored. It is to be nonexistent, to be hated, to be nobody. She thinks that she will only be noticed if she makes sure everybody knows her, admires her, if she makes sure everybody envies her.
Every time she has to make a decision, she asks herself, will people like it? instead of do I like it?. She doesn't know how to stop, because she thinks that if she decides to be herself, she will be hated. She always wears that mask. She has worn it for so long that she has become dependent on it.

Part 2: Outlining How The Character Will Develop ✦ 201 words (lol)

Howdy doodle writers!! I hope you're enjoying the weekly so far. For the next part, you will outline how your character will grow and change throughout the story. First, go to this workshop about character development by Evi. Continue by thinking about who your character is at the beginning—what are their strengths, weaknesses, fears, and goals? Then, consider what experiences or events will challenge them. How will they react to these challenges? Will they succeed, fail, or struggle along the way? By the end of the story, your character should be different in some way—maybe even more flawed ;D Enjoy crafting your character, and ensure that you write at least 200 words to move on to the next part!
(written by Fini)

The first day of the new school year, Ivy was ready to be the popular one again. She would be in the same class, with the same classmates, and she thought that nothing would change. But she felt that something in her life was missing. A true friendship, someone who spoke to her because they liked how she was, who she was, instead of what she had or what she did. How could she change that? During recess, she spotted a new student who was sitting alone in a corner. After hesitating, she approached her, without asking herself if everyone would like that, without asking herself if that would affect others' opinions. She just went there to make a friend, to accompany the girl.
And they began chatting, they found out that they had many things in common and they laughed together. That was when Ivy realised that she was having true fun. She didn't have to worry about others' opinions. She felt free.
After that, her opinion changed. She didn't fear being ignored anymore. She finally got to know her classmates and let others get to know her instead of just showing the mask, the things she thought everyone liked.

Part 3: Understanding Character Motivation ✦ 216 words

Now that you've figured out your characters' development, you'll focus on their motivations. A character's motivation is very important to make sure their decisions and what they do remain consistent and make sense for that character. Motivations can come from a character's past, things they care about, and goals. For example, in the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, one of Katniss' main motivations is to protect her sister, which leads to her volunteering for her sister and contributes to the reasoning behind many of her decisions in the rebellion to continue protecting her family. Now write 200 words explaining the motivation behind the character. Have fun!
(written by Niko)

Ivy has always hated being alone. She grew up believing that she would never be alone if everybody knew her. There would always be someone to talk with, right? So she did everything she could do to stand out and show everyone what she could show them, trying to become famous on many social media and websites too. She eventually became what most people would call popular. She seemed to always do the right thing, say the right words, wear the right clothes, she was always following the trends.
But she also forgot her own opinions. She convinced herself that her thoughts and her words had no value, because everyone preferred looks and real objects. She kept doing what other people liked, what other people expected, whatever was impressing or amazing, instead of what she really liked. Because that was what she thought would make her popular. She just wanted not to be forgotten. To be known.
One day, she changed. Just a bit, something little that was enough to make her change even more. She noticed someone sitting alone and decided to make a real friend, without fear of being rejected. Even though everyone already knew her, she was still ignored sometimes. She really wanted to be able to chat with someone without any fear.

Part 4: Tying It All Together ✦ 452 words

Throughout this weekly, we've taken a closer look at what motivates our characters to take on what they do, as well as how they develop and change as their story progresses, responding to the world around them. So, what's next? We're glad you asked—now that you've created your (im)perfect (;D) character, it's time to tie it all together and place them in a tale of your very own. For the final part of this weekly, write a short story in a minimum of 450 words incorporating your flawed character, focusing on character development and their motives as we've explored throughout the past week. Best of luck!
(written by Encryn)

I walked into the school, feeling nervous. More nervous than usually. Why was that happening? It was the same school, the same classmates. Everyone already knew me, but had they missed me? What are they expecting me to do today? What if I don't meet their expectations?
Enough, I told myself. If I had already done it so many times, why couldn't I do it again? Just smile, hide my worries. Everyone waved at me when they saw me, and I waved back. Even some people I didn't know. People I had never seen. Probably people who were following on a social media. Or just someone extremely kind?
The morning went as usual. Until recess. I sat with some of my classmates who were maintaining superficial conversations. I didn't participate in them. As usual, I didn't give them my opinion. It didn't matter, they didn't want to hear it.
Then, I saw someone. A girl I didn't know was sitting alone, and nobody seemed to have noticed her. I had never seen her, but then I remembered the teacher mentioning there was a new student. Was she too shy to get to know her classmates? Would befriending her help me? I didn't know, but I knew that people next to me were having conversations with each other, they weren't interested in chatting with me. After looking around a couple of times, I decided to go and try to chat with her.
She looked at me, a bit surprised, when I sat next to her and greeted her, smiling. “Hey. My name is Ivy. Can I sit here with you?”
“Of course. I'm Ellie, by the way.”
We began chatting, and found out we had similar interests and hobbies. I realised that I was having fun. I was having true fun, I didn't have to smile when I didn't want to or say something I didn't feel. That was a true friendship. And I had never enjoyed it that much. I wasn't even sure I had experienced it before. I still think it is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I began to look for true relationships, say my honest opinions without wories and I had someone who wanted to listen to them. I am so grateful I did it that day.
I still can't understand why I didn't do it before. Maybe because I thought I would be rejected or ignored for having a friend. Maybe because, at a certain point, everyone had their friends and groups and I thought they wouldn't accept someone else. It was definetly easier to talk with someone new, someone that didn't have friends there already. Someone who didn't know the past version of me.

⋅ ─ ── ✦ ── ─ ⋅

word war with Eabha2023

“NO! NO! NO! DON'T SET IT ON FIRE!” I scream. Even then, the attacker still refuses to put put the match. I'm standing on a wooden floor that's about to go in flames. I keep calm despite knowing that it's my fault that I lost his money. “One wrong move and this whole place is an ashtray!” 911 is not an option. This group of people would probably light me up if I even reached for my phone. I have no way of attacking, defending, anything that can save me. My anxiety starts to rise. I have less than 3 minutes thirty seconds on the timer to talk my way out of this. I'm wasting time. All of this is one big mistake. I should have never been with this crowd. I'm at my end. Oh my God, I'm at my end. I try not to panic. I try to slowly walk towards the attacker. I don't know if I should punch him, kick him, run for the fences, but I have less than a minute to decide. I can't think. My thoughts are falling apart on the way to my brain. I can't say anything anymore, so I blurt out a

202 words, at least one typo I know for sure exists. Not sure how that counts.

word war with @Starthorn

Stream of consciousness writing while brainstorming the weekly part 3

Ok so we are going to start with a bang and we are going to be discussing character motivations and I need to make sure that I don’t talk or correct my mistakes otherwise I will run behind I need to type faster let’s go remember those fifty headed hydra that I had to do over cabin wars that was quite a day can’t wait for cabin wars again I wonder when they are oh wait I know they’re coming up soon and anyway I need to focus on what I’m actually supposed to write about which is rays character motivation and I can’t leave a second without typing because I’m supposed to have a lot of words per second and I want to win this war so let’s go and think about raya so he has character motivations in that she really wants to impress others, she wants to be a hero, she wants power and respect and admiration, and so she will help others and try to be a good person, at least from her definition. Defend the week, be chivalrous and all that stuff that being a warrior has been imbued in her. At the same time, she wants revenge, but more than that, she wants to prove herself, so put herself in a fight that she can win, but not recklessly. She knows her limits, and knows that she can’t go up against the empire by herself, and feels sad about that. So she won’t be doing any crazy stuff, but she’s scheming and thinking about what angle she can gain to actually truly reach her goals. So another goal is companionship and friendship, she want to regain the gang the support that she used to have, and she wants to have friends that support and care about her just like her old troop used to and she wants to be a sort of rallying hero wouldn’t it be interesting if at the end she has to let go of that victory, and she sorta does doesn’t she giving the power to someone else and learning that the real power lies in the shadows instead of being flashy and open and getting into trouble. She learns that she has pawns that can be more effective that she can, and she wants to have power and safety for her family and people I guess I have to type more so I think I will keep rambling until the timer runs out I hope that I have written a sufficient amount of words and my typos are

lark's july 2025 writing!

poem from a train (79 words):

two-pane windowframe reveals water, trees.
rock-lined brine ridge and waves lap.
will she erode? who knows! the train chugs on.
cloud-shrouded mountains loom large.
hill-cliffs huge in the catskills, dormant– dead?
the train chugs on. i see:
spiral silo stairs wound round their metal bins.
hidden driftwood litters sand, bleached as old bones.
still, the train chugs on.
an estuary ecosystem, the disparate pair.
sturdy douglas firs poke blue sky.
the train the train the train chugs on unceasing.

Weekly 1

Introduction

In this weekly, I use characters from a world I created, but I don’t really give any context to them so here is an explanation of my world and its characters!

In my world, there are two types of people. The Marked and the Murmurs. The markets are the more powerful, ruling group, who pretty much rule over the Murmurs. They all have really strong powers, and some sort of mutation that ‘marks’ them as more powerful. The Murmurs are a group of people whose powers have been diluted overtime, and don’t have a mutation. Their powers are less strong ‘murmurs’ of what they would be if they were Marked.

I mention a few powers in this weekly, but here is the only one left unexplained.

Whisperer - a person who is able to pick out people’s worst thoughts/nightmares and use them to torture them. It’s sort of like tendrils of darkness/cold that reach into the brain/mind and whisper in their mind. However, it does affect the Whisperer themselves as well, and it’s a very hard power to control. It became a forbidden power and all people found with it were executed. This character is the first Whisperer found for centuries.

Part 1

Bella finds it very hard to trust people, especially in her unstable world of scouring the streets with her twin brother, Isaac. They live in a dilapidated barn with a few other children and live off mere scraps. She has learned never to believe what people say after being tricked into leaving her ill brother with an old lady, who ended up stealing what few possessions they had left.

She’s very impulsive, which makes her brave and adventurous, but has caused her to commit some foolish actions. Her short temper makes her lash out at patrolling soldiers regularly for how they treat the Murmurs.. She hates how they comment on her brother, who is mute. She is naturally very protective of him, and feels responsible for his safety, especially when he discovers his newfound power, which could cause him to be executed if it’s found out.
She experiences envy a lot, especially when she sees the Marked, who live in the City, where they get to live in luxury and safety.

Part 2

Note: I wrote this as a story, so it’s hard to see how she changes, but she becomes less impulsive and learns to open up to people more.

(From the perspective of Bella)

I swung myself down the drainpipe, my arms peppered with scratches and my head pounding. I hit the ground with a thump, my boots slapping the pavement. I glanced behind my shoulder. One of the soldiers had his gun aimed directly at me, its red laser beam hovering on my back. Sweat was pouring down his face as he struggled to keep up with me.

I tripped through market stalls, ripping my trousers. Disgruntled shopkeepers wrenched their carts out of the way, yelling curse words behind my back. The soldier was closing in on me, and fast. I needed to get away.
“Come back here, peasant!” He screamed at me.
I uttered a stream of colourful words back at him, anger bubbling up inside me, before trying to clear my head as I stumbled into a nearby alleyway.
A stitch was burning in my chest and my lungs were screaming at me. Dirt was streaked down all of my clothes and blood trickled from a small gash in my arm. I sighed and shook my head. I was always getting into trouble.

I shoved open the door to the barn and collapsed onto the littered floor, smiling in relief. I hauled myself to my feet after a few seconds of catching my breath to find a tall boy standing in front of me, arms crossed.
“Wait - who are you?” I asked slowly, stepping backwards. My heart started hammering even harder in my chest. We never got newcomers. So who was this? New people always meant bad news here.
“And nice to see you again too, Bella! I’m Noah! You met me a few weeks ago and promised to give me that croissant that you owe me in return for helping you find your little brother.”
I rolled my eyes. “First of all, he’s my twin, second of all, of all the food in the world you could have picked something more substantial, third of all, let’s go get this over and done with.” I told him quickly, before turning on my heel back towards the market to steal a croissant.

Pounding footsteps startled me as Noah fell into step with me.
“So… what power do you have?”
I swallowed. “I’m a Levitator.”
He gasped. “That’s so cool! Like, you can fly?” He laughed in awe.
I bit my lip. “No, not really. I can only float a few feet off the ground. Murmur, remember? Unmarked. My power has been diluted so much that it’s basically useless.” I trailed off wistfully.
He cocked his head. “Surely it must be useful for something!”
He glanced at my stricken expression and swiftly carried on.
“It’s not your fault anyways. You’re just as talented without your power though. I mean, you were so fast and athletic and were just incredible when finding Isacc. The way you helped me escape that soldier and how you practically flew over the roofs! It was amazing.”

I rewarded him with a small smile, before realising how much I’d opened up to him. I’d shown him that I could be soft. I’d shown him that I was sad. I could open up to anyone. Well, anyone other than Isaac. I just couldn’t. It wasn’t worth it.
I quickly masked my face from all emotions and tried to keep the conversation going. Knowing your enemies and all that.
“Well, I already know your power.” I told him brightly, the fakeness lacing my voice making me cringe. “You’re an Observer. You can see… bonds? Spirits? And then you led me to Isaac.”
He grinned. “Yeah, well, it can come in handy sometimes, but since you were twins it was especially bright. With most people it's more of a thread connecting them. With you and Isacc it was a cord. It was amazing. So bright. It was glowing, sort of pulsing.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by an enormous commotion in front of me. A stall had been upturned by a small group of boys who were gathering oranges and apples in their arms. I watched them scuttle away like ants, hoarding their food as the stall owner tutted at them.
“Time to steal a croissant. Wait here.” I ordered Noah.

And into the chaos I went. People swarmed me immediately. I slipped between the crowds towards a stall selling all kinds of desserts. The sort of ones I could never afford. I glimpsed a pile of croissants.
“Here goes.”
I walked up to the stall and pretended to be choosing a dessert. I looked up at the stall owner, who was watching me closely. I gave him a nod and reached my hands into my pockets and pretended to be looking for my purse and produced a random item with a flourish, knocking over the whole basket of pastries.

I put a shocked hand to my mouth.
“Sir, I’m so sorry!” I cried, layering on the sickly sweetness. “Let me help you clear this up.”
He grumbled at me loudly.
I leant down and gathered the pastries in my arms and placed the basket back onto the
table, a croissant safely nestled in my pocket.
“There you go, sir!”
Pride surged through me.
“And, remember, I was never here!”
I flashed the croissant at him before racing away.

I heard a shout behind me and the sound of him alerting a nearby soldier.

I made my way back to Noah quickly.
“Your croissant.” I said begrudgingly, handing him the warm fluffy pastry.
He frowned. “Come on, the soldier’s literally coming straight towards you.”
I shrugged and headed off to go back home.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and shoved it off aggressively.

Noah.

His brow was furrowed and he was gazing at me worriedly.
“Why did you have to show off like that? Couldn’t you have just left without getting in trouble. One day, doing that could get you caught.”
A strange feeling tingled through me. Disappointment? No, it couldn’t be- this boy was not making me feel disappointed in myself.
“I’m sorry.” I heard myself say. “It was stupid, but I just…had too.”
“No, you didn’t.”

And with that he walked off, as did I, one of us with a nice croissant, the other feeling just a little bit wiser.

Part 3

One of Bella’s biggest motivations, as I mentioned earlier, is protecting her brother. Although they are the same age, he is mentally younger than her and she feels responsible for him. She doesn’t like letting him out of sight when they aren’t at the barn, especially since he has gone missing a few times already. She would do unthinkable things for her brother, and is often manipulated into doing people’s work for them if they threaten her brother’s safety.

Bella is also greatly motivated by her wish to end all the hostility between Murmurs and Marked, and all cruelty towards them. She hates how she is treated for being a Murmur, as she can’t help it, and wishes to take down the Marked. She will take up any opportunity to annoy or disrespect any Marked that she sees, even if they try to be nice to her, as her hatred began so early for them and will never end.

She, like many other characters, is motivated to stay alive. She wants survival so she can make a difference in her world. She will pickpocket people, steal scraps from the streets, disguise herself as a Marked or even (when she’s feeling particularly desperate) disguise as a beggar and try to make people feel sorry for her. She just wants food, water and a roof over her head.

Part 4

I blinked open my eyes, and hauled myself onto my elbows. Light filtered in through the gap in the door and there was a small round face with wide hazel eyes gazing into mine.
“Morning, Isaac.” I grumbled, as I rubbed sleep from my eyes.
He grinned and signed ‘You’re finally awake.’
I sighed. “Yeah, well, it’s a hard life.”
He rolled his eyes at me, before turning away to hang out with Rufus, another kid who had recently joined our little gang.

I trudged towards our little pile of stolen goods and picked out a small hunk of bread and gulped it down, its gritty crust sticking in my throat. I swallowed a mouthful of lukewarm water before walking to Noah, who had started staying with us a few nights ago. He said that he had another place to stay, but he preferred the barn. I just saw him as another mouth to feed.
“Hi, Bella!” He greeted me warmly, his eyes twinkling.
“Hi.”
His lips curled into a small smile. “I’m gonna be honest, you do not sound your best,” he laughed.
I frowned. “Could you go get some more food? You’ve been going through our stocks like a - a beaver through a piece of wood?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s a saying. And you know I’m hopeless at stealing! And I don’t exactly have much money.”
Frustration tingled through me. “Yeah, well you can’t have any more food that I’ve stolen or anyone else in here has before you go get some for the rest of us. You either steal your fair share of food, or you leave. OK?”
“OK!” He exclaimed, raising his hands in mock surrender.
“Go!”
“Fine..” He mumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets before wandering off slowly.

“He’s a bit of a nuisance, inn’t he?”
I jumped, my heart hammering.
“Jeez, Aleysha, you scared me.”
A tall freckled girl stood in front of me, her sandy hair blowing around her face.
“Where’d he even come from?”
I shrugged in embarrassment, “I sort of made a deal with him and then I had to complete my side and then he started tagging along with us, and now we don’t have much food left! Yay!” I exclaimed sarcastically.
She crossed her arms. “I’m going to set up my stall? Wanna come help?”
I shook my head. “Um, sure. But I should probably bring Isaac. I haven’t been spending much time with him lately…” I sighed.

I stood under the sliver of shade provided by Aleysha’s stall whilst holding up a sign saying ‘Get you delicious cinnamon buns here!’
“How long do I have to stay here?” I asked, layering on the boredom in my voice.
“Do you want money or not? I thought so. So stay here.” Alesha ordered me, her voice hardening a bit.

I pulled my thin jacket a bit closer around me, and waited for a customer. The enter sun beat down on me, blindingly bright, yet I still shivered uncontrollably.
After about an hour, a soldier stomped up to our stall, his eyes narrowed.

There was something familiar about him.

He seemed… like he knew me.

A smirk tugged at his lips.

Then the realisation hit me.

This was the guy who I had run away from just yesterday after attempting to pickpocket him. He must have been really angry.

Well, if he wanted a fight, I would give him one.

“Hello!” I said, my voice icy cold. “Would you like a cinnamon bun?”
He tensed up and pursed his lips.
I bit my lip. Did I go too far? Surely asking if he wanted a cinnamon bun couldn’t be that bad? Could it?

All of a sudden, he gasped.
“Oh my goodness, are you that little pickpocket I met yesterday? Fancy seeing you here!”He yelled sarcastically.
I smiled coldly. “I think you’ve found the wrong person.”
He shook his head. “I think you’re the person who’s wrong, actually.”

And he lunged for my throat.

I sucked in a breath just before the choking grip clenched my throat like iron. Spots clouded my vision. My lungs were screaming for air.

Eternities passed in mere seconds. My head grew dizzy and I could feel myself just losing a hold on the world, myself giving up, darkness threatening to envelop me when fresh beautiful air surged into my lungs. I relished it, gasped it in like my life depended on it.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, my head seized up. It was like cold tendrils creeping through my skull, slowly into my brain, icicles, daggers even, piercing my mind. Whispers that were too muffled at first to be heard.
Pain tore through me. My vision went black. All I could think about were those words, echoing in my brain.

You don’t deserve to be here.
Murmur.
You betrayed him.
Your own twin.
How could-

My vision cleared and I saw everybody around me collapsing, apart from me and Isaac, who remained clutching onto each other desperately.

“W-what just happened?” I stuttered tentatively.
Isaac’s face was deathly pale, his pupils dilated.
“It was me, Bella. I-I did it. I saw the soldier, choking you, and the anger just took over me. It was like I could hear everyone's worst nightmares inside my brain, like I was forcing them out. Torturing both you and myself. I don’t know - I don’t know!” He cried, his voice cracking.


“I’m a Whisperer, Bella.” He murmured. “A Whisperer.”


Those were the last words he ever said to me. Before they all woke up. Along with the soldier.

The screams still echo in my head, raw and harsh, a reminder of how I couldn’t save him.

How he was shackled in chains, pulled away b the soldiers, tears streaming down his face.

Because they all knew what he was.

My brother was a Whisperer.