daily
314 words

hi okay so this isn't really going to be a persuasive essay and it's more going to be me rambling on and on about why I like certain mascots. Anyways- I'm a big fan of @marcmangoson just because he was iconic and the March 2023 session was my personal favorite. He also had a whole family and a lot of people knew about him. There was some beautiful art of marc, too, made by some leaders. I think I also really like marc because I personally was there for his creation. Some other things from that session were the goats.

Smarlls is iconic too of course, our beloved ibex, but I don't know if I'm as attached as I am to the other mascots. Something to do with the animal he is. Personally I think smarlls should be a really tiny dragon. Like one to two feet tall. I think that would be so cute ahahaha- anyways.

This wasn't a camp wide mascot, but I'm also personally a big fan of iggy, our dinosaur from the non-fi dig (shoutout to the other leaders alana and fini) - that was the last cabin I lead before taking a big break - actually I think it's the last cabin I led period, I've been camping this year. Anyways that was such a fun cabin, and it was really the cabin and the vibe that made that mascot one of my favorites.

cough cough… kev*n- okay so he's obviously not a favorite, he's evil and so is kyle and bartholom*w, but he is still iconic, despite his multiple violations against the laws made by the intergalactic time police.

I would like to say I was around for the creation of the mango obsession and many many mascots lol so this is really just me reminiscing and stuff, but anyways- yeah those are the mascots I really like and why

Daily July 15th

“Don’t worry, Steve!” Coast leaned around the back of the seat and gave Steve the squid a thumbs up. Steve waved his tentacle back, but it was clear from his quivering suckers that he was nervous. The car screeched wildy around a curve, as Coast wrestled with the steering wheel. They finally managed to park the car with a lot of jerking around and cursing. He hit his head forward and made the steering wheel honk loudly, before straightening up and turning off the car. “Well I was really underaged to do that, but we’re here. Time to shine, Steve.” Coast got out of the car and walked around to the back, where they popped open the trunk and with more panting and struggling lifted out Steve’s water filled cart plus Steve. Coast wheeled the cart over to the stage, where Gurtle was nibbling on a speaker, ducks were flapping around and getting caught in the stage curtains, and a polar bear was trying to help plug in laptops. Various SWC leaders and co-leaders were walking around, setting things up, and campers were (with a lot of knocking stuff over and tripping over stage items and spilling snacks) getting seated. Coast went to the stage, not because they were a (co) leader, but because this mascot once and for all word war had been their idea. In the front row were a enthusiastic group of sci-fi campers, all cheering “Steve! Steve! Steve! Steve!” Coast solemnly grabbed Steve’s tentacle. “Okay buddy. You got this. You remember how to type on a keyboard, right?” Steve bobbed his head in agreement. “So just type as fast as you possibly can, full speed, don’t get distracted. And remember to do extra challenges if you’re behind. And watch the score board. And try not to get the laptop wet. You got this!” Steve and Coast shook hands/tentacles, the other mascots gathered on the stage, the campers settled in, and the (co)leaders lined up on the edge of the stage. A score board had been placed off to the side, with bright digital numbers displaying the real-time word count for each mascot. Laptops were arranged in front of every competitor, ready to be frantically pounded and filled with words. “Okay everyone! So we’ve got our mascots, our scoreboard, our laptops, and best of all…the opportunity to be crowned best mascot! To do that, you need the highest word count out of all the mascots after ten minutes…in the event of a tie, you will complete a writing sprint, and the first to five-hundred will win! Any questions? No? Okay then…3…2…1…GET WRITING!” Cheers and shouts erupted but were quickly silenced to allow the mascots to focus. They each slammed down on their keyboards and begin to write. The word count board froze for a second, keeping everyone in suspense as the onlookers started it. Then it finally updated and suddenly the word counts jumped by a lot. Steve was firmly in the middle, doing okay but a long way away from first. Everyone was deathly silent, all eyes on the word counts and the mascots clattered frantically away at the keys on the computers. Word kept pouring in and the rankings shifted fast; a mascot could be in first place and then a few seconds later plunge into the bottom. But there were clear leaders, and Steve wasn’t one of them. Yet. He was gaining…nearing the top five…in the top five…in third! He kept it for one, two, three, four, ranking updates before dipping into sixth. Darn it. Coast glanced at their watch and saw the time left. Three minutes. Plenty of time for Steve to win. Or lose. But that was beside the point. Steve could do this. The last minute sprints were coming in and other mascots were gaining. Steve was hanging in their and doing great, but he was still behind. “Do the challenge!” Other mascots were trying it too, but if Steve got a challenge he could maybe do it. Steve frantically glanced at the challenge list, then begin to write even faster. Coast waited in anticipation…then Steve was in third! Then second! Then first! Wait no, back to second. Gurtle was rushing into first…fifteen seconds left. Both mascots were just a blur as they wrote, the leaderboard was almost glitching trying to keep up. Finally a ding sounded. The leaderboard updated. A mix of cheers and boos washed through the crowd, but sci-fi campers were loudest. “And…Steve wins!”

746 words

◆◇◆◇◆ EVIDENCE 15: BEST MASCOT ◆◇◆◇◆

You cover your ears as Mazasa the polar bear roars at the top of his lungs, Smarlls snorting back at him. A cacophony of honks echoes from the sidelines, five mysterious geese joining the fight. It seems like all of SWC’s mascots are here, and all of them are fighting over who is the best! To settle the argument, write a 300 word persuasive essay or scene about who your favorite mascot is and why. This daily will earn your cabin 300 points, and another 150 if you share your writing.

My favorite mascot of Scratch Writing Camp and why are they the best? Hm…Well, if I were to be completely and utterly honest…

I don’t particularly have one.

Sure, all of them are insanely iconic, and each has a different thing about them that makes them unique. However, I really don’t know that much about them. They’re all cool, don’t get me wrong, but, really, I don’t have a favorite. I think that I can’t really pick a favorite since all of them have something that makes them memorable.

I know this sounds corny, and really, it is, but they’re all unique in their own right, and I can’t pick a favorite. Really, it’s possible to construct an argument for any of the SWC mascots, since each of them have something that can make them the ‘best’ in someone’s eyes. If all the mascots have something that can make them the ‘best’, then how can we decide which is the best? As cheesy as this sounds, I think all of them can be called ‘the best’.

I don’t have a favorite mascot, since I think all of them are great. Each of them are chaotic, silly, and iconic. We can’t call one the best if it’s possible to make an argument for each of them to be the best. Each of them can be called the ‘best’ with reasons, so if each of them has an argument, is it really possible for one to be truly the best?

All mascots deserve love, and each of them have traits that give them uniqueness, traits that make them memorable, and each can be considered the best depending on your view. I don’t have a favorite mascot, and I think all of them deserve love!

(This definitely isn’t because I've never paid attention to mascots in my past 3 sessions of SWC…)

♖ | 309 words

daily
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
404 words

You cover your ears as Mazasa the polar bear roars at the top of his lungs, Smarlls snorting back at him. A cacophony of honks echoes from the sidelines, five mysterious geese joining the fight. It seems like all of SWC’s mascots are here, and all of them are fighting over who is the best! To settle the argument, write a 300 word persuasive essay or scene about who your favorite mascot is and why. This daily will earn your cabin 300 points, and another 150 if you share your writing.
If you don’t know much about SWC’s past mascots, ask in the comments! More experienced campers would definitely be willing to help out

Well, I don’t know.
“Best” is ill-defined and mostly subjective. In creative pursuits like writing, there’s certainly skill involved, but also, everyone has a unique style that might be beloved to some and irritating to others. Why should SWC’s mascots be any different?
From Mazasa’s hard work to Skog’s kindness, Marc Mangoson’s humor to Saturn Peele’s enthusiasm, every mascot brings something beautiful to this camp. No camper who participated in their shenanigans could possibly forget them. Flashbacks to the glorious chaos of Gurtle’s rampage and fond memories of wandering Ikea’s aisles alongside Blahaj still linger in the minds of those who experienced those times.
But the question of their impact was not the issue, was it? No, they want to figure out who’s best. Does that mean most memorable? Best writer? Most powerful? Having the largest horde of mangoes? (If Smarlls’s stash is still missing, I’m afraid he won’t be winning in that category…)
Until they decide amongst themselves on what “best” means to them, I’m afraid I can’t weigh in. I’m sorry, I know the daily asked for a persuasive essay, but I can’t persuade if I don’t know what I’m arguing about. This will simply have to do.
Maybe I should just describe what the mascots meant to me on a personal level. The first mascot I remember was Penny the flying turtle from the March ‘22 Fan-Fic Forest. I remember them because they’re a friend of mine, even outside of SWC. They took on mascotship again for March ‘23 Bi-Fi Wonderland, bringing their mysterious, yet playful, mayhem with them.
And then there was Iggie the compsognathus from March ‘23 Non-Fi Fossil Dig. I was partial to him because of my love for dinosaurs.
As for the Main Cabin mascots, Gurtle stands out in my mind due to that incredible storyline. I’ll never forget Poppy’s finale there. It hit me in a way I didn’t know a SWC collab could do. That was the best Cabin Wars I have ever lived through, and it may never be beat.
It might not count as a mascot due to not being an entity with its own character, but the image of a box that I edit into my profile picture every session has become my personal icon. It’s a reference from the March ’22 Fan-Fic Forest, too, and one that I will keep alive until the day I leave SWC. Long live the Lukaties!


table of contents

It was a cold windy night. Bella was out exploring the abandoned castle on Wink street. As she walked through the door, a cold gust of air blasted her face. She was immediately greeted by old cobwebs. She pulled out the old flashlight she always kept in her bag. The windows were boarded and there were tattered rugs and curtains around. As she was exploring, she heard footsteps around the corner. “Is anyone there?” She asked. No response. She brushed it off. She had been exploring for a few hours and decided to go back.

As she was walking on the trail back to her house, she heard those familiar footsteps. She raced to get to her house. She immediately went to the basement. There was this little door by the little window at the top of the ceiling. She always thought it led to the furnace. She tried to go back to sleep, but the silence was deafening. She was trying to sleep when she heard something. Not like the rain starting, or thunder, it was a soft rattling. Rattle rattle, click click. She couldn't really tell where it was coming from, so she tried to brush it off. She woke up, feeling really thirsty and heard it again. Rattle rattle, click click. She saw the doorknob to the little door rattling. She got up and went over, and opened the door, but that was a mistake.

Nobody really saw her after that. The last person that saw her was her friend Talin. Talin had gone on adventures with her before. So she went to explore the castle that Bella was last in. Talin had reported similar footsteps in the castle. A few years later, the castle was demolished. A graveyard was underneath. The story of that castle was not yet decided.
DAILYYYYYYY ))))))))))) 303 words

Weekly #2

Part One -

To start off this weekly, I will be comparing the German (or more known) story of Rapunzel to the Italian story of Petrosinella.
The story of Petrosinella is about a pregnant woman who is craving parsley. She sneaks into the garden of an ogress to get some parsley. The ogress catches her and says that in exchange for the parsley, the woman needs to give her the baby once it’s born.
Similarly, in Rapunzel, a woman is craving lettuce. This time, her husband goes into a witch’s garden to steal some. The witch catches him and in exchange of the lettuce, he needs to give their future child.
Rapunzel is named Rapunzel because of the lettuce the father stole and Petrosinella is named that because of a parsley-shaped birthmark.
The witch (or ogress in the Italian version) takes the baby when she’s born and locks her in a tower.
The girls in both versions of the story have very long hair.
Now, a prince overhears the girl singing and finds the tower After watching the witch/ogress climb up using the girl’s hair, he climbs up using Rapunzel/Petrosinella’s hair. They fall in love but the witch/ogress finds out. The endings in the stories are very different.
For Rapunzel, Rapunzel’s hair is chopped off and the prince turns blind and they are both banished. Rapunzel finds the prince and her tears give him sight and they live happily ever after.
The Petrosinella story is a bit different. Petrosinella and the prince find some magic acorns and they plan their escape. The acorns turn into things that ultimately stop the witch. They marry and then live happily ever after. The bases of the stories are the same with a girl being taken and locked in a tower but the endings are significantly different.

Part Two -

For the second part of this weekly, I’m going to be talking about the spinning wheel from Sleeping Beauty.
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Melody. She was the most talented weaver in the kingdom. If you wanted to get a dress, you would go to her because of how talented she was. Now, everyone knew that although Melody truly was a talented weaver, the real reason she was amazing was her spinning wheel.
One day, a woman who did not like Melody tricked her into going for a long trip. While Melody was on the trip, the woman sneaked into her house and used the spinning wheel. Suddenly, this woman who had never learned to weave was now as good if not better than Melody. She began selling her weaving and became rich.
When Melody returned and realized what happened, she was very mad. Everyone now knew her secret and no longer came to her. Because of this, she lost so much money. She became shallow and cold and changed her name to Maleficent. As for the wheel, Maleficent was so embarrassed that she placed a spell on it so that whoever pricked their finger on it would fall asleep indefinitely. The spinning wheel would be hidden away until one fateful day, when a princess named Aurora would find it and, you know what? I won’t spoil it for you.

Part Three -

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Arabella. Arabella was the daughter of the local woodcutter. Arabella was known as the most beautiful woman in the village. She had long, caramel hair, and big hazel eyes. One day, she was out picking roses in her garden when she noticed a man walking by her house. He had been attacked by robbers not long before and was cut up and limping. Arabella invited him in and washed his wounds. After he had healed, he revealed to her that he was the Crown Prince Edward and took her to be his queen. But that’s not what this fairytale’s about. No, this fairytale is about what happened next.
Arabella and Edward soon had their first child, a girl named Alice. Alicia was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Arabella. In fact, she resembled her father more. Alicia had curly black hair and blue eyes. Alicia was a hard worker and was undoubtedly her father’s daughter. Unfortunately, Arabella passed away giving birth to their second daughter. She bore striking resemblance to Arabella, with the same wavy caramel hair and wide hazel eyes. To remember his dead wife, Edward named the baby Arabella, after her mother. However, most people called her Bella. And she’s who this story is about.
When Bella was a child, she was her father’s treasure. She never went outside, never played with the other children. In fact, she was an outcast. Alicia, on the other hand, was popular and loud and everything Bella wanted to be. Despite this, Bella was content. She had a family, a home and three meals every day.
The neighborhood women would say things like ‘too bad such a pretty face was wasted on a girl who never shows it’ or ‘underneath that pretty face is an odd girl’.
Even though Alicia was well-liked all she wanted to be was her father’s favorite. One day, Alicia decided to get herself in danger.
Then he’ll notice me, she thought, then he’ll care for me.
Putting on her cloak, she walked out into the woods. Soon, Alicia encountered a big mansion.
“Hello?” She asked, knocking on the door, “Anyone home?”
The door creaked open and she cautiously stepped in. Suddenly, a bag was over her head and she fell unconscious.
Alicia awoke in a dungeon with a shadowy figure nearby.
“Get away from me!” She screeched.
A low husky voice replied, “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to get my father’s attention!” Alicia started, “But then…”
While this was happening, Bella was out looking for Alicia. By this time, it has been days.
“Alicia! Alicia!” Bella called over and over. Bella soon grew tired and saw a garden full of roses. She bent over to pick one when BANG! She was pulled down a chute right into the dungeon where the figure and Alicia were arguing.
When Alicia saw Bella, she was furious. “You!” She yelled, “You are ruining my chance or getting Father’s attention! You always want to ruin everything!”
Bella was thoroughly confused and turned to the figure. “Please,” she begged, “please let my sister free.”
“You and your sister trespassed. I shouldn’t let any of you free.”
“Please!” Bella said again, “I will stay here forever! Just let Alicia go!”
“Fine.” The figure said and unlatched Alicia’s cage. Once she was free, he shoved Bella back and locked it.
“Now go!” He told Alicia, “Go before I change my mind!”
Once Alicia and the figure had gone, Bella started to realize what she had done.
“Father will be so sad.” She thought, “Hopefully Alicia will comfort him.”
Suddenly a voice said, “Ah, the dungeon isn’t very comfortable, eh?”
Bella looked up to find a fairy with short blonde hair.
“Ah!” Bella screamed, “What are you doing here!”
The fairy clicked her tongue. “Dear girl, I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I am the Beast’s personal assistant. I’m here to make your stay comfortable. Now, let me bring you to your room.”
The fairy unlocked the cage and brought Bella to a suite.
“Stay until you are ready. Then, come to dinner!”
At dinner, Bella learned that the figure was a big beast.
“Ah!” She screamed, “Dint hurt me!”
The Beast sighed. “I won’t,” he promised, “I don’t hurt people.”
It was slow at first, but eventually, Bella grew to trust the Beast and became his friend. Until one day, when the King came knocking.
“RELEASE MY DAUGHTER IMMEDIATELY!” King Edward demanded.
“She promised to stay!” The Beast roared back.
Driven by adrenaline, King Edward yelled, “Soldiers! Kill him!”
A soldier thrust a sword through the Beast’s stomach.
“NO!” Bella yelled, running over to the Beast. “Father! we were friends!”
The Beast looked up at Bella and said, “I-I love you.” After those odds, he fell down, dead.
Bella screamed out and sobbed into the Beast’s chest.
“I love you!” She said over and over. “I love you.”
Suddenly, the beast became a young man, about age 20.
“W-who are you?” Bella asked, Terrified.
“I-I am William. I was cursed because I… killed my father.” William started sobbing, “He attacked my mother and I killed him and I was turned into a Beast. I had to find true love to break the curse and… Bella, you broke it! You broke the curse!”
Bella hugged William and he pressed his lips to hers. Bella brought William home and they got married and William became a prince.
If you think that’s where their story is, you’re greatly mistaken. Because soon, they had a daughter. She was also named Arabella. This time, however, she was known as Ella. Think you can guess who she is?

Part Four-

Once Upon A Time, there was a girl with hair the color of the ocean. Her name was Evangeline. She was a princess, born of a king and a queen growing up in a palace. That’s where the normalities ended. She had aquamarine hair and navy eyes and her shoulders were covered in scales. She could breathe underwater and swim at the speed of light. Her parents were terrified so they taught her to always wear long sleeves and wigs and to never swim. One day, on Evangeline’s sixteenth birthday, she begged for a party. She had never had one, her parents were afraid of people finding out. She begged and begged and finally, her parents caved. It was a ball. Everyone under the age of twenty was invited and Evangeline was ecstatic. She waited eagerly for the party and when it finally came, she couldn’t contain herself. She wasn’t as careful as usual and after five cups, she took off her wig, revealing the teal waves underneath.
Horrified, her parents ended the party and ushered Evangeline into her room. They sat her down and talked to her.
“Evie,” her mother said, “you’re sixteen now and we think that you should take a break from the seaside.”
Her father nodded. “We’re going to send you to the countryside. Hopefully you’ll calm down in a few months.”
Within days they loaded her up and sent her on her way.
As the carriage drove past the ocean, Evangeline couldn’t take it anymore, she broke free from the carriage and bound towards the ocean. She threw herself into the ocean and dove down. After swimming for about an hour she finally saw something. It was a city.
Mermaids swam around her, gazing curiously at her.
Suddenly, a merman with a trident grabbed her arm and started to drag her towards the palace. They brought her into the throne room and Evangeline gazed at what must be the Mermaid Queen. She went on about how rare it was for a human to be there and why Evangeline was a danger. After a while monologue, she said the dreaded words. “Take her to the dungeon!”
Evangeline was hauled to the dungeons and locked inside. After days of seeing the light, a young guard approached her cage.
“I could be killed for this.” He started, “but you need to leave. I’ll bring you out and you can swim away, fast.” He unlocked the cage and gave her a shell. “To remember me.” He said.
“Wait!” Evangeline cut in, “what’s your name?”
“Amir. Now go!”
She didn’t need him to say it twice, she swam like her life depended on it. It did. Finally, she reached the shore. Her parents seemed to forget the whole running away thing when she returned.
Evangeline told her parents everything from running away to coming home. “His name was Amir!” She said, “We need to save him, he could be killed!”
“I’m sorry, dear,” her mother said, “there’s not much we can do.”
Every night, Evangeline would look at the shell, remembering Amir. One day she noticed something strange about the shell. She pressed on the centre and it started to glow.
“What?!” Evangeline exclaimed. Suddenly, a toda, wave washed against her ooh and there was Amir! She ran over to hug him.
“MOTHER! FATHER!” She exclaimed, “Come, meet Amir!”
It turns out, the shell summoned Amir and that mermaids turned into humans when out of the water. Soon, Evangeline and Amir were married and they lived happily ever after.

2070 words

16.07.25 ⟢ 256/250 words - The Chosen One…?

Author’s Note: This is not my best work please no judging xD
TW: Bullying mention

From the moment he turned 10, Larry knew was The Chosen One. Well, Larry had a big ego, so he decided he was The Chosen One. Because of this, he was always, always chosen to be bullied, singled out, and picked on. Larry was a Big Deal, and he knew it. His parents watched, concerned, as he tripped over the cat. “It just had to be me!” he grinned, as his dad hauled him up. When it was time for PE, Larry was Chosen to sit out for not wearing proper kit. “I’m… The Chosen One!” Larry gasped, looking at the bench he sat on, that was empty except for him. This continued on, until Larry’s parents had a sit down with Larry’s teacher about it.

“It’s just— whenever terrible things happen, Larry starts jumping with joy or something, which is not normal.” Larry’s mom explained, wringing her hands. Larry’s teacher nodded along sympathetically, while Larry sat in the corner being his own main character or something. “Larry” the teacher called, and Larry sauntered up, “does being bullied truly make you happy?”

Larry snapped his fingers in the teacher’s face and nodded confidently. “Duh! This means I learn how life can be tough from a young age. I get the brains and the perseverance. It will all help in the long term. Chosen one, see?” He folded his arms.
“That kid is… weirdly insightful. I’ll have a talk with the bullies, though.”

The meeting ended,
Larry threw a peace sign in the teacher’s direction. “Larry… OUT!’

daily - july 16
624 words … last updated 07.16.2025

»»————-　⚜　————-««

Take a common writing trope and put your own unique spin on it! Add surprising twists, new and fresh perspectives, and make that familiar idea your own. Write 250 words for 150 points, and earn an extra 100 for sharing your work.

Trope - enemies to lovers
New Trope - you'll see ;)

Quinn tapped her pencil during class, bored at what the teacher was on about. Suddenly, her annoying desk mate, Jasper, spoke up to her. “Yo, stop being annoying and quit the fidgeting.” He loudly whispered, to which gained the attention of a few stares. Quinn glared at him, but put the pencil on her desk. She didn't have the time for this, Jasper always acted as if he were the main character. Arguing with him would get you nowhere.

In the little pea brain of his, he thought of Quinn as some enemy. Apparently, they had “beef” with each other. However, she paid little attention towards him, only caring about her studies and doodles on the paper.

“Alright everyone, clearly you all will follow me for this project-” Jasper started, dramatically rising to the top of the poor desk. “Bro shut up you're not the main protagonist in a story.” A voice complained, and others chimed in. After looking around, he finally realized. “Alright, I guess I will just have to prove myself! Because clearly people like *cough* Quinn *cough* hate me for no reason!”

What just happened. Quinn was left dumbfounded, at both his ignorance and the fact that he just blatantly targeted her. She wasn't the only one complaining. She was about to speak up, but then another group member started discussing project plans while Jasper acted like he was adding “amazing” ideas.

A ball of paper was thrown at her desk. However, it missed and landed on the classroom floor. Quinn ignored it, probably one of her classmates trying to shoot it at the trash can but failed. “Psst, Quinn!” Jasper whispered. They were in a different class, so he was not next to her. After ignoring him the first time, he continued to pester her, motioning towards the ball. Quinn eventually gave in and picked it up.

Unraveling the paper, it revealed a note in messy handwriting. It was extremely hard to decode, she had to go on multiple decoding websites. It turned out that it was in English this whole time despite how cryptic it looked. “Meet me outside after lunch.” It read. Quinn rolled her eyes, what in the main character syndrome is this?

Nonetheless, she did arrive outside the school after lunch was over. “You're late.” Jasper said, slightly annoyed. “I'm literally on time-” she tried to say, but was interrupted by him. “Shhh, you're interrupting me! So, I made you come her because he wanted to tell you something…” He breathed in deeply, making a motion to grab Quinn's hands. However, she quickly moved her hands away.

“Yeah, I'm not interested.” She said to Jasper's shock. “Wha- What do you mean no? I thought you always loved me. After all, I am The Great Jasper!” He said, surprised at her rejection. “I told you already.” She said once again. “How? I-I thought…But why not?” He asked, stunned at her answer. “I'm literally gay. Why do you think I wear a lesbian pin to school?” And just like that she left the confused Jasper there.

Quinn couldn't believe that she wasted some of her lunch break in that really dumb situation. She couldn't believe that Jasper liked her, and still never questioned the pink and orange stripes on her pin. If he really liked her, then he would've at least try to figure out her interest, like researching the pin. Anyways, Quinn figured that the “enemies to lovers” was part of his whole main character act. Ain't no way she was going to end up liking the narcissistic child.

Trope - enemies to lovers
New Trope - one-sided enemies to lovers

»»————-　⚜　————-««

624 words

Daily - July 16th
268 words
Enemies to forced coworkers to lovers

Lydia stared at James.
“Are you kidding me?” She exploded, “I have to work with you?!”
James rolled his eyes. “Consider it a blessing,” he says, “other women kill for a piece of me.”
Lydia scoffed. “Well, I’m not other women.”
***
“I can’t believe I have to work with James Gibson.” Lydia grumbled into the phone.
“He’s not that bad.” Her best friend, Sammy, reasoned, “You could be with Martin Stewart. At least James is hot.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “Trust me, James is not hot.”
***
“You like rock music?” James asked, looking at Lydia’s backpack and seeing a pin with an electric guitar with the words ‘ROCK ON!’.
“Yeah.” Lydia muttered, “You got a problem with that?”
James shook his head. “No, I like it too.”
***
“Go to a concert with you? Why would I do that?”
James shrugged. “I dunno. If you don’t want to go I can invite Arthur.”
“I’ll go.”
***
“Hey, James?”
James looked up. “Yeah, Lyd?”
“Wanna go to the new Jurassic park with me?” Lydia asked, fidgeting.
“Sure.”
***
“Is this like a date or something?” James asked.
“No.” Lydia says quickly. Too quickly. “None of my friends wanted to go so I asked you. He doesn’t need to know that you asked him first. A voice in her head said.
“Okay. No need to get all defensive.”
***
“Lydia?”
“Yes?”
“I think I might’ve fallen in love with you.”
Lydia looked up. “I’m sorry James. I can’t love you.”
“What?!” James exploded. “Why?!”
“Because… I can’t. I just can’t.”
***
Lydia looked across the room. James still wasn’t there. It had been days since she broke up with James. She didn’t know if he still liked her. She didn’t know if she would ever get over him. Why, oh, why, did she let him go?
“Class.” The teacher said, “I have sad news. Our beloved classmate, James Gibson, has died.”

320 Words

Comparing:
For this part of the weekly, I chose the Cinderella fairy tale. The Cinderella story we all know and love is the Disney princess story, where a poor girl becomes a princess. But in other cultures, they have different versions of the story. Most emphasize different characteristics in Cinderella. For example, our version of the Cinderella story focuses on goodness and humility. Ours is taken from the Grimm brothers story, which is a bit more violent. Thankfully, our story doesn't have anyone sawing their feet off. A version that is less violent is the French version, which focuses on Cinderella's beauty and grace. The Italian version, however, is more whimsical. It is also very different from the story we know, having a talking parrot along with other magical objects that we wouldn't recognize. The Korean version of the story emphasizes family and community, two traditional Korean values. In the Chinese version, one of the oldest versions of the story, we would barely recognize it. It features a talking fish and an old man, and focuses on kindness and respecting ancestors. In conclusion, the different versions of the Cinderella story focus on different values that are important in their cultures.
Objects:
I am writing about… the magical beans! It might seem like a weird object to be magical, but Jack's beans play the most important part in his story. Without the beans, Jack would still be living in poverty. He sells his cow for these beans, despite the fact that his mom told him to get money. I want to take a minute, though, to point out that Jack forgot about the cow after he sold it. Poor cow. Anyway, when Jack got home, his mom was so mad she threw the beans out the window. The next morning, a giant beanstalk had grown in their yard! I think that the only magic going on here is the beanstalk growing so fast, though. The fact that it's so big, well, it's already a kind of magic that seeds can contain so much inside. One acorn turning into an oak tree? That seems like magic to me. Anyway, I'm here to tell you that Jack wasn't the whole story of these beans. The trader that got them stole them from a secret garden. (No, it's not the one you're thinking of.) The garden was guarded by a dragon, who ate any trespassers. But the trader tricked the dragon by putting a dummy in the garden, which the dragon attacked. While he was distracted, the trader snuck in and stole the beans. And the rest of the story is history.
Rewrite:
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cinder. She lived with her stepmother and stepsisters. One day, her stepmother got invited to a party. She decided she would bring her two daughters with her, but not Cinder. Cinder was sad, but there was nothing she could do. After they left, Cinder was staring at a wall when a fairy appeared. “Why are you sad?” the fairy asked. “Becausd my stepmother and stepsisters are going to a party without me.” replied Cinder. Then the fairy waved her wand, and suddenly Cinder had on cool new clothes, and some awesome headphones. “You'll go as the DJ.” the fairy told her. “How will I get there, though?” Cinder asked. The fairy waved her wand again, and a convertible appeared outside. “Remember to leave before midnight!" she announced, and then disappeared. Cinder got in the car, and drove to the party. When she got there, she was ushered in, to the turntable. She was worried because she didn't know how to do it, but she found that it came naturally. She started playing music, and the crowd loved it! A guy had just come over to tell her how much he liked the music, when she realized it was 11:59! She jumped up and ran out of the building, leaving a confused guy behind. But she didn't realize until she got back to her house that she had left her headphones at the party. The next morning she woke up to the sound of her stepmother talking to someone at the door. That was unusual, so she snuck down to listen. “Do you know who these headphones belong to?” someone was asking. Then Cinder realized it was the guy from last night! Her stepmother called her daughters, and they both tried on the headphones, but their heads were too big! The guy was just about to leave when he realized that Cinder was standing in the shadows. “What about you?” he asked, looking at Cinder. Her stepmother looked over, and glared at Cinder. “She wasn't even at the party.” Cinder’s stepmother told him. “Let her try them,” he replied stubbornly. Cinder stepped into the room, and slipped on the headphones. Of course, they fit perfectly. “Are you sure you weren't at the party last night?” he asked her. “Why?” she asked. “I want the person that was wearing those headphones to DJ for my party next week, the biggest party of the year.” he said. “Well, in that case, I was at the party last night.” she told him. So she DJed at his party, and every one after that. And they lived happily ever after.
Write:
Once upon a rime, there was a boy. His name was Pantin. One day, he was playing in his backyard when he noticed a will-o-wisp in the forest. Now, there were many will-o-wisps in this forest, because the lanterns often got tired of holding their lights, and let them out to play. This particular one came from a lantern in the middle of the woods, and wanted to see what was outside. It didn't think Pantin was interesting, though, so it floated back into the woods. However, Pantin though the will-o-wisp was very interesting, so he followed it. They went through the forest, under branches, over logs, and past streams, until Pantin was thoroughly lost. By the time he realized that, though, he was too far into the forest to have any hope of finding his own way back. So he sat down on a log to try to remember which way was home. He was so lost in thought, though, that he didn't realize an old crone had sat down beside him until she asked him his name. “Pantin,” he replied, because he had manners. And lucky for him he did, because otherwise the witch (for of course she was a witch) could have carried him off. Now, though, she had to trick him into following her, and that gave him a chance. “Are you lost?” she asked him, and he told her that yes, he was most definitely lost. “If you come with me, I can give you a nap of the forest, to find your way out.” she said, which was a lie, but how was Pantin supposed to know that? Pantin, being a trusting child, said of course he would come with her, and they set off. The will-o-wisp saw them though, and, though it had never saved a child from the witch before, took pity on Pantin. Perhaps it was because it had led him there, or maybe because Pantin was brave. Whatever the reason, the will-o-wisp flew up, illuminating the witch. It is a curious thing, the light of a will-o-wisp. It illuminates your soul, so that everyone can see what you really are. And so Pantin saw the witch for what she was, and ran away. She chased after him, of course, yelling “Child! Where are you going?” For she didn't know what had happened. She was fast, for a witch, but Pantin had the speed of a frightened child, and he was much faster. The will-o-wisp floated ahead of him, and lit the way, saving him from stumbling, and being caught. He ran the whole way back home, and the witch only stopped chasing her m when she left the forest. At the same time, the will-o-wisp winked a goodbye, and floated back to its lantern, who was lonely. And after that, every time Pantin ventured into the forest, the will-o-wisp met him there, to light his way. They had many other adventures together, but, for today, we only have time

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

◪ Weekly 2
Points earned: 2500
Cabin: Dystopian

Wordcount: 343/200
In the first part of this weekly, we'll be comparing our beloved fairy tales and how they change as they go across different cultures.

In this first part, I'll be comparing the Italian fairy tale Petrosinella to our dearest, cherished Rapunzel!
Disclaimer: this will not mainly be the Disney Rapunzel we all know- this is the original Rapunzel published by the Grimm Brothers in “Children's and Household Tales”. I will obviously filter out most original parts as the Grimm Brothers were freaky and a bit twisted in the wrong ways <3 Have to keep it scratch friendly.

The Italian legend Petrosinella (I don't like her name so we're going to be calling her Petrol from here forward-) and the German legend Rapunzel have many, many similarities. In the original Grimm Brothers story, Rapunzel's mother, who was at that point pregnant, also stole food from their neighbor. Instead of being an ogress, this was actually the Dame Gothel. Instead of stealing them herself, she had made her husband go and steal them for her instead.

After the whole children swap, Pascadozzia (who we will now be calling Pasta) makes it mostly safe after escaping the tower using her three acorns. Rapunzel, however, was not that fortunate- after her beloved (who we can take as Flynn Rider (RAISE YOUR HANDSSSSSSSSSSSS) in the Disney case) had devised a plan, she blindly told Dame Gothel without knowing that she would be against this. The Dame immediately cuts of her hair and sends her to desert, waiting for the Prince to come before pushing him off the tower into spikes at the bottom which made him blind. He only found Rapunzel in the desert years later, where Rapunzel's tears healed him. This “Dame Gothel” later gets converted to “Mother Gothel” in the Disney movie.

It could be seen that in the German fairytale, the scenes changed because of the medieval times and the roles of Dames in Germany at the time, while Italians were already quite popular with the whole “evil ogre sad princess” trope. Either way, if the Italian version had been written by the Grimm Brothers as well, it's safe to say it would NOT have ended up well.

Wordcount: 231/200
For the second part of this weekly, you'll be writing about an object from a fairy tale. This can be anything from a battle-worn sword to a rusty notebook, let your imagination run free!

The object I thought of was a magical pizza!

(Excuse me, my uncle just made pizza for lunch with an insanely amazing dough and a wonderful topping selection and I am currently stuffed while writing this masterpiece, bear with me please I promise LET ME COOK)

A pizza which you make with completely normal ingredients. Flour, cheese, tomatoes, meat, onions, mushrooms if you're feeling spicy. You roll out the ingredients and place them the exact same way as a normal pizza. You bake it for the same amount of time as a normal pizza.

EXCEPT

Right before you put on the main topping. It could be pepperoni, it could be (but never SHOULD be in any circumstances) pineapple, it could simply just be extra margherita cheese.
Right before you put on the main topping, you whisper a small hex. The tinniest, littlest spell which changes the whole pizza.

We call this pizza, the ingredient-finder pizza.

The moment you take a bite of this pizza, you must wishfully think of what potion or spell you're trying to make and wonder what ingredients you are missing. Instead of tasting moist cheese, you will taste exactly the ingredient you need.

Downfalls: may not know what the taste is. May also be poisoned be accident.
Owner is not liable for the use of pizza in the victims hands. We only make it for you.

Wordcount: /400
Put a novel spin on a classic fairy tale.

One thing I just CANNOT stop thinking about is how suspicious Shang was when he was complimenting Mulan.

When she was in her male form.

You cannot convince me in any universe that bro was not a muh luh muh

⋆ wednesday, july 16th: daily!! twisted trope - enemies to shrimp farm

ginevra would never consider high school as the best time of her life.
all the schoolwork, stress, days that passed with little to no personal time, and the burden that came with her horrible decision to take 5 AP classes in one year. and worst of all, the social environment that could only be comparable to that of a preschool - immature kids all over the place all competing to be popular or funny or trying too hard to be well liked. needless to say, graduation was one of the best days of her entire life.
one of the most awful kids by far (and the memory of her still haunts her) was a tall, sporty girl named lucy. ginevra had always thought that the disney channel shows she watched growing up were far-fetched and unrealistic, until her junior year when she became blessed with her own personal bully. it really was the whole package. she called her names in the hallway accompanied with quiet snickering, shoved past her in ways that were discreet but definitely purposeful, and always managed to sneak in an eyeroll or a huff when ginevra did anything at all. by senior year, lucy had managed to start a handful of rumors about her that spread like fire through instergem.
the worst part was, ginevra still had no idea what she did to promote this kind of bullying. before junior year, she hadn’t interacted with lucy or her friend group at all.

but everything is fine now, because she’s almost 23 and completely done with education forever. college was a breeze, and now ginevra has moved to delaware to work on (and hopefully inherit) her grandparent’s shrimp farm. it was nothing grand and certainly wouldn’t make her rich, but they were a well-known local business that provided fresh shrimp to surrounding communities - she looked forward to an easy, steady path in life.
unfortunately, ginevra gets a nice little heart attack upon arrival when she spots a very familiar and unwelcome face. there in front of her is lucy, * lucy, wearing the company’s logo’d apron and tending to a pond.
“what’s she doing here?” she whispers to her grandma, very calmly and without any hint of rage. today was only her second day after moving in, and she was being given a very thorough tour of the place - after all, she hadn’t been here since before college.
“lucy moore - she’s been volunteering here for a couple months. you know her?”
she sure did. the two of them make eye contact before quickly looking away, lucy turning red.

the first week is awkward, because they both go out of there way to avoid each other. never working at the same pond, even trying to work opposite hours if possible. the tension builds tight as a stretched rubber band. ginevra catches a few glances here and there; lucy definitely looks older, and the once-soft lines on her face have toughened up a bit.
at last, while ginevra is knelt down taking a sample of the water quality, she feels a tap on her shoulder. she turns around to see lucy standing awkwardly.
“hi. long due conversation.” she waits, probably to judge the mood. when ginevra only shrugs, she continues, “what are you doing here? this seems like kind of a random place to be.”
“it’s my grandparents’ farm,” ginevra replies flatly. she watches the realization strike her face. “how about you?”
“i’m studying for a degree in aquaculture.”
so that was that. their conversation dulls, and they each go back to their respective duties.
over the weeks, though, they continue to have more and more mini conversations which completely ignore the topic of their high school history. they even touched the border of friendliness, laughing together more than she’d like to admit. lucy knew a surprising amount about shrimp, but that was kind of a given. ginevra expects her to be gone soon, anyway - if she were studying aquaculture, then this was likely an internship and she’d be heading somewhere grander, somewhere more permanent. but she stays for a year, then two, and ginevra decides its rude to ask someone about their career path like that.
plus, she starts to enjoy her company. just a tiny bit.
she starts to imagine the possibility of growing old on the shrimp farm together.

Trope: friends to lovers

“Hey, Lizzie,” Grant said, his voice as soft as the gentle wind whispering through the playground as the two of them sat together on creaky swings. They were both quiet, waiting, breath catching under the stars as they sought to remember just a moment of their childhood in an abandoned park at midnight.
“Yeah?”
“I have something I think I’d like to tell you.”
“Oh. Okay.”
That was all Lizzie said, her feet dragging listlessly, tiredly, along the spongy ground. She’d always been a quiet person; Grant knew that. They’d been best friends for years, a decade, even, yet Lizzie still had trouble opening up about even the smallest thing. He blamed Lizzie’s family — they were the sort of people that never should have become parents.
“Lizzie, I actually think I have a crush on you.”
Lizzie turned bright red. She stared at him, her green eyes widening at his kind, genuine tone and apparent sincerity.
“Oh, that’s funny,” she replied, a small, almost imperceptible smile curling her lips.
“Because I think I have a crush on you too, actually, Grant.”
Something Grant couldn’t name bubbled up in him, a cooked smirk alighting on his face.
“Well, that’s great to hear.”
Grant took Lizzie’s hand and pulled her out of the swing and into his arms, her chin angled up at him, his eyes focused with unerring clarity on her face. Slowly, he leaned in.
Their lips touched gently, softly, but something felt strangely off. They both pulled away from the kiss simultaneously with expressions of subtle disgust and confusion.
“That… was not it,” Grant said helplessly. “It’s not your fault! You’re, um, a good kisser…” he added quickly, but Lizzie laughed softly along with him.
“Yeah, I felt it too. Honestly, I think we’re better off as friends, maybe? Would that be okay with you?”
Grant nodded. “Yeah, that’d be great.”

(removed)

7/16/2025 daily – 798 words

I chose to base my story around the YA romance books I’ve been reading lately. More specifically, the idea that a bad thing happening in a character’s life means the couple has to break up. My couple, Jean and Anna, got closer as the conflict went on. And the common pattern in YA romances where the couple is unhealthily close to each other. Although the teenage years are generally where a person is in their first relationship, and thus where they are likely to not realize the intricacies of dependency, it’s unhealthy to depend on each other for everything. Also they gift each other really cool and epic things.

__

The wind sounded as Jean paced her kitchen floor. “I just don’t understand,” she wailed to her girlfriend. “My parents said they would return four hours ago. They haven’t even called! Where are they, where are they, where are they…”

Anna attempted to break her out of her spiral. “I got you,” they said. “I know you’re stressed, but there’s nothing we can do. Do you want to put a movie on, or just sit together for a bit?”

Jean opened her mouth to say something as the wind rattled the windows and shook the house. She closed it; the wind scared her. She looked over at Anna. “Neither. I think we should call Percy.”

Percy was a close friend of the two, had been for many years. They had first met at school, and their relationship had continued for many years. Jean and Percy were quite close, but Anna wasn’t quite as close as the two of them. As they were close, Anna agreed with her girlfriend’s idea to call the boy she had been friends with for a while.

Anna dialed up Percy on the landline in the kitchen. She looked at their girlfriend. “I’m calling him now.” she said. “He’s great”

That got a laugh out of Jean. “He sure is. I love you, Anna, but sometimes I just need someone else. I know what you’re gonna say, so I need someone who’s not into the situation all the way.”

Anna met Jean’s eyes. “That’s plenty okay with me, pal.” The phone began to vibrate with the solemn voice of Percy Lastname.

“Evening! Percy Lastname here, what’s a-happening?”

Jean looked at Anna and a smile began to fill her face that had not been seen for the last bit of all through the afternoon.

Percy and Jean gabbered on, at first about what Jean was suffering with, and then through feelings and Percy’s girlfriend, and their families (for of course, that was what Jean was suffering with) and just kept talking and talking.

Anna wasn’t jealous at all, of course. They knew that Jean sometimes needed someone outside of the relationship who could add a new bit of… whatever to the needs of one of the members of the couple.

__

The next day, Anna rapped on Jean’s door.

Jean’s mother opened it. The sun lit her joyous face. “Why, Anna!” she cried, “Jean will be so happy to see you! And I am too, of course! I am so grateful for what you did for my daughter during her crisis. Being okay with calling someone outside of the relationship is such a powerful thing to be able to do at such a young age; I just know I wouldn’t have been able to pass over my power like that as a kid. And also,”

Anna blushed. “Thank you,” she said. She pushed her way through Jean’s still-talking mother to see her girlfriend. They hiked up the stairs and knocked gently on Jean’s door.

“I’m so glad your mom came home,” she laughed, once Jean had opened the door, and she’d enveloped her in a hug.

“Me too,” Jean responded.

Anna reached into her bag and met her girlfriend’s eyes. “I have a present for you. You’ll love it; I hope,” she said.

Jean’s eyes lit up. “I have a present for you, too!”

They smiled at each other.

Anna gave Jean her present, letting Jean feel the box it was in—soaking wet—and the wrapping paper—little frogs. “What on earth could this be?” Jean laughed, eyeing the frogs she kept as pets and remembering why Anna was here in the first place. She opened the box. Sure enough, it was a real life frog. In fact, one from one of the only species she was missing. The species that happened to be native to where they lived, but Jean had never been able to capture. She was so happy her girlfriend had been able to find this for her, that Jean leapt into her arms and, after asking for her consent, gave her a lovely kiss. “Thank you, Anna,” she said. “When I see this frog, I’ll remember how you sacrificed for me last night. That was such a noble thing to do.”

Anna kissed her back. “I appreciate your kind words, and your lovely present of a kiss,” she grinned.

Jean laughed at them. She pulled out a hardcover book and lifted it to Anna’s face. “I got you this, too, silly. Didn’t want to count on the kiss happening or not.”

Anna looked at the book, and took it in her hands. She examined it closely, softly paging through the papers and hungrily eyeing the words.

The two’s eyes met, and they smiled at each other, proud to have made it this far.

daily
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
385 words

Tired of the same old storylines? Take a common writing trope and put your own unique spin on it! Add surprising twists, new and fresh perspectives, and make that familiar idea your own. Write 250 words for 150 points, and earn an extra 100 for sharing your work. Good luck and happy writing!

“Their bloodline had been tainted, and the world was burning. Both of those things were the fault of the winged gods, but the good news was that one problem would solve the other. Either the mutants would go extinct in the lava-ravaged landscape… or they would be the ones to save the world.”
“And? Which was it?” The pup bounded along, eager to hear the finale of the story.
“Neither,” Chaos responded, flicking her tail in amusement. “Many died in the aftermath of the disaster, but their bloodline continued on. Turned out the mutation was recessive, and it didn’t show up much after that. Nature recovered in its own time. The plants grew back and all the animals repopulated. Time passed, and everyone forgot that it even happened.”
The pup stopped. “Oh. That’s it?”
Chaos snorted softly, her pelt seeming to glow in the hazy light. “How would you want it to end?”
“Like, with the mutants using their powers to control the fire and lava and stuff, and fix everything. And then they’d be heroes and everyone would start being nice to them!”
“Yeah, well, that’s not how my stories go.” Chaos looked towards the horizon. Storm clouds were brewing in the distance. Her expression shifted to match.
The pup hesitated, sensing the sudden mood change. “Why… why not?” she questioned cautiously when it became clear that Chaos wasn’t going to say anything more.
“Real life rarely behaves like fairy tales. There are no happy endings, no endings at all, really. Life just goes on and on.”
The pup struggled to grasp this. “Your stories are real?”
Chaos fixed her gaze on the pup, who took a step back. The older canid’s fiery golden fur really did appear to be glowing now. “Real?” Chaos said softly, as if tasting the word. “No,” she decided after a moment, “no, they’re not real.”
She shook herself, the grin returning to her face. “I mean, gods and mutants and oceans of lava? Really? You really think those things exist outside of stories? I just meant that I keep the plotlines realistic. Talk to Hurricane if you want a flashy hero story. I’ve got other things to do.”
“Okay…” the pup answered, watching as Chaos disappeared into the foliage.
She almost thought she smelled a hint of smoke.


table of contents

Daily 16:

Trope: ‘Friends to Lovers’ but were they ever truly friends?

Breathing in to stop the dizzy.
I feel drunk with him.
Drunk of his scent -cologne and a hint of lavender-. Drunk of his humour. His deep, chocolate eyes.
Can't get enough of him.

'Kal' I barely whisper.
But he catches it through the wind and sits up to attention.
I take a deep breath before brushing my hand on his.
-It's cold, smooth, pale and slightly shaking-
'What is it?' he whispers back, his voice coming out in silky tumbles, /beautiful/.
Others listen to music. I listen to his voice on repeat.
Obsessed?
A bit.

'I-I think I might like~ No. I'm in love with you.' The last bit comes out clumsily as i clamp my hand onto my mouth, tears rushing from my eyes unexpectedly.

He uses a thumb to wipe away my flowing tears before putting an arm around me, embracing me in a hug.
I slowly track my eyes over him, to his thick neck, perfect pointy chin, sharp jawline, high cheekbones, slight eyebags from those late nights.
And my breath catches as i drown in the river of his chocolate eyes, drinking it up like hot chocolate, filling me with glee.
But my face drops when i see the distant look in his face, as though he has somewhere more important to be. I bow my head down a little before im cut of from my mourning,
'i'm really sorry but i have to go now' and without giving me a second glance he strides away.

Appalled? Gobsmacked? Annoyed?
All of the above.

What is so important that he had to leave me here? What's more important than me?
Outraged i silently follow him where he stops at the end of a lamplight lit street. there is a female figure across him.
A dark thought crosses my brain. ALREADY a cheater?
When i look closer i recognise the face of Lacy, my parents, friends', daughter (i REFUSE to call her a family friend) stood in front of him, lips slathered in lip gloss, ponytail high on her head, makeup heavy despite it practically being the middle of the night?!?!?

'this has gotten out of hand.' kal says to her.
'Uhh, what? you have her thinking you're her bff and now we can hit her where it hurts.' a look of disgust paints my face at the sound of her snarly voice before i can even register thoughts of anything else.
'about that umm… she sort of confessed to me today' i've never before heard him nervous. he's nervous.
'omg YES now we can hurt her with REJECTION!!' glee evident in her stupid smug face
'look i- i know i was never really supposed to like her, and this whole “friends” thing was fake. but i sort of… fell for her too?' he shrugs, attempt at nonchalance.
Only then do i really clock.
That they're talking about me.
they're talking about /ME/
This whole “friends” thing ?!??!
REALLY?
When i finally thought someone understood me. Someone CARED.
He said we had something real.
I REFUSE to believe it wasn't real.
real.real.real.real.real.real.real.real.
it echoes and thrums

And it's only denial that can save me now, cause i'm drowning in oh-how-naive-i-was.

'HOW COULD YOU?' I scream, hurt raw and evident, so loud thunder is practically spawning.
'Gia?' he's confused. ‘how did you get here?’

But i can't answer his question because i'm breaking down.
Lacy is cackling somwhere behind me, filling my ears.
Coming in a rythm like
'this was all fake' ‘he doesnt like you’ 'this was all fake' ‘he doesnt like you’ 'this was all fake' ‘he doesnt like you’
i'm choking on my tears.

'I-I didn't mean to hurt you. I just, I didn't really'

His voice is dissolving into the void.
It doesnt matter now. What he says or does.
Its too late because now
all that fills me,
all i can hear,
all that consumes me
is

'betrayal'

'betrayal' ‘betrayal’ ‘betrayal’ ‘betrayal’ ‘betrayal’

Oh, how hopes can hurt.
It was me. All my fault. The desperate girl who thought the beauty could get the beast.

Because that's all i was:

A beast.

Part 1:
Word count:247

In the main disney version, while Mother Gothel gets defeated at the end, it also makes it seem like she took Rapunzel from the palace. Which is not what happened in versions like: Petrosinella which is the Italian version. In that version a pregnant woman steals parsley from an ogress's garden. After being caught stealing it, she promises to give her the unborn child who is named Petrosinella. (Not the best parenting, plus why couldn’t you grow your own parsley) Then, in the German version The pregnant woman's husband steals the lettuce from the witch next door's garden.(Why do these people keep picking weird neighbors??) After being caught, he also is willing to give up the unborn child to a witch. I have actually never read Petrosnilla and didn’t actually have a copy so what I know is from Wikipedia. While in the version by the Brothers Grimm in the end the prince goes blind by falling into the thorns after the witch finds out, later the prince and Rapunzel re-meet at the end. I feel like the weirdest thing about that one is at the end Rapunzel has children and her tears heal his eyes. For context they meet again in the middle of the wilderness for some weird reason. (Probably not the best place to raise children but, okay) (Personally, if I was the witch and I raised a child and she got pregnant with a random dude, I would have the same reaction.)

Part 2:
Word count: 232

For my magical item, I decided to focus on Magic wands. They are used a lot in fairy tales and are usually used by fairies, wizards or other magical beings. But, the main focus of this is on Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. In Sleeping Beauty a good fairy puts everyone to sleep with her wand so that they wake up when the Princess does. (Something that I have wondered about is why does the Good Fairy need a wand but the “Evil Fairy” doesn’t) Afterwards the prince wakes her up and yada yada. Some versions are slightly different and involve no fairies but the Grimms one does.

In Cinderella, her fairy godmother uses her wand to get her a carriage to the ball, and turns her rags into a ball gown. This is slightly different in every single different spin-off of Cinderella. The wand only turns things into other things, and only for a short amount of time. (Personally I don't get why the shoes couldn’t be more comfortable and they had to be glass but, okay) The wand is full of the magic that is somehow necessary for Cinderella to go to the ball. But, all of the Fairy Godmother's power in this one stems from the wand. The wand is her main magical force. In the original it doesn’t need a spell but, in the Disney version she says “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”.

Part 3:
Word Count: 560

“I still don’t get it though! Why??” Rapunzel shouted on the top of her lungs.
Of course, the world was a cruel place and as her adopted mother I was doing my best. Her mother had given her to me when she was a couple months old and now at 19 she was probably the person who I had given the most effort. Being known as a witch to the entire kingdom and most likely the outlying kingdoms too made it harder to raise her since she couldn't have a normal life but, I had expected her to be more upset at me when I had told her the story.

I used to be the General of the Royal Army. I was the best swordswoman, unbeatable, and undefeated through any battle that the Royal Army had fought. We had never lost a battle with me in the lead. Then, the new king came along. He banished me and sold it to the public as I was a witch and bewitched our enemies to follow along. He said that it was only a matter of time till I actually attempted to take over the kingdom.

I had been loyal to the crown before then. Afterwards, I had fled to the outskirts of the village closest to the border. Afterwards I had taken in Rapunzel and she had become my daughter. I was still good, not as good as I had used to be all those years ago. But, teaching her how to hold a sword became our new thing to the point where she was better than I had been in my prime of being a general.

Now, she was upset with the crown. Something I didn’t want her to be. It had technically been my choice to leave. To become what I had. My mother had been an herbal healer which had made it easier to pin it on me that I was a witch but, the village of Erinville was a small enough place where I grew medicine, sold it, and made a living. I wasn’t truly a witch, people came for medicine when they needed it but I was mostly left alone.

She was almost never upset. Rapunzel was the sort of child who had always been a quiet one. Zel stuck to herself, never told anyone almost anything and blended in. Something that had been keeping me alive for years. And I really hadn’t wanted to tell her and her to get upset. But, sometimes life was life. I had to tell her before she asked about how I learned all the sword tricks. She was the one thing in the world that really mattered. Even if she wasn’t my own child she meant the world to me.

Sometimes life was a lot and was cruel to people, it didn’t matter what you did, or if you did nothing. Sitting down on the ground Rapunzel looked truly upset, not with me but looking at just about everything with hate. Something I knew, the same way I had looked all those years ago after they called me a witch and I had left. Giving Rapunzel a hug, I looked at the person who would later become the first president of the Country of Corona. With no more Kings, or rules to stop her from being who she wanted.

Part 4
Word Count: 573

Deep in the heart of the woods there was a kingdom. The kingdom was ruled by the Queen and King, as well as the Princess who was supposed to be in line next. But, no one had actually seen the Princess in years. Everyone had magical powers, but, the only thing about using them was the fact that you would slowly turn into looking like what your power was. Which is exactly why the most normal and natural looking features were considered the most beautiful. At least this is what Daffodil thought.

If they didn’t want you using your powers, just make them something that is considered hideous. By her name, her powers were flowers. When she had been born she had covered the entire house with flowers. But, she never had really gotten why the magical powers were considered ugly, they were who people were. Usually, if they actually used their powers to the point where it showed they were shunned from society. She had seen that a lot in the main center when some people had come to get food. They almost never showed up but, occasionally there were a few that showed up cloaked in things like shadows, or with green hair that looked like grass with flowers weaved in.

The thing Daffodil truly wondered though, is what was wrong with the princess. She had just gotten her job as a maid in the palace and they had made her sign all this stuff and make oaths saying that she was not going to say anything about what she saw in the palace. That just made her more curious. She knew how to be quiet, not say anything. Her parents had passed away a couple of years ago and then she had been moved to live with her grandparents. They had grown up in the world when they still accepted magic meaning that she had usually been the one who went to go get groceries so that they didn’t get weird looks in town.

Now, she was headed off to her first day on the job of being a maid to the princess. She would be in charge of making sure that the princess was completely taken care of and didn’t need anything. If she did, that was Daffodil's job to take care of. And the number one rule - don’t ask questions.

Heading up the stairs to the Princesses room, she plastered a smile on her face and did the knock she had been demonstrated by the head of the maids. Two slow knocks, three fast. Then, the door cracked open just a little bit. And Daffodil was met by the sight of a girl with flames for hair, the room was just how you would expect a normal royal room. But, the princess was not really what she had been expecting. The princess was 2 years older than her and had been removed from the public eye when she was 6 around 12 years ago.
“Hello, I am your new maid,” Daffodil said curtsying. “I am here for whatever you need.”
“Oh, nice to meet you.” The princess said. “You should know who I am, since you know I am Princess Calida”

From there they became good friends and when the Princess did take the throne magic was no longer something that people were ashamed of and was once again something normally practiced by the people of the Kingdom.

trope | july 16 daily
don't read this because you really don't need to

—

I am the Unchosen One.
Well, technically, I’m the Chosen One, but not really. It’s a long story, so I guess I should start from the beginning. My name is Serendipity, and I don’t really live up to my name. I was supposed to be special. I was the one they spoke of in prophecies, the one with some great attribute and magical power that would save the world from the squirrels that kept stealing everyone’s acorns. So yes, I technically am the chosen one. But not really.
It started when I accidentally set the kitchen on fire by accident (I wasn’t trying to!) and convinced everyone that maybe my “great attribute” and “magical power” were actually really dangerous. (Spoiler: I don’t actually have magical powers like the prophecy says). And then Marie came.
She was perfect- she fit the prophecy exactly. She had magical powers, and her great attribute was something about being really caring and confident (that’s what the people all said). She was the daughter of a noble (I wasn’t) and everyone looked up to her.
They decided to replace me- it was as if I hadn’t existed. The worst part was that Marie put the blame on me. I couldn’t tell if she really didn’t like me, or if she actually saw me as a problem. I received a letter from an unknown address. No name, nothing. Just eight words. We’re sorry we put the pressure on you.
An apology. For what? For making everyone think I was important, when I’m not? For all of the sympathetic looks half-heartedly tossed my way? I didn’t need an apology. Not really. I just wanted to prove that I could actually save the world from some squirrels.

—

288 words
I DO NOT LIKE THIS WHAT

836 words. this is inspired by those stereotypical family dinner scenes- you know, the ones where the main character finally speaks his mind. i just wanted to put a positive spin on it, while usually the scenes don't tend to end so well!

I shut the pockmarked car door hurriedly, leaving the vehicle skewed on the driveway. The sky is a purplish grey, the sun lower than I’d planned- I'm late again. I sigh. My parents won’t be pleased.

Jamming the key into the lock, I pull the front door of the house open, slipping through into the entryway. I kick off my trainers and hurry into the dining room, where my parents and aunt sit at the table, half-eaten bowls of food steaming in front of them. Bashfully, I dip my head in greeting and serve myself.

As I sit down at the table, my father glares at me pointedly. I ignore him and smile tightly at my Aunt Maria. She smiles back sweetly.

“Lovely to see you again, dear,” she gushes. “Your parents were just telling me about what you and your sister have been up to recently!”
My heart sinks. No doubt they’ve been feeding Aunt Maria all the usual stories- how my sister, Katherine, is a through-and-through genius, and how I am certainly not. I force a terse nod.

“Katherine, accepted to Cambridge- how wonderful! Truly a bright star,” Aunt Maria continues. “And you, Jason, dear. How’s your internship going?”

“I, uh, quit,” I mumble. “Could you pass the salt?”

My dad obliges, glaring. “He just decided that path isn’t for him. Jason’s planning on re-applying soon though, isn’t he?” Dad asks pointedly.

“Sure,” I mumble. Aunt Maria glances almost disapprovingly in Dad’s direction.

“So, what have you been up to in the meantime?” she questions brightly.

“Well, my music thing’s actually been going pretty great,” I begin. “I have this new song-”

“Were you just in the studio?” Dad interjects. “I told you, no more of that nonsense. And to think you kept your aunt waiting!”

My mother softly cuts in. “We’re going to get Kate to give you some pointers for your applications. She’s a very capable teacher-”

“I don’t need pointers.”

“You need to get back to real life, Jason.”

“My life is going just fine without your interference!”

“So why haven’t you made any money? Why are you still living in our house?” Dad retorts furiously. I clench my fist around my fork.

“It takes a decade to become an overnight success.”

“It only took Katherine one.”

“One to be what? Top of her class? Recipient of a full-ride scholarship?” I bang the table. The plates clatter noisily. “Who even cares? Nobody will remember her graduation speech in two days.”

“Now you’re being rude, Jason,” my mother says sternly.”

“No, I’m just being real! What, she’ll go to Cambridge and get a good job like thousands of other people that came before her? Nobody will remember or even remotely care about her!”

“And why would anyone care about you?”

I swallow. The room is deathly quiet. My heart pounds in my ears.

“Because I’m going to be one of the greats, Dad.”

His eyes are furious. “Alex didn’t think so.”

I freeze.

“Wow.”

My food forgotten, I shove away from the table and walk out of the room. Aunt Maria calls after me, but I ignore her voice. I go to my room, lock the door, and slide onto the floor, my back against the wall.

About half an hour later, somebody knocks gently on my door.

“Hello?”

“It’s Aunt Maria, dear. Can we… can we talk?”

I scowl and unlock the door. She enters, slowly walking over to my unmade bed. She smooths the sheets and sits heavily on the corner of the mattress. I shut the door.

“Jason…”

I can’t deal with another lecture right now. Why did I let her in?

“Your parents are right about a lot of things.” I shake my head and begin to turn around.

“But I think their vision concerning you is… clouded.”

I pause. She’s staring at her hands contemplatively.

“They- they have very, uh, traditional views on how life works. And Katherine- well, Katherine fulfilled all of them.”

“I don’t need another sermon on how amazing Katherine is,” I say.

“I know. All I’m saying is that- well, Katherine’s great, but she’s not you. You’re not her. And your parents need to realize that.”

I blink, confused. What is Aunt Maria saying?

“We’ve agreed that you should come and live with me for a while.” She looks up at me for the first time. “A change of scenery could do you good. And… a supportive environment, I think, could do you worlds,” she adds tentatively.

For seconds, all I can do is stare. I blink again, trying to clear my head.

“You- you’re fine with… you know…” I gesture at nothing.

“Jason, you have a talent. You have passion. All you need is some support here and there.” Aunt Maria smiles. “I know it’s a big change, but… what do you think?”

“Yes! Yes, please,” I gasp. My mind is reeling. A chance at acceptance- by anyone?

My aunt smiles knowingly. “Pack your bags, dear. You come home with me tonight.”