Weekly 4 - Eras

Song Part
(Current Day)
Why was Wednesday so full of woe,
Or Thursday’s child have far to go,
While Monday and Tuesday were sweet and safe,
And Friday’s child had a loving embrace?

Why did Saturday work so hard,
While in the spotlight Sunday starred?
Why did these children so young and new,
Have fates written for them, a fixed point of view?
(Distant Past)
We’ve got to learn to live our own way,
To dwell in the light of day,
Not to narrow the path for everybody else,
Or to steal their dreams away…
(Ancient Past)
Give me a penny for my thoughts,
Let me tell you that I believe something different, (Show them something new)
To what was thought before.

Give me a penny for my thoughts,
So I might show you where you’re wrong, (A fresh new point of view)
And give these poor little brats their own shot.
(Distant Future)
For in every breath you take, (Don’t let anyone control you)
You should find comfort, (They will all try to take hold)
That you are your own, no mistake (Defend yourself and be free to do)

And for everything you do, (Never lose hope)
You must remember, (Never give up)
That you, only you, can choose (All your enemies await your fall)
Only you can choose (Don’t let them choose)
(The End)
Give me a penny for my thoughts,
Allow my dreams to thrive and grow, (Roses rise from ashes)
Let my brightest colours show

So give me a penny for my thoughts,
Don’t crush the bud before it flowers, (And flowers grow in masses)
For their young lives are also ours

Writing Prompts

Current Day - SUSwc prompts

1. Write for five minutes making a flock of birds significant to a setting.
The search party had been looking in the desert heat for hours now. They were starting to run out of water, and soon they would have to return to their base. The horizon quivered in the heat and the sun glared down at them. Peter’s shoulders were bleeding from sunburn and everyone was sweating.
Michael had been missing for two days, and by now, the search party presumed he was dead. Sally didn’t want to give up hope, and she had managed to convince the others to look one last time. Ahead of them, a flock of birds was circling. The cawing could be heard from a mile away. The party looked at each other with grim expressions. These were vultures. They came closer. Sally began to shout his name.
“Michael? Michael?” As they drew closer, the noise grew louder. You could see each feather of the birds’ wings, and they were obviously preying on something.
The party saw a dark blob on the landscape, the subject of the birds’ attention.
The party neared it, and saw what they had feared. Michael’s shocked face stared back at them, his eye sockets dark red patches where his eyes used to be.

2. In 200 words, a character reveals that their main motive is to gain something
It was getting dark in the rainforest, and the group were sitting by their campfire, making plans for the night.
Archaeologists had long puzzled over the mythical El Dorado, or City of Gold. It was considered a simple legend, but some believed it to be real. Recently, a Muisca temple had been unearthed, and the number of engravings and symbols seemingly alluding to this famous city were too obvious to ignore. So, a group of fifteen scholars, some talented and experienced, some young and plucky, had been sent into the deepest parts of the rainforest, yet largely unexplored, in the hope of finding more clues.
“Hey, Will, can you keep watch for the first few hours? You can wake Pete at two and he’ll take over,” said Lloyd. He was loosely in charge of the group, and had taken it upon himself to start arranging who would keep watch for animals and tend to the fire overnight.
“No, I don’t think I will,” said Will, putting down his bottle of beer, “now, if you folks don’t mind, I’m going off to bed.”
“What do you mean? Get back here!” said Lloyd. He stood up in frustration and glared at the young man, who was now moving over to his tent. Will turned round to face him, the beer obviously having gone to his head, and said,
“Well, this ain’t my job; I’m just tagging along. Get someone else to do it.”
“No! You signed up for this, you have to pull your weight around here too!” said Lloyd accusingly. Will drew himself up, sighed, and said,
“Ah, well. Not exactly. I may as well tell you the truth now, it’s as good a time as any. You history obsessed freaks are looking for this El Dorado, yes? And you believe any of that rubbish? Well, let me tell you, we might find nothing at all on this trip, certainly not a golden city, but we’ll sure earn a pretty penny for our troubles. So, you people go ahead, do what you need to do, but I think I’ll take the back seat for this one, thank you very much.”
And with that, he disappeared into his tent. Lloyd looked around indignantly at his colleagues, some equally confused, some amused by his speech.
“Well, what are we going to do with him?” Lloyd cried, “we can’t leave him here, but we’re gonna be dragging a deadweight round with us. He’s a stupid greedy son of-”
“Hey, Lloyd, I’ll take the night shift,” interrupted Pete. He was a calm and calculating person, and the fact that he was also quiet and hard-working meant that he wouldn’t mind staying up a night to ease Lloyd’s mind.
“Thank you. At least someone has some sense around here.”

3. For these five minutes, you will be writing so your setting provides an aspect of safety or comfort to your character.
Rose had pulled on her favourite sweater. She had put the kettle on, got her paints out. Her parents were going out for a few hours, and for those hours, she was alone. She rarely felt lonely on days like this, just free. The soft dark fabric of her sweater comforted her, and she brought all her paintbrushes into the kitchen, where she could sit and watch the rain as she painted. The day was dark and stormy, but there was a soft golden light emanating from the kitchen lights. She also decided to bring down her phone so she could play her music too. As she was setting her paints out, the kettle began to bubble and boil so she knew it was ready. She prepared for herself a cup of piping hot tea, and a few cookies, then sat down at the kitchen table. She stayed totally still for a few minutes, feeling the heat from her tea, listening to the rattling rain, feeling just perfect. In these moments, everything was good.

Distant Past - Beloved character tragedy

Duck was practically fizzing with excitement when he got off the plane. He was home! He had spent six months in Spain, staying with distant relatives and having to survive in a foreign world without the comforts of his home and old life. Duck hated change, and this had really taken its toll on him. But it was over now, and he was back where he belonged. As the plane was flying into the airport, the sky was thick with clouds; typical English weather. But no matter how boring it was, it comforted him and put him at ease. His first thought as the plane landed with a large bump on the runway was Twig. As soon as he switched on his phone again, he pinged her a picture of the plane and told her he was home.
It was late morning when Twig heard her phone buzz. She didn’t need to look to know who the text was from, but she had missed Duck so much that she had a ten minute conversation with him anyway, which could have been two hours if it wasn’t for Duck needing to get through the airport. Twig had been waiting for Duck for six months, and now she was going to see him again. It felt like a dream, and she was all light and floaty.
Before he left, they had been the best of friends, thick as thieves. He had announced he was leaving two days before he left and it had come as such a shock to her that she had been really upset with him for a while. But, as with most things, they had smoothed it over over text and had talked every single day since then. But it still felt terrible not having him around.
In the taxi back home, Duck was thinking about his time in Spain. He had enjoyed the sun and the sea, but it was nothing compared to the cosy cold of England. Since everyone spoke Spanish, and he was shy anyway, he had failed to make any proper friends. At his language school, he had felt somewhat excluded from everyone else, or that they didn’t like him. He knew that he was probably being too paranoid, but he couldn’t help it.
Twig couldn’t think of anything to do with herself for most of the day; waiting for Duck made her restless. When he finally did text her that he was back at his house, she immediately texted back:
Hey duck
Could I come over to your house now?
She didn’t wait for a reply before she was putting on her bike helmet, and grabbing her bicycle from the garage. She began pedalling down the road, swerving round an oncoming car, delighted that she was about to see her best friend for the first time in half a year.
Duck had just about finished unpacking and was setting out a few photos and souvenirs when he heard his phone beep. He picked it up and grinned as he imagined Twig cycling to his house. And sure enough, as he raced out his front door, she was turning the corner at the top of the road. As soon as she saw him, she grinned and waved madly, with both hands, then caught herself before she wobbled and fell.
The next thing happened in an instant. Twig hadn’t been looking; the car hadn’t either. It came suddenly from a junction, and there was a screech of tyres and deafening crunch of metal on metal.
Duck stood in disbelief. Time stopped. He blinked. He blinked again. Nothing happened. Twig was lying there next to a mangled bike. She had rolled over the roof of the car and fallen off the other side. Some of her limbs were twisted at odd angles.
Duck ran. He ran to her side. He was shaking.
“Twig! Twig! I’m calling an ambulance!” he wrestled his phone from his pocket and dialled 999.
“It’s gonna be fine!”
“Duck, you’re a terrible liar,” Twig said weakly. She was still conscious, and her eyes were streaming from the pain, but she was smiling.
“Hi,” she said. It was nice to see him again, after so long.
Duck felt out of control in that moment. He was watching his best friend die in front of him and he could do nothing. He fell on his knees next to her and held her tight, as if he could make this all go away.
“Twig,” his voice was shaky and his eyes were swimming, “Twig.. I- what do I do?”
“Don’t you worry,” she croaked, “I messed up, I’m sorry.”
“Shh! Don’t be! This isn’t your fault! I’m getting help!”
“Hello, emergency service operator, which service do you require?” came a voice from the phone, crackly and unfamiliar.
“Twig’s hurt! I- I need an ambulance for, uh, um, 38 Bolton Road- a car crashed into her and, and, she needs help,” Duck stuttered. He couldn’t believe that Twig was lying here in front of him, after so long, and she was hurt. There was blood starting to come too, he couldn’t tell where from, she was grazed and bruised all over. He couldn’t really hear what the operator said next, all he could see was Twig. She was smiling through so much pain - it was a miracle she was still conscious.
“Hey, Duck, it’s good to see you again. I missed you,” she said. She winced and tried to move her leg, which was hurting a lot, but it didn’t do what she wanted it to.
“M- missed you too,” Duck stammered, his tears falling onto Twig’s face.
“You better not forget me when I go,” she said softly, then closed her eyes.
Duck cried out in despair and hugged her weak body tight, breathing the musky scent of her hair, shaking and sobbing.
She wasn’t dead, but that made it worse in a way. She fought for hours in that hospital bed, plastered in injuries. But finally, she had to go.
And that left Duck. All alone. Forever. He didn’t say a word, nor did he stop crying. He stayed by Twig’s side till the end, and long beyond that.
And he most certainly did not forget her.

Ancient Past - Fact File about mythological creature

Appearance
The Canphin or Canis Feroces is a fierce carnivorous beast, evolved to become a dangerous creature, armed to the teeth with lethal weapons. It has the body of a dog or wolf (it is debated which one of these it is, since none has ever been caught or studied), yet is larger than an ordinary dog. It can, in some cases, grow to about ten metres long from head to tail, often averaging about eight. Although it has a dog-like appearance, some who have had close encounters with them have said that they have fireproof scales rather than fur. They also have an abnormally long tail, accounting for just under half of its body length. This long tail is strong and muscly, like that of a dinosaur, and armed with sharp barbs. This is used for attack and defence, and the canphin will often turn and swing its tail at its victims. The tail has enough power to shatter bones, and occasionally kill if the blow is well aimed. These creatures also have abnormally large paws, and razor sharp claws which are more suited for stabbing and grappling with prey than tearing, like a velociraptor’s claw. The Canphin also has a set of very long canine teeth and a skull crushing jaw strength.
One very notable feature of the canphin is that it also breathes fire, although this feature is only expressed when the animal is fighting. This means that the creature’s muzzle, although having the appearance of a dog, is actually fireproof and can easily withstand temperatures of up to 1400ºC.
Habits, Habitat and Diet
The canphin will often dwell in rocky places such as mountains, and will live alone in caves. They rarely live in groups, but will work together and share prey rather than fighting over it if they do encounter each other in the wild. They are not particularly territorial amongst themselves, and will happily share their hunting ground with another of their own species, but they are carnivorous and will treat other species without mercy. They are occasionally faced with animals bigger than themselves, and will still fight ruthlessly even if they have no hope of winning. This is one of their evolutionary flaws; they don’t know how to pick their fights. They will eat any living thing they find except each other, and when food is low and hunting is hard they will even eat rotten meat and carrion. Their preferred diet is bobcats and lynxes, although larger canphins will occasionally take on a cougar. If these are scarce they will eat smaller prey, sometimes even fish, although they struggle to hunt these.
Human Encounters
Canphins have been known to attack and kill humans, and it is not advised to go near them, but they do not hunt them. They usually only attack if provoked or very hungry, but if they do attack they are likely to win. Even the weakest of them are stronger and more agile than humans, and won’t say no to an easy meal. It is wise to stay well away from them, and if you see one, go immediately in the other direction. They are beautiful and majestic creatures, but they are fully wild and shouldn’t be approached.
Image: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/878682351/

Distant Future - Kanken in Distant Future

It’s a morning ritual for Twyla to pick up her Kanken, sling it on her back, and rush out the door to work each morning. It’s her versatile, hardwearing, trusty bag that grounds her in life. It gets scratches and scrapes from time to time, but once she’s patched them up, she thinks it just adds personality to it. On weekends she has to spend a while maintaining it, oiling the cogs, polishing the brass, winding the clocks. She checks that everything is in working order - it's a small price to pay for such a brilliant item, and hangs it up in pride of place, on the only hanger of her mechanical hatstand that doesn’t move, right at the front.
Twyla loves her Kanken. They’ve been around for a long time, even before bags were mechanical, since the 1970 AD! It’s a rich burgundy colour, and the metalwork sparkles in the light and gives it a gold tint. A lot of people walk around with Kankens these days, in all different colours, shapes and sizes; they cost a bit, but they’re versatile and the people seem to have more trust in the oldest brands rather than the new. They make equally good, if not superior bags, but right now ancient hardware is trendy, and looks rather stylish.
Twyla’s Kanken does a few things - there’s a watch on one of the straps, for a start. But that’s not the least of it. The logo is a button which plays music to her headphones when pressed. It plays whatever chip you put into it, so Twyla always updates the chip on the weekends depending on what music she likes. She stores a couple of spare sound chips for special occasions, like confident music, sadness music, and her favourite, revenge music. It also has a defence mechanism which scares away pickpockets, since it’s an expensive looking bag. It has metal arms which reach out and poke them. Twyla has never needed to use it, but she knows it might come in handy one day.
She takes her Kanken everywhere, since even though it has extra functions, the design never changed very much and it’s always quite comfortable to wear. It looks right for most occasions, whether she’s going to a business meeting, travelling abroad, or even heading out to a formal event. It’s her perfect bag and she’s really very fond of it.

The End

My knees shook and I quivered with fear as I stood before the terrible beast. It had too many faces. And sticking out limbs. And teeth. And so many teeth. And oh dear. It was coming towards me. I tried to scream but no sound came out. I thought to myself that now would be the perfect time for the ground to swallow me whole. It wasn’t a particularly awkward or embarrassing moment, but it did seem slightly life threatening. I was being stupid again.

And then I was falling.

I saw a last glimpse of the strange monster before I fell into black. Then I saw stars. I was tumbling through space, watching galaxies and nebulae go about their days as I fell helplessly between the cracks in the pavement of time. The stars were beautiful.

I opened my eyes. The image of the stars was still imprinted on my vision, and there were white dots in my eyes. My throat was dry and hoarse, I was sweating. I reached for my glass next to my bed and knocked it over. Well done stupid.

I looked around. The stars were gone now. Where had the stars come from? I couldn’t remember now. But they were important before. I don’t remember how though. I sighed and stretched, and wondered what terrible nightmare could have made me sweat so much. Or maybe it had just been a really hot night? No, stupid. It’s December. It’s an annoying miracle that I was sweating in the first place.

I leaned out of bed to get up and fetch some more water, then fell out with a bump. Ow.

Save Code
| Path 1: DAY, Prompt 3 | Path 2: PAST, Prompt 1 | Path 3: ANCIENT, Prompt 1 | Path 4: FUTURE, Prompt 2 |

Writing Competition Entry
~~~~~
When I Wake Up

In a country you smell incense
Hear its breath grow and falter
Wrapped in betrayal and memory
What stories are cast on?
Buried in dreams

An endless dream for
A sleepless night
I ask questions bearing no answers
And wake up seeing the same things
Stuck in the past and
Burdened by the future

On the streets I see two men
The day of the explosion
The young one says
“It’s always the saviors
Forced to reckon with oppression.
Out there is a boy
Trying to wake up.
Desperate, unaware that when he does
There will be nothing left.”

The other man, indifferent,
Withered with experience,
“He dreams but is met with compulsion.
Why dream?
There is no harm
In giving betrayers
Their time to rest.
The boy needs his rest too.”

I was met with such a circumstance
Unlikely in its nature and heartbreaking in its manner
The men, young and old, silver and gold
Were unaware that the boy of which they spoke
Was standing behind them
Constricted by tears
Struck with dissonance

Now, I can’t dream of much
Woven in a tapestry
Of revolutions far and new
Gods taken down by kings
Kings taken down by people
People taking down themselves

“No people left behind” they said
Government is not known for its honesty
When a person moves forward
Displacing the air around them
No one realizes
The changes they made

People fade into oblivion
Surrounded my indifference
What was once governed by disposition
Became a winding cave too dark
For anyone to pass through

Civilians shout
Bells resonate through
A smoky sky
The patter of stone and
Water babbles
When I dream
It is replaced with sweet mist

What constitutes a person
Worthy of life and rights?
What is given to you
Beyond what you have?

In a country you smell the incense
And wonder what blade of fate
Landed you in such a dream
In which you must wonder these things

So I continue to sleep
Only to be awoken
A matrix in which
The wires are breaking
When the moon fades into background
So does my hope

353 words
~~~~~
Author’s Note: This is a fanfiction of a newly released comic called Catechism, inspired by the mystical allure and breathtaking lines in it. There’s a poem at the end of the prologue about a boy, the main character. So I decided to write a poem about a different boy, the other main character! In this world, there have been many revolutions leading up to the story, yet the main character is still left unsatisfied. He longs for a new life in a place where he can do nothing but struggle. The comic included a lot of imagery on dreams and smoke, creating a really ethereal atmosphere that I wanted to mimic. The boy of which this poem is about, (the secondary main character), has just heard news that his parents died in an explosion. His parents were popular, regarded as saviors who betrayed the previous dynasty. After the life changing event, he is left feeling hopeless and alone, governed by people that are failing him. I don’t have lots of experience with poetry, so this was more experimental than anything. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it.

Critique for @CleverComment (288 words)

Alright I’m just going to jump right in critiquing as I go and then I’ll add some final thoughts at the end!

I like the opening couple of sentences; they're very engaging.

“He was out of the apartment (if you could call it one) by six.” I don’t really understand the statement in the parentheses here. From the earlier description of the apartment I don’t get any sense that his living conditions are bad enough that you wouldn’t even call it an apartment.

I like the description of the city bustle. Your word choice is excellent.

I feel like the transition into Delilah’s situation could use some words leading into it. Something like “A few paces away, Delilah was on a mission.” Is the woman Noah bumped into Delilah? I can’t really tell.

The description of the coffee shop is great!

I’m loving the perspective swaps, this one was smoother than the last.

The pacing is overall beautiful and I love your descriptions.

‘There was a strange bubbling sensation in Noah when he walked home.” The use of bubbling feels a little repetitive as you used this same adjective in the coffee shop description.

“The thought that he could brighten someone’s day, especially his best friend’s, was all that was needed to brighten his day.” I think this would sound better as “All that was needed to brighten his own day”.

“Soon, the sound of simmering water and knife chopping reached the apartment. “ Was the sound not already in the apartment?

Overall, I think this piece is beautiful. Like genuinely so touching and warm. There were really only a few small things to point out. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful but it was honestly just that good.

it's all in your head - july writing competition entry

there's no one here. just you, me, and your thoughts.

who are you?

me? i'm you, god, the devil, and everything in between. i'm the ones who never left and the ones who never were.

i don't understand.

sometime, you will. just not right now.

i'm going to ask you some questions, mortal. answer truthfully.

what…

what's the meaning of life?

i don't know. does there have to be a meaning?

you're an interesting one.

what's that supposed to mean?

don't worry about it.

anyways. what are you afraid of?

nothing. i'm not scared of anything.

that's not true. the only person you'll ever convince is yourself.

…

here's something about lying, mortal. every time you lie to someone, you believe it yourself a little bit more.

but i'm not-

when everyone believes the lie, you won't do the things that you need to do, because no one will know you need it.

why are you telling me this?

i won't punish you for lying. they will do it, and it would be a thousand times worse that what i would do.

who's they?

i don't really know either, mortal.

…

…

stop imagining things.

what?

it's all in your head.

what's in my head?

the world you think you know isn't real. earth, life, the galaxies- everything is in your imagination. it's the grand lie you've built yourself.

i don't believe you.

i'm going to tell you something, mortal. i've tried to save many people. none of them listens- i had to live the pain of their death every time.

you- you have to be wrong. i wake up every day on earth. i live every day! how can it just be fake? tell me. tell me how i felt love, how i felt pain-

that's for you to find out. we don't have much time, mortal. let go now.

there's nothing to let go of.

wake up.

i'm talking to you.

i'm talking to you. w̶̳̯͊̄͗ḁ̸̭̣͑̑k̸̨͍̖̊͒͜͠e̵̦͇͗͋̾͘ ̷͉͊̀u̷̙̒́͆̾p̴̳͎͝.

wake up.

weekly 4

Ancient times

Song
Can I just do my hard rock version of Georgie Porgie

Hey there fiddler play a tune
For the cow who wanted to jump over the moon
You all laughed to see such a sight
But she’ll let no one stop her tonight
Let's dance to the sound of the ongoing fiddle
And sing a new song called Hey Diddle Diddle

50 words exactly B)

Prompt

~The secrets of the sea~
Cannyfish (Workshopping Creature Name)
If you ever find yourself in the Atlantic Ocean (and I mean in that ocean), you might come across some strange creatures. Sure, the deeper you go, the weirder it gets, but that's all natural, right? I’m talking about strange, like, almost mythical strange. In fact, I can probably guess what you’re gonna be seeing. A small mermaid-ish figure with glassy eyes followed by a fish. And I can guess your next move. You’re gonna turn to that mermaid and ask it something, maybe along the lines of, “holy cow! Mermaids are real!?” And then, you’re gonna hear a voice, very obviously not from the mermaid, probably grumbling something like, “tourists”. That is the moment you realize the fish is talking to you. With a little information, you save yourself from looking like an oblivious tourist the next time you come across the interesting inhabitants of the Atlantic.

Cannyfish resemble ordinary fish. They are rather large and round, favoring striped scales in blues and greens. All in all, they are rather basic in the looks department.
But the true value in the cannyfish is their brains, hence the name, canny. Cannyfish are incredibly smart creatures, with the ability to speak. The favored lore behind these abilities explains that because the sea holds more secrets than any other place in and off this earth, there must be a creature to safeguard all the precious knowledge our oceans hold. Thus, the cannyfish.
Cannyfish have a vivacious appetite for information. They are always eager to learn about what is currently happening in the world. They know multitudes of languages, essentially the entirety of world history, including facts unknown to humans, and are incredibly beyond what most species have accomplished in math and science. One example of this is their famed Transatlantic Passage. The cannyfish have designed and, with a little help, built a transatlantic railroad line stretching underwater between the Americas and Europe. The rail line is currently unknown to humans and used exclusively for other species’ safe transport across the ocean.
The cannyfish have even built many underwater civilizations, primarily for storage of their important artifacts, books, and other sources of information. They dredge up lost pieces of history from ocean beds and store them in safe places to further research. They also have the most extensive library in the world, with texts from multiple eras of history. Their library is home to many so-called “lost” writings, with collections ranging from the Baghdad House of Wisdom to the Library of Alexandria. Their goal is to preserve any knowledge that might otherwise be lost in time.
But how exactly do the cannyfish keep their intellectual prowess if they lack even the most basic features that they need to learn? They’re fish: they don't have opposable thumbs! This is where their mermaid-esque helpers come in. Mermaids, for lack of a better term, are rather dumb creatures. Don’t be fooled by their human-like features: they are just animals. But they do have thumbs. The cannyfish have trained mermaids to be their … helpers. Mermaids are who do the most of the work around these parts. They hold books, flip pages, and do whatever is required of them. Don’t worry, they’re usually rewarded for their work with a treat of some sorts. Cannyfish get very frustrated whenever their mermaid helpers are turned to, instead of them. Most visitors are oblivious to the goings on of the oceans, so they don’t realize cannyfish appear like completely normal fish. Nonetheless, it's not a mistake I recommend making, at risk that you insult your hosts.

596 words

Distant Past

Song
(“wait for it”)

Dishes, forks, cats, and spoons
She’ll let no one else reprove.
She’ll break the ceiling
Touch the moon
She’ll let no one else reprove. (She’ll let no one else reprove.)

(“I am the one thing in life I can control”)

Prompt
(“Two days past eighteen…”)

His broken hands
Dirt under fingernails
Scrabbling
Searching

Let's do this; let's kill off my comfort character

Vincent crashed through the sunless forest. The dense trees seemed to eagerly lean in as he ran, and their dark leaves whispered against each other. His throat burned as he fought his way through the brush, branches scraping him as he pushed past.
He had to run.
He could feel the darkness creeping in his wake. Its laughing tendrils swirled behind him, constantly behind him.
He was being hunted.
The merciless forest provided no escape. Greedy branches scratched and tore at him as he fled. All he could hear was the pound of his feet, his sword, his heart. It burned, but he knew the darkness would be so. Much. Worse.
It never caught up with him before. It never caught up with him.
It was different this time.
It was real.
What?
Vincent kept running.
Snag.
He was stuck.
He twisted and writhed in the bush that caught him. The darkness slithered closer. Closer, closer, closer.
Cold sweat trickled down his face. His fingers stammered trying to undo the tangled laces of his jerkin.
Snagged. Stuck. Useless. Get free!
He yanked the laces through and escaped from his trapped jerkin. It wouldn’t be any defense against the darkness. He could leave it. He had to leave.
With a glance behind him, he took off running once more. The branches earnestly clawed at him now. He couldn’t tell where he was going, he just had to get away. His shirt tore, he stumbled, but he didn’t care.
It was coming.
The darkness ahead was nothing compared to what was after him.
And now he could sense it unfurling, extending greedy hands at him. It’s fingers outstretched, grabbing. The darkness pulled at him.
It grasped his sword and ripped it away.
His belt snapped from the force, lashing him across the chest.
Like everything else, it burned, but he had to escape.
Still, the darkness slowly lay claim to him.
It plucked his knives away, shredding his pockets. It tripped him, gashing his knees. It chipped and chipped away at his willpower till he felt as if he had nothing left to give.
The cursed, endless forest battered Vincent to the ground.
He fell to his knees, skidding into the cold, dark earth. His body felt set alight, in disrepair from exertion. He could sense the darkness curling around him, ready to pounce.
He held up his shaking hands, noticing something crawling over them through sweaty strands of his hair.
It was happening again.
Scrapes, scratches, bruises, cuts, gashes.
His broken hands bled into the dirt.
The darkness surrounded.
There was something that was supposed to fix this. To help him escape.
He felt around his neck.
It wasn’t there; it was supposed to be there.
He dug his broken hands into the ground, searching, scrabbling.
It was gone
468 words
Current Day

Song

Fiddler fast let's sing tonight
Break glass ceilings
Scatter light
Dance and twist under a moon so bright
She’ll let no one stop her tonight

You all tried to hold her back
Filled this hall with your laughs
“No one could possibly jump to the moon”
But didn’t she prove it to you?

(lol this is so bad)

Prompt

ngl doing all the timed ones
Work on a character for 15 min
Yes I’m going to be very basic and work on Hunter. He’s my main character, but he’s not, I guess, like most main characters. I feel like, yes the story is more or less told from his point of view, but really, it’s about everyone else, too. The story is as much the other characters as it is his. I feel like this is because while I made him up first, I worked on the other characters more, and Hunter really didn’t have much to him until I started to focus on him more. But now he’s become really special to me. Hunter is, Hunter is very much a fun main character. Yes, he’s an orphan, but he doesn’t let that get him down or anything. The orphanage he lives at is nice, and it’s all he knows. But at the same time, there’s that little part of him that watches all the other kids get adopted that can’t help but be sad. Internally, I think, he’s actually quite affected by how he grew up. He always says he’s not bothered, and he isn’t, to an extent, but he’s also spent the majority of his life waiting to grow up so he could get out and see the world. It’s kind of a weird mix. Hunter is very childish, but he also wanted to grow up quickly when he lived at the orphanage. But that also makes sense: he’s imaginative and loves stories, so he can’t wait until he can live out a story himself. But when he moves to the circus, everything changes. Hunter’s good, no, responsible traits that he was getting from the orphanage really had to work in the circus. So it’s kinda a weird adjustment. He’s used to being somewhat responsible for the younger kids and stuff, but here, he can actually be a kid, but he still has to be responsible, in fact even more so. So Hunter doesn’t handles things the best. He thinks running away to the circus is the fruition of all his storybook dreams come to life. And when he learns all this lore and stuff, it makes it even better. But when he’s hit with the fact that he still has to do something productive and brush his teeth, he doesn’t take it well because he equates fun and freedom with no responsibility. This is kinda one of his flaws. He is terrible about thinking of the consequences of his actions. I mean, in the simplest terms, he’s just a kid struggling with the concept of growing up. In the orphanage, he couldn’t wait to turn eighteen and get out, but now that he has a family and friends, he dreads the idea of getting older because getting older might mean growing apart. And Hunter is just inherently childish. He loves being silly and having fun. That’s why he’s the glue that sticks the whole friend group together. And now that he finally has something to hold onto, he doesn’t want to let go. I mean, I don’t
508 words

For 5 min write a comfortable setting
Hunter stepped into the room, his room. His shoes clicked on the warm hardwood floors. The room was small, but painted lightly so it felt bigger. He had a window looking out onto the yard. Someone built a shelf below it and stacked a few books there. His fingers brushed the worn copies. He pushed the simple green
58 words

Your antagonist is actually a member of the main characters family (le gasp!)
(Okay, I can’t do Hunter but this is literally perfect for someone else)
West fought against his capteur’s grip, but it was no use. The fires around them burned brighter, and the smoke soon invaded his breath and wracked him with coughs. The flames grew fuzzy, but he could’ve sworn he saw someone approach them. He sank to his knees as his strength gave out: the unforgiving thug’s clamp on his arms the only thing keeping him up.
“Well, well. I remember you.”
A man’s raspy voice broke through the chaos. West looked up.
West could hear his friends shouting at the man as he emerged from the flames, but he could only stare.
No.
He knew that face. He
107 words

And just so you know, West does not recognize him as a relative, but rather from another arson

Song
(TwT I've heard most of these)

So swing to the stars
And jump the moon
The world is out there waiting for you
So while the fiddler plays this tune
Hear me out you’ve got nothing to lose
The stars above are high
And you’ve got nothing to prove
This wide wide world is here for you
The whole wide world is ready for you

(can't write songs to save my life)

Prompt

Scratch scratch scratch.
The sound of pencils filled the quiet classroom. Hunter mindlessly worked on his math problems. He was thinking about something, but the thought had slipped his mind. He refocused on his work.
Tick tick tick.
He glanced up at the clock in front of the classroom. The end of the day was nearing. Math was last period. He wrote the date on his paper, like he always did, and stood up to turn it in.
Tap tap tap.
His sneakers quietly added to the rhythm of the classroom. His teacher took his paper and he waited for her to grade it. She slid it over to him to show the 100% she had written on the front.
Bring bring bring!
The bell rang. School was out.
Hunter picked up his things and waited for the bus dismissal. He looked at the clock again. Bus riders were always dismissed 5 minutes after the bell.
Crackle crackle crackle.
As soon as the intercom came on, he left for the bus. He didn’t have to fight his way through the school like the regular bus riders because everyone on his bus was going to the same place.
The clocks in the hallways timed his walk.
Step step step.
Hunter climbed up into the bus headed for the orphanage. He found his seat and looked out the window.
Just another day in 9th grade.
…
Beep beep beep.
The alarm went off and woke Hunter up. He squinted over at the clock.
6:30 A.M.
He woke up at 6:30 every day.
He could sleep in more when he was younger, but now he had to get up early to go to school. He was lucky, the other kids at school always complained of getting up earlier.
He woke up earlier before…
He had to get ready for school.
…
Tick tick tick.
The clock in front of the classroom seemed to never move. Hunter spaced out while doing his math homework. Getting distracted during math was so easy. His mind wandered to someplace familiar.
Tick tick tick.
The second hand on the clock moved so slowly. He lazily moved his pencil on the paper.
At one point school wasn’t so boring…
Tick tock tick.
He glanced up at the clock. The hands finally seemed to move. He couldn’t wait to go home.
Tick tock tick.
No, that wasn’t right.
Home wasn’t the orphanage.
He looked at the clock. It was spinning faster now.
Tick tock tick tock.
Everyone else seemed fine, but something wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. The hands on the clock spun familiarly.
How was it familiar?
Tick tock tick tock.
He dropped his pencil as he heard his name.
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
He looked behind him.
Everything went dark.
Tick tock tick tock tick tock-
Then there was nothing.
475 words

The End

Song

Fiddler fast let's sing tonight
Reach for the stars
Scatter light
Dance and twist under a moon so bright
She’ll let no one stop her tonight

You all tried to hold her back
Filled this world with your laughs
“No one could possibly jump to the moon”
But didn’t she prove it to you?

Prompt
Light. That’s the first thing that hits me when I wake up. If I keep my eyes closed, then it’s like I’m still asleep. If I don’t see the light, it’s still real. The dream is still real. But light has a funny way of seeping through. You know, when I was younger, I used to be afraid of it. The shapes it formed beneath my eyelids. This time I’m afraid of that light for a different reason. This time, when I wake up, how much of it won’t be real?
But after light comes feeling. You can deny the light all you want, but when you wake up, there’s no denying the feeling. You feel where you are, you feel the new day. I try to block out the light, still. Try to convince myself I’m still asleep. Try to ignore the feeling.
But there’s no changing it now. I have to wake up. Because next comes thought, the hardest of all. And I think to myself, “was it all a dream?”
I’m coming to.
I blink groggy eyes. Stretch shaky limbs. My senses feel new, unused. Life flashes before me. The last thing I did: SWC, TV, lunch, altar serving, summer, school, moving, stories, Covid, junior high, summer camp, dog, elementary school, moving, pre-school, best friends, beach, birth.
Was it all a dream?
I don’t know where I am. I don’t know who I am.
I finally wake up. Bleary, broken.
And I just know something is different.
250 words

Thank You Notes

To Sofi:
There is no better way to start my thank yous off than with my fantastical (haha get it?) co-leader! I could not have chosen a better co-leader this session. You are hard-working, talented, and everything else a leader could ask for. Your profile pictures were gorgeous and your help with cabin planning was invaluable. You were super reliable. I hope you enjoyed your first session co-leading as much as I enjoyed having you. I’d love to see you apply again because any cabin would be thrilled to have you. <3

To the Hosts:
It would be remiss for me to exclude a thank you to the incredible hosting team. You guys make SWC possible. Thank you for all that you do to make SWC run smoothly. From signups all the way through the session you guys work incredibly hard. You’re always there to answer questions and offer guidance when needed. No other camp does it like SWC and the amazing host team is why. Special shoutout to Sun for all the encouragement in my long point adding endeavors!!

To the Daily Team:
I can say that after ten sessions of SWC I have never done as many dailies as I did this session. I got to look forward everyday to a great new daily that I could apply to my characters and use to improve my writing. The dailies this session were super engaging and fun to complete. I also did every single weekly this session for the first time ever. The weeklies were long but never felt like a chore because they were interesting and I could feel them improving my writing. Thank you guys for all that you do.

To Linden:
I’m not going to lie, I wasn't even sure in what capacity you would be involved with SWC this session. However, I can say your help has been invaluable to me. Throughout the session there was a decent chance that the three new notifications in my inbox were from you commenting on my word adding abilities. You were always super constructive without making me feel like a failure and I thank you for that.

To Moonlit:
I just wanted to thank you briefly for everything you do for the memory book. You made everything I needed to submit super clear and presented reasonable deadlines. You also gave great advice and were overall just really kind and helpful this session.

To Pepper:
If I ever needed a camper to step up into a more serious role it would be you. You were endlessly helpful to your fellow campers as well as Sofi and I. Taking charge of recording shield times while I was offline during cabin wars is only one example of what a helpful and responsible individual you are. On top of this you were super active all session and a positive light in the cabin.

To A:
Nobody lit up my day this session more than you. I loved hearing about all the different WIPS you were working on throughout the session. I got to watch you become more outgoing with the other campers and really facilitate cabin chit-chat. My best wishes to you in your future endeavors.

To Aeris:
I was so happy to see you absolutely kill your word goal this session. It’s a major accomplishment and you should be very happy with all you’ve done this session (not to mention the cabin points for all those words :yum!

To Velvet:
I didn’t see a ton of you this session but when you were around you were always super sweet and easy to talk to. Hopefully you’ll continue to write as you're off to a great start!

To Silvi:
You were by far one of the most active campers this session. I saw you around on a near daily basis chatting in both our cabin and the main cabin. You did dailies and weeklies super diligently. I’m honored to be your first ever leader and I hope you continue to write as you are incredible!

To Geek:
I didn’t get to know you all too well this session but from what I did see you are super passionate about what you do. You are unapologetically you and I hope to see more of you in the future!

To Ginger:
Another camper I didn’t see around a ton. However, you wrote some words and therefore are a part of our big happy Tragedy family! I love the Owl House profile picture and I’d love to get to know you better.

To Mae:
Hello, rhyming name buddy! You were always super kind this session! You wrote a fair amount of words and I can see you really taking off in the future.

To Mercy:
It was great to meet someone my age this session! I really feel like we bonded this month and you are really easy to talk to. You’re also a great writer and I can’t wait to read what you write next!

To Azy:
I didn’t see you around much this session but from what I could tell you're super cool. Your custom Tragedy profile picture is super dope and your overall vibe is just so chill. I hope I can get to know you better sometime!

To Cali:
I didn’t see you that much this session but from my interactions with you early on in the month you are super rad. You’re easy to get along with and I hope to see more of you in the future.

To Cherry:
Where do I even begin with you? /hj I have never met someone with your ability to write. You blew your goal out of the water and I could not be more impressed. I cannot even count how many cabin wars you completely saved the cabin in. Don’t forget me when you're a best selling author.

To Amelie:
It was great getting to know you this session. I didn’t see a ton of your writing but you were always super kind and nice to talk to. I hope to see more of your writing in the future.

To El:
It was amazing to see you come alive the last couple days of camp. I know you felt bad for your inactivity the first half but what really matters is that you’re doing what’s best for you. You’re super sweet and compassionate and I can’t wait to see what you do next.

To Hybri:
For a backup camper you really stepped up to the plate. You were super helpful getting points from dailies and weeklies. You inserted yourself into the cabin community with ease and were a genuine pleasure to have around.

To Pixie:
I was super happy to have you as a backup camper! It was great to see what you could accomplish in the limited time you had this month. I’d love to see what you could do with a full session!

Isabel the Invisible
Once upon a time, five princesses lived in the Kingdom of Baridoki. It wasn’t your typical kingdom with rolling hills, winding rivers, snowy peaks, and architectural achievements in every direction you looked; in fact, travelers in pegasus-drawn carriages rarely alighted in the town to restock on supplies and rest before moving on to one of the other four kingdoms. From a bird’s eye view, Baridoki’s royal castle and its surrounding village were barely visible as they were hidden deep within a magnificent forest that contained ever variety of tree in the world. One could physically and mentally drift away after a few minutes of wandering the paths that ran through the forest, admiring its blossoming cherry trees or marveling at the enormous silver birch trees that towered above one’s head. Its citizens enjoyed peaceful lives making the finest syrups across the kingdoms and taking care of the endangered Fairy magicus species.
Now, with regard to the aforementioned princesses: the eldest, who was named Bei, was adept in music as the king and queen had placed her in piano lessons at the age of twenty-three months. Whenever she was not immersed in a long practice session, you could count on finding her at the library down the street, her brown curls peeking out of a thick volume in the series entitled Everything (And I Mean Everything) About Mushrooms.
The second-born was Dong, and though she had never succeeded at decoding the hieroglyphics written on sheet music or convincing her right hand and left hand to cooperate, her destiny was to interpret music through dance. Naturally, Dong had the largest wardrobe in the castle and was always trying to find that one eyeshadow that would best complement her violet eyes.
Nan, as the middle child, had not been dedicated as much attention, allowing her imagination and creativity to flourish through the countless sculptures and watercolor paintings she would conjure up. Her best friend’s father was the royal artist who had created all the sculptures in the castle.
Sai was the second youngest; dealing with her older siblings had made her the strongest and fastest of the princesses. As might be expected, she became the best runner the kingdom had ever seen. Sai was fluent in sign language and was in the process of teaching her sisters in order to communicate with them.
The fifth sister was named Isabel, and that is all there is to say about her.

Don’t be deceived by the way I have just described these five princesses. For some peculiar reason, the queen and king’s favorite child was the youngest, Isabel. Even if Bei were to perform Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Concerto, Dong were to complete 50 pirouettes in a row, Nan were to paint a masterpiece, or Sai were to run a mile in 4 minutes, their parents would merely exhale in a satisfied manner. On the other hand, when Isabel hammered out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” achieved an ungraceful plié, drew a self-portrait that resembled Dong’s pet hamster, or completed two push-ups that lacked proper form, the king and queen would erupt into applause.
Though they understood that their parents were trying to make Isabel feel confident due to how unbelievably average she was, Bei, Dong, Nan, and Sai still felt jealous whenever Isabel received the greatest amount of praise. The last straw came on Isabel’s 10th birthday.
Years prior, on Bei’s 10th birthday, the Northern Kingdom had bestowed a gift upon the eldest princess, the Necklace of the North. This gained them the favor with the queen and king, so the rest of the kingdoms provided the Baridoki princesses with presents on each subsequent tenth birthday. Dong received the Earring of the East from the Eastern Kingdom, the Ring of the South—from the Southern Kingdom–was obtained by Nan, and Sai donned the Bracelet of the West. This traditioned posed a dilemma during Isabel’s Ceremony of the Double Digits. The Kingdom’s of the North, East, South, and West did not have any pieces of jewelry left, so the king and queen were set on giving Isabel the best accessory they could think of.
Halfway through the ceremony, the time to open gifts arrived. Thinking that she would receive a quirky ornament like a brooch or anklet, Isabel could hardly contain her excitement as she ripped open the typical dresses and toys she always received on her birthday. Finally, the one final present remained unopened.
The size of this present and the amount of wrapping paper that had been utilized confused Isabel. It was far too big to contain a necklace, bracelet, ring, or earrings, so she concluded that it must contain a crown. “Of course, mother and father saved the best for me,” she thought. However, she let out a horrible gasp after her eyes processed the red top hat that rested on the floor in front of her.
“This isn’t a crown! And red doesn’t even deserve to be a primary color; it’s the ugliest color there is! Where is my crown?” Isabel shrieked.
“Watch your tongue,” Nan remarked, offended by the insult to the color red.
“Sweetheart, this is the most wonderful hat that you have ever received. It is much better than Bei’s necklace or Sai’s bracelet,” the queen replied as the other sisters gave each other side-eyes, “You see, it belonged to a famous magician.”
“So what,” Isabel quipped.
“It had the ability to make him…invisible,” the queen said slowly.
The expression on Isabel’s face changed from enraged to curious instantaneously. Without a hesitation, she snatched the hat up and plopped it on her head. It was very tall and covered her bangs but didn’t quite reach her eyebrows.
“Is it working?”
In reality, the hat did not contain one drop of magic. The queen had made up the story on the spot in order to postpone another one of Isabel’s tantrums. Dong was about to tell Isabel the truth when the king gave all four of the older sisters a stern look, so they decided to play along.
Sai feigned as concerned look as she began looking around frantically.
“Belle!” Nan called out, “Where did you go!”
After a few minutes of searching for Isabel behind statues and looking under paintings, she took off the hat and burst out laughing, convinced that it was indeed an invisibility hat.
“This is the best gift ever,” she exclaimed. In a sly whisper, she added “I will be sure to use it wisely.

The next few weeks were some of the best in Isabel’s life, but they were a nightmare for the castle staff. The queen had given out an order across the kingdom that compelled everyone to pretend that the red top hat turned Isabel Invisible. Among her various offenses, Isabel would “sneak” into the kitchen to steal all the pastries she could smush into the pockets of her dress, and she’d ring one of the bells in the castle that called for a butler or servant before “vanishing.” However, these mischiefs were small compared to what her sisters had to suffer through.
On the day of the annual Duvall Piano Competition, Bei was ready to squash her competition. She was the final performer, and after an hour of listening to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, the judges were hungry for something different. Bei confidently took her place in front of the instrument and began to play Debussy. The panel was enjoying the piece when a certain audience member wearing a red top hat let out a thunderous cough. If there’s anything worse than a memory-slip during a recital, it’s a rude audience member who can’t control their allergies. Since the royal degree was to ignore Isabel, the coughing continued throughout the entire performance, distracting the judges and resulting in Bei placing second for the first time in her life.
Sai was one race away from earning a trophy. As she was registering for the final race, Isabel came up to her and gave her a little wave to get her attention. Sai turned around with an annoyed look on her face. Isabel signed, “I join…” and, forgetting the sign for competition, fingerspelled, “C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N.” Sai furrowed her brows and sharply tapped her index and middle finger against her thumb: the sign for “no.” Isabel knew that she had no chance of winning and could not join at the final stage of the competition, yet she wanted revenge for Sai’s rudeness. Wearing her red top hat, she swapped the arrows that marked the path of the race, effectively making the track three times as long. Needless to say, Sai was not a long-distance runner.
After Isabel stole all of the pair of shoes in Dong’s wardrobe expect for her tap shoes before a dance competition—Dong despised tap dancing—and after she stole Nan’s cerulean colored pencil as she was in the process of drawing a scene of the ocean, the four sisters had had enough.
One day, when Isabel went out riding, Dong stole the red top hat from Isabel’s room and hid it under a loose floorboard. Isabel became distraught, but whenever she asked her sisters if they had seen the hat, they’d reply, “What red top hat? I haven’t seen you ever wear a red top hat. Oh, the one you got on your birthday. The last time I saw it was during your Ceremony of the Double Digits.” However, Isabel did not forget her superpower that easily and continued to complain about it, so the sisters had to put an end to this once and for all.
Now, Isabel had come up with the tale that the castle was haunted and a ghost had been performing the monstruous acts she had done under the guise of the hat. One night, the sisters cut two holes into a bed sheet and put it over Sai. Carrying the red top hat, Sai entered Isabel’s room. The young princess woke up startled and felt terrified as she watched the “ghost” simply step on top of the red top hat and throw it into the fireplace. Rapidly, the “ghost” swooshed out of the room. Isabel ran to the door, but the “ghost” had disappeared.
From then on, Isabel never pretended to be invisible, knowing that all her actions had consequences. Her sisters encouraged her in the art of storytelling, and her first short story was about the ghost who lived in her haunted castle.

thank-you notes!

Last day of camp… wow, this month has gone so fast. As always, thank you to everyone for yet another amazing session – thank you to hosts, leaders, cos, campers, honoraries, cabin stalkers, allies, enemies, mercenaries, judges, critiquers, mafia players… the list goes on! Whether you did every daily and weekly and were constantly active and talked to everyone, or just popped in every now to say hello and add a few words, you’re all part of this wonderful SWC community, so thank you <33

First off, to the hosts - Robin, Luna, Sun, Starr, Cara, Alba - we all have endless appreciation for all that you do! I honestly can’t thank you all enough for everything you do for SWC <3 You’ve brought so much amazing new, and old, things to this session, and made this (mega)session an absolute blast You’re all incredible <3

To all the leaders and cos, you put so much work, time and effort into your cabins – so thanks to all of you, for making your cabins wonderful, no matter where they are in the rankings or where they end up in the results <33

To the daily team - Alba, Moss, Zaine, Finley, Robin - thank you so much for all the work you’ve done to make this session’s dailies and weeklies as fun as they’ve been! It was so cool to bring back old favourite dailies, and of course I loved having yet another epic project weekly - they’re always SO fun :star_struck:

Writing competition judges - Sun, Alba, Cara, and everyone on the judging panel - yall do an insane amount of work, and we’re all so grateful <33

Talking about the writing competition, a massive thank-you to everyone who helped to critique, or even just read over my entry! Alia and Zaine especially – your feedback and critique was incredibly helpful, thank you so much for that And also to Moonlit, tysm for listening to me ramble about titles to you… again xD you’re so helpful <3

And a thank you to everyone that played mafia (and various other random games) with me towards the end of this session – those games were always so much fun, and a much-needed distraction from everything - all the stress -that's been going on lately <33 I may or may not have used games as an opportunity to procrastinate on homework :eyes: but I genuinely loved playing them, tysm everyone

And to everyone I’ve talked to this session – there are far too many of you to name, but a huge thank you to all the SWCers, friends, and SWC family that I’ve talked to, interacted with, played games with, roleplayed with, rambled about food with, sunk venice with (>), fallen climbed through windows with, listened to music with, talked about writing with, obsessed over fandoms with, screamed about my new puppy with, laughed with, chatted about the most random things with, listening to me ranting or venting or rambling, encouraged, helped and been there for me… thank you to all of you, this whole amazing community <3

And to steampunk – even though our storyline didn’t really work out, it's been a great session with all of you, and you’re all incredible <3 I’ve loved talking, answering qotds, having fun, and absolutely SLAYING (the second) cabin wars with you – it's been epic, STEAMPUNK FTW >D

Individual steampunk thank-you’s – I hope I haven’t missed anyone here!


@Sunclaw68 –
Firstly, a hugeeee thank you to the amazing Sun (ohohoho!) <33 You are such an incredible person, and even though most of our storyline didn’t end up happening, I have absolutely loved planning with you these last two months, it’s been amazing You’ve put so much work (amazing writing, storyline plot, brilliant ideas and clues, beautiful art/design and heaps more!) into this cabin – which you somehow manage to do at the same time as juggling schoolwork and multiple other SWC responsibilities (hosting, writing comp judging, trying to do every daily and weekly)?? You put so much effort into everything you do, you’re amazing and absolutely iconic, and you deserve so much thanks <3

@SandyDunes –
SANDY Your enthusiasm and dedication has been unmatched – you wrote an insane amount of words, did a huge amount of dailies and weeklies, and engaged so much with our storyline (and you’re pretty much the only camper who did so andsjnfj). You have honestly been invaluable to our cabin, and I know I speak for both myself and Sun when I say that we can’t thank you enough <3 And I’m so sorry we didn’t manage to wrap up the storyline better for you aaaah

@Elvin_Wonders –
Elfie! You are iconic, and it's been amazing having you in steampunk this session <33 You’re such a cool person, and even though we didn’t talk too much, you were great to have around

@Polarbear_17
Zaine! A huge thank-you for all that you do for SWC (round of applause for the fourth weekly!!) and you were awesome to have around in steampunk Again, tysm for critiquing my writing competition entry, you were so helpful <3 And thank you for being your amazing, iconic self )

@alicorn10 –
Ally You’ve been so kind, cheerful, optimistic and enthusiastic this session – an amazing camper, and an incredible and invaluable addition to steampunk You honestly brightened up the cabin whenever you were around, and I’ve loved getting to know you this session! I really hope we see each other around SWC again <33

@_pxnkroqk –
Ash! You’ve been great to have in steampunk, and even though we haven’t talked much, you seem like such a cool person ^^ tysm for popping in and answering the qotds, I’ve loved seeing you around <3

@Bubblegumpinkdagger –
Emmi <3 I wish I’d talked to you more this session – but as always, you are such a kind, amazing person ) I loved having you in steampunk, and I hope I see you around SWC again


@orangebeard_75 –
Citrus! It doesn’t matter that you weren’t too active – don’t feel guilty, everyone gets busy! It’s still been great having you in steampunk <33


@euphoriia_ –
Izzy even though we didn’t talk too much, I’ve loved seeing you pop in to talk and answer the qotds, and you seem like such an amazing person!


@ayid_7345 –
Ayid You are such a cool, iconic person, and I’ve loved being in various cabins with you and seeing you around SWC in the past – even though we haven’t talked too much this session, it’s been great having you in steampunk! Hope you’re enjoying your vacation <33

@Dawnflower29 –
Juni! You seem like a really cool person, and even though I haven’t really been able to talk to you, it's been great having you in steampunk

@unhinged_musings –
Kora – thank you so much for popping in to add words It was great to have you in steampunk this session!

@axalea –
Aaliyah, you are such a great person If you become active again, I’d love to talk to you )

@readingCat11 –
Kat, it was great to have you in steampunk! I loved to see you popping into the cabin to answer the qotds and talk <3

@–amethystqueen– and @readwritesing – I didn’t get to interact with either of you, unfortunately but it was cool to have you in steampunk anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thank You
Dear Cae,
I don’t really know where to start, but there’s a reason you’re top of my thank you list. You made my first leading experience the best it could have possibly been; you’ve supported me the entire way, and the entire cabin too, you’ve worked so hard throughout the session to make Tragedy what it is. You update the daily question each day without fail, no matter what, and you’ve made the cabin experience wonderful for everyone. I really, really can’t thank you enough for being the absolute bestest leader, but thank you again <3
To the Hosts,
It really blows my mind how hard you guys work and how much organisation is needed to keep SWC running, yet you seem to do it with style. You’re so friendly and helpful too, you know how to make everyone feel included and you’re all seriously talented and cool. Thank you for a brilliant mega-session, and all the work you’ve put in!
Dear Daily Team,
You’re all really awesome, and the number of unique ideas you have each session is just brilliant. You work really hard and keep SWC moving along, and both you and the hosts were also very good and getting everyone to sleep ^^ You’re very encouraging and supportive, as always, and you’ve made the session so much fun for everyone. Thank you for another wonderful session!
Dear Silvi,
Thanks for letting me introduce you to SWC, and sticking with it to, and then absolutely acing your first session! You’ve done really well and I’m proud of you, you know the rest I’ve already told you, and you betta join me again in November. YEAH
Dear A,
You’ve been one of the most active in the cabin this session, and you’re fun and enthusiastic to talk to. You added so much personality and energy to the cabin, and you’ve been absolutely brilliant, especially for your first ever session! I loved hearing about all your projects too. I really hope you enjoyed yourself, and it would be great to see you again in November!
Dear Cherry,
I’m amazed at how much you’ve written. You’re a brilliant talented word machine and when it’s cabin wars there’s no stopping you. You really carried our cabin through that and we couldn’t have done it without you. You’ve been crazily good and a pleasure to have as a fellow orphan!
Dear Pepper,
You were always really active in the main cabin and in tragedy, and you’re so friendly and funny. You’re a joy to talk to, and you kept us organised during cabin wars, making sure everything was accounted for, keeping count of wars. I personally think you would do really well as a leader, since you keep great control over everything and seem to have a great work ethic. Whatever happens, I really hope you enjoyed your session, and thank you for being wonderful.
Dear El,
You were always lovely to talk to, even if I didn’t see you that much. But for the part that you were around, you’re really friendly and lovely. I hope to see you again <3
Dear Hybri,
Even though you came in as a backup camper, you felt as much a part of the cabin as anyone else, and you were always so supportive of everyone else, especially during cabin wars. You were a really good influence to, you were so much fun and a tad chaotic at times too XD anyways you did great and I’d love to see you again in November
To the rest of Tragedy,
I’m really sorry if I didn’t write you a personal note, I would write everyone one if I had the time, but you should all know that you’ve been brilliant. We’ve shared lots of great memories, and we look like we have a chance of winning! Even if I haven’t seen as much of some of you as I would have liked to, you’ve all contributed; because of this, I like to have a tradition of following everyone in the cabin (if I’m not already!) just as a way of saying thank you, and it’s nice to remember all the awesome people I’ve been an orphan with! Thank you!
Dear CD,
I don’t know if you’re gonna read this, but if you do, firstly, thanks for catching that stray cabin war. Horror couldn’t have had a better leader- the cabin aesthetic is perfect and incredibly creepy. Mostly, I just feel like you’ve been a friendly voice who I’ve kept running into, and felt I should thank you for that.

Word war proof:


The music in the ballroom is as loud as it always is. It does not make me uncomfortable though, rather it is familiar. I nod my head slightly to the beat of the piece that the small orchestra is currently playing and smile. My attention, however, is quickly brought to the busy dance floor. Many partners are waltzing around to the music, and I recognise many faces. There are lots of people from the nobility, who my parents personally invited,and there are some people who I do not know. They are probably friends or distant relatives of the nobles, but they all seem to fit in well during the dance. I am surprised at just how many people there are here, since it is the middle of the summer. Many nobles typically take rests away from the court during this time, so seeing so many of them here surprises me. It probably should not, after all, the tensions with the kingdom near us means that the nobles will most likely want to be with my parents during this time.

July 31st — critique
266 words

First of all, let me just say that when I first read your piece, I was completely shocked. I could really feel the emotions “in the air” because of your amazing use of descriptions. It has a fantastic job of character development, especially given how brief the narrative is. Awesome job!

I thought your use of the emotion was beautifully portrayed throughout the work, so I felt somewhat even attached to your characters, even though I knew nothing about them and their dialogue. The interactments between the character are almost real, and slowly, the plot thickens around this base.

Overall, this is an emotional piece that I liked reading and honestly couldn't find anything to pick at, other than the slightest grammar and spelling mistakes. The character interaction was excellent and really obvious. The story's flow was incredible! It's truly challenging to have these sorts of compositions flow smoothly with events that flow together, but this one did!

The storyline is incredibly interesting all around! I believe you did a good job of striking a balance between description and conversation, action, and scene-specific pace. The worldbuilding and tone are excellent, and I appreciated how the setting was quietly revealed piece by piece, gradually revealing to the reader.

That's about it! I would love to see more of this story since it is so heartfelt and sincere. One scenario included so many different feelings, and the final statement is really lovely. Great work! <3
__________

They move like gray shadows.

The members of the Royal Court are pacing around the dim throne room, seldom stopping, always talking, and never letting go of their heightened anxieties.

The Court’s powers have been vanishing for a long time –, though truth to be told, the Crimson Wanderer’s not quite certain of how exactly that is; without the Clocksmith, time seems to be at a standstill.

And every day, there are is buzzing chatter about the state of things. Theories about how these liminal realities are fraying at the edges of their seams, how the Void is swallowing every particle of every level whole. There’s no denying that there is indeed something ominous poised to strike.

“I can’t get around Levels as easily now,” a voice besides him suddenly says.

He turns, startled, but it is just the Keymaster, gazing worriedly at his interconnected rings of keys.

“The Level Keys are malfunctioning too,” he continues darkly, fidgeting with the said keys absently. “I- I can’t-”

“I know. I hear the other wanderers call for help…”

And he never answers them. The Backrooms have shifted beyond his ability’s comprehension to comprehend; he cannot ever seek out the desperate voices begging for life, and that haunts him to his core. What is the point of being a great warrior if you can't save anybody anyone?

The Keymaster gazes over at him, his teal eyes soft with sympathy.

“It’ll be fine, Claudius,” he says, and then he takes ahold of the knight’s armored hand, but the Crimson Wanderer can hear the doubt piercing through his voice.

“I don’t know if that’s true, but there’s no need for anything else on your part.”

He tries. He hopes it will work. Will it, really?

—

The other Court members occasionally exit and reenter the Hallowed Gate. But the Crimson Wanderer can tell that it becomes increasingly hard to do so, just as time becomes more difficult to perceive, entities and wanderers take on more hostility than known before, and dark matter becomes ever more consuming.

And the Keymaster returns one instance with a weary look in his eyes.

“Almost fell into the Void,” he says, and everyone else gawks at him in shock, because his noclipping skills are borderline legendary, but the Crimson Wanderer only sits in his own dark silence.

And so everyone stews within the Court, their inactivity in the grand scheme of things ever clear in their minds. Tension flares up: the King of Normality snaps at the Jester, while half of the Court resolutely ignores the Storyteller. Everyone can tell that the situation gets more desperate by the with each unperceivable moment.

One day – no one could tell how many days were passing by now, but the term still stands – the Crimson Wanderer was, true to his name, wandering the areas of the Hallowed Gate. And then he heard heavy footsteps in the direction of the armory, footsteps that were all too familiar.

Moving as quietly as his armored frame could allow, he makes his way over towards in that direction, and catches a glimpse of the Keymaster’s dark coat flashing out of sight as he enters the armory. The Crimson Wanderer opted to simply eavesdrop instead, not wanting to have to answer questions, because that has never worked when this came.

“Kei’,” the Keymaster begins, and the Crimson Wanderer knows who he is speaking to, far too well.

“A Keymaster who finally has the nerves and foresight to seek me out,” a roaring voice rumbles with pride. “I would’ve never thought.”

He doesn’t reply to the statement, but only says, “Our reality is falling apart. That will not be in your best intentions.”

“Truth to be told, one reality disintegrating does not really matter to me,” Kei’ says, her voice taking on a trace of boredom.

From his voice, the Crimson Wanderer knew that the Keymaster was scowling. “Playing hard to get?”

“I’m just jesting.” A rather demonic-sounding laugh. “Though I do have to say, your arrogance-”

“I’ve heard enough about my arrogance.”

“Oh, really? Because I’m certain that’s why you’re here now, trying to convince me to give you more powers so that you can ostensibly restore this reality. What do you want to do, Keymaster? Break Claudius’s Crimson Heart all over again?”

The Crimson Wanderer startles at the last part. All these times he’d been here and , Kei’ has never said those two lines. In his shock, he slips, and the jingle of his armor reverberated across the empty space, absolutely unmuffled unlike before.

“And it looks like we have someone else here with us,” Kei’ says. “Wonder who it could be.?”

The Keymaster skids to a full stop outside the armory.

“Claudius…”

It’s the same, it’s the same, it’s the same and nothing will ever change this.

So the Crimson Wanderer stays silent as the Keymaster plows ploughs on.

“I’m sorry, but it’s for the best - ; this is not my decision to make!”

But he could take it no more: “It was always your decision! Have you learned nothing from last time, from Hubris? And I don’t know what’s been going wrong, because every single time I come back, the same thing happens.”

“W-what?”

“You’re making the same mistake time after time. I thought after all that happened with the Crown you’d be more wary of power, but…”

He trails off. And the Keymaster does not say a word in reply.

Then Kei’ emerges, sending the two into something that seemed like a blazing white void, pyramidal head bright and tentacles fluttering, and watches the two with something almost akin to amusement. But unlike before, there is something deeper, something closer to hope. “Tell him, Almighty Crimson Wanderer.”

“It’s…” – inside his mind, the Crimson Wanderer grasps for the term he had learned from the Clocksmith – “a time loop.”


It is the first time, although the Crimson Wanderer does not quite know it yet. The shouts reverabrate reverberate across the entirety of the Hallowed Gate, but their anger turns to horror when the Gate collapses.

Everything is dark and tangled in these ruins. Yet before the moment of oblivion, there is still a mind, a mind that aches with questions and thirsts for answers, a mind that is dazed from the betrayal of the past.

What did I do?

That is the Crimson Wanderer’s last thought as existence ebbs and fades around him.


The Keymaster watches silently, fidgeting with his keys, as his partner recounts the desperate time loop, his failure to hold together reality seven times because of the Keymaster’s actions. When the Crimson Wanderer finishes, no one says anything for a long moment.

Kei’ finally speaks after a sidelong glance at the Keymaster. “Do you want to know my mistake? My mistake was that I realized I was the puppeteer far too late.”

With a lazy flick of Kei’s many tentacles, the Keymaster is sent reeling across the strange white void with a rather sickening crash.

“Not that he’ll die from just that, of course. I saw to that. Avatar of my creation and all. But here’s the more important issue of…”

But to both of their shock, the Keymaster simply stands up and staggers shakily towards them.

“I’m sorry,” he manages out to say when he reaches where the Crimson Wanderer was standing next to Kei’s floating form. “I thought that it might be enough to save all of us, but I can’t, and that’s why I asked Kei’ to help me, but I would’ve never wanted it to be like- like last time-”

He breaks off with a pleading look, and at that moment both of them are more aware of their mortality – however distant it may be – than they have ever before been.

“It’s not your burden,” the Crimson Wanderer finally says, and takes taking his limp hand. Something seems to dissolve within him at that instant, like a knot being untangled. And he can see that the Keymaster seems to be more at ease, too, his features shedding the anguish that had held on.

Kei’ gazes at the two of them as they talk, not seeming surprised. “Alright.”

With a flash, the sights of the Hallowed Gates come came flashing back as the essence of Kei’ disappeared, leaving only the deity’s voice.

“You truly have the spirit of Jaga’dain, Claudius, for better or for worse.”

Slowly, the Crimson Wanderer feels the familiar gripes of liminal reality, however anomalous it may be, rushing back; this is the world he is familiar with, this is the world he is destined to serve.

“Do your job well, Keymaster,” Kei’ adds, and the Keymaster dips his head in silent agreement. Then the echoes of the voices in the chamber fades, leaving only the gold-plated armory behind.

The Crimson Wanderer can’t couldn't quite bring himself to look at his partner, to orspeak, before he was swept up in an embrace. One can surely wonder how a haughty keeper could’ve ever fallen in love with a quiet knight who had shown no one a glimpse of the sight underneath beneath the armor.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

In the end, it matters not who says which; the Backrooms continue with their existence just as the two lovers of the Court continue with theirs.

CD's Thank You Notes <33

Hello to anyone and everyone that happens to see this- these are my thank you notes for the July session of Scratch Writing Camp 2023.
I've never really written proper thank you's before- I've always wanted to but have never had the time. I'm glad to be doing these now.
So, without further ado, here we go!

General Thank You's

Hosts

You're probably tired of hearing this, host team, but SWC would NOT be the same without all of you. You guys are the most iconic, insanely cool and talented people ever. I really hope that you all know how much we appreciate everything that you do. Thank you. Thank you for being the fuel in the furnace of SWC. We couldn't burn (commit arson) without you.

Daily Team

How does the daily team always manage to bring the most creative dailies and weeklies to the table every single session? It's truly insane, and I think your incredibleness is reflected in how much everyone loves the activities. Every weekly was interesting and informative, every daily was either a fond callback to a SWC tradition or an exciting new activity. They were all so cool. Thank you for giving up your time and brain cells for us!

Memory Book Committee

Honestly, being a part of this is so much fun. It's an honour to be able to create a part of something that we'll all be able to look back on fondly- thank you for the opportunity. And thank you, everyone else, for creating frankly beautiful pages and designs! I can't wait for the book to come out

Sorters and Quails!

Without you guys, we wouldn't be able to have the camp. You do an incredible job- this session, EVERY SINGLE CAMPER got a request! That is insane! Thank you all so much, we really, really appreciate all of your work <3

Writing Competition Judges and Panel!

Oh my. This is such a massive task, and you always do a spectacular job- getting out really thoughtful results in an unbelievably short time frame! I don't know how you do it- thank you <33

Individual Thank You's

Horror Cabin

Ash. You amazingly incredible awesome person. You are so, so cool, oh my gosh.
When I looked at leader apps, I was not only looking at interesting answers, but I was looking for- this is going to sound so dumb lol- the vibes. As soon as I read your first answer, I knew definitively that you indeed had, the vibes. Not only that, but we had similar interests, similar ways of leadership and we ended up working really well together. I'm so glad that we were able to work together on Horror.
Thank you for putting up with my inactivity during my exam week. Thank you for going along with an idea for a theme that many would have been confused about or disliked. Thank you for your patience with my slow workflow and very last-minute style of getting things done.
Honestly, I can't say enough good things about you. You are just so, so epic and cool. I hope we get to stay in touch <33

Horror Campers

Bats, you are possibly one of the most talented writers I know. Not only do you add an insane number of words consistently (and I mean insane! You've absolutely smashed your word goal three times), but you also always provide proof that I'm excited to read. I don't often have time to go through others' writing, but yours is something really special. Despite you saying that you weren't very active in-cabin (and perhaps not loving the theme hehe) I think that you are an instrumental part of out little community. Thank you

Nyx. I've seen you around a lot around camp in previous sessions, so it was cool to engage with you more! Even though you say that you weren't too up-to-date on out storyline, your presence in camp was really felt. You're just a really chill person. Thanks for being in Horror
(+ your writing comp entry was sick lol)

Ash. (@tandiates this time lol) Honestly, you seem like the most steady, reliable and cool person I've met in a while. You've always participated in camp events, always done Main Cabin activities, always just been around and been cool! I do remember being in a cabin with you in the past- actually, I'm pretty sure it was the Horror of last year, led by Luna xD (the arcade?) It was lovely to see you again! Tysm for everything <33

Misty! I regret not talking to you much, because you were so instrumental in our cabin's standings. Not only do you consistently do activities, but you were also absolutely instrumental in helping us succeed in cabin wars. Honestly, you're a big part of why we didn't lose a war the second time around! Thank you do much for your contributions <3

Ani. Ani, you are really, really cool. Probably the most invested in our storyline, I really appreciated your enthusiasm for the votes. And your in-cabin dailies were incredible! The Swinger is such a cool character- I loved how you took her out of her original ‘habitat’ and put her through other locations. In general, your contributions were epic. You're also always so energetic and excited! Thank you <3

To the rest of Horror, I may not have interacted with you much, but you are all amazing, and it was an honour to lead you this session <3

Honorary Horror Campers ;)

@-SimplyWatermelon-, your insane commitment to a cabin that wasn't yours is crazy to me xD I feel so insanely honoured to have had our cabin's storyline liked enough by someone that they actively engage in the storyline! Any time I saw your comments, I felt happy and proud- you really, really made me glad that the storyline was liked by someone I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much <3

@-Winter_Skys-, again, your supportive comments kept me engaged in my own storyline xD It is honestly such a compliment to have other people pop in, and you were always present and energetic, really feeding excitement into the storyline. Thank you for all you've done!

@Snuggle1267, I didn't interact with you as much as the others, but again! You were always present, you were always feeding into the supposed vibes of the current location. Your interactions were invaluable, thank you so much

Leaders, Cos and Campers!

Sun, you are honestly insanely cool. I don't know how you do it- being a host, being in charge of updating the main cabin AND leading a cabin? That's not even considering irl responsibilities. You're incredible, and we could not have a semblance of the Main Cabin without you! Thank you for everything <33

Luna! We didn't chat much this session, but I wanted to make a callback to last year. I was in Horror (is it going to become a July tradition for me? lol ) under you, and it was one of the best sessions ever. You're just really awesome, and I hope we can chat more again

Alana, I am in so much debt to you this session. From helping me with thumbnails months ago to hosting the Memory Book to helping with incredibly mundane questions (wow I didn't know how to reply to comments xD), your help has been so incredibly invaluable. Thank you so much <3

CJ, multiple times throughout the session I've messed up somewhere- whether it be adding or submitting points. You're always proactive and friendly in helping. I really appreciate it all!

Lio, Syze, Alia, Aurora and September: I can't thank you enough for volunteering to help out in Horror's storyline at such a short notice. The finale was perfect, and all of your contributions really shaped that last day. It was incredible, it really made me emotional. Thank you so, so much <333

Also, Sandy, Rockie and Summer- even though I didn't tell you to comment anything, or even explain what our finale would be about, you chimed in perfectly with the finale. I don't know how it happened- did you pop in, see what was going on and decide to join? xDD However it happened, it was amazing. I laughed out loud when I saw the comments. Thanks!

Sofi! It's been so, so cool seeing you accepted as a co this session! You were an amazing Adventure camper and an amazing Tragedy co. I find it kind of funny how you've gone from Adventure (first alphabetically) to Tragedy (last alphabetically) and also from last place to first xD Great job!

Fi, we didn't really talk, but I just want some appreciation for your incredible meme app. Here. Take the appreciation.

Niko- again, we didn't talk (dang, I need to start being more social) or interact at all, pretty much, but your app was amazing and wish we could have gotten to know each other and work together <3 I wasn't stalking your work no no why would I do that :00 Hopefully we can chat more soon!

Of course, I have to mention the amazing, the incredible Eevee. I'm so glad that we got back into chatting a bit again, honestly you're so much fun and just really cool xD Hope we can keep up together hehe

@Caramel107, I hope you enjoyed a little taste of SWC. Can't wait to see you in November > (and around lol)

Every single leader, co and cabin was (and still is!) really, truly, incredibly awesome. This is the best community that I've ever been in because of you. Every cabin theme and storyline was amazing and intriguing. Every leader and co pulled off their cabin incredibly. You guys are all so, so, so cool. <333

Thank you )
- CD

hosts
adding another to your pile, even though I'm sure you're tired of hearing it :') from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much; thank you for making SWC into what it is, thank you for giving me a chance as leader, thank you for being so patient with us, thank you for everything <3 it really blows me away how much you guys work and organize for our camp. even though I haven't interacted with all of you much, you are all truly so iconic, talented, friendly, helpful, etc. without you guys, where would we be right now — I hope you understand how much you are appreciated. have a great (rest of the) summer and please finally relax from our chaos!

daily team
the people behind the most creative and fun activities ever this session was truly great, thank you for dedicating your time for our incredible experience <3 the ideas behind dailies and weeklies are so unique and the camp wouldn't really be where it is. without your brilliant concepts every session, we all know it wouldn't be as wonderful. you're all very encouraging and supporting, thank you for helping make another magnificent session!! hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, thank you so much, once again!

mbc
tysm for dedicating all that time in creating such beautiful pages and even a giant masterpiece. looking forward to the memory book, have an amazing rest of the summer

sorters + quails
you all did such an incredible job, thank you all so much, we really appreciate it <3

crim
gosh. crim, thank you so much for helping me create such a wonderful cabin and enjoy such a great session together — you are such an amazingly, incredible person! you seemed like such a good friend, the second I offered you the role, I already knew what fun we would (all) have. thank you for being patient and putting up with me, I truly apologise if I said anything to act disrespectful to you. thanks for making my first leader experience the best it could possibly been <3 you've worked so hard in planning and contributing to our cabin!
I really can't thank you enough — I loved working with you, hope we get to stay in touch

wave
wave, you are such a creative, talented, epic person, and I love that! thank you for all your help in making this session amazing. I really enjoyed working with you, it was incredible <3 thank you for putting up with my mess and staying patient, I want to apologise for anything disrespectful acts I've done towards you, and thank you for making my first leading experience unbelievable! you've dedicated and contributed toward our cabin so much, thank you, truly. It was amazing working with you, hope we get to stay in touch ^^

real-fi campers
you are all one of the best, most talented writers I have met, and people in general. not only are you guys so active, you were one of the main campers who helped create such a wonderful cabin and session! you all are so special and are such a big part of this community. I feel proud to be your leader and truly apologise if I made mistakes and possibly hurt you, none of it was my intention. I may have not interacted with some of you, but you are all so cool <3 thank you so much, hope to see you next session!

anyone else I haven't included — writing comp judges, honoraries, leaders, cos, mercenaries, etc.
camp is already over :'0 the month has truly gone by fast and it's already the last day! everyone has been so active in not only writing, but making memories. thank you for everything you've done for the camp, even just popping in to say hello. you have made a great difference in camp and are part of this wonderful community of writers. I'm truly grateful, thanks <3

hope to see everyone next session!!

a critique for the marvelous moonlit (moonlitseas)! 503 words

Hands. Their fingers trickle along the horizon, a smudge of black ink across a steady sea of fading blue, rising beyond the still lukewarm ashes of lives once snatched. To the heart behind the hands, surely an eternity had past since the flames had begun to burn so brightly, since an ember had flown through the air to ignite an inferno to be. Yet to the one who forever dances a breathe beyond arm’s reach, merely yesterday had it been when she gazed upon the stars, her aureate brushstrokes sweeping across a glistening sky.

this imagery is gorgeous! though a bit unclear and purple prose-y at times. you’ve used a lot of commas as well, which is not neccesarily a bad thing, but it adds to the unclarity. would suggest switching up some of the punctuation and making a few of the sentences shorter.

Innocent, they had been had been, in perhaps the way only children could truly be, with hearts of spun gold and naive, playful dreams. They had been young, girls fascinated by that which she could never hope to hold in hands of her own, girls who would forever gaze upon the stars, as if they could someday all be theirs. Together, they were to paint a picture across the awaiting sky, a land of Daniella’s fairy tales, of Isabelle’s idealistic fantasies, of a world clasped within intertwined fingers.

the action here is much clearer, and it leads nicely into the italicized story. but i would still recommend splitting some sentences for greater variety in their length. multiple long sentences in a row can get tiring, but varying them allows for breaks as well as adding emphasis.

To paint a picture…

“The stars,” Daniella whispered, her words twisting into miniscule tendrils weaving through the hazy night air, “they still shine…”

your language is very pretty, and paints a very clear image in my mind, but it doesn’t justify its own existence. i have to wonder what it means, so it ends up distracting me from the story itself. i love pretty language, but here it just confuses me.

“Bright as ever,” Isabelle murmured, her eyes cast upon her younger sister, attention far from the distant spheres of light. Those gorgeous round eyes, they still shone bright as ever, oblivious to that which creeps in from the horizon, the distant melody of swords, of daggers and quick witted blades. It was quiet, back then, a mere echo of the symphony to one day be, but it was enough. Enough to hold them captive in their own backyard, their mother afraid to venture to the market for fresh goods, their father afraid to venture into town, if only to find work. Soon, there would only be one sort of work to be found – that of a soldier.

more beautiful language! my suggestion from before still stands — vary your sentence length more.

“A story,” her sister whispered, voice still hushed among the night winds, “the stars tell a story, don’t they, Isa?” Daniella hesitated, her eyes dancing from the sky to her sister’s glazed over eyes, then back again – waiting ever so patiently for a response, waiting for a yes, the one that would mean the world. Yet Isabelle was lost among the stars, lost in some faraway fantasy – perhaps one written in those illuminating bodies – so as her hopeful eyes fell, Daniella continued.

i love the relationship we get to see here! these sisters know each other so well, and are clearly close, yet there is still a distance between them.

“The lion king, he roars,” she began, her smile returning as she imagined his crown, a golden headpiece set with the finest of rubies. A fierce treasure, for a fierce king – or so, she thought. “The hunter, he befriend the lion. They’re friends now, and the hunter is his very best knight. He rides on Pegasus, the winged horse with the pretty white mane, and they get along very well too. The king gave them both golden armor, to protect them in the battle to defend his kingdom…”

nice distinction between the voice of the dialogue and the voice of the narrator.

Daniella was right – a story, the stars would always tell, but to Isabelle, it was a story of candles in the dark, of hope in a world where fear crept ever closer, a portrait of what the world could be, if only children like her believed in their dreams. She dreamt of a peace, of a world where she could run through the meadow, flowers in hand, beneath a smiling sun, of a world where they could skip through the market, just beyond arms’ reach of their mother, of a world where all of children could truly live as children, a fairy tale as far off as Daniella’s magical land.

again, very pretty language, but i’m not sure as a reader what i am supposed to focus on or find meaning in. what matters here and what doesn’t?

Still, their stories would forever watch from the sky.

what a comforting concept, speaking to what makes these moments so important to the sisters.

“Isabelle,” she had asked, retrieving her sister’s attention from the world it had wandered to, “will you paint me a picture?

“A picture,” Isabelle wondered, her voice light and curious, “a picture of the stars?” To paint a picture would be to preserve a moment in time, to capture something fleeting in a moment that would last forever. But to paint a picture of the sky – a portrait that would forever await their gaze – would capture a moment in the a moment in the artists’ heart, a moment in their wistful hopes.

more of their relationship! but the prose raises more questions for me here — who is the narrator, and why do they know these things, and why are they telling them to the reader? some of this may make more sense coming from isabelle’s mouth.

“A picture of our story,” Daniella smiled, “the one we see in the sky. I want you to paint me a story… a story about the lion’s kingdom, about his faraway world. About what we know in our hearts and see with our eyes, even from way down here, where even the winged horse could never reach us.”

“And if it could never be real? If the fires should lick our canvas, devouring our beautiful work, if the blade should be wielded to slice from our hearts, if the smoke should obscure the world we’ve created?”

the style of speaking in this dialogue is not very consistent with the previous pieces of dialogue, much more reminescient of the prose. though it’s very nice, in order to keep consistency, i’d probably strip some of the adjectives and clauses. unless it was on purpose, to show the characters growing more similar to the narrator?

“Then we’ll have to paint it again, together,” she answered, something within her voice well beyond her years.

oh maybe it really was her becoming more like the narrator?

“It could never be the same-”

“But our picture, it will always be something beautiful.” Daniella paused, if only to let the words sink in, as would paint upon paper, before she added, “Will you paint a picture with me?”

“Of the world of our dreams?”

“Of the world of our dreams.”

oooo that end is creepy! i don’t know why, just the image it leaves in my mind of two sisters repeating something to each other under the stars after both becoming a little older seming… gives me chills.

my main piece of feedback, as you can probably guess, is that you should cut some description and vary the sentence lengths and structure more. this is, however, just my own taste, and everything here is very pretty! i would also suggest making it a bit clearer — i came away confused, mostly, and slightly unsettled by my uncertain interpretation of the end.
specifically as a leader-app excerpt, this displays your skill with language and character and your ability to weave story into description. it’s a quick read, but certainly leaves the reader feeling they understand you as a writer better!

drift's story In a deep lonely part of the ocean, an unconscious siren sinks deeper and deeper. he looks like a blue dragon sea slug merman

as he sinks he is slowly turning human

everything goes black. My banishment from the island didn't feel real until I nearly drowned

sirens don't drown.
A rocky island. There are many people there who have some small features of sea creatures and they all look extremely beautiful. They are sirens

the sirens are arguing about a kraken and are glaring acusingly at a cage probably made of a whale skeleton holding a siren with blue sea dragon sea slug features

the one who seems to be the queen calls for quiet

a siren with tears in her eyes begs for her son to be let go

the queen curls her lip: This is what you get for your fascination with sailors. (Mockingly) Two songs joined in one to form a life. How poetic (in disgust) Humans can’t sing and the siren song is supposed to destroy life not create it. The kraken is angry that there is one among us who was not born of the song of sea and sky.

another siren “and it’s probably punishing us because she let that sailor go!”

The mother: punish me not my son

siren in cage: mom no!

queen: there’s no need for punishment. We’ll make a proper siren out of you. No more trying to get out of destroying ships. I want to see a gleam of pleasure in your eyes as you watch men’s life fade.

the mother: just spare my son he is innocent

the queen: if he is innocent then he is definitely not a siren. No no I will do nothing. I will only pass him into the judgment of the kraken
the eyes of the other sirens widen

cage siren: what’s going on? How is the kraken gonna judge me?

One who looks like a sorcerer healer: we haven’t used the kraken ink in so long are you sure?


yeah this desperately needs help-

LITERALLY JUST A MASSIVE DUMP OF A BUNCHA RANDOM WRITING AND ROLEPLAYING AAAAAAA

This was, what, the nineteenth time in the past three days? Again and again, Wild had paced by the future July Main Cabin. Not out of impatience, exactly, just… anticipation. It had been under construction for what felt like forever, even though it had actually only been a few months. But this time, as Wild approached, something felt… different. A tingle of excitement lingered in the air like magic. At that exact moment, the cabin's front door came into Wild's view. Could it be…? Yes, oh yes, it was! It was open at last! Letting loose a screech of delight, Wild launched themself into the air and swooped in, their wingtips brushing the edges of the doorframe as they careened into the vast, open space within the massive building. “SCRATCH WRITING CAMP, JULY EDITION, LET'S gOoOoOoo!!!!” they sang out to the whole world as they looped around the ceiling. “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” It was gonna be a good month.

Wild staggers into the Main Cabin, a slightly crazed grin curving across their face. July was tantalizingly close. They could practically smell the mangoes already. ‘Any second, I’ll get my cabin assignment,' they thought to themself excitedly, foaming with the pungent energy of tense anticipation. ‘But on the other hand… I want this moment to last as long as possible. I am consumed by suspense. My heart beats to the sound of typing, my brain’s only thoughts are those of writing! I GET CABIN WAR SLEEP DEPRIVATION IN MY DREAMS.' They check the clock. 4:16 am. ‘AND I’M ALREADY PREPARING MY SLEEP SCHEDULE!!'

Wild scans their computer screen, realizing they somehow had 18 tabs open for Scratch Writing Camp. Already. And they were all a huge mess. “Ughh, I gotta get these in order before camp starts,” they groan. “Why is tab management sO hArD?!” Plus, there were replies to make, cabinmates to be introduced to, and a writing Doc to be set up. Also comments to stalk. “Where do I even start…” they wonder…

Wild sits in a back corner of the Main Cabin, quietly observing the room. The air is thick with anticipation. Countless other campers crowd the room, some chatting, some pacing, and many shouting with excitement. Others wait in silence with bated breath, watching the minutes pass. 30 minutes, then 20 minutes. Now 10. “Hype meters are going off the charts,” Wild says, unable to suppress the smile spreading across their face, even as their voice is lost in the commotion. “Final countdown time.”

“YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” Wild cheered as the massive clock in the Main Cabin announced midnight UTC. All around them, a frenzy of motion and sound rose into the sky, the combined energy of dozens of campers flaring to life as a singular voice. “IT HAS BEGUN!!!!”40



Hello there, to one and all / It is due time I pay a call / On my cabin, to which I say / I have arrived, here to stay / Now, if you don't yet know my name / Why, call me Wild, and my aim / Is to have a great session here! / Full of writing, friends, and cheer! / This is my fifth session now / And I can't wait to witness how / This session goes, except one thing- / Why must I be forced to sing? / All my comments will be like this / Until the curse ceases to exist…

Thank you, thank you, I have to say / It takes a long time / To make everything rhyme / But it's more fun that way >
Wild pauses to re-read the daily posted in the Main Cabin. “Okay, can we all please appreciate that the daily team worded this in the most disturbing possible way- I mean, ‘deep recesses,’ ‘regurgitate,’ ‘scrumptious vomited words,’ and ‘slurp,’ really?” They laugh. “It's a work of art.”
“Guys, do you think I should I do writing or art right now?” Wild poses the question to a group of campers hanging around in the Main Cabin. “Or just be lazy and procrastinate. Because that's always an option, too.”
“Someone please dare me to get this stupid art project done,” Wild vocalizes in frustration. “It's the only way I'll be motivated at this point…” They growl under their breath. The art program they were using had deleted hours of their progress, and they were still somewhat annoyed, and even more so exhausted by the thought of having to redo everything. Still, the project was for the 4th of July, and that meant it had to be finished no matter what.
“Daily for Lyric, 481 words,” Wild breathed in relief as they plopped their writing down. It had not gone as well as they had hoped, and they hadn't finished the whole scene yet, but at least they had met the requirements for the daily in time. They could always go back and complete it later.
“Daily for Lyric!” Wild announces, entering the Main Cabin. “I have no doubt that these 231 words will succeed in convincing y'all to buy a smoothie-filled water-balloon launcher that allows you to drink smoothies by throwing them directly into your face! I mean, the power of never being bored by a smoothie again? It's IRRESISTIBLE!” Wild proclaims, then laughs, shaking their head. “This prompt always turns out so dumb, it's hilarious-”
“Wait, is this the first or second day of the bi-daily-” Wild squints in confusion. They had officially lost all track of time and couldn't even remember what day it was.
“It is NEVER too late to start roleplaying,” Wild answers with conviction, spreading their wings in a display of confidence. “If it's more fun to communicate this way, then by all means, DO IT. Plus, July's still going, so heyyy, freeee wordssssss!!” >:3

Wild tilts their head, their eye glinting in the strange, shadowy light of the library as they flash a sly grin toward Ember. Slowly, deliberately, they turn and disappear into the rows of bookshelves, not saying a word.

“Huh, it's almost exactly 1 PM for me-” Wild comments, still somehow weirded out by timezones. “But, uh, here, have some sleep mangoes…” They materialize a backpack out of thin air and fumble a container out of it. They glance at the label to check that it's the right one, then toss it to you.

“Ughhh, this bi-dailyyyyy,” Wild moans. “I keep getting coming up with these REALLY great lyrics for pieces of songs, but then COMPLETELY blanking out after that- I am not exaggerating when I say that I have fourteen scraps of different song ideas, none of which fit together.” They flop onto their back with a dramatic sigh, staring listlessly upward at the ceiling of the Main Cabin. After a few moments of silence, they add: “It really doesn't help that my brain is trying to go in four different directions at once. I got one side rooting for an upbeat, fast-paced, chaotic song, and another staying stuck in the idea of something more slow and heartfelt, written from one of my character's POVs. Then there's an entire faction set up to support a song set during an apocalypse. And one singular but outspoken braincell screaming at me to write about writing itself.” And due to this impasse, their brain decided to compromise and procrastinate by roleplaying instead, apparently.

“I'm thinking about that, actually-” Wild replies. Right now, they were in the ‘throw down every single disjointed lyric that comes into their head, yeeting any semblance of plot or structure into oblivion’ stage of their struggle. Although, had there ever truly been a plot to begin with? It was driving them insane. “Perhaps I could write a song about confusion and madness… THAT would certainly be relatable.”

“Well, we'll see it how it goes,” Wild gives an unstable laugh. “At this point, anything could happen-”

“At last. 387 words of pure suffering.” Wild stares forward, their gaze intense but vacant. It was going to take them a while to fully snap out of the world they had locked themselves into in order to complete this prompt. “And yet, somehow, I enjoyed it. Ended up writing about the insanity of writer's block. Please dump your 500 points on Lyric now.”
♬ CaaAaAabIn WaRrrRrrsssss ♬
Hhhhh, has it really been almost a full month since I've touched this thread- Sorry about that, Half-Canon's been… somewhat messed up lately- I've been too reliant on Chaos, Rain's been bitter and distant (yes, there's a difference between that and their usual demeanor, you can tell if you know them well enough), and River and Eclipse have gotten shoved aside again and again- Heck, I've barely heard from Eclipse since Escape Speed– Silence is staying away for the most part, and Chervil is the only one keeping things together and also not entirely under Chaos's control— The root cause is me and my priorities, of course, but you see the problem here. I'm going to try to revamp this thread, and shazarxae in general, with some new updates, but I've gotta concentrate on repairing Half-Canon first. And to do that, I'm probably going to have to get through this school year first so I can actually focus on all that mental health stuff that I just don't have time for otherwise. Therefore, don't expect too much out of this thread for a while. Also yes, I do still have that finished mini-essay that only needs to be formatted; I'll try to send it soon. I may actually add more to it first, though, since I've changed some stuff since then.

Anyway, since you deserve at least a little actual content, here are some wolf shapeshifting shenanigans (some canon, some not):
Doppelgänger: Shifting to look like someone else, Blood does this to Hurricane in canon
Rejects: Shifting other species into wolves, it doesn't always work out perfectly, and can thus be both horrifying and comedic- Chaos does this in canon, not sure if I can stretch canon enough to meme her for this audio clip though
Clones: Shifting a bunch of others to look like one specific wolf, it could be so cool, and there are so many different applications
A Mask of My Own Face: A shapeshifter pretending to have shifted into the form of another shapeshifter, but they're actually in their original form
Copycat: I know of two different pieces of audio with this title, and I plan on using BOTH for the wolves- I was thinking one for Blood/Hurricane, and the other for Shard/Chaos, and to avoid spoilers, I'm linking nor explaining NEITHER
Upgrading: As of yet, the wolves are not advanced enough to target specific genes, but if they coulddddd- essentially superpowers, species hybrids, etc. are all within the realm of possibility, this would be an epilogue thing if it was canon though
This is probably my favorite world-building aspect to mess around with, especially since gene editing in real life is an awesome topic and this is kind of the opposite of that while still being the same idea- Tell me if you have any cool/ridiculous/brain-cell-destroying concepts, I'd love to mess around with this more, since it really doesn't get used enough in canon as of yet. Also, if you remember back toward the beginning of this thread when I was talking about Sheer and Shard and what experimentation Chaos could have done with them, well… stay tuned, I've been working on that >;3
“Revisions: Rewriting the Wolf Arc for Like the Fourth Time Now”

I've been thinking of extending the FableTrio-focused wolf plotline to cover a larger timespan. I don't like having a huge period of tension, then only one big climax where everything is resolved at once. The pacing would be way too unbalanced. Besides, I also want each wolf to have a very separate character arc so that they can each develop individually. Also, I think the relationships between the siblings are not tested enough, nor does Blood get enough screentime to show her descent into madness, nor are the stakes high enough throughout most of the plot.

Now, I don't have an exact plan of how I want to revise this storyline, but here's a potential frame for the chronological order of events.

Briny Pack and Sliver Pack share a territorial border due to Briny conquering whatever land backed up to Sliver's. However, the two Packs aren't hostile quite yet. Maroon, leader of Briny Pack, is analyzing Sliver for weaknesses, however.

In Sliver Pack, Summit is the leader, but is awful to Blood. (I'm thinking they're either going to be siblings or ex-mates.) In fact, Summit might try to disguise the existence of Blood and her curse altogether, keeping her hidden from the public eye.

Hurricane is a member of a Pack that Sliver Pack had conquered and claimed ownership of. He's the Storyteller, and is rather well-known, basically the wolf equivalent of a celebrity. Summit promotes him to be part of his court. Hurricane initially accepts, but as he gets to know Summit, the two become enemies and he “retires.” He goes into hiding for a while to avoid any retaliation from Summit. However, during this time, Blood learns about Hurricane (possibly watching him secretly in morphed form), her curiosity quickly turning to obsession. She finds him, and he is at first terrified and repulsed by her, but she wins him over. Summit finds out and is furious. Hurricane and Summit quarrel, ending with Hurricane and Blood escaping Sliver Pack, in exile.

I'm pretty sure I've already gone over what happens in Hurricane and Blood's relationship at this point- Extreme highs, extreme lows, entirely too much passionate relationship drama for me to be comfortable with, but long story short, the FableTrio is born, but not too long after, Blood leaves. Plot-wise, this is viewed through the eyes of the young wolves, so Blood's intentions are unclear to the viewer, but she and Hurricane both know. Hurricane is a mess for a few days after that, but he decides to go after her. He dumps his three pups in one of Sliver's sub-Packs on the outskirts of the territory. (In ancestry terms, the members of this Pack are actually more closely related to the Pack in which Maroon was born, but they're less geographically close. Not an important plot point, though. Just world-building.)

Somehow or other, I want Legend to be separated from his siblings and end up in Briny Pack. This will likely happen in some border skirmish, although I'm still undecided on whether it's his choice or not. (It probably will be? It seems more like him, but I'm not sure yet. This isn't one of the parts that his role as a tribute character influences.)

Now begins the Maroon/Legend mentorship arc I've talked about in the past. He is sent to the sub-Pack that serves as Maroon's “capital city,” continuing to rise in prestige until he captures the attention of Maroon herself. As I explained in the mini-essay about Maroon, he becomes her apprentice. (I think I'd like Maroon to have held some sort of contest to determine who she would train as her successor. In-Pack competitions that aren't outright battles are something that I want to add to the wolf civilizations' world-building. Training arcs and all.)

Meanwhile, in Sliver Pack, Chaos is dealing with having inherited the shapeshifting curse. Her arc deals heavily with Half-Canon and is laced with secrecy. A lot of what happens with her happens within her own brain. She doesn't let anyone know about what she can do. At this point, she is very submissive and timid, not at all like the Chaos you're familiar with. She's a bit of an oddball due to spending so much time in her own head, leading others to make fun of her or think she's crazy.

Meanwhile, Glory makes friendships and gains respect in the sub-Pack that Hurricane left him in. He's friendly with Chaos and sticks up for her, but they're not super close, especially as she fades into the background compared to his extrovertedness. He is ambitious and rises to moderate levels of power within the sub-Pack. He gains public favor through his criticisms of Summit, who is not a good leader. (Since I'm switching Glory to being raised in Sliver Pack instead of how I had previously structured this story with him in Briny Pack, I'm probably going to have Rust, Slash, and the others also be in Sliver. They're more crucial to Glory's arc than Maroon's. I'll probably make up new characters for Maroon's inner circle.)

This is when the Sliver-Briny war begins. This series of events, instead of being the climax, is merely a way to do character development for the FableTrio- completing their “origin stories,” if you will. Chaos meets Chervil and the lynxes (yes they're relevant now), and this marks the turning point in Chaos's mindset, where she really starts working on that personal philosophy that you probably know her for. Maroon trains Legend into a powerful warrior, but their relationship deteriorates as Legend gets sick of Maroon's constant expectations, orders, and thirst for power. He realizes how broken the wolves' “government” system is. Legend and Glory end up meeting face-to-face in battle, but recognize each other and don't fight. Chaos reconnects with Legend as well, and the two form a bond.

Long story short, the final battle between the two Packs ends with Maroon defeating Summit, but in the process, finding out about Legend's mixed loyalties, as he refuses to fight his siblings. This is when you get the epic fight between Maroon and Legend where Maroon gets defeated, but Legend does not follow tradition by stepping up to being the leader. I might space this out into two separate events, as I don't want the argument leading up to the EpicDuo fight to be such a public thing, only the fight itself. It's a very personal thing for these two characters, as they're falling apart as friends as well as colleagues.

Legend then leaves the Packs entirely, going into voluntary exile to get away from all the violence. I'm not sure where I'm sending Maroon at this point, but I need her to stay relevant for just a bit longer. I also don't know what I want Blood and Hurricane to have been doing this whole time, but I can figure out roles for them later. They'll be relevant as well, don't worry!

Meanwhile, Summit tries to use the disarray in Briny Pack to reclaim power. Glory speaks out against him, getting himself and Chaos exiled. However, he had won the support of a significant number of wolves in Sliver Pack, and this causes a massive divide in the Pack, so yep, revolution time. Glory goes out and retrieves Legend, recruiting his help in the battle. Also on his side is Blood. This gives Chaos the chance to reveal her curse to someone who actually understands it. She probably also reveals it to Legend and Glory at this time. Family bonding!

So then there's this whole big thing of preparing for war, gathering supplies, making allies, etc. I won't go into too much detail because I haven't worked it all out yet, but the attack is launched, they win, Summit is exiled, and Glory is expected to rise to leader, but gives the position to Blood instead. “Wait,” Legend says. “You're just setting up a new government? Don't you see history repeating itself?!” (“You want to be a hero, Tommy? THEN DIE LIKE ONE-” /ref) and he goes on this destructive rampage, with the surprise help of Chaos's friends, the lynxes. Legend then escapes, which really angers Blood.

Blood is already pretty unstable at this point- I mean, she's been somewhat unhinged for a while now, ever since breaking up with Hurricane, really- but this is when the effects of the curse are particularly showcased. It ends up with her about to kill Chaos in order to get to Legend, when Hurricane intervenes, Chaos morphs snake, and kills Blood instead.

I haven't gotten much farther than this, but I think I want Maroon and Summit to team up around now. Everyone is sick of fighting and no wolf knows who to trust anymore. Maroon and Summit both still have loyal followers, as does Glory. All of them know that taking control for themselves will not only bring down the wrath of the other potential leaders, but also Legend, Chaos, Hurricane, and the lynxes. So Glory comes up with a compromise- the Pack splits three ways. Also, from now on, they will vote for future leaders instead of either mentor/apprentice succession or the outdated dueling-for-supremacy ritual. (In other words, wolves invent democracy. Welcome to world-building.) And the rest of Glory's arc as leader continues as always.

Legend and Hurricane continue to live by themselves in peace. Chaos is a messenger of sorts, going between the Packs, meeting with the turtles and lynxes, and hanging out with Legend and Hurricane. She also begins her, ah, “experiments.” Therefore, when she meets Breeze, morphs him into a wolf, and takes him to Glory's Pack, she can still remain a somewhat distanced mentor figure for him, as she isn't exactly a “member” of the Pack and doesn't live with them.

So yeah, that's a pretty rough overview for now. Since I just recently came up with this revised storyline, I'm likely going to change it more. I'm currently playing with the idea of not having Summit be the ultimate leader right from the start, instead having him be a leader of a sub-Pack who then rises to ultimate leader after the former leader is killed in battle with Maroon, so that Summit's more of a rival for Glory than an oppressor, but I'm not sure yet, as it would mess up several other things, so maybe not. Anyhow. Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions or notice any plot holes, please point them out! And as always, suggestions for future topics are always appreciated, too. Bye for now!
In the latest mini-essay, I mentioned “the idea of not having Summit be the ultimate leader right from the start, instead having him be a leader of a sub-Pack who then rises to ultimate leader after the former leader is killed in battle with Maroon, so that Summit's more of a rival for Glory than an oppressor.”

I have thought it over extensively and decided I am DEFINITELY doing this, but not in the way I was thinking when I wrote that. First, it'll be earlier in the timeline, therefore meaning that the former leader of Sliver wouldn't have been in battle with Maroon, since the two Packs weren't at war yet. This also ensures that Summit is the right age to only make the Summit x Maroon ship disturbing in OTHER ways. Second, Summit's rise to power is going to have a bigger impact on Hurricane than Glory, and this means far more backstory drama can be done.

I don't believe I've ever discussed it before, but I've had the essence of a relationship between Hurricane and Summit floating around in my brain for a while now, pretty much as long as I've had those characters. Hurricane is a bipolar Storyteller who is critical of the Pack's government. Summit is a domineering but charismatic lawful evil character in a position of governmental power. What could go wrong?

What I'm thinking of doing is having them come from different sub-Packs (I debated having them be brothers, but c'mon, there's way too much sibling angst in shazarxae already) and Summit learning of Hurricane first by Hurricane's rising-celebrity status, and then actually meeting him in-person when Hurricane travels to Summit's sub-Pack (a Storyteller's job requires them to do so). They actually become close friends, as neither has evolved into that unstable-hot-mess state yet. Of course, as the stirrings of revolution begin within Sliver Pack (the former leader is also going to be terrible, or at least ineffective), things get spicy. Summit says he wants to fix all the problems that everyone's upset about, and as he rises to power as the leader of his sub-Pack, he becomes eligible to challenge the ultimate leader. Hurricane believes what he says and uses his influence to sway public opinion in favor of Summit. Obviously, Summit wins and becomes the ultimate leader of Sliver Pack. However, corrupted by power, Summit doesn't fulfill his promises. Distance grows between Summit and Hurricane, and Hurricane, feeling betrayed, spreads anti-leader sentiments throughout the Pack, even while still “officially” being Summit's spokesperson. When Summit finds out he's being undermined by his former friend, he becomes enraged, confronts Hurricane, who also responds with fury, and boom, explosive drama perfect for setting the scene for FableTrio. Then, as previously planned, Blood enters the scene. (I'm going to assume Hurricane knew about her before Summit started hiding her from the rest of society. In fact, Hurricane probably revealed the secret of her existence to damage Summit's reputation, and that was the thing that alerted Summit to what Hurricane was doing.) Blood and Hurricane escape from Summit's wrath together, and thus a new relationship begins. …There's no way THIS one can end badly, right?

Anyway, I'm glad I did this. Hurricane and Summit are such fun dumpster fires, and the details of their relationship deserved some lore. They probably have the most intense, passionate, heated opposition in shazarxae, all because they're stubborn, massively dramatic, and equally mentally unstable. In a way, they're very similar (almost parallel?) characters who ended up on opposite sides of a larger conflict, until that conflict became very personal, leading them both to transform into the worst possible versions of themselves. (I could see a role-reversal AU not requiring too big of a stretch of the imagination.) Also, now there's even more backstory that supports the logical assumption that Hurricane's worldview influenced how he raised his pups, and that's why FableTrio wanted to destroy/rewrite the government didn't believe in the “traditional” concept of how wolf society should be run.

Also, yUp, I do indeed have some songs for ‘em, can’t link all of them because Chromebook YouTube is no longer my entire source of music, but here's what I got:
Leave Me Alone (Hurricane POV)
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Hurricane/Summit interacting POVs)
Hell's Comin' With Me (Hurricane/Narrator POV)
Black Sheep (Summit/Hurricane alternating/interacting POVs)
You'll Be Back (Summit POV)
…I now realize that TWO of those songs reference Hurricane as a black sheep, so, welp, guess I have a new keyphrase symbolism for him! (Literally this is how I do ALL my symbolizing; I may have a problem, now that I think about it-)

…

hmm, wait, group name– we goin' with HotMessDuo or SheepDuo? xD
Wild clears their throat, a mischievous glint in their eye. “I have decided to do some warmongering and let everyone know what time everyone else's shields go down. You're welcome.” They begin reading out a list:

“H e l p,” Wild wheezes, laughing so hard they could barely get the words out. “I- I just- I told my dad that today was Cabin Wars, and he thought I said ‘Crab Knorr’s,' I-” They dissolve into silent giggling, unsure why they found this so hilarious.

Wild pops their head into the Main Cabin for a moment. “Hey people, Hi-fi's shield is down if anyone wants to wage a bit of war…” Wild suggests with an evil smirk. “OH AND LIT-FI TOO~” Wild shouts from outside the Main Cabin, not wanting to interrupt their work of cataloging every cabin's shield times.
This may be 1 am foolishness, but hear me out-

Wholesome “Emerald” and Parsnip. And also Swift kinda being there, too.

I've already got a plot point where Swift is the one who appoints Parsnip to design and construct the canyon colony. Completely separately, I've played with the idea of making “Emerald” a builder, since our boy certainly isn't a warrior or a healer lol- But what if Parsnip and “Emerald” worked together? “Emerald” is this genuine, optimistic, flawed but good-hearted, somewhat shy, average dad figure, while Parsnip (at this point in time) is a hyperenergetic little prankster exploding with ideas, humor, and charisma. It'd be such an unlikely partnership, which is why it just might work- >:3

Swift and Parsnip already have this neat little connection, and I think it'd be cute to loop Swift's brother into it. It also might mean character development for “Emerald” and Swift's relationship, because how did “Emerald” end up working alongside a much younger shazarxa specifically chosen by his brother, anyway? Did Swift appoint both of them to the role at the same time? Or was he making some sort of point by making “Emerald” work for the fledgling Parsnip? Or did “Emerald” choose the task for himself, and it wasn't what Swift expected? There are a lot of potential directions I could take this. Since I do so much with Sandstone and Swift, it makes sense I ought to do the same for Swift's other brother.

Before you ask, yes, I've already got a group name- RadioTrio. Swift's had radio symbolism for a while (my brain has a Video Killed the Radio Star concept for Swift-era shazarxi– no, I don't know either xD) and then this was the cover image for a playlist that entered my brain in May of 2022 and never left:

And because Parsnip was, like, literally the embodiment of it, I guess I inadvertently associated him with the radio aesthetic as well. The final thing that pushed this concept over the edge was a song called “Radio Play” that spawned on my Spotify playlist. I just pictured these three interacting, especially “Emerald” and Parsnip, and I don't know, just really got attached to the idea. I want it to be a thing!

I also like the idea of “Emerald” having a chaotic spark- he's totally lawful good, but I like to think he has a party-animal side to his personality that comes out around shazarxi he can set it free with, and there is literally no one better than young Parsnip to fill that role. Plus, Parsnip's carefree attitude might actually help “Emerald” deal with all the stuff he goes through, particularly Swift's death. However, I don't think “Emerald” would have known about Parsnip's TRUE plans for their construction project, because he definitely isn't capable of being extreme enough to support that, nor would he have been comfortable with the full-on psychotic mastermind Parsnip that happens later. (Although, admittedly, an evil!“Emerald” AU could be interesting.) However, since Parsnip becomes a lot more chill after becoming a ghost, meeting Chaos, and becoming roommates with Eclipse, it's possible that the epilogue of shazarxae could see a rekindling of “Emerald” and Parsnip friendship, especially since I totally need more ways to make epilogue!Swift seem pathetic lmao- x33

Anyway, if I do make this canon (which depends mainly on how the timelines pan out), it would still be a background thing, much like epilogue!Swift. I might make a couple side projects focusing on RadioTrio, but I'd mostly leave the exact details to the hypothetical fandom. It's more like one of those minor background relationships that doesn't really affect the plot but people fondly latch onto it anyway (every fandom has these, believe me).

…

I wrote the phrase “Parsnip that happens later” and now he's all bouncing around my brain like “g u y s , I ‘ m h a p p e n i n g” and— yes. Yes, the Parsnip is happening very much. I- x333
This isn’t going to be an official mini-essay because I’m doing it for Scratch Writing Camp and don’t have time to develop that nice, structured format I prefer to do my essays in. Also, it’s kind of a chaotic topic, anyway, since it’s built on non-canonical references and my weird personal subjectivity. But yup, character symbolism and keyphrasing, let’s do this-

You asked about the sun symbolism group for whatever reason, so let’s start there. Swift is the OG “sun” referenced shazarxa, and I’m even working on incorporating this into his character design (think of EphemeralMoth’s design for Sunstar). I’m actually not entirely sure where I first picked up this reference, as it wasn't one of the things his character was birthed from. However, it works pretty well as a metaphor, as he's sort of the major “beacon” that every other shazarxa looks to when their civilization is just getting started. He's essentially the founder of their entire society, and everyone looks up to him. He’s where everything really “started.” Now, I’ve also got “Ruby” looped into the “sun” symbolism thing, and I’m actually considering making her finalized canon name be something sun-related. However, she gets it because of her personality more than her role in the plot. She’s this optimistic, exuberant, larger-than-life, shining ball of extrovertedness and kindness- but she’s also tough and fierce.

On the other (related) side, we have the night-themed shazarxi. Moon is probably the most obvious one that comes to your mind, since her name is literally a reference to Swift being the “sun.” I have so many different songs to back this one up, as I’m sure you noticed when I talked about Moon a while back. Her whole symbolic moment is that she is both complemented by and outshined by the “sun,” meaning both Swift and “Ruby,” but she has a lot of beauty in her own right, too, even if it’s a darker kind. Her symbolism ties heavily into night/shadows as well, which, interestingly, was apparently hereditary ebcause “Night,” Holly, and Shade all carry those same references. (Note here that these were the offspring she had with Swift- so while Swift’s overpowering “brightness” may have overshadowed Moon during his lifetime, it was Moon’s influence that lasted longer and got passed along. Swift burned hot and fast, but went out quickly.) “Night” in particular received the moon/nighttime symbolism, which along with “Ruby,” the “sun,” and Wander, the “astronomy” shazarxa, forms the SunMoon&Stars group, my beloved SpaceTrio. Wander’s “star” symbolism is half because they’re a dreamer and a visionary who is always aiming high and honestly too good for this world, and half because he’s literally into stargazing and mapping constellations.

Okay, now back to that “shadow” keyphrasing, because it is widely used in another context, and that context is Ash. While the characters of Moon, Shade, Holly, and “Night” are direct embodiments of the shadow symbolism, there is also a generalized concept of “shadow” that I use a lot in Ash’s POV. To him, it represents his personal trauma and the things he perceives as evil, everything he wants to banish from his life. However, the things he scorns for being “darkness” may actually conceal the more genuine, beautiful sides of life- “Night”’s empathy, or Holly’s patience, or Shade’s loyalty, or Moon’s deep family bonds. By trying to get rid of all of the “darkness” around him, the true evil ends up inside him. When I draw his POV, I like to represent this literally, with the shadows consuming him.

So then that leads to the next logical piece of imagery- light. The “sun,” and “moon,” and “stars” are all obviously associated with light, but what about like, light in general, just pure light waves? Well, Feather’s got a little bit of glow, but there’s really only one character who fully embodies light itself, and that’s our boi Parsnip. He’s like a laser or a lightbulb, some sort of artificial beam of concentrated light that is intense, high-energy, and reflects off of mirrors in order to bounce around everywhere. The zig-zag patterns on his pelt even represent energy because I love symbolism in character designs.
Okay so the hydra challenge, that’s a lot of words to write in only 5 minutes, I am definitely not thinking this through or using punctuation or doing anyt of that stuff because it would take too long, and if there are nay typos, I’m just going to go abc and fix them after this is over because wow, this is a really ahrd challenge and I have no idea how I could possibly write so much even with just pure spam like this is. I guess I could call it stream of consciousness writing, but honestly, I’m just desperately spawning words onto this screen- my keyboard is really being slammed on, it probably hates me because I type so much on it, it’s kind of funny how you cna tell someone is a twitter just because they have so much wear on their keys, you can also tell if someone’s a gamer if they use their wasd keys disproportionally much, or if they’re an artist because the ctrl-z combination is just smushed down into nothing haha- You know, I think I’m actually writing more words than I thought I was going to, this should be my new typing speed test because wheeeee I’m going FAST. Also I’m going crazy, but that’ an entirely different thing because I liek turtles When this is over, my fingers are going to so tired, they’re already pretty tired from all the cabin war stuff I’ve been doing, but this, tis is worse. I can’t believe I’m actually attempting this, but if I fail, at least I still get points, right? My cabin’ actually doing pretty well, I think we’re in 5th or 6th place or something right now, that’s pretty pog :0 I feel abd for illu-fi because no one is very active in that cabin and I wanted to be in it because it was such a good reference, all that anarchy and chaos and syndicate references. I miss Technoblade, I can’t comprehend that it’s already been over a year since his dead, it still fells like he’s right there evry time I replay one of his videos and hear his voice. Every moment with him that amde me fall in love with his content is still there, waiting, on the internet, ready to be listened to again and again, over and over until the end of computers, I guess. So really, it’s like all I had of him is still there, I have’t lost it at all. I only cry for the future, a future without any new uploads. But I also know that time will go on and there will be ew content creators to fill that niche, because there will always be, that is the way of life. It carries on. ANyway I’m getting off topic, although I guess there was never a topic to begin with really because this is just SPAM thoughts, but yeah, I actually do this sort of thing sometimes when I’m pset or angry or sad and I can’t tlak to anyone else about it because it helps me get my brain in order again.
Wild reads the daily, their eyes growing wider with every word. “I… I knew it all along…” they breathe, their voice a blend of wonder and terror. “The less you sleep, the more words you have to write, and therefore the more points you get… And the additional practice will make you a better writer, too…” They pause, panting heavily, trying to process the implications of this. Finally. They come to their conclusion. “AYYY THANKS CABIN WARS FOR ENSURING I ONLY GOT TWO HOURS OF SLEEP YESSS”

“I wrote 1694 words about 16 of my characters' sleep habits,” Wild comments as they submit their daily. “But I not only (apparently) slept a negative amount of hours, this was only the second half of my character list- I did the first half of my characters' sleep habits last July, the last time we had this prompt. Do I have too many characters, you think?” Suddenly, a song begins playing on their playlist, even as they type this roleplay comment. It was not only the first song that they had played on their playlist when they sat down to do the daily, meaning that it had looped full-circle, the song was also 4AM, by Derivakat. ‘Very fitting,’ Wild thinks to themself.

“Oh nooo, I must have miscounted,” sobs Wild. “But that's fine, I'll just write more words to make up the points…”

“Mm, it's fine,” says Wild distractedly, barely acknowledging the fact that Wynter was being very stalker-y in the shadows. “Sooner or later I was going to mess up on some dumb detail, happens to everyone-”

“Critiquitaire!!” Wild cheers upon seeing the new daily. “I missed it last session!” They jump into the air and do a little spiral in celebration. It was actually really cool to read other people's writing and commentate on it, as well as receive advice on their own writing.

“Probably all these roleplay words will make up for it though,” they give a small laugh, turning to Wynter, only to see nothing but shadows. ‘Hmm. Well, that’s normal,' Wild thinks.

“Oh. Okay then.” Wild blinks, wondering why those shadows were so dark that people could be invisible when standing in them. ‘Like, who even PUT those shadows there?’ they ponder.
I experience this a lot- in fact, basically ALL the time. That's honestly why I do SWC: I could theoretically write just as much without being in camp, but I don't. It's the daily/weekly deadlines, the enthusiasm of everyone else, and the competitive aspect that gets me going. Without an official place and time to write, I am never inspired to do so. SWC is the only thing that gives me those things. If this session isn't motivating you in the same way, then the only advice I can give is to be aware of all those ‘transition’ moments when you're about to do something else instead of writing (or other creative/productive/useful activity- but I'll just use ‘writing’ to keep things simple). Once you're aware of them, you can analyze if the activity is truly more rewarding/worthwhile than writing. It's sometimes a struggle of willpower to choose writing over a less thought-intensive activity, but if you can convince yourself that writing will make you happier in the longer term, that's half the battle. I once read an article ( https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/02/18/distraction-affliction-correction-extensio/ ) that suggests that one of the reasons it's so hard to be productive is that there are a lot of sites that offer more instant (but fleeting) happiness than, say, a writing project that requires a lot of work before it's rewarding (but will make you feel fulfilled for longer). The author of that article removes that “instant” reward by signing out of his computer, then signing back in every time he wants to transition from one activity to another. I don't go that far to ensure my own productivity, but I do wait a few seconds between each activity and think about whether it's really what I want to do at that moment, to ensure I don't just mindlessly click on some distraction. (I've also changed my Google ‘New Tab’ background to a quote that motivates me to not waste my life lol- every time I see it, it reminds me of what's truly important to me.) I'm not really a person who sets a strict schedule for my life, but if you are, it might be worthwhile to set aside an hour or more each day, reserved just for writing. You could even have a specific location that is purely a “writing station,” and only allow yourself to do writing when you're sitting there. That method never worked for me, but it works for some people, so I figured I should mention it. Anyway, yeah, the best thing is to just not stop writing. If your problem is that you can't get yourself to start, then keep your eye out for any opportunity where you COULD start. Pinpoint the thing that's preventing you from starting (distractions, difficulty of writing, aversion to the prompt, your own expectations, etc.) and focus on a way to solve THAT problem. Maybe the SWC daily isn't interesting to you, so instead, just write about whatever. Rant about something, talk about OCs, journal about what you did today. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just… write. And if you're anything like me, you'll find that that basic writing will lead to being motivated to do more polished projects, like a SWC weekly or your own novel. As long as you're still finding writing fun and worth your time, do it. If it stops being fun, take a break. Ask yourself “Why do I write?” If you know what writing means to you, and you can keep that in your sight at all times, motivation is so much easier.
“Plus 400 points to Lyric!” Wild speaks hurriedly, tossing their critique into the submissions box, then jogging back towards the door. “Pretty sure it's 335 words, but I don't have time to check because I got to do irl stuff nowwwww aaaaaaaa-”
“Critique for Lyric!” Wild sings, putting a 426-word critique into the submissions box. “Now, time to do the daily- ooh, this looks fun!” They remember the Cabin Wars parody they once sang, and smile at how silly but fun it was. ‘Hmm, I wonder if I should sing the one I make for this daily…’

“Here you go, a parody of ”Just Like Fire“ called ”Just Like Mangoes“ about the burning kind of motivation you get when you're speedrunning something before midnight UTC,” Wild says as they review their daily one last time before turning it in. “Fittingly, I did all of this in under an hour, from choosing a song to writing the last of these 278 words. I didn't complete the whole song, but I don't know if I really want to do the rest, it's good this length. But I might later if I have time.” They shrug, also contemplating whether writing the rest of the parodied lyrics would make it easier to sing later if they chose to.
“361-word critique-” Wild says, then stops. “Wait, was that the word count-” They go back to check their word count for the fourth time. “Yeah, yeah, 361 words. For Lyric.”
“Critique for Lyric, 323 words, so plus 400 points!” Wild says, casually turning it in. “Time to go back to suffering with symbolism, I guess-” They had literally spent almost two hours just choosing which flowers to represent their characters with, and hadn't actually started writing.

“Here. Your cUrSeD flower daily,” growls Wild. “When it comes to symbolism, I overthink it SO hard, and— ughhhh, just, this has taken so long and it's barely over 400 words. 435, to be exact. And I'm only, like, halfway through. And I'm already sobbing over my own tragic character arcs.”

“Ah, the Google Translate daily, now THIS is one of my favorite of the classics,” Wild purrs, very pleased at seeing the new daily be posted in the Main Cabin. It always turned out so weird and chaotic.
Wild quickly ran into the Main Cabin to submit their daily critique. This one was 373 words, which meant it gave Lyric 400 points. Having turned it in, Wild turned and hurried away, not saying anything.



“A special role?” Wild murmurs, flicking their ear tuft up with interest. “Hmm.” They scan their calendar. Nothing at all on the 22nd. And it wasn't as if they'd even WANT to be anywhere else on Cabin Wars day. They lift their head up and quickly glance around to make sure no one else is listening. “Alright, I'm willing to hear this out. Tell me more…”

“A mercenary, huh?” Wild blinks slowly, thoughtfully, their eyes glowing strangely in the half-light of their profile as they gaze at Alba. The idea was certainly intriguing- Was that the scent of opportunity Wild tasted? “Well, you know me,” they say at last. “Always up for a clandestine mission… Now, what are these top-secret tasks that you would have me do?” They duck their head, grinning.

“Superior to WHAT-” Wild says, suddenly suspicious. “Superior to other fruits because of their unique association with this camp, but NEVER the most superior of ALL foods. THAT spot is reserved for GARLIC BREAD.” They lash their tail passionately.
Wild scans the project, mentally sorting through the multitude of information. ‘Sounds okay to me,’ they think. “Alright,” they nod seriously. “I'm definitely in. I'll make you the bio and art before the 18th is over, you have my word.” They straighten up, preparing to get to work. “Anything else I need to know?”

Wild nods again, an acknowledgment with a note of finality. Then, they turn and slip away, disappearing around the corner of their profile.

“Ooh, this daily seems interesting,” Wild comments, shaking off the sleep they had just awoken from. "You know, https://xkcd.com/1525/ has kind of a similar thing going, except you ask it a question, and it answers in emojis- Just in case anyone else loves that sort of thing.“ Wild then begins clicking around on all the emoji sites, immediately getting distracted from productive work.
OHH, I BELIEVEEEEE / THAT WE CAN WIN THIS VICTORYYYYY / WE CAN RISE UP ON THE LEADERBOARDS, MARK OUR PLACE IN HISTORYYYYY / WE CAN DO ALL THAT WE EVER DREAMED, FINISH EVERY WEEKLYYYY
*That feeling when you have a main plotline but then one of the background characters or subplots is actually really cool and you write mostly about that instead* I have so much of a problem with this… My universe is SUPPOSED to be focused on this imaginary species, but the other species' societies have such rich world-building lore that I have literally written a backstory for a background character whose only role is to be part of a backstory for a side character, who is THEN relevant to the main character. I honestly love this background character and the side character more than the actual main character. To the point where I've got a whole separate plot where the side character is the main character instead. And I'd rather write about this entire unrelated thing than the actual main focus of my universe. :'D
I try to find songs that match the mood of whatever I'm writing- I actually have a lot of characters inspired by songs, or characters that I associate with certain songs, so that is a HUGE source of inspiration for me when I'm trying to write from a certain a character's POV. However, I don't really have a lot of specific artists, just specific topics or moods. For most of my life, I’ve discovered new songs by watching animation projects on YouTube, which means I sometimes am not even aware of the songs’ original artists, anyway. However, about a month ago, I figured out how to get my new tablet to use Spotify, and I’m learning more artists/groups I like. At first, I stuck close to the Dream SMP songwriters who made fansongs, such as Derivakat, kroh, and Knight of Endale, but I’m quickly branching out into names that are familiar to me but that I don’t know that well, like Lemon Demon, the Oh Hellos, Sleeping At Last, and Poor Man’s Poison. (A rather wide assortment of moods and topics, I must say. Don’t judge me. xD) The Spotify algorithm also gives me other stuff that it thinks I’d like, and so far, it’s done its job fairly well. I also like songs from musicals, because any song that tells a story and is catchy is a good song to me! Sometimes I’ll listen to songs just to vibe to the beat, but for music that I listen to while writing, songs that tell stories with their lyrics are essential to me. I also like thought-provoking songs and songs that have concepts that I can infuse into my writing. I’ve been known to write something a certain way because of a word or phrase I’ve heard in a song. In rare cases, I’ll even turn a lyric into a line of dialogue as a little reference to the song that I was listening to at the time. I feel that it’s a way of paying tribute, a thanks for the inspiration. :3
Alright boys, hydra attempt number two! I actually really like this bonus challenge, out of all the bonus challenges, this is definitely one of the best. I also like the one avbout using other people’s characters though. That one’s inda cool because one, you get to rant about your characters to other eople, and two, you get to practice writing in other POVs, maybe ones that you’re not normally used. to. That’s why it’s a relaly great exercise in perspective. And you know me, chat, all about that! I have no idea why I’m tlaking to chat even in my writing now. It’s not as if I’m actuually a steamer But I’ve begun doing it in rela life too for some reasln. Is this a sign that I ought to be on YpuTube? Or Twitch? Or is it jsut that I’ve been watchng so many videos lately that I’ve absorbed their verbology? Verbology? I think that’s the right word, haha, I have honestly no clue- Just writing whatever random stuff comes into my brain and hoping at least some of it looks like actal words by the time I’m done here It’s kind of scary not knowing how many words I’ve written, or how much time I have left, but I can’t check without falling behind, so I just keep going, spamming as ahrd as I can on my poor, abused keyboard,. I wonder if it’s really true that youc an tell a lot about a person based on thee wera on ther keyboard. I mean, for me, my Chromebook is so old, that all of the keys are worn. Like, all of them. Eve the Q key. I know I made a bunch o typos just then, whops. You know, I don’t really like writing like this normally because the ability to think things through and also fix errors as I go is just my srtyle. However, this is kind of interesting because it’s the complete opposite of my norm. Is that why I liek it, you think? I guess I posed that question to no one, huh? And that one too, haha. I guess I just naturally talk to chat.
I’m trying the hydra again because I can’t stand to fail lol. I didn;t reach the 500 words in tha last attempt only 362 so I feel bad now. I won the first time and I dont understand how I could e so much worse the second time. I think it’s because I cared about pucntayution too much and slso U use long words more often isntead of quicjk one syllanale words like this. Well syllabble is longer than that but okay okay thats fine I dont have time to think about this altight? I am just going to compeltely ignore pucntauation unless I end up doing it out of habit which I sometimes do especially when capitralizing I and stuff. Also periods ut nort realy commas so much it; skins of weird I dont really understand why,. Ojh no those were some long words I need to use short words only if I want to win this for good. I am really trying hard, my hafns hurt in rela life this is ctually bad. I hope I can win this and not have to do it again a third time. I mean technically I dont have to win and I can still earn points and these points arent wven for my cabin because I’ma mercenary but I still have fear of failure so I wont let myself rest until I compete a 500 word hydra. You know, I wonder how much pisture affects typing speed ebcause I’m relaly sittingnup now and I think this is fatsert maybe thats anther reaodn why I lost the second attempt . I hope I can win this one. Please say I’m amking good progress. I am literally panting right now, like legit, and my brain is racinf, but that s good ebcause I;m witing down all thr wthoughts as they come into my head and not just spamming random keys althought ehs thought of just saing A over and oev again was alluring, I admit., haha. It’s okay, I beleiev in myself if i did it before I can do it again. Oay now I’m running out of things to say so you know what, I liemt urtles Turtles are always relevant to anything especially randomness even though random kind of means not trelevant by default nbut just dont think too ahrd about it okay? Okay I’m pretty sure I won please say I’ve reached the words limit
I swea ri dont know how I manageed t0o do it the first time? Was it a glitch and I actually fialed baceause I tried sp ahrd and still foendt make it Ima mad what did I do wrong where should I have gone differently was it all justa huge mustake an I actually good or was this all a huge pile of worgthlessness? I cant beleive it I just cant I musy win though it must be possible it wouldnt abe a thing if it wasnt possible all i got to do is unlike 100 words per minute typing how hard can it be ai know some peope cab do it what dcan i do to make it to that level can i just say a bunch of little words like a and the ana and and i cant really think straight anymr because my brain is off the wires but idd i cant do it this time i am act7ally going to quit because i cant do this ay longert i am in pain my handsare hurting but i cdo admit i got close it woas three hundred sixty two words and the four hundren somethinwwords so i think i can fte that f ive hundred if i can just stop hilding back if I can just try a little more if i can just win for the sake of turtles, i wont let you down iw ont let leyself dwon i will keep repeating thing suntil the msucle memeory take sover and i manage to cheurn out somethng anything that doesnt even ahve to amke sense so long as i try and maybe i wont dfix this afterwar ambe ill leav it like this mhug emess that no one can understand jyst because it pays off later to know where i started and when i acheieve all my dremas of gundred word a minute typ9n i can looomback at trwhere i srrated and be amazed at how far ive come and yes I know thats atechno quot e that why ic said it i miss him so ic7un much must move anon at least a little and eveb nthough is till atch hsi videos all the time i even did today i know that ic an be happy with making others m main focus like for instance i watched randboo bods the other day last ight i think and it made me happy. iwatched him paly stanleys parable and god i love that game so much it agve me rwal portal vibes anf jeez i just looked upa t th4e screne for the first time and j wrote os much is it over did i win and oh
I am doing this again so we back in the mine, ehe well I dont know wbaout you chat but I just cant tand to give up that easily so I am going to go again and again yes I know I said id stip but you should have know that athat was a lie the kind of persn i am does not allow me to give up until i win i will jyst go again and again and afaian agauan and again until i get it right and i still dont know i sid it the first time because that seems like really weird like just beginners lucj i guess but who knows all i know os that i am typing i will type and type and type and repeat my stupid phrases over and over and over again because i will never die i will never give in to the failure that haunts me every step of the way. i have to shoot for the stars in all situatuons even minor one like this because i learn from the best and not to make every single one of these rants and stream of thought things loop back to techno but he taught me that and to hoot his memory i will ot gve in and i will believe in the drrrqam he was also a food type er he would have made a good author and i would have loved his book as much as hat if or even more evne i wonder what it would have been about or if he ahd any ideas or even drafts for potential storys that he would someday write i guess we ll, never know but it is nice to think about anyway even if i makes me sad but this wont become just another sad tangent so i am going to change the topic not to turtles this time but to this map i just watched on youtube about waariors and it was about life and it was to the song you whih i girst saw from a pm v by northflowo i thin about rain world and this is a run on sentence i know that but i am desperspreate okay i need to stop using long words that slows me down i nned to alm and get in the zone and speed up like a speed demon like parsnip me boi wills ave e from this othig iv have become and this is a song lyric and that is shamelss referece and i dont even know what i am doing anymore but boy i am sure typing fast i hope i make it this time please gods let me do this thing
I will try and try and try and try and try again until I get this, I swea rto you chat I will get this like I did the first time I will live up to my aps standard because that is who a a I ama a great person who will do reat things yes and that is not sarcasm sooonoooo why would you even think that ahaha I just got to type and typr and type until my hands fall off all in the anme of words a nole cause if ever I saw one I just got to keep going and saying whatever is on my mind a hittting o my space ba r a lot even if I dont a ctually have a word break be accuse o therwise I w ill forget and that will ne absd becau se then it wont count a s words and oh m good ness this typo is going even ahrder than ever before what am i doing with my life this is terrible and I am going to die if I dont stop soon my hand shurt so much and i am out of bretah thsi is just a a simple recording o f a ll of my loss o brain cells because omeo eones c got to ecord this inasnanity and my whole mental declne but honestl y though i do like this hydra challenge it is hara nd right fully so and even if i dont win that means i got a lot of words in a ashort amount of time and that is much better than gett ing more words n a long amount of ime because i o not have time for that stuff excet actually i do ecause t is the night and i have as much time as i want and i can control my won destint and i o not think i will win this oen even though i rtp ehRD BCAUSE I A using long word san d it think i jst hit the caps lock by acident ioop sbut it will be okay because what else do i have to do with my life i mean i am a write r thay it s what i aom oh god coherency no i have lost of my las braincell what ak m i doing i cant even hit the keys anot more this is getting worse ad worse maybe if slept i would e re ksilledbut no i do not think that is the case bwcause all id so is spam and spam and spam and try my ittle heart out but mostly my little hands because writing
”Quick survey time,“ Wild says. ”What time is it right now in your timezone (if you're comfortable saying)? It's 8:04 pm for me.“

”Hey, how many people have actually succeeded in the hydra challenge?“ Wild wonders, looking around at their fellow SWCers curiously. ”Last Cabin Wars, I managed it, albeit with a TON of typos and literally spamming whatever sentences came into my head, but technically I won…“

Wild blinks in surprise as Ember heads off after having dumped this information upon them. Still, their voice is calm as they say to themself, ”I'm a tribute, huh? Okay… okay, sure. That can be a thing that I am. Why not?“ They tilt their head slightly, looking off into the distance. They had no idea what this implied. They were utterly unaware. ‘What was all that about odds?’ they wonder, then shrug it off. ‘Eh, probably fine.’

”Hey there,“ says Wild. ”Mind if I help you with that?“ They raise an eyebrow, their mouth curved in a half-smile.

Wild catches the mango with one paw, tucking it gently into the pouch they had slung over their shoulder. ”I shall start right now, in fact. And hmm, bonus challenge, bonus challenge,“ they mutter as they load up the Illu-Fi tab and their writing document. ”Ah, it's the hydra, I love that one. I'll do it.“ They nod to Ember in acknowledgment before turning away, ready to begin writing. ”Nice doin' business with you.“

Wild returns, their keyboard miraculously still intact. ”Here you go, 1219 words from trying to do the hydra challenge… three times in a row. …With breaks in between so that my arms didn't fall off, of course.“ They try to restrain a twitch of irritation. Somehow they had failed all three times despite winning their first-ever hydra challenge back in the previous Cabin Wars. ‘Beginners’ luck,' they supposed.

Wild notices that no one has responded to this in over half an hour so they casually slide over. They had done the previous valid mercenary job, and it felt somewhat odd to take two in a row, but since no one else was going to… ”Hi,“ said Wild, ”I'll do it.“

”Hmm,“ Wild squints, noticing something confusing. ”You said War 2, but I looked at your cabin and didn't see that war. I've written 1,096 words about my characters, but I'm not sure where to add them… I'm just going to leave these words here and let you sort this out with your cabin when you return…“ Wild sets down a big pile of words and slips away.

Wild swipes the mango out of the air, careful not to puncture its surface and send mango juice squirting everywhere. ”No problem!“
I love Wander’s character a lot, but there really isn’t a whole lot I know about his early life or family background. The early-arc, Swift-era shazarxi need a lot of work, I know, but Wander is still one of the few characters that doesn’t have any family relationships at all. At least in the case of Swift, I can assume he is the brother of “Emerald” and Sandstone because the genetics checks out, even if I don’t have characters to be their parents yet. (I haven’t checked the genetics for Marigold and Pebble also being their siblings, so that’s why I didn’t mention them even though currently, that’s where they’re located on the family tree.) I do still have the PondTunnel ship concept floating around- names you haven’t seen for along time, I’ll bet- but they’d be the parents of some of the blue group because of Pond’s genetics, clearly. And while I once considered making Wander the sibling of Drizzle, I just can’t see that happening. Their relationship just wouldn’t work out like that; there’s simply no connection. I can’t really see Wander being related to Moon in any way even if the genetics DID work for that- honestly, that idea is simply so dumb, it’d funny. Obviously, Wander can’t be the sibling of “Ruby” without making things weird, even though “Ruby” seems like a closer genetic bet. Ember and Song are the only other genetically-possible options for Wander’s siblings, and that is not a possibility I’m going to complete give up on yet. Still, I’d have to know a lot more about the specifics of the timelines and everything before I could make a decision like that. The other option is to make Wander an only hatchling, which isn’t an entirely terrible concept, either. The only problem is that there aren’t a whole lot of early-arc shazarxi available for breeding, and it’s awkward to create two whole new characters out of nowhere, who then ALSO have to have backstories, only to create a singular offspring in the next generation. It would be far more conveneient to lump Wander in with another sibling group so that there are fewer characters I have to deal with in the parent generation. But there is also a third possibility, a combination of the other two. Wander could be the genetic sibling of other shazarxi, but adopted and raised as an only hatchling.
”Here's a critique,“ says Wild, confused at how they still managed to wait until the last minute when they'd literally been online all day. ”408 words, plus 400 points to Lyric…“

”Hey, Alba,“ Wild nods a greeting. ”I think I can speak for Lyric when I say we're doing well.“ Lyric had recently finished its second war, and there were no new wars yet, though its shield had been down a while. ”And as for me, currently on a job for Fantasy- and haven't decided where to donate the mango from Illu-Fi yet…“

Wild yawns, realizing they ought to sleep soon if they were going to get any rest at all today. They flick their attention around the Grocery Store, but all seemed quiet. Most of the other shops were closed, and the customers were few and far between. ‘Maybe I’ll just nap for a bit,' they think, hoping nothing happened the instant they left. Silently, they crept away, planning to return soon.

”Heyyyy, everyone- I got two mangoes not yet donated,“ Wild advertises, leaning back against the wall of their shop. ”If any brave soul wishes to negotiate for one, I'll be right here!“

”No, just because I'm a pain to talk to because I only speak in roleplay,“ Wild snorts. It was fun, but they knew it made it awkward for those who could not speak the language of roleplay as expertly. They smirk. Making things awkward for the sake of wOrDs was their way of life.

Wild pauses to think for a moment, realizing something interesting. ”I mean, technically, if you are playing a role, it's a roleplay, right?“ Technically. Wild taps thoughtfully on their shop's counter. ”And that includes any role, no matter where… Are we just perpetually in a roleplay no matter where we go?“ This was an intriguing thought for Wild. The question was sure to keep them up at night. Well, it's not as if they slept at night anyway, but…



The house, it stands on the corner, there / Your enemies dwell within / Tear it down, chase them out of town / That's the only way to win // Hey! Hey! Go away, get the heck off my lawn! / Nay, nay, here I'll stay, until my foes are gone! // You watch, peering through the blinds / As your enemies leave / Gone to the store, soon they'll be no more / It's time to do your deed // The feud, it had gone on so long / Who knows how it began / But now your neighbor, will taste the flavor / Of your brilliant plan // Hey! Hey! Go away, get the heck off my lawn! / Nay, nay, here I'll stay, until my foes are gone! // Silent sneak, you break into their house / And turn on every sink / The bathtub, the hose, the water, it flows / And drowns the place in the drink // Flooding the house without anyone home / No one's in it to stop you / You exact your revenge, time to brag to your friends / How there'll be no home to return to // Hey! Hey! Go away, get the heck off my lawn! / Nay, nay, here I'll stay, until my foes are gone! // Hey! Hey! Go away, get the heck off my lawnnn! / Nay, nay, here I'll stayyyy, until my foes are goneeeeee!
one more time one more time before the end of cabin wars I can fo this i can complete his cursed challeng if i die trying wll then oh well i guess that is how the cookie crumbles or the muffin if you are bad boy halo i guess but that is not here nor there so i shall just sit here and spam about how i found a turtle at lodi jouse thrift store today it is a good trtle a big one and i also got a dino ornamaent and i got a ptero saur thing alike a plush except it makes noise but it is not a do g toy i dont think because it is plus hand really nice and wow i do sure get off topic fast dont i well um what else do i say oh i guess i ought to talk about being a merc in the scratch writing camp for the first time i feel liek i made hsitoey by eing one of the firs ones to ever do this i think there were eight of us ut one of eight is till pretty good and i know i am making a lit of typod but heart me out this is a run on sentence and i woul not want i t any other way ecau se the only goal in my mind is t owin this hydr a challen and liv w 8p to lthe legacy of tmy past even thoug that time could have been a mistake but i gues we will wfigure it out for good and i do sure feel abd for auto correct because it ti strying to fix this hope less spam as i go and there is no sense that is going to come out of this ramble i literally type about typing this can not possibly get any worse unl sss i straight up keyspam but i refuse to cheat and jut press a over and over and over again until i get 500 word sat thrta point i might as well jsut cop y and past the right amount of wriitng into the box this box to be exact i kind o hesitate d there that was not a good thing but well can not go back and if x that now well ooops i did it again, and that was not supposed to be the song lyric but ioops i did it again i played with your ehart got lost in the game and yeah i can not really remember the rest of the lyrics vut it was a map by moonkitti i think or no it was not a map it wa sjust a pmv i think oh well it has been a while but eah i still rmebeer it i justs aid the wrong word at tfirst ebcuas erni am kind of rushed right now you know
(Writing dare from @lizard-breath: ”write about an embarrassing moment one of ur characters had.“)

“This seems like a good place to stop for the day,” Silver announced, finding a glade that would make a suitable temporary camp. Silver was leading a mission to map some of the eastern forests. Birch wasn’t sure why he was there, honestly. This adventuring business was not his thing. But Silver was his brother, and he had insisted on bringing him along. So now, here he was, his pelt disheveled and his paws sore, desperately wishing he was back home.
Silver continued speaking. “Feather, why don’t us two go out and see what plants there are to eat around here? Meanwhile, Wind and Birch, will you build the nests for today?” Silver looked over to him, smiling encouragingly. Birch sat down like a stone. He had no idea how to build nests. He knew his brother was only trying to make him feel better by giving him something to do. But, Birch supposed, nest duty WAS preferable to gallivanting through these creepy woods.
“Sure, no problem!” Birch responded, trying to sound chipper and unworried.
“Great!” Silver blinked happily. “Well, see you later.” He glanced up to the sky to check the time. Late afternoon. “Probably be back around sunfall.”
Birch nodded. “Okay. Good luck out there!”
“Thanks!” He turned, waving a cheerful farewell with his tail. “C’mon, Feather,” he called to her. The tall, sleek shazarxa bounded to his side and they left, chattering casually about the terrain in this part of the forest.
Birch sighed, taking a moment to pull himself together. However, his little piece of calmness was immediately shattered by Wind rubbing against him teasingly, then tousling his fur with his tail.
“Not to state the obvious, but, Birch, that looked very much like
“Well, this is awkward,” Silver chuckles nervously, looking notedly uncomfortable.
“What is even happening right now?!”
Most likely to's / Most likely to's / Who will it be / Must wisely choose / The lively crews / A mighty muse / So many views / Most likely to's! // Most likely to's / Most likely to's / Can't wait to see / This timely news / What shiny hues / And tidy cues / No way to lose / Most likely to's! // Most likely to's / Most likely to's / It's hard to rhyme / I kindly refuse / The spiky ooze / And feisty queues / But I won't accuse / Most likely to's!
*That feeling when you have a main plotline but then one of the background characters or subplots is actually really cool and you write mostly about that instead* I have so much of a problem with this… My universe is SUPPOSED to be focused on this imaginary species, but the other species' societies have such rich world-building lore that I have literally written a backstory for a background character whose only role is to be part of a backstory for a side character, who is THEN relevant to the main character. I honestly love this background character and the side character more than the actual main character. To the point where I've got a whole separate plot where the side character is the main character instead. And I'd rather write about this entire unrelated thing than the actual main focus of my universe. :'D

Yeah, that's kind of what I've ended up doing- I've given my universe more of an open-world setup than a linear storyline. I've got a lot of stories that happen simultaneously, both in overarching plots and individual character subplots. I feel like my final step is to entirely let go of the idea of ”main/side/background characters" when referring to my world as a whole, and just assign these roles for each plot separately- much like WoF, yeah! Plus, my different characters have different ways of thinking of things, and this lends itself well to the ability to write in a variety of genres and try out multiple styles within the same universe, and even within the same events. I also just love the concept of having the same basic plot be told again and again in different characters' POVs, with each perspective adding a new piece to the overall thing. So that's totally a thing I'm going to do. I just have no idea how to make that align with the traditional concept of a book. I'm considering making it a webcomic instead so that I can play with various art styles as well as writing styles? But I have no idea how that'd work either xD

-WildClan- wrote:

Writing scripts for comics is something I’ve actually tried to do before, so a few tips: First, it helps to describe panel shape and layout in addition to just a description of what is being shown in the panels. For example, when “the queen curls her lip,” this is a close-up detail, so I can assume that the panel is a close-up of her face, or even just her mouth. However, in other cases, it’s harder to tell where the “camera” is positioned, or how much space the image takes up on the page. Saying things like “tall, rectangular panel, showing front view fullbody of with ” or “small, round panel overlapping previous panel, zooming in on ” is very, very useful. Second, make some sort of notations to separate the script descriptions from the on-page narrative text and dialogue. I assume the main character is narrating their story, at least in the introduction, because of the first-person sentence “My banishment from the island didn't feel real until I nearly drowned.” However, it easily blends in with the descriptions of the scenes, since there’s nothing setting it apart from the words explaining what the illustrations should be. The dialogue is also not separated from the art directions, but it really should be, just so that it’s easier for you to navigate the script. Third, descriptive writing in scripts should be the opposite of descriptive writing in a novel: Tell, don’t show. Instead of saying “the one who seems to be the queen,” just call her “the queen.” Then, describe how the art makes her “seem” to be the queen- is it what she’s wearing? Is she on some sort of throne or otherwise set apart from the other sirens? Is it the way the others are acting around her? Or is it just her regal manner? Really, the more detail, the better. With comics, the art does as much of the storytelling as the dialogue, so it is highly important to put a lot of detail into the art description parts of your script, even more so than if it were a novel. In general, think “if I handed this to an artist, could they draw what I’m imagining with the directions and information I’ve provided?” Anyway, those are all tips relating to script-making and format. There isn’t really enough storyline provided for me to critique. However, if you write more, I’d be happy to read it for you! Thank you for being my final critique of the July 2023 SWC session.

yeah a lot of this is supposed to be italicized but that didn't transfer over to scratch. I'm probably not actually gonna pursue this project for a few years but it's something to look forward to

july 31st — critique
192 words

First impression, this is a really beautiful poem. I feel like I could relate very well to a lot of the lines and the general message, and the piece itself was really really pretty. I liked the parts where imagery and description is added, because in some way, that really helped create a picture in my mind of what was happening.

The only parts that I felt needed to be revised depends on whether you wrote it specifically like that, or not. I'm not sure if it's only on my part, but at the beginning, you started sentences with lowercase, which I think gives the poem more of that “vibe”. later on though, uppercase has been used to start sentences which honestly, I think still works, but isn't as good.

Although your poem was quite complete throughout the entire writing, I did manage to catch a few grammar/spelling mistakes (which I pointed out + fixed below), but that's pretty much it! All in all, as someone not a great fan of poetry, I really liked it — Good job!

___________

will you scorn the pale-chalk lily?
for the iridescent depths of candy-clear emeralds
I used to wonder of about the thoughts of greater kings
as they gorged on cruel newfound power
(with a side of saffron salamander eggs) —
then, I became one.

you listened to reason when the echoes in your heart chambers said
that the stars were within reach of your fingertips
but as the sun dawned, so did realization, now
I lie under the desert-scorching tear-caking blood-drying heat
waiting for night to blossom again like stained ink on funeral pages:
I die before the moon rises.

Much to be said for the scramble in the dark
The scramble in the dark has a lot to recommend it
for lost photographs. Much to be said
About the things they’ve heard about him.
Too much is said about what they—
thought—about her.

Okay! I haven't done this before so sorry if it's sloppy!
This is proof that I did in fact write 8925 (I think) words!

+1165 for Fault
(tw for intensity and near-death)
The prince is a brilliant child. Not strong like his father or precise like his sister or fast like his bird on the wind. He’s not good at memorizing numbers and equations, and he can’t recite paragraphs from history books or know when the rain is coming by the quiet of the birds and crickets. He qualifies as brilliant because, though he does not know by heart what his teachers have taught him, he knows the hints of it, and he can process and use it better and faster than anyone else. He’s a calm boy, with kind smiles and few soft-spoken words, and he always knows what’s going on, though he doesn’t often react.
His bird – a small phoenix-like creature with bright gold and amber feathers – perches on his shoulder as he stands next to his father, staring out at the shimmering sea. Ahkim has never seen it all so all-encompassing before. He stands in a tower far out in the sea and stretching deep beneath the surface of the water, connected to the land by two elegant bridges stretching across to two peninsulas at an angle so the tower is in a deep part of the water. It had been built to welcome incoming trade ships, and make the dock easier to defend from attackers, as well as offer residence for anyone who can pay for it and storage if needed. It had presented many challenges while being built, such as how to clear the water to build supports down to the sea floor, and how to build to bridges so they wouldn’t collapse if harsh storms came in, but just two months ago it had been finished, and two weeks ago the results for the safety tests had come in saying all is well, letters had been sent to allied kings and queens as well as high-ranking officials and nobles, and now, today, they all gather on the bridge and feast, staring out at the excellent view of the ocean underneath the quietly setting sun.
“Your majesty.” someone asks. The king and Ahkim both turn to see a messenger with wavy brown hair worn to his shoulders and few other distinct features besides his short height. He bows when the king sees him.
“Speak.” The king says in his deep and firm, but gentle tone.
The messenger stops bowing and recites his message, “Mirue sent me to get you. They’re on the Bridge Floor greeting guests.” and then he bows again, waiting for further instruction until the king dismisses him and he hurries off.
“Kih, entertain our guests for a moment while I talk to your senhi, okay?” The king says to Ahkim, ‘Senhi’ being a term meaning ‘birther’, more or less.
“Father, I’m not a king. They don’t see me as such.” Ahkim says, looking about the room of nobles and monarchs wandering about, talking, and gazing out windows.
His father just smiles, “Nobody is a king. ‘King’ is not something an individual can be.” he reminds Ahkim, “and besides, they don’t need to see you as a king, they just need to know that their voices are heard, so all they need to see you as is someone who will listen. Just listen. Nod. Write things down if you must, and later you can tell me what they told you.”
Ahkim nods. The servants always treated him kindly, without fear, and the nobles were generally nice enough, but he’d seen how they could get if anything about you set them off. Usually, his sister, father, or senhi would find a group to talk amongst if they were left to manage a room by themselves, and that would be where everyone would go if they wanted to talk to someone in charge. Ahkim, however, has never had the willpower to make himself do something like that. Instead, he stares out an arched window and watches the ocean dance calmly, and he listens to them. Which glasses clink near which voices can tell him who is whose friend. Tones and spaces between laughter can tell him how much they like each other, and if it’s even true kindness or just flattery. Silences tell him who disagrees with who. He listens to the words, but after everything else. First and foremost, he writes down in his notebook what tones and silences and laughter and proximity tells him, and when he isn’t sure, he writes down words.
He glances up from his notebook to gaze at the sun meandering down through the sky, considering touching the sea. The surface of the water is bright and reflective, but something moves beneath it. Dawn ruffles her feathers nervously, seeing them, too.He’s heard tales of massive creatures that live in the deepest parts of the sea. Serpents. Krakens. Leviathans. Dangerous creatures with unimaginable strength and prowess. Creatures that eat ships whole. Creatures that only wake every hundred years to feed. Ahkim finds himself holding his breath, and releases it, quietly watching the shapes beneath the water. They’re all smallish and longish, dipping down beneath where he can see them in a strange way. Some of them breach the surface of the water, touching air and revealing themselves to be slick and dark-blue. Fish? Serpents?
Ahkim watches them for another moment, then turns as he hears someone calling to him. The person is a noble he doesn’t recognize, and though his initial intention was to answer, he finds himself dodging around the large man and ignoring greetings and nervous questions as he makes his way around the people in the room and down the stairs. As he reaches a landing, he sees a massive shape out a window, coming closer. He watches it, stunned, breath caught in his throat for what feels like forever, then turns and dashes down the stairs, making for the Bridge Floor, weaving around people as they panic. There’s a crash somewhere far away, probably at the bridge, and he hears the far-away screams. Ahkim is too far from the bridges, and the left one was just smashed and eaten by the sea. Hopefully his parents are escaping on the right one. Someone bumps him from behind and he nearly falls, but catches himself on the railing as they pass, and continues downward, weaving through the crowds of panicking people. He tries to keep his breathing steady, forcing himself to be calm even as the tower shakes and people scream. It dawns on him, for a moment, that he might die. He dismisses the thought and continues down. Dozens of tentacles wrap around the tower, crushing it and blocking the windows. The stairs are jammed with people trying to get out, shouting, and shoving. The tower shakes, and Ahkim falls as Dawn takes flight, nearly crushed by a stampede of full-grown people barreling down the stairs. The tower begins to tip, and he pulls himself to his feet. Dust and stones fall from the ceiling, hitting him lightly as though warning him of the larger ones to come. He points to a window that isn’t blocked, yelling for Dawn to escape, and she does, dodging between the falling stones and running people and diving out the window. Ahkim struggles to stand as the tower continues to shake and cracks shoot through the walls. There’s another distant crash as the right bridge collapses into the water, and Ahkim holds his hand over his head as larger rocks are dislodged. The tower begins to tip, falling sideways and throwing everyone off-balance again. Ahkim scrambles to reach a window, but the floor gives way under him, crumbling between massive cracks and falling. He’s thrown back as rocks from the wall are hurtled toward him by gravity, and he’s tumbling down with the tower. Most of him is panicking. Part of him can’t think through the pain of cuts and bruises. Part of him hopes Dawn is okay. A tiny sliver of him thinks, all too calm, simple thoughts. Useful thoughts. He’s falling through heavy bricks and rubble. Below him is water. He was probably about three floors above Bridge Floor. By the time he reaches the water, he’ll be going so fast that he’ll die instantly. If he doesn’t die instantly, he’ll likely be pinned down by something and he’ll drown. If he’s not pinned down, he’s too far from shore to get there before he runs out of energy and drowns.
As he falls, he opens his arms to catch the wind, and, choking down common sense, aims for the rocks falling beneath him, letting them crash into him and slow his fall.
Beneath him is water. He’ll likely drown if he doesn’t die on impact.
Without consciously thinking, as the water rushes closer, he takes a deep breath, angling so his legs are down, and crashes into the water. Pain shoots up his legs, and the calm part of him knows they’re broken. Above him, the rocks he’d passed crash into the water. He’s still going down. The breath he’d taken was knocked out of him on impact and the remnants of it are fading quickly. All around him is dark, abyssal blue. The prince has been swallowed by the sea.
He tries to pull himself up through the water to where the sun burns the sky, but his legs are useless and the rocks drag him down. The calm part of him says that this part of the ocean is very deep. He’ll be falling for a long while, and if he doesn’t run out of air, it’s likely that the pressure will kill him. As the calm part of his mind conquers the rest of him and labels itself ‘despair’, one thought lingers clear and calm in his mind. He’s going to die.
Ahkim tries to hold his breath for longer even as his lungs scream for air, but he can’t anymore. He breathes, and water fills his lungs, they cough it out but every intake gives them the same thing they hate. He’s panicked, but that part of him is distant. Ahkim, swallowed by the sea.
As he begins to lose consciousness, he thinks he can see something glowing through the water, coming closer. It’s small, with thin and graceful tentacles, and it pulls him out from under the rock pulling him down, holding him steady in the water for a moment before handing him… air? He takes a breath of air, and then it grabs him, rushing through the water. Where to? He sees the sea floor through the water, and then the creature lets go of him, letting him float up to the surface with the air left in his lungs, then he sees it out of the corner of his eyes watching him. He can’t quite make out the shape, but it’s elegant and flowy black with shimmering, bioluminescent teal patterns. Before he can think of something to do, it turns, disappearing into the depths just before he loses consciousness.
(he survives, if you were wondering)


And then +5477 for The Sand of Serpents
I'm not gonna copy-paste this one in bc it's not really scratch-friendly, but here's a description.
Erkrire (side character) alerts Souki (pov main character) that it's time for his quest to begin. He mounts Seriniv (a sunsand horse, which is a species of horse created by demons before they were considered evil, and a species which is a lot smarter than regular horses) and he and Tsurai (secondary main character and friend to Souki) ride out of the city and into the desert. Souki tries to strike up conversation with Tsurai, but he's unusually silent, and Souki gives up, instead taking in their surroundings. As the sun dips down toward the horizon in preparation for sunset, they come to the first town/city stop on their journey. Here, Souki kind of makes Tsurai enjoy himself as they go to the market and get candy (honey crystals) “Throughout the rest of the day, they meander through the market, trying samples and playing the stupid little games that nobody ever wins, but are somehow fun anyway.” and then the sun disappears below the horizon and they make their way back to the place they're staying for the night to get some sleep. Souki wakes up in the middle of the night to find that Tsurai is gone. Skipping some steps, he finds out a secret of Tsurais that I'm not going to elaborate on, and runs away across the desert, taking both Sunsands and all the supplies with him (again, not gonna elaborate on what he found out, but it makes that decision make sense). Souki is abhorrently tired, but he skips the halfway-between-towns stop and keeps going from dawn and back to dusk until he reaches the next town. He stays there for a night and then leaves in the morning, getting pretty lost and getting too close to a Syvinn cave (Syvinn are the monsters of the story). The Queen Syvinn is pretty reasonable, but nevertheless is gonna end Souki bc that's what they do. Tsurai, however, comes through and saves Souki.
That's more or less all that happened, but I did skip some stuff.


+2283 for the Jinxy-Jinx story (Jinx, Double Jinx, Black Out)
Not a lot happened except Six saw Shadow, wandered the halls of the lab to set the scene for the story a little more, then went back to his recording studio and into the “stream room” to start a stream (bc that's kind of his whole job). Volt, one of the moderators, saw someone asking for a tour of Leap (the lab), then eventually went to her stream, and that's really all that happened. I dragged it out a lot because I've been introducing a lot of characters so I needed to give them time to just think so that the reader could get to know them before they had anything to react to ^U^

Anyway, I think that's all! Hopefully my words can be added if SWC isn't over already. Also, sorry it took so long to finish! This kept getting lost in my tabs and forgotten, but I've finally taken the time to finish it, so here it is! I hope it can be accepted! ^U^