Ice and Wing for the asks!
—@italiangothicwriteblr
Thanks! :D
Ice: share a snippet where a character is taking a risk. This is from The Power and the Glory, in which IrĂmĂ© makes a bad situation worse:
Perhaps IrĂmĂ© also realised what the spell was meant to do. Perhaps he simply thought it was time to take matters into his own hands. Whatever his reasoning, he decided now was the perfect time to try mind control. Why in the name of all that was holy did he think that was a good idea? Abi hadn't a clue. She suspected he hadn't, either.
If there was one sort of magic that was almost impossible to master, it was anything to do with manipulating another person's mind. To start with you needed a natural talent for telepathy. You had to be able to read a complete stranger's mind with perfect accuracy. And when you began to manipulate their mind, you needed a clear picture of what you wanted them to believe and the determination to force them to believe it.
IrĂmĂ© had none of that. Or if he had, he was the world's best actor and had managed to conceal it from everyone for centuries.
Undaunted by such petty things as common sense or capability, he still tried it.
"Move along," he shouted at the man, backing his words up with as much magic as he could force into them. Unfortunately it was more or less directionless magic that fizzled out without ever reaching its target. "This is perfectly normal. Nothing to see here."
Abi face-palmed. There were times when she simply had to face facts. In this case the facts were simple. Her fiancé was an idiot. And no one liked someone trying to meddle with their mind. Whether or not the attempt was successful never mattered. The fact it was made in the first place was enough to send the most mild-mannered of people on the warpath.
Sure enough, the man's tone suggested he was on the verge of committing murder. "Why you little--"
It was time to intervene.
"Both of you be quiet!" Abi shouted. She channelled no magic into her words, but she did imitate her foster mother's most commanding tone. "I am Abihira Hartannasvóeln of the Sinistrah clan. The granddaughter of the empress herself. My fiancé and I are here on official business. I order you to leave at once!"
The man gave her a thoroughly unimpressed look. "Well, I am Ilaran Illessilru, Prince of Tananerl, and I sincerely doubt her Majesty considers necromancy official business."
"I was being serious!" Abi protested.
"I know you were. So was I."
Oh. That made things… ever so slightly awkward.
Wing: share a snippet that you daydreamed about before writing it (or a snippet that you were really looking forward to writing). This is from The Unfortunate Moth, in which the murderer is revealed (spoilers, obviously):
"In short, we have a murderer with a fondness for gambling, a knowledge of disguise, music, and carpentry, and no steady job. That description would fit an actor very well. Don't you agree, Mr. Colman?"
If Yo-han had thrown a bomb at the gathered suspects he could hardly have caused more uproar. Tremaine and the doctor jumped as if they'd been stung. The captain dropped his pipe. The guards looked back and forth from Yo-han to Colman. Király leapt to his feet with an expression that suggested someone was about to get punched, and he hadn't decided yet if it was Colman or Yo-han. Miss Patton turned to Colman with a bewildered frown.
Colman himself returned Yo-han's stare without flinching and without any apparent emotion. He said nothing, simply raised one eyebrow and waited. His face was blank but there was something in his eyes that suggested he wanted to smile sardonically.
Yo-han got up and crossed to the door. An officer was waiting outside as he had asked. Yo-han took the box from him and went back to his chair. The officer locked the door again. Colman watched with his head on one side and a mildly puzzled expression. Everyone else looked bewildered. Király had sunk back down into his chair, but looked like he was ready to leap up again at a minute's notice.
"Do you recognise this?" Yo-han asked.
"Certainly," Colman said. "It's my violin case."
A chorus of indignant exclamations interrupted here. "That's not a violin case!" "Do you take us all for fools?" "Violin? Yeah, and I'm the Emperor of Mexico."
Colman waited until the others were quiet. "It is a violin case. I had it custom-made so it would look like an ordinary box, because my last violin was stolen. Open it and you'll see."
Yo-han took him at his word. He opened the box and held it up so everyone could see the violin.
"I admit, I gamble far too much," Colman said. "But I am quite capable of making money through acting or music. I don't need to go around killing people."
Yo-han ignored him and lifted the violin out. He set it carefully on the table. "Thank you, Mr. Király. Your suitcase gave me an important clue." He ran his fingers along the velvet lining that framed the space for the violin. "All of you can see this case is far larger than it needs to be. What is all that extra space used for?"
One corner moved when he touched it. Yo-han prised it up. The velvet lining came away. A chorus of gasps followed.
A gun lay in pieces in the hidden compartment.
Adding TPATG's and Moth's taglists: @ajbrooks-writes, @mjmnorwood, @houser-of-stories, @time-space-and-the-muses, @lothloriien, @aliensmoon, @rataltouille, @thescatteredscribbles, @alexwritesfiction, @moth-with-a-pen, @thelaughingstag, @diphthongsfordays, @athenswrites, @ladydawnxx, @talesfromaurea, @jacquesfindswritingandadvice, @original-writing, @akindofmagictoo, @lightgriffinsect, @zonnemaagd, @essiesreadingcorner, @oh-no-another-idea, @verba-writing, @kittensartswriting (Let me know if you want to be added to/removed from the taglist!)
