#ldoo excerpt

Fluffcember Prompt list! :3

WIP: Like Dragons of Old Characters: Timbre, Selandri POV: Selandri 1749 words. Rest and Tags below the cut! :3

In which Selandri and Timbre explore the Observatory, find beautiful books, and Timbre starts humming, which opens up so many new possibilities—

The fourth floor held storybooks. 

Selandri’s eyes widened as she saw them—there were more tables in here, more comfy areas to sit, too. Some of the books had pages filled with nothing but beautifully rendered illustrations. Some had more text and less images. Selandri was entranced from the beginning—the pictures seemed to be alive, and they were beautiful. 

After she’d stared for lengths at the cover of one of these books she suddenly felt Timbre standing directly behind her, looking over her shoulder, her head so close that Selandri inadvertently held her breath before realizing how stupid that was. 

“Can you teach me how to read them?”, Timbre asked quietly. 

Thank you @unfocused-overwriter for tagging me!! <3 This is my fave tagging game :D (Also, I’m tagging you back!)

I was tagged to find the words shine, walk, eyes, and daughter in one of my wips, I’m doing these for Like Dragons of Old because As Dreams Collide is only at the beginning of the third draft and I could find just two out of four words xD

I’ve arranged them chronologically :)

Eyes

As her eyes slowly adjust to the strange greyness, she finally realizes that there are plants everywhere, no — trees. Their thick, gnarled roots hold the remainder of the house together, keep it from crashing down, into the abyss—   Two trees. Their trunks have the shapes of people. Faces, eyes closed as if asleep. Lips smiling sad smiles, stretching their branches out as if trying to protect—   She almost falls from the bed as she scrambles back, and only realizes moments later that the high, horrified screeches are coming from her. To protect her. “Mama? Papa?” Her voice is rough and sounds wooden, choked. There are tears in her eyes. She wipes them away, pulls some of the furs down from the bed, wrapping them around her. Then she sways back and forth, again and again, until it gets dark again. The sky is obscured by thick clouds of smoke and ashes. The earth rumbles her to sleep.

Walk

"Timbre!" His shadow detaches from the house walls and he walks toward her. He looks the same as always, except that he's grey, of course. But there's something about him, something that makes her weary. She back up until she realizes that there's nowhere to go.

Daughter

"I don't want—" But Kulnai breaks off before she can finish that sentence. None of them want. But they have no choice. That choice was taken from them, taken away, just like the colours. Just like their hope, their homes, their dreams. "If only the children could be saved", someone says. Saren nods sadly, looking down at her grand-daughter. She’s cried all the tears there are inside her. Now she feels drained, empty, like she’s already dead. She has accepted her death, has accepted the Change. But she hasn’t accepted the deaths of her loved ones. "If only the children could escape."

Shine

Timbre’s eyes suddenly started to shine. “You mean, like— you have colours?” They stopped, right in front of the door, Selandri staring at Timbre with big eyes. “You mean… uh, my clothes have colours. Sure, not bright colours, but… the Observer, too! Green! And brown!” Timbre looked around at the other two, her eyes strangely empty. “I— I don’t see anything”, she whispered.

I’m tagging @madmoonink @wilde-writing @raiswanson @romenna @random-stuff-thrown-into-a-pot @fatal-blow @authordai @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword @corishadowfang @novel-scribe @consciousdreamz @kittensartsbooks @fynniana @sincerestaffect (in hopes that you want to do this :D)

Find me the words star, whisper(ed), end, memory in one of your wips :)

Also tagging my ldoo tag list peeps below the cut because some of the excerpts got longer than anticipated ;D if you want to be added/removed please tell me :)

NaNo Update #3

So... I won yesterday?  This update is for day 7, 8 and 9 because I seem incapable of doing it more often... :’D Also finally did some plotting yesterday! And figured some other stuff out :D so... I think I might actually be going somewhere with this story xD

WIP: Like Dragons of Old wip page - Intro Post

Day 7 - written 5,819 | total 40,819 Day 8 - written 3,045 | total 43,864 Day 9 - written 6,562 | total 50,426

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Excerpt! 

as usual, sorry for NaNo first draft quality... 

"What are you two staring at?”, the Observer asked with mock severity. Timbre found herself looking at her desk with different eyes, and apparently the towering book piles had been too much for Selandri to handle because she burst out laughing.

"If my mother could see that...", she gasped, "She'd put you on desk arrest until you'd gotten rid of that heap!" Then she blushed and looked away. Timbre was suprised how quickly she managed to calm down. "Sorry. I— sometimes I forget who I'm talking to.” 

Then her eyes brightened and she turned back to Timbre. 

“I've been trying to come by ever since they told me that you were sick—" She turned to stare at the Observer accusatorily, "—but they didn't let me through! One time I even tried climbing up the walls but there were too few handholds. We'll have to try that later together, I think. It could be a great place to practise climbing — I'm really good with book shelves already, but walls—there aren't that many walls in here. What do you think?" 

Timbre laughed, surprising even herself. Onii cooed in her arms and Timbre had the vague impression that the chicken liked it when she laughed. 

"I am good at climbing, too!", she said thoughtfully, "But I've only ever climbed trees. I think I’d like to climb walls and bookshelves, too. Actually, I think I’d like that very much!” 

"Girls, as much as I don’t want to interrupt— maybe we should leave the stairs and you could talk over there? My arm is getting a bit tired. This door is really heavy, you know." The Observer looked first at Timbre, and then Selandri. Both of them blushed and Selandri finally managed climbed the last few steps, grinning widely at Timbre. Timbre felt like she'd never met someone who was this happy before, and grinned back shyly. This was very different from the woods indeed. Very different from everything she’d ever known. It might take a while to get used to, in fact — but she found herself actually looking forward to it. 

The Observer finally let the door fall shut and pushed them gently into the room. Then she raised an eyebrow at Selandri. "Do you know why the Observatory exists?" 

"So you don't have to clean up?", Selandri quipped. Then she blushed. Timbre found herself staring at her with admiration. This girl was definitely a force to be reckoned with!

"Actually, you're almost right there", the Observer said, "but not quite. The Observatory is my place within the Library. Your people have no right to clean up in here." She winked at them. "They don't really like it all that much, I think. Sometimes they come by just to shake their heads and look disappointed. They think I don’t notice...  Anyways, if you want to have your own desk here, I can probably arrange that. Then your mother can't put you on desk arrest any longer."

Selandri's eyes widened. "You'd do that for me?”, she breathed, before stage whispering in Timbre's direction: "She's great! Why can't she adopt me, too?" 

Tags below the cut! If you want to be added/removed plz tell me :)

For day 4, 5 and 6 (even though it’s not even 3PM yet but whatever, if don’t do it now I’ll forget XD) Had basically no time at all yesterday so I’m still wondering how the hell I managed to write almost 4K o_O Maybe I got possessed? XD

Also, happy writing everyone! <3 

WIP: Like Dragons of Old - Intro Post

Day 4 - written: 5,448 | Total: 25,713 Day 5 - written: 3,787 | Total: 29,500 Day 6 - written: 4,308 | Total: 33,808

Excerpt Time! 

sorry for the NaNo first-draft-quality.

Also this is Selandri’s first POV chapter :)

Selandri swore later that she could feel the change in the air from the moment she woke, but deep down she knew that this probably wasn’t quite true. After all it had been just another day, indistinguishable from all others before — until the Observer came back. 

She first realized that something was strange when she noticed the ruckus. Her people weren't really known for talking in anything but quiet, hushed voices, but now, here they were! Loudly! Exclaiming about things! Shouting, even! "—heard? The Observer is coming back early—" "—a kid?!—" "—the broken continent—" "—destruction everywhere, but the trees and plants are—" "—broken the Rule! How are we supposed to—" "—arriving in an hour?! So soon? But I expected she'd—" "—they say she's bringing a child, claimed by the Au—"

Selandri stopped in her tracks, staring at speaker with wide eyes. "She's bringing a child? Like me? Here? Today?"

The woman just rolled her eyes before pulling the man she'd been talking to away. Selandri thought about running after them but decided against it. After all, someone who rolled their eyes at her probably wouldn't be in a great mood, and probably wouldn't answer her questions either. Even if she was very obnoxious. Some people didn't seem to like children all that much... 

"Selandri!!! I've been searching for you everywhere, young lady! Where do you always run off to?!" Selandri froze, shocked by Ma's angry voice, but then she bolted, running away in the opposite direction as fast as she could. "Someone hold her—", she heard her mother screaming, but she ducked through all the arms and legs that appeared around her with ease and was gone before anyone managed to stop her. 

Only when she'd climbed at least twenty feet up a bookshelf, panting, she realized that she still didn't know anything about the child. Where would they arrive? There were so many doorways here, so many unknown crooks and alleys.... how was she supposed to find out where to look?! 

"Hey there, kid", a voice said from below and she almost lost her grip.

A man stood below, grinning up at her. His hair was in wild disarray and he wore the robes of her people, but she didn't think she'd ever seen him around. Then again, the Library was endless. Maybe he just didn't belong to this part of it but came from further away?

"Careful!", he called out, "I think your mother would kill me... You're quite high up there, aren't you?"

She stared down at him from her perch and wondered how she was supposed to answer that. After all, it was quite obvious.  "I mean… yeah, I am? So what? How did you find me, anyways? Who just walks along the bookshelves and looks up when they're searching for someone? Don't you dare tell her! She never finds me!"

His grin reappeared and for a second she wondered if he was going to climb up to her. "You know, I think you should come down. Or do you want to miss meeting her?"

“Meeting who?" 

He rolled his eyes so expressively that she could still see it, even from where she was. "You know who. The little girl. Timbre."

Selandri stared at him, her eyes becoming thin slits. "Are you the one who told everyone?", she asked carefully.

He nodded, eyes twinkling. Then he bowed in the most old-fashioned way Selandri had ever seen, and she giggled. "So... if I come down, you'll take me to see her? Right now?" “Something along those lines. I mean, they aren’t back yet. But I’m supposed to open the Gate for the Observer.” He grinned again. She wondered if he had any other facial expressions beside grinning. “I think bringing you could be arranged. It might make things easier with little Timbre, too.” 

She arched an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean? Make things easier with Timbre?”

His grin slipped for the first time. “She’s — a difficult case. Let’s leave it at that.  Now, are you coming or not? And do I have to get help or can you get back down on your own?”

Tags below the cut, If you want to be added/removed please tell me <3

Yesterday I reached 75K! And I have a plot now! And plot twists! ಠ‿ಠ

And I’ve decided that it’s going to be a trilogy tentatively called The Song of the Aunae, that the first of those will be Like Dragons of Old, and that it’ll be told mostly from Selandri’s perspective. The second will then be from Onii’S POV, and the third from Timbre’s. Because somehow that really fits quite well. :D 

Now I just have to find out what to do about the chapters I wrote already, because they don’t work from Selandri’s POV. Maybe they’ll be in a sort of “prelude” before everything starts? Can’t think of what that’s actually called right now :’D Also yesterday I somehow managed to write 1,022 words during a 15min sprint... o _ O  No wonder my hands are falling off. 

WIP: Like Dragons of Old wip page - intro post

Day 10 - written 5,129 | total 55,555 Day 11 - written 4,451 | total 60,006 Day 12 - written 6,660 | total 66,666 Day 13 - written 3,470 | total 70,136 Day 14 - written 5,137 | total 75,273

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Excerpt!

“What do you even dream about every night?”, she asked, and was immediately surprised by how weary she sounded. 

Of course Timbre had picked up on that too because she immediately started looking very guilty. Selandri cursed herself mentally and wondered why she couldn’t have been at least a bit more cheerful. 

“I…” Timbre looked away. “My people”, she finally continued after half an eternity. “I dream of my parents. Of them… of everyone changing. Of the wolves, when I met them that first time. Of the Aunae, whispering things... in my head. It changes every night. They get worse, the dreams. It’s not— it’s never the same. Sometimes I’m okay in the beginning. And then things start going wrong, you know? People change, and they start saying things... mean things. They always abandon me there, alone.“

She shivered again, glancing at Selandri, then down at her hands, knotted in her lap. When she spoke again, her voice was shaking.  “But that’s not what happened tonight. Tonight was worse. So much worse.”

Timbre fell silent, refusing to meet Selandri’s worried gaze.

“What… what did you dream of tonight?”, she asked finally, when the silence grew too heavy. 

Timbre rubbed at her eyes, ignored the question, and then lay back down, trying to maker self as small as possible. She pulled the blanket back up, looking around as if searching for something.

“Where is Onii?”, she finally asked instead, her voice so miserable that Selandri wanted nothing more than to hug her. “Onii is always there when I… always…”

Selandri sighed, then looked around, too. The chicken was nowhere to be seen. “Maybe she’s with the Observer? We could go looking for her.” 

Timbre’s eyes widened and she pulled the blanket so high that only her eyes were visible. Selandri sighed again. She’d never felt this helpless before. “Do you… Do you need a hug? Maybe?”

Timbre hesitated but then she nodded. It was almost imperceptible and if Selandri hadn’t paid her so much attention she would’ve missed it entirely. 

Tags below the cut! If you want to be (un)tagged please tell me :>

Okay so I’ve never done these before BUT with a new story and all... 

This is for day 1, day 2 and day 3. Uhh..... :’D

I can say that after having written 2 different versions of the prologue and one chapter for each of the three pov characters, I can safely say that I finally know where to bein the story.. and that the first two of said three chapters will have to be rewritten to work ... at least now I love where it’s going :’D

Day 1: words written = total words: 5,087 Day 2: words written: 7,163. Total words: 12,250 Day 3: words written: 8,015. Total words: 20,265

I’m still working on Day 4, have a bit less than 1.5 hours left. Suffice to say, this will be the day with the lowest wordcount, I guess. Too much uni stuff to do. Which I procrastinated during the last few days! xD 

I think my updates will probably come every two or three days. Too much to do!

And now... An excerpt! From the sort-of-prologue. Very first-draft-y, I’m sorry :’D

There are trees everywhere, and some of them hold vaguely humanoid shapes. Some have faces, too, calm faces, as if they’re only sleeping. The Observer doesn’t like to dwell on those — she tries to move on as quickly as she can, tries to pay as little attention as possible.   Because the Aunae are watching, even if the eyes are closed on the surface, and the Observer doesn’t really like the Aunae all that much. After all, there were people once on this continent, but the Aunae took them all. They prayed to us, a voice whispers. It’s less of a voice, more of an intuition; the Observer doesn’t turn around as she continues onward. They begged that we save them before the destruction of their bodies and minds by the radiancy got too bad. We only accepted their deal, Observer. We only answered their prayers. But the Observer knows that, though true, this is only a half-truth; she doesn’t listen to them. She also does not like the Cinnrié all that much, because she’s refused its ties all her long, millennia-spanning life. She will not let herself be tied down by the Aunae, no matter how hard they try. “I am the Observer, and you will leave me be”, she tells the murky grey darkness of the trees surrounding her. Small creatures scuttle away from her but she does not see them. The Aunae did not lie. They saved everyone, but their methods of saving… those are other things to talk about. “What about the animals?”, she asks pointedly, speaking the human tongue her Aeqara use for their day-to-day communications. “What about them? Did they plead for you to save them?” Nothing has changed for them. They can withstand the Radiancy now, they won’t die like everything else. Millennia will pass before any human can set foot on this land again, without risking change, and death. But the Observer doesn’t listen anymore, instead she’s walking forward, eyes trying to hone in on the noise, the noise— “I don’t want to harm you”, she says quietly into the darkness. There’s a low growl, then, and even though it’s supposed to sound menacing and dangerous, the Observer can feel that this one isn’t. This one is different. While she has no idea why she doesn’t turn back around immediately, she does know that this… there is importance to this moment. Something she knows will come clear later on, even if she has no idea right now what it might be. So she gets down on all fours and slowly starts to inch forward.

tags below the cut, if you want to be added/removed plz tell me!

I got tagged for this some time ago by @jaywrites101, @margaretcroftwrites and @authordai. Thank you <3 

Rules: Go to your current WIP. Find the seventh line on the seventh page and copy and paste seven sentences below. Then, tag seven other writers to do the same.

This is for LIke Dragons of Old, as most other tag games I’ve done recently^^ From the Observer’s POV. 

The branches and twigs crack under her feet as she walks.

Curiously, the world is grey, the colour leached away as if by some terrible force. She’d laugh at that thought if it weren’t true, but unfortunately she knows exactly how true it is. After all, she was there when they set off the detonator, far, far to the south; she was there when the fabric of reality was torn apart, when the earth itself cried out.

She’s the only colourful thing here. For how long, though? She knows she can’t stay too long, or her colours will be gone, too.

I’m actually surprised that the excerpt not even makes sense but starts at its own paragraph?? XD 

I got tagged by @cirianne to find the words wait, public and silence and by @romenna to find  wet, happy, fear, and inside.

I’ll be doing these for Like Dragons of Old (and I would link this but since tumblr is a piece of shit.. >.< ugh) This is my NaNoWriMo story, as usual :)

These are sorted according to their places in the story :3 Also very first-draft-y. xD

Silence

"Oh, Timbre", the woman says, the relief obvious in her voice, "Oh, baby-girl..." She kneels down and pulls her into her arms, and then she carries her away, stroking her back softly. That's when Timbre feels the strange sensation for the first time — the strange pain in her back, the strange something, rough and unwanted. "It's beginning", the woman says sadly. "I guess it'll be slowest for you and the other children, but we won't be here for that much longer, little one." Timbre shifts uneasily, wondering what those words are supposed to mean. She has an inkling. She hopes desperately that she’s wrong, but she knows she isn’t. The woman’s back is rough under the rough shirt, and Timbre can see the wood peaking through. Can feel the ridges of the bark. The woman sighs. “How are your… are they—” But she doesn’t finish the question, and Timbre’s silence is answer enough.

Happy

“I like that”, the girl says, finally. “Yes. Friends… I think I should like to have a friend. I don’t know the word laugh.” “Look at you”, the Observer says, marvelling at the way she speaks. “How did you even remember how to speak? What happened, little one? All the stories… there’s so much you know. Laughing is the sound people make when they’re really happy, and smiling is like laughing but less strong, without sound. You’ll learn — I’ll show you! There’s a little girl right your age living where I come from. She’s smart and funny and kind, and she has a lot of ideas in that head of hers. I bet she would love to be friends with you, too. Do you have a name?”

Inside

The Observer gets over her surprise quickly, she realizes. In fact, she’s much quicker at that than she would have expected. “Timbre? Do you use this language still, from time to time?” Timbre tilts her head again, and then she smiles, exposing too many teeth. “Oh, yes. My family — they talk to me, inside my head. They’re always there. But I don’t know their language. I could use it, but they said no. Not safe to speak like them, or sing.” The Observer nods, slowly, wondering how to untangle the deep net that has Timbre in its grasp. The Aunae… all of them? “Is there more than one, Timbre?”, she asks carefully. “More than one voice?” Timbre smiles again. “Oh yes, many voices. My family is very big. Some keep more to the back but most of them don’t. They keep me safe. They guided my guardians to me.”

Wait

Timbre looks around at the wolves, and she looks up at the trees. Her eyes are wide and desperate and full of pain and sorrow. "It hurts", she whimpers, "it hurts so much." The Observer nods, softly, crawls a bit farther until she's only two foot-lengths away from the little girl. Then she just waits, and sits. The wolves are close enough that they could kill her if they wanted to, and there'd be nothing she could do against it. Of course, that death wouldn't last long, but it's still a risk she doesn't want to take. Dying is painful, after all. Painful and senseless. The wolves don't move. Timbre moves at last, crawling forward until she's right in front of her. Her eyes are wild and her mouth is half-open. The Observer wonders if she's going to lunge for her throat or not. Timbre doesn't seem to know the answer to that herself, either. "Come", the Observer says, and she opens her arms, slowly, as not to startle anything, or anyone. Timbre hesitates, and then she crawls onto her lap, shivering and dirty, the remainders of clothes hanging off her small frame like a snake shedding skin.

Wet

“[...] I’m glad you’re here.” Timbre didn’t say anything but Selandri could somehow feel that she was smiling in the darkness. “Yes, me too. I’m also really glad that I’m here”, she said softly, and it could’ve been a joke if she hadn’t sounded so serious, so calm, so gentle. “I love being your friend.” Onii clucked quietly, too, and Selandri felt her eyes get all wet and embarrassing. She was glad that the darkness hid it all. “Are you crying?” Dang. “How do you know?” She tried to keep the sounds out of her voice but it did sound a bit more wet than usual, probably. “I can see in the dark.” “Daaang, Timbre! And you only tell me now? No wonder you never walk into bookshelves.” “I apologize… I mean. I’m sorry. What does “dang” mean?”

Fear

“I... I was so afraid for so long”, a voice whispered next to her, half an eternity later, uncertain and a bit shaky. Selandri looked up, almost startled to find the other girl directly next to her, maybe less than one foot away. There was so much fear in those eyes, though, that she couldn’t find anything but sympathy in her heart. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore”, she said, and then she smiled. The other girl looked away, but her face was less scared already and Selandri felt something opening up in herself, as if her soul was singing. “We’ll keep you safe”, she said. “The monsters will never get to you again.”

I’m tagging both of you back, and also @necros-writings and @ragethewriter aaand also my usual LDOO tag crew? In hopes that you’re not cursing me for tagging you in these games all the time? xD

Also I’m vaguely sorry for how long these are but I .. couldn’t.. cut :’D

Your words are: small, cold, wood and find