#ragewrites

Lianna Schreiber, Stub

Pick a character, and have them answer these interview questions!  I was tagged by @corishadowfang  - thankyou dear :3c

I’m going to be interviewing my deuteragonist Caecius!  Hi Caecius!

1. How are you doing today?

"I’m doing well, how are you?”

we’re great thanks buddy

2. You ready to answer some questions?

"If you’d like me to, sure.”

3. How do you feel about your name? Your surname?

"I don’t have a surname as far as I know... but I’m fond of the name I do have.  My parents gave it to me, and I know not everyone can say the same.  Although sometimes I think the irony is a bit much... I’ve had to explain to plenty of people that my eyes work just fine.”

4. Is there anything you’d like to thank your author for?  

".................... Not particularly.”

5. You can only eat three foods for the rest of your life, what are they?

"Oof, not an easy choice.  Lamb, honeybread, and... nectarines?  I’m not sure those go together...” 

6. Have you ever done or said anything that surprised your author?

“Does it count that I haven’t strangled Raicouda yet?”

No.

“...Then probably my sense of humor.”

7. You have limitless funds, what kind of party are you going to have?

“A party to end all parties, of course!  Feasting and dancing are absolutely must-haves.  Costumes and painted faces, music all through the night and into the next day, a venue with crowds and games and riotous halls, and a quiet garden for sneaking off to share secrets...   Now if only I had that many people to invite. Ahaha... ha...”

8. Tell us a quick story about something that’s happened to you that not even your author knows about… yet.

“Well.  One time when we were younger, Arcana apparently got me drunk, kissed me, and then let me cry all my secrets out on her shoulder... And no, I don’t remember any of it.  So don’t ask.” 

9. Do you have a favorite Hero?

"The War Mother is the only hero that really matters to me - but I do have my favorite stories too.  There’s one about the daughter of a great celestial bear, who took her mother’s stars and slew monsters with them; she captured a three-headed dog and rode him to the gray fields of the dead to find someone... it’s one of my favorite heroic ballads.”

10. What do you plan to do after this?

“... I have plans for dinner I don’t plan on missing.  If you’ll excuse me...”

MORE FLOOF FOR THE EDGELORRRD   

*tosses confetti*

(context for this one is post-story/married etc.  The rest is under the readmore, see the prompt for requests!)

-

“Your bed head is really cute.”

Raicouda looked up from where he was levied over his mate, interrupting her lazy ministrations on his ears.  Pinna laughed at the look on his face, the expression somewhere between confusion and a pout.  The morning bleariness in his eyes and the russet mane that feathered out at all angles really completed the look.

“… Cute?” he demanded in a groggy voice, which only made her smile wider.

“Have I not told you, amoré?” she teased.

He shifted further up, careful to keep his weight supported on his elbows.  “Don’t sound like an accurate description...” he grumbled.

“Nonsense,” she said, “You are very cute.  The cutest, perhaps.”

He huffed, looking affronted.  Pinna tapped a reprimanding finger on his nose.

“Do not start with me, you big prickly baby... I am allowed to find you cute.”

Raicouda blanched at her choice of words, but nonetheless leaned into her palm as she sifted a hand through his hair.  Just like clockwork, her attentions brought out a deep-throated purr.

“Hm.  Just you, then, meu sirena...” he finally conceded.  He couldn’t help a placated smile as he pawed his arms into the mattress in a fluid stretch.

He sighed as Pinna gave a happy hum and continued to run her fingers through his proposed bedhead.  The late morning sun streaming through the window was almost enough to lull him back to sleep, but his mind was occupied with other musings.  Leaning on one arm, Raicouda returned to his activity – tracing senseless patterns over the bump that was just beginning to show on his mate’s midsection.

“I hope they have your hair,” Pinna spoke up, following the direction of his thoughts.  She ruffled it to accentuate the point.

He shook his head minutely. “I’m hoping they take after you...” He flicked a glance up at her.

Pinna could sense the anxiety brewing in his words, and for his sake she resisted rolling her eyes.

“No worries about that, now.  I am just fine,” she assured him.  She couldn’t help that her gaze drifted to the barbed end of his tail - its stinger thoroughly bound up in fabric.  It was a nightly ritual that her mate was adamant about.

Raicouda only frowned at her stomach, idly thumbing the callouses on the pads of his own fingers.

Pinna sighed.  “You are worrying…” she chastised in a lilting voice.  His mouth turned down at the corners as she angled his chin up to meet her gaze.

“Just… concerned,” he said. Laying his palms on either side of the swell.  “… You haven’t felt any-?”

“No kicking yet,” she interrupted the question he had already asked her a dozen times.  She tugged him up, planting a kiss on his cheek as he settled next to her.  “And no stinging either,” she added cheerily.

“Not funny,” he muttered, peppered with more of her indulgent kisses.

“Do not be so sour, amoré,” Pinna hummed.  “You know the children of your father’s side are born soft-shelled, anyway.”

“…Still.”

Pinna really did roll her eyes this time.  She pulled him in for another kiss, only letting go when she felt him relax.  She smiled as he nosed her for more attention, trailing his lips along the faded lines of her scars and down her neck.  

“… Love you…” he mumbled against the skin of her shoulder.  He turned to nuzzle the hand that had gone back to carding through his hair, letting loose another purr when she returned the sentiment.

Pinna peered down at him as he dozed back off, his breathing shallowing, and his brow uncharacteristically relaxed.  She skimmed a feather-light touch along the shell of his ear, smothering a giggle as she watched it flick in his sleep.

She fully intended to inform him that visage was, in fact, adorable.

-

10 questions about writerly things - I was tagged by @axelrider , hey homie~  😎

1. When starting something new, how much do you know about the story before you start writing? 

E V E R Y T H I N G.  Jk, I mean, I know all the major stuff that I would need to write the main narrative, the plot, the conflict, most of the meta, etc.  Sidestory, Backstory, and the rest of the cast tend to grow as I write - but for the scenes i put down on paper, I always know exactly what I’m doing.

2. What draws you to your WIP(s)? Why did you choose to write that/those over anything else?

Well I only have one MASSIVE wip right now, since I don’t have the attention span for much else - and its pretty much just... the spread of an infectious idea or two.  I gotta be obsessed about it to be able to write it.

3.Favorite writing spot? Why?

Anywhere super quiet, on laptop, with comfy seating in either sunlight or pitch dark - no inbetween.  Bonus points for food nearby <3

4. Share your favorite line of what you’ve written so far!

Hmmmm hard to pick, but this one is somewhere on the list: “The Red Crater is no place for Alphas and their ways.  This is a place of flaws. The forge where we shape the dented metal.”  She cast me a look to clarify her point: she was the blacksmith, I was the metal.

5. If you had to choose one oc to bring to life as an actual person, which one would it be and why?

Arcana, because she would understand.  Also, she needs therapy.

6. Are you looking to get published? If so, do you hope to make it a career?

Published, yes.  I’m not sure about “writing” as a career, but I would love to keep drawing and writing in the Hybrid universe.  

7. What’s something you would read but would never write (or the other way around)? Any reason?

Historical fiction.  I don’t have the patience for research, nor the motive to write realism. 🙃

8. What’s something you are most proud of about your work so far?

:3c I’m quite proud of my metaplot, it’s riddled with juicy spoilers.

9. Badly describe your WIP(s) in one sentence.

Former pet goes to boot camp, wrecks everything along the way, including the captain.

10. Why did you want to be a writer?

So I could tell this story and do it justice. <3

OOOOOH MAN I’ve been waiting to do this one  (✿ʘ‿ʘ)  find the first place each word appears in your WIP, and post the sentence/passage!

Thank you @i-rove-rock-n-roll for tagging me!  The words they picked are table, sky, ran, and rain!

~ ~ ~

table -

A matching emerald carpet cut across the bamboo floor like a river, bearing a long table, low to the ground and lined with - of course - more cushions.

sky -

“… Yes,” Sister turned her innocent expression on me, “You see, her other parent was a… Sky-Blood?”

“Wind-Blood.”  I corrected, shooting her a dark look.

ran -

A narrow stripe of wild black mane ran over the top of his head and down his back in a proud crest, though his tail was bobbed for practicality.

rain - 

Even when the sky dimmed and the evening rain came, we continued.  Caecius directed me from beneath a makeshift canopy of his wings, though it did little to help.  After another hour we were both soaked.  Mud splattered higher up my legs with each leap and landing, chilling me until I felt more numb than dirty.

~ ~ ~

aaaaa im excited i found them all

Next up, im tagging @wingedcatwblr ,  @siarven , @kainablue , @authorkimberlygrey ,  and @brynwrites (yes i’m tagging senpai bryn because idk if they do tag games but I know they workin on OPP)

AND I’m tagging anyone else doing NANO because I can’t remember who’s actually doing it lol

YOUR WORDS ARE:

I was tagged by @writings-of-a-tired-ravenclaw ! <3

Write and post a new excerpt from your WIP, as long or as short as you’d like!  

I’m tagging @natalienider , @67crashpandas, @authorkimberlygrey, @wingedcatwblr, @v-writes-sometimes, @thatwriternamedvolk, @corishadowfang, @jaycewriteslikealot,  @adiwritings , @i-rove-rock-n-roll, @siarven, @axelrider

+ anyone else that wants to do it!

My excerpt is part of a scene from the middle of Hybrid, it’s under the cut!

~ ~ ~

Between the shaking and the radiating pain, my body didn’t feel like my own.  I didn’t even realize I’d been gasping for air until the pressure of Caecius’ arms unwound from my sore ribs.

That’s when the shock set in.

Too much adrenaline in the hands that were hooked in a death-grip behind his neck; they were brittle, and when he pulled, they came undone.  I settled for having my fingers curled in the front of his shirt, something solid, watching them shudder.  His heart was thudding somewhere beneath them. I could hear his panting between gritted teeth by my ear, and the small noise of discomfort that accompanied his wings stirring the dirt, lain out at odd angles.  We were sitting, somehow; he must have knelt down.  To his credit, Caecius wasn’t shaking at all.

But he did flinch, when the slightest movement sent a flare of white-hot pain through my shoulder, and made me bite down on a yowl.

“Don’t move-”

I couldn’t tell if it was an order, or a plea, his facade was so thin.  I could almost feel his hands hovering; tense, unsure of where or how to help.  I just shook my head, blinking the tears back.  Don’t move - I don’t think I could if I tried, my legs already felt liquefied.

And oh gods my wing… I remembered the thunk of bone sliding someplace it shouldn’t.  Now the pit of my back felt heavy and on fire.  Something wasn’t right… the thought alone made me nauseous.

“I’ll take you to Amani…” Caecius’ words trailed off as yelling and pounding feet filtered into the small bubble of our near-death experience.  One, two, three sets of legs touched down at a sprint, their owners reaching us in a flurry of panic.

“Gods above- Case are y-”

He cut off Talon’s urgent babbling with a low growl.

“Get the door.”

In any other circumstance, the icy tone would’ve terrified me - it certainly did the job on the other three hybrids.  No more words were spoken as they stood in silent attention.  Talon was already jogging away.

What followed were a few wary negotiations between Caecius’ arms and mine.  The pain made me hiss no matter the angle, shooting out from my hip, my shoulder, the odd set of my wings.  But he had a hand under my back and he kept it there, hoisting me up in a compromise.  With his other arm under my knees he could walk, and I could grind my teeth in displeasure.

Thunder rolled in the distance, mocking me.  There wasn’t any room for me to consider shrinking away - not with my hands still so desperate to grip something steady.  My thoughts crowded with the memory of the ground rushing to meet us, wind howling in my ears.  Caecius felt just as solid now, carrying me with such a stiff gait.

“S...sorry…” I managed to bite out, as the guilt began to dawn on me.  We were only a couple hundred feet shy of a blood spatter… Just another thing gone wrong to add to the list.

I glanced up to see Caecius shake his head in response.  I knew the words.  Don’t apologize.  But I could see the difference this time, in the sharp line of his jaw, his brow, the cutting aversion of his pale eyes.