#wcbbh

Yes, I missed Day 3 of @originalficfest. It’s going up tomorrow, so for now I’m pretending I’m still on time with plot-relevant badass quotes from each of my WIPs. (To see funniest quotes from each MC, feast yer eyes here.)

The Storm Prince:

“She shrugged. “Learn or die. It’s the Grisha way.”

---

““Just tell me this,” Artemiy said. “If you died tomorrow, could you live with what you’ve done?””

OMNI:

“Kiefer gazed at him for another moment before flicking the safety back on his pistol. “I won’t ask you to repent, Andreas,” he said coolly. “I want you to regret it as I destroy you. I will grind you into dust.””

---

He pulled Joshua closer, afraid to let him go. “You don’t understand,” he said, panicked. “He’s my future.”

Rose’s eyes softened. “I understand,” she said. “Trust me.””

Outlands:

“I stared helplessly at Jacoby’s pale face, watching the life drain from his eyes. “I told you everyone you loved would die,” Arthur said. “It was not a threat; it was a promise.””

---

“Whatever thing stood in the doorway was barely a person. It hunched over, black spikes protruding from its back, its fingers ending in sharp, black claws, its robes in tatters and barely covering its body. But when it lifted its head, it had human features, a face that perhaps long ago was handsome but now was covered in thick, black scars. In place of eyes it had dark, black pits, like Cecilia’s but utterly absent of fire, and in the middle of its forehead it had another hole that was black like its eyes, like it had carved out a place in skull. Prophecy is like having a third eye, Jacoby had said. Was this what he’d meant?

“Cecilia,” it rasped in a voice that sounded like ten. Cecilia made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a sob. “I came back for you.””

We Can’t Both Be Honest:

“Avery crossed her arms. “Aren’t you afraid of what I’m going to find?”

Percy kicked his feet onto the table and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Could I look you in the eye if I had anything to hide?””

---

““Ever eaten asphalt?” REAPER asked, his voice distorted. “Have you wondered how Jean-Eduard felt, bleeding out on the street with his back broken?”

Avery lunged for her dad’s pistol and emptied it into her desktop tower.”

Grey City:

“Alexis searched Theo’s face for any hint of deception. It held nothing but guilt-wracked honesty. “No one must know of this,” she said fiercely. “Not even your sister. Not even the gods.””

---

““I will not allow such intolerance to exist in my government,” Olivia declared. “By my powers as sovereign of the Dornagradian Empire, I formally dissolve parliament and call for new elections within three months. Furthermore I declare Chancellor Westsea and his supporters to be enemies of the Crown, to be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law on grounds of High Treason.”

“You can’t do that!” someone yelled.

I chose Percy/Amalia from We Can’t Both Be Honest for day two of @originalficfest for a couple of reasons: firstly, their relationship development is the biggest subplot in WCBBH, secondly, they’re the two most important characters after MC Avery Hollins, and thirdly because they are both an absolute joy to write. First a little drabble about them, and then some meta!

Avery didn’t know what was going to drive her insane first; the endless beeping of the heart monitor, the half-hearted buzz of the lights, or Amalia bouncing her leg. JP slept soundly, much to Avery’s chagrin.  “At least pace,” she said haplessly as Amalia’s sneaker squeaked for the sixth time.

“You’re right,” she replied quickly, and practically leapt to her feet and started walking aimless circles around the room.

Avery watched her with a half-hearted attempt at exasperation. Mostly she just felt bad.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps shook them both out of their strange trance. Percy stopped abruptly in the doorway, a massive teddy bear half-tucked under his arm, a bouquet of flowers in the same hand, and a bag of takeout in the other. “Sorry about the wait,” he wheezed. “They forgot spring rolls.”

Amalia crossed the room in a second and threw her arms around him. “Let me put the teddy down, acushla,” he said hastily, “ and I’ll hug you all you want.”

She didn’t look to be letting go, so Avery took pity on him and took the teddy bear from him, setting it down with the dozens of other gifts that had arrived at JP’s room this past week. Mouthing a thank you, Percy wrapped his arms around Amalia and swung her around. “Are you hungry enough to stop choking me, love?” he asked slyly.

Amalia untangled herself immediately. “Stupid question. I am always hungry.”

JP mumbled something intelligibly, roused by the delicious smell of takeout. He opened one eye and squinted at Percy. “Is that the Irish bastard or Slenderman?”

Avery picked JP’s glasses off the nightstand and set them on his face. “Correct.”

“Do you know any other insults besides bastard?” Percy asked him innocently, swinging JP’s tray around and setting the bag of takeout on it.

“Chinga tu puta madre,” JP replied eloquently. 

So, I based Percy and Amalia off a couple people and couples. Amalia is very much inspired by all of the dynamite hispanic women in my life, but the choice to make her and her brother (Juan Andres, who goes by JP to gringos) Mexican is because my boyfriend’s family is Mexican and it’s an acknowledgement or something. Percival “Percy” O’Callaghan is resoundingly not Mexican--he was born in Dublin, moved to Marseilles at fourteen, and speaks Gaelic and French like a prince. His aunt and mother sent him and his cousin, Jean-Eduard, to live in Middle Of Nowhere Connecticut with his uncle Jean-Philippe while his mother undergoes chemotherapy. I based him and his family off my own, specifically my aunt who lives in France. He has a lot of those ‘gentle giant’ traits (he’s 6′4″) that I love so much.

“Hey, Eddie?”

“Yes?”

“Your cousin is stupid pretty.”