#wordspin's plotbunnies

CHARACTER PROFILE — MORGAN HUNT aka PACE | MARVEL

Thank you so much for the tag, @passionatewrites!

Rule: Share seven lines from a WIP and tag seven people.

From the draft of the prologue of my Grishaverse fic, Thread of Twilight. Much more than seven lines, but it would feel unfinished otherwise :-P

The girl kept her eyes on the log she had placed in front of her. Her fingers curled and glided over it, drawing shapes as a frown settled on her face. The boy watched her, saying nothing.

When her hands finally stilled, she pursed her lips for a moment but picked up the piece of wood nonetheless. It looked like a bird, even though a crudely shaped one.

“My grandmother says there’s much more to it,” she said. “I’ve tried, but I haven’t managed to make something break apart yet.”

The boy studied her, his gray eyes boring into her. “Wielding such power takes practice.” He let out a breath. “It’s not easy.”

She peered at him, her face suddenly lighting up. “Can you do something like that? Show me!”

INTRODUCING — DARIA BREZIN in THREAD OF TWILIGHT | THE GRISHAVERSE

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“Both in lavender and in black, there is blue.”

Daria has lived in freedom — a feat to which few Grisha can honestly lay claim. She has traveled, seen many things, learned much. And after long years, a voyage on the True Sea brings her face to face with her past, awakening a buried sense of longing and setting her on a new course.

Thank you so much for thinking about me, @late-to-the-fandom!

From the draft of my book-verse Grishaverse WIP, Thread of Twilight:

Genya was crouched at the far side of the cabin, her arms resting on her knees, her gaze vacant. The once luminous face was unrecognizable. Covered in dark red welts and puncture marks, the flesh was raw, a mass of angry tissue that was beginning to pucker. She hadn’t heard Daria walking in, but when she became aware she was no longer alone, her head snapped up. She jerked back reflexively, her body stiffening against the wall.

Daria realized that one of Genya’s eyes was dark, sightless. The fear emanating from her was heart-wrenching.

“You poor girl.”

Thank you so much for the tag @darthnell!

From my Grishaverse fic, Thread of Twilight, since that’s the WIP I’m currently working on:

The boy and his mother had come to the village when the trees were beginning to blossom. Many of the villagers were uncomfortable around them — the woman made them uneasy. She was never discourteous or sour in manner, but there was something imposing in the way she carried herself.

The girl knew it was because she was a Grisha of great power. Young though she was, she could still feel it. She had never seen the woman summon, but she had heard her grandmother and mother whispering. Her grandmother was the one who had welcomed the newcomers, helped them find lodgings, and she was in the woman’s company daily.

OC Winter Holidays Challenge 2022 | Day 16: Merry Solstice

OLD TRADITIONS — DARIA BREZIN in THREAD OF TWILIGHT | THE GRISHAVERSE

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“What are you making?”

Daria stilled her hands, letting them hover above the half-shaped white block of wood in her lap. She looked up at David. Even bundled in his wool kefta, gloves, and fur hat, the cold air turned his nose pink.

“Nikolai wanted a centerpiece for the table tomorrow,” she answered. Her fingers skimmed the hard surface before resting lightly on it. She frowned at the look on David’s face. “It is a good idea, David. One night will not set everything back.”

“So Genya says.” David huffed a breath. “There’s still so much to be done, though, so much to repair—”

“It’s one night, David.” Genya came up beside him. Her auburn hair shone under the winter sun. “And before you say there have been days of preparation, I know that, but I also know people need this opportunity to forget about the last two years for a bit.” She slipped her gloved hand into his and smiled. Then she turned to Daria. “Is that a sleigh?”

Daria looked down at the wood. “It is.” She raised her hands, and the white surface beneath her gliding fingers began to shift. The rear half of the horse-drawn sleigh took its final form. A finely-detailed young woman in a fur hat and robes appeared in it, and a group of maidens followed behind, smiling and singing.

“I got nostalgic,” Daria continued, her lips curving upwards. “It is a pity Kolenda Night isn’t celebrated the way it used to be.”

“Oh?” David’s breath frosted in the air.

Daria looked over at the Grisha skating on the frozen lake. “It was more than simply hanging lanterns in the streets and outside houses and having a feast at the end of the day,” she said. “We would make wreaths from fir or pine, and children would have snowball fights and sing kolyadki dancing in circles. But this,” she tapped the wood she was shaping, “was the main event of the day.”

She smiled to herself, observing her work.

“Carving wood?” Genya lifted an elegant eyebrow.

Daria laughed. “Not carving wood — the maiden procession.” She gestured at the design she had fashioned on the white block. “Each year every town chose a young woman to represent the Sun. She was dressed in orange robes and drawn on a sleigh from house to house, accompanied by six others, singing kolyadki. The townspeople gave them gifts, and later those gifts would be used to help anyone in need. It was really a welcome to the longer days of the year ahead.”

“Were you ever chosen?” Genya asked.

“No,” Daria said simply. “We never stayed in one place long enough to become part of the community.”

Genya’s amber eye fixed on her. She didn’t speak. Snow began to fall, and Genya brushed a flake from Daria’s slate gray hair.

“Well, tomorrow you will wear lavender,” she said. “You are a teacher at the Little Palace now, and you should display that at our first formal function after the war.”

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Thank you so much for the tag, @darthnell! <3

Post the last 7 lines of your current WIP.

It’s more of a current hyperfixation than a WIP, this one. Here are the last lines (bit more than seven) of my Top Gun: Maverick plot-bunny, working title Lessons in Motion.

JJ directed an exaggerated grimace at Dean. “Busted, Dino.”

Dean laughed and got up. “Dance with me after?”

“Always, sweetheart.” She watched him join his father and turned back to the piano, her fingers pressing the keys slowly.

“That was a nice rendition before.”

It was the man who had been watching them. He had moved closer.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Toy Story theme in half-tempo,” he continued. There was a definite twitch to his mouth under his mustache.

JJ felt herself mirroring his expression. “Well, it had to sound fitting for a wedding,” she repeated what she had told her godson. Then it struck her. “You play?”

“A little,” the man answered. There was a small pause. “I’m Bradley.”

Thank you for the tag, @asirensrage! <3

So, last thing I worked on was a Top Gun: Maverick plot-bunny that I am fairly certain will never see the light of day. But since I couldn't stop the onslaught of scenes that popped up, here is a cropped one. Pure fluff, I got carried away, couldn’t be helped. :-P

“Shhh,” JJ tried to stifle her laughter. “We gotta make it sound like this belongs at a wedding.” She cleared her throat and looked around again to see if anyone had recognized the animated movie tune for what it was, despite its jazz dress-up.

A few people were throwing glances their way, smiling when they saw the newlyweds’ young son sitting at the piano with his godmother. Only one man was more obvious in his watching them. JJ thought she could see his mouth twitch under his mustache.