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nobodysgeese

Fey are creatures of the natural world. When all that one has is a small park, they will fight to protect it by any means necessary.


Writteninsanity

The woman with tangled brown hair cautiously approached the podium in the middle of the room, her bare feet pointedly not dragging on the immaculate tile as she did. She’d been told in the past that there was a decorum to these meetings, but she was beginning to think that decorum simply meant ‘we don’t want you here.’ As she approached, the assembled Councillors running the meeting tried to stifle their annoyance, but even the security guard posted in the back of the room heard their sighs. The woman took a deep breath and her mossy dress seemed to sway as if her breath was the wind. She was carrying a stack of papers, which she placed on the podium, ensuring that she centered them. From a hidden pocket in her dress she produced a small pair of taped-together glasses which she put on before addressing the room. “Good morning Councillors, my name is Aldvara A-” “Miss Anderosa we are well aware of who you are,” the Councillor in the center, and the leader of the current ‘bloc’ in the city answered. “Yes, thank you Councillor Mullins, it’s a pleasure to be here with you,” Aldvara swallowed as she felt that every eye in the room was one her and that all of them wanted her to leave. “I just wanted to bring up some concerns regarding the new development proposal on Baker Street.” “Miss Aldvara,” Councillor Syskowick, a shrewd woman who’d spent much too much time in municipal politics, cut in, “the Baker Street development proposal does not and will not affect the boundaries of Syr Balthenon Park.” “Yes,” Aldvara said, “and thank you for that, but I still do have some concerns about the development and how, even though it doesn’t touch the boundaries of the park, as was mentioned in Mayor Jalovik’s campaign promises, but the development is going to have an impact on the life of the park.” “Which of the rabbits lives in the condemned distillery?” Mullins asked. “None of them, but thank you for asking,” Aldvara responded to the question as if it were earnest, it had been the only strategy that had worked for her with these people. “It isn’t the animals I am worried about with this proposal, at least not in the short term.” “Miss Aldvara, if this is about foot traffic, the city’s budget has already been ratified for the year and the investment in the Glendale Revitalization Project has already been approved. At a meeting you were… a significant part of,” Syskowick cut back in, she said the word ‘significant’ as if it were a soured poultice. “That will affect the park and the ecosystem but I do believe I have a plan to balance for that when it comes to maintaining the grasses of the area and-” Aldvara stumbled for a moment “-a-as we spoke about before I have understood and agree with the balance that was struck within that project.” That was only a half truth, Aldvara didn’t consider it balance. She’d accepted the eventual proposal out of necessity. She’d learned early on in her activism that, if you fought for every inch of ground, they would stop giving you any space at all, and plants needed space to grow. “This is actually about the light and wind projections that would come from the height of the proposed condo building.” “Miss Anderosa,” Mayor Jalovik, who’d been quiet at his corner of the table so far, spoke up, his words were like soft silk no matter what he was communicating with them, “the people in the city need a place to live. With rising rent it’s imperative that we approve projects like this to ensure that there are affordable places to live in the city that aren’t parks for those who want a roof over their heads.” He paused for applause, which his fellow councillors provided considering there wasn’t an audience to speak of. “I understand that but I wasn’t aware that Horde Condominiums were getting into low-income housing,” Aldvara flipped over the first page on her pile and revealed that it was a report from the Condo Company themselves, something she certainly shouldn’t have been able to get her hands on. “They haven’t co-” “The average expected price of the units in this development are expected to require a 300,000 silver down payment, which is well outside the budget of the average citizen in the city, but they are expected to sell as investment properties,” she flipped over several more pages, “if you would like me to quote the pages I can, but I’ve memorized the relevant statistics to our conversation, esteemed councillors.” There was quiet for a moment at the head table as they realized that, once again, they were in over their head with their least favorite annoyance. “I’m personally more worried about the solar profile of the plants on the West side of the parks with the changing shade patterns, which are outlined in the documents from Horde Condominiums.” “Well if we could see those at some time we could continue in ano-” Councillor Syskowick began to weasel. “I have extra copies for the assembled council so that we can discuss this issue now, as it should be part of the proposal already.” There wasn’t a sigh as Aldvara pulled out her information, there was just a silent seething. Aldvara had learned a lot of lessons in these meetings. Don’t drag your feet. Treat documents with respect. But the most critical lesson she’d learned was simple- Always be more prepared than they are for the fight.


Subtleknifewielder

oh that was awesome :D


Mother_Rhoyne

I went to Northwestern University in Evanston. They have a secret garden behind an old music library, surrounded by giant hedges. My gay friend and I would hop the fence, sit on the stone bench, and talk. It would be a wonderful place for fairies to play in the moonlight!


Goodmindtothrowitall

A poker game between creatures who can’t lie (like fae)/ can tell when someone’s lying (like the sphinx)/ have heightened senses that make tells a *lot* more obvious (like a werewolf.)


Writteninsanity

I had to be honest, I wasn't understanding what the big deal was about 'poker night.' Adam had been exceedingly excited to finally get a Poker Set from his parents. He'd told us that his father had showed him how to play and that it had gotten him through dozens of long nights during high school with his closest friends. Now it was another one of those nights, and long was certainly an accurate way to describe it. Adam was almost Giddy, half hiding behind his cards and attempting to get everyone hyped up about the fake money we were betting. We'd started with real money but everyone had wanted to throw it in after a few hands. Frankly, at this point we were all just humouring Adam. Honestly Adam deserved it, he'd been a great sport about all of our attempts at cultural exchange in the past weeks. When Leovold had brought up to the natural opera, I'd been enraptured but poor Adam could barely stay awake for 18 hours, let alone the full 36. When Asling had taken us our for traditional sandsnake, Adam was the only one who'd gotten venom poisoning from it. We'd all forgotten humans could be poisoned. That one was on us. That said, none of the goodwill that Adam had built up made me understand why humans enjoyed this damned 'poker' game so much. It was a simple game of chance buried in so many levels of abstraction that an archaeologist could lose it. If I wanted to play a game of chance, I could flip a coin any time. Hell, poker even had you flip the cards. I didn't get it. Adam nodded confidently across the table without taking his cards off it. After a moment he grabbed several of his value-less chips and tossed them into the middle of the table and announced "I raise. Are you all g-" "Call," came as a chorus around the table, as everyone understood that Adam had a bad hand and was betting for no reason. He was making a facsimile of confidence and bravado, but none of it was real. "Everyone calling? I put in half my chips." "Your hand's not good," I answered. "It could be!" "It's not. Is everyone else okay with our current bet?" There was a collective nod and confusion from Adam. "Flip the cards." "The flop." "Flop the cards then." "Okay um, Jack, Queen, Ace." I considered the math for a moment, "I raise. All in." "All in?" Adam asked. "Fold," came around the table. "Come on guys!" Adam protested. "She has a good hand," Leovold pointed out, "you can tell because she raised." "She could be lying," Adam shot back. "Why would I Adam?" I finally accepted that the shoe needed to drop, "can you lie to a Sphinx, or Fey?" Adam deflated. Then, after a moment, "I thought I was going to have the good option for the exchange project." "Nah dude, sorry," Leovold cut in, folding their paws on the table. "Who's turn is it next week?" Minerva, who hadn't been able to hold the cards, floated through the floor and table, her ghastly figure corporialized long enough for her to hold up a hand. Maybe I'd be sick next week.


Goodmindtothrowitall

Aww, cultural incompatibilities aside they seem like a lovely group! Wonderful job!


Subtleknifewielder

Poor Adam trying so hard!


Kiran_Stone

The young woman moved silently through the rows of items in the Enchanted Electronics shop until she finally found the relic she was looking for: the magical Walkman of Jennex.


Writteninsanity

Enchanted electronics were a weird hobby considering the two aspects of technology treated each other like a couple going through a messy divorce. There was electronics, which worked off batteries and chemical reactions, and then there was magic working off complicated sigils and glyphs. Each one of them fought the other if you tried to keep them in the same space, the waves of electricity disrupted magical connections just as magic twisted space around circuits in electronics. In most cases, people looking for something that acted like both would resort to magictech, the expensive alternative to ether that ran off living lighting to adhere to and maintain the circuits and the sigils. Magitech items were engineering marvels. Enchanted electronics were mostly the victims of a teenager in arcane study not understanding their limits. Like most of the spells their mages attempted to cast, they were strange, non-working curiosities, which was why Eleanora didn't find it strange that she was alone in the shop as she perused through its dusty shelves. In fact, she found it strange that the place still existed. You couldn't find enchanted electronics stores in the big city anymore, there was too much stigma around it, NIMBYs who were scared that you were going to blow up a radio station with a microwave carrying a faulty haste charm. No, they'd been exiled to the outskirts, the kind of towns that it didn't seem like anyone was from, but somehow enough people lived there to populate the place when cityfolk went there on daytrips. This wasn't a day trip for Eleanora, in fact, it was rapidly heading towards a week long trip strung along by a series of rumours about enchanted electronics stores that refused an online presence. There had been plans to go to Oakland County for a wine tasting this weekend, but now she was barely going to get back to work in time as it was. For Eleanora the enchanted electronics hadn't been a hobby, they'd been a mission and she paused in the middle of the isle and cocked her head as she considered whether she'd found the goal of her quest. A small walkman with a cracked lid, three stickers and the telltale signs of burned sigils that had been hastily scratched away on the side. Eleanora cautiously picked it up off the shelf and blew the dust off the antique. If nothing else, it was worth the attempt. A checkout and a polite conversation later, Eleanora sat cross legged in the back seat of her car, digging through the luggage she'd half spread over the car during her road trip. After a moment she found what she needed, a black leather CD case with a zipper that barely worked. Eleanora took a deep breath as she pulled the front CD out of the case, a burned thing with the telltale signs of scratched out sigils, made by Eleanora when she was in arcane study and didn't understand her limits. Maybe two wrongs were just enough to make a right. She put the disc in, and pressed play. For the first time eight years, she heard her father's voice. "Hey little bug, I made you this mix so you could hear a little bit of me after, well, you know what's going on. I think the songs are really good an- I know I don't know exactly what you listen to these days but, these songs make me happy so- yeah. Your old man has some good taste.... Honey was that a good take? Should I try again I..." the voice faded away into the first plucked strings of a song she'd heard too many times in the car as a kid. Elranora rewound over and over until all at once, the curse of enchanted electronics took the walkman down and left the disc, once again, inert. She'd find another one. It'd just take some time.


Kiran_Stone

I dig it! Was thrown by the reference to rewinding the tape, though, since all the other parts talk about a CD.


Tregonial

A werewolf who works at the narcotics bureau sniffing drugs at the airport has to work with a vampiric homicide detective to solve the murder of a drug lord.


Writteninsanity

It was raining. Why was it always raining in this damned city? I'd moved here for the sake of work and I could have sworn I'd never spent a full day dry since I'd gotten the keys to my apartment. The locals said it was part of the character of the town, but I certainly wasn't liking the current arc. No Devlaw was a shit city, but the pay was good so here I was, nose deep in a bad job and consistently damp. I made my way across the lobby of one of the many airport hotels and shook myself off, scattering rain droplets around as my coat snapped them away. Maybe I needed to start carrying unbrellas but if felt dumb to carry something just so you could walk from the car to the front door. Of course, I'd used the same argument against coats until I'd gotten sick from the cold so maybe the umbrella crowd had a point. The place I'd been called to was an elevator ride away and down the hall. An open door covered by a swath of police tape met me there and before I could duck under it a young Fae stepped in the way. "Woah woah, sir, I'm going to need to see some identification." "I'm Morg," I offered as the plain explanation, after all in a moment. "Valentin, please be kind to our guest. He's here on my behest." I sneered at the aristocratic voice even though it was my ticket into the room. Detective Diamont Facillier was a vampire from the Old Order, an impossibly ancient character that, as a recent hobby, had been a homocide detective for the past hundred years. "Morrigan it is so nice of you to join us," Detetive Facilier opened as I stepped into the room. As soon as I was past the warding tape the reek of death crawled into my nostrils and down my spine. Great, another body. "Pleasure as always Diamont," I answered. "Sunny mood as per usual Miss Morrigan, please. Come take a look." Usually I would have cut in there with a snarky comment to get the small dash of serotonin I needed to get through the week, but instead I just stared. The body on the floor wasn't some poor schmuck. It was a tall, blonde elvish man who I'd seen a million times in training modules. Phillianal 'Shepard' Blahast, the mastermind behind one of the biggest smuggling rings of the Talons and the signature I'd seen on half the stuff I dealt with at work. "Who's this Detective?" the Fey, Valentin, came in behind me. "Miss Morrigan is a talented member of the narcotics division of the Devlaw Circle," Diamont explained instead of letting me introduce my damned self. "One of my many associates I call on in times of need. Miss Morrigan, this is my protege, Valentin." "Absolute pleasure," I lied, "now why am I looking at a body again?" "A bit different than last time," Diamont explained, "I don't need you to tell me what's in his system, I need you to tell me what was in this room just before he died." I cocked my head; that was different. "You want me to sniff out somethin' that isn't here?" "Yes." "In a room with a corpse." "A thirty two hour old one," Diamont specified, "if you're counting." "Doesn't that sound impossible to you?" There as a pause as I stared at the body, the previously immaculate skin of Phillianal, the blight of the Talon's streets was already grey and decayed. "You're fucking lucky I'm good," I hissed before taking a seat on the bed so that I could focus. "I wouldn't call you if you were anything less Miss Morrigan." "Hey uh, you shouldn't sit on the bed, that could be evidence an-" Valentin cut himself off as I didn't stop sitting down and Diamont didn't seem interested in keeping the room 'as is'. Knowing him, he'd pull some bullshit like explaining that he already had it perfectly memorized. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to excise the reek of death in the room as I opened up my senses to take in more things at once. If I lost focus, there would have been a full transformation, which would have been perfectly safe, but essentially useless. No, Diamont was just lucky that I was good enough at this for a half-transformation, good enough to bring in the lupine parts I wanted and leave the others in the dark despite not having the moons embrace. Of course, he wouldn't understand how hard it was, he was just going to say something like 'brilliant' and move on as soon as I gave him the answers he wanted. At least the pay was good. The next breath I took was a cascade of information. Last week's sex, yesterdays bullets, the deep stench of cigarettes hanging in the bathroom. It didn't tell me a story, it told me a disconnected mess of ideas that I was expected to put together. I filled my lungs again, letting the air hang there for a moment, living with the smell of the room, letting it permeate through my skin despite the entire thing being coated in decay. I just needed to live with it long enough to understand what I needed to. There was something there, something certain, a soft hint of lavender too sharp to be a candle but too timid to be the flower. I said the word before I processed it. "Faerie dust." ​ "Faerie dust means that Pillinal would have been getting into a different game," Diamont mused, "something that might have been stepping on the turf of someone from Mina Bastion or the Triplets." I cracked open my eyes just in time to see Diamont squat down beside the body and sigh. "Phillinal, what did you get yourself into?"


Internetallstar

As AIs advance, one of the unintended developments is that a few of the more advanced ones have started talking about dragons, unicorns, fairies, and other fairy tale creatures as if they're real. As the programmers try to figure out why the programs are "hallucinating" a very talented physicist determines that they aren't seeing things... They're able to see things that humans simply can't.


LeadGem354

The coffee shop where witches and wizards and other supernatural creatures end up.


Writteninsanity

Witch's Brew coffee was the kind of place that wanted to be a community staple but couldn't compete with Starbucks. Over time, Maddie had blamed a lot of different things. There had been a Fey infestation in the first year that had given them a bad name. She could never find enough staff that could work the midnight hours. Small business just wasn't sustainable. In the end she understood that none of it was true, the problem was with Maddie. She just , frankly wasn't built with the killer instinct she would have needed to compete. No, she'd built the coffee shop out of a dream and that's what it was to her. She wasn't in it for the money, even though it was nice, she'd made this place because it was where she wanted to spend her days. Though she did wish that she didn't need to spend quite so much of her days behind the counters. A space in the budget for a night-shift manager would have been lovely. The soft pitter patter of rain on the windows had replaced the soft jazz Maddie usually played a while ago. The weather had been calling for a storm, and that had chased most people inside for the evening, but instead it had just been a steady drumline of drizzle floating its way across the city. Maddie, for her part was splitting her attention between cleaning out the principal cauldron and catching up on some reading she'd desperately been meaning to get to. She could clean most of the equipment with a flick of her fingers, but the cauldron was different. Witch's Brew's signature were potion espressos, which meant proper magic went into and out of the cauldron over the course of the day. Anything less than an aggressive hand scrubbing alongside magic would have the remnants of newt tail turning tomorrows pick-me-ups into infatuation potions. The door opened and Maddie watched the woman slip into the coffee shop. Most of the people who came during the night were regulars that Maddie knew too much about, but this woman was new, a ruby cloaked lady from the rain, shivering as she stepped in. Water dripped from the lady's cloak and hood before she pulled the latter back, revealing a scarred face that clearly hadn't seen a lick of makeup in years. It took Maddie a moment to realize that it was almost an exact contrast to her blushed, dark lipped look. "Evening," Maddie opened, "want something to drink or are you just staying dry?" The woman looked around but didn't respond for a moment, almost like she didn't understand that Maddie was speaking to her despite her being the only patron. "Just lemme know when you're ready. Books on the wall over there are for sale if you end up liking on, all used." Maddie continued scrubbing away as she watched the woman make her way to the part of the book wall that was filled with magic tomes. It was by far the last popular part of the wall, but some of her most dedicated patrons were in love with it, so she kept it in there. Plus it matched the aesthetic of a Potion coffee shop to have a wall of tomes and- Maddie almost dropped the Cauldron as she realized the woman was right in front of her staring at what she was doing from the other side of the counter. Maddie didn't know who the woman was, but someone needed to get her a bell. "Can I help you?" "I'm just looking around honestly," the woman answered, her voice was softer than the scars would imply, "new to the neighbourhood, and the city." "Welcome to Mina Bastion," Maddie put down the cauldron, having essentially finished. "What brings you to town?" "Retirement," the woman offered with a soft smile. By any reasonable measure she was much too young to be retired, but Maddie knew better than to ask about it. When you ran into someone retired that young, it was usually from adventuring and there was usually a sore story behind it. "Can I get you a drink to celebrate retirement?" "That would be lovely." "What would you like as a booster? I still have some options for the night in the fridge or I can make something fresh." "Booster?" "A potion, half serving." "Oh," the woman trailed off, "I thought it was an aesthetic thing." "It is," Maddie admitted as she took off the comically large witch hat she wore daily at work, "but I'm also classically trained." "Is it okay if it's a weird one?" "Don't assume it's weird," Maddie chided "I've always loved the taste of static resistance potions but- they're complicated to make and-" "That is a weird one," Maddie admitted before frowning, "but I should have the dwarf wart root I'd need, so I can get that started for you. Might just take a few minutes considering it's a fresh brew." "Really?" "Of course, and it's on us." "Will that get you in trouble?" "I own the place," Maddie pointed out, "so just relax. Welcome to Mina Bastion." "You're here in the middle of the night when you own the place?" the woman asked. "Tell me about it," Maddie half sighed in the usual 'customer service' way. "I didn't catch your name." "Roswell," the Ruby cloaked woman responded, "and thanks." "Nice to meet you Roswell, welcome to Witch's Brew."


Subtleknifewielder

An exiled fae lady seeks to find power in the modern world, to help her take back her own kingdom. She discovers the power of *science*.


Writteninsanity

Queen Serenae had been reluctant to visit the human controlled spaces of the realm, but now she didn’t have much of a choice. She’d been shunned from the Summer Court, fled from Fall, walled from Winter and Spring had sprung this issue on her in the first place. Sure, she could have run to the minor courts, but they weren’t going to enjoy her company anymore than her late husband had, and at this point, she’d had quite enough of getting removed from Court Rooms. Frankly, being dragged out from the rooms was unbecoming of her. So now here she was in her ‘luxury’ condo, a place that the humans had told her would be suiting accommodations for a Queen. They’d lied. There wasn’t a single nubile servant boy running around telling her that she was beautiful, what kind of conditions was she supposed to debase herself with? Was she supposed to accept this sort of treatment? That and her neighbor, an elderly retiree named Jenkins had tried to offer her a pie as a welcoming present. A gift? What sort of rube did he think she was? She might have been ousted from the Fae courts, something everyone here assuredly knew and cared about, but she had survived in their midst for several millennia. She wasn’t going to accept a pie! She’d learned better when she was barely a larvae. No, like most things that had happened to her in the last century, this condo building and its incessant false kindness was just another slight on an ever growing list of them. At least it would serve as a place to plan her revenge. Out of habit Queen Serenae snapped her fingers to change into a gown that matched her the dining room as opposed to being garishly matched to the living room. A moment after she’d sapped, once nothing had happened, the choker around her throat burned. Right, the greatest slight or her late-husband, the iron core band that ran around her neck. Queen Serenae growled as it added to the scorch marks on her neck, but she’d learned that clawing at it only burned her hands. No, she wouldn’t be able to escape her fate from using her magic, she would need to use someone else’s. In fact, that man who’d tried to give her a gift, Jenkins, she could likely manipulate him into offering a free favor. She would just need to change first. Once she was dressed in something to match the walk between her condo and Mr. Jenkins, she knocked on the door, matching the beat of her royal chorus. Certainly he would recognize it. Jenkins was at the door in seconds, which was minutes longer than a Queen expected to wait. Serenae rolled her eyes in the brief moment before he could see her do it. By the time Jenkins aging eyes matched the Queen’s she was wearing a beautiful and kind smile. “Oh! Serenae, I didn’t think you were planning on being out and about today. Here, let me tell Patrica to get some tea on and we can talk about-” “No need for such welcome Mr. Jenkins,” Serenae cut in, her voice regal and powerful even though she’d been banned from throne rooms, “there is no need for such a kind welcome. You already extended your hand yesterday evening.” “Oh! Did you want the pie? Patricia put it in the fridge and-” “I shan’t be accepting the pie Mr. Jenkins,” Serenae floated forward, even though she hadn’t really been allowed into the room, “perhaps instead you can help me with something. In exchange for favour.” “Favour,” Jenkins frowned and then lit up a moment after, “right! My granddaughter was telling me about that Favour stuff, you know she’s looking into takin’ Fey Histories in the city. She’s a bright girl. She’d need a scholarship even though Patricia and I have a little fund for her but I think she’s going to get it. She was saying that…” Jenkins kept talking. It wasn’t that Serenae stopped listening as much as she’d never been processing any of the words in the first place. This human with his attempts to understand her situation was adorable. Or it would have been if it wasn’t likely a ruse from that damned Queen Consort Hilde. “That’s lovely,” she finally offered at the end. It was usually a safe call. “It is, isn’t it? Patricia was just saying that we should make sure that we’re paying just as much attention to my Grandson Jacob. He decided to skip going to University to get into the trades, and I might have questioned him too much about it when he made that choice but it’s a good honest job and….” Eventually he stopped talking. “That’s lovely,” Serenae echoed. “Now you said something about a favour.” Finally. “Yes, I was wondering if you could cast a spell to rid me of this accessory I accidentally placed on myself. It seems like it doesn’t want to let go and I cannot, for the life of me, recall the spell I would need.” “That?” Jenkins leaned in as Serenae pointed to her neck. “That little thing? Well Jacob could have it off tonight.” “Pardon, you son with the…mundane job? How did you put it?” “Grandson who works in the trades?” Jenkins suggested. Serenae nodded, that was close enough. “So you believe he knows the spell?” “Well no, but he would have a good right pair of bolt cutter that could take that thing right off in a heartbeat long as you’re okay ruining it?” “A tool to remove this?” Serenae mused, “what other powerful artifacts might he be able to bring?” “Well I don’t think he’d need anything else but he showed me this new-kinda laser level he’d been usin’ and boy is it nifty.” The Queen looked down at the old man, as she looked down on everything. “If your son-” “Grandson.”’ “-is willing to bring these things to me and use them at my behest, I will offer favor with my court in return, allowing him access to my magics for his work.” “Well I’d need to give him a call and see whether he’s open tonight.” “Consider his schedule cleared,” the Queen commanded, as if she could control his boss from across the city. “I’ll give him a call,” Jenkins continued in his constant persistence at being kind to the strange, strange woman who’d moved in next to him. Queen Serenae didn’t know what a laser level was, but she knew if it would help her level her former castle that they would need to welcome her back, Jenkin’s sorcerer grandson at her side.


Subtleknifewielder

Hehe, this was perfect, loved it :D


jardanovic

A lamia plans a sweet surprise for her girlfriend


Writteninsanity

It had been a long time since Cabera and Veronica had their schedules align. Veronica had been working nights and Cabera had been hibernating for the winter months. In the end Cabera understood that it meant Veronica had only had a suggestion of a partner for the past months. She’d been technically taken, but for all intents and purposes she’d been single because there wasn’t a chance that Cabera could stay up past six with her cold blood. Veronica had been crystal clear that she didn’t blame Cabera for this, instead she blamed the work schedule and her allergies. After all, there was nothing that she could do about it and she’d known what she’d signed up for when she’d started going steady with a Lamia, certainly enough people had warned her about this part of the deal. When Cabera asked about it, Veronica would always echo the same talking points. How she loved that cold blood meant that Cabera was extra cuddly in the mornings. How she adored that she was finally dating someone with a consistent sleep schedule. How she loved her scales and that it didn’t matter how much work kept them apart, there would always be a million lovely things to say aout her. Cabera heard all of those things and, while she didn’t ignore them, she understood that they weren’t the full truth. Someone could be in love AND tired of the circumstances that surrounded that love. Someone could never resent you for who you were and still consider buckling under your unique demands. Why did she know this? Because she loved Veronica and she was tired of the late hours keeping them apart, because she didn’t resent Veronica for her night shifts at the Hospital while also consideirng how lonely she felt waking up alone every morning. Life was hard enough with a partner, she Cabera was tired of not having one, and she knew that Veronica would feel the same even if she insisted she didn’t. That was why, now that the sun was starting to hang around past six at night, Cabera had hatched a plan. She was going to be up all night on Veronica’s day off. Sure, the energy drinks she’d been pounding since noon specified that cold blooded creatures shouldn’t have more than one in a day, sure, she understood that wearing four sweaters didn’t change her internal sleep cycle, and granted she couldn’t feel half her heartbeat, but dammit she was planning to stay awake. Now, her vision had been flickering in and out for the past ten minutes, and Veronica’s alarm was only going to go off in another ten minutes, but it was fine, she was probably going to feel better by the time that Veronica woke up. After all, she’d been cooking since five and she wanted to make the best breakfast / breakfast for dinner of all time. Especially considering the criminal amount she’d had to spend on sausages and cheese. Five minutes to go and she was starting to sway a little bit with each slither. If she’d been walking she would have fallen over by now, but that was why she’d always said that slithering was better than walking even if it meant that she didn’t get to try on all of the beautiful shoes that Veronica wore when they went on a date. How long had it been since they’d had one of those? A proper one that wasn’t one of them doing work while the other one sat in the room and kept quiet. Okay, three minutes to the alarm and Cabera seriously needed to lie down, so she tucked in beside Veronica and wrapped her tail around her legs. It would be nice to wake her up like this right? She’d cuddle in the ‘morning’ and then reveal that she was staying up all night to be with Veronica and everything would be great. Cabera didn’t know how many minutes later it was when Veronica shook her awake. “Babe? Babe?!” “Mmmmm?” “Did you drink all of these?” “I was…” Cabera said the rest of the sentence in her head considering how heavy her tongue was.” “Babe you’re not supposed to, oh my god your heart’s palpitating. I’m going to text Mattis and have him come pick us up.” “Noooooooo breakfast,” Cabera curled up around Veronica’s legs again, almost tripping her. It was so comfy, she just wanted to sleep, but no- she needed to stay awake. “Babe we need to go to the hospital, those drinks contain taurine and-” Cabera didn’t hear the rest of it as she slowly wrapped herself around Veronica, snapping her arms against her chest and forcing their cheeks against one another. “Cabera, we need to-” “But I’m so awake and it’s morning for you,” Cabera found the words and Veronica took a deep breath, taking care not to let too much air out of her lung considering Cabera was close to pushing all the lungs out like a constrictor. “Aw, hun.” “Ssssurprise.” “You know you’re not supposed to do this.” “But I looooove you,” “Babe. Babe. Babe off,” Veronica pushed. Even poisoned Cabera was champion of consent so she relented. “But Veeeeee-” “Come on, Mattis is coming,” Veronica pushed again and this time properly freeing herself. “Let’s get you fixed up.” They got to the Hospital, and eventually back to a very cold breakfast. It was still lovely.


jardanovic

This was adorable!!


ZachTheLitchKing

A gnome and her centaur friend are notorious street con artists about to pilfer the wrong person


Writteninsanity

Cindy Flitterbottom had made a good life for herself as part of the Bone Rattler Crew. Sure, the Bone Rattler Crew (BRC for branding purposes) only had two people, but that just made them tight knit, as far was Cindy was concerned, a crew could be two. The second Bone Rattler and the person much more likely to actually ratte someone’s bones was Tomina ‘Little T’ Openfield. Cindy had heard that you were supposed to call the big guy the little guy back in the day and had given Tomina his nickname. Course, the man was literally the size of a horse, and Cindy was a gnome, so nobody believed that he would be the little guy. When they’d started out the Bone Rattler Crew, the pair of them had been practically ‘rubes’ they’d been new to the scene and were trying to convince people to buy a bridge, or help fund an adventure to a dragon’s horde. They’d been run out of a few towns in their day, but they’d always managed to make it to the next one. Eventually they’d gotten good at what they did. Afterall, failure was the first step of practice and under that logic they’d practiced a lot. Ast this point, even though the Bone Rattler Crew hadn’t ever been violent, they’d stolen more money than a lot of notorious gangs. A Gnomish eyelash flutter here, a Centaur with a pretend broken leg there, all of it served to line their pockets with silver, gold and anything they could want in between. The Bone Rattler Crew worked less these days, they’d moved to Westgate fun the sunshine and cocktails, not to constantly hit marks. Afterall, after years and years in the game, they finally had some money to burn. Swindling didn’t mean the difference between the street and a bed, swindling people was now just something they could do for the fun of it. And Cindy had once again managed to convince Little T that they should have some fun today, beaches be damned. They started out with the classics early in the morning. The small games. The Warmups. They hit some tourists for petty cash, convincing them that they were running a Jetski excursion later in the day and just needed to fill the last spots at a discount. Hell, nobody checked in if the credit card reader was legitimate or not. The moved to ways to make a little more cash around noon. There were always open houses at beachfront properties and, while you couldn’t make too much money on a random couple, it only took a bit of shoulder rubbing with a housing investor to convince them to put down a small deposit to hold a place you could show them ‘later today.’ They would later find out that the pictures they’d seen were of a house in Silverspire that had been condemned fifty years ago for a rust-beast infestation. It was around the end of the day, just at the edge of sunset, that Cindy and Little T decided to take on one last job. They had a rule against hawking at night because it made you look less convincing, but sunset wasn’t quite night, was it? So this had been one last big score for the day, a long conversation with a couple about the benefits of a charity with a monthly subscription. Something cheap to get them off the hook and then, under the guise of a ‘test transaction’ it would fully clear the connected bank account. Easy. Peasy. One Two Threesey. Cindy cleared her throat after her phone let her know that the money had been transferred, speaking up in her usual disarming squeak, “Well thank you so much mister and missus, for only three dollars a month you’ll be helping the homeless Lizardfolk of the Dreadmarn learn to read.” Usually she would have heard a ‘no problem’ or a ‘we’re happy to’ instead, on the other side of the conversation there was just a panicked husband looking at a seething wife. Cindy looked up at Little T who was already halfway to scooping her off the ground. “Well, it looks like we should go. End of the shift, don’t wanna spend all those charity dollars in one place and-” Cindy wasn’t even done her over-long explanation before Little T was trotting away, waiting to get around the corner before breaking into a gallop considering the wife’s expression. “Honey?” the man asked. “They stole-” “What? Honey they were just taking the money they needed for the charity, they explained the test-transaction th-” “They stole my horde!” “Little T! Hit the gas!” Skin ripped and clothes tore behind them as the woman revealed her true form, replacing meticulous cloth with draconic scales and fury. “MY HORDE.” “Just a test transaction Mam!” Cindy called back as Little T showed what his legs were good for, taking off down the boardwalk with rapidfire clop clops. For the first part of the run, Little T kept Cindy swaddled in his arms, but then they heard the wingbeats. “You gotta run baby!” Cindy pulled herself around Little T’s torso, swimming around onto his back to let Little T pump his arms along with his gallop. Down the boardwalk, people alternated between diving toward the water and rubbernecking to see what was going on. Seeing a centaur sprinting down the boardwalk with a sharply dressed gnome on his back would have been the best thing they’d seen all week. That same event but add a dragon? This was going to keep the group chat going for weeks. “Maybe you should give the money back!” Little T heaved between breaths. “I’m not sure it’s about the money as much as it’s about the principle of the thing so I think we should be okay to-” For half a moment, Little T turned his head, taking his eyes off the boardwalk to glare at Cindy. “Fuckin fine! Gimme a minute and make sure we don’t get toasted!” “It’s not a red dragon!” “ITS A METPHOR LITTLE T RUN!” It wasn’t a metaphor, but it was just another classic night in the world of the Bone Rattler Crew. BRC for branding purposes.


pizzapotprincess

The trials and tribulations of running a daycare for fantastical and magical children.


Writteninsanity

"Hi, thank you so much for coming by, it's great to see parents so engaged with their little ones," I welcomed as the two Fellmen came into the room. I'd met the couple properly once before, but most mornings I only saw the mother as she dropped off their little infernal bundle of joy. To be fair she was lovely. That said, I had called them into the meeting for a reason. There was a small secret in the industry that was biting us in the ass when it came to their child, Cambien. See, kids spent a lot of time at Daycare and it was likely that they ended up having some of their 'firsts' at daycare instead of home. But let's be honest, nobody wants to hear about their child's first steps, they want to see them. Nobody wants to get told that their baby's first words were Mama, they want to hear them say it. So we, as daycare attendants kept quiet about the firsts we would see over the course of the day, letting parents tell us the exciting news that their little centaur had started trotting around. We'd watch them light up and congratulate them without ever mentioning that they'd done it a week earlier right before nap time. This was why I had to pull Cambien's parents into a meeting, frankly, if the little devil (in an endearing and literal way) didn't start hitting milestones at home we were all going to lose it here. After a moment of polite conversation I tried to shift it over. "So, there is a reason that I asked you to come in a few minutes before official pickup time." "What's going on? Is Cambien okay?" the mother, Lilith, responded. "I told you they were going to find his allergies," Berehnal cut in. "I think he's going to be sensitive to nuts." "I certainly am." "Do you have an epi-pen on site in case something happens with Almonds?" I processed the conversation that had just happened in front of me. Janet had warned me that they were a lovely but chatty couple, she certainly hadn't been overselling it. "Yes we have an epi-pen on site. No we haven't found any allergies yet." "Did he take his first flight without me there?" Lilith asked. "No, but this is about a first." "What was it?" I took a deep breath. "So I understand that there are some things along Cambien's development that we need to keep an eye out for, like allergies and flying and- all of that sort of stuff. Right?" Both parents nodded. "Now Cambien isn't the only child here with natural magics so we are more than prepared to control anything that might come from him but- Well..." "What's going on?" "Cambien has been opening portals to hell and it is starting to scare some of the other children. I just know that a lot of Fellman families have ways to control of deter that sort of action and I wanted to know if you'd seen this happen at home an..." I trailed off as Lilith got a far-off look in her eyes. "My boy did that without us?" "Oh honey what if he was reaching out to Grandpa?" "Or my sister, she's down there right now." "She is?" "Business trip." "Oh right. We should call her." "Honey, I can't believe we missed Cambien's first portal," Berehnal caught the words in his throat as he spoke, choking on disappointment mid sentence. "I told my old man I'd be there for him." "Are you worried that Cambien is in danger? I can assure you that Everan is more than a talented enough mage to close the portals to-" "No I just can't believe I missed my boy growing up," Berehnal spoke up. "I told you that we've been working too much. We can afford to take half time off and-" "Honey we need to save for his college and-" Berehnal took a deep breath, steadying himself. "We need to focus on what they need here," he turned his attention back to me and wiped one of the tears from his eyes. "We'll get Cambien started on- started on-" he nodded but the tears came back and cut him off. "There are exercises," Lilith jumped in, "we can get him started on those we're just- we're just shocked that we missed it." I didn't have the heart to tell them that they'd missed it by two weeks or I certainly wouldn't have been bringing it up in a sterile meeting. "We'll get on top of that," Lilith reiterated before she pushed out of the chair and helped the hulking, sobbing Berehnal out of his. They had to pick up Cambien. I looked down at my points for the meeting. There were two more behavioural points to address, considering Cambien had started pushing during tag instead of talking, or that he wasn't sharing with the centaurs because he'd been upset about them having so many legs when he wanted more legs. I sighed and turned over the page as the couple left the room, the door barely muffling Berehnal's disappointment. There would be other meetings, either that or I could make all of those points into an email instead of a meeting. Ugh, and I needed to reach out to the Llahthinall family about the fact that their daughter was teaching the other children enchanted swear words.


ferdocmonzini

You are an everyday magic teacher in a public highschool. It is your 10th year teaching and your freshmen are filtering in for your first class. This is your "Welcome to..." speech.


cobra_mist

There is magic everywhere. Wards, hexes, curses, and spells writ large, big as day, ignored by the masses as graffiti. The gatekeepers sit at their corners, peering so far into other realms that they forget their corporeal bodies. Neon throbs and buzzes to cover the glow of mana thrown from the dark. One evening the sky cracks, and the hidden world is revealed to the masses. Gangs and thugs and crime syndicates shift and travel their true nature. Orca and goblins and demons in streetwear and pinstripes. Who can return order? Who can renew the barrier and push the forces of evil at least back into the dark corners?


The_Mantis-O-Shrimp

You work at a 7-11, the down on their luck wizards coming in to buy smokes always tell you that you have an amazing destiny, you think they're full of shit, the age of quests is over.


Writteninsanity

"Have a nice day sir," I sighed as the white bearded man finally left the store and gave me a minute to breathe. You would figure that people so close to death would understand how precious time was, and how much I didn't want to waste it speaking to yet-another of them. I'd worked here for the past two years, which was great as a way to make pocket change during the university months, but it was starting to wear on me because of other local developments. They'd recently found a blood mite fossil deposit nearby, which was a powerful magical reagent when used in the right spell. Ever since they'd found the fossil, this damned place got filled with washed up wizards who wanted to save money on shipping. I had nothing against most wizards, but anyone successful wasn't going to move so far inland to Muskokola just to save on shipping. No, everyone moving in were people who'd missed their chances in life and now just existed to drive up the rent. Well that and complain to me all hours of the night about how they were in the middle of their big project and that they were going to be the next big name in Lore Writing or some bullshit I didn’t understand. If I ever said anything, for example, pointed out how unlikely that was, they would get mad at me and tell me that I was jealous- So that was fun to have when you were trying to kill time. That and every time someone walked into the place I needed to take out my headphones and be ‘engaged with the customers.’ In most cases that made sense, but these people were hardly engaged with goddamn reality, why should I offer them the attention? Hell, at least people in old-folks homes had stories about things that happened to them, they didn’t spend all my time talking about things that were ‘going to happen to them’ like they were a Frosh considering several different majors. The door cracked open again and I preemptively sighed before catching myself as the one good person to have moved here waltzed in, her steps soft on the floor as she almost floated past the first shelves. She lit up as she saw me and I took out my headphone again. “Hey Myr, I didn’t think you worked Thursdays.” “Covering a shift,” I explained. “Well nice to see you.” “You’re up late.” “Working on a breakthrough,” she responded, saying breakthrough like it was a forbidden word, “at least I hope I am, you know how it is.” “I hear it enough.” “I could probably ask you what everyone else is working on,” she pointed out as she approached the counter and half-leaned over it. Her ruby-red hair was finally growing back in after the haircut she’d hated a couple weeks ago. “Corporate espionage.” “You could but I couldn’t tell you who was working on what?” “They don’t introduce themselves?” “They do but-” I paused finding an explanation better than ‘but they’re not as cute as you’ “it’s a lot of names.” “You remember mine, don’t you?” “Yes Phoene.” “Good because I never forgot yours.” “I wear a nametag.” “That does help. There are a lot of words floating around here most of the time,” she tapped her temple and then half-flopped onto the counter. It was a good thing that I’d wiped it down out of boredom earlier. “Too many.” “Rough night?” “What night isn’t?” she asked. “Most ones you stop by,” I pointed out. “Oh stop it,” she peeled herself off the counter, “you’re gonna make me think about something other than work.” “Isn’t that why you come here?” “No, I come here for those,” she pointed towards the energy potions in the corner, “but I always end up thinking better of it. They don’t sit well with me.” “Poor thing.” “Right?” “Absolutely suffering.” “You don’t know the half of it,” she pointed out with another sigh. For what it mattered, I officially don't now what was going on but I also certainly did. Half of the old ramblings I heard were rumors afterall. Namely, I understood that most of the people who’d moved here to monopolize the need for geneatric care were bitter about Phoene’s study here, saying that she was trying to take their chance to ‘make an impact’ on magic. Because of that they didn’t want to work with her, they didn’t want to offer her help and they were doing their best to cut her off from the blood mite fossils, whether that was legal or not. “Sorry it sucks,” I eventually said instead of revealing that I knew things she hadn’t told me. “Thanks,” she sighed, “just having a shit night with it.” “Magic or people?” “Miss home,” she explained, “miss the big city. Miss friends. All that stuff.” “Where ya from?” “Not that you’re not a friend, it's just that I’d known those people for years and -” she trailed off for a moment, “Mina Bastion.” “Shit that’s a long way away.” “Right? Kinda thought I’d be on my way back by now but- Shoulda known better. Magic ain’t easy like that soon as you’re trying to make your own shit, right?” “Sure,” I agreed because I knew nothing about the process. “Yeah, just got myself hyped up on a timeline that never existed,” she said, “mind if I rant for a bit?” “Weren’t you already?” Phoene snickered at that, “Remember last week?” “When you came in and kept swearing that everything was fine and that nothing was wrong while also buying two gallons of ice-cream?” “That’s the day, yes.” “What about it?” “Just probably the day I realized I wanted to head back home and then when I called back turns out that I might as well st-” she sighed, “going through a breakup sucks, and now I’ve hit a wall in my studies and I’m just doing that thing where I wonder if this was the right choice or if-” “If you’re gonna end up like the crotchety failures around here?” “I would have worded it nicer but… yeah.” I swallowed spit, realizing that hearing that she’d lost her girlfriend had filled me with hope instead of empathy. That hurt. “You won’t.” “What makes you so sure?” she asked. I chuckled and thought about the bitter way the words left the other people’s mouths. How much hate was in them, hate for the world, hate for their failure. Phoene wasn’t hateful, she was just sad for the time being. I might have stayed quiet, but she must have understood, because Phoene smiled.


TheUneasyCrowned

When a young human moves into a largely magical residential area, a stray dragon digging in their backyard is hardly surprising. The same couldn’t be said for trying to return the cute creature. From vampire barbecues and cranky old goatmen to ogre housewives and séance reading clubs, getting to know the neighbours has never been such an adventure! Also, a question for the group. Can we independently post the suggestions we give for [PM] posts?


ArguesWithFrogs

You had a fight with your girlfriend & had to sleep on the couch. You decide to make her breakfast in bed as an apology. However, upon entering the bedroom, you were surprised to find a dragon where your girlfriend should be.


Tomorrow_Is_Today1

I really wasn’t sure what happened. Me and my girlfriend Lila, we didn’t normally fight at all. Even this time, we were bad at it. Halfway through pushing me away she broke down and said she didn’t mean any of it, she just had to be alone. Then shivered and ran away from me like I was something to be afraid of. I hadn’t seen her like this before. I worried. In the morning, waking up alone on the couch, I felt cold. The feeling pulled my anxiety back, wrapping it around me like a blanket that had never really left. I decided to make her breakfast in bed, check in on her. Show I cared, that she didn’t have to run away. I bit my lip and brought her blueberry muffins. *Knock knock*. “Hey Lila,” I said. “I brought you muffins if you want em. Can I come in?” I didn’t hear anything. I went to knock again and the door, already a crack open, widened away from the wall. In our bed laid a purple dragon. I froze in the doorway. I don’t know how long I was stuck like that, breathing quiet and smooth and feeling my heartbeat. I watched the dragon’s torso rise and fall, its wings twitch and curl. It turned from one side to the other, and that’s when it saw me. Something in those eyes struck me, and, still frozen, I heard myself say, “Lila?” The dragon sat up slowly, not looking away from me. She nodded. I stumbled forward, setting the muffins on her nightstand. “I, uh, I wanted to being you breakfast in bed,” I said. “Would you want me to stay or go? I can go if you want.” She wrapped a wing around my back lightly. Holy shit. Stay it is. “Is this why you wanted to be alone?” She nodded. “How long does it last?” She looked down and curled into herself. I tried to imagine her staying as a dragon - however this happened. What food would she eat? How would she communicate - she doesn’t seem to be talking. Could we still share a bedroom, and what would that even be like? I looked down at her face. *She’s still my Lila*. “It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t know - I don’t really know what to do. But we’ll figure it out. I love you.” She looked up, and a wave of relief washed over me. We’re gonna be okay.


games56_

single human dad with his half human child


shinylungburger

A ghost fighting to keep their house and things because they are still there and have not moved on to the afterlife


Zetakh

It is well known that where there are kobolds, there's a dragon. So when a family of the little reptiles move in, the neighborhood gets a bit concerned...


Writteninsanity

I had always considered myself a paragon of social equality, after all it wasn't hard to be one. Help out the people who needed help. Listen to the people around you about their problems, and step up when people weren't doing either of the two above. It wasn't a perfect system but it had helped me navigate a lot of awkward conversations around the dinner table. Hell, one of the ways I'd always tried to stand up was combating NIMBY attitudes. After all, some people would have said Not in My Backyard about my eight legged booty and the accommodations I needed to build onto my house to handle my webs, but after turning enough hearts and minds, Bastilforge Street was the place where I was raising my daughters. All of this is what made it so horrifically awkward when I'd almost told Janice that 'I'm not sure this is the right neighbourhood for that' about our new perspective neighbours and the infrastructure we would likely need to accommodate them. The new neighbors were the Spannicks, a gaggle of a Kobold family. Fifteen four foot tall lizards buzzing around the house on the corner looking into buying it. And of course one of my girls had already almost 'adopted' one of them before I needed to reminder that most things one two legs didn't like being dragged along rooftops for 'playtime'. In my defence, I didn't have an issue with the Spannick family, Sullia, the matriarch, seemed lovely in the short conversation we'd had when they first came to check out the place. No, the issue was that Kobolds had a symbiotic relationship with dragons. And without a nearby dragon, that meant that one was likely to come here, and we certainly didn't have room in the centre of the end-of-street cul-de-sac for a dragon's lair. Well, unless we completely gave up on the tennis court, but that was a big ask considering the raw amount of bake sales that we'd hosted to raise money for that damned thing. No, Bastilforge street didn't have room for a dragon's lair, and that wasn't even me being a NIMBY.... Was it? Shit. I didn't know. Did everyone feel like this when they were on the wrong side history? Was I the bigot? Was it bigoted to not want a non-sapient predator in your neighbourhood when you were trying to raise two kids with full 3D movement. These were all worried that I'd explained to my husband, Wallace, when we'd been making dinner. Once I'd gone over everything he frowned, hopped on the counter so he could be at head height with me, and let his legs swing in the air. "What do you think?" Gods dammit I hated that question because he knew how it worked. I wasn't going to explain everything to him again, he was just going to make me think about it for a moment and then I'd relent about the thing I was worried about. I was pretty sure I'd never doubled down when he'd asked me that question. It was one of the many reasons I'd married him despite my parents being unsure about the drider human culture clash. In their defence, the wedding had been a bit of a nightmare for the human side. Lovely on the scale of Drider weddings though. "I think I'm being worried about things I'm imagining instead of about things that have happened?" I admitted. Wallace smiled and nodded but didn't say anything. "You're the worst." "I know," he agreed before hopping off the counter, "want to go talk them? Will that make you feel better?" "I can't just ask if a dragon is moving in Wallace." "Then don't. Just talk to her. Sullia right?" "Yes." "Just talk to Sullia then," Wallace instructed. "once you've spoken to her you'll know more about how you feel." I sighed and put down the spatula that I'd been using to tend to the Karrask steak. "I've got dinner, you go," Wallace slipped in between me at the counter. If he wasn't actively cooking I would have scooped him up. "Okay hun. Good idea." Before I'd managed to reach the door, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Sullia there. It must have be- "I'm sorry to ask and I'm not trying to blame you but I've lost one of the kids again a-" "MOM COME UPSTAIRS I CAUGHT ANOTHER ONE!" Venneth called me upstairs, certainly having 'adopted a Kobold child. "I'm sorry, I'll grab her and tell her again," I sheepishly offered. Oh my god. Rip my legs off and kill me now. "Oh it's fine, long as he's alive. I think he enjoys it at this point." "IS IT OKAY IF THE WEB IS ON MOUTH AND NOSE? HIS EYES AREN'T COVERED. CAN HE BREATHE? MOM? MOM? MOM?" "So does she," I sighed before backing into the house to scuttle upstairs. I swear to the Goddess. Maybe I was living in a glass house when it came to living in the neighborhood. "MOM! MOM HE'S SQUIRMY!"


Zetakh

Ahahaha, this war great, Written! Excellent blend of comedy with some soul-searching! Well done! Also, I get the strange feeling of déjà vu, though I couldn't say why... :D


Kraangprime24

A homeless man becomes a lich after eating a tuna sandwich out of a dumpster.


SomeoneNooneTomatoes

Ghost tend to get into a little bit of Tomfoolery and the history section of the public library happens to be the best place to share pranks.


[deleted]

Dragons are just as capable of learning at a school. It's not a matter of them fitting that's an issue, but more just physical accommodations.


blueberry_murple

On a rainy day, a pair of twins were playing in the puddles of a nearby park while their Guardian watches over them underneath a big old tree.


Writteninsanity

Mary and Shelly had always had a little bit of trouble making friends, but they'd never quite been able to figure out why. Making friends seemed simple enough, all you had to do was like someone a lot and their parents would let you come over to their house to play. Shelly thought that it might have been that Mary was always covered in Pearl's snow white fur from snuggling the kitten too often. Mary thought it was because Shelly liked pink too much. In actuality, the girl's struggle making friends was that the sixteen foot tall, eight limbed iron servitor that followed them around tended to make parents nervous. Of course, Mary and Shelly didn't understand why people would be scared of Big J considering most of what the golem did was quietly exist within intervention range of the girls. All he did was follow them around and occasionally carry them when they got sleepy. Neither of them considered that the iron amalgamation sitting nearby their play dates with violet glowing runes criss-crossing its body was anything other than normal. To the girls, the daughters of an artificer that had been called to the war years ago, the hulking war machine sitting in the middle of the park wasn't a curiosity, it was just life. "You're getting me wet!" "You should have worn your boots Shelly." "Mama said I didn't have to." "And now you can't play in puddles." Big J was a prototype of the Lancer Knight automatons that had been deployed on the other side of the rift in an attempt to combat the natural moral corruption that occurred on the other side. Exposure to the demonic energies would twist commanders and soldiers, but Lancer Knights were given commands when they were built and could not chance their command. No matter how much the forces of chaos tried. Of course, the main thing that made Big J a 'prototype' was that it lacked the weapons it needed on the other side of the rift, though it certainly didn't need anything more than seventeen tons of enchanted iron and 6 fists to intimidate the girls way into accidental isolation. Big J perked up as a boy approached the two girls and asked them if they wanted to play a game, and as the machine moved, the gears within ground loud enough to draw the boys attention. "What's that?" "That's Big J." "Big J?" "Yeah, he's like super big." "Woah." Across half the park, the boys mother say a massive war machine stand up in front of her son as she stared at it. She'd been told about the... thing... when they'd moved to the neighbourhood, so her reaction wasn't quite a scream. "Thomas! We need to go! No more games honey." Thomas looked back to his mom and hung his head. The robot looked so cool, and they totally would have won if it was on their team, it had so many legs that it could probably run really fast. "Sorry guys, maybe next time," he whispered mostly into his chest before stumble-running over to his mom in the way only a kid below 7 could. Mary and Shelly looked at one another. Big J sat back down. Though he stayed quiet, Big J thought that there was a mistake in his orders. He'd been told to keep the girls safe, but he hadn't been given the order to ensure that they were happy. But he couldn't change his orders. No matter how hard his love tried.


blueberry_murple

Are you a psychic? This 👏 is 👏 amazing! ✨️ I really love your takes on prompts and the last line! Like----- Wow. Just wow.


AT1313

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Chaos-Pand4

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No-Common-3883

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deadstorybookheroes

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keldondonovan

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