Tag: fantasywriting

A Blossom Amidst The Dead

~ Brooke F. ~ 10 Comments

I deftly worked my fingers around the flower stems, arranging the blooms to appeal to the eye with my cold fingers. Roses and babies breathe as was the tradition for February. Soon, couples would be flocking to the storefront to purchase their sweetheart a bouquet as a sign of their undying love and affection.

How touching, I thought. 

My thoughts turned to one of our regular customers. An imposing man with fancy clothes, he would often come every few months and make a purchase for whatever girl hung on his arm that day. He was rich and charming so it shouldn’t surprise me but regardless I hated the man, especially whenever his wife would show up at the flower stand. They would never show up together and she never asked after him. She would simply survey our selection before purchasing herself a bouquet of yellow roses. She was a beautiful woman.

The thought weighed heavy on my mind but of course, Mother would say I shouldn’t waste my time thinking too deeply about it. She claimed to be human is to be flighty. And I, her daughter, must never be flighty. Hence the whole putting me through college for four years so I might make something of myself. I don’t think she was expecting me to choose to major in mortuary science. But at the end of the day, she had shrugged and said to herself “At least it’s not art”.

“Dearest!” she called to me from the opened door of the storefront. A wave of warm air hit my face from where I stood, now lost in thought and no longer arranging the flowers. Instead, I had busied myself by staring at the rows of bouquets, reflecting. The word I preferred to describe this activity was pondering. Mom often called it wasting time. 

“You’ll get frostbite just standing there.” She shook her head, her golden hair shaking around her thin face. “If you’re done, come inside!”

I give the flowers one last scrutinizing look before following my Mother’s instructions and making my way inside. The interior of the shop was much like the exterior- covered in a wide array of flowers and bouquets arranged in neatly organized rows. Practically every shade of color could be seen if one panned around the room. I would miss this place.

“Thank you for letting me steal you for one last morning,” My mother said from the back of the counter. She was putting away a spritzer bottle but her mind seemed to be somewhere else as she spoke. “I know you’re nervous to start your internship today. It’s going to be a real change of scenery.”

I nodded, brushing fingers along the tops of some lilacs. “Yes. But, in a way, I’ll still be celebrating life, you know?”

My mother began to wring her hands. “I suppose you’re right. Still, if you hate it there, you can always help me here at the flower stand. There is always work to do here.”

I puffed out a sarcastic laugh. “Believe me, I know. Besides,” I added with a shrug. “If I don’t like it, the internship is only half a year.”

My mother began to chew on her thumbnail, clearly on edge at the thought of losing her precious career of examining and preparing dead bodies “Six months.”

“Mom, I’ll be okay,” I assured her, stepping forward to grab her other hand. 

She kissed my forehead. “I know. I just miss you. You know this.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like I’m dying. I’ll still be around. You know I couldn’t stay at the flower shop forever.”

My Mother drew in a deep breath. “I know, darling. I know.”

~*~

My appointment to meet with the head Mortician was at approximately 10 am and as I took a sharp turn into the parking lot, I knew I was 5 minutes over that.

“Curse you, Selena” I chastized the clunky GPS device perched on my dashboard. The British voice which I had dubbed Selena when I’d bought her only offered a cheery, “Arrived!”

“You will atone for your actions,” I grumbled to her, shoving her in the middle console compartment. “Three wrong turns in one trip are simply unforgivable.”

I did an awkward little jog up to the building in an attempt to save 5 extra seconds of time despite my strong desire to stop and admire the fancy, gothic building before me. Who knew a funeral home could look so snazzy? The architecture, or what I saw it, was intricate and worthy of being admired but I had a meeting to attend. One that I was already late for.

Thankful, my advisor was there to meet me at the door. 

“I’m so, so sorry,” I started explaining as soon as he let me in. He was a rather tall gentleman with deep-set eyes and dark hair. Oh, and did I mention he looked terrifying. My excuses died in my throat as soon as I made eye contact with him, his face looking grim but placid, those dark eyes boring into my soul. Perhaps that was why he was a mortician? He was much too unsettling to work with the living.

I swallowed and began again. “My GPS was rather unreliable this morning. Sorry for the wait.”

The man seemed to lighten a little, face relaxing, much to my surprise. “Oh! You’re the girl who’s here for the internship.”

This surprised me even more. “Uhhh, yeah. I was supposed to meet you here like five minutes ago?”

The Man smiled in a way that could only be described as sheepish. “Sorry. Things have been slipping my mind lately. I’ve been rather busy. I’m glad you showed up. There is lots to do today.”

And with that, he began walking down one of the corridors with those long legs of his, leaving me to scurry after him.

“I’m sorry, what are we doing?” I said, calling after him and trying to keep up.

“We’re getting you started Miss…ehhh…”

I fought a smile as he paused and looked over his shoulder at me. 

“You don’t remember my name either.” 

Again, The Man looked sheepish. “Sincerest Apologies. Please humor me.”

I actually allowed myself to smile this time. “It’s totally fine. I’m Persephone.”

The Man returned my smile. “And you can call me Hades. I think you’ll fit in here nicely.”

Cat Writing Prompts

~ Brooke F. ~ 6 Comments

★Green Eyed Witness

A cat witnesses a murder. The murder of her beloved owner no less. And she wants revenge. But how can she convey this to the detectives? This cat is going to have to think outside the box to try and leave clues as to who the guilty party is.

★Ghostly Visitors

Ever wonder why your cat stares into space on a regular basis? Turns out, your cat is seeing something that you don’t. And, until now, you didn’t know what it was…

★Cat in Charge

You are a cat who belongs to a rather odd looking human. She cooks things that smell weird and wears a strange, tall hat but it never bothered you much and you love her anyway. One day, she leaves on a day trip, leaving you alone at her house thinking you’d not get into much trouble but of course she was sorely mistaken. While moseying along the counter tops and shelves of her house, you accidentally knock over a weirdly colored potion and its effects are…odd to say the least.

★Unlucky

At a shelter you have choice between a black and white cat. Unable to decide you choose both. Little do you know, these cats are rivals and have been battling for every single one of their eight of nine lives. One is a fae trickster cat, trying to bring misfortune onto its owner. The other is a guardian cat, attempting to thwart the trickster cat. The plot twist? The Black cat is the guardian and the White the trickster. Looks can be rather deceiving.

★Copycats

In a lab, scientists have cloned a selected cat multiple times over in the name of scientific discovery. Unfortunately, this experience has been less than ideal for the cats involved, being mistreated and abused in hopes that the scientific team may come up with some sort of “break through”. So the copy cats plan among themselves a grand escape that will get them all out. No “copy” will be left behind.

★Gifted & Graced

A mad scientist who has been working on some rather…strange projects in his lab makes an awful mistake when he accidentally locks his pet cats in the lab itself overnight. The cats don’t mind until something to do with his experiment goes terribly wrong. It’s a superhero origin story except for one minor change: the receiver of the powers is not bestowed upon some loveable main character, nerd boy but a group of five very different cats. Who could have seen it coming?

3rd Grade Prompts for National Pet Day - Studentreasures Blog

Stream of Consciousness

~ Brooke F. ~ 9 Comments

Where does the river go? 

Tell where exactly does it flow? 

Where does the river call its home?  

Where does the river go? 

I hope it can take me there someday. 

I wish the river would carry me away. 

A modern day Moses,  carried from the fray. 

I hope the river takes me there someday.  

Things I’ve learned while Writing Crime

~ Brooke F. ~ 2 Comments

Hello, lovelies! I hope you are all doing well this fine day! Currently I am waiting between classes and I thought what better way to spend my time than writing a fun blog post about the various odd tips and facts I’ve found out while working on my precious baby of a novel. For those of you who have been lucky enough to not hear me ramble about my novel for minutes on end, I am writing a YA Fantasy Mystery centered around the attempted murder of Snow White. And boy has it been a project.

Now normally, I fall down many research rabbit holes on a pretty regular basis when writing. But this little problem has worsened as I’ve gotten into writing the genre of crime and mystery. Mostly because there’s just a lot to research in general. But let’s try and a narrow it down a bit in order to aid any future crime/mystery writers reading this.

1. Research guns

There is so much variety in the gun world. And you don’t have to know everything there is to know, but if you are having one of your characters pull out a pistol, you should know a little bit about how a pistol works and the basic parts of a gun. Again, it doesn’t have to be strangely specific. Just have a general knowledge.

2. Research poisons if you plan on using them.

Especially their potency, appearance, side effects, and the amount of time they take to cause death. Agatha Christie’s novels were so accurate describing poison and its effects that people could use her books as a poison reference manual. And while you don’t have to be that iconically precise, just like with guns, you should have a basic knowledge of how your choice of poison works and its effects on people.

3. Research signs of specific deaths.

This should go without saying but if your detective identifies your victim as having been strangled, there should be some physical signs of this. The same with drowning. Or suffocation.

Basically whatever means of death or weaponry you employ, research it. Just in case.

Now let’s get to some more general tips about writing crime or mystery stories all together.

1. Work backwards

Try your best to keep your story straight and have a clear timeline in your head. One way to develop this is work backwards from your crime. Start with the crime and then slowly work your way to the clues for your main character to pick up on. This also helps you from writing yourself into glaring plot holes concerning the functionality of your specific crime.

2. Don’t agonize

All that being said, don’t agonize too long over every single detail not being filled in concerning your story. It just has to generally make sense. If one wanted to get picky, I bet you could pick out plot holes in Sherlock Holmes and his deductions but at the end of the day, it’s not about being 10000000% accurate and precise. It’s about telling a story.

3. You get better with practice

It felt overwhelming at first trying to keep track of all my characters and clues when writing but over time, my story became clearer and clearer to me. And this was all done by actually writing it out and working through specific problems and scenes by getting them out on paper. So if you feel a little scatterbrained or find yourself agonizing over your crime story, don’t worry. Just like with everything, it gets easier with practice.

Alrighty! I think that’s it! Hope you found something useful in this little list of tips! Thanks for reading & Happy writing!

Using My AU/Story Generator to Make Prompts

~ Brooke F. ~ 2 Comments

Hello, lovelies! Hope you are doing well this fine morning.

Today, I have a sort of out of the ordinary post though it is somewhat writing related. I am going to be using my “AU/Story Generator” to generate some fun little ideas for stories and then writing full prompts based on whatever it spits out.

You can find the generator I’m using here.

The idea is it gives an interesting character design and story concept that a writer or artist can start with. If you’re still confused as to what’s going, hopefully it makes more sense as we go along.

Alright! Onto the first idea!

Oooh! What an interesting first prompt. I can already picture this prompt!

A Team of 7 spies. Each with a strength in a different area. Lust uses her powers of seduction to achieve her goal. Wrath will brawl it out till they get their desired outcome. Envy uses her powers of mind games and manipulation to complete her missions (she and Lust get along pretty well I imagine). Greed… well, I’m sure you can already picture him. He has copious amounts of money and resources to get what he wants. Pride is quite the leader, planning operations to the most minute of details. After all, every mission reflects on him. Gluttony is the team supplier. Close friends with Greed, she makes sure the team is supplied with more than enough ammo and weapons. She always has snacks in her office too so everyone loves to stop by. And finally, Sloth. Sloth is probably one of the most skilled of the bunch in a variety of areas but getting him to do anything is like pulling teeth. So he works as the tech operative, preferring the comforts of the team base and coaching everyone from afar. He could be excellent at his job if he cared even a little.

Well that was fun! Onto the next prompt!

This one almost sounds like a humorous children’s book. But this is how I imagine it goes down…

The Mythical Beasts live harmoniously in a forest, enjoying their day to day life. One day the Dragon, on the hunt for something shiny, comes across a weird sort of machine. He calls his friends to gather ’round and inspect the object. The Wise Unicorn couldn’t even make out what it was. But, as one of the creatures noses around on it, a flash of light causes them to flinch as the small group of fantastic beasts are sent back in time…

I already want to make a cute children’s book based on this with adorable illustrations.

One more idea to go!

Oh. Oh I adore this one. I picturing an absolute romp of an Urban Fantasy story. In a world where the fantastic and the modern live side by side….

Fairies have taken over the world. No one is surprised by this. It was only a matter of time. Generations later, Fae and humans have fully integrated together, living peaceably and going about their day to day life. At least for the most part. Fae are tricksters after all…

Some Fae resent having to share the modern world with the humans. This resentment results in the exchanging of laced potions, poisoning the buyers or having odd or adverse affects on the user. Other Fae use the fine print of contracts to bind humans into servitude under them forever. And that’s just the beginning. The crimes of Fae against humanity continue to grow. A solution needs to be found.

And this solution comes in the form of a duo. One fairy and one human work alongside each other in the police force, specializing in Fae-Human crime. But will this pair be able to get along long enough to stop such a crime wave?

Well! I don’t know about you, but that was fun! Not only did we come up with a few prompts, but perhaps now you feel inspired as well! I might do this in the future with more of my writing generators not only for fun but to help people get an idea of how to best use them to aid them in coming up with their own ideas as well.

Let me know if you’d be interested & I’ll see ya’ll in the next post!

Haiku Tag

~ Brooke F. ~ 11 Comments

Hello everyone! I am here to do a lovely tag! I’m a little late to the party as college is a soul sucking demon sometimes buuuuuuuuut there’s not a ton of homework on the to-do list today so let’s go!

I have been tagged to do this both by the lovely Selina over at Selina’s Garden and the lovely Stara over at The Pool of Thoughts. (Come to think of it, those sound sort of like fantasy world locations? That’s pretty cool.) Thanks so much to the both of you for tagging me. I feel so loved <3.

Rules

  1. Tag Eva @album of amazing.
  2. Mention the person who tags you.
  3. Add the rules to your post.
  4. Pick 2 topics to write 2 Haikus.
  5. Tag atcleast 5 people.
  6. HAVE FUN!

Topics

  1. Dogs.
  2. Fire.
  3. Sea.
  4. Nature.
  5. Music.

Okay, peeps! I’ll be using the Sea & Fire prompt words! Now, without further ado, onto the haikus!

The Ocean Thief

Perilous, bold
he has plundered our seas
pirate of water

Candle

Fiery, little
added fuel to the flames
a shower of sparks

I tag…

Suhani

Siya

A Book by the Fire

Candy

Shivani

And we’re done! Thanks for reading, lovelies! Have a wonderful day!

Dragon Writing Prompts

~ Brooke F. ~ 1 Comment

☀ Dragon Bones

You’re a struggling anthropologist who wishes to get your name out there in the scientific community. But you often find yourself assigned to odd and miserable expeditions. Finally, you manage to get signed onto an expedition taking place in Ireland. You’ve always wanted to visit so you’re excited to see the country and its rolling, snow capped hills.

The expedition takes a turn when you’re digging into a mound and unearth a rather odd looking skull. You work more and more and assemble this near perfect skeleton. Your stomach drops as you place the last bone in place. You’ve read enough fairytales to recognize the skull, the horns, the teeth, and the wings. You have unearthed a fully in tact dragon skeleton. They’ll never believe it.

☀Snap Dragon

You’re an avid plant mom who sets out to decorate your new apartment in a wide variety of plants. You visit every store in town, including a rather shady looking one on the outskirts. There you buy a single snap dragon plant that appears to have just barely sprouted. The cashier says something weird about how “The plant will give back if you tend it well” but you didn’t pay much attention…

At least until the plant grows fully and the petals of the large, red bloom peel back to reveal a tiny, sleeping dragon.

☀Treasure Hunter

The time is the age of great discovery, and while many people are flocking to the new world or to start a business in stock goods, you can’t help but scoff at them. You know you really have the best job in the world. You are labeled a treasure hunter but only your clients know your real specialty; finding dragon eggs.

☀The Last Dragon

Dragons are going extinct. This of course doesn’t surprise you. One sip of dragon’s blood can cure a man or woman of any illness. Their scales make impenetrable armor. And their teeth when fashioned and placed upon the tip of a staff can conduct powerful magic.

You are dying.

You have a rare genetic disease that there is no known antidote for. But one sip of dragon’s blood could heal you of your illness. But everyone says the dragons are already gone… until one day a rumor circulates that there was one last dragon seen in the high mountains.

You set out with a Witch who desires a tooth, A Knight who wishes for the scales, and some weird beast studying librarian who is just along for the ride and the knowledge he might obtain.

And the race is on to find the last dragon.

☀Hidden

You have finally been hired as a government scientist after 20+ years of experience working in your field. You are ready to serve your country with your knowledge and skills- at least until they assign you to one of their latest and most secretive projects.

You are called to a secret test site where you are going to be briefed on your duties. You weren’t expecting what you saw next…

A dragon, chained in a warehouse with guards flanking the entrance. You’re an avid scientist and respect the pursuit of knowledge but this entire scenario just doesn’t sit right with you.

☀Dragon Princess

You know how this story goes. You’re a princess who it sent to find a dragon so you can be saved by a knight who comes along and find a husband. You want to argue with your father, The King, but of course it doesn’t work. Angry but resolved, you head towards the dragons cave.

But you find no dragon.

Instead you find a rag tag group of Princesses who take you in as their own. Turns out they have a kite-like contraption that looks like a dragon to keep the myth alive but the old dragon really died a long time ago. This group of princesses banded together to be each other’s new family seeing as how their own let them down by sending them on this ridiculous mission for marriage in the first place. And so, enticed by freedom and loyalty, you join the ranks of the Dragon Princesses.

Circus Story Writing Prompts

~ Brooke F. ~ 3 Comments

Just a few Circus Related one sentence prompts for your story! I’m really into lists these days, can’t you tell?

★The Tent catches fire

★Training for the act

★Equipment is tampered with 

★An animal act is sold or bought 

★Two words- Circus Murder

★Someone buys out the circus

★Someone is injured during the act

★Escape the Circus

★Scathing critic review of the circus show 

★The circus is a cover

★The Queen comes to visit

★Troupe member is left behind when they travel to another location 

★Evil ringmaster

★Rabid animals 

★Animals escape from their cages

★Sick circus animal 

★Said animal must be put down. 

★Popcorn machine mishap

★Found something in a circus member’s tent

★A magic act gone wrong

★A knife throwing act gone wrong

★Drama and friction between two circus members. 

★Kidnapping an act. 

★Quarantined/caged

★The act but with FIRE!

★That stupid circus monkey (fill in the blank)

★The circus is being sabotaged. 

★Unwelcomed by the locals. 

★A gypsy?

★Masked

Writing Prompts for ISFP’s

~ Brooke F. ~ 1 Comment

Hello everyone! I’m resuming my MBTI writing prompt posts yet again! And today I’m doing the ISFP MBTI personality. They’re also known as “The Adventurer” so I’m hoping to inject that curios and adventurous spirit into these prompts! Please enjoy!

★Space Train

All aboard the space train! The next stop could be anywhere in the universe. Humanity, at this point in time, has advanced to living on multiple planets. Travel between their homes has been restricted by regular space craft until a rather looney inventor creates a most ingenious piece of machinery- The Space Train. The Train can travel speedily across the stars, able to reach the furthest edges of the universe in minutes. The only issue is, the train seems to have a mind of its own, seemingly sentient. Or perhaps this was no accident….

★Charmed

You find yourself wondering your small town when you noticed a shop that you didn’t recognize. Curios, you enter to find it is a jewelry shop. But not your average one of course. This shop is called “Charm”, and is run by a rather curios lady with a tall pointy hat (or perhaps it really is a witch’s hat?). The Charms displayed everywhere look normal at first, but upon closer inspection you find them moving and alive.

★Pennies

There is a fountain in the middle of town with a statue of lady holding a pot and pouring water. You think it is a rather striking piece of work but pay it little to no heed. But little do you know, this fountain is very special. The statue (also known as the lady of the fountain) records the wishes of those who toss a penny in her waters and chooses a few to grant. This, of course, is unbeknownst to you- at least until she grants your wish.

★Chosen One

Your family drags you on a camping trip. This doesn’t surprise you as your Dad has been doing this for years, driving the family to his favorite camping spot between a mountain and a large lake, trying to encourage you to “connect more with nature”. You begrudgingly go, as per usual.

One day, you decide to go swimming in the lake beside your campsite to pass the time. You swim around a bit only to stub your toe on something hard. Annoyed, you fish it out of the water from the depths of the lake, only to find a rather large and magical looking sword. A lady with a cloak made of water suddenly appears before you, informing you that you hold the legendary blade known as Excalibur and you have been, in fact, chosen.

★Portraits

You are a worker at a rather high end art museum. You like your job well enough though sometimes you’re not a fan of the late hours. So its no surprise that you found yourself a little annoyed when you were informed that you were going to need to stay extra late one evening to hang up a new shipment of paintings.

So at about midnight, you find yourself opening up crates of artwork in the basement of the museum. Then you come to one box that is comprise entirely of portraits. You admire them-they are of marvelous workmanship. But, as you hold the canvas in your hands, you see the man in the paint blink and then turn his head towards you. Screaming, you drop him him back in the box only to hear a few annoyed complaints from the other portraits.

What on earth is going on???

An Extensive List of Mythical Creatures

~ Brooke F. ~ 3 Comments

Yet another list for the sake of writing reference. I went with the more basic/well known mythological creatures so I didn’t really include some of the old and very obscure ones. I also want to specify that these a more European/American based mythological beasts. There is an enormous amount of mythological creatures special to every part of the world. Perhaps I’ll make more lists of fantasy creatures but more country/region specific?

Anyways! Take care & enjoy!

Angel 

Centaur 

Chimera 

Cyclops 

Dragon 

Dryad 

Dwarf

Fae 

Fairy 

Genie 

Gnome

Griffon 

Harpy 

Hippocampus 

Hippogryph 

Hydra 

Int 

Jackalope 

Ki-rin 

Kraken 

Leprechaun

Manticore 

Medusa 

Mermaid 

Minotaur  

Naga 

Nine-tailed fox 

Nymph

Orc 

Pegasus 

Peryton 

Phoenix 

Pixie 

Satyr 

Seraph 

Sphinx 

Three-headed Dog 

Thunderbird 

Troll

Unicorn 

Uni-wolf (Wolf with one horn) 

Vampire 

Were-creature (ex. Werewolf, werefox, etc.) 

Wyvern