#why are all my proudest snippets horror

[bluberimufim]

The Sheep

Wassup. I realized I can post snippets literally whenever I want without there being a tag game as an excuse. Soooooo I decided to share a snippet from "Devourer of Souls" that I just wrote and am pretty proud of. I even gave it a title for the purpose of this post bc I'm Fancy like that.

trigger warnings: horror, animal death, animal body horror, vomit, gore mention

This snippet is nothing like the rest of DoS in terms of vibes. Please don't be scared. I promise this story is (mildly) normal. This also technically has a lot of context behind it but I like this bit and it works somewhat independently so fuck it we ball!

Taglist: @wildswrites and @little-mouse-gardens

(I tried to post this multiple times but tumblr stopped me, so I's like to thank the nice people who helped me, @ellierenae and @owlsandwich, they were very lovely <3)

Some days later, at the market, the sister whose arm she'd healed approached Seth. She had a messy air about her, with bags under her eyes and thrown-on clothes. Her expression showed panic she seemed to be trying to hide, with little success.

"Seth..." she began, hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"I have a... strange request for you."

Seth raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"What is it?"

The woman seemed to grow more nervous.

"Can you heal sheep?"

She stared at her for a moment, still processing the words.

Heal sheep?

"I must confess I've never attempted it, but I can try now."

The woman nodded.

"Thank you. Come with me, please."

Still a bit confused, Seth followed her, giving Theo a signal to do the same.

They already knew the path to that house. They'd traversed it less than a week ago. But now, the farm seemed to be steeped in silence. It took her a while to identify what was missing, but, when she did, she felt a chill creep up her back.

The sheep, she noticed, were quiet.

With grave steps, the sister guided them to the stable.

Was there a disease among livestock? She'd heard of them, but, in all of her time living there, she'd never been through one. She'd heard it said, from the oldest inhabitants of the town, that they were almost always devastating and that they could ruin the town for months – sometimes, years.

She took a deep breath. If she could heal people, she could heal animals. The life force that flowed through all living things was the same. Healing magic should work on them.

When she was about to enter the stable, she was pulled back. Theo held her wrist tightly, stopping her from going any further.

"Theo..."

"Something's wrong with the sheep," she whispered. "Their bodies..."

"Can you see if it's a disease?" she asked, also in a low voice.

"They weren't sick when we came here. If it's a disease, it acts extremely fast. Their state... it's not natural...

"Not natural? How?"

"Their organs, Seth. They're all... I can't describe it... They're distorted. I can feel them. I can feel the shape they are inside, and that shape doesn't make sense."

Theo loosened her grip on Seth's wrist and she took the opportunity to hold her hand and squeeze it.

"I have to check. If it's a disease, I should eliminate it now. It could put the whole town in danger."

Theo nodded and let her go, but she seemed reluctant to do so.

As she grew closer, Seth noticed a stain on the floor, right in front of the divide where she knew the sheep slept. It was hard to discern from that distance, spread over the irregular straw. When she was close enough to tell what it was, she had to force herself not to trip.

Blood. In a trail leading to the sheep.

"I think it's an illness," said the woman, with her eyes trained on something inside the divide. "But it's much more horrible than any I've ever seen."

Seth reached out with her magic. She could feel the souls of the sheep, although weak. Something was interfering with them.

"Please be careful," the woman asked. "I don't think it's contagious for humans, but..."

Seth finally reached the other side of the divide. She had to swallow the scream that threatened to escape her throat.

The sheep were lying on the floor, some with their bellies up. Their paws were stretched before them, with some contorting in painful spasms. Their eyes were blown wide, but they were looking at nothing, as if they were blind. Their mouths were open, ready to scream, but they made no sound.

Through their sheared skins, she could see shapes trying to pierce them. Some were thin and sharp, like broken bones, but some were made of soft flesh and muscle, almost like bubbles. And some of their organs appeared to have changed places. One of the sheep, closest to the entrance, seemed to have a heart where its stomach should be, stretching the skin every time it beat. Another, in a corner, had its ribs turned upside down, jutting out of its back. Another still, clearly dead, had wool growing out of its mouth and nose and, by the shape of the bulges that filled its abdomen, on the inside of its body too.

The sheep spasmed in agony, turned into something that only vaguely looked like an animal. Their mouths remained open and their eyes wide.

Seth had seen many horrible things when she'd been at the hospital, near the front lines of the war. She'd seen men disfigured, burnt, missing limbs. But this was the first time one of those things had made her puke.

After she emptied her stomach onto the straw, still heaving and with her back turned to those horrifying sheep, she felt a hand on her back. When she straightened, she was hugged from behind and let herself slump onto Theo's chest, comforted by the presence of that soul with hints of divinity.

"You saw them too, right?" she asked.

Theo said nothing, but she felt her nod against her hair.

"How are you taking this so calmly?"

Theo still did not respond, pulling her closer.

"Um... Seth?" called the woman who'd taken them there, her voice shaking. "Can you heal them?"

She vehemently shook her head.

"No," she replied, breathless. "Each one of these sheep would need a huge amount of energy just to make them look close to normal again." She turned to the woman, who took a step back. "End their suffering. Buy new sheep."

Everything I touch turns to supernatural horror. Help.

Btw the sheep thing is 100% Theo's doing (but on accident). She just came back from the Plane of the Gods and has divine body horror powers. Not my fault where my ideas are taking me. B&W originally also wasn't horror but then it just happened, ok?

Please tell me if you feel the snippet is too long. It feels a bit big, but I wanted to include the whole scene. I've never posted a snippet like this before. Still a bit confused about what to do.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Can't wait to share more snippets!!

[thisgirlsays22]

Ereri Creator Interview: Missmichellebelle

Hello friends! Thank you all for your support with this project. If you’d like to complete the interview, you can do so here: https://goo.gl/forms/lUpTjm0NFeYYzXGy1. The form will remain open indefinitely.

The response to this was more than I could have hoped for, so please be patient as I get to your interview! I aim to post 2-3 per week.

You can enjoy past creator interviews here. (Since I post these over time,  sometimes projects are complete by the time I post the interview.)

Michelle ( @missmichellebelle​ ) is a writer who has been in the fandom for three years. On advice to other creators, Michelle writes, “This is advice that I'm trying to give myself, and that is: it's not life or death. it's fandom. write that fic knowing the only person who might read it is you. abandon that project that you don't have the spark to create for anymore. take a hiatus, pick up a new hobby, join a new fandom, and come back if and when you're ready and create again. no one is ever going to say 'oh, what, so you're back now? we don't want you.' fandom always wants you, they always want what you can give. so give, give what you can, give what you want, and never, ever feel obligated to give.”  

Read on for more!

Please link us to your content so we can send you some love! 

http://archiveofourown.org/users/missmichellebelle/works?fandom_id=721553

How long have you been in the fandom for?

about two and a half years ago? coming up on three

Why did you start shipping Ereri? 

I remember having a crisis over it more than I remember the why. once I start shipping a character, I generally am incapable of shipping them with everyone else, and I was like, 'oh boy, this is a big decision, I'll just go... I'll go on ao3 and I'll read some things' and then like 12 hours later I was sobbing over Ereri and... here I am. it fits into one of my otp niches really well, and it's my two favorite characters TOGETHER which is just... the best? ever? so good??? but it's the dynamic a lot, although I have to admit moreso in fanon than canon, but... Eren smiles more. he's generally more emotive. he's the kind of person it's easy to put in a situation where he's the Happy one, the Fun one, the Outgoing one, and then you have Levi who is not traditionally all of these things and I just. I like when you have the idealist and the realist together, and they balance each other out. they ground each other. it's my favorite type of dynamic. it's that yin and yang thing. so it's hard not to love them for clicking so perfectly into that for me.

Thematically speaking, what kind of content do you most enjoy making?

deeeeefinitely fluffy things, although I also love love love AUs of all shapes and sizes.

What is the work you're proudest of and why?

Acute Myocardial Infarction! the fic I never wanted to write! which might be why I love it so much, because I never would have written for it if it wasn't for a fandom event to begin with. but also because I like taking dynamics that would generally be iffy to work in (in this case, doctor/patient) and stretching them out and working through them to a point where you don't want to wrinkle your nose at it. 

What inspires you to create?

inspiration, when it comes, comes from nearly everywhere. ingesting other fandom works, getting into new content (i.e. after watching YOI, I wrote ice skating Ereri lol), real life experience, other interests I have at the time, music music music. so much inspires me to create I tend to have more ideas than I ever have the words for.

Is there any work you'd like to share that inspires you?

probably anything Ryssa (molotovhappyhour on ao3, jedierenjaeger on tumblr) writes??? the way she grasps language is so different than the way I do it, and it just... floors me. every single time. but her fae!Eren fic sticks with me especially http://archiveofourown.org/works/7363567

What projects are you currently working on?

I feel like I'm always working on a hundred projects at once, and I know a good portion of them will probably never leave my desktop. for sure I can say I am actively working on Piano Verse again, which I'm very excited about. it was my first foray into Ereri, and coming back to it is like coming home. in that same vein, I am working on updating and finishing my Pokemon AU, and on finally finishing the sequel to my doctor!Levi fic AMI. as for new things, it's looking like a lot of AU oneshots. I have a mer!Eren fic I'm working on, a Sleeping-Beauty style fairy tale, more Ereri as teenagers, something really really really sad (which is so out of my wheelhouse that I'm very excited about it), and just... a lot. nothing too big, nothing epic, but a lot of fun, smaller things, which, tbh, I've always been a lot better and more consistent with.

What are your strengths as a writer/artist?

I have been told that my characterization is good, and my dialogue. I would say my strengths are in snippets rather than epics. I excel at doing a 3k drabble than a 30k fic. I'm good at creating an entire world, an entire relationship, in the span of 3k and making it complete without bogging the entire thing down with world-building.

What is an area in your work which you're trying to improve on?

actually writing! lol, no. well, yes. I want to finish things that I start. I have WIPs, I have open-ended verses, I want to go back to them and flesh them out and finish them. and I do want to write and post more frequently. I'd like to get better at writing action, and at writing more horror-esque things, and at writing more than two people at the same time (the struggle is REAL), but I wouldn't say I'm actively working on improving those right now.

What advice do you have for other creators?

this is advice that I'm trying to give myself, and that is: it's not life or death. it's fandom. write that fic knowing the only person who might read it is you. abandon that project that you don't have the spark to create for anymore. take a hiatus, pick up a new hobby, join a new fandom, and come back if and when you're ready and create again. no one is ever going to say 'oh, what, so you're back now? we don't want you.' fandom always wants you, they always want what you can give. so give, give what you can, give what you want, and never, ever feel obligated to give. 

Do you have any pets?

no :c

How do you relax?

I watch a shit ton of YouTube and Crunchyroll these days, but I also knit. or go to Disneyland lol

Tell us about your dream day

I wake up naturally and at a decent hour. I have breakfast, I take a walk, I wear something cute. I drink a green tea latte and write for an hour, listening to music. I meet up with my friends and we go to Disneyland and just hang out there, enjoying the atmosphere, taking pictures. We all crash at somebody's house and talk through a movie and fall asleep in a pile.

What music are you into?

lots??? I listen to a lot of Top 40 lol I have the amazing ability of being in nearly any public space and knowing all the words to every song they play. but artist wise I love Ingrid Michaelson, Florence + the Machine, Jason Mraz, Ed Sheeran. I've been really into musical music lately too. but yeah anything with that like kind of indie/alternative pop thing going on, I'm all about.

What are some of your favorite tv shows?

I almost exclusively watch anime these days! lol but going back to those good ol' regularly watching TV days: Friends, Glee, Once Upon a Time, Lost, Parks and Rec, does Stranger Things count???? uh.... yeah.

What are some of your favorite films?

Howl's Moving Castle, Pride and Prejudice (2005), LotR! (especially Return of the King <3), Tangled, pretty much every and all Disney movie ever, Marvel movies, Star Wars movies, stupid 90s teen romcoms, High School Musical and other such DCOMs

What are some of your favorite books?

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle (this is the book that actually inspired me to start writing!), Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Beauty by Robin McKinley (and most anything by Robin McKinley tbh, although Sunshine gets a nod), the Captive Prince series by C.S. Pacat, Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wyne Jones, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (and probably a lot of others I'm forgetting, so I just named the ones I reread on a yearly basis lol)