#writeblrgarden

[serpentarii]

M O R D L U S T ; preview

Aspiring businessman-turned-thief Aleksander Fox has stolen the enchanted cloak of the Swan Prince. When it falls into the hands of the assassin Vératre, both find themselves entangled in a much grander conspiracy.

T A G L I S T

{ send an ask to be +/- }

@veneritia | @sourrcandy | @arkicts | @sprnovaa | @diesatoru | @uppoffringar | @ladywithoringes | @darkgazer | @worldbuildng | @inky-duchess | @writeblrfantasy | @wildswrites | @morganwriteblr | @frvnwrites | @uraniawrites | @bayoucurse | @caradhraas | @frankenbirdz | @halcionic | @nallthatjazz | @ladywithalamp | @jadeywrites | @rkmoriyama | @sequinn82 | @sunsprig | @carnivalls | @muddshadow | @caninemotiff | @vellichor-virgo | @bebewrites | @lord-fallen | @ellierenae | @faelanvance | @sylhorn |@karkkidoeswriting | @menacetomany

[writingwithsnails]

12 DAYS OF WHUMPMAS. December 25, 2024 to January 5, 2025.

Anyone up for a mini-challenge for the holiday season? It's during a busy time but I figured it might be a nice distraction from family shit and something fun to do if you're lucky enough to have time off. It's the perfect length, it's not too overwhelming but not a sprint either.

There's three prompts for each day, two words/phrases and one dialogue. You can pick and choose or use all three. You can make something in any media, any length, it's up to you. You win the challenge if you create something and get inspired for the new year. It's that simple!

You can use the tag #12DaysofWhumpmas to share your stuff!

NOTE: Whump-typical dark content under the cut. What is 'whump'?

DAY 01: candle • sedative • "They told me everything."

DAY 02: frostbite • used as bait • "This is hopeless."

DAY 03: fire and ice • cabin • "Some things should stay buried, don't you think?"

DAY 04: captive • decoration • "God won't help you."

DAY 05: snowed in • delirious • "You can feel it, can't you?"

DAY 06: unresponsive • axe • "Of course it was you, I should've known."

DAY 07: present • pneumonia • "There's not much more we can do."

DAY 08: hammer • stitched up • "Why won't you talk to me?"

DAY 09: on their knees • wrapped • "Take a deep breath."

DAY 10: interrogation • miracle • "It's about sending a message."

DAY 11: ribbon and rope • dislocation • "They're not coming back."

DAY 12: prayer • scratched • "Well... it doesn't look good."

[innocentlymacabre]

Being a short fiction writer is hard. We painstakingly craft entire narratives, distilled to perfection, and when we're finally ready to publish...we slam face-first into a brick wall.

Rejections are par for the course, but we can't even get rejections if we don't know where to submit. There are so many wonderful magazines out there who are just waiting to read our work, but finding them can be difficult.

As a short fiction writer myself, I know the pain well.

So, I decided to try and help. I've compiled a list of 140 magazines and counting, with information on the genres they accept, if they accept excerpts from longer works, word count limit, pay scale, simultaneous/republished/multiple acceptance status, and their response timeframes.

And the best bit? It's free. All I ask is that you give me a commission on what you make share this with other writers so getting published can be easier for us all.

Grab the database right hereeee.

[veneritia]

when comes the dawn monthly update {6.30.2025}

THE STATISTICS

the draft -> 40,250 words words written this month -> 1,213 words average word count per session -> 303 words words written this year -> 22,503 words

It's been a little difficult this month to find the time and energy to write (my work schedule has been...not the best) but I'm happy to have gotten a little writing in this June!

STORY NOTES

Started writing the hunting scene

Chapter title [The Mother of Many] has been changed to [Feast of the Shining One]

Organization wise, I'll be shuffling chapters so that act 1 ends with [The Gate of Portam Castellum]

I moved up Fenice and Cassandra's meeting to happen earlier during the imperial hunt

EXCERPT

Perched at the edge of one particularly large pillow was a young girl that looked barely past her tenth year, her posture rigid even as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. She's a doll-like thing, all loose dark curls and wide doe eyes, the baby fat just barely clinging to her rosy cheeks. Meek as a mouse in her seat, the little girl's face would blanche in horror everytime she caught herself flinching or cringing at Fenice's cursed presence. The girl had already been here before Fenice arrived, and Illysandre saw no need to make any introductions on her behalf. Matter of fact, Illysandre barely acknowledged her at all except to occassionally motion to have the girl's tea refilled or to move a plate of sweets closer in reach of her short arms.

THE BLOG

We're half-way through the year! To celebrate me keeping up with these updates, I wanted to do a whole midyear update post in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!

TAGLIST (ask to be +/-)

@bloomingwrites @writinglyra @zmwrites @trapped-inadystopianovel @inky-duchess @aalinaaaaaa @kaatiba @lazulis-stuff @serpentarii @sourrcandy @charlesjosephwrites @forever-and-almost-always @halcionic @caninemotiff @socialmediasocrates @zorya-km @smolandweirdwriter @floweryprosegarden

[ikilledmyocs]

MEET ME AT THE BRIDGE / an introduction

�� young adult, mystery, thriller 🔪 death, violence, suicide 📱 currently outlining 🌲 childhood enemies, small town fun, revenge, toxic friends, dual timeline, murder, death, and violence everywhere 🔍 pinterest / spotify

Not much happens in Whitebridge and what does is usually never good. When Avery Moore turns up dead by the river a year after graduation, everything she and her friends have done comes to the surface. Avery, Sophia, Genevieve, and Chloe once ruled their school-or so it seemed. The power may have shifted, but it always those four in the end. They were always wrapped up in something-drama, fights, worse. All of them had more than enough enemies long before they'd even graduated high school. But was anything they did really bad enough to warrant a brutal killing? According to most of Whitebridge, the answer is yes. Avery's murder forces Sophia to return to the town she swore she’d never see again, drags Chloe out of whatever hole she disappeared into, and leaves Gen struggling to hold together what remains of their shrinking circle. Because Avery left them something-a final, unexpected gift. One that might lead to her killer… if they’re willing to unearth the secrets they buried or die with their mouths sewn shut.

[writeblrgarden]

the writeblr garden's jester olympics 🤡🤹‍♂️

welcome, gardeners, to the greatest twelfth event on writeblr: the jester olympics writing challenge! participating jesters will be attempting to write 50k words in one week 🤪 the closest to the goal will be crowned the new garden jester, with the reward of a stage (wip spotlight) in front of the king's audience (our 265 followers 💚)!

this event will hosted entirely on our discord server where every day we will be hosting multiple group writing sprints to encourage you to write more! the garden guards will be there along the way holding shovels to your heads to hold you accountable and providing special badges for each word count milestone you reach! you will also be awarded for keeping track of your writing in our special spreadsheet, so make sure you're writing every day- or else you miss out on cool badges 😱 we've even made a word count tracking template for you to use in any posts you may want to make throughout the event!

the jester olympics will be running from april 13-19th 🎪 to participate in our event, join our discord server here! (discord.gg/writeblrgarden) make sure to join before the event starts due to the short time we're running on! we're looking forward to growing with you 🌱

[emrowene]

Sutton for @maddstermind as part of the @writeblrgarden secret santa exchange!

I wanted to give you a version with and without freckles, since you said you were still in the fence about that.

They were a lot of fun to draw; I hope you enjoy!!

[cataclysmic-writer]

If you write with passion, the prose will find you.

A lot of writers get bogged down in the minutia of crafting prose. We all want to set up and execute a breath-taking line, a piece of dialogue that'll be quoted for centuries, words that'll be permanently marked as tattoos on people's bodies.

But here's what I've learned.

You can't force those moments. You can edit things to get closer, absolutely, and you can build your talent to increase the frequency they occur, but every time I've written my hardest-hitting lines, it's been because I'm so passionate about whatever I'm drafting that it just comes to me. Like divine inspiration, except I'm my own god.

Genuinely one of the best pieces I've written this year came from a promo I wrote for my character in a discord WWE 2K league. I love being in that league and I love using my gifts as a speechwriter/speaker to bring promos to life for my friends. I have talent, but it's the passion that bleeds onto the page. It's not my talent that readers pick up on, it's not the years spent dedicated to the craft, it's ultimately my love for writing and storytelling (or in the example above, pro wrestling) that shines through.

I wrote that 2K promo with love and with a critical message in mind. In fact, it's so high quality that I plan to repurpose it and add it into my novel. If you have a niche or a passion project, write about it. Even if you think it'll never see the sun, write it. Write that homage to your obscure hobby. Write that story about the ghost town on route 66 you visited as a child and remember to this day. Write about that historical hyperfixation you have.

Even if you don't do ANYTHING with that draft itself, odds are good that your passion produces a few killer lines that you can reuse in another project.

Talent and skill are important, but work without passion is hollow, and you can't breathe life into a body that never had lungs.

[wingedcatastrophe]

Labyrinth - a WIP intro

2000 years ago, the gods expended their power to protect the peoples from the Withering. To protect them while they slumbered, the people built the Labyrinth around their resting places. The Guardians took it upon themselves to watch over this maze, to ensure the safety of their gods. Now, the call has come through to three of the Guardians - come into the Labyrinth, wake your gods. The world has need of their strength once more; the Withering returns. Thessalonika, Captain of the Guardians, is not surprised by this Call. She is surprised that the two fellow Guardians who received it as well are the Prince himself - only ever a Guardian in honorary title - and his sworn protector. To keep the three of them alive through the traps and trials of the Labyrinth might just cost her the peaceful retirement she always dreamed of.

Genre: adult high fantasy POV: multi pov 3rd person limited Status: plotting Content Warnings: death, violence, religious themes and heavy religious trauma, body horror Inspirations: dragon age, genshin impact, granblue fantasy (society subplot), the licanius trilogy Taglist ** (ask to be added/removed!) ** --

[lasbrumas]

a writing blog monthly update -

{01.01.25–02.28.25}

Thank you to Maddie, @veneritia for both the inspiration, format, and motivation to do this! Even if it's two months late.

THE STATISTICS

worked on → burning of the apiary, saintless, organizing writing projects words written this month → 0 words* average word count per session this month → 0 words words written this year → 0 words

* I personally do not count outlining, other pre-writing activities toward writing goals

NOTES

Not much writing done these past two months, on account of a lot of things happening IRL. However, I'm happy to report I'm revisiting Saintless (possibly soon to be renamed?) and other WIPs, including Burning of the Apiary.

BLOG STUFF

Take a look at my 2025 resolution bingo, made for WTW's bingo event!

TAGLIST (ask to be +/-)

no one yet! (maybe you'd like to join?)

[themishraverse]

I would read you stories

prick my finger and let blood be ink

to the tale of our love

for our children yet to be

I would write you letters

confessing all my desires

how you touch and I quiver

burn my skin with your whispers

I feel your hands on me

devouring my skin

like the silk in the bedsheet

oh I am ~breathing~.. ♡

[serpentarii]

M O R D L U S T ; isme de lède aesthetic

❝If the shade of her son’s cloak was anything to heed, the Immaculé of Cendrier had taken after his sire in all his good looks. But as he regarded them, eyes dark as ink, Vératre saw through the charm. All the way down to a creature so ancient its body was only remembering the shape it had once taken as a man, its skin barely holding him inside.❞

[forever-and-almost-always]

WTW Secret Santa: When Comes The Dawn | Fenice VI Aetier

for @veneritia

[innocentlymacabre]

DUE NORTH: VIGNETTES / 10

A cozy urban fantasy about two best friends who move to the pocket of eccentricity and magic that is Due North

Bella would have perhaps been less focused on teasing Berto if they had sat inside. For all the attention they spent on the bookshop itself, they had completely neglected the patrons, a mere glance at whom would have proved to be a rather useful introduction for the oncoming evening.

Dotted across the tables and mingling amongst the books were people of all sorts. Faries, harpies, and other small, winged creatures were either sat at tiny tables hanging from the ceiling, enjoying appropriately sized coffees and breads, or zipped around through the shop, their own light mixing comfortably with Deluca’s’ ambiance.

At a table on the ground, sat an elf and a dwarf dressed for two completely different occasions. The elf was clad in colourless clothes, black from the top to bottom, save for a red and white striped scarf. The dwarf, on the other hand, looked like he would be right at home amongst the stars of Milan’s fashion week (if, you know, they allowed people standing at half the average human height). A white shirt was tucked into burgundy trousers with a chequered blue jacket buttoned up on top. He completed the ensemble with a small yellow scarf tied around his neck, half tucked into his shirt, half falling out gracefully on top of it. Their coffees had gotten cold and were instead signing rapidly at each other and pointing to places on maps strewn across the table, apparently amid a high-stakes discussion.

Another was occupied by a donsy of gnomes, chattering across enough servings of biscuits and cups of tea to go around two per gnome and still have more to spare. They were a little lounder than Alia would have liked for a bookshop crowd, but they ate a lot and tipped heartily so she didn’t mind them all too much.

Cats floated around the books section of the store, merrily browsing Alia’s collection. Only their heads were visible at any one point, the rest of their limbs operating invisibly, and even they puffed in and out of visibility. Contrary to what one would have thought, the cats had exemplary hygiene standards: these cats didn’t shed nor drool and if they happened to somehow make a mess of things, they could magic it away along with themselves. Of course, their little disappearing act gave their kind the ability to be very, very good thieves (Alia had even met a few, thankfully not at her own place though) but the clowder that frequented Deluca’s spent a small fortune every month on books and then spent hours talking to her about them – they were her favourite customers.

Berto and Bella would have met all these people and more, if only they had sat inside, and would maybe even have been advised not to cross a minotaur’s territory, even by accident. Instead, all they saw were the fish, scales gleaming in the sun as they dipped in and out of the water, swimming merrily along the canal.

Support the author: free stories | ko-fi 💜 | paid fiction

taglist in the replies. ask to be added/removed!

[veneritia]

When Comes The Dawn | The Agonia

When Kaelstansa the Great felt the gaze of the Lantern Bearer turn to him, he looked upon his children and wondered which of them would have the means to continue his legacy. That night, when he laid his weary head to rest, the Fortune Weaver appeared in his dreams in the guise of a golden bird. “Set before them three challenges, beloved-of-mine,” commanded the goddess. “One for strength, one for guile, and the last to test their character. The one who passes all three will have my blessing, and your kingdom shall reign forever in glory.” — The Aetieriana

The Agonia: a colloquial term in the Aetierian Empire, referencing the endless battle between imperial heirs for the right to ascend to the imperial throne. Though having evolved from the King’s Game, this term is neither used nor referenced in any codified works of law.

THE KING'S GAME

Unlike the majority of kingdoms in Raia, the Empire of Aetier had no official rules that dictated the succession of the crown. Its founding ruler, King Kaelstansa the Great, set the precedent of the monarch choosing their heir regardless of birth order, forgoing the standards of male primogeniture and decreeing that only the most capable of his children would succeed him on the throne. He determined this by devising a game: a set of three challenges designed to test his children’s mettle, known by historians today as The King’s Game. While the exact nature of these challenges have been lost to history, the concept of testing each vi Aetier scion carried throughout the generations until—

THE DECADE OF BLOOD

The reign of Vasilier Belisarius II saw a great upheaval in the imperial court, owing in part to the increasing political power of the Serarium—the members of the imperial harem. As the primary parental figures of imperial heirs, members of the Serarium had a vested interest in the line of succession, often using their own families to advance their child’s position in the Vasilier’s eyes. However, the latter half of Belisarius II’s reign saw this struggle for power turn deadly. For years the imperial court was plagued with a string of murders, stillbirths, and conspiracies as consorts and heirs sabotaged one another to increase their chances of winning The Agonia before an official challenge was even designed.

In an attempt to end the tensions at court and the bloodbath in the Harem, Belisarius II made plans to hold an official Game to finally pick his heir. But before he could issue the challenge, tragedy struck when Belisarius II perished during a hunting a trip. With the Vasilier dead and no official heir appointed, the fight for the throne became a free-for-all.

Belisarius II’s consort-prima managed to quickly seize the imperial throne and the military surrounding Reanopoli— the old capital of Aetier—eliminated rival heirs within the capital, and crowned her twelve-year-old son, Atreus, the new Vasilier. She, along with her family, the House of Thysestes, formed a regency council and attempted to wrest control of the empire from the House of Aetier.

However, the House of Thyestes’ rule would not remain unchallenged as one of Belisarius II’s surviving children, Imperessor Leo vi Aetier, quickly returned in the middle of his Venusian Campaign upon hearing of his father’s death. The ten year civil war—the first since Aetier’s founding—saw immeasurable casualties on both sides, and eventually culminated into Imperessor Leo’s victory. After he was coronated as Vasilier Leo III on the summer solstice, he ordered for all mentions of Atreus and the House of Thysestes to be eradicated from history. Atreus was stripped of all his titles and his family name, and was executed along with the remaining members of House Thysestes at the age of twenty-one, a few days shy of his birthday.

THE ERA OF THREE CROWNS

Since the Decade of Blood, Aetierian history has been plagued by numerous civil wars, but none have had greater impact on the wider geopolitical landscape and the rules of the Agonia than the Era of Three Crowns.

Among Vasilier Arsenios I’s vast brood of children, three stood above the rest: Reilma-Imperessor Justinian, Kaisarim of Paros; Reilma-Imperessa Athanasia, Kaisarim of Iorousia; and Reilma-Imperessor Valens, Kaisarim of Kelainai. Equally talented, equally powerful, and equally backed by strong supporters, the Empire held its breath as the question of which among the three scions would inherit the imperial throne. Despite knowing that each of his three children were poised for another civil war, Arsenios I was reluctant to formally declare an heir, insistent on keeping the delicate balance of powers at the Imperial Court for as long as possible.

Only after his death did Arsenios I declare his chosen successor in his will— Justinian. But Justinian’s appointment was quickly contested by his half-siblings, accusing him and his family of conspiracy and forging an imperial edict as Aresnios I’s will was “found” by Justinian’s supporters.

The empire was quickly plunged into another civil war as each imperial heir declared themselves the true Vasilier and accused the others of being usurpers. From there, they split the empire into three territories: Justinian ruling from the Aetierian capital of Kaelstanopoli, Athanasia ruling to the east from Iorousia, and Valens governing the western territories from Kelainai. Eventually, Valens will move his seat of power to the province of Isidore, where the old capital of Reanopoli resides.

The repeated deadlocks and stalemates between all three sides had Aetier cracking at the seams. It was only when a fourth party—the kingdom of Leohthal—attempted to invade Valens’ territories to the West did the balance of power shift. With Valens distracted by the threat to his borders, Athanasia took this opportunity to push straight into the heart of Justinian’s territory, surprising his forces, capturing him, and then shaking his supporters by publishing the Artensian Papers. These papers were a confession, allegedly handwritten by Justinian’s mother before her death where she states that Justinian was sired by a knight errant. For Justinian—who already did not possess the trademark vi Aetier silver eyes—the Artensian Papers marred his reputation in a way that it could never recover from.

After being through the streets of Kaelstanopoli as a bastard pretender and usurper, Justinian was sentenced to death by beheading. Athanasia hung his severed head outside the walls of the city as a warning to Valens of the fate that would await him.

THE GREAT SCHISM

However the aftermath of Athanasia’s victory against Justinian and Valens’ successful repelling of the Leohthalian invasion left both sides severely weakened and unable to continue their conflict with each other. After a series of intense negotiations, Valens reluctantly agreed to relinquish his claim over the Aetierian throne and acknowledge Athanasia as the rightful Vasilier. In exchange, Valens was allowed to secede with his current territories in the west, creating the kingdom of Hesperia and establishing the House of Deominos as the ruling line with himself at the head.

Though Valens did not succeed in gaining the Aetierian throne for himself, he did manage to claim Kaelstansa’s ancestral lands in Reanopoli, as well as Kaelstansa’s burial grounds, which was a great blow to Aetierian pride.

THE SCION'S CODE

Seeing the devastation their civil war caused, Vasilier Athanasia I wanted to find a way to prevent competing claimants for the throne once an heir had been chosen. Her grand solution was instituting the Scion’s Code, an imperial edict that makes it lawful for the ascending heir to execute their siblings under the pretext of maintaining stability for the empire and the benefit of its citizens. Though kinslaying had thus been an age-old tradition at this point of the House of Aetier, this Scion’s code now made it legal and acceptable without having to find a more justifiable cause.

“The Agonia” as a term saw a resurgence after the Scion’s Code was passed. Instead of referring to the original King’s Game, or even the many great civil wars of the past, the Agonia now referred to the deadly games of succession played between imperial heirs, the harem, and the imperial court. No longer are the games of succession done for the sake of ambition, now it was one of survival. An empire or an execution. A crown or an axe. Victory or Death.

The Agonia is bloody. The players are ruthless. And for most imperial children, the game begins at birth.

TAGLIST (ask to be +/-)

@bloomingwrites @writinglyra @zmwrites @trapped-inadystopianovel @inky-duchess @aalinaaaaaa @seasteading @kaatiba @lazulis-stuff @serpentarii @sourrcandy @charlesjosephwrites @marrowwife @forever-and-almost-always @halcionic @caninemotiff @socialmediasocrates @zorya-km @smolandweirdwriter @floweryprosegarden

[ikilledmyocs]

THEY STOLE THE SUN / an introduction

🔆 adult, science fiction, horror 🛫 body horror, gore, violence, sexual content, and more 🙊 currently outlining 🧪 i am scared of the dark, my hearing sucks, i don't trust most people, and i'd rather die doing what i wanted even if it's incredibly pointless. how can you miss something you never saw? there's also monster fucker representation. and three povs! not of the monster fucking. but that would be kinda funny. 🔅 spotify / pinterest 💉 picrew used

on the two-hundred-and-twentieth anniversary of the sun disappearing, a bunker council leader declares that the hunter's should be disbanded, regrouped into the bunker guard to police people instead of searching for the corpses of those that dared to leave. after all, it's been over a year since the last time someone tried. what's the point? they should be doing a better job of guarding the doors in the first place. a week later, the bunker wakes up to strangers at their door. the last and only time the heizfree bunker let in any outsiders, it brought a sickness that has plagued their descendants ever since. and that was before they had even found the bunker; when their founders were still barely surviving in the destroyed air force base. with the entire five floors below them voting for them to lose their jobs and change their lives just as they've discovered something that could possibly save them- the hunters decide to let the outsiders in. after all, they guard the doors. the strangers claim they've been traveling across the state looking for survivors, that they saw them running from a shadow and were impressed by their skills. they offer to bring the hunters back with them, and only then they'll be able to understand how they survive out there, and that it could be possible for them, too. it's also completely possible that they're liars and that the hunters have just marked themselves for certain death instead, but what else have they got to lose? their jobs were always going to lead them to it, anyway. they might as well go out trying to do something better than the people before them.

the hunters — in order of appearance

antontio castillo - 30 | capricorn | general

van boyd - 26 | gemini | colonel

sterling townsend - 27 | aries | lieutenant

knox perry - 26 | sagittarius | captain

lily calderon* - 20 | capricorn | captain

phoebe howard - 23 | gemini | captain

vegas leon - 24 | taurus | captain

*lily is the lone survivor of her family, her dad was the last from his generation of hunters and was killed four years before the story in an attack that still leaves the bunker shaken. his death happened three months before she was meant to join the guard boot camp, which would allow her to become a hunter and many of those within the bunker tried to sway her from enlisting. but if there's one word you can describe lily as, it would be determined. besides, those people didn't care about her or her family before, why would she listen to them, then?

the outsiders — in order of appearance

rem - 31 | taurus

kali* - 25 | libra

anders - 25 | scorpio

sierra - 22 | leo

*kali has been traveling across texas to search for survivors since she was twelve, along with rem, who she considers her older sister at this point. they were raised by the same scientists, but that's where the similarities end. where kali is caring, diplomatic, and serious about the offers she gives to the survivors they meet, rem could be considered the opposite. quick to set their ever-revolving pair of guards off on whoever turns on them. but anders and sierra have lasted longer than most of their guards so far, and kali really enjoys their company, even if they can be incredibly cold sometimes. she knows she can be the same, so she can't fault them for it too much.

the scientists — in order of appearance

tucker marshall - 70 | cancer

shiloh schaefer* - 27 | virgo

violet mcguire - 25 | aquarius

*shiloh is the youngest daughter of edith schaefer: one of the council leaders and a member of the light of life, a religion followed by a majority of the bunker. shiloh was originally studying at the medical bay when her older sister was indoctrinated following a rough stint during her voluntary medic time with the guard, who are known for being unpleasant to, well, everyone. shiloh knew she didn't want to follow her family's footsteps and plead with dr. marshall to switch to studying with him to avoid that life, knowing he has a vocal dislike for them and needed someone to follow in his footsteps eventually. she's since been a diligent pupil, but may be working on something behind his back. just to see if her hypothesis is correct before she shows him, of course.