#SE:Snippet

[marlowethelibrarian]

SE Snippet: Dunelae's Boytoys Pt 2

I have been advised to post the comic relief squad

“Dunelae!” came an excited call, and she turned, half surprised as she was tackled into a hug, almost lifted off her feet. “Ara!” she exclaimed, laughing as Daseri ne’ Odoli Aramalae, her latest lover, spun her around excitedly. “Put me down, it’s not seemly.” He put her down, still grinning. He was a puppy of a man, long legged and skinny, freckles peppering his face, nearly invisible against the brown of his skin. He was boyishly handsome, a wide grin under light brown eyes, preferring to keep his hair shorn, except for the two gender braids dangling under his right ear. “Were you in the audience for that interrogation?” she asked. “Of course!” he said. “You did amazingly. I went and got Ilani for you, I figured you’d want both of us to be here.” The entire very long length of Faelofe ne’ Adolae Ilani was decked out in his finest reds and yellows, his shoulder length hair peeking out from the bandana wrapped around his head. He stood off to the side, smiling politely and shifting ever so often, a bronze capped staff in his hand, to block a third man from direct access to her. “And I see you’ve brought Palinae too,” she said, amused. “Hi Dunelae!” he said, tiptoeing to look past Ilani’s arm, waving. Adami ne’ Daeni Palinae was very persistent about trying to get into her bed, she had to give him that. She hadn’t yet decided what she wanted to do with him, but her two boys so far, apparently, did not like him very much at all.

[marlowethelibrarian]

FIND THE WORD TAG

from @saturnine-saturneight

My words are Fuzz, low, noise, and crash!

I don't have fuzz in Salted Earth but I do have Fur!

She breathed and scooped up the small white creature that napped on a small cushion next to her bed. It made a small noise of protest but settled in her arms as she pet the soft dense fur on its head and neck. Domesticated tayra, a long, sleek animal the length of Dunelae’s arm, had the run of the Suyan temple as companions and rat catchers. They were playful, energetic, with long necks and bushy tails, their white fur in stark contrast with the dark colors of their wild cousins. Hers was still a baby, small enough to hide under her silk veil when she draped it around her neck.

Low

Here the rooftops were more populated, lines of laundry set up in the little breeze they had, uncles who played dice in the remaining day light at the edges of the city, children building fires to cook their own dinners. The lower levels were the homes of low ranked clanmembers and low ranked clans, abandoned children, foreigners and Okono.

Noise

The door closed. Rakani struggled up out of the cushions and robes and came face to face with Dunelae’s blazing, furious eyes. “What.” She hissed. “Did. You. Do??” Rakani hesitated and she grabbed them by collar of their night shift and shook them. “What did you do??” she whisper-shrieked, shaking them hard. They brought a hand up and slapped her across the cheek, a resounding noise that made her let go, grab her face, shocked. “What are you talking about?” they hissed back. “I’m talking about whatever made ‘me’ crumple under the pressure,” she snapped. “Only it was definitely you, because I, haven’t left my room all night!”

Crash

Despite the cold, quite a few people were out on the streets, talking and laughing, some holding drinks from the nearby taverns. Foreigners weren't very common in Kalama-- it was too remote up the mountain. The most reliable way for the people across the mountain range was by Otyun airship, but the lowlands had to hike up the long way. Still, the wealth in salt trade meant it was worth it for other countries to send envoys and ensure stable trading routes. If Rakani could get Mala up all the way to the aristo level, maybe they could crash at Wakma's place for awhile, until they can figure out what to do.

I'm going to tag @noblebs, @cowboybrunch and @tragedycoded since Jamie's gone and tagged everyone already so nyeh.

Your words that have not been hastily edited in after posting are:

pear, flower, sink, and flood!

[marlowethelibrarian]

SE Snippet: Dunelae's boy toys

Monogomous marriages are not the norm but they are all still highly political! Upwards mobility for boys usually means finding themselves in the beds of important women.

She was aware of the politics that came with keeping her lovers, and the politics that drove them to her bed in the first place. Palinae, the youngest and only son in a crowd of four accomplished sisters, was desperate to be anyone of importance, while Ara was the Odoli’s best hope of climbing house ranks in the Daseri clan. Ilani, the oldest of her lovers, had failed badly at his woodworking apprenticeship but succeeded quite well at pleasuresmithing, which made him very useful in bed as a diplomatic asset. Ilani was, additionally, very beautiful. He was lithe and strong as a mountain lion and he fucked like one too. She was only human, in the end. “Ilani, please,” she said, gesturing him away. She couldn’t simply snub Palinae either. Having some kind of tie with the Adami household, with its chokehold on the lanigera fur trade, would be useful. She knew the end goal for these men was either marriage or to attend her, which would bind them even closer than marriage might, elevating their own status and that of their houses and clans. She couldn’t really see Palinae in that position in her house but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use this connection for some kind of deal either.

[marlowethelibrarian]

Snippet: Hadarami's Big Plan

And Rakani does not like it.

“So what’s your big project?” Rakani asked, almost reluctantly. They didn’t know if they wanted to know what she was up to. “There’s this plot of land,” Hadarami began, and already Rakani was beginning to regret asking. “We’ve been holding it down, it’s on the outskirts, near the Tamiru forest we’ve basically already established a clanhold there—“ “Hadarami,” Rakani hissed, aghast. “They are going to murder you! You’re building an Okono stronghold?” “What do you think all the healing potions are for?” Hadarami asked with a shrug. "It’s not even land that the clans are using, it’s high up with very little top soil and the closest people there are the treefolk, who we’ve been fighting off for a long time anyway.” “This is a stupid fucking idea,” Rakani exclaimed. “How are you going to feed your people? What are you going to do if the priests come down on you for this?” They turn to start climbing again, leaning forward to grip the steps with their hands. It was safer than ascending upright. “Hypocrites!” Hadarami snorted, following. “We’re all descended from Okono from the lowlands anyway and they’re going to stop me from setting out and making my own place?” “Yes??” Rakani exclaimed. “Things are better now, but you think Nori and Muloyu ever forgot where we came from? You still can’t put highland Upae in the same room as lowland ones, it almost always ends in bloodshed! And that Okono Upae who kept their clan name was centuries ago.” “I’ve no interest in keeping my old clan name,” Hadarami snorted. “I’ll be Okono, if I want.” “That’s even worse,” Rakani groaned, pinching their nose. “They’re not going to stand for this, Hadarami. I don’t want anything to do with this.” “Come on!” Hadarami exclaimed, using her teak staff to navigate the treacherous steps. “You think only bad people become Okono? Or that once you’re Okono, you can never redeem yourself, be a person worth knowing? Do you think every Okono trial was carried out fairly?” Rakani growled. “Shut up,” they snapped. “You don’t want a place where you can be dealt with fairly?” Hadarami asked, challenging. “You think you deserve to be ground into the dirt because you fucked up when you were a kid? How old were you, fifteen, when you became Okono?” “Hadarami,” Rakani snapped. “Shut up before I push you off the fucking mountain.”

Taglist (ask to +\-): @orions-quill, @cowboybrunch, @mantis-lizbian, @saturnine-saturneight

[marlowethelibrarian]

Last Line Tag!

Finally writing again! And now that I am being specifically bothered by @tragedycoded, here's a line!

“Well,” Hadarami said, and glanced around to check for eavesdroppers. The path was, of course, deserted, because only the desperate (Rakani) and the insane (Hadarami) wanted to climb the mountain at night. “I’ve been kind of working on something big.”

tagging! @writingrosesonneptune, @saturnine-saturneight and @noblebs + Open!

[marlowethelibrarian]

SE Snippet: Dunelae the Panic Attack Queen

cw: cutting and self harm under the cut.

There was no time to cry and scream, and certainly no time to set herself back to rights afterwards. Dunelae braced her hands against her dresser as her breath heaved against her chest. “Everything is fine,” she tried to tell herself. “You got this. You have this.” It wasn't working. She couldn’t make it sound convincing enough. Each breath was just as heavy, just as strained. Dunelae drew her belt knife, the sharpened bronze edge polished to a mirror finish.

Just the weight in her hands was a steadying presence as she lifted her leg, sliding the blade against her ankle. She held her breath. It was a calculated move, old scars distributed around her ankles, easily attributed to a young rambunctious tayra. Dunelae had no interest in pitying looks or the boys she drew to her bed asking her about her scars. On the exhale, she cut, drawing out a thin line of pain, barely deep enough to draw a pinprick of bright red blood. It pierced through the panic like a skewer through an overripe tomato. It grounded her, the burn of it sending a deep shiver through her bones, resetting her panic to focus herself on the present. Her body made itself known again, and she was remade aware of how it overlapped the space she occupied, how it shifted when she breathed with her whole body, the flex of her shoulders, the rise of her chest. It was centering, and she sighed with relief.

[marlowethelibrarian]

Snippet: Rakani's Bad Idea

In which Rakani needs to get both themself and Mala out of the city, pronto, and makes a decision.

“Look,” Hadarami said, low. “You do that job for me, the big one, that’ll get you enough salt for your master to live comfortably for awhile, and I can get you out of the city.” It would be as good as joining the Vultures. And then who would look after Mala? Who’d take out the trash, do the laundry, empty the chamberpot? Who’d cook, and clean and make sure she didn’t overdose on her medicine? She’d have to hire help at a rate that made it worth luring a pair of working hands from their rightful clan. The salt Hadarami was offering was a good chunk of change but it would disappear in a few months between hiring help and rent. It wasn’t a long term solution. “Or,” Rakani said, coming to a decision. “I could do something stupid as fuck and get the money a different way.” Wakma bit his lip, nervous. “Stupid how?”

Taglist (ask to +\-): @orions-quill, @cowboybrunch, @mantis-lizbian, @saturnine-saturneight

[marlowethelibrarian]

Snippet!

“Come on!” Hadarami exclaimed, using her teak staff to navigate the treacherous steps. “You think only bad people become Okono? Or that once you’re Okono, you can never redeem yourself, be a person worth knowing?” Rakani growled. “Shut up,” they snapped. “You don’t want a place where you can be dealt with fairly?” Hadarami asked, challenging. “You think you deserve to be ground into the dirt because you fucked up when you were a kid? How old were you, fifteen, when you became Okono?” “Hadarami,” Rakani snapped. “Shut up before I push you off the fucking mountain.”

[marlowethelibrarian]

Deleted Scene!

Here's a little darling that I very much enjoyed but I am killing, since I don't think I can fit it in after I made a few edits to make the scene flow better.

It was like kicking a mother bear, but a mother bear who thought that Rakani was one of her cubs. It was the only reason they were getting away with physically hitting Hadarami— that and the knowledge that a true fight between them would end with Rakani dead on the ground.

I have a new character for Salted Earth lmfao.

[marlowethelibrarian]

Snippet Share!

Dunelae is hands down one of the meanest characters I've ever written.

It was a little too boastful to say out loud. Very few people had bothered to learn the hand signs that Sumira and her uncles used to communicate when it became clear that her hearing was one of the things that would not survive her childhood. Back when Sumira and Dunelae were the only two children in training for their blessing, it was the only reliable way Dunelae had to insult her and still be understood.