#writers connection

[izzylovesyou2022]

The Enchanted Ones (Chapter 1)

The stairs had never felt so unsteady nor had my breathing felt quite as stifled as they did at this moment. It didn’t help that the only light I could see was the Queen of Italy, my Aunt Allegra’s flashlight and even that was dimmed. I paused, my feet on two separate stairs, to readjust Aria in my arms. A small whine escaped from her lips and I gently hushed her before reclaiming my pace. My elf ears remained alert for any noise of alarm or anger or any of the negative feelings from way above me, but I didn’t need to worry. Aunt Allegra and I soon reached the bottom of the steps and she quickly flung open the castle door.

Goosebumps formed up my arms as the cool night air blasted me full force in the face, but I ignored it and kept following Aunt Allegra. She must have used some sort of secret silencing charm on her shoes, because even on the cobblestone we treaded on, her feet made no sound. The only sounds heard were the occasional neighing of one of the castle horses and my heavy breathing.

I nearly slammed into Aunt Allegra when she came to a sudden stop in front of the horse-drawn carriage in front of us. Living in modern Italy, we didn’t see a lot of horse-drawn carriages anymore, unless we were at plays or events put on by townsmen, but since our escape needed to be quiet and painless, we made the decision to use the less noisy horse and carriage mode of transportation.

Aunt Allegra turned to me and in the bright light of the moon and her flashlight, I could see pain and tears in her green eyes. She hadn’t been in my life for very long, only about six months, but she’d become my biggest protector against my uncle, King Dante. I could see her lips thinning, like I always do when I’m trying not to cry. She straightened and stared into my eyes.

“My child, you have been brave. You must take care of you and Aria. I will be fine.”

I used a finger to gesture for my driver and he raced towards me.

“Yes, your highness?”

I carefully placed Aria into his arms and gave a hard swallow as he cradled her to his chest. Aria was the main reason for my escape.  

“Please make her comfortable in the carriage. I will be there in a moment.”

He ducked his head in a bow and hurried off with Aria.

The smell of the roses my mother had once so carefully planted in her garden rushed and weaved through the air, only making my throat tighten. To the left of that garden, under the safety of an oak tree, lay her grave, her final resting place where she could finally be at peace.

“Your mother will understand, child,” Aunt Allegra whispered, gentleness covering every word, “you are not abandoning her.”

I swiped at my eyes and mentally scolded myself. 1,700 (or seventeen in human years) was too old to be crying, and yet, any mention of Mother was enough to send me to tears. The next thing I felt were Aunt Allegra’s arms wrapped around me and her soothing hum tickling my ears.

“I will never forget this,” I croaked, my throat feeling suddenly dry from the air and the thoughts roaming around my head, “and I will come back for you.”

Aunt Allegra straightened to her full height and pierced me with her green eyes. An elf-maid whose beauty just barely competed with my mother’s.

“Go now, Enzo.”

I swallowed my pride and tears and walked to the carriage. I climbed inside and forced myself not to look back. The driver slapped the reigns against the horse’s back and the carriage sped away. Only once we were on the road and speeding away from the castle did I breath normally again.

The clip-clop of the horse’s hooves soothed my spirit and I turned to my sleeping daughter, Aria. I wanted to cry out of thankfulness that she didn’t know what was going on. The most I’d told her was that we’d be going on an adventure to another country. Obviously, that excited her.

I kept one hand close to hers in case she suddenly woke up and glanced up at the night sky. The stars shone in their places, little pieces of fairy dust, as Mother called them. Mother studied the stars and taught me how to fall in love and stay in love with them. “The stars are our one constant, Enzo,” she’d once told me, “a way of guiding us when we most need it. Always follow the stars. You never know where they will lead.”

The carriage came to a sudden halt near a field. I didn’t see the moon, but my ears caught the sound of a plane engine. As part of the royal family, I had my own private plane. Well, more like my Uncle’s plane, but Aunt Allegra had arranged everything with the pilot. This plane would be taking me and Aria to America.

I scooped up my still-sleeping daughter into my lap and waited until my driver opened the carriage door. While I got out, my elf-guards and the pilot scrambled to get our luggage—4 large suitcases—onto the plane.

I got out of the carriage and handed Aria to the nearest guard. I watched for a moment as he hurried away, and then turned my attention to my driver.

“My friend,” I whispered, laying a hand on his shoulder, “you have been amazing. I owe so much to you. You and my aunt planned this out perfectly. I know she already paid you, but to give you my thanks, here is an additional 17 euros.”

I dropped the money in his hand. I saw him swallowing back the tears and the lump in his throat as he inclined his head at me.

“Do not worry about us, good Prince. Take care of yourself and the little one.” 

I gave him one final squeeze of his shoulder before hurrying across the field and scampering up the steps of the plane.

Soon, we were off, leaving my childhood home and everything I’d ever known before. Sadness and excitement mixed to form a pit in my stomach and I forced myself to look away from the window. I just stared at the back of my pilot’s seat and tried to breathe through my nose. I looked over my shoulder at the four suitcases neatly stacked and relaxed my shoulders. Everything Aria and I needed was in those cases. Thank goodness for quick planning.

“Dada?”

My eyes flickered over to Aria, who was rubbing hard at her eyes with her tiny fists and kicking her legs back and forth. I gently placed her in my lap and tucked her messy black hair behind her ears.

“Have a good nap?”

I’d hope she’d sleep through the night, but not all my prayers could be answered. I looked at her little elf-ears and wondered what sort of powers, if any, she’d grow up to have. I’d recently discovered that I had sky powers, which basically meant I could bring down lightning and cause massive storms to distract enemies. I hoped I wouldn’t have to use those powers in the near future, my sword did just fine, but with me being on the run, I knew I’d have to sooner or later. I was thankful that I’d learned relatively quick how to control my powers, because causing my pilot to fly in a storm wouldn’t look good to anyone.

Aria pushed herself up in my lap to look out the window and stuck out her lower lip when she realized it was nighttime.

“Where sun?”

I chuckled and scooted a little closer to the window with Aria. I pointed at the moon doing it’s job giving light to the pilot and the world below and then pointed at the stars, each one twinkling in it’s rightful place.

“The sun is sleeping, Aria, but see? The moon and the stars are doing their jobs. They are awake. They help protect the nighttime.”

Aria’s dark blue eyes looked at me in wonder and then glanced back out the window. Her hands wrapped tightly around the little dragon blanket she’d gotten for her birthday.

“Stars running,” she said.

I looked out the window and saw a star rushing across the heavens, leaving a trail of silver in it’s wake. My eyes stung as I realized that was Mother sending me a message. Shooting stars had always been Mother’s favorite, and my gut feeling announced to me that she was guiding our course.

“It’s a shooting star, Aria,” I whispered as she rubbed her eyes again and crawled back into my lap, “the luckiest stars of all.”

Soon enough, Aria traveled to dreamland and I placed her back on the plane seat, smiling as her hands tightened around her little dragon blanket. I stroked her hair and leaned back in my seat. I should feel tired but I truly wasn’t. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or fear that kept me awake.

“Both,” I answered, “I’m feeling both.”

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, my stomach went into my throat, and I jerked awake to realize my pilot was descending. My eyes flickered over the rising sun, turning the sky orange and red, mixing together to create a moment in time. I glanced at Aria, who sat playing with her blanket, and reached over to place her in my lap.

“We’re descending, Aria. We’ve arrived.”

Aria tucked her head back against my chest and pointed at the flashing lights of the airport below. Private planes usually don’t land at airports but because we were in a different country, we had too. I wasn’t bothered by it though: different countries had different customs.

Once our feet were on the ground and all of our baggage unloaded, a silver car sped up to us. Two people hopped out and I realized with a start that they were both elves. I recognized the older elf as actor Ronan Canavan. I’d watched his movies many times and always thought of him as some sort of hero. Hurrying behind Ronan was an elf-maid who looked to be about my age. Her blue hair hung over her shoulder in a fishtail braid and in the morning light, she glowed.

“Prince Enzo,” Ronan intoned, bowing low to me as the elf-maid did the same, “we welcome you and the little one to America.” He nodded and smiled at Aria as he spoke.

“Thank you,” I said, placing one hand over my heart and then slowly holding out my arm. Mother had taught me that little gesture as a sign of gratitude.

Ronan repeated my gesture and then turned to the elf standing near him.

“This is my daughter, Aoife.”

Aoife considered me and I swore her eyes stared into my soul.

“Prince Enzo.”

 “Aoife, it’s nice to meet you.”

She held out her hand and, for a moment, I thought about doing the Italian greeting of touching my nose to her hand, but didn’t and instead shook it. I shifted Aria up onto my hip and watched as Ronan grabbed two of our suitcases. My mouth opened to protest, but Aoife laid her hand on my arm and shook her head.

 “Nay, Prince Enzo. You have a child in your arms. Let my Father do what must be done.”

I quickly snapped my mouth shut and turned to properly face her. Elves with a blue glow on their skin were a rarity in Europe. I wondered if they were common in America. Both Ronan and Aoife had the blue glow. I decided not to ask.  

“Do you have powers?”

The heat rose in my cheeks at the stupidity of that question, but Aoife only laughed and nodded.

“Yes, Prince, I have powers. Water powers.”

Well, that was interesting. I’d met a lot of elves but Aoife was the first one I’d come across who had water powers.

“Like, water bending?”

Another laugh, this one quiet and tinkling.

“Yes and no. I can make shapes with the water but I control the weather of the water. Meaning I can create hurricanes, floods, and even giant waves. Those are just the ‘bad’ parts of my powers. I can filter dirty water clean with just the snap of a hand or even fill an empty glass just by touching it if I focus hard enough, just to name a few good ones.”

My eyebrows shot all the way up. I couldn’t believe that I’d met someone who has these powers. It’s the coolest thing.

All those words stuck in my throat, however, as I followed her to the car and hopped inside. To my surprise, I find a car seat for Aria in the back. I shoot Aoife a sideways glance.

“Father bought it yesterday,” she explained, “it’s a magical car seat. It fits exactly to the size of the child. Try it out.”

I placed Aria in the seat and stared, transfixed, as it buckled her exactly how I always do. I didn’t think my eyes could widen much more. Why didn’t we have these back in Italy?

My face must’ve looked funny, because a snort and a giggle zoomed around the car as it pulled away from the airport.

“A lot of elves and even humans use car seats like this,” Ronan said from the front seat, catching my eye in the rearview mirror, “there are non-magical ones, of course, but the magical ones are considered safer. There was a lot of trial and error to get the magical ones right. Kids your little one’s age are lucky. When I was a kid, there were no magical car seats. Whoever invented them must have been a parent.”

“How do they work?”

Aoife pulled one leg close to her body and pulled a finger-file from her pocket.

“Well, you know, with non-magical ones, you have to play with the straps to fit it perfectly on your child. With the magical ones, it senses the height, weight, and gender of your child, and conforms the straps to fit your child just so. It does the work for you.” 

I didn’t think I could say another word. Everything that had gone on in the past...I don’t know. My brain can’t understand time anymore. The adrenaline faded from my system.

To calm myself, I rested my head on the window and watched the world go by. Tall buildings shone in the still-early morning. There wasn’t a lot of traffic for us to run into, but I could see owners hurrying to the doors of their businesses and people rushing into their offices. The orange and red of the sunrise faded and all I could see was blue skies and a few puffy white clouds.

After a while, I realized we were driving away from the city. Tall buildings turned into small houses and farm land. Flowers of every color grew along the road side.

“How far is your house from here?”

I rested my elbow up against the window as I spoke, studying Aoife. Her fingers were plaiting small braids into Aria’s hair.

She didn’t even look at me, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward.

“If we were driving at a normal speed, it’d take us about ten hours. But, Father and one of his friends did some magic on the car that allows it to go at high speed, but it doesn’t look that way to humans. I think we’ll be there quite shortly.”

Can someone really surprise you two times in less than two hours? The answer was yes. First with the magic car seat and now with this magic on the car. Was I really that cut off from the world or was Italy more old school than I remember?

“Besides,” she continued, her brown-hazel eyes finally meeting mine as her fingers continued to work on Aria’s hair, “it’s not really a house. I mean, it’s my home but it’s not like one of the houses you see out there.”

Before I could ask her what she meant, a strong smell floated through the window. Sea-salt. The ocean.  

I almost gave myself a whiplash turning my head to see the clear blue of the ocean crashing against the ivory sand of the beach. I hadn’t been to the ocean for so long, I’d nearly forgotten what it looked like. What threw me back even more, however, was coming up over the hill and seeing the huge castle. In the sunlight, the pure white bricks nearly blinded me. I turned to stare at Aoife.

“Are…are you a….are you a princess?”

“No, my friend. This castle was built by my grandfather for my grandmother. She’d always dreamed of living in a castle, so he had this built for her.”

Love makes you do some wonderful things

The large gated fence around the castle creaked open and we drove right through. The castle spiraled far above me. I counted two guard towers and studied the battlements. I didn’t see a drawbridge, but on the far left end, I saw two chapels. This castle was about the same size as the one I lived in back home. I liked this castle, however, because it was on the beach and miles and miles of space.

“Plenty of space for you, little one,” Aoife muttered to Aria, who giggled and grabbed at her fingers.

I’d forgotten that Ronan was in the car, so when his deep voice spoke, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“You will be safe here, Enzo. Your Aunt Allegra picked me because of this place.”

[existingillusion]

[scriptwriters-network]

Writing Programs and Fellowships for Emerging Writers

The discussions explored the application submission processes for the writing programs, including the importance of submitting the right scripts which showcases the writing and selection process.

More info here.

[iambrillyant]

“honor the friendships that allow you to pick up from where you last left off, regardless of how long it’s been since you connected. the friendships that survive hiatuses, silences and space. those are the connections that never die.”

— iambrillyant

[thevioletcaptain]

i genuinely don't care how good a piece of ai generated art or writing looks on the surface. i don't care if it emulates brush strokes and metaphor in a way indistinguishable from those created by a person.

it is not the product of thoughtful creation. it offers no insights into the creator's life or viewpoint. it has no connection to a moment in time or a place or an attitude. it has no perspective. it has no value.

it's empty, it's hollow, and it exists only to generate clicks (and by extension, ad revenue.)

it's just another revolting symptom of the disease that is late stage capitalism, and it fucking sucks.

[neapeaikea]

Tommy Kinard is totally Buck's type.

His initials are TK, just like Taylor Kelly and, ahem, that firefighter in Texas.

[izzylovesyou2022]

The Enchanted Ones: Chapter II

Even barely awake, I could still make my way down the stairs to the kitchen. I guess that’s the advantage of knowing your home inside and out. Plus, I’m an elf, meaning my senses are heightened.

I stumbled into the kitchen and through my half-opened eyes, saw Father and Kieran talking. Oh, I guess I should introduce Kieran. Kieran is my older half-brother on my mom’s side. Father and I being elves never bothered him. It’s won him points with the people he works with.

I made my way over the coffee machine and smiled when I saw it was already made. I poured myself a glass and took a sip. Ah, the much needed caffeine.

“Don’t drink all of it,” Kieran threw over his shoulder, “our honored guest might like some.”

I grunted and pushed myself onto one of the kitchen barstools.

“I have no intention of drinking all of it,” I mumbled, “there will be plenty for the Prince.”

Prince Enzo. Our new housemate for I don’t know how long. I remembered Father talking to others about plans to keep him here. Something about “being a refuge from Italy.”

Father frowned at me from across the bar. I didn’t look at him. I knew his eyes were searching me.

“Did you not sleep last night, daughter?”

I looked at him as I drained the last of my coffee and twirled the mug between my fingers.

“Slept fine, Father. I’m just barely awake.”

That got a laugh out of both of them. I didn’t stop my smile, even if it was aimed at the floor instead of them. Sleeping was the one thing that came easy for me.

The sound of running footsteps and then a high-pitched squeal caught our attention and all three of us turned to see Enzo holding a giggling Aria in his arms. Her giggles made my smile widen. I haven’t seen a toddler as adorable as her in ages.

Enzo inclined his head to each of us and walked over the kitchen table, which sat at the opposite end of the bar.

“There’s a box of Lucky Charms in the pantry, my friend,” Father said, grabbing a bowl and spoon from the cabinet.

Kieran eyed Enzo with great interest as he grabbed the box of the aforementioned cereal from the pantry and set it on the table.

“What’s the usual breakfast in Italy?”

Enzo handed Aria her spoon and rolled back his shoulders. By the wistful look in his blue eyes, I knew he was missing home.

“It depends. Sometimes it’s just a simple bread and butter, or what you call toast here. Sometimes it’s a big affair, with at least three different meats, eggs, and cheese on bread. And of course, no breakfast would be complete without a cup of coffee.”

Kieran whistled in appreciation and I laughed and pushed him in the side.

“You’re an idiot, do you know that?”

Kieran only smirked and shrugged his shoulders before sitting down next to Enzo.

“Well, I’m also your brother,” he said.

I watched Enzo muffle his laugh into his arm and resisted the urge to throw my spoon at him. The best I could do was snort and look at the beautiful weather outside. The waves crashing against the sand and the sun making the water sparkle under it’s light. How lucky we were to live next to the ocean. Where I could see this beautiful scenery every single day.

Just as if he was reading my mind, Enzo cast his glance in my direction and leaned forward on the chair. His eyes were gleaming just as bright as the ocean.

“Aoife, you’re a lucky elf-maid. You get a beautiful castle with so much room and you get to live by the ocean. Aria and I are so lucky to be here.”

I smiled as Aria tossed her spoon onto the table and arched an eyebrow.

“Yes, I know. We’re incredibly lucky to live in this wonderful place. But didn’t you have a castle too?”

Enzo picked up the spoon that Aria threw and heaved out a sigh. I could see how heavily leaving Italy weighed on him.

“A beautiful castle,” he agreed, staring out at the water, “but it’s not by an ocean. My castle back home has a lot of flower gardens and a lot of places to ride horses. We have horse-drawn carriages as well as cars.”

My eyebrows arched even higher.

“I thought those things were left behind years ago. I mean…” my voice faltered under Enzo’s tilted-head-stare, “people used those in the 1800s.”

Father chuckled and ruffled up my hair.

“Italy has a different culture, Aoife.”

I absentmindedly tapped my fingers on the glass in front of me and filled it with water. Father and Kieran didn’t spare it a glance, but Enzo looked at me questioningly.

“I told you yesterday, my good sir,” I joked, handing him the glass, “I can make things fill with water. Sometimes I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”

Enzo took a sip of water and let out such a loud gasp that all of us stared at him in shock and concern.

“This is some of the cleanest and best-tasting water I’ve ever had! Oh, how delightful!”

Heat rose to my cheeks as I choked out a “thank you.” There was no reason for Enzo’s words to cause my heart to skip a few beats. People complemented me all the time on my water skills.

A few hours later, I sat on the beach with Enzo and Aria. Father had left to go shopping and Kieran had left to go to work. The ocean gently lapped over our feet and I smiled at Aria’s loud squeals and giggles. I hadn’t seen a toddler—elf or human—as happy and giggly as Aria in quite a few years. I could sense she’d bring a lot of joy and laughter to the castle.

“How old were you when you realized you had powers?”

My eyes tore away from Aria to look at Enzo. He had his chin resting on his hands and his fingers played with the lightning-shaped ring he wore.

I dug my fingers into the sand and sucked my lower lip between my teeth.

“I was about four. Father had left a glass on the table and I had been playing with it. When he came back five minutes later, it was filled with water. I was too short to reach the sink and Kieran was away at our mom’s, so he must’ve sensed that I had refilled it. I was about ten or eleven when I discovered that I could control the water. You know: the waves and the hurricanes and such. I’ll be completely honest; it takes a lot to push to me to the point that I will cause a hurricane.”

I’d only known Enzo for about a day, and yet here I was, spilling out my secrets to him. Well, I knew why: elves with powers, especially when they’re young like we are, needed other people to rely on. What better people to do that than people who understand the struggle of having powers?

I nodded at Aria and scooted closer to the pair of them.

“Does she have powers?”

Enzo caught Aria as she stumbled over a small pile of sand and shook his head. “Not that I’ve seen. But you know, some elves discover their powers later…like me. I only discovered I had sky powers like a year or so ago.”  

[existingillusion]

Kiersten White, The Chaos of Stars

[scriptwriters-network]

Writing Programs and Fellowships for Emerging Writers

The discussions explored the application submission processes for the writing programs, including the importance of submitting the right scripts which showcases the writing and selection process.

More info here.

[iambrillyant]

“the most beautiful connections celebrate your authenticity and encourage you to be less performative, they find ways of applauding your entire existence even when you’re unable to show up as your full self, they shed light in your lowest moments so you can see yourself clearly.”

— iambrillyant

[bugcowboyart]

Scratch’s Playthings

The FBC Nursery Rhymes are one of my favorite parts of Alan Wake II, not only were they fun to puzzle out I also just love the idea of some business person running around making handicrafts and clothespin dolls. I wanted to combine that with my absolute appreciation of the environments and props in this game and here’s the result.

Might end up buying the supplies to make my own clothespin Saga and Wake!

[3amfanfiction]

How do you find yourself writing your stories? Is it chronologically where you start at the beginning? Do you start with what interests you most? Something else?

Feel free to share for a larger audience size!

[worldbuildingwanderlust]

I could play a symphony

Strumming the thread

That connects our souls

[platinum-iridium]

the thing about all of the falling birth rate hysteria is that like … did we not expect that one day the population would level off? or were we expecting it to grow infinitely forever? everything in nature has a limit, including populations. we may just be reaching our natural limit. there’s no utility in fighting that imo. we just need to restructure our societies to deal with that

​is it capitalism that has so rotted people’s brains into thinking infinite growth is the norm? honestly it feels like a very male thing to think. and very white+western to earnestly believe that you can engineer as if nature is a resource to be exploited instead of understanding that you need to engineer a more harmonious relationship with nature. look at the current trend with biohackers trying to extend their lifespan. feels the same. they will soon run into the human limits and mother nature will laugh. human life is a limited resource and that’s okay. accepting that is the first step to figuring out how to make the most of it

[thingswedontunbox]

[existingillusion]