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On a small farm outside of a small town in Canada, a horde of four-hundred thirteenth-century Mongol soldiers on horseback rode out through a hole in time and space.

One of them had a thick leather glove, on which a golden eagle perched. Its handler reached up, slipped the little hood off the eagle’s head, and flicked his wrist. It took off, caught a thermal, soared in a lazy arc, dove, spread its talons forward, and then hit a window with a thunk.

Daniel DiSebastian, who was fifteen and on the other side of the window, stared. The eagle had managed to sink its talons into the mesh of the window screen before it stunned itself. It was hanging upside down. Over it, Dan saw a horde of four-hundred thirteenth-century Mongol soldiers standing in formation in his neighbour’s field.

He stared for a moment longer. Curiosity won over self-preservation, and he walked out onto the porch of the house for a better view.

There was a ripping noise, the sound of panicked flapping, and something huge and tawny swooped low over Dan’s head. He ducked and only just managed to see the golden eagle fly in a wide circle back towards the horde of waiting soldiers. He heard a distant shout. Then two-hundred-and-forty of the soldiers drew their bows and fired into the air, creating a screaming cloud of arrows that blotted out the sun before raining down in a lethal shower.

Eighty-seven of these arrows hit Dan.

Dan died instantly.

He got better. When he did, the horde was already gone.

*

Eleven months later, Dan was mostly sure that whatever had happened that day eleven months ago had not, in fact, happened.

He was very happy to accept that it hadn’t happened until he walked into a Tim Hortons for a coffee and a donut and walked out to find a golden eagle perched on the sign for the drive-through.

Dan blinked. The eagle blinked. It took off with a heavy thump of wings, and Dan noticed the four-hundred thirteenth-century Mongol soldiers on horseback in the parking lot.

There was a whistling noise. Dan was hit by one-hundred-and-seventy-nine-arrows.

Dan died instantly.

He got better. The horde was gone again. One of them had stolen his donut.

*

It was already dark when Dan and Cameron Burnaby walked out of the theatre.

“God, what a bad movie,” she laughed. Her breath came out in puffs of vapour in the November air.

“Like not even so bad it’s good,” Dan said. “It’s so bad it goes all around the world and crosses back into bad.”

“It’s supposed to be the last one, right?”

“That’s what I heard?”

Another puff of laughter. “Hope,” Cameron Burnaby said, grinning. “That’s what you hope.”

A huge bird took off from the sign over the theatre. Cameron Burnaby oohed at the sight and watched as it flew away.

Dan looked at her. This was nice. It was slow, but it was nice. It was nevertheless slightly spoiled by the little anxious voice that banged around in his hindbrain. It had been a year since his last attack. It was bound to happen eventually, and he had no idea how to bring it up in conversation. ‘So, I see you like the Mongolian beef and broccoli. Speaking of Mongolia, have I ever told you that I’ve been killed by Mongols four times?’

He had to tell her. But maybe he didn’t. Maybe they were done. It had been a whole year. Maybe killing him four times was enough for them. Surely killing somebody once was enough for most people, right?

Cameron Burnaby turned back at him and grinned. “So!” she said. “Was it the worst horror movie you’ve ever seen?”

He shook himself out of a vision of archers on horseback. “Nope, not even,” he said, walking forward again. “There was this one movie that came out last year. It’s about a guy who kidnaps tourists and turns them into walruses, it’s amazingly—”

Dan slipped on the ice. His leg flew up from underneath him. He felt sudden weightlessness and there was a crack as he landed on the sidewalk.

Everything hurt. Stars flashed across his vision. They faded to reveal the face of Cameron Burnaby, mittens clasped over her mouth. “Are you okay?” she asked.

No, Dan thought. “Yep,” Dan groaned. He pulled himself up onto his elbows. “Trust me, I’ve had worse.”

Cameron Burnaby offered him a hand. He took it, she pulled him up to his feet, and the two were suddenly standing much closer than he had expected.

Dan swallowed. He was suddenly aware of a thousand tiny details. The snowflakes that hung in her hair. The freckles on her nose. The shape of her lips. The terror in her eyes which were looking at something just over and past his shoulder.

He was briefly aware of seventeen arrows hitting the back of his skull.

Dan died instantly.

He got better. Cameron Burnaby was retching in the snow.

“What the fuck was that?!” she finally said, wiping the corner of her mouth with a mitten.

Dan considered a variety of responses. He decided that they all sounded stupid. He settled for the only one he knew was accurate. “A horde of four-hundred thirteenth-century Mongol soldiers,” he sighed.

“They – you—” She gestured wildly. “Your face.”

Dan winced and eased himself onto the sidewalk. “I didn’t want you to see that,” he said.

There was a pause. “Has this happened before?” Cameron Burnaby asked.

Dan thought. “Yeah,” he said. “Five times, counting this one.”

“So this is just a thing that happens.”

“It – yeah,” he said. “I think so. It is.”

Cameron Burnaby nodded. “Oh. Okay.”

Another pause. A car drove past. Cameron Burnaby stood up. “I’m going to go.”

Dan nodded. “Right,” he said. “Some other time?”

There was no answer. Dan closed his eyes. He laid down on the sidewalk and listened to the crunch of snow under boots until they died away. Snowflakes landed on his face, tiny pinpricks of cold which stung and faded almost instantly as they melted.

There was a thump. Dan opened his eyes and looked over. There was a golden eagle standing there, twisting its head to glare at Dan.

Dan glared back. “I hate you,” he said. “I really, deeply hate you.”

The eagle, apparently satisfied with the answer, took off.

Another two-hundred-and-forty arrows sprouted from the sky.

Dan died instantly.

He got better. Physically, at least.

Keep reading

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Simon and Ludwig share a final conversation, an intimate thing.

| Teen | 2800 words | Gen, M/M |

Series: Bloodborne

Pairing: Ludwig/Simon

Characters: Ludwig the Holy Blade, Simon the Harrowed

Extra tags: Shippy Gen, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

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*resurrects my writing blog after 4 years of forgetting it exists* rise

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kiss fanfic meme

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List of Non-sexual forms of intimacy

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So You Want To Blind Your OC, Trauma Edition

Because holy moly, if the first post’s going to get attention, I better finish the other post I promised as well. Disclaimers and links at the bottom of the post.

(Link to Part One, with definitions of legal blindness, vision impairment, and blindness from diseases, grouped by age. These are usually irreversible.)

Okay, so, let’s be real. You’re only in this post because you want to blind a character for a while and then have them recover their vision at the maximally dramatic moment, right? Right. Well, in the absence of Biblical scales and apostles named Paul, trauma’s the way to do it.

(For those of you who do want permanently blinding trauma, I’ll talk about that at the end as well. Bear with me.)

And for the record, this post does not have pictures of any injuries to the eye itself. I will link with a description when appropriate.

Keep reading

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basic japanese high school schedule for you, fic writers

students attend class from monday thru saturday, with saturday being a half day. sundays are off

the high school day usually runs from 8:30am to 3pm, but many students stay after for after school clubs or attend cram school in the evening

the school year runs from april to march with a summer break come the end of july. first term is from april to july, second term is from september to december, and third term runs from january to march

your favorite high school anime doesn’t have separate classrooms for no reason. japanese students don’t rotate classes like american students do; instead, they have a fixed classroom and class number (i.e., 3-A), and the teachers do the rotating

they also don’t have the same classes every day

they do still have homeroom teachers; however, “homeroom” is more of a class meeting at the end of the day rather than at the beginning

the students are required to help clean the school at the end of the school day before clubs start

school uniforms are a thing for high schoolers. dress code used to be much stricter but recently they’ve allowed more basic alterations to the uniform

please stop writing them like american schools you’re embarrassing yourself

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For writing characters grieving a loss. 

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alternative bedsharing fics

obviously the situation demands this and we can deal with it maturely because we’re adults

please don’t sleep in your underwear, you’re making this way weirder than it has to be

I didn’t know you snored until a half hour ago but i’m staring at the ceiling fighting the urge to kick you

would you please get comfortable and go the fuck to sleep already

how many times do you get up to pee in the middle of the night, I think you should see a doctor about that

you took all the blankets, I gave up and got another one

ask me again if pigeons have feelings, I dare you

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HUGEASS LIST OF AUs

List of 100+ AUs below the cut! For all your writing, drawing, and roleplaying needs 

Can easily be adapted for situations with romantic and nonromantic characters, otp or ot3 or however many characters you want, and can also be a useful list for writers looking for situations to have their characters meet.

You can use the random generator here to get a number, if you want to write/draw/rp one at random! 

Read More

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list of aus that aren’t themed at all:

we’re both third seventh wheels in our groups au

you’re an actor in a haunted house and i accidentally punched you in the face when you scared me au

i do stupid shit and you’re my doctor au

accidentally called your number while...

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writing tip #1005:

dress yourself as a potted plant to get some firsthand background experience as a plant

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For Beginners - Lee White’s Character Questionnaire

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[ORIGINALLY POSTED 7/4/14; LAST UPDATED 9/17/14]

Having trouble finding the perfect idea for your fic? Want to challenge yourself? Want to just get ideas? Hopefully this masterpost will be of some help!

This is perpetually under construction—if you have anything to add, let me know!

BLOGS

Fanfiction Prompts

AU Ideas

Imagine Your OTP

Imagine Yuor OTP (for sillier ideas)

LISTS AND IDEAS FOUND ON TUMBLR

AU ideas by Tumblr user authorkurikuri

AU ideas by Tumblr user scamdal (1) (2)

AU ideas by Tumblr user crowthis

AU ideas by Tumblr user smallnico (NOTE: There seems to be more than one version of this; this is the OP, though)

Eight Unique Plot Ideas by Tumblr user chloetherph

Situation Ideas For Your Character by Tumblr user shackleboltrp

Masterlist Of Dramatic Storyline Ideas by Tumblr user rp-assistant

AU ideas by Tumblr user coffeeclint

AU ideas by me!

LISTS AND IDEAS FOUND ON DEVIANTART

70 Writing Prompts by amorine on dA

Writing prompts by Hinxight on dA (1) (2) (3)

100 Writing Prompts by tehuti on dA

Writing Prompts For You by inubasket on dA

Writing Prompts by LexicoN18 on dA

Prompts by MyMidnightLove on dA

23 Writing Prompts by RayneWolfspeaker on dA

LISTS AND IDEAS FOUND ELSEWHERE

8 Ways To Say I Love You by R. McKinley

Alternatives To Platonic Love

Prompts From A Hat

TVTropes (fair warning to those who have never been on this site: you WILL be trapped there for hours)

CHALLENGES AND BINGOS

30 Day OTP Challenge

30 Day NSFW OTP Challenge

Horror Bingo

Kink Bingo

30 Day Dark Fandom/OTP Challenge

Trope Bingo

Cliche Bingo

Happy writing!

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Need help building a believable character?

Here’s an extensive questionnaire that I created a few years ago (and finally put up somewhere besides scribbled down in a tattered notebook). I suggest answering every question, even the ones that seem tedious or don’t pertain to your story. For example, even if you never mention your character’s favorite color, you can still add that detail to the way they dress, the choices they make when buying something, etc. Even the smallest detail can add A LOT to your story. And while it may seem silly to answer eye and lip shapes, those are details that not only help you and the reader imagine the character, but it helps you as a writer to use synonymous words throughout to give yourself a clear image and to keep from being repetitive. I highly recommend filling out the nervous tics and subconscious movements (like your character tugs at their ear, or brushes at the back of their neck when talking for example) because it makes your character very human and it’s something I personally think more books/stories need in their characters.  I might be missing some things and sorry if it’s too small, but here’s a link for a pdf you can download: [X]

It may seem like a lot to answer but I feel that knowing the answers to these questions really helps build a realistic character and they’re great to use on secondary characters, too. I hope that this helps others in the way that it has helped me. Happy writing!

PS: Friendly reminder that I am not a professional writer. These are just things I have picked up through years of writing, reading, editors, and teachers/classes. 

(Special thank you to my friend Katie for helping catch anything I might have missed—especially in the family/morals section. Follow her book blog, amoralteething or her personal blog, thewayward-sonn!)

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consider the following aus

"we wore matching halloween costumes to this party" au

"we’re the only ones who didn’t get the email about class being canceled" au

"tried to get the candy bar that didn’t drop out of the vending machine and now my hand is stuck can u help me out" au

"we’re the only ones on campus who didn’t go home for christmas" au

"we both got in separate bar fights downtown and now we’re waiting in the ER comparing stories" au

"accidentally fell in your lap while standing on this crowded bus" au

"can u help me sneak my cat into my dorm" au

"accidentally got assigned the same library study room so I guess we’ll have to share for the semester" au

"It’s raining and u forgot your umbrella so come over and stand under mine while we wait for the bus" au

"I rented the apartment above your flower shop and in the last two months you’ve gotten a new flower I’m allergic to so I keep buying bouquets until I can figure out which kind it is" au

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