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I've decided to take up the pen (again). I used to write on my LJ but times have changed, and now I'm here.

I'm also on a crusade to make dreamwidth journals look better.

Quick character introductions

Tala / Luis / Daniel - I haven't quite built out their story, but it's set between 2010-2015 and jumps around Singapore and Manila.

Alex and Edward meanwhile is a pair I wrote a long, long time ago and brought them with me when I moved from LJ. Their story is set in the early 1800's (Regency period).

Originally posted in

drabble_zone
Title: One out of many
Rating: G
Fandom: Original
Length: 200
Challenge: #126 - Just The Way You Are
Summary: Bella is reminded that Luis cares for her friend, somehow.

"Tala! Bella! Sorry I'm late!" Luis was easy to spot. With his height, getting lost in a crowd was never a problem. "There was a tree that fell over in front of the station, and there was an ambulance..."

"What?" Tala asked, eyes wide.

"I think it smashed through the glass."

"Really?!"

Bella eyed him for a few seconds before shaking her head. "He's kidding." What would Tala do without her?

Feigning annoyance, Tala slapped his shoulder. "That barely hurt," he laughed. "Here." He pushed a cup onto Tala's hand.

"Milk tea?" Bella guessed. The humidity was so bad today. She would've paid him to get her one, too.

Tala shook it twice before sticking the straw in and drawing a sip. He didn't forget to replace the pearls with coconut jelly either. The thoughtfulness cheered her up. Turning to Bella, she backtracked to their earlier conversation. "It's not like you and Luke, but he cares. In his own way."

Luis paced himself beside Tala and took her free hand into his as they walked. "I only care because you're so entertaining," he said, ruffling Tala's hair.

Both her hands were occupied and she couldn't stop him.

"No! My braid!"

Originally posted at

100words
prompt: #129 - sport
Original characters

It was him who first pushed his fingers through the gaps between hers: a demonstration. This is fine, this is okay.

He enjoyed the flush on her cheeks and it was a victory when she pulled his hand towards herself.

He led by example. The first kiss, the first whisper. She followed and he let the thrill pull them. A kiss on the escalator for all the world to see. A lick on the ear that he didn't expect, in the cinema with hundreds of eyes glued to the brightness of the screen.

He poked and she would always respond.

tripledrabbles Triple Drabble Challenge 007: Terminal

"Are you done setting up?"

It was his turn to be engrossed with the equipment and the frame tonight. She'd been recording videos all afternoon but now she felt like resting, letting go, and leaving her secrets with the night.

"Hm. Almost."

They didn't do much today, but she was a little tired. There was a clump of giant rocks on the sea so shallow that they just waded to get there. She kept her camera on him, recording this boy playing pretend in the middle of almost-nowhere.

( Read more... )

drabblesoup weekly prompt: it's a secret (original characters)
100 words

"Did something good happen today?"

"What? How did you know? Who told you?"

"Woah," he laughed. "I know because you're like a radio wave sending signals to everyone. You were almost skipping on the way to the table."

"I have too many reasons to be happy," she sighed, as if good things were a burden.

"So," he egged her, "what is it today?"

"Like, us hanging out. And this pandan cake!"

They had years of catching up to do and there was no time for secrets. He itched with impatience but he decided to stop asking -- for now.

Originally posted at

100words
prompt: #128 - manipulate
Original characters

The first time he saw her at the library, it was a coincidence.

The second time he saw her stopping by the Yakult vending machine in front of the library, he understood that coincidences are only a means for opportunity. He walked up to her and bought himself a grape drink, curiosity piqued. She said grape was the only one she hasn't tried.

The third time, he gave her the last flavor. She said now she had to treat him at Old Chiang Kee in return.

He smiled and wondered what she'd get him on the fourth time.

I'm trying a new thing.

trope_bingo

( Prompt bingo card behind the cut )

31_days 14 Jan prompt: How will you bear living somewhere you don't know yourself.

873 words

This is...a little awkward. She's never ever been in a club before, but the girls from the dorm (all exchange students) go out regularly especially on Wednesdays. Wednesday was Ladies Night and all free things were a blessing. Student budgets were no joke so it's a temptation that's impossible to refuse. She thought there's no harm in going since they'll go as a group and she can just learn the ropes as the night wore on. This was a new country, new city, new school and no parents. When else would she get the chance?

Expectations and reality sometimes fall on opposite ends of the spectrum. She discovered she wasn't great at this whole dance floor thing. She let her eyes wander, trying to be discreet about observing how people around her danced. It's like people are just jello, swaying and bobbing, arms flailing ever so slightly. The music was very loud but she usually listens to J-pop so none of the beats were familiar. She swung her shoulders left and right and kept her smile in place, but she could feel her facial muscles slowly getting strained.

Tala imagined herself sighing. Her platform sandals were comfortable enough but her knees were cracking. The girls went to the club all the time. They're enjoying it for some reason. How come all she wanted to think of now was sushi night?

( Continue reading )

tripledrabbles Triple Drabble Challenge 004: Withdrawal

She arrived home three days ago. They last talked at the airport. She got back in town this morning and his flight home to Manila wasn't until the end of the month. The other night he left a message on Facebook, "Are you home?" and she left a reply though he wasn't online. She couldn't text him international SMS and she was out of town all weekend, with no internet. She was exhausted but restless. If she had more energy, she would've been bouncing from elation to depression every second. For now, she could only go through the motions every night.

( Continue reading )

31_days 13 Jan prompt Each night reunites me with the feral tenderness of my own evil.

Him, again. The face of a little boy with cheeks hollow from a disease. Green eyes always stared beyond her, as if she were a ghost that couldn't be seen.

Every day since they moved into this great house, she'd observe him in her dreams. He never muttered a word, only looked right through her. And every time she tried to speak, a sudden wind would push back the words from where they came.

In the morning the servant helped her dress and in the mirror was the same face of the little boy. She was a twin, after all.

I can't seem to let these two old characters go. I've always enjoyed writing Edward and the cross-dressing Viscount, Alex, so I've revived them instead. I'm rewriting some of their history. One day I swear I'll be a able to make an outline of their story.

31_days 11 Jan prompt: my fingers will find yours, tangle & sweeten the air

Alex and their challenger walked ten paces and Edward observed with trepidation. He was bundled warmly under his coat when they've left the house, but on the open field the chilly kiss of dawn seeped through the layers. He'd exhausted his means at multiple attempts to dissuade both his friend and the foreigner to settle their differences in gentlemanly but less fatal ways but neither budged. He tried to reassure himself that nobody he knew had died from a duel, and his friend the viscount couldn't possibly be the first.

( Continue reading )

Originally posted at

100words
prompt: #127 - nonchalant
No fandom / original characters

"I love watching you eat. Food brings out the best in you."

Every compliment given reminds her that he probably, actually hates her.

"Let's go to the library and proofread my paper. In exchange, I'll buy milk tea."

He knew her well and left no room for suspicions.

"Do you want to watch The Red Baron on Thursday? I remember you're super into war stuff."

Even the details she expected him to forget were remembered.

"I'm not...I don't want this to be serious."

In the end she thought she deserved an award for her poker face. "Yeah, me too."

31_days 8 Jan prompt: bodies against rock, beached until burning
Words: 1,008

The push of waves.

She liked this place. The view reminded her of Chinese paintings with tips of mountains that faded into soft gradients. Right now they were on the beach and the sand wasn't as fine as Boracay's, but here was a better view.

The others didn't care about the sun and a tan so they've gone off to play water sports on the sea. She felt too ashamed to say she couldn't afford the overpriced activities. Anyway, she's already a few shades darker. She isn't confident that her skin would be back to normal in a month when she flies back home. Already she regretted not bringing a sun hat.

The guys didn't force her when she said she wasn't joining them. In this weather, she'd rather get a drink. Bella only laughed and said she knew exactly why she's avoiding the sun because her own mom was surely going to scold her for not being as pale as she'd left. Only, Bella herself didn't care about that. The boys just didn't understand.

I'm here and I've paid for this trip. I should get something out of it.

She clutched her camera and wandered off, towards the cliffs and into the caves. The water was shallow until it emptied itself into the sand. She could see the the tiny burrows made by small crabs, perhaps. Here it was cooler. The dark vacuum of the cave was preferable to the painful kiss of the sun. Why did the heat have to be so harsh in April?

"Didn't you say you were getting a shake?"

Her heart skipped, startled. She knew who it was just by his voice.

( continue reading )

Originally posted at

100words
prompt: #126 - word pairs ii: knew/new
No fandom / original characters

She returned his greetings with a wave. He sounded so sure they knew each other but she couldn't remember his face, or his name. Nobody introduced him either, because everyone but her believed that they were old friends.

Old friends where? From university back home? Was it a club, a class? Was she going senile, or has she contracted a new illness that she absolutely could not remember him?

A chuckle pulled her back to reality. When did he move beside her? This guy is either a ghost, or a stalker.

"It's Luis. We used to be neighbors."

drabblesoup weekly prompt: bridging the gap / no fandom (original characters)
Words: 219

I couldn’t post this in the comm because I couldn’t trim it to a hundred words. Edited and shortened to a little over 100 words.

( Confessions were usually more romantic than this )

story_arc Ten Set 03 [index]

Prompt: spell / original characters
Words: 1035

Everything seemed pretty ordinary, up until the end.

( Read more... )

Notes; it’s been so, so long since I tried writing fiction. I’m so rusty I feel like I write like a twelve year old. This is also the first time I’m exploring my characters. This ended up being set years after university, which was the original setting I had in mind. I first tried writing Tala and Luis during their uni days, but after my third failed attempt I wrote Tala and Daniel four years later instead.

Things didn’t go as originally planned but it’s the first day of the new year, after all, and I’m just glad I got to write something. As Viola from ‘She’s the Man’ said, flow is flow.

New stories, new characters.

( List under the cut )

Japanese proverbs that made an impression on me, and I've been mulling over writing stories for each of them.

To meet is the beginning of parting
Fall down seven times, get up eight
Pimples can be dimples
Tomorrow, tomorrow's wind will blow
Nothing is more expensive than free
Alcohol reveals true feelings
After the rain, the earth hardens
A frog in a well does not know the great sea
Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step
Tomorrow is tomorrow, today is today
Good medicine tastes bitter
Not knowing is Buddah
Unless an idiot dies, he won't be cured

story_arc

Ten Set 03
01: Spell
02: Check
03: Set
04: One
05: Color
06: Quiet
07: Eyes
08: Touch
09: Theme
10: Impossible

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Quick character introductions

[drabble_zone] One out of many

[100words] Diversions

[tripledrabbles] Last stop

[drabblesoup] open books and tight lips

[100words] Chance

Trope Bingo Card

[31_days] Beer and strawberries

[tripledrabbles] Home

[31_days] Dreams at dawn

[31_days] Wishful thinking

[100words] All warfare is based on deception

[31_days] The push of waves

[100words] Re-introductions

[drabblesoup] bridging the gap

[story arc] Spell

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Prompt list: proverb prompts

Prompt list: Story Arc - Ten Set 03

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