Jan Karlsson

“You know, Couthly, I’m beginning to think that sleep is the bane of all mortalkind.” Without thinking, and with a groan from Couthly, Boulder chose the exact wrong spoon and cracked the top off the egg to find it soft-boiled to perfection. “No sooner has a chap got used to the whole idea of being awake and gadding about doing things than we have to hunker down in our cloth sanctum sanctorums and lie around doing nothing for hours. It’s all a dashed waste. Better to stay awake all the time, or sleep all the time if you ask me. Make a choice.” Boulder paused with a finger of bread firmly dipped in the egg and frowned. That wasn’t how he talked. He didn’t talk like that at all. And the dread thought began to bubble up in a brain that wasn’t used to such things and really needed a little practice before doing such things in the future. A little thought preparation before doing the actual thinking. He was getting used to it all. He didn’t want to get used to it all. He couldn’t get comfortable with all this comfort, it discomforted him. Absentmindedly, he chewed the egg-dipped bread. “Indeed, sir. However, one could say that were there more hours in the day with which to partake of greater amounts of activities, one would find that one required yet more time.” Couthly wiped Boulder’s mouth with one cloth and tucked another into the top of Boulder’s silk pyjamas, spreading it out to catch any detritus from the breakfast. “As to remaining awake, or asleep, throughout the entirety of the day and night, I would conjecture that all of one thing and none of another would prove quite deleterious to one’s health, sir. Chin up.” “Well, you would say that.” Boulder lifted his chin as Couthly wiped it again, the soft-boiled egg clearly malfunctioning.

Only me channeling a little bit of Wodehouse in a Discworld sort of story. 🙄

waiting room
a notice
that we're being timed
#vss365

The female voice returned to announce the message had been left yesterday. That meant the bartender wanted him at the shipyards tonight, potentially in the middle of taking down the Redcloaks. Jeff looked towards the dog. "He could have #timed it better."

The dog woofed. #vss365

#vss365
The ache comes in cycles
calendar dates, circled
rituals in memoriam
as if I could ever forget.

But memories
refuse to be #timed.
Grief wafts in on a scent,
a song, a turn of phrase.

Unexpected tears
catch me unprepared
like an old friend
crashing my holiday.

They stuck to the plan, followed the routes marked on the map, bribed the guards, #timed everything perfectly.

It should’ve been the perfect crime.

But how were they supposed to know that the priceless gem they had stolen... was actually an egg…

#vss365

Big Ben of the mind
loudly tolls for joy and fear
#timed understanding

#vss365 #haiku

The two-pronged attack is perfectly #timed.

"Augh! Okay, okay, I'll feed you two! Let me get your kibble, you starving cats!"

#VSS365

He #timed the rage hew to perfection, his foe opened up collar to diaphragm, a bloody gasp expelled before he drew his sword out

His foe fell feeble and crying, and he finished the man off with a thrust to the neck, the tribunal satisfied his cause was right

#vss365
#WritingCommunity
#ReaderSky

Timed nostalgia
Came to me in waves

When I was floating
Alone in my life

I struggled with reality
As my subconscious helped out

Let's say bye to the hypocrites
Who control this strife

#vss365 #timed

A connecting scene from my sci-fi short story “Iterations.”

I should probably get it finished and do something with it before I give away the whole game here. 🙂

#wipsnips #system #scifi #writesky

The 'Custom', perhaps:

‘You’re closer to the Goddess than Sagart is. Surely the gods don’t care about rank, or even the Custom. They care about the heart. Sagart might stop you making the ceremonies, but she can’t take away your healing power.’

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#WipSnips
From my bodyguard WIP. Spencer is eager to get home after his fashion show rehearsal. (Cw alcoholism, addiction)

Total usage: 21 times
Whole word usage: 19 times

Also when faced with the prospect of the entire magical world becoming unveiled, maybe don’t be an asshole? She’s clearly upset and you’re not helping Chester.

WIP: This Side of the Veil

#WIPSnips

"System" down! The #WIPSnips word of the day (11/25), brought to you by Google Docs (side note: what app do you fancy pantses use to make the colorful popped graphics of your text? I want to try...)

#Writesky #writingprompts #WritingCommunity

You’re welcome.☺️

Reign, Dear Festivus time is here! By golly! After an avoidably unfortunate incident involving an unnecessarily large cat, with an odd way of choosing its prey, a lazy ogre, and a decision against getting knees ...

Also available on:

Inkspired: getinkspired.com/en/story/643...
Booksie: www.booksie.com/773153-reign...

Day eleven of ‘Reign, Dear’ is posted!

With things at home changing rapidly, Boulder decides to go elsewhere, except elsewhere might just be worse …

Continuing the Festivus tale, basically a Christmas story.

www.wattpad.com/story/403819...

To the satirist
predator contrarian
lurking in the brush
waiting to pounce
all it takes
is one slight slip
from the oblivious
stuck up tight ass class
to generate
a perfectly #timed
parody attack
on the clueless prey

#vss365 #poetry #poem #amwriting

What if life #timed us right?
The mountains are always there,
whether you visit them or not.
The ocean doesn't care
if it isn't in your thoughts.
But am I?
Are you?
Are we creation
or an escape?
Are we libation
or a landscape?
Am I a constant,
or a bore?
Was this for an instant,
or more?

#vss365

I #timed how long
it would take
for your vicious words
for my bullied brain
for your seared hate
for my painted smile
to stop hurting
to recover and heal
to rediscover me

the stopwatch read
Eternity

#vss365 #poetry #hurt #eternity #micropoetry

world running on timed
growing seasons & tidal waves
freeform dreams, timeless

#vss365 #timed #haiku

#vss365

we'd treat Thanksgiving
like a #timed event
every year we went
we loved the trip home
talk shit drive fast
turn off the phone
that time's past
this'll be my 3rd 1 alone
alas
depression spirals in
like gangbusters on juice
a 3-day set-to under sky
+ fire to tend
ought to shake it loose

#vss365
Our lives aren't #timed precisely
for extreme reasons;
🔮
- Birth: Leads to immediate
parental (or other) dependence
- Childhood: Sends us to school aside
from major physical and sharp mental evolution
- Adult: Offers huge variation of activities
- Death: Is inevitable
🚸

He paced himself up the hill, looking up for landmarks. He #timed his final push for the lonely hawthorn tree just shy of the top. As the gradient increased and his rivals slowed he made his move. The wind drew tears from his eyes as he collapsed on his father's bench at the summit.

#vss365

a person is standing in a dark room with red lights coming out of the ceiling . ALT: a person is standing in a dark room with red lights coming out of the ceiling .

She'd #timed it perfectly. But it was still close. Too close.

A second after she activated the circle, the lights went out.

Something cold and hungry moved in the dark, testing, #challenging. Waiting.

Her wards held. But she couldn't relax. Not yet.

This was only the overture.

#vss365 #InkMine

your ticket
to visit
Earth's museum
is #timed

#vss365 #poetry #micropoetry

#WIPSnips from #ATC wip

#WriteSky #WritingPrompts
#WritingCommunity

A little alien perspective on what Humans might bring to the plate. 🌍

#WriteSky #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity #WIPSnips

Yay I can include the actual word again! This is from Rivals, Rota pov (...so another Jordan one oops), and I went for it bc it has one of the major systemic societal critiques in current Riyati books, so it's meta "system" inclusion kinda (?)

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity

You’re always welcome. ☺️