Good Lines

[Mistrunner]

Have you ever written a couple lines- in a story or just random inspiration- that you're very proud of? Showcase them here!

Here's one I'm rather proud of, though I suppose it sounds strange out of context:

"Ali knows the signs. The certain smell. The horrible sense of quiet, followed by the sound of something breaking."

Anyone have some beautiful lines they'd like to share? I'd love to read them!

[Kobold King]

"The stallion was a fine specimen--dark and muscular, with a vividly scarlet 'V' emblazoned on the center of its forehead. Virgo Genetics had done another fine job."

[DreamEternal]

"If everyone is looking for something what do you seek?"

"A good reason to die. That is what every being with a soul truly seeks, I think."

"A reason to die? I'd say looking forward to finding one is already finding it. You probably meant a good reason to live."

"They are the same, child, and I hope that when you learn why it isn't the same way I did. Learning this will make you a better woman."

EDIT: changed the wording to better fit the characters. Yes, I am that obsessive.

EDIT2: Context: the character who is looking for a reason to die is an Ember, a powerful magic user who had his potential awakened by a near death experience, in his case a suicide attempt. Embers only last a couple years at most, so he is looking for a cause in wich his last days will be able to make a difference.

Edited June 25, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern

[Seonid]

Saphir Wystin woke suddenly. The night air carried a chill That had nothing to do with the frozen ground.

[A Joe in the Bush]

It was the 17th time he'd been arrested that month, and he had fully settled into the routine. The guards would conveniently forget to lock the cell door, and he would conveniently escape his cell after five minutes. As always, he made his way to the barracks, and joined in the poker game that was always running while he waited for the guards to catch whoever had tried to frame him this time.

 

Those three lines just popped into my head a year ago, and they're actually the basis of the book I've been writing since then. But my personal favorite group of lines is this conversation:

 

"Don't sit there, I spilled some drink there."

 

"How'd that happen? You're not usually very clumsy."

 

"Did I say it was on accident?"

 

"Damnation, you have to learn how to tolerate people."

 

That's my favorite conversation in my book, because I pulled it verbatim from a real conversation I had. (I have poured water on a chair next to me to avoid people before.)

Edited June 25, 2015 by The Only Joe

[Tyson]

Stare too long into nothingness and its call is a difficult thing to ignore. It offered peace. It offered rest. For some it offered hope. All it asked for in return was a leap of faith.

 

- A deleted scene from my steampunk project. The character is an abused slave looking off the edge of a cliff.

 

 

 

"Mors never misses, because he beleives he will never miss. Or maybe Mors beleives, because he's yet to miss a shot," Jelkan shrugged and spread his hands. "The point is, self beleif is a powerful magic."

 

- A line from my epic fantasy project. Mors is a legendary hero who has never missed with his bow. Jelkan is a wizard who is explaining the magic system to the main character.

[Oversleep]

Opponent held a longsword in his right hand. How wonderfully original, thought Haesar. Do all of you there have swords? Why cannot it be a dagger, even once? I'd prefer bare fists, though.

He sticked his own sword into the ground. Blue fire appeared in his hands.

---

That's from the first text I have ever written (it sounds like I have written more, but so far I did two short texts and one little excerpt from one I have been planning). And I'm sorry if something is off with the text, I translated it to English without consulting dictionares, so wording may be strange (I am not sure about this "sticked". How do you call an action of putting your sword into the ground so it stays upright?)

Why Haesar thinks about the choice of weapon is because in this world, those with magic craft their own power. So Haesar here chose fire, and from that he build his armor (which is just a set of complex spells with "fire" as basis) and his sword. He remarks upon people being little creative, as majority runs around with swords.

It's a contemporary urban fantasy with masquarade on, and magic people keep on referencing popculture. So popular choices of power are elements, or flying brick powerset and so on.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Oversleep

[bobsaveg]

"What are you doing?"

"Staring into the void."

"Why?"

"So that I might glimpse oblivion."

Opponent held a longsword in his right hand. How wonderfully original, thought Haesar. Do all of you there have swords? Why cannot it be a dagger, even once? I'd prefer bare fists, though.He sticked his own sword into the ground. Blue fire appeared in his hands.---That's from the first text I have ever written (it sounds like I have written more, but so far I did two short texts and one little excerpt from one I have been planning). And I'm sorry if something is off with the text, I translated it to English without consulting dictionares, so wording may be strange (I am not sure about this "sticked". How do you call an action of putting your sword into the ground so it stays upright?)Why Haesar thinks about the choice of weapon is because in this world, those with magic craft their own power. So Haesar here chose fire, and from that he build his armor (which is just a set of complex spells with "fire" as basis) and his sword. He remarks upon people being little creative, as majority runs around with swords.It's a contemporary urban fantasy with masquarade on, and magic people keep on referencing popculture. So popular choices of power are elements, or flying brick powerset and so on.

The word your looking for is stuck

[Stormgate]

"You could say that Dmitri Mendeleev destroyed the world."

This is the first line in the prologue of a sci-fi book I'm trying to write. Basically, the context is that by establishing the Periodic Table, Mendeleev opened the door to new elements being discovered, eventually resulting in the formation of an element that revolutionized the world. And then people weaponized it, and gained the power to end the world.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Stormgate

[Eagle of the Forest Path]

"You could say that Dmitri Mendeleev destroyed the world."

This is the first line in the prologue of a sci-fi book I'm trying to write. Basically, the context is that by establishing the Periodic Table, Mendeleev opened the door to new elements being discovered, eventually resulting in the formation of an element that revolutionized the world. And then people weaponized it, and gained the power to end the world.

 

Isn't that what happened in the 1940's?

[Gabriele]

From my NiP Kings and Rebels, the only Fantasy novel among the bunch of historical fiction projects in my files:

 

Goscelin nodded. "As I said, the magic is in our blood. Our line goes back to Trevelyan, the grandson of Merlyn. If Kêr Ys still stood you would be the Ri an Cael Arcant, the King of the Silver Hall. A title more ancient than the line of any king now alive."

 

"Ri an Cael Arcant," Roderic said in a dreamlike voice, "the Elven king of the Aremorican ballads I sometimes sing, and I never knew they were the very music of my ancestors."

 

"The music is part of our heritage, too. As is the Jewel of Kêr Ys and the Keepership."

 

[Stormgate]

Isn't that what happened in the 1940's?

No. They almost destroyed the world. The planet is still in one piece. As opposed to the world this takes place in...

[kaellok]

 

"Come on, Tate, where did you run off to...?" he muttered under his breath.

 

"Aha!"  With a cry of triumph, he pulled out a small rock.  Not particularly special or decorated in any way.  Just brown.  And rock.  Or maybe potato.  And not a particularly large potato, only the size of a fist.

Taken from a story written by me, for me, to me, for being me.  Later, after heavy edits done and input for friends, it's a much different beast, but still pretty funny.

 

 

June 16th

 

Ashley didn't come home last night.  Why would she do that?  She knows that mother and papa are already freaking out about everything.  Why didn't she just come home?

 

 

June 20th

 

I hate funerals.

Taken from a nightmare so vivid and so real that I remember it mostly clearly today--25 years later.  Written as the journal of a boy, because that was the easiest way to express the terror and broken timeline I experienced in the dream.  This is the 2nd death in the family in June.  Not sure if it comes across, but clear implication from it is that Ashley is the one who has died, and it's her funeral.

 

 

Opponent held a longsword in his right hand. How wonderfully original, thought Haesar. Do all of you there have swords? Why cannot it be a dagger, even once? I'd prefer bare fists, though.

He sticked his own sword into the ground. Blue fire appeared in his hands.

---

That's from the first text I have ever written (it sounds like I have written more, but so far I did two short texts and one little excerpt from one I have been planning). And I'm sorry if something is off with the text, I translated it to English without consulting dictionares, so wording may be strange (I am not sure about this "sticked". How do you call an action of putting your sword into the ground so it stays upright?)

bobsaveg suggested using stuck, which is technically correct.  But to me stuck always sounds funny/weird when used as a verb, so I'd suggest using thrust / forced / pushed instead.  They're more specific, less nebulous, and more action-y synonyms that mean basically the same thing when used as a verb.

Edited December 24, 2015 by kaellok