A Budgie

@Mistrunner don't worry, you're not alone in feeling like that. I'm only in year ten, and I already have worries about uni and what course/s do to and what that will lead me to doing in the future...so I can't really give you much advise beyond saying good luck, and that I hope you're always doing something you love.

Thanks, and I can't remember. Probably latin, I think, but the banana one I used another language... @Arraenae there are a whole bunch of 'offical' gender neutral pronouns, and I think the most common is ze.

Sure. Manzani was alone, had been alone for a while. And they were scared. It was understandable. They had been chilling at home with Ibhanana, when…something took them. They hadn’t seen it coming, but one minute they had been just sitting there, the next they were being placed in a huge sack. They were still in it now. It reeked of death and decay, and in the darkness strange and unseen things would bump against Manzani. In a way, they were glad they couldn’t see them, whatever they were. As the sack was moved about, Manzani could hear strange noises, ones like they had never heard before. Light occasionally shone through holes in the material, but no matter how they strained they couldn’t see through them. Where am I? They wondered. What’s happening to me? Manzani asked many other questions as well, too many to list. They had been in the sack for hours when suddenly the sack was opened. The light dazzled Manzani at first. Then the first impression tumbled into their mind. Are they taking me out now? Am I being kidnapped? Will there be a ransom? Will I be safe? Their questions were answered when something reached into the sack. It was huge, and disgusting. Its claws were dirty and curled. There was only a moment’s hesitation before it grabbed Manzani. They screamed as they were lifted from the sack, all hopes of rescue and safety evaporating swiftly. The claws clutched them tightly, though, and no matter how they struggled they couldn’t break free. Couldn’t do anything but scream, unheard. The claws raised them further and further, but by now their eyes were screwed tight. It was a good thing, too. They wouldn’t have liked to see what came next. Manzani’s dying, blood-curdling scream pierced the air the moment their skin split, insides exposed to the air, vital fluids dripping down onto the claw beneath them. “That was a nice apple,” said the boy, licking his lips. “A juicy one, too. It’s dripped all over my hand.” (If you're wondering about the names, they mean apple and banana in google translate)

Oh, I did end up writing it. I could probably post it on here I suppose. It was really short though: I put it in a writing competition, so it was less than 500 words.

This seems to be so much better than the random stuff I come up with...I once came up with the idea of a horror story told from the perspective of an apple being eaten...

My friend knits on the train sometimes, and I've done cross stich before on there.

Sorry to hear that.

That doesn't even sound right...although I can't tell if people are actually saying 'went' instead of, say 'go,' or if you simply made a mistake. I don't think I've come across the whenever/when thing before...

Hadn't thought about that...yeah, it could easily start something like that (although it would be far easier and cheaper to just get animal ones...)

*hug* Hope things are better by the time you read this.

You get a sign, warning you not to run with scissors, tusks, forks, spoons, or red vegetables. *inserts empty tissue box*

Yeah, the magic system is more of a background magic system. In fact, it's only until after the murder is committed that you even find out it exists (although there are hints and inconsistencies). Basically, in this world (which has fairly low-level technology) people have magic inside of them. Different parts of a person's body are more powerful than others, with things like blood, bones and organs being the most powerful. This magic is also inside animals of the region. For the magic to be used, however, it has to accompanied by some emotion. Because the magic is either new, or hasn't really been discovered (not completely sure which), it has manifested in strange ways, by people putting strong emotions into or while weilding objects containing body parts (wow that sounds dark). One of the biggest ways this has manifested and effected their world has been through various forms of art. Like music: many instruments were once made using body parts. Intestines were really common for strings, hair is used for bows, and bone is sometimes used for ornamentation. Put enough emotion into your music while playing, and things happen. So yeah, this is what I've come up with for my world's magic...

I pinned mine in layers of strips, then sewed them on layer by layer. Breaking the work up into chunks of 'layers' seemed to be easier.

@Oversleep good luck with your Mistcloak then...I hadn't done much 'proper' sewing (I was mostly doing tapestry at the time) when I decided to make one, but luckily I got help when it was needed...

@Darkness Ascendant one of my friends occassionally gets the worse haircut ever...a bowl cut...we always laugh at him whenever he gets it... So that's how I'm imagining your hair now.

Meanwhile, I'm writing a murder mystery and my magic system is really simple, and doesn't even get too much page-time in my story... All your ideas sound really cool.

Yeah...I could understand taking the easier route if you don't have the time to sew on 50-100+ strips...

I know! She didn't even have a romance!

You get a rather good but showy flute solo! *inserts spoon*

I have read that reading comedic stories can sometimes be a help for depression...I find that this is true, and reading stories I like can help me...

You get this very thread! *inserts thread back into the vending machine*

I haven't watched it either, but I like both szechuan and teriyaki, so it sounds rather good to me.

Oh...I just cut them using plinking shears. It was painful, but I used a rather light and thin fabric, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And as for the edges of the strips, we got them so one end was didn't need to be hemmed, and the other was the end was sewed unto the costume. Wow...I can tell a lot of effort must have been put into that...

Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great.

I know your pain...I used multiple layers of strips, at least a hundred or so...mine didn't really tangle, but I was seriously afraid of getting it caught on doors.