Stream of Consciousness
A Pen . Top Story - February 2026.
Growing up I loved to write. I wrote stories and series for myself and it would be pages among pages of hand written stories or books. I remember I had written 500 pages of a book more than ten years ago that I still open and edit. All of these were handwritten first. I would use a paper pad and a pen. I was was always very picky when it came to using the writing equipment. My journal has a specific pen I use otherwise it feels like I had committed a crime. I once bought a Swarovski pen specially for my leather journal. The weight of it was perfect, but I had written with smoother pens before. Yet, this pen reminded me that I can sparkle too because of course it had Swarovski crystals in it. I kept it in a box that I would take out every time I journaled. This was not my favorite pen though. The easiest pen I have ever used was from a company that you could purchase from Chapters/Indigo. It was called poppin because they had used bright, fun, colors to make writing supplies wonderful. I remember the first time I used it. I was in university and was in need of very good pens because I did not have a reliable laptop to carry to my classes. I picked up the box I bought and picked one out of the box. I took the little gel bead off the top that blocks the ink. I placed it on the paper and it started to flow, it was the most pleasant feeling I felt in a long time. As soon as it touched the paper the pen wanted to write more, it wrote so smoothly I immediately hid the other pens back into my backpack so no one could “borrow” it we all know that meant you were never seeing that pen again. The ink was deliciously smooth writing across my notebook. I wanted to keep going even after I was done. I started doodling and found joy in writing again. That’s how much a pen can change your day. I know it’s such an adult thing to say. I wrote with other pens too such as the frixion pens because an erasable pen that actually erases. All that’s left is the indent on the page how ingenious! I remember in elementary they were “erasable” but you could still see remnants of blue on the page and if you wrote on top of it, it looked sloppy.
By Adrianna M. Braun7 months ago in Writers
The Protection-of-Innocence Reciprocity Doctrine. AI-Generated.
Core Moral Premise The highest duty of any legitimate social order is the protection of innocent life. Innocent life has absolute moral primacy. Any system that systematically insulates predators, tolerates predatory asymmetry, rewards hypocrisy, or allows aggressors to retain insulation has inverted its purpose and forfeited legitimacy. Truth, justice, reciprocity, humility, mercy, forgiveness, and vertical accountability are structural necessities rather than optional virtues. Vertical accountability means recognition of and submission to a moral law higher than oneself. Authority must flow toward those who most consistently demonstrate sustained competence in moral and epistemic discipline. This competence is shown through observable conduct and trajectory over time, not through doctrinal label, tribal identity, credential alone, or self-profession.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast7 months ago in Writers
The Last Memory: Chapter 5
Chapter Five Trenton walked down the stairs, feeling the air cool down around her as she got to the bottom. The basement was dark and there was only one light bulb on the ceiling to brighten everything up. Trenton scouted the room for the dryer, finding it in the far corner of the room. She opened the door, pulled the clothes out, and set them on top of the dryer.
By Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue7 months ago in Writers
While The World Collapses
My life is yet to be interesting to anyone but myself. Nothing even feels real, all the negative bullshit feelings I experienced growing up were for what? Because now that I think back to the times I constantly felt anxiety, fear, pressure, stress, etc. It doesn’t even feel like I was real. I don’t know how to explain it even on paper. Anne Frank said “Paper has more patience than people.” At the age of 21 I discovered for the first time an interest in writing, more specifically journaling. Yet, at the time I didn’t even know what I was doing was considered journaling because it happened in the most intrinsic way. This creative expression only lasted a few months before it began to wear off, yet I had become so dependent on journaling in order to feel good and okay. Everything around me was collapsing while the inner me was ecstatic. This was a feeling I’ve never felt before! Who can I tell? Oh wait, I forgot I’m a quiet person, let's not tell a soul. My personality type is INFJ. I just learned this recently, before learning this I was so bitter and stuck for the last 4 years, after I had no path or goals or drive. The only thing I wanted to do was write and express myself and help others. Unfortunately, there is no room for that in this reality that I’m living, or have I not been exposed to the correct environment, information, energy? How am I able to tell you the number of times I’ve prayed and asked for help? It worked at times and other times I just felt stuck, It’s a damn loop. Nobody is here to help you through the times you get stuck, but you will always find them at the end of the tunnel where your peace lies. They sit there patiently waiting until you finally reach the end where they then shoot you with their damn opinions. Hey, but if there’s one thing I learned in my journey, it’d be to not let things get you so angry. Because as the late, great Nikola Tesla said, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” If something makes you angry, that very thing has altered your state of being. You have been disrupted, and now from a high vibrational state you have unknowingly lowered your vibrational state. Become aware of this as I have, and see where it takes you. Last example, many people dislike something too much sometimes, for instance atheists hate the idea of religion (not all of them do of course, this is just something I’ve recurringly noticed), and while having a conversation the other person brings up religion and now the atheists entire inner state is altered due to the word “religion” being the cause for this alteration. After this, they unknowingly blurt out opinions in an annoyed and condescending way. As I get older, I understand the responsibility I have in this world. To share my art with the world, my voice, my ideas. I am the rain pouring onto the rainforest. To bring the energy of my state of being and share it with you. There’s always something going on in the world, however our consciousness is limited. While the world collapses, I sit here and write. While the world collapses, I choose my creative expression.
By ahsan khan7 months ago in Writers
Notes On Reading My Stories...
I wanted to share some notes on my stories, the universes that they inhibit, and the ways that they relate to each other. Please read this note first; I promise I will keep it brief. In general, there are three universes that I'm posting here: space, the detective, and fairytales. I'll make a master author's note the detective and space universes themselves soon, but here are the important parts:
By Dionearia Red8 months ago in Writers
Author's Notes: Puss's Boots
Puss's Boots. This story is over ten years old, over 475 years old, and over thirty years old. As a child, I fell in love with a picture book of Puss-in-Boots; I loved the simple, colourful, elegant faux-Medieval art designs even more than the story. Years later, I studied history thrive fashion, and this one book still lives with me. I wrote this story three times; it was my first original fairytale, and my first original queer story. Now, it has been rewritten to the form that now next represents all the fairytales that have come after it. In many ways, this story is a bridge between my Queering Fairytales series and my Fairytales in Space series; the characters are aspects of the ones thar would later go into space and makeAlicante and Zero their home, but it's heart is the more traditional Fairytale. This story has the usual queer twist that all of my stores do, but there is also a bit of a twist in this story. I will credit you in the comments of chapter seven if you guess it correctly here.
By Dionearia Red8 months ago in Writers
Author's Notes: Little Snow-White
"Snow-White, Rose-Red, will you beat your lover dead?" "But Little Snow-White is still a thousand times fairer than you." Two women white as either snow or roses, two sisters that loved and stood together rather than attack each other, and a princess whose "dead body" was nearly sold and then given to a strange prince. These stories begged to be put together in a way that offered the romantic love of a fairytale as well as the familial love that is so often missing from them. Where to begin? This tale has some rather serious updates: gone is the evil dwarf, now is the evil wizard, who just so happens to be the Evil Queen's father. The darker versions of these stories could get very dark, and while Snow White and Rose Red is more fun and fluffy (save for the Bear and the dwarf's physical fights and the Bear murdering the... what was I saying?), but Little Snow-White? It is dark. I adore the original 1812 idea of the biological queen/mother even though most modern tales remove it - which is fair as it is the easier story to tell and one of the changes the Grimm's Brothers themselves even made, especial considering the queen wants to canabalise her fourteen or so year old daughter. The Prince in the 1812 edition then tries to buy the princess's corpse. Even by the second edition, the story is sanitised some, and, for modern readers, I wanted to make even more changes, even as I brought back some of the 1812 elements. I also combined my favourite Shakespearean tropes of cross-dressing for protection with true love complications, but I did keep the 'true loves' queer in keeping with my theme of this series. Ialways loved the idea of a woman disguising herself as a man in order to do what she needs to do, and my favourite stories growing up was a princess getting a knight to fall in love with her, and then, she would be revealed as a woman and they could be together: Zelda/Sheik, Mulan, Viola from Twelth Night amongst others. Now, as an adult, I understand and support just making them all queer, which, looking at the meaning of the word, they are. There is some really good Viola/Orsino genderfluid Fanfiction on A03. The framing narrative is back as well if you missed that.
By Dionearia Red8 months ago in Writers
Author's Notes: Sleeping Beauty
Take one Meddling Fairy (colour: Lilac); one cursed Princess who knows she is cursed, thank you very much; two loving but, ultimately, clueless parents just trying to do their best; two siblings willing to brave a curse for (what they sincerely hope will be) freedom; and two nobles looking for love: what do you get - Sleeping Beauty. The Sleeping Beauty - a classic Fairytale and and even more classic ballet. This story is inspired by Staatsballett Berlin - Deutsche Oper Berlin Version of The Sleeping Beauty; I loved the love shown between the King and Queen and the two of them and their daughter, but I thought there was always something sad about how she is asleep, wakes up, and is suddenly married off. I took elements of that and the fact that at least in the ballet she does meet and dance with the Prince before they are tied together in marriage - much, much better then the 1812 Grimm's Brothers' version - and asked "What if she fell in love with someone else?" Then, I was left with the poor prince and the Countess (a woman he clearly doesn't love, but she at least seems to be trying to keep up appearances); who would love them? My solution is Snow White and Rose Red. I've always loved fairytales with siblings, maybe because the girl always saves her brother and proves herself more clever and competent. Another favourite of mine is Snow White and Rose Red; two sisters, both clever and kind, one a bit more assertive, one a touch sweeter. They are brave, gentle, strong, clever, loving, humble, hard-working girls. Don't get me wrong, this is Snow White and Rose Red in name only (and names hold power in fairytales, so they are these characters in name), but this story might just appear in another retelling in this series. This story is slightly different than the other Tales/Othering Fairytales stories as it lacks the framing narrative, but it does fit with the general idea, so the title stands. I hope you enjoy this fun, sweet, and gently tale. It is somewhat sad, but it is also a short, and, in my humble
By Dionearia Red8 months ago in Writers
Does Being OCD Help or Hinder My Writing?
Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with a mild obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). I denied it; I was not crazy! OCD is an anxiety disorder. It involves frequent, intrusive thoughts, along with repetitive and ritualistic actions. There is a long list of symptoms. The main ones I exhibited, and, if I am honest with myself, still do to a certain degree, are:
By Calvin London8 months ago in Writers
