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@amber-hathaway.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:47 PM

"... And you'll meet your cousin, Noah. He was about your age when he joined the Lord. I'm sure the two of you will get on swimmingly.”

#WIPSnips

@sabrinamars.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:45 PM

#WIPSnipS C O U S I N ✨

Duo post also featuring the Handspeak we've been discussing in #conlangity 🤟🏻

(Sorry for the weird text formatting, Bsky is struggling with me this AM)

#writesky #writingcommunity #wip

Bright and colorful star shaped gummy candy with the following text over it: Kira’s frown was still prominent, but it lifted at the corners enough to appease him. She nodded her head a few times and made one quick hand motion of yes, meaning she accepted the deal. She then made a gesture he wasn’t as familiar with, having only seen it once…some type of food? “Cherry?” he asked.
No. Kira then tapped her fingers to her forehead twice. You know, you know.
He repeated her hand motion exactly, but added a shake of his head. I don’t know.
Kira’s eyes rounded, and then she wiggled her fingers like she always did when she was thinking through how to be more clear. She touched her fingertips together and made a face where her cheeks hollowed and her mouth contorted as if she tasted something—
“Oh, sour. Sour candy?”
Kira voraciously gestured yes, yes, yes and finally that big smile was back on her face.
“Fine, I’ll bring some back for you.” Riodin shifted her in his arms, and she gave a gentle pat to his face. “We good now?”

@zadafalcon.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:40 PM

Cousin

I thought I didn't have this word, but it turns out I do! Crystal (cave dragon) talks to another of Zada's dragons—the polar dragons.

I have 10 dragon species in total, btw.

#WIPSnips

The dragons circled lower and lower over the iceberg. Squinting through the wind, Jeri thought she could make out shapes moving around on the ice. As they went lower, Jeri could make out details. Torpedo-shaped body type, white scales, some bluish fur along the back. And big. Very big. As they drew closer and closer, Jeri realized just how big. The polar dragons were enormous! Easily the size of humpback whales, if humpback whales could waddle along on land with their fins, like sea lions.
The three cave dragons alighted on the iceberg. The polar dragons towered above them. Jeri didn't move to dismount. She noticed no one else did either. She tightened her grip on Crystal's spikes.
Crystal paced up to the watching polar dragons. "Greetings, cousins. I am Crystal, Head Mage of Great Mountain Dragon Community. I come here, with some friends and colleagues, with an announcement and a request."
The polar dragons looked at each other for a moment. "Er, you should probably speak to the queen," one of them suggested.
Crystal nodded, and the polar dragons shuffled aside. Trylok and Oryn followed her deeper into the iceberg. The blue walls spread out on either side. Polar dragons peeked around corners as they passed. Eventually, the ice walls opened up into a vast cavern. Icicles hung from the ceiling and stalagmites of ice dotted the floor. A polar dragon sat on a raised platform at the rear of the room. The queen, presumably.
Crystal bowed before the queen. The polar dragon peered down at her. "So, Crystal: former leader of the resistance, Head Mage of Great Mountain. What is it you need from my people?"

@markjohnston905.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:34 PM

Definitely pushing it here with relatives, but I was on too long of a streak!

Catrin is moments from the crown when her father returns from war. He is, unfortunately, like many men in power.

#WIPsnips #writingcommunity #writesky #writingprompts

The room broke into an awkward applause.
“Thank you all for the warm greetings. My family—the rest of them—will be joining us here shortly. I rushed home when I heard the news of what was happening here.” His voice seemed to change as he spoke. What had been jovial and friendly was shifting to serious. His entire demeanor changed as well, darkening. “I want to begin by forgiving my daughter for what she has done these past few weeks.”
The entire room seemed to deflate at once. People looked to their friends and relatives mouthing the word forgive with their eyes narrowed in a questioning way.
“I understand there was some confusion once my dear father passed from this realm to the next. It will haunt me forever that I was not here to see him off or to lead in his absence. As much as I love my daughter, she was never meant to rule our lands.”
More confused looks from all in attendance. Catrin simply sat, unmoving, seeming to stare through the wall into the lands beyond.
“No, I’m afraid her heart is too pure and her sensibilities too feminine for leadership,” he continued.
Bert seethed at the comment and he opened his mouth to shout at the king, but Eldritch froze him with a look.
“Luckily I have returned just in time to battle the threat pushing our border and attacking our city,” Leoric said next. “No more will we allow these wild people to storm our lands bringing their filthy monsters in with them to eat our children and burn our buildings.”
The confusion in the room was palpable. These people had lived through Garrick Crowe’s rule, and had celebrated the rescue of Wyrmgate with the help of the Wyrm People and the dragons. This was absurd!
“Father, I think you will find…” Cat began.
“Silence, young Catrin. The King speaks now,” he replied, cutting her off sharply.

@geniuslemur.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:22 PM

#WIPSnips #BookSky #FlyingStarAdventure

@peterrobin.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:18 PM

#WIPSnips October 11 "cousin"

From Australian of the Year

Callum is late for Liberty's campaign launch.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Callum and Michael snuck in, using the cover of the audience's laughter, and started looking around for seats. Liberty spotted them.
“Glad you could join us, Callum,” she said in a mock reprimand. “May I introduce my dear cousin, Callum and his husband.”
There was a smattering of applause and Liberty said, “Someone find them a seat, for goodness sake.”
A number of hands went up and the miscreants quickly settled themselves.
“Fun fact,” said Liberty, her face now a briad wicked smile. “Callum was born two weeks premature. Aunt Lydia says its the only time he was early for anything in his life.”

@rammwriter.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:09 PM

No cousins, but there are sisters.

#wipsnips #amquerying #sffwriters #writingcommunity #writersky #timetravelauthors #speclit #amwriting #authors #thrillerwriters #writers

@sptroweresq.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 12:01 PM

No cousins, but a cousin's dad makes a cameo appearance in The Dragon Download.

#WIPSnips #WritingPrompts #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #TheAmbivalenceChronicles

'Dexy?' he said cautiously, as if talking to an early 80s micro in the name of the scientific method might irrevocably damage physics.

'He's buzzing,' Charlotte whispered, placing an ear as close as she dare to the fragile set up.

'Out of tune?' Nectarine suggested, already reaching for the TV's fine tuning controls.

Phil nodded silently.

As Nectarine tweaked the TV, it made a sound like an uncle who overdid the sprouts on Christmas Day, then went silent.

'Anything?' Phil didn't dare look.

'I think you better see for yourself,' Nectarine said.

His heart thrumming like that uncle in the middle of a whiskey-fuelled game of Star Wars Monopoly, Phil leaned closer. 'Dexy?'

@woldry.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:46 AM

Loric, god of shadows and dreams, tries to warn the god of war that he's being hunted.

A scene from "Laughter of the Hunted Gods," my philosophical godpunk WIP.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Ilgannan slams a fist into his palm. “What need? Never before have they dared assail any of the Grand Pantheon.”
“Oh, but never before have their lordlings offered her a fortune to bring an end of war. They weary of it, you see. War upsets their delicate balances, disrupts their dominions.” Loric slings an arm around Ilgannan’s neck. “And so—they want to be rid of you.”
Ilgannan pushes him away.
“Honestly, who can blame them?” Loric ticks off fingers. “You’re bullying, irritable, loud, moody, capricious, and it goes without saying, violent. Except I do say it!” He blinks in surprise at finding a sixth finger on his own hand. He flaps the hand, and the finger becomes a cluster of bluerain. “But you are my kin.” He performs a florid bow, offering the flowers to Ilgannan.
Ilgannan grabs the bluerain to throw it down and stomp on it.

@shawnmklimek.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:40 AM

@wipsnips.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

Colder than the fingers of an ice wraith on your spine,
Though not as cold as popsicles on Pluto, I’ve been told
(By a science teacher’s student’s #cousin’s sister’s friend of mine).

@sayaashrah.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:39 AM

#WIPSnips 11. “Cousin”

Since barely anyone will read this today, here’s a longer and very rough scene from Book 4 of #WorldWithoutLove — yes, Book 4! This will be especially significant for those who read TIHID and GoRR.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #QueerWriters

Even though the gryphon riders aided them in repelling Poseidon’s aquarium, Carys kept her grip on the dagger and summoned a heart-shaped bloodball on her free hand as the mysterious warriors slid down their mounts.

They wore scaled linothorax armour above plum chiton and himation, greaves, and vambraces; pieces that she could find in any army or wanderer endowed with enough coin. What drew her attention were their helmets and shields. The former was a Corinthian sort with an imposing dark plume, the mask painted a dark magenta, and the latter was emblazoned with a withered red rose encircled by a blood moon. Both patterns sent a message—one that Carys had never seen anywhere before, and judging by the Party’s confused stares, neither had they.

A man came forward and placed his spear and shield on the ground before taking another step. Though most of his gear was identical to the others, one piece stood out: a pair of pauldrons in the shape of a dog’s head. Slowly, he raised his arms and took off his helmet.

Curly black hair bounced free. When Carys met the man under the armour, her heart forgot to beat, and she only avoided falling thanks to Ishana. The man had a strong, rounded face with a well-trimmed beard, hazel eyes tempered with tenacity, and a ragged scar below his left eye to the tip of his nose—an old, unhealed scar. He had the perfect looks to play an Olympian hero, yet Carys remembered him as something else: a boy with a passion for sharing stories around the campfire and a kindness that persisted even as the darkness intruded on his home, but never on his heart.

“Cai…?”

“When modryb Arianell told me we’d meet again someday, I thought it was wishful thinking. But here we are.” He smiled. “How are you, cousin?”

@shawnmklimek.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:38 AM

@wipsnips.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

A fire ignited behind his dark eyes, and his #fuzzy eyebrows lowered like a knotted cord.

@shawnmklimek.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:36 AM

@wipsnips.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

The wizard and the dinosaur each thought the other weird.
“Why wear that funny hat?” the #lizard asked, “and such a beard?...”

@triempery.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:35 AM

#WIPSnips 11: The word for October 11 is COUSIN

In NOMARA humans in the kumbhs, and also in outer villages and tribes, tend to be near relations. In this snip Kate encounters a protective sister--but whose true genetic relationship is probably "cousin."
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip is a bit of conversation between Terran Kate and a native human named Troya, who distrusts her:

“I wish to talk with you,” Troya said.
Kate signaled for Ben to fall back. Troya, falling into step beside Kate, halted as Kate stopped beside one of the massive columns. Troya turned her dark head, her face hard with accusation. Her words dropped like shots.
“Stay away from my brother.”
Kate stared at her, not grasping at first what she was getting at. “Your brother?”
“Yuvan.”
Although she nodded understanding, Kate doubted that Troya and Yuvan were immediately related. Kumbhs used the word ‘brother’ to designate any male relation of the same kin-group. Most likely they were cousins.

@writinginsawdust.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:16 AM

A day to remember, a moment never forgotten. The first encounter.

From a recent short story:
The Last Morning Walk

#Wipsnips
#cousin
#adhdwriters
#writingcommunity #5amwritersclub #wip
#writesky
#newbrunswick

I do remember that long ago, a pool party at some person’s house that I don’t speak with anymore. I saw her drunk and dancing on the diving board.

Someone said she was someone’s cousin or a sister of someone else. I just remember that sunshine smile and the laugh that lit the afternoon.
It wasn’t until that autumn, that I saw her by the library talking to a professor. I wanted to get closer to catch her eye and maybe ask her for a coffee, but she turned her back and disappeared.

I gave up hope and moved on for a month or more, almost forgot that she was there, until one random Wednesday I was reading something dull, when right out of nowhere, she stood there and demanded that I ask her out.

@sageowenwrites.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:16 AM

Exhibit 3672 of how down BAD Matthew is for Billy, and a sentimental moment interrupted by Cory

#WIPSnips "cousin" from SmokeWIP
#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #lgbtqWriters

Excerpt from SmokeWIP, a sage Owen m/m romance novel wip. Text as follows:

Billy softened. "I know you didn't really get it with Lark at first, but thank you for sticking it out with me. I couldn't imagine doing this without you by my side."

He put on his most inauthentic winsome smile, the kind that performed well at family functions and church banquets. "Of course. I'd do anything for you."

"Everything's coming up right for your special day." Matthew flinched at Cory's exuberant return. "I cleared out the vending machine around the corner-five packs of your disgusting favorite chips, since your wife won't be around to smell your horrible sour cream and onion breath after."

Billy was grinning. Matthew forced down a memory of tasting those exact chips so he could imagine the flavor of Billy's mouth. Cory dumped the armload in his cousin's lap and picked up the fresh beer

@stephanloy.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 10:51 AM

#WIPSnips The word is 'cousin.' From 'Nightwatch.'
The White One describes its home universe. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #AmWriting

Our nonsensical home spread to horizons both pressingly close and far beyond reach. The black land of onyx, the rocks covering its tumbled hills, sharp as razors and as jagged as saw blades. Over the dismal land, the black sky glowered, its weird, cartoon-like stars shedding no light, its suns no heat, and the great, impossibly defined spheres of its planets denied the majesty of their extra-celestial cousins.
A universe of dreams, of dreams from other universes. Potential to the limit of what thought can cleanly grasp.
We were flawed ideas, easily over-written, accidents on a Mobius loop. For whatever can be dreamed can be forgotten, or doubted, or debased.