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Feb 3

Showcase your novel/comic in 200 words or less. If the subject matter is objectionable, please indicate with the appropriate content warning(s). Keep your excerpt PG-13 (or under), please and thanks.

Title: Crimson (MASTER, Book 1)
Genres: LGBTQ+/Dark Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal/Supernatural Suspense/Slow Burn
Rating: M
Warning: The following excerpt contains mild violence, masochism, and self-harm. Reader discretion is advised.


Gabriel pounded his bare fists against the punching bag with vicious force, wishing he were pounding his own face. The punishment was necessarily brutal, given his uncouth actions last night. He knew his behavior at the party had been atrocious. Fawning over Raiden like a ridiculous schoolgirl; taking any opportunity to touch him; hiding his attraction by crossing his legs—Gabriel was guilty of many transgressions.

His dormant masochistic streak had bloomed during his stay in Detroit. ‘Tis the season. Birds and bees. Spring. A humorless chortle crackled from his mouth like a dry twig. He cringed at the sound. Bloody sweat dripped down his wrists in cherry rivulets. The bones in his hands released muted squeals of pain.

Pain. At least it was something he could still feel. Gabriel clung to this thought as he continued his exercise in self-destruction. Discipline unwavering, he pummeled the bag with rapid, disturbing precision. Spurts of blood gushed down his forearms in torrents, splattering the ground like spray paint. Strange, lovely patterns emerged from the spatters: art born from violence. Even as his fists grew numb, Gabriel realized that he never failed to create something beautiful. The artist in him just would not quit.


Crimson updates Mondays and Fridays at 7 PM PST.

did your story change names? i could have sworn it was called something else

Title: Damsel in the Red Dress
Genres: Slice of life/romance/drama/tear jerker/friends to lovers
Rating: PG
Updates: Every Friday
Warnings: In this excerpt, none, but the series includes references to blood, injuries, and anxiety? (i don't know why Tapas considers mental health a "mature" topic, but the way some of the chapters are written is designed to simulate feelings of anxiety, depression, panic attacks, being on pain medication, and such, as multi-sensory an experience as possible, so it could make you feel weird maybe)

*

I snatched the radio out of his lap in the middle of one particularly obnoxious emo or pop-punk song, and turned the sound down to an inaudible mutter, hiding the radio under my shirt.

“Give it back.”

“Not on your life. How can you listen to this stuff? It sounds like bad feelings.”

“That’s kind of the point. Music is about expressing how you feel.”

“What kind of feeling exactly is a “Chemical Romance?”

“I don’t know… hormones?”

“That is so gross.”

“Just give it back.”

“Never.”

He hesitates.

I wonder how many signs there were that I missed. How many times he showed in subtle ways that he liked me - and I didn’t even notice them - too busy believing that nobody did - that nobody ever would.

I wonder how many times I hurt him without even realizing it.

“I have one more stupid joke.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“I have to be Frank with you, “The Four Seasons” are the worst band I’ve ever heard.”

“How can you even say that? You’re listening to people MOANING about CANCER, right now.

(okey doke, excerpts i can do)

ahh, the one you mentioned on your "off the beaten path thing" was the name I remembered, didn't know/remember the plot, and then when you had your kiss, marry, kill, I didn't notice the second of the titles, so i thought you changed the name

This point of this thread is to showcase excerpts.

If you can provide 200 words or less from a recent chapter, that would be ideal. :slight_smile:

Nice, I love excerpts! Amazing ones in here already :slight_smile:

Here's mine from a recent episode:

Unthreatened by the slender, half-metre long, two-headed tree snake that had made its way into the hover-truck, Mr Murderclawz curiously sniffed the air around it, darting back everytime it snapped at him. Marana inched closer to examine the little crawly, fascinated and mildly anxious by its oily, gold-green colour. Pulling the cat away by his hind legs, she picked him up and put him behind her.

‘Doncha dare come back here, Mister,’ she scolded, seeing the cat trying to creep back towards her from the corner of her eye. ‘This li’l dude seems to be lost.’

She dangled a piece of broken wire in front of the serpent, intent on distracting it from her other hand — her human hand, which she skillfully manoeuvred around its heads. In a swift motion she ensnared it between her fingers just below the heads making sure there was no way it could sting her. Picking up the dangling creature, keeping it a safe distance from her, she made her way to the open door and placed the ‘li’l dude’ carefully on the branch of a broken trunk that was floating by in the water below.

Just another day, removing another two-headed snake...

Thanks for sharing!

I love MCR too! They were planning to tour down to Australia and we had bought tickets and all. But the damn pandemic ruined it all. They cancelled and haven't come since :frowning:

Ugh! That blows. I hope you get to see them some day! That would be a killer show.

Title: AngHell dela Blackpill
Genres: Action, drama, fantasy, science fiction, philosophy.
Rating: M for dark themes and potential controversial political, social, religious themes.


Meanwhile Chad gets to be at least 6 foot 3...

... have positive canthal tilt... an amazing jawline with a long vertical ramus... Gonial angle of approximately 120 degrees...

... And he gets all the girls to approach him, regardless of his attitude or social skills!!! He doesn't even need to do anything!!! It's all because of his looks! Everything else is irrelevant!!! Because looks are all that matter in fucking 2024!

... I'll never have happiness and will forever be a loser...

No girl is ever gonna be intimate with me! It will never happen!

Its over... OH GOD ITS SO FUCKIN OVER!

Enter Akala Maya (meaning "presumption illusion")... right behind him smiling. She is a demon. Sarcastic smartass mocking personality. 5'5 long black hair red eyes

incel still sobbing and oblivious of Akala entering

I think because in some countries, you can be criminally responsible for triggering mental illness and Tapas can't be held legally responsible.

That's the problem with operating a business that is worldwide due to the internet. Every country has their own free speech laws and have the right to block your website if you violate their laws.

Heavy stuff. The MC has a pretty dark worldview if he thinks all girls are that shallow. I can see why your story would be controversial.

Thanks for posting!

Maybe he's a MC maybe he's a minor character...

Title: The Paperbox Detective Club
Genres: Mystery/Romance/Politics/Goth
Rating: M

Cop cars had surrounded that apartment building that was recently painted green; that was where Mark lived. Along with a dozen or so middle schoolers, Son stood aground, watching as the formulaically brutish men in blue uniforms interviewed one concierge and residential student at a time. Whispers from the crowd suggested that they had indeed broken into and searched through Mark’s room; whatever they found in there was undisclosed but presumably unremarkable.
This particular dining hall that Son frequented was medium-sized, equipped with small round tables instead of those long rectangular canteen tables with benches that could host way too many diners; and the place’s lighting was soft and homely with an orange hue, unlike the others that used white incandescent bulbs that showered everything in pale glows.
A strange veil of soundless disquiet loomed over the population. Everyone suddenly talked at a volume a dozen decibels lower than usual as though they were fearing the prospect of uninvited ears listening into their conversation. Their fear was not unfounded: Son eavesdropped on every table she came across. A skill she acquired when she was still a toddler roaming around the house for candy, her keen sense of hearing and her unassuming look made her the perfect sentry.

Defo paints a picture, these words of yours.

"Formulaically brutish" was a highlight pour moi.