MEMES & MUSINGS .

a selection of some of my favorite underrepresented situations and actions for one of my favorite tropes! feel free to add + REVERSE to any of the prompts to change the situation and provide context as necessary. do not add to this list.  

a selection of some of my favorite underrepresented lines and phrases for one of my favorite tropes! feel free to change wording and pronouns and provide context as necessary. do not add to this list.    

• “let them go.” / “let me go.”
• “take me.” / “take me instead.”
• “don’t hurt them.” / “i’ll do anything you say.”
• “what do you want with me?”
• “where are you taking them?”
• “what did you do to them?”
• “where is receiver?”
• “give them back.”
• “get away from them!”
• “get off them!”

• “can you hear me?”
• “wake up… please, wake up.”
• “are you with me?”
• “stay awake.” / “you have to stay awake.” / “please, stay awake… please…” / “promise me you’ll stay awake.” 
• “don’t close your eyes.” / “open your eyes for me, name.”
• “there you are.”
• “just a little longer, okay?”
• “i know it hurts, i’m sorry, it’ll be over soon.”
• “shhh, it’s alright.”
• “i need you.” / “i still need you.” / “i need you to be okay.”
• “do you remember what happened?”
• “name?! name! what happened?!”
• “what did they do to you?” 
• “if they lay a finger on him/her/them/you…” 
• “if they touch a hair on his/her/their/your head…” 
• “those bastards.” / “if i ever get my hands on them…” 
• “i’m gonna get you out of here.”
• “let’s get you out of here.” / “let’s get you out of this.” 
• “we gotta get out of here.” / “it’s alright, name. we’re taking you home.”
• “can you stand?” / “can you walk?” 
• “i won’t let anything happen to you.”
• “you’re safe.”
• “it’s gonna be okay.” / “you’re gonna be okay, just hold on.” 
• “you’re hurt.” / “did they hurt you?”
• “i’ve got you.” 
• “lean on me.”
• “stay with me.”
• “i can’t lose you.” / “i’m not losing you.”
• “oh, name…” / “oh, kid…”
• “receiver? receiver, it’s me. it’s sender.”
• “i’m here.” / “i’m here. i promise.”

• "...where am i...?"
• “what happened…?”
• “i’m with you.”
• “it hurts.” / “make it stop.”
• “you came for me…” / “you came back…”
• “you found me…”
• “where were you…?”
• “i’m sorry…”
• “i was so scared.”
• “i thought you’d never find me…”
• “what are you doing here?”
• “just go. you can still make it. don’t worry about me.”

taken from the 2019 album released by sleeping at last, consisting of songs based on the nine enneagram personality types. feel free to change wording and pronouns and provide context as necessary. do not add to this list.

• “hold on for a minute.”
• “i believe that we can fix this over time.”
• “let me finish.”
• “we’ll only know for certain if we try.”
• “i want to sing a song worth singing.”
• “i’ll write an anthem worth repeating.”
• “now i have learned my lesson.”
• “i’ve spent my whole life searching desperately.”
• “grace requires nothing of me.”

• “sweetheart, you look a little tired.”
• “when did you last eat?”
• “come in and make yourself right at home.”
• “stay as long as you need.”
• “tell me, is there something wrong?”
• “you can count on me.”
• “you know i’ll take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat.”
• “let me take your coat.”
• “i will love you with every single thing i have.”
• “i will love you without any strings attached.”
• “it’s okay if you can’t catch your breath.”
• “no, i don’t want to talk about myself.”
• “tell me where it hurts.”
• “you’re good as new.”
• “i don’t even know where to start.”
• “i just want to love you.”
• “i just want to learn how, somehow, to be loved myself.”
• “and what a privilege it is to love, a great honor to hold you up.”
• “i will love you without a single string attached.”

• “maybe i’ve done enough.”
• “your golden child grew up.”
• “maybe this trophy isn’t real love.”
• “with or without it, i’m good enough.”
• “i finally see myself through the eyes of no one else.”
• “it’s so exhausting on this silver screen, where i play the role of anyone but me.”
• “i finally see myself unabridged and overwhelmed.”
• “a mess of a story i’m ashamed to tell.”
• “i only want what’s real.”
• “let my heart feel what it feels.”
• “he’s/she’s/they’re/we’re/you’re/i’m worthy of love anyway.”

• “i’m turning out the lights.”
• “remember how to see?”
• “for a moment we get to be glorious.”
• “maybe i’m hiding behind metaphor.”
• “maybe my heart needs to break to be sure.”
• “i’ve fallen in love with a ghost.”
• “i lost my balance when i needed it most.”
• “this blurry photograph is proof.”
• “it feels like truth.”
• “i’m stuck swimming in shadows.”
• “it’s been forever since i came up for air.”
• “what if we already are who we’ve been dying to become?”
• “a reflection of magnificence.”
• “(it’s) hidden in you, maybe even in me.”

• “i want to watch the universe expand.”
• “i want to break it into pieces small enough to understand.”
• “it feels like an out-of-body experience.”
• “now i can’t put my mind to rest.”
• “i can’t help but second guess.”
• “i’m hypnotized by this anomaly.”
• “such strange uncharted territory.”
• “my armor falls apart.”
• “if i could let myself be seen, even deeply known.”
• “i was already brave enough to let go.”
• “it’s hidden in heartbeats, exhales, and in the hope of open hands.”

• “i had the most vivid dream.”
• “my feet had left the ground.”
• “i was floating to heaven.”
• “i could only look down.”
• “my mind was heavy, running ragged with worst case scenarios.”
• “i woke up so worried.”
• “oh god, i’m so tired of being afraid.”
• “if i’m being honest, i’m not sure i’d know how.”
• “i wanna take shelter but i’m ready to fight.”
• “i feel a little paralyzed.”
• “maybe i’m stronger than i realize.”
• “i want to believe; no, i choose to believe.”
• “fear won’t go away, but i can keep it at bay.”
• “with a vigilant heart, i’ll push into the dark.”
• “i’ll learn to breathe deep and make peace with the stars.”
• “is it courage or faith?”
• “there will be light always waiting behind even the darkest of nights.”
• “no matter what.”
• “somehow we’ll be okay.”
• “don’t be afraid.”

• “we could try everything.”
• “i’m serious.”
• “what about danger?”
• “so what?”
• “what about risk?”
• “i’m restless for whatever comes next.”
• “how wonderful to see a smile on your face.”
• “a welcome home parade.”
• “a secret handshake.”
• “i’ll find the silver lining no matter what the price.”
• “i’m hungry for whatever comes next.”
• “let me tell you another secret of the trade.”
• “it feels like sinking when i’m standing in one place.”
• “i want to be here.”
• “i feel hope, deep in my bones.”
• “tomorrow will be beautiful.”
• “i’m ready for whatever comes next.”

• “it was like a switch was flipped.”
• “i was just a kid who grew up strong enough.”
• “god, that was so long ago.”
• “i was little, i was weak and perfectly naive.”
• “i grew up too quick.”
• “now you won’t see all that i have to lose and all i’ve lost in the fight to protect it.”
• “i won’t let you in, i swore never again.”
• “i can’t afford, no, i refuse to be rejected.”
• “i want to break these bones ‘til they’re better.”
• “you were wrong.”
• “my healing needed more than time.”
• “when i see fragile things, helpless things, broken things, i see the familiar.”
• “now i’m a broken mirror.”
• “i can’t afford to let myself be blindsided.”
• “i’m standing guard.”
• “i’m falling apart.”
• “all i want is to trust you.”
• “show me how to lay my sword down.”
• “here i am.”
• “pry me open.”
• “what do you want to know?”
• “i’m just a kid who grew up scared enough.”
• “here’s a map, here’s a shovel.”
• “here’s my achilles’ heel.”
• “i’m all in.”
• “i’m at your mercy now.”
• “i’m ready to begin.”
• “i am strong enough to let you in.”
• “for the innocent, for the vulnerable.”
• “i’ll show up at the front lines with a purpose.”
• “i’ll give all i have.”
• “i’m shattered porcelain, glued back together again.”
• “i’m invincible like i’ve never been.”

• “who am i to say what any of this means?”
• “i have been sleepwalking since i was fourteen.”
• “honestly, it’s easier to let myself forget.”
• “i’ve been less than half myself for more than half my life.”
• “wake up.”
• “fall in love again.”
• “there’s so much worth fighting for, you’ll see.”
• “it looks like empathy to understand all sides.”
• “i’m just trying to find myself through someone else’s eyes.”
• “show me what to do.”
• “how do i forgive myself for losing so much time?”
• “roll up your sleeves.”
• “remember who you are.”
• “a little at a time.”
• “it’s uncomfortable, but right.”
• “we were born to try to see each other through.”
• “to know and love ourselves and others well is the most difficult and meaningful work we’ll ever do.”

taken from the 1972 film adaptation of the 1969 broadway musical. feel free to change wording and pronouns and provide context as necessary. do not add to this list.    

• “damn the man/woman/person.” / “god damn the man/woman/person.” 
• “what is that racket?” / “latest thing from europe, ___. it’s called music.”
• “well, you’ve had a whole week, man. is it done?”
• “disgusting.”
• “well, cheer up, ___. get out of the dumps. it’ll come out all right, i assure you.” 
• “now, get back to work.”
• “hello! and whose little girl/boy/child are you?”
• “what makes you think so?”
• “she/he/they is your wife/husband/partner, isn’t she/he/they?” / “well of course, she/he/they is. look at the way they fit.”
• “come along, ___.”
• “you don’t mean to say that…”
• “i mean, they’re not going to…” / “in the middle of the afternoon?” 
• “incredible!”
• “i’m very lonely, ___.” 
• “oh, now, don’t be unreasonable, ___.”
• “oh, they were fondly intended!”
• “well, now there you have me, ___.”
• “please. come to ___. please come.” 
• “I thank you for that.”
• “___, how goes it with you?”
• “do you still smell of vanilla and spring air?” 
• “what was there, ___, still is there, ___.”
• “i’ve forgotten the feel of your hand.”
• “til then, ‘til then.”
• “go ahead.” / “me?” / “your voice is more piercing.” 
• “good morrow, ___, good morrow!”
• “is it the habit in ___ to shout at ladies/gentlemen/people from the street?” / “and for men/women/people of your age, it is not only unseemly, it is unsightly!” 
• “please! i know your name(s) very well, but…”
• “it’s of no matter. your thoughts were well-taken elsewhere.”
• “well, then shall we start over again?”
• “won’t you join us?” 
• “i feel an absolute fool.”
• “well, what will people think?”
• “___ did this, and ___ did that, and ___ did some other damned thing.” 
• “tell us about yourself. we’ve heard precious little.”
• “oh, ___, you can dance!”
• “___, i want you to see some cards i’ve had printed up.”
• “ought to save everybody here a lot of time and effort.” 
• “dear sir/madam/per, you are, without any doubt, a rogue, a rascal, a villain, a thief, a scoundrel, and a mean, dirty, stinking, sniveling, sneaking, pimping, pocket-picking, thrice double-damned no-good son of a bitch.” 
• “what do you think?” / “i’ll take a dozen right now.”
• “all right, ___, enough socializing. there’s work to be done.” 
• “he/she/they never complained, but i could see the poor man/woman/thing was suffering terrible.” 
• “one foot in front of the other!”
• “i’ll take a crack at old vacant-face.” 
• “how in hell did you ever make a decision?”
• “you clot!”
• “you come into this world screaming ‘no’ and you’re determined to leave it the same way, you slimy worm!”
• “the whole world is waiting!”
• “leave me alone, ___, you’re wasting your time!” 
• “that man/woman/person would depress a hyena.”
• “why not ask them yourself? they ought to be here any minute.”
• “would you or wouldn’t you?”
• “___, are you mad?”
• “it sounds lively as hell up there.” 
• “like hell i am.”
• “what for?”
• “do you see what i see?”
• “the sun is in the sky, a breeze is blowing by.”
• “why should we risk losing?”
• “you don’t even like him/her/them.” / “that is true, he/she/they annoys me quite a lot.” 
• “why? for personal glory? for a place in history?”
• “most men/women/people with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor.”
• “that is why they will follow us.”
• “how’d you like to try and borrow a dollar from one of them?”
• “here, son/sweetie/kid. there you go.” 
• “it’s too damn hot to work.”
• “what’s it like out there?” / “you probably know more than me.”
• “this is the last place to find out what’s going on.”
• “what’s that got to do with it?”
• “now, where’s that?”
• “come looking for me.”
• “by the red maple tree.”
• “is that you i’m hearing?”
• “it was a slaughter. a slaughter!”
• “how far have they gotten?”
• “nothing to fear.”
• “it’s a masterpiece.”
• “i wish i felt that way.” 
• “if i was ever sure of anything, i’m sure of that.” 
• “now, surely this was an oversight.”
• “i had hoped that the work would speak for itself.”
• “this is a revolution, damn it! we’re going to have to offend somebody!” 
• “you’ll give yourself an attack of apoplexy if you’re not careful.”
• “have you heard?” / “i heard.”
• “courage, ___.”
• “it won’t last much longer.”
• “these are dangerous times.”
• “be careful, ___.”
• “we might as well say so.”
• “i can’t quite make out what it is you’re talking about.”
• “why didn’t you say so?”
• “economy. always economy.”
• “there’s more to this than a filthy purse string, ___.”
• “it’s an offense against man and god/nature.”
• “for the love of god, ___, please.”
• “you’ll have to forgive them, ___.”
• “we’re wasting time.”
• “what good will it do?”
• “if there’s anything i can do for you there, let me know.”
• “we have no choice, ___.”
• “___, what are you saying?”
• “you forget yourself, sir/madam/per.”
• “what’s happened to me?”
• “___, what am i going to do?”
• “you don’t usually ask my advice.” / “yes, well, there doesn’t appear to be anyone else right now.” 
• “what is it?”
• “oh, ___. has it been any kind of a life for you?” / “i never asked for more.”
• “well, i have always been dissatisfied, i know that. but lately, i find that i reek of discontentment.”
• “it fills my throat and it floods my brain.”
• “sometimes i fear there is no longer a dream, only the discontentment.” 
• “can you really know so little about yourself?”
• “have you forgotten what you used to say to me? i haven’t.”
• “commitment, ___. commitment.”
• “do you remember?” / “yes, i remember.”
• “all for you, ___.”
• “didn’t you hear a word i said before?” / “oh, never mind about that.”
• “now, here’s what i want you to do.” / “___, i’m not even speaking to you.” 
• “you know where i stand.”
• “i’ll do whatever you say.”
• “is anybody there?”
• “does anybody care?”
• “i’m sorry if i startled you.”
• “i couldn’t sleep.”
• “you must believe that i will do what i promised to do.”
• “what is it you want, ___?” 
• “what else is there to do?”
• “little good may it do you.”
• “the question is clear.” / “most questions are clear when someone else has to decide them.” 
• “___, you’re keeping everybody waiting.”
• “i just didn’t bargain for that.” 
• “goodbye, ___.”
• “i happen to be a harvard graduate, __.”
• “and how it shall end, god only/who knows.”
• “all right, step right up.”
• “don’t miss your chance to commit treason.”
• “to hell with ___.”