Today’s one-liner comes to you courtesy of master blogger, extraordinary photographer, and frequent commertor Dan Antion.
My Sunday writing prompt was:
Write about something that might be good or might be deadly.
Dan’s response was:
My answer to “does this dress make me look fat?”
This post is part of Linda G. Hills weekly blog hop, One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner or just like them, follow the link.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Write a scene following that answer.
MA
Dan Antion
December 2, 2020 at 7:20amThank you for sharing that! I’m glad I could contribute.
Marian Allen
December 2, 2020 at 10:51amYou’re a hoot, that’s what you are! (Bonus points if you get the reference.) 😀
Dan Antion
December 2, 2020 at 11:02amI think I get it…because of you.
Anklebuster
December 2, 2020 at 9:10amWay to go, Dan!
Cheers,
Mitch
Dan Antion
December 2, 2020 at 11:02amThanks.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
December 2, 2020 at 11:04amThe TV fascination with serial killers puzzles me. Con men, they seem to have taken over the imagination of the writers, who are lionizing their deviance. It isn’t entertainment. It may be truer to life than we want to admit, but that’s not the point. The point is how the behavior of the victim is portrayed, where every victim seems to be promising to be ‘good,’ to ‘love’ and obey the s.k., and cooperate, as the trait required for survival, where the answer to the question ‘do you love me?’ has to be not only yes, but unbelievable, consistent acting – or the result could be the victim’s death.
I don’t know if that’s life-affirming, or putting her (it’s usually her) survival into her own hands, but it is decidedly creepy.
I guess there’s not enough drama in regular lives.
Marian Allen
December 2, 2020 at 11:11amI don’t disagree with you, but I think Dan’s response was meant to be facetious. I don’t think for a minute that his life is in danger from The Editor, or hers from him. I’m not into serial killers, me, or killers at all. I kinda like Supernatural’s boys, who go around killing demons and things that prey on humanity, but I like all the stuff that isn’t killing, not the killing part. I like con men who con bad guys and robbers who rob bad guys, but that’s nothing new: Robin Hood has been popular for a very long time.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
December 3, 2020 at 12:39amSorry – went off on a tangent when ‘deadly’ came across my viewscreen. Delete anything you don’t like – I’ll be fine with it.
I was even concerned about orcs in The Lord of the Rings!
There are plenty of bad guys in the world; somehow they got to that place. I’m too chicken to do anything that so obviously breaks ‘the rules.’ Always had something ahead of me in life that I needed to keep a clean background for. It hasn’t gotten me to where I would like, but NOT doing it would have made certain things I wanted to do impossible. I did get a chance at some of them.
Marian Allen
December 3, 2020 at 10:04amNot deleting anything. You made good points, and I totally agree with them. You’re a better person than I am, to be concerned about the orcs. I can’t see hunting and killing orcs who keep themselves to themselves, but if I identify with their prey, I root for the prey. I mean, I feel sorry for the lions in nature shows, ’cause lions gotta eat, but I’m always happy when the wildebeest gets away, you know?
It always surprises me, how many of my readers love Steffie the spy. Maybe because she only abuses and kills bad guys? Maybe because she isn’t burdened with a conscience, and is a liberating read for people who are?
Mostly, at the heart of my writing, is this premise: The question is always, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and the answer is always, “Yes.”
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
December 3, 2020 at 4:09pmKilling bad guys is a problem. I don’t even like Bianca to get her just desserts. She does, but I feel for her.
Then she says or does something…
Marian Allen
December 4, 2020 at 8:18amI know, right? I think Bianca may be my favorite “bad guy”. You make me understand her damage.
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
December 7, 2020 at 5:43amI’m nowhere near finished. A good villain must ALMOST win, right?
Marian Allen
December 7, 2020 at 10:14amRight. But Bianca is the kind of villain I would enjoy seeing redeemed and happy ever after as much as I would enjoy seeing her get her comeuppance. Poor wicked thing!
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
December 7, 2020 at 12:39pmBecause she has legitimate grievances, and is required by the establishment to hide them.
RAAckerman@Cerebrations.biz
December 2, 2020 at 6:32pmDownright toxic!
circadianreflections
December 2, 2020 at 8:44pmLOL! Definitely a loaded question! 😀