#working on action style and this blurb was fun

[aldisobey]

Touring Weisshaupt

“Shit!! Shit shit shit. EMMRICH STAY BACK!!”

Rook roared over his shoulder, tanned skin hidden in the slick of coating blight. He could see an edge of the necromancer, still pale, still clean, still pale, still clean. Teeth dug into his shoulder. A shriek from Assan, feathers on his cheek, the teeth released, griffon away Genlock dead, and sent a dagger through the eye of another.

Green flashed around him, necromantic energy whipping, sparking, exploding in support. Here and there skeletal hands, but it was all he could do to keep the flood before him, hold back the tide with his brother’s shield at his side.

“Sorry!” Davrin’s voice kept a chuckle within, the tones thrown back to the mage’s ears behind them, “No tour today Professor!” Sword flashing, breaths heavy, but that grin kept in play. Rook felt it, matched the smile, the only white on face those teeth as he ducked below a hurlock’s swing. Let his voice ring loud with laughter.

“But I promised!” Rook ran at his fellow Warden, his eyes locked tight on an ogre approaching from the blind, took it’s attention from the warrior with a thrown dagger sinking deep into its navel. “C’mon we’re close to the barracks!”

“Closer to the prisons!” Davrin replied, both Wardens laughed. If the necromancer did want a tour of Rook’s quarters that would be the place. And then Rook went sailing. Misjudged that ogre fist, a knuckle clipped a rib. And with a squelching crack he went flying. Landed in a tangled heap of limb and dead darkspawn flesh a mere pace from Emmrich’s feet.

“Rook!” The shaking fear in Emmrich’s voice drove the groan in Rook’s chest to a chuckle. No time for pain as the breath loosened from the hit came out as a weak but surprisingly light and cheerful “hullo…”

Davrin had the fore, ogre and horde distracted at the choke, held back by griffon, shield, and flame. Rook clung to his side, grimace morphing to grin as he waved off a quivering gloved hand reaching down to help him up.

“No!” His voice was sharper than he wanted, the delicate fingers flinched away, but… “Behind!”

The necromancer was performing impeccably, but the madness swallowed Weisshaupt whole. Emmrich’s eyes went wide as he turned to face the danger, incantation only midstep, and then he’s falling, sword singing where throat had been. Rook caught him, had swept the legs, cradled the peppered head with a growled, “Got you.”

And then Rook let go, sprang straight up, strength of legs driving his skull up and into the Hurlock’s chin as he launched from the ground. Resounding snap crack, darkspawn went limp. “Bastard.”

Rook wasn’t looking down at Emmrich as he grabbed the mage’s shoulder. His hand enclosed, firm, almost bruising as he yanked the professor to his feet and gutted a genlock with the other arm. The grimace from cracked rib twisted morbidly to some odd wild delighted face. One eye closed, blood from split head running blinding into it, but he made sure the swaying professor had his feet as he glared round the near area. Clear, safe. Good.

“Shit that always hurts,” he took the briefest moment to touch at the cut, looked calm into the wide eyes of the mage, “you good?” Emmrich did not but nod, countenance ghostly, staff supporting as the green glow reached out, touched at the rogue’s head and stopped the flow of thick red.

“Hey! I said no tour!” Davrin was starting to feel the push at the point, ogre bloodied but making ground. Rook’s brow furrowed, but both eyes open now, “Apologies sir, my room’ll have to wait.” He gave Emmrich a parting bloody wink and dipped the silliest bow before running laughing back into the embrace of the fight.

[tehrevving]

Chaos Theory: Bookshop Date

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I started posting Chaos Theory. It has been such a wild ride and I wanna thank all of you for your support. I couldn't have done it without you <3

Starting off the anniversary party with a Bookshop Date! This was written for the prompts: Bookshop Date, Vincent getting caught staring, Vincent’s turk past.

18+ with a Content warning for slight, light, erotic choking.

Also on Ao3

“Just got one more errand, if that’s alright?” you smile, turning back to look up at Vincent who’s trailing just a few steps behind you. He nods subtly underneath his cowl, adjusting his position slightly and jostling the bags he’s carrying. He’s followed you dutifully for the past hour or so, helping you pick up things for the rest of the group. He’s only carrying a few bags, and they’re certainly not heavy but the multiple bright colours nestled in the golden prick of his gauntlet do actually look somewhat ridiculous. “I just need a new book for the trip tomorrow.”

He hums in response, metal clicking as he follows you to the bookstore. You haven’t visited this one yet, but you saw it when you’d first arrived in town and wanted to check it out. You’re not sure what sort of book you’re looking for, the last one had been action packed but sort of boring, you need something that’s going to be able to hold your attention. You hold the door open for Vincent and gesture for him to step through first. He pauses for a moment, somewhat put out because of his insistence on always being a gentleman. He’s just too much fun to tease. 

You walk up to the large display at the front of the store showing off all the current bestsellers. “Is there anything you wanna look at here?” you ask, not bothering to turn around. You hear the click of buckles that signifies him shaking his head, it sounds subtly different to a nod. 

You peruse current bestsellers, jaw dropping open as one brightly coloured cover catches your eye. You pick it up, taking in classic styled art of a young woman swooning in the embrace of a muscular man with long, dark hair and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. “Tangled with the Turk,” the cover proclaims, it’s a fucking romance novel. You turn to the blurb. 

As the only eyewitness to a horrifically violent crime in the Midgar slums, Eliza’s entire life is uprooted when she’s forced into witness protection against her will. She’s miserable and desperate to return home, but the case continues to drag on, and there’s no end in sight.

Tsong, second in command of the turks, has far more important things to do than watch over a civilian, especially one so frustratingly sweet and naive. He just wants to get back to work, back to a world he understands and thrives in. Instead he finds himself torn between his duty and the way that this sweet woman has managed to work her way underneath his unworthy skin.

You’re in disbelief, grinning like an idiot. A turk romance novel, complete with a caricature of Tseng, you wonder if the whole character is based off him or if the author just stole his name. You wonder how accurate the novel will be, and you wonder what Vincent will think about it. 

“I am definitely getting this one,” you exclaim, handing the book to Vincent when he looks down at you quizzically. “You can tell me how accurate it is.” You watch his face as he reads the blurb, head tilted and eyes scrunched up with slight confusion. 

You notice a middle aged woman approaching you and step slightly in front of Vincent, it’s just easier for you to handle interaction with strangers.  “Hi,” she says to you, customer service voice out in full force as she looks up with wonder at Vincent. “Is there anything I can help you with today?” 

Vincent hands the book back to you, and the woman looks at it. “That book is very popular at the moment, it only came out last week. We have the entire series in stock.”

“There’s more of them?” you say probably slightly too loudly. Turk romance novels exist, there’s probably heaps of them. You wonder how you’ve never considered the possibility before, but then realise that you wouldn’t have been interested in them before Vincent.

The woman nods. “Meeting with the Mech Pilot, Stranded with the SOLIDER, Rendezvous with the Researcher.”

Okay, so they’re not all turk books, but that doesn’t matter. There’s a SOLDIER romance, you need it immediately. “They’re umm, explicit romance right?” you ask, voice a little bit lower.

The woman nods with a knowing smile. 

“Alright,” you just can’t help yourself, the girls plus Barret and Cid are going to have a ball with this. “I need the whole set.”

You turn back and look up at Vincent, who is staring down at you with a somewhat unreadable expression. He’s a little bit unimpressed, but still willing to put up with your antics, not quite sick of you yet. You look around the shop, noticing a small, empty lounge section at the back and a coffee shop type menu. “You wanna take a break?” you ask, gesturing to the couch and the menu. “We could read some of this now?”

His eyes widen slightly. 

“Aww, come on, it’ll be fun.” 

He tilts his head with a resigned sigh and a shake of his broad shoulders. “Coffee,” he grunts, turning with a swish of cape. He walks down to the couch and gracefully folds himself into it, sinking down into his cowl. 

You turn back to the woman. “Don’t mind him,” you reassure, continuing to chat with her as she leads you to the shelf with the rest of the series. 

You end up with five books that she assures you are ridiculously filthy and explicitly detailed. You’re so excited to share what you’ve found and curious about the SOLDIER book too, you wonder if you’ll be able to subtly ask Cloud any questions without him getting suspicious. The utter absurdity of that fact that you somehow know both a SOLDIER and a turk isn’t lost on you either.

You stand by the counter, waiting for the woman to make coffee, grinning from ear to ear. You’re excited to read some of this book with Vincent. He’s so reserved when it comes to sex, you think he’s going to end up being so embarrassed. You’re going to have so much fun with him. 

“He’s smitten with you, you know?” the woman says knowingly, pouring frothed milk into one of the cups. 

“Oh no,” you dismiss, waving your arm. “He’s just intense. He looks scary, but he’s really a sweetheart.” 

The woman shakes her head with a smile. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since he sat down.”

You sigh. “He’s probably just staring at my ass.”

The woman laughs as you turn back to face him, noticing his glowing eyes immediately darting away, like he’s just been caught staring. 

“I could find a novel where the main character looks a little bit more like him, if you’re interested,” she winks, sliding two cups towards you. 

You smile and shake your head. “I don’t need to read about it. I have the real thing.”

<hr>

You sit down next to Vincent, thigh pressed against his with your head resting against his red fabric covered golden shoulder. He gives you a moment to settle beside him before taking a large sip of his coffee. It’s still going to be far too hot for a normal person to drink, but it doesn’t bother him at all. You don't mind, you’re just happy every time he decides to eat or drink on his own accord. He holds the book open in front of you both with one large, gloved hand, looking down expectantly. You keep your voice pitched low as you read out loud. 

The first rule of the turks is that the company always comes first. I knew exactly what I was signing up for all those years ago and following that rule has never been a problem. I’ve done terrible things in the service of Shinra and none of it has ever bothered me, I don’t lose sleep at night. I had my life entirely planned out but now I’m not so sure. The company has been my only priority for as long as I can remember, but now there’s something else. I don’t understand why this woman makes me want to throw everything I’ve ever known away and venture out in the unknown but I can’t leave her behind. Her beautiful smile and the soft swell of her breasts call to me, I just can’t get them out of my head. I’m at an abandoned crossroads, lost and confused, and I don’t know which road I should walk down.

Vincent gives a small, amused huff behind you so you stop and look up at him expectantly. 

“Officially,” he says, voice rumbling through his chest. “The first rule of the turks is that the company always comes first, your orders always take priority. In practice though, there’s another rule.” He clears his throat and you watch as his face changes. He’s imitating a person you don’t think you’ve ever met before, and it’s so strange. “Wrap up your fucking cock you fucking degenerates,” he says in a rough, accented voice.

You laugh, caught completely off guard. Vincent is never vulgar like that. You wonder who he’s imitating, you wonder if you’ve ever heard of them.  

He smiles softly underneath his cowl. “It has been a single paragraph and this man appears to already be breaking both rules.”

You continue reading but it’s all introduction and you grow bored after a few pages. You stretch. “Let’s skip to the good stuff.” You take the book from Vincent’s hand and start to skim through the pages. 

Vincent takes a sip of his coffee and then reaches over, handing you your cup, giving you an unspoken message that it’s now cool enough for you to drink. You probably trust him too much, taking a sip without checking the temperature, it’s perfect of course, as you flick through the book, finally seeing the word cock jump out at you from one of the pages. 

Vincent takes the book, holding it open so you can continue. 

I knew I’d made a mistake but the disappointment in Tsong’s eyes still cut deep. I wanted to be good for him, I just wanted to make him proud, instead I’m pretty sure I just made everything worse. 

I stay silent as he slowly undoes his belt, pulling the buckle through the loops. My eyes fall to his crotch and the unmistakable bulge forming there. My breasts heave, swelling with anticipation and uncertainty.

“I am not a good person,” Tsong says, folding the belt over in his hand, gripping the buckle in his palm. “I have done horrific things, and I will continue to do them. I will hurt you. I will always hurt you, but I will do my best to soothe the sting afterwards.”

He pulls me over into his lap and I suddenly feel like a child again, caught stealing freshly baked cookies. My inner goddess trembles with anticipation. “You will count for me,” he growls, mere seconds before I feel that first bite of irresistible pain.

You continue reading about the man, Tsong, beating this poor woman’s ass first with his palm and then his belt, to which Vincent interjects with a deadpan, “that is definitely not a sanctioned use of the turk uniform.”

You had expected Vincent to be embarrassed, inwardly at least even if he didn’t show it, but instead he’s sitting back with a smug expression, enjoying himself. He thinks this is funny, you can’t believe it. The book isn’t really doing anything for you, reading out loud isn’t really sexy and you’ve skipped all the build up, so this scene just seems ridiculous, but you’re sitting next to Vincent, pressed against him and feeling the heat of his body while thinking about sex. You’re embarrassed that you’re not completely unaffected. 

You’re somewhat horrified as you continue reading about Tsong wrapping the belt around this poor woman’s neck and then using it as reigns while he fucks her brutally from behind. 

Vincent interjects again with a small shake of his head. “An actual turk would know better than to strangle someone they did not intend to kill.”

You look up at him, asking silently for more information. 

“The throat is sensitive, the muscles and organs delicate” His voice rumbles through his chest. “If any part is crushed even slightly, it is extremely difficult to recover from. There is an art to choking someone without causing harm.”

Your breathing quickens. There’s something wrong with you, but you think it’s because he’s so cagey about everything, that when he talks about things he knows about, about things he knows how to do, the effortless tone in his voice always affects you. You shouldn’t ask for more information, but he’s smiling and open and you need to take advantage of those moments. “How would you do it then?”

Vincent curls around you, red cloak shielding you from the outside world. He moves his head level with you, gaze boring into your own. You gasp, unable to help it as he brings his gloved hand gently up to your throat. You trust him more than anything, but your heart rate spikes and you swallow hard at the pressure as he grasps your skin between his thumb and forefingers. 

“You need to apply gentle pressure here,” he says quietly, deep voice curling around you as he digs his thumb carefully into your skin. “And here.” He presses his pointer finger in as well, the entirety of his large palm pressed against your throat. 

You feel suddenly lightheaded. You don’t know if it’s Vincent, or the pressure he’s putting on your throat. Your pulse is frantic, thrumming against where he’s pressed against you. You take a breath, you still can but it’s slightly more difficult than usual. He’s not pushing hard, his control is perfect and effortless. You trust him, you know he won’t hurt you, but he’s so fucking strong and he just casually has your entire life within his grasp. Your head spins, blood rushing downwards instead of to your brain. It’s like he’s cutting the supply off, maybe he is. 

He uses his grip on your throat to tilt your head upwards, leather creaking as you’re forced to move, he’s in complete control of you. You can feel the stretch of the skin at your throat, it’s somehow even more difficult to breathe like this. Everything is fuzzy, like you’re swimming. You imagine feeling like this, struggling to breathe while he holds you close and works you open on his cock. You wonder if he would do it if you asked. 

Vincent looks down at you with curiosity, head tilted to the side. You’re an open book and he can read you effortlessly. He’s worked out that you like this, but he doesn’t know what to think of it.

He leans down and kisses you, a gentle but passionate thing that steals what little air is left in your lungs. His hand at your throat holds you impossibly still, you’re completely at his mercy. Your entire world is spinning as he pulls away, your vision filled with the softness in his glowing gaze.  

He keeps his gaze on your face as he pulls back, eyes on your face, watching for any discomfort. Your face feels hot, eyes unfocused. You breathe deeply, expanding your lungs all the way while staring at him with wide eyes. 

“I would like to borrow these books,” he says eventually, breaking the silence. 

You swallow and nod, clearing your throat but it doesn’t help, you’re still not ready to speak. 

He hums and then leans closer to you. “Regain your composure,” he rumbles, leaning forwards to press a soft kiss to your forehead and then pulls away. You close your eyes, suddenly overwhelmed by the bright lights of the store. You’d almost forgotten that you were still in public. 

Vincent slides gently out from behind you and takes your cups, bringing them up to the counter and starting a conversation with the shop clerk. You focus on your breathing, watching the woman glance knowingly at you and smile. You duck your eyes, that’s way too much right now. You wonder what they’re talking about as she starts rummaging around underneath the counter. 

Vincent returns, and you can’t stop staring at the swing of his hips as he walks. He stops in front of you, cocking out his hip and dragging his gauntlet subtly upwards to outline the shape of his pelvis and the slightest hint of a bulge between his legs. You take a deep breath and avert your eyes, losing all of the composure you’d just struggled to regain. He liked it too. 

“We need more discrete covers,” he says and you look confused as he hands you a small dust jacket for a completely different book. That’s actually a good idea. “Are you feeling alright?” he asks softly, eyes sweeping over you. 

You nod, frustrated with how good he is at keeping his composure, considering how easily he falls apart at even the simplest touch. It might actually be a turk thing. He helps you stand, picking up all of the bags and keeping a hand gently on your lower back, steadying you as he leads you out of the shop and back to the rest of the group, knowing smile hidden beneath his cowl. 

[unhappytogekiss]

On Exposition

Exposition is hard. You should probably have some, lest your reader be very confused about what is going on. 

There is no correct way to do exposition, however nothing puts the reader off like bad exposition. Like all things in writing, you need to find your own style; and there are no hard rules. (see english teachers and the word said) 

Bad exposition 

Okay, so what does bad exposition look like? For me there’s three basic things to avoid 

Seven paragraphs full of worldbuilding at the beginning of the book. 

Putting an origin myth at the beginning of your writing may sound fun, but consider; what relevance does this have to the story you want to get going? Look at Tolkien, the og worldbuilding nerd with a very rich cosmos. He opens with Bilbo Baggins’s birthday party. 

Putting the above worldbuilding in dialogue 

So you’ve beaten the system. If a character just tells the reader all the worldbuilding, it’s part of the story, right? Well it’s going to have the same effect as point one, you’ve just put quotation marks around it. Think back to any bad fantasy film; except someone’s going to be reading it rather than listening to it which is harder on the eyes.

Proper nouns

If you introduce your character as Gawain, slayer of the great Horant, Marshal of castle Egmont, in service to the Duck and the Olympic Lancer no one has a clue what you’re on about. Equally, if your character opens with something like; ‘The Lemon Night is nigh.’ we need that explained. 

Good exposition 

But you’re an experienced writer, you know what bad exposition looks like. You probably didn’t even read all that nonsense I wrote above. 

So, how do we improve our exposition?

Good expository dialogue 

As previously discussed on this blog, storytelling is all about character. If you’re going to have your character give expository dialogue; disguise it with purpose. Why is your character saying this line? Does it tell us something about their personality? Are they reacting to something that’s already happened and we now have a basis for how they act? Are they teaching someone that doesn’t know about the setting, but in a way that shows us how they feel about the matters discussed? (I try to avoid a bland discussion of the facts) Are they having an argument and reiterating the facts because they think the other person hasn’t understood them? 

We can learn a lot about a person from the way they react to things, and that means you don’t need to state it outright. 

Yes you do need some exposition from the narrator too

When you start your creative writing piece, make sure that you explain whatever is necessary for the plot to make sense. If you’d put it on the blurb or you mention it when explaining the work to someone else, it needs to be in the first few pages. 

But that doesn’t mean it needs to be dry. Who is your narrator? What do they think about this information, how would they describe it to the reader? Are they unreliable? Is the same information going to be recapped by a different person later and the differences between the two tell us about character?

I often associate it with an action that character is taking; instead of just saying it outright. 

Proper nouns

Unless the proper noun is very obvious eg “Wind Mage” then just explain it. You’re not being mysterious and cool, people are just confused. (If not knowing what the proper noun is is the whole mystery of the plot, you are excused, but this needs to be communicated to the reader) 

An example

This isn’t the most perfect example of exposition ever, but it’s from my own work and I’d like to share it. 

For context (because I’m not posting the entire chapter): Des has just received a newspaper article about a stone circle being damaged.

“It was getting dark by the time I made it to Cambridge. With Alfie Burton standing in the middle of a University courtyard.  ‘Des,’ He said. ‘What do you know?’ ‘Have you seen the article?’ He scowled. ‘Of course I’ve seen the article. I was wondering if you had anything mystical to add.’  ‘None of us have sensed anything.’ I retorted. ‘I was wondering if she’d contacted you, or you knew-’  ‘Yeah, right.’ Alfie said. ‘My sister’s dead, Des. The thing that’s come out of the Other Realm isn’t her.’  ‘And if I need your help?’ ‘I’m not one of your little minions.’ He said. ‘I’m not marked, I don’t have magic. But obviously, if I can help, I will.’ ‘I apologise for wasting your time.’  ‘You didn’t.’ Alfie sighed. ‘Look, we all know this is fucked. If you hear anything, mystical or not, let me know. And I’ll do the same if the police or something turn up.’   ‘Thanks Alfie.’ I said.  He hugged me. ‘We’re all after the same thing. Look after yourself, Des.’  Athelhurst wasn’t far from Cambridge. I went up to the stones by myself, even if they were unsettling in the dark. I shone my phone’s torch over the monoliths, the drifting police tape. All twelve of them fanned outward like the rays in a child’s drawing of a sun.  I could almost taste the magic in the air. The seal had been shattered, the stones no longer held him back, but marked a boundary between worlds. And across that boundary a very powerful and angry Fair Folk king waited.  ‘Fuck you.’ I swore. It didn’t make me feel any better.”

What have we learnt from this?

Important plot:

Alfie’s sister is trapped in another dimension and is now back. 

Said dimension is not a pleasant place and she’ll come back different in some way

This is likely due to the Fae that rules this dimension 

This Fair Folk King was sealed in the other realm, but now that seal is broken. 

Character development 

Des is magical and Alfie is not  

There are other magical people and Des is in charge of them

Alfie and Des are friends, even if he’s annoyed at her

Des is worried about the above seal being broken 

Alfie works at a university and is therefore likely intelligent 

How has this been conveyed? 

Through a short conversation and a character describing one of their actions. The Other Realm is a proper noun, but it’s explained a paragraph later. 

Conclusion 

I’m not the best writer in the world, and I’m not going to pretend I am. I struggle with exposition all the time. All writing rules are more guidelines than anything else and the best way to develop your style is to keep writing. You will get better and you’ll have fun doing it.

[sturniolo04]

i’ve got a request!! nick and the triplets’ little sister (y/n) go to a billie eilish concert and she sobs her ass of during TV and nick comforts her!!

A/n:  ofc! I absolutely love these requests I have coming in, you guys are amazing!! I made it into a small blurb I hope you love it! And remember to leave requests in my inbox! If you don’t like the pre added name in my works you can simply put in your own or don’t read it, it up to you :)-Charli

Dividers: @issysh3ll

You couldn’t believe Nick had scored concert tickets to Billie Eillish and surprised you with them for your 20th birthday! You and Nick had always had a close bond because you guys just seemed to like the same things. Same style. Same foods. And same music hence the concert you were now on your way to with him and Madison Beer.

“Ahh I’m so excited”

You squeal as Madison giggles at your excitement as you all are in the Uber heading to the venue. You and Madison decided to go with a matching concert fits

“It should be fun”

Nick chuckles out as you guys pull up to the venue hopping out of the car.

The concert was everything you could have ever dreamed of. Being there with your brother and your best friend made you extremely emotional and sentimental about everything you have in your life and how blessed you were. As you were nearing the half way point of the concert the intro to TV  started playing and that was one of your favorite songs you never expected to have the reaction you did but all the emotions and feelings must have gotten to you.

“And I will be in denial for at least another while”

You scream/sob out the lyrics and that’s when everything hit you all at once you immediately leaned your face in your hands sobbing.

“Are you crying”

Nick questions loudly dude to the volume in the venue. When he didn’t get a response he knew you were. He immediately starts to console her by leaning his head on top of yours.

“Aww bae”

Madison coos out leaning her head on your shoulder. You guys continue to sway to the song.

“I love you guys so much’

You sob out honestly grabbing each of their free hands squeezing them lovingly and sincerely.

“We love you too”

Nick replies leaving a soft kiss in your hair.

"so so much"

Madison adds on mimicking Nick's actions as well.

Taglist

@mintsturniolo @spicymuffins03 @dirtylittleheart333

@stayingstromboli @wh0resstuff @ksturnz @chaoswithus @emely9274 @ivysturnss @sturniolo-szn2 @lezleeferguson-120 @courta13 @chrepsi

[cumulo-stratus]

01- Lover

pairing- Spencer Reid x Male!reader summary- slow burn story of how spencer reid fell in love with Y/n L/n warnings- profanities, some arguing, lemme know if theres anything else! wc- 2k

a/n- Guys!! im so excited about this idea, orginally it was going to be short blurbs for each time all in one fic but i got carried away and its turned into a series now. And i know im still a little behind on Flufftober ficus but i needed to take a break from writing things to fit a prompt, i was feeling kinda creatively burnt out from it so i just wanted to write something off the top of my head and the song came on my headphones and then i blacked out and here we are lmao, hope you like it! (P.S. so much credit to @avis-writeshq for the inspo around some of it , totally a great writer and you should totally go check them out!)

Notes: (E/C) = Eye color | (H/T) = hair type (curly, wavy, thick, thin etc.)

part 1//part 2

spencer stepped onto the same train he took every morning; the green line for 5 stops, and the red line for 1 after that. Spencer prefers his first leg of the journey though- but thats only because of The Boy. Who’s The Boy, you ask? Well, The Boy is a man on the train, and this man on the train spencer had seen everyday for last 6 months. everyday, 1 stop after spencer gets on The Boy would get on. He would sit in the same seat near the back, put his olive green backpack between his legs, and put his headphones in his ears. he would sit, one leg crossed over the other and read anything from Poe to Austen.

Spencer always stared, now to be fair The Boy was very naturally handsome. He had striking (E/C) eyes, and (H/T) hair. His style often resembled spencers, slacks and button ups with cardigans and sweater vests, The Boy tended to lean towards more bright colors ad fun patterns then spencer.

Today, spencer noticed he had started a new book; A Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe. Yesterday he had been reading a book on the history of witch craft, spencer thought it went well with the the witch hats and black cats on his knitted sweater, very fitting for October he may add.

And once again spencer was staring (nothing out of the ordinary) but today The Boy looked up at just the right time and caught spencer in the act. He immediately looked down, blushing profusely. But if he had looked back for another second spencer wouldve seen The boys sly smirk, and the slight tinge of warmth on his cheeks. Spencer decided the best possible course of action was to pretend nothing had happened and bury his silent admiration of the mystery boy on the train. But that plan was thrown completely out the window when The mystery boy got up from his seat, picked up his bag and plopped down next to spencer in an open plastic seat. Because little did spencer know but The Boy had done his own fair share of staring at spencer from afar, admiring his natural beauty and book choice. He had been toying with the notion of finally approaching this mystery man, and this was the final push he needed to approach spencer.

“so, you like Poes works?”

spencer looked up to find The Boy looking at him expectedly with a friendly smile. The same boy he had fantasized over for almost 6 months but never even thought of approaching, had just walked up to him and started a conversation.

spencers mind was reeling, to say the least.

but he still managed to squeak out “Yes, he’s one of my favorites” But add in a dash of stuttering and blushing. What can i say? It was an awkward interaction for and awkward guy. But this didnt deter The Boy, who then lit up at spencers words (which also caught spencer off guard and left him reeling for a moment) and said “Me too! but my favorite has to be ‘Annabel Lee’, everyone thinks its the documentation of a man going insane over his obsession with a girl named Annabel Lee. But i personally think its just a guy who’s madly in love, and people are a little jealous of the pure, intense type of love that Poe was writing about..” The boy looked down and blushed, trailing off. spencer looked at him confused and with a surge of confidence said “what-?” with confusion. The boy looked back up, almost surprised at spencers words, at spencers encouragement. This said encouragement gave him the confidence needed to say “im sorry, i realized i was rambling to a stranger on the train and i didnt even introduce myself; Im dr. Y/n L/n, whats your name? Spencer chuckled to himself at how who he now knew as Y/n, managed to say so many words in so little time. “I also have a habit of talking too fast when im nervous, sorry about that” Y/n added, taking care to speak at a slower pace. Spencer didnt mind it and was mostly focused on the fact that Y/n was nervous, did spencer make Y/n nervous? but he wasnt caught up in his thoughts for too long and remembered to respond to Y/ns question “its okay, i ramble a lot too, i dont mind. And im spencer. Dr. Spencer reid-“ spencer cut himself off to finally look at y/n before continuing- “but im not a medical doctor, I have doctorates in Math, Chemistry and Engineering.”

Y/n had an almost proud smile on his face, And said “wow, smart cookie!” his tone was joking of course but spencer still blushed profusely, despite his many attempts to stop it. Y/n continued, not noticing spencers flushed state, much to spencer’s relief. “Im not a medical doctor either though, i have PHDs in both math and physics. I always thought i was above average, but ive been outdone!” Y/ns tone was joking as he said it.

They continued their introductory conversation for another couple minutes when Spencer, in an effort to keep the conversation going, had asked what Y/n was listening to.

“im listening to Ours, by taylor swift, and im not a swiftie, im a taylor swift enjoyer.” Y/n said with a definitive tone. But spencer only looked at Y/n with confusion written across his features. “Whats a- swiftie…?” spencer asked. Y/ns faced seemed to almost drain of color at this statement. “Whats a swiftie?!” his tone was incredulous, as if spencer had committed some heinous act, which he was pretty sure he hadn’t. “swifties are people who thoroughly enjoy the music of none other than the greatest pop musician of all time!” spencer was a little embarrassed, he didnt want to miss out on something Y/n enjoyed so he held his hand out and asked, “maybe i could listen to it with you, and learn about her music?” Y/n grinned at the idea, and handed spencer one of his airpods and restarted the song.

and so for the rest of their train ride, they listened Y/n’s taylor swift playlist. But After hearing Ours, it remained his favorite.

And so, for the next few weeks it continued on like this. Y/n would get on the train at spencers first stop, and B-line straight to the back of the train where spencer had saved a seat for him. And then they would sit and talk, about anything from literature, to art, to science. But one thing always remained; Taylor Swift. Everyday Y/n would have a new collection of song for him to listen to on his airpods as they talked. But Ours still remained his ever favorite, although Cardigan and Willow were close seconds.

Today, however, was different. Today, after much encouragement and much teasing, spencer was going to ask Y/n out. His team couldnt deal with anymore gushing about Y/n, the guy from the train.

spencer waited impatiently for Y/n to step onto the train at his stop. He almost missed and almost ran into at least 2 people on the way to his seat. Y/n plopped down into his seat breathlessly and started his normal routine of pulling out his airpods and queuing up the music. But he was stopped in his tracks, the airpod he was about to offer to spencer, when the latter blurted out “Hey would you maybe wanna go get coffee with me on Saturday afternoon at perfectos?” Spencer had spoken so fast Y/n barely caught it. But he was amazed at spencers attention to detail. Y/n had never even told him he liked perfectos cafe (he was of the firm belief that they made the best coffee in DC). He had just walked in with a cup of coffee from them almost everyday. It made his heart swell at the gesture, and his cheeks redden at spencers question.

that reminded Y/n to answer, instead of just sitting there wide eyed like a deer in headlights. And said; “i’d love that spencer, thank you”

spencer had been so caught up in his thoughts, and worries over the words that had just spilled from his lips moments ago that he was caught off guard at Y/n’s positive response. They both beefed at each other like children for the rest of the ride until Y/n got off, and not even when spencer arrived for work could he wipe the smile off his face, much to the delight of Morgan and JJ.

To Be Continued…

[wuxiaphoenix]

After-Action Report

Well. That was... distinctly underwhelming.

Long story short, I have a feeling somewhat like getting an invitation to “show up in your best to represent Fantasy!” And turning up in a Shen Qingqiu cosplay. To find everyone else wearing white tie.

I mean, nobody was rude (almost nobody was rude), but they apparently didn’t know what to do with me.

I didn’t have hopes of wild sales-

(Well, actually, I hoped I’d sell everything and not have to carry anything home. I just didn’t expect that.)

-But one book? I... am apparently not in the right market, here.

So. What I saw of other authors and artists.

There was one therapist with a self-help book who spent all the time on her phone. A painter who also did beaded necklaces. A maker of handmade bookbags who also hand-binds blank books for sketches and journaling.

(I took a wistful look - but I know what kind of abuse I put my book-carrying bags through, and those were not going to cut it.)

A ceramic artist who also worked with oyster shell and drops of resin “water”. A jewelry artist in dichroic glass. And two mystery writers, one of whom had also written a couple of local biographies, the other a fantasy cookbook, neither of whom seemed to have a firm hand on covers or formatting. I mean, a picture of a dune at sunset, while nice, does not exactly say “murder mystery” and a compass on a map is definitely not what I’d pick for a cookbook. And font style changes from one chapter to the next... moving on.

Mine was not the most elaborate table; the mystery writer with cookbook had a cloth cover with a blurb and a web address on the front. But I think I looked reasonably professional.

Over the course of the day I got about three polite “oh, just looking,” a few more who passed by and said they had lovely covers, and one jerk who wanted the books for free because they were in a library. I told him he could borrow ones already in the library system. Oy.

The library provided some sandwiches and drinks. I abstained, allergies, but my roommate who covered the table while I grabbed my own lunch at least got a free lunch out of it.

I think this event could have been planned better. Of course, no one could have counted on rain and later thunderstorms; that definitely cut down on how many people hit the library on a Friday. But just about anyone could have predicted that an event just before Mother’s Day might not get the attention it would on a non-holiday weekend.

And it wasn’t well advertised; my roommate saw a flyer in the library itself or I’d never have known it was happening. And the way they set it up with tables scattered across three separate rooms, one of them a little study room tucked away behind everything - it wasn’t foot traffic or vendor friendly.

...And when I say “not well advertised” I mean the vast majority of the people who did show up at the library were obviously and often obnoxiously bewildered about What the Heck was going on.

(At least once stronger language was used than that. One guy wanted a table to work on his computer when the artists and authors had most of them... let’s just say he soured the atmosphere enough that the painter, who was nearest to him, gave up and left a little after 1 PM. At which point he took her table... and then moved to a smaller table that had had no artists at it an hour later.)

One of the things that got to me was trying to circulate and exchange a few words with the other authors... and the two who’d even talk to me said, individually, that of course they didn’t write for money....

What. Why. I mean, yes, even if I weren’t getting paid, I’d still write, my brain’s broken that way. But I sure as heck wouldn’t go to the time and expense and sheer unmitigated frustration of formatting, getting a book cover, dealing with the Library of Congress, etc., etc., argh.

I would love to be in a financial situation where I didn’t have to get paid. Who wouldn’t? But darn right I do it for money. As well as fun. And indulging all the Mad Wizard cackling and suspicious homicides that’d get you in so much trouble in real life.

Well. Chalking this up to market research. Obviously, wherever the market is, it wasn’t there.

I did get a couple more pages of Tactical written. Now that’ll be tricky to get a cover for, when I get that far. A western fantasy-style ranger and a Chinese beauty with supernatural white hair... and I need to get more setting details in my head, to figure out what’d be a good background!

[wevelocityteampresents-blog]

Pokémon Pocket Monsters XY Volume 1 - Chapter 12

Clefairy attempts to prove to Red that he is capable of undergoing Mega Evolution.

From what I've seen from these last 3 chapters, Conkeldurr has been noticeably absent from them. He never shows up anywhere and isn't mentioned by Red or any of the other characters. In chapter 1, it was stated that Conkeldurr took a vacation from Red, Clefairy, and Pikachu. But we've already established that the events in every chapter occur in the order the chapters were published. So, which is it?

I'm not even going to complain about the lack of Mega Evolution and how much of a missed opportunity it was for Green to come back and demonstrate it with his Charizard. I'm also not going to talk about how Professor Sycamore is barely in this chapter and is only used to move the story along. At this point, I've come to expect these things from this saga.

When I first saw the last few pages, I thought there would have been some weird parody involving action manga like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure or Fist of the North Star. But no, Clefairy turns into a giant and becomes even stranger than usual. I guess it's funnier to cram wacky facial expressions in each panel as much as possible instead of pun-based writing or well-timed slapstick.

And that's the problem with this chapter. (And this saga as a whole) There are only a few parts in each chapter that are actually funny. Most of the time, Anakubo focuses too much on the manga's art and draws crazy expressions to keep the reader's attention. It's clear that he wanted the manga to shift towards a more visual style of comedy instead of sticking to what worked for it beforehand. As a result of this change in humor, the stories and writing face a massive drop in quality and begin to feel like a chore to read.

To sum it up, "Clefairy's Mega Evolving?!", despite having some good comedic moments here and there, is overly flawed in its premise and continuously misses out on plot points or writing that could have easily benefitted the chapter.

It's amazing how both of the longest-running Pokémon manga have such terrible takes on the XY series. Pokémon Adventures XY is so dark and depressing that it makes the manga come off as unnecessarily edgy and cruel, while Pokémon Pocket Monsters XY tries way too hard to be funny to the point where it isn't funny anymore. The writing and presentation of both manga only reinforce what fans and casual observers want you to remember Pokémon Adventures and Pokémon Pocket Monsters as. Dramatic thrillers that only older audiences can appreciate and a series of nonsensical jokes that are of no value to anyone. Personally, I think they deserve better than that.

At this point, you should just play the video games or watch the TV show. They have more quality going into them and provide some sort of fun that's surprisingly absent from both Pokémon Adventures and Pokémon Pocket Monsters. They're also a lot more coherent. So there's more time for the writing to naturally flow and for the writers to do more with the characters and their world. Believe me when I say the games and anime run laps around these manga for days when it comes to the XY series.

That was Pokémon Pocket Monsters XY. (As far as I'm concerned.) Can I admit that I didn't like reading through this saga? While it starts off a bit strangely, there still was some excitement with Red going on another adventure in the Kalos region. But as the volume goes on, you come to realize that this barely has anything to do with the X and Y versions. And by the time that it does, it's already too late to gauge any interest in readers.

Let's reread that blurb:

Popular Pokémon are showing up one after another.

You mean Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, and Dedenne? Besides those guys, those are the only Kalos Pokémon that show up in this volume. And when it comes to popular Pokémon, I'm sure Throh and Tranquill might be someone's favorite Pokémon, but they could hardly even count as popular. Besides that, Pokémon aren't even focused on that much. It's usually just about pop idols or students and staff at a school. (Remember when we used to get at least one new Pokémon per chapter? I sure do.)

I don't think I'd be lying when I say Pokémon Pocket Monsters XY is the low point for the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga. There's not much to come back to. And if there is, it's probably for small amounts of jokes that are actually funny. Even if that bit near the end of "Clefairy's Mega Evolving?!" actually did end on a cliffhanger, I don't think I'd spend any money on future volumes. And from what I've seen while trying to work on this volume, that might be an opinion shared by others.

Volumes 2 and 3 don't have any info written on them besides release dates. Note even a blurb that suggests a noteworthy event happened in the volume. It gets even worse with volumes 4 and 5.

Volumes 4 and 5 don't have any pages written for them at all. Not even a tiny stub article like what you can see with the chapters from volume 1. It's almost as if this saga of Pokémon Pocket Monsters was so bad, so forgettable, that the few people interested in the manga just dropped it after going through the first volume. And from what I've seen, this is a common trend with future sagas in this manga. It's a shame if you ask me because while these chapters are bad, it's still important to archive information on them as they're still part of the first Pokémon manga ever to reach the public.

The Sun and Moon series is up next. And from what I've seen of it so far, it seems to be a bit of an improvement from what I've had to endure with Pokémon Pocket Monsters XY. So, stay tuned to find out how the manga adapts the world and characters of the big 20th-anniversary titles.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES

On pages 3 and 4, Clefairy makes a lot of puns based on the Japanese term for Mega Evolution, "Mega Shinka" (メガ進化).

The first panel contains the word "芽". Which is "bud" as in a flower bud.

The second panel has "爪", which means "nail".

The third panel makes use of "はじめ". Which is "begin".

And the last panel uses "ヨメ". Which is a term used for soon-to-be or newly wed women.

[lenorethequietbookkeeper]

Are there any celebrities you feel come close to face claims for any of the zop cast

Honestly I used to be hesitant about associating my OCs with IRL people but I do wanna give this a whack cause it 1. actually got me thinking in a /POS way, and 2. could be useful for improving my art style in the facial features department. Btw this will have to be split into two posts cause of Tumblr's stupid image limit.

Also my dumbass closed the app after I finished writing my blurbs on why I went with my

---

Sylvain- Kade Gottlieb/Gottmik

-Both have goth aesthetics (yes that was a factor for me here)

-Pretty close to the facial structure I imagine Sylvain having

-Gottmik literally paints her face white most of the time CMON ITS DESTINY

---

Aldin- ScarnonCunce

-Masculine with a slight emphasis on wrinkles

-Decently expressive in the eyes and face

-Fun fact: I actually use this guy's Australian dub vids to help write Aldin's dialogue

---

Charles- Max Huang

-Not a guy I'm familiar with admittedly

-Mainly picked him cause he's average looking/not super chiseled

-Though I will say him being in a lot of action movies kinda cemented him as my pick

---

Ferris- Dylan Alvarez/Funny Man

-Yeah I know picking a guy from Hollywood Undead for this seems lazy

-*Todd Howard voice* But it just works

-Has a roundness to the face but also a kinda strong side profile

[chloesolace]

Book Review: "Tender is the Flesh" by Agustina Bazterrica

Spoiler-free

Genre: dystopian, science fiction, psychological • Word Count: 62k • Triggers: extreme gore, cannibalism, animal cruelty, uncomfortable sexual scenes?? • Year of Publication: 2017

Plot: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★

Writing Style: ★★★

Re-Readability: ★

all my reviews - blog navigation

General Thoughts

In a world where a virus has made all contact with animals dangerous to humans, cannibalism has been legalized and institutionalized as a means to survive.

This premise sounds extremely promising for a work that aims to criticize not only society but human nature as whole, and offers a unique setting for an interesting novel.

I like to think of myself as someone who is not easily shocked. This book shocked me. Saw is one of my favorite franchises, so is The Silence of the Lambs series. I consume horror and gore on a daily basis, however this book did something to me that made me put it down multiple times. I found myself unable to continue it until I finally finished it a few days ago. I left it on my bookshelf untouched for a few months since I started reading it. But let's get into the detailed ratings.

Plot

I like the plot, a lot. I gave it five stars because it is unique, it is thought-provoking, and it is controversial. I have never read anything like it before and most likely never will, and that alone is interesting and worth quite a few stars to me. It challenges the authority we have given ourselves over animals. I am not vegan, I am not even vegetarian, but that book almost turned me into one. It is not a book that you pick up and read while humming to yourself by the pool with the sun shining above you and birds chirping around you. Let's look at the blurb.

"Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved."

Going into it, I knew it would be graphic from what I had already read about the book, but I never would have imagined just how graphic it would get. All the processing that is done is described in greatest detail, and the dehumanizing name - "heads" - used for the people that are being slaughtered makes it all the more uncomfortable. Marcos, our protagonist who works at one of these processing plants, is then gifted a female head, one born in one of the breeding centers. He does not kill her, though. Instead, he begins an affair with her, which is one of the worst crimes one could commit in this society. The narration treats 'Jasmine' - as he later calls her - like an animal, using verbs and adjectives one might not necessarily use to describe human action. It is Marcos who humanizes her, in a way, giving the novel hope for a happy ending despite the fact you can already guess how this story will conclude.

Marcos was married before to a woman named Cecilia, but after their child passed away as a baby they went their own ways. The death of his son weighs heavy on Marcos, and in Jasmine he sees a second chance at being a father; she becomes pregnant.

It is the ending that shocked me. This is a spoiler-free review, so I only aim to give you guys recommendations for books without taking away all the fun, so I won't get into it more. However, it is an ending that leaves the reader sitting in silence, staring at the pages and thinking to themselves "what the hell even happened here?"

Characters

Marcos is written to be quite human and realistic, with many flaws which made him both unlikeable and at times unbearable. Except that one time when he played with some puppies he found, because I would have done the same, to be honest. Dangerous virus be damned.

There is not a single character in this book I would consider good-natured on a moral scale, but perhaps it is exactly what makes it so engaging to read. The characters in the book serve as a substitute for animals not only in the meat industry; an animal's prime aim is to secure the preservation of its own species. Marcos is doing exactly that, both biologically and socially.

One of the most important settings in the novel is an abandoned zoo, yet it almost feels like the characters in the book are the zoo animals themselves, and the reader is observing them destroy each other. I did not like the characters, but I did not have to like them to enjoy the story for what it is.

Writing Style

Now, before I get into this, I would like to say that I acknowledge that every writer has a different writing style and that it is entirely subjective whether I like it or not. Personally, I like descriptive, sometimes even a bit flowery prose with long sentences. But this would have been out of place for this book.

The sentences are direct and straight to the point. There is nothing hidden behind metaphors, it is exactly like the processing farm portrayed: honest, raw, and uncensored.

It is not my favorite style of writing, hence the missing two stars, but for the type of novel this is, it is more than fitting.

Re-Readability

For this point, I simply have to say this is not a novel I will ever re-read. Reading it once has left enough of an impression to let it stay on my bookshelf and never touch it again. For me it is too uncomfortable and too disturbing to do so. Still, it has left a huge mark on me and I will most likely be thinking about this book for quite a while. The one star is by no means intended to be negative.

Conclusion

All in all, I would say if you're a horror fan or a fan of stories that criticize society, this is the book for you. However, do keep the trigger warnings and extreme graphic descriptions in mind when choosing to read it. And perhaps do not have that steak beforehand.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3/5

Book Blurb:

From the award nominated author of Bluebird comes a tale of seduction, sadism, and survival featuring malevolent vampires and a locked-room escape adventure… Perfect for fans of Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. Locked in a castle with a clan of devious vampires, one woman is caught in a literal fight for her life. Vampires have always fascinated Kazan Korvic, so much so that she’s made it her life’s work to craft weapons designed solely to kill them. But when she is attacked and captured by an entire clan, Kazan’s fascination turns ferocious.

In their Citadel, Kazan is forced to attend the Vampire Court where she must act as their Queen. She is told that she will be waited-and-doted upon, until the end of her reign in three days’ time. Then, an extravagant and lavish feast will be held… where the vampires will consume their newly crowned Queen.

Desperate and afraid, Kazan finds no allies in the castle except for a pair of distractingly alluring vampires who seem sympathetic to her plight. But as she devises her escape plan, she comes to realise that she is not the only one who is trapped, and no one is prepared for how far she’s willing to go to survive…

Review:

Poly bisexual vampires and a human blacksmith all come together in this locked castle mystery steeped in survival, lies, and blood. Kazan Korvis is as skilled a blacksmith as she is a liar. When her latest trip to sell her new deadly blade has her crossing paths with the handsome and charming vampire Adrius... and a bit of kissing before they part ways. Too bad for Kazan she ends up in the cross hairs of a vampire party on the hunt for a human... and Adrius is the one who brings her in. Kazan has been chosen as the new Queen and taken to the vampire Citadel where she will be spoiled and doted upon for three days by the Vampire Court before being feasted on by them. Kazan is completely trapped inside but is determined to find a way out. Trapped inside a castle with vampires watching her every movement she'll have to use her wits, her lies, and her charm to find a way out. The only people she can ask for help from are Reya, a gorgeous vampire who can shape shift into a black cat and Adrius, the outcasted and feared vampire... and they both happen to be lovers with a plan of their own for wanting to steal Kazan's sword and work with her... apart from wanting her for themselves. Can Kazan find a way to escape and to trust both Reya and Adrius or will she lie her way and destroy everything? So this was definitely an interesting read, it starts off fast and has such an interesting premise and I am absolutely a sucker for a bisexual poly vampire thrupple. The ending just kind of felt lacking and Kazan honestly got on my nerves. Like what was the point of all her actions for her to only go : well I guess nothing matters and I don't really care anymore, also wait I do want to go be part of the vampire thrupple??? SERIOUSLY??? I initially enjoyed the thrupple dynamic but Kazan kind of ruined it for me and if I'm being honest, I definitely wouldn't Kazan to be part of the thrupple, it just doesn't feel like she deserves it anymore and that both Reya and Adrius would be so much better off without her after she not only ruined all their plans, stole Adrius's revenge, destroyed Reya's inheritance ... and all for nothing. Seriously, she is not the one to be welcoming into your thrupple is all I'm saying. Despite that, I loved Ciel's writing style and the story is fast moving and hooks you in. So while I didn't particularly vibe with the ending or the main character, I did have fun reading this and will absolutely be reading more from Ciel Pierlot in the future!

Release Date: June 25, 2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Angry Robot for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[dragonladies]

How does Mushroom describe Val in his narration? And Archmaester Gyldayn? It would make a good epilogue, a F&B-style narrated chapter.

ooh this is fun

septon eustace wouldn’t like her, just like he doesn’t like rhaenyra. he would have a lot of unsavoury things to say about her probs. would brand her a whore for breaking her betrothal with kermit and wouldn’t ever let that go

mushroom is probably more favourable towards her. i think his fondness toward rhaenyra extends over her children in general, he doesn’t really make up rumours or stories about them (negative stories at least. i don’t have my copy of fire and blood handy atm but off the top of my head really the only time mushroom is mentioned for the strong boys is when he claims that he helped jace come up w the sowing) so he paints her in a positive light. i do think he would sprinkle in some crazy mushroom-esque tales here and there. maybe he would be the one to write the most about her more questionable actions like the spoilery thing she asks senelle to do so gyldayn raises an eyebrow toward it. he probably describes her with some sick ass line like he does for aly and sab (“fond of killing men and kissing women” SABITHA FREY YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS TO MEEEE)

munkun is harder for me to pin down. i think he does still lean green but he’s more neutral than eustace. tho again i dont have my copy to reference so i could be misremembering. but he did serve as grand maester under aeg3 all through his regency so i dont really see him as being like. vehemently against rhaenyra but he also doesnt want baela or rhaena to be named as aeg3’s heirs bc they’re women and he also supports a lot of unwin peake’s appointments so he’s not. stellar. that said i think he’s the source who would interact with val most directly so he’s probably the most reliable source when it comes to her esp her character after the dance

overall i think gyldayn would describe her similarly to how he treats the strong boys. but also lbr i dont think she would be mentioned all that much in gyldayn’s work if she was a canon character. i think a lot of her actions during the dance are either erased or given to the men in the historical record and she’d probably get like. a paragraph devoted to her. (something along the lines of “rhaenyra’s only daughter was sent to the riverlands on a marriage pact at a young age. she was fostered with the tullys, but broke the betrothal and eloped with the lord of raventree hall at the outbreak of the war. oh also she was around for some other stuff i guess 😒” and maesters would diminish her participation in battles. she doesn’t kill any major players so the historical record probably wouldn’t even mention she was there. gyldayn would probably assume that she was just following along with the riverlanders but not participating in battles)

i don’t have any plans for an epilogue rn but who knows when i actually get to that point. i did really enjoy writing a ‘historical text’ style prologue for firehawk, and a wip for a different oc starts each chapter with a blurb from ‘historical texts’ and those are fun so. we’ll see!!

[tiny-feisty-gay]

@lenfer-incarnadine first of all, i'm so glad you like it! vaggie and charlie matching makes me so happy tbh, like, they already are matchy in the show and i feel like the early days where there were just little hints of it must have been so cute. thank you so much! <3

as for the writing part, god, i wish had magical writing secrets. writing a lot in one sitting is exhausting, albeit fun, and quantity doesn't always equal quality. this happened to be a very long bit because i hit a stride partway through, but i also wrote and rewrote chapter eleven four? five? times before i hit that stride.

so, with that said:

Don't be afraid to start over. I use Scrivener because it's really easy to move paragraphs, blurbs or entire scenes into a folder and out of the main text body, but you can mimic that by just making a new document(s) for those cut words if, like me, you would rather saw off your own arm than actually delete words. If something isn't working, you've already walked away from it to let it rest, and it still doesn't work... go back to where it was working and start over. Trust me, wrestling an uncooperative scene into submission is a whole lot harder than accepting that the foundation is bad and rebuilding it. Nuking the words you're struggling with gives you a blank slate to start from, and another chance at catching that elusive writing stride.

This works for my brand of neurodivergence but your mileage may vary: track your progress, whether that's by words written or time spent writing. Personally, word count is more reinforcing to me, so I track words written. I have a GDoc spreadsheet dedicated just to word tracking, which I update at the end of each day and then tally up at the end of the month. It's a really good way to get that "ah, finished!" feeling even if you're still in the middle of a project.

Specifically for writing "lots of words", first decide if your scene needs a lot of words. Action scenes tend to need less and do better with short sentences and sparse internal dialogue, whereas emotional and introspective scenes do better with longer sentences, descriptive language, and more sensory detail. I write a lot of internal stream-of-consciousness style stuff, so my word counts tend to go higher than someone who focuses primarily on action might.

Writing a lot of words is at least partly down to consistency, and the best way to tackle consistency is to find what works for you. For me, it's listening to some music and carving out time (usually at night, when I'm most productive) to write. Whether I write 50 or 5000 words, they get added to the spreadsheet all the same, I brag to friends about them all the same, and I'm proud of myself for getting them done all the same. I know it's easier said than done, but mindset is everything with writing and self-deprecation/guilting yourself will kill creativity faster than anything else.

Lastly: having a friend group of other writers changed my ability to write entirely, and I'm not exaggerating at all. I also write original fiction and most of our conversations revolve around our novels, but finding a group (for me, it's a small discord server) where you can bounce ideas and workshop wording and just gush about what you're working on it so helpful.

Writing a lot is less about the writing itself, and more about removing as many barriers as possible that might stand in your way. Things like doubt, demotivation, distractions, and isolation. Writers tend to be a pretty introverted bunch so the isolation part is, in my opinion, one of the most important.

Also: basic self care. Food, water, cleanliness. And if you're struggling to get those basics done? Decide whether you can handle writing at all, or if trying to force it will just make you feel worse. There's no shame in taking breaks; nobody (including the great writers of history, yes I will die on that hill) can write every single day without faltering. Nobody should force themself to write every single day without faltering. Pick something reasonable, stick to it as much as possible, and give yourself enough grace to be flexible on it.

Forgiveness of self goes a long way for writers.

Idk if any of this was helpful but I couldn't really answer the question directly since it's a lot more than that, but I hope some of this gave you some ideas <3

"surely this will be a normal length chapter"

~six thousand words later~

[slasherbvnnie]

Hi sorry for disturbing I love your writing style and I love your work ☺️ I was wondering if I could make a request for poly ghostface billy Loomis X reader X Stu macher where the reader gets jealous of their boyfriends because their are these girls that flirt with Billy and stu and the reader starts to ignore both of them and they both sneak into the reader house or workplace to confront them if you don't mind me asking you don't have to if you don't want to I hope you have a lovely day/night and sorry for taking your time ☺️

I hope this is written to your liking. I really enjoyed writing it! This little blurb is brought to you by the perfect girl by mareux and my jason dean playlist.

Diamond Tears

Context: After surviving Ghostface, you and your boyfriends moved in together and went off to college. You are currently majoring in education and recently received a new job. Your boyfriends were happy, until their own work life at Mr. Loomis' firm began to interfere with your love life. All characters 18+ Modern Scream Au

Word Count: 1949

Your boyfriends were always angels to you. Ever since you three became highschool sweethearts they had always been doting, gifting you sweets and treats, stuffed animals, jewelry, and any other little items that reminded them of you. It took awhile to get used to, you weren’t used to previous lovers gifting you items as much as they did, but once they reassured you that money wasn’t a problem to worry over, you relaxed an accepted the gifts.

Billy and Stu received love back from you as well, all in different ways. Stu preferred meals, he loved any meal that was cooked by you, he also gladly accepted being cuddled, held, or babied slightly by you. He was a big puppy with having his head rubbed during movie nights, and on days he let it grow a little longer, he enjoyed feeling you play with his hair. Billy was different, he enjoyed when you comforted him even if he would keep his stoic demeaner, it meant the world to him when you would comfort him. He also loved when you would kiss him or hold onto him in public, he felt proud to show you off as his (and Stu’s) and would proudly flaunt you off when you were together.

The boys were a little sad when you had gotten a new job, in your third year of college which meant you now had to help with being a TA, teachers assistant. That meant you were gone for eight hours or more a day, which wasn’t exactly fun for them. Despite both helping as interns at Billy’s fathers firm, and working nearly as long as you did, the lack of face times and phone calls during their lunches or time alone wasn’t fun.

Luckily for you, school had gotten called off for a holiday, which meant you could surprise the boys while they were at work. You had made one of their favorite meals while at home, packing it into Tupperware and happily placing it into a lunch bag for the two. You also got yourself fixed up for them, wanting to look nice, especially since it would be the first time in the office. You at least wanted them to be excited for when they could finally get home and have you all to themselves.

You walked out to the car, putting the bag of food on the passenger seat as you put on some music and began to drive off. It wasn’t long before you had made it to the parking lot of the law firm, turning off the Mareux song that was playing through the speakers and turning the car off, carrying the bag of food in your hands as you walked inside. You spoke with the secretary at the front desk, happy when she allowed you to go up the elevator to their floor, you looked around the office as you walked to the room she told you that you could find the two, feeling a bit out of place. On movies they didn’t seem much more full of life, but currently this lawyer firm felt like the coldest place on earth, front the generic wall art down to the repeating style of offices.

What warmed your heart however was getting to see your two boyfriends in action, even if they were just interns at the moment and still working hard on their classes, you felt ecstatic knowing they were becoming what they wanted to be. The receptionist had told you to look out for one of the conference rooms, that one of the lawyers were meeting with the newest team they were assigned with and had asked for Stu and Billy to observe with them. Your eyes darted around with all the glass windows, noticing just about everyone except for the boys.

However when you spotted the room a few people were leaving, you saw the tuffs of brown hair you knew well, plus the towering giant known as Stu. What you weren’t expecting however were the other girls in the room who were talking to the two. Typically, you weren’t a very jealous significant other, you knew the two were hot, but you also knew they were yours. What was different this time was how they acted with the two of them, one of the girls hands traced Stu’s arm, who just seemed oblivious as he rambled on about something. Billy was just as oblivious as the girl facing him spoke on and on, pushing her elbows together slightly to show off her cleavage. It wasn’t the first time girls had flirted with them, unknowing that they were dating you, but it was the first time the boys hadn’t brushed them off and that made something churn inside of you. A frown stayed on your face as you swung the door open to the room, stomping as you walked as the four turned their heads to you. “Baby!” Stu called out, your gaze set down at the table, too angered to even notice the girl who had been flirting with him grimace at the name. “I made you two lunch,” you grumbled out, the two taken back, knowing your angered state easily with the amount of years you had been together now.

You tossed the bag onto the table, storming back out and rushing off to the elevator. You disappeared quickly, leaving the two males stunned and attempting to follow after, but were just left with your trail of anger having already taken off.

Your phone had buzzed non stop for a good hour. You sat in the parking lot for about 15 of those 60 minutes, the other 45 was spent driving home and crying in the driveway. Every time someone had flirted with the boys, they were always quick to brush off the other person. Whether it was a guy, or a girl or anyone who identified in between or not at all, they shot them down every single fucking time. You remembered how many times you saw saddened, angered, or even down right dejected stares from those people when they saw you waltz up and plant big kisses onto them. But this time it fucking hurt, two beautiful women flirting with your boyfriends and neither of them shot them down.

The incident replayed in your mind for hours, even trying to go over the little details you could remember. You could have sworn you saw a blush on Stu’s cheeks and if you remembered correctly, you saw Billy’s signature shit eating grin on his face. Your thoughts didn’t cease even when there was a soft thump of the front door. The shuffling of feet as they made their way upstairs and to your- great- locked bedroom you three shared.

“Baby, come on,” Billy pleaded, sighing as he leaned against the doorframe. “Please open up the door baby, you haven’t answered all day and we’re worried about you.” Stu said, jiggling the knob as tears rolled down your cheeks.

You knew eventually you would have to talk to the two, but the thoughts that were running through your mind were tearing away at you. What if the other women were more attractive to them, what if they no longer wanted just you, what if they were cheating on you all along without you suspecting a thing? They only grew more concerned when they heard you heaving and trying not to make noise as you cried, which wasn’t exactly working out for you as you let out choked sobs.

The knob jiggled once again before you could hear the metal clanking of keys being jammed into the lock from the other side and the creak that it was followed up with. Your head turned to the two as you sniffled, trying to wipe your face clean of any tears as they approached you.

They sat on either side of you on the bed, Stu making the first move and wrapping his arms around you gently. “What has you so worked up, pretty girl?” He whispered, Billy’s cold hands tucking some hair behind your ear to get it out of your face. “Why are you crying, sweetheart? Please tell us what’s wrong,” he said softly as you cried even harder, feeling your body shake as you tried to keep in your cries. However, your body betrayed you and began to melt when Billy cupped your face and made you look at him.

It wasn’t very often that you saw his stone cold face change, but what made you break was seeing his teary eyes and red nose staring at you like you were the only thing that mattered to him right now. “You guys- you-“ you only got out two words before your body shook again from how hard you were trying to hold back from crying, leaning into Stu’s chest when he pulled you in even closer. “They were flirting with you guys and you- you liked it,” you cried out, sniffling as Billy used his thumbs to wipe away your tears. “The girls…the girls you saw us with?” Stu asked as you nodded, “you know we would never flirt with other people sweetheart, we promised you that it would just be us three,” Billy said as you whined. “But you guys always turn them down! You always, you always tell them you have a girlfriend and-“ a small hiccup left you as you sniffled once again, “you two always turn them down. But you didn’t! You just let them keep flirting with you,” you cried out, frowning as Billy did his best to keep up with all your tears. “Pretty girl, I am so sorry if we came off like we were enjoying it. I promise you we didn’t mean to. You know we only have the hots for you,” Stu said, trying to lighten the mood as you frowned. “But- you didn’t push them off of you…and-and Billy didn’t even realize that girl was trying to shove her boobs in his face and it just. I-it makes me feel like you two enjoyed it,” you said between broken cries, frowning as Stu tightened his hold.

“You know we only love you, sweetheart. You’re our only girl. There will never be another girl in our lives. I promise you that. I am sorry we didn’t realize they were flirting,” Billy said as you frowned, looking away from him as he slowly let go of your face. “Is there something we could do to make you feel better?” Stu asked, kissing your temple.

You shook your head, feeling comforted by his kiss. “Well, how about we order some good takeout, you can choose. Then we can watch any movie you want, and afterwards, we will prove to you you’re our only girl ever,” Billy said as he kissed your cheek. “Even if I have to kiss every single inch of your body, even if we have to tell you every single little thing we love about you from your eyes to every little beauty mark on your body, even if we have to spend the entire night cuddling you until you fall asleep, we’ll make you know you’re our only girl,” he reassured, smiling softly as he saw you try and hide a shy smile.

“We better get started on ordering takeout huh, seems like our pretty girl would love to be showered in kisses and told how much we love her,” Stu said as you looked up to him, giving a small nod. “I’m sorry,” you said softly, receiving a kiss on either cheek from the two. “Don’t apologize,” “you have nothing to be sorry about,” they reassured you as you sniffled.

[magicalyaku]

I spent two very great weeks of vacation in Seoul (and Jeju) with my friends and am now begrudgingly home again. I still managed to squeeze in a bit of reading time. My TBR didn't get any shorter though, because of the 10 books I read, 8 were from the library and only one of those was on my reading list beforehand. Great!

Solange wir die Sterne sehen (Liam Erpenbach): This was kind of heavy. Both from the flowery writing style and the topic of a serious illness. But it was done well and really sweet. Next to the romance, there's also a great and very important platonic relationship which is something I'll always appreaciate.

Fence 1-4 (C.S. Pacat, Johanna The Mad): After the heavy read and with just a week to go before my vacation I didn't want to start anything I might not be able to finish or too difficult. So comics it was! I borrowed all the volumes my library had. (And I will be the first one to get it once they buy the fifth, hrhr!) A fun read!

A Far Wilder Magic (Allison Saft): Another month, another YA fantasy book I did not like! 8D And what a shame, because the cover is lovely and the blurb sounded so good, but I never got into the writing style and the world building. I just expected a real fantasy instead of a "just like our world but with alchemy" and a real hunting adventure and not a silly competition event where the only action is the five mile walk from the house into town and back. I liked that for once the girl was the mysterious and strong one while the boy was the noisy, easy-going type. But I was a little dispappointed that her strength was just a "I need to keep it together" and not "I'm proud of who I am" kind of strength. And also that sex scene on the beach? "There was sand everywhere but I didn't care." Well, I did care. Gross.

The Foxhole Court (Nora Sakavic): I fully admit that I've been brainwashed. I've seen this book before and was always uninterested because sports and that hideous cover. Then my tumblr radar flooded me with fanarts and quotes for three weeks and I cried "But the cover is so ugly!!" and then a certain person went and made pretty new dustjackets, which made me suffer thoroughly, and then my library said "Look, it's available right now!". I couldn't help it. The universe told me to read! D: And what can I say, I loved it. Maybe it's thanks to the fact that I read A Far Wilder Magic right before and loathed it, that I had a much easier time appreciating things done well in The Foxhole Court. (Skip if you don't want lengthy examples: In AFWM the author uses way too many pronouns for my taste. As in several paragraphs with no mention of the name. At one point it even was the heroine and her mother talking and it would have been easy to use the names of either woman as none was used in the sentences right before, yet it was "she" in one sentence referring to the mother and "she" in the next referring to the daughter. (I know that this can work but here I was just confused). I'm a writer myself and I struggle with writing scenes like that and my beta-reader told me I use too many pronouns, so I'm probably extra aware of such things in the books I read. It annoyed me to no end in AFWM. And then came TFC with four boys talking in the same scene and it just worked and I was a little amazed. Funnily enough, something similar happened back then with The Raven Cycle. I hated the book I read before, it was so boring and the characters were incrediby lame. I DNFed it and started The Raven Boys and within the first 50 or so pages I realised that even though it introduced like a million characters at once I already knew and liked every single one better than I did with 3 people after 200 pages of the former book. 8D (Needless to say that TRC is one of my favourite series)) Back to TFC! For once, there's a bunch of interesting characters! I mean, yes, they’re all weirdos and the violence and drugs are kinda a lot, buuuut ... Neil can handle himself. Also, the showdown was a duel of words! And nothing of what Tumblr teased me with happened so far (which to be honest makes it more fun), so I'm looking forward to the next volumes!

Keeper of the Lost Cities 1 (Shannon Messenger) (Audiobook): This one is so long, omg. I'm usually bad with audiobooks but I started listening on the flight home from Seoul. And then kept listening at home while rolling around on the floor wallowing in despair that my vacation is over (and probably jetlag). It's definitely a series starter book. So many small things happening one after each other and the one big thing in the end doesn't even get resolved. But it's cute and interesting enough or else I would not have made through 12 hours. The only thing I did not appreciate as much was the amount of suffering Sophie goes through. I do like my characters suffering a bit (never say no to a cute boy crying), but she's only 12 years old. No need to torture her that much. Also girl, what's with that "I'm glad he won't be my big brother"? You have no idea, what's good! D: Keep Fitz as big brother and Keefe as a boyfriend, if you ask me. (Apart from the fact that with 12 or 13 you really don't need a boyfriend at all.)

This Is Why They Hate Us (Aaron H. Aceves): I borrowed this one from the library after I tossed another book after 50 pages because I could not bear another YA heroine with secret magic powers. It's not like I hate 17-year-old girls, but as I said in the previous post I have no patience for them at the moment. The best friend in This is why they hate us? I wanted to choke her in the beginning! 8D "Oh Quique, your summer can't be good without a boyfriend!" "You're 17 and haven't kissed anyone yet?!" (not literal quotes) I hate reading stuff like that. Luckily, it got better later. There were a lot of different topics crammed into and I'm not sure if it did justice to all of them, but in the end I think it was a decent story about finding oneself. After the bumpy start I decided to mainly read it as "life experience" (as in I'll never be a 17-year-old boy so reading about them makes me believe I can write about them better), but as it went on I actually came to like it.

Wo Träume schlafen gehen (Marta Kubis): This one was hard. From the blurb I thought I'd love it. 12-year-old girl, her big brother, an airship and an adventure? Sign me up! It's also pretty short with 200 pages yet I still got bored in the middle and once again neither liked the writing style nor the heroine ...

On a final note, due to ... things happening, I started watching Yuri on Ice for the first time ever. Between that and the other All for the Game books I think, my October will be fun! uAu~

[gretavanfleetposts]

I do feel like everyone has been tagged at this point so I'll just say, anyone who wants to do it, should do it! And a huge thank you to @lvnterninthenight for tagging me and being so supportive of my work 🖤

I think it might be fun to look back on what we’ve all achieved this year, let you give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back and also share what you love. When you’re done maybe tag someone else so they can share too!

1. How do you feel 2022 has gone in terms of writing?

I think 2022 has gone really well in terms of writing! At the end of the summer I was ready to be done but then I got my second wind and I feel like it's been going well.

2. What piece are you proudest of this year? It can be a shot/blurb/headcannon, a whole series or even a specific chapter.

Valence! Specifically chapter four and chapter seven (currently being written) but I feel like I'm even more excited for the last few chapters of the series.

3. Is there anything you posted that you wish had reached more people? (No such thing as a flop here!) Shout it out, it might catch a new pair of eyes!

Valence again! Haha I think just in general it's been really new for me and very different from my usual stuff but I'm really proud of it and I do really like it 🤷‍♀️

4. Can you give us a hint of anything coming before the end of the year? Maybe even a little taster?

Probably won't come before the end of the year but a little Danny/Sammy/Reader action that is more like my usual filth.

5. Are you setting any writing goals for next year, or just going with the flow? If you are, what are they?

None at all because that never goes well so we'll just see where the wind takes me.

6. Do you have any one shots or finished pieces you’re tempted to expand on or revisit next year?

Indecent Proposal is always looming in the back of my mind but I also like exploring new ideas so we'll see.

7. Is there anything new you’re tempted to try out? A new style/trope/AU/another person in the fandom?

I'm really enjoying writing Valence specifically because it's so far removed from reality that I feel like I have a lot more freedom. I'd love to do something like that again, if an idea strikes.

8. Now to hype some other writers! What’s a piece you read back in the first half of the year that you can shout out?

What I keep going back to is A Friendly Favor by @gretavandutchy specifically chapter three. I honestly can't even put into words how reading that chapter for the first time made me feel and nothing has quite made me feel the same since, it was masterfully written.

9. And how about something you’ve read more recently?

I admittedly haven't been reading much lately BUT touch by @daisyful-gvfl absolutely blew me away. Anything by @gretasmokerising and @hyperfixated-gvf and @earthlysorrows too although I have some serious catching up to do on all of their masterlists. Nice to always know that I'll love whatever they write though.

10. A fun one to finish...If you could insert yourself into any fic in the fandom, which would it be and what do you think would happen?

A Trip Down Memory Lane by @tlexx 1000%. I wouldn't even change the story, I just want to be the reader. It was the first fic (or first two fics?) I fell in love with here and they'll always hold a special place in my heart.

[booksandwords]

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Read time: 1 Day Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Quote: You wrote of being in a village upthread together, living as friends and neighbours do, and I could have swallowed this valley whole and still not have sated my hunger for the thought. Instead I wick the longing into thread, pass it through your needle eye, and sew it into hiding somewhere beneath my skin, embroider my next letter to you one stitch at a time. — Blue

This Is How You Lose the Time War (henceforth Time War) was such a stunning read. A surprise to me as well, I picked this up for its cover, animals to fill a prompt, I really didn't expect such a wonderful story and characters. A joyous way to spend several hours. I did read this is a single sitting between about 11 and 3 in the morning (woo disrupted sleeping patterns). Despite the time of night I was reading this easy to follow, something I was slightly concerned about. The only thing I missed until long after I should have caught it was the seeker following both Blue and Red through time and space as they read their letters.

Red and Blue are the book's protagonists, not their real names (we never learn those). Both women are time-travelling agents for opposing factions in a battle to create the ideal timeline. When the story starts they are both aware of each other already, both can sense each other moving upthread and downthread (the terms used for moving in the timeline) Red is an agent for the Agency, getting her orders from the Commandant. Citizens of The Agency are grown in what I see as Matrix-style tanks of liquid. Blue is a player for the Garden, receiving her orders directly from the Garden. Citizens of the Garden are grown in a garden bed. Red is more brutal in her style for making changes to the thread, Blue specialises in subtly. Though as different as they are they do have similarities. Both of them hate Atlantis, both see the beauty in the world and both are more isolationist than their people would like. Their letters to each other are hidden in creative and fun ways. Volcanos, tea, traditional paper and animals among others.

I really enjoyed the style. Time War is written in a combination of letters and third-person narrative following each protagonist in turn. This is a joint write between Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar, as I guessed while reading each author wrote a character. Max Gladstone wrote Red's letters and her reactions, Amal El-Mohtar wrote the same for Blue. They had agreed on a broad outline of the plot structure before starting but the emotional responses to the letters are organic (source: Strange Horizons). This is key to why the writing works so well. Gladstone and El-Mohtar give Red and Blue different voices befitting their different backgrounds. At least at first, I found that Blue had a beautiful mind and Red had a beautiful language. Eventually, their presentations are evened out as their trust develops and their relationship depends. Their letters are so sweetly flirty sometimes seemingly knowingly, sometimes not. The nicknames Red and Blue use to address each other range from funny to cute. There is a practical purpose to them but they are still really cute references. Some are more easily recognisable than others.

I usually ignore endorsements/testimonials/'puff-quotes' on books but I noticed one on Time War after I'd finished reading, it's from Madeline Miller, author of Cirice (more importantly I would say the legendary The Song of Achilles).

This book has it all: treachery and love, lyricism and gritty action, existential crisis and space-opera scope, not to mention time travelling super-agents. Gladstone and El-Mohtar's debut collaboration is a fireworks display from two very talented storytellers.

I like this quote because for once it does a halfway decent job of summarising the story and my feeling about it. I really do recommend this if the blurb appeals to you. It does a brilliant job of creating a world and really likable characters.

I could add so, so many quotes to the review here. I will try to refrain from going overboard. • "And then we'd be at each other's throats even more." Oh, petal. You say that like it's a bad thing. — It's just the way Blue writes this because both of them know this competition is part of them. (Blue, p.36) • Atlantis sinks. Serves it right. Red hates the place. For one thing, there are so many Altantises, always sinking, in so many strands. — The whole Atlantis thing makes me smile so many time travel books venerate Atlantis, and have it as a point in time to go back to a save. This book is very much is just it fails in every strand, why do we bother? (Red, 47) • We make so much of lettercraft literal, don't we? Whacked seals aside. Letters as time travel, time-travelling letters. Hidden meanings. — Should I explain the whacked seals bit? Red's last letter was concealed in a seal Blue had to kill to access it. (Blue, p.53) • I like writing to you. I like reading you. When I finish your letters, I spend frantic hours in secret composing my replies, pondering ways to send them. — This is intended to be reassuring to Blue and it is. There is also something so romantic about this. (Red, p.82) • There is a small hill from which can watch the sun set over the Outaouais River; every evening I see a red sky bleed over blue water and think of us. Have you ever watched this kind of sunset? The colours don't blend: the redder the sky the bluer the water, as we tilt away from the sun. — This is just such a visual description. It is in a letter from Blue while she an embedded operation, as she is for probably 1/3 of the book. This is what she does to remind herself of Red. (Blue, p.88) • I want to say, now, before you can beat me to it—Red, when I think of the seed in your mouth I imagine having placed it there myself, my fingers on your lips. — I'm not going to spoil this one. It is just a beautifully intimate quote. The longing is so plain to see. (Blue, p.125) • I'll be sent, no doubt, to undo the damage you've caused. And we'll run again, the two of us, upthread and down, firefighter and fire starter, two predators only sated by each other's words. — Does this just feel like a mix of want and content to anyone else? Red knows what she wants to be on the treads facing off against red, and she would be content with that... if she couldn't have more. I also really like the names she uses. (Red, p.128) • "You root in the air, my epiphyte. It's no hard thing to trace the new growth to you, singly." — I had to look up epiphyte, I should have guessed it was a botany term. "epiphyte: a plant that grows on another plant, especially one that is not parasitic, such as the numerous ferns, bromeliads, air plants, and orchids growing on tree trunks in tropical rainforests." It does kinda suit Blue. (Garden, p.145)