echoesofagiantkiller

[echoesofagiantkiller]

But at the base of Jack’s ladder, the closest anyone would come to the scattered magic still hissing and dripping down, there was a girl with short gold curls and Jack knew every one of her names.

- Remember the Dust, by E. Jade Lomax 

[echoesofagiantkiller]

A young man named Jack the Beanstalk left the Forest, once, and he never truly came home.

Beanstalk, by E. Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

“You’d fight us? Us? We raised you.”

“You did,” said Grey. He swallowed, hard. “And you love me. I know that, okay? But that doesn’t change this. That doesn’t change who you are, or what you do, or that I need to stop you. You loving me doesn’t make up for you hating everybody else. You loving me doesn’t make up for you hurting me.”

Excerpt From

Echoes of a Giantkiller (2015)

E. Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

When he said the word "hero" he didn't quite know what it meant, except that it allowed for very little sleep and a lot of bruises, so he didn't say it. Instead, he said, "I can do this, so I will."

Beanstalk by E. Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

"Yeah, I said a lot of true things, the most jarring ones I could, because if you say honest things harshly people look at them. And not at you."

Sanders Grey, Remember the Dust by E. Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

not me just realising on this reread of Beanstalk that Jack took his go-bag when Thorne asked to see him the first time, apparently fully ready to make a run for it if he thought Thorne has sussed him out. 

“Oh, don’t be so paranoid, ” said Jack.  “Paranoid? Says the fellow with an emergency travel pack hidden behind his desk, ” said Grey. 

 “But he asked for me? By name? Okay, Rupert, thanks. I’ll go now.” “See you in class tomorrow?” said Rupert. Jack grabbed a weathered brown knapsack from the hollow beneath his desk, hefting it over a shoulder with a familiar creak of leather. “Sure, ” he said. “Yeah, yeah, of course.” 

- Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

“Oh, don’t be so paranoid, ” said Jack.  “Paranoid? Says the fellow with an emergency travel pack hidden behind his desk, ” said Grey. 

 “But he asked for me? By name? Okay, Rupert, thanks. I’ll go now.” “See you in class tomorrow?” said Rupert. Jack grabbed a weathered brown knapsack from the hollow beneath his desk, hefting it over a shoulder with a familiar creak of leather. “Sure, ” he said. “Yeah, yeah, of course.” 

- Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

Grey wrapped up Jack’s arm, mixing insult with astronomical anecdotes all the while. When the white bandage was secure, if a little lopsided, Grey went back to his star charts, and continued flinging commentary and critique at Jack as he applied bruise balm to his ribs, face, and right shoulder. “You just don’t want to get a new roommate if I get myself killed, ” said Jack. “It would be a hassle, ” said Grey.

- Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

“It’s only pest control, ” Rupert was muttering. “I can manage.”  “Can’t get rid of us now, Hammersfeld, ” said Jack.  Rupert looked at the skip in Jack’s step, the light in Laney’s eyes that came of feeling useful, useful for once in her life. He sighed but there might have been a smile hidden in the twitch of his long nose. “I was afraid of that.”

- Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

Jack + “Laney Jones”

“I’ve never heard of guns being used against Things, ” said Jack. “Ogres, kelpies, hags, yes. But Things? Miss Jones, we’ve been using bladed weapons for hundreds of years.” “Welcome to the future. And it’s Laney, or Jones, not Miss anything.” She eyed them both steadily. “Understood, ” said Jack.

“How many Things did you see, Jones?” said Jack.  “Jack, if we can’t break the sigil, we’re not going in, ” said Rupert. “Five, ” said Laney. “How come you don’t call her Miss Jones?” said Grey. “You called Sez ‘Miss.’” “She asked me not to, ” said Jack.

“Pigheaded stubbornness, ” she said simply. “It’s a Jones family trait.” Jack laughed. “Yeah, I know, ” he said. “Hey, I could be the exception, ” she said. “I could be special.” “You are special, Laney Jones.”

Watcher shoved Jack out of the way, staring behind him as though Laney ought to just appear. “Admittedly, it wouldn’t have helped you much in this case, but that’s hardly anyone’s fault. No one’s prepared for Laney Jones.”

“You are nothing like Talker was. You’re building something, ” said Jack. “He was lighting the world on fire and laughing.” Jack smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “You’re no villain, Laney Jones. Stop fooling yourself.”

 Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax 

[echoesofagiantkiller]

“You’ve got a lot of bracelets, ” Grey said. “That’s true, ” Laney said, touching the knotted string on her wrists. “Why, if you’re a mage? You only hear about knotted spells like this being sold, like, on the edge of back roads by hedgewitches. I mean, why not just rip a little power out of the air and fling it when you want it?” He waved a hand at her. “This is weird.” “Grey, ” said Jack. “Be nice.” “Weird is interesting, ” said Grey. “That is being nice.”

Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

Scratched into the wood of the two massive doors beneath were decades of cheerful graffiti. Some were burned off, faded, repainted, or shiningly new. Jack’s favorite was dragon bait. 

Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax 

[echoesofagiantkiller]

"You don't care what people think about you?"

"There's a big difference between me and Rupert." She smiled tightly. "I seem perfect because I know it's a way to get what I want, and he tries to be the perfect nephew and hero because he thinks they deserve that from him."

Jack blinked. Laney shrugged.

"He thinks he's letting them down by being human," she said. "And I'm screwing with them by giving them what they want and then doing exactly whatever I want. Think about it."

Beanstalk by E. Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

“Did you sleep alright?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Jack shrugged, adding cheerily, “You know me, like an overgrown baby.” 

“People don’t realize how poorly babies sleep.” 

“Six uncles means a lot of cousins, ” said Jack. “I know about babies.”

- Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax

[echoesofagiantkiller]

Jack believed in heroes in the same way the town built up along the banks of the river believed in flotsam.

- Beanstalk, E Jade Lomax

They came from wreckages, from storms, there one day and gone the next. Jack believed in heroes that appeared overnight; never when you were expecting but somehow still consistent. Heroes had arrived here before Jack, and would continue to long after he was gone, in and out with the tides, finding new home amongst the silty banks.

[echoesofagiantkiller]

little things about the beanstalk fandom

or: why you should read the leagues and legends by e. jade lomax

almost everyone furiously recommends it to everyone they know — which is a heckuva endorsement

inky’s tumblr is a thing of gold and does it count as fanfic or a headcanon if the author does it?

constant flow of people getting into it in different ways, a bit like discworld – read boy with a scar first and love how canon “feels like fanfic” for beanstalk, or read the trilogy first and be delighted that the author also loves the same fandoms you do with oodles of fanfic to browse, or try the alliance trilogy (in what order? do you read the prequel last, or read chronologically? there are no wrong answers) or one stormy day in new providence

if you’re the kind of person who takes book recs from tumblr, you probably already are the kind of person who will love beanstalk – diversity! fluff! lyrical prose! diverse worldbuilding! a super cool magic system! found family! experiments with nonchronological storytelling and fairytale trop inversion and the ballads and oh, the obituaries

though we be but little we are fierce! – ongoing multichapter fics, innovative thoughtful AUs, adorable slice of life, gorgeous pixel art and digital art and traditional art and gifs edits, a semi-comprehensive wiki (!!!), and a fan narrated audiobook (!!!!!!!) in the works, just to name a few

amazing AU content, especially thoughtful plotty AUs and canon divergences

the fandom overlaps with so many awesome things. really good book and game recs? baking? music? georgie-esque agricultural history and foodways discourse? we’ve got it all

do you love books? and stories? and love? congrats, the author and the narrative loves them too and it Shows

super high reread value means that whenever you need some good fluff or some good crying you can just open up and start again and everyone will cry along with you 

lovable side characters for the type-who-love-to-latch-on-to-a-side-character-and-never-let-them-go and the best part? the author and the narrative love them Just As Much As You Do

the PROSE the QUOTES the INSPO

consistently finding those tumblr posts like “ugh i wish canon was more like fanfic because ___” with reblogs like beanstalk, beanstalk is the canon you’re looking for

the Most Supportive Tumblr users, the Kindest Anons

everyone in this fandom Would Die for their fave characters and just as deeply knows their fave characters Would Die For Them

[echoesofagiantkiller]

For the second time in his life, Jack Farris left the mountains. He had red dirt ground lightly into everything he carried, including his lungs and the soles of his feet. This time, he was not alone.

Echoes of a Giantkiller, E Jade Lomax