#mindy & alban

[neonthewrite]

The Keys to Happiness

Hey folks! I was going to try to do the prompt "Instrument" yesterday but developed a headache that made writing super hard. So it's here today instead! For this prompt I returned to some characters I made for the Far From Home universe, owned and created by @therealbrigeedarocks (with some extra fun over at @askfarfromhome).

The first story with these characters can be found here: Gossip Girl

This one is set sometime early in their time together. If you're unfamiliar with FFH, this is your disclaimer that it deals with the Pet Trope.

~~~

Mindy’s eyes were still puffy from an earlier burst of emotions she couldn’t really help. She stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the bars of her cage and staring across the open space in there with her. She had some basic furniture, things that came with her from the shop, a “human starter kit” they’d called it. A bed, a small sofa, and even a table with a chair were arranged somewhat haphazardly in there. All part of the package in which Mindy had been the central prize.

She thought back to another time, when she’d gone to a carnival with her family. There had been a booth giving out goldfish in little bags. She’d even tried to win one, but her raffle ticket was never called.

She hadn’t seen her home in a few years now. Back home, humans were normal. Here, they were pests, or pets, just little things to be bought up by a carnival and given out as raffle prizes.

A week prior, Mindy became just that. She hated the shop where she’d spent so much time being gawked at by giants as a potential pet to bring home, but her friends were there. People, humans just like her who had found themselves in a world of giants that easily locked them up in cages and put price tags on their very existence. They always joked, fantasized about getting to leave that place.

And then a few of them did. The carnival had bought some of them up as soon as it arrived in town. Mindy didn’t even get to spend time with her fellow raffle prizes, instead being packed up on her own with her starter kit and a little profile about her (as if most of the denizens of Tergaia would actually give a single shit about what she was like).

At least the ticket that won her hadn’t been bought by a family. It was just one guy, and the flat beyond the bars of her cage screamed “bachelor pad”. So she only had to deal with one giant talking at her, bringing her home and promising to spruce up her cage with better things than the starter kit. He even took her out of the cage frequently when he was home, though she spent an unnerving amount of time in his hands (“Just t’ get ye used to me, lass. Don’ wanna do ye wrong not knowin’ how to hold ye”).

When he wasn’t home, though, she found herself restless and so, so alone. She got used to being in the human enclosure at the shop. There, one could always find someone nearby to talk to or just to be near when the world felt too heavy. There, they had some amenities for entertainment, and she could play the rickety little piano for her fellow humans.

The thought threatened to make her cry again. With a huff, Mindy pushed herself off the bars and stalked over to the doorway into the little bathroom Alban had purchased and attached to the cage. Magic in this world was so commonplace, it hardly surprised her anymore that they could hook up a fully functional room like that with seemingly no plumbing attachment.

However they did it, she had a sink she could use to splash water on her face. It helped a bit, scrubbing at her face with long, tapered fingers, hands that she’d actually insured back home for her blooming career. Her hands had been the tool of her trade, and now they were just little things to fascinate the giants that ran the world here. Alban had, more than once, propped up one of her hands on just a fingertip to see the contrast between the two. Her warm brown skin stood out against his pale fingerprint, and she couldn’t even cover the whole fingertip if she spread her hand wide.

According to him, he’d never even planned to have a human. Someone else had bought him the raffle ticket. Icing on the terrible cake that was her new life.

As she dried off her face, she heard the increasingly familiar sound of the flat’s lock clicking back. Alban was home from wherever he’d gone off too. Mindy thought about stepping out to greet him, just to have someone to talk to, and then decided to hell with it. She was going to take her time in that bathroom, even though she really didn’t have anything else to do. It sounded like he was preoccupied anyway, as he didn’t even call for her before opening up the packaging on whatever he’d gone and bought. Familiar sounds, but so much bigger than she remembered.

After a few minutes of studiously ignoring him, Mindy was surprised to hear a telltale approach, punctuated by a slight rumble under her feet as he arrived at the former hall table that now held her cage. “Mindy? You in there, lass?”

With a sigh, she shut off the water and headed out of her little bathroom to stare up at him. “Where else would I be?” She was usually quite guarded with him. Even now she couldn’t help crossing her arms and bunching up her shoulders a bit out of nerves.

He grinned down at her, somehow looking a bit nervous himself. She noticed, belatedly, that he had his hands behind his back. “Dinna want t’rush ye, but I got ye somethin’ today. If you wanna see it.”

It disarmed her wariness, if only a bit. Her shoulders relaxed. “For me?”

Alban nodded and his hands shifted. Mindy imagined new clothes, or maybe some fancier furniture than her starter kit to make her cage a bit less spartan. It was a toss-up whether he’d gotten something she even liked. She watched as his hands came into view, hastily coming together again to better cradle the object he’d brought.

Mindy’s heart did odd little flips.

It was a grand piano. Lacquered wood gleamed in the overhead light, simple but sturdy legs perched on Alban’s hands. The keys themselves were like grains of rice to him, but Mindy’s hands twitched at the sight of something familiar. It was a really nice piano and she could hardly believe she was seeing it. She hadn’t seen one that nice since her last concert before being whisked away from the world she knew.

“Alban, that’s, um,” Mindy stammered, unsure what she ought to say.

“The profile they gave me with ye said ye like music,” Alban explained. “An’ the starter kit left that out, but ye seemed so bored an’ I thought this might help.”

Mindy considered his words. She’d still be spending most of the daylight hours locked up whenever Alban wasn’t home. She had only whatever was in her cage to occupy her. If that piano ended up being all she had for entertainment …

That’d be just fine.

“I think it’ll probably help, yeah,” she said, finally allowing herself a smile. She wouldn’t have anyone to play for anymore, but that was okay. She could play for herself. “I, um. Thank you, Alban. It’s really nice.”

Alban grinned again and gently set the piano aside on an open space on the table so he could open up the cage. “I know ye must not be lyin’, that’s the happiest I’ve seen ye. Come on out and give it a go, lass. We can rearrange yer stuff t’make room for it later, aye?”

Mindy didn’t try to play it casual as she hurried for the opening. “Aye,” she said, trying to mimic his brogue and not quite managing it. “This’ll do.”

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (February 23rd, 2021)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know! ___

New Standalones/First in a Series:

The Valley & the Flood by Rebecca Mahoney

Prepped by Bethany Mangle

Dragonfly Girl by Marti Leimbach

A Dark & Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

Like Home by Louisa Onomé

Love is for Losers by Wibke Brueggemann

The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis

Mazie by Melanie Crowder

Some Other Now by Sarah Everett

Playing Cupid by S.C. Alban

Destination Anywhere by Sara Barnard

The Shadow War by Lindsay Smith

New Sequels: 

The Desolations of Devil’s Acre (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #6) by Ransom Riggs 

The Missing Passenger by Jack Heath (This one is the sequel to The Truth App, but isn’t labelled as such on Goodreads. I only gathered this from the synopsis.)

Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven (Teen Titans #3) by Kami Garcia & Gabriel Picolo 

___

Happy reading!

[televinita]

Books Read in 2018: The Why

Third year in a row* of answering the self-imposed question: why did you read this particular book?

(*Although 2017′s is presently flagged by the garbage bot and under appeal -- WHY DO U HATE MY BOOK COVER COLLAGES, MR. ALGORITHM)

I am beginning to deeply regret the extra work involved to split them by category, so next year is probably just gonna be a numbered chronological list after the Quilt of Many Covers, but for now they are still divided into adult fiction, YA, middle grade/children’s books, and nonfiction

FICTION

True Valor - Dee Henderson. 2002. Read because: I went hunting for a military romance in which to cast Dalton and Jaz [The Brave]. This one at least guaranteed me Dalton (and included rescuing a female soldier lost/hurt in combat, so).

These Healing Hills - Ann H. Gabhart. 2017. Had this one in my back pocket for a while as a quality-sounding stock romance (nurse/soldier) waiting for players. When my need for a Barbie/Julia [Under the Dome] story reached a new high, I deemed it a match.

Shane - Jack Schaefer. 1949. This is the book Fourmile is based on, so I thought I could get a two-for-one casting thrill out of it.

The Lake House - Kate Morton. 2015. A gorgeous historic mansion hidden within an abandoned estate. A mystery from the past to be solved in the present. What are "things I am here for always."

Crimson Peak (movie novelization) - Nancy Holder. 2015. I LOVED the movie, and the only thing I love more than amazing movies is when I can have them translated into and enriched by prose.

Chasing Sunsets - Karen Kingsbury. 2015. Brush of Wings - Karen Kingsbury. 2016. I was hunting, desperately, for Ben/Ryan-shaped books [Off the Map], and "Brush of Wings" checked all the boxes (young woman who needs a heart transplant volunteers in a third world country, love interest has to find a way to rush her home when the situation turns dire). I only read C.S. first because I didn't want to miss where the romance started.

Rancher Under Fire - Vickie Donoghue. 2014. I was looking for a different book when I casually stumbled upon this title, and listen. I am not gonna turn down a ready-made Barbie/Julia AU* with bonus "single father" angle. (*cowboy/journalist)

Heart Like Mine - Maggie McGinnis. 2016. "Ben/Ryan, Sexy Hookup AU Version please."

The Mountain Between Us - Charles Martin. 2010. The request list for the movie was too long, so I decided to see if it was based on a book. Upon reading the back cover and finding out one character was a surgeon, I immediately forgot the movie cast as my brain exploded with Shondaland options.

When Crickets Cry - Charles Martin. 2006. "Doctor whose wife died young of a lifelong heart condition" sounded like the best book-shaped Ben/Ryan approximation yet, with bonus "watching out for a little girl who is sick in the same way" cuteness as well.

The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware. 2016. A woman at work recommended it to me, and I was like, "a well received general thriller? Sure!"

Listen to Me - Hannah Pittard. 2016. Put "road trip" into the library catalog --> picked 70% because "Gothic thriller" made me think of "The Strangers," and 30% because I was reliving the glory days of Derek And Addison and this marriage sounded similar.

The Lying Game - Ruth Ware. 2017. I enjoyed the other book of hers I read so my friend brought in the next one she had.

Hatter Fox - Marilyn Harris. 1973. Read in high school and forgotten until I reread the Goodreads summary, and "doctor drawn to help 17-year-old" set off my radar. Shippy or merely protective/caretaking, my radar reacts the same.

Vanished - Mary McGary Morris. 1988. The trailer for unreleased Martin Henderson film "Hellbent" whipped me into a frenzy so I did my best to find book-shaped approximations of it. (spoiler alert: this failed miserably, but I grudge-matched it out)

Thunder and Rain - Charles Martin. 2012. Former Texas Ranger who is a single dad. Rescuing & protecting a scared/abused woman and child. At his ranch with cows and horses. By an author who has proven his salt in the hurt/comfort and restrained-romance departments.

Before the Fall - Nick Hawley. 2016. Mostly I came for the dynamic between the young orphan and the passenger who saved him, but I also like witnessing the general aftermath of plane crash survivors.

The Perfect Nanny - Leila Slimani. 2018. My work friend loaned it to me with the statement, "This has such good reviews but I don't know if I 'got' it -- I am really curious to know what you think of it!"

The Girl Before - J.P. Delaney. 2017. She loaned me this one too, with a more glowing recommendation.

Everything You Want Me To Be - Mindy Mejia. 2017. Aaaand one last rec from my seasonal work friend before our projects took us in separate directions.

The Dog Year - Ann Wertz Garvin. 2014. Dog on the cover + synopsis was basically a list of tropes I love: a woman (a doctor to boot!) grieving loss of husband and unborn baby; dogs; a new love interest who is one of my favorite professions to pair with doctor (cop)...

Losing Gemma - Katy Gardner. 2002. "So basically this is the victim backstory to a Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders plot? Dude, sign me UP; I can so see this friendship!"

Uncharted - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2013. The companion novella to a book I loved.

The English Boys - Julia Thomas. 2016. Mom checked it out of the library, "guy in piney unrequited love with his best friend's fiancee" intrigued me enough to open it, and by 3-5 pages in I was hooked.

The Broken Girls - Simone St. James. 2018. Abandoned boarding-school ruins, a murder mystery from the past being solved in the present day, possibly tied to a second murder from the past?? Yeah, give it.

Heart-Shaped Hack - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2015. White-Hot Hack - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2016. Proven quality romance writer's latest books feature a professional super-skilled hacker? Sounds right up my Scorpion-obsessed alley. First book was plenty good enough to launch me into Part II.

Shine Shine Shine - Lydia Netzer. 2012. In my continuing quest to find books in which to cast Walter/Paige, I searched the phrase "her genius husband" and this one's summary matched my desires well.

Learning to Stay - Erin Celello. 2013. Ever eager to expand my hurt/comfort scenario stockpile, I went looking for something where a husband suffers a TBI/brain damage that mostly affects their personality. The bonus dog content sold it.

The Fate of Mercy Alban - Wendy Webb. 2013. Came up on my Goodreads timeline. I read as far as "spine-tingling mystery about family secrets set in a big, old haunted house on Lake Superior" and immediately requested it from the library.

Rated PG - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 1981. I was rereading her Make Lemonade trilogy when I saw a quote in her author bio that said, "I did write an adult novel. Thank goodness it went out of print." Curious, I looked it up, and between its age and the fact that it sounded more like YA than a proper adult novel, I was immediately more intrigued by it than her boring-sounding middle grade books.

Someone Else's Love Story - Joshilyn Jackson. 2013. "Young single mom with genius son meeting a possibly-autistic scientist who protects them during a gas station holdup/hostage situation and later bonds with her son" was the exact literary approximation of a Scorpion AU I wanted in my brain. By the time I realized that was not the endgame ship, I had already flipped through it and fallen in love w/ William and his romantic memories of his wife instead.

Driftwood Tides - Gina Holmes. 2014. Cool title + I love the "young adult adoptee bonds with the spouse of their late birth mother" trope.

The Haunting - Alan Titchmarsh. 2011. Title caught my eye at the library near Halloween; I dug the "dual timelines" setup with a mystery from the past to be solved in the present, and hoped for ghosts.

The Lost Hours - Karen White. 2009. I searched "scrapbook" in the library catalog.  A family member's formerly buried old scrapbook, an old house, and unearthing family history/secrets? GIVE IT TO ME.gif.

The Etruscan Smile - Velda Johnston. 1977. Slim (quick read), attractive cover painting, an exotic Italian countryside setting in a bygone era, and a young woman investigating the mystery of her sister's disappearance all appealed to me.

Stay Away, Joe - Dan Cushman. 1953. All I could tell from the book jacket was that it was somehow Western/ranch-themed, possibly full of wacky hijinx and had once been deemed appropriate for a high school library. I just wanted to know what the heck it was about!

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YOUNG ADULT

(I’m kind of guessing at the line of demarcation between teen and middle grade audiences for some of these, especially the older ones -- another reason that I should give up on categories in the future -- but let’s just go with it)

These Shallow Graves - Jennifer Donnelly. 2015. Seemed like a YA version of What the Dead Leave Behind (which itself I was using as a Crimson Peak AU), from an author whose work has always impressed me.

Snow Bound - Harry Fox Mazer. 1973. Always here for survival stories! Also, this is a good author.

The House - Christina Lauren. 2015. I LOVE evil/haunted mansion stories.

The Masked Truth - Kelley Armstrong. 2015. It looked like Criminal Minds in a YA novel.

Things I'm Seeing Without You - Peter Bognanni. 2017. Went googling for stories that sounded like contemporary variations on Miles & Charlie Matheson [Revolution]. "Teen shows up at estranged father's door" fit the bill.

Even When You Lie to Me - Jessica Alcott. 2015. I always turn out for student/teacher stories, given enough suggestion of it being mostly an emotional connection rather than an illicit hookup.

Too Shattered for Mending - Peter Brown Hoffmeister. 2017. I also dig stories where teenagers have to take care of/fend for themselves in the absence of a parent/guardian.

The Devil You Know - Trish Doller. 2015. I enjoyed a previous book of hers, and I always like road trips and teen thrillers.

The Raft - S.A. Bodeen. Terror at Bottle Creek underwhelmed, so I thought I'd try a YA/female protagonist option for a survival thriller, not least because the girl on the cover reminded me of Under the Dome's Melanie.

Ghost at Kimball Hill - Marie Blizard. 1956. Picked up randomly at an estate sale; the vintage cover and incredibly charming first 2 pages won my heart.

A New Penny - Biana Bradbury. 1971. The rare idea of a teen shotgun marriage in this era -- when it would still be expected, but also more likely to fall apart and end in a young divorce or separation -- fascinated me; I was curious to see how such an adult situation would play out.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer - Katie Alender. 2013. I mean...it is really all right there in the title and/or the awesful puns all over the cover. ("Let them eat cake...AND DIE!") Pure unadulterated crack, combining my two fave specialty genres of history and horror? Yes ma'am.

Me And My Mona Lisa Smile - Sheila Hayes. 1981. I was looking up this author of a Little Golden Book to see what else she had, found one that suggested a student/teacher romance, and bolted for it.

To Take a Dare - Crescent Dragonwagon/Paul Zindel. 1982. 50% due to the first author's cracktastic name and my full expectations of it being melodramatic, 50% because I was still on my "Hellbent" high and looking for similar teen runaway stories.

To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie - Ellen Conford. 1982. The last one from my attempt-at-a-Hellbent-esque-storyline set -- girl hitchhiking cross-country is picked up by a middle aged man who may or may not have pure intentions, by an established quality author.

Be Good Be Real Be Crazy - Chelsey Philpot. Bright cover called out to me; I was in the mood for a fun road trip novel for spring/early summer.

This is the Story of You - Beth Kephart. Kephart's name always gives me pause due to her fuzzy writing style, but I loved Nothing But Ghosts, so I could not resist the promise of surviving a super-storm disaster.

A Little in Love - Susan Fletcher. "Eponine's story from Les Mis" on a YA novel = immediately awesome; I LOVE HER??? Also it's just my fave musical, generally.

Adrift - Paul Griffin. 2015. I've been really digging survival stories this year, and while stories about survival at sea aren't typically my fave, they keep popping up in my path so I keep poppin' em like candy.

Life in Outer Space - Melissa Keil. 2013. After delighting my brain with concept sketches for a high school AU, I set out to find the equivalent of Scorpion's team dynamics/main relationship in a YA novel, and by god I found it.

Everything Must Go - Fanny Fran Davis. 2017. The brightly colored cover drew me in, and the format of being like a scrapbook of personal documents/paper ephemera lit up the scrap-collecting center of my brain.

Going Geek - Charlotte Huang. 2016.

originally I thought it might be like Life in Outer Space, but once I realized the title geeks were all girls I shrugged and went, "Eh, still a solid contemporary YA novel at a cool setting (boarding school)."

Like Mandarin - Kirsten Hubbard. 2011.

By the author of my beloved Wanderlove, I was drawn in by the title, intriguing cover photo, rural Wyoming setting and the concept of a high school freshman girl latching onto/idolizing a cool senior girl.

Sixteen: Short Stories By Outstanding Writers for Young Adults. ed. Donald R. Gallo. 1984. Tripped over it at the library, and immediately wanted to consume a set of 80s teen book content from a pack of authors I know and love.

A & L Do Summer - Jan Blazanin. 2011. In the summer, sometimes you just want to vicariously relive the feeling of being a largely-responsibility-free teen in a small-town location.

The Assassin Game - Kirsty McKay. 2015. Looked like the (Welsh!) boarding school version of Harper's Island. (spoiler alert: it is rather less stabby than that, but still fun)

We Are Still Tornadoes - Michael Kun/Susan Mullen. 2016. "College freshmen? Writing letters to each other? Sure, looks solid."

Nothing - Annie Barrows. 2017. It looked relatable: like the kind of book that would happen if I tried to turn my high school journals into a book. (spoiler alert: dumber)

The Memory Book - Laura Avery. 2016. Contemporary YA about a girl with a(n unusual) disease, but mostly, the title and promise of it being a collection of entries in different formats.

Kindess for Weakness - Shawn Goodman. 2013. LITERALLY AU RYAN ATWOOD.

Make Lemonade - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 1993. True Believer - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 2001. This Full House - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 2008. I reread the first two so I could give them proper reviews on Goodreads, and then realized I hadn't read the last one at all.

Blue Voyage - Diana Renn. 2015. A hefty teen mystery in a unique exotic location (Turkey) -- with an antiquities smuggling ring! - called out to me.

Girl Online - Zoe Sugg. 2014. I was really in the mood to read something on the younger end of YA, something cute and fun, when I saw this at the library.

Wilderness Peril - Thomas J. Dygard. 1985. Reread of a book I rated 4 stars in high school but couldn't remember, which happened to be lying next to me on a morning where I didn't wanna get out of bed yet.

Survive the Night - Danielle Vega. 2015. The cover had a GLITTERY SKULL. Give me that delightfully packaged horror story for the Halloween season!

The Hired Girl - Laura Amy Schlitz. 2015. I've been digging into my journals and old family photo albums lately, really fascinated by personal historical documents (also recently obsessed over The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt), and when I saw a diary format book set in 1911 -- a housemaid's diary, no less; that must be interesting as far as recording grand house details -- it spoke to me.

Fans of the Impossible Life - Kate Scelsa. 2015. The colored-pencil-sketch cover gave me Rainbow Rowell vibes.

All The Truth That's In Me - Julie Berry. 2013. Someone who favorably reviewed The Hired Girl also recommended this one; the cover caught my eye, and it sounded like a thriller.

Girl In A Bad Place - Kaitlin Ward. 2017. I heart YA thrillers featuring girls.

Facing It - Julian F. Thompson. 1983. I was in desperate need of a book one night and my only option was to buy one off the library sale cart, so I snagged the one that looked like some entertaining 80s melodrama with a fun (summer camp) setting. (Spoiler alert: fun and entertaining it was not.)

A Good Idea - Cristina Moracho. 2017. "Rural literary noir," promised the cover blurb, and as I just mentioned: I heart YA thrillers.

Something Happened - Greg Logsted. 2008. Short/easy read + I was hoping for either a misinterpreted Genuinely Caring Teacher, or scenarios to use in an appropriate age difference context.

In Real Life - Jessica Love. 2016. My shipper radar pretty much looked at the summary and went "THE AU CHRISTIAN/GABBY SETUP OF MY DREAMS."

The Black Spaniel Mystery - Betty Cavanna. 1945.

Adorable cover (and dogs!) from an established quality author.

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CHILDREN’S / MIDDLE GRADE

The Cloud Chamber - Joyce Maynard. 2005. The cover made me think of Under the Dome, and the MC immediately reminded me of Joe McAlister.

Terror at Bottle Creek - Watt Key. 2016. After rereading Fourmile, I got a hankering for more books I might be able to cast with the kids from Under the Dome, and figured more Watt Key + a thrilling survival adventure was the ticket for that.

Swampfire - Patricia Cecil Haas. 1973. One of approximately 100 unread vintage horse books I own at any given time; finally in mood because it was short and sweet.

Baby-sitting Is A Dangerous Job - Willo Davis Roberts. 1985. Reread a childhood favorite in order to give it a proper review on Goodreads.

In The Stone Circle - Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. 1998. Same as above.

Wild Spirits - Rosa Jordan. 2010. Clearly the "Kat & Tommy take Justin under their wing" Power Rangers AU of which I have always dreamed, in my very favorite version of it: the one where Kat surrounds herself with animals.

Claudia - Barbara Wallace. 1969. Picked up cheap at a book sale, standard cute vintage Scholastic about a girl and her school life. Comfort food.

Reasons to be Happy - Katrina Kittle. 2011. The cover and the 5 reasons excerpted in the summary were so cute that I wanted to know what more of the reasons were.

Dark Horse Barnaby - Marjorie Reynolds. 1967. Needed a quick read and I'll p. much read any vintage horse book.

Runaway - Dandi Daley Mackall. 2008. Start of a companion series to my beloved Winnie the Horse Gentler, featuring some favorite themes: foster care + animal rescue.

Wolf Wilder - Katherine Rundell. 2015. Pretty cover, girl protagonist, historical Russian setting, wolves. All good things!

Backwater - Joan Bauer. 1999. Sounded like a beautifully tranquil setting.

The Dingle Ridge Fox and Other Stories - Sam Savitt. 1978. Animal stories + author love = automatic win.

If Wishes Were Horses - Jean Slaughter Doty. 1984. Overdue reread of a childhood favorite because I needed some short books to finish the reading challenge.

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NONFICTION

Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff - Alison Stewart. 2016. I mean, I am definitely an American who has a love affair with stuff.

Keeping Watch: 30 Sheep, 24 Rabbits, 2 Llamas, 1 Alpaca, and a Shepherdess with a Day Job - Kathryn Sletto. 2010.

As soon as I saw my favorite fluffy creature on the cover, I felt an immediate need to transport myself into this (dream) hobby farm setting.

(Side note: this is probably the lowest amount of nonfiction I have read in 1 year for a decade, but I was just so busy hunting down specific types of stories that I could not get distracted by random learning.)

[modernwitchesdaily]

✨ INKTOBER 2017  - “CIRCUS" - Day 1 - Belle ✨

AGENT n°02369878 "Recognition" Stage Name: "Lady Butterfly" CIRCUS: Aerial Acrobat Age: 20 yo. Date of birth: 23/05/1995

Belle was recruited at a very young age by CIRCUS and the organization, she was trained by none other than Alban, the chief of the CIRCUS London Section who was very attached to her. During the shows, she is very popular as aerial acrobat. She is part of CIRCUS's elite unit with Noctis, Sen, Ellena, Mindy and Wolf.

She's got a temper, and she doesn't obey easily. Yet she is the head of her team and runs the various missions very well.

However, her past will haunt her during the first ark of "CIRCUS"...

First day of Inktober! I also shared a small sketch page I made to prepare for this inktober! As I redesign the characters I try not to improvise ;D I hope you'll like it and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

#inktober2017 #inktober #projectCIRCUS #Belle #CIRCUS

[neonthewrite]

GT July 2023

I really enjoyed this challenge, though I didn't quite finish it and what I did get done was largely very late. Life hit me pretty hard and got in the way more than I ever expected, which is a bummer but I must keep on trying. As it is, I don't want to keep feeling Guilty over this not being finished, so I'm calling it at 28 prompts filled. Thank you to everyone who read, and I hope you'll stick around to see what else I come up with!

1 - Enchanted - Interrupted at Work - The miniature wizard Colfax is grabbed (rather rudely) from his lab to employ his services as Court Wizard.

2 - Bird - Gilded Birdcage - Adrian, cursed to live his life as a small bird in a cage, contemplates his life as a witch's would-be familiar.

3 - Impulsive - Nailed It - Chase Lisong, tiny king of impulsive idiots, has a close call in the kitchen while on a borrowing mission.

4 - Stargazing - Grey Landing (part 6) - In which Isaac Grey gathers some supplies for himself and also learns he's definitely not in the same world he recognizes.

5 - Caught - Orange You Glad - Borrower Chase's close calls finally catch up to him and he gets caught out in the open.

6 - AU - Landing Grey - Introducing ... Isaac Grey, an unlucky sailor who has somehow shipwrecked and washed ashore on an island of tiny folk.

7 - Thief - Almost a Thief - Borrower Chase makes a good bid for freedom, but doesn't quite have the speed to get away from a human that's set on catching him.

8 - Dream - At Odds with Himself - In an AU inspired by a dream, two versions of Colfax butt heads. When one is a powerful wizard with a shrinking spell in his arsenal, the resulting chase is frightening and strange for the other.

9 - Rainy Day - Learning to be Friendly - In the cyberpunk Elias Dawn AU, Elias' miniature droid buddy is learning some skills for how to talk to a friend.

10 - Ancient - The Forest Walks - An ancient forest entity laments that she is no longer friends with the wee folk, though her luck may be turning around once more.

11 - Melancholy - Missing Freedom - Jacob, a giant, is captive to some mysterious organization that is trying to train him into a soldier.

12 - Video Games - Let's Go, (Tiny) Gamers - Adrian and Colfax wander Sawyer's apartment and stumble upon a video game controller. Colfax decides to show Adrian the ropes.

13 - Banter - Wrong Place Wrong Time - Hype, a deaf fairy, has wandered into a scout's camp by accident. The scout is not keen to banter with this apparent tiny spy.

14 - Instrument - The Keys to Happiness - (Pet GT Trope) Mindy was a raffle prize to a giant she's not sure is cut out to take good care of her. Despite her resentment, though, Alban has a surprise for her. Set in the FFH world created by @therealbrigeedarocks

16 - Celebrating - Lies Under Duress - Borrower Chase tries and fails to make up a good reason for why he was stealing oranges. The human that caught him isn't convinced.

17 - Home - Grey Landing (part 7) - The giant fishermen that have captured Isaac bring him home with them.

18 - Fire - Grey Landing (part 8) - Isaac is brought to a giant cabin where he has to deal with yet another giant, as well as wonder what they have planned for him.

19 - Trickster - Crisis Averted - Elias Dawn has finished up a fight and she's tapped into her more devious nature to do so. Eral has to talk her down before she heads off to cause trouble that no one deserves.

20 - Intimidate - Grey Landing (part 9) - The giant fisherman attempts to intimidate Isaac. The lady of the house, however, intimidates everyone into calming down, and Isaac is put in time out with some much-needed food.

21 - Secret - Shoot the Breeze - Borrower Chase has a chat with the human that caught him, and learns his name is Jacob. He does not quite manage to convince Jacob to send him on his way as a benevolent hallucination, alas.

22 - Garden - Bowman of the Garden - A brand new AU of Bowman of Wellwood, in which the wood sprites of that story reside in a lush garden near a human home rather than out in the woods, isolated from all human contact. Bowman is still and always the reckless patrol sprite.

23 - Weapon - Two Thieves - A pair of thieves think they have the perfect mark in Elias Dawn, until they notice the pixie with him and remember some of the rumors about how dangerous that pint-sized powerhouse is.

24 - Memory - Grey Landing (part 10) - Isaac makes a little progress talking to the giants. But things still aren't perfect. He's got to win them over a bit more.

25 - Pajamas - Ducky Pajamas - Little Oscar has been adopted... by a human! He reflects on his nice pajamas and how soft and comfortable his life is despite the unexpected circumstances.

26 - Tangled - Office Fae - Simon, a house fae making things work in an office instead, hears about a new hire in the office.

27 - Jewelry / 28 - Cursed - Shackled Forest - Morrel, a giant of the woods, is bound by cursed jewels that have woken again after many many years dormant.

[neonthewrite]

2nd Prize: Gossip Girl

For @therealbrigeedarocks! I was asked to do a story set in her FFH universe, which honestly was a lot of fun (I sure hope I got my facts right o: ). Hope you like it!

( FFH on DA ) ( @askfarfromhome )

Tapered, elegant fingers brushed across the black and white keys. Expert hands moved with the rhythm and she swayed in time, her own metronome. When she closed her eyes, she could imagine it, a concert hall with nothing on the stage but her and the piano. She’d played nothing but sold out shows for years.

When she opened her eyes again, vertical bars of clean, dull metal greeted her on the other side of the plain piano. The notes she played became more percussive as the melody crescendoed. It was her attack on the house-sized cage around her, the only weapon she had.

A voice in the hall caught her attention and the song faltered away. Mindy turned on the bench to watch as, on the other side of the living room, the flat’s door opened to admit a giant twelve times her size.

She’d be lying if she said the sight didn’t startle her anymore, someone so huge carrying bags of groceries that would outweigh an apartment building. It didn’t have the heartstopping panic effect on her, at least. Her life was in Tergaia now, and in Tergaia, humans like her were small.

The giant across the room grinned as he nudged the door closed with a foot. “Heya, Mindy,” he greeted. “Just one sec.”

He carried those enormous, frighteningly heavy bags through an archway near the door. Mindy heard a clatter as they settled on a counter, and then a curse as something loud rolled along the surface. She didn’t bother to hide her smirk as he reappeared in the doorway.

“Having trouble again, Al?” she teased, even as the giant strode around the sofa towards the table where her cage waited. One hand big enough to completely hide her in a fist (this she knew well) left his side and approached the latch on the door. Her gaze flickered to it, but she stood from the piano bench and tilted her head back to his face. Alban, despite how tall and loud he was, wasn’t as scary of an owner as he could be.

It wasn’t his fault she was in a world too big for her. It wasn’t his fault the landlord insisted any humans be kept locked up when tenants were away.

“Har-de-godsdamn-har,” he snipped back with a roll of his eyes. He undid the lock on the cage, and Mindy was already on her way around her own furniture towards the door. She paused halfway when his hand reached into the cage. Huge fingers, thick and unlike hers in as many ways as anyone could imagine, coiled gently around her back. She leaned back like it was a trust fall, letting his hand become a moving seat to convey her out of the cage once more.

“How was work?” she asked. While he turned to make his way back to the kitchen, she situated herself more comfortably on his palm. She did not want to fall all the way to the floor, carpeted or not.

“Boss left sick, so guess who had ta mind the shop an’ the desk?” Alban groused. Mindy tutted sympathetically, and he paused in the kitchen doorway. “I did hear a bit a’ interestin’ news.”

Mindy tilted her head back and fixed his smug look with an expectant one of her own. “Gonna make me guess?”

He smirked. “Word is that Colm Arcadi got himself a human. Rides around on his shoulder an’ everythin’. Can you imagine that, a celebrity human?”

Mindy’s smile didn’t falter, but her eyes became glassy. That concert hall returned to her mind’s eye. Without even realizing it, she clenched her fists as they rested idly on a giant palm. “Oh, it’s about time, isn’t it?” she answered. The bitterness in her voice, she hoped, was faint enough that he didn’t notice. “What would you do without us, after all?”

She was lucky. He let her down on the counter near the grocery bags and went right on with the gossip from the day. “I dunno the answer to that, but I do know it’s all they were talkin’ about in the supply shop today. Everyone only found out a few days ago when he came back through the gate. I dinna even know he was out of town.”

Mindy found a short tea tin to sit on while he put away the groceries. Her legs swung back and forth and she eyed every heavy item he drew out of those towering bags. “She must be freaked out,” she mused. Her own first days in Tergaia, spent wandering someone’s backyard in confused terror, had felt like they lasted a lifetime.

This new human at least seemed to be getting along better than she did. She must not be afraid of heights.

“Aye, ya think?” Alban snickered. “Ridin’ around on the shoulder a the most powerful man in Fathach? Maybe they’ll start a trend.”

Mindy wasn’t ready for his hand to suddenly come her way. Despite herself, she stiffened, but it didn’t stop his grasp from solidifying around her suddenly. The pressure settled all around her with her head and shoulders free, and she lifted from her seat.

She was mostly used to being grabbed without warning, but still she tensed and prayed he wouldn’t drop her. She ducked her head as he ferried her up, up, and only opened her eyes when he set her down.

On his own shoulder.

“A-Alban?!” She stammered, scooting to his collar where she could cling pale-knuckled to it. To either side, the ground stretched far away, and everything swayed in time with him.

“Whatcha think, lass?”

“I-I don’t like it,” she admitted. “Please put me back.”

His hand was back as quickly as before. She didn’t even mind the speedy lowering back to the counter, but stumbled when she was on solid ground. “Sorry, Mindy,” he said. He really sounded remorseful.

She brushed her hair back and offered a shaky smirk. “Don’t let it happen again.”