#who am I kidding this whole duology is an experiment in how much I can push traditional fanfic formatting

[katytheinspiredworkaholic]

WIP Wednesday

Dreamwalker (Eddie’s Story) Summary: Steddie Canon compliant/fix-it fic paired with a corresponding story in Steve’s POV, each chapter happens in tandem with the other. Eddie wakes up alone in the Upside Down, not knowing how he survived, and unable to reach anyone topside in Hawkins. Wounded and alone, he finds shelter at the Harrington’s house (the place is a damn fortress after all), and while hiding out there discovers that he has gained the ability to walk into other people’s dreams.

((Content warnings in tags))

(un-beta’d snippet of Chapter 2; Eddie made it to the Harrington’s house in one piece last chapter, and hasn’t tried to step outside of it ever since. It’s safe, he has room and food and endless supplies (make-shift or otherwise), and he’s still pretty injured and needs to rest. But idle hands and all that, plus adjusting to living in the Upside Down isn’t exactly a walk in the park.)

--

It takes over a week before Eddie leaves Steve’s house.

To be fair, he sleeps a lot of it. (Still healing, and all that; blood loss is no fucking joke.) He doesn’t dream of Steve, or with Steve, in that time. In fact, he’s not dreaming much at all, thank Jesus, because when he does… it always ends with the bats. 

Gnawing, swarming, rows and rows of teeth digging into his sides, going for vital organs. A tail around his neck, more pulling at each limb, like he’s being drawn and quartered. Screaming as teeth sunk into him over and over again. Being disemboweled alive – sounds metal as fuck. Actually sucks balls. 

He wakes up far too many times to a double tap of paralyzing fear. First shot – being eaten alive in his dreams, not knowing if it’s real or if it’ll stop. Second shot – not knowing if he’d screamed when he woke up, and what might have heard him if he did. It’s enough to make anyone curl up in the fetal position and shake.

But then Eddie focuses on trying to contact Steve. After a few days of rest, his head no longer swimming, and his wounds in the gross, early stages of healing and scarring, Eddie realizes he needs out. No one was going to come looking for him here, at Harrington Manor (now Casa de Munson), so if he wants the rescue party to locate him he’d have to send up some flares. Discreetly. 

He tries the lights. He tries the doors. He tries the TV (à la Poltergeist), and the stereo system in Steve’s room. The walkie-talkie radio that is obviously Henderson’s handiwork. He even tries Harrington’s fucking hair dryer. God knows he’d noticed that thing on the fritz. He lets his hand pass through the drifting bits of tickling light whenever Steve actually deigns to be home and turn something on, but half the lights are too high for him to reach (damn rich people’s homes and their fucking vaulted ceilings) and the rest don’t seem to have any kind of impact on the guy.  

Eddie calls Steve many unflattering names this particular morning, specifically after the hair dryer incident. He messed with it until the damn thing blew a fuse, and it yielded results he never in a million years would have predicted. It seems Steve did in fact notice this, and then? Then Eddie could hear Steve, loud and clear. Just like they had with Henderson when they were stuck over spring break, as if he was trapped in the walls. Steve yells right back at him, or to God or whoever, some choice words very similar to Eddie's own a moment ago. And it was so dramatic and so… good to hear a voice again in the pulsating nothingness of the Upside Down that Eddie laughs until he cries. 

Sometimes in the mornings (when he can’t bother to pull himself out of bed) he could hear Steve and Buckley talking in the kitchen, but he hasn’t heard Steve’s parents and most of the time Steve doesn’t talk at all when he’s home. It gets to the point where Eddie starts to worry he might have to make the trip to Henderson or Sinclair's house. If any of those little brats has the intelligence to count on in a dire situation like this, it’s Sinclair’s 11-year-old sister. (Heaven help him.)

The biggest problem with that plan is… there are things out there. The bats swarm daily; when they pass over the house it sounds like a tornado is about to take off the roof. There’s creatures that stalk about between the trees, taller than a normal man, and scavenging creatures of all sizes. Dog-sized, rat-sized, more he can’t even make out. The vines creep and move, try to wiggle under the doors of the house sometimes but can’t make it past the weather seals. And there’s something huge, vaguely Jabba The Hut shaped, that slithers about and Eddie is fucking terrified it might move faster than it looks.

There’s more, too, he knows this. He hears the cries and shrieks in the night of the creatures hunting each other. If that’s not a terrifying enough scenario for you, imagine how Eddie felt the moment he realized they eat each other and are still a hive mind. They are starving. No wonder they are so hostile and ravenous for human flesh. It’s food that doesn’t hurt to eat. 

It’s about this time that Eddie starts to take notes. A day or two before he makes his first venture outside the house. His mind is a maddening buzz of information and fears and observations and questions. He can’t think, he can’t put anything in order, it makes him want to knock himself out just for a moment of peace. But the risk of nightmares starts to deter that. So he finally does the one thing he swore he would never do; he takes the long suffering advice of his old middle school guidance counselor. The one he was too full of anger to hear properly, at the time.

He writes it all down.

It starts as stream of consciousness, dumping all the chatter and words in his head onto paper just to put it somewhere. To save his dwindling sanity. And soon his brain, trained and honed like a broadsword blade by his DM campaigns, begins to group information on instinct. Ideas. Categories. Plans.

Ten hours and a hell of a cramp in his hand later, he actually has a plan. He might have… started to lose it a little by then, too, because the layout sounds a bit like the intro monologue to one of his campaigns:

Eddie the Banished has been left behind; not out of hate or convenience, but out of circumstance. He doesn’t blame his party for doing so. They are at war with a fearful, deadly foe. They thought he’d been vanquished. Defeated. 

Alas, he endured.

He survived.

Eddie the Banished was now in hiding, behind enemy lines.

He found himself in quite an advantageous position — and if this were a D&D campaign, he knew just what he would do. He’d do reconnaissance. He’d make maps and creature dossiers, stash weapons and provisions, he'd be the best ‘presumed dead’ spy a campaign had ever asked for. He could do so much good, getting everything ready.

So what was stopping him doing the same, here?

Easy:

Fear.

The very real reality that he could be eaten by a monster.

The fact he’s a storyteller, not a fighter.

The pros and cons list literally began to write itself, filling pages in Steve’s (very worryingly unused) high school notebooks that Eddie had commandeered. But the pros are a lot longer than the cons.

In summary: 

Pros = prepare everyone for what comes next. (If his brief glimpse of downtown was anything to go by. They still had a boss battle to fight.)

Cons = he’s a coward at heart, who knows how to keep himself alive first and foremost.

… It takes him rereading his own notes until the wee hours of the morning to realize… that may be a skill, and not a flaw. The ability to keep himself alive. At least here, it was. In the Upside Down. And wasn’t that the coolest adaptive mindset ever, enough that it propelled him into preparatory action. All the way to the following morning, where he stood just inside the interior door of the Harrington’s garage, working up the nerve to step outside.

—

tbc

—

Series Snippets:

- Dreamwalker (Eddie’s Story) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

- Subconscious (Steve’s Story) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

[van-zieksy]

"...My learned Nipponese friend is obviously in training to be a clown, the way he regales us with such witticisms."

Barok just.... I mean I am still correct in what I'm saying, but damn, how do you even come back from that one?? Ryunosuke is going to need therapy for that statement alone.

Also I'm soooooo upset the games aren't fully voice acted, I would've loved to hear that!!

The more I play DGS the more I want a separate anime just for this whole era. I'm not even asking much. Just the cases and-

Okay wait I just clicked on my switch screen to prevent it from shutting down and he follows up with a toast to "my future career in the circus"???? Holy fuck, this man!!

Soooo I suppose you can definitely count me in for the Barok van Zieks Simp Club. I feel like I owe him my soul and part of my income.

Such an iconic statement that it even transcends timelines. Barok must be Edgeworth's ancestor, right? (Yeah, I know, the "you're the entire circus" thing is just a meme).

I can understand his thoughts, though. Think about it from Barok's perspective for a moment. You are the most celebrated Crown prosecutor in the country who only takes on high-profile cases, not that you care about your own status, but you do want to make sure that the good name of the British judicial system doesn't get sullied. This nobody from a different country who did not even properly study law and who does not have any real world experience whatsoever shows up in court to pretend to do real attorney work. This wannabe also makes his debut defending one of the most notorious individuals in town, who you definitely know to be shady (let's leave it at that, okay?). Surely this kid can't be trusted, right? What's he up to?

The youngster goes on to disrespect court procedures because he's not familiar with them, accuses people without any shred of evidence, bluffs, puts forward hypotheses merely based on ideas or feelings, disregards many of the protocols. Of course the prosecution is frustrated. Wouldn't we all be if we were part of the game? What makes Ryunosuke charming to us as the audience, makes him bothersome to the characters in the game that are involved in all of this. :D

I'm actually surprised that prosecutor Van Zieks just goes along with it, when he would have had grounds to ask this learned friend to be removed from the courtroom due to being unfit for court. Barok is very patient and even helps Ryunosuke quite a bit/mentors him, as well as cooperates with him when he technically doesn't have to, because in the end, this prosecutor only cares about justice. (Gosh, there's more I want to say, but I will refuse to use any spoilers because I know you haven't finished the game yet, so let's end it here).

You absolutely speak my mind! A well-made anime in the world of DGS would be so very amazing. Hearing our beloved characters speak (as you've mentioned), seeing them move. The character design is superb, the world is beautiful. I adore the whole franchise (some games/characters more than others), but this cast is my favourite. From Ryunosuke to Barok to Susato to Iris etc., I love them all! I am not the same since I have finished this duology. Barok is my favourite character in the franchise (surprise, I know), with Ryunosuke coming in second and Susato coming in third, which is quite the achievement against such all-time-greats as Edgeworth, Phoenix and Maya. :)

Enjoy the rest of the game(s)! 😊

Edit/P.S.: In case you read my blog here, I can only recommend you filter out the tags "tgaa spoilers" and "dgs spoilers", as that's how I tag my spoilery posts and reblogs. Other people may use the same or other tags.

[bae-science]

it’s t-t-t-t-time for another newt bae-science fic rec extravabonanza! same rules, same boys, same bullshit! let’s get into it:

a beginning; a second chance by @dykesword

other newt and i have a long and intricate ritualistic battle to become the alpha newt, but i gotta give credit where it’s due. if you like to annotate your books for fun, this fic will give you a looooong comment you’ll want to write, and for good reason! there’s a lot of really well done metaphor and character detail in here, while still keeping a very soft, melancholy but with a hopeful edge tone. and also, like, the care and detail in which newt’s mental state in the aftermath of the precursors’ abuse is depicted is so so good, and delightful to read

husbandly duties by @kingeiszler

i am soooo biased with this one bc technically it was made for me but GODDAMN it’s good. this shit has everything: gottlieb trio sibling dynamics, vanessa in giant femme earrings, hermann yearning, newt and karla infodumping together, newt’s terrible and accurate gaydar, gay crime, the newmann dynamic and why it works boiled down to its bare essentials, pride and prejudice glasses touch, and neon green acrylics. required reading for the vanessaverse

Say That Again by @robertfrobisherslover

WOOF. if you like mutual pining and lack of communication from men with rocks for their emotional processing centers, and guncle (gay uncle) newt and hermann and KILLER artsy sex scenes, and themes of words unsaid in a story about LANGUAGE..... oogoogogoogouhufug. the writing style is clear and well paced, i LOVE little mako’s scene she’s such a cutie, and there’s like. a line. that’s a play on the whole “it’s always been you” trope. that lives in my mind rent free forever.

speak right to my heart without saying a word by @thekaidonovskys

i’m just gonna paste the comment i left on it here, because that sums up what is so absolutely incredible about this fic the best:

so sometimes you stumble on a piece of fiction that you add to your little collection of stuff you would show a person if you wanted them to understand a part of you that you can't quite explain eloquently, or it would take too long, etc etc, and i've never really found something like that for my autism until now, which, like, poggers. and i'll be as straight up as i can while still being the biggest lesbian in the great state of ohio (not a hard feat but alan invented computers so i love continuing on the autistic tradition of being a living miracle), the chameleon effect hit me like a mack truck. catholic school in the deep south is the most potent and effective form of ABA therapy imaginable :/. so sometimes i wonder what i would be like if i didn't have such a strong ability to pass, and here's where we finally get to the part of this comment where i just vomit compliments at you: you nailed it. you got it. i don't know if you're on the spectrum, but either way, well fucking done. trauma therapy research talks a lot about healing fantasies, which are fantasies, usually in the form of daydreams, that abused/neglected/traumatized/etc people create that directly address a struggle they have and take the form of a scenario in which that struggle is helped in some way. it could be an abusive parent repenting and showering them with the love they never had, or someone finding them during a panic attack and somehow knowing how best to comfort them without having to ask, or being intimate with someone and having a scar or physical deformity they've been shamed for be given attention and care. and i think you have created the ultimate perfect healing fantasy for autistic people, or at least those with """"high functioning"""" autism. it has a character who is visibly and undeniably on the spectrum having the pain and trauma going through life like that causes being acknowledged and validated, they are purposefully paid attention to because person b genuinely likes them and wants to understand and respect who they are and how they function in the world, and thus get The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known as well as the eventual rewards of being loved, person b makes a genuine effort to help teach them social skills in a way they can understand and learn through and is there for them when these skills are being practiced, their space and boundaries are respected but they aren't infantilized or thought of as an emotionless robot, and they receive love and comfort on their own terms not despite of but because of who they are, even specifically being asked not to change the way they are because that way is lovable. they are openly desired. writing is my fucking JOB and it's still difficult to put into words how much you got 100000% right about the dream with this fic. i have been in the EXACT and i mean EXACT same situation as hermann when he asked newt if it was his personality itself that made people not like him, because i deadass made a spreadsheet of all my personality attributes i thought could be preventing me from making friends in college, and then asked my fellow nd friend to see if there was anything i was missing. so i guess what i'm trying to say is that this amazing, and i'm bookmarking it and putting it on my next fic rec post, and maybe one day way way in the future if i ever get a partner i want to explain the whole autism thing to, i'm gonna have them read this.

The Facts With Newton Geiszler, PhD by what_alchemy (NSFW)

storytime: i read this fic a few years ago, completely forgot the title and author, and ended up thinking about the part where hermann admits to having fucked a trailer hitch when he was a teenager, at least once a week. last november, i say to my friend samara on twitter, head of the BSHCU (buttslut hermann cinematic universe), hey this seems like something you’d have read, do you remember a fic where... and samara says FUCK i do know what you’re talking about lemme find it. so if the fact that i have been looking for this fic for like, two years, and that it contains a moment so iconic all i had to say is, “hermann says he fucked a trailer hitch” and she IMMEDIATELY knew what i was talking about, does not convince you to read this... go back to catholic school i guess.

Feeling Blue by TempusPetrichor

fics where newt goes back to work as a biologist, especially a xenobiologist, post pru are really interesting, and usually have something neat to say about recovery, how it isn’t linear, how it often involves us returning to things we love for comfort, etc. this one sure does! some good emotional and physical h/c, LOVE the use of the ghost drift, and it’s always fun to see post pru fics use dialogue very obviously taken from dbt, trauma-specific therapeutical texts, and anything that shows the author has experience with, or did their research on, ptsd therapies.

You’re Everyone That Ever Cared by KlavierWrites

you know a fic is good when it’s an only 9k slowburn and still manages to reach infinite regress levels of are you fucking KIDDING GO TO THERAPY. newt “acts of service” geiszler may have a little misplaced misogyny due to his broken woman-centric gaydar. as a treat. the fucking. post-drift scene where hermann subtextually screams “LOOK IN OUR BRAINS YOU FUCK I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU I JUST HAVE AUTISM AND CAREER IN STEM DISORDER” is soooooo. god just hermann in general in that scene is great. if you like classic mid 2010s era newmann, ghost drift romance, and good ole mutual pining, this is a treat.

Baby, You're Hotter than my Bunsen Burner by SkySongMA

moronosexual hermann representation is something that can actually be so personal

Times of Stress by RadioMoth

the boys are processinggggggg. man what a good, quick and powerful punch to the gut. if you like post-pr1 catharsis and physical h/c, AND are the one friend that likes to comment at the end of the movie that hey newt got beat the fuck UP, check this one out.

black tea by @faggotcas

okay first of all, god fucking tier url, lee. second of all, food as a love language is my SHIT. i love the very slow relationship development here, where you see them making a genuine effort to get along and that in turn leading to feelings reigniting. it’s such a sweet little moment of a fic, with a nice atmosphere and tone to fit it

now here’s the part where i usually drop my latest fic, but i haven’t written one this month because i’ve been busy launching an audio drama! you can find it here, it’ll be right up your alley if you like cryptids and gay scientists and enemies to lovers and good ole americana, but since this is a newmann post, i’m gonna recommend the pacific rim audio drama duology i did a while back! part one is called conversations from the brink, and it’s a little slice of the pr3 we better fucking get from streaming that godawful looking anime. love and lesbians to everyone ❤️

[annacwrites]

the wip list

Alright, gang. Buckle up. This is going to be a long one, and at this point I can’t even bring myself to be sorry about it. I meant to put this off but then I started thinking about it, so here we are (at 1:05 in the morning when I have to work at 8:30, what am I doing?). 

I’m going to break this down in a couple of ways—fanfiction vs. original fiction, fandom (if it’s a fanfic), series/universe (if it’s in one), and then the individual books themselves (if I have the ability to do that, because quite frankly, for some of these I don’t because I have no idea what the titles are or where I’m splitting the story yet).

Also, “WIP” is an incredibly broad term here. In some cases it means I’ve already written the whole thing but I plan to 100% rewrite it (and haven’t started yet). In some cases it means I’ve written half of the thing but haven’t finished yet. In some cases it means I have it all outlined but haven’t started writing yet. In some cases it means I haven’t really touched an outline on paper yet but I have it all worked out in my head. Take the “in progress” part of WIP with a grain of salt.

(Putting this whole thing under the cut because it is so freaking long. I apologize if the read-more doesn’t work on your dash. Idk what tumblr is doing.)  

Starting off easy—the fics:

Harry Potter: (JKR can fuck off with her transphobia and cultural appropriation and all the other stupid and fucked-up shit that she’s done/promoted but, as I said to my friends, she can pry my next-gen fanfics from my cold dead hands. Cursed Child is not canon in my life because I’ve never read it and I don’t care what nonsense she came up with.)

The “In Your Arms I’ll Stay” universe (Tedtoire/Scorose): 

The first fic in this universe is the first fic I ever finished. 110k words followed up by a ~137k word sequel. It is a disaster and a half but it’s also my baby and I fully intend to rewrite it one of these days. It is full of standard Tedtoire trope-y nonsense—best friends since childhood! two-year age gap! jealousy about other relationships! obliviousness!—and at 15 I thought it was a really good idea to try to turn it into a mystery too, which is a mistake that I have every intention of rectifying because it was unnecessary and I just didn’t know how to do drama and tension back then. 

Anyway. It will probably be two parts again when I rewrite it because one part per school year just works, yeah? We’re covering Vic’s fifth/Teddy’s seventh year and Vic’s sixth year/Teddy’s first year out of school over the course of these parts.

Within this universe we also have Heartbeat and Bone, which is a Scorose fic that I’ve written probably 75% of already but have no intention of actually finishing before I rewrite it. I want to get the stories in the right order so that I can get details straightened out, so Teddy and Victoire get the rewrites first and then I’ll be revisiting this fic. Also full of trope-y nonsense (and my continued acceptance of the headcanon that the Heads have their own dormitory at Hogwarts, because it’s just too much fun that way).  

some things were meant to be (Tedtoire):

Oh god, another fic with a cliché title taken from Can’t Help Falling In Love. I have zero regrets because it fits them perfectly.

This one is... half-done? I fully intend to finish it but I need to finish the outline first. It was my 2019 NaNoWriMo project and I am 100% just writing it for the lols (and because Teddy and Vic are like... my comfort ship where writing is concerned). I wanted to play with a different universe and change up their relationship and roles at school a bit, but once again... trope-y nonsense. It’s unavoidable with them. There is obliviousness everywhere. 

Star Wars: (it’s Reylo, okay? It’s Reylo. I don’t want to hear it about how the ship is ~so terrible.~ That is literally the furthest thing in the world from a hot take, you can’t say a single thing that I haven’t heard before, and I’m a grown adult and can do what I want. Bite me.)

looking for the map that leads me home (Reylo): 

Stole the title on this one from We Take Care of Our Own by Bruce Springsteen, because why the fuck not, right? 

To put it simply: musician AU. To put it a little less simply: he’s got a dead career, she wants to have even the slightest shot at one, Rose is the best, Poe’s a singing heartthrob, Finn is a love-struck goofball. You know, all that fun stuff. The entire thing is based on a playlist that I made and every chapter has a song that acts as its theme. I haven’t touched it since January 2018. I want to finish it eventually but it’s not really at the top of the priority list. 

There’s a few other fics from other fandoms that I’ve started and never finished but the odds of me touching them again are like... nonexistent, so I’m not including them here. I’ll update this post if anything changes on that front (but it probably won’t).

Now for the complicated part—the original fiction:

Maker’s Magic 

This is a trilogy (or at least, it’s supposed to be). This is also a rewrite of the first story I ever finished—the fantasy novel that I wrote for my first-ever Camp NaNoWriMo back in August of 2011, when I had literally no clue what I was doing at all and essentially stole the plot structure from The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and built my own story around it. This is not a good way to write a piece of fiction that you want to publish, kids, but it is a damn good way to get your feet wet when you’ve never really written before.

I am reworking this story entirely from scratch. The characters are... kind of the same as the original story. Kind of. Maybe. I’ve changed a few names and merged a few people together and scrapped some others and entirely shifted the backstory of pretty much everyone, but... they’re definitely still the same, right? 

Basically, at this point the plot is really only similar to The Obsidian Trilogy in that we���ve got a trilogy, we’ve got some elves, and it’s your standard good vs. evil fantasy story (in its own unique fashion, of course). I’m still working out the details of this rewrite, but this is kind of the Holy Grail of all of my writing projects and the one that I’m most concerned about getting right, so I’m anticipating that I’ll be in it for the long haul on this one. I’m hoping I might be able to get a draft of the first book done this year, but... we’ll see.

(I also don’t want to give too many details about this project, ‘cause it’s the one that I’d really like to maybe publish one day, so...)

The Willow Hill universe

This started as a single story plus a standalone sequel set in the same universe, conceptualized when I was fourteen and missing horseback riding terribly (so yes, it is a story for all those Weird Horse Girls™ out there). I wrote a good portion of it, then deleted it, then rewrote the entire thing, then deleted it again a few years ago because I was no longer satisfied with the writing quality (after hitting top 100 on the Teen Fiction list on Wattpad way back when, so... I didn’t do too badly as a 16-year-old, but the writing still sucked). I’ve been promising a rewrite to my Wattpad followers since 2016 or something like that (2014? Whenever the hell it was that I deleted it the second time) but haven’t delivered at all.

I now envision this universe as a duology plus the aforementioned standalone sequel, except it’s not entirely fair to call it a YA duology in that the first book is definitely YA, but the second is more romance-y?

I originally just revealed the main character’s endgame relationship in the epilogue of the story, but I love both her and her boyfriend and their relationship so much that I decided that I’m going to be self-indulgent and write the story of them actually falling in love with each other, so that’s book two (so really, you don’t actually have to read book two to understand anything, I’m just writing it because I want to and it’s also kind of a present to anyone who read the original story when they were also a teenager and is now an adult who wants to read other stuff). 

Book one is now about the teenage struggle of crushes and trying to figure out what it is that you actually want out of your life and what you value (I say “now” because it was definitely way more self-insert-y the first time I wrote it and it is decidedly not at this point). It’s also sort of a love letter to trainers who are amazing and the kind of person we should all be so lucky as to be coached by.

These characters are my comfort characters where original fiction is concerned since they’ve been bouncing around in my head for the last ten years or so, and I’m hoping I can get at least the first book rewritten in the next year-ish, partly because I’ve been promising it for so long, and partly because I just really enjoy this world and I want to get back to it again.

The Coffee Shop Chronicles

AKA, I lived in one coffee shop on my university campus for pretty much the entirety of my college experience and it was a very inspiring place to be, so this has less to do with coffee shop AUs and more to do with the fact that I met several of my favorite human beings on this earth over a vanilla chai latte and mutual sass with the baristas.

(One of said baristas is very near and dear to me and introduced me to another regular who is now a very good friend with the statement “You’re both sarcastic assholes. You’ll love each other.”) 

None of the characters in this universe are based on actual human beings whom I know, but I liked the idea of the campus coffee shop serving as this thing that tangentially connected all of these people to one another, much in the way that I am tangentially connected to god knows how many people via my barista friend. Essentially, the idea is that the stories in this universe are all standalone, but the characters sometimes cross paths with one another at Caffeinated, so it’s sort of... Easter-egg-y in terms of who pops up where in which story. 

Currently I only have two stories in this universe that are legitimately plotted out, but there is room for any number of spin-offs based on whichever characters show up in those stories (or don’t—that’s the fun of it being a coffee shop. The barista is the only reliable character). Those two stories are as follows:

Chance Encounters (title so totally subject to change, also stealing the terribly summary from the Wattpad draft that never saw the light of day):

For Bennett McGuire, things with guys just didn't seem to want to go her way. From the disasters that were her attempts at dating in high school to the problem that had been Elijah Becker, she hadn't exactly had the best luck. With all that in mind, it made perfect sense to swear off dating until she finished college—that is, it made sense until one frozen day in February when Gordon Evans walked into her life. After that, who was to say what would happen?

What’s Your Metaphor? (once again, enjoy the terrible summary from the Wattpad draft that never was. I am cringing reading it but also too tired to come up with anything better):

"What's the point?" 

It's a question asked widely, for all sorts of reasons, and it's one that April Hayes didn't know the answer to any better than anyone else. All she knew was that she had her plan, and she was going to stick to it, because it was the only thing that seemed to have any sort of logic to it in her life. The things she thought, the things she believed—well, they all fell before the plan, because she didn't have time to ask herself "What's the point?"

That is, she didn't have the time to know the answer—her answer—until one guy by the name of Drew Collier showed up and made her consider things that she had never even thought of before.

High Blood

Yinz can go read my WIP introduction post for this one. It’s a fantasy story. Just for the hell of it, here’s the summary from said WIP introduction post: 

At the age of seventeen, Thessaly of Averak had a choice—take the crown of her people and her place as her father’s heir, or set it aside to become one of the High Warriors, dedicated to protecting their people and the country that her long-dead ancestor Enred built after leading its citizens out of a long and bloody war. Amidst raids and famine at the borders, she gave up her crown to better serve the people that her family rules.

Ten years later, all is quiet. At least, all is quiet until Beca’s pendant is stolen by a thief who disappears into the night on the journey back from the summer palace, Tess gets herself stabbed, and the discovery is made that the rock-solid foundations of their family’s claim to the throne—and the peace that depends upon them—are laced with hairline fractures.

(I didn’t write anything to speak of for Camp NaNo July 2020 and actually wound up deleting my project for this on the NaNo site because my dad was hit by a car while cycling the Friday before the weekend when I was planning to write like... 30k words to catch up, so obviously I gave up on that plan (he is doing well now, thank you for asking). I’m hoping I’ll get around to this one eventually because this particular universe arguably has the most potential for having multiple stories set in it, fantasy-wise.)

Emerson’s Lights

Natalie Flynn has been best friends with Evan Acheson practically since birth. They've stuck together through thick and thin, from her braces in seventh grade to his jump to stardom as a singer-songwriter their freshman year of college. 

She’d do anything for him, but spending a week with him on tour involves a lot more than she bargained for, culminating in the turn of events that is Caleb Blake, lead singer and primary songwriter of opening act Emerson’s Lights, moving into her house for the better part of a month.

She always knew there would be complications being the best friend of a rock star, but this? This was one that she didn’t bet on.

(Aka, girl meets boy in a band trope. Yay.)

(NaNoWriMo 2020 project)

The famous musician story (this thing doesn’t have a title right now and I’m not even going to try)

Stupid, trope-y nonsense idea that I came up with for my own personal amusement and nothing else. I’ve written a few chapters of it but genuinely have no idea where this falls in the hierarchy of things that I want to get done. Long story short, she’s in grad school for history, he’s a famous musician in town recording for a new album, they meet in the library, she pretends she has no idea who he is, and shenanigans ensue.

And that is where I think I’m going to leave it. There’s four other stories that I can think of off the top of my head that I could theoretically add to this list, but they are legitimately just ideas right now so they can be added at a later date when they’ve manifested themselves a little more strongly. There’s also another quartet in the Willow Hill universe that I came up with in high school that could theoretically be added but I think I might just steal those character names and give them their own little world instead. We’ll see.

Basically, if you didn’t get the point from this list: I am working on a lot of things, and when I say I’m writing, it could mean literally anything on this list (or any of the other ideas that I have floating around). The stories/universe here are the most likely candidates for my time, depending on whether I’m doing a deep dive into my writing or just playing around with something fun, and hopefully (god, hopefully) I’ll be able to move one or two of these to a “completed works” list in the next year(ish). 

(Or at least, as complete as a draft ever gets before you start going in on it again.)

[dangerouslycleverbooks]

MARCH WRAP UP???

Hi everyone!

So I decided that Saturdays will be the day of posts. Posts in other days than Saturday will be more random and probably shorter. I do realize that it’s the middle of the month of April and that everyone kind of forgot about March, but I’m about to post my March wrap up anyway.

Because in March I’ve read 9 books I will try to write it as short as I can. It’s not a lot, but I’m not disappointed, because as I said before there are 8 books I need to read per month (because of my reading challange for 2018). Not only I wasn’t disapointed by the number of the books, but also the contents; from all of 9 books I’ve enjoyed every single one, some more, some less, but there is no book I’ve give less than 3*.

The first book I’ve read in March was Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo. I’ve enjoyed these stories. I wish I had this book when I was younger. It’s inspiring and really well written. Most important it’s not only “book for children”, it’s something that we all can learn something from. Not only young girls and what’s most people haven’t noticed; not only girls. While I get a lot of women that were mention in book are not a really good examples to be followed for good girls, the book is not about being GOOD. It’s for a rebel girls for goodness sake! The book is about powerful and influential women, which sometimes doesn’t go along with being “the good girl”.

The next book was Before I Let Go written by Marieke Nijkamp. Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return. Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town’s lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she’s a stranger. Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter… Though I haven’t gave this book 5* it’s still one of my favorite storie I have ever read! I love the concept, getting to know characters, the wat Marieke wrote this book, not unnecessary the style. I don’t want to say too much because I’m afraid I could destroy you the reading experience.

Another book, or should I say graphic novel, is The Mortal Instruments; The Graphic Novel Vol I. Hanging out with her best friend, Simon, is just about the most exciting thing in Clary’s life…that is, until she realizes there are people only she can see. But when her mother disappears and a monster attacks her, Clary has to embrace a world that she never even knew existed–a world full of vampires, werewolves, demons, and those who fight for the humans, Shadowhunters. I love the idea of the graphic novel for The Mortal Instruments because the first books from the series aren’t really good for older teens and adults. They could easily skip the first three books by reading the graphic version of them! For now, there is only the first half of City of Bones (the first book from TMI series) but there will be more! And hopefully we will get them at least to City of Glass. I recommend buying this edition not only for people who are a bit too grown for the way CoB was writte, but for everyone. It’s fun, the illustrations are really good and also there is one scene that was missing from the original book!

The fourth book from March wrap up is Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levensellet. Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship. More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King. It’s really typical YA novel and from the synopsys you can clearly say it is cheesy, but I really enjoyed my time reading this. I hope the next book (because it is a duology, and  I haven’t gave you the name of the sequel for a reason; it’s pretty spoilering). Maybe I liked it because the book is about pirates and sea adventures, and I’m all about it! I don’t have problems with light books (and this was definitely one) I also don’t have any stipulations with it. But I do have some thoughts starting with „this could be better if…”. I wasn’t the big fan of a romance in it, but I believe that Levenseller will make it up with another books!

The next two books are my rereads and the first one is Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them… I’ve reread this book because I am taking part in rereading Clare’s books before Queen Of Air And Darkness release. I have to admit when I first read Clockwork Angel I wasn’t a big fan of it, especially the love trangle. During the reading this book this month I focus on London and the case they were into, I’ve tried to ignore the love affairs and I have to say, I was really pleased with it. I’m not saying that I’m madly in love with Infernal Devieces and it’s not my favorite series by Cassandra, but it definitely jump on higher place.

My second reread is the first book of my favorite duology of all times (which are basically on the same place as Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab), and that is Six of Crows by Leigh Berdugo. Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone… A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first. If you still wonder about buying this book… don’t wonder, just buy it! If you already read The Grisha trilogy, buy Six of Crows asap! Or if you’re not really interesting in reading The Grisha, just jump right into it! I am really mad at myslef for ignoring Six of Crows because of the hype, but it really is worth it, at least for me. There is no words that can describe my love for this book. The first time I’ve read this book in January of 2018 and I immediately had to jump into the second book! I’ve finished SoC at 9 AM and right after this I went to local book store and bought Crooked Kingdom! Still it wasn’t enough so I ended up wanting to reread both books! First time I focused only on the story and the task they had to do, which basically made me miss a lot of really important things in relation between characters. Probably with the third reread (which will probably happen in the next 4 months) I will find something else. Six of Crows is connected to The Grisha trilogy and some people says it’s not necessary to know it before reading duology. I do believe it is better to read Grisha first because there you have the whole magic system and most important thing of this world is in it. Plus Six of Crows happened after The Grisha series which basically means you might find some spoilers, not big one, but still spoilers. I personally read Six of Crows first, but if I could I would definitely start with The Grisha series.

And now the book that I did enjoy but not that much… and everybody seems to love it… and after years of trying reading it I finally finished it. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone or if you prefer The Sorcerer’s Stone by none other but J.K. Rowling. Everybody probably knows what this book is about so I won’t write about it. And to be clear I love the world of HP, I love the films, I love the story, I love characters… it’s just, the book (THE FIRST BOOK) was not for me. I dislike the first movie from the series as well so maybe it’s just how it is. And maybe because I wasn’t growing with the books or that they are written for kids… I didn’t get it.  The only thing I liked about this book was the exploring the world all over again. More details about it etc. For me the worst part of the book (and I do get why it was shown this way, but it still was really pissing me off) is the hate towards Slytherin. That everybody in this house have to be evil. Like they are the worst. (I also might be a bit offended because it’s my Hogwart house).  But I will continue the series becuase after all I didn’t hate the book. It was okay, just not something I am madly in love with… or at love at all. I hope the next books will be better, I’m especially excited about The Half Blood Prince which is my favorite part when it comes to movies. I hope to love this series just as everybody else so much! Let’s hope I will.

Let’s move on to two the best books of March, and the first one is… Strange the Dreamer by Taylor Laini. I am so suprised that I loved this book so much. The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep and when a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors who proposed an expedition … to someone else. Because I’m writing full review about this book, I am not gonna write here much. I really do love Lazlo and the storie following his person, and not only his! I am really happy I did buy Strange the Dreamer and I cannot wait to hear more stories from Laini because she’s an amazing author!

And finally probably best of the best reads of this year is A Conjuring of Light by one and only, amazing V.E. Schwab. I absolutely adore Shades of Magic trilogy, it stole my heart with the first sentence! Because A Conjuring of Light is the third book in a series I won’t write anything about it, except the fact that it did broke my heart and left me empty, and yet the ending was so satisfying and beautiful that I cannot complain, but I do need more. And I heard we will get the stories set five years after the Shades of Magic, but we will see what will happen! For now, I will just highly recommend you this trilogy.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little wrap up and that people won’t jump on me becuase of Harry Potter… we all should respect each others opinion, I mean, everybody has a right to have one (..right?). But that’s it for much, thanks to anyone who read this and let me know down in a comments what was your reads of the month of march and what was your favorite? 🙂

[willreadforbooze]

Hey everyone!!

Hope you all had an ok week with all the craziness going on in the world. Hope you all are staying healthy and safe. We’re definitely learning how to have fun separately lol. Virtual happy hours and such.

Minda’s Update

What Minda finished:

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi – Done! I had really high expectations and was slightly disappointed. The world building continued to be fantastic, but the characters were a bit wishy-washy for my liking. Still was pretty good and I was happy to be back in Orïsha!

What Minda is reading now:

Music From Another World by Robin Talley – So far really digging the letter writing/diary format, plus to LGBT perspective in the 70s.

Ginny’s Update

Well all it’s been a weird week. I ended up picking up a lot of extra work and between that and the “virtual happy hours” (which I’ve come to enjoy, it’s the same company but with better beer – and also when it’s done I’m already home!). But all of this is to say, I think this is one of the lightest reading weeks I’ve had since we started doing this whole thing….

What Ginny Finished:

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory: This is the second book in “The Wedding Date” series, and these books end up being a mixture of cute/sweet and ooh how’re they going to solve their problems in this one. I like Nik and Carlos and the fact that everything starts out super casual. I feel like a lot of romance jumps straight to the “this is the be all end all,” so I really enjoy when books make it clear that people sometimes are looking for a fun right-now rather than an ever-and-ever. The growth of their relationship just made sense.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

Hilariously Ever After by Various Authors: I’m still reading this, though rarely

Bliss, Remembered by Frank Deford: I’m still worried that the narrator’s biological father is going to be a nazi.

Clementine: The Live of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell: Man, Sonia Purnell is a really good writer, but this book is making me super angry. Partly because Winston Churchill is kind of a dick. I already knew that, but also Clementine wasn’t that great either. The cool misogyny, mistreatment of children, and sheer lack of knowledge these people have outside of politics and ‘how to display yourself to the public’ are really mind-boggling. Yup, I chose a non-fiction book from the same time period as one of the fictional books I’m reading. Nope, that was not a good idea on my part.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: I needed to be in the right frame of mind for this book which is why I put it off for so long. I’m not very far in but I find books within books to be a little wearisome. Done well, super enjoyable, done poorly and it’s cringe-y. Erin Morgenstern is a great writer so I’m not super worried, but there’s a chance that might turn me away at some point.

Sam’s Update

Mandatory telework is going to be an interesting experience to say the least…

What Sam Finished:

  The Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart: This is the sequel to Grace and Fury an Italian inspired fantasy world where women literally have no rights, aren’t allowed to be educated, can be sold off by their parents, marriages arranged, basically their whole lives dictated by men. Anyway, the king has these “graces” who are basically harem women meant to give the king kids/pleasure/whatever. Sister 1 was trained for it from birth, sister 2 trained to be her handmaiden. GASP sister 2 is chosen. Sister 1 is sent to this prison island because she covers up for Sister 2 when a book is discovered. I loved the ending to this duology. It was sort of perfect. Realistic even. I got the angst I was looking for, which was really all i need in life. Highly recommend this series.

The Empire of Dreams by Rae Carson: This is a new book set in the Girl of Fire and Thorns world about 7 years after the events of the first series. I am so sad that it’s only a stand-alone. I forgot how much I love these characters and this world and this book was FANTASTIC. Red Sparkle Stone basically has to become Royal Guard (yes, like Hector’s old gig) and no woman has done that before. I AM SO HAPPY. Drunk review coming.

What Sam is Currently Reading:

Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa: This is the finale to the Shadow of the Fox series. I’m literally still in the prologue so have no idea what my thoughts are. I am excited to see where the chess pieces fall. Also, LOOK AT THAT COVER!

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore: This is the third companion novel in the Graceling books. Are you sensing a theme? Yes. I’m trying to knock out my unfinished series one at a time. Again, only just started this since I finished Queen of Ruin like 20 minutes ago. This will be a story about Bitterblue, a character from the first book and I’m stoked.

Until next time, we main forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Ginny, and Minda

Weekly Wrap-Up: Mar 16 – 22, 2020 Hey everyone!! Hope you all had an ok week with all the craziness going on in the world.

[aedemoth]

Is it just me, or is there a startling lack of literature with lesbian protagonists? A late-night essay.

Here are some statistics from by bookshelves.

I have three bookshelves, one of which is built entirely of green plastic crates stolen from the back of a Safeway. I have upwards of 300 books at the moment. I have three more coming in the mail this weekend and last summer, I gave away nearly 30 books. Of all of these books, only one is considered a “social” novel from the “LGBT” genre.

And of all of the non-LGBT books that I own--be them science fiction, action, horror, thriller, romance, fantasy, mystery, humor--only two books, both from the same series, have a lesbian character, and she has maybe ten lines of dialogue in the whole series. 

Only two books, also written for one series, have a character outside the gender binary. 

Conversely, I have 19 books with gay male characters: five of them are David Sedaris essays, 12 of them are split into four separate series written by three different authors. And in none of those books does there exist a lesbian character.

It’s no secret that there are fewer books concerning women of the LGBT community than men, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized truly how little there actually is.

I don’t mean anything in the LGBT genre, particularly because the LGBT genre itself is just evidence of the inequality in literature. I don’t have anything against that kind of work, especially since LGBT literature was so prevalent in educating the general populous, but it sucks that the genre has to exist in the first place. In my own experience, I have never related to anything I have found in the LGBT section. I know that many people do, but I just happen to have had a pretty easy time. I got lucky that way.

What especially irks me is how, even now when gay marriage is legal in the U.S., I can’t find that many young adult novels with relatable LGBT characters whose sexuality is not the main plotline. And when I do (some of my favorites are The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. Bless you, @maggie-stiefvater, for writing a smart, independent, beautifully flawed, not-straight character. He is important to me because I understand everything about him and those books helped me realize some major things about who I am, so thank you for that. You’re the reason I want to write. Anyway...) they are almost always guys.

I get why we don’t see these characters a lot. I have the capability to understand that a lot of people are still learning to understand the nature of what it means to be LGBT in 2018 and beyond--the 1900′s weren’t that long ago and it takes a minute or two to shake off such deliberate social inequality that had been around for most of human history. LGBT authors are also hard to find and I understand why some authors may feel uncomfortable writing from the perspective of someone whose life they don’t understand, especially in a romance genre. I get it, but the fear is easily overcome with research and the general understanding that LGBT people when in worlds where their sexuality isn’t a major plot point are just like everyone else. 

And obviously, I still love reading. I don’t stop reading a book because I can’t relate to a character’s romantic tendencies, that would be absolutely ridiculous. Just because there aren’t any gay characters in Harry Potter or The Neverending Story doesn’t mean I love them any less. And I don’t get angry with authors whose books are not as diverse as most Generation Z kids would like to see. Because I still love the stories and I don’t want to give my favorite creators shit for being ignorant when we haven’t given them the chance to learn.

But it just sucks because I can’t help but feel that if I had been reading well-written books about swash-buckling pirates or time travelers where some of the minor characters and main protagonists just happened to be lesbian or bisexual women, I would have hated myself a lot less when I was younger. 

Once I figured out that being bisexual was a thing, I was so afraid that my friends and family would hate me for it because I had never seen an instance where someone’s sexuality didn’t need to be a secret taken to the grave, but it turned out that everyone was just chill with it. I hate that, now, I actively search for books with characters I can relate to before even reading the books themselves because I rarely find them in the vast expanse of thousands of years worth of writing. I just want to be able to see a world where the LGBT section doesn’t need to exist, where my sexuality isn’t so “special” that it needs its own genre, where publishers like Disney can have LGBT characters and it’s not a big deal. I like to daydream about a universe where everyone can see themselves in the same character because sexuality just isn’t a big deal anymore, but I know I’ll likely never see that kind of universe. But I can certainly write about it.

I’m going to be a writer someday, hopefully, and I just hope that my characters are unique and memorable and that some angsty miscreant 13-year-old can pick up my book because of the cool art on the cover and the promise of adventure and be completely cool with whomever my characters love (I encourage shipping all of my characters though, by all means) and just be able to enjoy the story. But you can bet your ass that a good number of my characters will be women and LGBT because I missed so much of it in my own childhood.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.