Badly Summarized WIPS Poll

badly summarized WIPS poll

I was tagged by @mysticstarlightduck in this post here and @cowboybrunch in this post here to poorly summarize what my WIPs are all about (and then make people vote).

Rules: Pick a bunch of your WIPs and summarize them as badly as possible, then ask your followers to vote on which one they'd be most likely to read. Multiple/all/none options are completely optional.

okie dokie artichokies, tagging time (barometer reading: 0 atm): @clairelsonao3 @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @i-can-even-burn-salad @whither-wander-whump (I hope it's ok that I tagged you? please tell me off if not)

Take the character with endless optimism and put them in a scenario that their optimism can’t withstand.

Take the character who is strong enough for anything and put them in a scenario that they aren’t strong enough for.

Take the character whose pride never falters and give them no choice but to beg.

Take the character who can think of a solution to any problem and make their intelligence useless to them.

Take the character who can talk their way out of anything and give them an enemy who well and truly does not care what they say.

Break the most fundamental parts of your characters and see if they can still be put back together again.

RED ASK GAME: WRITEBLR: WORLD-BUILDING

CRIMSON - What is the government?

SCARLET - Is there a rebellion?

RUBY - How rich is the population?

GARNET - Are there gods?

CARNELIAN - How do people dress?

POPPY - What historical event does every student learn about?

ROSE - What is the most known myth?

BLOOD - What do the people do with the dead? What are their funerals like?

GORE - What is the most common method of murder? Is it legal?

BLUSH - What are the views on sex before marriage? How strict is it?

LIPSTICK - What is the beauty standard, and how often is it met?

APPLE - What is the most eaten meal?

CHERRY - Describe a celebration!

STRAWBERRY - What was the first thing you created in this world?

RASPBERRY - How does the world support the story you're telling?

POMEGRANITE - Name a food!

JAM - Share your favourite piece of worldbuilding information!

TOMATO - What is the most common occupation? Do the workers enjoy it, or is a requirement?

PEPPER - What inspired this world?

WINE - What is the most broken law?

drop this sunflower 🌻 into the inboxes of the blogs that make you happy! lets spread a little sunshine ☀️

Aw, omg thank you so much, @pluttskutt! This made my day! And here, right back at ya, 🌻!

blorbo blursday! 🐕 - you got a blorbo that's loyal to a fault? that will stand up for their friend/cause no matter what anyone else thinks? share!

Yay! Thank you so much for the Blorbo Blursday Ask, @pluttskutt! Sorry for the late reply, things were crazy busy over here yesterday, so here we go! (:

You got a blorbo that's loyal to a fault? That will stand up for their friend/cause no matter what anyone else thinks?

YES. In fact, I think every single one of my WIPs has a character who is like that in some way or another. It's one of my absolutely favorite character tropes/archetypes!

Let's take a look at a few of those from my WIPs Enchanted Illusions, Tales of Wilted Flowers, and Mutant Inquiries! I'm really excited to answer this ask!

Enchanted Illusions.

Augustus Grimmure - the crew's resident necromancer (and Harriet's boyfriend that no one is supposed to know about)! Surprisingly, behind his dark magic shenanigans and utter disregard for his enemies' lives, Augustus is a highly loyal person to those who prove themselves worthy of it. He considers his friends as family and holds them in very high esteem. But I'm talking dangerously loyal - he wouldn't hesitate to immediately obliterate and slaughter anyone who even remotely poses a threat to his friends, with very little regard for his own safety - because hey, even if he dies, there's a 50/50 chance his magic will just bring him back stronger.

Damien Daemitya - a.k.a Evangeline's Dad. That man is committed to his family, 100% (arguably) the best divorcee dad in Ansburke. He's a very powerful man in the city as well and would do anything to make sure his family is safe and sound, even if it means disobeying his duties to the sorcerer's council, threatening his rivals/"making problems disappear", or taking the fall for his daughter's public mistakes/screw ups during her investigation (especially publicity-wise).

Agatha Greenwoods - She believes that honesty and loyalty are the basis of any worthwhile relationship, having been raised with a strict sense of justice - which is unsurprising, given she's the daughter of two of the most renowned detectives in the city. Agatha would absolutely stand up for her friends - or any underdog for that matter - regardless of the consequences or what other people may think of them, especially if they're being treated unjustly. Despite her initial distrust, Agatha can form strong attachments very quickly, even without other people realizing it. She just wants her friends to be happy and okay! She is also absolutely relentless in her steadfast commitment to her ideals and "cause" - which includes her mission to bring down the Hemlock Society.

Tales of Wilted Flowers.

Neoma'ka Ornasi - Loyalty is her code of honor, her rare currency with which she shows her affection. Only a precious select few can earn it. She may be a bit of a brute who loves a good bloody brawl more than most things, but if she gives you a slap on the shoulder and tells you "she's proud to fight beside you", she means it (at this point, it's basically her way of saying "I love you"). That girl would go to the ends of the earth and back at a moment's notice with those she considers her siblings-in-arms, no questions asked. She would also tear apart anyone who thinks otherwise.

Micah Rook - Micah may be a thief, but he has a softer heart than most and trusts incredibly easily - so much so it is surprising he's lived this long, especially in his line of work. He has loyalty to spare, and takes the saying "honor among thieves" very seriously. Sure, he may swindle you out of all your coins during a card game, and annoy his friends relentlessly, but when the moment comes and they're in most need of help, he's right there beside them, no matter the stakes.

Lorelai Wildwood - She knows what it is to be an outcast and have no one to turn to, and doesn't want her friends to ever few that way. Lorelai has an endless stream of second chances to give and will stick by and trust those she loves, even when that's an objectively dangerous and stupid thing - but correct, she's no fool- to do at first (ahem, Xarian and his past-). She's not naive (though she might have some attachment issues she's working through) but rather is willing to face the risks if it means her friends are safe.

Mutant Inquiries.

Cory "Diamond" Blythe - They get can attached real quick given the right circumstances and position of the moon, okay? It just depends on the person and their mood at the moment. It's both a character flaw and their greatest strength. When they found Becca (at the start of the story) in trouble, they didn't hesitate to help her and become quite possibly her most loyal friend in the story - even when she gets involved in a dangerous conspiracy and their lack of mutant powers makes him be in even more danger. No one messes with their crew. And anyone who does will have a 20-something-year-old menace running after them, likely on heels, with a switchblade.

Alexey Morikov - He is the definition of "taking secrets to the grave". He's not one to devote his ideals and self to a cause - he's done it before, and look where it got him- but that doesn't mean he can't extend his affection and loyalty to people he cares about, much to his chagrin and against his best efforts. He's like a stray cat who will hiss if you get too close and get sad when it doesn't get cuddles. Despite his "I don't give a damn, do whatever you want with your life, see if I care" attitude towards his friends, he cares immensely. The team, unfortunately, only finds out just how loyal he is and how much he does care when he gets kidnapped by the Agency - and promptly makes the agents' life hell by not telling them a thing about his friends until he's rescued.

Samantha Holborn - A team leader at heart, she built their little mismatched friend group of vigilantes on a foundation of loyalty and trust, of always being there for one another. She is highly idealistic - no price on this earth could sway her from her goals or change her mind from her beliefs, being steadfast and stubborn to an unimaginable degree.

“Notice Me, Reader!” Tag Game

Thank you very much for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck!

Rules: Share 3 (or more!) small details from your WIP that you feel have gone/will go unnoticed. (You can choose whether or not to share why the detail is significant!)

Here's some for the Steph adventures:

I’ve actually been meaning to write a detailed post about this, but Stephanie and Bret mirror each other in a lot of ways. They’re both pretty traumatised and flawed, they both crave attention and connection to a certain degree, hating the feeling of loneliness, and they both have a capacity for being quite selfish, impulsive and hedonistic (as well as being major fans of instant gratification). This is partially why their affair storyline is so significant and impactful the more you think about it (and to think, it almost wasn’t going to happen…). An example of their connection that often goes unnoticed is that their dialogue has a bit of a parallel… in the beginning of book one, Bret says something along the lines of “Grades don’t actually mean anything in the real world when you think about it.” This was back when he hated school, before his whole self growth arc and wanting to change his life for the better. And towards the end, Stephanie basically says that same exact thing, almost word for word (despite disagreeing with Bret at the start of the story). It was in the context of her and Ben contemplating leaving the country together right before sitting her final exams. There are other small examples of parallels between their two arcs and thought processes in the story, too… many of which actually existed before I even wrote their affair storyline. Perhaps it was always meant to be lol.

I tried to write my characters in a way where you can kind of tell which parent they take after more. This is one of the reasons why I have the parents and family members be such a prominent part of the story - big part of who you are stems from your environment, and this includes the people you are surrounded by. It also adds a bit of mystery to our main protagonist… Stephanie doesn’t know her parents, so we don’t know why she is the way she is (like, we even know why Bret is the way he is, despite the fact that his parents are no longer around. He remembers his parents and we get a strong sense of what they were like, and this is something we don't get with Steph). A big example of this is Elise and Adam. Elise takes after both Maggie and Paul (maybe Paul a little more than Maggie) - she shares her mother’s drive and determination (comes in handy when you’re a lawyer), and her father’s empathy and intuition (comes in handy when you’re a therapist). Adam takes after Maggie, as well as his grandmother to an extent, in terms of his natural creativity (he has a heart of gold, but he is also very stubborn and prefers to do things his way. Whenever he gets pushback, he fights harder in the opposite direction. Very much like his mother… not that Maggie would ever admit that. Good thing both of them grew out of it somewhat after becoming parents! And by that, I mean she was much worse when she was Adam’s age lol). There are other examples of this in the story, but this one’s my favourite.

I got a fair amount of inspiration from the shows I mentioned in my intro post lol (plus Gossip Girl, which wasn’t included in the post. That's where I got the secret blogger idea from. Speaking of... I was meant to reveal that to you guys ages ago. Sorry about the delay lol. Saving that for a proper future post alongside the Bretanie analysis). Especially Bojack Horseman. I don’t know if I want to elaborate on this point… I think it’s more effective if you check out the shows for yourself, and see what I mean that way. But to give a vague little example of what I mean… Stephanie is sort of in and out of the crew’s lives, and whenever she’s not around, the others tend to thrive and live relatively peaceful, normal lives. In many ways, she’s the root of a lot of their drama. She does a lot of crazy things that cause damage to a lot of people, and she wrecks a lot of her relationships beyond repair. And throughout the course of the trilogy, the main crew members often find themselves wondering whether they should stay loyal to their friend, set some boundaries with her, or cut ties and separate themselves from her completely. Kind of like in a certain show (Bojack). They all take different approaches to this, each saying a lot about them as characters (Elise, for example, decides to cut Stephanie off. May seem out of character at first, but then you remember that this is after ages and ages of being patient and understanding with Steph… as well as everyone else who has hurt her immensely in her life. That makes her choice to end her friendship with Stephanie a little more understandable… she reached her last straw in book two), but they’re all better off once they reevaluate their relationships with one another.

I didn't mean to write so much... but what can you do.

Hopefully this was interesting! This tag game is such a good idea. Inspires you to look deeper into the stories and pay attention to small but significant details.

Tagging these folks next: @gummybugg, @winterandwords, @jessicagailwrites, @dyrewrites, @harleyacoincidence, @exquisitecrow, @leisoree, @wmlittlemore-is-writing, @mjparkerwriting and @janec23.