Nano 2023 - Tumblr Posts

NaNoWriMo timee !!

this is my first time attempting NaNo and im gonna be working on one of my favourite star wars au's. its a clone red room au >:)

THE FAE KING nanowrimo 2023

genre. fantasy / historical / romance audience. new adult / adult setting. victorian london / the elphame point of view. third person summary.

To escape an unwanted marriage, Ambrose makes a simple deal for a new life. But bargains with the fae are never straightforward, and he finds himself in the Seelie Court, a more dangerous place than he knows.

The night before his wedding, Ambrose Holloway runs. He runs from his fiance, from his family, from his life of luxury. All the way to the fabled goblin market, where he finds a fairy willing to make a deal. His request is simple — take him away from his obligations and give him a new life. And the fairy agrees.

A life for a life.

Disappearing from the human world and into the Elphame, his name is taken from him. Now known only as Aspen, he is brought to the Seelie Court, where he becomes part servant, part plaything for the nobility. It's a far cry from his previous privileged life, but Aspen can't go back, even if he wanted to.

When he saves the life of King Rhavuin, the young ruler of Unseelie, from an assassin, Aspen is drawn into the precarious world of fae politics. With the king intent on seducing him, and the ambassador of Seelie leaving him extravagant gifts, Aspen doesn't know where his loyalties lie.

But he will have to choose, and soon. Because war is on the horizon, and Aspen's decision may change the tide of Elphame itself.

character introductions.

Ambrose Holloway Aspen — The youngest son of a wealthy industrialist, Ambrose is betrothed to the only heir of a viscount. While his family is eager to ally with an aristocratic family, Ambrose himself is reluctant to marry. Both repulsed by his fiance and used by his father, he runs on the of his wedding day, straight to the goblin market. Making a deal for a new life, free of familial obligations, he gives up his name. Now called Aspen, he begins his life as a humble servant.

Rhavuin Kelthyra — The newly crowned king of the Unseelie Court, Rhavuin is considered by some to be far too young to rule. His advisors press him to make alliances, to marry quickly and produce an heir to solidify his reign. When yet another assassination attempt is foiled by a human servant, Rhavuin finds himself enchanted by the young man. Used to humans obeying his every wish, he is surprised when the servant rebuffs him. Not deterred, he is resolved to seduce him and claim him for his own.

Ilthuriyl Vaire — As the ambassador of the Seelie Court, Ilthuriyl lives a dangerous life. It wasn't that long ago that the only relations between the two courts were those of war, and there are many who would see those days return. Ilthuriyl's job is to prevent that from happening. When he meets an unusual human servant of the court, he is charmed. But his pursuit of the young man may have consequences he doesn't yet understand.

I did it, my 30 days of poetry are complete!

I won my personal alternative to NaNoWriMo!

If anyone wants to read them, send me a 1-30 and I'll post the poem for that day.

Revenge and Recompense: Ch 18 - excerpt

It felt like he’d only just closed his eyes when Trouble was jarred awake by something. He inhaled deeply and turned his face away from the noise as if that could silence it. “Quit,” he grumbled, still half asleep.

“--please, I can’t breathe in here.”

Trouble groaned softly, then winced when Paris coughed. Even through the canvas, the sound of coughing was unpleasant. As his brain had a chance to process, Trouble suspected Paris had been coughing and begging for a few minutes at least. A glance at the porthole was more than enough to judge that it was past sunrise; Trouble had hoped to sleep until early afternoon with the late night he’d had. It wasn’t like him to sleep so deeply, but he had fed well, and he really was tired from having to torture two people at the same time. Especially when he could only feed properly off one of them...

“Just my face? Please.” More coughing. “I’ll be good.” The way that Paris was breathing sounded like he was on the verge of a panic attack. 

“Ugh,” Trouble sighed. “Fine, if it’ll shut you up.” He sat up and scrubbed his eyes, then picked at the knot. Yawning again, he pulled the rope free of the top few d-rings for good measure, then unzipped the sleepsack until he could see Paris’ face. 

Paris’ eyes were wide with fear as he fought to drag in deeper breaths.

“Shit.” Trouble frowned, getting a closer look at Paris’ mouth. Were his lips...bluish? “I’m going to let you out of there and help you sit up.” The sleepiness vanished as he ripped the rope free of all the d-rings and yanked the zipper all the way open. He put one arm around Paris’ shoulders and supported his splint with the other, easing him into sitting upright against the wall. 

Revenge and Recompense: Ch 19 - excerpt

Trouble had already taken and sent a video of Valentín struggling against his bonds and glowering between the bars. He hoped the video he was taking now would be enough for the old man. For a finale to the second video, Trouble turned the camera on Paris, who looked like heartbreak itself.

“How could you?” Paris wheezed, sprawled on the deck as far as the handcuff chain allowed. “Please....please bring him...back up...” 

Trouble ended the video and pocketed the camera. “And cut. That’s a wrap, cowboy. You played your part perfectly.”

“I’ll do...anything,” Paris sobbed. “H-help him!”

“Shh, give it a rest.” Trouble freed Paris’ wrist, narrowly avoiding getting clawed in the face for it. He sighed, not liking how bloodless Paris looked after such a short time off of oxygen.

“He’s n-not dead,” the human insisted, his voice gone soft and weak. “You could...save him.”

“He’s gone.” Trouble heaved Paris over one shoulder and rose. “And carrying on like this will only make you worse. You’re going back to bed.”

“V-Valí!” Paris struggled, but the handcuffs on his ankles kept him from doing any real damage.

“Seriously, quit that.” Trouble carried him back below deck. “You can’t tell me you’re not feeling breathless and dizzy.” He settled Paris back on the mattress and pinned him down with a hand on his shoulder. “Take it easy.” With his free hand, Trouble snatched up the oxygen mask and put it back over Paris’ mouth and nose.

“No.” Paris shook his head and pulled feebly against Trouble’s grip. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, your lips are turning blue again.” Frustrated, he moved Paris’ good wrist over the splinted one and pinned both down together. “You need to calm down. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Let go.” Paris’ voice cracked from the pain. He’d gone completely still.

“Am I going to have to tie you up? You know I can. If I have to bind your wrists and fix them above your head to keep you masked and on this mattress, I will.”

Revenge... Ch 20 excerpt

“You want to suffer?” Trouble left the wool blanket burritoed and belted around Paris’ legs, listening to the dull thuds his body made smacking into each step as he maintained his grip of Paris’ hair. “Does this feel as horrible as you hoped for?” Trouble sneered, releasing Paris and letting the back of his head smack down on the main deck. 

Paris groaned weakly, his eyes rolling in his head as he tried to catch his breath between cries of pain.

“No more splint for you.” Trouble yanked the bandage loose and watched Paris turn white as it unraveled, wobbling the broken halves of his forearm out of sync until it drifted free. Paris’ mouth was open in a silent scream, but the first choked sob didn’t come out until after the bandage was billowing across the deck in the breeze. “That’s it, scream for me, cowboy.” Trouble gave Paris a kick in the side to flip him onto his stomach.

“S-s-ssstop,” Paris bawled, too dizzy and wracked by hurts to even attempt crawling away.

“Why would a monster want to do that, huh?” Trouble’s teeth were pointed in his grin. He glanced off toward shore and felt a thrill seeing two sailors returning in the small speedboat with Valentín and a hooded, restrained figure he could only assume was Becker. 

“I c-can’t--”

“Sorry, what was that?” Trouble planted his foot on Paris’ lower back and leaned weight onto him. “You can’t what?”

“Don’t!”

“Aww. Is it too hawd to bweathe wifout your oxygen mask, widdle man?”

Paris wheezed and scrambled with his good hand to find something to grab onto, anything to drag himself away from his tormentor.

If you'd like to see the art I would pair with this chapter, the talented creator of Paris and Valentín has it posted here: https://www.tumblr.com/elgrajaz/688783382591815680/lord-huron-love-like-ghosts-there-aint-a

Last chapter of Revenge and Recompense is up!!!!! Huge shout out to @elgrajaz for letting me borrow Paris and Valentín for this mean story! You should check out all of his art, it's amazing, full of lovely boys in distress and bondage.

Chapter 21: Stay Excerpt:

“I thought you w-were dead.”

“I’m not.” Feeling Paris shake with a sob, Valentín hugged him even closer to his chest. “I’m here. He gave me the key to the handcuffs before he pushed me over.”

“I d-d-didn’t know,” Paris whimpered, turning his face into Valentín’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, wishing they were alone and back on the farm. “I would’ve given anything to tell you that I was okay.”

“I-I wanted to die, too.” 

“Paris...” What terrible things had happened in the few hours he was away getting Becker? The way the other man trembled in his hold made Valentín want to empty the rest of the bullets into Trouble’s chest. “It’s okay. We’ll both be okay.”

“I w-want to g-go home.”

“I know.” Valentín glanced up, but they were only halfway between the ship and the shore. “We will soon, after the hospital.”

“Can you call my m-mom?” 

“Yes.” In that moment, he was terrified of what else Paris would ask for; Valentín wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to deny him anything. “On the ride there, I’ll call her. You can talk to her.”

“‘M so tired.”

“I need you to stay awake, Paris.” Valentín tried to keep his voice steady, but there was no way to hide the urgency he felt. The last time he’d been left alone with him, Paris had been turning blue and coughing up foam.

Shoutout to @elgrajaz for this drawing of my perfect baby angel cryptid boi, Trouble. The next story picks up after the last panel. What's a friendless, gut-shot killer to do?

Excerpt:

“Huh.” Trouble drew in a deep breath and held it. He let it out slowly and bit his lower lip, fighting not to smile. “I wish I could see what you look like.” Trouble rubbed his temple against his arm, trying to shift the blindfold. “Can’t you take this off me?”

“No.” The reply was casual rather than cold, with a hint of eagerness.

“Why? You smell like trees, earth, sweat, and bodies. I bet you look good enough to eat.” Trouble kept squirming, more excited to see his captor than ever. He gasped when a hand gripped his throat and gave a strong, brief squeeze.

“Tell me what I said.” It was halfway between a purr and a growl.

“Hnn--” Trouble shivered and obeyed, a whine caught in the back of his throat. “You said, ‘no.’”

“So you can be a good research subject when you want to.”

“Yeah, but that’s not what you want.”

“This is serious.” A thumb traced down Trouble’s jugular. “If you don’t cooperate on your own, I’ll make you.”

A drawing by @elgrajaz of my oc Trouble and his oc t-shirt guy. Two weirdos together in a basement, and one of them is already chained up and wearing a blindfold. What could possibly go wrong?

Ch 2 of Overcome excerpt:

Trouble wanted to squirm. Usually he only felt this eager for a chase. Was that how this would end? The back of his head tingled where fingers grazed over the blindfold knot.

“Gah!” It pressed painfully tight over Trouble’s eyes as his captor gripped and twisted. Then came a steady pressure that forced his head down and down, almost bringing nose to sternum. The pain that shot through his shoulders and neck smelled like ozone.

“Promise to be good.”

“You’re hurting me,” Trouble whined, taking shallow pants of air. The wrenching in his gut made him squirm against the wrist cuffs. “You don’t want to hurt me.”

“I don’t, so promise to do what I tell you.”

“I promise!” Tears built in Trouble’s eyes as his captor drew out the moment, trapping him in the crippling posture with an inhuman strength. Panic began to pool in the back of his mind, lapping at his pride, eroding it. “Please stop?”

The suffocating press eased and Trouble gasped in relief, hurt and fear receding as quickly as they’d risen. His nose scrunched as the blindfold was tugged down to settle around his neck. He blinked to clear his vision, then gasped again; his captor was crouched so close they were almost nose-to-nose.

“If you do what I want, you’ll have nothin’ to fear.”

“Don’t treat me like I’m one of them.” Trouble bared his teeth and held his captor’s gaze. His eyes looked black, but the room was dim enough that Trouble couldn’t be sure. How his pupils were pinpricks without more light made Trouble’s breath catch for a moment. “I’m not. Okay?”

“You seem human enough. You bleed.” The touch on Trouble’s cheek was gentle. A fingertip caressed along the wet lashes under one eye. “You feel breakable.”

“Of course I do.” Trouble brushed his cheek against his captor’s palm, a corner of his mouth turning up. “They wouldn’t follow me home if they knew what I really was.”

A sketch of my oc Trouble by @elgrajaz He's a bit of a brat. I can't see how that would ever backfire for him, can you? Ch 3 of Overcome is up on ao3!

Excerpt:

“I need time to think.”

“No, wait,” his eyes were pleading as his captor retrieved the gag. “I’ll be quiet and stay still, I swear!”

“Open up.”

“I think we both know I can bite through that cloth if I want to.” Trouble’s eyes gleamed in the lantern light as he frowned defiantly. “Maybe I’ll even bite you.”

“I hoped you’d be good.”

“I still could be, if you’d only meet me halfway, big boy.”

“I have to do this.” The small glass bottle was almost invisible in the stranger’s large hands as he carefully unscrewed the cap.

Happy NaNo Week 1!!

I’m finally giving it a crack this month and I’m doing weekly progress checks as more motivation!

I’m actually so proud of myself. I haven’t met the word goal everyday, but I have written everyday!! I think I usually burn out later, but still, 7 days is a good streak for me.

I haven’t been writing the solo novel I’ve had planned for months at this point, but I have finished parts of the project I’m working in with my bestie!

Total words written: 4,967/50,000

Average daily word count: 620

Snippet: bitter & sweet chapter 3

Dawn snorted, rummaging in the bag. “The owners can’t be trusted with their own shop?” “Yeah. Whenever they’re left there alone there are weird scorch marks that take forever to buff out,” Athena said. She leaned against the counter, biting her tongue. No effort was made to greet her. Dawn had just walked in. Her nerve at claiming spaces as her own never ceased to amaze and grate on Athena. Today, unfortunately, Athena would have to defer to Dawn. Today wasn’t about Athena’s expertise. Sensing Dawn wouldn’t begin in a pragmatic way, Athena prompted, “So, what are we baking? What do I need to get out?” Setting some ingredients on the counter – the fanciest cocoa powder Athena had ever seen and a fresh orange – Dawn finally seemed satisfied with her rummaging. She brandished a sheet of paper. “Well, I have the recipe memorized, of course, but I wrote out some of the steps last night to make things easier.” The superiority in Dawn’s tone sent a shiver of infuriation down Athena’s spine.

Good tidings to NaNo Week 2!

I didn't do great this week, falling off a little on the weekend. I'm trying to be gentle with myself, so I'm giving myself a pass for doing things with my family.

I've still done well with writing at least a little bit every day. Sometimes it was a bit of a scramble and there was some time shuffling, but there was enough for me to be happy with the consistency I've had.

I've officially lost the plot journal I had for my solo novel. I don't have time to turn my room upside down, but I may make it yet from threads and bones at 4am. Still, it gave me an excuse to fall in love with my newest blorbos again when doing a POV experiment. Bitter & Sweet is coming along slowly, but it's difficult juggling two people's ambitions and responsibilities. Hopefully next week will be more fruitful.

Total words written: 7,690/50,000

Average daily word count: 389

Snippet: Gabe's POV from Not My Magical Destiny

I barrelled into their arms. The world was right once again. Kodi smelled of cinnamon and sage and home. I buried my face into Kodi’s neck, reveling in their warmth. I didn’t know how I had gone so long without their arms around me. It felt like every hug we’d had since we’d met. It didn’t matter how we’d grow, where we’d go, what we’d do, we were ourselves together. I felt safe, finally. Pulling away slightly, Kodi cupped my cheeks between their palms. They pressed our foreheads together, thumb tracing the dimple at the top of my cheekbone. Softly, they said, “And you betrayed their trust for me?” Pure, unfiltered love burst in my chest. I pulled them back into a hug, needing to be held still. “Of course,” I murmured.

farewell nano!

whoops i missed week 3! it was a little sporadic but had some good days in there. i worked through the last of the prewritten scenes from bitter & sweet and wrote a bit of poetry as a last shout of the day to keep up my streek

week 4 started slow (depressive episode caught me) but picked up towards the end. i fell in love with a new baby from the one series of writings that got very little attention (not my magical destiny my beloved) and wrote almost 3,000 words for them, smashing through a good chunk of my goal right as nano ended

i am so happy with my nano experience. it was so great to write consistently (with only a little fudging of the numbers. spending a week with family almost kind of missed three days but shhh) and I'm very proud of myself for pushing through. i didn't hit the goal (not even close, really) but i beat my expectations! hopefully I'll be able to keep it up and have a solid narrative plan for the next one. here's to keeping this up through december!

Total words written: 15,797/50,000

Average daily word count: 509

Snippet: Aforementioned new blorbo (Sofia) at Kodi's apartment narratively before nmmd

Eventually, we moved to my sofa. It was blue and well-loved. I had picked it up off the side of the road when I moved into my apartment. Taking its fraying cushion covers as a sign, I stripped and replaced the fabric with my own taste. It served the dual purpose of fitting my living and dining room better and removing the stink imparted from one too many nights on the street. I sat against the arm and Sofia was cross-legged in the middle, a throw pillow in his lap. It was pitch black by the time either of us thought to check the clock. “Care to stay for dinner?” I offered, seeing that it was now past 8 o’clock. “I have leftover beans from last night and a few too many packets of tortillas.”

So.... I tried NaNo this month and lol, I can't believe I even thought my brain would allow this to work for a second.

I really tried though.

So here's a summary:

The first week: I tried working on an old idea of mine I wanted to re-write. I just couldn't get into it no matter how hard I tried though.

Second week: I got obsessed with Resident Evil and got an idea for another story. So with no planning, I started writing that instead.

Second week P. 2: I assumed I was gonna actually write this new idea, but I kept feeling bad every day and stopped working on everything all together.

Second week P. 3: I decided to build a site after seeing a super cool post.

Third week: I built the site and got obsessed with learning more about coding html.

Every week after that was slowly learning about html, coding, and web design.

In between that time I randomly got interested in a story I "finished" about a year back and started to edit it.

So far, that editing turned into my NaNo.

All things considered, it found a way to work itself out.

nanowrimo + more fanfiction

Hello friends!

Today I have some exciting (and mildly terrifying) news to share. I have decided at the last minute to attempt to participate in NaNoWriMo this year! ᕱ__ᕱ  I know I’ve mentioned it on here before, but for those who don’t know NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, is a 30 day writing challenge that takes place in November every year. The goal is to have a 50,000 word manuscript of something done by the end of the month.  (Here is a link with more info if y’all are interested!) As an ardent fanfic reader, consuming 50,000 words is all in a day's work. As an amature writer who is currently struggling to gain back a bulk of my creative writing muscles that I have lost from disuse, writing 50,000 words is an uphill battle. 

Since I am a full time student with a part time job I have decided to be nice to myself and make my own personal goal 25,000 words in 30 days. If I hit 50,000, that would be awesome, but I don’t want to beat myself up if I fall short. And for those of you (my fellow AO3 enthusiasts arise!) who are looking at 25,000 words and saying “Clem! That’s going to be a piece of cake! 25,000 words is nothing!” let me put it in perspective for you. 25,000 words is about 100 pages of double spaced 12pt font typing. 100! PAGES!!! 

So, what does that mean for this blog? As this is still a school assignment, I do need to keep up with posting weekly, but I may not be posting anything about my original story for the month of November. I want to give myself space to work on that on its own as my original story is the project I am working on for NaNoWriMo. However, like I said, you can count on me to post something involving creative writing here once a week. ᕱ__ᕱ 

For this week, I have decided to post part of the class assignment that I wrote a Harry Potter fanfiction for 2 weeks ago. Below are images of a letter that my original Slytherin character wrote to her father during her (and Harry Potter’s) first year at Hogwarts. 

I am done with the assignment now, but I think I may decide to continue on with this OC at some point. Who knows? Not me! All I know is that by the end of November I am never going to want to touch a keyboard again. (“Do creative writing,” they said.  “It will be fun,” they said.) Well, that’s all from me for now! 

Remember to dot your j’s and cross your t’s this NaNoWriMo season! ᕱ__ᕱ 

~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷

trope talk

Hello friends!

As I stated in last week’s post, I will not be posting anything too grandiose today, as I have been focusing on my original story for NaNoWriMo and do not want to get burnt out. So, I decided that, much like last week, I would put another in-class assignment to use and give you a short listicle about my favorite inter-character relationship tropes! I hope you enjoy! ᕱ__ᕱ 

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6 of the best fiction tropes for inter-character relationships

(in my opinion)

By Clem

Any writer worth their salt these days knows what a trope is. And no, I’m not talking about the traditional definition of a trope, i.e. synonymous with figurative language, though it is indeed important to know that meaning as well. I’m instead speaking of the more recent, broader definition of a trope. As writer Dave Chesson puts it in an article all about tropes on his website kindlepreneur.com, “a trope is a plot structure, theme, storyline, character trait, motif, or plot device that is commonly used in storytelling.” 

It’s these types of tropes that you can find on one of my favorite websites tvtropes.org. Tropes have become such a pop culture, as well as fan culture, phenomenon in the past few years that even those who have never heard the term “trope” before can recognize some of the common ones: the damsel in distress, the chosen one, a friends to lovers romance, a tragic backstory. In fact, some tropes have become so popular that they are deciding factors in whether or not people consume a piece of media. I know this is often the case for me, and in the following list I have provided 6 of my favorite tropes about inter-character relationships that I just can’t get enough of.

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Found Family

Not all tropes about relationships have to be romantic in nature! In fact, a good portion of the tropes on this list are more platonic or familial, and found family is one of them. One of my favorite tropes of all time, found family refers to when a group of individuals, usually a group of misfits or outcasts, come together and form a close platonic, near familial, bond with each other. As many characters in a found family situation don’t have good or close biological families (or any family at all), they become each other’s family.

The Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom duology by Leigh Bardugo includes an excellent example of the found family trope. The six main characters of the books, some of which are pictured above, are a ragtag group of criminals, each with tragic pasts. Eventually they come together and learn to love and care about one another as they pull off an impossible heist. The found family dynamic between them adds a softness to each character that helps smooth their rough edges. This makes them feel more human and their story all the more captivating.

Golden Retriever & Black Cat

A yes, the good old black cat/golden retriever relationship dynamic. Only given this name in recent years, this character dynamic is much older. Simply put, this trope refers to a relationship, whether romantic or platonic (or even familial), between one character who is very excitable, sweet, and happy (the golden retriever) and one character who is cool, often rude, and grumpy (the black cat). The conflicting personality types is what makes this relationship trope compelling. As they say, opposites attract!

The example I have chosen here is Enid Sinclair and Wednesday Addams from the new Netflix adaptation of The Addams Family, a show entitled Wednesday. Enid and Wednesday are roommates at a boarding school in the show and could not be more different: Enid a bubbly, optimistic werewolf (talk about a golden retriever!) obsessed with pastels and Wednesday a deadpan, pessimistic psychic allergic to color. However, throughout the show they eventually become close friends. It is intriguing to watch this golden retriever/black cat duo interact and try to solve the mysteries that crop up in the show, as their personalities and perspectives on the world couldn’t be more different.

Enemies to Lovers (or at least Rivals to Lovers)

The enemies to lovers trope is the first specifically romantic trope in this list (though there is a parallel trope used for platonic relationships called enemies to friends). This trope, as the name suggests, involves two characters whose relationship with each other develops from enemies to romantic partners. While some may call this trope toxic, and I admit, I can see how it could be written that way, it’s personally one of my favorite tropes when done correctly. This is especially so when between a male and female character. I typically read fantasy or action/adventure novels, genres in which female characters’ skills (particularly in combat) are often looked down upon or patronized by the male characters who are interested in them. However, if an action novel has a well written enemies to lovers side plot, I know I can be sure that at all points in their relationship, a female character’s love interest is taking her seriously.

One of my all time favorite examples of enemies to lovers, albeit in its lesser form rivals to lovers (which is saved for media that does not have characters trying to kill each other), is from the classic romance novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet start out loathing each other, but eventually, through various family dramas, learn to understand and respect each other, and in the process, fall in love.

Girl Boss x House Husband

Technically, this trope is actually titled “girl boss x male wife,” but I prefer the term “house husband” as I have seen the phrase “male wife” used with degrading connotations as well, and that is far from what I am trying to convey. This is another relationship trope most often used for romantic couples, however I believe it can be translated to platonic or familial relationships as well (with some finagling). Whatever the context, this trope contains a strong, independent female character and a male partner who cares for her and holds her stuff when she needs to go beat some sense into someone. As a reversal of the typical gender roles where the male is assertive and protective and the female is the caring and supportive, this trope provides a breath of fresh air and an interesting dynamic to explore.

A great example of the girl boss x house husband trope is Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from Rick Riordan’s Greek mythology books. Percy is definitely a powerhouse character in his own right, but is 100% willing to step back and let Annabeth take the reins in their relationship while making sure she's taking care of herself in the process.

Naive Hero & Mentor Figure 

The mentor figure trope is basically what it says on the tin: a naive character, typically the main character, is taken under the wing of an older and wiser mentor. Oftentimes, the mentor figure fills a familial void in the naive hero’s life. If you’re lucky, the mentor figure survives. If you’re not, then, in the words of Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte, “sorrows, sorrows, prayers.” This trope is a great way of giving the character, and the audience, the background information they need to know while showcasing the main character’s development. 

Often, this trope appears in superhero fiction, such as one of my favorite examples for this trope, IronDad and SpiderSon Tony Stark aka Ironman, and Peter Parker aka Spiderman from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tony recognizes the raw talent that Peter has, as both a superhero and a tech genius, and does his best to guide him, by protecting him and steering him away from the same mistakes Tony himself made in the past. It will forever be a crime that we didn’t get to see their relationship develop further before… you know… “Sorrows, sorrows, prayers.” 

Bros before Hoes

While it does have a bit of a vulgar name, this trope is actually one of the sweetest on this list. Usually, at least one of the characters in friend groups with this relationship dynamic is involved in a romantic relationship outside their group, and at some point will have to choose between their friends and their lover. When this relationship dynamic comes into play, characters will always choose their friends. 

Unless, of course, their friends are wrong. My favorite example of this dynamic comes from The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani. The two main characters are the best of friends. While throughout the series they have their fair share of disagreements (if that's what you call it when your best friend keeps falling in love with men who try to kill you and your boyfriend), they ultimately pull through and choose each other over boys, proving that romantic love is not the only love that can vanquish evil. Though not every story with a Bros before Hoes dynamic is full of life-and-death decisions, this relationship trope provides a sweet nod to platonic love in any story.

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So, the next time you sit down to write media, or consume it, pay attention to the tropes you may include or notice. Do they make the media better? More compelling? Or do they take away from the main message or storyline? (For some reason writers love to include love triangles. I abhor love triangles thrown into media just for kicks). For all you writers out there, maybe consider including one of the tropes listed above. If you do, send me a link! Like I said, I just can’t get enough!

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So... do y’all like any of these tropes?? Do you hate them? Please do let me know, I’d love to hear it! And if this post was not your cup of tea, I apologize, but don’t worry, we should be back to our regularly scheduled programming in another 2 weeks! ᕱ__ᕱ Good luck to those of you also participating in NaNoWriMo!! 

And just remember, dot your j’s and cross your t’s! 

~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷

NANOWRIMO: the conclusion + learning from failure

Hello friends!

Long time, no see! ᕱ__ᕱ These past two weeks I have been giving myself a little break from this blog. I have been swamped with final projects in all of my classes and have been trying to balance getting all of them done with middling success. I’m not thriving, but I am surviving. 

However, to make up for my absence, I will be giving y’all some extra content within the next two weeks. In those posts I won’t be boring you with my rambles as I usually do and instead will simply be giving you some content that I have created for my novel! In this post, though, I will be updating you on my novel’s progress and giving you my thoughts on NANOWRIMO.

For those of you who have been here for a bit, you will know that I attempted to participate in National Novel Writing Month for the first time this November. (As always, here is a link with more info about NANOWRIMO for your perusal.) My personal goal as a full time student with a part time job, was to write a 25,000 word manuscript instead of the full 50,000 words. November has ended and I am happy to report that I failed. I failed to reach even my cut down goal. However, I am surprisingly really happy with my progress this month. I learned a lot about myself as a writer and about my process and while I didn’t manage to write even a 10,000 word manuscript, I feel much more prepared to tackle writing this novel.

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So, here are the things that I learned:

Character design and building is VERY important to me

This, I already knew. One of the main things that bother me about book to movie translations or “hot takes” about books on social media or even some fanfictions is that characters, their personalities and development and relationships, are often either misunderstood or sacrificed for the plot or the sake of another character's development. It’s so annoying. I personally belief that every character in a work of fiction should be able to stand on their own, especially if they are a main or secondary character. Characters should be their own individuals with their own motivations and backstories and for goodness sake they should be consistent! (Crappy character development is a thing that bothers me about published novels too. The wasted potential of Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, and Draco Malfoy, among countless other characters, in the Harry Potter novels bugs me so, so much!!)

 So, one of the things that happened everytime I sat down to write this NANOWRIMO was that I would find myself getting “stuck” on this character’s backstory or that character’s personality. I have 13 characters that exist for this story in my head. 2 are the main main characters. The 11 others are also going to have their own plot lines and spin offs. Before NANOWRIMO, I knew that this would make my novel complex. After NANOWRIMO, I realized that I was going to have to organize and map and structure and detail my characters (along with several other things) to the metaphorical gods before I even try to manuscript anything or else I am going to be stuck forever and I will never get this book out of my head.

Worldbuilding is also VERY important to me

This was a bit of a surprise. I am definitely no Tolkien and before I started this blog, and my creative writing journey, at the beginning of this fall, these original characters simply just floated around in my head in a vague fantasy realm with no discernible structure or detail. I expected to be able to just continue with this vague fantasy world and as I started writing let the structure fall into place. Yeah… that’s not what happened. 

As I began to outline character backstories and a basic plot to start writing, I would find myself drawing up short when I needed to insert a detail about the world in which my story is taking place. This month made me realize that I need to also worldbuild to the metaphorical gods before I try to manuscript anything, and in some cases before I try to go deeper into outlining my character’s backstories and such as well. I’m such a detail oriented person that I have no idea why this didn’t occur to me before, especially because I am including a magic system in my book. I hate fantasy books (that are meant to be serious and not just cozy reads) in which the magic systems rely on the “because it’s magic” excuse and the author doesn’t make any attempt at giving at least some sort of structure or rules. So yeah. I really need to worldbuild, which I am going to hate because it is going to take FOREVER (detail oriented person).

I work better on lists and schedules

This I did know, but I didn’t realize it applied to my writing. A lot of the reason why I failed to write anything of substance for the plot of my book is that I thought I could just throw myself in and make it up as I go. Incorrect. As November passed, and I kept getting stuck on details, I realized that I would need to incorporate my penchant for planning and list making if I was ever going to complete a task this large.

Also, side note, but I keep referring to this story that I’m writing as a novel. It will most certainly not be a novel. It will be a whole dang book series. (13 characters!! Who will each get their own POV at some point!! “A novel” my a**.) 

I can throw myself head first into school essays and short writing assignments no problem, but with a story this big, all coming straight from the mess I call my brain, I need to do a lot of planning beforehand. That, above all, is what this failed NANOWRIMO taught me. 

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So! Now that I have torn my failure to shreds and dissected all the little pieces and given yall a short (yes that was short for me - I’m starting to think you guys don’t know me at all ᕱ__ᕱ) summary of who, what, when, where, and why my failure occurred, what’s next. Well, I plan. I outline to the metaphorical gods (as I seem to be fond of saying in this post), and next year, when November rolls around, hopefully I have done enough planning and outlining and detail work that writing a 50000 word manuscript should be a breeze!

That’s all for now folks! If any of y’all are curious as to some of what I did manage to get done on my novel/series over NANOWRIMO then stay tuned for the first of your special content posts which should be up within a few minutes of me posting this. Also, if any of y’all have suggestions about how to store/order worldbuilding content in an easily searchable way that would be fantastic!! Please do let me know. Thanks for bearing with me! ᕱ__ᕱ

And remember, dot your j’s and cross your t’s!

~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷