The Scholomance Story Beside The Golden Door By Stellarete Details Chloe Growing Up In The New York Enclave.

Continuing with the dragon experiments. She's growing up a bit 🤓 and sprouted wings! (Well, or she's like a sibling or something since the two dragons have a different colouration). I think the wings in particular look pretty cool.

It was this amazing story about a farmer who finds one of her chicks hatched a dragon egg by @dycefic that inspired me to try and draw a tiny dragon. I think she's very cute indeed even if she doesn't quite match the dragon description from the tale. @dycefic's stories are wonderous to read and I highly recommend exploring their blog!

This year, I rediscovered the absolute joys of reading fanfiction. Exploring characters I love in so many different stories and combinations and settings. It is helping me process this year and rediscover things I find important. Fiction has always meant a lot to me, and I'm feeling the urge to be creative again myself.

So, I decided to start engaging in fandom again by sketchnoting my reactions to some of my favourite stories. (At least for as long as it is fun).

My first sketchnote is in honour of the marvelous @sallyexactly whose Timeless stories I've fallen in love with. The Only Way Out - which I first read over Easter and I now lost count on the rereads - is my favourite headcanon for how the series ended.

But the very first story I read by Sally was The Road Ode. It even inspired me to take a mini roadtrip myself this year (in Europe with very few coronacases & lots of measures).

So, without further ado:

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 4

In the spirit of embracing spontaneity: let’s roll some story dice! Dice are known for generating random plotbunnies, offer challenges and nice silly fun. 

Day 04: Let’s roll the story prompt dice!

Whether you the Most. Serious. Writer or the Absolute. Goofiest. Of. All. I am curious to hear what random chance has brought you!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 10 - Just Keep Writing

Word by word & day by day: let's keep writing away. Whether you are struggling or blazing ahead: channel your inner-Dory and remember the song. 🎵 Just Keep Writing Just Keep Writing 🎵

Day 10: Just Keep Writing

All the small words add up and progress is progress. The words don't need to be pretty or polished or particularly well written: for NaNo the challenge is getting the words, any words, to tell your story. Let's get them written!

In these pandemic times, the Timeless story A Butterfly Garden by @vita-s-west is particularly graceful. The focus on Lucy & Flynn returning to a quiet life after all the experiences in their fight with Rittenhouse mirrors in some ways my experience in the current pandemic & the way I battle my anxieties by returning to creativity, stories & nature.

There are many evocative descriptions in the story, and there's a kind of quiet attention throughout that I particularly enjoy.

Marianne' Cartoons: Day 2: Are You Having Fun?

Day two of NaNoWriMo is upon us! The early beginnings of a project can feel giddy and exhilarating and fun. We get to meet our characters and write our hearts out. It's like being a kid at a playground and having a blast. Perhaps you have build up a nice cushion of words and face the NaNo challenge with confidence. Give yourself a pat on the back and keep writing. Perhaps yesterday was a struggle and self doubt is creeping in early. Give yourself a nice warm hug and keep writing. Your story is your playground. It is wild, and limitless in its possibilities and you get to play! Sometimes it's scary; mostly it's fun. Sometimes we fall, but we always get back up and keep going! What brought you joy today? What inspired your characters? You got this. Let's write!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 07: Maps

Have you drawn a story map yet? What does your narrative’s landscape look like? We are all on this writing expedition together with different maps to guide our way. I like creative and associative maps and it was fun to draw this filled with funky little writing places we can explore.

Day 07: Getting Lost in the Realm of Possibilities

What are the central features on your map? The sightseeing marvels no reader should miss? What monsters are lurking in those empty spaces only barely sketched in because no adventurer has ever returned to carry tales? Any hidden treasures that your main character has buried in the early days and now can’t find again? 

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 19: Rescue Mission Alert

Uh'oh! Someone is in trouble! Time to break out all the stops & plan the rescue mission! Have you got your Loveable Dragon? Feisty Princess? Hidden tower far away? Adventure Map? Story Ninjas? Bumbling Knight? Superskilled and sly Character Assassin accompanied by the ever elusive & infamous Traveling Shovel of Death?

Day 19: Rescue Mission Alert

While your characters are off endangering themselves and saving each other: how are you holding up yourself? In need of rescue yet? Have you been feeding your plot bunnies? Or are they so vicious they are running away with you? What is the goal you set for yourself? Plan your own mission and consider: what do you need to keep your momentum going for the next few days? Remember: there is still a large chunk of the month left & we can do this!

The retelling of Timeless season 2 in the story: Zajednički by @insane-sociopath is absolutely brilliant and I highly recommend it. (It's technically a WIP, but there's already so much gold here.)

It features:

a mature & self-aware Wyatt Logan who understands PTSD and what it does to a person. Who is a very decent & supportive friend (even if he still messes up occasionally as humans do).

A PTSD-suffering Garcia Flynn who is decidedly unaccustomed to being treated with kindness.

A hilarious Rufus who is his brilliant bantering self and an absolute genius. The Flynn & Rufus banter & flirting had me giggling out loud multiple times.

A brilliant nickname for Flynn that even Denise Christopher cannot resist (though she courageously tries for a long time.)

A slowly developing Lucy & Flynn relationship centered around emotional connection & mutual support.

Flashback moments with all characters to counter out our mildly unreliable Flynn perspective.

Bunker improvements!

Talking things out. Awareness of mental health. Open & honest conversations. Self Care. Discussions around sexuality & gender in a light, humorous but serious way. Adults using their words instead of toxic passive aggressiveness. Character growth. Still lots of story conflict without creating (unnecessary) personal drama to "spice it up". (I get snarky sometimes ;-)).

As might be obvious from my story recs so far, I love stories where our beloved characters act like adults. Where they talk about stuff. Where there is grace & maturity. Even if people are still people, misunderstandings happen and they mess up occasionally, they learn & grow & apologize if needed.

At the moment, this story is at 33 chapters and 129474 words, currently on a bit of a cliffhanger, and Edward requested we help feed the muse! So throw lots of writing/Timeless prompts towards @insane-sociopath please.

Lost Friends by DoctorLia

@doctorliamsr asked me for a prompt to write a Timeless story the day after I had a conversation with @ununpredictableme regarding Anthony and his role. We'd watched Space Race and that episode really brings home how active Anthony is in planning & executing the missions.

I find his character, his choices and his morality fascinating. His relationship with Rufus is intriguing to watch: there is history and trust there, and Rufus continues to want to listen & understand how this man he thought he knew can do such a thing. The ethics of Space Race are a grappling point for Rufus in terms of Anthony's role and I would love to see Anthony grapple with his choices himself.

Lia has a few stories where she writes character pieces such as the conversation between Karl & Flynn that I discussed on this blog earlier and she graciously decided to accept the prompt.

Her story Lost Friends brings the two characters in a conversation after Anthony's death and Rufus's Chinatown trip. It is interesting how Anthony indicates Rufus has a harder time forgiving Flynn then he does Anthony, which I think is particularly poignant considering the agency that Anthony accepts and expects for his choices in this story. The request to clear his name for his family's sake brings a more personal touch to Anthony as well.

So: thank you Lia for writing & sharing this story with us and tackling the prompt challenge. I feel honoured you wrote me a story and hope you like this experimental sketchnote. (I felt like doing something different from usual, so I hope you enjoy it all the same).