NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon Of The Day - Day 5

Sometimes, when the world is sad & filled with horrors, I just want to read something heartwarming & feel-good. This Timeless Food Truck AU called Amehrana by @timelesshonesttrailer (RedGold) is a story of found family, the struggle that goes into building & maintaining relationships, and the support and love we offer one another.

Our beloved characters are in love with food, cooking & serving it. Lucy struggles against her mother's expectations. Flynn suffers from PTSD from the war and his marriage to Lorena broke down because of it, but they are still loving friends and co-parents because they both put in the effort & work. In Lorena's words: "And getting where we are... it wasn’t as easy as we make it out to be.”

Emma is snubbed by Rittenhouse (reimagined as a huge & unethical food conglomerate) and carries a grudge against Lucy because of it. Jess is fabulous & brilliant & strong. I particularly love her quote regarding her history with Wyatt: “I tried to be supportive, but if he wasn’t going to help himself, well, it’s not the woman’s job to fix the man.”

This story is heartwarming, but not all smooth sailing. There is conflict, and struggle, and self-doubt. But there is also support in community together. A love for one another in a found and created family. An acceptance & exhuberance that comes from doing what you love while putting in the work.

It's a wonderful story for days when the world feels harsh to be reminded that community and heart is build together through kindness and hard work.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - 3

No matter how well you prepare, the process of writing allows for surprises and unexpected events! Let’s embrace the unknown and sail away in this adventure.

Day 03: The Best Laid Plans: Sailing Away to Uncharted Waters!

Find your crew, craft your lifeboat and sail away heedlessly of any dangers ahead! We’ll weather the storms when they come. For now: write whimsically, adventurously, and most importantly: take a moment to enjoy it all!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 14: Adopt a Plot Bunny from the Pound!

Plot Bunnies come in all shapes and sizes! Some are utterly adorable, others absolutely vicious, and yet others both! If you ever feel yourself running out of steam during NaNo, simply plan a trip to the Plot Bunny Pound where there are many lovable twists&turns just waiting to be adopted.

Day 14: Adopt a Plot Bunny from the Pound!

A word of caution: Plot Bunnies often come in multitudes and are know to multiply rapidly whenever they find a loving home. If you ever find yourself in the position where you have too many Plot Bunnies you can comfortably sustain: the Plot Bunny Pound is also happy to work with you to find another writer's home. Come play with these adorable, plot gnawing and heartmelting little creatures!

The Timeless story The Assassin's Holiday by @secretnerdprincess had me giggling from the moment I first read its premise:

Garcia Flynn and Jiya Mara are highly trained assassins who own the elite MurderVision Inc.. With the help of Rufus Carlin, they take care of messy problems for those with the money to afford their solutions. They've just got one last job to finish up before Christmas. When they accepted the contract for Dr. Lucy Preston, they never expected one simple historian could cause so much trouble. In the end, this Christmas holiday might change all their lives.

There's highly entertaining banter between Garcia Flynn & Jiya. A very capable Dr Lucy Preston who cleverly improvises her way to thwarting Flynn's attempts to murder her and yet is still her usual clumsy self. There's theatre, a multi-day cross country trainride, a movie-esc escape & helicopter rescue. There's a fascinating little twist on the journal & how Lucy's life changed.

Overall, this is a story to read when you're in the mood for some hilarious adventure & laughter.

This story is part of the @garcysecretsanta exchange that has been spoiling me with a whole bunch of new Timeless stories to read. The collection can be found here on AO3. Thanks to all the writers & contributors! It is simply marvelous.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 29: Join Your Fellow Wrimos at a Write-In

It's the penultimate day of NaNo 22 and it's time for that final push to get to your finish line! Find your fellow wrimos and let's encourage each other. A (virtual) write-in is a time and place where we all come together to write our stories. We can do this! If you have already completed your work: cheer your fellow wrimos on. If you haven't: let's buckle up and Get.This.Done. It's two days & one night left and every word you write in your story is one you did not have before.

Day 29: Join Your Fellow Wrimos at a Write-In

Who do your characters go to for support and encouragement? Who is cheering them on? Consider what you and what your characters need to conclude their story. Find companionship and comfort in the fact that people around the world are writing together with you in this challenge. Let's put pen to paper & write!

Lately, I've been fascinated by The Hunger Games AU story A Standing Engagement by @bettsfic featuring Annie Cresta & Finnick Odair.

The Hunger Games is a dark dystopian reality that in so many ways mirrors our own, and it's gruesomeness is portrayed so hauntingly in this story. Annie Cresta is given a different backstory from canon, and lives in the capital. Her past is still dark. Life in the capital is heartbreaking: constant monitoring, putting on a display, not showing your real self and the dark undercurrents of danger & exploitation are always there.

Annie has lost most of her childhood memories, and lives in a world where image matters more than truth. Narration is by necessity unreliable as Annie does not know nor trust in what is truly happening, and doesn't remember except in haunting tainted glimpses. Annie pays Finnick to pretend to love her & act like he truly cares, and therefore, what trust can there be that what Finnick says & does is honest and real?

We see Finnick only through Annie's eyes and supplement that knowledge from what we know from canon: I think that leads us to trust Finnick's honesty in caring for & loving Annie earlier than the story itself warrants. Chapter 8/16 has just been published, and the truth of his love is acknowledged. Yet, that very truth is dangerous & puts them both in jeopardy - which we already know from canon. And so, this story weaves an interesting tale.

Their history - the fisherman's boy and the screaming girl - is referenced in small glimpses and details and I enjoy going back and rereading after new chapters to see earlier hints in a different light, like the best kind of stories do.

In our view of Finnick & his exploitation, we see our own celebrity culture: objectiving to such a degree we no longer acknowledge people as humans. The story is clever in its examination of what that does and means.

Annie & Finnick are both starkly lonely and vulnerable and yet able to reach each other behind all the masks. I'm curious to read where this story is going next now that the monthly meetings can no longer take place and the next Hunger Games are around the corner.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 16: ML Appreciation Day

It's Municipal Liaison Appreciation Day! Time to show some heartfelt appreciation to all our wonderful volunteers who facilitate our NaNo communities. Everyone who organizes Write-Ins, who hosts and moderates a forum or server, sends carepackages and encouragements: thank you! What I love about NaNo is the self-challenge and the call to creativity, as well as the feeling of community: how all of us are writing our own stories on our own and yet together.

Day 16: ML Appreciation Day

Who would you like to show special appreciation to today? Send some virtual flowers? A surprise plotbunny? A lovable raptor? A nice message filled with kind words?

Sometimes, I come across stories that are particularly clever, original & imaginative. The Timeless WIP story Parallel Lines by AndreaChristoph (@x-voyevoda) is one example.

“I’m in a different timeline entirely from you,” she finally starts, speaking slower as she sorts out what she wants to say in her mind. “A timeline that used to be separate, until people started punching holes in reality. We’re both Jiya Marri, and we’re both alive in our respective timelines.”

It's a multiverse world where Jiya's visions extent & transcend. Where Amy is rescued (or at least: pulled into a world in which Lucy exists). Where Rufus is the only left and connects with Jiya in dreams. Where Jiya is (understandably) angry at the world and given no time to grief or process. Where Stanley Fisher is intriguing & supportive of Jiya. Where Wyatt & Jessica both die early as of yet (though in this multiverse that does not necessarily mean they'll never be back).

There are ethical implications, there is intrigue, philosophy, and no time to process. I'm curious for more of the story: what happens on the Titanic? What does timeline zero Jiya know & what's the threat she warns our Jiya about? What did our Jiya go through in Chinatown? How will Amy cope? How will the relationship between the sisters develop? How did Emma follow Wyatt in that first chapter? How has the journal changed? What does that imply? Can Rufus be reached? What makes a person? Tipping points & memories are different - what makes a person who they are?

I like stories that make me think.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 17: Main Characters Take Charge!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that characters in stories are prone to take on lives of their own. We are well into week three of NaNo and this is often the moment when your characters stop waiting for you to come up with a story and start insisting on steering the wheel themselves!

Day 17: Main Characters Take Charge!

What shenanigans have your characters gotten up to that you hadn't planned out? Any new characters who walked onto the page and insisted on being part of your story? Resistance against the ideas you had for them and blazing a path of their own devising? How have your story and your characters surprised you?

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 27: Make a Nice Meal

Eating is an activity we do multiple times a day (I hope!). It's part of our everyday lives. When is the last time you carefully crafted a meal, sat down with friends and focused on what you were eating? Feel the crunch of fresh vegetables in your mouth, be comforted by the warmth of a cup of tea and smelled freshly baked bread? Creativity thrives on careful attention and nourishment: a focused attention of the mundane & finding the extraordinary within it.

Day 27: Make a Nice Meal

Have your characters made marshmallows on a fire? Sat down together and actually fed themselves? Enjoyed meal in a fancy restaurant or made a home-made meal for loved ones? Eating is part of our every day lives - how much is it part of theirs in your story? Enjoy! Let's keep writing and find the joy in the moment.