Hi peeps! As I work on Every Hero Needs a Villain, do y'all want me to make the community for it so you can see some funny behind the scenes stuff and potentially certain bios as I make them? You can also make suggestions for stuff there if you want. Trying to encourage myself to complete them.
Tag list: @aweirdshipp, @floofyboi57, @aralithmenathere
Psychological horror | Wattpad | AO3 - Complete - 11 chapters
Florence, a transman who has recently escaped his abusive ex-husband, is haunted by dreams, or more accurately, nightmares exploring his traumatized psyche. Through a twisted version of his new partner, he is forced to confront his fears concerning womanhood, men, and sex, recognizing his internalized guilt from "the incident" along the way. His partner Max may have some similar struggles.
Main Characters
Florence - Skittish transman who keeps having nightmares about his ex husband.
Max - Florence's husband, who is battling with nightmares of his own about his mother.
The Man - Florence's dream version of Max, embodying all of his fears about men.
Sam - Max's old childhood friend and crush.
Psychological horror, queerplatonic romance | To Be Posted
In a world of heroes versus villains, what happens when a hero and villain become best friends? What about when they fall for each other? Very tentative description that will be updated later.
Main Characters
TBD
Horror mystery | To be posted - Complete
The Bamford manor is known for hosting a variety of colorful figures. Most notably, there's the ever sweet Mrs. Bamford, her brother, Charles, who is overcoming a recent tragedy, and her son, Spinel, who is silent as the grave. Only, Mrs. Bamford was barren until she met a certain, Hellish suitor, and the in house priests are well aware of that fact. Yet, when the manor staff start dropping like flies, the Antichrist may be the only one who can catch the culprit. A story full of commentary about religious fear mongering and the horrors of childhood.
Main Characters
Spinel Bamford - The literal Antichrist, a smart and silent child who's on the case!
Rosey - Spinel's mother, a sweet, enthusiastic, and caring woman.
Charles - Spinel's uncle, a clumsy yet sweet man who finds himself a prime suspect.
Detective - The dutiful and hardened detective, who is constantly stumped by the weird going ons within the manor.
Sci-fi comedy | To be posted - Complete
In a very superficial anthro dog society, dogs compete in a game show to see which contestants can make the most beautiful pup using the patent pending Love Maker machine. Whoever wins is allowed into The City of Divine Visage, where they believe they will live a better life with more opportunities. Being invited onto the show is an honor, and dogs come from far and wide to shoot their shot. Yet, this year's game show has several twists and turns not even the announcer and producers could have predicted! An absurdist experience full of laughs and, most importantly, silly anthro dogs.
Main characters
Barker Woofington - Host of the breeding grounds, a strange and energetic fellow who does everything he can for the contestants.
Monly - Dog from a small town looking for better opportunities, but who greatly misses home.
Snifster - Dropped out of his dream school to be on the show, and was studying The Visage Scale until that point, giving him an advantage.
Lappy - Country dog with a history of show dogs in her family, she's confident she can win using both her charm and planning skills.
Padsly - A jock who may be far smarter than anyone ever expected, and even more conniving.
Sci-fi Horror | To be posted - In Progress High Priority
In a sci-fi world, a "villain" is trapped in his own underground bunker with a set of "heroes". This rag tag group are desperately trying to get out while also tending to him. The problem? The "villain" has sustained a large gash of light, the particles threatening to consume him if it's allowed to spread any further. A story of robbed anatomy and role reversals.
Main characters
The villain - I wonder what someone like him dreams about. Do we even want to know?
Hope - The villain's caretaker who can't seem to help but baby talk him in the process.
Onyx - A tough older man who takes a more rational approach to the entire situation.
Hunter - Spunky young nurse who seems to hate his job.
Dick - The leader of the group, and his nickname says it all.
Lenore - A quiet woman who is far more capable than the others give her credit for. Comes off as cold yet has a heart of gold.
Body horror, sci-fi horror | To be posted - In Progress Medium Priority
In a world where citizens are too busy to shower, machines take over the cleaning for them. Machines which may be able to operate on their own one day, but they need your help to train them! Well, that and their clients' data. You as a shower operator will face several strange horrors as you begin your new job in this dystopian society. Just what is the manager not telling you?
Main Characters
You - That's right, did I stutter?
Your manager - A strange man, the job seems to have taken a toll on him.
Queerplatonic Romance - To Be Posted - In Progress Low Priority
In a world full of monsters, the strongest monsters protect the others from humanity and are seen as worthy of respect. This attitude seeps into the school system, where monsters are taught this hierarchy in order to survive. Within one of these schools, a ghost named Preston finds himself getting closer to the ever popular sludge monster named Laurent when on their senior trip. Despite Preston being the stereotypical "loser", he finds he has more in common with Laurent than he would have ever expected. Will Preston manage to figure out Laurent's intent before the trip ends, or will he always be left wondering about that strange Summer?
Main characters
Preston - A shy ghost who keeps to himself, terrified of being bullied.
Laurent - The ruling sludge monster of his class, known for being a party animal yet also extremely studious.
Wattpad | AO3 - Completed - Oneshot
An art enthusiast finds himself face to face with the individual who broke his beloved stained glass window. He struggles between two desires; the desire to punish them, and the desire to find out why they'd do such a horrific thing. He practically worshiped that stain glass window, taking the time to understand why it was made, even though he himself lacks the passion the artist had. In his eyes, anyone who would destroy it must be some kind of monster. Yet, discovering the destructive individual, he realizes that description is far from the truth.
Main Characters
The art lover - A protector of the arts because he himself struggles to make them.
The art destroyer - Someone who may not know any better.
Wattpad | AO3 - Complete - Oneshot
One shot pertaining to my original characters the Metz family, including their teasing mother Mrs. Metz, the grumpy oldest Rainer, and his hyper younger sister Frida. When they're making breakfast together, Rainer is horrified when his sister Frida gets involved.
Wattpad | AO3
Stories set in an open fantasy world where different types of fantasy cats try to survive under the goddess' rule.
AO3 - Complete - Oneshot
An unnamed narrator reflects on why they could never sleep in an old friend's house.
Horror mystery | Three books - In Progress High Priority
The lone jogger, Quentin, ends up befriending the devil of Chiffon street, Bradi, and his girlfriend, Nicky. Though their neighbors tend to misunderstand them, Quentin finds himself connecting to them outcast to outcast. Yet, the more Quentin gets to know them, the more he suspects they may be involved in something occult. Ironically, while diving into this mystery, Quentin struggles to hide quite few secrets of his own. A tale set in the suburbs of a cult ridden California where every shadow and creek in the night hints at something greater, something more terrifying.
Main characters
Quentin - The mysterious jogger whose personal life is a complete mystery. Kind, though a bit awkward and stone faced.
Bradi - The devil of Chiffon Street, a bratty college student who has been known to terrorize his neighbors using his hose.
Nicky - The girlfriend of Bradi, extremely sweet and playful with an interest in all things occult.
Desiderius - The literal demon of lust, and an extremely mischievous and playful one at that.
Horror mystery | One Book - In Progress Medium Priority
Sawyer moves away from his sister, Alice, and into the small town of Ashvale to carve out his journey of independence. Yet, as the days pass, strange occurrences keep happening. His neighbors act as if they're hiding something, there's rumors about the previous owners of his house going mad, and he swears he hears things going bump in the night. Sawyer begins to worry the town's superstitions may be based on fact. Worst of all, he finds he can not escape his night terrors, and if anything, they begin to worsen.
Main Characters
Sawyer - The POV character, who recently moved into his new home, which was suspiciously cheap. His neighbors, however, are even more suspicious, though that might just be because Sawyer is plagued with nightmares, making him paranoid.
Remi - The person who greets Sawyer, and whom Sawyer feels the closest to. He's the glue that keeps the group together, being kind, playful, and energetic.
Nick - They're a flirtatious artist who the town folk seem to have a particular disdain for.
Jonathan - An extremely stern young man who is always keeping an eye on his friends for reasons he keeps close to his chest.
Cynthia - A shy and sweet young woman with a love for animals.
Horror Mystery | One Book - Revamping Medium Priority
When young Matthew's mom dies, he feels like his world has come to an end. Yet, his hopes sky rocket when the FAI, a discontinued toy, start appearing in his house and playing games with him. He believes his mom sent them to lead him back to her. Unfortunately, they're not alone. As Matthew grows older, investigating the FAI makes him realize his mom's line of work may have been more shady than he ever realized.
Main Characters
Matthew - A young boy who just lost his mother, and is desperate for her return.
Shapey - a FAI toy that looks mysteriously different from the rest.
The FAI - A discontinued toy set that appear in Matthew's house. They feel frighteningly lifelike.
you'll get the urge as an artist or a writer to say out loud the things you're worried about "the proportions are off" "kind of out of character" "i'm not good at summaries" "didn't get as much detail as i wanted" "i made a mistake and here's how" and that's the self-conscious part of your brain telling you "it's bad and if you don't tell them you know it's bad then they'll think you're stupid" but you've got to ignore that little voice and pretend you think it's good or else that little voice is going to ruin your life
"Hear ye'! Hear ye'! A number of flawed individuals possess tools with dangerous power - and mysterious, godlike beings want to erase them for it. Is it because those beings sense corpses in these individuals' stead?" (A pitch for ya', dear folks).
I thought a community would be a good spot to have all stuff related to B\T (WIPs) in one place.
As to not scroll and scroll after it. Also, the Masterpost only has relevant stuff on it, not everything related to these WIPs. Unlike there.
You can learn more about B\T there or in here:
Beta reading isn't about turning someone's story into your own vision, it's about helping someone make their story into THEIR vision
Your poetry is always so gorgeous. The imagery in this one sent shivers down my spine.
I miss when you were in the margins
of my class notes
Your name and mine
held together by a heart and a plus sign
I'd flip through the pages
and know that you were waiting for me
at the end of the hour
with your hands full of wilting wildflowers
you decided to pick up on your morning run
because you didn't know the difference
between alive and dying
Petals fell to the floor
during the trip from your hands to mine
and walking proves to hurt them further
as they shake and quiver in my hands with each step
losing a little part of themselves
the further we get
By the time we get home
there are no more petals left to save
and the stems don't stop their drooping
as we put them into the vase
Water doesn't help them
doesn't give them time
they just brown and fall further
but you take no notice
as you put them on a shrine
with other wilted wildflowers
Hand kissing is sacred, high romance and I think we need to revive it.
(Profile art by @floofyboi57)
Hi hi! I'm an aroace trans man in a system that loves to write horror mysteries. Though I dabble in other genres depending on what a story needs. My works typically include morally gray characters, strangely cute monsters, and dark content, so make sure you read the content warnings before engaging with them. Some themes you can expect are light in the deepest darkness, heroes being worse than the villain, weirdcore settings, humans as the true evil, religious trauma, finding queer acceptance, and so on. I also litter my works with trans, plural, and aroace themes.
Important notes:
Why did I make a new blog, outside of wanting a fresh start? To be honest, my notifications were so broken that it made the decision easy. I do recognize that, one day, I'll have to accept having an account for a long time just means things will break, but this is not that day!
@aweirdshipp
If you like our work, please consider asking to be added to the taglist! This shows us people are interested in our writing, and can help ensure you're notified about writing updates. Feel free to clarify if you want to be tagged for things like a specific WIP, writing ramblings, snippets, or if you want to be notified when I need beta readers.
#ourwriting, #writingrambles, #writingsnippet, #wipupdates, #essiehobbies
I will not follow you if you do not properly warn about or tag triggering content. I'd love to be moots with others, but I can not comfortably follow you if you are not properly tagging your posts. I am a strong pusher for properly tagging content so people can curate their own space.
This is a Litmus Test
Yep, let's talk about the whole "fiction effects reality" thing. When I use this phrase, what I am not saying is that violent media will make you violent, or that all stories should be squeaky clean with the purpose of teaching a moral. It's a recognition of how harmful feeding into stereotypes can be, and how certain framing contributes to the spread of harmful ideas. For example, a work that glorifies violence done by the military via painting the other side of a conflict as "pure evil". And let me be clear, a character glorifying their own actions is not the same as the creator glorifying their actions, nor are stories where everyone is evil or sucks encouraging bad behavior.
The takes, "writing about horrific things does not make you a bad person", and, "a creator framing a character's horrific behavior as justifiable, and others negative reactions towards it as unjustifiable, could be a red flag", in my opinion, can and should coexist. (Ex: B being painted as in the wrong for not seeing a trans individual as crazy, while A is painted as justified for doing so). I am against censorship and harassment, but I am not against thoughtful critiques or discussions about how we present certain ideas within our writing. Discouraging this makes it more difficult to discuss when harm is intended or accidentally done, and can be used to silence minorities when they ask for better representation. It also makes it harder to blow the whistle on bigots. Both the extremes that everyone who writes dark things condones them, and that no one who writes dark things ever condones them are not helpful. Which brings me to my main point.
TDLR: Framing is everything, and just because fiction isn't going to turn us into murder hobos, that doesn't mean it can't contribute to the spread of harmful ideas. Being against censorship does not have to mean being against thoughtful discussion or critique.
Your reaction to these paragraphs will let you know whether or not my writing is for you. I'm a neurodivergent who's addicted to nuance, and this shows in not only my stories, but also how I approach them. As I write them, I twist the struggles, perspectives, and experiences of the characters to end up with a complex web of considerations. There's nothing wrong with a story full of horrible people being horrible just for the sake of it, or a story full of violence just because, but those aren't the type of things I tend to write. I also often cover the perspectives of trauma victims and plural individuals to put out the representation I as one want to see.
If you dislike horror that takes an interest in examining and criticizing human behavior, this is definitely not the blog for you. But, if you think tackling questions such as how far the heroes can go before they become just as bad, or even worse, than the villain, themes of characters overcoming evil, characters like oddly soft demons, and settings like weirdcore societies meant to comment on American society, are interesting, then I think you'll enjoy my works.
TDLR: I write horror with a gushy center and with representation that is important to me.
I am continuing to work on Every Hero Needs a Villain and I am super happy to announce that I'm actually making great progress when it comes to both hero and villain descriptions. Each category has six, with each hero having a villain and vice versa. I hope I've gotten a good spattering of personalities for people to enjoy this way.
Here's a snippet from Straight Shooter's, a cowboy object head:
He can inspire a state of restfulness depending on the color of his scarf. Red is for physical restfulness, purple is mental restfulness, blue is emotional restfulness, green is spiritual restfulness, yellow is instinct restfulness, and sometimes he has a rare rainbow of all these colors. Yet, to do so, he too must also achieve this restfulness for himself.
Tag list: @aweirdshipp, @floofyboi57, @aralithmenathere
my queer cozy fantasy THE KEEPER OF LONELY SPIRITS has been out for one month. to celebrate, I'll be giving away one (1) signed hardcover
the giveaway is open internationally to countries that can receive USPS packages. it'll run across platforms, but there will only be one (1) winner
enter by 5p.m. EST on Friday, May 2, by...
following me
reblogging this post
bonus entry: tag a friend
Find an angry spirit. Send it on its way before it causes trouble. Leave before anyone learns his name.
After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o’ them folk in his native Ireland, he can’t. Instead, he’s cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants.
Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he’s ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead—until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter’s drawn into the townsfolk’s lives, homes and troubles. For the first time in over a century, he wants something other than death.
But the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won’t.
As Harrington buckles under the weight of the supernatural, the ghost hunt pits Peter’s well-being against that of his new friends and the man he’s falling for. If he stays, he risks heartbreak. If he leaves, he risks their lives.
click here to add the book on TheStoryGraph: link to The Keeper of Lonely Spirits on TheStoryGraph
18+ • System • Host: Essie • Horror Mystery Writers • I curate my space and so should you • Anti AI • Read pinned for more info
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