The Timeless Story No End, No Beginning By MandyCandy Is Endlessly Fascinating. It's A Powerful What-if?

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!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - December 1st: Time to Rest & Recoup

We did it! The rush to the finish line is done. It's over and dusted. We are DONE. November is gone and over with and our NaNo season is coming to a close. For today: rest & start recouping. Bask in the glory of having completed your challenge and the satisfaction of having had the courage to attempt it. If you did not achieve what you set out to do: face your feelings, acknowledge them and rest in the knowledge that I am proud of you for attempting it.

Any word you wrote is one you did not have before. Life interferes sometimes and serendipity happens. For me: November is a month of creativity. It is rare that I manage to complete NaNo in all the years I have been trying - but I embrace the effort, the attempt, the striving & desire to tell stories.

Dec 1st: Time to Rest & Recoup

Take a moment to reflect and breathe. How do you feel? What did you enjoy most about NaNo this year? What did it teach you? What did you learn? Would you like to maintain your daily writing habit? Is your story finished? What would you like to integrate into your daily life now that NaNo is over? Who were your biggest supporters and how would you like to thank them? What do you need to recoup? To rest? To breathe? To celebrate? I'll see you tomorrow for the Thank-Goodness-It's-Over-Party and the final bonus cartoon!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 20: Magical Portals & New Discoveries!

A story contains untold magnitudes and there are so many possible choices: who is telling the story to whom? Where are they located? How honest are they? What choices do your characters make when confronted with the plottwists you dreamt up?  The sheer creative act of storytelling requires bravery. Shifting through this realm of possibilities and finding which door you want to open and which approach you'll take.

Day 20: Magical Portals & New Discoveries

Storytelling transforms. It lifts you up from your everyday life and places you in the midst of this world of yours. It allows you to look at the world through another's eyes and walk in their shoes. It's a magical portal all by itself and that's not even including all those hidden portals we so often find in fiction. Are there any portals in your story? Ways your characters leave their regular lives and get thrust into adventure? Allow yourself to be amazed & keep writing away!

The Timeless stories by RedGold (@timelesshonesttrailer) fascinate me. She writes eloquently about morality, choices, and the timeloops & their consequences in #Timeless.

Today, I reread her story The Nuclear Option to sketchnote it and it continues to intrigue me. Jess is granted her own autonomy in her choices rather than just having everything decided for her (aka canon :-( ) and Mara (OC) acknowledges that "[she is] a really good person who's been affected by outside influences since childhood... and [she] didn't ask for any of this". I like the perspective on fate, the open-endedness of the story and the consequences for our own lives: what do we choose? How do we use the opportunities in front of us?

The Timeless Ballet AU called Ballet-Féerie by @oldshrewsburyian and @qqueenofhades feels like a touch of poetry.

The summary: Garcia Flynn teaches ballet to a class including Amy Preston. Lucy Preston has been her younger sister's guardian since they were orphaned. Hesitant conversations and fraught silences ensue. Also, there's Tchaikovsky.

It's a sweet and yet highly descriptive & emotive story. Lucy is struggling, but persevering & the love between the sisters is palpable as is Lucy's exhaustion. I love that she still pursues her own dreams in the midst of it all. Mr Flynn as the grouchy ballet teacher that knows how to teach little kids dance but doesn't quite know or care to deal with all the intrigue of the dance moms is sweet. I absolutely love the fact that the relationship between Lucy & Flynn is based on friendship first.

Denise & Michelle are wonderful. Jiya is her own person and I love the friendship between her & Lucy. Amy is sweet & precocious & dares to dream outrageous dreams and make them real. Emma is her ruthless self (without a mean streak) and I adore her to-the-pointness.

There is a language beyond words and beyond immediate comprehension, and I miss sitting in theatres and watching modern dance. I have not seen the Nutcracker or many ballets, but this story still evokes for me that feeling of watching magic right in front of your eyes.

It's a story I read when I feel sad or thoughtful. When I long for nostalgia or finding the magic in everyday reality. Our friendships, our relationships, our chosen families: together we make the magic real and felt.

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.

The Scholomance story Beside the Golden Door by Stellarete details Chloe growing up in the New York Enclave.

The Scholomance books Deadly Education, The Last Graduate & the pending: The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik detail El's story in the magical school the Scholomance.

Chloe is a fascinating character who has learnt growing up to be blind to the intensity of the privilege she grew up with and yet learns to open her eyes throughout the series and to become a genuine friend.

The enclave's teachings are so similar to all the messaging in more privileged societies. I am a university educated European and know rationally that I hold an immense amount of privilege even if there are still a lot of hardships and intense challenges in life. Chloe doesn't ignore her privilege, but does learn that her value and existence are not intrinsically tied to it. She works to be a better friend and person.

This story highlights Chloe's character growing up and the subtlety of the messaging and teaching. It's not even maliciously done: survival is paramount and these parent do lovingly want their children to live come what may.

The Scholomance by Naomi Novik is an intriguing and wonderful story and I am very curious for the conclusion that'll be published in September.

While we wait, this fanfic story is a lovely glimpse into this universe and character.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 6: Word Sprints

No matter if you are way ahead and are cruising on your way to 50000 words or if you are falling behind on your daily word count or even if you are deciding only now to get started and crush this challenge: word sprints can help you get those words for today.

Day 06: Word Sprints. On Your Places! Ready? Set? Write!

Set a timer, pick up the pen or put your hands on the keyboard and write, write, write as fast as you can. Challenge your fellow WriMos, race together and add words, and words, and words today! I love the freedom of small sprints and the way that they add up to more and more and more when I add them to the total.

Whether you are fast or slow, ahead or behind, let’s race together and compete only with ourselves. Every word counts and our stories matter. On Your Places! Ready? Set. Write!

Today, I decided to practice my art skills with these wonderful characters. Rufus & Jiya are so absolutely wonderful and they look so happy here.

@sallyexactly has written a lot of my favourite Timeless fanfic including a special gift last year, and she loves Rufus & Jiya too - so: I hope you enjoy this sketch, Sally ❤️

Now also on AO3

NaNoWriMo – My Cartoon of the Day – Day 23: Just Keep Writing

We are approaching our final week! Are you flying yet with your story well advanced? Or does it feel you are slowly crawling your way up a mountain? Regardless of where you are: we can keep writing and even crawling is progress. If you need to rest for a bit to lick your scrabbed knees: enjoy the view and remember the view from the summit will be even sweeter. An empty page cannot be edited and having gotten this far: we can make it to the final stretch. One more week to go till we can enjoy the satisfaction of having made it to the finish line.

Day 23: Just Keep Writing

Remember to take a breath and look around at this glorious experience. When the sweat drips from your brow, your legs hurt and your shoulders chafe from the backpack: there is pleasure to be had in facing the experience head-on and living life to the fullest. Likewise with our stories: there can be hardship in committing those words to paper, but the experience of having done so will stay with you. Stand up straight. Stretch your body. Drink a sip of water. And Just Keep Writing! We can do this.