Review: Once Upon a Dream

Once Upon a Dream by Megan Derr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got this for free on Kindle and had no expectations. Free books for the Kindle are hit or miss. A lot of time they are misses, for me. But this was a massive hit for me. The whole book is just short stories that are rewrites of classic fairy tales. But gay. So many dudes falling in love with dudes and being all cute and junk. Loved it. Loved every second of it. Screamed to my best friend about how great it was. Can't wait to read more of the writer's work.

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Six More Things That Are Overdone (Give me more)

 Hidely-Ho, Neighborinos.

That was weird... I'll... I will not do that again... 

Yes, I will.

Okay, little update first, then onto the actual post.

The writing challenge is going well. Haven't missed a day, even on days when I had shit going on, I still pulled a post out and got it done. A lot of the stories are kind of shit, but I still got the goal done, and it's giving me lots of ideas for longer things later. If you want to read the story things go here.

Now, onto the actual post! Told you it was a little update...

That Is So Overdone… Give Me More (Part 2)

1. “I’m okay, I’m okay” then promptly falls over. You lose points if they’re dead. I’m not here for death.

2. Snarky Butlers. If your butler is not snarky, I don’t care about them. Simple as that.

3. Mutual Pining. This is only a good thing for so long. If you drag out the mutual pining and never let the characters get together, it’s just going to annoy me. 

4. Unusual Friendships. Things like the neat freak and the slob. The ray of sunshine and the grumpy grump (this friendship trope is the exact reason I started reading Witcher fan-fiction). The jock and the nerd. Cheerleader and goth girl. Now, this only works if the friendship is also one where you can tell they love each other with no question. I also dislike this trope if they end up in a situation where, for example, the cheerleader goes off with the other cheerleaders and starts making fun of the goth girl, but in the end learns the meaning of true friendship. No. Give me the cheerleader that stands up against the other cheerleaders because that goth girl is her friend.

5. Unusual Terms of Endearment. Dear, darling, sweetheart, babe, and all of those are fine and dandy. But give me significant others that call each other weird things. 

6. Breaking stereotypes. My favorite example of this is Elle Woods. She is the stereotypical pretty, blonde girl that loves fashion and other “girly” things but then she is hella smart. And an absolute sweetheart. Give me a goth girl that giggles and squeals over cute animals. The jock who is friendly and smart. The nerd that can talk to girls... 

That's all for this go. Gotta go get something written up for that writing challenge. 

So, I'm Doing a Writing Challenge

 And I'm already failing. Awesome.

Anyways.

NaNoWriMo is this month. And I am not joining that. Cause I suck at it. Not setting myself up for that failure this year. 

Gonna set myself up for a different failure. 

Sorry. Bad mood. Trying to ignore it.

I love writing and reading AU (Alternate Universe) fics. Looooove it. Unhealthy obsession with it really. That includes Soulmate AUs. And over the years I have collected quite a list of them that I keep saying "someday I'm gonna write something with that". And now I'm going to. Even made a spreadsheet. 

I love spreadsheets... 

Here's the challenge part of this.

I'm going to (try very fucking hard) write something for as many of these AUs as I can, for various fandoms that I write in. I want to try and do one a day, but I know that will not happen. Between family obligations and homeschool stuff and my brain fucking hating me most days, I know I can't focus on this as much as I want to. But I am giving myself a little bit of an out. Not really an out. I'm not forcing myself to finish entire stories. As long as I get over 100 words, I will consider it done. Well, done enough to post on Archive of Our Own. And, maybe later, I'll go back and write more. 

This is really just for me. I need to find something to focus on that isn't Covid, politics, family shit, and homeschool. I'm really on edge and spend most days trying to talk myself down from panic attacks. And I hope that as I sort of complete these I'll have that little feeling of accomplishment and get myself in a better mood. And maybe other people will enjoy them. I dunno. 

Well, that's all. 

6 Things That Are So Overdone in Fiction

Somethings are overdone in fiction. Sometimes, it's not that bad and I even enjoy it. This is not about those things, though. This is about the things that are overdone and people need to stop it. Stop it now.





Building a female’s character with rape and/or abuse. 

I know that shit happens and it is horrible, but I’m tired of damn near every female in fiction being either raped, abused, or both.



Strong Female Character refuses to even listen to a man because she is a strong independent woman and don’t need no man. 

It is awesome that you are a strong female. Great. But refusing to even listen to a man (who, in a lot of things I’ve read or seen, is their friend or lover) because you think they’re trying to control you (which most of the time they aren’t, and their plan would have worked out a lot better) makes you look like a stupid bitch. So stop. You don’t have to agree with them or use their plan or whatever, but at least give it a listen.

Miscommunication for drama. 

Miscommunication should be used for comedic purposes only. Not communicating falls under miscommunication for me. I am so tired of people just not communicating and all sorts of angst happens. Just fucking talk to each other, okay?

Tragic gay. 

Non-straight characters deserve happy endings just as much as straight people.

Families that hate each other. 

I can deal with teenage rebellion in fiction. I can deal with families arguing and fighting on occasion, but families that just seem to fucking hate each other is annoying.

Broody superheroes. 

New rule, you can have one broody superhero per group of five. And only if the brood is done well. But also, they can’t all be sassy and funny. There are other personality types. Use them.

Review: West Virginia Penitentiary

West Virginia Penitentiary by Jonathan D. Clemins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars 

  This book is very informative with fantastic pictures. I've been to the West Virginia Penitentiary three times in the past 10 years. Once for an overnight stay (first time there and that is what I chose to do), once for a day-time tour, and once for a day-time paranormal tour. Each time I learned something new and was more fascinated by all the information about this place. And this book was full of things I didn't know. It was also a lot of fun comparing the prison from when it was in operation to what I see in my visits. Nothing like seeing the Sugar Shack full of lights and recreational materials, because when I saw it there was no light aside from our flashlights and I don't think my "this place be spooky, can we go?" was much in the way of recreation. Though, I think I'd rather go with spooky than what happened in that room...

If you have the interest, I highly suggest this book. And go on a tour of the place. All the tour guides are fantastic and knowledgable.

Random Fan-Fiction Recommendations From Stephy

I like fanfiction. I read a lot of it. And here are a few that I really enjoy.

The Life of Bucky Barnes by stephrc79

Fandom: Marvel, mostly MCU

Pairing: Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff in the background. Same with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.

This is a huge ass series that follows along with The Life of Bucky Barnes by petite-madame. It is a great series and the art is featured right along with it. There is smut so you've been warned.

 

 

 

Four Years Later

Fandom: Mass Effect

Pairing: Kaidan Alenko and Male Shepard

Takes place four years after Mass Effect 3, and written before any of the DLC was released, I believe. Anyway, this story is great. Full of pets, twists, intrigue, mystery, and a little bit of romance.

 

I’ll Be Apollo by lesbianapiarist

Schitt’s Creek

Patrick Brewer/David Rose

David likes a singer’s music. But oh, that’s Patrick.

There is smut.

I Am Groot by sherlocksmyth

Marvel

No pairing

This is the best thing ever written. It really got into the heart and soul of the character. Just fantastic, really. Highly recommended.

Twelve Times Damned, Twelve Times Hopeful by hafital

Marvel

Clint Barton/Laura Barton/Bucky Barnes

Bucky hides out in a secret room in the Barton’s barn. While there he spies on the Avengers. Oh, then they find out. Then him, Clint and Laura all fall in loooooove.