WIPMarathon: February 2016

I realize I’m double-posting today, but hopefully no one minds! Today marks the end of February, which is the shortest month––and yet it felt really long to me. Maybe it’s because the weather has been so nuts. A couple weeks ago the temperature was getting into the negatives, and today it’s 62˚ (Fahrenheit that is, but still)! But I’ve also been really busy with writing and editing this month, so I have a lot of stuff to talk about for my WIPMarathon post this month!

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If you’ve been following my WIPWednesday posts, you probably know this already, but I FINALLY FINISHED MY FIRST DRAFT OF I CHOSE THE MONSTER. It took me almost three years, but I finally wrote those beautiful words “The End”.

… Of course, now comes the worst part: Editing. But I’ll get to that in a second.

Last WC/CC: 150,258 words / 54 chapters

Current WC/CC: 154,339 words / 56 chapters

And before anyone says “Wow Brigid you know that’s way too long, right?” … I KNOW, I KNOW. I’m not insane enough to ever pitch a book that long, haha. 😛 My first drafts tend to be extremely long––it always happens. After a few rounds of edits, I’m confident I can get it down to a reasonable length.

WIP Issues This Month:

Besides the obvious “oh god my manuscript is ridiculously long”––a bunch of things. Obviously I am glad that I finally finished the first draft of this monster (pun totally intended). But I only felt good about it for about half a day. As soon as my head hit the pillow that night, the worries started bursting in my head. I don’t even know where to start, but just some of the major issues:

• There’s not really any central conflict. The first draft is very “episodic,” with the characters pretty much doing the same things over and over.
• At the moment, the characters are not very fleshed-out. I think I’ve only scraped the surface, and the characters need a ton more development.
• The world-building also needs a lot of work. The story takes place in the future, but it doesn’t feel very different from present-day. Also I think the Morts (the zombie-like creatures the characters are facing) need more defined characteristics, since it’s pretty inconsistent right now.

I can complain all day about all the things I have to fix, but the more important question is: What am I going to do about it? Well … I’m trying to get it together, and to try to tackle all these things one at a time.

This month, I started by making an outline of all the scenes I wrote in my first draft, and I’ve started brainstorming and taking notes on some potential changes to the plot in the next draft. I may need a bit of a break before I really start on the next draft, but at least I’m still keeping the ideas rolling.

What distracted me this month while writing/editing:

I did a lot of reading this month––which isn’t a bad thing of course, but it did cut in to my writing and editing time a bit.

I also felt a little burnt out after finally getting to the end of the first draft, and I was torn about whether I should get into edits right away or not. I’m still kind of torn about that, so … I don’t know. Guess I’ll just go with the flow!

Goal for next month:

Hmmmm, good question. I feel like it’s kind of up in the air right now, but I guess I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing––in other words, doing some light edits on ICTM while brainstorming bigger changes for the next draft. By the end of March, I would like to have at least tried to rewrite a scene or two, though. We’ll see. But I’m also considering giving it a bit of a rest for a couple more weeks and maybe working on The Resurrectionists instead. So, I don’t quite know––it’s a surprise, woohoo!

Last 200 words:

Well, obviously I’m not sharing the last 200 words of the book! 😉 But I’ll go with an excerpt from a chapter I’ve recently been editing:

Aim. Shoot. Miss.

The target glares from a distance, judging me with its critical red bullseye. Bullet holes pepper its surface, but that’s more from other people practicing on it than from me. I’ve only made a few weak dents at the corners.

Crack.

The weapon jerks in my hands again, and the bullet bounces off the edge of the target with a faint ping. I let out a long sigh, lowering the gun.

Across the training ground and through the fence, the wasteland beyond shimmers in the heat. An occasional tuft of grass dots the ground, but most of it is barren and dusty. Barbed wire curls around the top of the fence, glinting menacingly.

This place feels like prison, but I don’t know why they bother trapping us here. If someone were to escape this place, where the hell would they go? There’s nothing out there.

How about you guys?

How are those WIPs going? Comment and let me know! 🙂

Music Monday: 2/29/16

Happy leap day! An extra day to be productive, right? … Just kidding, I’m probably not going to get anything done. But hey, it can’t hurt to be optimistic!

It’s Monday, and you know what that means: another round of Music Monday! This week I’m bringing you two old favorites that always make me feel hopeful and inspired.

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Arcade Fire – Wake Up

This is a pretty classic favorite for me, from Arcade Fire’s debut album Funeral (which is now like 12 years old, wow). I adore the lyrics of this song, and it just has such a “soaring” sound to it. Arcade Fire is one of my all-time favorite bands, and this is one of my favorite songs of theirs. It always makes me feel nostalgic and emotional.

Jónsi – Go Do

 

If you recognize the voice, you may know Jónsi Birgisson from his very famous Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós (which is a band I also love!). His debut work is slightly lesser-known, but his album Go is one of my absolute favorites (and definitely worth checking out if you need some atmospheric music for writing). “Go Do” is a beautiful song: the lyrics are sweet and inspiring, and the instrumentation is really innovative in my opinion.

There was a point like three years ago when I listened to this song NON-STOP. Like seriously, I remember walking between classes and just listening to it on repeat. I discovered it at a time in my life when I’d been kind of depressed for a while, and it always made me feel a little better. It still does.

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Hope you enjoyed my music choices this week! To check out my previous music recommendations, you can look at my other Music Monday posts. Or you can listen to my Music Monday playlist on Spotify.

If you would also like to participate in Music Monday:

• Share 1-2 songs. It can be any genre, it can be something new or it can be an old favorite. Whatever you want!
• Share a music/lyric video of the song.
• Tell us some of your thoughts/feelings about the song, artist, and/or music video.
• Submit the link to your blog post at the bottom of Lauren’s most recent Music Monday post (where it says “add your link”).

The Ultimate Book Tag

I was tagged by Melanie Noell Bernard to do the Ultimate Book Tag! Thanks for tagging me. 😀 Let’s do this thing!

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1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?

Nope! It used to make me nauseated when I was a kid, but I always did it anyway … and I think I desensitized myself to it or something, because once I was a teenager it stopped making me sick. *shrugs*

2. Which author’s writing style is completely unique to you?

PATRICK NESS! ❤ His trilogy Chaos Walking is one of the most original things I’ve read, and the writing style is so distinct. I know a lot of people don’t care for it (it’s written in dialect and a lot of words are spelled phonetically), but personally I find it really great and fitting to the story/characters. I also love that Ness changes up his style with every book he writes; it’s always something new and interesting.

3. Harry Potter series or Twilight saga? Give 3 points to explain your answer.

*Headsmack* Honestly I’ve never liked this debate because like … they’re two very different series, and I don’t really see why we have to compare them just because they’re both popular.

I’ll be honest: when I first read the Twilight books in middle school, I really liked them. This was before the movies and the huge hype and everything. I have some fond memories of my friends and I talking about them. Now that I’m older, I definitely see that the relationships in them are problematic and the writing was not very good. But I also don’t really hate them. *shrugs* So … I’m pretty neutral about them I guess?

Another confession: I didn’t really read Harry Potter until like five years ago. *GASP!* So shocking, I know! But I finally did, and I loved them. In fact, I just finished re-reading the first book yesterday, and I plan to re-read the rest of the series as well. 🙂 Anyway, to get to the point, I prefer Harry Potter. My three reasons:

• I love the meticulous and original world-building.
• It has an awesome cast of characters.
• J.K. Rowling obviously planned out the series really carefully. As I was re-reading the first book, I noticed all the subtle hints about things that aren’t explained until later books. I’m really blown away by how well she planned all seven books.

 

4. Do you carry a book bag? If so, what’s in it (besides books)?

*Scoffs* For me, EVERY BAG IS A BOOK BAG. Don’t underestimate my powers. If I have a tiny purse with me, I’ll still be like, “I wonder if I can fit a book into this.” But generally when I buy bags of any kind, one of my main criteria is that it has to be at least big enough to fit one book. As for what else I’ll keep in my bag––you know, the usual stuff. Phone, keys, wallet, chapstick, tissues … other necessities. 😛

5. Do you smell your books?

Aw yeah, I am a book sniffer. I love the smell of a nice old paperback. MMMM.

I feel ya, Rory.

6. Books with or without little illustrations?

I love illustrations! I wish more YA and adult books had them. I’m an artist as well as a writer, so I always appreciate illustrations, whether they’re full-page ones or just little ones at the beginnings of chapters.

7. What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

Oh boy. There are a bunch of books I liked as a child/teen that would probably not hold up if I read them again today. But one of the first big things that comes to mind is the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson (aka a bunch of ghostwriters who were probably forced to write each book on like a two-week deadline).

I read the first book when I was around 12 or 13, and I was obsessed with it. And to be fair, the first book was not as awful as some of the later ones. It at least started out with a fast-paced story, a group of characters that shared a strong bond, and some intriguing plot twists. The problem was … a lot of those plot twists were never explained or acknowledged again.

This series is so inconsistent, it’s cringe-worthy. As the books continue, it just gets worse and worse. The characters constantly discover they have new powers, but then only use them once and never mention them again. The main character describes her hair as like five different colors throughout the books. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

What’s probably worse than that, though, is that books 4 and onward are incredibly preachy. I don’t know what happened, but it turned from a sci-fi action series to “kids with wings try to prevent global warming and pollution.” I’m not kidding.

Ah-hem. So yeah. I really liked the first couple of books when I was younger, but as I got older and the books got worse, I realized there was not much effort going into them.

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!

Apparently when I was really little, I would do this thing where I’d pick up a book and start whacking one of my parents with it and saying something that sounded like “DANKU, DANKU.” They didn’t understand at first, but my mom eventually realized I was trying to say “thank you” and essentially I was thanking them in advance for reading to me. 😛

9. What is the tiniest book on your shelf?

Hmmm I think it’s probably The Elements of Style by E.B. White and William Strunk. It’s only like 100 pages.

10. What’s the thickest book on your shelf?

Oh, it’s definitely The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It’s about 1,300 pages. *screams*

I tried to read it this past summer, and I just ended up getting distracted by other books. But I will finish it eventually! I WILL.

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as an author?

I think anyone who follows this blog knows the answer to this, haha. But yes, I am a writer and I hope to be an author one day!

12. When did you get into reading?

Hmm, I’m not sure. I know I always loved it when my parents read to me. But I don’t think I enjoyed reading to myself until I was around 7 or 8. I feel like it was around third grade when I started to get really enthusiastic about books.

13. What is your favorite classic book?

I love a lot of classics, but I think my favorite is To Kill a Mockingbird. I was really sad to hear of Harper Lee’s recent passing. 😦 She wrote such an amazing and ground-breaking book.

14. In school, what was your best subject?

… I was terrible at pretty much everything else, lol.

15. If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated, what would you do?

I would smile and say thank you because I’m not a huge jerk? 🙂 And then maybe I would exchange it later on, I don’t know.

16. What is a lesser known series that you know that is similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?

I’m kind of drawing a blank here, but I’ll go with something similar to The Hunger Games. But when I say “similar” I’m comparing them very loosely.

The Unwind dystology by Neal Shusterman. I’m currently re-reading the first book, and it’s just as amazing as the first time I read it! I’ve read the second book too, but I have yet to read books three and four. From what I’ve read, though, this is one of the best dystopias out there. It’s very disturbing, compelling, and has some great world-building and morally complex characters. And like Hunger Games, it also has a lot of thought-provoking political undertones.

17. What is a bad habit you always do while blogging?

Probably my worst habit is writing posts that are way too long (like this one, hahaha).

18. What is your favorite word?

Huh, I’m not sure. I used to always say my favorite word was “kerfuffle” but nowadays I don’t really know. 😀

19. Are you a nerd, dork or dweeb? Or all of the above?

Honestly, I don’t really know what the difference is. I guess of the three, I think of myself as more of a nerd.

20. Vampires or Fairies? Why?

I’m more partial to fairies. I know most people think of fairies as like … Tinkerbell. But the fairies from old Celtic mythology are actually quite scary and mischievous. That’s one of my main inspirations for The Waters and the Wild. 🙂

21. Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?

Shapeshifters! I’ve read a few books about angels that I liked, but usually I’m not all that interested in them.

22. Spirits or Werewolves? Why?

Hmm, I think spirits are a bit more interesting to me. There’s just so much interesting mythology about spirits from so many different cultures––and I’ve always been drawn to the idea of unseen spirits/ghosts floating around everywhere.

23. Zombies or Vampires? Why?

Well, you know me. I am writing a zombie book after all (kind of, anyway), so I feel like I have to say zombies. I think it does depend a lot on the story, though. Vampires can also be very scary!

24. Love triangle or forbidden love?

Definitely forbidden love! I can’t think of a time I’ve ever been like “wow, this love triangle is great and totally necessary.” 😛

25. And finally: Full on romance or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?

The latter. I love a well-developed romance, but usually I prefer that it doesn’t overshadow the plot too much.

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This was really fun to do! Thanks again for tagging me, Melanie. 😀

As I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m a little shy about tagging people. But if you’re interested in doing this tag, just let me know and I will tag you!

Tagged:

• Jrose88

#WIPWednesday: 2/24/16

#WIPWednesday is my own weekly meme for discussing how my WIP is going. Anyone is free to join!

WIP: I Chose the Monster

Writing or Revising: Revising

Progress Since Last Week: Finished the outline of my first draft. Did a couple pages of brainstorming. Unfortunately, I did not get any editing done.

How It’s Going:

Well, I think that about sums it up!

But seriously––I’m in a bit of a panic. Remember last week when I said editing was going okay and that I felt fairly confident I could get it done? HAHA, FORGET THAT. I have no idea what I’m doing. 

After editing the first few chapters, I started to have serious doubts. The pacing is weird. The characters aren’t interesting. The world-building is practically non-existent. The plot is repetitive and there’s still not much of a central conflict. There is so much to fix, and I don’t even know where to start.

*Takes deep breaths* I’m trying not to lose my mind. I know if I worry about everything at once, I’m never going to finish editing. I need to keep reminding myself that I won’t fix everything in the second draft. Or in the third draft, or maybe even the fourth draft. I’m going to need to go through this manuscript over and over again, and each time I can focus my attention on a couple things at a time.

I needed a bit of a break from physically editing, so mostly this week I focused on outlining and brainstorming. I finally finished my outline of all the scenes I wrote in the first draft. It’s eight pages long, which is pretty succinct considering the manuscript is currently like 380 pages. That’s probably a sign that most of the plot is not all that important right now.

As I outlined all the scenes, I also noticed how redundant a lot of them are. The plot seems to follow a formula of: “The characters go to a place. They get attacked! They escape. They go to a new place. They get attacked again!” Errrm so yeah, I need to work on that.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can improve the plot, and in the past week I’ve come up with some ideas that might help. So … I don’t know. I might have to rewrite a good deal of the book after all, but I guess that’s fine with me as long as it makes it better!

Goals For Next Week:

• Edit & send a couple more chapters to critique partners.
• Keep brainstorming for new draft.
• Maybe try rewriting the first chapter or two and see if it works better … ?

WIPpet:

#WIPpetWednesday is a meme where writers share snippets of their WIPs. The only rule is that the snippet has to be related to today’s date somehow.

Today is 2/24/16. 24–16=8. So, here is a snippet from Chapter 8 from Part 2 of ICTM.

There’s a searing pain in my forearm as his teeth sink into my skin. I hear a long, piercing scream and I realize it must be coming from me, but it seems to come from somewhere else. It’s all around me, echoing off the walls of the alley.

BANG.

The explosion of a gunshot cuts off my shriek. At the same time, as I’m staring at the Mort still biting my arm, one side of his head explodes. Dark matter gushes from the wound, and I feel his jaws go slack before he slumps to the ground. I can’t even think or move before there’s another BANG, more wetness splashes against the back of my neck. I hear the Mort behind me let out a choking noise, and her grip on me also loosens as she also falls to the pavement.

I’m finally free, bending over and breathing hard. I clasp a hand around my arm where I’ve been bitten, and I see my own blood spilling out from between my fingers. I can’t even register what’s happening. How did … ? Who … ?

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Thanks for joining me for another #WIPWednesday/#WIPpetWednesday!

How about you guys?

• How are your WIPs going? What are your goals for this week?
• If you’ve also posted a WIPpet, please link me to it!

#TopTenTuesday: Outside My Comfort Zone

#TopTenTuesday is a weekly book meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. You can check out all upcoming themes on their (awesome) blog!

This week’s theme is: books you read/enjoyed in the past year or so that were outside your comfort zone. Here are 5 books I’ve liked recently (or at least semi-recently) that were not in my usual genre(s).

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1. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

This one is pretty fresh in my mind since I only read it last week! It’s both a graphic novel and a memoir––two genres that I haven’t delved into much. I loved this book. It’s honest, powerful, and very compelling. (I also saw the Broadway musical this weekend, which was amazing!)

2. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

At the end of 2015, I was scrambling to meet my yearly book goal. I decided to give some shorter, middle-grade books a try. My younger sister had recently enjoyed The Penderwicks, so I picked it up. And I enjoyed it immensely! It’s a cute story with touching themes about childhood and family, and it reminded me of a lot of classic books I liked when I was a kid.

3. Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

I must admit, what first drew me to this book was some intense cover lust. JUST LOOK AT THAT COVER ART. I saw it a few times at bookstores, and I finally got it out of the library. Luckily, the contents didn’t disappoint! Vengeance Road is a YA western––something I don’t think I’d ever tried before. But it was a fun and exciting story with a pretty badass main character. It’s kind of like a YA version of True Grit.

4. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

I tend to have a bit of an aversion to contemporary romance––and from the cover/title of this book alone, I probably never would have picked it up. But I heard some really positive things about it from friends, so I decided to take a risk and buy a copy. And actually, I really liked it! It was a sweet story, and I thought the romance was well-developed and not exactly what I expected.

5. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

I’m not usually drawn to epic fantasy, but I’d heard good things about Seraphina––and also, DRAGONS. Enough said. I really enjoyed this book, and I loved Rachel Hartman’s descriptive writing style and original world-building.

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How about you guys?

• Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think of them?
• If you’ve also written a #TopTenTuesday post, feel free to post a link in the comments! 🙂

Music Monday: 2/22/16

Hope you all had a great weekend! I went to NYC (again) with my family, and I finally got to see my first Broadway show! (My mom, sisters, and I saw “Fun Home” and it was amazing.) We also went to the Natural History Museum, which I’d never been to before, and it was so cool. Over all it was a fantastic weekend, and much better than the last time I went to New York city. 😛

It was about a 5-hour ride to and from the city, so I listened to a ton of music in that time! If you have any long car trips ahead of you, here are a couple of tunes you might enjoy.

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Lisbon – NATÏVE

Just came across this one a week or two ago, and I’ve been hooked on it since then. It’s a fun, catchy song and it keeps getting stuck in my head.

Purity Ring – Flood On The Floor

I’d been meaning to listen to more Purity Ring after hearing a couple of their songs, and recently I finally got around to listening to their album “Another Eternity”––and I’m so glad I did! This is the standout track for me: it has a big and powerful sound, a great beat, and a mysterious vibe.

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If you would also like to participate in Music Monday:

• Share 1-2 songs. It can be any genre, it can be something new or it can be an old favorite. Whatever you want!
• Share a music/lyric video of the song.
• Tell us some of your thoughts/feelings about the song, artist, and/or music video.
• Submit the link to your blog post at the bottom of Lauren’s most recent Music Monday post (where it says “add your link”).

#WIPWednesday: 2/17/16

Hi, everyone! It’s time for another #WIPWednesday/#WIPpetWednesday!

WIP: I Chose the Monster

Writing or Revising: Revising

Progress Since Last Week:

• I’ve edited up through Chapter 4.
• I continued working on my outline of all the scenes I wrote in my rough draft, and I’m about 75% done with that.

How It’s Going:

Things are going okay. Now that I’m starting to get in the swing of editing, it doesn’t feel quite so overwhelming. I’m also getting feedback from a couple other writers, and it’s really helping me. Some of their suggestions have confirmed some of my worries––which is good, because it makes me feel more compelled to tackle those things. But also they’ve pointed out things that never even occurred to me, and that has been really eye-opening.

Getting some feedback and starting my outline has made me feel a little more confident. A week ago, I was seriously considering chucking the entire first draft and starting from scratch. I was really overwhelmed with the work I had to do.

Now I’m thinking a lot of the story is actually salvageable. There’s a ton I need to rewrite, flesh out, add, and remove––but I’m trying to tackle it one thing at a time. If I get too caught up in trying to fix everything at once, I’m never going to get it done. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m starting to feel like I can do it.

Goals For Next Week:

• Finish the outline of my first draft.
• Edit at least two more chapters.
• I’m still struggling a bit with figuring out what the central conflict of my plot should be, since right now it’s all over the place. I’ve been thinking maybe I need more of a concrete villain, since right now I don’t really have one. If I had a character to kind of embody the conflict (if that makes sense), I feel like that might help. So, at least I’m going to think about that.

WIPpet:

#WIPpetWednesday is a weekly meme where writers share a snippet of their WIP. The only rule is, it somehow has to be related to the date.

Today is 2/17, so this WIPpet is 17 lines from page 2 of the chapter I most recently edited.

“Your parents are right here.”

He barely finishes the sentence before my parents stumble into view. My mother’s dark hair is in disarray, and she frantically brushes the strands from her eyes. Her face is pale, while my dad’s face is flushed.

“Nina?” my mom cries. She presses her hands to the glass.

I’m in a dream, as I lower my feet to the floor and move to the window. Now my dad’s hands are also on the glass. I put my hands up too. One of my palms against each of theirs. But all I can feel is the hard coldness that separates us.

Tears finally swell at the corners of my eyes and spill down my face. My parents’ eyes are red, their faces streaked with wet trails.

“I’m sorry,” I choke out.

“No,” my mom says. “Nina …” She sobs, leaning her forehead against the window.

Whatever she was going to say, she doesn’t finish saying it.

Suddenly, I’m thinking of all the stupid arguments. The screaming matches. The times I’ve said I hated my parents just to use it as a weapon against them. All the things I’ve said and done just to hurt them.

God, I wish I could take it all back.

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How about you guys?

• How are your WIPs going? Are things going well? Are you struggling with anything?
• If you’re a fellow #WIPpetWednesday participant, feel free to link me to your post!

#TopTenTuesday: Songs I Wish Were Books

#TopTenTuesday is a weekly meme started by The Broke and Bookish. I’ve seen other blogs participating in this meme for a while now, and now I’ve finally decided to join in on the fun!

There is a new “Top Ten” prompt every week. This week’s prompt is: 10 Songs I Wish Were Books. I really love this prompt and I’m excited to share my list! Music is one of my greatest writing inspirations, and there are a lot of amazing songs that spark my imagination. Here are ten of those songs, and some of the most intriguing lyrics from them!

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Foxes – “White Coats”

Take my hand and lead me out from here
Hunted down their footsteps drawing near
I knew you would come for me
I’m sorry you’re in so deep

And if the men in white coats are coming
I know you’ll still be there for me
To chase down the walls around us
I keep the memories inside my mind
To show me how to leave the darkness
You will take me home one day believe me

Halsey – Castle

I’m headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen
And there’s an old man sitting on the throne
that’s saying that I probably shouldn’t be so mean
I’m headed straight for the castle
They’ve got the kingdom locked up
And there’s an old man sitting on the throne
that’s saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut

MS MR – Dark Doo Wop

If we’re gonna die, bury us alive
If they’re searching for us they’ll find us side by side
That’s my, that’s my man

This world is gonna burn, burn burn burn
As long as we’re going down,
Baby you should stick around
Baby you should stick around

Of Monsters and Men – Dirty Paws

Her dirty paws and furry coat,
She ran down the forest slopes.
The forest of talking trees,
They used to sing about the birds and the bees.
The bees had declared a war,
The sky wasn’t big enough for them all.
The birds, they got help from below,
From dirty paws and the creatures of snow.

:papercutz – Where Beasts Die

I’ll follow you to where the scent of a new beginning leads.
Across a land we once knew,
where the wild boldly grew.
(I’ll follow you, I’ll follow you)
Can you hear the lone wolf howling into the night? With pride
We’ve traveled over the seas, far beyond our insecurities.
Now we’re finally reaching the lilac tree.
With all your perfect imperfections,
when I walk beside you I’m a better me.
I’ll will follow you to where beasts die.
Into the wild, we go, the great unknown.

Florence + The Machine – Howl

Now there’s no holding back, I’m making to attack
My blood is singing with your voice, I want to pour it out
The saints can’t help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallow’d ground

Like some child possessed, the beast howls in my veins
I want to find you, tear out all your tenderness

Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings

You’re just like your father
Buried deep under the water
You’re resting on your laurels
And stepping on my toes
Whose side are you on?
What side is this anyway?
Put down your sword and crown
Come lay with me on the ground

Woodkid – Run Boy Run

Run boy run! The sun will be guiding you
Run boy run! They’re dying to stop you
Run boy run! This race is a prophecy
Run boy run! Break out from society

Tomorrow is another day
And you won’t have to hide away
You’ll be a man, boy,
But for now it’s time to run, it’s time to run

Beautiful Small Machines – Bring Out Your Dead

They dyed their eyes
They sewed their legs
Took off their heads
Hung them on pegs
it all began
Without much fuss
Someone whispered,
“They’re not like us”

I just wanna be myself
But they say,
“Hey-o, Hey-o, jump in the gun”
They say, “Right, left, turn around, shoot ’em and run”
They say, “Hey-o, hey-o, fall into line”
They say, “Right, left, turn around, join or you die”

Arcade Fire – Keep The Car Running

Every night my dream’s the same
Same old city with a different name
They’re not coming to take me away
I don’t know why, but I know I can’t stay

There’s a weight that’s pressing down
Late at night you can hear the sound
Even the noise you make when you sleep
Can’t swim across a river so deep

They know my name because I told it to them
But they don’t know where, and they don’t know when
It’s coming
When it’s coming

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Hmm, I seem to have a thing for creepy songs! 😉 But also, I think what appeals to me about all these songs is their narrative quality. There seems to be some kind of story behind each of them that I’m missing out on––and I want to know those stories!

Are there any songs you wish were books? (Also if you’re a fellow #TopTenTuesday participant, feel free to link me to your post!)

Music Monday: 2/15/16

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a fun weekend. I honestly didn’t do much besides stay inside and watch movies (although I did go to IKEA, which was fun!). It was bitterly cold here, but it’s slowly getting warmer again.

On to my two music recommendations of the week. I found both of these songs through Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” feature. (If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a personalized playlist that updates every Monday based on what you listen to. It’s really neat!)

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Ash Gale – Sweet Release Devour

This song is absolutely gorgeous! It has lovely vocals, and very dreamy, ethereal instrumental parts. The last minute of the song in particular is really powerful. I love it, and I’ll definitely be waiting eagerly for more music from Ash Gale.

MILCK – Devil Devil

Man, I love how dark and epic this song is! This is a really promising debut from new artist MILCK (aka Connie Lim). She has a powerful voice that lends itself well to the dark tone of the song––kind of a Lana Del Rey style, but with more attitude.

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So, what did you think of my song selections? And what have you been listening to lately? I’d love to know!

(P.S. I have an ongoing Spotify playlist of all my song recs!)

Valentine’s Day: 10 of my OTPs!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you have a lovely day whether or not you have a significant other. If you’re like me (aka you’ll probably be single for life, lol) it’s at least a good excuse to buy a lot of heart-shaped chocolate for yourself.

I’ve seen some other bloggers taking this opportunity to share some of their OTPs (in case you don’t know, OTP = One True Pairing) so I thought I would do the same! So without further ado, here are 10 of my favorite OTPs from various books, movies, and TV shows (in no particular order).

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Percy & Annabeth

– Percy Jackson & the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan –

“Because you’re my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?”

Art from here

Todd & Viola

– Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness –

“It’s not that you should never love something so much it can control you. It’s that you need to love something that much so you can never be controlled.”

Art from here

 Hiccup & Astrid

– How To Train Your Dragon –

“What you’re searching for … It’s in here.”

Korra & Asami

– The Legend of Korra –

“I want you to know that I’m here for you … If you ever want to talk or … anything.”

Art from here

Alek & Deryn

– Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and Keith Thompson –

“He makes me feel like that. Like flying.”

Art from here

Cress & Thorne

– The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer –

“Captain? … I’m in love with you.”

“I should hope so, after all that. … And I love you too.”

Art from here

April & Andy

– Parks and Recreation –

“I guess I kind of hate most things. But I never really seem to hate you. So I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Is that cool?”

Ben & Leslie

– Parks and Recreation –

“I love Leslie. I want to be with her and I don’t want to hide the way I feel about her anymore. So yes, it was worth it, because I’m in love with Leslie Knope.”

(Yeah I’m a little obsessed with Parks.)

Ari & Dante

– Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz –

“And it seemed to me that Dante’s face was a map of the world. A world without any darkness. Wow, a world without darkness. How beautiful was that?”

Art from here

Pazu & Sheeta

– Castle in the Sky –

“No matter how many weapons you have, no matter how great your technology might be, the world cannot live without love.”

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I could write like a five-page essay about each of these couples, but I will hold myself back. I’m trying to decide what really makes an OTP for me––and looking at all of this, I think the key thing is that I love a well-developed romance. I don’t like insta-love––I need to be shown that the characters love each other, not just told. Several of these pairings never even say that they love each other … but they don’t have to because it’s shown so well. ❤

How about you guys?

• Do we share any OTPs? Do you have any to add?
• What makes a good romantic fictional pairing for you?