-cough-
Tea?

Call me Hyper. I have a vehement passion for the Gears of War universe, and thus write almost exclusively in the Gears section. Here, have a summary of my work this far...

Armoured Prayer
A slightly over-dramatized story about Marcus and Anya, their relationship, and a little mission they embark on. Mostly an experiment in pacing and keeping characters...well, in character.
Status: Complete
EDIT: This story is pretty damn old now, and full of lazy mistakes. I'd love to give it an overhaul one day. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who's still reading and faving!
EDIT2: STOP READING THIS. It's horrible. Why don't you read something newer and better like The Ephyran War Hymns instead? Or maybe even Hound? I promise you'll be less disappointed.
EDIT3: I hate this story. *sob*

Hound
Just a quick bit looking at Marcus in prison. Nothing too amazing, I just always wondered what something like this would look like.
Status: Complete

The Ephyran War Hymns
A collection of one- and oneish-shots exploring various moments in Anya and Marcus' paths, both together and apart. Each piece is inspired by a song or two; check out the titles and lyrics to hear them. Will be built upon slowly and when the mood strikes me.
Status: Complete

Songs From The Ephyran War Hymns

"Non Populus" - Matthew Good
"Empty's Theme Park" - Matthew Good
"There's A Light" - Jay Malinowksi
"Nothing Fails" - Madonna
"My Mamma Said" - Aqua
"In This Light And On This Evening" - The Editors
"All Sparks" - The Editors
"Power Of Goodbye" - Madonna
"No Light" Florence the Machine
"Fiction" - the xx

A Few (Pertinent) Parting Notes:

- I try to give reviews of the unfluffy "carrot-stick-carrot" concrit variety. My intention is not to offend with these; only inform and help improve upon!
- Gears of War holds a special place in my heart. Hyper loves her some bloody gibs.
- Ask me about anything writing related, eh? I'd be glad to chat-chit about it.
- devirnis is a great writer. Go read her stuff.

Hi there. So, it's been the better part of a decade since I last updated this profile, or wrote anything worthwhile for this site, but something came up that made me want to come back quickly and address.

A few years ago (five-ish?) I posted a short erotic story in the Gears section, called Breaktime. The (not-good) premise was Anya doing her best to persuade Marcus to take some much-needed time off from work for a sexy break, which (I imagined) would take some convincing on her part, given Marcus's stubborn dedication to his role.

Recently, a couple of anonymous reviewers pointed out that it read like sexual assault to them. (yike.) While that's obviously a super heartbreaking thing to hear about your own writing, I went back and read it again after all these years, and realised it's a fair criticism of the text. It's on me for being less-than-careful in my writing at the time, for not making Marcus's consent explicit and enthusiastic on the page, and accidentally characterising his reluctance to leave work behind as reluctance to engage in sex. Which of course isn't very sexy at all! Sexual assault is absolutely something that can happen to men as well as women, and it's really unfortunate that I didn't catch that nuance at the time. My honest thanks to the folks who pointed it out; I certainly apologise for any harm that came from reading that, and have removed the story from the site in its entirety to avoid doing more. I wish I could reply directly, as I'm sure the sudden deletion of a story you just called out seems fishy, but I don't think there's any way to reply to anonymous reviewers. Hopefully they can find this and know I take their issues seriously, and have learned a lot in the years since I wrote Breaktime.

Okay. Everyone keep learning and doing better, me included. :)