charm city [wip intro]

Also posted on tumblr | twitter

GENRE: Sci-fi > Dystopia > Political Satire

POV/TENSE: third-person, limited | past tense

THEMES: fate vs free will | man’s obligation to a society he royally screwed | let’s say redemption | a soulmark trope thrown in for kicks 

AUDIENCE: 16+ | Hannibal + Hannibal Extended Universe (HEU) Fandoms

SETTING:the year of The Light: 2333 | B-more Prison in B-more District of Charm City, a supermassive 12k sq mi. city in the (now) flooded mid-Atlantic region of the US | Quantico District | The Corner | The Circle | The Swamp

CONTENT WARNINGS: forced drugging | unsexy sex | non-graphic situational non-con | tasteless humor | probable cannibalism | gonna warn again for the humor | too many characters | mentions of clowns | grossness | nothing is sacred

SUMMARY: Lowbrows walk the land like zombified addicts, endlessly searching for their soulmates to rid them of their painful need to feel complete. Meanwhile, the elite enjoy a carefree life from on high, ruling all and easily finding and binding to each other by their fated markings scrawled somewhere on their bodies. Will Graham (of the infamous Dr. and Mrs. Willaby Graham Grahams), has carried the burden of his embarrassing soulmark for thirty-two long, arduous years. He’d forced himself into seclusion over The Fence to avoid meeting the cretin who should mouth the saying etched into his forearm, but now that he’s about to serve an overwhelmingly long prison sentence for a crime he did not commit, all that is about to change.

Even psychopaths are blessed with doting soulmates. Especially Willaby Graham II.

SPONSORSHIP: This WIP is “fortunately” brought to you by your favorite non-bovine dairy alternatives MELK®ORIGINAL and new MELK® UNORIGINAL flavors. I am contractually obligated to say that MELK® does not interfere with the hormonal development of Charm City youths. It is 100% certifiably safe as declared by the Jersey Board of Genetic Discrepancies and is highly effective at staving off a myriad of childhood ailments including: Bark Lung, Black Mouth, Syphilitic Encephalitis, PPS (pre-pubescent soulsickness), and mild childhood dementia when consumed daily as part of a balanced diet.

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Please “MELK® Me!”

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CHARACTERS

WILLABY GRAHAM II – bleeding heart | loner | full of shame | oral fixation | gross moodboard (coming soon)

DR? HANNIBAL LECTER – eats bleeding hearts | eats loners | full of himself and others | oral fixation | unnecessary moodboard (also coming soon if I get to it)

THIRTY+ OTHERS – from across Hannibal and the HEU | even some obscure ones | unsurprisingly, Mads’ characters fit right into Charm City | the fancy Dancy boys do not, c’est la vie

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LINKS

WIP FICIn Poison Pen/Charm City – This fic originated as a one-shot on AO3 based on a curiosity I wondered on Tumblr, “What if someone mixed a prison AU with a soulmate trope?” The attention it received was excited enough to warrant further exploration. I don’t know why I decided to make it 20+ chapters, but there we go. BTW, this one-shot will get a massive overhaul when I begin uploading the final fic (I’ve doubled the length of the one-shot for chapter one). If you are interested, bookmark or subscribe to the one-shot and I will let everyone know when it’s been overhauled.

Also, if you comment (or already commented on the fic), I LOVE YOU AND WILL REPLY TO YOU WHEN THE FIC IS NEARING COMPLETION!! I have NOT ignored any of you! I’m simply working on my replies between chapters.

PLAYLISTYoutube | Clutch, Notwist, NIN, dubstep and the ilk.

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WRITING UPDATES & STATUS=

CURRENT STATUS: first draft | 154,540 words | 24/? chapters 

EVENT LOG (most recent entry at the top):

03/16/19 – Chappy 24 down the drain. As far as you know, I hit 155k. The end is nigh.

03/09/19 – Hit 150k words. Working on ch 24. Wedging in as many eel references as humanly possible. 

02/25/19 – 143k words. 23rd chapter done. Nadsat has begun. Season one title challenge complete.

02/23/19 – 4300 in single a day. God make it stop. 140k total.

02/18/19 – Decided to make a WIP page on Tumblr to share updates and plan my escape. 21 chapters. 133k words. 37 characters, guys. It’s a new record for me. My last record was 5. New MELK® shipment received. It was Original. I am no longer a man of god.

02/02/19 – Just began chapter 19; 128k words. Help is still needed in the form of two-ply toilet paper, stickers, coffee, or Mangy Moose Saloon tees from the 1980s.

01/12/19 – The rest of the story is being scrawled on toilet paper. If this fic doesn’t kill me, all this complementary MELK® I keep getting in the mail will. It tastes like you swallowed a mouthful of granulated sugar if the sugar was actually ground up glass mixed with imitation rum flavored ash. I told them I didn’t like Original. Fingers crossed they send me Unoriginal next month.

12/10/18 – I have run out of wall. 108k words and I can’t open the basement doors. I’ve been physically cockblocked by UPS. I should not have ordered all those cocks. Alexa is unresponsive.

11/25/18 – 106k words. Must characters make the beast with two backs? It’s so gross and dirty, and I can’t see my page by the bear-grease candlelight. Also, my typewriter keys are stuck due to the extreme moistness of the basement. I’ve resorted to writing the remainder of the story on the wall.

11/15/18 – The box contained MELK®. It was my advance.

11/14/18 – 90k words; fixed a major plot hole thanks to nosy friends. I received a mystery box in the mail. Will keep you informed.

11/11/18 – 5 chapters; 87,300 words. The basement is very dark, and I need sustenance and perhaps a medical kit. It burns more than I expected, but I’m writing! Yay!

09/13/18 – 68k words. “In Poison Pen” was completely rewritten, but remains unpublished. I think I found my creative spark, and it only burns a little!

08/20/18 – I sent a text to my friend stating, “I really need to finish Charm City,” so I locked myself in the basement as a precautionary measure. Gonna finish soon!

08/18/18 – Renamed “In Poison Pen” to Charm City on AO3. I think I’ve forgotten how to write for a minute. No worries.

08/12/18 – Posted “In Poison Pen” as a one-shot on AO3. Hope you all like it!

08/11/18 – Started writing after posting to Tumblr and having a brainstorming convo with a dear friend. I love friends and late-summer! The cerulean sky is so mind-clearing. I love life and creativity! 

If you enjoy my writing, please consider dropping me a comment here or, if applicable, on AO3 or by supporting my hot beverage habit on Ko-fi. Thank you!

—joanielspeak
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