#catherine wainwright

[thewritingautisticat]

Society Cat vs post-escape Cat

Turns out not being forced to be a con artist and "sexy girl" all the time and getting to discover who are you are apart from the constant lies you were told will do wonders for your mental health and personal style.

[thewritingautisticat]

your title final, or just a working title? How did you come up with it?

Tell me about your main character!

Tell me about a character arc you're excited for!

What's a favorite piece of worldbuilding for this WIP?

Thanks for the ask! 😊 Imma do Spy Series!

Is your title final, or just a working title? How did you come up with it?

Spy Series is definitely just a working title. I'm really bad about coming up with names (tell me why it took like five years for me to change "revolution series" to "Days of Resistance" aldmfkkdlskdkdkf) so for now it's just named based on the fact that there's a lot of spy/Mission Impossible--type shenanagins. Funny enough, a few of the individual books already have names (ie, The Ultimate Soldier, The Spy and the Rookie, The Breaking Point, The Human Factor). But I haven't figured out enough of a thread or theme to tie everything together with a nice overarching name.

Tell me about your main character!

Technically it jumps around between a lot of characters, but the MAIN main character is supposed to be Cat! Cat was taken by the Society to be trained as an agent when she was very young, and grew up with the other trainees on The Island. Her role on the team is the fact that she notices an insane amount of details, and that makes her the perfect person to feed information to Zach, the con artist. (They balance each other out: Cat represents Truth and is constantly noticing and discovering reality, while Zach represents Lies and always wears a metaphorical mask.) However, after one of the other team members attempts to escape the Society and is brutally tortured and left to die, Cat decides that she can't keep doing this anymore and makes her own escape. She ends up seeking shelter at a small South American mission church, where she finally is able to discover real Truth. While Cat didn't really plan on doing anything but hiding out, she quickly realizes that someone has to do something to stop the Society's power, and she starts showing up places she knows they'll target to try and slow their plans.

Cat has spent her whole life trying to be the perfect agent, and now that she's free, she's discovering who she really is, who she was meant to be without having to lie and play roles all the time. In a sense, her arc is an arc of deconstruction and reconstruction. Who is she? What is real and what's a lie? Can she believe anything that the Society told her, and on the other hand, should she believe anything just because it's the opposite of what the Society told her?

Tell me about a character arc you're excited for!

Soldier's arc has to be my favorite. It's kind of similar to Cat's, in that it's a journey of self-discovery outside of the Society's control, but Soldier's remaking has to start even deeper, with discovering that he's allowed to be a human. The pathways ingrained in him go so deep that he has to fight everything inside of him just to allow himself to do the most basic things without express permission. It starts with Maria and his feelings for her, the first emotions he's ever allowed himself to feel and that inspire him to escape, and slowly through Cat's kindness and Maria's trust he learns to become human.

What's a favorite piece of worldbuilding for this WIP?

Hmmm well this series takes place in the real world so the worldbuilding is pretty minimal. But I did like creating the Society! I'm still working out all the details (like a better name lol) but basically they're a group of people who secretly work to control world powers and influence world leaders. They have their hand in basically every government and a lot of government officals are in their pocket. They also have their own private army and their crews of trained operatives such as Cat and the others. Caeyrn is basically in charge of the whole of the Society's movements, but he gets his orders from the top members of the Society (how much secret psychological influence he exerts over them is another matter, but he's not telling). The Society has their base of operations on an island off the coast of [REDACTED], a small country where the president is also a Society operative.

[thewritingautisticat]

Cat's Angels as incorrect quotes:

Soldier: Fifteen years ago I lost my dear friend Jacob

Jacob: STOP TELLING EVERYONE I'M DEAD!

Soldier: Sometimes I can still hear his voice...

~~~

Nolan: If I punch myself in the arm and it hurts, am I weak or strong?Jacob: Strong.

Soldier: Weak.

Cat: An idiot is what you are

~~~

Nolan: Would you slap Jacob for a million dollars?

Soldier: I would roundhouse kick him in the face for free.

~~~

Cat: Violence isn't the answer

Soldier: You're right

Cat: *Sighs in relief*

Soldier: It's the question

Cat: What?

Soldier: *bolting away* And the answer is yes!

Cat: *chasing him* Soldier NO!

~~~

Cat: "We'll stop Caeyrn or die trying!"

*She, Soldier, and Nolan run off, Jacob stays behind*

Jacob: "Die?"

*They return and drag Jacob with them.*

Jacob: "Die?"

~~~

  - Soldier, to Jacob: "I don't even have time to tell you how wrong you are."

- Jacob: ...

- Soldier: "Actually, it's going to bug me if I don't."

~~~

Jacob: "MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S!"

Cat: "We have food at home."

Jacob: "I hate this family."

Jacob: "MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S!"

Soldier: *Pulls into drive thru*

Jacob: *Cheering*

Soldier: "One black coffee, please."

Jacob: "MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S!"

Nolan: "MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S!"

~~~

Nolan: "Going to plan B?"

Cat: "Technically, that would be plan G."

Nolan: "How many plans do we have? Is there like, a plan M?"

Cat: "Yeah, Jacob dies in plan M."

Soldier: "I like plan M."

~~~

Soldier: God, give me patience.

Jacob: I think you mean, "God, give me strength."

Soldier: If God gave me strength, you'd be dead.

~~~

Soldier: He died of natural causes.

Cat: You pushed him off a roof!

 Soldier: Gravity is natural.

~~~

Cat: We should all donate blood.

Soldier: I've tried that. Never again! There's too many questions, like, "Who's blood is this? Why is it in a bucket?"

~~~

Jacob: I wish you could block someone in real life.

Cat: Restraining order

Soldier: Murder

~~~

Cat: Nolan, I can explain--

Nolan: You're making $500,000 and only giving me $30,000?

Soldier: $30,000? I'm only getting $1,000!

Jacob: ...You guys are getting paid?

~~~

Cat, to Soldier: Pick your battles. Pick... pick fewer battles than that. Put some back. That's too many.

~~~

Jacob: Our hearts say yes

Nolan: But Cat says no

~~~

Cat: (humming to herself) You are the dancing queen, feel the beat from the-

 Jacob and Nolan: (bursting through door) TANGERINE!

~~~

Soldier: When you break a bone, it heals back stronger than it was before

Jacob: So what you're saying is I should break every bone in my body until I become invincible?

Cat: Please don't

Soldier: Please do

~~~

Cat: Bottling up negative emotions is bad for your health

Soldier: I know, that's why I also bottle up the positive ones

~~~

Nolan: Why is Jacob bleeding?

Soldier: Because he's an idiot

Nolan: I didn't know idiocy caused people to start spontaneously bleeding from the nose

Soldier: I think it's a new phenomenon

~~~

Soldier: Jacob no!

Jacob: Jacob yes!

Nolan: Jacob no!

Jacob: Jacob maybe?

Cat: Jacob no!

Jacob: Jacob no :(

~~~

Nolan: If you don't apologize, I'm going to go tell Cat

Jacob: Ha! I can do whatever I want

Nolan: Fine... Cat!

Jacob: No, wait! I'm sorry!

~~~

Jacob: Admit it, we're friends

Soldier: *growls* If you died, it would be very inconvenient for me

Jacob: (wraps arm around him) I knew you liked me!

Soldier: Get your arm off me, you filthy idiot

~~~

Cat: I'm cold

Nolan: Here, take my jacket

Jacob: Hey Soldier, I'm cold too

Soldier: Want me to set you on fire?

~~~

Jacob: Quick, I need to you punch me  in the face

Soldier: Punch you?

Jacob: Yeah, punch me. In the face. Didn't you hear me?

Soldier: I always hear "punch me" when you speak but it's usually just subtext

~~~

Cat: You often use humor to deflect trauma

Nolan: Thank you

Cat: I didn't say that was a good thing

Nolan: What I'm hearing is you think I'm funny

~~~

Nolan: Soldier isn’t answering his phone

Cat: I’ll call

Jacob: Nolan and I have both tried six times each, what makes you thi-

Soldier: Hello?

~~~

Jacob: Is stabbing someone immoral?

Nolan: Not if they consent to it.

Soldier: Depends who you’re stabbing.

Cat: YES?!?

~~~

Soldier: Do you ever get in the mood where you just want to kill everyone on the planet except for maybe three people?

Maria: ...

Cat: ...

Nolan: ...

Jacob: ...

Jacob: Which one of us do you want to ki--

Soldier: You. It's definitely you.

[thewritingautisticat]

Jacob and Nolan learning to do Black hairstyles so they can help Cat with her hair

Them all sitting on the couch putting in braids while a movie plays in the background or something. And Cat used to have Society stylists to do her hair perfectly for each mission, and Jacob and Nolan are clumsy and leave loose spots or yank too tight or make them uneven. But Cat never wears her hair as proudly as when her family team does it for her, because there's so much love in it.

And when Soldier shows up, never having been allowed to do anything with his hair except buzz it short (because weapons don't deserve to have long/nice hair), he's got a whole group of people who are more that willing to help him do something with a little personality for the first time in his life.

(Stole these all from Pinterest forgive me)

[thewritingautisticat]

Jacob and Cat are one of my best OC platonic m/f pairings of all time.

Like when Cat first stumbles bleeding into Jacob's dad's church, Jacob's hot off a breakup and of course he sees pretty girl and thinks "ah yes potential rebound relationship"

But also he kinda dislikes her because great, another "project" for his dad to try to save, and another thing that's distracting his dad from paying any attention to him.

He kinda tries to flirt with her at first. But then within just a few weeks they're jabbing at each other like siblings and bickering and eating each other's cereal and she's dragging him home from doing stupid reckless things and he's jumping in to save her on her attempts to take down the Society and suddenly

And Cat tries one time to seduce him because she's used to that being her role back in the Society, that her job is to make people happy and give them what they want, and she knows Jacob was interested in her at some point, right? But Jacob immediately pushes her back like "ew no this is wrong on so many levels go put your sweatshirt back on you looked so much more comfortable in that" and it sparks a realization in both of them of what their relationship is meant to be

And from then on it's pure sibling shenanigans. They fight with each other and play video games and Cat steals all Jacob's clothes until Jacob finally takes her shopping (complaining about it the whole time) and he's her getaway driver and confidant and she's the one who helps him figure out how to talk to his dad.

Jacob, the black sheep of his family and the one who doesn't believe, is the one who ends up leading her to Christ, and then Cat returns the favor by being someone so genuinely invested in the Truth that it draws him back to faith.

[thewritingautisticat]

Spy series snippet

The "he" in this snippet is Soldier

Cat slowly stood up and stared at the scene before her. The pathway between her and him marked with all the blood spilled at his hands. He stood, awaiting her judgment. As always, he was nothing but a dog bringing home a dead animal to lay at the feet its master. A show of devotion, of loyalty, of love; giftwrapped in carnage. A gift that was equally unwanted by both the giver and the reciever.

[thewritingautisticat]

Okay imma formally introduce all my spy series OCs. Prepare for a loooong post!

So my spy series is a modern action series surrounding two main organizations, one which is an underworld society which is behind all sorts of world powers and is constantly trafficking stolen information, weapon, money, etc, to keep their society in control. One of the things they do is kidnap specially selected children and raise them to be their elite Mission-Impossible-esque spy team. This group is the main bad guys. (I don't have real names for either group yet but for clarity I'll call this one the Society).

The "good guys" are a black ops organization that, although they're meant to stand for justice and freedom and all that good stuff, are still extremely shady. They're willing to use any means, even stuff like torture and assassination, if it means achieving their "greater good." (I'm calling this group the Organization).

The story revolves primarily around one of the Society's groups of now-young-adult child soldiers, as they one-by-one start to question the Society's methods and some even attempt to escape. But it's hard to escape from a Society that has reaches in every country.

Characters:

Zach: The immediate leader of the main group of child soldiers, but a child soldier as well. His talent is reading people and conning/manipulating them. He keeps his group in order and makes sure they're constantly following the Society's orders. However, he cares deeply about his team and considers them his family. He desperately doesn't want any of them to get in trouble, especially after what happened to Amy...

Amy: The first of the group to doubt the Society. She attempts to escape, but it... doesn't end well. She serves as a warning to the others and haunts the narrative for the rest of the series.

Cat: One of the main protagonists. She is among the first to doubt the Society, and the first to (successfully) escape. On her own, she decides to attempt to thwart the Society's schemes wherever she can.

Jacob: Son of the pastor of the church that Cat stumbles into after she escapes. He didn't know that this bloody young woman would end up becoming a sister to him, or that he would get involved in a bunch of high-stakes spy shenanigans. Still, he doesn't really mind driving the getaway car for Cat when she needs him to.

Nolan: Another of the child soldiers. Has a bad case of asthma. When he gets captured and tortured by an Organization spy, Briggs, he's quick to spill anything he wants to know. Unfortunately, he can't keep that a secret from his team, who immediately brand him a snitch and try to kill him. Cat manages to rescue him in time, but now that he knows where she's hiding, he realizes that turning her back over the Society may just be his ticket back into their good graces.

Léandre: Pickpocket for the child soldiers, and an empath. He doesn't really agree with everything the Society is doing, but he keeps his head down, does his job, and tries to keep everyone from fighting. Don't underestimate him, though, because he's the most likely to meddle behind the scenes against orders to try to keep anyone, friend or foe, from getting hurt. In some people's eyes, that might just look like betrayal.

Soldier: While he was kidnapped just like all the other child soldiers, his childhood was far different. Rather than the (somewhat) normal life the others had, his training was isolated and far more brutal. An experiment to try to create the Ultimate Soldier. Soldier has known nothing but cruel training and punishment, which have left him an emotionally reserved, but extremely disciplined living weapon, with keen senses, the ability to take out almost anyone in any situation, and the ability to keep his body under perfect control even under the harshest of circumstances. He's barely more than a robot. An emotionless, perfect killer. Still, in his deepest, secretest thoughts, he examines every moment for exact right circumstances to make an escape, even if that escape is merely through death.

Maria: A young, average college student who is kidnapped by Soldier for the Society. Unbeknownst to either of them, her kidnapping is a test of Soldier's loyalty: her presence at Soldier's training facility has been engineered to make Soldier fall in love with her, and then he will be forced to kill her. However, her determination and spark may just be enough to convince Soldier to risk escape.

Briggs: One of the Organization's spys, a middle-aged man who was a superspy but is starting to get a bit past his prime. He is brutal, and cold, and lost his sense of righteous heroism many years ago. Now all he cares about is completing his missions swiftly and successfully, even if he leaves a trail of bodies or broken people behind. However, when he gets shot on a mission, the Organization decides to cut back his fieldwork in favor of training the younger generation of spys, especially now that most real spy work is being done through hacking rather than action-hero antics. This does not sit well with Briggs, and he's more than willing to take it out on the new recruit under his care.

Will: A new Organization recruit who was picked up for his tremendous hacking skills. He still had the shine in his eye, and the belief that good always prevails. That may not last long, though, if his new mentor Briggs has anything to say about it. Still, Will is determined to stick to his morals and to do the right thing. Even if the Society, who also had their eye on him, tries to convince him to switch sides, through any means necessary. When Will gets kidnapped and tortured by the Society, Briggs finds that he may have a spark of humanity left in him after all.

Ashley: Another hacker, although not a white hat like Will. Her hacking interests tend to be up to the highest bidder. Still, after getting involved in a hacking war with Will and subsequently agreeing to help him track Society data, she discovers that working on the good side might not be so bad.

Psyche (placeholder name): One of the higher-ups in the Society, a former psychologist who enjoys delving into people's minds and manipulating their actions. He is directly above all the teams of child soldiers, being responsible for their training, giving them their missions, and punishing them when they mess up. While he is mostly tolerant of minor mistakes, any doubt or deliberate defiance of the Society's orders must be removed like a cancer cell, before it spreads. He rules the teams with an iron hand, and keeps constant tabs on their mental state to personalize any adjustments he needs to make. Zach is in some ways his personal protégé, whom he is teaching his skills of observation and manipulation.

Shaw: Psyche's right-hand man, and someone you do not want to be around. He's known as the Interrogator, and if he's called, it means someone is about to have a very, very bad time. A professional torturer, he gets sadistic pleasure out of seeing just how creatively he can break someone. You only use him when you don't intend to be able to salvage the victim afterwards. Psyche keeps him on a short leash, but he gets called in when any of the child soldiers crosses the line into being a "traitor" and needs to be punished. Amy is one of his more recent victims. Shaw was also Soldier's trainer, and although Psyche made sure that nothing Shaw did to him was enough ruin his usefulness as a human weapon, Shaw's brutal punishments are the reason that Soldier is the way he is.

[thewritingautisticat]

I love good characters who still have really bad flaws and mentalities. Thinking about all of Cat's Angels and how they treat Soldier when he joins them.

Cat cares about him so so much. She wants to humanize him, to help him recover from everything they put him through, to deprogram him. She helps him discover his own personality and learn to do things for himself, not just under orders. But she also is a blatant pacifist, because after her own escape from the Society she realized that the way they devalue human life is really messed up. The problem is Soldier was trained to be a killer, to fight on instinct and nit let anything stand in the way. And Cat forgives him for what he had to do in the past, but she can't live with herself if anyone else dies. And that means that even when everything in Soldier wants to kill Caeyrn or Shaw, the people responsible for his lifetime of torture, Cat has to put her foot down, and after all the talk of "You're not a tool, you make your own choices," she still has to give him the order to stop. And it kills her, but she will still give the order every time.

Jacob likes Soldier, but Soldier also makes him feel inadequate. Because Soldier somehow has managed to lock on to the fact that Jacob is the only one here without any training, and that makes it his job to train Jacob. To toughen him up. And Jacob hates that. And when he feels inadequate, he fights back. He yells, he swears, he insults, and he fights. And it's a toss-up whether Soldier will fight back, or just take it like every other discipline he's been given.

Nolan... oh Nolan. He tries so hard to change, to be better than the version of himself that would've hurt the people who care about him just for his own gain. And most of the time he is. But sometimes... how easily he falls into Carewhumper territory. Yes, everything that Caeyrn did to Soldier was awful; but since they can't change the past, and now the most powerful person on Earth just showed up on their doorstep, why shouldn't they utilize him? Why shouldn't they use Soldier to take down the Society once and for all? What's the big deal with giving him an order every now and then? Having someone who will do anything at your immediate command does feel pretty nice. But there's also the other side of him, the side that twice chose saving his own skin over protecting his team, the side that warns, "if Soldier is really capable of all these powerful things, who's to say he's safe to be around? Can a weapon ever truly be trusted?" And that side of him prepares contingencies, creates devices he can use to disable Soldier, just in case.