Clay

An as-yet unpublished series of chaptered-books, short stories and poems centreing around the lives of an enormous group of children living in a fictional Group Home, written by Mousy677. At times not entirely realistic and at times one chapter is just one huge Cluster F-Bomb, but, in general (according to the authour's best friend/proofreader), a generally good read.

In chronological order of writing (so far):

• Clay
• Guns and Guitars
• Wings
• Because of Who We Are
• Another Dark Day
• Shadows on the Sun

Still in the works:

• RockStar
• Still in the Works

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• Abusive Parents: Everyone living at the Home. Ice seems to be the worst afflicted, though: his father causes him to try to kill himself.
• Action Girl: Mercedes (exclusive to Guns and Guitars, RockStar and Shadows on the Sun), to a certain extent. Clay is definite example.
• Aerith and Bob
• Aint No Rule: Smudge. Oh my God, Smudge. If he's told not to insult another character in [an] English [lesson] - he'll start insulting them in Spanish.
• Alien Sky: (Little) Rook's Reality Warping manages to cause one of these.
• Aloof Big Brother: Ice is this to Red, although this mostly confines itself to Shadows on the Sun. Otherwise, Crow is inclined to be both a complete asshole and Aloof Little Brother to Clay, particularly in Wings.
• Badass Biker: James.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Helen is Beauty, Mercedes is Brains and Leila is Brawn.
• Berserk Button: Ice's protective nature towards his little brother occasionally serves as this.
• Beyond the Impossible: Ice at one point states that Red has a "visible lisp."
• Bi the Way: Leila. While she has a boyfriend, her relationship with Helen can't be all that innocent.
• Big Brother Mentor: Ice to Red for the majority of the series. He plays gruff when Red pisses him off or when he's in trouble with a teacher. Crow occasionally seems like this to (blind) Rook.
• Blind Seer: Blind Rook. She can tell when anybody is lying.
  • While not blind, Mercedes has an exceptional knack for reading expressions and body language. She can instantly tell if somebody is lying or telling the truth, and can untangle complicated webs of interpersonal relationships simply by watching the people involved for a few days. She has, however, said that she is useless if she can't see body-language and expressions.
• The Chessmaster: Mercedes is permanently twisting a few arms behind the scenes.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Mercedes' "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Helen (and, to a lesser extent, Helen and Ice) ends with one of these. "Oh, and Helen: I can tell you've been lying this whole fucking time. Every time I've looked at you I've been sure of it. I just needed an excuse to say it, and this is the perfect one."
  • Chapter two of Shadows on the Sun is basically a huge one of these, with a wholly unpleasant end (Ice's ear gets bitten through by Smudge).
• Darker and Edgier: Up until Another Dark Day, the series had been pretty light-hearted. From then on, however, it got... really dark.
• Deadpan Snarker: Ice. Crow on occasions, but Ice
• Depraved Homosexual: Ice occasionally comes over as this. Only occasionally, though.
• Dogs Are Dumb: Ice says exactly this when a stupid dog runs in to where the mother cats and their kittens are kept in the Sanctuary (where Clay works). When Clay gets there, the cats have already backed the dog in to a corner. Clay ends up fixing it up, due to the fact that its ears and muzzle have been shredded.
• Driven to Suicide: Almost happens to Ice.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: From RockStar, Shadows on the Sun and Guns and Guitars.
  • Sanguine: Leila
  • Choleric: Ice
  • Melancholic: Helen
  • Phlegmatic: Mercedes
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Clay
  • The Lancer: Crow or Ice
  • The Smart Guy: Smudge
  • The Big Guy: Robert
  • The Chick: Alex or the older Rook
  • Tagalong Kid: Ambrose or younger Rook
• Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: George finally does this to Lee when Mercedes and James finally get their moment.
• Manipulative Bastard: Ice is this, but extremely subtley.
• Moment Killer: Mercedes says that Lee could get a job as this. He always ruins her moments with James.
• My Beloved Smother: Mercedes' mother is like this with Mercedes, Cassie and Casey, but really like this with Georgie.
• Shout-Out: A particularly and poignant one to M*A*S*H*, in the form of Ice saying, after his attempt at suicide, "Uugh. Whoever said suicide is painless was fucking well mistaken."
• What Could Have Been: Ice was originally intended to be bipolar, overemotional and always crying for one reason or another. After the plot got changed, however, that role disappeared. A sadist was needed.