#wip: underground elysium

[queenslayerbee]

I promised I’d share a little bit of my original writing this month. It’s a little later than I would’ve liked, but here it is: a short story (about 5.1k words) set in “Underground Elysium”.

A visionary vampiress, belonging to a matriarchal society of vampires with praying mantis-like habits, saw the apocalypse as an opportunity to subjugate humanity and elevate her species in a new world order, after the outside world became inhospitable to humans. Between the choice of risking falling prey to the walking, rotting corpses that roam the exterior, and a life of servitude under the civilised blood-sucking monsters underneath, many submitted to the second option. Nonetheless, there’s those even among her own that don’t appreciates living under Lucretia’s iron fist; around every corner a conspiracy against her brews, right as election season approaches.

This story would serve as a prequel of sorts, offering a window to the beginnings of Lucretia’s dynamic with Dana, the main antagonist. I hope you enjoy it!

#original post #original writing #writers on tumblr #fantasy wip #horror wip #wip: underground elysium #writeblr #susurros

[laufire]

WIP Folder Game

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

@nightingalesighs tagged me at the perfect time because I meant to do a little clean up of my wip list (drop projects I'm not feeling anymore, see if simple, conceptual ones can be "absorved" by the bigger ones, etc.).

this is still a fucking long list lmfao. and fic-wise, I tried to focus on the ones I consider myself "actively" interested in. I have some wips for blacksails, supernatural, the 100, etc. that are just. lying in wait lol, or others that are mere wisps of ideas rn.

(I bolded and put in cursive the ones I've done changes/work on recently, fwiw)

ORIGINAL STORIES

a child's covenant

all about eve(s)

beneath the foam

chasing fanny

house of providence

one over many

petal decay

the leech of wonderland

the redstart's ledger/space opera 'verse

the travels of soyolmaa

the wicked witches of trickstown/witch coven 'verse

the wings behind the stage

underground elysium

FANFICS

5+1 chalant

amnesiac jason

batman #511

caretaker red hood

convergence & not-wingman

damon & elena: marriage of doom

desperate housewives/supernatural crossover

immortal jason

jason + joker's last laugh

jason survives aditf

jason's journals

journalist dick

paramedic jason + canon bruce + canon jason

prison break: robins

three worlds

time travel: robin jason

young justice: fénix

tagging (no pressure!): @mockerd3light @bombshellsandbluebells @mircallaruthven @blairwaldcrf @lichfucker @cypresssunns

#talking to the void #tag game #me me me #writing woes #fandom nonsense #dc #dc comics #jason todd #most of these are about him lol #original works

[baejax-the-great]

WIP game: wind/windy

Most of my WIPs are in space or underground atm (and our poor shipwrecked friends are currently in a humid, airless jungle), so my only answer are homonyms for what you meant, both from Water in the Deep:

“In my time, the kings and generals were so longwinded and so liked to talk over each other that we had a speaking stick. Only the bearer was allowed to talk. Always difficult to pry it out of his hands, whoever had it.”

The Lethe winds through each area of Elysium, merry and misty, its rushing a pleasant sound that Patroclus is unaccustomed to.

Send me a word and I'll post a sentence from a WIP that has it

#not my most exciting sentences tbh #nobody is experiencing weather

[5lazarus]

WIP Wednesday

Her promotion means more work. More work means more time in the office, and less time with Eva and Clara, as if she ever sees them anyway, and the divorce is coming to trial in two weeks, and while she doubts any judge would assign custody to Marcel, she’s lost almost certain rolls of the dice before. She takes the announcement smiling calmly, but inside, she’s shaking. More work, same pay, no time for her life: but she promised herself to Revachol anyway.

If Lt. Kitsuragi is disappointed, he does not show it. He nods impassively when Cpt. Pryce summons them to his office, and flashes a smile at her when they return to their desks. She steels herself towards gratitude. He’s one of the best officers in the RCM. She’s lucky to work with him. She would’ve preferred to be assigned a heavier caseload, though, after the divorce.

Alice, she thinks. I’m never going to see Alice again. Gods, I’m going to cry.

Of course she doesn’t, and she musters up a laugh when Harry bounds over and gives her a comedically long list of things that annoy Kim—“pinball, the Jamrock Shuffle, discursions into the paranormal, children—”

“Oh,” Judit says. “Well, I have two.”

“I do not dislike children,” her new partner interjects, eying Harry. “Juvies are another story. How old are they, Sergeant? What are their names?”

He’s trying. It’s not that he dislikes children. They make him afraid. He’s seen them hurt in so many ways, and vulnerability makes him tense. You cannot save everyone. You cannot protect the world. Judit shivers. Shaking herself, she says, “Evangeline is eight. Clara is six. They’re—” She pauses. What are they like? She knows Clara hates school, and she does not know why. Evangeline always does her math homework first. Both of them are too old for bedtime stories, though since she joined the RCM, there hasn’t been much time for that. She says, “They’re typical Revacholieres, I suppose. Little girls. More independent than I like.”

Lt. Kitsuragi meets her eyes, empathy flashing behind his glasses. “This city has a habit of forcing them to grow up fast,” he says. “But it takes care of them, too.”

Judit says, “What neighborhood did you grow up in, Lieutenant? I grew up in Jamrock.” She knows not to ask where he is from. He wears it on his back: Revachol.

#wip wednesday #wip #fanfic #disco elysium #disco elysium fanfiction #disco elysium fanfic #judit minot #kim kitsuragi #alice demettrie #judit minot & kim kitsuragi #dispatches from the homo-sexual underground

[electrochemists]

suddenly feeling self conscious about it lol but. here's the wip

(homophobia tw)

You're going to go out — somewhere with a magnetic pull on you that terrifies you, your pulse jumping every time you feel it tug. But its call has been left to die hanging on the wire too long. You want to pick up.

VOLITION — You can't be afraid of it any longer. This is no way to live.

It's how you have for a long time, though. You are an animal of instinct- but instincts are subjective. Long learned, they are now unattached from what caused them to foment in your subconscious. All you know now is how your body jumps away as strongly as it leans towards it.

CONCEPTUALIZATION — You're a dog left on the street, circling an outstretched hand, wanting to come near but too used to being wary.

HALF LIFE — No. You're jumping at your shadow- your face distorted in the mirror. There are other people like you that you are not like, and they see you and know you are not of their kind. You stare at them on the street and they are terrified.

EMPATHY — It's because you're a stranger staring at them in public. They don't know your intentions. If you went somewhere where that attention had a different meaning-

That's why you want to go to Boogie Street. To the hangouts and discos of the Homo-sexual Underground.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — To the lights and music, the air filled with cigarette smoke. Pound back drinks until your mind is slick, take a bump of speed in the stalls to keep your body sharp, and then lose yourself in the crush of bodies, flesh on flesh.

SAVOIR FAIRE — You hit the dancefloor, snakeskin shoes sliding on wood scuffed by hundreds of others like them, and you are flying. Your limbs pull free of the gravity of Elysium and of time itself and spin out into orbit, and you are young and New again.

PAIN THRESHOLD — You don't think about how much it will hurt in the morning, muscles aching and head on fire. You don’t think in the cold light of day you will still be sick and old and sad.

RHETORIC — You don't think at all. That would be against everything you were doing it for.

And that's why you're afraid to go to Boogie Street.

You also don't actually know where homo-sexuals congregate. If you ever knew before, that's gone now. In the wake of your memory loss, you only know a couple homo-sexuals at all– excluding you. You just remembered what Acele said, about Boogie Street, and you went from there.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — You are, according to the reading you've done since rediscovering libraries (thank you for that dear), a bi-sexual. Colloquially however, you are still also a homo-sexual. While not interchangeable as an individual descriptor, homo-sexual is something of an umbrella term, hence "Homo-sexual Underground".

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — There are plenty of other words for what you are: homo, fairy, fruit, queer. Pansy. You know plenty of them. Many are used in male bonding exercises.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — That last one is not specifically directed at homo-sexuals.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Come on now, son. You know what context is.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — At least within the Major Crimes Unit, the worst it has gotten is the juvenile barbs of Officers Mclaine and Torson. Vicquemare, for all that he is terse with you still, is consistently disdainful to these kinds of things. "Male-centric workplace humor". Minot has never given you any indication that she would be anything but kind about it either.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — You still won't tell them though. Absolutely not. Can you imagine their faces? They’d never look at you the same again.

PAIN THRESHOLD — You’d see it in their eyes, forever.

VOLITION — Stop. You said you’d stop this kind of thing. Do you enjoy wallowing in miserable hypotheticals?

...Maybe.

PAIN THRESHOLD — Yes.

LOGIC — You knew you could tell Kim though. He is also a homo-sexual, and he basically already knew- after the conversation you had, in those early days in Martinaise.

You had to get over the embarrassment of realizing why he’d been barely stopping himself from laughing after your first meeting with Mister Martin Martinaise, but in the scoreboards of embarrassments you’ve made of yourself...that ranks fairly low.

Kim’s initial reaction was to say he hoped you’d been continuing that consideration off the clock at least this time. You hadn’t, not all of it, but you never clock out of running this way. It had just turned over in the back of your mind, rearing up as things brought it to head. Kim’s second reaction was to put a reassuring hand on your back and nod, smiling in the way only you saw.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — In this also you are of a family, a shared kinship.

EMPATHY — He did not and still does not want to be your teacher in this. He resents the idea of becoming the representative of homo-sexuality for anyone, or having to be their personal encyclopedia on these matters, so he let you figure you out yourself and was merely honest when asked about him.

COMPOSURE — Admittedly, he also thought it was funny watching you stumble into it and gawk at beautiful men.

EMPATHY — But he also knows this is a serious thing to admit and understand about yourself as well, even if he came to it much differently from you.

#cant make text yellow (understandably) so. orange #this is extremely first draft and i can already tell i think i'm frontloading way too many of the things i want to cover but #gotta get the ideas down first before worrying about shuffling things around i guess #anyway.

[crystalrune-official]

✧ Royal Regions ✧

>>This lore will be updated and still a wip<<

These 4 royal and 1 grand stars are the ones that give this world colours. They’re highly respected that the compass and clocks featured them as their guide. Some believed that these stars are the guardians of heaven, Lucidial. Because of these strong beliefs, there are people who worship these stars believing that they could give them power and blessings. These people create their own faction and region depending on what stars they worship.

≿━━━━༺⚙༻━━━━≾

✧ Bahar | Emerald

Baharians worship the royal stars of Aldebaran. It’s the brightest and most prominent star of the Taurus constellation. Much similar to the region, this star represents the great architecture and knowledge the region has. It’s often called as Eye of Revelation, high above the Great Librarius. This region holds dearly to knowledge and its usage for developing the world. Because of this, this region is known too as the Enlightenment Star.

Led by Uriel, this region is located on the east side of the world and the rainy season is very often as high humidity and windswept the clouds to this region. This region has its national days. One of them is when the Vernal Equinox happens. Is where the world reaches a point in its orbit where the Starlight is exactly above the equator. This marks the beginning of Spring as legend said that the guardian of the east, Aldebaran will give its blessing to the people with plentiful crops and knowledge.

✧ Tabestan | Ruby

Tabestanis worship the royal star of Regulus. It’s the brightest star in the Leo constellation. The name Regulus means Heart of the Lion. That name itself means the people are relentless and are brave to tackle any obstacles. They’re very skilled in battle tactics and strategies that if someone ever holds strong ties to them, they’re sure to win any battle.

“The strength of the people’s heart does not weaken because the star of Leo is large.”

Also knows as Alpha Leonis, the star of Regulus is often depicted as the main royal star, the supreme one or the one who led them. This star blessed the people of Tabestanis with a heart of determination in a form of a spectre.

Led by Gabriel, this region is located on the north side of the world. Where starlight shines brightly like their brave hearts. The region was once regarded as the developed one with Baharians as the second one leading in terms of magic breakthrough. This region once has national days. One of them is the Summer Solstice when the path of the sun in the sky is the farthest in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s when the starlight shines the brightest. They hope to get even stronger as this star blesses them with bravery and determination.

Unfortunately, this region was obliterated when The Elysium, entity abode of the afterlife, was disturbed and cause a devastating catalyst to the world. They fought hard as they firmly believes that their star will bless them if they show their courage. To their surprise, they...lost...their beloved region turned into stardust as The Elysium consumed the souls, spirits, and of course the residence. Only a small handful of them survived but not to mention the later injuries they suffered.

The Heart of Lion, the blessed spectre they received also was lost. The last witness stated that the spectre was destroyed into 4 pieces. Unknown to them where they are. Fortunately, the witness manage to remember 3 out of the 4 pieces forms when they shattered. The 4th pieces are unknown to anyone and will remain a mystery until it reveals itself to the great grand star.

✧ Payiz | Sapphire

Payizers worships the royal star of Antares. It’s the brightest star in the Scorpion constellation. It’s known as the Heart of Scorpion as in the legends, a scorpion once killed many hundreds for its master. Thus, making the people very loyal to the grand star, the grand region of the 5 regions. In the past, the royal family served the grand family well and thus was gifted the largest land of this world for its people. Once, someone tried to betray the region which caused the region into a state of instability.

Led by Raphael, this region is located on the west side of the world and by the landmass, it’s the largest between the 5 regions of stars. Where plantation, crystal, and many resources thrive. This shows how thankful the grand family is to the royal family from this region. They’re gifted by untradeable resources in exchange for their utmost and eternal loyalty. Temperature is mild thus many plants could thrive here and they do not gave to worry about winter. The region has its national days. One of them is Autumn Equinox, as the starlight crosses the celestial equator going south. This is where Autumn season comes, many offer their crops so that the star won’t let the cold winter destroy the plantation and asking protection from the dark magic in the Ruby Light area. As plants begin to withered, this is a disadvantage when they’re short in food but some take this as a good time to enjoy the view and festival.

This region almost shared the same fate as Tabestan but luckily they survived but with massive damage to the region. To rebuild is easy, but to restore is not. Thus they start from the bottom, from the scratch of sand. Most of the region is infected with dark magic thus inhabitable and monsters are often seen and attack residents. They call this part of the region the Ruby Light. Whereas the habitable one is the Sapphire Light. Whilst not grand as it used to be, the region still maintains its name as the prosperous region. They often fight or debate with the Baharians in the past with the notion of progress and maintenance.

✧ Zemestan | Amethyst

Zemestanis worships the royal star of Fomalhaut. Unlike the other royal star, this star doesn’t belong in any constellation instead, it stands on its own as the region worshipped it. They worship the star as it represents their situation, drifted apart, alone, in this world. Even though it’s lonely, it shines the brightest amongst the stars just like its people. The people never lost hope of their situation and thrives to change their situation. However in close inspection, Folmalhaut was never alone, it’s accompanied by other unknown stars. They’re not connected but they make a faint constellation called the Pisces Fomalhaut. Deriving from a black and white fish, believed as the star blessing to its people.

Led by Michael, this region is located in the most southern part of the world. It was once part of the main region, the Grand region but due to The Elysium it’s separated and pieces of its land and other regions could be seen floating around it. Like some kind of orbit to shield to protect or perhaps to imprison. The sudden change of climate from mild to extreme cold has made so many casualties as they cannot cope with the cold. As such they switch to warmer clothes. There’s a subzero region right where the star shines down to the region. Many do not dare to venture through the old star shrine as it’s located right in the heart of the subzero region. You will instantly have hypothermia at best and worse freeze to death.

One of the national days is the Winter Solstice, the opposite of the Tabestan region the Summer Solstice. It’s where the peek of the Fomalhaut shines and winter becomes harsher. Many seek refuge in the underground and celebrate....or pray that they will be freed from this situation. Their hope comes from the 2 unknown stars near Fomalhaut as they pray that mayhap 2 people will save them.

✧ Methuselah | ???

They’re the grand nation of all of 5 regions which previously were 4. They worship the starlight, the star that lightens the world. They’re once the centre of the world and was the first region to ever been created before they went on their separate ways. There are still many mysteries shrouded in the region especially after The Elysium.

The Elysium affected Methuselah greatly. It surrounds the region with clouds of dark magic and breaks some of it apart, away from the mainland. It imprisons them inside, cutting them from the outside world. The leader is unknown but they’re rather be called The Harbinger. They manage to tame the Elysium before it could do any damage and they return to their abode of the afterlife. Unfortunately, they cannot erase the accursed cloud surrounding them. They’re trapped in their own home. Striving to survive on their own.

≿━━━━༺⚙༻━━━━≾

#deltarune #deltarune au #crystalrune #crystalrune lore #royal regions

[queenslayerbee]

🐰 bunny picrew game 🐰

I was tagged by @nectargrapes (thank you!) and I thought I'd take it as an opportunity to talk a bit more about the characters in UNDERGROUND ELYSIUM; a medium-length (hopefully) WIP I intend to write a first draft of for the upcoming camp nano.

-Imperatrix Lucretia is the (villain) protagonist of the tale. Thrice elected, she is who implemented and saw through the idea of taking advantage of the apocalypse to bring humans under vampires' thumbs.

-Dana is her rival on the upcoming election. They have history: in the past, she was severely punished by a crime. This has left her obsessed with Lucretia and ravenous for revenge against her.

-Madam Constanza is Lucretia's severe, yet unruly mother. An ally, and a complication.

-Rivka is the Head of the Sentinels: peacekeepers and guardians of the Imperatrix. She and Lucretia have... a thing. Not a healthy one lol.

-Graciela is Lucretia's personal maid; a human who serves every waking need and often provides sustenance as well. She was picked because she was a ballerina. (I don't picture her dressed in a common maid's uniform because it wouldn't fit Lucretia's ~aesthetic LOL, but here it serves to point out her role.

-Zosia is the zealous High Abbess. A thorn in Lucretia's (firm believer of the separation of church and state! xD) side.

-Imogen is the highest judicial authority on the land. Generally considered to be a wildcard.

-Anouk: the token male character. A vampirito (term used for male vampires), part of Lucretia's political cabinet. Graceful and ambitious.

I have no idea who's already been tagged, so no pressure: @broodparasitism @monstrousfreedom @missbrunettebarbie-writer @asablehart @flowerprose @starry-sky-stuff @pinespittinink

#tag game #original post #picrew #wip: underground elysium #oc: lucretia #oc: dana #oc: constanza #oc: rivka #oc: graciela #oc: zosia #oc: imogen #oc: anouk #id in alt text

[queenslayerbee]

“Imperatrix Lucretia stood over the multitude encased in her accustomed white lace as the vampiress watched over her domain. Each slow, calculated movement that accompanied her rousing speech resembled that of a particularly balletic arachnid, and when the ambient candlelight flickered at just the right angle, it shone over a small, beatific smile that betrayed no hint of insincerity. Neither a flicker of dust nor a drop of blood betrayed her recent visit to the prisoner.”

UNDERGROUND ELYSIUM: WIP INTRO

audience: adult. genre(s): political fantasy, dystopian. style: omniscient narrator. type: novelette/novella.

SETTING

A rich, ornate subterranean realm formed and controlled by a matriarchal society of vampires with praying mantis-like habits, after the outside world became inhospitable to humans. Between the choice of risking falling prey to the walking, rotting corpses that roam the exterior, and a life of servitude under the civilised blood-sucking monsters underneath, many submitted to the later option.

SUMMARY

A visionary vampiress saw the apocalypse as an opportunity to subjugate humanity and elevate her species in a new world order. Nonetheless, there's those even among her own that don't appreciates living under Lucretia's iron fist; around every corner a conspiracy against her brews, right as election season approaches.

CHARACTERS

Lucretia ⚜️

300 | Black, dark-skinned, notably tall, bony. Long, voluminous and slick black hair. Vibrant red eyes; sharp fangs and soft features; always dressed in white.

Thrice elected Imperatrix of the Underworld, Lucretia runs a tight ship where everyone has their place and mustn't deviate an inch from it and risk disturbing such perfect equilibrium. She rose from the lowest depths of her society to the very top, fighting with every bit of her strength. Calculating, paranoid and pitiless, she won't allow anyone to rob her of her hard-earned power.

Dana 🦷

87 | White, pale, curvy, short for a vampiress (1.80cm). Curly, fiery curly red hair. Read eyes, full of freckles, fangless.

Once heavily punished for violating the most crucial commandment of the new world, she inexplicably rises as Lucretia's fiercest political opponent. She's charming, provocative, and anarchic, wilfully determined to avenge the humiliation Lucretia inflicted upon her.

OTHER CHARACTERS OF IMPORTANCE:

Constanza 💮. Lucretia's venerable mother. Commanding, mouthy.

Rivka ⚔️. Head of the Sentinels, keepers of the peace and guardians of the Imperatrix. She and Lucretia have a complicated past.

Zosia 🕯️. High Abbess. Religious authority in the community, an ambitious zealot often at odds with the political power.

Imogen ⚖️. Dictator of the Magistrate, the highest judicial authority. Committed to her vocation, with a secret penchant for mischief.

Graciela 🩰. Lucretia's human maid. Quiet, discreet, melancholic.

Anouk 💎. The token vampirito (male vampire) in Lucretia's cabinet. Spirited, individualistic, elegant.

taglist (send an ask to be added/removed): @thebluesthourcommunity

WIP masterlist.

#i always like to do something for the ides so :D #writeblr #writing community #writeblr community #writers on tumblr #wip intro #fantasy wip #dystopian wip #horror wip #wip: underground elysium #id in alt text #original post #original writing #my original writing

[queenslayerbee]

I should NOT be this surprised that (re)watching The Sopranos is giving me extra brainworms regarding "Underground Elysium"... ofc Tony Soprano IS one natural influence of Lucretia (how could he not be? he's the blueprint), but as I develop Constanza, Lucretia's mother, and I see Livia Soprano on the show being... the kind of mother that she is... damn, yeah. this should've been more obvious to me xDD

#the show is definitely a big influence lol. more than i realised #no therapy for lucretia though. we could argue whether that's better or worse given tony's. everything xD #original post #inspiration #wip: underground elysium #oc: lucretia #susurros

[queenslayerbee]

I had a different mental image for Anouk -the ambitious, graceful, token male vampirito in Underground Elysium in general, and Lucretia's cabinet in particular-, but Harvey Guillén matches the ~energy I'd want the character to give, especially with his met gala look this year so. face-claim decided!

#original post #if someone brings wwd¨ts into this we're fighting btw. this is about harvey guillén aesthetic~~ #wip: underground elysium #face claims #susurros

[laufire]

hi. it's me. 🦋

tumblr is not yet advanced enough to send asks from sideblogs so hit me with "the wings behind the stage" i'm not sure if i'm familiar with that one.

that's my "as (if in name only) a catholic, I will write about angels at least once" wip lol.

I had this idea of an angel that becomes obsessed with a theatre production, the play they intend to interpret, the ~aging hollywood diva leading it in a last attempt to hold onto her acting career. I want to lean into the eldrich horror of it all, with this unearthly powerful being playing with these people's lives not even out of malice but just... the way we humans herd animals, really. that's where my head was at then xD

other than the angel (Ariel) and the diva (Valeria, goes by Valerie for work), the only other characters that I have established so far are Valeria's stranged husband, her teenager daughter, and a young actress that Valeria takes under her wing (....... no pun intented). it's not a priority right now (out of my short/hopefully-novelette-length ideas, both underground elysium and a child's covenant come first), but when the mood strikes, I'll be excited to write it.

I posted an excerpt in my writeblr a while ago, and I thought I'd bring it in here ^-^

It was the creature who moved Valeria’s extended palms to the wounded face of her kneeling husband. It pressed a thumb on the half-formed bruise of his jaw, ripping a pained wince through his stubbornly clenched teeth.

Burrowed deep inside the confines of her own flesh, Valeria witnessed how each wound slowly matured under the touch of the wrinkled hands that no longer obeyed her, the bruise changing colour and healing at an impossibly rapid pace.

With a pang of muted horror she felt her own lips move; shaped by a hallowed voice, her mouth spoke in a willfully forgotten mother tongue filled of glacial contempt.

“You are insignificant,” Valeria understood, against all odds. “Do you not see the vast gulf between your limited self, and the extraordinary creature who married you? Can’t you see each and every way in which she surpasses you? No,” it added, “you can. You see it. It makes you aware of just how small you truly are. That knowledge has infected you, and all you want is to make her suffer for it. Make her as sick as you are. Make her pay.”

Each word plucked from deep inside her throat was pronounced with growing rage. Valeria could feel the ground shake through the bare soles of her feet. The angel had finished healing her stranged husband, and now it loomed over his awed form with a deceptively calm exterior that did not match the tumult within.

“We won’t let you do that to us,” they proclamed, with the force of divine revelation.

ask me about my wips!

#replies #ty! #talking to the void #my thoughts #original works #original writing #my original writing #my wips #writing woes

[laufire]

WRITING WOES: MARCH

in general

a few things conspired to slow down my writing (online course, sprained wrist that thankfully is alright now), but I'm still keeping up with my habit goals (get your words out in dreamwidth).

original fiction

I wrote ~3k words of Underground Elysium's first act (it'll have five acts total, though this doesn't say much as the lengths won't be consistent lol). I'm following Freytag's Pyramid for this one, Because of Reasons, so this is the "exposition + inciting incident" and I took a bit from this teaser I already had, but that's basically all of Act I complete (its first draft, at least; there's still a lot to be done in rewrites), so I'm proud.

I also set to finish with the drafting process for Petal Decay for this April's Camp Nano. I want to get that short story to a place where all I can do is get some outsider perspectives on it, before I know what to do with it moving forward.

fanfic

l wrote the first drafts of the first three chapters of my Young Justice WIP. I definitely have to go over them -this is the "introduction" part, where I'm practically rushing to get The Actual Story started lol, and some additions will be needed so they don't feel like I'm just eagerly jumping from point A to B to C etc. in order to get there. But I'm keeping up the rhythim I set for myself, which rn matters more. First I get the skeleton of the story out, then I add the rest.

I also wrote 5 out of 6 chapters of my Immortal Jason WIP (it's a 5+1 fic). The sixth one is resisting me smh. The premise shows various Bats finding out that Jason doesn't die, and the final chapter is, of course, Bruce's. So it's where everything comes to a head and I've built it up in my head as this... Thing. I'm going to let it rest for at least a week, maybe two, and then see it with fresh eyes.

Those (continue with the young justice wip as I've been, finish Immortal Jason & publish it) are basically my goals for this month, fic-wise. I also want to make more detailed outlines (although still leaving room for improvisation) for fics I'll tackle after I'm done with Immortal Jason and Petal Decay, like the Delena Marriage of Doom wip, or Journalist Dick. AND I want to write at least one of the scenes from my 5+1 Chalant one-shot (which is a "companion" to the young justice wip, so I want to have it ready when that's done).

#talking to the void #my thoughts #writing woes #writing woes monthly #dc #original works #dc comics #young justice #young justice wip #immortal jason wip #me me me #my wips

[laufire]

writing woes: february

I’m doing an online course that it's eating a lot of my writing time, sadly :/

in general

I continue with my habit pledge of writing at least 180 days in 2024 for the get your words out event in dreamwidth. last month I wrote 19 days and this one just 15, but overall I wrote less, but I'm still on top of my goal, overall.

original fiction

I advanced a little on the first act of "Underground Elysium", though less than I wanted to (and I ended up discarding a bunch of what I wrote lol). Reminder that you can read a little (5k) teaser for it here.

I did advance more on the rewrite of "Petal Decay", a short story I drafted a while ago, though it's not quite finished.

I'm going to press pause on these until the course I mentioned is over (March 25th), and then I'll go after them with a vengeance. A final draft for Petal Decay will probably be my low-effort goal for April's Camp NaNo, actually.

fanfic

I wrote and posted "empty spaces" an angst-filled one-shot for one of the monthly challenges in get your words out. It's more a character study than anything, and predictably, set in the universe of detective comics comics. It shows a moment of Bruce during the anniversary of Jason's death (pre-return).

I didn't advance much in the other WIPs I set out to write this month :/. For March, I intend to finish with the immortal jason wip, and to continue with my long young justice!jason project. That one is for the long run, and I don't want to start publishing it until all the chapters are done, so I predict that will wait until the end of the year.

I did write a lot of disconnected scenes from other projects as inspiration hit lol. Some new earth!Jayroy dialogue based on this post, some scenes that I'll eventually fit into the journalist dick wip (featuring Dick-Steph backstory, Dick-Red Hood secret identity shenanigans, Dick-Tarantula angst/horror, and the inclusion of BTAS!Summer Gleeson as Dick's boss!), and some... nsfw (but not at all titilating...) scenes for my Damon and Elena, Marriage of Doom wip 😬😬😬

Crossing my fingers for March!

#talking to the void #my thoughts #writing woes #writing woes monthly #dc #marriage of doom wip #dc comics #jayroy wip #young justice wip #journalist dick wip #original works #me me me #my wips

[laufire]

WRITING WOES: APRIL

in general

I'm more or less keeping up with my intended goals even when circumstances conspire against me (i.e. getting sick for the first half of the month), so I won't complain too much xD

original fiction

I finished a third draft of Petal Decay for April's Camp Nano, as intended. I'm going to let it ~rest for a bit and next weekend I'll do a spell check and ask for feedback.

My goal for May it's to complete the first act of Underground Elysium. I wrote quite a bit of it during March but I want to really "settle" it, see what stays and what goes, what must be added, etc. I will also expand on the abridged outline I have for act II, which I'd like to tackle in June.

fanfic

I'm not as advanced as I'd like to be with the Young Justice WIP; I finished chapter 4 and started 5, but I'm a bit stuck on that one. However this month I'll be focusing on this one, fandom-wise, and I hope to get a good rhythm.

I finished the Immortal Jason WIP but I'm just not feeling where it's at rn... I'm going to revisit it in a week or so and see what I do about it.

I wrote the first scene to my 5+1 Chalant one-shot (which is ~connected to the larger Young Justice fic), and I want to write the second one this month.

#talking to the void #my thoughts #writing woes #writing woes monthly #dc #original works #dc comics #young justice #young justice wip #immortal jason wip #chalant wip #me me me #my wips

[laufire]

writing woes: january

I'm going to try to do this every month. Because.

in general

I signed up for get your words out over dreamwidth, doing a habit pledge instead of a word count one: to write at least 180 days in 2024. divided by 12 months, that means writing an average of 15 days per month. I wrote 19. some days very very little (100-300 words for the three sentences ficathon), others more (dropping about 2k on one sitting), but the point of a habit pledge is to get less hung up on that lol. so all in all, I'm happy with my progress.

original fiction

I wrote and published a "prequel" or teaser for a somewhat larger work. you can find it in my author's newsletter. I'd also really appreciate a reblog of the post in tumblr, to boost it ^-^

I made a veeeeery loose outline of "Underground Elysium", a.k.a. said larger work. I know I will inevitably deviate from it, but this way I won't feel completely directionless lol.

I also outlined (just a tad more thoroughly) a short story that I want to retouch/rewrite. though idk if I'll publish that one on substack, or try to get some feedback and try my luck with magazines. we'll see.

fanfic

I posted a bunch of drabbles and ficlets for the three sentences ficathon hosted in dreamwidth. I'll crosspost them on ao3 (and update this post) when the event is over, in a couple of weeks.

I didn't finish my immortal jason wip because something that I predict will be a pattern for me happened: I went from an idea set in some ~vague point the timeline to deciding it'd be MUCH more interesting if I grounded it firmly in canon (even if I don't adhere to it fully and play around with things, of course). so I had to read some issues here and there to really settle it. it's on track now, so hopefully I'll finish soon!

I advanced a bit on my long young justice wip! not quite as much as I would've liked, but still. I also have a definite outline (pending changes that'll come up, as per usual with me), with all the character povs and arcs clearly visualised. this one is going to take a long while to be finished but I'm really excited about it.

I've also made a semi-loose outline for my journalist dick wip and plan to start writing it next month. I wanted to read devin grayson's nightwing arc, because the idea is to set it (with the exception of some key flashbacks) post utrh, albeit with a mix of comic and film canon because I wanted to explore the possibilities the later gave just this one time. I had shelved the wip for a little later in the year, but it turns out said storyarc has been incredibly inspiring lol, so it rose on the list.

all in all, not a bad first month!

#talking to the void #my thoughts #writing woes #writing woes monthly #dc #young justice #dc comics #immortal jason wip #young justice wip #journalist dick wip #original works #me me me #my wips

[5lazarus]

5: Share a snippet that you’re proud of from an upcoming fic/chapter.

thank you for the ask :) getting me through this last hour at work from these fic asks! send me, I beg, work is grinding my brain to dust. I fell deeply deeply in love with the game Disco Elysium, which is everything I ever want to write, and is heavily inspired by my favorite novel The City & The City. I'm writing a longer-form piece about the detectives at the end of the game, about queer solidarity, loving addicts in recovery, and domestic abuse. And, of course, showing how even with the best of intentions, all cops are bad. Even Kim Kitsuragi. He even says it. Here's a snippet of it, called Dispatches from the Homo-Sexual Underground:

The divorce is not going well and the children are fretful and Marcel simply will not leave the house. Judit sleeps on the floor, because Marcel will not give up the bed. She wakes up at dawn, back aching, and eyes him snoring on the pullout couch. The children are still asleep in the other room. They cannot—she cannot—afford much better on a patrol officer’s salary, but it is marginally better than the tenements in Martinaise. At least they have their own toilet here.

She gets up and hurries to the shower, wincing at the blast of cold water. Revachol inks her dirty fingers along the tiny bathroom window, set high by the showered. Judit hums to herself, and then giggles. She’s got the song from last night stuck in her head.

Marcel is still asleep when she reenters the living room, washed, brushed, and dressed. She tiptoes past him and prepares a quick breakfast—a sliced hardboiled egg on toast—for the kids. Evangeline and Clara are still asleep. She taps some coffee grounds into the moka pot, wrinkling her nose at the tarnished metal. She needs to set some time to make it shine again. Coffee percolating on the stove, Judit hurries to the children’s bedroom.

“Eva, Clara,” she says quietly. “I’m leaving for work.”

Eva rolls over. Clara opens her eyes, scrunches her face up, and stretches enormously. She’s gotten so big.

“No school,” Clara says.

“Yes school,” Judit corrects—but now she hears the coffee bubbling on the stove, so she rushes back, grabbing at the handle and cursing when it burns her hand. She grabs a rag and dumps the molten black liquid into her mug. Marcel stirs. Judit takes her bag, her gun, and her mug, and runs for it.

Jean of course is waiting outside, leaning idly against his motor carriage, smoking a cigarette. It was a gift to Harry from a mysterious wealthy woman that Jean promptly requisitioned. Judit spills her coffee as she rushes out of the building.

“Marcel awake?” Jean says. Almost imperceptibly, his spine stiffens. He’s wondering if he needs to start a fight.

Judit says, “No, no,” and maneuvers her way into the Coupris. He’s playing Motown. She settles in the passenger seat, adjusting her holster, and sips at her coffee. It is bitter and sour, like her life.

Jean slams in and pulls the car onto the road. It is only a ten minutes’ drive to the precinct, but it’s some kind of ritual. She drinks. He taps his hand on the wheel, in time to the music, and hums tunelessly along. If she has a chance, she’ll radio Alice, but she doesn’t think she’ll have a chance.

#ask #personal #writing #wip #disco elysium #dispatches from the homo-sexual underground