#...i forgot the shadow mantle subplot... Whatever.

[ariadnesweb]

Secret Boss Idea: 'Rose'

-Invisible Sound designer of Mike Rook Tower, worshipper of the 'Light'.

-Not to be seen or understood: Lacks even a corporeal form to interact with Darkners.

-Can be heard; but cannot speak - makes harmonies, not words.

-A hypnotizing idol - despite the lack of body, or 'self', it is impossible for most darkners to listen to her sound without falling to her will; if she wants you to dance, you'll dance; if she wants you to fight, you'll fight; if she wants you to freeze, you'll freeze.

-Takes pity upon the old flowers gifted by Asgore to Toriel - much like her, these too can no longer meet their purpose to maintain the sanctity of the Dreemurr family. Instead, they've been doomed to rot away and disappear, piled like trash in the gutter.

-But she can save them, you see - she can use the power of her will to turn the spotlight on them, give them a taste of the pure joy that is purpose and success: they are the star of the show now, growing beautiful, fruitful, and aromatic for the young Dreemurr kid and their friends.

-(She functionally traps Kris & co. in a room until they play her garden simulator, and finish preparing the garden. The plants in the garden are just plants - they are alive (like plants), but lack sapience the way Mike, Tenna, Lancer, or even Rudinn & Werewires have.)

-(Once you leave the room, you can continue straight ahead and finish your adventure - or....)

-(You can return towards the end of chapter 3 - if you wanted to see your gardening handiwork one last time, you can return to do so, but the garden is...)

-Overgrown. Rose's music has the power to maintain and keep flower's growing - but dedicated as she is to her single task, she has no ability to judge when she (and the plants) should rest. The plot of land that gated in various bushes and vines, had now been engulfed by a jungle of fruits, pencils, and miscellaneous weapons for the Squad.

-(Not that any of them are useful... They actually kind of suck.)

-The original plants Rose set to save have now fused into a 'core' tree; A colorful intertwined trunk from flowers, holding up a circular mirror decorated to imitate a rose. The mirror works like a screen, telegraphing the next note to play, sometimes mixing and matching to express Rose's emotions. Two sets of paper have been drawn as leaf imitations, moving every which way to better clarify Rose's movements - she is the flower orchestra's conductor after all.

-All the better to bring these poor little dark things to light, after all - She, who is Holy; She, who is Free; She, who was never given the Darkner form of her fellows and transcends space and time to align them correctly and give them purpose in service of Kris - Rose will lead these useless plants to their end, in choir worship.

-(Alone? Maybe not... It was thanks to HIM that she now knows how to use her voice for good.)

-Is this not what the Dreemurr Kid wants, after all? Rose exists to serve the Dremurr Family - and no one else. She does not give a care if anything happens to Susie or Ralsei - but then, of course, Kris wouldn't want them to get hurt after all, since they ARE Kris's friends. Hmm...

-(Rose basically kidnaps Kris in order to 'protect them', isolating them up in a flower bud, while Susie & Ralsei try their best to free them. Mostly Susie - Ralsei is split in helping Susie free Kris, helping Rose hypnotize Kris with comfort, and having a mini identity crisis over the existence of Rose, a weird Dark Being so consumed by her worship.)

-(Susie herself is trying to keep determined in her goal to protect Kris, versus getting distracted in her own beatdown of Rose's hypocrisy; what a stupid flower being, after all, that wants to beat down and swallow Susie's own identity, contaminate her and corrupt her away from herself, make her an accessory to Kris when she is her own person - But Susie can't win this battle without saving Kris, first, she can't let her impulses get the best of her.)

-If you can free Kris, if you can get them to stand their own - Kris will immediately tell Rose to stand down and breathe, that they don't need her to make herself their savior.

-And Rose will immediately do so, freeing up and letting the flowers in her grasp rest - she wants to make things better for Kris in the end. If resting will do that then... she'll rest.

-She will contemplate on her next step for a moment then - she might need to rest her chaotic orchestra, but staying still... it doesn't suit her.

-The flowers that Rose originally tried to save are dead now - the jungle falls apart without her will. Was it already dead? Was the only thing keeping it together Her? They cannot be flowers, anymore. Perhaps the petals can be repurposed for a new project, maybe the items can be shared away to different Lightners/Darkners, maybe the seeds can be kept and resown - but the original bouquet of reconciliated marriage is gone now.

-Much like the other secret bosses, Rose settles on becoming an item - this way, she can ensure Kris and their friends have power on their side, the power to make their own choices and free their own will. Is this not what Toriel would have wanted, in the end? To watch them grow up?

-The mirror that expressed Rose's will is blank now - she is no longer using it. It might find its way back to Castle Town, repurposed for the community by Seam for something.

-('Rose', the sound designer, used to be a melody before the flowers - she was written in the book of Hymms, what used to be Toriel's favorite book, from which she would sing to the family for rest and prayer. Then the divorce happened - words were had, decisions were made - and Toriel could no longer stand the song of her old evangelical religiousness. She threw the page describing Rose out, hid the book in a corner to gain dust, and never looked back. But the memory of the old hymm still remains in the house, with her, with her kids - the sound designer of the Dreemurr family still exists, repurposed to serve Mike & Tenna instead.)

[scribe-the-write-thing]

WIP Progess as cake-baking

1. Grocery shopping (you have the basic idea, a general sense for the main characters & a few jumbled scenes which you’ll have to sift through)

2.  Scattered Ingredients (You have nailed down the setting, the plot direction, the names of the main characters and an outline)

3. Raw Batter (You’ve combined the  ingredients. You’re steadily working on the first draft and have a few thousand words on it.)

4. Half Baked (Halfway or mostly done. Struggling with how to wrap things up or just feeling unmotivated. At the stage where you are doubting your ‘cake’)

5. Frosting (Done with the first draft, editing in progress or if you’re like me and you edit as you go along then you’re on 5th draft)

6. Taste testing (Looking for betas and feedback)

7. Packaging (You’ve followed the general formatting guidelines and your book baby is ready to be set out to publishers, editors and agents)

Thanks to @ps-nippets for tagging me! Not sure if I’m doing this right but oh well!

-

Gonna put it all under a cut since it’s so long. <3

1.) How to Pirate (Raw batter)

Genre: Alternate history, swashbuckler, comedy-drama.

Form: Novel but-- it’s rather episodic at the moment. Like most of my stuff.

POV: Third-person (multiple character’s POVs)

Main characters: Jessamine, Theodor, Cecil.

Synopsis: A world where the pirate republic of Nassau not only survived but thrived as it’s own entity among the chaos. Within the warring seas of the Caribbean, the golden age of piracy continues on with the leaders of Nassau at the helm. Though there’s discontent blooming over how exactly things should be handled. Within the turmoil of a Caribbean divided, three individuals attempt to survive and find their purpose on the high seas.

2.) Queen of Thieves (Grocery shopping)

Genre: Adventure, fantasy, folktale-based, heist.

Form: Novel, possible anthology.

POV: Third person (Multiple POVs)

Main characters: Robin, Marian, Will. Red.

Synopsis: A retelling of the folktales and legends of Robin Hood. Robin of Locksley is the only heir left to her father's estate after a ravaging war, and, as such, the only heir left to take up the mantle of the green Hood -- a family heirloom passed down throughout a family that has dedicated itself to protecting those preyed upon by the corrupt; that is the code of the Hood, after all. Once, the Locksley family and their sworn brotherhood found themselves next to royalty, now they live forced into hiding, continuing out their work from the shadows.

3.) Strings (Between grocery shopping and scattered ingredients)

Genre: Crime, dark romance,

Form: Novel

POV: Third person

Main characters: Bryden, Mercutio

Synopsis: Set in a pseudo-1920s city, determined investigator Bryden Caulfield finds himself digging a little too deep into the case of a lifetime, attracting the attention of the most feared crime family in the city. What begins as an undercover mission gone wrong turns to an obsessive game of cat-and-mouse, and under the thrill of the chase, other, more dubious, feelings begin to arise.

4) The Hollow (working title) (Grocery shopping)

Genre: Mystery, fantasy, paranormal, magical realism

Form: Anthology / generally just a worldbuilding thing

POV: Third-person (I think??)

Main characters: aiming that each little story will follow different characters, but some will be reaccuring~ Still thinking up names.

Synopsis: The Hollow is a town shrouded in mystery. Where exactly it is varies depending upon the year; it has been known to change locations every year or so, disappearing overnight only to reform elsewhere.  It has never been sighted outside of Europe. Though other such towns have been witnessed across the other continents.

The road to the town is a strange one; dirt-track, worn and dusty, a road that seems travelled, perhaps long ago. It is surrounded on both sides by a thick pine forest, seemingly forever shrouded in mist, regardless of the weather or the season. By many, the mist has said to have called to travellers, presenting a soothing call into it’s quiet, a summoning to leave the safety of the road. It is advisable to ignore the call.

Mists are untrustworthy at the best of times, and sometimes the unknown is best left that way.

5) Court of rivals (working title) (was Raw Batter but then I left it out too long and forgot to actually make the cake, so coming back I now have to go get some new ingredients)

Genre: Fantasy, folklore-based, drama, Arthurian.

Form: Anthology -- it’s really just my world to have some fun in with a few Arthurian characters; it might actually become a thing one day.

POV: Third person (multiple POVs)

Main Characters: Arthur, Kay, Morgan, Gwen, Mordred, Galahad, Lancelot, Nimue -- and a few more for one-offs or subplots.

Synopsis: To the outside world, the kingdom of Camelot is a prosperous one -- it’s king strong and capable, and the prince a worthy heir to the throne; one who will continue the greatness brought through generations of the Pen Draig bloodline. However, life at within the walls of the castle for those most deeply involved is far from noble; the court of Camelot is a nest of vipers, deadly and inescapable and, as tensions mount and prophecies of old come to light once again, those caught in the chaos find that they must do whatever it takes to survive.

So yeah I’m trying to get to working on all of these again.

As for who I tag, and ofc only if you want to: @the-musings-of-michael, @cawolters @touchingmadness