#wip: twatb

[rose-bookblood]

Just on my phone but first kiss for Julien and Sebastiano!

Send me an ask for a kiss scene.

Here's a scene from TWATB book 2. Julien has a night encounter with the ship's captain ;) Thanks for the ask, TC!

❤️ first kiss / realization

Eduardo’s ship had vanished over the now dark horizon hours earlier, but Julien couldn’t help staring in that direction. Not like there was much to look at, with the Smeraldo del Mediterraneo anchored near a barren rock far from the shore. No light reached the ship and even Julien’s werewolf sight could barely make out the outline of the small island. Sea and sky fused into one black pit. Waves lapped against wood in a rhythmic tempo, the only reminder that they weren’t floating into nothingness.

Soft steps and the creaking of planks had Julien tense and spin around. He blinked hard at the orange glow of a gas lamp.

A ringed hand gripped the lamp. Dim light cast dark shadows under its holder’s eyes, their emerald hue unrecognisable. His inky black waves, usually half-tied back, fell over his temples. His silver ring dangled over the exposed skin of his chest, where he had left his white cotton shirt unbuttoned. As per usual, his lips twisted into a grin.

Julien schooled his features into an unimpressed look. “Won’t the light attract attention?”

Sebastiano set the lamp on the floor. “Relax, love. We’re on the side of the island that faces the open sea. They’d have to see right through stone to notice us.”

He propped an elbow on the parapet, the hook’s absence noticeable on his prosthetic hand, and leaned against it. “Enjoying the view?” He gestured to the dark expanse.

Julien ignored him. “Do you think he’ll actually come to our aid? Eduardo, I mean.”

Sebastiano shrugged. “Why wouldn’t he?”

The glare Julien settled him with could’ve burned a hole through his precious ship, but Sebastiano stayed unfazed.

“He’s got no reason to believe we are going to beat either François or Bianca’s stepmother.” Julien crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes wandered to the sea. “Why risk bringing war to his country on such flimsy premises?”

“I think fleeing an island no one’s ever escaped before might’ve left a lasting impression,” said Sebastiano in a lilting voice.

Irritation bubbled in Julien’s throat. “You do realise we are leaving the fate of my kingdom in the hand of that stranger, right? It’s not a laughing matter to me.”

“To me either.” Sebastiano fixed him with a leveled gaze, his playful smirk just a bit muted. “I trust Mar. If she has a good opinion of the little prince, then so do I.”

Julien rolled his shoulders and relaxed his posture a little. “You put a lot of faith into one person.”

“You could use that, you know? Trusting people. Aside from your family, that is.”

Julien scoffed. “I trust Ro.”

Sebastiano grinned wider. “Afraid your brother’s fiancée counts as family.”

Rather than admitting defeat, Julien stayed quiet. He could grow used to Ro being part of his family. If he was honest with himself, he had already started seeing her as one of them a while ago, maybe even as far back as when she had thwarted the vampire huntress’s attack. Not that he would ever confess that to her.

“I don’t doubt Mar’s reliability,” he broke the silence, “but what if Eduardo has had her fooled this whole time?”

Sebastiano sighed. “Again, trusting people.” His smirk reappeared, alongside a mischievous glint in his eyes. “To be honest, the prince doesn’t look like he’s the brightest, and Mar has him wrapped around her little mermaid finger.” Something like pride coloured his tone. “Smart girl.”

“Such a romantic view,” deadpanned Julien.

Sebastiano stared straight into his eyes and stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “On the contrary, love.” Two fingers reached up to lift Julien’s chin and his heart stopped in his chest. “I’ll let you know I’m extremely romantic.”

Any reply slipped from Julien’s tongue as Sebastiano pressed his mouth against his. Julien’s eyes fluttered close. He tasted sea salt on his lips, rough like the fingers that held his face. The prosthetic snaked to his waist and trapped him between the bulwark and Sebastiano’s body. Despite the night breeze, his skin was on fire. It matched the flames that roiled through Julien’s blood and made his head spin.

Cold metal sent shivers up his spine as Sebastiano dragged his ringed fingers over his jawline and dug into his short curls. The light tug had Julien releasing a shaky breath into his mouth, one hand drifting to Sebastiano’s chest. His whole body trembled at the contact. Julien fisted his shirt and Sebastiano pushed harder against him, one knee sliding between his legs. Julien’s free hand ran to Sebastiano’s back, muscles shifting beneath his palm.

Sebastiano pressed his forehead against his and a breathy laugh rumbled through Julien, all the way to his toes. “Not fair. I only have one hand.”

Before he could think of a response, Sebastiano’s mouth brushed his again. He nibbled his bottom lip, then nuzzled his nose against Julien’s neck, a surprisingly intimate gesture.

Sebastiano drew back and Julien forced his eyelids to open. The green of his irises, muted in the lamp’s orange light, glinted at him. A softer version of his signature smirk crinkled the corners of his eyes.

He closed the distance once more and whispered into Julien’s ear, “Goodnight, love. Sleep tight.”

Sea breeze cooled Julien’s burning body as he watched Sebastiano retreat below deck, breathing ragged and thoughts a jangled mess.

[pocketramblr]

hi pocket!!! hope youre doing well :') 👀 Do you have any words/phrases you use habitually?  ✏️ What is your fave fic from another writer? 💕 What is the WIP that you are most excited about?

Hi!! Been doing pretty good over here

👀- I... Have no idea. I feel like I must but I don't even notice it. I have words I know I say often- y'all is the least of them- but ones that I actually use more in writing? No clue but I know it's gotta be something right.

✏️- only one favorite is really really really hard but um... Juxtaposition by readerdreamer maybe

💕- currently, The Witch and the Bodythief, which is the fourth story in the TWATB au, because last night I got a great idea on how to utilize Sir Nighteye in that and it's going to have a lot of payoffs and reveals in it. Unfortunately I just have to, you know, write it all, plus The Witch and the Blade and The Witch and the Bloodsucker first...

[pen-for-sword]

glad I'm not the only one who doesn't post much about their WIP! you were one of the first writeblrs I followed because yours sounded so interesting to me. fantasy, lucid dreaming, adventure, ancient china???

Hi Kly! Took me, what, a year? to reply, but I finally got around to it!

Thanks so much for the compliment! I have a gazillion several WIPs in various stages of development—the ones you mentioned is my main one, Lucidity (fantasy, adventure, lucid dreaming) and that other one I’m hoping to write after this, The Warrior and the Bookworm (fantasy, adventure, ancient China).

These blurbs are bound to change as I write more (and thus make more) of the plot, but as for now here they are:

Lucidity

Life’s been kind of a roller coaster for Kenny Ye. Between barely graduating high school, a car accident, some minor memory loss, and college confusion, she just wants a little peace and quiet. What she gets instead is a missing roommate, a dodgy boyfriend, and a mysterious girl with purple hair who insists that there’s more than meets the eye. Join Kenny as goes on an unforgettable magical adventure to uncover a forgotten past and save the magical fantasy realm of her childhood dreams.

The Warrior and the Bookworm

TWATB is a story of two lovers who are literally from different worlds. Zhou Xinai is a bookish Chinese farmgirl living in rural 70′s China, and Wu Sunho is a warrior / antagonist in a book called A Tale of Two Brothers. When Xinai wakes up one day to find her favourite character sleeping on her couch, the two have to rely on one another to cope with this bizarre turn of events. Along the way, they fall in love.. but when the book suddenly sucks the both of them back in, they find themselves facing a new set of dangerous challenges. Will love prevail at the end? Or is Xinai doomed to death by dragon... or worse?

[rose-bookblood]

No offense to my other OCs, but Bianca, my little lesbian Snow White, may have joined the podium of my favourite characters. She's just so fun to write.

[rose-bookblood]

First sentence tag

Thanks @bloodlessheirbyjacques for tagging me!

Here's the first line from the prologue of The Witch and the Beast. I initially wanted to share the first line from Bianca's novella, but I'm afraid that only eats with the full paragraph.

King Adam of Alsace had often wished to resemble his siblings, but never as much as when he stared straight into the blue eyes of his reflection in the mirror.

Free tag for whoever feels like sharing a first line <3

TWATB taglist: @ink-fireplace-coffee @the-inkwell-variable

[rose-bookblood]

Badly summarized WIP poll tag

Thanks @memento-morri-writes for tagging me! This is such a fun tag!

Thought I'd add some WIPs I haven't introduced yet. If anyone was wondering, the 4th project is TWATB's villain sequel/spin-off (not that I've introduced TWATB lmao).

Tagging @mel-writes-with-her-dragons, @chayscribbles and @onomatopiya.

[pen-for-sword]

17-01-18 | 12:44 PM

Wu Sunho

He is a main character from one of my WIPs, tentatively titled The Warrior and the Bookworm. Fun fact—he’s named after my grandfather, Hu Sunho.

He’s a warrior with dragon blood in his veins, dedicated to his nation and the men under his command. His upbringing shaped him into the man he is today—stern and disciplined, but also passionate and driven. Like the ocean, he is calm and sedate, but don’t be fooled—he is a dangerous man, unpredictable and ever changing. He has a love for poetry and music, particularly that of the erhu.

“sunho”

name aesthetic for @fragrant-stars

for a related moodboard, send a req here (rules)

who are you? are you the war god, flecked with blood and the glory of battle, eyes haunted with what you have seen? are you peace, ushered in on the wings of birds that should not exist, hailed by myth and legend and unattainable and will you save us? are you magic, carried in the wind and the sheer power coursing through the veins of those worthy and who are you? there’s music written in your soul, a passion, even, or maybe one or two, and a dream, or five; there’s a blade in your hand and determination in your heart - but who are you?

[rose-bookblood]

Happy Thursday!

Who is the person your character(s) feels trusts them the most?

Happy Out of touch Thursday (not the right Thursday, but definitely a Thursday)!

Ro knows for certain that the person who trusts her most is her father, simply because they're the only thing each of them have. They've always been there for each other and will continue to do so.

Adam feels like the person who trusts him most is his littlest sister Charlotte. The rest of his siblings love him, of course, but trust... that's a different beast. It's hard to trust someone who pushed you away and whose actions you don't understand. Charlotte, though, can't see Adam as anything except her kind big brother who will always protect her, even if that image doesn't align with reality.

Thanks for the ask, Sleepy!

[rose-bookblood]

Me writing foreshadowing in the book the protagonist reads in the first chapter: I'm THE smartest bestest writer to ever exist actually.

[rose-bookblood]

Me every time I open the TWATB documents: *grits teeth* Fucking... fucking French...

[rose-bookblood]

One of my top priorities when I review TWATB will be to fix the chapter breakdown, because what do you mean most don't even reach 2k and then chapter 16 is over 4k and I still have a plot point to cover?

[rose-bookblood]

I haven't even introduced TWATB yet and I already have a spin-off idea rotating in my head like rotisserie chicken, someone stop me.

[rose-bookblood]

The Witch and the Beast | WIP Intro

Genre: fantasy retelling, romance, post-apocalyptic steampunk

Target: NA

Setting: our world, France; centuries in the future

POV: multi (mainly 2), 3rd person limited, past tense

Themes: family, guilt & forgiveness, trauma, oppression, power

Logline: In an attempt to save her father's life, 21-year-old Rosebelle offers herself as prisoner to the king of a forgotten realm, cursed to remain a half-human, half-wolf beast.

Literal logline: Disaster bisexual falls in love with sad wet dog (literally) while juggling his nosy siblings and practicing witchcraft.

Featuring: one-sided enemies to friends to lovers | Arabic bisexual FMC | mixed black-white family | siblings dynamics | vampires, werewolves & witches | Italian pirates | side f/f & m/m pairings

Inspiration: various iterations of Beauty and the Beast and other fairytales

CW: violence, gore, death, descriptions of corpses, blood drinking, trauma & depression, sexual harassment, self-hate & implied self-harm (no physical injuries)

Hi, folks! After ages, I'm finally introducing this project I've been mentioning for months! It really shouldn't have taken me this long to post this, but I'm a busy perfectionist.

The best way I can describe TWATB is if Once Upon a Time and The Vampire Diaries had a child. Hopefully a better written one. It's mainly a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but in book 1 you can see hints of other fairytale characters and, in book 2, all new characters come from different stories. Yes, it is a series, it seems I'm physically unable to write standalones.

Plot

After a nuclear war set technology back and filled Earth's atmosphere with gas clouds that black out the sun, vampires came out of the shadows and subjugated the humans.

Rosebelle Fortier wishes to escape the small French village where she lives, unable to pursue her thirst for knowledge and tormented by a vampire who wants to make her his. Ro's wish comes true with a catch when she offers herself as prisoner to a half-human, half-wolf Beast and his siblings to save her father's life.

Before he angered the wrong witch, Adam ruled the Kingdom of Alsace. Now, he's a monster trapped in his own castle and by a curse that will only break if he learns to love and be loved back. Time is ticking by and, even when a girl stumbles on his path, Adam knows there's no hope: no one will ever love a beast.

As a hidden threat forms, Ro and Adam must come into their own power and fall in love, all before time runs out.

Characters

(* means a character appears in book 2)

Rosebelle Fortier

she/her

the Beauty

bookworm with a thirst for knowledge

curiosity killed the cat etc. etc.

may or may not become a witch

disaster bisexual

Adam d'Alsace

he/him

the Beast

a literal sad wet dog

(he's a werewolf)

(he's also depressed)

currently stuck in a hybrid form

François Guérin

he/him

the Avenant/Gaston

nasty musty crusty dusty

old as fuck vampire

spends his days harassing Ro

Delphine d'Alsace

she/her

eldest sister syndrome

forever plagued by guilt

Ro & Adam's matchmaker

this || close to losing it at all times

Julien d'Alsace

he/him

wishes his family did something to fix the situation

be gay do crime

grumpy but there's no sunshine (yet)

perpetually on the verge of spilling all the tea to Ro

Véronique d'Alsace

she/her

moody teenager

trans & asexual

wants to be left alone with her garden and books

she and Adam connect on a depression level

Charlotte d'Alsace

she/her

definitely undiagnosed ADHDer

aromantic

a ball of sunshine

loves running around the castle gardens in wolf form

Bianca Chen Hildebrandt*

she/her

the Snow White

princess of the Kingdom of Germany

lesbian

her stepmother turned her into a vampire against her will

is now leading a rebellion

Astrid Morgenstern*

she/her

the Sleeping Beauty

Bianca's loyal knight (in a totally heterosexual way)

pansexual

is currently. you guessed it. asleep

Sebastiano Falconieri*

he/him

the Captain Hook

unsurprisingly, a pirate

bisexual

Italian pride let's gooo

stuck on a magical prison island

Setting

Like I mentioned in the plot, TWATB is set in an unspecified future, after a nuclear war. As a consequence, the planet is cocooned by a thick cover of gas clouds that block all sunlight. Vampires, who had previously been considered a myth, came out of hiding and started ruling over the humans. Besides that unfortunate implication, lack of sunlight also means the climate is colder and living conditions are dire. The story is set in France, but now it looks like Siberia.

The war also set technology back a couple centuries, before the discovery of electricity. There's gas lamps, railroads (not many, because, y'know, lots of ice and snow), zeppelins. And, of course, I couldn't resist the steampunk/Victorian aesthetic.

But that's not all! Even though I'm not sure how much will come across in book 1, since it's set at the castle for 90% of the time, there's more to the setting than "steampunk but cold". I've built a vampire-centric society with its own rules and spent a bunch of time researching what effects the absence of direct sunlight would have, to make everything as realistic as possible.

This is all for now. Hope this "new" project piqued your interest!

— Rose

Taglist: (lmk to be added)

@ink-fireplace-coffee @the-inkwell-variable

[pen-for-sword]

29-05-18 | 10:56 PM

Update, but not really

Last night I actually dreamed about my characters (which is a w o n d e r f u l   alternative to my usual Gardenscapes dreams—I’m kidding, but not really.) Full disclosure: Yanfeng is every bit as charming as I’d always thought he’d be, and I look bangin’ in traditional Chinese attire. No joke.

[pen-for-sword]

06-03-18 | 11:50 PM

WIP Game

Meet ___, they’re the local courtesan.

I don’t have any courtesans in Lucidity. The closest I have to that is Yanfeng’s “Harem aunties”.

A little backstory: Yanfeng’s mom, Empress Xinyi, was the previous emperor’s childhood friend / first love. The only problem was, they couldn’t get married because she wasn’t of noble birth.

Instead of marrying the wealthy nobleman her parents matched her with, Xinyi joined the Emperor’s harem so she could be with him. Being the charming and pleasant person she was, she made a lot of friends—friends she kept in touch with even after she was made Empress.

Thus, Yanfeng grew up surrounded by his mom’s friends, the courtesans.