#rosalind timperley

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Denys Val Baker (editor) - Phantom Lovers - William Kimber - 1984

[craniumculverin]

Rosalind Timperley

Age: 31-32 (1st time meeting Wes)

Height: 5′5″

MBTI: ISFP

Traits: Red-brown wavy hair, hazel eyes, faint freckles, on the heavy side

Highly inquisitive, wayward, genuine, affable in nature. Naturally up-front and open in most respects, often breaks social etiquette in the process, accidentally or otherwise - she’s very conscious of others’ boundaries and correcting herself as a result. Very good at reading others barring a few areas, i.e. flirting, relationship stuff, sexual innuendos, etc. Despite this can still be oblivious when caught up in a topic or activity. Contrary to her outspoken tendencies she’s very self-doubtful. Enjoys interaction but prefers solitude or being with a few closer relations. Has played piano since childhood, enjoys dancing immensely, keeps up on science/technology, and has a fascination for machinery thanks to father/brothers’ work with trains. Was repeatedly kept from "low class" activities/occupations such as cooking or training to become a nurse. As a child she often snuck around to play with her brothers. Generally maintains appearances, but forgoes societal expectations regularly. Has shown no interest in courtship or marriage despite claiming she'd like children, much to her mother's vexation.

Parents: Both living, Father works with railroads, Mother is a pseudo-socialite

Technically old money by most standards, but are seen as lesser due to not being entirely English - rumored to have some Irish lineage. Father owns and funds numerous railroads and railroad construction projects, as well as handles their lands in England and Scotland. Heavy-set with greying curly reddish-brown hair with an impressive mustache, shorter than his wife, good-humored and generally kind outside of business affairs. Mother is the typical Victorian era upper-class mother, strict but well-intentioned. Slim but not skinny with wavy black hair, fairly tall for a woman. She travels between their estates and attends many social gatherings.

Father - Thomas-Henry (gentle and humorous but a merciless businessman)

Mother - Rosemarie (looks more intimidating than she actually is)

Siblings: 4 brothers - 3 older, 1 younger 

Eldest brother works for their father, big guy with his father’s girth and mother’s height, with curly red-brown hair. Other older brothers are twins - one works with their father, the other joined the Navy and was a Lieutenant when honorably discharged due to injury, aka got his leg amputated. They’re on the stouter side and are solidly built, with wavy red-brown hair. Younger brother went into clergy, got his mother’s slim and tall stature, with curly black hair. Only the twin brother working for their father is married - the eldest has a close friend aka secret lover, and the remaining brothers are not interested in marriage. Though their personalities vary greatly they’re all very protective of their only sister, and she of them. All are generally trusting of their sister's judgement, though the younger brother can be overprotective - spent more time with her growing up.

Eldest - Edward (all-growl-no-bite big gay teddy bear)

(Eldest’s lover) - Wallace (effeminate top that's good with people)

Twin (business) - Arthur (temperamental and gruff but softens easily)

(business Twin’s Wife) - Clementine (Rosa's coolheaded bff with a baby)

Twin (Navy) - August (laid back and very tired)

Younger - Bertram (WILL fight you and hurt himself trying)

[craniumculverin]

while planning ripper!au story stuff, i accidentally made an oc, rosalind, out of a wife character i made for one of @donc-desole​‘s ocs - wes, who got in as a tertiary character in the ripper!au cus his bf percy has such a prominent role. problem is, i ended up making a totally separate and unrelated story of how my oc and des’ oc(s) got together. what can i say, i just love these guys!

i know i’m not gonna get to writing it anytime soon, so i figured i’d share a few (unedited) rough drafts. hopefully my behind-the-scenes bullet point writing is as coherent to others as it is to me.

Wesley & Rosalind's First Meeting (also Harry’s there)

• at a social gathering thrown by some bigwig that invited everyone who could be considered noteworthy, aka old family and a lotta money - non-english and new-money need not show up

• it’s all stuffy judgey people, many of whom are old af or stuck up

• wes is hella uncomfortable and has no acquaintances to help him out - he’s looked down upon due to his family’s dwindling fortune/debts

• rosa is hella bored, no one wants to dance and everyone’s rude - she���s looked down upon for her family maybe not being entirely english, despite having a respectable fortune

• the two of them end up hanging around the periphery, drinking/eating too much, being uncomfortable and awkward

• wes keeps trying to join in conversations and the like cus he’s gotta maintain/make connections, but is hella nervous and ends up backing out again and again until he’s near rosa

• they end up sitting near each other as more dancing starts - the quartet is subpar and wes is sure half of the players are drunk, rosa notices too and makes an “unlady-like” comment, immediately correcting herself/apologizing

• wes has had just enough to drink to not mind the social misstep and even carry on the criticism, relieved to speak on a topic he remotely cares about for once that night

• they quickly move from the negativity to sharing their likes and dislikes of the modern music scene, sharing a few similar viewpoints, before moving to other topics - when they start hating on the other guests/how they’ve been treated, they move to a more private area outside

• rosa is proper but very open and insightful, and her manner of interacting with wes seems to draw him out of his awkward nervousness somewhat - despite her being a woman even, like what

• they have an enjoyable conversation ranging a multitude of topics, partly out of just being glad to finally be doing well socially - at one point rosa asks if he’d like to dance but he quickly declines, to which rosa is respectful and doesn’t ask again

• it begins to get dark and the few other guests outside head indoors, they’re all but alone - wes eventually notices and realizes how inappropriate it is, gets hella nervous again and says something about it

• rosa scoffs at the idea - what, is he going to do something to her? she to him? she trusts him and knows herself and her abilities, who cares if the people already unfairly judging them judges them more? why lose what precious little decent company they’ve found tonight simply because others might think something ill of them? etc., she goes off basically

• wes is silent cus one, he’s kinda dumbstruck and two, she’s right and he’s had enough to drink to let himself admit it, at least to himself

• rosa realizes she spoke out too much and backpedals, apologizes for her actions, wes is HELLA nervous and doesn’t know how to respond but eventually manages to say it’s alright

• they share an awkward silence cus neither knows how to proceed without likely making it even worse, when thank God for harry - he shows up in full dress uniform despite not being invited and supposedly still out of the country

• harry calls out to wes from just inside, plate of food in hand as he finds his friend and rosa - wes is insta-done and rosa isn’t sure what to think but acts appropriately - everyone inside is casting glares and muttering among themselves

• wes and harry greet and interact as they do, mostly about wtf is harry doing there, harry wasn’t invited how dare the host, how has the host not thrown him out, he’s made everyone mad, etc.

• rosa sees that they ARE in fact friends and watches with amusement - harry eventually stops to apologize and introduce himself to rosa and flirt a little, before raising his brows at wes, who is VERY done at this point

• rosa and harry share pleasantries and much to wes’s anguish start talking about him - harry being typical harry, rosa gently but firmly stating otherwise, that wes has been a wonderful conversationalist, is knowledgeable, acceptably verbose, etc., etc. - harry eventually raises his brows at wes even higher like, “oh~?”

• wes is ready to strangle harry and his face says as much - he stops the talking short to steer harry back inside while his friend bickers, rosa not far behind stifling her laughter, which only makes wes blush more

• by now the old host knows harry’s come unannounced, harry sees him and is instantly ready to harangue the man for the offense of not being invited - wes is suddenly very much aware of how badly this could go and wants to get he and harry out of there asap before any damage can be done

• wes hurriedly says his goodbyes and gratitudes for the evening to rosa, who does the same albeit not as sloppily, and says she’d love to speak with him again sometime - this takes wes so completely by surprise that he just stops and stares at her for a moment, mouth agape - and then harry starts shouting

• wes tries to wrangle an irate harry out of the party, but harry doesn’t budge until he’s said his surprisingly eloquent fill about ridiculous prejudices and a bunch of other righteously furious stuff I can't think of atm - once he’s done he marches out without waiting for wes, who’s as taken aback by harry’s words as the host

• wes glances to where rosa was before quietly excusing himself - rosa had made herself scarce so as not to cause further embarrassment on wes’s part should he see her witnessing all of this

• wes signals his coachman before trying to catch up to a startlingly cheery harry who’s still munching on party food, rosa waits for her own carriage to leave the party, observing the fallout from harry’s outburst

• scene change (kinda) - wes catches up and starts questioning harry - what the hell was he thinking? he's ruined his status for sure! etc., etc. - harry finishes his food before stopping short to give him a less than acceptable answer

• near the end of his reasoning he starts walking again and casually changes the topic to "wes' little friend", during which he frisbee-style flings the snack plate off somewhere - wes is speechless and has to jog to catch up, deciding to start on berating him for using rosa as a distraction instead of proper chinaware etiquette

• harry seems to only half-listen as wes tells him off for making assumptions, blah blah, etc., which only makes wes angrier - he stops walking to stomp his foot and shout something that finally gets through to harry

• he apologizes to get wes to calm down, sincerely says he's simply happy to see his friend comfortably interacting with a lady for a change - wes is thrown off for a sec by the sincerity but gets indignant about harry thinking he's not USUALLY comfortable talking to women, and starts in on that

• by now wes' coach is within view (driver having heard the shouting) and harry realizes wes is a little drunk - he shepherds wes into his ride as he continues to complain, getting in after him after asking the driver if he could be dropped off on the way to wes' place

• drunk and upset wes, of course, is outraged he'd commandeer his coachman like that, says of course he can't, but eventually decides he doesn't want harry over for the night and demands he be dropped off - harry dramatically and oh-so graciously thanks him, which wes takes as sincere

• they ride off, wes continuing to complain about harry to harry, who at this point isn't listening at all

• end

[craniumculverin]

next rough draft i have done of the rosa/wes/percy story! always fun to try and figure out the most in-character interactions for @donc-desole‘s boys.

Wesley & Rosalind Walk in the Park (and Percy too)

• rare clear sunny day quite some time after the party, wes decides to go to the parks - flowers are still out, he’s done with violin practice, plus he knows percy would approve of him getting out for a walk

• has his coachman drop him off, allows him to attend to a few errands since wes doesn’t plan to rush - left with no one waiting for him/a quick way to leave

• walks the paths for a while, park isn’t overly crowded and not a lot of children being loud, people aren’t in the way, etc. - actually enjoys himself

• near flower gardens wes and rosa see each other, can’t talk cus too far away and across a garden bed - rosa waves and starts coming over, wes isn’t as antsy as he could be since he enjoyed their last conversation and heads her way as well

• it’s only once they’ve almost met that wes remembers how he’d left the party, gets super anxious really fast - rosa is happy to see him again and says as much, wes is awkward and jumbles his words

• rosa sets him at ease by not bringing up the party immediately, they walk and talk, picking up on their previous conversation - music, composers, etc.

• eventually they get to the topic of the party, rosa talks about what happened after wes and harry left instead of events leading up to their leaving, aka harry being harry

• shares that not many guests actually heard, but word got around that the host was rightfully told off - wes is surprised, asks if this is true, rosa confirms, sharing that she heard the host say as much herself

• wes moves on trying to apologize for how things went, rosa brushes it off - he can’t control another person’s actions nor should consider himself responsible for them, especially for a man like harry - she gets that their friendship isn’t typical and rather unbalanced - wes feels more at ease

• they discuss harry, how he and wes came to be friends, wes shares all the nonsense he’s had to suffer because of him - after a while rosa sees the topic is going badly, points out a bunch of positives harry has brought about from wes’ examples - wes is indignant about being corrected but sees her point, goes quiet for a little bit as he thinks

• wes considers sharing how he lost his finger, figuring it was harry that set that string of events in motion, but hesitates - she hasn't seemed to notice it's missing, socially awkward thing to just bring up, etc.

• rosa takes the lull in conversation to change the topic to something lighter, how glad she is to have gotten out alone on such a nice day - wes realizes she was completely alone, asks after that - successful distraction on rosa’s part

• rosa shares she lives at her family’s london estate, where her mother’s currently staying - rosa almost never can leave without either her mother or a chaperone coming with her, which isn’t always bad but she’d rather have a choice

• rosa then asks after wes’s home life before immediately apologizing if that was too forward - wes is a bit nervous to answer given the sad state of things, but vaguely shares nonetheless - he doesn’t get the sense rosa’s trying to judge him, which isn't how he usually operates

• they’ve made it to an open area with trees and fewer people, still talking when wes sees percy reading under a tree - he falters and stares long enough for rosa to notice, following his line of sight

• rosa asks if wes knows the man, wes confirms and shares it’s his doctor - he’s gotten very conscious of having a woman on his arm now more than ever for some reason, says they should leave percy alone out of panic

• but percy hears his name (dr. hewlett) said in a familiar voice and looks up to see them and smiles - wes grimaces, rosa smiles, they walk over to percy’s spot as he stands

• percy greets wes before asking after rosa, wes is too much a mess to say anything real but rosa introduces herself without missing a beat (basically everything about this meeting is between percy and rosa cus wes is too awkward to actually do his part in introductions)

• rosa asks if percy would like to walk with them for a while, wes immediately starts stammering in the negative but percy, ever eager to observe wes and curious about rosa, agrees and retrieves his things - wes doesn't know how to feel or what to do but he's very uncomfortable

• they walk for a ways in silence before rosa asks what percy had been reading, to which percy answers - rosa has some interest and knowledge of the subject and the two easily fall into discussion with wes silently between them, still uneasy but slowly realizing it's alright, even pleasant

• at some point percy makes a passing mention of wes bringing her up to him which rosa asks after, instead of answering percy deflects it off to wes to bring him in/see how he reacts

• wes nervously mentions that he sees percy often, rosa is instantly worried and asks if he's in good health, to which he manages to say yes, they just talk on occasion outside of appointments

• amused at wes' reactions, percy chimes in to make it more understandable/believable, rosa seems relieved and says she's glad wes isn't ill - wes is taken aback by how genuine she is, percy takes note

• for a time percy and rosa discuss various topics of interest while wes listens, occasionally drawn in by one or both of them to comment, rarely of his own accord but not forcefully

• eventually wes and rosa start talking about music again, to which percy listens and observes the two interact - they reach one of the park's exits where rosa and wes' respective carriages are waiting

• wes is surprised to see his and at how much time has apparently passed, rosa laughs and agrees on the time, that good company can make it fly, to which percy agrees while making a point to look at wes - wes blushes which percy notices but rosa somehow doesn't

• saying she should be on her way, she asks after percy, if he plans to stay or would like a ride somewhere - wes is appalled at a lady offering a man she just met such a thing but doesn't get a word in as percy politely declines, saying he'd like to continue his reading in the park

• they say their goodbyes, rosa expressing thanks to them both for the enjoyable walk, happy to see wes again, to meet percy - wes sorta manages to respond, percy thanks her in turn

• once she's in her coach and leaving, while wes is still watching her go percy looks at him with a sly smile - wes notices, gets angry and goes to tell him off but percy comments on how pleasant a friend he's made, before starting to walk back into the park

• wes is suddenly a mess of emotions he doesn't understand - curious, annoyed, embarrassed, indignant, worried, etc. - and goes after him

• he catches up with percy and they walk for a while before wes asks him his opinion of rosa - percy reiterates that she's pleasant, also that she's well-read and insightful - wes isn't satisfied with the answer but doesn't know why, so continues to press

• percy turns the questions back on him, asks what wes thinks of her - wes responds as societally expected, falls silent for a time, then quietly and offhandedly comments on how easy she is to talk to

• percy agrees, fully understanding how much that means coming from wes - he'd already decided to promote wes interacting with her, but is now even more certain that he'd like to see what comes of it

• he asks wes if he'd like to join him but wes declines cus he actually has somewhere to be for once and isn't just making excuses - they part ways, percy back to his tree and wes to his coach, both lost in thought

• end