#wip: aool

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

All of our Lives

[ID: A banner showing two children walking hand in hand away from the reader through a forest of barren young trees. The title All of our Lives is written across in a pale yellow to bright blue gradient. All other images are decorative dividers with a row of blue flowers. End ID]

Because she was his little Ivy, and he had missed her so much. Because he had thought he would never see her again, that she had died without a chance for him to say goodbye. Because it felt like a miracle that they could have a second chance, and if only she let him, he wasn’t going to fuck it up again.

📖 Synopsis

How far are they willing to go to finally be free?

As children, Ross and Irina were inseparable—rich and poor, nerd and dreamer, the disabled youngest son and the maid’s daughter ordered to assist him with his daily tasks. Now that they are grown up, his hopes of moving out and taking her away from his cold-hearted parents are shattered when she is arrested after killing his brother.

Half a year later, he is kidnapped for a ransom he knows won't be paid, and in the derelict building where the bandits leave him to die, he discovers a terrified, emaciated figure. Irina is alive; barely. Months of isolation and abuse have changed her, but Ross refuses to lose her again. If that means staying by her side while she embarks on a bloody path of revenge, so be it.

📖 About

Genre: Idk man, it's whump, I mean uh, cozy dark fantasy

POV: Third person past tense, dual POV

Wordcount: 122k

Status: first draft done, editing next

Content Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence and rape, captivity, starvation and isolation, self-harm, forced to watch, infection, field surgery, childhood abuse and ableism, sexual coercion, various gruesome murders (they're the bad guys)

Vibes: a cold, dark dungeon cell / chosen family / “please don’t kill her” / loneliness / a tin box filled with fruit cake / revenge / “i’m sorry” / hands desperately reaching for the other / scars and trauma / unexpected kindness / “as long as we have each other”

Moodboard

Custom artwork links below, contain spoilers as well as violence <3

Home at last | So close yet so far | It's not her blood | Done with this shit

📖 Cast

Irina Vaughn

When she was five, her mother took the position as a rich family's maid, and Irina became the de-facto caretaker for their disabled son. At only one year apart, they quickly became friends, too.

Ross DeWitt

Hoping to finally prove his worth to his family, Ross tried so hard to graduate with honors—only for his life to fall apart at the last moment. What good is a degree if his favorite person is dead?

Lichen

While they have a big heart, everyone who comes looking for their services as herbalist needs to make it past their gruff exterior and eccentric behavior. They like plants more than people.

📖 Tags & More

So far, there's only one tag I have been using: #wip: aool

I don't have a tag list. When it's done, it will be released in (free) ebook format and not on Tumblr. I hope to be finished with the draft at the end of the year and aim for a release in the first half of 2025.

[bangtan-madi]

WIP Folder Tag, tagged by @dreamcatcherjiah 💕

— rules: post the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. then let people send asks with the title that most intrigues/interests them and you’ll post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

I'm kinda sad to report that I don't have a ton in my WIPs right now. Haven't been motivated to write lately 🙈 Here's what I do have, including outlines...

over again

546DWY -- Thirteen: Day 499

YOTR -- Outro

AOOL -- Nine:

violent delights

Overture for Nagoya

Depths

twenty-seven | jungkook

Two are original projects and the rest are bts. Guess which is which 😌

Tagging @kooala @taetaespeaches @joonni @hobicomeholla29 @softlyjiminie @chemicalpink @moon-write @seok-jinnies @cultleaderyoongi @minloop (I know some of you are on writing hiatus, so absolutely no pressure 💕)

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

WIP Acrostic Tag

I was tagged by @the-inkwell-variable with the word CANDLE.

I think the rules are to find a quote that starts with each of the letters of the given word, so let's go.

Calling her his maid was plain wrong, and calling her his sister was technically a lie, and calling her a friend was not enough, and he really had no words for how much she meant to him.

And she didn’t want to leave him again, but she didn’t think she was going to get much of a choice in that matter.

Not willing to dwell on the state of her health, she grabbed the empty bowls and struggled to her feet, making sure she faced away from Ross as the pain made her grimace.

“Did you touch anything?” he asked, voice breaking apart in a shrill squeal.

“Let’s hope they believe us or we’ll send an ear next time.”

Every other building he had entered during the past three weeks paled in comparison to the sprawling mansion of dark wood and marble.

I'm carefully tagging from under my pile of leaves @pleasestaywithmedarling and @cc-writes-stuff and an open tag, and if you want to do it, your word is NIGHT

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

First Line Tag

I was tagged by @the-inkwell-variable and I'm gonna tag @pleasestaywithmedarling and @writingmoth if you want to do it :)

Not doing the very first line of this WIP, because I don't like it. The WIP is closing in on 60k words and I won't start editing before I am done, so first line of the current chapter is the next best thing I can offer.

In the fading light of a day that had passed unnoticed, Irina watched Ross sleep. She couldn’t remember the last time he had gone this long without being woken up by a spasm, if he hadn’t been unable to fall asleep because of the pain in the first place.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

All of our Lives

When their dreams of a peaceful life together turn into a nightmare of violence and despair, how far are they willing to go to finally be free?

WIP Intro

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

9 Lines, *looks at smudged writing on hand* some People Tag

I was tagged by @sarandipitywrites <3

Obligatory enby rep just dropped for All of our Lives:

Just when he wanted to knock a third time, the door was ripped open with so much vigor, it slammed against the wall and a few fibers of dried moss fluttered down from the roof. Ross flinched, clutching the crutch to keep himself upright as his left leg spasmed. A figure filled the doorway, a head and a half taller than him, with thin, pale green hair and wrinkly, sun-tanned skin. They wore a robe of indeterminable shape and color, like dirt and grass and rotting leaves made clothing. A strand of ivy wrapped around their neck and dangled down their front, and they waved a fossilized toad on a stick around as they called out in a booming voice. “Toad eyes and wasp wings and worm— Ross? Is that you?” The toad-on-a-stick was lowered. “Hello, Lichen.”

I barely know a single person to tag anymore, let alone 9, so I'm just gonna tag a third of that :p If you feel like doing it @the-inkwell-variable @winterandwords and @starlit-hopes-and-dreams

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Last line tag

I was tagged by @winterandwords and for ONCE (keep the fireworks and trumpets in check) I will do it instantly.

Also for once, the actual last lines in my doc:

“Would you stop me?” she whispered. “I can’t stop you.” It was an answer. It wasn’t the one she had hoped for.

Tagging @pleasestaywithmedarling and @starlit-hopes-and-dreams because I wanna know what you two are up to >_>

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by @winterandwords (not to mention several weeks ago by someone else but ehhhhhhh September is killing me)

This one is from my current chapter of All of our Lives:

“Starburst.” They inhaled deeply before offering the smoking cylinder of rolled up leaves to Ross. “Want some?” Ross eyed the thing with suspicion. “I don’t know how to use… smoke? That.”

And I'm gonna tag, if you feel like doing it, @the-inkwell-variable and @sarandipitywrites and an open tag! :)

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Progress Update

Guys, send help, I had already the word Sept- typed out before I remembered it is, in fact, October.

But I did get my October word goal done with 10 days to spare, which is neat, because now I can hopefully push further into November's goal already and also finish perfection in SDV for the first time.

You might wonder why I even bother with setting my goals like that, if the reality is all over the place. Well you see, with October's goal low like this, I am now delighted that I made it rather than stressed during those last few days, and anything on top is a gold star bonus. It's all about cheating myself!

In other news, we're in the last stretches of the middle part (I hope *fingers crossed*) but unfortunately I have no idea yet where the last part will take me, word-wise. I just hope that at some point I will feel like doing a lil timeskip, and then I'll do it, because man, this is not gonna end in 20k, is it?

Reminder that I made a WIP Intro and got a third commission done! :D

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

🥳🎉

August isn't over yet, and I just reached my third (and last) word count goal for this month. As I had hoped, the characters have been a bit more forthcoming and the scenes have been a bit easier to write.

I would love to say I'm halfway there, but honestly? The outline went up in flames 10 chapters ago. I don't know exactly where I am going now. All I know is there will be blood 🥰

The thing is, this is the first time I have not been rereading what I wrote. Except for when I needed a detail (now where did I cut her? 🤔) I have not looked back once I finished a chapter. It's one of the reasons* I don't want to do tag games with this WIP yet.

I have no doubt that the early chapters will need a bit more editing to get in line with how the characters turned out, but I might just see this through to the end and not look back until the first draft is done. I hope this will be the case by the end of the year.

In other news, I decided that at 50k, if I still like the idea I had a few weeks back, i would give it a (temporary?) title, so here it is:

All of our Lives

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Friday Kiss Tag

I was tagged by @winterandwords <3

Twice. Man, I barely have one kiss. My chars don't do that, and I'm running out of tragic scenes with a forehead kiss instead, but there is one left!

“I asked them to do it,” Ross interrupted Lichen. His voice was strained, the familiar tone of him trying to speak clearly when he was in too much turmoil to control his muscles well. “You were… you were dying, and they said. It would give you the best chances. To live. I need you to live.” The despair in his words didn’t make sense. “But if I. I was dying. And now I’m not.” Her fingers slid over Ross’ shirt, and he instantly grasped her hand. “Isn’t that. Isn’t that good?” “It is.” Through tears, he kissed her forehead. “It is.”

I'm leaving it an open tag in case anyone in my aro and or ace pocket has a kiss.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

WIP Questionnaire Tag

Snatching it from @tildeathiwillwrite and since that was an open tag, I'll just leave it an open tag.

1. What’s the first part of your WIP that you created? 2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be? 3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why? 4. What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share? 5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP? 6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them! 7. How do your characters travel/get around? 8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now? 9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) will you think draw your audience in? 10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

Under the cut for my currently still untitled project:

1. What’s the first part of your WIP that you created?

As always, the first line of the first chapter :D I don't consider the brainstorming/planning phase a part of the WIP or I would have an intimidating amount of WIPs.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I don't go there, but my personal current theme song is

Calum Scott, Leona Lewis - You Are The Reason (Duet Version)

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

I can never pick between the two leads. As always, they both have aspects I love very much, and they don't work without the other. Bonded stray cats characters, you know.

I'm really early on still, and I hope to see more of their personalities unfold when they're not uh. Currently dying.

So far, there are no (planned) side characters I like. What happens, happens.

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share?

I really don't know. When I try to think of any kind of published media that hits the same way, I come up empty. And when I try to compare my stuff to something, all I can see are the differences. And not in a "look how unique I am" way, but in a "this is obviously not what they want" one.

Perhaps I should take a look at Anna's favorite books list to answer that 😂

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

The chapter I finished last night. It has, let's say, graphical content of a nature I have not written before 😬 Took me over a week or more to get the whole scene down. I hope now things will get easier.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Nope. Probably a few that end up in a cooking pot, though I don't think either of the two is as good at trapping as Eilis is 😅

7. How do your characters travel/get around?

Exclusively by foot!

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

I think I'm about to be done with the first part of the story, and we're soon moving on to "escaping from the torture dungeon" :D

I did a very rough outline that would put those 20k words as 1/4 but we all know it won't stay at 80k total, don't we.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) will you think draw your audience in?

Graphic depictions of violence.

Since I don't make anything off it, advertising isn't exactly my main job, but I seem to be rather unable to pull new readers in, no matter how many fancy posts and images I make with quotes and tropes and whatnot. So, in the end, I think most readers will read it because I wrote it and they liked other things I wrote - and I love them for it 💜 🥺

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

Think of a fucking title. Finish it by the end of the year. Afford 2-4 pieces of custom artwork. Find some readers? 🥺

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

For the Summertime Writers' ask game:

🦋 tell us about your current wip

🐥 here's some writing motivation!

I have two current WIPs:

One is an idea I had ages ago, but whipped into shape for (hopefully) that one August whump prompt event. Riordan really deserves to be fucked up a bit, so we're gonna strand him in the wilderness \:D/

I am 5 chapters into the preparations (as in, they're not prompt fills yet) with one more to go before we get to the prompts outline. Should be 12 chapters in total, to be posted in July and August (fingers crossed.)

The title for now is Fancy Boots vs Wild, and honestly, it's only for tumblr, might stay that way xD

The second on is, uhh 👉👈 This is the first time in ages that I do not even have a temporary title. Usually I at least have a dumb idea I save the document as (that sometimes stays), but this time, it's literally Untitled Dungeon Project.

I'm basically throwing a lot of things that have come across my dash as "we need more of this!!" into a pot, pour a bit of blood, despair and violence over it, and stir it until it becomes a happy end.

Some good old lady whump

A ⭐dungeon⭐ (it's been a while, ok)

Unhinged revenge murder spree

Disabled "caretaker"

I'm not sure that's morally gray anymore

Platonic relationship between the protagonists

At the moment, it's early in the blood, despair and violence phase.

It's a long phase.

*turns the writing motivation into a knife* Hey [character] where are you.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Sending hugs always!

⚘️ - Give me a snippet!

Please and thank you!

Thank you for the ask! From this ask game.

Whoops. Where did that week go. 10k later than anticipated, we're out of the torture dungeon! \o/

Under the cut for a very disgusting dead body that's very much not fresh.

The cause for her scream was unmistakably the dead body nestled in the layer of ivy on the ground. A body that, by the looks of it, had been dead for a while. The discolored fabric of his clothes was stretched tightly over his swollen torso, and scavengers had taken the eyes and torn off bits of skin, leaving chunks of exposed flesh crawling with maggots. 

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

🎒 (backpack) - What items does your oc usually carry? Do they have a bag or just keep everything in their pockets? Do they carry a lot or a little? - I just woke up so you can choose which char XD

Thank you for the ask, I don't remember what ask game it was from and I am too lazy to look it up XD

Man, this one is hard. I never really think about it. As someone who always has a full backpack whenever I leave the house, it's almost embarrassing. But like, what are my OCs gonna carry? A smartphone and their tram ticket?

So I'm going with Ross, because he is currently the only one I at least imagine with a bag XD Which is because he can't use his left arm and his right one is reserved for the crutch, so it's his only way to carry things, but bag is bag.

Things my guy will always have on him:

The key to where he's staying (if applicable, no keys for abandoned hunting lodge)

A bit of money (it takes him a while to adjust to what "a bit" means)

Some of his pills (he has to take them every 8 hours, so he likes to be preprared in case he's not home)

One day I will get him to keep painkillers on him (today is not that day)

A small cup (free water exists, but drinking it is a pain if you can't cup your hands)

A notebook and pencil (can you imagine coming across something important and being unable to write it down? couldn't be him)

A handkerchief or two (he doesn't mind most disgusting things, he just doesn't want to have them on himself)

The last random things he picked up (shiny rock! pretty feather! what are those dead, green crumbs?)

... yknow. That still sounds mostly boring. Sorry.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

🃏 - wildcard! whoever sent you this gives you free rein to answer whichever prompt you want

Hehe this is a fun one I couldn’t resist

Thank you for the ask! From this ask game.

Haha, I feel like dragging Ross into this.

👪 - does your character have a good relationship with their family?

Current scene, basically:

Ross: Please tell me that's my sister's blood.

Irina, covered in said blood, nods.

Ross: Good.

So uh. Splendid 👍