#wip: aool

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Result of this round:

I'm happy with it :)

I removed a bit over 2000 words including one scene, I sprinkled in a generous amount of chronic pain, and I fixed 3 small and one even smaller issues; like mentioning in one scene [name] stopped her on her way to her room, which is where she killed him, but in another scene, his blood is on the floor in his room. Nono, can't have that.

All in all, I left 300 notes for me to fix, from changing a single word to a whole paragraph to adding (or removing) a detail, and after that I did two overused-word-hunting-passes, leading to the elimination of a mixed bag of around 100 "still" and "something". I know there are more words I overuse, but I am tired now.

I'm not super happy with all of the chapter titles, but there are some I really love. One of my favorites:

I put it into a test layout, and atm we're at 410 pages :)

This round's goal:

- kill 500 words

- add more pain

- add more nightmares

[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]

Once again I mourn the lack of a healer in this story.

Can't break shit. Can't dislocate shit. Can't lose too much blood. Can't just give her a kidney infection without a plan b.

Like, come on, I just wanna have some fun :/

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Dialogue Tag

In the decade between xmas and the new year, I was tagged by @winterandwords and since I'm currently editing All of our lives, I'm gonna grab some dialogue from the chapter I am at.

“How do you feel?” “I killed Greer.” “Okay.” That was not what— fuck. He needed to be more awake for this kind of talk. He pushed himself up. “Okay. Why? No. Wait. Can we get breakfast first? At least some tea.”

Priorities!

I want some tea now.

I'm tagging, only if you feel like doing it, uhhhh.... let's see who's around. Perhaps @quietly-by-myself and @whumpinthepot and an open tag!

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

[ID: Six images arranged in a mood board. 1) A dark and dirty, derelict dungeon cell with a small window near the ceiling. 2) Three old, massive iron keys on a keyring, lying on folded linen. 3) A barred door made from massive wood planks with fittings for an equally massive latch. 4) Closeup of a person holding an iron chain in dirty hands. 5) Closeup of hands tight together with a massive iron chain wrapped around the wrists. 6) A dark, derelict vault, lit by small beacons of firelight. End ID]

Medieval dungeon whump aesthetic for anonymous

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

WIP Acrostic Tag

I was tagged by @winterandwords with the word HOPING <3

📝 Share a sentence from your WIP that starts with each letter in the word given to you by the person who tagged you.

Man, those are HARD. Do you know how often H and I appear in a 122k word draft? 😆 But! Now I decided to pick all of them as quotes from Lichen, because I love Lichen.

Those all are from All of our Lives.

H

“Her kidneys don’t look too great, either, but she needs those, you know.”

O

“Open it. Dip your finger into the powder and put it on her gums. Be careful that she doesn’t bite your finger off, and try not to swallow any yourself.”

P

“People keep calling me a healer, but I’m not. I do not have life magic.”

I

“I’m sorry to say, kid. But your family sucks.”

N

“Nettles, blueberries, walnuts, and that only with an hour or two of looking. It’s a good forest.”

G

“Gods know what made your parents come to me for whatever they thought I could do for you.”

Aaand I am gonna tag, if you feel like doing it: Lichen-enjoyer @sarandipitywrites and @the-inkwell-variable and whoever else might feel like doing it (open tag).

And your word is MONDAY (because I hate that the weekend is over 😭)

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

[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. End ID]

Looking for a Beta Reader

with Cerebral Palsy

I hesitate to call it a sensitivity reader. I'm not looking to see whether all the violence and despair is necessary — I assure you, it is — but to see whether I got the char right.

Ross is a ~20 year old guy with cerebral palsy, living in a non-modern fantasy setting where he has to come to terms with the fact that his family is a bag of dicks and his best friend, who he thought was dead, has been held captive and abused for months. Born rich and privileged, he has a lot to learn while the two are on the run.

In whump-terms, he's the caretaker (he gets hurt, too), and in ao3-terms, the content warnings consist mostly of graphic depictions of violence and rape/noncon, though I feel inclined to add a warning for emergency field surgery as well (not too graphic - the pov doesn't look at it).

I'm of course willing to answer any questions or concerns about the content, but to make it clear, the target audience is whump enjoyers, and a few chapters might need a deceased pigeon sticker.

The WIP intro with the blurb, additional info and full warnings is here. I'm looking for feedback by end of March the latest, so I can get everything ready in April.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Irina Vaughn

“I want to kill her.”

[ID: A portrait made in the game guild wars 2, showing a young woman with very pale skin, dark brown eyes, and thin, dull, medium-to-dark brown hair that touches her shoulders. She is wearing a plain linen shirt. End ID]

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

What is your caretaking style? (Permissive, tough love, smothering, etc.) - hey ross, eilis, merry, whatcha think

Thank you for the ask! From this ask game.

Eilis: Stares at you blankly before leaving you standing there.

Merry: "What? I don't know what— I'm trying my best, okay?"

It's Damien who gives you a deadly glare.

Ross: "Would you mind explaining what those terms mean?"

After a lengthy explanation to which he nods along, he states, "None of that makes sense. She's my sister, not some kind of... pet."

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

The Kids

Ross and Irina from All of our Lives, happy and free and safe, perhaps next spring in the park near their home :)

They both like to spend lots of time outside. Irina will watch the blossoms and clouds and soak up all the colors, and Ross will probably watch a bug... or her. Sometimes he still can't believe he has his little Ivy back.

Breezy's post here, picrew link here.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Nooooooo

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Lichen

“Toad eyes and wasp wings and worm tails. What do you want?”

[ID: A portrait made in the game guild wars 2, showing a middle aged person with sun-tanned skin, dark eyes, and pale green hair that is partially bound back and sports a braid on each side of their head. Over a simple shirt, they are wearing a rough cloak held together with a clasp in front of their shoulder. They look grim. End ID]

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Ross DeWitt

“We’ll go together. I won’t leave you. I promise.”

[ID: A portrait made in the game guild wars 2, showing a young man with pale skin, bright brown eyes and light brown hair that falls below his ears. While he looks straight at the camera, his left eye points inward (strabismus.) He is wearing a plain linen shirt. End ID]

[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]

Every time darkness reached for her with the lingering promise that her pain could be over, she let his voice and touch cradle her. The pain was worth it, if only she could stay with him a moment longer, could let his embrace displace one more memory of endless hours alone under the earth.

📖 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: Whump I mean uh, cozy dark fantasy

POV: Third person past tense, dual POV

Wordcount: 120k

Status: contemplating more beta readers

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 / a bowl full of oats / scars and trauma / “please stay” / unexpected kindness / bloody chains / “as long as we have each other”

Moodboard | Picrew

And some custom artwork, containing 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 best 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 the person he wanted to spend his life with is dead?

Lichen

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

📖 Tags & More

So far, I have been dumping everything into the tag: #wip: aool

When it's done, it will be released in (free) ebook format. 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.

Because I won't put it on Tumblr, I don't have a tag list, but you can tell me if you want to be notified upon release :)

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

🌈 and 🪩 for the ask game?

Thank you for the ask! From this ask game.

🌈 What research do you plan on doing for your writing?

Well, whatever comes up. As I don't currently have a new WIP, I don't currently know what that will be 🤔 Perhaps non-modern mining. Some more herbalism. Bushcraft.

Chances are if I settle on a new project, I'll also pick a new disability, but my motivation isn't exactly high atm, and I don't even have the char ideas yet. Brain still sticking too much to AOOL (and two others) to daydream of new scenarios.

🪩 Do you have any "good" writing habits you want to cultivate?

I think what I've done so far has worked pretty nicely.

Perhaps actually editing when I say I have to edit 😅🫣

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

hi Elli, happy Storyteller Saturday!! I haven't done these in a long while, so I'm gonna use this opportunity to catch up/learn about my fellow writeblrs' current projects >:)) so, tell me, what are you actively working on right now? how far along are you? what are you most looking forward to in the project?

Hello Cee, happy STS!

Oh man, I haven't had one of those in moooonths.

I am not actively working on anything, unless 100% achievements in Spiritfarer count 🤷

3 weeks ago, after writing nonstop for 6 months, I finished the first draft of All of our Lives. I am currently waiting for feedback (I have 3 beta readers, one of which is done yelling at me) as well as for the artist to be available for the last commissions. In the meantime, we had a steam sale...

There are a few things I need to check for, and I will try to cut some words, but I don't really wanna do that before I know if I need to fix anything else. I already made a cover and all, so it's really just fiddling my thumbs and staring at the wall until my gmail beeps. Those thumbs are on a controller in the meantime.

Looking forward is also hard to say. I am in the middle of my post-draft "I can't believe I finished a novel, I will NEVER be able to do that again" down, and my last novella in May flopped completely, so I'm looking towards the eventual release with mixed feelings—and that's before I remember how scared I am because of a certain graphic content 🙃 I think mostly, I am looking forward to reading my beta comments. By posting as ebook instead of on tumblr, I lost almost all my interaction, and it's lonely.

As for the story, it's my one skyrim char backstory of "what if we start in a prison" turned novel, taking a few tumblr prompt posts along for the ride. Pathetic wet cat woman on an unhinged revenge murder spree, check. Disabled caretaker and golden retriever supportive guy, check. Platonic relationship and so much trauma, check.

I have a WIP Intro for it, which contains, among other things, a more useful blurb.