#wip: the mummers' masque

[glbettwrites]

Hello, George. How are you? I hope you are having a wonderful day today. Happy Blorbo Blursday. This is for any of your OCs.

Is your character a good judge of character? If so, have they ever 'dodged a bullet' thanks to their intuition? If not, have they ever trusted someone they shouldn't have?

Hello & thank you @bardic-tales!

I'm gonna answer this one for Raavos because he's a hilariously bad judge of character. Which is funny because he's a musketeer working for the city, so in his daily life he's actually really good at picking the typical crook out of a crowd.

But that's his issue—he's only ever been trained to spot the obvious types: the petty thieves, the stabby-mc-stabbersons, the moustache-twirlers, etc. There are multiple occasions in The Mummers' Masque where he realises that someone's been doing horrible things under his nose for years and he had zero clue.

Because he was trained to be that way.

He arrests Thiyo for stealing (which puts him on everyone's shit list) but the Thiyo situation is the first in a long time where he stops to think after he's locked him up like 'shit, wait...could I have done something different?' And that line of thinking only opens up because Luzya screamed it in his face when he made the arrest and he had a crush on her. So he actually stops to look at himself from the outside for a moment. Just a moment.

Then all the crap with his family happens and he's too focused on revenge to do soul-searching for a while. But still he's there making these terrible snap judgements that, with the help of the troupe, he unlearns over time.

Raavos kind of does the opposite of dodging bullets in this story; he runs straight into them. Repeatedly. He's so brainwashed and manipulated, and he’s not even quick to learn from it because he thinks each incident is the exception, not the rule.

When, really, it's just the rule.

[glbettwrites]

Picrew

Thought I'd make cute lil' icons of Luzya x Raavos & Thiyo x Talys from The Mummers Masque.

Now I have something to squee at 👀

[glbettwrites]

Creators' Club: Fun Fact Friday!

The Mummers' Masque: OC Origin Trivia

So this is a super new project, BUT the characters in it existed in different forms waaaaaaaay earlier. So here's the rundown:

Luzya (the protagonist and leader of the mummers' troupe) and Raavos (the love interest and disgraced musketeer) were ocs that I've used over the years in interactive fiction games, mostly medieval ones. So their personalities are rock solid already because I've actively roleplayed as them for so long. It makes the planning process much easier!

Thiyo (a major side character, a new member of the troupe) was the character I made as my Main Pawn in Dragon's Dogma 2! And then I realised I liked him more than my own character, so I remade him to play as. He's an absolute sweetheart and I can't wait to introduce him to you guys.

More members of the troupe:

Nesaea: Was originally a side character in my Greek-inspired fantasy world, but her personality now is very different.

Ysaela: Her personality's based on the protagonist of a project I had almost 10 years ago. I also made her Nesaea's sister for this :)

Talys: Was very nearly the protagonist of this book before I decided on Luzya!

Creators' Club Daily Writeblr Games & Asks from @bardic-tales!

[glbettwrites]

The Mummers' Masque by G.L. Bett - ON HIATUS

↪ genre(s): adult flintlock fantasy; low fantasy; romance ↪ pov: third person, past tense ↪ status: outlining; hiatus ↪ type: standalone novel ↪ themes: enemies to uneasy allies to lovers; heists and assassinations; guns and rapiers; desire for a fresh start; justice; revenge; responsibility; corruption; self-interest; secrets and lies; blood vs. found family—split loyalties; more TBA

↪ hook: Saddled with her predecessor’s debts, the leader of a mummers' troupe is drawn into a musketeer’s revenge plot, tempted by the fortunes of his aristocratic mark.

↪ the plot:

Leader of a touring troupe of mummers, Luzya has been saddled with a staggering debt left by her late predecessor. Hounded by debt collectors from a powerful guild who intercept each coin the mummers earn, escape back to their homeland is a pipe dream—and survival itself is starting to feel a little precarious.

Growing desperate, some in the troupe start to engage in thievery; one is caught in the act and pursued back to the playhouse by a musketeer. Luzya's pleas fall on deaf ears as, intent on following orders, he hauls her friend away to the city dungeons.

Weeks pass. Fortunes shift.

With his parents' recent deaths at the hands of a corrupt aristocrat, Raavos' life has spiralled out of control. His investigation into their unjust execution turned him into an enemy of the state, and now he finds himself a stowaway in the troupe's caravan, at the mercy of the woman to whom he had shown none.

Primed to hand him over to the city just as he had her friend, Luzya is only stopped in her tracks when Raavos proposes a heist to fill the troupe's coffers���enough to pay off their debts, sail back home, and live out their days in luxury.

And, he says, the troupe already has their ticket in: their upcoming performance at an aristocrat's masquerade. They leave with the coin, he his vengeance. A mutually beneficial arrangement—and quid pro quo becomes a new way of life for Luzya and Raavos as they gather the allies and resources required to pull this off.

Amidst the gryphon taming, prison breaks, smuggling of exotic glamours, and favours purchased from a spy network run by Luzya's own cunning half-brother, the duo realise that if they're to survive the scheming of everyone else in the city...at the very least, they're going to have to trust each other.

[glbettwrites]

26/09/2024

New WIP in the Works!

The WIP is confirmed; I have a plan for the beginning, middle, and end so I know it's feasible.

The title: The Mummers' Masque.

It's going to be a character-focused heist novel set in a flintlock low fantasy world with romance.

Elevator Pitch: Saddled with her predecessor’s debts, the leader of a mummers' troupe is drawn into a musketeer’s revenge plot, tempted by the fortunes of his aristocratic mark.

Already made the moodboard for the intro post, so that'll be posted pretty soon :)

The vibes I'm feeling about this (now I know I'll be able to pull off a heist plot) are immaculate! Here's to the start of something fun!

[glbettwrites]

I really need to figure out how to have WIPs that are small in scale. Small is what I need to ease back in.

The Mummers' Masque is on hiatus, I don't even care if I'm being indecisive the last couple of weeks because I'm learning a lot since rejoining writeblr. And I'm not gonna delete my blog out of shame this time. I bought myself a typewriter badge to make sure I didn't, because I refuse to spend money on a blog and then delete it LOL.

I know what I need, now I just need to figure out how to get it.

[glbettwrites]

11/10/2024

Creators' Club: Weekly Friday Roundup!

It's been my absolute favourite writing week of the last few years for me and I think a roundup will help me see everything I've done and encourage me to keep going. So let's see...

Exactly a week ago, I put my beloved The Mummers' Masque on hiatus and decided that RETROSEER was going to be the WIP I put all my focus into for now. I decided I wanted something that wasn't so worldbuilding-heavy to ease me back into writing. And I've quickly fallen in love with this project now I've reworked it from an older idea!

I've been working on the lore of the 'apocalypse' scenario that features in this world, balancing a kind of mild apocalypse setting (regression of society but not total) with the supernatural elements that are the focus of the An Asphalt Odyssey world.

In a very short space of time a summary of the plot came to me and I put out the WIP intro! And since then I've been working on outlining each chapter in paragraphs before I move it over to my spreadsheet.

So far I have the eight chapters of Act One outlined beat by beat, at about 3.5k words, and I'm very happy with it! I'm onto Act Two pt.1 now (I do the Act One, Two pt.1, Two pt.2, Three, Ending structure) but had to take a pause as I worked on side characters so I have a better grasp of the plot threads.

Which brings me to my favourite part of the week...character work! Many of these were pre-existing characters so my focus was working on their roles in the stories and evolving certain aspects of their personalities.

I fell in love with Jamie and Lane as a couple, putting out some fun memes when my brain was too foggy to work on other stuff (here + here).

I also found face claims for all of my major cast (excluding a couple of antagonists, though I still put Ofelia in here, my feral lycan lady)!

I'm really happy with them all, I think they're absolutely perfect for the characters I pictured. I also put out a quick reference for what each character's deal is if anyone's curious. I'll be overjoyed to answer any questions people have about them; I love them all dearly.

Lastly, today I found two rough locations for the start and end of Jamie & Lane's 'roadtrip'. Unfortunately for them, it won't be as straightforward a route as the map predicts!:

Next week: I hope to get Act Two outlined (or because it's chunky at least Act Two pt.1), delve deeper and maybe write some character backstories, and start doing some snippets to start properly finding character voices! I also may translate the first act of my paragraph outline into my spreadsheet. And who knows what else?

I still aim to start writing the first draft of RETROSEER in November. Doing the 50k November (NaNope) challenge to kickstart the WIP. Unfortunately Dragon Age, the game I've been waiting for for 10 years, is released on Halloween so it's going to be a HUGE practice in self-restraint this year. Might make myself only game after I've done my words for the day. But we'll see how it goes! :)

Creators' Club Daily Writeblr Games & Asks from @bardic-tales!

[glbettwrites]

📌 WRITEBLR INTRO:

Hello, hi! I'm George! I've been a hobbyist writer my entire life, with a few years-long breaks due to mental health reasons. My biggest focus right now is developing my skills, working on projects that Spark Joy, and making writing fun again!

↪ she/her, 26, sapphic (bi), UK ↪ Tag game friendly + I adore questions about my OCs ↪ feel free to add me to your taglists for your original WIPs without me requesting. like literally anyone reading this has permission, yes even you ↪ please ask if you'd like to be added to my main WIP's taglist! I plan to start one up soon ↪ lover of all things fantasy, romance, western, historical, supernatural, slice-of-life, decopunk, post-apoc & more

Note: This post is constantly being updated. Check my pinned post for the most recent version!

↓↓↓ Main WIP ↓↓↓

Tales from the Black Plains series by G.L. Bett

series intro post ↪ 🐎 relationships guide ↪ 🌵

↪ genre(s): western; historical fiction; low fantasy; romance; adventure ↪ pov: varied ↪ status: active ↪ type: a prequel series of short stories and novellas leading into a crossroads-style novel where all characters have a part to play—but with Abigail as the main protag ↪ series hook: In the latter half of the 19th century, the frontier state of Cascabel lures travelers seeking gold, adventure, freedom...and danger.

But beneath the thrills of lawlessness and debauchery, a conflict is brewing between three groups: the townsfolk who have given enough, the government who have taken enough, and the notorious Jack Fowler Gang, who have had enough.

↓↓↓ WIPs on hiatus ↓↓↓

An Asphalt Odyssey: RETROSEER

full wip intro ↪ 📼

↪ status: outlining ↪ genre(s): new adult; soft apocalypse; supernatural; horror elements; romance ↪ hook: When retroseer Jamie breaks Lane out of jail to protect his lycanthropic secret, he knows there’s more to it than 'supernatural solidarity'. On the run together, they track the cure for his affliction: his sire. But Jamie's own motives stem from a vendetta that dates back a decade—before she even crossed into this dimension.

The Mummers' Masque

full wip intro ↪ 🎭

↪ status: outlining ↪ genre(s): flintlock fantasy; low fantasy; romance ↪ hook: Saddled with her predecessor’s debts, the leader of a mummers' troupe is drawn into a musketeer’s revenge plot, tempted by the fortunes of his aristocratic mark.

[glbettwrites]

❤️️

Thank you kindly!

For every ❤️️ in my ask box I'll post a ramble about something I love from my WIP.

I freaking love Thiyooooooooooooooooo.

The thing about him is it's established early in Act One just how Essential he is for the troupe.

Raavos sending him to prison (for stealing money to try to help the troupe) is what really makes the troupe start to suffer. They'd already fallen upon hard times but only with his absence does it start to actually feel like that. He's absolutely the heart of the group.

And he's so sweet but he's also like kind of a badass and cool? Like he's naive in some ways but he's not this sweet innocent thing, his sweetness is a choice. A conscious decision. He wakes up every day and decides the person he's going to be, it's not his default. And I think that's even more impactful and really works for his character.

I'm very sad about what I'm going to do to him.

[glbettwrites]

Under the cut are my fan casts of some of the major characters in The Mummers' Masque :)

(actors' names in alt text) Luzya and Raavos—the protagonists of the story who go from enemies to reluctant allies to lovers through the book.

Next row is Malvyn and Noryn, Luzya's father and half-brother.

Four major members of the mummers' troupe:

Darling Thiyo and the diva Talys, who also share a romance.

Nesaea the Actor with a capital A, and Ysaela, the peacekeeper.

Talys, Nesaea and Ysaela are sisters, and that's written in order of birth.

And, as a bonus, here's a Naughty Trio:

Two minor antagonists, with major antagonist Emilivar in the middle! (Not all antagonists have been cast yet! This story has a lot of side missions with a bunch of encounters with Undesirables.)