June

sweet villain, darling god

[greenbriar-j]

WIP INTRO!

(I don't have a title yet, so bear with me)

status: 1st draft

themes: holidays, family, grief

Bella Vu and Kohl Shinomiya have a whirlwind romance - right before the string of holidays that begins in October. They met at a mutual friend's party, then spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's together. But when the new year arrives, they miss the fireworks. Indeed, when midnight arrives, Bella is thrown back to a night before Halloween, one that she remembers only vaguely. Somehow, the time has reversed. Ah. This must be the cosmic consequence of her shirking family responsibilities for a man she just met. This time, she tries to ward Kohl away entirely. She spends her time nursing her dying grandmother, taking on family responsibilities to lessen the burden for everyone else. She denounces her own happiness as atonement for her greed the last time she was here. Then, the new year arrives, and Bella misses the fireworks. She is thrown back to a night before Halloween, one that she remembers better than last time. What now? What now, when she tells Kohl what she's sure is happening, and he admits that he experienced the time loop too?

author's note: in the same way that Touch of Light (a very old wip of mine that maybe no one here remembers anymore) was written as a mirror to my first few years of college, this wip feels to me like a mirror to my recent experiences with grief and loss... it's also a frankenwip of several ideas i've had for wips in the past, so we'll see how it goes!

hoping to make it my nano wip but first i have to play around with the characters and things a bit :)

[greenbriar-j]

Hello… are my friends still out there…. I have finally finally finished my Big Career moves!! Still a ways to go but perhaps I can get back into writing like I was in ye olden days !!

Just wanted to come say hello I guess 🥹🥹

[thestuffedalligator]

The urban fantasy show I actually want to see is a hospital drama with a dedicated wing for supernatural illnesses.

Vampirism. Lycanthropy. Cheap spells gone wrong. A woman brought in for her prenatal has to be told her baby is a lindworm. Someone is literally being followed by the anthropomorphic personification of the Black Death.

Someone somewhere out there is having their perception of the world irreparably shattered by the knowledge that magic is real, and at the other side is a team of doctors who have to roll their eyes and pull out Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales because some high school kid tried to go Carrie with a cheap spellbook and turn all the kids at prom into frogs, and the doctors have to wrangle a couple dozen teenagers into admitting if they have a true love who can break the spell.

[sindri42]

I want the hospital director to be some dark entity that feeds on human misery but figured out that if you successfully treat the source of the misery then instead of hunting you down as an abomination the humans start bringing more miserable people to your house en masse and things kinda got out of hand from there.

[omicronus-1326]

Grimm's Anatomy

[the-davest-of-uncles]

[hdgnj]

"Well someone's visited a back alley witch. Why do people always go for 'love spells'"

[teaboot]

Yeah Mr. Darcy’s proposal was a complete turd and a half but you gotta understand. You got your life together. A good career, stable income, retirement plan, all that shit together. And you meet this girl. And she’s everything. Clever, outspoken, funny, calls you on your bullshit. Grade A cutie, right? And she doesn’t go out of her way to spend time with you but she’s nice, and sometimes you catch her looking your way in a way that makes you think you might have a shot.

But her family. Holy shit.

First off, it’s p much ALL women, and mostly UNMARRIED women, which at this time means of something happens to her dad then you’re financially responsible for like. Four grown ass adults, potentially forever

Because mom in law is DEFINITELY gonna need someone to take care of her when dad in law kicks it, and they have like. NO money. So already you’re accepting that if all goes well, you’re gonna be one random old bag’s retirement home. That’s expensive and exhausting, yeah? Imagine asking someone on a first date knowing that if they say yes and things go good her high-strung chihuahua mother is gonna move in with you. IMAGINE.

And girly’s other sisters. Well, one is a sweetheart, yeah, so she probably won’t be an issue, but that still leaves three more, and two of those ones are INSUFFERABLE. Never went to school, dumb as rocks, spend cash like it’s toilet paper

And while one of the two is young still and might grow out of it the OTHER one is actively torpedo’ing her entire family’s reputation by wandering off with random dudes and chasing ass. She’s never gonna work, she can’t build connections, she’s a fucking sinkhole, and she’s being led on by the same goddamn con man ass leeching tit who’s been bleeding you dry while telling anyone who’ll listen that your family is full of ratty thieving bastards.

And if he dumps her after a week- WHICH YOU KNOW HIS BITCH ASS IS GONNA- you’ve got a SECOND UNMARRIABLE GROWN ASS ADULT TO PROVIDE FOR. And you KNOW she’s gonna be a tantrum-throwing little shit about it, and it’s not like you can lock her in the basement or something, you’re gonna have to bring her fucking. Everywhere. And give her an allowance and shit while she contributes zero, because again, she NEVER GOT EDUCATED AND HAS NO MARKETABLE SKILLS. She’s not even good to TALK to. FUCK

And you’re looking at this girl’s father like “please for the love of fuck get your spawn under control, marry them off, get them working on their résumé, learning to sew or be nursemaids or manage staff or SOMETHING, yall got no money and one foot in the grave” and that old man just laughs like “haha yeah, what can you do. lol”

So you’re looking to the mom and finally it’s making sense how she got that twitch in her eye and as MUCH as she is you’re starting to realize she’s the SMART one, desperately throwing her armloads of girls at random men like they’re a bunch of fucking lifeboats bobbing around a sinking ship, like yes Jesus Christ sweetly that life boat IS old and ugly and kind of boring but for FUCKS SAKE PICK ONE

And you look back at this girl who is ALSO REFUSING THE LIFE BOATS BY THE WAY and god damn it she’s still the most radiant thing you’ve ever seen so fine, fuck it, Christ alive, you’ll do it. You’ll shoot your shot. She’s everything you’ve ever wanted in anybody abut it’s not even just about that anymore, it’s about being her best fucking shot at a future, and even if she doesn’t like you all that much she’s still gonna say yes and that might break your heart a bit knowing it’s about the money but who knows, maybe it will at least be civil, or companionable, and even if she doesn’t LOVE you at least you’ll know she’s well and cared for

And so you’ll do it. You’ll take on the neurotic stress mess mother in law, the absent father, the broke ass wingnut no brain no money no future airhead sisters, the bad mannered relatives and the embarrassing behaviour and the impending future of sharing your entire shit with a clown parade of freeloaders, you’ll risk it all and accept the absolute certainty of financial ruin and emotional exhaustion for the rest of your whole ass life and you’ll make your own family deal with it too, you’ll do it, you’ll fucking DO IT, you stupid lovesick motherfucker

And so you go to this chick like “look. Your whole family’s a shitshow. You’ve got fucking nothing and you’re gonna die on the street. But for some reason- and I don’t get it either- I’ve fallen in love with you, and I wish I didn’t, but I did, so I’m telling you that whether you like me or not, I’ll give you everything. I’ll give you everything even if it’s the dumbest shit I ever done. Fuck my stupid Baka ass, I’ll marry you.”

And she looks at you- having heard or considered absolutely none of your months-long internal debate and monologue- and goes “The fuck did you just say about my family, you son of a bitch?”

And the shock of that is enough to jolt you back into a reality where you are able to actually hear and process what just came out of your damn mouth And yeah

Yeah, I think I kinda get it

[wasteofstardust]

I feel like we forget sometimes how insane Ronan's crush on Adam was. Like, oh my god? They weren't even dating for most of these... The longing, the yearning, the devotion, the lovesick pining - 10/10, *chef's kiss*, nobody is doing it like him. He loves Adam - lonesome, unknowable Adam - like it's breathing. They make me violently ill.

[celestialwrites]

flirty or threatening? dialogue prompts

@celestialwrites for more!!

“good god, you are a pain.” “then why are you even here?” “maybe i’m a masochist.”

“say that again i dare you.” “what are you going to do about it if i do?”

“your existence unnerves me.” “aw, i’m flattered.”

“hi honey.” “don’t honey me, you just threw a book at me!”

“huh, you know when you’re not scowling at me your eyes look a little more blue than green.”

“what if one day you wandered off a cliff?” “would you join me?”

“sometimes i feel like you want to get hit.” “by you? most certainly.”

“miss me?” “i had wondered where my headache went.”

“you are certainly interesting.” “is that a compliment or are you making fun of me?” “yes.”

“i’m not docile by any means.” “i’ve noticed, i notice everything about you.”

“i need help to bury a body.” “and you thought of me? aw.” “actually, i’m the only one that would miss you if you went to prison.” “you’d miss me?”

“i hate you!” “as long as you feel something towards me.”

“watch it!” “it’s cute how easy i can rile you up.”

“do you truly hate me?” “i wish that was possible.”

REBLOG TO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL WRITERS!!<3

[greenbriar-j]

A tag game? In the year 2025?

Thanks for the tag @sleepyowlwrites ! I haven’t looked at my wip in half a year (or 2/3 of a year? Oh my god) but I’ll bite!

What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?: The lesson… Well, it’s a story about grief. It’s a story about accepting that you can’t please everyone and that sometimes you have to save yourself first before you start trying to put out everyone else’s fires. And how grief and guilt are just… a thing and how maybe your parents and grandparents weren’t horrible, they just didn’t express themselves well. 

What I’m saying is I went to one too many family funerals in a year, and I had some epiphanies about life and family, and I made a timeloop story about it.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?: So I was also watching a lot of isekai anime at this time - the girly pop versions. You know, when you reincarnate as the villainess in your favorite game and you know how the story goes, so you can play the system and come out on top married to the duke or the prince or whatever. So that helped a little with the time loop situation.

As far as the setting, it’s pretty much my hometown. Very casual suburbia situation. 

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?: Bella is trying to find the balance between finding her own happiness and being there for her family in a dark time. In each loop, she does some combination of this. It’s a hard life, as the eldest daughter of an immigrant family. She’s not sure how to untangle herself from filial piety - but she is so in love with this random man she met at a Halloween party. Is it so wrong to keep falling in love with him if spending time with him makes her less available to be at her family’s beck and call? But then again, is she dropping her family for a guy she’s known for… two months or something? 

As for me, I really just wanted to write a story about grandparents, honestly. I love my grandma. Grandma 4 lyfe or whatever *slides on sunglasses and a cool hat*

How many chapters is your story going to have?: Mmmmm, a lot probably. I write pretty short chapters, so there usually ends up being a lot

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?: She’s an original! Or technically an au of a different wip I never finished, also original. Does that count? 

When did you start writing?: In general? My first writing was warrior cats fanfiction hand written in a diary with a lock and key at the age of 10 or something. I feel like I just gave you a microscope into the concept of me as a person

I started seriously writing when I started college ! 

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?: You’re still a writer if you don’t write every day! Sometimes you can’t help it! With the previously mentioned family funerals and the fact that I’m working on a doctorate degree, I really have not been writing that much. And that’s okay! Experience life and read some books and watch some movies, and one day you can put the things you’ve learned from them back into your wips!

I am so sorry I have no idea who to tag.. I've been absent from writeblr so long I'm not really sure who's still here !!!

[all-the-bones-ever-deactivated2]

this hit me like a truck

[greenbriar-j]

banging my head on the keyboard to see if i can shake some of the half formed ideas out of my forehead and into the keys so i can actually write smth

[nancywheeeler]

hopeless time loop. the way out isn’t to save everyone. the way out isn’t to save even one person. the way out isn’t to change anything. the way out is accepting how it happened the first time is how it always will be. that’s how you acted, that’s how they acted, that’s how you would have acted every time if you weren’t given the curse of hindsight. the way out is accepting you can’t fix the past; you can only forgive yourself for it.

[kaatiba-deactivated20241011]

writing share tag

tagged by @chauceryfairytales, one of my favourite authors on writeblr! tagging: @philosophika, @zmwrites and @greenbriar-j, no pressure ofc! the snippet below has hardly changed from draft 1, which is fun! but i've made wren a lot more obviously a grumpy person, which is also fun! warnings: mild depiction of blood and injury

She’s tempted to just lie on the floor with him for an hour or two, but that’s just inviting a cold, which would be the last thing she needs. So she gets the fire going and strips off her wet, muddy, bloodied clothes, toweling dry and dressing again, keeping an eye on the shifter all the while. He doesn’t stir. The soft orange glow of the lamps and fire smooths out his rough edges, softens the scruff of his beard and his roughly shaved head. 

Makes him look…vulnerable.

Which he is. It shouldn’t unsettle her, and yet it does.

Boiling some water and mixing it with cool water from her rain barrel, she infuses birch leaf in it and begins to wipe the shifter down, clinically, thoroughly, but not ungently.  Doing this reveals a wound in his back, just under his shoulder blade—the source of all the blood.

general (ask to be +/-): @muddshadow, @lockejhaven, @tracle0, @anonymousfoz

rivener: open! ask to be added

[greenbriar-j]

since i posted smth about justin the other day, here's some more stuff about him that chronologically comes before the last snippet

-

Justin has never been one to be invested in the dramas of his sister’s life. She’s had many, of course, as any young woman has. Any number of men has captured her attention for some amount of time, and by virtue of his relationship to her, Justin has been blessed to hear all about it. He’s been there for every major event in her life, whether directly or indirectly. Through Bella, he learned from a young age that women usually prefer a listening ear to a solution – unless they’ve expressly asked for a solution.

For the thousandth time in his life, Justin moves one earpiece of his headphones away. He continues to game while listening to his lamenting sister behind him. She sits on the bed, a pillow squished tight to her stomach. Her chin rests on it when she isn’t talking (she’s talking an awful lot). Only half of the discussion actually makes it into his ears.

She’s talking about a man this time. This is different; in recent months, it’s usually something about their family. He’s never heard of this Kohl character she’s talking about. Justin isn’t even sure if he’s supposed to like Kohl.

“He was so sweet, I wanted to die at times. Have you ever experienced that? Someone so kind that you realize how awful you are?”

Justin has not. That is not something he has ever thought about in his life.

“Can you believe that? He talks like he can’t imagine this ever going wrong. He’s insane for that. I feel like that’s a red flag. Is it?”

Justin shrugs, then swears at his game as he narrowly avoids a mistake that would ruin all the progress he’s made toward his high score.

“He got me flowers.”

He’s so happy for his sister. This sounds amazing. Truly and without a hint of sarcasm.

“Do you think he attends book clubs? All those books he’s reading are highly popular among, well, women. I’m not saying that men can’t read them, but… Would you read books about vampires that will inevitably devolve into incredibly inappropriate fantasies?”

Okay. No thank you. This is not a conversation Justin is interested in having with his older sister of all people. What is she even thinking, bringing this up?

“Are you listening to me?”

Justin pulls his headphone back over his ear. Faintly, he can hear Bella’s exasperated screaming through the tinny music of the game.

Well. He’s sure he’ll hear about this guy again if he’s that big of a deal.

-

idk i think he's just a silly and sweet little bean but like he's also just a guy

[greenbriar-j]

going to try to do a writing marathon today but we'll see how far i get before i am distracted since that tends to happen a lot

[greenbriar-j]

Yup I wrote about 200 words and then started playing animal crossing

[greenbriar-j]

now that it is night i can confirm that i was largely unsuccessful on this front but also i kind of needed the rest so i'm not mad about it

[greenbriar-j]

a little smth smth

Note: Chi Hai = eldest sister. Justin is Bella's little brother, a silly teenager who plays a singular sport but also many video games

-

“Chi Hai, this delinquent-looking man is here for you!”

“He’s not a delinquent,” Bella yells back from her room. “He works at the bank!” Finally disentangling a worthy pair of earrings with very fitting golden leaves cascading down, Bella smooths down the skirt of her dress and scurries down the stairs. Remembering that she also needs a bag, she goes back to her room to get one. Then she remembers that her purse is in the living room anyway, since that’s where all her most commonly used items have ended up.

What she finds in the living room makes her laugh. Justin and Kohl size each other up from opposite sides of the small space. They’re the same height – not incredibly tall by most standards, but tall for Asian standards. Justin is standing in a peculiar way she’s never seen from him before, like a red panda trying to look large in front of a perceived threat. Besides the fact that there is nothing threatening about Kohl, it’s just funny to see Justin this way.

“This is your type?” Justin asks, gesturing at Kohl.

The latter reaches for her. He’s wearing the most basic fall outfit, a white t-shirt under an oversized flannel, paired with jeans and high-top white sneakers. His hair is tied out of his face today, highlighting a pair of silver skeleton hand earrings (Part of Bella wants to check them for anatomic accuracy).

Bella walks over to him, greeting him with a quick hug before pushing him away. Kohl’s hands reach for her again, but don’t fight their fate when Bella continues to step away. They end up in his pockets. “Don’t be mean to him,” she chastises Justin without any bite. “That’s my job.”

“I would prefer if neither of you were mean to me,” Kohl says.

“Liar,” both siblings respond.

He blinks. “Okay, anyway. My name is Kohl.” He steps forward and holds his hand out for Justin to shake, but Justin merely tips his head at the gesture while crossing his arms. Pausing just long enough to make it awkward, Kohl stares straight at her brother. “Not a handshake kind of guy, I get it.” Another awkward pause. “I’m going to borrow your sister for the day.”

Justin makes a strange face that Bella has never seen him make before. “You can keep her.”

“Oh my god, I knew you hated me,” Bella complains.

“Just for today,” Justin adds quietly before making his escape. He trails away to the basement, back to his little hideout of particular interests. Before he makes it very far, he already has his phone out, scrolling through it to look occupied, Bella suspects. She’s seen him do it on occasion, opening and closing apps and tabs to distract from the fact that he’s slightly nervous or agitated. If he had a drink, he would be sipping from it.

Kohl watches him go with an equally strange expression, although this one strikes a little more familiar with her. It’s like he’s trying to look through Justin’s brain, trying to see what makes him click. To see what the most effective way to communicate with him might be.

She pats his chest and rests her hand there. “Never mind him. Let’s go.”

Kohl is still staring at the door Justin just left through. Absently, he touches her fingertips. “You look adorable today,” he says, although the feeling behind the sentiment is muted.

[greenbriar-j]

going to try to do a writing marathon today but we'll see how far i get before i am distracted since that tends to happen a lot

[greenbriar-j]

Yup I wrote about 200 words and then started playing animal crossing

[greenbriar-j]

going to try to do a writing marathon today but we'll see how far i get before i am distracted since that tends to happen a lot

[greenbriar-j]

Write 40k in 42 days challenge

via @the-wip-project

Week 1 reflection:

So when I initially signed up for this challenge, I didn't quite factor in some life events that I knew would be happening. More accurately, I didn't think they'd effect my writing as much as they did. For the first, oh, three days, I wrote nothing at all.

Then I tried to compensate for writing past the 1k a day goal - I tried to go for 1.5-2k a day. This worked for about two days (not enough to catch up) before I lost steam again.

In the end, I'm still happy with my progress bc any words are better than no words at all, and I am having fun! I'm starting to hit a turning point in the storyline, so maybe that will bolster me to bump this word count a bit more as the plot moves along. Of the five days that I've dutifully sat down and written, only one day actually ended with me writing under 1k.

So all in all, I'd call it a successful first week, even though I remain about 2k words behind from where I had aimed to be at this time. Cheers to another week of more writing!