#priswritesmordlust

[serpentarii]

M O R D L U S T ; september 9th, 2025

imagine me actually following through on what i say i'm going to do and making those character aesthetic intros (still cooking on the animal symbolism post soz).

transcript + more below the cut:

She poured water from the porcelain pitcher of a mismatching set: some cups painted with irises, some with filigree moulding, and a single clear glass the color of moss. It was this last glass she placed loudly atop the bedside table for Liese’s benefit. The gloves and choker came off first. And as she slipped out of her costume gown, draping it over the footboard of her own bed, Liese grumbled something incomprehensible.  “Pardon?”  “I said your ceiling is spinning.”  “The chamberpot is in the corner if you’re going to be sick.”  Liese shook her head, still staring up with glassy eyes. “I don’t think so.”  She had not yet lit the sconces. If she kept it that way, she wouldn’t have to hide her lips with more rouge. She crossed to the other half of the room and sat at the foot of the bed by Liese’s legs.  “What’s wrong?” she asked.  Shuffling over, as if to make room for her, Liese spoke.  “I do wonder… Why do you stay with me? Are you too kind or too stupid to care? Both, maybe?”  A flash of lightning cleaved through the darkness of the small room, illuminating Liese’s features, like the pale belly of a sturgeon, snatched from the sea into the bright light of the sun. She rubbed her eyes.  Shedding her damp slippers and stockings, she lay herself atop the covers beside Liese. 

with this entry, i just wanted to say that i can't believe it's been over four (and a half) whole actually wtf years since i started writing what would become mordlust. two title changes and three drafts ago...

like.......

those of you who've been following this wip for a while, or have at least seen me talk about it in past posts, know that the idea for mordlust was actually multiple ideas frankenstein-ed together.

the first was an uncompleted short story about three frenemies(??), one of which is slowly turning into a beehive, the second was a semi-completed short story about a group of boarding school boys who were The Worst, and the last was an animal bride retelling with a political twist. it was always a point i fixated on in animal bride fairy tales: did anyone go looking for them? who were they before? were they someone important? and the rest spun off from there.

i can definitely pinpoint character traits and relationships and worldbuilding details from reading these older pieces back, it's really neat, like authorial tree rings. seeing how far mordlust has come, even from it's initial draft that i tried to brute force my way through during nano 2021, i feel like i've definitely grown not only in my craft as a writer, but also as a storyteller.

i haven't properly participated in a word crawl in years at this point, and i'm not a super big fan of sprints, so i haven't had a time to specifically dedicate to getting more words on the page. a lot of it is in between the lines/behind the scenes tweaking to make everything as coherent as possible (which is difficult, since i have to backtrack through like 3 drafts + an outdated outline & somehow make sense of it all 😮‍💨).

for anyone who's made it this far, tysm for reading & ty to all my friends who've uplifted me and my silly little wip for the past four and a half years 🙏💖

1 to 5 tag ;

rules ; follow the prompts (change one if you like) and tell us a little something about your WIP ! answers to the prompts can be in the form of quotes or anything you’d like

one word to describe your WIP ;

moldy (it's been sitting out)

two characters talking in a short excerpt ;

three chapter titles ;

chapter iv - a heart of hellebore

chapter xix - hart's gambit

chapter xxvii - spare the sword, spoil the snare

four tropes featured ;

shapeshifting lover

mirror character

from nobody to nightmare

silk hiding steel

five songs from your WIP playlist ;

i actually don't have a playlist for mordlust, so i'll just list some of the songs i've previously said would best fit its world & characters

the golden compass - alexandre desplat

crows ambushed - joseph trapanese

in stori stif and stronge - daniel hart

bird cage blue and yellow - yaelokre

the attic - yutaka minobe

[serpentarii]

M O R D L U S T ; september 22nd, 2024

finally getting around to doing these more often now that i'm making money moves in the draft (this is a lie, i am making moves into my friends' dms to scream) so that means i have an excuse to make self-indulgent WIP edits.

my primary protagonist vératre, formerly known as voir, has been made sufficiently weird, and i think i've found a way to smoothly integrate all of the new scenes i added when i reformatted her half of the plot.

i've also been in my overthinking era to make sure that everything from color symbolism, animal motifs, to the specific variations of words characters use has a purpose. 90% of it will not be apparent in the actual draft so, to paraphrase myself, i'm like gay sisyphus opening and closing notion.

but, i do plan on making some character aesthetic intros, tv show edits, and finally getting around to that animal symbolism post 🐯

and since i haven't done this in like 4 years, surprise bitch. i'm doing a novel prep tag in here now.

first look ;

describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch) ;

a businessman-turned-thief finds himself entangled with a pair of opposing assassins and the roles they unknowingly play in a much grander conspiracy.

how long do you plan for your novel to be (novella, standalone, series, etc.)? ;

a standalone, thank god. the technical term would be roman fleuve, since i am planning future standalone works that take place within the same universe.

what is your novel’s aesthetic? ;

ancient buildings overtaken by nature, cemeteries at midnight, poisonous flowers, venomous snakes, whispering in shadowy alcoves, masquerade balls, bloodstained feathers, what lies beyond the veil

what other stories inspire your novel? ;

the his dark materials series by philip pullman, uprooted by naomi novik, classic gothic lit, fairy tales in general, and uh,,,,,,,exodus.

share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel ;

main character ;

who is your protagonist? ;

my two main protagonists/POVs are liferuiner and wannabe businessman aleksander fox, and vératre, a notorious poisoner struggling her way through a quarter-life crisis.

who is their closest ally? ;

aleksander's closest ally, at least in the beginning, is his friend heidi, an information broker with a secret :) and vératre begrudgingly accepts the help of salicaire, another assassin, since they are both nosy and want answers.

who is their enemy? ;

aleksander vs. the ospirin family (a fight he is nawt winning) and the church

what do they want more than anything? ;

so, to be cryptic, 3/4 of the leads in mordlust are all reflections of each other, what they could have been and what they want to be. the last of them is the mirror. they see in him what they want to see. and what they want, shockingly, is prestige, power, belonging, etc. they've always felt like strangers in their own skin and will go to terrible lengths to fit themselves into a society that was not made for them.

why can’t they have it? ;

dirty dirty politics for which they are mere pawns ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

what do they wrongly believe about themselves? ;

that because they've been hurt, they are justified in hurting others in pursuit of their goals.

draw your protagonist! (or share a description) ;

aleksander is a classic dandy with a hyperfixation on his vintage fox fur coat, which he wears even when it's wildly out of season and out of fashion because it's the nicest thing he owns. he's also usually seen wearing kid leather gloves and a golden cravat pin he received from his patroness. he's got green eyes, short auburn hair, lots of freckles, and more people would find him handsome if he didn't smile like he knew your fly was down and was refusing to tell you.

vératre's lips are stained purple due to. reasons. and so she wears a veil, which is not uncommon for particularly devout women. she has medium length brown hair she keeps pinned up into tight plaits and a notably long neck. also, she has pretty privilege because shits fucked and having attractive lay servants representing the house/church is common practice. since she works as a kitchen maid most of the week, she's often wearing her uniform w/ an apron. and sometimes she wears isme's black feathered cloak.

drawing wise, i do have this chart:

plot points ;

what is the internal conflict? ;

aleksander and vératre, being parallels of each other, have somewhat similar internal conflicts. they both came from nameless villages out in the countryside and share a burning desire to be more. in vératre's case it's v much a "be careful what you wish for" situation, because in receiving everything she thought she wanted she's no longer herself and unhappier than ever. aleksander is younger and earlier along in his journey, but barreling down the same path. except the choices he makes fucks shit up for the people around him more than they effect himself.

what is the external conflict? ;

again, cutthroat politics (literally). everyone has something they'd kill for.

what is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist? ;

other than dying horribly, probably being tethered to an uncaring master, praying to uncaring gods, and trying to find comfort in an uncaring church for the rest of their miserable lives.

what secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story? ;

aleksander is entangled in a pseudo-liar revealed plot, which i kinda hate, but as an extremely unreliable narrator his priorities are not in proper order... vératre is witnessing the horrors.

do you know how it ends? ;

yeah

bits & bobs ;

what is the theme? ;

blind faith is dangerous. you must learn to take responsibility for both the good and the bad actions you take, and attaching yourself to someone or something at random to validate your own existence isn't healthy. holiness exists not only in gods but in small moments of happiness and in the people we love. and lastly don't fucking steal someone's skin and sell it on the black market.

what is a recurring symbol? ;

thorns.

where is the story set? (share a description!) ;

niederbrinn, the capital city of falkenreik, which is loosely inspired by pre-german empire prussia. it's filled with tons of gothic™ architecture and fun locations like cathedrals, catacombs, and creature shops. it's situated closer to the malevolent eldritch forest than most would like.

do you have any images or scenes in your mind already? ;

hell yeah

what excited you about this story? ;

mostly isme. and then the other 3 protags ig 🙄

tell us about your usual writing method! ;

these days, i usually write a rough outline and expand it using the snowflake method, incorporating ideas, themes, and worldbuilding along the way. then i make a proper outline where i figure out chapters, acts, the dreaded midpoint, etc. i don't write in chronological order so this helps a ton with out-of-context lines since i have a reference for where i want them based on the location/emotional state of the characters. getting myself to actually sit down and WRITE the damn thing is the problem, shout out to my fellow procrastinating perfectionists <33

if you made it to this point you are sexy and i love you, byeeee !!

[serpentarii]

M O R D L U S T ; june 9th, 2024

so i've been ignoring main doc to work on what i've tentatively labeled "skeleton draft", which is where i rewrite scenes that i hate to be better or i put the writing that i actually like. she's been reformatted from 30 to 33 chapters + character list + glossary, meaning more aleksander pov (🪦⚰️☠️) so i'm trying to get some practice in before i officially run out of vératre chapters.

transcript and extended excerpt below the cut:

He found himself staring at the cypher cast in brass. Topped with a crown and nested inside a wreath of leaves, lances, and drinking horns were the entwined initials of the King and Queen of Falkenreik. The king had at least a hundred officers in his army; was there really that much money in his royal coffers to keep them all so finely dressed? If Aleksander wore that cypher, would Lady Kos have ever dared to threaten him?  The soldier’s froggish eyes took him up and down.  “This one’s got long arms, does he?”  “You don’t even know the half of it, Herr Cuirassier,” Thekla said, sidling up beside him and linking her arm through his. “Come, there’s a bottle of dark rum in the dining tent I’ve simply been dying for an excuse to try.”  I know who simply died for you to receive it. “A condolence gift from Sommer?” Aleksander sniped before he could stop himself.  Shit. He hadn’t meant to say the second half of his thought out loud.  Thekla, still in earshot, turned. There was a smudge of gunpowder on her shoulder from where she’d rested her hunting rifle. She asked:  “What was that, little fox?”  Aleksander would rather be thrown in a bear-baiting pit than face down an Ospirin.  “I only wish to apologize for never voicing my own, of course. Your brother touched many of our hearts. Yet, never did I see the day where I could say I'd done the same to him. Gone before his time, Lord Otmar.” Aleksander pressed two fingers to his brow, then his lips, and then his heart. “May he rest.” 

[serpentarii]

M O R D L U S T ; june 13th, 2023 

so in my attempt to post content more regularly, i’m going to be posting these brief updates ft. insights, notes, & plans for future drafts. this one is just a pretty straightforward excerpt to start things off. really hoping to finish a proper draft this year 💀💀 i will also not be constantly pinging my poor taglists for these updates, so i’ll be tagging them as #priswritesmordlust if you’d like to either block or follow along ! kithes 😘 

transcript below the cut: 

All he asked was, “What was it like?” 

“It was everything I ever dreamed of.” 

He sighed, as if he carried all the weight of his world on his shoulders. He probably could. There didn’t seem to be anything he couldn’t do. 

“Today, an orphan boy could be cast into the river for the hideous sin of a sixth finger and be called a saint. Seven hundred years ago, a Falkenrisch saint could strike the earth and summon a molten deluge to cripple an army.” 

“You could have been a saint,” she said. “You have the reluctance for it. The devotion is misplaced.”