MADE FROM THESE WICKED THINGS

Barney Barton is the older brother of Avenger Clint Barton. That's about all his file says, and what the other Avengers and SHIELD agents know about him. But who is Barney Barton and why is it that Hawkeye refuses to speak about his older brother when prompted? Well, maybe it's easier to look at the story from Barney's perspective to understand that specific dynamic. After all, it isn't easy being overshadowed by your younger brother.

Well, coming out of the shadows to bring you my 2022 NaNoWriMo, which I've been talking about for years - a 50k Barney centric story, sort of canon compliant to the MCU. This has been quite the thread to figure out, but I have finally cracked the code - or so I hope. Barney deserves the spotlight, even though the MCU and Kevin Feige seem adamant not to introduce this wonderful character to the rest of the roster.

But, I took a look at the MCU canon and figure out in which shadowy places to place Barney so he can grow alive in our fan-version of the canon. Or something like that. Have fun, enjoy!

Nobody asked, but I’m going to hit 50k tonight and nothing’s going to stop me. I’m currently almost at 47k, the goal is in sight!!!

Alright, now that I’ve sufficiently burned myself out doing three prompt challenges in one month (including Whumptober twice), time to do NaNo!  Especially since I’m running on pure spite at the moment because my research study is producing only negative results and I need to get that energy out somewhere.

So, what am I writing?  A fantasy heist novel!  Five thieves are blackmailed into obtaining proof of a plot against the ruler.  The proof just so happens to be located in the empire’s most guarded fortress.

The good news is that each of the five have broken into that fortress once before.  The bad news is that none of them are the teamwork sort, especially our main character, Lucy Quinn, who quite literally backstabbed her former partner years ago and is not pleased to be forced into working with him again.

🌙 nanowrimo 2022 — day 25 update 🌙

word count ; 20,028 / 25,000

progress ; i seem to have more fun creating backstories and writing future scenes than anything chronological... but words are words! and in writing angsty conversations i accidentally wisely discovered the final arc for the story O_O anyway, here’s an excerpt introducing another character! Adelade agreed to escort Pebble to her orchard, and they arrive to find the trees burned. It appears to have happened a long time ago, but they also discover a mysterious camp nearby. In her grief, Pebble charges in...

the butcher’s lament  🌙  chapter 3 glimpse —

“Wait, Pebble—” And there she went, again, hiking down into the grove with the confidence of a fool.

Adelade considered waiting among the trees, witnessing the next few moments, gathering a better understanding of the small campsite’s residents—but then she imagined Pebble’s little body full of arrows or sliced in two, and the waiting became less comforting.

Just as Adelade began to stand, someone ducked out from under the main tent’s canopy.

Tall, silver-haired, dressed entirely in black. Holding a longsword casually, in a single hand. Adelade sought instantly after Pebble.

“Hello down there!”

Adelade sought quicker. The hill was steep, wrought with bramble, each step crumpling underfoot. Another shadow emerged from the canopy, but adrenaline narrowed her vision to the black-shrouded figure now advancing up the hill. Pebble showed no signs of stopping, that lunatic—

“We saw your campfire! I will have words with your leader!” Pebble mustered quite the bellow, but her voice quaked as she shuffled down the slope. “You, yes you! Did you do it? Did you burn my orchard?”

They moved like a wind breath. Adelade glanced them over amid scrambled steps; padded in charcoal leather, lower face concealed in a scarf, hair a feathered mist and clinging to their neck. They seemed taller every moment. Their broad shoulders shifted, arms gliding like a dancer, raising their longsword out in anticipation. That monstrous, white-steel longsword.

They were Championed. There was no doubt. Adelade drew her daggers halfway.

Pebble faltered, just barely. She recovered with a mightily spoken, “I demand you take me to…”

The champion climbed past her without a word.

Adelade faltered too, just barely, blistering with the belated realization, they’re going to kill you— Fire filled her thoughts and chest, and she unsheathed her daggers in a sparking blur.

And still too late. The sword swooped up under her chin, and Adelade fizzled to a stop.

They stared at each other.

The champion’s skin was sallow marble and their eyes warm ash. Something weighed heavy in their hooded gaze, something apathetic and calm and very nearly arrogant. Brow arched high and unconcerned, they pressed their sword a half-inch forward and nicked the skin of her throat.

Adelade didn’t remove her stare, and she didn’t drop her weapons. “Take your one chance then.”

Beneath the soft, skin-tight mask, their lips twitched. Perhaps in a smile, more likely a sneer.

“Hey, I spoke with you first, and we’re not attacking just talking, so you stop that right now—”

As Pebble brazenly reached to tug their tunic, the champion turned and shoved her shoulder back. Pebble staggered with an oof – and for once provided a useful opportunity.

Adelade charged into the champion’s side with the full burning immensity of her frustration. Despite their towering height and steady footwork, they did not expect this. And the hill was quite steep.

A sheer moment before Adelade violently tumbled head-over-heels down the slope of the hill and into the grove below, she heard someone else yell. Something like a warning, almost a friendly greeting, nearly a plea not to fight. But it didn’t really matter halfway. Leather grunted, blades vanished, earth and bramble tore across her cheeks and ignited a savage pain in her wounded side. Adelade lost her bearings and a bit of consciousness for several bleary, earth-churning moments. Then she came to an awful, shuddering stop.

okay, so today was the first day of nano!! i'm not doing it (although I have a challenge of my own: to write 300 words minimum every day!) but i'd love it if you could maybe reblog this and tell me a bit of how your day was and how your start was! also if you feel like, tell me about your project, if you've done nano before and what you'd like to achieve🥰🥰🥰🥰

for me, today I finally ended chapter 7 of itbt? which has been abit of a burden cause i had to fit and fix some stuff so that it all made sense, but i got that out of the way! and chapter 8 promises to be,,, interesting so I can't wait!

NaNoWriMo Day 1

Picking up a wip that you haven't touched in a while is kind of like going to a party with very extended family members that you only see once a decade or so. Like, yeah, you know everyone and you have a vague idea of who they are and what they do and some of the major events in their lives... but also who the fuck are you I don't know you.

Rabbit holes I fell down:

What is a bitch name? What name evokes the feeling of just KNOWING ahead of time that a person would be a bitch? (I ended up choosing Tiffany)

Flower language and name meanings (of course)

How to kill a nymph

Can silver and iron form an alloy

How to walk quietly

Cute cat videos (aka ollie gets distracted for half an hour)

How long does it take to have heatstroke

Can you get burns through clothes if something is hot enough

"What happens if you heat up blood... no not in your body... yeah if you boil it like what texture would it be afterwards" (I am going to be on a watchlist for this)

Can you actually crack a safe by listening closely

Trying to understand the cochlea and by extension the entirety of the ear for a short scene just to see if the science would work out... in a story about magic

Word count: 3276

Yayyyyy ! J’ai atteint la moitié de l’objectif du NaNo ! Je continue en force pour la suite !

D O N E 

NaNoWriMo 2022 Masterlist

NaNoWriMo General Content List (here is the tagging post!) | @andromedatalksaboutstuff | @bardic-tales | @lockejhaven | @midnight-and-his-melodiverse | @perasperaadastrawriting | @writingpotato07 |

Welcome to our Masterlist for NaNoWriMo this year! We will be focusing on multiple projects this year, like a true Rebel of the WriMo, so we will have this Masterlist posted so everyone can default to this throughout November!

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Introducing The Goals,

Traditional NaNoWriMo Goal: 50,000 Words Total | 30 Consecutive Writing Days

Since we are going to be using the NaNoWriMo website and everything, our official goal is the normal NaNo one of 50k Words during the month. We are going to be using this as Goal 01, and have our real goals, for the month and per project, be other goals afterwards!

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Personal Goals: 120,000 Words Total | 4,000 Words Daily | 24,000 Project Goal

Our Giant Goals for the Month will be aiming to write 4,000 Words a Day! We have been going through both September and October with these numbers, in order to get ready for things. We think we will be able to do it, if we sit in and focus on our Works, so hopefully we can make this happen!

And with that, if we manage to get to 4,000 per day, our total word count for the month should hit around 120k words! Which, looking at it now, seems like a wild amount, but hopefully we can have some fun with this thought and challenge!

To make it a little easier too, we will be aiming for 24,000 words for every work, so that we can spread out the words a little, and give ourselves a bit more leeway, instead of just forcing ourselves into one work and trying to adding too much to too little! 24,000 isn't a solid novel length or anything, but we are hoping to make progress, more than just throw out one work without anything else, so hopefully this NaNoWriMo will be a wild rebellion!

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Introducing The Works,

Constellations By Orion Tags: constellations.b.orion | Constellations By Orion | nano.01 |

Initial Concept: Orion is the first one she goes for, as he always points North. "I am just saying, your little stowaway is pretty cute." "I don't need a man Orion, I need directions across the sea." "Trust me, if you want a purpose, you should find Ursa Major. She's the guide of adventure, new life." "And where can I find her?" "At the heart of the ocean. She is the Guardian of Polaris and her baby, Ursa Minor." ~ novel, third person present, high fantasy, adventure ~ outlining, scene drafting, worldbuilding

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Bentley's Resolve Tags: bentley.resolve | Bentley's Resolve | nano.02 |

Initial Concept: Bentley Thaddeus Hawkes has always lived under the influence of the Reapers. Giving himself to the soft whispers of Knowledge of his mentors, he has held faith in the abilities of his World and their purpose. Until a mysterious man comes, unraveling more than the Knowledge Bentley has clung to and showing him that even the most orderly societies holds more than just the darkness of the Phantoms. ~ novel, third person present, two perspectives, high fantasy ~ scene drafting, outlined and planned

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The Villain's Hero Tags: villain.hero | The Villain's Hero | nano.03 |

Initial Concept: The villain and the hero end up as cellmates, the villain slowly unraveling a plan that seems to have been in place before the hero was even chosen, and discovering that maybe his role was simply to be the scapegoat, rather than the actual evil. ~ novel, third person present, two perspectives, high fantasy, mature contents ~ outlining, scene drafting, worldbuilding

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The Witch's Mage Tags: witch.mage | The Witch's Mage | nano.04 |

Initial Concept: Zachery didn’t know much about the Forests, besides the fact that the only ones who could safely traverse them were the Herbalists, and Witches would crawl out and eat his flesh if he was disobedient. That didn’t stop the pull he felt to them, the small instinctive desire to run through the Trees and feel his Magicks trudge through the unknown. But something more is pulling him, and when he finds a small shack guarded by wards of a priest, he almost wishes the pull wasn’t so strong to that old abandoned piece of history. ~ novel, third person present, high fantasy, romance ~ outlining, scene drafting, planned and plotted

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When Nature Is Left Behind Tags: nature.left.behind | When Nature Is Left Behind | nano.05 |

Initial Concept: Kind of developing randomly now, but it goes off an idea of being left behind, and how a boy meets a girl who has something that either needs care and attention - my brain supplied a plant - or the girl was the last of something - maybe of a race that is valuable or something - and she was left behind because she was mortally wounded or got sick or something? And the boy is basically racing against Time to get this girl from point A to B so that she can be saved/helped or so she can complete her mission and live long enough to see it through to the end. ~ novel, third person present, two perspectives, post-apocalyptic, survival adventures ~ zero drafted, outlined and planned, scene redrafting

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Links To Remember,

NaNoWriMo Site: Works Page | Profile Page

Support Us: Ko-fi

NaNoWriMo and Publication.

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us, and with it comes another annual tradition: Newbie writers looking into publication options. There's nothing wrong with this! If you have stars in your eyes about being a published author and about kicking off your career with this year's NaNo, but in the back of your mind you're thinking "it's just a pipe dream," I've got news for you: it's quite possible! NaNoWriMo 2008 pretty much kicked off my writing career, so... yeah. You can absolutely do it! There are a bajillion books and articles out there about the craft, about the work that goes into going from dream to publication, etc. There's plenty of stuff about how you need to actually finish and edit your book before publication enters the equation. I'm not going to rehash all that here. Instead, let's talk about things you should really, really know before you move toward publication. Because y'all... this industry is a fickle one, and it can be a brutal one. I want to share some things I've learned over the course of 14 years so that perhaps you can avoid some of the heartache and headache that I went through. In other words, here's an incomplete list of stuff I learned the hard way so you don't have to. 1. THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO PUBLISH.  Getting an agent and going the Big 5 route is valid. Self-publishing is valid. Small publishers are valid. I've done all three. Don't let anyone tell you that you MUST go (or avoid) a specific route, or that one "doesn't count.". By the same token, don't let anyone tell you that all publishers are created equal or that what works for one style/genre will work for another. More on that later. 2. READ AND UNDERSTAND YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN IT. Ask questions if you don't understand. If a publisher gets testy because you ask for clarification, that is an enormous red flag. If they get testy when you ask them to modify the contract to be clearer, that is also an enormous red flag. If they are willing to (or threaten to) yank your contract because you won't sign it immediately or because you want it modified for clarity, that's a whole field of red flags. If they tell you the contract cannot be changed at all -- not just terms, but adjusting wording so both parties are satisfied that everything is clear -- there isn't enough fabric in the world to make a red flag that big. You get the idea. Many authors (myself included) recommend hiring a lawyer familiar with publishing to review your contract before you sign it. You can also approach a literary agent with a contract in hand, and they can handle negotiations for you. Don't get so excited over receiving a contract that you sign away the rights to your firstborn. Ask, ask, ask. 3. PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK IS A BUSINESS TRANSACTION, NOT "GIVING YOU A CHANCE." They are publishing your book so they make money. Yes, it feels great, and you should absolutely be proud of it, but don't lose sight of the reality of the relationship, which is a company packaging and selling your product for profit. Protect your intellectual property. Negotiate the contract so it's fair to both of you. Don't let your happiness over being published lure you into entering a business agreement that will screw you. 4. MONEY FLOWS FROM PUBLISHER TO AUTHOR. If you have to pay the publisher to publish your book, it's a vanity press, which is  a nice way of saying it's a predatory scam that takes advantage of people who don't understand publishing but want to see their book in print. Publishers purchase your publishing rights from you, and then they pay to edit/cover/market/package the book, and take a cut of the royalties before paying you. If they're asking you to pay for these things AND they're taking a cut of royalties, you're quite likely getting scammed out of both your IP and your money. There are exceptions to this -- usually for very small projects, niche subjects, etc. -- but these are quite rare.  Err on the side of assuming that pay-to-play is a scam. 5. SELF-PUBLISHING IS NOT THE SAME AS VANITY PUBLISHING. Self-publishers hire editors, cover artists, etc., but we a) retain ALL rights to our books and b) don't actually pay someone upfront to publish. Places like Amazon and Draft2Digital do take a cut of royalties in exchange for distribution, but we don't pay a fee like you would with a vanity project. 6. YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN MAKE MONEY (INCLUDING EARNING A LIVING) FROM WRITING. The reason I say this is not to encourage you to quit your day job or to paint some picture that all writers are swimming in money. Quite simply, it's because I see SO MANY young authors fall victim to the mentality of "I'm not going to make money off it anyway, so I'm not going to worry about this publisher's crappy royalties, trash marketing, upfront fees, etc." No. NO. *spritz spritz* BAD AUTHOR! NO!  It's okay if you're writing for fun and if money isn't your priority. Just don't get into the mindset that because you don't care about the money, you ALSO don't care if a shady publisher screws you. There is nothing greedy about protecting yourself and your interests. Even if your book only ever earns one dollar, that's YOUR dollar. 7. IT IS BETTER TO BE UNPUBLISHED THAN BADLY PUBLISHED. Publishers are not created equal. There are plenty out there with terrible editing and worse accounting, and I promise you, signing with them is a Faustian bargain: it might seem fabulous in the beginning, but the Devil will eventually come to collect, and it'll suck. Ask me how I know. 8. TALK TO AUTHORS BEFORE SIGNING WITH THEIR PUBLISHER. No one knows a publisher like its authors. And don't just talk to the newest authors -- the honeymoon phase is real, and when those rose-colored glasses come off, it can be ugly. Also, publishers can and do change over time, often not for the better. I've given rave reviews about publishers who eventually prompted me to retain a lawyer. Talk to their older authors, including both those who published maybe one or two books early on and those who've done ongoing work for the same house.  Most of us are eager to share industry professionals we're happy to work with, and are equally eager to warn others away when necessary. 9. JUDGE A PUBLISHER BY ITS BOOK COVERS. Book covers are marketing devices, and they are critically important. Look at what a publisher puts on their books, and decide if it's up to snuff. How does it compare to similar genres? How attractive is it? How easy is it to read the title? Is the quality consistent throughout the publisher's catalogue? Would you be happy with that style and quality on your book?  If the answer is no, move along. Because it's seriously heartbreaking to have a cover you don't like, especially when it's also a cover that READERS don't like. I have two books that had numerous reviews with "ignore the hideous cover and buy the book!" Cover art makes a BIG difference. Count on it. 10. SELF-PUBLISHING IS VALID. There are myriad reasons why people choose to go different routes, and I won't go into them all here, but many people like to turn up their noses at self-publishing as if it's on par with vanity presses. There was a time when that was true, but these days, many authors are going indie to retain control of their rights, to avoid getting financially screwed, etc. It's a perfectly valid way to publish your book. 11. IF YOUR BOOK DOESN'T GET PUBLISHED OR DOESN'T SELL WELL, YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE. Revise it and try again. Write another one. Many of us wrote multiple books before we were published, and it's often even more books after that before something takes off. If your first published book doesn't sell well, you will not vanish into obscurity, doomed to never see another word in print. In fact, if your fifth book takes off, you'll have a nice backlist already there for your new fans to find. Don't give up. 12. IF YOU DO GET SCREWED BY A PUBLISHER, YOUR WRITING DREAMS ARE RUINED. Nah, you're good, fam. It's a hard thing to go through, and it's discouraging as all hell, but unless there's some clause in your contract forbidding you from writing or publishing anywhere else ever again (and even the shadiest of shady publishers of shadiness won't usually try that), you can dust yourself off and do it again. You wrote something. You stubborned your way from a blinking cursor to a finished book, and you saw that book all the way to print. You can absolutely do it again. Don't give up. (Also don't sign a contract that prevents you from writing/publishing elsewhere.) 13. SERIOUSLY, DON'T GIVE UP. Persistence -- hell, straight up stubbornness -- is a virtue in this business. Rejection is a thing. Bad reviews are a thing. Perfectly good publishers turning stupid is a thing. Publishers close, books fail, trends die. It's not an easy business, but it's worth it. Don't give up. You'll get there. 14. OTHER AUTHORS ARE YOUR COMMUNITY, NOT YOUR COMPETITION.  Yes, we compete to a degree, but we're really all on the same team. A rising tide lifts all boats and all that. Join groups. Ask questions. Doesn't matter if you're published yet. Every veteran author was unpublished once, and many of us have been through things we would be THRILLED to help you avoid. Plus, I mean, we're writers. Someone else who wants to talk about writing? PULL UP A CHAIR, YO. 15. YOU'VE GOT THIS. Writing and publishing are tough, but don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Those of us who are published don't have some special X factor or magic ability that you lack. The only thing that separates us from you is that you're not here YET. We had unfinished manuscripts once too. We were unpublished. "But I'm not Stephen King!" And there was a time when no one knew who Stephen King was. He had to put in the work. I had to put in the work. You have to put in the work. There's no guarantee of degrees of success, but if your goal is to write and publish a book... put in the work. We did this, and so will you. Put your butt in the chair. Put your fingers on the keyboard. Put your words on the page. And when you're ready to break into publishing, there's a whole community of us who will happily help guide you. GO FORTH AND NANO!

made from these wicked things

by spectralarchers

Summary:

Barney Barton is the older brother of Avenger Clint Barton. That's about all his file says, and what the other Avengers and SHIELD agents know about him. But who is Barney Barton and why is it that Hawkeye refuses to speak about his older brother when prompted? Well, maybe it's easier to look at the story from Barney's perspective to understand that specific dynamic. After all, it isn't easy being overshadowed by your younger brother.

*'*'*

Words: 51855 | Chapters: 19/19 | Language: English | Published: 2022-11-05 | Completed: 2022-12-01

*'*'*

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616

Relationships: Barney Barton & Clint Barton

Characters: Barney Barton, Clint Barton, Everett Ross, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Yelena Belova, Antalya, Helmut Zemo, Wilfred Nagel, Carol Danvers (cameo), Laura Barton, Cooper Barton, Lila Barton, Nathaniel Pietro Barton, Lucky (Hawkeye), Lester | Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter, Hank Pym, Nick Fury, Melinda May, Phil Coulson, Maria Hill (briefly), Wolfgang von Strucker, Jessica Drew, Jasper Sitwell, Ayo (Marvel), Monica Rambeau, Thaddeus Ross

Additional Tags: NaNoWriMo 2022, Barney Barton needs a Hug, Canon Compliant, Past Child Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, Where was Barney Barton?

*'*'*

I hope you enjoy this story of where has Barney Barton been in the MCU. There's a secret plotline revolving around a side character which does not appear in the tags or character tags for the sake of a surprise for comic book fans ;)

— ✦ the low guard ;; wip introduction

— details ;;

genre. urban fantasy, horror pov. third person limited status. outlining length. duology, part i content warnings. death, body horror, necromancy, suicidal ideation, discussions of religion (real & fictional), graphic depictions of violence this work is for nanowrimo 2022.

— synopsis ;;

After years of rejected applications, Damaris North is ecstatic to finally be joining the Low Guard; a coven of witches dedicated to protecting Los Angeles and the surrounding realms. When she's apprenticed to Charlie Sanchez- a reviled necromancer and cursemarked witch -she thinks her career is ending before it begins. However, when a strand of killings tear through the city, Damaris finds herself following Charlie deeper and deeper into LA's magical underworld. As the killers circle ever-closer, she finds herself having to choose who she is- who she wants to be.

— characters ;;

damaris north — human & fae, witch, she/her, twenty-one charlie sanchez — human, necromancer, she/they, twenty-nine nate bishop — fae, mortician, he/him, ??? mercy alnwick — vampire, witch, they/them, ??? parker ivanov — werewolf, clan head, they/them, thirty-two ian abraham — human, witch, she/her, thirty, vivian — djinn, she/her, ???

— vibes ;;

this is a crime novel, but urban fantasy- i've affectionately been calling the genre 'necronoir' ever since i had the idea. be prepared for death, gore, and a whole gamut of horror tropes. there'll be themes of feeling disconnected from your heritage, cultural identity in the face of oppression and violence, mental health issues, and 'good' not always being good. these characters are very near and dear to my heart, and i hope those of you who are with me on this ride will love them just as much as i do.

— more information ;;

work in progress tag nanowrimo page spotify playlist

— taglist ;;

ask/reply to be added or removed! @cactusmotif @linaswritingcorner @thearchangelwrites

Total Word Count: 6787

Progress: yes I know I didn’t write for a week shut up progress has been made!  slight, but at least it exists.  all five of the band of thieves have now been officially introduced.  kozlov is taking forever to get to the point because he doesn’t want to admit he needs help.

Snippet:

“Which makes you all uniquely qualified for the problem that we’re facing,” Kozlov said, dark eyes glittering.  “As you all know, election season is upon us.  In a few short weeks, there will be a new Imperator.  And due to some unfortunate rumors swirling around, it’s possible that the transition would be…messy.”

Lucy stared at him. The last time an Imperator had refused to step down at the end of their ten-year reign, their head had been stuck on a pike for a full year.  Imperators were powerful, but the Assembly was the most powerful political force in the Empire.  Most Archons even had their own private militia, the only military force capable of standing up to them would be—

Lucy cast a second glance at all the Imps in the room and swallowed.

“What rumors?” Tarina asked, raising an eyebrow.  Her voice was low and hoarse and she was wearing the drab grays of a prison uniform. When she shifted, Lucy could just about make out a second tattoo under the collar of her shirt.  The linking rune for magical draining.

“The Tragedy of Trivale.”

Tarina still looked confused, but she was the only one.  Riker let out a low exhale and Eilie’s features seemed to blur for a moment before smoothing out again.  Lucy remembered hearing about Trivale—Link had heard the news first and murmured it against her shoulder blades when she was splayed out sleepily on a bed in Vallas. One of the last times she’d been happy.

Sometimes she wished they’d never left that island and its cozy, comforting embrace.

“A year ago,” Kozlov said sharply through gritted teeth, “the barracks at Fort Trivale caught on fire. The fire spread despite all efforts to contain it and escaped the fort and made it to the town.  There were over a hundred thousand casualties.  All the training classes at the fort were gutted and it was the single largest single-day military casualty in decades.”

The Imperial guards all wore hard looks.  It was one thing to lose soldiers in war—Kozlov had lost many to achieve his victory, but carefully, and well-spent.  It was another thing entirely to lose cadets in their beds, screaming as they burned alive.

For months afterwards, the speculation remained.  It had to have been a magical fire, but what kind of magical fire had vanquished all their defenses?  Accusations swirled around from all corners, but none of the major terrorist groups in and around the Kridan Empire took credit.  Lucy cast another glance at Tarina, but she only looked thoughtful.

In the end, the fire had been ruled an accident.  A tragedy. But that didn’t stop people from losing faith—Trivale was in the heartland of Krida, supposed to be utterly safe.  A disaster on this scale was unheard of.

“Some people suspect that the fire was allowed to spread that far through gross negligence.  That the recovery efforts were mismanaged.  That the blame for the whole tragic affair does—somehow—fall on me.”

NaNo is Nigh

🌙 nanowrimo 2022 — day 15 update 🌙

word count ; 13,920 / 25,000

progress ; my outline is a stomped on pile of ash by now (hehe) but this week i got SO MUCH worldbuilding completed - there’s a Rebel Captain character that hasn’t been introduced yet, and i’ve been having a lot of fun designing his little troop, although one character’s personality continues to elude me... otherwise, the story is still focused on Adelade’s encounter with Pebble! they are very unlike in terms of personality but not so different in background, so their shared perspective has been interesting to write. i’m excited to toss them out into the wild! soon, soon.....

the butcher’s lament 🌙 chapter two glimpse —

“You still haven’t had any soup.”

Clamping her jaw, Adelade sniffed the concoction first. Potatoes and carrots and something green floated in a beet-dark broth. Brow furrowed, dismissing the memory of squash as fatigue, she brought the bowl to her lips. It was scalding hot and spicy enough to sting her eyes.

“It’s been a long time since anyone visited,” Pebble said, fixation not subtle. “Do you like it?”

“Yes.”

“You made a weird face.”

“No.” Adelade took another sip to persuade her, this time feeling her sinuses clear. “They call it the Sinking Steppes because the terrain is craggy and unpredictable, and the woods all grow on slopes.” She caught Pebble’s eye. “And they say the earth swallows people here.”

“Who says?”

“Just... people. There are stories. Many have died out here.”

“Well, I’ve heard people die everywhere.”

“And what of the people after me?”

Pebble shrugged, nonchalant, and took another helping. “I told them to be careful on the rocks. One of them wasn’t and broke his knee, they yelled something rather rude about you, and then they went home. It was pretty uneventful.”

“There weren’t…” Adelade faltered, wringing the blood and anger from her memories, “…there weren’t any rocks.”

“Of course, there were rocks. We’re on the bones of a mountain.”

Adelade recalled two origin tales of the Sinking Steppes: one told through reverent song, honoring the wisdom of an ancient mountain long eroded to a hard-skinned hill; and one haunted with sky-fire violence, a chapter in the grander story of a man who slaughtered gods. There were no more worshippers here. Only scorched walls and empty rooms, lingering memories of stools and cauldrons and shattered windows, and a just-barely teenager, all alone.

Adelade stroked her thumb over the clay dish. “How long have you lived here, Pebble?”

Character Profile: Lady Viviana Cabellero

The Basics

Name: Viviana Caballero

Appearance: Light Icy Blue Eyes, Dark Mahogany Brown Hair, Pale Skin, Tall (5’9), Thin Lips, Upturned Eyes

Age: Thirty-Six Years Old

Role In The Story: Secondary Antagonist/ Side Character

Enneagram: Type Three (The Achiever)

Parents: Viscount Ronaldo Elias Perez And Lady Viviana

Siblings: Jacob, Mateo, Nicolas, And Hernando Perez

Hobbies And Interests: Needlework, Embroidery, Playing The Piano, Reading Religious Texts, Reading Romantic Sonnets And Poetry

Overall Personality: Cruel, Selfish, Anxious, Fearful, Desperate, Bitter, Jealous

Character Backstory

Viviana is the daughter of a wealthy viscount. Her mother is the daughter of a high-ranking diplomat from Ceraun, who met Viviana’s father -- who was twice her age -- when her father came to visit to discuss trade negotiations with King Alexander as an ambassador. The couple got married only after a week of courting, and then went on to have four sons, and one last-born daughter, which is Viviana. Growing up in the royal court of Aureus, she had a privileged upbringing, with a governess teaching her how to play the piano, and speak several different languages. Her family was very religious, with her mother being known to be especially pious. She grew up sheltered and learned from a young age to only speak when spoken to, and to be submissive and obedient, or else there would be consequences. She was brought up from a very young age to understand the importance of finding a good husband, and from the age of fifteen, her father had already begun arranging possible suitors for her. At age sixteen, she was introduced to society and began attending balls, and royal dinners frequently, where she met Mirella who was one year older than her and helped introduce her to all of the notable members of the nobility. But, when the scandal of Mirella running away and marrying a man her father, a Duke, highly disapproved of, the two stopped speaking to each other, going from polite acquaintances to strangers. At age seventeen, Viviana’s father arranged a marriage with a wealthy young lord, who was thirty years old, and quite arrogant and conceited, but his riches and charisma managed to charm her father and soon they two were getting married, after courting for two weeks, which mainly consisted of stale, awkward conversations.

Viviana tries her best to be the perfect wife in order to avoid any violence, by waiting on her husband’s every want, entertaining the rowdy guests of his hunting party, as they drink, and gamble. But it still wasn’t enough, Ferdinand would often get violently drunk and verbally and physically abuse her, he would isolate her for long periods of time, not allowing her to visit her family or attend public events as often, saying that she should be a good wife, and take care of the home. When she reached out to her brother about the abuse, he told her she was being hysterical and that if she didn’t want to be beaten she should stop angering him. Occasionally, Viviana will attend balls with her husband, where she meets Princess Gabriella, who notices her bruises and overhears him yelling at her, comforting her in her arms as she starts sobbing. A year into their marriage, Viviana finds out that she’s pregnant, and during the nine months, she is left alone in the manor with only her maidservants helping and supporting her. Her husband begins sleeping with prostitutes once she starts showing, calling her stretch marks disgusting and body shaming her.

Eventually, Viviana gives birth to two twin girls, and her husband is furious, complaining about having to raise useless daughters. He demands that they try again for a baby, but after her traumatic birthing experience, sex is painful for her and she secretly uses herbal contraceptives without her husband’s knowledge, with the help of Gabriella who is knowledgeable in herbs. But when her husband finds out from one of her maidservants, he brutally beats her until she’s sobbing from pain, and covered in bruises. That same night he rapes her, and shortly after she learns that she’s pregnant. But due to her depression, she doesn’t eat anything and doesn’t get out of bed for days, leaving the maid to ween and take care of the ten-month-old twins. Months later, Viviana suffers from a miscarriage, which her husband uses as fuel to abuse her even more. At that point, Ferdinand gives up on her and goes on to have multiple affairs with several women.

As the years pass, Viviana continues to raise her two daughters while Ferdinand continues to neglect the twins, and also abuse their mother. After the miscarriage, Viviana begins to engage in self-destructive behaviour, throwing herself down flights of stairs, and drinking poisons, her severe depression and suicidal tendencies, and she begins to break things and claw at the walls which makes Ferdinand call for a doctor who diagnoses her with hysteria and force her to be isolated in her room, only allowed to leave for short walks around the garden. Viviana would often try to write letters to her mother, but Ferdinand would take them from the maids, read them and burn them immediately before they could leave the house.

Eventually, the girls begin to walk and talk, and Viviana begins trying to find peace and contentment by spending time with her daughters, reading them bedtime stories, and singing them lullabies. Ferdinand would leave for thirteen-day-long hunting retreats or to spend time drinking and sleeping around in brothels, and would not take an active role in his children’s lives, but when he is in the house, he would often scream at the girls and their mother until they started crying, and refuse to hug them or give them any affection.

When the twins are five, Viviana’s father dies in his sleep, and when the family gathers for his wake and burial, Ferdinand laughs and bonds with her immediate brother, Hernando, and gets friendly with the other three brothers. Since she hasn’t been able to send letters without her husband reading them, ever since he found out about her correspondence with Gabriella, she uses this time to try and plead with her brothers and their wives for help. But her mother says that she should simply just pray to the lesser gods to save her marriage, and her sisters-in-law tell her that although they sympathize with her there is nothing they can do and it is not within their power to break up a holy union or force Ferdinand to change.

Her three other brothers, all respond differently than Hernando, Jacob, the oldest says he’ll have a talk with Ferdinand, and Mateo doesn’t want to get involved telling her to deal with it herself and to focus on motherhood, but she says that if she ever feels unsafe she can come to stay with him. Nicolas assumes she’s overreacting, saying most people are discontent in their marriages and they just need to work through it, telling her to avoid angering him and talk to him about managing his emotions. When they return home, after the funeral, Ferdinand explodes on her, having heard of Jacob, and gossip from the other wives. He beats her brutally for speaking out. He laughs at her for thinking they would do anything, saying that she’s his property and he can do whatever he wants with her. He even tells her that once Jacob heard his side of the story he agreed she was in the wrong. The girls start crying, and he yells at the maid to hurry up and put them to bed. After this, Viviana tries to appease her husband through sexual intercourse, but this only leads to him calling her a whore. When the physical abuse continues, she starts drugging his food with sleeping medicines so he falls asleep early and doesn’t bother her, but this doesn’t stop him from verbally berating her and harassing her during the day, and the intoxications she gives him causes him to have headaches which only makes him worse, so she stops.

Three years later, Viviana’s mother dies, and her body is sent to be buried in Sirium with the rest of her family. As the girls begin to develop during their early adolescence, from ages nine to ten, their father begins to body shame them, and belittle them, with their parents always fighting, Delphina takes comfort in reading, which her father frequently ridicules her for, Daphne tries to comfort their mother by singing to her and playing the piano to impress her. One day, Ferdinand comes home drunk, and immediately starts yelling and harassing Viviana when she tries to calm him down, and get him to bed, but instead, he throws a tea tray at the wall, aiming it at his wife, but it hits Delphina instead, cutting her forehead. With the wound bleeding profusely, the whole house descends into chaos with the nursemaid trying to clean and stitch the cut, while both of the girls cry loudly and Viviana and Ferdinand engage in a shouting match. Later, that evening, Viviana leaves for her brother’s house with the two girls, not wanting to put her daughters in danger.

After years of being isolated at home, due to her husband and motherhood, Viviana finally goes to the Annual Ball for the Celebration of Life. There she reunites with her old friends and learns that both Mirella and Gabriella are dead. She gives her sympathies to Adrian, who shakes her hand, is very kind to her and makes her laugh the whole night. But after, a few weeks of being separated her brother and his wife begin to pressure her to return to her husband, but before she leaves, Viviana goes to a former priestess, who goes by Seer Maeve, who she heard about from Mirella, who mentioned her briefly many years ago. She goes to her and begs her for a poison that is untraceable and undetectable, and when she gives her a bag of gold coins, Maeve immediately gives her the last vial of poison she’s ever conjured. That evening, when Viviana returns, Ferdinand beats and molests her until she has a black eye, and several bruises on her body. But later, that night, Viviana pours him a glass of wine for his dinner, and he drinks the whole glass. That same night, Ferdinand dies in his sleep.

Viviana takes the cane that he would frequently use to beat her, as a sort of trophy, but eventually, she and her daughters are forced to move out again, when Ferdinand’s younger brother inherits the land, moving in with his three sons and marrying his brother’s mistress after his first wife died. they leave for their brother’s house, but this time, Mateo and his wife are not as welcoming, saying that she can stay up until the end of the customary grieving period, and then she’s on her own. Viviana grieves, not for her husband but for herself, mourning the innocent girl she used to be. Her brother’s friend and close business partner, Adrian frequently visits the Manor, and the two connect, sending each other letters, and becoming close with each other. Adrian encourages Mateo to let her stay with him longer, and eventually a year later when the twins are turning ten, he asks Jacob for her hand in marriage, and the two get engaged. Their nuptials consist of only close family members, and on the night of the wedding, Viviana is introduced to Seraphina, who appears to be the light of Adrian’s life.

Viviana is at first endeared by the child’s attempts to form a bond but eventually begins to find her to be a nuisance, constantly having Adrian’s full attention, while he still struggles to tell her two fraternal twin daughters apart. Due to her uncanny resemblance to Mirella, she begins to feel unexplainable envy towards the girl, getting annoyed when Adrian would talk about her for too long or even mention his first marriage. Viviana and Adrian are happily married for two years, until his sudden tragic death while travelling abroad. After Adrian’s death, Viviana feels alone, and doesn’t deal with her grief healthily, she begins to drink constantly and get into uncontrollable rages, taking out her grief and frustration on Sera, or sometimes even her own daughters. She begins to abuse Sera, hating the girl for reminding her of the innocent girl she used to be and projecting her own self-loathing and pent-up onto her. Eventually, Lord Javier Lopez comes to claim the property for himself, but instead of kicking them out, he tells them he already has a manor, and that he simply wants more property to pass down to his sons. Javier is charismatic and in the two days that he stays over, he flirts with Viviana, kissing her bare wrist instead of her glove, complimenting her beauty. This eventually leads to a romantic affair, and Viviana becomes his mistress and he begins to financially support her and her daughters. Viviana continues to project her trauma onto Sera, because she sees her younger self in her, and is angry that she gets to be happy with Adrian, whereas she has only known to suffer. This jealousy leads to her making Sera’s life miserable, because she doesn’t view her as her daughter, and has dehumanized her in order to justify the abuse.

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