no actual writing, only elaborate fantasies

Official WIP Intro- Memories of Belladonna

Genre // Fantasy-adjacent, mystery-adjacent, romance

Status // drafting

Themes // Found family, acceptance, secret systems, racing against the clock, gaining trust, losing trust, rivals -> reluctant partners -> friends -> … lovers?

~Synopsis

Elena Carter lives in content. At Bell Dean Academy, she and her friends are the highest on the food chain. She’s at the top, and when you’re in the Wisteria dorm, you can’t fall. Anything she says, goes. Students and teachers alike want to answer her beck and call. It’s her junior year, and she intends to live it out to the fullest. 

Until she gets randomly relocated to the Calendula dorms. Calendula: the dorms that, until now, only held four of the worst kids in school. Calendula: where you’re sent after doing only the worst deeds you can do at the Academy. Calendula: code for social suicide.

Things are looking bleak. No one talks to her anymore. She gets off on the wrong foot with her dorm mates (not that she cares). Her only chance to stay on top is a party in the woods where, if she were caught, she’d be out of the school for good. But she’s Elena Carter. What’s the worst that can happen?

Your annoying dorm mate comes to rescue you. You get lost in the woods with them. And you stumble into one of the most powerful secrets Bell Dean Academy has ever had. A secret that could make or break the modern world as we know it.

Elena now has the fate of the Academy (and possibly her life) in her hands. Oh yeah, and in the hands of the most annoying person you could ask for. 

~Characters

Elena Carter, she/her- Ex-Wisteria, now Calendula resident. Hold herself to such a high pedestal that she doesn’t know what to do when she gets knocked down.

Lake Walker, they/them- Proud Member of Calendula for almost 3 years. Still a stickler for the rules, even if the rules are what got them in Calendula in the first place.

Nadia Zogby, she/her- Proud Member of Calendula for 2 years. The most aggressively affectionate person you will ever meet, and I love her for it.

Skyler Zhou, she/her- Proud Member of Calendula for 2 years. Every little move, every word, is so carefully thought through that sometimes it’s better not to say anything at all. 

Willow Young, she/her- Proud Member of Calendula for almost 3 years. Huge plant lover and will support her friends through anything. 

Kennedy Jackson, she/her- Proud Member of Wisteria for 3 years. One look from her could make you wish you never left your bed that morning. 

Paisley Hall, she/her- Proud Member of Wisteria for 3 years. Holds information on everyone, even you. She won’t hesitate to use it.

Andrew Moreau, he/him- Proud Member of Adonis (the male dorms) for 3 years. Willing to do whatever it takes to get his way, or to weasel out of whatever he wants.

Amelia Dean, she/her- The current of headmaster or Bell Dean Academy. Always a little off. More than a little off. 

Extra Notes // I really wanted to do a more official intro for this one, so here it is. I promise, no more intros after this. Here is the sillier comic sans intro I did a while ago. This is most likely going to be the story I focus on during NanoWriMo (hopefully to finish it) but I am slowly drafting now as well. I’m always open to asks and DMs about anything Memories of Belladonna related!  

Here’s a two week update (you could say) about my writeblr! How exciting!

Hey all! Here’s what I’ve been up to, and also my plan:

- I don’t know how active I’ll be, because I’m both planning my new Nano story and going through personal stuff, so who knows.

- Speaking of, my new Nano story is in the works! I have absolutely now clue how much I’ll be sharing during the actual NanoWriMo, but rest assured I will be committing hard to it (and letting you know what’s happening).

- MemOB will still be in the works, of course! Tested might officially be moved to a personal project, but who knows. 

Happy TT! Thank you for the ask!

Elena’s family isn’t exactly “out of the picture”, but both due to [redacted] events at the end of the story and the fact that they’d no doubt disapprove of Lake in many respects, Elena doesn’t think she’s going to interact with her parents any time soon.

Lake’s parents are different. There’s always been a sort of awkward relationship (especially since Lake had come out), but not bad or anything. There’s a reasonable amount of tension between everyone. Both of Lake’s parents try their best to respect their pronouns and respect Elena as well, especially now that they have to trust both of them with... well, [redacted]. Regardless, I like to think that the parent-couple relationship ends up being pretty sweet. Elena sort of gets the parents she didn’t think she’d ever have.

You’re so right, time is NOT real. That why I’m answering even FURTHER away from STS. To spite the passage of time. 

Elena loves her confidence. She doesn’t think it’s “egotistical” or anything (sometimes it is, but don’t tell her), but mostly it’s just this reassurance that she knows what she’s about. She knows herself. 

She hates when her feelings get the best of her. It’s not a priority.

Lake, on the other hand, loves their empathy. How much they care about everyone all the time, and how people love to depend on them. 

But sometimes, they hate that they care so much. They maybe even that they don’t have anyone to depend on.

Nadia loves to defend the people she loves. Whether that be verbally or... physically.

She hates when it ends up being physically. 

Skyler loves her mind. She’s always succeeded in environments like school, but her mind works wonders in other ways. Most of the time, they’re wonderfully logical. 

It’s not always beneficial. She doesn’t like some of the ways her mind tends to work. 

Willow loves her understanding. She loves understanding everything and everyone in the world around her. 

Thank you to @crystallized-ink for the tag! I’m very VERY happy with where the story is right now and I can’t wait to share.

There’s a little more silence. 

“And thanks.”

“For what?” Lake asks. 

“Standing up to Andrew for me. I was in a really uncomfortable situation, and while you definitely shouldn’t have even been there in the first place, it kinda worked out.”

“A lot of things worked out tonight.”

I roll the crystal in my hands. I hold it close. I can’t help but laugh. 

“I guess they did.”

Them. Both of them.

Willow Young / MemOB Character Intro

Age - 16

Race - Irish

Sexuality - Biromantic Asexual

Birthday/Zodiac - March 18th, Pisces

Bell Dean Alignments

Dorm - Belonging to Calendula since the second semester of Freshman year.

Connections - Only connected to Calendula residents (Lake, Nadia, Skyler, and by association... Elena).

Secrets - Other than the fact that she sneaks plants into Calendula because, well, plants; she’s the secret keeper of the group. She likes knowing everyone, and keeping everything.

Skyler Zhou / MemOB Character Intro

Age - 16

Race - Chinese-American

Sexuality - Aro/Ace

Birthday/Zodiac - August 25th, Virgo

Bell Dean Alignments

Dorm - Belonging to Calendula since the first semester of Sophmore year.

Connections - Only connected to Calendula residents (Lake, Nadia, Willow, and by association... Elena).

Secrets - Keeps a map of the school with her at all times, ready to add any passage or route that could be useful for... sneaking around.