Bunbury

[Bunbury]

Welcome to my Novel Nest! 

My goal for NaNo is to finish drafting Phineas Nigellus: Vampire Hunter (the first two chapters of which are posted here+), or at least draft Chs 3 through 7. 

Summary 

It's 1875. Phineas Nigellus, young heir to the House of Black, has had his future planned for him since the day he was born.

But when, on a dark and stormy night, he meets an uninvited guest at his engagement party, his life will change forever in ways he could never have foreseen. 

Before the end he will learn the price of duty, discover the meaning of true love, and cut down the legions of Hell. 

 

Phineas Nigellus (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Dr Van Helsing (Peter Cushing)

 

Dramatis Personae 

Phineas Nigellus -- Heir to the House of Black. A spoiled brat. In over his head. "Prouder and more beautiful than a peacock (or so he fancies), he is tall and slim, beautifully dressed and fashionably clean shaven, with a mane of raven hair and hawkish good looks. Closer now to thirty than twenty, he is entering his prime."

Abraham Van Helsing -- A ruthless and fastidious medical doctor. Part-time vampire hunter. Out for revenge. "A debonair, middle-aged man, small and slight of build, his movements precise and economical, his attire immaculate but inostentatious. In his face, the haunted look of one who has stared into the abyss."

Ursula Flint -- Phineas's fiancee. "A handsome woman of two and twenty with a dowry still more handsome."

Hyperion Malfoy --  Doyen of Pureblood Society. "Nonageneric paterfamilias, hero of Waterloo, Order of Merlin (first class), and -- in Phineas's view -- an all-around bore."

Barabbas Barnacle -- Doyen of the Flying Dutchman. "A stout, hoary sponge and lowlife and consequently Phineas's bosom friend, counsellor, and confessor."

The Fiend -- a fiend

 

The House of Black

Cygnus Black -- dictatorial patriarch 

Ella Black -- his wife

Sirius Black -- his first son, deceased 

Phineas Nigellus Black -- his second son, the heir 

Chesterton Fawley -- his son-in-law, an idiot

Elladora Fawley (nee Black) --  his first daughter, a society lady 

Iola Hitchens (nee Black) -- his second daughter, a traitor 

Arcturus Black -- his younger brother 

Castor Black -- his nephew, a dissipated scoundrel

Callidora Black -- his niece, a sweet girl with no dowry or prospects 

Regulus Black -- his great-great-great-grandson, a Gobstone enthusiast 

Tuppy -- his elf 

 

Coming up: a day at the races, a night at the opera, a crypt, a telegram, a blood transfusion, first kisses, hoards of the undead. 

[Bunbury]

@victoria_anne Bianca! Thanks for these, and hope you enjoy the story

1. Basically, I really wanted to write a story about Phineas Nigellus -- I loved him in the books, and haven't found a lot of fic about him. But it's pretty hard to write a novel-length story about a wall-hanging -- for obvious reasons So I decided to write about Phineas when he was alive, which -- I learned from HP wiki -- was from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries, meaning he'd have been young in the 1870s. I really liked the idea of mixing JKR's wizarding world with Victorian fantasy literature, and Dracula seemed to fit the bill. The result is the campy victorian gothic b-movie horror romance I've apparently been writing

2. Yes! I've had the main beats of the narrative worked out since I came up with the idea, and I've been outlining in more detail this month. I've also written a bunch of dialogue and sketched key scenes, and titled most of the chapters. I really like knowing where I'm going so I can control pacing and foreshadowing. 

3. Honestly, it's a mix. I try not to let myself get too carried away with research -- it's a bottomless abyss -- but I have recently gone on a few research binges, especially into the history of the blood transfusion (which is pretty macabre, I recommend). 

4. Yes -- Phineas  Everything we learn about Phineas in the books suggests that he was a pretty terrible person, and it's been fun writing an unapologetically awful antihero. That said, I still want Phineas to be charming and sympathetic, and balancing these things had been an interesting challenge. 

5. Oh, definitely demon!

[Bunbury]

So, like @grumpy cat, I have narry an iota of chill. . .here's my playlist for PN:VH; modifications and annotations to follow: 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5DFAZFJv25YcPBRBNSuLun?si=N3yz4SOxT8e4FJglbCHQIw

 

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

OMG Jane, this list is amazing. I eagerly await annotations.

[Bunbury]

Despite NaNo's getting off to a slow start, I've managed to finish a (pretty rough) draft of PN:VH Ch 3, "The Hunt"! Here's a celebratory snippet (the opening, by far the most polished part): 

Quote

An hour has passed since our hero and his foreign companion engaged the fiend, and they have since retired to a nearby beerhouse. Van Helsing considered bringing Phineas back to his rooms but reflected that the latter, having had a shock, might benefit from the comfort of a more familiar environment. 

Our hero has yet to collect himself following his ungentlemanly episode in the street. His throat still burns with acid, and he trembles with dewy-browed fever. He fancies he must look rather green, and is gratified to recollect that consumption is still fashionable. Nevermind -- he has suffered worse, and will recover anon. 

Let us take a moment to appreciate our surroundings, for we shall be tarrying here for the duration of this chapter. As beerhouses go, the NAME (for that is its name) is comparatively respectable: the blazing fire smells sweetly of pine, not evilly of coal; the lithographic prints are demure (if dingy); the handbills are cheerful (if obvious). The barmaids are truly as young as they affect to be, their plump and rosy figures pleasingly reflected by numerous mirrors. The urchin perambulating among the tables and hawking matchsticks is at least clean, though shabbily dressed in raiment big enough for his father and venerable enough for his grandfather. (Phineas, who has never seen a matchstick, would find him terribly droll were he in fit condition to observe him.) There is chatter, laughter, song, and general merriment. 

If anybody can think of a better beerhouse name than "NAME", PM me  

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

Hi Jane! I'm stopping by with a couple of questions and a little treat:

1. Will there be fantastical hats a la My Fair Lady at the wizard races??

2. Why is Abraham the right person for Phineas--or is he not?

3. I saw some Gilbert and Sullivan on your playlist for PH:VH Do you have a favorite opera by them?

 

And a little something I saw that made me think of you and I thought you might enjoy:

 

[800 words of heaven]

This has such strong Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies vibes! I'm excited! As we approach the halfway mark, how do you feel like you're going this NaNo season?

[Bunbury]

So, I'm hella behind on PN:VH because I've been writing Inheritance Ch 6 because I'm apparently incapable of doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Here's a snippet -- if you know the fic, you can probably work out who's talking  

Quote

“What would it eat? The owl?”

“Scraps from our table, I imagine.” 

“I think they’re carnivorous.” She glanced doubtfully at the raisin toast. “And I don’t think Cockroach Clusters count.” 

“But you’ve got access to loads of wee beasties! Couldn’t you -- I don’t know -- fudge the inventory now and then?”

“Are you suggesting that I embezzle rodents?” 

“Would that really be so bad?” 

 

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

1 hour ago, Bunbury said:

“Are you suggesting that I embezzle rodents?” 

“Would that really be so bad?” 

Somehow I feel that embezzling rodents from this particular source would come with dire consequences...

[Bunbury]

At long last, I have a (very sketchy) draft of (most of) Chapter 4, "The Vial"! Here once more is the opening -- it needs work, and my inability to name things is again in evidence  

Quote

The grey autumn of November supplants the golden autumn of October, ushering in the first chill of winter and heralding, at last, the advent of the flying season. All across heathendom, broomsticks are being trimmed, bewinged snitches released, and Quidditch pitches mown. For Society, however, the first week of November is NAME Week, the time of the great hippogriff steeplechase. Dating from the days of the Plantagenets, it remains among the highlights of the season and necessitates a mass migration from the metropolis to Berkshire, from town house to country manor. What awaits is a veritable carnival of balls and banquets, tea parties and garden parties, lawn tennis and lawn bowling, hunting, birding, fishing, and even -- in rare cases -- reading. And then, of course, there are the races themselves. See here the proud row of coursers, glossy of coat and mighty of wing! See the vast aerial track, a hundred furlongs in circumference and a hundred yards high! And guard well your pocketbook against the temptation of a harmless flutter, lest today’s friend become tomorrow’s creditor. 

It is the last day of NAME Week, and Society is even now wending its languorous way to the racetrack after luncheon. Already its army of house elves is packing its cases and coffers, the better to facilitate its immediate removal to London -- whence some of the assembled company fancy themselves to have been too long absent -- following the presentation of the final ribbon. 

 

[Bunbury]

@Noelle ZingarellaNoelle! Thanks for these, and for the delightful bat feeding illustration -- I love it

1. So I actually thought long and hard about this because I have zero chill. Initially the answer was a resounding "yes" -- I love hats, especially big ones, and I'm obsessed with that scene in My Fair Lady. But ultimately I think not -- I can't totally see it in 1875 (I know this is fantasy, but. . .). Also, although the narrator of Phineas is first person omniscient, a lot of what we see is distorted by Phineas's point of view -- and he generally doesn't attend to clothes he can't wear himself

2. This is a really good question, which I realized I basically never ask myself while writing. . .my bad. So I don't know if Phineas and Abraham (it feels so weird calling him that arrgghh!) work as a couple, but I think they work narratively because they're oppoaite extremes who balance. When we first meet them, Phineas is a debauched nihilist and Abraham, a joyless aescetic. Phineas is drawn to Abraham because whereas most people he knows are spoiled, shallow egoists, Abraham is authentic and stands for something. And Abraham is drawn to Phineas because in contrast to the rest of his life, which is haunted by the horrific things he's seen and driven relentlessly by righteous duty, Phineas is just fun and charming. 

At the risk of sounding even more pretentious, I admit I've been associating Phineas and Abraham with Dionysus and Apollo respectively?

(As an aside, from a writing standpoint, I've really been enjoying how different this relationship is from Phaedra and Severus's (first names, cannot, arrgghh!), the central romantic relationship in Inheritance. Where Phineas and Abraham click because they're opposed, Phaedra and Severus click, I think, because of their mutual recognition that they're kindred spirits.) 

3. I love G&S with a white hot passion, and my favourite of theirs is -- unoriginally -- The Mikado.

When I was putting together the playlist I wanted a theme song for each Phineas and Abraham, and I wanted them to be songs they'd plausibly have heard and liked. Phineas's theme -- "Oh, gentlemen, listen, I pray" from Trial by Jury -- was released in 1875, which is when Phineas is set. And the blithe fickleness of the song struck me as perfect for Phineas's plight and character, at least at the beginning. (Though ultimately I like to think of Enigma Variation V as the Phineas leitmotif -- also by an English composer but, alas, a little too late.) 

@800 words of heavenThank you! I've haven't actually read these, but man do I want to NaNo has been fun, but way less productive than I'd hoped -- partly because of RL (goddammit, RL!), partly because I randomly wrote several thousand words of Inheritance mid-month just because But overall I'm enjoying the experience. It's liberating to work on a large chunk of the story all at once without the pressure of finishing chapters before moving on. 

[Bunbury]

lol, it's almost a week into nano and i'm finally jumping on the bandwagon. irritatingly, this apocalyptic atmosphere has been messing with my writing mojo (and general mojo). so instead of trying to tackle an ambitious project, i've lined up some small, weird things: 

 

-- "It's a long, long way to Tipperary": an Inheritance WWI AU short -- i'm about halfway through this fic and want to finish it. premise: it's 1916, and two friends (phaedra and hector for those familiar with inheritance) enjoy a last night on the town before one of them leaves for the front. here's a snippet: 

Quote

One dark evening in the spring of 1916, a kiss of frost on the air and the leaves and flowers in bud, she finds him waiting for her after work, loitering on the pavement and puffing his pipe. 

“‘Lo, Phae,” he says. 

“Hector! How did you know where to find me?"

"Old Bosie Peterson -- ran into him at the Marlborough. Said you were working here as a secretary?"

"That's right. Anyway, it’s been ages!” It has -- she hasn’t seen him since she first moved to London a year ago. [. . .] She hugs him, and when she pulls back to look at him properly she registers that he’s in uniform. “What’s all this?”
 
“I know,” he says apologetically. “Scratchy, isn’t it?” 

“How long since you enlisted?” 

“I was called up about a week ago. Mummy thought I’d be spared, what with her connections in the War Office -- but no such luck.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Actually I'm amazed I lasted this long -- I've enough white feathers to stuff a pillow. Also it turns out the family’s loyalty is in doubt. I was afraid it was because of all the spelunking I did in Swabia before Cambridge, but actually it’s Uncle Archie -- d’you know, he was a German informant?”

“Wouldn’t have thought he had it in him. At least they made you a lieutenant,” she says, noticing his insignia. 

“I don’t deserve it, of course -- someone must have pulled some strings.” 

“Or they just knew you were a natural leader of men.” 

 

don't ask why i started writing this, i do not know. (though if pressed i'd thoroughly blame emily @BookDinosaur and noelle @Noelle Zingarella for the idea of writing variations ) what i do know is that it has since spawned an Inheritance WWI Espionage AU -- set shortly after "Tipperary" -- wherein phaedra is a spy, hector is at the front, and nobody is to be trusted. i'll probably work on that too, i don't really know? here's a snippet of that: 

Quote

It began in the days of the war, now known to history as the Great War, though to the residents of London in the muggy Autumn of 1916, it seemed anything but great. I was lately returned from the continent and had just come from a meeting with Hastings -- as I shall persist in calling him though I knew, even then, that it was not his real name -- after which I found that I very much needed a walk. Hastings preferred not to meet in our offices at Cambridge Circus but at some nondescript cafe or pub, though whether as a matter genuine precaution -- to prevent our being seen coming and going, say -- or because he liked to feel that he was still 'in the game', I was never sure.

Our appointment was at one o'clock at the White Hart. . .The day was bright without being sunny, and warm and humid for October. I was wearing a new hat that did nothing to protect my eyes from the glare, and a wool coat and frock in which I sweated profusely. I was running late and, in my haste, probably drawing more attention to myself that I prefer. I recall exactly every detail of that day. . .[W]hen, in later years, I tried to identify the origin of all that was to happen to me -- my involvement with the Mediterranean campaign, with operation McGuffin, and most of all with a faceless adversary known to me only as codename 'Max' -- it is to the fateful choice I made then that I have invariably traced them.

("operation McGuffin" will eventually get a better name) 

 

-- "Distance": a coronavirus romance. yes, that is right. since i now think about the coronavirus (and talk about and read about the coronavirus) for approximately 100% of every day, i've decided i might as well write about it too. premise: two bostonians meet in the park where they both go for solitary exercise. there ensues a courtship wherein they must remain six feet apart at all times. 

 

-- secret microfic! i really like the idea of writing personalized microfics as gifts  i had an idea for one yesterday, and will hopefully write it this week

 

[BookDinosaur]

dude, i am so very excited about everything in this nest!! i have Tipperary now stuck in loops in my head and i simply cannot wait to be humming this silly song while i read your fic, because that's definitely a thing that will happen  the prospect of espionage has me so! excited! and i can't wait to read your other fics as they come :') best of luck this month, jane!!

[grumpy cat]

gimme all your stories and variations on stories *grabby hands*

will these aus have anything in common with the original inheritance and/or wizarding world or just the characters? i looove the snippets you posted *_*

[Bunbury]

On 4/6/2020 at 7:37 AM, BookDinosaur said:

dude, i am so very excited about everything in this nest!! i have Tipperary now stuck in loops in my head and i simply cannot wait to be humming this silly song while i read your fic, because that's definitely a thing that will happen  the prospect of espionage has me so! excited! and i can't wait to read your other fics as they come :') best of luck this month, jane!!

@BookDinosaur em! sorry (not sorry) to have lodged tipperary in your head (probably it will be lodged there anew on account of this message, my apologies), and thanks for these cheering words of encouragement  i'm excited by your excitement for espionage (which will hopefully eventually have a better title, though who knows, phineas nigellus: vampire hunter was also supposed to be a working title), and i'm hoping to have tipperary up soon (and as the song will itself be referenced in the fic there will be a golden opportunity for humming)

 

8 hours ago, grumpy cat said:

gimme all your stories and variations on stories *grabby hands*

will these aus have anything in common with the original inheritance and/or wizarding world or just the characters? i looove the snippets you posted *_*

@grumpy cat kris! i'm so pleased you liked the snippets, i hope the fics turn out :') lol, the aus will almost certainly have nothing in common with either inheritance or hp besides phaedra and hector (and, in espionage, snape) and -- this is a very high level similarity -- both inheritance and espionage feature phaedra investigating. . .a thing (in inheritance, her ~mysterious past~, in espionage, german battle plans). also! in both wwi-era stories phaedra's father, john, is still alive -- we'll get an allusion to him in "tipperary", and we'll meet him in espionage. i've decided that he's a classics don, partly because i literally couldn't think of another reason why phaedra would be called "phaedra"  

[starlitcastles]

Hello there!

I just wanted to drop by and comment on your Nano Nest and maybe ask you some question about one of your works as well.  I think Tipperary sounds really cool although I have yet to read Inheritance book since I believe the title sounds familiar and wanted to ask if it's a series or something like that.  I don't know too much about it but hope that writing that and the other story for it goes well for you! Also Distance sounds also interesting and in a way, I don't know what's the proper word for it other than funny but more so regarding the premise of the story.  Also my question for you is that regarding Distance: do you have any characters in mind for the story or you planning them? Also a microfic sounds also fascinating seeing that it's a top secret and a gift to somebody as well so hoping you'll also be able to write that. With all that said, I am wishing you the best of luck in this Camp NanoWriMo! You can do it! You got this!  

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

I'm always here to enable more fic

I recall you mentioning in a previous NaNo that Phineas and Van Helsing are like Dionysius and Apollo. Who would you equate Phaedra, Hector, and Snape to?

How goes the NaNo?

 

[beyond the rain]

Did someone say WW1 AU? I love anything to do with HP and WW1. I had an idea once upon a time to write something where the boys of Godric's Hollow went off to war (Harry, Neville, Colin, and a few others) - but it was a difficult headspace to get into. 

I love Inheritance, I know you're going to do an amazing job with all your fics! Wishing you the best of luck

[just.a.willow.tree]

Hi hi, Jane!  Your story ideas are always so so creative, and I have most ashamedly not caught up with enough of your writing.  Someday, I will need to specifically set aside an entire day and just review everything on your AP, because your writing is so delectable and good and perfect! I also have some questions!

1. You write in such a gorgeous period style, and I'm extremely curious -- what are some of your biggest inspirations (can be film, music, etc. in addition to other writing)? Is it the style that comes most naturally to you?

2. When did you first begin writing fanfiction? Have your interests changed drastically since then?

3. What is your favorite thing about wriitng?

4.

[magemadi]

Jaaaaane! I admit I am not all caught up on either Inheritance or Phineas Nigellus: Vampire Hunter, but I thought I’d poke you with questions about your writing regardless

1. You clearly enjoy historical films and history in general -- how much research are you doing on the time period in the UK for Phineas, and if it’s none, is that just because you are just a repository for that kind of knowledge?

2. What has been the most challenging but exciting part about writing Phaedra in Inheritance?