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[ftb-dafanfiction]

Hi! Don't want to pester you but the suspense is fully killing me. Just got up to date and was wanting to ask if you plan to continue this fic? (It's incredible btw) Loads of love! 💓

I do plan on continuing at some point, but I'm rather burnt-out atm, if I'm honest. I imagine whenever the next DA game is released, my interest will be rekindled.

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Do you have any eta on the next chapter of ftb? itching to find out what happens next 😭❤️

Unfortunately, dear anon, I don't. My muses are elsewhere atm. I do have notes and plans, but it might take a while before those plans get turned into a coherent chapter, lol.

[ftb-dafanfiction]

New Fanfic Preview

Putting up a little WIP preview of my newest fanfic endeavor - a crossover fic of the sort I never thought I'd write but... here it is. XD

Enjoy! And I hope to have the full chapter out on Ao3 soon!

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Sicut In Cælo Et In Terra - Ch.1 WIP

2371 AD, The Delta Quadrant of the Milky Way

Ensign Tabitha Paige thanked Neelix with a polite dip of her head and a slight smile, taking her food-laden tray from the counter before stepping aside for the next crewman to be served. Then, frowning a little, she scanned her grey surroundings for her friends with equally-grey eyes; the mess wasn’t terribly crowded today, but it still took a moment or two to spot one’s comrades amongst the repetitive black jumpsuits, differentiated only by the slashes of red, gold, or teal across their shoulders…

A brief wave from the direction of the windows quickly caught her attention, though, and as soon as she spotted the owner of said hand, she couldn’t help but grin at him.

“There you are, Ned,” she said with a chuckle as she approached, amused to no end by the gold-shouldered human man dunking his roll into his soup with all the gusto of one who hadn’t eaten a decent meal in ages. “I thought Torres was going to hold you hostage in engineering all day.”

“So did I,” he answered with his mouth full, gesturing to one of the empty chairs with his free hand. “I swear, every day it’s another hoop to jump through to keep this hunk of junk from falling apart.”

Tabitha frowned, sitting. “Voyager is not a ‘hunk of junk’.” Then, after a moment, she grinned again, picking up her drink and winking. “She’s just a high-maintenance lady, that’s all.”

“Oho, so she’s that kind of ship, is she?” Ned chortled, elbowing the bulkhead adjacent to him as if he were doing it to another crewmate and not the vessel’s unfeeling wall. “Thanks for the clarification. So what’s her ladyship gonna need next, huh? A stop at the next planet for a fresh coat of paint?”

She snorted after swallowing the sip she’d just taken. “I think we could all use a stop at the next planet for a fresh coat of paint.”

His only answer was a hum of agreement as he dove into soup with his spoon. Sighing, she looked down at her own tray to see the same dish before her – what she assumed was Neelix’s best approximation of a classic vegetable soup. Only, several of the ingredients were quite unrecognizable, making her the slightest bit hesitant.

“I’m assuming it’s good?” she asked without looking up, logic suggesting that it had to be at least passable in quality, given Ned’s inability to come up for air for five seconds.

Then again, he did that at almost every meal.

His answer was accompanied by a shrug as he finally leaned back, wiping at his mouth with his napkin. “Not his best, not his worst. At least it isn’t overloaded with jalapenos this time.”

“Thank God,” she muttered, distinctly remembering the Talaxian’s spicier concoctions that sent even some of their toughest crewmen racing to the replicators for milk. One taste of his recent attempt at a meat-and-bean chili had left her lips and tongue burning for hours afterwards.

But, she realized, she wasn’t exactly the best person in the galaxy to assess the quality of spicy foods; she’d always been something of a wimp in that regard.

There are worse things to be a wimp about, she felt the need to remind herself.

Finally digging in to the bread and soup, she found Ned’s appraisal to be correct, much to her relief. It wasn’t spicy and it wasn’t bad. A win-win.

“Got room for a third Ensign at this table?”

Tabitha glanced up, so immersed in her thoughts she hadn’t noticed her roommate standing right next to her.

“Sure, Kat,” she answered hastily. “How’d things go with Kes, today?”

The short, slightly heavyset Japanese-American huffed out a sigh, plopping down in the chair opposite Ned. “As good as a day spent examining plant leaves in the ‘ponics bay can go.”

“Ah,” their operations-assigned friend said with a sly smile and a wave of his spoon, “it’s times like these I’m thankful I didn’t pursue my fleeting interest in the sciences.”

“Shut up, Walker.”

His only answer was a close-mouthed chuckle as he continued his meal, his comrades joining him in companionable silence.

Tabitha’s thoughts darkened a little, though, as she contemplated Ned’s comment and began to wonder if she herself had made a mistake in her own career. She and Katsumi were microbiologists by profession, the only two assigned to Voyager’s crew of roughly one hundred and fifty members. And though it was obvious to anyone that such specialists would be a necessary asset on board a science exploration vessel, the two women saw little action related to their field – so little, in fact, that they had been trained as supplemental field medics for away teams, spending more time in sickbay helping Kes and the Emergency Medical Hologram than they did analyzing any collected particles in engineering or the science lab.

Even amidst such an uncharted place as the Delta Quadrant.

Shaking her head, Tabitha forced those thoughts to the back of her mind, something that had become easier in these last few months. The fact that they were all stuck out here, trapped together aboard this little Intrepid-class starship going as fast as her state-of-the-art warp engines would let her go – and even then knowing it would take them most of their lives to return home, if she could get them there in once piece – had been a bitter pill to swallow at first. And the addition of Commander Chakotay’s rebellious Maquis crew hadn’t helped matters much. But slowly, over time, with Captain Janeway’s stalwart leadership, Kes’s gentle counseling, and even Neelix’s overly-enthusiastic efforts to give the crew a taste of home, the long eight-hour shifts had become less tense, the nights less tearful, and the moments in-between less hopeless.

Ned had done his best to help with that last part.

As if reading her mind, the engineer stuffed the last bit of bread into his mouth before spinning the PADD that sat beside his tray towards her. “Here, I got something to show you.”

At least, that was how she interpreted his muffled words, judging from the inflection of his voice around the chunk of soggy roll.

The translators in their combadges couldn’t help with everything, it seemed.

Katsumi exchanged looks with Tabitha. “What, another holofilm of yours?”

“Yeeeeep,” he confirmed after washing down the last of his food, the beaming expression on his baby-faced countenance whilst he pushed his tray back and laced his fingers atop the table, betraying his pride. “And I think it’s my best one yet.”

“You said that the last time,” Tabitha said flatly as she took the PADD in hand. Squinting, she tried to read the title aloud, “‘Sicut In Cælo Et In Terra’? That’s Latin, right?”

“‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’,” Ned translated, grinning widely.

“The Lord’s Prayer,” Tabitha remarked, her brow furrowing as she recognized the phrase. “I didn’t think you were the religious sort.”

“I’m not, generally speaking,” he replied with a noncommittal shrug. “Go on, keep reading.”

Katsumi looked over her roommate’s shoulder. “Historical fiction… Catholic Crusades… based off of… Kingdom of Heaven, 2005…”

“Kingdom of Heaven,” Tabitha repeated, her brow furrowing. “Never saw it. Sounds like something my father would have enjoyed, though.”

Ned scoffed. “It’s only one of the most popular films of the twenty-first century. Due in part to Orlando Bloom, as far as I understand it.”

“Who?” the two women asked simultaneously, which resulted in both of them snorting their amusement.

The engineer sighed. “Leading man. Girls went gaga over him, back in the day. Don’t ask me why, I can’t tell you. All the other actors were better than him in it, in my opinion.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve always been fascinated with the era it’s set in, and this particular film is more than worthy of an interactive remake to give participants a… well, semi-authentic experience.”

“And lemme guess,” Katsumi leaned back in her chair and cast him a knowing look, “you want us to be your beta testers for this ‘semi-authentic experience’?”

“Please?” he asked with sheepish smile.

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Small update - FtB's next chapter may be slightly delayed due to a combination of things, including irl work, making sure I get this chapter juuuuuuust the way I want it (this one is a critical one to get right)...

...and also a new fandom obsession that won't leave my brain, lol. XD

So much so, in fact, that it's becoming a new fic already. Naturally.

And since you guys are the best readers in the world (and I sincerely mean that), I'm offering you a small teaser about it below, in case you might be interested in following it in between FtB updates. If you are, read on. If not, no worries. :D

It will be, quite possibly, the most chaotic fanfic I've ever written, as well as the first true crossover fic I've ever created. But I think it's just the kind of "different" I could use for a mental refresh, which seems somewhat needed right about now.

The one half of this crossover is from the Star Trek fandom, specifically Star Trek: Voyager, which is my fave of the TV series. I've just recently started re-watching after 20-ish years or so of not watching any Trek at all, and I'm having a blast. Which I usually don't do in the sci-fi genre.

The other half of the crossover is...

...wait for it...

Kingdom of Heaven.

I've always been a medieval history buff, and despite the inaccuracies, I still love this film. Especially its portrayal of this guy:

Hopefully, you can see where this is going already. ;)

Similarly to FtB, this fic will be in the vein of "modern person thrown back in time", but with a significant surprise twist that I hope makes the fic unique in both fandoms.

Let me know what you think, and if you're part of either of these two fandoms, too! You're most certainly welcome to join me on this little side tangent. :D

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Hi,

It’s you friendly neighbor fanfic author here. In the light of this apparent new trend of people feeding unfinished fics to AI to get an “ending,” and some people even talking about “blanket permissions,” let me just say this:

I EXPLICITLY FORBID ANYONE TO FEED MY FICS TO AI. DUDE, THAT IS ABOUT THE LEAST RESPECTFUL THING YOU CAN DO. IF YOU DO IT, SHALL YOU BE EXCOMMUNICATED FROM YOUR FANDOM AND WALK ON LEGOS BAREFOOT TILL THE END OF DAYS.

That is my anti-permission.

Thank you for your attention.

[ftb-dafanfiction]

*snorts*

Tamsyn's Dilemma [Spoilers Ahoy]

So, how do you think Tamsyn's situation is going to be resolved, given what you know so far? I'm curious as to what you all are thinking at this point...

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Tamsyn's Dilemma [Spoilers Ahoy]

So, how do you think Tamsyn's situation is going to be resolved, given what you know so far? I'm curious as to what you all are thinking at this point...

[ftb-dafanfiction]

!!!!!!

:D

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Ch.75 of FtB is Finally Here!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11363274/chapters/119275681

Enjoy!

(told you it was soon, lol)

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Didn't realise just how much went into each chapter! No wonder it reads like a professionally published novel 😁

You're doing great and I've said it before, but you should be very proud!

Thank you so much, wee-ezza!

I'm definitely a perfectionist, even with my hobbies. It's kind of a curse, really. XD

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Happy New Year and Update

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2023 is filled with blessings for you and your families. This year, I am also hoping to add a handful more chapters to From the Beyond, but I think we all know how making plans and finding time for hobbies can work out, right? :P

In any case, the next chapter is finally going into its official "sketch” stages, and with that, I wanted to give you all an idea of what that’s like for a fic this size.

With 74 chapters and counting and over 640,000 words, make no mistake about it, managing FtB at this point is work. Hard work and intensive planning. This is one reason why it takes so long between chapter releases (in addition to my fear of burning myself out again).

Before starting a new chapter, I reread and edit/proofread the previous one one more time to get back in the “zone”. One thing I have a huge concern about is maintaining a consistent tone throughout the fic, especially since it has spanned 5 years of work so far; a person’s style can change a lot in that time, and the last thing I want is for the first chapter and the last chapter to sound like two different people wrote it.

Reviewing notes is a must. I have nearly the entire fic already planned out as far as rough plot points go, with a detailed outline in a separate document. As a matter of fact, FtB is slated to come to an end at approximately the same "place” storywise as the canonical Inquisition main quest. Two sequels have also been tentatively planned, one that spans the timeline of The Descent and Jaws of Hakkon, and another that covers Trespasser and the epilogue. I haven’t done much detail work with either storyline, however, as the events of Dreadwolf and what lore I learn in that game may impact how those sequels go.

That brings me to another big task - keeping the timeline straight. I have another document, an Excel spreadsheet, that charts out the contents of each chapter in the story separately, including a rough summary, which major characters appear, key plot events that can’t be forgotten, an estimated day-month-year-season span, and of course, any romance plot points. I’ve even made notes for any unique characterization elements that have been revealed (IE: Tamsyn’s hatred of clowns and her inability to swim). Further charts keep track of major and minor characters and their ages, as well as whether or not they’ve been eliminated from the storyline.

After reviewing all of these notes and making even more notes to follow in the WIP chapter, then I can finally start writing. Each chapter averages 8k-10k words to cover everything required.

As you can see, this is a lot to keep straight in a person’s head, and with so much information that can’t be forgotten, it can feel more than a little overwhelming, sometimes. Fortunately, there are fewer chapters to go than have already been written... relatively speaking, the story is fairly close to the end; after all, only the Arbor Wilds and the events afterwards are left to cover in the canonical timeline.

Knowing that is one thing. Getting there, though, is quite another.

In any case, it’s not something I’m planning on giving up on. However, because of the amount of work required and the time and headspace I need to accomplish it, I can’t give any estimations for when a chapter might be released. The best I can give you is “I’m working on it”. Which I am. :D

If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for reading, both this and FtB itself. No matter how difficult it may be to accomplish, I sincerely can’t wait to share the rest of Tamsyn’s story with you.

~ Auri

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Any chance we get a Christmas present this year? ❤️

Afraid not, there, Nonny. Life's been pretty busy and exhausting lately.

[ftb-dafanfiction]

* Ser Cameron Locke *

And here he is at last! The Red Templar villain from Chapter 74. :D

I actually drew this a couple of years ago (as evident from the signature stamp), but I couldn’t upload it without spoilering the story. :P

But at last, here he is in all his red glory!

Clicky the link for the deviantArt page, including credits.

[ftb-dafanfiction]

FTB Now Available in French!

Good news for all readers who would prefer to read From the Beyond in the French language! Nephariel has kindly begun a WIP translation, which you can find here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42895839/chapters/107765685

If you know of anyone who would benefit from this news, please pass it along!

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Ch.74 of FtB is finally here! Enjoy!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11363274/chapters/107446884

[ftb-dafanfiction]

I just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for their patience. I am still working on the next chapter, and I hope to have something appropriately spooky out by Halloween. ;)

[ftb-dafanfiction]

Ch. 73 of FtB Has Now Been Posted!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11363274/chapters/98402223

Enjoy! :D