#writing postmortem

[ofsilentthings]

'The Vampire Ascendant's Wife', a Postmortem

Just some writer thoughts about finishing my longest fanfiction to date!

Thank you for reading and commenting/leaving kudos.

Data and Commentary below~

I started it October 13, 2023 and finished it May 27, 2024.

With 138,915 words it is the longest fic I have ever written.

Each chapter averaged 6945 words. (Though the largest was like 13000 words.) This is unusual for me and I think going forward I'll try to keep each chapter shorter.

Inspiration:

I was inspired mainly by Dracula - mainly by wanting Jonathan Harker and Dracula kiss. Why a two hundred year gap? An arbitrary number but not really - it's how long Astarion was under Cazador's control (give or take a few decades). Besides providing a nice parallel, it was a funny reference to this line from the game:

Astarion: I'll make you pay for everything you've ever done to me! Cazador: I've known you for two hundred years! Haven't I suffered enough?

Planning:

For such a long fic as this, I do a lot of planning. I like to do a vague outline of where I want the fic to go (or even the themes I want to touch upon). When I get to specific chapters I break them down by scenes or even beats. I also did a lot of background planning. I had to know how Rickard could believably raise the performance of three businesses and quickly. I had to know how Astarion was going to become Archduke. And I had to figure out how to make Rickard fall in love with Taviana AND Astarion. Manipulating all these plots was difficult and part of the fun challenge but I think I did okay. Funny enough Henrik's death was not meant to be such a plot point; it was only supposed to be a way to force Rickard into the spotlight. I never intended Henrik to show up himself.

Successes:

I really love Rickard. I love his journey from nervous uncertain man meeting Astarion to the first time, to the last encounter when he tells him the truth and slaps him. I liked my Taviana who balanced over the line of loving and hating Astarion. I liked Astarion, since it was in a slightly different filter than most fics I've seen: one that is not new to power, but complacent. Realities of life (becoming poor) forced him to reach out to new opportunities, mainly Rickard. Whether he was ultimately changed by his time with his chamberlain is dependent upon the ending you prefer.

I think the multiple plots worked for the most part. The financials and social climbing reflected the intimacy of the three main characters, and vice versa. Also I managed to use an auction as a main plot device so that's fun to me.

Failures:

Vaida and her crew did not get a satisfactory ending. I toyed with having Astarion kill her in the final plot chapter but I worried that if Rickard saw that he would be much more antagonistic towards Astarion and not even try to talk to him.

I wish I had given a bit more attention to the businesses towards the end; however the focus on the story had obviously shifted to the three of them so I think its okay. A part of me thinks Astarion's megolomania should have been toned down a little bit, at least to show that he was listening to Rickard, even when he was angry. But I think that's a very minor point that I'd fuss over no matter what.

'Extra features':

Taviana was going to ask Rickard to kill Astarion. But Rickard does not have D&D player levels (A level 0 commoner), so he wouldn't have a chance.

I considered going a power route and having Ilmater himself get involved, making Rickard a Chosen, perhaps a super-powered monk, but again that was a bit more action-oriented than I wanted to go. It also seemed to take away from the personal strength of Rickard. Why should he stand up to Astarion when he can get the power of a god and punch the Ascendant into the sun?

Rickard was going to be kidnapped by undead inside the Ancunin estate during a grand party; that didn't work because I needed Astarion's house to be '''safe''' so that's why it was out in the streets. Part of Rickard's contract was going to include a clause that, at the end of a year (or some other time), Taviana would have the choice to leave Astarion or stay. I decided to omit that simply for simplicity sake. She's a Consort, she never could leave, even if she wanted to.

I had planned on Astarion creating a crisis of undead attacking the undead in waves. He would then 'bring them down' and be seen as a hero. But then I remembered Mystic Carrion probably still would exist and so he had a natural enemy. Taviana Lovers: Loghain, Nicollus, Marius, Elliot, Imogen. Astarion Lovers: Ellyndia, Millicent, Vero, Mathias, Morgan, Andromeda, Irenica, Miriam, Henrik (most of these are video game characters or D&D/original characters) In a similar vein: Absoleth, Sylene, and Lady Murasaki are some of my D&D characters. Jack Jekyllsby Hamstead is one of my husband's characters. Yes, even the boots. Garu is one of my friend's D&D characters.

What's next?

Who knows? I need a mental break. I am busy with a family, a job, and a life and writing so much takes time from that. I want to enjoy the up coming Elden Ring DLC as well as FF14's Dawntrail. I want to read a bunch of books and be inspired. I want to do some painting. I'm even going to start up a Curse of Strahd D&D game (someone has to DM...) But I'll always come back to writing. I love it too much not to. So expect some one-shots, maybe? I am looking at some crossovers as well (Astarion and Micolash WILL BE A THING, there's too much about blood and ascension between them to ignore). Thank you, thank you, thank you lovely readers, each one of you.

[bonefall]

Super interested in how you plan to write Leopardfoot! I feel like both fanon and canon tend to make her into a sweet mom(tm) who’s super sad that Tigerstar is evil, very similar to how Goldenflower is usually treated. What’s her thoughts on Pinestar and him leaving? How did she influence Tigerstar? What are her political beliefs?

Society has progressed past the need for sad moms who stare tearily at their evil sons and boohoo about all the murder. It's MOTHER AGENCY TIME

BB!Leopardfoot was FEROCIOUS. Her father was the indominable Adderfang, and he taught her about the importance of honor and glory. When Tigerpaw was given to Thistleclaw as an apprentice, she was proud of it. It felt perfect to her-- that her father's apprentice was now her son's mentor.

For his brief rule, she supported Sunstar completely. It helped that he came after the disastrous and embarassing exit of Pinestar, which ruined the legacy that she wanted him to give her son. Pinestar was a damn coward and a codebreaker... and she assured Tigerkit that he was more HER son than his.

She even gives him a life, for Legacy, in defiance of StarClan

She was friends with Bluemoon for a time, but after ascending to StarClan, she learned about the Forget-me-nots.

This changed her opinion of her. Leopardfoot supports Thistle Law, STRONGLY so.

She supported THISTLECLAW when he tried to forcefully void the Queen’s Rights. If Bluemoon hadn't broken the code, then what did she have to hide?

She backed off when Thrushpelt leapt to her defense though, "She didn't reveal it because she doesn't love me are you happy now??"

Leopardfoot: *awkwardly turns away feeling like an asshole now, tea SPILLED, her friend's dirty laundry EXPOSED, thought she was crusading for the law but she just dug up drama*

Towards the end of Pinestar’s reign, he was getting exhausted. He wanted peace. Leopardfoot wanted kittens around that time, and figured that there was no better cat than the son of Oakstar, architect of the infamous Crusade Era.

If Pinestar had no children, a glorious bloodline would have died out. She wanted it for her kits. Pinestar agreed on the condition that he would be their Mi, which she happily accepted.

So when Pinestar left, she jumped into the nursery to take over and had to explain to her kits where their Mi went.

She drove it home to them that he abandoned everything, because his weakness took over. They would never be like him, she promised.

Mistkit died very young. Nightpaw made it to apprenticeship before she also succumbed. Tigerclaw remembers very well how hard it was to lose his sisters.

Leopardfoot herself was taken shortly before TPB, in Spottedleaf's Plague. Her death causes Tigerclaw to have a bit of a moment.

After the trial in Bluestar's Flowers, Leopardfoot leaves StarClan along with a bunch of other Thistle Law supporters, including Thistleclaw himself. She joins the BOTTE at the end of OotS, fighting to the end with her son.

She misses him a lot, and remains in the Dark Forest to the current arc. She chose her path; and has the dignity to walk it.

She does miss StarClan sometimes though, and will tell you stories about it if you ask.

In terms of demon friends, she's somewhere in the clique between the harsher and softer spirits.

She dislikes Morningstar, Cloudberry, and Ryewhisker on the softer end, and has come to resent Thistleclaw and Finchflight on the other, but likes Darkstripe, Leopardstar, and Silverhawk.

Gets along with a range of "mid" level demons.

In particular I imagine she hangs out with Darkstripe a lot. Taste test buddy, he asks her to try his experimental recipes because she's honest but not mean. One of the few Thistle Law supporting cats he hangs out with after the double-death of Tigerstar.

He calls her Lefty. Her official nickname is "Left" but he calls her Lefty.

(Clanmew: her name is Saorpwyyar. Others call her Saopr. He calls her Sapyy.)

Her mom and dad Swiftbreeze and Adderfang are here too, following Thistleclaw like she did, but she's been minimizing her contact with her dad. She feels like she is owed an apology somehow but also doesn't have the emotional intelligence to know that it's what she wants.

She just knows that she feels really bitter talking to him, and that's unpleasant.

She used to be VITRIOLIC with Pinestar, who is also here, even going after him physically when he chose to join in with the Dark Forest trainees. But now... honestly so much shit has happened, she just doesn't like seeing him. She wishes he wasn't here.

I write her being very dignified. She doesn't like to admit publically she was ever wrong and speaks with confidence, quietly backing off and not wanting to speak about her mistakes. She loves her children and her family, but explores the world in a very "self-centric" way, trusting her feelings and personal judgement over anything logical.

A reactionary sort of person, if that makes sense.

Her Land Mar has to develop over time because she is an ex-StarClan migrant (damned souls get theirs instantly after judgement), but it's called the Fence Cliff. It's a picket fence that blocks off a sheer drop, making a sharp turn down the cliff face and acting as a walkway. Follow the fence down the slope, and you can access the Dark Forest's town biome.

[flowersforthemachines]

Ghilasara Codex: Day 10 - A future historian’s account of your OC’s actions

Masterpost of all Ghilasara codex entries can be found HERE.

Rook’s decision to assist Treviso over Minrathous remains a highly controversial topic. Despite the attempted neutral stance that Rook’s presence in Treviso did not have to be the defining factor in it surviving the dragon attack mostly unscathed, and her being in Minrathous would not have necessarily led to a better outcome for either city, one must still acknowledge she consciously made the decision to prioritise one city over the other.

There are many speculations regarding the grounds on which she made her choice. Frequently mentioned are hypothetical distaste for Tevinter as an elf and a southerner, the belief that the fortified Minrathous could better withstand a dragon attack, the fear of the spread of the Blight through Treviso’s canals that would be amplified by her being a Grey Warden, or even her feelings for Lucanis Dellamorte, who was a Trevisan himself. 

Rook never commented on rumours and hearsay regarding the incident, and all diaries and letters of hers collected during our research provided no clarity on the reasoning behind her choice or later thoughts on it. However, it remains a fact that Rook actively assisted Shadow Dragons and Minrathous as a whole in the aftermath of the attack and later used her position as First Warden to ensure a strong Warden presence in the area to address the consequences of the last two Blights. 

I maintain that in lieu of true evidence, her actions should be the only grounds to judge her upon. 

 — From “The Heroes of Our Age: The Life and Death of Ghilasara “Rook” Thorne” by Nesiana Andras published by the University of Orlais in 09:99 Dragon 

[nuuspace]

Into the Maw

He looks down at his red-soaked hands. Mucky. Gritty. The gruel shimmers, shattering into fractions of stardust, drifting away into the windy night.

Clip. Clop. Each foot after the other, smashing glass on the torn concrete road. He looks up. It's dark; a verdant light shimmers in the distance. He sees a short brick outpost, the door ajar.

He sets forth his destination and lets out a wail. It echoes in the silent air. No birds fly. No bugs cry. Only the wispy sky is alive.

His hand slams against the door, making way for entry. It quivers and he recoils back from the impact. Inside the building is a bathroom. Tiles shattered, glass scattered, but the sinks still seem intact.

He sits down atop a stool in front of a teetering sink on its last breath. He twists the knob, water comes forth, and he lets his hands rest under the warm stream. He stares as the dirt drips off his skin, but the stains of the lives taken still remain.

His eyes drift up towards the shattered mirror—his reflection doesn't appear. He's stunned, staring into the nothingness of a non-bathroom. The other world looks bleak, gray. Full of despair.

Everything disappears. His vision gets pulled into the mirror at such a speed he couldn't process. The feeling in his hands, knees, feet, all drop, and then all return at the same time.

The scenery changes drastically. Directly in front of him sits a lady behind an executive desk. She wears her hair tied up and dons an elegant black suit. The entire room is pristine, filled with browns, blacks, golds. An office.

"Name?" The lady asks, her eyes stuck to the desk as she writes with a quill.

The boy is silent.

She pauses, and peers up over her half-moon glasses, "Name?"

"Bruce." He mumbles.

"Grand." She slams her quill down, Bruce jumps, and she shifts up-right. "We have some chattin' to do."

Bruce sinks down into his new chair. His heart throbs.

"Six dead today, Bruce. Six?" She emphasizes. "We were okay with it here and there. 'Kept the population out there down and gave us some more in here. But this ain't the ol' land anymore, we don't need the population down, and we have plenty in here."

Bruce picks at a button on the bottom of his shirt.

"Your land goes forever. Our land does not! People aren't really s'posed to die in Nuuspace, aye?" She points at him. "But you manage to at least rip 'em to shreds, and they get sent right to us."

Bruce considers speaking.

"Listen, Bruce, was it?"

He nods.

"I know, not sure why I asked—listen, the big guys don't take so kindly to our entire existence if we don't do somethin', and unfortunately, I get paid for this. So, it was nice while it lasted, but you're being quarantined."

"What?" He mutters.

"Yes, such sorrow. You'll be sent to the Maw in a few moments."

Bruce moves upward, finding it difficult to do so. It's as if he's stuck to the seat under a layer of honey.

"Your Rauror, or whatever it may be, has been deemed maniacal. Or maybe just you, can't say for sure. Though we know if you didn't have whateva' you did, there'd be no issue." She tidies a stack of papers.

"I don't understand." He mutters.

"Y'know, for someone who butchers at seemingly random, I expected more of a fight." She states.

Bruce falls. Through the chair. Through the floor. Through everything in itself. He sees the room's interior from its bottom, the floor culling inward, as the black void consumes. He falls and falls and falls, unable to hear his own screams, until there is nothing.

And then he lands. Light creeps into his eyes, revealing his new forever-home. He sits in a hallway stretched long and narrow, its walls a faded white. Doors sit amongst the sides, one after the other. His hands rest against the linoleum tiles, some cracked, others yellowed.

Distant footsteps come from the end of the hallway, housing a door so ominous that fear itself would recoil. Bruce scoots himself backward. The tiles behind him crumble, and as he turns his head, he's met with the void once more. The hallway's broken off, floating into the darkness. Bruce scoots back toward the ominous door, willing to risk the unknown once more.

The footsteps stop, and Bruce's heart with it. Now is the time to enter the Maw. Now is the time, once and for all.

The door creaks open.

[styxxsyringe]

chapter 1 of reassassination's nearly done script-wise! hopefully the next chapters won't take like 6 months of on-and-off work to complete lol

[hartwound]

there are layers here i promise

[bunabi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC72i1MKOCg&t=783s

Long Dragon Age Video

Buddy you've gotta add more information. I thought this was another bot message. 😭

Cool retrospective. Gaider is always down to chop it up about DA huh. Don't think I'll watch all 9+ hours of it, but the parts I've dipped into so far are neat.

[justanoval]

A Walk to the Cosmic Festival

Each of these kids has a distinct difference—not just a human nuance, a celestial difference. One has bright and beautiful long hair that floats upwards, as if unaffected by gravity. Another seems to be able to manipulate the temperature around her, making it warm or cool for her friends accordingly. Another seems to never have a consistent form. Another has eyes so bright that he has a bandana covering them, and yet, he can still see just fine. Last but not least (and they make that very clear), another is generating iridescent light beams that are bouncing between each of them; an intriguing (and probably unfair) way of playing tag.

Each kid unique in their own celestial way—except Sebastian.

If you're interested, you can check out the full short story here. I'd say it's a 5-10 minute read.

I am no professional, so don't expect awesome writing. But as I did with my animations and with my music, I will hopefully get better and better.

I'll make some more posts about this world here soon, just spent a bunch of time on that so I wasn't on this account too much :)

[gamerbot-22]

And That's Curtains! (For Now)

And that's everyone I had set aside for this run of ficlets! 58 whole ficlets, written in a semi-straight shot (save those handful of breaks I took lol) I'll leave my big squishy emotional thoughts at the bottom of this post, just so I'm not clogging up people's dashes lol.

The link to last week's postmortem is here, and the tierlist is here. <3

Once more, there's been some minor rearranging - I think I'll do my Great Resorting sometime in May, during summer break when I have the time to sit down and actually read and evaluate everything at once. That's an estimate and I might do it sooner, but we'll see! Time is funny like that!!!

A Taste of Your Own Medicine, S Tier - Someone said that my biases were showing in this ficlet and you know what? Yeah they were and also I don't mind at all lol. I've said multiple times that I find the Belobog cast to be really interesting, and like... I find it odd that there's such little content in HSR for them compared to other casts (*cough* the Xianzhou *cough*) even so long after its release considering that something named "Belobog" shows up in a bunch of other Hoyoverse games (apparently it's in ZZZ? But I've never played so take me saying it with a grain of salt.) Anyways, my complaining about all that aside I just... Really like writing cozy scenes, and considering that Natasha had appears in two fics previously, serving as a guiding force/strict but loving parental figure, I thought it only fair that she get a night off in her own ficlet. I think this was also the biggest cast I wrote for any of these? At least it was the most characters interacting in any one scene. Nevermind I just remembered Himeko's breakfast ficlet lol that feels like it was forever ago-- All that to say, I really enjoy putting characters at ease, especially if they fall into Natasha's archetype of "absolutely exhausted but a bit too busy to really do anything about that."

A Girl and Her Rabbit, B Tier - This is like... A tentative B Tier, because this ficlet is definitely doing what I set out to do when I wrote it, which is "more relaxing shit," but this ficlet was really hard to write from a research standpoint because like... Lingsha is actually pretty underutilized as a character. I could complain more but this isn't the place for that lol. Anyways, I do like this ficlet, I just think in the grand scheme of all the other ones I've written, it's a little too simple and there's something just vaguely missing from it.

Healthy Anxiety, A Tier - God this one was silly. I very much drew from the like. Scarily vague texts/calls you get from your parents/boss/etc for this, as well as how anxiety presents in my own mind when I was writing this one. I think I could have pressed the waiting room scene a little more? Gotten more into the way anxiety can scramble your brain and make you think of the worst so that the payoff at the end hit harder both in terms of tension and comedy.

Making Up, S Tier - Me, starting this project: I probably won't write anything explicitly romantic as I do this, just to avoid any potential drama. Me, a month in, writing at 2 in the morning: LESBIANS FOR EVERYONE! -- I. Really love writing soft romance shit. It's gotta be one of my favorite like subjects/settings, especially when it involves characters like Seele and Bronya, who oh so beautifully compliment and contrast against one another. I wanted to keep Seele stubborn, because she absolutely is, but I also thought it was really important to show that at the end of the day, Seele knows that Bronya is way more important to her than whatever it was they were fighting over. I also deliberately did not say what the subject of their fight was because, to repeat myself, that part doesn't matter. What matters is that the two of them were willing to talk it out and both apologize for their hand in the squabble. I think interactions like that are very mature, and a sign of a healthy relationship, which is what these gals have!

Hey, Diddle, Diddle, A Tier - This one was also really fun. Originally the plan was to just have Misha contend with having to get up out of his blankets to do a chore--something I think we all have struggled with--but as it was, that just felt really plain. So, of course, I threw a little bit of Penacony magic and whipped up something that I thought was silly and interesting in the way those trippy old cartoons tended to be. As a consequence, Misha himself takes kind of a backseat, but I still think it's really funny to imagine him laying in the background just watching his dream bicker with rapt attention. For a character as difficult to get a hold of, story-wise, as Misha, I'm pretty pleased with how this one shook out.

Treat Yourself, S Tier - Another silly lesbian-- Originally the plan was just to have it be the last scene, with the idea of Bronya treating herself being an established activity that Seele was only now learning about, but I thought it made more sense to have this be a New Thing for the both of them (both for narrative silly reasons and Bronya characterization reasons.) Also the flirty banter at the end was actually not something I had in mind when I started but boy am I glad that my sleepy brain was like "could be gayer" because I. Love them lol.

Blinding Lights, S Tier - YEAAAA GOD I had such a blast with this one. It was kind of rough to get it started--originally the plan was just for Boothill to be By Himself--but this boy works best when he's got someone to bounce off of, so I gave him a little Aventurine as a treat because I! Love banter! In case that was not obvious! I didn't get into it too much, but I felt kinda clever for the plot beat of Boothill getting overwhelmed by the lights because of his eyes. I don't know if he canonically has any enhancements for his eyes, but considering his Skill animation, I'm willing to bet that there's something, and like... tech is actually a lot easier to overload than you think it is, so a lot of flashing, swirling colours could pretty easily fuck with a targeting system. Also I'm just. Really obsessed with eyes as a concept in narratives anyways so having Boothill's eyes get all wigged out only for them to still when he looks at Aventurine's eyes, which are in-canon both insanely unique and drop-dead-- wait absolutely gorgeous? Ough. Good shit. Way to go, me, lol--

What Comes Next? - I've shared my plans for how I'll continue this series before, but I figured I'd go over them again in a more itemized format lol:

1) Right now I am going to prioritize like. Actually playing the game. I'm not going to stop writing--God I would never now that I've got my groove back--but...

2) No new HSR Daily Ficlets will be published until I have more than just 4 characters in the queue. Idk if I'll wait for a 7+ characters to rock up or if I'll call it at a specific update number, but as of now the series is officially on break until there's more I can work with.

3) I will do a grand re-ranking of all my ficlets at some point (possibly in May, as mentioned above) where I actually have a more strict criteria in mind to avoid the wibbly-wobbly placements I was getting to about halfway through the series (trying to keep track of your feelings on 58 ficlets is rough.)

4) This is has nothing to do with the series progressing but I think something I'm going to try to do over the summer break will be actually printing out this hunk of ficlets and binding them into an Actual Book I can put on my shelf. I might make more, depending on how I feel about the process, just to give to friends who are interested, but if folks wants a copy for themselves I will figure out the logistics of that closer to the day (and again, that's if the process doesn't make me want to tear my hair out and scream.)

5) I might do a Big Autism at some point and post statistics for the series, just because I like making charts, lol. It'd mostly be "Average ranking per week" and "most popular fic on tumblr/Ao3" and stuff like that. Idk if I'll post them but some of my irls will definitely be seeing my unhinged spreadsheets.

5) And finally, I'm going to keep writing stuff for HSR. It'll probably be really sporadic, but I've been kicking some ideas around. The one I feel most confident in mentioning is a potential series that covers Boothill finding and befriending a mechanic (half a reader insert character) after his arm gets busted in a fight.

Closing (for now) Thoughts - I. Am really proud of myself for this series. I used to write a lot of stories when I was younger but as I got busier and I think just... generally more anxious as a person, I stopped. Especially when it came to the idea of actually putting my work out there to be read by people who weren't like close friends/immediate family. The series has by no means been popular, but just knowing that I have friends, (both old and new <3), that were actively following along just felt really nice, as well as all the kind comments from strangers as the series progressed. While I'm glad to be done with this for now, I am very much looking forward to writing more, because this tiny community has been really lovely, and I think it's helped me get my spark back.

So thanks everyone! I'll see you guys in the stars ⋆｡°✩

[abronzeagegod]

ETS WIP Chapter 16: End Script

[first]|[more]

As the last of the worms was killed and banished into their home plane, the last person that Lyta wanted to see was Ji.

"I was surprised you chose me of all people," the thin, but stupidly hot, Exterminator said.

"Yeah, well," Lyta said without thinking, she felt like she had to response and the filler words were the first thing she spoke into existence. She was still trying to reign back her anger, to keep it under control and not say something stupid or mean or callous. Now was not the time. She took a breath. "You're an asshole but you're still one of the best Exterminators we have so it wasn't really even a question. Besides I still know your employee ID number so it was easier for me to look you up."

Not entirely without anger, but sometimes it just is like that.

Ji shrugged. "Well, I never got to see you really fight like that so... if you ever want to transfer over to the Exterminators give me a call. We could go for a drink or something."

Lyta briefly caught Aeth's eye from across the hallowed field of servers and graveyard of worms and phones.

"I'm good where I'm at."

Aeth, meanwhile, was being interrogated, or rather very harshly questioned, by two members of the Catalog and Archive Bureau.

"You unleashed a god upon tech support," said the one that was not tall. "You stole an unrestrained small god that was supposed to be closely monitored and let it loose within one of the most complex systems in the world."

"Yes," Aeth said. "It was necessary."

"We will be the judges of that," said the one that was not short. "This is going to have ramifications."

Aeth nodded. "And letting the Abyss go unchecked would have been much worse. A thing that you were supposed to deal with, but were... indisposed."

Lyta had walked over by this point and cut off the agent that was about to speak, "Not to mention your Bureau is responsible for letting a sentient nightmare out that almost consumed my friend whole. So should you really be casting blame."

The one who was not tall sputtered a little bit before he answered. "We were not informed."

"Oh, funny that. You can go clean up the corpse of 3812-B in my friend's apartment. When you figured out how the thing that was supposed to be monitored 24/7 managed to get out, almost complete the goal for which it spawned, and you still didn't know about it, then we can discuss the ramifications of the thing that saved us all."

"You'll be hearing from us," the one that was not short said angrily.

"I'm sure we will," Lyta snapped back. "But until then fuck off back to the file cabinet."

Aeth heaved a sigh of relief as the agents stomped away. "Thanks. For everything."

Lyta smiled up at Aeth. A warm, but tired smile. "Any time. Can we get out of here? I need a shower, food, and probably a call to a repairman and my landlord to fix my apartment."

"Before you go," came a voice from one of the servers. Out of an unused port, came the representation of the new God of Tech Support.

"What can we do for you?" Aeth asked.

"I owe you two more than I can say," Sir Lance Corporal said. "I am now more than I ever was. I feel like I am myself and I have a purpose. I thank you humbly for your efforts in this event. I hope we shall work together again soon."

The pair just nodded.

Then, just in Aeth's mind, came the voice of the god, "Thank you for your faith, as well. It sustains me and gives me the strength to continue."

Aeth nodded and replied in prayer. "It was nothing. Easy to believe in something good. I'm sure Lyta feels the same."

There was a soft sound of a server next to Aeth that sounded almost like a chuckle.

"Lyta does not, and that is fine. She believes so much, in you. That is enough for me, I hope it is enough for you."

Aeth wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

"Go, get some rest you two. There will be work to be done when you return," the god of tech support said.

"Ok, thanks," Lyta said. She turned to Aeth. "I have an idea, it may be a dumb one, but it's all I've got right now. Let's get a hotel room, shower, give our clothes to the pros to clean, eat some room service while we hang out in fluffy robes, and then just... sleep."

"It sounds great."

"My apartment is probably covered in like three inches of snow melt."

"And I'm sure the Catalog people are combing over my place looking for 3812-B."

"Which will be easy to find, right?"

"I hope so."

As the pair walked off, somewhat hesitantly, Aeth put their arm around Lyta's shoulder. Lyta immediately warmed to the touch and moved closer to them.

Sir Lance Corporal made sure to tell the hotel to only offer them rooms with a single bed.

if you liked these maybe considering leaving me a tip on kofi

[sanpape]

due to a convoluted series of events there are now LARGE amount of Latin speaking funger Italians living in this quaint funger Scottish town. this small town is so Italian that it genuinly would have been easier if I moved marcoh's sister back to Funger Italy in chapter 1 but let's be real I wasn't thinking this far ahead.

[ahdaline]

"How did you not tell me about this before?"

she doesn’t even mean for kate to find out at all really, it’s not like she was close with her mom as kate was with her mama .. hell addy was closer with cathy than her own mom. it’s just .. she doesn’t want to dim the light that’s coming back to kate’s eyes because she’s missed it so much, missed a kate who wasn’t afraid to touch her, a kate who laughed and chased, who slept in the bed next to hers without waking up with haunted shouts of names past .. 

“ it’s fine, that’s why. “ addy all but whispered in the darkness of kate’s old bedroom that shrouded them as they curled up in the same bed just like when they were girls, “ i didn’t even mean to mention it, but you know your mama, there was no lying to her at all. “ 

the words tinged with almost exasperation are still fond, love for the woman that had stepped up in her life ever since addy was a girl sitting on her kitchen counter, sharing a carton of ice cream with kate, cathy huffing they were going to spoil their dinner without any actual annoyance. addy wasn’t allowed to sit on the counter at home, her mom always fretting they would fall and their dad always grabbing them off in what seemed like a split second. kate’s home was fresh air, it was teasing laughter and jumping on the bed of all things even though they were way too old for it .. but it wasn’t her home with gracie’s french shampoo, her mom’s warm muffins that always melted chocolate on her fingers and her dad sweeping them off the counter with a laugh, sneaking them ice cream when their mom was out grocery shopping .. her home would never be her home again .. 

“ it’s been years, alright ? “ addy feels defensiveness creep into her tone, “ it’s not like it happened yesterday, it’s been years and it’s just .. it’s nothing, kate. “

“ addy .. “ 

she doesn’t realize a tear has fallen until kate is brushing it away, thumb stroking along her cheek in a way that reminds her of her mother’s goodbye and she feels further tears start to fall and hates herself for it, hates herself for still grieving, for grieving stupid muffins of all things, “ it’s so .. it’s so goddamned stupid, i hate it, i hate it. “ 

without thinking about it at all addy leans forward, tucks her head into the familiar curve of kate’s shoulder and neck, hiding tears against kate’s t-shirt, worn and soft against her flushed features, “ it’s been five years, five years and they haven’t called or checked on me or wished me a happy birthday .. “ 

a sob pitches through the darkness of the room that they’ve laughed in, cried, studied, fought in and addy feels an arm wrap around her, hand splayed flat against her back, warmth spreading through the thin material of her sweater that it’s too warm for but, it reminded her of gracie .. “ it would’ve been real when i told you, everything’s real when i tell you and i didn’t .. i didn’t want it to be real, even after five years i didn’t want it to be real .. i still wanted to be somebody’s daughter for a little while longer. “

.. @tornadotame

[inevitablemoment]

June of Doom Day 22 - "Stay with me." (Survivor's Guilt/Succumb)

For @juneofdoom

Word Count: 504

Warnings: Canonical character death, grief, postmortem injury

Fandom: Ghostbusters

Pairings: Egon Spengler/Cathleen Paige Spengler

This was extremely difficult to write, especially considering its set in my Cathleen Lives AU.

Also, I had to research the state of a body thirty minutes postmortem after dying of natural causes.

————————

She had been in the middle of helping Janine clean out her basement when something so sure and certain hit her.

Something was wrong.

Egon was in danger.

Ever since 2021 had begun, they both had felt the clock counting down to when Gozer and their minions would make that first move towards their new plan. She and Egon had been keeping a close eye on each other.

The both of them were afraid that the other would be Gozer's first victim; the nightmares had plagued them for almost three decades now.

That was why Janine had suddenly asked her to come over and help her purge through the basement... at midnight.

Whatever was wrong... both Egon and Janine had forseen it. And they hadn't wanted her to be there.

"I have to go," Cathleen suddenly said, slamming the lid down on one of the plastic bins of Lily's baby clothes and running up the stairs past where Louis was standing at the top.

She didn't stop running until she reached her car and slid into the driver's seat. She ignored the signs warning her of the speeding limit, only screeching to a halt when the farmhouse came into her view.

She ran from her parking spot and up the porch. Her stomach began to sink when she realized that the door was unlocked. Her hand trembled as she pushed it open and slipped inside.

She ventured into the living room, coming across the silhouette of her husband's form lying unnaturally still on the recliner.

Her heart dropped into her stomach as it roiled. "Egon? Oh-- oh, God!"

She ran towards the recliner and began to move his body to the ground so that she could try to perform CPR.

It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes.

His body had gone limp and his skin had cooled to an even paler shade

But his body was still warm.

Maybe... just maybe... oh, please...

"Please! Please!" her eyes were burning, but she tried to hold back the tears.

The summer heat brought out sweat from her as she pressed harder and harder on his chest.

This was not happening. She was not going to lose him.

She felt one of his ribs crack underneath her hands; even though a part of her had already accepted the hard truth being presented to her and knew that he could no longer feel any pain, guilt still stabbed at her for hurting him.

"No..." she whispered. "No, Egon, please..."

A few tears escaped from her eyes, dropping onto his glasses.

"Please come back to me," she pleaded quietly.

But she knew the truth. He couldn't hear her.

He was gone.

He was dead.

He had left her to pick up the pieces.

He had left her and their daughters.

He never even got to meet Trevor and Phoebe, their grandbabies.

She was still alive.

Cathleen finally broke down into harsh, uncontrollable sounds. All that was left for her to do was to cradle her husband's lifeless body.

[omgkatsudonplease]

the hermione chapter of year 5 is 30k already and it's not even done. why is she like this. why is she her own mini-fic within a fic.

[andagii-writes]

We Prisoners of the Sun - Afterthoughts

I uploaded a new short story! Titled We Prisoners of the Sun, it’s about a jailbreaking flame “Witch” and the Warden meant to capture her. It’s up on Vocal, where reads become contributions, and you can leave tips if you wanted to further support me! An excerpt: …for three months, the Warden had dutifully investigated—interrogated?—questioned? Interviewed her. The Witch, however, responded…

[ao3org]

A detailed write-up by our small team of sysadmins to explain various server-related issues which occurred from roughly August 24th to September 26th, 2024.