#and especially 'Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland'

[victorluvsalice]

Are you ever going to write a valicer multichapter fic? Like on ao3??

I am, in fact, currently working on one! "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of," the first story in my Valicer In The Dark AU series! (Which is that AU where Victor, Alice, and Smiler are all in the city of Duskwall from the Blades In The Dark RPG -- more details are in the tag!) This is the story where they all meet, with the title referring to that the story picks up near the end of the local version of Alice: Madness Returns for Alice and roughly in the middle of the local version of Corpse Bride for Victor. Features ghostly shenanigans, the trio getting accused of a murder they didn't commit, what I think is one of the best chase scenes I've ever written, and plenty of exposition. :P I'm almost done with the first official draft (though you can see the three snippets I originally wrote here: First(ish) Meeting, Discoveries, and Accused), and hope to have it up later this year! :D

[victorluvsalice]

WIP Word Game

I was tagged in this by @dont-offend-the-bees in this post -- thanks for thinking of me, Newt!

Rules: You will be given a word. Share one sentence/excerpt from your WIP(s) that start with each letter of that word. Word assigned by Newt: BITES

Because I'm a rebel, I'm going to do a bit from both my current WIP "Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland" and my just-finished-posting-today Valicer In The Dark story "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of" --

B

LB:DQ -- Briefcase Guy nodded, trembling. “What – what if their case is full of newspaper?” he got out after a second.

“Then at least we get to watch your illiterate ass try to read it later for laughs,” the leader spat, giving him a shove. “I know they got the goods. Just don’t ass it up, or they’re gonna kill the lot of us. Now get ready, it’s going down soon.”

SATBSO -- “By practicing my v-vows down the wrong alley,” Victor replied, worrying his bottom lip. “I – oh dear…” He grabbed his spoon and had a couple of fortifying sips of soup. “It’s like this – I’m due to be w-wed to the daughter of Lord and Lady Everglot, courtesy of my parents. We had the r-rehearsal today, and I was such a n-nervous wreck I couldn’t recall my lines at all. Pastor Galswells, our officiant, finally lost all patience with me after one too many mistakes, and b-banished me until I’d learned my vows. D-desperate to get them right, I ended up roaming Brightstone at random, repeating them to myself to try and get them straight in my head. I finally said them perfectly in an old forgotten side street overlooking one of the canals…and the moment I finished, a g-glowing blue figure in a w-wedding dress burst from the water, declaring ‘I do.’ I s-screamed and ran, but she managed to c-corner me on a nearby bridge and tried to k-kiss me. I fainted when her lips touched mine, and w-when I woke up, I was…” He waved his spoon in the air, as if trying to capture the enormity of the experience. “On the w-wrong side of the veil.”

I

LB:DQ -- “Indeed – or you could avoid the issue entirely,” Cheshire said, floating his smile over to another ladder on the wall in the darkened bay, just barely visible in the gloom. “I’m sure Rabbit would approve of you taking a shortcut, especially in order to avoid detection by anything that might try to stomp you.”

“I’ve apologized for that!” Hatter put in. “And made him that new watch!”

“It was the least you could do,” Rabbit said, paws on hips.

SATBSO -- “I don’t know – I don’t think so,” Victor said, letting his hands drop. “But you’re right, it is very hard to tell time in the ghost field…I’m sorry too, Emily,” he continued in a quieter voice. “I – I shouldn’t have lied to you about w-wanting to see my parents. I should have tried to explain better what was really wrong. But I – I didn’t have the words, and I was so scared and hungry and cold, and…” He sighed heavily, pressing his fingers against his forehead. “And absolutely nothing today has gone according to plan.”

“I know the feeling.” Emily perked up, a hesitant smile tugging at her lips. “But – but we can still make this work, right? We can alternate which side of the field we’re on day by day, so you can still eat and drink and not have to worry! We can even find a nice place to set up house together – one that’s in good shape in both my world and yours!”

“I think anyone who sees you two house-shopping is going to call the Spirit Wardens on you,” Alice couldn’t help saying.

T

LB:DQ -- “True,” Alice nodded. “Which reminds me – at some point tonight, I need to drop in on a certain Sean Milton. I don’t know how much honor there really is among thieves, but hopefully he has very little and will be willing to give up Muddy without a fight.”

“We’ll see on that front – and back, come to think of it,” Cheshire remarked, tail swaying as he kept pace. “But one side-quest at a time.”

SATBSO -- The gondolier gave Emily, floating near the prow, a significant look. “They always go up when the dead are involved.”

“I haven’t done anything,” Emily said, tone sulky and sparks crackling along the edge of her veil.

“And don’t start now,” the gondolier warned, frowning. “I may not be a Warden, but every one of us has got a bit of the Whisper about us. I know how to handle you lot.”

E

LB:DQ -- “Even better – they’re real robots! Well, sort of. . .” Victor popped open a bin and picked out a blue butterfly at random, showing her a block with some buttons on the – thorax, she believed it was called. “They each come with a ‘brain block’ like this where you can input simple commands. Obviously I can’t get any of them to fly – though I’ve always hoped – but I can get them to flap their wings if I shine a light on them, or follow a light being held in front of them – even play with a ball.”

“Neat,” Alice said, grinning. “You’ll have to show me later.”

SATBSO -- Emily went still, a frozen figure in tattered blue. Then she rushed forward at a speed no living human could have ever managed, face contorted in pure fury. Barkis yelped and tried to get out of the way, but she managed to clamp one spectral hand around his arm –

And, suddenly, she wasn’t there anymore. A split-second later, Barkis bent double, shrieking. “What – stop! No!”

“Yes!” came Emily’s voice – from Barkis’s own lips. Alice stared as he straightened up, wobbling like he was unused to controlling his own body. “The knife dropped from his fingers with a clatter. “You’re mine now, Eddie!”

S

LB:DQ -- She got to the bottom of the slope and looked around. While the layout was roughly the same, the entrance to level two was noticeably darker, thanks to a busted light fixture in the nearest “compact” bay. It also had different guards – two fellows who looked to be Chinese, dressed in matching burgundy jackets and wielding machine guns. One jerked his head around as she snuck closer, causing her to freeze out of habit. “It’s too quiet,” he said after a moment, shaking his head. “I-I don’t like this – this place. At night it seems so – haunted.”

SATBSO -- Smiler sorted and pointed at their eyes, brilliant yellow in their pale face. “What, do you think I was born with these?”

“...actually, it has genuinely never occurred to me to question why your eyes are bright glowing yellow before now,” Alice confessed, cheeks heating up with embarrassment. “They just seemed – completely natural on you.”

“I – I mean, I noticed, but – given everything else that was going on, they – didn’t really register as that weird?” Victor admitted, also going pink. “Alice is right, they do suit you...I sort of thought they might be a side effect of that Joy Serum you showed me before, since you said you make it yourself.”

Tagging: @nebbychan, @thesatiricaldemon, @anonymoose-au, @ace-of-tales -- the word I'm picking is TIMES!

[victorluvsalice]

WIP Snippets!

I was tagged by @dont-offend-the-bees to post a snippet of a WIP -- but I have two major projects that I’m working on, so why not do a bit of both? :) Especially since I didn’t do a “sneak peak” at anything over the holidays this year. . .

First things first, though -- I am tagging in turn @nebbychan, @ace-of-tales, and @thesatiricaldemon, should they be inclined to share anything they have going on in the writing well. :) Anyone else who also feels inspired to post a WIP snippet upon reading this, please feel free! We’re all friends here!

And now -- snippets! First up, we have a portion of the first chapter of “Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland,” the second part of the “Londerland Bloodlines” series I’m working on with Alice as the Malkavian fledgling in Vampire: the Masquerade -- Bloodlines. This is from my take on the cutscene where the fledgling wakes up after being knocked unconscious by the Sabbat and dragged off to a junkyard upon their arrival downtown. . .but you’ll notice that one of the Sabbat members looks a little different from usual. . . (warning for some foul language and threats of violence -- no worse than in the game itself)

---

“Let’s drain it.”

“Let’s stake it and leave it out for the sunrise.”

“We’re going to have a lot of fun with this one.”

Well, fuck, was the first coherent thought Alice could put together. Her skull felt like someone had taken it out, dropped it on the ground, then poorly superglued all the pieces back together before ramming it back into her head. She cautiously cracked open her eyes to see three figures standing over her, poorly lit by the light of the moon and a sputtering lamp. “Think you could blow up our warehouse and get away with it?” one snapped at her in a voice as rough as sandpaper. “Huh, lick?”

The fellow next to him (Alice was reasonably certain it was all hims) snorted. “Let’s pull out its tongue and its eyes and its teeth!” he suggested, flexing the claws that had dragged her into this mess in the first place.

“Yeah,” a smoother voice said, its owner crouching down in front of her. “I want its teeth.” He put a foot on Alice’s clavicles, pressing her down into the cracking concrete. “Camarilla fuck – what do you say to that?”

Alice squinted at him. “. . .are you wearing glitter?”

Judging by the startled blinking, that wasn’t what her captor had been expecting. “. . .yes?” he admitted, suddenly defensive. “What of it?”

“It’s just not the usual look for you lot, is it?” Alice continued, her tongue happily running ahead of her brain. “I mean, no offense, I’m happy you apparently put enough stock in taking care of your appearance to actually bathe, let alone apply make-up, but. . .” She looked him up and down – at least, as best she could from her vantage point on the ground. “Loads of hair gel and a bright pink suit don’t exactly inspire terror.”

The clawed fellow snickered. “She may be a Cammy fuck, but she’s got you there, Habits.”

“None of you fucking appreciate fashion,” Habits replied, surrendering to stereotypes by sticking his nose in the air.

“Toreadors,” the sandpaper-voiced one – Alice could now see he was a big fellow, face framed by dreadlocks – muttered, before focusing back on her. “Don’t think that big mouth of yours will help, Camarilla. I think my boys and I could use a little entertainment.” He turned to an invisible audience over his shoulder, smirking as he curled stumpy fingers. “Those of you sitting in the first few rows will get wet.”

Shit – all right, Alice, think, she told herself as he turned back toward her, baring his fangs. Above him, the clawed fellow and Habits smirked, preparing themselves for a show. Going invisible obviously isn’t an option, and Auspex is less than useless here – which means I’ve got get my head focused enough to unleash Wonderland upon this lot before they unleash on me. She dug her nails into the sidewalk, pushing past the pain in her head to focus her blood as best she was able –

BANG!

---

And second up, a bit from the sequel to the full version of “As Long As You Love Me” (which should be going up this year, I just need to edit it properly), “The Joker And The Queen!” This is the story I’ve mentioned before where Victor ends up kidnapped by X-Sector and imprisoned in The Sanctuary by Dr. Kelman while Alice ends up teaming up with Victoria and Emily to find him. . .and while he’s in there, he ends up meeting quite the remarkable group of people, including one named Smiler. . . (warning for a touch of accidental misgendering in this one, but Victor genuinely doesn’t know Smiler’s non-binary until they tell him)

--

They proceeded down the hallway, around a corner, and to a large pair of double doors (white, of course). Bagshaw opened them to reveal a room that looked a bit like Victor had always imagined a dorm common room to look – some couches arranged around a TV, another bookshelf (better-stocked than the one in his room) against the wall, a few tables here and there for people to sit at, a beanbag chair in the corner because it was expected. And fortunately for his sanity, Kelman had made some concessions to color here – not a lot, as the couches and chairs were all white, but the tables and bookcase were at least mahogany, and there was a couple of sad plants on shelves adding a bit of greenery. It was a slightly less depressing place than his cell, at any rate.

And it had other people in it – a young black man and a Chinese woman playing cards at one of the tables; a pair of white women – one red-headed, one platinum blond – half-watching the TV; and a red-headed white man built like a lumberjack lounging in the beanbag chair. “Everyone?” Bagshaw called, causing them to all look up. “This is SW9.” He patted Victor briefly on the shoulder. “Play nice.”

And with that, he headed to the corner by the bookcase, pulling out his phone. Victor stared at the vaguely-curious faces before him, one hand automatically reaching for a tie that wasn’t there. Oh damn. . .when was the last time he’d actually introduced himself to anyone? Usually his interactions with people who weren’t Alice consisted of either handing over money for snacks or giving his name and then handing over money for a hotel room. And – and he didn’t know any of their names, or what they were like, or –

“Hi!”

Victor damn near leapt out of his skin. A seventh person had just appeared at his elbow, one he’d missed in his earlier glance around – a white man about his age, he guessed, with spikes of black hair hanging down the left side of his face, and bright yellow eyes that could only be contacts. “I’m Smiler!” he introduced himself, sticking out a hand with a brilliant grin. “What’s your name?”

“Ah – um – Victor,” Victor said, taking the offered hand cautiously. Goodness, but this fellow seemed ready to beam his head right off with that smile. Wonder if he read Mr. Cedars’s book too. . .

“Great to meet you!” Smiler said, pumping his arm. “I mean, yeah, be a lot better if we weren’t both stuck here, but under the circumstances, great to meet you! Oh, and let’s get this out of the way right now – they/them. My pronouns,” they added in response to Victor’s puzzled eyebrow, stabbing themselves in the chest with a finger. “Non-binary.”

“Oh! Oh, yes – he/him,” Victor responded in kind, cheeks heating up. “S-Sorry, my family’s a little conservative, so – I’m still a bit new to that sort of thing.”

“No worries! Now you know,” Smiler said, smile never faltering. “Come on, let me introduce you to everybody!” They linked their arm through his and pulled him over to the first table, where the card-playing pair were waiting with faces that suggested they’d totally expected this from Smiler. “Okay, so – this is Oblivion, he thinks he’s an edge lord,” they said, pointing at the black man. “And that’s Thirteen, she’s actually an edge lord.”

---

Hope you enjoyed!

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines -- Kindred Wonderland

So -- as has been established, Alice's clan as a vampire in the World of Darkness is Malkavian, the clan of vaguely-defined mental illness. She of course was already suffering from persistent hallucinations of her Wonderland before her Embrace -- being turned into a vampire just means she can never turn them off again. (She grouses briefly in the first chapter that if she'd just gotten the medication she was hoping to get to help out with them, maybe Fish would have overlooked her. . .) I've been thinking about how her Wonderland might affect her and her perception of the world around her, and I've come up with the following incomplete list for your edification:

-->Alice has basically ended up with a permanent entourage of Wonderland characters following her around and commenting on everything (and annoying the heck out of her); Cheshire is pretty much always by her side, with the Queen of Hearts, Hatter, Carpenter, and Rabbit generally tagging along behind.

-->I've decided that, given her nature and role in the games, the Queen of Hearts is the perfect character to take on the role of Alice's vampire "Beast" -- the part that only cares about feeding and surviving. Alice keeps having to tell her that no, she's not going to be sucking random people dry. (This has the weird side effect of Alice having pretty decent control over her Beast for a young vampire, as -- well, her Beast already knows Alice is not afraid to stab it to get it to behave!)

-->Alice sees certain places as areas of Wonderland -- I haven't decided on all of them, but I know the following:

1. The Nocturne Theater, when she wakes up there after her and Fish's capture, is Dreary Lane Theater from the Deluded Depths (Carpenter is initially peeved at LaCroix for taking over his stage -- only to switch to compliments once it becomes apparent Alice is also for the chop)

2. Stanley Gimble's studio should look like part of the Dollhouse Cellars, given his obsession with limbs and suchlike -- ooh, and maybe Alice sees the severed hand he fights with as a doll limb (and is horrified when Carson tells her that its an actual arm)

3. 609 King's Way definitely looks like the squishier parts of Queensland. Alice's imagination doesn't even have to do that much work to transform it! The Queen is very complimentary

4. I'm thinking that, even if it doesn't look like that for starters, Alice's Downtown haven at Skyeline Apartments #4 ends up looking a lot like a quiet spot in the Vale of Tears -- Alice's safe space in Wonderland. Having a nice place to go home to -- especially when it contains Victor, and later on Lizzie, Sam, and Emily (and Victoria usually)

-->Alice also sees certain weapons as their closest Wonderland equivalents. I haven't found matches for any of her ranged weapons yet, but I know she always has a knife which, to her, looks like the Vorpal Blade -- and when she picks up the sledgehammer in Hollywood, it promptly turns into the Hobby Horse. (She's very fond of it.)

-->And yes, as she upgrades her wardrobe, she starts seeing some of them as Wonderland dresses. I like the idea of her first "light leather" outfit being, to her, the Steamdress -- and she might wear Royal Flush, at least in her head, for the final battles.

-->I don't know if she'll ever actually frenzy (go berserk from hunger, anger, and/or fear) in the story (most likely place for it to happen would be in the Hallowbrook Hotel), but it would definitely go off like her entering Hysteria mode. Hell, might even throw in some of her Rage Box look with it, go all out.

-->When actually in Wonderland (like during a sunlight sleep), her mental self stays a vampire just so she can keep using her invisibility and increased strength and whatnot, but she gives herself sun immunity so she doesn't have to cast the place in eternal darkness -- and the plasma trees from Sims 4 start sprouting so she can drink in Wonderland without attacking the residents. (Not that most of the monsters she fights would have blood suitable for a vampire. . .and as much as she might complain about Cheshire, she doesn't actually want to hurt him.)

More probably to come as a) I write and b) as I need ideas for this day. :P