#my google doc with all the notes is called 'elixir of life fic LET'S GOOOOO'

[non-un-topo]

oh please please tell us about the next qq fic 🥺🥺🥺

Hello, beloved!!! Thank you for enabling me lmao!!

So I desperately missed writing little queer quartet adventures, but was basically brain dead and fell into a heavy post-fic depression after my last mystery fic. But I've been spinning this idea around in my head for a long time now and will very soon have time to write!! Bits and pieces will likely change, but I can tell you some things so far.

Putting this under a read-more actually because I kind of rambled and I don't want to clog the dash lol

It will take place in India in the mid 1400s. The quartet will have come from Bulgaria, escaping the consequences of a certain mistake that Quynh might have made in battle. Not a small mistake, either. They make it to northeast India and have to stop because by that point they're penniless and starving. Conveniently, there happens to be a noble Hungarian family who has settled there for not-yet-known reasons, managed by the lady of the house, lady Morana, because the lord is off fighting the Ottomans. Anyway, Morana is causing problems with the locals by demanding that they mine for ~~something, ohh~~ even though she hopes she's being a good person by supplying them with jobs and extra food. But whatever she's mining for --- which she has not actually specified --- must be really valuable because she's offering all of the house's gold and riches as a reward to whomever finds it. She has men overseeing the mines who sift through all the resources people find, who might call on anyone at any time if they happen to find the thing. Anyway -- the quartet sees this noble family (and later a very sick population of locals) and think, "hmm. We should con them and redistribute the wealth." Naturally.

Somewhere along this line (I'm still figuring it out) they, or more specifically Yusuf or Quynh, realize the lady might be looking for a fabled substance that can turn iron into gold. That's right: the philosopher's stone. So this is sort of how they try to con her. Yusuf takes on the role/disguise of an alchemist and makes fool's gold, Nico has to pretend to be a leper for a little while. It's a whole thing.

But before all of that, Quynh and Andromache both get jobs working for this family because... food and money are needed, stat. Even though Quynh is morally opposed and grumpy about it, she gets a job as a servant, hoping it will put her closer to the lady of the house so she can learn her secrets (like wtf are you digging the land for, lady). It doesn't quite. Turns out Quynh is hired specifically to assist the lady Morana's daughter, Jana, who is blind. Jana is not helpless like her mother thinks, and she is very smart and well-read. She and Quynh develop a nice little friendship and do anarchy. Andromache is hired as a swordsman to train the eldest child of the noble house, Henrik, who is 16 and acts like it.

I could talk a lot about the OCs because I just spent a few days developing them, but I'll keep it under wraps for now unless anyone wants to know dsfgfd. I just figured the canon characters are probably a lot more interesting.

Andromache will eventually get to beat up the bratty young lord (for a good reason).

Yusuf will put his artist skills to good use, and miiight come across some problems as he pretends to be an alchemist (I mean, lying about the fact that you have THE miraculous alchemical substance has consequences).

In befriending Jana, Quynh may also befriend a Mysterious Character who also works for the household, ohhhh. I was thinking a lot about GoT and HotD lol. Many mysterious spy-like characters there.

And Nicolo will discover some things about medicine that will have lasting benefits. (He might also have to amputate something in order to look like a convincing leper, but he'll get better lol).

I can tell you there will be alchemy (well, not really but you know), lepers, moral issues / grey morality, OCs I am kind of proud of, drama as usual, and very many typical queer quartet shenanigans and jokes.

Anyway uhh yes! There it is... <3 I'm still figuring out the plot and doing my research, but it's definitely cooking. It will also switch POV between the four characters, which I don't think I've done before in one fic yet! I'm aiming for Quynh to be more of the focus though. If this ends up being like 40,000 words and super niche or disorganized, oh well. I'm just happy I have a new idea <3 Thanks again!!