#nano serpents

[gonzodangerfeels]

You know how much I respect you.

You pointing out the height discrepancy at the inauguration is kind of self criticizing.

[karkkidoeswriting]

Off-Brand NaNo Update #2

I was having a cottage weekend with friends, so I didn't write then, but yesterday I wrote! Quite a lot in my standards! I finished the prologue (and also wrote for a scene that comes in a chapter, because I sometimes like to jump around).

Words written: 1 948 Current word count: 16 347 Time written: 3h 55m

Here's an excerpt from the prologue!

Rigantona’s mind went black. When she came to again the smell of smoke was overpowering. She lay in the tall grass. Air was filled with smoke and distant screams. The carriages had been broken by the blast. Two of the horses were still whining in pain. She stood up, body aching. A nail from the broken carriages had penetrated her arm, but she barely noticed. The landscape had transformed from the home she once knew to the fires of purgatory in an instant. The dry autumn grass had caught on fire quickly. Everything was burning and drowned in the red haze. Even the sky… She looked up to the serpent, which covered the sky. It’s massive long body circled above, reaching from one horizon to the other. There was no words to describe the ancient bottomless horror that she found from the distant corner of her soul. She was but an ant in the feet of the beast. The many set of wings of the dragon glided it’s massive body through the sky as it’s hundreds of burning red eyes stared down at it’s handiwork. Then the cracks between the black scales began to glow, turning fire red and eventually glowing white like hot metal. She watched motionless, tears streaming down her face, as the beast reigned it’s fire down on the city across the river and evaporated countless lives and homes in an instant. Strong gust threw her back to the ground. She allowed herself to lay there for a moment and cry in impotent desperation. What could an ant do?

[frogblast-the-ventcore]

Good day, it's me again!

Got some questions for your Astralverse universe.

I tried scouring your blog for astralverse-tagged posts but didn't find sufficient answers so I figured I should present these questions.

It's mentioned in the doc that FTL travel is commonplace but FTL comms is only in experimental stage, by the looks of it. Which is weird in my mind because I thought it should be easier to solve FTL comms first. What's the in-universe lore/explanation for this?

Still on the topic of FTL technology, who's the primary user? Everyone in the Confed, just the founders, a handful of trusted races? And who was the first to kickstart the development for FTL? Is it before or after the Confed was formed?

How is currency handled between races? Is there a unified currency that everyone uses (a la present day European Union with EUR), or is currency exchange/conversion still required?

The flag for The Plex appears to be a flat grey rectangle. I thought it was a bug on my end but it's also displayed like that on desktop. Is that actually what their flag looks like? Or just a placeholder for now maybe?

This one isn't really a question but the Lamian Assembly is described as "society of semi-humanoid serpents" which I glossed over at first, but then clicked with something that I know of: the Lamia people in Elder Scrolls, who also resemble humanoid serpents. I don't know if that's where you took the name from or simply a mere coincidence, but I felt I wanted to bring that up.

Heya! Always happy to answer questions!

1. The specific method of FTL travel in the setting requires some manner of actual mass to work - sending information which has no mass was long thought impractically difficult. The Va'ruun's creators could do it, and consulting with the few of them that are left is how the experimental systems have come to be.

But until recently the method of "FTL" communication was just loading up a communication nano-satellite with messages, having it be carried by an FTL capable vessel into orbit of a given planet, and released, whereupon it transmits it messages to the surface. Not quite instantaneous communication, but decent enough. And importantly, it's fairly cost effective.

2. Everyone in the Confederation has FTL technology. FTL travel (like a lot of the more advanced technology in the setting, was originally a product of the same race that also created the Va'ruun.

The Va'ruun, after inheriting the creators' empire, and being a generous people, gave FTL to any species they befriended - which, when you are the Va'ruun, is extremely easy - any civilization is very likely to respond positively to them for any number of reasons.

3. There is indeed a common currency - the Confederation Unified Exchange note - the CUEnote. It exists both as physical currency (largely for governments, banking, and the like) and digital currency (for most average civilians). They are backed by the Confederation Central Reverse Bank, and derive value from both the largest reverse of physical precious metals in the known galaxy, and a significant reverse of physical member state currency.

Physical CUEnote designs are flat, plasticised sheets roughly 150 x 60 mm in size (roughly equivalent to a modern day US dollar). They exist in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, and 10000 note varieties - though only notes up to 500 are in widespread circulation.

Regardless, individual member state currencies still exist, and are fully legal tender - conversion rates are calculated by the CCRB and change on a yearly basis. Currencies used by sub-states of member states are also accepted, especially when a member state is not an entirely unified government (to quote a famous Confederation economist: "The oft-cited 'most member states have 4.5 currencies' factoid is actually statistical error. Most member states have a single currency. The Terran Alliance, who lives in the Sol system and has over 180 currencies on one planet, is an outlier and should not have been counted. Please stop counting them, they're giving me nightmares.")

4. That is, in fact, their official flag! The Plex government insists, and has always maintained, that there is a "very beautiful design" adorning it.

Most people are convinced this is the Plex playing a species wide joke.

5. I took the name from more mythological sources there, but so did Elder Scrolls, so convergent evolution.

Ironically enough, the Lamia would actually be better described as "nagas", at least in a modern (furry) sense of the term.

They are, after all, essentially just the Vipers from XCOM:

[overwatchloresnstuff]

Mercy lore

Buckle up kids, this is a long one! We have quite a lot of lore!

Next lore dive is the long, sad, and inspiring tale of Overwatch’s most controversial support: the high-flying, Glock-wielding, master of life Mercy!

“Pain lessens with time…but comes back at the slightest reminder..” - Angela Ziegler

Angela Ziegler was a child of the Omnic Crisis. Born into a family of doctors in Switzerland during the deepest and bloodiest parts of the war. Angela’s parents usually left her at home to volunteer at a local hospital, desperately trying to piece together the dead and dying. Modern medicine, however skilled, just couldn’t keep up with the massive amount of victims the Crisis was creating. Steel, as always, is stronger than flesh.

One day, her parents were killed when the hospital was obliterated by an air strike. There was nothing left, and a police officer grimly informed Angela that she was now an orphan.

Angela threw herself, at the tender age of fourteen, into the study of medicine. It consumed her. She was hailed as a medical prodigy, and one of the youngest women ever to receive a doctorate. She plunged ever deeper into research, determined to be more effective. In the arms race of man against machine, medicine could be the turning factor in the war. She would be that force.

After Operation White Dome, Torbjorn Lindholm was laid up in a Swiss hospital, grieving the loss of his arm. Angela’s family had been longtime friends of the Lindholms, but until now they had traveled in purely social circles. Angela went to see him, and the two became fast friends; a teenaged medical intern trying to change the world, and an Overwatch agent who needed a reason to keep fighting. Torbjorn began to slowly introduce her to Overwatch’s crew.

By her late teens, she received her MD and a PhD in the emerging field of nano sciences and was becoming a popular figure in Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Though their medic was too young to drink or even drive by many country’s’ standards, the Strike Team was taken with her tenacity and determination. It was there she met Fareeha Amari and Cole Cassidy, a young rabble rouser given a second chance at life by Gabriel Reyes.

The Lindholms became her adoptive family, and Overwatch her extended one. After spending so much time buried in her studies with no emotional support or help, the new sense of family lit a fire under Angela to become better.

She was declared head of surgery at a prominent Swiss hospital, and established a research lab in the study of nanotechnology. She pioneered healing nanites, a cloud of tiny robots the size of a cell that could heal the most grievous of wounds and safely dissolve into the body afterward. This healing tech was pioneered with her Caduceus Staff, so named for the Staff of Divine Healing carried by Hermes in Greek Legend. The symbol of the Caduceus, of two serpents entwined around the sacred winged staff, symbolizes medicine’s balance.

The technology was poised to cause an explosion in the field of medicine. People could have major surgeries in the field. She could administer pain medication, heal the sick, and bring people back from the brink of dying…all as long as she had the nanites with her.

It was then that her adoptive family approached her again. Jack Morrison had read her paper on her new nanobiotics. While it had potential, the technology was choked by poor funding. Her staff was a godsend, but to truly springboard the tech, she would need a backer. Overwatch wanted to be that backer. Morrison told her he had enough soldiers. He needed dreamers, engineers, people like her.

Angela, at first, declined. As a member of the family she knew not only of Overwatch’s good deeds, but their darker underbelly. While she didn’t know the details, the militaristic aspect of Overwatch was enough to give her pause. She wanted to heal. She didn’t want her tech used for war. She didn’t want soldiers to be patched up and flung back into battle. And yet…the cash and equipment from people who had essentially adopted her after the death of her parents was too good of an offer.

She became the head of Overwatch’s medical team, and brought her nanites to new heights. However, even here there was pressure to prove herself, and prove that her technology worked. There was pressure on her not only to be a doctor as she wanted, but an Overwatch agent. After several years…Angela caved. She developed the Valkyrie Swift Response Suit, and took on the call sign Mercy (ID # 3945_46) as a promise to use her newfound money and tech to help and not harm. This suit was equipped with propulsion systems similar to those developed by Dr. De Kuiper, and it’s hinted that the two attended seminars together…possibly to that end.

She point-blank refused to get involved in any fighting, and used her considerable pull to insist that Overwatch begin to amp up its place on the humanitarian stage. Overwatch happily acquiesced, and Mercy became a force in the field of emergency trauma medicine. Under her, Overwatch began to help people displaced not only by the Crisis, but by natural disasters, pandemics, and coups. Unfortunately, due to the nature of her work, Overwatch insisted she began carrying and learning to use a small firearm for her own protection. She accepted a pulse pistol from Morrison, and learned how to shoot.

Things were not all peaceful, however.

Torbjorn Lindholm developed a biotic rifle for Ana Amari, with a reassurance that it was only to be used for long range healing. Angela was furious. This was the beginning! Her tech being turned into ammunition was just the start! Lindholm calmed her, reassuring her he never meant anything of the sort, but the cat was out of the bag. Mercy discovered her research, her nanites, her yellow force of healing had been made public to the entire organization. Unbeknownst to Mercy, this included Blackwatch’s newest acquisition, Moira O’Deorain.

They had lied to her.

But…this was her family. These were people who had taken her in after she had nothing left of the world. They couldn’t possibly twist something so beautiful into something evil…could they? Unfortunately for her, Moira was already working on reversing the nanites, and Ana Amari cleverly used the new withering technology in her ammunition.

As Torbjorn had once told her, “All tär inte guld som glimmar”, all that glitters is not gold. Angela had always had the habit of questioning others, and the notoriously cynical elder Lindholm had been rubbing off on her.

The bright star that had once been Overwatch began to fade in Angela’s eyes. She was no longer a naive little girl, and as much as she loved Torbjorn and the others, they were clearly using her.

Angela threw herself into her work. Overwatch’s massive wallet was at her command, and she used it to open a children’s hospital; free to all, no questions asked. During the fall of the Australian Omnium in Alice Springs, she founded a hospital in Melbourne to help citizens of that area deal with the fallout.

She was able to save countless lives, giving of herself freely, but quite possibly her greatest medical achievement came in the form of a dying young man rescued from the streets of Kanezaka. An Overwatch strike team had been monitoring a family of Yakuza known as the Shimada Clan, mostly for blackmail schemes and criminal activities that had taken a sharp uptick after the death of their leader, Sojiro Shimada.

The destroyed young man dragged to Angela’s lab was missing both his legs, his right arm, and several internal organs were so damaged they had to be stabilized with cybernetics. Reyes had given the young Genji Shimada a choice; die in a Japanese hospital alone, or be rebuilt.

Angela protested the clear coercion of the poor man. He was on enough painkillers to take down an elephant and Reyes was threatening him? Reyes turned his ire on her, commanding her to rebuild Genji with combat in mind. While Angela simply wanted to restore Genji to the point of being…just a functional young man again, Overwatch wanted a soldier. Under duress, Angela slowly began rebuilding Genji.

The two began to build a close bond. After all, the physical therapy alone would take time. Genji proved a gentle, sharp-witted and humorous companion, and with only a single biological limb to his name…there was a lot of talking to be done. Even after his rebuild Angela and Genji often stayed up late in her laboratory, Genji being an infamous insomniac and Angela working late into the evening. Genji remains the only member of the Overwatch team to stand her terrible coffee. She fostered a love of Swiss chocolate in him, and the pair have continued to write letters to each other to this day.

Angela despised what Overwatch had done to Genji as she watched his work in Blackwatch unfold, and filed numerous complaints against Reyes for his actions. After the fall of Blackwatch, she made the case for Genji to transfer as an Overwatch agent, happy that he was no longer in the shadows.

As tensions between omnics and humans in Kings Row reached their breaking point, Morrison assembled a strike team to aid London. London, wanting nothing to do with Overwatch after the Venice incident and the chaos that befell Blackwatch, refused their aid. Morrison, desperate, assembled the “cleanest” agents to seize back control of London from Null Sector: Oxton, Lindholm, Wilhelm…and Angela Ziegler. Their success was legendary.

For but a brief moment, it seemed Overwatch would recover. Lena Oxton was plastered all over London as the new it girl, but the death of Overwatch was coming.

The explosion at the Swiss Headquarters displaced everyone. With Morrison and Reyes assumed dead, Overwatch was scattered to the winds and the organization collapsed under controversy. The Petras Act was put into place, forbidding Overwatch agents from acting under the authority of the world government.

Angela was disgusted by what she found during the declassification. Her technology had been used to make bombs, sleeping darts, and withering poisons. Lindholm had returned to Gothenburg and Reinhardt Wilhelm had gone with him to be closer to his godchildren…with the people she cared about retired, and Genji finding himself in Nepal, Angela turned to caring for her tattered reputation.

She returned to Cairo, as Overwatch was responsible for the economic collapse of the area, and began rebuilding. People hated her. She wasn’t welcome, her or her wings, and for the sake of everyone around her…the Valkyrie suit was stored away, the staff was stowed, and she abandoned her technology in favor of returning to her roots.

Angela ignored Winston’s recall. She saw him as a naive gorilla who needed the organization to feel whole, and after tending to Morrison’s wounds in Cairo, seeing her leader’s obsession with the Swiss incident and Reyes, she wanted nothing to do with it.

Angela Ziegler still appears where she is needed, flying where she can and assisting the wounded and sick. She will always answer a call for help from Genji, or her adoptive Lindholm family, but her time in Overwatch is done. She never wanted to become Mercy. All she wanted to do was help, and she believed her time best spent atoning for Overwatch’s sins.

However…new crises are looming every day. Talon and Null Sector are rising, causing more and more suffering.

Perhaps, when it comes to becoming a hero…our beloved Mercy has less of a choice than she wants.

(Taken from facebook group "Deadlock gang: women of Overwatch from a member there)

[silyabeeodess]

FusionFall Headcanons: Slime Serpents

The branches that make up the majority of their body keep them lightweight and buoyant enough to float without trouble. They can skim over the surface of water at a terrifying pace, being only a little slower on land. So, if you see a large mass of wood lying by the stream, pay attention. On the bright side, since they do travel along the water's service, you can keep an eye on them. The downside? It's scary to see them chase after you.

According to their description, the Slime Serpents are made of branches and come from "the muck at the bottom of Leaky Lake." However, they aren't found all that close to the Lake itself, but rather the Acorn Flats area. More than likely, these monsters travel upstream from the lake to gather large amounts of material, such as from debris or beaver dams, and end up in Acorn Flats by the time they're ready to surface from the water. This origin would mean that they mimic water snakes the most and are adept swimmers. While the material for their teeth isn't mentioned, the shiny, metallic and/or rock-like appearance of them in concept art makes me think they're from more general debris in the lake and stream, such as garbage, pieces of leftover boat material from other fusion monsters, and loose sedimentary rock.

While not the biggest issue when fighting these monsters, this does create a potential risk of harm from the debris itself. Things like shards of metal or rock could be hidden underneath the moss and bark that make up their scales. Imagine trying to brace yourself for a swing of their tail only to end up getting stabbed with a bunch of shrapnel you didn't know was stuck in it. Be sure to watch out for these places, because they could either serve the Slime Serpents as an additional weapon or serve you by creating odd gaps in their body that can act as potential weaknesses.

As shown in the missions "Alligators in the Sewers" and "A Dirty Job," there is a population of Slime Serpents that exist underneath the City alongside a handful of other fusion monsters. Likely, these are created the same way as their cousins in the Wilds, simply following the flow of sewer water as opposed to a lake or stream. The main difference is that these are more limited in size due to the need to pass through narrow tunnels. Compared to the massive ones that exist in the former location, the latter often stretch to around the height of an average human.

Each Slime Serpent has five eyes, two tongues, and two tails. On top of spitting fusion matter at their enemies, the tongues and tails can move independently of each other. This allows the tails to attack from different directions. As with real snakes, the tongues aren't used to attack so much as to stalk targets. They're very sensitive, with scientists believing that they not only sample the air for different scents, but also traces of imaginary energy. As much as imaginary energy can vary between individuals and even at different points in a person's lifetime, this would allow the Slime Serpent to easily tell apart different humans, imaginary friends, and nanos and identify which ones are the bigger threats.

Again, they are pretty lightweight for a monster, and their primarily wooden bodies aren't the strongest. If not for the condensed muck and fusion matter holding them together, they'd be very weak. Therefore, what they gain in speed, flexibility, and buoyancy, they lose in defense. Those that prefer firearms can try keeping out of reach, but a melee fighter shouldn't have any trouble finding seams along the body to slash through.

Slime Serpents don't handle dry environments too well, as it can cause parts of their bodies to weaken or even break off. The hardened muck just isn't strong enough to bear much damage by comparison, as it was supposed to keep the body together while maintaining flexibility. Trying to compact that into a stronger form, like a mud brick, would take away from that. Therefore, they need to stay hydrated to keep a healthy form.

Grime Serpents are made of similar materials and have most of the same habits and abilities as Slime Serpents. However, their preference for travelling on land as opposed to water alludes to a slightly different origin. Grime Serpents are noted to "wind through the branches [of trees], waiting to drop down on unsuspecting [people]." Given the massive size of the trees in the Really Twisted Forest, where they originate, it's possible that the muck they're made from includes a large amount of tree sap. This allows their bodies to hold much better than the Slime Serpents and greatly removes the risk of drying out. Any sappy residue that seeps from their bodies can get on you, so be doubly careful, as it is contaminated with fusion matter and will be all the harder to get off.

[solipsistful]

director’s cut on automatisms? 👀👀

this took a while to figure out what to even say, but i think i'll go chapter by chapter and say something interesting about each of them

but i'll first say that the very first unfinished draft of Automatisms was actually a NaNo project by Serpent, which i (ace) then took over and rewrote into its current form. so i'll be making this post and seeing if he wants to chime in (not that anyone except me has been particularly talkative lately rip)

XX01: Re-entry

i love that the fic starts (after the pretentious epigraph, im sorry) with a canon line. not only does it temporally set Automatisms as essentially an alternate Acceptance, but i think highlights how it really does follow from Control's canon experiences. like, i could absolutely see an argument that Control canonically just has a dissociative disorder (Authority begins with a dissociative episode, his guides…).

funnily, it wasn't actually any of our idea to go "what if him plural". that was a friend lol.

XX02: Breaching

Finally, a conclusion. Denouement. Control let out the breath he hadn’t intended to hold.

my desire to copy canon's style means hooray narrative (and ghost) metaphors.

XX03: Returning

this chapter has the big freaking problem of being extremely important in canon but not at all changed by Control getting some Lowry commentary. i know one answer would be to just… not follow canon so closely, but shh.

what this means is that it's basically best to read this fic with a very good memory for what happens in Acceptance, which probably isn't great. (i fall into the exact same problem with Doubled)

XX04: Waking

ive mentioned this before, but isn't it fun that Lowry's first time fronting alone occurs off-screen and is never really discussed explicitly? something with Narrative there. (it's also fun how canonically that's just Control having a freeze reaction to the biologist anyway, "playing dead to keep his head")

XX05: The lighthouse

god we had the HARDEST TIME deciding what person and tense Lowry's sections should be in. there's several version of this chapter trying to figure out first vs second vs maybe just third? and present vs past. first person present eventually won out as Special enough, even if i struggle to write it (even more than second person). it also leaves second person for the voice of Area X-as-narrator later, which is probably better.

and then Absolution is just gonna be plain old third person past, boo.

XX06: Somewhere else

just some Control reckoning with wtf is Lowry even doing in his head. i mean, it's an important question, like the most important thing in the world for Control right now, but it's sorta hard coming up with scenes where he can both think/talk about that without just going in circles about how unanswerable it is.

XX07: The tower

i hope this chapter feels as Significant as i intend it to be. this is, after all, the real moment of divergence from canon: Control never goes down the tower!

there are, like chapter 5, versions of this chapter where the "beckoning" is in the first person vs second person, italicized or different fonts or right-aligned or not set apart from the rest of the text at all, etccc. i Care about this formatting stuff okay. (had to go digging into how AO3 work skins work at all in order to get the chapter numbers right, for instance, lol)

XX08: The border

it really strikes me, given what we've seen of Absolution, that Lowry should be way more over-the-top in his reactions here lol. he's not a quiet shut down type like Control; he's over the top and angry and should have, i dunno, punched a tree or something. oh well. maybe he's just relying on not being in the body to give him some distance from basically the worst thing imaginable that could happen to him in this moment.

XX09: The teeth

ok i told myself i wouldn't say this about all the chapters, but i think this chapter in particular should've been longer lol. i mean, it's a Good Chapter, but that's why it should've been longer! there's a lot of implications of things that probably should've been explored more. i'm thinking in particular of Lowry wanting to go retrieve the videos. this is the guy who retrieved the videos from the first expedition, as awful as that must have been. he's abandoning all that and the first expedition overall by leaving the SR building.

ah well.

XX10: The throat

i think im so clever for the "are you real" repeat

XX11: Humanity

after all that kerfuffle over whether Lowry would be in the first/second/third person, we actually hadn't considered what that would look like when Lowry and Control were blurring, whoops. so, good thing that we decided on the first person, because that makes blurring into "we" instead of like. "yall" lmao.

XX12: Exorcism

how do you write hypnosis (especially from the point of view of the hypnotized)

i mean the real point of this chapter is just "look at my theory/interpretation that Lowry's hypnosis is linked to Area X's narrative control and isn't that fun"

XX13: Memory

i don't know what to say about this one. character discussions!

XX14: Disposition

this is simultaneously a filler chapter and also i should've spent longer dealing with things like Lowry having food issues (which is something i had sorta drawn from Acceptance but here is influenced by all the Absolution tidbits in which he's obsessing over eating animals in Area X lol).

but mostly it's a filler chapter because by this point, i knew that the second half of the fic would use all the same chapter titles in reverse, and i have Disposition2 already written so Disposition1 has to exist.

Bonus Sneak Preview: XX15: Escape

obviously a lot of my fic-writing efforts have been spent towards WOE.BEGONE lately, but i think another reason why Automatisms has been going slowly is that this next chapter includes a large change in time and context. so, i'm sorta wanting to think through whether there's anything in the old context that I still want to do before i decide on A Change. but really i should probably just go ahead and do the Change. as hinted above, i have a lot of post-Change stuff written. :>

- ace and no Serpent as it turns out whoops

[tryingtimi]

Trick🙀 or treat🍭

*pretends it's not a day later*

Thank you love, I'll give you a treat, then. <3 A little excerpt from a short story I started for a contest about Madness and Monsters and a skull, but didn't finish in time. Still, I'll make it happen, after NaNo. Bonus point: it's in Lonel's world, around the middle ages.

Amity’s sleepy town held the most tales about how the vile and foul rose in the dead of night.  She never wondered where they came from, as they were those only — tales. Splinters of disturbed minds, pieces of some folks who couldn’t explain life’s doings. For what purpose, Amity couldn’t say, but she knew they weren’t real.  Nightfall hung heavy from the horizon while she strolled the main street.  Blackened blue sky waved above her, no stars spotting it tonight. The clouds crept over the brightly shining moon as serpents would surround their prey, with predatory precision and intent.  She strolled alone, her only companions the swaying lanterns the townsfolk left outside their homes and shops. Cold wind joined her night walk, whispering under every loosened roof.  Amity didn’t understand.  It was the time of the year when the Moonrise Festival took place, bouquets, wooden figurines, fruit decorations being made to adorn the town. An important event to protect their home from bad omens and evil spirits. One knew well there was no greater threat to a lurking devil than a celebration of their saints.  Yet no one was around.

[cecexwrites]

My Q4 Writing goals

Y'all it's almost October.

Can you believe it?

So as we come closer and closer to the end of the year, I am figuring out what my plans are in regards to writing

So as you may or may not know, I am currently in the middle of writing the second book in my Serpents Club Series, Prince of Wrath.

My goal is to finish writing it by the end of October. I'm thinking it'll be about the same length as Prince of Ruin which was like 88k(ish) words. It means I'm going to have to really focus in on writing for the whole month of October but I think I can do it. Also I'll be prepping for Nano and plotting that story.

November is of course Nanowrimo and this year I'm actually going to do an original story for that month. it's going to be contemporary romance. Hopefully it's cute and breezy.

In November I'll also be planning and plotting for Serpents Club book 3 Prince of Deception.

December will be- more relaxed for me. I'm going to be working on Prince of Deception of course but after two months of hardcore writing work I'll need a little chill moment.

Now While I'm working on ALL of this I plan on playing around with Nevermore, the first book in my Murder of Crows series. But I don't have a solid date on when I'm going to be posting that.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Naga Princess’s Soldier Mate by Robin O’Connor

Serpents of Serant #7

What a splendid way to spend the way and leave behind any worries and concerns ~ Loved returning to Serant and watching Reid and Sazzie as they find their HEA.

What I liked: * Sazzie: alien Naga princess, bullied when young, survivor of many fights, scarred, lethal, doesn’t enjoy violence, learns information that is helpful, attracted to Reid, intriguing

* Reid: warrior, nanobot-enhanced, has died and returned in the past, human, resilient, survivor or betrayal, deceptively strong, heals quickly, attracted to Sazzie

* The way each book in the series builds a better understanding of Serant and those that inhabit it

* That I can see Reid and Sazzie happy together

* The story of the Ayala Sazzie tried to save that began the book and the circle back round to it later

* Learning a bit about Reid’s backstory

* Getting to see some of the characters from previous books

* Shaman-Healers and the good they do

* Being able to dislike the Naga King and his tribe…along with a few others

* The welcome Sazzie received from her brother when she and Reid returned to Haven

* Plot, pacing, setting, and writing that allowed me to return and also provided enough information to be a standalone story

* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like: * Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about how even in an alien space romance there are evil aliens with qualities reminiscent of humans

Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more by this author/in this series? Yes

Thank you to the author and Bookfunnel for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

BLURB

He calls me beautiful in his husky, damaged voice. Kind. A Naga Queen has never been called kind… Sazzie I have hidden who I am from everyone my whole life. Turned myself into something I a fighter, a brawler, a princess worthy of the Thunder Rock throne. Then I meet Reid… A human male. A kindness in his dark eyes that I do not understand. His body, a work of art—muscles, power, and sigils that don’t glow but sit like black ink tattoos on his skin. When he says I’m beautiful despite my scars, when he says I’m worthy of more than a life full of fights, I believe him. But not everyone is willing to let me forget who I am—who I was always meant to an heir to the throne. And they’ll kill me to get what they want. Reid I’ve died before. It’s not so bad. Third time’s the charm, right? But when I wake up to the face of an angel, it’s not because I found the end. This is only the beginning. Battle-hardened Sazzie hides a soft, vulnerable heart and a caring nature that would be stomped out—destroyed—if anyone found out. For too long, she’s had to protect herself. No more. I will be her shield, her sword forged in fire. I’ll be her soldier, and I’ll kill anyone who dares to threaten my woman. As her rivals circle and threaten, I’ll fan the flames between us. Protect her, even as I claim her as mine. This is Book Seven in the Serpents of Serant series. This steamy sci-fi monster romance features a nano-enhanced super soldier , a Naga princess with damning secrets , and a sizzling HEA.

[eirian-houpe]

Camp Nano Day 10

Today I took a shift in focus and tried to write a little more of Laer o Faen, my Tolkien fic.

Camp goal: 15,000 words Day’s total: 531 Words Camp progress to date: 8,433 words (56.22%)

Fic: Laer o Faen Summary: A near fatal encounter with the Serpents of the North leaves Greenwood the Great's queen with but one choice, one that cost her own life, but she makes a promise to her beloved King, born of a love that has already lasted through more than an age of Middle Earth, and remains the only hope to warm a heart fallen behind a wall of despair.

Last ten words: ... my Lords, but it seems the situation is quite pressing.”

[bookandcranny]

camp nano week one act 1

@thewriteblrarchives

(first time trying this so have mercy on me)

Show:

start | choice | sun | see | first | sign | over | because | before | when | went | fair | new | since | remember | back | greet | eyes | toward | feel | shadow | move | light | wonder | ahead

“Hanta woke with a start, feeling more immediately unsettled than she could ever recall upon coming out of a dream. She was never prone to nightmares, and her dragon dreams in particular were usually the most pleasant, often making her reluctant to leave them. Yet, here she was sitting bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night, not quite fearful but something close to it. She reached for her dream journal and began to write almost without cognizance of the fact. Her hand seemed to move on her own.”

--

“In her triumph, she hardly thought to worry about what she might find on the other side of the door. But whatever she might’ve anticipated, it wasn’t the long scaly body of a serpent that greeted her inside.”

--

“Kamalea wondered if she’d ever be able to fix this. The phantom sensation of Hanta’s warm hands still clung to her skin, mingling strangely with the lingering dread. She wondered if things ever got better for good.”

Tell:

1. What are you most looking forward to in your project? What inspired you to start it?

what inspired me to start (this time) is easy because it’s probably the main motivation a lot of people are getting right now, which is being out of work and trapped inside. i’ve attempted stories involving this sort of concept/cast earlier but the setting and a lot of the key story elements as a result have changed wildly so i’m trying to treat it as this entirely new thing. a fresh start!

i think i’m mainly most looking forward to just the idea of possibly finishing something! i’m really bad at sticking with my larger projects which is rough because i’m also bad at restraining myself and writing something shorter. if i manage to get this done from start to finish, i will consider that a massive victory in and of itself. as it is, it’s mostly a bunch of assorted scenes i haven’t quite managed to patch together yet.

2. Who is your main character? What is their life like before your story starts?

the story starts with the main character Hanta deSilva who is a busy college student from a working class family who’s trying to juggle school and work in order to support herself and live up to her family’s expectations.

before the story starts she’s basically fully wrapped up in her own mostly dull world of wake up, go to school, go to work, study, go to sleep. she doesn’t have much of a social life and is always on that grind. her only real escape from it all is the vivid lucid dreams she has where she gets to play the part of a hero, which she records dutifully every morning in her dream journal.

3. Where is your story set? Tell us a bit about your world!

i’m still working out the details but it’s a modern setting in a college town on the east coast. close enough to the shore to be a bit of a seasonal tourist trap but otherwise it isn’t terribly busy.

the plot involves magic and fantasy elements but it’s meant to be clear that the existence of magic in this otherwise mundane setting is a huge outlier. if there’s any other magic in this world it exists very much in the shadows.

[theflowofink]

A Serpent’s Tale, Intro

@thel3tterm

Having a mag-bike race through the back alleys of Snovall was usually fun, but with my grandfather... less so. Bastard always wins. No matter what shortcuts I take, how hard I push the custom built engine to it's magical and physical limits, he's always waiting for me with that same smug smile. Whenever I ask him about it he just shakes his head slightly, chuckling softly.

"Old trade secrets m'boy. Wouldn't do to just give them away to a boy still breaking in his adult scales, now would it?"  I would feign offense at this point usually, but knew deep down, my grandfather had a point, a small one but still one nonetheless.  At the age of twenty I was seen as an adult but just barely. I had proved my mettle helping the guard hunt down bandits, and had killed the odd villain here and there. However I had always done so with him besides me. To truly earn the I wished for respect in the Empire, I would have to step out from beneath his shadow.

These thoughts passed through my mind like leaves on the wind as I began to slow down and admire the falling snow as my bike sped through the streets, the thrum of the engine and the bumping of the wheels against the stone cobbles. As usual, grandfather was waiting for me at our usual finishing point, the southern guard tower. My concern was swiftly aroused, as he wasn't watching me, his eyes on the horizon.

The likely cause for his concern was what appeared to be a Ley-storm. Ordinarily these maelstroms of pure magic caused little harm at most changing someone's hair color or changing a cat into a dog, and made it relatively dangerous to cast magic for the duration of the storm. I approached him and tapped on his shoulder.

"Something wrong , grandfather?" He continued to watch the storm, which only seemed to grow, and his words seemed far away, a whisper.

"I hope not, boy. In all my years, I've never seen a Ley Storm of this magnitude."

"Still, storm's a storm, right? Just means we can't cast for a bit." The old man turned to me and nodded, his hand on the family heirloom, The Viper's Fang.

"Aye, save for our venom, or any of the other Deorfalken's gifts. This has me worried, boy. Come let's get on the wall, I want to see the storm better. and Viperi?"

" Now I know something's the matter grandfather, what is it?"

" Call it a silly old man's hunch, but if something happens to me, take the Fang and flee, promise me that. The storm may mean nothing but... I have a terrible hunch it means the world's about to change." I narrow my eyes at the old main who raised me.

"This has to do with the black out, the South dropping out of communication, doesn't it?"

"Maybe it does, and maybe it's just a coincidence. maybe this storm messed up their comms. But something about the storm... I don't like the looks of it, can't you feel it, Viperi?" I directed my attention to the storm as we headed up onto the wall. Grandfather was right, there was a tightness in the air around us as the storm grew, a flag post snapping in the winds and the raw energies turning it into a bouquet of flowers scattered in the gusts. I could feel... something other than the usual weird magics of a ley-storm something growing.

Grandfather put his hand on my should and stared into my eyes.

"no matter what happens, boy, know that you gave my life meaning again.  I just want you to be happy and safe, so if something does happen, run, and don't stop till you're safe, understand?"

"Only if you die, grandfather and there's nothing I can do." The old Snake-Blooded chuckled softly.

" I'd have said the same thing, years ago." As we came up onto the wall, we saw the guard captain, Wilheim, a battered old orc, directing the garrison, when he heard our feet behind him, he snarled.

" Damn it! I said no more civilian-" he turned towards us and broke into a smile.

" Thank the Aergods, Asperus, and Viperi! It's a gods-damned mess up here, I could use your help. The Bastard's Own  have a squad that are on their way, but I'll state for the record I don't much like the looks of that storm." Grandfather nodded, unsheathing Fang and gently tapping the blade with a single claw, giving a grim smile as the venom flowed across the edges of the sword glowing a soft green. I followed suit pulling my own sword swinging the weapon around a few times, feeling the weight of the steel in my hand, feeling the thrum of the enchantments on my skin, making the blade lighter, and keeping it sharp and maintained.

By now the storm had almost overtaken the entire sky, colors which there were no words in all the tongues to describe painting it in nightmarish, insane hues. I felt fear begin to roost in my belly, and had to swallow laughter as the two rune cannons on the wall swiveled upwards at the sky, as if they could hurt a storm.

We stood in silence, waiting for something, anything to happen. And then, the storm suddenly collected and rolled up into a ball several hundred feet from the walls. A massive, blinding bolt of lightning tore through the sky and earth beneath where it struck, blinding us for several minutes. The crack of it's thunder shook the walls, literally causing several small cracks all throughout the structure.  And in the aftermath, standing before the walls of Snovall was a being that radiated pure, terrifying, Power. I had felt Power like this, once in my life, as a child, visiting the Great Forest once with grandfather. Only one type of being could radiate this much raw Ley: an Aergod.

[vaya-writes]

In answer to @moonshine-nightlight ‘s tag, yes I DO have plans for this year. However I think my road map will be a lot more simple since I have a few less ideas than they do 😂

My two current big projects are The Wyvern’s Bride. I wrote a large shitty chunk during Nano and I need to work it into something palatable. I’d like to finish the third arc. It’s where I envision the first book ending (romance arc done, only politics to follow if I want).

And I am looking forward to sharing more Serving the Serpent. However while my skeleton plan might be decently into the plot, my actual writing is not. So I’ll need to get writing on that.

I plan on working on TWB first and swapping to StS if I get stuck.

For mini projects I would like to finish my horror, Kiss of the Kelpie, over on @guilty-pleasure-writings . There are elements of noncon and, uh, like reader death depending on the ending, (choose your own adventure style) so that’s definitely sitting over on my nasty blog. I’ve only two more chapters to write and they’re both actually pretty close to finished.

I also want to write a sequel to my Boyfriend to Death fanfiction, Willing Participant. This one on the same blog, since it’s horror porn. The sequel will be a series of shorts before the fun plot begins in a third story. I think.

When TWB and StS are complete I can begin skeletoning my next big project, but I don’t know if I’ll get to writing it this year. The only details I’ll share of it is that the prompt was something like “you are the caretaker of a house of supernatural creatures and need to cater to all of their needs” and it is GOING to be smutty.

Thank you for asking 🥰

[serpentarii]

WTW MARCH MADNESS ; DAY SIX CHALLENGES 1-3 

summary ; 

Man steals coat and almost starts a war because he didn’t take a single economics class. Girl at my church tries to stab and poison me repeatedly. Jesus isn’t who he says he his. 

synopsis ; 

Aleksander Fox has long since learned to warp the unyielding stone streets of the Kingdom of Falkenreik to his advantage. Settling comfortably in the capital Niederbrinn, the chance at unending fortune appears when he steals and sells the feather cloak of a cigne—a legendary race able to transfigure themselves into swans. Unbeknownst to him, the cloak was that of their crown prince. 

It falls into the possession of Vératre, an assassin with hands rusted bloody, after having been sent on a mission to claim the life of the Helemar, head of the Church and object of their worship. Upon arrival to the capital, she encounters her old acquaintance, Salicaire, whose mission acts the antithesis to her own. Converging paths force them under the iron of the church and the bellicose cigne queen as a mysterious infection known as the Dornenheit rots their lands from core to flesh.

development ; 

For those of you who have been following me for a while, like late 2019 to early 2020, I talked about a short story I was writing at the time called Honeycomb. Basically it was about a guy who slowly transforms into a beehive and has a lot of thoughts about it. The three named characters were Camille Camassia, Venus Voir, and Salem Salicaire. I ended up just transplanting them into my 2020 nano project and slightly renaming Voir multiple times. Parts of their relationship and some character traits carried over, but otherwise they’re pretty different from their original versions. 

A few other things that changed: 

This WIP went through multiple title changes, and its final title, Mordlust, was originally planned to be the title for my series A Hymn for Serpents. 

Honeycomb became calcification, which itself became the Dornenheit/blackthorne to fit in more with the Sleeping Beauty aspects of the story. 

Camille used to be the main character, but he’s been dead for years when the main story starts now. 

[kon-igi]

OLIO DI GOMITO

Non ho seguito la polemica sul nuovo tipo di saluto

(non il saluto col candelotto di dinamite... quello col gomito)

però devo dire che al di là della bassa possibilità che voi possiate prendervi il Covid-19 con una stretta di mano e le dita poi infilate nel naso, trovo ridicolo che si sia dovuta inventare una nuova forma di saluto quando ne esistono decine che non ci farebbero assomigliare a dei rapper da ghetto intossicati da amanita muscaria dopo 12 ore non stop di maratona a Double Dragon con sole 200 lire.

Lo sapevate che la stretta di mano è un antico saluto con il quale si dimostrava di non impugnare un’arma?

E allora conosco perlomeno dieci persone mancine che vi stringerebbero la destra per poi sgozzarvi con un rasoio tenuto nella manica sinistra.

Perciò da oggi ho deciso che saluterò le persone seguendo un calendario mensile a rotazione:

Mano alzata, dita unite con medio e anulare separati scandendo con voce ferma ‘Lunga Vita e Prosperità’

Guitar Air e prime note di Enter Sandman dei Metallica cantate con la bocca

Mano destra sul cuore e sinistra dietro la schiena urlando SHINZO WO SASAGEYO!

Accenno del Balletto di Chandler

Stringere le proprie mani assieme e simulare un breve scambio di convenevoli fra due persone imitando la voce di chi si sta incontrando.

Tracciare il Sigillo per un Edo Tensei (Tigre, Serpente, Cane, Drago)

Moonwalk attorno a chi si intende salutare

Battere i tacchi tre volte e urlare HO L’IMPRESSIONE CHE NON SIAMO PIÙ NEL KANSAS!

Indicare la persona e poi fare ‘Hey!’ con la voce di Fonzie

Fare il Cup Song con due bicchieri sul tavolo del bar in cui si stava aspettando la persona 

Incrociare le braccia al petto e poi salmodiare H'NGLUI MGLW'NAFH CTHULHU R'LYEH WGAH'NAGL FHTAGN!

Ballo della Vittoria del Dott.Cox di Scrubs

Pollici alzati e indici puntati in avanti con simulazione di simpatica sparatoria

Unire i polsi con le mani a coppa e poi scagliare un Hadouken se in un giorno pari e un Kamehameha in uno dispari.

Mani sui fianchi e poi esclamare ‘SUKYA BLAT KURWA MAMA!’

Battere le mani assieme e poi palmo destro in avanti urlando ‘Il Cielo e la Terra non hanno confini!’

Torcere entrembe le orecchie tra pollice e indice sussurrando NANO NANO

Urlare MAMAAAAA! e aspettare che l’altro risponda HUHUHUUUU!

Fare la Ola da soli

Urlare ‘OH NO! NOT AGAIN!’ e poi spaccare un vaso di petunie a terra.

Dire alla persona che si incontra ‘Sai chi ti saluta?’ e quando lui risponde ‘Chi?’ portare le mani all’inguine e urlare ‘STOCAZZO!’

Fare una giravolta, farla un’altra volta, guardare in su, guardare in giù e dare un bacio a chi vuoi tu

Lanciare un dado da 20 e consultare la tabella delle reazioni

Incrociare le mani dietro la schiena e urlare ‘AVE CAESAR! MORITURI TE SALUTANT!’

Ignorare la persona e conversare amabilmente col suo invisibile gemello astrale alla sua destra

Allungare la mano destra e quando lui fa per stringerla ritirarla di scatto indietro e strillare ‘MA CHE SEI SCEMO?!?!’

Se è un parente eseguire la Sibling Dance

Portare una mano all’orecchio ascoltando qualcosa e poi chiedere ‘È per te che sta suonando la campana?’

Mano destra aperta perpendicolare alla fronte e poi sussurrare ‘Il Buddha che è in me riconosce il Buddha che è in te’ facendo un inchino

Dire ‘Mi casa es tu casa’ e poi indicare un edificio a caso

Infine il saluto che si è soliti fare da dove vengo io: estrarre il pugnale da combattimento, avvicinarsi alla persona e poi appoggiargli il pomolo sul cuore con la punta rivolto al proprio; quando lui farà lo stesso dire ‘Che il tuo coltello colga sempre il cuore immeritevole’ e lui risponderà ‘Che il mio coltello rimanga sempre lontano dal tuo’ per poi buttarsi in un amichevole duello al Primo Sangue.

Il mondo è un posto troppo interessante e strano per darsi solo delle gomitate, insomma.

[harrelltut]

JEHOVAH OCCULT BIBLE [JOB] WITNESS Me [ME = U.S. Michael Harrell = TUT = JAH] on Earth [JE = JESUS] in 2021 [V]… from 2012 [V]… SOULFULLY Speaking My Highly Complex [ADVANCED] Ancient Spiritual OLMEC TOLTEC ZAPOTEC Communication Sciences that Unicode NUMERICAL [SUN] eNCRYPTION LANGUAGES… Articulated TELEPATHICALLY by Intuitive Thoughts Unifying Data Encryption [LATITUDE] CODES... from My Biblically Ancient [BABYLONIAN] Hieroglyphic ART [HA = HARRELL] Inscriptions [HI = HITTITES]… Scripturally & Esoterically Taught [SET] by Us Highly Official... U.S. Ancient [USA = PREHISTORIC] FUTURISTIC Ægyptian American [ATLANTEAN] URAEUS Serpent [U.S. = REPTILIAN] SUN GOD [RA] PRIESTS [RAPS] of GOD KUKULKAN... Ancient MESOAMÊRICA’S UNSEEN [MU] Serpentine [U.S.] Energy KUNDALINI [SEK = SEKHMET] DEITY from the YUCATÁN STATE RELIGION of Highly Complex [ADVANCED] Ancient Astronomically Intelligent ANUNNAKI [AIA = AMÚN] SUN GOD [RA] ELDERS [ELOHIM]... who Subconsciously Envision Afterlife [SEA] Human SOULS Naturally Emitting Translucent Energy Radiation like Us [NETERU] PREEXISTENT URAEUS SERPENTINE [U.S. = ROYAL] REPTILIAN [NĀGA] Human SPIRITS of QUETZALCÓATL’s Highly Complex [ADVANCED] Ancient Biochemical [PRIMORDIAL] Fossil Earth SUN & MOON DNA… that Alkhemically & Genetically Engineer [AGE] Our New [NU] Highly Complex [ADVANCED] Ancient KUNDALINI RNA of SIRIUS UNSEEN NANO [SUN] BIOTECHNOLOGICAL Light & Energy MATTER [MELANIN]... as iSOULFULLY AWAKEN My Latent Human CHRIST Personalities of Multidimensional IDENTITIES [MI = MICHAELS] from Underworld [MU] MICTLĀN... by Immaculately [MI = MICHAEL] MANIFESTING from QUETZALCOATL’s Mysteriously Ancient PAST [MAP] Human AZTEC [HA = HARRELL] FAMILY DNA/RNA TREE of SIRIUS Astronomically Intelligent ANUNNAKI [AIA = AMÚN] SUN GOD [RA] ROOTS from XOLOTL… who Ancestrally + Generationally ENGINEERED [AGED] MAYA’S Ancient [MA] SUN_KING [SUNKEN] DOME Continent [D.C.] MUMMY of Ancient FUTURISTIC Ægyptian American [ATLANTEAN] SUN King TUTANKHAMÚN... in Our Ancient SOUL FUTURE of 5000 https://www.instagram.com/p/CRXnFTcFxI9/?utm_medium=tumblr