#pov serpent syndicate

[metatextuality]

first lines meme

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able to, and see if there are any patterns!

tagged by @whetstonefires!

(Last ten published works, huh? That does rather narrow it down...)

1. The Man Who Would Not Stop for Death – a short, pulpy original noir scene for The Merry Whump of May.

The problem with discovering your payday is committing felonies — apart from the fact that they're committing felonies at all, of course — is that your odds of getting paid take a sharp downturn.

2. The Man and the Moon – a longform noir serial in which the same protagonist finds himself attempting to apply hardboiled rationalism to cosmic horrors from beyond the stars.

Chicago is an improvement over Hoboken, which should paint a sufficiently damning picture of both cities.

3. To Serve Satan: Miss deManners' Guide to the Heavenly Host – a Good Omens short about Crowley's methods that came to me fully-formed in a dream, so I'm not sure I should be counting it, but it did probably come from my brain technically so what the hell.

"Would either of you like something off the dessert trolley, sirs?"

For once, it was Crowley who looked up with such sudden diamond-bright joy that it cut.

4. But Be the Serpent Under ’t – an AU of my own pirate noncon epic in which Captain Crowley possesses one of his captors.

When Crowley finally died, it came almost as an anticlimax.

5. The Seas Incarnadine – the aforementioned epic pirate noncon fic, which I stg I am going to finish one of these days. (This sentiment also applies to every other unfinished fic on this list.)

This whole piracy lark had, in retrospect, gone a bit further than intended.

6. Conversant With Terrible Objects – DC mirrorverse character study of Owlman in the form of filthy, filthy phone sex with Superwoman.

The Crime Syndicate believed that Owlman loved Gotham City, when they credited him with the ability to love at all.

7. Black-Clad Bats and Making Money – the one where John Mulaney becomes the Riddler™

You may recognise me as the man who programmed — because that’s what being a game programmer gets you, instant celebrity, like Shigeru Miyamoto and the guy who invented Tetris — you may recognise me as Edward Nigma, the man who programmed Labyrinth of the Minotaur, a bestselling game whose apparent claim to fame is that it is unwinnable.

8. Crowskin – the one where Owlman catches an Australian magpie like a fuckin' baseball.

“What,” uttered Johnny Quick, “the fuck.”

9. Those Who Fight Monsters – a casefic wherein the mirror-universe Riddler deals with the moral dilemma of rescuing Owlman's favorite child assassin.

You would think, thought Edward Nigma, crouching behind the wall of shipping containers he’d scaled partway up for a better vantage point, that criminals would find somewhere else to conduct their business.

10. King's Gambit – DC mirrorverse fic where Lex Luthor and Sinestro discuss rationalism and then kiss (and then try to reverse-engineer God so they can use him as a nuke)

“Good news,” said Sinestro as he pulled away. “You’ll probably keep the eye.”

So the first thing I notice is that I like to open with an immediate, snappy Establishing Character Moment, usually in a close POV. That's probably related to the fact that my usual catalyst for writing down a scene I've been building up in my head is finding an opening hook that I like too much not to use, and which leads naturally into my mind expanding on it for another few paragraphs whether I want it to or not; also to the fact that most of my fic is character-centric, and almost always written in a POV limited to the inside of the viewpoint character's head even when it's in third person.

Something I wasn't expecting from this selection of opening lines – and possibly this is a pattern that would be broken if I included some of my many, many unpublished WIPs – is how many of these take a tongue-in-cheek jab at a significant aspect of the story itself. I don't think it's a matter of being convinced of my own metafictional cleverness, nor of being unconfident in my premise and seeking to lampshade it before the reader gets a chance to notice the cracks themselves...more that my favorite characters tend to be those that overthink everything, in part because I find it a relatable trait. Hmm.

Let's pull in a few of my closest-to-publishable WIP openings, for the hell of it:

My mother, may G-d bless her because he certainly hasn't given her much to work with so far, named me Sidney Solomon Jacobi.

--

"Y'know Sandra Nylund?" I ask, winding my way through the bullpen to my desk, where I navigate the organised chaos of notes and reports until I find the file I'm looking for.

--

The new navigator arrived on the HMS Essex's eighth day in port.

--

The thing about alcoholism was that it was perfectly socially acceptable to drink yourself to death.

--

The second time someone called him, she had Owlman tied to the bed.

Okay, yeah, I'm figuring that pattern's probably just a weird coincidence. Interesting that it worked out that way, though.

Tagging off the top of my head: @punishandenslavesuckers @anneapocalypse @weird-mcgee – and anyone else who sees this, consider yourself tagged as well!

[euphorial-docx]

omg i wanna ask about the jegulily dynamics in your deadly class au like how did they meet? & do you have a favorite scene of them so far?

ok so i haven’t actually written any jegulily yet. i’m trying to figure out what scenes set up the protagonists best for the first chapter, so not much has been written past that.

BUT! i can give details i have mapped out.

so how they all meet is through school (duh), but they are all in different affiliations. regulus is a legacy student of the serpent syndicate (i changed the name bc i need the death eaters to be separate for Reasons), james is technically a prep but not really but is nonetheless a legacy too, and lily has no affiliation. their groups don’t really socialize much.

BUT x2! they have classes together.

i’m still putting together schedules, but so far: regulus and lily share an assassin psychology class, james and regulus share ap black arts, jegulily all have a free period and meals together too. so they mingle sometimes because of class work and projects.

the dynamics i have planned so far is that regulus and lily already have a little Something going on when the story starts. it’s not a full-blown relationship and it’s very rocky from the start, but there sure is something.

as for james and regulus (because regulus is the only part of jegulily that gets a pov, so this will all basically revolve around him), james keeps making jokes with regulus. like kind of flirty jokes that regulus brushes off as some kind of ridicule, and therefore regulus doesn’t like james at the start because he thinks james is making fun of him lmao.

[sailforvalinor]

THEO!!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!!! I love talking about him!!!

Theo is one of my protagonists from my Doctor Who fanfic (spin-off fanfic, story written in the same universe, idk), and has so far been my pov character. Gosh, I dunno even where to start with him. He’s the third son of a British aristocrat from the 1830’s. He’s fresh out of university. Black coffee is the only thing holding his sanity together. He hates his siblings and they hate him. He’s a fencing prodigy. He could down a shot of espresso in one gulp without flinching. He needs a hug but he’d never accept one. He’s been ordained in the Church of England. He says he doesn’t believe objective goodness or “good” people exist. He’d literally throw himself in front of a bullet for any man, woman, or child. He’s a mess of dichotomies, and he knows it.

Part of my thesis statement for him that I try to keep in mind when writing for him is that if he were born in the 21st century, he would have been a huge Marvel fan. He would’ve been the eight-year-old boy running around in a Captain America costume. However, he was born in the early 1800s, so how that translates is that he was a big fan of Arthurian legend, other romantic tales of chivalry, The Faerie Queene, and the like. But, all of this to say, he was a child who was fundamentally good, and, most importantly, actively believed in goodness and truth…

…which kinda sucks when your dad is secretly the leader of a crime syndicate. You know that moment you have as a child where you first become truly conscious of the evil in the world? Theo’s was dramatic, to say the least—he figured out what his father’s “business” was when he was eleven or twelve years old, found out that all of his older siblings (who he had idolized up until this point) were all involved in it in some way, and that his father had been grooming him to be his successor. Not only did this shatter his belief system, but his life became a living nightmare after refusing to have anything to do with it.

It occurred to me that nihilism may not be the right word to describe what he descends into afterwards to cope—it’s less that he doesn’t believe that good and evil exist, and more like he believes the existence of good doesn’t matter, as he believes it will always be overpowered. He often struggles to see any good in the world and tends to believe the worst of people because he is so quick to recognize evil—he can’t see the forest for the trees. As far as he’s ever seen, the bad guys always win. What’s the point of even trying?

When thinking about Theo, I often think about a scene from The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, where the protagonist is going through something similar:

“Let me ask you: Have you ever had a dream in which, having spied a deadly snake at your feet, you suddenly begin to see snakes everywhere – suddenly realize, in fact, that you're surrounded by them?"

Reynie was surprised. "I have had that dream. It's a nightmare."

"Indeed. And it strikes me as being rather like when a person first realizes the extent of wickedness in the world. That vision can become all-consuming – and in a way, it, too, is a nightmare, by which I mean that it is not quite a proper assessment of the state of things. For someone as observant as you, Reynie, deadly serpents always catch the eye. But if you find that serpents are all you see, you may not be looking hard enough.

You would think, with this mindset, that Theo wouldn’t try—but that isn’t actually the case. Despite everything he tells himself, he can’t quite seem to help but to do the right thing, even when it inconveniences or even seriously hurts him. Not to quote Kenobi, but it’s like an itch—he can’t help it. He’ll look you dead in the eye and assert that nothing really matters and fighting for just causes is a pointless, Sisyphusean concept that always ends in defeat, and simultaneously is the most noble, chivalrous guy you’ve ever met. He’s a mess and I love him. Don’t worry, his worldview is about to get rocked by the peppiest Time Lord you’ve ever met.

Some random things about him: when he starts time traveling, he gets really into late 90s/early 00s grunge (Yellowcard’s Ocean Avenue in particular). He’s rarely to be seen not in a black suit from some era, he wouldn’t know casual if it smacked him in the face. Joker is working on introducing some color into his wardrobe. He has a stepmother and two younger half-siblings that he does actually care about very much. Aside from literature, he has an interest in history, archeology, and architecture. He had a canary named Atalanta as a child.

Character Poll

Tagged by @griseldabanks

Pick one of my characters that sounds interesting, and whichever one has the most votes will get a full description!

Then create your own poll of characters from a WIP/story idea and tag more people to do the same. Characters can be from fanfiction or original, they don't necessarily have to be a character you made up--the point is to have fun describing them. ;)

Tagging @o-lei-o-lai-o-lord @kanerallels and @the-tiny-dragons-tea-room

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 1, Red Hand vs Serpent Syndicate

More skirmishes in our fair Underhive, my friends. The Red Hand took a crack at the Serpent Syndicate for control of Deacon’s Hold, and judging by the number of baldheads carried out on their backs, the Chaos lads came out on top. Seems all it took to ruin those snakes was leadership, a long rifle, and a (red) handful of screaming cultists! Say what you want about them (“they’ll be the death of us all!”) the Red Hand aren’t lacking in fighting spirit!

Here’s a little mystery. While trawling comms traffic, something caught my eyes: A message from an old terminal down by Sump Bay. I opened it up, hoping for some juicy, but what did I find? Gibberish. 

Junk code? Servitor malfunction? Some juve’s prank? Maybe. 

Or it could be Delaque secret whispers, ‘crypted in manual-style.

Never been much of a codebreaker, but maybe you clever scummers will crack it.

>>> Subject: RedHand

>>> Conduit 8516-JX12

Iig Oaag vrjhgrg zr evrqhimqn srwkphteaw. Vrhty udu trziglfrds aag eyplrvfrp dkvnqkejl. Wr vljilrrg yidcy yrjwhz aag iiwyenwvh. Wdo tkfwwz ia uvgrceeb, frh yecorghk af svv voaqrn tuvtbffp.

Glsclki glfrdk, ejlngv uissolhu zre-rrffvglrf glvlug ehkvhht. Cltohk uc UY thyfbudmqn chokmf yigxrp svsg vbmutifk. Klh Soeg fj Foaajv eqzwruvh. 

A real head-scratcher. If one of ya figures it out, send a com-you-know-kay and I’ll cast it long and broad. That’ll make the serpents squirm... Hehehe. Unless that’s just what they want! Can never tell with those baldheads! 

Keep all your eyes open! 

-iii

---

"Crimson claw and azure serpent clash, blood spilled upon the ground of Deacon's Hold. The serpent's fangs avail it not, for the hand catches its tail and casts the serpent down. Its body is broken. The red witch tastes blood, and a great eye of power gazes down, pleased for the moment. Portents of doom surround the hand. A storm gathers."

- Spatia the Hag, underhive soothsayer

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 0

What a spot of fun that was! When a Guilder of dubious reputation named Yotan Bliss cracked open an old vault in Slagg’s Drift, he found more than anyone bargained for. He bottled as soon as he heard the moans, and the gangers who’d had the bad fortune to sign on with that drokkhead found themselves locked in the vault with hundreds of plague zombies! Four gangs, three fighters apiece, trying to survive the hoards until their buddies outside could get the doors open. They hurried to climb off the killing floor, and even worked together well enough, though they clearly didn’t much care for it. The chaos lads (Red Hand, they were called) went off on their own, and climbed pretty high, but the flesheaters followed ‘em up, and it weren’t long ‘fore they tumbled off the catwalks with their guts spilling out. The others fared a bit better, though the Eschers (Compulsory Vivisection, the combi-gang of killers and punk rockers) got mobbed pretty bad. I saw one girl go down, and another was surrounded ‘til the “Ministorum priest” from El Orden de San Miguel del Vacio (try saying that three times fast!) tossed a gout from his hand-flamer and set half of them on fire. He seemed to be aiming squarely at the lass, but it worked out well, so I suppose all’s well that ends well. Those whispering Delaques (the Serpent Syndicate, the snakes!) got caught up in a tight space, and that grenade-launcher-toting Orden lass blasted ‘em all out, doing some significant damage to the zombies, but hitting the Delaque leader squarely in the back! ‘Course, the Delaque got their own share of backstabbing. When the Delaque girl shotgunned the Escher into a hoard of zombies, I was pretty sure it wasn’t an accident, until she threw herself into the fray to save her! They’re a weird lot, those Delaques. Never know where you stand with ‘em. By the time the doors got opened, all the gangs were banged up pretty bad, ‘cept the Orden, on account of the big lad with the 4-foot claws tearing up zombie after zombie.

When they got out, they found medicae, crates of loot, and a note reading:

"Thank you for your assistance with the vault. Distracting those zombies was what I needed to get access to what I wanted. As a token of thanks, I have arranged for a medicae to nurse any of your members back to health. You may also have some of the equipment of the previous crew I sent in there to do the job. Obviously they were not as successful as you were. No hard feelings yeah? - Yotan Bliss"

Funny little thing that cookin’ up here, eh?

Keep all your eyes open!

-iii

P.S. I snapped some picts of the action. Take a look,  scummers!

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 0

[Excerpt from Monitor Servitor 12-Rho, Sector 22A, "Slagg's Drift", audio only]

Voice 1: "Damn that Yotan Bliss! We ought to track him down and send him to the void! Let him scream as he is punished for his treachery!"

Voice 2: "We will get to him. What about the others? Are they a threat?"

Voice 1: "Those Eschers pack quite the firepower, the snakes are as unreadable as ever, but those strange Orden frakkers? They had a bloody Ogryn with them!"

Voice 3: "I have seen Ogryn before. That was no Ogryn."

Voice 1: "Well, whatever it was, it bloody ripped the head straight off a zombie like the tab off a ration pack. I saw it rip the entire head and spine out like nothing."

Voice 2: "We will watch them for now. Prepare to move out." [End recording]

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 2

Thought we'd gone dark, did’ja? No such luck, I’m afraid. Just a little hive quake knocked out our broadcast station and dumped it in the sump. We're all set up again, and crampy if we don't have the tale for you.

Compulsory Vivisection, those punk rock queens, were heard singing a funeral dirge for a girl named Stabitha Shifty. How'd she bite it? "She fought the Cult and the Cult won." as the song said.

Speaking of — El Orden opened up a new rogue doc shop and it seems they're happy to provide free medical service — to any scummer who attends one of the Orden's special sermons, that is! Ah well. Your soul for your life. Who's to say that isn't a fair deal, if it stops you from bleeding out in a filthy Underhive hole?

The Serpent Syndicate and Red Hand clashed again, and again it didn't go well for the snakes. Their sniper couldn't hit the broad side of a tank. I guess it's hard to fire a rifle when you've got no arms, hehehe… Then they got surrounded by screaming Red Hand lads and lasses and it was all over.

Managed to snap a pict of the moment it all went wrong. I don't think I've ever seen a baldhead look so shocked!

So remember, scummers: things can always get worse!

So keep all your eyes open!

-iii

—

“TONIGHT! PARTY AT WITCHES END BAR! SERPENT'S BLOOD COCKTAILS HALF-OFF!”

- Posters found scattered throughout Slagg's Drift

"Seems them Hand boys are having quite the ruckus over there at Witches End. I can see the lights shining from here. What colour is that exactly? Don't know that one. My head hurts..."

- Toothless Pete, underhive resident

"Thumper is a doughnut thief!" 

- Graffiti scrawled near Witches End bar (context unknown)