Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One
Saturday! Blessed day where all the office drones went home and tackled all of the shit they didn’t have time to do during the week and where half of all factories were closed. The party day. The day off!
I decided that I needed a vacation, so the plan was simple; for the next week and a day or so, I’d stay home and do nothing.
More or less.
Even if I wanted time off, there were a few things that I h...
2025-10-27 10:31:06 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Eighty-Three
***
“How was that?” I asked as I stepped back behind the stage.
Gomorrah was standing just a few feet away from the curtains, arms crossed and face set in a frown. Not that bad of a frown, though. I’d rate it a solid four out of ten on the frown scale, so she wasn’t pissed off at me or anything. “It sounded like you went on stage and hadn’t prepared anything at all, and then just winged it.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
2025-10-26 12:29:33 +0000 UTC
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Whaaa, that first chapter came out so easy, but the second was tougher. Always like that for some reason. Anyway, here's a second chappy for the day!
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty
The next loop was spent doing research in PJs at home. Mister Couchtop came over and installed himself across my lap, a warm, fat pillow that I idly scratched while awkwardly using my off-hand to poke at my keyboard.
Since the gala hadn’t happened yet, and wouldn’t...
2025-10-25 15:04:17 +0000 UTC
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Vacation is done! Thank goodness!
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine
I shut my new laptop with a click and jumped to my feet. Right, I was here to spy on the gala, not just do some shopping.
That could wait for... well, probably earlier than now, I guess? Whatever.
I shook myself awake and focused on the gala.
The Seraph building was sporting a huge hole. One of the massive windows at the front framing the entranceway, ha...
2025-10-25 08:00:50 +0000 UTC
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Look, I TRIED okay. I really, genuinely tried. But I almost had a weird stress-induced freak out this morning. Two days without being productive is too much.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight
The Orchid Lux rep gave me a link to a website.
The site was only reachable through some heavily-encrypted browser, and he warned me that it was best, and safest, to only use the internet through a pre-paid card on a burner, or to use public wifi on a bran...
2025-10-22 12:29:53 +0000 UTC
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Two! <3
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven
When I got home, I decided to be productive. I was still feeling a little crampy and gross, but it wasn’t as bad as the day before, and I had more energy. Maybe being a D-ranker had more upsides than I’d initially realized?
Anyway! The evening was a good time to train.
I first went through a full rotation of spellwork practice, using up all of the magical energy I had blastin...
2025-10-19 03:24:42 +0000 UTC
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Been a while since I had a two-chapter day... hmm, let's see if I can do that today! Wanna skip to the next fun part already!
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six
It was a long deliberation, but I decided not to give up on the loop.
That was something I came to after saying goodbye to Becky at the same bus stop that I’d seen her arrive at. I probably should have been worried about leaving her alone there. It wasn’t a nice part of the city. But ...
2025-10-18 14:27:47 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Thirty-Six
Emily had barely slept.
Part of that was her mind just refusing to shut off. She had nightmares for the first time in...
Actually, it had been a while since she’d had a nightmare. They used to be regular occurrences for her. She’d go to bed two, sometimes three days before an important event--maybe a not-so-important event--and would wake up in a cold sweat, her mind filled with half-faded memories of being ridiculed, ...
2025-10-17 23:42:16 +0000 UTC
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G-girlfriend...
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five
This was a mistake.
Not so much hanging out with Becky. She was... fun. Carefree and loud, and opinionated, but fun. I actually thought that she’d get along well with Jane, because she had ideas about fashion that would clash with Jane’s own ideas.
No, the issue arose when we arrived at a pizza shop owned by the Weiss gang.
There was no hiding who ran the place. The...
2025-10-17 05:08:41 +0000 UTC
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We made it!
That was a lot! But we made it to the end, and with a much bigger turnout than I could have expected!
So, what's next?
First, if you want a copy of Hope//Punk right away, you can grab one on DriveThruRPG or Itch.io. Keep in mind that these are Zeroth edition, they're missing all of the content from the digital stretch goals.
DriveThruRPG: 2025-10-16 20:37:15 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Seven
I was in a rather good mood, until the dire news arrived. Or perhaps it wasn’t so much dire as it was merely... offbeat.
“Oh-hohoh!”
“Did you come upon yet another fantastic bit of wordplay, my lord?” Sir Cophagus asked politely. The Death Knight was standing guard a few paces behind and to my right, the position usually reserved for a head butler or maid, which I supposed he was filling at the moment.
I wasn’t entirely sure...
2025-10-16 08:58:37 +0000 UTC
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Psilocybin Seven
I was squinting through the rather poor lighting in my little farm when the door opened. I glanced up and over, checking Sir Nibble’s reaction, but the panbadger didn’t fly into a rage so it was probably someone friendly.
I got confirmation as I heard someone coughing by the entrance, followed by two sets of feet walking over.
“Hello, Willow, Daisy,” I said.
“Heya, boss,” Willow replied. “Daisy, wanna run off and ...
2025-10-15 21:07:51 +0000 UTC
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Hmm... I think... one more chapter? And then the Epilogue? If you guys have any ideas for what should happen next in SCS, then I'd legit love to know them. I really don't want to stop the story, but SCS is the weird kind of narrative that doesn't have a specific end goal. It's all long arcs and episodic things. And I don't know where to go from here, exactly. I've got some ideas, some scenes, some things I want to explore, but... yeah, I'm open!
Interlude - Ba...
2025-10-15 08:43:09 +0000 UTC
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More Becky <3
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four
I ended up Reloading, mostly because Becky had eaten about two hundred dollars worth of food. Or... she’d ordered that much. Really, it was insane how much she’d ordered, and she seemed willing to take at least one bite out of everything before setting it aside.
I don’t know if this was the physical manifestation of the kind of typical flightiness that was the signature of Lightning mages...
2025-10-14 21:56:36 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty-One
“Amayrllis!” I cheered as I saw the harpy standing by the ship’s railing not too far from where the stairs leading up to the Beaver were. “We’re back!” I waved my one free arm up and over my head. The other was preoccupied with holding onto the food and stuff we’d bought.
“I can see that,” Amaryllis said. “Good to see you’ve managed to make it back intact. The others have all returned.”
...
2025-10-14 08:13:17 +0000 UTC
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Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three
Did I feel cool grabbing the door, ripping it open, and stomping into the restaurant?
Yes. Yes, I did. The poncho-cape thing swirled dramatically behind me and settled around my shoulders in a very satisfying way, and there was just something about that, and being in my full costume, that just made me feel powerful and awesome.
Was it a little much for entering what was basically a fast food joint?
Als...
2025-10-11 22:18:35 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Thirty-Five
She watched them go, then cursed. “D-dammit!” she growled. They’d taken the orb, they--
Emily gasped, her focus shifting to her sisters. Teddy was getting up, her big bear head shaking off any lingering pain.
Trinity was... fine? The girl was bouncing on her feet, one of her rushing over to help Emily back up to her feet, the other was staring down in the direction the villains had run off to.
And Athena-- ...
2025-10-11 09:21:58 +0000 UTC
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Here, have some of your favourite character and the best girl in this whole book...
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Two
I got up, felt a bit better, if still a little annoyed and crampy, then went to work.
Work was boring and long. The best thing that happened was a quick conversation with Dharti where she praised me for the speed I was learning at, but otherwise the entire team was busy with small tasks. Mostly early-month accounting stuff. ...
2025-10-10 21:09:22 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Six
The meeting with Bao and Mao was going to take place in one of the nicer tea rooms of the building that people were starting to refer to as the palace instead of just another sect compound.
It was a nice room, with twin sliding doors opened up onto a large garden and with a low table with comfortable cushions around it for seating.
Fenfang entered the room, Alex and Rem just a step behind her, and Fang Fang followed just behind those two,...
2025-10-10 06:41:55 +0000 UTC
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Psilocybin Six
It was going to take a while to get the combined mushrooms I’d picked up along the way to grow into something I could properly examine.
For that matter, it was going to take a while to see if any of the combined mushrooms were even viable. I no longer had the Fungal Grafter {Uncommon} skill. I’d lost that when I replaced Ageric Cleric some time ago, and ever since I’d kind of missed that skill.
I had others that let me fill in th...
2025-10-09 05:08:13 +0000 UTC
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Haha... it's the 8th?!
I... am bad at this. Gosh, I should not be put in charge of anything even vaguely administrative.
(Art by Jegsuu!)
Anyway, here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zjQ27q7IABKTId6qTw9OA_8PelR_1fFWpBRM26oZwXw/edi...
2025-10-09 02:03:34 +0000 UTC
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Interlude Lucy - School Days Part Four
Things could be worse.
That was usually the case, so it really wasn’t much as far as reassurances went, but it was still something to cling onto, and she was nothing if not talented at clinging onto small, vain hopes.
She had five people clamoring for her attention at the moment, but she raised a hand in a ‘one moment’ gesture, then closed her eyes.
First of all, this suit she was wearing was cute...
2025-10-09 01:54:40 +0000 UTC
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Ah, bit on the shorter end? Anyway! Got a buncha writing to do today! SCS day! Woo!
Can't wait to get to 'next week' in Save, because I have ideas!
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One
I could have been productive.
Instead, I rode my bike home, regretting the purchase the entire time. Maybe I could get a car? Some old beater that I wouldn’t have to give a shit about?
Anyway, I made it home, took a second shower, then slu...
2025-10-08 17:39:28 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty
“Are you going to level up those other two skills?” Desiree asked.
We were done with lunch, so now it was time for drinks Mostly it was more hot cocoa. Real hot chocolate, made by warming up dark chocolate and mixing it with some milk and then sprinkling a bit of nutmeg on top. All it was missing was some whipped cream and it would be perfect.
It was actually getting a smidge colder out. Not actually cold. We weren...
2025-10-07 22:44:36 +0000 UTC
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Hmm hmm, bit of a fast-paced one. But after the Interminable Weekend, I think that's granted.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty
I hadn’t been in this particular portal in... about two months? Three? It was a recurring portal, sure, but it wasn’t one of those that came up all that often. Maybe once every two months or so? That was on the lower end of the scale when it came to recurring portals and their ‘return’ time.
Interestingly, I v...
2025-10-06 20:18:30 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Eighty-Two
***
“Hey,” I said.
It was... I checked my augs to be sure. Six thirty. In the afternoon. We’d arrived sometime in the morning.
My feet were killing me, and I was seriously contemplating just packing up and leaving, or maybe hiding in a closet somewhere until things calmed down. But no, I had, instead, endured and worked hard to keep on task.
I deserved a medal.
Unfortunately, instead of receiving a med...
2025-10-06 02:25:01 +0000 UTC
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Communist Marching. The painters are in. Riding the cotton pony. Lunar cycle special. Ragtime.
I resisted the urge to use any of those.
Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen
I woke up the next morning to a mild pain in the small of my back, and for once it wasn’t Mister Couchtop who had decided to settle there overnight. I groaned, shoving my face into my pillow, then I absently cast Soothe Minor Pain.
When I never saw Dharti, I was d...
2025-10-04 21:16:37 +0000 UTC
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Hi!
Terrible news!
I have to... edit. So, uh, tomorrow will be an editing day. No chapters tomorrow. I'm sorry.
2025-10-02 17:59:00 +0000 UTC
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Chapter Eighty-One
***
This was not working out.
But it also wasn’t so bad that I was pulling out my very fresh and cool hair yet. I left Princess to act like mini-royalty for a bit while I got myself something to drink. Somehow, having me appear in the back areas of the casino and just ask around to find some coffee or something set a fire under the asses of the casino staff who were being difficult with the Kittens, and suddenly yes,there were...
2025-10-02 16:06:25 +0000 UTC
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Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen
I woke up, and decided that no, I wasn’t going to get out of bed today. I rolled over, pspsps’d at Mister Couchtop, then when he was close to the edge of the bed, I yoinked him up and under the blankets. He struggled, but it was for nothing, it was snuggle time and he was my unwitting pillow.
I woke up to my phone ringing, and regretted ever giving anyone at Luna Corp my number.
So, I Reloaded, and when I...
2025-10-01 16:11:05 +0000 UTC
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