James_D_Fawkes

[Hereafter] Interlude R(M) I: Prison of Dreams

This one wound up not quite as introspective as his sister's interlude was, for a number of reasons. One of them, of course, is that this one is a lot more plot heavy than Rika's was, so things move faster than hers did, leaving less time for Ritsuka to navel-gaze.

I thought about switching up the order a little bit. Have next chapter come first, so that there could be a little bit of mystery about what was happening with Ritsuka, but the events of one would always be spoiling at least ...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Interlude R(M) I: Prison of Dreams

Remember that thing I said Aife's "Resolution" was setup for? Well...

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter CXIV: A Cinematic Experience

And we're back to breaking 7K.

This one had a lot of stuff going on in it, but I liked every single bit of it, so there was no fat to trim. It was all of it good.

Those of you who are familiar with FGO won't be totally surprised by that middle section, but for those of you who aren't quite so familiar with it... Yeah. How it works is something I came up with on my own, because FGO itself never goes into too much detail about what would happen beyond, well, the end result....

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CXIV: A Cinematic Experience

First chapter of August, and I started writing it on the first of August. Neat how that lined up.

This one is another title I'm not married to, so it might change by the time we get to the end.

Link here.

[Hereafter] Chapter CXIII: Return of the Red Hound

Yeah. The editing team and I talked about it, and we decided: it shouldn't be quite that easy.

But, before getting into the weighty implications, there's some fluff to be had, and some characters getting some development. It's almost like Ritsuka is starting to come into his own because he's going to need that character development in a few chapters. I wonder why?

Have some shipteasing in there, too. I confirm nothing right now, only that there are no plans to make romance a centr...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CXIII: Return of the Red Hound

Now a certain someone makes a triumphant return. For sure, this time.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter CXII: The Wages of Guilt

So a certain Servant's return kind of got pushed back to next chapter. It just... This chapter as it is already does a lot, and while I could have squished the summoning onto the end and pushed this chapter out to about 7K or so, it would have felt like too much was going on and it probably would have felt out of place with the rest of the chapter.

As a result, the name of the chapter changed to "The Wages of Guilt." I got to do a few things with the characters and give a few characters...

[Hereafter Material] Flying Dutchman [Noble Phantasm]

Flying Dutchman [Noble Phantasm]
Phantom Harbinger of Calamity

The flagship of Davy Jones. A separate Noble Phantasm to the one possessed by Hendrik van der Decken.

Originally, there was no ship named specifically as the ship captained by Davy Jones. Indeed, it might be said that the specter of Davy Jones required no such thing, for he was the abyss of the ocean, where his Locker kept all things that sank and drowned.

However, some versions of his myth ...

[Hereafter Material] Davy Jones’ Locker [Noble Phantasm]

Davy Jones’ Locker [Noble Phantasm]
Abyss Beneath the Ocean Deep

Purgatory of the drowned. Resting place of shipwrecks. The mysterious seabed, where everything that sinks must eventually end up.

The origin of the term is unclear, only that it became a well-established belief among sailors, pirates, and privateers. “If your ship sinks and you drown in the deep, then the deep will take your soul and you will be bound within Davy Jones’ Locker.” Such was...

[Hereafter Material] Davy Jones [Heroic Spirit]

Davy Jones [Heroic Spirit]
Devil of the High Seas

A sailor’s great fear. The devil who collected the lost souls of those who drowned at sea. He is a monster closer to a demon than a Heroic Spirit, a fearsome, alien man whose visage has long since been warped by the myths and the legends surrounding his existence. Because Poseidon originally possessed chthonic attributes, he has even inherited a fragment of Poseidon’s Authority over the seas.

The origin of...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CXII: The Wages of Guilt

Well, he wasn't gone all that long, was he?

EDIT: And things didn't quite go where I thought they would by the end of it, so a certain someone's return got pushed back. Renaming this thing now.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter CXI: Back to Base

Still not super happy about the title, but I don't really have a good one otherwise, so eh. This one actually gave me some trouble, and I wasn't totally sure where to go with it, but once I got to a certain point, I let the characters off the chain and followed them through the rest of the chapter.

Soon enough, though, we'll be touching on the stuff I promised Aife's "Resolution" was setup for. Maybe not for a few more chapters yet, so the team has some time to decompress, but not too l...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CXI: Back to Base

Honestly not sure what to call it yet. Had a couple ideas, but I realized I might want to save them for later, so I'll have to brainstorm and figure something out.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter CX: Beyond the Sea

Here it is, officially the last chapter of Okeanos. Some threads are tied off, some are left hanging for later, and Mash uses Puppy Dog Eyes. It's super effective.

The end still felt a little weird. Might need to take a step back into the chapter and add just a little bit more to make Taylor's headspace convincing enough to work.

So! Soon, we'll start in on the intermission, and the surprise that Aife's "Resolution" was setting up, and before you know it, it'll be time for London....

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CX: Beyond the Sea

The actual last chapter of Okeanos.

Link here.

[Hereafter] Chapter CIX: From the Depths

This one ballooned again. I wrote 5K words in a single day, and it got to the point where I decided, yeah, I'm gonna split it in half again. Next chapter will be the final chapter of Okeanos, the cleanup and farewell, and it will have the "Beyond the Sea" title this one was originally going to have.

Geez, though. Maybe I shouldn't have made Forneus so huge, because it made him hard to kill. I didn't want it to be as easy as the Flauros fight was, because I didn't want Aife to b...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CIX: From the Depths

Likely the last chapter of Okeanos.

Link. 

[Hereafter] Chapter CVIII: Forneus

Originally, Forneus was going to be the same size as Flauros, but I looked at the Turas Realta manga version of FGO, and I went, "You know what? I like that. Let's make him that big."

Of course, that comes with its own pitfalls. Like how much harder it is to kill something that size without bringing in, like, Godzilla or something. Or Kintoki's Golden Bear armor. I have a few ideas, though, because it's not an accident that not everyone got a chance to fling anything at him thi...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CVIII: Forneus

The end is near.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter CVII: Final Labor

Herakles wa sekai de ichiban tsuyoi dakara...!

The only thing more incredible than the fact that Herakles is so strong and has twelve lives is the fact that the team actually has enough options to take so many of them. Like, I sat down and counted them all out, and it's kinda ridiculous.

Also, for some reason, a certain someone's NP being strong enough to kill him isn't really brought up in canon, even though it's kinda relevant.

The ending actually wasn't planned to go the ...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CVII: Final Labor

Another title I'm not married to, but I can't think of a better one. Oh well.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter CVI: Thalassocide

I originally thought I was going to get a little farther than I did, but things stretched out a little, and I found that was an excellent place to end the chapter. The editor thought so, too.

Plus, there were a few small moments here in the chapter that I really liked, even if they really were quite small. I wouldn't want to give those up just so I could move things along with a little more speed.

As the fight ramps up, the Singularity winds down. Three, maybe four chapters of Oke...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter CVI: Thalassocide

It seems to be happening a lot more often recently, but I'm not married to this title. We'll see if it changes as I write this out.

Link here. 

[Hereafter] Interlude: Argo

Experimented with this one. I wanted to try and do some Third Person Omniscient here, get the Argonauts' PoVs on what's happening here, and if last chapter hadn't already revealed what was going on with Hektor, the fact his perspective never got used would have been a hint.

We're closing in on the end of Okeanos now. Not too much longer, and it'll be time to send the team back and start the prep for London. First, however, we have to go through these last few obstacles.

One of the...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Interlude: Argo

I figured it was about time for another one of these, and I decided, instead of just one interlude from a single perspective, it might be cool to try an omniscient perspective of the Argo team.

Might change my mind later.

Link.

[Hereafter Material] Terror of the Spanish Main [Skill]

Terror of the Spanish Main [Skill]

A composite skill. It incorporates aspects of both Charisma and Innocent Monster, inducing fear or awe based upon one’s relationship to the owner of the skill. In the case where a person is an ally or friend, Captain Morgan will appear more heroic, and his gallant attributes will be further emphasized, as is befitting of the man who was celebrated by the English during his lifetime.

However, in the case where the person is an...

[Hereafter Material] Port Royal [Noble Phantasm]

Port Royal [Noble Phantasm]
Captain Morgan’s Fortified Redoubt

The fortress city that sat at the center of Caribbean piracy and trade. A safe haven for those who rebelled against the Crown and committed the unforgivable crime of piracy.

Originally a settlement constructed by the Spanish, it was taken over by England in the mid seventeenth century, and it became a sanctuary and a base of operations for disaffected pirates and privateers looking to use its co...

[Hereafter Material] Morgan’s Expeditionary Force [Noble Phantasm]

Morgan’s Expeditionary Force [Noble Phantasm]
Plundering the Spanish Main

Captain Morgan’s expeditionary fleet, gathered for the purposes of sacking Spanish territories. A total of thirty-six ships make up the standard deployment, although another twenty or so can be added if the situation calls for it. There are even decoy ships that might be used either to mislead the enemy or to act as a suicide attack, although they possess no other means of fighting.

[Hereafter Material] Henry Morgan [Heroic Spirit]

Henry Morgan [Heroic Spirit]
Terror of the Spanish Main

The most “successful” pirate to ever live. Showered with accolades and acclaim, his name itself has become synonymous with the word “pirate,” and his fame even matches or exceeds that of the infamous Edward Teach. A certain brand of rum has even taken his name as their own, increasing the popularity and reach of his legend.

Although his origins are mysterious, his military history is well-documen...

[Hereafter] Chapter CV: Parting Glass

Believe it or not, there was actually a plan for Taylor to sing "The Parting Glass" this chapter, or at least have the crew sing it, because it's definitely old enough a song to have been around back then for the crew to know it. For various reasons, however, it got left on the cutting room floor.

The middle section got away from me a little. That heart to heart came almost out of nowhere, but I liked it so much that I ran with it and kept going until it felt like it had run its course....