James_D_Fawkes

[Hereafter] Chapter XCIII: Black Flag

So much packed into this chapter. I didn't want to just "and then two days passed," so I wrote them out in this form instead to give it length and avoid the rushed feeling that Orléans dealt with. As a result, this thing got really long. Still not the longest chapter in the story, but it tried really hard to reach that point, and it came really close.

Unfortunately, there wasn't room for the part I really wanted to get to, which meant I had to change this chapter's title inste...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XCIII: Black Flag

If I get as far as I hope to, this title will make plenty of sense by the end. If not, well, I'll just have to change it.

Link here.

[Hereafter Material] Seeker of Fortune [Skill]

Seeker of Fortune [Skill]

A skill related to such things as Collector and Golden Rule. It is a talent to feel out the optimal path that will lead the user to “fortune,” an ability to intuit “opportunity” and where it might be found, even across large distances. It is a skill belonging to those who set out to acquire wealth and glory, but who, through whatever circumstances, could not lay their hands on either.

Different from a skill like Golden Rule, suc...

[Hereafter Material] The Murder of William Moore [Noble Phantasm]

The Murder of William Moore [Noble Phantasm]
Fatal Blow that Sealed Kidd’s Fate

A single, devastating blow. A projectile attack wherein Captain Kidd throws a weapon at his enemy, and the damage dealt depends entirely upon where the attack lands and what is used as a weapon. The more improvised the weapon is, the more effective the attack, and if it strikes the enemy’s head, then the damage dealt reaches its maximum.

The blow is instantly fatal if the weap...

[Hereafter Material] William Kidd [Heroic Spirit]

William Kidd [Heroic Spirit]
The Infamous Failed Pirate

An unsuccessful pirate.

At the start of his career, William Kidd’s future looked bright. Many things went in his favor, among them a smart marriage to a wealthy widow, and when the crew of the ship he served on mutinied against its captain, William Kidd was chosen by popular vote to take his place. As he received a commission to hunt pirates for the colonial government, it seemed that his star was on t...

[Hereafter] Interlude CWK: As I Sailed

I really wanted to convey a sense of eeriness, so I had to find a font that would be available on SV and also give that unsettling feeling. Fittingly enough, I settled on "Spectral," which isn't perfect but does the job better than most of the other options. The other choice was Goudy, the font originally used in Moby Dick back during its original publishing run, but that wasn't sufficiently different from my preferred Garamond to really feel the way I wanted it to....

(CiP)[Hereafter] Interlude CWK: As I Sailed

So if you thought Calliope and our seaweed-bearded mystery man were the only addition to this Singularity, here, I show you that they weren't.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter XCII: A Day to Relax

The chapter title is a bit ironic, all things considered, but I think the things that got covered this chapter needed to get covered, so this chapter didn't wind up being pointless, like I feared it might.

It's also a bit shorter than you guys have been getting used to, but that's fine, too. It's still over 5k, so by no means is it tiny. It's just not as big as usual.

Next chapter... Interlude CWK. The last one of its kind I did was really well received, although this one won't be...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XCII: A Day to Relax

I actually wasn't 100% where I wanted to start with this one. I thought about skipping forward, going with an interlude, and having Chapter XCII pick up the day after last chapter, but I think I can work with it like this instead.

Link here.

[Hereafter] Chapter XCI: Euryale's Woe

This is where I start to throw some more wrenches into things. Even if the stupidly convoluted plot makes it hard to do much with Okeanos without revamping the whole thing, there's still a few things I want to do to spice up the subplots.

There were also a lot of places where Taylor felt like she got to strut her social fu. I don't know if you can call it charisma, but it definitely did what she wanted it to do, and I really liked how those sections turned out.

EDIT: Moving down.<...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XCI: Euryale's Woe

Yeah, I honestly don't have a better title for this one. Maybe I'll think of something later on, but for now, it'll be this.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter XC: Divine Lookalike

It feels like it's a bit on the nose to say, "The Minotaur really is a monster." Like, "The Archer class really is full of archers!" You don't say.

The cow-based puns were entirely unintentional. I was writing the narration and dialogue as I do and only realized midway through that they were actually punny because, well, Minotaur.

At least Rika isn't at fault this time.

EDIT: Moving down.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XC: Divine Lookalike

Alright. Let's have some fun.

Link here.

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXIX: The Labyrinth and the Minotaur

I laid the foundation for a couple of different things this chapter, but the most important part was, a little ironically, the very end. I wanted to capture that sense of how imposing that would be, how intimidating our fuzzy friend can look when he's on the warpath.

He gets treated like a fluffball a lot, but when you have to face him down, he's friggin' terrifying, and I wanted to bring some of that across.

I want to say, "How many of you were expecting me to actually swap out f...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXIX: The Labyrinth and the Minotaur

Not 100%, I might wind up using the Ancient Greek for the title.

Chapter LXXXIX: Ho Labúrinthos kaí ho Mīnṓtauros

Too much, you think?

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXVIII: Uninvited Guests

Had to change the title at the end, because I cut the chapter off before I got to reference what the title was supposed to be referencing. Mash just provided too good a line for me to end on.

I was actually tempted to cut this off right where the divider is set, but ironically enough, I pushed it out so I could get to the thing the chapter title was supposed to reference and never actually got there. Oh well.

Incidentally, Hollywood lies pretty badly about what actual ships looked...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXVIII: Uninvited Guests

Took me a little bit longer to figure out how I wanted to start this chapter.

Link here. 

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXVII: Spirit of Adventure

I'm actually enjoying writing Okeanos a lot more than I expected I would. Drake and her crew give me a lot of things to do with them and the team, and it lets me have some silly moments that feel a lot more grounded than Nero's were. Nero was over-the-top in a very airheaded sort of way, and Drake is just as big a personality, but she's a lot more devil-may-care than egotistical.

So let's have a little bit of bonding here, and a little bit of...well, that would be spoiling it. 

(CiP)[FRW] Chapter 17: The Weight of Choice

This title is more meaningful than it seems at first glance.

Link.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXVII: Spirit of Adventure

Adventure is out there!

Not married to this title either, but it'll keep for now.

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXVI: Mysterious Ghost Ship

I'm a little uncertain about this. There are things I want to do with the character introduced this chapter, but the way he's introduced is a bit more heavy handed than I'd like it to be.

This isn't, incidentally, the only OC Servant that will be in Okeanos, but while they will exist, none of them is going to play anywhere near as big a role as Aife wound up playing in Septem. Two of them, in fact, are here for...well, that would be telling. 

I figured it would be better to h...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXVI: Mysterious Ghost Ship

And now I introduce something mysterious. Be...cause that's in the chapter title.

Link here.

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXV: Two Grails

I don't know what it was about this chapter, but it flowed so damn easily that I'm already finished with it. Whatever it was, I am finished with it, so here we go, everyone. Enjoy.

I had to rename this thing. There was a moment I wanted to get to in this chapter, but it got pushed out because I passed 6K and squeezing it in at the bottom would have rushed it. Gives me a solid point to use for next chapter though, so that's what we're going to do. 

So! I pulled a bit ...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXV: Two Grails

I'm not married to this title, not the least because we might not make it to the moment it's referencing, but it works fine for now. 

Link.

EDIT: We didn't make it that far. Changed the name to reflect that.

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXIV: Paradise of the Pirate Queen

It's frustrating just how little give the plot of Okeanos has. Like, the parts are so finely interwoven that finding a good spot to throw things off course a little without losing the essentials is hard. 

There is legitimately no way to put the team anywhere else at the beginning except on Drake's doorstep. Without her, the team can't get anywhere in the Singularity, because they need her ship, so if I tried to plant them on one of the other islands with one of the other g...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXIV: Paradise of the Pirate Queen

There's nothing more important to pirates than booby - er, I mean, booty. Treasure. You know what I'm talking about.

Link.

[FRW] Interlude II: Trust and Reconciliation

It's been a long time coming, and this has been sitting half-finished for quite a while, so I decided to just finish it and get it out. Consider it a belated Christmas present, although I'm afraid this isn't one you can exchange.

At any rate, last chapter was the disastrous date. This is some of the aftermath, and Aife swooping in to do something I don't think I've depicted her doing yet: mediating.

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXIII: Compulsory Acquisition

Good grief, the plot of Okeanos has so many moving parts. I had to create a freaking chart to try and keep track of who is where and on which side, made all the harder by the fact that I'm not a huge fan of just about any of the canon cast of this one.

Naturally, I'm going to be adding a few new faces to give a little more depth to things, and I'm going to be making one particular substitution to the guy who makes the least sense in his canon role.

Now, it's time for the team to c...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXIII: Compulsory Acquisition

There's a reason for the phrase, "a mouth like a sailor."

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter LXXXII: Towards the Ocean Blue

That scene was one I wanted to use earlier, but there just wasn't any room for it in the most recent interlude. But it fit really well here, too, and it worked really well for what I wanted it to do.

This chapter was just supposed to be a transitional one, to get us from the intermission to Okeanos. It pulls triple duty instead.

Also, Moon Prism Power, Rika! Yer a magical girl! She even has a transformation sequence and everything now.

Damn, this chapter was a blast...