James_D_Fawkes

[Hereafter] Chapter XXXIV: The Passing Days

A little bit longer to write for a chapter that is a little bit longer than usual. 

So, we finally address the elephant in the room. Kind of. Sort of. It just didn't make sense to me for Taylor to spill her guts about her past without reservation, and it feels a little too early in the story (35 chapters in, haha) for her to reveal that much about herself. Well, I suppose it would have been a bit like Dumbledore telling Harry about the Horcruxes at the end of Chamber of Secrets, wo...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XXXIV: The Passing Days

Back on schedule, now. This should be the first of the last two chapters before we begin Septem. Next chapter should be the prelude to Septem, because, in fact, that's what it's going to be called.

Link is here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of my fellow Americans enjoyed their turkey day celebrations. For those of you who live elsewhere in the world, wherever that may be, don't worry, I don't really get the point of this holiday or its connection to turkey either. I just celebrate it like the rest of the country.

In case the silence on it didn't make it more obvious, this is a break week for me. That means that, unless I'm hit by a sudden and intense burst of inspiration (which isn't out of the question), there ...

[Hereafter] Chapter XXXIII: Performance Review

Had a little bit of trouble figuring out how to end this chapter, but once I did, I was really happy with how that turned out. 

Da Vinci can really be a delight to write for, and Rika's moments of levity often just pop out at me, so she's a lot of fun. Taylor, by contrast, can sometimes fight me a little. 

Emiya, on the other hand, is pure snark. It's even more fun to turn it around on him when he says something sarcastic.

EDIT: Down all the way.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XXXIII: Performance Review

The aftermath from last chapter, Rika's interlude. The title is going to be a bit of a double entendre, but why won't be that clear until the latter half of the chapter.

Link here.

Interlude R(F) I: Shelob's Lair

This turned out to be one of if not the longest chapter so far in Hereafter. 

Have a look inside Rika's head for a little while. I had a lot of fun with this chapter, but I'll admit, the lack of good references for the Fuyuki Civic Center was a bit tough to deal with. I just had to fudge it and build a mental map of the place using references from other convention and civic centers, but there weren't many for Japan that I could find. For Kobe, upon which Fuyuki is supposed to be ba...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Interlude R(F) I: Shelob's Lair

Oh yes, loads of fun to be had in this interlude. Loads of fun. Rika is just an absolute treasure.

Link here.

[Hereafter] Chapter XXXII: Monotony

This one...captured my feeling of this breather section. It's strange, because slice of life stuff was so easy in Essence, but in Hereafter, the slice of life stuff in these between sections has become so much harder. Probably because the twins and Taylor have this kind of wall between them.

It's not time for that wall to get torn down. In the meantime, we can do a couple of other things, like have the twins wade through Skitter's worst.

Next chapter will be loads of fun.

ED...

(CiP)[FRW] Chapter 10: The Last Disciple

FRW has mostly fallen by the wayside as I work on Hereafter and its Fleeting Lunar Phantasia sidestory, but that doesn't mean I've stopped working on it entirely. It's just on the back burner.

Link is here.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Fleeting Lunar Phantasia - Part Three

Some more insight into what's going on, but the mystery abounds.

Link here.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XXXII: Monotony

...Yeah, no clever quips for this one. 

Link.

[Hereafter] Chapter XXXI: Make a Master Out of You

♪Swift as a raging river, with all the force of a great typhoon♪

Sorry, but the title keeps putting that song back in my head.

This one is a bit of a breather chapter. It's not filler, exactly, but it's closer to it than not. Again, I wanted to show time passing, make it felt, so there're going to be another couple of chapters before we actually get to Septem, but that includes the briefing before Septem. We're not quite there yet, though.

When you get to that o...

[Hereafter] Fleeting Lunar Phantasia - Part Two

Wanted to get this out first so I could get back and finish Chapter XXXI for later today. This chapter suffers a little for being a bridge to the beginning of the Halloween event proper, but it does introduce some things and hint at others, even connections to the main story. 

(CiP)[Hereafter] Fleeting Lunar Phantasia P2

I honestly thought I gave this to you guys earlier. I'm so sorry about that.

Link.

Apropos of this sidestory, if you had told 12 year old me I would be flipping out over a map of a random city in France, I never would've believed you.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XXXI: Make a Master Out of You

"Let's get down to business."

Link is here.

[Hereafter] Chapter XXX: As the Bard Would Tell It

Taylor has access to Shakespeare. As one of the editors said, "Everyone out of the universe!"

On other notes, mental health is a serious issue. I'm not going to try and show the therapy happening on screen, because I'm about 90% sure I'd botch it, but I don't want to just brush off the weight of the burdens the characters have to carry, either.

If you're having any troubles of your own, it's okay to ask for help. From a professional. A therapist, I mean. I'm not qualified for that...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XXX: As the Bard Would Tell It

“Say, Shakespeare,” I began slowly, “if I told you what I’ve done with a knife before, what could you do to a knife using your Enchant skill?”

Taylor just got handed a cheat code. Everyone out of the universe.

Link is here.

[Hereafter] Fleeting Lunar Phantasia - Part One

Fate/Grand Order x Under the Moonlight Exclusive Crossover Event!

A strange new Singularity has appeared in the wake of Orléans.

Da Vinci and Romani can't explain its appearance, and without being able to observe it more directly, they have no method of knowing what awaits inside. What wish was made on the Grail? What turning point is being unmoored? If this nascent Sing...

[Hereafter] Chapter XXIX: The Fourth Wall

You'll get the joke at the very end of the chapter.

So, you know how Arash has been kinda quiet throughout Orleans? Yeah, well, he's not so quiet here, although Taylor might prefer if he was. He's the kind of person who will definitely confront her on her bullshit when he sees her doing it, and he'll do it so compassionately that she can't really be angry about it.

For reference, yes, this is Ritsuka's confirmed compatibility summon. If you look at the Servants he and Rika summone...

[Hereafter] Chapter XXVIII: Return to Normalcy

Not the confrontation most of Orleans was teasing at, is it? This begins the downtime between Orléans and Septem. There's also some progress made on Olga Marie's situation, but I'm not going to give you guys anything solid yet about when to expect her (not so triumphant) return. 

There isn't much else to say without giving too much away, so I'll let the chapter itself do the rest of the talking.

EDIT: Down all the way. Enjoy, everyone.

Update

So, tiers have been a little bit unbalanced for a while, now. I think I've said that before. Pretty sure I have. Right now, the rewards are tilted towards the lowest, $1 tier, because those of you in that tier get, like, 5 or 6 chapters, and then $3 tier gets one extra while $7 gets 1 more extra above the $3 tier. 

As luck would have it, I managed to get two chapters done this week instead of one (technically, it's actually 3 chapters, but one's for the Halloween sidestory...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XIX: The Fourth Wall

Some more wind down. Plus, if everything goes according to plan, the introduction of Ritsuka's compatibility summon.

Link is here.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XXVIII: Return to Normalcy

And now we start to wind down from the action of Orléans. Let's get some aftermath going, wrap up a few things, lay a few breadcrumbs, and start the rest chapters before Septem.

Link is here.

[Hereafter] Chapter XXVII: Kyrie, Eleison

The final chapter of Orléans.

I really liked this chapter. A lot of it. The ending especially. A certain special someone had me grinning from ear to ear as I wrote their lines, and I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy it nearly as much as I did.

Some aftermath to take care of, a little bit of downtime for the team to be had, but Septem will be on the block soon enough. Hopefully, I can fix some of the less interesting parts of it and make it a little more engaging.

EDIT: Do...

(CiP)[Hereafter] Chapter XXVII: Kyrie, Eleison

This should be the closing chapter of Orléans. Unless it balloons past my expectations, the Orléans section of the story will end with this chapter, and next chapter will be the intermission before Septem.

Link here.

[FRW] Chapter 9: Beyond the Strains of Credulity

Some of Yukio's plans start to become clearer.

I really loved that moment where Yukio is walking Medea, the way he thinks about Saber and Shirou and how different the entire situation is. Highlighting that parallel was one of my favorite parts of this chapter.

And of course, Yukio is a total dork, sometimes. But I'm self-aware enough to know I am, too.

EDIT: Moving down a all the way.

[Hereafter] Chapter XXVI: A Desperate Wish

The eponymous desperate wish doesn't get covered here...but we get closer to the end of the Singularity. It should only be one more chapter before everything is resolved and Orléans is over. 

Whew. It feels like we've been at this forever. It's not going to be that much longer than Fuyuki was, but it definitely feels like it was.

House-husband of justice, go!

EDIT: Moving down the rest of the way.

Like I said. Back to normal after 1 week.

Update 10/03/21

I got a lot of work done last night, so expect one chapter each for Hereafter (5.7k) and Fate/Recursive Wisdom (5k) later today. They need to undergo some editing with the team, who are all unavailable right now, and then they'll be ready.

Seriously. I must have written something like 6-7k worth of words between the two of them.  Really productive night last night.

(CiP)[Hereafter] Fleeting Lunar Phantasia P1

It was voted for, so it seems like it's officially going to be a thing.

Link for part 1 is here.

(CiP) [Hereafter] Chapter XXVI: A Desperate Wish

That beginning feels a little weird, but I want to push it out a little further later on and see if I can make it work while lampshading some of the ideas that have been bandied about re: Fafnir.

Link is here.