James_D_Fawkes

Delayed Gratification

So, as most of you have no doubt noticed, there's been a delay with 4.a and 4.b. 4.a got delayed by some frustrating personal bits that needed to be handled last Friday, and I meant to finish it Saturday evening, with my apologies for being late.

Then, the fiasco in the thread happened. I'm sure any of you who still watches the thread has seen it, and whether you agree with any of the points raised there or not, I'm sure you can equally understand how frustrating it's been.

That...

Essential Material: Resonance of Saint Graph

Resonance of Saint Graph [Term]

In a word, harmonization. The degree and strength of the connection between Taylor Hebert and the Heroic Spirit which she Installs. The level of synchronization between her and the Heroic Spirit. The more complete the harmony, the more she can display the power and skill of the Heroic Spirits.

There are several factors that affect this parameter. One such factor is the situation: by utilizing a Heroic Spirit that has a connection to the si...

AEoSaS: Collateral 4.7

All in one night, folks! Just call me Santa Claus!

Ahem. Anyway, reconciliation! Kinda. Patching up trust that badly shaken is hard, even when you're vindicated. Doubt is a powerful thing.

Also, Aife! ...Who anyone who's seen my illustration of her already knows! And Artoria, who...is a canon Servant. Yeah. A couple of new faces among the crowd of Taylor's on-screen Installs. Although, having said so, they didn't get to do much, did they? That's too bad.

Next weekend will be Interl...

Essential Material: Thunder Feat

Thunder Feat [Term]

The penultimate technique of the martial arts of the ancient Celts. A technique of such lethality and power that it was only ever surpassed by the Gáe Bolg, the secret technique of Scáthach and Cúchulainn. It was with this technique that Cúchulainn slew one thousand warriors without effort.

There are many forms to this technique. It may be accomplished with numerous tools, for the method of delivery is irrelevant to the technique itself. However, ...

Essential Material: Vantage of Swiftness

Vantage of Swiftness [Term]

One of the techniques wielded by the ancient Celts. A skill belonging the martial arts wielded by heroes such as Cúchulainn and the Knights of the Red Branch. 

It is a high speed movement technique, a method of instantly closing the distance to the opponent. By kicking the ground and throwing oneself forward, a great distance can be crossed in the span of a single step.

However, at the higher levels of mastery, it becomes a techniq...

Essential Material: Geis

Geis [Term]

The curse of the ancient Celts. A form of spell wielded by the peoples of Ireland and Scotland, commonly seen in the mythology of the Ulster and Fenian Cycles. Has equivalents in other cultures, as well.

When one is broken, great misfortune befalls the oath-breaker. 

The primary and most commonly known form of geis is a form of contract or oath. Cúchulainn made several of these, including the oath to never eat the meat of a dog, and the breaking o...

AEoSaS: Collateral 4.6

And it wound up being split anyway. It's probably better that way - more time to get that conversation perfect, rather than rushing it out while I'm exhausted and burned out for the day.

Anyway. Who was expecting that, huh? The dart at the end of last chapter was a clue, but how many of you were expecting this as the result?

4.7 will be this Saturday, where we finally get to see why arc 4 is called "Collateral." 

Delay

So, in case it wasn't obvious, there's been a bit of a delay with 4.6. Namely, I was working on other chapters, specifically 4.a, the first interlude for arc 4, and I made the decision to swap the order around almost last minute, so I had to scramble to finish 4.6 and didn't really make it.

I got close, after a fashion. I got 4.6 to a point where I felt I could have stopped. Then, I went to the Discord server and asked, "Well, do you want me to cut the planned 4.6 in half and publish ...

Essential Material: Cáe Cless

Cáe Cless [Term]

The Path of Feats, the lost martial arts of the ancient Celts of Ireland and Scotland. It’s an ancient art of fighting which developed independently of the martial arts of the Far East, a skill which focused on the development of physical prowess rather than the objective of becoming one with the universe. A purely combat art, designed solely for the purposes of war and eschewing concerns unnecessary to the field of battle.

These are the heroic feats ...

Essential Material: Exalted Queen's Solitude

Exalted Queen’s Solitude [Term]

The barrier which protects Apocrypha. An automatic ability of the highest class, a constantly-active type power with minimal upkeep. An imitation of the King of Knights’ defensive Noble Phantasm, Avalon: Everdistant Utopia, it is an isolation-type ability that protects the user by removing her from the normal fabric of space and time and placing her in a higher dimension. It is an absolute protection that defends not with raw power, but rath...

AEoSaS: Collateral 4.5

Our first fight scene in quite a while! How exciting!

Well, it probably doesn't live up to the Lung fight, but not every fight scene in this story can be that spanning or epic. Too, the power levels in that fight were OVER 9000! (Sorrynotsorry) This fight was more about tactics, cleverness, and trying to work around an ability that is frankly incredibly difficult to overcome.

There are several reasons why this arc is called "Collateral." 4.3 showed us one of the major reasons (hint: Medh...

Essential Material: Old Town

Old Town [Term]

A section of Brockton Bay, a subsection of the Docks. 

An area of the city comprised almost entirely of old buildings dating back to the turn of the century - or earlier. Consists to a large degree of abandoned warehouses and run-down residences, left to rot by the corporations downtown and miles of red tape and disputed ownership. In the wake of the crash of the shipping industry, even those which remained in use for decades have been left behind. 2017-11-18 12:27:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Schedule Swap

For right now, after looking at where I am and where the next release would put me, I've decided to switch to an every-other-week schedule for the rest of November. That means no chapter this Saturday and no chapter on the 25th. 

We'll be back to the usual schedule on December 2nd, though, so don't worry.

Thank you for your understanding and your continued support. It means the world to me.

AEoSaS: Collateral 4.4

Ouch. I don't think she'll be letting that go, anytime soon.

Taylor has officially made an enemy for life. And it's all Lisa's fault.

In other news, for those of you who didn't see it on the SV thread or FFnet:  not that I didn't expect it from the get-go, but continuing Essence won the poll by a wide margin. Trailing at a much distant second was starting Recursive Wisdom, which I did not expect. I honestly expected Project: Nietzsche to occupy that role.

With th...

Monthly Visitor: October

It's that time of the month, again. Everyone, please make sure your information is valid and up to date.

And if you haven't voted in the NaNoWriMo poll, remember, you only have until Saturday morning.

Up the Ante

Well, I did it again. I increased the cap for the $13 tier to 39 (13 x 3). If it fills up too fast again, I'm just gonna take the cap off, because at that point, it'll just be ridiculous. 

AEoSaS: Collateral 4.3

How many of you did I fool, there?

Come on, though, all that effort I put into that relationship, you didn't really think I was gonna tear it apart like that, did you?

I was hoping everyone would have forgotten about you-know-who until it was her time to shine, but someone (who shall remain nameless - no, really, I don't remember who mentioned her on the thread) reminded everyone that she existed, so...

What's Next?: NaNoWriMo

I'll be leaving this up until 9AM EDT November 4th, so make sure to cast your vote before then. This will help me make my decision for what to do for NaNoWriMo.

For context: Project Nietzsche is a web serial that reconstructs Worm, dealing with themes of heroism, nihilism, and responsibility. 

Project Sonata is my planned VN, and deals with themes of revenge and hopelessness. I have a special Halloween short story planned to give everyone a look at the main character.

Essential Material: Gáe Bolg Prototype

Gáe Bolg Prototype [Noble Phantasm]
Soaring Spear of Deadly Thorns 

The original form of Gáe Bolg, one step older than the spear wielded by Cúchulainn. Possessing neither the attribute of attacking an enemy army nor the homing function of its descendant, nor reversing causality to pierce the heart, it might best be described as a weapon truer to the myth. 

The spear is cast by Aífe with all her speed and strength, stre...

Essential Material: Nimue

Nimue [Heroic Spirit]
Lady of the Lake

In the Dark Ages of Britain, a young girl was born to a faithful devotee of the goddess of the moon, Diana. In repayment for his steadfast faith and worship, the girl was born with the attribute of the fairies and blessed with a bewitching beauty that bordered on a curse. It was this beauty that drew to her the Magician of Flowers, Merlin, and which convinced him to take her as his apprentice. 

In Lancelotâ€...

Essential Material: Castle Avalon

Castle Avalon [Noble Phantasm]
Fortress Beneath the Lake

The castle built beneath the lake which is the home of Lady of the Lake Nimue. A fortified defensive construct built entirely through the usage of magecraft, it is also a fortress befitting a sorceress of Nimue’s level. Every brick and even the layout of the buildings and walls is optimized for magical formulae, allowing her to perform large scale thaumaturgy quickly and easily.

The main attri...

AEoSaS: Collateral 4.2

Remember this from a while back? Yeah, this is what that was for. 

Be on the lookout for an Essential Material page for that thing. Since I don't think it'll contain any spoilers, I'm okay with sharing it with you and giving you a look at exactly how powerful that monstrosity is.

Incidentally, those of you who are also following the discussions on the SV thread, this chap...

Essential Material: Aife

Aife [Heroic Spirit]
Queen of Warriors

A warrior queen from Celtic mythology, the Ulster cycle. A queen of fighters surpassing even her sister and rival, Scáthach, a prodigy of the martial arts that can be said to have been the greatest of her era. One of the two who might have held back the countless ghosts of the Land of Shadows — if fate had had such in store.

However, her talent with the mystic arts was not as developed as Scáthach. As a specialist who achieve...

Fourth Goal - REACHED!

We've passed the $500 mark, now, everyone! Thank you for your care and support!

I'm going to need to take a little time to organize the raffle, but soon, one of you will get the opportunity for a free commission. You can ask me to draw just about anything - just about. There are - ahem - a few, uh, provisos, a couple of quid pro quos. But if it's in my wheelhouse, I'll do it.

Stay tuned on that front.

And, once again, thank you, everyone. I really mean it.

AEoSaS: Collateral 4.1

...And there goes the rug.

I bet everyone was expecting Amy to join up immediately, after the last few chapters. Sorry. Nope.

AEoSaS: Trust 3.b: Pathos Dichonoia (Lamentation)

Man, that's a mouthful. That title's so long, I even shortened it to make it fit better.

Anyway, this one is...a little more by-the-numbers than the last interlude. I wasn't that happy with how much of the canon interlude I wound up using. But, having said that, I really wanted to hint at how the Wards are dealing with the fact that Sophia is dead. And get into Dean's head, a little.

Next up is the beginning of arc 4. And if I did things right, I'll subvert each and every one of your exp...

An Essence of Silver and Steel: Trust 3.a: Mitotic Axiogenesis

And now, a look at some of the things going on with Amy.

Remember how I said that one of the things I wanted to do was have you guys think you knew where the story was going to go, only to pull the rug out from under you? Yeah. 

Poor Amy, though. Taylor isn't exactly the most stable person to be trying to make friends with, and when you actually sit down and listen to her powers and how they work, it does sound kind of silly.  The question is, is Amy desperate enough to try, in...

An Essence of Silver and Steel: Trust 3.5

I've been hyping them for quite a while, and now we finally get to see some of those ultra hax Ancient Celtic Martial Arts! ...Not as much as to show the best stuff off, though. That's for later.

This is mostly a setup chapter, with some action thrown in. Next week's interlude is where the plot really starts to intrude for some other characters.

An Essence of Silver and Steel: Trust 3.4

Disclaimer: I do not actually speak Old Irish. The only part of that line that I can vouch for being correct is the first one, because I ripped it straight from The Wooing of Emer.

I tried my best, though.

An Essence of Silver and Steel: Trust 3.3

So, what happens when a canon-ish event occurs because of the changes Taylor's been making? That's where this comes in. 

If you were still wondering, this is why this arc is called "Trust."