Hi! This chapter can be read on fluff4.me if you link your Patreon account (sometimes with better formatting where Patreon has its limits).
How’s the waste of time?
I’m already staring at my card of linked paper when the words appear, because I have nothing else to do. A few drops of water hit the card from seemingly nowhere, soon fol...
2025-10-17 15:57:38 +0000 UTC View PostHello hi! I want to introduce you to one of my next stories: Blood on the Marshes. It's a lesbian vampire detective thriller. It takes place in a world full of enchanted paintings—Klefkia, the charming protagonist and a skilled painter, will be mixed up in a long-cold murder case.
Here is what to expect:
Klefkia’s paintings would never bleed. The same can’t be said for others’.
Thus, when a painting goes rogue, she’s one of the...
2025-10-17 15:57:20 +0000 UTC View Post
A squirrel’s busywork woke Theora at night. For a while, she watched it bury a hazelnut, her mind still foggy from sleep. These little critters stored them away for safekeeping, didn’t they? To find later and gorge themselves on them. And the ones they lost track of would grow into trees. Small sweethearts like this one could thus slowly help a forest recover from disaster, like being razed with no regard.
But… the squirrels did need a little bit of support, to start out. A founda...
2025-07-29 19:15:55 +0000 UTC View PostHi!
As of posting this note, I will also post a new chapter of LNO, but I decided to put this into a separate post because it turned out a little long.
So, as you all know, it’s been a while, again… I’ve still been struggling with LNO at the current point in the story, which is largely responsible for the delay. The reason for this is that I am preparing for the series finale. I call it that because it wraps up the most long-standing story arcs, but that doesn’t necessaril...
2025-07-29 19:15:17 +0000 UTC View PostWelp, there we go, this chapter is finally finished.
The reason for the delay is kinda simple—I got tragically stuck with how to write this. This chapter went through several revisions, with me writing from scratch and with completely different concepts each time, and what we ended up with is nothing like what was originally in my notes. It was a little discouraging, and as the weeks progressed without progress, I got additionally blocked/anxious about how to do this... Wh...
2025-05-12 17:09:19 +0000 UTC View Post
“That’s horrifying…” Treeka spoke in a quiet tone as she stared into the thick curtain of smoke. She sounded a little too monotonous. Her body was moving slowly; potentially from shock. She threw a confused look at Raquina. “The engine runs on wood? Is that why you didn’t want to show me?”
She glanced back into the Lavish, her gaze getting stuck on a large pile of particularly thick logs. “Wait, is that there me?”
“Bell,” Theora intoned, “...
2025-04-11 20:05:20 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone! Apologies for the delay, some circumstances converged.. I'm still planning on posting two chapters this week per usual, but the second one will probably go online some time on Friday instead of tomorrow.
Either way.. time for today's chapter~
When Theora, Bell, and Treeka left the room, the corridor was empty. The train clattered along over its selfmade rails, ever so gently rocking the floor. Clouds billowed above, casting everything i...
2025-04-09 08:31:47 +0000 UTC View PostLounge, Montaparte
“What was the moment when you first got suspicious?” the engine caretaker asked with pride in his tone — he seemed incredibly pleased with how things were progressing. Montaparte could imagine he would; after all, she delivered an impeccable performance.
She met his gaze with a measured look. “It’s when Dema told me Kaylay had tried to reach out to her a couple of times after the murder, but Dema was too busy then. I was thinking: ‘What made...
2025-04-03 11:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostHi! Hope you all had a nice weekend. For some of you, the upload time my have changed by an hour; this is because of daylight savings in my time zone! So whatever now is, is the time at which uploads will continue to happen.
But now, far more importantly...... it's time for some revelations!!! coughs
The past few days have shown me that if there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s waiting. What I especially dislike is w...
2025-03-31 11:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostPitter patter drowned the rainforest sounds as well as the thrumming of the engine from the entry door to the Lavish.
Theora, Treeka, and Bell were sitting in the fold of a giant silk-cotton tree together with Omi, Poxie and Log, shielded from the rain by an umbrella-shaped bubble barrier above their heads. Bell was running low on mana after using too many shielding Skills to block off sounds as of late, so this was the best they could do in terms of preventing being overheard. Still, a...
2025-03-27 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostHi! Am really excited about sharing today's chapter, I hope you'll like it!! Montaparte is very fun to write.
Though tbh at this point in the arc I am incredibly excited about every chapter I get to share lol
Montaparte’s vocation was to solve problems. That, occasionally, involved taking on a new perspective. To look at things from a position hitherto assumed impractical, wrong, or difficult. Her experience was that once a thing had been o...
2025-03-24 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostTreeka wasn’t with Dema, because Dema was currently on her way to search the storage compartment of carriage five together with Montaparte. It reminded Theora that she and Bell would still need to find a way to break into the engine room somehow.
Treeka also wasn’t in the diner, not in any of the communal areas they passed so far, and, obviously, not in the Lavish. Theora was starting to get worried when they entered the lounge and didn’t find her there either, but Ulber casually ...
2025-03-20 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostCN: Verbal Abuse
“It’s time to have some fun,” Theora explained with a smug little smile. “You said finding out what happens when you underreport your sheet won’t help us with the investigation. But… what if Fentanyle somehow succeeded in using an undeclared ability? It’s suddenly very relevant, isn’t it?”
Bell buried her face in her hands. “You just want to do the impossible,” she complained with a muffled voice. “Fine, wh...
2025-03-17 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe conversation with the staff left Theora wanting — they had done their absolute best to try to dissuade her from asking a simple, obvious question, and then essentially sent her off with nothing.
“You don’t want to find out.”
But Theora very much did want to find out. She was still brooding over it while Bell was finishing her early dinner — or perhaps it was a late lunch. They were alone in the diner for now; official food times would start lat...
2025-03-13 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostWe're back!!!
CN: Existential Dread
The “little rabbit” was trapped.
Montaparte had heard that denomination plenty of times by now. Little rabbit, bunny, Bun Bun. Now, she finally met the critter, being lovey-dovey with the demoness inside the Lavish. Montaparte decided to give them time. She wouldn’t butt in, wouldn’t interrupt. She needed the Sun to be relaxed, to not become suspicious.
Over the pa...
2025-03-10 11:57:37 +0000 UTC View PostHey y'all!
I have some chapter drafts ready, however I will give myself time until Monday for proper edits instead of rushing one out today.
And to give a bit more info: the reason why I have missed the last few updates is because as I mentioned last time, I wasn't feeling too well for a bit, and after that a bunch of personal obligations caught up to me and took time to get through. This week, I have been mostly busy with finalising stuff in my apartment (e.g. getting a kitchen!...
2025-03-06 10:45:00 +0000 UTC View PostHi! Sadly my current depressive episode + personal stuff have now eaten all of my backlog, so no chapter today 😔
I'll do my best to post again on Monday if I can produce a chapter by then that I'm happy with..!
2025-02-27 06:56:25 +0000 UTC View PostWhether divination was invention or not didn’t change the fact that [Head in the Clouds] woke Theora up the next morning saying, “Maybe you should ask her out on another date.”
Theora grumbled. The bed was cold; Dema was out and about again, doing detective work. And it’s not like Theora necessarily minded — after all, she wanted Montaparte to produce results quickly, in hopes that it would help move this entire debacle behind them.
“What’s got...
2025-02-24 12:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostIn order to reopen the Lavish and resume the train ride, Fentanyle had to be sent off.
Staff had been busy the day following the discovery of the body; they were apparently working closely together with Omi to figure out the best way to proceed. According to her, and corroborated by Qyy, it was common in their home world Thalassus to leave large people to be incorporated by earth. It was uncommon to burn or bury them, though occasionally wildlife that was adept at deconstructing organic...
2025-02-20 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostTheora let out a yawn. A few hours had passed since her revelation — since she’d noticed a divergence in realities. She felt a little dramatic for phrasing it that way, but what could she do? That was, all things considered, likely what happened. Unfortunately she couldn’t independently verify her assessment, at least not easily. That meant the only way forward was to figure out what really happened.
Theora had experienced a warping of Reality before, back when the D...
2025-02-17 12:03:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Would you please be so kind as to share with us your whereabouts last night between 22:00 and 01:00?”
With ‘us’, Montaparte meant two people: First, herself, because she had asked the question. Secondly, her new ‘companion’ for this investigation — a little demoness who had nonchalantly decided to tag along with a crumbled-up notepad.
Montaparte was fine with it. The demoness had a strong alibi; several people could attest to her being out and about at the time of t...
2025-02-13 12:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostCN: Description of Harm to Animals, Death
Theora’s first thought upon hearing Fentanyle died was, ‘No she hasn’t.’ Nobody had died on the train. Theora wanted to give Omi that assurance, but Omi was already hurling herself toward the teleporter.
Theora rushed after. Others followed. Within moments, Omi entered the Lavish — the door stood wide open and led straight into a meadow.
It was littered with dead crows.
Omi dashed up the slope...
2025-02-10 12:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostCN: Mention of Death
Second Day 8:19 am, Carriage One, Dema’s & Theora’s Room
“Hello, dear passengers,” a gruff voice rang out from the train speakers, waking Theora from a doze. “The train had to stop due to unforeseen circumstances. We will keep you informed about any developments as we investigate the issue.”
Unforeseen circumstances? Theora rubbed the sleep sand from her eyes and found her fingers cold. ...
2025-02-06 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostFirst Day 23:45, Carriage One, Communal Front — Poxie.
Why do puppets sleep? I shouldn’t have to, and yet, I grow tired every evening. I want to blame my maker — especially because when I do lie down to find sweet rest, what I find instead is trouble.
Log knows, so when she’s awake, she hugs me from behind. She does it that night too, when I doze on the sofa, my feet resting on her thick tail.
Omi sits next to us, rambling, and brushing t...
2025-02-03 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostCN: Nightmares, Discussion of Personality Death
First Day 23:44, Carriage One, Dema’s & Theora’s Room
Theora woke when she felt Bell activate [Last Stand].
She was already on her feet rushing to the door when she slowed, noticing that there was no immediate danger; Bell still seemed at full strength, judging from her aura. So, Theora softly knocked against the door instead of barging in.
“Are you alright?” she asked. “Can...
2025-01-30 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHey y'all!
Today I have two announcements to make, so here we go:
I'm reducing my Patreon prices, along with some other changes. Here are the details for existing tiers:
[Stargazer] tier
$10 → $5
renamed to [Head in the Clouds]
General Support tier
$4 → $3
renamed to [Tea Brewing]<...
2025-01-29 16:33:23 +0000 UTC View PostFirst Day 12:18, Carriage Three, Diner
The diner was made up of a row of larger four-person tables on the train’s left side, and smaller two-person tables on the other, with small benches perched tightly between them to leave room to sit. The front-facing half of the diner was occupied by long tables holding a buffet of food, as well as the teleporter mirror right at the end.
About a dozen more people had found their way to the diner at that time. Theora may have ...
2025-01-27 14:24:59 +0000 UTC View PostFirst Day 11:26, Engine Carriage, Corridor
With a little twitch of her antennae, Omi opened the corridor connection and gestured toward the others to follow. “Your rooms will be in carriage number one, one of the four bed carriages on the train. It’s where I live too.”
They exited the locomotive and entered a little connecting compartment, stepping over little segments that could slide against another whenever the train would traverse curves. The walls were made of ...
2025-01-25 17:24:30 +0000 UTC View PostHey there, hi!
A quick note: I’ve been informed of the proper way to use the word ‘coach’ in English — apparently, it refers to railway carriages that are for passengers, rather than being a term for all railway carriages. I went and fixed that in the previous two chapters. That also causes the numbering of the carriages to change (bc the locomotive doesn’t count as a carriage); basically the train is made up of one locomotive at the front an...
2025-01-14 16:04:58 +0000 UTC View Post
