anathemafiction

Lingering Glance

A little snippet of a conversation I was editing...

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Your palm tickles. Faintly, almost gently. But it tickles.

"I can imagine," you whisper, smiling an empty smile.

Hadrian's brows lower. You stare at his profile, seeming so harsh all of a sudden. "I'm sure you can." Comes his dark answer. He quiets then, and you think the subject will be put to rest but then you see him cracking his lips open.

"The main lesson was to act firs...

Progress Report

4k Words!

I know I recently made a post yelling about word count, but I'm as excited for this landmark as I was the other, so here I am, yelling again! More than words, this just represents my falling back into my old creative output, at a time I considered to be "in my prime".

This, of course, is not only measured by numbers but by the writing itself. I don't know how or...

Sneak Peek

Going off the last post 👀:

But Hadrian doesn't agree with you. "Well, I was alone," he says with a light frown. He looks at you for a second, his eyes almost hard. "I know you don't see any value in faith or can even imagine how much it means for others, but you can't blame me now. We're not late yet. I can use my time as I want."

You're caught by surprise. "I—"

Hadrian just shakes his head. "No, just— forget it," he interrupts, walking past you. "I ...

Well, well, well...

I love writing a Romanus who is just... perpetually astonished when what they say and do actually has consequences. 

They just stand there going:

A Single Bed — Part 2

The floor sways up and down, but it has been so long since it bothered him. Nowadays, it's the steady ground that unsettles him — the rocks are too still, the walls too stationary, and the tension he always carries in his legs accomplishes nothing besides making his muscles ache.

No, the Pirate King likes it when the four walls rock and the floorboards creak, and whenever he takes a step, he accounts for the need to keep his core perfectly tight. Dry land is far away,...

3k Words!

It's been a while since I managed to write this many words in a day. I know that progress can't — and shouldn't — be measured solely by numbers. But even still, it feels so good to get back to my old... how should I call it? 

Groove? Output? Ease of creating?

Whatever the name may be, I'm catching up to it! 😄 

Art Vote

Which character should I commission next? 🌹

Crawling Out of the Grave

I dug myself out of the hole! 

Or, in less dramatic terms, I wrote the difficult scene I was stuck in! Ah, it put up a good fight, but I'm actually really happy with how it turned out! 😄 Sometimes we make a storm in a glass of water, no doubt about that. 

That's it! That's all I wanted to say. I suppose I just wanted the chance to boast about this small achievement. Hope your...

Progress Report

The sun has long set in my corner of the world, and night covers the sky like a warm blanket.

We meet once again, not under any shade but beneath the glint of a thousand stars. And how delayed this meeting is! I didn't post my progress report last week, and for that, I must apologize. To be absolutely honest, it was because I found myself at a loss for what exactly to report.

My work has been crazy, and amongst other obligations, my writing time shrunk to a third of what it usuall...

Eve of Hallows — Alessa

It's not a dark, stormy night.

The sky is clear, not blue but not black either. Stars shine from far above, countless candles flickering gently, while a half-moon fills the east with its pale light.

There's a faint breeze in the air, you can feel its soft fingers shuffling through your clothes, and while the air isn't warm, the breeze doesn't chill either. It simply touches, unhurriedly, not lingering, and then onwards it goes. Refusing to stay in just one place.

You crane y...

Alessa

The wonderful Alessa by SBeep (Tumblr | Twitter). 💖

A Single Bed — Part 1

Hadrian tenses, shoulders stiff as he stands frozen by the doorway. The rain outside is pouring, slamming against the glass of the only dusty window in the bedchamber. Its echoes ram against his eardrums, mixing with the heartbeat that soars in his veins. That pools in the thin skin of his ears, radiating heat that reddens his traitorous cheeks.

The lone candle by the corner can barely illuminate the room enough to keep the corners from vanishing into shadow, but it unc...

Progress Report

A week has come and a week has gone in what seems to me the blink of an eye.

Or, better yet, two eyes.

I've been getting back into the swing of things, both writing-wise and in my job (for that pesky real life never quite leaves us alone). This report comes a day later because I wanted to announce what yesterday I could not: I finished scene four of the chapter!

Now, we'll be getting to the most branchy scene — and also one of the last, since this chapter has six. There's ...

Lingering Glance

*choice: You smirk at Alessa. "Quite different from before," you say, gesturing to your surroundings.

It doesn't seem as if you gaze upon the same place. Where before the Market was made of color; sights, sounds, and scents as diverse as the people who roamed it, now its stillness seems almost unnatural.

Where the sun had bored down, relentless, now the rains wash over the same cobblestones. You stood with Alessa on this very spot, but the world had been so different then...

A little query

I've decided that, once I'm done with this chapter, I'll be posting the Prologue and Chapter One on Patreon. I think it's been enough time since the first's book publication.

Plus, I want that sweet feedback! If I'm to add choices or rework passages that don't quite work, I want to know as I'm writing the game. This is the best time to give me your thoughts and get as involved in the writing process as you'd like. 

Of course, I can't promise I'll add or agree with every sugge...

Progress Report

The ground rumbles as the cobblestones shift and grind back into their proper place.

My vacation is over! All of my family has flown back home, and alas, my house feels emptier but never empty — Nero and Nala (my dog and my cat) make sure of it.

In any case, my break is over, and while part of me mourns it, the other is very excited. Because this means I'll return to The Rose and I've missed it so (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ ). I managed to do a little bit of writing in the past weeks...

Warm Waters — Alessa (Mature)

Water ripples with every wave of your hand. 

Your fingers move without a hurry, lazy as they rise and fall from the bathtub. Water clings to your skin, little droplets shining clear with the sunlight pouring through until they fall back down. The resounding splashes are gentle, like crystals rolling inside a sack, and they tickle your ears with the same pleasantness of the steam that rises to kiss your lashes. 

The air inside the bedchamber is hazy, filled with the mist ...

Sneak Peek

Cynthia cocks her head. "Ah, the street rat," she says as if you'd believe she had forgotten. You see the flash of fury in the guard's eyes. She still takes it personally, how Beka managed to run away. How she did so with your help. "Do you know where that filth is? Maybe you could keep each other company in the barracks."

*if Hadrian_Romance

You stiffen, but before you can open your mouth, Hadrian's hand squeezes your elbow. "We can't antagonize her, ${Name}," he...

Art Vote

Which character should I commission next? 🌹

Hug — Part 2

The rocking ship is like a moving beast beneath you. You stagger in your step, almost flying as the ground drops and then rises up in a mad pattern that leaves you breathless. The sea is angry, waves rolling up and down like rushing mountains made of water, and if it wasn't for the suffocating walls inside your cabin, you wouldn't brave the outside.

But you needed to breathe. You need to see the sky, even though it's dark and filled with heavy clouds that threaten to spill their wrath i...

Hadrian

Here is Hadrian by the fantastic Bisouette (Tumblr). I am in love with this piece!!!! I hope you enjoy it too ♡

Scenario Vote

August Bonus Contents are written — Part One is out, and Part Two will be published on the 17th! — so the time comes for yet another vote.

What scenario should I write for all the ROs in September? If you have a suggestion, comment down below, and I'll include it in the next poll!

Warmth — Hadrian

The stained window rattles against the wooden frame as if the glass is loose and tries its hardest to escape its confinement. You can hear the wind howling outside, with a voice so loud, that it slips through the cracks on the wall and fills the gloomy room that serves as your shelter.

A howl, enraged, and shouting threats in an ancient language that no mortal soul can hope to understand. As you watch the wind slam against the poor window, the glass struggling to hold form, you wonder i...

Hit the ground runnin'

... or, well, maybe rolling. 😆

I'm back home! And although I'm still in my vacation free time, I did sneak a little bit of writing this morning because I have nothing scheduled for today and well, I missed doing it. And glad I am that I did because I loved it!

It just felt... good to be back on the keyboard and write for the sake of writing alone. Building sen...

Hug — Part 1

As your arms come to circle around him, you feel more than hear his sharp intake of breath. A slow smile spreads on your lips as you rest your forehead between his shoulder blades. Hadrian all but stops breathing when you press your face against him.

He’s warm and solid. Your hands sprawl on his stomach, feeling the muscles twitch beneath your touch. You can smell his scent on his shirt, can listen to his heart. It beats wildly. You stay silent, eyes closing as your c...

Progress Report

July is coming to an end, and in the blink of an eye, so does the week approach its twilight.

The sun still shines but doesn't burn as much, and I've been able to find some peace even during the sluggish afternoon hours. And thus, the writing has been great!! I almost —almost! — managed to reach the last scene of Chapter One! 🥳 I didn't quite manage to reach it since, of course, Billy had to come and complicate what was supposed to be simple, but alas, it's alwa...

Q&A — Part 2

• Your gracious majesty of the seas, how do you do it to be so stylish?

The Pirate smiles a smile that rivals the sun. He grabs his coat collars, lifting his chin high, and you realize then, how flattery works on him like a charm. "How, you want to know?" he says, black eyes on some distant horizon. "Experience. I've traveled to a hundred ports and seen a hundred different fashions."

He looks back at you. "Killed a hundred different men too," he adds in a lower ...

Lingering Glance

Just one last lingering peek at the Prologue. A small taste of what you'll face on one of the routes...

Progress Report

The scorching sun dominates the heavens, but the nearby creek brings with it a cooling air, and we can breathe easily as we sit beneath the shade of a willow tree.

This past week my country — as well as many others — suffered the terrible effects of one of the worst heat waves in recent years. 125 active fires desolate our territory and villages, and our dams didn't get enough water to last us through the summer. I won't lie and tell you that these didn't have any effect on me — I...

Art Vote

The portrait I commissioned is... going through some difficulties, it seems. I don't know if it'll be finished anytime soon, so instead of continuing to wait, I want to go ahead and move on. 

Which of these characters should I commission next? I can't promise I'll be able to post it this month — because, as it's apparent, art takes time — but I'll definitely find an artist next week!

I will eventually commission all of these characters, as well as other secondary ones, so...