Category Archives: Miscellaneous Writing

One offs, short stories, anything that doesn’t go anywhere else, including aborted Adhemlenei novels

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 4

Leave a Reply

Bit of a shorter chapter, since when I can’t play LW1 myself it’s a bit less inspiring. I still recommend watching the 3.3 hour ‘movie’ on YouTube! Reading the summary on the wiki really helps bring home just how long it was spread out, though. It’s basically a year and a half before LW2 starts up.

The first part should be soundtracked with Our Shangri-La (although I think I’ve used it for another couple? I can’t remember who, though). I may have painted Southsun to be a bit more controlled than it really is… Exploring it alone as an elementalist is kind of torturous, and there isn’t actually a romantic hot-spring grotto somewhere (but there SHOULD BE). Besides, with what’s coming up, the boys need all the happiness they can get – GW2 is a very stressful and tragic game if you actually live inside it. The other soundtrack you need is Twilight of the Gods and I don’t think I need to tell you when to listen to it. XD

Contents:
– 1: Honeymoon
– 2: The Day the World Ended
– 3: Set In Motion

Part 3: Victory or Death

 

Part 4: The Day the World Ended

1: Honeymoon

Time passed, but hardly any of it was spent in idle contemplation. Caoilfhionn and the rest of Hope’s Legacy traveled Tyria, helping anyone who asked for it and putting down evildoers. They’d met so many new people, including Braham, Eir’s son, a passionate young Norn with a laugh almost as big as Rhyoll’s, and Rox, a kind Charr ranger; both of them had become very close with the guild, and though neither had been formally invited or inducted, they were as much Caoilfhionn’s companions as any of the others by this time. They were all pretty famous, and while not everyone was a fan of being recognized, Caoilfhionn thought it was nice. Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 3

Leave a Reply

Whoohoo! Progress is being made! This one is extra long (by 25%) because the 70-80 quests are actually really long! And copious amounts of fluff! Thanks again to Tharash for beta-reading and editing!

The most egregious thing that needed adjusting for me was the final boss fight, because Zhaitan goes down like a sad puppy in the game and… like… some Wyld Hunt that was. I wanted to stab the dragon myself, not watch it die by clicking the “shoot cannon” button over and over! (Also that dungeon is very slow and doesn’t have great pacing.) It was also fun to figure out how the different choices of mission could work at the same time! I also put in some cameos from other characters, some of them probably gratuitous.

Soundtracks used for inspiration: Fodlan Winds, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Let There Be Fire, Apex of the World, and also 打ち上げ花火 by Cellchrome (or Fireworks is what Google Translate tells me that means) which doesn’t have the studio version on YouTube, only live mall performances which are… not actually that great (sorry Cellchrome, you guys sound better on CD, I will buy all your CDs if you make them available in Canada, deal?).

I’m madly in love with Trahearne’s voice, help lol. How is it so deliciously yummy!? Cheers to Matthew Brenher for having such a magnificent voice. : )

I’m in game up to the end of HoT, so I’ll be writing at least up to that point.

Contents:
– 1: Strength of the Firstborn (Forging the Pact)
– 2: The Second Loss (Level 70 quests)
– 3: Comfort (The Battle of Fort Trinity)
– 4: Strike Boldly (Level 80 quests)
– 5: Love Requited (The Cleansing of Orr)
– 6: Victory or Death
– 7: Meet the Family (Basegame Epilogue)

Part 2: Hope’s Legacy Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 2

Leave a Reply

This one goes up to the end of the level 60 quests, and Caoilfhionn is actually in-game half-way through the 80 quests. Zela, my main, is almost up to Heart of Thorns.

Reminder that ‘Caoilfhionn’ is pronounced ‘kee-lin’, though I’m strongly considering changing it to Caolán, at Tharash’s suggestion. Also Tharash edited the dialogue for his characters again, whoohoo!

Contents:
– 1: Raven’s Shaman (Level 40 quests)
– 2: Ghosts and Guns (Ascalon Catacombs)
– 3: Hope’s Legacy (Caudecus’s Manor)
– 4: Hearts That Beat (Twilight Arbour)
– 5: The Fall of Claw Island (Level 60 quests)
– 6: A Slow Blossoming (Level 60 quests)
– 7: The Marshal of the Pact (Level 60 quests)
– 8: Your Place is At My Side (Trahearne)

Part 1: A Valiant’s Quest

 

Part 2: Hope’s Legacy

1: Raven’s Shaman (Level 40 quests)

Returning to Lion’s Arch was less of a culture shock this time. Caoilfhionn knew what to expect, both from the surroundings and the people, and he didn’t so much as jump when a Norn staggered past him in the outskirts, waving a tankard and bellowing insults to everyone she saw. The centre of town was more peaceful, with more… ‘ordinary’ people gathering near the beautiful lion fountain. Now that he looked at the place from a new perspective, it was not overwhelming at all. People thrived here, Sylvari included. The gulls stirred his heart, the towers of masts and rigging, the slosh of the waves against the docks, the smell of seaweed. Continue reading →

The Necromancer and the Orchid Prince: Part 1

Leave a Reply

So… I got back into GW2… to have something ‘new’ to play with Tharash (we actually played it a few years ago, but due to a glitch with a cutscene we stopped abruptly and never returned until about 6 weeks ago) – and… well… I fell in love again at level 60. So I wrote about it.

I wrote, in fact, 20K words (so far) of random fluff and adventure about my Sylvari knight, Caoilfhionn the Orchid Prince, and his falling in love with the “””creepy””” (charming, nerdy, awkward, adorable) necromancer Trahearne. Caoilfhionn is pronounced “kee-lin”, according to the internet, because Irish (one of the Sylvari linguistic inspirations, along with Welsh) is like that. If you’re Irish or familiar with it (I am not?) it is actually a feminine name, because I was going to make a female Sylvari, but I didn’t really like the female Sylvari voice (and it’s Jennifer Hale? But it just didn’t fit the aesthetic I wanted (speaking of voice actors HOW is Matt Mercer the male Norn PC? It sounds nothing like him! He’s so good)) or most of the default faces as much as I liked the male Sylvari voice (much sweeter! Even if it lacks energy a lot of the time) and default faces. And I still liked the name, and have no gender associations with it, so I hope you can forgive me for using it anyway.

I’ve completed the basegame story, up to Victory or Death, so please no spoilers, I like finding out Caoilfhionn’s reactions in real-time. Scenes skip around because the actual story of GW2 is… spotty in quality and pacing, and I didn’t feel it was worth the effort to fix everything, so you will probably enjoy this fic more if you’ve played the game than not. This section goes up to the end of the level 30 Sylvari quest, with hints of other simultaneous level 10-30 questlines.

This story involves Tharash’s input and characters so heavily that it’s very nearly co-written – at least, all the non-fluffy parts are co-written. I have a good sense for Sylvari culture, but for example all the Asura dialogue is by Tharash, because I haven’t a clue with those hilarious little twerps. As you might expect, he has no personal interest in a romance with Trahearne, so those parts are ALL ME. (also here is a picture of his immediate siblings!)

Caoilfhionn probably listens to a lot of Enya.

It’s a nice break from Murlesson’s story! I’m not editing this too closely, I’m not trying to push it to a higher level (like with SWTOR or MEA), I’m just having fun putting some OCs in a really neat world. And Caoilfhionn falls in love at first sight, because of course he does. Like, that’s actually a Sylvari thing. Continue reading →

Space Garden: Epilogue: Space Dad, For Real

Leave a Reply

IT’S DONE NOW I CAN FOCUS ON FFXIV, SPECIFICALLY ENJOYING SHADOWBRINGERS AND GETTING ACHIYO INTO HEAVENSWARD. Omg Soken is a genius (rockin’ that 10/8 time in the Lakeland area, also can I get a ‘hell yeah’ for the basic fight music (both videos spoiler-free)) and I worship him, also DAMN my children are kick-ass. (Here’s my out-of-game DRK fight song! And I think I’m going to need it because Tam and Vivienne are burning mad. Everyone is, but them especially. WE’RE GOING TO TEAR IT ALL DOWN AND BUILD IT UP AGAIN)

Oh yeah I guess I should also work on travel blogs.

Author’s note: I actually don’t like lasagna. I like pasta, I like cake, pasta-cake does nothing for me. I’m no doubt on Hunk’s “do not trust” list lol. Also Shiro and Matt Holt were always little shits, they just pretend they’re not.

Chapter 14: Bring Them Home

 

Epilogue: Space Dad, For Real

“Teacher! Teacher! Wait for me!” A desperate wail echoed through the white vaulted halls of New Altea’s Pilot Training Centre as a young Olkari dashed towards the light of the hangar mouth. Continue reading →

Space Garden: Part 14: Bring Them Home

Leave a Reply

Take a bunch of drama llamas, a generous sprinkling of Clockie metas (example), a butt-load of action scenes, and my personal taste in endings, and this is what I came up with for a Voltron finale. Smaller scale than the show? Yes. Do I like it more? Yes. Hope you do too.

This last chapter is long. As I thought it might, it bloated a lot. Think of it as a series finale double special lol! But I couldn’t quite get the Shiro/Elslince power-couple dynamic I was going for. Oh well. Side note: Lotor’s fighter’s colours are based on the colours of the ‘alliance’ banner from S5. (It was Lance’s idea, probably.)

There is an epilogue of course!

Chapter 13: Once More Unto the Fray

 

Part 14: Bring Them Home

The situation in the medbay was not sustainable. Lotor was regaining his physical strength well, but psychologically he was a complete guilt-ridden wreck. Elslince was considering putting him in a strait-jacket in a padded room, not because he was insane, but because he kept trying to harm himself. She and Acxa were taking it in turns to watch over him, to make sure he wouldn’t try to kill himself. And she wished she didn’t have to, he was paranoid enough as it was without being observed constantly, but she didn’t want to lose him now. Continue reading →

Space Garden: Part 12: Happily For Now

Leave a Reply

Okay so this is horribly self-indulgent Shelslince fluff, but c’mon, it’s the first time-skip where things have been really positive and peaceful!

Though there was not nearly enough female gaze in this chapter, I may have to remedy that. Bring unto me S8 so I can swoon more over my giant hot buff trapezoidal Japanese space-husband! And for the love of pete don’t kill him again (I think he’s probably okay from here on out, it wouldn’t make sense tropewise, but this is Dreamworks we’re talking about. …Okay as long as he goes out in a massive blaze of heroic glory.). : P

Shiro meeting his parents is based on that super adorable tumblr post, obviously.

Part 11: Captain Shirogane

 

Part 12: Happily For Now

The battle with the strange mecha nearly destroyed everyone again, but even when it was done, his work was not over. The Lions had been scattered across the western side of North America, their paladins unresponsive. The Atlas had turned back into a ship, at least. He needed to send out retrieval teams, get in contact with the rest of the world, get civilians liberated from their work camps, get civilians shelter and food and water… Continue reading →

Space Garden: Part 10: Drifting

Leave a Reply

Okay so S7 was CRAZY and I LOVED IT. It was a bit heavily military, yes, but on the other hand that’s where I expected the show to go, that’s kind of what I wanted from it. It was a beautiful drama, and I may have to write something about Adam after I’m done this fic. (like, done-done, like, post-series finale)

Part 9: Ad Astra Obumbratio

 

Part 10: Drifting

Shiro, soul and body reunited, had been placed back in the cryopod – so weak, his heart was struggling, his body adjusting to a semi-new consciousness. Or at least that was what Elslince and Allura told him. Keith paced. The rest of the team had only just left to gather fuel for the Lions, but his place was here, at Shiro’s side. Normally he was good at waiting – pacing was for people who liked to burn energy, like Lance – but this waiting was worse torture than he’d been through his entire life. If only there was something he could do… Continue reading →