I’m doing SlapDashSat on Twitter again this week, so here a few of the excerpts I’m sharing. The first four are from the novel version of my short story, Upholding the Covenant, and the last one is from Finding the Truth, the upcoming sequel to Your Truth Cannot Stand.

1.
"Sometimes I fear that my womb is cursed."

"My love. Did your womb cause your former masters to betray you? Did it cause an ailing person to visit our city and bring sickness to our children? No. These tragedies are not your fault."

2.
"You visit the ambassador a lot, my child."

"Yeah, 'cuz, he smells bad until he sees me, but then he smells better!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he smells sad, like me when my sister won't play with me. But then he sees me and smells happy!"

3.
"Who kill your cat?" Kivara demanded, and Orennian smiled sadly at the child.

"Nobody. He died of old age. Time killed him."

Kivara snapped her jaws at the air, and he frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm biting time for killing your cat!"

4.
“You are just too precious.”

“No I’m not! I’m strong and fierce and BIG! See? I come all the way up to your nose!”

“But if I put you on the floor-”

“NOOOOO! I have to stay up here so I’ll be BIG!”

5.
There were days when the general didn’t know whether to pinch the bridge of his nose, rub his tightening forehead, or throw back his head and laugh.

The corpse in front of him deserved all three reactions.

A big thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos on my last three "Subnautica: Below Zero" stories. You inspired me to write another!

Spoilers ahead...

In "I Wish You Were," Al-An finds themselves wishing that Robin was an Architect. They know better than to tell her, but she finds out anyway... on her dead sister's birthday.

You can read it on my website here, or on AO3 here.

The latest chapter of my Undertale fanfic, Just Cause, is out!

In this chapter, Frisk, armed with a fear of adults and a complete lack of dating experience, finds themselves on a date with a skeleton who's just as confused as they are, but who is nonetheless determined to try his best.

You can read it on my website here, or on Archive of Our Own here.

Me: *Decides to write a funny fluff piece about a moment of interspecies awkwardness.*

The story: "OR this could be an exploration of the impact the characters' respective cultures have had on their current desires, perspectives and emotional states."

Me: "...Both. Both is good."

Subnautica: Below Zero spoilers ahead...


​
In my new short story, Naked Secrecy, Al-An accidentally walks in on Robin when she's naked. Her reaction bewilders the perpetually unclothed Architect, and sparks a conversation about how their different cultures shaped them.

​You can read the story on my website here, or on AO3 here.

After seeing how well It Will Be Okay was received, I decided to share another of my Subnautica: Below Zero stories.

Spoilers ahead...


I was playing around with "What if?"s, and I thought: "What if Marguerit Maida had answered Al-An's distress call?

The image began with an ominous scene in which Marguerit stood on top of an ice cliff, inches from the edge.

And then, as the story developed, I was startled to realize just how much the crusty mercenary and the softspoken scientist had in common.

You can read the story on this website here, or on Archive of Our Own here.

And if you want to read my original novels, you can find them here.

I recently finished the main quest of Subnautica: Below Zero, and WOW, that ending! It left me feeling so inspired that I banged out a 3k-word fic in the course of about 3 hours... and for once, my intended short story actually stayed a short story instead of growing into a novella, haha.

The following contains major spoilers for the game, especially its ending, so if you're avoiding those, this fic and this post aren't for you... at least, not yet. ;)
 
 
 
Spoilers ensue...
 
 
 
As I was playing, I fell in love with the relationship between Robin and Al-An. They play off each other so well, and some of their dialogue was just adorable - especially the conversation about poetry and hope.

It got me thinking about what would probably happen to them after they escaped the planet - both in the short term, and decades in the future, when the difference between their lifespans began to make itself known.

In my new fanfiction, It Will Be Okay, Robin is nearing the end of a long and adventurous life. She's content with what she's experienced and is ready to let go, but no matter how much she tries to reassure them, Al-An isn't ready to say goodbye to the person who saved their life and helped them recover from the loss of everything they loved.

You can read the fic on this website here, or read it on Archive of Our Own.

It was strange, how quickly the atmosphere could change.

One moment, they were leaving a cute, cheery town, whose colorful peace was a dizzying contrast to the swirl of information that was rushing through their head.

The next, they were blinded by fog, and the ominous haze felt all too fitting.

--- 

What's this? A new chapter of my Undertale fanfic, Just Cause, after all this time? It's more likely than you think!

You can read the latest chapter on my website here.

Read it on Archive of Our Own here.

If you haven't read the previous chapters yet, you can read the whole story from the beginning here.

Of all the characters I would've expected to latch onto my mind and not let go until I wrote his story, Ondolemar from Skyrim was NEVER on the list.

Erandur, sure - he's friendly, interesting, and complex, with an intriguing backstory and a lot of dialogue. There's a reason I have a partly-finished story about him in my WIPs.

But Ondolemar? The leader of the Thalmor Justiciars, whose job is to arrest people for their faith? The arrogant religious fanatic Elven supremacist with just a handful of spoken lines and NO backstory beyond what we can guess from his rank? WTF?

It's Tumblr and YouTube's fault. They introduced me to a few voice lines I'd never heard before, because I'd never helped him arrest a guy for worshiping Talos.

After the hostility, condescension, insults and murder attempts I'd gotten from pretty much every other Thalmor I'd ever encountered, I was surprised to find out that:

1. If you've helped him, Ondolemar greets you as "my friend," no matter what race you're playing as.

2. If you've helped him AND you have a high enough speech skill, you can get him to cause a distraction for you during a party. In the Thalmor Embassy, no less. He'll even lie to Elenwen for you.

3. When his distraction gets an innocent human in trouble, he'll immediately take the blame for the incident rather than get said human thrown out of the party, despite his belief in Elven superiority and his moon-sized ego.

This, and the fact that he seeks proof before arresting a "heretic", is a surprising contrast to the Justiciars who label you a heretic and try to kill you just because they don't like you.

(Sure, you could argue that he isn't legally ALLOWED to arrest Ogmund without proof, but the Thalmor have no problem trying to have the Dragonborn illegally assassinated, so clearly extralegal options aren't off the table for the people Ondolemar works for.)

4. Sometimes he'll comment, "There are so few pleasures in life as fine as your company" - once again, regardless of what race you are. And if you think it's because he's a skilled manipulator, clearly you haven't heard his other voice lines.

If you want a brutally honest opinion from a Thalmor officer about the Empire or the political situation, he's the place to find it. This dumbass has precious little filter between his mouth and brain.

5. Whether you've helped him or not, he is happy to chat with you, both in Markarth and at the party. He also seems very sincerely focused on the religious aspects of the Talos ban and the civil war, whereas the other Thalmor make me suspect that it's more of a means to a political end.

Combine all of that with my observation that Talos' shrines and amulets follow the same game mechanics as the implements of the divines that the Thalmor recognize, and it made me wonder what would happen if this unusually friendly Justiciar were to be told - VERY tactfully - about the evidence that his faction might be lying to him about a matter of religion.

Over a century of indoctrination, his whole self-flattering worldview, and the risk of being killed for questioning his totalitarian government, vs. the evidence. FIGHT.

When I first started writing, I'd expected it to be one quick conversation that I just wanted to get out of my head and onto the screen. But then it grew. And grew.

I saw a picture of Ondolemar being captured, and I felt that would bring a great new level of emotional tension to the story. So I added it in.

While I was writing a scene in which Ondolemar tried to defend his point of view, I realized I was knocking down a strawman. So I looked deeper into the lore about the Thalmor and their rationale and goals. And the story grew some more.

Next thing I knew, I'd written almost 35,000 words about a character I never thought I'd give a crap about, and gotten into his head far deeper and more effortlessly than I'd ever thought I would. And the story was still growing.

I never would have guessed that he'd be a character who practically wrote himself, but he is, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing him.

Now the story is finally done, and you can read it on this website here.

And you can read it on Archive of Our Own here.

What’s this? An update to the Just Cause fanfic? After all these months?!

Yeah, I figured it was about time I buckled down and got this thing edited before I sidetracked onto yet another series of side projects. Especially given that this is where Timeline 1 Frisk finally meets Sans, and begins my favorite relationship in this whole story!

Let's see what they think of each other when they first meet.

Go here to read chapter 9.

I ended up skimming over some of the Skelebro/Frisk puzzle interactions, because this fic is already 129,515 words long, and that’s with some parts just OUTLINED, not written. If I write every scene in full detail, we’ll never see the end of this. >_<

But going light on some scenes means I have more room and time to dive deep into the ones that really matter, like a warrior-scientist getting his first look at a child who might be a space-time anomaly. :)

The next chapter is 7,475 words long right now and needs to be edited, but when it's done you'll get to see Papyrus' boss fight and Sans taking Frisk to Grillby's.

For those who have stuck with me through this long hiatus, thanks - I hope the chapter is worth the wait!