​I've decided to get back into doing #SlapDashSat on Twitter, and I like the excerpts I came up with for it this week. I think they set the setting, tone and characters for my upcoming novel, Upholding the Covenant, pretty well.

Here they are:

1.

"I know why you're here," the Imperial ambassador said tersely. "You want to convince Karushra to rebel."

"Their allegiance is their choice," Orennian replied smoothly. "Give the same respect and protection the Empire always has, and they'll make the right choice."

---

2.

The Path-Guide accepted his offer graciously, then ordered that it be divided into two bowls. "By tradition, the guest eats first."

An act of cunning practicality, disguised as generosity. Any who sought to poison him must be prepared to poison themselves.

---

3.

A Charishi kitten bounded past Orennian on all fours. The Wandering Days, he recalled from his studies; pre-bipedal kittens went through a phase of independent exploration, with every nearby adult responsible for their safety. The child of one was the child of all.

---

4.

Screams split the air, and Ambassador Orennian lunged into a run.

He had to find the source before it was too late. He wouldn't be like the Imperial military, who ignored Charishi in distress.

He flung open the flap of the tent... and found a woman giving birth.

---

​5.

Ambassador Orennian strode slowly through the streets, head high and chin level. With every step, his back was ramrod straight, his posture perfect, his measured movements careful and smooth.

They had to be. If they weren't, the kitten on his head might fall off.

---

If you want to stay up to date on all the new excerpts and developments for Upholding the Covenant, be sure to follow me on my social media channels!

Whew, I've been productive these last few weeks! I recently started participating in the weekly Reedsy contest (and forgot to post about it here, ACK!), and so far I've written three original short stories.

Here they are, with a quick excerpt from each of them:

The Aristocrats and the Beasts

Sabriyya raced after the Alivani ship, watching it slide moonward in a barely-controlled descent. “Don’t crash, don’t crash,” she muttered, then flinched as the alabaster vessel slammed into the ground and skidded to a halt.

“Okay, new request,” she muttered as she typed a message into the long-range comms and beamed it and her coordinates toward the Alivani homeworld. “Don’t be dead.”

Read it on Reedsy here.



Upholding the Covenant

From:

Ambassador Orennian

To:

Sol Vidar, Minister of Alliances

Please pardon the scribbles on the lower left corner of this report. Kivara, the most assertive kitten in the Zovari litter, insisted on sending her regards.

She has taken a liking to me; whenever I visit her family’s tent, she escapes her play pen to climb my robes, play-fight my hands, and demand that I rub her head. She’s sleeping in my lap right now: a testament to the trust I have gained over the past ten weeks.

While her attempts to eat my quill have occasionally slowed down my paperwork, my friendship with her and her family has greatly improved my relationship with the Charishi.

They seem to have accepted me as one of their own, and while they are not yet ready to extend that trust to the Covenant as a whole, they are open to meeting additional Covenant officers to further explore their potential participation in our alliance.

Read it on Reedsy here.



The Echoes In Our Heart

I stand before the charred ruins, taking in their crumbling blackness with wide, wondering eyes. This is where it all began. This is how I got my heart.

I’ve been told not to enter this house; it’s still dangerous. Four people died within these walls, but I have to see it. I have to know.

Even if I can never bask in its warmth, I have to at least see the remnants of this place that has haunted my dreams. I need to know if it’s real.

This one isn't published yet; my supporters on Patreon can get early access 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.

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!

After getting some feedback, I wanted to share an update regarding my Patreon reward tiers.

I used to give all of my Patrons exclusive access to work-in-progress previews of upcoming pages of Just Cause. But the feedback I'm getting from both Patrons and non-Patron readers is that they aren't really interested in this reward, so for now, I'm cancelling it due to lack of interest.

If anyone wants to become a Patron and get that reward, please let me know, and I'll reinstate it. Until then, I'll stick with publishing the full page once it's complete.

​Thanks for reading my blog and webcomic, and I hope you continue to enjoy the comic!

I thought it was about time I got another chapter of the fanfic version of Just Cause finished, so here it is!

In this chapter, Frisk finds Toriel's house, and is forced to make a heartbreaking choice.

Go here to read the new chapter.

Start reading the fanfic from the beginning.

Read the webcomic version of Just Cause.

​​I’ve held off on this for a while, because (1). it was a lot of text to reformat for the finicky web, and (2.) THERE ARE ALWAYS MORE THINGS TO TWEAK AND EDIT, AAAAH!

Despite those reservations, I decided it was finally time to let people see the fruits of my efforts.

I am happy to announce that the first 7 chapters of the written version of my Undertale webcomic, Just Cause, are now available on this website and Archive Of Our Own!

If you want to help me create new chapters of Just Cause faster, both the written and comic versions, please consider supporting me on Patreon so I can spend more time on writing and art.

In the meantime, enjoy the fanfic!