“-ust shut up and let me thi-!”
“go back, we have to go back-”
“Shut up! I need to-”
“-ave to go back-”
A male and a female voice overlapped with the sound of a baby crying.
‘Oh, fucking hell.’
Ji-Min bared her teeth as the shouting...
2023-03-19 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
CHAPTER 10
"They'll be here soon. Today, perhaps, or tomorrow. I may be preoccupied. Our regular proceedings were delayed by this business with the Avatar. We have a lot to do before true winter comes."
Yué tilted her head up to let her handmaiden perfect today's elaborate...
She woke up without any alarm and pulled on workout pants and a shirt. Ji-Min stuffed two dollars in her bra and used it to get a bottle of water on her way to the hotel's gym.
The gym turned out to be a long, narrow room with a few sad treadmills and basic weights. A quick glance showed th...
2023-03-12 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
"Psst."
Yué startled. Aunna put a hand around her arm.
"Over here," the voice hissed.
"Sokka…?" She glanced around uncertainly, but she followed the voice to a side street. The Southern Tribesman was waiting with a grin on his face.
<...
If pressed, she would agree that it was a little crazy to drop everything to drive two hours in the hopes of ruining Hammer's night. She felt vaguely embarrassed by herself throughout the drive, fingers wrapped a little too tightly around the steering wheel.
At least no one knew what she wa...
2023-03-05 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Tanjiro's mother, Furi-san, had returned from her family visit with three wide-eyed nieces in tow. Aiko accepted them into her shrine with only a squirm of nerves in her stomach.
She was officially a guardian and mentor to real human children. Horrific.
The first thing she was ...
I'm on a superhero kick and I thought I'd do something fun. Like, what if it's a superhero and villain locked into conflict, except they're both criminals, they're just incredibly petty little goblins? And also they are soulmates.
“Planetarium,” Hammer stressed. ...
2023-02-27 12:21:31 +0000 UTC View PostShort story, standalone. Sad and funny.
Mimette turned her face away in protest, one paw feebly coming up to push the plastic away from her mouth. She swallowed, but she didn't look happy at all.
Candice stroked the cat's head and gently withdrew the syringe...
CHAPTER 8
"Congratulations," Yué smiled. She felt it crease her eyes. "You deserve this chance."
"I'm so jealous," Aunna moaned. She stabbed her needlework a little too hard. "I can't do anything."
Yué frowned at that. It wasn’t true at all. Aunna was adept with her ...
A short story set after Aiko's theoretical return to her time period. Not canon, just fun.
...
Aiko stood with her arms crossed, looking out the window with a scowl. "Yuck," she muttered resentfully. She screwed up her face. "So gauche. Too foreign."
"As you say, Hoka...
2023-02-15 14:01:21 +0000 UTC View PostI am going to keep updating 'Swordpoint Diplomacy' where it is in the story, but I am also in the process of editing and releasing the story as 'Diplomacy by Swordpoint' where it is much more tight and also released in long segments corresponding to multiple of the original, unedited chapters. I ...
2023-02-13 10:44:43 +0000 UTC View PostDiplomacy by Swordpoint
The twins took their first hard look at war from a flowering hilltop.
"It seems cruel," Etienne said in an undertone. In his discomfort he shifted, lowering his head. The sunlight glinted as it caught on the distinctive golden hair that their family was known f...
2023-02-13 10:42:37 +0000 UTC View Post"Mmhm," Aiko agreed over her fifth refill. She blinked slowly and watched Izuna's mouth move. She had no idea what he was talking about. With some effort, she tuned back into it.
He beamed at her. "Allies of the Uchiha benefit from our protection," he enthused. "In exchange for this relatio...
2023-02-08 05:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostCHAPTER 32
Kian locked down his emotions. It didn't matter what he felt.
She was still talking.
"Use your best judgement as to whether you should travel together or tell Duke Harrod that you must go ahead. Marcel, thank you for your patience, do you have any concerns?"
"Mmhm," Aiko agreed over her fifth refill. She blinked slowly and watched Izuna's mouth move. She had no idea what he was talking about. With some effort, she tuned back into it.
He beamed at her. "Allies of the Uchiha benefit from our protection," he enthused. "In exchange for this relatio...
2023-02-03 06:26:19 +0000 UTC View Post"It's very impressive," the Uchiha said blandly. She couldn't tell if he was mocking her or if he really was finding something impressive in the country's newest pilgrimage site.
"I started at the bottom," Aiko said severely. "With nothing. Nothing but godlike powers, years of experience ru...
2023-02-01 03:05:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 31
He didn't like the spoilt little hanger-on. Kian kept his body language easy and his tone relatively friendly, but this 'Maurice' put his hackles up.
'What is she aiming for?'
Kian would be the first to acknowledge his ability to anticipate needs, to read a situati...
CHAPTER 30
"That smells intriguing," Marcel said pointedly as they walked past the mess tent for the second time. It smelled edible, at least, and he was famished.
Kian didn't glance at it. "It does, doesn't it." His pace didn't slow. "Lord Karitta is ready to depart, but w...
Sasuke civilizes the Uchiha
Wherein Sasuke follows Aiko back to the warring clans era and is massively unimpressed with his ancestors.
(Sidenote that Aiko absolutely would not get assassinated with Sasuke's paranoid ass there, so the story would divert a lot on that day.)
...
Chapter 29
"Take a step to the left, soldier."
Marcel grudgingly adjusted his position to match deferential military etiquette and nearly fell behind in the process. He lengthened his stride to keep up, gritting his teeth in frustration. The officer that Princess Rose had sent him o...
Chapter 28
From behind Kian, Marcel gave her a questioning look. His eyes were wide and he lifted both his palms up in supplication. She wasn't sure how she was meant to respond without alerting Kian, so she ignored him and kept control over her facial features.
"I understand," Kian s...
2023-01-24 04:03:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Rose didn’t look at the body as it passed her. She stared straight ahead, seeing very little except the next place to put her foot. There was a twinge of pain every time her injured leg hit the road.
The faint sounds of wood scraping and heavy bags being moved around drifted up to h...
I wanted to share what we got done here in 2022. I'm proud of it, honestly. We wrote 160,985 words for this account in the year. A solid 64,107 (39%) of them were in October for my Halloween event, which I want to do every year. I'm going to open up a list of fandoms at the bottom that I'm ...
2022-12-31 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostI'm curious! Help me pick my direction for 2023 by telling me what was exciting for you in 2022. Did I miss any? Let me know!
2022-12-30 14:13:49 +0000 UTC View PostCHAPTER 26
“Absolutely not,” Father breathed in revulsion. He took an involuntary step back. He looked at Marcel the way that Etienne looked at horseshit on his favorite embroidered blue velvet shoe. “You have taken leave of your senses.”
“Of course,” Rose agree...
2022-12-29 16:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 25
When they finally started to leave the camp, it felt like it had taken years to get organized. The noon sun was directly and spitefully overhead to punish them all for moving. The sun beams bounced off of the pale gray stone of the road and heated it beneath her feet. She had the...
2022-12-27 09:59:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe usual Monday/Wednesday posting schedule is going to be flipped to Wednesday/Friday, so I want to express my thanks for your patience up front. I've been sick and I want to post something of enjoyable quality, not something I could feebly tap out with one brave finger venturing outside my blan...
2022-12-19 10:01:56 +0000 UTC View PostThe seed of this was a request from H to see a snippet of Rose being Stronk from Marcel's perspective. I realized that it might be interesting to see his perspective on being captured a bit more generally.
Marcel scenes from ch 22-24
"Someone's coming." Auntie narrowed her...
CHAPTER 14
Kakuzu had a very unfortunate sinking feeling that he had done worse than fail a mission.
The shinobi he was with clearly didn’t trust him. He shied away from the group and cast his face low, trying to avoid eye contact with the Priestess’s acolytes when they cam...
Chapter 24
Rose was mildly appalled that no one in the equipment department stopped her from taking out a set of armor that obviously would not fit her. Did no one care about misuse of equipment anymore?
She glanced sideways at the armorer through her lashes, torn between her desire t...
2022-12-04 23:59:01 +0000 UTC View Post