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…Solved? a continuation ficlet of Doomsday Academy

Jun25

Acquiring Students
When my tablet runs out of battery…
The Crew Continues
Crew, Continued
The Day
A Pact
The Pact Slips, Part I
The Pact Slips, Part II
A Solution

Doomsday Academy, a couple weeks after “A Solution”

“Hey, Sunny. I was wondering, I mean, there’s that dance…” Ketil set his hand on Sunny’s arm, stepping close to her. The unseasonably warm day had all the students outside, enjoying a few moments of sunshine.

“The holiday dance?” Sunny smiled encouragingly. Ketil had a shock of red hair and horns like a demon’s, a crooked smile and a scar across his nose that even Changing hadn’t healed. “I hear it’s coming up soon, yeah?”

“I was wondering…” He trailed off as Aron lifted his hand off Sunny’s arm and dropped it as if it were dirty. “…I guess you already have a date?”

“No, no, I don’t… I didn’t…” Sunny’s smile faded.

Ketil shook his head. “I can read the wind, Sunny. Enjoy your date.”

“…what?” Sunny stared at Ketil’s retreating back in distressed confusion.

Much later: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1158751.html

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1130259.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Friday 5(ish) Minute Map & Sketch – Addergoole’s Village

Jun24

In the setting of Addergoole, beyond the school, there is a little Village, described variously as “out of a Normal Rockwell painting,” “Small Town USA”, and “far too quaint.” It leads out to residential areas, where some people – parents, former students, staff – live, and where lady Maureen’s creche for, to be frank, unwanted children live.

I did a very sketchy elevation of the outside-facing part of the Addergoole-school part a couple weeks ago:

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And then today, while in training with a bit of time, I did a bit of “five-minute” mapping of the Village itself and a sketch of part of it.


It is based in part on my memories of Spencerport, NY, Brockport, NY, Canandaigua, NY, and other nearby towns.

P.S. The library says “Falk Memorial Library.”
P.P.S. Click to embiggen.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1129851.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

A Solution, a continuation ficlet of Doomsday Academy

Jun23

Acquiring Students
When my tablet runs out of battery…
The Crew Continues
Crew, Continued
The Day
A Pact
The Pact Slips, Part I
The Pact Slips, Part II

Doomsday Academy, a couple days after “The Pact Slips, Part II”

Content: implied sexual suggestion

They had devolved into shouting the minute Kerr walked in on Astarte and Sunny together, tangled up nude and very engrossed in each other’s company; Aron had followed a moment later.

There was plenty of blame to go around. The volume rose and rose, Sunny’s cy’ra finding other places to be as the tight-knit crew threatened to dissolve.

Finally Sunny held up her hands. She and Astarte had not bothered to dress, and in the gesture, she dropped her sheet. “Okay! I have a solution.”

Everyone looked at her. Sunny was fine with that.

“So. I slept with Star. Star slept with Aron. Kerr and I slept together…”

Kerr cleared his throat, but it was Aron who answered. “Him and me, too.”

“So the solution, clearly, is for me to sleep with Aron, and Star with Kerr. And then maybe all four of us together, just to wrap things up.”

They had gone from looking at her to staring at her. “But the pact…” Astarte offered.

“Well,” Sunny smiled crookedly. “Let’s try something we can actually stick to.”

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This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1128450.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Transported, a story for #ThimblefulThursday’s #TellMeTuesday

Jun23

After/in the same world as Earning your Keep

Content warning: slavery, humiliation, other things of that ilk loosely hinted at.

It wasn’t the sort of place in which you got packages, and it wasn’t the sort of time when the mail came. The mail, Fed Ex, UPS – none of them had come in over a decade. Nobody had shown up to Aeron’s house in over a year.

And yet there was the carriage, the purple carriage with the pink-and-teal trim that Lady Delta so loved, parked in front of Aeron’s private little preserve.

Aeron remembered Lady Delta… oh, so well, so badly. There was nothing to do but go down and receive the driver, see what he wanted and see how quickly he could be gotten rid of.

But the driver was already unloading a crate, sliding it down a ramp until it landed right in front of Aeron’s very sturdy gate. “Delivery.” He saluted as Aeron closed in on the gate. “The Lady says ‘You’ve been alone too long. You need a reminder.'”

Aeron swallowed a curse. All these years free, and yet… the freedom was just an illusion, wasn’t it? “Thank the Lady for me, please.”

“Right.” The driver half-bowed and headed off before Aeron could even start to disassemble the crate.

Well, it came with a handy latch. Aeron wondered for a moment what had brought the Lady’s attention this way. It had been three years. Three years of quiet, living under the radar, three years of trying not to bring any attention at all to this little compound.

Lady Delta had a far longer memory than that, Aeron knew. And yet still…

The crate opened with a thump when Aeron released the latches. Inside was…

Aeron cursed quietly. Been alone too long, indeed. The man — boy? No, man — was wearing a collar and a muzzle, and sported a piece of paper hung off the collar, a pen helpfully attached. Aeron read the paper twice.

“Well.” The pen worked nicely; of course it did. Everything that Lady Delta owned or gifted worked nicely, which would presumably include this young man. Aeron signed with a flourish. “I suppose you belong to me now.”

The man — the paper said “he called himself Brock” — leaned forward, slowly setting his forehead to the gravel. He was far too skinny, and there were bruises along his back and buttocks.

Aeron let out a small sigh. “Here. Stand up. If her Ladyship believes I’ve been alone for too long, I suppose I ought to see if you can be proper company.”

They left the crate sitting in the gravel. That hadn’t been part of the gift.

Written to June 7th’s Tell-Me Tuesday: “What’s in the Crate?”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1128176.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Priorities, a story of Faerie Apocalypse, live on Patreon

Jun22

a story of the Faerie Apocalypse: written for the April Patreon Theme (April Showers)

“Pass me a crowbar!” Aileen had crawled over the detritus of most of a trailer park and now was shouting from inside of the one mostly-intact trailer. ”And, uh, do we have a pipe wrench?”

“I’ve got a pipe torch,” Bracken called back. “And a hacksaw. Aileen, what the eff are you doing?” She had found a motherlode of canned goods…

(read on…)

Want access to this story and many more, every month?

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Interested? Go take a look!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1127047.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Addergoole (The original Series) Is…

Jun21

Addergoole is a story about three couples coming together, with varying degrees of manipulation, coercion, and mind control – and varying degrees of affection, attraction, and romance.

It is a story about three teenagers finding out about magic – and about how that magic relates to them. 

It is also a story about just how awful magically-powered teenagers under minimal supervision can be to one another. 

It’s a story about choices, and the times when the only good choice is still awful.  It’s a story about learning new things about the world around you, and learning new things about yourself. 

Addergoole is dark contemporary fantasy, and it earns every single one of those titles. 

(Pondering new descriptions for an old series…)

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1126307.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

The Pact Slips, Part Two

Jun21

Acquiring Students
When my tablet runs out of battery…
The Crew Continues
Crew, Continued
The Day
A Pact
The Pact Slips, Part I

Doomsday Academy, a couple weeks after “The Pact Slips, Part I”

Content: implied sexual suggestion

“I… I want to know. And I don’t trust anyone else.”

For Kerr, that was a speech. Still, Aron had to ask. “Anyone?”

“Any other guys,” Kerr grumbled. “And you…”

His shirt was already off. His roommates were already gone for the weekend, heading off on some trip Kerr had begged off of. Aron swallowed.

Kerr shifted backwards. “Unless you don’t like guys…?”

“No, no…” Aron leaned in for the most gentle kiss he could manage. “I like you just fine.”

~

“I want to know,” Astarte demanded. “I want to know what’s so hot about you.”

“So hot?” Sunny would have been worried, she thought, if it had been anyone but Astarte. “What do you…?”

“Why Kerr would have broken the pact. Why you? Why…?”

“I could ask Aron the same thing, couldn’t I?” Sunny raised her eyebrows. Not that she’d have to ask Aron… Astarte was gorgeous in an entirely different way than Kerr was. “Or you could just try and find out.”

“Try?” The anger that had rushed Astarte in like a storm faded away, and she sat down, looking stunned. “You mean…”

“Well,” Sunny smirked, “It’s not like we’re really holding to the pact anymore…”

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1128450.html

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1126134.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Give me Ideas… short Addergoole: YEar 5 fic

Jun20

Hey, Addergoole fans! I need some ideas for short side fiction!

Consolidated from three tweets, looking for three separate-but-related things:

Addergoole year 5 – the original series. First week (showing up through 1st dance). Give me a character to write a side story about, pls.

what kind of addergoole: year 5 story could I fit on a postcard while still having it a discrete piece of fiction?

Need some what-if situations for Addergoole. What if a student []… What if they Change []… What if they find out…[] Looking for students that illustrate or exemplify Addergoole, essentially.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1125153.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Buffy: the Invitation (an Addergoole Crossover), Part VI

Jun16

Buffy: The Invitation

Part I: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1096503.html
Part II: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1100922.html
Part III: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1104619.html#cutid1
Part IV: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1108537.html
Part V: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1112216.html

“Wait.” Buffy leaned forward. “You’re serious. Really serious. Commitments were made. Those commitments, they, what, overlap? Someone can do that? Someone can just be like ‘hey, this person, she’s going to go to an elite boarding school,’ and then someone else is like ‘oh hey, yoink, she’s going to stab vampires for us’? I mean, really? What if I’d died before I got to their fancy school? How does that work?”

“That is, indeed, the difficulty with making agreements or arrangements for other people.” Giles stared at the road as if he didn’t want to turn to look at Buffy. “If you had made these arrangements yourself, you would know that they might — were very likely to, indeed — conflict. However…” He made a thoughtful noise. “The commitment to be Slayer, such as it is, is not a commitment to a location. That is the choice of the Council and a choice of, ah, the situation. You can still be Slayer and not be in Sunnydale — as this summer so aptly proved.”

“Wait, wait.” Xander leaned forward. “You remember what this summer was like. We survived, yeah — but barely. Come on. If Buffy bails to go to this school, what’s going to happen in Sunnydale?”

Giles coughed uncomfortably. Buffy looked out the window, her shoulders hunching forward, and said nothing. Willow opened her mouth to say something, set her hand on Xander’s leg… and said nothing at all.

“Well? Come on, you know what this place was like before Buffy showed up. And now, the student paper’s obit section is down to every other month. We’re doing okay — as long as Buffy’s there. She goes away again, then what?”

“I’m quite aware of the problem, as I’m certain Buffy is. You’ve heard her repeatedly say that she cannot leave the Hellmouth, Xander; there’s no reason for you to lambaste her.”

“I’m not… I’m not basting the Buffster.” Xander frowned. “I’m just pointing out that this is a stupid plan.”

“The problem is not in convincing me, Xander, nor is it in convincing Buffy — or even Willow, although I believe the situation may be quite different for her. The problem lies in convincing this school — or the Council — that the situation cannot stand as it appears to be.”

“What, aren’t invitations to schools normally, you know, an invitation? Not a requirement? I mean, private schools, fancy schools.”

“Xander…” Willow put her hand on Xander’s arm. “This is complicated. It’s a mess of complicatediness, and yelling at Giles isn’t going to help him straighten it out. It’s all Watcher-y business and complicated fancy magicy sorts and stuff. So there’s fancy magical promises and things like that, too.”

“Willow?” Giles raised his eyebrows at the rear-view mirror. She squirmed in her seat.

“I did a little of the research and stuff. I mean, they want me to go to school there. There has to be a reason, right? Something going on there that makes them want me? I mean, me and Buffy, not exactly in the same league.”

“Will’s got a point. She’s way out of my league in the things of scholastic-ness, and in the magic-stuff. What kind of weird school wants me when they can have her?”

“That’s not what I meant!” Willow wrinkled up her face at Buffy. “You know it’s not! Buffy… I just meant, you’re the Chosen One, one girl in every generation…”

“Maybe two,” Xander put in helpfully.

“Well, if Buffy would stop dying… that’s major mojo, Buff. I’m just, well, me. Willow Rosenberg, good at reading books.”

“Including books locked in a librarian’s private stash,” Giles coughed.

“Well… um. About that.” Willow looked down at her knees. “I’m, ah, also good at picking locks? I learned it for the scooby-age! This summer. I mean, what with the… I’m just gonna shut up now.”

“Mm-hrrm. We’ll discuss this when we are back in Sunnydale, Willow. As for now — much as I am loathe to say it, Xander, Buffy, Willow is correct. The matter is immensely complicated, and we — or at least I, and possibly your mothers — are going to have to spend some time talking to this Director Avonmorea before anything can be worked out. I am certain that she will understand our situation, once it is explained to her.”

“Wait, are you just going to be like, ‘this is the Slayer, she cannot leave?’” Willow put on a deep, ominous sounding voice. “Because,” she returned to her normal perkiness with a quick throat-clearing, “what about that whole ‘vampires are a secret, don’t tell anyone’ thing that you were just lambasting Buffy about?” She drew the word out with a relish.

Giles did not seem to appreciate it. “I assure you, anyone to whom I will need to explain the situation with Buffy to that detail will already be aware of…” He caught his breath and swallowed. “Oh, my.”

Willow did not answer. She was pressed against the seat back, her hands flat on the upholstery, her already-pale skin white.

Buffy, to her left, had a death grip on the door handle and her right hand fisted in her lap. “Giles…” she managed. “Something is…”

“Wards,” Willow forced out.

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1134781.html

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1124762.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable