notes
- Did I forget the cc for Akira’s ears again? Yes. But I promise, now that I’ve noticed it, I will work hard to amend it in future chapters!
- There is a weapon that is very clearly a lightsaber for reasons that boil down to Atashi77’s Young Padawan pose was awesome and I desperately wanted to use it. Yes, I am Star Wars fan but I’m pretty meh about the pack except for the Reylo possibilities.
- Here is some bonus content stuff in case you missed it. Mainly, a look at why this chapter was so annoying to shoot because SIMS WILL NOT BEHAVE. Also this chapter was a bear to write and I don’t know why lol.
- RIP Chadwick Boseman. When Black Panther came out, my family and I went to the theater at like 1 in the morning because we were so excited to see a superhero movie where the characters looked like us. I cried, got chills, and shouted “Wakanda Forever!” in the parking lot with my brothers. I know it seems like a small thing, but Chadwick gave us joy. He made us feel proud and powerful and as a black nerd, I am so incredibly grateful. It inspired me to write my own stories where the very special heroine with all the badass supernatural powers could also be someone who looks like me.
Britechester University Library
William
The part of himself that realized he’d let nearly a century pass between sexual partners was alarmed to find that his grand return was nothing to write home about. Spending the night with Dylan was supposed to set things in a groove and have William coasting along towards contentment and far away from pining over Morgyn.
Only it hadn’t quite worked out like that.
Just finding somewhere to go had exposed the fissures and cracks in William’s fantasy. Caleb had secured a house in the woods, protected by an outrageously expensive—his words—dryad spell. Any outsider they allowed in would have to be trusted implicitly and William was forced to grapple with whether or not Dylan made the cut.
Not that anyone in the household understood his predicament.
Or could be helpful.
Deacon’s answer was to just to “chillax” and “let things happen, bro.” Alice latched onto an off-hand comment he made about vampiric hearing and pressed him on how just how accurate that hearing was—specifically as it pertained to the location of the bedroom she shared with Vladislaus. Caleb told him to shut up, and then get a hotel room. Vladislaus looked him dead in the eye and announced, “You do not care for Dylan,” before misting out of the room. He only returned to a second later to explain that according to the book he was reading, William was “in denial.”
Never in his long life did he think that Vladislaus becoming more self-actualized and less of a murderous monster would be such an irritating process.
He ended up taking Caleb’s recommendation.
“Vulnerability is for morons,” the vampire advised, a sentiment that played in William’s mind over and over again throughout the night.
By the time he and Dylan headed out for their third coffee break, William was completely disengaged in the conversation. The whole walk to the cafeteria, all he could think about was the confident way Morgyn danced around the rooftop in that ridiculous suit and pirate boots. The Sage had a way of drawing William into a chase while simultaneously laying all of their intentions on the line.
He thought courting Dylan would be similar to courting Tobias. Both men were bookish, a little shy, far more interested in ideas than in action.
Though that wasn’t completely fair to his husband’s memory. Tobias had been booted from the archives and sent to the guard as one of Josef’s many punishments. The scholar emerged confident, brave, and a relatively decent swordsman. William was hard-pressed to imagine Dylan in any kind of dangerous situation.
As a mortal, William had longed to lay down his sword for a quiet life. But what about now? All these centuries later, is that what he was looking for? Was that who he still was?
Windenburg Island, Bjersten House
Vlad
Vlad growled as he forcefully pounded the buttons on the electric stove, “I would not like a timer I would like to pre-heat, though what that means in relation to this infernal contraption is beyond me!”
“Relax would you? You just need to select the setting first and then put in the temperature,”—Alice looked around nervously—”Umm, are you sure we can be here? Whose house is this?”
“Mine,” Gwendolyn volunteered cheerfully as she walked into the room.
“You, hellion, are supposed to be in school,” Vlad chastized.
Alice’s eyebrows shot up, “You call her hellion? She’s a nine-year-old kid.”
“She’s a demon.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Alice scolded, “Hell is pretend!”
“And school is boring,” Gwendolyn said, pushing past them.
“School is important,” Alice insisted without enthusiasm, “You learn things and…read books.”
Gwendolyn waved her off. “I already read all of those books.”
She wasn’t being facetious. So limited was her school’s educational theory that Vladislaus was forced to raid Britechester’s Rare Book collection just to obtain appropriate material. During his nighttime hunts, he’d leave books in a box by her window and in turn, she’d leave notes about her progress. Her olde simlish verb conjugation was abysmal but her thoughts on 17th century Champs Les Sims politics had merit.
“Are you breaking my oven?” Gwendolyn demanded, scrunching up her small face.
“Your oven?” Vlad asked doubtfully.
“Fine,” she sighed. “My foster parents’ oven. Don’t break it. I can’t get kicked out. Even if they’re not he—busy. I mean if they’re too busy.”
Vlad hissed. Every time Gwendolyn mentioned being abandoned or ignored, it filled him with fury. For all their piety, witches were nothing more than animals when it came to treatment of orphaned children.
“I would dearly love to see them try. And then I would dearly love to make them regret it.”
Alice smacked him in the chest, “What ails you? You can’t kill her foster parents!”
“Can’t I?” He raised an eyebrow.
She hesitated, “I mean I’m…yes, technically…I’m just…I’m asking you not to. Not…er…commanding. We should…talk about stuff like that…”
“Not that your family is in any danger,” she added quickly, giving Gwendolyn a too bright smile.
She looked so delightfully off-kilter that Vlad had to bite back a laugh. He had forgotten this side of himself, the one that enjoyed teasing.
“Of course,” he assured her, eyes dancing with amusement.
Ok, page by page comment time again, so hopefully this won’t turn into yet another wall of text.
I mean, Dylan is cute, but nowhere near the calibre needed to match either Tobias, the soulmate from another time, or Morgyn, the freaking sage of untamed magic. William is definitely in denial if he thinks he’d do the trick. Look at me, agreeing with Vlad lol. But of course, Vlad is a sappy romantic. My thinking is aim a bit higher. Especially after a 100 year dry spell. I mean, come on, William is a catch.
Lol Gwendolynn. I almost forgot about her, but she’s clearly still in top form. I also enjoyed that the part about Vlad killing her parents is the part where Alice suddenly decides to consult a relationship book or something (don’t discount your partner’s views as unreasonable, show that you’re listening and not making demands) and goes all “we should make decisions about killing people together” 😂
Akira and Miko… ok, not the strongest start, yikes. But maybe all the ugly needs to come out first. It’s tough, because Akira’s main stream of thought still seems to be “ah, if only I could just travel back in time to hit the delete button and wipe all of my mistakes out of existence” – which I have a problem with, but then at the same time, he does have a point, how can he really prove to Miko he is sorry after all this time? Quite a pickle, that.
Ok, back to Dylan and William… Dylan’s excitement when he cracked was kind of cute. But apparently not cute enough. That was cold, William. I stand by what I said above, but damn, let the guy down gently – he did just hand you a big piece of information. He’s gonna feel so used.
Vlad and Alice again – ah, I see the relationship self-help book has now been promptly binned and the bin was set on fire. Lol these two…
“like a llama speaking of tax evasion” Hahahaha just wanted to appreciate this for a moment…
Aww I did not expect Alice’s trip down the memory lane. Explains how things got so strained with her family over time. The parallel with Vlad reassuring little Gwen in his weirdass way was really sweet.
Penny and Miko may aswell be speaking a different language. I’m just waiting for Penny to completely flip the lid lol.
I wonder if the three witches line does really refer to the sages (they would probably not appreciate being called that, I’d imagine). But I’m not going to complain about William going to see Morgyn haha.
Oops. it is a wall of text after all. Oh well 😆
HAHAHA I mean, who can compete with Morgyn as a love interest? NO ONE, that’s who. I mean, Vlad has read one self-help book and now he’s tossing out advice, but yeah, he ain’t wrong. Vlad is definitely a true romantic. And William is a catch, but he’s also learning about himself. Vlad starting to get his shit together is leaving William and Caleb space to focus on themselves and it’ll be interesting to see how they both struggle with that…
Oh man, Gwendolyn is so fun to write. We are going to see more of her for sure over the next few chapters 🙂 Honestly, I think she might give Verena a run for her money!
Vlad and Alice…well, I’ll say this: new relationships are hard. They are especially hard with you are an all powerful god and your lover is a conceptual entity who is bound to your will. It’s going to be awkward for a bit while they figure out that dynamic. And um…they are gonna need to figure it out because the alternative is…well…spoilers.
I knew this was going to hit you! Akira and Miko have not really spent any time together for centuries so uh…yeah…things are a big rough to begin with lol!!! I’m so excited though, because that is exactly what I’m trying to point out about Akira! They both have some healing and growth to do…it will be interesting to see how they do it.
HAHAHAHA William always act so mature and wise but then he has a one-night stand and he does not have the cajoles to even talk to Dylan about it. “I’ll call you.” Pshaw. Will that come back to bite him? Who knows.
I’m having a blast writing the Vlad/Gwendolyn dynamic. In part because female characters are often the ones acting “maternal” and taking care of other people. But in this story, that’s really Vlad.
I want to say so much about Penny and Mikel but I can’t but oh man, things are going to get very interesting.
LOL, the Sages would definitely be pissed to know someone was calling them witches. But there was no way William was not going to see Morgyn. The heart wants what it wants…
I love the wall of text! It makes me feel better for the 10,000 comments I leave on your story hahahahaha!
“I mean, who can compete with Morgyn as a love interest? NO ONE, that’s who.” – Well, yes, obviously. I’m just trying really hard not to have my personal predetermined biases come into play so I thought I’d throw in something about how William probably also loved his husband or whatever 😛 (I’m kidding. I know William loved his husband. And trying very hard not to swoon over Morgyn, especially since Morgyn is still such a wildcard in your story as far as intentions go)
Yeah, surprisingly Vlad actually seems to be the one person that’s gone through the most growth in the story, when you think about it. Which is interesting, considering he was the one that started the most set in his ways out of all of them.
Haha I can handle Miko and Akira not being sunshine and daisies from the get go, it would be weird if they were. Like you said, even the fact they are actually talking at all is a huge milestone for them. And you know, if I were to be completely rational, they might not be the best for each other in the end, but hell I do want them to try because the irrational side of me is all over them <3 But yes, I think that side of Akira's flawed logic has always been present from the beginning. Maybe one day he'll understand that to learn a lesson you have to actually live through it.
Haha never apologise for mountains of comments, I loved them 🙂 And yeah, I have a tendency to leave long comments, but I don't want to gloss over anything, and this "writing my thoughts down as I go" approach means I don't forget by the time I get to the end – even if it means I end up repeating myself sometimes haha.
Oh man. Dammit dammit dammit. Now I usually just breeze on past romance tropes—lock eyes? Whatevs. Mutual blushing? Use sparingly, save it for tumblr—but my one weakness, despite having publicly called babies “screaming blood potatoes,” is watching someone get all domestic when they’re watching their partner/crush interact with a kid. Alice not getting outwardly sappy but reminiscing about her own father while watching Vlad with Gwendolyn… freaking catnip. More please! Especially after Penny’s comments, I’m with Vlad here. Steal. The. Child.
Maybe it’s my lack of short-term memory talking, but I can’t help but feel we’ve met Gwen’s parents before, even if we weren’t explicitly told they were Gwen’s parents. Anyone? Bingers? “She’s a demon” is also a p. suspect thing for Vlad to say.
William, dude, c’mon. That’s all I have to say.
Ooh, I’m loving the tiny bit of distancing language where we get Alice’s dad’s name several times but not her mom’s. Valeria, was it? I think it was Valeria. No essay today because my brain is fried and arghargharghargh steal the child.
::MANIACAL LAUGHTER:: YES TO THIS.
STEAL THE CHILD.
I am not even going to disguise my goals lol. Don’t worry. MORE IS COMING.
William. Ha. Like I said, all my characters are a hot mess. Even the ones who seem like they have it together.
Yes! Alice’s mom is Valeria 🙂 thank you for noticing
Ummmmmmmm……STEAL THE CHILD.
Gwendolyn’s birth parents are not people we’ve met, but Gwendolyn’s adoptive parents are the Bjerstens.
Vlad, Alice and Gwendolyn together is oddly adorable, in a heartwarming but disturbing sort of way. Something tells me that Gwendolyn probably would be better off with them than with the foster parents she’s living with now, especially with how doting Vlad seems to be.
Aww man, and that scene of Alice calling her parents. It tugged on my heartstrings, bad T.T Her mum telling her dad not to baby her and then immediately doing the same made me chuckle. I’ve clearly watched too many medieval movies and played too much D&D because the second I read “do you have enough mace”, my mind just instantly went to the weapon. 😂
Okay, your comments are proof I have to very careful with you because you have a sharp eye and I will end up accidentally giving you a spoiler LOL.
But man are you spot on.
Vlad, Alice & Gwendolyn, my sweet lil murder family. Vlad is the most doting of guardians. Gwendolyn has him wrapped around her lil finger.
Alice finally called home! It only took 32 chapters! Haha, her mom is a force of nature, right?
Man, I wish I would have written a mace joke. What a missed opportunity! Also, the amount of BBD inspiration I get from D&D is crazy. Every time I need inspiration about a supernatural creature, I flip open the monster manual lol
Hehee, by now I’m getting close to being all caught up, so not many spoilers left that you can accidentally give me in advance. Unless you mean spoilers of chapters that have yet to be published, in which case… gimme alllllll the snippets 😁 *grabby hands*
I know, right? It’s a fantastic source of inspiration, and sometimes it even works the other way around!
Lol poor William. If ever the letdown existed, it is to wait a whole century to get your fuck on only to realize it wasn’t worth the wait. LOL ouch. That’s like the harshest Yelp! review. Damn, Dyl, not only was your sex unimpressive, but William can’t get out of the library fast enough when Dylan suggests they head back to the hotel. Bruh. That’s so cold. And funny. And relatable. And damn.
William has it so bad for Morgyn it’s cute. It makes me all Hallmark-y warm and fuzzy thinking about them in The Strauds.
Alice meeting Gwen is classic. Alice freaking out over Vlad teaching Gwen to use a sword is hilarious. Look, life skills, Alice. I mean it wasn’t too long ago Alice was willing swords into Vlad’s hands. SOMETHING is coming. Better not to send the child to her slaughter.
Man the tension between Miko and Akira. Yikes and a half. Idk if I’m just a lovefool or wtf, but I’d give Akira a chance again. He seems to have repented and made actual attempts at redemption. He’s been sober. He’d do whatever it took to get into her good graces. Like man. He’s not all talk, and that’s a Pink kink.
idk why but Alice watching Vlad and Gwen sword fight near a pool conjures the image of Alice walking/dancing/strutting on a plank over a pool in The Strauds. Gracefulness and a pool. Which is kinda funny in sim world b/c pools are deadly, perhaps a ladderless pool and enclosed walls were the go-to kill method in sims once upon a time. the juxtaposition between beauty and death.
Ohhh, Penny’s potion is an undercover one. Interesting.
I knowwwwww but also, William chose to hold off for so long and build it up into something one night with a rando could not possibly fix. He can’t have great sex when he’s so busy lying to himself.
LOL Do you see why I could never let Gwendolyn go once she made her way into the story? Also yeah, ummm, everyone should be getting ready to fight.
Your Miko/Akira opinions are FASCINATING. I think this is about the moment that I fell in love with Akira too. Like he just has a lock on me, now.
Squee! It is a nice callback right? I never want to repeat scenes in my AU, but I do try to reference moments that happened in the other universe.
Hehe ladderless pools. Best way to get rid of anyone standing in your sim’s way…