Windenburg Island, Bjersten House
Vlad
After Vlad finished learning how to use the oven, which he was sure had killed a small part of him, he told Gwendolyn to get ready for her lesson.
“Your foster parents may be unrepentant reprobates and layabouts but I am not.”
She returned a few minutes later holding the small sword he had procured for her. It was more of a rapier, really, but it was good for practice.
“He said I’m a baby witch but I still needed to know how to gut someone if the situation calls for it,” Gwendolyn announced as she did a quick pivot and stab.
Alice’s mouth fell open. She closed it and then it fell open again. She looked from him to Gwendolyn and then back to him again. “You’re teaching a kid to fucking sword fight?”
Vlad gave her a pleasant smile. “Of course I am, you said I needed a hobby.”
“Like chess or taking photographs!”
“But I’m very good at teaching her. And I enjoy it. Shouldn’t the basis of a hobby be internal joy?” he stressed, quoting one of Caleb’s self-help books. “Or is the basis of your hobbies something different? In fact, we should discuss. What exactly are your hobbies, Alice?”
The look on her face was something between disbelief and rage. Vlad practically cackled.
She poked him in the chest. “Are you out of your fucking—?”
“Language,” Vlad tutted. “Gwendolyn is a child, you know.”
His phone ringing prevented him from addressing her scream of frustration.
Britechester University Library
William
Outside of the library, William dialed the only creature whose memories matched his own. Vladislaus answered, sounding suspiciously jovial given that he could hear Alice yelling in the background.
“William, delightful to hear from you.”
“What’s going on there?” William asked suspiciously. “Aren’t you two supposed to be working on recipes?”
“Indeed,” Vlad agreed. “It’s going well. Alice was just sharing her feedback on my chosen hobby.”
William made a surprised sound. Vladislaus speaking of hobbies was like a llama speaking of tax evasion. “Did you just say hobby?”
“Yes, I’ve decided to take one one up.”
“Okay then. Do you remember the priory?”
“The one I burned?”
“What the bloody—? Why would I be looking for—?” William took a breath. His next sentence was spoken slowly. “Do you remember Tobias’s priory? You left it at my request. What became of the property?”
The sound on the phone was muffled slightly and he heard Vlad say the words “Of course we use real swords!” He moved his hand and answered William’s question, “A developer purchased the property to build a neighborhood of condos. Caleb made sure the priory was declared a historic landmark so they were forced to relocate the building.”
“So where is it?” William asked with more patience than he felt.
“The neighborhood?” Vladislaus sounded wistful, “Oh, I took it apart brick by brick until the residents were so consumed by terror that they relocated. It took me months to track them all down.”
“No! Is it not obvious that I am not trying to locate one of the many properties you’ve destroyed? The priory! Tobias’s priory! So help me, Vladislaus—”
Alice’s voice came on the phone. “What do you need William?”
“The location where the company paid to have the priory moved,” William said, trying not to let his frustration out on her.
She repeated the question to Vlad with a few choice words thrown in. Vladislaus answered cryptically, saying it was in the place where “everything good in the world went to die.”
Alice sighed, “Someone is way too dramatic and won’t just say the word gentrification. Try the west part of the modern district: Evergreen Harbor.”
William thanked her and hung up. The three witches could only be a reference to the Sages. Contrary to what Dylan believed, the magical library was real, and there was only one being that could get him access to it: the very same being who sent him on this scavenger hunt in the first place.
William tried and failed to tamp down his excitement at paying the Sage a visit.
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…