Anne's Fiction Corner

Fiction party time! Or not, really, because this was the Skeins of Fate group, and they don't have parties. They have wakes. In this particular case, they are being affected by the events of the recent The Fall of Tenochtitlan; Geoff's group saw what happened in Mexico, and Aurora's group will see what is now happening after.

Today's story is Wages of Sin, starring Aurora Dahl, Woody Anderson, Kettila Blomgren, Vivian Landry and Will Nordstrom. It is a tale of the wreckages left behind by the actions of the divine, the price of subjugation, and the very real and cosmic damage of a pantheon meddling where they should not be. Unfortunately, even the Norse Scions don't come out too great when Odin goes on a rampage.

Eastern Promises won the poll, so they will get the next story, followed by Strawberry Fields, who were the last place finisher in this particular race (but don't worry, Tuatha Scions, we still love you). That means it's time to reset the entire poll for new votes - go nuts, guys!

• If you vote for Better Next Time, you're voting for stories from the misfit bands of demigods hurtling toward their destiny in a mismatched group of cultural clash - Geoff Matheson of the Aesir, Sangria Tecuhtli of the Teotl, Sophia Archimedes and Mitchell Gozer of the Theoi and Marcus James of the Orisha. They're currently trying to bring together disparate pantheons who don't get along, support the people they're loyal to and still find a way to make their mark on a great wide world that is waiting for them.
• If you vote for Eastern Promises, you're voting for stories from the nineteenth-century band in a world of colonialism and industry - Leona Middleton, Samuel Vanderbilt and Paniwi Bayteru of the Netjer, Faruza Alinejad and Yadi of the Yazata, Mohini Misra and Padma Billingsworth of the Deva, James Howard and Alvin de Lafayette of the Anunna, and many more. They're currently fighting corruption among local authorities, learning what other cultures have to offer them and finding ways to survive no matter what the cost.
• If you vote for Gangs of New York, you're voting for stories from the modern-day miscreants of New York terrorist fame - Michael Chambers, Corey Holbrook and Winona Nelson of the Anunna, Russel Pride and Valentina Radic of the Pesedjet, Skylar Copperwithe and Zoe Vrontopoulos of the Theoi, and many more. They're currently struggling in an entropic world, breaking and making law where it suits them and attempting to find their way around a strange new supernatural landscape.
• If you vote for Skeins of Fate, you're voting for stories from our frozen northern band - Aurora Dahl, Woody Anderson and Will Nordstrom of the Aesir, Kettila Blomgren of the Teotl and Vivian Landry of the Orisha. They're currently handling the looming shadow of Ragnarok, the fallout of their parents' political decisions and their own personal desire to deviate from the paths Fate has set them.

Anne's Fiction Corner

Hey, have you guys missed Russel? He's missed you, and a whole bunch of other stuff besides! And to tell us all about it, we have a new piece of fiction from his player. We present Punch Drunk: Afraid of the Dark, a new chronicle of Russel's adventures in increasingly dire straits in New York City.

Russel is still confused, upset, and unsure what he's supposed to be doing, only now he has a bunch of new people who don't like him and make things more difficult to add to the equation. Such is the life of a Scion.

Anne's Fiction Corner

I may still be pretty much useless on the computer, but with the help of dictation software and a whole lot of painkillers, I'm unconquerable nonetheless. Today's story is Qualities of Heat, starring Sophia Archimedes with appearances by Geoff Matheson, Mitchell Gozer, Marcus James, Sangria Tecuhtli and everybody's favorite mysterious Aztec Scion. It is a tale of expectations versus reality, reason versus passion, and what happens when violent temper collides with unexpected outcome.

Skeins of Fate won the voting this time (although it was pretty close), so they're up next! We're down to just two to vote on now, so let the rivalry begin!

• If you vote for Eastern Promises, you're voting for stories from the nineteenth-century band in a world of colonialism and industry - Leona Middleton, Samuel Vanderbilt and Paniwi Bayteru of the Netjer, Faruza Alinejad and Yadi of the Yazata, Mohini Misra and Padma Billingsworth of the Deva, James Howard and Alvin de Lafayette of the Anunna, and many more. They're currently fighting corruption among local authorities, learning what other cultures have to offer them and finding ways to survive no matter what the cost.
• If you vote for Strawberry Fields, you're voting for stories from the wild-eyed Celtic band - Dierdre O'Riordan, Seamus McMann, Jude Shriver and Auggie MacDonough of the Tuatha de Danann and Alaina Bertrand and Ignatius Rex of the Nemetondevos. They're currently gearing up to challenge the combined might of the military and their shadowy puppeteers, while reaching out to their kinsmen around the world.

And off we go!

Anne's Fiction Corner

Okay, it's been like ten million kazillion years since I posted fiction, and I'm sorry about that. There are lots of things to blame, like the Inue and the boon rewrites and school and work and my stupid busted arm, but really what it boils down to is that I'm the worst. So... sorry about being the worst.

But today, I am back with a new story, and a long-awaited one at that. Today's story is Mother, Mother, starring Michael Chambers in his debut fiction. It is a tale of children and parents, love, sex and all the things they mean to different people.

Since the polls have been all dramatic lately, here's what I'm going to do with the fiction polls: I'm going to set them with voting options for the storylines that haven't gotten a story in this round of voting, and keep doing that until all of them get a turn. Since last time we voted on everything except Gangs of New York, this time we'll vote on everything except Gangs and the new winner, Better Next Time, and we'll keep doing that until we start over with all the options again.

This is just for the fiction voting - we're still discussing the other polls. And, as always, I reserve the right to go off on a bender and write something just because I want to, because only I am the boss of me. Let's see some more stories faster now!

The poll's being reset, and here are the new options!:

• If you vote for Eastern Promises, you're voting for stories from the nineteenth-century band in a world of colonialism and industry - Leona Middleton, Samuel Vanderbilt and Paniwi Bayteru of the Netjer, Faruza Alinejad and Yadi of the Yazata, Mohini Misra and Padma Billingsworth of the Deva, James Howard and Alvin de Lafayette of the Anunna, and many more. They're currently fighting corruption among local authorities, learning what other cultures have to offer them and finding ways to survive no matter what the cost.
• If you vote for Skeins of Fate, you're voting for stories from our frozen northern band - Aurora Dahl, Woody Anderson and Will Nordstrom of the Aesir, Kettila Blomgren of the Teotl and Vivian Landry of the Orisha. They're currently handling the looming shadow of Ragnarok, the fallout of their parents' political decisions and their own personal desire to deviate from the paths Fate has set them.
• If you vote for Strawberry Fields, you're voting for stories from the wild-eyed Celtic band - Dierdre O'Riordan, Seamus McMann, Jude Shriver and Auggie MacDonough of the Tuatha de Danann and Alaina Bertrand and Ignatius Rex of the Nemetondevos. They're currently gearing up to challenge the combined might of the military and their shadowy puppeteers, while reaching out to their kinsmen around the world.

Enjoy!

Reading List

Question: Hi, guys, I was just wondering about the fiction section on your website. For the Chronological Order part, Land of the Red Sun and Better Next Time aren't there, so is there a pattern that one could assume for them, like left to right or up to down? Thanks for the great stuff guys!

It's definitely a little difficult to tell, especially for ones that don't have a lot of stories, so thanks for asking!

If you're on the main Fiction page, you'll want to read from the top of the column to the bottom before moving to the next column. So for the Better Next Time section, start with "Close to the Sun", then follow with "The World in a Tortoiseshell" and "Heir to the Throne", and so on; and for Land of the Red Sun, start with "Made in His Image" followed by "Little Fish", and go on from there.

The BNT and LotRS stories are in the Chronological Fiction list, but since they take place in the same universe, they're interspersed throughout in the order that they occurred, so that if you want to read everyone's story and see how they affect one another, you can. If you just want to stick with a particular set of characters, however, then you'll want the main Fiction page.

Hopefully that made sense, but let me know if you have any other questions!

Anne's Fiction Corner

Man, is it still Christmas? We've got new art, we've got visiting players, and now we also have one more treat in the form of some more player-contributed fiction for the Gangs of New York game. If I didn't have death-flu, I'd be partying on the roof.

For those who have been eagerly awaiting more in the saga of Russel Pride, awkward but endearing puncher of monsters, today we present Punch Drunk: Made of Steel, the third and final installment of this particular game's shenanigans, featuring Russel along with bandmates Anton Volconi, Skylar Copperwaithe, Isaac Green and Zoe Vrontopoulos. In it, Russel finds out a lot of things he didn't really want to know and faces a lot of things he didn't really want to mess around with, but he also figures out some important things about himself in the process. Also, punching fire demons.

That'll be it from Russel for a little while, since his story just ended and the Gangs group will be reforming for a new story in a week or two, but don't despair. He's scheduled to be in the next band as well, so we may yet hear more of his antics in the Big Apple.

Anne's Fiction Corner

Well, will you look at what we've got here? It's another awesome fiction offering from our players!

The saga of Russel Pride continues with more journal entries in Punch Drunk: Taking Back the City, still starring our favorite Scion of Sekhmet (unless you ask Leona) as well as Skylar Copperwaithe, Isaac Green, Anton Volconi and Zoe Vrontopoulos. Today, Russel learns more about what it means to be a Scion, has run-ins with both monsters and mortal police forces, and realizes that feelings are hard.

Man, I love writing fiction myself, but it's so much fun when I get to read someone else's, too!

Anne's Fiction Corner

Hey, everybody!

Today we have a special treat: fiction not from me, but from one of the players! The delightful Punch Drunk: The Life and Times of Russel Pride is now available for reading in the site's fiction section. It is part of the journal of Russel Pride, Scion of Sekhmet, and features appearances by his bandmates Skylar Copperwaithe, Zoe Vrontopoulos, Anton Volconi and Isaac Green. It's about life, the universe, and what tiny parts of them Russel is able to kind of sort of understand stuff about.

Frankly, it is my favorite thing of the moment, so go check it out. More Gangs fiction will hopefully be on the way soon!

Next Time, Honest

Question: Which stories are for Geoff and Sangria's adventures and backstories?

For now, that would be Better Next Time, which includes both of them as well as Sophia, Goze and Marcus. As we get close to Ragnarok they'll run into the Skeins of Fate group and sort of blend, but I'll warn you when that happens.

The game's name comes from Geoff's tendency, once his group has completely ruined something, to promise various gods that he promises they'll do better next time. Honest.

Scribe and Chronicler

Question: Hi, I have two questions to ask. How does a god transform into a purview Avatar? Like for the Flood, does their body just turn into a human-shaped water construct, or is there more? My second question is that I plan to write Scion fiction, so do you have any tips on how to to start it?

Your first question has already been answered in this blog post! Go ye and read.

As for your second, a few people have asked me about writing Scion fiction, although it's always been over email before so you guys haven't seen it here on the blog. Most writers will tell you that giving advice about writing is fucking impossible and usually not helpful, but I'll do my best!

When I started writing Scion fiction, I did it very freeform; I wrote up the events of game sessions as stories rather than inventing any plots of my own, and I didn't do it every game, only when something happened that I thought was interesting. I approached it sort of like tuning in to a TV show every few episodes, and I was only writing for the other players who already knew what was going on and who all the characters were, so I didn't have to do any background work or setup.

That gave me a good springboard to get comfortable, and I'd recommend doing something like that to get yourself ready to both branch out into more new stories and people to share them with (unless you're naturally all about sharing and you don't get uncomfortable about showing your work to others, in which case, awesome, go for it!).

Other than that, though, it's mostly just general writing advice I have for you. Don't worry if the first few things you write aren't what you want them to be; you can always revise them, and anyway, writing is like anything else. It takes practice, and that means that your earliest things will of course not be as good as ones you create later when you've had more time to hone your skills. Write things you're interested in, because if you write about something you think is boring, you'll have a hard time doing it and you'll bore the audience besides. Talk to the players who have characters in your story, if there are any besides yourself, because they'll know more about their characters than you do. Have fun!

I can't get a lot more specific than that, because writing's different for everyone. Some people have to write five thousand words a day and just edit them down, others write once a month when inspiration strikes them, some listen to music, others need silence, and so on and so forth. Find what works for you and go with it, and remember that Scion's all about heroic tales and divine myths, and it's awesome that we get to write those down.

Oh, and use your spellcheck and grammarcheck.

Anne's Fiction Corner

The long-awaited, hotly anticipated first story for Gangs of New York is here: The Gidim, starring Winona Nelson. It's her backstory and life prior to becoming a Scion, and is a tale of slow entropy, disadvantaged childhood and the very worst human nature has to offer. I don't normally put ratings or warnings on stories, but if you're upset by people being very, very horrible to one another, you may want to give this one a miss.

Gangs won the last vote in a landslide, so they'll be getting the next story as well (hopefully more quickly... I can't decide if it was class or Winona herself that made this one take forever). They're booted off the poll now so someone else can have a turn - happy voting!

• If you vote for Better Next Time, you're voting for stories from our ever-active, cross-cultural globetrotting band - Geoff Matheson of the Aesir, Sangria Tecuhtli of the Aztlanti, Mitchell Gozer and Sophia Archimedes of the Dodekatheon and Marcus James of the Orisha. They're currently dealing with safeguarding territories they never expected to be responsible for, attempting to right wrongs and walking the long, hard road of repentence.
• If you vote for Eastern Promises, you're voting for stories from the nineteenth-century band in a world of colonialism and industry - Leona Middleton, Samuel Vanderbilt and Paniwi Bayteru of the Pesedjet, Faruza Alinejad and Yadi of the Yazata, Mohini Misra and Padma Billingsworth of the Devas, and many more. They're currently fighting corruption among local authorities, learning what other cultures have to offer them and finding ways to survive no matter what the cost.
• If you vote for Skeins of Fate, you're voting for stories from our frozen northern band - Aurora Dahl, Woody Anderson and Will Nordstrom of the Aesir, Kettila Blomgren of the Aztlanti and Vivian Landry of the Orisha. They're currently handling the looming shadow of Ragnarok, the fallout of their parents' political decisions and their own personal desire to deviate from the paths Fate has set them.
• If you vote for Strawberry Fields, you're voting for stories from the wild-eyed Celtic band - Dierdre O'Riordan, Seamus McMann, Jude Shriver and Auggie MacDonough of the Tuatha de Danann and Alaina Bertrand and Ignatius Rex of the Nemetondevos. They're currently gearing up to challenge the combined might of the military and their shadowy puppeteers, while reaching out to their kinsmen around the world.

Stories!

Sometimes change comes slow around here, but it does eventually come. For those wishing for an easier time digging around in the Fiction archives, things are now hopefully easier to navigate. Stories are organized by the game timeline/continuity they belong to and arranged in order, and if you're more interested in reading all the games as their timelines converge, the chronological fiction page is still available.

And speaking of fiction, a new poll is up on the right for the next story after the saga of Winona hits the site. In the spirit of experimentation, we're going to put up a vote for the storyline you'd like to see commence, rather than individual characters, and see if we like that way of doing it. Changes!

As before, here's a quick rundown of what you'll be getting for your vote:

• If you vote for Better Next Time, you're voting for stories from our ever-active, cross-cultural globetrotting band - Geoff Matheson of the Aesir, Sangria Tecuhtli of the Aztlanti, Mitchell Gozer and Sophia Archimedes of the Dodekatheon and Marcus James of the Orisha. They're currently dealing with safeguarding territories they never expected to be responsible for, attempting to right wrongs and walking the long, hard road of repentence.
• If you vote for Eastern Promises, you're voting for stories from the nineteenth-century band in a world of colonialism and industry - Leona Middleton, Samuel Vanderbilt and Paniwi Bayteru of the Pesedjet, Faruza Alinejad and Yadi of the Yazata, Mohini Misra and Padma Billingsworth of the Devas, and many more. They're currently fighting corruption among local authorities, learning what other cultures have to offer them and finding ways to survive no matter what the cost.
• If you vote for Gangs of New York, you're voting for stories from the modern-day miscreants of New York terrorist fame - Michael Chambers and Winona Nelson of the Anunna, Valentina Radic of the Pesedjet and many more. They're currently struggling in an entropic world, breaking and making law where it suits them and attempting to find their way around a strange new supernatural landscape.
• If you vote for Skeins of Fate, you're voting for stories from our frozen northern band - Aurora Dahl, Woody Anderson and Will Nordstrom of the Aesir, Kettila Blomgren of the Aztlanti and Vivian Landry of the Orisha. They're currently handling the looming shadow of Ragnarok, the fallout of their parents' political decisions and their own personal desire to deviate from the paths Fate has set them.
• If you vote for Strawberry Fields, you're voting for stories from the wild-eyed Celtic band - Dierdre O'Riordan, Seamus McMann, Jude Shriver and Auggie MacDonough of the Tuatha de Danann and Alaina Bertrand and Ignatius Rex of the Nemetondevos. They're currently gearing up to challenge the combined might of the military and their shadowy puppeteers, while reaching out to their kinsmen around the world.

Happy voting!

Anne's Fiction Corner

It's that time again, and I hope you guys are all ready for this story, because our players definitely weren't. Today's story is The Fall of Tenochtitlan, starring Geoff Matheson with appearances by Sangria Tecuhtli, Mitchell Gozer and Marcus James, not to mention an insanely star-studded supporting cast. It is a tale of divided loyalties, devastating betrayal and events that change the world forever.

I just realized that for some reason I accidentally labeled the progress bar as Sangria Fiction this past round, even though it's technically Geoff fiction. But that's okay; Geoff may be the narrator and it may be his story, but you'd better believe it's Sangria's story, too.

Before I put up a new voting poll, I want to turn to you, the readers and players, for a little advice about how to plan for new fiction as we move on! John and I have been wondering if the current method of voting is really the best one, since it tends to skew toward always the same characters. I love all the characters, so I'm generally happy no matter what, but there are a few different things we were thinking of trying.

• Vote for individual characters, just like we do now. Everybody votes for whomever they're most interested in, and life continues as normal.
• Vote for individual games - that is, Better Next Time, Eastern Promises, Gangs of New York, Strawberry Fields, whatever. Everyone votes for the storyline they want to see more of, and then I'll write the next story in that line, which might be from any of the characters involved.
• Vote for individual characters, but rotate the voting per game. This time we vote only on Eastern Promises characters, next time we vote only on Gangs of New York characters, and so on.

Or something else that you guys think of that I haven't. Or maybe nothing needs to change! I don't know, I'm very unfocused right after I finish something.

Winona won with some kind of crazy old woman wizardry, so she'll be getting the next story. Tell me what you guys think, and we'll put up a new voting poll soon!

Anne's Fiction Corner

What, a new story done in under a month? It's true! Today's story is Children of the Sun, starring Sangria Tecuhtli with appearances by Marcus James, Mitchell Gozer and a seriously distressed Geoff Matheson. It is a tale of vengeance, family ties and uncontrolled power that finally finds an outlet. It's also the worst. Seriously, just the worst.

Geoff won the vote with a slim margin of only one, so he'll get the next story! The new voting poll will go up momentarily, and with the really close voting lately, I'm totally excited to see who will come up next!

• If you vote for Aurora Dahl, you'll be getting a story about the fallout of a divine war and the passing of ancient responsibilities on to reluctant young Scions.
• If you vote for Darcy Jolie-Pitt, you'll be getting a story about two sisters trapped in a foreign underworld, trying to find their way back to the light.
• If you vote for Faruza Alinejad, you'll be getting a story about unlikely friendships and the sacrifices bandmates sometimes make for one another, physical or spiritual.
• If you vote for Leona Middleton, you'll be getting a story about a headstrong girl bucking the demands of her society and setting her sights on a truly impossible dream.
• If you vote for Mitchell Gozer, you'll be getting a story about the long, hard road of repentance and the violent nature of divine divorce courts.
• If you vote for Mohini Misra, you'll be getting a story about her band undermining a corrupt raja and making difficult decisions about whether or not love can overcome evil.
• If you vote for Seamus McMann, you'll be getting a story about the clash between divine and mortal authorities and one band of Scions' determination to rescue one of their own at any cost.
• If you vote for Sophia Archimedes, you'll be getting a story about her stormy non-relationship with a certain notorious Scion.
• If you vote for Will Nordstrom, you'll be getting a story about his childhood and growth into one of the last Vanir Scions in the world.
• If you vote for Winona Nelson, you'll be getting a story about the struggle of poverty, the entropy of the universe and all the ways a normal woman can end up at the very bottom.
• If you vote for Woody Anderson, you'll be getting a story about a very old Norse Scion adapting to the ways of a new culture and finding a way to honor new family members.
• If you vote for Yadi, you'll be getting a story about her origins as a street rat in the back alleys of Tehran and her hopes for a better life as a child of the righteous gods.

Incidentally, I know Vivian was a super popular option on the last poll, so many people may be wondering why she isn't on this one. It's not because we don't love her - we just realized that her story can't happen until Goze's has gone through. So if you're looking for some Vivian love, vote for Goze and she'll be back in the next round!

Anne's Fiction Corner

It's time for new fiction! The long-awaited return of our Celtic Scions to the story stream commences with Wild Rovers, starring Seamus McMann with guest appearances by Alaina Bertrand, Auggie MacDonough, Ignatius Rex, Jude Shriver and Luke Honre. It is a tale of dogged determination, gods made flesh and the nagging feeling that something, somewhere, is not quite right about this situation.

There was no contest for the next story this time; Sangria won by a massive landslide, so next up will be some trials and very violent tribulations in Mexico. In the meantime, a new poll will go up momentarily to start the voting over, and, as promised, here are your reminders about what new stories you're voting for!

• If you vote for Darcy Jolie-Pitt, you'll be getting a story about two sisters trapped in a foreign underworld, trying to find their way back to the light.
• If you vote for Faruza Alinejad, you'll be getting a story about unlikely friendships and the sacrifices bandmates sometimes make for one another, physical or spiritual.
• If you vote for Geoff Matheson, you'll be getting a story about the violent clash between two pantheons, the harsh betrayal of family and the consequences of taking sides.
• If you vote for Mohini Misra, you'll be getting a story about her band undermining a corrupt raja and making difficult decisions about whether or not love can overcome evil.
• If you vote for Sophia Archimedes, you'll be getting a story about her stormy non-relationship with a certain notorious Scion.
• If you vote for Valentina Radic, you'll be getting a story about an international crime syndicate's most crafty member seeking her place in the world.
• If you vote for Vivian Landry, you'll be getting a story about her first meeting with the Titan Erebus and the unexpected results of a political alliance.
• If you vote for Will Nordstrom, you'll be getting a story about his childhood and growth into one of the last Vanir Scions in the world.
• If you vote for Winona Nelson, you'll be getting a story about the struggle of povery, the entropy of the universe and all the ways a normal woman can end up at the very bottom.
• If you vote for Yadi, you'll be getting a story about her origins as a street rat in the back alleys of Tehran and her hopes for a better life as a child of the righteous gods.

Anne's Fiction Corner

Okay, so, this is not the story I was supposed to be working on. It's supposed to be Seamus' turn, as voted by you fine people, and I promise he's outlined and in process, but thanks to events transpiring in our god-level game, this story got bumped to the front of the line. I apologize to those eagerly awaiting events in the Irish quarter of the game, but the Margaritas' never take no for an answer.

So here we are. Today's story is Adrasteia Rising, starring Alison Margaritas, going it alone. It is a tale of the fluid nature of reality, the powers of crime and punishment, and the consequences of familial alienation.

Meanwhile, I'm heading back to Seamus, who will hopefully get to come complain about his life soon enough. I was going to just leave the poll up and ignore Alison if she won, but since the new polls don't allow people to change their votes, that would disqualify all the people who voted for Alison, which would suck. So I'm putting the poll back up again, and all of you can go vote once again. I assume Sangria will maintain her commanding lead, but you never know, the Alison fans might pull a surprise upset. Since no new people have been added, refer back to this post for spoilers about what voting for each character might get you in a story.

Anne's Fiction Corner

It's that time!

Today's story is What Dreams May Come, starring Woody Anderson with appearances by Aurora Dahl, Vivian Landry, Kettila Blomgren and Will Nordstrom. It is a tale of dreams versus reality, familial loyalty and the enduring nature of consequences. And since I know this story took a long time to come out, here's a little bonus: Weregild, a secret look into some things Aurora's doing behind the scenes. Because any time Woody is in there busting his ass, it's a good bet Aurora's in the back sabotaging his efforts somehow.

As of the writing of this post, Seamus has eked out a mighty lead of 2 votes and will get the next story. I hope you're all ready for some Irish cross-country travel shenanigans, because that's what's about to happen. A new poll will go up to the right momentarily, and you can weigh in on whose story you'd like to see next.

At the write-in request of a few of you, I'm going to start providing teasers summaries of the stories you're voting on, so you'll know exactly what you might be signing up for. Ready? Here goes!

• If you vote for Alison Margaritas, you'll be getting a story about her response to Kane's betrayal and the theft of Colin by Geoff and company, and see exactly what lengths a truly vengeance-driven Scion can go to.
• If you vote for Darcy Jolie-Pitt, you'll be getting a story about two sisters trapped in a foreign underworld, trying to find their way back to the light.
• If you vote for Faruza Alinejad, you'll be getting a story about unlikely friendships and the sacrifices bandmates sometimes make for one another, physical or spiritual.
• If you vote for Mohini Misra, you'll be getting a story about her band undermining a corrupt raja and making difficult decisions about whether or not love can overcome evil.
• If you vote for Sangria Tecuhtli, you'll be getting a story about the consequences of recent Norse actions on the struggling Mexicans and what exactly it looks like when something pushes her over the edge.
• If you vote for Sophia Archimedes, you'll be getting a story about her stormy non-relationship with a certain notorious Scion.
• If you vote for Will Nordstrom, you'll be getting a story about his childhood and growth into one of the last Vanir Scions in the world.
• If you vote for Yadi, you'll be getting a story about her origins as a street rat in the back alleys of Tehran and her hopes for a better life as a child of the righteous gods.

Happy voting - I'm off to start wrangling Irishmen!

Anne's Fiction Corner

If you've been itching to know how the Better Next Time team's travails in Duat turned out, itch no longer! This new story is out just in time for Valentine's Day, because Geoff is everybody's valentine.

Today's story is Sunrise, Sunset, starring Geoff Matheson with appearances by Sangria Tecuhtli, Marcus James and Mitchell Gozer. It is a tale of conflicting loyalties, the consequences of murder, and young people trying to fill shoes that are entirely too big for them.

Next up, duly voted in, will be Woody Anderson dealing with the aftermath of accidentally falling into the well of Mimir. New voting options will go up in a minute.

Whee! Stories!

Hug It Out!

Question: I just read Frozen Hearts, and man, and I just want to say kudos to Geoff's player, for apologizing on behalf of all of Asgard and giving Loki a hug. That was my favorite moment of the whole fiction pieces, right there. It really brings something very heartwarming into the whole thing.

I'm sure he'll be glad to know you enjoyed it. :)

Loki's general treatment across all our PCs has been really interesting, from Geoff deciding to be best friends with him forever to Aurora hating him with all the fiery passion of Muspelheim. But then again, that's just how trickster-gods roll. They can't help but polarize.

I'm pretty sure Geoff is on a mission to be charming at all the problems in the divine world until everything's okay again. Hug it out, everybody!

Meddling in the Affairs of Dragons

Question: Why does Quetzalcoatl hate Fuxi and Nuwa?

In our games, the dragon gods have had something of an ongoing rivalry which occasionally erupts into violent dragon combat, which is something everyone should try to avoid if possible because it is definitely not pretty. The three of them plus Ryujin should generally be kept away from each other when possible (and, indeed, it was Ryujin who killed Quetzalcoatl during the Half-Soul story, although he was later resurrected by the efforts of Geoff's band during Blood Heirs).

Most of the time, I wouldn't take the Rivals and Enemies on our god-pages too seriously. They have to do with events that occurred in our games as often as with basic god-rivalries across cultures. So if you see one that doesn't seem to make sense - especially between gods with cultures that are very remote from one another - it's likely that those gods got into some kind of tiff during one of our plots, rather than that they have some kind of secret mythological rivalry.