Everyday Love: Entries 3 and 4

Entry 3, eight days after Silk Talons: Chapter 8

From Ginal's journal:

I'm becoming dependant on Selah’s approval.  This was a very hard hitting realization that I came to tonight, when I tried to talk to her about the Deepcroft debacle.

What began as my seeking an apology for her condescension turned into me sobbing in frustration when I finally realized that she was right all along.  I was careless and sloppy in the Deepcroft, and I probably did almost get myself killed again.  And why?  I think because I knew instinctively that she would be able to save me if something went wrong.

She always saves me.  She's been saving me since that day in the Walling Barracks.   Have I been neglecting the Ginal part of Ginal and Selah?  I find, anymore, that being on my own is frightening and hollow. I feel incomplete when I'm not with her. 

And since last week when she told me how proud of me she was, I've felt like that was the only thing that mattered to live up to. I wasn't really angry with Selah, I was angry with myself for not living up to my own misguided need.

I know I'm being unfair to her.  I'm constantly asking her to be patient and understanding, and gods bless her, she keeps giving it.  Is she really well off with someone with as much baggage as me?

I never dreamed that being someone's lover could be so much work.  She's worth it, I love her so much.

Please Selah, just see me through.

From Selah's journal:

The tension had been building all day. I considered starting the inevitable argument, but decided that it was better to let Ginal approach it in her own way, at her own time. And indeed, after dinner, she faced me across the room, took a deep breath, and said, “Do you really think I’m weak and stupid?”

It was obvious where this was going, but I wanted her to take it there. So I set down my book, looked her in the eye, and asked, “What are we talking about here?”

“Last night,” she said. “The Deepcroft. I was the leader — Tim appointed me — but you kept taking charge, second-guessing my decisions, stepping in front of me to grab agro, and generally treating me like a child. I’m not a child. I’m good at what I do. And I have senses you will never have — scent, and seeing in the dark. And reacting to danger — I have better reflexes than any Hyur. You have no right to belittle me, damn it!”

She stood there panting, balanced between rage and tears. I understood the feeling well. And she was right — I had pretty much taken over her role in the dungeon on a couple of occasions, and I wasn’t altogether proud of it. But that usurpation hadn’t come from jealousy, or wanting to be the constant center of attention.

Ginal is right — she is good at what she does. Especially since she hasn’t done this very long. But there had definitely been problems. If I see problems, I don’t ignore them.

I took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Okay, two things. First, I am also good at what I do. I’ve had a lot of experience in dungeon-crawling. And that makes me more aware of what can go wrong. Deepcroft is a simple battle. But, like all battles, it has complexities. You have to think one step ahead, think what might be around the corner, plan for contingencies. Because if you don’t, things can go spectacularly wrong.

“Second — and this is going to be the hard part — you did a fine job there. On the whole. But there were a couple of places you could have done better. Like when you pulled three Ahriman at once, before the healer was ready. No. You don’t do that. As it happened, we pulled it off. But barely, and mostly because I was there with my lance. 

“And then there was that room with the three walking skeletons. A simple fight, and you could handle it. But I stepped ahead to see what was coming. And there were five skeletons in the next room, and yes, they were coming. My warning let you handle it. Could you have done it if they had been a surprise? I don’t think so. My warning saved you.”

Ginal balled her fists. “You can be so condescending sometimes!” she shouted. Then she burst into tears.

She’s right. I can. And part of that is because I’ve had to fight things I hope she never has to learn about. It can make you hard as glacier ice, climbing out of a pit like that.

And part of it was concern for her, a back-handed way of showing love. Because if I let her make her own mistakes, she might end up dead. Or other people on her team might end up dead. And that’s a lot harder to live with.

Trust me on this, Ginal. I’ve been there. And you will too, some day. But not now, not yet. You still have some breathing room before the guilt sets in.

So I gave her the standard pep talk, about how it wasn’t about being a hero — it was about winning the fight, as quickly and efficiently as possible. And about leadership — how when you are in charge of a team, you are the team. You don’t plan based on your own strengths. You remember their weaknesses too. You know them, and you adapt the challenge to their limitations.

I thought I did a pretty good job, but all the while she was sitting on the sofa beside me, quietly whimpering. So I put my arm around her and told her she had done fine, and I was proud of her, and I could be an asshole sometimes. What else could I do? She had done well, on the whole, especially since it was her first time leading a team. And I am extremely proud of her. She is a marvel. And I can really be a righteous bastard, when the mood strikes me. But in my defense, whatever her native talents may be (and they are considerable) I really have a hell of a lot more experience than she does. In both victory and disaster.

I asked her if she would spend the night. She pointed to my book, and asked if I wouldn’t really rather spend the night with Silver Rose. To be honest, there was part of me that thirsted for the world of my favorite author’s imagination. But that’s not the kind of thing you say to your lover, especially if she’s still wiping tears from her pretty eyes. So I split the difference, and offered to read her one of the stories. And, somewhat skeptically, she accepted.

I picked the one about the mermaid. For one thing, it’s short. And Ginal would understand the pain of the sea-child at being so different from her land-bound lover. And, it has a very happy ending.

We all need happy endings sometimes, even if they are fiction. We made our own happy ending in bed afterwards, and slept like children in each other’s arms.

If I ever meet Silver Rose, I shall have to thank her.

Entry 4, twelve days after Silk Talons: Chapter 8

From Ginal's journal:

Selah accepted an offer from Tim to work with Doom as a special instructor and strategist.  Turns out, Tim's been plotting an employment offer for weeks ever since Selah led that fight against Ifrit.  I'm really excited, because I'm hoping this means I can see at least a little more of Selah when she's working with Tim and Grez at the company manor.  How obvious would it be that I'm wanting to be around her if I "just happened" to wander in and out of the manor a few times a day?

I'm also hoping that this means we'll work together soon on another big job.  I need to prove to her, and to myself, that I can work alongside her and not get careless and need her to save me.  Maybe I can even lead a team without trying to stupidly impress her.  I can learn from my mistakes.  I am learning from my mistakes.  I just need to chance to prove it.  Being able to bask in that wonderful lavender scent she wears while on the job would only make things all the better for me.

So, Selah surprised me last night by taking me out for our second formal date.  It was the last night of the Moonfire Faire.  We spent the early evening at the amphitheater learning what they call the Bomb Dance.  After a few hours of that, we went down the line of the Faire vendors and filled up on all sorts of carnival foods.  Have I ever mentioned that could eat my weight in funnel cakes and cinnamon fried sweet potatoes?

When night fell, we stood on the Canopy's balcony and she held me as we watched the first of the night's fireworks.  I feel so safe when she holds me like that.  I feel like she's held me like that a thousand times more than she really has, and it's like I'm coming home every time.  The fireworks only helped make it all the more romantic.  After that, we spent the night running around Gridania to play at all the Faire's games.  My favorite was the one they sectioned off for the Acorn Orchard, where we had to explode all those mock bombs.

After another snack of those wonderful sweet potatoes, we were browsing over some of the clothing the Faire vendors had on display, Selah bought us both some new bikinis.  I'll admit, I was eyeing that green one pretty hard, but I wasn't sure if I should even try to wear it.  I'm not exactly ready to answer for any mysterious bulges, after all.  But Nophica bless her, Selah promised to help me cover up anything potentially embarrassing by simply standing in front of me whenever I needed.

She looked unspeakably gorgeous in her blue bikini, and I couldn't even begin to hide how turned on I was.  I'm glad we took ourselves to the relative privacy of the Apkallu Falls.  And for my own part, I've truly never felt so sexy as when I put on that almost tight fitting, most certainly revealing bikini of mine.  It made me feel like such a woman, raised tent be damned.

Another couple hours of various activity in the water, which no, my dear journal, I shall not describe, we made our way back to the Carline Canopy's balcony to watch the Moonfire Faire's final fireworks show before the sun rose.  She held me close again for the hour long show, telling me several times how much she loved me.  Although truth be told, we may or may not have been too busy making out like riled teens to watch much of the fireworks.

It's times like this, where we set aside all duties and drama and just bask in each other's love, affection and company, that I know all the other parts are worth going through.  It's times like these that she helps me find the unrestrained adolescent thrills I was denied.

I love her more than I can ever word.  I want to be with her forever.



From Selah's journal:

All Gridania is caught up in the Moonfire Faire, which has a special poignancy here in the forest where it was born. We had our own way of celebrating it back in Coerthas — the lost Coerthas of villages and farms and sunny forests, before the snows became eternal. But there the celebration was yoked to religion, warped into yet another opportunity to trumpet the superiority of our Goddess. Here, it is more primal, and if it is “about” anything, it celebrates the moonlight in the trees, and the beauty of young, lithe bodies, and the joys of love in harmony with nature.

Or so it seems to me, bred as I was in Coerthas, where everything must be moralized, explained and justified. When I asked Ginal what she thought the Moonfire Faire was about, she blinked, and shook her pretty head, and said, “Why, it’s food and fireworks and craft booths and games and dancing until sunrise. And there’s just one more night, and can we go together?”

And so we did, making it into what she would call a “date”, which meant we were there as a recognized pair of lovers, with plenty of excuses for cuddling and kissing. Not that I’m complaining — I’m now convinced the best way to view fireworks is while holding someone in your arms, so your “Oooh!”s and “Aaah!”s turn naturally into kisses. And food tastes so much better when you hold out bites for your beloved to sample, and then taste the echo of it on her lips when you move in for another kiss.

We bought matching bikinis — mine sapphire blue, hers emerald green. I dithered over spending a small fortune on a lute, a beautiful creation worthy of a professional bard, inlaid with ebony and silver. And I ended up buying it, although I know I don’t have time to practice, and it will end up being left behind like all my other instruments, next time my life hits a crisis.

But there is no crisis now. There is only peace. And so I sit cross-legged on my bed and pick out familiar chords and fingering, and whisper familiar words. And Ginal wanders over with a question in her eyes, so I teach her the words to “The Wandering Maiden”.

She already knows the tune — it’s sung throughout Eorzea, with many different lyrics. But she should learn the Coerthan version if she is going to know me, and I am sure she agrees with my opinion that the last three verses were tacked on by the priests, to prove that wayward women come to bad ends. I think the song ends when she dances in the moonlight with the wild forest boy, and that is how I intend to sing it.

And I am working some final verses, to replace the “moral” ones tacked on by the Holy See and their damned representatives. Here’s what I have so far:

So we danced all night by the light of the moon

You joined your hand with mine

And I wrapped my waist with the skin of the wolf

And my hair with the wild grape vine

And the sun came up, and you did not leave

I saw your beauty clear

And I stood at your side as your own true love

Without doubt, or shame, or fear

For I know in my soul that I love you

I know that you love me

We will wander the world as lovers true

And warriors strong and free

The last verse could still use a little work, but I’m sure the words will comb themselves out when they are ready. The sentiment is there, even if the rhymes are a little awkward.

Everyday Love: Entries 1 and 2

Entry 1, three days after Silk Talons: Chapter 8

From Ginal's Journal:

In the last few moths, my life has been moving faster than it ever has.  My mind and heart are constantly racing with thoughts and feelings that are growing more difficult to sort through, so maybe writing them down here will help me make sense of everything.

I've spent my life fantasizing about finding someone who would accept me and love me, and now that I finally have Selah, I can admit to something I never thought I'd need to.  I'm really damn scared.

On the one hand, Selah's shown me a consistent patience and understanding for my shortcomings and insecurities that make me more grateful by the day that I've met her.  I also have no doubt that she loves me and wants to be with me.  I see it in her eyes, I hear it in her voice, I feel it when she takes my hand.

But there's a hesitancy there, sometimes.  An uncertainty, maybe?  It's as though she's holding something back, or is unsure of us.  Or me?

I wish I knew why this was, but there's still so much she's not told me about her life before me.  I remember what she said about her family throwing her out of their home, just because they found her with a woman.  I guess an Ishgardian wedding is out.  Miounne had mentioned something about how Selah was never as invested in her past lovers as she is in me, and Ywain will only tell me to "be patient, for she'll tell you in time."

I know you've been through something hard, Selah.  Is that why you hold back?  I pray you can find the trust in me to tell me.  I pray you know I'm here for you.

I'm also feeling conflicted about our love making.  Don't get me wrong, I love the sex I have with Selah.  It truly does feel as good as I used to fantasize it would, and there's an intimacy beyond the physical that makes me feel drunk.  Selah's been a wonderful teacher as I'm learning how to touch and explore her, and no matter how long we go or how often we're intimate, I crave more and more of her.

Then she starts wanting to include my male parts, and sometimes I can't shake the discomfort it brings me.  Maybe I should be grateful, since she's very clearly accepting of and enthusiastic about all of my body.  But for some reason, sometimes, if she seems too eager or too attentive about that part of me, I start to feel like less of a woman.  Does she see me as not quite a woman, or is she just trying to show me how much she loves and accepts me?  I don't know how to tell, but for now I'll keep trying to direct her back to my female areas.  A little time is all I'm asking for, Selah.

I never had any idea that love, sex and intimacy could be so confusing or frightening, but I still believe it's worth trying for.  She's my soul mate, and I know we'll grow into something amazing.

From Selah's journal:

She feels so comfortable to me. We are already finishing each other’s sentences. Like an old married couple — the mythic “happy couple” of my imagination, since I have never known one in life. Because every couple, all of them that I have known, has been unhappy, each in its own peculiar way. I have long since stopped believing in happy marriages. But there is something about her that makes me hope I am mistaken.

I worry about her. I worry about her and me. Worry that I am being selfish, keeping her for my own happiness. Because she gives me that — a peaceful joy, as if I had always known her. As if we were children together once, long ago.  As if we are children still, playing innocently in life’s shallows.  Innocent even when we are in bed together, playing adult games of touching and exploring, of joining bodies.  She is so painfully grateful for my love.  And so I worry — is my acceptance of her love, and her gratitude, a selfish thing, an exploitation of her trust for my own pleasure?  Would she have been better off loving someone else?

Nobody has ever loved her before. Or so she says. Certainly, no one has has given her this intimate trust, this adult love of blissfully merging bodies. She has never dared to expose herself to others. Or, when she did, they rejected her in horrible way.  And so she stopped trying.  Am I so unusual, that I can love her?  Or has she just been unlucky in those she trusted?

And when I am with her, I also feel that trust.  With her, I can even accept that standard kind of love — the male on top, the intimate penetration.  I thought I had escaped all that.  I thought I never again would need to be subjected.  And yet with her, it feels safe, or at least not totally a disaster.  Can it be because she is, undeniably, a woman, even though she embodies both genders?  What is a man, I wonder, and what is a woman, if it is not simply having these particular parts?  And what is it like for her, knowing she is a woman, and yet being… mixed, peculiar (in the original sense of the word.) Unique.

There are myths in which the gods created people as hermaphrodites, each one complete in their own two-natured body. But, being complete, there was no need to couple.  And so the gods split them apart, male and female, so each person would have the need to love, to join.  To find their other half and, finding them, to again become complete.

In her, I feel I have found my other half.  But is it fair to her?  Am I also her other half, her long-lost soul-mate?  Or am I just the best approximation that has come along?  I lie awake and ponder, as I ache to hold her in my arms.

Entry 2, seven days after Silk Talons: Chapter 8

From Ginal's journal:

The Twin Adder hired Doom to delve into the Tamrara Deepcroft to try to put the dead back to sleep, and once again, Timothy decided he wanted me to lead the team.

At first I was excited, and determined to show that I learned from my nearly fatal mistake with the poachers.  I wasn't going to mess up this second chance.  Selah, however, was insistent on joining us, even shirking some something-or-another books she had been looking forward to.  I didn't ask her to come, anyway.  I'm not helpless.

Make no mistake, dear journal, I was grateful for her presence, as Selah and I have come to fight with the same natural synchronization that we love with, but things could have gone better.   For one, she very obviously was trying to protect me.  She constantly went out of her way to point out threats she thought I didn't see, seemingly forgetting that I can hear, smell and see in the dark better than she can.  And those moments where she threw herself in front of me to shield me from attacks I could have easily evaded were more aggravating than anything. 

The one thing that truly hurt, though, was when I tried to make a call on how to tackle a particularly nasty ghoul.  When she disagreed, she used her status as a famous primal-slayer to take over and direct my comrades.  My authority was informal at best, and she undermined and embarrassed me.  This had damn well better been a misguided attempt to protect me, because if she truly thinks I'm so weak or incompetent, then I wonder why in the hells she's even here.

She can't do that to me again.  I can forgive her, but I won't be treated like this by anyone.   Not even Selah.  But how can I explain to Selah that she was wrong in the Deepcroft, while still making sure she understands I need her support?  I truly feel like she owes me an apology, because that really damn hurt.

Or should I just stay quiet and accept her actions?  She is, after all, the one who's slain primals and dragons, so maybe she did know better.  Which one of us is in the wrong, here?

When we returned to Gridania, we lounged in the Canopy to celebrate a job well done.  After a couple of beers, I was just about to pull her aside to talk things over.

Then that little tart of a barmaid interrupted, practically throwing herself on Selah.  Selah's mine, and I won't sit idle while some half dressed bar wench solicits my woman.  I had nearly committed to the thought of standing up and decking the tart, when Selah pulled me close and gave the most passionate, tongue nearly down my throat, hot and heavy kiss she's ever mustered.

I don't know if she was getting drunk, or what else it could have been, but the message was quite clear.  So I said goodnight to my comrades for the both of us and she dragged me by the hand up to the room she's currently renting.

I'm watching her sleep as I write this, and I can admit something to myself.  I was irrational where that barmaid was concerned.  Selah chose me, and I need to learn to respect that.  With Nophica as my witness, I'll never be so insanely jealous again.



From Selah's journal:

There are times I think she's more trouble than she's worth.  Like last night, when I was ready to settle in with a good dinner, a glass of wine and and evening relaxing on the sofa with Silver Rose's "Legends of Eastern La Noscea", in two volumes.  And Ginal dropped in to change into her better suit of armor (which she had left in my armoire for reasons too obvious to mention here) because Tim had asked her to lead a party into the Deepcroft and she wanted to be ready for demons.

"Have fun," I said.  "Tell me about it when you get back."  Every now and then, the dead of the Deepcroft stir and rise and need to be put back to sleep.  It is a dangerous, but simple enough task, and Ginal could handle it with her eyes closed.  Unless, of course, she decided to showboat again, like she did with the Ziz.  Or get over-ambitious, like I heard she did with those poachers.  But with me not there, she wouldn't have any reason to show off.  And it had been a couple of years since I had read Silver Rose.

"You're coming with me," said Ginal.  "We're a team, right?"  She pulled my boots from the armoire and tossed them on the bed.

And so the dinner got dumped half-eaten, the wine was barely tasted, and Silver Rose remained unopened.  And there we were in the darkness with things with fangs and things with claws, and things with wings and things with bones, and above all, things belching evil voidsent fire, and all of them trying to kill us.  And I swear if I hadn't been there with my lance, my pretty little miq'ote would have ended up maimed or worse, and the best she could say at the end of it was, "Really, Selah, I could have handled that one by myself.  It's not like I need a nursemaid.  Give me some credit!"  Or, if she didn't say precisely that, I could tell that she meant it, from the angry twitch of her tail.

We ended up with the Free Company at the Carline Canopy, standing drinks for anyone who dropped in to celebrate our grand victory.  And Lissabeth, the pretty little Hyur barmaid, the one with whom I'd been trading mildly dirty jokes before Ginal and I got serious - Lissabeth came over with a tray of flagons, and leaned over me so I could have stuck my nose in her cleavage, and asked if we'd be needing anything else, in a tone that implied she was taking more than beverage orders.  And Ginal was steaming so hard you could almost hear it hissing out of her ears.  (And such pretty ears they are, so soft and furry… but don't get me started!) And I figured I had to do something or we would be having a literal cat-fight, so I grabbed Ginal with both hands and pulled her close, and planted a big wet sloppy kiss directly on her astonished lips, in front of the whole Free Company.

Which cooled her off a bit, or at least distracted her and convinced her I was drunk.  And it definitely sent the message to Lissabeth, who straightened up, backed off, and gave me a grin and a double thumbs-up, as well as a farewell bosom-bounce, which Ginal didn't see because she was facing the opposite direction, licking her lips and blinking.

But it all had a happy ending, because that kiss, though meant as a distraction, was interpreted as an invitation.  And so Ginal's best armor ended up back in my armoire (only slightly more singed and dented) beside my boots, and Ginal spent the night in my bed, and I never did get back to that wine, or the charming stories of Silver Rose.

Not that I mind, really. There will be other nights for reading. But she does cause complications.

Q & A Time!

Spoiler warning!!!  Some of the following questions reference things from multiple chapters into the Silk Talons story.  

Let's get to the  questions!

Q: How old is Ginal?

A: She is 21.  Selah is 25, while we're at it.

Q: What inspired the story?

A: That's not as easy an answer as it seems.  I can't really pick out any one or two things that inspired me to write, it just seemed to be several things coming together.  I can say this, though: Ginal isn't just a character I manipulate, she comes from a place within me.  When I started putting the story together, that "Inner Ginal" spoke to me about what her story was.

Q: What real life situations or emotions inspired events or characters in the story?

A: I was a fairly late bloomer, like Ginal, and was into my twenties when I finally started any involvement with women.  

Also like Ginal, I had a brief but emotionally charged relationship that ended in such a way that left me emotionally stunted and unstable. I was picking up those pieces for years.  

I can have a truly terrible temper, and have been very easily set off on angry tantrums for seemingly little things or things I didn't have all information about. 

As well, I typically have a very hot burning sex drive, along with a deeply seeded need for physical and emotional intimacy that sometimes is more annoying for my wife than it is flattering. 

Q: Have you written anything else? 

A: I've dabbled in fanfiction on and off for many years.  The earliest I remember was an attempt at a Lufia story (a SNES era rpg) when I was about 10 years old.  I've started multiple other stories that I kept losing interest in finishing, including:

Final Fantasy 10/10-2 side story, Sailor Moon unofficial sixth story arc, and a long running Star Wars table top rpg campaign I gave up on finishing.

Q: Will you show anything racey between Ginal and Selah? 

A: Nothing explicit, no.  I've long since believed that sex scenes in games/books/movies have no true narrative value, and while it's fine to sometimes arouse your audience, I feel like including any sexually explicit scenes might only serve to disrupt the serious story I'm trying to tell.

Besides, I'm pretty sure not everyone is interested in a sex scene involving a woman with a penis. 

What I may do, however, is what I've already tried: depictions of kissing, cuddling, petting and maybe even more occasional panty shots. 

What do you think as my readers?  Leave me a comment if you have any opinions about how much fanservice I use.

Q: What does the term Silk Talons mean or symbolize?
A: It's supposed to symbolize two major parts of Ginal's personality that I intended to depict when I first created the story.  Silk is in reference to how Ginal is both gentle and durably strong as the cloth, while Talons is in reference to how she's dangerous and sharp (sharp as in witty and intelligent)  I tried to explain this through dialogue in chapters 2 and 8, but I may not have been very clear.

As well, I may not even have depicted Ginal in a way that this term makes sense.  What do you readers think?

Q: What gave you the push to start writing this story? 

A: I was at work one day when I got the idea to write a story based upon my experiences in FF14.  After thinking about it for an hour or so, I sent my wife a message to tell her about the idea.  Her reply was a simple, "That's a good idea, you should do it."  That was my push. 

Q: What happened to Thadthadius?

A: He did kind of disappeared, didn't he?  And that mysterious reappearance in the epilogue!  How does he know who Selah is, I wonder?  Hmmm...

Q: Why Eorzea?

A: I just so happened to of fallen in love with FF14, and I do like the lore that Square came up with.  Besides, basing this story in an already established  world made it easier to concentrate on the characters.

Q: Are the people you based characters on still okay with being in the story after the hermaphrodite reveal? 

A: Nobody ever objected, but I'd always understand if someone did.

Q: What made you want to include your Free Company? 

A: When I started writing, the people of my FC were the only immediate audience I had.  Including characters based on them is my way of thanking them.

Q: We're you hesitant to portray Ginal as a hermaphrodite? 

A: I did briefly second guess myself once I started writing, and I had to talk to multiple people I trusted for their thoughts. It was ultimately my sister who told me that I need to write the story for myself, and just be honest with what I wanted to convey.  That helped me sort it out. 

Q: Is there a message you want your readers to take away from the story?

A:Multiple!  

There's a difference between what and who you are, and you can't change the what.

Even the most unusual people can be loved. 

Never be afraid to love, regardless of what you've previously lived through. 

Being a dick will come back to bite you.

We all have the strength to face our worst fears, you just have to find what inspires that strength. 

Q: Did you get lots of support from your readers?  Was anyone against the story? 

A: In general, there was a lot of great support, and nobody voiced any issues with my story.

Q: Are you going to continue the story, or will future writing be separate works?

A: Ginal has a very long life ahead.  Further more, her story has become part of something bigger.  Future stories will be about the shared life of Ginal and Selah.

Q:Will you include your Free Company in future stories? 

A: Yes, I plan to make the members if Free Company Doom a full fledged supporting cast for future stories.

Q: Did you expect more or fewer readers, and did that effect you decision to continue writing?
A: On the one hand, this is a story I told for myself, because I needed to tell it.  On the other hand, a story can't be told with no audience.  As long as at least one person is willing to read my stories, I'll want to continue to write them.

Q: You use a lot of NPCs and reference a lot of mechanics from the game.  Did you need to research or study the game?
A: Only a little, like when I need to figure out the layout of an environment.  Otherwise, I just try to figure out how to translate how the game plays mechanically to how that should read in a story.  The already existing NPCs I just work in when they're relevant.

Q: Was Silk Talons a success in your opinion?
A: I'm at 1700 page views, and I finally finished a long term story I started.  It's absolutely a success!

Q: Would you want to change any of the story's details or direction?
A: The first chapter is a bit rough and could be a little longer, but it does what it needs to.  The only thing I might change is finding a better way to convey Ginal's secret in a way that would make the reader say "Oh, that makes sense."  For some reason, most people I've spoken with thought the hermaphrodite reveal was very sudden and unexpected.

Q: How did you come up with the way you describe Aethernet teleportation?
A: Partly from the game's own animation, when the player's character is sort of compressed into this swirl of energy.  Also in part, when I asked that inner part of me that Ginal comes from what it feels like, that's how she answered.



And that's it for this Q&A session.  I want to thank everyone who contributed their questions.  If anyone has any comments concerning my answers, by all means leave me a comment or email, and remember that I'm always open to comments, questions or just plain ol' chattin' away about my stories.

If any one my readers from different servers ever want to you, you're always welcome to drop by Malboro to say hi to me, Selah, Thadthadius or anyone from the Doom FC!

The interim storyline "Everyday Love" is soon to go public, and the second major story arc "Hearts Unbound is nearly done being planned, so stay tuned!