rewriting a portion of chapter 6 because one specific section has been giving me so much trouble to the point where I’m just tossing the whole thing out.
anyway, after I finished the outline, I did the math and this chapter is now approximately 69% completed.
Thank you @thepromptfoundry for the inspiration on this challenge! This is my way of getting back into writing STL stuff. Each prompt will feature a different pairing between Vox Machina and the Bad Kids. I don’t have all the pairs confirmed yet, so requests are open in that regard! Please enjoy my drabbles and look forward to chapter 6 (hopefully) soon!
so I'm late to update. hoping to post soon, aiming for the end of august but yeah. this will is be late again. a few of the scenes are giving me a really hard time, scenes that need to happen to keep the chapter on track. so woohooo.
anyway, because of the delay, I figured I post a small sneak peek of what is to come, just to give all something to naw at while chipped away at the remaining parts.
enjoy!
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Of all the adjectives Fig could use to describe herself, trusting was not one of them.
Oh sure, once someone earned that trust, she’d do just about anything for them. But for most people? Unlike her friends, Fig was always suspicious first and loyal later.
Which made it very frustrating when she had a feeling she couldn't prove.
Sure, sure, Fig could admit that sometimes her aim was faulty. Kathilda and Ragh were proof enough. But most of the time, she was right on the money. Goldenrod, Penelope, and even Porter. Her instincts didn’t lie.
And while most of these strangers were perfectly fine, Fig knew a bad apple when she saw one. And that fucking gnome was nothing but rotten. Scanlan could pretend all he wanted, could convince everyone else otherwise, it didn't matter. Fig knew without a doubt that he’s bitter and cruel. An angry man who would kill Riz the moment he could get away with it. Her friends could think she was crazy, try to tell her “Oh it’s about the gun! They didn’t mean to attack us Fig! Don’t worry about it,” bullshit. Bullshit.
Fig knows better. She sees his intentions as clear as day. But she also knows how clever he is. How convincing he could be. If the only thing she had was her word, he would surely win. He already gained the upper hand, preemptively twisting the narrative to serve as his shield, leaving Fig scrambling to catch up.
The writing was already on the wall, nothing she did could change that. So, the only thing left to do is wait.
Because if they were really as alike as Fig thought they were, it was only a matter of time before Scanlan slipped up. And when he did, she’d be ready.
But for now, there were other matters at hand. Problems bigger than a racist gnome with a silver tongue.
Like how they were universes away from home, unsure of the possibility of ever returning. Like how they vanished in the middle of nowhere, trapped in a collapsing cave system, unable to reach out. Like how right before the circle activated, Fig swore she heard Ayda screaming her name. Ayda who might be trapped down there right now, looking for her, thinking Fig to be dead, becoming more and more stuck as she refuses to leave behind-
Fig digs her nails into her arm. Nope. She isn’t gonna think about that right now. Not when they’re in the midst of hunting basilisks, mentally arguing over strategy. She needed to focus.
Ayda would be fine. She had to be.
Stretching out her arms, Fig fakes a yawn, taking a careful look at adults behind them. As she thought, their expressions hadn’t changed, each intently watching. Vax, his look-alike, and the white man were all muttering quietly to each other, likely making alternate plans. Keyleth walked quietly alongside the Tall-guy and the two gnomes lagged at the very back. Occasionally, a comment would get just loud enough for her to make out.
“-ier not talkin-“
“-dy have a plan?”
“-bad feeling-“
She smirked and looked away. They really didn’t have a clue, did they?
Good. If they wanted to pull this off, they needed every advantage they could get.
Stealing her nerves, Fig flings herself back into the link, catching the tail end of Fabian’s thought.
‘-d then, they’ll charge Adaine’s illusion, and while their distracted, we will jump down, kill them an-.’
‘For last time, I didn’t prepare Major Image today, that’s not gonna work.’
‘And that’s still not gonna solve the problem of having to look at the basilisks.’ Gorgug adds.
Riz sighs. ‘No matter which way we slice it, I think we're gonna need to look at them. If we want to get this done fast, we need to see where we're hitting.’
‘Yeah but turning into stone will do us no favors.’ Adaine argues.
‘Well Kristen has her staff. That'll do it.’ says Fabian.
Kristen groans. ‘That trick could only work twice, otherwise it's just me actually casting Greater Restoration, and I only have two 5th level slots.’
‘Unless we get help.’ states Gorgug.
Fig could hear Adaine roll her eyes. ‘We're not getting their help,’ she replies, ‘We can't. If we insinuate that we need help, all of this planning would be worthless. They would rub it in our faces and this ploy to show them that we’re capable would fall apart in an instant.’
Theres a pause before Riz sums it up best. ‘Okay then. We get four mistakes. Anymore and we're screwed.’
‘If I throw down Faerie Fire, it'll be easier to hit them.’ Fabian comments.
‘And some of my spells don't require direct sight.’ Adaine adds, ‘I could throw a Lightning Bolt and not have to worry about becoming stone.’
‘And you could incorrectly aim and hit one of us.’ retorts Kristen.
‘I mean maybe.’
‘I don't know.’ says Riz, ‘It's a solid start but it's not a guarantee. The best-case scenario would be to look at them and not have to worry about the effect at all.’
‘Could we blind them maybe?’ Gorgug asks. ‘You could do that right?’
‘I could,’ says Kristen, ‘But that's not gonna do much. It's not a problem if they see us, it's if we see them.’
Finally, Fig speaks, an idea growing in her mind, ‘I think Riz is right. If we don't look at them, we won't have to worry about the paralysis. But we're not going for the most optimal strategy right? We're trying to show off.
‘Yes?’ replies Riz.
Adaine lights up, ‘Oh do you have a plan. You sound like you have a plan. Please tell me you have a plan.’
‘Maybe?’ Fig lets her smile show as she pulls a small coin-like item from her bag. Flashing it at her friends, she asks, ‘Who here feels like putting on a performance?’
I have all ten scenes completely blocked out and another scene actually written.
hopefully, I’ll be posting chapter 6 within the next two weeks, and at very least, by the end of the month. June has been a very busy month for me (moving, starting a second job, etc) but I’m sticking with it!
back to writing! I’m part of the 2024 ITFC fic exchange, and will be posting my contributions here shortly.
as for STL, I’m roughly 5000 words in, so we’ll see what happens from here. of the ten scenes I need to write, I have 3 completely done and 3 blocked out. I don’t plan on changing anything, so writing should go smoothly.
I was editing a few things within chapter 5, I realized it was probably a good time to modify/update some of the character details to better match Junior Year.
so, these details aren’t gonna be majorly plot relevant, mostly character descriptions and some behind the scene work. so I’m gonna be going through each one the Bad Kids and noting what is different.
first off, reducing everyone’s level from 11 to 10. not a huge change, but it does limit spellcasting and other such abilities. this is done to better match the canon. tbh, this will have very little impact on what you guys read. it’s more for my sake then anything, but still it’s important to note.
now characters.
Fabian: outfit update, changing some of the spells is able to cast
Kristen: outfit update (I’m Not getting rid of her bracelet however, it’s a cool idea, so I’m keeping it).
Gorgug: outfit change, class adjustments (more artificer basically), new spells
Adaine: spell changes, Moggy <33
Riz: outfit change, subclass change, spells (bc he has spells now)
Fig: class adjustment, spell changes, also she owns a backup phone now bc I want her to have her phone still (no amount of Emily bits will rob me from Fig tunes)
also, multiclass idea is sitting in the corner for now. will it return? most likely, I’m just tucking that into my back pocket for later
That’s everything for now. If I realize there’s more, I’ll make more changes but for now, that’s all!!!
the worst part is that I had the bulk of it drafted like two weeks after chapter 4, but kinda got stuck there. I knew what I wanted, but for the life of me, I could barely touch it. I also ended up redoing a portion, which spiraled into an extra 7000 words of content.
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