…or, Marlot’s Secret Shame
“Jamie?” Missy asked from the other side of the door. My heart thudded in my chest, but I calmed down quickly. At least it was her and not Marlot, or somebody else who’d heard the noise and decided to investigate. “You back yet?”
“Who is that?” Iason asked quietly.
“Missy,” I replied. “The girl I mentioned.”
“Jamie?” she repeated. “Is that you, or is the TV on?”
“It’s me,” I said. “I’m… changing.”
I grabbed up my jeans and shirt, then realized that if I’d said I was changing, I should probably put on something else. I headed to the dresser.
“Okay, well, I don’t think Marlot’s keen on going over to the union,” Missy said. “She says she’d rather order pizza to celebrate making it through the first day of classes, if you’re interested.”
The sound of the dresser drawer opening sounded weird to me, until I realized that Iason had opened the door at the same time I was pulling the dresser open.
I turned to see him standing just inside the doorway, still naked.
“That sounds lovely,” he said.
“Whoa,” Missy said, looking down at his crotch. Her eyes were big and round. So was her mouth. I’d seen guys with the exact same expression before. They were usually down on their knees. After a moment, she snapped out of it just a bit, and said, “Elves really are nature’s magical porn stars.”
“Missy!” I said.
“What?” she asked.
“Don’t say shit like that,” I said. I’d have objected on principle, even if Iason hadn’t been right there.
“But it’s true,” Iason said. “We pretty much are.”
“Oh my kosh, that accent,” Missy said. Her eyes were still locked in the same place. “Is that inked?”
“Will you get in here and close that door?” I said. The pretense of changing abandoned, I pulled on my same boxers and jeans. “I don’t really want to advertise everything that happens in my room to the entire hallway.”
“Sorry,” she said, coming in and shutting the door. I noticed that in the time since lunch, she’d pulled her chestnut hair up off her shoulders with a pair of tortoise shell combs. She’d redone her makeup, as well, with a touch more eyeshadow. “Anyway, Jamie, I guess since you’re ‘practicing’ now,” she said, doing the air quotes as she said it, “you’re pretty much going to have to tell Marlot.”
“No way,” I said. “If I tell her, everybody else will know.”
“If you don’t tell her, she’ll hear about it from everybody else,” Missy said. “I mean, you might not have a choice about ‘advertising’. That door’s not exactly a wall of silence, and in case you didn’t know, those plywood cabinets are the only thing between you and the next room,” she said, pointing to the cubbies built into the wall across from the bed.
“It’s actually particle board,” I said. “And yes, I did know that. I didn’t necessarily remember it while having sex on the desk right next to it, but I did know it.”
“It’s alright, Iamie,” Iason said. “It sounds as though nobody is in there now.”
“What did you call him?” Missy asked, looking up at his face for the first time since she’d arrived.
“Iamie,” Iason said. “That is his name, isn’t it?”
“Say that again!” Missy said.
“Iamie.”
“Yes, his accent is very affecting,” I said. I turned towards Iason. “Will you put your pants on?”
“Oh, let’s not do anything overly hasty,” Missy said. His dick was already half-hard again. “Is that a dragon?”
“Are you still going out with me?” I asked her. That got her eyes off of him.
“Are we going out?” she asked.
“You asked me to the dance,” I said.
“Oh, you are taking him dancing,” Iason said. “Very nice.”
“I’m taking her,” I said.
“I thought you said she asked you.”
“She asked me to take her to the dance,” I said. “That’s how it works. Sometimes.”
“Oh, relax,” Missy said. “We’re going together. It doesn’t matter who’s taking who.”
“He worries about silly things,” Iason said.
“I know, it’s adorable,” Missy said. “But, seriously, Jamie, we already talked about this, so unless this little romp is your way of saying you figured out you don’t like girls after all, I don’t know why anything has to change.” She tossed her head to the side and smiled. “Except that I just found out that the ethernet hasn’t been lying to me all this time about what cute elven boys do with each other in their rooms.”
“This may be some kind of porn fantasy for you,” I said to Missy, “and a game to you,” I said to Iason, “but people still get beat up or even killed over this kind of thing. I have reasons for wanting to be cautious.”
“It’s the twenties,” Iason said. “Isn’t everything different now, even for humans?”
“Things are different,” I said. “But not all over, and not everybody’s happy about it.”
“Even if you stayed closeted, you could get killed any time you go into the woods,” Missy said. “Or somebody could climb up on the roof and go on a crossbow rampage.”
“The bracelet would help him there,” Iason said.
“Oh, you got him jewelry,” Missy said, noticing the bracelet on my wrist. “That’s so sweet.”
“It’s to help him find me,” I said. “Also, it doesn’t come off.”
“A bracelet of booty summoning?” Missy said. “Less sweet, but still kind of hot. You don’t have a trunk full of those in your closet or something, do you?”
“No, just the one,” he said. “It is the only one of its kind.”
“Okay, that’s a little bit sweeter again, then,” Missy said.
“Exactly how much did this thing cost?” I asked.
“I couldn’t say,” he said. “It is actually something of an heirloom.”
“And you just gave it to me?”
“You are very pretty. I thought I needed a pretty gift, and it was the first thing that came to mind.” He grinned. His smile was guileless, but still a little smarmy. “Planning is not my forte.”
“Oh, call him pretty again,” Missy said. “But, try to accentuate your accent. Roll your R’s a bit more and call him Iamie, and Jamie, if you could look up at him when he says it?”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked. “I’m taller than he is.”
“We are actually very close to the same height,” Iason said.
“Okay, but if you got down on your knees, you’d be shorter,” Missy said.
“I hope you don’t expect me to put out for you after this,” I said to Missy, mock-warningly.
“Oh, are you not sleeping with her?” Iason said. “Then it won’t matter if you and I go again.”
“Hey, I just want for reality to match up to five years’ worth of unrealistic expectations,” Missy said. “Is that so wrong?”
It was no good, trying to have a serious conversation with two people who both thought the situation was hilarious for some reason.
“Look, Missy, I need to talk to Iason,” I said. “Can you just go tell Marlot that we’re in for pizza? I mean, I am. She knows what I like.”
“Am I not invited, then?” Iason asked.
“Seriously, Jamie, the only way Marlot’s not going to find out about this is if it’s a one-time thing,” Missy said. “I don’t just mean with, um, this guy.”
“Oh, where are my manners?” Iason said.
“Did you leave them in your pants?” I suggested.
“I am Iason, called Iason the Hound, Iason Deer-Stalker, Iason Boar-Feller, Iason the Long Rider, Iason Manblood,” Iason said. “It’s the last one that gets me into trouble. The knowledge of my own mortality makes me impetuous. Knowing that I must one day wither and die drives me to live my life for today.”
“That’s fascinating,” Missy said. “Is there a story for the ‘long rider’ one?”
“Khersis,” I swore. “You could live to be a thousand, easily.”
“While my mother and most of my kin outlive me into eternity,” Iason said. “You see my plight.”
“You must be so tormented,” Missy said.
“It is a curse.”
“Missy, will you please go tell Marlot to order the pizza?” I said. “You can tell her I’m bringing a friend. But no more than that.”
“Okay,” Missy said. She headed to the door, but paused with her hand on the knob. “Hey, what do you like on your pizza, Iason?”
He gave a fluid shrug.
“I have never eaten it before,” he said. “I will accept whatever is placed before me.”
“Oh, he’s a keeper, Jamie,” Missy said as she opened the door.
“I’m really not looking for a relationship,” I said.
“You should have thought of that before you put his bracelet on,” she said, on her way out. Then the door was closed, and I was alone again with Iason.
“Well,” I said.
“Well,” he said.
“I guess you won your bet.”
“Oh, there was never any bet,” he said. “That was an invention to explain my zealousness.”
“So, you lied to me,” I said. I understood that he had probably meant it to be flattering. If I wasn’t exactly flattered, I didn’t feel demeaned. I knew where he was coming from, culturally. I hoped he didn’t try that shit on human women, though.
“Only about that part,” he said. “The part about me desiring to fuck you in the ass was completely true. I will still buy you dinner some time, though.”
“You can pay for my portion of the pizza.”
“Nice dinner,” Iason said. “No one will ever say I do not treat my conquests right.”
“When I say ‘I’m not looking for a relationship’, you understand what that means?”
“If I came by tomorrow and ask to fuck you again, what would you say?”
“Are you planning on doing that?” I asked.
“I rarely plan anything,” he said. “But if I did, would you turn me away?”
“Probably not,” I said.
“See? That is all I care about,” he said. “What would a relationship add to that?”
“You bring me jewelry and say you’re taking me out to dinner,” I said.
“Yes,” he said.
“But you don’t want to be my, uh, my boyfriend,” I said.
“Why complicate things?” he said. “I’ll give you things if I feel like it. It’s better this way. There are no obligations.”
“How did you find me, anyway?”
“I knew your name was Bowman, so I looked in the student directory,” he said. “I didn’t catch your first name, but I didn’t think you were Harriet or Melissa.”
“You can just look up anybody’s room assignment in the directory?” I asked, a little surprised. “Doesn’t that make it really easy for stalkers?”
“I told you, Iamie, I am not a stalker,” he said. “I have tried my best to be sensitive to your concerns. You said you were late for lunch, so I came back later, when you would be done with classes.”
“Yeah, I’m not talking about you,” I said. I held up my left hand, turning the bracelet towards him. “Though, this was questionable, at the very least. What were you thinking, exactly?”
“I thought it would look good on you and it would be fun, being able to hunt you at any time. Fun for both of us, I mean. It does look good on you, and honestly, it would probably have sat in my chest for a hundred years before I found another use for it.”
“You said it’s an heirloom,” I said. “I couldn’t keep it, even if I wanted something like it.”
“You can will it back to me, if you want.”
“Like a focused act of concentration?” I asked.
“Like a bequest,” he said. “Don’t make so much of this, Iamie. I told you, there are no strings attached. Just because I can use the bracelet to find you doesn’t mean you are obligated to do anything.”
“You’re planning on fucking other people, right?” I asked.
I wouldn’t say no to more sex with Iason, especially if I had more warning, but it seemed like it would be less complicated if he had other partners. I didn’t want him relying on me exclusively. Whether he wanted to call it a relationship or not, that was a bit too close for comfort.
“I don’t plan on anything,” he said. “But I keep an eye out for opportunities.”
“Alright, then,” I said. “Just so we understand each other. Let’s go find the others.”
They’d either be in their room or the lounge, and since the lounge was the shortest route from my side to theirs, I led Iason—still shirtless, but at least wearing pants now—there first.
The lounge was a decent size. It had three sections: a kitchen, a dining area, and a TV area. The dining area was set off from the kitchen by an island counter, and from the TV area by the back of a couch. It had three round tables that reminded me of kindergarten every time I saw them.
Marlot and Missy were seated at one of the tables. Another one had a group of three girls, eating cup noodles and fruit trays from the store downstairs. I was pretty sure one of them was from a different floor, or at least hadn’t been at our floor meeting. A couple of guys were watching gladiator bouts on the television.
Marlot was playing a solitaire game. She’d rolled out the nice padded office chair she’d brought for her desk to use in place of the hard wooden ones.
“Oh, here they come,” Missy said, spotting us. Marlot pushed back from the table and swung her chair around to face us. “Hey, guys!”
“Hey,” I said, going over to them. “Marlot, this is Iason. He’s—”
“You dick,” Marlot said, bringing the point of her staff down on the toe of my shoe. The girls with the noodles looked over curiously. Their eyes found Iason’s tattooed chest and stayed there. The guys on the couch glanced our way, but went back to their show. “You total fucking jerkwad.”
“Ow! What’s that for?”
“You told her and not me,” she said, pointing at Missy.
“Missy!” I said.
“I didn’t say anything!” she said.
“She didn’t,” Marlot said. “But I’m not stupid. She’s been grinning like she’s got a big secret ever since we got back from classes, but when she told me she was going to sleep with you I figured that was all it was. Then she comes back from your room with an even bigger grin, talking about how you’re bringing a buddy, and now here you come with one of your happy tree friends. Did you know he’d be coming here when we picked this school? Did you arrange this?”
“We just met,” I said.
“So, you’re going to keep on denying it, even with the truth written all over your face,” she said.
“No,” I said. “But, really, we did just meet.”
“It’s true,” Iason said.
“You could have told me,” Marlot said. She sounded more hurt than angry. “I’ve been your best friend forever. It’s not like I didn’t have some idea. It’s not like I didn’t give you opportunities.”
“I wasn’t planning on telling anybody,” I said. “I didn’t think it was anybody’s business, and honestly, I didn’t expect it to come up.”
Missy snerked. I glared at her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You said ‘come up’.”
I sat down in the chair next to her and leaned in close. I didn’t really want the rest of this conversation to be for public consumption.
“Look, Mar, if I’d been planning on ‘coming out’ at all, I would’ve told you first,” I said. “Honestly.”
Her expression softened a bit, but she didn’t say anything.
“I’m still not, you know, wanting to shout it from the rooftops,” I said.
“It’s not anything to be ashamed of,” she said. “That or your elven heritage.”
“I thought there was something about you,” Iason said.
“I’m not ashamed,” I said. “I want to be careful.”
“So, are you gay or bi?”
The girls at the other table were still watching us, and weren’t at all careful to hide the fact that they were straining to hear. I took a moment to consider. From what they’d already heard and probably guessed, I wouldn’t really gain anything by putting the question off. Missy had a point, as well. If I kept having Iason—or any guy—up in my room, word would get out. I couldn’t deny what I was and embrace it at the same time. I couldn’t have it both ways, no pun intended.
“Bi, I guess,” I said.
“You guess?” Marlot asked.
“I hope,” Missy said. We all looked at her. “Well, I do. Is that wrong?”
Iason slid into the seat next to me.
“I don’t wish to be the source of trouble between friends,” he said.
“Oh, you aren’t,” Marlot said. “Jamie’s just weird about things, and it makes me frustrated.”
“I still prefer the term ‘cautious’,” I said.
“So, Iason, do you live in Treehome Hall, or Harlowe?” Missy asked. It was an obvious subject change, but I think we all chose to let it go. I couldn’t speak for the others, but I didn’t want to fight.
“Mostly in Treehome,” he said. “There’s at least one half-elf who chooses to live in Harlowe, but most of us with predominant elven heritage prefer our own quarters. I’m also entitled to sleep in the team barracks, but as I’m not attached to a squad and they frown on my bringing in lovers, I do not exercise that privilege very often.”
“Oh, you’re on the skirmish team?” Missy said.
“I am an infiltration and elimination agent,” he said.
“Ooh, an assassin,” Marlot said. She looked at me. “Did he do it from behind?”
“That is one of the more natural positions to do it from, yes,” Iason said. “I actually spend most matches hunting the other side’s assassins. It saves effort in bodyguarding our casters and field officers.”
“That sounds so exciting,” Missy said.
“You should come see me fight, Iamie,” he said.
“Would I actually see you?” I asked.
“Not if I’m doing my job well,” he said. “But, it’s the thought that counts.”
“I think it’d be fun anyway,” Missy said. “Get out and support the school.”
“We might as well watch it on the university channel, though,” Marlot said. “I had a hard enough time following the action on a high school level field. How big is the one here? Two hundred yards on a side?”
“Three hundred,” Iason answered without hesitation. “It’s the largest field in the province. The smaller schools sometimes have to combine their forces to field an army.”
“So the far side of the hex is almost five hundred and twenty yards away,” Marlot said. “The only way you’d be able to really see the action is if it’s happening deep in your own side’s territory, which probably isn’t a good thing.”
“They have illusion projections,” I said. “If you watch it on TV, you’re only going to see one part of the field at a time. You can’t get the overview of the whole match without actually going.”
“Well, I’ve got better ways to spend my Saturdays than squinting at a bunch of people across a battlefield,” Marlot said. “No offense, Iason.”
“None taken,” he said. “I don’t know how exciting I would find it to watch from the stands. I’d much rather be in the thick of things.”
“You know, I hate to break this up, but, uh, I haven’t had a cigarette since a bit after lunch,” I said.
“Go ahead,” Marlot said. “It’ll give me a chance to interrogate your new friend and check his credentials.”
“Oh, I’ve already seen those,” Missy said. “They check way the fuck out.”
“Am I going to end up having to wait downstairs for the pizza, or are they delivering it up here?” I asked.
“I told him the third floor lounge,” Marlot said. “I think they deliver up.”
“What’d you get?”
“Island pizza for me, and one with every animal they could find and kill for you,” Marlot said. “Same as always, except large instead of mediums. Missy said island’s fine for her.”
“Pineapple on pizza,” I said, shaking my head. “You know that’s an abomination before the gods, right?”
“We all have our shameful little secrets,” Marlot said.
“Pineapple on pizza,” I said, shaking my head. “You know that’s an abomination before the gods, right?”
“We all have our shameful little secrets,” Marlot said.
WIN.
Also, nice to hear a bit more about what skirmish actually is. Until now I thought it was nothing more than ‘jock hit jock with stick’ or at the very least, some sort of lacrosse/field hockey hybrid with all the combined full-body contact of rugby, football and a street fight.
Aaand the usual ‘good stuff, as always’. It’s pretty much what sets me apart from the one or two other people who go by Ren.
I have to agree, pineapple on a pizza is the 8th deadly sin.
I’m starting to wonder if Lexi is actually capable of writing anything bad at this point (dodgy mechknights fanfiction aside). I *really* want to punch Iason in the face for being such a smug git, though.
Lol.
Is it just me, or does this seem to be saying that the only way to remove the bracelet is death? If that is correct, then creepy stalker factor of Iason goes way up. Even if it’s just that he doesn’t think ahead, it makes him freaking dangerous to be around.
I wonder how common impatience is among part-elves. All of part-elves we’ve seen except Jamie(which is, admittedly, 2) have had no patience at all.
I really enjoyed the skirmish info, and am looking forward to hearing more. I don’t think we can have a corollary to it in this universe, because it is their illusion abilities and healing powers that makes it at all feasible. SCA would be so much more fun and less fake if you could use weapons that were real except that they couldn’t actually hurt anyone. SCA rules, like with fencing, karate, and other competition fighting styles, lead to a lot of techniques that make no sense in a real fight but which exploit loopholes in the rules.
*shrug*We’re all still allowed to mislike the characters we don’t like, right? Okay than
And, good lord, what is it with “OM NOM NOM” all of a sudden? The comments for yesterday were full with it, and it’s here as well. Blah. Go away. Annoying phrase of the century. Anyone who uses it, please don’t meet me in real life.
And I still expect creepiness and annoyiness from Iason. Don’t care that it’s normal for elves.
Arf!
@48, Alex
> I can’t wait to see an actual skirmish match.
> But why a hexagonal field?
Probably so that you can surround an enemy with only six others, instead of needing eight
Eri
OOK!
This story is fast becoming my fave… even over TOMU… however… minor spelling issue (or slippery keyboard!)
“They’d either be in their room or the lounge, and since the lounge was the shortest route from my side to theirs, I led Iason—still shirtless, but at lea7st wearing pants now—there first. ”
lea7st = least
@Calia: I will be watching the Art of MU LiveJournal community with dread/gleeful anticipation. Sort of like hilaristurbing, but pertaining to waiting for something?
@53: You don’t have to die to bequeath something. That’s how it’s commonly used, but for all we know it’s a common way of saying “give” in the MUniverse, or amongst elves. Or just when you want to say “give” but sound all poetic and impressive.
Well, now you’ve done it.
I’m a gay man, and I’ve followed MU from the beginning – including finding the lesbian sex to be very interesting and erotic (even if not a personal turn-on).
I do, however, believe I’ve fallen flat-out in love with MOARMU. I was very hesitant after yesterday’s ending, sure that it was going to turn into some big drama, with a tearful Missy, and all those sorts of soap operatic cliches.
Thee I adore, Alexandra. The above, combined with the fact that you treat sex exactly as it should be treated in fiction – as an opportunity to not simply tittilate the reader, but to tell us more about the characters involved – ensures that.
Thanks for the enjoyable read.
Mar’s got a secret.
Ya wanna hear what it is?
Pineapple Pizza!
Teehee, booty summoning. And “oh my kosh,” which instantly makes me think Babylon 5. I used to say that.
Haha…this chapter made me chuckle
I’m definitely warming up to all of the characters now, and Missy’s reaction was hilarious (though not classy at all
). That definitely put a nice spin on the previous chapter…guess sometimes you need to wait before calling down the fire and brimstone condemnation, eh? Nice work!
One other thing I’m realizing: I guess you have to have sex to actually deal with issues of sexuality, no?
but at lea7st wearing pants now.
Typo Miss Alex.
“—still shirtless, but at lea 7 st wearing pants now—”
“Oh, I’ve already seen those,” Missy said. “They check way the fuck out.”
Bahahaha!! Oh man, that totally cracked my shit up!
@58 Isobel I could see that, were it not linked to the first comment. Bequeath or will by themselves could easily mean that, but together, especially with the comment that he did not mean an act of willpower or simple decision, they really seem to point to the after death interpretation. I could easily be wrong and would like to see other people’s opinions on this.
I still don’t like Iason, and I’m a little weirded out that almost all characters other than the viewpoint are really accepting about sex and polyamory. With Mack, I can understand, since Steff is herself polyamorous, and Amaranth thinks that limits like that shouldn’t exist. Jamie’s friends, I’m a little weirded out by though – Missy is really only into it because she’ll use it as fantasy fuel, and Marlot just takes everything nonchalantly, unless you mention her leg. Of the main cast of either, only Ian has anything resembling a problem with it, and even he’s alright with it as long as it doesn’t mean Mack’s having sex with random strangers.
And I’m hoping Jamie grows a spine, or else it’ll be annoyingly similar to MU – except now we have a submissive initially uptight bi male as opposed to a submissive initially uptight bi female with a different set of problems.
You can count me in on the “bequeath” means “after death” camp. But if AE says otherwise, I’m willing to concede the point.
NOM NOM NOM island pizza! My favorite is with ham, spinach, pineapple, onions, and shrimp. (And now I’m starving…)
Am I the only one who doesn’t see Jamie as submissive? Last chapter felt pretty straightforward and vanilla to me. It feels like some people are really reaching to make Iason or Marlot into Puddy and Jamie into Mack.
Hm. Aside from the lie and the bracelet subterfuge, I actually like Iason. And Missy. And it looks like I was right- she WOULD like to be Lucky.
I bet now that Jamie’s come out as Bi, he’s gonna need a clawhammer to pry the girls off him.
@Luddite(24)
Let’s say Missy and Marlot’s room is further down the hall than the door to the lounge.
@annoying: Actually, the way chapter four was written, it sounded like Missy and Marlot’s room was in the hallway right next to his, which would have made the lounge a detour (it goes across the floor, joining two opposite hallways.) I’ve fixed that now.
Count me among the people who don’t see Jamie as submissive. He was a very active hand in the last chapter, not a maiden being ravaged by Iason.
@GamerCow(28)
Missy had already accepted that Jamie was bisexual. Marlot was upset because she’s his best friend and thinks she should have been the first to know. Iason knows what he wants and goes for it; he doesn’t always think of the consequences before he acts. This could become a problem later on.
@Chrinos(53)
I thought it was that he could use his will to send it back to Iason, not that Jamie had to die. It might take a supreme act of will to do it. And, like others have said, there might be other ways to take it off in a magical world like theirs.
Interesting thought – part-elves being impatient.
@Heph(54)
OM NOM NOM; OM NOM NOM; OM NOM NOM
I don’t actually use that a lot in real life, but sometimes it’s the best way to describe something. Though it can be overused.
@merck(69)
I got the impression that Jamie had been in both positions during his summers with the elves. But with Iason, he seems submissive to me, at least at the point. I’d like to see him take control with Iason.
@AE(72)
Must defer to the author. :”) Sorry, just trying to make sense of it.
In general:
My response to the bracelet was: “get this thing off ‘me’!” Sort of like my response to the Mackenzie pants thing was: “give ‘me’ back ‘my’ pants!” DO NOT WANT! But the reactions of the respective characters was different then mine.
Another thing to remember is when Puddy was molesting Mackenzie, she felt violated. Jamie didn’t feel violated by Iason.
Well I’m glad Missy took it alright Still don’t like Iason.
Skirmish take place outside, so of course it’s played on a hex instead of a square.
Wilderness adventures For The Win.
:”> can’t even get a blush right :”>
*sigh* I really was hoping that Jamie would be monogamous. Ah well, he ain’t my character. Though it would be nice to have a monogamous character so I could actually relate to and agree with somebody’s sexual mores. Not that I don’t like the characters that already exist – even if I don’t agree with them, it’s always interesting to see why people feel the way they do and the reasons behind their actions. I don’t know anyone in person who has the same lifestyle as anyone in the MUniverse, so it’s good to see viewpoints with which I am not familiar.
@Ms. Alexandra Erin: That being said, this story is shaping up nicely, and the tone with Jamie’s introspection dictating the atmosphere is decidedly different from the original story. It’s a nice touch, and the characters seem to be developing nicely, and not carbon copies of characters from the original story. Some authors can only write one set of characters, and from then on every one of their characters is exactly like a previous one (see: David Eddings after the Belgariad/Mallorean saga). As I said, I may strongly disagree with many of the views you (or at least your characters) support, but I still think you are an excellent writer and I enjoy reading your stories and learning more about the MUniverse.
The whole idea of a subjective reality has really crystallized some concepts that I was trying to put together for a while. I was having discussions with some of my friends a while back, and trying to explain how there isn’t any particular reason that science and empiricism SHOULD work, except that they do. I was having trouble phrasing the idea that the universe may not simply hold still while you figure out how it works, and your structure given in the MUniverse really hammers that point home and gives a viable alternative. I’ve always been a big fan of the scientifically-structured magic systems (being a Computer Science guy and thinking of spells like programs), but the more you describe the magic system in the MUniverse, the more it grows on me. And like many of the others above me, I am really looking forward to a detailed description of Skirmish matches. It seems like the kind of sport I’d really get into. Well, just wanted you to know that I like your work, and you have a fan even in the straight male, conservative (at least in Western Mass.), hardcore Catholic population. Keep up the good work!
@Ambrose:
Thank you. I think you’re going to enjoy the first part of the TOMU chapter I’m writing at the moment.
[quote] “Pineapple on pizza,” I said, shaking my head. “You know that’s an abomination before the gods, right?” [/quote]
Thank the good gods I’m not the only person that feels this way.
Two things
1. like how you worked in the fact that ‘rogues do it from behind’
2. If people “go on a crossbow rampage.” Wondering what the MU equivalent of ‘going postal’ is?
So what are the stats for a Bracelet of Booty Summoning and is it an Epic? It’s obviously BOE.
<Why a hex?
Historically because Avalon-Hill used a hexagonal grid for almost all their board war games in the 60′s and 70′s. Like a square grid, a hexagonal grid can cover a plane but, unlike squares, does not have both face-to-face and corner-to-corner adjacency. Thus the hex-grid does not require two sets of rules for differently contacting cells.
Within MU: while each team to have a home side, the hexagon allows the combat region to be more spread out.
Pineapple pizza is GODLY. … Man, I’m hungry now.
I once had a homemade pizza which was basically a vegetable bake with cheese on a pizza base. I forget the exact ingredients, but it was stuff like pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato base, dried onion, cheese on top. It was surprisingly tasty.
You can really put just about anything on a pizza.
I’m in the “not submissive” crowd, too. I’m also confused by the people who keep thinking Jamie just has no spine and “can’t” say no. He said no pretty firmly when Iason first hit on him. Then he gave it some more thought… some very thorough thought about what the sex would be like… and it seemed to me that he had pretty much made up his mind about being willing to have sex with Iason so long as it didn’t mess up his plans about staying in the closet. The closet plans were ruined, but I would hardly call him submissive or even spineless because he chose to have sex- an act that his culture and his personal morals have no issues with- with the guy he had just spent an entire chapter fantasizing about.
Being a bottom in a sexual encounter, even a bottom with an assertive top, does not make you submissive. Even if he does at some point do a Dom/sub scene, it’s definably a play-submissive, in-scene-submissive for him, not the 24/7-lifestyling that Mack is doing.
I agree, I think people are very biased, based on regular MU. We’re so used to Mack’s point of view that, especially when people insist on skimming because they make blanked assumptions, it’s easy to try to fit established characters into these new ones.
I’m biased in a pretty major way, I’ll admit: It’s still the MU world, so I expect it to be the same genre, which means I would have been frankly disappointed if it had turned out to be some young adult fluffy magical college story. I don’t understand why so many people seem to be complaining that there wasn’t a wild genre change between the stories. So far as I know, that’s why the other series, like Tribe and Void Dogs, exist. Do I think AE can write good fiction without kinky homoerotic smut? Absolutely. Do I think MU would be the same without it? Absolutely not.
I think part of the reason for the sub. talking is the “hunter/prey” scenario. That being said, I don’t think he’s a sub. the way that Mackenzie is. He was definitely being chased by Iason, but that may just be their dynamic. Jamie also seems to be very reserved. I know that isn’t the same thing as submissive, but some people might read it that way.
@74 Annoying Once again, my problem with that particular interpretation is that Iason corrects Jamie when he suggests that it is an act of will that Iason is referring to. I still agree that it might be something else, like Iason saying that he could only return it when he was done with it, as in forever; i.e. that he would never be able to use it again if he removed it.
@83 Chris I used to work at Pizza Hut, and I had all sorts of fun experimenting. One of my favorite toppings was putting a little cold cottage cheese on a hot slice of pepperoni pizza just before eating it. The mix of textures, tastes, and cold/hot makes for an interesting experience. I also enjoyed making a pizza pie using pan dough for the bottom crust and a top crust of the thin crust dough.
AE
I would like some clarification. How is Iason’s name pronounced? It is YAY-son, JAY-son, EYE-AYE-son, EYE-AS-ON, or something else that I can’t even think of?
@anon y mouse:
Like AYE-ay-son, but very fluidly with the vowels flowing together. In conversation it might come across to your ears more like “uh-YAY-son”.
Since my last sonnet failed miserably, here is my new attempt:
Upon the sound of knocking, Jamie fears
That Missy shall dislike his deeds, this trick,
He did with Iason, who today appears
In nude. But no, she stares enthralled at dick.
She thinks it hot: her man likes men. And yet,
She feels afraid, if Iason “Iamie” wants.
And so our hero must now careful tread
Lest dread of this her thinking ever haunts.
No more, we must move on. For pizza calls
With beasts atop and fruit as well. We find
The talk to skirmish turns; to each and all
does Iason tell: he does it from behind.
In short, t’was Missy at Jamie’s door.
After this tale, may threesomes be in store?
@ AE 88:
Dangit, now my meter’s off!
@Andy:
I don’t think so. You have to remember that poetry is an oral medium; writing it out is only an ancient exercise to get around the lack of an iPod. You can fit the name into two syllables. It becomes “Yayson” with a slight hitch in your throat.
@ AE 91:
That last post was actually more for comedic effect, sorry. I was actually going with “YAY-son” as pronunciation, since it’s close to what a Latin pronunciation would be. I assume that “Iamie” would not be pronounced “YAY-mee”, then? More of “AYE-ay-mee”?
Also, what language does Elvish correlate to in our world? I understand that Yokano is like Japanese, and I’d assumed that Elvish was like Latin. But if the pronunciation is that different, I’m now confused. Is there a Latin equivalent?
“Hey, I just want for reality to match up to five years’ worth of unrealistic expectations,” Missy said. “Is that so wrong?”
Don’t know if anyone pointed this out yet (didn’t see it above), but does this mean that Missy’s still a virgin? (As in, 5 years of dreaming about her first time). If speculation about Jamie’s knowledge of female anatomy is correct, this could lead to some pretty interesting situations.
So it’s two and a half syllables. Sort of. I think my third attempt is closest (maybe somewhere between the first and the third, really). I sometimes have trouble figuring out what Ariella is trying it spell out on her blog. I knew what I was trying to spell, but I think I failed to accurately portray it. I also wonder how Ian’s name is pronounced; long “e” or long “i” (or, again, something completely different)?
@Andy
Glad to see you tried a sonnet again. They can be unrhymed, too, right?
@ Yizzerin 93:
It could. I think it’s more of a joke about the yaoi-like situation they’re now in, and how she’s been watching/reading stuff like that. She therefore wants to see a fantasy (or part of one) played out in front of her.
@Andy: The surface elves’ names are all Greek. When you see Latin in the story (like “Pax”), it’s actually High Draconic.
If you said his name as “Yayson”, nobody would look at you funny. It’s a matter of differing phonemes. Just like how some people completely drop the “-re” sound from “macabre”, as a closer approximation to how the original French word sounds to English speaking ears.
My attempt in giving the pronunciation here is to convey how he or a “native speaker” would say it, but again, I don’t think I can emphasize enough that the vowels are supposed to flow together.
It’s not yay-son, but it’s also not eye-ay-son. It’s Iason.
Our language doesn’t quite have the sounds.
@anon y: Ee-an or Ee-yan.
@ anon y mouse 94:
Not really, I’m afraid. That goes more into free verse. Part of the difficulty of doing a sonnet is that it has stricter rules for format than most other forms of poetry (at least, that I’ve seen).
I’ve been reading Mu Classic and MOARMU since the start, reading all the comments for each chapter and I thought that nothing would surprise me, but I was wrong. Some comments show a degree of intolerance for one of my own personal kinks that I find almost astounding, given the extent of acceptance for other proclivities which are far from seen as accepted by the masses.
This is sad.
I was making progress in accepting my flawed self, struggling out from beneath the burden of ignominy and self loathing, looking forward to the day when I would no longer feel the need to conceal my vice, when I could hold my head up, walk in public with pride and announce to the world without shame, “I like pineapple on my pizza.”
Sometimes.
In private.
When I’m alone.
Just someimes.
Hmmm. Twitter says MoarMU has been updated, but I’m not seeing a new chapter… am I hallucinating?
@Matt: Just this one. I noticed I never twittered the earlier update. That’s why it says “for Tuesday.”