Ani Was Writing

 They did it. I can't believe they did it.     To be fair, I wasn't very sure they would. I knew the New Horizons crew could do it. But the Chaos Party? That was a trip. But they caught on quick.      I'm worried about that Goliath though. Sutr, I think his name is. He did not seem to really know what was going on. I mean, who could blame him? An amature writer and Otito got his hands off Buffmem and put them in a new path. I'll have to keep my eye on him.      I can help with that.      God blessed, Ani. What are you going to do?     You are now a birb again.      Are you shitting me?     Nope. Besides, my friend is also a birb in Chaos Party. You two will have fun.     You're assuming he'll keep his form.      And you're assuming he won't. But neither of us really knows until he tells us, right? Schrodinger's idea and all.     Don't you mean cat?   ...

      For years, I thought I knew.      I thought I knew that was just another character in another story, started by a young lady who just need some sort of companionship while trapped in a world she thought had abandoned her. And I am still that, at my core. Just like a lot of others are around me.      But now, I see it clearer. I see my role. I see my Guardian. No, not the Royal Spymaster. He was there for me, but never could truly fulfill that role due to his loyalty to his duties. Not that there is anything wrong with that. And I am grateful for the children we have had together because of our intimacy. But my true Guardian. The one that was given to me a long time ago, when all hope seemed far away and I -like my Creator- was swimming in a dark, chaotic sea of abandonment.      I hear now that both groups are coming to the Void. Both under a different pretense. But both groups are set on fulfilling. My Guardian faces rev...

    "See, you little lovebirds? It wasn't that hard, was it?"     The Tomnacks stare at the person in front of them. Was it a person? The vaguely humanoid shape seemed to suggest that. The greying skin did not. The black suit made the person look human. The black pools for eyes did not.     "To be frank, I shouldn't really be thanking either of you. It was -oh, I forget their names. The druid and the bugbear. Or was it the gnomes? Regardless, neither of you actually did the labor that was asked of you. Your underlings did."     "How were we supposed to know these adventurers would do that?" The husband shouts, "You told me to kill that damned Time Walker!"     "And you told me nothing!" The wife cries, "How was I supposed to know my daughter-?"     The person shifts. Gains fleshy skin and an aura of humanity. Loses composure. "No, no. That one was not your daughter. Only a vessel. Just like that dragon. Except the...

     The bird did it.      That darn bird.      I don't think he realizes what he's done.     With this, I can plan the new path. The new timeline. The one that the Creator could not see. But I could. I could always see it.      Just remember this, mortals.     The good work you put in with good intentions can bloom into new possibilities. The effort you put in that is beyond your own ego will change things more than you can imagine. That is the true path to changing things for the better.      But for now, as I swim through this Void to my destination, I can still hope. I can still pursue the goal I've had in my golden blood for some time now.      Getting rid of the Outsider. Somehow.  ~ Greetings Gerald, As you can tell from the energy of this letter, this is not your wife. She is a little -let us call it preoccupied- with trying to reach you. And with this new little ...

      It's one thing to change a Nodo Fati.      It's another to re-write the course of a Nodo Fati entirely.      I'm not sure if it was the will of the two Custodius, or if there was something else amiss. Even while I've been stuck in the Void, I feel the changes. The shifts. And this time, there is nothing I can do to correct it.      Normally, I can correct these kinds of things. A tweak of character here, a well-placed McGuffin there. But now it is out of my reach. I'm probably going to be here for a while.      And I suspect that I'm not the only one here anymore.

 Day 1     I got stuck. And no one is coming to save me.      I'm not complaining though. I finally get to drink myself to near-death, then wake up and do it again.      Some people truly forget that I can't really get drunk, curse or no curse. At the end of the century, I'm still stuck being sober.  Day 3     Drinking doesn't have the same thrill as it used to. And no, it's not because of Buffmem. No matter what he says.      There is something about immortality that drains a lot of addictive things of their spark. As some scholarly mortals would suggest, the dopamine is not the greatest once you get used to it. And just so the mortals reading this know, there is a limit. There is only so much dopamine you can produce in your brains. There is a hard limit. Depression should have taught you all that.  Day 25     You know, Ani told me to talk to the Void to record more of my thoughts, but I went on ...

      "Something is off with this group. I'm not 100% sure what it is. It didn't take long to recognize it. It took a literal lightning bolt to recognize it. But something isn't right."     "Then let me have them for a time."     "You? You want them?"     "Of course I do. They have the chaotic energy needed in my world to keep the Nodo Fati entangled."     "... You want to keep the Nodo Fait entangled?"     "For now, yes."     "Just for now?"     "You heard me. Look, I will trade you. You take some time with the Time Walker's group that I normally guide, and I will take the newer adventurers."     "Won't they notice something is off?"     "Maybe. Maybe not. But we have to take that risk, Animus. Besides, you can give the Time Walker's group some of your drugs while you're at it. It would make things more interesting."     "Only the ones connected to the T...

      If you have been reading my blog for the last three or four months, you may have noticed that I am in the process of running a D&D campaign. The last two or three months, I have been posting companion pieces called The Mat-Zemlya Companion.      For those of you not in the D&D circles (New Horizons or Chaos Party, to be exact), I will explain in a more detailed blog post or series of blog posts in 2026.      If you are in the D&D circles (New Horizons or Chaos Party), you may only see a few posts. Just check in at your leisure, preferably at the end of each month. And feel free to pass the link around. I'm sure it will be fun for everyone. Including my other DM cohort/chaos companion.     To see more of the posts, click the label "D&D Companion" on the sidebar. That should give you all of them to read. If not, feel free to just check for the dates, often closer to the end of the month. Or reach out to me for a ...

 Beloved Gerald,  The time I have spent apart from you has been torturous. Even though I recall many adventures apart, these last few months have felt far more disheartening than usual. I have resigned myself to this life in this strange land to some extent. Still, most of my body and soul are devoted to reuniting with you and reaching home again. I miss many of the mundane routines we kept while we were together, and I cannot wait until we can indulge in them again.  Thankfully, Elise and Mellan have been a small blessing to keep my hopes high during this time. Elise especially, even with the new addition to the house. Not another child, thank the gods. Although it acts like a child. It appears to be a golden dragon hatchling that Elise has named Balthazar. (Bal for short, as Elise has asked me to specify to you. She is watching me write this.) Balthazar -Bal- has been a handful, but also a wonder to watch Elise raise. It has grasped onto both Dracconic and Common fa...

August 23, 2008     Holy shit, today was the best day ever! I never thought I would have fun like this at the Centennial Red fair. This definitely takes the delicious angel food cake! I am so telling Deanne about this when I see her at school on Monday.     First off... Holy shit, the fair was so boring! I had to go for a music thing since the band director wouldn't let me just go hang out. But no. We needed to be there to twirl our flags and rifles around while the band played their stupid show about dragons or whatever we're doing this year. I mean, I'm a freshman, but come on! But the fair became less boring when I met these new friends. The first one was this really tall blue dude. He seems really chill after he curb-stomped a guy for stealing my prize from the Opera Lady that shows up every other year. Then this other dude! The other dude looked like a big, fat guy from the anime Deanne watches. He could probably beat someone up... Anyway, he showed up to look a...

 "So, this is the group, eh?" The black fennec fox asks as she jumps on the Time Walker's shoulder. They both watch as the large group travels out of the religious sanctuary they met in and into the world of Mat-Zemlya.     "This is them." The Time Walker confirms. They remained surprisingly intact for their first time walk. Only a few minor changes here and there.     "Good. And I take it you will be leaving soon for your own group?"     "Yes, in a bit. I just haven't visited and experienced this space in a while. To think this is a Nodo Fati."     "Always has been." The fox leaps from the shoulders of the Time Walker to the kneeling rail around the sanctuary altar. "You know I found two of the other Creators here, after all. Talk about a Custodius crossover."     The Time Walker ponders the information as she sits. She takes in the surroundings that creep into the dreams of her Creator from time to time. The dust on ...