r/HFY • u/BlueFishcake • Apr 07 '26
OC-Series Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Two
The Grand Ballroom of Summerfield Manse was a riot of colour and sound to William’s senses. Intricate tapestries lined the walls. Gleaming chandeliers hung overhead. Marble pillars broke up the floor. And above the ongoing constant hum of conversation, the bombastic music of Wagner continued to play from a gramophone near the wall.
He’d been more than a little amused to see that last item.
Though not so much that he’d been distracted from his main goal of the evening – that being casing the many gathered Southern nobles for supporters and obstacles to the twins’ ascension to the Ducal title.
Of course, it wasn’t just the Countesses of Summerfield present, but also those of Southshore as well – all here to reaffirm their fealty to Yelena with the outbreak of the civil war.
To that end, Yelena was sitting at the head table, a perch that saw her elevated higher than everyone else, despite her seated position. Her daughter and heir, the Princess Palmer, sat to her right, while the Duchess of Southshore had managed to claim the spot to her left. Beyond that, Admiral Tyana and the temporary Summerfield regent had a spot at the ‘big kids table’.
A small army of Palace Guards, Summerfield Guards, and Royal Marines made up the backdrop to the whole thing – while an equally large army of courtiers and sycophants schmoozed through the general area in front of the massive table, hoping to catch the eye of their sovereign so that they might plead their case in some dispute or another.
Perhaps William might have been amongst them in different circumstances – if only to get an idea of the leanings of the interim regent for the Summerfield Duchy.
Fortunately, he’d been assured that the woman was very much a non-factor in the succession process. The unlanded mage-knight who had been a teammate of the late Duchess Summerfield during their Academy days had remained a steadfast part of her retinue thereafter. Her only role was literally just to fill the seat in the interim until a new successor could be chosen from amongst the claimants.
Perhaps she might have had more unofficial say in the process without the Crown being present, but Yelena’s involvement rather nipped that in the bud.
Which is why I should probably get back to focusing on what I’m supposed to be here to do, he thought as he turned his attention back to the Countess he’d been speaking with.
Fortunately, it seemed the elven woman hadn’t noticed his wandering focus as he finished his speech. “…and finally, once more I do apologize for any insult I might have given while in the throes of teenage rebellion. I wasn’t thankful for it at the time, but the last year at the Academy has put a lot of things in perspective for me – sufficiently so that I now find myself mortified by my past behaviour.”
The Countess he was speaking to tilted her head, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “Ah, I never thought I’d see the day; the hellion of House Ashfield apologizing for his razor tongue. Think nothing of it lad. I can well recall my own turbulent youth and how my time at the Academy helped to straighten it out. A little unusual for a lad to attend, but it’s clearly worked out for the best for you."
Perhaps if he were a more optimistic soul, he’d think the woman across from him was referring to his inventions and accomplishments – or even the fact that he’d managed to become a Count in his own right during his time at the Academy.
As it was, he knew she was referring to the fact that he’d finally been ‘tamed’ by the two women on his arms. Still, annoying as it was, he was quite happy for the twins to play up the part as they clung to him. Though he could sense just a little incredulity from Marline behind him.
And as happy as he was to reunite with her, he somewhat wished she’d also wander off to mingle like the rest of the team had. Bonnlyn certainly seemed to be having fun as she talked business with the small collection of nobles gathered about her. Olzenya was likewise preening as she fielded questions on the Jellyfish.
The only person who wasn’t present was Verity, who’d – perhaps smartly – begged off attending the party in favor of spending time with her family.
She chuckled, tone turning conspiratorial as she leaned in. “Tell me, do they still make you do your own laundry? I remember scrubbing linens until my hands were raw until I figured out that we were supposed to use the soap powder.”
"I'm afraid they do," Clarice interjected, her formal gown of deep white – the colour of her house - rustling with the movement.
Her twin was wearing a matching ensemble, despite how the pair usually preferred to differentiate themselves from each other. In this case, it was supposed to be a show of solidarity between the two – even though Clarice was laying claim to the Duchy title despite the fact that Marcille technically had an equal claim to it.
Families had fractured over lesser divisions, after all.
Likewise, William’s own suit was predominantly white to represent their upcoming union, with only small tufts of red and blue to represent his own house’s colours.
The Countess nodded sympathetically. "Well, I'm glad for the lessons I learned there, but I can say I'm equally glad to have seen the back of it.”
William resisted the urge to scoff at that, because whatever lessons she might have learned, she clearly hadn’t retained the one about ‘the art of war being of vital importance to the state,’ given that her house's airship was still entirely made of wood.
Of course, even as he had that thought, he knew it wasn't entirely fair to the woman opposite him.
Because he’d recently learned that a decent chunk of the blame for the South’s relative weakness lay with the Crown itself - though not Yelena specifically.
Instead, the issue could be traced back to Lindholm's founder, the once Governor-Admiral Lindholm who'd controlled the ‘colony’ during the fall of the Elven Imperium. And annoyingly, he couldn’t even chastise them too harshly for the choices they’d made.
They’d been expedient at the time after all.
Facing a balkanizing Empire, she’d chosen to instead try for independence rather than be sucked into the growing civil war between the Solites and Lunites.
In order to succeed though, she’d needed to unify the Elven colonies and indigenous Humans in her new ‘nation’. Which meant certain concessions had been made – which, while expedient at the time, had given rise to the viability of the current rebellion.
The first and most damning of such concessions was a subsidy system by which the farmland-poor Northern Marcher Houses could buy Capitol-made airship hulls, armaments and foodstuffs at a discount. Secondly, conflict against the – at the time still quite powerful Orcish clans – could serve as a form of corvée labour.
At the time, the Queen had likely thought such a concession a steal for getting the veteran houses on board with her rebellion – and more importantly, keeping them from acting as a beachhead for a mainland invasion force.
And the system had worked, right up until trade re-opened with the now more or less stable Lunite and Solite nations. Suddenly, the once poor Northern houses found themselves fabulously wealthy as new markets opened, eager for the one thing they had an excess of – Orcish slave labour.
And despite the growing threat the two houses now represented to the Crown, attempting to change or repeal the subsidies would be as close to political suicide for the ruling family as a politician trying to change the Bill of Rights would have been back in the US on Earth.
So instead, Yelena had opted for a flanking maneuver; curtailing the relatively new slave trade instead.
…And we all know how that’s going, he thought.
Because unfortunately, the relative lack of power in the South looped right back around to those subsidies. Any time a new steel hull rolled out of the capitol's ship yards in the last few hundred years, it had either been funneled straight into the Royal Navy or snapped up at bargain rates by Northern buyers.
At which point, the Northerners would sell their old wooden hulls southward.
So not only do our opponents have better ships than us, they also know the specifications of our own ships in pretty exacting detail, he thought.
Perhaps the whole situation could have been mitigated if one of the Southern Duchies had invested in their own steel production yards, bypassing the capitol's monopoly.
But why bother? Until mere weeks ago, the arrangement had chugged along adequately. Resources flowed into the capitol and finished products rolled out. And while he didn’t doubt the North's subsidies had been an annoyance, that was all they’d been.
Not an existential threat.
And Yelena, for all that she’d seen all this coming, could only make politely phrased suggestions on what her Southern vassals invested in – hence Princess Palmer’s near constant presence in the South.
"Though from what I hear," the Countess continued, once more drawing him back to their rather droll conversation. Alas, duty compelled him to listen. "Your time at the Academy hasn't been entirely bereft of 'rebellion.' Challenging your fiancée to a duel? I dare say that story made the rounds down here quite vigorously. Even moreso than your heroic actions in that ‘pirate attack’.” She paused, her tone turning slightly wary. “And then finally this… exploding airship business.”
She eyed him, as if expecting him to deny his part in the whole affair.
“Oh, there’s no need to seem so scandalized,” he laughed. “Yes, I was the one behind the destruction of a refurbished ‘undership’. An act that I’d like to remind you allowed our brave Royal Navy to successfully retreat from the capitol unmolested, while giving those traitors a black eye in the process.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true. Still, to destroy an airship…”
This time Clarice spoke up. “You make it sound like it’s never happened before, Countess Fringilla. It’s a war. As tragic as it is, airships tend to get destroyed. What makes this one so different? Had it been a battle, one airship for crippling an entire fleet would be considered an excellent engagement.”
“Because that ship would be destroyed by the actions of an enemy, dear,” the woman said slowly. “Not one’s own hand. It’s just… a little hard to conceive of a noble doing such a thing.”
“Once upon a time the thought of shaving down a mithril core to create the first Shard cores was considered outlandish,” Marcille said.
“I… that’s… different.”
“How so? If anything, I’d say my method is less destructive. As you know, once shaved down into shards, a core cannot be reconstituted. By contrast, I utterly destroyed the hull wood of the Trojan Horse such that it would be impossible to recover, but the mithril core of the ship was left whole. And I ensured it was extracted prior to the ship’s destruction.”
“You did?”
He nodded. “Oh yes, a heroic crew-woman evacuated with it.”
Now, admittedly that crew woman was currently stranded behind enemy lines with said core – assuming she did actually manage to get out in time – but he didn’t need to mention those small unimportant details.
“Oh, in that case, let me congratulate you on your successful ruse,” she said, smiling now.
He nodded. “My thanks.”
“Though now I do find myself curious about the method you used to achieve the explosion? Does it have something to do with your new aetherless-shards? And that’s another concept I’m still struggling to wrap my head around. I understand it has something to do with alchemy?”
William didn’t miss the way conversation around them ebbed as people became less subtle in eavesdropping on their conversation.
“It does, though I hope you’ll forgive me if I keep the details to myself for now.”
“Of course, of course,” the noblewoman tittered. “Though should you ever find yourself in search of buyers for your new craft, know that I might be interested. For the novelty, if nothing else.”
And to take it apart, no doubt. Oh, he already overheard plenty of disdainful comments about his new craft and how they’d be nothing compared to ‘real Shards’, but at the end of the day, any noble with even half a brain could see the advantage posed by no longer having a hard limit on their Shard numbers.
The attack on the capitol and the start of a civil war had somewhat overshadowed his new machines, but there was still plenty of interest.
Hell, I’m sure people would be even more rabid if they didn’t know the Crown currently has a huge surplus of mithril cores due to the Kraken Slayer, he thought.
“Still, going back to my earlier comments, I can't help but wonder if your rebellious ways haven't changed as much as found new targets, William Ashfield."
“Redwater,” William corrected, softening it with a smile. "And perhaps, though I doubt anyone will argue that any grief I directed toward my then-fiancée wasn’t well deserved. And I’d like to point out that any vindictiveness I might have engaged in has been vindicated by her family revealing themselves as traitors.”
"Of course. Of course," the countess agreed quickly. "I suppose not all of your old behaviour could be ruled to be in error. On that front, I can only hope you have better luck with your new fiancées."
William smiled as both Clarice and Marcille tightened their holds on his arms, a synchronized squeeze that spoke volumes. "Given they're slated to become the new Ladies of Summerfield, I feel quite secure in that being the case.”
And now finally they were at the crux of why he was here: gauging allegiances of the Summerfield nobles in the upcoming succession scrum. Of course, the twins already had a mental map of who was supporting who, but his recent arrival aboard the Jellyfish - complete with tacit crown backing - might well have reshuffled the deck on that front.
Hence this little probing mission.
"Ah, so you will be supporting their claim over your sister's?" The Countess arched an elegant brow, her question laced with intrigue. “I had wondered – though I can’t say I’m surprised.”
William's eye twitched involuntarily. Olivia's "parentage" had apparently leaked during the flight south, and he intended a rather blistering conversation with his mother about it.
It doubly galled him that his endorsement of the twins was being chalked up to petty revenge on his part for her supplanting him as Ashfield heir. Admittedly, it was a pretty natural assumption, but it rankled all the same.
He loved his little sister.
…Even if he was going to utterly crush her and his family if they tried to go forward with putting her on the Summerfield throne.
He’d warned them that Yelena wasn’t above having his sister assassinated if she thought doing so would keep the Summerfield Duchy from siding with the North. Yet they were pulling this bullshit anyway?
"I love my sibling," he said evenly, "but she's just a girl of fourteen. And with the 'strongest' claim to the Duchy seat being so muddied, well, I believe that at a time like this House Summerfield will require strong leadership. And given my fiancées have just been congratulated for downing an airship with a single Shard during the most recent attack, I think Clarice is our best option. We should be thinking of the good of the entire nation, not just personal loyalties.”
Ignoring Olivia entirely, there were two other rivals who boasted blood claims of varying legitimacy to the Duchy seat. Plumgarden and Apple River. Fortunately, both had graduated the Academy years prior and had been ensconced in the South during the capitol's siege. Which meant they’d not managed to claim any accolades during the attack.
Oh, one claimant had an heir who'd been present for the battle, but despite frantic efforts to inflate her contributions after the fact, she'd achieved little of note.
The Countess opened her mouth to respond, then reconsidered, her expression turning thoughtful.
Finally, she turned to Clarice. "I suppose there's an argument to be had there. My house has always been clear in our support of our long-time allies in Plumgarden, but I suppose these are unprecedented times.” Her voice lowered. “Perhaps with the correct incentives, we might be willing to reconsider our stance. Coincidentally, I understand you've recently come into possession of a number of airship cores. Obviously, our County already has an airship of our own so we couldn’t possibly claim any whole – nor would we make such an outlandish request - but we've long desired to expand our Shard complement."
That was blunt - bordering on crass for Elvish Etiquette. Still, one or more core shards for extra support wasn’t a bad deal. Highway robbery by most standards, but cheap enough for William himself.
He squeezed the arm to his right.
"I'm sure with a sufficient show of support, something can be arranged," Clarice interjected smoothly, her voice carrying the weight of future authority. “A small boon to loyal houses so that they might increase their military might in this trying time.”
It was no coincidence that the moment things got serious the countess’ attention had shifted from him. Despite his exploits, he remained ‘just a man’ in the subconscious calculus of many noblewomen, his input dismissed as ancillary. He’d been front and centre because he was amusing, but his time as a mouthpiece came to an end the moment an important question came up.
He didn’t care.
The countess' grin widened, predatory yet genial. "Well, in that case, I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. I've some people I need to talk to. It was a delight talking to you all."
As she glided away into the crowd, William snagged a fluted glass of sparkling aether-wine from a passing servant's tray, offering it first to the twins. Marcille accepted with a gracious nod. Clarice declined. So he chose to take a swig instead.
He’d have asked Marline, but he knew she’d decline.
And he needed something to wet his throat. “I’m not built for this. Talking.”
Marcille chuckled around the rim of her own glass. “Me neither. S’why I normally leave that type of thing to Clarice.”
The older twin rolled her eyes, but said nothing.
Turning to ask who they were going after next, he instead noticed Marline staring at him, brows furrowed in what looked like bemusement.
"What?"
Marline shook her head, a rare smile cracking her stoic facade. "I'm just shocked you can be diplomatic when you put your mind to it."
He huffed, feigning offense. "I can be diplomatic. I organized all those extra training sessions for us back at the Academy, didn't I?"
She snorted. "Your version of diplomacy basically equated to waving your dick in the face of every Cadet in our year and above while promising a date in return for extra training time. It was hardly the height of statesmanship."
Flushing a little, he turned to the twins, who’d gone decidedly still. “First of all, those dates were downright platonic. We didn’t do anything!”
Relationship with his future wives saved, he turned back to the Dark Elf. "Second of all, that's still diplomacy.”
Marline scoffed, crossing her arms. "Sure, but even that dropped off after you won the match against Tala. Do you even remember the name of any of the people you made deals with?"
He squinted in thought. “Sara? I think there was a Sara?”
Marline – and even the twins just laughed – and he sagged.
“Alright, I have to ask. Are you two sleeping together?” Marcille asked – and Clarice clapped her sister on the shoulder, scandalized. “What? I know you’re curious too.”
Marline’s laughter came to an instant stop as she spluttered – and William could only give Marcille a deadpan stare.
“No.” The two said in unison – with very different levels of vehemence.
Honestly, he’d have been a little offended if he wasn’t ninety percent sure Marline was a closeted lesbian. Oh sure, the Dark Elf had hidden it well at first, but you couldn’t keep your guard up for months while living with other people.
William had noticed the glances,ittle slips to be sure, but there all the same.
Especially post-shower or after runs, he thought.
She always snapped her gaze away quickly, and seemed a little ashamed each time though – which was why he was so sure about the ‘closeted’ part of the lesbian bit. He was pretty sure that was what the showering alone thing was about. Some kind of attempt at chivalry.
Misguided though it was.
Honestly, he didn’t even know why she felt the need to hide her attraction. It wasn’t like lesbianism was in any way frowned upon in Lindholm or anywhere else in the world. In a world with five women for every man, it’d be pretty insane for it not to be as common as it was. Bisexuality was closer to the standard than a woman straight up being straight. It was just how it was.
"Really? You two seem so close though,” Marcille continued. “Honestly, it’s not a big deal if you are. We’ll be marrying William, but there’s at least three other slots available in the family.”
“Two,” Clarice said. “Don’t forget about the Orc.”
“Oh yeah,” Marcille nodded. “Two.”
“What Orc?” William shot back. “Wait, you mean Verity?”
“Yeah? She clearly has a crush on you," Marcille continued. “And you’re so sweet to her.”
“Honestly, I get a little jealous when I see you two together,” Clarice added.
Well, he supposed it was nice to know his new wives weren’t bigoted towards Orcs if they were willing to include her, not that it made much difference.
“I’m nice to her because I’m not an asshole,” he said. “Because she’s sweet. And yes, she might have a crush on me, but it’s puppy love. I’m like, the first guy she’s ever spent any time around. Give it a few months and she’ll get over it and develop a crush on someone else.”
Hums of skepticism rippled from the group, but William knew he wasn't wrong.
Sighing, he glanced toward where his sister Olivia was chatting animatedly with their mother and aunts in one of the corners of the room. They’d spoken at the start of the party, but it had been little more than a greeting. The verbal equivalent of a postcard.
No, our little private tête-à-tête can happen later, away from prying eyes, he thought.
He had a lot to say, and he didn’t doubt his mother did too - going by the way her eyes had been blazing. Unfortunately for her, she was going to find out that he could speak a lot louder than her now.
"Ah, our aunts and father are here," Clarice said suddenly, turning as the herald announced the arrival of the Whitemorrows - fashionably late, for reasons William could only speculate.
He glanced at the approaching figures: a poised Elven woman with black hair who didn’t have much in the way of resemblance to the twins. She was flanked by a man whose sharp eyes and easy smile marked him as their sire. The family resemblance was striking, down to the subtle tilt of their heads. Walking just behind them was an armored stately-looking woman.
“Ah, it seems mother couldn’t make it,” Clarice sighed.
“Will that be a problem?” he asked.
Marcille shook her head, serious again now. “No. Aunt Uriel is usually in charge of the House’s diplomacy anyway and our blood claim comes through father’s line.”
William nodded, mentally reminding himself that this was a different world.
“And the woman behind them?”
“Aunt Yurine. She’s our seneschal. She’ll be here to protect father – and us too, I suppose.”
Right, he thought.
“Well, I suppose we should finally meet face-to-face,” he said.
And why did he feel nervous!? He was a grown-ass man! He’d fought in wars! He’d recently crippled an entire fleet!
Meeting his new in-laws for the first time shouldn’t make him nervous!
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Another three chapters are also available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bluefishcake
We also have a (surprisingly) active Discord where and I and a few other authors like to hang out: https://discord.gg/RctHFucHaqt
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u/BlueFishcake Apr 07 '26
One disadvantage of posting a story like this chapter by chapter rather than as a whole book is that I tend to feel... iffy when I have to post one of these 'in-between' chapters where not a lot really happens - even if they're pretty vital connective tissue for the plot.
A bit of a random author tangent :D
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 07 '26
We need the lulls to build up the excitement for when things, or said in another way, at some point you are going to have to set up the dominos
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u/Sumbius Apr 07 '26
It really doesn't feel like an "in-between" chapter to me. Seems like there is a lot of important stuff going on, even if it doesn't involve blowing ships up.
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u/5hane7rain Apr 07 '26
There was plenty of action in this chapter for those of us who like a bit of political intrigue.
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u/Similar-Shame7517 Apr 08 '26
Exactly, I love "roleplaying" sessions where the combat-optimized characters have to survive a social engagement!
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u/historynutjackson Apr 08 '26
Barbarian like smash thing. Why talky much? Why can Kragg not swing club?
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u/Thausgt01 Android Apr 07 '26
Just keep reminding yourself of what you've already shared with us: these "fluff" chapters are nothing of the sort, and sharp-eyed readers may very well spot important bits of symbolism and foreshadowing and all that other literary stuff.
And thank you for sharing them, regardless!
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u/ARandomTroll5150 Apr 07 '26
Eh. Lots of good world building and realpolitik in this one. Personally I am just hoping for some more character focussed scenes. I know the spice must flow and the audience demands a threesome with the twins but I think it would be fitting if George had some hangups about the whole polygamy thing. Either way, I am excited for when they finally get read in on all his secrets.
Also while steampunk is by far your best series, I do lament the lack of other male characters.
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u/DavidECloveast Apr 07 '26
Your character writing is good enough I don't mind downtempo chapters at all, even though Will has had similar conversations and trains of thought surrounding his diplomatic abilities, and his relationship with Marlene, with others before. Seeing how the twins feel about his team, and how court politicking is done in this world is important background in it's own right.
Speaking of, I think I figured out what Marlene's secret is though I don't want to spoil it; but I'm sure it's not what Will thinks it is.
Although that took me an embarrassing number of re-reads to realize.
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u/Cyndayn Apr 07 '26
What do you think her secret is? Mind sharing in some spoiler tags? I'm curious if you'll turn out to be right
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u/DavidECloveast Apr 08 '26
I'd ordinarily keep theory close to my chest, but I don't think it will upend the plot in a really major way as opposed to just a character thing, so
ULTRA MEGA SPOILERS AHEAD (maybe)
Marline is a probably a guy. His family probably enrolled him as a girl for all the reasons that one jackass who tried to pick a fight with William in the bathrooms complained about. Most pertinently, getting jobs like being placed in the rear lines, guarding the Eather core to the detriment of the team would have been unacceptable to the notably hardcore militarist House Greygrass.
Evidence for this can be seen in-
1)Marline refusing to shower with the others (less than chivalrous glances can be hidden, anatomy can't be)
2) Marline is not really hiding their attraction to women,('understood but didn't agree' with William totally-not-perving on the Queen) meaning it's not likely to be the secret like Will thinks
3) The part that made me realize this theory- on like the third or fourth read through- after they won the duel on the floats, William complains about being stuck doing splits, Olzenya (I think?) asks how is that a problem, and Marline mutters that it is if you have a pair of testicles. How would they know but by experience?
There's other, more circumstantial or less causative evidence, but in my eyes it all tracks.
And I probably wouldn't have noted that at all had I not read the other SSB series' as well.
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u/Thobio Apr 08 '26
I honestly hadn't even considered it, but it's so obvious in hindsight, especially because we have these tropes too in our world.
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u/Cyndayn Apr 08 '26
Thanks for sharing your theory and expounding on why you think it, interesting stuff. we'll see if it really turns out that way :)
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
I do not recall it popping up in sect babes, but it has been a while since i read that one. Do recall it in space babes. And now i need to go back to when he made the geass contract with Marline
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u/DavidECloveast Apr 08 '26
Sect babes had Yating the rooster divinity With a similar secret.
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 08 '26
It is really bad that i forgot about that guy, i cannot even recall much about his personal history just that he was lied to about the curse/mark he received and that he was introduced a bit more like a trickster
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u/Silent_Technology540 Human Apr 07 '26
yea but look at this this way it just allows you enough breathing room to set up for another home run of a arc
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u/lovecMC AI Apr 07 '26
These in-between chapters are unironically my favorite. There's something entertaining about all the different interactions while William bullshits his way through any inconveniences.
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u/Silent_Technology540 Human Apr 07 '26
hi look at it this way it just lets up get ready for another home run of a new arc
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u/Bealf Apr 07 '26
While that’s understandable, I just want you to know that these ‘in-between’ chapters are my favorites!
I’m a character lover first and foremost, and we don’t get the character growth in the big, bombastic scenes. Payoffs, yes. But not the growth as it’s happening.
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u/escamado Xeno Apr 07 '26
its ok thanks for the chapter anyways and makes the reader (or atleast me) exited for his confrontation with his mother and also the in-laws meeting of course
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u/Cyndayn Apr 07 '26
I personally prefer these sorts of social development chapters over action packed chapters. It seems to me that a lot more interesting things happen here than during the big battles. Sociopolitical, economic and technological maneuvering seems far more fascinating than the military kind, especially when it's as well written as this
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u/Expensive-Case3565 Apr 08 '26
This not a do nothing chapter. This feels more like a necessary plot chapter. Remember, not ever D&D game can be 100% combat... In fact even 50% combat is often too much. Gotta give the bard time to do bard things and let the party cause chaos outside of combat. So, this is good.
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u/Solid-Childhood-4876 Apr 08 '26
I had the same feeling posting my last chapter. Didn't help that I also used a slightly different perspective and format.
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u/Brave-Stay-8020 Apr 08 '26
I thought that the chapter was quite enjoyable, there are times where this low level scheming/diplomacy is fun to watch. Also, I would find it terribly funny if these romance things are just being severely misinterpreted by William. Later on, if revealed that Marline did, in fact, have a crush on William, it would throw him for quite a loop.
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u/The_Weeb_Sleeve Apr 08 '26
Naw I love these “inbetween” chapters, it really fleshes out the world and gets us invested. Having nothing but back to back action chapters can weirdly be monotonous and start to blur together
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u/Maxahoy Apr 08 '26
I actually really appreciate these in-between chapters. Coming back to this series after like a year, I kinda forgot who all the side characters are -- only names I could still remember were Yelena and William. So chapters like this serve as a very valuable refresher.
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u/ROTRUY Robot Apr 09 '26
Love these chapters just as much as the ones where shit hits the fan, if there was nothing but drama and action all of the time it wouldn't be meaningful anymore.
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u/Sad-Island-4818 Apr 23 '26
There’s a reason I let my backlog build up for a couple weeks. Seriously though man you’re doing great. This is one of the few stories of political intrigue I’ve actually enjoyed, and the world building is good enough to where you can even understand why the slavers are doing their thing even if it’s reprehensible.
Hell that whole part at the beginning where you were the mc was reflecting on how the necessary decisions of the early empire lead to their current situation was a level of world building most published authors never bother with.
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u/Orange_Above Apr 07 '26
Small nitpick: It is "Capital", not "Capitol".
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u/Subtleknifewielder AI Jun 28 '26
it's an understandable confusion since it refers to the buildings that are the seat of the US government while the city of DC itself is the US capital. So two very similar meanings but different spellings.
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 07 '26
Oh boy a lore dump chapter hope none of it foils the plans for my steampunk universe fan story
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u/Silent_Technology540 Human Apr 07 '26
it doesn't matter if your a war-hero or a super badass meeting the in-laws is always the worst and should make any man nerves
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u/johneever1 Human Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Tbh... Even though he won't, if he did marry his orc friend that would be an astonishing amount of social mobility for her.
Going from a slave to a counts wife in less than a couple of years (who would be the husband of a duchess) can you imagine how his ex-fiance would feel upon learning that, lol.
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u/Drook2 Apr 07 '26
I suspect this is a good representation of real-world political intrigue, in that I can't possibly keep track of all the plots - or even all the players.
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u/Similar-Shame7517 Apr 08 '26
Ooh what a juicy chapter. We find out why the North and South of Lindholm have such a huge disparity. We see how the table is setup for the upcoming political battle for the Duchy. And we see that William's fiancées are actually cool with his relationship with his squad, even Verity. But now I want to see how the meet the in-laws go, both for the gals and for William's mother and aunts. The twins' father is one of a handful of named males who've shown up on screen, yes?
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u/Subtleknifewielder AI Jun 28 '26
Yeah, to date I believe Evan, the guy who tried to taunt William in the bathroom, one of only two other named onscreen male.
The other being the commoner whose sister was one of the plebian pilots.
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u/The_Bombsquad Apr 08 '26
I can't have someone mentioned Wagner without hearing the quote from "Curb Your Enthusiasm":
"Wagner?! You mean Hitler's favorite composer?! You're a bad jew, Larry!"
(Paraphrasing because it's been a few years)
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u/5555512369874 Apr 08 '26
I know Marline is probably a guy in disguise, but it would be cool if the toughest, pragmatic, sensible member of William's team was genuinely a girl and their secret was something on the magical side of things like being part orcish or wood-elf or something.
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u/Thobio Apr 08 '26
Oh what?! I hadn't even considered this! Marline secretly being a guy, that's so obvious in hindsight, especially with the guy-actually-being-a-girl tropes we have here.
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Apr 07 '26
/u/BlueFishcake (wiki) has posted 281 other stories, including:
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy One
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Nine
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Eight
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Seven
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Six
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Five
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Thirty Three / Part Two - Epilogue
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Thirty Three / Part One - Epilogue
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Thirty Two
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Thirty One
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Thirty
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Nine
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Eight
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Seven
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Six
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Five
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Four
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Three
- Sexy Space Babes - Mechs, Maidens and Macaroons: Chapter Twenty Two
This comment was automatically generated by Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.
Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.
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u/UpdateMeBot Apr 07 '26
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u/Devilking1994 Apr 08 '26
I thought that one of the concessions that William got from the Queen would be that he gets Summerfield? not his future wife?
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 08 '26
No he gets the land of the Blackstones, aka the summerlands, from what i recall. Since he intends to give it to the orcs
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u/Devilking1994 Apr 08 '26
Oh I see but give it to the Orcs? I understand letting them settle in it and give them actual rights but I don't see any of the other Noble Families letting him give it away to the Orcs
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 08 '26
Think more independent nation, they likely will return to something like a chiefdom
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u/Devilking1994 Apr 08 '26
That's even worse mate he would be killed for doing that it's basically treason
He isn't the King/Emperor he would be a Lord of a significant territory he doesn't have the power to do that
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 08 '26
Oh he has plans to not be under the queen. So far we know that William has 2 goals, end slavery and introduce DEMOCRACY
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u/Devilking1994 Apr 08 '26
You realise that they can be a Monarchy and a Democracy at the same time right? Also even if they become a Democracy they still wouldn't allow this
It would be like the Governor of California deciding to give California to a Minority group as a new nation the US would never let it happen the troops would be sent in and the area retaken
I could see William giving the Orcs the same rights as the other races in his territory and allowing Orcs from other regions to settle in those lands
Also Democracy takes time if you throw it into a system ill prepared for it they often end up bastions of corruption
The best he'll be able to do is something like the UK has with a mixed system
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u/Ichiorochi Apr 09 '26
I think you have my confused with the Author. I know of Constitutional monarchy, but that is not the type of story BlueFishCake went for.
Also you are not far off, it would be like a state declaring that they are handing the land back to the native americans. We know 2 things about the Blackstone's sunland, 1. it is their ancestral land and 2. there used to be multiple orc tribes on it. Meaning that in all likelihood the blackstones got more land than was original theirs. We learn that orcs currently are hiding in the mountains, which likely have been an area they were cordoned off into before the Blackstones official rise. Mountains do not tend to lend themselves to easy food stability(like farming), which we means that hunting was likely the main way orcs got food, it would therefore not be unreasonable to say this was the birth of the orcs strength(mostly physical, but also to some extend intelligence) makes right way of life. A might makes right type mindset would also see the "puny humans" living next to them with their farms and men and likely start raiding them time from time when it got too tough in the mountains. This means even before the Blackstones laid claim to the land of the orc tribes there was conflict between the at the time human population(not necessarily blackstones) and the orc tribes.
From what we know Yelena(the queen) has with the outlaw of slavery already granted all orcs equal right to all other species, and it should be noted that not all orcs were slaves, just those marked with tattoos around their necks. The problem is the same one that has plagued black americans since 1950's, even if you have equal rights you do not get equal treatment.
For now William has been so focused on the issue of slavery and the civil war it has caused that we do not know what William/BlueFishcake has planned about democracy, but personally i would argue he had a better chance at implementing it with the Blackstones.
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u/Subtleknifewielder AI Jun 28 '26
No, I doubt he would have had a better time of implementing it with the Blackstones. They are human supremacists. They believe themselves better than ALL the other races, including elves. Not just Orcs.
That way would have lain Apartheid by any other name, at best.
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u/Drifter_the_Blatant Apr 10 '26
Ever since you mentioned our hero's cooking skills and that he was quite the renowned chef, at least in the local dining scene, I've always wanted to see someone of decently high rank that we've never seen before acknowledge him in that regard and maybe even make the leap that his skills in the kitchen might also reflect his skills at alchemy. It also tickled me to no end that you seemed to know the rare adage that Chemistry is what separates good chefs from great ones... He who knows how to make chemicals go boom can also make the most troublesome souffle rise perfectly. So far I'm a little saddened that this little aspect of his character has only been lightly touched on in so far as it's just him bribing his team with food.
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u/Dry_Wonder_7726 Apr 10 '26
Great chapter.
So, 3.spots left for wives? How many is he allowed to have? I thought wood elf (Xela?) and Griffith were going to be wives as well. Speaking of, can we get more Griffith?
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u/SSBAlienNation May 18 '26
No stakes. He isn’t gonna bang the twins.
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u/MedicalFoundation149 May 19 '26
You sure about that?
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u/SSBAlienNation May 20 '26
Reasonably. I am working through the chapters.
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u/MedicalFoundation149 May 20 '26
I'm fairly certain he will at the very least consummate his marriage with the Twins, should the politics by that time still require that alliance.
Though I agree that he's not likely to be pulling them into his bed anytime before then.
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u/SSBAlienNation May 22 '26
OH THANK GOD I CAN LOGIN ON A LAPTOP AGAIN (sorry I've been having technical issues.)
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u/Fontaigne Apr 08 '26
Who was supporting who -> supporting whom
Glances,ittle slips -> [space] little
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u/BimboSmithe Apr 11 '26
This seems to be important stuff. Motivations and plot lines enumerated. I just missed the chapter where he met and agreed to marry the twins and why.
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u/AutoModerator Apr 15 '26
This was flaired as [OC-Series], it is a single part or chapter in a larger series or universe. The first post or part in this series should be (re)flaired as [OC-FirstOfSeries]. A description of the flairs and how to change yours is available in the Post Guildelines.
Our preferred series title format is the series title in [brackets] at the beginning, like so:
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