Maidens of the Fall, Arc 6, Zodiacal Light, Chapter 9
Chapter wanders through dark and dripping woods, to the old church crumbling in a clearing, where fungal friends wait between mouldering pews, singing siren songs to lure lost souls.
https://hungryshedgerow.net/maidens-of-the-fall-zodiacal-light-6-9/
Password is: grimalkin
Epub version of the chapter is also attached!
It's here! The final chapter of arc 6, at last! That's right, no more sneaky extension, no more rolling into another chapter, it's the actual, for-real, final ending of the arc! And oh my gosh, dear readers, this is a chapter. It is, in fact, the longest chapter of Maidens of the Fall thus far, and probably one of the most 'logistically' complex sequences I've ever written, of anything. There is ... well, you'll see, once you get underway!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much as I have enjoyed writing it; and I hope you've all enjoyed arc 6! This whole extended series of events felt like a massive creative and narrative risk, but it was an experiment I had to perform, or the story would never take the shape it needed. I'm delighted by the result, things have gone so much better than I ever imagined. This has given me a great deal of confidence in my future plans for the story, specifically that each arc really can be very different to the others; rather than disrupting the overall shape of the story, this is a huge benefit to how everything fits together!
Anyway, next chapter, we're onto arc 7! Magical girls, away!
Comments (16)
What a gloriously insane clusterfuck. I loved this. Also, how did it take me this long to realize that them being on the moon is a Sailor Moon reference?!
Thank you so much! I'm delighted you enjoyed the chapter! This is indeed a huge magical girl clusterfuck, I'm really happy with how it all came together. Ohohohoho. Plato Base being on the moon is several references in one, in a way. Sailor Moon, certainly! But also the tendency to use the moon or some other dimension as the secret hideout of the antagonists in many similar genres. Also the Lovecraftian Dreamlands angle with the moon beasts and whatnot.
Hey thanks for the .epub links every chapter. I often listen to stories with a screen reader app during work, and this is really helpful for that.
You're very welcome! I'm glad people actually find the epubs useful. Feel free to let me know if you ever want a complied epub of everything so far, or in some other format. I'm happy to do so!
Hooooot damn! I've been missing for a bit with lots of health issues, but a binge and this killer chapter may have partially resuscitated me! Everybody shut up my show is on! Scarlet nooooooooooo, God she's cool when she stays behind like that with the salute, but noooo, I'm so worried for her now! And what is up with those cyborgs! And the lucid dreamers were with them or a separate party? Though cat God seemed to be with them at the start, so feels more complex than that. 🤔 What a mess this devolved into! Magical girls all jumping in and then jumping in on a side 😂, dream gods, lucid dreamers, cyborgs, moon girls! Also Grimmy!!! Ahh we have missed you, you beautiful wonderful ball of reliable chaos! Also! A kiss!? Hell yeah! And Scarlet lunging to shield her without hesitation too! Yep, Octavia sure is collecting them. 😂 Signal immediately buying that Octavia flipped Scarlet is golden. And that tidbit about being able to translocate her bodies separately is interesting. Verdigris seems quite powerful, but reaaaaally hesitant to actually act. Why? Is it a psychological thing? A hesitation for the status quo changing and the unknown? Afraid of the consequences for her girls and maybe the wider world? Or is there something else at play we don't know about yet? I note that there is a missing moon girl here too 👀 where you at dragon? Sulking? For the fallout here! It's really hard to say with how messy it got, but I suspect many magical girls are going to learn a loooot that they've been kept in the dark about tonight in the aftermath. And some of them may even have questions for the system. Scarlet is a giant question mark. Reaaaaally hope she's ok, but she dream God seemed to have a solid psychological lock on her til Octavia and Verdigris busted that down. Now, Scarlet seems much more solidly independent, but scars will last, so what will happen now? Moon time! How much will Octavia tell the girls? I suspect she'll be quite open and straight up tell most of it, maaayabe hold back on the intimacy, but honestly, maybe not? And will Bright be up there for this debrief? Then it's very much gril juice recharge, healing and repair time for Octavia! Very much needed! Signal nabbed one of the spooky mooks too, so hopefully she can decipher some of what's going on there. The translocation blocking in the copter was blown sky high, so hard to decipher how that works, but maybe she can get a lead from the spook. Goddess I love this story so much! I can't wait for the next arc! This was a masterpiece 😍
Hooray! I'm very glad you enjoyed this chapter, and very happy to hear that the story has helped you feel better! Scarlet was very cool indeed right at the end there, but perhaps she should have gone with Octavia. Who knows what awaits her now ... It was very satisfying to write such a big, messy, complex fight scene. Finally throwing everybody and everything into the pot and letting it explode. It is wonderful to have Grimmy back on the screen! I've been missing her dearly, she's always so much fun to write, and now she's back!!! Yay! Verdigris is sort of in an awkward position. She's carved out a space inside the state, in which she can stay safe, and keep safe a number of other magical girls too. But she probably cannot act against England openly, it would require her to throw away all the safety she's built. Thematically she's a exploration of what it means to collaborate with the authoritarian powers. As for Bright ... yeah, she's probably off sulking somewhere. And yes, back to the moon for now! Octavia doesn't have a lot of reason to hold anything back, except maaaaaybe the sex, yes. And some of the things Scarlet told her in confidence. And thank you again, so very much. It's a delight to see you enjoying the story! I'll keep doing my best!
This was an amazing chapter! Such a roller coaster! Also, it has my favorite line in the story so far, “In the name of the moon, motherfuckers, ka-boom!” Pure poetry! Also also, I had a funny thought pop into my head. At some point Octavia will have to formally introduce her good girls to each other. I imagine she will have to do it the same way you do with any puppies that don't get along. I'm picturing Octavia holding Scarlet and Grimmy's leashes while they bark, growl, and circle each other.
Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter! Yay! Hehe, that line was one of my favourites too. I had a note that I wanted Grimmy to do kind of "in the name of the moon" joke, but I didn't plan what chapter in would happen, or where. She surprised me with this! Oh yeah, introducing Scarlet and Grimmy to each other (eventually???) is going to be a very delicate process. Very much like getting a pair of animals used to each others scents, yeah!
holy fuck what a mess. whoever said about there being two different kinds of cats was dead on it seems. the dream-gods don't seem very godlike. or, rather, they're too much like people, like the greek gods
A huge mess! A mess with consequences that will perhaps ripple outward through all magical girls in the UK, uh oh. And yes, ohohoho, it seems like all the cats are not on the same side!? Dream-Gods are indeed a messy bunch too, very much like the Greek Gods, all with their own little agendas and secrets and nasty plans, ehehehe.
Yet again Octavia returns to the moon, battered and bruised. But this time, with a Zoog! Ah, that was a fun read.
She is making this a bit of a habit. Get in huge trouble, escape to Luna at the last moment! Each time she's beaten up or exhausted or stabbed. But yes, at least this time she returns with a new friend aboard. And thank you very much, I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter!
Oh, this is indeed quite the chapter!
It really is, isn't it!? And thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
N I C E
N I C E (Thank you, I was hoping somebody would make that joke!)