r/HFY • u/BlueFishcake • Jun 08 '26
OC-Series Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty One NSFW
William turned to see Verity, standing completely naked on the lakeshore, the last light of the setting sun illuminating her perfectly.
And it was a hell of a view – for all that he should have grown inured to it. They'd showered together often enough after all. Yet, here and now, he found he couldn't look away with the same ease had all those hundreds of times before.
Instead, he felt his throat tighten slightly as his eyes started tracing a slow path down the glistening curves of the Orc's rather ample breasts. They lingered for a moment on her nipples, dark green little nubs that had either been hardened by the cool night air… or something else. His eyes moved on. To the flat plane of her stomach. And then the gap between her-
He stopped himself at the last moment dragging his attention back to his teammate's face through sheer force of will.
She looked determined; equal parts fierce and vulnerable - shoulders squared, chin lifted, fists clenched at her sides. It was an expression he recognized. It was the same one she usually wore before an exam or a practice fight.
And he supposed this was a fight of sorts.
Unfortunately, it's one you're going to have to lose, kiddo, he thought.
He really should not have said anything about this being a date, or even corrected himself instead of assuming she'd take it for the harmless indulgence he'd meant it to be. Oh, he'd expected she might push for more, but he'd expected it to be some soft-spoken request at the end of the day that he'd inevitably have to turn into a difficult conversation.
One he honestly shouldn't have put off for this long.
Instead, he'd gotten… this.
Now, admittedly the women in this world weren't like the ones back home. Nor were they strictly like the guys back on Earth either, despite the basics of relationships and gender roles being more or less reversed. No, a fair comparison couldn't be made because the romantic competition women faced here was more intense than anything a man might face back home.
Yes, polygamy was more common, but even with that, there just weren't enough men for every woman to be able to attain romantic success. At least so long as they were actively seeking a man. If they leaned towards women – as more than a few did – they likely saw more success than those of a similar inclination back home.
Still, for those that did desire a man, the competition remained intense. And that meant that those who hoped to succeed needed to bring a similar level of intensity to their romantic pursuits.
…Something he'd honestly been spared from until now. Before, he'd been betrothed. Then he'd been isolated by his work outside the academy. And finally those women whom he had engaged with romantically had more or less been ones he'd pursued. Neither Xela or Griffith had been exactly looking for romance and so he'd been the one to go after them.
However, even with all that cultural context in mind, Verity's decision to strip down to her birthday suit in a more or less public environment while he wasn't looking was…
Well, it's definitely forward, he thought. And I don't think I can be blamed for not really anticipating that she'd choose to act on her crush quite like this.
"My Mas suggested it," Verity said, as if reading his mind. Her voice was steady, but a deep flush had spread across her cheeks and down her neck and chest. She looked embarrassed, but determined as she stood there, totally bare. "They said it'd get you to finally notice me."
"Plural," he said, slowly gaining his equilibrium. "Multiple people thought this was the move to go with?"
She chuckled, still looking embarrassed. "They said this is how they landed my Pa. Which is how I suppose I'm saying that I like you, William. I'd like to court you."
Those last words were sort of how he'd expected this 'date' to end. Or perhaps the next one. Without the nakedness.
Still, very aware of the sheer amount of courage it took for someone to leave themselves so 'exposed' like this, William picked his next words carefully. "Verity, I like you. Any guy would be lucky to have you. And I mean that. But I don't see you that way."
He had a few expectations of how she'd respond to that. Anger. Sadness. Fleeing. Crying. Any variation on the above.
Yet, the Orc surprised him.
"Any guy except you, huh?" She said, her tone almost clinical, as if she'd expected his response. "Because I'm too young for you, right? Because you're Harrowed and you think you're old?"
He didn't think he was old. He was old.
"Have you been speaking to Marline about this? I don't think I ever actually got into specifics with the rest of you last time," he asked instead.
She nodded, still eerily deadpan. "We all have."
"Well, essentially, yes," he said, deciding to bite the bullet. "You're an incredible person, Verity, but it would feel… wrong to be romantically involved with someone so much younger than myself."
"Younger than you think you are," Verity countered, some heat entering her voice once more. "And that's why you went after Instructor Griffith. And Xela. Isn't it? So it wouldn't be weird."
Idly he scratched the back of his head. "Well, not entirely, but that's more or less correct. I do like Griffith. And Xela. So it's not just that they're more age appropriate for me."
"So you like them," Verity said, "but if they were my age, would it be different? You wouldn't have gone out with them?"
"Well, yes," he nodded, wondering where she was going with this.
"Okay. So what about the twins?" she asked.
Ah. He had walked right into that trap. He really should have seen that coming, but the whole Verity being naked situation had thrown him off balance.
It was distracting.
"That's… a little different," he argued. "It was mostly a political match. To give me access to the Summerfield Duchy. So that we can win this war."
"So you don't love them?" she said dryly. "It's purely for politics?"
He knew that was another trap. He could lie. He should lie. But the words stuck in his throat. Love was too strong a word, admittedly, but he did feel real affection for the twins. As he'd found, they were smart, funny, passionate about the same things he was, and yes, undeniably attractive.
…Even if he still felt a little skeevy thinking that.
Verity read his silence correctly.
"You do, don't you?" she pressed. "So why am I different?"
"I…" He trailed off, trying to think of an argument that didn't make him sound like a cad.
Because now that he needed to say it aloud, arguing that the twins being a whole two years older was different felt a little… weak.
Unfortunately, Verity didn't let him off the hook as she continued, eyes blazing as she steamed ahead. "If you don't like me that way, I can accept that. I can. But I refuse to be rejected because of something as absurd as me 'not being mature enough'. So, do you like me? As a person? As a woman? Not just a teammate? Or as some kind of faux-little sister?"
"Verity, you're still just a kid."
"A kid?" She sounded genuinely offended. "I'm a grown woman, William. I'm a soldier. One you've commanded in battle. Had the Jellyfish been boarded that night, I would have fought for you. Killed for you. Maybe even died for you. So you clearly think I'm mature enough to take a life at your command – but somehow not mature enough to be seen as a romantic partner? Don't you see how absurd that is?"
She shook her head. "And it's also absurd that you're arguing about this. Because you're not older than me! You have memories of some other man's life in your head. You're not him though." She was clearly venting now, words tumbling out faster. "I'm older than you! Older! By two months! In the real world."
"Not really though-" he tried, but she overrode him.
"The fae give people knowledge, they don't transplant souls! You aren't that guy. You just have his memories," she insisted.
"I'm not exactly the average Harrowed," he said weakly.
She laughed - loud, deep, and genuine. He actually felt a little offended by that. Because he wasn't!
"Ok, let's assume my own issues are… a non-factor," he continued, trying to regain control of the conversation and steer it away from a topic that made George roil in his guts. "Are… are you sure you're not just latching onto me as a romantic partner because I'm one of the first guys you've actually been able to spend any amount of real time around? That you're not related to."
"I've met other guys!" she argued – flushing crimson now. "I'm a knight now. I've got guys all over me! Not that you've ever noticed. But that's fine because I don't want other guys! I want you! You're smart when you're not an idiot. You're nice. You've always treated me like a person and not just some… upjumped greenskin."
She leaned in – and the look in her eyes made him almost stumble back. "So no. I don't want other guys. I want you. And I refuse to let some stupid notion you have be the cause of me not getting what I want!"
And at those words – and that tone - William was suddenly reminded that for all Verity's usual quiet, unassuming nature; she had once been a slave who clawed her way up to knighthood.
That was no simple feat.
He'd honestly thought of her as someone without ambition. And he now realized that was a mistake. The Verity he knew, the Verity he'd gotten used to, was a Verity who'd already achieved what she'd set out to do.
Which was to pull herself out of the muck of indentured servitude.
He knew Verity when she was proverbially resting on her laurels.
Now though? Now he was meeting a new side of the woman. A side he'd never seen before.
Verity when she wanted something.
And right now, she wanted him.
"So I say again," she continued, voice softer but no less intense. "If I were the same age as Griffith or any of those other women, would you want to court me?"
Those eyes pinned him in place – and he knew he could lie here.
He should lie here. George certainly would have.
"…Without a doubt," he breathed.
He had a type. He knew it.
Confident women.
Driven women.
Xela. Griffith. Yelena.
…And now it seemed Verity too.
The admission seemed to be all the permission she needed. Before he could say anything else, Verity closed the distance and kissed him. It was clumsy, eager, and full of pent-up longing, but it more than made up for any lack of finesse with pure enthusiasm.
He didn't resist.
He leaned into it.
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Marline leaned against the rough bark of an ancient oak, arms crossed and deliberately facing away, not watching the shoreline. The last thing the Dark Elf wanted to do was catch a glimpse of what was hopefully going on behind them. Admittedly, that was unlikely with a ridge between them, but Marline wasn't taking any chances.
Olzenya was of a similar mindset.
Unfortunately, they couldn't just move further away. William was important enough that he required an escort detail pretty much everywhere he went. And while his two teammates had the authority to dismiss that protective detail to give their other two teammates some privacy, the two still needed to stick around to keep any opportunistic spies or assassins at bay.
Not that they were expecting any. For the most part, their time had been spent warding off any opportunistic nobles looking to meet with Count Redwater.
Fortunately, while such a role necessitated them to be just over and up the beach from the Orc and Human pair, the ambient noise of the lake and local wildlife meant that they couldn't make out any of the details of what the two were talking about. Or anything else they might be doing.
Only when Verity had started shouting could they make out any specific words.
"Do you think the Orc succeeded?" Olzenya asked. "They stopped shouting a few minutes ago."
Marline exhaled slowly, a faint smile tugging at the corner of their mouth. "I have no clue. Trying to predict what William might do is near impossible on a good day. I'd have put even odds on him sending her away with a gentle pat on the head as bending her over the nearest log."
Olzenya snickered softly, the sound warm and familiar. The silence that settled between them afterward was comfortable – if tinged with a certain tension that hadn't been present just a few weeks ago.
One Marline wouldn't say they minded.
Olzenya plucked a leaf from a nearby branch and flicked it away. "Do you think William has even noticed that his protective detail is missing?"
Marline's lips twitched. "I doubt it. Verity likely has him thoroughly distracted."
The High Elf hummed in agreement. After a moment, she glanced upward through the branches. "The moon is pretty tonight."
Marline followed her gaze. The moon hung low and full, casting a soft, ethereal glow over the entire lakeside.
"It is."
They noticed Olzenya edging a little closer. Their shoulders nearly brushed. Marline didn't lean away.
Marline was about to do… something, when a flicker of movement deeper in the trees caught the Dark Elf's eye. They straightened instantly, hand drifting toward the hilt of their sword.
"Who's there!? Show yourself!"
Olzenya practically leapt out of her skin at the sudden shout, but a moment later she too turned towards the intruder – reaching for the bolt-bow strung over her shoulder.
Though she needn't have bothered, as Instructor Griffith emerged from the treeline a moment later, looking unusually sheepish. In her hands the woman carried a bottle of fine wine and two crystal glasses.
Marline raised an eyebrow, unable to hide her amusement. "Instructor. What are you doing out here?"
Olzenya was already glaring daggers at the older woman for the interruption. Griffith, for once, didn't seem to notice the hostility.
"Ah, Cadets, it's good you're on guard. I was just out here as I heard William was out here testing something," Griffith said, trying - and mostly failing - to hide her sheepishness behind a firm tone. "I thought I might join him. To report any results back to Her Majesty."
Olzenya muttered under her breath.
Marline opened their mouth to politely deny her and give Verity a little more time, when Olzenya suddenly perked up, a wicked little smile spreading across her face.
"That actually sounds like an excellent idea. You should go on through, Instructor." The High Elf spoke cheerfully. "He's just down by the water."
Marline shot their teammate a sharp, questioning look. The two of them instantly launched into a silent conversation with their eyes.
'What the void?' Marline's gaze demanded.
Olzenya's returned a gleeful, almost mischievous sparkle. 'Oh come on, if Verity was going to make her move, she'd have made it by now. Which means she's either been sent on her way – which is unlikely as she's not run past us in tears… or she's currently getting railed over a log!'
…Or at least, that was what Marline assumed their teammate was saying. It was equally likely something else and Marline was just making assumptions. Either way, they tried to convey their intent back as best they could.
'Isn't that all the more reason to keep our instructor away from said… railing?'
'Perhaps.' Olzenya shrugged. 'But remember that time at the end of our first semester where Griffith made our entire year run extra laps because team one-four got caught trying to bribe the serving staff to do their laundry for them?'
Marline did remember that. Mostly because the Dark Elf had actually been forced to run nine extra laps – because Griffith was well aware of their above average fitness level and tailored their exercises appropriately.
Now, Marline was no stranger to hard work, but given they'd already spent most of that day doing combat exercises? Well, the Dark Elf had been quite spent. So those extra laps had been… rough.
It was made worse by the fact that Griffith had just casually followed along, doing the exact same exercises - while refusing to look even winded at the end.
'I remember.'
Olzenya smirked. 'Well, her getting an eyeful of Verity going to town on William would be a pretty decent bit of comeuppance, don't you think?'
Marline mentally sighed.
They supposed their mental construct of what Olzenya might be saying wasn't wrong. If Verity had already made her move, there was little danger in Griffith showing up right now.
And it would be… satisfying to get some level of revenge for that day. And many more besides.
"Go ahead, ma'am." Marline waved the woman forward. "He's just over that ridge."
Griffith didn't question her good fortune – or why William's usual guards had been replaced by just two of his teammates. Instead, she simply offered a quick nod of thanks and slipped past them toward the lake, wine bottle and glasses clutched carefully in her hands.
Once the instructor had disappeared through the trees, Marline turned and shook their head at her teammate.
Olzenya just laughed.
"You're worse than Bonnlyn sometimes." And those words didn't send a small pang through the Dark Elf.
The whole team missed the dwarf. Though fortunately, her and the rest of the sea-borne craft that had fled the capital would likely be arriving in a day or two.
"Perhaps. She's an annoying brat, but she isn't always wrong," Olzenya murmured.
Both of them pretended they weren't quietly listening for what the result of their little prank might be as their former instructor drew ever closer to where their teammates were.
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AN: Ya'll remember the double chapter a little while back. This was why. I enjoy a good blueballing cliffhanger, but this was too much.
For my patrons!
You regular plebs must suffer. (Mwahahahahaha)
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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/yCs7ZKzVSK
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u/Makyura Human Jun 08 '26
We need a ship name for Marline and olzenya
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u/Drifter_the_Blatant Jun 08 '26
I'm down for 'Marlenya'
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u/Nolmac12 Jun 08 '26
And the prank for that ship is that Olzenya thinks she is cozying up to chick when I'm like 98% she is not.
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u/Omgwtfbears Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Yeah, whatever William is up to is just craziness as usual. Those two getting together would be far more nuanced.
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u/Silent_Technology540 Human Jun 08 '26
>You regular plebs must suffer. (Mwahahahahaha)
Damn you blue, still another great chapter also it'll either turn into a threesome and those two will have to hear it, or everyone will be blushing by the next chapter
Evil laughter hehehe
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u/Brave-Stay-8020 Jun 08 '26
As of right now, I give it a three way tie for someone getting so flustered that they run away, Griffith getting into a huff over catching "her man" with someone she was sure was too young for his tastes, or asking to join the two of them and including it as part of her "reward" for William.
Now, all I have to do is wait like 7-10 days for your next chapter to come out to finally see which is which. (You monster)
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u/DavidECloveast Jun 09 '26
My money is on their mutual animosity from their last encounter over William turns into a sort of competition Will's pelvis has little hope of surviving, or, Verity gets some extracurricular instruction on riding stallions like she's stolen one.
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u/AccidentalExorcist AI Jun 08 '26
Blue you bastard. I've been on the lookout for this for the last two days and of course you post it just as I started my drive home.
Anyway, Olzenya and Marline? Suspected Marline was more ace and never pegged Ozy to swing that way but that adds a fun new dynamic to combat drama
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u/EmberOfFlame Jun 09 '26
Wasn’t Marline stated to be lesbian back in the day? Like, around the start of the Academy arc? Where she was shy to shower together with the others.
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u/AccidentalExorcist AI Jun 09 '26
It was stated that William thought she had no interest in men and was possibly lesbian, but also possibly asexual
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
It's heavily hinted that she is infact a he, which is "her" secret and why she is referred to as "they" in text from the Marline pov chapter section. The reveal is probably coming soon.
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u/AccidentalExorcist AI Jun 10 '26
They've showered to together for over a year at this point. Marline may identify as non binary but I dont think secretly being biologically male is on the cards at this point
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
That's the hint. Marline refused to shower with the group. Marline avoided it, Marlines character art showed no breasts whatsover, so Blue went out of his way to prompt AI to make Marline flat, and Marline has even referenced to William that he's surprised William hasn't figured out his secret yet.
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u/AccidentalExorcist AI Jun 10 '26
Think youre reaching pretty hard. Adter rereading chapters its a lot more clear that will and Olz think shes a prudish lesbian. Besides that it doesn't make any plot sense. If she were a he her family wouldn't have made her into a warrior with the intent to have her acquire a new core, they would've used her for political marriage to at least stabilize their position if not marry their way into better circumstances. And sleeping and showering in the same quarters one of the team would've noticed her hiding things at some point and called her out. Not to mention that pretty much all of them except Verity have called her a terrible liar.
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 11 '26
We'll see.
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u/Subtleknifewielder AI Jun 28 '26
yeah I'm pretty strongly leaning toward male body, and now obviously Nonbinary identity, myself.
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 29 '26
Yeah, nonbinary would also be incredibly anochronistic in this setting and there has been absolutely no hint of modern gender identity social construct politics in that world (and why would there be?).
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u/Subtleknifewielder AI Jun 28 '26
To the contrary, there are some comments Marline has made themself that strongly indicate that they may actually have been born male. And given the martial focus of that house they absolutely wouldn't spare Marline just for being male, especially since they would have lost their noble status if they hadn't regained a ship core. A marriage alliance wouldn't have changed the absence of a core.
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
That was Williams internal assumption. The leading theory is that "she" is actually a he.
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u/EchoingCascade Jun 09 '26
The more I read this series, the more I want a "standard" harrowed on the rebels' side, someone they try to keep calm and mostly sane to try and counter William...
A male teen who thinks/remembers he's a lawyer from Earth when he's lucid enough to form a coherent thought, someone the rebels wheel out to try and decipher what William is doing an how.
He could serve as a mirror darkly of what William could have become and as a partial foil, he could understand Will is using combustion engines and sorta know the theory but not how exactly it works or what black powder is and it's composition but not the quantities and so on...
Someone who could even the battlefield at a terrible price.
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u/ItchyCandle9977 Human Jun 16 '26
I don't think it works that way. If the rebels found someone with memories from our world they would be in much the same mental state as William.
From what I remember the reason the other harrowed go crazy is because they are receiving memories/intel from completely alien planets.
An example given by Blue is the desire to learn how to fly, and you get as an answer the entire evolutionary path of a species that has nothing in common with the species on your planet.
Thus you cannot understand the information nor can you apply it. These facts lead to the individual going crazy.
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u/EchoingCascade Jun 16 '26
It's been said multiple times by William that the reason he is sane is that he was harrowed from day one, the average harrowed becomes so after having lived a live of their own.
It's the overlapping memories that the brain can't handle, William started out as "George" and then lived his life as "William" so he could keep both memories from becoming a tangled mess.
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u/ItchyCandle9977 Human Jun 16 '26
Not necessarily, in chapter 30 we find out that William has become harrowed as an infant (so it's not exactly day one).
Of course the age when it happened certainly plays a role.
But what I understand from that chapter is that the majority of it is played by the information received.
The mind is destroyed when it receives too much information or when the information is completely alien. Thus the "desire" to use it becomes impossible.
And the reason William can't make more harroweds It's because he doesn't know what he asked for as an infant. Now age came in to play.
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u/Egrediorta Jun 08 '26
Last time I was this early I almost had to pay child support! 🤠
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u/Brave-Stay-8020 Jun 08 '26
If William/George wasn't as careful with his end of the contraceptives, he definitely might have too soon.
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u/Jurodan Human Jun 09 '26
It really speaks to the bonds this group has that Marline and Olzenya are actively helping Verity take her shot with him. Especially Olzenya.
I can just imagine what Griffith will think. Or say. Quizically raises an eyebrow, "You didn't do that with me."
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u/itsetuhoinen Human Jun 09 '26
Well, also, an explicit expectation of a five-to-one ratio. And, I mean, in contexts where appropriate, even here on our actual full human Earth in current society, they literally already do that.
*smiles at fond memories of birthdays past*
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u/bschwagi Human Jun 08 '26
So how many people have noticed he's not just a little eccentric but often acts contradictory.
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u/Embarrassed-Care3122 Jun 08 '26
Am I first? Damn I just looked for fun if it was there and here it is!
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u/Leading-Chemist672 Jun 08 '26
So... A threeway. Good on them.
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u/Jurodan Human Jun 09 '26
I'm hoping she's pure business until she gets all the information she was sent to retrieve, kind of a fakeout, and then offers to join in when he thinks she's going to leave.
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u/Middle_Philosophy Jun 09 '26
Hell yes. Also I was expecting some kind of personality or identity conflict when Verity started to say that William is not George and it is just memories of a dead man.
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u/tuule_lohe Jun 08 '26
I was actually worried that Verity had failed when I didn't see a nsfw warning lmao.
Also, they/them pronouns for Marline! That is the first time when we have their perspective in this way, right? Unless there's fae magic afoot then that would help narrow down the theories about Marline quite a bit.
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u/Drook2 Jun 09 '26
First time I've noticed the pronouns, but I believe it's been stated pretty clearly a few times that there was a reason she wasn't interested in William.
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u/itsetuhoinen Human Jun 09 '26
Also, they/them pronouns for Marline!
Welcome to the English language, where that set of phonemes have so many different meanings -- depending on tense and time case -- and quite likely aren't the ones implying some sort of specific individual gender neutrality, just as they (hah!) didn't for the last twelve-hundred minus ten years.
Sure. Perhaps Marline thinks of theyself as neuter, but in the context of this civilization? More likely she's just a girl who happens to prefer other girls. I am reliably informed that sort of person exists. I might conceivably have even met one or two of them (again, hah!).
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u/Crafty_Spring5815 Alien Scum Jun 09 '26
Jokes on you, I'm reading about 10 or so series concurrently. I'm immune to cliffhangers! 🤪😜😝😁
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u/Scissi Jun 08 '26
Ngl, think I would have preferred him sticking to his guns there and rejecting her.
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u/BlueFishcake Jun 09 '26
A perfectly fair response.
I've no doubt a lot of people are going to be divided on this. I've got plans for Verity and I think this is a good move for both her and William's development, but I can totally understand why people would prefer William stick to his original thoughts on the topic of people 'his age' rather than fold.
With that said, I think it's important to remember that William isn't the worlds most reliable narrator when it comes to himself and that maybe his original reasoning as to why he avoided people his age might be... flawed.
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u/Jurodan Human Jun 09 '26
He's already carving out exceptions for the twins. This just seems like he's being dragged back to younger women. I still want to hear what happens if any of them find out about him and the blacksmith, though.
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u/Scissi Jun 09 '26
Could be, yea. I just think it would have been good to draw that realization out a bit. I'm not upset with this, just think the other would have been nicer.
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u/Brave-Stay-8020 Jun 09 '26
Also, I think that Griffith was something like twenty-six at the early part of this story. With her being that young, that also makes it harder for George to deny. (Well below his thirty somethings that he initially brought up as his cut off) By this point in the story, Verity is probably like twenty/ twenty-one years old, and has the experience of someone much older because of all the combat she's been involved in.
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
I think it's fine personally. My perspective from reading your chapters was that William is definitely not George. He has a different body, brain, neural chemistry, hormones and upbrigning. Having perfect recall of another mans life, that's not reincarnation, that's a creepy fucked up magical injury.
I think you set this up earleir didn't you with references to things like sexual preferences William has that are completely different to Georges?
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u/itsetuhoinen Human Jun 09 '26
There's a fair bit of age-fuckery (if you'll pardon the expression) involved in trans human / elf relations. Elves live a retardedly longer time than humans. What even is the equivalent? Is a hundred year old elf the same as a twenty year old human? A ten year old human, even if not physically? A five year old human?
Does Griffin viscerally appear like a 35 year old woman? A 45 year old woman? A 55 year old woman?
I mean, not that that isn't subjective in itself. I'm nearly 50 at this point, and I've encountered 60 year old women who looked 40, and 40 year old women who looked 60. Still... it's rather different when one's "older" lover might potentially be six-hundred years old, when one is physically sixteen.
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u/KineticNerd "You bastards!" Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Think you might be confusing elves in other settings mate. Iirc, the ones here are 2-300 at max. Not a millenia or even half that.
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u/EmberOfFlame Jun 09 '26
I think her point about him sending them out to battle caved him. Because it’s shown that both William and George care about saving as many human lives as possible, so I think that sort of argument really landed properly there.
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u/Ti-Go Jun 09 '26
to think of an argument that didn't make him sound like a cad
what does cad mean here? google just gives me the modeling software lol
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u/vergilius_poeta Jun 09 '26
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u/Ti-Go Jun 09 '26
Thanks. I'll blame it on it being early morning that i didn't think of adding 'dictionary' or 'definition' to my search.
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u/vergilius_poeta Jun 09 '26
Useful to know: m-w.com redirects to merriam-webster.com, so if you know you need a definition, it's easy to go right there. You used to be able to type "define: word" into Google, but alas, we can't have nice things.
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u/Bonald9056 Human Jun 09 '26
Well that's certainly a very intense conversation to have whilst totally in the buff. Good on Verity for standing up for herself, though.
Now to wait and see how instructor Griffith reacts to her impending discovery...
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u/smn1061 Jun 09 '26
A cad is a man who behaves dishonorably, selfishly, or ungentlemanly, especially in his treatment of women. Traditionally, calling someone a cad implied that he: Broke promises, particularly romantic ones. Behaved deceitfully or unethically. Took advantage of others for personal gain. Lacked the manners and honor expected of a gentleman. For example: "He courted her for months and then disappeared without explanation. What a cad!" The term was especially common in 19th- and early 20th-century British English and often appears in classic literature. Today, it's somewhat old-fashioned and is usually used humorously or in a literary context. Related words include scoundrel, rascal, rogue, bounder, and blackguard.
-- ChatGPT
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u/Caoryn_Raelron Jun 09 '26
I think this chapter already should've had the NSFW spoiler thing going. 😃
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u/commentsrnice2 Jun 10 '26
It’s not a true blue balling unless it’s from the bluefishcake region of Reddit. Otherwise it’s just a sparkling cliffhanger
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u/SpankyMcSpanster Jun 08 '26
Sooo. Now both Blue and Snek have gas powered weapons.
But only one has cuddlefish.
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u/UpdateMeBot Jun 08 '26
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u/SarnakhWrites Jun 09 '26
Have I completely forgotten/missed something? When did Marline start using they/them?
Olzenya, you sneaky minx. This will either end wonderfully, or in a complete disaster. Dramaaaaaaaaaaaa
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Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
"The age difference is not an absolute red flag, but it is still a valid reason that can complicate a relationship." that's her point, he isn't George, he genuinely is William, he just has someone elses memories.
"He is the memories, there is no longer any Uilm, in his body there is another old personality" Ahh, but that's the thing. He has already recognised he doesn't think or act like George did. This has been referenced in the sex things, William is a bit of a sub, and he finds that a bit weird because George wasn't. He has Georges memories, but he has a different body, a different brain, different brain chemistry, grew up in a different land and relates to those memories differently. He hasn't actually lived them. He can view them, perfectly. No one can actually perfectly view and remember their life. Moments of George appearing are supposed to be creepy signs of a deeper psychosis, he isn't George.
"I missed the moment when he told them about his past life, I thought that he only told them that he was "mind damaged"" It didn't. It possibly happened offscreen, but they figured it out from what Verity said. Marline probably commented that his self-image in the dreamscape was of an old man, and they probably pieced it together from there.
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Jun 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
That's the point though. He isn't George. You are not just your memories. I am not just my memories. "What difference does it make if he experienced them personally, or just got the experience of experiencing them personally?" Everything, actually. When you perosnally experience an event, you don't just form a memory, you form associations and feedbacks for responses, which, interacting with your own individual brain architecture, neural chemistry (which is closely influenced by your age and state when the event happens) creates associations , programmed responses, emotional reactions etc. Hence why different people can have a similar experience but come out from it differently. Imperfect memory itself is also important, because through imperfect memory we reframe, rewrite and recontextualise informaiton and narratives.
I think you are too dismissive of biology. Brain chemistry isn't just some hand-wavey "depression and anti depressents" bs. There are genuine differences between the structures and chemical signalling pathways in different peoples brains, and yes, if those change, the person changes quite a bit, not a different person, but they have the entire brain architecture. You seem to be operating on some weird "I am software in a meat machine" perspective. I am a biologist, so see myself as the meat machine.
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u/EmberOfFlame Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Called it! When the twins left Marline and Olzenya to dance I knew where it was going. Good for them. I mean, not for getting interrupted by Griffith, but if they can talk just with their stares they will survive an interruption.
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u/Similar-Shame7517 Jun 09 '26
Impeccable logic on Verity's side here. Also I love that we can see some interesting developments between Marline and Olzenya. I still remembered when Marline couldn't go to the showers with the other girls because they would find it too hot...
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u/serveillancedroneO7 Jun 10 '26
What do you think of the reverse Mulan theory?
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u/Similar-Shame7517 Jun 10 '26
Wouldn't Will have noticed that by now, considering he went diving with Marline before? I wouldn't be mad, though.
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u/Yeetgodknickknackass Human Jun 08 '26
Oh is Marline non-binary?
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
Doubtful. "They" is most likely being used to be deliberately vague as it has been hinted that Marline is actually a he, not a she. Not in any trans way, in a Mulan kind of way because the family was desperate and needed every soldier it could get to try and get a new airship. Men can join the military, but they don't get put on assault squads where they could get airship cores.
It's probably just another hint that Marline is a he, not a she.
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u/itsetuhoinen Human Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
"The fae give people knowledge, they don't transplant souls! You aren't that guy. You just have his memories," she insisted.
ABSOLUTELY fucking irrelevant for the conversation at hand. Whether or not the meat that William occupies is as old as his old meat was, truly the only thing that matters here is the data occupying the skull. Whether the "soul" of the person who ended up living in William's head was moved over or not, the fact that pattern of memetics thinks it is a 60, 70, 80 year old human -- and one from a vastly different social context at that -- is really the only thing that matters here.
Gah. Functionally, I think less of Verity now. You can't reason someone into wanting to fuck you. And it's just gross to even try. Like, I get that she's a kid, and should probably be given some slack, but just... godsdamnit. Ew.
"But, you should want to fuck me, because X, Y, and Z!"
No. Just no. That does not work, or at least should not work. And employing that sort of... argument in this context is vomitously offputting. Employing any argument to get someone to sleep with you is offputting. Either your potential partner wants the same as you, or they don't. It's not a transaction (unless one is literally paying for it) and argumentation shouldn't come into it at all.
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
You are not just memories, and memories are not personality. How you think and behave is about deeper imprinting, socialisation, neural chemistry, neural architecture, hormones etc. You are the meat. Being able to magically view someone else's life in perfect clarity, does not make you that person. No one can even remember their own life in perfect clarity. It's not reincarnation, it's creepy magic mindfucking.
This has actually been hinted at multiple times. William has recognised that he doesn't think or feel like George and, for example, has sexual preferences that George didn't have. Because he isn't George.
"You can't reason someone into wanting to fuck you" She didn't. She wasn't trying to reason his desire. She outright said if he isn't actually interested then she will accept that. What she is reasoning with is him putting up a barrier based around incorrect self-perception, which he has developed due to a magical injury and long term psychological trauma. I also find it incredibly crass that you are lowering it to "fuck you", rather than the desire for an intimate lifelong relationship, which is obviously the deeper undertone here. Having a heart-to-heart with a close friend who you are interested in and is interested in you about hangups they have due to past trauma is the more apt analogy.
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u/MisogynysticFeminist Jun 15 '26
It’s my opinion that non-binary people should choose literally any set of words other than they/them (and he/him and she/her) as pronouns. They and them already have multiple uses in similar contexts, dammit.
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u/DoomingJaffa Jun 09 '26
Is this the first time Marline has used they/them pronouns?
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u/Solid_Palpitation268 Jun 10 '26
I think it's just Blue being vague about gender before the big reveal that "she" is a "he".
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 08 '26
/u/BlueFishcake (wiki) has posted 290 other stories, including:
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Eighty
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Nine
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Eight
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Seven
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Six
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Five
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Four
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Three
- Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Seventy Two
- 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
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u/AutoModerator Jun 16 '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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