BronxWench

It’s a wonderful review—thank you!

From InBrightestDay on November 21, 2025 Leaffall I've read several of your "Land" stories, and it is interesting to ponder if this takes place in the same setting. I didn't quite get that vibe, in spite of the heavy emphasis on dealings with fae, but I could be wrong. It does do a really nice job of suggesting a wider world and history outside the story, but not going so far that you feel like there was another chapter you were supposed to read I also loved the way things are established here, piece by piece. It kept me asking questions, and the answers were a really cool slow reveal. At first, I was extremely alarmed by the "youth" being dragged in attached to a rope, thinking "Uh-oh, is Darri a slave trader or something?" Which rapidly led to greater concern when Angaine turned out to be chained to her workstation, which led eventually to the reveal that Angaine isn't his slave, and in fact Darri is the only human who's nice to her. I also found myself curious about the "sky ore" concept. My first thought was that it was a reference to iron harvested from iron meteorites, but the references to it throughout the story seem to indicate it's pretty common, and in the first mention Angaine describes her captors having mixed iron with the sky ore, so maybe it's actually something else. Aside from the story taking place on a sort of equivalent holiday (a fall festival), the story also has an appropriately dark tone. I remember that the exact moment the Cailleach Mhara offered Darri a "trade"... “Oh, I think we can find something,” the ancient fae said. She smiled, and it was the same shark’s grin as the fae youth had. “You’ll barely even miss it, I think.” "...Your SOOOOOOUUUUUL!!!" Except, uh, actually yes, that is what it is. If there is one lesson to be taken from this story, it's that if a fantasy creature offers to trade you for something, and says you won't miss it, they mean your soul. For the record, it was either going to be that joke or bursting into "Poor Unfortunate Souls". It was a coinflip really. Joking aside, the dark tone carries through, and the story ultimately plays out as a somewhat different version of the tragedy I'd anticipated. As soon as the trade was mentioned, I figured Darri would sacrifice his soul for Angaine, and then something bad would happen to her. I'd assumed it would have something to do with him losing all of the things that made her think relatively fondly of him, and that might have happened given enough time, but instead she's killed after getting well away from the town, since the sea fae's response to Darri being taken to be sacrificed was the magical equivalent of a strategic nuke, and she was clear of the village, but not clear enough. His choice still results in her death, just in a somewhat more indirect manner. Still, while the sea fae didn't exactly ingratiate themselves to the reader, no one deserves to die out from slow poisoning, and at least Darri's sacrifice ensured that an entire species wasn't about to die out. All in all, a suitably grim, moody piece for the creepiest season of the year, and one that showcases your talents for really engaging the reader! First of all, wow! Thank you! Leaffall is set in a quasi-Celtic ‘verse, only because I have a serious fae problem, and I’m embracing that. Fae, elves, whatever, bring ‘em on! I decided against using more traditional Irish lore because I’m pretty sure I’ll wind up on some list somewhere if I keep abusing the Irish, and I want to be able to go back to Dublin… It’s a Halloween story so someone had to die, and I didn’t want it to be overly obvious who was going to be the victim. I’m glad that part worked! And while Angaine was a relatively non-villainous character, there’s no hard and fast rule in life that being mostly decent will save you. Not that Wavesinger was particularly awful, either. If I had to pick a villain, it would most likely be the Cailleach Mhara, who knew what she was doing to Darri, and did it anyway. While she did promise him sanctuary among the sea fae, she made it clear he’d always be an outsider among fae and human alike. Sky ore was just me playing around with the notion of something other than the usual “fae can’t tolerate cold iron” trope. That, and my Elderspawn had been discussing the way Vikings learned to forge iron into carbonized steel using bones during the forging process, along with the technique of pattern welding to blend iron and steel. (The things that stick in my brain are legion.) In any event, I’m glad I was able to entertain you! After all, that’s why we all write!

Manta is aware of it, and hopefully this will get sorted quickly.

From InvidiaRed on November 01, 2025 Leaffall, Ah BronxWench its always a pleasure. “Don’t make idle wishes, not at Leaffall. It’s not only the gods who are listening.” Gave me chills. What a wonderful addition. The town did have it coming for awhile now. Thank you! It seems to hold true across all worlds...when the veil is thin, be mindful of what you invoke. And it was fun to actually write something again! Let’s see if I can make it to the Winter Holiday story too!

Welcome! As a fellow Tolkien fan, I’d love to see you post stories in that fandom. While I don’t write nearly as much as I’d like to these days, I’m hoping to get back to it myself.

“Leaffall” by BronxWench Tags: AFFO; MCD; NoSex; Violence Human and fae should never mix, especially when the veil between worlds is thin.

Oh, trust me, I imagine the number of people who have actually read the Terms of Service are a distinct minority compared to those who are shocked, shocked, I tell you, to find out we have rules. They won’t be any more likely to observe site restrictions on AI, and yes, that is a deeply cynical point of view.

As much as I would love to see people use something that would correct formatting and spelling, the onus for that is on the author and not the site. My inner editor may be reduced to tears frequently, but site policy is to let the attempted murder of written English stand around with its flies undone and its complete inability to comprehend homonyms on full display.

I think you mean this thread: https://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/topic/73048-does-aff-have-a-policy-on-ai-generated-fanfic/#comment-445291 So far, we haven’t developed a formal policy. As we’ve been talking about over in the status updates, Chat GPT so far has filters in place to prevent it from generating adult content, which is our milieu. That’s not to say that “clever” folks haven’t managed to jailbreak it, and there’s talk about creating a system to allow verified adults to write adult content. So, it is on the radar but not yet an issue thus far. Will it become an issue? My good gold is on yes, because Rule 34 exists.

My theme doesn’t change, as long as I don’t log out. I don’t know of any way to permanently bookmark a theme, though.

You need to reactivate your account before you can reset your password. I’ve emailed you with the links to do both, and instructions are in the email.

It’s definitely a skin issue with the theme. I get the same issues as you when I run the page in the AFF New 2 (default) theme. AFF IVPB4, AFF New, and Dynamic Theme don’t give me those issues. In other words, it’s not Firefox… it’s the theme. Try switching to one of the themes that are working for me, and see if that helps.

What theme are you using?

I had some luck with changing the theme on the forum home page. I use Chrome as my browser, and the AFF IVPB4 theme is displaying correctly for me.

I’m flagging @DemonGoddess and @manta2g on this one, since the code side of things is not my wheelhouse.

Category added!

Given my predilection for CRPGs set in the D&D/Forgotten Realms ‘verse, probably my favorite “wrong” pairing was a series of fan fictions with Sand x Torio (Neverwinter Nights 2). That was definitely off the normal radar, but honestly, so well written that it worked. Then there was a mod written for Baldur’s Gate/Shadows of Amn, where the PC gets to romance their nemesis from the original game, their half-brother Sarevok, who spent the entire original game trying to kill the PC so he could absorb the power of their father, the dead god of murder, Bhaal. It was a major enemies to lovers twist, but again, well written enough to work. I’m not sure I’ve ever managed to write anything so spectacularly wrong and yet as perfect as those two… *sighs*

I’ve emailed you the links that will let you reactivate your account and reset your password. The instructions are in the email, but please let me know if you have any issues.

We permit content with fictional characters who are 15, and as @Desiderius Price notes, the appropriate tag is Minor2 for characters aged 14 to 18, and Minor1 for characters under 14. The only area where characters under the age of 18 are not permitted is Celebrity Fiction/Real Person fiction. Legally, we can’t allow that sort of story. However, original work with fictional characters under the age of 18 is allowed, as long as the story is properly tagged.

I’ve emailed you the links you’ll need to re-activate the account, and then reset your password. The instructions are in the email.

We do not allow requests for copies of stories on our Forum. It’s right at the top of our Searching for a Fic? thread: Searching for a Fic? Forum registration is NOT required to use this part to post your search posts, or post answers If you know the piece of fiction that someone is searching for is removed from the site, but you retained a personal copy, please do not pass the story around. If the story is taken down either by the Author or Moderator staff there is a reason behind it that must be respected. Guest posters may not post links. This is a spam prevention option that had to be enabled. Please keep in mind when asking if anyone is familiar with a story that AFF is not associated with FanFiction.Net in any way, shape or form.

I’ve emailed you the links to reactivate your account and reset your password. (I promise, no deactivating!)

I would need to know either your pen name or the account url to be sure, but it’s most likely the issue.

As requested, your account and any stories have been deleted.