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A fresh batch of reviews I’ve not responded to yet. Here goes: First up, @Tcr for the Prompt Oneshot “Blackburn” Glad the sex was hot. A smutty one shot certainly would have fallen apart otherwise. This was fun for me, and aye I certainly wanted a different feel and tone to it than I did for Blood and Lace. I’m just happy the interactions between Eloise and Lauren was enjoyable, because otherwise no one would have made it to the sex later on. I think I tried harder for elegance this time. Cause of setting. Lol. Next we have another for “Blackburn” from @JayDee Excellent that you liked it! And Annabelle was rather enjoyable to write, with just offering peaks at who she was. And that viper line I loved, so couldn’t help but slither it in there. Lauren was really the crux and start of the whole story. She was the first figure I imagined, pretty much right after I walked out of the movie “The Favourite”. The story was originally going to be more focused around her, but when I sat down to right, I had it from the Queen’s perspective to make it more interesting to introduce Lauren. The sex was just fun to right, and I realized I’ve not done much anal fingering, or mouth riding. So I fixed that. The last of the batch for “Blackburn” is from @CloverReef After watching a bunch (okay, only 2) of historical pieces centred around the intrigues of court, I just had to write something about it. Glad to see my thing for those small gestures is still appreciated. I’ve always enjoyed doing it, and I won’t stop… so that it’s enjoyed is good, lol. I’m honestly not sure what I originally intended for pace, but I’m glad it is enjoyable and interesting. Lauren… as said to JayDee, she is the crux of the whole thing. Last review is from @InBrightestDay for the tale “Comin’ Home” Don’t worry, I’m just happy you did leave one at all. The return home… I think I wrote this around Remembrance Day, and I had to think back to a lot of things I was personally remembering of how I felt on my own return home. It’s one thing to see your loved ones again, but then as you mention, there’s a slight oddness of so many little things being different. It can make the familiar unfamiliar, and the warzone feel comforting again. can anyway. I know in real life soldiers don’t return home with all that gear, but I felt it would be a touch more impactful if she did. So... I wrote that in. As to the sword and wider world, it’s almost funny that I had forgotten about it when going to write Blood and Lace. But yes, I thought it would be an interesting little nudge. Well, I’m glad it came out all right. I think I just got hyper focused on certain elements to get across the steamyness I wanted. To all four of you. Thank you kindly for the reviews.

Wait, Guy N. Smith is a personal hero, and there is not one giant mutant crab in this story? You betrayed us all, pippychick! No, seriously though, that’s actually really cool, and I seriously need to finish reading Night of the Crabs at some point. As for the lack of gore being a failure of yours as an author, I don’t think so. Stories don’t need to be gory to work, and in my opinion the buildup here is far more frightening because of what we don’t see. The elemental was terrifying when we couldn’t see it, because while part of me was just imagining a blob of water, another part of me was only half-picturing something else, a terrible, nebulous image that I didn’t want to bring into focus because of what it might look like. In addition, the mention that before he died, George barely resembled anything human, coupled with the “gifts” we’ve seen him receive is replete with uncomfortable possibilities. While I do think that The Price was scarier overall, I think this really worked in its own way. Heck, you may have already learned a lesson from it: how to write from the PoV of someone whose personal philosophy you disagree with.

So, recently, I found that several people around suffered from a lack of motivation and inspiration, myself included. It's coming back for me, thankfully. But, my questions, and maybe this can help others, is: Where do you find inspiration? What do you do when you lack motivation? What do you do to get your muse working again (instead of taking breaks repeatedly)? In my case, a lot of inspiration come from everyday life, movies, books, et cetera. My motivation... That, I don't know... Often times, I just get an idea and want to run with it.

Well, it took an extra week due to rewrites, but Part Seven is finally up! At close to 13,000 words, this is the longest chapter in the story so far (though be warned: Part Nine is very likely to surpass it). Also, this may be where the story completely falls apart for you. Sorry if that happens.

And back to Last Full Measure and @InBrightestDay. Always a pleasure to see you've reviewed. Thank you very much. From InBrightestDay on March 09, 2019 I'm back! Not much happening in this chapter, but it does some nice world building, explaining the conflict between the Rebels and the United Earth government, and it's rather nicely balanced. In quite a few works, the UEMC characters would be the bad guys, the storm troopers trying to kill an independence movement, but of course, as we've seen in conflicts across the real world, it's never that black and white. So the likable characters working for the UEMC balance out their colonialist goals, and the atrocities committed by the Rebels balance out their noble goal. Also, I couldn't help but wonder about the M-450. It's never explained beyond being a heavy weapon, but I can't help but wonder what it is... Also, this was interesting: “Corporal Olafsdottir, ensure everyone is aboard,” Celeste said, glancing between Sam and Tirsa. “I have nothing for you, PFC, though I’m sure Major Hamilton will.” She stepped away and headed towards the drop ship bay’s control room, where Hamilton and Finnegan were standing. “Get aboard, Sam, I’ll do a final check,” Tirsa said. Sam stepped aboard the drop ship and Tirsa took a deep breath. Not sure why youdidn’t get Ingvild todo this, SergeantMajor, but fine. It does make me wonder why Celeste did that. Perhaps she sensed some tension with Sam and, having issues with her own ex, wanted to give Tirsa a little space? Maybe it's something else. Either way, it's a nice little character moment. *** I'm back! YAY! Welcome back! Not much happening in this chapter, but it does some nice world building, explaining the conflict between the Rebels and the United Earth government, and it's rather nicely balanced. In quite a few works, the UEMC characters would be the bad guys, the storm troopers trying to kill an independence movement, but of course, as we've seen in conflicts across the real world, it's never that black and white. So the likable characters working for the UEMC balance out their colonialist goals, and the atrocities committed by the Rebels balance out their noble goal. I'm glad the nuances and subtlety of the world isn't lost too much in the mix of worlds. There are too many examples of real world conflicts that ultimately go to illustrate your words. Indeed, one of the other inspirations for LFM was the Anglo-Zulu War, specifically the Battle of Rorke's Drift. (The Battle of Castle Itter, known as the strangest battle of World War II, was another.) And yes, war and conflict are never as simple as black and white, at least never as teachers and instructors like to present. Also, I couldn't help but wonder about the M-450. It's never explained beyond being a heavy weapon, but I can't help but wonder what it is... Lol. The M-420, which will be explained a little more as the tale goes on, is a GPMG (general purpose machine gun) (thank you, @Sinfulwolf). I think I might have forgotten to change some of its designation though... oops. Also, this was interesting: “Corporal Olafsdottir, ensure everyone is aboard,” Celeste said, glancing between Sam and Tirsa. “I have nothing for you, PFC, though I’m sure Major Hamilton will.” She stepped away and headed towards the drop ship bay’s control room, where Hamilton and Finnegan were standing. “Get aboard, Sam, I’ll do a final check,” Tirsa said. Sam stepped aboard the drop ship and Tirsa took a deep breath. Not sure why youdidn’t get Ingvild todo this, SergeantMajor, but fine. It does make me wonder why Celeste did that. Perhaps she sensed some tension with Sam and, having issues with her own ex, wanted to give Tirsa a little space? Maybe it's something else. Either way, it's a nice little character moment. This was a bit of a twofer action, lol. First was, as you said, yes, a little of the "I see tension, here, I'll help you out, Corporal." The second was supposed to be this subtle start that, like Celeste trusting Lian, shes starting to trust Tirsa (not to mention a little bit of a crush on her). And trust for Celeste is not the easiest thing to come by. But, I'm glad you like it . Chapter 10 I hope to have posted within the next day.

Lol. Neither is mine, and I do the same thing. At first, I struggled to remember the dialogue, too, or even some ideas, but I started bringing a notebook with me and writing things down. (There's an entire scene in Chapter 10 of LFM that I wrote down at work because it just came to me (NSFW dialogue, lol)).

I’ve removed request for a copy of the story to be sent to you, because as is stated here…

That’s what it comes down to for me, actually. That, and daydreaming. No, seriously, when I’m at work and I’m bored (my job is not terribly intellectually stimulating), I’ll often end up playing out scenes from my stories in my head, including scenes I haven’t written yet. I don’t always remember the exact details of these daydreams, which is a shame because sometimes I really like the dialogue I come up with, but they do often give me a general outline to work with.

I may be exceptionally late... Probably exceptionally late... But... To add a two cents worth from someone who loves, reads, writes, and watches sci fi… The idea of monsters is all relative in terms of appearance. Centuries after everyone is twisted genetically, the "monsters" would become every day and would not be. It will just be the norm for people. That said, you can write the characters merely as any other, then a relationship environment can be created. I don't know... Maybe I'm rambling... atop being late.

She definitely had distinctly impure, indeed downright mucky, thoughts about her commander Luzurial in the old days. And most of her comrades. And herself. I’ve basically got the ending written out but need to get it together and write the things that brought her to that point and if I don’t, well, the ending was fun to write! And it’s nice of you to say so, it really is, but I even have trouble writing the damn gore these days! I mean, look at this story here, someone’s been stabbed in the stomach and nobody even tried to fuck them as they were suffering. What the hell kind of JD story is this? ...oh now I remember the Ace story. Yeah, that one was fucked up.

Thank you so much, InBrightestDay! I am not sure I deserve these reviews, but I’ll try and answer your points, so here goes: I’m afraid the lack of body horror later in the story is entirely down to my own limitations as a writer. I wanted to put it in (I’d been looking forward to that very thing), and I had no compunction about inflicting it on the character, but I found I couldn’t do it without losing the emotional and psychological resonance. I mean, Guy N Smith is one of my heroes, and he can do this with ease. He’s written a number of favourite gory horror scenes, and it kills me that I can’t emulate him. In the end, I had to begin with a little, and heavily hint at more later on, which is kind of personally disappointing to me. George is unlikeable to me because he’s an out and out capitalist, and I’m the complete opposite. Writing his pov – sympathetically – for me, required some pretty hefty suspension of belief. I still feel dirty. *shudders* As to the comparison, I think I did say the elemental is also an emissary. It was probably created just for this, to communicate some kind of dissatisfaction. That likely meant it was able to relate to George on a much smaller, human, and more petty level. I’m glad you liked it. I have to admit, though, I was much happier with how ‘The Price’ turned out. This was difficult, but I think it was also good practice. In time to come, I’m sure I’ll realise I learned a lot from it. Thank you!

『ああ、ごめん、ごめん、探したよ』 My heart melts every time I hear that line… ::sighs dreamily::