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Well, alrighty then! Japanese is an interesting language, specifically in its written form. Different characters (kanji) can be pronounced the same, due to the limited number of sounds the human vocal apparatus can make, but mean very different things. The word “jorōgumo” is thus written in two different ways. The first way, 女郎蜘蛛, translates as “whore spider”. Given that they are succubus-like spider monsters, it’s accurate enough, but a bit on the nose if you ask me. The second way, 絡新婦, translates as something like “binding bride.” In fact, the second way of writing it is actually where I got the name for the character. Yua is a Japanese feminine name that comes from 結 (yu) meaning “to tie/bind” and 愛 (a) meaning “love/affection”. Her last name, Hayashi, is written as 林 and means “forest”. I’ve thought about it, but have yet to employ the fire-breathing spiders in any of the stories; maybe later in something with more action. Basically, all of those spiders that congregate in her vicinity, drawn to her natural magic? Those aren’t just for show; she can control them, and in The Spider House I have a particularly nasty scene where she uses them Willard style. While it’s true that I did write a lot (though not all) of what happens inside the house from scratch, that was only because that was where JayDee’s excerpt ended. I mentioned this in the author’s note, but JayDee sent me this as a snippet with the K-Team, but they weren’t sure it fit those characters. I suggested that maybe that was because the K-Team usually deals with explicitly magical stuff, so bad people weren’t really up their alley. I then had the thought of using Cody and Yua, re-wrote the snippet to use that and sent it back to JayDee, who really liked it. In the piece they sent me, “teats” was Shannon, and when Ricky does the pizza box thing, it was Kate at the door and Kizzy who told her to bring their visitors in. After that, Kate took Ricky and Chad down to the basement (where she would go full wolf and eat them) while Kizzy and (I think) Shannon were going to keep Todd company in the living room and make sure he wasn’t hurt. JayDee’s excerpt also had a bit where Kate was eager to go down to the basement with the two guys, and they figured she had some home invasion fantasies that were way off. It felt like a natural fit for Yua as well, so I was absolutely going to keep that. I had to invent the new stuff with Yua in her true form snagging Chad and hauling him up into the web. However, this is where we come back to JayDee, because... When I did the re-write, it ended on more of a horror note, with Yua looming threateningly over Todd, giving him that creepy smile and saying “Run home, little boy,” and him bolting out into the woods in terror. I confessed, however, that I did feel kind of bad for him, since I wasn’t sure if he could find his way to someone who would help him. JayDee then wrote that entire epilogue, inventing Auntie Pearl in the process, who turned out to be a super fun character who could definitely have her own story.

I did indeed get one. I’m sorry you didn’t; I had hoped that co-authors would get notifications too.

So here I am, nudging in on @InBrightestDay’s review reply thread to reply on a review on the co-written story Parlor Games! Thanks for reviewing! All of the spider legend stuff is firmly from InBrightestDay. Still… Whore Spider? *Sound of running feet, then Shannon from the After Party story gunning engine back to California...* Yep! All InBrigthestDay that. When I first saw all the atmosphere the dude had brought in I was blown away. It went from a weak-ass home invasion of some teen girls (admittedly stretching the definition of teen for a couple of them. And also girl. But fuck it, so does pornhub caption writers) into a real horror fest. He done good! Definitey wouldn’t mind telling the story of the werewolf she saw bite a dude’s hand off and how she got to be there. Well, kind of a werewolf. Maybe a wolfgirl. One of those. Todd would have survived originally, but I liked how InBrightestDay used it to show how Cody was helping Yua to be more moral in her meals, and asking her to let him go. Gave some more drama to it I thought! Glad to see you liked that he survived :) Thanks again for reviewing! @InBrightestDay – it is your review reply thread so over to you :)

I’ve never been fair in my life and I don’t intend to start now! I wasn’t whoring for that one :p That one got some whole other pimpin’ going down. But, I sure am the paid fuck for this one! So firstly thanks for playing and reviewing and secondly do you have a preference for a oneshot or chapter you want me to review in return or should I just grab one at random, dive in, and try my best not to make too many dick jokes? Yup, that’s the nub of the matter. The nipple on the chest. The glans on… Haven’t done a lot of co-writing so was interested in seeing some reviews on one of the very few efforts. Oh, yours for sure. You did upload it! And it wouldn’t even be on the site if you hadn’t seen something better in it! On that uploading point – did you get a review notification email ‘cos I sure didn’t! Wasn’t sure if it was because I’m a co-author or because review notifications are turned off on it/you, or if they don’t go to anyone on co-authored stories...

I think the reason @JayDee was talking about Parlor Games is that they co-wrote it, as opposed to Social Distancing, which was all me. Of course, now that that’s happened, JayDee, whose review response thread do you want this to be on?

You don’t want to be too specific. It takes the reader out of the story when they have to work to see exactly what the author is seeing. Unless what you;re describing is something so commonplace as to be universal, like a single-story, red brick factory building with a flat roof that occupies a full city block, readers should be able to invest some imagination into the scene. Your idea of Grandma’s cottage and mine might vary, but the general idea of Grandma’s cottage will conjure up an emotional response in readers that too much detail can obscure.

To be fair, I did review Social Distancing

Glad you enjoyed chapter 4. The action will continue to ramp up! Just finished watching season 1 of Tangled: The Series. That musical number in the season finale episode is just stirring; I loved it.