D.D. Ward is Writing

"Do you ever stop to think about how rarely we have to deal directly with money?" Lynn asked. "We paid for these drinks," I said, raising a teacup to make my point. "Yes. And you pay cash for your fashion magazines. But you don't pay cash for your clothes, for any food delivered to the castle, for furniture, for livestock. Everything is done on accounts, in ledgers. And payments are sent by mail or by courier later." "It is kind of crazy compared to our modern world," I said. "I'm not sure it's that different. It's like credit cards really, just low tech." Lynn sipped her coffee and stared out the window. "I wonder if that was the intention of the designers?" I said. Lynn set her coffee cup down. She put her head on her knuckles and stared off into nowhere. "Maybe. Maybe this is how it actually was in the Victorian era for nobility." "Maybe," I said. "It seems like a lot of trust is bak...

“How much do I owe you?” I asked the vendor. “A crown twenty five my lady.” I reached into my chatelaine bag and fished out a crown, two roses, and five thorns. “You know you could just give him a signet.” Lynn said, watching me. “I’m still figuring out the coinage,” I whispered.  I handed the vendor his money and took my copy of Yssian Fashion Quarterly. As we headed off, Lynn continued speaking. “Signets are quarters, roses are dimes, and thorns are pennies.” “I always forget about signets. I don’t know why.” I said as we walked. “I keep forgetting thrones,” Lynn admitted. “A throne is the equivalent of a ten dollar bill, right?”  She nodded, “The fact that it isn’t paper money throws me off.” Read more in "Daughters of the Digital Empire," Available soon! Check me out on AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddwardiswriting Check me out on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ddwardiswriting

“This is a lot like Romeo and Juliet isn’t it?” I asked Lynn as we sat in the theater. “Who’s the writer?” “Gwilherm Hastatus.” Lynn said, not looking at me.  “Gwil-herm?” “According to the Moonlight Hearts Wiki, it’s the Breton version of William.” “And Hastatus?” “It comes from the Latin for spear.” “So this is Romeo and Juliet?” A young man on the stage monologued at a pretty girl up on a balcony to drive the point home.  “The title is: Young Lovers Lost. That seems a bit of a give away.” Lynn said. “I studied fashion, not literature.” I answered. “I studied nursing. I got it.” “You cheated. I didn’t spend hours reading the game’s wiki articles.” “Am I being judged for having a favorite game?” “Given how useful your knowledge has been, no. But you are being teased.” “I feel as though I ought to protest.” I grinned, “I apologize, your ladyship.” Lynn flinched, “That’s almost worse. You never use my honorifics.” I grinned and picked up my wine glass, “Here’s to a life not too...

The Lady of Refreshment hummed with conversation. I heard words like batsman and wicket rolling through the murmurs. Lynn sipped her drink quietly. I tapped my spoon on my saucer in annoyance at the noise until Lynn gently put a hand on top of my own, stopping my tapping. “You’re fidgeting.” Lynn said. “I know that I am. I just can’t follow cricket yet. And I didn’t expect cricket to be the most popular sport in Ys. There weren’t any sports mini-games in Moonlight Hearts.” “No, but the game is nominally based on Regency era England. And cricket was the game of the moment. Well that, horse racing, and boxing.” “Thrilling.” I said, keeping my face carefully deadpan.  “I know you aren’t a sports fan Ren,” Lynn said, “But the cricket championships bring in so much money for the barony. People buy tickets. People buy snacks. People bet on the games, and everything else. And the state taxes the tickets. It taxes the food. And it runs all legal gambling. The duchy of Delmar gets the major...

“Do you know what I miss?” Lynn asked me. “What do you miss?” “I miss playing Moonlight Hearts.” She said. I laughed, nearly choking on my tea, “You’re living Moonlight Hearts.” “Yeah. I know. And it’s great. But I miss the Zen of a video game. I miss being able to save and restart later. I miss being able to walk away until I’m ready to deal with something. I miss being able to look up walkthroughs when I get stuck. You know?” “I was never much of a gamer. You know that. I played Moonlight Hearts because you got me into it. And I played a few other anime based dating sim video games. So, this is a little foreign to me. But I can see what you’re saying.” “What about you? Is there anything like that for you? Anything you miss?” “I miss anime. I miss the melodramatic music, the overwrought plots, and the dramatic art. I miss Solar Princess Anevka. I miss Evolutionary Girl Eternal. I miss Neo-Exodus Seraphina. I miss magical girls and Shonen heroes. I miss people calling their attacks. I ...

“Okay, real talk. How do I know which way is north? Are we supposed to have a compass as well?” I asked, staring at the map in frustration.  Lynn clucked her tongue, “Well the ocean is to the west. So use that.” “Okay, great.” I paused, “Which way is the ocean?” Lynn rolled her eyes, “It’s over-” she paused and looked around. She kept turning. She began humming to herself. “This is impossible. I know Octavo City better than I know Puerto Maritimo. And I grew up in Puerto Maritimo.” “Yeah,” I nodded, “but the in-game navigation system was top down. Now we’re in the thick of it.” “Gods, that’s true.” “You notice we curse like Yssians now? In fact I think I did it right away,” I said. “Yssians are polytheists, so I say: ‘gods’ instead of: ‘oh god.’ I already knew they did this from watching you play, but it’s weird that I just picked it up automatically, isn’t it?” “Now that you mention it, yeah. It is weird. I already did it, because I love the game.” “Which is weird.” “It is not!”...

“Can you believe that they have swimsuits in Ossedei? That’s flat out unbelievable.” Lynn said as we both stretched out in beach recliners. The beach was busy. Families and couples sat on towels as far as I could see in either direction down the beach. The sand was dark gray and fine as powder. The sky rose clear and vast above us, as the sun stared down. Above our heads, a beach umbrella kept us in the shade.  “I can’t believe anything about this beach,” I said. “Ossedei is basically Regency England with flourishes from France of the same era. And then the beach equipment looks positively modern, just with more lace and frills. That said, I’m not complaining.” We both scanned the beach to note the large number of young women wearing bikinis. Lynn nodded, “It does seem the sort of place where you would be happy.” “I’m allowed to look,” I objected. “Indeed beloved,” My fiancée Fiona stepped past us carrying a towel. She wore a royal blue one piece bathing suit with a V-neck so deep ...

I sat in The Lady of Refreshment coffee shop and waited for Lynn. A pair of men one table over  were locked in an embrace and ignoring their mochas cooling beside them. A pair of women were staring into each other’s eyes and giggling about something two tables over. The rest of the people in the coffee shop did not seem to notice the public displays of affection going on right next to them.  I cast my mind back from the world of Ossedei to Earth. I had lived my whole life in Santa Porta. The little coastal Californian town was progressive as American small towns went. But even in Santa Porta, the elderly couple on my left would have been giving either gay couple serious side eye.  Here? Nothing. I knew that in Ossedei, most countries had no issues with homophobia. But the degree to which gay and lesbian displays of affection generated no response surprised me. And even more, the number of people in queer relationships astonished me. I did a mental head count and concluded...

“It’s rare that I get you all to myself these days,” Amy said. We walked down Caliburn street arm in arm. “I’m going to have to thank Fiona thoroughly when we get home.” “Thoroughly?” I said, raising an eyebrow. Amy kissed the air, “Head to toes, I think.” I shivered, “I could do with that thank you myself,” I said. “I could show you my thanks here.” Amy whispered. I looked around, “Here? In public?” “That would be part of the thrill,” Amy said. “Have you never had a tryst in public before?” “Have you?” I asked. Amy brought a finger to her lips and smiled.  “Amy!” I said. “What? I was a naughty little wench when I was a teen.”  “I can’t square that with how demure you are now.” I said. “You’ve only ever seen me among nobility. I’m still finding my footing there. Ah, here.” She said looking down an alleyway. “What?” I asked. “This alley has proper cover for what I've planned.” “You were serious?” I gasped.  “I was. You would be stunned at how much more sensitive you become...

I didn't spend much time alone these days. That comes with the territory, what with having two fiancées and all. I shared my bedroom with Amy and Fiona. I shared my study with my teacher Brianna. I shared my home with all of the members of House Myrddhin. It was crowded. Not that I wasn't used to sharing a space. I had lived in the girl's academic dormitory before I entered the world of Moonlight Hearts.  I stood on the balcony staring out at the pre-dawn light. In the room behind me, Fiona and Amy slept in our bed. The breeze chilled me as I stared out at the Boro Sea. This was my home now. Forget college and studying fashion design. Forget my broken toxic family history. Forget everything about my old life. This was my home now. This was my life now.  Since Lynn and I had arrived, we had forged lives for ourselves in this fantasy video game world. It occurred to me, though, that we hadn't made any attempt to find our way back to our own world. I didn't even think ...

“Should we have fridges? Or is that the designers being lazy again?” Lynn whispered. She removed the cream and poured some into two old fashioned glasses. “You said that you saw a coffee liquor?” The grandfather clock in the other room read eleven past midnight. The party had wound down, and as usual, Lynn and I were the last ladies standing. I passed her the liquor. “Well Ben Franklin did his kite thing in the seventeen hundreds. So electricity wouldn’t be impossible. But this feels like they’re stretching things. Still. Still, this is such a relief. I hadn’t been in the kitchen before today. I guess that’s the luxury of being a lady. Where do they keep the vodka?” “You have gin. I have vodka.” Lynn produced a flask from her bodice. “Don’t you have a bodice dagger?” I asked as she added the liquor and the vodka to each glass.  “No. I consider it a show of faith in my bodyguard. Here we go, two white Russians.” “There’s no Russia here. I say we call it a Thulean Winter.” I said. “T...

“What are you reading?” Lynn asked. I looked up as Lynn entered The Lady of Refreshment. I smiled and closed the magazine and held the cover towards her. “Yssian Fashion Quarterly? Huh,” She said. “I never thought of this era having magazines.” “Me either, but I took a different route this morning and I found a shop that sells books and magazines. They’re pricey compared to what we would have paid back in our old lives, but nothing I can’t afford.” “Could a commoner afford them?” Lynn asked. “Yes, but it wouldn’t be a smart purchase I don’t think.” I smiled and sipped my green tea.  Lynn looked at the cloth bag sitting beside my purse. “It looked like you bought more than a magazine. May I look?” “Of course,” I waved at the bag. Lynn reached into the bag and began to pull items from it and read. “A Survey of Agarthan Fashion. No surprises here, Ren. The Fashion of Lady Paquin. Again, what I’d expect. The House of Gordon and Grant. What’s this? Oh, it’s a fashion house. I see.” “Wha...

Winter had arrived. Lynn and I sat inside The Lady of Refreshment Cafe. The Cafe was nearly empty, and we sat in a corner booth behind a potted bush of some sort. We had been chatting about our respective relationships. And then Lynn decided that idle chatter had gone on long enough.  “So, have you three consummated the relationship yet?” Lynn asked, clasping her hands beneath her chin and leaning forward. “Lynn!” I gasped. “What? It’s only fair. You know exactly when Leon and I consummated our relationship. I deserve the same courtesy from you.” “I walked in on you two doing the dirty! It was an accident!” “Once is an accident. You managed to do it twice!” I stared at my green tea, and then poured half into the bush. I set the tea cup back on the table and reached into my fur cloak. I produced a flask and filled the space in the tea cup with liquid from the flask. I screwed the cap back on and returned the flask to my cloak pocket.  “What is that?” Lynn asked. “Lemon, mint, c...

“So, have you made offerings to the Twice Dead Gods yet?” Lynn asked me. I shook my head, “Fiona doesn’t venerate them. She only follows the Old Religion. So I’ve made offerings to the Fair Folk, but that’s it.” “Doesn’t Amy venerate the Gods?” Lynn asked. “She does. But she’s never pressed. I suspect Lady Karen wasn’t very religious before I took up residence in her brain.” Lynn snorted, “I should be so lucky. As head of the household, I have to make offerings and read invocations and all that. It’s unnerving.” “At least neither of us were religious before we got here. I can’t imagine a Christian dealing with a world where the dominant religion is so different.” Lynn nodded, “And one where magic is real. That makes it harder to dismiss the gods, doesn’t it?” “It makes the fair folk hard to dismiss. I’ve seen their powers in action. I’ve seen them give blessings. I can’t call myself an atheist here.” “The Fair Folk aren’t gods though.” Lynn said. “Close enough for government work,” I a...

“Ren? Have you noticed how chill everyone in this world is with violence?” Lynn asked. I considered this as Lynn took a sip of her coffee. We sat in a cafe, called The Lady of Refreshment, just off the town square of Octavo City. Lynn and I had taken to meeting to discuss things we had noticed. We talked about the world of Ossedei and how it differed from Earth, where we had grown up. “I don’t know,” I answered, “I heard a lot of screaming and panicking when I killed my father.” Lynn nodded, “But when the deed was done, everyone accepted Leon’s judgment in our favor and moved on. You and your little team had killed the Baron and his brother, and the rest of the nobles accepted it. Nobody seemed traumatized. Nobody seemed to suffer from post traumatic stress. I haven’t had to deal with emotional damage from any nobles since I took power as Baroness.” I took a sip of my tea, “I hadn’t noticed that at the time. But I don’t think you’re wrong. What are you thinking?” “Well,” Lynn said, “My...

  Lynn and I sat at a table in front of The Lady of Refreshment. The cafe was quiet, the morning rush had passed and lunchtime hadn’t arrived yet. I blew on my green tea. Lynn cradled her mug of coffee between her hands to warm the exposed skin. Frost still clung to the stones of the city, from cobblestones to city walls. Winter hadn’t arrived yet, but it peeked over the walls in anticipation.  “How can you wear cap sleeves in this weather?” Lynn asked, eyeing my bare arm as I lifted the tea to my lips.  “That’s why I’m wearing the cloak,” I answered. I set down my tea and hefted the fur lined collar of the cloak.  “But you have to reach your arms out of the cloak to drink. I can see the gooseflesh on your arms from here. You’re freezing.” Lynn stared at my arm as she spoke. “Fashion has a price.” I shrugged.  Lynn continued to stare at my arm. I tried not to shiver, she would already be smug about this as things stood. She kept staring.  “You’re staring,” ...