D.D. Ward is Writing

“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...