Failing at things
I think this is the first time some commentators at f!s are telling me I'm doing it wrong. Oddly enough, it's for a secret that I thought was fairly innocuous. You never know what people are going to react to, I guess.
Also, some part of my id thinks that a story whose premise is "the unnatural lovechild of Metal Gear Solid and the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy" would be the Best Thing Ever. This is in the "create an original premise that plagiarizes heavily from both sources" sense, not a crossover, although meeting the MGS cast might convince Vanyel to angst a little less about his own circumstances. (At least Yfandes doesn't bug you about your anniversary! And you were never fed gunpowder as a child! And your sister's still alive! And, while you may be overworking yourself and have the whole prematurely-graying mage hair thing going on, at least you're not fighting planned obsolescence at a genetic level! And nobody's shot out your eye or tried to possess you through an arm!)
Also, some part of my id thinks that a story whose premise is "the unnatural lovechild of Metal Gear Solid and the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy" would be the Best Thing Ever. This is in the "create an original premise that plagiarizes heavily from both sources" sense, not a crossover, although meeting the MGS cast might convince Vanyel to angst a little less about his own circumstances. (At least Yfandes doesn't bug you about your anniversary! And you were never fed gunpowder as a child! And your sister's still alive! And, while you may be overworking yourself and have the whole prematurely-graying mage hair thing going on, at least you're not fighting planned obsolescence at a genetic level! And nobody's shot out your eye or tried to possess you through an arm!)