iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

#WIPSnips Sept 30: I love the pragmatism of Rhiann's runecraft, and the guard-runes are one of my favorite bits of that.

The variety in the terrain meant their travel had no opportunity to become rote. They ended some nights at posting-inns, others camping in fields or forest, and the terrain they crossed by day could change from hour to hour as they forged their way out of the heights of the Auquine Mountains and into lower hills. When they stopped, Rhiann occupied herself with the sorts of tasks that were the earliest runecraft in her memory: purifying water, preserving meat, setting guard-runes around the camp, creating charms to keep vermin away from bedrolls and rations alike. Strange to be doing them on behalf of Requini, but the actions themselves were as regular as breathing.

0142

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 28/09/2026

Meanwhile women say perfectly reasonable things like this and chuds in the comments are calling them vapid, petty, resentful, immature, insecure, and so forth. Y'know. For hoping that romantic partners' actions will align with their values.

In dating, when she meets someone who works or wants to work in AI, she wonders, “Does that mean that we have the same values in terms of climate and sustainability and thinking about human rights?”

Even if they do, she adds, “then the issue I have is there’s clearly this cognitive dissonance happening between what you’re working on and what you care about, which I have a really hard time accepting.”

060

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 28/09/2026

Like wtffffffffffffffffffffff

240

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 27/09/2026

#WIPSnips Sept 27 (and actually works for today's #QueerWriters Sunday line share, too): Murderboner prologue!

Still, neither of them moved. Rhiann’s pulse yet raced with battle-fury, and she was sure Lycus’s was no less agitated. Both of them had chased this moment for so long, years of animosity and bloodshed and delayed retribution, rage and wrath pointed at each other—and to have it interrupted before the terminus, before either could make one final end of the other, was nearly unbearable.
“It’s true, Maera.” Osric’s voice rang out, steady as ever, clear and cutting in their own language. “Aylesburh is ours. Let him go.”
Lycus said, low enough that only she could hear, “Well, Tiger. It seems we can choose to die together now, or live to torment each other another day.”

1111

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 27/09/2026

#SundaySnips Sept 27: This is a bit that's been reworked several times as the beginning of the manuscript has gotten adjusted, but I like these phrases so much that I've been determined to keep them.

As they approached the eastern gate, Lycus realized to his annoyance that he wasn’t just taking stock of his surroundings; he was looking for someone.
For her.
Maera Rhiann, the fierce and fascinating thorn in his side. She’d be here somewhere, and he had no doubt he’d see her sooner rather than later. Ever they fell into each others’ orbits, like the twin stars Belasa and Belisar, eternally turning around each other in the sky. No matter how close they dipped to the horizon, neither star ever fell beneath it, and while they moved apart at certain times of the year, always they returned to close proximity. So it had been with him and Rhiann, a connection too sharp to be serendipity.

0112

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 25/09/2026

#WIPSnips Sept 25: Given that I'm writing a political fantasy, this word gets quite a bit of play!

“But for all your self-aggrandizing, not everyone’s impressed with Requin’s sense of superiority. That Alencian creature certainly wasn’t.”

He shouldn’t have responded, and he knew it. But, still raw from Tashain’s insults and her barely-veiled threat, he gave in to the impulse to strike back. “Fine words from you, when your nation wasn’t capable of throwing us off without the dual boons presented by the Lijari to the south and the Coriolese to the north. The Lijari were chance, you got lucky there.” He would not have risked his next words had the sorceren still been standing by, but he dropped his voice, striding down the steps into the center of the room, closer to Rhiann. “But the Coriolese! How swiftly Tovira abandoned its determination to be a free-standing nation once Coriol decided to remember you existed.”

080

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 17/09/2026

#WIPSnips Sept 17: Another little bit of ephemera!

...The Requini practice of backdating their records to include time before the Cataclysm makes it difficult to determine when, in fact, power centralized in Kamioch. Certainly it appears that attempts were made, in those first decades, to establish governmental centers in the port city of Ptolegais and the southern stronghold of Anacleia, both further from the ancient heart of Talsyra and thus from the epicenter of the crisis. Since it soon became official policy, however, for Requin to frame itself as Talsyra's natural inheritor, very nearly a continuity of the ancient republic though with a decided less egalitarian structure, a coordinated effort was made to obscure inconvenient temporal details.

---From A History of the Ogeval Waters and Its Peoples, composed by Amarice Guiscard in the Scholastaia of Linetra, e.vea 625 in the Coriolese calendar

0101

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 16/09/2026

Realized the OP doesn't have alt:

How we define class
We use a definition of social class similar to the Williams-Abbott Coalition Crisis report's, the study this report builds on, broadened slightly to make fuller use of the data we collected. The working class is defined as those with no four-year college degree and a household income in roughly the middle 60% of the national distribution (about $30000 to $150000). The Coalition Crisis poll contrasts this group with the Democratic-leaning, college-educated, top-income professionals who anchor the modern center-left: our middle- and upper-class comparison group is a slightly broader version of that same affluent professional class, defined as those with a four-year college degree and a household income of at least $80000. We analyze more than 14500 working-class and 8000 middle- or upper-class respondents, weighted to US Census, ACS, and Gallup benchmarks, including party affiliation.

000

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 11/09/2026

If I ever actually get to build on my land, built-ins are the very top of my splurge list. Just put ‘em everywhere. In the meantime this is my office. With three other cases scattered about my apartment.

Three book cases against a wall, one black, one green, and one metal-framed. They are all stuffed to the gills with books and also ornamented with toys and keepsakes.

1121

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 10/09/2026

#WIPSnips Sept 10: I really enjoy this moment with these two. They're still getting used to the idea of being allies and having to work together. It's going... medium. 😂

Lycus swung the bag off of his shoulder and started rummaging for the journal in which he had seen the riddle about this site in the first place. “You really can’t help yourself, can you?”

“Oh, from the man known throughout Tovira for how dearly he loves the sound of his own voice?” Rhiann’s hands settled on her hips. “I have no trouble keeping quiet, but—”

“But you cannot resist the compulsion to contradict me. Ah!” He pulled the journal from the bag and wagged it at her even as her mouth opened again. “Just. Give me. A moment.”

Her cheeks puffed out, as though keeping the words behind her teeth took physical effort, and then she turned away from him, kicking irritably at the shallow water.

2150

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 09/09/2026

Louder for the techbros in the back!

“There is literally no ethical use of generative AI. There’s many, many reasons not to use it, and I won’t go into all of them right now because I could be here for a long time ranting, but it’s not just about stolen work. There’s the environmental impact. There’s the mental health impact. There’s the negative effects it has on people’s cognitive abilities. There are lots of reasons why AI is not acceptable in our community, so there is no reasonable argument for why you’re using it as far as we’re concerned. We have a clear standard. You will be warned. And then if you repeatedly ignore that warning and show you can’t meet the standards, you will be removed.”

070

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 09/09/2026

I want to staple this to some people's foreheads. You might be okay with disgracing yourself by using these things, but for fuck's everloving sake I do not want to hear about it.

We know that some find these generative models helpful for driving the endless marketing machine, especially as an indie author, but we will not tolerate it. Nor will we tolerate any discussions that paint generative AI in a positive light, even if it’s as innocent as “I find this useful”; that as a “part time independent author” it helps your production. That latter example isn’t technically against the rules, but you should remain aware that our community is very firmly against AI as a whole. If you come into our spaces espousing its virtues, you won’t get the reception you might be looking for. Or maybe you’re just rage baiting for engagement?

160

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 06/09/2026

#SundaySnips Sept 6: Another bit of ephemera, this one from the religious text of the Tovirans.

Things happen when it is time for them to happen. Nothing can halt the falling of the leaf in autumn; nothing can impede the blossoms of the spring. Even a late frost can only delay the inevitable; even the warmest of autumns cannot forestall winter.

And so it is with humanity as well: When it is time for two to meet, they will. When it is time for two to part, they will.

—Book of the Devotions, Verses of Leaves

061

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 06/09/2026

#QueerWriters Sunday: Shockingly few uses of this word in the WIP, considering how much fire magic there is!

As she hoped, the narrow slot afforded her a view of the entire barn; its interior dividing walls did not reach the roof. She was, unfortunately, also correct about the window’s width; she could get her head and shoulders through, but chest and hips were going to be a problem. No matter. If she could find out where Danaïs was, she might have better options. But with night having fallen, and no one considering that the thralls might need something to see by… ‘Going to have to risk a witchlight…’

She called a tiny bit of illumination through the rune on her right arm and into her fingertips, igniting the air in a tight glowing orb. This she let drift along the rafters, praying it would not draw anyone’s attention.

020

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 05/09/2026

#WIPSnips Sept 5: From a scene that's probably about to get cut for redundancies, so enjoy it now!

Watching Lycus too closely was a mistake.

He’d stripped off his long-paneled riding coat and heavy outer tunic, despite the chill, leaving his upper half in just his linen kamision, which made it far too easy to notice the elegant movements of his back muscles. More than only his body, though, the fascination lay in how he moved: swift yet so precise, with that deliberate control she’d been on the receiving end of in a way that made her shiver to recall.

‘Get a fucking grip, Maera.’ Yet she stayed and kept watching, until eventually the bannermen split off to other duties, and Lycus, left alone, fixed his attention on her.

081

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 05/09/2026

And my leading men always have voices that are low and liquid (to the point that I have to ctrl+f to make sure I haven't overused that phrase), because I am goddamn weak for a mellifluous baritone.

“We are no longer enemies, Maera.”

She seemed to consider that a moment, still looking up at him, and oh, how bewitching those eyes were. Sparking with fire or strikingly soulful, Lycus could never get his fill of their depth.

Her voice held a troubled note when she said, “I don’t know what that makes us, then.”

Lycus checked an instinct to crow victory over the tacit admission in her statement. He was getting to her—and a damned good thing he was, or else the power she had over him would put him at a complete disadvantage. ‘And may the stars help me if she ever realizes that.’

He kept his voice low and liquid, all the better to roll through the cadence of her language. “Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps I am… reconsidering how I framed my view of the world. But I do know this. A world where you and I never crossed paths would be a world less worth living in.”

060

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 04/09/2026

#FridayFling Sept 4: I'm certain I've shared this snippet before, but I don't care, it's gorgeous and I love it.

“And you think of me, unprompted?”

She had meant it as a toss-off, a bit of skepticism lobbed his way, a hole prodded in the fabric of his argument. Something in it nipped at her, though, taking the edge out of the jibe.

Lycus’s eyes closed briefly, then he turned his gaze to her, and Rhiann found herself snared, utterly arrested, by the sudden snap of intensity in their cold blue. She felt as though her ribs had turned to ice, and at the same time as though strange heat blazed beneath them. This wasn’t his usual look of languid superiority; this was at once harder and raw, almost vulnerable, with a hunger in it that Rhiann did not want to name.

And for once in his life, it looked like there was something he wasn’t saying.

050

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 04/09/2026

"No industries are particularly positive about AI" is a helluva thing.

No industries are particularly positive about AI (positive comments cap in the Legal sector and are only 50% positive), but certain industries are extremely critical of AI. The following table shows the 5 most AI-critical sectors.
Chart showing that Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation industry hates AI the most, followed by Nonprofit & NGO, Insurance, Telecommunications, and Transportation and Logistics.

030

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 04/09/2026

#WIPSnips Sept 3: From one of the interstitial bits of ephemera -- this one "from 'The Itinerary of Cassino Tarvelis of Charante', composed e.vea 414 in the Coriolese calendar"

… and so it was thought in Linetra that the Savionese family had accomplished a great coup, doing what none others by that time had managed, in securing a marriage alliance with far-distant (yet ever-growing-nearer) Requin, noted as it was for insularity.

Only after the oaths, when he felt quite secure, did the young man confess all to his new wife: his choice had been this or death at his own father’s hand. Requin sent him into this marriage only because he was in disgrace at home, elsewise no union with someone of, as they term it, the arvata, could have been tolerable. Effectively, he no longer had a legal existence in Requin, but they had been content to sell him to Coriol and let Coriol think a point had been won, when in fact Requin was not in the game. He could offer nothing Coriol had hoped for: no embassage, no conduit, no tie to his nation whatsoever. Carella Savionese had wed not a prince of the land, but a penniless exile.

060

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 02/09/2026

Lifetime Achievement: Unlocked

Cass, as Megara, posing with actual Megara.

4260

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 02/09/2026

If there’s a prize for rotten judgment, I have most definitely already won that. 😅 But not tonight, when I have made an excellent life choice! It’s Oogie Boogie Bash time!

Cass dressed as Megara from Disney’s Hercules, in a lavender dress with darker purple sashes.

Another mirror selfie, this one over the shoulder to show off Cass’s curled hair.

2230

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 01/09/2026

After a week of the weather being far too hot and humid during WorldCon, I regret to inform everyone who left yesterday that it is flipping gorgeous in Anaheim today. Just perfect. Am relaxing by the pool and soooooo contented rn.

Screencap from wtforecast app: 79, sunny, light breeze, “Yassssss! It’s friggin nice outside today.”

130

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 31/08/2026

It’s time for Disneyland!!!

Cass smiling and holding up an orange “first visit” button for Disneyland. She’s wearing a grey shirt with Aurora’s crown on it, split between blue and pink, and she has silver sparkles on her face.

3200

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 31/08/2026

Realized I shared these on IG but not here. Okay now I’m really going to bed, I swear, bc tomorrow is DISNEYLAND.

Mirror selfie of Cass in a bright orchid pink dress, one-shouldered, with many applique flowers.

Another mirror selfie in the same dress, but now Cass is posing extravagantly with the skirt held out to the side.

Mirror selfie showing off Cass’s rather exquisitely styled hair, rolled back from the temples and then into a Gibson tuck, ornamented with pink flowers.

Selfie of Cass with her amazing co-hosts and dear friends Marshall and Natania, all looking fabulous.

0120

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 27/08/2026

The Dictator is dead; long live the Republic. But whose Republic will it be? A trio of sisters and an ambitious senator use wit, charm, and magic to realize their dreams for Aven, an alternate-universe version of late Republic Rome poised on the brink of greatness or destruction.

Reasons to Read
A richly developed world – You’ll feel like you could step in & walk the streets of Aven
Elemental magic linked to Roman gods
Cutthroat politics
Weaponized snark
Swords, sieges, and Big Badass Battle Sequences
Large cast full of diverse perspectives
Some characters doing their best, and others doing their worst
Fiercely determined women
Grouchy + sunshine friendship
M/F romantic subplot with heaps of yearning
Sapphic romantic subplot with maximum adorability

030

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 27/08/2026

Heyyyyyyy in honor of WorldCon, I've put the Aven Cycle on sale in both ebook and print! linktr.ee/cassrmorris

Graphic: WorldCon Sale | August 27 - Sept 1 | EBooks $0.99 each! Print $13-$15 from Ingram Spark
Covers of the books of the Aven Cycle: From Unseen Fire, Give Way to Night, and The Bloodstained Shade, set against a marble background flecked with gold.

1169

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 25/08/2026

No, there are no acceptable uses. Yes, it is different from collaborating with an actual human being who thinks and feels and understands nuance and was not born of a mass criminal act. (I mean, probably. You never know with some families, I guess.)

Screenshot of a Bsky post:
Do you think there are any acceptable uses of Al in the writing process? Is using Al to provide some feedback different from employing an editor or asking a spouse to provide feedback (including potential edits)?
Obviously at some point it is no longer your writing but where would you draw that line
11:02 AM • Aug 25, 2026

1151

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 22/08/2026

If you see this, we implore you to post a picture from whatever device you're using without explanation.

Oona, an Airedale, playing tug with a rainbow colored rope toy.

051

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 22/08/2026

#WIPSnips Aug 22: As I discuss in the next episode of Worldbuilding for Masochists, postal relays are my favorite kind of infrastructure. 🥰

The posting-inn was a relic of Requini supremacy over the continent, one of what had once been a far-reaching web of stations for couriers. When they were appropriately staffed and equipped, their stables full of fresh barkers, a messenger could travel twenty or so leagues a day at normal pace, as many as thirty in emergency conditions. The system still worked in central and western Requin, connecting provinces to the beating heart of Kamioch, but the Lijari had disrupted those relays in the south and east. The Coriolese had revived the system in Tovira, but it was patchwork in the Marches. As governor of Fort Mossyna, Lycus had ensured this particular station’s survival, and all those on the route to Aylesburh, even those technically past the boundaries of his domain. Should Archen Bardanes prove totally incompetent, it would still take a while for that chain to degrade.

071

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 22/08/2026

#PretendPanel Aug 22: I haven't gotten far enough along with the new idea to have visuals yet, so here are some of my faves from Shattered Souls!

Collage of images: actors in medieval clothing, rugged landscapes, runes, swords, lovers embracing. Text superimposed: Shattered Souls.

Four images: A pair of swords resting against a snow-dappled tree, a scattering of arcane-looking papers, two shots of Arnas Fedaravicius as Sihtric in The Last Kingdom. Text centered: Alestir Lycus.

Four images: a dagger against rough wood, two hands clasping runes, two images of Turkish actress Zeynep Tuğçe Bayat as Targun Hatan.

072

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 21/08/2026

ALSO this will only be true for a few minutes and is only true bc I did it so early, but bet your ass I screencapped it FOR GLORY I had *one* weak guess that robbed me of a few points, though.

Screenshot of Cass's Day 93 outlier result, showing a score of 919 and rank of #1!

Screenshot from the leaderboard affirming that Cass is currently in #1 rank.

120

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 20/08/2026

So the full article has more, and it more clearly illustrates that the students who start relying on AI for homework do not develop the skills needed for the exams!

Three graphs demonstrating that AI makes you better and faster at your homework because, well, sure! But that students who did well on exams *before* using AI for homework see a significant decline in their demonstrable skills.

081

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 20/08/2026

Okay and here's the thing HERE IS THE THING If STUDENTS are using AI? Y'know... Children, whose brains are still forming?? They are not learning the skills that they need to use technology intelligently!!!!

The evidence, though still limited, points one way: AI can boost learning productivity, but only for those who use the technology intelligently. Students must resist the temptation to reach for an AI-generated answer before thinking things through for themselves. ■

0162

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 19/08/2026

yeah these girls would've been me I have a temper and back then had no emotional regulation whatsoever.

“I’m about to break those glasses for real,” one girl tells the troublemaker in one of the videos. “He’s recording you,” an out-of-frame voice can be heard warning the girl. The girl, visibly frustrated, shouts back: “I know!”

In a different video, the same boy films another upset girl approaching him with a metal stool in her hands. An adult intervenes before anyone is hurt.

150

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 18/08/2026

Because I *am* an optimistic Disney princess at heart, I live in hope that these things can still be turned around. Sometimes, pressuring companies works. I'm turning this blog into a proper letter and will hope it reaches the right eyes. If you care about these things and would like to join me:

The Walt Disney Company
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank CA 91521-1151

(I would suggest addressing letters to Josh D’Amaro and relevant people on the Disney Experiences Leadership team.)

TWDC.Corp.Communications@Disney.com

TWDS.Global.Communications@disney.com

Disney.Parks.News@disney.com

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

disneyland.disney.go.com/help/email/

050

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 17/08/2026

#WIPSnips Aug 17: Well *this* was a humbling CTRL+F. 😅 Memo to me to, uh, vary some descriptors, especially of hair and laughs. Anyway Lycus really amuses me when he's like this.

Two paces away, Maera Rhiann lay face-down. Her fingers flexed, though; she wasn’t unconscious, but perhaps as disoriented as he had been. After a moment, she pushed herself into a sitting position—but hissed in pain through the effort. “Fuck…”

Her dark hair had fallen loose of its coif, and she tossed it back from her face in a way that Lycus should not, especially given their circumstances, have found at all alluring. He ought to be furious with her for whatever she’d done, amusing as he’d found her mounting rage to begin with. But there was some inexplicable appeal about the deep brown waves, loose and tousled.

‘It’s just… different. That’s all. It’s not that you’re imagining her tossing her head back like that while on top of you and—No.’ He slammed a mental door closed on his imagination as it strained against his discipline, attempting to serve up all sorts of lurid fantasies. ‘No. Stop that.’

0121

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 17/08/2026

#SundaySnips Aug 16: Unfortunately, Rhiann has never had any chill, nor is she likely to.

‘No. No, no, no, no, no.’ Rhiann scrunched her hands through her hair, then shook her head vigorously, as though that might dislodge the troubling suspicion that the voice she had been about to hear, the spirit that her sleeping mind had inexplicably summoned, belonged to Archen Alestir Lycus.

‘Impossible. Unacceptable. Absolutely not. Abso-fucking-lutely not.’

She swung her legs free of her tangled bedding and moved as quickly as she could to the basin of water sitting atop the table in the corner. A hastily-sketched rune both refreshed and chilled it, and Rhiann splashed more than was necessary on her face, resisting the urge to dunk her entire head.

042

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 14/08/2026

And those are just the ones in *this* room. 😊

Three bookcases along a wall, all absolutely stuffed with books. They are also home to other random oddities, such as a collection of tiny plastic dinosaurs parading atop one, a model of EPCOT's Land Pavilion, Playmobil knights, a plushie gryphon, a plushie Shakespeare, and no fewer than three swords (albeit one of them is made out of foam and duct tape).

1110

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 14/08/2026

I didn't know enough back then, and tradpub authors get very little say anyway. When I had them redone after rights reversion, I went for something more in line with current genre expectations. The new ones draw from both epic fantasy & mythological retelling visual conventions, which feels right.

Book covers for FROM UNSEEN FIRE, GIVE WAY TO NIGHT, and THE BLOODSTAINED SHADE against a white marbled background spattered with gold. All three covers have Roman-style visual elements and vivid colors against dark backgrounds. Text above: The Aven Cycle.

290

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 13/08/2026

Better today! Not good enough, but better. And I do feel good about this, though I know it won't last. 😅 But two days in and I'm already annoyed with myself when I score anything under "epic". This is a game designed to both exhilarate and torture Virgos, I feel.

Screenshot showing that Cass is, currently, ranked 7th in the world for today's puzzle.

100

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 13/08/2026

Okay so I'm testing some theories about rarity, and so far what I'm learning is that I cannot make out reliable patterns.

Chart of Outlier scores:
SPACKLING EPIC Rarity 68+89
SPACKLE RARE Rarity 58+85
SPACKLED SUPER RARE Rarity 82+94
FROCKED EPIC Rarity 66+88
FLOCKED RARE Rarity 41+75
FROCKS RARE Rarity 49+80
VAGARY SUPER RARERarity 80+94
VAGARIES RARE Rarity 46+78
HOYDENS SUPER RARE Rarity 81+94
PRICKLED EPIC Rarity 67+88

Today’s Score 865

130

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 12/08/2026

#WIPSnips Aug 12: Back to Shattered Souls for this one, because I knew I had this passage and it is one I have Feelings about.

Osric’s expression was painfully compassionate. “You did the right thing.”

“I broke her heart.”

“It was still the right thing to do. You made her no false promises and told her no lies.”

“That’s why I ended it. If we’d kept on the way we’d been going, I would have.” That would have been a true sin, to beguile her with the dangled promise of an imaginary future that Rhiann could never provide. Taking advantage of Gaena’s trust, counting on her love to lead her into self-betrayal, those would have been moral failings. That wasn’t who Rhiann wanted to be.

“She loved you too much to remove herself from your life.” Osric shouldered Rhiann bracingly. “You loved her enough to do it for her. It was an act of kindness.”

“Didn’t feel like it. Still doesn’t.”

“When you know you’re not the best thing for someone, and know with equal certainty that they will never make the best choice for themselves… it is virtuous, not selfish, to set them free.”

“Now you sound like a cleric.”

0112

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 08/08/2026

#WIPSnips Aug 8: In which Tad Siqueira *could* shoot his shot. (More ttrpg backstory.)

This could be his chance. Could be the night.

If they were in a show, some carefully crafted entertainment program, it would be. The arboretum is quiet and has a dream-like loveliness, the dazzling blanket of stars just winking at them here and there through the lush tree canopy. The paths are lit with pale glowing rocks, and bioluminescent plants scatter light in shades of blue and violet. There’s even music in one section, because someone on this station is doing an experiment on the interaction between sound waves and the conversion of photons into chemical energy — and fortunately, they’ve chosen pieces featuring soothing harps and gentle melodies rather than, say, Klingon death metal. It’s as romantic a setting as one could hope for, at least within the confines of a Starfleet space station.

1111

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 07/08/2026

We have great conversations! We can be silly and erudite and interrogative and unhinged, all at the same time. We offer incisive commentaries on cultural contextualization of media & history right alongside jokes about flying penises, rants about bad undergarment tropes, and opinions on 80s movies.

110

Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · 07/08/2026

It's one of the reasons I've been liking Ellipsus a lot. Even their lighter themes usually don't hurt my eyes! I like Pride Light a lot, and Fete; for darker ones, Afterglow and Orchid Noir. And it is so. much. easier. to switch between them than in Scrivener!

Screenshot in Orchid Noir: a maroon palette.

Screenshot in Afterglow: a predominantly dark slate blue but with a late-sunset-like ombre effect in the sidebar.

Screenshot of Fete: a palette in light brownish-yellows.

Screenshot of Pride Light: a pale yellow background with a rainbow ombre in the sidebar.

270