#ashcombe

Imagine being sixteen, queer, furious, jet-lagged, and sent across the ocean to a boarding school where the bells tell you when to eat, your roommate thinks honesty saves time, and everyone appears to have accepted rugby as a legal form of violence.

That’s Ashcombe. AO3 link -- 10/38 chapters out -- Rated Explicit

The two of them froze and stared at the door in horror. There were few people who would knock on the shop door when it was closed, even fewer that would be pleased to see what they were doing.

"Hide it" Christopher mouthed to Tom.

Tom didn't need to be told twice. He reached forward and grabbed the makeshift canon and dragged into the back room.

Whoever was outside knocked again.

"Coming!" Christopher shouted, just as Tom disappeared into the backroom.

"Hurry up then." A familiar feminine voice said.

Even though it ruined his plans he couldn't help but smile when he realized who was at the door.

"Liz, it's great to-" He said as he opened the door wide and his stomach dropped when he saw who had accompanied Liz to the shop.

Ashcombe, the king's warden, and the one investigating the recent string of apothecary murders.

Someone who would definitely toss two dumb boys into the stocks if they were caught making gun powder, and making illegal cannons.

Christopher straightened his back, and the bowed. "Lord Ashcombe, what a pleasant surprise."

"Good evening boys, Is your Master home?"

"No he had some business with a fellow Apothecary." Christopher said. "You're welcome to wait for him." He continued mostly out of obligation. He didn't want Ashcombe at the shop anymore then necessary.

"That won't be necessary, I only came to inquire if he would like some added protection around his shop. I have many other things to attend to before the day ends."

The look on Liz's face told Christopher everything he needed to know about why he was making the suggestion now.

"Thank you My Lord." Christopher said.

"Yes, run the idea by Blackthorn." Ashcombe said. "If he is agreeable, send a letter to the tower, I'll be sure to receive it."

"Yes Sir,"

Ashcombe nodded once before turning and walking out the door and closing the door behind him.

The moment the door was closed, Liz turned to Christopher with her hands on her hips, just as Tom came out from the back.

Hear me out. So, in the summary it says that they find an old friend dead. We could take this one of two ways: literally that this is an actual friend, or an old enemy.

If we take as an actual friend, I am inclined to think that it's going to be Issac. Yes, Issac has done nothing to deserve this, but he's the only one that I can think of that would be... narratively useful in this sense. Close enough to Christopher and the gang that his death would have an impact, but also not completely tied to the plot, like Ashcombe.

WHEW. A few days after the Ashcombe posting event horizon.

An amazing reader sat through the rest of it the same evening and sent me their thoughts (thank you! 💛💚💙), which was my personal countdown to start posting Westray, the second novel, as well.

There are now a few chapters out, with more to come whenever I have time to do the final cursed edits, which usually means staring at a sentence like, “House... what were you thinking when you wrote this?” Answer to that? Probably toxic old man yaoi.

💛 ASHCOMBE / rated Explicit + underage, m/m boarding school novel, complete at 169k words / AO3 💜 WESTRAY / rated Explicit, m/m second-chance love novel, WIP, 4/44 chapters out now, finished at around 210k words / AO3

Besides the official two novels, there is also the weird cousin: East Works, also named after a location (no spoilers), which contains all the weird stuff that was not quite load-bearing enough to be included in the actual novels.

The forbidden archives. The extras. The background. The missing years. The AUs and the multiships. The very self-indulgent and mutually indulgent ramblings of one productive local author / smut peddler.

🩵 EAST WORKS / rated Explicit, one-shot archive for the Ashcombe universe / AO3

Come read, come hang, come gossip, come yell, come cuddle? The fandom is small, feisty, and really fun.

𝓐𝓢𝓗𝓒𝓞𝓜𝓑𝓔 𝓘𝓢 𝓒𝓞𝓜𝓟𝓛𝓔𝓣𝓔𝓓.

Imagine being sixteen, queer, furious, jet-lagged, and sent across the ocean to a boarding school where the bells tell you when to eat, your roommate thinks honesty saves time, and everyone appears to have accepted rugby as a legal form of violence. That’s Ashcombe. AO3 link -- 38/38 chapters out / completed at 169k words -- Rated Explicit for eventual smut

A 90s queer boarding-school slow burn about Isaiah Walker, an American boy exiled from Utah after a rumor, and Robbie McAllister, the guarded local rugby boy in the bunk below him; practical, northern, impossible to read, and inconveniently good at noticing when Isaiah needs help.