Callie: Welcome to our celebration of Second Chances leading up to the premiere of it’s newest installment, Changes: Transitions. This is your host, Callie Solanen. Joining me for our second interview are June Choi and Elliott de Lancie. Thank you, gentlemen, for your time.

Elliott: Thank you for so graciously extending us the opportunity to reminisce on our experiences.

June: It’s a pleasure as always, honey.

Callie: As we only have a limited amount of time, I’m going to jump right in. What did you find to be the most challenging aspect of working on Transitions as opposed to Choices?

June: [laughter] Going straight for the jugular, I see.

Elliott: Skipping the softball questions.

Callie: I mean—

Elliott: You’re fine, my dear.

June: [cross-talk] No, no, you’re fine. I just half-expected a question about my skincare regimen.

Elliott: She said we have a limited amount of time.

[laughter]

June: And, no doubt, our audience’s complexions would improve from my advice.

Callie: June.

June: My apologies. Probably the hardest part of Transitions for me is simply how little time I spend with the rest of the cast. Much like in the game, I leave on tour at the beginning of the fic. While I do have substantial contact with you and Elliott, it is far more truncated and sporadic than I would prefer.

Elliott: To be fair, that’s partially at your behest.

June: Untrue. That is very much Caelwynn’s doing. Left to my own devices, I would have remained in the valley year-round.

Callie: I’m calling bullshit on that one. You could barely handle spending the first day of Spring in the valley because of how hot it was.

June: I would endure far worse to enjoy your company, honey.

Elliott: She already has a paramour, June.

June: I’m well aware.

Callie: [clears throat] What did you find most challenging, Elliott?

Elliott: If anything, it was the increase in the amount of time on-page as opposed to Choices. While I am still far from a member of the main cast, I am connected to numerous secondary storylines, including not only June, but also Leah & Haley, Alex, and also Dylan.

June: Ah, that’s right. You worked fairly extensively with the younger Moray brother, yes?

Elliott: I did. He’s quite an enjoyable chap, if rather reserved.

Callie: Until enough alcohol is involved.

Elliott: Indeed. That was a most delicious scene to work on, particularly because I’m fairly certain the crew slipped him actual alcohol.

June: No.

Elliott: Oh, yes. But then, I’m also fairly certain that Dylan was well aware of the fact and refused to say anything.

Callie: Moving on to a very different sort of question, how would you describe the fic to someone who hasn’t read it?

Elliott: Oh, Yoba.

[laughter]

June: Cae put you up to this, didn’t she?

Elliott: Can you imagine what all she had to list in the tags?

June: Ah yes. Let’s see, a bit of slice of life, romance, found family—

Elliott: [cross-talk] —hurt/comfort, addiction, action-adventure—

Callie: —smut, only one bed, cosmic horror—

June: Cosmic horror?

Elliott: Truly a smörgåsbord of genre and tropes.

June: No, wait, back up. Cosmic horror?!

Callie: Didn’t you read it?

June: I mean… well, I’m not usually one for… eugh, horror. I tended to read only the bits related to my story or centering on interrelational drama.

Elliott: Ah yes, the smut.

June: Not just the smut. But I’ll admit I rather enjoyed—

Callie: To answer your earlier question, um, yes, there is cosmic horror. It plays a fairly significant role later in the fic.

Elliott: Which, no doubt, delighted Eli.

June: What’s the matter, honey? You seem flustered.

Elliott: Considering most of the smut involves her or—

Callie: Oh, look, we’re almost out of time! Final question: what did you find most interesting about the piece itself?

June: Take it away, Elliott.

[laughter]

Callie: I know our listeners cannot see it, but Elliott is practically vibrating in his chair to answer.

Elliott: I simply have a lot of thoughts on the meta of the story.

Callie: The meta?

Elliott: Oh, yes. As our readers are undoubtedly aware, this fic is based upon not just the original video game, but also mods made for it. And much of the cosmic horror you referenced deals with that very fact.

June: But nowhere in the text does it mention that the world is a game.

Elliott: Never explicitly, no. But the implications are very clear if one knows where to look for them: the Change, the Void hours, the things Mr. Qi reveals to Callie, everything to do with the Rips in Reality, what happens with— well, certain characters and their, uh, arrivals or disappearances. I simply find it intriguing how she incorporates elements of gameplay into the fabric of the world—and how mods affect that reality.

June: You realize you probably just scared away the readers who have never modded.

Callie: Which would be quite the shame, considering you are from the Ridgeside Village mod.

June: Precisely.

Elliott: That’s why I referred to it as the meta. Even if the reader has never modded anything, they can still follow the emotional beats and understand the stakes of the story. But if they do know how modding works, then there’s this extra layer of nuance that I find delightful.

Callie: Thank you, Elliott, for your insight. Speaking as someone who would not know much about mods, it’s both intriguing and reassuring. Unfortunately, June, we'll have to save your answer for another day as we’ve run out of time.

June: Saved by the bell.

Callie: Thank you both for your time—and thank you to our listeners as well. We’ll be back tomorrow with more behind-the-scenes interviews. Remember, Changes: Transitions opens at an Ao3 near you on June 15th!

Today in Transitions, we get a dinner party in Ridgeside, a poker game in East Scarp, and a mischievous Junimo.

Ao3 Link: Ch. 5 — Secrets

Sneak Peek:

Callie: Welcome to our celebration of Second Chances leading up to the premiere of its newest installment, Changes: Transitions. This is your host, Callie Solanen. Joining me today for our first interview in this limited-run series are Shane Wallace and Alex Mullner. Thank you both for joining me.

Alex: Anytime, Farmer Girl.

Shane: I’m only here because I’m contractually obligated.

Callie: Duly noted.

Alex: Aw, it’s not that bad. Overall, this is a pretty sweet gig.

Shane: Says the kid that’s not one of Caelwynn’s favorite chew toys.

Callie: Let’s dive right into today’s questions. You’ve both been a part of Second Chances since the earliest installment of Choices. What’s the biggest difference for you between Choices and Changes?

Alex: The fact that I’m not just an asshole.

Shane: Debatable.

Alex: I’m going to ignore that because I know you’re hangry.

Callie: Do you need a snack? We have some back in the green room—

Shane: I don’t need a damn snack. Get on with it, Half Pint.

Callie: If you say so…. Alex, what do you mean that you’re ‘not just an asshole’?

Alex: Well, in Choices: Spring I’m mostly just there to ant— antag— piss off you and Sterling.

Shane: And a right fine good job you do of it.

Alex: By the end of Choices, I’ve made my apologies and even managed to get hired on by you, Cal. But in Transitions, we finally get some scenes from my point of view. I mean, I still fuck up pretty epically a couple of times—

Shane: Only a couple?

Alex: —but hopefully, readers will see how I get there.

Callie: What about you, Shane?

Shane: What about me?

Callie: How has your experience changed from the earliest days of Choices?

Shane: I [bleep]-ing won.

Callie: Excuse me?

Shane: In the beginning, Caelwynn and I had an understanding of where the story would go. By the time she started posting Choices, however, she’d reneged on her end of the deal. I swear, every time I [bleep]-ing talked to her, it boiled down to her staring me dead in the eye and telling me I’d best hope she didn’t alter the deal further.

Callie: In what way?

Shane: I don’t want to get into the specifics right now, but… let’s just say that I’m one of the reasons she wrote six different versions of Transitions. I refused to cooperate with her until she reinstated aspects of the original storyline.

Alex: Dude.

Shane: What?

Alex: Are you insane? Arguing with her about a storyline is how Mateo ended up yeeted into the [bleep]ing—

Callie: [cross-talk] Moving on! The two of you spend a lot of time together in Transitions. How would you describe your relationship in the fic?

Alex: Fantastic!

Shane: Annoying.

Alex: Come on, man, we get along really well as Callie’s farmhands.

Shane: If by really well you mean that I keep you too busy busting your ass to run your mouth.

Alex: But it works! The cross-fit ideas you adapted to farmwork did wonders for my training. Not to mention….

Callie: ‘Not to mention…’ what?

Alex: Um, Shane, uh, really helps me to think through some pretty important shit during the course of the fic. I know you [Shane] are allergic to feeling any sort of emotion outside of irritation—

Shane: I resemble that remark.

Callie: [cross-talk] He’s a lot more sensitive than most people realize.

Shane: Lee-lee—

Alex: —but you really step into the role of mentor for me. I wouldn’t go so far as to call you a father figure, but definitely a mentor not only on the field but also in navigating my personal life. You put up with the stupidest [bleep]-ing questions. Yeah, you clap back if they’re out-of-bounds, but even then you explain why they’re out-of-bounds. That’s not something I’ve gotten a lot of in my life. I’m really, really grateful for the opportunity to work with you, both in the fic and outside of it.

[several beats of silence]

Callie: Do you need a moment, Buttercup?

Shane: …no. I just… uh. Yoba [bleep]-ing on a— Alright, fine. I, uh, enjoyed the chance to work with you, too. Gah! Get off of me!

Callie: For our listeners at home, Alex just gave him a bear hug.

Alex: You deserve it.

Shane: Do you have any other questions, Cal? …please?

Callie: We have time for one more. Was there anything in the fic that surprised you or caught you off-guard?

Shane: …that doesn’t constitute a major spoiler?

Callie: There is that.

Alex: Well, catching Sterling making out with— [thwap] Hey!

Shane: Without major spoilers, Dumbbell!

Alex: Callie….

Callie: This is why we paired you two, so that you wouldn’t spoil shit.

[indistinct grumbling]

Shane: Wait, you can say ‘shit,’ but I can’t say [bleep]? That’s bullshit.

Callie: Don’t look at me. I’m not the sound engineer.

Shane: Whatever. [sigh] Anyways, I’d say that the biggest surprise for me was everything to do with Sam.

Callie: Really? Why?

Shane: For one, why the [bleep] does he think we’re friends?

Alex: Because you are?

Shane: That’s beside the point. And then there’s everything to do with his, uh, significant other. That was not a pairing I remotely expected.

Alex: How is that not a spoiler?!

Shane: Because I don’t mention who it is?

Callie: It’s called hinting without spoiling.

Alex: I think it’s just discrimination.

Shane: Dumbbell—

Callie: Shane, don’t. Be nice.

Shane: …fine.

Callie: Unfortunately, that’s all we have time for today. Thank you both again for sitting down with me.

Alex: Thanks for having us on, Cal.

Shane: See you at home, doll.

Callie: And thank you to our audience for tuning in. We’ll be back tomorrow with more behind-the-scenes interviews for Changes: Transitions, opening at an Ao3 near you on June 15th!

Another week, another chapter. ^_^

This time, we have a mostly fluffy chapter for our lead couple, though there are glimpses of other people's drama. Oh, and we shouldn't forget the magic—nor the talking animals.

Ao3 Link: Ch. 3 — Distracted

Sneak Peek:

It's finally live, my friends! Took me over two years, but we're finally getting the sequel to Choices!

While in the future I'll only be updating one chapter per week, this week we get two. ^_^

Ao3 Link: Ch.1 — Prologue: Lurking in the Dark

Sneak Peek:

The clock struck two. Every monitor went blacker than black. Qi kept watch, waiting. Tick. Tick. Tick. Along the bottom of the monitors, an eldritch language briefly flashed. Qi tensed. The Change had completed, but that didn’t mean that other changes couldn’t still occur. A breath. Another. Another. Another. Slowly, Qi rela— Several screens suddenly fuzzed with dozens of colors, jagged lines cutting across the screen before the pixels began coalescing. A specific window revealed more eldritch lines of text—this time in a mix of unsettling yellow and ominous red. Qi’s grip tightened on the arms of his chair.

Ao3 Link: Ch. 2 — The Change

Sneak Peek:

Sam: Welcome to our celebration of Second Chances leading up to the premiere of Changes: Transitions. I’m Sam Turner, and joining me for our final interview are Callie Solanen and Sterling Cooper. Man, it’s so good to see you guys again. Feels like it’s been a hot minute.

Callie: You literally shared our booth at the saloon last night.

Sam: Like I said!

Sterling: Jeric must be one helluva good—oof! Dammit, Lee-lee! You have short elbows.

Callie: Short elbows? Really?

[laughter]

Sterling: I swear I meant to say sharp elbows, but you’re just such a sweet little snack—

Sam: Ah, I see why Caelwynn wanted someone else to interview the two of you instead of just letting Cal do Sterl—not like that.

Sterling: As if having an audience would stop us from—

Callie: Red!

Sterling: You have to admit it’s a significant plot point that you like—

Callie: [cross-talk] I swear by all that’s good and holy—

[long bleep]

Sam: Now that I have your attention.

Callie: Behave yourself, Red.

Sterling: I am behaving.

Sam: Focus, guys. Shit, now I know how Seb and Abby must feel. Alright. Okay. You’ve worked together for over three years and watched how the project has evolved in that time. What is the biggest change from the early days to now?

Callie: Well, for one, I think all of us are far more comfortable in our skins. We know who we are, what the relationships are, where the story is going. I think we’re all more willing to speak up when we believe that Caelwynn is making a misstep in the writing. Definitely a more collaborative process between all of us than when we first started.

Sterling: Yeah, definitely. On the one hand, Cae is a lot more detailed in how she thinks the plot should go and scenes should play out. Back in the beginning, she’d basically just throw a setting and prompts at us and then record our shenanigans. But it meant we spent a lot of time meandering and not really knowing what to do. Now, she has a much better grasp of not only where we’re going but how we should get there.

Callie: But she also listens to us when we tell her ‘no’ or that we have a better path. That’s not to say she always does what we want, but she does go along with it.

Sterling: …eventually. Maybe. With enough blackmail.

Sam: If she doesn’t just decide to erase us from existence, anyways?

[nervous laughter]

Sam: Fantastic answers, by the way. Speaking of changes from the early days, there’s a lot more action in Transitions than Choices had.

Callie: Yeah, there’s something like ten major action sequences and several other smaller ones.

Sam: Which I’m pretty sure is more than Choices: Fall and Choices: Winter combined. What all did you have to do to prepare?

Sterling: Well, for one thing, I did all my own stuntwork, which meant getting real comfortable real quick with how to wield a sword.

Callie: Much to Eli’s chagrin.

Sterling: And yours.

Callie: I was already familiar with your swordwork.

Sterling: [laughter] She said it, not me!

Sam: Cal.

Callie: Get your minds out of the damn gutter. I just meant that we’d done some practicing off-page—

Sterling: You’re not helping your case there, Firecracker.

[more laughter]

Sam: Alright, alright, okay. Yoba, no wonder Shane refused to interview you two.

Callie: I somehow doubt Cae would ask him to interview the two of us.

Sterling: Not if she wanted to keep the interview rated below mat—

Callie: Red!

Sterling: I just meant that he swears a lot. What did you think I meant, Hot Stuff?

Sam: So! Sterling had to do a lot of sword training in preparation for Transitions. You’d already done quite a few action scenes in Choices, Cal. Was there anything stunt or fighting-wise you weren’t prepared for?

Callie: I don’t think so. I don’t really do as much with my daggers in Transitions. The focus really turns more to my magical capabilities.

Sterling: And they’re terrifying.

Callie: You say that like it’s a bad thing.

Sam: You’re saying her magic’s terrifying?

Sterling: Not so much that she’s magical, as what she’s capable of doing with it—and what it costs her. Pretty sure we come closer to losing her to her magic than—

Sam: I’m going to cut you off there so we don’t have any unintentional spoilers.

Sterling: Killjoy.

Sam: It’s what they’re paying me for.

Callie: You’re getting paid?

Sam: Yeah! Got all kinds of coupons for an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet in Grampleton.

Sterling: Mazzi’s?

Sam: Mazzi’s!

Callie: …I think I’m better off not knowing. Do you have a final question for us, Sam?

Sam: I do! Now, this is a bit of a heavier one, but I figure if anyone will know, it’d be the two of you: what do you think the main theme or message of the fic is?

[silence]

[nervous laughter]

Sam: I really gotcha with that one, huh?

Callie: Don’t let anyone ever accuse you of just being a pretty face.

Sam: You think I’m pretty?

Sterling: Go flirt with J—

Callie: I think there are a lot of different themes going on in Changes. Most of them are carryovers from Choices: the idea that everyone makes mistakes but it’s what you do after that counts, found family being just as if not more important than blood, struggles with addiction. But for Changes—and Transitions in particular—I think the main theme is how the world around you can suddenly change without warning, everything you thought you knew is suddenly wrong or other than you believed, and yet that doesn’t negate who you are as a person or the things you’re trying to accomplish. It might be harder. You might have to change too in order to accomplish your goals. But it’s not impossible.

Sam: You look like you have something to say, Sterling.

Sterling: I— well, I’m not as educated as Lee-lee or Shane when it comes to how stories work. But… I think the main thing it’s all about is, as corny as it sounds, love. Sure, there’s a fair bit of smut in the story, people getting engaged, others finding partners for the first time. But it’s also very much about the love between friends and family and all the connections people make with one another. How those connections make us do things we might not otherwise—good, bad or otherwise. Things change, people change, but the need for community doesn’t, really. We’re all in this together, and the only way we’ll overcome it is together.

Sam: Like… damn, dude. That’s hella eloquent.

Callie: Don’t ever tell me you don’t understand how stories work, Red. Because you really do get it.

Sterling: Guys, I’m being honest—

Callie: And so are we!

Sam: Unfortunately, we’re going to have to end our conversation there as we’re way over on time. Thank you both for talking with me today, and thank you to our listeners for tuning in. As mentioned at the top of the hour, this is our final interview with the cast of Changes: Transitions. Be sure to check out the new fic on Ao3 on June 15th!

It's a little mind blowing to realize that we are a month into this thing. >.> In this latest update, we get some fluff, the mischievous Junimo, Eli & Dylan, and some ill-timed baggage. ^_^;

Ao3 Link — Chapter 6: The Brothers Moray

Sneak Peek:

Another week, another chapter. This time, it’s a completely normal Friday night at the Stardrop Saloon as long as you ignore the magical bullshit.

Ao 3 Link - Chapter 4: Dissonance

Sneak Peek:

Mischief blossomed in his pretty eyes. “Well, honey bun, I figured you’d prefer we not go that far in the middle of the saloon, but I’m game if—”

“Red!” she scolded through her shocked giggles, face growing hot at the very idea of everyone watching as they— they— Callie swallowed hard.

Grinning widely, Sterling leaned down and purred into her ear: “I’m just saying, darlin’, that if they all knew how gorgeous you look when…” his voiced dwindled down into a murmur meant for her alone. The more he talked, the deeper his pitch grew, and the more flustered she became. By the time he finished describing the scene to her, Callie couldn’t decide whether to slap him or yank him into a secluded corner.

That smirk on his face said he knew it, too.

“Sterling Cooper—”

As the jukebox changed songs, a discordant, growling screech flooded the saloon, making everyone flinch and cover their ears. Mouths moved, but Callie couldn’t make out anyone’s voices over that grating, terrifying sound. The horrific noise drilled into her skull. Bones and teeth alike ached.

Her heart stuttered.

She knew this dissonance.

Callie had heard it twice before.