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Chapters: 26/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia, Jillas Jillos Jilles Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure, puns Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

Programming Note: as of 10:05 PM Eastern time tonight, Slayers Spectacular is finished! Weighing in at a preposterous 34 single-spaced pages and 16,300 words, this monstrosity will need some fine tuning.

While I have not bothered to edit any of the previous chapters except retroactive bits and tweaks, I'm going to spend the next few days editing this. The final product will go up sometime Friday or Saturday. In the meantime please enjoy this superlative art from the incredible @bitter-byte.

Chapters: 25/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES: 

I knew this chapter was going to be a long one, but I didn’t realize it would end up being twice the length of a regular chapter. After every single person advised me to post the full thing, I went with it. We’re done, it’s here, the last 4600 words happened over a 48-hour period, and the next chapter will be the last. PHEW.

The cheekbone gag (carried over from the previous chapter) is maybe my new favorite joke.

This song made the entire chapter possible.

Kaunan was originally a much larger part of the story; in early outlines, Zel and Amelia finished him off in chapter 20. But his role was to be a wildcard (and a real red herring), and he got the cast where they needed to be, so I’m fine with this outcome.

When I first started drafting I wasn’t really clear on what it would be about, but I knew the main villain would have to be a human; otherwise the story ends with “Lina saves the day”. As I started writing I was inspired by every horrible, self-serving politician in the world, and I wanted to do more with the cast tackling problems that magic couldn’t solve. 

Amelia quotes the rhyme her father taught her from chapter 8.

If this were my original fiction, Seyruun's foreign minister (who was at the temple last time we saw him) would have died a grisly death too. But I've become fond of him, and that would be a darkness that doesn't fit well with Slayers's anime universe.

FREE STORY IDEA: Filia and Pokota at the bar (drinking, like, a Painkiller or a Lion’s Tail), complaining about how hard it is to fit with those four weirdos and their weird down-low vibes

Chapters: 24/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

The name translates to "Night pieces", and is the title of one of Schumann's greatest compositions. I love them all but I love this one the most.

I wanted to write this Zel-Pokota piece from their first scene together, but neither of them were narratively *there* yet. Since this entire story is about Zel learning to relate to others, it figures that we save the guy he likes least for last. This conversation could have gone on the entire chapter if I'd let it. I love writing them together.

Pokota’s upgrades are probably disgusting. We don’t want to know.

Also these guys ruin so many doors! I have learned way more about doors than I ever wanted to know in the process of writing this story. (See also: thallium poisoning, fiddler crabs, cold exposure, 17th century firearms.)

Chapters: 23/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

For a story that’s ostensibly about a romantic relationship, I realize Zel and Amelia don’t spend all that much time together. Some of that is for practical, plot-related reasons, but some of it is because their relationship has involved so much saying goodbye and being apart. It felt necessary to honor that.

Lina gets a turn in the spotlight, inasmuch as I can manage. I have very intentionally tried to keep her out of the story because she absolutely devours every scene she's in. She cannot, even for a second, stop being the center of attention; she is a big, wonderful delight, but as a writer trying to focus on other characters, she's suffocating. But her relationship with Zelgadis is so important, and this scene is very special to me.

Zelgadis Stealth Guitar Watch: he plays some songs before he leaves again. Probably the Seyruun equivalent of "Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen".

Chapters: 22/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

The title is a reference to the legend (not specifically the poem), particularly to this equally legendary performance of Liszt’s arrangement.

Another joke here at my expense: the foreign minister really should have gotten a name, but I was doing my damndest to limit putting any original characters in the story besides the requisite antagonists, and refusing to name him helped affirm that. Unfortunately he kept popping up, because this is very much a story about Amelia as a diplomat.

I hemmed a bit about the “oldest friend still living” line, but decided to go with it since Zel doesn’t know Dilgear’s current status.

Gourry has been an increasing focus of attention for the story since chapter 12. I feel bad giving him such short shrift, but the guy likes being a supporting character. Nonetheless, the role he plays with his friends is so meaningful.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun Characters: Zelgadis Greywords, Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Akahoushi Rezo | Rezo the Red Priest Additional Tags: Romance, Friendship, Angst, pokota's got you dead to rights Summary: Zelgadis-themed drabbles. Mostly Zelgadis/Amelia, but plenty of Zelgadis/self-loathing and Zelgadis/overthinking. 

Snack-sized Zelame content: a handful of Zelgadis-themed drabbles exploring significant scenes from his life. 

Chapters: 21/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

Amelia is thinking of a famous 19th-century cocktail called the Blue Blazer. Here’s one being made. It is obviously a Zelame drink.

This chapter goes out to everyone who discovered shocking secrets about their fathers from their husbands. It can’t be just me.

The ending scene was one of the first ones I wrote. When I initially conceived this, I thought the cheap chronology gimmick would come up much more often. It hasn't, for good reason, but I did want to try it for this scene and to tie the loop on chapter 1.

The reveal to Lina and Gourry’s savings subplot is here, too. Waited long enough, right?

Lastly, I make no apologies for the X-rated reference. Anyone willing to read twenty-one chapters of bad Zelame trash is old enough to catch it.

Chapters: 20/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

No plot (not really), just romance! Rezo Club is a callback to chapter 9. The song Xellos and Zelgadis are dancing to is this one - some lyrics may vary, but they generally involve a little apple rolling along.

Chapters: 19/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES: 

We have a couple callbacks to chapter 1, including the last line and the Xellos reference.

Zel catching her cape is the “reveal” of the gesture we saw at the end of chapter 15. There’s also a tie to chapter 12, where he’s too apprehensive to rest his head against hers; now he does.

The obvious musical choice is this arrangement of Einaudi’s Life.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev Summary:

Prompt: "It was a miserable battle, and their relief that they had both made it out alive was overpowering." For @alexeiadrae as part of Slayers Secret Santa 2021.

Chapters: 18/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

We first saw Zel reading this passage from Kierkegaard in chapter 11 (it’s also the source of chapter 11′s title). You can read the whole thing here. 

There’s never going to be a resolution to the tea subplot, so I might as well make fun of myself for it.

Chapters: 17/26 Fandom: Slayers (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zelgadis Greywords/Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Gourry Gabriev/Lina Inverse Characters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, Zelgadis Greywords, Xellos (Slayers), Philionel El Di Seyruun, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Sylphiel nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Zangulus (Slayers), Pokota | Posel Korba Taforashia Additional Tags: Friendship, Romance, Action/Adventure Summary:

Amelia and her kinda-sorta knight go on a trip to tackle (not-so) serious princess business, and soon the whole gang tags along. Of course exciting shenanigans are sure to follow---as well as action, old friends, new villains, romance, bad jokes, fish-people, and more!

NOTES:

The “white mage” Hildegard is a reference to Saint Hildegard of Bingen, who was also an amazing composer AND scholar AND historian.

Let’s hear it for Sylphiel, who needs to make a phone call now that she’s put together the subplot last explored at length in...chapter 7? Look, we’ve been busy.