Art Appreciation Post + Sequel Update!

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Hi readers! A very merry Christmas and happy holidays to those of you who celebrate. I know it hasn't been long since I closed the book on Ascension, but I wanted to pop in for a quick update to share some fun stuff as part of the festive season!

Art Appreciation

First off, I wanted to take a look back through the chapters of this book and recognize some of the great art used as chapter headers. As a fic writer, sometimes it's easy to brush off "borrowing" art to complement our stories since we're not receiving any compensation for our work, but I'm trying to do better about that in the future and give attribution where possible. So without further ado, here's a (nearly complete) list of all the art and artists you'll find in the chapter headers of Ascension:

1. Ekita Kuro: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/14793912

2. Yusuf Zmirlin: https://www.artstation.com/yusufzmirlin

6. Unknown

9. Franck Fauveau: www.fkfotographie.com/

10. Unknown

15. さかな: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/4837482

18. Maxiuchiha22: https://www.deviantart.com/maxiuchiha22

19. Unknown

21. Unknown

24. YGO Anime

26. Kazuki Takahashi: https://www.instagram.com/p/BGjvzYFoyAR/?taken-by=kazuki_yugioh

27. YGO Anime

28. YGO Anime

30. Gilles Beloeil: https://www.artstation.com/gillesbeloeil/albums/65188

32. AndyTantowiBelzark: https://www.deviantart.com/andytantowibelzark

34. Ciorsdan: https://ciorsdan.tumblr.com/post/137422772217

35. むらこくん@プロフ文変更必読: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/396980

36. AndyTantowiBelzark: https://www.deviantart.com/andytantowibelzark

37. Prince of Egypt Concept Art

38. Nikolay Prokopenko: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/E6G4q

39. Abaraya_ok: https://twitter.com/abaraya_ok

40. AndyTantowiBelzark: https://www.deviantart.com/andytantowibelzark

Ep. ユザ: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/197978/illustrations

(Note — for any chapters not mentioned, it can be assumed the header came from a screenshot I took in the game Assassin's Creed: Origins.)

Revival

The topic of art segues very nicely into the next bit of news I have to share, which may come as no surprise to some of you... Yes, you heard it here first — I am officially working on a sequel/continuation to Ascension! The project, which I've tentatively named "Revival," will follow Satsuki Hidaka, a young professional working at KaibaCorp in the research and development department. At the start of her story, Satsuki finds herself unwittingly drawn into a whirlwind affair with the president and CEO of her company. But of course, not all is quite as it seems when it comes to Seto Kaiba... Does she have what it takes to stay in his good graces, even after he asks her to pick up a 'special project' outside of working hours?

And here she is, in all her glory! I was gifted this LOVELY piece of art by a dear friend and fellow fic writer, TallMatcha — be sure to check out her art on tumblr and her writing on Archive of our Own! I am so thrilled I get to share this master...

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...And here she is, in all her glory! I was gifted this LOVELY piece of art by a dear friend and fellow fic writer, TallMatcha — be sure to check out her art on tumblr and her writing on Archive of our Own! I am so thrilled I get to share this masterpiece with you all for the holidays!

But that's not all — I couldn't let you go with just this fantastic art to tide you over! I admit, I'm trying to prewrite the entire story before publishing (and beta it properly this time lol). I can't say exactly when the first chapter will be ready, but I have prepared a small teaser to share as a special holiday gift! Keep reading to check it out. I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all! 🤗❤️

(Full disclosure, Satsuki's story is NOT meant to follow the original timeline of DM, but rather tell a new tale all its own. To that end, some small tweaks to canon will be needed. Those tweaks will become more obvious as the chapters are published, but for now it's enough to know that about 5 years have passed since the end of DM.)

~~~

It happened again.

Satsuki had just slept with her boss for the second time in as many weeks.

And not just her boss, but the president of her company, at which she had less than a year of tenure.

Her shame burned hot as she watched Seto saunter out of his bathroom, half-dressed, with the fringes of his hair still dripping from where he'd splashed his face with water. Satsuki pretended not to notice as he stooped and found his shirt on the ground, her eyes taken by the way the dim light of his bedside table outlined every plane and curve of his body. With a sharp breath, she forced herself to rise as well, angling herself shyly away as she shimmied back into her jeans and sweater. It was only when a hand fell to her shoulder that she finally spun back toward him, trailing her gaze up to clash once again with blue ice.

"Can you stay for a minute?" he asked softly — almost earnestly. "There's something I want to show you."

"Sure," she said — an unbidden reflex, conditioned now after so many failed attempts to resist his pull.

Smiling, he jerked his head to a door behind him, then led the way through into his adjoining office. It was just as vast as the one at the HQ but felt somehow more welcoming — decorated with warmer wood tones and a few homey accents, padded in quiet carpet instead of cold tile.

Seto reclined behind the sturdy oak desk in the center of the room, tapping a key to wake up his PC monitors. He motioned Satsuki over to him; like a faithful pet, she complied, even feeling so bold as to lean her hip against the arm of his chair. He typed a password, minimized a few tabs, brought up a few new ones. But Satsuki wasn't watching the monitor — not really. Not when he continued to smile like that — like he was almost ... pleased.

When he leaned back and looked up, Satsuki finally tore her gaze away, settling it on the center screen instead. She found herself surprised to be looking into a pair of familiar violet eyes. For a moment, she couldn't recall where she'd seen them before. Was it...? No, these eyes weren't a hologram. They belonged to a real person — a grinning young man with a crown of wild black-and-blonde hair and a huge, triangular pendant around his neck.

"Is that who I think it is?"

Satsuki looked back at Seto to see his smile had turned to a wry smirk. "That," he said, "is the competition."

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