Topher Lydon

Well Lloyd was told to find a squire of "Similar tastes", one who knows better and can keep secrets. And Stephen, as Julian pointed out, was known to enjoy the attentions. Now if he can just stop crying every time there's a loud bang in his general direction.

Ahh Steffy, the butt of so many... MANY jokes in the books. Utterly sweet though. Snot becomes a running gag.

His rise to power is basically a masterclass in betrayal: The Betrayal of Thoros: He arrived in Edessa and convinced the local Armenian ruler, Thoros, to adopt him as his son and co-regent. Shortly after, a mob rose up and lynched Thoros. Baldwin did absolutely nothing to save his "father" and immediately stepped into his shoes as the first Count of Edessa. Dumping His Wife: He was married to Godehilde, but after she died, he married an Armenian noblewoman named Arda purely for the political alliance. Once he became King of Jerusalem and didn't need her family's support anymore, he forced her into a convent so he could marry a rich dowager, Adelaide del Vasto, for her money. The Bigamy Scandal: Since he never actually divorced Arda, his marriage to Adelaide was technically bigamy. When he got sick and thought he was dying, the Church forced him to send Adelaide back to Sicily (keeping her money, of course) to "repent" for his sins. He was a brilliant military leader, but his personal life was essentially a series of bridges burned for land and gold.

He abandons the crusade at one point, runs off with a small bodyguard to Edessa, charms the lord of Edessa into adopting him... involving a public shirtless rubbing *shudders* only to then turn around and murder the man and steal the city... the man was infamous for his schemes.

Also Haskall is from Housecarl, A housecarl (or huscarl) was an elite, professional bodyguard or household soldier serving Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon rulers during the Viking and medieval periods

Poor Stephen's going to hobble around for a week, having Julian laugh at him, and poor Wylan handing him ointment.

Ahh the AI slop, it drives me nuts. As I said, I use it for editing, and feedback. It's all it is really good for. Fact checking a massive four book historical epic for example. HOWEVER it is not very good even there. I recently wrote the Battle of Tarsus (circa 1097) I know the flow of the battle, the history of it. Organized my notes, got my beat sheet and wrote. Sent it to my AI assistant... who I affectionately refer to as a drunk intern weilding a bottle of Vodka and about as much sense as a first year uni student with a red marker.... And the mess that ensued... It drew third crusade BS, 15th 16th century tactics... and I took one look at what it had "edited for consistency" cutting 5000 words down to 2000 words and getting 90% of it wrong.... and I was like : NO THANKS. So yeah, if your lazy and don't mind slop, go nuts. Otherwise watch it like a hawk. Some days it is GREAT like invaluable for advice... others it will tear your heart out, stomp on it, and hand it back like a fourth grader proud of it's art. Also Saturdays and Sundays DO NOT touch AI on these days... seriously the performance dips into the utterly unusable. It claims that there is no "depreciation of performance due to load" on those days, there very much is. It's abysmal. I save stuff and do it on week days at 4 am. I think as long as you use it your way, and it helps you (seriously my spelling is shocking I type too fast and my grammar slips so I need an editor that can keep up... and so if I can cut a corner there and get both instant feedback, clear editing, and a spell check that laughs at me... why not?) I am honest about this, and upfront. I'm more than capable of writing without it, two decades of writing backing that up. But if you see some of my early work you will know the pain of my chronic lack of editors

Also meet Stephen, our resident medic, cleric, and the "good" squire.

Rashid, out of all the family, knows exactly how useful his brother's magic really is.

I use Cherub/angel interchangeably for Pip.

Baldwin wants his crown, and betrays the Vanguard, the Crusade, and his oaths to get it.

Good morning

Ch18 The road to Heraclea was kinder than the road to Dorylaeum had been. The valleys beyond Iconium were green, watered by streams that still ran clear, and for the first time in weeks, the army marched with full bellies and water skins that did not need to be rationed. Men who had been hollow-eyed at Dorylaeum now joked as they walked. Horses that had stumbled and staggered now held their heads high. Darien rode Thunderbolt at the head of Lord Haskal's contingent, his Turk's helm

I tend to speak to it conversationally: so I asked it something to the effect of : Ok I might be out of my mind, but what if I had the Russian submarine go under the acheron and lift it up... reply: you ARE out of your mind. here's why: (commence lesson on engineering and physics that humbled me)

I mainly use AI for feedback, then I revise off of the notes. I find it very handy for this... though i have had many a shouting match with it when it tries to rewrite my text. I find it drops entire sections of text when editing for me (I have no editor, so for me AI is my editing tool). It can't replace a writer, not yet, thank gods... or else I am back to twiddling my thumbs. I don't see the harm in it, it's useful to me, it's a great tool for cover art, helps me sound board a scene or plot idea. And tells me when I am a dumbass... Seriously, Carter's Breach, I had this wild idea to lift a submarine up with another submarine... it was a whole thing... my AI assistant kicked me HARD and told me to stop being stupid. I think it is a matter of how you use it. As an assistant SURE as a replacement: not yet. It simply can't handle multi chapter long work yet. And I am okay with it not being able to.

Preface: The Cherub’s Comeback So you thought I was done, huh? You thought Taine finally won because he got the ring, the rooftop proposal, and the "happily ever after" in the Italian sun prophecy thing? Think again. I’m back, baby! Well, okay, not THE baby. Cecil is something else entirely—a fire-breathing, Latin-cursing, document-incinerating miracle who still owes me a new hoodie for that "hiccup" in the kitchen. Seriously, the kid’s a legend, but he’s a terrible roommate. But you know what I mean. I’m back. The hair is still sun-streaked, the feet are still bare, and the Babylon Bar Association credentials are still—technically—active. Though, honestly, arguing maritime law in Phoenicia was a lot less stressful than trying to explain to an Italian police officer why my husband was wearing a wedding dress made of tulle and desperation. We're going to survive Milan. We're going to survive Mr. Ellis (for now). We even survive Taine’s "Heisenberg" phase, though I’m still trying to un-see that porkpie hat. But don't get comfortable. Just because Taine is in charge doesn't mean he isn't still a total tool. Charlie still needs a real boyfriend—one who doesn't have an existential crisis every time the kettle boils. So, yeah, #TeamCherub is still in the game. To celebrate my return to the page, I'm offering a limited-time bounty: Free mushroom fritters to the first person who beans Taine with a cabbage! Make it a red cabbage. It matches his "philosopher’s blush." Buckle up, bros. Book IV BABY It’s about to get even weirder. — Pip (Licensed Attorney, Professional Slacker, and your favorite Guardian Angel with Benefits)

oh and btw, 2 more chapters to go.

Taine spends the whole book trying to be the "noble professor making the hard choices," and the universe (and Tyler) just looks at him and says, "Sir, this is a Wendy's, please stop being so dramatic."

You so know that there's a channel dedicated to Simon on hell's discount Cable. Demon watch parties, and lots of burnt popcorn, as they wait for Lynix and Pip to kill each other and burn the house down.

True, Matt and Simon settle into something more domestic in the next book. Gareth is sweet by life sends him off on his own path. And it's Simon, for a change, who gets to decide the shape of their relationship.

Matt is downloading all those tunes, and totally telling EVERYONE that's who Simon is.

ROTFLOL Guardian Angel with Benefit's situation

Well Pip isn't living inside Charlie. Just storing a part of himself in the back entrance.

So pretty much same as usual then

i think he's done a lot of rearranging inside. Pip that is.