Chapter Text
-- ABOUT THE FIC --
Vertigo started as a labor of love, inspired by getting my copy of OS early. I was immediately lost, and desperately reread FW + IF. Realizing just how much I'd forgotten, I thought it would be fun to write a 10k-ish silly fic where the isekai'd FMC isn't omniscient and only remembers random tidbits that stuck out to her, and fucks hot people. Like all short-to-medium fics, this turned into a 120k+ heavy worldbuilding slowburn enemies to lovers monster with no signs of stopping. Oops.
If I forgot a plot point on my reread, so did/does our FMC. And trust me, I forgot a LOT, including some crucial stuff (Athebyne who??? What's a Catriona???). For context, I read the first two books in a 2-day binge years ago mostly for the spicy scenes
This leads to general hilarity - and serious consequences - as our poor lead tries to navigate the world with misconceptions, half-baked fan theories, and big gaps in her knowledge.
Despite the silly-ish premise, this fic DOES take the consequences of a war college seriously, and the author started a horror/mystery/adventure writer.
--- CURRENT UPDATES/WRITING PROGRESS/BULLETIN BOARD----
Chapter 46 is up! Everyone's Threshing is complete, except Dain. Dain might get a smol companion piece? We shall see. ON TEMPORARY HIATUS (1-2 MO) DUE TO CAERN BEING TOO IMPORTANT AT WORK FOR HER OWN GOOD
--- ABOUT THE COMPANION PIECES ---
If you haven't already noticed, I have a worldbuilding addiction. This means I keep track of everyone else's thoughts, perspectives, feelings, evolutions, even when our main characters aren't on screen - and sometimes especially when they aren't on screen. As such, Vertigo has acquired a bunch of companion pieces from other perspectives.
Headrush - The Xaden POV
What's a Fourth Wing fic without a good lil dip into Xaden's head? If you ever want to spy on our favorite inntinnsic's thoughts the way he does our FMC, look here.
Spiral - Dain's RSC PTSD
Dain gets kidnapped to RSC for the interrogation part of the course. Recommended reading with chapters 21-24.
---- OTHER FAQ ----
1) Is Liam going to die?
My plan has always been for Liam to make it to the end. First of all, you should know it means the world to me that you've gotten this attached to my version of him. But also, somehow I must have scared y'all with something? Because this was a common ask earlier in the fic and now it is again and I'm happy to repeat myself 10 times, but if it's asked this much than maaayyybe I need to pin it. Liam is safe here, in as much as anyone in this fic is 'safe' 💕 He's getting a lot of character development because I have a rough arc sketched out for him.
2) What are the CW/TW for this fic?
The consequences of war and a war college will be taken seriously, so expect....that? Idk I do certainly believe in content warnings, and at the same time, if I tried to list them - the tags would go on forever, and that's just for Basgiath in the original. Suffice it to say, my envisioning of the Tyrrish apostasy and it's aftermath is significantly darker than that in FW. I don't quite know how much of many things I'll be showing 'on screen' through memory or other method. If there's something super crazy, I'll tag it in the chapter. This is a pretty chill fic in that I hide a lot between the lines, but there's also some gnarly on-screen deaths because...war college?