Welcome to my writing blog! Here you can read all of the stories I've written which I've chosen to share online, including [the first draft of my main project Defiler].
[Click here] to navigate through all of my publicly available stories. You can also check some of my stories out on my [AO3].
[Click here] to check my old pixel art.
Finally, you can [click here] to check my main tumblr (just be aware I reblog a lot of stuff).
Thank you for taking a look - and I hope you enjoy reading my stuff :D
[Published in "Once Upon a Dungeon: A DunMeshi Fairytale Book" on March 1st, 2026]
[Read on AO3]
Once upon a dungeon, there was a child that ran away from her parents. She was, you see, quite special; she had fuzzy ears, an acute sense of smell, and the tail of a cat. They called her Izutsumi and she was cursed from birth to live as neither human nor beast.
When she left, she wandered across misty forests and well-trodden hills, through mountainous chasms and swollen river shores. She walked and walked and walked until her soles gave in and the thread on her clothes started giving away. She carried a knapsack too small to fit all her needs, and she kept a close watch on all the humans she came across. All she ever asked for was but a piece of bread and, perhaps, some spare meat, yet these sorts of folk would treat her as another nasty beast. And as she was taught, Izutsumi would turn tail, hopping and swirling and running away from their judgemental eyes.
One day, she stumbled upon a peaceful looking forest. She had grown quite desperate, she had grown quite hungry. When the smell of freshly made food filled the air, she held her breath and narrowed her eyes, searching for the sort of danger such a suspicious aroma awaited through the trees, shrubs and rocky crannies.
But eventually she had to let go of her breath, and she inhaled the intoxicating aromas once more. Her nostrils filled with deliciousness; well roasted meats, sweetened milk, pies of all kinds. Izutsumi’s imagination ran rampant and her stomach growled quite ferociously, startling her in the empty, quiet forest.
How long had it been since she last had a proper meal? One Month? Two months? Possibly even three?! The protests from her stomach grew louder and bolder, but surely, Izutsumi thought, this was nothing but a trap! Whoever wicked enough laid food like that definitely had no good will at heart.
But Izutsumi was a genius – truly! – and quick on her feet, so surely she could sneak in for a bite and leave without a trace!
She inhaled one last time, filling her lungs with determination. She took a left turn by that rock, then a right at the funny looking tree with the long needles, then another left followed by a right and a further along until she reached a house made of wood and hay and stone – the same house whose intoxicating aroma promised endless delights.
Izutsumi cautiously walked up to the door; every light was off and every window was open. She climbed through the one that led into the kitchen and she emerged into the room that was filling her thoughts with the most delicious stories. She expected it to be grander, like in those fairytales she was told when she was younger. But no, this was but a simple room with a large wooden table, with a plaid tablecloth strewn diagonally across its surface and several faded, brown-glass plates with matching bowls placed in front of each chair. Three pots were lined up in the centre, lids away, steam flowing into her nose with utter delight.
Izutsumi walked to the table and climbed on top of the chair. She stared at the foods abound. To her dismay, the only thing she found were three colourful, still-steaming broths; soups like the ones she was fed when she was a little child.
Yet, her stomach growled, protesting unabated. She had to confess: she would enjoy a little soup (even if it was only soup).
The first soup was a beautifully swirling orange colour, whereas the second was a creamy white. The last one was red; it frightened her to observe, but she told herself that it was probably alright.
Izutsumi glanced behind her back before she dipped her finger into the orange soup.
“OUCH!”
She flung her hand in the air, putting her finger into her mouth to suckle and soothe the pain. The still-steaming soup was, unsurprisingly, quite hot! Izutsumi figured she was going to need a spoon after all - and what a joy to spot one lying right besides each bowl! She picked the closest one, dropping only merely a couple to the floor in her rush. But she grabbed this one carefully and dug into the enticing soup, stabbing its surface as if it were the soft earth. She had been scolded in the past by her family for having such beastly manners, but none had bothered to teach her what the human ones were.
Now she tried to hold that spoon upright, bringing it tantalizingly close to her lips, blowing to cool it down as her tummy rumbled louder and louder. Once that vapours ceased, she took the first sip.
Izutsumi spat it out immediately.
“Beans…” she said with derision, unfurling her tongue and letting it hang from her mouth as she moved on to the pot of creamy white soup.
“EUGH!”
Izutsumi exclaimed once more as the taste of mushrooms and lemon hit her tongue; not even the creamy sauce could mask their earthly, slimy flavour!
Disappointed, she turned her hopes to the final soup, the scarily red soup, the soup that screamed “DANGER! DO NOT EAT!” from how red it was.
But her stomach protested. Izutsumi was hungry! Izutsumi needed to eat!
So she gulped, took a breath and closed her eyes. She dug into the pot, scooping up some of the red, chunky soup and blew on it gently like before. And then, very hesitantly, she took that first bite.
She found herself chewing.
She found herself smiling.
And Izutsumi dove back for more!
She grabbed a bowl laying at her side and poured a heaping portion of food, filling it to the brim with the meatiest, tastiest soup her tongue had ever tried! As soon as she was done, she tossed it aside and grabbed a new bowl, filling up her belly and draining the pot completely empty.
Finally satisfied and with a big smile on her lips, Izutsumi sat back down on that dining chair.
“ACK!”
She stood back up, yelping with great discomfort. “This is really no good! How did mama sit for hours and hours?!” She stretched and walked to the back, finding a stool placed right in front of the fire.
The warmth soothed her body of its aches she did not know she was carrying. She sat on the stool, hands on her knees, the slow crackling of the firewood dancing rhythmically in her ears. She let out a yawn, fluttered her eyes, and turned to look at the fire that cooked all those delights.
Izutsumi shook her head. She looked out the window and said to herself: “Surely, I should leave… I’ve been lucky enough, I should now go.”
She then yawned again, her eyes feeling the weight of sleep she badly needed. The fire crackled behind her, memories of her mother’s warm hands rekindled along with her soft, whispery voice that used to lull her to an even gentler rest.
Izutsumi slumped on the ground, crossing her legs as she stared at the warm, orange glow. Her ears twitched gently, her heart slowed and her body felt oh so heavy. She found a pillow right next to the floor – soft, with stitching of some geometric kind on the centre. Izutsumi gave it a nudge. She flashed a smile at it, letting out an even bigger yawn.
“Surely,” she said, “I can lay for a minute. I can go in a bit.”
* * *
The dwarf Senshi, of course, had no idea of what had transpired.
He had left his home about an hour ago – out not to forage like usual, but to trade for flour. A meal, after all, is not complete without bread to dip and share!
But Senshi sensed something was afoot. The first big clue were the footprints outside his house, the ones that trampled the flowers under his windowsill. He walked through the front door, pushing it gently open – silly him, he left it unlocked again! – and walked into a mess! Bowl after bowl after bowl thrown astray, and his meaty stifado stew was gone from its pot! He shook his head, blowing hot air.
Senshi found the culprit resting over his pillow, who was a most curious thing indeed: a cat the size of a human girl, sleeping peacefully by the firepit with nary a worry in the world.
He looked back at the mess and shook his head anew, then turned back to the little cat and said with a smile:
“Wake up, little kitty.”
“Not a kitty…” the half-asleep cat said and wrinkled her nose, still deeply lost in her sleep. “Izutsumi… My name is Izutsumi…”
“Alright then, “Senshi said and gave the little Izutsumi a bigger push. “Wake up, little Izutsumi.”
Izutsumi slowly opened her eyes. She saw two feet in thick, worn leather boots with steel braces. Her eyes shot wide open and she sprung on her feet, the instinct to run away from the towering, dangerous man kicking in! But she slipped and she fell and she landed on her butt, and as she rushed to get back up, she struck her head against the table where Senshi had put down his mittens. Izutsumi fell down again, whining and rubbing the bump.
Senshi crouched closer to the hurt girl in the threadbare dress. “Ye ran away from home, didn’t’cha, little one?”
Izutsumi looked up to the bearded man with his long flowing raven hair. His beard obscured his mouth, but she could see him smiling. She scrunched her nose and gathered the last of her strength. “Are you a hunter? Do you slay beasts? Beasts like me?”
My name is Senshi; I forage in this forest. Tell me, little one: are ye really a beast? ‘Cause you seem quite too human to consider yerself one.”
“My name is Izutsumi. I’ve been cursed from birth to look like this, stuck in the in-between of these two things.”
Sensh smiled, taking a good look over the girl’s worn green dress, the sloppily mended holes, the unkempt hair and the spots of uncombed fur on her body.
“Ye don’t seem that cursed to me, Izutsumi. No more cursed than a child your age should be.”
“I’m not a child!” Izutsumi protested. “I’m sixteen years old!”
“My apologies. A baby then.”
“HEY!”
“But what’re ye doing so far away from yer home?”
“I…”
Izutsumi tried to find the words. They got stuck in her throat; even when soothed by the balm of that sweet, meaty soup, the red piercing arrows of her past still struck, lumping and clumping and refusing to come out. She swallowed the feelings back down, dropping them in the pit of her stomach, and wiping a tear away before the gentle man would notice.
“I had to leave,” Izutsumi responded. “They were not kind.”
Senshi looked at the little girl. He saw himself in her – poor, hungry, confused. Izutsumi had lowered her head even further, refusing to look him in the eyes. She seemed to know she had acted badly; she had eaten his food, she had used his pillow, and she had made a mess. Such a royal, big mess.
But, much to Izutsumi’s surprise, she was not treated with derision, scorn and affliction. She was not chased away with a broom nor a bellow. Instead, Izutsumi heard the man rifling in his bag. He removed a towel that covered something.
Something fresh, something yummy.
“Where I come from,” Senshi said, “it is said that a meal is not complete until ye’ve broken bread. Would ye, as such, like to break this loaf with me? And then, if ye’re not in any hurry, ye can help clean yer mess for me.”
Izutsumi looked at him curiously. The dwarf Senshi’s smile was genuine, his tone warm and kind. She stood up, dusted off her hands, and bent gently in respect.
“I would,” she responded. “I would like to share some bread very, very much.”
Honestly so excited to start working again on Malik's story, a story I had first started in November 2021 and which I managed to finish back in June 2023! My current goal is to finish the new draft by June 2026, then search for agents and publishers that would be interested in picking up my baby.
If you want, you are more than welcome to read the first draft of Defiler, available on my blog here. Although outdated, it still has a special place in my heart, flaws and all)
That was very satisfying, and it came together rather extremely nicely! Gonna be taking a break for a bit from Defiler so I can focus on some short stories and submitting pieces to literary magazines in April. In the meantime, have a sneak peek of this final chapter of the first act:
Honestly so excited to start working again on Malik's story, a story I had first started in November 2021 and which I managed to finish back in June 2023! My current goal is to finish the new draft by June 2026, then search for agents and publishers that would be interested in picking up my baby.
If you want, you are more than welcome to read the first draft of Defiler, available on my blog here. Although outdated, it still has a special place in my heart, flaws and all)
Double billing today because both ch.5 and ch.6 are done! I had finished ch.5 last week whereas I wrote ch.6 just last night 👀
Overall, a fun pairing of chapters! Ch.5 proved to be a very fun exploration of the relationship between Lady Lionelli and Lady Amateracci, doubly so since this possibly will be the last moment these two will have in private before their mission begins in earnest. Ch.6 on the other hand was rebuilt from the scrapped ch.4, using the basis of the dinner scene. Still sad I had to cut the one-on-one interaction between Mallik and her mama, but the chapter now works in full 🙏
Honestly so excited to start working again on Malik's story, a story I had first started in November 2021 and which I managed to finish back in June 2023! My current goal is to finish the new draft by June 2026, then search for agents and publishers that would be interested in picking up my baby.
If you want, you are more than welcome to read the first draft of Defiler, available on my blog here. Although outdated, it still has a special place in my heart, flaws and all)
Ope I had finished ch.4 a couple days ago but forgot to share it here! My bad, here y'all go with an excerpt:
Been an interesting one to write! I had originally finished a prior version of ch.4 which featured Mallik going for a family dinner with her sister Pho back on march 12th but it didn't feel quite as good as I had hoped so I rewrote it from scratch, using a later chapter about Mallik and Zysso scaling an abandoned construction site to see the stars in its place. I did keep some stuff I liked from it, including a nice dramatic scene. Extra sneak peek from the cut material below the cut 👀
Honestly so excited to start working again on Malik's story, a story I had first started in November 2021 and which I managed to finish back in June 2023! My current goal is to finish the new draft by June 2026, then search for agents and publishers that would be interested in picking up my baby.
If you want, you are more than welcome to read the first draft of Defiler, available on my blog here. Although outdated, it still has a special place in my heart, flaws and all)
Honestly so excited to start working again on Malik's story, a story I had first started in November 2021 and which I managed to finish back in June 2023! My current goal is to finish the new draft by June 2026, then search for agents and publishers that would be interested in picking up my baby.
If you want, you are more than welcome to read the first draft of Defiler, available on my blog here. Although outdated, it still has a special place in my heart, flaws and all)
Honestly so excited to start working again on Malik's story, a story I had first started in November 2021 and which I managed to finish back in June 2023! My current goal is to finish the new draft by June 2026, then search for agents and publishers that would be interested in picking up my baby.
If you want, you are more than welcome to read the first draft of Defiler, available on my blog here. Although outdated, it still has a special place in my heart, flaws and all)
Honestly so excited to start working again on Malik's story, a story I had first started in November 2021 and which I managed to finish back in June 2023! My current goal is to finish the new draft by June 2026, then search for agents and publishers that would be interested in picking up my baby.
If you want, you are more than welcome to read the first draft of Defiler, available on my blog here. Although outdated, it still has a special place in my heart, flaws and all)
Frankly, an astonishing amount has already been put down for Defiler in particular. The heaviest one was done last year as I was working on my worldbuilding design thesis where I managed to showcase my work for the setting as it evolved in the past decade.
A thing I am still going through as I gather material for Defiler pertains to the aesthetics of modern Athens. It is a truly fascinating city; a "cement town" as we call it in Greek, the city holds both antiquity and modernity within it. Those two sides clash heavily, and it is fascinating to observe on a daily basis. The Sunrise Strip in Tabora is very much based off modern Athens, and I had been using pictures of Athens a lot to develop how the Strip looks and feels to the reader.
I had written a bigger thread but bsky ate it yesterday and I did not feel like rewriting it. Anygay, the plan this year is to finish Defiler's second draft. The first draft was written in two halves (first in Nov '21, second in May '23); I wanna tell Mallik's story properly and - hopefully - publish it. Hopefully, I will also keep it up available for free to read here cus it's important that my original attempt that led me into a truly lifechanging trajectory remains available online and where I originally shared it
(btw go read it, people are saying it was Pretty Good™️)
The goal right now is to finish draft 2 before June. I have plans for more short stories set in Tabora, but we shall see how it goes time-wise. Right now, I am finishing Stargazers, which is set in the nightside of Tabora, following a thief and a guard and their struggles
I am encouraged by the fact that people loved that novelette, as well as the previous one, The Song of Amelia Fern; I am also hopeful that I will find an agent and a publisher that will help me put my stories out into the world
Don't got plans for the second half of the year, we shall see how things go with Defiler first
In Defiler, the currently ongoing galactic war is the Jardinista Insurrection. The conflict began 39 years ago when General J'Ardin walked away from the stewardship of King Arcuturus, taking with him the troops loyal to him. The conflict, referred as The Petty Spat by some critics and historians (owing to the King and the General used to be together prior to this war), saw the destruction of the Hrathian Gate at Datrakan, which cut off the jaldari homeworld from the rest of the galaxy and marked the conflict's true beginning. It's a conflict that has been primarily fought in the fringes of the galaxy, with neither side able to gain a foothold. As such, the illusion of the King's Peace remains in place as life in the rest of the galaxy rolls on.
Yet the Jardinistas are not a new phenomenon. Pockets of rebellion and strife had existed ever since the King of Kings was anointed; even prior to that, Mytheria, who is renowned today as the mythical planet of creation, was rife with war and wanton destruction. The Jardinista Insurrection is one more symptom of an ailing galaxy that bids its time and waits for a better tomorrow to arrive.
Oh that is a genuine blindspot for me. Most I got comes from the ending of Defiler, so I don't know if I can share all that much at the moment. Suffice to say it involves big spaceships, especially the King's own personal battleship, as well as J'Ardin's flagship.
I guess there is stuff I could talk about the sequel novel, Maiden, and how the battle of Frourorstag (at the end of Act I) occurs. The cities in the planet of Tessereich have walls which are manned by troops and armed with machines guns and canons. To breach it, attackers need to utilize explosive charges, ladders and rappel equipment, as well as enjoy aerial superiority in the hopes they can land troops behind the city walls. As such, city battles are an extremely bloodied affair.
The Maidens of Wrethella use a unique rank system exclusive to the Order. The average structure of a Maiden Chamber is detailed below:
Squad: 7 Lady Maidens total, led by a Fair Lady Maiden
Platoon: 7 Squads (50 total), led by a Distinguished Lady Maiden
Company: 7 Platoons (351 total), led by a Superior Lady Maiden
Squadron: 7 Companies (2’458 total), led by a Supreme Lady Maiden
Regiment: 7 Squadrons (17’207 total), led by an Esteemed Lady Maiden
Chamber: 7 Regiments (120’450 total), led by the Chamberkeeper Lady Maiden
Order of Wrethella: 6 chambers (722’701 total), led by The Most Esteemed Lady Maiden
It must be noted that certain Chambers may forego Regiments depending on deployment and total numbers.
A squad is comprised of the officer in charge (typically a Fair), a cleric and at least two rifles; the remaining three positions may be filled by specialists such as heavy weapons or medics. Officers tend to serve as the squad's cleric as well. Detailed roles below:
Skotostron: basic foot soldier; carries the standard FA-SB9k battle rifle and grenades
Kathodigon: cleric; ordained to provide spiritual guidance to the other Maidens
Traumaturgon: combat medic; carries medical supplies and lethomila
Bareon: heavy weapons; carries the eponymous Bareon machine gun, capable of anti-personnel and anti-armour activities
Omiliton: radio; equipped with a backpack radio to facilitate communications with the rest of the platoon
Episcopon: scout; carries a modified FA-SB9k tweaked for sniping and counter-sniping duties
Depending on deployment, individual squads can be outfitted for unique roles, such as reconnaissance, support and corpse retrieval. The latter is relegated to the final seventh squad of each platoon, designated Eta, aka the Black Pauldrons. The objective of the Black Pauldron squads remains the same across any deployment: in the event a Maiden falls in battle, her body is to be retrieved and brought back to base. There, her fallen body will be assessed on whether it can keep fighting or if it has fully embraced Lady Wrethella. If it can be revived, the Maiden's body will be submerged in distilled lethe, growing anew lost limbs, healing mortal wounds. It is crucial that the Maiden's heart and brain remain intact throughout, otherwise the revival will be a failure.
Though Maidens are renown across the galaxy, each Chamber favours its own tactics and deployment. The most well known are those of the Taiyen Chamber, who are usually attached to a greater military force and act semi-independently. The commandos of Wrethella are well-armed and well-trained killing machines, with advanced armour able to withstand near al small-arms fire. They tend to operate behind enemy lines, conducting raids and sabotages and harassing enemy troops and supply lines. If deployed to the frontline, they will favour heavy armament and opt to hold the line until allied troops can get into position for a counter attack.
On the opposite front stands the Sveltist Chamber, whose Maidens are trained to break through enemy fortifications and punch a hole into enemy lines. The crack troops of Wrethella are nimble and fast, operating with precision amidst the chaos they cause. They are the Chamber that takes usually the heaviest casualties, but the results of their efforts speak for themselves on any battlefield they have been deployed.
The other three Chambers (Aspacien, Kosmicen and Kahvalarin) are utilized in different ways, both within and outside combat: the Aspacien Chamber takes to the skies and flies all the vehicles that the Maidens employ in their arsenal. The spaceboys of Wrethella are renown daredevils, ferocious and untamend. Few pilots have survived a dogfight against one of them, let alone a full squad.
The Kosmicen Chamber remain diplomats and bodyguards. They see the least amount of combat during their long lives; instead, their battles lay in throne rooms and parliaments, navigating complex political situations with their silver tongues. Wrethella's dream, after all, was one of peace, not of war - and it is in their best interests to enact the King's Peace as bloodlessly as possible.
Finally, the Kahvalarin Chamber is probably the most important yet the least renown Chamber out there. They are in charge of logistics and maintenance, ensuring their comrades get enough bread to eat, enough munition to fight, and enough lethe to stay alive. The Chamber also serves as mechanics, maintaining a very good rapport with the Aspacien Chamber as they are in charge of maintaining their vehicles. As such, the unsung heroes of Wrethella carry on with the knowledge Her Maidens would be nowhere without them.
(I did not expect this worldbuilding event to focus on military so much but ah well; I will focus on the Maidens of Wrethella because I have stuff worldbuilt for them)
A Maiden trains for close to three years before she can enter the main army of Wrethella. Training is conducted on the planet Wrath, situated right underneath the Temple. The Wrath is a planet whose name has been lost to time. A Starchild incursion is believed to have been the reason for the planet's evisceration, but records are shaky at best. The best the Order can do for the planet right now is to deploy its trainees and hone them into a tool of war that will maintain peace across the stars for decades and decades. What better place to be taught to do so than where Wrethella is said to had been born? Even if it is untrue, the planet definitively carries Her Wrath, justifying its current name.
The Maiden trainees, known as Handmaidens, enter the planet shortly after their Ascension, where both their hair and tails are cut. As part of the Protaristi Chamber, their duties include training physically and mentally, learning the ways a Maiden can be useful to the galaxy, training alongside members of the other Chambers of Wrethella: the nimble skirmishers of the Sveltist Chamber, the noble warriors of the Taiyen Chamber, the skilled pilots of the Aspacien Chamber, the eloquent diplomats of the Kosmicen Chamber and the crafty engineers of the Kahvalarin Chamber. This training regime turns the Handmaiden into an exceptional soldier with an astonishing arsenal of skills. Specializations are further honed in live combat due to incursions and bandit raids endemic to the Wrath. Once the Handmaiden is done with her training, she will be ordained into a Maiden and be granted the coloured pauldrons of her corresponding Chamber.
As a Maiden, she shall continue to serve Wrethella across the galaxy until The Martyred Lady decides to Embrace her.
