working titles used. I write in the New Adult age range.
♥️ The Heart of Wonderland
(fantasy, adventure, action, horror)
Blight ravages the masses, and magic is outlawed (but far from gone). In this world, a blood thirsty assassin and her princely target must work together to take down the queen and escape Wonderland. (contributor: @orionsjester)
Cast: TBA
Status: Working on Draft 1 with a goal of 1 chapter posted a month. (AO3)
Tags: #faes queen, #rb queen (for related reblogged posts)
✨ You Wouldn’t End the World Over a Tortilla Chip Would You-
(or Tortilla Chip for short.. and the answer is yes, yes I would // fantasy, dark comedy, adventure, romance, horror)
A decade after fiery tragedy splits them apart, a former friend group must face their bad blood and prevent the world from unraveling—again.
Their plan? Wing it, hope for the best, and try to not kill each other in the process. Emphasis on try.
Cast: TBA
Status: Brainstorming
Tags: #faes tortilla chip, #rb tortilla chip
👻 The Death Order
(fantasy, thriller, action, dark comedy, romance)
To Death, they're Angels.
To humans, they're serial killers.
Twins Ari and Angeline Rodas were supposed to die. But when they don't, they must masquerade as Angels and work in Death's most gruesome department: Murders, Massacres, and Suicides.
After years of dedicating themselves to their gorey profession, the twins finally have an escape plan. But everything falls apart when a true crime podcaster and her brother track them down, and some... one... falls in love.
this is so mean but sometimes i see published writing and suddenly no longer feel insecure about my own writing ability. like well okay that got published so im guessing i dont have much to worry about
I have a friend who is an editor, and gets submissions of mostly poetry and short stories.
I have had a glimpse into her slush pile, and let me tell you, the contents were unbelievable and immediately disabused me of the notion that reading through submissions is in any way glamorous. People have the nerve to submit unhinged paranoid ramblings, fetish porn, and a seemingly endless supply of poems about masturbation.
I no longer feel like my fiction is somehow an imposition on the people who read it. It may be forgettable, but at least it isn't typeset to look like sperm.
Do not be afraid to submit your work. Your competition is not only worse than you think, it's worse than you ever imagined.
Do these three things to get to the top of the slush pile:
The place has a style sheet. Use it. They say they want your MS in 16.5 point Papyrus italic with 0.8 inch margins all around, guess what you're doing before you send it off? Save As, reformat, send it. In the absence of a specific guide: Courier 12 pt (Times New Roman if you must), double spaced, align left, tab 0.5 at each new paragraph.
Check the word count. Don't submit novellas to 2500 word short story venues. BTW, you format the MS in that old style above because the question isn't literal words. Courier 12pt double spaced gives you 250 words per page for typesetting purposes. 2500 words is 10 ms pages, 5000 is 20 pages, etc.
Don't send your romance to Analog or your war story to Harlequin. If it's a cross-genre story, be sure there's enough of what the publication is focused on to interest them, but breaking through is hard if that's not something they usually do.
That's basically what every single editors' panel at every con I've ever been to has boiled down to. And invariably, someone tries to get up and argue with them, not realizing it's not a discussion.
Bonus tip: Don't be in any way cute in your cover letter. Just the facts/Luke Skywalker's message to Jabba the Hut in ROTJ.
Enclosed/attached is my story <Title> for your publication <Magazine>. It is x (rounded to the nearest 500) words. I can be reached at <email> (that you check regularly and isn't likely to dump things into spam) and <phone>.
(If submitting a hard copy: The manuscript is disposable. A SASE is enclosed for your response./A SASE is included for return of the manuscript and your response.)
Thank you for your consideration.
If submitting a novella length piece or greater, a brief and complete summary is appropriate.
In the midst of an interstellar revolt against an evil galactic Empire, vital weapon plans fall into the hands of a farm boy on the edges of the galaxy. With the help of an aging warrior from the Old Republic, and a smuggler with a dark past and his imposing alien copilot, the four set out to deliver them to the rebel forces but are instead flung into a rescue mission to save the beautiful princess who stole the plans as worlds are destroyed by the might of the Empire's weapon, the Death Star.
Captured by the Death Star on route to deliver the plans, they manage to escape the base with the princess, the old warrior sacrificing himself to make this possible. As the Death Star approaches the rebel base, they use the captured plans to stage a desperate final stand. In a fierce space battle of single-pilot ships over the surface of the moon-sized weapon, the farm boy manages to make the critical shot with an unexpected assist from the smuggler, destroying it.
Never under any circumstance put a cliffhanger into a query letter summary. There is no faster way to get the entire MS binned than doing that.
Happy writing.
PS "Top of the slush pile" means into the top 25% of manuscripts received. Three quarters of the submissions don't take the trouble to do even those three basic steps.
Now, that still means 25/100 submissions or 250/1000 submissions, but it still improves your odds and forms the basis for starting a relationship with the publisher for the next piece you send them.
PPS This is obviously about prose. Poetry certainly has its own submission rules, and I know none of them. If you're writing poetry, find out what they are.
Tagging: @songsofsomnia @sunset-a-story @theunboundwriter @hippiewrites @bymidnightsmoon and anyone else who wants in
Another experience I'm sure you've had:
Have you ever met someone for the first time and just from that first meeting, just from looking at them, you know they're not someone you'll get along with?
I was tagged by @sender-paulson to participate, so I can't really tag them back, but I can tag @enne-uni, @litany-writes, @bymidnightsmoon, @unstablewifiaccess, @philosophika, @moral-terpitude as well as anyone that sees this!
It's a bit long, so I am putting both my responses and an unanswered version for clean copy/paste under the cut!
For this round I am going with The Lowlies since that is the project I should be working on rather than sitting around and watching TV on my laptop.
Also I apologise if my answers seem a bit elusive, some of them are a bit... more personal than I realised when I started.
What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war) and why did you choose it?
If I had to pick a single theme, I would say forgiveness. I won't go into too much detail because it would spoil it for at least one person who is allegedly very excited to read the finished product. Another big theme is "just because some have it worse doesn't mean you didn't have it bad, too."
What did you use as inspiration for your world-building (e.g. real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites)?
I did try to be inspired by some descriptions of Hell, but there really aren't any that agree with both each other and my own gut feeling of what I think it would be like, so I am not sure if I really have an inspiration.
What is your main character trying to achieve, and what are you as the writer trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?
My main character is just trying to survive as she goes through things no child her age should ever have to go through. If this helps others, then great, but honestly? I am just trying to help myself at this point.
How many chapters is your story going to have?
I won't know until I finish, but I hope for around thirteen just for a good laugh.
Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?
It's an original work (or as original as it can be, I suppose) and I honestly don't plan to post it in it's entirety, but I might send it to people that ask to read it.
When and why did you start writing?
Oh, man... I guess I techincally started as a child because I could never find stories I wanted to read? I did gradually shift to OC-insert fanfiction around 2009 when my mom bought me a journal and I had access to a computer for at least an hour a day at school.
Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of Tumblr? What other writeblrs do you follow?
Even if no one else is going to see it, write it anyways. Obviously the story, no matter how short, meant something to someone and even if that someone is you, you matter.
What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war) and why did you choose it?
What did you use as inspiration for your world-building (e.g. real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites)?
What is your main character trying to achieve, and what are you as the writer trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person? —
How many chapters is your story going to have?
Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?
When and why did you start writing?
Do you have any words of encouragment for fellow writers of Tumblr? What other writeblrs do you follow?
Thanks for the tag @songsofsomnia! I'll be using my story Hiraeth for this. Answers under the cut!
Tagging whoever wants to do this! <3
What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war) and why did you choose it?
Hm... I'm not actually sure what lesson my story has. I'm sure they're there, because all my characters grow and change, but they're not that obvious (or maybe it's because I only pick up lessons from stories if it was a brick thrown at my head LOL). People are complex would probably be up there. People you love and people you even hate are complex.
Theme-wise, Hiraeth has a lot to say about identity, belonging, family, relationships (platonic, familial, and otherwise), nostalgia, passage of time, intergenerational trauma, and culture.
What did you use as inspiration for your world-building (e.g. real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites)?
All of the above! Maybe except famous media. And tumblr counts as a website right? I love biology and I love speculative biology. A region in Hiraeth is inspired by the Philippines, where my family is from.
What is your main character trying to achieve, and what are you as the writer trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person? —
My main character, Olvia, wants to get powers, as she feels hers were stolen from her and make her inferior to others. What she needs is to learn that self-worth comes from herself, not outside gratification (hey, I guess there's an answer to the first question!). As for me, I'm just trying to have fun while probably processing things as I do. Hopefully my readers also have a cathartic experience too!
How many chapters is your story going to have?
No clue!
Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?
Original! Though some of my characters started out as fan characters for Gravity Falls, fun fact. And no clue x2!
When and why did you start writing?
As cliche as it sounds, probably as soon as I could hold a pencil. I was the kid who had a big imagination and always wanted to play pretend. Writing was a way to indulge in that.
Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of Tumblr? What other writeblrs do you follow?
Fellow writers I am taking your inner critic by the hand and dunking them in the TRASH (with love)
What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war) and why did you choose it?
What did you use as inspiration for your world-building (e.g. real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites)?
What is your main character trying to achieve, and what are you as the writer trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person? —
How many chapters is your story going to have?
Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?
When and why did you start writing?
Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of Tumblr? What other writeblrs do you follow?
It should also be a reminder just how little Amazon cares about anything. They refused to remove the books because they expected Friedman not to put up a big public fight. They refused to remove the books because they thought they could get away with it. They’ve decided letting very shitty AI books overrun their platform is profitable and they’re going to keep letting it happen.
It was never a good idea to shop at Amazon, but they’re now on a track that’s going to make their website absolutely unusable for finding actual books written by real people who know how to write enjoyable books.
Amazon is the one place I specifically refuse to sell my books. Most authors have no choice; their monetisation methods mean that they need to sell on Amazon (and put up with whatever bullshit Amazon wants) to make a living wage, because most readers have Amazon accounts and can't be bothered buying their books from a less horrible distributor. And the buyers don't bother to look elsewhere because everyone sells through Amazon, because most of them have to, because the buyers... yeah.
Anyway you won't find Derin Edala books on Amazon because I can afford to choose not to sell there. And I constantly get annoyed messages from people who don't want to have to take thirty seconds to make an account with another retailer. I encourage other authors who don't make their primary income through sales to do the same thing (because those who make their primary income through sales can't afford to), and readers to support your authors by buying their books somewhere fucking else.
For authors who don't know how to access other distributors, draft2digital.com is a retail distributor that gives you access to a global market, including places like Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and many other international retailers. If you do opt to use Amazon, you're better off uploading directly through KDP because you'll get more royalties. (It's like a 5-10% difference iirc, which for me is about 20 cents. Which isn't much, but when some of your royalty checks are literally a penny, that 20 cents matters.)
They recently acquired Smashwords as well and are constantly expanding their global market and library distributors.
(If you want to see how many retailers you can reach with them, this is where you can get my books. I'm in over 20 global stores and need to actually update the listings to include more. Unfortunately, I can't afford to avoid Amazon because, as @derinthescarletpescatarian pointed out, it's really hard to get people to change their buying habits, and I like being able to afford food.)
It used to just be for ebooks, but they now do their own paperbacks that give you the same access as the Ingram Spark market and, unlike Ingram Spark, haven't completely trashed their customer service.
The only downside to avoiding Ingram is that it limits your market for hardbacks unless you're willing to use Amazon, though hopefully, D2D will start doing hardbacks soon. (There are a few other places, but they don't have the same market reach as Ingram, sadly. Yay... monopolies...)
They also partner with FindAwayVoices for audiobooks, which gives you access to a wide global market as well. Like D2D you can access Audible through Findaway, but like Kindle, you'll earn more if you upload directly to Audible.
So, yeah, you want and can afford to avoid Amazon as an author? Draft2digital is the place to go.
As a reader, check the links authors post.
Usually, you'll see Amazon listed, but a lot of us are really doing all we can to be available in as many stores as possible and would LOVE for you to use them.
Magic will rip you to pieces unless you're wearing the right jewelry. Even then it'll change your appearance, because it doesn't like being bossed around.
it's unclear if in order to be magic something has to be edible, if being used for magic *makes* something edible, or if simon is immune to the inedibility of things
People say that if you have a Gift from Fate you'll either be unable to physically harm others or much more likely to do it, but there's a third kind of Gift that just lets you stay normal.
Thank you for the ask @songsofsomnia! These were really fun :)
THE HEART OF WONDERLAND
🥰 - A smiling face with three hearts. As a prompt I interpreted the face in a more condescending and evil way.
The next thing she knew was the cold floor on her cheek and the pain devouring her throat. She clawed at herself, twisting, wheezing.
“My my, I’m shocked you fell for that. I thought you would be smarter than this,” came another voice. Smooth. Condescending. As treacherous as the cursed apple on the floor. The ominous bite that marred its flesh glinted in the torchlight.
No! NO! She strained to reach the dragging gown circling her, to claw, to maul, but any hope of defiance withered away when all her muscles suddenly seized up. Her body was betraying her. All but her eyes ignored her screeches to move.
The dress stopped. Fabric folded and pooled in before her face as its owner knelt down. She looked up, wishing to burn hatred into her assailant, but even her eyes began to give in. As her vision faded, a hand lifted her chin. Gentle. Loving.
“Welcome home, my lost princess.”
YOU WOULDN’T END THE WORLD OVER A TORTILLA CHIP…
😭 - A sobbing face.
“What? No, this can’t be it,” Olvia whispered. Despite her best efforts, she let out a sob. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and she scrubbed her muddy face with muddier hands.
“I am sorry, Miss Olvia. We have exhausted all efforts, and with the imminent storm we cannot guarantee safety during the search.”
“With the imminent storm I can guarantee he will DIE out there!”
“Miss O-“
Olvia grabbed the acolyte by his cloak and yanked him to her face. Weapons rose around her, but she didn’t care.
“Listen here, Rivens. I don’t care what you think you are, or what you think you can trick us into thinking you are-“
“Olvy-“ Helena’s voice.
“But I swear to all the angels above and devils below, if your little cult hurt a single curl on my brother’s head-“
“OLVY!”
Everyone was tense and ready to pounce on her. But she held her ground, glaring into the cloth shrouding their face. Unseeing. Unfeeling. Betraying nothing of what lay underneath.
Olvia scoffed and let go. She shoved her way through the crowd despite Helena’s protests and swung the doors open. As she crossed the barrier, she could hear Helena’s voice in the background.
“I would like to apologize on her behalf, Enlightened One. She can be sensitive…”
The doors swung close.
Olvia stormed down the long, dark hallway. She welcomed the chilly air and pouring rain steadily getting louder. She much preferred this than the stuffy spire. At least the rain is what it says it is. At least it doesn’t pretend to be what it’s not.
A voice drifted from the shadows.
“He hears Its calls. He follows Its song.”
Now the weather was talking to her. “Fuck off. I don’t want any of your nonsense.”
She took a step forward but staggered back when the shadows coalesced into something solid. A tiny flame sparked to life, illuminating the small, round body it belonged to. Another robed one.
“He give me this. Say you trust me if I have.”
They held up a silver chain adorned with a carved charm and a large turquoise stone. His talisman.
Olvia’s eyes widened. “Give me that!” She lunged forward, but they sidestepped with ease.
“No. You follow. I show you.”
Down the hall, the doors opened. Footsteps echoed throughout.
“No time! We go!”
Olvia balled her fists. If this is we her best shot at finding OJ…
“Lead the way.”
DEATH ORDER
🥺 - A pleading face.
“You would do that for me? You would?!”
Ari exchanged a glance with Angeline. Even if their clock-headed friend had no eyes in the traditional sense, one could just feel the puppy eyes he would have if he did.
“…Uhh-huh,” he responded. “All you need to do is let Angie and I take a little visit to the vault, and then we can, uh, grab lunch or whatever.”
“And sail swan boats in the lake!”
He looks like he could burst at any moment, Angeline’s voice sounded in his mind.
Yeah, no kidding. Pop a gear like last time. “…And sail swan boats in the lake! Right, haha. Just remember, not a single word to anyone, okay? This is a secret between friends.”
“Friends, YES! WE’RE FRIENDS!” he squealed. He jerked forward with his arms out for a hug, nearly toppling over the desk in the process.
“Oh, that’s alright-“
“C’mahnnn Ari, it’s a friendship hug,” Angeline said with a sleazy grin.
“FRIENDSHIP HUG!”
“Okay, fine-“ No sooner did the words leave his mouth when Angie pulled him in.
When they were finally on their way, Ari fixed his ruffled hair and tie with a huff. Angeline swung the keys around her fingers and whistled an easy tune. The sound echoed through the soaring marble halls.
“Now then,” he muttered. “Time to look into the untimely murder of one Jeanette La Sue.”
He thrust his tongue between my lips and made it dance between my molars like a sexy worm who is an expert swordman as well as the uncontested tango champ ten years running. I felt my knees tremble in concert with my [REDACTED].
I'm bored and need to stretch my brain... Don't mind my bad try.
We were there, among the crowd. But it was silent, all the noise of the world drowned out. They were in my sight, and I was in theirs; our eyes sinking into the other. I never realised how beautiful their eyes are: the blue of the ocean with hints of gold. I stepped close, and they stepped closer. We were looking into each other, and then we were kissing. It lasted a second, but within it held the intimacy of a love like wine, better by age. I went for another, not to their lips, but to her forehead. I asked, "What took you so long?" They said, "I'll never be late again."
Thank you for the ask @songsofsomnia! These were really fun :)
THE HEART OF WONDERLAND
🥰 - A smiling face with three hearts. As a prompt I interpreted the face in a more condescending and evil way.
The next thing she knew was the cold floor on her cheek and the pain devouring her throat. She clawed at herself, twisting, wheezing.
“My my, I’m shocked you fell for that. I thought you would be smarter than this,” came another voice. Smooth. Condescending. As treacherous as the cursed apple on the floor. The ominous bite that marred its flesh glinted in the torchlight.
No! NO! She strained to reach the dragging gown circling her, to claw, to maul, but any hope of defiance withered away when all her muscles suddenly seized up. Her body was betraying her. All but her eyes ignored her screeches to move.
The dress stopped. Fabric folded and pooled in before her face as its owner knelt down. She looked up, wishing to burn hatred into her assailant, but even her eyes began to give in. As her vision faded, a hand lifted her chin. Gentle. Loving.
“Welcome home, my lost princess.”
YOU WOULDN’T END THE WORLD OVER A TORTILLA CHIP…
😭 - A sobbing face.
“What? No, this can’t be it,” Olvia whispered. Despite her best efforts, she let out a sob. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and she scrubbed her muddy face with muddier hands.
“I am sorry, Miss Olvia. We have exhausted all efforts, and with the imminent storm we cannot guarantee safety during the search.”
“With the imminent storm I can guarantee he will DIE out there!”
“Miss O-“
Olvia grabbed the acolyte by his cloak and yanked him to her face. Weapons rose around her, but she didn’t care.
“Listen here, Rivens. I don’t care what you think you are, or what you think you can trick us into thinking you are-“
“Olvy-“ Helena’s voice.
“But I swear to all the angels above and devils below, if your little cult hurt a single curl on my brother’s head-“
“OLVY!”
Everyone was tense and ready to pounce on her. But she held her ground, glaring into the cloth shrouding their face. Unseeing. Unfeeling. Betraying nothing of what lay underneath.
Olvia scoffed and let go. She shoved her way through the crowd despite Helena’s protests and swung the doors open. As she crossed the barrier, she could hear Helena’s voice in the background.
“I would like to apologize on her behalf, Enlightened One. She can be sensitive…”
The doors swung close.
Olvia stormed down the long, dark hallway. She welcomed the chilly air and pouring rain steadily getting louder. She much preferred this than the stuffy spire. At least the rain is what it says it is. At least it doesn’t pretend to be what it’s not.
A voice drifted from the shadows.
“He hears Its calls. He follows Its song.”
Now the weather was talking to her. “Fuck off. I don’t want any of your nonsense.”
She took a step forward but staggered back when the shadows coalesced into something solid. A tiny flame sparked to life, illuminating the small, round body it belonged to. Another robed one.
“He give me this. Say you trust me if I have.”
They held up a silver chain adorned with a carved charm and a large turquoise stone. His talisman.
Olvia’s eyes widened. “Give me that!” She lunged forward, but they sidestepped with ease.
“No. You follow. I show you.”
Down the hall, the doors opened. Footsteps echoed throughout.
“No time! We go!”
Olvia balled her fists. If this is we her best shot at finding OJ…
“Lead the way.”
DEATH ORDER
🥺 - A pleading face.
“You would do that for me? You would?!”
Ari exchanged a glance with Angeline. Even if their clock-headed friend had no eyes in the traditional sense, one could just feel the puppy eyes he would have if he did.
“…Uhh-huh,” he responded. “All you need to do is let Angie and I take a little visit to the vault, and then we can, uh, grab lunch or whatever.”
“And sail swan boats in the lake!”
He looks like he could burst at any moment, Angeline’s voice sounded in his mind.
Yeah, no kidding. Pop a gear like last time. “…And sail swan boats in the lake! Right, haha. Just remember, not a single word to anyone, okay? This is a secret between friends.”
“Friends, YES! WE’RE FRIENDS!” he squealed. He jerked forward with his arms out for a hug, nearly toppling over the desk in the process.
“Oh, that’s alright-“
“C’mahnnn Ari, it’s a friendship hug,” Angeline said with a sleazy grin.
“FRIENDSHIP HUG!”
“Okay, fine-“ No sooner did the words leave his mouth when Angie pulled him in.
When they were finally on their way, Ari fixed his ruffled hair and tie with a huff. Angeline swung the keys around her fingers and whistled an easy tune. The sound echoed through the soaring marble halls.
“Now then,” he muttered. “Time to look into the untimely murder of one Jeanette La Sue.”
hey! this is chance & here’s week 2's prompt. when you write or create an oc, do you like to reference elements from your life? if yes, name a few. if no, why not?
This is something I would do a lot! I like people watching, and people’s quirks, speech patterns, and experiences would often slip into my writing without me make a conscious decision to do so. I enjoy noticing the little details in life, and I feel they can flesh out a story world well.
hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. pick one of your ocs. how would they react if they suddenly appeared right next to you, in the modern world? what would happen?
Oh, this is fun! Hm… I’ll use Timeclex, or Clex, from The Death Order. He’s the cheery, clock head front desk attendant in Death’s Murders, Massacres, and Suicides department.
If he appeared right next to me my dog would probably pounce on him because stranger danger 😂 Clex’s clock arms would spin like crazy from shock and excitement and after I showed my dog he was a friend, I’d show Clex my backyard. He’s never been to Earth and only knows the large arching halls of Whereafter, so he would be very excited to see things like plants and bees etc. etc. And when a mosquito lands on him he watches it curiously until I suddenly smack it dead lol
Thank you for the ask @songsofsomnia! These were really fun :)
(AO3 Link)
THE HEART OF WONDERLAND
🥰 - A smiling face with three hearts. As a prompt I interpreted the face in a more condescending and evil way.
The next thing she knew was the cold floor on her cheek and the pain devouring her throat. She clawed at herself, twisting, wheezing.
“My my, I’m shocked you fell for that. I thought you would be smarter than this,” came another voice. Smooth. Condescending. As treacherous as the cursed apple on the floor. The ominous bite that marred its flesh glinted in the torchlight.
No! NO! She strained to reach the dragging gown circling her, to claw, to maul, but any hope of defiance withered away when all her muscles suddenly seized up. Her body was betraying her. All but her eyes ignored her screeches to move.
The dress stopped. Fabric folded and pooled in before her face as its owner knelt down. She looked up, wishing to burn hatred into her assailant, but even her eyes began to give in. As her vision faded, a hand lifted her chin. Gentle. Loving.
“Welcome home, my lost princess.”
YOU WOULDN’T END THE WORLD OVER A TORTILLA CHIP…
😭 - A sobbing face.
“What? No, this can’t be it,” Olvia whispered. Despite her best efforts, she let out a sob. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and she scrubbed her muddy face with muddier hands.
“I am sorry, Miss Olvia. We have exhausted all efforts, and with the imminent storm we cannot guarantee safety during the search.”
“With the imminent storm I can guarantee he will DIE out there!”
“Miss O-“
Olvia grabbed the acolyte by his cloak and yanked him to her face. Weapons rose around her, but she didn’t care.
“Listen here, Rivens. I don’t care what you think you are, or what you think you can trick us into thinking you are-“
“Olvy-“ Helena’s voice.
“But I swear to all the angels above and devils below, if your little cult hurt a single curl on my brother’s head-“
“OLVY!”
Everyone was tense and ready to pounce on her. But she held her ground, glaring into the cloth shrouding their face. Unseeing. Unfeeling. Betraying nothing of what lay underneath.
Olvia scoffed and let go. She shoved her way through the crowd despite Helena’s protests and swung the doors open. As she crossed the barrier, she could hear Helena’s voice in the background.
“I would like to apologize on her behalf, Enlightened One. She can be sensitive…”
The doors swung close.
Olvia stormed down the long, dark hallway. She welcomed the chilly air and pouring rain steadily getting louder. She much preferred this than the stuffy spire. At least the rain is what it says it is. At least it doesn’t pretend to be what it’s not.
A voice drifted from the shadows.
“He hears Its calls. He follows Its song.”
Now the weather was talking to her. “Fuck off. I don’t want any of your nonsense.”
She took a step forward but staggered back when the shadows coalesced into something solid. A tiny flame sparked to life, illuminating the small, round body it belonged to. Another robed one.
“He give me this. Say you trust me if I have.”
They held up a silver chain adorned with a carved charm and a large turquoise stone. His talisman.
Olvia’s eyes widened. “Give me that!” She lunged forward, but they sidestepped with ease.
“No. You follow. I show you.”
Down the hall, the doors opened. Footsteps echoed throughout.
“No time! We go!”
Olvia balled her fists. If this is we her best shot at finding OJ…
“Lead the way.”
DEATH ORDER
🥺 - A pleading face.
“You would do that for me? You would?!”
Ari exchanged a glance with Angeline. Even if their clock-headed friend had no eyes in the traditional sense, one could just feel the puppy eyes he would have if he did.
“…Uhh-huh,” he responded. “All you need to do is let Angie and I take a little visit to the vault, and then we can, uh, grab lunch or whatever.”
“And sail swan boats in the lake!”
He looks like he could burst at any moment, Angeline’s voice sounded in his mind.
Yeah, no kidding. Pop a gear like last time. “…And sail swan boats in the lake! Right, haha. Just remember, not a single word to anyone, okay? This is a secret between friends.”
“Friends, YES! WE’RE FRIENDS!” he squealed. He jerked forward with his arms out for a hug, nearly toppling over the desk in the process.
“Oh, that’s alright-“
“C’mahnnn Ari, it’s a friendship hug,” Angeline said with a sleazy grin.
“FRIENDSHIP HUG!”
“Okay, fine-“ No sooner did the words leave his mouth when Angie pulled him in.
When they were finally on their way, Ari fixed his ruffled hair and tie with a huff. Angeline swung the keys around her fingers and whistled an easy tune. The sound echoed through the soaring marble halls.
“Now then,” he muttered. “Time to look into the untimely murder of one Jeanette La Sue.”
