I've seen you describe Moth Wizard as a "sort of anthology", and I'm curious: do you have a favorite story in particular? And why is it your favorite? :00
Thank you so much for the ask!!
I uh haven't really gotten that far, I have a specific idea of what format I want to use and a few half thought through ideas for stories and characters I think will be really cool, but the actual writing and plots are still very lacking 😅
But I do have a favorite among the incomplete stories! Or at least a character arc I'm really excited about! I originally got the idea for it because I saw a post that said something along the lines of "no matter the setting your story should have a talking skeleton" and I just went "ok!" and proceeded to interrogate the concept of a talking skeleton philosophically. And I ended up creating Brakha, who is one of my favorite characters and the one who's made me cry the most by far!
The basic premise is this: A Jewish cis perisex man (named Natan, meaning "he gave") dies old and is buried. His skeleton is given life and eventually develops free will and a conscience: its own new soul.
This soul is not happy about the fact that they're using someone else's corpse, in fact they feel pretty terrible about it. It wasn't their choice to be created, but it doesn't feel right that these bones were not too long ago a man with a loving family. You can't just go stealing corpses like that, after all!
So this soul tries to learn more about this man, trying to figure out how to do the right thing, and what even is the right thing? Could they just go lay back down in the grave? Forever? Can they leave? Can they somehow find out what Natan would have wanted them to do?
They talk to people who knew him, they talk to rabbis, hoping their insight from the man's own religion will be helpful, they try to talk to Natan in some way, asking for a sign. But there are no easy answers. No one can give them permission to exist, nor revoke it, and Natan is gone. You can't ask the dead for guidance either.
They are eventually forced to confront the harsh reality: you have free will and you have to use it, and that necessarily means you can be wrong.
Did you know that "rest in peace" is a Christian expression? In Judaism, the thing to say is "may their memory be a blessing."
As they learn to accept that they are alive in Natan's corpse whether they like it or not, she starts to finally look inward. She discovers that existence is a little less of a burden as a woman. She sees Natan's Judaism and feels she wants to understand it better, and the rabbis she consulted are happy to teach her. She eventually decides to convert, feeling a connection to Judaism similar to what she feels for womanhood.
And after careful thought, she chooses her Jewish name. In Natan's memory, she is Brakha, meaning "blessing".
At this point I have no idea if it's a good story to an outsider, but as a trans person who is trying to convert to Judaism and has spent a whole lot of time in despair wishing I didn't have free will, wishing I didn't exist, wishing someone could just tell me what to do... yeah. I wouldn't really call it autobiographical, but it definitely deals with things that are important to me and that I deeply connect with.
I hope this answers your questions!
Thank you again so much for the ask!! It makes me so happy when people show interest in Moth Wizard <3
great subplot: the villain said “you finally figured it out” as a joke at one point when the hero confronted them but instead of asking what the villain thought they’d figured out, the hero figured they could get them to spill the secret if they played along, which caught the villain off-guard because there wasn’t supposed to be a thing to figure out and now they need to know what the thing is and now they’re just dancing around the subject in every encounter, trying to get the other person to mention what the secret is, refusing to admit they don’t know it
On a similar note to the “Paw Patrol is authoritarian propaganda” post, warning for some very heavy topics
(this is really just a first draft that I’m too tired to edit right now, but I’d like some feedback before making the final version tomorrow)
A sitcom-like setup where the main character loses their job for trying to unionize with their coworkers. Cut to them venting to their best friend Jim in their favorite restaurant/diner. Suddenly they exclaim “We’re living in a dystopia of late capitalism!”
The laugh track plays.
“I think you’re overreacting a little bit,” Jim says, but the main character isn’t having it.
“Am I, Jim? Am I?” Laughter again. “Look around you! That waiter? They’re probably working unpaid overtime on a minimum wage job and rent is still weeks late while the CEO is buying his third mansion without a damn care in the world!” The laugh track get louder.
“They should get a better--”
“The guy in the corner pretending not to cry? His boyfriend just died,” the main character continues without acknowledging their friend’s comment. A small chuckle comes from the audience. “Like me, he lost his job. They couldn’t afford the high quality insulin, and the cheaper variant just wasn’t good enough.”
“How do you even know th--”
“Now he’s unemployed and alone. He can’t afford a funeral. He spent his last money on that burger. He’s going to kill himself tonight. His old boss couldn’t care less because he was already not profitable. They don’t care about us. We’re expendable.” The laughter gets louder again.
“And remember Rob from high school?” the main character asks.
“Yeah, whatever happened to him?”
“He’s a slave, Jim. Slavery is still legal, alive and well in America.” Louder still. “Some cop decided he looked dangerous with that dark skin and demanded to search his car. When Rob questioned their motives, they got violent.” A mugshot of a young African American male appears on the screen as the laugh track goes wild. His right eye is swollen shut and his face is littered with bruises.
“They planted the weed of course,” they continue after the mugshot goes away, “Rob wasn’t gonna do their job for them, but being black is still enough to get you sent to prison so you can’t vote for someone who supports your rights and corporations can make you work for less than $1/hour. It’s cheap labor, it’s good business, and it’s constitutional!” Pause for hysterical laughter.
“What? What are you even--”
“Know what else is good business? Making people accept it. Accept that people starve while corporations make sure whatever isn’t sold can’t be eaten. Accept that you need to pay the rich for the right to live. Accept that anyone who can’t deserves to die.” They start wheezing. It’s hilarious. How ridiculous.
“I was profitable. My boss still would’ve made a profit if he’d listened to our demands for a living wage. Firing me means he loses all the profit I made him, but it’s more important to send the message that we’re not in control than it is to make a profit. If people realize they’re being exploited and can do something about it, they lose their control and their power.” Utterly ridiculous.
“And we’re trained to think anyone who questions it is a crazy conspiracy theorist. Like they’re no different from people who claim the earth is flat. Capitalism is the only system that works!”
AKA Weird Knockoff DC Universe AKA It’s Familiar, But Not Too Familiar AKA My Canon Now. Anyway, as promised, upon request of nobody but myself, here’s the first short fic (feedback highly appreciated):
After a few minutes of driving in silence, Thomas finally speaks up:
“Bruce, you can’t keep doing this. Mom and dad are worried about you, Alfred’s worried about you– We’re all worried!”
“Well, quit worrying! I’m fine!” Bruce says in an attempt to get his older brother off his back, but Thomas is already pulling the car over to the side.
“You’re not ‘fine,’ Bruce! You have a serious problem! For goodness’ sake, you nearly hit an officer today! That’s not 'fine’!” he exclaims.
“You’re right, it’s 'a fine.’”
“I’m serious! Being rich doesn’t mean we’re above the law! It–”
“No, that’s exactly what it means!” Bruce interrupts. Thomas sighs.
“No,” he begins, trying not to lose his composure, “It means we have a responsibility to–”
“‘To use our money and influence to help the less fortunate and uphold the values of the family name,’ yeah, I’ve heard, you don’t really believe in any of that crap, do you?”
“Yes! Yes, Bruce, I believe in the values we were raised with! What I can’t believe is that you would rather throw it away on drugs!” Thomas pauses for a moment, then more calmly continues, “You’re better than this, I know you are.”
Silence fills the car once again as Bruce looks out the side window. He hesitates, but has made his mind up.
“No, you don’t,” he snarls back at his brother as he opens the car door to leave.
“Bruce, wait!” Thomas yells, but Bruce slams the door behind him and walks away. “I should go after him,” he sighs, but stays in the car.
