#twor project

[abyssalaquarist00]

A Manner of Patience ; short story, excerpt below

Nadine is troubled by disinterest in daily life until she notices something spark when she's around her soon-to-be husbands' male companions. She doesn't understand why she wants to belong among men, and figures that she will eventually settle into her marriage.

A lonesome stroll would soon see a sour mood stirred; lax in the way of improvement. Her heels, short and blocked, tacked and tittered against the wooden bridge hovering over the slow flowing trickle of the river. Her face fell in a style that brought a naturalized pout which, at times, proved difficult for her fiance to chisel away at. It was an aura fit for an overcast tune, a boon cherished by the shade of her parasol on a sunny afternoon. Whatever rays of sunlight divined the surface would catch only in her eyes, and cast back into the world through apparent disdain. In fact, a delightful breeze could pass through the light layers of her white dress, and she wouldn't bring herself to enjoy it.

She came to a subtle stop upon the median, reflecting on the disturbed, imposed image of herself in the water. 

Although she was in perfectly good health, her visage emanated a sickliness to her subconscious. By all means, she was considered beautiful- her suitors had thought so, and her fiance especially. Dark, thick hair sprang from her head, twirling and curling from wide ringlets into smaller, wavier flicks toward the end of the length. Her fiance especially loved her eyes, which sloped like flowering hills with her long lashes. But her lips, though as soft and plush as they were, were full of contempt. 

"Darling," he called out, "Would you care to join the fellows and I for coffee?"

She hummed in thought, her gaze transfixed by the movement of water. Then, she spoke and said "What else would I have to do today?" 

The tall, mustached and light suited man lifted his cheeks with a delighted smile, holding out his arm in anticipation at the sound of her heels against the wood. A chance that she would rest her wrist on it when they joined.

Should they ever join.

It was a jolt of love he felt from her fingertips when they perched on his shoulder, a feeling quickly swung when she gently signaled his arm down by a simple impression. She must've been pre-occupied, he thought, filing away the numerous cases she'd declined this simple affection. The two walked in stride, which was the least he had asked for. Where he would meet his friends wasn't far, either.

A group of 4 men sat and lounged under a raised canopy. There were some low stools and cushions made for the woven mat floor that they each occupied. Between them were two long-stemmed waterpipes they smoked from.

"Reza, our friend!" Called one of the men on the floor. His words had pushed through a plume of smoked tobacco, subsequently waved away by the two other men it bothered. 

“Sultan, my man, how are you?” He cheered into a handshake, then they kissed each other twice on one cheek.

His lady watched as he repeated the greeting for the other two men; Raul and Santiago. She caught her gaze lingering on the last man; a soft and stubbled jaw, thick brows and wavy hair parted to the side. He wore a rectangular scarf on his shoulders and squared spectacles on the bridge of his nose. 

“And of course, my wife,” Reza wrapped an arm around her shoulder, “Nadine.”

That name, which rolled off his tongue so smoothly, was armored with spikes against her psyche. Like smoke, it passed but the smell stained his breath. 

“I hope you are all well,” she bowed her head, electing to sit on one of the stools.

“With your radiance, of course,” chimed Sultan.

[abyssalaquarist00]

KASEEM IBN AL-NEJEM - Kaseem from the Stars from The Tale of Twin Dunes (excerpt below)

A WIP I've been sitting on for a year, now finished thanks to my friend BinaryClone on bsky !!

[abyssalaquarist00]

Hi! I figured I'd ask because I don't know your characters very well and I was curious about the short story you wrote and reblogged earlier.

Is Nadine a part of a larger story you're writing? Or just a one off short piece?

Your art for the piece had such a specific mood to it that really piqued my interest so I went and read it-lovely writing-and I was really curious about what you were trying to convey. Do you intend for Nadine to come across as somebody who is in the process of realizing that they're transgender?

I mean, within your setting and context of the society she's in. Nuance to all of that.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope your day is going well ^_^

what a delightful ask! thank you so much for your interest in the story.

for folks tuning in, this is in reference to this short story WIP.

i'm writing a series of short stories set within a specific world called TWOR, short for 'The World of Reckoning'. i describe this world as one not unlike our own, stuck in cycles that could take place within days or across millenia. mostly, it's my sandbox where i can pick any point in time at any part of this world and play with what it. So far, there are three main eras I've been working with to reflect the way real world history influences are day-to-day

Age of Wisdom (how 'ancient' and 'medieval' blends together and the knowledge we've drawn from our ancestors in these periods; see hellenistic greece, the islamic golden age, the many religious developments taking place across the world, paracelsus' medical revolution etc)

Century of Progress (the past two centuries, amalgamated into a single hundred year span; focusing on labour rights, the industrial revolution and the link to colonialism/imperialism, the fight for decolonization and bodily autonomy)

Epoch of the Unknown (after the advent of yet another world-shattering catastrophe, we take a look to see how solidarity takes us a step closer to a better future. basically mostly built on hypothetical and theories, a 'what's next?' answer to the current state of the world; all sorts of flavors of post-post-apocalypse.)

Nadine's story takes place in an era called 'Century of Progress' in a sea-side nation still clinging to traditions while making way for newly afforded luxuries via trade. her story basically boils down to a question i ask myself; what if i had no resources to learn about trans people? what would my life have looked like if i succumbed to tradition, and never self-exiled?

i'll be using any pronouns interchangeably for Nadine, because I haven't yet decided what kind of person she becomes. i still havent finished the story, but i think it might be 3 chapters. i know for myself though, i was very interested in what boys were up to when i was younger and wanted to be included among them. but i was fortunate to have the language for transgender experiences at 12. Nadine did not. she lives somewhere under a monarchy, where traditional roles are enforced and only now is gender segregation being considered 'old school'. i think the disgust she had for her body and the way it was sort of 'adultified' through puberty (ie 'congratulations 11 year old girl who got her first period, you're now a woman and your curves can now be considered sexual') (real thing i went through myself) but as she grew older, she would have learned to compartmentalize, never having a chance away from that atmosphere. the world is pretty connected at this point, mostly via radio, i'm not sure about the existence of the internet yet but that might be toward the latter end of this era.

my feelings thinking about this hypothetical; if i had never left and if i never had the language; i think my depression would be worse and i would be stuck feeling like i don't belong. but i would still assert my intelligence, because i'm stubborn like that. i also think a lot about people who transition later in life, or who might have never had the realization, or say that its 'too late' for them. as a child, you might be let off a little easier because there's still time for you to be groomed into certain roles. but when you're older, you're expected to know better. this was something i fought against a lot, and it resulted in being forced into femininity. if i were born just a decade earlier, i mightve given up, or had a worse fate.

then there's the conversation about bodily autonomy; nadine's body is seen as a reproductive tool, an incubator. she's expected to marry reza and have children with him, it's not something she's given much thought of because she doesn't want to think about it. it's not yet her reality, and so it's another day that doesn't exist to her and another day that is meaningless. whatever fate befalls them is currently undecided since i don't know what kind of story i want to tell yet.

i have some other things on my blog about this project, but not a lot lol. i appreciate the opportunity to talk about it though since i mostly work on it in private!

thank you again for asking! have a wonderful night :-)

[abyssalaquarist00]

some WIPs of another short story that i've actually got the final draft finished for called 'The Twin Dunes'

excerpt below.

His pen came to a sudden halt. He threw some belongings into a satchel; his journal, astrolabe, his prayer beads, and then looked up to the sky. His eyes darted until they found the familiar, sometimes faint, blue light in the sky. This elusive blue dot had captivated him for some time, since he was a child in fact. It would appear every few years and stay for only a few days. It wandered the sky, similar to some of the other unblinking lights- what he knew were planets, as taught by the ancients who likely left these monuments behind- but it’s behavior was most strange. It was almost like it had a mind of its own.

Some nearby localities would report that this phenomena was an omen. They wouldn’t step foot anywhere near, with tales and myths of disappearances. According to the tales, these lights would appear directly above the monuments and nowhere else. They believed that invisible beings existed in an alternate realm and would be the cause for such tragedies, however no rescue efforts would be attempted for the fear of safety. He showed up despite his familiarity with those fears.

What would he stand by if he saw something that shook his core? If the Divine Creator was as merciful as scripture and oral traditions suggested; could he ever be forgiven if he intentionally strayed from his beliefs in the pursuit of knowledge?

[abyssalaquarist00]

Temple of Guidance (stock photo collage and painted over)

[abyssalaquarist00]

OCs from my larger storytelling project; TWOR. im focusing a bit more on Suleiman and his apprentice's story. I ended up transgenderizing his apprentice which will get touched on in the story bc i want to explore transitioning through text from the lens of a parental/mentor figure (suleiman) vs exploring transitioning through text from the lens of the transgender person themself (although these stories occur at different times and at different places)

[abyssalaquarist00]

some characters for my short stories