After Getting To Almost 20k Words, I've Realized Something Rather Fundamental About My Story.

I want to share my story, but I'm not sure about how to do that. So for now, I've just got it stashed away.

Don't you just hate it when your Internet goes out for absolutely no reason, only to come back hours later in worse quality?

Another short featuring young Rane meeting her team for the first time.

A new friend, a fellow outcast.

I never understood the need for so many people for these things. Birthdays, graduations, promotions, even something as simple as the weekend drew humans together. I don't even know what the occasion was. The music is too loud, the smells overwhelmingly numerous musks and perfumes, my head is starting to ache from the combination, and worse yet, I am the only Whisper here so far.

Yet I couldn't leave. This was an intentional choice by my Dant, another test to see how I'd react, to see if I caved. It was stupid, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me run away like a kicked dog. I stand in one o the corners, watching the room with a quietly as I study the people in it.

Eventually I notice someone approaching me, and I have to look him over twice just to be sure I'm not seeing things. He's huge, easily towering over everyone else in the room, with broad shoulders and a build that looks like it was sculpted by artists. His pale blue eyes stood out against his dark skin, kindness sparkling in them despite his face being neutral.

He stops a short distance from me, and waves lightly. Confused, i simply stare before giving a half wave back, but he just smiles softly before starting to sign, "It's loud, isn't it?"

I nod, considering how to respond before signing back, "Very. I'm getting a headache form the sounds and smells."

He nods, and gestures for me to follow him, which I do more out of curiosity than anything. He leads me to a balcony looking over the Dex, and the reprieve from the party is an instant relief. I breathe in the fresh air, leaning over the balcony as I listen to the wind blowing over the base.

The man waves again to get my attention, signing once I look over. "Better?" He smiles at my nod, continuing, "That's good. I never really liked these, either. I'm Niko, the mule for your unit, should Sergei's request get approved."

I nod, looking out towards the lake before answering. "I'm Rane."

That's when I heard the oddest thing. A whispered voice, as deep as the rumble of a quake but as warm as the heat from a fire, "He did say you don't talk much…"

I look over, curious about what I heard. "Who did?"

Niko looks surprised, a mix of awe and confusion filling his yes before he finally whispers in that deep, rich voice, "You understand me…?"

I've got the entire story for an original story thought out, I'm making progress on actually writing it, albeit slow progress. The main problem I'm finding is that whenever I want to share the progress I'm happy with, everyone I know is either busy, or "will read it when it's done", which my brain interprets as disinterest and just stomps my motivation into the cold, unrelenting earth.

An encounter that's anything but chance.

"Why are you hiding over here?"

I don't look over as the voice interrupts my thoughts, my gaze remaining on the lake as it glitters gold under the rising sun. The man's question had been innocent enough, but it was the exact reason why I was separate form the others. There's too many questions, too many attempts to get to know me. I don't want to be known. I'd much rather stick to my own, as I always have. It was safer that way. Less… incidents.

He seems curious enough to stay, and sits down next to me, continuing to speak while he lights a cigar. "You're the silent type, huh? That's alright." We sit in silence for a while, the scent of hickory filling the air as the smoke curled and twisted upwards. He takes a long pull, and slowly exhales. "Listen, kid. I'll be honest with you. I know who you are, and what happened with your last Dant."

I glance over at him, unable to hide the fact that he surprised me. I still don't speak, I don't trust himself or myself enough to, but I tilt my head a bit to the side, letting him know that I'm listening.

He smiles at the gesture, his steel gray eyes lighting up. "Ah, that got your attention. I bet you're curious. 'Who is this man, and why is he talking to me if he knows what I've done', or along those lines, right?"

I nod slowly, considering many things before hesitantly speaking, "… Yes."

My speaking only seems to make him smile wider, and he looks out over the lake, breathing deeply as a crack of thunder echoes across the clear sky. "Well, those questions are easily answered. My name is Sergei Repin, and I want to ask you to join my unit."

"Sergei…" I repeat the name, considering it as I consider the man it belongs to. "Rane. My name is Rane."

I got in an argument with my mother this morning. The context isn't really important, just know it was over it was over politics. But there is one important part that told me what kind of person she is.

I brought up how ICE is targeting schools, and how there's a very good chance that they're taking anyone who looks "foreign". I mentioned that a boy we know could be taken, because he's mixed but looks mexican.

She asked me why I cared so much. She asked me why I cared so much about a boy who's been part of the family since he was a few months old being taken away.

We're not even a month in, and I'm already so tired.

My writing is going well, but I'm worried about a planned revelation for one of the main cast. I don't really have anyone to ask for advice, and I'm worried that it'd be taken wrong, but I'm also hesitant to ask for advice here, since it could draw the wrong kind of crowd.

I'm really unsure about it, so I'll ask beneath the line.

So, the revelation is planned for later in the story, and it involves a main-turned-secondary character who acts as an early antagonist to the primary main character. He's trans (Female to Male), and because the reasoning behind his behavior isn't revealed until a chapter or two after the revelation that he's trans (I'm doing chapter by chapter), I'm worried that the message will be seen as "He's an annoying/bad/bothersome person because he's trans", and not "He's an annoying/bad/bothersome person, period."

Him being trans isn't a focus of his story arc, and transphobia (as well as homophobia) won't be used as story beats.

I know I can just not say anything about it, but I want him (and other planned trans characters) to be known. I just don't want to imply the wrong message.

Spider Love Song

#3a273d | #483249 | #f7e6f8 | #d18fd6 | #342538

An interlude in the short series I've been doing, instead focusing on when Rane first started realising her feelings for Sophia.

An important first

Very few occasions call for anything beside our uniforms, since they've become the main outfit everyone wears at the base, so the first time I saw Sophia in a dress was a couple years after her release from the hospital, the pale flowers dotted across the billowy fabric, her light brown hair blonde in the sunlight. I thought I had caught an illness when she smiled at me, that laugh bubbling out of her like the prettiest bell. I didn't understand what I was feeling, the way she made my heart flutter in my chest and the air catch in my throat, until much later.

When she tried to ask what was wrong, I couldn't answer, any words dying in my throat with a strangled whimper. My face burned as I looked anywhere but at her, though I couldn't tell her that it wasn't from embarrassment, or why I didn't want her to see it. I didn't know how to tell her that she was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen, how I wanted to see her like this more often.

My reaction upset her, but I grabbed her arm before she could leave, my touch as gentle as a butterfly's wings. I didn't know how to explain the sensations she was calling, so I apologized instead and asked her to stay.

I spent that entire night trying to figure out my feelings, sleepless in pursuit of what ailed me. I spoke with the guys about it the next morning, only to end up flustered when Don decided to start teasing me. Sergei chuckled before scolding him, and took me aside, giving me a moment to calm down before asking me more questions about my ailment.

I answered honestly, that my mind was still picturing the way the wind blew her dress in such a way to hug her body, that my face catches fire at the memory of her smile and that my breath is stolen by the memory of her laugh. He asked if I've felt these things before, and it gave me pause. I went to say that I hadn't, but then I realized that I had over the past couple years, just never this strong before.

When I admitted this, my voice a soft whisper into the light of the rising sun, he gave me a warm, knowing smile. He ruffled my hair, chuckling as he told me that I wasn't sick. I asked him what the problem was, why I felt such odd things about my friend, and he just smiled, telling me that while I might see it as a problem now, I won't always feel that way.

it solos - Submitted by: fastman27

#0A090B #13121C #1C1733 #43245F #662A7E