The Ones Who Hurt - Blog Posts

Y'all, It's finally time! I'm on page 159, with 20+ chapters, and I'm here to tell you... The first chapter is edited and ready to be read! Please do bear with me, as this was written probably 2 or 3 years ago, but I hope you enjoy! Now, with no further ado, read on below!

@queen-of-hobgobblers @deadandgaysetanta @redkarmakai

Chapter 1

Florentine

"So, the wounded hero finally dares to stand, eh? I'm almost impressed" the sneer in his words is unmistakable, though my vision seems impaired. My muscles quiver as I rise to face him. Muddy droplets drip from some long-forgotten wound. A sharp, excruciating pain flashes through my leg, centering around my kneecap. I brush it off, because I have to. I have a duty, and what am I if not successful? Who am I if I can’t even protect these people who venerate me? I stand and turn to face my attacker, steel in my heart and fire in my eyes. Their smirk ignites a simmering mix of hatred and envy. Why should they be the one to walk away with their life intact? Why don’t they have to sit and suffer in silence as their other half climbs a ladder so tall that the gods in the sky must crane their heads merely to catch a passing glimpse? Rage pulses behind my eyes, begging for cruel release.

Everything's red. His hand. The ground. The blood red dagger, forsaken long before. The sky. I can't think, can’t hear, can’t see. All that runs in my head is what went wrong. It was fine, we were fine. Everything was good. We were peaceful. Until that day. That horrid day that ripped us apart and set us on our separate, yet morbidly entwined, paths. A voice drones in the background, that one that haunts my dreams and comforts my nightmares. The ground shakes, morphing the landscape. The sky turns black and the trees fluctuate with a wonderlandian determination. The ground twists and tumbles in my eyes, falling away as I attempt to push myself up. My hands scrabble against the softening dirt and I let a grunt escape my lips. His thunderous eyes pierce my heart when his head whips toward me. His mouth moves, but the words don’t register in my ringing ears at first.

I launch myself toward his misty figure. He's waiting, baiting me. I know this. But some things are more important than playing a game. My fist flies past its mark on my first try. A haunting chuckle infuriates me further. I press him, swinging my fists with less accuracy, but I fight harder and harder, I strike and coax more and more and more until he's backed against a wide-trunked oak, trapped between wood and flesh. Blood, beautiful, glorious, shimmering blood, floods down his face as I stand triumphant over theim. Their previous courage dissipates faster than the winds he tries to command. Finally, I hold all the cards. I can be the one to finish a fight, the one to leave them broken, cowering on the ground, weak and worthless in the eyes of the once adoring, now cautious public.

My eyes shut, as a way to preserve this perfect, wonderful scene in my memory. I open them, punching in front where he should be, but the scenery has changed. No longer am I in a mournful wood, surrounded by splintered trees and freshly slaughtered rodents, but rather a village. Run-down huts flood my peripheral, and a young boy looks up at me. He grins, and I stumble back at the mania in his eyes and the blood on his teeth. His golden hair is matted, but his shoes shine with care and polish and his hands have never known a day of work.

"Hey, mister! That was one nice punch you got there! Look, it even made me bleed!" The bloodlust in his eyes is unmistakable, and I collapse to my knees while my younger self drones on about my attack. It was all a dream. Just a dream. Always so close, and yet they’re always one step further. The town is still decrepit, the villain is still on the loose, and I'm still the one to blame for it all. The one who let him go, let him break me a thousandfold just for a sense of my past life. How?! How could I have been so blind?! So…

The sound of my voice breaks the trance of misery and I allow tears to flood my face, my all-too-real facial incisions burning. The sobs that wrench from my body surprise even myself with the desperate plea behind it. My screams are swirling and writhing with the pain that only a truly tortured soul can contain. Horrid, deep sobs wrack my body while thorny vines, red as blood, climb up my shuddering form. The pain cuts me to the bone, but I don’t care. It grounds me. No, what I beg for is a floundering force of strength who long since abandoned me. I scream, louder than I ever have, louder than I thought I could. Even when the tears stop flowing, dry, throaty sobs and screams rack my soul and the vines tighten, clasping at my throat. Air. I need air. There's no air. A name, unintelligible, shrieks out of my mouth. I cry for him, want him, need him. I need their kind eyes, the prim distaste they hold for everyone but me. I need his voice, his heart, his love and lust. My lone earring, a silver, triadic swirl, dangles. It shines as if a beacon might, glowing with false promises. The vines know what I want, what I need. They guide my hand, tearing the piece of jewelry down, flinging it, getting lost in the heartbreak of first love, first trust, and first pain. The screams have become comforting. I know them. I know pain, and I welcome it. Grey shadows creep into my sight, and I gladly welcome them, too. They encompass my vision, and I lean into the cold, slate shadows, reminiscent of stones chilled by a frosty winter air.

"USELESS!"

I've reached page 143, so the time to vote is nigh: once I reach 150, do you guys want

So, I officially reached 150 pages... I will post the first chapter, but should I post it completely as is, no beta read, no edits, or should i go in and refine it?

@deadandgaysetanta @queen-of-hobgobblers @redkarmakai @sherikookami

I've reached page 143, so the time to vote is nigh: once I reach 150, do you guys want

You all voted and the most popular was... By decision of a random name generator due to a three way tie... ADIRA AKELDAMA!

WARNING!!! LONG POST AHEAD!!! PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND TIME!!!

Adira is the queen of the Syren Born Fae. She grew up with her triplets Ethan and Seraphina in the woods near Amalraum. She is close friends with Kaimanas Aurelius, though she'd rather Florentine, Kaimana's brother, die in a rather gruesomely violent manner.

When she was 10, she left with Ethan, her brother, to go to royal training in their respective kingdoms. She became the military leader and Queen of the Syren Queendom, Azura. Her brother went on to become King of the Dustborn kingdom, the Laurel Valley.

She resents Florentine and Zephyre for killing her sister. In fact, about three years after Seraphina's passing, she declared war on Amalraum. The only reason this war didn't come into fruition was because Kaimana asked her oh so nicely.

She is currently single.

Her most precious item is a black opal seraphina found for her when they were kids. Ethan set it into her Signet ring.

She was born on May 16th.

She's always losing her trident, she's a vegetarian, and she loves listening to classical music, whale songs, opera, and some death metal(but only Scandinavian and Indian).

Her deepest fears are harpoons, drowning, and losing the people closest to her.

She is 27 years old.

Below is her profiles⬇️

@deadandgaysetanta @queen-of-hobgobblers @redkarmakai @sherikookami

Y'all, I actually wrote for a bit today?! Like, what? Not me actually being creative 😂🙌 anyway... I swear the character post is happening soon, thank you to everyone for your patience 💞

@deadandgaysetanta @queen-of-hobgobblers

Hey, I am so sorry that my post for The Ones Who Hurt is taking so long! I'm working on another project right now, and I'm really trying to balance the two, but idk how well of a job I'm doing 😂

I'll try to post who won in a week or two, thank you for the patience 🙏 in the meantime, I'll share a snippet of what I'm currently working on 🤫

Teehee

It was. A fucking. FOUR WAY TIE?! WHY DO YOU ALL HATE ME???? I'm just gonna put the four names in a random generator and get back to you with what y'all are getting

Alright, attempt #2:

We got a three-way tie last time, so I'm hoping this one is gonna gain a bit more traction! So, for the second time: who do you all want to see first?

@deadandgaysetanta @queen-of-hobgobblers @redkarmakai

The first bit of actual novel WIP content!!!

The poll came out in a three way tie, so I'm planning on redoing the post... Until then, here you go! Absolutely no context! :]

'I gotta say, I never understood the concept of tentacles being hot, but now I *really* don't get it'

@deadandgaysetanta @queen-of-hobgobblers @redkarmakai

Reblog with a line from your current work-in-progress fanfiction taken COMPLETELY out of context.

Mine is:

“Oh I’m swell,” Leo said, before promptly coughing up blood.

Awesome, great to see this! Now that that's settled, who would you want to learn more about first?

@deadandgaysetanta @queen-of-hobgobblers @redkarmakai

@deadandgaysetanta @queen-of-hobgobblers

So, over the course of four-ish hours, I just handwrote 38 pages of a short story... My hand is going to fall off 😭😭😭

But I'm going to type it up soon, and I might link it to my profile... I'm not sure though.

It's a prequel to my long-term novel I'm currently writing. The short story is nameless so far, but the novel is called The Ones who Hurt, and it just recently hit 100 pages! It's a high fantasy novel about a cowardly superhero, an empathetic ex-villain, a bisexual human, a very sapphic queen, three undead-ish assassins, Fae royalty, a historic mystery, a suspicious cult, and a whole lot of family drama.

If anyone would be interested in reading the short story and potentially excerpts from the novel as it gets written, please comment or DM me. Please reblog this and interact with it, I really would love more author and reading friends! :]

@unmellowyellowfellow @queen-of-hobgobblers @deadandgaysetanta