second draft || [written]

[poorneedyand]

All right, I've got to know: Are there any publishing outfits here? In a town this size, the chances seem slim, but for all I know, there's a paper no one's mentioned to me. I've got a story or two started, and if I could see them in print, I wouldn't mind dropping my asking price to zero cents a word. It won't hurt them to sit in handwritten

Comments

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

What're these stories about, then?

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

The ones I've been working on, or the ones Julius writes? The drunken scientist stories are pretty self-explanatory.

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

Suppose so. I mean the ones that you ain't finished yet.

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

Those ones. Well.

[Pause for consideration. Kay's not used to talking about stories with people she doesn't know very well.]

One's about a hunter who's cursed for shooting a deer he shouldn't have. The other is about a woman defending her planet from invaders, mostly.

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

Huh. Why shouldn't he've got that deer? And why're the invaders invading?

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

It lived in a forest that belonged to the gods. And her planet is in control of most of the others in the solar system, which makes it a good target for anyone hungry for power.

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

Huh. That's a good one. What does the curse do?

Then where'd the invaders come from? Outta the solar... system? [And ain't that a bitch and a half to pronounce. He says it again to make sure she understood him, though he's not quite clear on what, exactly, he's saying himself.]

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

Transforms him into something, I think. Probably a stag, but I wouldn't mind holding out for something less cliche. I've got most of the transformation written out, but I've got to figure out the what of it still.

The--the solar system, yeah. They're a race from far beyond the stars, and no one on her planet's seen anything like them before.

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

Stag'd be good, if'n there's some folk to hunt him. It'd make it harder for him to outsmart the gods, then, though.

Huh. And themfolk want her shit cause why?

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

All right, we'll go with a stag. I'm not sure he's going to outsmart the gods, though.

Oh, for the natural resources, mostly. And the opportunity to conquer. It's not a particularly important story, though--I might scrap it.

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

Then what's he gonna do? Stand around and be sorry?

Naw, it sounds interesting. She's like the head princess in charge?

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

Only if I wanted the story to work like sleeping pills. He might lose--maybe he ends up slain in the end.

Sort of. They don't really go in for royalty there, exactly. She's more like--like a clan leader, you know. Got her position by being the strongest fighter, could lose it to someone wily if she doesn't stay on her guard.

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

Aw, but that's what always what happens when you go against the gods. Don't cross Min-Terris or she'll make you old, don't piss off Cade-Cholera or she'll make you wish you was old, you know. I like the one where Kethe screws Ver-Istenna and gets away with it.

Oh, that's good. So the invaders are coming-- what happens next?

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

...Wait, wait, who're all these gods? [Mildmay, you've managed to distract her entirely--none of the names're familiar, and she's curious.]

Well, she's a shoot-first kind of girl, so she's got her gun at the ready when they show up, even though they're interested in trying to pay her people off first. Haven't written too much further than their first standoff, though.

[voice.]

[ohmykethe]

Er, well... [You can almost hear Mildmay counting everything off on his fingers:] Min-Terris' the goddess of things past; Jeanne-So-Contrary pissed her off once something fierce, and that was the end of her... And Cade-Cholera's the goddess of death and sickness and rot. Vir-Istenna's the goddess of keeping things right and true and all that, y'know, enforcing the rules, so of course Kethe goes to fuck with her. Kethe ain't quite a god or a saint, he's sorta between the two. He stands for... mystery. [Someone is still a terrible liar.]

So she ain't at war? It's just her against all them other fuckers?

[voice.]

[poorneedyand]

Huh. Never heard of any of them. So d'you pray to them, or are they just myths at this point?

Well--it's war, but it's not a simple war, exactly. They want to pay off the people in charge, have it be as bloodless as possible, but she's two parts patriotic and one part bloodthirsty. So that's not exactly going to work.

Anyway, this is silly, talking over these things when we're two rooms apart. Come out into the living room, I'll tell you in person.