Oxibubbles 🫧

"Talwyn rocked her head back, and a fragile film glimmered over her eyes as a wounded smirk fettered her lips. "Can you believe it? For two years, I've had no sign, no trace, no nothing from my dad to help me find him. Yet here I am, running straight into a gang den on some wild dream whim. Am I stupid or what?"
          
          "You're strong, Talwyn. You're strong and kind and so, so talented, and I wouldn't be here without you." With a light, precise motion, Kerensa hooked her finger around a lock of silver hair over Talwyn's cheek. She brushed it aside, letting her touch linger on her companion's skin. "And anyway, I've always believed that being sensible is overrated.""
          
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          She's so real. Both shes, in fact, are so real. Good thing, too, because the place they're in is about to get SO real.
          
           https://www.wattpad.com/story/369673968

"A devilish glimmer flitted across Arlo's eyes. "It shouldn't be too hard to stay out of sight. The Maulers are just one gang, and they're not even based in the city. How many guys can they really have guarding this place?"
          
          With booming gravity, the gateway doors shunted to a halt. On the other side awaited at least a dozen guards, their various weapons raised at the ready. Every honed edge, sharpened point, and oiled barrel shone squarely at the cart and its escort.
          
          Kerensa rolled her eyes. "Gaudy building, fancy skydock, small army at the door – *someone's* overcompensating.""
          
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          Indeed they are, my adorably ghoulish necromancer friend. Some people just aren't as naturally fabulous *or* disastrous as we are, you know? Anyway, check out this display of fragile masculinity and more in chapter 7.1 of Echoes!
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/369673968

"Talwyn stepped down from the front seat, her hands raised. Gem-like yellow eyes narrowed, the panther peeled from Kaz's side and stalked forwards, flaring its nostrils at her feet. A thin gold ring shone around its left ear, just below the jagged flesh left by an old bite wound. Swallowing her nerves, Talwyn stood her ground and met the beast's eye as she addressed its master. "What's happening? Who are you people?"
          
          "You folks aren't from around here, are you?" With one eye on his panther's curious inspection, Kaz pulled down the collar of his shirt. A pair of tattoos painted in thick, plaster-white strokes shone at the base of his neck. "We're the Badlands Maulers, and you've rocked up on our patch of the city.""
          
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          Yes, that's an actual panther. This ain't a shifter thing (yet). No, I'm not good at writing for Wattpad, and I never will be XD
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/369673968

"“So, weird things just happen around you? And you don’t know whether it’ll be something helpful, or…” 
          
          Darius' voice trailed off, though the liquid blue windows of his widened eyes uncovered clandestine tunnels to the heart of his concerns. With a reluctant look into Talwyn’s eyes, he dredged up words that pricked him as he spoke. “Talwyn, I don’t mean any disrespect by this, but I have to ask: are we safe travelling with you two?”
          
          It struck Talwyn again. That tentativeness. That fear. That natural, primal impulse that pushed almost everyone to flee from her. “There’s a reason it’s been just the two of us all this time, Darius. We’re not the sort of people others like to keep around.”"
          
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          Talwyn is our best friend and anyone who tries to scare her off is in for a sternly - STERNLY - worded carrier pigeon note. Also, if we've time to chat, then we've time to...well, you can guess. 
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/369673968

"Against the gloomy weather, Trocari stirred back to life, yet none of its unwavering energy thrilled like the moment of stolen intimacy Talwyn shared with her irreplaceable companion. "You really think Steele's into you?"
          
          "I do! Didn't you see how he looked at me during the ritual?" Kerensa relished in a sigh of swelling pride. "He was breathless. He was *awestruck*."
          
          "He was terrified, Kerensa."
          
          "Same difference.""
          
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          I've been especially excited to post this chapter. I'm always excited to update, of course, but I thought of a gag in this chapter *so* long ago and now y'all will finally get to share in it. And I do mean *y'all*. (You'll see what I mean if you read.)
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/369673968

Hi. Do you like cool things? Same. Well, we're in luck, because the fabulous @SuVida777 has come up with something REALLY cool. She's just posted a *comic adaptation* of a story by the also-fabulous @CrystalScherer (see? Told you this was cool!). Action, zombies, and plenty of dog frames - what more could you want? 
          
          Check it out, and if you're into it, give it a few votes! Su's entered this into Wattpad's Project Portal Contest, so your votes could launch her right into the top 10. Though whatever happens, she'll always be our no. 1, naturally. Enjoy!
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/378093442-the-virus-within-the-comic

“The sun soon retreated below the mountain-cut horizon line, robbing all but the sparest shreds of its light. Stillness overtook the glade, and, freed from the sun's glare, the moon cast down its gentle glow to sketch the lines of the rolling hills and dense forests that surrounded the space. It also traced a dark sliver against the distant peaks, a minor flaw in the land's composition that shifted with the breeze. As the chilling wind strengthened, the moon draped a shining, flawless beam over the shape to reveal that it was no cave or ditch, but a person – a human.” 
          
          ———
          
          That’s right. Talwyn’s on her dream stuff again, only this time it’s…well, you’ll see. Things are getting INTENSE, even by her strange moon-haunted standards. Exciting, right? 
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/369673968 

What's this? 'These Hills Called Home' moseyed its way to 1K reads? And 'Echoes of the Reach' is actually not too far off doing the same? Well, I'm just chuffed.
          
          These two stories could not be more different on paper - a small, slow, cosy found family-style mystery and a vast, sweeping, mindboggling fantasy quest - and yet they both feel equally 'Ox-y'. They both invest HUGELY in their core cast, including the lands they inhabit, and they both tinker around with form and structure as and when (I think) it works well. They're both funny, they're both sad, they're both packed with lost people still figuring themselves out in a very rousing way. They both use the head to engage with the heart, and if that's not something I've been trying to do with my silly stories, I don't know what is. 
          
          TL;DR: Humans have read Ox's stories and he's happy about it. Thank you, humans. You're alright after all.

""Wake up!" Talwyn cried as she searched the necromancer's void-like eyes for the merest hint of welcoming mist. "She doesn't control you, Kerensa. You're in control, and you always have been."
          
          "Foolish girl," Isolde hissed, bubbles of black foam leaking from the side of her mouth. "I don't control her one bit. She trusts me – more than she'll ever trust you."
          
          "I wasn't talking to you." Crashing another wave of anger into Isolde's head, Talwyn took the woman's hands and squeezed. "It's your body, Kerensa, not hers. I need you to believe that, and I need you to wake up now!""
          
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          A grave threat uncovered, a new lead gained, and a ritual interrupted. As new dangers grow darker than Talwyn and co expected, an old burden comes rushing back to the surface for their necromantic companion. Well, it wouldn't be hero work if it was easy, right?
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/369673968

@Oxviola you deserve it ♡