Living a normal human life? Easy. Living a life below human notice as an entirely different species? A little harder. Getting caught in the middle of Fae territory wars because you refused to pick a side? Well…you make the best of what you have. Sachihiro figures out his place and who to trust in a new world where your Mask becomes everything you are. Violence and shady dealings aside, coming to terms with what he is and new sides to old friends means home life isn’t easy, either.

GIF by pommestudio

• Fantasy/SF (esp. featuring LGBTQ+ characters)
• Snarktastic dialogue
• Healthy romance subplots
• Fairy tale retellings
• Unusual magic systems
• M/F friendships
• Indie author life
• The biz side of writing

“He loved her for the thunder in her laughter, the fire in her hair, the stardust in her eyes. Her vision of the world. Yes, he loved her for that reason as well.”

• Prompt: From @ardawyn​‘s Tender Tuesday question – What was the first thing your OC noticed and considered attractive about their love interest? Was it the way they smiled or talked? The color of their hair or eyes? Or perhaps a tender touch?
• Word Count: 444 words
• PoV: Beorn
• Note: An idea popped into my head when I read Sophie’s question a couple Tuesdays ago, and here’s the result. I haven’t posted in a long, long time and I’m quite nervous. But… gotta take that leap, right? Here’s a first but small peek into my world and characters. I enjoyed writing for Beorn again and plan on adding parts of this scene to the second draft. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy!

• Escaped communist Bulgaria
• Spent a year in Italy in a Refugee camp
• The next year was told he could choose to wait six to ten months to go to New York or he could go to Toronto in three weeks. He chose New York.
• He spent the next year in a VW Bus with his new best friend, an African man whose name I dare not botch. They travelled across Africa together where he experienced different tribal cultures with someone who spoke the language.
• He learned Swahili from his friend along with what he already knew in Bulgarian, Russian, Italian, and several other languages.
• He got a letter saying he had to return in six days or his boat would leave without him. He rushed back to Italy and makes it, barely.
• His first day in NYC, he has trouble finding a place to stay and ends up in an Italian Expat community.
• While on his way to find cigarettes, a woman knocks him down. She helps him up and apologizes in a language he doesn’t understand, and shoves tickets into his hands. She’s dressed fancy. He looks at the tickets and recognizes the name Muhammad Ali.
• Two blocks later he looks at a TV in a store and sees the woman who knocked him over in the street.
• His roommate speaks English and tells him the tickets are for a big boxing match, they go together. They see The Muhammad Ali match, the really famous one. In person.
• He began working at a hotel doing mechanical engineering, he’s been trained to do it. Eventually they tell him there’s an opportunity at their new hotel in San Francisco. He takes it. He meets a woman who caters at the hotel, she has the posture and tone of of a woman who comes from money but is hard working. And he comes from women who work hard.
• They have a son, and work hard together to buy a house. He learns English with his son.
• They get wind of the local Chernobyl Children’s Project and agree to house some kids. Their son now has a step-brother as far as they’re concerned.
• He decides to visit Bulgaria after the walls come down and rushes to his sister’s house. She almost has a heart attack, they told the family he was dead. They lacquer his oak tree (they cut it when he ‘died’).
• Over the next forty years he manages to touch the lives of countless business owners, kids who he taught archery to, families and parents, and coworkers. You can’t go anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area without running into someone who knows his name.

Name: Tadaaki Nguyen

Alias: Wolf/None

Species: Giant Snake-shifter

Age: 19

Pronouns: He/Him

Alignment: Traditionally Light-sided, currently Grey

Likes: Sachi, running, cooking, and homemaking.

Dislikes: Dirty living spaces, slobs, and anyone threatening.

“Doesn’t it ever bother you? That he doesn’t talk much?” Sachi blinked.

“Not really, no. He communicates a lot if you take the time to pay attention,” he shrugged. Tadaaki is his best friend, he’d do anything for him; it was the same way Tadaaki had protected him since they were kids.