by shukyou (主教) The light in the room was hazy and dim, filtered through the cigar smoke currently lingering in the air and years of its predecessors’ remnants on the windows. Orlando knew the people the club employed to tend to such things, knew how hard they worked. Some things just wouldn’t wash clean. He […]
Tag Archives: shukyou
18
Dec
Antivenin
by shukyou (主教) He strode through the event like he was supposed to be there — which he was, or at least Jayes Tal was, and tonight he was Jayes Tal. Jayes Tal both existed and did not exist, in that he was not an actual person, but a mask that could be stepped […]
30
Oct
Over My Dead Body
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by the Winter Cynic Eyes first. If I can get the eyes open, I’m good. If not, the meat’s too far gone, which means I have to try again, and I hate fucking trying again. This time’s okay, though. Eyelids roll up surprisingly easy, even if it takes the eyes […]
28
Aug
A World Made Up of Silver and Copper
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by 2013 “What in Hell’s name happened to you?” Ram asked, or tried to ask, because his mouth had several orange slices in it. It was not the right time of year for oranges, and they were still slightly green and sour, but to Ram’s way of thinking, out-of-season oranges were […]
25
Jun
Reverse Cowgirl (Not Gay as in Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, Queer as in Dude Ranch)
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by the Winter Cynic “Mona, I think they’re … they’re all lesbians!” This was not precisely the conversation Pearl wanted to be a part of while standing in the sun, shooing flies from her face, waiting for a horse so they could start their scheduled trail ride. Truth be told, […]
23
Apr
Head
by shukyou (主教) He stared into the mirror in horror as his hideous visage stared back at him. His breath stank in his own nostrils, coming back to him with a smell so hideous, it seemed only the underworld could have produced it. The eyes that met his gaze were familiar, but everything else was […]
26
Feb
It’s Hard to Say “I Do” When You Don’t
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by melanofly “Of course, you should never pop the cork. If you do it right, the sound should be” –and there it was, that gentle exhale– “as soft as a lover’s sigh.” Two tables over, Avery was trying not to shred his cocktail napkin into too many small pieces. It wasn’t […]
19
Dec
All That Rises
by shukyou (主教) 100 days before the Fire Lizzy was in the kitchen, chopping onions, when Nina walked in the front door to their apartment. “I’m in here,” she called, as though the rhythmic sound of her knife might not be enough to give her location away. Dinner would be simple tonight; Lizzy […]
31
Oct
The Long Dark
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by 2013 I scowled at them like I could shoot lasers from my eyes — which I didn’t have the mods for, but they didn’t know that. “Both of you, shut the fuck up.” To their credit, they did. He kept glaring daggers at me, like he was promising that the […]
28
Aug
Good Chemistry
written by shukyou (主教) illustrated by 2013 “Finally,” said Principal Hulme, saying the best word that could be spoken at a teacher inservice day, “our new eleventh-grade Language Arts teacher, Mr. Zachary Hayda.” Zachary stood and gave a shy little wave, then walked over to stand beside the three other new members of the Cooper […]
26
Jun
Unseemly
by shukyou (主教) “Aunt Linda, did…” Paul had no idea how to word this question. “Did Mom and Dad … sell me?” He wanted to hear her laugh at that, amused by what seemed to her a rare show of whimsy from her straitlaced nephew. He wanted to hear her express utter confusion, wondering why […]
24
Apr
All This Damn Gravity
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by 2013 The date had been marked on Zoey’s calendar for … well, it’d been a while, actually; orbits were predictable like that. But for the last seventeen trips around the moon, she’d been counting down with bated breath, going to bed every night with the quiet excitement of knowing that […]
6
Feb
Additional Tags: RPF, First Time, Bandmates to Lovers, OTP
by shukyou illustrated by TOFU+BEAST, Someone Else, The Winter Cynic, Riso, 2013, melanofly you up? No. lol Go to sleep. you first You’re the one who texted me. im bored Then go to sleep. You’ll be less bored if you go to sleep. what if i have boring dreams?? what if im a dentist […]
19
Dec
soulmates are stupid i love you on purpose
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by melanofly The feeling of recognition was immediate: cold and bitter, like breaking open a bottle of perfume last worn by a loved one now many years dead. Bailey — because that’s what his name was this time around, which made it as good of a name as any — […]
24
Oct
Who’s Afraid
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by Shrimp King The bouncer on the sorority house’s front porch folded his arms across his chest and scowled down the stairs at Dagmar. “Buzz off.” Under nearly any other circumstances, Dagmar would have buzzed right off, and gladly. But Jessy had been talking about this for a full month […]
