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Before the Gate: Holy man
Trigger warning: crucifixion, death, murder, isolation, loneliness, neurodivergence Synopsis: Elske wants to achieve the power of a god, but it may come with a different sort of price Chapter 1: Rebellion Elske was eleven when he decided that religion was not for him. His family was devout, of course, everyone was, worshiping a host of…
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Before the gate: The Failure
Trigger warning: murder, birth, death, loneliness Synopsis: Orikka craves meaning, but the meaning they create is a complicated one Chapter 1: The very first Orikka’s earliest memories were of heat. Intense, blistering heat that went on and on and on, hotter and hotter. It wasn’t painful, exactly, they were just exactingly aware of it. Observing…
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Before the fall: Acolyte
Acolyte Trigger warning: amputation, depression, betrayal, death, surgery, gore Synopsis: Ceit is a young girl working on her family’s dairy farm, trying to find her path forward after a traumatic experience. Chapter 1: No rest for the righteous Ceit wiped the sweat trickling down her face with the back of her plaid sleeve. She had…
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Before the fall: Forest God
Table of Contents: Trigger warning: cannibalism (kind of), body horror, brief torture, death Synopsis: Csialeide is the old god of the forest of whispers but even she longs for companionship Chapter 1: Motherhood ‘What is it like being a mother,’ she asked Zsa Zsa, once, the pie-bald deer witch-god. They had been playing cards after…
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What it means when a man falls from the sky Analysis
Notes Story by Lesley Nneka Arimah, read on 11/11/23 Contributors Wren Analysis The story starts by talking about the reactions of the world following the man falling from the sky, including Francisco Furcal’s granddaughter, a man we later learn is the one that created the formula. The granddaughter states that the formula is sound, that…