Sad things are sadder when contrasted with happy things. This is probably a self-evident statement, but it hits me hard, from time to time. I remembered- of all things- a political comic about an exiled African prince, who was forced to stay at a McDonald’s while dealing with the loss of his family’s kingdom. The comic, of a well-dressed young man holding a burger, with an expression of soft despair on his face, stuck with me. The fast food restaurant seemed to add to the deep poignancy. The absurdity of the contrast heightened the tragedy.
Category: Atina LeRoux
Chapter 4: What, And Quit Show Business?
“Well, Atina. How’s the writing coming along?”
Chapter 3: Jenny Takes Up The Sword
My name is Jenny Nishi. I apologize for intruding on Atina’s narrative, but she gets into a mood when she is preparing for a case. She is a kind person, but somewhat prone to obsessive behavior. I also apologize for not obscuring my true identity in some exciting way, but I am very new to all of this.
Case Files 1: Hulder, Svartalfar, and the King and Queen of Binghamton’s Spring Court.
Hulder
I had a long, difficult time figuring out what, exactly, fairies are. Undead are straightforward- When you die in a certain way, you may become an undead. The precise details of what decides who becomes undead are still a bit beyond me, but every Undead was once a human, and it’s not such a mystery where the first one came from. Demons, likewise, are a bit less of a mystery, now that I know a couple individuals. An animal who is the focus of attention for a human can become one of them. But fairies… a human can become a fairy, if, before they become an adult, they are raised by a fairy. So where the hell did the first fairy come from?
Paradise by the Dashboard Lights Chapter 1: Feckless Eric
The stories that stand out to people tend to be the ones that are full of twists, turns, death, and pain. When you read a novel, it’s easy to start seeing a character’s life as one long, unending ride of pain, horror, and knowledge-steeped monologue. But life is more complicated than that. Life is full of interminable stretches of just getting by. Talking just to talk, boring walks, mindless activities, cases that don’t have any huge significance. Not every case I take ends with me getting threatened with a brutal and sudden death.
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Chapter 2: No, They’re All At The Funeral
“Shibboleth,” I said, studying the letter. “Quixotic. Fustigate. Penicillin.”
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Chapter 1: He’s Not Nearly So Shaggy As That, Sir
“Dean Morton’s dead.”
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Delectable Corpse Q&A
Well, there weren’t a whole lot of questions this time around, or votes for that matter; Always a little worrying, but I’ve been getting a lot of new readers, so I soldier ever onwards!
First up, the votes for a short story. Li Xue Zi came in first for this, but Jenny and Heather were close behind. Dean, poor bastard, lags ever behind the others. So I’ll be working on Li Xue Zi’s short story coming up.
Delectable Corpse Afterthoughts
Hell’s Kitchen Sink will resume on Tuesday, December 20th, with Amok, a story starring Ariel from A Serpent in Zion, Dane Larson from Catfished, and Li Fang Fen from Delectable Corpse. In the meantime, we’ve got a couple things upcoming. First, and most importantly, is a poll. See, I’d like to monetize Hell’s Kitchen Sink someday, and I don’t know that I’ll ever be the right person for publishing books through a traditional publisher. Luckily, there are alternatives; Patreon, self-publishing. But I want to add a little spice to those pots, something beyond just ‘hey, pay me or I won’t write anymore.’ So in that spirit, the first poll is simple: Which character would you like to see get a short story, around the same size as the other Little Myths, covering their time between Delectable Corpse and Amok? This doesn’t include every character I’ve written- Some of them, I’m avoiding for plot reasons.
Heather, Dean, Li Xue Zi, and Jenny Nishi are the four I’ve selected for this. I also have plans for some novellas coming up to cover characters in the future, as a way to expand things a bit. You can vote for more than one, so as to make sure that every character you’re interested in gets a nod.
Chapter 18: This Too Shall Pass
A secretary, a paralegal and a partner in a city law firm are walking through a park on their way to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out in a puff of smoke. The Genie says, “I usually only grant three wishes, so I’ll give each of you just one.”
“Me first! Me first!” says the secretary. “I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.”
Poof! She’s gone.
“Me next! Me next!” says the paralegal. “I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of pina coladas and the love of my life.”
Poof! He’s gone.
“You’re next,” the Genie says to the partner.
The partner says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”
hellskitchensink 