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Hi! Can you tell me more about All It’s Worth? It sounds really interesting!
Hi, I'd love to! The story is still very much in the planning stage so apologies if my explanation of it is a little scatterbrained but thanks so much for the ask :)
All It's Worth is a mainly a story about Meric- a bitter and cynical son of farmers who lives in a small, outlying village, and Myre Halcyon- the much-hated black sheep of the current ruling family (House Myre) who is treated favorably only by his mother, the sole ruler, and has a single-minded obsession with the Kingfisher myth (a myth told by the Prophets (and that is central to their religion) which promises the appearance of water and the continuation of their civilization into a utopia).
aiw is set on a small planet that is mostly a sandy desert, with eight outlying villages, 5 internal towns, and the Court at its center, referred to as SeaPoint (a common phrase being "all roads lead to SeaPoint", since the city is arranged in a large circle). House Myre occupies SeaPoint, as its matriarch is the current leader, and the 5 towns surrounding SeaPoint all have strong cultural ties to the Houses that live there (Houses: Wayle, Ayke, Toyl, Eryr, and Ruyn). Members from each of these Houses hold positions at Court, but House Myre has been in control for a long time, hence each of the 5 towns creating a sort of identity around the bloodlines of their most powerful citizens. The outlying villages don't have as much of a stake in the House drama and tend to be much poorer (and much more religious) than citizens in the 5 towns and it's quite a trek to reach the outlying villages, so its mainly just travelled by the Prophets who bring water (via wagons) from SeaPoint to these villages.
Pretty much the only way that someone from one of the 8 villages travels to SeaPoint is if they pay for passage themselves, are a merchant of some sort (and thus, have wagons to use/ride in), or are told by the Prophets that they have a Calling (which is essentially a religious apprenticeship, and as long as the Called party does the job they were Called for well, their family is sent extra water from SeaPoint).
Meric and Halcyon find themselves at odds with each other pretty much immediately, largely because Meric thinks everything the Prophets say is complete bullshit that people only believe to make themselves feel better, especially when it comes to the Kingfisher (since his entire immediate community is made up of farmers whose livelihoods depend on water, and he understands that drought on their planet is imminent and inevitable). Meanwhile Halcyon buys completely into the myth and even takes it a step father by dedicating his young life to searching for this mysterious Kingfisher (while most people in the outlying villages simply take comfort in the idea that water will come and things will somehow turn out alright and most of the rich/powerful are unconcerned). Being from a rich family, Halcyon is also very ignorant of the threats/reality of drought and this further sours Meric against him.
Meric and Hal meet first when they're children and Meric's interactions with Hal result in a botched assassination attempt, and then for the second time when Meric cons his way into the central city as a Prophet and gets wrapped up in a surprise coup against the ruling family (by revolutionaries and a few, internal usurpers from the other Houses). Very much a wrong-place, wrong-time sort of scenario for Meric, where he's only spared because Hal had recognized him and tugged him aside to question him. Thinking that they're both targets (Meric for his deceit and Hal for his blood) they flee the Court together and try to evade detection. Forced to stick together for survival, they begin learning a lot of unexpected things about each other as well as their society and its creation.
The plot largely follows their interactions with one another (after the coup) as they navigate such a sudden change in their personal circumstances, with a focus on how they ultimately spur change in the other. But their interpersonal dramas and the secrets they stumble across also have huge impacts in the social/political landscape of the planet, seemingly by accident. Free will vs fate is something I want to play with a lot in this piece, so that it could be totally believable for a reader to think Meric and Hal's contributions to the old power vs revolutionaries conflict are entirely coincidence or entirely pre-destined/fate. Ideally, the reader would only get impressions of these big political machinations happening in the background while staying focused on the personal dramas of Meric and Hal.
I also plan to base a lot of my symbolism around things I've learned about the actual Kingfisher! The religious "temples" are underground, for one, and called burrows and because it can take a pair of Kingfishers 3-7 days to build a burrow, so 7 is considered a holy number and the burrows are always 37 steps deep. The blue of their wings is also the color of House Myre. One website even mentioned that many kingfishers can eat prey that seem too large to fit in their mouths, and this has a direct parallel to Hal and his relationship with another person at Court who had power over him as a child.
A lot of the inspiration for aiw honestly came from the song Empire Now by Hozier
Anyways, I think that covers most of the set-up? I have a few scenes visualized already but most of the later plot is still up in the air. This is already so long lol but I figured id also share the singular snippet i have written out for this! pls excuse the name placeholder towards the end
I. Dear Waterfox Meric tugged at the bright, red cloth loosely knotted around his throat. The shadow of his movement stuck out oddly among the eerie line of his neighbors’, all of them dutifully pacing down the Burrow steps in silence. Torches on the left, shadows on the right, praise be the Carpal Reign. Meric saw his mother’s shadow move before he felt her dirt-stained hands on his collar, readjusting the fabric. “Don’t fuss,” she murmured. “It’s just for today.” Meric frowned and rolled his shoulders to be free of the touch. “It’s uncomfortable,” he hissed back, inching a finger between the fabric and his skin to slide the knot away from the center of his throat. The heavy thud of a hundred dusty Believers descending 37 dusty stairs in single file did little to cover the sound of their voices. Meric stuck out his tongue at the scandalized few who turned around with silent, chastising eyes. “It’s ceremonial,” his mother replied pointedly, no doubt forcing the words out from behind an appeasing smile. “To show that you are a child of the Prophets-” “Since when are you a Prophet?” Meric’s mother pulled on his ear, her shadow still leaning over his on the wall. Someone else’s wobbled with a poorly hidden laugh. Meric swatted her away again, eyes flicking away from the red, robe-clad Prophets scattered past the Burrow’s inner opening and to the rolling carts stacked high with waterskins along the back wall. “Meric, so help me-” “I know,” he said, though he left his ceremonial nuisance askew. “I know,” he repeated, quieter and to himself. The line continued marching forward until there was no one between Meric and Prophet -name-, who looked just the same as he had when he left for his travels four months ago and nothing at all like he had when he was seventeen and fun and the son of the farmer’s nextdoor. Those fields were barren, now. No one left to till them.
love your hcs!!!! do you think you write one about the legacy neil left at palmetto and with the foxes. like he goes back when wymack retires. and next to where he carved his and andrews initials into the bed post just before andrew left, there’s other foxes initials and he sort of unknowingly created a tradition. or like eventually he gets his old exy racquet back from the cops and it sits at the court and before a game he slapped it so so did the rest of the team and has become a team ritual
hi anon - thank you so much! sorry for the delay, this week has really been something skhdskgjhd but i hope you enjoy <3 i had lots of fun with this :)
years down the line, wymack is retiring (dan will be taking over for him)
neil and andrew are still playing pro together, but there’s a lull in their training and it’s nearing the end of the collegiate exy season, so they drive to palmetto together
andrew says he’s only going because he doesn’t want to have to deal with the cats alone
“you were alone with them for two weeks last year”
andrew pretends he doesn’t hear him
and then neil and andrew are standing outside wymack’s apartment, unannounced, and he grumbles that “at least you didn’t break in this time” but there’s fondness in his tone and he ushers them in
they have a night of comfortable chatter and silences, and andrew grabs the alcohol from the same cabinet it’s always been in. it’s familiar, and neil falls asleep on wymack’s couch with a smile on his face and andrew curled up on top of next to him
and the next day, neil and andrew go to fox tower, and they walk the stairs that they know as well as they know each other
they get to the third floor, and a small group of foxes is leaving their dorm room, the one that used to belong to neil and andrew, when they see the two and just. freeze.
it’s nothing new to be recognized by fans, but it’s weird for it to happen somewhere that feels like home. they tolerate it and ask if they could go into their old dorm room
the young foxes scramble to let them in and frantically pick up clothes and throw away trash to give the room some semblance of tidiness. neil and andrew don’t care
the bean bag chairs are gone, but there are still faint ash stains on the windowsill, and the crystal-clear memories of long since faded moments wash over neil
they drift over to the bedroom, and the young foxes leave them be as they silently make their way to the bunk. neil gingerly sits down onto his old mattress, andrew right beside him
andrew catches neil’s attention by tracing the carvings of their initials on the bed post, then trailing his finger down an array of other scrawled letters below. other initials, carved by foxes who came after them, and a smile ghosts over neil’s face because,,, he stopped running and he left solid evidence behind and people actually continued it after he was gone ?? and it’s such a weird thought but he loves it
he asks the young foxes if there’s anything else that continued after he left
they show him the roof, fitted with new locks that have also since been sabotaged. it looks like their secret spot was less secret than they thought, but at least someone’s still enjoying it
they proudly demonstrate how they’ve all memorized neil’s riko roast which baffles him because that was never even televised ?? where did they hear it ????
andrew ofc will never tell him that he transcribed it when nicky asked him to. he doesn’t even really know why he listened, so there’s no way he’s ever going to try to explain it to neil
all of them have orange bandanas, which is a tradition that started neil’s second year and has apparently continued ever since
they don’t know that that’s where it started so they don’t mention it, but neil noticed from games
they take neil and andrew to the court and show them the two lucky racquets (the drake one they got back from evidence when the case was closed and the one andrew used to shatter riko’s arm) and they all absent-mindedly tap them on their way in
it used to be a thing the foxes would only do before games, but slowly spread to. every single time they go to the court
apparently it’s also become custom for them to link arms on to way back to the bus after games, after neil’s kidnapping from binghampton
it took a while for them to get the order of the line right bc if they’re not careful, their attempt at keeping each other safe becomes a fist fight
bonus (not one of neil’s legacies): dan’s photo wall continues! they don’t ever take down pictures of the older foxes, just keep squeezing more pictures in. it expands beyond only one wall to every wall of the foyer, and they’re still having trouble finding room. sometimes they have to pile photos on top of each other
they also mention that movie nights are still a thing! they’re bi-weekly, and they always try to find a classic movie that at least one of the foxes has never seen bc of a shitty childhood
night practices are also still happening. not everyone goes every night, but a couple of the keeners do
“junkies”
neil is,,, stunned, honestly. he didn’t ever imagine he could have this concrete of an impact, didn’t think he could keep existing in a place even after he left it
before, he’d never wanted to be remembered. the idea slowly became more bearable over the years, but this is,,, he never expected anything like this
it’s overwhelming and it’s wonderful and he loves it
and later that night, neil and andrew go up to their rooftop (there are two young foxes up there that scurry away as soon as they realize who stepped onto the roof)
and as they look out over the city, hands linked, neil’s heart feels so light and he can’t get rid of - doesn’t want to get rid of - the smile that seems to be glued to his face, even through the pang of nostalgia - another new feeling
and neil and andrew sit under the comforting blanket of the night and talk into the darkness
just like old times
and it’s comfortable and familiar and once upon a time, neil wished that it would never end
but now? now, neil knows that while he may leave,,, this will never end. not really
as he sits under the stars next to the man with whom he will spend the rest of his life, neil knows the memories and whispers of the past live on through love and legacies