#marlynnofmany

first, the heatseekers! i don't know why i made them centaur-like. i just like unconventional body plans, i guess. they're also pretty big, with their height (measured at the head) usually being about the same height as the average human. i remembered marlynn saying at some point that they were dragon-like...? not sure where, but it definitely influenced how i see them, lol

next up, the frillians! i dont remember much about these guys to be honest (sorry, marlynn!) but i tried my best based on the description. i headcanon that they are short :>

nothing much to say about the mesmers, except for the little "wrist fingers" detail i picked up from the short story Clues. i like these guys, they have antenna that puff out when they're surprised or angry. they're very tall, being average human height measured at their back.

last but not least, strongarms! i realized far too late into reading marlynn's short stories that they're actually octopus people and not really buff dragon guys with tentacles... oops. at least i managed to get my cool dragon head in there, and gave it some cool extension thingies that from the top, kinda look like the fins of a squid!

Thanks for the prompt!

"Oh for god's sake," groaned the protagonist's new travel buddy at the sight of the yellow sign in the middle of their path.

"You mean for the gods' sake!" said their guide with a wide grin. "Looks like we're going to Valhalla, kids!"

"I refuse to cut through Asgard," said the traveler, tossing their long hair back with a flick. "I am not nearly drunk enough to deal with the Aesir today."

"Holding a grudge, dear?" the guide smirked. "Not wise on the ways between worlds."

"Wait, wait," the protagonist said, squinting at the blaze of color stretching off to the right, past what sure looked like a black hole wrapped with caution tape. "Are you telling me that's the Bifrost? Like, we cross that and we meet Thor?"

The guide rolled their eyes. "Hon, Thor doesn't stand around waiting to greet tourists."

"But that's the Bifrost!" The protagonist's voice rose in an embarrassing squeak. "I mean, don't get me wrong, everything else has been amazing - loved the planet with the sentient books and that purple butter ocean - but - but - there's gods?!"

"Yes, and they're insufferable," the traveler grumbled. "What if we backtrack to the willow world and hop over to Yggdrasil?"

The guide shrugged. "Not unless you happen to carrying enough food to bribe a giant squirrel."

The protagonist grabbed the guide's arm. "Are the other pantheons real? Could I meet, like, Artemis?"

Both the guide and the traveler snapped their heads around to the protagonist. "What's wrong with Asgard?" the guide demanded.

"Yes," the traveler said with narrowed eyes. "The Greeks? You have a particular hankering for death. Or being turned into a tree?"

The protagonist spread their hands. "I just thought -"

"New plan," the traveler said with another toss of the head. "We go through the roots, get the kid her fortune out of the Norns, then cut through hell?"

"Hey, I don't want my fate!" the protagonist said, backing away. "Or hell! No going to hell!"

"Oh, it's just a metaphor," the guide said absently, thinking. "Yeah. Let's do it."

They both seized one of the protagonist's arms.

"Wait!" the protagonist wailed.

"Don't worry," said the traveler. "All the cool people are doing it. Hang on, this might burn a bit."

@roselarkpublishing I am not taking rights from anyone and I am currently contacting outside sources to figure out why I'm being accused of it. Non-exclusive rights. The authors can have the works published elsewhere. I am mystified why I'm being made out to be underhanded somehow.

You are asking for the rights to a story for all time all for the nominal fee of $25. It doesn’t matter if YOUR contract is non-exclusive, you are limiting where the author can publish their story for the rest of their life and then where their HEIRS can publish their story all for $25 dollars.

You claim you aren’t doing a rights grab, but everything you’ve said. Every protest you’ve made has belied this.

You don’t deserve to have someone’s story forever... to make money off of it forever... for just $25. That’s the kind of money that a monthly or weekly magazine would pay to publish the story in their ‘zine. You are asking everyone submitting to give you their story FOREVER... even if it’s non-exclusive. And that’s sketchy as hell.

@marlynnofmany -- I just found out about your Humans Are Weird anthology project TODAY [sighhhhhh...], and I’m wondering what the exact problem is with the submissions that you have received. Taking the theme in wrong directions? Not humorous enough?

I was just thinking that, if I could tell all several of my highly creative followers what you WERE looking for, as opposed to what you WEREN’T, some may be inspired to contribute what you ARE looking for!

Can you… sue them? Or something? Seems like this is an Actually Illegal Thing, and they owe you some of that money.

Email stuff to yourself as backup! It's safe in the cloud that way!