Since I got this question a bit...

This blog has two purposes, but firstly to answer the question: "Will I be continuing the story?"

To answer that in full, I have to talk about my creative process in coming up with this story.

I'm still a bit shocked at the reception this story received. I remember hashing out the original 1800 word concept at 2 in the morning during a cool November night (morning whatever). It was the first of the many prompts I've hashed out for Bean's Writing Group, and one of the first things I'd written since I came back to the site, one of the first things I'd written in years. The prompt was vague and interesting and allowed for a lot of creativity, and especially with how little we knew about the Kirin, this idea planted in my head. "The Changelings could have caused the downfall of that village. They suck the love out of these kin and the only thing left is hate. The only difference is that the Kirin reacted in unexpected ways."

And so, my mind kept spinning — How would this affect the Changelings after they reformed? Especially Ocellus, a newly minted 'ambassador' of sorts to promote friendship between species, how would she react to these appalling deeds if they were brought in front of her? Does the Hive get let off the hook because they've changed? — I never wanted to truly answer these questions, but to explore them and have my feelings come out within the writing. Then I needed to formulate this into an actual plot with, you know, characters.

So, I created a character who saw what 'truly' happened. It's almost trope-like, but I wanted to go a bit of a Thanos route with a villain that has the right idea but was misguided by archaic values and a lack of perspective. Throw in that "I'm a noble and so much better than you" aura, and boom, River Breeze was born. I found a reasonable way to have those two interact and started writing.

1800 words later, I felt like I had at least created a scene that scratched the surface and was one helluva plot twist.

Even back during when I first showed it to the group, it got positive feedback. My sleep-deprived brain missed a few things, but the potential for an honestly interesting story was there. After that push and a few more conversations, plus a very constrained Christmas break due to COVID, I decided to push it out. Of course, I wanted to expand it and really hammer home those different ideas, as well as portray the extensive cruelty that can result from these kinds of events. These stories need to be told, so I tried my best to tell one.

And that's all there was to it. To me, it was never about what would happen to River after the fact. It was never about Ocellus grappling with this kind of trauma, because that's something that I (fortunately) haven't had to go through myself. It was never about how a society of people go about breaking out of stigmas from others (which, again, I have only secondhand experience). These ideas weren't exactly on my mind, besides how it would affect the far future, because I only could tell this strip of story.

As of right now, I have no intention to continue the story.

It's not that I never will, because this idea is very dear to me and could spark a creative light in me again, but as of right now, it has not. This does not mean that this is the last you'll be able to hear about Ocellus, though, and this is where the second intention of this blog comes into play. If others can tag their most popular stories just to shill other stuff, then I can too, damn it.

This weekend, I plan on releasing the first chapter of the story I have been working on since April. I still have one more editing pass to go through and do, but I believe it is in its final form. This story is still in a similar style of character-driven, emotionally charged plots, but in a much longer form and with a message much closer to my heart. It's set in the far future with everyone's favorite Twilight2.0, Luster Dawn. It will be called Definitions, do look out for it.

Ocellus and how she fares after the events of In Flames will be mentioned AT LEAST once, and there is potential for her to be shown as well. Scars and all. Not to mention, the actions of River Breeze will affect the politics and tensions within the region, which I plan to explore a bit.

I really do appreciate all of the positive feedback and favorites on this story, it has not gone unnoticed, and I hope this upcoming story will show that I did not simply spread one solid story and then disappear. I'm very glad that I could give you all something to keep in your shelves and your hearts, that is always my goal as a writer.

(For those of you that read this far and haven't seen it yet, here's the sneak peak of the Cover Art look at how good it is okay peace.)