I'm guessing that many of our first literary introductions to talking animal characters were thanks to illustrated Aesop's fables, and if you're like me, you admittedly liked to think about how a few of them might have had more satisfying conclusions if they'd worked out a bit differently? Take this story, for instance- how a starving wolf rejects a fat dog's offer to come live with him on principle, when the wolf discovers the dog must wear a collar and be chained up at night as part of the bargain. Personally, I was always a bit disappointed that the wolf had yearned to live like a good, fat dog, only to not even give the well-fed life a fair test.
For surely, some masters could genuinely be kind and loving, and lavish their plump, pampered pets with all the belly rubs and meals they could ever want?
What if, this time, the wolf swallowed his pride, and went along? Here begins the first chapter and picture in a (hopefully) monthly series that explores just that...
Artwork is by touchofsnow
Story © foxcall
Uwais leaned against the chill stone of the windowsill, and gazed out at the eastward sweep of dusty market street that was so broad, it was for all intents a plaza. The sun had yet to break over the tops of the stalls, where shopkeepers were unfurling linen sheets, their vibrant reds, gold, purples and blues growing bolder as the light slowly filled the street. The occasional wind shift brought the aroma of mouthwatering delicacies all freshly made, and set out for market. Just thinking about how hungry he was made the wolf queasy.
His hackles flared suddenly, as he pressed himself down out of sight beneath the window, huddling with held breath as his ears picked up the creaking of floorboards from downstairs- he’d taken shelter for the night in this attic, climbing the building’s crumbling masonry that had offered him enough handholds to pull himself up onto the roof, and in through the window, opened in the night to let the cooler evening breeze waft in and stir through the modest homestead of one of the market’s more successful occupants.
Slowing his breathing down, Uwais closed his eyes and focused on every breath; in through his nose, hold for three seconds, and out through his mouth until the hammer of his heart against his ribs began to fade. For most of the night he’d hidden in the attic, but after a vain search around, there was very little edible that he could find. No amount of hunger could have coaxed him into sneaking down into the house and risk being caught rummaging around through a pantry; even if he’d manage to gather a mouthful and bolt for an open window, he’d lose another safe haven in which to spend the night.
Even the burlap sacks filled with stored grain that scratched at his jaw and whiskers and neckruff made for better pillows than the stones of the street. The ache in his stomach was met with a briefly sharper one, and his paw fell to his bare side, where his ribs protruded like metal bars over a window. His lower rib still ached from weeks ago when he’d sought refuge at the end of the day behind one of the market stalls, where he thought he’d be hidden, only to be awoken by a sharp, sudden kick to his side that sent stars blazing through his closed eyelids.
Even now, his hunger only made that ache more prominent and sharp, until with a grunt, he pulled himself up into the frame of the window, and with a practiced splay of his toes, felt for footholds that supported his weight fully. Slowly, he eased himself downwards, step by step, until his feet touched ground, and he allowed himself a moment to relax and consider his options.
The street vendors were still setting out their morning’s wares, and the plaza was as of yet, still fairly empty. In an hour or so, it would be filled nearly shoulder to shoulder with all manner of customers; a constant flow and ebb of faces and bodies. Normally, it would be the perfect time for an expert thief to carry out a quick, well-timed snatch and vanish into the throng of market goers in perfect anonymity. Uwais, however, stuck out like a sore thumb- shirtless, emaciated, and only having had the opportunity to bathe thanks to a sudden summer storm that had given him the opportunity to turn a drain spout into a makeshift shower three days back.
A vicious, long growl from his stomach roiled up beneath the exposed rows of his ribs, like a lion enraged at finding itself imprisoned. He needed to find something – a crust of bread, a hunk of hard cheese, something to at least clear his mind, and perhaps allow him to recline in one of the nearby gardens with just his thoughts.
Still, being seen in the market at this early hour carried risks of their own; the market was a part of the lowest terrace of six distinct tiered levels which faced the ocean on the city’s western island, called the Golden Steps, and with each successively higher tier, the quality of establishments rose, crowned with a dozen baroque mansions carved from the mountainous stone of the island itself, and embedded in the lush, damp luxury of manicured gardens and miniature, private forests and orchards. To keep order, there was an unwritten code of conduct in which the morning saw the guards at their most vehement that no one save the wealthiest nobles from the uppermost terrace could access the market for the first morning hours, so as to have the finest cuts of meats and freshest, exotic produce first off the docks.
Uwais had often stared longingly at the fine carriages of lords who’d yoked teams of horses to carry away a veritable feast’s worth every morning for their week’s cooking, or for one of the lavish garden parties that were held nearly every weekend in the summer. Wealth and opulence in this city were measured by how much one could afford to spend, and still show that their finances remained strong and secure. Gaudy celebrations and concrete displays of affluence were the sign of a healthy, thriving lord, and those whose purses overflowed to bursting often strove to find unique ways of outdoing one another in displays of excess.
So it was that Uwais’ ears caught the sound of one such approaching cart, and accompanying carriage; the percussive clop of horse hooves against the dusty road, with wooden wheels squealing to a halt. Then, the sound of distance voices, indistinct, mingled with commands from two of the morning’s guard detail. Tucking himself in the shade of an adjacent alleyway, he crouched low. Ears swiveling around to hone in on the sound, the wolf waited to listen which direction the guard’s voices would depart in. A few minutes passed, in which he tried to ignore the dull, heavy, persistent ache of hunger in his stomach. He bit his lower lip and remained crouched still and silent, willing the hammer of his heart to slow and fade back within his chest.
‘It’s alright… it’ll be alright…’ How many times had he spoken this mantra to himself for the past three years? He could feel that surge of grief begin to well within him, like the moon pulling on the tide, crashing wave after wave against the shores of his hopes and the promise that he’d make a better life for himself. “It’ll be… okay…”
It had been three years since he’d first found passage on a ship to this island. With so little experience, he’d settled for scrub watch passage in the ship’s undercastle; very last for meals and drinks, and first for any filthy job that needed doing on board. It had been three months of trying to sleep shoulder to shoulder with others on the scrub watch when he wasn’t working, until every muscle in his back, shoulders, neck and tail ached in an un-ending torment. Three months of enduring the reverberations of the ship’s deck above him, more experienced crewmen moving about freely and laughing on the deck below, and the steady, slapping crash of waves parting before the bow. Lukewarm salted pork, and half a cup of skunkish swill that might have at one time tried to achieve the lofty rank of ale.
As one of the deckhands had tried to reassure him once, while Uwais had cowered in terror during a particularly pitch-black storm at sea when all hands had been called onto deck; feeling like you wanted desperately to die was fine evidence that you had yet to do so. Against his every instinct, he’d forced himself up onto the deck, in a fever-dream of gray chaos, he’d followed any order given to him, against the screaming sky above, and the hammering waves beneath.
Uwais had always counted his blessings that by sheer dumb luck, the tempest had spared him the fate of being swept overboard, and pulled into the inky blackness of a midnight sea. As terrified as he’d been, as sick to his stomach, sore and aching in every bone, and every joint, he thought bitterly about how his new life on this island somehow felt worse… he’d heard of what a paradise this island duchy was, rich with opportunity. And yet, here, he remained a starving lone wolf, without a pack; without a friend. On longer nights and days on an empty stomach like this, he’d suffer the anguish of hindsight and regret for every failure and lash of shame.
Closing his eyes shut against a fresh tide of heat blossoming along his eyelids, he cursed himself for being still so naive, so foolish to believe that he could yet somehow turn his life around by howling to the moon, demanding from life one last, supreme effort to reach where he longed to be. Slamming one palm flat against the ground, he felt the scrape of dust and gravel tear at his pawpads with enough force to distract him from the pain in his stomach. Uwais knew better. At 25 years old, he should know how foolish it was to expect contentment as a destination he’d find himself at for good. Any time he got wherever he thought he truly wished to be, the gods would conspire to reveal to him that indeed, for all his effort, it was not the right place, after all. Merely a desert mirage of an oasis to his parched tongue, only to vanish the moment he reached his paws out to cup the sweet, cool water to his lips.
Even so, as hunger stole more strength from him daily, he promised himself that he’d never resort to begging like a cripple in the street. No, he was a wolf, and he’d survive on his own for as long as he had an able body as a vessel. To beg for scraps, to reduce him to one afflicted, to be pitied would be to give up. This was the single hope he held on to; that as long as he could keep from falling into that pit, he’d find steady, honest work somewhere. This was the other reason he’d come to the market so early; once he’d have something to fill the void in his stomach, he’d already be one of the first already among the market stalls to inquire with every merchant about any odd job they might need for the day, or gods above, he should find himself lucky enough to land steady work. Surely, there was someone who could find a use for him.
The sound of approaching voices along the road sent the wolf springing to his feet, pressed as flat as he could against the alley wall. Only after a pair of guards slowed past the alley’s entrance for a moment; a strong tiger and jaguar whose muscles stood out against their sleek fur, did the wolf dare spare a glance to see if the coast was now clear. Ears trained high, Uwais crept out into the main road, doing his best to walk along as if he belonged there.
If he could only find something to fill his belly with, just enough to take the razor’s edge from the hunger that carved its presence into his gut the more he waited. Luckily, his nose led him to where a merchant was preparing chakchouka for the morning’s customers; the scents of roasting peppers, tomato and onion over a coal fire tantalizing the wolf’s nostrils, as fragrant spices were added. Maybe, just perhaps if he was quick enough, he could sneak a bowl while their back was turned. As he strode closer, the sudden sense came over him that he was being watched, in turn. Ears swiveling backwards, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps shuffling down the road, and spying a nearby tall wicker basket, Uwais slowed to lounge casually against it, crossing his arms over his chest. With luck, whoever it was would pass him by with hardly a notice…
When he lifted his head just long enough to see who was approaching, however, it was the wolf that couldn’t help but stare in astonishment, wholly unable to break his gaze away. Everything about the figure passing by proudly flaunted a richness and standard of comfort and ease that Uwais could only imagine to possess in his loftiest, richest dreams. It had to be the fellow he’d heard arriving by carriage, there was no doubt of that – a dog about half a head shorter than he was, with floppy ears, and a snout as broad as mastiff’s strode down the road. The closer he came, the more the wolf was aware of how every single trait the canine possessed truly captivated Uwais… and stood in stark contrast to every physical attribute the wolf was sorry to own.
In contrast to his dusky pantaloons and simple crimson waist and shoulder sash, the canine was dressed like nobility; a rich, royal blue mantle hung from one shoulder and down the length of his forearm, where it draped down his front, loincloth-like. Holding it in place was a stout, brown sash tied around a waist over twice as wide around as the wolf’s. An immaculate, cream-hued linen sirwal billowed along each of the canine’s legs, and along the hip where that mantle draped, was tied a royal purple hip scarf, fringed with gold coins that jangled and clinked with every step. Another set of gold coins hung from a pair of necklaces, draped along a chest broad with muscle, but even more so, each pectoral of brilliant, snow-white fur curved outwards in a chubby, plush bulge, like a generously waxing moon.
Truth be told, it was this that arrested the wolf’s attention more than all else. Simply put, the dog was unmistakably, magnificently fat. The plumpest of any canine Uwais had laid eyes on. That brilliant blue mantle only covered perhaps a third of the corpulent canine’s front, leaving much of his soft chest and considerable belly on full display. For every pound of flesh Uwais lacked, every rib that stood out against his torso, the dog was twice over the very definition of well-covered in the most attractive meaning of the term.
That belly was so round, it settled and bulged over the top of the sash tied around the canine’s hips like a personal cushion. When he passed Uwais, the wolf could only gawk as every step sent that belly into a jiggling, effortless bounce, and those chubby, curved pecs as well, clinking those necklace coins in a merry chime as they caught the sun’s brilliance. Certainly, Uwais had seen members of renown about who carried more than their share of extra flesh on them. But between that alabaster whiteness of the canine’s fluffy, perfectly-groomed pelt, and the way his frame carried that cushy excess in such a dignified manner, it brought to the wolf’s mind countless stories and tales of a paradise land of plenty. Shangri-La, the Promised Land, whichever the version, this canine looked to be one born and raised there his entire life, fattened daily on milk and honey in endless measure, carved from marble into the perfect ideal of plump, contented ease…
It was an embarrassing admission to make, but one the wolf secretly found now teasing fantastically at the forefront of his mind- his sudden and almost desperate desire to possess that very same figure. He’d never been sure where or why such thoughts had entered his mind, only that he’d had some version of it ever since he was a pup, of admiring those well-fed enough to grow so abundant and round in the belly that it looked like someone had placed the fluffiest and softest of pillows beneath their fur. Uwais kept on staring in awe and acute envy, as the corpulent canine strolled right up to the market stall.
Now. Now’s the time, while the shopkeeper’s distracted- a slender female caracal with elegantly tufted ears gave the newcomer a friendly smile, as the fat dog reached towards his hip and produced a small drawstring pouch. Uwais briefly considered a quick bump and grab, but the canine’s sheer girth and heft made him think better. No way he’d be able to spend the coin, either, when he showed up at a market stall with his scrawny figure and two weeks’ wages suspiciously in his paw.
‘You’re smarter than that, you know better…’ the wolf scolded himself, as he casually strolled up beneath where a linen tarpaulin was stretched out to offer reddish-tinged shade from the still-rising sun’s glare. The well-off dog’s fatness was yet another blessing, as it kept the vendor from Uwais’ line of sight, and hopefully, the reverse held true.
Uwais watched as the shopkeeper turned her back with a large bowl in hand, setting to the task of cracking and pouring three eggs into the bottom of a large pan. She’d have to carefully watch the eggs as they set within the portion, until the yolks had just started to firm into an ideal custard-soft consistency.
There, on the table the dog was just standing in front of, lay freshly-baked naan, ideal for mopping around that plate of pepper, tomato and onion stew. Two swift strides brought him silently right up to the table, beside the fat canine, who was busy watching the caracal work with equally rapt attention. At least, he had been, until he turned in the wolf’s direction and took an unthinking step forward right as Uwais reached the same small stack of naan the canine now intended to grab.
The white-furred hillside of the canine’s bare-furred belly collided smoothly with the wolf’s hip in slow-motion, its girth spreading out and yielding like a pillow at that point of impact, but it was just enough to force Uwais to throw his hand down against the table’s edge to catch his balance. Reflexively, he turned towards the dog as he caught his footing, and found the canine’s own coffee-brown eyes meeting his golden ones.
“Oh…! Pardon me, I scarcely even noticed…” The canine started to apologize in a silky baritone, but before he could finish, Uwais had gathered two hot loaves of the flatbread in each paw, and looked prepared to sprint at an all-out dash down the road. The commotion hadn’t gone unnoticed by the caracal, having turned around in the meantime to catch the wolf making ready to beat his hasty retreat.
“Stop! Thief!” She called out in a loud, shrill yowl that caught the attention of one of the morning pre-opening patrol guards down the road; a gaunt cheetah who turned towards them and strode steadily over, one hand moving already to a wickedly curved knife held in a sheath at the spotted cat’s hip. Uwais’ heart began to pound furiously, as he dug his footpaws into the ground and prepared to lurch away in a sprint. The wolf grew even more horrified to realize a stout, strong grasp was firmly wrapped around his wrist, clutching it, and giving it a hard enough, sudden squeeze that it froze him in place. His horror turned to stunned, uncomprehending shock, though, when he suddenly found both of the fat hound’s hands clasping his wrist, then enfolding his hand in a gentle, beseeching manner. “My good friend, please! There’s NO need for that!”
“Is this… customer… giving you trouble, miss…?” The cheetah asked, his muzzle tilting pointedly towards Uwais as he raised an eyebrow. The wolf simply lowered his head, and tried to swallow the lump that felt like a stone in his throat. That was it… he’d lose his hands for sure, or his feet… for all his desperation to avoid the life of a beggar, now… something inside his chest felt like it broke loose, or broken open, and now those tears did fall from his squeezed-shut eyelids.
“No trouble at all, I assure you…” The fat dog beside Uwais spoke up again, as the caracal merchant could only frown in befuddlement. He rested a plump arm around the wolf’s shoulders, giving his far shoulder a companionable pat.
Uwais opened his eyes in stunned shock when he felt himself suddenly, companionably pressed up against the side of that prodigious paunch’s curve. This close to the canine, he found himself automatically relaxing at the warm, soothing aroma of cardamom and vetiver radiating from the dog’s plush, pristine white fur.
“My boy, you shouldn’t be so embarrassed to want an extra helping that you feel the need to sneak it behind my back! Honestly! No wonder you’re still just skin and bones. You ought to be proud to want to eat as well as me!”
Looking over the wolf’s gaunt figure, the canine finally let go of Uwais’ paw, then suddenly laughed deeply enough to make his belly tremble, nudging an elbow gently along the wolf’s exposed, lower ribs. “Ahhh... I see, now! Afraid I’m going to gobble up your share right before you even take a bite, is that it? Oho! Come now, just because I’m good and fat as a festival cow doesn’t mean you need scamper off on me!” At that, he cupped his hands beneath the overhang of his prodigious middle, and gave it a deliberate heft that send an undulating bounce through every soft extra inch of his torso.
Before the caracal could interject, the canine set his entire pouch of coins onto the table, where it settled with a thud and jangling clink. Tugging the drawstring open with a couple fingers, he spread the pouch open, pouring out its contents into a tidy, silver heap. “If you please, that large bowl for myself and a smaller one for my friend, here… and keep the change to clear up this little misunderstanding.”
While the wolf stared at that pile of silver coins, trying to estimate just how many day’s wages that amounted to for the caracal, he quickly forgot all about that when the dog turned to the cheetah next, and offered a respectful bow of his head. “And for you, our Duke extends his gratitude in your timely arrival and service in maintaining order here in our souk. As a token of my master’s appreciation…” The canine reached into his ornate, blue mantle, and produced a gold coin with the icon of a blazing sun imprinted on it.
Uwais audibly gasped – by the gods, that was a solari! The single coin was worth roughly eight month’s salary for a common laborer. Expertly knuckle-walking the coin back and forth, before it rested between his thumb and forefinger, the fat dog offered it to the cheetah, who swiftly glanced around before his paw left the handle of his knife, and reached out to let the coin fall neatly into his palm. “My master apologizes for not informing you of my new apprentice in advance, and hopes that this will assure he won’t run into any more trouble with the law so long as I teach him the finer points of being entirely more… mmm… circumspect?”
The guard cleared his throat and gave a bow of his head. “Absolutely, Sir, and give my regards to our Grace…” With that, the cheetah pulled a crisp about-face to return to his post, and spend the rest of his morning’s patrol on cloud nine as he mused over how immeasurably improved his fortunes had become for the rest of the year.
So it was that Uwais found himself seated cross-legged on a cushion alongside the fat canine, as they enjoyed breakfast together. In spite of his ravenous hunger, the wolf was fairly stunned when he soon found his white-furred companion contentedly mopping up the last few morsels of sautéed onion, tomato and diced pepper stew with the last bite of his flatbread, before fastidiously licking and wiping his muzzle clean on a silk cloth in the same time it had taken Uwais to finish his smaller, modest portion.
“Mmm! That’s much more like it, isn’t it, friend?” The canine smiled, rising to his feet, as he extended one hand down to the wolf, offering to help the slender fellow to his feet. All the dog needed to do was lean back with the slightest effort, and his considerable bulk took care of the rest as Uwais rose, taking the dog’s paw. “Come; let’s take a stroll while we’ve still got the market to ourselves…”
Once Uwais was sure they were out of earshot of the market stall, he brought the back of his hand up to his eyes, to wipe at unexpectedly fresh tears, and had to take a few deep breaths before he could trust himself to speak without his voice shaking. “I… um, I don’t know how ever to thank you for what you did back there... that guard was going to…”
“Please, friend, it’s the least I could do, and besides, how ashamed would I have felt to stuff my middle, while you lose a hand for the crime of being desperate to do the same?”
They began walking down the road, with the dog taking the lead slightly ahead of the wolf, giving Uwais a rather distractingly full view of his backside, which was every bit as round and ample as his exposed belly. The puffy, silky sirwal the canine wore simply couldn’t hide the swell of wide rumpcheeks that swayed and bounced such that the lavender hip scarf he wore along regularly jangled from the gold coins adorning its fringe.
On the dog, it was simply an impossible feature to ignore, given how… proudly and confidently he carried all of those extra pounds, the mantle and sash he wore adorning every plump swell, instead of attempting to conceal. Again, the wolf was struck with the impression that the canine carried it all so well, in fact, it looked like he’d been born to grow so jovially and perfectly fat. Uwais found himself once again, for a giddy moment, imagining himself carrying around such a comparable carriage, a thought that brought the beginnings of a blush to his cheeks that suddenly burst into full bloom at what the canine said next.
“Looking to grow fat as I am, are you?” The dog glanced over to the wolf with a wide grin to see those golden eyes nearly bulge from their sockets.
“What?!… Um… I…”
His eyes closing in mirth as he strode on, the dog grinned wide enough to dimple his plump, furred cheeks. “This has to be the third time I’ve noticed you staring. And blushing. If I were fur and bones like you, I sure wouldn’t begrudge your envy. And yes… it does feel every bit as good as it looks.”
Uwais’ companion smirked as the wolf rubbed the back of his neck with one paw, the ruff of fur along his cheeks rapidly fluffing out. The wolf had to laugh, shaking his head at being so easily and thoroughly read. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I’d give just about anything to be as fat and content as you are. But, I mean… I’m lucky enough if I can even get a job unloading cargo at port, and even then… no one wants anything to do with a scrawny, flea-bitten wolf like me whose better years are past him. And you… you look… incredible. It’d take me years just to grow half as big.”
The dog turned to regard Uwais appraisingly, now much as the wolf had done him, as he rubbed a paw along the underside of his muzzle. “Interesting… in fact, my good wolf, all it would take would be a share in my diet and ease of life, and I could promise you’d be every bit as round as me by this time next year. If you’re very eager and dedicated as you say you are, I’m quite confident you could surpass even my noble girth!”
“You know someone, then? Someone who could help me out with that life?” For the first time in what felt like months, the wolf’s tail broke into a full-on wag, and his heart soared even higher at the canine’s reply.
“But of course! Why not even come live with me? The master I serve would adore you if you lived up to your potential, and what a life of ease you’d have! A roof over your head, always, comfortable clothing, daily soaks in the bathhouse after meals so generous, you’d be lucky to be able to stand under your own power, afterwards… you’d live out the rest of your days in leisure, fatter and happier than you’ve ever known.”
“I’d even get fine clothes like yours… and golden necklaces and jewelry, like that…” The wolf’s eager reply trailed off, suddenly, as his head tilted the longer he looked along the canine’s neck. “That… what is that, there, you’ve got around your neck, just at the top of your chest?” Uwais just now noticed it; as plump as the dog was, the chubby ruff of fur ringing the fat dog’s neck had mostly obscured it, but now, he could make out a thick leather band, with a gold clasp along the front.
For once, the dog’s confident demeanor faltered, as he did his best to offer a dismissive shrug. “Oh, that? It’s really nothing… just another fancy decoration…” His floppy ears perked back, as the wolf slowed to a stop, leaning deliberately against a door frame, arms crossed against his chest. Uwais’ ears fell back as he simply stood. And waited with those bright golden eyes of his drawn narrow.
Breathing a slow sigh, the canine spread his arms in open admission. “I… yes, it’s true. I… do have a master who I serve. But this collar… this is nothing more than an expression of a contract; an agreement, even. Sure, I have expectations to fulfill and limits to where I can freely roam, but look at me!” The dog gave another audible drum against the curve of that huge belly. “You even said so, yourself, how eager you were to join me?”
“I thought you were giving me a means to make a living, to earn some… real liberty for once! Not chained up and collared like a gods-forsaken slave!” Uwais felt the hackles along his neck rising, and his heart thudding along his gaunt ribs. “Of course, you take me to your master, ply me with food until I can’t think or walk straight, then just when I start to believe you might be able to show me a better life, I wake up to find myself right back in the gutter, or- worse! Chained to an oar, isn’t that it?”
At that, the dog scoffed, gesturing back down the road the way they’d came. “And what, pray tell, do you think I just saved you from, back there, friend? That guard would have gladly had your hands… and believe me, there’s plenty of slavers who aren’t picky with the condition of the property, so long as they can bear a yoke.”
“Look, I’m grateful for what you did for me, truly… it just… I can’t just trade a full stomach for being able to do as I please… that’s no way for a wolf to live.”
The dog simply spread his hands out before him, palms up, towards Uwais. “For all your freedom… are you truly free? Can you walk the hanging gardens and enjoy their fruit at your leisure? Or relax in complete contentment and truly enjoy the beauty of a sunset over the waves, when you’re still worried about where you next meal will come from? Can you say you have anyone who loves you, who much less you can count as a friend? If it’s taken you this long in life, and you’re still lost in the forest, how are you so sure you’ll just somehow stumble across the right path? There’s so much beauty in this world, and I only want to give you the chance to enjoy it with me, before it’s too late for you. It almost was, today.”
At that, the wolf’s ears drooped, and the pounding of his heart took on a sharper, more painful sting.
“I… ah…”
“I may wear a collar that binds me to my master, but he is the farthest thing from a slaver you’ll find. He is… the most remarkable man I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving. If you’d only see the orchards, his gardens, you’d know. You’d know how deeply he cherishes and loves everyone and everything in his care. Personally. You worry you’ll break and chafe under a collar, that you’re giving up an essential part of who you are, but what if you’re wrong? Who says it’s one or the other?”
The wolf’s brows knitted into a furrow, as he shook his head. “I don’t follow…”
“Take a fruit tree… you let it grow in the wild, and what happens? Its roots are starved by larger trees around it, overshadowed from the sun, wilting. But, you take that same tree, put it in good soil, and find someone who can tend it, personally care for it, nurture it… and it will blossom magnificently.” The canine slid his paws smoothly down over his bellyfur as he spoke, then stepped closer, resting one of those warm paws on the wolf’s shoulder. “And in you, I see a wolf with a fierce desire in his heart, and the capacity for true greatness… yet still a lost pup, searching for one big chance to prove himself to himself, and to everyone else.” That paw offered a gentle squeeze. “What if my master’s only demand, his only desire, was to meet you so he can offer that chance?”
Uwais took a few more deep breaths, closing his eyes and lightly shaking his head. “I’m… I’m just tired of being so… lost… every time I think I’m getting where I’m meant to be, it’s left me nowhere… I don’t want it to just happen again, like always. Like, I know I’m supposed to be someone else, but I have no idea who.”
“My friend, you did what you could. Now, he’ll give you permission to do what you do. To be who you were always supposed to be.”
With a rueful laugh, Uwais opened his eyes, and couldn’t help but smirk. “Yeah, alright. Just who, then, am I supposed to be?”
“Perhaps the fattest, most contented house dog I’ve ever seen, who can’t comprehend why he makes such a poor, starving wolf?” With that, Uwais let his paw find the canine’s, and another fierce blush burned bright along his cheeks, as he couldn’t help but feel a smile once more spread his muzzle wider. “Heh, atta boy. But speaking of who you are… I don’t think I’ve caught your name, wolf.”
“Uwais…” The wolf replied, giving his companion’s forearm a squeeze in greeting, as the dog did the same.
“A pleasure, Uwais. Name’s Yasuf.” The well-fed canine gave the wolf’s back a soft pat of encouragement, ushering him to follow once more. “Come, my master’s been waiting for our return; if you play your cards right, you’ll never know what it’s like to be hungry or lonely again. I just hope you’ve still got that wolfish appetite whetted…”
For surely, some masters could genuinely be kind and loving, and lavish their plump, pampered pets with all the belly rubs and meals they could ever want?
What if, this time, the wolf swallowed his pride, and went along? Here begins the first chapter and picture in a (hopefully) monthly series that explores just that...
Artwork is by touchofsnow
Story © foxcall
Uwais leaned against the chill stone of the windowsill, and gazed out at the eastward sweep of dusty market street that was so broad, it was for all intents a plaza. The sun had yet to break over the tops of the stalls, where shopkeepers were unfurling linen sheets, their vibrant reds, gold, purples and blues growing bolder as the light slowly filled the street. The occasional wind shift brought the aroma of mouthwatering delicacies all freshly made, and set out for market. Just thinking about how hungry he was made the wolf queasy.
His hackles flared suddenly, as he pressed himself down out of sight beneath the window, huddling with held breath as his ears picked up the creaking of floorboards from downstairs- he’d taken shelter for the night in this attic, climbing the building’s crumbling masonry that had offered him enough handholds to pull himself up onto the roof, and in through the window, opened in the night to let the cooler evening breeze waft in and stir through the modest homestead of one of the market’s more successful occupants.
Slowing his breathing down, Uwais closed his eyes and focused on every breath; in through his nose, hold for three seconds, and out through his mouth until the hammer of his heart against his ribs began to fade. For most of the night he’d hidden in the attic, but after a vain search around, there was very little edible that he could find. No amount of hunger could have coaxed him into sneaking down into the house and risk being caught rummaging around through a pantry; even if he’d manage to gather a mouthful and bolt for an open window, he’d lose another safe haven in which to spend the night.
Even the burlap sacks filled with stored grain that scratched at his jaw and whiskers and neckruff made for better pillows than the stones of the street. The ache in his stomach was met with a briefly sharper one, and his paw fell to his bare side, where his ribs protruded like metal bars over a window. His lower rib still ached from weeks ago when he’d sought refuge at the end of the day behind one of the market stalls, where he thought he’d be hidden, only to be awoken by a sharp, sudden kick to his side that sent stars blazing through his closed eyelids.
Even now, his hunger only made that ache more prominent and sharp, until with a grunt, he pulled himself up into the frame of the window, and with a practiced splay of his toes, felt for footholds that supported his weight fully. Slowly, he eased himself downwards, step by step, until his feet touched ground, and he allowed himself a moment to relax and consider his options.
The street vendors were still setting out their morning’s wares, and the plaza was as of yet, still fairly empty. In an hour or so, it would be filled nearly shoulder to shoulder with all manner of customers; a constant flow and ebb of faces and bodies. Normally, it would be the perfect time for an expert thief to carry out a quick, well-timed snatch and vanish into the throng of market goers in perfect anonymity. Uwais, however, stuck out like a sore thumb- shirtless, emaciated, and only having had the opportunity to bathe thanks to a sudden summer storm that had given him the opportunity to turn a drain spout into a makeshift shower three days back.
A vicious, long growl from his stomach roiled up beneath the exposed rows of his ribs, like a lion enraged at finding itself imprisoned. He needed to find something – a crust of bread, a hunk of hard cheese, something to at least clear his mind, and perhaps allow him to recline in one of the nearby gardens with just his thoughts.
Still, being seen in the market at this early hour carried risks of their own; the market was a part of the lowest terrace of six distinct tiered levels which faced the ocean on the city’s western island, called the Golden Steps, and with each successively higher tier, the quality of establishments rose, crowned with a dozen baroque mansions carved from the mountainous stone of the island itself, and embedded in the lush, damp luxury of manicured gardens and miniature, private forests and orchards. To keep order, there was an unwritten code of conduct in which the morning saw the guards at their most vehement that no one save the wealthiest nobles from the uppermost terrace could access the market for the first morning hours, so as to have the finest cuts of meats and freshest, exotic produce first off the docks.
Uwais had often stared longingly at the fine carriages of lords who’d yoked teams of horses to carry away a veritable feast’s worth every morning for their week’s cooking, or for one of the lavish garden parties that were held nearly every weekend in the summer. Wealth and opulence in this city were measured by how much one could afford to spend, and still show that their finances remained strong and secure. Gaudy celebrations and concrete displays of affluence were the sign of a healthy, thriving lord, and those whose purses overflowed to bursting often strove to find unique ways of outdoing one another in displays of excess.
So it was that Uwais’ ears caught the sound of one such approaching cart, and accompanying carriage; the percussive clop of horse hooves against the dusty road, with wooden wheels squealing to a halt. Then, the sound of distance voices, indistinct, mingled with commands from two of the morning’s guard detail. Tucking himself in the shade of an adjacent alleyway, he crouched low. Ears swiveling around to hone in on the sound, the wolf waited to listen which direction the guard’s voices would depart in. A few minutes passed, in which he tried to ignore the dull, heavy, persistent ache of hunger in his stomach. He bit his lower lip and remained crouched still and silent, willing the hammer of his heart to slow and fade back within his chest.
‘It’s alright… it’ll be alright…’ How many times had he spoken this mantra to himself for the past three years? He could feel that surge of grief begin to well within him, like the moon pulling on the tide, crashing wave after wave against the shores of his hopes and the promise that he’d make a better life for himself. “It’ll be… okay…”
It had been three years since he’d first found passage on a ship to this island. With so little experience, he’d settled for scrub watch passage in the ship’s undercastle; very last for meals and drinks, and first for any filthy job that needed doing on board. It had been three months of trying to sleep shoulder to shoulder with others on the scrub watch when he wasn’t working, until every muscle in his back, shoulders, neck and tail ached in an un-ending torment. Three months of enduring the reverberations of the ship’s deck above him, more experienced crewmen moving about freely and laughing on the deck below, and the steady, slapping crash of waves parting before the bow. Lukewarm salted pork, and half a cup of skunkish swill that might have at one time tried to achieve the lofty rank of ale.
As one of the deckhands had tried to reassure him once, while Uwais had cowered in terror during a particularly pitch-black storm at sea when all hands had been called onto deck; feeling like you wanted desperately to die was fine evidence that you had yet to do so. Against his every instinct, he’d forced himself up onto the deck, in a fever-dream of gray chaos, he’d followed any order given to him, against the screaming sky above, and the hammering waves beneath.
Uwais had always counted his blessings that by sheer dumb luck, the tempest had spared him the fate of being swept overboard, and pulled into the inky blackness of a midnight sea. As terrified as he’d been, as sick to his stomach, sore and aching in every bone, and every joint, he thought bitterly about how his new life on this island somehow felt worse… he’d heard of what a paradise this island duchy was, rich with opportunity. And yet, here, he remained a starving lone wolf, without a pack; without a friend. On longer nights and days on an empty stomach like this, he’d suffer the anguish of hindsight and regret for every failure and lash of shame.
Closing his eyes shut against a fresh tide of heat blossoming along his eyelids, he cursed himself for being still so naive, so foolish to believe that he could yet somehow turn his life around by howling to the moon, demanding from life one last, supreme effort to reach where he longed to be. Slamming one palm flat against the ground, he felt the scrape of dust and gravel tear at his pawpads with enough force to distract him from the pain in his stomach. Uwais knew better. At 25 years old, he should know how foolish it was to expect contentment as a destination he’d find himself at for good. Any time he got wherever he thought he truly wished to be, the gods would conspire to reveal to him that indeed, for all his effort, it was not the right place, after all. Merely a desert mirage of an oasis to his parched tongue, only to vanish the moment he reached his paws out to cup the sweet, cool water to his lips.
Even so, as hunger stole more strength from him daily, he promised himself that he’d never resort to begging like a cripple in the street. No, he was a wolf, and he’d survive on his own for as long as he had an able body as a vessel. To beg for scraps, to reduce him to one afflicted, to be pitied would be to give up. This was the single hope he held on to; that as long as he could keep from falling into that pit, he’d find steady, honest work somewhere. This was the other reason he’d come to the market so early; once he’d have something to fill the void in his stomach, he’d already be one of the first already among the market stalls to inquire with every merchant about any odd job they might need for the day, or gods above, he should find himself lucky enough to land steady work. Surely, there was someone who could find a use for him.
The sound of approaching voices along the road sent the wolf springing to his feet, pressed as flat as he could against the alley wall. Only after a pair of guards slowed past the alley’s entrance for a moment; a strong tiger and jaguar whose muscles stood out against their sleek fur, did the wolf dare spare a glance to see if the coast was now clear. Ears trained high, Uwais crept out into the main road, doing his best to walk along as if he belonged there.
If he could only find something to fill his belly with, just enough to take the razor’s edge from the hunger that carved its presence into his gut the more he waited. Luckily, his nose led him to where a merchant was preparing chakchouka for the morning’s customers; the scents of roasting peppers, tomato and onion over a coal fire tantalizing the wolf’s nostrils, as fragrant spices were added. Maybe, just perhaps if he was quick enough, he could sneak a bowl while their back was turned. As he strode closer, the sudden sense came over him that he was being watched, in turn. Ears swiveling backwards, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps shuffling down the road, and spying a nearby tall wicker basket, Uwais slowed to lounge casually against it, crossing his arms over his chest. With luck, whoever it was would pass him by with hardly a notice…
When he lifted his head just long enough to see who was approaching, however, it was the wolf that couldn’t help but stare in astonishment, wholly unable to break his gaze away. Everything about the figure passing by proudly flaunted a richness and standard of comfort and ease that Uwais could only imagine to possess in his loftiest, richest dreams. It had to be the fellow he’d heard arriving by carriage, there was no doubt of that – a dog about half a head shorter than he was, with floppy ears, and a snout as broad as mastiff’s strode down the road. The closer he came, the more the wolf was aware of how every single trait the canine possessed truly captivated Uwais… and stood in stark contrast to every physical attribute the wolf was sorry to own.
In contrast to his dusky pantaloons and simple crimson waist and shoulder sash, the canine was dressed like nobility; a rich, royal blue mantle hung from one shoulder and down the length of his forearm, where it draped down his front, loincloth-like. Holding it in place was a stout, brown sash tied around a waist over twice as wide around as the wolf’s. An immaculate, cream-hued linen sirwal billowed along each of the canine’s legs, and along the hip where that mantle draped, was tied a royal purple hip scarf, fringed with gold coins that jangled and clinked with every step. Another set of gold coins hung from a pair of necklaces, draped along a chest broad with muscle, but even more so, each pectoral of brilliant, snow-white fur curved outwards in a chubby, plush bulge, like a generously waxing moon.
Truth be told, it was this that arrested the wolf’s attention more than all else. Simply put, the dog was unmistakably, magnificently fat. The plumpest of any canine Uwais had laid eyes on. That brilliant blue mantle only covered perhaps a third of the corpulent canine’s front, leaving much of his soft chest and considerable belly on full display. For every pound of flesh Uwais lacked, every rib that stood out against his torso, the dog was twice over the very definition of well-covered in the most attractive meaning of the term.
That belly was so round, it settled and bulged over the top of the sash tied around the canine’s hips like a personal cushion. When he passed Uwais, the wolf could only gawk as every step sent that belly into a jiggling, effortless bounce, and those chubby, curved pecs as well, clinking those necklace coins in a merry chime as they caught the sun’s brilliance. Certainly, Uwais had seen members of renown about who carried more than their share of extra flesh on them. But between that alabaster whiteness of the canine’s fluffy, perfectly-groomed pelt, and the way his frame carried that cushy excess in such a dignified manner, it brought to the wolf’s mind countless stories and tales of a paradise land of plenty. Shangri-La, the Promised Land, whichever the version, this canine looked to be one born and raised there his entire life, fattened daily on milk and honey in endless measure, carved from marble into the perfect ideal of plump, contented ease…
It was an embarrassing admission to make, but one the wolf secretly found now teasing fantastically at the forefront of his mind- his sudden and almost desperate desire to possess that very same figure. He’d never been sure where or why such thoughts had entered his mind, only that he’d had some version of it ever since he was a pup, of admiring those well-fed enough to grow so abundant and round in the belly that it looked like someone had placed the fluffiest and softest of pillows beneath their fur. Uwais kept on staring in awe and acute envy, as the corpulent canine strolled right up to the market stall.
Now. Now’s the time, while the shopkeeper’s distracted- a slender female caracal with elegantly tufted ears gave the newcomer a friendly smile, as the fat dog reached towards his hip and produced a small drawstring pouch. Uwais briefly considered a quick bump and grab, but the canine’s sheer girth and heft made him think better. No way he’d be able to spend the coin, either, when he showed up at a market stall with his scrawny figure and two weeks’ wages suspiciously in his paw.
‘You’re smarter than that, you know better…’ the wolf scolded himself, as he casually strolled up beneath where a linen tarpaulin was stretched out to offer reddish-tinged shade from the still-rising sun’s glare. The well-off dog’s fatness was yet another blessing, as it kept the vendor from Uwais’ line of sight, and hopefully, the reverse held true.
Uwais watched as the shopkeeper turned her back with a large bowl in hand, setting to the task of cracking and pouring three eggs into the bottom of a large pan. She’d have to carefully watch the eggs as they set within the portion, until the yolks had just started to firm into an ideal custard-soft consistency.
There, on the table the dog was just standing in front of, lay freshly-baked naan, ideal for mopping around that plate of pepper, tomato and onion stew. Two swift strides brought him silently right up to the table, beside the fat canine, who was busy watching the caracal work with equally rapt attention. At least, he had been, until he turned in the wolf’s direction and took an unthinking step forward right as Uwais reached the same small stack of naan the canine now intended to grab.
The white-furred hillside of the canine’s bare-furred belly collided smoothly with the wolf’s hip in slow-motion, its girth spreading out and yielding like a pillow at that point of impact, but it was just enough to force Uwais to throw his hand down against the table’s edge to catch his balance. Reflexively, he turned towards the dog as he caught his footing, and found the canine’s own coffee-brown eyes meeting his golden ones.
“Oh…! Pardon me, I scarcely even noticed…” The canine started to apologize in a silky baritone, but before he could finish, Uwais had gathered two hot loaves of the flatbread in each paw, and looked prepared to sprint at an all-out dash down the road. The commotion hadn’t gone unnoticed by the caracal, having turned around in the meantime to catch the wolf making ready to beat his hasty retreat.
“Stop! Thief!” She called out in a loud, shrill yowl that caught the attention of one of the morning pre-opening patrol guards down the road; a gaunt cheetah who turned towards them and strode steadily over, one hand moving already to a wickedly curved knife held in a sheath at the spotted cat’s hip. Uwais’ heart began to pound furiously, as he dug his footpaws into the ground and prepared to lurch away in a sprint. The wolf grew even more horrified to realize a stout, strong grasp was firmly wrapped around his wrist, clutching it, and giving it a hard enough, sudden squeeze that it froze him in place. His horror turned to stunned, uncomprehending shock, though, when he suddenly found both of the fat hound’s hands clasping his wrist, then enfolding his hand in a gentle, beseeching manner. “My good friend, please! There’s NO need for that!”
“Is this… customer… giving you trouble, miss…?” The cheetah asked, his muzzle tilting pointedly towards Uwais as he raised an eyebrow. The wolf simply lowered his head, and tried to swallow the lump that felt like a stone in his throat. That was it… he’d lose his hands for sure, or his feet… for all his desperation to avoid the life of a beggar, now… something inside his chest felt like it broke loose, or broken open, and now those tears did fall from his squeezed-shut eyelids.
“No trouble at all, I assure you…” The fat dog beside Uwais spoke up again, as the caracal merchant could only frown in befuddlement. He rested a plump arm around the wolf’s shoulders, giving his far shoulder a companionable pat.
Uwais opened his eyes in stunned shock when he felt himself suddenly, companionably pressed up against the side of that prodigious paunch’s curve. This close to the canine, he found himself automatically relaxing at the warm, soothing aroma of cardamom and vetiver radiating from the dog’s plush, pristine white fur.
“My boy, you shouldn’t be so embarrassed to want an extra helping that you feel the need to sneak it behind my back! Honestly! No wonder you’re still just skin and bones. You ought to be proud to want to eat as well as me!”
Looking over the wolf’s gaunt figure, the canine finally let go of Uwais’ paw, then suddenly laughed deeply enough to make his belly tremble, nudging an elbow gently along the wolf’s exposed, lower ribs. “Ahhh... I see, now! Afraid I’m going to gobble up your share right before you even take a bite, is that it? Oho! Come now, just because I’m good and fat as a festival cow doesn’t mean you need scamper off on me!” At that, he cupped his hands beneath the overhang of his prodigious middle, and gave it a deliberate heft that send an undulating bounce through every soft extra inch of his torso.
Before the caracal could interject, the canine set his entire pouch of coins onto the table, where it settled with a thud and jangling clink. Tugging the drawstring open with a couple fingers, he spread the pouch open, pouring out its contents into a tidy, silver heap. “If you please, that large bowl for myself and a smaller one for my friend, here… and keep the change to clear up this little misunderstanding.”
While the wolf stared at that pile of silver coins, trying to estimate just how many day’s wages that amounted to for the caracal, he quickly forgot all about that when the dog turned to the cheetah next, and offered a respectful bow of his head. “And for you, our Duke extends his gratitude in your timely arrival and service in maintaining order here in our souk. As a token of my master’s appreciation…” The canine reached into his ornate, blue mantle, and produced a gold coin with the icon of a blazing sun imprinted on it.
Uwais audibly gasped – by the gods, that was a solari! The single coin was worth roughly eight month’s salary for a common laborer. Expertly knuckle-walking the coin back and forth, before it rested between his thumb and forefinger, the fat dog offered it to the cheetah, who swiftly glanced around before his paw left the handle of his knife, and reached out to let the coin fall neatly into his palm. “My master apologizes for not informing you of my new apprentice in advance, and hopes that this will assure he won’t run into any more trouble with the law so long as I teach him the finer points of being entirely more… mmm… circumspect?”
The guard cleared his throat and gave a bow of his head. “Absolutely, Sir, and give my regards to our Grace…” With that, the cheetah pulled a crisp about-face to return to his post, and spend the rest of his morning’s patrol on cloud nine as he mused over how immeasurably improved his fortunes had become for the rest of the year.
So it was that Uwais found himself seated cross-legged on a cushion alongside the fat canine, as they enjoyed breakfast together. In spite of his ravenous hunger, the wolf was fairly stunned when he soon found his white-furred companion contentedly mopping up the last few morsels of sautéed onion, tomato and diced pepper stew with the last bite of his flatbread, before fastidiously licking and wiping his muzzle clean on a silk cloth in the same time it had taken Uwais to finish his smaller, modest portion.
“Mmm! That’s much more like it, isn’t it, friend?” The canine smiled, rising to his feet, as he extended one hand down to the wolf, offering to help the slender fellow to his feet. All the dog needed to do was lean back with the slightest effort, and his considerable bulk took care of the rest as Uwais rose, taking the dog’s paw. “Come; let’s take a stroll while we’ve still got the market to ourselves…”
Once Uwais was sure they were out of earshot of the market stall, he brought the back of his hand up to his eyes, to wipe at unexpectedly fresh tears, and had to take a few deep breaths before he could trust himself to speak without his voice shaking. “I… um, I don’t know how ever to thank you for what you did back there... that guard was going to…”
“Please, friend, it’s the least I could do, and besides, how ashamed would I have felt to stuff my middle, while you lose a hand for the crime of being desperate to do the same?”
They began walking down the road, with the dog taking the lead slightly ahead of the wolf, giving Uwais a rather distractingly full view of his backside, which was every bit as round and ample as his exposed belly. The puffy, silky sirwal the canine wore simply couldn’t hide the swell of wide rumpcheeks that swayed and bounced such that the lavender hip scarf he wore along regularly jangled from the gold coins adorning its fringe.
On the dog, it was simply an impossible feature to ignore, given how… proudly and confidently he carried all of those extra pounds, the mantle and sash he wore adorning every plump swell, instead of attempting to conceal. Again, the wolf was struck with the impression that the canine carried it all so well, in fact, it looked like he’d been born to grow so jovially and perfectly fat. Uwais found himself once again, for a giddy moment, imagining himself carrying around such a comparable carriage, a thought that brought the beginnings of a blush to his cheeks that suddenly burst into full bloom at what the canine said next.
“Looking to grow fat as I am, are you?” The dog glanced over to the wolf with a wide grin to see those golden eyes nearly bulge from their sockets.
“What?!… Um… I…”
His eyes closing in mirth as he strode on, the dog grinned wide enough to dimple his plump, furred cheeks. “This has to be the third time I’ve noticed you staring. And blushing. If I were fur and bones like you, I sure wouldn’t begrudge your envy. And yes… it does feel every bit as good as it looks.”
Uwais’ companion smirked as the wolf rubbed the back of his neck with one paw, the ruff of fur along his cheeks rapidly fluffing out. The wolf had to laugh, shaking his head at being so easily and thoroughly read. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I’d give just about anything to be as fat and content as you are. But, I mean… I’m lucky enough if I can even get a job unloading cargo at port, and even then… no one wants anything to do with a scrawny, flea-bitten wolf like me whose better years are past him. And you… you look… incredible. It’d take me years just to grow half as big.”
The dog turned to regard Uwais appraisingly, now much as the wolf had done him, as he rubbed a paw along the underside of his muzzle. “Interesting… in fact, my good wolf, all it would take would be a share in my diet and ease of life, and I could promise you’d be every bit as round as me by this time next year. If you’re very eager and dedicated as you say you are, I’m quite confident you could surpass even my noble girth!”
“You know someone, then? Someone who could help me out with that life?” For the first time in what felt like months, the wolf’s tail broke into a full-on wag, and his heart soared even higher at the canine’s reply.
“But of course! Why not even come live with me? The master I serve would adore you if you lived up to your potential, and what a life of ease you’d have! A roof over your head, always, comfortable clothing, daily soaks in the bathhouse after meals so generous, you’d be lucky to be able to stand under your own power, afterwards… you’d live out the rest of your days in leisure, fatter and happier than you’ve ever known.”
“I’d even get fine clothes like yours… and golden necklaces and jewelry, like that…” The wolf’s eager reply trailed off, suddenly, as his head tilted the longer he looked along the canine’s neck. “That… what is that, there, you’ve got around your neck, just at the top of your chest?” Uwais just now noticed it; as plump as the dog was, the chubby ruff of fur ringing the fat dog’s neck had mostly obscured it, but now, he could make out a thick leather band, with a gold clasp along the front.
For once, the dog’s confident demeanor faltered, as he did his best to offer a dismissive shrug. “Oh, that? It’s really nothing… just another fancy decoration…” His floppy ears perked back, as the wolf slowed to a stop, leaning deliberately against a door frame, arms crossed against his chest. Uwais’ ears fell back as he simply stood. And waited with those bright golden eyes of his drawn narrow.
Breathing a slow sigh, the canine spread his arms in open admission. “I… yes, it’s true. I… do have a master who I serve. But this collar… this is nothing more than an expression of a contract; an agreement, even. Sure, I have expectations to fulfill and limits to where I can freely roam, but look at me!” The dog gave another audible drum against the curve of that huge belly. “You even said so, yourself, how eager you were to join me?”
“I thought you were giving me a means to make a living, to earn some… real liberty for once! Not chained up and collared like a gods-forsaken slave!” Uwais felt the hackles along his neck rising, and his heart thudding along his gaunt ribs. “Of course, you take me to your master, ply me with food until I can’t think or walk straight, then just when I start to believe you might be able to show me a better life, I wake up to find myself right back in the gutter, or- worse! Chained to an oar, isn’t that it?”
At that, the dog scoffed, gesturing back down the road the way they’d came. “And what, pray tell, do you think I just saved you from, back there, friend? That guard would have gladly had your hands… and believe me, there’s plenty of slavers who aren’t picky with the condition of the property, so long as they can bear a yoke.”
“Look, I’m grateful for what you did for me, truly… it just… I can’t just trade a full stomach for being able to do as I please… that’s no way for a wolf to live.”
The dog simply spread his hands out before him, palms up, towards Uwais. “For all your freedom… are you truly free? Can you walk the hanging gardens and enjoy their fruit at your leisure? Or relax in complete contentment and truly enjoy the beauty of a sunset over the waves, when you’re still worried about where you next meal will come from? Can you say you have anyone who loves you, who much less you can count as a friend? If it’s taken you this long in life, and you’re still lost in the forest, how are you so sure you’ll just somehow stumble across the right path? There’s so much beauty in this world, and I only want to give you the chance to enjoy it with me, before it’s too late for you. It almost was, today.”
At that, the wolf’s ears drooped, and the pounding of his heart took on a sharper, more painful sting.
“I… ah…”
“I may wear a collar that binds me to my master, but he is the farthest thing from a slaver you’ll find. He is… the most remarkable man I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving. If you’d only see the orchards, his gardens, you’d know. You’d know how deeply he cherishes and loves everyone and everything in his care. Personally. You worry you’ll break and chafe under a collar, that you’re giving up an essential part of who you are, but what if you’re wrong? Who says it’s one or the other?”
The wolf’s brows knitted into a furrow, as he shook his head. “I don’t follow…”
“Take a fruit tree… you let it grow in the wild, and what happens? Its roots are starved by larger trees around it, overshadowed from the sun, wilting. But, you take that same tree, put it in good soil, and find someone who can tend it, personally care for it, nurture it… and it will blossom magnificently.” The canine slid his paws smoothly down over his bellyfur as he spoke, then stepped closer, resting one of those warm paws on the wolf’s shoulder. “And in you, I see a wolf with a fierce desire in his heart, and the capacity for true greatness… yet still a lost pup, searching for one big chance to prove himself to himself, and to everyone else.” That paw offered a gentle squeeze. “What if my master’s only demand, his only desire, was to meet you so he can offer that chance?”
Uwais took a few more deep breaths, closing his eyes and lightly shaking his head. “I’m… I’m just tired of being so… lost… every time I think I’m getting where I’m meant to be, it’s left me nowhere… I don’t want it to just happen again, like always. Like, I know I’m supposed to be someone else, but I have no idea who.”
“My friend, you did what you could. Now, he’ll give you permission to do what you do. To be who you were always supposed to be.”
With a rueful laugh, Uwais opened his eyes, and couldn’t help but smirk. “Yeah, alright. Just who, then, am I supposed to be?”
“Perhaps the fattest, most contented house dog I’ve ever seen, who can’t comprehend why he makes such a poor, starving wolf?” With that, Uwais let his paw find the canine’s, and another fierce blush burned bright along his cheeks, as he couldn’t help but feel a smile once more spread his muzzle wider. “Heh, atta boy. But speaking of who you are… I don’t think I’ve caught your name, wolf.”
“Uwais…” The wolf replied, giving his companion’s forearm a squeeze in greeting, as the dog did the same.
“A pleasure, Uwais. Name’s Yasuf.” The well-fed canine gave the wolf’s back a soft pat of encouragement, ushering him to follow once more. “Come, my master’s been waiting for our return; if you play your cards right, you’ll never know what it’s like to be hungry or lonely again. I just hope you’ve still got that wolfish appetite whetted…”
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fat Furs
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Male
Size 1200 x 1060px
I love the dog so much here. He looks so kind, carefree and wonderful with that gut of his I can't wait to see how the wolf will grow!
Indeed, I love how well his charming and kind personality is captured so well!
Hats off, Foxcall, this was wonderfully written! And that comes from someone who isn't particularly taken with what I'd call the "straight-forward" approach to a WG setting. Not that... there's anything wrong with it!
Seriously though, there's lots of good things going on here! The initial set-up of Uwais' situation was especially well-handled, in my opinion, as well as the occasional little simile and images you used to circumvent conventional expressions such as "Closing his eyes shut against a fresh tide of heat blossoming along his eyelids..." It's such a small little detail, but it ends up contributing a whole lot to a seamlessly flowing narrative. I also enjoyed the stark contrast between the two main characters and the way they carry themselves and talk, though I'm sure that polarity will be gone a few parts in~
My only criticism would go to the dialogue and the way the whole WG aspect was presented, but I'm quite certain that's just my personal bias talking when it comes to that particular topic and how I would set things up myself. Everyone has their own preferences, after all. All in all, it was great and I'm excited to read more from you~
Also... I'm not quite sure why I'm acting like a tutor of some sorts explaining to a pupil why they got an A on their essay. You very clearly know what you're doing, and I don't want to give the impression of being condescending with this haphazard analysis. I guess I'm just happy to see more stories on FA with a bit more substance in them
Seriously though, there's lots of good things going on here! The initial set-up of Uwais' situation was especially well-handled, in my opinion, as well as the occasional little simile and images you used to circumvent conventional expressions such as "Closing his eyes shut against a fresh tide of heat blossoming along his eyelids..." It's such a small little detail, but it ends up contributing a whole lot to a seamlessly flowing narrative. I also enjoyed the stark contrast between the two main characters and the way they carry themselves and talk, though I'm sure that polarity will be gone a few parts in~
My only criticism would go to the dialogue and the way the whole WG aspect was presented, but I'm quite certain that's just my personal bias talking when it comes to that particular topic and how I would set things up myself. Everyone has their own preferences, after all. All in all, it was great and I'm excited to read more from you~
Also... I'm not quite sure why I'm acting like a tutor of some sorts explaining to a pupil why they got an A on their essay. You very clearly know what you're doing, and I don't want to give the impression of being condescending with this haphazard analysis. I guess I'm just happy to see more stories on FA with a bit more substance in them
Thanks so much! It definitely means a lot to get some feedback from you, and what you thought about the story, especially since the story collaborations between you and psychicimmortality have been exceptionally fun to read with some terrific character development and the same sort of gradual but satisfying weight gain I only hope I can emulate with this story. It was a fun sort of writing prompt for me to try taking a short little fable and use it as a jumping off point for something more well-fleshed (pardon the pun).
And I do appreciate the analysis! Back in college I took a few creative writing workshops, so this sort of feedback, both in praise and in what you think could be improved can hopefully only help and push me to improve on what I've started, I think! I know dialogue tends to be something I've always had a tougher time with doing convincingly, so I'm hoping with practice and after brushing up on some reading of my own, the characters will find their voices coming more naturally.
Again, thanks so much for taking the time to read through it all and let me know your thoughts on it; it certainly makes me happy that it was something you enjoyed!
And I do appreciate the analysis! Back in college I took a few creative writing workshops, so this sort of feedback, both in praise and in what you think could be improved can hopefully only help and push me to improve on what I've started, I think! I know dialogue tends to be something I've always had a tougher time with doing convincingly, so I'm hoping with practice and after brushing up on some reading of my own, the characters will find their voices coming more naturally.
Again, thanks so much for taking the time to read through it all and let me know your thoughts on it; it certainly makes me happy that it was something you enjoyed!
Aww, I didn't know you were a fan of our work! Knowing that an artist I've been following for years has read some of our stories legitimately makes me feel giddy~ It's not often that people recognize my involvement in those collaborations since I prefer to have them on Aaron's page, so this feels extra special
Now that I'm done fawning over the recognition, I think I can offer a little piece of advice to you if you feel like you're struggling with dialogue. It's a recurring issue, especially in the WG "genre". Keep in mind, however, that this is just my understanding of how things "should" be, so it might not be applicable to every story. There's no written rule or whatever when it comes to this, but I still feel like writers can rely on conventional guidelines to enrich their more fetish-oriented stories.
The issue I'm referencing is with character personalities. Or lack thereof, more like. A one-dimensional, simple character can work very well in short stories where the goal is to be... well, as kinky as possible. When it comes to longer pieces of literary works, however, I feel like there has to be more to a character than "I want to be fat", or "I want to fatten someone." Those are the two polarities at the ends of the spectrum I see popping up a lot, and while a motivation/goal so elementary can work as an excellent aid to continuously push the narrative of the story, it severely limits the depth of the dialogue one can utilize. There isn't much to build on, after all, and that can easily lead to dialogue that, while doing the job just fine, ultimately ends up feeling a bit uninspired and lacking.
But... if you introduce a few basic traits that go along with that rudimentary goal, things get a whole lot more exciting! Shyness or confidence, subtlety or openness, manipulation or honesty - these are all examples of traits that synergize very well with the basic concept regarding WG, and it opens up a whole lot more possibilities for dialogue that's a bit more back a forth and interactive between the characters, especially if the said characters are on opposite ends of those examples. Throw in a wonderful little backstory like you did with the wolf here and you get a groundwork for your character that you can refer to when having them interact to the world and its occupants, all the while adhering to the rules that you yourself set. Of course, deviation from those rules, if timed and set up correctly, can be even more exciting~ That's when character development comes into the picture.
Aaaanyway, sorry, I'm rambling! I want to stress that I'm not trying to lecture or anything with that mini-essay, I just figured it wouldn't hurt to try giving a little piece of advice, even with the high probability of you already being aware of everything I've just told you
Also, again, this advice might be completely useless depending on the kind of story you're going for. It's just a starting point for how I usually set up characters in a WG setting~ I hope it's not completely useless!
Now that I'm done fawning over the recognition, I think I can offer a little piece of advice to you if you feel like you're struggling with dialogue. It's a recurring issue, especially in the WG "genre". Keep in mind, however, that this is just my understanding of how things "should" be, so it might not be applicable to every story. There's no written rule or whatever when it comes to this, but I still feel like writers can rely on conventional guidelines to enrich their more fetish-oriented stories.
The issue I'm referencing is with character personalities. Or lack thereof, more like. A one-dimensional, simple character can work very well in short stories where the goal is to be... well, as kinky as possible. When it comes to longer pieces of literary works, however, I feel like there has to be more to a character than "I want to be fat", or "I want to fatten someone." Those are the two polarities at the ends of the spectrum I see popping up a lot, and while a motivation/goal so elementary can work as an excellent aid to continuously push the narrative of the story, it severely limits the depth of the dialogue one can utilize. There isn't much to build on, after all, and that can easily lead to dialogue that, while doing the job just fine, ultimately ends up feeling a bit uninspired and lacking.
But... if you introduce a few basic traits that go along with that rudimentary goal, things get a whole lot more exciting! Shyness or confidence, subtlety or openness, manipulation or honesty - these are all examples of traits that synergize very well with the basic concept regarding WG, and it opens up a whole lot more possibilities for dialogue that's a bit more back a forth and interactive between the characters, especially if the said characters are on opposite ends of those examples. Throw in a wonderful little backstory like you did with the wolf here and you get a groundwork for your character that you can refer to when having them interact to the world and its occupants, all the while adhering to the rules that you yourself set. Of course, deviation from those rules, if timed and set up correctly, can be even more exciting~ That's when character development comes into the picture.
Aaaanyway, sorry, I'm rambling! I want to stress that I'm not trying to lecture or anything with that mini-essay, I just figured it wouldn't hurt to try giving a little piece of advice, even with the high probability of you already being aware of everything I've just told you
Also, again, this advice might be completely useless depending on the kind of story you're going for. It's just a starting point for how I usually set up characters in a WG setting~ I hope it's not completely useless!
Of course! I've especially loved reading 'Polarity' and the way in which Ekundayo and Sheila's characters' develop, with her feelings for him developing as well as her fondness for him the bigger he grows. It definitely enhances those WG scenes and adds a good bit of extra significance and meaning to them that's very fun to read. It's admittedly the standard that I hope to achieve with this story!
Which is why I'm quite glad you'd mentioned character personalities and how that can influence and impart dialogue between them that then becomes more meaningful, and serves to progress their character development. Admittedly, at this point, my biggest concern is that I haven't been able to yet come up with how to play Uwais' and Yasuf's traits in service to upcoming weight gain scenes. I'm afraid, I've been stuck at that rudimentary 'I want to be fat' motivation for the wolf, and the 'I want to help him get fat' for Yasuf that those scenes would really only be about. Like you'd mentioned, I'm worried any following scenes would just start getting tired and uninspired, if they only served to showcase Uwais' weight gain, but nothing more beyond that basic motivation.
It's where I wish it was something of a collaborative effort, instead of a solo one, since I'd like to attach more traits to the wolf and dog that would impart future WG scenes with some good character development and meaningful dialogue that could propel the story forward. As it stands, I've got the visual milestones in mind to commission, of the wolf catching up to, and surpassing the dog's fine figure, with the wolf and dog coming to appreciate and love his added weight more and more. But, I know I'm still lacking that all-important deeper motivation, and how it could be explored through each weight gain scene to really reveal and explore some deeper character traits and how they develop along with Uwais' blossoming figure.
I know that for Uwais, he's been a lone wolf for so much of his life, that he's very much yearning for affection, and I suppose that's something I might be able to explore with how he comes to terms with the dog growing attracted to him the bigger he gets? He's also a wolf who'd come to realize how well he'd fit into the role of a pampered pet- he's someone who's very much used to being told what to do, and insecure about his identity as a 'lone wolf' who lacks the confidence and self-sufficiency to make it on his own, when he feels he ought to be able to. I'm sure there'd be some way to have Yasuf reassure him in weight gain scenes, but I'm wondering what could be another effective motivation for the dog to want to fatten up the wolf that could make each progressive weight gain scene continually meaningful and significant.
I wouldn't wish to impose, but if you wanted to throw out any of your personal ideas in mind for some compelling characterization to build on and unresolved tension or conflict to explore as Uwais grows and grows, I'd be most grateful for any suggestions you might have in mind?
I think with writing this story solo, one of the biggest challenges I'm running into is not being able to bat those ideas back and forth with another author or creator, and have that deeper level of character development and interaction occur that could make for some more stand-out dialogue options. As it stands, I'm a bit lost at how to give those future weight gain scenes that extra depth of character that keeps the story moving forward and not just treading water. So, I most definitely am grateful for your advice, and it's certainly not useless for the kind of story I'm hoping to write! If you had any ideas for any more traits to add to these two that could give this story some good momentum as Uwais fattens up, I'd honestly love and appreciate continuing to hear your thoughts and constructive criticism.
Which is why I'm quite glad you'd mentioned character personalities and how that can influence and impart dialogue between them that then becomes more meaningful, and serves to progress their character development. Admittedly, at this point, my biggest concern is that I haven't been able to yet come up with how to play Uwais' and Yasuf's traits in service to upcoming weight gain scenes. I'm afraid, I've been stuck at that rudimentary 'I want to be fat' motivation for the wolf, and the 'I want to help him get fat' for Yasuf that those scenes would really only be about. Like you'd mentioned, I'm worried any following scenes would just start getting tired and uninspired, if they only served to showcase Uwais' weight gain, but nothing more beyond that basic motivation.
It's where I wish it was something of a collaborative effort, instead of a solo one, since I'd like to attach more traits to the wolf and dog that would impart future WG scenes with some good character development and meaningful dialogue that could propel the story forward. As it stands, I've got the visual milestones in mind to commission, of the wolf catching up to, and surpassing the dog's fine figure, with the wolf and dog coming to appreciate and love his added weight more and more. But, I know I'm still lacking that all-important deeper motivation, and how it could be explored through each weight gain scene to really reveal and explore some deeper character traits and how they develop along with Uwais' blossoming figure.
I know that for Uwais, he's been a lone wolf for so much of his life, that he's very much yearning for affection, and I suppose that's something I might be able to explore with how he comes to terms with the dog growing attracted to him the bigger he gets? He's also a wolf who'd come to realize how well he'd fit into the role of a pampered pet- he's someone who's very much used to being told what to do, and insecure about his identity as a 'lone wolf' who lacks the confidence and self-sufficiency to make it on his own, when he feels he ought to be able to. I'm sure there'd be some way to have Yasuf reassure him in weight gain scenes, but I'm wondering what could be another effective motivation for the dog to want to fatten up the wolf that could make each progressive weight gain scene continually meaningful and significant.
I wouldn't wish to impose, but if you wanted to throw out any of your personal ideas in mind for some compelling characterization to build on and unresolved tension or conflict to explore as Uwais grows and grows, I'd be most grateful for any suggestions you might have in mind?
I think with writing this story solo, one of the biggest challenges I'm running into is not being able to bat those ideas back and forth with another author or creator, and have that deeper level of character development and interaction occur that could make for some more stand-out dialogue options. As it stands, I'm a bit lost at how to give those future weight gain scenes that extra depth of character that keeps the story moving forward and not just treading water. So, I most definitely am grateful for your advice, and it's certainly not useless for the kind of story I'm hoping to write! If you had any ideas for any more traits to add to these two that could give this story some good momentum as Uwais fattens up, I'd honestly love and appreciate continuing to hear your thoughts and constructive criticism.
Aww, thank you! I'm quite proud of how 'Polarity' came out. It was initially going to be a solo story, and was going to look a whole lot different, but I decided to pull Aaron in after I realized that there's potential here for some good RP material! I'm curious, though, and if you don't mind me asking, who do you think played Sheila and Ekundayo respectively? I always like to ask that question to see if people can differentiate between our writing styles with Aaron~
Now, onto the actually important topic.
My number one role to what I'd call a """""good""""" narrative/dialogue is conflict/tension. You'll be hard-pressed to find any piece of literature that's critically acclaimed without those qualities present in them. It's the other most important part in propelling the narrative forward in the story, after all! Introducing conflict can be difficult, however, and I'm more than aware of that. During writing Spots and Stripes, it became increasingly difficult to introduce new obstacles for our characters without it feeling tacked on, but we still tried with every installment... with varying degrees of success
That doesn't mean that you have to feel the need to present some form of conflict in every part, though! I'd say a singular source of tension could work really well with the length of the story you're aiming for (I'm assuming further installments are going to be roughly the same size as part 1).
First of all, Uwais. He comes off as a more fleshed-out (ironically) character than Yasuf thanks to the backstory you wrote for him. That's already something wonderful you can work with. It's mentioned that he's had quite the rough time of it ever since, and even before, his arrival to the island, with almost constant disappointments and failures following his path. Three years of that would surely have a negative impact on anyone, and said negativity could possibly manifest as a lack of confidence in the poor wolf. Not only that, but the chain of continuous disappointments could have easily lead to him being exceptionally wary and cautious of any opportunity that comes up. Here he might have accepted the offer of the dog on a whim, but once getting there, could start acting a bit more reversed, questioning the motivation of others and expecting the universe itself to somehow screw him over like it had done on numerous occasions. Think of... paranoia, but taken down a few dozen notches, of course This characteristic could also mesh really well with the fable's original concept of there being a wild, feral wolf, who are known to be quite wary and cautious by default! Not to mention a really nice set-up for character development, as the wolf would slowly shed his insecurities and ever so slowly slip into the role of a pampered pet.
Now, Yasuf. He already seems established as a rather confident and open individual, a really nice contrast to the wolf's own characteristics. What he himself lacks is a little backstory, and I think I have just the idea that could work. Perhaps, before becoming the pet of the master, he could have been in a similar position the wolf. Gaunt and on the streets, looking for his big break into a better life. This difficult time could have lasted an indeterminate amount, depending on what you think would be appropriate, and could be an exceptional source of tension. First of all, it'd explain the dog's motivation for wanting to fatten up the poor wolf. Seeing Uwais in this state would remind Yasuf of his own struggling past, and the image would leave a rather sour taste in his mouth. He wouldn't just want the wolf to fatten because he wants to help him, he'd also be incredibly insistent and borderline pushy about its importance just so he could wipe the image of his own gaunt self from his mind every time his gaze landed on Uwais. That in itself is a conflict of motivation that could lead to very interesting dialogue and internal conflict when it comes to these two interacting, with Yasuf somewhat ashamed of his past and unwilling to let the new arrival see behind the curtains at first, the wolf finding himself questioning the dog's insistence on helping him so adamantly on a regular basis, at first only internally, and then finally out loud.
Which could lead the reader to what I'd say could be a cathartic exchange between the pair, perhaps just when the wolf is about to catch up the dog in terms of roundness, with the former finally raising his voice against the dog's insistent feeding, who could have gone overboard during a meal of some sort and perhaps might have tried to force even more food into a nearly bursting wolf. Who, with his wariness still present, would see red flags and let his mini-paranoia get the better of him, thinking that the dog did want to harm him in some way after all and that his suspicions were correct. A little argument could ensue, the intensity of which I'll leave to you, with Yasuf finally blurting out the true motivation behind his helping nature and ultimately earning the wolf's sympathy in the end once he has the time to explain himself. Said exchange would mark the end of the previously built-up conflict in my mind, with the wolf finally accepting his new role as the pampered pet and the fact that, at last, instead of disappointment, it's the affection he'd yearned for for years that would await him at the end of this opportunity, ushering the rest of the tale into a much more relaxed and hedonistic atmosphere, with potential for romance and anything in between~
Whew. Excuse the wall of text and somewhat disjointed points and whatnot, I'm writing this in the morning while I'm still rather groggy Nevertheless, I hope I managed to get the idea across! Again, this only one of a numerous possibilities for a set-up between these two characters, and I haven't even mentioned the "master" at all, who could very well be a looming, somewhat mysterious figure the wolf doesn't get to interact with too much until later on, which would perfectly fuel that wariness and cautiousness I mentioned~ You don't have to go with this set of rules at all, I just figured giving you a hard example of how things can be set up would give you a better image of the tension/conflict I alluded to. I really hope it's helpful!
Oh, and one more thing, I'd be happy to give you pointers or offer critique to further installments, if ya wanted~ Though I think we should bring further discussion either into FA's notes or discord/steam/whatsapp or whatever have you. I think it'd be more convenient for both of us, and I wouldn't mind getting to know an artist I've followed for years!
Now, onto the actually important topic.
My number one role to what I'd call a """""good""""" narrative/dialogue is conflict/tension. You'll be hard-pressed to find any piece of literature that's critically acclaimed without those qualities present in them. It's the other most important part in propelling the narrative forward in the story, after all! Introducing conflict can be difficult, however, and I'm more than aware of that. During writing Spots and Stripes, it became increasingly difficult to introduce new obstacles for our characters without it feeling tacked on, but we still tried with every installment... with varying degrees of success
That doesn't mean that you have to feel the need to present some form of conflict in every part, though! I'd say a singular source of tension could work really well with the length of the story you're aiming for (I'm assuming further installments are going to be roughly the same size as part 1).
First of all, Uwais. He comes off as a more fleshed-out (ironically) character than Yasuf thanks to the backstory you wrote for him. That's already something wonderful you can work with. It's mentioned that he's had quite the rough time of it ever since, and even before, his arrival to the island, with almost constant disappointments and failures following his path. Three years of that would surely have a negative impact on anyone, and said negativity could possibly manifest as a lack of confidence in the poor wolf. Not only that, but the chain of continuous disappointments could have easily lead to him being exceptionally wary and cautious of any opportunity that comes up. Here he might have accepted the offer of the dog on a whim, but once getting there, could start acting a bit more reversed, questioning the motivation of others and expecting the universe itself to somehow screw him over like it had done on numerous occasions. Think of... paranoia, but taken down a few dozen notches, of course This characteristic could also mesh really well with the fable's original concept of there being a wild, feral wolf, who are known to be quite wary and cautious by default! Not to mention a really nice set-up for character development, as the wolf would slowly shed his insecurities and ever so slowly slip into the role of a pampered pet.
Now, Yasuf. He already seems established as a rather confident and open individual, a really nice contrast to the wolf's own characteristics. What he himself lacks is a little backstory, and I think I have just the idea that could work. Perhaps, before becoming the pet of the master, he could have been in a similar position the wolf. Gaunt and on the streets, looking for his big break into a better life. This difficult time could have lasted an indeterminate amount, depending on what you think would be appropriate, and could be an exceptional source of tension. First of all, it'd explain the dog's motivation for wanting to fatten up the poor wolf. Seeing Uwais in this state would remind Yasuf of his own struggling past, and the image would leave a rather sour taste in his mouth. He wouldn't just want the wolf to fatten because he wants to help him, he'd also be incredibly insistent and borderline pushy about its importance just so he could wipe the image of his own gaunt self from his mind every time his gaze landed on Uwais. That in itself is a conflict of motivation that could lead to very interesting dialogue and internal conflict when it comes to these two interacting, with Yasuf somewhat ashamed of his past and unwilling to let the new arrival see behind the curtains at first, the wolf finding himself questioning the dog's insistence on helping him so adamantly on a regular basis, at first only internally, and then finally out loud.
Which could lead the reader to what I'd say could be a cathartic exchange between the pair, perhaps just when the wolf is about to catch up the dog in terms of roundness, with the former finally raising his voice against the dog's insistent feeding, who could have gone overboard during a meal of some sort and perhaps might have tried to force even more food into a nearly bursting wolf. Who, with his wariness still present, would see red flags and let his mini-paranoia get the better of him, thinking that the dog did want to harm him in some way after all and that his suspicions were correct. A little argument could ensue, the intensity of which I'll leave to you, with Yasuf finally blurting out the true motivation behind his helping nature and ultimately earning the wolf's sympathy in the end once he has the time to explain himself. Said exchange would mark the end of the previously built-up conflict in my mind, with the wolf finally accepting his new role as the pampered pet and the fact that, at last, instead of disappointment, it's the affection he'd yearned for for years that would await him at the end of this opportunity, ushering the rest of the tale into a much more relaxed and hedonistic atmosphere, with potential for romance and anything in between~
Whew. Excuse the wall of text and somewhat disjointed points and whatnot, I'm writing this in the morning while I'm still rather groggy Nevertheless, I hope I managed to get the idea across! Again, this only one of a numerous possibilities for a set-up between these two characters, and I haven't even mentioned the "master" at all, who could very well be a looming, somewhat mysterious figure the wolf doesn't get to interact with too much until later on, which would perfectly fuel that wariness and cautiousness I mentioned~ You don't have to go with this set of rules at all, I just figured giving you a hard example of how things can be set up would give you a better image of the tension/conflict I alluded to. I really hope it's helpful!
Oh, and one more thing, I'd be happy to give you pointers or offer critique to further installments, if ya wanted~ Though I think we should bring further discussion either into FA's notes or discord/steam/whatsapp or whatever have you. I think it'd be more convenient for both of us, and I wouldn't mind getting to know an artist I've followed for years!
Good morning! Equally as groggy here, but I very much appreciate the well-thought out reply this early in the morning, no less!
Ahh, as for Polarity, I'm going to venture to guess that you played Sheila, and Aaron was Ekundayo? :3
And yeah, as far as chapter length goes, I think the same number of pages as this first chapter (roughly 9-10 in Word), but that would certainly depend on if there's enough to write about to keep the scene going strong.
I'd very much love to talk more about Yasuf's past, since what you mentioned is quite spot on with how I'd envisioned giving the dog a similar backstory. In fact, I think it could give a good rationale as to why the dog was initially so reluctant to admit anything about being kept as someone's property. It could be something that comes to a head, as you mentioned when he keeps on insisting the wolf indulge himself lavishly, even when it's 3 in the morning, and the wolf's still very worried about making too many demands of the master's kitchen staff. I could see him still warily waiting for the other shoe to drop and in his new role, fearful about being resented and looked down on for the gluttony and the sloth the dog seems to encourage, worried that what endears him to his master and the dog would make him the object of scorn and jealousy. It could be the 'feral' side of him still insisting that he's getting far too much in life for doing far too little, and the pendulum's eventually going to swing back as hard the other way again. And, of course, I've yet to mention what exactly Uwais was running away from that prompted him to completely pull up roots and want to find passage away from home to this remote island to escape in the first place.
Then, as for Yasuf, I most certainly had envisioned his backstory (and a big part of why he insists their master is no slaver) as that in his younger years, the dog indeed was once a slave, toiling in the fields all his life under a particularly cruel and abusive master, until his current master happened by to buy him out of that life, and in a cathartic moment, he mentions how seeing Uwais so skinny just brought back those painful memories, and apologizes for being so pushy that the wolf always gorge until all reminders of those memories on the wolf's frame are hidden beneath a good, thick layer of fat.
As you mentioned, though if you'd like to move this brainstorm over to discord, I'd be delighted to chat there! My contact for it should be in my profile! Just wanted to throw these ideas down, as they came to me here, as I'm writing, before they're lost!
And thank you so much, I wouldn't mind the chance to get to know you, in turn!
Ahh, as for Polarity, I'm going to venture to guess that you played Sheila, and Aaron was Ekundayo? :3
And yeah, as far as chapter length goes, I think the same number of pages as this first chapter (roughly 9-10 in Word), but that would certainly depend on if there's enough to write about to keep the scene going strong.
I'd very much love to talk more about Yasuf's past, since what you mentioned is quite spot on with how I'd envisioned giving the dog a similar backstory. In fact, I think it could give a good rationale as to why the dog was initially so reluctant to admit anything about being kept as someone's property. It could be something that comes to a head, as you mentioned when he keeps on insisting the wolf indulge himself lavishly, even when it's 3 in the morning, and the wolf's still very worried about making too many demands of the master's kitchen staff. I could see him still warily waiting for the other shoe to drop and in his new role, fearful about being resented and looked down on for the gluttony and the sloth the dog seems to encourage, worried that what endears him to his master and the dog would make him the object of scorn and jealousy. It could be the 'feral' side of him still insisting that he's getting far too much in life for doing far too little, and the pendulum's eventually going to swing back as hard the other way again. And, of course, I've yet to mention what exactly Uwais was running away from that prompted him to completely pull up roots and want to find passage away from home to this remote island to escape in the first place.
Then, as for Yasuf, I most certainly had envisioned his backstory (and a big part of why he insists their master is no slaver) as that in his younger years, the dog indeed was once a slave, toiling in the fields all his life under a particularly cruel and abusive master, until his current master happened by to buy him out of that life, and in a cathartic moment, he mentions how seeing Uwais so skinny just brought back those painful memories, and apologizes for being so pushy that the wolf always gorge until all reminders of those memories on the wolf's frame are hidden beneath a good, thick layer of fat.
As you mentioned, though if you'd like to move this brainstorm over to discord, I'd be delighted to chat there! My contact for it should be in my profile! Just wanted to throw these ideas down, as they came to me here, as I'm writing, before they're lost!
And thank you so much, I wouldn't mind the chance to get to know you, in turn!
There's so much to love here! It's beautifully written with gorgeous descriptions and wonderful characters! I can't wait to read more! :3
I have been trying writing myself, for over a year. And man, did I enjoy how well you write, making details as enjoyable as possible!
I have yet to take any writing workshops or classes, and have been mainly self teaching myself how to write, reading advice and emulating from others. You so far were one of the better ones, and I really hope to see where this story goes next.
One thing though I was hoping was to get any criticism or comments on my work, but sadly so far I am still fairly "newbie" at this. Not that I don't appreciate what I already have, just hoping I could get better.
I have yet to take any writing workshops or classes, and have been mainly self teaching myself how to write, reading advice and emulating from others. You so far were one of the better ones, and I really hope to see where this story goes next.
One thing though I was hoping was to get any criticism or comments on my work, but sadly so far I am still fairly "newbie" at this. Not that I don't appreciate what I already have, just hoping I could get better.
Thanks very much! I'm hoping the second chapter will be just as enjoyable to read, as soon as I've got the time and drive to get it finished up one of these weeknights or weekends, soon. I'll admit, a lot of my writing does come from an effort to emulate other writers' descriptions, such as wolfgonewide when it comes to focusing on more of the weight gain and fat appreciation side of things. I think, too, it's a matter of really trying to put yourself in the moment and describe as best you can, what sensations you'd experience without force-feeding the reader how they're meant to feel. I'll admit, I feel like I could be a much better writer as well, and crank out a scene much faster, but for now, it's a matter of finding time to focus on a scene without feeling too distracted to write about it from start to finish.
That's interesting!
I guess my problem then is perhaps how I want to keep up pace in my writing. Like, I will put in a blurb on what happened or how the place came to be, but then immediately go along with the action. I get afraid of possibly subjecting my reader to a lengthy and rather awkward description, when it would be better for me to describe it through character's point of view or how it lends to the scene.
Fact of the matter, I enjoy doing dialogue the most and creating characters and having them interact. My biggest weakness, I feel like then, is describing setting, not that I can't imagine it, and I made effort to build my own countries as well, it's just that I go "And it was neat!" Route.
I guess my problem then is perhaps how I want to keep up pace in my writing. Like, I will put in a blurb on what happened or how the place came to be, but then immediately go along with the action. I get afraid of possibly subjecting my reader to a lengthy and rather awkward description, when it would be better for me to describe it through character's point of view or how it lends to the scene.
Fact of the matter, I enjoy doing dialogue the most and creating characters and having them interact. My biggest weakness, I feel like then, is describing setting, not that I can't imagine it, and I made effort to build my own countries as well, it's just that I go "And it was neat!" Route.
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