🏳️🌈ONC2023 Shortlister [A queer retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in modern day California.]
Tate Parker and Alex Benitez are sworn enemies, but it's not a battle line they've drawn. As the sons of warring co-workers, the pair are destined to be...
If you're reading this—it means I've finally managed to finish an ONC, which hasn't been possible since 2018. Thanks to all who read. That was awesome of you.
Open Novella prompt 63: A rivalry between two co-workers has unseen consequences.
The way I saw it, a retelling needed to borrow some of the central characters (Romeo–Tate, Juliet–Alex, Mercutio–Flock, Tybalt–Derek, and Juliet's nurse–Abuelita), place them somewhere new, take on some of the central plot points of the original while working in the ONC prompt at the core. Throw in a misunderstanding or two, and we end up with a final near-death experience that they would both survive this time.
Here is Tate as a final poster child via Midjourney. And here is me, totally not putting this image in a chapter separate from my narrative content in case Wattpad doesn't find me funny and wants to take it down...
This story is dedicated to DarrenDean1 who, unlike Flock, knows his ocean and where his surfboard goes. Unfortunately, he was also the unwilling inspiration behind Tate's public punishment, after a story comment left me laughing way too hard.
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