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grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Orleans Saltos
@grawlix-stories.bsky.social
22 followers 21 following 47 posts
✨ Latina Artist & fantasy writer (she/her)
🌿 AO3: grawlix & Substack: grawlixstories
🎨 All art my own (❌AI)
🔗 orleanssaltos.com #AmWriting #ArtistsonBluesky #WritingCommunity #latinskyartist #artistonbluesky
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grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Orleans Saltos @grawlix-stories.bsky.social · Aug 22
📘This novel-in-progress begins in the swamps, with roots as tangled as the circus ropes.
🌿 Me, Swamp-born and strange.
🕊 Bird, the exile who sees too much.
⚔️ The Hunter, bred for war and silence.

#AmWriting #SpecFic #WritingCommunity
A painted scene of a circus tent fading into storm clouds, moody and dramatic. The image suggests mystery and performance, setting the tone for a fantasy story titled “Circus Phoenix.” A swamp landscape: tangled trees, heavy humidity, and water reflecting dull light. Evokes the author’s childhood in rural Louisiana, rooted in the natural world but also in isolation. A character portrait of Bird, a wiry circus performer with sharp, watchful eyes. He carries the air of an exile—cautious, clever, and slightly otherworldly. A hulking figure, The Hunter. His body is muscular and imposing, his presence more shadow than man. A silent pursuer bred for war, relentless in his focus.
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Back from holiday hiatus!
👸Chapter 10: Guinevere.exe
The system curated the moment.
Merlin didn’t ask to know this. But knowing changes everything.
#MythicFiction #DigitalArt #WritingProcess

grawlixstories.substack.com
Mateo focuses on a laptop while Sierra leans close over his shoulder, both intent and uneasy in a warm, cluttered interior.
January 8, 2026 at 3:09 AM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Camelot.exe — Chapter 9: Be Good

Arthur walks through an “unoptimized” neighborhood & begins to see what Camelot’s vision would erase.

Speculative fiction about AI, power, and the stories we tell ourselves to stay good.

🔗 substack.com/@grawlixstor...

#SpeculativeFiction #ClimateFiction #AIethics
December 19, 2025 at 9:53 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Chapter 8 is live! Resonance Field
AO3: archiveofourown.org/works/723062...
Substack: grawlixstories.substack.com/p/camelotexe...
Dreamwidth: camelot-exe.dreamwidth.org/2226.html

#QueerSciFi #Cyberpunk #Merlin #Arthurianretelling
Mateo/Merlin playing a futuristic pinball machine.
December 11, 2025 at 3:31 AM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Douglas and Other Forms of Statues
I wrote about a friend I loved platonically and fiercely, and the silence he left behind. This one is tender, and sharp, and heavier than most things I write. Published at A Thin Slice of Anxiety.
Read it here:
orleanssaltos.com/posts/2025-1...
Douglas and Other Forms of Statues — Orleans Saltos
A meditation on friendship, guilt, and the strange statues grief makes of the people we lose. In this essay, I trace the life and death of someone I loved platonically and fiercely, Douglas, the “Gree...
orleanssaltos.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Orleans Saltos
bextraordinary.bsky.social
♥️
To my friends from LiveJournal I still think about you Wonder if you finally quit, Do you still speak to your mom? I remember when you went to Japan How you swore you'd never forgive him. I can't remember to take my meds but I remember you wanted to live on a houseboat. It's a strange intimacy, all of us unspooling across decades of internet space Like balls of yarn leaving a trail behind us of everywhere and everyone we've ever been I hope you got your houseboat. I hope you got everything. -Hayley DeRoche
December 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Chapter 7: "Pattern Recognition" just dropped!!

Mateo/Merlin learns that tragedy was always in the code.
AO3: archiveofourown.org/works/723062...
Substack: grawlixstories.substack.com/p/camelotexe...
Dreamwidth: camelot-exe.dreamwidth.org/2226.html

#QueerSciFi #Cyberpunk #AmWriting
Digital art illustration in cyberpunk style: A figure in a dark hoodie and glasses hunches over a bright laptop screen at a simple wooden table. Through large windows behind them, a massive dog appears luminescent and watchful. The entire scene is washed in atmospheric blue-green lighting that suggests both digital surveillance and late-night coding sessions. The mood is tense and ethereal.
December 3, 2025 at 12:52 AM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Arthur Pendragon, heir to a corrupt green-tech empire. Mateo, the eco-warrior hacker trying to destroy it. An AGI that thinks the #Arthurianlegend should play out literally.
CAMELOT.EXE Chapter 5 ”Scarlet” link in bio
#Cyberpunk #SpecFic #SerialFiction #FantasyWriting #QueerFantasy #ArthurAndMerlin
Under streetlamps and fall leaves, Mateo (Merlin) and Dragon
November 11, 2025 at 12:16 AM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
👑 Chapter 4 of Camelot.exe is live: Echoes in the Code
When Arthur meets Mateo Ixpac (Merlin?)

I added Wattpad to the list: Grawlix-Stories
Also: AO3: grawlix
Substack: grawlixstories.substack.com

#solarpunk #cyberpunk #WebFiction #urbanfantasy #writersofinstagram #wattpadstories #prettyboy
Illustration of Mateo Ixpac, a young man with dark hair and glasses, seated at a table with a laptop open before him and an old green book in his hands. He studies the pages intently, light from unseen screens casting a faint glow while blurred figures fade into the mist behind him—half scholar, half hacker, reading the past and the code at once.
November 3, 2025 at 2:38 AM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
✨ Chapter 3 of Camelot.exe is live!
Arthur’s pursuit of the truth leads him to a secondhand shop hiding more than retro blazers: Café Null, a hacker haven.
AO3: archiveofourown.org/works/723062...
SUBSTACK: grawlixstories.substack.com/p/camelotexe...
#merlin #arthurian #cyberpunk #WebFiction
Arthur with geeks
October 27, 2025 at 3:51 AM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
✨ Chapter 2 of Camelot.exe is live!
A crown of lasers, a question from the shadows, and a message the machines can’t trace: Crowns belong to no one.
AO3: archiveofourown.org/works/723062...
SUBSTACK:
grawlixstories.substack.com/p/camelotexe...
#solarpunk #technomyth #cyberpunk #WebFiction
Arthur startled on stage as a crown glitches onto his head. Behind him, a screen flashes the words: Crowns belong to no one.
October 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Orleans Saltos
septimusbrown.com
"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."

—from The Two Towers
by J. R. R. Tolkien
a man with long hair and a beard is looking at the camera with a serious look on his face .
ALT: a man with long hair and a beard is looking at the camera with a serious look on his face .
media.tenor.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:12 AM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Back to #figuredrawing this week. These are the ones I can show without a warning, #lifedrawing
October 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
New story uploaded.
Camelot.exe: a modern Arthurian retelling where love, code, and destiny entwine.

Read Chapter 1: “A Dog Named Dragon”
➤ AO3: archiveofourown.org/works/723062...
➤ Substack: grawlixstories.substack.com

#CamelotExe #SerializedFiction #OrleansSaltos
Arthur faces a massive dog named Dragon
October 11, 2025 at 9:25 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
He was made into a weapon but instead he became a clown.

Beneath the greasepaint, Bird hides the bloodline the empire outlawed.

Querying CIRCUS PHOENIX (90k Adult Fantasy).

#DVpit #AntiColonial #QC
Pensive young clown with clasped hands.
October 8, 2025 at 10:43 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
“I’m not a victim. I’m just better at surviving than they expected.”

In a world where bloodlines decide worth, a rogue acrobat hides his outlawed heritage. But survival’s a fragile act when the empire always wants an encore.
#DVpit #DVart #AntiColonial #A #F #LGBT
A young clown with golden eyes and smeared paint holds a finger to his lips in secrecy and defiance .
October 8, 2025 at 6:45 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
An acrobat. A hunter. A dead prince’s legacy.
Bird survived war by forgetting his past & reinventing himself as a circus star in enemy territory. But when a hunter tracks him down, their collision reveals a truth that could topple a kingdom or destroy them.
Goblin Emperor×Babel
#DVpit #A #F #QC #POC
A lone acrobat hangs upside-down from a trapeze above a hazy industrial city at sunset.
October 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
Currently querying CIRCUS PHOENIX, an anti-colonial fantasy of masks, found family & rebellion.
Next: Camelot.exe where Arthur’s heir to a corrupt green-tech empire, and a mysterious genius eco-warrior hacker is trying to destroy it.
#DVparty #Retelling
dvpit.bsky.social #DVpit - Diverse Voices Pitch @dvpit.bsky.social · Oct 7
DAY 6 of #DVParty, a community event to highlight the work of Diverse Creators leading up to our pitch event, #DVPit on Oct 8th, 2025! All diverse creators can participate!

Today's Prompt: Hype up your next project or WiP!

For more info about #DVpit go to dvpit.carrd.co
#artsky #booksky #writersky
#DVparty Day 6 (October 7, 2025): Hype up your next project! Post on Bluesky with the #DVparty hashtag. Open all day! Please use alt-text if you post images. No AI generated images allowed. Have fun and make friends leading up to #DVpit! More info at dvpit.carrd.co Follow us at dvpit.bsky social for more updates!
October 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
#DVPARTY 5: Theme Song for Circus Phoenix
Sia Alive: PERFECTLY embodies HaHa/Bird’s journey from orphanhood, exile, escape & survival.
🔗 youtu.be/t2NgsJrrAyM?...
Full book playlists:
Spotify: open.spotify.com/playlist/2ei...
Apple Music: music.apple.com/us/playlist/...
#DVpit #BookPlaylist #A #F #QC
October 6, 2025 at 6:25 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
#DVParty Day 4 post a meme! This is the best I could find that already exists on the internet for Circus Phoenix, a 90k adult fantasy/steampunk novel about identity, exile, and survival under the big top. #booksky #writersky #latinawriter
Unattended children will be sold to the circus meme.
October 5, 2025 at 3:07 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
#DVParty 3: Opening lines
Pressed between rocks, heart hammering, HaHa counted down seconds.
Nine minutes, fifty-nine seconds. Ten.
The patrol arrived right on schedule. Starched blue uniforms clashed against sunbaked yellow earth, all wrong in this scorched place.
#booksky #writersky #artistsky
Man with golden eyes hides between desert rocks, tense as patrol soldiers march near a distant border wall.
October 4, 2025 at 10:31 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
#DVPit #DVParty 2 introducing your main character): Bird, seen in another light. An exile and a thief, becoming more.
My original Digital illustration of Bird emerging from sweeping blue fabric, arms raised, scales shimmering. He gazes upward, expression open and hopeful, framed by stage-like drapery that suggests transformation.
October 3, 2025 at 11:10 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
#DVPit #DVParty 2 introducing your main character): Bird, the clown and acrobat who hides his outlawed past beneath greasepaint and sequins. His greatest trick isn’t under the big top, but in surviving unseen.
My Original Digital illustration of Bird in clown makeup, with pale blue face paint, a red nose, and smudged eyeshadow. He holds a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, his golden eyes intense and secretive.
October 3, 2025 at 11:06 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
The Ringmaster, the ruthless architect behind Circus Magnificent. He keeps chaos and kindness in balance for a profitable spectacle.

Which act would you fear most under his gaze?

#CharacterArt #CharacterDesign #OriginalCharacter #Illustration #artistsonbluesky #writersonbluesky #fantasy
The Ringmaster, the ruthless architect behind Circus Magnificent. He keeps chaos and kindness in balance for a profitable spectacle. Timber The Ringmaster - closeup
September 21, 2025 at 9:03 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
🔮 Meet Misty the Magician. Loyal, restless, and always reaching for bigger magic.
#BookCommunity #IndieAuthor
Portrait of Misty the Magician, a young circus performer: Blond hair, violet eyes and determined expression.
August 24, 2025 at 8:07 PM
grawlix-stories.bsky.social
In the age of digital I'm going back to my roots. The best way to learn to draw the human figure is by #lifedrawing. Makes me get out of the house and be among my people. #figuredrawing #artistsonbluesky
20 minute life drawing 10 minute life drawing 10 minutes life drawing
August 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM