The story I’d most like to develop is an original screenplay entitled Empyrean.

The protagonist of Empyrean is Jade Nooneson. Born Benjamin Greene, she was assigned male at birth and raised in a fundamentalist Christian household. After coming out and undergoing conversion therapy, she left home for the city, hoping to craft a new life for herself, but poverty forced her into prostitution. Though she’s living openly as a transwoman, she expresses self-loathing and a sort of “agnostic misotheism”, questioning how a God of love could’ve created a person like her.

The antagonist doesn’t have a name yet, but I’ve chosen to call him the Apostle for now. Like Jade, the Apostle was raised in a fundamentalist environment. Unlike Jade, the Apostle has embraced his upbringing, and has tasked himself with delivering “holy punishment” to “inveterate sinners” — fornicators, prostitutes, homosexuals, etc. — all under the instruction of “God”. The Apostle isn’t merely insane; “God” is real, and with each sacrifice “God” fills the Apostle with its power, transforming him into a “holy angel”.

Empyrean is a concept near and dear to my heart; it would be my most spiritual work, relating my concept of God, evil, etc. But I’m hesitant to start on it for a number of reasons.