[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-151016-en":3,"doc-seo-151016-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":20,"language":21,"language_code":22,"site_id":23,"html_lang":22,"table_of_contents":24,"faqs":25,"seo_title":26,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},151016,962075114101,"Seraphina","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/e000253a75eb197efd?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780044092746381165",1,"Story & Novel","Instincts - A Short Story by Ryan Quinn","Alodie walks through the inhospitable slums of Kingsport, resigned to the city’s creeping disappearances and caught in a grim family duty that involves “settling” people, often leeches. Her cousin Boyce leads her down twisting paths until they reach Linn’s shop. The mission turns brutal immediately: Linn is bound and physically pressed into helpless submission, using fear and the room’s cluttered chaos to control her. The scene culminates in Alodie’s realization and outrage at what her instincts and loyalty have been forced to endure.","Instincts  \nA SHORT STORY BY  \nRYAN QUINN  \nStory  \nryan quinn  \nIllustration  \nSangsoo jeong  \nEditorial  \nchloe fraboni  \nLore Consultation  \nmadi buckingham, ian landa-beavers  \nCreative Consultation  \nMac Smith,  \nSebastian Stępień  \nProduction  \nBrianne Messina,  \ncarlos renta  \nDesign  \ncorey Peterschmidt  \nSpecial Thanks  \nOtis Blum, Justin Dye, Scott Shicoff, Matthew Berger, and the Diablo Immortal team—past and present—for unleashing new blood on Sanctuary  \n© 2023 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Blizzard and the Blizzard Entertainment logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, [Inc. in](Inc. in) the US o r other countries.  \nInstincts  \nTwilight in eastern Kingsport was when everyone around started to vanish.  \nAlodie was used to it, the sudden way the city got inhospitable, but she was  \nno less bothered for the familiarity.  \nShe walked with purpose as she traversed the street, more an outdoor tunnel,  \nreally, the cramped path sloping endlessly down in the dark. On either side were  \nsodden old wood homes, divided and divided again until it was impossible to chop  \nthem any smaller. Then they were just lean-tos, hovels for the wretched and the poor.  \nMewls Avenue’s dwellings hid it well from everywhere else. At least Alodie could  \nsmell the ocean here, though she couldn’t see it. Shouts and curses carried from the  \ndocks. Most corners were dead ends. Sad fish gagged their last somewhere out of  \nsight. It stunk.  \nOne saving grace for Kingsport’s slums: nobody much cared what you were doing.  \n3  \nShe followed her cousin along mold-flecked cobbles, keeping a body’s distance.  \n“Hurry up,” Boyce muttered, walking faster, not looking back at her, still not  \nsaying where they were headed.  \nBoyce was older and gaunt, deeper in the blood, with a nose so proud it served  \nas his face from most angles. His coat was big enough to hide a broadsword. Alodie  \nhad fair and fine hair bound up tight. She’d put her ugly gloves on. They were  \ndressed to settle someone.  \nOut of all the things she did for the family in Kingsport, she liked settling people  \nthe least.  \nOrganizing was tense work. Preparing the coachmen for a delivery, making sure  \nthey knew which crates to open and which ones to keep sealed, and how much  \nto bribe the watch if they got caught . . . Alodie was good with details, but too  \nmany left her exhausted at the end of a day. Even so, her allowance was decent.  \nAnd while shipping manifests were mindless, Alodie could skip out if she finished  \nfast enough. She cut through the dullness by making her nights more memorable.  \nEarlier in the year, she and Linn had gotten dead drunk and wrote “ALMS”in cow’s  \nblood on the leather hood of one of the family’s carriages.  \nThe carriage looked pristine the next morning. Nobody was punished; nobody  \neven mentioned it. Alodie amused herself for hours just imagining Boyce’s old  \nmother, the matriarch herself, her face winding up like a screw, directing the  \nwashing woman to take care of it through a string of curses.  \nLinn had been Alodie’s only friend for far too long. Alodie couldn’t say exactly  \nwhat brought them together, though she knew what kept them close: Linn had a  \npoet’s spirit. She toiled away in her shop at all hours, but she made sure both of  \nthem always had the finest silks to wear out. Alodie envied her. At least Linn wasn’t  \npart of the family. She didn’t have to settle anyone.  \nYou only settled the worst kind of people. Leeches. First they got in debt, then  \nthey borrowed, and then they tried not to pay.  \nAndAlodie always had to play dealmaker with a leech. Her cousins could get . . .  \nexcessive, and she needed to set the dates and the amounts and assuage the leech’s  \nfears while the boys stomped around and made a mess. Help the leeches help  \nthemselves before they got hurt. Even if most of them deserved to get hurt.  \nThe whole practice—the need for it—was shameful. Why weren’t people just better?  \n4","cbCaijE2o6vqejzD","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijE2o6vqejzD","pdf",5960799,26,"English","en",105,"# Kingsport’s slums and Alodie’s role\n## A concealed cruelty in Linn’s shop","[{\"question\":\"Why does Alodie move through Kingsport so cautiously?\",\"answer\":\"The city has become inhospitable, and people around her sometimes vanish. Alodie keeps distance and tries to function despite the dread.\"},{\"question\":\"What work does Alodie do for her family?\",\"answer\":\"Alodie helps “settle” people by organizing deliveries, managing details like crates and bribes, and handling negotiations tied to debts and coercion.\"},{\"question\":\"What happens when Boyce leads Alodie to Linn’s shop?\",\"answer\":\"Boyce stops at Linn’s door, then kicks it open. Linn is found tied up and pinned down to prevent her from running, turning the situation into immediate violence.\"}]","Instincts - A Short Story by Ryan Quinn | PDF",1787831218,40,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":23,"language":22,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"instincts-a-short-story-by-ryan-quinn","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/instincts-a-short-story-by-ryan-quinn/151016/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":22,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-04","2026-08-27",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":11},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why does Alodie move through Kingsport so cautiously?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"The city has become inhospitable, and people around her sometimes vanish. Alodie keeps distance and tries to function despite the dread.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What work does Alodie do for her family?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Alodie helps “settle” people by organizing deliveries, managing details like crates and bribes, and handling negotiations tied to debts and coercion.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What happens when Boyce leads Alodie to Linn’s shop?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Boyce stops at Linn’s door, then kicks it open. Linn is found tied up and pinned down to prevent her from running, turning the situation into immediate violence.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":23},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,96,100,104,109,114,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":28,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare","healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]