It could become a novella; I just have to stay motivated to writing more about this and depicting the full story here. There’s more to this specific story that’s been rattling around in my head, and I do want it to see paper (or Word document) relatively soon.
Noted on all your critiques, and I agree with a great deal of them. “That” is a word which I constantly overuse unconsciously, and am trying to get better with. I do have a fix for it coming though
Donan is honestly just that wise old guy who tries to crack as many jokes as he can at the expense of the “whippersnappers”. I’ve tried to catch that in his personality, but who knows if it was successful. I’ve got a fix for that one sentence you pointed out, and I’ll catch that when I get home later (or have a moment at school)
As for the first Lesmes sentence you pointed out, the reasons I took that route are 1) text shrieks always look so bizarre to me and 2) to me, it set up a situation that frazzled her more and made her statement, in my opinion, much more emphatic than normal. However, I can see your point of view, and will do what I can to revise that bit
I do kind of like the name Soul Keepers, I’m just not sure how well it will fit with the rest of the current iteration of this story that’s in my head. I’ll make that the temp title, and as it keeps going (if you keep reading), perhaps you could continue to suggest title ideas as everything progresses? I’ll be doing the same