#...but I haven't forgotten the backlog either!)

[venusmage]

Commission/Life update for 2024

EDIT 9/16/24

As of now I've resolved around 15 commissions since this post was made at the start of June! This is much faster than I was going the past year. They're going well and I thank everyone again who has been so patient and kind. I've gotten nothing but kindness as a response to the wait, even from those who have been waiting for over a year by now. Thank you.

I recently started two new jobs and school again, so I'm a little busy. BUT everyone is (albeit not at a super fast speed) moving up in queue! Once the owed "Full" commissions are done, I expect to get through Sketch Coms even faster and currently I'm at a good pace to be done by the end of the year.

The best days to reach me are Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the moment. Otherwise it might take me a day or so to get back to you. I work on my own projects on the weekends to preserve my sanity, lol! Just know if I'm drawing something else, I haven't forgotten my queue!

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Original post:

Just want everyone to know I AM okay now and life has gotten better recently. However the past year and a half have been extremely difficult and I'm only now getting back on my feet. I generally don't like sharing life details publicly, but as a freelancer with clients that have been waiting for a while I feel like transparency is key.

If you don't want an explanation for the delays and just want to know my completion timeline, that's totally okay. Here is all the info up front. I'm going to continue updating my commission queue as usual and will not be accepting any more orders until ALL of the queue is completed. I'm working on finishing the half and full bodies first since they've been the longest waiting in queue. Then the rest. I don't have a set date in mind for when they'll be all done for good but the goal is by the end of the year. I think that's more than doable for me now. If you're a client of mine and have questions/concerns, please message me either here or on Discord and I'll do my best to help you. My username on discord is the same as my Tumblr username. Twitter and Ko-Fi are also options but I don't check them as frequently. I usually work Monday-Thursday so that will be the best time to shoot me a message or expect an update to the queue.

Information on what's been going on is below.

CW for mentions of death, financial hardship and homophobia.

As a few of you might remember, in 2019 I was disowned by my mother for being a lesbian. I made the choice to go no-contact. Since then, up until LAST YEAR, she's routinely harassed me or had other family harass me, stalked me on social media, tried to get to me through the website I take commission orders, and threatened me multiple times. I was forced to move across the country both because I felt unsafe and because my partner had family elsewhere that were more accepting. I've had to change my phone number twice.

It's been extremely difficult both financially and mentally to keep my head above water. In 2021 my grandfather died and I still haven't felt like I've been able to properly grieve. I wasn't able to see him due to her and I wasn't invited to his funeral. We were very close and he meant the world to me. In 2023 my grandmother passed away very suddenly as well, and my mother used it as an excuse to harass me over ko-fi/my professional email. It was such a horrific experience that I fell into a months long spiral that I only just now feel like I'm climbing out of. This is when commissions first stalled. I was also starting to get overwhelmed, as I had to take on more work than I could realistically handle in order to pay bills and rent. That's really it - I just had to take more orders so we weren't kicked out of our apartment, and as my mental state deteriorated I couldn't keep up.

The good news is that my wife and moved earlier this year we're living with supportive(!) family now and our financial burden is much lighter. This gives me time to work on my backlog without re-opening. I'm also going to school again, back in college starting this summer for a second degree. For my own health after commissions are finished I'm likely going to take a break on opening them for a good while, even though I really enjoy doing them.

In the past two months amazing and not-amazing things have happened. The amazing thing is I got an ADHD diagnosis, something I didn't even know had been ruining my life for years. I'm still getting used to the proper medications but I'm already seeing a big improvement. It's as much of a relief as it is frustrating. My mother also reared her head again (like she usually does at least once a year) - this time, though, I learned she'd had a stroke. While I'm not involved with her anymore, I think most people could understand how it would still be a very weird and upsetting situation. As of right now I'm free of her once again, she seems to be making a good recovery and will hopefully continue to live a happy life far away from me. Still, those two things back to back have been a LOT to deal with on top of just trying to get better in general. I stepped away from the internet for a while for my own sanity.

The downside to being a freelancer is that there's not always a safety net. That's what happened to me. Thank you all very much for being kind and patient, I genuinely have had nothing but polite interactions with all of you and I really appreciate it. I'm sorry my personal bullshit got in the way of getting my work done for you. This is the longest I've ever taken to complete commissions and it's something that I'm deeply ashamed of. I promise they will get done. Being medicated and starting to recover from the family drama has revitalized me a bit. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out.

[oliversrarebooks]

Have you ever thought about doing an interactive thing with maestro? Where we get captured and trained by him/riana. She could be either a vampire or a thrall, I feel like either one would be interesting. Or we could be a well trained thrall, one that someone promised would disappoint the maestro. Sending pleading puppy eyes your way

I've already got an interactive story I'm neglecting... I haven't forgotten about Brainwashing Chair, I was just trying to catch up on Bookseller backlog before resuming.

I've considered doing an interactive auction house story before. The interactivity would probably be around choosing what happens to the thrall moreso than choosing the thrall's actions because of how little agency they have.

As for an interactive story with Maestro... I don't know, I have quite a few chapters of the Maestro's training coming up and I'm already worried about making them all unique! So I probably wouldn't do an additional story any time soon.

[eljeebee]

Right Person, Wrong Circumstances pt 1

On a chilly spring night in Rancho Lucio, as Albert was busy filing backlogged reports, their phone rings. Priscilla gave him a glance before returning to her book, as he answered the call.

"Albert Lucio speaking," he said.

He listened at the other end as the caller spoke.

"I'll keep this call short and brief," they said. "We're reassigning Imera in a new assignment. Send her to POI-7787. Tell her we need him."

"With all due respect, Director," Albert's voice sound tensed. "There's a reason we kicked him out. Have you forgotten what he did?"

"I haven't, but he's the right person for the job, along with Imera," the voice said, exasperated. "Look, Albert, I know this is a bad idea either, but it's the top brass."

Albert sighed. The Director continued, "I'll send her his address later."

"You won't even explain?"

"Sorry, pal," The Director chuckled dryly. "Tell her she's also needed in HQ. We'll explain the mission details there, then she can relay it to you."

Priscilla noted how Albert's mood dropped. She stood up to place back the book she was reading.

When she looked back, Albert was hanging up.

"Thank you, Director," Albert said. "Priscilla will see you as soon as possible."

Priscilla's brow shot up. She did hear him say Director, but this got her interest.

She approached him, who was in deep thought, standing by his desk.

"Sounds serious," Priscilla said, hand on her hip. "Is our little vacation finished?"

Albert sighed, "I don't know, kid."

He went and sat on the couch, Priscilla following suit.

"Come on, old man," Priscilla nudged him. "What did they tell you? Is it about me? Are they sending me back to HQ? Am I finished serving my probation?"

"No, Priscilla," Albert chuckled. "They're sending you to POI-7787. We need him for another mission."

"Anthony Harrison," Priscilla muttered.

Albert nodded. "We're forming an alliance with him. You know how he works when he was still with us, so you're also assigned in this operation, not just an operative, but to also keep an eye on him."

Priscilla groaned, leaning back to the couch. "So why do I have to go?"

"They want you to tell him in person," Albert explained. "They deemed it risky to send him a message. Someone might intercept."

He looked at Priscilla, whose mood had turned sour. Who wouldn't? You send a person to someone who had broken her heart and her trust, do you think that would go well?

He sighed, pushing up his glasses. "I'm sorry, Priscilla. I'm sure the Director had tried any other options, but you'll have to face him again."

Priscilla took a deep breath.

"I don't want it either," Albert continued. "I don't know what kind of betrayal he'll do when you're alone with him."

Priscilla burst out a chuckle with that statement. She looked at him, her golden eyes glowed as she willed out her spectral crown of eyes and three pairs of spectral arms. "Albert, I'd do more than just return his betrayal. I could rip his heart out with these, beat him into a pulp."

A pair of her spectral arms pumped its fists together. Albert shook his head, chuckling. "I know, kid. I know. But that's not what I meant. He hurt you—your heart. I don't want you loosing your mind over a person who played with it."

Priscilla paused, before giving him a small smile as her spectral crown and arms disappeared, the glow of her eyes, gone. "I can do it, Albert. You don't have to worry."

Albert returned her smile. "Let's take a rest, I'm sure you'll have to be up tomorrow."

"Is he living somewhere far?" Priscilla snorted as they both left the office.

"Who knows? The Director will send you his address anytime soon."

The next morning, Priscilla had to woke up around five in the morning.

She had received Harrison's address on her terminal, and it's in a city. The same city where she and Harrison...started. From dating to marriage, to divorce.

Priscilla gazed out of her window for a moment, watching as the dazzling stars still light up the sky. She doesn't know what to feel right now, or for later when she meets him again.

Whatever, she thought. I just need a bubble bath.

next

[phoenixradiant]

OC Interview Tag Game: Anesaru and Sizen

My thanks to @thewritingautisticat for the tag! I'm well into the cast of side characters at this point (and I probably have one of these in the bottomless backlog too), so let's do Anesaru and Sizen. This'll be fun.

Were you named after anyone?

Anesaru: "With a name like this I'd have to be. Four syllables? Unfortunately I can't remember for the life of me who it was."

Sizen: "Pretty sure it was your cousin twenty-one times removed. Said to have found a cure for Ram's Blight that singlehandedly wiped the disease off Amkarea."

Anesaru: "You knew that?"

Sizen: "This is only the fourth time you've forgotten since Chiodan. Besides, I'm named after her Dragon."

Anesaru: "You are?"

Sizen: "Lady Saru, believe me when I say you have a mind for everything except family history, but you do not have a mind for family history."

When was the last time you cried?

Anesaru: "When Sizen opened the Len-cursed door. I'm afraid my eyes aren't what they used to be. I suppose you mean really cried, though, and that was when I... I..."

Sizen: "Saru? Let's not talk about it. I'm afraid that means I can't answer either. Er, would you mind letting me hear future questions before you ask them?" *gets the whispered list* "We're not answering some of these."

Sizen has decided to strike the next question.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Anesaru: "I didn't used to, thought it was deceptive, didn't much like it. Now though, I like the thought it takes. It keeps the mind busy."

Sizen: "Picked up a bit in the army, but generally no."

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Anesaru: "How much light they let in. The ones who really care, when they come in, they open the door just a crack and slip through and close it again."

Sizen: "I do my best to tell them to keep the light down on their way in but most of them don't seem to listen. As for me... Curious, I don't know that I've ever really thought about it. I suppose if they have any weapons on them. You can tell a lot about a man by the weapons he chooses."

After deliberation, Sizen has decided to strike the next question.

Scary movies or happy endings?

Anesaru: "I don't suppose I hear much of either, these days. Just news. News is either good or bad, but it's rarely 'scary' or 'happy'. Except when the herbalist girl sent me a vial of that salve. I use it sparingly, but... Arknne... There's not a more wonderful feeling in the world. Now we know it works, Rel tells me she's working on more."

Sizen: "That's what we've heard. We're a bit busy with the other tasks you have for us to fetch it by wyvern, but some of her friends, caravan workers, have been entrusted with keeping the shipments constant."

Anesaru: "And what about you, Sizen? What kind of stories do you like?"

Sizen: "I try to stay away from that stuff. Haven't been to a play in over a year."

Anesaru: "Sizen! Don't deprive yourself of that over me!"

Sizen: "I only ever went because you were going anyway! I like doing things, not watching people pretend to do things!"

Anesaru: "Sizen Ul-Kuren, don't you lie to me! If I find out you're not living a life outside of worrying about me, I will grope my way to a window and throw myself out!"

Sizen: "That wouldn't even kill you, Saru. It would just hurt. A lot."

Anesaru: "That was my intention. That'll show you."

Any special talents?

Anesaru: "I used to be able to juggle. Last time I tried I ended up with a knife through my hand. I wasn't even juggling knives!"

Sizen: "A bit of magic here and there. Nothing that really improves society, just a few combat spells."

Anesaru: "You can literally throw lightning out of your body."

Sizen: "So can a lot of other people! It's hard, true, but it's hardly unique."

Anesaru: "You gave your father lightning burns when you were three."

Sizen: "And he caused a weird scar on my grandfather's hand. It runs in the family!"

Sizen has decided to strike the next question two questions

What sort of sports do you play?

Anesaru: "I used to be good at running. Ria, if it weren't so bright outside I'd probably still be good at running."

Sizen: "Combat sports, mostly."

How tall are you?

Anesaru: "Last I checked I'm a few hairs shy of my bodyguard. Hardly a good look, a monarch being shorter than those standing beside her."

Sizen: "So I got used to walking around barefoot. It works, she doesn't need much more height. Objectively I'd say a little over three ozrins" [call it 5' 10'']

What was your favourite subject in school?

Anesaru: "It wasn't Len-cursed family history. Probably mathematics."

Sizen: "Teare family history. One of us had to do it."

What is your dream job?

Anesaru: "To be honest I wish I'd never left the Guard. Didn't have much choice in the matter, but..."

Sizen: "If I'm honest, I don't much like honest work. Too repetitive. Too mind-numbing. Too purposeless. If I weren't looking after the queen I don't know what I'd do."

Anesaru: "I hardly see how that's not repetitive, these days."

Sizen: "But you're nice to talk to and it's far from purposeless. So here I'll stay. As long as you need me."

...

Hahahaha they're both emotionally wrecked in different ways. Welp, time for the tagging:

NP tagging @somethingclevermahogony, @aesthetic-writer18, and @pluppsauthor!

[clonerightsagenda]

College AU character roundup: Everyone I can think of who I haven't mentioned before

Izumi and Sig helped take care of Ed and Al after their mother's death when Hohenheim was on sabbaticals or otherwise occupied. Izumi is a former chemistry teacher. Sig is still a butcher.

Sheshka got fired from the university archives (the libraries in FMA are far more archival than library-like) because instead of using MPLP to work through their backlog quickly she was reading everything word by word and making item level finding aids.

Alex Armstrong as mentioned is on the football team. He was involved in chemistry research until the chemical weapons incident at which point he dropped it.

Olivier is captain of the women's hockey team. She also has her eye on student government but is content to let Roy and Wrath destroy each other for the time being. She is the proud leader of the LGBTQ center and refuses to let her brother on the premises because she thinks he's a wimp and a coward for dropping out of chemical research instead of either committing to the atrocities or trying to fix them. Olivier's sense of morality is weird and mostly centers on committing to a bit.

Darius, Heinkel, Zampano, Jerso, and Yoki aren't really relevant to this AU. They're probably instructors. Ed got Yoki fired somehow and spent an entire semester emailing Darius and Heinkel without ever learning their names.

Kimblee was also part of the chemistry research project and is one of those 'science is neutral and we should take it as far as it'll go no matter the cost' guys. He also thinks everyone else is ridiculous for being upset about the outcome because they knew they were contracting with the military, they know enough chemistry to know what the compound could do, why are they acting all distressed now? Were they being willfully ignorant? Horrible, worst guy you know has a good point, etc.

Marcoh - The faculty member running the lab for the chemical weapon research. He resigned afterward.

As previously mentioned, Maria Ross and Denny Brosh are RAs and going through hell.

I'm sure there are people who I've forgotten. If they come up later I'll mention them then.

[desultory-novice]

post forgotten land, do you think hal will retire waddle dees as enemies from future mainline games? also, when do you think the next mainline game will release?

It used to be, we got a new Kirby game around once a year. 

Those weren't all mainline titles, but mainline entries weren't infrequent then by any means. In a way, we're extremely lucky to get a mainline game, an expanded mini-game (how I treat Dream Buffet) and a remake of a mainline game all in one year! Not all companies treat their properties as well as HAL has for their 30th anniversary.

However, the further along the console generations get, the longer development on new titles tends to be, just as a general rule. That can lessen some if you're able to reuse assets and whatnot. It also depends what you're developing for. A system your programmers already know inside and out? Or something entirely new to your staff?

It's safe to say, 5 games in, HAL Labs knows Switch development extremely well. There's no particular rule about this, but a Kirby game is usually one of the last "big" titles to come out for any given Nintendo platform. (I believe that's because HAL would prefer to work on hardware they are familiar with, rather than rush to the newest, shiniest thing.) So I'd say we probably still have one more Kirby Switch game ahead of us after Return to Dream Land DX. Which would be nice, because when a new console inevitably launches, we probably won't be seeing a Kirby game for a few years, while the team acclimates to the new platform.

Director Kumazaki mentioned somewhere something about Star Allies and Forgotten Land are akin to two parts of a single story. Before a new mainline title can be developed, they must decide what Kirby's next adventure will be. Going back through the interviews, I read that Star Allies was designed with the thought of "What might the LAST Kirby game be like?" Of course, it wasn't the last. It was just designed so that it could fulfill that role if necessary. This puts Kumazaki et al in an interesting position, because where do you go from here? Anyway, that's a question for a different ask! Moving on to Waddle Dees...

Hot Take: I don't necessarily think they need to retire Waddle Dees as enemies just because we've rescued and made friends with them. For one thing, being friends with them hasn't stopped us from knocking them around before! Waddle Dee was a companion back in 64. We’ve fought plenty of Waddle Dee since then! 

Something I try to remind myself too is that while Popstar is a world of food, naps, and playtime, "playtime" in Popstar is probably a little more wild than we expect it to be in our world. 

As an example, look at the number of people who see Meta Knight as Kirby's caring, attentive father figure who would make anyone who picked on Kirby regret it with their life.

...This is knowing that very same Meta Knight challenges Kirby to an intense sword duel to the (not) death every time they meet!! That’s not exactly throwing the baseball around the in backyard, is it? But heck, maybe it IS on Popstar...?

I mean, they're bringing back that one mini game where you hit BOMBS at each other with a frying pan in RtDL DX!! I think.... I really think the residents of Popstar are generally less concerned about fighting (and blowing up) than maybe we are...? 

(Probably why forgiveness is given out so easily on Popstar. "Oh, you blew up my castle? Yeah, Kirby did that last week too when we were fighting over who got the last slice of pie. No big deal.")

You can attack the residents of Waddle Dee Town too and they just angry Wanya! at you and go back to what they're doing.

I think it's fine to keep them as enemies because they help make the world less lonely. Sure, they could keep the concept of Waddle Dee Town going, but probably only for a game or two. Kirby games always like to mix up the formula every few entries. Even the most diehard fans of Forgotten Land would probably get tired of that same gameplay loop by "Kirby and the Forgotten Land 4: I Can't Believe They Forgot Again!" 

As enemies, they get a chance to interact with the world in fun and interesting ways too. Do you recall the various swinging Waddle Dees? (I ADORE those ones so much. Sooo cute!) Driving Waddle Dees? Napping Waddle Dees? Waddle Dees who happen to be standing above a pit trap and OH NO WADDLE DEE! I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT THAT SWITCH!

I typed that last one out because I've had that "Ahhhh! Nooo! Poor little guy!" reaction to Waddle Dees even before Forgotten Land came out. And I imagine I will continue to have that reaction to them. 

You can also avoid them, too! Outside of the mini bosses, you're rarely (never...?) forced into attacking one. (Has someone made a "no Waddle Dees harmed" series of challenge videos akin to that "Can you beat <X> without Jumping?" one?) Kirby is a platforming series at heart. You don’t even need to hurt anyone to progress. Well, not most.

-

That's a long way of saying, I think they can still be enemies because I think it's fine with the Dees themselves if they are! At least, going by the general worldview of Kirby. I believe that when the Dees are really, truly in danger (being kidnapped by the Beast Pack is clearly something they don't want) Kirby and the rest will go out of their way to save them. But I don't think being inhaled or spit out by Kirby counts as "real danger." It's rarely been portrayed that way!

[magdasabs]

I like the idea of that austrian pre-season tournament especially because of the diversity of teams but the timing seems weird. I think the spanish teams shouldn't be near any of these events this this time around given how late their league finishes, even for Real Madrid who haven't had the backlog of fixtures Barca have they're still going to be finishing their league up at the end of June and then getting a couple of weeks off and then be back at it again for these dumb events, its silly

Yup, the Spanish league hasn't actually finished yet (well it's tomorrow but still) and they want them playing in a tournament in 5 weeks time??

As for the English teams, they have way too many players going to the Olympics so that's even worse because they will either 1) miss the tournament altogether or 2) be forced to play pretty much right after coming back from Japan. And I personally would love to see Chelsea, for example, play a friendly against some of those teams but their weakest point is the defence and they have Magda, Millie, Aniek, Sophie, Niamh, Jonna going to the Olympics... that only leaves Jess, Maren who we are hoping will be recovered by them and Hannah Blundell who Emma seems to have forgotten exists but I guess she'll have to remember when she has no other options?? Like how does that sounds like a good idea?

[tea-and-finalfantasy]

abt adhd & capitalism like yea I struggle most w work/money bc it's something I need to do and find it esp grueling bc there's that time/impending doom factor on top of no rewards and other mental illnesses but like I've been unemployed since March and most days I do nothing. It's a lot better on my anxiety and i just. I was so burnt out that anything's an improvement but just bc I'm not strangled by work doesn't mean I've completed anything I've wanted to do. I've had two months to write/submit poetry but I haven't had insp or ability for anything. I've been hyperfixating on ffxv that I'll play for 6-8 hrs, fuck up my sleeping schedule bc I'm not ready to sleep yet but my sister's done playing for the night so I have to stop- I've forgotten to take my meds bc of it and I'd been doing pretty well w that recently. It's fun but it's very obviously getting in the way of other things too, all of which are non-work things and are either purely for fun or are personal projects. Even now I want to nap but my brain wasn't gonna let me rest until I typed this out so I wouldn't forget or lose interest in it post-nap. I have many many other examples like the backlog of podcast scripts or only eating snacks in quarantine bc it's impossible to cook but I'm gonna be here forever w all that lol so yea

[moodyinapinkbow]

Just curious, as I am sure you are very busy, but are you backed up with requests or do you pick and choose? I sent one over a month ago and haven't seen it? Like said just wondering cause I love your boards!

Yikes. To be honest, the real tea is that I’m backed up and I pick and choose. Essentially it all boils down to time: there’s only so many hours in a day that I can reasonably be on tumblr so, to keep things moving as smoothly as possible, I tend to consult my request list, cherry pick prompts that I currently have images for either saved on my phone or Pinterest and then make them. If I did every request in order, I’d have to cold hunt images around the internet for each moodboard and it would take forever.😓 This way lets me post and gives me a little more time to slowly build up to requests that I know I have in backlog. It should be noted that I always give preference to older requests, though. I have one laptop for school that I take good care of and one at home on my desk that I hardly ever shut off. I’ve got multiple tabs open to various parts of the list on the home computer so that I have access to older stuff and no one ever gets forgotten. (Sometimes I build several moodboards over the course of weeks by adding an image here or there.) It’s kind of a mess but it’s the best method I’ve been able to work out for myself. If I have two similar requests, I always do the older one first. Time-wise, things vary! A request might take months or it might get done in one day. If someone requests a specific movie moodboard on a day that I spent some time saving film stills from, they’re probably gonna get lucky. It’s not, like, the fairest system (I actually feel kind of bad about it sometimes) but at least the posts are regular. Meep. 😞