#IT'S DONE!!! Completed two days before the deadline... 🥲

[meerphanim]

The Ferryman's Scorpion

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My entry for @catmask 's and @frogcroaks ' contest, Monster Mayhem!

I chose the theme Wisteria Will-O-Wisp for flower symbolism and will-o'-the-wisp folklore. Also because of the color purple ← My favourite color 💜

Thank you for hosting this contest where I can try out monster designing and good luck to the other participants. Peace and love on planet Earth!

[darlingpoppet]

any updates on wtdf? i hope u have a wonderful day 💕

Hi anon! Thanks so much for checking in! And thanks for doing it on tumblr, this is a good opportunity to push me out of lurk mode and refill my queue while offering some much needed updates!

Anyways, the short answer is: WTDF chapter 8 is coming along, albeit more slowly than I intended, and it might still be another month or two before it’s finally done.

The longer explanation is this: Chapter 8 is another doozy like chapter 4 was… if you read the notes for chapter 4, or read my other WTDF-related posts here on tumblr, then perhaps you’re familiar with the fact that completing that chapter was also a protracted process that juggled a different fic project with a fixed deadline, a bout of writer’s block, and inspiration wandering to some different one-shots before ultimately getting me back on-track. I’m a bit sorry to say that I seem to be unintentionally experiencing an exact repeat of last year 🥲💦

In April, when I was still on-track to finish the chapter within my self-imposed deadline, a friend asked me to pinch-hit for their zine, and I was happy to put all my own projects on the back burner for a couple of weeks while I helped out a friend in-need. Once that project was finished at the end of April I immediately got back to work on WTDF, but less than two weeks in (right around the time Hades II Early Access dropped, so I was already a little bit distracted lol) I got saddled with a leadership position preparing for an event at my kid’s kindergarten, which took up 100% of my free time as well as the complete use of my hands (because A LOT of crafting was also involved lol.) So for the rest of May, zero writing got done (though I listened to a lot of podcasts and youtube video essays during that time, I’m thinking of making a rec list sometime of the stuff I enjoyed just for fun!)

And now here we are toward the end of June and the chapter still isn’t done. Even now I keep huffing the copium by telling myself I can finish it by the end of the month, but I’m gonna be honest: all of the interruptions & delays have left me struggling to get back in the right headspace for this story & at this point I admit that I seem to have fallen into another writer’s block 🥲 The last couple of weeks have been me making incremental progress while also trying to refill my cups.

I really hoped I could finish it this month because I’m already planning on doing camp nanowrimo in July to FINALLY finish the draft for the dreamers AU that has also been in the works for over a year now. And tbh that’s the story that I’m now daydreaming about as I start to get myself back into the writing zone. So I think I just gotta Trust The Process on this one and strike the iron where it’s hot for now, because at least I can point to my experience last year and give credit to my fics Closest & Flourishing for giving me the needed momentum to finally get WTDF Ch 4 over the finish line (followed by a streak of productivity that lasted me pretty much up until this point!)

So while I’m sorry that this means WTDF Ch 8 is gonna continue to be delayed a bit longer, I also think it’ll be worth it in the end when I have both these projects finished and I’m feeling good about the direction the inspiration is taking them. FWIW a lot of the ideas & themes I’m thinking about for the dreamers AU—such as prolonged periods of transition, coming of age, and the liminal qualities of queerness & gender identity—they are helping ideas coalesce in my approach to WTDF Ch 8, which, as I may have mentioned before, is a treatment of the Skyros arc. It’s actually fitting that I’m working on these projects both at the same time because I think they’re actively making one another better, which means I’m getting even more excited to complete & share them! The dreamers AU seems likely to be split into two parts at this point, so it makes sense to me to sandwich the WTDF update in between those. I can never really make concrete promises about my publishing schedule anymore, but for now at least, that’s the plan.

Anyways sorry for the longwinded & possibly boring explanation/list of excuses. But I appreciate your ask, it means a lot to know that people care 🥹🙏 Thank you everyone for their patience so far!!! I know I’m slow haha but everyone has been nothing but kind & understanding about it <3

You have a wonderful day as well ❤️

[lynne-monstr]

hi, it's the anon who's stopping by! how have you been?? I hope you're having a nice week. this last month has been very hectic for me, work was very busy, which both helps with my situation and doesn't. on the one hand work is pretty much the one thing that's going okay in my life rn so focusing on that helps distract from everything else. on the other hand, when all of a sudden work becomes a struggle too, it's tough. but as always, it's best to focus on the positives (easier said than done lol). for example: it's summer! I was actually able to wear a dress to work today, finally!!

I wanted to ask: I remember you mentioned a while ago that you recently cracked the code to making salads tasty, and I was wondering if you could share some tips that worked for you? I'm trying to eat more healthily bc I haven't been doing a very good job of that lately, and I struggle with vegetables tbh. I like the idea of a salad in theory but when I try it it's either bland or straight up acidic (looking at you, lettuce). I don't mind making it "more unhealthy", veggies are still veggies. I just want to be able to eat them without the experience being absolutely miserable 🥲

as always sending you good vibes! I always enjoy seeing you on my dash! have a lovely week!! 💞

hi anon, it' good to see you again! I've been super busy lately, mostly work stuff. we're gearing up for a big deadline and so the meetings and the business travel have ramped up. my flight home on friday got super delayed and I got in late, and i think it's a sign that I'm getting older because the late night really threw off my whole weekend. I had plans to get out and explore but i just bummed around for 2 whole days, which was admittedly pretty nice.

I totally feel you on the busy work stuff being both a blessing and a curse. work was a great distraction for me when I needed it but lol I wish it came without all the stress and the pressure and the rest. it sounds like you're hanging in there, and I am sending lots of good vibes your way! looking on the bright side is SO HARD but ughhh it's one of those things I've found actually pays off. I hope work stays relatively chill for you.

and yay for summer! (it's my favorite time of year). dresses are the best! it's always so fun to break out the summer wardrobe. i've been living in long flowy skirts for a few weeks now!

okay salads! I love tasty salads. I should probably preface this with the confession that i genuinely enjoy vegetables. but i hope you can still find some of this useful. my biggest issue with salads was that i'm lazy and also hate spoiled browning salad mix, so those were the two big problems i was looking to solve for myself. i'll put my process in bulletpoionts because i love bulletpoints.

chopping the lettuce! game changer.

baby spinach stays fresh the whole week. also i can use it in morning fruit smoothies to get extra veggies.

i chop all my veggies (usually red bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese) at the beginning of the week because i'm lazy. also, i roast extra veggies at dinner and use the leftovers in my salads for variety

i supplement fresh veggies with canned: heart of palm, artichokes, baby corn, roasted red peppers

carbs in the salad! couscous, pearl couscous, orzo, rice. it makes it more fun and gives good texture

also beans! (omg butter beans in salad is amazing!). canned because i'm lazy

crispy tortilla strips! yum

for protein, i braise a batch of chicken thighs and shred them up , and pop them in the salad as needed. also i keep grocery store frozen fried chicken in the freezer for if I run out of fresh.

i don't like completely cold salads so i gently reheat the chicken before i use it to give it some temperature variation

homemade tahini lime salad dressing because it's delicious. also I will 100% take the leftover salad dressings from catered work lunches.

I guess that's a longwinded way of saying that i make sure to actually put stuff I like eating in my salads. I switch things up for variety, but the combo of chopped lettuce, carbs, protein, veggies and a good dressing goes a long way. tbh, a good dressing is 100% the most important part of a good salad. I stopped buying those crappy low fat salad dressings because they taste like cardboard. I either make my own or splurge on the nice full fat ones and use them in moderation.

good luck with your salads! i've definitely felt a lot more energetic since i got better about eating more fruits/vegetables. (granted, some of that might also be the vitamin supplements I started taking on the advice of my doctor.) i hope it works for you!

thanks for stopping by, I was wondering how you were doing and I'm so glad to hear the updates!