#in unrelated news WHEN will we be done with the book of job

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 10

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

I am so stoked for this chapter! I've been really getting into the story to the point that I want to read multiple chapters per day (I COULD but I also want to be able to take notes- so I cannot realistically with the amount of hours in a day I have) BUT I will continue with one a day.

Normally I have hot drinks while reading, but I am dehydrated as fuck, so take this as your (mostly mine, but also your) reminder to drink some water.

Let's get into it!

Wait! Like three seconds in and we are starting off strong! How can Sha Hualing control Shen Qingqiu??? p213

Holy shit, even in his new body he's being poisoned. I suppose, theoretically, if there is a person who never gets poisoned, there must be a person, statistically, who always get's poisoned. p214

Shen Qingqiu (probably): if I had a dime for every time I had demonic blood poisoning me I would have two, and that's not a lot, but fucked up it happened twice. LOL

also Shen Qingqiu (probably at this point): "and this is how I was abducted and then became a qi sex slave for a half demon cultivator" p214

Omg also, the fact that Sha Hualing tried to plant a fake SQQ to try and appease Luo Binghe. RIP to her this time for almost (accidentally) doing it again. no wonder Luo Binghe is so pissed! pp216-217

Oh god. SQQ probably doesn't die here but it would be equally terrible and funny if after all of this, second body and all, like less than 2 days in, Luo Binghe just accidentally destroys SQQ. immediate end of story p217

Well- the system is now fixed! p220

and now shen qingqiu is wearing basically a veil, oh my. p222

(Okay unrelated but related to the veil, I desperately need some arranged marriage au's. I am so ready to read the heck out of this pairing when I'm done the books).

I have a sneaking suspicion that this man (SQQ) does a terrible job of hiding his identity. "he just had to be especially careful so Luo Binghe didn't discover that he'd pull off a great escape using the Son-Moon Dew Mushrooms". p222

He really needs a better name than peerless cucumber. LOL I can't every time he introduces himself. p223

oh no, baby Luo Binghe has been mourning this entire time. p224

You know what, I'm not even mad that Little Palace Mistress is in this awful state, she is a vile character that has not grown on me at all. p226

Yeah Shen Qingqiu he definitely did not end up with any of the women because he has been super mourning for you my guy. (not that he knows this because he is oblivious af) pp228-229

Oh. My. God. This man really thinks that Luo BInghe is asexual. I can't wait till he finds out. LOL p230

Oooo! Another dream realm sequence p231

oh and we have two SQQ's (again I need this fanfiction)

aaaaaah luo binghe has clocked the real SQQ p236

Okay okay, he thinks this SQQ is part of the dream and does not know he is indeed the real deal. thank fuck for SQQ's sake I guess p236-237

Oop. now this guys is "yes and"ing Luo Binghe in the dream. Oh gosh I hope this ends alright. p237

The head pats! p238

OH MY GOD p239

DREAM REALM KISS??????!!!!!!!!!!!!! p239

(AHAHAAA his face in the art tho)

LOL the system p239

Bro just found out why Luo Binghe had no wives and is GOOPED. He really found out in the worst of ways for him ahahahahahahahah I am CACKLING p241

I truly don't know how these two end up together with SQQ not vibing at all. is it Stockholm syndrome? like I genuinely do not know how SQQ ends up realizing his emotions for this man.

SQQ is literally saved by the bell in this one. p242

Liu Qingge is here?!?!? has he been trying to avenge SQQ this entire time? p243

Ah, Fuck!

SO MANY THINGS HAPPENED.

We have a kiss, we have a SQQ now trying to be sneaky, I honestly don't know how this man is going to stay hidden- if at all.

And next chapter we have a showdown ?!?!?!?

[heathtrash]

When you're working on TWW fanfic, how do you get like new inspiration or even just the motivation to keep going?

(p.s. thank you for keeping the fandom alive!!)

inspiration/ideas are something i almost never have a problem with. i come up with new scenarios for these gays almost constantly and it's everything in me to not just constantly begin new wips and crossovers and aus that have never been explored! and there's so much media to draw from with tww with all eight books, the shows, the movie, the spinoffs - idk but even like vanilla 2017 or 1998 stuff is always giving me life, maybe because i'm an insatiable multishipper with no chill and an adoration of rarepairs.

i also make sure i "read around" tww. i watch things or listen to audiobooks with a related genre or vibe, especially if i'm exploring au or want to go for a specific tone. keeping your brain active and making connections like this helps so much with inspiration and plot. it's like going on a silly little mental health walk, but instead of nature or whatever, you're opening your brain up to new possibilities. even something completely unrelated can spark something! it makes the worlds you write feel a bit richer as you're writing them.

motivation is something different, because i struggle with a lot of self-confidence in my own writing (lol, cptsd. i'm in therapy). comments on my works do really help with that. but these days people seem to feel weird about leaving comments on works that aren't like a week old??? bruh people still talk about books that are decades or centuries old. and we have some lovely people still in the fandom who are willing to read some of my work, and that is amazing to me!!

but of course, there are fics i've started that i am not sure will ever see the light of day because i feel like they're not good enough, or works that i've put up that very few people were interested in (rip to pippa university years my beloved. never escaped single digits on the kudos for 10k of fic). those embarrassments and failures hold me back so much because they confirm my own negative thoughts about my writing and make me not want to put my energy into this. i have a full plan of chapter 13 of a clock with no hands, but i keep giving myself imposter syndrome over my ability to write it well enough. idk. rationally, i know that the types of story i write are sometimes not what people want to read. i think it's important to talk about (please i am NOT fishing) because i'm sure there are many people who feel the same way. some people even look up to me as a writer?? but i cannot emphasise enough that it's a miracle that anything goes online with my mental health being how it is.

anyway, enough about me! mostly i try to think primarily of the fandom and what's best for us right now. that's why i'm running the drabble exchange, which i think will be a really fun way to get little sparks of inspiration going for everyone, as well as hopefully providing a chance for new writers to dip their toe into whatever ship they like! please sign up to join in - this is the last weekend before i close sign-ups!

i'm certainly not solely responsible for keeping the fandom alive though!!! there are some incredible artists who are doing a much better job of that than me with the recent influx of art - as well as all those who are writing new fics that are providing after the slump we had with the conclusion of the 2017 series. it was really hard to recover the fandom after s3, and i know i've had a small part to play in that with the twitter group chat evolving into reviving the discord. but i couldn't have done any of that if no one else was around to join in!

(also side note - general invitation extended to anyone who wants to join the discord!)

[plotsjotsandespressoshot]

This thing that tickle your brain will never be frivolous. 

When we were little, we did the things that our parents wanted us to do.  The activities that they deemed appropriate for our age, gender, social interaction and growth.  They may not have been the things that we wanted to do though. 

You may have sat there and thought the common refrain “When I grow up I’m going to-“

Learn about space, learn to draw, read this kind of book, try that sport, play that instrument, have that pet, learn about that religion, become a writer, play that video game, watch that movie, go to that place. 

Of course you did.  We all wanted to learn and be astronauts and fire people. We were so filled with wonder and we didn't censor that. Because when we are young were inherently know that everything is wonderous.

But then we got older, then we went to school, and we picked a major and had to focus all of our attention on it.  We got a job and threw ourselves completely into it with everything that we had and those dreams of space, of books, of far-off places, of learning those new and completely unrelated things were shoved to the back burner. 

We labeled them as frivolous this time.  We didn’t that that class or that workshop to learn how to forage for herbs or learn how to work metal because there was yard work that we thought needed to be done or the pans under the sink needed a deep cleaning. 

But all the while, as we lay in bed, we were secretly checking the planetariums schedule under the covers with that 10-year-old that just wanted to go. 

Why haven’t you done that thing that you’re interested in?  Why haven’t you taken that one hour a week for the thing that tickles your brain and soul so delightfully?  Why did we get this far just to be the one telling us that we shouldn’t actually indulge ourselves. 

This is our one beautiful and unique life.  This is our one chance!  Don’t ignore that.  Don’t be the one instead of your parent telling you that the thing that keeps up thinking, the thing that interests you isn’t ‘useful’.  Who cares if it’s useful or not?  Who cares if you aren’t going to become an astronaut!? 

If it brings you wonder, do it!   The things that interest you, that tickle your brain will never be frivolous. 

[skygemspeaks]

so i'm on chapter 24 of telepath right now

new thoughts:

it's really nice seeing amber and forge develop a genuine friendship now that her weird obsession with him has dissipated. it's nice that she has a tie to her teen years, and i like him a lot more now that it's become obvious he himself hasn't done anything malicious. i'm so disappointed in shanna though

finding out that amber had been kidnapped as a child was a really cool reveal, especially because we had already been given all the pieces in the past! we knew that people who had been through traumatic experiences would have their memories altered to help them heal, so when she started talking about having been outside even though she didn't remember when it had happened and there were no records of her ever having been outside, i'm sure a more observant person than me would have been able to figure it out lmao. these kinds of reveals are always more interesting when you can look back and see all the hints that had been there from the beginning that you had missed

the theory that the person who had kidnapped amber as a child had been from another hive is really fascinating. it would explain why they had never been found and had never re-entered our hive - they had simply gone back to their own

iirc amber's recurring dream about forge takes place with her outside and being very terrified - current theory is that this person who had kidnapped her back then was a telepath, and they had chosen that opportunity to implant her obsession with forge in her mind, as well as the dream. the only question is why forge, out of all the children in the hive? what will be his part to play in all this?

on an unrelated note, it's always fun reading about emergency runs. janet edwards has this really great talent of coming up with really fascinating scenarios/jobs for her protagonists. while reading the portal future series, i always love reading about jarra's excavations too. i don't know how she does it

one thing i've noticed is that there are lots of similarities to portal future. not in the lazy copy/paste way, but more in terms of seeing which themes janet edwards seems to enjoy exploring/writing about, interesting character dynamics and story threads, that kind of thing. so it still feels refreshing and new, but also familiar and comforting in a way. not sure if i'm explaining that well.

i continue to really enjoy the writing style in this series more than the one in portal future (though i do still like portal future more as a whole, which isn't a surprise given that first i'm only like 2/3 through the first book of hive future, and portal future has a sprawling, intricate extended universe and i've read the main trilogy countless times already to the point it's become embedded in my psyche permanently). it seems to be aimed towards an older target audience than portal future was, and the dialogue especially tends to be a lot more natural than in portal future

[ardentlurker]

jp log 11 04/06/24

leveled up to lvl 4 in wanikani, so it's time to pay subscription fee, i guess. i recognised a word that i learned from wanikani (出口) appear in an episode of cardcaptor sakura, so that's pretty cool. i need to listen to the audio more on new words instead of... just not doing that and realising i have no idea how the pitch is actually pronounced or etcetera. stopped genki self-study around a day ago for now. my japanese class is going at a pretty good pace because it's monday-friday, but i guess it's mostly because it takes a lot of effort to sit down and get myself to focus and study a textbook, and i kept procrastinating it to the end of the day. feels pretty painful. i'll like to go back when i have to switch to part-time classes, but we will probably see depending on time constraints then... ugh, maybe i'm just being lazy because i just end up spending less time on japanese now. guess i'll try to watch more anime in comparison, or either pick it up again. anyway, i guess i'll talk more about class a bit. i was surprised that minna no nihongo uses 2 books to complete the n5 comprising of 25 chapters in total, while genki has 12 chapters, but i guess genki's chapters are just way longer than minna no nihongo's. i can't really self-study minna no nihongo because the school buys the taiwan edition for some reason and thus all the grammar and vocab translations are in traditional chinese lmao. (they give out translations when you get to the chapter) pretty cool to be taught by a native japanese teacher who can talk about the nuances along with what words japanese people usually use / say. i usually enjoy class most of the time so far, unless i feel stressed out from failing to remember things that everyone seems to have remembered, so that's nice. probably worst thing about my class is how much it costs, man. we were doing some pair practice in class and the prompt was "name of school" ____ and my classmate was like (school name)は高いです。 and i just laughed because man. REAAAAL. if i paid this on my own, i'll only be able to take up to N3 while depleting almost everything, and honestly i don't know if i'm still going to be funded taking classes all the way through. i don't really have a "useful in our capitalistic society/to gain jobs/study opportunity" to learn japanese, and also because that's not really the reason why i'm learning, i guess. doubt there is money to go study overseas in japan university, (though i suppose i actually haven't done any research on this, though i'd imagine you'll have to look that up in japanese.) and i sure am not qualifying for MEXT scholarship in the future unless i want to self-study probably like 2 years of math and science (uh. quirk of the education system path thing i took which is not that relevant and way too long to explain. which leads me to question whether my education qualifications would even qualify regardless if i had money to study overseas or not...) and study something unrelated as a degree to what i've previously studied before, so uh. cool.

[ramuneempiremtl]

Slave-kun's Happy Life in Another World: Chapter 14

"The air is delicious…"

"…………"

Nove spreads his arms and takes a deep breath, while Daine watches him with damp eyes.

Of course it is, it's sparkling.

Sparkling is not a metaphor, but rather the result of the magic being broken down by 'purification' and appearing to sparkle.

The leader and Aki enter from behind the two. Welcome back.

"It's become quite beautiful."

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone. You did a great job, Owl."

The leader smiled and patted my head. If the leader is not angry, then it must be okay.

"No, it's our fault for leaving you alone, but… wow, the bed and my underwear are cleaner than the ones in the high-class inn…"

"…… Did you do all this with magic? You're using too much magic. You're not feeling sick, are you?"

I'm only using about a third of the magic I used when I was in the guild. I never thought I was using too much magic when I was in the guild.

The guy with the shield, who is still as rude as ever, ignores me as I puff out my chest and starts to check my body. That's what a healer is like. But isn't it unrelated to my health to squish my face?

By the way, where is the master?

"I'm back… huh, was it this clean?"

As I was thinking, I heard a voice.

Welcome back. Wow….

"Ah, Hulk. We just got back too… whoa, you're filthy!"

The muddy master came in with a tired face.

After all the hard work I put into cleaning it!

I have been given a new task.

It is the task of thoroughly washing the muddy master who was immediately thrown into the bath.

…………

"Why are you covered in mud?"

"I was supposed to go on a hunting quest alone in disguise… I skipped out for a day… When I finished and ran back at full speed, I got mud all over me… I didn't realize until I got into town…"

"You must be exhausted."

Ah, it can't be helped.

After making plenty of bubbles and rinsing thoroughly, I throw the master into the bathtub.

Before I knew it, I was in the bath too, and the master and I were sitting side by side in the bathtub. Two days in a row. This is the ultimate luxury.

By the way, Nove can instantly provide hot water at the perfect temperature, so boiling water is a snap. Magic is amazing.

I stick my hand out of the bathtub a little and use magic to swish the master's muddy clothes around in a ball of water. This dirt won't come off with just 'purification'.

The water gets dirtier and dirtier. I change the water ball several times to rinse it, and after 'purification', I drain the water and it's done. I've done this set several times today. Magic is amazing.

"Wow, that's some pretty good magic manipulation."

"Is that so?"

"If you can use it that freely, that's enough. It seems like you have a lot of magic power, so you have a promising future."

Hmm, am I good? I don't know what the future holds, but I'll work harder on my magic!

We enjoy our bath time while talking about what happened today.

"Were you okay by yourself today?"

"The master's book of monsters was interesting."

"Oh, you could tell that was a monster? It was pretty easy to understand, wasn't it? That's a handout that the Adventurer's Guild is distributing. Some adventurers can't read, so they've been distributing them with illustrations like that lately. You'll probably encounter the real thing eventually."

"Have you met all of them, master?"

"Hmm, probably?"

So it was a handout. I thought it was an expensive book.

"I wish I could read more."

"I guess so, why don't you ask the leader to teach you?"

"Is that okay?"

"I'd like to teach you, but I'm not very good at it. Okay, when we get back to the royal capital, I'll ask the leader to teach you."

"Please do."

"When you learn, let's go to the library together. The library in the royal capital is huge!"

"Library!"

I have something to look forward to. This will bring me one step closer to being an excellent slave.

The conversation with the master is endless.

Was I always this talkative? Maybe I was a little lonely after all.

[divine-swag-summit]

Round 1 Summary

Round 1 is over, folks! Thanks so much for voting!

I'm not gonna lie, this tournament has been kind of a hassle to set up, but seeing your propaganda and your comments in the tags have made it so worth it! Seriously, y'all are hilarious.

I won't be listing the results of every matchup here, you can look at the round masterposts for that, but I will highlight some of the more notable matches.

Closest Matches

Behemo Barisol vs Crimson: 50/50 Somehow, we ended up having a perfect tie on Round 1-A of the Higher Bracket! That's only the first day of voting! Isn't that amazing? Behemo and Crimson will both move on to round 2 and will go against The Forest Spirit in a three-way poll!

The Smiling God vs Saiki Kusuo: 49.1/50.9 With just a .8% difference, Saiki K. managed to pull through! And on the Night Vale website no less! Great job Saiki! Your friends are probably very proud, though you probably don't enjoy all this attention,,,, sorry!

Mare Incubus vs Mianite: 50.4/49.6 Would ya look at that, Mare Incubus made it to round 2! I honestly didn't think he would get this far, considering the fact that he's the protagonist of a Norwegian book series that had never been translated to English. All that propaganda certainly paid off! Great job, Mare!

Jake English vs Mythra: 49.5/50.5 I honestly didn't think this match would be so close! I'm not sure who I thought the favorite would be, but I certainly didn't think they would almost tie! Sorry Jake, looks like your Hope powers weren't strong enough to get you the win. You still have a long way to go on your journey, young Page. As for Mythra, well, I don't know much about Xenoblade, so here's what my friend has to say about her win: "I see mythra won and therefore everyone is correct"

Biggest Sweeps

The Great God Om vs Feena: 86.8/13.2 I'm so sorry for this matchup, Feena. I genuinely underestimated how popular Discworld was! Feena will have another chance at victory in the losers bracket. Maybe this time, she'll have a fair shot at victory.

Rosalina vs Scaramouche: 81.1/18.9 As a Genshin fan, I think it's very funny that Scaramouche lost this hard. I'm glad we can all agree that he's truly a small, sad little wet noodle. Also, fun fact, I beat his boss fight first try. Get rekt you pathetic little man.

Shade Lord vs Ozpin: 80.8/19.2 Ya know what, I get it. Shade Lord does look pretty cool. Perhaps this was an unfair matchup. To be honest, I kind of thought RWBY's popularity would make this unfair for Shade Lord.

Dianite vs Alecto: 18.6/81.4 Yeah, I should've seen this coming. Once again, I didn't know how popular The Locked Tomb was when I made the bracket! I'm so sorry Dianite, but you still have a second chance in the losers bracket!

Anoia vs Xanu: 80.3/19.7 RIP Xanu, I'm not caught up on Fool's Gold so I don't know what your deal is, but you will be missed.

Four vs Alter: 18.8/81.2 I just wanna say, every single picture of Four I found was absolutely hilarious. I've never seen Battle for Dream Island, but I can tell that Four would probably be my favorite character if I did. Well, see you in the losers bracket, Four!

The Prophet's Personal Highlights

Bill Cipher vs Madoka Kaname: 35.8/64.2 Honestly, it was so funny to see everyone rooting for Madoka to beat Bill's ass in the tags. In other, unrelated news, Bill Cipher was found dead in Miami. Oops, I wonder who could've done that!

The Glow Cloud vs Q: 70.4/29.6 I honestly thought this would be closer, considering how popular Star Trek is. This matchup definitely surprised me. Also, my mom was very upset about Q's loss. She's very disappointed in you all.

Venti/Lord Barbatos vs Void Termina: 32.9/67.1 Alas, my poor blorbo! As poll runner, there was nothing I could do to sway opinions in Venti's favor, for I must remain impartial! It hurts to see my favorite silly little guy lose, but at least we still have the losers bracket.

The Harvest Goddess vs Hanyuu Furude: 51.2/48.8 Yet another blorbo, gone too soon! Hanyuu, you're the best in my heart. Unfortunately, this match was too close to allow Hanyuu to qualify for the losers bracket, so this was her only chance. Hanyuu, you will be missed.

Starclan vs Featherine Augustus Aurora: 67.4/32.6 I've never played Umineko, but I have some friends who have, and, well. We all voted for Starclan. To think, Starclan is so powerful that even Umineko fans voted against Featherine. Ah, well. She still has another shot with the losers bracket.

And that's it for the round recap!

So, what now? Well, on Thursday I will start the Losers Bracket! Tomorrow I'll release the bracket so you can get your propaganda ready.

[mareenavee]

Hi there! I was wondering if there's anything you're happy to share about your original writing? I'd also love to hear about your writing process in general, from first conception through to finished product, and how it varies for you for fic vs original writing. Thanks so much for your time! 🌻🌷

Oh hello new friend :D Thanks for asking!

So I can talk a bit about what's been happening with me lately lol I think it can be important for a lot of us, especially in kind of the climate we're in as creatives right now. And while the story might not seem very happy at first, I am still happy to share so others might not feel alone if they're wandering, too.

Something about my original writing:

So I went to college for Creative Writing. I had started in English Edu, and switched about halfway through for many reasons but suffice to say if I didn't do what I loved, that degree would still be unfinished. My goal was to get into editing, if I could, and eventually write a book. After college, my full time, in-office jobs at first had nothing to do with writing. I was doing things like tech support, sales and data entry until I got into advertising. And I was editing, using my degree, but I was also more using my skills from sales. And here we stumble into something of a burnout problem. I was working so many hours on unrelated nonsense that I simply did not have the energy to stay awake half the time, let alone write. And I was away from the desk for so long that when I returned, I felt couldn't manage a single good thing. I kept trying even during the dumpster fire the last few years has been collectively.

I'll time skip for the sake of the story. The cure for burnout is simply rest, regardless of it's professional/career burnout or creative burnout or a combination of the both of these things. One doesn't always realize this in the middle of the issues, though. So here I was barely writing anything that I'd be willing to share, frowning terribly at the blank page every opportunity and just being down on myself and my work. I wrote a couple flash fiction pieces, and plenty for dnd but I'd kind of lost track of my goal of writing THE BOOK, ya know? So I decided I was done with feeling so, I guess, unmoored about it all and I wanted to return to longform projects without second guessing myself at every turn. And I broke the spiral, because it was a spiral, by returning to fandom and starting my fic.

So my original writing, long story short, is short form for the most part! And I want very much to finish a novel. I'm giving myself the space to practice again with fic and prove to myself what I am capable of. It's a slow process, healing, but I am and it translates back at every step. I don't tie my original works to this screenname but a few of my fic writin' and Skywind writin' friens have read a bit here and there of both my dnd and my original short stories. It feels good to not feel bad about them as loudly anymore and to have people interact in a positive way with what I've done. I lost a bit of that after college, and writers really ought to stick together. It gets lonely and difficult without friends otherwise. (:

Something about my writing process:

I am a planner and a fragment writer! This is a result of my schooling. When I was younger and didn't hear a different way, I would pants the entire story. Now I suppose it's about 85% planning, and 15% finding ways to cause problems on purpose for my characters and running with a scene idea. (and cutting it if it doesn't work, saving it for later of course.) I outline plot points usually and if I have specific details I want to elaborate on, I have in-depth pages for that in the planning docs. I tend to treat my character sheets sorta like dnd without the build stats. Just break down into sections describing how they'll look, and their backstories. I also really enjoy the tumblr asks regarding OCs, too, because a lot of that ends up in my planning docs too, where it hadn't been thought of before. I like to really KNOW my characters and where I want the story to go as I proceed, but again -- sometimes I just cause problems on purpose for them and for myself (: But that's the fun of it. There's room for unmitigated creativity if you let go of all the headspace nonsense whenever possible.

As for fragments -- sometimes scenes come to me out of order or in ideas that don't have a place in my current project. I keep idea docs and an idea notebook on hand almost always and write down stray thoughts either as more of an outline, or just a jotted down piece of a thought -- OR something more. Like a whole in-prose scene. That's what I mean by fragments. I've found, especially lately, considering what I wrote above, that if inspiration strikes, let it distract you from everything whenever you can. Write that shit down and save it for later. (:

The last part of it, of course, is the editing process. I try to fire the editing brain for drafting purposes and then go back in to proofread and then do editing passes two or three times before I post / consider a piece to be finished enough to possibly share. I enjoy that part of the process so much. It's like finishing a good jigsaw puzzle lol. That said it's not always sunshine and rainbows, it can be a brutal difficult process. And I am not always right. It's different looking at editing your own work than others' just due to how close we can be to our own writing. Worth it, though, all the struggle (:

Is it different in my original work than fic?

Nope! I mean I suppose the glaring difference would be I need to spend more time in original with worldbuilding than I do in fic, as fic kind of has a bit of a safety net in that department. That said, there's still plenty of worldbuilding to do, lots of hcs to write about, and lots of planning how the pieces will interact. And asking -- why tell this specific story? (Always the fun part for me.) The process, regardless, still remains the same. Plan, write, cause problems on purpose, plan around those problems, write more and EDIT, EDIT, EDIT. (:

Thank you so much for asking this!! I hope this was insightful!

[cannotflyarc]

@widowshill's victoria w.inters sent: would you like a cup of coffee?

the new governess has been younger than most. younger doesn't begin to describe her. brighter is something that comes to mind occasionally, but doesn't well suit her. sometimes johanna wonders if she is a ghost. the place that she's called home for most of her life is supposedly been around since the eighteenth century. perhaps, she's a ghost come to take it back and she wishes that miss winters would. if the judge got kicked out, then he might get too distracted trying to find a new place to live and she might have a chance at running away. it's surprising that a young spirit like her has been able to survive here this long. the judge seems to squeeze the youth out of everyone who crosses over the threshold.

( she should quit and find a better job. a better place to live. a better student to teach. )

head bowed, the posture she's gotten used to when speaking to her governesses on matters unrelated to education, johanna tries at a little smile. trying to pass as unassuming as possible. miss winters doesn't seem to have the sharp gaze mrs. howe did, but people aren't beyond surprise. if she somehow senses the question she's going to ask, there's no point in asking it at all. johanna can't appear too desperate. then, she might guess why.

❝ no, thank you, but thank you for asking. it was very kind of you. ❞ slowly, johanna settles herself into a stool behind the counter. ❝ i didn't even know we had a coffee machine. do you like it? we just tend to drink tea more often so i've never really . . . ❞ no need to ramble and irritate her. ❝ um, once we're finished with everything -- ❞ which she hopes is soon ❝ -- might i go to the library? it's just down the street and i don't know if he told you but i'm allowed to go until supper and if i get all my schoolwork done. i just like to look at the books. ❞

[niconiconwo]

How bad is the culture war stuff that drove you from the left?

The biggest thing that has me hard nopeing is BRIDGE, essentially a DEI evangelicalism that wants to force DEI culture on everyone. Not just your typical woke shit either, it's absolutely cult level re-education or get unpersoned.

I don't like financial services pushing this shit either. On a related note is all the places that now police you off-site which should be absolutely illegal but is postured as a safety and inclusion thing. A person's behavior or speech off platform should have zero bearing on their access as long as they comply with platform rules and TOS. This part is the twitter cancel mob mentality being appeased. Numerous sites are like that now, ones I've noticed that are bigger are places like Medium and other creative spaces. I'd be fine with general bans on anything too spicy or outright hateful, but controversial speech isn't hateful and being banned off a site for something unrelated on a separate platform is bullshit.

I've never liked tokenism and always opposed affirmative action as a racist ideology. Now it's being championed as the highest morality you can act upon. Likewise is this push towards equity thing taking root in mainstream; I can agree with the idea that if you have any kind of job there is a minimum living standard you should expect to have accessible to you but I strongly disagree to the idea that the minimum effort should guarantee you a middle class or greater lifestyle. UBI is a great idea, telling employers they have to pay their cashiers enough to afford a suburban mortgage, a car, and put their kids through school is laughable. You want a high flying life, you need to do the work that gets you there. Equitable Outcome is ridiculous.

Next on the sheet is that thing the FHFA did punishing people who actually played by the stupid credit rules to get half-way decent rates in order to subsidise sub-prime loan fees (this point is debated but it's most sensible conclusion; the other one is that actual discrimination for the sake of discrimination is happening). I think the credit system is atrocious personally, so it's even more insulting that people who suck it up and play by the book honestly are paying higher fees than those who fucked around like asshats. And of course it has been done in the name of "equitable access". Why should honest folks who did everything right, especially poors who climbed up the hard way, have to pay more in fees?

This one is not new but has gotten worse, particularly in tech and more specifically in open-source development, codes of conduct that favor radical social policy over code-is-code. People being pushed out of the space purely because they disagree on political or social beliefs, just voicing dissent is enough to get you permanently blacklisted. I find tolerance to be a fine rubric myself, however this goes beyond tolerance. When you begin enforcing inclusion politics, you lose that nice "we're here to make good code" vibe purely to sate certain spastics that want to usurp power from others.

I don't want to longpost more than that, but I could probably go on. The worst part is this isn't all just some fifth column shit, it's originating out of big academia and mega-corpos as some gambit that is incredibly shady. A lot of it is smaller corpos trying to get those free DEI grant bucks, and investor class folks trying to twist the narrative to turn us all into own nothing little slaves even more than we have been. "The work", as they call it, will be your life and will follow you out of the office and you will be obligated to do "the work" forever and everywhere or risk being unpersoned and ruined. It's like a turbo woke 1984. Don't say the bad words, don't think the bad thoughts, don't feel the bad emotions. I'm not some libertarian cuck or aut-rite spastic, but god damn this shit freaks even me out.

[thirtyoneflirtingnoneanddying]

11.27

Just thinking “I want to come see you” and it’s 9:23 on the clock

wtf.

This shit sucks lol so bad. I need to get my own place. Because then maybe it’ll be easier for him to just come here. I mean I wouldn’t get my own place just so he could visit me (hopefully it’d end up being more than a visit lmao) BUT yeah I need it for myself obvs. Him being there would be a perk.

But he really wants to do these things for himself so ijdk how this is all going to play out. But there’s nothing saying he couldn’t contribute I guess so I must surrender to the sweeping hand of time and just let things roll idk idk

I’m just sooooooo wanting to go back up there this weekend, but I don’t feel right about that. Feels very chase-y so I think my best course of action is to majorly chill. Save money as I start this new job. Pay off debts. Get as much of a clean slate as I can. And make something for myself. Purely myself and Joel. And the rest will follow, whatever that looks like.

Oof last night I tried to help and lmao the response was less than savory at first. I responded with “heard” which I think was probably the best way to go about that because it’s just so stark lol like that’s a shaker upper in my book. It’s warm but disconnected. It’s abrupt.

I want him so bad lol unrelated but I do

It is eating me. And idk because with every day that passes, my etsy readings make a lil more sense. Kinda wanna get another one. Different psychic this time tho for funsies.

Literally all I want rn is to see him and get a hello kiss 🥺 I love that he kisses me when he sees me. It’s such a small thing but him just going for it instead of like asking me to or making me feel bad if I don’t (traaauuummmaaaa)……he just does it. There’s no room for not kissing me hello. He’s done it ever since that second day we hung out. It turns my stomach on itself. All I want to do is be by him and have the rest follow. Not the other way around. Idk if I’m built for a practical approach in love. I want to be, for our sake, but also like what am I hanging onto? Purely an idea atp, which is hard to accept.

[more-than-a-princess]

It likely looked a bit ridiculous: he was the one injured and bleeding through Egyptian cotton sheets, and yet Shirou was the one comforting her. Sonia smiled, albeit weakly as she listened. Even in his current state he wanted to help, and doubted his ability to do so. "Thank you, for your words and your friendship," She replied, "But do not doubt that you are helping. You may be physically injured but that does not mean you are useless."

Case in point: providing guidance where mages were concerned. "I am not sure how effective I will be in recognizing mages should they wish to set up business operations here," Sonia admitted. As Shirou had pointed out, being interested in the occult was one thing but mages were something else entirely. "From what you have told me, they seem to be vastly different than the sort of magic-based hobbies I enjoy. To be honest, I am not sure what to even look for in such negotiations. Considering Novoselic forbade witchcraft so many centuries ago. Even scientific advancements have taken longer in the past, with such bias against what my ancestors supposed was magic. I cannot imagine mages would find Novoselic appealing then: we are a small nation, with our proud exports and skills. Nothing like the Middle East, or even other nations in Europe that might be seen as more enticing." Great Britain, for example: surely Shirou's time at his mage university was proof of that.

Though speaking of enticing, she seemed to be doing a good enough job on him, or at least to keep him visiting. He'd taken a self-deprecating route of sharing his hobby, causing Sonia to look over her shoulder during her search of a blanket with a skeptical look. "I think all three descriptors fit you quite well," She insisted, closing the doors to the cupboard when she turned up with nothing. "Keeping books and enjoying reading will not decrease the effectiveness of either your magecraft or your pectorals."

Something that likely should've been kept to herself, Sonia realized as her cheeks turned pink. Of course, the overcoat and slippers Shirou had conjured for her had helped keep her warm as she snuggled back into the large plush chair, but they were entirely unrelated to her face's new color. Saying it aloud only was proof, by her own admission, that she'd taken notice of his muscles. Something that any kind and respecting friend wouldn't point out, if just to not make the situation awkward for either of them.

"It is not easy to obtain citizenship here in Novoselic," She continued. At least she could speak on something she was an authority on, rather than speculate on her friend's good looks. "Besides passing the citizenship examinations, one must qualify to take them in the first place. And that is only done by filling a job that has been proven can only be done well by a foreigner or marry a Novosonian. But if that is something you truly wish for, I am sure I could help you find a career or love!"

Maybe Japan felt less and less like home these days for him, Sonia supposed. With Rin and Sakura and all of his friends leading their own lives, and his taking him around the world, perhaps he preferred Europe now to his homeland. And if that was the case, Sonia would help him find a way, even if it would hurt her, deep down, to see him marry someone just to obtain a desired citizenship.

Or at all, something in the pit of her stomach reminded her. To someone who isn't you.

"You became 'Shirou-san' the moment you decided to come for help and tease me while bleeding through my linens," She smirked right back at him. It was easier than dwelling on the queasy feeling in her stomach, though Sonia was quickly reprimanded by a memory she hadn't thought of in years. "And yes, I suppose that was when I realized it was wise to keep a set of my pajamas at the Emiya household. It was a little embarrassing: not the staying up all night talking part of it, but having to borrow your clothes just to avoid bringing in dirt. I guess women in Japan are just smaller than westerners, so I could not borrow the girls' clothes you had from previous guests."

It wasn’t like Shirou was particularly interested in Sonia’s cousin or the way he coped – the guy was important to Sonia, it was a good thing the three cousins got along fine and could support each other when it comes to the pressure of dealing with the royal family. As much the adventurer would always offer an shoulder and his ears so she could express herself it was something that no-one could relate but someone in her own circle. Shirou could offer an informed opinion and sometimes to see it outside the box, but even so his advice could have serious limitations. For some people it could be hard to feel sympathy to those born in privilege and haven’t endured hunger or hardships that may ordinary individuals had – but they do have their own challenges and troubles that comes with their position and it wasn’t so simple as “redistribute the health” or “eat the rich” or,  in an extreme case “anarchy for the win”. The world is far more complicated and complex than any individual can possibly hope to understand.

❝ I know you, Sonia. I’m sure you’ll be a splendid queen. ❞ his words were honest as they come ❝ Changes are never easy and there might be some resentment at some point, or even some ruffled feathers. People don’t like to see things being different, it is easy to keep focusing on not rocking the boat as long it is comfortable. There will be a delicate act of doing the changes and not losing the support of either the population and those in power, but I’m sure if anyone can pull that off, that will be you.  ❞ Shirou had never been someone to sugarcoat or spew white lies, so he would rather to voice things in a realistic viewpoint – or even with a tinge of pessimism. Still, Sonia managed to be the Ultimate Princess, the epitome of what a princess should be and represent in her entire generation and perhaps in a somewhat long time, a beacon of hope that inspires those around her. It is certainly a rather daunting title that puts a lot of pressure in her shoulders, that’s why Shirou avoids directly mentioning it, yet it signifies that Sonia is more than just a princess, she is a special type of ruler… However, the title is only a fraction of who she truly is and what she can accomplish. The girl can be a genius in her area yet Shirou admires her kindness the most. ❝ I don’t know how I would be of any use, but I’ll always be at your service both as your friend and, if you need it, to offer my services. As long I’m not all messed up, it is. ❞ he made a snide commentary about his own sorry state.

❝ I don’t say you should bring magecraft to Novoselic. ❞ he put it bluntly ❝ However, many mages are rich and affluent, with stocks in companies and enterprises around the world. Some Middle-Eastern magi actually have oil companies, for example. Mages have a rather skewed mindset, they are taught to be inhumane and treat non-magi as cattle – which makes them dangerous businessmen. They might want to establish their companies or have branches in Novosonian territories, or even have business with the government itself. Think of it as a way to recognize possible signs and use it in your favor during meetings. ❞ it was a good thing that her country had expelled mages a long time ago, in fact the belief in magic is so limited in the area that most families would think it is unappealing for them to make their territory within the borders of Novoselic. ❝ And, of course, I know how much you do enjoy occult so indulging in your curiosity isn’t a bad thing. ❞

❝ Ah, I see. You are enticing me with books ? Do I look like a bookworm to you ? ❞ there was a playful frown, ❝ Perhaps I should keep my hobbies close to the heart, otherwise it will be hard for me to leave. At this point I might apply for citizenship already.  ❞ the thought actually had crossed his mind before. Unfortunately, Japanese citizens are only allowed to have two citizenship, meaning only one another other than Japanese. Actually, it wouldn’t be a bad idea – it would give him an European citizenship and it would make much easier to go to see Sonia. Besides, sometimes he does get some odd jobs with the Novosonian secret service (poor Maurice decided that if you can’t beat them, better join them).  ❝ Emiya Shirou : mage, Hero of Justice and book keeper extraordinaire. One of them isn’t like the others. ❞

Yes, he called himself a “Hero of Justice” without a hint of irony. There was even a little hint of pride.

❝ Wait, since when I have become “Shirou-san” ? ❞ he held back his urge to laugh otherwise it could be a painful experience. Instead he merely tilted his head, giving her a smirk ❝  You’ve always been a trendsetter, it isn’t the first time you fall asleep wearing my clothes after all.  ❞ he did recall vividly that night in which she wore a mash up of his and Sakura’s pajamas – and that was the occasion the boy realized how attractive Sonia could be, how nice her curves are. ❝ And we also spent some nights up talking until both of us got too tired to stay awake. If you believe yourself to be a terrible host, then I’m a disaster of a host. Perhaps I’m the one who should ask for your forgiveness.  ❞

[lilybarthes]

i'm sorry, reuben (jacob's firstborn) had an affair with jacob's concubine zilpah?

truly such a messy family

[tarysande]

Oh no, I've been thinking.

Okay, I can't stop thinking about something ending-related. I don't know this for certain, but based on previous statements and such, it feels like the writers were always aiming for a bittersweet ending. Like, no matter what else happened or how the story evolved, come hell (lol) or high water, that ending couldn't just be happy. For reasons. I guess.

Now, I don't mind a bittersweet ending ... if it makes sense for the ending to be bittersweet.

I critique stories for a living. I'm literally taking a break from the developmental edit of someone's novel to write this post. And the persistent thought that bugs me about the Rory setup is that it is so artificial. Time travel is a pain in the narrative ass. Time travel suddenly introduced in the sixth season of a show that has never touched on time travel? As an editor, I probably would've pointed out that time travel for the purpose of angst, especially time travel without rules that make sense ("I don't know anything about time travel! Except I do know you have to take the most painful path!"), seemingly introduced as a final ploy to make that bittersweet ending work ... well, to me, it breaks the narrative contract they established with the audience. Your audience is going to be confused. An editor's job is to alert the writer to any potential confusion so it can be fixed before the story goes to print, etc. Confused audiences get mad, annoyed, frustrated. They feel hurt. They put down the book and don't pick it up again. Usually, writers don't want that. But they're so close to their work that they need a completely outside perspective to say, "Hey, I'm not sure you realize this, but..."

I mean, I keep referring to Rory as "deus ex daughter" because in literary terms, she is a blatant deus ex machina. Rory is the god in the machine of the Bittersweet Ending.

Now, I loved a lot of S6. I did. My overall feeling about the season is not negative. But ... I can't stop thinking about why the things I didn't like REALLY didn't work for me.

I loved the emotional growth we saw in Lucifer and Chloe facilitated by the question of parenting and parental love. I did. And I would have loved to see a lot of those notes hit not with an angel kid out of nowhere ... but with the daughter already in the picture. Especially because it would have circumvented the icky idea that a child has to be one's flesh and blood to induce such feelings. I also understand that coronavirus and Scarlett's age and schedule made this difficult. But I just can't swallow that the only way to wrap up the story of this show--a show about found family, non-traditional family, friendship, connection, FREE WILL, love in all its many shapes and forms and colors ... was to introduce a brand new character via a device (time travel) that fails to make sense almost every time it's used, no matter the medium. (And then had only that brand new character be there when her mother died. Don't even get me started. Ugh.)

If time travel was always going to be on the table, couldn't we have found a more plausible way to use it with the characters we already knew, loved, and had spent four or five seasons with? A time-travelling older Trixie, say? If you're going to use the impossible device, just ... twist it another way to make it work.

Okay. Okay. So, leaving Trixie aside for now just like the show did, let's say we leave everything about the season the same, even Rory. Do you know what ending makes more narrative sense?

Future Rory sacrificing herself by NOT forcing Lucifer to make a cruel and impossible "choice" so the baby that might have been her grows up with a family that loves her. Chloe's already pregnant. That's not going to be undone. And this nonsense of a "closed time loop" falls apart if you side-eye it for even a few seconds. The Rory who came from the future never exists except in the memories of those she met when she came back from that future. Chloe and Lucifer lose that daughter even as they gain the new one whose existence is not a tool of unrelenting fate because wow this show has always been about free will what the heck happened there yikes. And a choice made under the duress Chloe and Lucifer were under, forced out of them, and forcing them to "choose" a life apart for *handwave* Reasons has nothing to do with free will. A "choice" made at gunpoint is not a real choice. Future Rory basically bullied them into ensuring she got to exist--something, quite frankly, neither her parents would have done.

Instead, how much more appropriately bittersweet is it if Chloe and Lucifer lose that child while gaining one who, because of that angry time-travelling version, will never suffer as she did.

Also as an editor: the groundwork for my version is already laid, by the way. It should have been Rory learning about the importance of free will over fate. The importance of personal sacrifice. The importance of not thinking your young self knows best ... because experience and therapy will help rid you of that self-centered world view. That's the contract the writers made with us with this show. And Chloe and Lucifer have already BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT. (See: the end of S4.)

Furthermore, this season finally HAD Chloe and Lucifer DEAL WITH the only thing that actually would have contributed to a narrative, characterization-based reason for Lucifer to disappear: His history of running and his putting Chloe on a pedestal. Once they really talked that out, his "disappearance" became a Rory-induced trauma of inexplicable fate that flies in the face of all the progress Lucifer made over six seasons. (I would rather have had more of that and less of mysterious disappearing oh no plot.)

And I'm sorry, the "Once you get to Hell you're going to work 24/7" excuse given for why Lucifer won't be around and why he can't make time for Chloe until she's DEAD(????!???) is ... it's lame. If AMENADIEL AS GOD can make time for his kid's birthday party, I refuse to believe Lucifer can't work out some Hell/Earth-work/life balance. Never mind that in the show about partnerships, the Bittersweet Ending just ... destroyed it. Chloe was planning on being God's consultant; she could have helped Lucifer solve Hell's Trauma Mysteries (it's what she did with Jimmy, setting up that yeah, Lucifer could do it alone like he accidentally did with Lee, but doing it with HIS TRUTHSEEKING PARTNER would be more effective). Just as Lucifer could have continued helping HER solve some of the problems within "that corrupt little organization" of hers.

tl;dr: I think the writers fixated so completely on their version of Bittersweet that they missed all the foreshadowing, groundwork, and clues that were right there, already built into the story, poised for a different kind of ending than the one they once imagined. That's why so many parts of it feel almost-but-not-quite right and why these aspects are so off-putting. That's why it's just not ... organic. It's something squeezed into a box it grew out of ages ago.

Ironically, certain elements of this season involved the writers insisting on the FATE they decided long ago instead of letting the story and the characters have the FREE WILL to choose a different, more fitting, more organic ending--one that had long-since evolved past that original flavor of Bittersweet.

[quill-of-thoth]

Letters from Watson, Catching Up

The Musgrave Ritual part 1 and 2: The fun bits

- Sometime in the decade between Study in Scarlet (1880-1881) and the frame story for The Musgrave Ritual, Holmes’ household habits have changed. During Study, he’s trying very hard to be the ideal roommate, now he keeps his correspondence stabbed to the mantel and has shot some new decorations into their wall. Based on the fact that The Sign of The Four, which we may or may not skip, was published in 1890, Watson and Holmes are (probably) not living together full time at the time of this story’s publication. Most likely Watson wrote this story several years before it’s publication in The Strand (probable: this was the eighteenth Holmes short story published, and The Strand had only started publishing them in 1891). - On the other hand, a change in Holmes’ household habits and Watson moving in briefly to help could correlate with a rough time for Holmes in his canonical battles with depression and drugs. I’ll likely have more conclusions about this possible event as we analyze all the other cases published during this period. 

- The framing device for Gloria Scott and the framing device for Musgrave are both Holmes and Watson kicking around the (disastrous) living room on a winter evening. Possibly the two tales were related to Watson within a very short period, one where Watson needed some ready fodder for his monthly submission to The Strand.  - Holmes lived near the British Museum when he was first trying to start a career. No conclusions here, I just think it’s a good idea if you’re going to impulsively study anything that seems relevant.  - Musgrave is yet another classmate with a limited social circle. Not as lonely as Victor Trevor, but seen as a bit stuck up (or shy: Holmes is seeing the best in his old classmates) during their school days. He’s doing all right socially (and economically via the family’s fortune) right now but he still approaches Holmes when things start to look a little scandalous within his household. - Musgrave’s first reaction to seeing somebody wandering the house at night, as an insomniac in a house with about twelve other people living in it, is to think “It must be a burglar!” and grab an antique axe. You really have to wonder what he would have done if it was one of the maids making a cup of tea or a footman borrowing a book instead of his butler snooping in a locked cabinet of family documents.  - Snooping through your employer’s documents in the middle of the night isn’t great but employment for servants during this period was pretty precarious. Because of letters of recommendation and servants at a country house generally being local people with very few other grand country houses nearby to apply for jobs at, you could definitely have your livelihood destroyed over a minor mistake or misunderstanding with your employer. Even if, like Musgrave and Brunton, you’ve watched your current employer grow up.

- On the other hand, Victorian nobility appears to have understood that human beings get sick and should generally recover instead of going to work during that time. I can’t quite tell if Rachel Howells is supposed to have been ill for the whole month after Brunton jilted her, and “brain fever” covers a lot of potential diagnoses (depression? Anxiety? Unrelated illness that happens to coincide and isn’t immediately obvious as something else?) - Generally speaking I’m not going to get into the internal racism / classism notes on people coming from formerly independent countries within the United Kingdom, especially when compared with an English Lord. I don’t have the expertise or the time. Just note that Rachel Howells having an “excitable Welsh Temperament” is supposed to be a clue. - The Musgrave Ritual scavenger Hunt Guide. I have always loved this scavenger hunt guide and I used to attempt to make similar ones and try to force my neighbors to solve them. It did not go well, overall, and I might have been bad at it.   - Victorians, lacking chemical analysis for their historical papers, (at least, chemical analysis that wouldn’t destroy the whole thing) dated them by spelling trends. - Hurlstone Manor does not appear to be a real place. (West Sussex, however, is.) The oldest homes in West Sussex that I can google appear to date to the Elizabethan era (1558-1603), some time before the reign of King Charles from 1625 to 1649. Obviously if “Musgrave’s” name was altered to prevent embarrassment, the name of his family’s seat would be as well.  - This story tricked me, at age twelve, into thinking that trigonometry would be fun.

[iamthekaijuking]

Art vs Artist 2022 and Yearly Recap

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an art v artist, and even longer since I’ve done a year recap.

2022 was a strange year, and as a 21 year old I’m in a very strange stage of life. So much of my future is uncertain, and a lot happened just this year. I’ve got smarter, I’ve made new friends, got traumatized, and learned that I might even have ptsd (unrelated to the trauma thing). It feels weird that it’s almost over.

Twitter turned to shit, and the tumblr kept getting better.

So many of my loved ones are getting older, and I’m contemplating mortality more than I’d like as a result.

One of my snakes burnt himself on a malfunctioning heat lamp and has a blister, and my family is treating him (so far he’s okay and he should be fine).

I can drink alcohol now, but the only ones I like are basically sodas that barely have alcohol in them.

I got my first jobs this year and also graduated as a certified electrician. My first job was working in an assembly line for Honda, and oh my god those were the most miserable 100 days of my life (and because it was a temp service I wasn’t getting paid fully or getting insurance benefits in a VERY unsafe work environment). That shit traumatized me (THIS is the trauma thing, not the ptsd thing) and now I’m very picky with jobs. I then got a job I actually did like, but after a month got fired because my boss constantly forgot to re-order stock and so we were unable to complete orders and people were withdrawing theirs and we were running out of stuff to do, so my boss was losing money and decided to just fire the newest hire to save money. But he didn’t have the balls to tell me the actual reason or do it directly, so one of the accountants had to basically pull me aside and say my boss was firing me “because I didn’t look happy”. That same weekend he took 2 employees out of state to do everything for him at a convention for 12 hours for 2 days; they each got paid 200 dollars, he made 60,000. Let me tell you, having to put on your resume that you only worked at your last job for a month makes it basically impossible to get hired.

This was also the first year I actually took commissions, so I guess I’m *technically* a professional artist? I also made a patreon, but it’s been up for like half a year and I still don’t have subscribers.

This year I also made some major leaps in my artistic skills (and in biological knowledge) and I’d consider myself a good artist. I have a very good understanding of anatomy and proportions now and can draw some special effects. But it also doesn’t feel enough at times and I secretly can get a little green eyed when I see other artists or creature designers (or professional biologists).

I didn’t get as much work done with personal projects as I’d have liked, executive dysfunction does that to a man, but I did get major stuff done. I even wrote an overview for my first book in my GUARDIANverse IP! I’m also getting better at not getting sidetracked and am slowly chipping away at my extensive to do list of smaller not as important projects. The god children gverse thing will be moved to next year. I even illustrated and finalized what I hope to one day turn into a vtuber model (the flesh god).

I’m still pretty far from my pipe dream of making money on the side as an author, having a Bogleech type website, and streamer, but I’ve made progress. I make skulls and charts for the Unnatural History Channel, I’ve been his top moderator, and generally help out sometimes, so my stuff is being exposed to a larger audience.

I also hand picked the chillest people out of the UHC server and made my own server, and finally after 2 years of not having a friend group, I finally have one. And I’m actually entirely comfortable around them! Which is big deal for me because after one too many bad personal experiences I have a hard time trusting people and am constantly analyzing them for red flags, but with the UHC crew (aka the “Poopenshitters” yes that’s the name of our friend group) I feel 100% safe (also I’m the ring leader which is cool). Pathetic? Yes. But is it a huge step for me? YES ABSOLUTELY.

And of course my friendship with dappercritter grows stronger each year.

2022 was also a great year for Kaiju content, especially in games. Also weirdly enough 2022 was the year of gigan, but that’s not unwelcome.

Sunbreak also came out, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it.

Well, 2022 is coming to a close. It was a weird year, but I’m growing, and hopefully the world is too.