This journal entry is going to be even more ramble-y than mine usually are. This last month has felt particularly heavy on me, with a lot of real life un-fun things going on. There's one in particular I feel I really should address; I think it would be inappropriate if I didn't, given the usual content of my writing and my interests. So I'm dividing this entry into two parts; if you want to skip the un-fun stuff and go straight to where I talk about my writing, scroll to where I have the ellipsis divide. I am, under the circumstances, not going to make this journal entry featured on my profile page.

This last month, work has been more difficult than usual thanks to stupid drama between a couple of the management staff. I've also been having an issue with a tendon in my arm; don't worry, not like, my arm is unusable serious. It just hurts a bit and hasn't gone away. I think I might've sprained it, though I don't recall any incident where that could've happened. Those two things are actually minor compared to the things that have actually been bogging me down. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my arm pain is being caused or at least exacerbated by stress about the bigger things.

So, I live in the United States; I think I've mentioned that before. If you've been paying attention to the news on the U.S. at all lately, you probably know that there's some big committee hearings going on this last month about the attempted insurrection, and continuing into the coming month; it really doesn't get much more un-fun than that, I know, but I refuse to stick my head in the sand and ignore it. I think it's really, really important, and I'm not going to let myself not know how it's going. Our country suffered badly because of the Big Lie and is continuing to even now.

The real big thing though, the biggest thing, is what happened last Friday with the supreme court decision.

If you know my stories, you know I have a thing for women getting knocked up. Nothing turns me on more than the idea of a lady having unsafe intercourse that eventually leads to childbirth, and that is of course reflected in my writing. Though I don't find pregnant women or the act of childbirth attractive in a direct sense, the idea of them does fill me with a sense of, satisfaction for lack of a better term. So it's probably no surprise that as far as my author word of god is concerned, all of the female characters who got knocked up in my stories did not get abortions or miscarriages, and went on to give birth to healthy children.

However, those characters exist in fictional worlds; worlds that are entirely under my control. Worlds that can exist as an idealized vision straight from my imagination, where these characters won't have any severe complications or issues, and can go on to live happily ever after, just because I say so.

Real life of course, is different. Real life is complicated. Real life is not ideal, and it's messy and full of issues and hardships. Real life is a place where people don't get to avoid complications, issues, and troubles just because I would like it that way.

It feels especially complicated for me, as my church calls on me to be pro-life. That's right, I'm religious, specifically Protestant; I know that may come as a big surprise, given what I've taken up as my hobby here. I understand the reasons why my church wants me to be pro-life, and if the country was more idealized, I would potentially be pro-life when it comes to the law as well. Again though, it isn't an idealized place, and we have issues like people not having access to proper medical care because they can't afford it, and adoption not being such a clean option as the pro-life arguers like to pretend it is.

I am, as mentioned in my profile, a straight male. I'm also single, and I have been my whole life. Therefore, I don't need access to abortions myself, and I probably still won't for the foreseeable future. However, I am an empathetic and sympathetic person, or at least I like to think that I am. As such, I understand why others would feel that being forced to carry a pregnancy, especially an unexpected one, is something they would not want.

I have had a number of long internal debates with myself about the matter over the years. If you had asked me a few years ago, I probably would've told you that I was pro-life all the way, due to my faith. Since then though, after educating myself and after considering all the circumstances of the world we live in, I have, a little reluctantly, flipped to the opinion that pro-choice is the lesser of two evils, as it were.

If we lived in a world where we could guarantee for certain that pregnancy wouldn't come with potentially dire medical risks; if we lived in a world where we could guarantee for certain that a kid put into adoption or foster care would still receive a fulfilling and happy life; especially if we lived in a world with some kind of sci-fi tech where we could take a developing fetus and put it in a tube so the mother doesn't have to be burdened with growing it herself unless she wants to. (It would also have to be a free and easy option for everyone, too; not just something for only the uber rich or the circumstantially privileged. If it technically exists but isn't a realistic option, then that's not good enough.) Then, and only then, would I be okay with the law saying that abortions are illegal.

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So, un-fun stuff aside, how did this last month go for my writing? I think decent, considering how rough this month has ended up feeling. Though, it's kind of a cheat though, since one of the three stories I uploaded this last month was actually written the month before.

Curiously, all three stories I uploaded seemed to have done similarly in terms of views and favorites. This included part three of the Roommates make the best pets series, which so far has broken the trend among my major series uploads for having the most favorites among my stories. Of course, it could catch up later, but since my stories tend to get the main bulk of their favorites in their first week of uploading, I kind of doubt it. I won't lie, I do feel a little disappointed with my writing in it; I think the stress and such I was under this month may very well have reflected upon my writing quality in it.

I'm pretty happy with how 'Creating a lineage' went though, and it feels good to have the first of the Savages setting stories up.

One little tidbit that's interesting to me is regarding the first story I uploaded this month, 'A blindfold anniversary', which was of course a story trade with UNKNOWN7. Compared to mine, their half of the trade has more views, but fewer favorites. It was pretty fun doing a story trade request, and I wouldn't mind doing more, but of course I can't expect every person that wants a request to also be a writer.

So, how do I expect this coming month to go? Well... Probably not too well, actually. One of the un-fun things I was talking about before is still going to be going on this month. Also, from the 11th to the 16th there's a local pseudo-holiday going on that I know from experience always makes us super busy; though I don't expect to be at work for all of those days, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm working at least four of them, and end up being so worn out that I don't feel like doing any writing at all those days.

I think I'll definitely still be able to upload at least one story this coming month; I would be surprised if I didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if I only get one uploaded though. For what to expect in particular? Well, I won't say too much yet, but I will mention that both the personal story I'm going to do and the next request are both going to have Pokemon anthro characters. I'm not sure if I'll be able to start work on the next story tonight or tomorrow, but I should be able to get started on it Saturday at the latest.


If you've read through my ramble this month, especially the un-fun stuff, then thank you. If you didn't want to stomach the un-fun stuff though and skipped it, I don't blame you. No matter what, I hope you have a good month, and to my fellow Americans, have a happy Fourth of July, and stay strong.