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year in review pt 2
10 months ago
Wow so that was a shit one.
I definitely have less to reflect on creatively this year, but I'm bored in a holiday house with family, so I thought I'd do another of these.
So my first release of the year, apart from a couple of OE entries, was the NGF Valentine's Special. I started writing that while bored in an airport on the 26th of January, so I knew at the time that it was quite a risk to get it out on time, but I had a lot of inspiration for it so I went for it. What I didn't anticipate was having an intensely bad reaction to treatment for genital warts on my anus. I cringe every time I write that, because I know every time that there's someone reading that wasn't expecting to read that, but hey welcome to the past 10 months of my life - and probably a couple more, I'm still not healed yet.
But anyway, I don't know how I did it. That first month after the reaction was so incredibly painful, that I think forcing myself to finish the special was one of the only ways I kept myself sane. Just glad nobody told me how long it would take for me to get treatment that actually worked.
I was very satisfied with that special. Thaddeus Lionheart is a character I've spent a LOT of time thinking and scribbling about, so it was good to force myself to write a side of him that wouldn't normally get to be expressed. He takes a bit more of a backseat in 3A, but you definitely haven't seen the last of him :3
A bit before v-day, I was propositioned for a trade - a YCH that I'd expressed interest in, in return for one of the in-progress commissions I had to refund in October last year. I was hesitant because I'd never done a trade before, but I dusted off this half-finished story from four months prior and got to work on it, and that became Meet me in the Meeting Room. It was fun! It's not my favorite of my stories, but it's pretty good. However that rekindled my interest in Rocket and Blackjack, and I had already drafted a sequel before I'd finished the first one.
At the time of MMitMR's release, I was still pretty hopeful about the whole "sorted in a couple of months" thing with my health, a feeling that would grow old very quickly. There was no chance I could go to work traditionally - any amount of sweating immediately put me at risk of infection and sitting at a desk for any length of time was uncomfortable - and I wasn't really feeling up to commissions so as mentioned in a previous journal I've been able to survive just fine, but not earning anything :/
Then May came around and I apparently had a huge burst of inspiration. Actually, I think I wrote half the stuff I released in May in April, but eh. First was the narrative continuation of Occam's Emporium. God, I love that series. Even if 50 of you came and commented tomorrow that you hate it and don't give a shit about it, I'd still write it. The release of Part 2 was again on a deadline, I'd decided that I'd do it on the anniversary of the release of the first one (which I also decided would be Occam's canonical birthday, he's a taurus like me :3), but I had no problems getting that done on time, I had Part 3 already written and ready to go before releasing Part 2!
The next narrative entry for that (Part 3.4) is also already written right now, and I'm most of the way through Part 4, but they've been pushed aside for reasons I'll get to.
Only a few days after publishing OE Part 3, I published Rock, Paper, Scissors, Pie! In a similar way to MMitMR, half of this one had been written last year and abandoned, and then I randomly got hit with the inspiration to dust it off and write the other half. This was a big one for me, as not only was it the first written introduction of Loop, my second sona, but also my first published story involving WAM, which is my favorite and oldest kink. I always say this, but go and give it a try even if you're not interested in WAM. The focus of the story is an introduction to the kink, largely from Loop's perspective - so it gets into the interesting and unexpected and most exciting parts of the play that goes down in there. Also, there's a couple more WAM stories and a couple more Loop stories in the WIPs folder, so I wanna build my audience for them lmao.
Occam's Part 3 called for a bit of audience participation, and I was very happy with what I got from that, thank you again to everyone who contributed! The nature of the series has always had the reader at heart, not only from the second-person perspective, but to the onus on the reader to explore the catalogue themselves and read up on the entries that then get referenced later on.
If you're looking at my gallery as you read this, you're probably curious about what happens after what comes next. At the end of June I took a commission from my most regular - a story that takes place over a weekend. Now, I've always known I suck at stories that take place over a long period of time - stuff that isn't just a group of immediately sequential scenes breaks my brain for some reason. I wasn't aware that it was so bad that trying to summarize a *weekend* into one story was too much.
So I got halfway through, to the end of the first day and had already overrun and hit the wordcount that they'd paid for. Again; brain broken. So, I wouldn't have done this with anyone else, but the commissioner is a good friend, so I proposed the idea of releasing in two halves, and they were down for it. Now, they never let me apologise properly in messages, but they stay anon for their comms so I know they're not gonna reply to this journal so I'll say it here: I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get Part 2 out. I know we both know it'll be done eventually, but it was shitty of me to commit to doing it this way when I've failed to deliver.
I do know why it's taken so long, though. Why everything else dried up at the same time. The fatigue from the ass problems hit. In early June, I was finally referred for surgery to remove the warts. In mid-July, I was finally assessed for said surgery. The estimated waiting time was 12 weeks. The maximum waiting time is 18 weeks. I had my surgery 19 weeks after referral, in late October. That period was so painful, exhausting, and draining - both mentally and physically. I easily noticed my usual depression symptoms coming back strong, but there was nothing I could do about it, just gritting my teeth and waiting.
The doctor who did my assessment said that recovery from the surgery would be hellish, probably worse than the pain the warts and damaged skin were giving me. I'm not 100% certain she was right, but it's definitely close. From Feburary to October I was in constant pain - I promise I'm not exaggerating - every waking minute. Since the surgery, it's no longer constant, but it needs constant maintenance and cleaning, the random bouts of pain are super intense, and taking a shit is still fucking agonising and terrifying every time.
But there's nothing I can do except heal. I reckon it's at least a month or two before I'm back to full capacity.
Oh yeah, and during that time FurAffinty decided to completely shit itself because a few people didn't like our community of people who like shitting themselves. I don't really have any more comments on that since it died down (although still waiting on that updated policy!), but I will say that that day where a whole bunch of people including Chase and Luffy resigned was a very fun, vindicating day for me.
So pt.2 of that commission will definitely be posted on FA, just for completeness sake. Whether or not I continue posting future stories on FA will depend on how that updated policy comes out, but it looks optimistic for now. But there will be a website coming soon. As soon as I have the energy to construct it.
And I guess that brings me to now. Right now I'm spending the week surrounding Christmas in Wales with family, so there won't be any uploads just now lol, but I did get a good chunk of progress on that comm done last night. Maybe I can squeeze the rest of that out while here. Maybe.
Anyway, to the future and all that.
Yoyo
I definitely have less to reflect on creatively this year, but I'm bored in a holiday house with family, so I thought I'd do another of these.
So my first release of the year, apart from a couple of OE entries, was the NGF Valentine's Special. I started writing that while bored in an airport on the 26th of January, so I knew at the time that it was quite a risk to get it out on time, but I had a lot of inspiration for it so I went for it. What I didn't anticipate was having an intensely bad reaction to treatment for genital warts on my anus. I cringe every time I write that, because I know every time that there's someone reading that wasn't expecting to read that, but hey welcome to the past 10 months of my life - and probably a couple more, I'm still not healed yet.
But anyway, I don't know how I did it. That first month after the reaction was so incredibly painful, that I think forcing myself to finish the special was one of the only ways I kept myself sane. Just glad nobody told me how long it would take for me to get treatment that actually worked.
I was very satisfied with that special. Thaddeus Lionheart is a character I've spent a LOT of time thinking and scribbling about, so it was good to force myself to write a side of him that wouldn't normally get to be expressed. He takes a bit more of a backseat in 3A, but you definitely haven't seen the last of him :3
A bit before v-day, I was propositioned for a trade - a YCH that I'd expressed interest in, in return for one of the in-progress commissions I had to refund in October last year. I was hesitant because I'd never done a trade before, but I dusted off this half-finished story from four months prior and got to work on it, and that became Meet me in the Meeting Room. It was fun! It's not my favorite of my stories, but it's pretty good. However that rekindled my interest in Rocket and Blackjack, and I had already drafted a sequel before I'd finished the first one.
At the time of MMitMR's release, I was still pretty hopeful about the whole "sorted in a couple of months" thing with my health, a feeling that would grow old very quickly. There was no chance I could go to work traditionally - any amount of sweating immediately put me at risk of infection and sitting at a desk for any length of time was uncomfortable - and I wasn't really feeling up to commissions so as mentioned in a previous journal I've been able to survive just fine, but not earning anything :/
Then May came around and I apparently had a huge burst of inspiration. Actually, I think I wrote half the stuff I released in May in April, but eh. First was the narrative continuation of Occam's Emporium. God, I love that series. Even if 50 of you came and commented tomorrow that you hate it and don't give a shit about it, I'd still write it. The release of Part 2 was again on a deadline, I'd decided that I'd do it on the anniversary of the release of the first one (which I also decided would be Occam's canonical birthday, he's a taurus like me :3), but I had no problems getting that done on time, I had Part 3 already written and ready to go before releasing Part 2!
The next narrative entry for that (Part 3.4) is also already written right now, and I'm most of the way through Part 4, but they've been pushed aside for reasons I'll get to.
Only a few days after publishing OE Part 3, I published Rock, Paper, Scissors, Pie! In a similar way to MMitMR, half of this one had been written last year and abandoned, and then I randomly got hit with the inspiration to dust it off and write the other half. This was a big one for me, as not only was it the first written introduction of Loop, my second sona, but also my first published story involving WAM, which is my favorite and oldest kink. I always say this, but go and give it a try even if you're not interested in WAM. The focus of the story is an introduction to the kink, largely from Loop's perspective - so it gets into the interesting and unexpected and most exciting parts of the play that goes down in there. Also, there's a couple more WAM stories and a couple more Loop stories in the WIPs folder, so I wanna build my audience for them lmao.
Occam's Part 3 called for a bit of audience participation, and I was very happy with what I got from that, thank you again to everyone who contributed! The nature of the series has always had the reader at heart, not only from the second-person perspective, but to the onus on the reader to explore the catalogue themselves and read up on the entries that then get referenced later on.
If you're looking at my gallery as you read this, you're probably curious about what happens after what comes next. At the end of June I took a commission from my most regular - a story that takes place over a weekend. Now, I've always known I suck at stories that take place over a long period of time - stuff that isn't just a group of immediately sequential scenes breaks my brain for some reason. I wasn't aware that it was so bad that trying to summarize a *weekend* into one story was too much.
So I got halfway through, to the end of the first day and had already overrun and hit the wordcount that they'd paid for. Again; brain broken. So, I wouldn't have done this with anyone else, but the commissioner is a good friend, so I proposed the idea of releasing in two halves, and they were down for it. Now, they never let me apologise properly in messages, but they stay anon for their comms so I know they're not gonna reply to this journal so I'll say it here: I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get Part 2 out. I know we both know it'll be done eventually, but it was shitty of me to commit to doing it this way when I've failed to deliver.
I do know why it's taken so long, though. Why everything else dried up at the same time. The fatigue from the ass problems hit. In early June, I was finally referred for surgery to remove the warts. In mid-July, I was finally assessed for said surgery. The estimated waiting time was 12 weeks. The maximum waiting time is 18 weeks. I had my surgery 19 weeks after referral, in late October. That period was so painful, exhausting, and draining - both mentally and physically. I easily noticed my usual depression symptoms coming back strong, but there was nothing I could do about it, just gritting my teeth and waiting.
The doctor who did my assessment said that recovery from the surgery would be hellish, probably worse than the pain the warts and damaged skin were giving me. I'm not 100% certain she was right, but it's definitely close. From Feburary to October I was in constant pain - I promise I'm not exaggerating - every waking minute. Since the surgery, it's no longer constant, but it needs constant maintenance and cleaning, the random bouts of pain are super intense, and taking a shit is still fucking agonising and terrifying every time.
But there's nothing I can do except heal. I reckon it's at least a month or two before I'm back to full capacity.
Oh yeah, and during that time FurAffinty decided to completely shit itself because a few people didn't like our community of people who like shitting themselves. I don't really have any more comments on that since it died down (although still waiting on that updated policy!), but I will say that that day where a whole bunch of people including Chase and Luffy resigned was a very fun, vindicating day for me.
So pt.2 of that commission will definitely be posted on FA, just for completeness sake. Whether or not I continue posting future stories on FA will depend on how that updated policy comes out, but it looks optimistic for now. But there will be a website coming soon. As soon as I have the energy to construct it.
And I guess that brings me to now. Right now I'm spending the week surrounding Christmas in Wales with family, so there won't be any uploads just now lol, but I did get a good chunk of progress on that comm done last night. Maybe I can squeeze the rest of that out while here. Maybe.
Anyway, to the future and all that.
Yoyo
