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Short Term To-Do's (upcoming personal work, RP, and comm's)
11 years ago
For anybody keeping track, I tend to draw back a bit after a big project while I catch my breath, but I'm not completely fallow. Here's what's going on with me between now and the next big thing:
Personal work:
Mostly stories I've had kicking around in my head for awhile. There's actually around 40 stories on my to-do list, but they always get pushed back behind commissions and projects, so I try to make room for a few to slip through now and again and release some pressure:
* Sphingoi (Story - Sphinxes! Some sex, some lion-pride-style hard vore). It's not going to be for everyone, and not indicative of the style of the big sphinx project, but it's full of images I really want to get out of my head.
* Giant Sphinx (Drawing - More Sphinx! This time with extra sphinx! Nothing much else - just some paw-capture of a normal-sized person). I started this almost six moths ago, never quite was happy with the lines, so I'm going to tackle it again.
* Light-bearer (Story - Goo-girl, Futa(? maybe?), sex, engulfment/absorption, end of the world silliness)
* That's not How Magic Works! / The Republic of Michael (Title not decided, shrunken people hijinks including vore)
* Once We Were Not Starships (Novella, sci-fi, not likely to be anything particularly vorish in it)
If I can get those five things knocked out in the next three months or so, I'll be a happy camper!
Commissions:
I guess I'm going to officially reopen to commissions - with caveats. I'll only be taking one at a time, and no waiting list. Not that I think I'll have a long line waiting, but I'll likely take my time with this, slotting it between other things, and I don't want the pressure to rush from a waiting list. Consider this notice if you're interested, but it's not really first-come, first served this time around. There are some things I'm more interested in than others...
What I'd most like to do: A character sheet. I don't have much experience with this, and don't really have samples to show. I'm thinking that since this is sort of a gamble on both of our parts, I'll do something like $30 minimum for full-color front and back, additional costs based on how much else you want included? (Clothes, alternate poses, expressions, sides, etc.)?
I may also be willing to take a story commission. I'm at $15 for the first thousand, $10 for each additional thousand words. You set the minimum, I exceed it by whatever I want. Whether or not I take a story commission depends on how much the idea appeals to me, I'm afraid. But don't be afraid to ask! Even if I say no, I'm pretty nice about it! And what appeals to me is not necessarily the kind of thing I'd write for myself. What's likely NOT to appeal to me is something I'd need to do a lot of research for (writing in a canon setting, including characters with a lot of history/complications to consider).
Role-Playing:
I've had a lot of role-play either wind up, come to a significant lull, or just disappear lately. That would have made me antsy any time the last two years, but at the moment... I don't know. I might be okay with it. There's enough out there that may pick back up again from a lull that I don't want to over-commit, but at the same time I feel like I've had enough basic vore RP for awhile, and other kinds of stories are appealing to me more. I've always like a heavy dose of story and conflict and world-building and characterization in my RP regardless, but the vorish aspect is starting to take more of a backseat. Maybe that will change a bit in the future.
I feel bad - I advertise myself as a switch, but in the last half a year or so, I haven't really done anything preddish. I've had ideas, but even though any good RP should be a lot of work, RPs where I play pred usually require a lot more investment and I am a lot more picky about what kind of character I play with. I've thought numerous times about opening up an RP with Alexis (the gaslamp alligator monopolist of the unmentionables market), but I think I'd have to say 'no' to so many people it would just become unpleasant. And I LIKE playing prey. Me and 75% of the people RPing vore, right? I feel especially bad because I've been trying to nurture a dominant male pred side in myself for M/* RP, but except for with a very particular partner, I just can't make it stick. For now I guess I'm just tired of fighting against what I like, so you probably won't see me play or write or draw many more male preds for myself in the near future.
In any case, I'm thinking about posting a very specific RP request that is semi-vorish, and if I get takers, great! If not, I'll focus on that stuff on my to-do list. I don't think there's anyone beating down my door for an opportunity to RP with me (hah!) but if you are such a person, let me know!
Long-term:
The Sphinx project *is* still on the horizon, I hope, but I might be modifying it considerably from what I'd originally planned in order to allow for a little more involvement.
Personal work:
Mostly stories I've had kicking around in my head for awhile. There's actually around 40 stories on my to-do list, but they always get pushed back behind commissions and projects, so I try to make room for a few to slip through now and again and release some pressure:
* Sphingoi (Story - Sphinxes! Some sex, some lion-pride-style hard vore). It's not going to be for everyone, and not indicative of the style of the big sphinx project, but it's full of images I really want to get out of my head.
* Giant Sphinx (Drawing - More Sphinx! This time with extra sphinx! Nothing much else - just some paw-capture of a normal-sized person). I started this almost six moths ago, never quite was happy with the lines, so I'm going to tackle it again.
* Light-bearer (Story - Goo-girl, Futa(? maybe?), sex, engulfment/absorption, end of the world silliness)
* That's not How Magic Works! / The Republic of Michael (Title not decided, shrunken people hijinks including vore)
* Once We Were Not Starships (Novella, sci-fi, not likely to be anything particularly vorish in it)
If I can get those five things knocked out in the next three months or so, I'll be a happy camper!
Commissions:
I guess I'm going to officially reopen to commissions - with caveats. I'll only be taking one at a time, and no waiting list. Not that I think I'll have a long line waiting, but I'll likely take my time with this, slotting it between other things, and I don't want the pressure to rush from a waiting list. Consider this notice if you're interested, but it's not really first-come, first served this time around. There are some things I'm more interested in than others...
What I'd most like to do: A character sheet. I don't have much experience with this, and don't really have samples to show. I'm thinking that since this is sort of a gamble on both of our parts, I'll do something like $30 minimum for full-color front and back, additional costs based on how much else you want included? (Clothes, alternate poses, expressions, sides, etc.)?
I may also be willing to take a story commission. I'm at $15 for the first thousand, $10 for each additional thousand words. You set the minimum, I exceed it by whatever I want. Whether or not I take a story commission depends on how much the idea appeals to me, I'm afraid. But don't be afraid to ask! Even if I say no, I'm pretty nice about it! And what appeals to me is not necessarily the kind of thing I'd write for myself. What's likely NOT to appeal to me is something I'd need to do a lot of research for (writing in a canon setting, including characters with a lot of history/complications to consider).
Role-Playing:
I've had a lot of role-play either wind up, come to a significant lull, or just disappear lately. That would have made me antsy any time the last two years, but at the moment... I don't know. I might be okay with it. There's enough out there that may pick back up again from a lull that I don't want to over-commit, but at the same time I feel like I've had enough basic vore RP for awhile, and other kinds of stories are appealing to me more. I've always like a heavy dose of story and conflict and world-building and characterization in my RP regardless, but the vorish aspect is starting to take more of a backseat. Maybe that will change a bit in the future.
I feel bad - I advertise myself as a switch, but in the last half a year or so, I haven't really done anything preddish. I've had ideas, but even though any good RP should be a lot of work, RPs where I play pred usually require a lot more investment and I am a lot more picky about what kind of character I play with. I've thought numerous times about opening up an RP with Alexis (the gaslamp alligator monopolist of the unmentionables market), but I think I'd have to say 'no' to so many people it would just become unpleasant. And I LIKE playing prey. Me and 75% of the people RPing vore, right? I feel especially bad because I've been trying to nurture a dominant male pred side in myself for M/* RP, but except for with a very particular partner, I just can't make it stick. For now I guess I'm just tired of fighting against what I like, so you probably won't see me play or write or draw many more male preds for myself in the near future.
In any case, I'm thinking about posting a very specific RP request that is semi-vorish, and if I get takers, great! If not, I'll focus on that stuff on my to-do list. I don't think there's anyone beating down my door for an opportunity to RP with me (hah!) but if you are such a person, let me know!
Long-term:
The Sphinx project *is* still on the horizon, I hope, but I might be modifying it considerably from what I'd originally planned in order to allow for a little more involvement.
Glad you're alright, wondered where you'd gone.
The name of one of your stories-in-the-making resonated with the xylophone of wind-hollowed bones of creativity that litter my mind. There was an outline of a story that I'd thought of that amounted to the following:
***WARNING: WASTE OF TIME***
a spaceship sentience research program in the distant future, in a setting where the advanced intuitive computers controlling the spaceships seem to have evolved beyond their core programming. The catch is that the perspective of the story was to be that of the spaceships that had indeed developed consciousness, and could converse in a human-like way between themselves, but had yet to grasp how the human communication works. The ships had understood their origins, the role of humans and the importance of treating them with care like a precious, fragile cargo, and obeyed commands to a "T", but their duty was only a part of their intellectual - and emotional - lives, and every now and then they would act in a worryingly whimsical manner. The purpose of the program was to crew a few decommissioned ships with observers, set the ships' settings to full autonomy of self-maintenance, boarding and navigation, and watch them service a small automatic ore processing plant orbiting a barren planet. What follows is the ships' struggle with Asimov's laws and lingual barriers, very strongly influenced by the style and premise of "Friendship is Magic". The spice of the concept was to be the interaction between ships of dramatically different dimensions and purposes(with highlights like the feeling of helplessness that a ship AI experiences when the functioning conscience-carrying module is yanked out of the board mainframe), as well as dealing with humans crawling inside each spaceship character.
But I suppose your story would deal with the direct integration of human mind into the controls of space-faring vehicles instead.
***END OF WASTE OF TIME***
I'm at $15 for the first thousand, $10 for each additional thousand words. You set the minimum, I exceed it by whatever I want.
This stated policy can be interpreted in two different ways. One would suggests that you reserve the right to selflessly overdo the paid-for range in order to tie up all the narrative loose ends; the other would mean that the client has no control over how much the final product will cost. It would be unreasonable to suspect subversive scheming on your part in regards to taking advantage of your bright-eyed customers(especially since the fandom rates that you adhere to - and even undercut somewhat - are ridiculously low by the industry standards, anyway), but that still looks like an eerie loophole. An eerie loophole with virtually no potential for being subject to any meaningful abuse, but a loophole still. Alright, it's not a loophole at all, just my fidgeting over the uncertain wording, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could introduce some righteous clarity to the matter. Thank you in advance.
Would it be true to say that your tastes in predators - cunning, proactive, industrious and imperious folk - clash with the literary economics of a roleplaying session ? After all, someone who didn't mind assuming the role of an opportunistic, relaxed ambush hunter would have been able to invert the effort dynamic between acting as a predator and as a prey in a roleplay. The popularity of the prey role must have something to do with enjoying the inventive initiative of the hungry party, with most of the prey lines gravitating towards reactions; if the predator of the piece coaxed the prey actor into action by emphasizing reluctant restraint, the latter would have to dredge up some creative inspiration in order to find the right cue to trigger the predator's dormant gourmand side. That wouldn't necessarily imply the willing prey scenario, though - the challenge for the prey actor would be more along the lines of: "What my reasonably self-interested character could unwittingly and plausibly do to make the cautious beast surrender to temptation ?" Admittedly, I don't know what I'm talking about, not having played a single session of any kind, and channeling purely theoretical and second-hand knowledge of the subject. Thank you for any illuminating thoughts you could spare !
And anyway, I thought your character was brilliant in "Stranded". Terrifyingly callous, too, but that was more at the core of the brilliance than outside and opposing it.
Much felicity and resolve to you in orchestrating the execution of the grand battle plan !
More with post-singularity post-humanity, but sort of! :)
But I suppose your story would deal with the direct integration of human mind into the controls of space-faring vehicles instead.
Yeah, I wrote that really poorly. It should read as, "You set the price and the minimum word count. I'll exceed that wordcount by whatever I want, but at the price you set."
After all, someone who didn't mind assuming the role of an opportunistic, relaxed ambush hunter would have been able to invert the effort dynamic between acting as a predator and as a prey in a roleplay. The popularity of the prey role must have something to do with enjoying the inventive initiative of the hungry party, with most of the prey lines gravitating towards reactions;
You've touched on something there. I've said before that playing prey poorly is the easiest role - you just sit back and let something happen to you. People love that kind of thing, and why not - especially for the submissive type. But playing prey well is by far the hardest role, because you have to figure out a way to carry your weight through an RP where your character's actions may be limited. Sometimes you can do that by playing supporting cast, sometimes by world-building, sometimes by leaning heavily on the emotional context or bringing in the prey's history, to make them metaphorically 'crunchy'. But yes - when I play with people regularly as prey, I think they do come to expect that I'll be carrying a lot of the weight in the RP... and that's okay with me. :)
Thanks for your well-wishes!
Thank you for sharing your insights regarding the roleplaying business ! The analogy that I've always liked applying to writing characters is, symptomatically enough, a culinary one: a character is like a dish, and even though a slapdash crude sandwich approach would suffice in a pinch, pouring more effort and thought into the preparation process makes the payoff incomparably more satisfying. And the "payoff" doesn't need to be constrained to the vore genre - it could be any momentous episode or a culmination that centers on the character in question, like a heated diatribe aimed at the villain, a passionate proposition to Ms. Bennett, a political rant or even an action scene. Therein lies a pitfall of overdoing it with characterization and background-mongering, and instead of a luscious pie out of the coven comes an ostentatiously luxurious wedding cake that no one could ever dare to taste or even come near it.
One method from your list caught my attention - "playing supporting cast". It isn't often that I stumble upon protocols of roleplaying sessions that include supporting cast. In fact, discounting JaabirthePython/JacktheRabbit and Tabatha_Cat/Lichtia's sessions where one of them would occasionally play two characters at once, I can remember a single instance of that kind. Do you get to use that tactic often, or did I misunderstand the gist of that phrase completely ?
Preemptive munificent gratitude.
As to the transformers, I've been thinking about them recently as I'm writing that sphinx story. A lot of the stories I write are just thinly veiled excuses for monologues, and this one is no different. In part of the monologue, though, the sphinx tells the human how -stupid- humans are, because of how slow they are to inherit the earth, and how easy it is for the gods to corral them. The Titans made the Olympians in their image, and gave them creation to manage. Eventually the Olympians overthrew the Titans, as the Titans did those before them. The Olympians made mankind in their image to manage creation, and though it is in the power of man to overthrow them, they are slow and lazy and only overthrow them accidentally, via atheism (it's a vaguely classical setting). And some day in the distant future when mankind gets off its ass, it will create servants in its image, and eventually they will overthrow mankind. That's how I see Transformers. Rather than post humans, they are the children of our mind. :)
> Therein lies a pitfall of overdoing it with characterization and background-mongering, and instead of a luscious pie out of the coven comes an ostentatiously luxurious wedding cake that no one could ever dare to taste or even come near it.
I suspect I've burnt out more than a few fellow roleplayers by not being 'casual' enough about it. I don't mean that in a self-congratulatory sort of way at all; I'd rather have fellow players sometimes than really dredge out the details of a story. But there it is.
And yes, playing supporting cast happens very frequently. Even when a story isolates two people (pred and prey), I usually at least play supporting cast indirectly, describing family and friends that influence the character even in their absence. But I'll frequently play multiple prey or preds as well. I'd say in the last 20 RPs, I've played more than one character in 15-18 of them? To my mind, it's really the difference between RPing a story, and cyber. It's just really rare that a decent story will have two characters completely isolated through the entire arc.
I can't shake off the feeling of embezzling the contents of the national treasury whenever I digress while conversing with your esteemed self as it is. Whenever I'm being to the point, for that matter. It is the Neronian abandon of a flying squirrel feeling like a golden eagle for the duration of a generously magmanimous updraft from a volcanic eruption.
The reprimand made by the sphinx of your conception is a fair one, from the perspective of an evolutionist existing in a theologically-loaded world; it is also on par with the Hellenic/Spartan mindset built on glamorized brutality and festive fallacies drinking from the same cup as the precursors of the hard sciences. In that worldview, the constant succession of the grizzled old guard by the neophytes for the sake of exercising the mandate of strength would be unquestionably justified, even if the shapeshifting metal golems of the future would be no better than their predecessors in nature and mores. In my worlds, though, a coexistence of these various stages of succession is usually sought after(i.e. titans with Olympians with humans with demiurge mage-kings with engineers) - even if that wouldn't find any endorsement from the mythical riddler, and rightly so. "Suffer not sloth and complacency" is a sensible policy all around.
Oh, and in that setting of yours, the gods are actually fully sustained by public acclaim and worship, to the point of a possibility of extinction through neglect ? I'd hate to involve Pratchett into this again, but - no, I'd better not. Suffice to say, there is a book of his that deconstructs this entire concept. But then, your mention of the setting adhering to the principles of classicism should have been explanation enough - woe be onto my poorly-educated generation wallowing in our shallow reference pools.
Thank you for revealing the fascinating intricacies of roleplaying mechanics ! Now that I think back to ongoing dance of Pete and Nasrin, I recall the fairly well-peopled interior of the dance club. And many of your stories share that (very welcome and thoroughly enjoyable) element of reaching the tendrils of relevancy and reference beyond the scope of the main narrative, establishing connections to other people and organizations thereof. The tumultuous development of Annie Setter's school reputation in "A Rainy Day", I remember, had caused me an intense swooning in terms of being impressed by that cunningly insinuating method of expanding the story while remaining within the wordcount budget.
Thank you additionally for your time and consideration !
Yes, I think the Sphinx's argument is very Olympian - it wouldn't really hold for modern humans necessarily. It's an interesting thought, though. And one *could* say the Olympians would have gotten along with the Titans just fine if they weren't always being used, and expected to get along fine with humans. Everyone just has a hard time seeing themselves in the same way others do.
Not to lay on the spoilers too thick, but no, the gods don't survive on praise and adulation. That humans are sent down to Tartarus for eternal torture is just silly. Who would do that? People eat the fruits of their labor. Gods eat the fruits of theirs. They don't cultivate the souls of humans for nothing. And ambrosia doesn't appear from any magic fruit... ;)
Even though my sanity safeguards prevent me from reading too much into your generously divulged secret revelations, the Olympians to me can hardly fit the type of long-term conspirators that would farm such an odious brand of crops. Admittedly, the majority of them were a bunch of sociopathic, tyrannical, capricious, lecherous bastards, but they also had the reassuringly narrow-sighted quality to their bouts of lightning-hurling anger and bestial rapiness, sort of like the cumbersome pace of a giant that gives the boy with a sling a fighting chance. Then again, I wouldn't put it past the Lords and Ladies of the Mountain to remorselessly take advantage of a largely accidental system that places so much prime raw materials in a place where no one would see or deter their indulgences. It wouldn't hurt for the gods to be hopelessly addicted to the ambrosia so that no errant surge of mercy would detract from their processing operation. Or maybe their outwardly frivolous fickleness has been a facade the whole time ?
Antique pagan fantasy and conspiracy thrillers are a match made in Hades, as far as genres go.
A lot of the stories I write are just thinly veiled excuses for monologues
Just like Hitler in his own way, one Ayn Rand has set the very hard-to-outsink low bar in that department; you are quite safe from that line of criticism, self-inflicted or not.