I had an interesting development this month: a recommendation for a scholarship at Superstars. A friend of mine strongly recommended it, and she gave me some great advice for my application.

I don't know if I'll win or not, but either way, I appreciate the advice and the opportunity.

I also rewrote a significant segment of Wisps of Memory, to patch a plot hole I accidentally introduced when some characters started seeking information that they'd already gained via a scene I'd added earlier in the book. Whoops!

I swear, dialogue is like dominoes; each piece sets the next in motion, and if you remove or rearrange them, it creates a gap that ruins the whole thing. I tried to patch it neatly with a minimum of rewriting, but it still felt awkward.

Partway through that effort, I realized that, if I let go of the original version and heavily rearranged a certain series of questions, I could build organically and ominously toward a revelation that would shake some of the characters to their core.

So while this plot hole slowed me down a lot, the process of fixing it greatly improved the tension and the resulting "Oh, SHIT" moment.

I'm rereading the parts of the dialogue that follow that moment, to make sure there are no lingering offshoots of that plot hole, and then it's onwards and upwards!

Before the creation of the Mortal Realm...

50,000 years before the story begins...

Beings of pure magic and energy danced together, not knowing that the parts of them that mingled would blend into something new, something separate... something dangerous.

This was the birth of Sarovak.

The beings in this artwork are Raina's grandparents, the God of War and the Deity of Emotion.

I was recently given the opportunity to submit a 500-word short story to to Loom of Tales, so I decided to write about the semideities' origins from the perspective of the God of War. His search for purpose and belonging, his joy at discovering the power to create life... and his horror and his lingering glimmers of hope when everything went wrong.

Loom requested that the writers include images with their story, and rather than grab a generic picture of a war deity, I decided I wanted the artwork to match the characters' canonical appearances.

And so, in the couple of days I had before the deadline, I whipped up this portrait of the God of War dancing with the Deity of Emotion: an act that would lead to the birth of Sarovak, the origin and banishment of the semideity species as a whole, and the creation of the Mortal Realm.

You can see the concept art for Sarovak's daughter, Raina, as well as a lot of additional info about the world and characters, in this Patreon post.

A few days ago, ​I was in the process of putting Sea of Violet Snowflakes on RedBubble when Mom came up to me with a picture on her phone and asked, "Can you make something kind of like this, but with lots of sparkles, and put it on a phone case?"

If Mom wants me to make some art for her on Mother's Day, then heck yeah, I'm gonna drop the other art thing I'm doing and make her some special art for Mother's Day.

So I put spots and streaks of the colors she'd requested on a blue-grey canvas, and started tinkering with the liquefier tool, occasionally making adjustments at her request.

Then I chose my favorite sparkly brush and started coating the image with stars. (One of the star layers was actually called "BLING OUT THE WAZOO" - if you've watched Over the Hedge, you'll get the reference.

I thought of calling this image "Sparkling Angel Mist", but given its connection to mothers and Mother's Day, I wanted to have "mother" in the title.

If you, too, would like this on a phone case or other physical items, here are some of your options:
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​​Here are the links to the items in the collage:
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​Face Masks
Stickers
Throw Pillows
Comforters
​Dresses
Shirts
Phone Cases & Skins
Duffel Bags
Tapestries
Shower Curtains
Coffee Mugs
Bath Mats
Apple Watch Bands

You can see all the RedBubble items with this artwork here.

To see more products with this picture on Society6, check out this art print, then scroll down to where it says "More featuring this artwork".

Of all the characters I would've expected to latch onto my mind and not let go until I wrote his story, Ondolemar from Skyrim was NEVER on the list.

Erandur, sure - he's friendly, interesting, and complex, with an intriguing backstory and a lot of dialogue. There's a reason I have a partly-finished story about him in my WIPs.

But Ondolemar? The leader of the Thalmor Justiciars, whose job is to arrest people for their faith? The arrogant religious fanatic Elven supremacist with just a handful of spoken lines and NO backstory beyond what we can guess from his rank? WTF?

It's Tumblr and YouTube's fault. They introduced me to a few voice lines I'd never heard before, because I'd never helped him arrest a guy for worshiping Talos.

After the hostility, condescension, insults and murder attempts I'd gotten from pretty much every other Thalmor I'd ever encountered, I was surprised to find out that:

1. If you've helped him, Ondolemar greets you as "my friend," no matter what race you're playing as.

2. If you've helped him AND you have a high enough speech skill, you can get him to cause a distraction for you during a party. In the Thalmor Embassy, no less. He'll even lie to Elenwen for you.

3. When his distraction gets an innocent human in trouble, he'll immediately take the blame for the incident rather than get said human thrown out of the party, despite his belief in Elven superiority and his moon-sized ego.

This, and the fact that he seeks proof before arresting a "heretic", is a surprising contrast to the Justiciars who label you a heretic and try to kill you just because they don't like you.

(Sure, you could argue that he isn't legally ALLOWED to arrest Ogmund without proof, but the Thalmor have no problem trying to have the Dragonborn illegally assassinated, so clearly extralegal options aren't off the table for the people Ondolemar works for.)

4. Sometimes he'll comment, "There are so few pleasures in life as fine as your company" - once again, regardless of what race you are. And if you think it's because he's a skilled manipulator, clearly you haven't heard his other voice lines.

If you want a brutally honest opinion from a Thalmor officer about the Empire or the political situation, he's the place to find it. This dumbass has precious little filter between his mouth and brain.

5. Whether you've helped him or not, he is happy to chat with you, both in Markarth and at the party. He also seems very sincerely focused on the religious aspects of the Talos ban and the civil war, whereas the other Thalmor make me suspect that it's more of a means to a political end.

Combine all of that with my observation that Talos' shrines and amulets follow the same game mechanics as the implements of the divines that the Thalmor recognize, and it made me wonder what would happen if this unusually friendly Justiciar were to be told - VERY tactfully - about the evidence that his faction might be lying to him about a matter of religion.

Over a century of indoctrination, his whole self-flattering worldview, and the risk of being killed for questioning his totalitarian government, vs. the evidence. FIGHT.

When I first started writing, I'd expected it to be one quick conversation that I just wanted to get out of my head and onto the screen. But then it grew. And grew.

I saw a picture of Ondolemar being captured, and I felt that would bring a great new level of emotional tension to the story. So I added it in.

While I was writing a scene in which Ondolemar tried to defend his point of view, I realized I was knocking down a strawman. So I looked deeper into the lore about the Thalmor and their rationale and goals. And the story grew some more.

Next thing I knew, I'd written almost 35,000 words about a character I never thought I'd give a crap about, and gotten into his head far deeper and more effortlessly than I'd ever thought I would. And the story was still growing.

I never would have guessed that he'd be a character who practically wrote himself, but he is, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing him.

Now the story is finally done, and you can read it on this website here.

And you can read it on Archive of Our Own here.

For the last few months, I've been working with Andrea Fluhman to bring her very first book, #wingman, to publication.

​This book is based on her experiences in positions of leadership and her observations of other leaders, and it aims to help others to give and receive the support they need, whether as a leader or as a leader's wingman.

I provided advice when this book was still just a rough first draft, and grammatical editing after that. Once it was written and edited, we also collaborated to create the synopsis and cover art.

The butterflies were originally sketched by her cousin, but because they were hand-drawn on paper, I needed to trace them so I'd be able to put them on her chosen background and adjust their coloring.

My initial concept art for the cover had a sky background, and a variety of options for the butterfly colors and text font.​

Now, her book is finally out there for all the world to see, and I'm so happy for her. :D

I encourage you to check out her book, and get a copy if it seems like something you would find helpful.

Hi, everyone,

Some of you may have noticed that the latest pages of my Undertale webcomic, Just Cause, have been taking longer than usual. I wanted to give you an update to explain why that’s happening, and what you can do to help if you so choose.

About a year ago, I decided I wanted to spend more time creating stories and art. That’s always been my passion, but for most of my life, it’s had to play second fiddle to the other things I had to do in order to pay my bills.

I wanted to change that. So I set up an account on Patreon, opened up commissions, started selling art on Society6 and RedBubble, and created a tutorial on SkillShare to teach others how to draw symmetrical snowflake patterns.

I spent more time working on Just Cause, while also juggling a part-time job as a sighted guide and another business.

Between said other business, the job, and my writing and art, I often worked 50-60 hours a week.

The results… have been deeply discouraging.

I recently lost my biggest supporter on Patreon (she had her own financial obligations she needed to prioritize), and I’m getting next to nothing in monthly pledges now. The income from my tutorial and print-on-demand patterns hasn’t been nearly enough to put a dent in my bills, and after all the countless hours of work I’ve put into all of this, I’m frustratingly unsure of what I’m doing wrong.

As a result, I’ve needed to cut back on the time I spend on art and storytelling, so I can focus on things that actually bring in income. If I don’t, it won’t be long before I won’t even be able to buy food.

What can you do to help?

I understand that a lot of people reading this are low on funds themselves, and I don’t want to make you feel guilty or obligated. I intend to continue to work on Just Cause, but it will likely continue to go slower than before as long as my financial situation stays this way.

If you want to help me spend more time making stories and art, here are a few ways you can do it, and some of them don’t require any money from you:

1. Watch my symmetrical pattern tutorial on SkillShare, and share it with anyone you know who might be interested.

SkillShare is basically like Netflix: it pays the creators who put content on it according to the amount of time people spend watching that content. The more you and other people watch my tutorial, the more I get paid.

Here’s a link to the tutorial.

2. Share my Society6/RedBubble art, and/or purchase it.

If you see something you like in my S6 or RB stores, every purchase helps. And if you don’t want to buy something or you don’t have the funds, sharing product images and links to the store with people who you think might be interested in buying something for themselves or getting something as a gift is a way you can help for free.

My RedBubble store
My Society6 store

3. Share my art, with credit.

If you think your social media followers will enjoy something I posted, please reblog it on Tumblr, or share it on your other channels with a link to the DA or Tumblr page on which I originally shared it. On DA, you can find a series of social media “share” buttons near the upper right corner of each “deviation”s page.

You can follow me on Tumblr here.

4. Support me on Patreon.

Ideally, I would LOVE to have a stable, reliable monthly income that enables me write and create art with the knowledge that doing what I love is HELPING my ability to pay my bills instead of putting me in financial jeopardy.

In return for your support, you get early access to completed art and stories and exclusive access to works in progress, as well as other tier-exclusive rewards depending on the size of your pledge.

You can see a breakdown of the available rewards on this page.

5. Commission an art piece or a panel of Just Cause.

Another way to support me financially is to hire me to draw something for you. You can see my commission prices here.

If you want to use your contribution to make the next page of Just Cause come out faster, you can commission a panel of the comic. When you do this, I can schedule creating that panel into my work hours, in addition to the ones I draw during my free time, so I get more panels done that day.

Once your commissioned panel is done, I’ll send you a copy of it right away as thanks for your contribution. You’ll also have the option to be credited as a sponsor on the page once it comes out, unless you prefer anonymity.

Thanks for reading this journal entry. The last few months have been pretty stressful for me, and anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated!

While I was visiting my grandparents this week, I showed them some of my symmetrical patterns, and they started making art requests. These are the results, and the stories that go with them:

This picture started with Grandpa asking what I'd draw if I was making the decal for a vehicle's door, and then it snowballed from there. It began with lightning on a purple gradient, and then my grandparents asked for mountains, clouds, and a cabin with the lights on.

Grandpa also implied, but did not confirm, that he wanted me to strike the cabin with lightning.

 
To support me as an artist, and to get exclusive access to WIPs and advance viewing of completed chapters, please consider becoming a Patron on Patreon!

Commissions

Physical merch

As you could probably guess, there's a story behind this one.

A few days ago, my dear friend, Mica Kole, sent me two pieces of great news:

One was that her short story had won second place in the Sapiens Plurum contest.

The other was that her boyfriend had proposed to her, and she'd enthusiastically said "yes" - by throwing him in the lake and then jumping in after him.

As the icing on the cake, all this happened just in time for her birthday. And what better way to celebrate her birthday, her engagement, and her literary victory than with a piece of fan art that includes an in-joke from her proposal story?

To my delight, she enjoyed the picture, and gave me permission to share her birthday gift and her great news with my readers.

Here's a version without the dialogue, in case you prefer that:
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If you want to get the context behind this picture, you can read the 3,000-word short story for free here: http://sapiensplurum.org/2018-2nd-place-winner.html

It's about a man whose inability to make basic day-to-day decisions wreaks havoc on his personal life, until he buys a flying robot named Tempest to make those decisions for him. The robot's good at her job, but even she can't do everything for him. Eventually, he's going to face choices that he has to make on his own.

How much of this picture is based on the story and how much is based on the proposal, I won't say right now, because SPOILERS. Just go read the story. Go do it. Shoo.

And if you want to get early access to stories like that, as well as useful writing tips, don't forget to support Mica on Patreon!

Sometimes, the mistakes of video game designers and players combine to create beautiful, deadly accidents. Here are the chronicles of the prettiest death I've ever experienced in Batman: Arkham City:

It all started when, while riding the elevator down from Wonder Tower, I decided to ride on top of the cab instead of inside it.

Apparently the game translated that as me being outside the building, and as a result, I was treated to this beautiful, surreal view.
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Once my descent below the city was complete, I dropped into the elevator, hoping that would convince the game that I was back in Wonder Tower's foundations where I belonged.

No such luck. When I stepped out of the elevator, instead of loading the appropriate room, the game plunged me into a dappled void.

The swirling yellow you see above me is the sky over Arkham City. Below is the snowy, starry abyss that lurks beneath the prison, waiting to claim the life of anyone impertinent enough to misuse the city's elevators.

​When I looked up, this is what I saw:
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As the plunge continued and the prison's underbelly shrank into the distance, it began to look as if the world had been cut in two. I suspect the dark side and its offshoots are the water that encloses one side of Arkham city.

Then I looked down, and saw nothing. Nothing but blurry patches of snowy mystery, with no hope of a safe landing in sight.
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Eventually, just as I was starting to think I'd have to exit the game, it pulled me out of the underworld and into a generic "your mission has failed" message.

It seems there are some enemies even Batman can't defeat, and beautiful bat-eating glitches in his virtual world are one of them.

If you enjoy the stuff I share and want to see more, and you'd like to support me, please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon!

Click the button below to find out what kinds of rewards are available to my patrons:
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