I decided it was time to make a proper character profile for Chielle, a character in my upcoming novel.

 
You can read more about her in the blog post where I first shared Chielle's concept art.

If you're curious about the naming convention I used for her family, it was inspired by the Spanish method of passing on surnames.

Since I'm writing a sci-fi fantasy world that isn't based solely on white Canadian culture, I didn't want to default to the "kids get the dad's last name and the mother's name disappears" formula from my own culture, so I looked to some of Earth's other cultures for inspiration.

I liked the Spanish model better: married women keep their original surnames, and after their personal names, Spaniards have both of their parents' first surnames, usually with the father's first and the mother's second.

But there were still a few things about that system that I wanted to tweak for this fictional universe.

For one thing, the first surname is often the only one used in less formal settings, so once again, the man's name is at the forefront while the woman's is left out.

​And because the children usually inherit the first of each parent's two surnames, the fact that the father's surname usually comes first means that - again - the mother's surname is erased.

That being the case, for the purpose of this book, I gave the system a small tweak: if the child is a girl, her surname is her mother's first surname, then her father's. If the child is a boy, his surname is his father's first surname, then his mother's. And if the child is nonbinary, it's decided on a case by case basis.

That way, both parents' names have a chance to be passed on.

How close is this book to being finished?

I'm in the process of fleshing out the outline, which means filling in plot holes, making sure no characters inexplicably disappear for days or indefinitely, adding foreshadowing, and removing any parts that no longer fit with the overall story.

I'm also writing the first draft of some scenes where I already have a clear and detailed idea of what I want to happen.

I'm currently on page 84 of 138, and the document is 68,664 words long!

Right now, I'm in the process of rewriting and fleshing out a pivotal scene roughly halfway through the book.

The first draft was already pretty much written, but then I decided that, under the circumstances, it would be more realistic and more emotionally compelling if it took place in another dimension, while one of the characters was bleeding into their brain. >:)

It definitely shifted the dynamic between the characters involved, and it gave me a chance to show off a side of their relationship that hadn't been shown in quite a while, while giving a shoutout to a part of their early backstory. All in all, I'm really happy with this change.

Want to see more?

If you want to be among the first to get updates about this story, to get early access to all my completed art and stories, and to get exclusive access to works in progress like the concept art for the man Chielle rescued, please consider supporting me on Patreon.

The latest chapter of my Undertale fanfic, Just Cause, is out, and Frisk is about to learn a few things about their friends that they'll wish they didn't know.

Read it on this website.

Read it on AO3.

This is the concept art for one of the major characters in my upcoming sci-fi fantasy novel. Everyone, meet Chielle!
​

 
Out of all the concept art I've drawn for my various characters, this is one of the ones I'm the most proud of. She looks pretty much exactly like I pictured her in my head, I love her fashion sense, and she's got such a distinctive look.

Her right hand is posed the way it is because I plan for her to be holding one of her inventions, when I figure out what said invention looks like.

So who is Chielle?

Chielle is a human scientist in a universe where Spinosauruses, spaceships, and immortal semideities can all be found on the same planet.

Her natural hair color is brownish black, but she's always been a big fan of stark, bold color contrasts, especially between light and dark. So when she started to develop vitiligo, she decided that if her favorite aesthetic was going to take over her face, she might as well run with it.

She lost her right arm in a shuttle crash when she was a child. When the rescue workers finally found her and pried her free from the wreckage, that moment when fear and despair suddenly turned into hope made a deep and lasting impression on her, as did the impact that getting her first prosthetic made on her quality of life.

For the rest of her childhood, she was torn between two dreams.

She became fascinated with prosthetics, and started studying them in hopes of someday inventing one that had the same range of motion and sensation as the original limb. She wanted to make life better for herself and her fellow amputees, just as the inventors who came before her had done for her.

But at the same time, part of her wanted to be a hero in a more direct and life-saving way, as those rescue workers had been to her. She wanted to be the reason someone's terror and despair turned to hope.

Even after she accepted a job in research and development, that part of her still hoped that if another shuttle crash happened, she'd be close enough to save the people inside.

Then, one day, she got her chance.

Chielle accepted an ambitious assignment in a classified lab on a remote planet, to seek a technological solution to a magical problem that had cost thousands of people their lives.

Her mission was to use her expertise in technology and neuroscience to invent machines that would block magic Wisps' control over their host, allowing people to wield the Wisps' magic without fear of getting possessed.

When the impact of a downed shuttle shook her lab, she didn't hesitate to race into the flames and drag the only surviving passenger to safety.

She had no way of knowing how this ragged, mysterious survivor would turn her world upside down.

Update:

Chielle now has an official character profile! You can see it here.

​If you want to be the first to get updates about Chielle and her world, to see higher-res versions of my art, and to get early access to all my completed writing and art, please join me on Patreon!

Somehow, improbably enough, its already 2023! This past year was certainly interesting; I switched my focus to a sci-fi fantasy novel whose outline/first draft hybrid is over 52,000 words long, am working on the character designs for said novel, got a few more chapters of Just Cause published, and started a series of pride flag-themed art pieces.

You can see the synopsis/back cover description for the novel in the image below: 

It's an early WIP; I might pare the text down later, and I'll almost certainly add something more to make the back cover pop, but for now I think it gives a good bird's-eye view of what this story is about.

It's been a while since an original story took over my brain the way this one has, and I'm really glad it did.

Outlining this story has certainly been an exercise in "shelving my darlings" - not killing them, but setting them aside for future books.

I had several characters, relationships, plot threads, and major conflicts planned in the original outline of this book, and then Raina and Quillen came swanning in, took over, and created a new storyline in which some of the original pieces no longer fit, haha.

A lot of these story components are too good to lose, and too complex and compelling to relegate to side plots, so I'll just have to find a new home for them where they can fully shine.

Hopefully by the end of 2023, I'll be able to share the completed book! In the meantime, I wish you an amazing year full of fun, inspiration, and amazing stories.

P.S. If you want to be the first to know when the book is available, and to get early access to excerpts, concept art, and other such goodies, please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Alphys has an awkward moment with Mettaton. Mettaton has an awkward moment with some rose petals. Frisk has an adorable moment with Sans.

​All this and more happens in the latest chapter of my Undertale fanfic, Just Cause.

Read it on this site.

Read it on AO3.

Buckle up, everyone! Alphys is in a moral hole, she's found a new shovel, and she's ready to start digging!

Check out chapter 16 of my Undertale fanfic, Just Cause, to see how Frisk handles their first encounter with the royal scientist and a violent robotic TV host.

Read it on this site

Read it on AO3

Today on Kids and Fish Who Are Having a Worse Day Than You, my Undertale fanfic, Just Cause, now has a new chapter!

​You can read chapter 15 on my website here.

Or you can read it on on AO3 here.


Here's a quick excerpt:

A few seconds before his boss was supposed to arrive, Sans teleported to his Hotland sentry station.

The moment he materialized, the sound that greeted him made him almost wish he’d stayed away.

“Come on, is that all you’ve got!?”

As Undyne’s strained, struggling voice drifted through the cavern and washed across him, grim resignation pulled Sans’ eyelids closed.

The kid might actually be killing her.

I’d hoped they were past that.

Chapter 14 of Just Cause is out! You can read it on this website here, or read it on Archive of Our Own here.

Here's a quick peek at the chapter:

I’m releasing chapter 14 of my Undertale story, Just Cause, this week, so here are a few excerpts from the upcoming chapter. :)

You can read the first 13 chapters of Just Cause here, or read the webcomic version here.

My supporters on Patreon can read chapter 14 today.

​Could it be... that I've finally updated my Undertale fanfiction, Just Cause?!

It could indeed! Here's a quick excerpt from the latest chapter, Mutual Protection:

You can read the full chapter here.