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Re: Project Kat
Dec. 24th, 2025 09:02 amI also want to share this illustration from the developer's page on Itch.io, because it's a mood.
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The Case of the Phantom Portrait
Aug. 12th, 2025 08:03 am“The Case of the Phantom Portrait” is a wizard detective story loosely inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray. The wizard detective, Fhiad, is a university mage who travels to a Gothic manor after being hired by a duchess to locate a portrait that’s gone missing after her husband died. The scenes of the story are divided by Fhiad’s letters to a colleague at his university, Agnes, and he’s able to solve the mystery because of the assistance she provides in her terse replies.
Fhiad and Agnes are characters from An Unfound Door, an original gothic fantasy novel that I’m currently preparing to query. They’re in their mid-twenties in the novel, and the story takes place a decade or two later, when they have more stable personalities. Fhiad is charming and kind, and Agnes is as sharp as a knife and uninterested in bullshit.
To simplify somewhat, Agnes is Sherlock Holmes, and Fhiad is William of Baskerville (from The Name of the Rose).
Agnes never actually appears in person in “The Case of the Phantom Portrait,” and I was worried that she’s an extraneous element. I sent the story to three separate copy editors, though, and all three of them said – completely independently of the job they were hired to do – that Agnes was their favorite character.
That’s good, then. I’d love to write more wizard detective stories. In the meantime, I hope Agnes is a compelling enough character to get at least one agent interested in the novel.
This is Fhiad (as drawn by Armd39), by the way. I like to think he has a certain appeal of his own:
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Fhiad and Agnes are characters from An Unfound Door, an original gothic fantasy novel that I’m currently preparing to query. They’re in their mid-twenties in the novel, and the story takes place a decade or two later, when they have more stable personalities. Fhiad is charming and kind, and Agnes is as sharp as a knife and uninterested in bullshit.
To simplify somewhat, Agnes is Sherlock Holmes, and Fhiad is William of Baskerville (from The Name of the Rose).
Agnes never actually appears in person in “The Case of the Phantom Portrait,” and I was worried that she’s an extraneous element. I sent the story to three separate copy editors, though, and all three of them said – completely independently of the job they were hired to do – that Agnes was their favorite character.
That’s good, then. I’d love to write more wizard detective stories. In the meantime, I hope Agnes is a compelling enough character to get at least one agent interested in the novel.
This is Fhiad (as drawn by Armd39), by the way. I like to think he has a certain appeal of his own:
( Read more... )
Black Earth Rising
https://artbma.org/exhibition/black-earth-rising
See nature’s beauty and power through the eyes of today’s leading artists. Organized by guest curator and renowned author Ekow Eshun, this exhibition explores today’s climate crisis from a new perspective and celebrates our shared connections to the natural world.
Not a lot of people know this, but the Baltimore Museum of Art is cool as hell. I will always show up for diaspora art and environmental justice. And plants!! Here's one of the installations:
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https://artbma.org/exhibition/black-earth-rising
See nature’s beauty and power through the eyes of today’s leading artists. Organized by guest curator and renowned author Ekow Eshun, this exhibition explores today’s climate crisis from a new perspective and celebrates our shared connections to the natural world.
Not a lot of people know this, but the Baltimore Museum of Art is cool as hell. I will always show up for diaspora art and environmental justice. And plants!! Here's one of the installations:
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2025 Writing Log, Part 24
Jun. 21st, 2025 07:42 am( Read more... )
Happy Summer Solstice ☀️
Please enjoy this light-filled painting of my dogs:
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Happy Summer Solstice ☀️
Please enjoy this light-filled painting of my dogs:
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Okay one more old man being wholesome,
by which I mean Karl Gussow's painting "Old Man's Treasure."
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by which I mean Karl Gussow's painting "Old Man's Treasure."
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The basic premise of my Modern BotW AU fanfic novel Malice is that Zelda is romanced by one of the Blight Ganons. It's taken a human form for plot-related reasons, and it retains some of the memories and personality of the original Ganondorf, but it's still a big messy scary monster.
While editing An Unfound Door, I wanted to reference how I wrote the Blight Ganon in the first four chapters of Malice, when it's almost completely inhuman. I thought this would be a chore, but I got sucked into the story and ended up reading 50k words of it last night.
The novel is surprisingly good, and that's distressing. I'm afraid that I might have been a much better writer in 2021. It's possible that I might have been a better artist, too. Goddamn it.
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While editing An Unfound Door, I wanted to reference how I wrote the Blight Ganon in the first four chapters of Malice, when it's almost completely inhuman. I thought this would be a chore, but I got sucked into the story and ended up reading 50k words of it last night.
The novel is surprisingly good, and that's distressing. I'm afraid that I might have been a much better writer in 2021. It's possible that I might have been a better artist, too. Goddamn it.
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Agnes in the Archives
Oct. 4th, 2024 01:19 pmAt a certain point I realized that, if my art posts are only going to get one or two notes, then it doesn't matter if they're perfect. I can draw whatever I want. It can be messy, and that's fine. I can be self-indulgent and draw backgrounds filled with mistakes. That's okay actually.
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Wandering Wizard Detective
May. 9th, 2024 02:50 amThe irrepressibly brilliant Emily Cheeseman drew Fhiad from An Unfound Door, and my goodness.
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It's difficult to summarize what's going on with this character, so I settled on describing where I see him in ten years. An Unfound Door has got to be one of the most elaborate backstories ever written, but I have no regrets. And this is a bit embarrassing, but I used to write a lot of Sherlock Holmes pastiches when I was younger. I bet I could still pull it off. Murder mysteries are always more fun when magic is involved, right?
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It's difficult to summarize what's going on with this character, so I settled on describing where I see him in ten years. An Unfound Door has got to be one of the most elaborate backstories ever written, but I have no regrets. And this is a bit embarrassing, but I used to write a lot of Sherlock Holmes pastiches when I was younger. I bet I could still pull it off. Murder mysteries are always more fun when magic is involved, right?
The Demon King
Apr. 4th, 2024 07:39 amI’m focusing on An Unfound Door right now, but I still daydream about The Demon King all the time. If you thought I was done with this asshole, you would be incorrect.
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2024 Writing Log, Part 7.5
Feb. 24th, 2024 12:23 pmI've written fuck all this week, but I've been keeping busy, and also I want to share a WIP of a drawing that's taken way too much of my time.
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Why do all of my characters look so tired
Nov. 25th, 2023 07:24 amI love words, but I'm a visually oriented person at heart. I’ve never been able to get a handle on the character Fhiad from An Unfound Door, partially because I have no idea what he looks like.
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There's the Boy
Oct. 1st, 2023 09:56 amThere he is!
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I told the artist that his personality is "tired," and I think they pulled it off nicely.
I should have told the artist that he should wear this shirt, but I am tired myself and wasn't thinking.
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I told the artist that his personality is "tired," and I think they pulled it off nicely.
I should have told the artist that he should wear this shirt, but I am tired myself and wasn't thinking.
Terrible People
May. 29th, 2023 10:49 amOkay! I'm ready to begin work on a new short horror fiction zine, which I've decided to call "Terrible People." The most difficult part of this process is creating the cover. I want to commission an artist I admire but have never worked with before, so I made a sketch of how I envision the cover...
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The Legend of Money Laundering
Jan. 26th, 2023 08:15 amOn one hand, the Breath of the Wild Coffeeshop AU I wrote is very silly. On the other hand, I am now extremely interested in the idea of Ganondorf committing high-level white collar crimes.
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Millennium Princess
Jul. 13th, 2022 04:36 pmMe: Man, I'm not so good at art. I really need to work within my limitations.
Also me: This seems like a reasonable project to undertake.
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And while I'm at it, please consider:
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Also me: This seems like a reasonable project to undertake.
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And while I'm at it, please consider:
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It Fucken Wimdy
May. 16th, 2022 09:43 pm( Read more... )
I go back and forth on the Wind Waker Ganon design. On one hand, it works extremely well in the context of the distinctive graphic style of the game. On the other hand, it's a jarring mix of incongruous elements, and the green skin and hook nose have got to go.
I'm posting this here because I don't know if I'll ever return to it. I'm swiftly moving away from an anime style, but I'm not sure how I feel about a realistic style either.
I go back and forth on the Wind Waker Ganon design. On one hand, it works extremely well in the context of the distinctive graphic style of the game. On the other hand, it's a jarring mix of incongruous elements, and the green skin and hook nose have got to go.
I'm posting this here because I don't know if I'll ever return to it. I'm swiftly moving away from an anime style, but I'm not sure how I feel about a realistic style either.
Hint: It's Porn
Feb. 5th, 2022 08:55 amAre they discussing murder or porn? You decide!
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It's always a pleasure to work with Frankiesbugs. I was like, Hey are you familiar with the webcomic Oglaf, and they were like, What an absolute question, of course I am.
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It's always a pleasure to work with Frankiesbugs. I was like, Hey are you familiar with the webcomic Oglaf, and they were like, What an absolute question, of course I am.
Back on My Bullshit
Jan. 20th, 2022 09:30 amI just love them so much.
It would be really fun to write a Demon King graphic novel, but like. How do I put this.
I am nothing and no one, and I'm also really shy and get burned out easily by social media. I would love to work with an artist on a longer project, but I would also hate to be the person the artist has to work with, if that makes sense. I don't want to inflict myself on anyone.
There's also the question of funding, which is complicated, and I'm deathly afraid of making an artist feel like I'm taking advantage of them.
But still. It would be really fun to write a Demon King graphic novel.
It would be really fun to write a Demon King graphic novel, but like. How do I put this.
I am nothing and no one, and I'm also really shy and get burned out easily by social media. I would love to work with an artist on a longer project, but I would also hate to be the person the artist has to work with, if that makes sense. I don't want to inflict myself on anyone.
There's also the question of funding, which is complicated, and I'm deathly afraid of making an artist feel like I'm taking advantage of them.
But still. It would be really fun to write a Demon King graphic novel.
