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WIPs

What can I say about August? Well, I sure didn’t play DRAMAtical Murder and I didn’t finish Peach Blossom Debt, but at least I have started a draft for the latter!

In terms of writing, I have mostly worked on… Well, I think that might be quite obvious, as I’ve started serialising the author’s fic The Amnesia Tonic. I haven’t worked on much else in the past two weeks.

I have, however, expanded on the medical worldbuilding of Zuladiar while writing The Amnesia Tonic and it’s frankly been pretty interesting. Trying to create a medical practice that fits the place, culture and time isn’t the easiest but it’s honestly quite fun and at times disturbing to look into ancient medical practices.

I then have to mix in actual magic into this, which gives it a bit of a different flavour, but I try to keep it pretty down to earth since the magical alternate timeline I have for The Universe doesn’t include miraculous healing… for the most part. I can’t just shove the idea to the side, since there are miracles that are claimed to have happened, so I’m leaving room open for actually writing about such miracles.

I have also worked on an article for the Wiki about materials used in Zuladiar and for what, further considered how their cities are constructed (as in literal construction) and other such matters.

Something I’ve done a lot is look at Instagram of people doing art. Seems a little odd, perhaps, but it gives me motivation to work on art. I have worked on a self-portrait among other things, but I still need to finish it. I’ll do it Soon (TM). I like looking at the reels with watercolour and linework. I also follow a few artists who use alcohol markers. These are some of my favourite tools I used when I still primarily worked with traditional tools. It’s also what I primarily want to imitate when I work digitally. Maybe not so much linework, but markers and watercolours.

Finally, since I caught up on Nomads and Empires in the past few weeks, so I went on to listen to The History of China. It’s rather interesting, though it also is relatively unimportant to my writing. I just thought I’d mention that, since even if only indirectly, Chinese history does affect the stories I’ve set on the Eurasian Steppe.

WIP Quote

“Captain,” a man’s voice near Çetžak spoke up. There was a pause before the man repeated, “Captain?” The man coughed quietly and called out again. “Captain Züčan?”

With a jolt, Çetžak realised, he was the one addressed, and he turned to see Židad, still looking older than he remembered the man had been last time he saw him, standing a respectful distance away from him. He held his hand behind his back and looked at the scene, scanning the environment with his eyes.

“Yes, Židad, what is it?” He paused. “No, is it ‘Lieutenant’ now?”

“You still call me by name at this age, Captain,” Židad helpfully explained. “That has never changed, even after you left the Ažamür Cavalry at sixteen.”

Çetžak was left stunned by the revelation he had left the Cavalry when he was sixteen. He vaguely recalled his šüssad had mentioned that Çetžak might be transferred to a different military unit to improve his skill and rise in ranks, but he hadn’t got the sense that he was supposed to leave the Cavalry altogether, and that it was at a somewhat older age.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, at a loss for words.

From “The Amnesia Tonic” Chapter 5

Behind the Scenes

This past month has essentially plagued me and my partner with preparations for the kids going back to school. It’s just been quite a lot.

I did have a birthday, though, and Mini and my partner came over to spend time with me, and that was it for the celebration. I did get to talk to my godmothers as they called from Finland and it’s honestly one of the few things I look forward to when my birthday comes around since I don’t have that many people who speak Finnish around me.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve got so much on my mind and too many balls to juggle, but I’ve noticed that I’m bad at getting anything done unless I explicitly write it down into a list and check each thing off. As soon as I stop, I get really bad at accomplishing anything because I focus on everything thrown at me instead or just get overwhelmed.

So I’ve been writing down the tasks that need to be done in my thought journal. Even if I don’t constantly look at it, that really allows me to focus on the important matters for the day. It also helps with my mental health, which in turn makes things easier to deal with in general.

Except for my cat. She’s such a pain because she’s loud and sounds like a wailing baby. Someone give me a cat that isn’t possessed by the ghost of a crying infant. *sob*

Currently…

Reading

• Peach Blossom Debt
• Case File Compendium vol 1
• Case File Compendium (JJWXC)
• The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol 1
• Remnants of Filth vol 1
• Case Files of Jeweler Richard vol 1
• Hello, I am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion vol 1
• Magi (VIZ Manga)
• My Special One (VIZ Manga)
• Komi Can’t Communicate (VIZ Manga)
• Heaven Official’s Blessing vol 1 (Re-read)
• Golden Terrace vol 2 (Re-read)
• A lot of fan translations
• No webcomics

Watching

• Ouran High School Host Club
• Tiger and Bunny
• Dead Boy Detectives
• Ojamajo Doremi

Playing

• Tales of Zestiria
• Persona 5
• DRAMAtical Murder
• Boyfriend Dungeon

Recently dropped

 N/A

Recently finished

N/A