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How about a little update, gang?

There's a lot going on this month.

1) The Indiegogo campaign for my live show has reached 44% of target! That's amazing. Thanks to all who have contributed so far (including some big donations). I'd love to get this up to 100% - or even hit some stretch goals - so now is a great time to back and nab a perk.

2) My new book Hopefully Ever After is available for pre-order on Amazon and will come out digitally on 3 May. I know not everyone buys from Amazon, but *if you do*, then early sales and early reviews make a big difference. Get it now!

3) I did a little storytelling live stream here on my FB page last week and it was really fun. I'm looking to do these regularly, so the next one is happening tomorrow on Fri 2 May at 7pm (UK time). Any appetite for something similar for Tumblr folk? Maybe via Twitch?

4) A new update for the little interactive story I've been writing with y'alls help will be going up today. Get ready to vote on your next choice!

5) Now is a great time to submit your prompts if you're a Ko-Fi backer. Form's here.

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my bf has many interesting stories and observations from his new job as a 911 operator

my favorite is how meandering people are, even in the midst of a terrible emergency

they respond to “what is the emergency” with “well, the thing is, four weeks ago–”

and then he’s like “WHAT IS THE EMERGENCY RIGHT NOW”

and they’re like “so what happened this morning was, i said to my wife, i said–”

“WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING AT THIS MOMENT”

“oh i’m having a heart attack”

my second favorite is how specific he has to get sometimes

like, “what is your emergency?”

“i’m sitting in a pool of blood.”

“… is it… your blood?”

“yes i think so”

“do you know where it’s coming from?”

“probably the stab wound”

“have you been stabbed?”

“oh yah definitely”

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I really wish that the actual newspapers would adopt this model.

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This was very lovely to wake up to. It's completely legit, in the replies people posted videos and pictures of the 'walk for El Vaquita', the fake protest to get El Vaquita desperately needed medical attention.

The comments in the tweet lead to celebration of a another Chilean comrade doggo named Negro Matapacos. And this is exactly the kind of education I want this month.

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If you use Duolingo, maybe don't anymore? The company is moving to be "AI-first" and is using AI to generate their content. Meaning, AI is now generating your language lessons.

They announced that they were going to use AI for this a while back but now they're annoucing that they're getting rid of the contractors reviewing the AI generated content. So, very soon Duolingo is just going to be AI generated slop that might not even be correct.

For alternatives, I'd recommend checking with your local library. For instance, mine offers Rosetta Stone for free if you have a library card.

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How about a little update, gang?

There's a lot going on this month.

1) The Indiegogo campaign for my live show has reached 44% of target! That's amazing. Thanks to all who have contributed so far (including some big donations). I'd love to get this up to 100% - or even hit some stretch goals - so now is a great time to back and nab a perk.

2) My new book Hopefully Ever After is available for pre-order on Amazon and will come out digitally on 3 May. I know not everyone buys from Amazon, but *if you do*, then early sales and early reviews make a big difference. Get it now!

3) I did a little storytelling live stream here on my FB page last week and it was really fun. I'm looking to do these regularly, so the next one is happening tomorrow on Fri 2 May at 7pm (UK time). Any appetite for something similar for Tumblr folk? Maybe via Twitch?

4) A new update for the little interactive story I've been writing with y'alls help will be going up today. Get ready to vote on your next choice!

5) Now is a great time to submit your prompts if you're a Ko-Fi backer. Form's here.

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The night is drawing in, a rope of shadows closing around the neck of the day.

The sheriff lies in the street. The gun is smoking in your hand. You can smell blood and gunpowder.

The deputy is staring at you with those glowing high-noon eyes. You wonder if she has seen this all play out already.

In the distance, you can hear chittering. The creatures will emerge soon and there is no-one wearing the tin star on their chest to hold them back.

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Welcome Spring 🌼🐰🌼

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Can you do me a favour? Tell me what you like about my stories!

I'm at about the midway point of the funding campaign for my live show (Poor Life Choices), and I would love to give it a big push.

To help with this, could you reblog or reply to this post with any of the following:

- what you like about my stories

- why you think folks would enjoy my work

- what makes you excited about the idea of my live show

For bonus points, write down your answer on a piece of paper or in a notebook and reblog a pic.

And, of course, you can also help by sharing the Indiegogo page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/poor-life-choices-at-the-edinburgh-fringe

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The Villainess Flips the Script

This is Luca Winterwald.

He's the hero of the revenge story Master of the Winter Forest. Luca's mother died from a disease when he was very young and he was raised by an aunt that neglected him until one day he was discovered to be the child of a noble. His life didn't get better when he was brought to live in the Winterwald household however where he was looked down upon, tormented and his only support, his uncle, eventually died to save his life. He went into hiding and only returned once he was an adult to eliminate everyone that stood in his way and have his revenge while becoming the next Duke of Winterwald.

He's not who the story is about. The story is about his aunt. Judith.

Or rather, its the story of the modern day woman who ended up transmigrated into Judith's body just before the story in the books really gets started.

Still, our girl is determined not to abuse a nine year old kid.

She's also determined not to meet the grisly end that her character did at the start of the novel.

So her first step is to turn over a new leaf and start taking care of her nephew.

It does not go well.

At all.

Luca is not interested in forming any bonds with the woman that abused him up until this point and he's a desperately clever kid on top of that. Not to mention, before they really have time to work on these new character dynamics the beginning of the novel starts. The noble looking for Luca arrives.

Ruediger Winderwald is the only surviving son of the Duke of Winterwald. Despite that fact, the Duke had never named him as his heir. Instead, Ruediger's brother Jonas was supposed to be heir - until he died. And Jonas' son out of wedlock is none other than Luca. In the novel, Ruediger shows up, pays Judith a large sum of money and takes Luca back to Winterwald with him where he becomes the boy's staunchest guardian, mentor and father-figure. Judith is ready to let the child go on to this better life (without accepting the money for him).

Luca, however, has other ideas.

Well, you can't ask a boy to leave his mother behind and Ruediger is more than willing to bring Judith along as well.

So the story starts - with one extra character involved in its plot now. Judith coming along isn't the only thing that's changed though. Luca, who in the story immediately took to and adored Ruediger - um - doesn't.

Plus he's not the naive, innocent child he was in the story either. This Luca is jaded, he easily masters things he struggled to learn in the novel and he's deeply protective of the aunt that abused him especially when it comes to Ruediger.

And yet he also has so many of Ruediger's habits...

Well, that's a mystery to solve but first they have to survive assassination attempts, the royal court's politics, greedy members of the Winterwald family, long hidden secrets and Judith's love of baseball.

This story though - I am so in love with this story. It's like the coziest soft blanket on a winter day, complete with mug of warm drink and good book. Judith is a quiet heroine but she's so solid and she feels things so strongly that she's far from boring. She's utterly devoted to Luca and yet she's still a character with her own dreams, thoughts and life outside of just being the 'guardian'. She'd an intelligent heroine too and its very rare for her to not pick up on story clues. The only time she's ignorant for the sake of Moving the Story is:

Ruediger. Gosh, I love this guy. He is straight-forward to a pin drop and has no ego to speak of. Which doesn't mean he's not an aristocrat and absolutely confident in himself to the core because he is but when Judith tells him she likes him for his looks - our dude here, instead of being offended, IMMEDIATELY takes up a skin care routine so that he can keep the face she obviously likes at Peak Function. He's determined to be a good uncle to Luca but he's just as interested in being a shield and support to Judith as well. Our guy here does nothing by half-measures. He's not loud about it - he fits Judith's 'quiet' heroine as a 'quiet' hero but he's a hero absolutely and once he makes up his mind there's no turning in him.

As for Luca - Luca breaks your heart. He's trying so hard to be an Adult and yet he's a kid. It's pretty obvious Something Up with him but he loves his aunt so much and he's sensitive behind his jaded attitude. Getting to watch the moments where Judith pulls the child inside him to the front is so healing and when he wishes to be happy you understand entirely where he's coming from. Plus his little shit attitude is a riot and I enjoyed every second of it.

You know me - character interaction is what makes or breaks a story for me and this one is so well written when it comes to that. Every one of the characters has layers to them, the interaction can swing from hysterical to heart-tugging with just about anyone and the core family - Luca, Judith and Ruediger - is so precious as they struggle along to figure out where they all stand with each other (and take turns teaming up together to gang up on the other one). The Duke of Winterwald's approach is absolutely chilling, the villainess is believable and completely understandable and the Grandfather is a riot.

The story's no slouch either though. The plot is tight and appropriately twisty while making it an easy to follow all the way through. Nothing ever drags out too long but you do get to linger on the good parts. When you figure out each point that's going on before the story gives it away, its still fun watching everything fall into place until you get to the reveal point. The art is pretty/funny by trade and the ending is completely satisfactory. Because hey, yeah - this story is complete. This story, while not as loud as some of the stories I've read, is so solid and delicious that its one of my all time top five fav manhwas right now. Highest of recommendations on this one. The epitome of 'found family'.

rating: PG13

warnings: blood, death, murder, child neglect, child endangerment, messed up family dynamics, Judith's terrible fashion sense

finished: YES! at 119 chapters our story is finished (with the promise of a few addendum chapters for fun)

abs: well, he takes off his glove in chapter 12 with his teeth and that's about the same level isn't it?

ps. my all time fav bit character is this girl RIGHT HERE

double pps - have some early clips of why Ruediger is such a wonderful guy

I read it in its entirety over on Kaliscans here but I would not recommend doing so without an ad-blocker and a virus guard running. I find the site impossible to read on my phone and so can only use it on my laptop with my uBlock Origins running.

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Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits

Reblog this on the first of the month for good luck all month long!

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The tribes of Tumblr appeared to worship Apollo as their primary patron deity, most often under the epithet Apollo Spairahemon ("Apollo the Ball-Thrower") as a god of prophecy and sport. His name was typically invoked to celebrate a user blessed with uncommon prescience. Moments of prophecy were considered highly sacred and were often recorded, and such texts are sometimes accompanied by an artistic depiction of the god — either his traditional masculine image or, unusually, in the form of a young woman, which appears to have been an earlier style before a conservative shift toward more conventional iconography — preparing to cast a round rubber ball that our scholars believe was used in the sport known as "dodge ball". Much as other cults regarded his arrows as bringers of disease and health, this community believed that being struck by this ball would bestow prophetic visions.

Some icons are reproduced below:

An earlier depiction (c. 2020) of Apollo as a girl clad in a simple tunic and playing with other children. Figures are smiling and the image is brightly colored, indicating a celebratory outlook toward knowledge of the future.

A later piece (c. 2022) that resembles the traditional appearance of Apollo. References to childhood and play are omitted, and the god carries a more frightening aspect; perhaps this icon represented grim omens rather than good tidings.

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The Villainess Flips the Script

This is Luca Winterwald.

He's the hero of the revenge story Master of the Winter Forest. Luca's mother died from a disease when he was very young and he was raised by an aunt that neglected him until one day he was discovered to be the child of a noble. His life didn't get better when he was brought to live in the Winterwald household however where he was looked down upon, tormented and his only support, his uncle, eventually died to save his life. He went into hiding and only returned once he was an adult to eliminate everyone that stood in his way and have his revenge while becoming the next Duke of Winterwald.

He's not who the story is about. The story is about his aunt. Judith.

Or rather, its the story of the modern day woman who ended up transmigrated into Judith's body just before the story in the books really gets started.

Still, our girl is determined not to abuse a nine year old kid.

She's also determined not to meet the grisly end that her character did at the start of the novel.

So her first step is to turn over a new leaf and start taking care of her nephew.

It does not go well.

At all.

Luca is not interested in forming any bonds with the woman that abused him up until this point and he's a desperately clever kid on top of that. Not to mention, before they really have time to work on these new character dynamics the beginning of the novel starts. The noble looking for Luca arrives.

Ruediger Winderwald is the only surviving son of the Duke of Winterwald. Despite that fact, the Duke had never named him as his heir. Instead, Ruediger's brother Jonas was supposed to be heir - until he died. And Jonas' son out of wedlock is none other than Luca. In the novel, Ruediger shows up, pays Judith a large sum of money and takes Luca back to Winterwald with him where he becomes the boy's staunchest guardian, mentor and father-figure. Judith is ready to let the child go on to this better life (without accepting the money for him).

Luca, however, has other ideas.

Well, you can't ask a boy to leave his mother behind and Ruediger is more than willing to bring Judith along as well.

So the story starts - with one extra character involved in its plot now. Judith coming along isn't the only thing that's changed though. Luca, who in the story immediately took to and adored Ruediger - um - doesn't.

Plus he's not the naive, innocent child he was in the story either. This Luca is jaded, he easily masters things he struggled to learn in the novel and he's deeply protective of the aunt that abused him especially when it comes to Ruediger.

And yet he also has so many of Ruediger's habits...

Well, that's a mystery to solve but first they have to survive assassination attempts, the royal court's politics, greedy members of the Winterwald family, long hidden secrets and Judith's love of baseball.

This story though - I am so in love with this story. It's like the coziest soft blanket on a winter day, complete with mug of warm drink and good book. Judith is a quiet heroine but she's so solid and she feels things so strongly that she's far from boring. She's utterly devoted to Luca and yet she's still a character with her own dreams, thoughts and life outside of just being the 'guardian'. She'd an intelligent heroine too and its very rare for her to not pick up on story clues. The only time she's ignorant for the sake of Moving the Story is:

Ruediger. Gosh, I love this guy. He is straight-forward to a pin drop and has no ego to speak of. Which doesn't mean he's not an aristocrat and absolutely confident in himself to the core because he is but when Judith tells him she likes him for his looks - our dude here, instead of being offended, IMMEDIATELY takes up a skin care routine so that he can keep the face she obviously likes at Peak Function. He's determined to be a good uncle to Luca but he's just as interested in being a shield and support to Judith as well. Our guy here does nothing by half-measures. He's not loud about it - he fits Judith's 'quiet' heroine as a 'quiet' hero but he's a hero absolutely and once he makes up his mind there's no turning in him.

As for Luca - Luca breaks your heart. He's trying so hard to be an Adult and yet he's a kid. It's pretty obvious Something Up with him but he loves his aunt so much and he's sensitive behind his jaded attitude. Getting to watch the moments where Judith pulls the child inside him to the front is so healing and when he wishes to be happy you understand entirely where he's coming from. Plus his little shit attitude is a riot and I enjoyed every second of it.

You know me - character interaction is what makes or breaks a story for me and this one is so well written when it comes to that. Every one of the characters has layers to them, the interaction can swing from hysterical to heart-tugging with just about anyone and the core family - Luca, Judith and Ruediger - is so precious as they struggle along to figure out where they all stand with each other (and take turns teaming up together to gang up on the other one). The Duke of Winterwald's approach is absolutely chilling, the villainess is believable and completely understandable and the Grandfather is a riot.

The story's no slouch either though. The plot is tight and appropriately twisty while making it an easy to follow all the way through. Nothing ever drags out too long but you do get to linger on the good parts. When you figure out each point that's going on before the story gives it away, its still fun watching everything fall into place until you get to the reveal point. The art is pretty/funny by trade and the ending is completely satisfactory. Because hey, yeah - this story is complete. This story, while not as loud as some of the stories I've read, is so solid and delicious that its one of my all time top five fav manhwas right now. Highest of recommendations on this one. The epitome of 'found family'.

rating: PG13

warnings: blood, death, murder, child neglect, child endangerment, messed up family dynamics, Judith's terrible fashion sense

finished: YES! at 119 chapters our story is finished (with the promise of a few addendum chapters for fun)

abs: well, he takes off his glove in chapter 12 with his teeth and that's about the same level isn't it?

ps. my all time fav bit character is this girl RIGHT HERE

double pps - have some early clips of why Ruediger is such a wonderful guy

I read it in its entirety over on Kaliscans here but I would not recommend doing so without an ad-blocker and a virus guard running. I find the site impossible to read on my phone and so can only use it on my laptop with my uBlock Origins running.

[headspacedad]

The Villainess Flips the Script

This is Luca Winterwald.

He's the hero of the revenge story Master of the Winter Forest. Luca's mother died from a disease when he was very young and he was raised by an aunt that neglected him until one day he was discovered to be the child of a noble. His life didn't get better when he was brought to live in the Winterwald household however where he was looked down upon, tormented and his only support, his uncle, eventually died to save his life. He went into hiding and only returned once he was an adult to eliminate everyone that stood in his way and have his revenge while becoming the next Duke of Winterwald.

He's not who the story is about. The story is about his aunt. Judith.

Or rather, its the story of the modern day woman who ended up transmigrated into Judith's body just before the story in the books really gets started.

Still, our girl is determined not to abuse a nine year old kid.

She's also determined not to meet the grisly end that her character did at the start of the novel.

So her first step is to turn over a new leaf and start taking care of her nephew.

It does not go well.

At all.

Luca is not interested in forming any bonds with the woman that abused him up until this point and he's a desperately clever kid on top of that. Not to mention, before they really have time to work on these new character dynamics the beginning of the novel starts. The noble looking for Luca arrives.

Ruediger Winderwald is the only surviving son of the Duke of Winterwald. Despite that fact, the Duke had never named him as his heir. Instead, Ruediger's brother Jonas was supposed to be heir - until he died. And Jonas' son out of wedlock is none other than Luca. In the novel, Ruediger shows up, pays Judith a large sum of money and takes Luca back to Winterwald with him where he becomes the boy's staunchest guardian, mentor and father-figure. Judith is ready to let the child go on to this better life (without accepting the money for him).

Luca, however, has other ideas.

Well, you can't ask a boy to leave his mother behind and Ruediger is more than willing to bring Judith along as well.

So the story starts - with one extra character involved in its plot now. Judith coming along isn't the only thing that's changed though. Luca, who in the story immediately took to and adored Ruediger - um - doesn't.

Plus he's not the naive, innocent child he was in the story either. This Luca is jaded, he easily masters things he struggled to learn in the novel and he's deeply protective of the aunt that abused him especially when it comes to Ruediger.

And yet he also has so many of Ruediger's habits...

Well, that's a mystery to solve but first they have to survive assassination attempts, the royal court's politics, greedy members of the Winterwald family, long hidden secrets and Judith's love of baseball.

This story though - I am so in love with this story. It's like the coziest soft blanket on a winter day, complete with mug of warm drink and good book. Judith is a quiet heroine but she's so solid and she feels things so strongly that she's far from boring. She's utterly devoted to Luca and yet she's still a character with her own dreams, thoughts and life outside of just being the 'guardian'. She'd an intelligent heroine too and its very rare for her to not pick up on story clues. The only time she's ignorant for the sake of Moving the Story is:

Ruediger. Gosh, I love this guy. He is straight-forward to a pin drop and has no ego to speak of. Which doesn't mean he's not an aristocrat and absolutely confident in himself to the core because he is but when Judith tells him she likes him for his looks - our dude here, instead of being offended, IMMEDIATELY takes up a skin care routine so that he can keep the face she obviously likes at Peak Function. He's determined to be a good uncle to Luca but he's just as interested in being a shield and support to Judith as well. Our guy here does nothing by half-measures. He's not loud about it - he fits Judith's 'quiet' heroine as a 'quiet' hero but he's a hero absolutely and once he makes up his mind there's no turning in him.

As for Luca - Luca breaks your heart. He's trying so hard to be an Adult and yet he's a kid. It's pretty obvious Something Up with him but he loves his aunt so much and he's sensitive behind his jaded attitude. Getting to watch the moments where Judith pulls the child inside him to the front is so healing and when he wishes to be happy you understand entirely where he's coming from. Plus his little shit attitude is a riot and I enjoyed every second of it.

You know me - character interaction is what makes or breaks a story for me and this one is so well written when it comes to that. Every one of the characters has layers to them, the interaction can swing from hysterical to heart-tugging with just about anyone and the core family - Luca, Judith and Ruediger - is so precious as they struggle along to figure out where they all stand with each other (and take turns teaming up together to gang up on the other one). The Duke of Winterwald's approach is absolutely chilling, the villainess is believable and completely understandable and the Grandfather is a riot.

The story's no slouch either though. The plot is tight and appropriately twisty while making it an easy to follow all the way through. Nothing ever drags out too long but you do get to linger on the good parts. When you figure out each point that's going on before the story gives it away, its still fun watching everything fall into place until you get to the reveal point. The art is pretty/funny by trade and the ending is completely satisfactory. Because hey, yeah - this story is complete. This story, while not as loud as some of the stories I've read, is so solid and delicious that its one of my all time top five fav manhwas right now. Highest of recommendations on this one. The epitome of 'found family'.

rating: PG13

warnings: blood, death, murder, child neglect, child endangerment, messed up family dynamics, Judith's terrible fashion sense

finished: YES! at 119 chapters our story is finished (with the promise of a few addendum chapters for fun)

abs: well, he takes off his glove in chapter 12 with his teeth and that's about the same level isn't it?

ps. my all time fav bit character is this girl RIGHT HERE

double pps - have some early clips of why Ruediger is such a wonderful guy

I read it in its entirety over on Kaliscans here but I would not recommend doing so without an ad-blocker and a virus guard running. I find the site impossible to read on my phone and so can only use it on my laptop with my uBlock Origins running.