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After two years of this painting sitting in my garage, I finally sat down and got my piping in order.

It’s 2’x4’

This was my husbands birthday present for 2023. Yes I’m a little late.

My reference screen shot beneath the cut - if you haven’t seen “Patriot” on Amazon, it’s one of me and my SO’s fav shows and I def recommend it if you like tightly written tv.

Sorry it’s got the grid on, I apparently only saved it that way lol

And this thing is stupidly difficult to photograph, so here’s one more shot of it under direct overhead lighting.

And one that I took w an app that doesn’t do extra processing on photos. I think. I’m losing track.

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What I’m doing lately

I’m working on some bigger projects, and since I’m not doing them for events I can… share progress shots?? I guess??

For one thing, I am finally making progress again on the giant acrylic painting that has been sitting in my garage for almost two years now. Newly un-nerfed, I am trying to seize on the thin portion of the year where it’s actually bearable to be in the garage for more than a few minutes.

If you’re new since the last time I spoke about this, this is Leslie, from the show “Patriot” on Amazon prime. The painting is 24” x 48”

I thought it would be easier to get something this big done in acrylic rather than try and work within the few layers I’d get out of procreate on my iPad at that size. Since I made that decision, I’ve upgraded my iPad, so. Uh. Idk. This is definitely more of a thing, it’ll look neat above our dining room table. I do feel like I’m narrowing in on finishing up, I just did the whole table and his shirt this weekend. I ordered a frame to try and hustle me along too. Gonna pick more at the background and all the food, but it’s definitely getting there.

I also bought myself a pair of overalls so I can …cosplay a specific kind of folksy productivity while painting? And I think that’s helping.

Anyways!

I’m also working on a jaytim comic slowly. Slowly slowly. I was making good headway and then I had to host my folks for a week and work got gnarly again. I’m determined to drag myself through all of the parts I don’t like before I start posting, so that I don’t drop it midway through.

So I’ve written the script, (with tremendous thanks to @roipecheur who’s initial concept it was) and it should click in around 10-11 pages, if you include the cover/end coda. I’ve thumbnailed three pages and rendered the cover, and I’ve uh. Gotten side tracked building a set in the sims for background purposes.

But! Whatever. Here’s a zoomed out image of what I have so far

And here’s a lil baby Tim with a camera from when I was thumbnailing the cover. I just thought this sketch was stupid cute. Vs rendered out.

I’m also trying to lure myself back into mdzs so i can work on a project with mimispearmint, but I’m trying to seize the productivity on these while it’s there. So I’m not saying anything about that until I get there >>

But yeah, that’s all I think. Thanks for looking!

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Your food is so pretty!

Thanks!! I’m trying to eat out less, but I still want the experience of looking at photogenic food lmao

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Merry crimbus all!

Really proud of this spread, full menu beneath the cut.

Lamb shanks with Dried Apricots, Plums, and Candied Ginger (Serious Eats recipe)

Crispy Roasted Moroccan Potatoes (Peter’s Food Adventures recipe)

Salad with Lemon & Herb dressing (from a kit)

Chickpeas in Mediterranean Marinade (from the fancy grocery store)

Dinner Rolls (from a local James beard nom’d bakery)

Green Tomato Pickles (from the fancy grocery store)

Parsley (I mean also from the fancy grocery but uh)

Harissa sauce (mild, Mina’s brand)

rosemary pear Italian cookies (from the bakery also)

I’ve been accumulating dishes I like and working on my food presentation for when we do big meals. I shoved a ramekin in under the lamb shanks to prop them upright a little more lol

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Been experimenting w cooking lower carb stuff :/ for health reasons. Also more greens.

Feat. Salmon w bokchoy and cauliflower mash, low carb pasta/chicken salad, French toast w low carb bread, and air fried chicken katsu w cauliflower rice and green beans (and edamame and fruit)

Cauliflower mash has been a much greater success than cauliflower rice

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Scales & Rivers by @wirevix for the @svsssbigbang

Rated Explicit (Art by Mockspeed and @dyeingdoll on Ao3 also!)

Shen Yuan's luck was funny his whole life--it came in peaks and valleys, ups and downs. Escape the Demon Realm before he's killed in a territory fight! Almost slaughtered by cultivators. Rescued by a couple of friendly, atypical demons who look out for him! But their lives are terrible because of an old betrayal. Adventure, explore the world, find treasures! But get into a lot of trouble on the way, almost get killed all the time, and never find something that can really help get Great Uncle out of his prison. Meet an unexpected half-demon in the Borderlands! ...Well, that one had no downsides, actually.

Bingqiu; Bingyuan; monsterfucking; adventure; PIDW Native Shen-Yuan; Found Family; Everyone Lives;

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The fic also hits two squares for @badsexbingo 😏

Two Maids One Op

In collaboration with the incredibly talented @luulapants

What the hell kind of mobsters hung out in a bar with cross-dressing twinks? No, Jason didn’t care. He’d been a mobster. Why hadn’t he thought of hanging out in bars with cross-dressing twinks? Maybe Drake would have come to infiltrate.

Because he was a genius, Jason asked, “Do you even know if it fits?”

Tim shrugged. “I mean, it’s my size.”

“You should try it on,” Jason suggested with all the seriousness he could muster.

Or:

Tim asks for Jason to back him up on a mission where he'll be undercover in a maid cafe. When Tim falls asleep, Jason decides to take the mission on himself.

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Two Maids One Op

In collaboration with the incredibly talented @luulapants

What the hell kind of mobsters hung out in a bar with cross-dressing twinks? No, Jason didn’t care. He’d been a mobster. Why hadn’t he thought of hanging out in bars with cross-dressing twinks? Maybe Drake would have come to infiltrate.

Because he was a genius, Jason asked, “Do you even know if it fits?”

Tim shrugged. “I mean, it’s my size.”

“You should try it on,” Jason suggested with all the seriousness he could muster.

Or:

Tim asks for Jason to back him up on a mission where he'll be undercover in a maid cafe. When Tim falls asleep, Jason decides to take the mission on himself.

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I liked that last sketch a lot, so I reused it but kept the tiddies out this time. Also went back to my painty comfort zone lol.

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Just the playback of a figure drawing sesh. I try to go for expressive body language before defining volume and then move on to color after that if I have time.

It’s been like. Over a full decade since I’ve been in formal art education so idr if that’s what you’re supposed to do or not.

Warning for flashing lights, it’s automatically generated by procreate and I didn’t edit at all, so layers may toggle on and off rapidly. Also apparently I started a different figuring drawing sesh in at some point and then went whoops wrong document?? Idk.

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Sketch and exercise dump

Some digital figure drawing sessions, some work post it note doodles, and a couple of digital doodles

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Experimenting a little w inking and the big solid black areas of shadow 👀

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For the @svsssbigbang…

Scales & Rivers by @wirevix, coming Wednesday February 19th! (2025)

Cover by me, and internal illustrations by @dyeingdoll. I also added the snake to the bang provided template for this promo 🐍

Shen Yuan's luck was funny his whole life--it came in peaks and valleys, ups and downs.

Escape the Demon Realm before he's killed in a territory fight! Almost slaughtered by cultivators. Rescued by a couple of friendly, atypical demons who look out for him! But their lives are terrible because of an old betrayal. Adventure, explore the world, find treasures! But get into a lot of trouble on the way, almost get killed all the time, and never find something that can really help get Great Uncle out of his prison.

Meet an unexpected half-demon in the Borderlands! ...Well, that one had no downsides, actually.

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Plans for 2025

I sort of missed the season for resolutions, but my January was a little wild! So here are my vague plans and intentions for 2025 now.

I am trying to (1) take my IRL work and (2) my health more seriously, so I am generally trying to (3) cut back on fandom obligations. Mainly wrt big bangs.

Now, I know I have said for maybe the last three years running that I’m not going to do any bangs, and then I. Uh. Ran/participated in a bunch of bangs. But this time for real! I’ll only do a bang if it’s for a specific pairing I am currently really into. I must defeat FOMO. No more entire-fandom bangs and no more well-i-know-that-media-ig bangs.

I’m going to instead try and (4) focus on doing some projects with people that I already know I like working with — I’ve got some things that have been backburnered with at least one or two people. So if I have worked with you in the past and you are in my active fandom (currently marinating in batfam stuff, but that’s subject to change) maybe we can do a little project together 👀

I am not planning on participating in FTH this year, and I’ll only be doing commissions if someone offers me truly exorbitant amounts of money out of nowhere. I am planning on splashing out on the auctions for FTH myself though, I had a really excellent experience last year with both nyoomer and pallas rose. If I can even have half such a dope experience again this year, I would be deliriously happy.

I am also running the @badsexbingo but I’ve automated the whole thing so it shouldn’t require any real activity for me. I’ll be providing some updates to my bingo sheet maker once I figure out the best way to generalize some things. It automatically generates the bingo boards and emails them to people now. I’d maybe like to (5) make some more generalized fandom automation tools? Soft maybe on that though.

So that’s my thoughts on fandom! Recap on goals:

Take work more seriously

Take health more seriously

Step back from bangs and fandom projects with deadlines

Make art in collaboration with people I already know and like working with

Maybe make more fandom widgets and tools.

Some health and work stuff beneath the cut.

Health

I spent a solid chunk of time and money in 2024 running down a diagnosis for my fatigue, and I did get one! It took several thousand dollars out of pocket and multiple specialists, but hey! I got there. I am now working on making lifestyle changes to help the medication work better. So you know, normal boring shit like diet and exercise.

Several people around me, in both my husbands and my own family, died — not young precisely, but not old either — of cancer recently. I’m talking like 40s and 50s. This has pushed me and my brother to be a little more proactive about our health and swap more info on genetic flags and our diagnoses etc.

It’s also pushed me to try and sack more cash away so I can maybe retire before I fuckin die 😬 one side of the family is not making it past 85 and one side of the family gets over 100. Really hard to plan for!

For both health and wallet reasons, going to try to eat out less so I can sack cash away, but it’s like. Fuck doc, I work hard, I can’t have one vice?

Work

Work has been nuts for several years now, and I’m anticipating it continuing to be nuts. All that crazy has been the opportunity I anticipated though, so now I have to put in an extra burst of energy to capitalize on it.

My job offers opportunities for advancement as an individual contributor, so I am not going into management, but I do have to try for an elected technical leadership title :/ some of my cohort from my lab days has gone into early-career management positions by now so I guess it’s time.

I have good name recognition at this point so I feel like I have a good shot, if not this year then next year. But it’s time to put the paperwork together and start schmoozing. It’s exciting but also I’m fucking tired!

But yep that’s it that’s the plan.

And of course, you know, hunker down and endure the next four years while helping out where I can. I am unfortunately in a very red state.

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Running a little late but it’s been a hell of a year (lemon, it’s january February), here’s my 2024 cover collection! Check out my tag for past years! This year mostly MDZS and SVSSS, but still have one star wars fic in there. Didn't do as many this year, but did multiple for the ones I did work on. And I ran a bang this year, so. That took some time lmao.

2024 Cover Collection

Breath Control by @zaffrefic (Art)

The start of Wei Ying’s collegiate swimming career looks promising. He is going to be swimming with his brother and friends for the next four years, and Lan Zhan has even joined his new team. Nothing is going to stop him from reaching his goals, nothing except, perhaps, himself.

Four years of swimming, school, obstacles, triumphs, and of course, romance.

Help! I'm Being Abducted by the Demon King! by @shiftyarchfey (Art)

Shen Yuan has a peaceful life. Ever since leaving the castle, its rules and hypocrisies, he could allow himself to forget what could have been. His brother is after all the famous knight in shining armor and he merely the librarian. But once demons start invading, that life too is over. What are you supposed to do if you are being abducted by a powerful demon king? Read him stories apparently.

Bookworm Shen Yuan x Demon King Luo Binghe in a pseudo-medieval AU, dragons and knights galore! (Rating will go up with later chapters)

An Ode to Red Dust by @wrecklwj (Art)

“A-Fu apologises for intruding. Shall I bring you a woman?”

Lan Wangji recoils. The question lands like a physical blow: violent, distasteful, and absurd. “No.”

“Then,” A-Fu murmurs. “If you wish, I could… relieve you. As a servant, it is my duty.”

Or: Crown prince Lan Wangji is taken hostage by Wen Ruohan, who has taken the throne after deposing the incumbent emperor. While imprisoned, Lan Wangji is assigned a handsome eunuch servant named A-Fu. Outwardly, A-Fu is mild and attentive, but his whispered hints at rebellion appear to be the start of something momentous and revelatory…

Tongues by mimispearmint (Art) (Podfic)

The whole thing is over in less than ten seconds. Streaks of missed liquor continue to drip down Wei Wuxian’s jaw and neck after he is done, glistening in the bright galleon moonlight. Crumpling the can, he spins his sword in his hand, the quicksilver challenge flashing like his eyes.

Clear as Clarity, the thought cuts across Lan Wangji’s mind with the first clash of their rapiers together: this absolutely cannot last.

Teenage Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are ghost-hunters dispatched on a routine Haunting.

Bonds of Beskar: Daggers Dominion by @popjeckdoom (Art)

Wolffe has been struggling to adjust without his eye, and struggling, even more, to remember why it was taken. Nightmares remind him of a mysterious journal left behind by his grandfather, Jaster Mereel, which reveals Ventress' true purpose. As his grandfather wrote: "Whoever controls The Dagger of Mortis, controls the Dark Side.” What was once the idle musings of a history buff becomes a race to find the Dagger before Ventress, and as a consequence, find his grandfather--who was the last person to have it, before he disappeared.

Meanwhile, Boba has a mission of his own. Track down Anakin Skywalker--and bring him home.

One Handed Tie by @seventhstar (Art)

Shang Qinghua accidentally adopts a baby, turns down a proposal, starts some fires, and discovers that he, too, can change.

With a dash of Dadbei-jun and Bingqiu drama for flavor.

Or: a baby falls into Moshang's laps. Chaos ensues.

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I’m running this thing if any of yall are looking for something to do with your February lol.

…for a given value of “running.” I should have automated everything so I don’t have to touch it, but I’ll be hovering for a week or so to make sure it’s working.

Ever feel like your porn is maybe TOO sexy? Think this is the right time to break the sexual tension with some humor? Come join in on our fandom-agnostic Bad Sex Bingo!

That’s right, any fandom can enjoy our prompts for imperfect and regrettable sexual situations.

We’ll be running from February (just in time to regret not breaking up with your SO for valentines!) until an indefinite future point in time.

Check out our pinned post for instructions on how to participate and our FAQ. We’ve got two (2!) beautiful board themes to choose from delivered in fully accessible PDF form to your email! Look at this x-ray of a lightbulb up someone’s ass!

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Fandom Trumps Hate 2025 Calendar

We're back, folks! FTH is back for be our ninth (!) auction, and there's lots of good work to be done. (What is Fandom Trumps Hate?)

In this post you'll find the calendar for the 2025 auction, along with links to some useful information, including this year's list of supported organizations. (All of these same links can be found in our masthead, but since that's not visible on mobile we wanted to make them easy to find elsewhere.) You'll also find dates for our Crafts Bazaar. (wait, the what? Read more at our 2024 Crafts Bazaar page.)

Here is this year's list of supported organizations. We'll be posting more detailed profiles of each of them over the coming weeks. We also encourage you to look at the Auction FAQ (which has lots of useful information for people thinking about signing up as creators, as well as dedicated sections on bidding and on nonprofit orgs.) If you're raring to go, you can look at our bidding policies.

Lastly, in a couple of weeks we'll be kicking off our newly-revived offscreen activism blog @fthaction. Why not give it a follow?

FTH2025 Auction Calendar

Monday, January 20th: creator signups open for both the auction and the crafts bazaar

Sunday, February 2nd: creator signups close

Friday, February 21st: browsing period begins, crafts bazaar announcement goes live

Tuesday, February 25th, 8am ET: bidding opens

Saturday, March 1st, 8pm ET: auction bidding closes

Monday, March 10th: craft stalls close

Wednesday, March 12: proof of donations due

...and if you're thinking the gap between the end of signups and the beginning of browsing period looks long: we have also noticed this! In order to accommodate some back-end changes that will help the auction run more smoothly, we've given ourselves an extra week to get ourselves set up. We've also got some stuff in the works to occupy that time -- we'll say more about that when the time arrives.

Together, we're going to make sure that there is at least one (1) good thing in the world with the number 2025 attached to it.