storiesbytoria

[storiesbytoria]

GINGER

A small written contribution to @jonlock 's #jonlock day 🤍

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"Jon, remind me again why I decided this weeks long trip by boat was a good idea…" Jon chuckled, readjusting the damp towel that he was holding to Sherlock's forehead.

"Again? Does seasickness cause partial amnesia as well?" The young detective gave a long-suffering sigh from where he lay, head cushioned by Jon's lap.

"You know there's no such symptom, Jon."

"Ah, of course. How silly of me." Sherlock closed his eyes to block out his companion's much-too-amused smirk.

Jon ran the towel gently along the sides of his sickly companion's neck, his free hand moving to brush back the damp strands of hair that stuck to his forehead. He was trying not to be amused by Sherlock's seasickness, but the man could afford to be humbled every once and a while. Besides, it wasn't often he got the chance to run his fingers through Sherlock's smooth, product-free hair without complaint.

The two of them were currently holed up in Sherlock's private cabin, crowded onto the bottom mattress of the furnished bunk-bed. Jon had his back leant up against the wall, legs dangling off the opposite side of the mattress so Sherlock's longer legs could stretch across the bed. Sherlock had opted to remain in just his white button down, the first few buttons undone, since his normal vest felt too restrictive with his current level of discomfort and the amount of time he had spent bent over the room's small sink.

Thankfully, most of the vomiting had subsided after Sherlock had ordered some ginger tea, a result that Jon took full credit for, also commenting that maybe he should have been a doctor. Sherlock was still too nauseous at the time to go into the actual logistics of attaining a medical degree.

"Maybe you should eat something now. Get some fresh air?" Sherlock's frown wrinkled the towel that now lay over his eyes.

"I'd imagine seeing the reason behind my sickness may not get the result you're hoping for..." Jon shook his head with an affectionate laugh.

“Well then, I suppose you're stuck here with me then,” he said, fingers still playing with dark strands while his other hand ran in gentle rhythmic arcs beneath Sherlock's collarbone. Sherlock heard Jon rest his head back against the wall. "What a bore." Sherlock breathed a short laugh.

"You honestly seem entirely too pleased with the current situation." Jon's responding chuckle was low and soft, a particular tone that prompted a matching warmth to bloom within Sherlock's chest - a balm to most ailments.

"Guilty as charged." A brief silence, and Sherlock felt the journey of Jon's hands slow ever so slightly. "Do you want me to stop?" Sherlock shook his head, grateful that the towel surely covered the heat on his face.

"It's quite alright. For now anyway." Sherlock felt Jon's body relax, could feel the smile on his face as his fingers resumed their work.

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Was a small contribution, but I was largely feeling the word "Comfort" for these two 🤍 I also managed to finish up a sketch of Jon and Sherry from a while back (unrelated to the writing and shared in a separate post)!

Hope you enjoyed, and excited to see what everyone shares!

[storiesbytoria]

My contribution for @jonlock 's #jonlock day! No specific scene in mind, but I was very much feeling "Comfort" 🤍 I have a quick writing snippet too that I'll post separately! (Unrelated to the drawing, but still in the same theme 🤍)

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So glad I managed to make something for JonLock 🤍😭 It's small, but I'm grateful to this event for encouraging me to put out some creative stuff for a pairing I absolutely adore 🤍 Excited to see what everyone shares!

[storiesbytoria]

🤍 I'M BEYOND EXCITED!! 🤍

The due date for that reservation fee came up a LOT sooner than expected, but I decided to just...do it anyway lol

And I'm so glad I did, because the spots were sold out within 2 hours of the tickets being available. (For reference: in just three minutes, the spots had gone from 150 to 58 lol)

I know my main reason for taking commissions and donations was to fund the reservation fee, but I will continue to use those funds to help with making up the cost and paying for stock and booth crafting!

Also still very excited to work more creatively and hear about all the different stories/characters that people are passionate about 🤍

I may try and share my journey as I prep for a convention booth for the first time, but I may do that more on my Ko-Fi Blog! Go give it a look over and/or a follow if you're interested!

Thank you again to everyone who's shown support 🤍 This feels like possibly the most concrete step I've taken to actually share my art and stories, and it's hard to put into words how that feels lol

Now time to CONVENTION PREP!!

[storiesbytoria]

Character/Narrative Writing for Notorious Style TTRPG Kickstarter

Excited to finally do a blog post about a project I was lucky enough to work on early this year :D

Notorious Style is MxFraud's graffiti-inspired, solo-play TTRPG on Kickstarter! Fellow artist @winding-maze (thank you so much!!!) referred me to be a writer on the reward tier that would give players a pre-generated character/world.

I was commissioned to conceptualize and write the introduction for an artisan character in a medieval fantasy setting. The details of the prompts and the final writing can be found on my Ko-Fi blog post, which I'll link below:

After finalizing the text, MxFraud and I were able to work with @winding-maze for Arlo's character art and Fernando for art of the world map!

This is @winding-maze 's character art for Arlo (absolutely GORGEOUS, and I love the attention to detail!!) :

And this is Fernando's map art! I had a very bare bones idea of the setting, so the fact that they could get a full blown picture of the map was incredible!

Of course, I now have plans to do little explorations of Arlo in his world (probably both in writing and art) which I'm quite excited for! I started with the drawing below to get used to @winding-maze 's beautiful design in my own style!

I definitely recommend checking out MxFraud's Kickstarter for Notorious Style if you like TTRPG's and like the idea of being able to play a campaign on your own! Also excellent as a way to practice your sketching :)

Also, if you haven't already, check out the full blog on my Ko-Fi site for the introduction to Arlo and his world!

[storiesbytoria]

First 2 Blog Posts up on my Ko-Fi page!

🤍 Meet the Artist:

https://ko-fi.com/post/Meet-the-Artist-Victoria-A0A711C1A1

🤍 Sources of Inspiration from Media:

https://ko-fi.com/post/Sources-of-Inspiration--Media-X8X811C4O9

I'll be using the blog to share the process behind finished and in-progress projects and some mindset stuff on my journey as a creative :)

Read these two first blog posts to find out a little more about me, what I hope to do as a creative, and the existing media that has inspired me!

I have plans to go a bit more in-depth with some of my top favorite media and why they've earned the spot :) If you share any interests, make sure you comment on the blog post! I'm eager to meet more people who have similar tastes lol

[storiesbytoria]

Hello!!

It's been quite a while since I've been able to get back to my creative pursuits, but I've got something new :)

I am now on Ko-fi!

https://ko-fi.com/victoriadumeng

This will be my first attempt to start taking more consistent art/writing commissions, and I am honestly so excited! Working full-time had put my creative work on the backburner, and I've really been missing it. Decided that it was just time to get back to it!

I'll be using Ko-fi to accept donations/tips and commissions - all geared towards character design work and writing for personal needs! Things like character portraits, concept art, and writing for your own original characters and TTRPGs!

My first goal: To raise enough money to attend a convention as an artist in Artist's Alley :) I've already compiled a list of things I'd like to sell, so just need to get into production mode!

Excited for this new goal and to see where it leads <3

[storiesbytoria]

Hello, froggies!

As already announced, the next FW Sherlock Holmes Fanweekend will take place in November 2024! Thank you a lot for your wonderful suggestions for the themes! I will make a poll to pick the three themes for the event soon!

In the meantime, user colorful_mess18 on the official Frogwares Discord server came up with a wonderful idea:

A mini-event during summer 2024!

The mini-event will take place on AUGUST 25TH. The theme of the event will be BEACH.

As always, you can participate in the "FW Sherlock Holmes Summer Fest" with whatever you like: fanart, fanfics, gifs, cosplays, etc.

Just mention this blog and/or use the tag #fwfanweekend, and I will reblog your work!

The mini-event will also take place on the Frogwares Discord server, so you don't have to join Tumblr just to participate. Nevertheless, I would love to share your work here!

Greetings and feel free to follow this blog for updates 💚

[storiesbytoria]

Come on. We'll go together.

[storiesbytoria]

Hello there!

Some time ago, I asked if anyone would be interested in a SHCO/SHTA fanweek.

The post got more attention than anticipated, and I am happy to announce that a fanweekend is on the way!

The event is planned for the second May weekend ( May 10 - May 12) this year.

The theme of the event has not been decided yet, but I will start a poll soon so we can all decide on the theme together 😊

Last but not least, the event will not focus on SHCO/SHTA only. Fans of the older games are very welcome to participate as well!

Please follow this blog to stay up to date 😊 I will share all news regarding the event here.

[storiesbytoria]

So how would you feel about a SHCO/SHTA fanweek?

What i mean is an event during everyone shares their Chapter One/The Awakened related creations to celebrate these two games.

The creations can be art, fanfics, essays, gifs/edits, videos, cosplays, or just anything you can do to contribute.

Most such events have an overarching theme for each day of the week, but our fandom is small and maybe a whole week would be too difficult to pull off. Maybe we can just do a fan-weekend or even a fan-day. The details can be decided later on, right now I would like to know if anyone would be interested in participating at all 🙂

[storiesbytoria]

Welcome!

Hey there! My name is Victoria, and I’m an aspiring writer and illustrator :) I’ll likely be using this blog to indulge in anything that inspires me, but I do also take commissions in graphic design, illustration, and writing. For the sake of leaving this intro post concise, I’ll post my website here if you’d like more info on what I do and offer:

Website: www.storiesbytoria.com

Ko-Fi (Art/Writing Commissions): https://ko-fi.com/storiesbytoria

As for my interests and what you’re likely to find here and in my work/fanwork:

My latest obsession has been Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes games, both Chapter One and The Awakened

Sherlock Holmes works in general

Queer action/adventure, fantasy, and romance 

Some of my favorite books/series:

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Dragon’s Bait by Vivian Vande Velde

Proxy and Guardian by Alex London

The Skybound series by Alex London

Lyndsay Faye’s Sherlock Holmes pastiches: The Whole Art of Detection and Dust and Shadow

Black Butler (Kuroshitusji) manga by Yana Toboso 

Countdown to Countdown webcomic by Velinxi

Misc Interests: Fitness, dance, notebook making, bullet journaling, handmade stationary

Fan Writing (Archive of Our Own): 

Right now, my recent works are in Sherlock Holmes (Frogwares), but I also have older work in Tales of Vesperia, My Hero Academia, and Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) 

My Original Works:

The Maverick Project (in progress)

A friends - to - enemies - to - lovers story about two childhood friends separated by opposing practices - mavericks who wield the arcane and warriors who boast physical prowess. After a decade of distance, the two friends are forced to work together to protect the arcane and/or their kingdom. 

The Rune Project

Still in development! But, in it’s current form, I imagine it to be a post-apocalyptic world that allows for an exploration of relationships, society, value, and choice.

Instagram Accounts:

Illustration : character design, fanart, concept art, etc 

Etsy Store

For handmade notebooks and more!

[storiesbytoria]

#the absolute love of my life 😭🤍 #he's so cute and charismatic I can't lol #but also WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN??? I need to know!!

[storiesbytoria]

I'm so insanely proud of this, I can't even explain loll but seriously the Sherlock Holmes Chapter One soundtrack is so good and makes for amazing focus/work music 🤍🎻

[storiesbytoria]

Taking a slight break from my love of Sherlock Holmes to share a little side gig I've been working on. Not far off from bullet journaling, I've gotten into book making and have an Etsy Shop where I sell my little handmade creations 🤍

If you're interested, feel free to visit my Shop to see what designs I currently have in stock!

Each notebook is uniquely designed, so no two are alike (which has the fortunate/unfortunate [you decide lol] side effect where once a set is gone, it's not likely to reappear)

I'll drop the link here if you're interested and a quick sneak peek of my current stock 📖✍️

https://victoriadumeng.etsy.com

[storiesbytoria]

Posting a drawing WIP in hopes of manifesting a mostly finished piece soon, since my fanfiction is undoubtably going to take me some time (in a good way lol)

Not surprisingly, I'm struggling a lot with the hands, so I deemed it worthy of another day's work. I just love how expressive and important hands can be in determining characters' relationships, so I'd like to do them justice, especially with these two 🤍😭

[storiesbytoria]

SHERRY & JON Cosplay Music Video - Sherlock Holmes Chapter One - Paint i...

Finally finished editing our Sherlock Holmes Chapter One cosplay music video thingy. ❤️

[storiesbytoria]

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One

“ Before John Watson, there was a different Jon - his best and only friend. But who is he, really? “