January 29, Delayed Edition

Guess who forgot to schedule the email after a Stranger Things binge?

Another hundred seventy-eight hours have passed since I sent the last email, and the world is still spinning.

I’m currently buckling down on my charity commissions, which I expect to have completed by the end of the weekend, though when they’ll be posted to the general public is a different question. The vampire article will get an official announcement, and will be coming before those! One commission is about a demon lord, and the other is a twist on the Andromeda myth.

Cetus - a face only a mother could love.

I got a wild response to a tongue in cheek comment about torturing original characters, which was fun! My background was actually in role play writing - forums and then LiveJournal, if I’m not dating myself too much. As I have been told by many, many reblogs, the culture of cathartic character abuse is still alive and well, which is a relief! I do think the wider culture, however, has changed since the times that I was active in larger communities. People are much more careful about offending others for fear of being accused of impropriety - I mean, “abusive behavior.” That’s not to say there weren’t flame wars or terrible behavior when I was part of the group writing spaces, but generally the consensus was, if someone was gossiping about you for the way you wrote or what you did in private threads, they were the asshole. In an understandable (if not good) reaction to the current culture, people get much more anxious about how their writing and art will be taken. Fear, of course, is stifling.

Otherwise, life pitters on. The terrifying snowstorm left a meager two centimeters here, though my cats were quite taken aback by the snow. I write this on a balmy January day with the doors open and a sweater on. I need to buy some Jerusalem Artichoke for my summer garden. Rather than discuss the terrifying times, let me remind you, instead, of hope.

My drawing stylus got stolen, so please imagine knockoff sunflower colors.

That’s all I have for today! Take some time to enjoy something around you today, however small.

Your beast in beauty,
Rae Lemond