That Time I Was Sucked Into An MMO for March
The Cat & the Comma Issue #25
I’m going to admit right off the bat that my March was not as productive as it really could have been. I started the month aware of some events that would transpire, prepared for them accordingly, and then spent the rest of the month in a sort of fugue while I tried to recover. Sometimes, autism is like that.
I may or may not have picked Final Fantasy XIV back up as well. I’ll leave it up to you whether these two things are related.
So what did I do? Well, let’s talk about it.
Misc. Professional Update
I did two things this month that I can say were for professional purposes: I went to Emerald City Comic Con (NOT as a vendor) and I tabled at a book market at the Bellis-Fair Mall in Bellingham, Washington. Both were hectic, exciting events for vastly different reasons, and I truly had a blast at both of them! Unfortunately, the sensory chaos of both events took me longer to recover from than I expected. Turns out, going to a 4-day event and then immediately turning around and going back to work isn’t a proper recovery plan, even if you take an impromptu day off. Anyway.
Emerald City Comic Con was everything I hoped it would be, to be honest. I got to get photos with lesbian necromancer cosplayers (TWICE), saw plenty of amazing cosplay besides, went to a ton of cool panels, got introduced to a new author acquaintance/friend?, took a lot of photos, did a smidgen of marketing, and, most importantly, spent way too much money.
I say that last part facetiously—mostly. I did budget for this event.
Most of the photos I got were from cosplayers, and I didn’t get anyone’s social media handles so I don’t feel comfortable sharing them publicly. That said, I did go to a panel featuring the Chuck Tingle and that was quite exciting.
A special thanks must go to Ladz, Camilla, and newly-acquainted Deckard for spending ECCC with me!
As for the writer’s market, that was a one-day event where a bunch of local writers set up tables at a mall! I had a lot of fun and sold more than I honestly thought I was going to, hitting a personal record for in-person sales at the same time! I’m quite proud of myself, to be honest. I also, thanks to both this and ECCC, have a better idea of how I want to set up my booths in the future when I do events. Who knows; I may even try to sign up for ECCC next year! We shall see.
I may not have any massive banners (yet), but I think the flag is eyecatching enough. Either way, I had a ton of fun!
In other news, I was a part of a couple of Itchio bundles this month and did decently on that front as well! I love Itchio, to be honest, and I’m glad it’s picking up more steam in the indie community—ESPECIALLY with queer folks. Speaking of both queer people and bundles, I was in a specfic bundle for Trans Day of Visibility that ended yesterday, and we raised over $5000! That’s incredible to think about.
Looking to the future, April claims to be a slower month. The rest of the year does, really. Regardless, I am going to be tabling at a local bookstore again this Saturday and I’m excited about it! I love visiting that bookstore in particular.
Writing Update
Alas, I didn’t get a whole lot done on the writing front this month. I tried to make some progress prior to ECCC, because I anticipated that I would need some time to recover, but I’ve only pecked at things here and there this month. I’m going to work on getting back on track in April.
That said, a new short story idea tickled my brain. Or rather, it’s an idea that I’ve had for a while that reared its head again and I found myself powerless to say no. How could I, when it involves fucked up sisters and necromancy?
Intrigued? So am I. Here’s a sliver of what I wrote down so far:
The first time Isolde brings something back from the dead, we are six years old and playing with sticks in the yard. It's the first of many fantasy re-enactments we will engage in for the next several years. She has selected a branch nearly twice her height, waving it around and screaming in a Alvin and the Chipmunks-style impersonation of Gandalf.
“YOU SHALL NOT—” she starts, waving that ginormous stick around before stopping short. I drop the inaccurate swordsman stance I've adopted, sword-like stick resting at my side, tracing her wide-eyed gaze as it hovers over my shoulder, and spin around with my sword at the ready. A part of the game, I tell myself, though the Balrog in our playfighting should already be present. Still, her horror is enough to urge me to look.
At first, there is nothing but dew-soaked grass and the budding trees in the periphery of our yard. And then I see it—a curled-in thing, a tattered sack of fur. A corpse.
Regrettably, this also means I didn’t make much in terms of progress on The Distance Between Stars and Salt, as much as I would have liked to. This I’m also going to improve on in April. I did make it to 27k, at least!
Here’s a snippet of where I’m at right now:
My palm blistered where it still touched the bone shard. Slowly, I uncurled my singed fingers. My gaze honed in on the sliver of bone, encased in a pillow of bubbled flesh. With some difficulty, I re-opened the pouch and dropped the shard inside. Then, I reached for the next.
If you’re intrigued by this project and what comes out of it, you can currently read the first ten chapters if you become a member of my Patreon! I’ve also recently made a Carrd Page going over the basics of this project. Soon enough, I’ll have up to chapter 15 of a very rough draft available to read, should you be so curious.
Finally, let’s bring out the word tracker. My progress this month, as I said, was a lot less impressive, but still. Here’s what it currently looks like!
And now, stats:
For the month of February, I wrote a total of 1,412 words and an average of 353 words per session. And here’s an updated breakdown of what stage of writing I’ve spent what amount of words on, too:
You might think this is not a lot of progress—and you would be correct to think that. This in mind, there’s a whole other reason why I didn’t write much towards the end of the month, even when I was feeling better. Which leads me to…
Media Update
There’s a reason this issue of the newsletter is titled the way it is, and its name is Final Fantasy XIV. If you’ve been following me on my social medias, you will not be surprised at all about this, because I’ve been going ballistic in my Instagram stories and whatnot sharing screenshots and fawning over my OC for the game. It still bears mentioning: I am obsessed with this game.
I picked it up originally in 2023 after fighting the urge for a long while, and in October of that year I made a character: Midi Nara, named so after my cat at the time, Midna. Unfortunately, the entire reason Midi exists is because I lost Midna. She ran away, and to cope with the loss when I was unable to recover her, I made a character around her. I like to think she’s gone on wonderous adventures, which I helped actualize through Midi.
Then some months went by and I cracked down to prepare for the Boeing strike and my Final Fantasy XIV sub had to go.
This month, I decided to treat myself a little and reactivate my account. Midi is back and I am utterly obsessed with her and getting to play her, down to having made a whole journal JUST for her roleplay and adventures. I’m having so much fun with this game… at the loss of a lot of time I could spend writing. I think it’s a fair enough trade-off, if I strike a proper balance. In April, I am going to work on that as well. In the meantime, I took a ton of screenshots and am using the power of blorbo bleebus to will myself into becoming better at drawing. At least, where Midi is concerned.
Speaking of, look how cute she is!
In terms of television, I finished season 2 of Yellowjackets and I am absolutely devastated. There’s a particular character that I was quite attached to that I am attached to no longer. If you know, you know.
In terms of books, I am happy to report I finished both Godkiller and Gideon the Ninth and am inhaling Harrow the Ninth as we speak! I love these freakish girls and their tragedy. I’m picking up Nona the Ninth later today. I can’t get enough—except I can, because Alecto still does not have a set release date. Some day soon, I hope.
Blog and Video Update
Between being busy in the beginning of the month, being burned out in the middle of the month, and being absolutely obsessed at the end of the month, it’s safe to say no blog posts or livestreams went up. As is a common refrain for this issue, I am working to correct that in April.
The Cat Recommends
I like to use this space to shout out other indie writers, cause I think we could all use a boost from time to time. This time, I’m using this space to shout out Al Hess! He is the person responsible for organizing the specfic bundle for Trans Day of Visibility and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity. Check out his book, Yours Celestially, and the rest of his works on his itchio!
After divorce, death, and having his reformatted soul uploaded into a new body, Sasha expected resurrection to be a fresh start. His time spent in digital Limbo with the program’s cheeky AI guardian angel, Metatron, was cathartic, but what good is a second life when he only sees his daughter on the weekends, he has all the same problems he had before he died, and he can’t seem to shake the ache for the married life he lost?
If that weren’t frustrating enough, a glitch in the program has given Sasha the ability to sense Metatron even outside of Limbo. And Metatron is in love. The angel’s sickly-sweet yearning for one of the souls still in Limbo has turned Sasha’s stomach into caramelized lead. It’s hard enough to move on without someone else’s feelings making the emptiness in his own life even more acute. He didn’t have playing wingman to an actual winged being on his bingo card, but he’s determined to help Metatron make a move on their crush so he can get love off of his mind.
Sasha takes a job with the resurrection company in order to covertly contact Metatron. Except Sasha’s new coworker, Mr. C, keeps showing up at the worst moments. The man is annoying, he’s pushy… and he’s incredibly hot. Sasha can’t decide whether Mr. C wants to blackmail him or be his new BFF, but he seems to know things about Metatron and the resurrection program that Sasha doesn’t. Getting close to him might be the key to solving Sasha’s problem, but if he isn’t careful, he’s going to end up catching feelings of his own.
You can read more about Yours Celestially and purchase it here!
The Cat Thanks
One of the perks for higher-tier patrons is shout-outs at the end of newsletters. Special thanks to Ceph, Hannah, and Larkspur. If you want to have your name here with theirs, subscribe to my Patreon!
And that’s a wrap. I wish you well on all of your endeavors and hope you stay safe.
Kindest regards,
Alex