Inkrot Calico

🖤 Chey ("Shy") | 26, he/him 🏳️‍⚧️ 🖋️🍵 Cozy author/artist writing queer fantasy stories 📖 Writing tips, character art, & story snippets All links: https://inkrotcalico.carrd.co/

[inkrotcalico]

New, free-to-read short story!

Hello, my lovely inkblots! I have a new project to share!

This is the cover for my new short story, "Morrigan's Cabin"! I wrote this over a year ago for one of my creative writing classes and decided that I wanted to post it online since so many of my classmates loved the first draft. Keep reading below the cut to learn more about this project!

Still here? Awesome! Here's a basic synopsis:

This story follows Morrigan Galwyn, who is very, very tired of everything. It's been years since she defeated the demon lord and she's essentially been the kingdom's errand girl since. On top of that, she is isolated from her only surviving friends, who are deep in mourning.

Fed up with it all, she escapes to her new home, a cabin she's built in a secluded forest, and must learn to be self-sufficient without the aid of her former life. However, she finds that this experience, and even the forest, change her in ways she didn't expect.

This story will be available to read for free on my new website. Follow me there (or here on Tumblr) to get a notification when it goes live and also to receive updates about my future projects. If you enjoy fantasy stories and LGBTQ+ characters, you won't be disappointed.

www.inkrotcalico.wordpress.com

[inkrotcalico]

I was a teen author: what I wish I knew

Hello, my fellow writers! I've been seeing a lot of posts from teenage authors recently, so I wrote a blog post about what I wish I knew when I started sharing my writing as a teen (particularly posting it online and self-publishing). I posted it on my website and uploaded it as a YouTube video, but here's the gist of it:

1. Don't sacrifice quality when self-publishing

Learn from my mistakes!

I self-published my first two novellas straight out of high school, and I decided to do everything myself. I did the editing, cover design, and formatting on my own, and I made a ton of errors. It basically made it to where only my friends and family members were willing to buy copies.

Take your time, save up some money, and give your book the love and care it deserves (or be prepared to make mistakes while learning how to do everything yourself).

2. Watch your ego

During my last semester of college, I talked with one of my classmates about our university's creative writing classes, and I was recommending them to him because he also loved to write. I was telling him about how one of the professors I learned under is an award-winning author (who taught me the most out of any class I had ever taken), and he said something along the lines of, "Even if I had the option of learning from an award-winning author, I probably wouldn't because what I'm doing now works perfectly." Honestly, it reminded me a lot of how I thought about writing when I was younger. I thought my writing was "perfect", but you already know where that got me.

As soon as you think you've learned everything there is to learn, you know what happens? You stagnate. You stop growing and learning, you stop improving, and that will kill your progress.

I was humbled hard in a creative writing course right before I turned 20, and I am thankful for it every day. I would not have continued to grow as an author if I wouldn't have had that experience and I wouldn't be writing the stories that I am today.

3. Research writing platforms before you submit your work

Even if my novellas would have been picked up by an agent instead of being self-published, the errors I made in this area would have left them dead in the water and unpublishable. Basically, when you post things publicly online, there's a chance that publishers will not want to pick your book up because they want first publishing rights, and many consider posting things on online writing platforms to be a form of publication that can disqualify you. There's even a writing platform that will claim first publisher's rights if you post on their site, too!

Check the terms of service on every writing platform you share your stories on. It might affect your rights to your own work as an author. Also, look into every publication you submit to for the same reasons as I expressed for the websites. You don't want to get scammed.

4. Read more books than writing advice

When you are writing your first book (or even your third or fourth), it is tempting to bury yourself in as much writing advice as possible. You'll overload yourself with rules like "said is dead" and "never use adverbs", but what those articles can't give you are in-depth examples of how these "tips" work or how the "rules" can be broken.

I realized this in one of my creative writing classes, where I did an insane amount of reading and writing, most of which didn't directly involve working on my story.

Remember, rules can be broken if you break them the right way. You won't learn how to if you don't read real examples.

5. Don't let the opinions of others influence your writing

This lesson probably took the longest to set in for me, but it's an important one. When I first started taking writing seriously, I sought approval from the people around me. I almost never wrote anything for myself; every one of my stories was dedicated to someone. This made it to where I didn't write the kinds of stories that resonated with me, so they didn't really resonate with anyone.

This does not mean that you shouldn't listen to criticism or suggestions, but if you want to write something and the only reason you can think of not to is that someone won't like it, write it anyway. At the end of the day, you will have a more enjoyable time writing if you are writing something you actually want to, not what you think others would expect from you.

Anyway, that's all I've got. I go into a bit more detail on my website and in my video but I hope you find this helpful, even if you only read this post. If there are any questions you would like to ask (or would like me to answer), let me know!

Good luck in your writing endeavors!

[inkrotcalico]

I had a very small win tonight! I wrote 467 words in less than 50 minutes. This is also the second night in a row that I've written. Hoping I can keep it up going forward. (I miss when I had 2,000 word days. 😭But progress is progress!)

[inkrotcalico]

Since I want to be more active on here, I figured I should share a bit about myself. Hello, fellow writers of Tumblr!

[inkrotcalico]

This happened a little while ago, but guess who realized that he didn't have pen pressure turned on in one of his MOST IMPORTANT art programs and then proceeded to lock in and make the best clothing textures he's ever made?

...

Yeah, it was me.

LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SHADING! (Before and after)

[ladyignatius4]

Mentally making a cup of tea and giving a gentle forehead kiss to every struggling writer on my dash right now.

Your story matters, your ideas are good, and someone out there is going to fall in love with your world.

[ellipsus-writes]

A new option for anyone with a veeeeery long doc or complicated outline (and no desire to look at all of it at once) -

Collapsible headers! 

Turn them on in your Editor settings (Toggle headings), then click / tap the arrow beside any H1–H4 header to tuck that section away, safe and sound.

When you create a new header, just hit Enter, and it’ll become collapsible too.

Collapsible headers work in both the editor and on Reader links, so you can use them while writing, outlining, and editing; or to help your readers stay focused on one section at a time. We particularly love them for temporarily pretending the previous 86,491 words in a doc don’t exist (at least, not until the editing phase). 🙂‍↔️

Free for all, woohoo!

And another smol but mighty update this week: You can now change the email address associated with your account directly from your Settings page.

Just enter the new address via Change email under Account details. Done n' done!

- the Ellipsus Team xo

[future-muse]

Tag game bc I'm bored

1. Something that might surprise your moots ab you

2. Your favorite drink/soda

3. A activity/hobby you do

4. A TV show/movie you're watching rn

5. A book you're reading

6. You're favorite desert

I know these r like stupid questions but I wanted something kinda fun lol

@theinterpretingbookworm @tuckerpillsburyistheloml @wolfstar4life22 @ididntprepareaname @the-moon-and-the-starr @whimsysecrets @ohdearwhoissebastian @stardustsighs @wallyblack1925-offical @sammyartcherub @lokprincess @kylekicksass4418 @indiesleazevibes @artisticdaydream @wishingonfallingstars @actually-an-angel open tags too ♥️ u guys 💋

[darlingxxdeer]

1. Something that might surprise your moots ab you: I once almost accidentally died when I was delirious with a fever

2. Your favorite drink/soda: matcha

3. A activity/hobby you do: reading

4. A TV show/movie you're watching rn: i’m rewatching the owl house

5. A book you're reading: caraval series

6. Your favorite desert: cookies!

@gabeofcrows @spongydust @nai-loves-musicals @oddandalarmingsexualfeelings @amxrderofcrows @inkridden-iris @jiapiter @just-a-queergoblin (seocnd tag game I’ve done this week am I annoying you…ill stop tagging ppl for now…jiapiter this doesn’t apply to you I’ll tag you till the end of time) and all the other mutuals I’m too lazy to tag and anyone who wants to of course

[nai-loves-musicals]

something that might surprise your moots abt you: i have 3 sisters

2. your favourite drink/soda: lime and soda or prosecco

3. an activity/hobby you do: theatre

4. a tv show/movie you're watching rn: just finish your fault london and rewatching brooklyn 99

5. a book you're reading: atcoewfa (for like the 5th time)

6. your favourite dessert: cheesecake even tho im lactose intolerant

@oddandalarmingsexualfeelings @1nneffabl3celest1als @random-fanfic-reader @gabeofcrows @felixandthestars idk many people on here. soz if youve already done it

[pete-da-cat]

Um um idk

I've been in a lot of plays and musicals I guess?

2. Sprite or chocolate milk but I drink a lot of Dr pepper even though I hate it

3. Crafting, reading, art in general

4. Just finished shadow and bone, perpetually watching community and perpetually watching dps

5. Six of Crows!! And lotr. And atcoewfa

6. Tiramisu orrrr cheescake

Ty for the tag!!

Idk whose been tagged sry for any repeats

@bennett9 @airsdoodle @hanboncinnabon @popisoluver @pisghettio and I forgot literally everybody else's usernames

[airsdoodle]

ahahahah yay hi um

iv sprained my ankles five times (three on the right, two on the left (im a dancer)) is taht interesting or surprising? idk

AJSHKAIAK ANYTHING CAFFEINATED. SPECIFICALLY I LOVE ICED COFFEE AND COCA COLA

hobby... lots and lots of musical theatre.... (PAINTENTLY AWAITING THEATRE CAMP AND MY NEXT SHOW THAT STARTS IN AUGUST!!!!!)

im not super watching much right now but i just watched leviticus yesterday and AHSHSJSNKSMAJSNDIMSKZLAISNSMSLKAJSNSKSMSKSNZKZ ITS . SO. GOOD.

im rereading tgg!!!! i get to see the tour in august too im SO EXITED

favourite desert... oh yes TIRAMISU. I LOVE TIRAMISU. I HAD A GIANT TIRAMISU SCOOP CAKE FOR MY BIRTHDAY AND IT WAS SO EPIC. I LIEK MAKING IT I LIKE EATING IT I LIKE MAKING EYES AT IT IN THE ITALIAN GROCER. I LOVE TIRAMISU.

yippe i really like these things yaaay thank you!!

uh lets see

@oddandalarmingsexualfeelings @wishbonesnclovers @itsian4 @perplexusrookie @averyareyoudoneyet @anotherlonelydancer @shakespeare-guy-anon @monk3y-f33t +++ open tags yaay!!!!

yay <3

[wishbonesnclovers]

thanks for tagging me <33

something that might surprise your moots abt you: this isn't that crazy but i did dance for like six years, and i'm also a black belt in taekwondo which is pretty cool

favorite drink/soda: all-time fav drink is chocolate milk, but i also love a good apple juice or sprite

an activity/hobby you do: reading !! (original, i know)

a TV show/movie you're watching: shadow and bone, alongside perpetually rewatching dps

a book you're reading: the odyssey

favorite dessert: LAVA CAKE. i genuinely love lava cake so much, especially when there's ice cream on the side and you can mix it together, it's just so good omg (also honorable mention: brownies. especially a corner piece or when it's slightly undercooked so it has that perfect texture) (why is the dessert question the one i say the most about...)

@i-love-multiple-ppl @missmoonlight1997 @pisghettio @rotatingcrustacean @amasiuspalace + anyone else !! (if you've already done it, that's obviously my bad)

[missmoonlight1997]

Tysm for tagging me ♡

1. Something that might surprise your moots- I study cello professionaly :)

2. Favorite drink/soda- I can't live without coffee, I also really like mango juice

3. An activity/hobby you do: reading, writing fanfics, drawing... the list goes on lol

4. A TV show/movie you're watching: I'm just rewashing the crow's parts in shadow and bone

5. A book you're reading: I just started the secret history!

6. Favorite dessert: it changes a lot, but recently I really like teramiso :)

I'm sorry if I'm tagging anyone who already did this!!

@pisghettio @kirapjo0818 @musicaltheaterlover237 @tallest-poet-pitts @plantainlikestheater @wylanvaneckz @inkclot @desperatetorturedpoet

[inkclot]

Hihi, thanks for tagging me @missmoonlight1997

1: Something that might surprise my moots- I honestly don't know what to put here?? I used to see Cillian Murphy shopping, I lived near a few celebrities and I went to a fan meet with Roger Clark.

2. Favourite soda/drink- I'm having a lime boy summer, so lime soda and cocktails.

3. An activity/hobby that I do- My favourite past time is binge listening to fanfics while playing sniper games.

4. A tv show or movie that I'm currently watching - I just finished "sharp objects." I'm halfway through "how to get to heaven from Belfast," and I think next I'll watch Jo Nesbøs's "Harry Hole"

5. A book I'm currently reading- I'm currently reading: Little stranger by Leigh rivers, The Crazy School by Cornelia Read and The silent patient by Alex michaelides

6. Favourite dessert- I tend not to go crazy over desserts so I'll just say Oreo ice-cream.

I nominate @tumblingxelian @the-archivist-14 @inkrotcalico @agentfinder @seventyoceans @howlingday @lonelytartcake @mjthesilly

[inkrotcalico]

Thanks for the tag, @inkclot! I’ve been looking for an excuse to be more active here.

1. Something that might surprise my moots: I’ll talk about this more later, but I really love to sing and have been told that I am really good at it.

2. Favorite soda/drink: It varies, but lately I have been enjoying green tea, especially with honey. 😋

3. An activity/hobby that I do: Aside from my writing and art, I enjoy singing. I took a year in choir before my school dropped the class, but I enjoy doing karaoke (alone) and learning Japanese songs.

4. A show or movie that I am watching: I am currently trying to catch up on Frieren and My Dress-up Darling.

5. A book I’m currently reading: I am not currently reading anything, but I am debating on starting the original novel for Kiki’s Delivery Service. It’s a comfort movie for me, so I want to read the source material.

6. Favorite dessert: Currently, cheesecake. Bonus points if it has a graham cracker crust and chocolate-covered fruit on top.

I don’t have many mutuals on here, but I nominate @bmarrowwrites!

[creativepromptsforwriting]

I don't need AI to write. I can create fake scenarios in my head perfectly fine myself.

[inkrotcalico]

WIP Wednesday (03/18/26)

Hello, my lovely inkblots, and welcome to my first work-in-progress Wednesday post!

My goal with making these kinds of posts is to do two things: 1) hold myself accountable to working on my creative projects every week, and 2) keep a log of my progress on my projects. This way, I can share my progress with everyone and also be able to look back at everything I have done whenever I am feeling discouraged. I've been working on a lot recently, so I am going to be sharing those things here, and we'll see if I can turn these posts into a regular thing. Anyway, here's what I have been working on!

(Note: All images in this post are work-in-progress images, so details and such may change. Suggestions are welcome, as long as they are constructive and given in a kind way.)

VTuber Models

Right now, I am working on two different VTuber models: one for my partner, Wynter Rowan, and one as fan art for one of my favorite YouTubers. While I don't want to share much about the latter, Wynter's model has been going pretty well. Since he plays as a girl in a lot of his video games, I decided to make him a fem model. Here's what she looks like so far, but these are all draft textures and I am still working on designing clothes for her:

On top of that, I have been coming up with more clothing ideas for my own model. Designing clothing is the hardest part of character design for me, so I am excited to work on it and see if I can improve. I don't want to make designs as complex as the ones you see in Hoyoverse games, but I do want to make ones that look interesting.

Recently, I decided to really consider what kinds of clothing I would like to wear since I have been going through and getting rid of most of my old clothes. Now that I've had top surgery, I feel like I am more free to explore my sense of fashion and I think that has allowed me to come up with some fun outfit ideas for my model as well. While I am not done with it yet (I feel like some details are missing), here's a sketch of a summer outfit that I came up with and some quick sketch textures to go with it:

I don't think I will finish this outfit for a while, but compiling ideas for stuff like this has been fun when my energy levels are low but I still want to be creative. I realize that I have been leaning into androgyny again when it comes to the clothes that I like and it's been fun to explore.

"Morrigan's Cabin" continuation

I am also proud to announce that I have been making progress on the continuation for my recent short story, "Morrigan's Cabin". Truth is, I ended up working on it as a script for my writing for feature film class last semester, but converting it from a screenplay to a web novel has been difficult. I finished the first chapter the other night, but I am not quite sure if I like it yet. I will need to go through and add more details from the scenes that I removed to make the whole thing make more sense, but I plan on getting to chapter two by the end of the month (things are getting busy at school and I am getting married in 4 days, so I probably won't have time before then).

Basically, the story will pick back up from the perspective of Althea, Morrigan's only remaining friend at this point in the story. I don't want to give too much away so I can't share the title yet, but it has been picked out. I think that this project will probably be novella-length, and I'll have to see how it goes to know if I will write more with these characters at the end of it. I have most of the first act drafted out in screenplay format, so we'll see what can do with it.

The Rise of The Dragon Queen rewrite, but as a screenplay!

As mentioned previously, I am still in college and my final creative writing class is a writing for television class. I needed to draft a pilot episode for a show, so I decided to use the ideas I have for the rewrite of my old novel, The Rise of The Dragon Queen. So far, it has actually been a lot of fun and my classmates have given me a lot of helpful suggestions (I was one of the first people to have their script workshopped). Over the course of working on this, I have come up with a new inciting incident, changed character names, removed unneeded characters, created new ones, and played around with the world in ways I haven't before. I need to fix the formatting on the script (the action lines are more like paragraphs) and I need to make some minor adjustments to the opening scene, but so far so good. I'm excited to see how this version will vary from previous ones. I might also work on models for the main characters soon—I've already started on one, but I'm stuck on clothes again.

That is all I have to share for this week. Thank you for checking out my little post! As I mentioned, if you have any suggestions or questions, go ahead and leave them in the comments and tell me about your current creative projects! I'd love to read about them. I am going to try to post more frequently here on my website, so if you'd like to see what I get up to, please consider signing up for my newsletter at the bottom of this post or in the sidebar. That way, you'll be notified any time I share something here.

Anyway, good luck in your creative endeavors!

[tearsanctuary]

“why are you getting frustrated with your characters? you write them, they can do whatever you want”

NO THEY CAN’T. this little fuckers have some psychological power over me i CANNOT MAKE THEM DO SHIT

[inkrotcalico]

I used to think like that (the part in quotes) and didn't understand what people meant when they said things like the latter, but as I got better and better at writing and creating characters, they really did begin to take control of the story.

Honestly, even if it is frustrating at times and leads to tons of rewrites, it is so rewarding to be able to write in that way. May all of your characters possess you like this—your writing will be better for it.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

[inkrotcalico]

Ugh, I am in my own personal hell today.

One of my classes got cancelled, so the professor decided to set up a discussion board assignment where we (1) have to make our own post, (2) have to respond to our partner's post, and (3) have to respond back to our partner's response on our original post.

This wouldn't be a problem (especially since my partner is a chill dude) if I didn't have that neurodivergent thing where I feel like I can't do anything else until my homework is done, so guess who gets to sit at his computer all day for an assignment that would probably take 10 minutes if it wasn't asynchronous? (Me. It's me.)

[bunnie-tells-stories]

If you’re having writers block…READ!!!! CONSUME MEDIA

I feel like I don’t hear that given enough as advice for writers block..just read? Watch tv? Movies? Find inspiration in media.

Writers block is a lack of inspiration, so go collect more.

[inkrotcalico]

Another tip related to this: if you can, go outside. Take a break from writing. Do something completely unrelated if you can. Go somewhere you’ve never been. You may find inspiration in a very unlikely place if you do.

[aphractal2]

i didn’t recreate it fully but you get the idea

based off the original “do you love the color of the sky” post

[and-fishing-equipment]

in 2026 DO NOT ask yourself whether your art is GOOD

instead ask:

is it SINCERE

was it CATHARTIC

was it FUN TO MAKE

is it MADE BY ME

and don't forget to stay silly

[inkrotcalico]

I want to be active here, so here goes nothing.

Hi, my name is Chey (pronounced like "Shy") and my pronouns are he/him. I am a writer and artist, among other things. I write (mostly fantasy) stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters and make models of my characters in my free time. The image above is my personal model, which I made using VRoid Studio, Clip Studio Paint, Blender, and Unity. I am going to be launching a YouTube channel soon, which will focus on my creative projects and OCs. The first long-form video is actually going to be about the process of making my model.

Anyway, I'll be sharing (and making) more stuff soon.

(I also make VTuber models. My commissions are waitlisted for January, if anyone is interested. Links are in my Carrd.)