#io rambles

[kboardsmsh]

what it feels like finding a new rando with an ava/m sona

fuck it I’m tagging everyone

@ahbasta09 @kuyanh @mewannew @crystalcyanyellow @curryvo-fandom @emma-alanbeckerfan @idkdema @a1d1ce @axeyzn @irasketchbooks @kaiserikhwan

also, if someone likes, draw yourself near the car. why the heck not :]

[iowriteswords]

So I'm still on the fence about it, but I'm seriously considering delaying the release of my book, The Boy Queen, from fall 2026 to fall 2027. We're still six months out from the originally planned release, which is plenty of time to get the book to where I want it. But it's the first in a four book series. I've never really done a series before, and it's a little different from the standalones. 

The main issue is that, while annual releases work well for traditional publishing, all of my research is showing that indie published series do better if they're released much more quickly. I've seen 30-90 days between releases suggested multiple times, but that seems really fast—maybe every 6 months instead of every 12 would be a good compromise?

The other thing is that while The Boy Queen is finished, the other three books are barely started. My only previous series experience is with fanfic, and since that's for fun and for free, it didn't bother me much when I had to shift some details from one part to the next. But I want everything to line up correctly, with no discrepancies or plot holes, when I'm selling it. Which means I need to be able to go back and tweak book one if something I didn't plan for comes up in book 4.

If I delay a year, books 2-4 might not be fully finished, but they'll be far enough along that I can be sure everything fits together appropriately.

The Boy Queen is going to be my first novel published under the name Iona Gale, and whatever choice I make about release date, it won't impact my publishing schedule as Jenny Prater. I'll still be releasing my fifth novel under that name in late winter/early spring of next year, and hopefully the sixth at the same time the following year.

(Next year's release will be A Flock, A Drift, A Bevy, a retelling of "The Wild Swans," and the following year will likely be The Labyrinth of Crete, a story following Ariadne, Medusa, and Andromeda from Greek mythology, though the schedule that far out is subject to change.)

[abscshshhd]

welp. bad news, I had a. uh. I’m not gonna call it a breakdown because it wasn’t that serious, but an—overstimulation incident?? at school in the middle of class.

BUT BETTER NEWS I went to the school therapist and we talked and she said I could have an online autism diagnosis with the school psychologist!! which is nice.

[ionized-alpaca]

sometimes you get a little emotional scrolling reddit

just. imagine. painstaking removing glue from teeny tiny bugs that most people don't even notice when they're outside. because you've decided these ones are yours and you're responsible for them. they're your babies. idk man, the human-animal bond just gets me.

[ikemenomegas]

Back when we were getting all these death-flags for gojo, my one hope for alternative was that gege would either have him sacrifice his powers or take one of his eyes. However, while jjk obliges itself to show us again and again exactly what sorcerer life is like, most of the sympathetic main characters' endings are not necessarily cruel.

I had thought perhaps satoru would lose his powers because it would demand growth from him, because I do think losing his powers is worse than dying. Satoru is the way he is largely because of how Infinity and the Six Eyes shaped how he was treated by others and the way it allowed him to move through the world.

I'm still not entirely sure by the end of jjk what story we were getting in terms of allowing growth of characters and the world. There is some implication that things have changed, but the title of the work, and the function of sorcerers, did not change. It is still the endless sorcery fight, sorcerers still battle curses. Maybe not alone anymore, and for some maybe with a better understanding of themselves, Yuuji grows, but then isn't really able to understand Sukuna, Megumi lives but is he really able to move past the guilt around his sister and the damage his body caused in what seems like a short time? Nobara reconnects with her sorcerer heritage, but is it really better to live as part of the jujutsu system or live freely, almost as a curse?

We get an ambivalent kind of answer that inspires thought in the aftermath.

But the story does seem to lump gojo in with those who cannot or will not change. However, we saw a willingness to at least learn from his experiences with Getou and Shoko and Yu and Nanami and Ijichi and the rest, so he cannot be totally doomed to stagnation.

In the end, jjk didn't give any main character a truly cruel ending, which is perhaps why so many of them didn't survive. Living was not the thing they were attached to - perhaps in true fashion of those living lives which tried to ascend over unnecessary attachment. But part of me still wishes the narrative had demanded that satoru was allowed to change, demanded to live, perhaps without what had made him stand out so much. He never did really get a satisfying answer to Suguru's question. But this would have allowed us to believe in a way to live without jujutsu in the world of jujutsu. And maybe that is something that can't be done...

[iodoesdolls]

So the Remco I Dream of Jeannie has been my dream doll for a couple year now, since I spotted her for like $50 at an antique store. And I finally have her! Technically.

I bought her on eBay, nude except some underwear. The listing did tell me that she had melted hips. I went in fully aware of that.

However. Never before have a seen a doll with hips quite so melted.

The underwear was fused to her, so I had to cut it off. In the process, her legs popped out. Nbd, I thought, I’ll just pop them back in.

But they cannot be popped back in. Because her hips are made of soup, and the underwear was the only thing holding her together.

Photos:

(The thing about Jeannie is that she’s gorgeous from one single angle and so funny looking from all the others because her head mold is weirdly, like, deep? I love her anyway.)

I thought I could just pop her onto a space dawn body, but she has a slightly larger neck peg, so I get a wobble head. Not the end of the world, but I might see if I can salvage her original body.

Also need to to figure out clothes. I hate sewing at this scale, so looking for any way to avoid it. Some of my initial thoughts:

Both pants only, so I’d still have to sew a shirt, but I feel like that’ll be easier.

Also like this jumpsuit:

Not exactly the right look, but I feel like the vibe is soul

[sketchyglinda]

I really enjoyed the Emerald City TV show, but I will never be over the weirdness of Jack crushing on Ozma, who, in the books, is his dad.

Also. On the subject of weird pairings - Dorothy Must Die. Polychrome and Button Bright. One sided Scarecrow and Glinda. Dorothy and the Nome King. I just…yeah.

Finally finished that series last week, and mostly enjoyed it. Thought ending with time travel was a bit of a cop-out, and she dropped the ball on Pete after book two. And hot nome king was…profoundly uncomfortable. And a continuity issue between books. But otherwise a good series.

[ionalottabookmarks]

Like, it’s cool that they brought Bart onto the Flash show, and I might watch at least the first couple episodes he’s in despite not having the context of the last few seasons. But also. I’ve been going through the recent tab of the Bart Allen tag every couple days for the last month so I can see any new fan art or random panels from comics I haven’t read yet, and now it’s totally flooded with live action flash stuff. And, like, it’s really difficult to find good flash or green arrow fanfic that isn’t arrowverse based, and now it’s going to be harder to find non-arrowverse Impulse content, too, and I’m frustrated.