senashenta | Entries tagged with buttons

Today is Thursday, which means I posted the last post-Horror High one-shot, Falling Stars, to AO3 and Tumblr (I'll get around to Vanimadin later today.) It's kind of... bittersweet, posting the last of the post-HH one-shots. I know I have a whole other cycle to go through in the series with Storm Season and IT'S one-shots but it still feels like the end of something. I dunno. It's weird.

Everything I Do didn't do very well AT ALL (235 hits, 26 kudos and 1 bookmark; no comments) which was disappointing because that was my personal favorite of the bunch, but there's nothing I can do about it. I thought people would like the fact that there was a top!Cas/bottom!Dean scene in it, but maybe the tags were confusing, because I had to include all the tags for that position as well as the usual one. They were pretty muddled.

I guess I just keep holding out hope that the series will somehow catch on, even though it's pretty clear by now that it's not going to, just because I love it so much. Still, I do get the occasional comment, and every time I'm nervous to click on them in case they're someone telling me my writing is bullshit, you know? But so far all but one have been really positive. I literally JUST got one for Falling Stars (like 5 minutes after I posted it, this person is a SPEED READER) where the person said they loved the series, so that's a good way to start out with a new fic, right? Right.

I'm done the first-draft editing of Storm Season up to Chapter 5 so far, so I just have 6-->10 to go, and then I'll circle back around and go through them all over again just in case. I have a little timeline that I'm scribbling out on a post-it note as I edit because I'm fairly sure I screwed up my timing with a couple of things along the way. They're easy fixes, I just need to know the time between specific events that I laid out originally. I think I kept just referring to past time as "two weeks" or "a couple of weeks" when actually like a month had passed, and that's the kind of thing people call you out on lol. I've learned that from experience.

Then it's on to finishing up and editing When Lightning Strikes, and then the others, but only until November 1st at which point fanfic is getting put to the side in lieu of writing TKA.

I'm so nervous about this whole TKA thing, though, like I really, REALLY want to do well at it, but with my past track record with the NaNo I'm super afraid the same thing is going to happen here, again, and nothing will really get done. I keep trying to put these thoughts out of my head and focus on the fact that I have like three years of planning and an entire huge long, detailed outline to go by this time, but they sneak into my brain anyway. I wish they'd go away. I wish I had more confidence with myself.

.....

Like two years ago I downloaded the first season of a series called From because I heard about it and it sounded right up my alley, and then when I watched it it was SO UNBELIEVABLY GOOD OMG so I looked up to see if there were other seasons, and there was one other, so I tried to find IT to download, too, only... nada. Zip. Zilch. Couldn't find it anywhere. So, I've been lowkey looking for it off-and-on ever since and two days ago I searched for it again and I FOUND IT, so I downloaded it like ASAP before the universe noticed and took it away again.

And again, it was SO FREAKING GOOD. I LOVE FROM SO MUCH (but like, the title? Please that is the hardest thing in the world to search for. You get everything. EVERYTHING.) And apparently there is a third season out now, which I am excited for, but like... I have no idea when I'll be able to find it. Could be another two years. idek. Hopefully not but we'll see because it's SUCH a good series. <3

Last night I emptied out one of the bins on my shelves and packed up some stuff for storage to make room for my binders full of writing. They all fit except for the Biology (et al) binder, which is in Jessie's room now, and my new TKA binder, which is just kind of sitting next to my computer table, but like... this is a SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT because I used to have SIX huge binders between my computer table and my work table, so I cleared out a lot of floor space with that, and they're much more organized now. I do wish Biology and TKA would fit, too, but there's not much I can do about it at this point. =/

I'm 90% of the way through my next batch of Wiggly Foxes. I just have to touch up the white on their bellies, paint the white in their ears, and paint the black on their noses and eyes (with a sewing needle, SUCH a pain) and then I can take pics (UGH) and list them on Etsy. Then I'm going to start working on finishing up my Rainbow Dash fox and my Starry Void fox, the ones that Poe suggested, even though it's depressing to work on them, still. And after that I'll dig out four or five more Foxes and start over again.

I think later today I'm going to try to make a point of sitting down and posting all my buttons to Etsy as well, finally. The Pontypool and Evil Dead Rise and misc. ones. Then I can start working on designing more. I have Ghostbusters, Abigail and Late Night With The Devil quotes that I want to use, and eventually I want to do some JAWS, Jurassic Park and Alien quotes as well. I have to figure out a way to pick quotes that would appeal to the masses and not just ones that are niche to me.

I also need to re-take the pics of some of the jewelry I've already got listed and swap them out now that I have a better background. Just. I have so much Etsy stuff to do but I always procrastinate on it. I would SO MUCH rather just take my wares to a market or con and sell them all there. Etsy is tedious and, at least for me, a pretty much constant let down.

Anyway. Now I'm going to go do some editing for a while before I have a nap. Tonight is my turn to cook supper, but I'm just making Hamburger Helper because *SHRUG* And then tomorrow I HAVE to make an apple pie for my brother, it's already a week late. I would do it today but there's no room in our fridge and I want it to be as fresh as possible for when he comes over on Saturday. :P

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: N/A

Well, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and haven't been able to get back to sleep so that sucks. =/

In other news, I've only had Kaida for two days and I would already die for her. >:|

Last night I thawed some bloodworms for her and she decided that bloodworms trump hiding from everything and came out to nom them down ASAP so that was nice. Good to see she's still thriving and eating. I'm not 100% sure HOW MUCH she should be eating at this size, so I'm just feeding her a couple times a day and hoping that's enough?? FINGERS CROSSED?? She is VORACIOUS though, she eats like a BLACK HOLE lol.

Turns out I did my initial calculations wrong and my tank is actually big enough to house like 3.5 axolotls, not 1.5 (so 1) axolotls like I previously thought, so I'm going to be getting another one in the future, just... once Kaida is big enough that I can tell her gender FOR SURE and then I can look for another one the same gender and general size to be her buddy. I don't want one 'lotl EATING the other (which will happen if one is too much bigger than the other) or to end up with 1,000,000 babies (which will happen if they aren't both the same gender.) :|

For now I'm good with just Kaida, though the urge to go back to Elmvale and just buy another little 'lotl from the woman I got Kaida from is REAL, not gonna lie. Good thing Mom has flat-out REFUSED to drive back there again haha. (When I get a second 'lotl I'm going to name it Drake, I think!)

I still wish I could put some fish in the tank too because there's TONS of empty space in the top of the aquarium that a school of little fish like neon tetras would look great in but ALAS. I know better!

.....

I currently have citrine, mooonstone, tiger's eye, fluorite and lapis lazuli chip beads all in various stages of On Their Way To Me in the mail for making Wiccan bracelets out of. Right now I already have chalcedony, black tourmaline and aquamarine. I might make a couple of bracelets tomorrow (today) or the next day, in and around finishing up some Wiggly Foxes (I have four that are SO close to being done!) and making an apple pie for my brother for his birthday.

Oh, and I have an entire page of Ghostbusters quotes, an entire page of Abigail quotes and some Late Night With The Devil quotes to pick-and-choose from to have made into buttons for my Etsy, which would MEAN MORE if I actually got the buttons I ALREADY HAVE up on my Etsy. :| Anyway, I'm going to watch JAWS, Jurassic Park and Alien and write down quotes from them as well. Yaaaaay quotes.

I also have a copy of Wilder Girls that should be arriving tomorrow, which, I mean, I already OWN (and love) Wilder Girls, but I wanted to send a copy to Poe along with the Birthmas card I'm planning to send them, so. *shrug* It was my free book with my book rewards off thriftbooks so it only cost me the shipping. It's no big deal.

This afternoon I have to go get some bloodwork done finally to check my hormones levels, because I'm pretty sure I'm pre-menopausal at the very least. It sucks but I've been sitting on the bloodwork rec since my LAST appointment with my Doc, so like two and a half months ago. I really need to get it done so the results are in in time for my NEXT appointment, a month from now.

Yesterday Mom and I finally got my A/C unit taken out of my window. It's not DIFFICULT, really, it's just awkward and that makes it a two-person job. Now I have control over how much of a draft comes in my window again, which is really nice, since I have the huge ice box of an aquarium sitting in the corner of the room now. Seriously, that thing puts off SO MUCH COLD it's ridiculous. Damn axolotls being cold-water animals lol.

I'm officially over 60,000 words in Storm Season, so less than 10,000 left to reach my goal! But I do think it's going to end up longer than 70,000 words in the end. Not sure HOW MUCH longer, but longer. Originally I thought it was going to end up shorter than Horror High, but Storm Season is turning out to be more dense, word-wise, so I guess we'll see! :D

I posted Everything I Do less than 24 hours ago and so far it's got 95 hits and 21 kudos, but no bookmarks or comments. That's actually not bad for one of my HH fics, but we'll see if the momentum keeps up. Probably helps that there's a brief, shining moment of top!Cas and bottom!Dean in it, which is what the fandom seems to prefer. (Means Tying Knots and Quick Hitch should go over okay? Maybe??)

Speaking of top!Cas and bottom!Dean, turns out there's a scene with them like that RIGHT near the end of Storm Season as well, so there are actually two top!Cas and bottom!Dean scenes in this series. In like 600 pages of writing, there are maybe 8 pages of it for the fans to eke out lmao sniff it out if you can, guys! :D;;

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: N/A

Storm Season is up to 118 pages and 52,957 words and I'm still going strong. At this rate I'll have it completed by the end of October easily. I did some editing on the first three chapters yesterday but I'll definitely need to edit the whole thing at least twice before I start posting it. (I hate the editing process but I also obsess over it so. There's that.) Then I'm going to move on to working on finishing up the post-Storm Season one-shots, but that might not happen until December.

I've shut down all but like 5 tabs in Word (Storm Season, When Lightning Strikes, Ghost In The Machine, Pinfeathers and my journal) so hopefully I'll stay on-task, but then again I've tried this before and the other tabs just keep... opening. Almost on their own. Like magic! :D;;

Today is the day Mom and I are driving to Elmvale to pick up my axolotl! I'm so excited! The tank is all ready and the right temperature (thanks to the cooling fan) and there are all sorts of hidey holes and stuff! The guy apparently has two and I get to pick which one I want, so I'm looking forward to it. And $50 for an axolotl is a good price, if I was buying one from a PET STORE it'd be hundreds of dollars. (Mom still winced at the $50 though like she doesn't understand pet market pricing AT ALL.)

It seems Poe had got themself at least one new axolotl, now that they're (I think) living in the annex instead of the main house, their Mum can't say anything about them having pets anymore, which is good. Pets are good for Poe, just like they're good for me. I wish I could message them and say how happy I am for them, but even if I did they wouldn't message back, so it's pointless. Still, good news on the Poe front.

I ordered some citrine and tiger's eye chip beads for making into bracelets. I'm trying to get gemstones that have uses in the magic community so I can make Wiccan bracelets, but I can only afford a few beads each month. I got chalcedony and black tourmaline a couple months back, then I got aquamarine last month. They all have their uses. I know this kind of thing is better coming from an actual Wiccan but what people don't know won't hurt me. Besides, I was Wiccan briefly, years back. :|

I have a bunch more jewelry to post to my Etsy, as well as my current buttons (mostly Pontypool and Evil Dead Rise quotes) but I'm procrastinating over it because I hate taking the pics and I hate doing the listing so I'm like... BLEGH. But I have a whole bunch of Ghostbusters (1984) movie quotes that I want to make into buttons, and I want to do some Abigail (2024) quote buttons, so I can at least get started on those... in between... all the writing I'm supposed to be doing?? idek I have too many projects.

Speaking of projects, I have four new Wiggly Foxes like 2/3 done! They started off orange with grey socks and gloves and I painted over the grey in different colors. One is blue, one is pink, one is green and one is half/half metallic purple and metallic gold. They're turning out really good, but it always takes forever to paint a fox. They're tedious. That's why they're so expensive.

Um.

Oh, last night I made a sweet potato pie for the first time! I tried it once way back years ago at Andy and Carolyn's place and really liked it, and I wanted to make something different for Thanksgiving this year. It turned out really good, based on the little dish of extra filling that I baked alongside it.

Speaking of Thanksgiving... my sister and sister-in-law want to host this year and that's fine, but it means my OTHER sister and their mom will be there and I don't know if I'm up for their bullshit right now. Last night Amy called and asked if I was going to be coming and I was like "I DON'T KNOW??" because it is literally going to depend on how I'm feeling that particular day (this coming Sunday.) But even if I don't go, I'm sending a pie! So!

I asked my brother what he wanted me to make him for his birthday this year and he said a deep-dish apple pie so I have to do that on like... Thursday or Friday? Because Mom is getting together with him Friday night so she can deliver it then, or I can give it to him on Saturday when he comes here to do laundry because God forbid he go to a fucking laundromat and not raid our fridge once a week. Anyway.

Also, Dad watched Deadpool And Wolverine and wasn't impressed because the plot was weak and the violence was over-the-top and I was like of like "...do you KNOW Deadpool??" but I just replied to his message "I respectfully disagree! :D" and left it at that.

Current Mood: antisocial
Current Music: N/A

Today I woke up at 5:30am and couldn't get back to sleep so now I'm just... puttering around. I posted Cerulean Blue to AO3, Tumblr and Vanimadin, so we'll see what kind of reception that gets, and I posted my photo for the day for my photoblogging already, and I also did some image editing for covers for some of my writing because I'm super into doing that right now.

I have three things arriving from Amazon today; my Jamieson probiotic gummies, my aquarium thermometers, and my turkey baster. Unfortunately my super long tweezers won't be here until the end of the month so I'm going to have to jury-rig something else for feeding worms to my axolotl when I get it next week. Maybe chopsticks?? idk I'll figure something out.

I keep looking at my huge aquarium and wishing I could get some little fish to go in the tank with my future axolotl, just for visual interest, but sadly... they could potentially pick at the axolotl's gills, which is no good, or, when the axolotl got big enough, it would just EAT THEM, which is also not good, so like. No fishies. Or anything else. Just the 'lotl. But I'm fine with that! I'll just fill it up with plants (inside and out) and make it pretty that way.

(I'm so excited for next week like ahhhh!! X3)

I decided that today I'm going to just... bite the bullet and get down to unpotting Sam to put him in the aquarium. It's such a Job with a capital "J" to unpot plants, I hate it. I learned that doing Cas and Dean. But like... I need to do it eventually and I want to get it done BEFORE the axolotl is actually IN THE TANK so. TODAY IT IS. (My spider-plant, Jack, is going to have to go in after the 'lotl is already in the tank but there's just no getting around that. He's still too little to go in yet.)

I need to get another air pump for the aquarium, this last one that I bought is UNACCEPTABLY LOUD. The PREVIOUS one I got is basically WHISPER QUIET but when I needed a second one I cheaped out and bought a less expensive one and now I regret my life choices. So I have to go back and buy another one of the good ones because the noise is driving me BONKERS. Did I mention I HATE air pumps??

.....

Yesterday I made the rice pudding I've been meaning to make for like a month now and it turned out great as always, and now I have a little bit of 2% milk for two or three teas as a treat since it only takes 3/4 of a carton to make the pudding. I LOVE 2% milk in my tea and cooking/baking but Mom and Lee keep stupid 1% in the house instead and I'm like... blegh. At least it's not skim. For a while they kept THAT in the house and it was just COLORED WATER GDI.

Some time in the next couple of days I need to go at and make the sweet potato pie that I've been procrastinating over, too. I think one of the sweet potatoes is starting to grow mould. They probably should have been kept in the fridge?? But Lee has been really bitchy lately about me having too much stuff in the fridge, so I just left them out to avoid the inevitable conflict. Like, I understand that the fridge is getting full, but I fucking live here too, you know?

Anyway, I'm making a practice sweet potato pie to see if it turns out before Thanksgiving weekend, when my sister is having everyone over for Thanksgiving dinner. If it DOES turn out then I'm going to be making another one for that, though I may just be sending it along with Mom and Lee because idk if I'm going to feel up to going to a huge family get together like last year. Especially if Sarah and Heather are going to be there. I can't handle their stupidity. I mean. It's... nice. Seeing everyone. But my anxiety and depression really don't like it AT ALL, and with how I'm feeling lately I just... I don't want to be there for 30 minutes and then have to beg Mom to drive me home because I'm about to have a breakdown. I dunno. I guess we'll see how I feel on the day. =/

I've been working on a set of Wiggly Foxes the last few days, they're all base orange but I'm painting their socks/paws/ears/parts of their tails different colors. One is Cayman Blue, one is Thistle Blossom Pink, one is Spring Green and the fourth is half Violet Pansy Purple and half Bright Gold. They're coming along really nicely.

I really enjoy doing my foxes, but they cost like $14.99USD each because of the sheer amount of time and effort that goes into each one. It takes me DAYS to paint a fox, so they're pretty expensive. I have a few up in my Etsy store right now but no one's biting. Then again no one bites at anything in my store, so what else is new? I think the foxies would go over better at cons or markets (especially cons) but I don't currently have access to anything like that, so I mean. Etsy it is, I guess.

I really have to get my current buttons up on my Etsy, too. The Pontypool and Evil Dead Rise ones. Buttons are a big commodity and they seem to go over well, and I have all the photos taken I just have to upload them and list them I just fffffffffffucking hate doing Etsy listings. *HEADDESK* But again, I've got to just... buckle down and do it. I also have some new ones that I want to make with Abigail quotes, and I want to do some Captain America and Deadpool ones we well. I wish I could figure out how to insert images as background for buttons, though, I've been trying for months and still can't get it. Frustrating.

A little while back, Poe offered to let me sell their button designs in my shop and I went through and picked the ones I liked and they sent me the files so I could have them made, but then I ended up ending our friendship, essentially, so part of my goodbye letter was to say thank you so much for the offer, but that I wouldn't be using their buttons after all. It's too bad, there were some good ones. But I guess I'll just keep doing my own thing, making buttons my own (shitty) way, and hopefully things on Etsy will pick up, especially since I can't work anymore...

I've managed to get back into working on Storm Season again, I think, not that you could tell it from this morning so far. I'm hoping after I feed the cats I can sit down and bang out a few pages. I'm up to 101 pages and 45,111 words, so I'm getting there. According to the NaNo word tracking bar graph it looks like I'm about 2/3 there. Seriously, though, using the word trackers at the NaNo website have been SO helpful in visualizing my progress and where I am in any given project. I have a really hard time doing that on my own, so. Yeah.

It's only the 3rd of October so I have pretty high hopes that I'll get Storm Season finished by the time the NaNo rolls around in November and I throw my hat in the ring with TKA. Not 100% sure about all the one-shots, but hoping to have at least the first three of those finished as well to give me some padding to finish the other four after I finish posting Storm Season.

I'm PRETTY sure I'm going to start posting Storm Season after the NaNo is over, in the beginning of December, but I might start posting it sooner than that, depending on when I get it finished and how much editing I can get done/how quickly I can get it done. I would love to start posting Storm Season chapters the week after I post Falling Stars, but that's only a couple weeks away now and I doubt I'll have it finished and edited in time for that. Maybe for the beginning of November, if I really push myself, though, then I could post updates throughout November while I was working on the NaNo.

But yeah, I dunno, I guess we'll see.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: N/A