New Year; New Me (Birthday Edition)

Est. Read Time: 12min
This Month's Font: Playpen Sans

Welp. Here we are. Over a week into August, and only NOW publishing my JULY writing update. At least I HAVE a July writing update... sorta... I'll get to that. I just couldn't NOT update two months in a row. It was hurting me.

However, as I mentioned in my July LRRC, I still haven't really done anything in the writing field. So, it's kind of understandable that I don't have much of an update.

But, my birthday has passed. So, New Year; New Me (birthday edition). We'll see if it sticks more than the New Year; New Me (calendar year edition).

Generated by Avatoon

OK, so a literal new "me" with regards to my little LycoRogue emojis I use here. Bitmoji, for who-knows-what reason, decided they wanted to update their avatars to be 3D models (with still 2D... everything else...). Probably to better match (and compete?) with the likes of the Apple Memoji and Facebook Avatar. However, I just CANNOT stand the new look. I haven't found a perfect replacement for Bitmoji quite yet, but I've at least temporarily settled on Avatoon for now.

Generated by Avatoon

Not the biggest fan. Avatoon is too "teen/young adult fashionista" forward. Reminds me of the digital fashion dolls of the early 00's. I can't adjust the body shape of the avatar. I can't really customize the clothing options, and none of them really fit my aesthetic. The hair options are limited. There aren't pre-made reaction/emojis that I can just look up and grab like I can for Bitmoji. I have to choose from a variety of poses (which, oddly enough, is a lot but also not many poses that I'd actually like to use). I can't adjust the poses like you could in OLD old-school Bitmoji. I have to sift through a BUNCH of stock photos (a lot, I fear, may be AI generated, but I can't be certain) in order to find ANY that could work as a background. After AAAAAALLLLL of that, I then have to meticulously build my reaction photo: see both of the above. Not great for quick emote responses in messages, unless I take the time to build up my own archive....

Still, while this version of my LycoRogue persona doesn't look like "me" the way the Bitmoji 2D model perfectly did, it still looks better than THIS nightmare fuel:

Generated by Bitmoji

*shudder*

So, until either (a) Bitmoji releases an update that allows users to revert back to the 2D models, (b) Bitmoji releases a separate app for the old-school 2D models, or (c) I find something that's a better replacement for Bitmoji, I guess I'm stuck with Avatoon.

On the plus side, unlike Bitmoji, you can create multiple avatars in Avatoon, and easily switch between them. So I can have my LycoRogue avatar set up for internet-facing places, such as here on my blog or on my socials. Then I can switch to the one that looks more like me irl for when I'm messaging my friends/family. I can even create avatars for my OCs now (which was fun, to be fair).

Lia Madrox
Generated by Avatoon

Willow Driver
Generated by Avatoon

Trish Morrison
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My X-Future/Glitches Girls
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Amara Yori
Generated by Avatoon

Jolene Crisslebalm
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Aubrianne Zani
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My D&D Girlies
Generated by Avatoon

As I mentioned for my LycoRogue avatar, the outfit choices on Avatoon are more fashionista than true avatar. So, obviously, there isn't MUCH by way of fantasy outfits. Meaning, for Amara, Jolene, and Aubrianne, I had to go for more of a "vibe" than what they actually would wear. Somehow, that landed poor Aubrianne in a "Farmer Mom" aesthetic, I guess....

Also, for obvious "can only make human avatars" reasons, I couldn't recreate my tabaxi Emerald Gaze or bronze dragonborn Kriv.

The X-Future/Glitches gals, on the other hand, are pretty spot-on to my mental image of them. So... yay! The only exception would be that I'd love for Trish to look more grunge and her hair more wild.

Close enough for horseshoes and government work.

And this, dear friends, is why there is no need to turn to AI (aka plagiarizing) image generators. There's tons of these other generators out there where the art is made specifically for the generators by humans knowing what their artwork is being used for, and - CRUCIALLY - agreeing to that use. Even if it isn't exactly what you're looking for, with some effort on your end, I'm sure you can get close enough until you can either (a) learn to draw to the standard you want, (b) have a friend draw for you, or (c) afford the cost of commissioning a human artist to draw for you.

Generated by
(old school)
Bitmoji

Side note: I'm so glad I still have a hefty archive of the 2D Bitmojis. I already miss the "I Can't Even" shirt on the Avatoon version of my avatar.... Wonder if I could doctor one on. Might have to snag all of the poses available in the app and turn them into a digital paper-doll sort of thing via layers upon layers in GIMP. Then make my archive of avatar reactions/emojis that way.....

Lord, that's a lot of work...

Generated by (old school) Bitmoji

We'll see if I feel like putting in the effort, or if I'll just resolve myself to the mediocre version of my avatar that Avatoon can produce without outside edits.

In the meantime, though... WRITING! This update is supposed to be about my writing! Not about avatar-generators (although, that does remind me that I haven't checked in with Picrew in a while).

Writing wise? Weeeeeellllllll....

Look. I mentioned in my last update, and at the top of this one, the summer has not been great for writing creativity.

Between my vacations, my co-workers' vacations, and my hubby's co-workers' vacations, both Hubby's and my work schedules have been wonky since May. Doesn't look like it's clearing up anytime soon either. That alone makes finding time to hide away and work on fictional writing (or updating this blog) a bit tricky.

It also makes finding time to get together with friends to play D&D a bit tricky. Especially when we had to switch our game day to Thursday nights to help accommodate a player's adjusted work schedule, but then Hubby gets pulled in to work the night-shift nearly every Thursday during Vacation Season. Which means I haven't even broken out Aubrianne more than once or twice ALL OF 2025!

Sooooo I haven't even stretched my writing wings via D&D like I did last year. Which suuuucks. This is how a lot of campaigns die: too much time between sessions. I don't want the campaign to die. I'm not ready to give up Aubrianne. It was rough enough when I had to give up Jolene and Kriv before I was ready.

Maybe it will inspire me to write some Aubrianne fanfic, though. The urge hasn't struck yet, and it never did with regards to writing fics about Kriv, but who knows? I'd prefer to wait a bit longer, though, before having to give up Aubrianne... save for potential fics. I'm hoping we can get back on the D&D wagon by September; before we have to stop again for the holiday season!

Tanuki
Facebook sticker
by Yanare Ku

On the flipside, the Discord server has had some activity on it again. Which is nice. Most of it being Dragnime, who is really pushing to get his manuscript done and published in the near future. Bravo to him. Aurora Morgen has also gotten back into writing, it seems, and ne's been sending me some new possible plotline notes that ne's playing with.

Under normal circumstances, having those two talk about their writing would pump me up and get me back into writing as well. Instead....

Generated by (old school) Bitmoji

Yeah... double use of this Bitmoji. Life's been that grand.

Any and all free time I've had to write I've instead spent playing games. I'd just rather engage my brain in a plot that I don't have to think about. My creativity is completely fried. 

For instance, typically, watching new media - btw, watch KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix if you can and haven't yet; worth the hype - or playing games or listening to my friends talk about their writing helps jumpstart the creative juices for me. This go? No dice. I just itch for more ready-made plot being spoon-fed to me instead of my brain making up some plot itself.

I'm just not getting the usual "Oooo, that's neat, but what if I tweak this???" writing itch.

Not to say I'm not trying. Whenever I find myself with some quiet time away from a screen - while driving, in the bathroom, taking just a few quiet moments at my desk at work, as I fall asleep at night, while making food, etc - I try REALLY hard to come up with SOMETHING.

Mostly, it's been building up my "author got isekai'd into her own story" idea.

My main thought lately is on the author wondering about power dynamics as one of the supporting male leads tries to woo her. Of course, she can't be bothered with romance because she's on a mission to prevent major plot points from happening; spare her poor characters from pain, turmoil, and even death. That doesn't stop one of her supporting characters from falling for her, however. In fact, her efforts and the lengths she has to go to in order to have the authority to do anything about these impending disasters are exactly what the character falls for. 

However, the author CREATED these people, didn't she? She's basically their god, despite evidence to the contrary, namely her not actually having any power to just bippity-boppity their problems away. Once inside her own story, she has no control over the plot outside of the same social dances any of the characters could have done in her stead. 

Regardless of her power (or lack thereof) within her story world, she's still trying so desperately to save her characters because she now sees them as sentient people with full and rich lives and emotions separate from the stories she wrote. They've proven that they don't just follow the script of her novels anymore.

And yet, she can't get past, "this guy likes me because that's how I wrote him." Ignore that she didn't have him falling for the character she's been transmigrated into.

Also ignore any feelings the author might have for this lovestruck character. Of course he's flawed in just the right ways to make him perfect for her. She WROTE HIM that way. It's like falling in love with a robot you programmed to be your lover. This is some Pygmalion shit. 

How do I get the author over that romance hurdle? Not a clue, but at least I came up with something that might add drama... if I ever get around to writing this story.

Eh, it's better than nothing.

Generated by (old school) Bitmoji

Also, since I missed last month's writing update, I wasn't able to gush about a reader of mine. Which means I get to segue into that now (and we'll ignore the irony of stating that we're going to segue as a means to segue....)

Back at the start of June, I had such a huge surprise as I went through my AO3 emails, and saw the same name over and over and over again. So, on the off chance that they are reading this, I'd like to send so much love and a major thank you to AO3 user Naty1808, who pinged my radar when they left kudos on half of my Aged Up Adrienette stories in one day: 

• Cataclysm the Doubt
• Never Take This for Granted
• Could Your Paradise Also Be Your Hell?
• I Think I Like You (Maybe More Than I Should)

(They didn't leave kudos on 3 Aged-Up Adrienette stories. Don't know if that means they missed them or if they read them and didn't like them enough to leave a kudos. Either way, pour one out for Tell Me You Want Me When You're Sober, Rolling Thunder, and I Just Wanted to Kiss You)

Naty then came back later that same week, and left kudos on 2 out of my 3 Lukanette stories:

Marinette's Song and Acting Weird

Although, to be fair, Acting Weird is more of an Adrien-centric story about him realizing his feelings for Marinette after he found out she started dating Luka. 

Also, much like the above "missed" Aged-Up Adrienette stories, I'm not sure if the 2nd main Lukanette story I wrote - I Was Thinking of You - was either overlooked by Naty, or they didn't like it enough to leave a kudos.... Either way, pour another one out for IWToY.

Naty1808 didn't leave a single review, but I still saw their name show up so many times, and it warmed my heart each time. So, as much as I beg for my readers to interact with me in some fashion, please know that I do still note you even with a simple kudos, and you are still precious to me.

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(old school) Bitmoji

Speaking of people who are precious to me, seems like a great time to talk about my birthday week!

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(old school) Bitmoji

For my birthday this year, my husband again gifted me an experience. 

Back for my 30th, Hubby gifted me tickets to Paramore and Fall Out Boy's Monumentour. Three years ago, he got me amazing seats for Imagine Dragons' Mercury World Tour. Even though he didn't join me, Hubby crossed off a Bucket List item for my 33rd when he got me tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai. He crossed off another Bucket List item when he made it possible for me to see a Broadway show in NYC (so, not touring) by taking me to see Hadestown for my 40th. This year was yet ANOTHER Bucket List item (quite a few of them are seeing performances...). A little obscure artist you might not have heard of: one "Weird Al" Yankovic during his Bigger & Weirder tour.

Official Concert Art

Seeing this man in concert has been on my list since I was a teenager. I've lamented the times he's literally been less than a 10min drive from my mom's house and I wasn't able to go because I couldn't afford the tickets. Knowing that, the MOMENT Hubby discovered that Weird Al was going on tour again, he kept an eagle-eye out for his tour dates and if any of them were nearby. 

Not only was one relatively close, but it was a week from my birthday! Perfection! He snatched those babies up near-instantly. Because of that, I've actually known that I was going to this concert since this past winter (come to think of it, this may have been my Christmas gift? Joint Christmas/Birthday due to the expense? Can't recall, but I'll count it as his b'day gift to me).

The fact that this man is constantly finding ways to gift me once-in-a-lifetime experiences and builds memories with me? How can I not fall in love with him over and over again every day?

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(old school) Bitmoji

My other July blessing (Yes! I have TWO! Maybe to make up for not finding one for June?) was also a birthday gift.

If you couldn't tell from these writing updates (and especially my missed ones), I've been in a depressive funk for ages. Which, sadly, has affected my ability to keep up with household chores. Which only stresses me out further, which makes it even harder for me to catch up, which stresses me more; rinse and repeat.

My family - Mom, sis, and brother-in-law - all gave up their weekend to come visit me for my birthday, and, specifically, to help me and Hubby tackle our home. It's still far from perfect, but at least one room has been completely scrubbed top-to-bottom, and I've been able to maintain it ever since. It's also helped motivate me to tackle more Adulting projects/chores; shaking me (at least a little) from my funk.

So, for my family, who took hours out of their life to drive out to visit me, only to spend basically an 8hr work day helping me clean, and then drive HOURS back home - all while my mom has two bum knees - I want to send you the largest thank you.

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Now, I really should be off working on my August LycoRogue's Reading Corner update. I have a LOT to talk about, and less than a week to do so! Hopefully I can hit this deadline. Send me good vibes to help motivate me. 

Generated by (old school) Bitmoji