Book No. 4:

Carry Me Into The Light by @theoldastronomer.

Bound as a gift for a friend, and hopefully I’ll be able to give the author a copy in person in the new year.

This is a really beautiful fic and I wanted to reflect that in the book design. I also wanted it to be small. I chose a quarto size in the end; really, the fic was a tiny bit too short and would have been better as an octavo, or with a typeset that took up a few more pages. But despite being at the lower end of what was comfortable to bind in quarto I think it turned out ok.

This binding was also a chance to experiment with foiling on the cricut (so. many. mistakes. were made.), as well as tinker with a little bit of graphic design. I’m really pleased with the cover in the end, and glad I learned some lessons too.

The last pic is a tiny bit of piecing I did to try and hide a tear made during casing in. It’s not particularly elegant but I think it looks a little better than the rip it’s fixing.

The book is clothbound only, with wrapping paper endpapers and pressure-transfer foiling on the cover.

I’ve been working on my modern calligraphy and this quote came out so much better than I expected. 

🎃🗡️ Trick or Treat!!! 👻🎃

On this uncanny Halloween night, @discocleric has been haunted by the spooky ghost @theoldastronomer, and they've left behind a treat!

@halavibe tagged me here to search "[own name] core" on pinterest, and then post 6 images that came up. but uh... i found a lot of touching imagery so i did More :)

Holding @loyle-trash @wooyoungbites @beenbaanbuun @vesvosmozhno @shinestarhwaa @moneskinwrites @theoldastronomer @coffee-addict-kitten at gunpoint to do this <3 jk you can do whatever you want forever. and also anyone else feel free to do this as well :3

I can't believe it took me so long to draw these two ;w; This is a cover art for @theoldastronomer's fic, we worked together for @kinnporschebigbang!! And this is a scene from Chapter 5!

Please GO AND READ IT! <3

Fic Ask Game: Favorite Fic Lines

Hello people. So, I got some sudden inspiration for this little game, which goes hand in hand with the KinnPorsche Fanfic Comment Event a little bit, in my opinion: Share the lines of fics that have brought a big emotional reaction out of you. It can be anything, from sadness to happiness to horniness to anything in between. Lines that have stayed with you, no matter how long ago you read the fic. I believe our writers deserve a little praise in these trying times, don't you think? So, for me, some of them are the following: 1) "The rib hurts so much more now that someone else knows about it." - drank every scar, by @ginnymoonbeam - Tbh, I'd have to put the whole fic in here, but this is the line I tend to think of whenever the fic comes to mind. Rereading it now to find the line made my eyes water, it's so fucking visceral and perfect and I love it so much. Once again, thank you so, SO much for writing it and sharing it with the world ❤️ 2) "Vegas’ violence is unpredictable, painfully personal, and utterly, tragically ineffectual.

Pete forgives him all of it." - Civil Hands, by @ameliarating - I can't count the times I went feral over both Civil Hands and Deep Dive. As a fan of Pete, both of those fics mean the world to me, and this specific line has been on my mind since the moment I read it. I love how it showcases Vegas' effect on Pete's worldview, how Vegas made him break his own rules, and how he came to accept it, because it's him. Incredible writing, I love it so fucking much❤️ 3) "He’d rather be marked as disposable, he’d realized, than erased as invisible.

There was something bitter about realizing that he’d been both." - Once You Are Real, by @veliseraptor - Lise chose this for the summary and it's such a perfect choice. I think it's the reason I chose to read the fic in the first place. I am very emotional when it comes to the concept of Pete finding out he was forgotten, and this fic does an amazing job with it. I keep returning to it a lot, I love it to death. Painful in it's brilliance, I can't recommend it enough. 4) "“I don’t know,” Pete said unsteadily. “I don’t know. How could I know what that feels like? I’m not that kind of person.” He pulled against Vegas’s grip, and got nowhere. “You make my teeth ache. You make the world bright, like it’s real. It hurts. It’s hurt since I met you, but that means I can never forget I’m alive." - even the clearest water, by @luckydicekirby What a fic. The concept, the lines, the execution, it all deserves praise until the end of time. Pete's answer to Vegas' "Do you love me?" will always remain in my head as one of the best things VP-related I've ever read and ever will read in my life. I loved this so fucking much, I will never get over it ❤️ 5) "“And now you have nothing,” Kinn says. “As I said, a dumb move.”

“Wrong again,” Vegas says. “I now have something you don’t.”

“Oh?” Kinn doesn’t hide the way he rolls his eyes. “Massive hospital bills? Bed sores?”

“Happiness.”" - Your Power Over Me, by @wisteria-daydreamer - A very special shout out to my lovely friend who's written one of my favorite Kinn&Vegas fics I've ever had the pleasure to read. When this line came, I literally gasped out loud, it left me speechless. The way Kinn's POV is written was marvelous and the whole conversation he had with Vegas was incredible. Check it out if you crave some good Kinn&Vegas fics, it's very, very good. Disclaimer: I have so many fics and authors I love and I've made that clear to both them and my followers in the past. My brain could only handle doing 5 for this, but I absolutely have more than 5 that I'm obsessed with. Maybe one day I'll do a Part 2, I'll see how it goes in the future. No pressure tagging all the following lovely people, besides the writers that have already been tagged: @wretchedamaranth, @xpi-x-elx, @fleet-off, @lu-sn, @suzteel, @tsttoain, @thisautistic, @theoldastronomer, @vegaseatsass, @adanima, @kissporsche, @raksh-writes, @nyxelestia, @yourknightofrage, @mightymightygnomepriest, @justanothervariant, @justfionn and anyone else who wants to share the love for their fave fics and authors. You can do 5 or 10 or 100, there's no limit at all ❤️❤️

Companion art to A Trail of Fairy Lights in the Night by @theoldastronomer, made for @staykimchay's birthday!

Happy birthday my dear! Let's all go enjoy this wonderful fic! 🥰

trick or treat!

(Context: I ran out of ideas, panicked, asked my friend @theoldastronomer for a Halloweeny type thing and she said dragons and I ran with it 😂 also this isn’t edited rip sorry!)

Under the trees, where starlight never manages to reach, Chay tries to sleep curled into a ball at the base of a tree.

In retrospect, running away from home hadn’t been the smartest move. Chay can’t quite bring himself to regret it though. Ever since Porsche had left to seek his fortune, Chay’s life seems to be becoming more miserable by the day.

Their once thoughtful uncle now only knows how to gamble and steal, and Chay is done with coming home to new items being sold every day. There’s barely anything left as it is.

Shivering, Chay pushes further into the bark, as if by some miracle it’ll peel itself from the tree and transform into a blanket.

Of course, it doesn’t do anything close, and Chay can’t help the miserable whine that shudders out of him.

He’s—wait. What was that?

Slowly, Chay pushes himself to sitting. He squints into the darkness, somewhere to the north where he’s sure he just heard—there! It happened again!

Before Chay can begin to make sense of what he’s hearing, a low hiss slithers around the clearing and he freezes.

The air in front of him has been misting in front of his face with every exhale for the majority of the night, but now it stops.

Warmth seeps over the grass like a tide coming in. The air around Chay heats in an unnerving way. He’s tense, tight as a bowstring readying an arrow.

From the gloom a figure steps forward. It keeps low to the ground, but even then it’s mass is hulking—perhaps the size of two horses.

There’s just enough moonlight filtering through the canopies above that Chay catches a glimpse of gleaming scales, before it darts forward.

Chay scrambles back into the tree, crying out in shock.

The creature stops. Pauses. Considers.

It takes a step back and Chay is able to breathe again.

It retreats once more and Chay stops holding himself like he’s about to be eaten.

Curiosity arises as fear falls, and Chay finds himself squinting for a better look. It’s hopeless though. It’s just too dark.

Slowly, limb by limb, Chay manages to relax. Whatever this creature is, it warms the air just by existing in it, and for that alone Chay has to be grateful. It’s nice not to be freezing to death.

He settles back against the floor, one eye still fixed on the creature—unsure why exactly it is that he’s choosing to trust something he can’t even see.

Once Chay is comfortable—or as comfortable as one can get on the forest floor—he sighs quietly and risks closing his eyes. He’s bone tired, and there is nothing his weak body can do to stop a creature with the bulk of two horses, so if he’s going to die he might as well get some sleep first.

Somehow he drifts off. He wakes once during the night to find the creature snuffling closer. He realises the temperature must have dropped again because he’s back to shivering.

Not for long though, because his new friend is settling down next to him, laying it’s giant head along his side and warming him up with its own body heat.

“Thank you,” Chay murmurs, already falling back to sleep in the new warmth that envelops him.

In the morning when Chay wakes he half expects the entire experience to be a dream, or for the creature to have left him.

He does not expect to open his eyes to find a naked guy roughly his own age, with his head pillowed on Chay’s thigh, with black and silver scales on his cheekbones.

Huh.

WIP Ask Game

@the-cookie-of-doom tagged me in a game based on this THIS

The WIP I'm actually "working on": prompt fills! WIP I keep open in the background so I don't feel guilty: childhood-friends-to-lovers au Imaginary project: sex worker au (omegaverse heatmate) Passion project: sex worker au (reverse gloryhole or whatever it's called) WIP from 3 months ago: shared-dreams curse Side WIP: shared-pain curse

these are all kimchay, if that's not obvious by the fact that it's me 🤣

tagging: @emberfaye, @mousydentist, @theoldastronomer

✨ people I wanna know better! ✨

tagged by @kinnbig 💖 thank you!!

Last Song? Don't Wait for Him by Side Saddle has been playing nonstop in my head for a month or so.

Favourite colour? buttercup yellow and a nice emerald green 🤩

Currently watching? Only Friends, but I'm REAL BEHIND on episodes, The Office (US) with my partner because they've never seen it before and I kept telling them I felt god in this chilis tonight, and some very chill minecraft youtube

Last movie? All the Godzilla movies!! We got through like 10 of the 33 before baldur's gate got us in a chokehold.

Sweet/spicy/savoury? savory my beloved! but sweet is a close second. I can do spicy but I'm always suspicious, like is this spicy because it enhances the flavor or is it spicy for the sake of being spicy?

Relationship status? Poly, though for me that's more theoretical than in practice 🤣 I'm married to my nesting partner, but between being shy and preferring staying at home alone with my writing over going out into the world, don't usually see other people.

Current obsessions? Baldur's gate is taking over my life and shows no sign of stopping. I'm playing couch-co op with my partner and we have very different ideas for how we want to deal with problems, so we've resolved our differences by deciding to play multiple games so we can see ALL the outcomes

Last thing you googled? technically I had to google the song so I could link a youtube video for it, but before that I was searching for high quality pumpkin carving tools because I refuse to have to use the dumb terrible lil ones they always sell at this time of year.

Selfie? my face is basically just this: 🥰

Friends I wanna get to know better: okay these things fill me with anxiety but I do want to get to know people more, so tagging some mutuals who I think are neat but I don't interact with much. @mousydentist, @theoldastronomer, @roxannes-love-letters

I have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night. . . . . . #sarahwilliams #poet #poetry #theoldastronomer #fullversion #trulynotfondly #poem #poems #stars #space #night #nightsky https://www.instagram.com/p/B12JDOrFiUj/?igshid=s0ivj8iky8v8

🎃💋 Trick or Treat! 🍬🎃

On this spectral Halloween night, @theoldastronomer has been haunted by the spooky ghost @bisexualbard, and they've left behind a treat!

@beenbaanbuun tagged me to do this quiz about what kinda y/n i am :D

tagging: @loyle-trash @wooyoungbites @wisteria-daydreamer @theoldastronomer @igbylicious @sourkimchi @shinestarhwaa @daeguon @haahka @vesvosmozhno

Fanfic Writing - New Year's Resolutions

Hey fellow fic writers <3 I know it's still not the end of the year, but it's December and I'm impatient, so I would like to share with you my writing plans for 2024 and ask you to do so too, if you want to. My Ao3 for convenience is Yuujeong, where you can check out all the things I'll be referencing below. So, in my case, I *hope* that in 2024, I will be able to: - write at least one more chapter for "Little House on the Hill" (I make no promises though, I've kind of moved on from that fic, even though it holds such a special place in my heart) - write and post the third installment of my "Heroes and Villains" series (I have neglected this one for months but I hadn't figured out this fic completely up until last month, when the full picture of it came to me and I managed to get unstuck. Hopefully, next year you'll be reading it) - finish and post the sequel to "Broken Vows" (istg I haven't forgotten it, on the contrary, it haunts my dreams, it's just such a tricky little shit that I ended up asking for help about it. It'll be in such capable hands now, and I hope people will enjoy reading it) - continue my Kim&Pete fic series (the second installment won't be too difficult to write - she says, as if she doesn't need at least a month for a fic to be written and edited before posting - but the one after that will be multi-chaptered and looong, so I'll need time and a lot of effort to pull it off. 2024 *will* see this series written and concluded though, I swear) - ARMPETE!! (I have a fic I've been meaning to work on for months now and it'll probably end up not being multi-chaptered as I intended at first. Unfortunately the inspiration for more than that has run out BUT I will enrich the fandom with this rarepair or so help me-) - write at least one BostonNick fic (there's one that's the most likely to be written, which is about Boston getting a haircut and I think it's cute and would love to explore the idea. Also, a Nick character study fic because my boy deserves the world) - write smut! Yep, in 2024 we're getting horny baby (prepare for some VP somno shenanigans, because there's not nearly enough of it in the fandom and that's a huge shame) - participate in at least one fandom event (the kpts Big Bang, while stressful for multiple reasons, was incredibly fun and I would love to do something like that again - same goes for things like Secret Santa events which are cool too) - try writing fics for some of my other favorite shows besides kpts (kpts was unique in the way only TMNT has been for me before, which was it giving me so many brainworms I needed to express my self artistically in the only way I was capable. In 2024, I would like to revisit some of my favorite shows and figure out if the same can happen with them too) I probably have more to share but I'll leave it here. Now, for the tags, I'd love to see the plans of @wisteria-daydreamer @wretchedamaranth @xxhappy-chickenxx @coleslaww @raksh-writes @mightymightygnomepriest @lu-sn @suzteel @fleet-off @justanothervariant @theoldastronomer @dual-desires @emberfaye @tsttoain @thisautistic and ALL the other people who are escaping my mind rn but their works are equally important! Please, if you want to share your writing plans, do so and tag me, I'd love to see them <3

"When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don't seem to matter very much, do they?" - Virginia Woolf ° #bookmarks #bookmerch #virginiawoolf #theoldastronomer #ihavelovedthestarstoofondlytobefearfulofthenight #sarahwilliams #marcusaurelius #friedrichnietzsche #bookishfeatures #bookishmerch https://instagr.am/p/B-wpHHng9By/

"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." - from The Old Astronomer, by Sarah Williams, 1868. #watercolor #illustration #stars #theoldastronomer #sarahwilliams #erinbarkerillustration