Time feels short and distractions seem many. Right now I don’t want to write much other than Catgirl System, and other projects (including my blog posts) threaten to screech to a halt. So…why not smash them together into an unholy conglomerate? Join me for a LitRPG chat around the fire.
Recommended listening below: the Happyland Adventures: Christmas Edition soundtrack. Festive MIDIs from one of like 3 freeware games my dad had on his old computer. They vary in quality from “blegh!” to adorable to the rendition of “Twelve Days of Christmas,” which is in a class all its own.
As I write this, Catgirl System Chapter 112 (which is floating around somewhere in Book 3) has just been uploaded. Now I feel it’s safe to announce to the world that…Books 2 and 3 were originally a single book! I wanted that combined book to focus on the mystery of the Queen. Sure enough, the climax of Book 2 was supposed to be its halfway point. But as I grew more attached to the characters, I wanted to see them on longer “side-quests” with Taipha. It’s just fun to explore a world with others sometimes.
Now, there might be two major flaws to this change. 1) they might feel distractingly like a Part One and a Part Two, or even like the “filler” between two more impactful parts. And/or 2) they might feel stretched out. Frankly I would prefer too long than too short, especially because when I eventually-finally-at-long-last-come-on put the story on Amazon, I intend to price every book the same and to avoid KDP (which pays authors by pagecount—encouraging people to pad their stories).
Speaking of books…I am printing booklets because booklets excite me. It will be a LONG time before I consider selling these specifically online, because I’d rather have a PO Box first (so as to not dox myself) and those cost money. These are really intended for selling at in-person events. Maybe if they’re successful enough, I’ll set up an Etsy or something, but…we’ll see.
FINALLY. Got a decent, physical, handmade LitRPG book with fifty thousand colorful squares in the text. Just like the good lord intended. ("the good lord" = Mr. Royalroad) (also, the story = Catgirl System www.royalroad.com/fiction/84862/ )
— Joi Massat (@jmassat.bsky.social) Dec 3, 2024 at 10:54 PM
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These booklets contain the first six chapters in excessive color. I think this might be the only way I can pretend that printing in color is “cost-effective,” and I’m paying in labor and time. But man, it’s just weirdly fulfilling to hold and to feel those silky-smooth pages.
If the printer explodes, though, I should probably just opt for a professional service…but hey, we’ll try it!
This, together with a wacky parody magazine I made two years ago now (woah! that’s quite a while) and possibly some comics from a wonderful friend should be enough to table at events. And apparently on street corners. I think it’s legal. But not right now. It’s cold.
All the four main characters of Catgirl System are slightly me. I wonder if it’s obvious which one is most me.
The same thing happened in a comic I made some years back, which is vaguely a coincidence but not really. Both of them have four-person, color-themed casts. Reed has a big sword because Haley has a big axe. Bayce is annoying because Skye is annoying. And both Chora and Olive are annoying, but in a more grumbling way. Jeff and Taipha are the odd ones out as well as the POVs. And of course, these duos are pink, blue, green, and…black/blonde-orange-gray, apparently.
As a matter of fact, both stories also have an edgy “fifth member/living mystery”! That one was accidental…I think. But I decided long ago that Ray’s theme color was red while the Sapphire Queen’s is…sapphire. She does have ruby shoes, though.
Hold on…where does Sierra fit in? Well, being confined to the System connected to Taipha, she’s like Taipha’s comedic shadow, or glorified imaginary friend. That means each of them must be about equal to 50% of a Jeff.
I’m sorry, Taipha. I’m sorry, Sierra. At least I tried to bring you down easy.
Part of me feels bad saying this, because I sense that in anime-flavored stories there’s a tendency not to let yuri characters have sex—because that makes it “safe” and noncontroversial…but as an author who does not like having sex, I have to make my mark. Taipha is currently sex-neutral as well as comically sex-clueless, and will remain so until further notice. Still, I can’t let her go the whole story without saying the L word, which is lesbian…lesbians?…wait, no, it’s love. Or is it all three? In this case, it really should be all three.
This story has extremely vague, please-don’t-censor-me-on-RoyalRoad-and-yes-I’m-a-coward trans themes. Taipha has a whole thing about sharing her real name…yeah, that doesn’t count. Meanwhile, there are extremely guarded attempts to hint that three characters might be trans, but they also have “plausible deniability,” desperate not to scare readers off. This story IS NOT out and proud, it should not go on any reading lists for great representation. I dunno how I feel about this fact about my story; I guess I just wanted to say it.
I’m gradually building up ideas for an isekai about a trans man who kinda bumbles around. For some reason, I’m really serious about it. That said, it will absolutely be a comedy-dramedy; I seem incapable of writing, or even wanting to write, anything else.
I want to write this and so many other things. I keep “not finding the time,” but in my case, that’s an illusion. I have to grab life by the horns and do creative things even if I’m jamming them into my schedule! I have to shirk social gatherings once in a while! I also have to make that time to read The Hobbit and watch things that aren’t mere time-fillers. Nobody will do it for me! Time keeps on slipping, slipping! Into the future!!!
In my writing, I’ve reached Taipha’s latest Evolution! That shouldn’t count as a spoiler. Of course this Pokémon-ass cat was going to evolve again somewhere in the Book 3/4 range. But as I looked over my first draft to write the final one, I realized that the Evolution she originally chose…is something I no longer care about, or feel that Taipha cares about much. I guess it just doesn’t make as much sense anymore, given her arsenal and how much it changes throughout the story.
So what form did I cross out and which am I settling on now? You get three guesses, followed by two guesses, for a total of six guess-combinations!!!!!!
I do believe I’ll take a break once I’ve written several chapters of Book 4 (enough so that the Patreon backlog will be ahead of the curve once Book 3 is finished posting). If no one can dictate whether I’m “taking enough breaks” vs. “not taking enough breaks,” well…I’ll just take a sabbatical, even if I have to wrest it from the world’s cold, dead hands (?!?!).
Instead of leaving this post on a note of utter, oddly hopeful desolation, I will state that I’ve discovered the secret to layered biscuits. Also, I have found the whole wheat pastry dough, and whole wheat biscuits don’t taste half-bad. I also uncovered the mystery of how to freeze biscuits both made and unmade. This news is important because I tend to be bad at finding and eating food that is reliable, delicious, easy to prepare, easy to store, and not all that unhealthy all at the same time. Could adding crushed oats to the mix be the solution? Mmm…the oats.
Thanks for joining me ’round the fireplace, and Patrons, thank you for Patreonning!
This time in my end-of-post section, I’ve decided to include one randomly selected Christmas movie review (winner: the Dolly Parton movie where she fertilizes someone), one random Catgirl-related post (winner: the one where I mourn my several shed hobbies), and one Total Wild Card (the grand prize goes to: um, a quote from the book Virtual War. Wait, this post is nothing but a long quote? Ah well. Fair’s fair).