Writing Log #9 - Of body worship and body...horror?

June is slowly coming to an end, so here's the first monthly edition of these logs!

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Starting off with a digital book project:
I began working on the side story "Big guys want to be desired too!", a 3~4 chapter illustrated short story about Alvin deciding he's going to love his body--and as we can all guess, Lulu is going to love the hell out of it too :P

The story will include discussions about fatphobia and body shaming in the context of finding self-love and support. I will however label those parts accordingly so that people who aren't in the right headspace for it can just go enjoy the spicy body worship bits!

I want to make sure I'm writing it with care, so for now I hope you enjoy the preview of the cover art and one of the illustrations!

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I also wrote the entire first chapter (4,500 words) for "We met in an MMO," the long-distance romance side story. There's no spice in it yet and it's a bit more ambitious as a 6-chapter project, but I can write a long distance story from personal experience, so I'm pretty excited about this one too.

It's a first draft, but hey, here it is for anyone looking for a silly read tonight! They're...gamers... (Side note, the canon series is written from Lulu's perspective, so I really enjoy writing AUs from Alvin's perspective!)

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Aaand back to the mysterious canon world of Sanctuary 17223! I actually finished the rest of the first draft this month, and it's currently sitting at roughly 67k words. I was aiming for at least the light novel average of 50k, so that turned out great and gives me a lot of leeway for editing.

Chapter titles and word count for the first draft:

• 1: Urban Legends and Modern Folklore - 4.9k words

• 2: The Seventh Iteration of Sanctuary 17223 - 10k words

• 3: Roses are #A82323, Violets are #8F44B8 - 11k words

• 4: This Chapter is Sponsored by the Sanctuary Skate Club - 20.7k words

• 5: The Pretty Doll's Broken Heart is Still Warm - 15k words

• 6: The Theory of the Inevitable Collapse of Human Society - 5.2k words

(Yeah, I can't tell which chapter needs the most work either... :P)

I'm both incredibly proud for making it this far, but also exhausted and a little intimidated now that the real work is starting! The plan for July is to update all my reference documents with the many things I've learned about my story while writing, to make sure it's all solid for the second draft starting in August.

I've attached concept art for chapter 5 in which nothing ominous happens, and it's definitely not the reason I'll have a content warning for the book. However, I don't mind spoiling that things turn out well (given the circumstances!) and that the first book in the series wraps up with Lulu and Alvin starting an official dynamic--I mean, relationship. Now that I've written it in the draft, I really am 100% sure that this is the way to go for this series: I want their relationship to be a part of the story, not the reward for reaching the end.

Throwing in a canon Alvin doodle as well, and I really hope people will give the series a shot even if they're not super into the whole sci-fi thing - you'll see that it's very much a gentle femdom relationship that treats both sides with the dignity they deserve, human or otherwise. :)

And, well. Does it really matter if love is chemical or electronic or beyond our understanding or all of that?

With a smirk, I kneel as well. "All right. Let's do some research." I gently put my hands on his cheeks, only to realize they're, "Agh!! Hot, hot, hot—!!"

"I'm so sorry, User Lulu, I was—"

I jump up, immediately ruining my cool gentlewoman moment, and dunk my hands into the fountain for the sweet relief of simulated water.

"—overclocking..."

I can't help but laugh. "It's not too bad this time. Don't worry about me."

"B-But User Lulu..." Alvin whimpers, tears threatening to burst out of his eyes like waterfalls.

"More importantly, you're still going to call me that?"

"Do you not want me to?"

I scratch the back of my head, completely forgetting about all the water I'd inevitably spill over myself with that motion. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't grow on me a little. But you don't have to call me that."

"I appreciate the freedom you've given me. Rest assured that even when I do things to serve you, I'm doing so because it also brings me joy."

And with that, if you'd like to stick around, I'll see you next month!

(/・ω・)/