Katia: Exercise caution Prequel Update notes.

This update has me feeling all the feels because I’m afraid the comic may be winding down to the end-game. I mean, maybe not, but Kaz has been doing this for ages and he surely must be thinking of doing something else by now.

But I’d like to throw my comments up, just to go over it a bit. I showed my daughter (she’s been following it since she was 18 – 20 now – so it’s okay, right?) She caught some things I didn’t too which was nice…

The first image here. Why are little bottom fangs so cute? I dunno, but they are.

Next is the long .gif where she creates a Completed Quests log. That’s nice to see. Alas it also means there will be no dance competition, but we can’t have everything I guess. šŸ˜¦

Someone may have already broken down all those quests tumbling down, but I had to give it my best shot too.

52 frames in all.
Here’s all the things that drop out that I can make out
.
Apologize to bartender
Breed new type of corn
Improve pineapple trick
Walk to Chorrol
Crouchwalk everywhere
Find a thief{?}
Kill slaughterfish in the (well?)
Take a bath
Read books in castle
Go swimming
Pose like a witchhunter
Telekinetically (?)
Evict imps from
in trash can
Take peas

I’ll let you contemplate those on your own time, but my daughter noticed “Improve pineapple trick” right off.
(Can it be improved?)

Then a bit of unpixelated Sigrid sideboob (scandalous!)

And then we come to this… Ā When I saw this one, I didn’t think a thing of it. Katia has an unusual look on her face, but then, she’s never been in a situation where she’s actually gotten valuable stuff like the silver dagger. And yet… and yet… my daughter immediately thought naughty thoughts. Ā I’ve seen others say the same, but I never got any naughty thoughts from this at all – which is weird! Iā€™m usually the first to do so. I guess that expression screams something other than what I thought it was?

This frame I like too for some reason. I think partly because of the cute fangs, but moreso because of the open, honestly happy look on her face. It’s a rare thing!

Skipping a few less interesting frames, then this little thing. Ā I just wanted to see if there was anything interesting in the .gif… Alas 36 frames later I couldn’t find anything special, but it’s still funny.

Then this – kinda nice to see the flame atronach helping. Though it leaves me to wonder how Sigrid is going to get out. Ā Plus – how did flamegirl get there before Katia? But nevermind…

FWING!

And Katia gets a bite to eat. Flamegirl gets some charcoal.

And then this. Yes, obviously Kaz intends us to think it’s the Oblivion gates. Others have suggested it’s just dawn. But… I think sometimes the obvious answer is the right answer. I think there’s mayhem outside, and I don’t like it. Ā Is there another way out through the caves?

But – just for a moment – I hope Katia can snatch up her stuff and her bag of gold and have at least one fleeting moment of hopefulness. Don’t look out the window just yet Katia. Doom can wait.

Telekinesis is HARD!

…and it makes you scrunch up your face in weird and amusing ways.

So I wanted to do a SFW Prequel-related thing because I like to post to Prequel fanart booru sometimes, and all Iā€™ve been doing lately are NSFW stuff and audio files, so I looked and found thisĀ ā€œclassicā€ Katia by Plague of Gripes:

image

Now I donā€™t know when he originally drew it, but Iā€™m sure it was years ago – pre-hiatus, and I donā€™t THINK it had ever been colored, so I took steps to rectify that. First, I found this canon image that I pulled the base colors off of. Theyā€™re all dark and muted because itā€™s at night of course, but thereā€™s a light off to her right too.

image

So hereā€™s my base coloring (and background)…

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Next, I added a layer I namedĀ ā€œglowybitsā€. This isnā€™t how I do shading typically, but it made sense to mimic Kazā€™ pallet – so the parts of Katia that are lit by the nearby streetlamp are herĀ ā€œoriginalā€ colors. So here it is with the Glowybits layer:

image

I did obviously move the lighting a bit more forward so we could see more of her face. The fact that it also allows for lighting of her boobs was PURELY coincidental. šŸ™‚Ā Ā 

Next up, highlighting and gloss layer:

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Almost there! Now, all thatā€™s needed is to add a low-opacity reflection layer, andĀ  Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!:

image

As in the original, the snow is tending to build up on horizontal surfaces like the top of her head, her pauldrons, and… her boobies.Ā  But donā€™t distract her by mentioning it – sheā€™s CONCENTRATING! You can brush that snow off her later.

You colored ANOTHER nude of me? Whatta perv.

bdnsfw:

Yeah, itā€™s important to recognize your deviancy before you can address them. Though I seem to just do a lot of recognizing and very little addressing.

So I wanted to color something again and ran across this Katia byĀ luraiokunĀ as a gift to Rick2Tails.

image

It caught my eye immediately. The white outline first, but notice the soles of the feet, the breast and the eye that arenā€™t colored in that light bluish grey really pop out. Thatā€™s the whole monochromatic thing again. But I just wanted a pretty cat butt to color, so afraid I didnā€™t go that route. Got rid of the square around it.

image

Another less obvious thing I did was remove all the saturation. Thereā€™s no color there, even if it appears to have blue in it. It doesnā€™t. Itā€™s pure grey. That was done for a reason. Because when I apply my base colors on a Multiply layer, they will be darkened. But by first increasing the lightness, the resulting color will be just what it should be. I COULD have tried to remove the grey and make her white, but Iā€™ve found that to be problematic. Better to leave it and brighten the base layer so the final color is what it should be.

image

You might notice I put the pale belly (nearly white) color on the underside of her tail also and very subtly in herā€¦ umā€¦ wellā€¦ butt. No, itā€™s not canon, but I felt like it for some reason. Probably primarily to add a bit more interest. Also originally I had colored her entire soles of her feet in pink, but revised that when someone said they looked like rat feet. He was right. Pads are better. Next up, shading.

image

I started with this soft shading, but when I got to this point, I realized that – though I think it looks okay, it doesnā€™t fit with the style of the drawing and all those hard edges. So I started over and went with hard shading instead.

image

Yeah. I think thatā€™s better. Not asĀ ā€œ3Dā€™ as soft, but it fits with the style better. Thereā€™s 2 levels of shading here. The obvious, but right where sheā€™s sitting on her heels, under her armpit and on her neck just below her head thereā€™s a dark shadow. Next, I got creative. I wanted to represent fur as right now sheā€™s too smooth.

image

So what I did was used a small eraser with a short fade andĀ ā€œbit intoā€ the shadow to give the impression of fur without having to actually draw any. Just tried to keep thoseĀ ā€œbitesā€ flowing roughly in the direction the fur would at each point. This took, a while, but I think it looks better as a reminder that Katia is SUPPOSED to have fur, not just yellow skin. And doing it in the shadow seems to work pretty well.

image

And thatā€™s it. A bit of gloss and highlighting, a butt-shadow and a (frankly very quick) background thatā€™s suggestive of an outdoor scene if only by the colors. And now I can take a step back, look at herā€¦

And feel bad because sheā€™s disappointed that I again colored her nude. Sorry sadcat! You just look so GOOD that way. Hey, at least thereā€™s no visible plumbing!

FlapperKat by Zokva

Another coloring thing. LOTS of in-progress images on this one. I’d done that bowling-ball crushing Katia and, though it was undoubtedly another lewd thing, I really did (still do) like it a lot. But it was time to do something a little less lewd and Iā€™d noticed this one when I was looking through Zokva (Zokvic on FA)ā€™s various galleries so thought Iā€™d give it a shot.

As is my standard, I started by putting down the base colors. Because Iā€™m a pervert, I did her under-clothing separately so I could make her dress transparent later if I felt like it. Sorry fellow-pervs, I didnā€™t end up using it. Awwww.

Next up I started looking for references for fringe,Ā ā€˜20s style dresses. I came across this one.

What really caught my eye though was how the fringe falls away from the breasts, which calls attention to them without being too obvious, and how the underlying dress getā€™s REALLY reflective there. I went with a blue-grey color though because I think it contrasts with Katiaā€™s color better.

Next was the fringe. I tried a lot of experiments but settled on 6 different layers of fringe, starting at the dividing line on her dress and following her contours, keeping in mind gravity will pull things to the sides.

I wanted more sparkle though, so I copied the fringe layer, added noise to it, and changed it to a Hard Light type layer. I liked the end result. Looks sorta like glitter.

Next I started doing shading, but was really unhappy with my results in the belly area. I even went back to the underlying body and drew some body guidelines to help me get a feel for the shading, but it didnā€™t help much:

Ā So I did some Google searching for Female Belly Shading. Found a tutorial but I cheated. I just copied the image, reversed it to match my light sorce, overlaid it as a transparent layer, morphed it to fit my Katia and used is as a shading guideline for that part of her. Check this out:

That got me the results I was hoping for anyway. I could work with that. Hereā€™s the final shading:

Might be a bit much for aĀ ā€œcoveredā€ belly, but I liked it anyway. So highlighting and Iā€™m almost done:

Okay, Sheā€™s done, but what background? For some reason I decided a nice curtain backdrop would be easy and seemed appropriate.

Okay.. And finally, the floor and the cigarette smoke. Made the floor reflective of the curtains and her feet.Ā  And this is the final for FlapperKat.

Beer Goggles

Depending on your tolerance level, this may well be considered NSFW. It pretty much is, but I still thought it might be okay. Hey, if Felicia is okay to post, surely Katelicia is too, hmm? But then, I do tend to push the borderline.

I sat in the darkest corner of the tavern, my back to the wall as was my standard procedure.

Well, actually I was two tables away from the darkest corner of the tavern, as that spot was already taken by some pretty mean looking Orsimer, and the next one to it was occupied by a scowling warrior woman and a pretty surly looking kid. But it was still pretty dark.

I was well into my cups as the night wore on, drinking away a bad memory.

ā€œYou sure?ā€ the wench asked.

ā€œDamn sure. Hell, bring two. That way I wonā€™t have to bother you again for a while.ā€

ā€œOkay, but you know you start staggering at two, Wendel,ā€ she quipped. ā€œIā€™ll put a little more water in them, alright?ā€

ā€œYou do that,ā€ I said to her backside, watching it sashay back to the bar. Belinda was an okay gal, but she was married. Of course, that hadnā€™t stopped me from a bit of flirting with her a few weeks back when Iā€™d arrived, but it had all been for naught. In fact, sheā€™d told me in no uncertain terms to buckle my pants back up.

Somehow, even with my rugged face and humorous banter, Iā€™d never been lucky at love. Not that I really cared. My life as an adventurer provided far more pleasure than any brief fling with a member of the opposite sex ever would have. Probably. I didnā€™t really know for certain. But probably.

My last adventure had nearly cost me my life, in fact. I had been attacked by no less than three tremendous beasts that I had tracked deep into their lair. Fortunately my swordsmanship and amazing dexterity had proven more than a match. I might have quailed, just a bit, at the sight of their malevolent, sharp teeth, but I was not one to hold back. After a long, hard-fought battle I emerged as the only one alive.

Belinda returned with a tray, setting both mugs down with a flourish. I didnā€™t fail to notice her breasts swelling from the white Chemise under the laced bodice, but I looked away after she slapped my cheek.

ā€œHey, that was pretty hard!ā€ I commented, rubbing my bruised, manly face.

Belinda sat beside me – an unprecedented move – as I began to swill from one of the mugs of light watered beer. I looked up from my tankard in surprise.

ā€œWendel, any closer and you might as well be nursing me. Try to control yourself, okay?ā€

I apologized reluctantly. ā€œSorry.ā€

ā€œWendel, whatā€™s wrong?ā€

ā€œYou mean other than my non-existent love life?ā€ I asked, sulking.

ā€œWell, yeah. Other than that. Didnā€™t you have a job for Farmer Green over in Morrow today?ā€

ā€œYeah,ā€ I admitted, taking another big swig. Belinda was still sitting beside me when the coughing stopped.

ā€œWhat then? Did you kill the rabbits that were eating his vegetables?ā€

ā€œHell yes!ā€ I said, turning to stare daggers of anger and menace at her eyes. At least that was my intent. Her hand under my chin brought my gaze up from where it had landed to her face.

ā€œUp here, Romeo,ā€ she said. ā€œSo, what then? Didnā€™t he pay you?ā€

ā€œSure did. How do you think Iā€™m paying for this?!ā€ I shot back with keen witted sarcasm.

ā€œWhat then? Ohā€¦ wait. He has a daughter, doesnā€™t he?ā€

I closed my eyes, shutting out the memory, but her damn voice continued unabated.

ā€œYou didnā€™tā€¦ā€

ā€œNo, I didnā€™t whip it out,ā€ I replied. ā€œI just asked if she wanted to go out with me!ā€

ā€œOh. I see,ā€ Belinda said, putting a soft, warm hand on my back. It may have been the first womanā€™s touch I had felt since my motherā€™s.

ā€œAnd she said no?ā€

I could hold back the tears no longer. I looked longingly into Belindaā€™s cleavage.

ā€œShe laughed at me.ā€

Again, the wench redirected my focus.

ā€œBut you killed those rabbits, right? Thatā€™s something.ā€

I nodded as she rose and patted my back again. As emotionally wrecked as I had become, I still didnā€™t fail to watch her walk back through bleary eyes. Ā I saw her speaking with a man at the bar who turned to look at me. They were probably laughing at me. I downed the first half of my beer.

Goddammit. And, considering she hadnā€™t filed charges against me with the local authorities during that whole pants-incident, Iā€™d always thought of Belinda as a friend, too.

The man rose and left the tavern, and all returned to normal. An hour passed and I was well into my fourth mug, feeling a little tipsy, when the door opened.

What walked into the tavern was nothing less than an angel.- a vision the likes of which I had only dreamed of in my rather fertile imagination. She was a Khajiit, dark yellow and verging on orange. As for clothing, she had no need. She had been endowed with thick, white patches of fur over her shorter yellow fur, that banded her arms and legs as well as her breasts, covering her privates as if nature herself had bestowed the most fitting clothing imaginable. She was radiant. A feline goddess.

She sat at the bar, and immediately a man beside her engaged her in conversation. A beer was brought to her by the bartender and she thanked the man who paid for it. She spun around on her swiveled bar stool and downed the tall mug in a single draw, banging it down against the bar as she completed her revolution.

Here, at last, was a woman that was a match for me! Ā I heard her demand another in her dulcet, catlike screech, and the man beside her reluctantly fished for more coins from his pocket.

This routine was repeated twice more until the man beside her shook his head at the bartender and stood up to leave.

ā€œHey! Come back misther!ā€ the Vision called to him as he waved her off. ā€œI wanna other one!ā€

This was my opportunity. I took another shot of courage, accidentally spilling a large portion of it down my shirt, and rose from my chair, striding confidently to the bar.

Unfortunately, so was one of the Orsimers from the dark corner. I wouldnā€™t say he pushed me out of the way. It was more like I bumped into a concrete, moving wall of muscle.

ā€œPardon me,ā€ he said to the Khajiit Goddess, sitting in my destined seat.

I slid to the side, pretending to have to go to the lavatory, I pissed angrily though, and emerged more keen than ever to displace the gargantuan green interloper. As I passed the pair though, I saw she had obtained a refilled mug and was downing it with gusto, her large clawed hand resting on the Orsimerā€™s thigh, so I returned to my seat and quaffed the remainder of my watered down beer.

ā€œAfter all,ā€ I figured, ā€œIf the guy bought her a drink, it would be rude of me to intrude.ā€

I flagged down Belinda and ordered another.

ā€œFive, Wendel? Really?ā€ the woman asked incredulously.

ā€œDammit, yes! Give me a goddamned beer!ā€

ā€œOkay. Your hangover,ā€ she complied and turned to go.

ā€œUmā€¦ Belinda? Maybe a little extra water?ā€

ā€œYou got it, champ,ā€ she said.

She may have had a point. The room was spinning just a bit. I turned back to the bar, but both my Goddess and the Orsimer were nowhere to be seen! I turned to look around the bar, but they were gone. Ā My heart sank.

Belinda returned with another mug and I began to cry to her.

ā€œShe was the most beautiful creature Iā€™ve ever seen!ā€

ā€œWho? The farmerā€™s daughter?ā€

ā€œYou donā€™t understand. Nobody understands. I let her slip away! My Goddess!ā€

ā€œSheā€™s not that pretty,ā€ the idiot barmaid said.

ā€œNo! Not the farmerā€™s daughter. She was right there!ā€ I explained, indicating the spot that had so recently held the precious bottom of Her Whom I Worship.

ā€œOh really? Her?ā€ the barmaid said, a huge smile coming over her face.

I sputtered into my beer. ā€œOne moment she was right there. Oh cruel life! Why must you torment me so?ā€

ā€œWendel, sheā€™s from Madame Florentineā€™s,ā€ Belinda said, as if that explained anything.

Still, my eyes grew wide as comprehension dawned. Not that I had a clue who Madame Florentine was, but the more important factā€¦

ā€œYou know her?!ā€

Belinda gave me an odd look. ā€œWell, sort of. She comes in here when things are slow over there sometimes.ā€

I rose from my chair and strode over to Her seat, leaving Belinda to pick up the empty beers while I carried the fresh one with me. The floor seemed to lurch like a ship on rough seas, but I managed to approach the sacred place where she had so recently sat. I took the seat beside her Throne. It would be like sacrilege to actually sit at the same place as Her.

I couldnā€™t help myself. I touched the stool beside me. Still warm from her delicate touch! I bent over – just to get a closer look at the cushion. Ā Suddenly a slap awoke me from my reverie.

ā€œDamn youā€™re weird,ā€ Belinda said as I sat back up, rubbing the cheek again. I tried to explain to her that it wasnā€™t what it looked like, but she was already gone.

Then I noticed the empty mug. Her lips had touched this very pewter! Well, at the rate sheā€™d been swilling it, maybe not – but they had been close anyway. I slid it over in front of me and looked within. Empty. But a heavenly scent seemed to hover around the Holy Cup, just behind that of stale beer – her very breath!

I was just about to breathe deeply from itā€™s depths when a movement near the lavatories caught my eye. It was them! Oddly, they seemed to both emerge from the Menā€™s room, but I knew that my current vision was less than reliable. Ā 

As they rounded the bar, I was ready. This time I was going to confront the Orsimer no matter what. I was not going to let my Beauty get away without at least speaking with her, beating or no beating!

Yet, surprisingly, the Orsimer continued walking towards the door, a smile on his face as he handed my Queen a golden token.

ā€œThanks kitty!ā€ he said, and continued towards the door, but I had lost all interest in him. She was here, right beside me now, and she ordered another drink from the bartender, proffering the gold coin.

Suddenly I was tongue-tied. My mind went blank. I couldnā€™t even look at her! She was so close, but despite my penchant for light talk and banter with women, I was mute! It may have been my imagination, but I felt the radiant heat from her body, so close now to my own.

ā€œHey!ā€ she said, turning to me. Her voice may have been somewhat slurred, but to me it was as if heaven itself had opened up itā€™s choir. ā€œWhachername?ā€

I began to tremble. I froze! Worse than mute, I couldnā€™t even turn to face her!

ā€œSuture selfā€, she shrugged and spun around to face the room.

ā€œWendel,ā€ I squeaked, barely audible.

She turned to look at me and I finally managed to face her directly. My eyes were dying to stray to other parts, but in front of this Vision I could not allow my baser instincts free rein! I took a quick draught to buoy my courage before responding.

ā€œWendel. My name is Wendel!ā€

ā€œOh! It talkths! Well, pleathed to meetcha Wenā€¦ā€

Suddenly her eyes went wide for some reason. She was perhaps somewhat inebriated by that point, so she hadnā€™t really noticed my awesome chiseled features until then.

ā€œWait! You are Wendel?ā€

I shook my head, proudly.

ā€œOh! Yer my mark! I was subbosed to find you. Hey, Iā€™m Katia!ā€

ā€œMe?ā€ I asked, not understanding.

ā€œSorry, I forgotted. Say Wenā€¦ā€ at that point she had to burp, rather loudly and long, ā€œ…del, are you really a virgin?ā€

This time it was my turn for the wide-eyes treatment. ā€œNoā€¦ No no no. You must be confusing me with some otherā€¦ā€

ā€œOh, cmon. donā€™t be shy,ā€ she said, leaning in close. Her breath smelled of beer and something else, but I didnā€™t much care. I felt her wrap her arm around my shoulders as if in confidence. ā€œDonā€™t tell anybuddy, but I was once a virgin too!ā€

ā€œNo. You?!ā€ I said, not quite understanding what we were talking about but eager to have something in common with this gorgeous Khajiit woman.ā€

ā€œStrue! Pretty much everbuddy schtarts out like that,ā€ she said as if imparting some secret wisdom of the ages. She lowered her head until it touched my own and I felt giddy. ā€œKnow how I lost it?ā€ she said.

I shook my head, still connected to hers as if we were part of a secret conspiracy.

ā€œDamn. I was hoping you would tell me,ā€ she said and started laughing as she turned back to the bar and her mug.

I took the respite to take another long pull from my own, laughing along with her, though I wasnā€™t really sure why. But I really didnā€™t care. I was in heaven. To think that this divine creature and I were sitting here, laughing and having a conversation together was more than I could have dreamed!

ā€œI like your fur,ā€ I admitted, hoping not to seem too forward.

ā€œOh, these?ā€ she asked, brushing the thick white fur that covered her most intimate areas, then shocked me as she peeled one off. ā€œTheyā€™re just stick-ons. They donā€™t stay on fur very good though. Made for human skin. Maybe Iā€™ll try paint instead someday.ā€

She put the faux-fur strip back over herself.

ā€œWhoa. You alright? Your redder than a Redguardā€

ā€œEhhh. Excuse me. Iā€™ll be right back.ā€

I returned from a quick trip to the lavatory to clean myself up. Happily she was still sitting at the bar, resting her head on it.

I sat back beside her, trying my best to put the vision Iā€™d just seen out of my head.

ā€œYou like my furclothes?ā€ she asked between quaffs, ā€œItā€™s pretty sexy, doncha think?ā€

I just nodded, trying to think of my grandmother.

She began to talk about herself then, and I managed to nod at the appropriate times, but it was taking far too long to get my mind off of her body.

Then she sat up and looked at me, her lids lowered. The voice that came from her lips was sultry and seductive.

ā€œIā€¦ā€ she started.

My eyes must have grown to the size of saucers, dreaming of the words I felt sure were about to fall from her lips.

She sat looking at me longingly. What did fall from her lips was a bit of drool. It spattered on her breast.

ā€œYes?!ā€ I said, with bated breath, apprehensive that what I saw in her lidded eyes might just be what I felt at that moment as well. It was as if the Fates had brought us two together, at just this time and place. The moment was nigh! Perhaps, at long last, I had found my True Love!

ā€œI think I drank too much,ā€ she finally said, and her eyes closed.

She slumped there for a moment, balanced precariously atop the barstool, before the inevitable fall to the floor. I managed to catch her as she fell. However, her sudden, full weight was more than I was prepared to accept and she landed directly atop me, bruising my lip in the process.

Dare I admit that having that gorgeous body laying atop my own was paradise? Can I not concede that the reality was even better than my wildest dreams? I stroked her furred back, running my fingers over her natural fur, and the odd tufts of fake white fur that served as her clothing.

ā€œKatia?ā€ I said, jostling her a bit. ā€œKatia? Wake up!ā€

I looked over her shoulder and saw Belinda hovering over us.

ā€œYou all right?ā€ she asked me.

ā€œI think she might have passed out!ā€ I said, turning to look at the face so near to my own. ā€œKatia?ā€

The eyes opened ever so slightly and she pulled away from me.

ā€œWendelā€¦ Iā€¦ā€ she said and I felt her move atop me.

The movement was more of a heaving motion. I cannot say what happened next was totally unexpected. Nor can I say that what expelled from that feline mouth was the most delightful ambrosia of the gods. She arched over me, now truly catlike, and heaved again. I closed my eyes against the inevitable as I became inundated with beer and bile alike. It was a truly unpleasant experience, but I shared it with Her so it was alright. Just as I thought it was over, that lovely body heaved again and another outpouring from her hit me.

Finally it subsided, and she sat back, cross-legged on the floor and looking at me without focus. Belinda and quite a few patrons were just laughing, but the barmaid handed me and Katia a couple of nice, large towels anyway, which we took gratefully.

A few minutes later I had Katiaā€™s arm over my shoulder as we swayed down the street, singing a song that neither of us could remember the words to. She had become at least somewhat more lucid after she had relieved herself of excess drink, and had insisted I take her back to my place for the remainder of the evening. Who was I to quibble with a goddess, drunk or not? We staggered into my small apartment – really little more than a single room with an adjoining bathroom – still laughing and singing bits from the last song weā€™d almost remembered.

We both had to use the restroom and argued over who had to go worse. In the end, it turned out that it actually is possible for both a guy and a girl to use a toilet at the same time as Katia had suggested! You just have to be very careful. Or drunk enough not to care too much.

The rest of the night, I truly canā€™t remember. I know we slept together because we awoke in my single bed, practically piled on top of each other. To say that neither of us were in our best condition at that point should be pointless. However, she assured me that Iā€™d been nothing less than a gentleman which I was rather proud of. Yet she saw it as a failure, somehow. She offered me a raincheck, though, before we kissed and she left.

Now, as I write these words, I realize a lot that I didnā€™t see last night, or even this morning in my hungover state. I need to thank Belinda, I suppose – though why she thought I would need that kind of ā€˜companyā€™, I really donā€™t know. With my dashing charm, I need no paid-for love! But Iā€™ll probably go ahead and find out where Madame Florentineā€™s is. I have a raincheck to cash.

On Writing Prequel Fanfiction

I don’t think I can do an essay on fanfiction in general, but I’m fairly sure I’ve written more fanfiction for Prequel Adventure than anyone else so at least I feel qualified enough to write something on that specifically. This isn’t intended to tell you what to write or not to write, just what I’ve found in having done quite a bit of it.

First, learn proper writing technique – and this includes (gasp!) grammar. Yes, you need to learn it. I am working on it still, and I’m not very good at it. But here’s some Don’ts that I’ve learned.

1. Don’t try to disregard proper grammar. The English language has evolved into its current form over hundreds of years. There are good, valid reasons for differences between commas, semicolons, colons and dashes as well as apostrophes, quotes etc. They exist for a reason. They make reading your crap easier. Trust me on this one, if you want your work to be read, you have to do this. No one’s going to slog through a bunch of home-made grammar rules. I actually did start writing this way. It was dumb.

2. Don’t forget your tenses. If you start writing in past, stick with it. https://depts.washington.edu/engl/askbetty/tenses.php is your friend.

3. Don’t stagnate the reader. In every chapter, something significant should happen. I specifically avoid descriptions and scenery, except where they are needed for the story. Reading is a very imagination-friendly activity. You should have a pretty solid grasp of the scene where an action takes place, but there’s no need to describe it in minute detail to the reader. They can fill in the blanks as good, if not better, than you can.

4. Avoid tropes. I hate tropes, but still use them occasionally. However, I’m constantly looking for ways to subvert the trope and do something different. Your imagination is your friend. Try and find some better, or at least different, way to resolve a situation.

5. Avoid Evil Characters. I don’t believe in Evil characters. Sure, you need a villain, but that villain can have perfectly reasonable motives. Or the villain can just be the situation. When I run across an Evil villain, unless they are Satan Personified, I don’t buy it. Someone wants to kill your character? Fine! But you damn well better know why they want to, even if the reader doesn’t, and it better not be “because they are EVIL”. This one pisses me off to no end. Actions can certainly be classified as evil, but I don’t buy it as a motivation. This may just be me though.

6. Think of your viewpoint. You should be writing typically from your protagonist’s viewpoint. Don’t write about things he/she/it wouldn’t know about. There are times you need to explain something they wouldn’t know, but there are likely creative ways to work around that rather than just be a NARRATOR and expound on it.

7. Don’t show the monster. That’s something I learned from reading Lovecraft – and his own essays on the matter. The reader can imaging far worse (or more beautiful – ‘monster’ is just an example) than you can ever describe. The yoyo-pineapple incident is a good example. Maybe Kaz has some idea what that was, but – believe me, I’ve written an essay on it – the audience can fill it in far better. Describe reaction to the monster, but let the monster stay hidden. Sometimes it’s what you donā€™t describe that’s the most memorable part of a story.

Next, avoid White Knight-ism AND avoid Perfect Heroine-ism. I’ve seen both. The first, I think, is more rampant and screams of Self Insert-ism. Sure, everyone’s fantasy is to be the White Knight. (or Black Knight but you get the picture). But are you writing a story for yourself, or for your reader? All good characters are flawed, and they shouldn’t be you. And by flawed, I don’t mean that they have an Achilles Heel. I mean that they aren’t perfect. They screw up. Make sure they screw up sometimes.

But the reverse comes up sometimes too. Perfect Heroine-ism. Esp. in relationship-heavy romance type fiction, sometimes the author will endow the object of the protagonists’ affection with perfectionism. Typically female, but of course that varies, but they can fight off the assailant and protect the protagonist invariably. This is related to the White Knight, because – and here’s big news – females aren’t perfect either. And again, I’d better damn well see that in the story. They need to screw up too. Even if they’re not human, they still need to Be Human. Be Fallible.

Fighting those two tropes will improve your story, because the outcome of every conflict is uncertain. Game of Thrones takes it to extremes, but you’ve got to lose sometimes. Want a hell of a good romance? IMHO, write one where the two donā€™t get together. Or don’t fall in Immediate and Immortal Love. There’s fantasy and then there’s fantasy. I guess it must be possible, but damned if I’ve ever heard of a perfect relationship. At least have the guy leave the toilet seat up once in a while, if you catch my meaning.

Also, avoid Deus Ex-Machina, but don’t let that hinder a good story either. It’s not a NEVER thing, it’s an AVOID thing. Better if the conflicts can be resolved by something conceivable to the reader than something totally unexpected.

Now, specific to Prequel, here’s some observations.

First, if you’re going to write a Katia+X relationship story… don’t. Katia specifically is trying not to get involved in any relationships right now. She wants to build her own life on her own terms. Sure you want to come rescue her from herself (most of her issues are self-inflicted). You can’t do that, and neither can your weird OC because that’s exactly what she doesnā€™t want. She wants to become her own person, with her own abilities and to fix her own problems. She can’t do that if your story requires the intervention of a third party. For Katia herself, I prefer to just watch her story unfold (slowly). But IMHO she needs to fix her life on her own. No one can fix it for her, even your White Knight.

I don’t think I’ve done any fan fiction involving Katia directly. Side characters are a whole ‘nuther beast. I can twist them into whatever I want I figure, and just keep the bits that I like. Like Quill-Weave’s propensity to get embarrassed at stuff. So that’s fun to exploit. As for my recent Ra’Jirra fictions, let’s be honest – that’s not even Ra’Jirra except that she’s a long-haired khajiit. But I think she’s exploitable because she really has no personality. We know she bailed on Katia, and that’s it. Beyond that we know she’s pretty rude. I used neither of those traits in ‘my’ Ra’Jirra – but then, I also put her into a sort of steampunkish universe too. The connection to Prequel is by the thinnest of threads.

Someone (Kaz I think) also suggested getting some college kid in need of money to edit my work. I’ve not done it, but it’s a very, very good suggestion if you think you’ve written something worthy of it. I’m still finding errors months after having written stuff. Don’t say to yourself “oh, it’s close enough. No one will mind that misplaced apostrophe.” If anyone actually bothers to read your stuff, they will mind. Once or twice, maybe not, but by the time they slog through the whole thing, those little things accumulate. And don’t think the spellchecker will catch that crap either – it catches only the crap you would catch anyway. So, at very minimum, re-read your own thing. Multiple times.

Okay, here’s one that you may not have thought of. Read your stuff. Aloud. Preferably into a recorder. Maybe not to post publicly, but just for yourself. It accomplishes two things – first, when you come across that word you were so proud of, you then realize why no one uses it. Also it makes you revise stuff into normal speaking words instead of written words. The two are awfully different, and reading it aloud makes that very obvious!

Finally, on the subject of – shall we say, FANSERVICE? Yeah. That. I do it all the time. Mine is usually pretty light stuff, but it’s a thing I do. Someone’s bikini top is bound to fall off or something. I’m probably not the best person to advise others on that sort of thing. It’s almost always completely extraneous to the plot, and Tolkien sure as hell didn’t do that. In an anime where early episodes are trying to attract viewership, it makes sense even if it’s kinda cringy. It’s probably worse in fan fiction. I should cut back on it, I know.

In fact, I’m thinking of cutting back on Prequel fan fiction altogether. I don’t know that people who ‘read’ webcomics are much on reading anything. Thatā€™s why I made a foray into doing audio. I think it’s easier to ingest than actually reading words on a screen. I’m not very good at it obviously, but my price was right (free). I do think I’d listen to your audio recording of your own stuff though. At least it’s a lot more likely than every reading 31000+ words on a screen.

Just one final thing, sorta related. Some time ago I started doing my own webcomic. (No, I don’t do artwork. Screenshots of posed Skyrim characters). I made the mistake of posting it on some of those sites that list webcomics. Well, guess who goes to those sites? Other webcomic writers. Yeah. I’m not saying not to post your fan fiction on fan-fiction sites, but I don’t think you’re ever going to get popular because of doing that, and you shouldn’t expect it either. Not sure I have a good answer for how to get popular. I’m not. But don’t think that if you post it up there They Will Come. Not likely. Maybe a few, but very few. If you want to Get Popular, you’re going to need to do something other than that.

After all that, of course, you can do what you want. Maybe Iā€™m all wrong. These are just my thoughts on the subject.