Tuesdaily with Muse Fusion recap.

[ellenmillion]

Resume and print orders printed, packing up other orders now.

My Muse Fusion turnout was not what I'd hoped, but better than I feared! There were a LOT of awesome prompts - my thanks to everyone who turned out to leave them for us!

I finished a short (700 word) story about Malaamig, Diren and Margaa finding a ruined city in the north using a prompt from sibylle and a title from ysabetwordsmith: The Forgotten City is $7 to sponsor. (Or 7 EMG/TW credits)

From prompts by kelkyag, I started Unfurled, a prequel to Harp of Feathers. At 900 words, it is very nearly finished (I have to go back and fix up some setting problems). It is $10 to sponsor, which will not only make it available to the public, but also move it to the top of my editing to-do pile. Sponsor now. (Or 10 EMG/TW credits)

stryck's prompt about hurricanes meshed with haunted_blood's picture prompt and got me the outline for a story about an Irfai family bracing for a hurricane, and the legend of the creature who used to protect them from storms and sea monsters. This one will take some finishing - sponsor for $20. (Or 20 EMG/TW credits)

And, I did some artwork!

aldersprig has housebuilding on the brain, so I sketched the very start of a northern housebuilding operation:


This is $48 to finish in ink and receive the original. I am accepting microfunding for this one in $2 increments; I will polish it further for each payment I receive, and whomever has donated the most when I declare it finished will receive the original, shipping included. (EMG/TW credits also accepted.) Microfunding has been started!

vaerys asked for landscapes, and Lichenwold in particular, so I drew this:


This is dying to be refined and painted. I just bought a BIG canvas pad, 16 x 20, and I really, really want to do this in color. $100 will get you the original and bump this to the top of my to-do list (that is a steal for a 16 x 20 landscape! You're lucky I want to do this one!). I will also take microfunding for this one, terms as above, but in $5 increments.

In factory news, still not feeling particularly pregnant. Guppy is supposedly doing some practice breathing of amniotic fluids, and is about 4 inches long.

Today, I've got a hair appointment, that job interview thingy, and I've left the afternoon open because I don't know how long either of those will take and I have plenty of things I can do in that space. Last night, our bacon got smoked, and we will be able to pick it up today; I am VERY excited to try it and anticipate bacon in our dinner tonight.

Hungry now. Going to eat and shower.

Comments

[penmage.livejournal.com]

How many weeks are you now? I remember those agonizingly long weeks in which I did not feel pregnant at all, and was wondering if I ever would! (Spoiler: I did.)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

I am 15 weeks. And I expect that I will look at these weeks longingly once I am enormous and Guppy is restless, but right now I keep poking myself in the belly. "You still in there? Are you sure? Hello?"

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on making it out of the first trimester! I think you are probably a much saner pregnant person than I was. Fourteen weeks was when I started feeling less on the brink of death, and had not yet begun to show and feel the baby (I think that was around 18 or 19 weeks). I was feeling fine, and the only difference was that I was starving ALL THE TIME, and I spent most of that time being paranoid that I didn't feel pregnant enough and something was wrong.

I had an early anatomy scan at 16 weeks (they usually only do them in high-risk situations, but my doctor offered and I wanted to see the baby) and I nearly cried with relief that she was still in there and doing well.

Frankly, I loved being pregnant once I actually started to feel pregnant! Not going to lie, there were definitely parts that were uncomfortable about being huge, but I honestly absolutely loved it. I felt great, and I loved feeling her growing inside me.

I'm so excited that you have the good part of pregnancy coming up!

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

I've been SO lucky so far - my 'morning sickness' was the barest, teeniest hint of what I hear it could be, and was so brief it barely counted. I'm glad I'm not the only one who worries that something is WRONG because I don't feel pregnant enough. (Did I wash my hands enough? Was my deli meat not heated up enough? Did I inhale too many of the wrong construction fumes?)

I'm not sure if I'll be getting an ultrasound next week; they'll probably suggest I wait until 20 weeks, which I'd do, but oooooh, so hard to wait!

I'm so looking forward to being able to *feel* the Guppy; I've heard so many wonderful things about it, and I'm really excited to see what it's like! Thanks!!

[penmage.livejournal.com]

For me, hands down the worst part of pregnancy was the paranoia. I was paranoid constantly that something was wrong, and the hardest thing was knowing that the only measure we had was my gut feeling. The thing I was most looking forward to about having her on the outside instead of the inside was that if there was something wrong with her, we wouldn't have to guess based on how many times I thought I felt her kick--N and I could both observe her, or take her to the doctor, or whatever.

And even after I was lucky enough to have a healthy, successful pregnancy, I know that I'll be just as paranoid when it's time for round 2.

Feeling the baby kick is AMAZING. When it starts you totally think you're making it up. SO cool when you begin to feel the baby moving in there regularly. Pregnancy is so cool :).

[redokapi.livejournal.com]

I'll admit, as one who has no desire to ever become pregnant, the fact that someone might *want* to feel pregnant is somewhat baffling. I mean no disrespect by this, I find it rather fascinating that there might be an entirely opposite viewpoint here. It's just...strange.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

It's funny you say this, because I never in my entire life ever had any desire to be pregnant. I wanted to have children in my life, so I saw pregnancy as a necessary evil to be survived, but I was honestly dreading it.

The first part, where I was sick sick sick on the brink of what felt like starvation and death certainly lived up to my expectations. But once the morning sickness went away, and I actually started to feel *pregnant* and not just ill--I was actually really surprised at how wonderful it was.

If you had told me I would have said this two years ago, I would have told you you were lying or crazy, but I LOVED being pregnant. I felt energized and extra-alive, and really really good. I thought I would hate growing a parasite, but instead it was fascinating and so cool.

So yeah, I loved feeling pregnant. It was a fantastic feeling. I always thought I'd endure pregnancy in order to get the kids, but I find that I am eager and excited to get to experience it again someday.

Edit: the other thing is, hands down the worst part of pregnancy is always being worried that something is wrong inside, and you have no way to check. So when you start actually feeling pregnant, you have an actual way to "check in" that stuff is going on in there, and it sets your mind at ease in a huge way.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

I would have said the same thing, but I think it's a head vs body thing... at this point, my head knows I'm pregnant, but the body is totally failing to provide the signs I expect, so it causes a sort of dissonance and doubt (am I really? Is it just a weirdo, really, really convincing and lengthy fake hormone pregnancy?). My head is just wailing for reassurance, and my body is off going 'lalalala, can't hear you, hungry now!'

[jenny heidewald (from livejournal.com)]

OOO! Shrooms?! :) It looks like a massive hen in the woods.

I hope the job interview goes well.

Why do babies breath the fluid? I didn't know they did that. I am sure it will be soon enough that you'll be going(to Guppy) "Get out already!" <:)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

It's Lichenwold, which is a ecosystem left to its own devises with too little space, so that only the lichens and mosses and mushrooms survived... and then grew to HUGE sizes. :) I think it will be cooler in color.

I think it's to exercise the lungs so they can draw air in and out when they need to. But they also start with tails, and who knows why that is!

[pixiewildflower.livejournal.com]

Wonderful sketches!