2021 to 2022 Update

Hi all!

I hope everyone out there had a good holiday season.  Normally, I would do this update last week, but circumstances didn't allow.  For those who don't want to read a blog of my ramblings, here's the main takeaway: my theme for 2022 is more.  Keep reading if you want some context for that, otherwise normal weekly stories will return next week and patrons have the last(?) chapter of Hyacinth posted in the feed.

Now, to the ramblings.

Part I: How December Went and Why Sinuses Can Fuck Right Off
(Go to Part II for the actual update stuff)

The plan for December was simple.  Finish out the year with three portions of the Yuletide story and the remaining Hyacinth chapters while continuing Little Shop.  Time was allotted, ideas were on paper, and fingers brimmed with dexterous joy, ready to type.  Then all that went to shit, well mostly.  The first two weeks of December went fine, but once the holiday swing began the train came off the rails.  

Extremely non-committal familial guests and their ever shifting schedules disrupted work for the days leading up to Christmas which mean Little Shop got pushed to January and Yuletide's mythical third part was going to shift to a New Year's update.  But then -- Have you ever had a sinus infection?  If not, count yourself lucky.  

On Christmas Day, I woke up with a vague headache.  Not surprising since I was extremely "festive" the night before.  By Boxing Day, the headache hadn't left, but instead started moving into my lower jaw.  It was then that I began to suspect something had sneaked through my defenses while I was distracted by bourbon and wrapping paper.  It was also then that we learned a family member tested positive for Covid and came to the Christmas party with symptoms.  

Aghast and passive-aggressively bitter about such reckless behavior, we all hunkered down and did our waiting/testing/dreading.  Luckily, no one else tested positive, but my headache was worse.  Much worse.  Three days in, it felt like a sea urchin had settled in the left side of my head.  

If you haven't had a sinus problem or if you live somewhere that doesn't have massive trees making money shots into your face daily, you may be unaware of some things about the sinus.  First, they're pockets of empty space inside our skull.  Second, while scientists have some pretty good ideas, they're not entirely sure why they exist.  They definitely do something, maybe several somethings, but its fisticuffs if you want to be definite about it.  Third, it is difficult for medicines to reach the sinus cavity because it's a pointless empty space inside your head -- this will matter momentarily.

Four days from the initial headache, I was meant to be back in the swing of things.  Instead, it felt like a tiny person was inside my head nailing up two by fours.  Cue doctor.  We do a phone chat and email exchange because I can't actually go to the doctor without doing a bunch of hoop jumping for Covid precautions.  Doc says, yep sounds like a sinus infection, and I get a ton of medicine.   Most antibiotic treatments are 7 day courses, sometimes even five.  Not for a sinus infection (see above).  Ten days.  And because I have some allergy considerations, can't use the normal stuff, I have to use the hard stuff.

The ensuing bacterial holocaust has left me in a slightly feverish daze ever since, and I still have a few days to go.  They certainly worked.  The intense pain was diminished to a dull ache by day two.  Day seven or whatever I'm on, the pain is gone entirely and the only remaining symptom of the infection is a slight congestion.  Yet the cure remains a problem.

Esophagitis is the inflammation of the lining of the esophagus.  Like extremely bad heartburn.  The inflammation can be worsened by a weakening of the esophageal sphincter which happens due to...inflammation of the esophagus.  A weak sphincter (hah) can allow acid from the stomach to surge up into the esophagus and cause further inflammation which...vicious cycle.  And what kicks it off?  Broad spectrum antibiotics pissing off everything inside your body. 

So, the pain in my face was replaced by a bonfire in my chest.  Unpleasant, but it can be managed by diet!  You can't eat certain things which increase acidity in the stomach.  Certain things like coffee and soda and caffeine.

Long story long, I got drunk on Christmas and unintentionally put myself in caffeine withdrawal.  I hated every minute of it, and it stole my break when I was meant to write fun things, play fun games, and read fun books.  I did get to watch stuff though.  A hazy brain and no energy is a good recipe to watch television.  Encanto was fun (team Luisa) and Witcher S2 was ok. Could have used more monsters and, frankly, more sex.

Part II: Anyway, 2021 Year in Review

Last year was basically the weak second entry of 2020.  Kept a lot of the same characters, story not as cohesive, just a long running time.  It's been a fucking mess of two years. I've not been immune to the existential fatigue, but we've tried to keep things upbeat around Quixerotic HQ....after we moved it early in 2021, which was a mess inside the other mess.

What Worked

Cow Daze - For this story, I went with a bi-monthly style.  Ultimately I considered this a success because I was able to reliably deliver content through a tumultuous time.  But, it took way too long and got samey toward the end.  Still pleased with how it worked in my schedule and that I achieved what I set out to do.

HSA Mini Event - The October stretch of HSA stories went well, I think.  It's not an overwhelmingly popular series and it's very hit or miss on its content, but they're always fun to write due to how weird it can get.  

NaNoWriMo - While this didn't deliver a lot of content, I was happy with the way it worked in my schedule and hit all my benchmarks through the month.  

What Didn't Work

Overall lack of content -  Just not enough words on the page this year.  I put out maybe 20% of what I wanted.  So many ideas are stacked up.

Narrow kink focus - By the metrics I get, hucow stuff is the most popular kink.  While both the big works focused on this, I still didn't get out much fresh content on the matter.  Meanwhile, other kinks have languished in disuse.  Furry content, Genderswap content, and the Deviancy stories, have all suffered.

File keeping - always a struggle, largely unseen by you folk, but it got very messy due to lots of distractions.  Stuff didn't get published everywhere, things didn't get rolled out smoothly, and planned story revisions never got done.  Probably most unhappy with this one, which is saying something.

Finish the damn story - Last chapter of Crimson Reborn is just waiting to be written at the top of a pile of other unfinished stories.  I don't like writing endings, they make me anxious.  Even when I know exactly what I'm going to write.  

Part III: 2022, More

I'm taking this week to do what I usually do in the last week of the year.  Getting the old noggin in line, shoring up ideas, and bolstering my work flow (also getting in some of that non-fuzzy free time).  Little Shop's work in November taught me some stuff that I want to keep implemented year round.  

It's an ambitious plan, but I hope to effectively quadruple my output.  Half of that will go out up front while the other half will bake into longer works to roll out every other month.  I did something similar to this back in 2015/2016 where I put out almost everything that's subsequently gone into the Archive.  Ton of work in a compressed amount of time.  The difference here is the rolling longer works. 

This is all in addition to my other self's responsibilities, which has been the half dragging everything down these past two years.  But that guy should be mostly stable for the first time in two years.

I'll keep the main two stories a month for the patron feed, but if you've been with me for a while (thanks!) you'll know I like to put other stuff on there as much as I can.  And I'll start rolling the past two years' stories into the public archive.  And more new stuff.  Just more.  Sequels to all the stories I've gotten requests for more of.  More of the Wild Hike world.  More Milktec.  More Hucow, Deviancy.  More, more, more.

Thanks!

As always, thanks for all your support through the year.  I have several authors that I voraciously check for updates from, so if you feel that way about me, it's a huge compliment.  (By the way, go read Limerick's stuff on MCStories).  I hope we grow a little more this year and I can match that growth with some new ideas like polls or story pick directions.  I've really enjoyed having the patreon as a more direct outlet, and none of that would be possible like you, Dear Readers.

See you soon!
--Quixerotic