Multi-Topic Blog: On Trying New Things, Teeth Talk, And A Portrait of Archmagus Masquerade · 7:12pm May 17th, 2023
So, one of the perks of commission work is that it gives me a chance to write things that are a little outside of what I have been. Sure, I've had to turn a couple of things down, since there's "outside of the box" and then there's "I can't even see the box anymore" and if I don't think there's a chance it'll come out as something worth the money, I can't in good conscience take on the task, but...
Like I Don't Exist (Anymore) got me trying journal-style horror, had me experienting with something more open-ended, had me playing around with EQG, which I'd only ever touched one other time, and had me using two characters (Wallflower Blush and the Pony of Shadows) who I hadn't written before.
Meanwhile, Princess Twilight Sparkle Versus The Royal Harem Decree got me writing Chrysalis for the first time, pony-Trixie for the first time, Moondancer for the first time, (briefly) Thorax and Pharnyx the first time, and taught me that... I'm apparently good at comedy? Which shocked me, since that's where I often second-guess myself the most.
But based on it still being at the top of the featured box, maybe I should try to be funny more often. Bodes well for that foalsitting story I want to write when I get there. It also tells me that even when things wrap up with the GoFundMe, I should keep things open.
Speaking of...
Since I've acquired several new followers, to catch everyone up: This was my first blog post on the topic, and this was a follow-up.
Yesterday, my lovely partner in crime had a consultation about her wisdom teeth. It was her first time direcly interacting with the oral surgeon, the initial estimate having been over the phone. So getting actually checked out by the person who'd be doing the extractions themselves was... illuminating. To wit, I got this texted to me when the appointment was over.
I'm out...
I have a lot of explaining to do about my teeth apparently to you.
My dentist didn't know all this shit.
Or withheld it...
Now, when I updated the GFM itself yesterday, I called the results good news, and that's not wrong, but it's the kind of good news that makes me want to strangle someone.
Let me explain.
The main concern had always been her bottom two teeth, though we were going on the assumption that all four were trouble and would need to come out, and that's what I was basing my ballpark figures on. Those bottom wisdom teeth have broken through the gums just enough that the dentist said that they were a gum disease risk, and also said that they were pushing on her other teeth and overall causing trouble. As I say in the original GFM write-up, the dentist's descriptions of the situation had a relative working in the medical field very concerned.
The oral surgeon? Informed her that her bottom two wisdom teeth are fused to her jaw. While extracting them is technically possible. It would be an undertaking. Specialist called in, long recovery time, and given that she has a pain disorder, it would be agonizing beyond belief. And expensive. I'd placed her half of the GoFundMe at $1516 based on what research I could do, and the initial estimate over the phone had been $2175 instead. With the surgeon now knowing what they know, it'd be more around $3600.
But here's where the good news comes in.
Those bottom two teeth? The oral surgeon says that they're not pushing on anything at all. They're just chilling there, attached to her jaw and not actually doing anything harmful. The gum disease risk? If she did develop something and that mandated they come out, it wouldn't be any trickier a procedure than it already is. And that's still an if. She's not exactly skimping on her oral health maintenance here.
Of her upper teeth, one of them is only going to be accessable if two more are removed to clear the way, and there's no sign it's doing anything harmful where it is. Another one definitely needs to come out, but ironically it'd be the easiest to take out. It still likely won't be cheap, but compared to the bill on all four? The current donations can handle it, with some leftover to get things rolling on the veterinary side of things too.
I'm just furious with her dentist for putting all that fear in her head. Whether it was incompetence or intentionally trying to push a procedure she doesn't really need and would be more trouble than it was worth...
Well. She'd already not gotten along so well with the dentist (one of the techs working there is also someone she is not a fan of and dreads having to be stuck with for the duration of her cleanings). This was just the final bit of trust lost. She'll be doing her best to find another one who will take her. Wish her luck.
There's also some... extra good news that there's been some mixed feelings about. In my last update, I didn't exactly make it a secret that her family are not good people, with one exception who I trust. But that one exception did talk to another family member, and ask him if, if we happened to fall short of what her dog needed for his procedure, if he might lend some money to close the gap...
He said yes. He even said that, if it's only a couple hundred short or so, he'll just cover it instead of expecting her to pay it back. There was a lot of shock there.
It's not my place to get into a lot of detail, but to paint a picture in the broad strokes: This is a family whose members tend to sit on a sliding scale between "so raw, unfiltered evil that if I wrote a character based on them I'd be called out as being unrealistic" and "self-destructive train wrecks determined to make everyone around them as miserable as they are and succeeding at it." For most, voicing the idea that human life could be worth more than money would have them believing that you're insane. There were a few more moderating voices, ones who could at least get some members to pretend to have something approaching empathy. Two of those voices have passed away from old age, and the surviving members fought like rabid hyenas over everything they left behind.
This one is definitely at the "train wreck" end of the scale. If I ever ended up alone in the same room as him, I can't guarantee he'd get out of the situation unscathed, and I'm not sure which of us would throw the first punch.
But... they were close, once, before he went completely downhill. Before he decided that everyone else was to blame for his problems and he'd make sure they knew it.
(It's easier when they're just evil. When there was nothing in there at all that could care about you, and never did.
It's harder when you sometimes catch a glimpse of the person they used to be, or could be if they tried, but that you know they won't.
He's not the first person in her life who's shown tiny glimmers of humanity.
That one's dead now too.)
There's been a lot of guilt on her part. She immediately feared being accused of trying to cheat people out of their money if she got only one tooth extracted. I promptly told her that if anyone was going to weather accusations, it'd be me, since I'm the one running the thing. Besides, we still don't know how things will go with her dog, and if there is excess when all is said and done, well...
She has two dogs.
This little fellow is the older of the two (and is indeed fully grown in that pic) and has had his own share of hardships. He was found on the streets, and with a painful, contagious variety of mange. He was isolated during a formative period due to necessity, and never quite emotionally recovered. He's been terrified of the world for a long time, not to mention that he's developed arthritis.
(He's also taken upon himself to be his dog-mom's therapy pup. As scared as he is, as much as he's hurting, when she's the one stressed, upset, and hurting, he always takes it upon himself to be there and help her feel better.)
Recently he had a vet visit, with a new vet. Someone who'll actually listen to the owner when they say something is wrong instead of dismissing them out of hand because they only live with said dog and care for them every day, what could they know. He's finally getting some prescriptions for anti-anxiety medication and some treatments for the arthritis, something that won't just mask the pain but will help mend some of the damage in the joints.
So if there's somehow extra money? It'll go to helping his bills. Anything beyond that? Well, they both need heartworm medication, and one requires it year-round. There's always going to be a new expense that it can ease.
When there are bills, there'll be pictures of them. A paper trail. Because we want to make sure everyone knows where the money's going.
But the fact that we can even think about the possibility of excess money...
Thank you. All of you. There are no words, nothing that can convey the depths of our gratitude.
(I keep trying to convince her that she's worth the generosity. I'm sure plenty of people can relate.)
And now for the reason that I have The Long Eventide linked here in the first place...
I previously showed off my first ever pony drawing with a bit of artwork of Diamond Dust. And after I concluded PTSVTRHD, I took some time to rest my writer-brain with trying another drawing.
My two main goals were to do better legs and be more adventurous with the mane and tail, and to that end, I kept with the unicorns and went for Masquerade.
Deviantart page is here.
I looked at some images of real-life horses, as well as Fleur Dis Lee's design to help with the shapes in the legs. She's not quite so tall as Fleur, but Mask was always supposed to be on the thinner side in the limbs compared to the rest of the Inner Circle. Fluttershy provided some inspiration in making her mane and tail more swoopy, though obviously Mask keeps the hair shorter than Flutters.
My approach to faces is still in flux, including exactly how horse-y the snouts should look and how big I want to make the eyes; there's ways in which I prefer how Diamond looked in that area, but I'll still consider it a success if her smug smirk reads clearly to viewers here.
Next will likely be one of the earth ponies. Both Brandywine and Honour Code have pretty simple cutie mark designs, and I'm still working my way up to trying to do wings.
Still, it feels... good. To be at art again. Like stretching out a muscle that had been in need of it.
Until next time, all.
Fuck that dentist
In my experience, comedic stories tend to be a bit easier of a sell on this site, because most everybody is always down for a comedic story. But yeah, the fact it's been tracking so well nonetheless does suggest you might be underestimating your capability there, so I'd think experimenting more with comedy would probably be worth your while.
But don't feel like you gotta write solely comedy from here on out though. Write what you want to write!