******Author’s Afterthoughts (part 1)******

2024/11/27 - initial thoughts after completing first draft.

So, I just finished the final chapter of “Your Dreadfulness Lines With Mine.” It’s a wednesday as I’m writing this and I have to think of a blog update post. More on that later or maybe not. This segment will likely come out long after that particular update is out.

Anyway, so, my initial thought as of right now are that project was a lot of fun. I never wrote a straight up romance before and I think I wrote something very cheesy yet darkly sweet. I thought about how much sex and violence I should put into the story.

Honestly though, I left the sex and violence out intentionally. Sure, it gets close to spicy in some cases and the twists could have gotten really dark but that was not the kind of story I wanted to share on my blog. I’m not even sure what the limits are, if there are any, when doing a web series.

The digital sky's the limit, I suppose.

I like how this story is right now. I still have to proofread it and I will do that at least once. But that is as far as I’m going to go with it. I started writing this monday of last week, 11/18 and somehow made a complete work within that time.

All that is left now is to proofread this wonderful nonsense. And it is silly but it's fun and entertaining as hell to write. Or Hades, I should say. Not sure why I went with all the Ancient Roman Mythos references. I even doubled down with a hint that the world that this story takes place might be an alt-history where the Roman Empire never fell.

That might be a bit much for a simple story set in a pseudo-victorian era with two weird Goths falling for one another. Sometimes I like to add off the wall concepts to the simplest of plots and stories. We’ll see if I keep the weird victorian-Roman subplot idea in the final draft for the blog.

Alright, it’s getting close to noon and I should do the update for the website.

Next will be the proofreading of my first ever romance story. Wish me luck . . .

Oh, and the word “dreadful” comes up 83 times so far in this story. I honestly thought it would come up more. Maybe I will add more during the proofreading . . .

2024/12/09 - after proofreading chapters 1 and 2

Alright, I finished writing the first draft of “Zombie Xapper” a couple of days ago and I decided to return to “Your Dreadfulness Lines With Mine”. And upon returning to this story I discover that . . . it is absolutely ridiculous and I love it.

I honestly would not call it a romance per say, more of a parody with how it's playing out. The narration of the lead, Gothia, is so over the top that I can’t help but enjoy reading it. I know this whole this was a blast to write because of just how weird and eccentric the narration and events in the story are.

So far, I’ve gotten around to proofread chapters 1 and 2 and I really do not care if there are still flaws or mistakes and what not. I kind of want to post this story without any outside input because it is just so weird. Gothia and Lurkson are such gross and childish characters that they come off as believable in a weird way.

They are in their own little world and because of that, they find love in their mutual dreadfulness. The use of dreadful in an ironic way got me at first but then I remembered what I was doing with this story. It’s about a twisted Goth girl in a pseudo-Victorian era finding her mister right.

And Lurkson is the closest to her match that she might find. But even as early as chapter 2, there are clear signs that he wants more than a sexual relationship. Let the desire marinate? Yeah, that is a man’s tactful way of trying to keep a lustful woman from jumping his bones. He likes her and knows he can’t find another like her and is afraid of screwing it up.

Proofreading this so-called “romance” is going to be fun. And it is a romance but so beyond conventional that I dare say it is a parody. I cannot help but write a story with some farce in it. Comedy gets me through the day and I know its medicine for many out there too.

And proofreading this story after a couple weeks have passed since I last looked at it has been welcoming, considering the Incident of Thanksgiving 2024.

Proofreading a story has always been a joy to me, just as much as writing. Well, maybe writing is more fun and rewarding but the fun of editing and rearranging and adding or subtracting to a story during proofreading is like a puzzle. A puzzle with no real solution but infinite parts to play with.

That paragraph right there would be perfect for an update blog. But this is eventually going to be the blog with my afterthoughts on “Your Dreadfulness Lines With Mine” so I guess it's okay where it is. Or I could double dip the blog? Not as forbidden then double dipping a chip.

Anyway, I’m still recovering from my burns and have been on my feet for almost three hours now and need to lean on something or move around.

I look forward to proofreading more of this crazy tale of love and dreadfulness.

12/11/24 - chapters 3 to 5

Well, I’m going to be healing from Thanksgiving 2024 still for a while. I proofread chapter 3 before seeing the burn doctor and had no time to do a response. So, here we go with doing three chapters in one thought.

Chapter 3 concerned the who dagger tossing match between Lurkson and the Earl. Honestly, I wanted something abnormal about Lurkson that wasn’t just his looks and demeanor. He can actually hold his own in a fight and I wanted to display his inhuman strength in some way.

Throwing knives is not something you would think nobility would bother with. Duels with swords and pistols are more for nobility while knife throwing feels more like a circus act. And since I like to write stories with oddball characters, super throwing dagger skills for Lurkson seemed legit.

And another joke revolving around dead birds. Honestly, bird were something I enjoyed watching when I was little. I actually do like birds and find them fascinating. But when dealing with two Goth characters who have a twisted sense of humor, I go the opposite of my own personality.

That is something you have to do as a write sometimes, you get out of your comfort zone and write things that challenge you. Which brings me to . . .

Chapter 4, the introduction of Miss Raven Easter, the lesbian maid. Of course there is a lesbian character because for some reason I like writing them. I don’t really know why I like writing lesbian characters.

I usually like to write about the awkward and shy lesbian who has a good heart and is a badass in a fight. Miss Easter is a little like that but she puts on an act to seem more confident and cool around prospective partners like Gothia.

And Gothia being bi-sexual is something I haven’t written about before. I think I originally set it up for her to be into both Lurkson and Miss Easter but that plan fell through. And there is that whole being into her step-sister Maggy thing that still seems weird but believable.

I also hint that Lurkson has a big crush on Miss Easter but their relationship has not progressed far because she is not attracted to men. And, in my opinion, I think the whole thing with Lurkson masterbating to naked Miss Easter is just bullshit. In my mind, they are saying such weird stuff to get a rise out of people or gross them out.

But Gothia isn’t so easily swayed and she is super into Lurkson and possibly into Miss Easter too. So, she believes them and gets super jealous from their goofing off.

The whole crypt scene in Chapter 5 is to illustrate that Gothia may be in her twenties but she has a lot of developing to do yet. And she lacks experience with others outside her family, so interacting with people she is connecting with is new and kind of frightening for her.

And Gothia flashes her boobs which is the most spicy thing to happen in the story thus far. But the whole sexiness of it is kind of moot since she and Lurkson and Miss Easter are in a freaking crypt. And yes, a crypt has that atmosphere that both Gothia and Lurkson enjoy but Miss Easter is the odd one out.

I think Miss Easter’s nerves are the reason she blew up at Lurkson and their argument led to Gothia losing her mind and all that fun jazz. Lurkson is far too cool, realistically he should have been less cool in that moment. And since I’m assuming Gothia is an unreliable narrator, I can see her making him out to be more suave and awesome then he really is.

Oh and having bones and skulls everywhere seems like low hanging fruit to me. I set out to do a Gothic romance and I added some bones in there to emphasize the whole Gothic part of that. I don’t know, it all seems a bit overboard to have a pillar of skulls and then a crypt full of bones one chapter after the other.

And the crypt filled with tarantulas seemed a bit much too. But, Gothia is a spider girl and it was a creep crypt and we got to have giant spiders in a crypt. Ha! I’m so criticising myself right now that it’s kind of hilarious. I still like all of that horror atmosphere stuff but usually you would want to put the creepy crypt in a later chapter.

And the pillar of skulls in chapter 4 is kind of out of place and is usually decoration for the final boss of a video game. And yet, Duke Longroper was such a badass executioner, he just casually kept the heads of those he killed and put them on display. Grant it, it is in the hedge maze and how many people are going to wander into that without the Duke or someone with them? Still, it’s weird but this is a weird story so I guess it tracks.

I’m just saying, Chapters 4 and 5 have locations and decorations that seem out of place compared to the chapters that are to come. Speaking of which, now that I have the time, I will be proofreading more chapters in the coming days so we shall see what I think of the coming chapters ahead . . .

12/12/24 - Chapters 6 to 8

So, I guess Chapter 6 confirms Lurkson and Miss Easter do have some kind of weird no touching sexual relationship. I’m kind of surprised I actually used the word ‘masterbate’ too. I think censoring sexual matters is more funny but I guess with how close Gothia and Lurkson have become, admitting something so blunt is okay by them.

And I add this whole thing where Miss Easter and Lurkson masterbate as a competition of sorts rather than it being out of pleasure or something. Like, who cums first is the loser or something? A test of stamina between . . . half-step-siblings or whatever. This is weird but it's weird enough to fit in this bizarre story. And I honestly don’t think this comes up again. So, moving on now . . .

The paintings made by Lady Longroper (Lurkson’s step-mother who is in a sanitarium) were so much fun to write about. I added in the one with the nude woman eating a heart because I thought of Vampirella when proofreading chapter 6. Why? Because hot vampire chicks are always on my mind, I guess? It fits with the theme of the other paintings so why not!

And those paintings. OMG, I want someone to make those real so badly. I left enough open for artistic interpretation so there could be a variety of that lighthouse cock painting. Seriously, Lady Longroper’s paintings are up there with “Saturn Devouring His Son” by Francisco Goya and “Figure with Meat” by Francis Bacon. I think I had Goya’s black paintings in mind when I described Lady Longroper’s paintings.

And I seriously like how I thought of two random horror paintings and both their artists have ‘Francis’ in their name. Are all artists named Francis just doomed to paint the most dreadful imagery ever? Anyway, look up Goya and Bacon, those guys were the masters of macabre art.

Chapter 7 was a much needed character development scene. I wanted to further establish that Gothia genuinely is in love with Maggy. I’ve seen enough anime to know the childhood crush is always a key plot point in romance. Plus, I imagine Maggy to be just drop dead gorgeous, possibly even be a goddess on earth.

I later reveal that some of the servants are also in love with Maggy. Which is what makes her being into a guy several years younger then her all the more of a delicious twist. Of all people, a kid from a newly rich family called “Young Deacon Gloombright” and whose one characteristic that stands out is that he is a boss at the viola.

This is the guy who wins over Maggy?!

Since this is the afterthoughts and I assume the people reading this also read the story in full, we can get into spoilers. This sixteen year old guy, Young Deacon Gloombright, was able to seduce the ice queen, Maggy Vineharth, into having sex. Unprotected sex that leads to her getting pregnant. Of all the guys Maggy has interacted with, all the suitors, this kid who is high school age and likely leads a sheltered life.

This, to me, feels like something out of a Victorian drama. One passionate night had led to two people really screwing up hard (in more ways than one). I enjoyed writing this twist because it solidifies that Gothia and all others who liked Maggy lack that one key thing she desires. And apparently the youngest son of the Gloombrights has that one key thing.

What that key thing is . . . I have no clue.

Or it was one playful interaction between Maggy and Deacon, he complimented her breasts (who wouldn’t, really?) and he said it in the exact right way to get her into bed. A sixteen year old once commoner boy made rich somehow seduced the old money daughter in her twenties that is prickly to everyone around her.

It feels so unrealistic that it somehow feels real, in that “truth is stranger than fiction” kind of way. I don’t know, I like twisted and unconventional romances. Gothia and Lurkson are so over the top, weird, and out there that I cannot help but cheer them on. And if those crazy Goths can make it, then maybe Maggy and Deacon have a shot of having a decent romance.

Chapter 8 was so much fun to write. Reading it again, I could not help but laugh out loud at that testical eating scene. But, apparently, the joke is on me. Fried bull testicals are a thing and one name for them is Rocky Mountain Oysters.

I somewhat remembered something about RMO that I may have seen on the food network. I subconsciously put them in the story, intending it to be a gross out humor thing when it is an actual delicacy. And honestly, I’ve seen some pictures of RMO and they do look really good. Like chicken nuggets only it's beefy and teste.

And the rest of the meal I did some research in what people ate back in the Victorian era. What parts of the cow / bull were eaten and how they were prepared was interesting. And whatever looked interesting or gross, I wrote into the Longroper menu.

Honestly though, some of that stuff does sound good. Fried bull ears sounds good but in hindsight, there would only be two but maybe they had more on hand. That pate does sound good too, liver is actually super awesome, don’t knock it till you try it.

Oh, and that eyeball scene. I have no idea what eyeballs taste like and I had a hard time finding anything about cooking eyes or serving them. I found a lot of eye jelly molds and stuff to make halloween candies but no legit recipes or dishes that use bovine eyes. Its almost like eating eyes is reserved for flies and scavenger birds.

Which, again, calls back to Gothia and Lurkson’s macabre fascination with death. I think.

Or maybe I’m ripping off that dinner scene from “Temple of Doom”? Actually, that is likely where I had the idea to have a gross out dinner scene. Which begs the question, is it gross out if the lead and most of the people at the table are eating the food without a problem? And honestly, some of that stuff did look good when I did a search.

And that RMO might be something I’m willing to try. It looks so freaking good all fried up like chicken or fish. Oh, and the other names for RMO that Google AI gave me are so freaking hilarious.

Other names for RMO are Cowboy caviar, Montana tendergroin, Dusted nut, Swinging beef, Lamb fries, Bull fries, Huevos de toro, Prairie oysters, and Spall's cojones.

Dusted nuts . . . come on, you laughed hard when you read that. I did. 🤣

You cannot make this stuff up, seriously. Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction.

******END of PART ONE******