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pertinax--loculos

@pertinax--loculos / pertinax--loculos.tumblr.com

aka Pockets | I write, on occasion | active WIP: Psyche Shards | leaning into thrillers with a dash of fantasy | happy to chat to all | mature content ahead |
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NEW Writeblr Re-Introduction

New title, new same old me. ^_^

Call me Pockets. I'm a writer in my early 30s who's been tapping out stories since my family had a monstrous desktop in our lounge room.

My primary genre is what could be called urban fantasy (possibly contemporary fantasy?), though I prefer to classify it as our world, but to the left. Think modern-day technology alongside magic systems and whatnot. This is at least partially because I’m interested in mysteries and thrillers but can’t be fucked working out real-world law enforcement etc. My works are almost always queer. I dabble in most genres, including sci-fi and high fantasy, with the notable exception of contemporary (and historical — aka anything ‘real world’ adjacent). I’ll read almost anything once. ;)

Some quick facts:

  • I've started five university degrees and finished none of them.
  • I currently have a Dream Job that I never would have considered until I put in the application. I get a lot of money for what amounts to very little work. Hopefully Qualifying in November, after which I’ll get another pay bump and a huge decrease in study, so look forward to that!
  • I'm a huge fan of tag games, asks, interaction in general! I'm pretty bad with actually doing any of it, but every notification brings me great joy.
  • I primarily post excerpts, and out-of-context musing about my WIPs. Love meta and process posts. I try to reblog and interact but I will go dark for weeks/months at a time (see above re: study). Currently trying to post a smallish snippet every day I write, mostly so I can prove that I do, actually, get words down on occasion. ^_^
  • I'm a Horse Girl (worked with them professionally for years), a Dinosaur Boy (I spend way too much money on books and action figures), and a Country Kid (though I'm now living in a city for the first time in my life and I love it).
  • I try to stay active, primarily through running and swimming, though I’m always up for taking classes in utterly random team sports. Love dragonboating and getting into ice hockey.
  • Some tags I use all the time are pockets muses IWL (in writing life) and pockets muses IRL (in real life)

I curse, frequently and without thought. This is a blog run by an adult writing about crimes and other adult themes, so. Peruse at your own risk.

Works in Progress

This is a… very long list. I have a bad habit of WIP-hopping, and I’m trying a few new things in order to get more of them to completion. These are listed by my current level of enthusiasm for working on them:

WIP: OOC WIP: TE-YAL WIP: ATN (first draft complete; also planning a sequel, ATN2) WIP: MTG (first draft complete; I’ve never edited anything and it’s intimidating) Vibes WIP WIP: AAH WIP: PS (zero draft complete) WIP: Risk It WIP: CASCADE (plus Second Phase, and its companion, WIP: INUNDATE) WIP: FF WIP: ITSOS The Monstrosity (and its companion, Le Ridiculous Thing)

#writeblr intro#writeblr re-introduction#(again)#writeblr introduction#about me
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Me: Yeah so I cooked [the tuna steak] exactly the same way I cook an eye fillet steak, I [did x, y, and z]. And it was AHMAZING. So so good! I highly recommend it, you should definitely give it a try!!

My mother, a former professional chef: ...

...

My mother, a former professional chef: You cook an eye fillet how??

#pockets muses IRL#oh yeah so totes not revealing how i cook a steak because of Potential Judgement#i do however eat eye fillet blue#im case peeps are thinking i abuse the shit out of it and then slather it in tomato sauce or something#but yeah point of the post:#TUNA STEAK IS INCREDIBLE#DOES NOT EVEN TASTE LIKE A FISH#i mean honestly eye fillet is probably less expensive at my markets#but still its a good to know!!
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Currently I'm writing something which is technically a fanfic crossover with an original story idea I had (which, also, technically started out as a fanfic) where the characters share names and some archetypes with the characters from the media in question, but also I'm leaning into the mains being horrible, broken people.

And honestly it's fun as fuck.

I'm also writing most of it atm as a zero outline, which I automatically format essentially as a tumblr post, including Random Capitalisation and starting way too many paragraphs with "and".

And it seems to be working?

Unfortunately there's very little that's shareable at least until I manage to pin down some pseudonyms (which is harder than it sounds, cuz I want both equivalent nicknames and I'm a little obsessive with getting, like, syllables and whatnot to match up so cadence matches in a lot of places, so it's difficult to find even placeholders), but holy hell I love this shit.

#pockets muses IWL#key question: does this have a plot?#NO of course it doesnt#however it does have many many scenes#so yknow#thats something#atm im less starting new wips than getting re-inspired by old wips#so im taking it as progress#mayhaps one day i will finish another thing!#...do not hold your breath 😅
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last line(s) tag

Thank you for the tag, @asher-writes!

Oh.. hehe.. these are the last lines I edited from The Insuppressible Electra Ray. Enjoy!

Simon 12-years-ago POV

The sex was impersonal, quick, and about as simple as he could hope for. The only time he even felt like he had anything to do with it was when she asked him to say it again.  “Huh?” he asked, having absolutely no idea what the last thing he said might’ve been.  “That it’s only me,” Electra breathed from above him, hair stuck to her forehead in sweaty strands. “That I’m different from everyone else. That I’m special. Say it.”  Oh, that. “It’s only you,” he repeated. He’d have sung a sea shanty if it got her moving again. “You’re special.”  She threw her head back and laughed, thoroughly satisfied. He didn’t ask her to explain, not then and not later, because he didn’t particularly care.

Tagging @winterandwords, @foxboyclit, @pertinax--loculos and @chauceryfairytales if they'd like to share last lines!

#!!!!!#UNEXPECTED TURN#am i just showing my tendency to dip in and out of tumblr randomly when i say i had no idea about this facet of their past????#or am i just useless :(#REGARDLESS#yes yes yes#good lord i need this WIP in my hands omg#its so gooooooooooood
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Remains of a Night | Aberration of Sunlight: Beta stage!

Hello to everyone! I'm super happy and excited to announce that another one of my wips has reached beta stage. It's a series of two books: with Remains of a Night being the first, and Aberration of Sunlight wrapping up the story. Like before, if anyone would like to give a wee fellow writer a hand, I'd beam in gratitude☺ If not -- if you could at least boost this post, that'd be delightfully kindly of you. ❤

Sign-up period: till April 10

Genre: sci-fi horror, taking place on either an icy planet, or in the dead of cosmic space, as we're on the runnnn

#ooOOooO#i need to get through the next couple days before i can give this any real bandwidth#but bumping anyway in case i dont get back to it in time! ^_^
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from lemonade hiatus, a side project while i edit press start

Shaking his head to dislodge the train preparing to derail, Jem finally comes to a stop. Stares at the end of the bed, at the wrinkled blankets countless people have slept under, fucked upon, and frowns because he's not likely to be doing either.

Hasn't slept in almost twenty-four hours. Too damn antsy and hopeful. That hope's burning out quicker than Jem can relight it, but fuck if he isn't determined.

Still, he kicks off his shoes—an old, worn pair of black and white Chuck Taylors that, although faded, still has Tobie's i<3u scrawled in Sharpie along the left's front sole-and rips off his socks. Tosses those aside. His pants are next to come off, left on the dingy carpet where he steps out of them.

His checkered blue and gray hoodie stays on. It smells like Sloane, like cinnamon and autumn leaves, like his embrace is still lingering in the fabric and thread, and there's a residual kick of cigarette smoke somewhere in the sleeves that reminds Jem of Delia.

Of home.

#gosh your writing is always such a treat <3#able to make things come alive with so few words!#i can see this feel it taste it#its great :D
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Reblogged space-writes
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I love all books but sometimes you read a book and you’re like so were all 21 thousand of you blindfolded and at gun point when you rated it 5 stars

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✍🏼 Word find tag (storm, danger, gamble, rumour)

Thanks to @willtheweaver for the tag!

📝 Search for the given words in your story. If your story doesn't have a word, you can use a variation on it or a word with a similar meaning.

Just gonna thesaurus my way through Name From Nowhere for these...

STORM

I look at Rafe, whose calm in this gathering storm gives me confidence that Gillen has the ability and experience to do what he’s offering.

DANGER

The threat of my own memory is more dangerous than anything anyone else could ever fire at me. But also. Also.

GAMBLE CHANCE

He goes to touch my arm, to slow me down maybe, to make it easier to talk, but I grab his wrist and twist it away from me before I have a chance to think about what I’m doing.

RUMOUR STORY

He laughs and finishes getting dressed, arranging a microarmour vest over a long-sleeved t-shirt, then the ancient leather coat he always wears. Bet that coat’s got a story and a half, but I’m not bringing it up today.

Tagging @sergeantnarwhalwrites, @somethingclevermahogony, @starbuds-and-rosedust and @sunset-a-story if you'd like to do it, with an open tag for anyone else who wants to join in.

The words to search your story for are awake, asleep, fresh, and tired 🩷

Reblogs, replies etc on my tag posts are always welcome, but if you're doing this tag yourself, please make your own post instead of using mine to start a reblog chain.

#ARGHHHHH#no pressure but#i cannot adequately explain how much i need to read this story 😍#your writing gives me life#every excerpt is a treat ♥️
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sunday snippet

A bit from the chapter I just polished off; I didn't have to make a ton of changes on this but made some little tweaks that I'm pretty sure slap. :) Enjoy poor Simon going through it.

The Insuppressible Electra Ray // Simon POV

Time forked - he saw all the way down the not-guilty road in a flash. He heard her voice dripping with smugness, saw himself getting dragged through a trial. Felt the weight of the coming weeks, months, years. He saw himself getting up there and being forced to lay his soul bare in front of hundreds of hungry eyes.  It felt as real as anything, and then her actual voice reached his ears.  “Not guilty,” she said.  Not his imagination. The shocked gasps and the gauche, intrusive popping of cameras; Virginia next to him, making a pained whimper, grabbing his hand. His heart stopped.  But what if she really hadn’t-?  “No, no. Wait.” Electra’s voice cut through the clamor. “Oh, geez. I’m sorry, I meant the other one.”  Virginia squeezed his hand. Riley sat stone-still as ever, her gaze fixed on Electra. The judge banged his gavel and called for silence, for Electra to take the proceedings seriously, and to restate her plea for the record while she looked around the room, feigning alarm through thinly veiled delight.  “Guilty, I swear,” she declared, her voice as loud and clear as it’d ever been. “You have to forgive me, your honor, it’s been a tiring couple days. But I totally did it, hundred percent, guilty of murder in the first degree.”  She articulated the last couple words with pride, a confident student center-stage at a spelling bee. Then she saw him, and locked her eyes on his.  He held her gaze, but it wasn't easy. It only lasted a second before she turned back around in her seat to face the judge again, but not before blowing him a little kiss - just a tiny puckering of her lips and a breath behind it to send it through the air.  The air caught fire and his throat clenched shut and what he wanted to was to run from the room and find a place where no one was watching and no could hear him and just scream. At the same time, an unfamiliar voice told him not to give her the satisfaction. It was a new voice, just born, and it hated her. His skin prickled.  “You realize,” the judge grumbled, “that by pleading guilty, you give up your right to trial by a jury of your peers?”  “Yep.”  “You also know that you forfeit your right to cross-examine your accusers?”  “Yes, I do,” she said wistfully, as if that, of all things, was what she regretted the most. He half-expected her to turn around again. If she had, he might have snapped.  She didn’t. It just went on like that, the judge asking her if she understood this and that. The press continued snapping photos behind them, shifting in their seats to get a good angle between everyone’s heads, but Electra - Electra had clearly grown bored. She cocked her head and answered the questions put to her in a monotone after that, and Simon came back down to the room, to the emptiness of it all.  So vacant: Virginia and Riley next to him, Electra up in front, the judge, the guards, the reporters, everything. A movie with a predictable ending on a flat screen, and he was the only idiot in the audience that didn’t see it coming. Who had expected more for some reason and could only sit there slack-jawed as the credits rolled.  Even when they walked her out, she didn’t look his way again. 
#woof#this is so JUICY#also i cackled at electras “whoops oh wait the other one” lmao#love simons thoughts here too#the new voice bit is just beautiful#so evocative!#love to see this coming together :D
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Reblogged ashen-crest
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I can't believe I have to say this again

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
The Atlantic

Look. I've posted about how piracy fucks the little guys at least twice already, but guys, seriously, I'm being so fucking real with you, PIRACY FUCKS THE LITTLE GUY.

And this is just another shining example of how.

8 of my titles are on this list. 8 of my titles that I spent months writing, editing, revising, crying over, screaming over, plotting, putting my heart into have been pirated, and then used to train some soulless AI that will then go on to make money for a big corporation, without my consent.

And I'm on the lower end. Other authors literally have over 100 works on this list. New authors just getting into this have their debut books on this list.

I repeat, this was done without our consent. This was done because someone pirated our book, and made it available to the general public for free.

So when I beg you to please not pirate books. When I tell you that it's literally ripping the potential to make our art our livelihood from our hands. When I say that every author would 100% rather you come to us and ask us about where to find our books outside of pirate sites, or even to see if we have any ARCs available if you can't afford it. . .

I do so because in the end the only one you're hurting is artists who are just like you. Just trying to put food on the table. Working long hours. Giving up weekends. Putting everything they've got into their work. And all we're asking for is that you not pirate our books, so that we can pay our bills.

We do this thing because we love it, but there's no reason that doing something we love that provides entertainment for others shouldn't make us enough to live off of. If you don't believe that, I'm afraid you've fallen for the brainwashing bullshit that some jobs "just aren't worth anything". And that, my dears, is a larger problem than I have the ability to express.

Everyone should make a fair wage from drive thru workers to writers.

Everyone should be able to pay their bills.

Don't pirate shit.

Thank you, goodnight.

#look#will i pirate tv shows?#yes#will i pirate movies?#hell yes#will i pirate books?#FUCK NO#i have literally emailed authors about out of print books#(fun fact! one time i did this i got the book i was after AND another one the author had published in the meantime)#i have trawled secondhand sites#i have trawled secondhand STORES#do not fucking pirate books#what the fuck people
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