Dray's personal trash pile

The Endless Forest

The stupid part is I wasn't dodging it. I wasn't (trying to) procrastinate. The sketch already existed. My brain had taken the commission, carefully placed it one tab just outside my field of vision, and then acted like it had been erased from the timeline.

I have learned that if something is not actively visible on my screen, there is a very real chance it enters the same dimension as missing socks.

Anyway.

People always assume the solution is "get a better task app." I have gotten so many task apps.

Notion. Todoist. Google Tasks. phone reminders. sticky notes. physical planners. text files named things like MASTER LIST FINAL FOR REAL THIS TIME. Every single one worked perfectly right up until they didn't. Like as soon as I closed them or tabbed into my actual work tab.

The moment I opened a new tab (to do actual work) those tasks actually stopped existing.

I don't even mean that in a dramatic way. I mean literally. The second the app wasn't on my screen, my brain would happily spend six hours writing fanfic and then surface from the depths like

oh right, I was waiting on a beta reader

oh right, I never posted that chapter

oh right, that commission

oh right, those reference images

Meanwhile there are fourteen tabs open, three WIPs fighting with knives in the parking lot, and some brand new fandom has already moved into my head without signing a lease.

The list wasn't the problem. I am GOOD at writing lists. But actually the list was sitting somewhere outside of my FOV and that was the problem.

Creative projects are especially bad for this because none of them live in one place. You've got a draft open. AO3 open. Reference images. Art software. Discord messages. Event deadlines. Notes documents. Screenshots. A folder called "fic ideas" containing either genius or complete nonsense depending on what time it is. And somehow you're expected to remember the stuff that's currently behind another window. I couldn't.

Eventually I got annoyed enough to do what I always do when software annoys me, which is develop an extremely unhealthy level of determination. I realized I didn't want a smarter task manager. I wanted a task manager that was physically incapable of leaving.

I wanted something that stayed on top of everything. Above Google Docs, above Krita, above the browser tab where I'm researching a historical detail for a scene that absolutely did not need historical research but now we're here.

I wanted a little list sitting in the corner going "hey. remember the rest of your life." So I built one. When I'm writing, drawing, texting, whatever—it. will. be. there. Forever. (Unless I minimize it ofc).

It 's not distracting either. When I click away from it, it fades back so it's not constantly demanding space for my limited attention. It's more like having a sticky note with object permanence powers. And when I don't need the space, I can collapse it down into this tiny little bar that basically says "I'm still here. nice try."

Anyway I just wanted to rant about my checklist app cause it's awesome and I'm a nerd. Sorry.

If any of this sounds familiar and you're also operating on a "out of sight, no longer part of reality" system, I put the app up. It's called Checklist App (very original).

Maybe it'll help. Worst case, it can sit in the corner judging both of us. Best case, it'll remind you to write that one fic you keep putting off.

and then even smaller

Not a biologist, but the evolution of mammals is way more granular than you might expect. Humans are the sole surviving species of the genus Homo, which was a real party before the other ones went extinct. You're in for a fun time.

Domestic cats are believed to be domesticated not from tigers, but from the African wildcat:

Which evolved to be small just because it's sometimes more useful to be small.

And no, hamsters are not off-brand rats. They're part of the rodent order, which includes beavers, moles, capybaras, guinea pigs (yes, also wild) and lots of other fun things:

He was perched on the shoulder of a well-built young man.

The man was a member of an organization dedicated to the protection, management, and research of mythological creatures — an organization I was also a part of.

In the dream, the man was wearing the organization’s jacket, but I’m sure he would get injured, so in this illustration, I’ve dressed him in body armor with ceramic plates.

In the dream, this boy was being called an angel.

He looks like an angel (a supernatural being), but if you look closely, each part of his body is extremely bird-like.

His intelligence is about the same as a crow’s. He’s treated like an animal. His body resembles a human’s too closely, so they’ve put clothes on him—just in case.

I guess I’m thinking about the same kind of beings whether I’m asleep or awake.