G.M. Gray

@gmgray

they/them Writer. Artist. Gun metal gray. I am writing queer normative sci-fi blending literature, genre, and weeby anime fun!

741 Folgt1.682 Follower4.522 Posts

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G.M. Gray@gmgray· 28d

bsky's identity verification policy (below) implies users can choose to use these as verification methods -- not that they'll be done without a user's consent. Just a heads up for other AT&T users, though I suspect all major carriers are doing something like this...

A description of the Bluesky Privacy Policy:
Third Party Age or Identity Verification. Where required by law, Bluesky may use third-party services to verify that you are old enough to access certain features or content. This verification may involve one or more of the following methods, depending on your jurisdiction and availability:

Government ID Verification: Uploading an image of a government-issued ID, which is checked for authenticity.
Facial Age Estimation: Uploading a selfie or real-time facial scan used to estimate age via machine learning technology.
Payment Card Verification: Providing a valid payment card to confirm age through a nominal transaction or validation check.
Knowledge-Based Verification (KBV): Answering questions based on public records to confirm identity and age.
Social Vouching: A verified adult vouches for the user's age using their own verified account or identity.
Mobile Phone Verification: Using a phone number linked to a mobile carrier account to infer your age.
Email Based Age Inference: Using publicly available data about an existing email account to infer your age.

You will be able to choose from among available jurisdiction-specific options based on your preference. We do not retain any biometric data or facial images provided to third-party age verification vendors.

The f section is highlighted as is the word "choose"

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jul 13

#artfight #teammystery As we all know, pistols grow up to become submachine guns. Tis the circle of life.

A picture of a young Black girl with type 4C purple hair in a cute blue dress with purples tights and a pistol in her left hand as she steps through a door frame with a glowing fluid-like portal. On the other side is what appears to be the same woman but older wearing the same shoes and tights but now in a purple business suit with ascot. She is carrying a submachine gun now. The background is dark and shadowy and there are ripples where their feet touch the "ground" though the ripples do not cross the doorway.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jul 11

Sell your book in 5 words: Gay space pirates debating anarchy

The cover of Triple Strike: Threads of Fate which is the first book in the series. It depicts the two lead characters, Alan and Sven, on the bridge of a ship. Alan is standing, leaning on his sword, while Sven is seated in the captain's chair before a ship's wheel. He has an iguana on a shoulder, and he's smiling up at Alan.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jul 4

4th of July cocktail menu 🦅

A handwritten page with two recipes for the French 75 and The Communist. Recipe as follows.

French 75:
1 oz gin
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
3 oz sparkling wine
Garnish with a lemon twist

The Communist:
1 oz gin
1 oz orange juice
.5 oz cherry brandy
.75 oz lemon juice
Garnish with a cherry and/or orange peel

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jul 3

Money can’t buy happiness? What if it bought this doll of my husbando that I paid too much for, but Shang Bu Huan is worth every penny in my heart. What then?

A photo of the Nendoroid case for the Shang Bu Huan/Syou Fu Kan doll from Thunderbolt Fantasy by Good Smile

A photo of the Nendoroid doll of Shang Bu Huan from Thunderbolt Fantasy posed with his sword and umbrella next to a hand crafted glass bunny and a plant vase with grackles on it.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jul 2

First #artfight attack is on @noahkuhn.bsky.social's character, Thess. All those years spent drawing nothing but horses has apparently led to this day. #teammystery

A picture of an armored centaur with a prosthetic leg carrying a nonbinary banner.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jul 1

I halfway finished this last night, so went ahead and posted Nat's character to #artfight. I'm having a Time atm, but gonna do my best to draw shit anyway 🫠 artfight.net/character/10...

A character sheet of Natalia Jiordson along with several hair styles. The sheet says:
Natalia Jiordson (she/her)
pyrean
mischievous, competitive, friendly
16 Standard Pyrean years
165 cm

There are three hair styles. "Usual" is just her curly hair held back by two braids along the side, "Braid" is one single braid, and "formal" is a bunch of braids curling around a bun and before her ears.

At the bottom it says "if this were a manga, Nat would have a different outfit/hairstyle in every issue, so feel free to go nuts...

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 29

I really enjoy these connection things though lol

A clip of the Art Fight connections for Valtra Segel.

It says "Valtra Segel's Connections" and depicts connections between her and Sven, and her and Alan.
Her to Sven: Sven is the captain of the Merry Swallow, and one of Valtra's closest friends.
Sven to her: Valtra is the first mate of the Merry Swallow, and one of Sven's closest friends.
Her to Alan: Valtra is fond of Alan even though he's a cop.
Alan to her: Alan is fond of Valtra even though he's slightly afraid of her.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 29

My lack of teeth-drawing experience is showing, but here's Valt's profile. I'd like to get Nat's in before #artfight but it's not looking good 🥲 artfight.net/character/97...

A character sheet of the character, Valtra, from Triple Strike. It depicts a elven woman in work out clothes with short blue hair and long black locks before her ears. The sheet says:
Valtra Segel (she/her)
pyrean
diligent, cheerful, blunt
49 Standard Pyrean years
179 cm

A picture of her bust has three arrows pointing to it. One points to her right ear and says "two studs in right ear." The arrow pointing to her left ear says "two rings in left ear" and a third pointing at her shoulder says "she's pretty yoked."

There are two sketches of her mouth, slightly open and closed showing her teeth. The open mouth depicts several sharp teeth and the arrow says "lateral incisors + canines are sharp." The one depicting her closed mouth shows a hint of fangs and says "canines peek out"

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 26

#QueerPrompts Spoilers, but hopefully the five people who read TS have already finished it lol.

A picture of Sven and Alan from Triple Strike blocked out in a solid gray, depicting Sven looking up at Alan, their fingers intertwined, as they smile at each other. Sven looks mostly the same has he does in the series, but Alan has long hair pulled into a braid suggesting some time has passed.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 26

Gonna try to get Nat and Valt done this weekend, but I'm losing the steam/motivation to make character ref, in all honesty 😔 artfight.net/character/95...

A character sheet for Sven Jiordson from Triple Strike. It features a full color picture of him, Eric the iguana, blocked colors on his sword, and inks of his head and his hand.

The text says:
Sven Jiordson (he/him)
pyrean
playful, outgoing, energetic
41 Standard Pyrean years
165 cm

Eric (he/him)
green iguana
judgmental
?? Standard Pyrean years
132 cm

Sven's chibi face is labeled with three arrows pointing to his ears and hair. The one pointing at his hair says "cuts his own hair." The one pointing at his right earring says "stud in right ear" and the one pointing at the left earring says "ring in left ear.

Below that is his sword in blocked out reds and whites and it's labeled "Zimorodok (sister's rapier)"

There's also a sketch of a right hand with a faint outline along the wrist and it says "right hand is prosthetic but is almost indistinguishable from original"

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 26

The supposed Alan joke is really just Sven being gay and horny, but it makes *me* laugh, and that's what matters, right? 🙂‍↕️

Sven looked vaguely offended. “I’m not that easy to impress.”
“Believe what you want,” Alan laughed with a shake of his head. “Oh, Sven, by the way…”
He picked up Kidnapped. “I didn’t know you knew English.”
“I don’t.”
Alan blinked. “But this copy is in English.”
“Oh, Kidnapped? Yeah, I read it in United Pyrean as a kid. Absolutely loved it. Was my favorite book for years and years, so I picked up a version in the original language. This copy has pictures,” Sven added as if that explained everything.
“It’s a fun novel,” Alan admitted. He enjoyed the old human adventure books of that era, but he couldn’t claim a deep obsession like pyreans had.
“It is,” Sven agreed. His eyes turned just a little wicked. “Ever since I read it, I’ve wanted an Alan of my own.”

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 26

#WritingCommunity First use of "fox" in Triple Strike is a reference to the Red Fox from Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, which Alan reads after being awoken by cannon fire. This initial "Kidnapped" joke is actually an elaborate setup to make an even sillier Alan Breck Stewart joke.

Alan picked up his watch, which was set to Standard Pyrean time, and confirmed it was well before the dawn bell. He forced himself to lie back on the bed, doing his best to ignore the adrenaline pumping through him. After a few minutes of counting his racing heartbeats, Alan realized sleep was hopeless.
He turned on a small reading light by the bed and pulled out one of Sven’s paperbound novels at random. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, and it was in the original English. Did Sven actually know English? Was this book’s presence coincidence, the Fates, or Sven’s deranged sense of humor?
Hard to tell, Alan mused as he flipped to the middle. David was just about to encounter the Red Fox when the door to the hallway opened.
Sven stood, silhouetted by the corridor’s dim lights. He remained comically quiet as if to avoid waking Alan, and only halfway through tip-toeing into the room did he notice Alan’s reading light.
“Oh! Alan!” There was a long, awkward pause. “You’re awake!”
“Mmm,” Alan murmured. “Strange as it sounds, I couldn’t sleep through what I assume was a shell strike.”

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 25

I keep getting derailed on the inventory system, but I wanted "conditional progression" for when the dialogue automatically progresses after certain > 1 choices are selected. It's not a particularly flexible system atm, but I'm waiting on actual writer needs before worrying about more features...

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 25

Need time away so I can look for issues with the line work tomorrow, but trying to get art fight ref for Sven and a couple other members of the crew finished before the weekend.

Digital line work for Sven's outline on a gray background. He is smiling with his hands on his hips

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 24

Hi #plantsky my Haworthia retusa is well on its way to filling this cute pot. Any bigger and I worry I’ll have issues repotting it without damaging the plant/the pot. Is this something to be proactive about now or will it be okay even if it completely fills the pot?

A picture of Haworthia retusa aka star cactus in a shark shaped pot. The curve of the shark mouth and the spiky shark teeth may make it hard to safely repot the plant later if it needs that.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 23

I got a ref done for art fight \o/. Let's see if I can get a couple more finished before July hopefully? 😅 artfight.net/character/93...

A character reference sheet that has two main pictures of Alan, with and without his coat. There are a couple additional sketches. One of his sword, a sabre with a dragon handle and winged quillon, and the other of his shirtless back and pony tail. The title text says:
Alan Beringer (he/him)
(mostly) human
polite, introverted, dry sense of humor
27 Standard Earth years
180 cm

Next to one picture an arrow points at Alan's face saying "default expression looks kinda judgmental."

Next to the other picture, an arrow points at Alan's shirt saying "prefers loosely form-fitting collared shirts"

Next to the shirtless back sketch, one arrow points at his very short ponytail "ponytail pointy like a shark fin" and other points at his tattoo "tattoo if for some reason you draw him shirtless"

Finally the sword is labeled Drachewunden: family heirloom & sabre

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 21

I think the next tankoban for The Summer Hikaru Died is back to bright blue but I do enjoy this thematic descent into darkness now that I have enough shelf space to put them in order instead of leaving them haphazardly stacked.

A picture of a small footprint spinning book shelf with all seven current volumes of The Summer Hikaru Died next to the first few volumes of Dorohedoro. Some Mushishi, novels by MXTX and Blade of the Immortal are also visible so yes this is my weeb shelf

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 18

Inspired by @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social's prompt, I put together a "Crying in Triple Strike" bar chart. Data is per book; verge of tears vs actual crying are differentiated. Shailen really should be in "other," but she's going through it in Book 5, so I figured it's worth pulling her out lol.

A bar chart counting times each character cried per book divided by "actual tears" and "verge of tears"

The final tally is:

Threads of Fate
Actual Tears: 0
Verge of Tears: Sven (1)

Pasts Revisited
Actual Tears: Alan (1), Sven (1), Other (1)
Verge of Tears: Sven (3), Natalia (2)

A Gathering Storm
Actual Tears: Alan (2), Sven (1), Valtra (2), Other (1)
Verge of Tears: Alan (1), Natalia (2), Other (2)

Threads Unbound
Actual Tears: Alan (2), Sven (2)
Verge of Tears: Valtra (1)

Starfarer's Dream
Actual Tears: Alan (2), Sven (1), Natalia (1), Ian (1), Shailen (3), Other (2)
Verge of Tears: Sven (1), Shailen (1), Other (1)

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 18

With the story organized into a flowchart, I'm now roughing out mini game mechanics/visualizing them with colors to help figure out which sections need more/less interactions. Once this is done, it'll be back to the code mines while I (hopefully) get early feedback from designer friends.

A picture of a several charts and diagrams in draw.io labeled Minigames, Case File, Part 1, Part 2 and the rest is cut off. Colors coordinate between the minigames listed and the gameplay flow charts.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 17

#WritingCommunity Alan is given the rare opportunity -- not only to come aboard a ma'jenn vessel but to visit the bridge.

“Watch your step,” Jakob said, and Alan didn’t understand what he meant until he took a step forward. When he looked down, he almost stumbled.
Alan had been on large ships before, but the bridge of the Therin was uncomfortably massive. Some near-transparent material, more imperceptible than the great stargazing panel over the Swallow’s stern, enclosed it on all sides. Below Alan’s feet, there was nothing but space and distant stars, and the only indication that the bridge wasn’t floating free from the ship were delicate pylons secured around the bridge in meandering but deliberate loops. This close, Alan could see the etched patterns — hieroglyphic images of birds and flowers and animals from across the galaxy.
As beautiful as it was, this was as close to vertigo as Alan had experienced.
“Inspector Beringer.”
A low, pleasant voice spoke in International Human, coming from the end of a platform that ran the length of the bridge. Half a dozen ma’jenn lined this platform, seated before terminals more closely resembling termite mounds than computers, but these workers ignored their guests as they went about their duties. A single ma’jenn had risen from their seat at the main command terminal to regard them.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 17

If you're curious, this is what that scrawl looks like reorged into a flow cart for dialogue/mechanics. Still needs a bunch of work, but at least it's readable ^^;;.

A picture of a draw.io workspace which has a number of flow charts/diagrams broadly organized into "Case File" "Part 1" "Part 2" and "Part 3"

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 16

One of the roadrunners who lives around our house. My partner was going up the drive and saw one of the parents teaching it to hunt 😌

A photo of a young roadrunner sitting on a stack of cinder blocks. It is crouched down because it noticed me pulling into the drive so it was trying not to move.

The same roadrunner making its somewhat sauntering escape up the drive, crest up and tail straight back.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 14

Initial outline of the first Triple Strike case is done (thank you low sales at cons for the dev time rip 🙃). @allcapscall.bsky.social it will be readable by the time I get it to you, I promise 😅

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 13

I know everyone loves the Bad White-Haired Man but I viscerally relate to the Grump Gremlin

A sketch of Olruggio’s bust from Witch Hat Atelier. He looks grouchy and sleep deprived. The following descriptors surround him:
- unwashed
- unshaven
- vitamin D deficiency
- bad back
- bad posture
- sleep deficit
- body of a 50 yo
- soul of an 80 yo

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 13

I used to buy nail polish that wasn’t gun metal gray to “branch out” but then I just accepted I won’t wear nail polish unless it’s gun metal gray.

A picture of the OP’s fingers curled to show the gun metal gray nails.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 13

If you’ve thought to yourself “I really hate how happy the cast of Triple Strike looks,” don’t worry. Every other story idea I have is full of sad people in sad situations.

Some sketch ideas of an unnamed character. There is a sketch of two kukri, a young-looking woman with wolf ears, a long braid, and a heavy coat that hides both her hands and then another sketch of the same character with the coat off in a simple chest cover with a collar. She is completely blank-faced.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 12

I just think Shang Bu Huan is unreasonably beautiful and I wish I could do him justice 😭

Shang Bu Huan from Thunderbolt Fantasy with his torn umbrella in the rain grimacing as he reaches for his sword.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 12

Shang Bu Huan and Lin Xue Ya from Thunderbolt Fantasy. I was waiting to finish the show before I started to obsessively draw these two.

A pencil sketch of Shang Bu Huan and Lin Xue Ya from Thunderbolt Fantasy. Shang is lying in Lin’s lap chin propped on his hand as he regards Lin with only one eye open grimacing. Lin has his pipe in hand and is regarding Shang with a mischievous smile.

G.M. Gray@gmgray· Jun 12

“I’m bored at the con” sketches that may or may not get finished. My favorite non-canonical-except-in-my-heart Triple Strike pairing.