🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝

@skkelleywrites

Sam (31, she/they), author of Sidetracked currently struggling fr weird/queer/INTP/artist/mom/part-time furry my characters haunt me incessantly read my books 👉

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🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· 27d

if you see this, post a smiling oc ! (if you wanna!)✨ Ice & Jayde on the Fourth of July (in Sidetracked Part 1). They are smiling, but I feel kind of evil time I see this illustration. 💀

selfie Jayde took of herself (blushing, smiling white girl with long brown hair and large green eyes wearing a red white and blue tank top) with Ice (softly smiling white man with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a red Tshirt and black leather jacket); he has her arm around her shoulder

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· 28d

unedited #WIPSnips from To Break A Curse

The next day, I headed outside as soon as the sun came up over the trees and shone down on the clearing.

I never spent much time outside during the day before. Not only was I more afraid of being caught during the day, but the sunlight kind of hurt my eyes. My monster form was definitely meant to be nocturnal. I think Rachel must have picked up on that. Sure, she had insomnia or whatever, but she didn't have to always come out at 1AM.

The sun was kind of warm, though. I never felt cold, like I was going to freeze to death or anything, no matter how low the temperature got, but I never felt warm either. Sitting in the sun that day, though, I felt a little warm for the first time in a long while.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· 29d

unedited snippet from To Break A Curse #WIPSnips

Tamber is...an acquired taste. She's a lesbian, like me, but she is...a lot. She is something of a goth—the type to dye her hair black and wear black on black on black with black metallic accents and black platform boots—and a self-proclaimed neo-pagan. Tamber could be cool if she knew how to be chill for more than five seconds.

That said, I didn't dislike her. I let her beta-read my stories on occasion. Her mom was a witch or whatever, so Tamber's input came in handy a tew times.

She doesn't have the guts for real horror, though.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 17

me every time I have a social interaction

sketch of human head with no brain; in the white space where the brain should be, it says “I have got to get normaler”

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 16

from Something Familiar #WIPSnips

"What is he doing?" Michael asked-the
question I was too scared to ask myself.

When I glanced up again, Amun truly looked like he pitied me, and it filled me with cold dread.

"Daniel is overemotional," he said, clearly disapproving. "I cannot say what his plan entails, but it's certainly nothing wise."

Kathrynne was incredibly upset and frustrated. "Daniel doesn't have a plan, A. We don't know nearly enough about Gottfried's organization to safely infiltrate it yet, and he knows less than we do. Rushing in alone and unprepared like that is... Well, it's suicide."

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 15

he is beauty, he is grace, he has no idea what he is doing here please help him

it’s James Reid’s feline form (and orange cat with golden eyes) as the autism creature

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 14

This is the only vaguely interesting snippet I have with “phase”. From Resignation: Sidetracked Part 4 #WIPSnips

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 14

my next genius sticker idea that no one asked for and which appeals to absolutely no one but myself is… (drumroll, pls) the autism creature, but it’s my fan-favorite(?) original character James Reid (do you see the vision??)

it’s the autism creature, but some weirdo drew cat ears and a tail on it, and colored it orange using a highlight pen

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 13

I love my weird girls. #WIPSnips from To Break A Curse

I honestly wasn't expecting her to agree so quickly. Didn't she find it super weird that the monster girl living in a treehouse in the woods would ask for a blended coffee? I sure felt weird when I said it!

"I can bring it after school," she offered. "I know you said decaf, but it might be too cold late at night to properly enjoy a frozen coffee."

For some reason, her logic was comforting.

"What's the weather forecast?" I asked.

Rachel's smile was almost crooked. "Sunny. High of sixty degrees."

She never once asked why I wanted a blended decaf caramel macchiato, and I never told her that I had been craving one for several weeks. She simply finished sorting and putting away the groceries as usual. Before she headed out for the night, she assured me that she'd be back with the coffee the next afternoon, and I assured myself that I would tell her the truth tomorrow if it killed me.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 12

normal lesbian behavior (an overwhelming urge to brush the scary forest monster girl’s hair) #WIPSnips from To Break A Curse

It snowed in December—a full three inches over the course of a single day—but I trudged out to the treehouse in the middle of the night to bring Em her next food delivery anyway. She was shocked to see me and seemed upset that I bothered in such poor weather.

I brought extra hand warmers, so I didn't see the problem. Besides, I'd been dying to ask to brush her hair, and that was the first thing I did once I was safely shut inside the treehouse with her.

She hit me with a look that rivaled the one she gave me when she first opened the door to let me in, but she said, "I guess."

"I brought detangler and everything," I told her.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 12

that awkward writer thing where something traumatic happens to you, and your first thought once you’re no longer in immediate danger is “I should write a story about this” (from To Break A Curse) #WIPSnips

I changed into pajamas and sat on the edge of my bed. I stared at my desk. The window behind it. My open laptop on it, the screen dark.

Then my gaze fell to my bandaged arm, and it hit me again, like a ton of bricks now that I was safe and sound in my bedroom. The fact that I had found an honest to god, real life horror story CREATURE in the woods. I didn't get a good look at it, only pale skin and glowing blue eyes, but it attacked me.

Creepypasta monsters were real.

As my mind swirled with a million thoughts, inspiration for a new series stuck like a lightning bolt, and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I started.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 11

i got the neat costume, u guys but it makes him not mean, so im kind of torn about actually using it… what’s the point if he’s not a silly little evil jester anymore? 😞

screenshot from CookieRun: Kingdom

I got Shadow Milk Cookie’s Sage of Truth Costume via gacha

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 10

No “substitute”, so I went with “replaced” The TV at the far end of the room was missing, having been replaced by a black piano. Daniel mentioned liking piano, but I never saw him play music before, so I kept quiet and watched for a while. (( #WIPSnips from Something Familiar ))

The music's muffled quality gave way to clear piano notes reverberating through the building, but I was still confused. I couldn't recall there being a piano in the duplex before.

I slid along the wall until I reached the end of the hallway and could peer into the living room. The TV at the far end of the room was missing, having been replaced by a black piano. Daniel mentioned liking piano, but I never saw him play music before, so I kept quiet and watched for a while.

To be honest, I don't think I could have torn my eyes away if I wanted to.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 10

This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve found in my Ice POV notes, but it’s 100% a canon moment Smoke is the biggest Ice hater, and he’s not afraid to let him know it (but only on the rare occasion they’re alone together bc Night gets upset when Smoke is mean to him in front of her lmao)

When Ice goes back inside, Night is standing in the den with Smoke. She looks up with wide eyes upset—while Smoke has a hand on her shoulder and looks livid.

Ice dryly thinks, "What stake do you have in this conflict?"

Then Night says, "What is wrong with you? Did you have to hurt him like that?"

"Calm down, Night. James is fine. We were just talking."

"Just talking?!"

Smoke is not impressed. He glances at his sister and says, "You're both too worked up. There's no use talking to that guy right now. Come on."

When he taps her, she covers her face and runs down the hallway to her bedroom, slamming the door on her way inside. Smoke takes two steps after her, then turns back.

"Fuck you, Ice."

"Not in a million years."

He flips me off on his way out of the den. Very mature.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 9

"Daniel's utmost wish is to prevent your premature death," [Amun] said. "Until we put an end to Gottfried's menace, I'm afraid your wishes are incongruous. You'd do well to keep yourself out of danger." (( #WIPSnips from Something Familiar ))

"I just want Daniel to be happy."

Amun hit me with a look of mild confusion—more emotion then I think l'd ever seen from him up to that point— before turning to address me directly.
He watched me with those hawk-like eyes, regarding me like the stupid, naive child I was.

"Daniel's utmost wish is to prevent your premature death," he said. "Until we put an end to Gottfried's menace, I'm afraid your wishes are incongruous. You'd do well to keep yourself out of danger."

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 8

I haven’t used “humid” in any of my WIPs yet, so here’s a snippet from Borderline: Sidetracked Part 2 during Jayde’s squatting in an abandoned house with the weird homeless guy I barely know era #WIPSnips

I understand why James decided the kitchen was a lost cause. Fire hazard aside, it's cluttered and dirty, and a family of birds may have set themselves up in one of the overhead cabinets.

At the far end, there's a white door with a decorative stained-glass panel gone cloudy with age. I move the wooden chair blocking the door aside, turn the lock, and step out into intense humid heat.

The conservatory itself is small. One of three large panes of glass on the ceiling is broken and covered by a plywood board. Most of the glass still litters the floor—it crunches, brittle beneath my shoes. A few wall panels are broken too, but they're covered by thick, yellowing plastic. I glance over the old wicker chairs and ceramic pots long missing plants. There's a tall, metal cabinet in the back of the room, where the wall is brick, beside an old, rusted washing machine.

Calling this a utility room is a stretch.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 7

This is from Afterglow, which is decidedly not a WIP, but I like this description of James’ bedroom. #WIPSnips

James' bedroom is small and squarish.

The air, while more breathable, is hotter and stuffier than the air downstairs, where I believe an old window AC unit was doing its best to cool the first floor.

The twin-size bed in the far corner of the room is haphazardly made with vaguely childish bedding, and the only other pieces of furniture are a small wooden dresser acting as an end table with a half-empty water bottle and red spiral notebook on top, a near-empty bookcase, and a plastic wastebasket with no liner. Several cardboard boxes are stacked in one corner of the room, and the small closet—which doesn't have a door despite looking like it should—contains only a broken skateboard, a guitar case covered in quarter machine stickers, and a white box fan. The warm, off-white walls are bare too, save for at least a dozen silver thumbtacks with torn bits of colored paper still clinging to them.

What kind of posters were hanging in here before he took them down?

James grimaces as he pokes around the room, and, as I look again too, something about it feels strangely off.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 5

Daniel & Amun, bffs of all time #WIPSnips (Something Familiar)

"It is a joy to see you again, old friend," Amun said, gracing me with a rare
smile. "How long has it been, fifty years now?"

He was off by a couple decades, but I did not care to correct him, so I merely
shrugged. "Something to that effect. I do apologize for hiding away so long."

With the wave of a hand, I moved the hand-carved bench from beside the cabin to a sunny space beneath my Bartlett pear tree, and we sat there. Seeing Amun made it more difficult to recall exactly how much time had passed since we last spoke. His human form looked the same as it always had, for as long as I could remember only his hair and clothing ever seemed to change.

"Time heals all wounds," Amun said. He met my puzzled gaze with a tameness that could easily pass for mild humor. "Is that not how the human expression goes? Certainly, such sayings could apply to sentimental familiars as well."

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 5

I have SO MANY things I need to draw, but this came to me in a vision and would not leave my head until I made it real DECO*27 “Monitoring” feat. Ice Monroe (female ver.) wearing a brat t-shirt

view through a door peephole of an unhinged blonde-haired, blue eyed white woman leaning toward the peephole with her arms behind her back; her hair was haphazardly cut short, she has a moderately disturbing smile on her face, and she is wearing a red t-shirt with “brat” on the chest

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 4

I do not know anything about this camera, but I’m going through some of my late great-grandmother’s things, and I thought it was neat

very old packaging for No 2 Hawk-Eye Special Kodak camera

the camera out of the box (it looks like a black box itself)

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 4

girl should’ve just gone home 💀

"I know I just need to get it over with," I mutter, shoving my phone charger into my duffel bag. "But that's easier said than done. You get it, right?"

Smoke snorts from his spot on the far loveseat. "Oh, yeah. We all know that guy's impossible to talk to."

Difficult. Impossible.

The adjectives keep getting worse.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 4

#WIPSnips from To Break A Curse

She uncorked the round bottle, which really did look like a fantasy potion bottle, and grimaced as she looked back up at me. She had an impossible time looking me in the eyes. For more than one reason, I bet.

"Mind if I splash you with it?" she asked.

I sighed. Then shrugged. "Guess it can't
hurt."

Tamber poured that whole bottle out on
me. For a second, it looked like the black stains on my chest lightened a little. But I didn't change at all. I was still a gross monster, and Tamber looked really upset.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 3

It made me nervous, knowing I wasn't alone out there, but I wrote those horror stories, and I knew they weren't real. Behind the adrenaline, I was immensely curious. I would never be able to sleep if I didn't get to the bottom of it. #WIPSnips from To Break A Curse

I shined my flashlight around and called out, "Who's there?" , as loudly as I could. My voice echoed for a second, then the forest fell dead silent. No crickets, no birds, no crunching leaves.

Several seconds of tense silence followed, then I heard a flurry of movement. More crunching, a snap, a bang, scrabbling, and finally what sounded like a slamming door. The sounds did not give off an animal vibe, which worsened the surreal r/NoSleep atmosphere I felt in the moment.

It made me nervous, knowing I wasn't alone out there, but I wrote those horror stories, and I knew they weren't real. Behind the adrenaline, I was immensely curious. I would never be able to sleep if I didn't get to the bottom of it.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 3

I don’t have the energy to market much atm, but Sidetracked is in a disability pride month bundle with 32 other books. 33 books for $33 There are some very cool books here. itch.io/b/3751/disab...

marketing graphic with disability pride flag in background and books covers around the border; Disability Pride Month Bundle
33 Scifi, Fantasy, and Horror Books for $33
July 1-17
available on itch.io

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 2

#WIPSnips from Something Familiar

Before that day in October, l'd only been to the ER once, when I had appendicitis in eighth grade.

I wasn't too disaster-prone. Never fell out of a tree or crashed my bike and broke a bone as a kid. Never caught Covid even during the height of the pandemic. And I most certainly never knocked myself out on the gymnasium floor in the middle of a volleyball game.

Until, of course, I somehow managed to knock myself out on the gymnasium floor in the middle of a volleyball game.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 2

I noticed this Jesus bracelet on the table when I got home from work I can only assume it’s another thing my 8yo found abandoned on the ground while being a menace in a public park, but I’m not 100% sure, and she isn’t home for me to ask

it’s a handmade leather cord bracelet featuring five colored pony beads (gold, black, red, white, and green) followed by beads that spell out ❤️JESUS❤️

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jul 1

“It’s cold as sin out here!” [Daniel] was grinning and bundled up with his striped knit scarf pulled up to his chin, but his teeth chattered as he climbed into the passenger seat. “Physical sensation is wild.” Daniel was…something else. #WIPSnips from Something Familiar

I pulled the SUV into the empty duplex's driveway. Daniel was out the door before I had time to properly park, and l ignored the fact that he walked out of a building he had no business being inside and leaned across the center console to pop open the passenger door for him.

"It's cold as sin out here!" He was grinning and bundled up with his striped knit scarf pulled up to his chin, but his teeth chattered as he climbed into the passenger seat. "Physical sensation is wild.”

Daniel was...something else.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jun 30

James has that ADHD thing where you know how to do 5 million different things, but you’re not particularly good at any of them because you only passionately stick with any given hobby for a maximum of 2-3 months at a time before losing interest. #WIPSnips

James works his phone into its new case on our way to the food court. We order smoothies and Chinese lunch plates and settle at a tall, round table. After some idle conversation, Matthew mentions the Magic tournament.

"I put a deck together," James says slowly. "But I'm not entering the tournament. I haven't played in forever, never mind competitively."

Matthew shrugs. "Never said you had to join the tournament. I just thought you'd have more fun if you didn't have to borrow a deck to play casual while I participate in the tournament."

"Uh-huh."

Last night, James played a few rounds against himself to test out the decks he made. He had to double-check random rules on the internet more than once. After watching him play, I've decided the game isn't as complicated as I first thought, but winning still relies more on tactics and strategy than sheer luck of the draw.

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jun 30

Show me a picture (of yourself) that captures your essence

it’s me, in Tanjiro (Demon Slayer) cosplay wearing my red, black & cream cat-fox fursuit head like a hat, smiling and offering the camera a thumbs up. I’m wearing my bodysuit, so my hand is red with a black thumb tip

🌚Sam (SK Kelley)🌝@skkelleywrites· Jun 29

"Wow, Tamber is a mess," [Rachel] said. "Sorry her weird moon water didn't work." "I don't think Tamber has any idea what she's doing." Rachel laughed. "Oh, no, she has no idea. Pretty funny that she fainted, though.” #WIPSnips (from To Break A Curse)