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Community for science fiction and fantasy author/artist M.C.A. Hogarth.
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THE RESURRECTION OF THE STARDANCER GALLERY

What if I told you that, after years of requests for the return of my Stardancer.org gallery, I was in the process of recreating it?

Because I am…! RIGHT NOW. flail

CHALLENGES
First, let me tell you why I haven’t had an online art gallery since stardancer went down:

I did not want to put thousands of images on free gallery sites (like DA) because it would be a ton of work, and I wouldn’t have any control over the site (“what if they go down one day”, “what if they start charging per-upload fees”, “what if they have copyright policy changes I don’t like”, “what if they start using their corpus to train AI”, etc, etc, etc). Can you imagine dumping hundreds of hours into uploading stuff only to lose it because the site owners made questionable decisions? Ugh.

I wasn’t capable of coding my own gallery and I didn’t like the gallery plugins for various content management systems. I could have installed a package on my hosting service, but none of the ones I saw were customizable enough, or did everything I needed, or felt robust enough. Also a lot of them are just ugly.

I was exhausted at the prospect of the art workload: scanning, trimming, watermarking, resizing-for-the-web, and labeling thousands of scans. Because it’s not enough that there are 200+ sketchbooks in need of scanning (which takes, on average, about 2 hours per book if I stand over the scanner and turn pages until I’m done)… if I’m scanning them at archival quality, then those are way too big for the web. They need to be prepped.

Combined, these issues were enough to put me off the project indefinitely.

…until AI.

MAGIC
Yesterday, I woke up at 7 am and thought, ‘but what if I didn’t have to modify any of the files I scanned? What if I could just upload them and the gallery would do all the resizing and trimming and watermarking and tagging? Is that a thing?’

Turns out, it’s totally a thing, because in less than 15 hours I went from ‘this is an idea in my head’ to a working prototype, where I just dump my scanned art into a directory and the gallery app automatically converts, watermarks, and labels it based on the filename… then puts up all the thumbnails on a (paginated!) gallery page so you can look through them; click on them and see the full sized image; and even filter them by sketchbook, date, or tag.

I can’t tell you how crazy it is that this is a thing that was do-able in such a short amount of time.

BUT WAIT!

…you say! The files are there, but almost no meta-data! Are you going to go back to the old stardancer model of a sketch title, a description, and tags for books and characters and etc, etc? What about user comments? We used to be able to leave comments!

Lemme tell you my plans:

VOLUME FIRST. Right now all metadata is provided by the filename (because I’ve always embedded the sketchbook number, page, date, and a short description of the contents in the file names). But I’m planning two tagging methods: a wiki-based method, where if the image is linked from one of my wikis, the gallery will tag it with the wiki categories; and a user-volunteered method, where you all can add tags if you want! I’m going with these methods because I’m planning an unprecedented volume of art uploads. Before I would curate all the sketches and only bother to upload maybe 10% of a sketchbook’s total pages. Now, I’m going to dump the entire book up there (minus any missing pages). At once.

Please imagine hundreds of pages becoming available at a time. Picture receiving an email from Patreon: “Hey, everyone, I just finished scanning Sketchbook 88 this afternoon and it’s up! Go enjoy!”

USER-LED. In addition to letting people tag the images (I’m going to be one of them!), I’m also going to let you favorite images and save searches and filters. So say you only ever want peltedverse stuff, or B&W art, or if you’re reading the Jokka trilogy and want to see only images from those books, then you can set the gallery to show you things you want. Eventually I’m going to use that favorite data to pick out pictures that everyone likes, so I can finish them! Or I’ll use that data to make sure people’s favorites go into the forthcoming art books (“Everyone likes this Tam-illee girl from Sketchbook 5… definitely going into the book!”). Eventually I’d like to make it so you can get prints or merch made by selecting a piece from the gallery and handing it off to Printful—I’ve got a cropping function partially built so if you want to adjust the picture before you send it off somewhere, you can do that.

I’m not anticipating reinstating user comments, mostly because it didn’t get much use back in Stardancer’s heyday—it was mostly the same 15 people or so leaving comments—so I’m replacing it with the much faster/easier favorite system so you can locate your favorites and share them easily. Also this means I don’t have to police comments, and before you say ‘But Jaguar, most of your fans aren’t trolls!’, I’ll say, ‘Yes, but think about people accidentally leaving spoilers on images.’ I’d much rather build a share function so you can show friends your favorite pieces of art (“Have you gotten to the part in Mindtouch where XYZ? Look, there’s an illustration, squee!”). I can revisit other forms of interaction later!

ARTIST GETS GROCERIES. Because I’m anticipating this gallery getting enormous in size very quickly, the majority of it will be available only to subscribers of some flavor or another. Guests will be able to browse a ‘best of’ page that will have a random image/image of the day, top five user favorites, five newest uploads, etc, and probably have a budget (‘browse 20 images a month’) but I’m going to code it so that browsing the entire archive will be a subscriber-only perq. This gives my patreon/locals people an enormous value-add for their money, and incidentally pays for the ongoing effort of scanning and the hosting costs because I need to check and see what my file limits are for my host….

Also why I’m not terribly concerned about piracy and AI theft (inevitable risks are inevitable), I’d like to introduce enough friction to the process that it becomes less of a thing.

If you are already a patron of some kind (here or via other forms of patronage, like shopping at my store), rest assured I’m making notes on how to link up all your various jaguar accounts (including the wiki ones) so that I’m at least aware of you everywhere. I’m not sure I’ll be able to swing single-login, but I’m definitely committed to making access as transparent/easy as possible so that if you are buying me coffee monthly, you will have your Full Gallery Access with no further work on your part.

GREAT SO WHEN DO WE GET IT
Maybe a month? I’m going to be building it and testing it extensively (and if you really want constant progress reports, I post those on discord as I work on things). Discord is also where I’ll go to get beta testers. Otherwise… it’s going pretty quickly. I have a big checklist but I’m making good time. As you can see from the screenshots, the core functionality’s already there… it’s just a matter of all the added features (and the final part, which is making it look like the rest of my site… my placeholder CSS is hideous, lol).

So yes. I am aiming for the end of summer for launch, and we’ll see if I make it.

The tldr;: the gallery is finally coming back!

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What else you may like…
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October 27, 2021
Cursive Practice Video, to Relax

Or at least, I intend it to be relaxing. Hopefully it delivers.
4:22 minutes

Materials:

00:04:27
Overview of the First Oil Paint Experiment

In which I talk about the paper, the paint, and the experience of oils versus gouache. Fun stuff, will do more.

Thank you Locals supporters! Your contribution to my art war chest here is what's powering these experiments and videos. For now I'm keeping them public but I may start doing some subscriber-only videos if you all are interested.💖

00:03:35
Video Review: Oil Painting Papers

My initial review on receipt of the three oil paper products I ordered: the Canson pad, the Rembrandt block, and the Arches single sheets.

00:01:54
November 09, 2021
Alysha Misc

Thanks for your comments yesterday on the business post... all very provocative, in a good way. I'll try to respond to all of them today.

Some Alysha misc now, since I'm gearing up for the results of the Kickstarter!

Petrov is giving away coupon codes for every book in the Alysha series (and has some leftover coupons for Marda and the business book). You can pick those up here (and please do! The books are bought already, someone should use them!) https://twitter.com/PetrovNeutrino/status/1457344535843987461

Our own @JudasComplex sent along a sample of the Faith in the Service audiobook, which I've attached for your delight! I... haven't had a chance to listen to it. Don't ask me about my past week and a half or so. Putting it here will guarantee I get to it.

After hearing the amused comments during the livestream, I went ahead and added all the ship type illustrations I have inked from the 90s to the wiki. Glory in the rampant adorableness of their anthropomorphic stylings! See those ...

Alysha Misc
The Jaguar's Heart 7: We Are Not a Monolith

A little comedy today, at least in the link. Transcript follows.


Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.

A while back I was introduced to a comedy sketch about Cuban coffee by a Mexican comedian, Gabriel Iglesias. ( The sketch begins with him greeting all his fellow Latinos and then backing up to say ‘but we’re all different, aren’t we’ which is a segue into a demonstration of how different Hispanics speak Spanish.

It is hilarious. First, because I am a Spanish speaker and a linguistics hobbyist, and his portrayal of various accents resonated with my experiences in trying to make sense of them myself… Not always easy, since from culture to culture, slang and accent are often totally different (and sometimes grammar! Spaniards use a grammatical construct that has died out in many other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural “you.”)

I also loved it because the Cuban coffee part is real. I grew up with Cubans. I know how we are....

The Jaguar's Heart 7: We Are Not a Monolith
The Jaguar's Heart 6: Hatespeech

One of the most common things I hear (and say) right now is "the asymmetry is the story." Here's one about how none of us are innocent of the sins we hate in others.


Hi, all. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.

It’s been weeks since the Baen’s Bar incident and I’m still thinking about it... because the longer I do, the more I feel, overwhelmingly, that it’s obvious that the problem is deeper than “this forum was saying stuff that offended us.” We have to back up to the glaring fact that people on opposite sides no longer consider each other human. Nothing I say will matter because the people disagreeing with me don’t think I’m human. They have denied my humanity; they have not bothered to listen to my beliefs, or have fake-listened to them in that way that people do when they’re so ready to prove you wrong that they’re only using your speech to provide talking points for their own ideas.

We have forgotten how to listen.

Increasingly, we have also ...

The Jaguar's Heart 6: Hatespeech
October 20, 2025
25 Years of Publishing - Jaguar Thoughts

There are a lot of things on my mind lately, and this year particularly because this month I hit a milestone birthday (what I call the decade birthdays!), and it’s been 25 years since my first professional fiction sale. To date, in that 25-year-span, I’ve published 71 books for adults, 3 for children, and 7 coloring books. I feel like this is a great start to a career, particularly given that some people don’t start publishing their first books until they’re closer to my current age!

So I’m satisfied that I’ve created a significant body of work. I’ve got the Peltedverse arc to wrap up, and some other projects I’d like to get back to, but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and there are enough finished series in that I don’t feel like I’m sitting on a giant mass of unfinished projects.

Which brings me to my birthday and my reflection on the industry and social trends. Every year since the indie revolution hit has brought some version of doom about discovery and organic reach and ...

October 02, 2025
Jaguar Birthday!

Complete with homemade challah french toast (the challah is homemade). (Also the french toast.)

I guess if you weren't sure about buying a thing or leaving a review or telling a friend about a thing or taking the book quiz, there is no time like the present. Because it would be that, literally, a present. XD

Okay I'm loopy, I'm off to nap, I am so full. XD

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October 01, 2025
Necronomicon 2025! And Art for sale

I am home and recovering from a lovely Necronomicon 2025! Happily, this year was much busier than last, which got rained out by the hurricane three days prior. The scene in the halls was lively, and the panels actually had attendees! But it kept its cozy vibe, which meant I had plenty of time to do what I love best, which is talk to people.

This year I had both a writer’s alley table and art in the art show, and I volunteered for panels (and ended up on five of them!), so I was busy! Basically eight or nine hour days every day! By Saturday I was so hoarse I was putting honey in everything I was drinking. Never have I had more ample a demonstration that in my daily life I spend more time listening than talking than seeing how fast I ran out of voice when I had to talk.

My marketing thrust this year was getting people to take the quiz! I had a QR code and then I gave out colored dots that corresponded to the eight archetypes, and I had a leaderboard tracking what archetype was dominating. My biggest problems with this...

October 17, 2025
Red Honey 14 (fools dream)
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October 10, 2025
Red Honey 13 (are we ever)

I was in a fine mood that evening, when I followed the scent of roasted meat to the cheldzan, the only building large enough for both clans to congregate… and even then, a handful of people had spilled from its entrance onto the road, where a second stewpot was sending delectable scents toward the lavender sky. I stopped beside it to receive a bowl and a flatbread scoop and wandered among the Jokka, listening to various conversations. A good half of the people there were eperu, which surprised me; somehow I thought of the third sex as the least populous. If I asked Winoña, would I discover that she’d counted all the sexes in the clans she’d met? I smiled.

The Jokka of Clan Edla recognized me, and wanted to talk—about injuries and sickness, yes, but also about recoveries and births—so the sky had set out stars before I finally made my way to the back of the cheldzan, where I found Daridil, Seper, and Koish in consultation. The lore-knower of Clan Edla, a spindly eperu named Dlona, made up the fourth in their discussion, and Winoña was listening behind the counter, wiping bowls.

“We are blessed here,” Daridil said. “Game is plentiful… the forest gives both fish and beasts, and water is for the taking. I once questioned the wisdom of staying, but the gods have made their will clear.”

“There’s enough for your clan,” Koish allowed. “I fear what would happen if we overburdened the area. The stories say that when we linger, we use up the sap of the land.”

“That won’t happen here,” Seper said. “We will be good stewards.”

“Do you even know what that will entail?” Koish said. “If you have too many mouths to feed….”

“Then, we find another way,” Daridil said.

“Probably by selling our excess members to clans who are failing,” Seper said briskly. “You know as well as we do, ke Koish, that many clans are hurting for labor and breeders. Particularly breeders. The nomadic ways are hard on us.”

Behind Koish, Dlona murmured, “Ke Seper has this right.”

Joining them, I said, “Are you trying to talk them into staying?” I smiled at Koish. “You know they have to make their argument.”

“They’re eloquent,” Koish said. “And if it were up to the clan, I’d probably have to move into that empty building tomorrow. But I have to do what’s right for them, whether it’s popular or not. And I’m not convinced. Although, I’ve heard something about a shrine?”

Daridil’s ears pricked. “Yes. To honor the gods and thank them for the gift of this place.”

“You can’t buy the favor of the gods,” Dlona said.

“Of course not,” Daridil said. “One honors the gods, one does not bribe them.”

“I like the idea.” Koish leaned over the counter and plunked his clay cup on it. “Give me a refill, ke anadi, and then Daridil and I will go talk. About fate and food, among other things.”

Winoña chuckled and filled the cup from a leather bag. “And so much useful discussion will be had after your… third, I believe? Cup of this?”

Koish snorted. “I brew my own spirits, ke Winoña. Your mild-tempered spirits will have to work harder to cloud my thoughts.” Raising his new serving, he gestured toward the door. “Daridil?”

“With you, ke emodo.”

Dlona watched them go with a long face, ears twitched backward. Then it sighed. “Do you have a spare cup, ke anadi? I think I may need it.”

“Trouble?” I asked.

The eperu eyed me, dour. “Everything under the sun and stars is trouble. It’s just a matter of how it arrives.”

Seper chuckled. “I’ll enjoy having you among us for the haul, Dlona.”

I looked from one to the other and canted my head. “It didn’t sound like Koish had made a decision.”

“Koish will make the right choice for the breeders, as he should,” Dlona said. “And the right choice is finding out if they do better here than abroad. And we know how they do abroad, so all that’s left is to discover how they do in one place. But I won’t take our wagon apart. In the case that we might need it.”

“I wouldn’t suggest anything else,” Seper said. “Let me take you to the new eperu. You’ll want to meet them. Then we can discuss the buildings, and our plans for the granary.”

Dlona’s eyes sharpened. “A granary, is it? Is that what the bricks are for?”

“Yes,” Seper said.

The other eperu grinned, showing blunted teeth. “Is it round?”

Seper laughed. “Yes, like in the stories. As you could probably tell me.” It canted its head. “You can tell me, can’t you? Nudet lost its lore-knower before it could pass on all that it knew to me….”

“We should write those things down from now on,” Winoña interrupted, earning stares from all of us. “We can,” she said. “We don’t need to be limited to tallies on knots, which makes sense for roving clans that can’t store anything permanently. We have space here to keep records. We should keep records.”

“On what, though?” Dlona asked, frowning… but not objecting. Thinking, from its expression.

“Leaves?” Seper said. “Bark, maybe?”

“The stories speak of clay tablets….” Dlona plucked at its braided arm ruffs, as if counting knots on a tally blanket. "They also speak of paper, but not how it was made.”

“Clay we have in plenty,” Seper said.

“We should make clay tablets, then,” Winoña said. “So that what happened to Nudet doesn’t happen again.”

Seper’s grin had a challenging air. “And will you have us carve you out a new cavern to keep these clay tablets in?”

“Why not?” Her chin rose. “I already have to keep records to run a cheldzan and a storeroom. Or haven’t you noticed me using paint on the walls for it?”

“I haven’t,” I said, startled.

Seper chuckled. “Have her show you, Kediil. Dlona, if you like? We’ll make the way easy for ke Koish.”

“By all means, introduce me. You’ve hired some new eperu since Clan Edla came through last.”

They departed, leaving me with a spinning head. “That is what it looks like, isn’t it? Koish doesn’t think he’s made a decision, but he has.” I thought of his concerns. “Or maybe he’s just saying what we want to hear?”

“I doubt it.”

Did he even know he’d changed his mind? I rubbed my brow. “Do things always happen that quickly?”

“When they do,” Winoña said, “it’s usually because the conditions favorable to those changes were already developing, unseen.” She threaded her fingers together and rested her chin on them, smiling up at me. “You have that look again, like I’ve said something you didn’t expect and you admire me for it.”

“And if I said… yes… would you be disappointed?”

She giggled. “No! I want you to look at me like that all the time! Come here behind the counter, I’ll teach you to serve drinks.”

“Is that hard?”

“No, which means we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy one another’s company.” She glanced past me at the people crowding her hall. “Look at them, Kediil. How often have you seen so many Jokka in one place?”

“Rarely,” I said. “It’s noisy and hot.”

“But alive,” she said. “It’s so good to see so much life in one place.”

I’d expected her to laugh. But this comment, stated with such fervor, made me look again, and see, for just a moment, through her eyes. The eyes that counted and saw fewer people too often. The eyes that looked now and saw vitality and promise and hope of some different, better future.

I longed for the wind on my cheeks and the horizon before my eyes. But how much of that longing had been shaped by my desire to escape the captivity designed for me by fate, or the gods, or my family… all of them?

I stepped behind the counter and bumped her hip until she moved over. “Teach me how to pour things.”

“Is this an excuse to let me teach you something you already know?”

“Yes?”

She laughed. “Well, if you love the sound of my voice that much….”

 

***

 

I did not have to seek out Koish; he found me behind the Nudet building, settling my rikka for the night. I straightened, tucking my loosened hair back behind my shoulders, and waited.

“Derra’s caught a child.”

He didn’t need to say anything else. I knew Derra, a fragile, easily tired anadi who longed for children and had only been able to bear one so far. If Derra had conceived, Clan Edla would stay where the risks to her pregnancy could be minimized. Two anadi pregnant and another with a toddler would make traveling difficult… and, coincidentally, give Koish and Edla status in the new settlement. Fruitfulness was admired, no matter where on Ke Bakil you traveled, and clans rich in breeding anadi were granted a deference that no other Jokkad could claim.

“Will you stay?” he asked. When I hesitated, he said, “Or come back to check on Derra through her pregnancy?” I could hear his smile in the dark. “You’ll know exactly where to find us.”

“Ke emodo…” I sighed. “Yes. I’ll check on her. I won’t promise to live here, but I’ll come back from time to time.”

“Thank you. I knew you would, just as I know you understand why I’ve changed my mind.”

“We all serve the breeders,” I said, as if I had scooped the words out of Mardin’s mouth.

“Yes. Good night to you, ke anadi.”

Melon shuffled toward the end of his stall to bump my shoulder with his muzzle, and I petted it idly, watching Koish’s body until I could neither see nor hear him.

Yes, I understood. And I feared that I had my own reasons to change my mind, because I was not ready for the future. Are we ever?

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October 03, 2025
Red Honey 12 (counting stars)
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