And finally, a more-or-less SFW version of the ineffably amazing portraiture that https://twitter.com/S_Anima_ did for me.

Some people have a reference sheet for their main OCs or whatever; this is mine. Nothing has ever come close to crystallizing what I've held in my heart for nigh-on ten years ago. This is far and away the most accurate way Bligh is supposed to be -- the West Virginia flag, the Ford Ranger in the back, the woods, the Moon, the forgotten spooky rural area...all of it.

He's been more than my OC. He's been my mascot, my conscience, my best friend, when things were crushingly lonely away from the mountains. We couldn't be more different physically, but surprisingly we share a lot in on outlook and the way we feel the world looks at us. Since 2012, he has been an anchor for me in this dreadful consensus reality. And he has never let me down.

If you're reading the books and stories, this is what you need to envision. And he is a vision -- a vision of a world I wish I was a part of, for all its terror and weirdness, and which I construct, piece by piece, through my short stories and novels.

Mountaineers are always free -- and Bligh is always with me.