#also *yes i know there are actually ways to tell if a screenshot was edited but that literally just doesnt matter for the comparison

[crossbackpoke-check]

blessed be (lorscher bienensegen) | telling the bees (wiþ ymbe)

Telling the bees [1] [2 - Colleen English] [3 - C. W. Hagge] // "Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now" [remixed, abridged], Matthew Olzmann // "About Suffering" [remixed, abridged], Elisa Gabbert // "Bees, Honeycombs, Honey", Hayan Charara // [Albert Camus] in "A Time of Bees", Mona Van Duyn | Len Redkoles, Steve Caplan, Bruce Bennett, Andre Ringuette, Emilee Chen

[bbeelzemon]

some light existential under the cut

last month i was so high and like i dont even remember what this memory was about at this point but i experienced something or other and then was suddenly made very aware of my brain actively changing my memory of what i experienced immediately after. Like i was fully aware that the memory of it that stuck was actually not what really happened, i just couldn't remember what did really happen, because my brain rewrote it in noticeably fast real time.

And it just made me realize how imperfect brains are and human memory is shit and is always changing what really happened and literally rewriting memories sometimes!!

and anyway just now because of that other post i was thinking about how i remembered when i was little like 4 i saw a lizard in the bathtub while i was in it and i got so scared and anyway the memory of it ive always had was it was really fucked up and disturbing looking. And i just suddenly was made aware with that last post of, like.. the distinct linear progression that mustve happened every time i recalled the mental image of that lizard, the memory got a little bit more corrupted and incorrect, so like. Ok this is fucking complicated hang on

It feels like, i remember that the way i remembered it looking when i was a teenager, is the same way i remember it looking when i think about it now, like... it feels like memory would be like opening an old png file on an old computer folder that hasnt been accessed in a long time but is still exactly the same unchanged file. but memory is actually more like an image file hosted on a webpage: in theory you might think it'd be exactly the same (because the url hasn't changed any), but in reality, the actual source image could've been updated at some point and you'd have no way to access the old version of that file, unless you found a cached version of it (aka describing your memories as you remember them in a tangible, unchanging way, like writing them down) or a screenshot of the old version (verbally describing them to (or just experiencing it in the first place with) another person, but you wouldn't actually have any way of knowing for sure that it hasn't been altered since the last time you saw it*

And its just like. Human memory is literally so fucked up and imperfect and scary IDK i know none of this makes sense im just saying fucking words right now. sorry

[anistarrose]

I'm seeing a huge uptick in fanart with artist-written alt text and IDs in my fandom circles recently, which is obviously great! But I can also tell that a lot of people, because they're just getting started, haven't quite figured out how to consider the screen reader experience while writing alt text/IDs.

The remedy to this, when in doubt, is to pull up a screen reader or TTS on your own device. That way, you can hear out how things sound. But in general, a couple things to keep in mind:

For multi-image posts: You don't have to repeat the same information in the description of every single image.

If you have a four-image comic, and a character — let's just say a young adult white woman, with brown hair and glasses — features in all those panels, you don't have to repeat that description in every ALT text. The images are going to be read in order, and in context. If a screen reader user has to hear "a young adult white woman, with brown hair and glasses" four separate times in quick succession, to say nothing of other recurring characters, that's not a good listening experience!

Yes, if you were to share one of those panels on its own, in some other instance, it might be good to slightly edit the image description, and actually re-include that information. The description of an image is always going to be influenced by the purpose and context of an image — just like images being shared to appreciate the artistry will warrant more description than IDs for memes, where it's best to keep things brief. (And on that topic, this post puts it better than I could.)

And, secondly:

In-post image descriptions should go directly under the image. There should not be commentary in-between the image and the ID.

Imagine if every time you wanted to know what an image was, whether a piece of art or a screenshot of a tweet, you had to hear paragraphs of the artist's commentary that presumed you'd seen the art already, or paragraphs of OP's commentary lampooning the tweeter. Imagine if every time anyone posted a graph, you had to read through a short essay presuming you'd seen the graph, but before you actually got to see what the graph was showing.

Yeah, that's the essence of the problem with putting IDs below commentary.

Also, after a point, people will just assume the post is undescribed and skip it! You described your post, you put in the effort to make your post accessible, but you want to make sure it'll have the impact you hope it will, right? Hiding the ID below commentary (or under a read more) is not going to let your effort have the maximum impact.

Here's a visual example of the formatting guideline I just described.

In general, there are many elements of writing IDs that are just subjective, and there are many ID beneficiaries whose preferences differ amongst each other, too. But if you start out by not including redundant information, by considering context, and by considering flow for screen readers? Then you're starting out totally fine.

[toxic3mmy]

Star Struck

prompt: you get a message from alex on tumblr

hai lovely peeps <3

this is gonna be a short little book type thing with a few more chapters to come

i hope you guys enjoy!

ps- ill try my best to update this series at least once a week!!!

you mindlessly scrolled through tumblr. yes it wasn’t 2015 anymore but you still used the app religiously. you had a good number of followers, too.

you posted about all the emo and alternative music you were into and not to mention the youtubers who you loved.

your number one favorite youtuber was alexis quackity. you related to him in many different ways. he made you laugh on days you weren’t doing too well. he meant a lot to you, even if you didn’t know him personally and it was all most likely just an internet personality.

still, you found yourself talking about his latest let’s talk streams or even his random tweets. you loved having a community of online mutuals that felt the same way about quackity.

____

halfway across the country, alexis sat cross-legged on the floor of his cluttered apartment, surrounded by a sea of empty takeout boxes and energy drink cans. his eyes were glued to the computer screen, the glow from the monitor reflecting off his square-rimmed glasses. his mouse hand hovered over the keyboard, poised to respond to the endless stream of comments that flooded his youtube channel. his thumbs danced across his phone, scrolling through the notifications that seemed to never end.

it had been a wild ride for alexis since he started streaming games and posting videos under the moniker 'Quackity'. the fame had come quickly, and with it, the adoration of millions of fans around the globe.

sometimes alex would take the time and look through his community of devoted fans. he would use throwaway accounts to simply be unknown for once and just see what there was out there.

his fans were so unbelievably talented. many of them were amazing artists making portraits of him or even writing songs for him. some were even exceptional writers and the fanfiction stories he’d come across were actually pretty good.

amidst the digital chaos, one fan seemed to stand out from the rest. y/n, with her username 'Y/NIsNotHere', had caught his attention with her thoughtful comments and unyielding support. He clicked on her tumblr profile, and there it was: a fan account dedicated solely to him.

her profile was a shrine to his digital persona, filled with meticulously edited gifs, screenshots from his streams, and heartfelt notes about how his content had changed her life. Alexis felt a strange mix of flattery and curiosity. he hovered over the 'send message' button, his heart racing with excitement.

what did she look like? what was her voice like? would she be as amazing as she seemed? with a deep breath, he typed out a simple hello.

granted, he was using a secret throwaway tumblr account so he didn’t expect for an immediate response. and yet, the response still came rather quickly.

Y/Nisnothere: hi! whats up?

emoboy666_: nothing much, just surfin da web. so you’re a fan of quackity?

Y/Nisnothere: yeah im definitely a huge fan. there’s just something about him you know? he’s different, he makes me feel okay

alexis’ cheeks heated up after reading the compliment. he smiled softly as he continued to message you

emoboy666_: i totally get you! it’s nice to be distracted from things

Y/Nisnothere: for sure! so tell me about yourself

emoboy666_: well, im in my early 20s.. im mexican, i love video games and art….. oh and you can just call me A

Y/Nisnothere: well im 21, im also mexican, im also really into all things artsy and nerdy and well, emo lol, and you can just call me y/n :3

emoboy666_: i’m glad we have some things in common! your blog is really cool btw, it’s like a hidden gem amongst the cyber world

Y/Nisnothere: aw thanks! that’s really sweet of you to say <3

emoboy666_: no prob (: so, what are you doing right now?

Y/Nisnothere: oh not much, trying to do homework but getting distracted by tumblr and twitter lol. and u?

emoboy666_: oh same here, what do you study?

Y/Nisnothere: i’m studying art

emoboy666_: that’s awesome! maybe you should show me some of your work sometime

Y/Nisnothere: yeah! id love to (:

emoboy666: me too (:

Y/Nisnothere: (: <3

the two of you continued to message each other practically all night. you were happy to have made a new online friend and alexis was happy to get to know one of his fans.

neither of you truly knew who was on the other end of the phone but you still really enjoyed talking to one another. it was refreshing for the two of you.

you fell asleep with thoughts of your new friend, A

[chromatic-mediant]

Stop calling these Fandom Menace YouTubers stupid, when what they really are is manipulative. Yes, there are a lot of chronically online people who say infuriating shit because they genuinely lack media literacy, but if you see someone making a demonstrably false statement, i.e. labelling Amandla Stenberg's calm Instagram video a 'meltdown', it is because they're a manipulator. They know full well that it plays into the angry Black woman trope, and they know exactly what their followers are going to do. This is how gatekeeping works. You have a small, but deeply entitled group of people who believe that Star Wars should be theirs and only theirs, and they intend to keep it that way by trolling people out of the fandom.

For example, I saw someone on Facebook share a screenshot of a 1981 fanzine called Against The Sith, which was edited by fangirls, and it provides clear evidence that women and girls were an active part of the fandom in its early days. However, this completely goes against the Fandom Menace claim that once upon a time, the fandom was a boy's club until Disney made it 'woke'.

What are you supposed to do when you have clear, in-your-face evidence disproving your narrative? You make shit up.

So, this Fandom Menace troll kept leaving a bunch of long comments insisting that the screenshot had to be fake, claiming that the word Sith wasn't around back then, and that woke people were trying to rewrite history. Then, a bunch of people, including OG Star Wars fans, corrected him and said, 'Actually, the word Sith absolutely was around back then because fans were reading the novelisations.' Then the troll replied, 'Well, maybe the reprints of these novelisations had the word Sith in it, but not the originals,' to which the OG fans replied, 'No, I actually have a vintage first edition copy of the novelisation and I am telling you, the word Sith absolutely was around back then and Star Wars fans would've known this.' Every time they corrected this guy, he kept doubling down. Why?

Because the point of fandom gatekeeping isn't to be right; it's to piss people off and waste their time.

You see, these people don't care about making themselves look nice and reasonable to outsiders. They actually like their horrible reputation, because if the Star Wars fandom becomes associated with them, it means newcomers will be hesitant to join, and it also means longtime fans will either leave entirely or stop talking about Star Wars on the internet.

(Obviously, I do think more needs to be done about the Fandom Menace than simply refusing to engage with them, and I could write a separate post on that, but my overall point here is to remind people of the difference between ignorance and malice)

One of the reasons why I felt the need to create a Star Wars blog on here is because it's one of the very few apps where I don't have to block people every single day. I refuse allow these shitheads to tell me that I'm not allowed to be a part of this fandom. If that means moving to a healthier space, then so be it.

[ohitsjae]

Dip and Pip as your dads

tags: Dan Howell, Phil Lester

summary: Dan and Phil as your parents as inspired by their TIT merch hat ...yes this is me coping with the fact that I desperately want all of their tour merch and so will absolutely be broke after I go to their January London show.....enjoy!

Dan:

You'd probably get told 'you have your dad's humour' a lot.

He'd be the one to go to your school if you were wrongly in trouble and argue for you. He's not lost yet and I'd pity any teacher that had to go up against him!

He'd be the parent to let you watch 18+films when you're 15 but only ones he's already seen.

Same with video games and letting you drink before your 18th birthday because 'if you're gonna do it anyway, I'd rather you do that at home with us so we know that you're safe'.

Definitely learns how to braid your hair if it's long enough.

He'd buy ice cream on your way home and tell you to keep it a secret from Phil (Phil does the same and you never tell either of them lmao)

Painting your nails together! You get to practice nail art on him and no matter if it turns out well or shit he wears it proudly regardless.

Goes with you when/if you get any piercings and helps you design any tattoos you want. You also constantly try and convince him to get more piercings and try and convince Phil to get his ears pierced - we've all seen punk edits he definitely suits it!

Phil:

He's always able to cheer you up, you're always laughing when you're with him and you too have hundreds of inside jokes.

He's always encouraging your creativity, ofc Dan does as well, but Phil is definitely the kind of dad to go with you to loads of arts and crafts (don't cry) workshops. You guys definitely go to a pottery workshop and (attempt) to make a golden pig - you also makes loads of plant pots because then you just *have* to get more plants.

He'd be the (semi-) responsible one who says no to things but it's never done unfairly and if there's a way to compromise he always finds it.

He's the one who goes to the school when/if you're actually in trouble but he would never let you be punished unfairly/too harshly and will argue with the teachers if he thinks you are being.

Will always offer to help you with any homework (unless it's maths, gays can't do maths) even if it's just proofreading uni assignments for you to make sure the grammar is okay.

He's the kind of dad who loves to pick you up from school, he's friends with all of your friends' parents. He also loves to host little get-togethers after school. He makes you all snacks and lets you play with your friends for the entire time.

You two go to the hairdressers together when you're both bleaching/dyeing your hair.

Always cheering your accomplishments no matter how small or big - whether it's your graduation or beating Dan at Mario Kart

Both:

Late-night baking with them - it normally turns out questionable at best but the three of you are laughing the entire time so it's fine even if slightly inedible (mug cakes, however, become your guys' speciality lmao). One of you definitely gets covered in flour at least once which causes the other two to fall to the floor laughing.

Game nights happen often - like at least 2/3 times a week you guys will sit down and play games whether that's board games, card games or video games it doesn't matter. The only rule you have is no monopoly after 5pm because you're all too competitive and it gets passive-aggressive very quickly (this is an actual rule in my house lmao).

You three also always have at least one TV show that you're all watching together, normally for when you're eating dinner or after a long day to unwind whilst spending time together.

You would have a running competition to get the best (read: most unflattering) screenshots from the ring doorbell camera of each other and the winner gets to choose where you're ordering takeout from that week.

Helping them both with videos - making any props they need or filming for them if they're filming something outside. You also help with editing sometimes or just making suggestions for sound effects/video ideas/thumbnails/etc. You refuse to get involved in the Dan vs Phil though because they're both very competitive and you're not getting in the middle of that lmao

---- Hope you enjoyed this!! 🦦

[tau1tvec]

How do you stop worrying that your sims posts won't be perfect? Is it possible to escape the "this isn't instantly, effortlessly amazing and therefore it sucks and is horrible" mindset?

Well first of all you need to sit down and figure what it is that defines “perfect” to you. Now lower those expectations by about 25%, bc it’s likely you’re struggling with something I also struggle with, and it’s called “being your biggest critic”, and you’re actually being unnecessarily hard on yourself.

There isn’t anything wrong with this btw, it’s quite handy when you’re on the internet, bc if it passed your unreasonably high standards, well then everyone else liking it is just sugar on top.

However this mindset does have its downsides. Mostly bc you’re disconnecting yourself from the purpose of why you would be sharing it with others to begin with. The connection humans make over art and media is too precious not to want to care what others think, but how will you ever know what they think, if you don’t show them? I know, this is quite the hot take, but it’s the truth. Yes do things for yourself first, but in all honesty are you rlly just doing it for yourself and yourself only if you’re sharing it publicly online too? I’m only saying, Michelangelo didn’t paint the cieling of the Sistine Chapel so that everyone would ignore it.

My suggestion? Post whatever every once and a while to remember you’re supposed to be doing this for fun first. Being artistic, thought provoking, engaging, trendsetting are all things that rely on you to have fun first. You gotta enjoy it, you rlly have to, bc ppl can tell when you’re not enjoying it, you can tell when you’re not enjoying it, and that’s why you’re feeling the way you do.

So post CAS pics with the UI still visible, share gameplay without Reshade on, post your sim not fully rendered or looking like a complete cryptid, and lastly learn that perfection isn’t about quality, consistency, how crisp your graphics look, or heavily edited your screenshots are.

True perfection is being able to show someone something, literally anything, it could be a fucking stick figure, and somehow it still invoke a feeling so familiar, so nostalgic, or so funny, that liking it comes easy.

Plus, 9/10 times no one is looking at the shit only you notice. So yeah, 25% 🤏.

[caelwynn]

Outlining with Caelwynn

A question I've had pitched to me a few times at this point is, "How do you make your outlines for your longfics?" This is my attempt to consolidate my various answers elsewhere into a single post here. Since I recently finished outlining one of the fics for Changes again (because rewrites, yay), that's what I'm going to be referencing/showing screenshots from.

Now, a couple of caveats before we start:

This is not intended as a "This is the only way to do it ever!" It's a description of my process. Hopefully it'll have something useful tucked into it.

Specifically, this is my process for my Stardew Valley longfics. I rarely outline for my oneshots. For oneshots, I have an idea, run with it, then clean it/tighten it up in the editing. My longfics, however, are massive in both scope and cast size, and thus require planning. But this planning is, in many ways, dependent on the specific elements of how Stardew Valley is set up.

However, before we get to The Outline, we must first conquer The List and The Calendar.

To learn what I mean by that, join me after the jump.

The List

When it comes to the various sub-series/long fics that make up Second Chances, (Choices, Changes, and Consequences), I combine the characters and storylines from not just Stardew Valley, but also from Stardew Valley Expanded, Ridgeside Village, and East Scarp, plus a bunch of other smaller NPC mods. This means I have a potential hundred or so characters to pick from.

Despite my cast size, I don't actually do all of them, it just feels like it. 😅 I pick and choose based on which characters have reason to overlap with one another and the overarching story I have in mind for the series as a whole, the subseries, and the current fic.

So, I started by jotting down all of those characters and storylines I'm interested in for Changes as a whole, and then I narrowed them down to the ones that I would specifically need for this fic. I ended up with a list of roughly 30. 😭

Yes, I'm a masochist.

Once I stopped cursing my hubris, I took that list and divided it into four sections:

"A Plots" (Lots of Page Time)

"B Plots (Moderate Page Time)

"C Plots" (Minor Page Time)

On Background

A Plots are the ones that are the primary focus. They're the characters and plotlines that everything else will hinge on. In the first fic for Changes, this was:

Callie's & Sterling's Relationship

[REDACTED]

Mateo (Heart Events 0-4)

Eli (Heart Events 0-4)

These are not all of the big drivers for the whole of Changes, but they are the main drivers for the first fic.

My B Plots, on the other hand, are ones that support the A Plots in one of four ways:

the characters directly relate to Callie, Sterling, Mateo, and Eli,

they are tied into [REDACTED]

they're a continuation of threads from Choices or

they're setting up plots in later fics for Changes.

Some examples:

Dylan gets his 0-2 Heart Events worked in, as well as some scenes supporting the A Plots, because you cannot have Eli without Dylan.

I'm bringing in the characters from the Defense Division mod because they are tied into [REDACTED]

I'm doing later heart events from the Ranch Expansion as a continuation of the character arcs for Shane, Jas, Marnie, and Mr. Ginger, and also to set up something big for Mr. Ginger in the following fic. (If you know, you know.)

My C Plots are things that I want to work into the fic because they support the other plots, tie up loose ends from previous fics, or set up plots for future fics, yet aren't important to the A Plots for this specific fic. Another way these differ from the B Plots is that they garner only an occasional mention in passing within the context of other scenes and maybe 1-2 scenes that focus on them specifically.

To use Choices: Winter as an example, a C Plot from that is Sam telling Callie that his father, Kent, has gone missing in one scene, and then later informing her that they'd located Kent but he's in a Gotoro Prison Camp. It serves two small purposes, one in furthering the plotline of Callie's and Sterling's relationship (how Sterling reacts to Callie spending time with Sam), and the other in setting up Kent's return in Changes.

The final section I simply call, "On Background." These are small things that I have no intention of showing on page in detail, but I want mentioned in passing to show that the world around Callie continues to move and change without her input or knowledge. This is where I work in things like so-and-so has started dating, this set of friends has had a tiff, why has the cost of milk gone up again... essentially, small talk and gossip. Sometimes, these things come into play later, but usually, it's just added flavor.

Once I had all of my plotlines divided up, I began writing subpoints for each plot listed. These subpoints are specific scenes or threads I know I want to include. To use Krobus as an example:

Marlon introduces Callie to Krobus

Krobus's past with [REDACTED]

Krobus's Vow of Silence

Sen later explains why Krobus is mute on Fridays

Discussion of Yoba

They're not necessarily in the order which I intend to write them, but at least I know what it is I need to include. This is not meant as an exhaustive list; Krobus will appear in other scenes than the ones listed here, but they're the ones that are needed for his storyline. (As you can see, I have notes there about Sen and Marlon, but these scenes may not be listed in Sen's and Marlon's subpoints, because they may not be important to their personal story arc.)

Once I had all of those done, I had a list something like this:

(The List and The Calendar were both done in the app GoodNotes, because I like handwriting my notes, but I also like being able to easily move things around, change colors, and search. Also, please excuse the bad blur job. I'm sure if you want, you can still find spoilers, but this way I won't accidentally spoil something for people who don't want to be.)

Now that I had The List, I was ready to move onto the next stage. "Yay, outlining!" I hear you cry, but sadly, no. Next, we get:

The Calendar

I can feel your eyes glazing over. It's okay. I'm going to break down how I reached this point and what its purpose is.

This next bit, I'm going to be talking a lot about the inherent structure of Stardew Valley. This may or may not be adaptable to other fandoms. 😅

Stardew Valley has a fairly rigid structure. Each season is 28 days that have (at minimum!) two festivals--and that's just in vanilla. Add in various mods, and it easily can hit 3-5 festivals in a season. When I wrote Choices, I initially tried to fit everything into just 28 days for each season, and it... did not go well. Too much happening too fast, and I started spiraling in an existential crisis trying to decide how aging worked when each season was only a month. Eventually, I settled on each season being 3 months but kept the 28 days. I handwave the missing days because my fics are not set on Earth, so the world of Stardew just has a shorter orbit. (I do not use month names, however, which is why seasons are capitalized. I have Early-Season, Mid-Season, and Late-Season in my notes to denote which month, but in the fic, they're just referred to as Season.)

But all of this means that there's scaffolding already in place, which provides a lovely framework to plug that list of plots into.

To start with, I went through my calendar for Spring and added all of those festivals and birthdays, as well as when things specific to Callie's farm would regularly occur (planting, harvest, canning). So, for example, Early-Spring (or Spring 1) looked something like this:

After that, I added recurring events--things that Callie did on a regular basis: nights she has D&D Solarian Chronicles, the day she goes to the smithy/library/saloon, the evening her friend group gets together, etc:

I do this so I can see at a glance the places Callie would typically be on a given day. Since she plays D&D on Wednesdays, I know she'll be in East Scarp on those days. But something I know that I didn't bother writing down is that Wednesday is also one of Sterling's days off, so I know that he'd most likely be with her whenever she's in East Scarp. This is important information, because Mateo will do their best not to approach her when she's with Sterling for plot reasons.

This also helps to provide guidance and give flavor to scenes. If Callie usually runs errands in Pelican Town on Fridays, but instead is up in Ridgeside doing something, that's going to put her in a different headspace for the scenes there--maybe she's worrying about making it back in time to at least make it to the saloon--and will also change how people who know her well view her presence in Ridgeside. It Is Unusual, and they should react to that.

Once I have all of the scheduled events, I start adding plot points in. Typically, I go through the A Plots and add their subpoints into The Calendar, trying to space things out so that it takes up the whole fic. Before adding in B Plots, I look over all the A Plots and see if anything needs to move/be grouped together so that the story as a whole is more logical and flows well.

When I plug in the B and C Plots, I look to see where I already have my A Plot points placed and hang the other plots from them. For example, take a look at this screenshot of Spring 1, Week 2

On Thursday the 11th, I already had Callie visiting Ridgeside to check in with Lenny for A-Plot reasons. That made it a perfect time for her to see Kiwi for the first time, meet Maive and Kiarra, and have Yuuma introduce her to Torts. After all, she's already in the village.

While writing that out, however, I realized that Shane is off work on Thursdays (he and Alex are Callie's farmhands in Changes), and this would be the first time Callie left Alex with no supervision. Since one of the things I'm establishing early on is that Alex, while more than willing to work, often assumes he understands when he doesn't (or doesn't ask for clarification for fear of looking stupid). Seeing this on the calendar, I realized it was a perfect time for him to make some sort of mistake, even if I didn't know what it would be just yet. Hence the note: "Alex fumbles."

Once I had all of the plots on The Calendar, it looks something like this:

(This is only a screenshot for the first month, but you get the idea.) These are not detailed notes. This was just enough to remind me of what I want to accomplish and what goes together where. I fleshed it out more in The Outline, though even then it won't really compare to when I write the damn thing. I like having The Calendar (and updating it as I change things in The Outline and later on the fic) because it makes a good visual reference when I'm trying to remember why I did things in a certain order, OR when I realize I need to move a scene, I can easily see where it might fit.

The last thing I do with The Calendar before moving on is deciding how to group these scenes into chapters. So it looks like:

Arrows indicate that the chapter covers multiple days. Chapter 7 looks wonky because I realized I needed to end off Chapter 6 after everything with Andy, as it made more sense tonally. If you look over at Chapter 15 and 16, you'll see I split that day in half because even while making The Calendar I could tell it would be too much for a single chapter.

Again, these are not hard and fast rules. I added in two more chapters while working on The Outline, shifting things and updating The Calendar as I went. When it comes time to write, some of these supposed chapters will either get combined or split, because right now I'm just estimating.

Which brings us to...

The Outline

The main reasons why I do The Outline instead of stopping with The Calendar are that I can make more extensive notes than what fits on The Calendar, and that in the process of writing said notes, I oftentimes realize that things need rejiggered to make more sense logistically or thematically.

In many ways, The Outline is the easiest part. It's me looking at The Calendar and plopping it into my word processor as bulleted lists.

(Yes, I use MS Word. Don't @ me)

If you look at The Calendar, there's only a few lines for Chapter 4. Here, I take each of them and write out what I want to accomplish with the scenes and what happens.

Oftentimes, this is when I decide the specifics of how things play out. For example, if you'll recall in our earlier discussion of Callie's first visit to Ridgeside...

...I'd realized while filling out The Calendar that this was the perfect chance for Alex to mess up on the job, even if I didn't know how, precisely.

When writing The Outline, I determined what happened (minor spoilers for the first fic in Changes):

Rinse, lather, repeat for each chapter. Some chapters get exhaustive notes such as who all is present in a specific scene, the emotional tone, even a line of dialogue. Others are more like:

Some things you just can't know until you're actually writing them out, am I right? ^_~

And there you have it, my process for juggling way too many plotlines and characters and making them come together in Big Moments.

Congratulations for slogging your way through all of this. Hopefully, some tidbit in there proved either interesting or helpful. If anyone has questions, please feel free to ask them!

[lysolstrider]

i didn't know you were making a game thats really cool, can you tell us more about it?

yes!! just for you my dearest mutual axolotlworld… sorry I took forever to respond I really had to think about what to say!

our game is (tentatively) called COLLEGEBOUND.. or SCHOOLBOUND… or CLASSBOUND.. we are indecisive. it revolves around concepts of change, willpower, and the drive to keep going. it is tangentially related to the COVID-19 pandemic though a physical sickness is not present anywhere in the game… quite the opposite

you play as atlas, a tired sophomore who’s ready to just leave school altogether. what’s crazy though is that you can’t leave. nobody can. you’ve all been on campus and its extended neighborhood for a year straight without any contact with the outside world. your college is floating in the sky, cut off from the outside world. it’s time to fix that.

it is based VERY heavily in paper mario style combat, and is heavily inspired by games like undertale and persona 5, i would go so far as to say i hope this is an appropriate love letter to those games!! if you enjoy making friends and avoiding class, you will love this game. we are trying a lot of new things outside these games’ scopes

ideally, we get the kickstarter launched sometime after having a workable demo in mid 2025. at the moment, the majority of the demo’s soundtrack is finished, the character designs are mostly complete, and the demo’s story is 90% done. though not programmed enough to have anything tangible, the combat system is 40% complete and the UI is about 5% done. the only reason i wouldn’t be like HERES THE DEMO SCRAPS is just because i hate reading devlogs where nothing happens 😭😭

there is a secret i cannot say, but it is the reason development isn’t as quick even though it’s a two person project. just know it’s a popular mechanic for indie games to do this lately and i’m wanting to take it to a logical extreme in the most intense way possible!!!!!! which is really challenging in Unreal Engine but it is possible!

the environments and such are extremely easy and not a concern because tbh most of that is free assets we have permission to edit mixed with my hand drawn or modeled things. unironically i’m really digging the amazing world of gumball style it gives the game. i’m a huge huge perfectionist and even refuse to answer texts unless i have a perfect response so i’m polishing things as i go and am really enjoying making it!

also, we’re going to apply for multiple scholarships dedicated to things like this— with what we have so far visually we actually have a shot maybe????!!!!! i dont have any good videos on hand but the paper style is PERFECT for my art and it’s really endearing to look at and play as

i wish i could be more specific but it’s such a novel idea and i told shems i can’t talk about it anywhere for a while ugh 😭 i can’t remember my login for here on the computer but when I post some of the soundtrack snippets I will tag you in them!! the music is coming along the best so far lol

here’s some screenshots of concept art tho!! theresa and anya. theresa is an HR management major and anya is an illustration major. we thought about Anya’s color changing when she performs certain skills but that’s up in the air rn

us messing with the lighting in unreal lol (we’ve since changed the filter on it as well as making the textbox different)

[weafurry]

YAYY YIPPEE HII/silly

(Sorry I didn't get to this till now it was late when I saw the ask and I didn't wanna answer it while I was half asleep. Also apparently tumblr doesn't let you edit asks anymore?? )

Leaving this under a cut tho cuz I know this shit will get LONG

ANYWAYS. The. Big one related to that™ post came from a combination of me wondering how the FUCK Cedric got the yellow phosphor needed to rebuild proto + consequences of the revival of characters my beloved

And uh. Yea any yellow phosphor he does end up getting his hands on I. DOUBT WOULD BE ENOUGH.

So uh. Proto being rebuilt with less yellow phosphor then is probably even remotely adviseable and that causing a whole ton of issues™ . And Cedric not even knowing cuz of the whole just. Scanning the blueprints in.

Also this is proto we're talking about here. There's no fucking way he'd tell anyone until shit got BAD.

LEMME JUST. Screenshots from when I was brainrotting over this in my first OneShot fixation

And yea. The author probably would have had yellow phosphor stored in the lab somewhere just incase. (Esp with the head canon that. Proto predicted his own death a long time ago cuz. Prophet moment. And. Told the author and the prophet but never cedric and rue cuz everytime he went to he would get another vision of them trying to intervene and things only going worse)

BUT. since I want my angst goddammit. That part of the lab collapsed first and while Cedric was abled to salvage some yellow phosphor it ends up not being enough.

BUT LIKE. YEA. the way I always imagined Cedric and Rue actually finding out is. One of those moments where a bunch of errors and shit happens . Happens when him Cedric and Rue are walking in the refuge. And this one's bad enough that he can't just metaphorically grit his teeth through it like the other times this has happened in public. Once it's over Cedric and Rue are reasonably extremely concerned and. Fuckin rush him to the lab to try and see if there something they can do to fix this.

AND UH. That segways into another little detail of this headcanon. BECAUSE. he let this go on for so long with the damage all the errors and malfunctions overtime have caused. It probably would just be better to rebuild him and reuse the yellow phosphor they already have. BUT UH. since the situation around him being rebuilt made it so stressful the first time around, he. REALLY doesn't wanna do that again. I have. Such a vivid idea of a scene in my head for that. They're like. Talking with kip. And shes like halfway through saying the word rebuild and. She doesn't even get to finish he just cuts her off.

So what they end up doing is, in the meantime, using red phosphor to prevent any further damage until they can go to the barrens to get blue phosphor so said phosphor won't have to be replaced as often.

I ACTUALLY. made a dumb little chart of how. I imagined them looking different a few days ago

I imagine that. Actually having a normal level of phosphor would. Definitely HELP. But. There would still be some issues partially because it's not one uniform type of phosphor and partially because of the damage the issues caused. And you couldnt pry this headcanon out of my cold dead hands. Consequences of the revival of characters go brrrrrrr

AND THEN UH. Don't get me started on the night terrors as a result of the whole squares thing headcanons.

that whole thing. Came from me going. "do robots still need sleep?" and ultimately deciding yes when i came up with the other headcanon that. only tamed robots dream.

When I made this headcanon I actually hadnt played solstice in a while, and for some reason I always remembered it as, him handing Niko the disk while the lower half of his body was already in the squares. which. no he actually hands it to them while the squares are directly behind him BUT. I still choose to remember it that way HSHSH. anyways uh. Important and related to this headcanon. He remembers what that feels likeeee. and hes probably the only oneee because in the solstice ending everyone only sayss they remember the squares surrounding themm not actually touching themmm and even robots who have gotten caught in them and liveed probably dont rememberrr especially since most of them arent tameddd and uhh even if he only remembers the beginning of ittt hes probably really good at filling in the gapss with the whole prophet thingg (thanks @malwarechips for that last idea/silly)

ANYWAYS UHm. so the whole. tamed robots dreaming thing right. HIM. having night terrors about the fucking squares.

I always imagined it as like. about a week after solstice, once things are starting to calm down and return to normal, one night cedric and rue wake up to proto just fuckin screaming at the top of his (metaphorical) lungs. And. they fuckin burst into his room to him tossing and turning in his sleep and then fucking jolting awake. and like.this keeps happening like. practically every other night. he's losing sleep over this shit. Which probably isn't helping all the other issues from the whole phosphor ordeal which he still hasn't told Cedric or Rue about at this point. And I mean. I doubt the nightmares would be restricted to just. in the mines. cuz dreams are weird like that esp when traumas involved AND UH. With the whole prophet thing. That. PROBABLY WOULDNT MIX WELL. (once again thanks eve for that last part/silly)

(On a lighter note I did have the thought of Cedric and Rue sleeping in his room one night and him actually finally getting a good nights sleep and thus that just. Becoming routine for them. The thing about my angsty headcanons is 99% of the time there's hurt/comfort potential in there)

I DO HAVE. some more lighthearted not angsty headcanons, but i wanna save most of those for their own posts cuz theyre small enough that i can actually draw them and finish them.

I will say one more though. this one is 100% projection but *points at proto* chronic migraines

[httpiastri]

im the BIGGEST mclaren fan and oscar fan in the world ever and i dont even have the energy to celebrate oscar's first win (yes bc of the fucked up way mclaren did it but wtv not getting into that) bc of how devastated i am about paul. i just want to give him the biggest hug in the world and tell him its ok and that we all still love him. i hope he knows how much support he has and that making mistakes is ok, its only his rookie season no one expects him to be schumacher or senna or whoever, we just want you to be a happy paul aron :(

seeing him banging his head and looking out into the distance after the crash omfg i will jump off a cliff i swear. hes so hard on himself and i was legit sobbing thinking about how much harder he is on himself (probably) this year after what happened w merc and prema. he deserves so much more omg. the fact that kimi ended up winning the race just made me think of the lacy edits too and omfg i cannot. i love kimi dont get me wrong but what are the chances that paul's win became kimi's instead? i js cant.

and dont get me started on that fucking penalty. he already dnf'd i don't understand the point of them punishing him any further did u not see how mad he was at himself?? fuck you fia fuck. you. cz WHY WHAT WAS THE REASON??? i feel like ive never seen them do that to a driver, usually they cause a collision and dnf they just get time penalties but a TEN PLACE GRID PENALTY?? FOR THE NEXT RACE?? THIS LATE IN THE SEASON?? it just seems SO unfair and so harsh. not agreeing w the grid penalties at all esp when the driver alr suffered from their mistakes but the crash w maloney fine i can kind of understand, but ollie's? sorry but i didnt even see them crash that hard? (or was i half asleep? idk i js literally do not remember seeing it) seriously tho wtf.

i hope his friends, family and team gave him the biggest hug ever. he'll come back stronger ik it! we'll get thru this u guys:(

paul nation family group hug 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

-🧸

this is very valid :(( it wouldve been easier to celebrate if it had been better with the team and whatever, but now it was so easily overshadowed by everything that happened in f2 and i just 😶

to me, most of my pain is based on (just like u said) the fact that i think he's hard on himself, and wants to prove so much after everything that has happened. i just hope he sees the reality; that he's doing super well, in his rookie season nonetheless, and we're all so proud of him. mistakes is okay, shit happens, even max verstappen made a bunch of mistakes yesterday!!

i didnt wanna look at the clips of him in the car nor hear his radio (ive seen the screenshot of him admitting that it was his fault tho) and i saw the clip of him after getting out of the car and i just...... nope. and esp w kimi winning aaaa it made me so happy but-

god i dont understand the penalties like. yes he made a mistake but zane was also going very very slow (on the slower tyres also) so it was hard for him to tell what zane was going to do. like these things happen within even a fraction of a second and you need to trust your instinct and sometimes it doesn't work out? like obvs i cant compare it to any personal experiences in racing but in my own sport i know the feeling of getting a bad pass etc, and something tiny can mess up the entire timing and feeling and everything? so zane just going slower makes a lot of difference :// it's not common that they do this but ive seen it sometimes but this is just so.... gAH!! esp with the thing with ollie because they didn't even show it, so it can't have been THAT important, right?? so stupid

pls everyone gather around for a group hug! with paul in the middle bcs he deserves all of the love!!!!!!! <3<3<3

(oh and just so you know. "we just want you to be a happy paul aron :("........... you actually broke me with that one, i hope you're happy that im crying bcs of you 😭)

[sundaysplayzone]

Commonly Asked Questions.

I get asked the same 3-5 questions all the time, so I thought I might make this new lil pinned post to help everyone out! But first, I want to thank you all for visiting my blog!

Do you take requests?

No, I do not.

Are your commission open?

Yes currently! Honestly now a days they’re almost always open. You can check them out on my website HERE!

Are you okay with gift art?

Of course! I would be flattered! If you’d like, you can find most of my characters here on toyhouse (I promise to update it soon!)!

How do you get the retro/vhs effects on your art?

I actually made a tutorial on that here! But honestly at the end of the day it’s a lot of “I plug this picture into several different apps and video editing software.” I wish I could give you a simple answer, but there is no easy way to do it that’s the same every time. I rarely if ever do it the same way back to back. Some colors look better when edited in Photoshop, some in Photomosh Pro. I pay almost $100 a month to have access to all of the software I use to make these effects because it’s part of my job. But luckily you can find so many free tutorials and apps out there, you just need to be curious and try new things!

What do you use to draw?

Another vague answer whoo! Sorry, but I use so many things to draw! But usually it’s sketch/ink/color/shade in Paint Tool Sai, and then move it to Photoshop to add the background, effects and details. I also use Procreate and Clip Studio from time to time. When it comes to traditional, it’s usually standard cardstock or a mixed media sketchbook. Then I draw and color with microns, copic pens, jelly rollers/gel pens, prisma colored markers and copic markers. 

Did you draw the backgrounds in your art? And if you use screenshots, where do you get them?

In the majority of my pictures, I use screenshots from old cartoons. I get these screenshots from the shows themselves. My friend is kind enough to set up a program that takes snapshots hundreds of times during the show. Then when the episode is over, they send them to me. I then spend HOURS, going through thousands of images and delete all but the good pieces. A majority of the time they take a lot of editing to be usable. I have to clean them up, remove character and scale the images.

This isn’t always the case however! I do often draw my own backgrounds! If you ever want to know, feel free to ask!

As for the more aesthetic/abstract backgrounds, I make those myself! I spent far too much money buying licenses and rights to use tons of different patterns and vectors. With those, I love recreating authentic backgrounds in the style of those seen in the 80s and 90s!

I see you draw a lot of Transformation/Chubby/(insert common movie trope here). Are you a fetish artist?

No, I am not a fetish artist. Do I draw art that might be someone’s fetish? Do I take commissions from people with a fetish for this subject matter? Yes, of course. But people need to realize, furry characters alone are a kink to some people. For me the difference is in how it’s drawn. And I personally do not draw my art in a way that sexualizes the piece.

I love drawing transformation scenes, people being swallowed by a monster, extra big tummies, but not because it’s something that I find hot. I just like drawing fun scenes. I get bored of just drawing a character standing in place all the time. I like drawing wacky scenes! 

A lot of my love for these come from cartoons. Edmund getting turned into a cat in Rock a Doodle. Hercules getting swallowed by the hydra. Kaa hypnotizing... everyone xD It’s just a story telling tool and sometimes it’s fun to draw! I’m not into hypno but I do like drawing big, colorful eyes. I’m just whatever about tf but I love drawing the swirling magic effects and the character changing from human to animal. It’s just cool to me!

In short, when I draw these things, it’s like I get to draw scenes from cartoons and movies in my style. It’s so wonderful to attempt to emulate some of the effects and details they used in movies from my childhood. It’s not about the hand changing into a paw for me, it’s the magical sparkles and how it’s so bright and vibrant compared to everything else. Where you see it go from hand to paw, that’s what I love drawing about tf art! Or being able to exaggerate the body and make a character look weighty by making them really round. Getting to draw a comically big mouth, giving a fun and interesting perspective shot. I think that stuff is so neat! Because it’s art!

I don’t care if it is someone’s fetish. I’m not drawing it in a way that’s sexual. Heck, it even says I wont in my TOS! Everything is G-PG here in Sunday’s Playzone! I’m not here to make that kind of content. It’s okay if adults have fetishes, and so long as you and others aren’t sexualizing my art, all is well!

[satellite-sims]

Get to Know Me ⭐ Sims Edition

thanks @descendantdragfi @auroraeternal @pixelatedpretties for tagging me! 💘

What's your favourite Sims death?

Usually i don’t kill my sims but if it’s needed...hehe. I choose “fast” death by pool, but my favorite is death by jelly bean. Like, this is so funny to me to die because of jelly beans? This is so resonating with me because i love candies so much i could die lol. And i also love the ghost it’s purple, haha.

Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

Alpha for sure!

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Only once when i played with Tatyana at the Isla Paradiso. She used to swim a lot and her chubby shapes have constantly dissappeared and i always had to get back her normal chubby weight, hehe.

Do you use move objects?

Yes! But i try not to use it that much when i play casual gameplay. Sims might not like my way of placing the objects 🙄

Favourite Mod?

Master Controller! I can’t imagine how i lived without this mod earlier. And the story progression mod is must have tho.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

Hmm, i can’t really remember, it must be Late Night. Back then, i was soooo amazed by the Bridgeport and vampires in game. This EP completely changed my view of the game. I still love the aesthetics of this one.

Do you pronounce live mode or aLIVE or LiVing?

I don’t actually speak english, but i think this should sound like aLIVE.

Whos your favourite sim that you've made?

Are you serious? I have like 30+ sims and you force me to choose only one? That’s cruel. I’m torn apart between Tatyana and Francine. Okay, Francine. She is one of my sims that have really detailed story and biography.

Have you made a simself?

Yup! It’s Marzia.

Which is your favourite EA hair colour?

I don’t usually use them, but i like how the default red looks like.

Favourite EA hair?

Of course Deb’s hairstyle. I really love this hair since i first saw it installed in my game and still amazed of how it styled. And i love how the roots look like. A true EA’s masterpiece.

Favourite life stage?

Adult

Are you a builder or are you in it for gameplay?

I don’t know how to build, lol. Only decorate (still not very good tho) sometimes i love to gameplay but still i’m more like editor and CAS person.

Are you a CC creator?

More like CC converter. Well, this still counts, i think. I would love to create something by myself and i already have some thoughts about what it can be, but currently have no time for it :(

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

I have a lot of friends only because of simblr community!

@myopicshen is my one and only best friend! We have seen each other last year and hope to see again this summer! She is not into sims community anymore but we still communicate. I show her my edits and screenshots, tell something about my OC and etc. I’m trying to get her back to the sims but she didn’t want to 😭😔 I loved her sims and edits sooo much.

@agnelid is my hair maniac (as do I) hehe 💇‍♀️

@falturilturaltura is my lesbian bae 💃🏽

@die-ginsekatze is my german aesthetic queen 🖤

Do you have any sims merch?

Does printed portraits of my own sims counts? @myopicshen gifted me them for birthday <3

How has your ''Sims Style'' changed throughout your years of playing?

There was a long road, huh. This picture is not so accurate bc it’s old but my style was always volatile. I love to do something noir styled (or close to that) at the same time i can’t refuse to do something colorful and experimental.

Whats your Origin ID?

I’m using my friend’s account lol and only for ts4 (which is rare) so i wouldn’t share.

Who's your favourite CC creator?

@rollo-rolls @smallsimmer @sourlemonsimblr @nemiga-sims-archive

@pleaseputnamehere @agnelid @billsims-cc @plbsims3

How long have you had simblr?

Since February 2016. It’s turned 8 this year!

How do you edit your pictures?

Since i had graphic tablet my possibilites have become bigger! I love to draw shadows, highlights and hair strands to make the portrait more realistic. I also use liquify tool to smooth edges. And of course color correction. Reshade is good, but not really accurate for me. At the end of the editing i put some filters from Alien Skin Exposure and the final touches: portrait blur and noise.

What expansion/ stuff pack is your favourite?

Uhm, university? I’m torn apart between Supernatural and University. These are both my endless vibing favorites. They are like completely two other worlds!

Tagging: @avirein @you-will-never-find-me-anymore @agnelid @rollo-rolls @sagasimsworld @cas-sims @jolifleurbleu @papermint-airplane @simimpala @pleaseputnamehere @niscomo @obscurus-noctem @joosiiims @nectar-cellar @camisulsul @simplybecauseiam​ <3

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: The Odd Squad UK Promo

Now, before reading this, I need everyone to give a middle finger to Firefox for repeatedly flashbanging me throughout this entire followup whenever I went to take a screenshot. This has never happened before. I don't know why it's happening. I do know that I am inches away from throwing that inflamed vixen in the trash and moving to SlimBrowser instead.

Okay, so now that you've done that, let's discuss this 30-second promo that someone on Discord was very polite enough to dredge up. (Since there's a lot of...sensitive stuff that happens in that server -- in an "inner workings of a television network" kind of way -- I will refrain from naming names. If you see this, you know who you are, and thank you.)

At the time of this writing, there are no teaser images, nor have all the expansive synopses been released yet. It'll take a while for TVO to get through all of them, BBC doesn't have any expansive synopses, and my other sources are...dead in the water.

I don't think I need to say this, but I'll say it anyway: there are spoilers abound in this. If you haven't seen the promo yet, it's best if you view it here before proceeding with this followup.

Let's dive in below the break!

The only reason I'm putting this here is because the plehn started in Arlington and it's goin' to the United Kingdom and to Britain.

Because PBS's Headquarters is in Arlington.

MOUNT VIRGINIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Am I fuckin' trippin' on some shit or are we inside Big Ben? Because I mean the clock to the left there is confusing my pea brain. And if we are in Big Ben, some agent is going to go clear through these doors and wind up doing the Peter Griffin death pose but...y'know...they're dead. So.

On another note, I see we're ditching Apple computers and going straight for Microsoft. I know what iMacs look like. I have Google. Those are not iMacs. Sorry, Cook, but you're not cookin' in the UK.

We can also see the breakroom that was spotted in the gadget competition briefing video, which...kinda makes all my cracks about the shitty editing age poorly. (The video editing, mind. Not the audio editing. Those cracks stay. There is no excuse.)

So there's a lot to take in here -- and I mean it's a disgusting amount; I have to go frame-by-fucking-frame -- but let's focus on Captain O and Ozzie specifically. We have Captain O holding a letter of some kind, while Ozzie himself is still in his Department of Help uniform. The letter could be something along the lines of "congrats, you're hired", but who's to say. Hard to tell from a simple zoom-in and an "attention, everyone!"

Me, I just wanna know what the knitting needles on Captain O's jacket are for. Watch it not be answered in 12 episodes and then I'll be staying up Googling when I have a car to drive and cry in.

People in the Odd Squad Discord server are, by general consensus, not happy with this British-fied Odd Squad logo. And really, I don't blame them. This is pure "graphic design is my passion and I get paid for it handsomely, motherfucker".

Look, I liked it better when it looked like a sun. The sun, at least, is symbolic from a certain standpoint. This is just making it British because we're in Britain, and it's not funny.

Pure excitement written all over that girl's face, right there. He's gonna be the poor schmuck just being dragged around everywhere in town.

Kind of like the guy who was my "boyfriend" in high school and then literally dragged me through the halls showing me off like he got the most valuable plushie in the world. (Yes, that actually happened. Yes, the quotation marks are intentional. No, you don't want me to elaborate, trust me.)

Only the guy is a tourist, I'm the poor schmuck who has to help the tourist, and the guy probably can't drag me because I outclass him by about a hundred pounds.

It took them ten years, but we finally have magic effects for when agents combine gadgets.

Oscar is shedding a tear of joy somewhere. He's never been able to make that happen, but a tourist and a Brit somehow made it work, and he's so proud of them.

I could've sworn I've seen this structure as a filming location, but I can't for the life of me figure out whether it was in the Season 3 days or if it was last year. My memory's trying to make me think the former.

Taken out of context, though, this is a monster that sees Orli and whom I have to assume is either Onom or Orwell as two fresh-blooded meals. Which ups the danger ante of the entire franchise considerably, because there is a line between "I'm going to hurt you" and "I am going to kill you".

This octopus...thing is just...more direct about the latter.

In the medical industry, that would be classified as a brain disorder.

...In the real world.

Here in the Oddverse, you can have electricity shooting out of your head and it's as much of a minor inconvenience as an item being out of stock at the store.

(Also, someone mentioned that this guy sounds like TomSka, and...I mean, I'm inclined to agree. Not exact, but it's pretty close.)

This is William Ocean's brother, who finally emerged out of the depths of Monty Python. Good for him!

I'm sorry, I just noticed this...but they have a steel rotating door?

Like...like a captain's ship...like it's...

And it's automatic...

I'm sorry, but I'm just so damn used to seeing metal doors that seeing one in a completely different color, material, and shape is sending me for a whirlwind. Holy cheesin' Jesus.

"I wanna be a cooowgiiiirl, baby!"

"Heeeell yeah!"

"I wanna be a coooowgiiiiiirl, baaaaabyyyyy!"

(Or, alternatively, Smoothest Bitch in the East.)

And finally, we get to my favorite part: the gay triangle villain. Gay villains, if you want to count the one on the left, but since they don't speak, it's hard to tell where they fall on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

I could make an entire Seren's Study on Odd Squad and LGBTQ+ representation, and I probably will one of these days, but I need you guys to understand something for a moment.

So in the aforementioned Discord server, there was talk of an episode of Season 1 of Alma's Way called "Say I Guess to the Dress". It involved Alma struggling to figure out what dress to wear to a party she's attending. It was meant to air in January of last year, but got mysteriously pulled and replaced with a different episode, and hasn't aired in the US since.

You might think this is not normal fare. You'd be right.

But in one scene of the episode, Lucas, one of Alma's friends, models a dress that -- and I am going off of the Wiki here -- was worn by Julia, his late cousin. Only for one scene. Only for a bit. Nothing more, nothing less.

This led to speculation that the episode got banned, hence why it hasn't aired yet. In Australia, it aired fine. However, we are on Season 2 of the show, and all we've gotten is pure crickets. We don't know for sure what happened, but with PBS, it's a minefield -- since they get a lot of money from donors, adding in an LGBTQ+ major character would sap up a good financial origin because people would be too pissed off to donate. So they relegate it to tiny sprinkles.

I'm not sure what the BBC's rules are on LGBTQ+ people in kids media. They could be strict, they could be lax, who knows. I still need to do some research on that. But for how much PBS is trying to make Gay Triangle Villain straight...he's not. He's really not.

Because let's be honest here: they're called the Triangle Sisters. That already says enough on its own.

Oof...didn't wanna make this super long-winded. But I'll discuss this at length later in another Seren's Study, once the episode airs.

I really might as well come out and really say it: I'm really not really a fan of the "really" gag. For a really short episode spanning really 11 minutes long, they really don't have time really for something of really this long and really painful.

...Really?

Really.

*distant ding*

Ahaha...ahaha...haha...aaaaaaah...

Mmm...

Cute. Real cute. Fuck you. But real cute.

And also, fuck PBS Kids execs for only putting out promos of new episodes of shows the day of. Remember when they used to put out promos earlier than that? Pepperidge Farm remembers, and for how much my memory sucks ass, so do I. Those were the golden days. Now we get stuff like these, because not a day goes by where they're stuck under the feet of Netflix and Hulu. Big competitors. Target and Walmart kind of rivalry.

----------------------------------------------------

Overall, not a lot of beef to this promo. I wasn't expecting anything mindblowing like, say, the trailer for the first movie (and that was epic in its own right), but it's pretty standard as far as PBS Kids promos go. I'm fairly positive CBBC will put out something far better that pulls in viewers, though I can't attest to how great their promos are because the last I saw one was...whoof, a long time ago.

But hey, look at it this way: Odd Squad UK and Pokemon Horizons will air on the same network, which means I can be an insufferable "Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon is my life" bitch all I want.

As for the contents of the promo itself...aside from gay triangle villain, there wasn't really any spark that caught my eye. Nothing to make my jaw drop or make me go "wowee kazoo". At this point, I'm watching for two reasons: curiosity, and to give them another chance at making a franchise going stale a lot better. And also the fanfic ideas. Lots of fanfic ideas.

I doubt I'll put out another Seren's Study before this one (my PBS Kids one isn't done yet), so the next one will come sometime after the first batch of episodes releases and will be an episode followup for "Odd Ones In". Once that's done, I'll work on followups for the other episodes.

Thanks for reading. Seren out.

[aritany]

Do you have any pets? If yes, can we see pictures? If no, what kind of pet do you want, if any, and what would you name them?

Also, what are your top 5: Books by other people, songs, movies, and tv shows?

Also, what's the most important or best piece of feedback you've ever gotten on your writing? The one that's stuck with you the most. (From tumblr, an ARC review, a publisher, a friend, your partner, anything!)

(I know that's a lot. Feel free to skip some of that if you don't wanna answer it all.)

Congrats on publishing dgdss!!! I'm thrilled to have followed you for as long as I have (a year-ish??), and I can't wait to continue to follow your publishing adventures! (also, thanks for the commission of my boy Rook, ages ago! <3)

~ Morri (@memento-morri-writes)

ahh hello @memento-morri-writes!

i do have a pet! (technically, she's not Mine per se, but she lives in my house and shreds my furniture, so i take tax where it feels appropriate. here she is in all her slutty, slutty glory

TOP FIVES (CURRENTLY):

BOOKS:

THE DREAM THIEVES - maggie stiefvater

IF WE WERE VILLAINS - m.l. rio

SIX OF CROWS/CROOKED KINGDOM - leigh bardugo

BELOVED - toni morrison

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMONE - benjamin stevenson

SONGS:

CAN I CALL YOU TONIGHT - dayglow

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS - ayokay (ft nightly)

HOPE THEY LOVE YOU - wingtip

WITH YOU - dotan

EYES WIDE - alfie jukes (yes it came out yesterday nobody talk to me)

i'm not a huge screen media viewer so this is just a collection of movies and shows i've seen and enjoyed semi-recently

MOVIES:

STARDUST (this gets a permanent #1 spot though)

A SIMPLE FAVOR

GLASS ONION (KNIVES OUT)

JULIE & JULIA

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

TV/(ACTUAL PLAY) SHOWS:

THE GOOD PLACE (this also gets a permanent #1 spot)

DIMENSION 20 FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR (so far)

GRACE AND FRANKIE

THE WOMAN IN THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW

LUPIN

as for advice i've gotten, i think the most impactful advice i've ever gotten actually came from my agent. after the edits for DGDSS i'd really let that feedback impact my writing in a way that was not helpful. in initial edits for dead girls, my prose was stripped of anything descriptive and reduced basically to plot beats and stock actions. i still have some screenshots of what happened to my prologue before i realized nobody was advocating for me and that i'd have to do it myself - PM me if you want to see those.

anyway, i edited my second novel (the one we have on sub right now) to match the general direction i'd gotten during edits, handed it in to my agent, and she went heyyyyyy bestie this is bad. and she was actually very correct. and i realized i was going to have to re-configure my voice and find the space felt like mine in prose. and i do believe i've done that now, and i would have just continued on sulking and writing stilted, awkward prose indefinitely if she hadn't given me the little kick in the butt.

anyway, thank you morri! i'm so glad you're here, and i can't wait to tell you all about the next exciting thing (very soon). :)

[vintageladyofthelowlands]

In 1987 (I was 14 years old,yes I'm that old now 🙄)I had to read the book "Christiane F, Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo " wich in Dutch is called "Christiane F,Verslag van een junkie".It wasn't a school assignment it was my mother who made me read the book.In the small Dutch town where I grew up my mother was (amongst other things) a drugs counsellor and she thought it was a good idea for me to read the book.

Yeah ,the story is shocking and all that but why does no-one ever mentions the people who literally got thrown in front of the bus so to speak and I'm talking about Detlef R.,Stella, and everyone else who gets mentioned but doesn't have their name on the book cover and/or title page.

To be honest I've never liked Christiane F. she seems a bit self centred to me and over the years after a (horrible) second book and watching interviews she comes across as a very shallow person who based her whole being on being a drug addict.

For me, Detlef was the real hero of the book, the fact that he was the only person with two pictures in the Dutch edition of the book drew my attention towards him. I mentioned before that my mother was a drugs counsellor and I've met many boys who were in the same position as Detlef with the difference that the life they tried to get away from didn't get documented in a world wide bestseller, a blockbuster movie and a television series.But in a small town where most people know each other maybe there isn't much difference. And I admired each and every one of them the same way I admire Detlef.

My admiration for Detlef grew years later when I saw a documentary in wich he,Stella,Frank H and some others shared their side/views on the story.Detlef gave a very matter of factly view on everything without hiding the underneath sadness,shame and anger.

Stella in the same documentary broke my heart ,and Frank seemed like a very nice bloke.

But some people feel different and are actually angry with Detlef for telling the truth, namely that as far as he was concerned what he and Christiane had was more based on their dependency on drugs and really had nothing to do with love.

Has anyone ever noticed the degrading way Christiane speaks about Stella in the book?It really doesn't make any sense,she calls Stella ugly while the picture of the stunning girl in the book speaks otherwise.

The documentary from the mid 1990s can be found on YouTube

There's also an interview from the early 1980s with Detlef and Frank

See al the links below.

About the pictures the black and white one is from a report of Stern from 1978(?) The other three are screenshots from the documentary.

If I'm informed correctly, Stella and Frank are both dead, but Detlef is still alive.

I did post this to pay attention to the unsung heroes of this immensely tragic story.