#i'm not an editor i just made this because i'm silly 😭

[ch3rr13numberjack]

realized abt 10 seconds ago that pride month is basically over and made this

[makingapril]

october 1st 2024: drafts!

preacher: i'm attaching slightly improved versions of our original drafts, but i'll also include mine and scott's garbage sketches under the cut because i think they're a little bit funny

(image id available through tumblr's accessibility options)

this is a slightly revised version of my original concept for "APRIL".

the main functionality i wanted for "APRIL" was for her to be able to read out words from the templeOS god word app, and ideally without needing keyboard input – hence the microphone. ideally all of her parts are going to fit inside a hollowed out mannequin or doll, which will probably just be the torso, so that she's more portable. for the same reason, i want her to run off a power bank – i want to be able to take her places!

if we manage, we're going to give her an animated LED face which moves to indicate when she's speaking. the way i first pitched it, i wanted it to also change a bit depending on how she "felt" – for example, frowning if the environment was hotter than ideal for the raspberry pi to operate on. but that's a bit beyond our current scope right now. i don't think we even ordered a thermostat.

scott drew the following wiring diagrams based off my original sketch. here revised digitally for readability's sake.

(image id available through the tumblr accessibility options although i fear it's not very good in this case. feedback appreciated).

scott: I decided to go with the raspberry pi zero 2w because it's what I've got experience coding on, it's relatively cheap for the "brains" of the operation (heh) and can perform both tasks from the godword prophecy generation, speaker operation and led matrix operation simultaneously. Plus its small enough to keep the circuit lightweight and fit inside the initial mannequin design.

This drawing fits no kind of engineering standard by the way lol. It was an initial sketch closer to a wiring diagram to see how it'd physically setup and wrap my head around transforming it from mains power to being theoretically portable and running on powerbanks. Unfortunately the LED matrix is really fucking power hungry so needs its own power supply of really specific voltage and current draws hence all the converters.

Also because Im using the smaller and cheaper pi, as oppossed to a stronger system like the pi4, it doesn't have any audio out jack so I plan to use the micro usb for audio out which means yet again I need another adapter for a soundcard and usb to micro usb adapters and all that jazz. Usually sound out can be done through the GPIO pins but the LED matrix takes so many pins that I cant really take anything form them so I had to look for other ways of doing it. Plus this way I get to add a soundcard so if we wanna add microphone support or anything later on we can :)

(Also this is all a little obtuse because I'm trying to do it as much as plug and play and screw terminal style as possible rather than actually solder connections for ease of access and initial setup, but this also works for modular design and component swapping later too so its cool.)

preacher: another reason we're going with plug&play is becauuseeeeee i don't own a soldering iron 😭 it's ok. it's ok.

our silly initial drafts under the cut for your viewing pleasure.

preacher: these were made around 2 weeks ago, so about september 15th ish.

as you can see the first "APRIL" drawing was beautifully drawn with my fat fingers in the facebook messenger photo editor. i think it holds up. lol.

[kaitropoli]

"The Genius of Advertising Could No Further Go"

National Police Gazette (Vol. 36, Iss. 147).

Magazine illustration, 17 July 1880.

Archive Link.

Fair warning: yapping ahead. Things I explore: the National Police Gazette, the illustration, and a teeny history of 19th-century women brothel owners... and also an apology because I didn't mean to write all of this.

THE NATIONAL POLICE GAZETTE

"THE Genius of Advertising Could No Further Go—An Enterprising Proprietress of a Bagnio Places a Photo-Lithograph in Her Window Setting Forth The Charms of the Inmates; New York City" (full caption) is from the National Police Gazette, a magazine founded in 1845 by Enoch E. Camp and George Wilkes that covered murders, outlaws, and sports—as any man-interested tabloid would (I'm not a man, but yippee-ki-yay, would I tune in). And, of course, the gazette would include scandalous (on the cusp of obscene and illegal (Victorian era, keep that in mind)) images of female sex workers and performers (think of it as the time's Playboy... silly enough, they also had Marilyn Monroe for their cover, this being 1956 instead of PB's 1953).

TRAGICALLY, the National Police Gazette would see its largest spike in popularity during the Great Depression before suspending publication from 1933-1935 due to selling ownership twice, being sold again in the late sixties, and then killing the magazine's production in 1977. A whole 132-year reign, including being the prime news for Boxing in the 20s (the editor and proprietor, Richard Fox, handed studded belts to champion fighters) and being barred by USPS, declares this magazine not only a historical relic but also a forgotten yet still-living America—one for the men (and, of course, us girls. After all, this was peak American).

ILLUSTRATION

BACK to the picture. The caption mentions the word 'bagnio,' which, upon scanning, accidentally read the N as an X, so I searched up the word to make sure I was reading it entirely correctly—I was. It's an archaic term for 'brothel' (a place where patrons visit prostitutes). The illustration depicts men staring at images of prostitutes that are pinned on the window by the owner (can't blame men for using women to make money as, in this situation, it's a female owner).

WOMEN & BROTHELS

SURPRISINGLY enough, women dominated Western America, building communities and providing for the economy. The fact I call it surprising is because I just learned this (Feminism should fight against history erasure because this should've been a widely talked about chapter in HS American History)! As much as I believe women shouldn't sell their bodies and that we need to better take care of women (forced prostitution—sex slavery—runs the prostitution industry), I can't deny the history women have with Bordellos, not as employees but also as owners. Madams are the title of these female brothel owners, and they were common back in the 19th century. Most of the time, Madams were entry-level (showgirls) who made almost as much as factory workers and worked their way up to the top or used their money to create inns and parlors, expanding their wealth. These women, though taking advantage of their own and other girls' (usually aged from their mid-teens to middle-aged) bodies, capitalized and found their place in labored society... something that can be considered early feminism. They planted themselves in the economy and made it known that they could own property, make money, and (yes, even in 1800s United States) vote. That, you can applaud.

APOLOGY

I didn't actually expect to yap on this post; I was writing my book, scrolling for images, and found this one, and wanted to include the full caption... which ended down a rabbit hole😭

[arlecchno]

since mission accomplished is coming to an end, here are some songs i listen to while i write for the series :>

kinda listed a whole lot more than i intended to but whatever 😭 the ma playlist i have is much longer than the songs i've listed here

not proofread because i wrote this in like 20 minutes and i need to study

- hold on by flor

this song was kinda big in the editor community (yes i used to be an editor lmao) and it just stick with me until now. very fluffy and cute song definitely made for them

labyrinth by taylor swift

you know that chorus part “uh oh, i'm falling in love” which is the realisation part, and it transitions to denial “oh no, i'm falling in love again” then finally acceptance “oh, i'm falling in love.” ??? yeah that part is specially made for y/n

- sunshine and city lights by greyson chance

mostly based on chap 5, but i listen to this whenever i write the soft, comforting and vulnerable scenes

- come back... be here by taylor swift

basically what the title says. they both won't admit it because of their pride but they just desperately want each other to come back after the fight

- wishing we were more than friends by push baby

this is the epitome of their whole relationship actually

- all i need to hear by the 1975

when i first heard this song when the album came out,, i immediately thought of them. it's been in my playlist ever since

- story of us by taylor swift

very very based on chap 22. they're so stupid and silly how can they even go on a month avoiding each other?

- oh no (i think i'm in love) by blossoms

i was browsing through songs to add to the ma playlist and i stumbled upon this which is like. their song. basically the realisation part of falling in love

- snow on the beach by taylor swift ft. lana del rey

this song is about falling in love with someone at the same time as they're falling in love with you. and i think that it matches them perfectly

- (what i wish just one person would say to me) by lany

this is definitely how both y/n and scara felt when they decided to go off on their own ways for the past month

- jump then fall by taylor swift

this song is specifically for one of the special episodes i'm planning on doing after ma ends (or make it into the epilogue) but i'll just slip this here. very fluffy it's just about being in a cute relationship

and lastly...

- the great war by taylor swift

need i say more. this is kind of a mix of both the recent chapters and the next two chapters where the climax happens, which is like, the part i've been planning months for. the mission they're both risking their lives for, and the big conflict in their relationship sums up the song perfectly. will they make it through it all?

definitely give these songs a listen! maybe while you're reading the ma series too... who knows if it'll boost up the experience

i'm a huge taylor fan if it wasn't obvious already lmao!! most of her songs just do it for me

[cool-island-songs]

Wemdy and cragggg for the ask game owo

thank you for the ask, rooster (from this ask game)! just answering wendy here because i got a separate ask for craig and last time i tried posting this with both wendy and craig it crashed the editor >:(

1: sexuality headcanon - i headcanon her as mostly straight, maybe with a bit of repression about the parts of her that aren't totally due to having been called a lesbo so much growing up? that's not totally fixed, just the way i generally see her at the moment

2: otp - i really like tolkiendy after TFBW bc i found their combat dialogue so cute (he's really simping for her ;-;). that might be my favorite wendy ship, but i'm not sure i endgame her with anyone atm

3: brotp - bebe up to a point. i just know bebe made the saltiest facebook post after wendy couldn't take the MLM shilling anymore and finally blocked her. i do like wendy and kyle and tolkien friendly in high school

4: notp - i don't really have any, but i do feel she can sometimes bring a very serious or overly mature vibe to some ships. i don't think she has to tho? i have really enjoyed what little i have written of her (the way she stresses certain words when pissy is rly fun to write lol) and i imagine my feelings and preferences will develop the more i write her

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

her school supply game is insane. this binch got highlighters in every color of the rainbow

6: favorite line from this character

wendy wtf 😭

7: one way in which I relate to this character

i relate to her quite a bit tbh. i was also a precocious preteen feminist with debate kid tendencies

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

her tfbw ultimate is a FLASH MOB??? in the year 2017????

it's not chiefly embarrassing exactly, but i don't love the way the girls were made into these adult liberal feminist women via the trump/garrison/cartman parallels in season 20. there's a general overmaturity to the girls too, and i miss when they were allowed to be silly and goofy. the most genuine joy i have derived from a girl character's actions in recent years is 100% millie going into the principal's office with that ridiculous crying act in "pajama day"

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

she's very earnest and wants to do the right thing and, as with kyle, i feel like there often comes a point where reality or cartman throws a wrench in her liberal idealism. she's better at rolling with the punches than kyle though imo, and will back down when need be. she's willing to lose the battle to win the war, so idk if that's cinnamon roll status exactly, but i find her very clever and formidable

that said, i like her problematic too. she has some more intensely jealous and egocentric moments earlier on in the show, and while i wouldn't write her that way entirely, it can be fun to let some of that behavior shine through when she's really pushed. what can i say.. i support women's wrongs