#this is from 2018! it was a simpler time

[schaafdraws]

spoopy! 👻

[fadedgilt]

Calling off work cuz I’m sick with nostalgia

[zahri-melitor]

Why did Red Robin fail as an alias that Tim was transitioned into? Did it ‘fail’?

I don't have any special insight on this one, but I can give you a bunch of reasons that made it unpopular.

The main one however? It's heavily associated with n52 Tim, and people don't like n52 Tim.

(Heads up going in - I will be using cover dates for all of this, because working with cover dates over publication dates is simpler for me)

Tim used 'Red Robin' as a name between August 2009 and July 2018. This splits up as follows with the major titles he was appearing in:-

2 years, 3 months (August 2009 - October 2011) in Batman Reborn pre-Flashpoint as Red Robin (Red Robin vol 1):

5 years, 1 month (November 2011 - November 2016) in n52 as Red Robin (Teen Titans vol 4 & 5, Batman Eternal, Batman & Robin Eternal):

2 years (August 2016 - July 2018) in Rebirth as Red Robin (Detective Comics):

I wanted to put the photos up to help clarify the differences between each of these versions.

Yes, there's overlap between the last two, because Teen Titans vol 5 finished several months after the start of Tynion's Detective Comics run. The two characters are essentially separate - switching over to Rebirth was a messy process that took several months depending on the title

The majority of appearances of 'Red Robin' as a character are of n52 'Tim Drake', who doesn't have the same backstory, parents or history as Robin as the characters either side of him. He's the one that most long term fans of the character would rather not talk about or think about.

Tynion's Detective Comics run between 2016 to 2018 was about taking the characters therein back to their pre-Flashpoint characterisation, as much as possible. And you can tell from the costume, Tim was 'Red Robin' in name only. He was wearing a Robin costume that simply happened to have an extra R on the crest. He looked like a Robin, acted like a Robin, was doing Robinlike work for Batman, and when Young Justice 2019 started he got a costume update that dropped the extra R from the top and he's been using Robin again ever since (less the attempt at using 'Drake' as a code name in 2020).

So why did it fail? Here's a bunch of reasons:

People don't like the cowl design on Tim: even Marcus To, the artist best associated with Tim as Red Robin before Flashpoint, perpetually draws Tim with the cowl down and often with part of the costume off for commissions and artwork.

People don't like the new 52 version of Tim.

Red Robin was a costume that Tim put on back in 2009 as a punishment to himself while was was doing 'unRobinlike' things looking for Bruce, and once that circumstance was over, there wasn't that much time during Reborn to really cement it as Tim's adult persona due to the universe getting cut off and rebooted.

New 52 Tim was largely not associated with the rest of the Bats for various editorial reasons, making him an outsider that's unusual compared to the rest of his characterisation since 1989.

To show the difference for Tynion's 'Tec run and convince all the fans that new 52 Tim was gone, they decided to make a very clear visual distinction between the characters. That visual distinction essentially was making Tim into a Robin again.

If you're looking at character storyline for Tim Drake, son of Jack and Janet, the story arc effectively goes: Batman Reborn, Convergence, Detective Comics, Young Justice 2019. Which is a story of Tim transferring himself back OUT of the Red Robin costume as he healed and no longer needed it as a temporary measure, and regaining his memories and history.

I mean, why would DC want to use Red Robin for Tim? It's got the difficulty that Jason has taken over effective ownership of the colour red for identification in the family purposes. It's associated with times of grief in Tim's life (because Tim explicitly wears red for loss: for Kon and for Bruce) and with storylines they've excised from his history. It's explicitly a form of self-flagellation.

It could have been Tim's Nightwing, but it's effectively ended up Tim's Grayson period. Something that happened and is referenced, but there are good reasons not to return to.

[uboat53]

Well, we're rapidly approaching inauguration day which means Trump is going to be president soon. Given that, it's time to inoculate you against a monumentally stupid perception that I can't believe has hung around for an entire decade.

Donald Trump is not smart. He's not playing 5-dimensional chess, he's not finding new ways to solve old problems, and he's not operating on a level most of us can't comprehend. The next four years are going to be hard enough and Trump's administration will undoubtedly do some genuinely terrible things. It will be terrible enough without having to over-analyze and obsess over every nonsensical utterance the man makes. He's actually extremely simplistic and predictable, just in a way that most people have way to much dignity, integrity, and/or shame to attempt.

This week's sideshow is no exception. For those who missed it, Donald Trump has been threatening to militarily seize Greenland, annex Canada, retake the Panama Canal, and rename the Gulf of Mexico and I've seen far too many breathless articles wondering what the strategic intention of these bombastic threats are. Is he trying to obtain concessions? Is he setting up a strategy that will pay dividends down the road? Is he doing something we can't understand yet? Will he follow through with it?

None of that, guys, it's a lot simpler and stupider.

Look, right now, Trump's having a rough time. Biden is doing popular things that Trump wants to undo but will find hard to undo because, you know, they're popular, his attempt to appoint a bunch of incompetent cronies to major executive branch posts is going poorly and it looks likely that a lot of them won't get confirmed, the Senate is also refusing to go on recess to allow him to recess appoint anyone, the debt ceiling didn't get raised or waived, so now he's got to deal with that pretty much immediately upon taking office, he's being forced to admit that he can't do anything about grocery prices or inflation, you know, the two main things he campaigned on, it's looking pretty likely that Jack Smith's final report is going to get a public release before he takes office and can block it, and Republicans are in complete disarray about how to pass even the border and tax bills they agree on much less anything else.

Not only are those not things he really knows how to deal with, they make him look weak. So he does what he always does when he feels weak, he starts shouting about something batshit insane that he thinks makes him look strong instead. Threatening military invasion is stupid, but it's a strong stupid. Not like failing to address any of the problems in the US economy and government or being revealed as a traitor to the country, those are weak stupid things.

This is what he always does, it's so predictable that I don't even have to actually read what he's shouting about to know he's trying to distract from something. You can do this every time. Remember in September how he accused Harris of having the questions from the debate in advance? Yeah, turns out now that FOX News gave HIM the questions from their town hall in advance. Remember when he went on a tirade about immigrants in November of 2018? Yeah, turns out he was trying to distract from China approving a bunch of trademarks for Ivanka. Every time.

So stop driving yourself crazy wondering what incredibly complex game Trump could be playing and start looking for whatever he's trying to distract you from. You'll always find it and, once you do, you can say "ah, okay" and get on with your day and, when someone bring it up, you can then show off by explaining to them exactly what's going on. Trump's not playing hyperchess, he's trying to distract you from the fact that he's losing a game of tic-tac-toe.

[opreaadriann]

Last Update of 2024

Hello, everyone! The year where I’ve come back is coming to an end and High School Revenge, unfortunately, is nowhere near the end haha.

I’m going to start this update by thanking everyone for the continued support, it’s amazing to see so many people from back in 2018 still coming back here to check on the story and to see so many new readers invested in my characters. Hopefully in 2025 I’ll push a bit harder than I did this last month and we’ll maybe finish more than one chapter haha. I would also like for our MC to get revenge at least on one of the characters, a semi-big one at least, in the near future…

In theory things should get simpler for future chapters, since I’ll still use many of the events from this chapter and many things that I wrote now will come up later, so that’s gonna be really nice. I’ve also noticed I haven’t played the game myself in a long time, so first thing I’ll do after finishing this chapter is actually reading my own story haha.

To celebrate a bit, here’s a list of all the stuff I’ve written and done this year since coming back, just so I can feel better about it all and not feel like the lazy writer that I know I am:

Chapter 1 – Rewritten a bunch of stuff (18 year old me didn’t do English that well…) – Made Olivia try to stop you from jumping right into the Tragedy – MC’s head now bleeds after being hit with a metallic crown (yikes) – Connor now manipulates MC into feeling accepted by the group

Chapter 2 – Choice to change pronouns and/or transition to a different gender (making dad 1 hate you, yikes…) – Created hobby skill stats (I forgot these didn’t exist) – Become financially independent (kinda…) – Recruit both Angela and Marcus (you could only recruit one. Yikes…) – Extra week for preparation – Colored contacts for eyes – Sexuality and romantic experience choice – Nice little comments if you choose the same family name as one of your other fathers – Choose if you’re a smoker (most important choice here)

Chapter 3 – Chapter 3! This was not a thing before my unfortunate disappearance! Funny thing, the conversation with Michael was already written before my death, but I got very annoyed with the choices I wrote. I allowed you to punch Michael in the face, which resulted in a really weird start for the game. When I saw how weird everything went, I gave up. When I came back, I killed the idea completely. Maybe we can punch him at the start in a DLC… – Rewrites over rewrites. – The first hobby events! – The first meetings with all of the ROs!

Chapter 4 – Too much to write down… Short of it would be: – Relationship events with all ROs – Second hobby event, first chance to ruin your targets’ private life! – Random events! – Burt can stalk people now! (yikes…) – You go to a party and stuff happens! – You can learn one of Connor’s and Michael’s secrets! – You can campaign to become homecoming royalty! – You can ask most of the ROs to homecoming! (I’ll finish this, I promise) – Marcus is much more useful as an ally than Angela! (she’ll get her chance to shine, don’t worry Angela-mancers)

Anyway, more words might have been written, but I forgot. I came back at the end of March, so it’s been 9 months. Pretty crazy stuff. Thanks again for all the support, let’s make 2025 the year we finally get revenge and live out our sick fantasies (and likely feel bad about it afterwards…).

[4okra]

my term paper written in 2018 (how ND games were made and why they will never be made that way again)

hello friends, I am going to be sharing portions of a paper i wrote way back in 2018 for a college class. in it, i was researching exactly how the ND games were made, and why they would not be made that way anymore.

if you have any interest in the behind the scenes of how her interactive made their games and my theories as to why our evil overlord penny milliken made such drastic changes to the process, read on!

warning that i am splicing portions of this paper together, so you don't have to read my ramblings about the history of nancy and basic gameplay mechanics:

Use of C++, DirectX, and Bink Video

Upon completion of each game, the player can view the game’s credits. HeR states that each game was developed using C++ and DirectX, as well as Bink Video later on.

C++

          C++ is a general-purpose programming language. This means that many things can be done with it, gaming programming included. It is a compiled language, which Jack Copeland explains as the ���process of converting a table of instructions into a standard description or a description number” (Copeland 12). This means that written code is broken down into a set of numbers that the computer can then understand. C++ first appeared in 1985 and was first standardized in 1998. This allowed programmers to use the language more widely. It is no coincidence that 1998 is also the year that the first Nancy Drew game was released.

C++ Libraries

          When there is a monetary investment to make a computer game, there are more people using and working on whatever programming language they are using. Because there was such an interest in making games in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, there was essentially a “boom” in how much C++ and other languages were being used. With that many people using the language, they collectively added on to the language to make it simpler to use. This process ends up creating what is called “libraries.” For example:

          If a programmer wants to make a function to add one, they must write out the code that does that (let’s say approximately three lines of code). To make this process faster, the programmer can define a symbol, such as + to mean add. Now, when the programmer types “+”, the language knows that equals the three lines of code previously mentioned, as opposed to typing out those three lines of code each time the programmer wants to add. This can be done for all sorts of symbols and phrases, and when they are all put together, they are called a “package” or “library.”

          Libraries can be shared with other programmers, which allows everyone to do much more with the language much faster. The more libraries there are, the more that can be done with the language.

          Because of the interest in the gaming industry in the early 2000’s, more people were being paid to use programming languages. This caused a fast increase in the ability of programming. This helps to explain how HeR was able to go from jerky, bobble-headed graphics in 1999 to much more fluid and realistic movements in 2003.

Microsoft DirectX

          DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for tasks related to multimedia, especially video game programming, on Microsoft platforms. Among many others, these APIs include Direct3D (allows the user to draw 3D graphics and render 3D animation), DirectDraw (accelerates the rendering of graphics), and DirectMusic (allows interactive control over music and sound effects). This software is crucial for the development of many games, as it includes many services that would otherwise require multiple programs to put together (which would not only take more time but also more money, which is important to consider in a small company like HeR).

Bink Video

          According to the credits which I have painstakingly looked through for each game, HeR started using Bink Video in game 7, Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (2002). Bink is a file format (.bik) developed by RAD Game Tools. This file format has to do with how much data is sent in a package to the Graphical User Interface (GUI). (The GUI essentially means that the computer user interacts with representational graphics rather than plain text. For example, we understand that a plain drawing of a person’s head and shoulders means “user.”) Bink Video structures the data sent in a package so that when it reaches the Central Processing Unit (CPU), it is processed more efficiently. This allows for more data to be transferred per second, making graphics and video look more seamless and natural. Bink Video also allows for more video sequences to be possible in a game.

Use of TransGaming Inc.

          Sea of Darkness is the only title that credits a company called TransGaming Inc, though I’m pretty sure they’ve been using it for every Mac release, starting in 2010. TransGaming created a technology called Cider that allowed video game developers to run games designed for Windows on Mac OS X (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Findev). As one can imagine, this was an incredibly helpful piece of software that allowed for HeR to start releasing games on Mac platforms. This was a smart way for them to increase their market. 

          In 2015, a portion of TransGaming was acquired by NVIDIA, and in 2016, TransGaming changed its business focus from technology to real estate financing. Though it is somewhat difficult to determine which of its formal products are still available, it can be assumed that they will not be developing anything else technology-based from 2016 on.

          Though it is entirely possible that there is other software available for converting Microsoft based games to Mac platforms, the loss of TransGaming still has large consequences. For a relatively small company like Her Interactive, hiring an entire team to convert the game for Mac systems was a big deal (I know they did this because it is in the credits of SEA which you can see at the end of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0gAzD7Q09Y). Without this service, HeR loses a large portion of their customers.

Switch to Unity

          Unity is a game engine that is designed to work across 27 platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Playstation, Xbox, Wii, and multiple Virtual Reality systems. The engine itself is written in C++, though the user of the software writes code in C#, JavaScript (also called UnityScript), or less commonly Boo. Its initial release took place in 2005, with a stable release in 2017 and another in March of 2018. Some of the most popular games released using Unity include Pokemon Go for iOS in 2016 and Cuphead in 2017.

          HeR’s decision to switch to Unity makes sense on one hand but is incredibly frustrating on the other. Let’s start with how it makes sense. The software HeR was using from TransGaming Inc. will (from what I can tell) never be updated again, meaning it will become virtually useless soon, if it hasn’t already. That means that HeR needed to find another software that would allow them to convert their games onto a Mac platform so that they would not lose a large portion of their customers. This was probably seen as an opportunity to switch to something completely new that would allow them to reach even more platforms. One of the points HeR keeps harping on and on about in their updates to fans is the tablet market, as well as increasing popularity in VR. If HeR wants to survive in the modern game market, they need to branch outside of PC gaming. Unity will allow them to do that. The switch makes sense.

          However, one also has to consider all of the progress made in their previous game engine. Everything discussed up to this point has taken 17 years to achieve. And, because their engine was designed by their developers specifically for their games, it is likely that after the switch, their engine will never be used again. Additionally, none of the progress HeR made previously applies to Unity, and can only be used as a reference. Plus, it’s not just the improvements made in the game engine that are being erased. It is also the staff at HeR who worked there for so long, who were so integral in building their own engine and getting the game quality to where it is in Sea of Darkness, that are being pushed aside for a new gaming engine. New engine, new staff that knows how to use it.

          The only thing HeR won’t lose is Bink Video, if that means anything to anyone. Bink2 works with Unity. According to the Bink Video website, Bink supplies “pre-written plugins for both Unreal 4 and Unity” (Rad Game Tools). However, I can’t actually be sure that HeR will still use Bink in their next game since I don’t work there. It would make sense if they continued to use it, but who knows.

Conclusions and frustrations

          To me, Her Interactive is the little company that could. When they set out to make the first Nancy Drew game, there was no engine to support it. Instead of changing their tactics, they said to heck with it and built their own engine. As years went on, they refined their engine using C++ and DirectX and implemented Bink Video. In 2010 they began using software from TransGaming Inc. that allowed them to convert their games to Mac format, allowing them to increase their market. However, with TransGaming Inc.’s falling apart starting in 2015, HeR was forced to rethink its strategy. Ultimately they chose to switch their engine out for Unity, essentially throwing out 17 years worth of work and laying off many of their employees. Now three years in the making, HeR is still largely secretive about the status of their newest game. The combination of these factors has added up to a fanbase that has become distrustful, frustrated, and altogether largely disappointed in what was once that little company that could.

Suggested Further Reading:

Midnight in Salem, OR Her Interactive’s Marketing Nightmare (Part 2): https://saving-face.net/2017/07/07/midnight-in-salem-or-her-interactives-marketing-nightmare-part-2/

Compilation of MID Facts: http://community.herinteractive.com/showthread.php?1320771-Compilation-of-MID-Facts

Game Building - Homebrew or Third Party Engines?: https://thementalattic.com/2016/07/29/game-building-homebrew-or-third-party-engines/

/end of essay. it is crazy to go back and read this again in 2025. mid had not come out yet when i wrote this and i genuinely did not think it would ever come out. i also had to create a whole power point to go along with this and present it to my entire class of people who barely even knew what nancy drew was, let alone that there was a whole series of pc games based on it lol

[dolphins-cove]

I found an intro template werecreatures used back in AWHH times so i will fill it out now :))

Name: Loki

Were Name: Loki

Email Address: \

Phenotype: Brown eyes, 1,60m tall, idk what else belongs here

Shifting Ability: Mental and phantom shifting mainly.

Birthdate: not sharing

Birthplace: earth

Home Territory: Forest near my home. It has a pretty river :))

Dream Territory: the ocean.

Physical Description, Were: Im a striped dolphin, mostly grey with a lighter belly and side, stripes going from my beak to my tail.

Human Career: future ride operator

Hobbies/Interests: Themeparks! Rollercoasters specifically and i play the guitar

Favorite Movies: the last unicorn

Favorite Were-movie: my favorite were-related movie is probably princess mononoke but im not sure right now

Favorite Literature: i usually dont read but i remember liking the fox craft books

Favorite Were Literature: i guess fox craft is were enough

Favorite Art: idrk what to answer here tbh

Favorite Were-art: same here

Favorite Quote: "its a dolphins birthright to swim in a straight line in the ocean as far as its heart desires." - Ric O'Barry 

Favorite Were Saying/Quote: i really like the scene in princess mononoke where san tells ashitaka that shes not a human but a wolf. I think this fits here well

Favorite Personal Quote: i dont make creative quotes :(

Favorite Song/Band(s): I like IMAscore alot

Favorite Season: spring

Favorite Holidays: Christmas!

Preferred Prey: fish! And octopus/squids

Hunting Tips: you dive, swim fast and catch your prey with your mouth and go NOM

Preferred Method of Attack: NOM

Favorite Non-Were Mythological Beast: not a beast but Unicorns, i am a unicorn kin tho so its were related actually

Feelings Toward Vampires: my best friend is one!

Feelings Toward Normal Humans: i tend to avoid humans.

Personal Therianthropy: I awakened between 2017-2018 in winter, i discovered the term therian and i knew, this is me. From then on i thougt i was a wolf then over the years i found out im a dolphin. I have multiple were identities but being a dolphin is the most dominant. I identify as a dolphin psychologically and physically, i view my body as the one of a dolphin. Being a were influences my life daily because i am always dolphin. I always feel dolphin and it sometimes affects the way i perceive things. I also tend to talk in a simpler language when fully transformed.

Ill update this at some point when i thought abt certain questions more!! :)

I changed some things up in the template btw, since i am not human i had to adjust the points to neutral words!

[ebonytails]

maybe im just dumb but what is the difference between kris p and kris t?

TL;DR - They are Kris Dreemurr fictives and we needed a way to differentiate them

Oh you're not dumb, don't worry! It really is a little confusing because we haven't talked about who they or we are in a very long time. I'm going to talk a lot here so you have all the context you might need! If it''s too long,, the TL;DR above is the gist of it.

For context, we are a system! You can read about it a little in our FAQ

Kris T and Kris P are TWO Kris introjects/fictives of Kris Dreemurr from Deltarune in our system.

Originally we just had Kris T who split in Dec 2018, and then when Chapter 2 came out, Kris P came into our system after that. Of course at first, Kris T. was just "Kris", but since we had a double now, we had to figure out how to differentiate between the two. We knew another Kris fictive from a different system at this time who was nicknamed P. Kris by Susie in our system, and susie wanted to emphasize who she was talking about.

SO. As a small nod to that, everyone decided to nickname Kris P as Kris P, as an inverse of P. Kris.

A little convoluted, I know!

Besides being Kris introjects/fictives though, they also look different! I made some new drawings to try and showcase their differences if that helps :3?

Their dark world forms also look different. Kris T's is simpler, with a shiny soft cape, while Kris P's is more complicated with a hooded cape, which is also described as "very comfortable"

Here's a whole Toyhouse of images of how Kris T. looks like right now! There's also his reference ! vvv

Sorry if you weren't interested in our "life story"! They're not just random characterizations (they are alters), so I wasn't sure how to answer w/o giving you some sort of explanation.

They have their own sideblogs, so if you have specific questions directed towards them, you can always ask here because we'll see it better, or you can send them an ask in their own blogs. Kris T's is @kristalpepsi, and Kris P's is @itswhattheycallyou

[londonfoginacup]

The Busker | Chelsea Frew / @chelsea-frew Harry/Louis | 7k

A snowstorm has trapped artist Louis at home on his birthday--Christmas Eve--and on Christmas. Louis anticipates a lonely holiday. A mysterious stranger appears on Christmas morning, however, and Louis doesn't have to spend the day alone. But where did the man come from? Why does he seem familiar? It's a Christmas mystery.

This fic feels like reading a Hallmark movie! It's full of Christmas magic and has that sort of wistfulness that makes you think of simpler holiday times. In a good way! The perfect fic to read while you're laying in bed, to ease the scaries of having to get up and continue with your day.

☕️ Pairing Suggestion: Pair this fic with some orange hot chocolate to keep your hands warm, and peanut butter fudge!

For more Christmas fic recs: 2023; 2022; 2021; 2020; 2019; 2018; 2017

[eregyrn-falls]

Organizing a Stan Twins-centric Multi-Artist Lyric Comic!

There's a song I've always wanted to see as an AMV or a lyric comic for the Stan Twins, and years pass, and I've never been able to tackle a project that big. So, I wanted to try to organize it as a multi-artist lyric comic!

The song is "Trouble", by Avicii. (See below.)

What is a multi-artist lyric comic? One where people sign up, and each artist is assigned a line from the song. Artists will then do 1 page for their line, and at the end, it's all put together. Here is an example from GF fandom in 2018. (Here is a video version that someone put together with the music.)

This song has 28 lines of lyrics, but it also has some instrumental breaks, and I've thought of a way to fill those that would allow more people to participate (particularly if someone was unsure if they could take on a full page).

Here's the song:

There's a lot of details to go into, so to keep this post from taking up too much dash real estate, I'm going to put more detail below a read-more.

Here is a link to a Google form you can fill out to indicate interest. (But we do urge you to read over the details below!)

The goal would be to complete this in time to make it public on August 31st or Sept. 1st, 2023 -- in line with the actual last days in-story of the show. Therefore, the due date for final art will likely be around August 15th or 20th.

I hope folks will find this intriguing! I think it could be a lot of fun!

@mercury-falls and I are the point-people for this, at the moment!

All right -- the way I've always seen it, the first verse of the song is very Stan-related, and the second verse is very Ford related.

Here is a Google Doc with the lyrics.

My idea for the instrumental breaks was to have people contribute smaller pieces of art that look a bit like Polaroid snapshots. If we can get the lyric comic combined with the music, think of the collection of Polaroids accumulating the way they do at the end of the show's opening credits.

There are two main ways artists can contribute to the project:

For lyrics, full landscape illustrations (which include color, lettering, and a background)

For instrumental breaks, polaroid-style illustrations (smaller, simpler pieces in square format). We will use these in a video edit of the comic and have them accumulate like the show’s intro during the breaks. (We will also figure out a good way to display them in the lyric-comic post itself.)

Your art should be canon-compliant, and can depict any time period of the Stans’ lives (past, present, and near-future)! Do with your art as you best see fit with your lyrics, but keep the focus on the Stans and their relationships with each other and other GF characters. Both original content and screenshot adaptations are welcome!

We also welcome collaborations between artists on full pages! We encourage every artist in the project to help and support each other if they are comfortable. On the interest form, you can tell us if you are interested in volunteering to help others with inking, coloring, or creating backgrounds! Or, you can tell us if you think you will need help.

On the form, you can indicate your preference towards the Stan or Ford verses. But once we have the team of artists doing lyrics chosen, we will randomize the list and then contact people in order, to ask about preferences for lyrics. If you aren't chosen for one of the full pages, we would still like to have you involved for the Polaroids! (And you can indicate willingness to be called on to do a page if others drop out.)

We will have check-in dates through the summer, with goals for people to report on the subject of their piece; to have a sketch or layout ready to show; and to show progress closer to the end.

We will be setting up a Discord server to help share information, and to allow people to post WIPs or just generally discuss things, and keep motivation going. If you really don't use Discord, though, and don't want to sign up for it, that's okay. We will put whatever instructions and details we have in a Google Doc, and will share that link for reference. And we can always communicate via email.

I (Eregyrn speaking!) have been involved in a LOT of fan projects over the years. One of the key things to ask of people who sign up for a project is: communication. That is, if you're having difficulties, just let us know! If you need to drop out, just let us know! Don't feel guilty that you signed up and then had to drop out. The thing that is hardest on organizers of projects like this is when people sign up, but disappear and don't answer DMs or emails. Believe me, I've been in that position where you feel guilty and don't want to admit that you have to drop out -- but it's always much easier on the organizers if you just let them know, instead of keeping them guessing! This is just something to keep in mind when you're signing up -- life happens! It's okay! But please try to let us know if something comes up and you have to bow out.

Here is the link to the Google Form, that you can fill out to indicate interest.

[buckleylove]

9-1-1 Character Birthdays

Okay, so I’ve been going through all of 9-1-1 to create a timeline of when episodes were set etc - I have no intentions to post that tbh, it’s purely for myself like my brain fully latched onto this idea and wouldn’t let me rest until I figured it out.

However, this does mean I’ve found a fair bit of information on birthdates/years of main/side characters so I thought I’d post that here as a kinda comprehensive list with all the evidence I’ve found that supports (or even directly contradicts) these dates for anyone that's interested. This doesn’t include all of the main/side characters, because with some of them there is literally nothing to go from and I wanted to try to stick to the facts we’ve been given instead of just guessing random years from nowhere.

Before I get into it, I just want to emphasise that whilst there are a few moments where the date of certain episodes is clear, a lot of what I’ve had to go off of is when characters reference past events by how many weeks/months/years it’s been. And when a character says “x months since..”, they may be rounding up, rounding down, or they may just have an awful concept of time. So, just take it all with a pinch of salt because even though I’ve narrowed it down as best as I can, I may still be a few months out. 

So, here’s what I found in a table format, and then below is all of my explanations/workings for each of them!

Athena - March 22nd 1967/68

Okay, so Athena’s birthdate is one of the simpler ones, because Athena says she was born on March 22nd in 6x08.

“Can you read his handwriting? Because my birthday is 3/22-“ [6x08 at 20:45]

Now, Athena didn’t say the year she was born in, but in 1x09 she says that she is 50. 

���I’m figuring out how to be single at 50.” [1x09 at 37:15]

1x09 is set in March 2018. The way I worked this out involves a lot of working backwards, but I’m going to list it below for anyone who’s interested.

Firstly, we know 1x09 isn’t set an earlier than March 2018 because 1x06 is the Valentines episode (so February 14th 2018), and 1x07 shows dispatch call logs from February 28th 2018. Now that we know it’s set in at least March 2018, we need to check if there’s been any time jumps that would result in 1x09 being set later in 2018.

So, here’s how I confirmed that there has been minimal time jumps between 1x07 and 1x10:

In 6x15 at 09:45, we see Shannon’s grave and find out that she died on May 6th 2018. 

Shannon died in 2x17, so this episode must’ve been set on May 6th 2018.

In 2x18, after Shannon’s funeral (so not long after 2x17), Eddie says his probationary year is nearly over and at the end of the episode, his probationary period ends. So, 2x18 is still set in May, with the episode likely ending around June 2019. 

Therefore, 2x01 (when Eddie starts his probationary period) would likely be set in June 2018.

In 2x01, Bobby and Athena have been together for “almost 4 months”. [2x01 at 26:31]

This means that 1x10 is set 3/nearly 4 months before 2x01, which would mean 1x10 is set in late February/early March.

We know that it can’t be set in late February because of 1x07 being set on the last day of February, so 1x08-1x10 must all set in March 2018.

Personally, I think it is more likely that 1x09 is set in early march. This would mean that because Athena’s birthday is on March 22nd, she’d be turning 51 that year, which would make her birthdate March 22nd 1967.

However, there’s no official confirmation of this, and it’s still possible that 1x09 is set later on in March, which would mean she turned 50 in 2018, so her birthdate would be March 22nd 1968.

So, Athena’s birthdate is March 22nd 1967/68 (with a higher likelihood of it being 1967 in my opinion).

Bobby Nash - between late March 1965 and early March 1966

Okay, so Bobby is one of the characters in 9-1-1 that has had his age mentioned/shown more than once but both times contradict each other.

In 1x01, Bobby outright says he’s 50.

“I’m 50 years old, I’m taking the elevator”. [1x01 at 11:21]

1x01 is set in January 2018, so if Bobby is already 50 at this point, he either:

Already had his birthday that year, so turned 50 in January 2018 (born January 1968), or;

He’s turning 51 that year, so was born February-December 1967.

However, this is all made redundant because his dating profile in 1x10 says he’s 52 [1x10 at 08:19]. This might’ve been an honest mistake when they made his dating profile because it’s on screen for like two seconds and they may not have thought too deeply about it, but I’m more inclined to believe this as canon than his comment in 1x01. This is mainly because 1x01 is obviously a pilot episode, and a lot of things in shows get changed after a pilot. Normally, I would believe what a character says over something like a dating profile that’s shown for 2 seconds so may not have been fully thought through/fact checked, but in this case I’m gonna believe the dating profile. 

We already know 1x10 is set around March 2018 (from what I wrote about Athena’s birthdate, I’m not going to torture everyone by writing it all out again). Therefore, Bobby either:

Turned 52 in January-early March 2018, meaning his birthdate would be January-early March 1966, or;

Is turning 53 in late March-December 2018, making his birthdate late March-December 1965.

Therefore, Bobby’s birthdate is between late March 1965 - early March 1966.

Chimney - October 20th 1977 but also April??

Chimney is another character that has two mentions of his birthday that contradict each other.

Firstly, we see his ID in 2x10 [at 42:47], which says his birthdate is October 20th 1977.

However, we actually see Chimney celebrate his birthday in 3x11. There’s no mention of how old he turned in this episode, but we can deduce that this episode is set around April 2020. We know 3x11 is set around April 2020 because 3x10 was the Christmas 2019 episode and in this episode, Karen makes an appointment on January 3rd for her and Hen to start the fostering process. In 3x11, they foster Nia “after 3 months of paperwork”. So, this brings us to April 2020 for 3x11.

Therefore, Chimney’s birthday would be in April. 

(Not gonna lie, this is hilarious to me because they’ve given us two months that are 6 months apart which is literally the furthest apart you can be in a year lmao)

If I was to guess, I’d probably say he was born in April 1977, which is a mix of the two dates they gave us. It’s hard to deny that he was born in April when we literally witnessed him having his birthday in an episode (something we haven’t seen with any other main character). Also, the ID is similar to Bobby’s dating profile in that it could just be something that wasn’t 100% thought through or fact checked. 

Hen Wilson - September 1979 to September 1980

Compared to other main characters, there’s very little to go off of with Hen’s birthdate. The only thing I could find was from 4x03, which is set towards the end of 2020.

In 4x03 [at 34:50], Hen says “I’m a Black lesbian that joined the fire department at 30, that started med school at 40”. If Hen is 40 at this point, she either:

Turned 40 pre-September 2020, so was born pre-September 1980, or;

Is turning 41 post-September 2020, so was born post-September 1979.

So, Hen was born between September 1979 to September 1980.

Buck - March 1991 to October 1991

With Buck, I came across three times where they’ve mentioned his age, so I’ve narrowed it down from there.

Firstly, in 1x09 [at 23:56] Buck says he is 26. Therefore, he either:

Turned 26 in January to March 2018, meaning his birthdate would be January to March 1992, or;

He is turning 27 in March to December 2018, meaning his birthdate would be March to December 1991.

In 3x01, Maddie says “Buck is 28 and I still have my hands full.” [3x01 at 35:10].

3x01 is set around October 2019 because in this episode, Buck says he has been fighting for five months to get his job back [3x01 at 22:35], and his leg was pinned by the ladder truck in 2x18 in May 2019. 

So, if Buck is 28 in October 2019, he either:

Turned 28 in January to October 2019, which means he was born January to October 1991, or;

He is turning 29 in October to December 2019, so was born October to December 1990.

Therefore, looking at these two separate statements, the only months that overlap are March to October 1991. If he was born in any other month/year, only one of the statements could be true - this is the only way both statements can be true.

Another time that his age is mentioned is in 4x05 [at 10:42] when Buck says it’s been 29 years. 4x05 is set late 2020, so if Buck is 29 at this point, this supports the theory that he was born March to October 1991.

Considering that Oliver was born on June 27th 1991, they seem to be sticking pretty close to that for Buck.

Maddie - 1982 or 1983

A lot of the information we have on Maddie’s age is given to us around Buck Begins - so 4x04 and 4x05.

In 4x04, Maddie says she promised her parents she’d keep Daniel a secret, and Chimney said that she made this promise when she was 9.

“I promised my parents-” “-when you were 9!” [4x04 at 04:06]

So, the year Daniel died, Maddie was 9.

From 4x05, we know that Daniel died in 1992, because he died when Buck was 1, and Buck was born in 1991.

“He was seven when you were born. He was gone a year later.” [4x05 at 01:54]

Therefore, Maddie was 9 in 1992. This means she was born in either 1982 or 1983. This would make Maddie 37/38 in season 4 (2020) when she is pregnant, which is supported by Phillip saying she’s a high risk pregnancy (over 35).

Eddie Diaz - September 1st 1992 to August 31st 1993

Eddie’s birthdate is an estimate purely based off of Shannon’s. We see from Shannon’s grave in 6x15 [at 09:45] that she was born on October 16th 1992. 

In 6x17, it’s revealed that Eddie and Shannon were in the same grade at school.

“Weren’t you guys in the 12th grade when you met?” “8th, then we lost touch and reconnected in 12th.” [6x17 at 14:22]

So, to be in the same grade as Shannon, Eddie would be born between September 1st 1992 and August 31st 1993.

This means that in canon he is definitely younger than Buck which is insane to me and I might just choose to ignore it lmao.

Christopher Diaz - January 2011 to April 2011

Eddie Begins [3x15] outright tells us that Christopher was born in 2011 from a flashback of Shannon giving birth in 2011. 

There’s a few other mentions of Christopher’s age that helps to narrow down the months.

In 2x02, Christopher is 7. [2x02 at 16:31]

2x02 follows on from 2x01, which is set in June 2018. So, if Christopher is 7 in June 2018, we know he was born in 2011 so that means he has already has his birthday this year. (If he hadn’t had his birthday, he’d be 8 in 2018 which would mean he was born in 2010, which we know isn’t true.)

So, Christopher would’ve been born between January and June 2011.

In 3x03, Buck says Christopher is 8 when he’s searching for him.

“I’m looking for an eight-year-old boy” [3x03 at 12:36].

3x03 is set in October 2019, so using similar logic to before, Christopher has already had his birthday that year. So, this supports the idea that he was born between January and June 2011. 

So, ‘Eddie Begins’ does actually make things slightly confusing when Eddie’s helicopter goes down. We’re shown that this happens in 2015, and then the next flashback says ‘El Paso, Texas, three months later’. So this flashback is either still in 2015 or in early 2016 at the latest. Now, this is all fine until in the flashback, Eddie says “And you immediately want me to get into a car and drive 800 miles with a six year old” [3x15 at 29:31]. This flashback can’t be set any later than early 2016, which means Christopher can’t be 6. At most, he’d be 5. I guess he could’ve turned 5 in January 2016 and Eddie is rounding up, but who would round up their kid’s age by nearly a whole year when it would’ve only been a couple of months maximum since his 5th birthday?? I’m inclined to believe that this is just a result of them messing up the year that Eddie’s helicopter went down, because the next flashback is in 2017 and Helena implies that Christopher is 6, so we’re back to the correct timeline.

In 3x16, Christopher is hosting his first sleepover, and Eddie doesn’t outright say Christopher is 9, but it is heavily implied.

“Celebrate with a bunch of nine-year-olds” [3x16 at 07:39].

3x17 is set May 4th 2020, so 3x16 is likely in April 2020. Therefore, if Christopher is 9 at this point, he would have been born between January and April 2011. Christopher still could’ve been born in May or June 2011 and Eddie could have meant that Christopher is nearly 9, which would have made sense for Eddie to round up because it would’ve been only a few months until he would have been 9. However, I’m trying not to make too many assumptions, so I’ll stick with the January to April 2011 estimate until they do something else in canon.

May Grant - December 29th 2001

In 6x08 [at 20:37], we find out that May’s birthday is December 29th from Bobby’s lucky numbers.

In 3x02, May is 17. 3x02 is set in October 2019, so that means she will be 18 that year. Therefore, she was born in 2001.

This is directly contradicted in 4x10 [at 36:56] when May listens to the 9-1-1 call that Athena made in 1x02 where May overdoses. In this call, Athena says May is 14. But 1x02 is set in January 2018, which means she would’ve been 16 (turning 17 on December 29th 2018).

Harry Grant - February 7th 2010

Ah, a nice and simple one with no contradictions (so far).

In 6x08 [at 20:34], we find out that Harry’s birthday is February 7th from Bobby’s lucky numbers.

In 3x13, Michael says Harry is 10. 3x13 is set in April 2020, so Harry has already had his birthday that year. This means he was born in 2010.

Albert - mid/late April 1999 to early/mid April 2000 

Chimney makes it easier by saying that Albert is 20 when he makes his first appearance in 3x11. 3x11 is set in April 2020, so Albert was born between mid/late April 1999 and early/mid April 2000. 

He’s either turning 21 April-December 2020, so was born in 1999, or;

He already turned 20 in January-April 2020, so was born in 2000

Jee-Yun - January 2021 to March 2021

Before I get into Jee’s birthday, it’s important to remember that she was born in season 4, and season 4’s timeline is weird. Most of early season 4 I have written down as ‘late 2020’, which makes it harder to narrow down Jee’s birth month. A lot of the confusion comes because they messed up the timeline by making covid/lockdown canon for season 4, but they seemingly forgot that they’d already reached May 2020 by the end of season 3. For example, 4x01 has a title card saying it’s September 2020, but they also say it’s been 6 months since Athena was attacked, which was on May 4th 2020?? And 6 months would make it November 2020?? And they say lockdown happened in March 2020, but this would’ve been mid season 3 in 9-1-1?? So, straight away season 4’s timeline is weird. 

Luckily for us, Jee-Yun was born in 4x09, and in the episode before this, it’s revealed that Nia has been with Hen and Karen for nearly a year. Hen and Karen started fostering Nia in 3x11, which was set in April 2020. So, this means that 4x08 and subsequently 4x09 are set close to April 2021. 

Therefore, I’d say that Jee is likely born between January and March 2021.

Denny - October 2009/2010

In the crossover episode, which is set between 4x03 and 4x04, Hen says Denny is 10. 4x03 and 4x04 are set towards the end of 2020, so Denny was born in 2009 or 2010.

In 6x09, it’s Denny’s birthday.

“It’s your birthday. We can do whatever you want today” [6x09 at 08:51]

6x09 is set in October 2022. I found this out because this is the same episode that Wendall dies, and we see in 6x12 that he purchased a camera on the same week he died, and the transaction was on October 19th 2022.

“A $300 purchase to an electronics website. Same week he died.” [6x12 at 08:52]

So, Wendall died towards the end of October 2022.

Therefore, Denny’s birthday is in October, but he could still be born in either 2009 or 2010.

Mara - mid 2014 to early 2015

In 7x07 [at 14:03], we find out that Mara is 9. 7x07 is set some time after April 2024. 

Therefore, Mara either:

Already had her birthday in early 2024, meaning she turned 9 in 2024, making her birthdate early 2015, or;

She is turning 10 in 2024 and hasn’t had her birthday yet, so was born in mid to late 2014.

Therefore, Mara was born between mid 2014 and early 2015.

That's all!

And that's all of the information I found! I may have missed some important bits of info, but I did go through transcripts of each episode and skim through each episode too (looking for stuff like calendars on fridges and call logs lmao). So, I'm hoping I didn't miss too much!

[the-river-delta]

The tragedy of the OGL and Starfinder 1e

The controversy regarding the Open Game License that Wizards of the Coast sparked in 2023 had many consequences big and small, from 5e's SRD being put into Creative Commons to the creation of the ORC license (and Pathfinder 2e's shift to it in the Remaster), but one of the more unfortunate and less-discussed casualties has been that of Starfinder 1st Edition, which as a huge fan of said game I wanna talk about in this probably overlong post.

The Starfinder Roleplaying Game - the strange science-fantasy spinoff of Pathfinder (itself a spinoff of 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons), supposedly developed and put out by its publisher Paizo to make up for the inevitable drop in sales that Pathfinder would experience upon the announcement of its new edition.

As something developed around 2016 and launched in 2017, at a time when the much simpler DnD 5e was on a meteoric rise, the largely Pathfinder- and in turn-3.5-shaped rules chassis of SFRPG could've come off as a little clunky or even downright archaic to a lot of people (not helped by problems such as the infamously awkward starship combat rules that needed emergency errata to mathematically function, continuing to be controversial throughout the game's lifespan).

I myself have gotten into TTRPGs at around that time, but remained somewhat unaware of Starfinder for a couple years - the announcement and eventual launch of Pathfinder Second Edition is what indirectly made me pay attention to Paizo and their games beyond a failed attempt at getting into Pathfinder purely as a crunchier 5e alternative, at the time divorced from the context of anything other than the humongous, nigh-incomprehensible mountain of rules and options that was impossible to navigate without the help of a more experienced friend.

Since that fateful 2018-19 however, Starfinder gripped me more and more in concept, presentation, and even the rules - though my actual play experience to this day is embarrassingly low as either a player or GM, I've legitimately come to love the tweaks it made to the already venerable PF1 ruleset to really make itself feel like a high-octane science-fantasy adventure game, and I fell greatly in love with the game's setting; Yes, it was and is the kind of sci-fi kitchen sink that tries to accommodate everything from cyberpunk and to military SF to space opera and soft sci-fi and Pathfinder-in-space-type science fantasy, but good art direction and writing made it all feel surprisingly coherent for such a big-tent premise.

Parallel to all this, I've played and run a great deal of games far beyond the d20 sphere, and slowly discovered what kind of roleplaying games I really enjoy playing and running - but all this time, Starfinder remained in the back of my mind, and I found great joy in perusing each new supplement - for the artwork, for the lore, for the rules and player options.

As Pathfinder 2e grew in popularity, there were a lot of people who wanted its science-fantasy sibling to also adopt the PF2 ruleset, with its sleek three-action economy and all other rules tech that its proponents loved so much, and at the time at least, Paizo denied having any such plans, choosing to keep Starfinder going as-is. I myself began as one of those "Starfinder 2e would be so good" people, but my enthusiasm for PF2 eventually waned somewhat, at the same time as my appreciation for SF1's ruleset grew, so I began to push back on the idea somewhat, or at least suggest caution.

And then, the Open Game License crisis rippled across the d20 portion of the TTRPG industry (that is, most of the visible and profitable part of it) - fearing legal reprisal from Wizards of the Coast, Paizo rapidly worked to distance Pathfinder from the OGL rules and concepts it was built on, Remastering the game and moving their work onto the newly-developed Open RPG Creative license.

At first, it was not clear what the plan was for Starfinder, even more entangled in the OGL than PF2 was, given its stronger PF1 and 3.5 roots.

Then, at GenCon 2023, Paizo announced Starfinder Second Edition, with a playtest launching a year later.

Sounds great, right? This is what the people have been asking for all this time!

Then, more details were revealed - Starfinder 2e would be wholly adopting PF2's ruleset, down to being able to freely mix ancestries, classes, equipments, spells, etc. from one to the other (something that 1st edition gestured at with some early guidance at converting PF1 stuff to SF1 bits, but was largely dropped and forgotten in the long run).

Between this and some other things, that's where my worries really began.

Part of what made Starfinder so appealing to me were the things that made it stand apart at the system level - the unique skill list (featuring things like Culture, Engineering, Physical Science and Life Science, Computers, Piloting, and Mysticism as a catch-all magic skill), the Health/Stamina/Resolve Points system (which vastly alleviated the need for a dedicated healer or long periods of downtime between encounters to heal up), the different weapon and armor proficiencies (like Longarms, Advanced Melee, and Powered Armor instead of simply the same old Martial Weapons or Medium Armor), magic simply being magic instead of an arcane/divine distinction (and only going up to 6 levels instead of 9 - though apparently that was a page space concern for the original core book more than anything), and a myriad other things.

And even though SF2 would benefit from things like the PF2 proficiency tiers, three action economy, and degrees of success, it would also be saddled with the things that first edition consciously did away with - so magic now is split up into one of the four traditions (arcane, divine, occult, primal), overriding some fun 1st edition lore about how modern society no longer differentiated between those. Even the skill list has been turned to be the same as that of PF2, with the merciful additions of Computers and Piloting - but things like Religion, Performance and Crafting are a thing now.

At least we're still paying in credits instead of silver and gold pieces.

There are other changes that frustrate or perplex me (like how technomancer and mechanic, two classes that were in 1st edition since the start but are being left out of the SF2 core and saved for later - though at least aren't being cut altogether, same with starship rules... or the fact that SF2 is doubling down on being silly and having a god of memes in the core pantheon and a skill feat for Trolling People With Your Online Posts), and many of these may seem like small-potato issues (the distinction between Kinetic Armor Class and Energy Armor Class was pretty minor in practice after all), but in aggregate all of these things made SF1 properly standalone and unique in a way I fear is being sacrificed for SF2 at the altar of compatibility with its biggest fantasy sibling Pathfinder.

Paizo's messaging on the subject has also been mixed - they say the game will be properly standalone after launch, yet they're also careful about designing each SF2 class as to not step on the toes of an extant PF2 class (because you can just bring in said PF2 class into your SF2 game instead, right?), resulting in something like the Soldier (which in many ways was a fighter in space in 1st edition, even though I'd argue it was a pretty baller implementation of the idea) being vastly reconceptualized to a rather mixed reception from SF1 fans; And in general, a lot of the current marketing about SF2 feels like it's been aimed at Pathfinder 2e fans first ("you can now play using your favorites ruleset IN SPACE, or bring in cool laser guns and solarians and freaky aliens into your Pathfinder game!") and at SF1 fans second (and even then, with a kind of implicit aim towards the "man I wish Starfinder just used the 2e ruleset" crowd of Starfinder players - look I was one of them at one point, I get it).

Even the big Starfinder 2e playtest actual play at GenCon couldn't have been a fully SF2 game, as it featured the iconic PF2 investigator in the adventuring party. Sure, it was just a marketing thing to do for fun at a convention, but it's not helping SF2 escape the "it's the sci-fi expansion to PF2" perception.

Some Paizo staff have said that Starfinder 2e was already being tinkered with even before the OGL crisis hit, but that the event kicked the development on it into high gear - causing two entire rulebooks and an adventure path for SF1 to be canned (even though one of them, the Faction Guide, already had freelancer assignments submitted in and even had the cover art ready to go; another was the Extraplanar Archive, which would've delved into what the wider multiverse of SF1 was up to, a book I personally wanted for the entire run of first edition, so while it wasn't worked on a lot at the time, knowing it fell through hurts me in particular as a fan of extraplanar science-fantasy stuff!) - I get it, Paizo is a business and that was a business decision, but it didn't feel good to hear either way.

Speaking of which, the week before GenCon, Paizo dropped a really frustrating bombshell onto the community: they had updated and revised their community licenses and policies, two of which have caused some serious uproar.

For one, to continue distancing themselves from the Open Game License, the Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite programs (which allow community members to publish paid supplements for Paizo games that utilize their intellectual property, settng and proper nouns and all) would no longer be accepting OGL-based products for either PF1 or SF1 starting in September. PFI and SFI have problems of their own with the large cut and exclusivity involved (much in the way that D&D's and WotC's Dungeon Masters' Guild program does), but it still stings.

The other, arguably even worse news, was regarding the Paizo Community Use Policy (link to an archival version in case Paizo deletes the live version altogether) which allowed community members to use Paizo IP and imagery in noncommercial products and projects - it has been suddenly replaced by the Fan Content Policy (which in addition to being a worse, more corporate sounding name, is also exactly what WotC calls their own equivalent document).

The FCP is much more restrictive about what one can use it for compared to the old CUP - crucially, it's not applicable to "game products" such as, and I quote, an adventure module, sourcebook, character builder, rules database, video game, board game, etc.

While projects with bespoke Paizo licensing agreements like Archives of Nethys and the Foundry VTT module are unaffected, projects that relied on the CUP like Hephaistos (a beloved Starfinder 1e community tool, covering everything from creating characters to managing campaigns and encounters) have been forced to either cease development altogether (which would allow them to be grandfathered into the FCP, provided they would no longer receive any changes) or go back and be scrubbed of Paizo IP (which would be both time consuming and incredibly messy for a game where the OGL-published rules and Paizo-owned lore are so intertwined).

While a number of Paizo staff have said that they'd look into revising the policy to not completely screw the community over like that, it's already done a lot to damage people's trust in the company, further compounding the already strong sense of alienation many 1e fans have been feeling over the past year since SF2 has been announced.

I've played a good deal of PF2, and am currently in the process of preparing to run some SF2 playtest games, and I'm near-certain that Starfinder 2e will on the whole end up being a whole lot more popular than 1st edition ever was, both on its own merits and certainly as PF2's sci-fi spice cabinet - but there is a non-trivial subset of the existing SF1 community that is just bummed out about this whole thing. If nothing else, I now understand how many PF1 fans felt when the game went in a different direction from what they originally came to it for (even though I'd still argue it's good some of the more bigoted stuff was left by the wayside) - except now Starfinder 1e doesn't even have the benefit of easily continuing under a community banner, with the new Starfinder Inifnite and Fan Content policies.

I don't have a great way to wrap this up - there is only so much that feedback I submit regarding the SF2 playtest will accomplish (something I still intend to do, to at least help out testing the parts that are on the table for change and improvement), and getting anyone, at Paizo or otherwise, on board with the OGL again is likewise infeasible, so I doubt anyone is willing to create yet another OGL-based spinoff and repeat the 3.5-Pathfinder cycle.

SF1 will probably remain playable, but if the fan policy continues to impede the development of digital tools that the game so strongly benefitted from, its prospects of upkeep (let alone growth) seem far more grim now than they did three weeks ago.

So while new SF2 fans are feverishly arguing if the promised SF2 ranged meta can work with PF2's cover rules or whether it was a good idea for the 2e witchwarper to be merged with the 1e precog... I'm just more than a little bummed out about this uncomfortable limbo state that SF1 has been put in, a far less graceful death than PF1 received.

[thatonecrookedsmile]

"Tombstone Picnic,the infamous 'Lost Ending' Bendy cartoon from the early days of the studio. The ending has not been seen since the cartoon's first run in 1929 and no copies are known to exist."

-Nostalgia-

----- Bendy comes face to face with [REDACTED]!

Another year, another Ink Demonth event. Let's see if I can get past the first 10 days again (I kind of doubt it, but let's not get ahead of ourselves).

Starting with a very interesting topic! As far as in-universe things go, I think the simplest interpretation would be: a look back at simpler times. Before the ink craze, the damn machine and all that. The times when (I presume) the only concern was getting the shorts finished on time. Nostalgia for a bygone era. It was more the metaphorical side that I was aiming for when I was making this drawing.

I don't really like to use this term when I reminisce about things that, in my opinion, are very "recent", but since it's been 7 years (more than half a decade, jeez), I think using "nostalgia" in this case is allowed in my view.

It's not surprising to say that I'm nostalgic for the times of 2017-2018. (In terms of Bendy, of course, not in terms of life in general, lmao) It's been so long... On one hand, similar to the in-universe reason, it was simpler times, I admit. Things weren't so…crazy, so to speak. And on the other hand, it's because of the good memories of that time (again, in terms of this franchise). The wait between chapters, the teasers, the theories, and the in-betweens. And what I wanted to show here, one of my top favorite moments that I remember the most, was the release of the reveal trailer for BATIM Chapter 3.

I was excited that day! I had just gotten home when the trailer dropped and I immediately went to watch it. An actual in-universe Bendy cartoon! Bendy and Boris animated! Mysterious Shadow!?!? and then BOOM, game stuff. Henry running in a hallway, silhouettes of new characters, Bendy statue, Miracle Station? and BOO, the Ink Demon jumping in the station! Alice humming, and OOOHHHHH RELEASING IN SEPTEMBER, LETS GOOO.

It was really cool. I would not only say this is one of my favorite moments, but also that that trailer is my favorite trailer we've had. Yeah, in the end the "gameplay" in the second half of the video was just a cutscene running, and the "scene" that happened in the trailer doesn't actually happen in the game. Hell, the "hallway trailer" wasn't even in the release! But, the cutscene is still pretty cool anyway, plus, even though the scene doesn't literally happen in the game, it still teased elements that were in the game without giving away spoilers, so the trailer wasn't a total lie at the end of the day.

But yeah, nostalgia. A hell of a drug, but at the same time, a nice time machine,I say.

On an unrelated note, hey, prompt for day 1, and I'm not that late! Sure, I'm posting this after midnight, so it's not day 1 anymore, but still, compared to other years, I'm very up to date with the event. After all, 1-2 hours late isn't that late compared to 1 week. But of course, prompt 2 is going to be another story entirely, but in the meantime? I'll enjoy this achievement.

Have a great event this year folks!

[luescris]

Posting this before I decide not to

A drawing for a vent fic I've worked on since 2018 that's on my A03 called He Who is Hard as Stone (which I now dub to Heart of Stone because it's simpler/easier) and also sort of mostly inspired by @fihuli 's bad ending art (I hope it's not a problem that I've tagged you but if it is please lemme know augh) from once upon a time ago and. Lmao yeah haha

Handle on ao3 is luescris same as here if y'all are interested okay bye

[deoidesign]

Hello I stumbled across your profile and I just say I love your art style! I've gotta ask, how'd your develop it? And do you have any advice for someone who can't decide what they want their art to look like?

Thank you so much!

To be entirely honest, I don't feel like I truly "developed" my style. I feel a lot more like I finally let myself draw it! But I am incredibly deliberate with my work, and I do have clear tendencies and preferences... So I'll do my best to explain how I got to where I am now as an artist.

It's important to remember that "style" is something of a nebulous concept. It changes with you as you grow as a person, and most artists can work in and emulate many art styles! Art really is a form of communication with yourself, and your "style" is a reflection of the tendencies and preferences you have. My art does not look how it looked 5 years ago, and my art will look different 5 years from now too. I've changed, and my art reflects that!

(2012, 2018, 2023; two pieces I remember being incredibly proud of and considered my best work up til that point, and then my most recent piece)

What you need to do, as everyone will tell you, is study the fundamentals (anatomy, perspective, form and structure, lighting and shadow, color, and composition) so you have the proper tools to make the most informed decisions possible about your art, and so you can deliberately break or follow rules as you please for your desired effect. I know it sounds silly to learn rules if you're not gonna be following them anyways, but they help you be much more consistent and intentional! More knowledge is NEVER a bad thing to have!

However, I know it's a bit demoralizing to just be told to study fundamentals. Everyone knows you're supposed to do that, but it takes YEARS to learn, and people want their art to feel how they want it to now (which is very very very normal to want!)

So on that front, I have 2 follow up suggestions that I personally find helpful (of course, everyone is different, so it's not like this is the only way to learn! But, if it resonates with you, it might mean it will work for you too.)

1: Separate study from application

I believe this is beneficial for a few reasons:

If the goal of every piece is learning, it can become frustrating, overwhelming, and boring

It's harder to self critique when there are multiple variables to investigate. I like to study one fundamental at a time

Study (usually) works best with a large quantity of output, whereas application of knowledge (finished pieces) is often more satisfying and effective when you get to take your time

Deliberate practical application of what you've learned in a finished piece helps cement the learning in your mind, and also lets you get satisfying finished pieces with noticeable improvement after a good study session!

I've found that keeping these things separate helps me improve faster and more deliberately, and it takes a lot of the pressure off of both aspects! I'm not worried about my studies looking beautiful, they're just to learn! And I don't feel pressured to critique my finished pieces, cause they're just for fun and to make something pretty. I personally find this helps me have a much healthier relationship with my art.

When studying, copy! Copy things as best as you can, all the time. It gives you something to compare to for self critique (and of course, if you're copying someone else's work and you share the study, ALWAYS give credit, share the original, and say it was for study.) In application, don't copy: reference. Make it yours!

2: Let yourself do the things that feel "easy" or like "cheating"

This one is simpler: nothing in art is easy.

If something feels easy to you, most of the time it's not because it's actually any easier... It's because it's part of your natural tendencies and preferences! This took me forever to realize, but as long as you're actually doing some study, then you're learning. You don't need to learn All The Time. When you're doing the "application" portion, you should let yourself do whatever is actually the most fun and feels easiest! This is where your style will start to come through, and where you get to learn about yourself. Take the pressure off, and have fun!!!

The only cheating in art is theft. If you're not stealing, then it's allowed!

My whole life (and yes, still!) I'd get regular criticism about both my style and my subject matter. You will too. You'll see a thousand different styles, and a hundred different things to admire in each. Your heart will ache that you don't draw like others do.

But art is a form of communication with yourself. It's like your voice, or your accent; just something that's a part of you! It can be fun to mimic others', but when you sit to have a conversation you speak naturally. (I know some people want to and do change their voice, but this is a metaphor and metaphors aren't perfect)

Don't stress so much about what you want your art to look like, especially if you're not sure. There's a lot of value to be had in constant experimentation, I think it'd be rather boring to only draw one style the rest of my life. What I draw is what I want to see, right now, for who I am now! It's a part of me and comes naturally, if I let it!

I hope this helps!

[thesecrethistori-an]

I am having a hard time finding good study methods, do you mind sharing how you study? T_T

Hiii anon, thanks for the question ☺️🤍

I think it really depends on two factors: what works for you / what suits each type of content. For ref I do humanities/social sciences and have no experience with economic courses (other than economic history) or anything stem

For me the fundamental thing is to go to class and take notes. It forces me to pay attention. Even if you'll be handed notes (never happened to me in my uni) take your own notes.

With time you'll learn to be efficient and only write down what works for you. I personally prefer to make extensive notes that include more than I need (the logic I follow is making notes that I could use and get an A with if I hit my head and got amnesia and forgot everything I know but this is obviously the extreme and so unnecessary 🤭). But even if you follow a very extensive model, be strategic. Some classes only require bullet points.

I use the same template every time and use different techniques, but all my uni notes look the same since 2018 (😅 feeling old now)

If the course is hard I do the reading previously and take very detailed notes: parts that are relevant, following the structure of the text rather than very schematic and I don't really add my own reflections in the notes other than on footnotes (not the most efficient for most but works for me ). For me this guarantees that I can participate in the class and be active and also that I have good materials to study.

For me, note taking does 70% of the work and then I only need to highlight and read with attention and take notes (I use my iPad) by hand clarifying anything necessary.

If I feel insecure about how much I know I try to take notes of the weakest parts by hand (schematic, do not copy all your notes by hand except for maybe something you really really need) trying to fit the most information in one page (like summarising all my notes from the course in a very crammed and chaotic sheet).

Then read out loud, try to explain it to yourself. Use reasoning and if you don't understand something try to put it in simpler words, then increase complexity.

Think about what the test will require and prepare accordingly. My tests have rarely been very memory based (more like requiring you to explain big concepts such as "does the state predate the nation or vice-versa"/"traveling in the middle ages"/"the use of primordialism as a myth of nationhood in central Eurasia"/etc with no ready-made answer but rather requiring an understanding of broader literature. I never did mock tests but I thought about possible challenges I'd finding.

Last: write a list of key words you want to use 100% in your tests/essays. Things, events, methodologies, authors, technical terms that maybe have less concise synonyms so that they are in your "mental lexicon/toolkit" so that you explain yourself using complex and discipline-specific terms. This will make you sound more confident and will become a great tool for the future.

Connected to this: there will be some pieces of information that should become part of your "toolkit". Don't get used to forgetting things right after the exam. Of course, some details will fade but the "core" will become the foundation that will make your future study sessions/writing/tests/talking in an academic or personal context solid.

Hope this was slightly helpful ;)