#this is the first time i've added an image ID i hope i did it right

[thebugthatruinsyourpicnic]

If I had a nickel for every time Kim Whalen played a character dressed in pink with pigtails who is considered the less evil one, I'd have two nickels.

Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

[Image ID: A picture of Girl Jeri from Nightmare Time Season 2 episode 2, Abstinence Camp, wearing a pink T-shirt and her hair in pigtails, with two pink scrunchies. Beside it is an image of Nibblenephim from Nerdy Prudes Must Die, holding a pink lollipop, wearing all-pink clothing and a pink wig, also in pigtails. Both of them are played by Kim Whalen. /.End ID]

[gageblackwood]

I got paid to put together a Lego kit today.

...Well, okay so I mainly got paid to keep an anxious dog company and do some chores for a family friend, but she had been gifted a Lego Flower Bouquet and asked if I was interested in putting it together for her (apparently she had told a friend she was tired of flowers dying and this was their response).

This was probably a good idea as she has little experience with Lego and it was also a bit fiddly, and also yes, I was interested. So here is the final product:

What I feel are fun parts of the build that I want to shout out the designer for are car hoods as the outer petals of the pink flowers, surfboards as the end of the long straight leaves (though you can't really see that in my picture, sorry) and...

Leaves on a few of the stems are actually dinosaur wings! Very hard to see at a distance, but up close you can see the 3 fingers and 'bones'.

Image id: First image is a bouquet of Lego flowers in a vase on a table. Second image is a close up of the leaves on the Lego bouquet showing that they are dinosaur wings. End id.

[asterlizard]

2024

These last few weeks of the year have been a bit of a roller coaster for me. At least I was able to finish the year on a more positive note, probably because I accomplished some final tasks before the year ended (why is it that winter seems to be the most satisfyingly productive time of year for me?)

Despite feeling busy and preoccupied, I feel like I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked this year. It felt like most of my time was spent getting into a perpetual cycle of chores and cleanup with no set plan, with some work on personal projects.

That being said, I looked back and was able to find some things I did accomplish:

Getting another chapter of Kaleidoscope Children finished

Started finding some events to attend so I'm not just stuck at home all the time

Watching the Paralympics properly for the first time (once again, I recommend watching it just to give it more attention!)

More zines: -My Hero Babysitters -Successor: A DadMight Anthology (BNHA) -Tales of the Four Nations Volume 3 (ATLA) -On the Prowl: MSBY4 (Haikyuu!)

And now my resolutions:

Image Descriptions: I will continue to make this my top resolution until I have most (if not all) of them done. Despite not getting around to them this year, I finally decided I will use Alt Text (at least for newer posts, unfortunately it seems like I can't update older posts to add Alt Text so I'll probably just do Image IDs in those descriptions for now)

Stories: Hopefully I can churn out chapters a little more quickly this year after last year's major creative block. I've already started drafting the next couple of chapters of Kaleidoscope Children, and I'm preparing to write the beginning of my second story. I don't have an estimate for further news on the latter, but I hope I can announce something about it later in the new year.

Communication: I really really really want to push myself to make an iota of progress in this direction. I often find excuses to keep my thoughts to myself, but then it hurts me in the long run and I deprive myself the opportunity to make new friends. I want to try to make an effort to be a little more outspoken.

Productivity: I want to get back on track with the tasks I want to get done, and try and minimize postponements. I'll start by making schedules for each month, but without overloading myself. I think it worked at the start of last year before I got sidetracked big time with chores.

Occupation?: Job hunting continued to be disappointing, but I'm reassured by the fact that I'm not the only one who is having issues. Over this past year I've heard more and more people who are struggling with finding or keeping a job (people I know, people I follow, people with a rich resume, people with little to no experience) and more and more I'm getting the advice that education or constant applications will go nowhere, and that volunteering and finding connections is more promising. I've changed my strategy towards this direction, and can only hope that I'll have a little better luck. But first, I need to figure out what I actually want to do for a vocation. With all the application rejections I had to deal with for two years, I spent the past year kinda floating aimlessly, questioning to myself what it is I actually want to do. In the new year, I want to try and sit down with myself and ask myself what it is I would be interested in that feels worthwhile to me or something along those lines. That way I have a plan to focus on instead of puttering vaguely between multiple interests but not sticking to a gameplan. I think part of my ongoing stress is the pressure to find a job, but not having any idea where to start.

Relax! Despite the hurdles, I think I did a little better at this than last year. I just need to not overload myself with a lot of plans, nor stress myself with lofty expectations. Things will come with time, though they will also come easier with some added strategy besides simply waiting for it (something about catching fish better with a bait than with an empty lure...?)

And just like before, I'm going to finish this post with a link to some positive news this year (a different source this time!): [link]

Next year will be uncertain. But no matter what happens, there will always be people who will work hard to protect what's good in the world. Even when times get tough, it won't mean people have stopped striving towards this. I will continue to draw and create things that hopefully make some sort of positive difference to the world, however little that contribution may be, for as long as I can. Whatever happens, we're in this together.

Please take care of yourself. Take a break from the news once in a while. Find activities and communities that bring you joy. Watch videos of puppies (or whatever animals give you comfort). Take time away from social media if you need to. Do whatever it takes to make the foreseeable future a little less awful.

I wish all the best for you 💕

[hollow-prior]

I haven't seen any love for this book anywhere SO here's my rave review of I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan while I wait for my shift to start.

I Hope You're Listening (Tom Ryan)

Spoiler-Free Review

[Image Description: A cover of I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan. The cover shows dark woods with a purple coloring to them, making it look like night time. One girl points a flashlight towards the title, illuminating a small part of the forest as well. In her other hand, she has a phone to her ear. She is little more than a silhouette. In the background, four other people search the forest with flash lights. End ID.]

I originally picked this book up at Glad Day Books in Toronto, which is a store that focuses on promoting queer books, either by queer authors or with queer characters or both. The cover and the description on the back immediately caught my interest and though I was a bit worried reading a WLW story written by a man (I've been burned before, readers.), I decided to take a chance on it and OH BOY was I glad I did.

My favourite part of this book is probably the characters. Dee, the main character, is so well developed and shown to be flawed while still likeable, which is something that I rarely find in most YA novels. She is a teenage girl who has gone through something very traumatic and her decisions reflect that -- they aren't always rational and they don't always work out. She's also very stubborn and pushes people away throughout the book, which is something she has to overcome. The side characters in the book (Burke and Sarah) are also well developed and have their own stories to them, which I appreciated.

The relationship between Dee and Sarah is one of the biggest highlights of the book. Their getting together was very natural and thougu the speed at which they progressed was a bit quick, it's understandable given the circumstances around their relationship. Another thing I really liked about their relationship is that it didn't overshadow the main plot. The romance was a subplot to the main mystery.

The mystery itself was well written and by the time I was halfway through the book, I couldn't put it down. Everything wrapped up nicely without seeming too perfect and by the time I was finished, I found myself seeing the rest of the book in a new light. Certain details took on a new meaning and I'm sure that if I reread it later on, I'll find plenty of hints and clues that I missed the first time around.

The inclusion of the podcast and the format of it was a big plus for me. It added a new element to the book and gave it a different perspective. I also liked how it was dealt with in the resolution (Though I won't go into too much detail~) and the part it played in solving the case. I also really appreciated how they used the podcast to touch on the topic of MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) and how the disappearances of many minorities are over under investigated.

In general, I just really loved this book and if you want to read an excellent mystery with a lesbian relationship that handles trauma and PTSD in a great way, I strongly suggest checking it out.

[startrekdescribed]

i'm the one who made the star trek pride post, i was wondering how to add alt text to an image properly? i've always struggled with it, that post is literally the only time i figured out desktop captions as well

Hi!

Okay, let me first say that I am an exclusive mobile user, I'm not sure if it differs on the desktop instead of the app. And, in reference to the pride post, several people pointed out that it did have text, you just needed to click onto the image to see the caption. But that just wasn't there on mobile, I click the image and it's just an image with no caption.

However, I know on mobile that there are three little dots you can click to add it.

[Image description: a screenshot of a post in progress, the post has two pictures on it, on the right-hand corner of each image are three little dots, circled to show where they are. Clicking it brings up the option to add alt text. /end image description]

Clicking that will give you a small box to write your description.

"Alt text. Adding a description of this image makes your post more accessible for individuals using a screen reader."

You get 4000 characters, so spaces, punctuation, and spelling matter.

Once added there will be a small box in the corner. [The pink bear photo has a small black box in the left hand corner labelled, "alt."]

However, I always find that the box is quite faded, I don't notice it when I do use mobile browser unless the OP or someone tags the post as, "ID in alt."

But, with the added text, you get given a box of your description in the middle of the image post. [Image description: A photo of a light pink water bottle, it is shaped like a bear, has two black eyes on its face and a small black nose. The tummy of the bear says, "smile" in a pink font."]

Although, plain text captions are always the preferred method of writing an image description. Alt text can be quite glitchy, people also have trouble with using it, so plain text captions are the preferred way to go.

And if you do use alt, and I come across the post, I will just copy and paste your caption into plain text anyway.

I hope this helps.

[boy-defined]

[ Image Description: Two pages of an Avatar: the Last Airbender book with an illustration of an adult Katara on the page. The text says, "My darling Tenzin,

Your father asked me to write you a letter to include in this book of memories. I hope that when you're older and you look back on this letter and the rest of this book, you will feel the pride of your heritage and gain a deeper understanding of who you are and how you came to be the man you will grow into.

When I first met your father, he was a carefree boy, only occupied with having fun and playing games. Zooming down a snowy hill on the back of an otter penguin was of much greater concerm to him than the weighty problems of a world torn apart by war.

Then he discovered that he was the Avatar. And when he awoke in our time, he blamed himself for the war, fearing that his choice to run away from his responsibilities had caused the horrors that descended upon our world - events he believed he could have prevented if only he had accepted his destiny.

One of the great joys of my life, and - I realized over the course of time - the thing that caused me to fall in love with your father, was watching him grow from the joyful playful boy he was when I first met him to the amazing, thoughtful, powerful and wise man he became on his journey to accept his fate and embrace the power and responsibilities of being the Avatar.

I think what I loved the most about watching and being a part of your father's journey was that even as he gained wisdom and took on more responsibilities, he never lost his youthful joy and his love of games and jokes. I've never known anyone else who could be so serious about the important things in his life while at the same time embracing silliness so completely.

Throughout his life. your father not only had to carry the weight of being the Avatar, and of being the Avatar during the greatest crisis our world has ever faced, but he also had to shoulder the burden of being the last Airbender - the final surviving member of a proud and beautiful people. He carried that weight with him every day of his life, again blaming himself for not being there to help save his people.

And then you came along and everything changed - and not just in the way things change for every parent when a child is born. When we discovered that you too were an Airbender, and that the Airbenders would not die out with the passing of your father, we were filled with Joy. A terrible burden was lifted from your father's shoulders, which only added to our happiness in welcoming you to our family.

The Airbenders' traditions will live on through you, and nothing could make your father and me happier and more proud, I look forward to watching you grow into manhood as I did with your father. And, unlike your father, you will have him there to guide your training every step of the way.

And so, my son, I wish for you the carefree joys of youth, the knowledge that comes with learning and experience, and the strength to accept and relish the power and responsibility of being an Airbender.

Your father and I will be there for you every step of the way. Know that we both will always love you very much.

Love, Mom" End ID. ]

Katara loves Aang so much, her letter to Tenzin is beautiful 😭

[whennnow]

Sewing a Regency Gown Part 1 - Drafting the Bodice

August 27, 2020

[Image ID: three white pattern pieces marked on gridded paper and laid flat on a fabric background.]

I've been planning to sew a basic white Regency dress since 2016. I started blogging about my plans in 2017. In 2020, and in the midst of a global pandemic, I finally decided to start making the damn thing.

The last four years have not been wasted, though! I've made all the necessary underthings, expanded my sewing skills, looked at fashion plates, read other blogs, and accumulated books on historical costuming.

For this white dress I'll be referencing two books in particular - "Regency Women's Dress: Techniques and Patterns 1800-1830" for the pattern and "The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking" for assembly guidance.

The pattern I'm using from "Regency Women's Dress" is described as a morning dress and is dated 1800-1805, which is, coincidentally, exactly the time period I've been aiming for. The original dress is a bib-front or apron-front gown, but I'll be adapting it so it closes with drawstrings at the center front.

To start the drafting process, I transferred the gridded bodice pattern pieces onto the similarly-gridded back of some wrapping pattern. That, in turn, was transferred onto some stash fabric, given seam allowances, and basted together to form a mockup.

That first mockup didn't work. The front lining pieces needed to be made longer and wider, and they would need darts to shape them. I also made the straps narrower to widen the neckline.

Adjustments and a second mockup were made. On that version, I made the center back panel slightly narrower, adjusted the armholes, and curved the bottom of the front lining panels so the waistline sits slightly higher at the back than the front.

Rinse and repeat. The third mockup required adjustments to the armhole again, but this time in the back where the straps attach to the center back panel. The fourth mockup gave me a chance to check on those adjustments and work on the bust darts in the front panels.

I put the project away for almost four months after that.

When I got back to it in August, I pulled out my fourth mockup again to see where I left off. I cleaned up the darts a little and deemed it "good enough," despite some minor gaping at the armscye.

I transferred the pieces to a grided paper (ok, so it was the gridded back of some wrapping paper again) and added seam allowances. When I did this, I angled the straps slightly toward the arm, which is meant to help with the gaping.

I did one last mockup using my final pattern and it went great! Angling the straps did help some with the armscye gaping, so I was pleased.

With the lining drafted, it was time to draft the outer later. The back panel will be exactly the same, but the front pieces needed to be extended so it can be gathered with the drawstring at the neck and underbust. (I had to stop and do some skirt math to figure out how much it needed to be extended, but I'll go over the skirt math in part 3 of this little series.) I opted not to do a mockup of this layer, since the fitted parts are the same as the lining, and the gathering should make the rest pretty forgiving. (I hope. I really, really hope.)

And that's it! (Note for tumblr: the original pattern is pictured below, and my finished altered pattern is above the read-more.)

With my Regency dress bodice pattern done, I cut out my pieces and thread marked them to prepare for sewing.

In Sewing a Regency Gown Part 2: Sewing the Bodice, I'll be back to go over the construction of the bodice, including at least one drawstring!

Things are difficult right now. Stay warm. Stay safe. Stay healthy.

[epicdogymoment]

hey!! hope you don’t mind me contacting you - I saw in a tag that you found my literacy comic hard to read and really appreciated hearing that. organizing information clearly and accessibly is something I’m always trying to work on. I made the comic with my own visual/reading needs in mind, but I obviously only have my limited and personal experience!

I didn’t expect the comic to get traction before I edited in a transcript today, so I’m very grateful someone added an ID.

no pressure to answer, but if you have the bandwidth, do you mind telling me what made the comic hard for you to read? (layout, size or style of lettering, style of writing, color contrast, or something else?)

if you have extra bandwidth, besides including plaintext ID, do you have any suggestions about what tends to make things easier to read for you?

just gathering info for future projects, but I completely get if you’re not feeling like answering in detail. thanks so much either way! hope your day is going well.

hi! would like to start off by saying: i totally don't mind at all, and i'm glad you've decided to send this in, really.

link to the comic mentioned

[rest of the answer under the cut]

i should probably mention that i am in no way an expert in comicking or layout, just someone who struggles with reading comics sometimes, so definitely feel free to take all of this with a grain of salt

i'd say that the first thing that jumps out at me is that it's a lot of small text. it does read better on a computer screen (which is what i assume it was originally drawn on/meant to be read from) but on a phone screen, it really is hard to read

^ especially this section from the second page. while i do think the panelling here is quite smart, the text in the leftmost panel (the "tweet") and the rightmost panel (the "text messages") is far too small to read comfortably compared to the rest of the text, especially since they're both tilted

^ another textbox that's a little hard, also because of the slight odd angle combined with the size of the text

^ although, i found this one comparatively easier to read. the larger text really does help.

another thing that made it more difficult for me to read was that the order of textboxes was obscured by the layout sometimes, most obviously in the first page

^ after looking at this page for a while, it's obvious that the rightmost panel is supposed to be read, then the middle panel. but at a glance, it's not really visually clear, and the flow of the text is already a little harder to follow

it might be clearer to shift things around a little like this:

where either the entire middle panel begins lower, or the text and images start a little lower down.

^ similarly for this panel, it's a small thing, but the order is slightly obscured because the left panel (the first panel) is noticeably lower than the right panel (the second panel)

i've spent a lot of time picking apart your comic.... so i'd like to at least end off by saying that i really did enjoy it, even if it was a little difficult to visually latch onto for me! it is really lovely to look at visually, the colours are pleasing, i love the texture, and i was definitely happy to see an adapted version of that essay (which i just so happened to read recently. funny how that works)

anyway. once again i'm glad you decided to send this ask in, and i'm very, very happy to help. i sincerely hope that you found this helpful!

[mikimeiko]

Day 3 - Ljubljana>Rijeka

Had a minor heart attack on my way to the station when I thought I forgotten at the hotel/lost my id but luckily I had just misplaced it so all is well.

The train is very pretty (I love the cyan/teal-ish blue of Slovenian railways) and it has compartments! (Is this the right word? I have no idea, but Google says it is the translation of scompartimenti so...)

I haven't traveled in a train with compartments in years, the seats are very spacious and comfy <3 also the train is not very busy and I got a 6 seats compartment all to myself :D

The weather is looking promising when I leave Ljubljana but gets greyer and greyer along the way. It's still a very pretty journey though.

(that's a picture of the sea. If you squint and look at the lightest part of the image you can kind of guess a reflection of the cloud in the water XD)

I love that many of the station we're passing through have a steam locomotive on the premise (this is actually something I also noticed in Italy this summer and I have to say I love this trend, put those locomotives on display!)

They checked my id twice on the train, once in the last station in Slovenia and once in the first in Croatia (now that I think about it this also happened when I was travelling in the other direction five years ago, the only border crossing where they checked our passports twice instead of just once - at least I think it was this one, I might be wrong).

I did not get the best start in Rijeka. My hotel never answered my question about leaving luggage early, so I decided to go grab a coffee and then maybe lunch waiting for check in time. Only the currency here is kuna and every ATM I check seems out of order? D: then it starts raining and for a bit everything seems very bleak. But then of course I did find an ATM, and a way to change the big bills the ATM gave me, and a nice coffee place where I can finally have a coffee and relax a bit (I've been in Rijeka for more than an hour. As I said, not the best start) (later I found out that the problem with the ATMs is that Croatia is actually switching to the euro on January 1st... Good job Maddalena for choosing the actual worst time for coming here XD)

Also I really wish I was one of those people that are not particularly affected by the weather, but I am! All this grey and white and fog and rain is really bumming me out. I can see that Rijeka is a pretty place, I can, but I can't feel it right now. Let's hope the sky will open up just a tiny bit, just to see some sun!

I ate lunch sitting outside because they didn't have seats inside and the temperature seemed bearable but I don't know if it got colder or if it was just sitting/digestion but by the end of the meal I was freezing XD

My new room is quite cute, it also has a small kitchen inside! But it's pretty cold D: luckily there a kettle in the hall and I can make tea! (also it's not that cold, I was just really frozen from lunch)

I take a walk along the harbour around sunset. The light is quite magical, but the sky is so cloudy you cannot really tell it's sunset XD

I also go back to the centre and especially the old town, but it keeps raining, then stopping, then raining... And every bench is wet, and it's stupidly warm, and my feet hurt because the two pair of shoes I brought with me (my two pairs of very warm shoes) are not the comfiest, and also I got my period today and I keep trying to make it work, to turn this feeling around, but maybe tonight is just not the right night.*

So I grab some yummy looking things at the supermarket, plus a tea I never tried before, and head back to my room.

**I wasn't sure about adding this part, I never am. On one hand this is like... personal and maybe not that interesting for others. On the other, I distinctly remember the relief I felt on my first solo trip when, after days of rollercoasting from sheer delight to abject bleakness, another traveller told me "these past days, before my friends got here, were really hard on me, I was crying at least once a day". That moment of "oh, this is normal, this doesn't mean that I'm not meant to be doing this, I can cry and then keep going anyway if I like it enough!". And so I'd rather share the hard parts too, just in case someone reads this before they try it or while they're doing it.

[shezzaspeare]

Pilot/Episode 1: Patching Things Up With Pastiche & Fanfiction

Hi, hello, and the wait is finally over! My name is Blessie, and welcome to the first episode webisode log installation I've decided to call these things an episode for now because why not also let me know what do you actually call these things episode of The Science of Fanfiction, where we take a closer look into our beloved works of fanon because we've all got plenty of time to spare till Season 5. Before I continue, I would like to thank everyone who's liked and reblogged the last few posts before this one. It means a lot for a small and growing Tumblr user like me, and your support is something I cherish more than my modules. You guys rock!

Anyways, like with most things, we have to talk about the boring and bland stuff before we proceed with the fun stuff. For today, we are going to settle the difference between a couple of things: first being the confusion between pastiche and fanfiction; then the distinctions between tropes, clichés, and stereotypes, which we'll tackle the next time. It's important for us to establish their true meanings in order for us to really understand what fanfiction truly is, even if it's merely just a work done for the fandom. I know – it's boring, it's something that shouldn't be expounded that much, but I believe that all forms of writing (unless it's plagiarised) is a work of art — and fanfiction is not something we always talk about. I hope that by the end of this, you'll learn about what they really are as much as I did. Let's begin to talk about the—

[Image ID: A flashback of John (left) and Sherlock (right) finding an elephant (not in the screen) in a room in The Sign of Three. End ID]

. . . I did say that this GIF will always have to make an appearance here, didn't I?

So, just as with Sherlock Holmes, all other works of fiction have their own pastiches and fanfiction, and many more original works out there have taken inspiration from them to create their own books. Although they've gained popular attention, this will not be possible if they did not have taken inspiration from the materials their writers had at the time.

[Image ID: Various actors as Dracula. Jeremy Brett in 'Dracula' (1978) (upper left), Adam Sandler in a voice role for 'Hotel Transylvania' (2012) (upper right), Gary Oldman in 'Dracula' (1992) (lower left), and Bela Lugosi in 'Dracula' (1933) (lower right). End ID]

For instance, Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (the second most adapted literary character, next to the consulting detective himself) has been portrayed on the screen over 200 times — from Gary Oldman to Adam Sandler — and has spawned off numerous books and pastiches of its own such as Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot'. Its cultural impact served as a basis of how we see vampires today, since some characteristics of the Count were made by Stoker himself. Stoker's creation is the brainchild of his predecessors and inspirations.

[Image ID: Vlad the Impaler (left) and a book cover of 'Carmilla' by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (right). End ID]

Other than the ongoing hysteria over dead back then and the existing vampire folklore, Stoker also took his inspirations from the published books on vampires he had at hand. He is said to have taken inspiration from Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian national hero known allegedly for having impalement as his favourite method of torture. He is also said to have been inspired by the J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla', a Gothic lesbian vampire novella that predates Dracula by 26 years. I could go on, but hey, we're going back to Sherlock Holmes now before I deviate any further. However, if you want to know about Dracula's literary origins, I suggest you watch Ted-ED's videos about the subject matter such as this one or this one.

Very much like Stoker, ACD didn't just conceive Holmes on his own. He took his own inspirations from what he had available at the time.

[Image ID: Dr Joseph Bell (left) and Edgar Allan Poe (right). End ID]

As we all know, ACD's biggest inspiration for Sherlock Holmes was one of his teachers at the Edinburgh University, Joseph Bell. He was famous for his powers of deduction, and he was also interested in forensic science — both characteristics which Holmes is greatly known for. He also drew inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's sleuth, C. Auguste Dupin ('The Purloined Letter' & 'Murders in Rue Morgue'). As ACD himself has said at the 1909 Poe Centennial Dinner: "Where was the detective story until Poe breathed life into it?" Some other writers he took after are Wilkie Collins, Émile Gaboriau, and Oscar Wilde.

Now, what does this say about us Sherlockians/Holmesians (depending if you're the coloniser or the one that was colonised)? Basically, ACD laid the groundwork for us with Sherlock Holmes: his humble abode 221B that he shares with his flatmate Dr. John Watson, his adventures, memoirs, return, casebook, last vow, and all that. Now that we have this material at hand, we can now make our own versions, takes, or even original stories featuring the characters of the Canon. Our inspiration comes from ACD's Sherlock Holmes, and we now get the chance to make our very own stories/conspiracy theories about them.

As I have mentioned earlier, Sherlock Holmes is the most adapted literary character in history. He has been adapted in over 200 films, more than 750 radio adaptations, a ballet, 2 musicals; and he's become a mouse, a woman, a dog, even a bloody cucumber. On top of all that are numerous pastiches and fanfics, and finally, we have arrived at the main topic of our post!

Fanfiction and pastiche are often confused together since they have three common elements: they take after the original work, they usually use the characters in that original work, and more often than not do are they set in that same time frame/period or not long after that. The common misconception is that pastiche are printed fanfiction, which is only partly true. While pastiche is definitely fanfiction in some ways and vice versa, there are fanfictions out there that aren't necessarily classified as pastiche that have been published.

Let's get on with our definition of terms to clear up the confusion a little more. Pastiche, according to Literary Terms, is:

. . . a creative work that imitates another author or genre. It’s a way of paying respect, or honor, to great works of the past. Pastiche differs from parody in that pastiche isn’t making fun of the works it imitates – however, the tone of pastiche is often humorous.

A good example of a pastiche is Sophie Hannah's 'The Monogram Murders', which is her take from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

[Image ID: A book cover of 'The Monogram Murders' by Sophie Hannah. End ID.]

Although this was a commission from Christie's estate, it's still considered as a pastiche as:

It's takes after Christie's writing style;

It is set in the early years of Poirot's career (1929), which is still within the time frame that the author wrote him in;

It features Poirot and;

It pays respect to Christie in a sense that it stays true to her (Christie) characters and way of storytelling.

Meanwhile, our good and slightly unreliable friend Wikipedia defines fanfiction as:

. . . is fictional writing written by fans, commonly of an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settings, or other intellectual property from the original creator(s) as a basis for their writing. [It] ranges from a couple of sentences to an entire novel, and fans can both keep the creator's characters and settings and/or add their own. [ . . . ] [It] can be based on any fictional (and sometimes non-fictional) subject. Common bases for fanfiction include novels, movies, bands, and video games.

To avoid any copyright infringement issues if I ever use a popular fanfic in the fandom, we'll use my (unfinished and unpopular) Sherlock Wattpad fic, 'Play Pretend'. You can read it here.

[Image ID: The second self-made book cover of Blessie/shezzaspeare's 'Play Pretend'. End ID]

Why is it considered a fanfiction and not a pastiche?

It takes after an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes (BBC Sherlock) which is a TV show, not the ACD canon itself;

The author (in this case myself) uses her own writing style and does not take after the original story's style;

Although it is set well in modern-day London and after Season 4, it also features scenes decades before the actual fanfic is set and outside of London;

I added a considerable number of characters, i.e. siblings to canon characters;

I had my own take some of the canon characters' personality especially after the events of Sherrinford;

It is written by a fan – myself. It is a work of fan labour and;

It is only a work of fanon, and isn't likely going to be considered by the show as its writing style is different from the actual show.

To put it simply, you can have more freedom in a fanfiction as it does not necessarily restrict you to follow or take after the original stories. Alternate universes (AUs) such as Unilock and Teenlock are perfect examples of this thing.

So can a pastiche be classified as fanfiction? Yes.

Can a fanfiction be classified as pastiche? Not all the time.

What's the difference? While yes, they share the basics, pastiche is technically leans more onto the original work's fundamental elements whereas fanfiction is a broader range of works inspired by the original work but doesn't necessarily follow all or any of its fundamental elements.

In order for us to understand it more, I'll give another example.

[Image ID: The 'Enola Holmes' title card (upper left) and Henry Cavill as its Sherlock holmes (upper right). Underneath it is a a scene from the opening titles of BBC Sherlock (lower left) and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal In Belgravia. (lower right) End ID]

Most of you are familiar with these 21st-century adaptations of Holmes: the 2020 adaptation of Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes books and BBC Sherlock, which needs no further explanation – but for those who don't know, it's basically Holmes and the gang if they were alive today. I specifically chose these two as they are the ones that I believe would get my points across best. Though both are considered as wonderful pastiches with a well-rounded cast and awesome visuals, if we break them down bit by bit, we'll see which one is more of a pastiche and which one is more of a fanfic. (Yes, I know they're both screen adaptations. However, as Enola Holmes was based on the books and BBC Sherlock's fanfiction has the show's scenes written out in most fanfics, hear me out.)

They share these characteristics of a pastiche:

They feature characters from the Canon (Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, and Lestrade);

They have additional characters added by the writers (Including but not limited to Molly Hooper, Eurus Holmes, and Philip Anderson for BBC Sherlock while Enola Holmes has Lord Tewkesbury, Eudoria Holmes, and Enola herself) and;

They pay respect to the original Canon as their stories are based on the cases (BBC Sherlock) or simply what was going on around them (Enola Holmes).

They also share these characteristics of a fanfic:

They are made by enthusiasts of Sherlock Holmes (Moffat has called himself and Mark Gatiss 'Sherlock Holmes geeks', while Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes books are not just one or two but six);

They follow a common trope (we'll discuss these tropes in the following episodes) that goes on in the fandom (Sherlock's Sister & Modern AU)

They are based on a fictional subject (Sherlock Holmes);

They used characters and story elements that are copyrighted by the author/author's estate (fun fact: prior to the production of Enola Holmes, the Conan Doyle Estate filed a lawsuit against Springer & Netflix over Sherlock's emotions since he was more 'sympathetic' than he was portrayed in the Canon – this was later dismissed by both parties) and;

Their writing styles don't necessarily follow ACD's.

Despite these similarities, there are very obvious differences between the two that separates them from being a pastiche and a fanfiction.

Enola Holmes embodies pastiche more as it doesn't stray far away from the original elements of the Canon. It's still set in Victorian England. While Springer added characters of her own and definitely twisted the Canon to suit her series, she didn't necessarily place them out of the social construct that was going on around the characters. It follows ACD's writing style more as Enola Holmes' setting still remains within the Canon's original setting.

Meanwhile, we can safely say that BBC Sherlock is a work of fanfiction. While it did give us The Abominable Bride, the main series focused on Holmes and Watson in 21st-century England, which is drastically different from Victorian England. There are phones, black cabs, and cellphones — things which ACD Sherlock Holmes doesn't have. It also diverted from the Canon in the characters themselves, which is mostly seen in the names: Henry Baskerville became Henry Knight, Charles Augustus Milverton became Charles Augustus Magnussen, the H in Dr Watson's name stood for Hamish and Sherlock's full name is actually William Sherlock Scott Holmes. They also changed the personalities of some Canon characters: Mary was actually an ex-assassin, Mrs Hudson was an exotic dancer who drove a kick-ass sports car, Irene Adler is a dominatrix, to name a few. Moffat and Gatiss created a world of their own featuring the characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which is really what most of us fanfic writers do with Mofftiss' rendition of Holmes.

In conclusion: while pastiche and fanfiction could have been the same thing, they're actually not. There's more to them that just printed fanfiction or pastiche e-books, and we all should take some time to see and observe them in a closer perspective.

And that's it for our first episode! I hope you enjoyed it. It was a lot fun for me to write this, especially now that I'm only starting. I would also like to note that while intensive research has been done on this series, some parts of this comes from my own observation and opinion, which may vary from yours. I am very much open to criticism, as long as it is said in a polite and civil manner. I'm still young, and to be educated as I go is something that could really help me with this series.

Like and reblog this you like it. It helps out a lot. Be sure to follow me as well and the tags underneath if you want to see more of TSoF.

See you soon!

Blessie presents – The Science of Fanfiction: A Study In Sherlock (2021) • Next

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SOURCES • Pinterest, Google Images, Wikipedia, Literary Terms, Conan Doyle Estate, Definitions, The Sherlock Holmes Book, and Google

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5 things you don’t know about Pinterest

Many clients have told me that they are in Pinterest but they don’t know how to use it professionally. I totally get them, because I was in the same situation until I took a course and I discovered the magic of Pinterest. That’s why Today I want to share with you 5 things you probably don’t know about Pinterest:

1. It is not a social media, it’s a search engine

When I first discovered Pinterest back in 2010 I remember saying “I finally found a social media than I love”. And how wrong I was… Not because it wasn’t the perfect place for me to hang around, no… But because Pinterest is not a social media, it’s a search engine! Let me explain myself. For those who don’t know what’s a search engine, the easy description is: Google. Google is the biggest search engine. His work consists in having a database with as many information as possible about the existing websites in order to show the best ones matching a certain word or sentence when someone types in their search box. And Pinterest does the same. Plus, you can save the results and categorize them following your own rules!

So… Why is that an important fact? Well, because if you keep that in mind and provide Pinterest the right information, he will help you back. We all work (or should work) on SEO for our websites, but we also need to care about Pinterest SEO. Good news is that they are connected. If you follow my tips in my “SEO for images” blog post, you will be doing the perfect job to make your images Pinterest friendly

2. You can be found by new people without spending extra time and money

Picture yourself right now working from a tropical island, with reggae music at the background, a fresh fruit juice and the beach just 5 meters far from you. That’s how I am writing right now. That’s in fact how I’ve been working for the past month from Indonesia.

I’m telling you this because although I haven’t continued working on as many things as before (I haven’t posted in the blog for a while and my last post in IG was two weeks ago…), Pinterest is one of the things that has continued working without me even caring about it.

I’m using Boardbooster to automate my pins. Every now and then I go into Pinterest and schedule some interesting images I find. But in moments like now when I can’t do that, I always have Boardbooster backing me up.

Isn’t it amazing?

3. It always keeps growing

Are you on Instagram? If so, this will sound familiar: – It’s almost 9, my best hour to post Today. – What should I post? – Oh here I have it. – Ok let’s do it quickly, this filter looks good. – What should I write? Hm… This seems nice. – Ok, hashtags… Yeah, got it! – Post! 5 minutes later… Yeah! This picture is working well! Many likes, comments and followers! 5 hours later… Still someone gives me some love. 5 days later… Crickets. 5 years later… Crickets.

In Pinterest the story goes like this: – Ok let’s share my new blog post to Pinterest. – Click, description automatically added (check SEO for images to understand how) and posted! 5 minutes later… Probably crickets. 5 hours later… Maybe some re-pins. 5 days later… Wow, this is starting to grow! 5 years later… Every day more and more people keeps re-pining your post and this means more and more people clicking and visiting your website!

Here you have a screenshot from my Nelio Content Analytics. I recommend you to read my blog post about How to Write Blog Posts in Half Time to know more about this amazing WordPress Editorial Calendar called Nelio. But for now let’s take a look at this image:

As you can see, my top three posts are How to design seamless patterns in Photoshop, which is a tutorial showing you how to design overall patterns for textile prints, wallpapers or any pattern application you may need; followed by 15 Motivational Quotes for Business Success and How to Create watercolor effects with Photoshop (another video tutorial). Few weeks ago I started receiving new subscribers and comments to my Youtube channel every day, especially in the video teaching how to design patterns with Photoshop, but until I didn’t saw this analytics I did not understood why. The video and the blog post went life in February, and now 5 months after they seem to start to receive visits. The answer? Look at the image how many pins this blog post has… Pinterest is the answer!

4. You need to submit your website to rich pins

You must be thinking right now “I must pin more from my website”. Correct.

But not that fast, please. Take a few moments to follow this easy instructions on how to set up rich pins, because that will make your website become “premium” in Pinterest eyes, which means that anything pinned from your domain will show up before other “normal” pins when people search for it in Pinterest.

I learnt everything I know about Pinterest thanks to Melyssa Griffin, so instead of repeating her own words I recommend you to follow her instructions to set rich pins: http://ift.tt/2waI2A1

5. Pinterest groups are the key to success

Last but not least, I want to tell you what I found to be the key to success in Pinterest: groups. There are Pinterest groups for every niche, you just need to find yours. I recommend you to search in Pingroupie and apply to join for some groups. Then, regularly (or scheduling with Boardbooster) you can share in those groups pins from your website so that other people in the same niche re-pin them.

I created some Pinterest Group Boards for Creative Market, where me and other sellers from that platform can share our products and get more sales from Pinterest. If you are interested to join any of my groups, just let me know here: http://ift.tt/2v1j083

That’s the fastest way to grow in Pinterest.

Hope you found these 5 facts interesting. I would love to hear about your opinion here in the comments section.

What’s your Pinterest profile and your niche? What surprised you the most about this blog post? Share it with us!

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