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see-arcane · 5 days

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Our good friend Jonathan Harker is getting ready to leave for his business trip, Mina Murray is picking out a new journal, Lucy Westenra is charming a gaggle of smitten suitors, Abraham van Helsing is wrapping up his lectures, and Castle Dracula is prepping the guest room for a very long stay.

Which must mean that Dracula Season is here again!

‘Dracula Season’ being a catchall term for the voracious reading, memeing, writing, illustrating, analyzing, and general fun-having that’s ensued since Matt Kirkland’s project, Dracula Daily, caught on with us back in 2022. The Substack had already been running before then, but it sparked a conflagration as time went on and readers old and new to Bram Stoker’s Dracula—the actual novel, not Coppola’s fanfiction—devoured it in a way that scratched an itch none of us knew we had. Stoker wrote the book in epistolary fashion, clumping sections together as needed for the pacing without perfect adherence to chronological order. Matt went ahead and put all the events in order and proceeded to set up a lovely chain of emails that delivered entries on those correlating dates.

This style of organization and pacing turned out to not only make the virtual book club that much easier to engage with, but left space in-between to stew on the story and relate with the characters themselves. Every day of waiting in the book feels weightier when you have to pace and sweat and worry in tandem with poor Jonathan trapped in the castle or Lucy wasting away or Mina running out the clock before she loses the fight for her own humanity. And while we sat with the story or the lulls between Dracula Seasons, some of us found ourselves craving more of that ghastly gothic horror goodness to the point that we figured:

“Well. Why don’t I make something?”

And then we did! Tons of creative works have been churned out in the wake of Dracula Daily’s high. I figured that while we’ve still got a bit of time to wait for May 3rd, we should check out all this new stuff in the meantime. (Plus a handful of neat stuff that just clicks with the Dracula itch overall.)

So, in the interest of Dracula Season pregaming, let’s take a look at…

FICTION

Blood of My Blood – A recent addition to the Dracula Bad Ending AU pile, and definitely one of the most harrowing and addictive group-produced narratives I’ve ever come across, Blood of My Blood is the dramatically gothic currently-WIP work of @ibrithir-was-here and @animate-mush’s devious design. Give or take a heap of other fascinated folks (hello!) adding ideas to put more Horror into the Horrors that our cast has to face. The premise:

The Transylvanian climax went fatally sour and the Harkers were forced to shelter with Dracula himself, including their half-vampire son, Quincey. Cut to two decades later, and Quincey finds himself out in modern London, smitten with Lu, adopted daughter of Arthur and Jack, and diving into certain bloodstained old documents that detail the real history of how his parents came to live in the castle. Said revelations coming not a moment too soon, as a storm is coming for him straight from the Carpathians…

Dracula Daily Sketch Collection – An array of illustrations that captures every entry beat by beat, the Dracula Daily Sketch Collection by Georgia Cook, alias @georgiacooked was dished out over the course of the last Dracula Season. Some of the most fun character designs out there.

Fanfiction Spotlight: BlueCatWriter – With a whopping 99 works devoted to the novel Dracula (so far, the number may have gone up since I blinked), @bluecatwriter is one of the most prolific and talented fanfiction scribblers out there. Romances, nightmares, and overlaps between the two seem to crop up the most, give or take a crossover. Seems fitting that those blue paw prints have contributed to BoMB too.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlefolk – An ongoing comic in which all your favorite characters from the Classics section get together and tackle some perils ranging from the mundane to the monstrous. Started by the amazing @mayhemchicken and posted on @lxgentlefolkcomic, this series is a love letter to beloved Victorian era lit, with a spotlight on the two couples leading the League. Namely, the Harkers, ala Dracula, and the Nortons, ala Sherlock Holmes,’ “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Mina and Irene are the driving investigative and steering forces here, and still deeply in love with their likewise-infatuated husbands, just like in their canons! What a concept! Alan.

Without spoiling the full character list, just know there are going to be a ton of familiar faces roaming around before you finish reading the first arc. Said arc having conveniently wrapped up just a few days ago! Give the comic and its bonus silliness a look if you’re in the mood for a new comfort-adventure epic.

Re: Dracula – Probably the most well-known and incredible thing to come out of the initial Dracula Daily wave. This podcast is a full audio drama that follows the same format as the Substack, with episodes coming out in time with the entries themselves. And it has an unfairly cool soundtrack. They have a Tumblr with @re-dracula, a site and a Patreon to check out before the series kicks up again on May 3rd. (Also, keep an eye out for their next work, an audio drama in the same style with Carmilla.)

The Soldier and the Solicitor – Another treat from @ibrithir-was-here, this one involves a bit of time travel trouble. Quincey Harker has stumbled out of World War I and into the same dark forest where his father once fled for his life…then runs into the man himself, on that same night. Jonathan Harker, young and starved and lost, who has no choice but to trust this stranger while the Weird Sisters are at his heels…despite said stranger having no shadow. It’s a tasty emotional trek, already complete on Tumblr, but now it’s turning into a Webtoon. While Ibrithir is juggling a number of other stories, she’ll be redrawing spruced up versions of the comic and adding a few new scenes as things unfold.

Substack Stack – You know what’s better than one emailed-out public domain book club? A mountain of them. Just. So, so many of them. You’ll see that a lot of these are finished, but some are still ticking along. Either way, they’re all great picks if you’re craving some more old school lit to fill the void between undead emails.

Frankenstein Weekly – Frankenstein

Jekyll and Hyde Weekly – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Voyage of the Nautilus – Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Letters from Watson – Sherlock Holmes

The Invisible Mail – The Invisible Man

Letters from Bunny – E.W. Hornung’s short stories of the eponymous Bunny and Raffles

Letters Regarding Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster short stories, including the novel, Right Ho, Jeeves

…

……

………

…The Beetle Weekly – The Beetle (NOTE: Do Not Read This.)

The Vampyres – A novella I finally wrenched through the gears of self-publication as of March this year. Starring a petite but powerful paranormal cast, The Vampyres, centers on an unscrupulous undead fellow who finds that the revenants of the world are being mowed down by an entity known only as ‘Quinn Morse.’ Between trying to save his neck and figure out where the shadowy bastard came from, the Vampyre in question crosses paths with a new paramour and handy human shield in the form of a grieving Good Samaritan. He’s even polite enough to invite the Vampyre into his home while he’s in dire straits! Surely this will end well. All the info is available here and a little author site is over here.

What Manner of Man – This is the one made for everyone who started out hoping there’d be a real love story with our good friend Jonathan Harker and the Count when he was at his most charismatic. Where that sea of wonders dried up into a mire of horror, What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling keeps things firmly on the romantic tracks. This Substack stars the letter-writing priest Father Victor E. Ardelian as he finds himself meeting with one enigmatic Lord Alistair Vane. It isn’t long before interest turns into intrigue and intrigue into undead intimacies.

The entire novel has been completed—along with multiple epilogues in the author’s Patreon, allowing readers to choose for themselves just how the uncanny romance plays out in the end—and the Substack now has a number of other gothic goodies piling up in the meantime.

NONFICTION

Dracula Daily: A Unique Reading Experience: This one comes courtesy of @realwomenofgaming. It’s a short and sweet piece that amounts to a fun snapshot of the entire Dracula Daily ride. A cozy couple-minute read.

‘Dracula Daily’ is the One Substack You Need a Subscription To: Features my favorite Matt Kirkland interview. @mattkirkland, if you’re still floating around on here, thank you for dispatching our vampire newsletter again this year.

Dracula Daily is Tumblr’s hottest new book club: Alright, the ‘new’ part is worn out by now, but this one is still a delightful article to swing back around to. Two years on, this Polygon piece is a time capsule of those early months when people outside our bookworm bubble realized we were all happily receiving letters from our favorite classic gothic horror blorbos.

“How Mina Murray Became Dracula’s Girlfriend” – Princess Weekes, if you ever read this, thank you, thank you, thank you. I am sending oceans of love and millions of rewatches to your video essay. If you haven’t seen it yet, “How Mina Murray Became Dracula’s Girlfriend” is one of the most refreshing and well-made breakdowns of both the title subject and numerous other issues that have proliferated in the public view of Dracula’s cast and plot as adaptations endlessly warp or outright bastardize the actual novel. An incredibly cathartic watch.

Literary play gone viral: delight, intertextuality, and challenges to normative interpretations through the digital serialization of Dracula: A mouthful of a title for an even more elaborate article about the Dracula Daily phenomenon. This one is a full-on study that analyzes just what happened within the big bloodsucker book club surge and how its ‘wandering reading practices’ enriched the experience for participants.

“The Undying Undead: An analysis of the Dracula Daily community for a theory of online community formation and interaction” – We have a thesis on here! Look at that! @sirangelothebestest’s MA thesis used our vampiric book club as the bones for a massive brick of an academic piece that definitely deserves a look.

…And I think I’ll go ahead and cap things here.

This isn’t everything I got recommended, but if I had squashed all of it in here, I think folks’ eyes would start to fall out of their head. I hope you can find something cool to comb through here. Or, if there’s something great I overlooked, tack it onto the list! We’ve got just two weeks to go until we’re off with Mr. Harker. Let’s enjoy our respite before those castle doors close behind us.

#time for Dracula Season pre-gaming :3 #thank you to everyone who sent in their suggestions!#dracula #dracula daily #re: dracula

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unsoundedcomic · 5 months

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Do you have good progress on preparation for the next Kickstarter now that this chapter is almost over?

None. Been too busy making the comic. I added a few more scenes to this chapter to give things a bit more closure, so it's going to be longer than I'd thought.

KS prep usually consists of researching print book prices, drawing the cover, and making the video. It's not an overwhelming amount of work, takes about a week. I'm going to try and do it while the epilogue is updating, so it's ready to go at the end.

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sleepykittypaws · 4 years

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Animated Special Advent Calendar

Updated: December 23, 2019

Every year since my oldest first became interested in TV watching, we’ve watched classic Christmas specials annually. What started as a happy accident with an enamored three-year-old wanting a nightly dose of cartoon Christmas goodness, became a family tradition, and we now try and watch a different special every night between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, with family members rotating picks, youngest to oldest.

After mentioning this several times online, a few folks expressed interest in what we watch, so I’ll try to keep this page updated with daily entries, though I admit we’re not tyrants about doing this (it’s supposed to be fun!), so if we miss a night, we just try to watch two (or more) another time to catch up. The daily picks mean our line-up changes every season (variety is good!), though there are definitely a handful of annual must-watch specials on every family member’s mental lists, and we always finish on Christmas Eve with the 1966 classic, Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

We’ve got a huge collection of DVDs and digital specials we own, but I’ll try and note where our picks are available to watch, if possible. And, if you’re looking for ideas to fill up your own Christmas Special advent calendar, you can check out my Top 25 Animated Holiday Special list, or the results of our Holiday Special Showdown, where 64 animated classics went head-to-head for viewer’s votes in 2017.

Nov. 28: We kicked things off on Thanksgiving with Phineas and Ferb’s Christmas Vacation, a music-filled Disney Channel original now available on Disney+ (Season 2, episode 21). It’s an annual must-see for us.

Nov. 29: Night two was British imports Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire and Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe. The first of these Aardman Animation originals is better than the sequel, but both still air annually on CBS. There’s also a third, UK-only entry, Close Encounters of the Herd Kind, that never made it to the US. Fun Fact: 100% of all 3 specials’ profits go to charity, as they were produced by Comic Relief.

Nov. 30: A Chipmunk Christmas. Though it had several DVD releases, they’re all of out print currently and this 1981 classic, a staple of my childhood, has become distressingly hard to find, even though we, personally, have multiple DVD copies.

Dec. 1: Our first special of December was The Happy Elf. This 2005 Harry Connick-voiced special got little love on its release, but is a family favorite. Rare to find on TV, it’s still widely available via digital or DVD, and worth checking out.

Dec. 2: With Frozen fever rampant, we revisited a lesser known entry in the franchise, 2016′s LEGO Frozen Northern Lights. This clever send-up isn’t specifically Christmas, but it’s snowy and so much fun. And it’s now available, though oddly broken into segments, on Disney+. (The Disney Channel is also showing it in one 30 min package all this month.)

Dec. 3: On this busy school night we needed something short, so I picked Pluto’s Christmas Tree, now on Disney+. Kids had never seen this 1952 animated short, and we all really enjoyed it.

Dec. 4: One of those days we wandered off the beaten path and tried the Opus-led A Wish for Wings that Work from 1991, based on the book and comic strip by Berkeley Breathed. A bit long for littles, but the ending landed, and it was a nice change of pace. Not streaming, but available very cheaply on DVD.

Dec. 5: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire was my son’s pick. This pilot episode for the 30-year-old series works as the stand alone holiday special it was first conceived as, and can be found on Disney+.

Dec. 6: Ducktales: Last Christmas! This fun, 2018 special can be found on Disney+ (season 2, episode 6 of the rebooted series). We watched it several times last year, and it’s just good as I remember. Timey-wimey fun.

Dec. 7: This 2006 direct-to-DVD release isn’t the classic Looney Tunes of the 1930s-40s, but Looney Tunes: Bah, Humduck (available digitally or DVD) is still a fun Christmas Carol take with Daffy as Scrooge and a fairly faithful adaptation of Dickens’ tale.

Dec. 8: Time for a classic: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, playing this year on Freeform, as well as CBS, and also available in an infinite variety of DVD collections and via iTunes.

Dec. 9: Did you know that Hallmark Channel used to make original animated specials? They did, and they were good, too! 2011′s Hoops and Yoyo Ruin Christmas was our pick last night and it’s smart, and cute, and fun. I miss that Hallmark Channel. Released on DVD, it’s out of print, but copies can still be found, and Amazon offers it for digital purchase.

Dec. 10: As a kid the anticipation of this special’s debut was almost too much to bear for my then, 7-year-old self. 1982′s The Smurf’s Christmas Special was my pick last night, and I vividly recalled how it was a such huge event for me at the time that I danced around the basement during the commercials, too full of excitement to sit. It isn’t streaming, but can be found on the still-available 2011 DVD The Smurf’s Holiday Celebration.

Dec. 11 and 12: Busy evenings the past few, so missed the 11th, but still managed to watch Merry Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda Holiday last night—and I almost managed to stay awake, too. (Both are on Netflix.)

Dec. 13: Duck the Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special, this charming, under-rated 2016 Disney Channel original is, oddly, NOT available on Disney+, though it can be purchased digitally or watched this month via Disney Channel On Demand. A family favorite since its debut.

Dec. 14: Last night, instead of a traditional animated offering, we had our annual viewing of (mostly) animated British Christmas adverts, which are a very big deal in the UK and, frankly, often more awesome than any 30 minute special. I’ve tweeted a lot about my love for these often tear-jerking mini-movies, but here are what I think are my top 5…5) From Sainsbury’s, 2018′s The Big Night builds to an awesome ending. 4) Sainsbury’s The Greatest Gift (2016) has an original song that’s become a Christmas favorite in our house. 3) John Lewis is the master purveyor of this emotionally manipulative—in the best way—three-minute extravaganzas. Lots to choose from, but 2014′s Monty the Penguin is probably my fave. 2) In 2015, Sainsbury’s delivered the perfect mix of comedy and heart with Mog’s Christmas Calamity. 1) And my fave—a bit of cheat since it’s Canadian—is Cineplex’s Lily and the Snowman. Seen it probably 100 times now, and cried every one. There’s plenty more to explore, from the UK and beyond, and falling down a rabbit hole of these ads on YouTube is an utterly delightful way to spend an evening. To get you started, here’s a compilation of what one YouTube reviewer calls the top 10 Christmas ads of 2019.

Dec. 15: Returned to a classic with 1969′s Frosty the Snowman, which still airs annually on CBS. Happy Birthday!

Dec. 16: Finally watched NBC’s new How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, available on Hulu.

Dec. 17: My pick, and I chose a Rankin-Bass we hadn’t seen in a while, 1970′s Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Unfortunately, forgot how long and slow this one was. My kids were kind of bored.

Dec. 18: Shrek the Halls, which really is laugh-out-loud family fun. For some reason, this is the only Dreamworks special not on Netflix, but does still air annually on ABC.

Dec. 19: I have no clue how Olive the Other Reindeer, this super-charming, Drew Barrymore-voiced special about a dog who mishears a radio bulletin and thinks Santa needs her, didn’t become a classic. It’s not streaming, but is available very inexpensively on DVD and well worth a watch.

Dec. 20: How Murray Saved Christmas, another overlooked gem, this 2014 rhyming special first appeared on NBC, and is airing this season as part of AMC’s Best Christmas Ever. (It’s also available on DVD and digital.)

Dec. 21: As we realize we’re quickly running out of days till Christmas, time to make sure we pack in some classics, like, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Dec. 22: Santa, Baby! This 2001special featuring Eartha Kitt is the last of the Rankin-Bass originals and it’s…fine. Lots of music and a magical partridge. Not something you see everyday. (Was available on DVD, now out of print, and can sometimes be found on YouTube.)

Dec. 23: Saving the best for (almost) last, the whole family got up this morning and watched Prep & Landing, and its sequel, Prep & Landing: Naughty vs Nice, in our jammies, to kick off Christmas vacation.

Dec. 24: Christmas Eve is always the 1966 version of Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas to remind us all that Christmas doesn't come from a store. Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more.

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theonyxpath · 4 years

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Or at least the Hunter Kickstarter nears its end!

With only a few days to go, we’re thrilled with how Hunter: The Vigil 2e has been received, and how your pledges have enabled us to create a lovely looking version of the book, get it into stores, and fund some sweet extra projects to further flesh out the game line.

Like all our KSs, that’s a bunch of extra heavy lifting, but it sure is worth it!

Hunter: The Vigil 2e, is the last of the big core game books for 2nd Edition we needed to update, so HtV2e really represents a milestone! Back years ago, as we pitched and re-pitched a 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness, then known as nWoD, it would have been hard to imagine getting to this point. The obstacles seemed insurmountable. So, yes, it is very sweet to look at the shelf and see us with all these fresh new 2nd Edition books and lines.

Since we started doing our new lines and 2e updates on Kickstarter, we’ve also used KS to give us the chance to put out useful Stretch Goal reward books. Various game line Companions, Ready Made Character books, Jumpstarts, and more! Which means that now we have a ton of CofD projects that came out of KS Stretch Goals to get caught up on (just look at the Progress Report below), so we’re focusing our efforts on those and a couple of the bigger supplements right now.

Memento Mori art by Drew Tucker

We’ve had some great feedback on how Hunter: The Vigil 2e has been updated from first edition. Not all positive feedback, but critical feedback that actually goes into why a previous version worked for the poster. Something that developer Monica Valentinelli appreciates, as it’s commentary she can review and consider. Much appreciated, as it’s often a tricky situation when doing a new edition.

Which is not an uncommon situation for Onyx Path, considering we started our efforts way back with the V20 game line. We started with basically an assemblage of previous editions with only those changes we needed to make, and each 20th Anniversary core book moved the dial more towards actual new editions. (In fact, the devs for both Wraith20 and Changeling20 were told to think of them as the new editions both lines never got back in the day).

Meanwhile, we fully intended that Exalted 3rd and CofD 2e would be created as new editions, although we were still restrained since there were lines the IP owners didn’t want us to cross. After all, in the end, it’s not our stuff but game lines that we were shepherding. Which is fine and I think our teams walked those proscribed lines pretty darn well.

Our own stuff, Scion and Trinity: Continuum and Scarred Lands, have started with new editions of established material from previous editions, with the same balancing act, and now are moving to new material. Scion with books that expand the basic set-up from the core four books – Origin, Hero, Demigod, God – and Trinity with expanding the Continuum starting with Assassins.

You can check out our monthly PDF releases for Scarred Lands to see where the inevitable Travis Legge is taking that world; what previously unexplored parts we’re now visiting.

And then with Realms of Pugmire and They Came From Beneath the Sea!, we are creating new worlds, and so while the challenges of adapting from an existing setting or game line aren’t there, there are other kinds of challenges.

But those sound like a blog for another time.

Terra Firma art by Sam Denmark

One of our across the board challenges is something I hit on last week, and that’s getting out the word when any of our new projects goes live. We have this blog every week, and the Wednesday On Sale blog that Impish Ian puts out that trumpets what is now available every week.

Every.

Week.

For pretty much the whole time we’ve been in business, we have made _something_ available for you to get a hold of every single Wednesday.

With our kookie production schedule, that hasn’t always been easy! But we thought, going way back, that having a regular release day was important for all of you folks. Maybe it’s just my old “comic-book day” giddiness coming up from my past to haunt me, but knowing there’s something coming each week is pretty cool. I think, at least.

Right now, we’re pushing hard to get the word out about a specific _way_ you can get our books, and using V5 Chicago By Night as our shining example, by which I’m talking about our books being sold in your local game stores.

The more our community members go into their local stores, the more those store owners will start to ask their distributors to get those books from our sales partners. That’s Studio2 in the US and Modiphius elsewhere. And while ordering, they might become aware that Studio2 also has Scion 2e, Pugmire, Changeling: The Lost 2e, etc!

So, it’s a continual building thing. But you only need to make that initial ask at the store. Or if they have it, and you buy it or even just talk about it in the store, that will clue in the store owner that there is interest in the book, and they’ll tell the distributor, and so on.

These are the traditionally printed and bound books that we are talking about here. We still have PDFs and PoDs on DTRPG, but these are books that were made in order to get a whole bunch of them into stores – so let’s make that happen!

To bring it all together – if you want V5 Chicago By Night, and you should as it is the most universally praised V5 book we’ve seen come out yet, then please:

First check your local game store.

If they don’t have it, please ask them to order it.

The store can order from their distributor, who will order from Studio2 in the US, and Modiphius anywhere else that’s not the US.

You too can order the book from Modiphius‘s website if you are not in the US. If you are in the US, you can order it from Indie Press Revolution.

And as always, the PDF and physical book PoD versions of V5 Chicago By Night are available on DTRPG.

Chicago Folio art by Michael Gaydos

So that’s the big push. Here’s a couple of other things we talked about in the meeting today.

We’re prepping for the Legendlore KS, as that is supposed to start pretty soon. One thing I’m really interested in, to continue our talk of updating game lines, is Legendlore‘s core intrinsic idea of transporting you, the player, into a fantasy realm. What does that mean today vs when the comics our game is based on were originally created last century?

Developer Steffie de Vaan has carefully built this very core idea into one that works for all people who might be into playing – folks who dig roleplaying what they might be like in the Legendlore world, but also folks who want to pick who they could be in a fantasy world. The key idea is to have this movement from our real world into the game world happen in a way that is fun for the player, not a forced situation that might cause folks harm if they feel excluded or shamed by it.

Another thing is that I’m working on illustrating a project, and in order to do it, I dug out the original art from my archives so I could figure out how I did the art back then, and do it again. I’ll let folks figure which project I’m creating the art for:

Last week I mentioned that if you have questions about Onyx Path, our creators, business practices, whatever, that you can come to us with questions. I included the names of the main folks who cover our game lines, the person who looks at how all our various pieces work together, and my own email address separated out on one line so it would be easy to catch.

This invite was to both our fan community, and to our creators. So far, no one has in fact contacted us, but we want everybody to know that this is an ongoing thing, not just one blog and done, and that the door is always open.

It’s pretty simple: we want everybody involved as we ride, boldly ride, towards:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness has only a few days to go! We’re headed towards 400% funding and are over 1700 backers and are shooting right through Stretch Goals, like the Storyteller Screen Stretch Goal, the T-Shirt, and the Tending the Flame: Cells chapter for the Hunter Players’ Companion! With lots more to come!

Join the Vigil!: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/hunter-the-vigil-second-edition-tabletop-roleplaying-game

Next Kickstarter: Legendlore!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday the Onyx Pathcast Terrific Trio look deeply into the dreaded METAPLOT – what is it, really, and how to fight it and how to use it! As always this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

Tune in for even more shows on Twitch this week! We’re going to have V5, Chronicles of Darkness, Scion, Pugmire, our two excellent chronicles of Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition, MORE Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Scarred Lands, Werewolf: The Forsaken and a third Vampire: The Masquerade game!

I’d like to shout out again to the Hunter: The Vigil games running this week, which along with the Kickstarter have proven very popular! You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed!

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find the following videos uploaded last week alone (for a largely Pugmire-themed week!):

Pugmire: Paws & Claws: https://youtu.be/XOzLa9NadOw, https://youtu.be/bAcPMFpk1D8, and https://youtu.be/e4bfrCS6YFA

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/wipvrJqvm8c

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale: https://youtu.be/OAiD9mAjbeo

Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/v9Wo38rl5-Y

A special shout-out to our Last Faerie Tale Changeling crew have been producing some superb content for us!

We’re back with the Onyx Path News broadcast live from our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/zKo1h7bLPE0 Matthew discusses new releases, Kickstarters, and other projects currently being worked on!

Do subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

The Story Told RPG Podcast continue with their excellent Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition chronicle right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-episode-3-riders-in-the-sky

And if you missed it, here’s the Story Told‘s review of Trinity Continuum: Aeon http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-40-trinity-continuum-on-overview

Red Moon Roleplaying‘s V5 Cults of the Blood Gods “The Family” chronicle continues on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/3w3x6j4APBc

More new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening fans out there:

Episode 84: Summons, Seers, & Souls The cabal gather together, working to help Network summon forth an Imp from Pandemonium to gather information about their new Seer ‘ally’. Atratus reaches out to the Free Council for their input as well.https://youtu.be/sDt8WvOqW5o

Episode 85: Remodeling Plans Songbird is accepted at the table of the Thunderbolt Guardians who are masterminding the assassination attempt on the Vampire Prince, though Red Dread is not pleased. Wyrd and Atratus discuss a dive into Wyrd’s Oneiros. https://youtu.be/5qLaBZEP6Cc

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the Advance PDF of Distant Worlds for Trinity Continuum: Aeon on DTRPG!

New Mysteries, New Worlds, New Aliens, and Alien Heroes!

Distant Worlds expands the setting of Trinity Continuum: Æon with new worlds, new alien mysteries, and rules for playing actual aliens, the secretive telepathic Qin. Inside, you will find:

• Further information about the eight extrasolar worlds described in Trinity Continuum: Æon, including new dangers and new opportunities for adventure.

• Detailed write-ups of 10 new planets, including one that is home to a recently contacted intelligent alien species.

• New technologies for interstellar travel and colonization, as well as a wealth of new devices created by aliens, and new Edges and Paths specifically for interstellar explorers and settlers.

• The secrets of humanity’s alien allies, the mysterious Qin. This section includes descriptions of four Qin interstellar colonies as well as rules for creating and playing Qin characters and for designing and using custom-made Qin biosuits.

Conventions!

More conventions will be listed for 2020 in the weeks to come-

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

The Book of Endless Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Editing

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Indexing

They Came From Beneath the Sea! (They Came From…!)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Pinging some bigger names in comics… granted guys I’m a fan of, but still bigger names.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e (KS) – Almost done on KS.

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2 – Starting to contract the rest of it.

City of the Towered Tombs – Recontracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Contracted.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – Contracted for KS, b&w art coming in, color sketches too.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – Art out for WW approval.

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Contracted.

WoD: Ghost Hunters (KS) – Cover contracted.

Tales of Aquatic Terror

Pirates Extra Adventure – Loboyko lined up for this one.

Scion Titanomachy – Just got art notes today.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Ongoing.

Contagion Chronicle – With Josh, interior proof coming.

Vigil Watch – Ongoing.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

TCFBtS! Screen and Booklet

Ex3 Lunars

Scion Companion

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Sending back to Aileen for errata input.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

Chicago Folio – Awaiting errata from dev.

Pirates of Pugmire – Aileen inputting changes from proof 1.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – At WW for approvals.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Inputting proofing comments.

Geist 2e fiction anthology – Going to WW for approvals.

At Press

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Shipping to backers, PoD proof ordered.

Geist 2e Screen – Shipping to backers.

DR:E – Shipping to backers, PoD files uploaded.

DRE Screen – Shipping to backers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – PoD proof ordered.

Wraith20 Anthology – PoD proof ordered.

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 – The Silence of Our Ancestors (Exalted 3rd Edition) – Backer PDF being sent out.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Advance PDF for sale Weds on DTRPG.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Almost just went with our first birthday today, but saw a few more relevant to our (my) interests and so have added them in with notes:

1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children’s book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991). Has anyone _not_ been influenced by his work? If not, perhaps you will and your heart will grow three sizes that day.

1922 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1999). Honestly, I have no idea who this guy is, but love that his name sounds like a character played by Groucho Marx.

1930 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (d. 2018). Perhaps the person who was the inspiration for the Tremere and/or Ventrue illustration in the very first edition of Vampire: The Masquerade. Also did some writing.

1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (d. 2013). Take a walk on the wild side.

1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian. Under-appreciated original Not Ready For Prime Time player on SNL.

1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor. WW legend Chris McDonough is JBJ’s biggest fan, and looks a lot like him. Also, pretty sure Chris is the artist who did the clan pics mentioned above.

1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter. Loved her in Pitch Perfect 1&2. There is no 3rd one.

#Onyx Path Publishing

2 notes · View notes

snow-slayer · 4 years

Text

A Bunch of Good Things from 2019

*I don’t do things consistently, so there’s chunks of time I just forgot to write. So the blank spaces are days where I could not recall the exact good things that happened.*

January 1: Started the year off right by hanging out with @nah-young, eating some delicious leftovers from New Year’s Eve and working on a puzzle. Also caught a shiny Delibird in Pokemon Go as the first catch of the year. 2: Had a headache at work, but went home to take care of myself. Dad and I talked for a long time about money and taxes without arguing. I have also discovered a future hobby I want to get into: 3D printing. 3: I cranked out four solid hours of studying. I’m going to ace the Auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel it in my bones (especially when I finally stood up and stretched). 4: My ‘other mom’ (one of my best friend’s mom) took me out for a belated Birthday lunch to our favorite Thai food place, and I enjoyed more mango sticky rice. It’s one of my new favorite desserts. 5: Did some epic New Year cleaning. Caught up on laundry, filed away my 2018 paperwork, and did some 2019 taxes. Finally on top of things! 6: A puzzle day! I connected a big piece of the sky to the side on the Lion King puzzle. I’ve still got a lot to go, but progress is being made. 7: As usual, I both surprised and pleased the teller at the bank when I moved some money from savings into my IRA. They wanted to know if it was for tax year 2018, but I could tell them last year was maxed out and it was for 2019. 8: Got to practice my training and supervising skills with @arrowhearts. 9: Spent the night at Lucy’s (she’s a cat). She’s the sweetest cat though, and was cuddling in my lap for so long! She even held my finger with her paw for like ten minutes. I love her. 10: It’s been forever, but I finally sat down and played some video games. I’m replaying Arkham Asylum again and really just exploring every nook and cranny I can find. 11: Might have started a new Francis story line ... Whoops :) 12: Helped Jane clear an apartment and acquired many new tools and art supplies to use. 13: Snow! It was snowing before bed, but I still woke up at 5 am to about 4 - 5 inches. Activated my dad gene and started shoveling at 5:30 am (sorry neighbors to the house I was dog sitting at). It’s so pretty out! 14: A quiet day, but I did some work for Jane and gamed some more. Can’t wait to start Arkham City when I get 100% on Arkham Asylum! 15: I took my coworker a basket of fun snacks from Lotte for her Birthday. She’s so excited to try them all! 16: Donated blood today and when I went to get dinner on the way home, I got a free salad! The entree was already free and I ordered a side salad. I pulled out my wallet to pay, but the coupon covered it, too! 17: Treated myself to breakfast on the way into preschool (my new volunteer place since the teacher I followed to several elementary schools is now at). Also ate some amazing home cooked food for lunch with @nah-young before going out for ice cream. 18: Did some very early spring cleaning to prep for my next yard sale and straighten up a bit. 19: Beat the storyline and finished gathering all of Riddler’s trophies in Arkham Asylum. I do still need to finish up the additional content for 100% completion. 20: Working with Jane to help clean out an apartment again and got stencils to use for my art (the ones with shapes of different sizes). I had wanted to get me a set, so I really lucked out. 21: Started reading a book for fun. Lol, I forgot that I can still read non-accounting things for fun. 22: Sent out 1099s at work. It’s always a dreaded part of the year, but it’s taken care of! 23: I started uploading my old Franmouche stories to AO3. I forgot that I’d written 185 pages of them. At least if someone else likes my rarepair, they have lots to read. No guarantees on the quality, but there is quantity. 24: Made fun penguin cutouts for the preschool class I volunteer at. Then studied for nine hours on campus. A busy, yet productive day. 25: Finished watching all my lectures for the next portion of the CPA exam! So much auditing knowledge!!! 26: Panic alleviated. My check engine light had been on for a few days. Usually it’s just a gas cap issue so I was worried, but after readjusting the cap again (which usually fixes it) and an oil change, the light went out! 27: Played some Pokemon Go for four hours with @arrowhearts and Lyla. No Kyogre, but at least we each got a Groudon. Plus, the weather was beautiful for this time of year. 28: I found a dollar today while sweeping the parking lots with my dad! I’m gonna be riding this wave for a week. (Fun fact: my dad and I used to go bike riding on Sunday afternoons/evenings in the local parking garages and look for pennies. We’d always get bragging rights when we found a quarter or more. We still get excited and tell each other of the day’s finds when we find a few coins while we’re sweeping). 29: Had a bit of a headache, but managed to get through it so I could finish the workday. Then I get some well deserved rest. 30: Met up with @nah-young for some fries and ice cream! 31: My annual physical went well! Took care of a couple test we’ve been putting off, too, and they weren’t quite as bad as I thought they’d be.

February

1: I had such a productive day in the office, even for a Friday. Special thanks to @arrowhearts for helping me move all (24 years worth) of our files. 2: Started off the day a little rough and feeling low, but I decided to go up to campus, and I’m so glad I did. I was able to help a bunch of people get to their destination. Also hung out with @nah-young and @arrowhearts in a sketchy room. 3: Technically today (starting at 1 am). Had a great talk with @nah-young about a lot of things including our friendship. Successfully avoided the Super Bowl (which I heard sucked, so that was a good use of my time). 4: Had a really good conversation with my dad for almost an hour. We had some fights earlier in the year, but it was nice to be able to connect some. 5: It’ll be silly to look back on, but I thought I lost a reference letter for a scholarship applicant, but realized I could find it on our shared drive. Such a relief! 6: I tried Duck Donuts for the first time today. One of our board members brought me and a coworker a half dozen each. 7: Caught a Miltank in Pokemon Go! I thought I missed my chance, but there was a special running, so I got it. 8: Just heard we got a new boss at work, so it’ll be nice to be full staffed again. 9: Started working on a painting for @arrowhearts. It might be my first completed artwork of the year. 10: A lazy day, but I flipped through a book on home decorating. You know, to plan for my future house. 11: Officially started working for Jane’s business. We’ll see how it goes, but at least it’s an extra couple of hours per week. 12: Finished a dog sitting job, and I’m super thankful to be sleeping in my own bed again. 13: I gave Lucy, the sweetest cat ever, a piggyback ride and it was the cutest thing ever. I was on my knees and forearms trying to get Lucy to boop my nose when she just climbed on my back and sat down. I rose up on my knees and hands and she did the “i’m not so sure but I’m going to stay here” stand and let me crawl across the floor a while before finally jumping off. I love this cat. 14: Took the auditing section of the CPA exam. I feel much better about this one than I have about the other two. We’ll see on the 26th. 15: Such a busy day at the office! It was productive, but just a lot of work. 16: Even though I just too the other exam, I managed to get a lot of studying done. 17: Mamaw and I got to chat and work on the puzzle for a while. It was nice to hang out with her since I haven’t done son in quite a while. 18: We had some really good food at our investment club meeting today. Sheppard’s pie (like meat and mashed potatoes), salad, this great cracker dip (I have no other details other than feels like sharp cheddar finally shredded with a hint of spice in some sort of sauce). 19: Our new executive director started today. I think I made a pretty good first impression! 20: Started playing Arkham City again. We had a snow day and even my office closed, so I made the most of my day. 21: Lol and today I finished the main storyline of Arkham City. Accidentally, because I was doing side quests, but Batman got mad when I tried to go finish some before the last mission. 24: I am obsessed with Excel, but I figured out a formula so that it would total certain categories even if they weren’t in order. Plus I learned how to make a drop down menu (on two versions of Excel). Guess who’s budget looks beautiful! 25: I caught a Latias in Pokemon Go. Not having much luck with the water legendaries. I wonder if they don’t like me because we picked the grass starter. 26: I passed the Auditing section! (and instead of keeping it quiet, I made a point to tell some people). Then @nah-young and I went to dinner to celebrate our successes of the day and just have a nice chat. 27: Good news: I starved off a migraine that was starting on Feb 26. Maybe this new method will help them from getting bad. Just took an Aleve with some hot tea. 28: Went on a Pokemon run, and I found $20 blowing across the yard when I got home! A nice find for the year.

March 1: I’ve been really getting into “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub and had so much time to just sit and read while it rained. 2: I watched “Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse” today. An epic movie and I highly recommend it! I also have several new costume ideas... 3: Officially started working on my Library Comic Con cosplay. There’s not much to show, but it was nice to start costuming again. 4: Hiked up to the nearby bubble tea. It was good! I got a mango green tea creama. Next time I know I have to mix it up before I start drinking it. 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: Started replaying Castlevania IV. It’s been a while since I beat it, so hopefully I can still finish it! 11: I have proven myself an Excel deity. Well, at least Jane thinks though. She needed a spreadsheet for something and had some ideas so I whipped it out in five minutes flat with a bunch of formulas she didn’t even know were possible. I’m quite proud of it. 12: Lol, speaking of excel, I was geeking out over my budget with one of our board members. She was showing me how she built her itinerary in excel for her next trip and I got to show off my budget. 13: 14: 15: It was fake St. Patrick’s day at work, so I got to show off my green Riddler suit. Apart from being mistaken as dressing like a leprechaun a few times, I received a bunch of compliments on it. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of that suit jacket. 16: Tagged along with @nah-young to her grandfather’s birthday party and watched Bohemian Rhapsody. Apart from the timeline inaccuracies, I really enjoyed it! Look at that: two new movies in one month. 17: First big leaf job of the season. I guess the first major landscaping job. Dad helped out, so it made life easier. 18: Investment club meeting went well, and I ended up staying late to chat and help clean up, but it was enjoyable. Also had some great tiramisu from Trader Joe’s. 19: 20: 21: It was a downpour today, but I also made a 20 minute Costco run. Parking was great, the lines were short, and I managed to balance everything without a cart. Success! 22: Finally got around to doing invoices. It’s such a weight off my chest to take care of them. 23: I had the house to myself, so got ample studying done, played some pokemon, and treated myself to some bubble tea. Got myself a bunch of good pokes from Community day. 24: Another lovely day to sit and hang out with @nah-young. I always enjoy our hour long conversations just sitting in my car in her driveway. I also finished the lectures for the BEC portion of the CPA exam. 25: I found a gift card loaded with $30 today. It had been thrown into the dumpster, so a little gross, but it washed off nicely. 26: Ran up to the local library to turn in my books (look @arrowhearts, I did it the day before they were due and didn’t have to make a midnight run). I wasn’t going to check out more books since I already had some checked out from another library visit (I go to many branches due to my job and often check out a book or two, resulting in cycles of books due at different times), but I did anyway. I started reading Area X, too, and so far, I’m really enjoying it. 27: Our family’s accountants think I’m a bit weird because I was so excited to get my tax papers back even though I owed money. I was just like “cool!” to all the facts and things on my sheets, which is apparently not what they’re used to, but one of the new tax laws works in my favor as small business income is taxed at a lower rate or something. 28: 29: 30: I love Annihilation in the Area X series! I haven’t plowed through a book that fast in years. 31: I was catching up on my business spreadsheets and it turns out I had the most profitable March since I started my business :)

April 1: No April Fools jokes, which is always a huge plus. 2: 3: 4: Took the BEC section of the exam and then clocked in a bunch of hours for the Foundation. Jubilee is almost here!!! 5: 6: The Jubilee is over!!! What a relief! A lot of things went well, and I heard it was a lot of people’s favorite. Not sure what actually happened because I was stationed at check in/out all night, but hopefully the silent auction results are good. Huge shout out to @arrowhearts and @nah-young for getting me through the night! 7:A quiet morning of returning the Jubilee to the Foundation. Plus some other landscaping. 8: I know everyone at work is saying I should take time off, and I didn’t, but I’m actually feeling blessed that I have the physical and mental stamina to keep working on things. Plus, I need to catch up with post Jubilee stuff. 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: Got to talking with my art dealer for a long while and we exchanged headcannons and ideas. 20: Had a nice Pokemon run with @arrowhearts‘ dog. Plus, enough work to keep me out of trouble X) 21: A very busy Easter. I moved a huge mound of mulch. It was half the size of my car. Hopefully the home owner will like it. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31: I’ve been feeling behind, but I finally knocked out a really important thing at work today. Got our annual applications in!

May 1: 2: 3: My gauntlets for my comic con costume look so cool! They’re a little stabby (there’s staples on the inside, although I should be able to tape it down for safety), but overall look cool for a first draft. 4: A long day, but I feel like I was really able to help my friend and her family, which is nice considering how much they do for me. 5: The event that happened wasn’t good, but I’ve been humbled as to how well our house was kept and motivated to try and become more organized. 6: Dad and I were chatting today, and we could even touch on topics in a civil manner. It was quite nice! 7: Just found out I passed the BEC section of the CPA exam! I’m 75% CPA!!! And no cavities were found after my dentist appointment :) 8: Frantically working on my costume, but my head piece looks really good! 9: Mom even chipped in to help. We rigged up a steampunk mask I have (which doesn’t fit on my head right) so that I can actually wear it. 10: I’ve been fasting for Ramadan and I think my body and I are finally on the same page. It was a rough start this year, but I’m looking forward to focusing on being thankful for what I have and working on self discipline. 11: Library Comic Con! My costume is a bit rough, so no final pictures, but I have plans to make it better! 12: It was a busy Sunday. Lots of lawns, but thankfully the weather was cool. 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: Had a nice meeting with my boss. I keep feeling like I’m not on top of things or she’s disappointed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Plus, she said I did great at the finance committee meeting, so that was nice. 18: Although I scared everyone I worked with all day, I was able to donate blood even though I had been fasting. 19: I saw the tiniest inch worm while I was pulling weeds today. It was more like a quarter inch worm and it was just trying so hard to climb up my arm when I found it. I also saw the first lightening bugs of the year. As a bug type Pokemon trainer, I’m quite pleased with all of this (less so with the mosquitoes though, as I got my first bite of the season). 20: I have found a nice way to keep cool at the property Dad and I work at. I’m allowed to douse my head, neck, and hat with the hose, and man does it feel good! 21: I received many compliments at the executive committee meeting for all my hard work on the budget, the Jubilee, and finance committee. 22: Caught up on reconciliations at work (finally). It’s been just a nightmare, but I’m happy they’re done. 23: Another me day. I’ve been taking Thursdays off and got to game for a bit but also accomplish a lot of laundry and studying. 24: Had a good meeting at work to discuss the future of the nonprofit I work at. Plus I finally made a phone call I didn’t want to make. 25: Went to a foam helmet making class with a coworker. I’m super excited to start trying out this style, and I think the sample we made in class can easily be used to make a helmet for Vile. Might have purchased a few things to go with it :) 26: Found a new drink that I love from Kung Fu Tea! Also got to rewatch Coco, which is always good. 27: Part of my afternoon spent working with Jane was changing her screen saver. It was set up for one photo of pictures, but some were so fuzzy, so we set up new pictures and I got to add my fuzzball to the reel. 28: I visited one of Jane’s friends to discuss dog sitting and we had such a nice conversation afterwards. 29: I found a four leave clover today while mowing lawns. It’s been years since I’ve found one, so that was exciting. 30: I plowed through about 6 hours of studying for the FAR portion of the CPA exam. Only two more lectures and then onto multiple choice! 31: Filled out a form at work (finally). Now I just have to hope my boss will sign it and have it notarized.

June 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: Took the (hopefully) last CPA exam. It was nice as I spoke to an elevator engineer before the exam and it helped to calm my nerves a bit. 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: Wasn’t sure what day to put this on, but @nah-young and I hung out for hours just sitting and chatting on the cats’ back porch. 15: Successfully navigated into DC with the help of @arrowhearts (and had an interesting laugh about her being my son...? Oh well, at least we got to give the people sitting outside a show as we left the building with two rollie office chairs each). 16: Started working on my Halloween costume. I’ve abandoned the idea I originally had and will be switching to a different Mega Man X character (fun fact: it was a costume I originally intended to make before being introduced to Scaramouche back in 2017) 17: It was a scorcher, but had a slurpee for the first time in almost a year. I’m so thankful for the 7-11 within walking distance of where my dad and I work on Mondays. 18: I’ve officially passed the CPA exam! Now onto the next steps... 19: I have been struggling with telling people good news, but I did make an effort to inform some people about me passing the exam. 20: Told some more people about the CPA exam and just trying not to stress. I got celebratory milkshakes for my family after dinner. 21: My coworkers are so sweet. They brought me in a cake and we had a mini celebration. 22: 23: 24: 25: 26:Found a praying mantis while mowing. She kept standing where I wanted to mow, so I got to pick her up and put her somewhere safe (with lots of snacks for her!) 27: 28: 29: So glad I went to see Detective Pikachu with @nah-young and @arrowhearts! I really enjoyed it! 30: 31:

July 1: A new fiscal year! I did manage to get a good bit done on my latch hook. 2: A sudden thunderstorm took me off the weed pulling job early (i.e. a perfect opportunity to read). 3: It was quiet in the office. Too quiet ... yet super productive! I processed so many gifts and letters. 4: I don’t really celebrate, and spent a lot of it working, but played some pokemon in the rain. It was a warm day, so the cool rain felt so refreshing! 5: A jammed packed day with trashrooms, a bank run, and more pokemon quests! I completed another 15 and hatched a new pokemon. Plus I finished another book: Dr. Death. 6: A busy day, but I was able to finish everything so I can take the next day off completely (for once). Again, apologies to @arrowhearts for dragging you out and getting caught in a downpour so I could get some bubble tea! 7: 8: 9: 10: Unboxed my unicycle! Not sure when I’ll ride, but it’s ready when I am. 11: 12: 13: 14: The vanity is back in my bathroom! Dad’s renovating it, and it’s been a slow process, but I finally have a sink! 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: Spent a few hours working on cleaning the basement, and I’m finally seeing some of the fruits of my labor. 21: 22: 23: 24: Officially finished the Vile helmet! 25: Just started a new dog sitting job, and the house is right on top of a pokestop. Guess I’m going to have a full item bag again! 26: Finally got myself a memory stick for my PSP. I’m replaying the Maverick Hunter X game ... because I can! 27: Got three team rocket grunts in one day at the one stop. 28: Plowed through the Vile portion of Maverick Hunter X. Lol, I probably make it harder on myself since I only use my favorites, regardless of if they’re good against the boss. 29: Had a huge crab and shrimp dinner at Jane’s house. 30: Hung out and ate delicious homemade butter chicken with my best friend’s mom (she’s basically like my other mother). We laughed and chatted, showed off our latest projects, probably kept the neighbors up, and just had a good time until like 2 in the morning. 31: Welp, it wasn’t a raid day for armored Mewtwo, but @arrowhearts and I did defeat more Team Rocket Go grunts in the rain.

August 1: Chatted with @nah-young for a few hours and I’ve got a new place to eat on my radar! 2: I kept feeling like I was letting my boss down because I couldn’t answer her questions/didn’t understand, but she insisted I was handling myself well, and found the information she needed later. Plus, she’s very complimentary of my work and appreciates my transparency and work ethic, both of which I work hard on and value. 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

September 1: 2: 3: It’s official! We’re having a Halloween party at work. If my new schedule turns out, I’ll be at work on that day and will show off a costume. Not sure if it will be the one I’m working on, but I can always recycle an old one. 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: I had such a good ripstik run. @nah-young and I practiced for a good while yesterday (and she did her first trick, too!). I guess it’s nice to see the fruits of our practice since we’ve been working off and on for about a month. 16: Had the investment club meeting at my house. I didn’t get to cook everything, but I picked the recipe and it turned out well! 17: I finished “Every Tool’s a Hammer” by Adam Savage (from Mythbusters) and I really recommend it. It’s such a great book for anyone who makes or creates. It’s a fun read and chocked full of helpful hints. 18: I decided to start reading the Naruto series. I’m enjoying it so far! Now I just have to wait for the next to volumes to be available from the library. 19: I started replaying Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase. It’s amusing, although I’m a little rough. 20: 21: 22: 23: I’d been on the fence about taking a vacation early next year because I want to save up for a down payment, but after talking to my dad, I decided I’d do a little something. I still need to work out the plans (and make sure the people I want to visit are free), but I’m looking forward to it! 24: 25: 26: There’s a chance I might be going full time at my office job, so dad encouraged me to take the day off from trash rooms. I still got up early, but knocked out a bunch of chores, finished Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase, finished a drawing, and cleaned in the basement a bit. 27: Lol, I just realized I have three cycles of books checked out again. I started reading The Wicked Years series. I’m trying to set aside time each night so I can read a chapter or two before bed. 28: I made the pattern for my gauntlets! I’m actually trying to do it the right way and making measurements, creating an accurate template, and just generally taking my time. 29: Part 2 of the gauntlets: They’re made! My template worked and I spent a couple of hours slowly forming and shaping them. I still need some practice on the gluing component, but at least they feel sturdy. 30: Started replaying DK 64 again. I really love this game. Besides Gauntlet Legends, it’s probably my favorite N64 game we own. 31: Got rained out at work, but managed to take it easy in the afternoon and just generally keep ahead with laundry.

October 1: Today officially marks the first day of working full time at my office job. They added ten hours a week, so now I’m working 4 days at 10 hours each. It’ll take a little adjusting. I’m happy for the extra hours! 2: I sent out invoices on time for once! 3: It was my fuzzball’s 16th Birthday today! Someone also brought in some really yummy snacks to work that were leftover from a meeting. I also managed to create templates for the leg gauntlets and cut them out of foam. I’m just rolling with the motivation now, and would like to have Vile finished by Halloween (keep reading to find out if it was finished). 4: Really just having a good time playing DK 64. Knocked out Gloomy Galleon, so all that’s left are my favorite levels! 5: 6: 7: I have leg gauntlets formed. Lol, I guess I should look up the name... All that’s left is the chest plate and cape! 8: I lucked out! My coworker can’t go to a book signing even this weekend and asked me to get her book signed since I’m going. It was the perfect opportunity to get my hands on a copy of “Where the Crawdads Sing” which I wanted to read before this weekend. 9: Making some headway on the costume again! Arm and leg gauntlets have the plating and base coat of plastidip. 10: I finished “Where the Crawdads Sing” within 48 hours of having it my possession. That’s such a huge accomplishment to read something so quickly and eagerly! 11: I was plowing through my to do list at work. I knocked out 11 items. Woo! 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: My Halloween costume is finished *gasp* before Halloween! Barely, but it counts. 31: I won the most creative costume at work! Well, tied for first, but that’s cool.

November (whoops, I really forgot to write this month) 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: 31:

December 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: My coworker is back! She had been on extended leave for a while, but now she’s back. She bring such a positive and fun attitude to the workplace. 13: 14: I’m officially 25! I worked a few hours in the rain, but got a lot done (and saw Lucy, my favorite cat I cat sit). Instead of going to a steakhouse for dinner, which I’m not a fan of, we ended up going to somewhere I did enjoy. Overall, it was a nice and quiet celebration. 15: 16: 17: I finished the Naruto series today! It was a good series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Going to take a manga break to work on a few novels I have checked out and then decide which series to start. 18: 19: A busy day again. Knocked out two leaf clients for the year and went to see three bands perform at a local music club. I stayed out way too late, but had a great time hanging with a friend, one of the performers, and the performer’s friend. 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: Hung out with my brother and grandmother. I crushed them in several games! 25: Went to my coworkers in the afternoon and dueled for the first time in quiet a while. They wiped the floor with me, but I had fun with my deck destruction deck. 26: 27: Ended up hanging out with Jane for a while and just chatting about everything. We’re seeing eye to eye on a lot of things, so it was nice. 28: Finished my leaf jobs for the year! Time to relax. 29: 30: 31: Welp, ended up being sick and missing out on the intended New Year plans. I guess I did start the year with a migraine, so here I am ending it with one. After I rested up, I did start playing my favorite video game. Plus, I frantically read “Hey, Kiddo!” before the end of the year

Notable stuff

Highlights: Passed the CPA exam Officially hired full time

Books read: “Ghost Stories” “Every Tool’s a Hammer” “Where the Crawdads Sing” “Wicked” Naruto series “Hey, Kiddo!”

Movies watched: Spiderman: Enter the Spiderverse Mary Poppins 2 The Princess and the Frog Pokemon Lucario

#2019 in review #2019 #a year in review

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tessmontyart · 5 years

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2018 Year In Review

Another year, another review 💕(I actually typed most of this up before 2019 and then got distracted, whoops)

To put things short, 2018 has been AWESOME :D Exhausting and fast, but awesome.

I started it off pretty uncertain how things were going to go, dreading it would be a repeat of 2017′s boring TAFE courses and endless job rejections. But the miracle happened - a 2D animation studio opened up near me, I applied, did an animation test and got the job!

The job was a contract from 1st of April - 21st of December, so I spent the majority of my year going to work to animate characters for a really crazy but hilarious new kids show called Spongo Fuzz and Jalapena, due to air mid 2019 :)

It was honestly the most fun job I have ever had and I can’t wait for the next project! 🎉 I have never been this exhausted in my life, though. 😅I had already booked a whole bunch of conventions before I got the job, and didn’t want to cancel them so I was working nonstop - Animation during the day and intensive convention prep every night.

I also had the bright idea of creating a full colour 26 page comic -with a tight deadline - so I was madly working to the point I didn’t even have time for dinner half the time :’) I am sort of happy with the comic, but also kind of wish I never had the idea in the first place. 😅

I tabled at a ton of conventions; Melbourne Supanova, Central Coast ComiCon, Other Worlds Zine Fair, Sydney Supanova, SMASH and Canberra Gamma Con. If next year doesn’t go so well on the job side of things I’m hoping to add a few more conventions to that list - Brisbane Supanova, Oz Comic Con and Animaga to name a few. I’ve already booked Sydney Madman Anime Festival!

2018 was the year my partner and I celebrated our 4th year together, and he never fails to amaze me with his continuous love and support. I was too sick to attend the first day of SMASH, so he set up and ran the whole stall for me while I stayed at home. Same with Sydney Supanova, I was too bogged down in animation work and couldn’t afford to take the Friday off, so he set up and ran the stall for me on Friday, then we ran the stall together on the weekend. He also tended to my every need when I broke my toe, cooked all my meals when I was busy with work and even packaged + posted all my Etsy orders every day because I was always working during post office hours. He listened to all the problems I was having with my stall setup and helped make shelves and decorations to make it look and function better. I was getting stressed because my desk space was too small, BAM he bought me a brand new desk with plenty of storage. I was getting stressed that I had so much on my convention to-do-list and couldn’t keep track of all my project ideas, BAM, he sets up a whiteboard and helps me brainstorm everything so I can keep track of all my thoughts and ideas and what to prioritise for future conventions. I didn’t even ask him to do any of this, he just loves to help me and make me happy and I am forever blissed and happy to be able to spend my life with such a wonderful human!

(Home made High Tea I made for him on Valentines Day)

Arsty Highlilghts / accomplishments:

🌸I designed 9 cute Houseki no Kuni acrylic charms which have been doing really well at conventions!

🌸I also drew a cute series of ‘Sleepy Gem’ Houseki no Kuni / Steven Universe holographic prints, which I’m quite proud of 😊

🌸I created my 2nd enamel pin design, which already needed 2 reorders because they were so popular! ;w; I never knew I could make something that so many people love *sob* I’ve already planned to make these into a series! (already designed some deer ones, and thinking of doing foxes next ^_^ )

🌸I also tried getting gold foil prints done for the first time, which was pretty cool! I got the american sizes mixed up though so I might try for the bigger size next time :) (grainy photo cause its a screenshot from a video)

🌸I’ve been taking steps to make my stall look more ‘professional’, and got a really neat wooden sign made for me by my friend as_sweet_as_jasmine!

🌸I’ve started revamping my favourite series of posters - the Eevee Gijinka girls :) I plan to have them all done and ready for 2019s conventions!

🌸This was the year I got an iPad, so I could do digital art on-the-go. Honestly its helped me so much, and I can’t wait to be able to use it more (sorta didn’t get a chance to touch it while i was working!)

🌸I got Copic Markers for my birthday so I had a whole new medium to play with! These mixed with using a brush pen for inking really make my inktobers pop and I’m eager to draw more with them :)

🌸Speaking of Inktober, it was a huge accomplishment for me to put effort into a decent artwork every day this year! Usually theres a few dud ones when I lacked inspiration, but I somehow managed to make it work ;w; So when it came time to printing the books, theres 31 illustrations rather than 25 like the others :) Also the whole rainbow theme idea came from how cool I think it would look flipping through a rainbow book - so I managed to make that happen and couldn’t be happier!

🌸I passed 1000 sales on Etsy!! 😱As well as 1000 followers on instagram! Crazy right??

General 2018 highlights

🌸2018 was the year one of my best friends got married! I made cute little clay wedding cake toppers for her :)

🌸The year Owl City’s 7th album Cinematic came out!! All the tracks are so GOOD and exactly the sound all us hootowls were longing for. Also Be Brave is a tearjerker, in a good way. What an amazing human Abbey is to Adam <3

🌸The year Spyro Reignited Trilogy came out!! It’s absolutely amazing, and I love every second of it. Every time I play it I just can’t help but stand there looking around at every detail because everything is just so gorgeous *_* And the nostalgia is so real.

🌸Not exactly a highlight but the year Tumblr went NSFW free, and lost hundreds of thousands of users 😂I’m still here though. Got a dumb tradition to keep up ya know.

🌸The year my work had a hilarious Christmas party where we had to dress up as a character from Spongo Fuzz and Jalapena. It was the first time I actually put effort into a cosplay by myself 😂(possibly the last) (wont put a photo up for embarrassing reasons)

🌸the year I broke my toe for the first time xD;; definitely not a highlight but a first! I couldn’t walk for weeks! it sucked!!! T__T

🌸The year my friend successfully funded his kickstarter for his own cartoon ‘Nurry Brothers Adventure World’ :D So proud of him. I’m gonna help him animate!

🌸The year Lano and Woodley reunited with their amazing show ‘Fly’!! I loved it so much I saw it twice :D

🌸The year I tried doing Halloween for the first time - I bought a bunch of lollies and chocolates and decorations on my letterbox/door to let people know I was participating. I got 2 different groups of people at the door, 5 people all up 😂More than I expected tbh!

🌸I tried Ruby chocolate for the first time! It was ok .. just kinda tasted like berry yoghurt flavoured white chocolate though ;w;

SO! What’s coming for 2019?

I’m not really sure at the moment, but I have high hopes for Cheeky Little Studios (the animation company I worked for) - so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if any of their next projects get concrete start dates :) I’m not as terrified of the year as I usually am when its just one big question mark. I know I can make decent money through conventions and commissions in the meant time so I’ll just continue doing what I love!

LAST YEAR I SAID:

“I am crossing my fingers for an animation job I applied for a while ago” - I GOT IT! :D

“I plan to do even more conventions. Hopefully I can get into Oz Comic Con!" - didn’t end up applying because I was busy with the job, but keen to try for 2019 :)

"I’m keen to apply for like Animaga in Melbourne, as well as Madman Anime Fest in Brisbane and Melbourne.” - didn’t end up doing so for the same reason above, but that might change this year :)

“I also want to make a lot more non-fandom things for market stalls, as well as a comic and zines!” - I made the comic, as well as 3 inktober zines and a cute ‘if I fits I sits’ cat zine! As well as a bunch of cute original enamel pin ideas and my whole inktober was original art :D

“Hopefully I’ll hit 1k followers on fb/ig? :D that will make me feel important lol” - I hit 1k on instagram!! I felt very important xD

“I’m also hoping to go on a holiday this year." - I didn’t, for job reasons ... buuut I’m booked in for a cruise in Italy / Greece this September that I’m extremely excited for!

“PLEASE BE KIND 2018, I’M BEGGING YOU 😱” - You were very very kind to me, 2018. 2019, please follow suit!

(man this is the 7th year of review I’ve done. Can’t believe I’ve been on tumblr this long 😅)

[2017] [2016] [2015] [2014] [2013] [2012]

#2018 #2018 year review #year review #year in review #personal crap #i honestly dont expect anyone to read these #i just do them for myself lol

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number9robotic · 5 years

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Untitled Cyberpunk Magical Girl Project characterization prompt response:

Original prompt by @gallusrostromegalus!

OC Recap (left to right):

Suzi: Dance student, part-time magical girl/virtual celebrity, half-stoic, half-upbeat depending on the mood.

Kim: Botanist, semi-retired veteran magical girl and mentor, awkward “cool” mom with baggage.

Crash: Delinquent spirit, first magical girl, currently hyperactive virtual ghost, born troublemaker.

Nano: Rebellious slave class member in hiding, uses magical girl powers for personal investigations, comically deadpan.

HD: Gifted rich girl/conspiracy theorist unknowingly chosen to be a magical girl, quiet but eccentric personality.

A. On a scale of “is occasionally forced to bathe” to “Instagram model with sponsors to hoe for” how involved is your OC’s Skincare routine?

Suzi: She’s a teenage girl, so a bit. Even disregarding her online presence, she’s in the know of cosmetics just to look good to friends.

Kim: Very basic hydration and cleanliness, only gets special treatment if something’s actively acting up.

Crash: Currently doesn’t care due to being a virtual ghost. Didn’t care much in her physical life either except for concerts.

Nano: Very basic cleanliness; she’s very out of the loop of many things, optimal skincare included.

HD: Focused a lot. Part of it is casual access to high-brand cosmetics, part of it is natural obsession with cleanliness.

B. What are your OC’s food preferences (flavors/textures/spiciness/calories/ when and how they eat) and how did they get that way?

Suzi: Has a pretty varied middle-class palate, likes even mix of savory and sweet. Very fond of fish and rice (sushi of course) and sugary drinks (boba, lemon tea).

Kim: Very light diet. Just needs something only mildly flavorful like tea or natto rice she can easily have at work, sometimes forgets to eat in general.

Crash: Likes cheap/instant ramen and other fast foods; grew up on the stuff and hates the taste of “real” food. She also likes things spicy.

Nano: Currently expanding taste buds due to lifetime being served nutrient goop. Likes sweets, but only has them on occasion because they cause headaches (taiyaki’s pretty good).

HD: Regularly gets to enjoy high-quality “real” foods, but very frequently jumps to easier-to-access comfort foods like strawberry milk or curry rice.

C. What’s something pointless/petty/unimportant that IRRATIONALLY ANNOYS THE HELL out of your OC?

Suzi: When the train arrives earlier than scheduled, so she misses it and has to wait for the next.

Kim: Zoning out while steeping tea and realizing it’s cold after forgetting about it.

Crash: Anti-aliasing, and the inability to turn it off. NOOOO SMOOTHENIIIIIIING

Nano: Her senior chef’s taste in music. She recently got a job as his apprentice, and she can’t stand the pirate rock he blares in the kitchen. She hates the accents.

HD: Lacking the right word to articulate an emotion or idea she wants to express and being unable to look it up.

D. What’s your OC’s response to being asked for money by a homeless person?

Suzi: “Some other day.”

Kim: (quietly looks to her phone)

Crash: “Nah fam, not today.”

Nano: (completely ignores them)

HD: (quietly looks the other way)

E. Does your OC get lost easily? What do they do when they do get lost?

Suzi: Checks the skytrain routes and maps at the stations.

Kim: Knows her path from home to work enough to never get lost.

Crash: “Thanks, GPS!”

Nano: Checks street signs and looks for maps at skytrain stations.

HD: In order: check maps, call guardians for directions, ask strangers.

F. What would STOP your OC from Doing The Right Thing in a tense situation?

Suzi: If she’s in physical danger without her powers. She don’t punch above her weight.

Kim: If she has no personal stakes in the matter. She doesn’t like escalating conflict, she’s already tired as is.

Crash: If it’s a strictly physical conflict where she’s unable to interact.

Nano: If it’s none of her business. She’s in hiding; attention is bad.

HD: If she doesn’t have powers for it. She’s not even in her teens, fam

G. Realistically, could your OC (in their normal circumstances- i.e. at their own house/battlecamp/spaceship etc.) keep a small child alive for a week if they had to? A Dog? A Houseplant? A rock with a smiley face painted on?

Suzi: She underestimates her ability to accommodate someone/something. She’d start off nervous, but she’d probably pull through.

Kim: Pretty well. She wants to ensure others are safe, she’s just very awkward at it.

Crash: Even in life, she was a mess, so probably not.

Nano: She’s only just learning to take care of herself among the surface world, give her some time.

HD: She’s like 12! She might take care of a plant just fine tho

H. If your OC had to take the S.A.T. tomorrow with one night to prep, how would they do? both emotionally and academically.

Suzi: Print out practice tests, head to a cafe, get some boba, and hunker down.

Kim: Work at home, take a shower, prepare some tea, scented candles, and some ambient records.

Crash: Wait for Kim to take her to her apartment and force her to do the same thing.

Nano: Internet biiiiiinge. Get the taiyaki ready.

HD: In her room going over various books with some music playing, and probably with a tab open for streaming.

I. What would cause your OC to chose to do something petty/pointlessly cruel?

Suzi: If she’s good friends with the target and another friend dared her to, and/or if she stands to get free food from it.

Kim: If she’s REALLY had enough of you but doesn’t have it in her to tell it to your face.

Crash: If she thinks it’d be funny. It isn’t always funny, but when it is, it is.

Nano: If she’s really angry at you and thinks she can get away with it without notice.

HD: If she’s feeling especially exhausted and has briefly given up on being nice to you.

J. On a scale of “Complete and Justified nervous breakdown” to “Conquer The Entire Galaxy and become an Immortal God-Emperor”, how well would your OC handle being abducted by Aliens?

Suzi: “Oh shit.”

Kim: “Is this a spaceship?”

Crash: “Kickass!”

Nano: “Are you from The Corporatocracy?”

HD: “I was right!?”

K. What song is 100% guaranteed to get your OC beyond turnt and will be sung loudly and embarrassingly, either in public or the shower?

Suzi: “Crazy Crazy” by Yasutaka Nakata.

Kim: “Sad Machine” by Porter Robinson.

Crash: “Whole New World” by SOPHIE.

Nano: She’s not the singing type, but “Giving Bad People Good Ideas” by Death Grips gets it done.

HD: “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorillaz.

L. What perfectly-normal-to-them-thing does your OC do that confuses/pisses off/terrifies their neighbors?

Suzi: Dances to loud mixes in her room.

Kim: Very frequently lights candles or incense in her apartment.

Crash: She used to practice a lot of vocalizations, ie scream a whole lot.

Nano: Have virtually no furniture aside from a bed and table for her laptop.

HD: Own an entire floor of an apartment building.

O. How often does your OC “zone out” or do things on autopilot and how severe have the problems that have arisen from that been?

Suzi: Often, but basically only during boring times where nothing is happening, including stuff that could potentially cause problems.

Kim: Almost never when at work, but frequently gets contemplative when at home.

Crash: As a virtual entity, she’s very active and almost never blanks out. In physicality, CONSTANTLY.

Nano: She doesn’t exactly zone out so much as she gets locked into one sensation/action and is unused to the need to adjust on her own.

HD: She can get twitchy at the worst of times, her mind going on extended tangents if there isn’t a lot of stimuli.

P. How strong or weak is your OC’s Impulse control? What’s the worst thing that happened because of their Impulsivity or inability to be so?

Suzi: Generally gives things careful consideration, but if a prospect is extremely exciting, she may need a reminder to step back a bit.

Kim: Very mellow and not one to making particularly decisive decisions, unless it’s regarding someone’s safety, where she’s very firm.

Crash: Very impatient and prone to making bad decisions without thinking through them. Ever since becoming a ghost, she’s a little more careful for Kim’s sake, but still needs a lot of work.

Nano: Very methodical and calculative, but feels the need to make fast decisions if she decides she has no time to be careful.

HD: Very patient and careful, almost glacial in terms of getting her onto another mindset.

Q. How does your OC sabotage themselves?

Suzi: She’s forming a double-life as a civilian and as a Magica for excitement, but she isn’t fully realizing the consequences of it or what she must do in the future, potentially barreling into danger for a brief thrill.

Kim: She simultaneously wants to have a normal life away from supernatural shenanigans but is irreparably locked into it with her relationship with Crash, ironically denying herself closure by wanting nothing to do with her trauma.

Crash: Constantly seeks to rebel introduce excitement to the world, but is often dishonest about her own motivations, resulting in an inability to think through her plans or the consequences of her actions, some very deadly for herself.

Nano: Her extremely methodical and calculative approach to everything leads her to make an enemy out of everyone. Her inability to trust anyone to not screw up leaves her pretty ineffectual in her goals.

HD: She’s extremely smart and critical, but constantly traps herself in loops of obsessive paranoia, often isolating herself from anyone else to support her or give her better grounding.

S. How Dehydrated is your OC right now? Are they going to fix this?

Suzi: Keep a reusable water bottle for water, occasionally gets ice tea/coffee if she feels like treating herself.

Kim: Keeps a thermos of hot water/tea.

Crash: Currently NA, previously just gets water from the tap.

Nano: Usually gets her fresh cups at work, enjoys municipal tap water at home. Blame Crash.

HD: Fills a cold water mug from a filtered fridge.

T. What’s your OC smell like? no, not that “Vanilla and Anxiety” evocative stuff, realistically. Body odor? what have they been touching all day? When was their last shower? Did they put on any kind of artificial scent?

Suzi: Takes regular care of her hygiene and attends clean facilities, often showers with a peach fragrance that sticks with her daily.

Kim: Smells sanitized and like a dentist’s office when traveling from work, smells like tea and “herbal” everywhere else.

Crash: Like electrons. In life, she showered, but always smelled like a combo of light sweat and coffee.

Nano: Often times faintly like dirt, sometimes with a literal fish-y stench from work.

HD: Very presentable, often has the aroma of strawberry and bread.

#my art #character prompt #writing prompt #untitled #untitled cyberpunk magical girl project #magical girl #oc #oc prompt

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chiseler · 6 years

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VAUDEVILLE & BROADWAY THE HARD WAY

Like a lot of poor kids on the Lower East Side around the start of the twentieth century. the brothers Cliff and Max Gordon turned to show business as a way up and out. Cliff, who was older, made it big in vaudeville, and in effect it killed him. Max became one of the most successful producers in Broadway history, and survived to write a memoir about it.

They were born Morris and Mechel Saltpeter in 1880 and '92, two of eight kids. Their parents had grown up and married in a village in Poland. They were strict Orthodox Jews who spoke Yiddish, never learning English or participating much in American life. Dad, bearded and pious as a rabbi, pressed pants in a Montgomery Street sweatshop for eleven dollars a week. Mom kept house. Old-school Orthodox tradition condemned theater and movies as time-wasting frivolities. In his memoir Max Gordon Presents Max says his mother never saw a movie and came to only one of the many shows he mounted. At first the family squeezed into three rooms in a tenement on Goerck Street (now Baruch Place), and shared an outhouse behind the building with the other tenants. Later they moved a short distance to a four-room tenement apartment with a bathroom at the end of the hall on Lewis Street.

Cliff left school at the age of twelve to contribute to the family's income. In his teens he started hanging out at the variety theaters on the Bowery with a pal of his, Will Fox. Born Wilhelm Fried in Hungary in 1879, Will was brought to the Lower East Side when he was nine months old. Impressed with the "Dutch" (German) antics of the comedy duo Weber & Fields, who were Lower East Side guys themselves, the teens simply copied them. Cliff played the Fields part, Will did Weber. They got small bookings in and around the city, making five or ten bucks a night. Cliff's parents were not happy, but they couldn't stop him.

According to Upton Sinclair Presents William Fox, an as-told-to biography, one night after a gig in Bayonne Cliff and Will found that the booker had absconded with their pay. Penniless, they walked from Bayonne to Jersey City, where Will found a bit of cardboard and a pencil and made a sign, BLIND. He hung it on Will and stood him next to the ferry entrance with his hand out as the morning commuters headed across the river for Manhattan. They not only earned their two-cent fares but reached New York with four cents extra. Another time they did their schtick in Arlington Hall on St. Mark's Place as part of a benefit for the former welterweight prizefighter Spike Hennessey, who was then battling consumption. The audience booed and hissed them; Spike was so angry at them for ruining the evening that he refused to pay them, and socked Cliff in the eye as well. "When Cliff arrived home with one eye and no money, and told his father what had happened, his father punched the other eye and blacked that," Sinclair writes.

Fox gave up performing, but went on to a big career in movies, building the empire that became Twentieth Century Fox. Cliff stuck with performing and soon got a slot as the Dutch comic with Al Reeve's Big Beauty Show. Born in 1864, Reeves had grown up Catholic in the Five Points, a policeman's son. By fourteen was performing on the Bowery as a banjo-plucking blackface minstrel. Through the 1880s he toured the early vaudeville and burlesque circuits. He billed himself as The World's Greatest Banjoist and Comedian, and although by contemporary reports he was neither, he was an impressive, bigger-than-life presence on stage and off. As he got famous he sported a lot of diamonds and other jewels on his person, and got himself a diamond-encrusted banjo.

By the early 1890s he was producing and emceeing his own burlesque revues, which were considered among the finest of the era. Burlesque wasn't yet equated with striptease; it was more like a minstrel show or vaudeville with a leg show as the centerpiece. "Dirty" burlesque and stripping came along in the next century. The Big Beauty Show featured up to forty girls. Al claimed to have invented the tableau vivant, in which they posed as "living statues" in classical, mythological or just fanciful scenarios, any excuse for them to appear without a lot of clothes on. They couldn't move a muscle, or cops might stop the show for lewd behavior. Comics, musical acts and Reeves himself rounded out the bill. A young Al Jolson got work touring with Reeves. In The Jazz Singer, when Jolson does the fingers-in-the-mouth bird-whistling break in "Toot, Toot Tootsie," he's showing off a trick he learned from Reeves. Jolson's whole peppier-than-thou approach to blackface performance showed a lot of Reeves' influence.

Max was nine when Cliff took him to a matinee of the Reeves revue at Miner's Bowery Theatre. It was Max's first time in a theater. He remembered that though the chorus girls were big and fleshy they were also "gay, spritely, buoyant, full of grace and delight." He was agog at Reeves, "the grandest man I had ever seen," and all his jewels. Cliff, in baggy trousers and long frock coat, with a loopy bow tie under a fly-away collar (think Professor Irwin Corey), was then perfecting his signature routine, "the German Senator." It was a combination of a Dutch act and a minstrel show stump speech, a comic monologue on political and social topics of the day. "Friendts and Vellor Voters," Cliff would begin, "I am gladt to address such a massage of beoples, and vill distress you mit all der elephance dot is in me." He'd go on in that vein to crack jokes about whoever was president at the time, the newfangled automobile, trade unions, women's suffrage, whatever was in the headlines. Max was entranced and began haunting the variety and vaudeville houses on the Bowery and around Union Square.

Max was a ten-year-old participant when a riot broke out at the funeral procession for Rabbi Jacob Joseph on July 30, 1902. Several of the small Orthodox synagogues on the Lower East Side had chipped in to bring Joseph from Poland in 1888 to be their first (and as it turned out last) chief rabbi. From the start he ran into opposition from other Orthodox and Hasidic congregations, who elected their own chief rabbis in protest, and from the Reform German Jews in the city, and from the Lower East Side's large contingent of radical and Communist Jewish intellectuals. He struggled largely in vein to bring some order to the graft-ridden kosher butchery trade. Demoralized by all the controversy and reduced to dire poverty in his own tenement flat, he suffered a series of paralyzing strokes and died on July 27 1902 at the age of only fifty-four.

Despite all the acrimony during his life, the entire Orthodox population of the Lower East Side went into mourning. On July 30 much of the neighborhood shut down for the funeral procession that carried his plain pine coffin from his home on Henry Street over to the Grand Street ferry, bound for a cemetery in Brooklyn. A crowd estimated at fifty to one hundred thousand mourners thronged the streets. As the cortege approached the waterfront it passed the giant R. Hoe & Company factory on Grand Street, where printing presses were made. The more than two thousand workers there, many of them Irish, were infamously anti-Semitic. When the horse-drawn hearse went by, accompanied by two hundred black-creped carriages and the immense crowd on foot, workers on the factory's upper floors jeered, shouted obscenities out the windows and hurled whatever they could get their hands on -- nuts, bolts, blocks of wood, buckets of water. The crowd flew into a rage and charged the building. Max was among those who ran over to Delancey Street, where the Manhattan end of the Williamsburg Bridge was under construction, and carried back loose bricks to be thrown through the factory's lower windows. A delegation of Jewish leaders who got into Robert Hoe's office to try to end the situation claimed Hoe chased them out with a pistol. (In the publishing world Hoe is remembered as a collector of rare books and a founder of the Grolier Club.) A riot squad of some two hundred police showed up. Also mostly Irish, the cops enforced calm by wading into the Jews with clubs swinging. Hundreds of Jews were injured and scores went to jail, while only one factory worker was detained. Ironically, in 1929 the factory would be torn down and replaced by the wonderful Amalgamated Dwellings apartment building, cornerstone of the largely Jewish Co-Op Village.

By the time of the riot Cliff was touring the country with the Imperial Burlesque Show and making a princely seventy-five dollars a week -- enough that he could soon move his whole family off the Lower East Side, first to 106th Street near Central Park, later to Jewish Harlem. His father retired, though he continued to press his kids' clothes, including Cliff's tuxedos.

Max expanded his theater-going to Broadway -- legit dramas, George M. Cohan's musicals. He supported the habit by selling score cards and peanuts at the Polo Grounds when the Giants were in town. Despite Cliff's urgings, he dropped out of Townsend Harris Hall -- in effect the prep school for City College, where Yip Harburg, Ira Gershwin and Paul Muni also went -- to take a job as an advance man for a touring burlesque show. He'd go into a town ahead of the show to put up posters and do p.r. At seventeen he was traveling around the country in the company of chorus girls, low comics and cigar-sucking impresarios, getting a type of education he never would have gotten at home.

Cliff's star meanwhile continued to rise. He was never the headliner, but he got near. On big-time vaudeville circuits he filled the toughest spot on the program: he was a "closer," the last act of the show, who came on right behind the headlining star. Closers were also known as chasers, because the audience, having just enjoyed the big star, often started walking out on them. Vaudevillians called it playing to the haircuts. It's said that Cliff's monologues were so funny and timely that audiences stayed and roared -- until one day in 1913, when he took on the daunting burden of closing for the grande dame of divas, Sarah Bernhardt.

Bernhardt had been coming to America since 1880, was approaching seventy, and though some critics had ceased to be kind to her a decade earlier, her fans still adored her. Martin Beck of the Chicago-based Orpheum vaudeville circuit startled all of show biz when he convinced her to stoop from legit theater for the first time. Rumor was he agreed to pay her $500 -- in gold coins -- after each performance. (She'd learned a few things in a lifetime in show business.) Touring his Midwest vaudeville houses in preparation for a three-week stand at the new Palace in Times Square, she slayed audiences with excerpts from her tear-jerking greatest hits -- Tosca, Camille, Racine's Phedre.

Cliff was booked to close for her at the Majestic in Chicago that April. He told Max he wasn't sure he could make a crowd laugh right after La Bernhardt had them all sobbing and weeping, but he'd give it his best shot.

Even for a successful performer vaudeville was a precarious life and an exhausting two-show-a-day grind. Cliff had been suffering migraines. At the April 21 matinee, Bernhardt got the whole house bawling with her Tosca. Cliff, his head pounding, walked out to a cold and distracted reception. After struggling to get a chuckle out of them for five minutes he left the stage to no applause. He hadn't laid such an egg since the early days with Will Fox. Legend has it he moaned to the Majestic's manager backstage, "Any comedian who tries to follow Bernhardt is bound to die." He went back to his hotel room to gear up for the evening performance. Apparently he drew a hot bath and took some of his migraine medicine. When he didn't appear for the evening show, they broke down the door to his room and found him on the floor. A doctor on the scene called it a heart attack. He was thirty-two.

Desolate, Max soldiered on. He formed a partnership with Al Lewis. Another son of Polish Jewish immigrants to the Lower East Side, Al had also done a Dutch act. After some rough sledding at first, their Lewis & Gordon booking and producing agency earned a reputation for developing classy one-act plays to insert into vaudeville programs. One of the early ones was Eugene O'Neill's In the Zone, which had premiered in Greenwich Village.

Max was one of the few people in show business who became friends with the imperious Edward Albee, the playwright's adoptive grandfather, who ran the Keith-Albee circuit and was generally considered one of the meanest sonsabitches in vaudeville. In 1927 Max engineered a late-career comeback for one of everybody's favorite old troupers, Eddie Foy, Sr., who'd been on the boards clowning and hoofing since the days of minstrelsy (Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday had caught his act out West) and raised seven children in the theater. Bob Hope plays him in the 1955 film The Seven Little Foys. Foy even died on stage, of a heart attack, at the Orpheum in Kansas City in 1928.

By then vaudeville itself was dying. Everybody in it struggled to adapt to the big changes motion pictures were making to the entertainment industry. Lewis and Gordon broke up the partnership. Lewis went to Hollywood to work for Cliff's old partner, William Fox. Gordon watched in dismay as the upstart Joseph Kennedy took over Albee's empire, which became RKO. Fox invited Max out to Hollywood too. Max would later dabble in film, unhappily, at the urging of his friends the Marx Brothers, and produce a little television as well, with equally muted results. But for now he went in another direction: to Broadway.

Max and Al had previously put on a few shows there, including one hit. In 1925 they produced a play close to both their hearts: Samson Raphaelson's The Jazz Singer, set on the Lower East Side where they and Raphaelson had grown up. They did it at the small Fulton Theatre on W. 46th Street, formerly the Folies-Bergere (and much later renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre, which it remained until it was torn down with its neighbors in the 1980s to make way for a giant Marriott). George Jessel, who'd been doing vaudeville since he was a kid, starred as Jakie Rabinowitz. The newspaper critics found it too schmaltzy, but it was a big hit with audiences. When Warner Brothers bought the rights to film it they decided it should be a musical -- the stage version was a play with some incidental music -- using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. They clashed with Jessel over money -- he demanded more to do sound -- and over the simple fact that he couldn't sing. The studio went with Jolson, who had inspired Raphaelson in the first place, and had already done a popular Vitaphone short, A Plantation Act.

Now it was the 1930s, and the Depression was laying waste to Broadway. Yet Gordon thrived there. His very first production was a hit. Three's a Crowd was a little musical revue with a lot of talent participating: Clifton Webb, Libby Holman (whom Webb nicknamed the Statue of Libby), Fred Allen and Fred MacMurray on stage, with songs for Holman like "Body and Soul" and "Something to Remember You By," and Max's pal Groucho contributing some gag material. It ran from October 1930 into the summer of '31. He followed it directly with more hits -- the revue The Band Wagon, starring Fred and Estelle Astaire, which featured "Dancing in the Dark"; a Jerome Kern musical, The Cat and the Fiddle, with Eddie Foy Jr. in the cast; Noel Coward's racy Design for Living, starring Coward, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, who all co-produced it with Max.

In the 1933-'34 season he had four hits running simultaneously, a pretty stunning feat. The next season Gordon achieved what everyone said was impossible, convincing the Rockefellers to back his idea for a lavish operetta about the Strausses, The Great Waltz, to be performed in the large Rockefeller Center Theatre (the companion to Radio City Music Hall, torn down in the 1950s). At three dollars a ticket in the depths of the Depression it filled the 3500-seat hall with families and tourists, ran for more than 250 performances and made tons of money. Max's friend Cole Porter doffed his cap in lines from "Anything Goes," "When Rockefeller still can hoard/ Enough money to let Max Gordon/ Produce his shows,/ Anything goes."

On the street they called Max a miracle worker. But it didn't all come easy. Over twenty years producing on Broadway he'd have his huge successes and his miserable flops. The flops could send him into bleak depression. When things weren't rolling his way he might go to the top of a stairway or a window ledge and threaten suicide. Remembering the peculiar way his brother had died, people took him seriously. More than once he would seek professional psychiatric help.

Through it all his broad interests and tastes showed in the range of comedies, dramas and musicals he put on the stage. They included George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's flag-waving spectacle The American Way, starring Fredric March; the historical costumer The Farmer Takes a Wife, starring the young Henry Fonda, who'd soon head to Hollywood to get his screen debut in the Fox film adaptation; Othello with Walter Huston (another vaudeville vet) in the lead and Brian Aherne as Iago, a flop; Huston in the much more successful Dodsworth, from the Sinclair Lewis novel, later made into a film; Clare Boothe's satire The Women, another big hit adapted for film; Ethan Frome, with Ruth Gordon, Tom Ewell and Raymond Massey; Kern's musical Roberta, which yielded the standard "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and helped make Bob Hope a star; Cole Porter and Hart's musical Jubilee, soon forgotten except for "Begin the Beguine," a giant hit for Artie Shaw a few years later; the massive hit My Sister Eileen, which ran from 1940 into 1943 with Shirley Booth in the role Rosalind Russell plays in the movie; and Born Yesterday, the Judy Holliday vehicle she reprised on film. His last production was the hit The Solid Gold Cadillac, with the great Josephine Hull (Aunt Abby in Arsenic and Old Lace), which ran from 1953 into 1955. Holliday stars in the 1956 film adaptation.

Through a long retirement Max couldn't resist kibitzing and threatening to come back and do one more play, but he never did. He died in 1978.

by John Strausbaugh

(photo: Cliff Gordon)

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writing-in-the-tiny-house · 3 years

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The Trophies of NaNoWriMo, with AJ Mac

Follow this link to check out the book The Gem State Siege:

https://amzn.to/3yDtVDn

Become a patron to Writing in the Tiny House today!

patreon.com/writinginthetinyhouse

The following is a transcript of this episode. The complete transcript is available on the show’s website.

[00:00:00] Devin Davis: Are you ever worried about writing a large amount of text in a short amount of time? Then you need to listen to AJ Mac, author of the book The Gem State Seige. He wrote the entire thing during NaNoWriMo of 2020, and he is our guest today on Writing in the Tiny House. Hello, hello, hello! And welcome to the show.

[00:00:47] Welcome back to the show. I am Devin Davis, your host, and I am the guy living in a tiny house to show you all of the different ways, regardless of how busy you are, that you can write that book. We focus mainly on fiction, at least the majority of these episodes. Today we have a person that I have been so excited to get to know. His name isAJ Mac.

[00:01:11] His first name is actually Aaron. And it's not in the interview. So I get to share a little tidbit before we play the interview. I actually met Aaron on a Facebook group looking for a critique partner. I had no idea what he had done. I had no idea his story or the process that he had taken to write this thing, but we exchanged first chapters many, many months ago and he critiqued my first chapter.

[00:01:40] I critiqued his first chapter. It was a great experience. And then like, a couple months later, I realized that his book was being released and was in print. So today we have AJ Mac, author of the book The Gem State Seige to share his entire story with us.

[00:02:02] AJ Mac: I started off writing a completely different novel that I said I was going to release first, but then I thought about the options of like Permafree books and like start in content. Cause I just wanted to kind of roll into something that was a little bit bigger of a project than the one that I released first. And it took me about 10 years to actually write that novel, like rewriting and constantly revising and all of that. The final draft of that book, it took me about nine months to do a hundred thousand words, I think. And I was just like, okay I need to write it a little bit faster if I have this goal of doing all of these books and all of this story, this this whole sci-fi universe that I've created in my head, I might want to write a little bit faster.

[00:02:52] So NaNoWriMo came along. I found it on Facebook, found a lot of groups on Facebook, talking about writing 50,000 words in a month. And I was like, Okay. That's a challenge. I'm going to take it. I don't know if I can do it, but I'm going to try.

[00:03:07] So October 31st. I was just like, kind of like at my computer at 1159, like a runner at a Olympic track meet. 12 o'clock hit and I just started going. It took me about 20 days, 21 days, I think to get the 50,000 words, but I did it and I proved to myself that I actually could write faster.

[00:03:29] Devin Davis: NaNoWriMo, though it calls itself a competition, is more like a big push to get people to start writing. No one is looking over your shoulder. You don't submit your progress to anyone, but it's just a month long marathon in the spirit of writing. And it is celebrated by everyone. When Aaron got in the thick of it, he had some big realizations about his own writing process.

[00:03:58] AJ Mac: I like being a pantser for the most part. Doing Prep-Tober is what they call it when you're preparing for NaNoWriMo I took some time out and wrote like a whole outline. I started setting up my writing space, and I bought Scrivener, and I wrote out and it took me about a day or so to write this entire like, outline of what I was going to do.

[00:04:21] And about Chapter Two, I was like screw outline. Yeah. I just yeah.

[00:04:26] Devin Davis: He wrote for hours every day. Like he said, it took him 21 days to get his first draft completed. Three weeks. And as you might imagine, it took a toll on his social life.

[00:04:41] AJ Mac: I don't think I talked to my girlfriend much during that time. I was working night shift at my full-time job. And what I would do is I would work 5:00 PM to about 4:00 AM, was my schedule. And I would spend as much time as I possibly could while I was working-- which wasn't much-- writing. And when I was at home I would wake up early. I still wake up earlier about 11 o'clock and I will write until I go to work. so I I was pretty much, at my computer the entire time.

[00:05:14] Devin Davis: Because he wasn't an experienced writer, at first he didn't know how to go about self edits and critique partners at all. This is how he handled it.

[00:05:25] AJ Mac: And I sat on the manuscript for about a month and a half maybe. And like, there were a lot of people saying that if you write something in NaNoWriMo, then it should at least be a year out before you actually start, like, thinking about publishing, but I was determined. I was determined to get some feedback on it. And I, I went to Facebook groups and like a bunch of critique groups. And I start querying for some people to give me some feedback on the book. And that was my start. And to editing that rough draft and submitting that rough draft and seeing if there was a actual concept for me to even publish a book.

[00:06:05] Devin Davis: And a few short months later, he had The Gem State Siege in print.

[00:06:13] AJ Mac: It's about Tawnie Simms, a world-renowned conspiracy theorist who finds herself in the middle of a cataclysmic event in her hometown, Idaho falls. When what seems like a natural disaster, a mysterious organization that uses the tragedy is fueled to start a mass extermination disguised as a pandemic. Tawnie has to find her way to stop the monstrous billionaire responsible while keeping her and her five-year-old son safe.

[00:06:41] Devin Davis: So this book required some research, not only about concepts, but about geography. The story takes place in Idaho falls and Aaron doesn't even live there.

[00:06:54] AJ Mac: The pantser in me decided to find it somewhere where geysers would make sense for for the relic that I used in the book. So Yellowstone National Park was, was nearby. I have a fascination with-- and this is going to sound horrible-- but I have a fascination with like end of the world kind of cataclysmic movies like that, like movies, like 2012 and Water Worlds, things like that. Just kind of like interests me. So the apocalyptic trope I feel like that's my thing. That's what interests me. It's a lot of build up to what I'm doing in the scifi universe that I'm creating and the world that I'm putting together. And that just happened to be one of the starting points of the world.

[00:07:36] Devin Davis: So I asked him what got him interested in books and science fiction in the first place.

[00:07:44] AJ Mac: A lot of fanfiction. I used to do a lot of sketches growing up and drawing my own comic books specifically when I was younger. It was a show called Dragon Ball Z that for whatever reason in America did not want to continue past a certain saga.

[00:08:00] So I started drawing my own and that trend never left. Like I fell in love with writing and coming up with my own ideas. And I felt comfortable. Like growing up as an introvert, I felt comfortable just writing my own reality as opposed to living in the real reality, I guess. And it just kind of worked for me.

[00:08:19] Devin Davis: All of us as writers, face roadblocks and other struggles. And sometimes we have self doubt.

[00:08:25] AJ Mac: I struggled with the belief that I could even write that fast, considering that I've just been sitting on a bunch of ideas for 10 years before I actually decided to publish a novel. For any aspiring author that wants to write, join a community like NaNoWriMo where people are having the same challenges.

[00:08:47] Devin Davis: Not only is Erin cranking out books, but he and his friends also do a podcast.

[00:08:54] AJ Mac: My podcast is called The Dirty Trunk podcast. And we like to say that that's where the elephant is always welcome. And we talk about the uncomfortable conversations about growth and building your mindset as an entrepreneur. They come out every Tuesday, and the last episode we discussed your environment and how it shapes your future as an adult.

[00:09:17] Devin Davis: By the time this episode airs, the Dirty Trunk podcast will have reached more than 100 episodes.

[00:09:26] AJ Mac: For anybody who's listening to this episode here, if you have the goal or the dream to be a published author, do it. You can listen to this podcast and everybody who joins Mr. Devin on this this journey being a guest on this awesome podcast that he has here in this platform, you can listen to every single one of them talk about their dreams, their goals of how to start and how they started, but it will not be possible for you unless you actually put pen to paper and do it. Do not let fear get in the way of your goals and your dream.

[00:10:01] Devin Davis: A special things to Aaron, author name AJ Mac, for joining me today on Writing in the Tiny House. He is working hard on the next several books of his series. And I am excited to see when those are going to come out. If you are interested in ordering or reading the Gem State Siege by AJ Mac, follow the link in the show notes and it'll get you there.

[00:10:26] And that is it for today. Thank you so much for my patrons. Without them this show can not be possible. If you wish to become a patron, patreon.com/writinginthetinyhouse. You can get early access to these episodes. You can get an additional episode, and you can get quality time with me over our exclusive chat rooms on Discord. Follow me on Instagram. My handle is @authordevindavis and on Twitter, my handle is @authordevind. Thank you so much for listening. We will see you next week and have fun writing.

Check out this episode!

#writing #writer #author #fiction #am writing #wip

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deoidesign · 6 months

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I've been... Busy 👀

Trying to get all 4 arcs from season 1 into books!

(not available for sale, these are print proofs. I'm planning a Kickstarter early next year!)

#this is why i havent been posting much #ive been so busy between making episodes and doing Kickstarter prep #theres been a lot more for Kickstarter prep than i had anticipated #i mean. not really.#i knew it was gonna be a lot #but it's takin longer than i thought #cause i always forget how little time i have outside of making comic updates #I'm also thinking $25 a book #and then itd be $30-60 to ship them #so. if youre reading these tags its not an official announcement #but i want to give people ample warning #cause i know $150 is a lot to save up #also for legal reasons #i can not print all the books at once...#i have to go one at a time??#so I'm planning on making it like.. a box every few months #idk #I'm trying to think of thinfs that make it more worthwhile to do it that way #i want ppl to feel like they got their moneys worth idk #but! tbese two books look really good #I get proofs really early so i can go through for typos or color errors asap #so! hopefully I'll have the ghost and Victorian ones done by end kf year #so i can do the Kickstarter in like... jan/feb #i wanna add some scenes to the Victorian one #so. loads of work to do #printing #books #Kickstarter prep #time and time again

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powerssquaredcomicbook · 5 years

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This Week in Powers Squared

his was another week of writing where it was once again dominated by Powers Squared. A lot of time was spent not on writing but on creating uploadable files for various outlets. Each platform has its own limitations and requirements so I spent a good deal of time making files or renaming existing ones.

While we now have a print-on-demand version, through Artithmeric.com, we've been trying to branch out to more outlets as well, including other digital platforms and perhaps other print-on-demand websites. I've been renaming files and making multiple .pdfs for one issue as required by another digital platform. I regret that I haven't yet uploaded files to that new site.

Earlier this week, I was surprised when I opened the Powers Squared twitter account @Martyand Eli, and saw images of a printed version of our comic book and the following comments:

Super cool. And I was a little jealous since I'm still waiting for my issues to arrive.

It was really cool to see such a great reaction from anyone.

That same day, I received notification that our new issues were going to drop on comixology.com on March 6th. It seems like forever since these issues were finished but I always want to have some in reserve. We also decided to make them available day and date on Artithmeric, so we've uploaded the files (more uploading), but it will be really cool to see them. I still have to order them myself.

I'm exploring another print-on-demand site as well, looking for a possible tier gift for our Kickstarter. I said I wanted to do it in February but that's now gone by the wayside. I want this to work so I'm trying to make sure we have good gifts if we fund. Printed versions would make a good alternative to a digital-only release.

I notified First Comic News about the date on Thursday and on Saturday, their reviewer published his reviews. I can't say that I wasn't a little disappointed at his 3 out of 5 ratings for both and no mention of the new look, but there is nothing wrong with getting some advance publicity. Sometimes, you have to move on. I'm more interested in getting the publicity than the exact review I'd like.

With the new reviews, I had to make more updates to the website to accommodate them, which is more time spent on things other than writing. All necessary but all time is precious and fleeting. I do that and I'm not writing.

On Friday, Rachel sent us thumbnails for the last four pages of Issue #10, as well as possible covers. Paul and I didn't sit down until Saturday, but we managed to go through them and give her our feedback. For the most part, we picked one set for each page, though we did have some exchanges and comments on Panel 5 on three of the pages, which is more of a coincidence than anything else.

Nina is busy prepping for her first Artist Alley appearance at The Atlanta Sci-fi and Fantasy Expo next weekend, so the coloring can wait for a week or so. If you're at the Expo, please drop by and support her.

#Powers Squared #This Week in Powers Squared #Superheroes #Super Powers #Comic Book

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movedto-insom-art · 7 years

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hi!! i just found you while poking around for gobelins students on twitter and i love your art, congratulations on passing!! i was wondering if you have any advice on the written exam or tips on how to prepare for it? i heard that the written exam can be given in english if french isn't your first language...

I’ll try to be very concise about this andmaybe pin it to my profile because I was in your shoes exactly a year ago, andif I made it here I think you have a considerable chance of making it too as long as you’re willing to put work into it. I want totell you what I wish I had been told.

Disclaimer: I’m definitely not the best personto ask. I’m self-taught and my situation may and will differ a lot from yours,but on top of that, bear in mind Gobelins has a ~5% admission rate. During theinterview I shared room with a person who had a stunning portfolio and had been doing two years of prepclasses to get in Gobelins specifically and didn’t get in. I don’t even understand what brought me in, but I will try to at least give you a detailedguide of what *I* did to prepare.

Important: READ THE “MODALITÉSD'ADMISSION” DOCUMENT THREE TIMES AT LEAST. It has so much usefulinformation and so many points you can’t afford to skip. If your French isflaky, ask for a friend who speaks it fluently to help you out. You *must*understand it fully if you want to get in and avoid needless calls to theschool.

Also, keep an eye on the website often. Allthe information I provide here vis a vis dates only applies to a time periodthat’s already gone and I can’t predict if the dates will be exactly the sameevery year, so double check for yourself!

French

If you don’t speak French now start asap, anddo your Duolingo and “Apprendre le Français avec TVMonde” exercisesevery day. The lessons for the 4-year program are in French and while they canbe understanding with foreigners I just strongly recommend for the sake ofcommon sense that you pick up the language, just to make the most of the chanceif you’re given it.

However, you can def do the written exam in English! The exam will be printed and handed to you in both languages, it’s not so much a test to see your writing skills (ironically) than it is to prove your drawing ones.

If you pass that first round, while they won’t require any certification, they *will* test how good you are understanding and responding in French during the interview process of the second round.

I also recommend you take special conversational classeswith a private teacher or with a French speaker the couple of weeks before theoral exam to really gain fluidity, it makes a difference.

Mental Health

Preparing for all this will be sustainedstress over a long period of time. While it’ll be intensive and will demand alot of you, bear in mind that a mentality of “every minute I spend notworking on this is a minute lost” is only going to harm you. It’s alrightto take breaks, have a social life, and space for leisure while you do prepwork. It’s alright to not be drawing every single hour and rest your mind soyou can go back to work with all your might.

Try to be demanding and to pushyourself out of your comfort zone, but do it at your own pace and alwaysleaving space for breaks and stuff that will take your mind away from it whenyou need to, like friends, videogames, or just drawing for fun. A healthy business to leisure ratio is always between ½ and 2/3.

Meditate if you can, too, just 10-15 minutesevery day. I recommend the Headspace app and it has helped me keep my coolduring really tense moments.

Open Days

Go to the open days at Gobelins in January ifyou can! I took a plane for the weekend just to go, it was expensive but Ireally, really do not regret it. Here’s why:

DONOT MISS THE FIRST DAY. They hold portfolio reviews and while you may not haveyours ready just yet, it’s the perfect chance to get an insider point of viewof how well you’re doing right now and how far from your goal you are. Make aprovisional one (or do like I did and just make a tumblr blog and throw inwhatever you’d want them to assess) and arrive early to ask for a spot at thequeue.

Youget to talk to other first-year students, who will showcase their portfolio andanswer all your questions about the admission process, the school and whateverother questions you may have.

Youget to attend conferences where they explain each of their programs in detail,and the head of the department will also answer all yourquestions.

Admissions usually open right in the middle of the open days. By all means grab a seat at the computer room and save yourself a spot in the exam process asap.

Also,if you’re a foreigner like me, you should totally go to the international classand see if you can spot somebody from your same country (or who at least speaksyour language) to hang out with for a bit.

Site note: That international class is adirect entry to 3rd year specifically for English-speaking students who alreadyhave animation experience. I didn’t apply for that so I can’t tell you muchabout it, but it’s definitely worth checking out if you want in, they say it’seasier than the main track, too.

Preparing for the written exams

First off, draw every day. Even if it’s notprep work or studies all the time, you can indulge in your OCs, OTPs, whatevermakes your heart race, but draw it and do it every day. It doesn’t have to beideal or finished either, but what really matters is that you get used todrawing a lot and make a habit of it. Quantity, consistency and speed areimportant skills for animators to have as I’ve been told and they will be looking for it since one of the parts of the inteview includes evaluating how much paper you’ve filled in a year.

Grab all the exams you can get a hold of fromthe Gobelins site and do them in the specified time (they’re on the Concepteuret Realisateur de Film d'Animation class page). When you’re done with that do themagain. Ask for feedback from your teachers and improve on them. Take aperspective book (I recommend “Perspective for Comic Artists”), take a gesturedrawing book (“The Vilppu Drawing Manual” or “Gesture drawingfor animation”), take a storyboarding and character design class (I tookSchoolism’s, which are 15$/month per class, it’s very affordable) and that’llgive you a good frame of reference. And when you’re done with the exams andknow them by heart, make your own exercises. Then do the exams again. Andalways ask for feedback, critique to train yourself against every weak pointthat you don’t want the jury to catch you doing when you do the actual exam.

Sign up for figure drawing class right now,with or without teacher (I signed up to an art club without one), the soonerthe better, and go there frequently, once or twice per week, to the short posessessions (up to 15 minutes per pose, 2 to 5 minutes would be ideal). Don’tbother doing portraits or long poses because again, what you want is to producea lot, fast. Put a lot of focus on gesture drawing, movement and speed. It’llnot only be a big chunk of your portfolio if you do pass the first round, butit hones your draftsmanship like no other exercise. You can additionally trainat home with websites like QuickPoses or the New Masters Academy figure drawingvideos, but I’d really want to stress that live models work so much bettersince they force you to interpret a 3D person.

Go to your local zoo as well, once a week oronce a fortnight, and do animal studies. If you can bring a friend it’ll help alot making it more fun but try to get used to drawing shapes that are nothuman. Understand their anatomy and try to apply what you’re learning aboutgesture from the figure drawing classes.

Draw in the street, in museums, go to a placethat inspires you or that you find curious and draw it. Draw the people topractice your characterization and caricature skills. Draw buildings to showyour perspective skills. And just whatever catches your eye. Environments and perspective are important and I strongly recommend you start by drawing from observation.

If you have a cool idea in mind or find agood exercise on tumblr to try that isn’t this, do it! The teachers appreciateinterest in several fields and if you can showcase that you’re a curiousstudent with plenty of interests they’ll consider you more seriously. I didconcept art and digital painting on the side and it ended up being a mainthing of my personal project.

And finally, go to @gobelins andraid it for advice, it’s a great point of reference to start with as well. Goto the current @crfa20 and past CRFA blogs to see what the students are up to if youwant inspo and check their profiles too.

Do this for the whole year.

Admissions open inJanuary and the earlier you can sign in the better (especially if you are aforeigner like me, you must get the equivalence with French studies recognizedofficially asap, it usually takes a while to get and it’s necessary).

On a side note, for the written exam, simplifyyour tools. You don’t have much time to elaborate or fix your mistakes so Iwould recommend you do your practice with pens (so you get used to not erasinglines and being confident with your strokes) and pencils (especially if you canget both regular, mechanical and color pencils to layer your drawings forcomplex exercises like perspective). During the exam don’t even think aboutbringing pens in case you do make mistakes you need to erase though, they arejust really good training.

Side note: if you can, all this while, make space for personal projects.Nothing that you must finish, but just produce a lot of your own content. Pick apodcast and do visual development for it, do fanart, iterate on a movie’s shots, developyour own stories through visual storytelling, do character design, storyboards,comics. Steal ideas if you must to get the creative juices flowing (but don’tpost it or pretend they are your own :V). Get acquainted with projects, explore a fewideas so that the moment you’re out of the exam room when you’re done with thewritten exam you not only have a deck of projects to choose from but are alsoacquainted with the process of carrying one forward (and also have a littlework already done).

Preparing for the oral exam

The oral exam consists of 3 parts.

A first part in which you’re not present, andthe jury will judge your portfolio, sketchbooks and demo reel without you for 30 minutes.

A second part, where you must introduce thejury to an original personal project of your own made for the admissionprocess, and defend it (in French).

A third part, where the jury will just ask youquestions (they’re usually very friendly) and judge your viability as a futureclassmate. Just be yourself!

The portfolio should just have your best, besweet, short and to the point. There is a limit of 40 pages including coversand the personal project so choose your best pieces from between your projectsand your practice. It should also cover three main points

Your skillset, which should be covered byyour studies, schoolwork, observation work and partly (but not mainly) the rest of your artwork.

Your capacity for creation and personal vision(aka what your interests are as an artist), which should be covered by the restof your artwork and other projects of your own.

Your capacity to convey and develop ideas, messages andstories through visual narration, which should be your main, personal project.

I recommend you throw in both sketches andunfinished stuff along with your most detailed and refined pieces so the jurycan have a good idea of your process, your way of solving problems and how faryour skills go. Storyboards, animatics and comics will always be a positivesince you’re aiming to study a medium that is sequential.

Also, if you can, pick other students’ portfolios for reference. They don’t need to be Gobelins or even students though, if you find a good philosophy to build your portfolio around, by all means go for it. It’ll give you a good idea of what needs to be there and what can be left out.

Lastly, while they stress that you *don’t* need toknow animation to get in since that’s what you’re applying to, you can bring ina 2-minute demo reel. I made mine with an animatic and a few animationexercises on my own, but I want to repeat what they told me, the intentionisn’t to show how good you are at it already (then what can they teach you?)but to show that you’re interested in the medium and are eager to learn.

Final note

You’re applying for an animation school, keepthat in mind always. An animator is not an illustrator or a concept artist(even if they can easily become one), and what sets them apart in my opinion is the focus on speed, gesture, quantity, and most importantly, making drawings that feel alive andthat tell something. Understand the craft, ask other animators, read books onanimation, anything you can get your hands on will help.

One of the points that I feel are the mostimportant about all this is included in the Modalités d'Admission text, whichsays that they look into a quality that would literally translate to “opennessof spirit”. I think that speaks for how open minded you are to new ideas,to working with others, to learning and to considering new points of view.

Again I don’t have all the answers, but if youare “open of spirit” and really make an effort to dive into theanimation world, look for resources and friends in this world I’m certainyou’ll find them.

#gobelins #daeseungie

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canaryatlaw · 7 years

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So, today for the first time in a few weeks, I would say was a good day, and that's something worth celebrating to me. It probably actually means the new antidepressant I'm on kicked in, but hey, I'm not gonna question it. It wasn't really good for any specific reason, I just felt better about everything. So often it's hard to actually tell you're in a depression when you're depressed. I would always just start questioning my life choices and if this is all really worth doing (which is truly a far cry from a suicidal thought, trust me, but it just somehow feels wrong). But then there are better days like today that just make you feel better about just about everything. So, today. Woke up at 6:40 to my early alarm in my attempt to get to work early, thought about it for approximately 2 seconds before going "nah" and resetting it for 7 (because nobody saw that coming). So I got to work at my normal time and started reading the latest interview form, which gave me most of the info I needed to change up my questions. Just as I finished that the attorney who gave me the hearing, who sits across from me, asked if I wanted to go over them, so we did so and I was like oh how much do you just want to get on the record about like services etc and she crossed out a few questions that didn't apply (I had already changed the parents section since they were no longer involved here) but then basically added stuff to promote the goal of the hearing, which was to get the judge to extend the wardship until her 21st birthday. It's an uncontested argument, and it's not like the judge is just gonna not do it to be a dick, but it's an argument you still have to make. So we talked about different services she's in or will need in the future, she has a 2 year old son who's currently with her mother under a short term guardianship (since her parents were never actually found to be abusive because they got a dependency finding at trial, something I'm not certain I agree with but it was a much different circumstance and it wouldn't make me doubt their ability to care for this child) but she could hopefully get back after she finished high school, which would require day care services, etc and she would need college services or employment services, so it's obviously worth staying in the system till 21. It's not perfect, but it really is SUCH a better option than dumping the kid out on the street once they turn 18. So around 9:30 we go down, and things kind of go haywire for a while in the courtroom because a bunch of people didn't show up on time so they were doing cases all out of order, and the lawyer I was with ended up getting stuck with an emergency motion (but more on that later). It was set for 10:30, the worker arrived a bit after 11 (she wasn't the latest one, by far) so we talked to her outside since she was a new one just about the case and such. I was talking to the state too since they typically take the lead on permanency hearings, but they were totally fine with letting me do it, and we had to figure out how to get a current service plan into evidence since apparently nobody had one, lol, so we ended up (or the ASA did) telling the court the worker would print it off at the end of the hearing. The hearing itself went fine, I just need to get used to being up at the bench and asking questions, and learning to adjust when things don't follow your perfect question pattern. The trial ad books tell you that generally beginners will use exact question lists but the more experienced attorneys will just have a list of points to cover, which allows them to explore each answer the proper amount and cover all the ground needed depending on what comes up. Well, I'm not experienced yet, lol, but I'm learning to adjust to when the answer doesn't come out as expected and not getting flustered when that's the case. And I'm sure that will just come with practice. And I mean, this is a perfect environment to do it in being that we never have a jury and there is still a lot of uncontested stuff. So I was overall happy with it. Afterwards I went back upstairs and worked on the TPR prep that I worked on for the rest of the day. The real fun of the day ("fun") came from the attorney I was with when she returned on her emergency motion that had been called by mom's atty at 9:30 but then mom didn't show up until like 11:30 or something ridiculous like that, then told this ridiculous story that she said her son told her about his father leaving him and his two year old brother home alone (kid is 12) and somehow weed got on his pizza and he ate it and he knew what weed looked like from watching a movie and ???? It was truly bizarre, but the weird thing is this case isn't actually screened into the system, meaning DCFS doesn't have custody of them, which severely limits what remedies they can implement. The kid is supposedly on an order of protection to live with his father, but apparently dad doesn't really live there and just comes and goes so he's actually really living with his (paternal) grandma. So mom wanted the order of protection vacated and the kid sent home to her of course, but it got continued until our office could interview the kid. So we send one of our interviewers out to his school who reports back with word that the real story was his little brother had apparently sprinkled loose tobacco on the pizza, not weed, and his dad was in the other room smoking, not leaving them alone. But more important than that was that he was now saying grandma had been beating him and he's scared to live with her, which necessitated us to call the hotline and obviously he can't return to the placement, so they're scrambling to figure something out, because they can't stick him in a foster home without screening him into the system and nobody wants to do that unnecessarily, but they didn't know if they could get a relative placement by 3:30 when someone needs to pick this kid up from school. So they basically decide he's gonna go back to mom until court on Wednesday when he can talk to the judge. The whole thing is this case came in because mom could never get the kids to school and they were like, all failing all their classes, and the kid now has 17 tardies on the one day a week mom was bringing him to school and flunking all his classes, so we really don't want him going back to mom when at trial the judge specifically made neglect findings based on those facts, but at this point it was mom or the shelter, and in that choice it's hard to not say mom. So that ends up being the pick, but then the issue is telling grandma she no longer had custody of the kid and was now the subject of a DCFS investigation. Mind you I'm watching this all play out over hours through phone calls with a ridiculous amount of people trying to figure it out and the atty ranting about it. At one point I managed to slip in something about if DCFS would be stepping up their investigations on already open cases in response to the recent child deaths, which I was hoping would lead to a conversation about the child death case I was working on that she was the previous atty for, which provided me with the opportunity to ask what her thoughts were when the kids were getting returned home, and I was really surprised by what she said. She said mom had done every service asked of her, had always visited the kids, and had fully cooperated with the agency the whole time. Like, what??? That's a far cry from what ended up happening. She said she was really surprised by the death, and spoke about meeting with Manny and how bright he was. She made some comment about how they had apparently killed a dog by neglect, and she felt like Manny had become the replacement dog because they moved him into the back room where the dog lived and basically treated him like one. Idk it was an interesting perspective to get. She seemed to blame the boyfriends influence, which I thought was interesting because of course he's trying to play that he was manipulated by this older woman. But back to the main story, suddenly the agency is trying to get her on a conference call with grandma and she is like uh NO I can't do that, there's this thing called atty client privilege and her client specifically said he didn't want grandma being told what he had said. But they just kept calling on repeat, which was funny because she had been fielding calls all day from all different people, and they end up calling the lead attorney on the calendar in an attempt to get to her lol. She talked to them later not with grandma on the line and was like yeah NO but then the issue was picking the kid up from school, because apparently the mom and grandma had called the police on each other a lot in this case, and she was afraid if mom picked up the kid without any documentation saying she had the right to do so grandma would call the cops who would see the legal custody order dad still does have and return the kids to her, but the agency was totally unhelpful and now nobody wanted to pick the kid up because they were worried they'd get in trouble so she had to convince the caseworker to go get him and it's like 3:40 at this point and this poor kid is probably so confused. She did end up picking him up though and he's at moms, until Wednesday anyway. The icing on the cake was the voicemail she got at the end of the day from grandma, which was fucking hilarious because she was clearly VERY offended she hadn't immediately told grandma about the allegations, like she's the client here, and she's been taking care of this kid for all these years (except she really hasn't) and YOU KNOW WHAT YOURE REALLY NOT THAT SPECIAL, YOURE REALLY NOT (I kid you not she said that and I was cracking up). So that was at least somewhat humorous. But I found the entire situation at least somewhat comical just because of how ridiculous it was, and it's the kind of thing you have to laugh at in this line of business. At 4:44 I checked the bus status to find that the 5:13 bus was currently listed as "delayed" to which I responded "shit" and basically packed up all my stuff in a rush and left to catch the 5:03, because I've learned when it says delayed there is no telling when it's actually coming (I think it did end up coming on schedule, but not the point). By the time I got to the bus stop I did have a few minutes, and the homeless guy that hangs out at the median right by there came over, idk if he remembered I gave him an energy bar last week or it was just random, but upon seeing him I said oh hey I have another bar and produced one from my purse, and he did seem surprised about that so maybe it was just random. But we sat and talked for a few, he asked about my day and I said it was good because I got to do a court hearing, he wanted to know what kind of court and when I said child protection he started talking about "seeing some things" in "the hood" that made him glad he wasn't the parent of those kids because he'd be in trouble if he was. I just said well if you ever do need it, the hotline is 1-800-25-ABUSE (that's for Illinois anyway, I have no idea if it would work outside this state) and he seemed to appreciate that before going back to his median. Got on the bus and went home, had time to make dinner quickly before watching the supergirl finale, which I won't elaborate on too much just because I've already written so damn much about my day and I can get into details about that easily. But I was pretty satisfied with finale being that my only real hope going into it was that Meh-El would die/get banished/be gone from the show in whatever method they came up with and that was achieved, so I was happy about that. I mean, at this point I was pretty confident that's was what was going to happen, the writers had to know the backlash they were facing off his character and their bending the season around his whims, and his whole plot really never felt sustainable to me for longer than a season anyway, so maybe he was never supposed to be more than that to begin with. I thought Kara's plan to duel it out with Reya with the fate of the entire planet on the line, like if I lose everything is over, was pretty goddamn stupid, and really just a distraction before knowing that the Daxomite banisher thingy (official name of course) would have to get turned on. I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud when Lena looked at Supergirl and was like "he's dating Kara Danvers, you know" talking about Meh-El and I was just like okay you cannot tell me that Lena has no romantic interest in Kara after the way she delivered that line, even if it was just the actress' spin on it, it was quite obvious and it cracked me up. I think I'll stop there, those are most of my thoughts, though I'll say a few words on the return of Superman since I am so fond of his character. He obviously took a backseat here because it is Supergirl's show and her fight, but I take issue with them making Zod his "mortal enemy" when anyone who's ever read or watched anything Superman knows Lex Luthor is his mortal enemy, but I bet you anything they didn't want to cast a Lex now in case they want to bring that out at a later point (I wasn't really a fan of carrying the Smallville universe into this one because they are fundamentally incompatible in so many ways, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to think of Lex Luthor as anyone other than Michael Rosenbaum and I would die if they had him do it). Okay, now I'm done. After that I started watching the new season of Unbreakable kimmy Schmidt which was as highly enjoyable. On my commute and through the evening I had started a new long fic I've been waiting to get a chance to start for a while now, and it started to go the calling CPS route with the Snarts and I kind of braced myself for the really cringeworthy narrative that calling them is the worst thing ever to do for an abused kid because I think the shows have, even if it was subtly, encouraged that line of thinking when it came to them and like, it pisses me off so fucking much because that stuff has real life effects about people not calling CPS when they see abuse and that's how kids die (if you see child abuse, please, please call CPS/DCFS. I'm begging you, you may be that child's last lifeline). But then it took a totally different turn and I wasn't subjected to that at all and I was actually really impressed with their handling of the system and what they wrote so that just made my day that much better (the author doesn't have a tumblr, I wasn't sure so I mentioned it in a comment and they said they didn't but they should get one). And yeah, I think that was all I wanted to say for the day and I'm gonna shut up now because this post is way too long already and I need to go to sleep. Goodnight friends. Stay lovely.

#daily journal #May 2017

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jeanklemwriter · 7 years

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Marvel recently made yours truly (and a good number of other people) pretty cross with their recent statements that their attempts at diversity aren’t working and that “people don’t want diversity”.

Let’s ignore how Marvel charts sales only via floppies, and not trade paperbacks and/or digital copies. Let’s ignore how Marvel fails to hire new writers to reflect their diverse characters or audiences. Let’s instead focus on a graphic novel industry that’s currently eating Marvel’s pie while it complains about SJWs and makes old characters Nazis (because women inheriting Thor’s title is cardinal sin, but making them Nazis is A-OK).

Let’s talk about manga.

The Big Two, these being DC and Marvel, have a lot they should be learning from manga. It’s a growing industry! It survived a cataclysmic bubble-burst in 2008, but currently is still in a growth period. Shonen Jump has survived its print parallell being shuttered, as a digital-only publication. What are the likes of One-Punch Man, Please Tell Me! Galko-Chan!, and Attack on Titan doing that DC and Marvel aren’t? Well, for starters (more after the break)...

Manga is cheaper. Used to be, people on Gaia Online would joke that manga was a drug because it was more expensive than crack, but that’s not quite true. When it started, a Shonen Jump trade paperback (commonly called a “tankoubon”, because that’s what they’re called in Japan) would retail at $7.95. Eventually, Viz bumped up the price--to $9.95 a pop. Today, you can expect to spend as much as $12.99 a pop per tankoubon, although Shonen Jump stuff still retails at just under $10, for something between 190 - 256 pages in length. Meanwhile, the MSRP for a 168-page-long Spider-Man trade paperback is $24.99. A lot of arguments can be made here: anime is only in black-and-white, the paper stock is different. But why is an imported comic that needs to be licensed, translated, edited, published, then distributed a cheaper alternative than a comic made in the US? Monthly issues (”floppies”) are a terrible investment, clocking in at $3 - $7 a pop, only 16 pages, and flimsy/fragile as all heck! Worse yet, in Marvel’s case, digital copies of the same issue cost the same as the print copy. (With Shonen Jump? They’re three bucks cheaper.) People only have so much cash, and they want their money to last: a story that’ll last you ten minutes isn’t going to be considered if that same money can go to a game that’s on sale on Steam. Considering how much work goes into a comic, I’d never even dream to consider that comics should be cheaper, but at least give people more bang for their buck.

Manga stories aren’t a messy web. When I started reading Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man run in 2014, there was a whole extra series being sold alongside it that I also found myself needing to read: Learning to Crawl, which was sold as--get this--decimal-issues of Amazing Spider-Man. LtC counted as issues 1.1 to 1.6 of ASM. What. It can be argued that Learning to Crawl wasn’t necessary to understand Amazing Spider-Man, but then an important character introduced in LtC became an important recurring character in ASM. Now, let’s get even messier: ASM continued with the Spider-Verse event, with no less than four comics tying into the darn thing: Edge of Spider-Verse, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Woman, and Amazing Spider-Man. All of those characters and comics were involved, and had a hand in that event. I didn’t read all of those comics, only EoSV and ASM--so I can’t begin to explain why Spider-Woman was hiding in the Inheritor World when she was, or how Kaine appeared. Compare this to 20th Century Boys, Naoki Urusawa’s tale of childhood, post-war Japan, friendship, and political intrigue. If you want to understand that story, pick up volume one (I insist, it’s so good) and start reading. Wanna catch up on Berserk while its on hiatus? Just buy a volume and start reading! Anyone jumping into a comic book has to be ready to read three different books just to get the low-down on one story, which doesn’t combine well with the aforementioned pricing problems. Floppies are already a tough investment, and they feel even cheaper when you’re supposed to supplement them with even more purchases. It gets worse when you remember...

Manga stories don’t come with baggage. Amazing Spider-Man wasn’t as great an introduction to the character as it could have been. If Peter Parker wasn’t such a cultural marker, that story would have left me confused. Who is this guy in the red-and-blue? Why does he have spider-powers? On a deeper level, what happened with him and Doctor Octopus?! Yeah, see, ASM takes place after a period of time where Doctor Octopus switched minds with Peter Parker and took over his body, becoming the “Superior Spider-Man”, and ASM starts with Peter having regained his body and finding the messes that Doc Oc left for Peter--and trust me, not having read the SSM books, I was surprised to see stuff like Electro and Black Cat having a vendetta against Spidey, or Mary Jane having married someone else. In other words, to understand a current comic book character, you’ve had to have been reading about them for over two years--or dived into a wiki. Now, few manga in the US have lasted the forty-plus years that the likes of Captain America, Batman, or Animal Man have, but even after 84 volumes One Piece is somehow still easier to jump into than an alleged reboot (they’re pirates looking for treasure, also yo-ho-ho Luffy took a bite of gum-gum). If your point is to create an entry point for new readers, you’ve failed when people need to read at least one other book to understand the current one.

Manga covers a lot of ground. Used to be, comics in the US had all kinds of genres: besides superheroes, we had romance, horror, suspense, crime thrillers, and comedies. The rise of the Comic Book Code changed all of that; now all DC and Marvel publish are superheroes. Shonen Jump may be the house that’s ruled by Dragon Ball and One Piece, but Shonen Jump still has piles of variety. Besides action stories, they also cover comedy (Cowa!, Gintama), romance (I’’s, Strawberry 100%), horror (Muyo and Rohji’s Supernaural Detective Agency), sports (Prince of Tennis, Eyeshield 21) and thrillers (Death Note). I’m only covering series that are licensed in the US, mind--Japan has weirder stuff from Shonen Jump, like the positively-ancient KochiKame. Too much emphasis is put on capes in the Big Two. Even their attempts at moving away from that are overshadowed by capes: Grayson may have been a spy thriller, but it still starred Dick Grayson, alias Nightwing (and onetime Batman). Gotham Academy was a fun adventure series set in a large prep school--in the middle of Gotham City. The closest we could hope for Marvel to do as a romance would be Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane. It seems Marvel and DC aren’t capable--or willing--to release anything that isn’t attached to their superheroes. (There’s a lot to unpack with that last statement, and there’s no space and time to cover that--let’s just say you can’t have an audience you don’t cultivate, and you can’t complain about people ignoring you if you ignore them.) Finally...

Manga actually hires women. Two of the most beloved manga of all time, each responsible for an entire generation of manga fans, are Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha. They’re both romantic comedies with lots of action; the former is more comedy than action, the latter is more action and fantasy than romance. Both of these came to be genre-defining works. Their creator? Rumiko Takahashi--a woman. She’s not alone, either: Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon, Yana Toboso’s Black Butler, CLAMP’s Chobits, xxxHolic, and Tsubasa Resorvoir Chronicles, Hiromu Arakawa’s Full-Metal Alchemist... there is a not-insignificant list of very, very prolific manga that are written and drawn by women. Meanwhile, DCs policies during the New 52 meant that only two women worked with them: writer Gail Simone and artist Amy Reeder. A lot of people on the internet argue for a total meritocracy: that creators should be hired for their talent or skill, and not because they’re women/people of color. But you can’t have a healthy industry without a wide variety of creators. A wide, diverse team of writers means you have a wide, diverse set of viewpoints and experiences that translate to different stories. Ranma 1/2 isn’t a great story because Rumiko Takahashi is a woman, it’s a great story because Rumiko Takahashi is a great writer and artist. But she actually had to get hired in order to make Ranma 1/2. The only reason for Marvel and DC to not have more women in their teams is if they don’t give a crap... and, really, that’s quite telling: you can’t complain attempts at diversity aren’t working if you’re not willing to commit to it. Manga isn’t great at diversity either, owing to Japan’s far-more-ethnocentric population, but there’s still startlingly-more variety with manga than there’s ever been with comics in years. If publishers in the US want to make better business, start looking at how their international fellows handle business. Millions of One Piece fans worldwide exist for a reason.

#marvel #dc #shonen jump #diversity #comics

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inkshares · 7 years

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A Q&A with cover designer M. S. Corley

Last July we brought book production in house. As part of that, we knew that we needed to hire and work with the best editors and designers around. Over the next few months we’ll be introducing you to some of these amazing people. We want to kick that set of introductions off today with Mike S. Corley.

Mike is known for his powerful, evocative covers. He’s done work for bestselling authors like Hugh Howey and Paolo Bacigalupi, and he’s worked on everything from novels to comic books to concept art for videogames. He’s designed covers for some of the biggest publishers, like Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin, and Random House.

Currently, he’s designing Matt Harry’s Sorcery for Beginners (publishing this October from Inkshares with the official cover reveal on Wednesday). He’s also the mastermind behind the gorgeous covers for other Inkshares titles like A God in the Shed and Rune of the Apprentice.

Mike recently spoke with us about reinventing Harry Potter covers, the pleasures of reading Murakami in the summertime, and his thoughts on what makes a great book cover.

Mike, we’ve heard you have a really interesting story about how you broke into the business. Can you tell the Inkshares community a bit about it?

Back in 2008, I was working at a merchandising agency and wasn’t really enjoying the work I was doing. It was easy and comfortable but not very fulfilling. So one night after work when I would normally work on my own personal projects, I was thinking about what I would do if I could have any art job. I’ve always been a bibliophile, so I figured if I could do anything, it would be designing book covers.

There was a trend at the time of redesigning things in old-fashioned, minimalist art styles. People were doing movies as books and videogames as books and posting them on the internet. So I thought, well I don’t wanna just copy them and try to make more movies or video game covers: why not just do books as books, go back and apply the same design aesthetic?

The first ones I tried my hand at were the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I worked it out in the old Penguin Marber Grid style of covers they had in the 60s.

I worked on Harry Potter next and started posting the covers online. I struck a chord with a lot of folks on the internet when I put my HP covers up and things escalated quickly with those covers specifically. I was going to make prints because there was a huge demand at the time, but then Warner Bros. lawyers came flying outta nowhere and shut me down quick. It was surreal that I would be contacted by a HP lawyer saying, “you can’t make this art and sell it” as they slowly cracked their knuckles into the phone quite menacingly. So of course I stopped any progress on producing those covers. Luckily they were already out in the wild and about a week later I got my first cover job from someone who saw them and wanted me to do something similar for them.

From then on I got about one book cover request a month for the rest of the year and it slowly increased. I would do my normal job during the day and work on covers at night when the jobs came in. In 2009 I quit my corporate job and went full time on covers because the timing seemed to be right, and I was young and stupid enough to take the risk without much damage to my current life. I figured I’d give it a go for a couple of months and if it didn’t work I could always go back to a design firm and get a “grown up” job again. Luckily that never happened.

Wow, that’s a hell of a story. You should publish that as a book on Inkshares, and we’ll make the cover. Kidding. What were your favorite books of 2016? And which books are currently on your nightstand?

I read a lot less last year than I would have liked, but a few standouts for me were:

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami. I have a tradition to read a couple of his books every summer during the months of May-August.This year my Murakami summer read will be 1Q84. He is the best. Makes me feel super melancholy and nostalgic for things I don’t even know.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I love the Frankenstein monster and the old Universal monster movies in particular, but I’ve never read the original novel, so I made that a goal for last year. I read an oversized version illustrated by Bernie Wrightson which really added to the story.

The Valancourt Book of Christmas Ghost Stories from Valancourt Books. I love reading ghost-story collections around Christmas time. There is something fantastic about sitting by the fire, drinking some Winter Cheer (look it up) on a cold winter night. I’ve read so many collections it seems that everyone just repeats the same ‘greatest hits’ in the ghost-story genre, but this book was all new to me.

On my nightstand I currently have The Vile Village, Book 7 in the Series of Unfortunate Events. I started re-reading them in January because of the new Netflix show coming out. I wanted a refresher, and they still are fantastic. I also just started The Pilgrim's Progress. I’ve read abridged versions before, but this is the first time I’ll read the original text which I’m looking forward to.

What was your favorite cover of last year? No choosing your own covers!

Hah, I wouldn’t choose my own covers. I’m one of those artists that never enjoys looking at work after it’s done, I’ve seen how the sausage got made so I’ve no interest in ogling at it beyond the creation itself.

I don’t know the designer off hand but one cover I really enjoyed was I Am for You by Mieko Ouchi. Beautiful and simple. I love images that are one thing at quick glance and then on closer inspection they reveal another.

Another would be Onibi, a French graphic novel by Atelier Sento. I really love the art style and the book, which I own but can’t read because I don’t know French beyond fries.

If you could live a day in the life of a character from any book who would it be?

Thomas Carnacki from William Hope Hodgson’s short stories on the character. He is the epitome of what I would like to do as a life job (besides art) and just has the perfect amount of confidence and scaredy-pants-ness as a guy I can relate the most to, who can still be cool.

What is your favorite part of the job? What’s the hardest?

Getting paid! Har har. No my favorite part is doing the concepts. I read pitches then I go through a little routine of prepping for a new book. I’ll gather some reference images that feel like a style I think matches the book, and I go for a run or have a long shower (that’s where my ideas come to me for whatever reason). Then I sit down for a day or a few and just work out every angle I can take the book with a number of concepts until I either think I hit the right one, run out of ideas, or run out of time. Sometimes I get art blocks during the concept phase and mope to my wife about how I’m a terrible designer and maybe I used up all my ideas on the last book. Then I’ll start the process over, run more, shower more, a literal rinse and repeat.

You forgot the “lather” part! What was the most challenging book you’ve ever worked on? What made it challenging?

There was this one indie-author book that I got a few years into doing freelance. They found me because of the Harry Potter covers. They detailed the book idea they had, even had a rough sketch and said “just make this in your style,” so I made just that in my style. They said “this is good, but was it too good?” They asked if I could make it look worse, of course not that specifically but very nearly. I went through round after round breaking it down till it was literally (not figuratively) their sketch in the end, and then they weren’t happy and said “okay how about you do it the way you’d like it.” And then I put my hands up in the air and said I’m probably not the right guy for the job. That was a playful retelling and this was drawn out over many months. It was very surreal, sad, and frustrating. It’s over though, so I can look back and laugh a bit about it.

*cries softly*

It felt a bit like McSweeney’s “Client Feedback on the Creation of the Earth.”

In your opinion, what makes a great book cover? Are there rules that for you across genre?

I don’t think that can be pinned down in words exactly. It’s very easy to see a terrible book cover and point out why it’s bad. Wrong font, bad images, weird layout, etc. But often a good cover, for me at least, is more of just a gut feeling. You know it when you see it, and you can try to break down why this part works or that part works but sometimes it doesn’t make sense at all. Sometimes rules are broken that shouldn’t be broken in design and it just works. Sometimes it’s how the title plays with the images. Sometimes it’s just the colors, or just the images. Sometimes it’s just great because art is relative and you think it’s a great cover when it actually isn’t...

I see a lot of publishers point to other comp covers out there and say “That cover is great, make that cover, but not..” and I can do the exact same thing that we see on the referenced cover but it won’t work for this other book for various reasons. Sometimes things just work with one book and don’t with another.

So for me, I have a certain taste in covers, and I realize my likes on art in general don’t match everyone’s tastes, but if I can be paired up with people where we mesh, then we are able to create great things. Or maybe they’re not! Depends on who’s looking at it.

Unless it’s our mothers looking at it, then of course it’s great.

You’ve had a lot of success, but you’re still young. Who are your favorite covers designers from the older generation?

Oh gosh, I don’t even have an answer there. The older generation? I may only be in my 30s, but I feel like the old generation already. Often times, and criminally, I don’t know who most cover designers are. It isn’t prominently posted anywhere especially with books from the olden days. There are lots of vintage books I own with just beautiful hardcover designs and I haven’t a clue who created them. Things are changing a bit now which is good, with social media artists are posting their own covers and often even publishers will link to the artist so it’s becoming a lot more known who did what. But I don’t have any good names to give. Saul Bass?

What was your favorite cover as a child?

Calvin and Hobbes collection covers. Those were the best.

If you could go back in time and design any book’s cover, what would it be and what would it look like?

I would love love love to go back and design the Harry P—just kidding. I would actually love to have been able to design the Lemony Snicket series. I’m not sure I could have done better than the original covers— Brett Helquist’s art is Lemony in my mind. But that series means so much to me and changed my view on books as a whole in a lot of ways, so getting to design them if only to take part in that series in a more concrete form than just being a fan would have really buttered my bread.

#cover design #cover designer #book covers #books #book #lit #harry potter #Lemony Snicket #A Series of Unfortunate Events #j.k. rowling #interview #reading #art #design #cover designing #Mike S. Corley #M.S. Corley

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