#my first art for this fandom that wasn’t Big Bang related in actual months and it’s fucking catboy andrew

[aminiyard]

i wish i could be sorry but im not capable of it rn

aka i dragged @mochawlw into hell

#the foxhole court #all for the game #tfc #aftg #andrew minyard #i am not adding the catboy tag that feels like asking for trouble #my first art for this fandom that wasn’t Big Bang related in actual months and it’s fucking catboy andrew #i am doing things with my life #all of those things are bad

[psychicnymph]

what happened to aphroditedolan?

hi everyone. i’m here to address the questions that i know many of you will ask. my sudden departure from the dolan twins fandom was not an entirely impulsive decision, so i’m here to explain.

first and foremost, i deactivated because of the sheer amount of blatant, cruel, and unacceptable disrespect i endured while writing for fun and for free. i would spend hours, upon days, upon weeks, upon months working on projects and i still got this disrespect. people were critical of my appearance, my strong-willed and passionate nature, the way i presented myself online -- but, amazingly, never of my writing. see, truth be told, arrogance in tote, my writing is phenomenal. it was rare that you’d catch a spelling or grammatical error (which is a direct result of my educational privilege, i recognize), each plot was well thought-out, each descriptor would bring the scenery, the characters, the erotic scenes to life; you name it, i took the time to near-perfect it. i wrote, edited, sometimes went as far as rewriting -- my point is, i was dedicated. 

a few weeks ago, i even took the time to completely reorganize my blog; i gathered and linked all the small concepts & blurbs i wrote and put them into a masterlist, on top of updating my fic masterlist to be more aesthetically pleasing, cleaner, and editing pictures myself to put them on both masterlists. i did this because i was excited to continue the two short series which i had started: Let Me Get That For You and A Girl is a Gun. additionally, i had ideas, WIPs, and other projects i was planning and writing for that i couldn’t wait to embark on -- and then, it was like something changed in the fandom.

well, i suppose i can’t say changed. let’s say more like... got exponentially worse.

from the very beginning, there were two types of people who i noticed in the twins’ tumblr fandom: there were those who earned their numbers, and there were those who preached ideas of entitlement. there was also a hierarchy: big blogs, and small blogs. it was like a caste system of its own kind. i’d like to discuss this for a brief moment.

when i first started writing, i was absolutely nobody in the fandom. i wasn’t on other platforms, i hadn’t been a stan for very long, i didn’t know anybody -- the tumblr fandom was where i wanted to start and, for the most part, ended up staying. i mention this because at the time of aphroditedolan’s deletion, i was considered a “big blog.” how did i go from small to big, then? if it’s a caste system, how could i have transitioned?

the answer is simple. the system you all created doesn’t exist. in this fandom, you are either entitled or you are talented, and that’s about it.

i never sat around begging people to like, reblog, or read my work, and i never pleaded for followers. i got them because i put out good, consistent, beautiful writing. i interacted with people, i wrote for prompts, i reached out and cultivated friendships, i did what i went to tumblr to do: write and be part of a community that loved the dolan twins. that’s it. the numbers came through hard work, dedication, and most of all, earning every one of them. 

no one on this earth or any other is entitled to likes, reads, reblogs, comments, kind words, attention, followers, or anything of the sort. yes, everyone deserves those things; no, you shouldn’t just get them. you should strive to earn these things. and honestly, while i think everyone is deserving of a chance, not everyone is cut out to be a writer. not everyone is made or meant for this art. because it’s an art. it’s a skill that needs to be developed and practiced. you can’t just sit down and bang out some writing. you absolutely must be dedicated and passionate about it if you ever want a taste of being successful. and that’s just it; some of you are doing this for the wrong reasons. you do it for the numbers. numbers do not fucking matter. they aren’t even real. it’s just a count of people who have physically interacted with your post, or people who actually decided to follow you.

everyone deserves to have their craft appreciated, but when you just start writing for the attention you think it’ll get you, that’s not a craft. that’s you doing the things you see others doing because you see the attention they get and you want a piece of that for yourself. it’s a shitty, horrible motive. and then, when it’s obvious that writing isn’t your strongest talent or even a genuine passion of yours, you whine about some system that isn’t fair, you create something to blame for your lack of success -- of course, it must be the bigger blogs.

i’m proof that that just isn’t true and y’all are lying to yourselves. in less than a year, i ended up with 4k followers and extremely successful pieces. again, because i earned it. through time, effort, and dedication, i earned it.

another thing that came with the culture of entitlement in the fandom was people being self-pitying in order to evoke guilt in their audience, so that people would go and tell them, no, your writing is so good, keep it up. they did it as a means of getting the attention they hadn’t earned. people got into the habit of trying to use me for more attention. they would feign friendliness, interest in my blog, etc., all to say, hey, can you check out my writing and reblog it?

i don’t fuck with that shit. it’s a huge part of why i had to turn my submissions off and my messages off from people i didn’t follow. i don’t like people who only care about numbers and want to use me for more numbers. it was beyond disrespectful that people thought i couldn’t see what they were trying to do; honey, manipulation is a skill just like any other, and i’m better at it than you are. don’t try it on me.

besides the overly-entitled, suffocating people who would shit on, criticize, and blame others for their low numbers which resulted from their sheer lack of effort and self-awareness (and by this i mean actually stopping to question 1. what is your motive here and 2. is what you’re producing actually good or is it slapped together messily?), there was also the culture of feedback to the writer from the audience. 

it was rare that i’d get any other response on my writing besides “part 2?” “more?” “part 2 plzzzz” “you need to update this” and etc.

how many times is the writing community gonna have to say that those comments aren’t helpful, kind, supportive, constructive, or ANYTHING besides annoying? they’re demanding. they push the idea that they just want more of the same ol’ shit. even after i made it blatantly clear on more than one occasion that i don’t take requests and would not be adding a part 2 to something unless it was upon my own discretion, there were still constant, never-ending, tireless requests for more, or requests in general. it was frustrating and infuriating. i was so tired of repeating myself. and when i stopped repeating myself and started linking people to asks or my FAQ where i had already answered that question, people wanted to act like i had an attitude. people gave me endless grief that i was a bitch, aggressive, had a shitty attitude; no, babe. i just wasn’t tolerant of poor treatment. you should try to start adopting this attitude for yourself. respect yourself and know your worth. it’s really as simple as that.

when the biphobic comments rolled around, i’d had enough. it’s when i decided to take my break, truly because i was furious (as i had every right to be) and because that whole situation made me not want to write at all. all my passion and motivation to finish projects i’d been so excited to do for you guys went out the window. it’s sad that y’all pushed me over the edge this way. i gave it time, i let the wounds heal, i let the anger fade, and i started an official hiatus to do this. i’m also in school again, which meant i’d be less active anyway, and it felt like a good idea to just put some distance between myself and the tumblr fandom. but the distance has only solidified the feeling that i’m just not appreciated as much as i deserve to be. and i don’t mean in numbers. i mean for the amount of effort i put in to get constant backlash on things that don’t even have to do with my writing, to work so hard only to be pissed the fuck off, to dedicate so much time and energy to a group of people only for y’all to erase my identity, send me hate, try to act big and tough and like you’re the shit behind anonymous... i’m good luv, enjoy.

there are also other factors; truths about some of the people in the fandom that are idolized, the constant plagiarism of my work, the overwhelming sense of responsibility that came with keeping up with my blog like it was a job, among other things that i don’t care to elaborate on.

so that’s it. i got tired of the same old shit and i know i deserve better. below, i’ll answer some questions that i think some people may be left with:

are you and luna still dating?

yes. for the last time, yes. we are dating. we are a couple. we love each other. we are in a long distance relationship and we are actually dating. not like two besties pretending to date because it’s quirky -- we are actually. fucking. dating. and no, nothing happened between us to make me make this decision. we are doing great.

are you gonna write ever again?

in my life? yes. for the twins, in this fandom, or on this platform? fuck no.

are you still a fan of the twins?

yes! oh my god, probably always. no matter where they go or what they pursue, i’m there with them. they have made my life better, and i have a lot to thank them for. i’ll just be enjoying their content from alllllllllll the way over here.

are you gonna be blogging about the twins?

not at all. in fact, i don’t even follow rockstardolan because i’m keeping my dash away from all of that. i’m not following any dt related blogs. i’m gonna do my thing over here, and love the twins in private, on my own terms. 

why did you delete all your writing?

in truth, after everything, i don’t even want it to remain there. i essentially wanted to erase my contribution and my footprint on this fandom. plus, having my writing just out and about, having already been plagiarized so i’m sure you can find some things in various illegal wattpad compilations, makes me worry about more people doing that. i wanted to keep that damage to a minimum. so yeah, they’re gone forever. 

what about your friends, people you interacted with, etc?

the people who matter will stay in touch. there are some people i’ve cut out from my life for good because they’re toxic and quite frankly i just don’t like them. i’m done subjecting myself to people i don’t even fucking like for the sake of keeping others happy. but, the good friends who respected me, treated me well, etc, they’ll reach out when they can. i’d say i encourage it, but i have a lot on my plate as is and have a hard enough time keeping up with things in the real world, let alone things online. there’s still love there, i’m just keeping a safe, healthy distance and doing what’s best for me. 

if you have other questions, you can feel free to ask, but i’m really not in the market for new friendships. it’s not that time in my life. i literally cannot handle more than what i’ve got on my plate, and i’m keeping my priorities in order. i don’t care if you think i’m rude, if you think i’m a bitch, if you think i’ve got a bad attitude, if you think i’m a piece of shit, if you’re angry, if you’re sad, even if you’re gonna miss me -- this is for me. i’m letting this out as a big, fat fuck you to the things and people that ruined my experience on aphroditedolan, and as an explanation for the few people who deserve it.

take care of yourselves. do the things that make you happy. don’t tolerate things that don’t make you happy. do no harm, take no shit, and most importantly,

stan the FUCKING dolan twins.

signed,

daniella/dani/aphroditedolan, however you have known me. 

#aphroditedolan #what happened to aphroditedolan? #personal #an update

[kaoru-chibimaster]

How Not to Run an Event

Don’t Do What The Kingdom Hearts Big Bang Did.

Just Don’t.

Rant under the cut, so like... Seriously, scroll past this. This is me letting my feelings out and I doubt anyone’s interested in that.

-o-o-o-o-

So basically this event started out pretty hype. I was super excited to join in with something related to the Kingdom Hearts community. Before this, I just wrote fic. Like, I was so far in my bubble, I wasn’t aware of zines, I wasn’t aware of other collabs, I wasn’t even aware of some BNFs (so I’m sure I got weird looks for asking who some people were when basically everyone knew who these “some people” were). I just wanted to write and I crossed my fingers and hoped at least someone might enjoy it when I posted it. 

Joining fandom was not a sudden life-changing event for me or anything like that. I was 13 and just getting into forums and had essentially only had knowledge of the KH fanbase through gamefaqs, youtube, kh-vids and kh13 (and fanfiction.net a little later). Before then, my “fandom” was my close friends and I all being fans of the games. I saw posts and read fics and sometimes commented in forums but I was not involved. For the longest time I’d never really been involved.

Big Bang felt like a way to change that. I was so looking forward to the people I’d meet and the art and fics I’d get to see. I’d made friends over the past few months and I’m so, so grateful to BB for that. I was excited for all of the up and coming events planned for Dreamwidth. I’d started out in DW for FFXV related stuff but I’d never actually used my account, so I’m thankful for the opportunity to really learn DW and start using it more extensively. I loved the little events and activities like the posts where we could share our works in progress. That’s another thing I’m grateful for; there are a number of fics of mine that would’ve never gotten off the ground if not for WIP Wednesdays. I also really appreciated that this was set up as a pro-shipping community and that it emphasized that participants could ship what they wanted without being harassed.

Aside from that? 

Downhill. 

Like, at first it was a slow roll down the hill: the discord server would have some channels overrun with discussion I was either uninterested in or outright made me uncomfortable. I’m not going to name drop what these discussions were and who had started them but I muted them one by one until there were only maybe three or four channels (out of a good chunk, I didn’t count but it was a hell of a lot more than three or four) that were unmuted. It’d devolved from a lot of genuine and interesting discussions where we helped each other out with fics/art and just had general fun talking to each other into channels full of the same handful of people talking over each other or venting. Not at all what I was interested in from a community. It wasn’t too bad though because the server wasn’t necessary for the BB so if the people still there needed that space then it’s not my right to give them shit for it. It was, however, totally within my right to remove myself from it, just as it was my right to feel uncomfortable with it.

That was then though.

Right here and now? 

It’s a shitshow. It’s a dumpster fire. It’s basically anarchy.

My discomfort with the direction the server went in was hand in hand with my loss of motivation for my participation. I can’t even look at the fic I was writing for this event without feeling upset and stressed over it. So I dropped. 

And apparently, so did a good number of other people.

The mods made a post about how We’re Committed (which no one can find now because they deleted all their social media but I’ll get to that). They urged other people within the server to stay dedicated to the event. A rebuttal was made that pointed out the sort of environment they’d created that’d made a lot of people feel the same way as me: uncomfortable. The event mods were understaffed and constantly diverting attention to other/future events and one of them didn’t even communicate with the rest of the server save to make announcements, and the cherry on top? 

They expected the participants to make the effort. They expected to create a server and essentially let everyone grope around in the dark until they found a handhold. They outright told us they wouldn’t hold anyone’s hands, which was as condescending a statement as one could get, and then somehow expected the whole thing to work out? When the rest of the server occupants, including people who hadn’t spoken for ages and people who hadn’t spoken at all, started voicing their complaints, the mods acted like they were being backed into a corner they’d already placed themselves in.

They lashed out. Like children. Like a little kid on the playground confronted by their teacher after they pushed another kid and then loudly proclaimed “He pushed me first!”.

They backed out of the event and left it to the server mods. They, after having made a big deal out of commitment to the event, dropped it like a hot potato. 

And then they sent this nonsense:

Just. Out of nowhere.

It might’ve been salvaged if they left it in the hands of the other mods, but they cancelled it. They fucking cancelled all the people who put hard work into making fics and art and put time into this. Every single participant wasted their time on this. And it wasn’t just a few weeks, this fucking event started in April and they had the gall to just up and cancel it.

The rest of the email below, which is just as much a wall of text as this rant is, is essentially an overly worded temper tantrum in which the mods blame the participants for everything that went wrong. Like, I get it. You’re only human. You’re stressed too. You suffer anxiety like the rest of us. I get it. Yes, it was on us to communicate with our partners. But when we come to the mods for help? The last fucking thing you should ever tell us is “we don’t hold your hands”. No wonder no one ever came to you guys for help. 

But what really gets me is the fact that not every participant in this event was in the discord. Not everyone saw the drama that went down. Not everyone saw this coming. Imagine having joined this event only to find an email in your inbox a month before we were supposed to start posting telling you that the event is cancelled and it’s all your fault.

Makes the mods come across as incompetent at best. Malicious at worst.

And seriously, regardless of what’s going on in your life, what sort of hangups or problems you might have...

YOU DO NOT START AN EVENT LIKE THIS WITHOUT BEING READY TO FULLY COMMIT YOURSELF TO IT. IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE CRITICISM, IF YOU AREN’T GOOD AT COMMUNICATING WITH PEOPLE, IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE IDEA OF MODDING FOR AN EVENT THAT YOU STARTED THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE STARTED IT.

This is common sense. Seriously. I’d never put myself in a position of leadership without being able to accept the responsibility that comes with it. Because it leads to shit like this.

I’m upset. I’d dropped the event a few weeks ago and still I’m genuinely upset. Because nobody deserved this. None of the participants deserved to have their time wasted like this. Nobody deserved the drama and the bullshit that was dredged up from this. Nobody deserved to have this bomb dropped on them literally a month before posting was going to start.

It was supposed to be fun. For me, a chance to finally contribute something in the Kingdom Hearts fandom as part of a fandom effort. A chance to reach outside of my bubble and make friends and create. And while I did get to reach out, I did get to create, and I’m going to continue to contribute on my own as I always did, I can’t say anything good about the Big Bang beyond that. All good will there might’ve been for it was ruined the moment the former mods sent that passive aggressive email.

Who the hell wants to see that nonsense in their email anyway. Aren’t they grown ass adults? They ought to know better. A simple “We regret to inform you that we’re cancelling this event” would have been enough. The rest was unnecessary and, quite frankly, downright nasty and that was honestly what pissed me off enough to make this rant. 

In the end if it had silently died, I wouldn’t have even minded at this point.

But, well...

The Big Bang had to go out with a bang, I guess.

Too bad it was a shit grenade and now there’s shit all over the walls and I’m just glad I’m not the one who has to clean all that shit up.

#rant #khbigbang

[latestnews2018-blog]

How An Undeniably Cute Cartoon Tells Deep, Dark Stories About Our World

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/how-an-undeniably-cute-cartoon-tells-deep-dark-stories-about-our-world/

How An Undeniably Cute Cartoon Tells Deep, Dark Stories About Our World

Ask any summer camp devotee and they’ll tell you there’s something magical about spending weeks or even months away from the confines of real life, which even for kids are nice to escape. It’s the magic that stretches time without end, transforms a stranger into a best friend in 48 hours, and lets otherwise too-cool teens and preteens unabashedly shout nonsensical camp songs while banging on mess hall tables.

That undeniable witchcraft becomes real on the Cartoon Network’s “Summer Camp Island,” an animated series that dropped all its episodes in early July. The island is inhabited by animal campers (who are voiced by kid actors), sassy teen witch counselors and a host of otherwise inanimate objects come to life. Pajamas talk, fuzzy aliens hover around, friendly yetis speak in blurts of saxophone notes, and the sun and moon smile from their respective perches (and will get mad if you lose their friendship bracelets).

The show is a delight to look at, with bright colors and soft lines that seem spiritually similar to bubbly ballpoint script in a high schooler’s notebook — or “Adventure Time,” on which “Summer Camp Island” creator Julia Pott also worked. So many things — a cloud in the sky, trees in the woods, marshmallows, a sleepy softball, a phone with arms and legs — sport two big eyes and a tiny upturned mouth. The cumulative effect feels like a warm, visual hug.

A host of recent phenomena seem linked to a desire for simple niceness: The devoted fandom of “The Great British Bake Off.” The box-office success of a documentary on Fred Rogers, the original champion of nice TV. The rise of self-care as a commonplace concept. At a time when it seems that news only gets worse and divisions among people only deepen, earnest gentleness feels like a luxury.

Pott told HuffPost in a recent conversation that her first idea for a series was “lobster ‘Gilmore Girls’” — basically the beloved WB comedy-drama but with crustaceans — and later mentioned that series as a signifier of cozy entertainment, where you know “nothing too terrible is gonna happen.”

All of the cute that “Summer Camp Island” doles out in heaps, however, doesn’t mean the show has its head in the sand. Some of its adventures are silly and lower-stakes, like a dogged journey to earn badges for yeti grooming. Others feel achingly close to real life, like the episode where the island’s monsters try to run away after learning that their exacting godmonster, who doesn’t approve of their non-child-eating lifestyles, is coming for a visit. Several episodes tackle big-time scaries relating to the fear of change or rejection.

“Growing up, my favorite things were stuff that was a little bit challenging or scary but was in this cute little bubble,” said Pott, adding, “I think wrapping it in this cute little bubble allows you to be a bit darker with your stories. … It’s already in this blanket, so you can dive in a little bit more.”

It’s that feeling — not the finger-snap poof of a spell or the island’s time-traveling quicksand — that is the real magic of the series. We talked more with Pott about her inspiration for the series, how it feels to be told your art is cute, and why she repeatedly pitched a “Muppet Babies”-style spinoff of the cartoon “Adventure Time.”

Cartoon Network

Best friends Hedgehog and Oscar with the moon.

What was your initial vision for the series? 

Well, the first thing I wrote down was “lobster ‘Gilmore Girls.’”

I knew I wanted it to be relatively gentle and calm, ’cause I hadn’t seen that a lot when I was a kid, and I really wanted to make something that was not too action-y, not too crazy. The original, original pitch ― because I had just moved to New York, and I was super homesick, and I wanted to write an equivalent story ― it was called “A Town Called Summer Camp.” So it wasn’t actually a summer camp; it was a town in Massachusetts called Summer Camp. All the parents in the town went to a Cher concert in the town next door, and as soon as all the parents were out of the town, the town breaks off from America and floats out into the sea. So it’s just all kids, and as soon as it’s all kids, all this magical stuff starts to come up, so there are witches and monsters and unicorns.

It was originally Oscar, the main character, misses his parents so much that he’s trying to get home the whole time. [Cartoon Network] bought it based on that pitch, but when we started developing it, they were like, this is such a bummer! “You can’t base a whole show around a kid just missing his mum all the time. That’s too sad.” I was like, yeah, that’s sad. Then it developed to be an actual summer camp that was magical. It kind of spread from there.

Yeah, I think that was the original idea. As soon as they were like, “You can’t use Cher,” I was like, “Nah! I don’t really care about this idea anymore.” [Laughs]

I feel like Cher is having a moment, so it would have been very topical.

Yeah! Now she’s in “Mamma Mia,” so she’s untouchable. She was always untouchable.

I’m curious about “lobster ‘Gilmore Girls.’” Were you envisioning two kind-of-fast-talking lobsters, like a mother and daughter?

Yeah, they’re living in a nice town near Princeton. That was the concept. It was an underwater town. It was exactly the same as “Gilmore Girls,” but they were lobsters. I think lobsters were having a moment, in my mind. I had just moved to New York and had gotten really into lobsters, so I was just like, “Yeah, ‘lobster “Gilmore Girls.”’”

Care of Cartoon Network

“Summer Camp Island” creator Julia Pott.

What influenced the art style of the show?

The main character, Oscar, was based on this elephant character from one of my short films, “Belly,” that I had done as my Royal College of Art graduation film. And he looked very, very different there than he does now. As we went through, everyone got cuter and cuter from the pilot into the final show.

Was the episode where Alice the counselor makes everything she sees cuter inspired by that process?

Oh, you mean “Monster Babies”? Actually, no, “Monster Babies” was inspired by “Muppet Babies”! When I worked on “Adventure Time,” I think there were several times where I would just jokingly suggest the idea of “Adventure Time Babies.” They were like, there will never be an “Adventure Time Babies.” [Laughs] As soon as my show got picked up, I was like, “‘Monster Babies’! It’s like ‘Muppet Babies,’ but it’s the monsters.” And it was just being able to wish-fulfill something I wanted to do for a really long time.

There’s an episode in the next batch of Season 1 that’s coming out at the end of the year. It’s not about making stuff cuter, but it’s about that feedback you get when people are like, “Oh, it’s cute,” and you immediately think that they think that it’s bad or that they’re not really seeing it. We were getting a lot of that feedback in the early stages of the show. [People were] like, “Oh, yeah, it’s really cute.” And I think I was being a little bit downtrodden, so we made a whole episode revolving around that, about one character making something cute and no one really caring and him realizing that it doesn’t matter.

Did you not want the show to be seen as cute?

When I first started getting that feedback, when people were like, “Yeah, it’s cute,” it feels like it’s kind of shutting you down and saying it’s just this one thing. Or it feels like your art is less-than because it’s cute. I think the lesson that I learned, the longer I worked on it, was, “Oh, I want it to be cute. That’s what I like about it and I think that’s charming. I really love it and that’s all that matters.”

I think as we get into deeper stories that skew a little darker sometimes, it’s nice that it’s cute because it packages it in a much softer world. And it turns out that that softness and that gentleness that we put in there are what people are responding to, which is really nice, which is what we wanted.

I feel like the show fits into this category of things being cute at a level that’s not just looking at something cute, but it’s this feeling of being overwhelmed by cute and wanting to soak in the cuteness. What do you think of that characterization?

I mean, I would be very happy if it did. I feel like we’re getting to this pocket of media and things in general where everyone wants to feel gentle and soft and see cute things and sort of have a little respite from the world and just feel like … like, “Gilmore Girls” isn’t cute, but I’d put it in a similar category [of] nothing too terrible is gonna happen. It feels quite cozy and it’s like being under a blanket to watch this. … You always think it’s teenage or it’s childlike to describe something as cute. I think being wrapped up in cuteness is just very much the best and something that should be celebrated.

Cartoon Network

Alice the teen witch sits down for tea with Oscar and the monsters.

So many episodes seem to tackle fears. Is that something you wanted to play against the visuals of the show?

Yeah, I think that was definitely what we were going for. Growing up, my favorite things were stuff that was a little bit challenging or scary but was in this cute little bubble. “Gremlins” was my favorite movie, ’cause it has these cute little furry characters, but it’s also got this like extra layer. … Or things that are cozy sci-fi, like “Twin Peaks,” where you’re not expecting to feel scared or deal with fear.

I think wrapping it in this cute little bubble allows you to be a bit darker with your stories or explore something that’s maybe a more specific emotion that might not be so pleasant. It’s already in this blanket, so you can dive in a little bit more. It’s sort of welcoming.

I think with kids especially — I think Maurice Sendak talked about this a lot — when you’re a kid, it’s good to see scary stuff in a safe environment, so you learn that when you encounter scary things later, it’s not so bad and I can handle it. … It’s a safe place at home that you can watch this cozy show where it’s like, oh, this is a subject that’s a little scarier, but you’re safe and it’s a cozy little world for you to look at it in.

Where do things like Oscar’s talking pajamas come from?

They’re kind of supposed to be his subconscious or his id, like everything that he wants or his most innocent child self is thinking but is afraid to express. So that’s sort of that character, and then Susie [a counselor] also has a pair of talking pajamas that has a similar vibe.

The original pair of pajamas was voiced by my ex-boyfriend’s niece. She sort of became a big inspiration for that character. They would sit down and record her and she would just say anything she was thinking, and she was just so cute and so smart. It was inspired a lot by things like Catbug from “Bravest Warriors,” like having kids just speaking and saying charming things and basing it off of that.

A lot of the characters are voiced by kids, right?

Yeah, most of the cast is kids. All the monsters are adults, but all the kids’ characters are voiced by kids, which is something we really wanted to do and we talked a lot about because, obviously, kids grow up and that could be a problem for casting. You get so many surprises, and their voices are so charming, and sometimes they’ll say something in an inflection that isn’t right, and we’ll use it because it’s just the cutest thing.

Also writing lines, especially for pajamas — they’re a little bit more chewy in dialogue, there’s more to say. It’s really fun to hear a 4-year-old like say really intelligent things. And she’s so smart and she knows how to say everything. She re-writes some of our sentences sometimes ’cause she thinks it’s better that way.

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