The random nerdy interests of a random nerdy person
I still haven’t typed up that other vignette, no. But I’m working on an actual story for the characters now. And upcoming retcon alert – Roland is now Rowan, and is a woman. And we’re going to get physical descriptions of at least the siblings. So there’s that.
I still need to think of a name for the series. I’ve decided I don’t like Doll-verse, so I need something.
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I’m adapting this from silveradept because I know I often feel like I don’t have anything worthwhile to add on other blogs and it’s reasonable that others do too.
Any commentary that follows the comment policy is worthwhile (basics of the comment policy: don’t be a jerk). If you want to comment, do. If you don’t have the energy, don’t. You don’t have to agree with me and I assume good faith until proven otherwise.
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Referencing, somewhat, Asimov’s Robot series, and of course highly influenced by Sherlock and the delightful characters on it. (I would seriously just watch an hour of Sherlock and Mycroft bickering with John’s reactions.)
content note: immobilization / claustrophobia, discussion of blood Read more
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I generally prefer to call my stories that, instead of writing, because I don’t write the majority of them down, and even the ones that I decide I should, usually don’t get written immediately. (For example: my vampire mystery novel that might have to end up being a trilogy or getting a lot of stuff cut out.)
All my stories start as daydreams, generally when I’m laying in bed, but I’ve started stuff to keep me from falling asleep in class, when I was in the car, visiting family for the holidays, etc, whenever I have mental energy that isn’t getting used (which is often…). Most of the stories start with me using the names and characters of whatever I’m currently obsessing with. The characters will get stretched and molded to fit wherever my mind roams. I also have character types of my own creation that show up under a variety of names.
A lot of my imaginings are blatant Mary Sues, interacting with my favorite characters. My most current one, who I’ve been using in more or less the same form since I graduated high school (so thirteen years now) is a fire mage who can do anything she can imagine in fire terms, including shape changing and traveling between worlds and into stories. She beats up demons, monsters, and the occasional god. And runs a school for other superheroes, including recruiting a young version of the Phantom of the Opera. Like I said, blatant Mary Sue. Incredibly blatant. Which is why I’ve completely discarded the notion of ever recording those stories (just getting rid of the copyright infringements would… well, basically remove most of it, honestly, and it’s too much of a massive crossover for me to want to do it as fanwork). I’m trying to replace her with another mental centerpiece but I haven’t come up with a story for her yet (and she’ll probably end up horrendously overpowered as well. It’s a recurring problem.)
I lot of it, I’ll just repeat the same stuff over and over. The fire mage and her friends have been working as singers at the Iceberg Lounge for like three years now, with various misadventures including demons showing up to fight Erik, helping Batman, and mostly just lots of snark and banter. Before that she was redoing the file room in Arkham and occasionally getting dragged into doing security work. Yes, it’s all very very self-indulgent.
But some of the smaller stories, the non-epic length ones and the one-shots, end up pretty good. And I try to write them down. The problem becomes when it’s a series of adventures with no specific end. And then I don’t know where the plot is going and it becomes a mess. I have two of those novels in process.
A lot of them I can pick out what influenced them. Some of them I can’t, aside from liking certain things (why do I like whump? No idea, but I sure do. I only just learned there was a specific term for it, for pete’s sake.) And it’s usually a giant mix of things (I have one – that’ll post once I get it edited a bit – that has an character inspired by Alpert, one of LB Lee’s characters, some of the set-up inspired by a Sherlock fic, and most of it just my own really messed up brain.)
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bibliobibuli n. – those who read too much, and hence tend to be unaware of or oblivious to the real world
Trying to clear out the backlog of links so this is going to be a big one. But I’m including pretties this time.
(as always pics are linked to their source and you can view more of my favorites on DeviantArt)
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Retro Renovation – “Welcome to Retro Renovation – your daily dose of mid century renovation resources… design inspiration… fun finds… and a growing community of people all interested in cherishing their mid century and older homes.”
No Pattern Required – “No Pattern Required was started in February 2009 by Ruth in an attempt to vent her overwhelming enthusiasm for everything vintage and mid-century without driving her husband, Tom, crazy.”
Mid-Century Menu – ‘Have you ever looked at a recipe in a mid-century cookbook and thought, “Ew. That is so nasty.” But you couldn’t stop looking at the recipe. Or thinking about it. As time went on, you kept going back to the book, thinking, “I wonder what it tastes like?”‘ (By the same couple that does No Pattern Required)
1972: The Retro WW Project – “I am a Pittsburgh girlwith a passionate love for potatoes and carbs and butter. For some reason, I recreate long-forgotten Weight Watchers recipes from the 1970’s in my own kitchen. Sometimes they are surprisingly tasty. Most of the time they are dreadful. Often my house smells like boiled celery. I get way too excited about buying vintage Pyrex and unmolding gelatine.” (CN: despite being based on Weight Watchers recipes, it’s not really about weight loss. It’s mostly about how the recipes are terrible.)
Dinner is Served 1972 – This is a Julie & Julia type project, but with a hell of a lot more Jell-O – “Dinner is Served is a plastic, guacamole-colored box that contains cards that provide the menu for entire meals: entrees, side dishes and desserts. Sometimes there are even appetizers. They also supply a handy time-line so dinner can be served at 6pm (when your husband arrives home from work).”
Retro Recipe Attempts – Tasting the fare of yesteryear, the disastrous and the delicious.
Betty Crafter – “I am Betty Crafter, a vintage dealer and enthusiast, crafter of all things, and owner of a 1962 time capsule ranch house. ”
Ranch Dressing with Eartha Kitsch – “Hi! I’m Eartha Kitsch! Even though I DO enjoy a good salad, this site isn’t about that kind of ranch dressing. It’s about the restoration, decoration and revival of my 1956 ranch home. It’s also about things that I consider “dressing” like vintage housewares, clothing, recipes and everything else in this old world that makes life interesting and good.”
Scouting NY – “What always amazes me about New York is how much there is to see if you take the time to look. Every street has a hidden gem or two, and yet they go largely ignored by thousands of passersby daily who simply don’t have the time to pay attention.”
Just Hungry – “My primary focus on Just Hungry is Japanese food and home cooking. As a Japanese person living abroad, I do miss the cuisine I grew up with a lot, and that is what I mostly cook at home regardless of where I live.” (CN: talk about weight loss and food restrictions, such as gluten-free)
JustBento – “JustBento is dedicated to the subject of healthy, simple bento lunches, some traditionally Japanese, some not so traditional. The focus is on bentos for health and weight-conscious adults, but many of the recipes and methods are applicable to bentos for all ages.” (CN: recipes, talk about nutrition. It’s mostly recipes and reviews of bento containers)
Tricia’s Obligatory Art Blog! – “Trish is a hairy mammal that enjoys drawing feathered dinosaurs. She also enjoys giving silly answers when asked to describe herself.”
Pintrosity – “This isn’t a site to just laugh and make fun of projects gone wrong (although occasionally giggles and guffaws do come out), but also to help troubleshoot and learn from the Pinterest Fails we all have. “
Pintester – “failing at Pintester pins so you don’t have to” (CN: language, sexual humor, sometimes gross humor, occassional talk of weight loss. It’s funny though)
Atomic Shrimp – “This website is really just about the things I do in my spare time. My interests include wild food, experimental cooking, assorted crafts, multimedia work and the deliberate, but benign and mild-mannered pursuit of the absurd.”
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Prints & Photographs, Tissandier Collection – hundreds of old prints, including lots and lots of hot air balloons. Good for steampunk stuff. (from the Library of Congress)
The Magazine Rack – free digitized magazines that are out of copyright. Omni, Galaxy, Heavy Metal, lots others. Available in PDF, epub, mobi, djvu, some more. Preview it before you download – if they did OCR it’s terrible, but scans are good. (from Archive.org)
My Robot Nation – design a robot and get it 3-D printed. It costs to get it printed, but it’s fun just to play with it.
Stagecoach Mary Fields – incrediably badass black woman. (link CN: violence, gun violence, historical racism). Apparently she’s going to get a movie soon, which will be awesome. (from BlackCowboys.com)
From gay marriage to cougar wives, the Victorians have much to teach us (CN: ableist language) (From Guardian.co.uk)
Pattern Cooler – where I got my background. You can customize the colors and size of thousands of seamless patterns. PNGs are free, other options cost.
What Good Writers Still Get Wrong about Blind People, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. A talk delivered at Readercon in 2010. (from Kestrell.dreamwidth.com)
How not to be a privileged ass: A lazy person’s guide (from Stealing Commas)
Giving the gift of worlds – “Non-fiction opens up the world we live in, teaching us more about our surroundings. Fiction opens countless others. It lets you climb inside the head of somebody else and see the universe through their eyes for a while. If the character in question resembles you, it can make you feel less isolated. If they don’t, you gain understanding and empathy for people whose experiences of life are entirely different from your own.” She’s looking for recommendations for ebooks with minority or women protagonists. (from Tea-Fuelled Musings)
(Sorry, I don’t have the energy to deal with selecting, resizing, and linking pictures. Look here for pretties.)
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Even though it’s constantly mispronounced, every time I see or hear my name it makes me happy. It’s my own name, one I’ve chosen and claimed.
It’s not the name I was born with. The first name is similar and I kept my birth surname as a second middle name (in a futile attempt to appease my parents). My birth name felt girly to me and wasn’t something I identified with. And my birth surname was something I was teased with as a kid (that and a dozen other things.)
There’s been disadvantages to changing it. It was expensive – about $700 for the various court and paperwork fees, plus missing two days of work (but that job sucked anyway). And my old last name was at the end of the alphabet (which was one reason I changed it – I was tired of being at the end of the list). But being at the end meant it was easier to find on a list. And the last time I got called to jury duty, my new name meant I got called into a court room faster (lawyers: never ever pick me for jury duty. It’s a terrible idea.)
It took about a year to get all my bills changed. There are a few things I’ve never bothered to change. I have to put down my old name for background checks when I get hired.
I changed my name because I didn’t like my old one. It didn’t fit me. But I didn’t have any real trauma associated with it, so it’s not painful to deal with references to my old name (except people refusing to use it or giving me shit about it…)
I love my name. It’s my own name. And it makes me happy.
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Characters: Captain Britain / Brian Braddock, Chief Inspector Dai Thomas, Royce, Vixen’s Mob, Dora, Courtney Ross, Jacko Tanner, Sandy York, Hurricane
(Content Notice: violence including guns, gender policing, bullying)
Yeah, it’s been a while. Sorry.
It’s time for another adventure full of Kirby-esque artwork! Including extreme foreshortening and disproportionately large figures. You think I’m kidding?
Look, there’s stylization, then there’s drawing one foot ten times as big as the other. That second one doesn’t make SENSE. The green guy is a perspective all his own, unless his leg actually stretches back three yards. But, it’s very dramatic! And that’s what matters.
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Don’t have to worry about diversity when everybody’s genderless, asexual, shapeless, and transparent.
But anyway.
This is going to be one of those awkward things, where I say a dozen things wrong. I apologize.
There’s a discussion over on Shakesville of how everyone is sick of white straight able-bodied male protagonists. And I’m in agreement, but…
Neill, the protagonist of the novel I’m revising, hits three of those (He’s asexual). So, I could make him black or Hispanic or something. He comments on the antagonist being mixed-race (for example: ‘The tip of his tongue moistened his bottom lip, very pink against his dark skin.’) and I don’t know if that would be weird coming from a POC. If not, yeah, he’s now Hispanic. (He probably will be) (And once he is, none of the main characters will be white. Which is groovy.)
But I kind of want to make him disabled as well. But he’s a doctor in a criminal mental institution and a major physical disability would put him more danger, so they wouldn’t allow that? I think? I do think I’m going to make him dyslexic. So, um, suggestions. He had meningitis as a kid, so I don’t know if that could cause something (besides cognitive disabilities. But he’s very smart. Maybe a problem with balance?)
There’s one other character, not for this story, that I want to give a disability to. He’s a guy in his twenties, very smart, and extroverted. He does tech support and that sort of thing. I’m open to suggestions.
(Content notice: discussion of gender essentialism, sexual harassment)
What I’m finding with this is, I’ll think, oh, do this. But then that means that event will be read as something completely different. Okay, so do this other thing, but now that other event reads as… And you’re all looking at me, going use your words, give us examples.
Okay, so I make Neill a woman. Cool, we’ve got this highly educated, very smart woman. Groovy. Exceeeept… at one point Ostanes kisses Neill, without consent. Now, it’s just a kiss, on the lips, no tongue, no groping. That still comes off as much scarier than a dude kissing a dude. Okay, make Ostanes a woman as well. Now people will interpret it as straight women kissing to get attention of guys (even though it happens in a gay bar). (I think – I might be overthinking that one).
But that raises another problem. Ostanes is a dandy. He likes really nice clothes, in bright colors, and he pulls it off. A woman doing the same is going to be read as, well, ‘women like clothes’. So I don’t want Ostanes to be a woman. And there are other problems with changing Neill to a woman, that come down to people thinking girls like girly things. It’s frustrating.
I do want to make things diverse, and I think even if I screw up it’s better than not trying. But sheesh. In story I can say, oh well the society doesn’t think like that, but that doesn’t actually fix anything.
Update July 16: So Thomas Neill is now Tomas Maurell. And he’s overweight and has a bunch of minor problems caused by the meningitis, including a balance disorder and chronic fatigue. I’m still working on editing those in. And the other character I mentioned, has something like Parkinsons (he’s young and in college, so I have to do some research.)
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In the further chronicles of me not being able to get anything done in a timely manner: I finished this project over Christmas. And started it around Thanksgiving. And now you get to see it.
Anyway. I had this old boring bulletin board:
(Sorry about the crappy cell phone pictures. I did this all at my parents’ place because they have a sewing machine and more space and stuff).
And I had an old reversible robe thing that had already had pieces cut out of it. But the fabric was pretty and soft and I wanted to use it. Thus, it’s now the colors of my office area.
The fabric, cut out and ironed:
Laid out on the board:
Sewing! I can sew a straight line! (Look, this is an accomplishment for some people, alright? Just because you’re handy and have been sewing since you could count to three, doesn’t mean all of us have.)
The pocket cut down and ironed:
And sewn in place:
Detail:
I admit, I had my mom help with some of the sewing. A straight line is about as far as I can go. I don’t want to try for parallel lines.
The whole thing stapled to the board:
(I went back and trimmed it later).
Lots of staples for the corner, bunching it and pulling it tight so the corner is smooth:
Front view:
Next I had to figure out how to hang it to the wall. Or rather, ask my dad. Because Dad knows everything. Previously I had just screwed it in. I wanted something that looked a little nicer, so my dad found some brass grommets and copper channels (no idea what they were for). This mostly involved me standing around watching him work as he fiddled with it. Because while Dad knows everything, he’s also not so great of a teacher. It ended up like this:
Detail:
And the back:
And finally:
Yay! And now I don’t have to go digging through the giant pile of shit on my desk to find my bills. Or try to remember if I put them on the table… or maybe the sideboard… or the coffee table…
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So instead of finishing writing, like, for example, the short story that’s about half done and would only take a few more hours, my brain insists on going back to Ostanes. Aside from the obvious (making it so it’s not so much talking heads), I noticed it’s basically a sausage fest, at least for the first half. And most of the characters are barely described right now (yes, that’ll be fixed), which means everyone will assume they’re white, able-bodied, straight, and cis. The last two aren’t things that will really come up without me having to force it in.
This is not acceptable.
But let’s talk total diversity (because I want people’s opinions on how to improve it). Diversity bolded and my questions in blue (so you can skip the teal deer if you want).
(Spoilers likely – also, this doesn’t take place in our world, but for simplicity’s sake I’m going to use Terran nationalities.)
Dr. Thomas Neill. White, somewhat overweight (although not mentioned very early), asexual.
Ostanes and Iosis. Multiple (not considered a bad thing in this setting). I need to do something about them denying they are, because it comes off as silly (first, research). But that’s a different issue. Ambiguously brown, probably mixed because he has curly hair. Their mom shows up and is Southeast Asian. We know basically nothing about their dad. Tall and very thin. Ostanes is pansexual. Iosis says he’s asexual, but likes to have one-night stands and make out with people at bars. Ostanes says it’s because it’s a power trip. I think it’s just complicated. Opinions? Iosis at least possibly has a mental disorder or personality disorder (that or he’s just a giant self-centered vain asshole). Ostanes has selective mutism, which I need to clarify.
Various undescribed guards. Easy place to add diversity.
Security chief. Pretty much undescribed. Woman, which I need to mention earlier.
Dr. Caro. Jerk. Male. No description.
Dr. Callis. One of Ostanes’ ex-doctors. Woman. Tried to seduce him, which is problematic. (Or at least Iosis insists she did, but he may not be an entirely reliable witness…)
Dr. Ginson. One of Ostanes’ ex-doctors. Male, no description. Could easily be a woman, which would make up for Dr. Callis.
Dr. Tross. One of Ostanes’ ex-doctors. Male, no description. Iosis thinks he’s a jerk.
Iosis’ victims. The few that are described are men, presumably white. I’m pretty sure that’s fine with me.
Uco. Overweight. Male. He has a heavy accent, but I don’t say from where. He could easily be a woman, but I’m afraid that that’s saying that making clothes is woman’s work? Or am I overthinking?
Uco’s assistant. Male, has Café au lait spots on his face. Could also easily be a woman. Maybe make Uco a woman and the assistant a man?
Delivery people. At least one is a woman. They’re otherwise undescribed.
Anita Trevino, Ostanes’ and Iosis’ mom. Southeast Asian. Woman (duh). Gorgeous. Probably has the same mental/personality disorder Iosis does because their personalities are very similar. One of the few people who can get the better of Iosis, and it’s wonderful.
Dusty. Who still needs a name change. Currently male. Going to be changed to a woman, possibly a woman of color. (Also, probably pansexual, but that won’t come up. I am NOT going to write young Ostanes walking into the kitchen and seeing his mother making out with his mentor. Not happening, but it’d be hysterical. Because I’m a jerk.) The other person who can chew out Iosis and it’s even better. Shows up as a fox (trickster archetype – actual talking animal fox) later. If I change him to a woman, is it problematic for her to be a fox? If so, suggestions for a different trickster type?
Mr. Hiddles. Rabbit of various anthro states. Male. Not changing, because oh god I lurve him. I lurve him to bits.
Elliana. Woman. Probably going to be changed to overweight, possibly a woman of color. Neill had a crush on her. She’s a fairy princess. Opinions wanted. The real Elliana was Neill’s kindergarten teacher, when he had a crush on her. Any problems there that I’m not seeing?
Three old women / witches (presented without judgement). I’m tempted to do the crone/maiden/mother thing, but I don’t think it fits. The king of fish and an ogre. Yes, this story gets odd. I need to foreshadow the change and read a lot more fairy tales to get the tropes right. It’s beautiful and I need to expand it more. It’s just so so lovely.
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