#the second is a sort-of obscure redraw

[camconart]

peek at some hualian wips

a little obsessed with the first one

[little-cecily]

[ID: a screencap-by-screencap redraw of a scene for firefly episode “jaynestown,” but the crew of the serenity has been replaced by the crew of the uhuru from campaign: skyjacks. the first of six images shows a red clay statue of travis.

the second of the six images shows gable, their hand on their face in shock saying “this must be what going mad feels like.”

the third of the six images shows dref, travis, gable, jonnit, and orimar looking up at the out-of-frame statue. travis is in disguise, wearing a red courier’s cap, jonnit’s flight goggles, and gables purple coat. dref says, “i think th-they have, uh, captured him. you know, c-captured his essence.”

the fourth of the six images is a close up of orimar and jonnit’s faces. jonnit says, “he looks sort of pretentious though, doesn’t he?”

the fifth of the six images is a close up of dref saying, “yes, that-that is quite what i meant.”

the final image is a close up of travis in his disguise. he is scowling, and the goggles have fogged up, completely obscuring his eyes.

end ID]

the hero of canton, the man they call trevor mcrib

all credit for the idea must go to my dearest @drefvalentine of course

[hauntinghyrule]

If you don't mind me asking, in what way are you stuck with your writing? (I ask because maybe trying to describe the problem will help you conjure up a way around it, since that helps me sometimes).

Aw, thanks Anon!

Partially it’s a matter of character voice being difficult! I’ve always really admired stories with a really strong character voice, and I feel like it’s one of the aspects of my own writing I’d like to improve. It’s especially tricky with this fic, since I’m working on Mirror Mirror, and it’s such an AU. I want Shadow to seem in-character, of course, but his life circumstances have been really different, and that obviously affects his personality! (Mirror Mirror Shadow has fewer anger issues, but more anxiety. Underneath the nerves, though, he’s still mischievous and snarky at his core, and I don’t want that to be completely obscured!)

I’ve kind of been thinking I might go through the manga and do some panel redraws of Shadow’s poses and body language, in the hopes that that might help me with trying to write him?

On a more plot-oriented level... Hmm how can I describe this without major spoilers...

(Long, hopefully only minorly-spoilery ramble under the cut.)

Well, I already knew there was going to be some shuffling-around of the timeline compared to the original manga, because unlike the original Link, Shadow can’t be four places at once xD

I’m also trying not to be too repetitive, not to redo scenes exactly as they happened in the manga. So there’re some things I’m cutting, either because they happened exactly the same and can be skimmed over, or because the way the AU changes things means they won’t happen at all. And other things I’m adding in – either through referencing other Zelda sources, or making things up myself – and I’ve just gotta find a balancing point for it all.

I have a rough idea of the next three... story segments? They’re probably a bit long to be “chapters”, a little short be be “arcs”... eh. Anyway, I’ve got the third pretty well planned (I’m excited for it!! there’s some good snarky dialogue!!!), and at least one solid idea for the second, but the first is pretty vague beyond just... knowing what item Shadow needs to have obtained by the end of it. The aspect of “how he gets it” or “what stands in his way“ is all... vague and ill-defined.

And sure, I could just skip ahead to the second or third bit, the part I’ve got a clearer idea for. I know that works well for some writers. But with my own experience, I’m pretty sure that’ll just get me even more stuck on the first bit, and it’ll become this awkward plothole in my writing that I’m always edging awkwardly around and trying not to look at haha ^^;;

Hmm... I think probably part of the problem is (uuuh how to avoid spoilers) even though I’ve swapped the characters around and I’ve now got one hero instead of four, I’ve still got this sort of... underlying thematic story structure that’s based on the personalities of the four Links? And the section that’s giving me trouble is Red’s. I wonder if part of the issue is that Red is such a people-person, in a lot of ways he’s the one keeping the Links together. Since Shadow is a lone hero instead of part of a group, it’s kind of hard to work with those themes... maybe I need to bring in some random made-up NPCs to make this work? Or maybe if I shuffled things around a bit and used [spoilers]... Hm. I had figured I’d cut that particular manga scene entirely, but if I swapped a few characters around, I could maybe make a parallel to the way Red was searching for the others when they got split up...

(Hm... not sure, but I may have something here...)

[cuntess-carmilla]

I'm sorry, but as someone who belongs to and participates in an actual subculture, I can't take (Western?) fandom seriously.

I'm not saying alt subcultures are perfect by any means. I'm a goth and I could write and maybe have written whole essays on the bullshit within it, but even with all the racism, misogyny, performative liberalism and such (which are also present in fandom lol), there's just no comparison.

Alternative subcultures, as Problematic as they can be, are ALL about creating something new. I mean, not NEW new, we all come from somewhere, take inspiration, goth came directly from British punk, and pretty much none of the alt subcultures that were started since the 20th century would exist without Black culture, BUT... Guys, the goth subculture equivalent of fanfiction is a song cover.

Sure, lots of goth bands have released covers in order to get popular. Bauhaus themselves did it and they're one of the OG bands, but unless you're a tribute band (which literally only get as famous as they're able to be exact copies of the band they're imitating), no band considers themselves a real band if they haven't at least written original songs, most don't feel like a real one until they release studio recordings or play some live shows. Even those covers they make to get their names around get the eye roll if they don't add anything new and genuinely theirs to it.

Goths who're not musicians ourselves, first of all, don't think we're on Monica Richards' or Peter Murphy's level just because we sing THEIR songs half decently in the shower, like fanfic freaks (normal people who do fanfic excempt) who think their poorly written multichapter slowburn copycat romance is on the same level as Dante's Inferno or Paradise Lost.

Second, even if we're not musicians, we expect of each other to do something. Something original. I mean, people whose LOOKS are carbon copies of some other goth, famous or not, get eye rolled too, you know? This past decade things were a little different in that regard thanks to posers and Capitalism™, but other than that, we actually take offense when someone else copies the individual elements OF OUR FUCKING LOOKS that we cultivated to differentiate ourselves from other goths.

That's why DIY is so big in our subculture, why most of us practice SOME sort of creative hobby (music, writing, painting, clothes making, DJing, design, sculpting, etc) even if we suck at them. At least we try to do something that is completely ours rather than just redrawing a Victoria Francés illustration, changing the color of a dress, and publishing it as ours.

Shit, even our "elders" have no comparison. Fandom "elders" are rarely older than in their 40s, and most of the time they're fucking creeps who dedicate their lives to fictional characters decades younger than them and interact with younger fans in very inappropriate ways. There's asshole elder goths too, but our subculture generates so much genuine personal passion and sense of community, that we don't even consider it a YOUTH subculture anymore.

Our elders are ACTUALLY old. I'm talking people who were there since it started in the late 70s/early 80s as teens or early 20-somethings and are STILL goths. There's goths in their 60s nearing their 70s. And the reason we look up to them isn't just that they're weirdo predatory adults who intimidate or groom us into worshipping them. We look up to them because they've gathered knowledge through up to 4 decades of experience. They saw Bauhaus live before they broke up, they were in a tiny local band that opened for a bigger iconic one so they met them PERSONALLY, they keep relics from decades past, they witnessed our history.

Most importantly, they fought tooth and nail for our subculture to keep thriving not by being self-entitled weirdos pressuring others into validating their everything online, but by archiving ancient zines, keeping recordings of obscure bands who only played one live show before disbanding, passing on their knowledge to younger goths in person or online. They put their own money not into the pockets of big media corporations that don't need to make more billions than they already make, but into the pockets of struggling artists, bars, nightclubs, independent fashion designers, and their communities as a whole. That's why we respect them.

And ykw? I think that's the reason most fandom weirdos don't stick to fandoms for a long time, except for a few who cling to one or two but keep the rest rotating, and why most fandom "elders" aren't older than 40.

A show or movie series ends at some point and most creatives don't stretch them for decades on. Obviously they try to milk them as much as they can but if a story ended then it's over and there's only so much of the same repetitive fanfiction you can consume before you burn out and have nothing left to get your hands on. There's no community, yet you identify with a piece of media at the same level as you do your idk, college majors, star sign and shit.

You don't see me identifying as a Requiem in White fan on my description, I identify as a goth because I'm identifying with a history, a community I've interacted with in person, an ever growing body of new and old art and music, and wear my personal version of the uniform which I didn't buy ready to wear, but is the result of an effort of slowly building a wardrobe since 2007, that I've had to experiment with, play with, and each have their own personal stories attached to it. I mean, I remember EXACTLY what I was wearing when some Evangelical ladies sprinkled holy water on me in early 2008 and I still own those clothes, jewelry and shoes lol.

Fandom identity is, to me, only based on capitalist consumerism as identity and yeah, capitalism has clawed at my subculture especially during the 2010s, but it exists outside of that and it's so much more than buying shit, over-streaming songs to inflate an artist's performance, or taking something someone else created, slapping one sticker on it and calling it ours. My subculture can ACTUALLY politically organize, as can others (punk most notably), you know? Including organizing in rejection to the capitalist fast fashion that almost wrecked us this past decade.

All subcultures have some level of ideology attached to them (for better or for worse, sadly), and it's ideology most of us are passionate about. Goths have always been notorious for androgyny, and all forms of gender defiance are normalized and encouraged. A lot of us pay our respects to our punk roots of anti-capitalism. We don't believe in forced unhealthy positivity, we're less afraid of taboos, we appreciate eccentricity and oddity many times as an active choice against established norms, we find solace and home in what general society finds creepy or threatening...

What similar thing does fandom have beyond campaigning for Johnlock to hold hands or going to pride with some creepy yaoi sign? You guys aren't even good at fighting real bigotry within your spaces unless you're personally affected by them.

It's laughable tbh. I can't take fandom seriously at all, and I don't get how so many people can treat something so empty as if it was sacred.

[mittensmorgul]

This Must Be The Place

timestamp for  Lifetime Piling Up, 7 years later, but works as a standalone.

(2440 words, T, all the fluffs)

Read it on AO3

It’s the sort of day that leaves Cas desperate for some reminder that life isn’t all trauma and tragedy. He’s finished his shift at the hospital, where one of his patients lived and the other didn’t. It’s the reality of his life as a trauma surgeon, and he’s long ago accepted the fact he’s not God, that he can’t save everyone. It doesn’t stop him from trying.

He’s too worn out from five hours of surgery and a heart-wrenching talk with a man’s grieving family members to bother changing his clothes. Cas ditches his pristine white lab coat and slams the door of his locker. There was something he could do to turn the day around. Something impulsive, but something he’d also been planning for a long time; saving it up for the perfect moment.

Something life-affirming.

Cas pulls on his coat, the lapel catching on the hospital identification clipped to the pocket of his scrub shirt, and walks purposefully out the emergency room door. He waves to Alex the charge nurse at the desk and to a few other people who notice him leaving, but after the day he’s had nobody tries to hold him up when he looks so determined to leave. He’s grateful for that small mercy.

It’s raining as he pulls his car out of the parking garage and drives on autopilot. He sees the shop every day on his way to work and every night as he drives back home. Tonight he lucks out. There’s an empty parking spot right in front of the door, like it was meant to be. He pulls in without a second thought and shuts the engine off. He sits there for a minute, his head resting back against the seat as he basks in the welcoming glow of the blue and yellow neon sign in the window, the light streaked and shattered through the raindrops rolling down his windshield. It’s raining even harder now, and Cas just smiles to himself. It feels right. Everything feels right for once that day.

He pats down his pockets to be sure he has everything-- phone, keys, wallet-- and then readies himself for a mad sprint across the sidewalk through sheets of rain to the shelter of the shop’s awning. The familiar neon-lit window looks so different up close than it does when he’s driving past. The glowing Winchester Tattoo logo is clearly visible from the road, but the dozens of drawings that frame the sign and almost completely obscure the view into the shop from the sidewalk are another story entirely. On closer examination, each of them is easily worth a thousand words.

Cas thinks to himself that if the weather were being more cooperative he could spend hours giving every last drawing the attention it deserves. Then again, he also knows he’d only be delaying the inevitable. He’d talked himself into this months ago, and then waited so long for this moment. He wasn’t about to talk himself out of it now. This was definitely what he wanted, so why would the thought of actually going through with it fill him with dread?

He’s a surgeon, dammit. He has no trouble helping others deal with physical pain, but this is something potentially far more terrifying than that. This would be forever.

Cas closes his eyes, heaves in a fortifying lungful of cold, humid air and then opens the door. He’s greeted with a warm, inviting roil of heat and light and sound. The tinkling of a dozen tiny bells hanging above the door provides an uncanny counterpoint to Led Zeppelin playing on the stereo, several quiet conversations and the intermittent buzzing of a tattoo gun. It’s the strangest combination of things to inspire a feeling of ease and contentment, but as he looks around the warmly lit shop and acknowledges its occupants Cas can’t help feeling an inviting sense of home .

The man behind the front counter hunches over a sketch as a customer describes the artwork he’s commissioning, pointing out a detail that the artist erases and then redraws to the customer’s satisfaction. The artist sets his pencil down and continues to study his work, standing up straight and clasping his hands behind his back as he arches into a stretch. The sleeves of his incongruous white lab coat ride up revealing strong arms covered in vibrant tattoos, heaven and hell, light and darkness, somehow both perfectly at home together as if he carried a piece of each extreme in either hand. Cas can’t help the quiet laugh at the sight, how similar the coat is to the one he’d left at the hospital, and yet how startlingly different this one appears in context draped over the shoulders of this beautiful man who looks more like a punk rocker with his faded Metallica t-shirt and ink-stained fingers than a medical professional.

Where his coat is embroidered Dr. Castiel Novak above the pocket, the artist has chosen to create his own name tag in a swirling riot of color. The name Dean is written in a bold script across a hand-drawn banner surrounded by bird wings and wildflowers. Cas wonders what his colleagues would think if he showed up at the hospital with a similar badge, and laughs a bit louder.

He finally garners a glance from Dean, who gives him a little nod and a wink to let him know he’ll be with him shortly. Cas nods back and then distracts himself by observing the shop’s other occupants. One artist, a young blonde woman, is entirely focused on her work while the man in her chair whimpers through the pain of a shoulder tattoo. Another older artist meticulously sets up her station for one of the customers waiting on the sofa off to Cas’s left. The three girls look barely old enough to be getting tattooed at all, yet they eagerly flip through the photo albums labeled with each of the artist’s names-- Claire, Jody, Donna, and of course Dean-- commenting on the pictures as they wonder in equal measure at how good they look and how much each one must’ve hurt. He’s entirely bemused by the girls when he hears Dean finishing up with his client.

“So if you’re good with that, I can fit you in next Tuesday at four,” Dean says to the man, who nods and hands over fifty bucks as a deposit.

“Sounds good to me,” the man says. “Been wanting to get that done for years.”

Dean puts the money in the cash drawer and prints out a receipt that doubles as an appointment reminder while Cas sidles up to get a closer look at the artwork. It’s two birds in flight, circling around each other, that he recognizes as arctic terns. Cas glances up at the man, who catches him looking but only smiles back at him.

“For me and my wife,” he says. “Arctic terns mate for life, but they’ve got the longest migration of any birds in the world. Their entire lives are one endless road trip together. Well, in a manner of speaking.” The man laughs.

Cas glances at Dean to see him smiling curiously at him, as if he’s waiting to see what Cas has to say on the subject-- of tattoos or arctic terns or gruff old men deciding that’s how they want to commemorate the love of their life.

“Congratulations on finally going through with the tattoo, and for having someone you cherish to share your life with. It’s a beautiful piece.”

Dean’s smile brightens for a moment at Cas’s reply, his green eyes filling with a captivating mirth.

“So,” Dean says, leaning in and making a show of reading the identification badge still clipped to Cas’s shirt, “Dr. Novak, what brings a classy, upstanding doctor like you into my humble little den of iniquity tonight? Just getting out of the rain for a minute, or are you thinking about getting a tattoo?”

The customer belts out a startling laugh, but Cas pays him no mind.

“I noticed you’re still open, and I’ve had an idea for a tattoo for a while now. Would you prefer I schedule an appointment, or are you free right now?”

Dean looks him up and down and grins. “For you? I think I can spare a couplea minutes. What are you thinking?”

The girls on the sofa giggle at the unfolding drama, whispering to each other behind their hands. Mr. Arctic Terns says what the girls are either too polite or too shy to say aloud.

“Ooh, are you sure about that? You’re a doctor, you must know it hurts, and how painful the laser is for folks who regret their ink later.”

Cas smiles mildly at the man and slides off his coat, laying it on the counter beside Dean’s sketchpad. “Yes, I’m fully aware.” He continues stripping off his scrub top, the ID badge clinking against the glass countertop as he sets it down as well, leaving him in a heather grey long-sleeved henley that clings to the defined muscles of his shoulders, back and arms. Dean raises an eyebrow but doesn’t otherwise object to the strip tease.

The other customer nods seriously as Dean folds his arms across his chest and bites his lip to keep from laughing aloud. Cas appreciates it, as well as the mischievous glint in Dean’s eyes.

“I’m just saying, medicine doesn’t seem like a profession that looks kindly on tattoos.” He turns to Dean. “No offense to your profession, but I ain’t never seen a doctor with ink.”

Cas just sighs and casts a wistful look at Dean, who shrugs and waits to see what he’ll do next. Jody’s finished setting up her station but she stands back beside Claire, whose tattoo gun has gone quiet as they both watch and wait to see what will happen next. Even the three giggling girls are practically holding their breath at this unusual series of events. Cas barely even registers their presence as he reaches down and tugs up the hem of his henley, then whips it over his head.

“I dare say you’ve seen at least one tattooed surgeon,” Cas says, never taking his eyes from Dean and only peripherally registering the little gasps from the three girls at the unveiling. Not only is Cas a physical work of art himself, his skin is all but covered in glorious illustration.

“Well then,” Arctic Tern Guy says, scratching his head and then moving toward the door with a little chuckle. “Guess you learn something new every day. I’ll see you Tuesday, Dean,” he says, and then the bells tinkle and a gust of cold wind sends a shiver across Cas’s exposed back before the door shuts again behind him.

Cas’s shoulders settle again like a bird folding his wings, which is the visual illusion he gives with the broad set of wings tattooed across his shoulder blades and down his arms past his elbows. Above the wings and up to the base of his neck is an expanse of outer space, the black punctuated by bright stars and a glowing pink and purple depiction of the Heart Nebula, the greenish streak of a comet piercing it like an arrow. Below his wings blooms a garden of vines and wildflowers populated by a dozen or more frolicking bees. Heavens and Earth.

Through the entire show, Dean and Cas just smile at each other until Dean finally cracks. “Guess you told him, sunshine.”

Cas just shrugs and-- to the three girls’ dismay-- begins dressing again. “It always disappoints me when people assume that the appearance of someone’s skin has any bearing on their competence or their professionalism.”

“You’re a regular crusader,” Dean adds, also looking a little disappointed that Cas put his shirt back on. “So did you just stop in to fight social injustice?”

Cas steps up close to the counter, reaching into the back pocket of his dark blue scrub pants and shaking his head. “No, I really am interested in another tattoo, and I believe you’re the only person I’d trust with it.”

Dean’s smile returns. “Well I hope I’m worthy of that kinda faith.”

Cas nods, slowly edging his way around the end of the counter until he’s practically toe to toe with Dean. “You’ve proven that to me over and over again, every day for the last seven years. I hope I’m worthy in return.” He drops down onto one knee and holds out his hand, a simple gold ring in his outstretched palm. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I don’t ever want to imagine a day without you in it. I love you, Dean. Will you marry me?”

Dean stares down at him for a second, and that terror that had held Cas back from asking sooner begins to creep up inside him. The pain of a tattoo needle’s got absolutely nothing on this. But Dean blinks and then pulls Cas to his feet, grabbing him up in a tight hug and planting an awkwardly sloppy and slightly frantic kiss on him as Dean tells him yes over and over again.

“Hot damn,” Claire’s client says and the rest of the shop erupts in a chorus of delighted awws.

Relief and joy flood through Cas, washing away his entirely baseless fear and making room for the certainty that Dean will always be his. Jody and Claire offer them fond congratulations, as do the three girls, before Jody brings one of them back to her station and she and Claire both get back to work.

“That was unexpected,” Dean says the minute everyone’s attention moves on from them, and admiring the way the ring looks on his hand before pulling Cas in for another kiss. “How long you been planning that one?”

Cas shrugs. “A long time. Years, maybe. On some level, probably since the first time I walked into your shop.”

Dean nods, too overcome to even tease him. He clears his throat and leans against the counter, pulling Cas close. “So did you really have another tattoo in mind? Or was that just an excuse to come see me at work?”

“I gave you a ring, and I was hoping you’d be willing to give me one too.”

It’s a ring he’ll never be able to remove, and one he’d never want to. When Dean’s finished inking it into his skin, he removes his gold band and teaches Cas how to give his very first tattoo. It’s the sort of day that’s marked indelibly in their skin, and all the way down to their souls.

(thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it and haven’t read Lifetime Piling Up, here’s a link to the whole series: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559668)

[web1995]

the above image, while working well enough standalone, actually requires quite a bit of context, unlike many posts on this site. it is a screenshot of the sexy characters category page on the parody wiki, which is a site for articles about crossovers, spoofs, and parody scripts written in wiki-page format. it seems to function as a type of fanfiction and creative writing space, and to be curated informally. anyway, of the characters above, soleil spacebot is the only one that seemed totally unrecognizable 

clicking her parody wiki page is where things begin to get truly strange 

Soleil Spacebot is one the main characters in Nelvana's 1986 Animated Television Series, The Spacebots. She is the eldest of three sisters and has a crush on Sam Spacebot.

this information seems reasonable enough, and like it might be about an obscure but existing cartoon. soleils page has some basic information about her and some miscellaneous, confusing crossover information, like every page on the parody wiki. it lists her in various other categories, including “capable characters” and characters who are 19. at the time of beginning this post (early 2017), there were three drawings of her, with a similar style, and no screenshots. 

beneath these drawings are two pictures made in dollmakers. 

there were no other pictures on the page. visiting the spacebots page itself reveals the following: 

The Spacebots is a Canadian animated series produced by Nelvana. It ran from September 13, 1986 to November 28, 1992 and ran for 91 episodes. It features fictional characters including heroes and villains. The background music from The Care Bears Family is used in all episodes of the TV Series.

it also lists a cast of several characters, with credited voice actors:

the other characters have pages of varying complexity, with pictures in the same style. at this point the spacebots cartoon still seems like something that could exist, but googling it turns up only results from this wiki and similar wikis.

spacebots is mentioned on numerous cartoon, parody, spoof, movie idea, and similar fan wikis. 

if the spacebots cartoon never existed, it begins to raise questions. someone putting their original character in the sexy characters category on a spoof wiki isnt so startling. neither is someone framing this character as someone from an existing show-- this wiki and similar have pages about non-existing media

however, the level of detail and specificity is alarming. these characters have voice actors (some who turn up google results, some who dont) linked to them, with lists of other voice-acting work theyve done (including cartoons that dont seem to exist either). looking for more information on the spacebots turns up a page on a very badly organized nelvana wiki with more elaborate airing dates information. 

The Spacebots is a Canadian animated television series produced by Nelvana, which aired between 1986 and 1992 in syndication; on the ABC network, The CBN Family Channel from 1988 to 1992 and The Family Channel from 1992 to 1998.

by the way, this list of nelvanas programs has no mention of spacebots. 

at this time, on revisiting her page on the parody wiki some months after finding the information detailed in the first part of this post, several new pictures had been added— like this screenshot of soleil in the sims 4: 

there are various other tracings, redraws, or dressup game pictures of her: 

one of the new images is labeled “soleil spacebot in the reboot” and there are reboot designs for soleil’s siblings elsewhere on the parody wiki, as well as this image (from the youtubescratch wiki page for the spacebots) of a reboot poster: 

this is completely new— the person or people responsible for spacebots is actively working on the spacebots worldbuilding, creating new promotional materials for a nonexistent 2015 reboot (”The Spacebots (Reboot) 2015″) of a nonexistent 80s-90s cartoon. 

there are multiple spacebots reboot posters, but no information about the reboot itself yet, other than a page mentioning it being from 2015. this raises the question of whether soleil’s creator will continue adding to the worldbuilding surrounding their fictional show by citing more information about the reboot, or whether more information about the show’s plot and characters will be revealed (still no wiki pages or pictures for the character named “sour venus” which is disappointing!) or whether the additions will end here. 

spacebots’ storytelling medium and its metafiction layers are fascinating. the fiction here is as much the show’s premise, and the original characters existing within the cartoon’s story at all, as it is the circumstances of this show’s existence— voice actors, animation companies, airing dates, a reboot, and proper “credits” for nonexistent in-show music. 

so much more information is offered about the show’s production than about the actual plot and characters of the show. the fictional production may be the creator’s area of interest, rather than their original characters (though soleil IS listed as a sexy character and many painstakingly created images of her exist). 

the mode of publication is interesting too. spacebots doesn’t seem to be advertised anywhere else, only on these wikis, which have their own fanbases. the youtubescratch page says it was created by a “Miss-Trina-Mouse” (edited by others occasionally) which is also the username on an empty deviantart account created 9 months ago, by someone who says she is female and canadian. “trina mouse” seems to be a fan character for tom and jerry (apologies if trina mouse is an existing character; i do not remember every character of tom and jerry). 

(picture from the ideas wiki) this may be the closest thing to an avatar of the creator of the spacebots that currently exists, if Miss-Trina-Mouse is indeed the creator and not a new collaborator. Miss-Trina-Mouse is the creator of trina mouse’s page, and evidently the person currently updating spacebots pages with new or “corrected” information. on this page, the airing dates have been changed to other particular airing dates:  

(from this page’s edit history, for easier reading) the first page version is from august 25, 2016. the second edit was finished on march 30th, 2017. Miss-Trina-Mouse has evidently been working on spacebots for some time, and has continued to do so. the page itself was created on june 13th, 2015, by an IP address that may or may not belong to Miss-Trina-Mouse. 

Miss-Trina-Mouse does not seem to be the only person working on pages related to the spacebots, however. the edit history for a page about a nonexistent spacebots animated film, “operation system shutdown” reveals it was created by a Sarah61, edited by a Tobina the Tomboy (who has a detailed profile page on the animalcrossing wiki) and eventually edited by Miss-Trina-Mouse as well: 

whether these are aliases belonging to the same person, a group of friends, a group of acquaintances, fans of another person’s work, totally spontaneous or planned privately in detail all remains unclear. 

Tobina the Tomboy’s profile has pictures in a similar art style to the original soleil drawings, and says she is female, and canadian (like Miss-Trina-Mouse, which makes me wonder whether they are friends or perhaps alternate accounts of the same person). Tobina also lists her favorite animal crossing characters and overall seems to be an ordinary real profile. she has a similar profile on the mysims wiki, listing favorite and least favorite characters from that. i am not screencapping it, because it seems to simply be someone’s self-created public profile without any particularly unusual elements. Tobina and/or Miss-Trina-Mouse could be the spacebots’ creator(s), though, while Sarah61 is too common of a username to search easily, despite being the page’s creator. 

(i have little interest in seeking out more information about these contributors beyond what they make immediately available on their profiles, since it appears that they are ordinary nonfictional people with an interesting fictional hobby) 

perhaps it is silly to look so deeply into this project, and to want to know more about it so badly when it seems like it is something its creator(s) made for fun, and doesnt seem sinister in any way. however, the format is not like anything i have come across before, and the level of detail startles me almost as much as the difficulty in finding those details. the spacebots can only be sort-of understood by reading fragmented pages across many different wikis and every wiki reveals more information, some which can be searched to discover more about, and some which turns up no other results. there is even a 1987 NES video game mentioned on at least one wiki: 

everything about the spacebots, its presentation, and its continued existence is fascinating. looking into it has been a wild ride to say the least, and the amount of meticulous creative energy put into it is nothing short of admirable. 

if spacebots has been created in this way, how many similar unreal shows are out there, in the same format? i know little about wikis of this type, so is this a common creative method on them? is spacebots the creation of one person, or is it collaborative? does the original creator still have control of the concept or is a fan— fans?— permitted to update freely? is the initial creator still working on spacebots wiki pages at all? will more information about the spacebots reboot become available? how long has this been going on? is spacebots more like an art project, an ARG, informal original storytelling (like someone explaining their deviantart OCs), or something else entirely? 

i will close this post with a synopsis of the spacebots, found on the youtubescratch wiki page: 

The six Spacebots and their allies live in a sci-fi futuristic city called Spaceland. They have their magic powers, magical stars and magical hearts and they have to stop Commander Zurg and The Freakalien brothers from wrecking havoc and planning to destroy Spaceland. 

i hope that reading about my attempts at putting them together has been as interesting as i found making those attempts in the first place, and that the spacebots wiki pages will continue updating 

[tech-usa-blog]

Hands-on: the new, console free Kindle escapes the method for the book We investigate the new, base end Kindle, and discover what it resembles to …

I tend to judge the notoriety of electronic gadgets on how regularly I see them in the metro or airplane terminal. By that standard, the principal couple eras of Kindle were gradually picking up in fame through the span of quite a while, however never truly went standard. At the point when Amazon began cutting the costs, be that as it may, the Kindle took off. Presently, it's hard to get on a plane or occupied metro auto without seeing one.

At the point when Amazon presented its freshest arrangement of Kindles fourteen days back, the Fire got a large portion of the consideration, since its cost and Amazon's support recommend that it may be the gadget that takes Android on tablets into the standard. In any case, for Amazon, the Kindle that may have the greatest effect is the low-end, highly contrasting model. At a promotion upheld $79, these things are expected to be spur of the moment purchases, something that you may very well drop under the tree over the occasions in the event that you come up short on thoughts. Furthermore, once they're in the hands of buyers, Amazon trusts they'll broaden its lead in the digital book showcase, with the DRM secure that runs with it, so altogether that it will take an atomic weapon to change things.

This new model likewise speaks to somewhat of a flight for Amazon, in that it's the first without a console. How does that function out?

From numerous points of view, splendidly. The gadget is perceptibly more minimal than past cycles. It fills my hand and is an extremely agreeable weight. I wasn't an aficionado of the chicklet-style console with its matrix like course of action of catches, so I'm not at all sorry to learn it go. Its nonattendance likewise gives the gadget a cleaner look, and places the concentration where it has a place: on the screen. In the console's nonattendance, Amazon has supported the measure of the rocker catch that helps you select on-screen things, which makes it somewhat simpler to operate.The rocker switch is flanked by four catches. Shockingly, Amazon flubbed the outline on these. Three of them are, without watchful examination, outwardly vague. (Incidentally, I can make out the littlest content setting on the screen, yet require perusing glasses for the catches.) The focuses of the catches are additionally somewhat raised, which makes a glare issue that makes it significantly harder to perceive what each does. With perusing glasses, it's conceivable to confirm that these are a somewhat sensible gathering of catches: back, console, menu, and home. Each does precisely what you'd expect.The page turn catches are currently symmetrical, with an expansive forward and little back on each side. It's hard to hit these unintentionally, which was an issue with some prior Kindles. The drawback is that, while the Kindle fits pleasantly into my hand, it's difficult to mastermind my fingers with the goal that they can work these catches one-gave.

Another sort

Programming insightful, little has changed with the new model. It's as yet centered around getting you to your perusing material and after that remaining out of your way as you have at it. The eInk screen has become observably better since the prior cycles, as the blaze that goes with page turns is shorter and less prominent than it used to be. Amazon likewise merits credit for chipping away at the product side of the condition. The early forms of the Kindle used to redraw the whole screen for pretty much everything. Presently, the product is exceptionally particular about redraws, which makes the entire interface significantly more responsive.

Having a responsive interface is somewhat critical now that the main console is the one that appears on the screen. Also, that is a change that is evident ideal from the begin.

The low-end demonstrate works just through WiFi, and requires a B/G switch. Since Kindle substance is intended to be conveyed through the system, the gadget will request that you sign into one when you initially initiate it. Entering a watchword required an excursion to the console, and it took me about a moment to punch in one that wasn't particularly long.You can raise the console at whatever point you have to sort something in by pushing the console catch; the writing will be coordinated into whatever field you've chosen with the rocker catch. Or, then again I ought to state raise the consoles—there are separate consoles for images, consistent letters, capital letters, and unique characters like accents and tildes. You switch among the consoles utilizing the rocker switch, and a similar strategy is utilized to explore among the keys. They're laid out one after another in order, instead of as a qwerty console. That takes a touch of getting used to, however isn't that awful once you make the alteration.

Some of Amazon's work on being brilliant with the eInk screen pays off with the console. On the off chance that you hold a conservative, it'll shoot the cursor to the suitable side of the console, yet won't stop to repaint the past keys back to white, so your choice abandons an obscured trail it. Correspondingly, when hunting down a book in the Kindle store, Amazon begins offering culmination suggesions as you write. These seem before long, and can be a major offer assistance. It's difficult to envision anything like that having been conceivable on the principal emphasis of the equipment.

How can it function? All things considered, it fluctuates in view of what you're attempting to do. Writing in the WiFi system's secret key was somewhat moderate. Utilizing the trial program to sign into Gmail was more regrettable, requiring two minutes and 35 seconds for the username/watchword mix. Writing in the URL for Ars took around 50 seconds, in spite of the fact that the site really looked quite great on-screen. The finishing proposals that showed up in the digital book store were useful, yet in the event that your pursuit begins with a typical word (I attempted a title that begun with "Ventures"), regardless you need to sort a reasonable piece of it out. All things considered, it eliminates the writing. Hunting down and obtaining a book wound up taking a few minutes accordingly. It took me around four and a half minutes to sort out "This is a genuinely short note, however it is by all accounts taking always to sort."

Given the decision, I'd deal with the Kindle's substance from my portable PC, and simply utilize the real equipment to download the outcomes. I would not utilize this for whatever else, notwithstanding making a Tweet, with the exception of in supreme crises (and I'm unable to think about a crisis that requires a tweet). In case you're hoping to take a great deal of notes as you read, you might need to consider heading up-market to one of the more costly models.

From various perspectives, the absence of a console makes it the purest digital book peruser Amazon has made, and it's quite great at that. I wouldn't see any problems a bigger screen, yet the quality is very great and the eInk screen is responsive. Additionally, now that the screen takes up the vast majority of the gadget's face, it's significantly nearer to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' unique vision, one where the gadget vanishes and you simply concentrate on the perusing. The battery life stays incredible in the event that you turn the WiFi off. What's more, at $79, it's substantially less demanding to legitimize as a buy that doesn't get utilized each day.

On the off chance that you as of now have a convenient gadget that runs the Kindle programming, the choice gets somewhat harder. Flipping pages and exploring through books is a much smoother encounter on (for instance) an iOS gadget, which can make the Kindle appear somewhat like an awkward trade off. Besides, a tablet will have the capacity to do numerous more things well. It won't have a similar battery life, however at any rate it will mean you could have one less gadget to stress over keeping charged. The reasonable place where the Kindle wins out is on weight, since it's truly agreeable to hold in a solitary hand.

That settles on for a genuinely straightforward basic leadership prepare. On the off chance that you are great with the eInk screen, then you ought to consider whether the light weight or long battery life matter to you. On the off chance that both of them do, at $79, it's likely worth snatching a Kindle.