zodyandleo

[zodyandleo]

Welp, that's a major bummer. I've spent so much time putting together the Wix site for the project only to find out that it wouldn't come up in search results without completing an upgrade step.

[zodyandleo]

Much of the Wix site is up!

[zodyandleo]

Zody has a bad dream about Aiden.

[zodyandleo]

While I'm at a standstill again for official, polished work to contribute to the canon, I've been doing some sketches of various character evolutions I have planned.

1. Delores was always a happy, creative child until losing her grandmother and falling into depression. Future romantic interest Amanda helps her out of her depression and helps her reconnect with her creativity.

2. Prue always tried to care for others and keep things together until her own world fell apart when her parents divorced and her siblings got split up. Older sister went with one parent, younger sibling went with another, and the middle child felt like she lost everything, even herself.

3. Aiden isn't marked for trauma, but has a bit of unlearning to do, from getting out of misogyny (which results in discovering a talent for writing) to dealing with potential internalised queerphobia when his feelings for Zody, who's nonbinary, throws him into a miniature identity crisis.

[zodyandleo]

[zodyandleo]

Sketched Ben Goldstein's gender evolution

[zodyandleo]

A sketch of the front view of Eridanus High School. They have a statue of their mascot, an otter, in the courtyard.

The campus consists of the main building with the administration area, a cafeteria/auditorium building in the front, and a gym with a track (to the best that I could communicate it) in the back.

Beyond the gym, there's a small woods that leads to a clearing, which is where the moon portal shines during the full moon.

For reference, here's the aerial view:

[zodyandleo]

Meet the family of Virgo, Amir al-Hashemi! He has a father named Jamal, mother Fatima, and older sister Zahra.

[zodyandleo]

Meet the family of resident Gemini Avery Fontaine! He has a twin named Riley and parents Alec and Marie. Avery and Riley were adopted.

[zodyandleo]

Logo and layout of one of the hangouts of the Z&L gang, Parcheesi Pizza!

[zodyandleo]

Development is slow, especially with real-life issues. I've been badly out of the loop but added a new "episode" to the list (no order yet):

- Loren [astral Virgo] tricks one of the kids to keep them in the astralverse

- A kid Zody babysits follows them into the astralverse. (One of the team sibs?)

- Jonah deals with losing his grandmother

- Prue's parents divorce and she snaps

- Kristen falls in love with a terminally ill girl

- Evan Kelly steals and loses the class pet.

- They meet a teen sensation and find out it's not all it's cracked up to be

- Amir, aka Prince Charming, writes romance fiction for his school paper. One of his stories features two boys, after which he finds friendship and popularity when he inadvertently helps the star quarterback, Godfrey "Fredo" Jones, come out.

- Amir & Avery end up gossiping about the group, and Amir publishes a story about a crush using barely-concealed names--Braden & Cody.

- Zody & Aiden pen a popular fantasy story, "The Sorcerer of Az," for English class, inspiring jealousy from Amir.

These are just the human-based smaller plots in mind. Still have a couple of planned Big Plots for the astralverse:

~ Leo transforms between cat and lion in proximity to the portal. Maybe their cover gets blown sometime?

-Dark Gemini breaks free of his twin and casts a curse on some of the kids, causing them to form dark doppelgangers that wreak havoc in the real world. (the very first plot written).

I *think* I have a 3/4 formula in mind. Access to the astralverse is only during the full moon, which generally occurs once a month, or one week out of four. This means three out of four episodes focusing on human life, with one taking place in the astralverse.

...maybe.

[zodyandleo]

First swing at a town map sketch for the real world of Z&L.

[zodyandleo]

I am aware that this may come off as a cringey post, not immune to accusation of "pandering" or "woke" or what have you. Doesn't matter. This is more important.

This Indigenous People's Day has me also aware of the lack of representation in general media and in "Z&L." If this gets off the ground, I want as many people as possible to be able to see themselves somewhere in the show, even if in the background. I strive towards diversity and I'd love to be able to introduce underrepresented types of characters.

With care, I want to venture towards having some indigenous visibility. I'll do some research and see where I can reach out for guidance. If you'd like to see an identity/minority that has not been incorporated, please let me know!

...tacky as this is, here's what I have represented:

Orientation:

aro

ace

straight

gay

pan

Gender:

cis

trans

nonbinary

Faith:

Muslim

Christian

Jewish

(Hindu character has been in the back of my mind)

Heritage:

Latina

Irish

Japanese

black

Thai

French

German

African

Disability/condition:

albinism

blindness

neurodivergent

wheelchair user

dwarfism

terminal illness

Not counting astral characters--I'm not ascribing anything to them.

[zodyandleo]

Meet Aiden Kelly's family: mother Nora, father Dennis, and gremlin brother Evan!

[zodyandleo]

Meet Delores' family! She has parents Isabel and José, older brothers Miguel and Carlos, and younger twin sisters Elena and Lucia

[zodyandleo]

Meet Skyler Rae Jackson's family! Her father, Andre, is a bit younger than most of the other parents. Andre is a former Eridanus High student himself. After attending a class reunion, he reconnects with an old friend (also a father) and enters into a relationship with him, thus coming out as bi. Further down the road, they marry and decide to adopt a child.

[zodyandleo]

Shipping sketches