Category: The Digital Feed

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to sit down in front of a computer for more than a few seconds. It’s really given me a chance to think about my work and what I’d like to do with it. I’ve had this desire to deal with a binding universal theory for all of my fiction which I’m definitely going to get back to, but one of the problems that I’m currently experiencing is that a lot of my work is very eclectic in its subject matter.

To wit, some of my prime work does not line up with some of my favorite side projects. I am now starting to discover that there are ways to make the necessary connections to bring Gothique back into the fold of the Runick Legends, but I’m having a hard time deciding if this is really what I want to do.

Granted, the Gothique story line is very, very imited in favor of a wider variety of play, but the overall structure of the universe is very much like the spare ribs to the Runick Legends backbone. They’re related, and you can tell they’re from the same animal, but they’re definitely separated.

A newer work, Impulse Company is having a similar problem. It has a lot of recent inspirations, and definitely has a lot of ties to the Runick Legends, but I can’t seem to flesh it out. Meanwhile, I’ve also been stumbling across a lot of my older writings and realized that there was some stuff that I’ve rewritten, and from the original source material got some stuff rather wrong.

In the grand scheme of things its not a big deal but it is [expletive] frustrating.

I suppose what I’m left to deal with now is the after effects of having started over who knows how many times [I think seven], which is just how this stuff works. I think my next major project is going to be fleshing out Marcus’ story. Don’t know who he is? Well, you should read the bloody Wiki.

— Vid

I’ve been contemplating new story fragments for the various Legends, and I’m finding myself enthralled with the post-apocalyptic setting for various reasons of influence. Normally this isn’t my natrual medium, and I haven’t done a lot in that setting before. As such, I find my mind wandering towards how to improve the concept.

That’s sort of a tricky thing, seeing as there are very few post-apocalyptic deviations. Mostly they take place in various desert wastelands, or destroyed worlds. It seems to me like there’s got to be some sort of new apocalyptic setting out there that hasn’t been done before. I’ve considered the idea of people stranded in someplace more habitable, but that’s not really apocalyptic, that’s Gilligan’s Island.

I know I’d normally put a reference link there for Gilligan’s Island. But if you don’t know who the Professor and Mary Ann are, you should be shot for wasting our oxygen.

Anyhow, I’m still working on ideas for one of many plotlines that I’ve thought up. Lately I’ve been more interested in working on ensemble stories than I have singular focus stories. There’s a lot more potential with them for long term works. You’re not restricted to only mild tragedy, because to be blunt, you can kill off a central character without condemning the whole story.

Well, we’ll see where it leads. Feel free to throw ideas out there. Currently I’ve got a country that’s been stranded from the rest of the world by an experiment gone wrong ( someone probably recognizes this idea ), a colonial craft crash lands on a semi-inhabitable world, but almost all on-board resources are destroyed ( this idea too ), or a complete astronomical catastrophe floods the world, and by the time the water recedes, populations have been dwindled to nearly a 100th ( I hope someone recognizes the inspiration for this idea).

Nothing perfect, but that’s how it works at the moment.

— Vid

So I had a moment to take a quick look at my style sheet and figured out how to adjust the padding for avatar images in posts. You’ll notice that they wrap around the image now like they did on the previous incarnation of the site. I’ve always felt that lends a more personal touch to the posts, more so than just a signature.

Of course now I’m still trying to figure out how to dynamically provide avatar images for various writers. I’ve taken a look at a few post template plugins, but it seems like so far all they do is create a template based on an existing post that you can then access to copy and paste into your new post. Well that’s just sort of bloody pointless, isn’t it? I mean, hell, I can do that myself without needing a plugin.

The search continues. I know none of the other Bastards have made their editorial debuts just yet, but I want it to be as easy for them as possible. Honestly if it’s easy for them, it’ll be easier for me. Back when I was doing this all by hand with frames I had dreamed up the idea of .css without realizing it. An idea I wish I’d known how to put into effect and capitalize on.

Well, whomever stole my thought process sure left the need for a lot of manual coding. Nothing sucks worse than being retroactively ripped off, but having the idea implemented poorly.

— Vid