ADHD and my writing

In times past, I have dropped the ball on writing for this blog more times than I can count. You guys already know this because I have apologized so often for this so many times, you'd think I was one of those problematic influencers. 

But I am not. I am just a simple chee... who at times forgets he has a blog that sometimes would like to feature more than one post a month.

Now just a warning before I start, I will be talking about my experience with ADHD. I want to make it clear that I do not see ADHD as a negative deterrent in my life, and I understand that not everyone has the same experience with it.  I am just writing this because I am acknowledging that I may not be as productive as I could because I am easily distracted.

What is ADHD? First off, according to psychiatry.org, ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder) is a common mental disorder mostly found in children, though it can also be found in adults. People with ADHD can tend to be people who have a hard time focusing, people who behave in a hyperactive, and people who act on impulse without thinking. These are just the main symptoms psychiatry.org mentions. It goes into more symptoms later on and I cannot share them all otherwise this post would turn into something that I did not intend for it to become. So click here if you want to learn more about ADHD and the symptoms. 

How do I know I have ADHD though? A valid question.

I was tested for it as a kid, and the doctor told my parents I needed to go on medicine for it so I could pay better attention in class. They don't really say much about it besides that. And I stopped taking the medicine after ten years because I ended up getting sick while taking it. As the years have gone by, I still recognize the same traits I have always had that I never knew were connected to ADHD. Forgetfulness, bad organization skills, easily distracted, issues with focus. These are all things I still struggle with today. 

And these symptoms of ADHD are things that people in my past have gotten angry with me about, and I am not talking about my teachers. I am talking about adults in my life, former friends, other people. I always talked way too much as a kid, or got really loud and excited when something good happened to me. I was also a very active kid, so I moved around a lot. I also had an issue with finding my place in conversations, which I am not 100% sure is a symptom of ADHD but it is something that people would yell at me over.

I guess people thought that negative reinforcement when I did something like the things in the above paragraph would help me or something? I don't know. I donh't know if they really ever helped me. 

I am pretty open about myself, so I am going to share a very personal story. My family is very religious, and I used to be that way too. I used to participate in a bible study with people who were five to six years older than me from the time I was maybe... 12 till about 20. Maybe more, maybe less. I am not too sure how the time worked out. And this group of guys liked to study the bible and talk about issues in their lives, and since it was a bible study the topics of sharing struggles with certain sins came up. And since I thought it was good to have people who could possibly help me become a better person in my own walk with God, I participated. But week after week, I'd find myself not being able to comment as much in conversations. Maybe it was my age they didn't take seriously or the fact that I sometimes had to talk over people because I was getting ignored... I don't know. Some of these guys didn't like that I would talk over them or get distracted when I wasn't being involved in the conversation, so some of them would decide to either ignore me more or immediately shut me down. My father was apart of this group too, same as me. Looking back, he was given a similar treatment, though not by much because he was a pastor, and the oldest person in the room... I am getting off topic somehow. I took the things that happened in that group seriously, even though my nature seemed like all I wanted to do was not pay attention and talk whenever I wanted. There are other things I could say here... I spent a good deal typing up some qualms I had here... But that is not the point of this post.

Things like this may have lessened some of my symptoms. For example, I do not talk much to people unless I am comfortable around them. I am a bit mellowed out and really don't get overly excited unless I feel comfortable showing excitement. I feel like the person I was as a kid has been drowned out and I am just a shell of the happy, outgoing, crazy, fun person I used to be. And now people tell me, "Oh, you're so different! You seem so depressed lately! What's wrong?"

... It's something I still don't know how to handle properly. Especially as a writer. I started this blog as a way to possibly share my stories with the world. And I have done that at points. I just post in segments of a year like maybe I will be consistent for like five months! Then work or school or a worldwide pandemic will come along and I'll get wrapped up in something else. 

I love to create stories and I want to be the best writer I can be. I have also been doing some editing recently and I am really glad that I have had the chance to grow as a writer and help people better their own writing at the same time. But there is always that nagging in my head that people may not respect me as a writer because I don't nearly post as much writing as my friends do. People won't take me seriously as a writer when all I did was write an adequate book three years ago and published two short stories in a completely different genre. And then I'll get in my head about the stuff I have published. Was that stuff even any good? Do my editors think I am a good writer? Do my writer friends judge me because I seem to care more about making personal connections and friendships more than I do about writing? I mean I do care about friendships. I think the people I am close to are great... 

This. This above was a tangent I wrote. I kept this in here because that is what goes on in my head, a small piece of how my mind will run away with the idea that I am not doing all I could be. 

Last year, I finished about five different short stories. And I started about six others. I am not proud of the fact that I am not done with those yet. I am also not proud with the other unfinished projects I still have, This blog post was a side-thought compare to those other things. 

But it is not bad to try and work with these little distractions and impulses. I am able to focus my energy when I feel like it is important. I have three published stories to my name. Two more short stories coming out later this year, maybe more! And also my stories on wattpad. And I am also not counting the finished stories I have no clue what do to do with yet. Whether I think they are good, is beyond the point. This post is not about my self-worth. I do not think I will ever have the courage to talk about the way I feel about myself. 

I am an easily distracted person, who will start new projects at the drop of the hat because I get so excited about the concept of a new idea or story... But I have the capability to focus and do something good with it. Those times my mind gets the better of me and wanders, I use that time to think about current ideas or new concepts I might like to cover in a story. Then I'll try and write it down the best I can. I always have my idea notebook around. I know I might never completely overcome my ADHD. And I may not need to. I just need to know how I can work with it or around it. I need to recognize the fact that there are times I can't control every action I make or how much I can focus on a certain thing... But I can try hard to do as much as I can. And the forgetfulness thing? Meh... I'll  think of something for that later. My goal is to be a good writer, and hopefully I can push through the difficulties that ADHD can present and make more stories for people to enjoy.. 

I hope that this hasn't been too weird of a post. I know that my experience isn't the only one, but maybe it could help someone else with different struggles. It's difficult to acknowledge this type of thing. But it's important to learn how to grow even if you have things that may hold you back. 

New Years Resolutions

 SO. Last year sure was something, wasn't it? 

A downward spiral of depression brought about by the scary world we live in and a serious virus that affected the very core of our day to day lives. Our world is still trying to recover as we do our best to pick up pieces of our lives and try to figure out what our new normal will be like.

I have admitted to my flaws in the past, and those meshed with the sense of impending doom and made way for a bunch of scary feelings of inadequacy to completely derail any possible good thing I had going for me. I kept having to freeze things I really wanted to work on because other areas of my life became too much for me to handle the usual way. Hence the empty promises for more blog posts. Though, I can't be sure if anyone still reads these. Who knows? Could be more negative feelings clouding my thinking. 

One thing I have learned this year is that scheduling does work. I was strong on my scheduled path for a few months and I felt so good about my productivity. However, with school taking over most of my thought process, I have only had time for my substitute teaching job, editing, and school. (Along with the weekly DND session with furries and the monthly game day! These are nice breaks from staring into the void.) It's really affected my mood at times.

There is a silver lining. Next semester features only one class, as someone is very close to graduating with a bachelor's degree. After April, hopefully, I will be able to take more time for creating things. With this, I am hoping for my mood to improve, and get rid of these feelings of inadequacy. 

New Years Resolutions are a thing people do every year to try and either get themselves to be better or possibly try something new. These do not always succeed. Every year we think, "Oh! I swear I will be better!" then the next year turns into the same thing. Oops! Oh well! "But this year will be different!" Yeah? And next week people will start to understand each other and there will finally be no problems. Yeah. Not going to happen that easily. It's a nice sentiment, but realistically, these resolutions are mostly just words. But the ideas behind resolutions aren't bad. People should strive towards goals of self-expression and betterment. I joke about wanting to love myself, but it's something I really hope I can learn to do one day.

The point of this is, I can make all of these wild resolutions (like what I am about to do) but I might not get through every single one. It will be discouraging. But, if I understand that some of these things will not get done, I will be able to strive for these goals individually instead of all together. My attitude towards my increasing creative workload needs to change if I am going to improve. 

Every time I accomplish something on the below list, I will try to come back and update it. Striking through my goals like I am cutting through it with a sharp blade. So without further ado, here are the goals I would like to strive towards completing this year. 

• Write Resolutions!
• Graduate with my English BA
• Pass my two hardest classes
• Write more poetry
• Have a new story come out in an anthology (Two are in the works! Hopefully, to be released soon!)
• Write a story for the Ocean Animals anthology (I do have an idea for this.)
• Write PJ related short stories and related things
• Finish drafting Sunnydale
• Get a new job in the school system
• Complete any commissions I have queued up.
• Do more editing (professional/personal/commissions)
• Write more Heroes Collide
• Expand "Spirit of Christmas" to a pocket shot or novella
• Complete a very special rewrite!
• Love Me (I am serious about this)
• Exercise a bit more (This is not serious)
• Play a sport? (Try again.)
• Learn how to dance! (The sport one seems more realistic. You have two left feet!)
• Write more blog post(s)
• Write another zombie story. (You know the one.)
• Finish Zombies Hate Vegans
• Finish SIR REGINALD THE HETEROSEXUAL 
• Finish Justice Served Cold
• Do some work on Jackson Pacer: Penned to Kill
• Read a book! (Maybe one of the cool flashy ones by your friends!) 
• Do some work on Calamity High

While this list looks big and daunting, it is not so bad. But only because I formed this list with the knowledge that I do not need to accomplish all of this during this year. (Especially exercise. I don't have the energy for that... Hmmm I wonder why that is!) Obviously, the most important ones, like editing, commissions, graduating will most likely be easily accomplished. And crossing each off this large list will be a huge boost to my self-esteem. And the ones I don't complete this year may be next year's successes. I shouldn't drive myself too hard, and be glad with what I can get done.

Thank you for reading if you did. This was hard to write. I don't like airing my insecurities out for everyone, but this is something that I felt would help me out in my productivity or improvement. 

Wish me luck! 

Furry Book Month: World-Building with @TempoWrites

 When I first asked for potential topics I could cover during Furry Book Month, the first comment I got was from @SapphyStarr. Her suggestion was world creation/development. As far as my writing goes, I am not the best at world-building. 

My philosophy when it comes to developing a setting is just to write and let the world form itself. Take my novella, Phantom Janitor. When I wrote that, I started with a vague idea of the world I was working with. Our world, but with furry characters. As I wrote, settings started to form, like the school, the theater, the burger joint. They were all smaller nudges towards trying to establish a visual world.  

Then you have authors like James Patterson who take the time to build their universes and establish themselves and their stories there and you just want to stare and wonder “Oh my god! How the hell did they do that?” I can’t speak for super famous author James Patterson, but my guess is that he planned it out. 

I am not the best at this, so I called in some help from a fellow writer. Tempe O’Kun @TempoWrites is a fellow member of the Furry Writer’s Guild community and the author of several books. Several titles to his name include Windfall, Sleep for Gamers, Sixes Wild: Manifest Destiny, and Sixes Wild: Echoes. 

When I asked for his help on this post, the husky went above and beyond and actually wrote a full post that he posted to his Furaffinity. I will link the full post HERE so you can read what he has to say in full.

According to Tempe, the best way to figure out how to world-building is to know what kind of story you are writing and who you are writing the story for. Who is your target audience? What is your target genre here? How old is your audience? 

There are three possible questions you may need to consider here.  Is this for others to read or is it just something you are writing for yourself? Is this story you are working on for a younger audience or a more adult one? The ideas of these questions will help a writer build up what they want to do with their story. And if you’ll allow me, I’d like to add a fourth question to Tempe’s. What type of writing are you doing?

I’ll touch briefly on the first three questions, but if you want the full scoop go check out Tempe’s post that is linked above. As most seasoned members of the FWG and writers in general know, there are markets for more than just novels and short stories. Research Papers, poetry, script-writing, games, screenplays. All are possible ways that furry writers can go when writing. Most writers in the FWG lean towards the short stories or novel departments, but a lot also are involved in those other types of writing. For example, Tempe is a script-writer for the YouTube channel Culturally F’d!  Now seeing as this is Furry Book Month, I am going off the assumption that most of the people reading this are leaning towards a novel or short story (or possibly poetry! I am not clairvoyant.) But as a writer, you should be aware of the other possibilities, especially if you are more comfortable with those types of writings.

Obviously, this fourth question won’t have much to do with building a world, but it is still useful information to have for any writer. So what about the other questions. In a short summary of Tempe’s wonderful post, (You should check that out!) Knowing your purpose and your audience is the most important part of starting to build your story’s world. 

Let’s take my project, Sunnydale, for example. Normal readers of this blog know that Sunnydale is an idea consisting of horror-comedy in a small town full of monsters and one angsty teen German Sheppard who has to navigate it all. Following the notes Tempe made, I would first need to establish who this story is for. Myself or others? Considering how much I have shared with others and how excited I am about it, I would probably be safe in saying both. As far as the audience, I am aiming towards a Young Adult audience, and if it wasn’t obvious from the causal mentioning of my main character’s species, it’s for furries. Asking yourself these questions, in the beginning, starts you down the right track to a story. 

This is where my fourth question comes into play. Or as Tempe phrased it, “What is your final outcome?” Since this is a work of fiction, most of the other ways of writing I mentioned are off the table. All except for novels, short stories, and games. As I have no experience with games, I do understand that is more complicated than a straightforward novel, so I will defer to Tempe’s knowledge here and instead share my thoughts on the other two. 

Novels are a great way to write a one and done story (or the start to a series) and it gives you room to describe and explore the world of your story and its characters. Novels usually have larger casts than short stories and since they are bigger, you need to make sure that not only is every member defined, but that the world they live in can be clearly imagined. You will need to explore the possibilities that all of these different characters are traveling to or from different paths than each other and be able to explore the facets of their different characters. 

Short stories seem easier but to a writer who’s more experienced in longer works, it can be tricky. You need to focus more on driving the plot forward than details about the character’s backstory or world that don’t matter to the plot. You need to make sure every detail fleshes out the characters in respect to the story's main purpose. However, some short story writers can choose to try and expand certain aspects or characters by writing multiple short stories and combining them into a collection. 

As far as my preferred way to write Sunnydale, I am leaning towards a collection of shorter stories. 

After this, you are ready to start doing the serious world-building. As I said before, I can’t cover all of Tempe’s tips here, because that wouldn’t be right and there would be no point in reading both posts. In the second half of his post, he shares some of his own personal tips on how he does his world-building! So after this, please make sure to check his post out. It’s linked above and also right HERE. 

To close this post up, I want to remind every writer out there. Even if you follow all of these tips at the start, writing is a fluid practice. Things can change at the drop of a hat. You need to remember that as you write, you may think of a way to enhance your stories world that you might have missed or didn’t plan to encounter. But don’t let any roadblocks like doubt or possible holes in the story stop you from continuing. If you were able to implement through all these steps we mentioned in our posts, you’ll be able to accomplish great things and are well on your way to being able to share something amazing.

Thank you so much to Tempe O’Kun for lending his paw in this post on world-building. His Twitter is @TempoWrites if you want to follow him there, or you can read some of his other writing-related posts on FA while you are there. And since it is #FurryBookMonth, make sure to check out his works that I shared above!

Furry Book Month/Writing Tips!

 Hello! 

Welcome to Furry Book Month. If you don’t know what this is, it is a month where we take time to acknowledge and support wonderful writers in the furry fandom. This October, instead of just promoting my own writing and stories, I’d love to use this time to address any new or aspiring writers whether they are furry or not furry!

Hi! How are you! My name is Scribbles but I also go by Vinnie, and I will be your guide on this journey. Right off the bat, I want you to know that I and so many other writers appreciate you. You may not know it yet, but your writing is going to be wonderful. If you just started writing, or you’d like to start but don’t know how, I’d like to help. 

Writing can sometimes feel confusing. Maybe you don’t have time or you don’t feel confident in your abilities; maybe you just have no clue where to begin. This month, I’ll be trying to tackle questions and topics that you might struggle with. This will mostly be for furry writers, but even if you aren’t interested in furry writing, still follow along! 

Before we begin, there are some things that should be cleared up.

First! You need to know before we start that your status as a writer isn’t determined by your published material. If you have ever written something just for the fun of it, you are a writer! Congratulations! That means songs, short stories, poetry, StarFox fanfiction, and essays all count! It doesn’t matter if the work you have written hasn’t been shared yet, it is still writing.

Second! Not being published in book form doesn’t make you any less of a writer than others! It also doesn’t determine the authenticity or quality of your content or your skills as a writer. A lot of authors mostly publish their work online! Furry authors can publish their writing on places like Inkbunny, FurAffinity, Sofurry, or Weasyl. And non-furry authors can use places like Wattpad or fanfiction.net for their TMNT fanfics. (You know who you are!)

Third! It is very important to surround yourself with fellow writers. This is more of a personal suggestion, but it can be very helpful for you in the long run. If there is one thing writers love, it is other writers. We are great for bouncing ideas around, brainstorming, beta-reading, and some of use make excellent cheerleaders. I, myself, am a member of the furry writing community known as the Furry Writer’s Guild (Or FWG if you need to save characters on twitter.) It would be a crime for me to not tell you how much other members of this community have helped me on my own journey as a writer. And it’s not just the support I get from them. Later on, I will be going into some benefits of being in a group of writers like the FWG. 

Fourth! Write what you know! Start with things that you know you can do well. Once you gain more confidence in your writing, you can start adding new things in as you go along! If you don’t feel comfortable writing a certain genre or topic, don’t make yourself do it. 

Fifth! You don’t need to worry if your writing isn’t perfect. As you write, you will grow both as an artist and a person. And I am excited to see what you can do. 

If you have any questions about the writing process or topics I should cover, all of my links are on the sidebar of this blog! You can find my Tumblr, Wattpad, twitter, Facebook page, and other links there. 

Also make sure to show your support for other furry writers and publishers during this time of the Corona by buying books or sharing them with others. And follow #FurryBookMonth for any updates on things other furry writers will be doing throughout the month!

Life still goes on.

 Hey everyone!

It's a pretty good time to update on how things are going for me. And despite the bumps in the road mentally and emotionally, I am doing okay. Quarantine has been hard, but things are okay. I am healthy, the people I care about are safe, and I have been productive in most of my endeavors. 

No one asked for this time in our lives, but I am hoping everyone else is handling it in stride as well. I have completed six more classes for college since quarantine started, and I am happy to report that if I keep this momentum up, I will finish my Bachelor's Degree by April of next year. 

I have returned to substitute teaching and I feel like my life has a bit of meaning again. Sitting at home all this time has been really discouraging and lonely. Hence the emotional and mental strain I mentioned earlier. And with all that spare time I got severely unproductive. And I hated it. It was underwhelming. As you saw I had to stall some projects I was really excited about. (Heroes Collide should be back before the beginning of next year.)

As the seasons change, I am feeling a bit better about some parts of my life. I wrote two short stories over the summer and finally started doing the work I had promised I would on a certain spooky project. (Which has undergone a name change which I will be updating for you all soon) I have also been making great progress on Jackson Pacer's mystery story. As far as these go I am really proud of the work I have done here.

Zombies Hate To See You Cry my story about a closeted lesbian who is kicked out of her Catholic parents' house in the middle of the zombie apocalypse has been entered into a short story contest! It's my second zombie story of this nature and I am super proud of the work I put into it. Hopefully, it will not be the last story of this type as self-aware zombies are very fun to write. I have two more zombie stories, and two Werewolf stories in the early writing/planning stages that I can't wait for you to read as well! If you would like to vote on Zombies Hate To See You Cry please click on the title!

This is all I have for you right now. I am sorry I am not more consistent, but hopefully I will have more coming soon. Please stay safe out there. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Love yourself. All those fun positive things, you hear?

Till next time.

 

The blog is undergoing some renovations at the moment. If you click on some of the posts or pages on the sidebar, you will notice some of them are empty or missing. This is only because I have moved/removed the content on them. Please bear with me.

That is all.

Also Commissions are still open.

Big Brother AllStars 2? Players who I think should go back in the house PRE BB 12. (OPINION)

Normal viewers! Hey! This is a Big Brother related post because why not? I can like the drama and intensity related to a reality tv/strategy game show. Right?

Big Brother 22 has been getting teased as an All-Star season for the past few weeks, and my twitter has been SO full of that the last few days! I have seen so many names and rumors tossed around for returning players and people's hopes and dreams about returning players. Apparently a few players are already confirmed, at least those are the rumors.

This will be a post where I go through each season and pick one player (or maybe two) who I think deserve to be brought back! I know my opinion doesn't hold much weight because I am just a newer fan of the show and my guesses probably will not be right. However! As this is my post, I will not be picking any of the rumored names that I have seen on twitter or fansites. Unfortunately this goes for names like Josh and Paul from BB19 (Though I'd hesitate to pick from them anyway); Derrick, Frankie, Nicole, Devin, and Brittany from BB16 (and 18 for Nicole) ; Dan from BB10 and 14; Janelle from BB6, 7, and 14 and others.

JUST AN FYI, I don't own the photos used here. These are the official headshots from the BB Wikia.

Starting with the first season most fans count, Big Brother 2...
MONICA BAILEY

Monica Bailey finished Season Two in the Final Three, and while I don't know her game personally, I do know that she was a pretty strong player. I am willing to bet that if she could have beaten Dr. Will or Nicole if she had made it to the Final Two. But Nicole evicted her instead of Dr. Will because Will was not the most-liked among the evicted houseguests.
She was among the picks to return in All-Stars, but she was not voted into the house, which is a darn shame. She is an old-school player who would be in an interesting position in a house full of newer players, and I am surprised she hasn't really returned since then. Of course, I wouldn't know if she'd return for sure.

In BB3...
JASON GUY

Jason is another third-place player, who definitely could have had a good chance of getting the crown. He was one half of one of the first powerful duos in the game of Big Brother alongside the runner-up on his season Danielle Reyes. Everyone loves Danielle Reyes and her game in this season and the first All-Stars. We've seen her play without Jason, so I am here wondering what Jason could do in a game on his own. And I am pretty sure I am not alone. Of course, like Monica, he is from an older season of the show and may not be willing to come back. But one can hope right?

BB4!
JUN SONG

Jun Song, the WINNER of BB4 and may be the only previous winner I will have on this list. Jun is the earliest example of a Floater. For those of you who don't know (Or were deceived along with Rachel Reilly), a floater is someone who is able to play multiple sides of the house. Jun (And her Final Two buddy Allison) were able to successfully slip into the middle and aid whichever alliance or HOH they felt could better their games. According to what I have seen on twitter, Jun would love to be apart of an All-Star Season. The only reason she is on this list is because it's not been rumored that she has gotten the call. But with people like BB16's Derrick and BB19's Josh, adding Jun to the roster wouldn't be too far out of left field.

BB5...
I have to confess, I don't know BB5's cast as well as I would like. But I feel like a good choice to bring back would be...
MARVIN LATIMER

Marvin finished his season in sixth place. I put him on this list because he was a decent player. He had two Head of Household wins to his name and was one of the players to come up with what BB fans know as the backdoor, though the method is mainly attributed to Nakomis. I feel like Marvin could be a strong pick for an All-Star as a stand-out player who's game was overshadowed by other players like Drew, Diane, Cowboy, and Nakomis. I think he'd be a good player to see again.

BB6.
IVETTE CORREDERO

Ivette was a powerful player and was apart of a strong alliance, that made it all the way to the jury phase of the game (because I don't think Eric was originally a part of the Friendship). She was the first LGBT+ contestant to make it to the final two and was responsible for evicting strong players like Howie and Janelle. She ended up being the runner-up her season by one vote. One vote away from winning. She was passed up on her first chance to be in All Stars, maybe we could maybe NOT PASS HER UP THIS TIME? Please?

Since BB7 is the first All-Stars, onto BB8!
BB8 has so many players good players and honestly I don't think I will have enough room on the webpage to post all the pictures.
JEN JOHNSON
ERIC STEIN
JESSICA HUGHBANKS
JAMEKA CAMERON
Jen was the most iconic player in the house. She was a bit of a narcissist, but her feud with the Donatos made the season interesting to watch. She was also the first female contestant to be backdoored, the first unitard recipient, and the first to violate a food restriction. Eric is iconic for being America's player, which kind of threw off the game he was trying to play as America seemed to favor the Donatos, particularly the season's winner Dick. Jessica was Eric's showmance partner, who was influenced by him, during the game. She was a strong player who kind of got screwed over by America. Jameka was a really good person, who sacrificed five weeks of HOH competitions to try and keep her ally, Eric, from being backdoor. Honestly, any of them are good picks for All-Stars because they are all good in their own way!

BB9... NOPE.

BB10
Dan Gheesling is already in talks for the show and since I am not familiar with this season, I am not sure who I would pick here. There are so many good options. So basically, ANYONE but Memphis and Jessie please. I am not too fond of Memphis, and Jessie was on BB11 and I am sorry but MR. PEC-TACULAR doesn't do it for me. There is a reason America voted him out through Dan. The rest of the cast is iconic though. If I had to pick anyone, it'd be Michelle Costa.

Michelle was a dangerous player, and I think Dan knew that if he didn't take her out, she would have gotten him out.

(UPDATE: 7/24 A month after I wrote this) The cast speculations are more interesting now as I started this last month.  So here are some updates concerning that. I had stopped in the middle of this. Because I had no time to finish it. But my other picks that I knew for certain were Enzo from BB12, Kalia from BB13, Ian Terry from BB14, Howard from BB15, Victoria from BB16, Johnny Mac from BB17 (Even though I am totally okay with getting Da'vonne again), Bridgette and Michelle M from BB18, Ramses from BB19, and anyone from BB: OTT EXCEPT FOR SCOTT. SCOTT SUCKS.

So far though, All Stars 2 seems to be surrounded by more cast rumors. And I said that none of them would be in my actual choices, and at the time of choosing them, they weren't. But it seems like Ian and Enzo may be on this cast along with other BIG players. Michelle M, Johnny Mac, Jen, and Jun have also been hinted at.

It's all so confusing, but it won't be for long. According to YES even more rumors, the cast may be revealed on Monday. O.O Oh boy.

Scoob! (Or as I like to call it... Nostalgia Bait!) (Spoilers Abound)

I know the title sounds harsh and I really hope that you will bear with me when I say that I did not hate this movie. I just had some things I didn't care for. However, with all things "Meh" comes some good qualities which there were a few of here.

Starting with the bad first, to just get all that negativity out of the way!

The Trailers were deceptive.
That's right. The trailers were really fun! And made it seem like this movie was going to be an origin story with a mystery that ties a mystery from younger Mystery Inc. to the older ones. It seems like there is a mystery afoot as the Falcon Fury zaps Shaggy and Scooby into their ship! And the rest of the Mystery Gang has to find them.

However, this wasn't case. Which leads me to my next point

There was very little mystery.
The movie was advertised as a Scooby Doo movie, but gave off none of the Scooby mystery. The movie served as a way to set up a multiverse using cameos to establish other characters from the older Hanna-Barbara canon who may not have been as successful as Scooby Doo was. But it fell bland in some of those areas. It focused on more action-packed battles, and dramatic twists than it did on relying on the things that has made Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo...

Not to say that some of these characters were not fun to see. However.. Warner Brothers dropped the ball when it came to my next problem with the movie.

Captain Caveman
For those of you who don't have a clue who this is, I wouldn't blame you. He is one of the main characters in a mystery comedy series (much like Scooby Doo) that aired from 1977 to 1980 called Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. Now this is not a bad cartoon or a bad character. But there are very specific details the movie just didn't follow. Captain Caveman was not the most literate character, and his catchphrase is very distinct! I am not going to bash Scoob's Captain Caveman voice actor Tracy Morgan. The man is hilarious and did what he could. But it wasn't true to Captain Caveman.

The Main Mission/Gate to Hades Story?
Not that this was a horrible story, but it seemed kinda redundant for that sacrifice to be made and gone through, only for it to have a cliche resolution at the end. And the mission to find skulls just sat weird with me, but it gives the main baddie a motivation which is not too bad.

SIMON COWELL'S CAMEO
I am all for a good Simon Cowell cameo. (Shrek is Life) But his cameo infuriated me. It was the entire setup for the story of the movie and the basis for the fights! Even if it wasn't truly Simon Cowell, I still can't shake the fact that it infuriated me. UGH.


Now that that is out of the way! The Good!

The Gang/ Voice Actors
Scoob! brought on new more A-List voice actors for the four teens in the Scooby Gang (Again, not from Buffy) as the movie probably had a bigger budget. And I had my doubts about them before I saw it. (except for Amanda Seyfried and Gina Rodriguez. I was sure those were perfect fits) But I was even more impressed with the way they sounded. Yes I am used to the voice talents of the animated shows, but these gave a new voice to them and made them sound like actual teenagers.

Fred's a huge goofball that is not very bright and even more of a jock than in the cartoons, but it mirrors his Mystery Incorporated/What's New/Be cool variations of the character so well. His love for his van, his eccentric behaviors. Zac Efron's voice behind him made this more believable. And I loved it.

Daphne seems to be the moral compass of the group in this. She is very in touch with her emotions and is actually one of my favorite characters in the film. She has that little side story with the vacuum-head robot friend which was so cuteeee! Amanda Seyfried did such a good job with her!

Velma! She's just as smart as usual, not really much difference here. Except that she uses her hacker skills more than she has in the past. I loved the fact that they gave the mystery machine some of the old features like a lab in the back where she can work. She has a few great one-liners in this one, in true Velma fashion. Gina Rodriquez also gives us a Velma that is Hispanic, which confused other fans but I actually liked it. It was something different.

Shaggy's voice, provided by Will Forte, threw me off the most, but his voice was pretty Shaggy. Aside from that he had an okay arc in the movie. It was a friendship arc and it was just okay tbh.

Frank Welker was the only voice actor from the show who was in the movie and his Scooby was perfect as usual.

All the Cameos from other Hanna Barbara characters
Blue Falcon (Sort of), Dynomutt, Dick Dastardly, Muttley. These were the on-screen cameos we got in this movie that I really enjoyed.

Blue Falcon in this isn't actually the actual Blue Falcon, but his son Brian, who is under the unapproving eyes of his father's old partners Dee Dee and Dynomutt. The whole growing into his own hero arc was a heartwarming thing to see as both Blue Falcon and Dynomutt had their own issues. (It would have been nice if it had happened in their own origin story tbh and not in a Scooby movie, but who am  I to complain.)

Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley were both from the show Wacky Races where they would cause hijinks and capers in order to cheat their way to first place but run into their just desserts each time. In the movie, Dick was an evil yet at points understandable villain. As he told the others his tragic backstory, we as the audience got a funny little side scene where we saw how it actually happened (very differently). But in the end,  it's another side story about a boy and his dog. His somehow alive dog who is just trapped in Hades, who later steals gold and breaks him out of prison while he was actually arrested with him in the first place?! I don't know man. This movie...


Multiverses aren't always a good thing to be honest. Especially when you set it up in a movie bearing the name of a beloved franchise. This movie is a moderate 6 out of 10 for me, but it does have rewatchability I guess? O.O It hurts to critique a franchise I love so much, but I had to.

Hey. How's it going.

So... Present Day! I think I got everything I have been thinking about as far as nerdy culture!

I currently have no job besides college work. Thanks Miss Corona!  Maybe getting my degree can open some door for me. It's probably for the best because of all the Corona in the world. To be honest, though... Life's not been the best. Whether it is what is going on right now, or just failing to grasp certain concepts of my studies or writing projects... I don't want this to turn into a post of me venting my frustrations. So I will try to air out as much dirty laundry as I can.

Quarrentine sucks. I mean, I barely went outside anyway before all this but I had a life. I had a few friends. Stuff has changed in this new year and a lot of the change is very scary. 2020 hasn't been kind to me so far. Not because of anything wrong that happened. Some things were bound to happen eventually. But things can get better. When it feels like there is no where else to go, maybe there is a way to higher ground. So instead of the vent post I so desperately want to write here, let's review what good has come out of this time.

I passed all of my FGCU classes.
I found a new college that has a program that is more focused on creative writing.
I have an editing job helping a friend of mine, Maddy.
I have got to witness personal growth in some friends and family members and watched them move on to a better chapter of their lives.
I had the opportunity to go see some of my cousins before the virus became scary.
My little sister finished a first draft manuscript of a story.
I got two short stories accepted into two different anthologies.
One of those two anthologies was released last month, and the other should be published by next year.
I played Skyrim for the first time.
I joined a D&D campaign for the first time and played as a class I  not used to. A bard!
I decided to join a gym. (Still working on the physical act of joining it though.)
I was able to follow a schedule of posting writings for a few months!
Heroes Collide hit its first choice which is a super crazy benchmark! I am really excited about it!
I started work on revitalizing some... older projects.
I participated in a peaceful protest.

It's not all whimsical and magical and extraordinary, but I am proud of these things.
And hopefully I can do more things like these.

Nerdy Obsessions QUARANTINE EDITION

What kind of nerdy stuff have I had access to in quarantine? This post has taken two whole months to write because I have been so busy. And to be honest, it's surprising that I have been able to get back to it now.

Scooby-Doo.
Yeah. I love cartoons. So fun!
With the new Scoob trailers, came my overwhelming desire to revisit the entire franchise as a whole. The movies, the shows, and the comics. The canon itself as a whole is a bit confusing, as it sometimes retcons itself across different variations. I may post later about which ones I like the most and would recommend to people to watch.

But when it comes to the movie itself, I was a bit underwhelmed. It still had all of the characters I love. Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Freddy. And honestly, I was excited to see that it had other cartoon characters from my youth... But other than the idea of characters not every element of the movie was done well.

The idea behind starting a multiverse was great in concept, but if they really wanted do that effectively. Doing it in a Scooby movie may not have been the smartest idea. The movie didn't play off well at all. It was still a fun movie, but it didn't have anything that made the movie a Scooby movie.
(In the future I can do a fuller review of it. Because there is a lot to talk about with this movie good and bad!)

I went back to one of the first feature-length films of the Franchise. Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. This was back before the voice actors we know and love like Grey DeLisle, and Scott Innes voiced Scooby Doo in the place of the late Don Messick. It was one of the first movies to subvert the classic Scooby genre into true horror. And the three movies that follow it follow this trend in suit. As a fan of the franchise, I used to think of myself as up for anything when it came to these franchises. And these movies are some of the best.

But my favorite product of the whole darn franchise has to be the tried and true, easily rewatchable Mystery Incorporated show. It basically took the Scooby gang (Not the live-action tv show one with Buffy and Willow) and has them growing up in a small town with a strange past.

Speaking of two season, small-town mystery shows Disney's Gravity Falls is another good show. Especially with us being stuck in our homes while Corona is afoot. This show has to be one of the most open ended shows I have ever seen and it is such a BUMMER that it was only two seasons long. This show aired from June 2012 to a sad end in February of 2016. It surround two siblings, Dipper and Mabel Pines, as they are spending the summer in a small town called Gravity Falls with their good old Grunkle Stan. I don't want to say too much about this show because it's a great watch and it's a shame it ended because apparently showrunner Alex Hirsch had a bit more to cover on the show and fans of it (including me) are hoping to see more soon. (Please.)


As far as other things coming out, I caught some episodes of Scooby Doo and Guess Who featuring Hollywood stars like Mark Hamill, Sia, and Whoopi Goldberg to name a few good ones. Also! Ducktales?! AMAZING! I love all the talented voice actors and the stories it tells. I can't say too much because I know nothing of the original lore, but stuff is crazy! The world of anime fascinates me more and more everyday as Beastars came out just a few months prior and I am already so engaged in the lives of every single one of these characters (Well not too engaged.) Warning: Beastars may seem like Zootopia with younger characters and an English dub, but it is a hard show to swallow at points. It is best watched slowly. Also it has a more mature tone so probably best to refrain from it if you are under the age of 18. And under the suspicion that my sister will read this, the current end to the show Miraculous Ladybug is very upsetting to me.

March was "Oh No!" Maybe April can be less "Oh No!"? Please?

Why hello there beautiful!
Wait, no. Not you. The other one.
No! Not you. Can you duck a little?
A little more...
A little more.
No, wait. I AM talking about you. How you doin'

It's me Vinnie! Don't know how it could have been anyone else.
Tori? Is this you?
Vinnie everyone! Not the brightest tool in the shed.
Ahhhh. No one makes fun of me like I do.

So this month has been a bummer.
But I am 22! Click here to hear some of the things I like best about being twenty-two!
Wonderful stuff!

I started editing for my friend Maddy's publishing house! So that was pretty wonderful!
Unfortunately, I missed the mark again this month! As far as my own personal goals. But I have done a good amount of editing and planning for something coming towards the end of this month! And this was the month that everything has been derailed by a virus. So the busier I get the less depressed I might feel. S

I also STILL have to finish Justice is Brewing and SIR REGINALD THE HETEROSEXUAL ROGUE (or Reasons Clay shouldn't play D&D.)

April 1st!
Never do anything for April 1st, but who knows...

April 1st!
Gonna post some Heroes Collide! Give you something to read during this shutdown.

April 5th!
You get a Nerdy Obsessions Post I think.  Up to how much nerdy stuff I can remember that happened.

April 8th!
Never a dull moment when reading a new Forbidden Project chapter!!! Gonna be litttt!

April 15th!
Let it be known that today is tax day! You can not blame me if I forget my Heroes Collide posting days. Down-right stressful!

April 18th!
Notes from my good old idea book!

On March 30th!
I decided to stop putting in all that effort to rickroll you all! You'll figure it out eventually.

April 22nd!
Heroes Collide! Also, Heroes Collide will be on break till May after this as the special CHOICES component will take effect! This will give me time to catch up on newer stories. And a special announcement!

April 29th!
Forbidden Project!  YAYYYYY!