Summer Camp 2025 Wrap-Up
What I Wrote on My Summer Vacation
Thought about updating the layout of my Summer Camp Prep page to show off what I've learned this month, but nah. I'll leave that as-is. Posterity and all that.
Besides, I'm paranoid about changing anything at all for a month now.
But look! I said I'd get the Diamond badge, and I did!
I think my biggest accomplishment during this event was just doing it in the first place. I had just got back into World Anvil at the end of May, and I didn't feel like I was ready to jump into anything like this yet, but I figured What the hell...give it a try. And I'm glad that I did.
I'm good at writing on a deadline, especially if it doesn't have to be perfect, but putting those drafts out there? Where strangers can see them? With their typos and their maddening blank spots where art should go and all the css re-formatting that I still want to do? Major gut punch. I don't like people poking around in my art studio, and I don't like people poking around in my rough drafts. I had to force myself to get over that block fast. That was the most challenging part of the whole thing for me.
Speaking of css, that's my second biggest accomplishment this month. I'm still totally confused by a lot of WA's complicated code (I guess I'm in good company), but when there's a deadline, it's not an option to keep the article hidden and work it out "later" (i.e., probably never). If I wanted it to look presentable before the submissions closed, I had to figure it out now. While I still have quite a ways to go with that, I feel a whole lot more confident in my ability to make a halfway decent layout within the parameters we're given here.
One final note: in my prep article, I said that I probably wouldn't share my work very much, other than making it public. I was wrong. I surprised myself by getting caught up in the mood and posting just about everything in Discord the moment I finished it. I didn't expect that side of things to be so much fun. (And thanks again for all the nice comments and encouragement, everyone!)
So this month has given me a lot of good coding experience, a WHOLE lot of good ideas for my world(s), and forty articles that were either seriously mangled rough drafts from the depths of my old files or, more likely, didn't even exist at all two months ago.
Huzzah!
So, let's see what everyone else has been doing...
gasp, wheeze
hee heeeee ha ha hee... Greytailza says this is a "side article" for SC25, but to me it stands out as one of the best (and funniest) damned things I've read so far. (Be sure to click "Read the Document" up in the sidebar to see the actual script.) The level of detail is inspiring--it reads like something that could have been a part of real-world medieval history. Will definitely attend if the show comes to my town.
READINGS & REVIEWS
1: I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying.
I've learned that I have to mentally prepare myself before I read anything from the aptly-named Veil of Tears, but it's well worth the effort. All of StillnessandSilence's work is a well-written kick in the emotional pants. The colors and design of the site go right along with the moods (love the human-made art!)--it's like stepping into a dream, and I'll never say no to a dream-walk.2: Maybe just a sip...
This is the article that got me hooked on The Last Home. It's rare to find someone whose writing style smacks of the same dry humor that I try to bring to my own work, while still respecting their world's really-realness-in-its-own-dimension. I must have spent half the morning clicking around this site, totally enchanted with the characters, the ideas, and the jokes (...and yes, I do intend to accept madmooncrow's kind invitation and book a table--or even a room--soon).3: Speaking of Food...
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAgasp, wheeze
hee heeeee ha ha hee... Greytailza says this is a "side article" for SC25, but to me it stands out as one of the best (and funniest) damned things I've read so far. (Be sure to click "Read the Document" up in the sidebar to see the actual script.) The level of detail is inspiring--it reads like something that could have been a part of real-world medieval history. Will definitely attend if the show comes to my town.
4: Over Yonder
I know this one is going to be popular, but I'll go with the crowd just this once, because Mochimanoban deserves the accolades. Love the art. Love the concepts. Love the layouts. (Note to self: Must figure out how to make text wrap tightly around organic shapes.) Love that there are many, many, many more words to read about this world. Why, maybe even a million words!5: Lore and More
In just a few words, The Winter Salmon makes me want to know the whole story--and play in the RPG. (I didn't read too far into any game material, just in case, but the whole vampire-empire premise is intriguing.) This article is packed with hints of much, much more going on in the rest of this world. I clicked everything I could click.6: Spiders, You Say?
Spiders will always get my attention, so I clicked this at random. What a neat idea, and very well thought-out! Iristhelop doesn't have a lot of material in this world yet, but I think it's one to watch.7: Math Rules.
Look, math isn't that hard. ...Ok, it's a little hard. But it's worth the trouble and tears when your brain does that "click" and you can see how everything works. Of course it's a language! And once you learn it, you'll be able to learn all the secrets. I love finding other people who recognize Mathematics as something magical and integral to existence, and I'm looking forward to seeing what AmélieIS does with it in their book!8: Octohhh-Hell-No
Giant murderous cybernetic space octopus with a silly name? Yes, please! "Everyone in the prison has heard about it, and most have died at least once in its beak." Wait, what? Whaddaya mean, "died at least once"? This article is a good example of an effective hook, as I'm now following Rumengol down the well just to learn what that's all about.9: Blinded by Science!
I love the idea of a totally neutral, research-based organization getting their fingers in everything without getting involved. But they are involved, aren't they? Quantum research tells us that the mere act of observing an interaction changes its nature and...oh, dammit, I'd better just let Michael Chandra write their own story.10: But Do They Get a Free Pink Carriage?
This is not an aspect of fantasy life that one usually even considers, but of course make-up would be an important to some members of society, especially for the nobles and theater folk! SiobhantheWriter really gets into the details of why this guild exists and how they operate, and it makes me want to take a closer look at my own RPG worlds for potentially juicy details I've been missing.TA-DAAAA!
Dewy Diamonds Badge by Strixxline
BEHOLD! MY ARTICLES:
- Astroauric Singe
- Blintz
- Connodo
- The Consensi
- Cross-Planar Ambassador
- Despair Pocket
- Detouria
- The Dreck
- Flute at the Bottom
- GGAPExB Mission Statement
- Influencia Monetiziasis
- Intake Clerk, The Spriory
- Interdimensional Go-Club
- Ipseathymia
- Julep's Permanent Marker
- The Junk Yard
- Knights of Agamus
- KORK Annual All-Realms Barn Dance Hoedown Shindig & Farm Auction
- Kuiper
- Lannayerd
- Main Parking Ramp
- Moving On
- Multi-Rock
- The Naming of Twis'tangle
- Pappa Glory
- Portal Funk
- Potenton Laser
- Purideaic
- The Quondamarie
- Quondamarite
- Salvation Marines
- The Somnicist
- Teeming Masses
- That Car
- The Spriory
- Thumbolt, Alfred Landers
- The War of Santa Pez
- Why Spider Has Only Eight Legs
- Word-Worm
- Zok Drink
What's Next on My Agenda?
- Become a css expert
- Learn how to use statblocks
- Keep developing my own gaming system
- Add a WHOLE lot more art
- including video and audio
- and interactive 3d models
- Get all the connected sub-projects going
- Actually do something with my Sage membership
- Gawds, how I loathe marketing
- But I do like money and attention
- Not necessarily in that order
Ok, fine, here's my entire bookshelves full of hardcopy notes.
Not shown: the pile of WIP paintings in the art studio
What else can I stick in here to take up unused space...? Oh! I know! I've decided to go ahead with my idea to move my art portfolio here from its current home in a Word Press platform.
I like my web host and WP just fine, but since I've always wished that I could just stuff everything I do into my online art portfolio since it's all connected anyway, it just makes more sense to have it all in one place where I can easily link it all together. Static portfolios are so...static. I'm trying to tell a great big story here about a whole bunch of little stories, and if viewers are only looking at an online art gallery, they're missing out on half of what I do.
Yeah. That's the next thing I'm going to focus on while I wait to be able to edit my SC articles. Whee! I'm glad I got that figured out. And I've put it online, in public, so now I have to do it.
Not shown: the pile of WIP paintings in the art studio
What else can I stick in here to take up unused space...? Oh! I know! I've decided to go ahead with my idea to move my art portfolio here from its current home in a Word Press platform.
I'm out of things to say and there's still blank space so here's a picture of me in my studio preparing the next batch of fun stuff.
Congratulations on reaching diamond!!! Your reading list also includes some awesome articles :) Also css can be a b*** but it so worth it when you finally manage to make it work! So keep up the good work!
Thank you! I figure if I can learn the css here and make pages that look half as good as some of the others I've seen, I can officially call myself an expert and put it on my resume. :-P