Change Log - WordGirl Fics
* I'm not in a position to update Factor It In this year. I still like my WordGirl 'fics, but I've been prioritizing other projects *
I did some clean-up this week, so when I AM able to return to these 'fics, they are ready to go. Here's the change log.
Also, fun fact- Today is Kid Math's birthday in my WordGirl 'fics!
I gave him the same birthday I gave Foop since they're both blue Season 7 Episode 1 kids affiliated with squares.
Foop has the first Friday the 13th birthday after Poof, whose birth episode debuted February 18th. It's also PearlescentMoon's birthday, so all three of my main fandoms come together today. Huh.
- Re-exported the cover image
AKA, resized it, fixed some stuff on its document (i.e. saved it as RGB instead of CMYK like I did in 2018), redid lineart with a thicker brush (It was very thin in 2018), fixed some colors, made it transparent, and uploaded it to a new image host.
Everyone tell Rex he's pretty, because I lost all my lineart progress and had to start over, but I've been much more careful saving since.
- Cleaned tags (Ex: Deleted some character names)
- Small edits to its Tumblr post (Also, this what the old lineart looked like)
- Cleaned all chapter notes. Cut some unnecessary bits; moved some opening notes to closing notes.
- In the process of adding chapter-by-chapter warnings (A thing I do in other fandoms now, but didn't do when I last updated this fic)
- Chapter trivia dropdowns (Footnotes about episode references; they're now in dropdowns since they were long)
- Darkened and sharpened chapter images, and uploaded the new versions to my current image host (More reliable long-term, plus the URL is very short and I like that)
- Reworded sentences (Awkward phrases, and little bits I don't consider up to date with current writing style. For example, erased emphasis on "right" or "left." Improved sentences that were wordy and dragged, and spiced some places up to be more engaging to read.)
Sample (Old) - Clarissa Argent has eyes as silver as her surname, and she smiles up at Milo and switches her briefcase to her left hand. She extends the right for a shake. Milo blinks back at her, then uses two fingers to carefully adjust his glasses on his nose.
New - Clarissa Argent blinks eyes as silver as her surname, and she smiles like a fox sent to Earth with the gift of fire in her jaws. Milo blinks back, a hound with hackles high. Lowering, though.
I cut 500 words out of Chapter 1 alone and 800 from Chapter 2, just excess stuff I didn't like (Ex: Too many uses of "that" or whatever).
If you've ever wondered, I have aphantasia and over the last few years, I've been trying to cut back on overly specific movement details to give readers more ability to put their own mental images in the story. If you see mental pictures, I am very curious to know what happens when you read something that conflicts with your picture, because I genuinely don't know what that's like
*Note about chapter updates* - I've done the first two chapters; taking a break before I tackle the next four.
- Fixed errors with spacing and ellipses (These days, I use a special document that converts files for AO3 use, which fixes an issue I used to have with italics dragging other words to the next line)
- Reworking some Sally Botsford dialogue. Looking back, I wrote her more spaced out (closer to her "Girls Day Out Throws Chuck" self), and I want to update that to "a clever attorney who is very friendly."
- Updated story summary (Cut down the length of the description and added a quote to better match other fics)
- Cleaned tags. Mostly, I removed some (especially for characters who won't appear for a while; I left Granny May and Eileen since they're very important in this fic). Deleted tags like "Fist fighting" as well.
- Added the centered star emoji header I have in a lot of fics, in this case linking to the Heroes' Journey post, each chapter's Tumblr post, and each moodboard song
- Cleaned the in-story headers. Removed the subtitle "Ancient Hexagon proverb" from each chapter, and removed some decorative colons and stuff around the dates. Played with different header options and settled on a style I like.
Exported all FFN chapters to the doc manager and am in the process of making the same changes there. Also, I corrected missing years that weren't listed in the "Posted [date]" headers.
I removed the footnotes from FFN because they were very long and not needed to enjoy the story, but they're on AO3 (where they can be put under dropdowns).
- Prepped the next few chapter drafts in AO3 (As in, doing my headers and notes and saving as a draft), in line with how my other longfics are prepped in advance
- Corrected an error with Heroes' Journey AU Guide (image cropping left a red mark)
- Replaced existing chapter announcements for Factor It In with darkened and more sharpened art
- Updated the Factor It In announcements in the style I use now (Bold text, emojis, larger letters, quote preview, etc.) - Example, here's Chapter 6
- Compiled playlist for the chapter songs, and added links to the chapter announcements (They had lyrics, but no links)
Factor has its moodboard playlist on YouTube now (In progress, but always open for suggestions if you have cool songs for superheroes)
- Made Captain Tangent's image transparent ("A penny for your thoughts (Oh no)"), and moved it to my current image host
- Made "Flypaper"'s image transparent and made other minor changes to the divider lines and header text size
- Rewatched a bunch of episodes to refresh my memory
Should be done with my chapter edits tonight or tomorrow. I've wanted to make edits for years and kept putting them off, so I'm glad I'm getting them done. Happy birthday, Kid Math <3
* I'm also considering merging my two series into one. Heroes' Journey is an arc focused on WordGirl and Kid Math, and I have a separate series for short character studies I made when I had a lot of ideas I thought I would finish quickly (but didn't due to posting for a new fandom).
My Rhyme and Reason story "28 Cities" isn't in either of those. It's in nothing, which doesn't fit my modern desire to let people subscribe to me by fandom (i.e. by series). I might merge everything into the "Heroes' Journey" series and make it a catch-all for WordGirl stuff.
Not official yet, but I'll make a decision by the next Factor update. If you have strong opinions, you can let me know, but I do imagine no one subscribed only to character studies (currently just the obscure characters Exposition Guy and Captain Tangent) and doesn't want anything for more popular characters. That feels a little silly.
