#osbobs world

[osbob-the-existent]

Because the excuse to infodump about storytelling is the best thing in the world.....

Here's your excuse to infodump anything and everything, or something really specific and small, about your story :)

Excellent, thank you so much!

I have several, but the most OC-centric one is Artopia. It's a world largely comprised of craft materials, with various different groups coexisting mostly by not paying attention to each other. The idea actually started off as an in-universe kids show for one of my other worlds, but it just sorta... expanded beyond that, heh

Most of the central action takes place in Artopia, which is full of paint- and ink-based designs- Inknatius and his partner Paintricia, Al Crylic, and the Elders (a pair of watercolour paint pucks) are all local to the area. Additionally, there is Pascel the Pastel, who doesn't talk much and is from a different kingdom (and is also frequently the subject of the main character's whirlwind of chaos), and Pencelope, who is more talkative but also from elsewhere

The neighbouring kingdom is the Shadelands, a grey place largely empty of life as the Artopians know it. Nonetheless, it thrives in its own way- Coalette is one of its few inhabitants, tending to the plants on the far side of the kingdom. At the nearer edge is Monochromopolis, home to Lord Blanq- the former antagonist, current in-the-midst-of-a-rewrite-agonist of the show. He erected the Chroma Dome around the city, in an attempt to keep it relatively undisturbed, but our main characters (as children's show protagonists) keep winding him up and causing havoc.

To that end, and his former villainous role, we have his three henchmen - Commander Scrubb, and Turp & Tine. Scrubb is the competent one of the three, but always gets reamed out for taking things too far; Turp & Tune, meanwhile, always end up accidentally foiling Scrubb's plans through their own hijinks

These aren't the only folks in the world, though- Flatpack Box Canyon house the Kardbolds, small 2d stickpin creatures with a fondness for self-decorating; the Sonorous Seas have the Sondifex, a species of living sounds wrapped in cartoony bodies, and Clutter Keep has all kinds of strange and unusual folks. But, the show being as it was these would be short visit locations, likely for an episode or two. Now that I'm re-evaluating it all, though, they can be more fleshed out!

Thanks again for sending this ask- in the process of writing this I came up with several more ideas! This was really helpful!

[osbob-the-existent]

Right, brain is braining a bit so let's keep some momentum going - Artopian geography!

Kiln Creek is a river of molten glass that presumably flows from a volcano of some kind- the major settlement, also called Kiln Creek, is flanked on one side by the Clay Pits, and on the other by a desert (sand art pun goes here). The Clay Pits use the heat of the river and the kilns to fire the clay into terracotta for trade, with the firing methods being how Kiln Creek gets its business. They also offer much fancy glassware

The Cardboard Hills exist somewhere quite far from there, but I'm unsure of specifics. I'd imagine it's reasonably close to Artopia proper, and by extension the Shadelands, just because 1) the Kardbolds are a good introductory species for the travelling "region of the week" format, and 2) most of the Artopians are supplies that work well on paper, and cardboard is paper adjacent. So probably a paper kingdom first, with lots of origami structures, and then the Cardboard Hills.

Other than that, I like the idea of a watercolor themed set of islands, with the colours blending together around each other. The river of glass needs to end somewhere, but I'm not sure where, or even if there's a settlement at the end.

[osbob-the-existent]

Yet more Glimmering Sun Matoran!

Tethli is a Bo-matoran who enjoys growing roots. Carroty things, potatoey things, those are his favourite. To that end, he has an Archives Mole he's tamed, called Rirril, who helps him dig the holes and burrows that his crops need.

Heptra is a Ba-matoran who once built submersibles to explore the Silver Sea. These days, he spends more time working on the dome than his subs, but it keeps him busy and happy. He just wishes his fellow Ba-matoran could help more...

Kerhel is a De-matoran Runner- he delivers tablets between operators in places where chutes can't feasibly reach. To that end, he has grippy protrusions on his feet, and abnormally long limbs for a Matoran. He's even been mistaken for a Toa on occasion, something that confuses him greatly.

Ghara is a Su-matoran, but he's not very good at fixing things. As such, he carries a grinder and cutting torch, to prep things for re-fixing if needs be. He seems to have a lot of good advice; a few of his co-workers joke that he fixes Matoran, instead of masks or tools.

Saffa is a Vo-matoran whose armour is almost always rusty. Nobody knows why, it just is. There's all sorts of theories- they work in a leaky part of Vo-metru, they're secretly a Ga-matoran, they're painting it; whatever the reason, it rarely matters when they're one of the most notable technicians in the district.

Wath is a Fa-matoran and thus well travelled. In emulation of his favourite Toa, he paints his armour blue and red- he also hangs out with Kerhel a lot, since he's "basically a Toa". Kerhel doesn't get this, but having a living- albeit chatty- compass is too useful to ignore.

[osbob-the-existent]

hey! this is chance & here’s week 6’s prompt. what are your protagonist’s bedrooms like? (or equivalent) messy? neat? carefully designed? or a collection of their favorite things? you can verbally describe or use photos, whatever you think is best.

Ooh, lots to unpack!

Blanq's room is very large, big four poster bed in the middle of one wall. I'd like to imagine most of it is black, and all angular- the chairs are angular, the tables are angular, the fireplace is angular. The door is in one corner, such that you're facing one of two big windows as you come in- floor to ceiling, and flanking the fireplace. The bed is on your left, and a tall cupboard or wardrobe next to it, and a rug on the floor. Most of the furniture is white, but the rug is red. And there's a little pointy plant on the mantle piece

The Artopians... Hmm. I haven't thought about their bedding arrangements in much depth at all to be honest. Mostly because I got stuck on names for so long.

I think the rooms are all together in Artopia, in one building. I'd like to think they're at the top of a flight of stairs, two rooms in the left and two on the right, so the rooms form a square with the stairs going out the bottom edge

Pepper absolutely has a sheet of paper she tucks herself under, clipping over the top neatly like a proper paper clip. Her room is very scrapbooky, lots of notes and things to remember, and photos- so many photos of fun days out and happy memories. And she can't bring herself to stick them down because moving them around is half the fun. I can imagine pink walls, but in a sort of peach way, and buried under paper and shelving

Arin doesn't put much in his room. There's mementos from his uncle Woolbur's many jobs, a selection of school reports, a half-filled out sudoku book... And a big pile of beanbags he likes to sleep in. Being largely spherical it doesn't bother him so much, and it reminds him of home, piled up with everyone in a big heap. However, I do think he hangs a lot of stuff from the ceiling, probably model planes

Hylie leans into a very... I'd almost call it academia look for her room. Big shelves, plush dark red walls, a wooden bed, the works. At least one of her shelves has a to-do list on it, which gets swapped regularly. She also strikes me as a "billion plushies" type gal, with a routine for each. Sometimes she brings them places and takes photos

Ezra... Green, an evergreen sort of green I think. Lots of half-finished craft projects, from costumes to schoolwork, and a toolbox (the old fashioned metal ones) full of art supplies. He is trying to make his own bed, but the mattress is too heavy and he's too stubborn to ask for help, so it's just a mattress and some cardboard tubes. There are also several boxes marked "secret" that contain gifts for his friends, that he hasn't finished yet

[osbob-the-existent]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. when you write or create an oc, do you like to reference elements from your life? if yes, name a few. if no, why not?

Hi Chance, thanks very much! I generally don't reference my own life much, mostly because I like to make my characters outside of that scope- either to fit a niche in the story, or because I had an idea in passing while doing something else.

Most of the time, if I'm adding myself to a character, it's because I monologue in-character to try and figure out what they're like. Talking to a blank wall or a mirror sometimes helps me get a handle on how they act, the kind of gestures they might use, and even how they move around.

[osbob-the-existent]

Thinking about Artopia in its capacity as an educational program, the first series is about laying down the groundwork - sharing, listening, being polite, and so on. We meet our four protagonists- Arin, Ezra, Pepper and Hylie- as well as our antagonists- Blanq, Scrubb, and Turp & Tine- and supporting cast- Pencelope, the Elders (who also serve as narrators, when need be) and Pascel. We also get our setting intro, showing off Artopia and Monochromopolis, and a few brief areas of the Shadelands and the wider Kingdom of Artopia. (Supplementary note, they don't have a king, it's moreso just because they thought it sounded better than the Republic of Artopia)

Season 2 introduces more teaching characters as we begin to get into lessons. This season also introduces Woolbur, but mostly as a comic relief character (with B plots revolving around him trying to find something he likes doing). In no particular order:

Inknatius covers history, though his stern demeanour often leads to the kids bunking off (note 2, Artopian history is probably different from ours, so he spends a lot of time talking about how to study things instead).

Paintricia's art lessons go down much better, due to her excitable nature and high energy. The kids still leave, because of course they do, but it's more like an impromptu field trip

Al Crylic starts teaching physics (which is probably the only science that makes logical sense in an art world) and is wacky enough the kids enjoy his lessons. More impromptu field trips, but he also occasionally knocks himself out anvil-on-head style and they just walk out

Pencelope does language, probably English. Ideally, her segments would be done in such a way that they can be translated into other languages and act as EFL stuff. The kids already know they can cause trouble here

Geoff and Dimitri, the geometry twins are in charge of mathematics. I'd like to imagine they aren't always down for chaos, but when they are the kids absolutely know about it

This is also where we see Blanq starting to reach out, talking to Pencelope about maybe setting up traps that require they use the things they learned in the lessons to escape. Nothing life threatening, and they can all be sprung from the outside, but still

Season 3 introduces more new characters: Stacy O'Neary, who runs a craft supplies store; India Tag, who manages the city's treasury (she doesn't show up often here, she'll be more prominent in Adventures Beyond Artopia); Howell Punch, who is imagine is always worried about something (he needs filling out a bit); and Robbin the Bobbin, who I think is one of Woolbur's in-laws. I'd imagine we have a double-length holiday episode, featuring a range of holidays (because it feels silly for a show about teaching kids to be curious and creative to only do Christmas). We also see Woolbur start trying out more things, occasionally getting other characters involved

Season 4 is probably where I'd call it done- the kids are starting to connect with people around them, bonding together and reconciling with Blanq; Scrubb has a bit of an existential crisis over having to stand down before getting consoled by Woolbur, who teaches him that not knowing your purpose is okay, there's more to life than chasing that horizon; Blanq and Pencelope start talking and hit it off, leading to their decision to explore more of the world; Woolbur finds an old abandoned train in a shed and discovers his true passion; and Turp & Time probably end up making cookies for everyone. Seems like something they'd do. And the final episode helps tie it all up in a bow, complete with photo montage credits:

The protagonists, teachers and Blanq celebrating their graduation

Blanq and Pencelope looking at ancient maps

Woolbur teaching Scrubb how to work with the engine (immediately followed up by Scrubb running away scared as it whistles to hide in the ticket office, then discovering the joys of being stationmaster)

Ezra and Hylie starting a mystery club

Arin and Robbin riding the train with Woolbur

Al accidentally blowing himself up in front of Pascel

Paintricia and Inknatius doing joint lessons together

And a photo of the protagonists just hanging out at the top of a hill, looking out over the sunset, as we fade into the photo for the closing shot

And of course, after the closer, we pan upward to look at the night sky, and we get a "Thanks for watching!" Painted across the stars.

[osbob-the-existent]

hey!! this is chance and here’s week 5’s prompt. your oc suddenly gets transported to a mall. what store(s) would they go in? would they buy anything? what would they think? tell me about the experience.

Answering this Very late but here we go!

Blanq would probably be very confused, at least at first, but then explorer instincts would kick in and he'd start looking about the place for stuff to do. He'd almost certainly end up buying some stylish clothes, a notebook or two, a hat of some kind, and at least one food item. I'm leaning towards either a doughnut (allured by sparkly frosting) or a croissant (interesting shape)

(side note, I'm not actually sure if Artopians need to eat. Considering that most of them are made of directly the same stuff as the world around them, I'm going to say no for now? But subject to change/story needs)

I don't know how the four main protagonists of Adventures In Artopia would handle it. I think most of them would take one look at a stationery store and freak out, but besides that...

I can see Pepper buying a friendship bracelet kit, and also some sturdy hiking boots. Small size, for spiky wire feet

Hylie gets a notebook, a magnifying glass, and a crash helmet for ease of charging into the unknown

Ezra I think would buy a joke book and a patterned shirt of some kind. Probably a polo, and probably pink

Arin just grabs a bunch of stuff he thinks everyone else will like and buys himself one of those matchbox puzzles

The others would probably go and get him the rest of the set after, I think.

[osbob-the-existent]

After much wailing and gnashing of beans, I have finally figured out the first four Artopian protagonists! These are for "Adventures In Artopia" for anyone keeping track, and are as follows:

Hylie, the highlighter. Bold, energised, always keen to show off what she knows and, by extension, throw herself into situations to try and solve things. Her eager attitude and tendency to overreach her skills often leads to her getting into trouble

Pepper Clip, the paper clip. She tends to be a little antsy, and often caves under pressure, but she's one of the big forces holding the group together. She also has a love of gymnastics and mountain climbing

Ezra, the eraser. He has trouble connecting his actions to consequences sometimes, and often acts without thinking. Despite the cheery face he puts on, he often struggles to externalise his own problems

Arin Yarn, a ball of aran yarn. Likely Woolbur's nephew, though he lacks his uncle's worried outlook. He's a bundle of joy, often coming in with gifts and bright colours for his friends- but he worries he's giving away too much of himself in the process

I may expand on these later, but these are the ideas I have so far! They might change a bit, but I like the names so even if they get rotated out I'll be using the names elsewhere.

(also there's four because you can have two of them have an argument, and the other two work to bring them back to an understanding. Which is usually helpful in children's shows)