Guardbot's story finally arrives
March 27, 2021
The long promised arrival of an old friend
Guardbot arrives
Guardbot has been one of my bedtime storytelling staples for the last three or four years, I think, possibly even longer. For such a familiar character, it has taken me a surprisingly long time to bring it to Teddy Story. I'm not quite sure why; maybe the familiarity made it harder for me to share.
The Test Audience and I have a shared history with Guardbot, so as a character, it feels that it isn't really fully mine to give away. The Guardbot in our shared stories is a he; most of the stories to the Test Audience exclusively feature hims. Many years earlier, my stories to my daughters predominantly featured hers. Teddy Story's Guardbot, like Teddy Story's teddys, is neutral. In that way, it is a slightly different character, a cousin of the original Guardbot, perhaps?
I hope this gives Guardbot a little freedom to become its own character here.
The first instalment of Guardbot's story is available now.
More Mars Teddy
When the time came to share Guardbot part 1, I realised that I had a problem. It didn't quite fit with how I had structured Teddy Story. Guardbot Part 1 is a history, and as such, there are no customisation options.
It wasn't a difficult thing to remedy, but the options for fixing it boiled down to either:
- rewrite Guardbot part 1
- add more content before each chapter of Mars Teddy
Option 2 sounded like the most fun.
Each chapter of Meeting Mars Teddy is now introduced by an unnamed Teddy Historian, watched over by a semi-malevolent editorial being. You'll find them at the start of each chapter, but the formal introductions don't happen until Meeting Mars Teddy Part 4.
One more for good luck
One of the reasons I like writing Coil member extra content is that I'm often surprised by what comes out. Today as I was writing the member content 'Teddy Historian Note: the missing teddys of Gargantor', I unexpectedly met someone new, Teddy Xi.
Xi is really interesting, an investigator arriving on Gargantor trying to solve the mystery of the planet's missing teddys. I liked it immediately. While Coil members might be introduced to it first, I suspect that Xi will want to meet the rest of the world as well one day.
Late Note: I introduced Xi to the Test Audience last night after writing this post. I thought it went well. This morning he informed his mother that he hated the new teddy because I had only written a little bit, and he HATES cliffhangers. Hopefully, this means that I'm on the right track. Though obviously not fast enough.
Home page changes - part 1
I made quite a few structural improvements to the website this month, including some to the home page. I've been reading a lot about designing home pages, and the consensus seemed to be... not like I had done it the first time. So I've changed things around a little.
I'm about to get someone more talented at these things than I am to put together a few more design and style elements for Teddy Story. With any luck, they'll appear in the next update.
What's Next?
The next instalment of Guardbot is locked in. If I stick to my original plan, then Medallion Teddy(mentioned in the last blog post My Favourite Feature) will be next in line after Guardbot. Not sure how happy the Test Audience will be with that, so plans may have to change. I'll let you know in the next update.
Have fun
Hailstorm