14 May 2026

I usually don't get the chance to do anniversary drawings, but the ideas for these drawings came to mind shortly before the anniversary of System 7's release on the 13th!

During OS* Version 2, I struggled with finalizing Pleiades' design and characterization. For Version 3, I went with her dressing in grunge-inspired fashion and that she speaks in 90's slang, is usually laid-back and can be a good mentor figure but also has attitude.

The first drawing is an homage to the early Sonic game title screens since I thought it could be funny if Pleiades also acted like the 90's mascot with attitude archetype. How ironic though since the 90's was the peak of Mario's and Sonic's rivalry, and there were Mario games for the Mac from that era!

The other one is inspired by the same idea, but with her and Wolfgang in a platformer with black and white patterns in the scenery, owing to how System 7 is the last Mac OS version that is supported on Compact Macs.

10 May 2026

Two more wiki updates! Sumire was re-introduced in part 4 of If at First You Don't Succeed...

Sumire Ringomori-Holle

Her redesign is similar to her Version 2 design, but tweaked to better reflect one of her roles; her dress is based on a nurse outfit. I also changed the colors on her outfit to pastels.

I struggled with her characterization in Version 2 despite taking cues from contemporary Mac models to help her be more distinct and have more to work with. I'll focus on just a few technical details that'd give her and the other early Classic Mac OS characters distinct roles they can continue to have within CC.

Sumire having a role as a medic is based on the technical detail about the Mac SE being the first Mac to have Disk First Aid with it. She's also from the Human World to make her backstory more distinct too. Before she arrived in Techlandia, she was a nurse and an aspiring artist. Although she could continue her skills as an artist in Techlandia, she had to start over as a medic.

I've been working on expanding the project overview article for a while. There are still some ways to go with it, but for now the first major revision is ready to be published!

📄 Operating Superstars (project)

It was bare bones and I nearly forgot about it because it doesn't link to very many other places in the wiki. Most of the topics are based on what has been added to the wiki over time. This is another article I expect to keep building onto as needed.

One of the most important ones to help readers know what to expect is about how certain things are represented, and within that section is a retcon about how game consoles will be represented: I don't expect to portray many of them, but many exist in-universe and they're of a skillset that is dedicated to entertainment.

This skillset is tentatively called the Game Commanders. They have similar abilities that OSes do, but OSes' are more generalized. Version 2 was the first version of this continuity to introduce a game console character, and she was listed as being an OS. It made enough sense then. However, in the context of the skillset classification that Version 3 added, the separation makes sense.

I intend to cover a range of topics to help viewers know what to expect. I also needed to expand on this as Fragments Reloaded gets built onto more, since these settings sharply contrast with each other. As FR gets built onto more, it may also have a similar overview article.

These two projects are far from the only tech gijinka, or tech personification series out there. To anyone who's new to this concept, it can be done in many ways. It's niche, but I write so much about my writing process for these projects in part to help show I'm just doing one or two of the possible ways this can be done; the same references for a particular OS or hardware can be implemented differently. Another part is sharing the interesting things that I learned about computing history even if I don't use everything I find.

I've also had a lot of challenges and pitfalls and write about those to show what I've been trying to overcome. Not all of them are related to this specific concept or genre, but if my writings help someone avoid pitfalls, then that's awesome!

3 May 2026

The article for Highway to Shell was published yesterday:

📄Highway to Shell

The Awks article was also updated with info from it, and I could finalize a detail that had not been finalized!

These get into a tricky writing issue I've mentioned before, but I published the HtS article since they had a story mention and there were enough details for it.

The issue is foregone conclusions about events that'll happen, since a story that features characters from The Awks in their early era (I Was a Software Developer...) is still ongoing, Highway to Shell is established as being The Awks' successor, and the conflict mentioned in the article references the UNIX Wars.

I'm still resolved to finish this story despite this and despite getting distracted. Before I published this article, I still thought about how much I'd directly portray that references the UNIX Wars, and how I’d do that. First, how it'll be portrayed won't be a 1:1 parallel with history. Since writing out stories is my main method of conveying worldbuilding and characters, taking some artistic license could help keep intrigue with what could happen in IWASD.

When I read again about the history of the UNIX Wars as a refresher, it was also complicated to keep track of all of the different alliances and divisions 🙃 I could follow along, but still need to draw the line somewhere over how much complexity to handle to keep this project manageable.

A 1:1 parallel would've also been too much to put into IWASD since its focus is supposed to be about the protagonist adapting to his new life, challenges with it, the friends and rivals he made. If a story was planned to be written about those conflicts in-depth, that could work, but not here without losing focus.

So I may not be able to completely avoid foregone conclusions, but I can mitigate them and put more of the focus on the many other things that happen along the way; other events, experiences and character interactions.

30 Apr 2026

Several articles in the wiki have been updated with information from the latest parts of If at First You Don't Succeed.... Along with the articles for the characters that appeared in those parts, the articles for some teams have been updated:

• 📄 Chariots of Colors
• 📄 The Defenestrators
• 📄 Programmable Darling Patrol

The articles for CC and the PrDP were updated with info based on the collaboration that they had, though info for a few more teams was also filled out in the article for CC. The article for The Defenestrators was updated with clearer wording about the dynamics they have with their former benefactors.

The article for Highway to Shell is in-progress and with info based on its mentioning in IaFYDS.

Some clean-up was also done on the front page; the updates from January were moved to the Archives page, though with how long the updates section is, I should split them off into their own page and avoid it from getting too unwieldy 😅

27 Apr 2026

If at First You Don't Succeed... Parts 4 and 5

Click the images to see the larger versions:

Part 4 transcript:

Part 5 transcript:

Commentary

Antares finishes her interview, but became mortified over it when she returned to the audience although Sumire and Auriga tried to reassure her. If she was told it was a sweet and heartfelt performance, that’d be mortifying to her since that was in front of everyone. This is because I see Antares as being the "jerk with a heart of gold" type, or she’s trying to be that.

Sumire is re-introduced in this scene; I wanted to keep her colorful jacket and glass earrings from her Version 2 design, but tone down her outfit to make it easier to draw. I prefer the colors on her jacket being changed to pastels. Her colorful outfit reflects System 4.1 being the first Mac OS version to support color while her outfit and hairstyle also take some cues from Diana’s to reflect the Mac II's similarities with the Apple II (color support, modular design, a lot of expandability).

The dress she wears is modeled after a nurse outfit to reflect her role as a medic. Auriga's remark about Valencia having been a pain to work with references the alliance that Apple and DEC had in the late 1980's. It also hints why she's a former member of The Awks.

I didn’t know this alliance existed until I was reading through computing magazines from the era, but I quickly had ideas for how I could portray it that could add on to characters! This alliance started in 1988, seemed to be rocky, but eventually something to show for it. I haven't seen a definite end date for it, but I assume it ended by or in 1991 when Apple stopped seeing IBM as an enemy. 🤔

I added a footnote about it in the story article.

This alliance is one of the things I stumbled across. I found a lot of interesting things about computing history that way, but trying to incorporate everything wouldn’t be practical, so I think over if each thing would add character or story potential, and fit within the scope.

Regina's turn on stage shows how I referenced 10.7 Lion not being SUS-compliant, but 10.8 Mountain Lion is. SUS compliance is represented as completing an exam to be certified as a Highway to Shell VIP. I can't see some of the later OS X/macOS characters fitting in with HtS that much, so they wouldn't be members but still completed their VIP certification for the perks that come with it.

I'll soon need to move more updates from the front page to the archives.

20 Apr 2026

A WIP was posted in the sidebar for If at First You Don't Succeed... Part 4 to show a preview of Regina's appearance on stage. Since the previous update, the wiki articles for the characters that appeared in part 3 have been updated.

The article for Petunia has also been published:

Petunia Roche

Petunia had a mentor role through most of Ready Fleet's original era, though she had a mentor before her. Although she struggled with what Ready Fleet became much more well-known for, her philosophies helped to shape the team into becoming what it was, and its values that still carry over in its continuation. During their original era, she preferred to have a supporting role on stage handling the technical aspects of shows.

She still works the camera for a show that Katsumi hosts, but might be ready to have starring roles again.

15 Apr 2026

If at First You Don't Succeed... Part 3

Click the image to see a larger version:

Transcript:

The update for part 2 mentioned why Antares was chosen as one of the characters to be interviewed here, but this part reveals which team she auditioned for before CC! She wasn't finished with her explanation when two bickering audience members derailed it, and Katsumi had to step in as the show host. Those two audience members are Juna and Valencia!

Their appearances here show that they became frenemies since their appearances together in I Was a Software Developer...; VMS competed against UNIX, but Valencia also represents the VAX, which could also run UNIX early on. Since that UNIX variant is BSD, I think she and Damien could still be friendly rivals. Valencia might be ambivalent towards The Awks' philosophy but think Damien's approach is more agreeable than Juna's.

Damien and Piroska also appear; they're friends with Juna and Valencia, but didn't want to get caught up in their arguments. Piroska was a last-minute addition to this part; I added her since there was enough space next to Damien's second appearance.

There's a big time gap between the timeframe of IWASD and this comic. To put it lightly, a lot happened between those times that tested old friendships and alliances. What is shown now may be after a rebuilding of ties between some of them.

In the next part, this scene will be wrapped up and Regina will be interviewed. Updates will be made to several articles on the wiki, but I still plan to publish Petunia's next from her re-introduction in Part 2 of this comic.

13 Apr 2026

I made a new template on the wiki: "Retcons Planned", which is to be used when information in an article became out of date usually due to continuity drift, and I have plans for the retcons to be made but hadn't rewritten the article yet.

Its first parameter is for whether it applies to a section or large swathes of an article, and the second is for listing the retcons that'd be made.

I first used it in the Techlandia and Teams articles. Continuity drift happening after I launched Version 3 doesn't bother me that much because as I wrote more story chapters, that helped me solidify some ideas, fill in gaps, and decide on things I hadn't fully decided on at the start. It's just that I noticed these changes piled up. The image is of Priscilla in front of a weather forecast since meteorology is her day job.

Part 3 of If At First You Don't Succeed... is almost finished.

10 Apr 2026

The article for Ready Fleet was published yesterday, and I'm preparing another few. In Ready Fleet's original form, they were one of Techlandia’s most popular in entertainment, but its success couldn't last forever. Its continuation has a mixed record; early on it was seen as being in-name only and lost a lot of what made the original an inspiration, but more recently it found its footing again.

📄 Ready Fleet

This was tricky since there are still details I need to iron out. I didn't include everything I drafted, but some of that could be saved for later after more teams and characters are established.

I had to think again about how much of Commodore's tactics towards their most serious rivals in the 1980's Home Computer Wars should be incorporated. This is the trickiest part since I can see the Ready Fleet members being highly competitive and perhaps got carried away, but I can't see them being that hostile to intentionally drive away competitors.

That just doesn't fit here, but could in a setting that's more serious. It fit during Version 1 through a cycle of revenge angle since I wanted to portray how Commodore's rivalries with Atari and Texas Instruments were much more hostile than Apple's and Microsoft's rivalry. I reconsidered this angle in Version 2 since it didn't fit the tone as well.

As I'm writing this, I’ve also been drafting an expansion of the project overview article to give a much more comprehensive overview. It'll go into how I'll represent some things, and about the intended scope and tone.

If at First You Don't Succeed... Part 2

Click the image to see a larger version:

Transcript:

A bit of rebellion on the set since Petunia gets from behind the camera to show up on stage, and the next two interviewees also show up before they're supposed to! Katsumi doesn't seem to mind this time, but he also wanted to thank Stephanie and Diana for helping to make Ready Fleet's path possible.

Joining CC seems like it'd be highly prestigious among the OSes' supporters, particularly the supporters of the entertainment side, but even its own founder had her doubts about leading it. This scene shows at least 4 of its members were rejected from something else.

Antares and Regina are the next interviewees, and they're based on Mac OS versions that have, or had reputations for user-unfriendliness. Regina being here is a reference to Lion not being Single Unix Specification-certified when all of the other macOS releases since Leopard are, but Lion's main criticism was its user-unfriendliness. When I tried Lion when it was new, that led me to stay with Snow Leopard for years 🙃

Antares being here is inspired by what I read about how System 6 had a reputation for user-unfriendliness. I think some of that is avoidable; I mostly used it to play old games, or write stuff in Mac Write or draw in Mac Paint. My only misfortune was me not being able to figure out how Macro Maker works without the manual.

This part was published on the 2nd, and the article for this comic has been updated with information from it.

1 Apr 2026

This wraps up the characters that were re-introduced in If At First You Don't Succeed..." Part 1.

	Katsumi Painchaud
	Paulette Andrada

Katsumi (Commodore VIC-20) was Ready Fleet's OS that solidified the team's success in entertainment. He was a host of edutainment shows then. He was able to continue it after the original team went defunct, and might have returned to the team's continuation at a later time after the continuation overcame its slump.

Paulette (Commodore 65) dropped out of Ready Fleet before she was going to debut, but found new success in the team she co-founded. She is part of the live audience of this show to be supportive of a former teammate, but can also be a heckler who also tests Katsumi's patience.

I haven’t ironed out all of the worldbuilding details yet about what happened with Ready Fleet after the original era ended (corresponding to when Commodore went bankrupt in 1994) except a new era started, and Sidney (Commodore 64) remained as a member to keep the team from being an "in-name only" continuation (That still didn't stop detractors from saying it was). Lorraine might've also remained, but more likely she would've had her hands full with her work in The Defenestrators.

This continuation would've had a slump for years with a lot of their newer output not being as inspiring as before and failing to reach the mainstream. They had detractors accusing them of pandering to nostalgia, but still had supporters who hoped that Ready Fleet could become successful again, and new supporters who wanted to see an underdog succeed. That reputation eventually changed, owing to the Commodore revivals that are well-received and accurate to the original.

These notes can be incorporated into the article for the team, which is yet another article on my to-do list.

30 Mar 2026

A preview and WIP for If at First You Don't Succeed... part 2 was added to the sidebar, re-introducing Petunia.

28 Mar 2026

The first two members of Chariots of Colors, and re-introduced in If at First You Don't Succeed... These articles are mostly finalized but I might tweak some details such as their roles within CC through more story appearances.

	Diana Pomona
	Stephanie Jabłońska

Stephanie is the founder, and she was already part of the Early OS Hobbyist Movements before she had the opportunity to become an OS. She founded CC to be an art collective and offer the opportunity for others that she was given. Diana was a Developer for On-Target Mountaineer Court, but may have gotten bored only working behind the scenes, and got drawn to the ideals of CC.

I haven't finalized exactly how the two met; whether Stephanie is from The Orchard or the same sector that Diana is from also isn’t finalized and that could affect how they met. Those details may be finalized later, or could remain as something left to interpretation.

How the members of OTMC felt about Diana leaving and becoming a competitor, I haven't gotten to yet but plan to when I have their characterizations more established. I was also thinking over whether to add trivia notes about their characterizations from the previous version, and the differences with their current versions.

The articles for the other two characters introduced in this part are also in-progress, along with Glorinda's from chapter 15 of IWASD.

If at First You Don't Succeed... Part 1

Click here to view the image

Transcript:

This first part re-introduces four characters from the previous version! Stephanie and Diana wanting to give up on CC for Ready Fleet so early on references when Apple offered their Apple II prototype to Commodore. The deal fell through, leading to Apple to still exist, and the Commodore line-up as we know it existing, starting with the PET.

While I wrote this part, I thought that Stephanie would usually be pretty down-to-earth but the idea that she, and not just Diana were rejected for making frivolous demands would be a funny contrast.

Katsumi's design is mostly unchanged from Version 2; he now has hardware headpieces and his outfit is simplified a bit from what it was. Stephanie and Diana had changes that were larger:

• Stephanie's design keeps the same color scheme, and keeps a "steampunk hippie" look to it. She has long robot antenna ears that look like they're made of wood and metal; the wood references the most famous Apple I case design. They along with the color scheme of her outfit give her a nature elf vibe.
• Her outfit is simplified from her Version 2 design and is more inspired by 1970's fashion; she is wearing a shirt with bell-bottom pants with strapped boots.
• Her other outfits could be based on 1970's prairie revival fashion with fantasy-inspired pieces.
• Diana's outfit is still Wizard of Oz-inspired. The color scheme of her outfit is still similar to Dorothy's, though it takes some cues from Glinda the Good Witch's. (i.e: sparkles and puffy sleeves).
• The blue of her dress was more because of the blue and orange contrast of the Apple II's graphics in Hi-Res mode, and because Diana's hair color and the color scheme of her usual outfit are mostly based on the Hi-Res mode.
• I tried other options based on the entire Apple II palette, but I liked the contrast of the blue with her orange hair the best.

I was hesitant to include Diana in this part because I couldn't decide whether or how to redesign her, but I came up with the idea while I made this part.

Paulette is re-introduced with a redesign that gives her rainbow parrot wings. I planned to give her headpieces based on the Commodore 65 hardware, but giving her parrot wings instead further goes with her pirate theme, and incorporates the rainbow stripes from the C65 BASIC screen. New look, same snarky demeanor.

I haven't sketched all of the panels yet, but the script for it is finished. Parts 2 and 3 are also past the sketch stages. A page for these comics will be the next addition to the site, and an article for the wiki is almost ready.

Last year I felt burnt out from making comics entirely, and I wasn't sure if I could even return to making simple ones. The burnout I had over it was comparable to what I felt about this project in 2022.

However, a silly idea came to me about OSes that were rejected from the first team they auditioned for before joining another. This is partly based on deals that fell through between companies, but also some OSes seeming like they would've also fit with another team.

Since the OSes within a team don't have to be related (and usually aren't) in this setting, this is a possibility that I explored. I thought over whether I'd write this as a short story, or as an illustration, but a short comic felt like the most effective way to convey this idea and as a way to re-introduce some characters.

Bytes of Superstardom is the title for this potential series of short comics and is a revival of when I made comics in a similar style during Version 2.

This first one is titled If at First You Don't Succeed...

Katsumi already appeared on the wiki in the "Ongoing Story" template, but this is his first story appearance in the Version 3 continuity. It also shows his redesign following the announcement I made earlier this year about redesigning several characters.

In Version 2, I introduced him as being the first host of an educational show that the original Ready Fleet ran. He keeps this role in Version 3, and I considered that it could be ongoing or that he revived it. Some of the characters that'll appear in this comic will also be re-introduced from Version 2.

There might be other comics taking place in this show that he hosts as a way to further show OSes across teams interacting with each other.

Chapter 16 of IWASD and chapter 10 of SPDU are still in-progress, but I was so excited to get to the idea behind If at First You Don't Succeed... that it became my main focus for now. The article for Glorinda and another character are also in-progress.

I also moved the oldest WIP in the sidebar and all of the front page update log entries from before the start of this year to the archive page.

I Was a Software Developer... Chapter 15

Title:That's the Official Narrative

After about 4 months, I finished my draft for this chapter when the last one ended on a cliffhanger! Damien is taken to a staff-only room by his former manager.

Juna and Piroska try to investigate without blowing their covers as being digital beings from another world! Piroska gets caught up in a conversation to try to get intel about Damien's former workplace knows about the incident that took him to Techlandia while Juna tries to infiltrate where Damien was taken.

This chapter introduces Glorinda; one of Damien's former coworkers that Piroska talks with, and is a system admin with an interest in the paranormal. She wants to investigate the cause of incident and the earlier one, but her goal also conflicts with the OSes trying to keep their cover. Since she's named in the narrative, she'll also have a role.

The illustration in color is of Piroska and Glorinda in costume; Glorinda's vampire costume is inspired by the undead in Plan 9 from Outer Space. I kept this one in color but simplified the background, shading and line art.

The drawing of Juna is one I chose not to vector and color this time. It's for time constraints; I'm back to juggling two story projects, so I have to more carefully consider how much time I spend on the illustrations for each chapter. However, I still wanted to draw this scene, and take up the challenge of drawing this since I haven't drawn people in sitting poses very much, and not at an angle.

I Was a Software Developer... Chapter 15 WIP 1

It was just before Halloween when I published the latest chapter, and I had this one in my drafts since then. While my focus is back on this project, I'm aiming to finish this chapter.

This passage is part of Piroska's conversation with one of Damien's former coworkers in the Human World. While she did her cover story of traveling the world for years and rarely watching TV during that time, she accidentally made a pop culture reference she was unaware of since it's for a show that aired after she arrived in Techlandia:

With this update I finished up my drafts of the remaining characters that debuted in the latest SPDU chapter.

	Auriga
	Lorraine Del Toro
	Wolfgang Galano

These were the trickiest articles of the characters to be introduced in that chapter. Some details feel shaky for Lorraine and Auriga that I'm not entirely confident about, but I think they fit well enough for now. I expect to refine them later. Each of these characters were slated to be introduced during OS★ Version 2, and their backstories are significantly different than what I previously planned.

The details about Wolfgang's backstory aren't entirely finalized either, but I considered that he could've been pressured to resign from Chariots of Colors because of legal issues that he got into of slander and libel when he was the face of the team. This references the codenames of the first PowerMacs and the lawsuit related to one of them, but can also reflect what can happen within a band if a bandmate gets into legal and publicity problems. He's also the first character to be introduced to have a skillset revoked; he was an Educator until his legal problems.

His situation with CC contrast with how his other team, The Defenestrators, are less concerned about bad publicity (and might even embrace it); they think the members CC and some of the other teams are too tied down by always being expected to maintain good publicity.

This project is still active, though I've recently been juggling another. When I do that, I try to leave off at a point that's easy to return to.

Is it a new year thing or me finally deciding to make this change I was thinking about despite the tedious process involved? In January I started sketching modifications to characters' designs so that the ones that don't have animal features have hardware headpieces instead; these might look like hair clips, robot antennae for ears, or like headbands depending on the character.

Which one I choose for them usually depends on: if I want them to be able to wear earrings and an option that'd be easily visible with their hairstyle.

I started with some of the PDP-based characters since their headpieces are easily based off of the hardware and I tried drawing two styles at different angles to show how they’d look.

Many times before this, I thought back and forth about implementing this redesign and decided against it since I'd have to update several illustrations when I was so focused on just moving forward. I'm probably going to have to do that anyways. Still, I'd rather be moving forward, but I feel strongly enough I was missing an opportunity to give characters a more cybernetic look to fit the theme of the setting that I'd be willing to go back and update the illustrations. I plan to do this while still moving forward with more stories and characters.

Since Version 2, I also went back and forth on whether the characters having white pupils is just part of a stylistic choice inspired by 1980's anime, or reflect the characters having glowing cybernetic eyes and went back to the latter because I think it's cool.

This gives each of the characters at least two immediately visible traits with their appearances that distinguish them from humans. Adding things because they're cool can be tricky and I learned that the hard way before. With adding features, I'll simplify some characters' outfits a bit to keep the overall complexity of their designs the same and to avoid repeating my past mistake of making designs that are difficult for me to draw consistently.

Multiplicia's redesign changes her bow into a hardware-based headpiece. Hers even has glowing lines on the bow and a power light in the middle. Some more sketches will be coming for more characters.

I also resumed drafting chapter 15 of I Was a Software Developer... since it's been so long since I published the latest chapter. The front page updates from before December have been moved to the Archive page. Since that page is getting long, I'll need to think about splitting it off before it gets out of hand.