The Gardens at Taskerland is the series in which I talk about this blog, the direction it is headed in, and any tweaks and alterations I feel like making. The rest of the series can be found here.

Your girl is a vibe.

So I have been doing this blogging thing for about three months now and I am delighted with how it’s going. I re-started the blog in the hope that it might encourage me to write a bit more and the words have just been pouring out of me. When I am not writing, I am coming up with ideas for stuff to write about and discovering new areas to explore.

The one down-side to all this is that Taskerland remains one of the best kept secrets on the internet. A few people have stumbled here through google but at this point most of the hits are coming from me. However, this does not discourage me in the least. When I re-started the blog I made a conscious decision not to hype it using social media and I knew that Google had long ago set its algorithms to bury independent blogs. The point of the exercise was to start writing and on this basis I shall swagger around the deck of an aircraft carrier in an ill-fitting flight suit and declare mission accomplished. Heck of a job Bushie…

However, stepping back from the day-to-day act of writing, I am amused to note that this blog turned out rather different in practice than it did in theory.

My starting model for Taskerland were those OSR blogs that range between RPG theory, mechanics, setting details, and talking about stuff they happen to have bought. I note that I haven’t really said anything about mechanics and my engagement with theory is limited to historical issues. This begs the question as to what, or who this blog is for…

One of my all-time favourite reality TV shows was the original incarnation of Project Runway. Reality TV is at its best when it showcases talented people doing difficult things and one of the side-effects of that coverage is that it teaches you a little bit about their world. Naturally, you won’t learn how to design an outfit by watching Project Runway but you will learn a bit about how cloth weight affects the way clothes hang and what constitutes a well-fitted item of clothing. One of the concepts that turn up again and again on Project Runway is the need for designers to find ‘Their Girl’.

Your Girl is the person you design for. This person is defined in somewhat abstract terms; Your Girl is not necessarily someone who prefers darks over colours or skirts over trousers. Instead, Your Girl might be someone who works an office job but maintains their alternative credentials. Alternatively, Your Girl might be someone who works in a caring profession but also needs to project a sense of power and authority. I guess you could say that your girl is a vibe.

Based on the type of stuff I seem to be drawn to writing, My Girl is like me: She does use pre-written scenarios but she also enjoys writing her own stuff. She’s confident and experienced enough to know what she likes, but she’s also self-conscious and wants to think things through before acting. My Girl is also interested in casting her net wide when it comes to finding inspiration. She reads Lovecraft, but she also watches Japanese Horror and listens to weird podcasts. She wants to run investigation-based horror RPGs but she wants it to be on her terms and to embody her vision.

I’m not sure this girl exists outside of myself but then, I am writing primarily for myself.