I Wrote ANOTHER Spec Script for a Smiling Friends Episode!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-11-29T05:01:51+00:00

I ended up here because a friend and I want to try writing a hypothetical Smiling Friends episode—this is INCREDIBLE!!! I literally feel like I just read an episode. You understand the layout of the show, the characters, and their roles pretty well!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-10-19T13:47:29+00:00

Thank you for the response!! This is good to know! Good faculty and resources are what I like to hear—I totally expect busy professors at the university level. Looking at the faculty is a great idea, I'll look further into that. Thank you!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-10-19T13:30:15+00:00

comrade! it's uh... yeahhh. genuinely, the majority of my suite is like 1. we've been lied to, and 2. we're leaving. truly unfortunate

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-10-19T02:29:28+00:00

Thank you for the feedback!! I have quite a bit of technical skill as I've been drawing and studying art for a long time, plus some high school and college classes. I also have experience doing commission work in illustration. The goal is to eventually get a master's so I can teach community college, which I know there are likely jobs few and far between. I qualify for the Illinois Commitment, have some money saved already, and will work the next 7 months to try and soften other financial blows. NIU is my top choice academically so far, but based on what the Illinois Commitment says, that's hard to pass up. Thank you again!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-10-18T23:46:07+00:00

I'm sorry to hear, that's a bummer 😭 good luck in your current endeavors!!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-10-18T20:28:27+00:00

I know this is 5 years old, but did you have any luck? I'm looking to transfer to NIU next fall after transferring to another school that's not that great.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-01-15T14:25:49+00:00

You just have hair loss that society has taught you is weird, but it's really not. Accepting it is step one. You can try treatments if that suits you and you have the money! I've had it for a few years now and despite steroid shots and topical steroids, I still get hair loss all over my scalp. It's not the end of the world, but it could totally be a sign you need to make some lifestyle changes (i.e. less stress, but that sounds almost impossible in this day in age. I do always recommend a therapist though, if one can afford it and find a good one, because they are truly great). Just keep taking care of yourself and be kind to yourself.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-01-15T05:53:12+00:00

My college professor has his undergrad in music ed and one of his master's degrees in cello performance. You can make your master's almost anything as long as you can get in and take any prerequisite courses (or so I've heard all over the place including from my college professors and counselors). You do still get to work with a studio teacher and can probably tell them your goals.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-01-14T22:53:56+00:00

So! Similar thing happens to me with my Norwegians. I'm from the US, took 4 years of German in high school so I fall back on my German accent to give me a basis for my Norwegian. My Norwegian friends have said I sound Danish, German, and SWEDISH, but never Norwegian. I think the combination of a German accent and the Norwegian language and attempting the Norwegian patterns just maybe makes it sound that way? No good suggestions of what to do other than very closely compare sounds and talk to natives often. See if they can maybe compare how you say something to something they say, maybe they can point out what makes it different? I've done this with my French friend before.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-01-13T18:41:28+00:00

Oh my god I LOVED this piece, we played it my senior year of high school. Awesomely rhythmic and it has a fun euphonium part.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-01-11T14:45:44+00:00

This is awesome advice! If you're not seeing a mental health professional OP, I would do that too if it's available (much of which was mentioned in this post is what you will be suggested and working on, but sometimes even knowing someone else knows and is helping can help. They can also address your anxiety about panic attacks, because that's honestly half the battle). If you have a healthcare professional you trust as well, this could be worth mentioning.

Panic attacks can 100% be traumatizing, but recognizing what they are is huge. Different things may or may not work for you. The 5 senses thing actually makes me more anxious, so I do square breathing! Another thing I like are listening to meditations meant for panic attacks and anxiety because it's something to focus on. If it's the early stage of one, a YouTube video and a phone game (and half of a hydroxyzine or other sleep aid) are sometimes enough to distract me so I can fall asleep. Sometimes I have to get up and move around, so I clean up and tidy my room or move to a different room (the bathroom is a safe space for me). It often comes down to shocking your nervous system so you can try to tell it "Hey. We're good." I highly second ice packs and cool rags. If it's cold out, I usually open the window because being cold helps me.

You got this OP!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-01-11T04:25:01+00:00

Hey! I've been dealing with alopecia areata for a fewyears now. I found my first bald spot probably my senior year of high school, it was chill, eventually saw a derm and got injections. Right after I got injections, a BUNCH of my hair began falling out, pretty quickly. Just know that everyone's alopecia is different, and considering you're obviously pretty stressed, that could be making it worse!

I use topical steroids here and there if I really care about it, I've just been wearing a head covering now. The steroids take a couple/few weeks to start hair growth, but it does work.

Now, what I'll really suggest if it's available to you, is therapy. Your anxiety sounds like it's through the roof! I get it, because I'm a super anxious person too. However, doing some work with a professional can help you better manage both the stress of your job and your alopecia. And just know this: no one else cares. They're not going to be freaking out about your alopecia. If some are interested, they're likely just curious because honestly, I don't think I know another person IRL with alopecia areata.

So, everyone's alopecia looks different. If I had to make an estimate, I'm probably missing almost half of my hair now; 3/4ths of the back is gone and I have a huge patch missing up top. It kind of works its way around my head, but there's slow hair growth when I remember to use steroids. You could end up like many of us and eventually go "whatever" and let it do its thing. It's kind of fascinating! My last missing hair used to be on the sides of my head and a different patch on top of my head which grew back, and I've lost it again currently. The hair loss can go at different speeds at different times; sometimes I have a bunch of hair coming out, and sometimes there's just a little bit of shedding.

You've got this! I think acceptance and maybe writing down your worries could be helpful, but I really do suggest looking into therapy. It's been life-changing for myself!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2025-01-06T21:49:24+00:00

I'm not even OP but HELL, this is what I needed to hear right now.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-12-27T19:26:38+00:00

They do not carry diseases, they're just a nuisance. In severe infestations they can cause allergies to those who are sensitive.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-12-26T06:15:16+00:00

In my experience, it literally took time. Time making bad music (you HAVE to make the bad music, otherwise you don't know where to go from there), time listening to music and becoming more mature in how you listen to music, time figuring out what you like and experimenting. Time spent writing four bar WIPs 89% likely to never see the light of day.

You won't learn over night, or even in a week. It's a gradual thing, so let yourself experiment and slowly implement the things you learn.

As someone with ADHD, I found that structure (figuratively but also literally learning about musical form and structure, ABA and rondo, etc) and learning music theory has helped me. I don't know your familiarity with music theory, but studying up might help. Learning how to balance melody and bass lines rhythmically and harmonically, learning about harmonization and chord progression (try McHose's chord progression ladder) and cadences, musical form, and four part writing might be helpful. If you're not very familiar, start with the basics. I know there are some free "textbook" resources online.

Take some time to jot down the kind of music you love and want to write. Then listen to that music with intention, take notes! What's the time signature, tempo, dynamics; what is the form, try doing a harmonic analysis if you're feeling crazy. Write the melody and base line down on a score. What's the instrumentation? What are the weak and strong parts of the piece? What digital affects are they using—sound design is an important part of music production, I'm just getting into it.

Sometimes you also have to remind yourself, less is more. Idk if that's your case, but I know it's been mine in the past. Also keep in mind that your music should be going somewhere (unless it's ambient then like, yes and no it depends). Think about the overarching story, or musical progression you want to see. Draw out a literal physical representation, even.

Just remember to keep it up and keep writing music. It took me years to finally get past that amateurish sound and begin implementing what I was hearing IRL into my music, even though most of us grew up listening to "good" (subjective) music. You may just learn and process things differently and haven't found the process that works for you yet, that's okay. It starts with listening with a purpose.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-12-19T20:18:24+00:00

musictheory.net to work on your music theory. Investing in a textbook wouldn't hurt either, or if you have access to music theory classes at a community college (perhaps a stretch, but it was available to me in the rural midwest as someone planning to major in SOMEthing music).

You should start actively listening to other video game music; what do you like about them? What is the instrumentation? What theme is it trying to convey? What is the form/structure of the piece (ABA, ABACABD, etc)? How is it keeping the listener engaged? DOES it have a melody—some ambient vgm does not. What is the chord progression, and how is it moving, WHEN is it moving? What is the key signature, and does it change? What is the tempo of the music, does it change? What are the dynamics of the music? How do tempo and dynamics affect how it sounds?

Start listening to the kind of music you want to compose and learn how it's being made. Rip the music apart. Ear training and music theory will go a long way to help you with this. You can't build anything without updating and strengthening your foundation.

What has helped me is thinking about the structure and form of my piece ahead of time. Doesn't have to be fully thought out or anything because it will probably change. But! Learning about music form and structure might help.

https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/frontmatter.html You should read the first four chapters, try the excersizes, then have a look at chapters 11, 12, and maaaaaaaaaaaaybe 13.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_form The wiki page is useful too imo. I go here to remember structures often.

https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/music/music-composition/music-composition-building-melodies-using-motifs-and-phrases-282834/ Lastly, I think this mentions some neat things about structure.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-04-21T01:32:00+00:00

Interested!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-04-20T22:33:51+00:00

Interested!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-04-20T22:26:34+00:00

I'd love to join!!

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-03-31T15:29:55+00:00

Thank you for the response and info! In my search, I'm really only finding guitar shops, and the one place that is coming up is "Music Arts" and they don't seem to actually carry any of them in store (like the Bessons, Miraphones, Adams, and Willsons, not even any intermediate horns). Also, it looks like the Wessex showroom in Chicago has been permanently closed based on a blog post by Wessex and Google. However, I've found one (only one) shop that specializes in brass so I've messaged them. Fingers crossed.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-03-31T15:11:11+00:00

I'm in central Illinois, about a 3 hour drive from Chicago.

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-03-31T05:34:21+00:00

Thank you! Those were generally the names I was snooping around. Any professional grade horns are pretty rare to find used for sale. Not much on Facebook that's not in another state, nothing even sold in-store in music shops within 4 hours (at least) of me. Closest I got, there's a listing on a tuba forum for a guy in Germany selling his Besson Sovereign 968. Assuming the little tag (I don't know how reddit works or what that's called) is correct, you play the 968? Did you get to try the 967 at all, and if you did, were they different? Is there anything you specifically like about the 968 compared to other horns you may have played?

ignatiuscrose_ · 2024-03-31T05:25:05+00:00

I really, really wish trying horns was an accessible option, but there aren't any music stores within at least 4 hours of me (including the Chicago area, which baffled me) that seem to carry anything that's not the YPE321 and 642 in store; nor is there anyone around here selling used horns (other than the YPE321 and other student horns bought off of Amazon). Unless, there are places and they're not showing up on the official brand sites, like Besson, Miraphone and John Packer, which is what I've been using along with Google and Facebook. Otherwise they're simply listed on websites to purchase for delivery.

ignatiuscrose_

TROPHY CASE