The Weekender, October 16, 2026: Downtime

Amber has something to say, so I'll just let her say it.

Yes, if you're reading this because you got it in your email, you know everything she's saying. But we did it anyway, because there are lots of people (that's an understatement) who aren't on the email list and they probably need to know the deal here.

And because she's so damned cute.

Doing the photography for what's going to ultimately be Amber's Season 4 still-image packages has sort of become a palate-cleanser as I'm working on the day-job/commercial projects; it's a way of recharging my creative batteries and it doesn't take a lot of time.

I'm doing this differently than I did with Season 3. I had that one all written and I'd blocked out what I wanted photography-wise well ahead of time. I even had a list of wardrobe items and props to acquire for the photography, as I had decided I wanted to keep my dependence on AI to a minimum.

For the next season I'm just doing a whole bunch of photoshoots of her, and the other characters, in various wardrobe options. Some I'll use for Season 4, others I'll use for promo posts and videos. You can probably imagine we'll have a scene somewhere in Season 4 of Amber lounging on the bed in her little matching t-shirt and shorts pajama set with cozy slippers and spa mask, reading a book. She's cute enough that we'll have to incorporate that.

And this...

And certainly this...

I know. She looks awfully tall in that last shot. Still, I got a kick out of it. Maybe we'll see if they'll let her in the WNBA. They might need somebody who can match up with Royce White.

Anyway...

Feedback is appreciated, especially from those of you who have been following the story and are caught up to the end of Season 3. I'm definitely looking for guidance from the audience on which characters you want to see more of as I'm weighing which story lines to lean on for Season 4. Obviously Amber will be the star of the show, and I don't mind telling you that New Caroline in Season 4 will be a lot more interesting than Old Caroline was in Season 3.

And the Keegan/Stella/Millie/Cara (who's now Chelsea) cluster will take on a distinctly different character than it did in Season 3 as well.

But beyond that? It's undiscovered country, and I've got a good couple of months to noodle on it. All I know for sure now is that I'm going to generate good imagery of the characters which will definitely be in the story, and hopefully most of it will be playable.

Then again, like I said, shooting the images is a gas. If it turns out I need more, no problem.

Well, that's all for this week. Back to the grind. But like I said, feedback and ideas are much desired and now's the time to sound off!