The Origin Story

"That Alternate Reality" was officially established on November 5th, 2004, by a group of young “Creators” who these days go by the monikers "Bell Artanim", "Seama Ceap", and "Lystin Baloney".

The three Creators started their journey together at a junior high school in a small Canadian town. They quickly became best friends and it wasn't long before they began a creative adventure together - one that was nothing short of life-changing.

Bell, Seama, and Lystin all had a shared interest in stories and creating their own characters. For the first two months of their friendship, they all created original characters - often drawing them on their binders and on looseleaf.

They imagined their personalities. They envisioned their interactions with each other. They played out scenarios in their heads. They drew many, MANY pictures of them. And the Creators discussed it all with shared enthusiasm.

Five original characters later, the three Creators had a brilliant idea. While they watched a movie in class one day, one of the Creators took out a piece of looseleaf and suggested they write as if they were their characters. One character's dialogue was written, then another, then another - the Creators passing the looseleaf back and forth and taking turns writing. By the end of that class, they had a full scenario written out with all five of their original characters.

Maybe this sounds familiar? This is what we in the 2000s called “roleplaying”, or "RP". Instead of doing it online, however, the Creators wrote it all out on looseleaf that they passed back and forth in class.

… This is where the term "*Notes*" originates.

Going forward, every school day until the end of Grade 7, the Creators would write a new *Note* together. Writing the dialogue and actions of each character, constantly bouncing off each other. Creating plot points on the fly, adapting to any pivots in the story, and of course including any established lore that a single Creator made on their own time. By the time the school year came to an end in June 2005, there were over 100 different *Notes* written, and just as many more original characters created.

The Creators would eventually come to name the universe they created together "That Alternate Reality".

They would continue to write *Notes* together and on their own, expanding upon That Alternate Reality over the course of many years. The Creator Bell Artanim was entrusted to keep all the handwritten *Notes* together, storing them in a big 3-inch binder.

The Revival

That Alternate Reality has been in off-and-on development since its inception in 2004. However, in October 2022, Creator Bell Artanim (keeper of the *Notes*) was inspired write a brand new *Note* for The Grade 7 *Notebook* - the first one in a number of years. What resulted of that was further inspiration to "revive" That Alternate Reality.

This "revival" included:

• Retrieving every single *Note* written since 2004 and reading/skimming through them all (2022 and onward)
• Typing up ALL handwritten *Notes* for The Grade 7 *Notebook* (2022 and onward)
• Refining and expanding upon all *Notes* for better readability (2023 and onward)

And as a bonus:

• Redesigning and redrawing a great portion of That Alternate Reality’s characters (2023 and onward)

In recent years, That Alternate Reality has seen steady, daily development to the point where The Grade 7 *Notebook* is nearly fully complete…

… and ready to be revealed to the world as a web fiction series.

Bell Artanim was just 12 years old when That Alternate Reality was established in 2004. She always had a love for both drawing and writing stories - so That Alternate Reality became the perfect creative outlet for her. It was because of That Alternate Reality that gave her the dream to become a character animator when she grew up.

Fast forward to now - Bell is in her 30s, married and a mom of one. We are happy to say that she achieved her childhood dream of becoming a character animator - she has been working in the animation industry since 2018 on a handful of children's television productions and other various projects. In her downtime, you will find her spending time with her family, playing video games, and of course, working on That Alternate Reality.

Bell is the only Creator actively working on That Alternate Reality these days. Seama Ceap, another Creator, stays in touch with Bell and remains a consultant - especially in all things pertaining to main character Shelei Bolt. As for Lystin? Just as the *Notes* state, not much is known about Lystin, especially in recent years - but we give credit where credit is due.