#i'm going to try developing a land map next

[elizaellwrites]

@aohendo asked me a couple questions on this, so I will do my best to answer them here.

Is there a primary region in Ariya where my WIP takes place?

I have a couple of answers for this one (I know, I'm complicated.) I will start with my primary WIP Legacy of the Fallen. The prologue takes place in the capital city of Caldesaria: Lietasae- also their united capital. In book 1 of the series (where I'm at right now), they do not return but stay tuned because they will return to Ariya at some point.

In my WIP Ruin, it starts out on the east coast of Wotakour. I also have characters from Nirshorn and Usaldae eventually joining the crew. They will do quite a bit of traveling though, so far in my storyline, they will be traveling in the northeast section.

Most of my planned works deal with Caldesaria, Wotakour, Nirshorn, Siyklar, and Eoksar. The others are featured but are not the focus (at least for now, that may change. I keep getting new ideas.)

What's the geology/geography like?

The whole surface is rather rocky, though there is a great amount of plant and animal life varying on the biome. West of the mountains that divide the continent, it's rather flat and barren. The nations located there are sparsely populated due to minimal resources. The land in this area is mainly covered in desert and rocky terrain with scattered zones of grassland sheltered away from the high winds and the brunt of the storms.

On the eastern side of the mountains, there's more variety. Nirshorn is very mountainous with high altitudes and blisteringly cold weather. Raetaje and Daosu retain the tundra climate, though are typically flatter beside the small mountain chain near the coast. Esdawia is primarily covered in a cold, thick forest, as are the northern regions of Caldesaria and Wotakour. In the center of the continent, you'll have more grassland with a few scattered forests. The curving southern coast of Wotakour and Lunahsi is covered in a semi-tropical forest and steep cliffs. Off the coast, Niren is a tropical island with a smaller ecosystem. Eoksar and Usaldae are more tropical, with a large rainforest covering much of the two territories, turning more swampy around the river delta. Lesword is very rocky and has a semi-Mediterranean climate, as it is sheltered by the coasts.

There are deep canyons along the rivers in Wotakour, and a large river valley along the borders of Caldesaria, Edreli, Verasan, Eoksar, and Usaldae. Lakes are common, especially in the northern territories. There are two very large lakes, bordering on seas. In the northwest, there is also a crater from an asteroid impact which has a shallow, lifeless lake covering the bottom. This northwest region is devoid of life besides single-cell organisms due to extreme conditions.

The ground is rich in sulfur, iron, nickel, potassium, calcium, mica, and quartz, with deposits of limestone, scoria, granite, and slate. Of course, there is a wider variety than what I feel I can list here, as the land is quite large and diverse. For a size comparison to Earth, the supercontinent of Raetada is only slightly smaller than Eurasia. To the southwest, there is a small continent not attached to the main landmass. This is Juveti; narrow and plagued by storms and tidal waves. This continent is largely uninhabited, with only well-adapted species living on the interior coasts near Lesword. Otherwise, the rest of the surface is covered by oceans dotted by barren islands that are rarely visited.

Map of Ariya

[freehawaii]

"THIS IS FOR US, GENOCIDE"

NATIVE HAWAIIANS FEAR MAUI WILDFIRE DESTRUCTION WILL LEAD TO THEIR CULTURAL ERASURE

     CBC News - August 17, 2023

 Keʻeaumoku Kapu has been handing out water, clothes, and emergency supplies to families in need out of the Walgreens parking lot in Lahaina, Maui. He said it is a way to keep himself occupied while he grieves the losses of his community. "I'm afraid we're not going to recover from this," said Kapu, speaking to CBC from his cellphone at the distribution centre Monday. Kapu is a Kanaka Maoli (a Hawaiian word for their Indigenous people) community leader in Lahaina, and head of the Nā ʻAikāne o Maui Cultural Center — which was destroyed by the fire that ripped through Lahaina. While members of the community are still grappling with their immediate needs and the death toll from the fire is still being counted, Kapu said he is "frantic" to make sure he is included in the conversations that are happening about what is next for Lahaina. "I'm hoping that we can get over this hurdle, but at the same time the fear of being erased ..." said Kapu. "Because our island is now turned into a cheaper commodity because there's nothing more important to save here, you have people coming in willing to buy burned-out places." Maui land grabs Kapu said his family and other members of his community have been contacted by realtors asking to buy their burned-up property. The office of the governor of Hawaii released a statement warning Maui residents about predatory buyers trying to capitalize on their fear and the financial uncertainty for those who have lost their homes. In a press conference Wednesday, Governor Josh Green said he is working with the attorney general to put a moratorium on property sales in West Maui. Social media posts from residents are pleading with people to not sell their properties to these realtors, fearing it will lead to Native Hawaiians being displaced from their homelands. A non-profit organization called Hawai'i Alliance for Progressive Action has started an online petition to call on governments to use their powers to stop Maui land grabs, support displaced families and ensure decisions are made with Native Hawaiians at the table. Kapu is urging people not to sell but is worried that people's fear and desperation may drive them to accept these offers. 

"You're gonna make our children tomorrow orphans within their own land," said Kapu. Lahaina holds deep cultural significance to the Hawaiian people and was once the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. The city is where King Kamehameha III had his royal residence and modernized the Hawaiian central government with the creation of Hawaii's constitutional order. Many Hawaiians still recognize it as the original capital today, long after the capital was moved to Honolulu in 1845. The fire destroyed Lahaina's historic Front Street, where the cultural centre Kapu ran was located. Inside, the building held many cultural artifacts, like feather capes and helmets, implements, maps and documents. They were all destroyed. "Our place was a living place, it was a living museum. It was things that you could actually touch, books that you could actually read, maps that showed a lot of families where they originated from," said Kapu. But the loss is bigger than that. Kapu describes the centre as a gathering place for Indigenous people internationally, where culture was shared for the next generations and people could learn from each other. Kapu is heartbroken over the loss, and holds himself responsible for the care of the objects inside, though he barely escaped trying to save it, only having time to grab his laptop as he ran out. Ten minutes later the building was engulfed in flames. "For Lahaina, I'm afraid what this place can turn into now," said Kapu, who worries the historic buildings that have been lost could be replaced by private development. "This is, for us, genocide."  

Maui Fires Linked To Colonization The devastation of the Maui fires is directly tied to colonial greed, said Uahikea Maile, who is Kanaka Maoli from Maunawili, Oahu, and an assistant professor of Indigenous politics in the department of political science at the University of Toronto. Maile said pre-colonial Lahaina was a wetland ecosystem abundant with life and that was one of the reasons it was chosen for the royal residence. But Maile said in the late 19th and early 20th centuries white-owned sugar plantations on Maui started to illegally divert water to their crops, drying up the wetlands. "It's really devastating to think about the situation that over time transformed this place because it was strategically and purposefully altered to feed colonial forms of profiteering and wealth accumulation and greed," said Maile. These plantations also introduced non-native plant species for animal grazing that have helped fuel the Maui fires, said Maile. "The question of what to do next? How to heal? How to regenerate? And how to rebuild? Is a really crucial one that is on the minds of everyone," said Maile. Maile can see the island's colonial history repeating itself with realtors exploiting the wildfire devastation to generate future wealth. "It's a really important time in Hawaiian history to ensure that our people have a say in their own lands," said Maile. Native Hawaiian Land Control But how much control Hawaiians have over their land can be a complicated question. The first concept of private land ownership in Hawaii can be traced back to the Mahele, or division of lands, in 1848, where King Kamehameha III divided the land into three categories: Crown, government, and lands for the Hawaiian chiefs. Lance D. Collins is a private practice attorney in Maui who researches Hawaiian law during the American colonial period. Collins is also Kapu's attorney, representing him in cases to show his family's claim to their ancestral land in Kaua'ula Valley. Through the Mahele, about one-third of the land was given to Hawaiian families. That land has been passed down, usually to a person's children, but after several generations and for those without children it has led to confusion over who has interest in the land, said Collins. "Most Hawaiians know which lands they have an interest in, but as long as there's no contest over use, there's no issue," said Collins. The state is obligated to preserve and protect Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights. Meaning if a private development was proposed on a parcel of land that was used for traditional practices, this right would limit the developers ability to exclude Hawaiians from the land. "There is a tremendous amount of opportunity for the Hawaiian people and for the Lahaina community, and there's also grave, grave danger," said Collins.

[dausy]

So I finished Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth last night. I told my husband I was going to spam finish the ending and I did warn him that final fantasy endings (including final boss fights) are usually notoriously long but I didn't realize that final section was THAT long. I chewed off all my fingernails too in the process so typing all this is actually hurting me. Spoilers below eventually.

I have some thoughts or feels right now that may change as the game ages. I think its similar feels to how I felt with the Remake which is kind of overall a sense of..disappointment? in a way. I think its the same type of disappointment as you get when you convert a book experience into a movie.

Like deep down I understand that they aren't just making a remake, they've added an extra twist. I understand that they have expanded upon the world and added more character development to make the world seem bigger and more alive. But it does not feel the same. My husband is not familiar with video games so I was excited to show him this badass world and game and honestly a lot of it was cheesefest and make Cloud look as silly as possible. Which is fine for me as a FF veteran but I kept having to say "no I swear this is serious game, serious characters" but then again when we played OGFF7 we were kids..my perception of cool is probably different.

GAME MECHANICS

I had a lot of issue with the game mechanics when it came to exploring the world. It tricked you initially making you think it was open world but it isnt. Its very "follow the path" but then you get held up by random rocks and environmental blockages. They added some features like being able to climb up walls and some rocks but not all rocks and then when you do climb its extremely slow. I find myself trying to spam buttons to try and make him go faster and he wont. I honestly miss the old school world map where you would find random hidden areas in forests. I don't think that translates well in modern games though.

Utilizing the map at some points felt worthless because trying to find those locations were next to impossible. My brother had warned me about the Gongaga region but I actually think I had the worst time in Cosmo Canyon trying to find things. Junon probably being a close second. Navigating inside cities was also one of the other biggest frustrations. Getting lost in Cosmo Canyon and Kalm is not fun. If I can't walk into a town and get an immediate layout of the land, I'm instantly annoyed.

Im also usually really excited to clear a map in open world games (having played assassins creeds and eldin rings and horizon series etc) but I was over it after Junon tbh. I did not find the grind to be satisfying especially when it had some mini games in there like Fort Condor. I was over it. I was over Chadley too after remake. They added Mai to rebirth with Chadley. Done. Do not want.

MINI GAMES

that then comes down to the mini games. These are quite far responsible for the most complaints Ive seen about this game on the internet. I agree. It kind of angered my brain how the controls wouldn't be the same for all the games. In particular, the racing games. The accelerate button in chocobo racing isn't the same as the one motorcycle race. I don't remember if it was even the same for the buggy. But I was having some finger flubs because ye olde hands were used to pushing some buttons then needed to switch it up. Also, some of the mini games just seemed to be impossible. In particular, I absolutely could not figure out the Punch game in the gold saucer. I did not understand it. Could not comprehend it. And after costa del sol, I knew for sure I was not getting any mini game achievements. 100% was not going to happen for me.

BATTLE

I did set the game on easy mode so I probably cant talk about the battle mechanics. I just didn't care to make my time more frustrating. That being said, I dont feel like the materia system had that big of an impact like the original. I just hacknslashed my way through the game. The Folio screen, I felt was dumb too, just let them unlock things as they level up? Also didn't like how I couldnt zoom out on this screen. Speaking of zoom, I had issues with zooming on the world map too. It didn't zoom in and out as much as I am used to with other games. What surprised me the most was by the end I was living off RedXIII which I have not heard anybody else mention. I started the first part of the game thinking I was going to abuse Barrett forever and then I kinda learned how to use Tifa when I decided I wanted the Tifa date. But then redXIII happened. Again, it may be because I had it on easymode but with red I had him equipped with whatever that gave him instant ATB bars and leveled his limit up quick. I just had to run in spam stardust ray which staggers almost everything instantly and then my limit break would be ready. I felt I could just solo the game with him. I never could figure out how to play with Aerith or Cait Sith and just didn't use them if I didn't have to.

STORY

I think is kinda the major...well it wasn't a let down...it was just different. It was one of those where I don't know how I would feel if I wasn't familiar with OG. I think my husband was just confused. I just kept having to explain "no this is new, this did not happen" constantly. I felt it was simultaneously too over-explainey but also too cryptic at the same time. I was having to fill in the blanks with what I already knew and expected. That happened emotionally too. I did not get the same OOMPH with Aeriths death as the original. Probably because they didn't show her get skewered and then they made it cryptic about whether or not she did or didn't. "Aerith open your eyes" just confused my husband more. No bud, she dead. Its the whole multiple timelines did not give the same shock. I have to use, again, my knowledge and fill in the emotional blanks. I did really like the church scene where Sephiroth opens the church door. But I had already seen that scene online too and it made me has an assumption that Sephiroth was chasing her down. I thought there would be some sort of a scene where Aerith was going to explain to Cloud that she needed to die because that happens in the original timeline and he was going to try and convince her no and stop her and hence he has to run after her and none of that happened which hurt my feelings but I made that up so. I do like how the kept the thrust you into a bossfight with the sad music.

I tried to explain to my hubby how in the OG, her death was such an immediate shock, especially with how early it was in the game, and she was your obvious dedicated healer and then they toss you into a boss without your healer. That was rough. But it didn't matter in this game because I had no lack of healers anywhere.

CHARACTERS

I liked the voice acting, I guess. Its still kind of anime-y. Barret grew on me, this game. I thought Cloud was perfect casting. I keep comparing it to FFXII and some of the voicework in that game was brilliant and I don't really think FF7R compares in too many places. I also don't necessarily agree that the character models look great. SE has kind of gotten weird with some of their body proportions. I'm actually not talking Tifas boobs but rather her skinny long spider arms and tiny head. Its giving LunaFreya and I think its hideous and distracting. I do prefer the much more proportional Tifa from Advent Children (and what they pulled into Kingdom Hearts).

Tifa is one of my favorite characters. I do really like how Cloud got crazier as the game progressed, into crazy creepy and I like scared wary Tifa. I got the impression, this game, that Tifa suspects Cloud might have killed Aerith. I could be wrong. I know that Tifa is criticized a bit as a last minute add on character in the OG and I do kind of appreciate fleshing her out a bit. She's understandably a lot more timid and wary in this production. Makes me wonder how they're going to reverse that though in the next game cause that girl looks SCARED of Cloud.

IMPRESSIONS

It just isn't the same feel and wonderment. I get nostalgic sometimes for that sensation of the first time I turned on certain video games. The first time I turned on FF10, 12, Ni No Kuni even..and this game is not going to give me that same feel 10 years from now. I do not anticipate I'll ever say "oh man, I wish I could forget my first time playing it and experience it for the first time again".

I will play the third. I want to see Cloud lose his s--- and have a mental breakdown. I think Aerith will still be there, its not going to have that same empty hole feeling that the OG had though. But I'll play it for finality. I do hope they tie in some Advent Children stuff. I do want a nice long finale sequence but it'll probably just abruptly end unfortunately. meh.

[knight-of-the-thorn]

Any opinions w the teasers and retrospective from anet recently? I’m still picking through it

OH BOY DO I sorry this got very long and really should be two seperate posts

First of all vis a vis the retrospective, it said exactly what I wanted to hear from Arenanet, and exactly what I expected. You'd be surprised how far in marketing transparency, or the illusion of transparency, gets you. It was very neccesary to do this and address that there were huge problems in the production of this and trying to clear that before marketing Expac five properly was exactly the right move, they could not possibly make any promises for the next expansion without distancing themselves from the fact that they fucked up the production of SoTO big time. The fact that they can't market off the back of SoTO and say "The next adventure with the astral ward!" or whatever is pretty tough,they really shot themselves in the foot there, but marketing off of a relatively clean slate is easier than trying to claim that SoTO was a massive success, or ignoring what happened altogether. I think what they've done here is going to garner them some good faith, it certainly has granted them a little more trust from me, I still think I need one hell of a sales pitch to preorder this.

The fact they actually acknowledged that a lot of this felt flat and left too many hanging threads is incredibly reassuring. It does mean that they have been paying attention to player feedback and are at very least aware this is a problem, and taking them at their word they want to fix it and have a better idea of the studios capabilities to release using this structure. I suspect we're still looking at releases being shorter for now, which is disappointing but also conjecture, but if those releases are high quality, (I'm holding them to the standards of the Gyala releases here MINIMUM) then I can grudingly live with that. They've discussed here and in gamerrant that they didn't catch the specific time and resource issues with the Nayos arc until it was too late to fix them, which one hunderd percent tracks with my reading of the latter two releases being slightly cleaner than the first but also a little beyond help. I hope they're right that they also caught onto it early enough in Expac five development.

Not trying to release the third map with the first post expac update is a very good idea, a lot of what made SoTO so jarring was abandoning everything happening with the tower and Amnytas so quickly, we didn't get a chance to spend any time there. Not trying to get the map out so quickly, and splitting it into halves instead of thirds is a good distribution of time and resources. The fact they keep citing Bjora Marches as their attempted format of release for the third map of the fifth expansion I personally find reassuring, it's certainly a good marketing move to invoke the idea of Bjora in relation to future maps, because Bjora Marches was almost universally well recieved.

Overall, I understand that the very solid set in stone roadmaps and the countdowns to the next story patch are detrimental, it is interesting to see that they are continuing with it going forward all things considered but it would be pretty shitty to change it now I suppose. I understand the idea is about transparency and consistency, and updates have been at a more regular interval, but there should be the capability to move back patches that aren't ready, I care more that the content being released is ready to be released than that they're regularly released. It's a difficult tradeoff. That solid timeframe is still there going forward, I still worry that it is going to be a hinderence to the story.

OKAY so with that out of the way, the teaser itself

It's so exciting that they've implied that underwater weapons will be usable on land, (possibly another big underwater combat update?) Especially when I am a few hundred gold off having all the underwater legendary weapons. I'm hoping for legendary aquabreathers, fingers crossed everyone.

Not a lot right, just enough to stir interest, like we know a lawyer from the same address that trademarked SoTO filed a patent for Janthir Wilds which means I was right that we're going North Kryta, judging from the look of it maybe North eastern closer to the shiverpeaks? Really hard to say because the assumed commander stand in there is a Norn so we're all kinda thinking Norn but I'm not actually thinking Norn here, it screams Dwarven to me.

It's hard to tell from this distance but that glass could be the same aurened glass we see associated with Tarir, Augury Rock, but also the Hall of Heroes. This is VERY interesting because there's sort of that obvious question about wizard ascension right, what the fuck is up with that how is that different from Forgotten Ascension how is it different to Godly Ascension, the fact that the memories are not erased, just surpressed but clearly there. Pretty interesting. The fact we're going near the homeland of Tyrian Mursaat presumably with the shining blade if Anise's letter in the final instance is anything to go off of, The fact that the memory of Mabon's we've encountered is specifically him meeting Isgarren and how that compares and contrasts with the interactions between him and Lyhr during the Skywatch meta and the implications therefore of, I think these are very relevant here.

If my instinct is right and this is Dwarven architecture that could be something, we could have something to do with Rand happening, we're also working with the concepts that the brotherhood of the dwarves revered Glint, and that Lyhr is specifically referred to as a heretic, which the brotherhood also were, and that he can split himself into facets like Glint could. If I'm right about the dwarves and the glass I think this is what we're looking at.

Now for my insane conspiracy theorist bit because I am not going five minutes without talking about varajar fells and how it will eventually relate to the Wizards, The location is also interesting because of the gw1 quest path to revelations, which dealt with the origins of the gods, depending how close this is to Drizzlewood that is in the same broad area, if we're looking at dwarves we have the Deepstone connection, we know we're dealing with unspeakable horrors from underwater, so we have the Kormir/Abaddon/Arachnea connection. It's all coming together. We also have a very interesting Krait connection, who we know had their prophets eaten by unspecificed underwater horrors, and also have association with the forgotten by virtue of being snakes. I'm just saying it it's a partially underwater expansion the fact that Varajar fells is underwater is not longer a deal breaker for my insane bullshit that only makes sense to me. Deepstone is Wet. Think about it Jane.

It also looks kinda like this early Asura concept art to me. Worth noting, a lot of what Asura ended up using as their aesthetic was actually taken from Guild Wars Utopia concept art for Xoteca. This may be nothing, it is worth mentioning.

[boreal-sea]

So I have over 1,000 hours in Civ V for... reasons...

(I'm trying to get through victories for all of the leaders ok? And I play on Standard pace, and it takes a couple of hours per leader, and there's like 50 leaders, ok???)

anyway

I usually aim for just having the most points or getting a Science victory because those are easiest for me. And at the end of the Science victory, for years, I've seen the "Go Beyond Earth" button, and knew it linked to a download of Civ: Beyond Earth.

Well, the other day, I finally decided to download it because it was on sale for like $6, so why not?

And... I really like it. It's very similar to Civ V in a lot of ways, which I like. The tech tree is... bad, from a design perspective, but I get why they did it that way. Thankfully, they have ways to filter the monster spiderweb they turned the tech tree into so it's actually pretty easy to work your way towards the different victory types.

For my first playthrough, I was on standard difficulty and found it impossible to keep Health up (this game's equivalent of Happiness) and then Hutama attacked me and that was that. Second playthrough I went on Easy and found it much better, I wasn't struggling to keep Health up and could actually enjoy the game. Hutama was still a dick, but other civs were my friend and I was making a boatload of energy (gold) so I was able to kick Hutama's ass when he inevitably attacked me. He's like the equivalent of Napoleon or Bismark or Alexander: if you start off next to him, he's gonna attack you at some point.

SO: a lot of the game is identical. You construct units and buildings that have familiar purposes. You do research, you develop both science and culture trees. You trade, and try not to get killed by other players.

Where the differences lay I find a lot of interest.

First, setup is a bit slower than for Civ V. After picking difficulty/map size etc, you have to pick a Sponsor - the equivalent of leaders. They of course come with different abilities to take into account. Then you have to pick a Colonist type, Spacecraft type, and Cargo. These can give you some major advantages, and add variety to startup. Finally, you pick Planet Type, which is equivalent to continent type.

Instead of Ideologies, you have Affinities, and they're really interesting. The three Affinities are Supremacy (technologically advance humans), Purity (solve humanity's problems while remaining human), and Harmony (genetically modify humans to synergize with the alien planet). These synthesize with the Victory types: Domination, Contact, Transcendence, Promised Land, Emancipation, and End of Time.

I took the Harmony/Transcendence path in my first successful playthrough, because I'm a big ol' hippy and becoming one with the new planet and its ecosystem just seemed like the right thing to do.

The Contact victory entails making contact with a superior alien race. Promised Land is a Purity victory that involves bringing more humans from Earth to settle. Emancipation involves returning to Earth and helping those humans achieve Supremacy. End of Time is what happens if you get to turn 500 and no one has won, much like getting to 2050 in Civ V. Points are tallied, and the player with the most points wins.

But that's not where the differences end!! The spying is reworked, and you can assign them actual tasks. I am not good at it.

But a BIG difference is that you get quests and throughout the game you have to make choices about what to do, which was really engaging and added even more variety to the game for me.

Oh, and there's the BUG problem, too. The planet you land on isn't lifeless, and there are lots of local life forms that really want to eat you. Whether you kill them or not actually has an affect on gameplay and how the other leaders feel about you.

[a-world-in-grey]

Spark!Ardyn au - Niflheim's Technology/Politics

Continuing off a couple replies to @raven-6-10, the situation in Eos is going to develop so differently than in canon without Ardyn pulling the strings.

The first major change is that Besithia doesn't develop the MT soldiers. He doesn't have Ardyn's helpful nudges in the right direction, doesn't have the funding after Ardyn persuades Iedolas to use said MT army instead of a human army, and therefore isn't dealing with masses of daemons to combine with equal masses of babies.

Because Besithia has been assigned to a completely different project upon pain of the Emperor's severe disapproval should he not succeed, Besithia doesn't have any time to devote to his daemon-research. Which means he's not making any of the breakthroughs he might have made even without Ardyn's help speeding things along. But because he's not constantly dealing with miasma, Besithia probably won't get it into his head that daemons are the superior life-form/next stage of evolution.

The Empire might still have their advanced magitek. None of their MT soldiers, but their airships, exosuits, weapons, etc. We know they regularly use cloning technology by 721 ME, but technology advancement isn't linear so their level of agriculture/food technology might not match the technology they have in other sectors.

Arguably, I believe Niflheim was highly devoted to advancing technology in regards to food, because even before Shiva froze half the continent, half of Niflheim is desert. Looking at the maps, I imagine western Niflheim was where any of their arable land was. There would likely have been very good land in the volcanic soil around the caldera Gralea is located in, but the soil closer to the coasts would be iffier, given the salt content. Regardless of what arable land they had, however, Niflheim went to great lengths to ensure they could produce food independent of their farmers. Which means something happened to prompt that development. It could be as simple as the population of Gralea being to high for the surrounding farms to support, and not being able to trade for food with Lucis, who has a lot of arable land. Tenebrae has arable land, but not as much as you'd think - they've got a lot of mountainous terrain there. And what isn't mountain is coast. Not optimal for mass food production.

So it's not only possible that Niflheim's technology to produce food is much more advanced than their military technology, it's likely.

But with food security, that frees the population to pursue occupations other than farming. There would be a boom in other industries - and the resources needed.

Niflheim made Tenebrae a vassal centuries ago. It wouldn't have been difficult, Tenebrae is much smaller than Niflheim with less resources, and I'm guessing it was the threat of Lucis that prevented anyone from trying to conquer Tenebrae earlier. (The fact that Tenebrae is ruled by the Oracles would have been a factor, yes, but not much of one to those hungry for Tenebrae's natural resources. Lucis is a far bigger deterrent.)

To conquer Accordo, Niflheim would have needed to set up and maintain a naval force strong enough to withstand any attempts Lucis might make to aid their allies. And it would have been a navy, not a fleet of airships (assuming they even had airships 150 years back). Accordo has very limited land, it would have been far more practical to enforce Niflheim's presence through ships around Accordo's coasts, putting Accordo under a blockade until they capitulated to Imperial rule.

So, at the very least, Niflheim has a human army, and a well established human navy. If they have airships, it's unlikely they are advanced enough to be able to make the long flight from Niflheim to Lucis, complete the mission, and make it back to Niflheim without refuelling. It would be more practical to carry the airships over the ocean via ships, then have the airships operate from the naval ships once they reached Lucis.

(The only way for Niflheim to have those massive airships is if they figured out how to get around the massive fuel requirements for them. Bigger airships need more fuel, but fuel weighs literal tons, and the more weight you have the more fuel you need, and so on. It is possible to refuel mid-air, but that still requires you having fuel and a way to get to the ship needing it. So either Niflheim has a stupidly infinite amount of fuel and a stupidly complicated way to refuel their ships in multiple locations, or Niflheim figured out a more efficient power source. I'm going with the latter, and it's probably daemons. Which, without Besithia and Ardyn, Niflheim won't have.)

Those are the technological considerations. The fuck do the politics look like?

First off, Ardyn isn't Chancellor. He's not whispering in Iedolas' ear. Iedolas' wife is also still alive at this point, with his son on the way or born not long before that. So Iedolas is, arguably, still sane.

Oh, he still wants to conquer Lucis. Lucis makes a very tempting target with their abundance of natural resources. But he's not obsessed with it or the Crystal like he is in canon.

Tenebrae is still a vassal state, still friends with the Lucis Caelums - which might not have to be kept so firmly under wraps if Lucis and Niflheim aren't officially at war. Tenebrae retains their own sovereignty, so they aren't trying to buck off Imperial rule despite being on complete opposite ends of the spectrum regarding religion.

Accordo, on the other hand, is only nominally independent. They choose their own Secretary, but they answer directly to Imperial governors. Their subjugation was also much more recent than Tenebrae, and the economic effects from the blockade and subsequent trade laws imposed on them are still felt in the present day. Claustra is not the only one who wants the Empire gone from the islands.

Galahd's situation hasn't changed much at all since they bent the knee to Lucis. Trade is plentiful between the two nations, but Galahd's content to stay on their islands and the mainlanders agree to stay on the mainland. For the most part, Galahd doesn't think about the Lucian kings doing whatever off in Insomnia. They keep out of each others' business, which is exactly how both of them like it.

Of course, with war on the horizon, things could change very quickly.

[tigger8900]

The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz

⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the distant future, Sask-E is a privately-owned planet on the cusp of commercial development, courtesy of the Verdance corporation. Thousands of years ago, the first terraformers had arrived, planting the seeds of the oxygen-rich atmosphere needed to support homo sapiens and other compatible lifeforms. Now the planet is up for sale, with wealthy investors eager to see the virgin land and claim a piece for themselves. But both Verdance and Sask-E are hiding secrets, the consequences of which will echo through the better part of the next two millennia.

I loved the grand scope of this book. Despite taking place over roughly 1,600 years, Newitz's choice to focus on three distinct, pivotal moments prevented the timeline from muddling together the way many long epics tend to. Each section of the book brought its own cast of characters — with a few crossovers — that still managed to feel loosely connected to each other through mentorship and family. In addition, the evolving maps(who saw that third one coming?) and subtly different narrative styles brought a different flavor to each of the three parts. If the idea of getting to know three different sets of characters in one novel seems daunting, perhaps think of it as reading three closely-connected novellas.

For the most part, I also found the characters to be a major strength. They do have a distinctly Becky Chambers vibe to them, though with variations on human and animal genomes rather than alien physiologies. This book has homo sapiens, neanderthal throwbacks, designer human genomes, robotic drones, sentient infrastructure, intelligent animals, collective beings, and many flavors of mechanical enhancement to biological bodies. The explorations of personhood were particularly intriguing, if horrifying when pushed to their inevitable conclusion under capitalism.

And yes, this is an extremely anti-capitalist book. In fact, if I'm going to point to anything as its flaw, it's probably related to that. Specifically, the two primary villains, the faces of the evil corporations, felt very one-dimensional to me. I'm someone who appreciates a nuanced villain. I see where Newitz did try to add some layers to the two of them, a cycle of revenge spanning hundreds of years, but ultimately it felt like their primary motivation to be evil was because they're part of a corporation, and didn't you know corporations are evil profit-suckers? I especially felt that the primary villain of the last section escalated from like 25% evil to 125% evil out of nowhere. I suppose it could have been a result of the 900-year time skip between sections two and three, in the sense that having so much time to stew might drive anyone to extremes. But there were other long-lived characters who didn't fall off the deep end while we weren't watching, so if that was Newitz's idea there(and I'm speculating, really), I think they needed to explore that contrast a little more in order to do those ladies justice.

This book has a number of LGBTQ(and probably some other letters that don't exist yet) characters, for those who are interested. Minor themes of chosen family might also be relevant to many readers. There are a few sexy scenes, skimmable if that's not your vibe. Nothing massively plot-relevant happens in them, just character development and curious physiology(I'm never going to look at a flower the same way again, there's knowing flowers are sexy and then there's knowing). All in all, I'd recommend the read. As I said before, parts of it feel cozy, but there's also a violence and sense of revolution to it that contrasts very nicely with the cozier parts. It also ends on a note that's undeniably hopeful, yet not saccharine.

[frogg-water]

Phew i really needed a break from fanart and draw something personal without worry

i really love this, its been awhile since i felt this happy about something ive drawn It could be better, there are a lot of spaces missing colour bc i forgot where what went but those spots are so small i can completely ignore it :DD

I didnt mean for this to be like a mosaic type drawing but my hand took it upon itself to make it one and i just had to roll with it

these are some of my ocs, 4 out of like, 120

but dw about that number

these four are the main characters for my story Breyel. From left to right is Azhdar, Sean, Harley and Dennis.

The premise is about these four going on a journey across their home country to subdue a rising danger that rests within the towering mountain, Mount Breyel. Along the way they uncover secrets, deal with buried drama and bonus trauma, ponder why the Haven was so insistent they go on this quest, and take every step closer to their assumed doom.

This is when they make it to the base of the mountain, after a long and painful adventure. They stare ahead, not knowing what lies along the treacherous path into the mountain but knowing with relief they were on the final stretch of this endeavor. Bonding so closely with each other, the four truly believe for the first time since they set out that they have a chance to save their home and make it back alive.

-

Sean, Azhdar and Dennis are all Perheras, or "Hybrids". Sean is a merman of unknown species, Azhdar is this worlds version of Dragonkin and Dennis is a white house cat. Harley is completely human.

Dragonkin used to be considered their own race till their dwindling numbers needed to be pushed in with Perheras to be included in their protective laws.

This drawing is actually meant to be a parallel to another recent drawing of mine but i cant share it because the reason why its important is a big spoiler ;3

There is an original language in development for this story as I continue working on it. I have a few words rn, and i have a system on how a sentence is formed, along with how nouns work, but its still pretty bare. Hell, I just made up Perheras as the name for Hybrids as im typing this rn!

I am currently rewriting this story, but I am still content with the version i have out now on my toyhouse. There's only 7 chapters, but I'm determined with this next version I'll finally land on something I'm happiest with

On the mention of my toyhouse, these four have pages of their own. I have a lot of information for them there, though some I've had to hold back for the sake of a surprise factor''

The outfits they wear are featured in the future Act 2 that I hope to make it to someday. They disguise themselves as a Travelling Troupe to make it through an anti-perhera town that, believe it or not, is the safest route to Mount Breyel. The other is a mysterious forest with mythical properties so strong its suffocating. So its a death/death scenario :D

I actually made a map for this story, per inkarnate, blessed be inkarnate

I need to change the english names to something in their language but i mean, this will still be the general translation. Like "Unstable Mines" or "The Haven of Hybrids"

This story is my pride, Ive worked on it for 7 years now and considering the pace im going and all the new stuff im coming up with, its 7 years and counting.

Its funny, how i used to consider my other story, Warynwood, my pride, but my friends are fans of Dennis, and for them, Im motivated for once to try and finish this work. This one quickly took Warynwoods place, but though someday I'll dust that one back off, Breyel is my current focus

Expect to see these fellas on this page more in the future ;)

[missizzy]

A Game Novice's Baldur's Gate 3 Log, 6 1/2 hours in: I might just be getting somewhere

(Note: this will definitely contain spoilers for all I've played through, and probably quite a bit of the later stuff I've also seen.)

I spent the week continuing with my Baldur's Gate 3 experiment, even as the dialog sequences ran excruciatingly slow, due to the animation going at half the pace as the audio. I now suspect the problem is my computer's struggling with our internet connection, which it has ever since Comcast insisted on replacing the modem. Which is part the reason we may finally be doing something about that next week, and I may pause playing until such time as we do. But that depends on how long it takes. I'm kind of getting hooked on this game, despite everything.

After last weekend saw Sara Tully, my barbarian Tav, successfully find Gale, and me fail to figure out how to lockpick, I went and looked up how to do the latter. (Of course it was the obvious way I hadn't thought of.) So first thing when I resumed was to take the party back to the big locked door on the beach to try to get through it. Except Astarion failed two checks in a row, resulting the loss of all our thieves tools. Guess I'm not finding out what's behind that door in this run.

After that I looked up Lae'zel's location and went to find her, and once again managed to go the wrong way, hitting the chapel entrance instead. So we ended up killing Gimblebock and the bandits outside, which made me feel a bit too much like a murderhobo, but at least, at long last, I finally got Sara to rage, marker by her box and everything. I have also now equipped her with a looted goblin bow, so she can even do ranged attacks while raging. Also we were able to get another set of thieves tools out of it. I even happily took Astarion up to the chapel door-except that when we heard the other bandits calling out through it, I decided to just walk away.

He did, on the other hand, successfully lockpick us through the trapdoor outside. Which of course led to another fight, one that felt very much like a learning experience about positioning characters in the game and recognizing when they are and aren't in silence AOEs. But I was much less sorry when we made contact with Withers, whom I hadn't known about, though I've since learned he's a camp follower, and I suspect I'll enjoy having him about. Maybe going the wrong way in this game isn't such a bad thing.

Still I was impatient to get back the Emerald Grove, so I scrutinized the maps a little more carefully (another skill I'm still developing) and finally got to Lae'zel, sent her captors on their way by saying I'd deal with her, and then Gale shot frost on the her cage's bottom to get her down. Then I promptly sent her to camp, because the party was full, and Sara as a barbarian is a tank already. Also, reading some meta about how she probably viewed the druids made me not really want to bring her to the Grove. (And since, I've come to think I'd rather not deal with the druids' reactions to her either.)

I suppose I'm not supposed to ask how we even have a camp, when we've been doing nothing except walk around since landing in the area. Or why, when we finally returned to the Grove entrance and went in, we found Aradin and Zevlor right there arguing as if the goblin fight had still happened only moments ago. Though at least Wyll had found time to go further inside and resume his fighting lessons before we recruited him.

I've heard plenty of how Wyll is hard done by and underused by players. I kept him with the party, partly because we were in the place he knew, and also because Shadowheart was low on health and and spell slots, so it was just as well to send her off. But when leveling him up, it was hard not to observe he really has the same spells as Gale, only fewer of them, which I suspect is one of the major problems. On the other hand, I did give him Beast Speech as an invocation, which will probably result in my using him a lot more, since the animal dialog in this game is really fun.

We ended up wandering around most of the hollow, which meant hearing about the Absolute for the first time,-but I'm pretty sure Sara won't believe in the significance of that for a while. I continued to work on trying to figure the map out, even after seeing the marker for Kagha on it, making a full circuit around the sacred pool, having an important conversation with Apikusis and a hilarious one with Volo (was kind of sorry there were no conversation options for Sara to tell him how much he was pissing her off). Then, finally, I found the entrance to take us to Kagha.

By then, the talk with Apikusis has already made clear she was a bad leader, and I happened to already know about her working with the Shadow Druids. But honestly, I'm not sure who they even are, and that's really more distant fantasy novel villainy. Her introduction scene, on the other hand, where she refers to a Tiefling child as "poison" and terrorizes her for doing as young children will sometimes do? That's something that really will hit the player hard. It hit Sara hard, too, and if she hadn't really wanted to see that healer, she definitely would've tried to intimidate her, or might have even outright attacked her to rescue the kid.

Instead, I ended up going with the nature check option of her saying imprisoning little Arabella would disrupt the balance of nature. Maybe not the best choice either, since Sara has -1 on nature, but luckily she rolled high. I immediately decided that Sara was pulling words out of her ass or possibly just trolling, and Kagha was the kind of narrow-minded arrogant that completely failed to realize this. Whether the approving Wyll or Gale realized this, I am not yet certain.

The last thing I've currently done was the conversation with Gale that immediately followed this encounter. I'm pretty sure I'm going to romance him, and one could even count that interaction as flirting, if you really stretch it.

Now, however, I am looking at next facing a scene I've seen played through twice, and heard comments about, and I think may well end with us having to flee the Grove. Which is even more of a problem when I still haven't even talked with Zorru about the possible location of the Githyanki creche yet!

[agileisthegayagenda]

The Professional Scrum Developer Cert

"The Agile Certifications that exist are a complete joke and an utter absurdity." - Robert Martin, Clean Agile.

TL;DR: My company asked me to get this, so I did. Even though I only did a couple of hours of study. All the books I had been reading last year prepped me for it... I'm also good at taking tests.

You should ask yourself: Why the hell do I need this?

If the answer is that it will help you land a job, get a promotion, satisfy management, or assist you with a goal to pursue your learning. No harm, it's $200! However, if you want this to show off to people that you are the most Scrum dev, that is just so Scrum, just don't...please.

With that out of the way...

The first thing they asked me to do when I joined my new team was to get the PSD cert. I had other PM style certs under my belt, so this would be, as the very cool people say, 'no problem.' I figured this would be a fun way to make sure I had the terms and ceremonies down for Scrum. (And I was right, because I think tests are fun.)

I started with this assessment test to understand where I was so I could plan where I should go. I'm a massive fan of taking assessments before you study. You see, the idea of pre-testing is it gives you the shape of the test to come. This method helps my mind map out things that will be valuable to know for the test. I scored 60% on my first try, which was not great but gave me information on how to start my next steps. 

After I studied my answers and noted right and wrong answers. From the reading I had been doing, I realized most of the terms in the test had been introduced over the last year.

Clean Code

Clean Architecture 

Pragmatic Programmer

Clean Agile

Test Driven Design 

Scrum: Twice the Work in half the time

Scrum: A Field Guide

Also, the following online documentation and videos helped me understand a bunch:

DevOps Terminology 

More Devops Stuff

This Pluralsite Course 

The Scrum Guide

Tech Debt 

And some of this post on TDD

So, after reviewing some keywords in those books, I made a:

Let's talk about my study guide system:

First, I take my wrong answer pass and use that to build a foundation of what I don't know and mesh this with whatever core competencies list I can find for the certification. I then research videos and articles that can help me fill in my knowledge.

Then, I review this content, taking notes on any terms I don't understand. I then cross-referenced all of these with terms I noted down from the assessment test and refined my study guide. I do this process till every term, and the wrong answer makes complete sense. 

Then I take the assessment again, but now it's speed mode. I try to spend less than 10 seconds on each question (sometimes more if there is a long setup) or less on each question; if I go too long, I skip (or guess and note it down real quick). The thinking is, in a multichoice test, if I don't know the correct answer immediately, I'm gaming the multiple-choice, not actually "knowing." I refined this technique on a couple of Comptia Certs, which also helped me through a good part of my schooling. 

After 2-3 speed runs. I complete all the wrong answers and any notes on terms or concepts I stall or take longer on. Then I take this and make a:

While speed running, I repeat this process until I pass 10% higher on pre-tests and assessments than I need for the certification test. Because certifications often have question bundles, I can buy them. I will often buy one or two if they're cheap. However, for the PSD, the free one is WAY better than the paid one I bought from Udemy. If I were to do it again, I wouldn't have grabbed the paid one.

After this is done, I look at scheduling an assessment. But as it turns out, that's not something you need to worry about with the PSD; you can take it any time after you pay, so keep that in mind. 

Before the assessment, I reviewed the core test competency materials and took a nice mind break. 

 When I feel calm and centered, I take the test. This method has yet to fail me. Is it the fastest way to cram new info in your head? Probably not, but I do learn whatever the cert is trying to teach me, and as a bonus, I feel very little pressure in the tests, often finishing quickly with enough time to review questions I wasn't so sure about. 

How did this serve me for the PSD? It was 95%, not 100%, as the fabulous folks get, but perfection is the enemy of done in my book. And it is very done!

So now that you know how I took it. The real question is, was it useful? 

Yes? We'll see as time goes on.

[the-dream-beyond]

Episode 10 - Tapping Into Your Inner Knowing With William Donius

Nik Tarascio 

I'm super excited about today's guest. It's someone who has a completely different and super simple way of tapping into that inner knowing if you've ever wondered, what's next in your life, what you're supposed to be doing, you're trying to solve difficult problems. This guy has just an incredible process. That is so, so simple. It sometimes feels like it shouldn't be that easy. But I really hope you enjoy this one. And I hope you find a ton of value in trying to apply this to your life.

Nik Tarascio 

Welcome to the dream beyond. I'm your host, Nik Tarascio. I'm a CEO, musician and overall seeker of Truth, inspiration and simply put, how to live the most fulfilling life possible. Growing up surrounded by extremely wealthy and successful people gave me unique and unfiltered perspectives of those who have seemingly made it through on the dream beyond we're letting you in on what it really takes to achieve your dreams. What happens when it turns out your destination isn't the promised land you are expecting? How to process the lessons from your past while mapping of course to true fulfillment. Let's get started.

Hey, guys, really excited to be talking with the New York Times best selling author of thought revolution, how to unlock your inner genius, Speaker ideation facilitator and former banker and CEO. He had a recent TEDx Talk unlocking the brain's hidden app, which explains a new approach to brainstorming. And he's been teaching at the Esalen Institute and a personal development workshop called Meet your better half. Please welcome Bill Donius. Thank you so much for being here, Bill.

Bill Donius 

Sure, Nik, great to see ya.

Nik Tarascio 

And I actually wanted to start off on on how we met, because I just find that life has this funny way of throwing interesting people in my path. And you are on the top of the list of some of the more interesting, unique characters I've met. So is that, uh, well, we were both at a conference in New York City. I think you and I had been chatting about where I was getting stuck in my life. And you were like, Hey, do you want to go try something kind of interesting, you want to do this nondominant handwriting. I was like, I have no idea what any of that even means. But yes. And I remember we were sitting on the corner of 34th and eighth on some rooftop bar, overlooking the street. And I was writing what I felt was chicken scratch. And then we deciphered it. And it was basically like my inner voice guiding me through some relationship challenges, what I wanted to do with my life, who I want to be when I grew up, and I can't remember the exact words, but something tells me the idea of me having my own voice was a big piece of that. And sitting here with you doing my podcast is like such a full circle moment. So I thank you for in many ways guiding me here to this and then being a participant as well.

Bill Donius 

Well, thank you for sharing that I I also remember that moment, because it's it's one of the things that really has excited me most about this work that I do is getting to be in those moments with individuals where they unlock something, especially in many cases where that have defined them kept them stuck sometimes for decades. So to be able to break through that in a in a way that's unorthodox, and amazingly simple and easy. And, and even profound in many ways. Is, is exciting for me.

Nik Tarascio 

Yeah, it was very cool to witness and I gotta tell you, my skeptical mind, was challenging that all the way until the moment where we really kind of picked out things on the page. And I was like, wow, that's not anything I would have allowed myself to even think or feel. So very cool to see that. And I'd love to before we dive into what it is that you even do, I find it super interesting where you came from. And I'd love it if you would just kind of give us a little bit of a background of, you know, your upbringing professionally, where you started out, and kind of leading into what was that first moment in your life where you're like, I made it? I'm successful.

Bill Donius 

Okay, cool, great question. I would say I had the Forrest Gump experience of life and work and business and MIT. After graduating from business school at Tulane University, I really had a number of things that I was interested in. And, but then I quickly found that they typically, you know, they didn't work as well as I intended or I wasn't as interested. I was bored. So I moved on from healthcare, sales to public relations to management, consulting, to television production, to retail food, and did all those things for 11 years before getting into banking. And then was in banking for and something I guess, I tried to avoid, in some ways, because it was my family's business and I wasn't that interested in doing it. But that ended up being the most satisfying part of my career. I did that for 20 years, succeeded.

My father took the company public, we did the that was a went really well for for employees, shareholders for everybody. And then we sold the bank and in banking is basically overbank. So we don't need you know, 1000s and 1000s of banks in the United States. So that was one of the realizations, it's an overly competitive market it and then I was able to move on from that to rebalance my life at age 50. And go into this space that I've been in the last 14 years, helping people like deal with issues that come up and in their life where they're stuck and or just potentially realizing their potential, helping them move through life in a way that is much more meaningful. So that that's been a really satisfying time in my life. And it was, and it says, and frankly, probably most wouldn't say it, but it really overshadowed company, and then the business successes were great. And I guess it propelled me and allowed me I was financially blessed to be able to do this and kind of quit and go in this direction. But it's, it's been a great ride.

Nik Tarascio 

What was the single moment that you feel like you really made it in a business context? I'm really curious where you're like, Well, I really, I really did it.

Bill Donius 

I suppose it was realizing the dream. And the many years of hard work and taking the company public, and finding that that process worked out well. And were able to succeed for shareholders, employees, customers, it was a big success, I guess growing a company eight fold and, and doing really well for shareholders. And that was a, you know, a wonderful moment. And for me, I was lucky that had happened earlier in life. So that was also a plus.

Nik Tarascio 

I'm kind of wondering from the perspective of, you know, some people have these exits in a particular industry, and then they stay in that industry, and they keep doing it. So I'm wondering for you, how much of that front half of your professional career was out of familial obligation? Or for some other reason carrying a torch versus you chasing your deeper calling?

Bill Donius 

That's a good question. I don't think there was a huge familial obligation because I essentially it was maybe the opposite was maybe true, because I avoided joining the bank for 11 years and just wanted to go out on my own, I also didn't want to be that son, or grandson in a family business that is the know, at all, and is 21 years old, you know, so I feel like I needed some life lessons to, to learn, but it was it was really a number of things coming together, I think I gain the wisdom of being out in the workplace, going to business school, being out there 11 years, and really sensing that, that some of my interests were aligning with what the company needed. And my father was getting older and closer to retirement. And we were very, very, very different people. So I don't think I could have worked for him more than five years, which I did. But because we just saw the world differently. We were very good friends. And you know, I had a good relationship, but it was just different differing business philosophies.

Nik Tarascio 

So that's actually pretty great to hear. I mean, I think a lot of the family business stories I've heard, like, even my own I mean, much of it was there to take care of my family. And part of my curiosities against you come out of this, this relationship with the bank, you have this big win, which again, I don't know how many people ever experienced taking their company public. So I mean, it must have been such an extraordinary moment. And how long was it between that? And this current clarity around what your next calling was? Did you already know what that was? Did you already have a sense of that?

Bill Donius 

No, it was it was about another 10 years. So took the company public at age 38. And then at age 48, after putting in 20 years of hard labor, was they the investment banker said, you know, work good, it's probably you've probably got five years, and it's all going to be over. Because something will happen, you'll either buy or sell, or there's, you know, have to leave or whatever is going to happen. And so by at the end of 20 years of, of that kind of work at at 6070 hour, we pace with, you know, we're talking to analysts and PR firms, you know, the institutional markets for 10 years of that I was a little burned out and and so I went to Santa Fe and was on a retreat, thinking about what's next and what the rest of my life The purpose was. And it was in that retreat process using what I also had learned in therapy 10 years before at age 38.

This process of intuitive writing, right brain writing ideation, however you want to call it that I took on that question and said, God, what do I want to do? And what came up for me was sounded at the time trade it was held people was like, that, that's, that's, you know, sounds pretty good. Well, like how and then I got well, you need to consider Teaching the methodology that you've personally used for these 10 years in your life and in business, you need to consider sharing that. And I was still again, like, like, how would that happen? It was like write a book. And I was like, oh, write a book. That doesn't sound that great sounds like more work. And I'm trying to balance my life maybe a little bit more so.

But then that I realized in the, in the, in the following weeks that that registered with me. And that became sort of my Northstar. And I decided to essentially retire early at 50. And head in this direction. And again, I was fortunately financially able to do so. But it just I realized it was a whole nother chapter of my life that I needed to go and do that also involve rebalancing, because I didn't want to be working 6070 hour work weeks, you know, for the next 10 or 15 years, or what have you.

Nik Tarascio 

So you did feel it sounds like you felt a little bit of resistance when this was starting to present the idea to you as it was starting to come through the filters. That's like the you know, Ken, I don't know if I necessarily want to go down that road. What was I love coming into these moments? Like, what was that moment where you realized I have to pick up the sword? And this is my calling, I must do this with my life?

Bill Donius 

Well, that's a great question. Because it is like, you know, the slaying of the ego, right? How do you go from, you know, the CEO job earning, you know, a lot, and doing really well. And being that guy, especially in a, in a net that St. Louis is a small town, but I you know, had stature in St. Louis and the business community I was down. And, you know, I enjoyed the work itself, I enjoyed the customers, I enjoyed that whole experience. And so it did take some time. And I think the key to it was that I had learned to trust, the intuition that I got from, in my parlance, from the right side of my brain, which I associate with the higher consciousness, that spiritual part of the brain, the problem solving part, the part that we get those that we get those messages that can be transformative in our lives, and whether solving a simple everyday problem, or something really big, like, what do I want to do with the rest of my life, I felt as though the weeks went on that that really resonated with me.

So I started putting things in motion that made that so a couple of years later, and then, you know, what it wasn't like I was ever 100% confident, but I felt like there was a strong sense that, that that was my, that that was kind of my North Star, and that it would work out. And that that was my calling. And, and then and then I was the dedicated I guess, and the years after I did 200 interviews with people in the in the lead up to, and so doing the research to or to be able to write that book on that topic that that that really validated that I was on the right path, because I saw even in those interviews, that I was able to help people and that it was, you know, that was useful. And that even a singular meetup of a hour and a half could really help someone get some insight about their life or a problem or an issue.

So I saw the power in that. And I thought wow, to be able to do this every day would be would be wonderful to be able to make a difference, you know, do my small part and perhaps making the world a little bit better place because I check that was felt lucky enough to check the financial box. And although not fortunate enough to have a jet, I'm sorry, I would have been called you earlier, but there was enough to it was enough to, you know, have a good life and then really focused with intention.

Nik Tarascio 

Yeah, well, I'm sorry, it's been a hard life without a jet. I know it's a bit of a slog.

Bill Donius 

Would have made things so much easier for me, you know, traveling to all these events that I have to go to so. So maybe there is a an idea that I have that I'm percolating with a small team. So who knows maybe that'll maybe that'll kick in and and it'll be possible for kids as they get older and will want to travel more comfortably. So maybe that's still annoying. Yeah.

Nik Tarascio 

I definitely I definitely know a guy who can help with that when the time comes. So your diverge call? Yeah, fantastic. And, you know, I think for people that are listening again, I had the fortune of experiencing this firsthand not even knowing what I was doing. How do you describe what you do for and with people?

Bill Donius 

So I describe it as, as a way of activating the neural pathways to the right side of the brain. And, as is almost inconceivable as that sounds, or an unorthodox as that sounds. It's based on a Nobel Prize winning discovery that Roger Sperry made in and was awarded its Nobel Prize in 1981. On when they were looking at patients through the years, trying to understand brain function, and they were looking at how specifically how to solve for epilepsy. And so they started cutting the corpus callosum, which did completely separate the two hemispheres the left from the right. And they they learned a lot about brain function.

If you want to Google something interesting, if you if you Google split brain patients, you know, cut a split corpus callosum that you'll you'll see those patients struggling to hear in response to the command, grab that pen, you'll see the left hand and the right hand of the same patient, like as if it were two different people. So the the the amazing, and whether this is you know that now sciences, you know, advanced in the years since 81. And people believe a lot of different things and somebody didn't have potentially have debunked this. And they say whether it's metaphorically true or scientifically valid on it's a generally suggest to people just try and judge for yourself, if it works for you.

Great. If it doesn't work, great, try something else that I have about in the in the many people that have taken this to from huge global companies like Hitachi and Kawasaki to small nonprofits to medium to national nonprofits to workshops around the world that works for about 90% of the people that do this. Because if you're an extreme type A, it may be difficult because you have to be willing to let go and trust the process and allow this to happen. Because you have to get your mind into that flow state. Because it's really a thinking tool, much more than much more so than a handwriting tool, because it's still I can show you my handwriting 26 years later, it's still messy, you know, so it's, it's really about learning how to think differently.

Nik Tarascio 

So as you're talking, I mean, a bunch of questions come up. And again, I'm I'm a layman, when it comes to neuroscience and how the brain works, what I think I hear you saying is, on some level that you know what happened for me, that day that we sat down was I was using the dominant part of my brain to try to solve my problems, which is I guess the left side is what I'm doing to do a lot of my rational problem solving. And you gave me access to my creative part of my brain or the other side of my brain that I may not have predominantly used, or I'm not listening to or something to that effect. But you gave me a pathway to it without me even knowing what I was doing.

Bill Donius 

Yeah, and scientists would say that we in and I did a lot, I worked with a team of 11, psychologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, in the writing of the book, because I didn't want to write something after my whole business career that was you know, malarkey. And be, you know, laughed at. So I was very careful to make sure there was scientific standing. And then one of those bright guys who studied with whose mentor studied with Roger Sperry, it was at Harvard at the time, and he actually opined, read the whole book have commented, you can add a couple pages into the book.

So scientists know we use all our brain all the time. So I think this is like the difference between, maybe a good analogy would be between, if you've always been a runner, and then you you decide to swim, as a way to supplement your workout, it's, it's, it's, your body's gonna respond differently, right? So it's, it's, it's just a different function. In this case, it's what what it feels like to me all these years later, is that we're activating the brain in a different manner. So for just a moment, if we can just get that activation to occur to, to bounce over to that right side of the brain, which is known to house those functions of intuition, dreaming, problem solving creativity, so all that good stuff is there, it's sort of like we have to be using that sword analogy, we have to just pierce through for a second to get it and then we can run back to the way we typically think and operate.

And interestingly, though, the the most of us 92% of us in the United States are right handed which is controlled by the left side of the brain. And the left side of the brain controls in is known for, you know, mathematic mathematics and reasoning and linear thinking logical thinking, speech, you know, all those things that that put food on the table gas in the car, and, and also, you know, I think can be the definition of the box and in many cases, so, it's no it's no accident that think outside the box is the most overused business hyperbole, because we all say it but we don't necessarily know how to do it, you know, we just do the same thing. Kind of maybe Trying to do it quicker, faster, better, but so it really is hard to get outside that comfort zone. And this process does it, in my estimation about as well as any.

And it's also been applied to the art world drawing on the right side of the brain was written in the 80s. And it still is a fantastic process for those who want to learn how to draw better. And then that is basically you've got to get your brain out of the way to be able to draw better because most of us don't draw any better than we did at age five, you know, so if we're trying to draw an image of a person in a chair, it's, it's not going to be very good. So it's the brains getting in the way.

Because all that we know about the chair, the person, the age is conflicting, with just drawing the damn thing you know, so we don't see it in the way that we could otherwise. And then, a woman that I studied with and was my mentor, Dr. logika, pop Yoni wrote recovery of your inner child. And so she helped launch the whole inner child movement in psychology. So in psychology, this versions of this process had been used for decades and decades and decades, they typically refer to it as intuitive writing. And when patients, you know, have something where it's not working any other way, which was the case for me, and my therapist gave me which he has book and when I was 38. And it really helped crack the code of where, where I was stuck.

And I had already spent a year. And I was saying that my therapist, hey, we need to speed this up, you guys just have a busy job. I mean, I can't come here every week and not see major progress. So which is book really helped me break break through, but it's not for everybody, you know, as you have that suffered some sort of abuse it's in earlier in life, or whenever it's, it's, it's not, it's a tough read, and you're going to put it down and fast. So my thought was, what about all the rest of us in the world who need help with garden variety problems, you know, how to improve the profitability of their company, how to get improve the relationship that hasn't been working well, how to make the team collaborate better, how to be a better human, you know, how to have what's your highest and best purpose, all these big questions in life, or I found her better served by activating the brain differently and getting essentially what feels like a second opinion.

Only the best part is it's not from a friend or a treasured professor, maybe even or a psychologist, but but from himself, you know, it's getting this wisdom from this higher self is higher consciousness is what it feels like.

Nik Tarascio 

So I'm curious to know if you know, how does this relate to fulfillment as you're talking about this. And again, I'm someone that's mostly solved problems in my life, through my rational mind. And I'm really now kind of, in the introspective phase of, you know, I'm after a feeling amount after external conditions, I think I've only recently made sense that that actually doesn't matter how many whatever's I have, or how much money I have, or where I live or any of that stuff. It is a state of fulfillment, peace, happiness, joy that I'm looking for, how does this process relate to that?

Bill Donius 

Great question. And I think it relates very directly to your purpose and what your meaning for life is, like, why are you here? What are you here to do? Or where do you hear that you need to do next? Because maybe you've done you know, 15 different things. And, you know, what's next? What's next for you to realize with the rest of your life in this gift that we have? You know, how do you make the most of it? And in my harlots, I think that the right side of the brain is so closely connected to our souls journey, that it and tapping into that higher consciousness is, is the most direct and, and fat, kind of easiest also, way to go there and get what we need to get to get the self awareness to know why we're here, what our journeys about, what's left to do, why we're stuck, while we need to work on, you know, all those big kind of existential questions or we can get help accessing, and if you will, outsourcing in some ways, maybe those thoughts to the right side of our brain to get that wisdom that we're seeking.

Nik Tarascio 

And as you were doing this, I mean, is that what you had come up for you? And that's why you felt called to do this work? Because it did kind of answer that big, deep search question. Like the Viktor Frankl question, right? It's, it's, we're all looking for that meaning?

Bill Donius 

Yeah, absolutely. Because I thought it was to help finance people's dreams, you know, which was great as a banker, and I was doing that in spades increasingly, you know, more and more helping is the bank room many, many, many more people and that was satisfying. It was great and creating a great employment environment for employees were voted Best Place to Work in St. Louis. So that was fulfilling, doing well for shareholders. I was fulfilling and, and so there was a partner who was like, Okay, great. I'm checking all the boxes like, what else is there? And so it was in that retreat that I pose that cell that question to myself like, Okay, what is my highest and best purpose? What else have I have left to do? Now, if you if you've been able to check the box, fortunately, financially, then it gives you the freedom to go off and do either what you really want to do or what you need to do or what you're called to do. You know, that is, that's fantastic. But I found you don't have you know, sometimes that's the excuse to the Lie we tell ourselves is that, oh, I can't do anything until I've attained this economic success. Well, I've seen in the workshops, I've led it as at the Esalen Institute and other places over the years that that Now oftentimes when we find our bliss, we find our passion that can also lead to great financial success. So we may be trapped in a job that we hate. And no, it's a wonder we're not doing well at it because we hate it. And so it isn't until we leave that and and pursue where our skill sets, talents, and purpose align that we also achieve the financial success we want to achieve.

Nik Tarascio 

Is there a particular story about someone you've worked with that really that one you can share and to it is one of your prouder accomplishments?

Bill Donius 

Yeah, that yeah, there. I mean, there's a flood of things that come to mind, I guess, the most recent because it's the freshest and it was also in it one out who is in in the recent podcasts that I did with the Esalen Institute voices. Veselin was the workshop participant who was working and had been working was trained to work as an oncology nurse and had achieved a high level and great status in that role and was doing really well but unfulfilled in the work, and really did a deep dive to understand why that was the case. And figured out that she really wanted to spend her time caring for the patient, rather than administering the drugs and, and then figured out a pathway to do that.

And so she did all that in a period of a few months. And that was last year. There's also a, a 27 ish year old who was in a job where he was doing really well financially. But he just knew that that, you know, he, the golden handcuffs were kind of on and he was well regarded in the company doing really well. But it wasn't really helping him achieve his passion of being an entrepreneur and learning how to be his own boss or, and so he took the big risk and jumped out into a much more entrepreneurial opportunity and understood what that meant, why he was doing it, and felt good about making a huge change in his life and career and taking the risk and so doing so. And then there's some that have had really successful, there was the gentleman who was a Mensa member, and had been fired five times in his career, and his wife referred him to me, his, she was tired of them getting fired and having their whole life be interrupted. And he was able to unlock why it was with him, that he progressed. And it was typically when he was directly reporting to the CEO that that would happen. And it wouldn't happen prior.

But he unlocked the reason. And the CEO was a proxy for the father figure that that he had in the father that he had, he had completely erased and forgotten, something that happened at age 14, where it was a pretty minor thing in the scheme of things. But that comment from his father, then was very triggering little, you know, decades later in life and was interrupting his career. And just the awareness of that singular comment allowed him to understand the impact it was having on his life. So that's a few, I guess, independent kind of examples.

Nik Tarascio 

And I think the part of it that is quite interesting to me is we're kind of in this world of everyone has these expensive solutions to problems and these massively complex things that just seems like such a simple tool at the end of the day, and I'm wondering, Is it is it the kind of thing where someone could just learn it for themselves and do it on their own? Or do they really need to lean on a facilitator like you?

Bill Donius 

You know, it's absolutely the former. In fact, the reason that I wrote the book and through the lens that I wrote it after those 200 interviews, which I framed it sort of is through the lens of the lies we tell ourselves and that this process is essentially a truth detector, helping us break through where we're held back. So I densified a different lies, it seemed common amongst those 200 people that I interviewed, and the objective was to make it you know, and truly a self help book that you could help yourself by reading it. And there are 54 questions and working through it. So one of the most satisfying things about the work actually, is to hear from people who I'll meet somewhere somewhere in the world, and, or who will reach out and write to me through my website, and we'll share that they did this work, you know, six years ago, 10 years ago, whenever and, and the impact it had on their life.

So, yes, it is. And then there are some that are not able to learn that way. And so they attend workshops, which is great, you know, that's more immersive the workshop in SLN, as a whole weekend, leading one at the modern elder Academy and Baja Mexico in May. And that's a whole week. So people learn in differing ways. And I'm realizing also that experimented last year with a whole digital hybrid cloud set, thinking I'd probably need to do that it was kind of forced on me during COVID, where we couldn't be in person. So I developed videos that with clients, big corporate clients to continue to do the work by zoom. And so it's, it's, you know, it's the good news is it is very relatable, and easy to learn, and easier for Shawn perhaps. But yes, it's, it's a, it's truly a process that is efficient and effective.

Nik Tarascio 

You know, as you're talking, I'm kind of hearing some patterns in what you shared is that it seems like you're one of those people that has throughout your life gone within to allow yourself to steer to the next thing that felt right for you. I don't know if it was in your nervous system, or in your consciousness or what it is. But it's kind of cool to see that after navigating so many different jobs that you talked about choosing to go back to the family business having success, they're finding your way to this thing that as you talk about it, it's like, how did you even figure that out? Right? It's amazing that it was like this Well, of wisdom within you that you've been able to tap into, it doesn't surprise me, it doesn't surprise me at all, to hear that this is what you help people do. It sounds like that is your innate gift, is, you've always been able to go within yourself, even if you've resisted it, and you're helping people get access to the same thing, which I just think is such a cool calling. We're all...

Bill Donius 

You know, it's probably a very polite way of saying I'm an impatient person. But I've not thought of it that way before. But now I think there may be something there because I've always felt like I was able to take what was my Achilles heel, in intimacy and relationships and what I learned in therapy, and overcome that Achilles heel, and then that the process that I learned then has become my superpower. But I really feel like my life really changed and my late 30s learning maths because I was somewhat adrift, somewhat impatient, somewhat bothered some, you know, somewhat a seeker and searching and just it and I guess I was unwilling to accept boredom or unwilling to accept scenarios, work scenarios, especially where I was, felt like I wasn't contributing or doing something meaningful. And if I was just kind of, on that hamster wheel of sorts, like, life's too short, I don't want to do this, you know, for a long time.

Nik Tarascio 

What's the dream now? I mean, you've you've had incredible success in multiple areas in multiple domains, you've had incredible impact on people. What do you dream about now? What, what what drives you through the day?

Bill Donius 

Yeah, so that's a good question, too. I've been thinking about this in the last year or so. And, and I think it's, you know, being open minded to continue to learn and being aware of what else is out there and what other possibilities exist, a new opportunity has opened up in the in the whole grease arena. And I've been invited to I've led a national webinar, and then I'm going to be one of the speakers that have a grief retreat in Connecticut this summer.

So it's helping people understand that intersection, you know, as life and death, and how do we survive bodily death? Where did we how do we grieve? Why are we grieving? How can we turn channel that into something that's useful? Helpful, so that that's of interest to me, also, hopefully finding a way to somewhat institutionalize this process. So it doesn't sort of end with me, you know, that I've already have a number of people that, that I've trained to do this work that in various forms, that I think there could be some sort of digital course that would, you know, exist out there to be able to really build at great, much greater scale, teaching this out into the world, because it's not been happy to go at the pace that I've gone at.

And, you know, I'd haven't really looked at it as a as a money making thing as much as it is a, you know, a passion affirming project. So but I don't think those two things are independent, you know, I think I can get my passion out there more would be satisfying. And rather than doing it, you know, just dial it up on a bigger scale. So I'm looking at those kinds of opportunities, because it, it works really, equally well in the workplace. So these big corporate teams that I work with, in some cases, a decade later, now still use this process, and their managerial meetings and their processes, especially when they're stuck or have a problem.

So and then they and then the other satisfying part has been when they've used it at work, and it works, they've integrated into their personal lives, and they used it to help find, you know, why they're depressed or upset at something or why something else wasn't, isn't working as well. So it really deserves to live in, you know, both the workplace and in the personal development world. So it's how to continue to drive that foreword, I guess, is the is the other part that I'm thinking about.

Nik Tarascio 

I mean, it's incredible to hear just someone to help us process the human experience, right. And we really, especially the I think the depth conversation, which is, and I think a lot of people think that it only surfaces later in life, but more and more, I'm realizing how many of us are trying to avoid the topic, trying to you know, try not to face the topic or dealing with even unpressed, onyx, unprocessed death experiences from childhood, right, losing grandparents, or parents or pets, or whatever that is. So uh, just, I don't know, it's just been awesome to watch what you're doing and to hear more of your story. And it's just, it's such a gift that you're giving to the world.

Bill Donius 

So, I can definitely recommend what helps amplify my paths. And down this in this direction is the book I've since met her at Esalen. She's a New York Times reporter and took a journalistic approach to the topic of death and wrote the Netflix it's a Netflix series wrote a great book that I highly recommend titled surviving deaths. And the Netflix series is by the same name, it's when you it's it's really almost impossible to read her book or watch the series and not come away with an understanding that we do survive. And that there is more to it. We're not just in the ground, and it's over. But it's it's so it's really fascinating.

Nik Tarascio 

Well, I think kind of to sum it all up what what is so cool about what you're sharing to me is that life really is like a Disney movie where like the answers are inside of us, right? It's it just takes that courage to believe our own intuition or to make the space or to learn the skill of being able to tap into that. And, you know, again, I'm just ungrateful to have the time with you and be able to talk about this. And I hope people that are listening, really take this to heart and try the exercise because again, I was very skeptical. very skeptical the first time, Mike, this is silly. I don't see how this is going to do anything. There's expensive, difficult methods to solve this problem. Why would this work? And I did find just so much value. And you know, really unearthing things about my relationships unearthing things about my path in my life that I was unclear about and resisting, mostly because it was fear based. And I would say that what you did with me, allowed me to answer a question from beyond my own fear. And I really was a tapping into my heart, my courage, my gut. That's what that allowed. So I highly recommend you guys. Take a moment to try it. Just check out Bill's book. I mean, there's so much to recap from this, I really feel like the major sentiment, though is that you already have the answer. You may not think you have the answer. And even if you don't, there's a way to get there. And that's really what Bill's work is about is really learning to do something that is so not Western. It's to trust yourself. It's to trust yourself and not need to go to, you know, therapists and doctors and career counselors and all these people that tell you what you should do. There's really an opportunity for you to find out within yourself what you're really called to do, what you came in to do. And I hope that for all of you and Bill just thank you so much my recommended Asians are again, check out Bill's book thought revolution, how to unlock your inner genius. If you're curious to really get some FaceTime with Bill, you could check out modern elder Academy. He'll be down there in May, you could also check out the Esalen Institute. And he's also got an event there in May as well I think from the fifth to the seventh. And man, I'm gonna see if I could squeeze some of that into my calendar. Otherwise, I'm just gonna hunt you down wherever you are in the country just to get some catch up time.

Bill Donius 

It's it's still in formation, but I'm likely leading a workshop in New York City on July 12. For specifically for creatives, writers, directors, actors, and the experience with them, just kind of anecdotally has been so positive through the years that the idea was to, like, really create something specifically for them to help them so that that definitely is I'm gonna try to sleep and so that'll posted there, williamdonius.com

Nik Tarascio 

Fantastic. Well, again, thank you so much for the time this was really lovely,

Bill Donius 

Thank you and I appreciate who you are in the world, how you show up in the world and, and I'm delighted that you're doing this getting the message out there and helping people kind of awaken to their own superpowers and to what's important in life. So kudos to you man.

Nik Tarascio 

Thank you so much. I hope you all enjoyed. Thank you for listening to the dream beyond. I hope that you receive whatever message or inspiration you were meant to get from today's episode. I had a great time recording it for you. If you love the show, please take 30 seconds to subscribe rate and review it. That really helps get the word out. And if you want to connect with me, you can find me at:

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[fixyourwritinghabits]

Hi:) so i was wondering if I can ask something since your blogs always helped me in some way!!:D

I was wondering how do you start an outline for a really big and specific book project? If you guys have any type of templates to show that would be really helpful!! (ofc, your dont have to show the template if you don't have one)

I'm going to go ahead and say there are loads of plotting techniques out there, and if one doesn't work for you, try another one. Here's as many as I can think of:

The Synopsis Method - a synopsis is a detailed guide to every major plot point in your story. You'll need one eventually if you want to traditionally publish, so it's a good place to start when drafting.

The Snowflake Method - Start with the big concept and branch out from there. The Mind-Mapping Method is similar - you take your big idea and flesh it out as much as possible, adding branches and twists as they come to mind. These techniques are great for people who need to plot visually.

Save the Cat Outline - Save the Cat is a script-writing method that focuses on landing certain 'beats' to keep your story on pace and always moving forward.

The Bookend Method - Start from the beginning and end, and work your way plotwise to the middle. This way you'll know how your character will develop and why.

The Character Driven Method - Lisa Cron's Story Genius method relies on focusing the plot exclusively on what the character decides to do next and why.

The Flash Card Method - Summarize every scene on a flashcard, and lay them out to see how they work together.

I use a wide range of techniques - an adapted version of Save the Cat within a four-act structure, as well as flashcards just to see if anything needs rearranging. This is as chaotic as it sounds, but it works for me, and if any method makes you hit a wall, switch to a different one to see if that works better.

Here are some links:

How to Write a Book Synopsis

The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel

How to Mind Map a Novel Plot

How to Write Your Novel Using the Save the Cat Beat Sheet

The Four Act Novel Structure

Story Genius for Pantsers

Flash Card Plotting

[docleonidas]

(Bit of a longer one here, but I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. Certainly fun planning and writing it on my end, just wish I could draw some of it out, but my art kinda sucks lol)

Security Breach: Aftermath

Part 8

Monty plodded through the atrium slowly, Gregory's fingers clutching through Monty's mohawk as the kid dozed fitfully. It was only a few minutes to the parking lot anyway, so he wasn't gonna stress the kid by waking him if he didn't need to.

It was only when they were using the elevator that Monty realized an issue, as the low power sign flashed across his vision. He cursed under his breath, pulling up his map. With all the renovation and repair work going on, he was never sure which of the charge stations were working or not.

Just outside daycare. Well it wasn't too far at least. The gator waited till the doors opened then headed left into the brightly lit corridor.

He found the transition from carpet to smooth flooring always bugged him, the loud clanking enough to wake Gregory, who immediately started to panic. "Whoa, hey, easy lil guy! It's just me!" Monty yelled, trying to grab the squirming kid before he fell. He finally grabbed the boy and lifted him down onto the floor, kneeling as Gregory took huge heaving breaths.

"Jeeze kid, I'm no good with feelings and stuff. When was the last time you slept?" He asked the hyperventilating boy. The gator beginning to get pretty worried with the state the boy was in.

"Monty, are you scaring children again?" Came a bored, drawling voice behind him. "For once in my life I'm glad to see you Roxanne." The gator shot back, though he kept an eye on Gregory who seemed like he was about to leg it. "Can ya watch the kid while I charge quick? He needs some help and I'm getting the feeling it's kind of serious."

Roxanne sighed. "What's in it for me?" She asked, before peering over Monty to get a better look at Gregory. "Scrap that, get out the way, God you suck with kids Montgomery gator. " She growled, seeing Gregory's panic and pulling the boy out of Monty's grip. "Go get charged and we will be talking about this later." She snarled, shooing the gator towards the recharge station as she guided Gregory to the edge of the fountain so the could both sit and wait.

Gregory was silent, but Roxanne could see how jittery the boy was as Monty got into the charging station, his system powering down as he was plugged in. "Monty is better at wrecking things than helping, but he is a good guy. He's not gonna hurt you." She said, adjusting her hair so it wouldn't be in the water.

Gregory muttered something under his breath, though with Roxy's hearing, she caught it just fine. "I'm not lying. None of us here would hurt anyone. It's not in our programing."

Gregory just huffed, crossing his arms, his breathing finally normal again, much to Roxanne's relief. The boy slipped his backpack off and rummaged around in it, looking annoyed as he pulled out a faz-cam. "You know what this is right?" He asked her, showing it to the wolf.

"Of course I do sweetie. We sell them here. Or at Monty's stupid golf thing." Roxanne said with a slight sneer at Monty before there was a click and her vision went white. "Argh! Would you warn me next time!" She yelped, as a picture landed on her lap, the wolf blinking to clear her vision as she heard the kid zip his bag back up.

Her vision slowly returned and she glanced down at the picture, or pictures, as there were two. She admired her image in the photo, the color still appearing as it developed in the air.

Turning to the other, the wolf blinked in shock. It was a photo of her, snarling and chasing whoever took the picture, and not in a playful way. She glanced back up at the kid, but he was sitting next to the charging station. She got up, unsteady and worried, hiding the photo in her stomach hatch before Monty could see it.

There was a ding as Monty finished charging, stepping out to see a rather dour faced Roxy and Gregory looking completely numb sitting next to the charging station. "Aw hell no, Ya'll need to stop being such downers. Roxy, shall we see what Gregory needs us for?" He asked, trying to raise their spirits. He wasn't the best at it, and Roxanne couldn't help but let out a light chuckle.

"Alright little man, let's go see what's so important. Where we heading and why?" The wolf asked as Monty scooped Gregory back up onto his shoulders again. "Parking garage. That's where I had to leave Freddy." Murmured the kid, causing the grin to slide of both Roxy and Monty's faces.

They glanced at each other, then back at Gregory. "Gregory, why is Freddy in the parking garage?" Asked Monty as the two robotic figures started breaking into a run towards the lobby, feet clanking across the hard floors.

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[tinypurplewizardfan]

Could you do a list on your most to least favorite regions and the why?

I feel like this should be a thing all lol blogs should do but only corpses remain

Of course! I'd be happy to. I'll also use this as an excuse to list out my favorite champs from each region, aka the ones that I'm gonna blog about the most other than Veigs. (I'll be using this map. If you haven't played with it, check it out!!)

So! From most-liked region (top) to least-liked region (bottom), here goes:

Noxus. I like it's past, present, and future lore. It's such a nuanced country, one you don't see in fantasy very often. Of course, it's where a good chunk of my most beloved characters come from- Mordekaiser, Swain, Veigar (kind of?? he suffered very important character development there), and LeBlanc. I think the mystery behind the Immortal Bastion is intriguing and I enjoy seeing how the modern day country interacts with the shadow of Mordekaiser's legacy.

Demacia. Yes, unironically! As mentioned in a previous post, I greatly enjoy Demacia's aesthetic. This one also has a good chunk of my favorite characters: Lux, Garen, Senna, Lucian, and Galio. Despite everything, I do like the conflict against mages and its implications. I like the idea of deconstructing a classic "good guy" fantasy kingdom.

The Void. Does this count as a region? I do. The Void is League's best "villain" and I really hope they utilize it as such! Mostly though, I am deeply in love with Kai'sa (despite her terrible visual design) and Kassadin as characters. I just think they're neat.

Bandle City. Believe it or not, I'm not super fond of most of the Yordle champs (other than Veigs and maybe Teemo). But I do like the strange, spiritual nature of the realm and I love headcanoning how it works.

Now we're moving into the regions that I don't care nearly as much about. Most Runeterra regions I'm pretty neutral with. Ionia is probably the one I'm most fond of out of these. I think it's interesting to have a land characterized by its magic. I like a good chunk of the characters such as Karma, Akali, Shen, and Riven. I think their conflict with Noxus is interesting. I rate this one a 7/10. It runs a little too close to "generic fantasy Asia" for my tastes.

Shadow Isles. I think they're neat, and I actually do like Viego, no matter how poorly the Ruination event was written. He was never the problem with that event, in my opinion. Moreover, Thresh and Karthus are cool.

Next is probably Piltover and Zaun solely because of Arcane. I didn't like the setting much before, and even now it's far from my favorite.

Mount Targon. Pantheon and Soraka are my absolute beloveds, but the problem is, I have zero interest in the whole Lunari/Solari nonsense going on. It's not a storyline that I care about.

Bilgewater is all the way down here purely because of my apathy. It's not that I have a problem with the setting itself, it's just that I don't care about any of the champs from here. Pirates just aren't my thing. Nautilus is kinda cool though.

Shurima. Shurima's down here because I dislike the "ancient" and "lost" lore. It's boring. I don't like Nasus and co. However, I really do like the story of modern day Shurima as it rebuilds, and its relationship with the Void that's trying to consume it. It has so much potential! (Basically, Taliyah and Kai'sa are the only two keeping Shurima interesting for me. Okay and maybe a little bit of Xerath. He's cool.)

Freljord. What? The Freljord? All the way down here? Yes, and that's because it's boring as hell. I don't care about their clan wars. I don't care about any of the characters from here (except maybe Braum). The conflicts feel so petty and I have zero idea what it's older lore is about despite reading Lissandra's page a couple of times. I think it needs a facelift- all the other settings have a decent conflict that defines the stories set in them, but the Freljord is just "it's cold" and "people don't get along". It would work if the Freljord was a standalone setting apart from Runeterra, but for being a part of a truly fantastical world, it doesn't stand out at all.

But at least the Freljord is a location, compared to Ixtal, which is nothing more than a name on a map with the primary trait of "doesn't do anything".

And that's that!

[inky-duchess]

My Writing Process: Week One

So I'm going to post these every Friday (or whenever I remember). These are going to be about my progress on my new WIP, a sort of week by week report of what gets done. (this will fluctuate, so don't be surprised if some posts have more than others).

So it's been a week since I finished my last project TTK, and between projects I like to give myself a week of peace and rest just to get any trace of my last projects out of my system. I catch up on my Netflix (chill with some true crime documentaries or watch some movies on my TBW list).

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Usually I have an idea already forming when I'm finishing a project, so I have the basic concepts fleshed out before I take up a note book and jot my ideas down. Once they're on a page (or my notes app since I'm waiting for a new notebook 🙄), I can see what is vibing and what isn't. My original concept doesn't vibe with me anymore (a fantasy quest) but the bones of my story are still in place.

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Before I flesh out the plot, which is next week's job, I spent this week sitting down and asking myself the main questions:

Who is my protagonist? How did they get to this point in their life?

Who is my supporting cast? How did they get here?

Does the story support multiple PoVs? Will a single PoV do?

What's the overall vibe of the story? (gritty) Is it going to be dark? (yes, incredibly so) Are there a lot of twists? (oh, yes ☺️)

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Once these questions are answered, I move into fleshing out the protagonist and his supporting characters. I work on voice first, trying out lines of dialogue and offering them scenarios to get through. I know what kind of person I want them to be at the beginning, the basic archetype such as the funny guy, the witty soicalitez, the dashing spy. At the beginning, all I need to know is the outward characture of who they are. To build on that, I begin to put them into situations such as:

Would they stand up against somebody being a dick? If so how?

How would they react to a betrayal? What constitutes to a betrayal to them?

How far would they take retribution?

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Once I have finished a quick study on characters, I move onto the backdrop of the story. I always feel more sure of a story when I can picture myself standing in the world. I begin first drawing the map. I tried all my favourite methods: the Rice Krispie Method (literally dumping the cereal onto a page and drawing around it), the Planting Method (layer long maps on maps) & Free Line Method (doodling until it vibed) before finally choosing the Free Line Method and having my map. I carve out the counties on the land, adding cities and notable landmarks such as mountains & rivers.

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At this stage in the story, I have to only fully develop 2 of the countries where the story will take place. I make bullet points of the other lands, denoting government systems, culture, standing with the story, place it has and tie-in with the main plot.

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But for the two main stages of the story, I begin to ask myself the important questions (this is one if my favourite worldbuilding techniques, I'd be lost without it). By the time I finish my research and my notes, I should know how to behave in the society, what's acceptable to do and say, the issues of the systems in place such as law and order, the aesthetics of the clothes of each class, how the upperclasses and lower classes see one another and the basics of the culture. I always go into writing knowing more about the world than I actually need to put on the page. I always like to leave some room in my first draft to chop and change details (it's the best way to allow myself room).

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Also I have made a plan of the city where this story will take place. Usually I leave myself room to plan out cities but this time I decided to make a detailed plan. This took me 3 or 4 tries just to get a map I was comfortable with. It's no detailed plan of course, I'm not Michaelangelo. It's a simple map with important landmarks drawn in just so I can find my way around.

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Writing Process Taglist

@trapped-inadystopianovel @pen-and-inks @brownskinsugarplum76 @crystals-and-ink @mayawritesbooks @donutwithinadonut @a-midwinter-night-dream-86 @raccoon-writes @writinglyra @weishendery   @aqueenieme @garden-beans @maeve-jas @doggoscrappywriting @you-reblogged-from @bearunicorn154 @goblingraveyard @paracosmfantasy @reignnyx

[talkfantasytome]

Part of my attempt to re-post answers I've given, without the context of specific links to posts based on this feedback and advice.

Anon Asks: I found something that says the map in ACOSF is foreshadowing for E\ain because the compass looks like the Cauldron, there are roses and vines around the map where it could have been something like flames if it was meant to be about Nesta, there are flower petals among the stars (proving Nesta belongs in the Night Court), and Koschei's castle and lake are added to the map.

So, I'm actually going to start off by complimenting the person that came up with that theory. While I disagree with it, it's definitely very interesting and may not be entirely wrong. It's also not a theory that proves E\ain's book would be next, just that E\ain was heavily considered in making the map, which is likely the foundation of the map they'll use for all three of these books.

However, that is A LOT of focus on E\ain. And, I'm sorry, but I can't imagine they would make the map to be all about E\ain when she'll be one main character of six in this set of three novels. Yes, they redid the map, as they redid a number of things for ACOSF. But that map is not solely about E\ain.

I'll explain why I disagree, based on the summary of points:

- The compass: remember the lore Rhys said? That some great goddess created Prythian/their world with the Cauldron. And in Tamlin's house there was, like, a stained glass window or something with a design that looked like the Cauldron was pouring out Prythian...like, the liquid being poured from it created Prythian. The Cauldron is an incredibly important object in their world, and you absolutely should not forget about it, of course. But, like, also, of course there would be a reference to it on the map. It's not solely a direct reference to Nesta and E\ain becoming Fae. It's a reference to the object that supposedly created their world. And, sorry, that takes the cake to two Fae, even two powerful ones like them.

- Roses and Vines: this series is called 'A Court of THORNS and ROSES', which you can find on vines. The maps always had vines on them. What they did when they redid the map was make it a lot more artistic. Let's remember the old map:

This is pretty plan, especially in comparison to the new one. The new one they decided to make more artistic. In the new map, the roses are a reference to the actual name of the series, the book that started it all. And then, you have representations of each court in the map. In the four corners, a symbol for the seasonal courts - interesting that, for Spring, they picked a ROSE specifically...don't tell me that the roses mean E\ain, and then just skip the fact that the Spring Court symbol was a rose when it could have been any flower. And then, in the center of the map, to represent the Solar Courts, you see a moon, a sun, and then at the bottom a sun covered with cloud, that could easily represent Dawn.

To help, here's a large image of the new map. Open it in a new tab, and you should be able to see the full size version:

- Flower petals at the top: those aren't flower petals. 👀 Do what I suggested, open the full image, and zoom it in. You'll see that they aren't flower petals at all. They're faeries. That concept of little, winged creatures that look almost like butterflies. I'm sure you can guess why they'd put faeries there. 🙂 They're not floating down, but flying around the sky.

- Koschei's castle: Cassian and Az literally go to where Koschei is. Of course it gets added to the map. So you know where exactly they were in that scene.

They don't redo maps or make additions to tell us what's to come. In fact, maps typically like to avoid giving us information that we don't get in that book. The old map I shared is the ACOMAF map. The ACOTAR map didn't include the extra detail about Velaris, the Night Court mountains, Court of Nightmares, or the Prison. It also added in the Weaver's Cottage and Adriana. All places Feyre goes to in ACOMAF. And the ACOWAR map added in the Forest House in the Autumn Court - a location Feyre passes through - and the Dawn Court Palace. I'd also note that the Faerie Realms on the continent also become expanded in each map. There's nothing in ACOTAR, ACOMAF adds Vallahan, and ACOWAR adds Montaserre. Because those get mentioned in those books. But, they're not that important.

In conclusion, no, the map is not attempting to foreshadow anything with the additional locations. Those added locations solely tell us the locations that will be prevalent or come into play in this book. The symbolism is clearly very symbolic of Prythian, possibly to remind us that that's the main land, still, since the map is expanding. And this map is not going to be created to focus solely on one character like that. That's making one character, a character that has yet to be an MC or even get solid development, the center of attention.

Again, this a very interesting theory! And I'm not going to say that it's definitely wrong. I'm also very certain E\ain's book will be about Koschei. That's why I'm positive she'll get book 6, because Koschei is going to be the final plot. Sarah wouldn't build him up in book 4 as an overarching thread, then have that plot come to a head in book 5, and then have book 6 be something else. So, yes, that will happen. And maybe the map is trying to tie things together to let us know about that, but it doesn't change which book would be E\ain's.

However, I don't believe the map is foretelling that. I think it's all coincidence that it seems tied to E\ain, which is most likely just because she will have her own book and a very large plot that is also the overarching plot. But, I'm guessing that the map is doing what it always does, telling us what has happened.

The anon also included two other links with posts that are unrelated, but essentially saying or assuming that book 5 will be E\ain's. I'm not going to post those answers again, as I feel like I already have answered them and shared my thoughts and beliefs on that and how E\ain's journey will be a lot more on-page than it has been, which is why I can't imagine she's book 5. 🙂