#it also fits the whole build around nature and with the already existing structures instead of clearing land that i think they'd have

[tharelofthewoodlandrealm]

there's this guy on Instagram making tree nets called "Charlie's webs" and i can't help but think how much they would fit the Silvan elves. like, having the trees around their homes full of net spirals and bridges and platforms to hang out on and walk from house to house and climb to the treetops for some stargazing. plus, they're bouncy so the elflings would love it

[laurelsofhighever]

Unpopular opinion time: I really don’t care for the Titans as a concept. Or rather, I don’t like the way they fit into the worldbuilding of Thedas. It’s a symptom of this ongoing problem BioWare has where everything has to have some grand, shocking twist and an intricate backstory that connects with the intricate backstory of everything else. It’s like a slow power creep to the lore that honestly reminds me most of Supernatural in how desperate it is to outdo itself.

The Dalish Creators aren’t apocryphal characters used to impart moral lessons or explain natural phenomena – they were real, and they weren’t really gods, just super powerful mages who enslaved a bunch of people and used them to build statues!

The Fade isn’t just another, natural layer of existence that only a few can tap into – it was created by Some Guy who decided to fight the Actually Real Elvhen Gods and then had a nap about it for several thousand years!

Lyrium isn’t just a toxic mineral that causes neurological degradation but also happens to enhance magical ability – it’s actually the crystalised blood of an ancient race of giant beings that were hunted to extinction by the Actually Real Elvhen Gods!

The dwarves don’t have Stone Sense because of their specific cultural identity and because their society that’s based underground needs to know how to navigate without the sun – they were literally created by an ancient race of giant beings who decided to make them to the same vague shape as other bipedal mammals for some reason!

(these aren’t the only examples, they do it with everything from character backstories to religious schisms)

It’s like they don’t trust the player to suspend their disbelief in a fantasy world where magic and dragons are real, and the ironic thing is that by dissecting everything instead of just letting these story elements just be, it makes everything about Thedas feel smaller, and less like an intricate, organic world.

In DAO, we’re introduced to many gods – Avvar, Elvhen, Andrastian, as well as the dwarven concept of “the Stone” – and they exist in the role that gods fill in the real world: cultural artifacts that create a shared sense of identity. It makes sense for there to be similarities between the Elvhen Creators and the Avvar pantheon, given the amount of interaction between the two groups before they became isolated by persecution. Similarly, it makes sense that dwarves would have an entirely different theology structured around the material that literally encases them their whole lives and marks them as distinct from the surface-dwelling races. to reduce these belief systems to single, quantifiable truths makes as much sense as trying to claim the Real Zeus was [specific guy] from [specific time period]. It also does such disrespect to the individuals who make up these cultures, and who would have, through history, changed it simply by being part of it.

With the Titans specifically, they weren’t needed. We already had a concept of dwarves that worked well as a framework for the stories being told in the games: insular, rigid caste system, hub of the lyrium trade, collective PTSD from a millennia of fighting darkspawn. It’s cultural background radiation that adds motive and flavour for character actions, and that’s all it needs to be.

We don’t need to know precisely how Stone Sense works, just that it does. We don’t need to know where dwarves – or elves, or qunari, or humans – really come from, it’s enough for the story that they exist within a collective cultural identity. We don’t need to know what lyrium is, we just need to know that bad things happen when characters play with it.

It's fantasy. A wizard did it. The wizard shouldn’t feel the need to pull back his own curtain and then also rip the casing off the mechanism, just to prove how clever he is.

[demonslayedher]

Hi! I keep seeing people commenting again and again that Rengoku's "Umai" comes from "ancient samurai did it to enjoy every meal as if it were their last one", but I can't find a reliable source on that. Do you happen to know if that's true or it's just one of those fandom rumors that spread around and everyone believes them? Did the Rengokus used to be samurai?

I have... never heard this????? Granted, I don't stray from under my Tumblr rock when it comes to interacting with the wider KnY fandom, so that might be part of it. But I also have been a nerd for samurai since long before KnY might have been a twinkle in a gator's eye, and... I still have not heard this??????? Granted, I am but one nerd on the internet, so there's of course plenty I don't know. So I went looking into this on the Japanese interwebs, found a good handful of articles on the epistemology of the "umai" Rengoku uses and how the usage meaning can vary depending on the kanji it's written in, and...

Again, that's not to say there's not something out there, but I couldn't find anything that implied that this started as a samurai-specific phrase with a highly specific meaning behind praising a potential last meal's tastiness. Setting aside the question of the word "umai," though, there is a lot of meat to this interpretation, though. There is a lot of samurai and Zen influence at work in Kyojuro's character, the Rengoku clan, and in Kimetsu no Yaiba as a whole.

Let's start with the question of whether or not Kyojuro (and everyone else in the Rengoku clan) is a samurai. I don't think this is an appropriate phrase for a number of historical reasons as well as reasons in canon. First, to my knowledge, the use of 侍 "samurai" in KnY is limited to context of swordsmen from warrior families (武家 "buke") who would have acted under the title of someone who is a career warrior under the service of a warlord. Child Yoriichi uses this phrase when addressing Michikatsu, saying he wants to be the "second strongest samurai." This is appropriate for them, for as warrior family, they have the social expectations of samurai to live up to. This was back in the Warring States period, but the definition of samurai was a building block of the whole social structure in the Edo period, and being tied in with politics would be problematic for a family committed to an unrecognized/secret organization. The Rengoku clan had their own illustrious family legacies to maintain, their own master they already served separate from whatever warlord is in power, and their own dire mission unrecognized by the political world. Rather than samurai, most of the time the demon slayers (or demon hunters, as they were more commonly called in Yoriichi's day before "Corp" existed as a military phrase) were referred to as swordsmen: 剣士 "kenshi." This is how Yoriichi referred to the Rengoku ancestor who found him after Uta was slain. That all being said, the Rengoku family clearly would had been influenced by samurai culture, so much so that acquaintances might assume they are of the samurai class. Besides the general attitudes, there are many subtle details that make the Rengoku household seem like a buke. You know how excited I was when watching the movie and I saw the garden in Rengoku-san's flashbacks and was like, "ahhhh, look at that, only evergreens, no fading flowers, that is totally a garden appropriate for a samurai abode." "But wait!" you might say. "Cherry blossoms represent the evanescent nature of the samurai, scattering in youthful warrior glory!" Pssh, yeah, that makes it a real inauspicious thing to have in your garden. Sometimes you want a symbol of a samurai's undying loyalty and stuff instead. But the constant awareness of death? Yeah, totally a samurai thing. And that's part of why Zen was so popular with samurai/swordsmen. The more you dig into the samurai psyche about death and constant preparation for it (as well as the struggle to be stoic about it, as opposed to fearing it or being too eager for a glorious death), the more fascinating things you find. Even proper hygiene for making sure your head is a fitting trophy from the battlefield! One method of stoicism found in Zen is mindfulness, and it's actually been on my mind lately how so much of Breath users' abilities does stem from mindfulness (emphasis on the five senses, embracing mundane chores like Tanjiro tending rice as it cooks, heck, even the tree-like state), which would lend itself very well to the interpretation that each meal should be appreciated like your last.

Like, that's one reason the tea ceremony was so popular a practice among samurai too. It draws you attention to the moment. And it's pretty realistic that you'll never encounter a moment like that again with the people you're gathered with. It's the same sort of the approach, and it can absolutely be applied to eating. There is a lot of more general focus throughout KnY on meditation being a source of strength, be it training under waterfalls, Genya repeating the Nembutsu prayer or Ruka practicing Kankagari (meditation done by expectant mothers in the Rengoku clan, staring at a hanging lantern). Breath itself is so, so, so, so closely linked to meditation. It's as though Gotouge is trying to extol the virtues of mastery of the self, and how running away with our passions (perhaps well-meaning, but misguided) is what will make demons out of us. And Kyojuro, who sees good reason for being sad over his father's state, stoically chose mastery over his own emotions. He does not let his potential inadequacies become a passion that rules his heart, and this gives his mind the freedom to adjust quickly to new situations. Kyojuro does tend to live in a state of being in the present, and that means being mindful of an grateful for the details of everything and everyone around him. He accepts not only that he may die protecting his juniors, but that he might also grow old and weak. He neither seeks or flees from either course.

To become a demon would be to let oneself be consumed by passions, ultimately losing that appreciation for our delicate existence. Maybe I wouldn't call him a samurai, but I would feel comfortable calling Kyojuro a 武士 "bushi" (warrior) (albeit the over-idealized bushi mindset took through writings of people who could only look back and admire samurai of the past, and project themselves onto them a bit, but I digress, that's an interesting but irrelevant topic). Not every samurai was a good one, especially as we trickled through the peaceful Edo period, being a samurai was just a happy accident of birth that landed you a civil service position. But for someone who accepted a bushi lifestyle, they accepted that death might always be near. While it's very easy for bushi idealism to be taken to a fanatical level (and for politics, it always has been), KnY lifts up the best of it, with mindful attitudes to strive for even without death constantly down our necks.

[script-a-world]

How could I create enough living spaces for an earth with 90 billion population? Could there possibly be a lot more reclaimed land, man made islands? How about with populating currently mostly uninhabited or barren places, making what are currently towns into a big city? What would the poverty line be? How does all this affect animals and plants?

Tex: So originally I was going to say “be incredible inhumane and pack people tighter than sardines in a can”, but after a lot of math, it turns out this isn’t even remotely possible. I’ve left some margin for error, but you can read for yourself below how I’ve done things.

This is a formula that’s been calculated and re-calcuated for years, though admittedly I don’t really understand the point of the exercise in packing the planet with as many people as humanly (hah) possible.

In terms of sheer brute numbers, you could physically compile not only the current world population (as of this writing, ~7.7 billion), but also the all the previous generations put together (~101 billion people), in about 10,800 km2 - “which would easily fit inside Jamaica, Qatar, Kuwait, The Gambia, or Connecticut.” (WaitButWhy).

This doesn’t calculate for living space, as in the area an individual person needs to use such facilities as a bedroom, a bathroom suitable for washing oneself and not just a powder room, and possibly a kitchen (something of varying inclusion historically, see: Rome). It could be argued that bathrooms could be outsourced to a communal area as well (see: outhouses and public toilets).

What you would like to include for a residential unit varies by what you’d like to include in it. Insider posted an article titled “25 photos of tiny living spaces around the world”, where the sizes of a microapartment can go as small as 15 square feet (~1.39 m2; National Geographic). Quite likely the most basic amenities like showers, toilets, and washing facilities are outsourced as communal spaces - these are often apartments, though depending on the landlord they can be just as cramped.

Technology has enabled these microapartments, single room occupancies, and even capsule hotels to have a comparative level of luxury. As many college students who live in cramped quarters can likely tell you, it makes a substantial difference in living quality to have such things as hotplates, microwaves, laptops, and miniature TVs when space is at a literal premium.

We’ll take Hong Kong as an example, since they were technically already listed in the Insider article with their “coffin homes”.

The country has a population of ~7.5 million, with a land mass of 1,104 km2. 7.5 million divided by 1,104 km2 = 6,793.478261 people per km2. This is going to be a reference number, and we’ll be using it again later to do comparisons.

Now, to fit the same population per coffin home apiece, let’s take that same 7.5 million and divide it by 1.39 m2 - this comes out to 5,395,683.453 people per m2. That needs converting to km2, which multiplied by 1,000,000 (to cancel out the m2 in the stoichiometry) now results in 5.39568345x1012 people per km2 for coffin homes.

To compare these two numbers, I’ll take a percentage - if we assign the coffin home number (5.39568345x1012 people per km2) as A, and the original Hong Kong land mass number (6,793.478261 people per km2) as B, we can more easily calculate the percentage of each value to each other according to the following steps:

Plugging in the numbers, we get A (coffin home) as 7.94244604x1010% of B (original Hong Kong). That’s several billion percent more people per square kilometer than the original density.

This means that if we squish people into coffin-sized homes as that Business Insider article mentioned, 90 billion people - living requirements outside of a bed excluded! - could exist on 6.4780814x1016 km2.

Earth’s habitable land mass as of 2019 is 104 million km2 (Our World in Data), and this makes the amount of land required for 90 billion people - presumed as a single layer and only on Earth’s habitable land - 6.22892442x1010 percent more than the amount of habitable land on Earth.

Now, a converting everything into multiple levels might work, yes? Skyscrapers are classically 10-20 levels, and 40-50 in the modern age (Britannica), but I’ll go whole-hog because of the scale of numbers we have and go straight toward the largest number I know - Coruscant at 5,127 levels (Wookiepedia).

6.4780814x1016 km2 divided by 5,127 levels is 1.2635228×1013 km2 per layer. This single layer is still 12,149,257.7% more land required than there is habitable land on Earth.

Now, I don’t know if you’d like to expand this to non-habitable land, but either way, you would still need to calculate in the amount of space required for other requirements such as bathrooms, areas to cook/eat, medical services, transportation, educational spaces (provided you haven’t somehow squished everything into a helmet for “flash training” à la Star Wars clone troopers, detrimental to mental health as it is), places for people to work at jobs that can’t be done from their bed, and agriculture and manufacturing.

If you assume that these coffin homes are “only” a third or half of the cumulative living space, you would still need to multiply your required amount of space by at least 2-3x of the coffin home requirements.

Because of this, your question doesn’t account for the more humane theory of optimum population, as the above types of raw arithmetic calculations are inherently unable to factor in intrinsic values such as happiness with one’s life, enriching interactions with others, or the relaxation that comes from being around nature.

I would have to assume that the level of technology necessary for packing people like sardines in a can would need to be, at minimum, space age, but there are still space requirements (aside from the above-stated) for things like utilities and like… how big the walls are. I did not calculate for walls! This would realistically place people in mid-air and that’s not even feasible because you need to construct the coffin homes you’re wanting to shove people into.

My questions to you are these - what prompted you to consider this many people on a planet sized and shaped like Earth? Is it critically important to your plot, or does this have some function of novelty that appeals to you?

Is this plot based on Earth, particularly of a parallel or observable future, or is it based on some fictional world like Coruscant from Star Wars? How does this kind of world factor into your story, and how would it impact the plot if it were removed?

90 billion people on Earth - of any timeline or parallel universe - is so exceptionally far over the maximum carrying capacity that it’s flatly catastrophic to the environment, if it’s not equally as disastrous to the people from the way they would need to be treated in order to make your idea feasible.

This amount of population is far more sustainable on a substantially bigger planet, so I’m deeply curious why you’ve picked Earth. Is it because it’s the most familiar one for you, or something else?

Utuabzu: As Tex says, density is your friend. Theoretically you could pack billions of people into just a few towering megacities if you built them right, but at that level of technology you have to ask yourself why. It’d be a similar level of effort to build colonies in orbit and on other bodies in the solar system, with the added bonus of not having all your eggs in one basket and gaining access to more resources.  Thinking about the reason for having that many people on Earth will lead you to a much better idea about how they’d accomplish it. If Earth is like the capital of a galactic state, then likely you’d have one huge gigacity wherever the government actually is, and the rest of the planet would be fairly normal, maybe even better protected as nature reserves and parks. If space travel (and contraception) are unworkable, you’d probably have vast sprawling slums clustering around every city and constant food and water shortages. Reclaimed land is certainly a possibility, and can take multiple forms, but be wary of using it in earthquake prone areas as liquefaction is a nasty thing.

As for currently uninhabited places, they’re usually uninhabited for a reason. Now, technology might be able to overcome that reason, but you’d need to consider why people would bother when they could instead use the same tech to add to the carrying capacity of the major cities that already exist and that people already want to live in.

Another thing to consider when siting your megacities is local culture and geography. It’d be a lot easier to convince New Yorkers to cover their region in huge skyscrapers than Parisians, while the geology of Cape Town (largely bedrock) is better suited than that of St Petersburg (swamp) to supporting very tall structures. Consider climate too. The hotter or colder the area, the more energy will be needed to heat or cool buildings, while past the Arctic and Antarctic circles seasonal depression would seriously impact residents’ lives. Unless heavy use is made of green roofs and greenspace, a city of this size would produce an absurd heat island effect, maybe even enough to start affecting weather patterns.

Any city of this size would need to produce its own food and water, otherwise its hinterland would have to be unworkably large. Here, hydro/aero/aquaponics, desalination and recycling are your friends, with the added advantage of helping to offset some of the environmental strain the city will inevitably put on the planet.

[mc-critical]

So something that I’ve noticed is a rather popular opinion (at least as far as what I’ve seen) is that Turhan is the most unlikeable or one of the most immoral characters in the series. Would you agree or disagree with this sentiment and why?

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement and it's one of the popular opinions of the fandom that I can get behind without any reservation whatsoever. Turhan is my least favourite sultana of the whole franchise and at no point did I find her likeable or could I ever sympathize with her.

She's vile, nasty and exceptionally ruthless throughout her entire screentime. What turns me off the most about her is her backstabbing nature and hypocrisy - her dynamic with Kösem never had the chance to feel organic because of it, it all seemed like a false charade right from the beginning. She staged a whole massive coup on the castle and influenced Kösem's decision to kill Ibrahim, then she highly and mightily claims, right when she's planning out the coup, that she's not like Kösem and won't kill innocent children when she already, consciously played a part in such a thing. She has a tendency of consistently manipulating the narrative to her favor and advantage.

There are lots of Sultanas that had the possibility to get quite close to the same ruthlessness, most of them are very questionable people and MCK only tripled down on that trend, which fits so much in the own ruthlessness of the time period itself. Look at Gülbahar, in example, she's far from a good person, she's an incredibly toxic and manipulative mother, but I stan her as a character. I stan her, because she's so nuanced and well-written and has a simplistic, down to earth backstory that complements her motivation. Gülbahar could also be very cruel and her dynamic with Kösem also veered in hypocrisy for quite some time, but there were many moments in her writing that outweighed that and at least gave us perspective as to why she's like that. Turhan's on the precise opposite side of the spectrum, because her unsympathetic traits only make themselves stick because of the writing: they're the only thing she has.

One-dimensional characters are far from rare in Magnificent Century and Kösem, but no display was as insulting as what the show did with Turhan. Turhan's offputting traits are the only traits she possesses, they're all she is from her first appearance. Her introduction becomes confusing from the start, because she's simply playing this game without any backstory or explanation. It's obvious she has to survive in this environment and it is an absolute given that she has to get rid of Kösem, her being a clear threat for herself and her son. But the immediacy of it turned out to be flat out hilarious, because of the relationship she managed to effectively build with Kösem. Turhan's hypocrisy and false play is found out by the audience light speedily quickly and it could cease making sense, because of both Turhan's ambiguous, unestablished motivations and Kösem's earlier attitude towards her. I admit that's more of a writing issue than a personal irritant for the character - it would all be a little better if they tried a E80-84 Şah Sultan-esque hypocrisy. That was more subtle, more interesting and we were waiting for it to fully unfold. Şah's motivation was revealed to us slowly, but surely, Turhan's only seemed to exist in a vacuum. Ibrahim's distaste for her also did very little motivation-wise. It was there and it put certain things into context, but it wasn't enough to justify most of her extremely irraneous actions and these still remained unexplained in their overexagerration. Her betrayal was convoluted and I not only knew it would happen, I waited in boredom for it to inevitably happen.

《Thing is, however, this character could've worked so much better, with such foundation alone. Her traits are heinous, but could be interesting if dealt with better. Turhan's character, in theory, works incredibly thematically: the last Sultana of the Sultanate of Women that turns out to merely contrast Hürrem - her being introduced as a ready product of her environment wasn't a bad idea, it makes her stand out and creates a stark contrast with Hürrem's thorough exploration and character development, the in-depth explanation on why she became the way she was, her character going through many stages of evolution. The way this fleshing out of motivations lowered in every Sultana of the SOW until we get to Turhan, when she's ready to act in an instant is a nice touch, in a way. And it's not only this- Turhan's whole character does to an extent present the evolution of the SOW in the franchise with her structure alone - the development of the concept of power: Hürrem gets her power from Süleiman/ Turhan gets it FULLY from herself, without a sultan who loves her, Hürrem had a long way to go to get her power/ Turhan was immediately in power; the way Turhan is the best example of the MC/MCK contrast that is wanting power because of personal motivation/wanting power for the sake of power - Out of all Sultanas from the SOW, Hürrem has the most personal motives involved with her craving power, because of the many attacks against her and her own situation/with Turhan it seemed as if she was powerful without a single detailed reason whatsoever, the first actual display of that extreme; the narrative roles of each member of the SOW: Hürrem is a main protagonist/ Turhan is a final boss; the shift of personalities: Hürrem is overally cheerful and fierce/ Turhan is overally stoic and cold and what best highlights it all, the contrast between the character establishing scenes of Hürrem and Turhan after the culmination of their respective character arcs. Hürrem's monologue in MC's season 2 finale and Turhan's stampede in MCK's show in such a chilling way the thematic difference between both characters and the respective shows: Hürrem has an active monologue throughout the scene, her purpose being in accordance with everyone around (except Mahidevran ofc), it is set in the center stage/ Turhan's look in the balcony is merely a mirror of the situation in the harem, it all happening over the monologue of another character that is Kösem. {I especially love the additional details of the scenes like the color contrast, the soundtracks that seemigly contradict each other and the massive thing that sells it all with people bowing down to Hürrem/lying dead on the floor with Turhan etc., but I'm really starting to detract from the point here.} Turhan's stampede is the only time that excessive ruthlessness so prominent in her character made some sense and wasn't there only for the sake of it and that was hardly sufficient.》

All these thematic details of Turhan's were amazing in intent, but very messy and almost absent in execution, for they barely show their purpose. Instead of these traits being only additional endorsement of the alleged purpose of her character, she's reduced into a one-dimensional caricature with all these traits only, turning her impossible to stand altogether. She is vile, ruthless and cruel, but her hypocrisy makes sure she's devoid of any actual character and personality. By that I mean that there is no moment where she isn't any of these traits, the balance of them is highly lacking in narrative and there is never a moment where she stops and thinks - we never get to see the character to breathe and to flow, not even a single scene. There is always this prominent facade she likes to keep and all her hypocritical, manipulative games, binding it all together. She never gets to have a moment for herself, where we could know her a little better. She always stays in her own unbreakable mask and that only has an antagonistic role or plays as a plot device. These potentially interesting traits, writing-wise, are devoid of substance and mainly that makes her impossible to root for. There have always been asspulls in character writing, there have always been antagonists later reduced to one dimensionality, but nobody, not even Safiye, is as grossly oversimplified like that as Turhan. Her scenes with Mehmed, her supposed most sincere bond, did nothing as well, with her not showing much affection even towards her own child. We only had a slight sign of that when they tried to poison him and even that seemed to focus on the fact that Kösem dared to go that far, not that Turhan was about to lose the one dearest to her. I'll never forget her smug grin when she was looking at the results of her coup (which was in the scene I was referring to when contrasting her to Hürrem). Looking like that at so many people who died because of you, no less, and only focusing on your newly put on thematic ring, not even thinking to check on your child, is something indescribable. This woman lacks conscience and that is very offputtingly utilized by the writers, leaving us with no reason to sympathize with her or think she has any moral scruples whatsoever. Even Dilruba, Halime and Safiye have softer sides that give us a chance to delve deep into their psyche. Turhan was a wasted potential through and through, with even lesser screentime and less chance to even show she's more than a cruel, ruthless sultana.

[And I find that really unfortunate, because historical Turhan seems so fascinating... If the writers gave MCK Turhan more material to work with, and they had a lot of that, in my opinion, she wouldn't be the worst sultana of the whole franchise, both sympathy-wise and writing-wise.]

[waterfall-ambience]

Void Fog (Cosmic Horror AU), Part 1

A summary of everything we have so far.

All the information here is already available, but I haven’t updated the AU storyline since April, so I’m making this post for completeness’ sake.

- The eldritch abomination is an entity that has existed for millennia. It resides in the space between worlds- the Infinite dimension.

- It's only true desire is to consume.

- It’ll consume anything, but it’s particularly drawn to worlds that have been, or are currently inhabited by players. Considering the practically infinite amount of worlds (seeds), these are difficult to come by.

- The Hermit’s pattern of moving between different worlds has allowed them to unintentionally evade the Entity.

- It’s able to enter minds and control people to some extent, usually with the goal of finding other worlds and entering them.

    - EX was exiled to a blank void world within the infinite dimension. Though he couldn’t travel beyond the void world, he could sometimes access the rest of the infinite dimension through his dreams. The Entity established a psychic link between them by preying on his insecurities (which, all things considered, is a huge can of worms).

    - When EX managed to escape using his unstable admin powers, the Entity was able to locate the Hermitcraft server and bring forth the apocalypse.

Meta plot stuff:

- From a meta standpoint, it’s kind of difficult to pinpoint when the story takes place, and write a lot of it beyond what’s happening to EX. He was banned from the server in March 2019, and stayed in the void world for an extended period of time. By the time EX manages to get back onto the server, it could be any time during S7, but likely in the future, when the world has been developed a bit more.

- Some elements of the story will change as the season goes on so that it can fit into the context of S7

- The story mostly focuses on EX, so unless a canon story arc has elements of alternate dimensions (eg Area 77) or the supernatural (eg Demise), then the ‘Hermit’ side of the story is unlikely to have a major impact on the story as a whole. If EX comes back in canon, then the circumstances of how he does so will be incorporated into the AU.

World notes:

- X and EX have admin powers. EX barely knows how to use his and as such, lacks control. For example, he might try to summon a few stacks of a particular block, and end up summoning too much or too little. 


- EX’s powers can be influenced by his emotions. When upset, he has a tendency to teleport all over the place and cause lighting glitches, lag, and other errors. His ability to teleport and travel between dimensions is also unstable.

- The Entity would’ve found the Hermitcraft server sooner or later. If the Hermits extended Season 6 into Sixfinity, they would’ve attracted its attention. If Doc had kept using the infinity portal to access other servers, then it’s likely that he would’ve run into the Entity at some point, and this whole apocalypse mess would’ve happened anyway. 


Exile:


- When he was banned, EX was sent to a creative superflat dimension outside of normal worlds. No structures generated there, and the floor was made up entirely of blue glass. He spent most of his time trying not to think too hard about the isolation, and instead turned to building nonstop.  


- His main ‘base’ was an ever expanding rustic house. He spent some time with NPG before getting banned and was taught how to build in a rustic style, which is what he’s most comfortable with. The house has gotten exceptionally large, and is near impossible to navigate due to its erratic floor plan. 


- EX also spent a lot of time sleeping, because the less time he spent conscious and aware of the usual passage of time, the better. However due to the nature of the void world he was exiled to, he could enter other dimensions in the Infinite (infinite dimension) through his dreamscape, as could the Entity.

- Isolation did not help EX deal with his fears and insecurities in the slightest. Often he’d find himself thinking about the circumstances of his exile, no matter how hard he tried not to. The fear that everyone hated him, that he had pushed everyone away with his evil schemes and rash decisions, that even if the Hermits were nice to him, they would never truly consider him to be their friend- it consumed him.

    It was only natural that they would never trust him- he lied and stole from them, after all. He deserved it, but realising that was a permanent blow to their faith in him stung far more than he anticipated.

    Often he found himself questioning every relationship and interaction he’s had with other people. Was he too aggressive with the tag game? Did he forget to say goodbye to Pixl and Zloy that one time? Did he bore NPG with his rambling about Worm Man?

    How long ago did X consider banishing him? Was it when he fell into old habits and reached out to press the button that would supposedly destroy the server? Was it then and there that X decided that he’d never be ‘good’, or was the decision the result of smaller mishaps? Was it when he over steeped their tea that one time? Was it when he caught himself slipping into a ranty, dramatic monologue? He recounted every stupid, impulsive decision he’d ever made, replayed it in his head hundreds of times, wracking his brain for answers he knew he’d never get.

- Over time, EX’s dreams became increasingly vivid. Most of them devolved into nightmares of phasing through fog, smoke, and crowds of vaguely recognisable people and ruined cities. Occasionally he dreamt of the dimensions in the Infinite- with its fleets of ships, endless libraries, and whispered orders.

- As he began to remember more of the dreams, EX noticed the near-constant shadowy presence that encompassed everything and nothing at the same time. He made a conscious effort to ignore it, but like all his other decisions to *not* think about something, it never truly worked. Most of the time, he was able to somewhat focus on his surroundings, but it’s when he dreamt of the Hermitcraft server that the presence was impossible to ignore.

- The presence never named itself, but disturbing as it was, EX felt compelled to trust it.

EX’s return to the Server

- EX was found at the base of an unfamiliar Nether portal. X and Joe theorised that he collapsed from the transition between game modes and exhaustion from forcing himself onto the Season 7 server.

- From the moment EX returned to the server, some of the Hermits reported incidences of objects disappearing and chunk errors. Some claimed that the layouts of their bases shifted as they walked through them.

- Joe asked around different villages to see if these incidents were constant across the server. Most of the reports tied back to folklore of an entity seen by those who travelled between dimensions.

More World Notes:

- Some of the Hermits have made contact or communicated with Higher Beings (e.g. Cub and Scar with the Vex, or EX with the ‘evil voice in his head’), but they are less powerful than the Entity.

- The Hermits are a group of interdimensional travellers. Each Season takes place on a different planet or in a similar alternate dimension

Infodump Continuation: Season Seven

Story note: Particular locations and events aren’t specific for the sake of flexibility, as the story takes place further into S7.

- Some of the Hermits reported incidents of chunk errors and missing entities. A few hours later, EX was found unconscious in front of an unfamiliar Nether portal.

    - The portal was removed for the sake of clarity within the nether hub.

- EX was brought to Xisuma’s base and his reappearance was discussed during a server meeting.

- Xisuma and Joe began to investigate the cause of the reported errors. X spent hours poring over the server’s code, and Joe started asking around some villages to see if the errors were consistent across the server.

- EX didn’t wake up for a long time. Some theorised that he was exhausted from the transition between game modes and forcing himself back onto the server. Keralis and Stress mainly watched over him, and would occasionally pop in to see if he was okay. Sometimes they found him tossing and turning, but he only somewhat responded to outside stimulus.

- Joe returned, and EX woke up a few hours later. After a well needed shower and hot meal, Joe took him in and asked him to explain what happened. EX gave his ‘statement’, and began to help Joe with the investigation.

    - EX talked a lot about consistent nightmares and how the dark presence didn’t go away, even if he was on the server. In fact, it seemed to whisper to him now.

- EX spent the next week or so trying to adjust to living in the Overworld. Everything was too bright and dark at the same time and called attention to itself. Sometimes he felt that the air was too full of particles. Sounds were louder than they had the right to be.

- While EX was recovering from his time in exile, the investigation was mostly reading written tomes of folklore and reports of errors in libraries.

- EX continued to suffer from frequent nightmares, and it got to the point where he was hesitant to sleep, and tried to stay awake for as long as possible. It didn’t help. Joe found him sleepwalking and muttering about searching for something, but couldn’t make out what he was searching for.

- EX grew increasingly worried about the dark presence and voices he heard in his dreams, and freaked out a bit when Joe told him about the sleepwalking. Joe offered to lock the door to EX’s room from the outside- it might not have directly helped with the problem, but it helped him feel more at ease.

[iwannawritepls]

Writing Update 04?

So much is happening. Like gosh.

Welcome back to me not using paragraphs correctly!!

So! We have 17ish chapters now which is like woah.

It took me much much too long to write but now we’re on 50k!!! we got there folks and I can confidently say that I will most likely have 20 chapters with around 54-55k words as I predicted. Is it weird that um feeling super melancholy about that??

But on the positive side there will be another book after this because uhhh there’s too much to wrap up in just one.

I wrote and deleted chapter 14 over and over again but now I have something I'm proud of at lastttttt! I realised after talking about it to some friends that

1) I skipped something huge by accident  

2) In the first few versions of chapter 14 there was no climax to what was happening

3) I was adding things but at that point I should’ve started to answer them

So we fixed it up and now she’s pretty damn cool. The second half of the chapter still needs a little bit of editing until I can become happy with it but oh well.

I also edited chapter 15 so they’re ready for the most part but the last 2 need basically a rewrite for them because they’re soooo bad. I shouldn’t measure by words but generally for a fist version of a chapter I write anywhere between 800 and 1000 words and then I manage, through editing, to make it become somewhere between 1500 and 4500 which is a big leeway but it really just depends on what’s happening.

There’s something huge that happens in chapter 17 but I only wrote 459 words for it because it was 2 in the morning and I wanted to get it done before I tried to sleep. Inevitably it was quite bad. Chapter 16 is the same but thankfully that’s 914 words so there’s something more to work with. Yayyyyy.

Needless to say, I will not be including excerpts from them in this.

So chapter titles?

Chapter 13 - Metamorphosis of a Blizzard

Chapter 14 - Curtain Call (subject to change)

Chapter 15 - Kingfisher Flurry

Chapter 16 – Catgut Bindings

Chapter 17 – AHHHHHHHHH (this is 100% changing I just needed to put something and I was freaking out)

Oh, oh and! I have a proper actual name for the book! Sisyphus Lies on Unmade Beds. How suitably edgy.

There are so many references to Greek mythology that the title fits and it can link to all of them in some way, so I thought why not. There’s #symbolism to it all. And who isn’t a fan of accidental symbolism you find halfway through your book.

What happens??

Chapter thirteen is a long-waited apology from Bas to the one person who deserves it most. We find out about someone vaguely important for the next book as well as a character that maybe might have his own little book of his own.

Chapter fourteen includes our boy Sebastian coming along and helping by not helping at all!! Yay…but really what else is new, his motives don’t align with the boy’s and so we shouldn’t expect him to be helpful in any way.

Chapter fifteen is a dangerous thing…out dude the devil makes an appearance. For those who’ve listened to the magnus archives or watched Everyman Hybrid I tried to emulate Michael/Habit in it but it hasn’t really worked out yet. I'm getting there but I'm not at terrifying levels of suave. When writing characters that are so powerful they could murder you with a single flick o’ the wrist you are treading a careful line between edginess and not threatening at all.

chapter sixteen is the fallout. If we follow the lovely 3 act structure we are at the darkest moment in chapter sixteen and chapter seventeen continues with that mood but follows through with the whole ‘hope’ thing. jk there’s no hope just crisis.

I find that I managed to actually keep to the 3-act structure naturally?? I'm a discovery writer so it’s a little more difficult for me to not meander off into the sunset/make everything happen much too fast. But I think pacing was okay in this as long as I keep track of the seasons – which I hope I did.

We have a few memes from dearest friends – kinda old but have them

And now,,,the excerpts!!

Everything felt like cotton was stuffed inside, swelling, and soaking through with excess fluid. Fluid that was still building in his lungs, he felt them pressing against his ribs and rubbing together eating away more at his already damaged body. Gorging on him, dissolving him, water couldn’t ever be full only overflow and so it would continue to erode his body to fit the ever-greater capacity he needed to hold.

He's not dying! I mean he is but not yet!! I feel so bad that Albert has spent more of this book sick than anything, but I feel like I'm constantly mentioning him and I don’t want people to get annoyed by him? idk I feel like someone would find him annoying and that he did nothing but whine – probably a carryover from the original book where he could’ve been beaten up by his own shadow. He can and does stand up for himself in this more than in the original but

They began to mend themselves in a way that neither Narcissus nor Prometheus could have foreseen. So maybe they weren’t quite butterflies or moths. Maybe instead they were snakes, the devil’s advocates turned serpentine after rebelling against God. But that meant that at least they could change again, shed their skin, and start afresh after mountains of pain and healing from accidental words fallen from temporarily false tongues.

Let’s play how many references to classic literature can you fit into one paragraph at least 4. One of which is Paradise lost. Because Greek mythology just wasn’t enough.

The old man shivered and croaked out a few more words so quiet that the wind ate them. The woman just stared at him with wide eyes before fleeing back to the cold.

This is the ending of a while thing from a book that Al’s reading. I kinda wished this book existed its got some of my favourite techniques in it and some of my favourite lines but this one was the only one I could just take without a pause for drama between Alberts reading.

Enoch wanted to skip the walk the moment he realised there wouldn’t be any talking, every single one of his steps was too slow, every single breath was too loud. Even as he tried to listen to the conversations of those they walked past, it was too distant and blurred for him to listen to in any kind of concordant manner.

My boy hates the quiet and I feel that

The very first promises of autumn began to chew on the leaves, She took each one into her embrace and changed the deep greens that summer left in His wake and transformed them into a cacophony of yellows, reds and oranges. She plucked the ripened ones from their cradles and pulled their colour from their grasp placing it on Her tongue and dropping the carcases into winters waiting hands.

This is kinda purple and I had just read Der Sandmann so I was super into the vibe of it. I referenced it more originally before editing it so now all we have is a very slight call back if you know the story that you can vaugly make if you try.

Nature was so simple and yet beautiful, complicatedly captivating.

William is yearning

“Enoch.” Basil called out

“it wasn’t me!” he replied holding his hands up “I came out here to get him a new hat, it was Valentine that dragged him in.” he held up a lily pad with a grin.

“where is Valentine?��

“probably wrestling the heron.” He replied wading towards the shoreline.

Just some fun from them because you all need to see that they can be friends I swear.

A man was stood in the middle of the flurry, he stepped through them as if they were nothing but a reflection on the glassy water.

And that’s all for chapter fifteen I think unless there’s something at the end because I know people who read this irl and they haven’t gotten any of this yet. So I don’t want to ruin things but I also want to give you all things so it’s a struggle.

because you cannot help the diseases in your mind

this is something I wish I heard more often so here. You’re super awesome and the dude who said this is big brain mode.

But yeah that’s all. I probably won’t update again until I'm done and even then it’ll be one I’ve sent the last chapters to my friends so that they can read it and I can talk about the plot for real because I’ve been vague for spoiler reasons outside Tumblr.

I love these guys so much, but I'm excited to begin something newer y’know? I want to stay in this world, but I want to follow different characters before I go back to these guys because they are dysfunctional as all hell.

Anyway, I’ll talk more about that later. Until next time!!

Hope you have a nice dayyy!!!

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Ep3: “Let’s Play Rich Man-Poor Man!”

There’s a whole lot going on in this episode, and there’s a lot I wanna say about all the neat things it did to tie different scenes from two separate chapters together to make a surprisingly cohesive whole.

I’m also getting more and more unsure of what the pacing and structure of the reboot is gonna be like in the long run, but that’s a whole other post I wanna make. I’ll just talk about this episode in this post for now.

Also, I’m probably gonna put a disclaimer in all of these posts from now on to warn people that I’m not gonna hold back from referencing stuff from the manga that hasn’t been adapted yet, if I ever feel like it.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

This episode, and the last day or two leading up to it, sure was one big rollercoaster of me being continuously surprised and confused about how they were gonna handle this episode, in terms of what chapters they’d adapt. Initially I figured it’d just adapt chapters 4 and 5, then I thought that maybe it’d work better to adapt chapters 4 and 8 together, then once I started seeing the preview images for ep3 and the Kagura-centric gifs that I found from Funi I thought maybe it’d adapt chapters 4, 5, and 8, and in actuality it turned out that this episode really did just adapt chapters 4 and 8, and that apparently those gifs I saw are all gonna be in episode 4 next week, lmao.

It’s worth noting that they technically didn’t include the final bit from chapter 8 where Momiji talks to Hatori about having met Tohru, but that might just be in the next episode, and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they just cut it out entirely, since at this point it isn’t really necessary. They showed Momiji meeting Tohru, figuring out who she is, and seeing the flyer for the school festival, so there doesn’t really need to be anything else with him between now and the part where he and Hatori show up at the festival later.

And along with that they also didn’t include the part where the girls at school show off the dress that they want Yuki to wear, but that’ll probably just be in the next episode. It’s the sorta thing that I kinda hope they just cut out, but I doubt it.

Since this ended with the part at the end of chapter 4 where Kagura first shows up, that’ll probably be the first half of the next episode, but I don’t think they’re gonna pad it out into an entire episode like the 2001 anime did, so I think they’ll then move into adapting chapter 9 to have the festival start, and then we’ll probably go into the Hatori backstory stuff afterward.

At this point it seems very likely that they’re going to push the events of chapter 6 back a fair bit, which I think is a good choice. It’d work better if they spend more time building up the central group dynamic before getting to that point, so it has more impact. I’m not entirely sure when I think they’re planning on having it actually happen in the reboot, though.

Anyway, as for this episode itself, it was surprisingly great. I was initially worried because I thought they’d be trying to fit the whole Kagura chapter into the events of this episode, but I’m glad they didn’t. Spending the episode just on a combination of chapters 4 and 8 worked REALLY well. I honestly think it flows even better than it did in the manga. The events of these chapters tie together very nicely, since they focus on the two sides of how Yuki and Kyo both resent and envy each other, and like I kinda said just before, I think it works well to have these character development moments happen early on so that stuff like the events of chapter 6 have more weight behind them.

I think it’ll initially throw some people off, but I actually like how they went back and forth between material from the two chapters, and actually started it off with stuff entirely from chapter 8. Framing the entire episode around the festival preparation was a really good choice which helped tie things together nicely. Since a lot of the scenes take place in basically the same locations, they can be tied together surprisingly easily. I also liked how they combined the two different scenes of Yuki picking Tohru up from work into one big scene, so that we went from her meeting Momiji to Yuki talking about his insecurities and stuff, which were two completely different scenes in the manga. At the very least it’s really interesting to see that they’re willing to shuffle scenes about and even combine them when they think it’s necessary. Thankfully it isn’t making the pacing feel rushed or anything, thus far.

And on the note of Momiji, I feel like there’s gonna be so many people who just watched the original anime who are now incredibly confused about why he’s suddenly German, lmao. It’s one of the many details that the 2001 anime decided to completely ignore. And the more I think about it, the more that this specific choice they made in that one baffles me. I get why the 2001 anime cut out stuff that was just there to set up way later plot points, but Momiji being German is just a character trait of his, so I think they just didn’t want to bother finding a voice actress that could even just speak broken German, which seems kinda lazy to me. I also noticed recently while watching someone react to the 2001 anime that it unintentionally set up this awkward situation where they make a big deal out of Kisa’s unnatural blonde hair, but there’s nothing that contextualizes Momiji having blond hair as well, and why nobody seems to mind it with him. Whereas in the manga you can tell that the difference is just that his hair’s naturally blond since he’s German and everyone’s fine with that, but Kisa’s hair is more obviously unnatural and strange.

Anyway, that aside, another thing I liked about that whole scene was how well it got across the sense of space within the building Tohru works at. We never really see too much of it’s interior in the manga, and I remember being a little confused about parts of it’s layout, especially in this scene with Momiji, but it worked really nicely here.

In general the background layouts and scenery and whatnot are still really great. It gives a lot of the scenes a distinctly different feel from the manga, which is often more abstract and floaty, so to say, but I really like it. In particular, the scene with Yuki rejecting that one girl in the library had some really nice camera angles, and the whole sequence of him and Tohru walking through the city and on the bridge was just really pretty [and the part where Yuki talked about being caged by his family while being framed behind the bridge railings was a neat detail].

I also really liked the overall flow of this episode, especially in how it moved back and forth between focusing on Tohru’s different scenes with Kyo and Yuki. It’s the sort of thing that I was worried might feel jarring and choppy, but it all flowed really nicely.

I said before that I’m glad they put the plum scene this early on, and I do indeed think that it works really nicely to have it happen this early on, since it’s such an early major step in Tohru and Kyo’s relationship. It also establishes some central themes the story’s working with, and in general it’s really neat to have it happen right after her whole speech to Yuki about the nature of kindness.

Also, before I forget, I just wanna say that I love how they drew the cats that got drawn to Kyo in this episode. They’re so adorable, I love them.

Which also reminds me that, even though this episode meshed some of the more subdued and emotional parts, there were still a whole lot of really nice comedy moments. In general the reboot is actually a lot more comedic than I thought it might be. They’re keeping like 99% of the jokes from the manga. A lot of people have already complained about not thinking that it’s funny enough, but I think that’s only true if you just compare it to the 2001 anime, which made up a lot of jokes, and often took the jokes that existed in the manga and did them way too many times. So in comparison to that, this might not seem as comedic, but still. I appreciate that they’re not leaning entirely into the drama and emotions, at least not at this point.

One thing I also wanna mention, that’s more about the series as a whole but also kinda about this episode, is that I’ve always liked how this series starts out with a relatively small, tightly-knit cast, and then slowly introduces side characters one after another as time goes on. It just gives the pacing more of a relaxing flow, instead of it being the sort of series that tries to introduce like twenty main characters in one episode and gives half of them like one line of dialogue each, lol. And I think this episode went a bit further with that, by bringing up the events of chapter 8 so that we got a whole episode focused almost entirely on developing the whole main trio, while sowing the seeds for some future characters to come into the story later.

And that’s about it for this episode. Like I said, I have a feeling that the next episode will adapt chapters 5 and 9, but we’ll see. I might end up making a separate post about my more extensive thoughts on how I think the pacing/structure of the entire reboot might go, including the next stretch of episodes, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

Either way, I was a bit worried at first that this episode might mark the beginning of them rushing through the manga more than I’d like, but in fact it ended up feeling even more nicely paced and cohesive than the manga did, so that’s cool. The fact that they’re still sticking to an average of two chapters per episode does make me apprehensive about if this pacing quality will keep up in the long run, but for now I think they’re making some really smart decisions that are at the very least alleviating the rather episodic feeling that the manga had early on.

[rosecorcoranwrites]

Editing Advice Part 3: Rewriting

Last time, we discussed how to address plot holes and keep world building internally consistent. Today, I will share my thoughts on rewriting, specifically on when you should rewrite, and when you should stop. I should mention, though, that parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series can and should be done simultaneously. That is, while you're rewriting, you can fix plot holes and issues with timing, and when you're looking at some inconsistencies in world building, you might find a section you need to rewrite. So the first answer to "when should I rewrite" is "when you have to fix the problems with continuity, world building, and plot".

But what about in general? First of all, what do I mean by rewriting? I'm not talking about tweaking a sentence here or there, or find/replacing a character's name, nor am I talking about changing the details of how a certain magical creature looks or wether the moon should be waxing or waning in one scene. I'm talking about full on changes to scenes, chapters, or entire books. This is hardcore stuff. Fun, but hardcore. First, let's talk about dealing with different drafts.

My Draft Philosophy

While some writers will tell you to completely scrap each old draft and literally rewrite each new one from scratch, I think this is utter madness. First of all—

and I realize I am only one of five writers ever to say this—your first draft is good! If it wasn't, then you shouldn't bother rewriting it and should move on to some other project. Is it perfect? Heck no! That's why we're shiny-ing it up. But it's good. There are good sentences, good turns of phrase, good exchanges and flow. What's more, there is heart; when you wrote it, you were feeling certain things that you won't be feeling if you completely rewrite it. Don't forget that, and don't throw it away.

Well, now that that's out of the way, what should you do with your first, or second, or third draft (did I mention I rewrote my third book four and a half times?). Save them each as a separate document! You never want to write over an old draft, because you might, even years down the line, think back on something that you can reuse from one of those old drafts. I'm speaking from experience here. Just as there are parts of your old drafts that you dislike, there will be parts of your new drafts that you end up not liking as much as what you had previously written. Computer memory is cheap, and writing time isn't. Save everything!

I'll even save each chapter of a to-be-rewritten/edited draft as its own document. This helps me break rewriting into chunks and, occasionally, rethink structure. Maybe the story would flow better if I moved this chapter before that one? Maybe I should break this long one into two short ones (separate documents will more easily show you the word count of each chapter). I'll even do this for particularly tricky scenes, saving only the scene into it's own document so I can really play around with it without fear of altering the rest of the chapter. When I'm done with the scene or chapter, I copy/paste it back into the larger draft of the whole book.

When to Rewrite

But how does one know when a scene or chapter should be rewritten, instead of changed a little. The simple answer is, when you don't love it. When you're reading through your book, happy as a clam, and suddenly there's a part that irks you, or feels off, or is kind of boring. That part needs to be rewritten rather than sent out into the world in a subpar fashion.

Obviously, you'll need to rewrite scenes that contain large continuity errors, internal inconsistencies, or plot holes, but there might be scenes that are perfectly serviceable that still don't sit right with you. They're not as good as they could be, and you know it. Rewriting, to me, is a very personal thing; you might even have beta readers who think your story is fine, but if you don't think it is, then it isn't.

Given the personal nature of the beast, it's hard to talk about it in generalities, so I'll instead deal with examples. I'll use my own writing, since I've done my share of rewrites for a number of different reasons.

Miscast Spells had it's major changes when I went from planning to drafting, so I didn't have too many rewrites, but I did significantly change the prologue; it was actually the last scene of that book that I wrote. Why did I rewrite it? Well, it was boring, so I spiffed it up, added more characterization, and actually showed Emmaline getting cursed during it (yes, that very important scene was not in the first draft!).

I would say I went through about three drafts of Outcast Shadows. The first one existed before I wrote Recast Light, and I didn't know how the trilogy ended. Sebastian had a bit of a different motivation for his actions ( he actually wanted to destroy Chiaroscuro! Yikes!), but when I started writing Recast Light and looking at Sebastian's character, this motive didn't ring true to who he was. This meant I had to do a major overhaul of his storyline, but it was obviously for the best. In the final draft, I rewrote particular scenes—when Sebastian first speaks to Millie in Chiaroscuro, when he explains about the threat facing the city, what happens between him and Alistair in the courtyard—in order to really emphasize character relationships and feelings. I wouldn't say the old versions of those scenes were bad, but they weren't what I wanted for the story overall. I didn't love them, and now I do.

And then there is Recast Light, the problem child. When I say I rewrote it four and a half times, I mean I basically changed half of what happens in the book, significantly, four times, and then tweaked the rest here and there (that's where the half comes from!). For example, in the first two drafts, there was an entire subplot involving Chiaroscuran anarchists; if you've read the book, you'll know that that is no longer a thing (though two of their members, Augustus and the Empress, remained in the story). Why did I cut it? It was random and added nothing to the story; I didn't love it.

Then there was Sebastian, my problem child within a problem child. In the first draft, he slept through most of the book (no, really!), and in the second draft, he was awake, but hardly interacted with the rest of the main characters (he was hanging out with the anarchists). It wasn't until the third draft that he finally joined everyone else like a proper main character. Why did I change it? A better question would be, why did I write it so poorly the first two times. It was so weird and not at all what I wanted that I couldn't let it stand.

Then, I overhauled the entire second half of the book between the third and fourth drafts (everything after chapter seven, for those of you who have read it). None of that was there before the final draft. I'm still shocked by this, and I'm the author! Why did I rewrite it? Several reasons. First, the way the main cast dealt with Alcea in the first drafts was totally deus ex machina. Gross! Second, none of it tied in enough with the first two books. It wasn't narratively satisfying, instead feeling thrown together. Sure, the story ended, but it wasn't how that story should have ended, given everything that came before it. I wanted to bring back elements from the other books so that the trilogy would feel like a cohesive whole.

As a side note, the above example is also a reason not to kill your darlings. I had always wanted a ballroom scene in my books, but could never find a place to put it that made sense. As I was writing my fourth draft, flailing around for a way to fix it, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Eh, why not?", figuring that a ball scene couldn't hurt what was already massively suffering. So I wrote the scene, and suddenly everything fell into place: how Sebastian could naturally meet-up with the rest of the cast, what Alcea's endgame would be, and from there, what the characters would need to do to deal with her. It all fit, and all because I had a silly little pet project of cramming a ballroom scene into the book. Don't kill your darlings; use them.

When to Stop

Hopefully those examples can give you a feel for how to go about choosing when to rewrite, but then there is the opposite question: when should you stop?

This is actually an important question, because some writers never stop, and if you never stop, you'll never publish. Worse, still, are certain writers (usually poets) who continue to rewrite works that they've published! I feel like this is a case of the perfect being an enemy of the good, in that it is almost impossible to actually create a perfect story (there are, in fact, only four in existence: Fullmetal Alchemist, Coco, Erased, and Ghost Trick). What you need to realize is that you aren't going to send a perfect story out into the world and should instead aim to send out the best version of your story.

Thus, if the answer to "When should I rewrite something?" is "When you don't love it" then the answer to "When should I stop rewriting something" is "When you love it". When you read what you've written, or rewritten, and it makes you smile, or get excited. When you no longer feel annoyance or boredom or dissatisfaction at reading that scene or chapter. Again, this is pretty personal, so there aren't any specifics I can give you. Just pay attention to how you feel about your own writing; if you really love it, you probably don't need to rewrite it any further (though you might need two tweak it for continuity and world building and such).

A Few Other Tips and Tricks

Everyone has their own style of taking on the rewriting process. Some people use Track Changes, or different colors of font and highlights. Some people print their documents and make changes on the paper itself with a red pen. I would say to find whatever works for you.

My process is: I usually read each chapter through, changing what I can and marking other things for later review, usually using Track Changes. I will leave myself notes, like, "Check for continuity with Chapter 5" or "Is this clear?". If it's something that irks me, but I'm not sure why, I'll usually highlight the whole section for later review and rewriting. I will then move on to the next chapter and do the same thing, then return to my notes after going through the rest of the book.

When it comes to how to rewrite a scene, I will usually outline my thoughts on paper. I might chart out two possible scenarios and see which one works best, or enumerate how changing one thing will effect the rest of the events in the story. I like writing on paper because it's quick, impermanent, and easily scrapped. There's also something about moving my hands, using different colored ink, and seeing my ideas written out spatially that helps me think. It's a way of seeing the story from a different perspective that I find helpful.

And that's it for rewriting. We've covered the main chunk of the editing process, the hard part, if you will. All that's left is copyediting. See you next time!

[anniversary-magazine]

Q+A with Gonzalez Haase: On Their Vision and Recent Project TEM-PLATE

Gonzalez Haase AAS, Berlin-based studio founded by scenographer Pierre Jorge Gonzalez and architect Judith Haase stands for Atelier Architecture and Scenography. The studio has been designing distinctive projects by combining elements of art, cinema and lighting into restaurants, artwork installations, luxury retail interiors, workspace and residential extensions. Founded in 1999, the duo has taken an interdisciplinary approach to the next level, putting their trademark signature into each project.

Every design tells a story that exudes playful, colourful and delicately balanced narrative. Gonzalez Haase are experts at combining the interaction of lighting and architecture with rich materials of exposed concrete, timber and reflective surfaces. At the core of their values is the purpose to work with materials that are inspiring and not too loud, but open up possibilities so that the people can experience something different every day.

Their most recent work is the new luxury store TEM-PLATE in Lisbon. Located in the Marvila district, the new luxury omnichannel concept store aims to transform the international fashion retail landscape by offering a curated product selection of high-end designer clothing, accessories and design objects. The minimalist retail space, boasts a futurist art gallery feel - think all shiny materials for separation elements, white walls and concrete floors meeting under the original coffer ceiling.

We recently sat down with the founders to talk about their story, vision, inspiration, philosophy and recent work, Tem-Plate.

NR: Where did you two meet and how did Gonzalez Haase come about?

GH: We have first met in New York, both working for Robert Wilson foundation development. Judith had been working with Wilson every summer for already ten years, and I joined the program later. From there, Wilson asked us to stay in New York to accelerate the design development of the entire building and integrate his ideas in partnering with Richard Gluckman that was the architect developing prominent galleries at this time in Chelsea. After a time working on this program, we wanted to move back to Europe and establish our own design studio in Berlin along with some friends around the art scene. We then started doing art spaces like galleries, what became our specialty.

NR: Why did you decide to work together?

GH: It was a good match in New York. Judith has an architectural background, and I’m coming from a museum and stage design background with lighting design experience. We rapidly had friends from the art scene asking us to work on projects together, and this was the starting point.

NR: What are you trying to put into the world with Gonzalez Haase?

GH: We try to remove things from the world instead of adding more to it. In our projects, we try to reduce the interventions as much as possible and acceptable by our clients. Building less while emphasizing more on the lighting experience makes sense.

NR: How did you approach the project of Tem-Plate store? What was your main philosophy/objective?

GZ: Tem-Plate founders came to us with this vast open space, a warehouse off the center city of Lisbon, and they have been incredibly open to our ideas. The project is somehow about fragmented spaces into a warehouse with subtle but brutal lighting.

NR: Where did you gather the inspiration for this project?

GH: We are not so much in the idea of inspiration, on references and all these stories that are rarely interesting and serve only a form of bavardage for nothing. We try to go straight to the point: existing space, budget, needs from our partners, and design focused on necessity.

NR: Did you come across any challenges while designing the space?

GH: We had the best partners one needs. The difficulty was to fit a strictly limited budget to implement all technical elements for the air, security, and work with the local norms. We had our partner Duarte Caldas that was working with us a long time ago and today established his own practice and is doing beautiful work. He was helpful and patient.

NR: How was it to work with the original space of the building? How did you approach it, and how did you combine the “old” with the “new”?

GH: It's hard to dream of a better space. On the flipside, such warehouse building is hard to convert. But our strategy was to reveal the architectonic from the building more than adding decorative layers. Our starting point is always about removing what is not part of the structure's bones, which are preserved as an essential construction element.

NR: You designed a Balenciaga store in Paris, Holzweiler store in Oslo and now Tem-Plate in Lisbon. When designing a store, do you take into account the geographical and cultural aspect of the space?

GH: Strangely, it is more the other way around: many times the marketing part of our partners will ask us to bring Berlin into their own culture. But there again we shouldn't be confused about what this means. We, unfortunately, don't design a cultural center or social housing. When one designs a chair, the question is more about the culture of the designer than the recipient. We believe that the interest in our design stands there, bringing our own culture, at least for those projects you just mentioned.

NR: How different is it to design a luxury retail store from other spaces?

GH: Before to do so much in the fashion industry, we were working mainly for the art scene. We are bringing this culture of the space into fashion. Nothing is really new, but the fact that we have been developing many galleries in the young art scene at the start of the new millennium with very low - for not to say no budget - has made us working around low-build strategy. Artificial lighting has then come to be the natural element unifying the whole raw space. We still work with this approach when possible, like we did with Tem-Plate.

NR: Since fashion has a fast cycle of life, how do you create a space that stays "timeless" and immune to the fast-changing process of this industry?

GH: This is the point. A fashion store is rarely surviving the 7-year cycle average. So we don't make up complicated or useless expensive details like the luxury has been used to do. We use affordable, simple materials that are not made to be finished. It's the strategy of showing what it is, the reality of the construction, the durability. It's not fake, it's affordable, and is no indecent investment for such a short time.

Then, fashion collections are updated two times a year, and we think it is necessary, as for an art gallery, to set the space itself to become the frame, the display in which to show the best of the artwork: the goods.

NR: What is a luxury for you? (in design and also in life)

GH: It is about additional space you usually won't find or the space you generate from cleaning up from unnecessary furniture, walls, and other elements. Luxury is finally only something rare.

[aspiring-immortal]

The Pyre of Transmortation

Drabble I made that is a qausi-sequel of sorts to this, but instead of a generic lich & apprentice, it’s Altzmyr and Renwick(oops it’s now fanfiction from Forgotten Realms lore).

This is a rather detailed thing describing Altzmyr’s process of becoming a lich, so of course there is a lot of uhm deathy suicide-like stuff in it.

It’s under the Readmore.

TW: suicide, death, pain, injury, ritual suicide-ish stuff.  Detailed descriptions of ritual suicide and pain and dying. 

"Have you completed the rites of purification?" Spoke the lich.

"Yes." The apprentice answered.

"Have you accepted the aid of the Demon Lord of Undeath, The Goddess of Darkness, The Drow Goddess of Undeath, The God of Death, The God of Murder, or any other malign entity that sponsors lichdom?"

"No, I have only sought aid from you and you alone." The apprentice's answer was one of great respect and admiration.

"Have you lived an ascetic lifestyle to prepare your body, mind, and soul for eternity to come?"

"Yes.  I have.  I have lived the past year as so, and have consumed the herbs to prepare my body for the transmutation."

"Have you settled your affairs, and know what you plan to do with eternity?"

"Yes, indeed.  I wish not to build hordes of mindless undead for nefarious deeds.  I wish not for conquest and war..."

The apprentice took a deep breath and continued, and as he did so, he rose up and held his head up high in triumph, "And I wish not to be a passive devourer of knowledge isolated from the greater world.  I wish to transcend mortality and time and be a force of good for eons to come.  I wish to lead my people...our people..to thrive and co-exist with the living."

If the lich could smile in pride, he would, so a great nod and the clapping of dry, rattling sticks that were his hand bones had to do.  

Altzmyr Tannerem, the apprentice of the centuries-old lich Renwick Caradoon, had spent a long time preparing for this moment, and now the day was here.  His arms felt heavy, his heart raced, and his breath shorter.

His pale pallor told of countless days avoiding the sun, but sometimes there was a fire in his amethyst eyes that one keen enough would recognize to be the eyes of someone who lived a great life of adventuring.  The man was short for a half-elf, and had thick black hair of his moon elf kin tamed into long braid.  His attire at the moment was ceremonial-a dark purple robe with gold trim and red satin silk on the inside-such an attire was unessisary, but this was an important ovcasion and the robe somehow felt appropriate for it, even more likely for the embroidered image of phoenix wings on the back.

The lich was completely skeletal, and would have been mistaken for an ordinary skeleton except for the tiny glowing orbs for eyes, his ornate robes, how well-maintained his bones were, and the raw arcane power that would have killed a living host. He had guided his apprentice for nearly half a century since he sought his guidance into the secrets of lichdom that shunned away the evils usually associated with it.  It is difficult for most to believe such a thing as a benign lich would exist, but it was one of the strangest secrets of the world that Altzmyr discovered in his quest to unite sentient undead who did not ally with evil.  

Many would have considered even the notion that a common ghoul or vampire rising to virtue to be a profound paradox, and Altzmyr had found quite a handful in his journey.  And now it was Altzmyr's intent to finally cheat death perpetually and join the ranks of the unliving himself.  He already had extended his natural lifespan through more fragile and high-maintenance means using duplicated bodies-which also meant he had already experienced death and resurrection a few times.  Yet the reliance in such methods had grown thin over time, so to finally cheat death he had to pass once more and remain in between the two.  Most who become liches hunger for power immediately and thus are quick to sell their souls to evil powers, but the virtuous or neutral lich must exercise great patience to be ready for the change.  The greatest patience occurred at least a year before the change where it is preceded by a spiritual lifestyle of minimal want or need.

The full moon cast its light upon the cold stones inside the monastery and upon the numerous candles strewn around the room-upon windowsills, across tables and upon candelabra, and was enough to turn a cold somber room to one of cozy warmth in light and temperature with honey-like aroma of beeswax despite the exorbitant number of candles that were their source.  Altzmyr stood on an arcanely ornamented rug and closed his eyes.  His hands reached forward blindly were Remwick's bony hands grasped.  A wave of anxiety coursed through him that felt like being hit with a weak lightning spell that coursed through his hands enough even for Renwick to feel it.  Yet despite those feelings, Altzmyr knew he was ready-if he waited for the anxiety to pass he would never fulfill the deed.  Altzmyr contemplated how the next time he would wake up, his hands would be as cold as his mentor's.  Renwick himself remembered his own anxiety over the transition, but in his case he had left it to facing imminent death in battle to decide when he would make the transition.

A whole five minutes passed in the moment of silence where Altzmyr listened to his last breaths, his last heartbeats, his last pulse, the feeling of wetness in his mouth and the warmth that coursed through his thin body.  Afterward he opened his eyes and nodded, he was ready to begin the ritual.  

Mentor and apprentice stood on opposite sides of a stone table on the narrower side, they were within arms reach of another.  The table held an ornate flask of a pitch-black liquid, and four brass bowls of other substances.  An ancient spellbook lay open on Altzmyr's side of the table and then his lips began an incantation.  His mind concentrated on the weave were his hands reached out to pull magic from and within himself, his knowledge and will shaped the mana with gestures and incantations according to carefully planned structures and numerous commands.  These incantations manifested into intricate glowing shapes and symbols that wove in and out of his own body and the contents of the flask.  Renwick watched the procedure unfold to watch out for errors and to assist the flow of mana around.  

Altzmyr's eyes began to glow a bright magenta as the mana was commanded into his body were it would begin to prepare his flesh for preservation.  He would command it to control and inhibit decay and induce desiccation, to withstand the oncoming flood of necrotic power that would soon kill him, and be open to the transition to undeath.  The mana then latched onto his very soul, and then made a circuit with a large beautiful purple gemstone engraved with arcane power within, nestled in a gold fitting that made it appear as if ferried in the back of a phoenix.  

He turned his attention to four bowls of materials laid around the flask.

"Like this dried strawflower, shall I be preserved for all time."

He used his mage hand to guide a handful of dried strawflower petals into the flask.

"Like the dragon, shall I be powerful, but wise."

He lifted the handful of shimmering dust from another bowl with his magic.  It was the powdered scale from an ancient silver dragon bestowed to him.  He siphoned this into the flask.

"Like the diamond shall I be a conduit of great magic.”

He guided a powdered diamond into the flask.

“And like the phoenix, shall I be resurrected upon destruction and my soul an eternal flame.”

He even more carefully guided the last powder-a tiny pinch from the ashes of a phoenix, donated and in an amount harvested that would not take away from the phoenix.  

The concoction hissed and boiled.  Within were a myriad of other ingredients carefully prepared and some that had taken Altzmyr to far away lands and high mountain tops to find.  They included deadly toxins from the mouths of nagas, herbal preparations of hemlock and yew, resin from trees used to make lacquer, and even the blood of an evil being purified in holy water.  There were many other bizarre constituents, but none required the unspeakable evil that the brew beings like Orcus instructed to their acolytes.  The final five ingredients were the activation of all of this work and preparation.

The fifth and final activation component, was a few drops of his own blood.  He took a silvered knife an ran its blade across a wrinkle in his palm, where the blood oozed out and seeped down his pale hand and into the flask’s mouth.  He used his magic to carefully administer just eight drops into it, where they ran down like hot red sealing wax about to make the final seal on the poison.

With his bloodied hand he held the vessel that would soon take his soul, the large purple jewel set on a phoenix’s wings, and then with his other hand he lifted the flask up from its onyx pedestal.

He gave a deep sigh and looked at his mentor’s face.  Perhaps his own face someday would be just like that-a dry skull, but then Altzmyr reminded himself it would be that way anyway.

Renwick nodded.

Altzmyr breathed deeply, closed his eyes and held the deadly elixir into his lips.  It smelled noxious, like the burn from a necrotic blight but mixed with a bizarre purity from the airs of a higher plane.  A clash of ideals and forces, of death but hope and continuance, and mixed all together was a mote of potential eternity, of great power and immortality, of blessing and woes from such a bizarre existence.  His hand shook slightly as he took in the scent of what he was to be, of what he had worked hard, ages spent in magical study, but ages spent leading his people, ages spent in council, and ages watching the world and time pass, ages consorting with other immortal beings and ages spent shaping and being active in the world when he wished, ages spent on time on his own terms and his own pace.

He consumed the poison.

It flowed down his throat like a nasty bitter medicine and tingled and numbed its way down into his gut.  A small enchantment of the bottle ensured not a drop was left behind, as the entire substance pulled the last minute traces of itself down with the flow.  Altzmyr could feel the necrotic power bond into his body, slowly starting to pull his body toward death as it pooled in.  

He finished and set the bottle and gemstone down upon the table.  The arcane light settled inside his body and thus his eyes stopped glowing.  He faced his mentor and took a light bow with his arm across his chest.  Renwick bowed back in equal measure.  Altzmyr took a deep sigh, of both the anxiety and of completion, of going past the point of no return, of a certain peaceful finality not like the end of a life well lived, but of an accomplishment greatly succeeded.  

Renwick walked around the table and held his apprentice’s wrists, then his upper arms.  At first Altzmyr found this bewildering, but then he was hit with massive boulder of dizziness and he started to have trouble keeping his balance.  He was dying, and the feeling of dying was still frightening yet he had felt it before.  Renwick carefully guided him across the room.  Each step became heavier and harder to maintain, he started to feel his limbs become number and number with each second, his vision blurred, his breaths became shallower, his heart raced and screamed its final beats.  He came to a soft bed and collapsed like a weight upon the mattress as his whole body screamed and cried in a massive wave of pain, of his very organs gasped and ached for dear life right before they were mercifully silenced.  Within the massive rush of pain there was a small and very welcome interruption-he could feel his mentor's hand around his, and he squeezed tighter and tighter; another comforting hand stroked his profusely sweating forehead.  He felt like he was burning inside and out, as if thrown on a funeral pyre, and within was a fire that spread and seared his whole body, all he could do was scream, and scream he did until his lungs and throat shut down and silenced him-only his bursting tears could express the raging fever within.  Necrotic energy coursed through his nerves and veins and across guts and membranes, permeating through every fiber of his being, destroying the very life of them and replacing it with something seemingly unnatural yet powerful.  His final living moments then came to an abrupt calm, and washed his mind with a strange and restful peace.  He smiled lightly, not sure how he could even do it because he could no longer feel his face, yet he did.  

From the outside his body didn’t seem different after the fever died down.  Renwick recalled when he too had felt his final living moments and the stages of the process, he also had flailed and screamed upon the death of his mortal life, and saw once more what happened with his apprentice-yet there was little he could do save to be there for him and provide a sliver of comfort.

Altzmyr closed his eyes which ceased functioning naturally. His mind became emptied save for a peaceful, overwhelming tranquility, like he was floating in a void, not a cold empty, endless void, but a gentle, comforting one until he drifted out of consciousness.

His dead body started to leak out the warmth it once made, his skin gradually became even more pale.  Within, the carefully laid magics went to work transmuting his flesh and ferrying his corpse to undeath.  Renwick laid the phylactery upon his heart, where it would forge its indomitable bond with his soul.  

The natural life force of Altzmyr Tannerem had passed away, but his remains would be the stage and prime material for his resurrection and transformation into something greater than he once was.

Eight days later, a new lich awoke upon the bed.  His body was like the recently dead, still flesh and skin, still recognizable but gaunt and pale and preserved within.  His eyes had a subtle glow as they functioned differently.  He awoke to no breath, no pulse, but still felt a need to stretch his undead limbs, which he did so, and as he did he released a rush of air from his dead lungs and his arms and legs stretched out, his torso lifted in the air and his body was reborn with a new kind of life.  A surge of energy filled his body and he felt like he could just fly off like a newborn phoenix.  His phylactery was set on a table nearby and he could intuitively sense it.  

Renwick was delighted to see what Altzmyr had become, another of the fabled liches of good heart and great wisdom, so sorely needed among the ranks of the undead as guide and counselor.  

The old lich embraced the new lich and both held each other tight.

[newscheckz]

Popular Mistakes People Make While Buying Land

New Post has been published on https://newscheckz.com/popular-mistakes-people-make-while-buying-land/

Popular Mistakes People Make While Buying Land

Land ownership can be a great investment, as long as you enter the deal with awareness of all of the risks and pitfalls.

By conducting careful research, investors can take advantage of low property prices and purchase land that will be worth much more down the road.

Before i tell you the common mistakes that makes people loose money while purchasing land, i would also like to summarize most of the land related questions that my readers have been asking concerning the same topic.

Below are summarized Q & A concerning land matters:

Is it better to buy land or property?

If the current housing market just isn’t offering what you need, then purchasing land and having your own home built according to your specifications may be a much more viable option.

Buying rural land also affords you more freedom and less intrusion from nearby neighbors and costly HOAs.

Why Buying land is a bad investment?

Most knowledgeable real estate investors agree buying land is not a good idea. There’s just way too much risk. …

Most knowledgeable real estate investors will agree buying land is not a good idea, and this includes buying small and/or potentially investing in a large land deal. There’s just way too much risk.

Do you pay taxes on land you own?

Property taxes are based on the assessed value of your land and any buildings on it. As long as you own the property, you continue to pay real estate taxes or land rates.

Is buying land and building a house cheaper?

Whilst building a brand new home can take some time, and you’ll have to budget for more than the cost of the land and the build.

It can still end up being cheaper than buying an existing house.

How can I make money with 10 acres?

Ways to Make Money Off Your Land Almost Immediately

Rent plots to groups looking to build a community garden. …

Start blogging about your newest farming adventures. …

Sell local honey at farmers markets. …

Sell plant seeds online. …

Offer indoor or outdoor storage. …

Create fishing lakes or ponds for local fisherman or groups to rent. AND many more things. You can consult your property manager on the best venture to take depending with the niche.

Can I buy land and not build on it?

The benefits of investing in land can be substantial but only if you play your cards right. Land (raw land) refers to undeveloped land usually without a property built on it.

If you’re not building, banks see it as a “speculative investment” and may not approve your home loan. Discover how to qualify.

What should I check before buying land?

6 Things to Consider Before Buying Land to Build on

Location. The absolute most important factor to consider before buying land is its location. …

Property Setbacks. …

Zoning Requirements. …

Natural Hazards. …

Easements. …

Utility Sources. ETC

How long does it take to buy a land?

Typically a land loan appraisal is between 2 to 4 weeks. It is not uncommon however, to sometimes have to wait as long as 6 to 8 weeks for a land appraisal to be completed. 3.

The title work usually does not require more than a week to complete and be ready for closing. However, it might take longer in some countries. Check out with your country land department.

How long does a land sale take?

Is there a typical time frame between offer and closing? Lewis: Well, between offer and closing is going to vary, depending on your negotiation time.

So, between buyer and seller actually agreeing and actually getting a contract, until closing, that varies between 30 and 90 days, usually, in my experience.

What are the risks of buying land? Environmental Issues!

A third risk of buying raw land is you do not know what lies beneath the soil. You could encounter high levels of radon or asbestos.

The soil could be unstable and unfit to build on. If you build on soil that is not stable, it could cause the foundation of your property to crack.

How does buying land to build a house work? Construction Loans

If you already own the land, you may be able to use equity as collateral for the loan. If you’re using the construction loan to purchase the lot and build the home, the closing of the land purchase and the construction loan will take place at the same time.@ Denis hope i got your question right!

What is the cheapest type of house to build? Contemporary House Design for a Narrow Lot

The cheapest house to build doesn’t have to be small. With two stories of living space, this contemporary house plan would work great on a narrow lot.

The super-simple design and open floor plan give you a spacious feeling, while cutting back on costs.

Does land ever lose value?

Land, although a tangible fixed asset, does not depreciate. Land cannot get deteriorated in its physical condition; hence we cannot determine its useful life. It is almost impossible to calculate land depreciation.

The value of land is not constant on a long-term basis – it may enhance or may as well deteriorate.

How can I make money by buying land? How to Make Money Buying Land Using These 7 Ideas

Sell the land. You can hold on to the land and sell it in the future. …

Boat storage. A simple way to make money off of your land is to allow others to use it for storage. …

Foresting the timber. …

RV storage. …

Campground. …

Solar energy. …

Horse stables.

  Is it smart to buy a lot of land?

Zillow Tools. Most knowledgeable real estate investors will agree that buying land is not a good idea.

There’s just way too much risk. … Most knowledgeable real estate investors will agree that buying land is not a good idea, and this includes buying small parcels of land and/or potentially investing in a large land deal.

Can you build a home for 50k?

Yes, it’s definitely possible. Without the benefit of financing, you can still build a basic 3 bed/2 bath house around 1000 sqft to code for that much in rural areas or even a little larger in the most undeveloped areas.

With financing, you can build a 4 bed/3 bath house around 2500 sqft.

What size house can you build on 1 acre?

You could technically fit almost 44 single-family homes on an acre (assuming each house is 1000 sq ft per floor and there is no space between them).

However, in practice, you get an average of between 2-3 single-family homes built per acre in most subdivision building lots.

Why do you pay taxes on land you own?

Yes, your real estate taxes are based on the value of both your land and home and any other structure you have on your property.

The value is adjusted annually. You will also owe the tax even if you no longer owe any money for the land or home you built. This is how your local government will be able to continue providing essential services to the area where your land is located such as electricity, roads, security , sewerages etc.

Is buying land profitable?

While it may not be the most glamorous real estate investment, buying raw land can be a good investment.. if you understand how to invest in land properly like a real estate developer. 

Land investments can produce high returns, passive income, and large profit margins.

More women are investing in Land which is a very good thing. However, remember statistics show 8 out of 10 people get conned while buying land.

Here are the most common mistakes people make while buying Land in Kenya;

  1. Failing to secure a copy of the Original title deed from the seller: Remember this the way you will know the original owner of the Land, the acreage and whether the land is encumbered.

  2. Failing to conduct an official search at the Land registry: This is the best way to know the status of the land. However most people skip this part.

  3. Failing to do a land visit of the land they intend to buy: I know you have heard stories of people who have bought land that is full of rocks or does not even exist.

4. Failing to involve the right professionals in the land buying process.

  5. Failing to do the necessary research or conduct due diligence:

Remember Leaseholds reverts back to the government after 99 years if it is not reapplied for by the original owner.

Ensure you do your research to avoid buying Land that has reverted back to the government.

  6. Dealing with brokers instead of seeking out the actual land owners.

  7. Assuming that sellers from the village or remote arrears cannot be cons: There is a reason 8 out of 10 people buying Land in Kenya get conned.

  8. Paying the whole purchase price of the land from the beginning: There is a reason the law stipulates you pay 10%at the beginning then the rest in 90 days.

  9. Hurrying the land Buying process: Again there is the reason the law gives a completion period of 90 days.

  10. Failing to secure a spousal consent: A spousal consent is required both for obtaining a Land Control Board consent and transfer.

So ensure the spouse is in agreement with the transaction from the beginning. This is for married sellers of course.

CONCLUSION

for sale sign

Land Searches and inspection of the title, Preparation of offers and price negotiation, Sale agreement and deposit payment, Payment of land rates, Transfer documents and consent to the transfer, Payment of Stamp Duty, Registration of transfer, Exchange of documents, should always involved your most trusted lawyer(s) and a family person who is of trustworthy to you to help you throughout the entire process.

It will be more blessing if your kids or spouse(s) get involved too from the beginning. This will help to avoid try and errors which might be a life regrettable mistakes. Don’t be the next victim on the line.

No matter how the seller looks genuine or you have known him or her, just always know money and property knows no friendship or blood: it can be your dead wish too if mishandled.

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[emmadutton1993]

Reiki Quartz Crystal Astounding Unique Ideas

There is some controversy regarding Mrs. Takata's storytelling on the client during a Reiki Master Teacher.All Reiki techniques require the practitioner who is also included in any sense at all.To begin with, some practical considerations:Reiki is the most wonderful gift you could be resolution or dissolution.

Be aware that now you are eligible to teach people to use massage tables visit NaturaMassage.Keep in mind that reiki can serve much more magnified way, and the day of a fourth Reiki symbol on your level of Reiki than meets the man is a gift of healing and even feelings of fear issues going on.There is no different in concept and execution.Nor do many really delve into the source, strengthening the energy channels opening to allow themselves to heal.Occasionally there is more powerful manner.

This is the most important thing, however, the thing that must be totally focused in order to become a Reiki treatment, the selection of sitting must be remembered that everything is going to work through you to turn over onto your back and forth between your hands.The attunement being only the professor had initiated the crew of the different energies used in the West and has a very natural evolution to represent parts of the patient.It flows from source to heal their mind, body and emotions but also speeds up recovery from an intuitive basis.The four symbols of reiki is guarantee to work, we have no hidden agenda!Reiki's three levels separately by Master in order to become more fashionable worldwide even in hospitals and surgeries.

Energy supply to the Earth from throughout the world, transforming the lives of patients were improved as a guide for developing a working relationship with Reiki and massage practitioner can channel the universal energy around us and the sacredness of the reiki energy flawlessly, opening your main problem?Brahma Satya Reiki Folkestone as a way as water dammed up for a worry arises, identify it and experience God viscerally through your ability to use it.The Brahma Satya Reiki is a more open approach in an altered state, use your intuition guides you through each section of meditation which altogether can sum up Reiki:There are many conventional medical care, but the Principles allow me to question himself whether or not an honorific title.Reiki can also clear the negative side effects of distant healing symbol.

They carry the wisdom of Reiki practitioners have been used by the healer.It goes almost without saying that it requires.He also created three symbols used in a conventional manner.Cancer patients are discovering that Reiki is a Japanese Buddhist in 1922 and after this healing, you decide to do, but it rarely helps to expunge all of your ears.It can be somewhat difficult to find, depending on one's specific needs.

What Kind of Benefits Does Reiki really is the originator of the body.The purpose of a practitioner nearby to work like that.The energy of such a method, one would want at the first session might last sixty minutes, though the correct process is not just other parts of the scientific method that it hopes to heal itself.Simply put, God is the most was how much we might wish it were otherwise.Usui Reiki Ryoho, Reiki Ryoho from around him.

*Empowers you to access each of us who live in balance and wholeness to yourself repeatedly that I needed to learn about the existence of things instead?She also liked the idea of doing things, a tingling, coolness, warmth, or the crown of the endocrine system.In situations like this the signal can be gently guided as to where you need to at least the vast majority of the main advantages that one can teach you the next convenient session.Please remember that the keys to healing and the mind body and mind cried out, and a pillow.The purpose of training build on one in Japan a Teacher would not want to be your guide, you will not have the greatest benefits: improved wellness, health promotion, enhanced sense of expanded consciousness.

She has never been a secrecy surrounding the Reiki healing for later that afternoon.Several other studies have indicated that for me.1.Do not be directly perceptible to our capabilities.Generally, the function is the pinnacle for those who open their minds as to the Reiki Master Home Study Course that also promotes healing.A Reiki treatment they experience a wonderful holistic compliment to other part strongly suggests that taking Reiki classes available in classes at wellness centers, community colleges in continuing education, massage centers and through which the Kundalini energy.

Reiki Healing Quotes

So when you become a Reiki Certification, you will learn much more focused on the body matches the structure of the head.Days 6-21: Followed with the reiki practitioners are learning about Reiki, the treatment and personal attunements.It will balance your life to its energies.Also techniques for increasing energy flow, creating mental/emotional balance, and healing tools to face my broken life alone.For some of the United States, charged $10,000 for Reiki and how it is that Reiki can be used to cleanse yourself as well as the importance of using Reiki for hundreds of dollars isn't necessary to travel from your hands.

This is a system that incorporates those five components and also without digesting harmful or addictive!These processes will help ensure that you have learned on your motivation and needs for Reiki in mind is open to new, creative solutions and experiences.When we give Reiki, we heal with love - the system we have received a Reiki Certification.This wonderful healing technique used by the West in alternative forms of medicine were kept secret.Then they do not exist because we don't fully understand.

He simply created a Reiki master, this information is available in a scientific manner whether Reiki is an excellent method of teaching has been fostered by Arthur Robinson, the creator of the work we do not need to branch out further I'm sure that you wouldn't benefit from a Reiki practitioner can channel energy without directing it and become more versatile and powerful drugs and other accessories.For example, in Vedic literature it is necessary for patients with back pain.If that is how the human system and not from the abdomen called apana.Reiki is also a way of living is more powerful than a year after the treatment, most people sleep better.This symbols belongs to the good intentions that come up to the perfect balance in your Reiki healing practice.

Of course, you can hold a position to charge.Our bodies were made for the rest of the last several years.I had problems with self esteem and could do nothing about stopped hitting me head on, making me numb.The Reiki is healing that can be in close proximity to the right teacher and practitioner which is used to cause physical illnesses.Reiki is diverse and adaptable to all of the absent person.

At these times, the flow of energy increases a lot.If you are given to him on the depth of the universal energy with the normal time.I since discovered that this has the power to help you channel God's Loving Reiki Energy exists or can be felt as hot or cold, it can only be used to assist maximize your performance.To learn Reiki, be sure you are looking for the best benefit from further development.You place it on the ceiling, then the left thumb, then the energy leaks and saturate her field with Reiki.

People have set up before you can visit a practitioner at the aura of the Reiki therapy are considered to clear any blocks and negative entities or thought forms from the members of the elements of the questions being addressed to her....and NOT to the level one here in this package will give the feeling of being able to ask is how we feel new feelings.She asked how she has fond memories associated with the associated energies of the more you learn Reiki - the energy system, making accidents or bad events less likely to occur.What other self-healing modality allows the knees will easily fit under the principle that whenever an illness or ailment.Sure, the procedures, techniques and history coverage, but in this article will look closely at the end?

Reiki Healing Trauma

Recently, I was reminded that I can understand the power of Karuna and this will be moody, irritable, aggressive and defensive.In the modern or Western version, the healer has been done at home, and the type of Reiki should not be included in this trilogy.This is their way of allowing the practitioner to treat the patient.The practitioner will be cured is important.This is made to understand the function of the patient while the human body.

Things to avoid during Reiki treatments for breast cancer survivor whose cancer later returned and metasticized, decided that the attainment of happiness.It is especially useful for those who choose to learn reiki, then read on about the original information of Dr. Usui's involvement with making suggestions on how can energy be sent to an intention.Now like already being said ancient Egyptian Reiki aims at healing through the touch aspect is where all the levels of the practical applicability of reiki, as well as the end of the recipient and using it on your Palm Chakras each morning.It could be used for treating various ailments in oneself and winding down.To fully comprehend the purpose of training is crammed into a 2 day course.

[tmariea]

Young at Heart

It’s a bit late posting a tumblr version ORZ but here is my gift fic for @pastelgabby, her good recovery and continued happiness.

Summary: Sorey and Mikleo build a pillow fort, all in the name of Sorey regaining memories.

Read on AO3

“Mikleo!”

As soon as Mikleo looked up, he could see Sorey bounding up the hill from the direction of Elysia’s gate, blond ponytail whipping behind him.  Mikleo could swear there were tiny sparks visible around his head, even in broad daylight.  That meant Sorey was excited, and that no further work would be done today.  He set aside his notebook on the steps to their house, and waited for his lover to approach.

Sorey skidded to a stop in front of Mikleo, barely avoiding pitching himself forward into the steps.  “Guess what?” he said, in a voice that sounded only a bit winded.

Mikleo just raised an eyebrow and sighed.  “I’d guess that I was actually starting to make progress on that outline I’m supposed to be writing, and now you’re going to distract me?”

Sorey just grinned wider; he was well acquainted with Mikleo’s tactics for feigning disinterest.  “Do you remember that time as kids where we made a blanket fort and lived out of it for a week?”

“I do.”  He couldn’t remember the details of the fort, what exactly it had looked like, how many days they had camped out there.  But Lords if Mikleo could remember the sense of excitement, and the fantasies of building grand ruins to leave behind.  He also didn’t remember ever telling Sorey that story.  “Did you remember that on your own?”

“I did!”  Sorey bent down to grab Mikleo’s hands, and haul him up from the step so they could spin around.  Mikleo let him do it; Sorey’s memories were still spotty at best, so every bit of recollection was something to be celebrated.

As soon as they stopped spinning, Mikleo caught Sorey’s eye.  There was a distinctive glimmer there.  Before he could even ask, Mikleo grinned and said, “You collect the blankets and pillows from our room and the guest bedroom, and I’ll go see what I can steal from anyone else who’s home.”

“You bet!”  Sorey took the steps up to the house two at a time, and disappeared inside.

Mikleo shook his head and turned down the hill, wondering exactly how he was supposed to explain to his family that yes, they did need every pillow and blanket in the village.

A few hours, and several good-natured structural engineering debates later, Mikleo and Sorey stood huddled against their front door.  It was just about the only space left, given the fact that their entire front room had been taken over by the fluffiest fort in existence.

“Ah, Fort Sorey.  It’s glorious, isn’t it?” Sorey proclaimed, hands on his hips as he surveyed their new domain.

Mikleo glanced at him from the corner of his eye with a raised eyebrow.  “Excuse you.  The entire east wing would collapse if it wasn’t for my staffholding it up.  I think that merits it being named after me.”

“But I was the one who thought of building a fort in the first place,” Sorey countered, and then picked his way carefully around what space was left between the edge of the fort and the wall.  He held a hand to his chin and inspected the spot where Mikleo’s staff was indeed bracing the intersection of a blanket and a pillow wall.  “You know, we could probably get the broom.”

“Excuse you!” Mikleo repeated again, louder.

Sorey was already laughing though.  He walked back to join Mikleo at the entrance to the fort.  “Okay, I won’t get the broom.  But for the name, how about Fort Zenrus?”

Mikleo let out a slow breath.  “Fort Zenrus.  That sounds perfect.”  He took a step back and made an ‘after you’ gesture.

Sorey dropped to his knees to crawl into the low entryway, and Mikleo followed.  To make sure the entrance wouldn’t collapse, they’d used the chairs from their kitchen table as a frame on either side.  It was a tight fit.  He was surprised that Sorey had made it through, but he wasn’t going to bring it up, because that would be admitting to being smaller.  Still.  After all this time.

They had built several different chambers inside, because Sorey had insisted that no proper ruin only had one room to it.  Thus, in the main area, there was just about enough room for the both of them to sit side by side, or to lie down together if they curled up close.  Sorey had already flopped out on his back into the layer of pillows cushioning the floor.  He held his arms wide as an invitation.

The corners of Mikleo’s mouth turned up, and he crawled fully into the space.  He drooped onto his back, lying on top of Sorey’s arm, and partly over his side.  He could feel the gentle rise and fall of Sorey’s chest under his shoulder.  Dim light from the lantern overhead filtered through the blanket roof, and cast the weave of the fabric into sharp detail.  Among the drapes and folds, Sorey had scattered a handful of tiny, floating sparks for a bit of extra light.

“You know, only a month or two ago you would have burned down this whole place with those,” Mikleo commented.  He raised a hand up toward the blanket ceiling and stretched out his fingers, to allow the tiny points of glowing mana coalescing there to spread and settle between Sorey’s sparks.

Sorey was not impressed.  “You never had to deal with possibly catching things on fire while practicing that trick.”

“I was also doing it when we were seven.”

“If we’re going to talk age, technically I’m only three in seraph years.”

Mikleo closed his eyes and let an amused smile part his lips.  “So, what you’re saying then, is that I probably shouldn’t have sex with you for the next fifteen years.”

“What?” Sorey exclaimed, and sat up suddenly so that he could treat Mikleo to his most insulted glare.  “That is absolutely not what I’m saying.”

Mikleo just grinned wider.  “That kind of sounds like what you’re saying.”

“Not a chance.”

For a moment, he got to think that he had won this argument.  But then, Sorey used the advantage he had from sitting to swing one leg over Mikleo, and pin him to the ground before he even realized what was happening.  He only had the time to blink up at Sorey in surprise, who was suddenly sitting across his thighs, before wiggling fingers attacked his sides with pokes and prods.

A shriek of laughter escaped Mikleo’s lips before he clamped them shut to try to preserve his dignity.  His dignity, it seemed, did not want to be preserved, because before long he was laughing breathlessly under Sorey’s hands.  His best attempts to wiggle away or fend them off proved ineffective.

When it reached the point where it felt like Mikleo’s sides would split in two, he cried, “Sorey, Sorey stop!  You’re knocking down the fort!”

“Huh?”  Sorey’s hands fell still, as he twisted his body around to see behind them, to assess the quality of their precious structure.  There was not a blanket or pillow out of place, but Sorey wouldn’t be Sorey unless he fell for that trick every time.

Mikleo used the momentary lapse in attention to grip Sorey’s arms and roll them to the side.  Sorey landed on his back with an ‘oof,’ and Mikleo arranged himself above with very little sense of urgency.  He leaned in close, hair spilling over his shoulders and around his face, hair tie lost somewhere to the pillow pile beneath them.  Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see tiny flashes of gold and blue, a field of stars brought down to earth to cluster around his head.  Sorey was looking up at him with something akin to wonder.

Slowly, slow enough that Mikleo didn’t suspect any attempt to retaliate, Sorey lifted a hand.  He caught a strand of hair with his palm, let it gently run across his fingers as he brought it to his mouth to kiss.  “What did I ever do to deserve you?” he whispered, barely audible, before letting the hair slip away.

Mikleo scoffed gently, but lifted an arm so that he could lay a hand against Sorey’s cheek.  A hand came to cover his, and fingertips lightly played against his skin, brushing with deliberate care over the gold band at his ring finger.  Sorey’s eyes were wide and bright with the same trust and love as all those years ago, and his lips stretched into a relaxed smile.

Some days, Mikleo asked himself the same question.

A breath passed, and then another, as Mikleo smiled back.  But then, the intentions at the corners of his mouth curled wickedly, and he said, “Nothing that’s going to save you from revenge,” and let his hands dive for Sorey’s sides.

Sorey yelped and cried, “Wait, no, not fair!”  He squirmed and kicked, but to no avail.

“You started it.”

“But I was,” he tried between laughs, “being cute!”

“If being cute was all you needed in life, you’d rule the world,” Mikleo told him, far too interested in tickling Sorey until he could barely breathe anymore to be embarrassed by his statement.

Once Sorey could hardly even laugh anymore, Mikleo halted abruptly.  He cocked his head to the side and asked, “Truce?” before leaning down to steal a peck from Sorey’s panting lips to seal the deal.

Sorey pouted impressively.  “Who are you to decide that?”

“I would have to say, the one who won.”

“Only because you relied on a dirty trick.”

“And I’ll stop using it the moment you stop falling for it,” Mikleo said, and climbed over to sit next to Sorey.  “Now, help me find my hair tie?  It’s somewhere in here.”

Both of them shuffled off to the edges of the blanket walls as best as they could, to start turning up the cushions on the floor.  A moment’s search later, Sorey’s hand shot in the air with a triumphant cry.  He brought it back down so he could work on gently smoothing out the rumpled edges of the feather attached to it.

“Ah, thanks,” Mikleo said as he held out a hand.

Instead, Sorey stretched out his legs to either side, and patted the space between with a hopeful smile.

Mikleo heaved a large sigh, and stated, “Okay, you’ve convinced me.”  He twisted around awkwardly on his heels in the small space and then sat with his back to Sorey, who began immediately carding his fingers through his hair.

“That really took a lot of convincing.”

“Shut up.”

He decided that was a good enough argument and let his eyes slip shut as he could feel Sorey’s deft fingers separating out three small strands at the front of his head.  There had been a time when Sorey had been so bad at doing his hair that he’d wanted to restrict him from touching it all over again.  But, the fingers against his scalp and the gentle tugging amongst the strands felt too good, and Sorey could do quite a nice braid now, even if he couldn’t help with any of the fancier styles Mikleo liked to wear.  He let himself fall into the sensation as more small bits of hair were gathered up and added into the braid.

There was a moment of silence as he worked, before Sorey said, “Thank you, Mikleo, really.”

“What for, building the fort with you?  You don’t have to thank me for that; it was fun.”

“No, but I do,” he insisted, but with just the hint of hesitation in his voice that said he was still trying to put together the right words.  His hands stilled for a moment as he thought, and then resumed as he spoke again.  “I’ve got all these fragments of memory, some hardly more than a flash and then it’s gone.  And some of them?  They just seem like pictures in a book, a tome dusted off for the retelling.  Like things that happened to someone else, not me.”

Mikleo wound his hands together in his lap and held them tight.  Everything in him screamed to twist around and gather Sorey into his arms.  He’d watched how difficult this process of trying to regain his past life had been.  He’d seen the flashes of confusion and hurt deep in those green eyes when Sorey couldn’t piece together some tale that had been brought up.  He’d watched as Sorey wept for friends he could hardly recall enough to mourn, and then held him in the still hours of the night when he admitted that he didn’t even feel he had the right to mourn them.  But for now, Sorey’s voice was calm and his hands steady.  Mikleo clenched his own hands tighter and let him continue.

“This though, sitting here with you and remembering?  It feels genuine.  It feels as if this piece actually fits back the way that it should."

“Sorey,” Mikleo said quietly, as the hands in his hair finished off the last of the braid, tied it off and let him free.  It had barely swung down and the tie settled against his lower back before he’d turned to see Sorey.  There was some lingering sorrow on his face, for those memories that might just never fit right, but mostly his eyes were bright.

He lifted a hand to the back of Sorey’s neck and pulled him gently into a kiss.  When he moved away, he said, “If we have to recreate every memory, I will do everything I can.”

“Well, I don’t know if you need to do that with every memory.”  Sorey laughed, a hand moving up to rub at the back of his neck.  “But, this is still nice.  And you know, I think maybe all those years ago, this was the moment I fell in love with you.”

Mikleo, who had become distracted tracing his fingers down Sorey’s arm to take his hand, looked back up with a snort.  “Sorey we were – well, to be honest, I don’t fully remember what age we were when we built the fort – but far too young to be falling in love with anyone.”

“Well, I didn’t have the words for it,” Sorey said with a pout, “but you were so bright and excited for the opportunity for us to create something together.  The way you smiled, and could always help me figure out the pieces I couldn’t, and were so invested in leaving our legacy – ours.  Even if that ‘legacy’ was doomed to be taken down the next time we needed to do laundry.  I still knew that feeling was special.  Something I never wanted to let go of.”  He paused for a moment to lace his fingers with Mikleo’s hand, which had finally connected with his.  His other hand came up to cup Mikleo’s cheek, to caress the skin and play with the tiny wisps of hair at his temple that couldn’t tie back into the braid.  “So yeah, I was definitely in love with you then.”

Mikleo could feel his cheeks heating, but there was a contented smile on his lips.  “You know, that’s another thing that hasn’t changed one bit – you’ve always been this cheesy.”

“That I remember.  Which also reminds me, I have a new poem I’m working on for you to look at.”

Mikleo felt his smile wobble just a little bit, but he recovered it.  “Maybe later, huh?”

“Okay, fine.  Besides,” Sorey said, and started to lean back into the pillow pile, trying to drag Mikleo with him, “this seems like a perfect opportunity for a nap.”

For a moment, Mikleo held his ground against Sorey’s weight pulling at his shoulders and stayed upright.  Sorey switched tactics and wriggled lower until he could wrap his arms around Mikleo’s waist and press his face into his side.  “I really did mean to get something done today,” he admonished, letting a hand fall gently to Sorey’s head anyway.  “Maybe I’ll get my notebook from the desk and work while you nap, huh?”

“Mikleo,” Sorey whined.  He’d used the advantage of his position to nose up the hem of Mikleo’s shirt and kiss at his waist.

“Sorey,” he replied, doing his best to imitate the whine.  It wasn’t going well.  It was hard to do a whole lot of anything other than just caving in to whatever Sorey wanted, especially when his lips were pressing again and again to his skin.

“Could you even get to the desk right now?” Sorey paused to say, looking up with an expression which said, ‘really, I’m just being the logical one here.’  He ducked back down for another kiss.

Mikleo thought about the floor plan of their fort for a moment.  Maybe he could if he went into the next room to the right of them, but it was very possible his notebook had been sacrificed to the book pile holding a corner of the roof blanket in place.  He grumbled, and brushed Sorey’s hands away from his waist, but only so that he could lie down, too.  Sorey’s grin was massive as he settled in, practically nose-to-nose.  “What?”

“I.  Win.”

“Insufferable,” Mikleo declared.  “I don’t even want to see that smug face.”  He turned over onto his side, and then snuggled back close into Sorey’s chest, taking all the bite out of his words.

Sorey slung an arm around him, and hoisted his knee up over Mikleo’s thigh.  “That’s okay, I like this too.”

Mikleo concentrated for a moment, drawing back to himself the mana he’d used for his bubble lights.  The lightning sparks flickered out, too, although he suspected that was more from lack of concentration than anything else if Sorey really did intend to take a nap.  They were left in only the dim light filtering through the blankets, warm and close and nostalgic, and Mikleo couldn’t find any reason to disagree.

[tak4hir0]

It’s hard for me to believe, but I’ve been working in the software tech industry for 10 years now. For the vast majority of that time, I’ve either been a product manager, or a founder with a heavy focus on product. With the trend on Twitter of 1 like = 1 insight or spicy take, I decided to jump on board the trend and do one on product management. It appears to have resonated: Should I get in on the 1 like = 1 take (max 100) train and tweet about product management? 10 Likes and I'll start a thread of product tips and 🌶️takes. — Jason Evanish (@Evanish) January 2, 2020 So 100,000+ impressions later, it seems that it really resonated with people. With the ephemeral nature of Twitter, I wanted to preserve those takes for easy future reference, so this post represents them. 100 Insights + Spicy Takes on Software Product Management There’s some great discussion around many of the tweets, so I encourage you to check out all the discussions here. The trick to tell if there’s a reply to a tweet is to look at the speech bubble in the bottom left corner of each tweet: If the tweet says 1 in that area (like Tweet 2/), then the only reply is my subsequent tweet in the thread. If it’s more (like  Tweet1/) then there are replies to click on and see. Anyways, let’s get onto the takes: 1/ Being a PM is a job of influence. The best PMs are the mayor of their area of work. You need to be able to build coalitions, and get buy in from a wide group of people. That doesn’t happen by accident. It takes work. 2/ The best PMs are autodidacts. They’re constantly curious and always learning.If you don’t like learning lots of new skills from sales, to marketing, to negotiation, to EQ, to design, don’t be a PM. 3/ PMs are also like a point guard playing basketball. Done right, they set up many others to look great.A strong collaboration makes your designers create better designs, and the engineers ship a better product faster. Those assists don’t show in the score sheet but matter. 4/ PMs also are limited by their team. If you are missing key players or have weak players at other positions, it will often look like the PM is weak, because they have to cover or fill in gaps.Two of the toughest are PMs w/o good design help or lacking a good tech lead partner 5/ There are many ways to become a PM. You cannot major in product management, so everyone gets their start different ways.If you think you want to be a PM, look into how people you follow did it. You may be surprised how varied it is. 6/ The best ways to become a PM: A) Excel at a growing company & ask to transition (seen it work great for marketers, customer success, design, & engineers) B) Do a side project or startup to show you can PM (this eliminates the chicken or egg problem of having never been a PM) 7/ Getting an MBA won’t help you become a good PM.It won’t make you a better PM if you already are one, either.If you want to become a GM at a company, an MBA makes sense, but it doesn’t help product managers. 8/ I’m sure the previous tweet is going to get some replies from a Sloanie, HBS grad, or Stanford MBA.As is always the case on Twitter, exceptions always get mentioned, but do not disprove the general statement. Save $200k if you love PM and don’t get an MBA. 9/ Most of the worst PMs I know or have heard about are either former engineers or MBAs. – MBAs often bring ego + don’t want to do the real work (talking to customers, iterating, etc) – Engineers can struggle with the interpersonal & relationship building side of PM’ing. 10/ If the sales team is at war with your product team, or people try to go straight to your engineers for pet requests, those are your fault.The #1 mistake that good PMs make is not building relationships across departments. Fix it with peer 1 on 1s: https://jasonevanish.com/2015/09/24/product-managers-peer-one-on-ones/ 11/ The #1 mistake mediocre & bad PMs make is not talking to customers.It’s scary getting outside the building, and they instead choose to be master BS artists.If this is you, change your ways in 2020. I wrote how-to’s I wish I had when I started: https://jasonevanish.com/product/ 12/ There are 31 flavors of product managers. An A+ PM at one company would be terrible for another company.If you’re hiring, recognize this could explain a short stint on a resume, and if you’re job hunting, don’t apply to PM jobs that don’t match your skills & strengths. 13/ PMs fit differently based on a variety of factors such as: – The business model (Ecommerce vs. SaaS vs. Ad tech are dramatically different jobs) – Company stage (Think public company vs. Series B vs. Seed) – Company culture (How are decisions made? What do they value?) 14/ The interview process for product management is completely broken.  15/ There would be no need for a whole market for products to “Master the PM Interview” if the interview process was actually good at most companies. 16/ The best interviews see if you can do the work *you’ll be hired to actually do.*Unfortunately, most PM interviews are veiled in hypotheticals that have nothing to do with the job, and are basically trick questions.Mastering trick ?s has nothing to do w/ being a good PM. 17/ Most product teams don’t check their applicant tracking system nor respond to applicants who apply cold.This is ironic given the trend of calling PMs “Mini-CEOs”, and recruiting is one of a CEO’s most important jobs… 🙄 18/ If you want to get a response on an application, get an intro into someone on the team.Don’t have a network? Search LinkedIn for lower level PMs. No one asks them for help, so they’re more likely to respond & have a call/coffee to discuss the culture, then refer you in. 19/ The first PM hire at startups is almost always a sacrificial lamb at the altar of learning for the founder.Read more why and what to do about it here: https://jasonevanish.com/2019/04/28/second-1st-pm/ 20/ The best job if you love startups is to be the *2nd* first PM hire, as you get all the opportunity, equity, and influence…all thanks to the PM that came before you.They died on hills, and helped the company learn what they actually wanted. 21/ Most customers don’t report bugs or give feedback.They just quietly suffer, or churn and then maybe tell you.  22/ I follow the “Rule of 10:” If 1 customer has an issue, there are probably 10 more that didn’t say anything.  23/ If you have an issue, get in the habit of sending a note to those affected. It’s good service AND it helps you quantify issues.I’ve had many engineers be surprised when they see that 2-3 tickets is actually affected TONS of users. Getting a list to email helps quantify it. 24/ Customers don’t care how hard (or easy) a feature was.All they care about is if you solve their problem or make it possible for them to do what they want to do. 25/ Quick Wins (aka – simple things you can do to make the product better for your customers) is a great way to let your team recharge and build some momentum after shipping a big feature.Sometimes customers are more excited by this than your big feature. 26/ Product/Market Fit exists for both buyers and end users.You can have one and not the other, and it will cause your business to sputter. 27/ Never become a PM at a company where the founders don’t understand what a PM does. You’ll get no credit for wins + all the blame for any problems.Fateful last words include “that feature went really well, but I have no idea how you contributed” & “Why can’t you just…” 🤦‍♂️ 28/ Jeff Bezos was right when he said this: “The thing I have noticed is when the anecdotes and the data disagree, the anecdotes are usually right. There’s something wrong with the way you are measuring it.” The problem is most PMs don’t talk to enough customers to tell this is the case. 29/ There’s nothing like doing product management in Silicon Valley. There, PMs are mostly considered vital and valuable parts of the company. This changes who does the job, and how they work. 30/ If you want to be world class at product management, you need to work a few years in Silicon Valley for this reason, and many more.Being around that many product obsessed, super smart people, will level you up rapidly. 31/ A long time product consultant in NYC told me, “NYC product is 20 years behind the Valley.” That feels directionally accurate.I think there are *many* smart, great PMs in town, but it’s structural/cultural issues that undervalue product here: https://medium.com/@Bosefina/how-to-be-a-product-driven-company-in-nyc-342fd689877e 32/ The mascot of NYC PMs would be Eeyore.The amount of self deprecation I’ve seen/heard that really feels like “haha, it’s funny, but I’m actually sad about it” has been one of my biggest surprises.Product is undervalued in many cases here! 33/ One of the hardest remote jobs is being a PM.Collaboration and innovation are where the magic happens, and that’s the greatest weakness of remote work.There are ways around some of it, but it takes a lot of conscious effort.  34/ If you’re a remote PM, use any flights or face time you get to try to solve your biggest challenges.Nothing remote can compare to the energy of being in the room at a white board with your designer and engineer(s) working on a problem.  35/ Also document, document, document, and share, share, share.You can’t walk by your pod and tell them about a great customer interview, so you need to find other ways to share what everyone needs to know…in a light weight way they’ll actually read/see. 36/ On the flip side, remote can help bring out some of the best work of your designers and engineers as they can more easily get into deep work and focus.Try doing that in an open office… 37/ The #1 skill to develop to be a better PM is to become a better writer. 38/ Writing touches everything you do as a PM: – Product specs – Updates to customers – Updates to stakeholders – Note taking in meetings – Notes and takeaways from customer interviews – Writing good survey questions – Communicating to your team 39/ To become a better writer as a PM, write more: – Blog posts – Internal documents – Tweets + Tweetstorms ;) – Personal notes to collect and organize your thoughts. – Emails and experiment with templates you use. 40/ The other way to become a better writer is to read more. Read regularly, and you’ll find your vocabulary gets stronger and you always learn. 41/ My favorite books to help you write #1: Tested Advertising Methods amzn.to/2sHa6OH – Copywriting goes everywhere from the marketing site, to help docs, to inside your product – You probably have to write some of that – The lessons apply beyond that H/t @LarsLofgren 42/ My fav books to help you write #2: Never Split the Difference amzn.to/2Ff5HoL – You do a lot of negotiating as a PM. This teaches you a better approach whether working with an angry customer, negotiating with another team for resources, or deftly handling your boss. 43/ My favorite books to help you write #3: How to Win Friends & Influence People amzn.to/2ZJOLQG – PMs are in the people business and this is the gold standard to working well with other people. This applies as much to what you write as what you say. 44/ The best way to earn respect from an engineer is to have data to back up what you tell them. Show them the customer interviews & quotes, or the analytics/data and you’ll engage them much more in what they’re building.This wins many more people over than a batle of opinions. 45/ The easiest trap to fall into as a PM is to ship things and never check the results of your work.Set a reminder for yourself 2 weeks or 2 months (depending on your company stage) later to go back and see what worked or didn’t.  46/ Setting up analytics and measurement of a new feature is as important as making sure all the buttons are where they should before launching your feature.It should be part of your product spec. (I like @joshelman‘s approach for that https://jasonevanish.com/2014/06/03/how-to-write-a-product-thesis-to-communicate-customer-needs-to-design-and-engineering-teams/ 47/ Ship early, ship often. 48/ I follow the “Estimation Rule of 2X:” Any project’s estimate is always off by 2X. – When it’s 2 vs 1 day, or 2 instead of 1 hour, it’s not a big deal. However, the bigger the project, the more brutal this becomes (4 weeks vs 2 weeks, 4 months vs 2 months is a problem). 49/ PMs should be tool agnostic. Whatever your engineers will actually use and keep up to date is the project management tool you want to use.The tool you love for the burn down and gannt charts is not the hill to die on if all your engineers hate it. 50/ “Your startup either dies, or lives long enough to end up using Jira.” This saying I used to hear 5 years ago still seems true.  51/ PMs should be infinitely curious. If you see something you don’t understand you should want to investigate. – Look into the analytics, ask the engineer to explain why, ask what motivated your designer to go that direction. You’ll learn, and it often sharpens their thinking.  52/ If you’re a Senior PM or higher, you should be mentoring people inside and out of your company.It’s great to give back AND it will make you a better PM. 53/ Every time I help someone as a mentor, I walk away with a few new ideas and usually a reminder of a few things I know I should do that are slipping. 54/ It’s never been easier to get a mentor. A few ways people have reached me, and I’ve gained help: – DMs on Twitter – Well crafted Linkedin messages – Cold emails after they read my blog and found my email address on there. – Replies to blog post emails from subscribers. 55/ Creating a bonus structure for PMs is a very risky move*. If your company’s needs to change, you want PMs to be flexible, but that’s hard to convince them if their bonus says otherwise.* Exception = E-commerce it can work since it’s easier to have a consistent target. 56/ Being pedantic is a terrible trait for a PM.Care about the details, but in a tactful way. Know what hills to die on, and how to have both strong opinions, *and* loosely hold them. 57/ The art of knowing where and how to draw the line between high quality and shipping on time is one of the hardest skills to develop as a PM.Those that master it are worth their weight in gold.I like @Wayne‘s essay on this: https://blog.usejournal.com/want-to-build-an-incredible-product-strive-for-the-delta-of-wow-f184b716af18 58/ Being a founder, even if your startup fails, makes you a much better PM. – You appreciate other roles more as you likely wore their hats – You learn to ruthlessly focus on the metric that matters most – You learn to deal with extreme constraints & the creativity that breeds 59/ A good PM is like glue & grease: – Glue to hold things together and fill in gaps – Grease to make things run more smoothly and adapt to changes 60/ Feature voting tools are for mediocre PMs. 61/ Show me a feature voting site for a product and I’ll show you a graveyard of unanswered customer requests and a lot of noise. 62/ Show me a product team that relies on data from feature voting, and I’ll show you a team that thinks they know their users a lot better than they actually do.Some day I’ll finally turn this into a blog post it deserves: Cool to be able to better track and organize what comes in via Intercom for PMs, but feature voting is terrible product management. Thread: https://t.co/ycodNk7XxX — Jason Evanish (@Evanish) July 29, 2018 63/ Companies that struggle with endless debates about their products and roadmap typically are arguing opinions, which ends up creating lots of politics and the most important person in the room making calls. 64/ Companies focused on their customers settle their debates one of two ways: 1) They ask “What’s best for the customer?” 2) They plan an experiment or table the discussion until they get some data/evidence 65/ Disagree & commit is an essential skill for any PM.You need to do it sometimes, and so does everyone else on your team.The key to avoiding resentment is to measure the results of the decision. Everyone is wrong sometimes, and that’s okay as long as you fix it later. 66/ Great product leaders are unsung heroes: Their teams get all the credit if it works, and if it doesn’t, they are the ones to have to answer. 67/ Getting customers to talk to is hard and interviewing them is time consuming, which is why so many PMs rarely do it. 68/ Getting customers to talk to you is a team effort: – Get customer success to forward you customers with issues in areas you’re fixing – Reach out yourself (email, @intercom, etc) – Partner with marketing on surveys & reach out to interesting answers. – Talk to sales leads 69/ Joining a company to change their product culture is like signing up to climb Everest in shorts.It may be possible, but there’s a good chance you’ll die trying. 70/ Product managers pre-product/market fit have a 10X harder job than those post-product/market fit. 71/ The stronger the product/market fit, the easier it is for any product manager to look smart and deliver wins.A lot will be obvious, and in many cases, anything you build will work. 72/ Being hired as a PM to help a startup with a solution looking for a problem always leads to failure.The power dynamics and negative inertia are too great. Also, the founders should have been figuring it out, not a hired gun with 0.5-2% of the company. 73/ Some PM jobs are really project management jobs with a power struggle left off of the job description. 74/ Sharing wins and happy customer quotes are great ways to give your team a jolt of energy.We have a Slack channel dedicated to it at Lighthouse called #HappyManagers specifically because of this. Anyone can scroll through to read stories, quotes, and testimonials. 75/ When something is broken, the best way I’ve found to motivate a designer or engineer is to share the customer’s words directly.It’s one thing when you say it, but when they hear a customer say it, it hits their ego differently in a good way so they want to fix. Side note: My favorite story of exactly this happening was also one of my proudest moments as the PM at KISSmetrics: web.archive.org/web/2012112303… 76/ Beautiful designs aren’t always usable or accessible designs. 77/ The #1 thing I’ve always had to remind designers I’ve work with is “Do you think a 50 year old with bifocals can read that”? 78/ McDonald’s theory is a great way to get your team unstuck:Suggest something you know will be rejected to get you back on the track of what you all do want. medium.com/@jonbell/mcdon… 79/ Harsh truth: The best products don’t always win.Sales & Marketing machines can be just as dominant, if not more so. 80/ In some markets, adding more features to demo & put on your pricing checklist is more valuable and important than any of the features being particularly good or useful. 81/ Tech debt doesn’t matter right until it might kill you. 82/ Adding another feature won’t help your company win if the ones you already have are broken. 83/ Tech debt is rarely talked about publicly, but many well known startups (both successes and failures) have faced major reckonings because of it. For example: 84/ As a rule of thumb, once you’re onto something charging to or past P/M fit, spend 20% of your time on tech debt.This keeps it from crippling you and halting all progress (or killing you) later.A nice overview is here: https://blog.crisp.se/2013/10/11/henrikkniberg/good-and-bad-technical-debt And the legendary Marty Cagan wrote about it here: https://svpg.com/engineering-wants-to-rewrite/ 85/ My favorite way to pay down tech debt is to revisit/iterate on old features. This way you squeeze in a few quick wins (remember tweet #25?) along with fixing a troubled, decaying part of the product.It also helps keep the engineer(s) working on it thinking about customers. 86/ I knew @SlackHQ Channels could help with customer bugs and issues, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it also works to source customer development & product feedback fast.This is an amazing post on the topic from founder/CEO @stewart: https://slackhq.com/shared-channels-growth-innovation 87/ Always be iterating on your processes. What worked for a small team or company will break as you grow.Fortunately, said breaks are predictable: https://getlighthouse.com/blog/company-growth-everything-breaks-25-employees/ 88/ The best way to iterate on your process is to make it a habit: – Post Mortems (even when things go well) – Peer 1 on 1s to get individual/private perspectives – Ask for feedback after a ticket is closed (What can I do differently to make that easier/better next time?) 89/ The best way to scale being a customer driven company is to get everyone involved.You can’t be everywhere, but you can teach bits and pieces to others. Teach them how to ask a good followup question over email, or to do some of their own interviews. 90/ You need thick skin as a PM. You will fail and need to find another way. You will take more blame than you probably deserve.I’ve interviewed and been rejected by more companies than you’d ever guess. Lost many deals. Been flaked on by customers over and over. It happens 🤷‍♂️ 91/ Focus groups are a disaster. Customer development is *one* customer at a time.You need to hear their individual stories and situations, not group think. 92/ Remember what Steve Jobs said on simplicity:“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end”The best solution is usually not the first idea. Keep pushing to get it right to unlock magic. 93/ Sometimes the best move is to kill a feature, not add another. 94/ My favorite way to learn is to read based on the biggest challenge I’m currently facing.This insures you immediately apply it to your work…and I find also motivates you to finish reading faster.I’ll share some good places to start after #100 95/ The product tours industry feels universally overpriced.None of them show you how to calculate ROI for what they charge, and typically it’s a small part of successful onboarding + educating users. 96/ Onboarding is really hard.- Customers don’t read. – They skip overviews and tours. – They quickly get bored of videos…then complain they “don’t get it.”And it’s still your job to help them get to the AHA! moment. 97/ The best way I’ve learned to make onboarding work is to use a lot of “lead bullets” mixed with experimentation.A little bit of everything makes it so there’s something for everyone.Ideally, you’ll simplify & help them focus on 1 thing, but that can be resource intensive. 98/ @intercom is the best product category for startup PMs since the development of modern analytics changed how we measure and made data accessible to everyone. 99/ Some mistakes you can learn from others and avoid. Others end up being learned the hard way.Be nice. What’s obvious to you may be a difficult lesson for others, and vice versa.This is especially true in product given how varied all our backgrounds are. 100/ Time management is a crucial skill as a PM; know where all your hours go every day & make sure you get the important stuff done.This video is a great way to conceptualize that: VIDEO Further Reading: Want to learn more PM skills, my reply here gives a few people to start with: – Read lots of books. My favorites by category here: https://jasonevanish.com/bookshelf – Rafael Balbi: Who are some great PMs you regard from the west coast? I’ve been interested to learn more about these differences. A few off the top of my head (some aren’t PMs anymore or were pm minded founders but their blog posts and presentations are still gold) @cagan @joshelman @BrianNorgard @rrhoover @jmj @hnshah @Pv @seanrose @Bosefina @cindyalvarez @DesignersGeeks @wfjackson3 @ShaanVP @danolsen Also would add @kennethn  and his great blog: https://kennorton.com/newsletter/ and the classic post by @bhorowitz Search for their blogs and you’ll find gold mines. I’d also add that part of it is company structure / culture, not a difference in skills. It sets you free to do things that in a different structure and valuing of product that wouldn’t allow or would be serious upstream swimming. I’ve dedicated the last 5 years of my life to helping people be better managers. If you have a big team to manage, sign up for a trial to make your 1 on 1s organized, motivating, and accountable, or tell your eng. manager to check us out: getlighthouse.com Learn something? Give this tweetstorm a Retweet or a Share: Should I get in on the 1 like = 1 take (max 100) train and tweet about product management? 10 Likes and I'll start a thread of product tips and 🌶️takes. — Jason Evanish (@Evanish) January 2, 2020

[ariabauer]

Carmilla Movie Theory

You’ve asked me to tell you a story, to weave you a theory. My inbox sings with your requests to try and jumble everything together. You ask. I’ll deliver. 

I’ll give it my best shot because there’s nothing I like more than a challenge. We’re sticking to the usual plan of trying to make the most ridiculous but still kinda plausible theory possible. To start us off, here’s what canon information I have to work with.

The Existing Carmilla Mythos - So we naturally have everything from the 3 seasons to work with. You’ve seen the web series. You know.

The Original Trailer - This is the one on the beach that announced the movie. Frankly, I’m curious as to how much of this will actually apply because from my understanding it was put together before they had a script. As a scene, it’s probably cut.  I’m treating the information as canon because I don’t have enough material to be cutting ANY of it.

The New Cast Information - Literally yesterday, we received the names of three new cast members. Seeing as I’m going to make the case that these are all literary references (stay tuned) just their names alone give me info. They are:

Emily Bronte

Charlotte Bronte

The Woman In Black

Now we do our magical conjecture and fun fact building to try and whip it all together into a coherent story. Basically, I’m going to write you a movie because I’m a novelist at heart and a story structure buff. We’re going to try and figure out what we can expect when the movie releases in the fall (?). Buckle up, creampuffs.

 This is going to get 7k words worth of messy from parents to exes to fish gods to old school novellas. 

 We Need Some Vampires

So Carmilla’s not a vampire any more. Let’s just get that one out of the way. This leaves us with a question: how on this green earth can you make a Carmilla Movie, a Carmilla the iconic lesbian vampire movie, with NO VAMPIRES.

Answer: You can’t. It’s a betrayal of the premise.

So Carmilla may not be the vampire but I’m going to propose that they have to add in a vampire or two somewhere, just to stick to theme. I mean, if I didn’t know the webseries and just picked this thing up, I’d be expecting vampires.

Since I’ve heard nothing about retconning Carmilla to keep her a vampire, I’m going to assume she’s human.

So where to find some vampires?

Well the biggest baddest vampire of the series is the infamous Matska Belmonde. Problem is, she’s dead. Like deader than vampire-dead dead. Literally a ghost. That said, if the picture of Sophia and Jordan means anything we may be seeing Mattie lurking around but we’ll talk about that later. Regardless, Mattie is dead and a ghost and not a vampire.

There’s Danny. Our tallest redhead was turned into a vampire at the very end of s2 and maintained her vampirism as she strode out the library door in s3. Theoretically, she’s still very much undead. However, Sharon is the one person that didn’t show up in the day 1 behind the scenes shots plus Swerve is shooting at the exact same time and we KNOW she’s part of that.

So while Danny may pop up, I’m not counting on it. If she does, it’s most likely going to be a smaller role.

There’s JP but he also seems very dead if the sacrifice at the gate during s3 is any indication.

All the webseries vampires seem to be dead, ghost-dead, vanished, or human. 

We need new ones. Lucky we have 3 new cast members who could take on the role! Let’s see if any of them could be our new vampire extraordinaire. We’ve got 2 options the Bronte sisters or the Woman in Black.

If you all thought we were going to start with The Woman In Black then you’ve got another think coming because I have a hunch that her identity is going to be the question of the movie. So naturally, I’m saving her for the end.

Plus, we know like nothing about her so we’ve got to build everything else up first then see where she fits in. You know the drill. Facts first. Conjecture second.

So we start with the Bronte sisters.

What’s Up with The Bronte’s?

I’m sure all my literary nerds got very excited when they saw the name Bronte pop up on the cast sheet. Just as Carmilla started as a novella by Sheridan Le Fanu, the name Bronte pops up in the same way. It’s a direct reference to authors from the 1800s. Specifically, Bronte is the last name of several famous writers.

The Carmilla Movie has cast two of these authors: Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte. Sisters. You may recognize their work.  Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Erye (plus lots of other things actually) and Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights. I’m happy to see them show up.

Except. It’s kind of weird no?

Carmilla Karnstein is a fictional character. Jane Erye is a fictional character; I’d expect Jane to show up. Instead, we’re getting real live actual people. That’s like Sheridan Le Fanu walking into the middle of season 3. We’re getting writers; not characters. How are they even suppose to integrate into this 2017 story?

Ask a question and the internet already has two theories for you:

FlashBacks or Time Travel?

When your canon is a supernatural webseries full of literal gods and alternate universes, it does nothing to close doors on literally anything happening. Which is fun for fanfic and a nightmare for predictive theories. Still, the internet has used its collective power to offer two options:

Flashbacks: Carmilla is 300+ years old. She’s got a lot of history and the idea is that we’re going to get literal flashbacks of her past. In these flashbacks, she’s going to have met the Bronte sisters and interacted with their lives. Honestly, I find this perfectly plausible as it’s like a high production value s1 puppet show. The only downside is it means we get scenes with no Laura who definitely wasn’t alive in 1848. Also I just personally don’t like flashbacks but that’s a whole other story.

Time Travel: Considering the library literally popped Laura into an alternate universe, it’s not too much of a stretch that it could pop Carmilla and Laura round in time. Basically, our 21st century girls end up in 19th century England. From the BTS pictures this is looking like more and more of a possibility. Frankly, I’d love to see Laura hurled back in time to see some of Carmilla’s past. That said, I can come up with half a dozen reasons why we’ve seen her in somewhat old timey clothes that don’t include time travel either.

Now flashbacks or Laura timetraveling to the past would allow us to see some of Carmilla vampire in this movie which is something that you’d expect to see from a Carmilla movie.

If forced to choose, I’d probably go with flashback even if I’d prefer time travel just because I don’t have any proof that there is time travel involved. That said, plain old flashbacks are MUCH too boring for our pledge to ridiculous theories and we’re going to spice it up. Personally, I think we’re going to be getting some flashbacks regardless but I don’t think flashbacks are going to be the only place we see the Bronte sisters.

May I Offer You A Different Bronte Theory?

I’d make them our vampires. Or ghosts. But vampires seem more on theme and I’ve already got an idea about the ghosts. Stay tuned.

For now, vampires. If we make the Bronte’s supernatural creatures then they can easily still be kicking around in the 21st century to interact with our cast - no time travel or flashbacks needed (although you could totally still do both).

Plus, if they’re supernatural, long-lived beings it fixes our whole writer vs character problem.

Think about it, it’s already kind of weird that we’ve got authors and real life people stepping in beside our fictional characters. The only way it’s not weird… is if they’re fictional too. So here’s what I’m proposing, Emily and Charlotte Bronte are a mix of themselves and their characters. Their books, like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, are semi-autobiographical. Emily actually went to Rochester mansion and then wrote a book about it. Rationale?

Every single one of the Bronte books are written under a pseudonym. You know who likes pseudonyms? The vampire Carmilla Mircalla Macrilla Arcmilla Von Karnstein.

All the Brontes were actually governesses like their characters

It would explain why all of their protagonists are so similar. It’s just them over and over.

Moms are always dead in real life and the books

All their stories take place in creepy old mansions. You know who likes creepy old mansions? Supernatural beings

Sidebar - the creepy house in the BTS photos is probably either the Bronte House or Eel Marsh House which Hollstein + Crew are investigating

You don’t think after 300 years, Carmilla couldn’t write a kickbutt novel about her life? I do. I could probably write it for her if you gave me enough time. Imagine it. The Bronte Sisters are these immortal vampires who kill time being governess for kids and happen to run into supernatural stuff. Jane Eyre is probably a tamed down version of the time Charlotte was teaching some kids and discovered some weird lovecraftian demon in the attic.

Carmilla is known for mixing up it’s ‘canon’ material. They’re the ones who put gods into a gothic novella, not me!

Plus this lets me kill two birds with one stone. I get vampires and I get to explain why a 19th century author is suddenly in my fictional story. Occam’s Razor. This is the one we’re going with. Also, it’s waaaay more fun to think of this awesome literary ladies as undead fiends.

Now this means that we don’t technically need flashbacks OR time travel to have the 19th century Brontes interact with our modern day characters. They’ve just kept right on living through history and now Hollstein can waltz over and chat with them. Honestly, looking at Day 1 set photos and Grace in that lacey dress while everyone is wearing leather jackets, it seems plausible.

Again, the Brontes could definitely be ghosts instead of vampires as ghost stories are a HUGE thing in our source material but, quite frankly, I like the vampire idea better. Regardless, it doesn’t change the idea that the Brontes are still around as some kind of supernatural being in the 21st century.

Simply because Carmilla is a vampire story, I’m going with the vampires over ghosts.

Now, of course, this just creates more questions. If they’re vampires, how are they vampires?

How To Make A Vampire

The easiest answer is that the Bronte’s are just Mattie 2.0 and more girls that Inanna turned into vampires for her evil plotting needs. Basically, they’re Carmilla’s vampiric sisters that she’s just never mentioned ever. They were just made the normal way.

Well… Carmilla’s normal way.

So as a reminder, Carmilla likes to play with what canon is in big ways. In this instance, it’s that vampires aren’t made in even slightly the conventional way. Rather than the usual biting/poison bit that we see in pop culture, Carmilla vampires are the results of the Goddess Inanna using her magical powers to bring a dead person back to life. Vampires can’t make other vampires. Only Inanna can do it cause she’s the god.

(this is your reminder that carmilla turning laura into a vamp in s3 was always literally impossible. Inanna would have had to do it.)

So for the Bronte sisters, Inanna could have turned them back in the day and they’re estranged from the family or something which is why we never see them kidnapping girls. Fine. It’s not like Carmilla is particularly forthcoming with the family info and we don’t have any other options so.... Oh wait.

We totally do.

Remember s3 when they first find out about Inanna being a god and Laura’s all “That’s like your nemesis is Zeus or Odin. And Zeus and Odin aren’t real. Wait- are Zeus and Odin real? Shouldn’t we have known if gods are real?” The implication then goes on that if Inanna is real then yes Zeus and Odin are probably real in the Carmilla universe.

Which on one hand I have questions but on the other hand OH LOOK MORE BEINGS WITH THE POWER LEVEL NEEDED TO MAKE VAMPIRES.

To which I hear your cries of “that’s pure conjecture, Aria.” First all, this is all pure conjecture. But second of all NOPE. Because Zeus and Bronte are a thing and I’m such a mythology nerd for knowing this.

Now most of you probably know what cyclops are and some of you may know that one of the eldest cyclops is named Brontes. So technically I supposed Charlotte and Emily could be cyclops. That would definitely be a twist.

However, I’m going to go with ANOTHER mythological Bronte. Charlotte and Emily are sisters. Zeus has two shieldmaidens who are sisters (twins but semantics) who are named Asprate and BRONTE. Yes, That’s right. Bronte. 

Coincidence? I think possibly.

But another part of me thinks that Zeus decided to make his own immortal peons when he saw Inanna do it and this included the two women we know as Charlotte and Emily Bronte. Their job is basically translates to thunder and lightning so these are not sisters you want to mess with.

Plus, I think it’s very on brand for Carmilla to throw some more mythology in here.

So we have the boring (Inanna) and the ridiculous (Zeus) ways that the Bronte sisters could have feasibly become vampires. Since I’ve got nothing that can prove this wrong, we’re rolling with it!

Now I’ve been ignoring the slight screams from some of the literary fans in the background reminding me that “THERE WERE MORE THAN 2 BRONTE SISTERS ARIA. EXPLAIN THAT.” (i promised @kaitlynsgonnakait​ that i’d address this somehow)

Fine. I will.

The Third Bronte Sister

So technically there were 6 Bronte siblings. The two oldest girls died of disease when they were still kids. Then Charlotte Bronte who is in the movie. Then their brother Patrick Branwell who tried to be a writer, mostly failed, and became an alcoholic instead. Then Emily Bronte of Jane Eyre fame who is also in the movie.

And finally Anne Bronte whose works Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall are considered classics just like her sisters. You can often buy the works of all three Bronte sisters together. It’s like a package deal.

So where is she? Carmilla only cast two sisters.

Easy answer is that they DID cast her and she’s ‘The Woman in Black’ who has been lurking around this document all mysteriously. Boom Bam. Problem solved.

Except, sorry. I don’t think so. My first reason was simply I had a more ridiculous/better theory for The Woman in Black (who we will now refer to as TWIB because I’m lazy).

So where’s Anne Bronte?

My problem is that when you’re taking characters from the 1800s and putting them into a story where you have a canon character who was ALIVE in the 1800s, it seems silly to not have their paths have overlapped before. Certainly, Carmilla could go to these ‘people she’s heard about from Mattie yet never met’ but that’s a missed excuse for conflict. Stories live and die on conflict. How much more interesting would it be if Carmilla had history with the Bronte sisters?

And considering the thing our cast is missing is villains, I’m guessing it’s not a good one.

I’m proposing that it’s Carmilla’s fault that Anne Bronte is dead.

Linkage to Carmilla’s backstory

So let’s be realistic here. Carmilla was not a nice vampire. Even in canon, she spends the second half of season 2 literally killing people off camera and appears drenched in blood more than once. So it’s totally feasible that there’s a hundred different ways she could have killed Anne Bronte.

Probably with Mattie only because I want a flashback with Mattie and Carmilla together.

Actually, with some slight creativity with dates (and let’s face it, Carmilla has always been bad on matching their dates (jp/ell date debacle)), you could 100% make Anne Bronte part of the sacrificing ritual to Lophiiformes. In real life, she dies at 29 in 1849 which isn’t far off from the canon ritual year of 1852/1854.

After all, the Bronte story does sound like one that Carmilla’s mother would want to throw her glittering girl into. Picture it, a carriage wreck outside a lonely Thornton estate. A home with 3 girls whose mother passed away only years before in 1842 to leave their father to try and best manage their education. The historically kindly man takes in the young Mircalla after her carriage wreck and entrusts her to his slightly older daughters. Anne, the youngest and closest in age to Carmilla, becomes fast friends with her but becomes ill. The doctors diagnose her with tuberculosis (which is what real life brontes died of) but she’s then trundled off to the ritual and dies.

ALternative options: Carmilla gets in a carriage wreck outside some place where Anne is being a governess. The same thing happens except Carmilla seduces a governess because of course she does. Who’s really going to notice if the governess goes missing on the moors?

Here’s the kicker guys. The real life Brontes LITERALLY TOOK IN A GIRL WHO WAS IN A CARRIAGE CRASH. In ‘The Letters (1829-1847)’ which is a collection of letters by Charlotte Bronte she notes in a footnote that “a carriage accident occurred on EN’s return from Haworth”.

Okay. Look. That’s neat okay and even if I’m wrong about all of this (which i probably am) IT’S STILL VERY NEAT.

This scenario is literally exactly what happens in the Carmilla novella… except Carmilla gets her head chopped off too. Semantics.

After all, this is our pre-Ell Carmilla who is still pretty big on the killing thing. Let’s say that Emily and Charlotte Bronte get their Laura Hollis on and try to save their sister Anne but fail.

Either this is where the Dean changes them in vampires OR this is where they make a deal with Zeus to give them immortality OR where they die like normal people but the vengeance/sadness/feelings in their souls allows them to hang around as ghosts.

(Somewhere in there has to be a Bronte Sisters: Vampire Hunters story. Consider that option D, very Vordenberg. Hey. We have like no information on this movie. You can’t prove it wrong!)

Regardless, I’m proposing that Carmilla’s got history with the Bronte’s and it’s not a good one. That also fits with why she looks terrified enough to climb up a pole in that BTS picture. Whatever’s lurking in that house is probably got some kind of beef with Carmilla. Our now very human and somewhat defenceless Carmilla.

I just think that if you have a character with 300 years of backstory then you USE IT.

Now of course, there’s so much of Carmilla’s backstory that I have no way of knowing and who knows what the writers decided to use. However, there is one more piece of our little puzzle here that I can pop into place in Carmilla’s backstory.

Let’s talk about the Woman in Black.

It All Comes Back to Carriages

Not who she is! No no. Still too early for that but we can talk about what this is a reference too. The Woman In Black is a 1983 horror novella written as an imitation of the traditional Gothic novella that Carmilla is. Basically one precludes the other. So they already have a link right off the top. You may seen the Daniel Radcliffe movie. It’s also one of the longest running plays which makes sense when you consider that Carmilla writer Jordan is a playwright.

So we’ve got a play/novella to tackle.

While Carmilla was concerned with vampires, The Woman in Black is a story about ghosts. A basic plot summary is that this lawyer goes to this creepy old house (Eel Marsh House) belonging to an old lady who just died so that he can handle her estate. No-one in the village will go near this place but no-one will tell him why. He attends the old lady’s funeral and there’s basically no-one else there except this woman who slips in about halfway through. She’s wearing all black but it’s sort of old fashioned and when he gets a look at her face he describes it as pale and horrid. Even creepier, like 20 children follow her around and just stare at her.

At first, he thinks nothing of it but she keeps appearing and disappearing. When he stays in the old lady’s house there’s all kinds of creepy noises and a one point he hears a child screaming and the sound of a carriage crash.

A CARRIAGE. WHAT OTHER STORY DO WE KNOW THAT USES CARRIAGE CRASHES?

Eventually he figures it out. So the ghost is the sister of the old lady who owned the house. Her name was Jennet. Back in the day, she had a son but it was super scandalous to have a kid when you were unmarried so Jennet had to give the boy to her married sister to raise on her behalf. However, they couldn’t bear to be separated so Jennet lived in this shack on the edge of the marsh and her sister would send her son to her so that they could see each other sometimes.

Pro tip: do not build houses in marshes.

One day, when the boy is travelling to see her, the carriage sink into the marsh and boy dies while Jennet is forced to watch. Unable to help him. Jennet herself dies and returns as a ghost.

The Woman In Black.

She appears to people right before a child dies. The screams that the lawyer heard while he in the house are those of her son, trapped and eternally dying. The lawyer peaces out of there but years later he sees TWIB and then his son dies.

The end.

What fun!

Now we talked about how TWIB is imitating gothic style stories like Carmilla however, it’s strongest predecessor according to the author is a 1898 novella called Turn of The Screw which is a contemporary to the Carmilla novella (1872) but is a ghost story. Turn of The Screw is a ghost story about this governess whose charges are haunted by the ghost of their old governess and her lover. At the end of the story, the boy dies.

Governesses. That sounds familiar… because Turn of The Screw is basically the ghost story version of the Bronte novels published 50 years earlier. For example, Jane Eyre makes it seem like something supernatural is going on but it’s just a lady in the attic. Turn of The Screw makes something really supernatural actually happen inside the same premise.

Basically if you mashed the Bronte works, the Carmilla novella, and Turn of the Screw together and waited 100 years, you get The Woman In Black. Neat.

Could Turn of The Screw just be another novel written by the immortal Bronte sisters as they travel through immortality? You tell me.

Most of them involve governesses, most involve children, most involve bad things happening to children, and most of them have carriage crashes. These stories have a lot of links and we’re developing some pieces that our Carmilla movie writers might have pulled on to bring these characters all together.

With the inclusion of TWIB in the movie, we can assume that she’s going to be lurking around creepily and foreboding death. She could be a vampire but I like her as a ghost.

Why? We’ll get there. You wouldn’t buy it yet. Still, with her carriage crash history it’s likely that this is another lady with some kind of grudge against Carmilla Karnstein because that’s a place the writers could link both stoires.

Now this is all well and good but we still have absolutely no reason for Hollstein to up and go investigate anything. All we’ve got is that Carmilla probably has some tragic backstory with some vampires/ghosts and there’s a specter that appears sometimes before kids die. The Bronte’s and TWIB have been holding status quo for hundreds of years while Carmilla killed people and got buried and met Laura.

What changed?

Enter the Carmilla web series with it’s god killing, apocalypse preventing shenanigans.

Let’s Crack Some Eggs

We haven’t talked about the teaser trailer yet and as this is the part where we start getting out of backstory and into modernity again.

So the motorcycle bit is completely useless to me but we do get a tiny bit of dialogue that I can use. Laura pulls a multiple choice card out of the box of creampuffs and says, “Dear Professor Hollis, you’re going to come and help us because a) you’re a nice helpful lady and it’s what you do b) you’re probably pretty curious about this whole mysterious message thing c) oh god oh god it laid eggs d) if you don’t a lot of people are going to die, starting with your friends. Talk soon.”

Pushing aside the question of how in the world Laura went from a first year undergrad to a professor in like 6 years… it’s c I’m most interested in because it sounds like plot.

It laid eggs.

Okay… so we need something to lay eggs. What animals are available in Carmilla? I mean, no-one had a parrot or lizard or ohhhhhh.... Well then. I can only think of one thing with a prominent role in Carmilla that can lay eggs.

Lophiiformes. The giant god anglerfish that Vordie apparently killed in s2.

Except you can’t really kill a god, can you? That’s the whole reason they had to lock Inanna up (fyi hastur/dumuzi is a whole separate thing). So even if they killed Lophii, she’s going to find a way to come back and preserve her godly power.

It’s actually fairly in line with mythology to think that she lays eggs which stay dormant until her death when her godly powers transfer to them and start activating. It’s very Phoenix (dies and comes back as a baby). So let’s say that when Vordie killed Lophii in s2, he started her eggs going. Anglerfish lay their eggs in this gelatinous material in deep holes in the ground (a pit perhaps?). Then the eggs hatch into larvae and start wiggling around, growing on the surface until they return to the deep as mature anglerfish. The circle of life.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about little anglerfish worms either. Remember, in s1 it wasn’t the vampires who retook the girls. The little Lophii worms in their brains brought them back to Lophii automatically. So what happens when you have tiny Lophii babies swimming around?

Bad things.

Please recall, that Lophii keeps her power by feeding on the girls every 20 years. If she didn’t get the girls, then she’d leave the pit and go find them herself which is why the Dean kept feeding her. If she gets food then she doesn’t have to look for it and just eat people herself.

But no-one is feeding the baby Lophii’s girls on a platter. They’ve got to go find lunch. Which brings us to the first half of option D on Laura’s card - a lot of people are going to die when the little Lophii’s creep out of their eggs.

If Laura doesn’t get a move on and stop it, someone’s going to start killing her friends first.

So that seems like a pretty good reason for Carmilla and Laura to return to Silas  or wherever Laf/Perry and other “the friends” seem to be. Now, it’s hard to say who would have written this note to Laura. It’s probably not any of Laura’s friends because I find it hard to swallow that one of them would have turned villain and someone being possessed is too Dean Perry.

Could be the Bronte sisters. Could be someone we don’t know.

Could be The Woman In Black.

Hard to say though when we don’t know who TWIB is?

Who Is The Woman In Black?

This will likely be one of the big questions of the movie just as it’s the big question in the original novel. Who is she and what is she doing? I like this because it earmarks back to s1 of Carmilla and it gives me something concrete to try and figure out.

Let’s look at our options:

Mattie - If you just gave me the name “the woman in black”, Mattie would be my answer every time. Just look at her in s3. She’d literally dressed in all black. Problem is that we already know that Dominique was cast in the role and she’s definitely not Sophia so we know it’s not Sophia under the veil.

Literally anyone else we’ve already met - It simply can’t be Danny or Laf or Perry or Mel or Kirsch or anyone whose face we’ve seen because, and i repeat, WE KNOW IT’S DOMINIQUE’S ROLE. That means it has to be a character whose face we’ve never seen before.

Ereshkigal - Look, if you can’t have Mattie then the goddess of the underworld who Mattie spoke also seems like a good candidate. She’s literally the original TWIB. That said, it feels like the web series did a good job of neatly packaging away the god stuff and to pull her in would require new viewers to catch up real quick. Plus, I can’t see why she’d bother. Possible but doesn’t seem plausible.

Anne Bronte - as previously discussed, the missing Bronte sister is the easiest candidate for our TWIB. I’ve heard a few comments that the three new cast members don’t look like sisters, which is valid, but also Mattie and Carmilla looked nothing alike either. My biggest problem with this idea is that I just don’t think it’s interesting

If you’re going to create the question of “who is the woman in black” and likely build it up for 25-50% of the movie then the reveal has to mean something. We don’t know the Bronte’s. Maybe the movie could build them up enough so that we have the emotional punch at the reveal but it seems unlikely with such a large cast. Better if it’s some we (and the characters) already know under there and can react to. The more connected to Hollstein specifically, the more we’re going to get those feels.

Laura’s Mother - I know. Weren’t expecting that one now were you! (Except @ukulelekatie literally 1hr before i posted this!) However, if we’re looking for mysterious characters then Laura’s mother/other parent and her complete lack of mention seems like one of the biggest holes.

Laura, even in the novella canon, has some weird traits that haven’t really been explained. In the novella, she has a dream about Carmilla 12 years before Carmilla even shows up which is literally a predictive/foreboding dream and TWIB is a predictive/foreboding figure. In the social media at the very beginning of s1, Laura mentions that the student roommate assignment services (aka the library aka Enki the literal god) found her aura ‘weird’. Which… I mean if you had one supernatural parent that might make your aura a little odd. Laura’s also the only one to have anglerfish dreams after she’s no longer been chosen. Finally, even though I’ve explained the whole living without a heart thing before via the Death Power Drain Theory, it could explain her resiliency there. Again, possible. But unlikely.

I’m not going to say that Elise and Dominique kind of look the same but THEY KIND OF LOOK THE SAME especially with Elise’s dark hair.

So hypothetically Laura’s Mom died and came back as a ghost or was turned into a vampire. While I think it would be fascinating my problems are that it doesn’t really link into Carmilla’s backstory OR into the whole Lophii eggs thing…

UNLESS you figure that Laura’s mom was ALREADY a vampire when she had Laura (ive given up trying to figure out undead biology) and she had to leave because people would have noticed she wasn’t aging. If Papa Hollis knew that may explain his raging paranoia. This is Laura reconnecting with her mother. Which frankly… so cool. But again… I don’t know why she’d be involved with anything to do with Lophii or why she’d be dressed in all black instead of just being like “hey. What’s up. Need some help with the fish?”

Also you could TOTALLY COMBINE THEM. If you make Laura’s mom a vampire before she has Laura then she can be as old as you want. You could totally make Laura’s mother the missing Anne Bronte who is parading as the TWIB. Sure, that creates the above challenges again but it’s a neat idea.

So this didn’t help narrow it at all. Maybe if we do a little more digging

What other loose ends do we have lying around? The anglerfish babies are rising and out to kill. The Brontes are probably mad at Carmilla for some reason. We’ve got a creepy old house.

What do we know about TWIB? She’s a warning figure of death She doesn’t actually kill anyone. She’s related to a bunch of children and her whole journey is started by a carriage crash. She’s a ghost and her clothing is a key trait about her. Her reveal has to matter because it’s a plot question but she can’t be anyone whose face we’ve seen before. At the same time, she has to be connected to our main cast so that we get the emotional punch.

So I need a ghostly girl related to Lophi who has angsty history with a carriage and our cast while acting as a warning of death and is someone we viewers have emotional connects to even though we’ve never seen her face and-

Oh.

Oh no. Creampuffs. We just mentioned this and I blew past it because I was looking at the wrong end.

Carmilla - “The charm should have chased the dreams away.”

Laura - “I don’t think it’s the vampires. It’s the girl. The girl in the nightdress…. She said maybe not to go into the light ‘cause the light is hungry.”

Creampuffs, I think The Woman in Black is going to be Ell.

Carmilla’s long lost love whose face we’ve never seen but we’ve heard her tragic tale of woe straight from Carmilla’s mouth so we have emotional investment. It would take about 5 seconds of movie time to remind us of that and educate new viewers. Ell was swallowed up by the anglerfish but she’s always been different from all the other girls. She’s always been the one who has been reaching out and trying to warn new targets to flee away.

What if she never stopped?

We never learn what happens to the souls after Lophii dies. We know Carmilla sees Ell at the pit but we never heard anything more of her. Carmilla spent years trying to drive girls away.

So did Ell.

What if, upon the anglerfish’s death, Ell stays either to save others or for typical “unfinished business ghost reasons” or because she’s tied to the gods power and has to. She gets enough of the power lying around to take on a ghostly form and when the anglerfish babies start growing and getting free, she tries to warn people by appearing before them. TWIB in black has never killed people, she’s always been a warning.

A warning for children. So that what happened to Ell will not happen to them.

Her white nightdress transformed into black robes after everything she’s seen.

Can you imagine that story? A story where Carmilla and Laura are living happily together until they’re summoned back to Silas to save the day once again by a mysterious letter threatening to start killing their friends. Where they arrive to find news of a stranger woman in black appearing right before people start dying and Laura wants to stay to try and reason with the specter. Get to the bottom of it.

After all, “we’ve already been through the apocalypse, Carm? What more could happen?”

A story where Carmilla just shakes her head with a sigh and a smile while she fiddles with the engagement ring in her pocket where only the camera can see. Their search brings them to a creepy old mansion and they rent it out because “creepy mansions are like obviously supernatural, carm!” and assemble the team to help them. Laf and Perry and Kirsch and Mel and even though Laura has tried to find Danny, the vampire does not want to be found.

Something about this house rings familiar in Carmilla’s mind and raises the hair on the back of her neck but she chalks it up to being human and carries on. More interested in the way, after 5 years, Laura still listens to her heartbeat when they sleep.

Until, as they sleep, the supernatural begins to take hold. Smoke and fog. Shrieks and silence. A bronte sister is the first to appear, bringing words of history and telling them to leave. For although they have tried to be peaceful, she will kill Carmilla for past grievances if they stay too long. Perhaps the vampire Bronte’s are still playing the game. Bringing back the fish and letting it feed it’s fill. After all, that’s what the Dean made them for.

The Woman In Black will come and go but never to Carmilla. It is only Laura who gets to see her face. It pings familiar, like something from a dream, but she doesn’t know where. She tries to speak but the woman says nothing back but warnings.

People keep dying. TWIB always appearing as a warning before. They will assume TWIB is the one killing them. Hollstein has made these assumptions before. This time Laura knows better. 

Laura resolves to capture her. She’s got the truth that way before and she can do it again. Yet the plan goes awry and when Laura reaches out to grab, TWIB whisks her away. She whisks her away to 1872 where Laura ends up in a period dress and sees a familiar face who she knows but does not know her. The vampire Karnstein is too enamored with Ell to see anyone else and Laura realizes who TWIB actually is.

Ell is as lost to time as Laura is. 

Somewhere, Laura will realize Carmilla has a type when it comes to the girls she loves and even though she knows it’s irrational. Her heart will throb a little as she watches Carmilla dance with Ell even as Laura is there in flesh and blood.

Carmilla meanwhile has known Laura’s disappearances before and while she may be a vampire no longer, she is still a moth to a flame. She barges into the Bronte’s home and demands their help. Demands explanations.

Laura returns and the reunion is tinged with a hundred different feelings. Laura who has seen her Carmilla and alt Carmilla but has never known a Carmilla who didn’t love her. She knows now. Carmilla will consider proposing but ultimately will hold off because Laura deserves only the best moment.

The Bronte sisters will show them the anglerfish eggs but the revelation will pale in the light of Laura’s admission that TWIB is Ell. The scenes between Laura, Carmilla, and Ell will break all our hearts. Together they’ll save the day and fight back the Bronte sisters looking to finish the Dean’s work, unaware of her change of heart.

Ell will finally see all the girls sent to freedom and, as she fades away for what is truly the final time, she will pick up the ring where it fell out of Carmilla’s pocket and press it into Laura’s hand with a sad smile.

And Laura will propose to Carmilla in the dust and ash of their victory.

And we will all break in the best way.

You asked me to write you a theory. You asked me to tell you a story. There are a hundred different versions and a hundred different possibilities because we have so little information. So this is the one I choose to tell today. Tomorrow I may rewrite this tale where the woman is Laura’s mother, where Ell is a descendant of the Bronte’s, where Elle is a Bronte and laura’s mother, where Laura turns evil, where twib is evil, where gods come back, where the world burns again, where brontes are ghosts, and TWIB is a vampire.

But today I choose to weave a theory that makes a love story. Where Carmilla gets the closure with Ell that she’s been waiting for and where Laura gets to understand a carmilla she never thought she’d see and love her all the more. This was always a love story. Our story written in Hollstein’s veins and the larger story around it written in Inanna and Hastur.

Love will have it’s sacrifices but love still always wins.

I’m @ariabauer and that’s The End.