#we were supposed to see some of the most recognisable mountains of the region but there was simply too much fog skfhdjf rip

[zweizimtsterne]

went on a hike today:)

[stopeatingwhales]

particles x damon albarn

the lyrics to this song are genuinely so beautiful, like i honestly cannot describe enough how much i adore this song my goodness

Pairing: present day damon x reader

Warnings: none :D

Word count: 1.881

Requested by anon <3

༉‧₊˚✧

It had been two months since I had last seen him. Two whole months since he had set foot in our home; two whole months since he said goodbye to leave for tour. The home that we shared had began to inhabit a sense of eeriness, some nights the walls began to feel as if they were closing in on me, trapping me from any interaction with the outside world, as if to hold me hostage by my own insanity, although other nights the space felt extremely large, almost too big for one person to be able to waste their nights alone in, encapsulating my mind in a constant conflict of obstructive thoughts, forcing me to overthink every tiny detail that was conveyed on the pale stained walls, the wooden floorboards, the arrangement of the furniture, resulting in many a time of me moving around heavy tables and chairs until the image of the room settled my mind’s anxiety. Allowing distance to get in the lines of mine and Damon’s relationship, it was simply uncanny that I was going to miss him; he was the carcass that kept me sane, the being that granted me peace in myself, ease on my mind to prevent such mania from enrapturing my brain, the person that engulfed me into a stupor of adoration and affection that one could never understand the authentic strength until felt - what some perceive as paramour, true love, something so overstimulating that once separated such thing desperation beguiles you to surround yourself with, only a mere sensation of emptiness is all that is felt inside, as if your limbs are damaged, your insides constantly in a state of sickness that you are convinced you’re in need of some form of professional assistance, but it is simply the alchemy, the poison of the apprehension that captivates you from the estrangement from your significant other. Though that wasn’t to say that wasn’t proud of Damon; I embraced fondness and admiration for everything that he did and was so dedicated in doing, his talent and immense knowledge for the art form that speaks to you demonstrated his ability to move millions of people, uniting as one in concerts, all touched from the same, simple string of melodies, proving his true gift and genius that is inside his brain.

I tried to pry my thoughts away from the excitement that had been seeping into my veins from the fact that he was returning home today, in an attempt to focus my mind on whatever had been showing on the television, but there was no use. To be cradled in his arms was all that I had longed, the thought clouding my brain almost every single night that I had thrown my body onto the linen sheets, trying to wrap my body around the duvet to replicate the specific warmth that had enveloped my body when in his arms, his body completely dominating mine, his hands running through my hair gently, apologising with a kiss on the top of my head when he accidentally pulled too roughly, my face buried in his chest as a blush would suddenly creep onto my cheeks, our embrace fulfilling me with a nest of blooming butterflies in my body, a poignant sensation of nervousness and reverence for the man that had me cooped up in his arms, the same feelings that would embody you whilst walking past your first crush during primary school, accidentally brushing your hands against one another’s, sending your mind into overdrive as if to think that the person was the love of your life. Such emotions never left, and I doubted that they ever would; supposing that is true love, he could make me feel like a little girl squealing over her teenage idol because of how perfect he was, just from being himself.

“I’m home, love,” I heard a voice call out in the hallway, accompanied by the soft slam of the front door, the tone of voice lacing a certain amount of raspiness, perhaps from a cigarette that had just been inhaled. My head instantly turned to the door of the living room, eyes settling upon the sight of Damon, who had a small grin curved on his lips, his gaze captured with joy and desire, perhaps from gratification towards the understanding that the tour had finally ended, as well as the fact that he was able to finally see me once again - my expression equally reciprocating his happiness. Instantly jumping from my seat on the couch, I rushed over to him as I threw my arms around him, resting my ear against his chest, listening to the soft pattern of his heartbeat. As usual, his arms wrapped around my figure, tightly embracing my body, the swarm of butterflies breaking out of their cocoons, my limbs growing weak from the recognisable thrill of affection that I had desired for far too long, and had sadly not received. Feeling his lips grazing against the top of my head made my mind go fuzzy, my cheeks flushing a heat that made me feel as if I was under the beating warmth of the sun during the summer months. This is what he does to me. “How’ve you been darling? I see you’ve rearranged the place, again.” he mumbled into my head of hair, my mind still relishing in the pleasure of being in his arms again.

“I’ve missed you,” I replied, reluctantly pulling my arms away from the embrace, in order to gawk at him. A gentle chuckle rumbled from his throat, though his features accentuated pity, understanding how I must’ve felt being away from him for so long. Lightly taking hold of one of his hands, I dragged his arm, guiding him to the sofa, where both of us sat next to each other. “You were gone for so long!”

“I know love, I’ve missed you so much,” he replied, squeezing my hand in reassurance. “At least I’m not gone for any longer though.” he added, his lips curving slightly as I nodded, a similar grin planted on my lips.

“How was the tour then?” I asked, pulling his arm to wrap it around my shoulders, my body already aching for more attachment to him. “The videos I’ve seen online made it look very good.”

“It was great, honestly. Loved every bit of it.” he replied, the grip on my shoulder tightening as he attempted to haul me closer to him. Humming in agreement, I placed my head on his shoulder, cradling the moment we shared together, the moment that I had imagined and adorned each and every night he was absent, cherishing every single time that he was able to be in my presence. I depended on him greatly, as did he, and though that may be a toxic strand which can only result in turmoil; our appreciation for one another held such poise that it would draw us closer together each and every time we had conjoined together after months of being separated. “I’ve actually got something to show you.” he added, shifting from our hug and slowly stepping to his feet, taking his hand in mine, his soft but coarse palms gripping onto mine ever so slightly, urging me to stand up too. “Come with me.”

Following him closely, we headed towards his studio. I had forgotten the last time that I had set foot in it; usually I would leave Damon to work on his craft alone, since having me prance around messing with all sorts of instruments and controls wasn’t going to provide much assistance. As well as that, sitting in the room, knowing that he was away and would be for many days on, would only make me yearn for his presence more, which is the last of what I would need when not being able to fall asleep. Though whenever he would call me into the room, he would always show me the most beautifully crafted symphony, in which he would perform it so effortlessly, as if it was simply created from the top of his head at that moment. Talent like his was so scarce; it would only prove to me that it’s something you are gifted with at birth, like an extremely high intelligence quotient - he always had ideas running through his mind, melodies that would be formed from a simple tap of the table in front of him. It was a wonder in the fact that he seemingly never got burned out with creating music, it was evidently his passion, and it touched me that he would constantly ask me for my opinion on his music, as it always resonated with him, always held such importance.

When we walked inside the studio, I followed him to the grand piano that was standing by the corner of the room. I kept my body upright, behind him, as he pulled out the black stool underneath, moving it back slightly in order for him to sit on it. “Over the tour, I had some free time, so I wrote this song, it’s called Particles,” he began, his voice quiet, as if it were intertwined with a certain anxiousness about what he was about to perform. “It’s still a work in progress, but I wanted to know what you thought of it.”

As I admired his fingers softly grazing the elegant, pale keys of the piano, the melody that in which played forth me instantaneously sufficed me in a trance, bewilderment encompassing my my mind as I listened to the sounds of the alluring chords echo throughout the room, bounce off the walls, the waves of noise crafting mountainous regions of goosebumps to prickle on the bare skin exposed from my forearms. Sculpted with such elegance and formality, my mouth fell agape as he played with such ease - in that significant moment, I was subdued to his music, hypnotised into his magnificence; I could do nothing, absolutely nothing, except admire the grace that fell from his lips once he started singing. As I allowed my gaze to drift onto his face, I gawked at his demeanour, his eyes almost screwed shut, his face almost frozen in place as his body rocked back and forth to the melody that was omitted from the piano. Every word, every string of lines carried a lugubrious essence to it, a tone laced with such beautification; obvious that there were deeper implications behind said lyrics. Each line that escaped his throat exemplified the nature of what earnest fervour, authentic devotion and expertise can embody. Such melody, paired with his voice embodied with pure ethereality, as if I was being greeted by a herd of the most quaint angels, welcoming my soul into the seven heavens. A beam crawled onto my lips, my heart thumping at a million miles per hour from the amount of love I carried in my body for the man in front of me.

Once the song ended, a moment was held in the atmosphere of mere silence, as if to take in all that was felt, all that had vibrated through the sound waves and blessed my ears. Shifting his body so he could connect eyes with me, a gentle, welcoming smile tugged on his lips. “That’s for you.”

[mt-clydesdale-poke-santuary]

Weekly Lecture: Merton Plantation

Good night everybody and welcome to Weekly Lessons with Dr Mal. Every week I’ll be hosting a presentation on a different historical landmark, custom, or practice of the Yerette region, most of them relating back to the sanctuary. Today’s presentation, as it is the first, will be on the Sanctuary itself. 

The Mt Clydesdale Sanctuary was established in 2010 after a rapid immigration of fairy type pokemon to the Mt Clydesdale area in the previous five years. Prior to 2004, fairy types were rare in the Yerette region and had been since its “discovery” during the age of exploration. Research is currently ongoing into the sudden influx of fairy types to the region and specifically the Mt Clydesdale area. 

Mt Clydesdale itself is the tallest mountain in the Yerette Dorcan range, standing at 1032 metres (3386 feet) and prior to “discovery” was considered a holy site by the native people of the region. Though this was a well lived in and well loved holy site where people would make offerings to the mountain and the surrounding rivers. After colonization by the Catalan and then Galar regions, Mt Clydesdale became the home of a lucrative cocoa plantation, with later diversification into sugar.

Both pokemon and enslaved people were used to work the land which had to be continuously maintained due to the energy of the region. This energy has a variety of effects from changing pokemon typings for short periods of time to effecting the environment in strange and unpredictable ways. During surges we might have landslips on sunny days, muddy sink holes in the dry season, and even inexplicable pools of pitch that suck down anything unlucky enough to be caught in them. Today we have a full maintenance crew on call 24/7 to deal with the effects of the energy but in colonial times, slaves would be forced to work around or deal with these effects directly, often leading to serious injury or loss of life.

Despite the volatility of the land, planters continued to maintain their plantations here because of the rich soil and bountiful harvests the energy would produce. The cost of labour was offset by the guaranteed profit. 

From 1785 to 1830, the grounds of the Sanctuary were then occupied by the Merton Sugar and Cocoa plantation owned by William Merton II, a wealthy Galarian businessman, and his son, Woodford Merton. In its years of operation, the Merton plantation was one of the most lucrative in the region, boasting of higher cane yields and quality cocoa production due to the high concentration of Yerette’s energy and the plantation’s nearness to the sacred mountain. 

In 1803, William passed full control to his son and retired to the plantation itself to enjoy the tropical climate. In 1810 he was found dead in his bed, face a rictus of fear and official cause of death being labeled as “Fright”. Researchers and historians today argue over which specific pokemon must’ve scared William Merton to death, as it could only have been a pokemon. Some say it was a Yeretten Gardevoir while others argue it could’ve been a Maraubeau and some scholars say it could’ve been Papa Bois himself. 

Regardless of who, after Merton Sr’s death, Woodford began enforcing stricter measures of control and harsher punishments on the plantation. Slaves found with non-Galarian pokemon were whipped and the pokemon themselves were either killed or condemned to pokeballs for indefinite periods of time. This new found cruelty leading to more and more runaways from the plantation as well as a greater hatred of Woodford. 

This all came to a head on December 30th 1829, when a slave girl was beaten nearly to death for daring to pet a Molaise. The Molaise was able to escape but the girl was not. That night, the Molaise returned with a copse of Yeretten Trevenant and stole the girl from the plantation. 

On the 1st of January 1830, when Woodford threatened to have every slave on the plantation beaten if they did not present the girl, an enslaved woman by the name of Annette attacked Woodford and others followed her. This led to the biggest and most successful riot in the Yerette region with slaves overrunning the plantation and Woodford being killed in the altercation. His family was tied up and beaten, and when “help” from other plantations arrived, those slave contingents also rebelled. 

Within the week, three plantations along the new East-West corridor were liberated from planters and slaves declared themselves free. In the direct aftermath, Galarian officials in the region hastily recognised this freedom in a bid to stop the spread of rebellion. However, just 4 years later, word would come from Galar that slavery was to be abolished, egged on by rebellions all across the Caribe area. 

In the years following the Merton Rebellion, most slaves fled the plantations, choosing to find work elsewhere, while some remained and tended small plots on the land. However, without a big enough workforce, they found it hard going to contend with the region’s vibrant energy. Eventually, even the hold outs were forced to abandon the land and the former plantation was completely reclaimed by nature. 

It was during these years that ghost types started to take up haunting the ruined buildings. Some of these ghost types, such as Yeretten Yamask and Trevenent contained the spirits of those lost during the revolt, as well as those who perished during the long years of slavery. Other ghost pokemon were simply drawn to the memory of tragedy and pain that enshrouded the area. Shortly after this, native dark types started moving into the area as well, living peacefully alongside their ghost companions. 

In the early 1900s, when international travel started picking up, foreign dark types started migrating to the Mt Clydesdale area without any upset of the native population. The former plantation was left to its own devices all the way until 1962 when Yerette gained full independence from Galar. After that, Yerette had its own government who was in charge of the land, including former Crown and plantation land. 

In 1972, the entirety of Mt Clydesdale was designated as a nature park and pokemon reserve with a heavy duty fence put up around it in order to deter poachers and hunters. Only rangers and supervised researchers were allowed on the land from then until 1989 when it was reclassified as a historical site after petitioning from Yerette native peoples. A shrine was built at the summit of the mountain with a maintained path to it.

The pokemon there lived happily, if a little mischievous, for the next 12 years when the first fairy types were spotted on the mountain. A troop of Clefairy were the first fairy types to gravitate to the mountain, using the shrine path onto the land then making their way up the mountain to the peak. Once at the highest point of the region, they would perform a intricate ritual dance. The first time they were spotted was on a full moon night in 2001. 

For the next 3 years the Clefairy troop would make trips to the mountain on every full moon night to perform their dance then leave in the morning. However, after the troop started expanding midway through the first year, they began staying in the area longer. In 2003 they stayed until the new Cleffa of the troop had evolved, and in 2004 they became full time residents of the mountain. 

The local ghost and dark types were used to the Clefairy troop by then so they had no problem with them, but several more foreign fairy types gravitated towards the mountain. At the same time the mysterious energy of the mountain acted up, causing major landslides and destroying more of the old ruins. This forced all the pokemon into closer proximity and created a more competitive environment. All of which lead to rising tensions and spats between each side. 

My research team officially stepped in in 2008 before any pokemon could get hurt. I was studying under the local professor at the time (Professor Hibiscus) and the issue of Clydesdale was only supposed to be a short diversion from that. After I took a tour of the land though and heard some of the proposals for dealing with the problem, I had to take a break from my apprenticeship to work on the project. 

At the time the popular plan was to remove the ghost and dark types from the area and leave it to the fairy types as they were much rarer and “exotic”. There was a wealth of research and study to be done on them, not to mention the tourism opportunities. However I managed to argue for all the pokemons’ safety and enrichment, as well as the preservation of the historical site, not to mention the danger of the mountain’s energy. 

In the end we were able to classify the area as a poke sanctuary for all three types with a rotating crew on site for pokemon protection, research, and historical preservation. We were able to renovate a few of the buildings, the once great house is our main research lab now, and a few of the barracks buildings are greenhouses for experimental plants.

The former crop land has been completely overtaken by the local flora and the pokemon though we do have a small cocoa crop on the grounds. If you plan on visiting the sanctuary, we do have guided tours that go far more in depth into the history of the former plantation and the ghost types who’ve lived since our colonial past. And for researchers we have onsite archives recovered from the original great house records for your cautious perusal.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this presentation, or at least learned something interesting. If you have any questions, our ask box is always open and we love sharing everything about our lovely little sanctuary. Thanks so much for your time and hope to see you next week. 

[enddaysengine]

Non-Fiction Resources for Eberron

This post is meant to serve as a series of links to resources for worldbuilding. I’m listing them with an eye towards Eberron specifically, but you can use them for any setting. Some links may show up more than once if they fit in multiple categories.

If you know of a resource that you don’t see on my list, please feel free to reblog/reply/DM me to say what the resource is and why it should be included on the list. I’ll do my best to add it in. 

General

Class Central: A meta-database for free online courses across a wide variety of websites. Think of it as Google for online education. 

Crash Course: It’s free, it’s on Youtube, and it’s in a ten-minute episodic format. Started by the Green Brothers, the Crash Course series on Economics, Philosophy, Sociology, and Film History are especially useful for Eberron Campaigns.

Coursera: Coursera is a website where university level classes are available for free. You can also get certifications from Coursera for a fee so you can build your resume while planning your next campaign. If you are doing anything involving dinosaurs, this website is a must have. 

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Dan loves historical “What if?” moments, and with good reason. If you want to hear the most badass historical stories, examine how drugs, alcohol, and human stupidity impacted history, or get a sense of what it was like to live through the most brutal historical eras, this is the place for you.

edX: Another excellent site with free courses that you can upgrade for a certificate. A good place to look for courses in the humanities and religion. 

Foundation for Economic Education: About two dozen course on entrepreneurship and economics. A great option if you want to get into the machinations of the Dragonmarked Houses and the Aurum. 

Google Books/Google Scholar: My first goto for research of any kind, and the first place I advise my students to begin their research. Seriously, I’ve written papers, then had them published just using these two. Use them.

Great Course/Great Courses Plus: GC and GC+ are not free services, but they have such an extraordinarily high production value that you can understand why. History, science, culinary theory, economics, anything you can think of is covered in the Great Courses catalogue. Great Courses Plus is their streaming service, which at $15/month for an annual subscription is a killer deal. 

FutureLearn: Another great site with a wide selection of courses. 

Open2Study: Another solid set of free online courses, this time out of Australia. There are some pretty interesting and unique ones here. 

World Science U: An awesome look at current scientific topics. Offers both Master Classes with experts and introductory courses. 

Writing with Colour: The best place to go to check yourself for unintentionally problematic depictions of POC in your games. Also a great read if you are looking for details and cultural beats for NPCs you don’t share a background with. They are awesome and you’d be surprised how many chronicle ideas you can get just by binging their archive. 

Crime & Law

Addiction and the Brain

The Addictive Brain

Drugs and the Brain

Forensic History

Culture & Society 

Cities Are Back in Town - Urban Sociology

Crash Course Sociology 

Foundations of Eastern Civilization: Lots of great inspiration here, especially for the history of the Dhakkani Empire and Galifer.

Great Works of Utopian and Dystopian Literature

Indigenous Canada: Cultural colonialism is out of focus in Eberron, but it does exist in many regions, especially once you start to dig into history a bit more. There are also some (likely unintentional) parallels between the history and culture of the Metis and that of half-elves. Plus, if you live in North America, you should be taking this course if for no other reason than the importance of recognising FNMI culture, history, struggles, and contributions.

The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact on Pop Culture

Dragonmarked Houses

House Cannith

Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Inventions That Changed the World

House Deneith

Forensic History

House Ghallanda

Baking Pastries and Desserts

Food & Beverage Management

The Lost Art of Cooking 

Secrets of Spices

The Science of Gastronomy

Wine Tasting - Sensory Techniques for Wine Analysis

House Jorasco

Clinical Biosafety Awareness

Drugs and the Brain

Frontiers of Biomedical Engineering

Healing with the Arts

How Music Can Change Your Life

Introduction to Pharmacy

Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us

Medical School for Everyone - Grand Round Cases

Medical School for Everyone - Emergency Medicine

Medical School for Everyone - Pediatric Grand Rounds

Psychological First Aid

House Kundarak

International Economic Institutions

Money and Banking - What Everyone Should Know

House Lyrandar

Agriculture, Economics, and Nature

Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Meteorology - An Introduction to the Wonders of the Weather

The Science of Extreme Weather

House Medani

Forensic History

Introduction to Forensics

House Orien

Introduction to Aeronautical Engineering

Inventions That Changed the World

House Phiarlan & House Thuranni

Crash Course Film History 

Film, Images, & Historical interpretation in the 20th Century: The Camera Never Lies

Healing with the Arts

How Music Can Change Your Life

How to Listen to and Understand Opera

Mastering Stage Presence

The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact on Pop Culture

Teaching the Violin and Viola: Creating a Healthy Foundation

House Sivis

Discovering Your Roots: An Introduction to Geneology

Global Muckraking: Investigative Journalism and Global Media

Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics

The Story of Human Language

House Tarkanan

Addiction and the Brain

The Addictive Brain

Drugs and the Brain

Forensic History

House Tharashk

Energy 101: The Big Picture

Forensic History

Introduction to Forensics 

Mining Engineering

Politics and Economics of Internationational Energy

House Vadalis 

Chicken Welfare and Management: Your eyes do not deceive you. This is not a joke. If you want to get a sense of what House Vadalis may have to consider at the day-to-day level, you should start here. 

Dog Emotion & Cognition: You know puppies are how House Vadalis wins allies amongst the young ones. 

The Horse Course: Because keeping the cavalry functioning during the Last War was mildly important. Mildly. 

The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America

House Vol

Death

Death, Dying, and the Afterlife

Soul Beliefs 1 - Historical Foundations

Soul Beliefs 2 - Belief Systems

Soul Beliefs 3 - How Does It All End?

Economics

Crash Course Economics

Crash Course Intellectual Property 

Energy 101: The Big Picture

International Economic Institutions

Money and Banking - What Everyone Should Know

Politics and Economics of Internationational Energy

Fauna & Flora

Dinosaurs & Relatives

Ancient Marine Reptiles: Aquatic reptiles are awesome and don’t get enough face time with the public. These creatures were awesome, and given how Eberron was originally supposed to feature aquatic nations, this four-lesson course is totally worth your time. 

Dino 101: The ultimate course about Dinosaurs. A must have if you are running a game in Q’barra, Talenta, or Xen’drik. 

Early Vertebrate Evolution

Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origins of Birds: At five lessons long, this course is pretty short, and the content matter is fascinating (says the biology teacher). 

Introduction to Biology

Geography

Antarctica: From Geology to Human History

Introduction to the Artic: Climate

Meteorology - An Introduction to the Wonders of the Weather

Mountains 101: Think the Blackcaps, Shadowcrags, and Endworld Mountains will all be the same because they are all mountain regions? Think again. 

National Geographic Polar Explorations

Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology

Ocean Literacy

The Science of Extreme Weather

Wonders fo the National Parks: A Geology of North America

The World’s Greatest Geological Wonders

Government

The History of Rome Podcast: The best history of Rome you will ever listen to. Conspiracy, betrayal, money, lost glories, and stunning military battles are something Rome and Eberron both have in common.  

Planes 

General Cosmology

 Astral Plane

 Ethereal Plane

 Plane of Shadow

 Daanvi, the Perfect Order

Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning

An Introduction to Formal Logic

Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams

Emotions: A Philosophical Introduction

Secrets of Sleep Science

Why Evil Exists: Dal Quor isn’t an evil plane, but its core right now is so this course can be useful. 

Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead

Death

Death, Dying, and the Afterlife

Soul Beliefs 1 - Historical Foundations

Soul Beliefs 2 - Belief Systems

Soul Beliefs 3 - How Does It All End?

Fernia, the Sea of Fire

The Effect of Fires on People, Property, and the Environment

Why Evil Exists 

Irian, the Eternal Day

Exploring Light

Introduction to the Biology of Cancer

Understanding Cancer Metastasis

Kythri, the Churning Chaos

Free Will and Neuroscience with Alfred Mele

Human Rights: The Right to Freedom of Expression

Lammania, the Twilight Forest

Ancient Marine Reptiles: 

Dino 101

Early Vertebrate Evolution

Meteorology - An Introduction to the Wonders of the Weather 

Mountains 101: 

National Geographic Polar Explorations

Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology

Ocean Literacy

The Science of Extreme Weather

Sensing Planet Earth: Water and Ice

Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origins of Birds

Wonders fo the National Parks: A Geology of North America

The World’s Greatest Geological Wonders

Mabar, the Endless Night

Risia, the Plain of Ice

Antarctica: From Geology to Human History

Introduction to the Artic: Climate

National Geographic Polar Explorations

Sensing Planet Earth: Water and Ice

Why Evil Exists 

Shavarath, the Eternal Battleground

The Decisive Battles of World History

The Great War and Modern Philosophy

History’s Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach

Why Evil Exists 

Syrania, the Azure Sky

Effective Altruism

Giving 2.0: The MOOC

Meteorology - An Introduction to the Wonders of the Weather

Moralities of Everyday Life

Successful Negotiation - Essential Strategies and Skills

Thelanis, the Faerie Court

Animals in Mythology

Birds in Myth

Hamlet’s Ghost

Heroes and Legends - The Most Influential Characters in Literature

Xoriat, the Realm of Madness

Addiction and the Brain

The Addictive Brain

Drugs and the Brain

Emotions: A Philosophical Introduction

Mind-Body Philosophy

The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness

Why Evil Exists 

Religion

The Cathedral 

Crash Course Mythology: Eberron is one of the few RPG settings where Deities are distant and may just be social constructs. The Sovereigns & the Six may be the only pantheon, but different regions worship different sets of gods. there is a lot of analysis in this series that you can draw on to figure out why a region is drawn to a particular faith. 

How Jesus Became God: Lots of discussions here about religious transitions and syncretisms. While modern Christianity is very different from the Sovereign Host or the Church of the Silver Flame, there are applicable lessons for both. 

Soul Beliefs 1 - Historical Foundations

Soul Beliefs 2 - Belief Systems

Soul Beliefs 3 - How Does It All End?

War

The Great War: Coverage of WW1, on a week by week basis, 100 years later. If you’re looking for inspiration for the Last War, there is no place better to start than our own “War to End All Wars.”

The Great War and Modern Philosophy

The French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon: There is a very good chance that once King Borenel of dies, Breland will erupt into revolution. The exact circumstances may be different, but there could potentially be a lot of parallels to what happened in France. 

Human Rights: The Rights of Refugees: Topical in Eberron during the Last War, especially following the Mourning. Also topical in the real world. 

Revolutions Podcast: An excellent look at what happens when people get fed up with their governments. Given that Eberron is filled with rebellions in the making, there is a lot you can mine from our own histories here. 

[apsbicepstraining]

The UK YouTube stars with followers around the world – BBC News

Image caption YouTube superstars like Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, are watched by millions of parties around the world

The UK’s most influential YouTube creators have been identified in a top 10 inventory being developed for the BBC. How do self-made stellars like these become famous around the world? And are they taking over from traditional luminaries?

Becky Sheeran was browsing four years ago when a girl she had never gratified walked up to her, asked for a hug, then started crying.

Becky was working as television broadcasting correspondent at the time, but the girl didn’t recognise her from TV – she recognised her from videos she recorded in her spare time and uploaded to YouTube.

“I will never forget it, ” says the 27 -year-old, from Nottinghamshire.

“She knew everything about “peoples lives”, their own families, my favourite footing, my favourite clothes.

“It was just amazing and ever since then it’s carried on happening.”

Media captionBecky Sheeran makes YouTube videos about grace and her daily life

Becky, who started establishing videos for her TalkBeckyTalk channel in 2009, eventually left TV to concentrate on YouTube full-time.

“Now[ being recognised] happens most epoches I go into municipality, specially if I’m in a shopping centre, it ever happens on a Saturday because there are always dames there, ” she says.

“Really arbitrarily I was skiing last Christmas in Switzerland and I was up the most important one mountain in this minuscule log cabin and two twin girlfriends came up to my sister and I.”

Media captionKSI

These knows may sound unexpected, but there are literally thousands of YouTube architects like Becky who have vast audiences all over the world.

Data analysed by video intelligence company Tubular Labs shows that 17,000 creators have more than 100,000 customers – and 1,275 of these authors are registered in the UK.

Incredibly, 1,477 YouTube authors have more than a million customers, and 147 of these founders are recorded in the UK.

The top 10

Image copyright @KSIOlajidebt

Image caption Olajide “JJ” Olatunji, known as KSI, has been called the most influential YouTube developer recorded in the UK

Tubular Labs has created a directory of the top 10 most influential UK builders for the BBC.

At the exceedingly top is Olajide “JJ” Olatunji, who dropped out of college, but has constructed $4.5 m( 2.9 m) in the past time, according to a Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid YouTube wizards.

The 22 -year-old, from Watford, has more than 10 million readers on his KSI YouTube channel and a “social reach” of 17.4 million when other social media scaffolds are taken into account.

He is best known for filming himself playing video game while commentating on them, but he too obligates comedy videos and more typical vlogs.

His vlogs include one where you chose to dye his mane blond and the other in which he filmed himself for a week to give his viewers a chance to see what he does when he’s not posting YouTube videos.

However, he has been criticised for the content of some of his videos, with claims that he propagates misogynistic positions of women and trivialises rape.

He was also accused of sexually molesting attendees of Eurogamer 2012, a video games showcase.

In a statement in response to the criticism, his manager said he has “been actively evading certain content seen in the distant past and wants to be judged on the great content and quality he gives to firebrands and marriages, without controversy”.

KSI’s brother Deji Olatunji, known as ComedyShortsGamer, is in second place on the list.

His videos appear to concentrate more on humor than gaming, with one of his most popular has become a escapade where he told his mother “hes having” made a girl pregnant.

The enormously popular gamer and comedian Felix Kjellberg, known to devotees as PewDiePie, does not appear on the inventory because he is registered as a Swedish inventor, although he lives in Brighton.

A world audience

Image caption Denis Crushell feels the “One Direction effect” has seen young male YouTube authors from the UK most popular

“What is amazing specifically about the UK creators is that their content excursions so well internationally, ” says Denis Crushell, vice president of Europe for Tubular Labs.

“They are possibly exporting this content to hundreds of countries around the world, which if you think about a TV substantiate and traditionally bred media labels, it would be quite hard to distribute to hundreds of countries pretty easily.”

In fact, exclusively 34% of the audience for the top 10 UK developers is based in the UK, while 27% of the gathering is based in the US.

Image copyright Comic Relief

Image caption Five young male YouTubers registered a boy party mode anthem and video for Comic Relief

Mr Crushell thinks this is partly because the UK and US share the same language.

“What you see in countries around Europe, like Germany and France, is their content doesn’t traveling as well because of the language, ” he says.

He are those who believe there has been a “One Direction effect”, where people who are devotees of the English-Irish boy band favour young male YouTube founders from the UK.

“All of these founders get mass gatherings around the world has only really been happening in the past four or five years, so it’s various kinds of a trend that’s saved on equivalence with when One Direction have been quite favourite, ” says Mr Crushell.

YouTube as a career

Media captionYouTubers like Zoe Sugg and her friend Joe Sugg often collaborate with each other

In joint third place are two other siblings – Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, and Joe Sugg, known as ThatcherJoe – together with Joe’s flatmate Caspar Lee, known simply as Caspar.

They all cinema a mixture of videos, with some of the more popular represent one where Zoe substantiates people how she utilizes her makeup every day, Joe performances pranks on Caspar in the flat they share, and Caspar inserts parties to his girlfriend.

All three are managed by Gleam Futures, a company founded in 2010 to organize what it calls “social talent”.

Its MD and founder, Dominic Smales, laboured in newspapers and radio before growing mesmerized by social media.

“No-one was calling them talent at that time and I think we were the first people to coin the phrase social aptitude, and it germinated from there is, ” says Mr Smales.

“We now have 28 ability on the roster that will probably drive in countries of the region of four billion views this year on YouTube alone.”

Image copyright Gleam Futures

Image caption Gleam Futures was founded in 2010 to organize what it announces “social talent” – people who have immense audiences on social media

So why does Mr Smales believe Zoe, Joe and Caspar have been so successful?

“All of them have the ability to connect and entertain global gatherings who feel like they have a real rapport to those used guys, and they do, ” he says.

“They are who they are and there are no skeletons in the closet and I suppose beings feel like these are people just like me.

“I relate to them as my friend rather than being an untouchable reference on a big screen.”

Image copyright Madame Tussauds

Image caption Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes, known collectively as Zalfie, have their own wax people at Madame Tussauds in London

Zoe has talked openly about having an anxiety disorder and panic attack, so it’s difficult to thought her being the type of person to go to theatre institution or become a Tv presenter.

But YouTube has enabled her to grow so famous there are now Madame Tussauds wax digits of her and boyfriend Alfie Deyes – who is also a YouTuber and shows at digit 10 in the influencers list.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption YouTuber Joe Sugg, shown here at a DigiFest event in New York, has love around the world

Mr Smales concludes people who find fame through YouTube are often very different from traditional celebrities.

“I fantasize the main difference are that a lot of our endowment set out on this travel with reputation not being the goal, ” he says.

“Our talent, they are not so much performers but they are internet entrepreneurs I guess.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption YouTubers like Caspar Lee and Joe Sugg get invited to movie screenings, like this one for The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

It might appear easy to make a living by making YouTube videos, but Mr Smales says this is a serious misconception.

“It really isn’t that easy and it’s extremely, very hard work and all of our expertise production very hard at making a career out of it, ” he says.

So how do YouTube inventors make money, and how much can they expect to earn?

Mr Smales “says hes” get a “small percentage” of promote income but “it’s not until you get a really big audience that you can start being able to pay the invoices with it”.

There are other opportunities to make money, though, such as being sponsored to promote concoctions in videos, or being paid for work outside of YouTube – such as Zoe’s record-breaking novel, Girl Online.

‘Cashing in’ – and criticism

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Alex Brinnand from TenEighty magazine says a lot of young people recognize YouTube as a glamorous position

YouTubers will “never, ever discuss the numbers they are drawing with you”, is in accordance with Alex Brinnand, co-editor of TenEighty, a publication about vloggers and the internet.

“It’s not the done thing, and it’s too against YouTube’s recommendations to talk about advertising in particular and the finances behind that, ” he says.

“But we are to be able be assured that there are more than hundreds of YouTubers out there that are giving six-figure, if not seven-figure, payments from being on YouTube and it only seems to be growing.

“As more advertisers and more labels become interested in them, these YouTubers are really specifying themselves up to cash in on this deal.”

Some YouTubers have been criticized by not making it clear when videos are patronized, and the Committee of Advertising Practice has issued its first lead since a landmark Advertising Standards Authority ruling last year.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Alex Brinnand, who started moving YouTube videos in 2007, said the majority of beings did not see it as a business then

“The majority of us started doing it as beings doing it for enjoyable and we never understood it as a business situation at all, ” says Mr Brinnand, who has been a YouTuber himself since 2007.

“So being thrown in front of labels and advertisers and being offered these crazy bargains is something that a lot of YouTubers are having to learn on their feet and as they go.”

As more parties realise that YouTube can become a career, Mr Brinnand conceives the kind of beings starting canals is changing.

“A lot of young person do encounter YouTube as a exceedingly glamorous enterprise, if you can call it that, and that is because the majority of what audiences see is only a snippet of people’s epoch, ” he says.

“I think they like the relevant recommendations of it but I’m not sure they would be comfortable doing it day in day out for years as these established YouTubers have done.”

YouTube vs television

Image copyright BBC/ Love Productions/ Lucille Flood

Image caption Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, was a fame rival on TV establish the Great Comic Relief Bake Off

Stars from social media and traditional media are increasingly crossing over.

For example, Zoe Sugg was a personality player on TV present the Great Comic Relief Bake Off, while Tv cook Jamie Oliver has two or more YouTube channels.

“We are now recognizing more and more YouTube stars levelling or surpassing mainstream celebrities, ” says Mr Brinnand.

“When we look at Tv or even periodicals we are now beginning to see these YouTube virtuosoes alongside the daddy aces and the Tv stars.

“It’s really changing the face of the national media industry and what we know as celebrity.”

Image caption Jamie Oliver, who grew famous on tv as the Naked Chef , now has several YouTube canals

Denis Crushel has same views.

“You consider beings like Jamie Oliver create a big YouTube canal where he realises that it’s a big opportunity to distribute his material and his call and everything else on a world stage, ” he says.

“People’s attires are changing and is not simply for younger audiences.

“I speculate right now TV is still so large[ but] a lot of that considering habit that happens on TV will be moving online, whether it’s YouTube or other video platforms that gain big-hearted gatherings that’s hitherto to be seen.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Vlogger Becky Sheeran said people watch YouTube for content they cannot get on television

Becky Sheeran considers there will always be seat for television.

“It’s not that video is dying, I speak situations like this all the time and I don’t think that’s genuine, ” she says.

“I make the online macrocosm is wholly in harmony with it because you turn to video for the most amazing material and you turn to video for quality because there’s indisputable quality in a television programme.

“What parties are turning now to YouTube for is alternative, they are turning now to YouTube for stuff that they cannot get on television.”

Dominic Smales makes parties will still watch television in future, but it won’t necessarily be transmitted live into people’s homes.

“Everything is heading towards coming down an internet hose, even though it has continued to be your TV or your screen that’s in your front room that you might exhaust a lot of content on, ” he says.

“This is only going to grow. It’s a seismic switch in accordance with the rules that generations down media and celebrity.”

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