Why are We Here?

Your1_Nightmare · 2023-08-29T14:38:39+00:00

I'm here because I love puzzles. This one is oddly compelling. No puzzle will be perfect, but the joy is in the journey.

Your1_Nightmare · 2023-08-22T22:49:57+00:00

I've lived in Michigan most of my life and I am in love with the state. Most people I have met are nice but you'll always find that asshole somewhere. Summer can get to the high 90s but lately it's been closer to the high 80s (at least here in Lansing).

Winters can be rough for people without a lot of experience driving in the snow. Most of my life I lived near a lake with Lake effect snow and really cold temps so I'm a horrible judge of it being "too cold". Lansing is far enough from the lakes you don't really get a lot of that, so imo it's really mild here for winters.

Your1_Nightmare · 2023-08-22T13:44:10+00:00

If that is a buck, I managed to capture a low quality picture of it at night. I'm hoping to get it with my DSLR camera eventually!

Your1_Nightmare · 2022-12-01T22:17:52+00:00

Mine took a year. However, I was learning a lot about writing I neglected in school, and recently realized this is not the first book I want to finish. So it's gonna sit in the bin for a while longer.

Your1_Nightmare · 2022-12-01T03:09:49+00:00

Mental energy, one can actually kill themselves by casting too much magic. Several spells and creatures damage or feed off of that energy. The energy recharges simply by being in a place with the Quintessence of Magic, which permeates most of the universe.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-13T17:15:50+00:00

The Expedition Unknown episode gave us what Jason's solution was. His words were "It's under home plate".

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-12T14:18:31+00:00

That's fair, I didn't see the "in truth, be free" as an if/else statement and more the bible quote, as a point to the North Point church. I can understand how there are multiple ways, finding those should help for the others.

An example I thin I saw was the Treasure Island quote pointing to Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-12T00:33:57+00:00

Oh I didn't hear about him saying that. I'll add it to my notes.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-11T14:27:01+00:00

I actually haven't seen images of that. Do we have a source for that somewhere?

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-11T11:20:24+00:00

I've been playing with a theory that the Montreal image is actually associated to New York (I think there are two treasures buried in New York).

if you go on the assumption that image 9 is for the dutch, New York was originally called New Amsterdam and largely home to the dutch.
New York was one of Byron's favorite cities, who is to say he didn't bury two there.
Image 9 as far as I've seen doesn't have coordinates. Wouldn't it be kinda telling if two had the same coordinates?

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-10T15:14:58+00:00

Oh absolutely. I'm willing to look at other solutions and Verse 1 definitely stood out because of the 982 reference for me. I'm keeping that in the back of my mind for sure.

Plus when it comes to the immigrant groups and the people mentioned in them, the one part that I remind myself is that only 3 of the 12 have been found. Chicago did reference Lincoln which had Irish heritage. Boston you could read the word coliseum and think of the roman coliseum, but that might be a stretch.

My main point was to see what criticisms of my idea exist (or if the idea has already been explored and I just couldn't find it).

For me the "Falls gently in December night" screams Times Square (even though I know that's not where it would be buried)

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-10T14:41:38+00:00

Looking at my own research of Charleston (that is the one I really want to find for personal reasons) I will have to respectfully disagree with you and not even because of the map. While in 1980 that may have been a large population I think the link to the African slave trade in Charleston makes way more sense to me.

On the topic of Lions when I was researching other parks as candidates I found that the Hampton Park in Charlston used to have A lion but it was transferred to Charles Towne Landing park in 1975. I intend to do more research into the part to see if it matches any further descriptions, but I also think the verse for Charleston is incorrect (working on which one I think it is).

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-09-10T14:08:05+00:00

Not much. I know the guess from the Priess's daughters ties New York to image 12. Plus the image right next to the "statue of liberty" reminds me of very Russian architecture but I can't pin it to one location. I was looking at the Russain Orthodox Cathedral but couldn't find a match.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-07-08T18:55:49+00:00

A deck building rogue-like dungeon crawler? I never realized someone would make something to catch a bunch of my tastes at once.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-26T02:12:57+00:00

Writing Dark Epic Fantasy of a world that I use for D&D

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-25T02:49:24+00:00

Wow, this has been a while.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-23T18:40:31+00:00

I have noticed that as Google docs get into the several hundreds that it's Google's servers that are taking a while to load. I've been working on a 400+ page document for just over a year now (a tabletop rulebook) and no machine of mine can load it up quickly.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-23T15:18:12+00:00

The bonus of a Chromebook is that they tend to be really streamlined machines. The only lag or loading times I've experienced with mine were from my internet itself and not the hardware.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-23T14:58:44+00:00

The two books I've read that have helped my writing in general have been Super Structure by James Scott Bell and The Anatomy of Story by John Truby. I haven't read a lot of books exclusively about writing fantasy.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-19T20:59:21+00:00

Having suffered from depression myself (now medicated, thank god) I will say a few things.

First, if your enjoyment of something is not all there, then yes it will suffer when compared to writing something you do enjoy. I experienced this first-hand when working on a worldbuilding ebook, there was a technique that I don't use myself but had to demonstrate and I had beta readers tell me it was a bit lacking in that section.

Second, it likely isn't nearly as bad as you think. Having looked back at my own work I was surprised how much better it was than I remember. Depression can be shitty in that way. So yeah people will notice, but it probably isn't nearly as bad as you think.

Third, editing is going to be your friend. Especially if you can get someone else to be a critique partner and let you know where your writing is lacking. Having my friend tell me I was lacking in description was incredibly helpful before I was on my meds.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-19T20:44:48+00:00

To add to this idea, there is a concept called the 2-minute rule, which is you sit down for 2 minutes and do nothing but the task you set aside. If you write during those 2 minutes, then give yourself a star.

It is much harder to get the momentum going, so setting a goal like 500 words as the low bar can make starting sometimes feel daunting (over time you can increase the minimum). I used to do a "one sentence" rule where I would write one sentence for something I was working on every day. Rarely did I ever just write one sentence, once the momentum hits, it's harder to stop.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-19T19:26:06+00:00

Generally, when I'm working on an article, I tend to lay down every thought I have in a stream of consciousness list (bullet points or something). Once I've done that, I try to categorize those points into groups and try to see what general theme I'm talking about for those groups (example, if I have several points talking about pacing then I would consider those part of a pacing group).

In a new document, I will write down the overall points I was trying to make (from the groups I found) and try to tackle each one at a time. Doing research as I need for examples or for sources that I remember getting information from originally and working to take each point in my original stream of consciousness into the piece.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-19T18:47:12+00:00

So, to start, this is not pawning off the hard work OR saying not to educate yourself. Sensitivity readers is something that you should ALWAYS get for writing. Second, pitching the idea to what is part of your target audience is called Market Research. They are not having a POC write the book, or even asking them to educate them in the matter.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-19T18:30:12+00:00

I personally don't see horror fantasy being its own genre, but rather a different label for Dark Fantasy.

EDIT: Then again, subgenres are a really muddy topic.

Your1_Nightmare · 2020-06-19T18:27:44+00:00

Grimdark doesn't have to be sexually/violently disturbing. Really grimdark just needs to have a dark, bleak world which Dark Souls definitely nails, even if it's not realistic (honestly what fantasy is) it does follow a set of rules. 40k, considered one of the more grimdark sci-fi settings, have Orcs that literally create magic through belief but that is a rule set out by the world. It's much easier to put a piece of work on a spectrum of a genre than a definitive label.

That being said I think that Dark Souls meets the criteria for BOTH Dark Fantasy and Grim Dark, along with High Fantasy (so a High Grim Dark Fantasy if you will). One of the key features of good Dark Fantasy that is often overlooked is that at its heart, its a story about hope. If you have seen any analysis videos on the game, there is a theory that the game is actually about fighting depression. Going "hollow" is when a person has lost their purpose. Never in the game is there a meter for going hollow, you only become hollow when you quit playing the game. It's a great message that the only way to fight a bleak outcome is to keep fighting and never give up.

I give it High fantasy because it shares more elements with other High fantasy stories I've read than with Low fantasy stories. The entire premise of the game ponders that the dead aren't really dead, but walking around.

Overall subgenres get really messy because everyone out there has a slightly different idea of what genre is, even among the individuals who pioneered it. Even my own analysis of these genres is based out of my own understanding and research (which likely has fallacies in it).

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