Carl Sagan Quote (Supposedly. Internet isn’t always honest.)
(A poem about missing the creativity we had as children. Feels like adults can’t even try to fly as high as kids. Maturity definitely comes at a price.)
I remember older days
When my mind would wander
Taking flight in vivid form
Leaving reality for visions
Where all my senses stirred
I remember wrestling bears
And playing games with dragons
Monsters stalked me
As I walked along with legends
Birthed from my limitless mind
An innocence of thought
That I treasured above all facts
A power I took for granted
Never dreaming
That the flights would end
Facts and fears fill my mind
As I move from boy to man
My visions begin to dull
Until they are shadows
Of the worlds I wandered
I try to fly again
Hoping to stir the power
Long ignored for practicality
All I find are glimmers
As reality strangles me
This is going to be a strange and awkward topic. I’ll connect it to writing after I give the initial catalyst event.
So, I had to deal with two people who don’t always get along. I brought up a complaint one of them made to me about the other. They were then accused of always exaggerating things, which causes trouble. While I agreed, there was an emotional side of things that made me understand why things felt bigger to them. Of course, a few minutes later, the other person made an accusation about an event I knew of and they went all in on exaggerating things. Let’s just saying pointing this out didn’t go in my favor because I was told that they are telling the flat truth.
That event had me thinking about how many people will exaggerate things, but believe their own words. I used to think this only happened when a person repeats the same life over and over again. They say it so often that they get themselves to believe that was the truth when it wasn’t. Basically, they gaslight their brains and it becomes a challenge to get them to admit what really happened. When you have people arguing over a event and even one of them is exaggerating, you can’t get anywhere. Either they have to suck up their pride to admit they went too far or dig in their heels. Sadly, I tend to see the second option.
Exaggeration on a low scale can effectively get people on your side, but it tends to fall apart when you make things too big. At that point, those who don’t blindly agree with you or are actually thinking about your story could turn. The story transforms from a simple retelling to a flat out lie. Many times, an exaggeration of a real life event is done to boost the speaker’s ego or tear another person down. Heck, I’ve seen a few people achieve both of those goals in the same conversation. Flat out manipulation, which one could consider toxic, harmful, and possibly evil.
Unless you’re an author telling a story where you want to make your world and characters as colorful as possible. Authors have a long history of using exaggeration to boost the effectiveness of a story. It could be with describing the world or the characters, but they come very close to breaking the suspension of disbelief. Fantasy authors do this a lot for creatures and battles too because one feels like they have to push extra hard to get a truly fictional world across. Don’t know what I would do without my army of adjectives to help me describe things. Can only say ‘large’ or ‘huge’ so many times, which are milder versions of exaggerations.
Even with writing, you can go too far with exaggerating things. This can happen when you describe one thing in a ‘normal’ way and then exaggerate something else to the point where they don’t mesh. It’s similar to a liar who doesn’t know when to quit and pull back on the fibbing. The author just goes a few steps too far and damages what they have previously made. For example, describing a cavern as being the size of a small house because you aren’t thinking much about setting. Then, you have the characters run into a monster with exaggerated features like enormous body, limbs that stretch for miles, or a mouth that could swallow an adult dragon. The two things don’t always add up in the mind of the reader, especially if the author made the cavern bigger in their mind as they wrote. Oops.
My question about exaggeration being effective really does appear to depend on how far one goes. Like any type of lying, there is a line you shouldn’t cross if you want to be believed. The other person’s trust in you is important because they can’t look very hard at the exaggeration before it crumbles. I definitely see it as a potent writing tool, but one with sharp edges that you can get yourself with. An author can’t always tell when they’ve gone too far because their minds adjust things in real-time. Hence, use exaggeration with caution if you want it to be effective.
The finale of War of Nytefall wasn’t an easy story to write. Having to juggle the aftermath of the previous volume, I put myself into a rather difficult corner. Can’t even do a synopsis without spoilers. I’ll just touch on the memorable challenges.
Eulogy was originally going to have a lot more politics in it. There were treaties and arguments being made to create the future Clyde wanted, but it was messy. I couldn’t have him be there since he’s not a diplomat, which is why I created Alexis Nucian. Putting Titus and Lost in the political situation helped too because I wanted them kept away from the action plots for a bit. They also ended up being the better characters for this situation since they were inexperienced. I liked having the Dawn Fang group being more human and relatable than the others involved in the treaty debates.
Once I got that situation settled, I had to tackle the ‘evil Clyde’ storyline where reports of Clyde killing mortals were appearing. I know evil twins are cliche, but I had a special twist that required this to happen. A heartbreaking one too. The original plan was to have the readers unsure if there’s a fake, but I established Clyde as having limits. So, I went with it being clear from the start and the priest investigating the claims was going to have doubts to keep him viable. If I made Magrus the Purifier hate all vampires and never believe Clyde could be innocent, he would have been fairly two-dimensional. Making the ‘evil Clyde’ storyline not be one where everyone believes he’s gone berserk helped me build to the big reveal.
The giant issue of Xavier and Clyde no longer despising each other was the final challenge of Eulogy. I needed them to have a final battle and it had to be good. So, I had Xavier fall to jealousy and try to sabotage the peace talks, but that only maintained his role as antagonist. The key ended up being Nadia Sylvan, who I had left hints at creating a nasty plot against the Dawn Fangs. Having established that Xavier loves his wife and would do whatever she wants, I kind of moved her into the main villain role. Still unsure if she was really there the whole time, but it helped with this problem. By the time Xavier and Clyde faced off, the two of them had freshly hurt each other enough that there was no way to avoid a fight to the death. I liked this because it was Xavier’s powerful magic against Clyde’s monstrous physical abilities, which ended up having another reveal that I created on the spot.
Do I think Eulogy came off perfectly? There was a bit too much improv than I liked, so I’m unsure. The outline became useless halfway through as I dropped political scenes, added fight scenes, and went through eliminating about 75% of the cast. This was supposed to be a brutal, high body count adventure to create pain for both sides of the conflict. Not easy to do with a large cast that has remained relatively untouched throughout the series. I did that because I wanted Clyde pushed to the brink of his humanity by losing so many loved ones. In that respect, I think it worked out really well, but I changed direction as I went enough that I can never be certain I went the right way with this. Not many people read it too, which doesn’t fill me with excitement.
Question time!
What trait do you think is important for a diplomat?
If someone nearly destroys the world, should they be given a chance at redemption?
Can a hero lose their humanity finishing their quest and still be considered the victor?
Good morning and welcome to our little shop. We are dedicated to making the perfect pair of glasses for every customer. Just give my your prescription and I will begin the tour of our wares. It is very important for you to be comfortable and confident in your eyewear since people will see it before they notice your face. Colors can be discussed later since we can do whatever you need, including colorless frames. In fact, let’s dive right into that section now.
Frame shape is essential because every face is different. You might have one that works best with oval while your friend looks gorgeous with rectangular. Big frames are nice, but won’t do well on a small head. The same goes for small frames on a large head. I can see that you are in the middle, which gives us many options. Perhaps a fancy cat-eye frame or even aviators. No . . . Well, we do have swooping corners with some going up and others going down. Fish-tails is a style where the outer sides fan out. Dodecahedron is another popular shape. If you wish to be really daring, we have our Escher frames where one can’t figure out where the glasses end and your face begins. Okay, we’ll go with the exaggerated upwards swoop.
Lens thickness is determined by your prescription, but we have plenty of additions. The usual scratch and UV protection. Transition shades are another option that many want to avoid needing separate sunglasses. We have a heat vision option, which activates in the cold and helps you find warm places. There is the typcial x-ray vision, but people get upset when they learn it will look through skin as well as clothing. In other words, you won’t have any luck checking out the naughty bits of other people. This option holds the record for most returns, but we warn everyone. Telescopic vision is for those with severe nearsightedness and we have a sale on that. Peripheral warning system will give your temples a buzz if they sense an impending collision. It can be rather sensitive and react to insects, especailly mosquitoes. So, you want the basics, heat vision, and peripheral warning system. Good choices.
Accessories are the next category and we have plenty. This strap can connect to the back of your glasses to prevent losing them. It’s a simple selection of silk, thin, thick, braided, invisible, sentient, and antiperspirent. Here is a collection of various baubles we can dangle from the sides. All of they are designed to only swing outwards to avoid hitting you in the eyes. Took over a year to realize that problem. Other options are laser pointers from the sides, headlights for evening runs, holographic projector, picture-in-a-picture, and eye color changing. That last one only works while you’re wearing the glasses, so know that it isn’t permanent.
Finally, we have glasses cases. We have wood, plastic, and metal. Nothing special about these. Well, they all have an automatic cleaning function that activates when your glasses are inside for more than 30 seconds. Buffs out scratches too. That’s really it for this and the rest of the process. We can get your glasses to you within a week after we bang out the final details like color. Thank you.
Three of these Bellbirds are found in South America while the vulnerable Three-Wattled Bellbird is in Central America. They are all part of the ‘cotinga’ family, which are birds that live in or near forests. So, what are bellbirds?
They are known for being very loud, especially the White Bellbird at 125 decibels. They are sexually dysmorphic, which means the males and females look different. Males have either the wattles or bare skin on their face with brighter white coloring. Females are more olive with yellow streaks to help them blend in while on a nest.
Let’s just get to the pictures and videos since they are an auditory experience.
I made it to summer break, which is bizarre considering it’s mid-August. Guess that week between the end of the school year and start of the summer session would count, but it didn’t feel like it. Now, I have 1.5 weeks before I’m back at work . . . I know beggars shouldn’t be choosers, but that still hurts.
The last week of summer session was filled with activity, but nothing was really worth posting about. All of the kids had fun. The adults had some fun and I think our sanity survived intact. Final field trip was to the big mall nearby, which was the smoothest trip all summer. Even I got to buy a few things, which was great since I learned I had about $50 credit to use at the Lego Store. Got the two newest botanical sets to continue making my room pretty without needing to water plants. The week ended with a pizza party picnic that included bubbles (bubble tornados to be specific), attempts at kite flying, and a lemon lime cream cheese pound cake. Tasted really good. Anyway, that brought about the end of the work period of the summer and my son finished camp.
For the next week, I’ll have my son and that means a lot of . . . appointments. He has a bunch of things that have to get done and they can’t be done during the time he’s with his mother. Just bad timing, so he has 4 appointments. Monday is fairly shot along with Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. So, we’re going to try to make the most of what we get, including getting haircuts. We both need those.
The outings are mostly going to be for Pokemon Go since there are a few single period events and the one going on for the next few days. Those are easy to factor in since I play now too. Today is our traditional summer trip to the big zoo, but we’re meeting up with my sister, BIL, and niece this time. My car was fixed just in time for that, but no real story there since it was maintenance. Wednesday is a trip with my parents to the New York aquarium for the morning. Beyond all of that, we might get ‘LOTR: Two Towers’ in using the two butchered afternoons. My son wants to work on art, so he’ll do that while I work on a writing project.
Speaking of writing, I managed to get all of the hand edits typed into Darwin & the Avenging Elf. That means I can dive into Darwin & the Demon Game once I get back from Oswego. I still plan on only doing notebook work. I’m also borrowing my son’s Chromebook for anime watching when I need a break. So, I won’t be doing any typing or setting up blogs. Everything through October is done, but I don’t think I’m going to dive into my November topic list until after the break. At most, I’ll set up the poetry and teasers posts. For the most part, I want to get my mind turning towards ‘Phi Beta Files’ and anything that comes after that.
The only other event that happened this week was a negative. Last weekend, I was out in the heat doing Pokemon Go a bunch. I hydrated and got indoors before I got too overheated, but it was enough. So, I started the week fairly tired and it became a long drag to get to Friday. Other events triggered my anxiety, so I didn’t get to start any of the packing. Made a list for it and instructions on how to design my son’s Halloween costume, which I might start this week. Probably should do that since I need his body to get proper measurements. Kid is turning me more and more into an amateur (and terrible) seamstress. The worst part about sewing for me is getting the string through the eye hole and those dang helper things never actually help. At least I know where to get a lot of the parts.
Nothing else to mention about the future since it’s all appointments, outings, some form of art, and packing. I’m going to have less ‘me’ time in Oswego than I planned, but I don’t mind seeing old friends. One goal I have is getting up there before this exotic candy shop closes at 9 PM. It won’t open again until Tuesday and I’ll be on the road by then. It has flavors of KitKats and Lays chips that are normally only found in China and Japan. Want to buy a few to snack on that Monday when I’m doing most of my writing. I’d bring some back for my son, but the ingredients are supposedly in Japanese or Chinese, so I won’t know if he’s allergic to them.
Well, we did elves and dwarves. Always felt orcs were the third fantasy species that showed up all the time. Sometimes they are simply goblins, but they usually have the same themes. Definitely big stereotypes with these guys too. So, what are they?
They are ugly.
They are savage and vicious.
They hate everyone and everything.
They are evil.
They only eat meat.
They are bandits who are out to rape and pillage.
They are stupid.
They smell bad.
They live in harsh landscapes, but leave to attack others.
They are cruel.
They are monsters.
They obey more evil beings.
They have no interest in art or civilization.
They are always dirty.
You get the point. This is why I changed the orcs in Legends of Windemereto be more than monsters. I felt like they were always what you see above even if they were thrown into a non-fantsy setting. I still made the males kind of ugly, but the females are gorgeous with the same strength and prowess as their counterparts. The idea was a ‘beauty and the beast’ species where looks don’t mean anything to them. Still had to skew it towards human asthetics to get the point across. A few stories have come out with orcs as more than violent threats to the prettier species. Maybe things are changing.
Legends of Windemere 