Okay great! So like I said, there are plenty of characters with a place in the plot/there's an opening that I haven't begun to design much yet. Here's a few of the openings just off the top of my head:   ---The tenth member of Tia's unit or love interest of Longwei, Bolor or Arabella (or of characters on the other two major units (C211 and C210))   ---One of two important shifters who work with Lillith (and one who works against her). Or really ANY of her shifters in Ilnithic.   ---Duke/Duchess of the ten houses or their siblings besides those I've already designed (Lola Cel Tradat, Gunther Stahlmann [widowed], Marcus Aquila and Gunther's Sister, Duchess Aydem and obviously Mina and Allen)   ---Politicians such as children/emissaries of Ilnid, foreign royalty or allies, enemies of the kingdom such as storm viking chiefs, bandit chiefs, the pirate king or Supay's men.   ---One of the ten Generals I haven't designed yet (Nia: Mobile, Martin: Infantry, Marcus: Aerial, A Scylla: Aquatic, An Aydem: Command)   ---Procession Staff, there are teachers and department heads I didn't start yet   ---The unit-mates of the remaining House Heirs also aren't designed yet. These heirs are Sirius Cato (love interest of one of Tia's unit and there are his bandmates I never created), Leon Chevalier, Grusha Morozov and Adamantia Scylla.   ---Another mage somehow related to Annie, any of the mage instructors or any adult mages already serving the kingdom.   ---Or really even just a random insert!     Really just hit me with whatever idea sounds good to you.   Then we should start with the basics. Who are they. Age, gender, appearance, background. The fun part is figuring out what you wanna do magic wise! Some magic is more likely to appear in certain races or areas but really people can move or travel so really it depends which you wanna focus on first! A lot goes into the characters in Emynea thanks to the politics and magic!   I've let one other person make a character of their own and he started with the kind of magic he wanted him to have first. I told him the groups/backgrounds could end up producing someone with that magic combination and he went from there. But I understand everyone has their own way of piecing a character together so just lemme know what you think!

Dang, man, that's a lot. So, as a discovery writer I usually don't flesh out my character all that much. I fill out a general outline, and then write the character and see what happens. What stayed the same and what changes, but I will do my best to give you as fleshed out a charger as possible, so you're not stumbling through the dark when a situation or something comes up.   But as I create the character, if you think it's going to work in one of the spots you mentioned them go ahead and put it in that spot, even if I didn't initially choose it. I know writing and things don't always stay the same, so I totally understand if my character can't remain like as self-insert.   Age: 18 20   Gender: Female   Appearance/Physical: straight dark brown hair, almond-shaped brown eyes, somewhat thin, but not lithe. Average height. Looks prettier when she smiles.   Background/Backstory: *Don't really have one right now, but I'll come up with one later*

Okay, so I don't know what's happening in the story (I haven't read chapter 12 yet, sorry.) and I do't know where you're going to go with it, so this character might not fit into the plot you have set up. And if it doesn't just tell me if you want me to tweak some things or have concerns about a certain personality trait or ability.   So for the backstory I want her to grow-up traveling. She's never really had a home, but she didn't really mind that, until she and her traveling group, probably family and friends stayed in one place for longer than they wanted, maybe due to some drought or something that forced them to stay by a nearby town for supplies. In that town there will be a sweet little romance between her and someone in the town. That boy she meets in the town is going to leave a lasting impact on her. I'm not sure if I want it to be a full on romance. (maybe just make it a crush.) But when she has to leave, she's sad because she loved that town. Not because of her crush, but for other reasons. There's a comforting feeling about coming home or going into town to go grocery shopping without worrying if you'll even be able to find food.   And I think that little crush she had made her want to find a place to stay. She wants to have a home and a family of her own, but because her family has always been moving she doesn't want to let them down. And there are still some parts of her that don't want to settle down. She still wants to explore the land, the country. Because of these conflicting feelings she's hesitant about getting into a relationship, platonic or otherwise, because she's afraid that relationship will force her to settle down or travel forever.   When it comes to personality, I definitely want her to have some snark and sarcasm, because that's just me. That snark and sarcasm will be her sense of humor but I also want that snark and sarcasm to be a facade, an act to keep people away so she doesn't have to talk to them, and so she doesn't get into a friendship with them. The thing about her is that she wants to be free. She wants to explore and discover new places, but at the same time she does want a place of her own, and a family of her own. And that will kind of be her struggle for however long you want her in the book.   I think the thought of getting real and vulnerable with someone is something that she genuinely wants, but is scared to have. For reasons mentioned above, but also because maybe she had a friend in her traveling posse, and they were really good friends, so her friend left and she was hurt by that. Maybe they made a pact to always stay together (like some friends do.) And that could have left an impact on her. Maybe at that time she didn't want to leave with her friend, and she had thought her friend was joking about leaving, but when she wakes up one morning to find her friend is gone, she's sad and almost heartbroken. Then maybe several years later she meets her little crush from the town.   Summary: she grew up traveling, and she never minded it, until her friend left. She didn't like it when her friend left and for a long time felt bitter about it. Eventually, she lets those feelings go, and several years later, she meets a boy from a village she and her family have been staying at for a while due to various reasons. She and this boy become friends and she develops a little crush. This crush influences her feelings of wanting to get her own place and settle down to start a family. Once she and her parents leave she is torn between traveling and wanting to find a place of her own.   These feelings still plague her when she meets Tia and her friends, where she comes across as snarky, sarcastic, and maybe even rude, but she eventually opens up and becomes vulnerable with a character she really trusts. She tells that character a little bit about her fears and how she wants to settle down, but she hates the idea of staying in one place.

Definitely an interesting character concept! There's a number of different backgrounds that could work for that. Her parents could've been travelling performers (using whatever magic, its a popular choice in Accia) or her parents could've stayed on as soldiers for the kingdom past the required span. Hell, they could be merchants or artists or you could go a more exciting route like pirates or bandits (like Euan). Either way, lots of options fit for that background.   As for her wanderlust while still craving belonging somewhere, she'll definitely have her fill of seeing the world while in the procession! The only difficulty I'm seeing with her interactions with Tia and friends is her age. Recruits are in AMTP starting at 16 and stay for only two years, entering service at 18. Then they serve until they are 22 unless they decide to stay longer. The exception to this is mages whose training program last twice as long, four years. At the age of 20, she'd either be a mage about to enter service or she would be in the middle of service already. The only in story exception to this right now is Euan, who is 18, but that's because Martin had him lie about his age so he wouldn't skip the training program. If you don't want them to be a recruit that's understandable too, its just something to be aware of if you wanted them to be a cohort to the main characters.   Otherwise, I'm sure we can pick out a character to be that old friend. Perhaps she'll even run into them within the program? All those in the kingdom her age will be somewhere within the compound! I even already have Bolor for example seeking out information on someone he was close to he lost when she entered service (Gan). Also, idk what you want the sexuality of the character to be. She sounds like the kind Arabella would pursue, if she's interested in women, but there are plenty of male options too! I'm glad you've already gotten a lot of her character profile worked out on a number of fronts, definitely broadens her options already.

Yeah, the reasons that's the first option is because I wanted to think about a character concept for some of the other options you had. Either one of the member units for any of the ones you mentioned or the child of one of the politicians. And if her sexuality is really important then she's straight.   But could you give me some ideas. Is there anything specific you're looking for when it comes to those character options?

Well if you want them to be an active character, that tenth member of Tia's unit is an easy choice. I had a character designed but wound up scrapping her and am starting over. That character would need to fall into the Special Division which is pretty much the 'other' of the divisions. People who don't fall into one of the others or who are more complex. Most of them debilitate opponents but not all of them do.   There are also two shape shifters who work for Lily I haven't fully designed yet. One is a Lunil (beast) shifter. I was considering making them native american of some sort but that's not really set in stone. The second is a Ylithuum (earth) shifter. She's meant to be quite traditional (as one of her aspects is) but also very warm and kind at heart. Motherly figure. With either of these, their actual age wouldn't matter at all. They can alter their appearance as much as they want and are pretending to be ordinary recruits at first (though the beast shifter was going to switch to impersonating a specific staff as the story continues). Honestly though, I could easily see shifting the earth shifter's character around to suit the character you're thinking of. Just makes her a bit more complex.   If you wanted to go the route of a member of the other unit, with the other four heirs, that leaves quite a bit open. Sirius is a musician so if you wanted a character who is into music or performing (as part of their set since Sirius handles most of them music) that's also an option and would bring them into contact with Tia's unit eventually. They could also still be a noble if you wanted, a lesser member of the ten houses like Ifani and Orin. It generally goes Duke>Marquis>Earl/Count>Viscount>Baron. Of course, there are plenty of staff who are noble children without being 'the heir' of the family.   And lastly, there is the option of making a mage! So far I only have Annie and Lumi worked out so there is certainly room for more mages. They have a bit of a snobby culture so a mage who is different from automatically kind of 'falling in line' with that culture would stand out but also quickly befriend Annie who can't stand that culture despite her love of magic. Plus a mage can come from literally any background and their abilities are totally independent to this background as well, something they are born with and quickly plucked from the masses for since its such a valuable ability. She would certainly be encouraged to find a place among this community but it would likely leave a bitter taste in her mouth compared to what she's actually seeking out.   As for the romance, I don't have to make that a big thing for this character if you don't want it to be (there are plenty of other relationships already happening). I suppose its just the shipper in me keeping it in mind lol do any of these catch your attention?

First, I think if any romance is going to happen it'd come naturally and I wouldn't force it. If my character and another character happen to hit it off, then so be it. But don't force anything.   Secondly, I like the idea of Sirius, if it wouldn't be too much trouble I would like to have that character. And I think a musician makes sense if she originally started as a traveller. Although Sirius sounds a little boyish. Maybe Siya, or Sariyah. or if you wanted to you could just switch the gender and make it a straight guy instead.   But as for a noble, I can't really see that happening if she's someone who travels a lot. So, I don't think nobility would work.

Oh I didn't mean Sirius himself. He's actually already his own character already (and a love interest to someone in Tia's unit). I meant a member of his unit and possible a member of his band. Sirius is the House Heir for the Cato House.

Oh, gotcha. That works then.   Is there anything else you need/want to know?

Hmmmm. Well I suppose one of the last bits then is what kind of racial magic you want them to have! There are a lot of pretty cool abilities possible! Sirius is the 'enhancement' member of the unit but otherwise nothing else is set in stone. Might have some of the other heirs on that unit but they don't have to be. If they are, Leon would be mobile support, Grusha would be mid-range combatant and Adamantia... well she's probably on her own unit as an aquatic division member. So that still leaves one of two close combatants, one ranged combatant, the special division member, control support and command support.   Other than that, I'll ask you anything else I need once I'm ready to introduce them! Just lemme know what kind of name you had in mind too!

Okay, if you could give me a quick rundown of the racial magic and what those positions mean that would be great. And I'll come up with a name soon, too.

Okay so each unit has ten members. Five combatants and five support (though some support will fight depending on their skills). Two close combatants, one aerial, one mid-range combatant, one long-range combatant. Then there is the enhancement support (their magic enhances or aids their allies in some way), control support (their magic affects the battlefield itself), special (typically debilitates opponents or just plays a unique role of some kind), mobile (can be cavalry or play a more supportive role) and finally command/communications support (generally has magic that aids perception and/or communication between the party).   Sirius has Sonildaz's Aura and Will. He can enhance the magic of others using the sounds he is able to generate freely, like a human instrument. He plays Enhancement Support.   As for magic.... there are the ten elements and each of these have five aspects. There are a lot of them! But essentially, every person has two abilities they inherit from their parents. These abilities essentially give them a connection to a specific aspect as well as allowing a very specific way of utilizing that connection. That means each person has two of these connections and manifestations. They can be of the same aspect or element but aren't actually required to be. They can be any combination! Some of these are more common than others. 'Body' manifestations for example are the rarest kind and generally only appear in specific bloodlines or even in those descended from an Aethid. Others, like manipulation, aura or form are much more common. So its broken down into the aspect and then into the manifestation (how they can use it). These two different abilities then blend together to make up their magic form. Each person is unique in that way. The best place to check out what the options are are the 'Physical Manifestation' and 'Mental Manifestation' articles. These are separate articles but someone can have one of each kind. Or if you prefer specific aspects, each aspect article has a short list of the abilities known to the kingdom under that aspect. There are also abilities tied to the Aethids as well (like Arabella who has Rylmer's Aura and Manipulation).

Oh and even if someone has abilities that aren't quite as visual or physical they'll still have markings which appear in their magic form. They'll match the color associated tot heir aspect and the markings location can sometimes indicate the manifestation. So even if they don't have say bird wings or turn into stone or whatever they still appear different when they use their magic!

Okay, I have chosen two. Kanilwyr for mental and Ranalis for physical, I think. I don't know if I want it the other way around, but, we'll see.   Anyways, could you give me a quick run-down of what thy can do? because I'm not sure how specific I need to be, do I need to tell you she has for example, Ranalis Manipulation and Kanilwyr Eye. And what's the difference between these two, I was looking at their articles and they're very similar.

Those two are fun. Kanilwyr is totally a mental aspect and pertains to memory, knowledge, honesty and information that is considered common knowledge/well known (even if it isn't true). It's the counterpart to Irkath, the Unknown.   Ranalis is an oddball as far as aspects go as it is both a mental and physical aspect. It's a bridge of sorts. It represents the mind itself, thought, psychic powers and the nervous system. Everyone possesses what Emyneans call a "mind space" which is actually generated by Ranalis. All mental magic affects or utilizes this space and it's connection to each of the mental planes. The mind space is generally divided up by and connected to each mental plane and all minds are connected in this way but Ranalis sort of the heart of this. He still doesn't allow people to abuse this however, there are limitations to not overstep into the domains of other mental aspects.   So as far as the manifestations go, Ranalis' Manipulation would allow your character to mess with other people's thoughts or even the functions of their nervous system! Depending on skill and training. A bit of a frightening ability actually. A bit open ended and directed by imagination. Ranalis abilities are rather rare as most of those blessed by this aspect live as mystics and mages atop the branches of Yggdrasil (the capital city for the Scandinavian people of the Fulgurant Mesa). Alternately, it you wanted to play on the physical side of the aspect, manipulation magic could allow for a kind of telekinesis instead. Perhaps they could have both but the telekinesis eats up a lot of magic quickly. A good trump card.   As for Kanilwyr's Eye, this is purely mental magic. Sensory magic of sorts. This would allow your character to visibly see when people are being honest or truthful as a kind of aura or a glow or however it presents itself to your characters eyes. They can also see flashes of a person's memories when they are recalling them. If they peer into a person's eyes they can glean facts or greater details of these memories, that persons knowledge or even the truth of something. Not particularly great for combat but certainly has alternate applications. Would probably land them into the Special Division. Kanilwyr magic generally surfaces in the Sonorous Plateau (Turkish), the Canyon Complex within the Fulgurant Mesa (Roman) and sometimes the Eluzian Valley (mixed European).       Definitely an interesting combination.  

It's so interesting to see what magic people pick out! I think it says something about someone. Like what Pokemon someone picks. The first person to make a character went a very physical route while you leaned for mental. But he became such a fun character (Euan actually)

Okay, yeah that sounds good. I like that combination.

IDK if I'm going to show them fighting but if it comes up, did you have a preference for their weaponry/technique? Most recruits are trained with one melee weapon and one ranged (bow, crossbow, thrown weapons, etc.). There is also options of having a beast or even familiar but not everyone does this (only really strong/intelligent beasts can become familiars). And then the last bit is if they're a bandmate for Sirius, what role you want them to play?

Okay, for a weapon for ranged bow-and-arrow, and then maybe several long daggers. But I don't think she'd have a familiar. And then I think she's actually rather shy and likes to stay by herself, so I don't think she'd be in a band. but if she happens to join, then piano would be nice or violin.   Acquilina Breathen is her name, but most people can call her Lina for short

Hmmm she could work on possibly set preparation? Like if she's artsy in any way. If her parents are performers she'd be knowledgable on that stuff. Sirius handles most of the music with his aura. Or she could help write the lyrics? But then leaves the performance itself to him.

Set design or writing lyrics are a possibility. If anything she knows the basics of it, because I wouldn't be surprised if someone in her traveling group/posse does some performance for money. Maybe not necessarily her parents.

Okay! It may be a few chapters before I can insert her but you'll see her eventually (I'm squeezing quite a bit into the Mesa chapters already). Most likely you'll see her once the procession moves into Alkelbulan. I'll at least try and piece together an article though!

Oh, that's okay. Take your time. I don't want you to force anything into the plot or story you have.   And again thank you for the offer! It was an honor I wasn't expecting to have.

I honestly love character creation! Part of the reason I designed my magic system the way I did is is to let other people imagine what their own character would be able to do and be. Like how shows like digimon or pokemon did for me as a kid. Unfortunately my world set/book isn't popular enough to have a fanbase that has fun with that yet. Hoping it might eventually.   Besides, like I said you've been extremely helpful! I'm at the point with my writing that I need feedback and critique but am getting hardly any at all. It's like I'm just throwing my work out into a void. People are reading but... not giving any feedback. Especially on Wattpad! Not a single view or comment. Hoping its just that my content is too mature for that platform or my 'summary' isn't very good. Or perhaps my chapters are too long? I hate shortening it.

Well, would you like a couple of tips? I've noticed some patterns in your story writing that may help.

Sure, absolutely! Anything honestly helps. I can only criticize my own work so much without running in circles.

Okay, well, first, yes, your chapters can be kind of long, but if they were in a book format with pages and such it probably would only be about five pages maybe a bit longer. I'm not sure I've never tested this. But they're not too too long. However, I will say that usually the length isn't a problem, especially if you're eventually going to put it into a book format and the chapter are interesting enough.   Secondly, I've skimmed through your intro, and I still like it. But it does take a little bit of time to get introduced to Tia. I would say, maybe shorten that just a bit, and make it so we get into Tia's head first, then maybe slowly pan out and start doing more of that third person omniscient perspective that would immediately get your readers attention. And that would help give the readers questions. What does this king want with the girl? Why is she so important? And giving them a specific characters to focus on right off the bat.   One thing that I would like to say is that your characters are interesting. This book is very character-centric and I enjoy that, I don't mind. but be aware that as you write these characters there is still the plot, and since this is probably going to be an epic fantasy with the way it seems to be structured, it's a slow build.   And I'm going to admit, I'm not one for a slow build, which is where your characters kind of pick-up the slack, but here's the problem, they're doing too much lifting. You need to show some kind of progression in the story, whether it's characters developing or more plot questions coming up. And you are doing that, but a lot of people nowadays what with action movies and such don't really want to sit through several chapters to get the answers they want.   So as you go through and write the chapters, answer questions and start giving some pay-offs for the things you've set-up. For example, if you introduce one thing in chapter one, answer it in chapter three. Give some space between the questions and answers, but still answer the questions somewhat faster than what you're doing. And this world is so huge and complex that it probably won't be very hard to introduce more questions once you've answered the ones you've set up in chapters one, two, etc.   And same thing with the characters, try to start showing some obvious character growth maybe about five, six chapters in. Show that they are changing and growing, because people read books because they love the characters. They want to see them have a happing ending, even if the plot, the characters' life, is just crap and everything seems to go wrong.   And another thing I would like to add is that there are some super interesting and amazing things that I would love to learn about this world, but you need to work on when to tell those elements. For example, the magic. The magic is amazing. And I love it. But it's way too complicated. I still only vaguely understand it, and I've read several articles and the book. And I don't want you to cut down the magic. I love it as is.   But I am saying that you should think about how you're going to deliver this magic and present it to your readers. When we're first given a real explanation, and when I read it it was quite a few paragraphs of exposition, which isn't great. So, maybe try extending that time we get introduced to the magic. It's such a vital part of the story that if you use it in the plot, the readers aren't going to understand what you're doing, because they don't really understand the magic.   So, think about the plot, and where you could explain the magic. Maybe if Tia's dad is teaching her a lesson, maybe have him use the magic as an object lesson. or maybe if she uses her magic, have her think it through. Explain to the readers what it feels like to use her powers. OR, and here's another way of delivering this exposition is that you leave how the magic works a mystery. You give it some vague perimeters. Starting it off as a soft magic system, and giving the readers a ton of questions on how it works, And if you time it right, you can deliver a bunch of exposition and they'll love it.   That's basically how mysteries work, right. Questions, questions, questions, info dump with answers.   So, don't worry too much about the length of your chapters, make sure there's obvious growth and progression in plot and characters. And find ways to explain the magic and the more complex parts of your world without giving exposition dumps. If you want a video to help you with exposition here's a link.   Exposition part 1 Exposition Part 2

Hmm yeah I do worry about how I present it quite a bit. I've restructured the 'magic concepts' scene a few times but I have also been trying to add little bits more of how things work here and there and trying to expose the structure mid-fight/action scenes too. I should think about how I can spread that out a bit more. There is definitely more explanation/example of that in the upcoming chapters. Sometimes its easy for me to forget my readers aren't seeing these things yet despite them already being written up. I've also rearranged a bit of the intro so that Ghislaine's vision is the first scene and wasn't sure if that helped or not.   As for the questions and answers... I had a lot of set up to do in the first handful of chapters and I suppose my worry has been 'is this too much and too slow to be interesting?' Like when Tia is in the capital for so long or how dull the valley compound can be in comparison to the upcoming ones (the valley itself can be a bit boring cuz its mostly farmland). Most of the time I'm worried I throw big plot events or answers in too early so I've been very back and forth on that. And yes, character growth will be very prevalent now that most characters are introduced! Tia of course but also others such as Annie, Ifani, Aldric and even eventually Andrea. Now that they are moving out of the valley a lot more of the plot will be picking up too but I do worry the set up might have been too droll or unexciting. I did try to throw in some intrigue with Mina and Supay, a bit of action or Tia's nightmares but I worry it may not have been enough early on.   I should probably sit down and chart out the questions and answers, make a web of what gets asked and answered at what points or I may end up missing stuff. Its funny because Tia herself has a strenuous relationship with Irkath, secrets, compared to all of the other aspects which haunt her. It does at least seem a lot of these are actually assuaged a bit in the upcoming chapters at least. Its getting harder and harder not to just release what I have written already! I may just speed up my release schedule, depending on how things go. I'll definitely have to take a look at those links though.

Yeah, and that's a common thing in a lot of epic fantasy so don't be too worried if your first act is slow, because that's how Epic Fantasies are and that's okay. Every genre has a different pacing level. So, don't be too worried if no one reads your book right off the bat. And besides you're still learning how to write, and a lot of readers in general don't know how to write either.   Heck, I didn't know how to write until a few years ago. So, don't be discouraged if there's not a whole lot of feedback or a large fanbase. Those things take time, and during that time, hone your skills, practice writing out different scenes, and developing characters and plots. Because once you do start getting a big fan base, you'll know that you've improved, and you already have!   Your chapters have been really good, so far, and I can't wait to start getting into Act 2.

Yes I'm very excited, I wasn't sure I'd ever get to this point!! I actually used to write a lot more back before leaving college. It was my main hobby and I still feel I was quite a bit better at a number of things back then. Especially before suffering a number of concussions. I think getting back into writing has actually been helping my neural pathways heal but I still can't pull forward the words as readily as I used to. Thankful I can google synonyms! Despite that, I do think my ability to plan characters, plot and structure everything is much better and my characters are more relatable now that I'm older. I think I'm just at the point where it still feels like my work is invisible but I am at least a lot more confident in my writing style now than even a month or two ago. Its exciting it actually feels I may finish this book for the first time. But yes, I'd say now that intro stuff is out of the way things are going to get a lot more exciting! I wrote a scene last night that was so much fun/exciting that I could hardly sleep! I'm excited to get to that point. I'm starting to think one chapter a month may be too slow after all. I'm finishing chapters a lot faster than I anticipated (I have almost three to release now). I don't think anyone is going to take an interest in my patreon so perhaps I shouldn't worry about 'profit' from it until the book is finished.

That's good to hear. (Sorry about those concussions by the way), but yeah, I know the feeling of being so close to finishing. And I can't wait to start reading those chapters. I will get to them. Promise!. Oh, one more thing I think I should mention about your books, is that a lot of the tension and conflict comes from the character. Like internal conflict and relational conflict. There's not really an obvious antagonist, except for maybe Ghislaine, and possibly the king, but even then we don't really see a whole lot of him, which makes me forget about him.   Just wanted to point that out. It's totally fine if you're planning on doing a slow build with your antagonist and slowly making him more and more of a threat.   But honestly, I hope that people start to get interested in your books, and fall in love with Tia, and start shipping Euan and Annie (Yes, I stand by this couple so hard. I don't know why!) But I can't wait to see what's coming up next.

Oh man Euan and Annie are great and there is still so much to look forward to with them. And not just them. I have at least three other favorite couples! Inge and Ifani have some fun relationships especially and of course Tia herself! Hers gets a bit complicated though. Its so hard to write one of her romances for me though because I absolutely hate them together. But its gotta be done! It turns into such a twist. And yes, the antagonist action is going to pick up. I made it a little tough for the antagonists to get anything done unfortunately. Trying to root out a shape shifter? Very difficult. A shape shifter with dark powers and a great social web? Almost impossible. Its even tough for OTHER shape shifters, who know more about this mysterious species, to find each other especially with Duff trying to conceal her. Coming up with antagonist plots that DONT work has been one of the hardest things for me tbh. I still may not have enough going on on that front but I have some other shenanigans going on to make up for it. Ntm Zalikar himself putting his own plans into effect in the background.

Oh, that's true. And the antagonists can always lie low for a while with you mentioning them or having them in a particularly important scene more moment just so the readers remember that "Oh, yeah, this guys dangerous and powerful and important." One thing to mention about romances just in general, is that if you don't like Tia and the other guy, I guess. If you don't like them together, it will come out through the writing. So just be aware of that, because if you want it to be convincing that they're together, that's going to be a little hard, if you don't like them together.   But if that's okay with you and the feel you're going for with them, then it's totally fine if that awkward, 'this doesn't feel right' feeling is there.

Ah well I'm actually hoping the readers are just as off-put by it. Anyone who's been in an emotionally abusive or manipulative relationship will see it. It's meant to be something Tia will regret, something that is meant to be a kind of mistake of her youth. As someone with little to no social experience she's an easy target for manipulation. Hoping readers will be like 'no no go for the other one!'. This guy's is the stereotypical love interest that most say like middle school or high schoolers fantasize about but this will show this ideal isn't great. It all serves a purpose but... It's just difficult for me because I know what he does later in the plot. But it won't last forever and her 'intended' love interest is still gonna be right there anyway.   Oh and yes, the two primary antagonists will probably have at least one scene a chapter and there are still minor antagonists opposing Tia as well. And honestly, this first love interest is an antagonist in disguise. Obvious to those who knows what to look for

Ah, gotcha. That sounds pretty good and I'm interested to see how it plays out. So do you like to write a lot of thematic stories? because from what you've told me, a lot of the characters and what they do all point to some overarching themes.

I do tend to lean into that, yes. Some of it intentional other times it just finds itself into the stories. A story needs some kind of theme or angle. When I was younger my stories didn't have enough of that, leaving them sort of barren. I can thank some of my old teachers for asking me 'what is the angle?' and those kinds of things. All of my favorite stories have strong themes so I try to do the same. I feel its a responsible thing for an author to do. We learn things from stories and, this especially, stories normalize things we encounter in life. A lot of people don't know how to react to new, unfamiliar things and stories can teach people what is appropriate or inappropriate such as how someone reacts to a trans person or gay individual for the first time or an autistic person. So much media is irresponsible with this and it causes issues for minorities. Like, so many people are disgusted by trans people or find them comical because of so many stories treating them like a joke or has cis characters react with disgust (family guy is a good example of this). I'd like to be an author who tries to be responsible with these things.

I agree. Themes are important in a story not only for the re-read value, giving the book depth and weight and emotion. And it adds onto that extra layer of something personal. I've only now started thinking of themes in my stories, and I'm really starting to see how important themes are. They add to the story and not only does it help clarify why a character does what they do, but it gives me something to care about for a story. I want to write this story, because this theme, this message is important to me.   And I have a feeling that if we did more stories together they would be very thematically involved and probably a bit personal to us.   This next thing is a little off topic, but maybe a reason why people haven't followed your Patreon is because they can't find it. I looked everywhere through your profile, but there's no link to it. So, maybe just update the author profile with the Patreon link. It may take a while for people to start following it, but just a suggestion.

Yes I'm not sure I could write many good stories without them becoming personal in some way. If it isn't personal or jarring for the author how can it do the same for the reader? I think a lot of my characters weren't as relatable before either. I needed more life experience and man did I get plenty. Working with traumatized kids certainly taught me a lot. I also feel I'm fairly decent at describing fighting and injuries through my own experiences with the same (its always weird to me when I learn most people haven't experienced the same injuries or accidents that I have, since I worked in a dangerous field and have always been prone to accidents). Ntm I get a LOT of ideas thanks to the chronic nightmares and very lurid dreams I grew up with. I'm very tempted to write horror since I grew up in such a haunted house! Makes me wish I could just pluck out some of those dreams and experiences for others to see for themselves. Still, I can't say I'm only interested in sharing the bad. I had a very strong connection and experience with nature growing up as well and I think my readers will see some of that in In Their Shadows, through Tia and other characters.

Fair point, and I think the thing about thematic focuses stories is that they're particularly more personal than other ones. Because the majority of stories I've read don't have a whole lot of emphasis on theme and if there is an emphasis on theme it's not execute or communicated well. IF anything it's too subtle or too on the nose. And the one without a whole of of emphasis on theme are fine. But theme is still an element of literature, which makes it just as important as plot and characters and conflict.   And, hey, if you wanted to try to go into some horror aspects with Draconis as it gets worse and worse there, feel free. (You know, when we start plotting and such.)

Yes, though its more likely to be a problem in his earth life! I think a lot of people have this romantic view of country/rural life but as someone who grew up in one of these dilapidating towns, its actually quite a shit show. Stagnation and hopelessness and miserable people who fall for blaming minorities for their miserable opportunities instead of those taking advantage of them. At the same time though, I still want to find some redemption for the setting but this redemption should require addressing this stagnation and need for change. The need to break generational trauma and chains of abuse. Kind of like how we all romanticize these fantasy settings and need to see the reality would be dangerous and horrifying, in between the wonder and magic that we crave.

Fair point, but honestly, anything can be romanticized and everything can be depicted as something awful and horrifying. Everything has some redemptive quality, and everything has some negative qualities. It just depends on what the people decide to focus on.

I suppose I just see so much of people romanticizing 'country life' in media it gives me the urge to present how absolutely horrifying these towns can be. Especially once you dive in past the tourist traps. Some of my old friends from high school lived in some absolutely repulsive circumstances with parents who had already totally given up. Too many neglectful and abusive families for DCS to even keep up with. Even the high school knew some of these kids only ate at the school, offering them free meals. Then working with DCS custody kids in the psych field as an adult? I suppose I have the urge to put these realities out there because so few know just how bad it can be. But at the same time, like you said there is still beauty there. I've met some pretty incredible people thriving or offering love into the world despite these circumstances. Hoping to bring some of that into my stories tbh.

Yeah, I can understand wanting to represent things accurately. Especially if it's been inaccurately represented in a wrong and negative way. But I try to remember that there still is good thins. Sometimes I get so caught up in seeing the bad that I forget that there's still some good in it. Even if it's not a whole lot.

Yes, like I said, some of these people I knew living or experiencing these things were some of the strongest, kindest people I've met. Ntm fun and welcoming. Oh plus I always said 'I love the land but hate the society' when it comes to living in rural areas. There is still lots of natural beauty and crazy shenanigans one can get up to in these places, once you get away from the broken homes. That will definitely be something I hope to display with Draconis. John and friends getting up to some of these shenanigans and John realizing he can still have adventures outside of Draconis. IDK if you've ever been to a rural bonfire or wandered mountain woods or haunted properties or gone swimming in lakes but there's lots of fun there. Plus there are still adults trying to reach out to these neglected kids and trying to offer/inspire better futures, despite how difficult this is.

No, I don't live in rural areas, but I've definitely been out there, and it totally looks like a place full of adventures and mysteries!

I'm honestly more familiar with rural settings and by rural, I mean out in the middle of absolute no where. Unpopulated foothills of the Appalachian, riddled with lakes and streams. Where wealthier out of towners come to vacation in privacy while leaving the neighborhood mostly empty the rest of the year. So I got to experience the great landscape without the society for some time, until I was older. It's where the wildling in Tia comes from. My own wanderings in the mountainous forests. But then I go to high school and find how the rest of the actual county lives. Definitely an interesting perspective. Just down the road, closer to the local factory, kids living in absolute stagnation despite such a beautiful setting. And as for the agricultural county itself, further north? Beautiful and friendly with rich history on its surface but racist and dilapidated underneath this facade. People think of city settings when they think of places with a drug problem but its much easier to get away with it in these settings and the people are quite bored and hopeless. I suppose I am hoping to bring some of this to Draconis, presenting this first before then revealing to both the reader and John himself the beauty that still remains, also underneath the surface, and purpose that can still be found amid such a gloomy setting.

Yeah, I think that would definitely be something interesting to compare and contrast. And I think it would be another emphasis on that kind of Yin and Yang thing. There's evil in good. and good in evil, just switched with beauty and ugliness.

Yeah I mean. There is going to be the stark setting John lives in but as he goes along with his friends, he can start experiencing some of the fellowship, inclusiveness and heartwarming sides of the setting as well. Bonfires, fireworks, going swimming in a lake, family reunions, sitting on the porch at twilight after a hot summer day, hiking, barbeques or lake parties, camping with friends, community events/charity. I know religious bits could be counted among these but I myself have a distaste for these, having seen the worst side of religion in my own experience (plus too many default to this as some kind of answer or redeeming quality in these settings but won't lift a finger to help anyone OUTSIDE of their religious context).

Oh, I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with religion. I personally have seen the best side of religion, and the worst side. So I can understand where you're coming from. But there are a lot of good, kind, religious people, and I'm sorry you've only experienced the worst. I hope I can change your opinion when it comes to religions and religious people. (Although it's weird to call myself religious, because I usually don't see myself that way.)

It's fine. I know it is helpful and inclusive for a lot of people. I've seen the best and worst as well but in the end, having it forced in my face for so long without it actually solving/aiding anything has left me embittered and frustrated by it. Especially in these kinds of settings, it is used mostly as a weapon to limit or even harm others. As an excuse for ignorance or hatred. But like I said, I understand some need it or find comfort in it. Its dreadful how much I've seen it hurt people or even myself. So I may veer away from it despite how religious these settings are. In these places it acts like putting a band aid on someone who is bleeding to death, tbh. Or people are only willing to help other religious people but are quick to turn on them when they mess up or 'sin'. I'll try not to step on your toes with this for Draconis so just let me know if I do.

No, I completely understand where you're coming from. That's why I said I don't think of myself as religious, because my religion isn't a religion. At least it doesn't feel like one. People from the outside looking in see a religion. They see people going to church, worshipping God, and telling people they need to repent of their sins. Religion, right?   And the thing about religion is that it can be used as weapon, it can be used for power over others. If you've read a history book, you've seen this. Religion can be used as a tool to control others. But that's man's definition of religion. That is man defining religion, and putting an emphasis on the negative side.   But I do not see myself as religious, because it is not a religion. It's my belief. It's who I am. it's what I do. And no, I don't believe in my religion because it's comforting or helpful or inclusive. I believe in my religion, because I know it's real. I know that my God is greater than all of my problems, and I know that my God can do whatever He wants. And I know to you, this probably isn't changing your opinion about anything, and that's okay.   But whoever said that the point of religion was to fix things. The point of religion is to give people something to hope for. For them to believe that in the end things will be okay. People come to church thinking that once they've come about two, three times and have thrown up a prayer to God, Viola, fixed. Done. Everything solved. But again that's man's definition of religion. Something that just fixes things.   That's not what religion is. And religion is not supposed to be something inclusive, that's just what man has made it into. Man has made religion into a club, a place to get all of your problem's fixed. But they completely miss the point of religion. Or at least, they don't see what the point of believing in something is.

I've had a long and complex relationship with religion but it was never for me. Even went to this miserable little private christian (nondenominational) school until high school (whiiiich turned out to be a giant scam, none of the teachers even certified). Ntm having traditional catholic parents who ran all of the church events and charities, last to leave every sunday and all that and even served as an alter kid for several years. Some of the worst things I experienced or witnessed came from these super religious people or groups. No matter how much I tried to find a place in or believe all of it... I just don't. It was always empty for me. Then I go to high school and see how absolutely destructive unchecked and brazen religion can be when no one questions it and they use it as an actual weapon to hurt people. I even got into a totally different vague as hell religion in high school that definitely gave me an alternate perspective (actually aided with my own mental illness for some time, allowing me to find the good in pain or suffering) and befriend a number of pagan friends. Man those guys are fun. I've definitely seen the good and bad but in the end, I can't get behind it. At least where I grew up, it does more harm than good. I suppose I'm pretty much an eclectic agnostic, enjoying philosophy and ritual from various places but ultimately saying 'i can't say what is or isn't true but I can try and live a good life, help the world in some way'.

Oh, wow. That's rough. I'm so sorry, you had to go through that. But I can understand when things just don't click. But you basically can neither confirm nor deny the existence of God, that's your belief?

Probably something more complex but that's the short of it. I have plenty of fun theories that I'd say I think are plausible but it certainly isn't anything close to believing in a god of whatever kind. Seems like wishful thinking? Trying to find purpose in the fear of purposeless chaos or simplistic existence. Hoping for something after death at the fright of just... not existing anymore or at least losing who we are now in the moment. Trying to be important or at least more important than other lifeforms. A lot of people can't face that possibility.   And don't worry about it. I've had a ton of shit experiences in life, because of my background as only a piece of it (if I had my own character page itd be complex, long and somewhat unbelievable tbh). But I've learned a lot and can empathize strongly after what I've gone through. Gives me a lot to work with in writing. Tia's own ostracism comes from my own after all, from when I attended that school. It makes it easy for me to write such a character (and doing so is quite therapeutic). Later volumes of my book will definitely explore the dangers of unchecked and abused religion.

Yeah, I honestly had this whole thing planned out where I would try to convince you that there's a God in the world who created you and loves you, but honestly, I'm not gong to force my beliefs on you. If you don't want to believe in God, then don't believe in God, but I'm really curious, how do you think you were created? How do you think you, the extremely complex human being that you are, with DNA being constantly replicated with a near perfect accuracy. How do you think your nerves were made, your brain?   How do you think a butterfly was made with it's metamorphosis. How do you think anything was made? It's so extremely complex, that I don't see how you can't see that there's a God.   But on a different note, I do think showing the good and the bad of religion would make for an interesting and probably slightly controversial book.

I think life itself is incredibly persistent and will always find some way to persist. That, over untold measures of time, life grew more complex as it continues to persists and adapt to new situations. Who knows what kind of incredible life is out there, on other planets, possibly even based on a whole other source of energy (like chemical reactions themselves or who knows what else).   Another theory I enjoy is that everything in the universe is one massive dream, one massive thought. That there is one massive consciousness or soul, split into pieces so the universe can experience itself. We're all just waves, vibrations and energies when you break us down all the way. And of course people may think "if this is a dream, why can't I just start flying or have super powers?" I forget where I heard it but I remember hearing that if this is just one massive shared dream, if its a world which already has set rules (laws of physics and science in general) one mind couldn't change those rules or break them. You can do whatever you want in your own mind or dreams but in the shared one, there are parameters. And for all we know, there are other dreams/worlds like our own (which is kind of what Draconis is, another world with different rules). It's kind of close to the matrix theory but less ominous. The 'meaning of life' simply being to live and enjoy the dream, the life, while you can while keeping in mind we are all still different pieces of the same organism. We're like the cells amid one giant organism.   But again. Just theories and optimistic imaginings. I don't think a beautiful, complex world needs one hand guiding and creating it. Just a bunch of pieces mashing and figuring things out as it goes Growing more complex as time passes and MAN is there plenty of time. In that view though, human creativity is a beautiful gem in that grand scheme. A beautiful flicker. Also, the brain itself is weird because its like the steering wheel for the universe to experience itself. A squishy cortex that drives a weird meat suit, taking in light, vibrations and electricity in order to drive otherwise blindly through the molecules all around it for as long as it can manage before something goes wrong. It's honestly more fun for me to imagine and theorize these things without assigning it all to some mystery figure!

"It's honestly more fun for me to imagine and theorize these things without assigning it all to some mystery figure!"   I can understand that, and I've always been a fan of interesting theories. not necessarily of how the universe was created, but with other things. Like, you know, fandom theories and stuff. Now those, those are fun.

Yes, they absolutely are! I'm hoping to inspire some in Emynea. There is a lot of symbolism and mystery for people to enjoy and lots of complex characters and beings. I'm hoping to see some of this as Tia continues her journey and readers question what exactly is going on with her. I've refined this quite a bit in my editing of previous chapters and finally have a clearer path for this, where it happens and how it happens, then I did in the past. What is Zalikar really after? Is he really the bad guy and if not, who is? Is Tia really changing or losing her self, or is she simply growing into the person she's meant to be, unimpeded? And that's just off the top of my head, surface questions!

Ah, yes! I'm glad you're editing is going well. That writing skill I'm still working on. There are some things that I like to think I'm good at when it comes to writing, but editing. I don't know. I just can't get into it. It's kind of what you mentioned when we were first talking. I know that somethings wrong or off, but I don't know exactly what is off. You know?   And I'm also still trying to find my genre. I've mostly done fantasy, but I've tried a couple others. Some are worse than others. And I don't know. I read a lot of fantasy, but it might not be for me. And I've definitely been thinking about having them-centric plots and stories, with symbolism and things that are really meaningful, but then I don't want it to get too personal, because, I mean, just by sharing a rough draft with someone I'm giving them a little bit of me, of my soul. So, I'm almost afraid of doing theme-centric stories, because it's almost too personal for me.

I think I used to struggle to share anything, in the beginning. Then again, I've looked back at my early work and WOW. So bad! Amusingly bad. Orin is sort of a joke toward my middle school weird fawning over traditional romance figures, funny enough. I mean, yeesh, Tia had some ridiculous love story going on. I skimmed through it and she was at one point dating Orin, Niro AND Aldric in this idiotic web! But we all start off not great! I suppose it may be easier for me because I am a very open person. Add in a previous friendship of mine where said person sort of destroyed my sense of boundaries/shyness whatever you want to call it. And perhaps that was amplified working with autistic kids in the psych field. Those kids ask and share anything and everything! Plus, when a kid is having a break down in front of you, sharing your own embarrassing junk is surprisingly useful for helping them feel better! I know not everyone is like this however.   As for editing.... I am a writer who is HEAVY on my editing. Hell even tonight I'm re-editing everything again with fresh eyes (I do this at least once a month, honestly). A scene can ALWAYS be improved. It probably helps though that I was an English major and have an associates in it! I'm actually quite proud at how much some of my scenes have improved. I was so unhappy with certain scenes in the beginning but now they've becomes something beautiful and well thought out. Lemme know if you ever need help with editing! And yeah, its hard to know what to fix without feedback. Sometimes I do still worry my own current style may be too obtuse or fancy. My parents won't even read it, my dad saying he had trouble with the language -.- but they don't really enjoy fiction and my mother hates anything not 'real' (yet loves horror?). But I mean, we have so many beautiful words which can be woven together in so many amazing ways! I hate the idea of watering it down.   Either way, don't feel too bad about being nervous of sharing your work. I think that takes time and you have to build up a skin, be able to detach from non-constructive criticism. I started out writing fanfiction on fanfiction.net so I got hit with a lot of that really early on! It was also how I learned to avoid making all my protags mary sues or anti sues and not to focus too heavily on describing things like, what characters are wearing or their appearance, when it isn't the right place for it or readers just wont care.

OH, gosh, It looks like you had quite a mess on your hands when you rediscovered your story. But then again, all of our first works are just....gosh, what were we thinking! But thank you for the offer on editing, I'll have take you up on that sometime. And about word choice, general speaking I don't usually comment on word choice in my critiques of your work, because that's one of the last things you do, when doing a final edit. But I don't think your word choice is bad. I think it's a nice style, and I mean, there are times when it feels a little out of place, or a word that's not used very often.   But I wouldn't worry too much about it. Word choice is kind of all about style and syntax, which is really up to the author and how they want it to sound. So I wouldn't stress too much.   And FFs wow, *internally cringing and going through painful writing memories*

Aha yeah middle school brain says 'MC should date ALL the boys!!' so its sort of an ongoing joke for me. Part of the old file was corrupted so I don't even have the bit which leads to these relationship! I have the beginning, a little bit of Tia meeting them and then BOOM skip right to the last sequence leading up to the biggest action scene and Tia is like. Agonizing over her strained relationship with Orin. Then she turns around and has a kiss scene with Niro? Then Aldric is confessing to her in the next scene! I'm left like, how did this happen???

Oh, my gosh!! I love that so much! The confusion!

Yeah I gotta try and find the original file on my old computer so I can see how that possibly developed, if it'll run. Cuz wow. Don't be surprised if you see some allusion to this in the current story, I enjoy making small nods to my original work. It actually all started with a magic-themed journal ! You wouldn't believe how sassy, enigmatic and unnecessarily ominous Duff was in the beginning! So dark and unnerving. I'm trying to bring that back a bit actually, tempered by his backstory. Even Duff is going to have character development thanks to his relationship with Tia. As painful as it is seeing how basic and on the nose my writing was, its still fun looking it over and picking out some of the hidden gems. The relationship between Tia and Aldric late into the first book was actually fascinating past all the teen drama and weird love web mess. Him loving and seeing the good in Tia as Zalikar seems to be changing her for the worse, despite Orin giving her hell over it. Seeing these bits of her were always there and Zalikar is only empowering parts of her which she didn't have the confidence or power to expose. I'm hoping I can integrate this bit into the current story.

Uh, that's an interesting dynamic. I'm sure you'll be able to get there, though. Even if it takes a couple or several edits to. But yeah, going through old work is painful, but really helpful, because I mean, even if you don't really find anything you want to keep, at least you know you've improved.

Yes its good to know I've improved. I might eventually add the original version to the 'in their shadow: extra content' for the laughs, or at least pieces of it. It isn't too bad considering I wrote it at such a young age and even that version isn't as bad as the first attempt. I had a weird obsession with describing every detail of a setting and character appearance back then for some reason. Ntm character interactions being painfully synthethic and unbelievable. I certainly don't enjoy writing in the first person anymore either. I even had this phase where I wrote everything in the past tense for whatever reason? I still do it by accident sometimes and have to go back and edit it out.   On another note! I was mulling over our conversation about religion and came up with an idea for incorporating it into Draconis in a way both of us can enjoy it (cuz realistically, its almost impossible to explore this earth setting without having some acknowledgement of it). We could have the best friend be religious, thanks to his family, while the neighbor could be the stark contrast and having a severe distaste for religion. Then John could be left in the middle but keep his full belief/reaction to himself so that the reader can lean whichever way they prefer. We can also even have the best friend witness some of the weaponization of Christianity for the first time and explore what you were talking about with the miseuse/mistaken 'purpose' of organized religion and this character can has his own little journey going on as he works out these conflicts in his beliefs. As he tries to find the redeeming qualities in his faith despite what he witnesses. Something akin to that, if you are comfortable with that kind of character arc.

Yeah, I think that would work. And I mean, the "weaponization of Christianity" as you put it wouldn't be something new. It's been like that throughout history being and twisted and distorted with the popes twisting the words of Scripture to gain the upper hand on the people and even the king several times. And I definitely think those are good character arcs for both the best friend and the neighbor.   However, once we start writing this, we'll have to make sure that John is as unbiased as possible. Or at least doesn't really have an opinion/doesn't care. Particularly if we're going for the "let the reader make their own choice." Which is really the whole point of being a writer. We use our characters to explore different themes and meanings and gain answers in the process of exploring those ideas. Then we present those ideas and thoughts to the readers, giving them questions and things to think about so they can come to their own conclusions.   Hmm, that got a little off topic, sorry about that.

No thats still very much on topic. Most of the time when I have an important character lean one way or another, I make sure to show a bit of how that character could be wrong or have a twisted view thanks to their own experiences or biases. Make sure its obvious that its biased (like Evelyn being so faithful to the Accian politics, even after all its taken from her). Have other characters criticize this flaw, mistake or prejudice but still let the reader decide for themselves who is or isn't wrong, leaving it open ended or unclear.

Even still having an obvious biased character is important for showing the different sides of an argument. So, going with your example, having Evelyn being so loyal to Accian politics could be helpful in 1) showing who she is as a character and 2) revealing something about the theme/message of the story. And like you pointed out it's an easy, and not necessarily bad way, of contrasting her with other characters, making the differences between her and saw her daughter more obvious.   And by the way, thanks for being so understanding about my beliefs.

Yes I have a number of characters who waver back on forth on these things and while, in the characters' perspectives I give perspective as to how and why they think this way, the error of it is there too. Their mistakes and ways they may have been manipulated or misled. Have them clash with someone else with a different set of ideals and let the reader decide for themselves who is right or wrong or realize the gray area. Let them think about it for themselves. Martin is another of these, loyal and dedicated but prejudiced and misled as well as being a shit father. I think a lot of my characters will be loved or hated by readers, alternatingly as events unfold. They'll all feel the sting of their own mistakes and choices.   And yeah, of course. I live in east TN, I am absolutely surrounded by religious people (I joke this is the rusty belt buckle of the bible belt). I've had people literally slam a bible in front of me or even assault me or friends for not conforming to their beliefs. You stating gently what you believe isn't going to bother me when it hurts no one. I'm not going to disrespect you over it if I can help it.

Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how your characters start to pan out and where their character arcs are going to go. And I will be getting to work on Draconis soon, as well as giving a critique of your chapter 12. But I have my finals coming up so I kind of need to study, but beginning of May. I will start writing those articles and reading your chapter!

That's fine, I'm kind of focused on In Their Shadows this week anyways. Sometimes a story will just dominate my thoughts for a stretch of time. But I'll focus back on Draconis soon too. I'll probably be releasing extra chapters of In Their Shadows this month too so don't feel too pressured to review them right away. They are definitely more fun now though!

Great! I'm looking forward to it!

Okay, so first I numbered them to help talk about them, but I guess the File Manager doesn't know how to count, because it keeps rearranging them, but it's fine. You might just have to hunt around a bit for the numbers.   But these are the ones that are a definite yes: 7; 14; 17; 19   The Maybe's are here 2; 10; 15; 20   And the Unsure's 1; 8; 9; 11; 12; 13;   For 20, I actually really like this one, but I just wish her hair was more of a darker brown brown instead of a reddish brown.   I like 13 more than 12, but 13 looks like it's drawn on.   For images 9 and 11, what am I supposed to be a looking at?   I really like image 8, but I'm only not sure, because she almost looks too old.   For image 10, I really like it, but I wish the outfit or something was a bit more detailed, but I really like how she's looking away from "me"   I like 2 and 15, but I'm not quite sure.The ones that I'm for sure on I thought gave off a very quiet power kind of vibe. These give me almost too much innocence.   Okay, I think that's my opinion on all of them.   You can go ahead and implement the "definite yes" ones in the article, but for the rest I think I'll sleep on those. Just for a little while, anyways.

Yes getting the dang thing to do markings has been frustrating. It just doesn't like my racial magic markings. Except for some reason nigels?? I can't tell you how many beautiful photos were ruined because it kept trying to make her eyes yellow! Wrangling that generator can be like wrestling a fish.

Yeah, I'm sure it's not that easy, but all of your character articles look amazing! And I can't wait to see how the rest of them turn out!

Yeah definitely! And if there are photos that look good except for one or two details, I can actually plug them back into the generator as a 'reference' along with an alternate description and try to tweak them. So if there is one you really like but something is slightly off lemme know and I can give that a shot. I got those four out in though! Of you have a preference for where they should go lemme know too.

EXCEPT 20 apparently. Her hair only gets more reddish each try lol I suppose it's the lighting of the picture. Too fundamental.   Also something I've been playing with more that I hadn't considered for Lina when we pieced her together. Hair. So as I've been making characters I realized hair color is something that could and likely would be affected by these elemental colors as well (or something people would commonly dye to their color as a form of self expression since element is known to affect personality as a side effect of the connection). So I suppose what I'm asking is would you like Lina to either have some colored highlights matching her aspects (or even of another aspect she likes, many musicians will go with teal for sonildaz 'sound' or another of the 'three muses') or would you like her hair to take on the pale yellow, silver or white colors (one or more to your preference) in her magic form? And last question is do you think Lina would be prone to walking around with all of or part of her form exposed casually or for formal events or is she more low profile? It's more common ong nobility but Accian's in general enjoy showing off their forms and integrating them into their self expression/style. This can be the markings or just the eyes or hair colors (if you choose to give her those). Person can casually manifest any or all features of their form at will so its just what youd prefer for her!

Yes, I do actually like the silver/white highlights for her hair, and I think that her eyes would probably change to, taking on a more of that silver kind of color. But I think normally she wouldn't show off her form, except for maybe on formal occasions, if she's ever with the "higher ups" then she probably would, but most of the time probably no magic form. Except maybe on the wrists a couple of times when she feels like it.

Okay, so I think I'm good with these images as is: 2; 7; 10; 15; 16   For pictures that could maybe have just a little bit of tweaking are the rest   Image 1 maybe have her hair just a bit more brown.   Image 8 would be nice if she was maybe just a little bit younger looking and if she maybe had her markings on   Image 11 maybe have the white parts look more like part of her hair and not a ripped up cloth, but try to keep the eyes the same.   Image 13 is good, but try to make the markings more realistic, but if you can't get it to work that's fine.   Image 20 is really nice, and if you can't make the hair darker brown that's fine. The original picture works just fine   But I do think it would be nice if there was a picture where she had her hands crossed over her chest with her daggers in her hand and her marks on her wrists, face and forehead, with silver streaks in her hair and her eyes flashing that almost reflective silver, and add in that gold hairband (I think that was in another photo, but she looked off for some reason).   I hope that's not too hard to do, but if you could make it work I think that would be a nice picture to show off her marks.   And I know you did have some pictures like that, but they all looked weird. Like in one she looked too ethereal and elf-like, and in another I don't think I liked the armor. I don't quite remember them, but I still thought they were pretty, but just not quite right.

Okay I put those into her profile, it's looking good so far. and yeah it's really hit or miss with the AI and a LOT of them come out weird. I hear people thinking it's gonna ruin the art industry but... While useful for people like me too broke and unskilled in art, its very useful. But it's still nothing compared to a real artist can make or getting very specific things out of it.   I do agree I should make a few of her magic form and perhaps in battle (like u said with the daggers). I'll try and fix up the pictures but I can't promise it'll work. AI is unpredictable sometimes. Like... Today it was bad at faces? Or it's bad at specific races. Could NOT get India version of Wylrith out of it. Still. Just glad it works at all cuz my pages look so much better! I was going through a bunch of my stub articles and putting in some basic stuff on them and then somehow wound up on the racial magic page and WOW I never realized how difficult to parse that article was. So obtuse. Hopefully the adjustments I made make it easier to under cuz it's a foundation of this world setting. Guess that's part of why I like working on Lina! I always wanted other people to enjoy crafting their own characters in Emynea.

Yeah, don't worry I totally understand if it doesn't work. But I actually took a look at her article and I think it just needs one more picture of her magic form and I think that'll be good. Anymore would probably make it feel too crowded.

Yeah I think you're right about the over crowding. She doesn't have a particularly long article (being a side character and all) so gotta be careful of that.

Hey, so I'm almost done choosing with last few AI art pictures I want for Lina's article. But one quick question, how many re-renderings idd you have to do to get them to that stage. Specifically the Dagger ones.

Oh I'm not entirely sure. It doesn't like weapons tbh so probably at least a handful. I mightve forte impatient at the end there. Apparently there is an entire editing feature I didn't know about at all! Make it's a lot easier to alter specific details but... Doesn't always work the way I expect. I know I had to do a LOT of tweaking to get the hands right though. too many fingers or incorrect shape most of the time

Oh, okay, thanks.

Any last minute help you want on your summer camp articles? Just finished proof reading mine and thought I could at least offer. I know I didn't help as much as I said I might as I got tunnel visioned on my own articles

Oh, uh, if you wanted to go through and read "The Trickster" "The Vulkanwyrn," and "The Koinos Palace" sure. I think those are all the Draconis articles you haven't read yet.

Zoran is definitely interesting. Adequately complex given his background and Im glad you showed positive and negative consequences of his environment, both skills and flaws in his character.   Vulcanwyrm- first I love the name. I am a bit confused by the 'ive never met one but ive seen one but not at hell's gate' (hella paraphrasing). Is there a story behind that or was it just spur of the moment kind of addition? I like what you have so far as a base and I think there is still plenty of room for improvement. Some of which would involve, at least in the background, developing what the hells gate black rock is comprised of (chemically/geographically) especially since you mentioned it being poison to most others. Also we could do something cool about HOW it eats away at this rock (depending on what the rock is comprised of) with like drill like teeth or the same kind of mouth a slug or earthworm has (multiple rows in a circular mouth) and things like that. Lots of possibilities! This certain acts as a great starting point (and I wish I had read this sooner so I could've provided some research to build off of)   Koinis Palace: was 'its not white' a typo? It's a bit unclear since it then says 'with several parts of the white paint having chipped off'. I like that you tried to show it's age and history by discussing the different layers of architecture and how different materials through different (assumably) technological ages. I'd say the biggest issue is just that it's a little difficult to picture the actual appearance via the description. It's hard to tell what the architectural style is outside that it's a castle/palace and what materials are used where. Perhaps get more specific? These things are difficult to express to a reader overall so you still did pretty well. It's easy for architecture to get dry or confusing and that wasn't a problem for this article.

Yeah, Koinos palace and the Vulcanwyrm were not amazing. But I'll go back and see if I can brush it up. I have a somewhat mild case of Aphantasia, which basically means I can't create mental pictures in my head very well, so things like mystical palaces that are much different from any picture you can google, I kind of struggle to describe.   As for the Vulkanwyrm, I wanted it to be a type of Lindwyrm, but since lindwyrms typically live in woods and stuff it was a little hard to have them "evolve" or at least think of a logical way the lindwyrm becomes a Vulkanwyrm. But with Hell's Gate, I was thinking that why the Hell's Gate black rock is poisonous is because it contains some substance from the Draconic Eye, the rock that repels Draconics. I'm not quite as sure about that ideas as I am now. But I thought it was something interesting to play around with.   But I'm thinking that the Black Rock in Hell's Gate, since it's most likely an Igneous rock of some kind because it was created with fire, etc. it could be created from a mixture of ash and magma or fire, (something that's really hot?), but because that ash is the majority of the rock (the magma or fire would just keep it packed together) if a Draconic gets that into its body or scales its an irritant to the larger ones and to the smaller ones it's deadly.   Now, I've been thinking about your classical "fire-breathing dragons", right, but I don't think they'll actually spirt out literal fire from their mouths. I think they'll just have the ability to relate a chemical that causes a spark and lights the air around it, and feeds of the nearby oxygen. Or something like that. (I'm not great at Chemistry.) But, have you noticed that not a lot of our Draconics breath fire? That's why. Because if they did the ash would get into their mouths and scales and irritate them and do other things I'm sure.   But that's kind of the direction I was thinking.

Ohhh I'm sorry. That must be difficult to deal with as a creative. I'm on the opposite side of that I can't imagine the frustration.   And yeah most lava consists of basalt but all manner of minerals and metals and even trapped gases can make up the rest ntm any organic (carbon) materials caught up in it. Char and ash and even petrified organics via petrification or ossification (it's fascinating how minerals will fill the empty and natural structures of living organisms, hardening into the shapes of things as the organic material decays away). Plus whatever magic stuff going on alongside that! And yeah if it'd related to the eye material that makes sense. Perhaps we can even create a magic mineral that the eye consists of that is akin to kryptonite for the Draconics (just spitballing) But as evolution is prone to do, some evolutionary mutation could've allowed this lindwyrm to tolerate this and eventually led to the Vulcanwyrm subspecies to develop. Eating the mineral rich black rock. Becoming a vital cog in the ecosystem, processing the otherwise harmful substance. A lot of plant life couldve also developed to try and subsist of and process the material too (nature always finds a way to rebalance itself after all).   And yes fire breathing is... Difficult to make actually realistic. Could do any number of things such as organs that spray flammable gases or liquids and perhaps some kind of sparking mechanism in their mouth or teeth. Lots of fun in the various means they could use aside from magic itself. Could have a mix between evolutionary mechanics and magic tbh. Because like you said, breathing fire from within their body would be unpleasant and impractical. Bad for the body. I mean I'm sure there would be SOME draconics with the ability to do so, likely the much bigger Draconics, but any common fir breathing draconic would have something more practical.

Yeah, sometimes it's frustrating, but things like this and doing an unnecessary amount of googling pictures helps (for me personally anyways, I'm not sure about other people)   But I'm just about to go through the Vulkanwyrms article, so I'll see if I can incorporate more aspects of the Hell's Gate rock.

I've always had an amazing ability to visualize things, enough that I can get totally lost in daydreams. Sharing it with other people is the difficult part. I never really thought of NOT having that, especially for creativity. I do get the Google picturing though I tend to hoard pictures like a dragon horde. But mostly because it's exciting to see some of my ideas that's sharable with other people (probably why I like the AI generator so much). If you're ever stuck and need help with this kinda stuff just ask and I'd be happy to help!   And good luck with the article! Lemme know if you need any research on something specific, my stuff is all wrapped up and I'm just making character images for ylithuum today. At a more leisurely pace

Yeah, I will thanks!   Okay, sounds good