WA SUMMER CAMP - 2023

Well it's time again for summer camp, my favorite WA event of the year! I'll be putting my thoughts down for article ideas and inspiration during the event.

Camp Homework Challenge Page Challenge Page My Articles

Plans

No pledge for a badge level, because I'm pledging to do "camp chill" again this year. I really need NOT push hard for a while after the insanity of last spring (trip to Japan, book #2 release, and DD's graduation). Articles that make sense for my Liminal Chronicles world and series for book 3 (name TBD) + some exploration just for the fun of it will be my priority. I'm not sure how many of the prompts will work into it. Usually most do, as the prompts have been amazing over the years. I expect to do at least the bronze, if not silver.

Soujou-bou says don't overdo it!

by Freepik

Plans for this Summer Camp include:

Sorting out all the little snippet notes and ideas I left for myself over the last 2 years

Deciding which characters, locations, and fun magic I'd like to focus on in book 3

Exploring! (This lead to great things for the books in the past.)

Nnie's Camp Chill Guidelines

Camp Chill (ID 4574878) by Rin Garnett

- Remember the prompts are suggestions, not requirements.

- Write what you're passionate about, leave what you aren't.

- Relax when you feel tired.

- Fight off any pesky brain-squitos trying to make you doubt your work.

- Don't abandon your non-summercamp goals! Write that article you're itching to write, even if it doesn't fit any prompts.

(Shared with permission from Annie Stein. Read her thoughts on 'Camp Chill' on her Camp Pledge.)

To use this block on your own camp pages: [block:1050823]

Seasoned Worlds Extra Credit

I finally filled out the meta, at least the parts that make sense to share.

Went through my articles and made sure they were in the right categories and mostly alphabetized. (A few things like putting Umeji first in the characters aren't in alphabetical order.)

Wanted to go through tags, but it didn't not happen.

Ensured images were sorted into categories so they're easier to find.

Prepare for spoilers. Many are hinted at or revealed in book 1 and 2.

THEMES

POWER

Which are the powerful organizations within your world setting? Who are the powerful individuals? What kinds of power do they wield and what are their weaknesses and needs?

Power blog post by Janet Power and relationships are a good topic for Liminal Chronicles and should be explored more. Ideas

Ideas to use...

Political/Military/State

Sumichou is still unstable and a force to be reckoned with. What fills the power void after the Akumakai? Does the League stick around as much as needed to keep stability?
Ibaraki is without her source of power, how will she cope?

Energy/Strength

Ki batteries will be in demand. The creator will soon be uber rich. Will fakes be on the market, especially in Sumichou? Will yokai starve themselves of ki just to put it in a battery?
Ki wells in general - this may need to be touched up in my articles.
Natural disasters they play a huge part in Japanese history and legends: typhoons, earthquakes, heat waves, floods, tsunamis, and volcanoes.

Persuasion/Position

Will Nakamura have trouble with a lower status now?
Will Hoji be able to replace what he sacrificed? (It won't happen via the gods.) It will affect the dynamics with his wife.
Will Shion or his children be welcomed back after Shion's rampage?
Umeji and Suzu will have to face Nonogawa after the battle. And there will still be a stigma against Umeji's past.
Guardian agency in Japan. Does it carry the weight it used to? News got out about them and their loss at Nonogawa.

Math/Ability/Capacity

In terms of sheer numbers of yokai - they're dwindling fast. Why? There's a secret relationship behind this...

Will/Gumption

Should Umeji face his remaining family in Tokyo? What about the uncle that never showed up to get Umeji when he was a kid?
How will Jiro do in college? He's so young!
How will Shion and

Tradition

Tradition runs strong in Japan. Whose who buck it are hammered back into place.
Mixing science and magic is unheard of. (Though I show two cases of it in Guardian). How will people in general take it?
How will yokai take needing to adopt tech, especially some of the League?
Japan is undergoing a lot of change right now and needs to overcome quite a few social problems. How will that affect my characters?

Frontier

Where are the frontiers in your worldsetting? And why would anyone want to go there?! What about metaphorical frontiers, like the “frontier of medicine” or space, the “final frontier”?

Frontiers blog post by Janet There aren't a lot of ways to explore locales with this theme for me since it's set in a world almost identical to our own. So, I'm pushing the definition of the word "frontier". Ideas

Locale and Boundaries

With the population crowding the major metropolitan centers, the rural areas are slowly being decimated. These areas are quickly becoming a frontier with their own challenges for transportation, education, shopping, etc. What happens to the yokai, shrines, temples, etc. because of this.
I've only introduced the Spirit Realm and it's a new frontier for my characters. I never really talked about if the characters know they pass into it. Legends don't seem to give their charcters notice they passed a boundary into it.
I've hinted at yokai in other areas. This may be a frontier for yokai in my book to explore.

Technology

Yokai have basically ignored tech because they had magic. But it's affecting their ability to keep ahead of hunamity now. They'll have to start diving in. Date Hoji sees this and is starting to push the yokai community, starting with his people. There is room for mixing tech and magic.

Population Challenges

The population as mentioned above in the Power theme, is dwindling. This will be a new "frontier" for the humans and yokai.

Relics

What aspects of the past are revered today in your world setting? Which peoples are remembered? And which are forgotten, and why?

Relics blog post by Janet This theme has real potential I haven't fully explored yet too. Ideas

History

The League Archives and the kappa healer's archives.
Long lost Yokai (pre Guardians?) that watched over areas and families? (Local gods/Kami and their shrines)
Forgotten peoples - ghosts from the Battle of Sekigahara and other maor historic events?

Preservation

A certain set of artifacts needs to be scattered again.
How can a weapon be restored? What happens if the spirit attached to it is snuffed out?
What about the process of making an item a "national treasure"?
Blade’s Sacred Flame - NOTES will have much to say about the preservation and hiding of certain weapon relics. What would it's leader carry, own, or protect? Does the leader have a vault in the spirit realm for things that others can't lay eyes on?

Reverence

What would the Guardians revere? Their power or symbols of it. Their leaders. Their weapons. Keeping the nation whole.
What would their predisessors revere? Depends on the point in time.
What would the residents of Sumichou revere? Freedom to be themselves and hide away from humans and most yokai too. Anything to make a bit of cash.
Could a yokai, like Shachihoko or a League member stepping down, be a relic of a time long gone and need to be cared for/revered now at a shrine? (see notes under history and The Spirit Keepers.)

Locations

Places like the Sukiyaki shop that are struggling in the economy.

Communication

How do people and organizations from different backgrounds or cultures communicate with each other? How does communication happen over short and long distances? Who in your setting communicates secretly or carefully, and how?

Communication Blog Post by Janet Liminal Chronicles has communication methods I haven't documented yet and much yet to explore. So this should be a very good theme for me. Ideas

Magical

Spells - like telepathy

Relations

Distrust and the need to get past it, especially in Sumichou
Soujou-bou's estate
How can yokai help get the word out to help save some of the dying transport systems in small towns? And at what cost will that be? (More people will come if it's turned into a touristy thing like the Cat Train Conductors.

Languages

Various yokai languages I haven't explored yet like Tengu, Kappa, etc.

League of Guardians

How send messages to the Guardians. I've explored one with the Guardian Uniform Requirements. But I never really explained it.
How could a guardian get word to the whole town?
How could the League get warning out to the entire nation?
Soujou-bou's court as a non emergency method of communication.
More snarky communication between Nakamura Hisako and Dr. Aya Ginji?
Historic mon and flags for battle field communication. Similar for the League?
The League will have to help find balance for the depopulated regions. Yes, the yokai there are happy to be left alone mostly, but what about the offerings and what not that some of the older ones rely on?