...at least I hope so. AIM HIGH.
 

Homework: Week 1

 

Theme 1: Change

Okay so we side down to ponder the concept of change and what kinds of change related themes can be touched on in this world. A couple of immediate things come to mind.

Astrum's Culture Becoming... What It Is

So, Astrum today is very orderly and somewhat militarized with strict rules and limitations on everything from the way you live to the way you name your children. However, they weren't always this way - it's largely a result of the Caelestise-Sura War. So there's a specific time period where the Celestials began to tighten up and create all these rules, and that's something I could explore.

Incaendium's Wars

Wars are times of extreme challenge but, for Demons, also times of change. Imperators change through wars, Incaendium's borders have massively changed through wars like the Three-Cycle War or the Endless War, and cultures also change because so much is based on who specifically is in command. These areas should provide ample opportunity to cover changes there.

The Gaean Eras

Gaean has a hero-based calendar with every era being named after a fallen Chosen. I haven't even gotten into that whole thing yet because it's more of a topic for the other story that takes place in ES rather than Crimson Court, but it is still something I want to establish and talk about - the prophecies, the way the Chosen works, etc.

Personal Changes

And, of course, there are numerous personal changes. Things that change about a person, things that change dynamics between people, etc etc. The Wisemen alone shifted the world based on their interpersonal dynamics, for example. Cain's life went from one extreme to another when he left the streets and moved into the Palace in Amaya, etc.

The Aedvectis, aka the Isekai imports

So one of the things I've consistently established in this world is that the occasional arrival of what I call the Aedvectis, basically isekai characters, is a chaos factor in the world. They bring different knowledge, abilities, cultural assumptions and skillsets into the world which can tend to spark changes in culture or even in technological advancement and development. This makes them an ideal subject for a week on change. Just last week I talked about how their influence affected Fashion in the Crimson Court, for example. But they're also responsible for things like cameras and some of the more I guess steampunky elements that are present in, especially, Gaean, So yes plenty to work with on Aedvectis, plus that's an incredibly important corner of my world that hasn't been deeply explored yet.

And Finally, A Certain Webnovel

So, in this story/world, Jason Duck was a fan of A Certain Webnovel and got dropped into it as Gabriel Shaen. An Isekai! A MAJOR theme of this specific take, howevever, is the massive difference between how things look when you're reading them in a book and how they look if you're in the room with it... and how much gets left out of novels about a subject, too. The complications, the characters who are minor in a book but massive in "real life," etc. But of course the other big thing is that with Jason inworld as Gabriel, knowing how things could pan out, there's the question fo how things will pan out. He's a confounding variable, and it's not clear how much of what "happened" in A Certain Webnovel is set in stone and how much can be avoided or, well, changed.

Set Goals

As much as I'd love to claim I'm aiming for a diamond badge... given the way I write, there's just no way. I'll honestly be lucky to get to 8 because my articles are often so long. Astaroth was 7k, and he's not even the protagonist. So we're aiming for Copper.

Categories and Tags

Hahahahaha....

Well honestly I'm basically fine with my categories, weird as they may be to people who aren't me. They are... the categories that work the best for my brain. My tags are another story altogether. lol...lol. Yeah, I should clean them up.

Updating the Meta

My big "meta" document is The Story Focus Guide, where I break down the basics of the world, main characters, themes etc. This is not actually an older world, but I'll still take a look at it to make sure I'm staying focused (LOL JK I'm not. But I'll still look it over and make any corrections.)

Homework: Week 2

Theme 2: Refuge

Potentially interesting refuge subjects that could be explored over the course of our Summer Camp Experiences...

Samael's Chambers

Well, its a refuse for him. Despite his savage reputation, Samael does have a peaceful side - as evidenced by his having fallen for Cain of all people. Which means his personal... area has all kinds of features intended to cool his volatile personality and insulate him from the difficult environment (that HE created, but nevermind that for the moment.)

Parnassius

In Astrum, there is an independent city that is essentially nothing but a massive school and library. This place, Parnassius, was founded by the great sage of the Fey, Eiryen Nesaleen, and she has declared it a neutral zone. An excellent refuge for anyone regardless of who they are or what baggage they carry in to start with.

Verdent Home

Oriana Tansea's forest home is beautiful, peaceful and protected by one of the most powerful mortals in the world. It is the kind of place one might go to soothe tumultuous emotions or get distance from a difficult situation. It's also where Oriana herself goes to rest when her studies take her on difficult adventures.

It's also built into and around trees, so that's fun.

Relationships

For a long time I've been planning to expand the articles of the major characters into a series of articles... and one such addition would be articles detailing some of the most important relationships in the settiong (e.g. Dante and Rami, Cain and Samael, etc). These are things that are always touched on in the character articles, but I'm thinking about a more pointed look at them. Depending on how the prompts shake out, this could be a time to give this idea a try?

The Hari Suum Basa Clique

One of the surprising aspects, maybe, of Samael's hari suum basa is how tightly knit and protective they are of one another. Certainly they have their individual rivalries and personality tensions... but in the end, they always choose one another over nearly anything else. What's more, their physical location could be considered a refuge - it is a rather spacious private area of Samael's Crimson Palace where each of the siv hari suum have a private chamber decorated to their preferences, as well as many other luxuries and also a tiger.

Accountability Buddy

Oh that's easy. hugowalker. She has full access to editing even though I actually do all the writing, rofl, and I constantly brainstorm with her and ask her what she, as a reader, thinks or wonders about or wants to know. So she's a natural.

Styling

Well in fairness I'm used to working with half-done CSS since I've been slowly tweaking and implementing improvements to mine for like seven gd months now. CSS stresses me out a lot so I can only take so much in one sitting... But I'll try to fix at least a few more of the things that make me miserable about my unfinished CSS, HA.

 

Improving CSS?

Since this isn't a really old world it's kind of the same thing as the last one but maybe I'll try to uh, make my homepage look decent. Maybe.

 

Homework: Week 3

Theme 3: Belief

Okay, so.... belief in the context of Empirica Sin and the characters/cultures/etc. There are some fun possibilities there, for example...

Belief Systems and Perspectives

There are always schools of thought, approaches to life, that kind of thing - beliefs that divide or unite people. The belief that names are, due to the severity of Astrum's Naming Laws, a form of social control that creates the alliance of The Nameless, for example. The view on power and knowledge that gave rise to The Order of the Silver Tree. What kind of viewpoint on the nature of souls or life has allowed the creation of Animates? Etc.

Might makes Might

Incaendium's core belief system is basically just 'listen to people who are stronger than you.' Not the most healthy way of approaching life, but it's what defines their society and drives a great deal of the intra-realm warfare and conflict. So how exactly does that work, why are they like that, etc. Also this is how we arrive at the Imperator position, which is a position that doesn't actually exist and is buoyed entirely by that concept - the biggest dog is the boss of all the other dogs.

Folklore, Legends, Urban Myths!

Of course there are always myths and legends. What stories are spun that reflect or define the way Empiricans see life or conceptualize relationships and the world around them? One thing I could do is go deeper into the Legend of the Lovers that is central to The Stars Where We Lay - or some of the smaller myths like the cat that splashed the stars. And of course, maybe the biggest "beliefs" in Empirica Sin revolve around the Awakening and the Golden Cage. For Urban Myths, I'm sure that Anima Emuncts have created a good amount of paranoia, not to mention the very existence of the Baetolori.

The Deities of Astrum

Probably the most obvious go-to for this would be an exploration of the dei's relationship with the world - they are, on one hand, yes deities but they're also another species (like humans or drereccas), and they're also people who live in and interact with the world. I always envision this as being similar to the world inside mythology - the world where you can walk down the street and meet an old man but it's actually Zeus or whatever. But if your deities are that present, that involved, then what does religion even look like?

The Prophecies of Gaean

I mentioned this before but this is another good one: the system of prophecies and chosen ones that define the eras and calendar of Gaean. You could call that a superstition of sorts, but it does seem to be born out in fact. Of course that could be self-fulfilling prophecies, who knows?

Otherworld Influences

As is always the case in ES, there is also the chaotic influence of the Aedvectis, who have no doubt brought beliefs about ethics, religion, philosophy etc into the world with them that have then gone on to influence others and create cultural changes and shifts in worldview.

Inspirations

I do actually already have a list of inspirations on the Credits and Thanks page. I also have playlists of various lengths for every major character. I'll update it if I can think of anything I left out, but the main addition would be the AMC show "Interview with the Vampire." This show came into my life only a couple of weeks ago - long after this story and these characters came into my brain and onto World Anvil. However, it does have a lot of similar themes and a similar tone to what I'm envisioning, and it's so well executed that it stands as an example and an ideal for me. A reminder of how fascinating, engaging and heartbreaking a story like that can be.

Art, Images, Maps

Okay okay, I should probably finish the maps, rofl. I don't know if I have time, but I could at least look over/do corrections if needed (I don't think so, but...) and populate Incaendium. As far as images go, I already have an extensive back catalogue of images of the characters, locations, etc. I don't really want to start gathering or making more without knowing what I'll be working on.

Homework: Week 4

Theme 3: Decay

Honestly I struggled with this one a little bit, but in the end hugowalker brainstormed with me a bit so what I've got is...

 

Fallen Celestials

The fall of a celestial occurs when one either abandons their post for an excessively long time or commits egregious actions against the rules of the Seven as applied to them. In some some cases this probably isn't really anything but them being rebellious, but there are always more straightforward cases of moral decay as well.

Void Damage

One of the things I've talked about briefly but not indepth is the effect that use of Magic has one the mental and emotional stability of those who use it, particularly those who use it beyond their natural or learned capacity. This is part of the reason that Demons are such chaotic beasts, for example. So I could go into those effects either as a whole or in a specific case.

Mortals Among Immortals

Of the three major metaraces/character style species in the world, only one of them is naturally prone to aging or dying. This has some side effects, for example if a mortal and an immortal become romantically or even just emotionally involved in some way, this becomes an issue. The immortal watches the mortal decaying in what seems, to them, a short time. In the weirdest case, Samael just straight up froze the aging process for Cain Amortus to prevent just this issue.

Optimize Environment

................anyway.

Fix Up Homepage

I love how a few weeks ago i was like uh maybe I'll fix my homepage lol. And now it's a part of prep. I don't really know if i have time to research the css tricks I need in order to do what I want with the homepage, but if there's one thing I'll try to get done in time, this is probably the one. Generally speaking I haven't been as productive with preparing as I wanted to be, but we're going to keep trucking.

Author Info

Mine is pretty new since I myself am pretty new, but I'll give it a lookover and fix any issues like I did with the meta.

Aiming for...

A couple of "hm, I hope I can manage this" unofficial challenge addendums:

Nnie's Camp Chill Guidelines

  • 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.


    • Spooky Shenanigans

    I'm sure I can find something in here to deal with the spooky stuff. I mean, heyo it's a world full of demons and monsters - I even have a bestiary category for nightmare monsters - if I can't think of something creepy what am I even doing here?

    A shield-shaped badge depicting a collection of cozy camping items -- gas stove, teapot, knapsack, teacup, and lantern -- with a ghostly figure hovering in the foreground.
    Spooky Shenanigans Badge 2024 by Haly, the Moonlight Bard/Canva

    Bronze Buddies

    The aim, of course, is to get to eight articles despite my complete inability to shut up ever. The good thing is, when I actually get going I write incredibly quickly. SO IT MAY BE POSSIBLE even if my articles are all like 7k. BUT. Articles that aren't about characters are probably very doable.