World Diary
Thanks for visiting the World Diary!This is where I'll post my updates on what I'm working on, what I'm hoping to work on next, and share my vision cast for the world of Thearis and the stories of the Oathblades Company. I'm very excited to begin sharing things here, and hope that you'll check back frequently. Now, without further ado, the World Diary!
Diary
September 4, 2022This isn't quite a change log, but it is a vision casting area and a place where I can write what is new and what is upcoming.
Today I finished out a couple articles in the Thearis Meta series that I'm really excited about. The first being the Stories from Thearis Series Structure, which discusses how I write and organise my stories. The second being Unepic Fantasy: What Exactly Is That?, which describes what I mean when I say I'm writing Unepic Fantasy. I also updated and expanded the Content Warnings and Thearis: What to Expect page, and solved some problems related to acessibility around Content Warning issues.
Accessibility is a big priority for me, and this is my first time doing anything like this so I'm still learning what the best ways to make things accessible are. Suggestions gladly accepted in the comments below!
I'm writing the next installment of The Double, and hope to have it up in the next couple of days.
My to-do list includes updating Kirin's Character Profile, Making Character Profiles for Herbert Garris, Irasien Olastril, Illaxria Indrathail, Leta Fryth, and Rhys Walker. I also need to write Encyclopaedia articles about Kingscythe's political structure, the Four Realms, and Eldefrey, and an entry in the Apothecary regarding Wasting Cough, which is an illness that Kirin's mother suffers.
The timeline for "The Double" needs to be filled out and placed on the Universal Timeline, and I need to make a Calendar article for the reader's reference of time.
I also need to smooth out my landing page and organize it so that it sends people to key locations more easily. There will be some organisation of links and content trees. Pray for me. I may never return.
Beyond World Anvil I'm working on graphics for Book Covers, crests for key noble families, graphics for the World Anvil Page, and another version of the Map which has political borders.
While I'm working on graphics I might find a way to make a merch shop so I can wear a Thearis hoodie while I eat ice cream and write bad fanfic of my own world to post on AO3 -- Because what's the point of being a writer if you can't write bad smutty fics about your characters?
It's been a lot of work so far, but I've been enjoying it immensely. The Stories From Thearis web page has been growing by leaps and bounds, and I'm really pleased with it.
Hang in there with me as I continue down the bunny trail! I can't wait to post more nuggets of stories!
What I've been listening to while I've been working on the mess above: The Raven, by Omnia
September 7, 2022
Alright then, so yesterday I had a raging migraine and fell into a hyperfocus haze.
I finished the character profiles for Leta Fryth, Irasien Olastril, Herbert Garris, Herbert Garris, and Illaxria Indrathail. I made a character profile for Ryan Bellamy. I organized some of the content trees, and I updated the graphics and made family-specific designs for character profiles: See Kirin Hare and Ryan Bellamy.
The Double's Timeline is up-to-date as of Hare to Heir part 3.
I also created a spoilerific timeline of everything that I'm working on which will have all births, deaths, major events, stories, etc.
Still on my to-do list: a few more character profiles, more ogranization, more finessing of the layout and CSS.
While I was down the hyper-focus trail I was listening to ELM by Pierre Bensusan
September 18, 2022
The last week has been very, very busy.
I've been working really hard on learning CSS so I can design this website better, organizing my notes and getting a plan together for posting stories, and which stories I want to tell in what order. I have four hundred thousand words of episodes written already, they just need to be edited and put in a release order. Hare to Heir is up and complete, and linked to Wattpad, Manuscripts, and all the ccharacter profiles. I'm really pleased with the way it came out for now. I'll probably redo the CSS once I know a little more and can imagine a more dynamic presentation.
If I'm honest, most of my working time has been spent on behind-the-scenes stuff lately. Getting this website up and organized the way I want it to be is a gargantuan project.
It's been really helpful to have something to absorb my extra thought-space. I struggle with my mental health, and this summer has been a season of loss and heartache. I wouldn't have taken this project up if I'd not gone through it, but it's hard to deal with the reality of what has been lost some days.
Having this project has been helping me keep moving even when the sky feels like it's falling.
Also, I really need to acknowledge someone new here: Hanhula is a CSS wizard that I met through the World Anvil Discord sever, and she's been really helpful where the design of the web-page is involved. Every time I've come across a problem I couldn't quite figure out, she was able to point me in the right direction. If you have a moment after reading this, check out her world Istralar to see some of her incredible world building and amazing website design skills!
Things I've knocked out: Publishing the next episode! The Double: Dair to Ask. What have I been listening to while I've been hyperfocusing?
Glad you asked! Monody by The Fat Rat, feat. Laura Brehm
September 21, 2022
It's the first day of fall. Summer was a season of heartbreak and loss and world-shattering changes for me. But even with those pains, thre's always a new dawn.
I've been getting up at five in the morning to order my day and focus on my work. I've made a lovely little work area in a comfy chair by a window where I can watch the sun rise or the rain fall, and that's been really special as I've been reflecting on the life I want to live and the person I want to be.
I am lucky to have the ability to throw myself into this project. I'm lucky to have the pillars and strands I have. The ground beneath me, the sky above me, the moon lighting my path, the ocean, the wind.
Fall is the season of gratitude, of petrichor, of storms and cooler mornings. And here we are; with these stories available to strangers to read, with everything they are.
I won't lie, I'm worried about people finding this. I know there will be trolls, and there will be people who feel the need to express their dissasisfaction with the quality or the time they spent with these stories. I know there will be people who know me who read this and wonder where I learned the word "fuck" and at what point I became comfortable with "Goddamn!" and why I feel like I need to write stories that feature gay men and lesbians, and discuss rape and suicide. There will be those who see those things and make assumptions about my history or the state of my eternal soul or make judgements about my morality or value as a humanbeing.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about that. Because that's going to hurt. But I know there are things in these stories that other people need to hear, because I needed to hear them. I know there are things here that people need to see, because I needed to see them.
I'm worried that no one will see. That no one will hear. That no one will get it. But I know that's just fear. I don't want to be famous. I don't want to be well known. I don't even want to be a cult-favourite. I just hope that my writing can mean something to someone.
Of course, I also know that though people can be cruel, they can also be kind and encouraging.
So here's to the Autumn. Here's to the end of summer. I'll raise a latte to colorful changes in the trees and the rustling of falling leafs. To the way the willow oaks look like they're throwing confetti with every little zephyr. Thank you for coming with me on this journey.
What have I been listening to while I've been musing? The Wellerman 3hr cut (yes, I love it that much).
October 12, 2022
And thus the leaves begin to change and the weather turns colder.
It's been a hard couple of weeks. In the wake of summer's loss there are a thousand adjustments and things that need to change. We make the changes as we come to them, and continue on.
I've been working on the catalogue, and doing my best to make a back catalogue, but I'm not quite there yet. Of course, I'm still not quite out of the grieving phase of the loss I suffered.
I've been very much enjoying working with Trillian Skinner on the voice recordings for these pieces, and I've got a loose 2 week schedule for posting. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so hard to keep on top of posting to so many different places. I knew it would be a challenge, but I underestimated the mental load of keeping on top of World Anvil, WA Manuscripts, Wattpad, Youtube, Vella, and KDP.
Not going to lie, this week has been hard. It seems like there have been a thousand things pulling me in every direction. I had a (very brief, 14 hour) vacation to a neighboring state over the weekend, and it was lovely, but it was hard to get back to business as usual, and there's something about a full moon that turns small children into werewolves...
This morning there's rain falling, and the air is cool, and I am a few short hours from being behind on my self-imposed schedule.
But I have a schedule. And I have more time to chase this project than I would have otherwise. And I have a daughter to demand snuggles whenever she's not happy that i'm working. And I have the ability to take a vacation, however brief.
These are blessings.
At the end of the day, it'll get done or it won't, and it'll be okay either way.
Better to take time to keep things in focus.
As for what I've actually been working on: I've written and rewritten The Double's 6th installment literally three times because I can't commit to a feel for it, and I feel like I have to keep the day-by-day continuity. It's a mental trap, and I'm working on getting out of it. The Double is coming along nicely, and I'm very pleased with my work so far.
I've been less relentless with the actual checklist over the last week. That's something I need to get back on top of, but it's not going to happen this morning. My kid is already up and rolling around the house like a hamster in a ball.
What was I listening to as I was working on all that? A’ phiuthrag ’sa phiuthar by Julie Fowlis.
January 26, 2023
It's been a bit since I've updated, and part of that is because as I got started here I discovered that I wasn't as happy with my world as I wanted to be. I've been making great progress and reassessing what I like and what I don't like. I've started a new world-state that I'm calling Cinnamon Spice! That's how I do versions, especially of stories and drafts. It's easy to forget version 2, 2.5 etc. but it's much harder to forget Oatmeal cookie, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, and Strawberry Cream Pie.
Basically, I've been reconsidering the feel I want from the world and being more intentional in how I want to portray it. It's been a very cleansing thing, and for many reasons necessary. I've grown a lot. It's been a lot of fun interrogating everything in my manuscripts to decide what is there because I like it, and what is there because other people were excited about it.
I've also come to realise that my preferred style of world building and story telling doesn't have much room for encyclopaedia entries the way I was imagining at first. So I decided to come at the Encyclopaedia from a different angle, and try following a more narrative approach to things. I've been enjoying exploring Thearis from a first person POV. I can't wait to see what comes of it.
Over all, things have been different than I expected as far as this project goes, but it's been better than I could have imagined in many ways.
I'm really looking forward to this year and the challenges and victories that I'll gain.
What was I listening to while I was working on this? Actually nothing. I can't find my earphones.
