a long introspective post because i know with time i will forget this and i want to remember it all.

night of june 30th, technoblade's death was announced. i didnt believe it for a few minutes because i couldnt watch the video (i still havent). but it was true -- he passed away age 23 from cancer he discovered *less than a year* before his death. i keep quiet about how much i liked minecraft youtubers 2020 - 2021 because that turned out to be a DISASTER. but technoblade was one of the shining beacons. genuinely always the best, completely outside of post-death rose-tinted glasses. always.

before that, i was kind of getting into my chemical romance. id known of them my whole life. from dan and phil references to annoying ass g-note jokes to the twenty one pilot's cancer cover. i heard the Big Three hits but couldnt tell you what they were (except for "welcome") before listening to three cheers for the first time at the end of june. i dont know why i decided to start them. i wasnt really into music -- my top albums the last couple years included burnham's inside, starkid's twisted, and falsettos (2016). i wish i remembered better. if listening to them for the first time isnt a core memory, this is:

after 6 months of relative stability, i understandably hit a depressive episode in july. i would lie on my couch into the early morning for no reason. i wasnt trying to distract myself from his death ... there were no thoughts to be distracted from. it isnt a headspace i understand, especially since i never left it.

but for another unknown reason i thought to watch those mcr live shows. mind, at this point id only listened to three cheers. no exaggeration, i was betwitched by their performance. i most vibrantly remember gerard's eyes. crazy fucking eyes.

i'd forgotten cancer was an mcr song. when top released their cover, i listened to the original. i decided i liked twenty one pilots' more. i switched on that when i saw my chem on snl (i didnt watch BPID all the way through til a week later). it's the stripped down song, it's the direct lyrics, it's the crazy eyes. like he's trying to communicate EVERYTHING through his eyes.

the intro to BPID was like that too. when he ripped the hospital dress off and did the ghoul scream. had that feeling when i saw frank perform vampire money in glasgow. just. completely uninhibited. performace to say something truthful. unlike anything ive ever seen. from someone who wasnt very into music or live performance or theatre, much less the mechanics of it, i suddenly understood it all.

that screenshot is an abridged version of my actual search history. this is how it went.

june 26 i watched ->

side bar, thinking about it now, my interest in pink floyd directly lead to my interest in mcr. early morning july 1st, this is what i was watching (alan parsons project great reccomendation from my friend bink bonk):

july 2 i was watching videos a friend of techno's publicized to commerate him. the mcr video was in the reccomended tag -- a combo of the live pink floyd video and the im not okay mv. crazy how influenced my life is by where youtube leads me.

then i saw a LITTLE bit of BPID before seeing my chem in 2022 for the first time. this was just weeks after bonn. i didnt watch the full eden either. but i did watch all of "welcome" at milton keynes, based on the time stamps

this whole fucking day spent watching mcr videos. reading 2011, zack sang clip frank iero explains reading 2011 drama, mcr iceberg explained, "mcr best perfomance", "mcr best moments", mcr on letterman, mcr snl, "understanding the black parade" (i had not listened to black parade) -- then i left at 4pm. probably to sleep.

july 2nd was The day. i remember while watching these videos a realization hugging me. i knew that i was struck. from july until november, the majority of my conversations had something to do with my chem.

at the very beginning, i texted people about them to gage modern attitudes. growing up, they were adjacent to bands i thought sold out or lost their spark -- panic!, twenty one pilot, fall out boy. as ive said a million times, there is a Reason i didnt get into my chem earlier. just the other day on a SPECIFICALLY EMO SUBREDDIT there were people talking about how they "weren't ashamed to like mcr". where does this shame come from!!!!!! too mainstream for punk, too punk for mainstream. everyone knows this.

well anyway, july 2nd was just the first layer: the performance. july 11 (/early july 12) was another big day. the second layer: gender and sexuality. literally my tags on the first mcr post i reblogged ->

then i saw the great collection by flockofdoves and. well.

same day i found out about "i wanna be your joey ramone" and sleater-kinney, though i wouldnt listen to the song for a short while. that's layer 4: branching out to other music.

layer 3 was music appreciation. i listened to each of their albums in full sequentionally (KIND OF since i relistened to bullets 3 times were i only listened to the others in full 2 times max), purposuefully holding off for weeks between each album. i remember the first time i sat down to listen to black parade. i was buzzing at like 12:30 am because id decided that was the night. the end -> dead rocked my whole world. never got the instinct to bang your head around til those songs. the whole album was fucking amazing but something aboout famous last words got to me. id be sitting in the car with my sister and singing the bridge over and over. the perfect string of words -- with words i thought id never speak: awake and unafraid, asleep or dead.

i used to hate live performances because the music sounded worse than the studio version while giving me nothing performance-wise. id never wanted to go to a concert in my life. but not only did they sound GOOD live, it was a whole different experience. an adaptation that added to the experience in ways entirely different to what is lost. like i said, crazy eyes. and smiles like flowers and the audience louder than the amps and movement led by sound and memory. like. like nothing else. you cant understand this unless youre in love -- completely dedicated to it.

sometime in august i discovered they were coming to my town the next month. the first concert i ever wanted to go to. my parents were a nightmare about it the whole month until i got the permission to go. ive said also said this a million times: it was like rapture.

i dont understand why you would want to do anything that doesnt work towards that same feeling. my parents didnt get that feeling and i couldnt go to another show. it's been months and it still drives me insane. it drives me fucking insane. it drives me insane.

so those are the core memories related to my chem that got me here. it's a lot of love. love so big i cant even hold. it's belief. something close to religious. it's a lot of fear too -- fear the feeling will go away, that i'll "wake up", fear that they'll be taken. one reason i dont like music is the feelings i attach to it are so profound that i cant listen to it without feeling what i felt in the past. it's why i limit how much i listen to my chem. that's another fear -- though i attach positive feelings to the band, im engaging in it while depressed. more than engaging, obsessing. i cant focus on much else.

i hope as i get better mentally, this doesnt leave me. i got into it to cope. it showed me another dimension of art and life and emotion. it's a hard thing to navigate. i want the good, healthy parts of this to be my life. i hope i can figure that out. i hope it works out.

july 26 2020, i looked this up:

i have no memory of this at all.

the night before, i was on a technoblade binge that ended with me watching one of his seminal videos that i remember beat for beat.

i love technoblade forever. i cant watch his videos right now, but i hope i can someday. i love my chem forever. i hope-

Bitcoiners' Support for Salvadoran President Bukele Raises Concerns Amid Authoritarian Rule

Proof of State is the Wednesday edition of Fortune Crypto where Leo Schwartz delivers insider insights on policy and regulation.

On Sunday, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele won reelection in a landslide, claiming to secure more than 85% of the vote. From the outside, his victory seemed like a triumph for a nation once synonymous with poverty and gang violence. Under Bukele, El Salvador has become one of the safest countries in Latin America, driving widespread support for his mano dura approach.

Bukele’s cheerleaders expand far outside of the tiny Central American nation, with Bitcoiners representing one of his most faithful legions of support. Bukele, after all, declared Bitcoin to be legal tender in 2021, and continues to work with firms like Bitfinex and Strike to attract crypto investor interest. 👍

The reality of Bukele’s rule is far more sinister. As president, his tactics have been repressive and anti-democratic: ousting five Supreme Court magistrates and replacing them with loyalists, pushing the chamber to authorize consecutive presidential terms and clearing the constitutional path for his reelection, sending armed troops to occupy the parliament building amid a crime bill dispute, and rounding up thousands of innocent people in his draconian crackdown.

Bukele’s reign has all the hallmarks of an autocrat—he even welcomes the associations, trolling his critics by branding his social media accounts as the “world’s coolest dictator.” He has backed up the self-chosen title with a bevy of laws that press freedom groups describe as clear censorship attempts. Unsurprisingly, his reelection was marred by vote count irregularities. 😣

And yet, Bukele is still widely embraced in the crypto crowd. When Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) sent a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last week urging action on Bukele’s threats to Salvadoran democracy, she was met with vitriol from blue-checkmarked crypto acolytes on X, with one prominent Bitcoiner telling her, “You need to go back.”

Bukele advocates outside of El Salvador insist that extreme measures were necessary to solve the country’s pervasive occupation by gangs like MS-13—an argument that avoids the uncomfortable truth that the violence stems from disastrous U.S. policy and that Bukele seems to be working directly with organized crime to maintain order, which is not addressing the root causes of the conflict. Still, it is undeniable that Bukele has achieved at least a temporary peace, which has driven widespread domestic support in a country that never recovered from its civil war that ended in 1992. 😒

What is more disturbing is Bitcoiners’ abandonment of their core ideals. Satoshi envisioned an alternative financial system that would not be subject to despotic governments and institutions—one that would be in the hands of its users. Even Bukele’s rollout of Bitcoin stood in stark contrast to those founding principles. 😔

I visited El Salvador in November 2021 to report on Bukele’s Bitcoin gambit, which had been live for several months. The Bukele administration had commissioned a custodial wallet called Chivo that Salvadorans could use to hold and transact with Bitcoin, even seeding the wallet with $30 worth of Bitcoin to incentivize adoption.

The rollout, of course, was a disaster, with the cash-driven population unwilling to switch over to a volatile cryptocurrency for daily transactions, and bugs and security issues blemishing the launch. While that was expected, Bukele’s approach was even worse—it was unclear who actually controlled the country’s crypto holdings, and any illusion of “not your keys, not your coins” was quickly abandoned. When I spoke with Bitcoiners from the U.S. who had traveled down to visit the supposed crypto promised land, many were dismayed to find out that Bukele’s opaque launch was really just a P.R. stunt.

Not much has changed. Bukele has managed to attract luminaries like Max Keiser, Jack Mallers, and Paolo Ardoino to the country, but adoption is still near zero, and promised initiatives like a “Bitcoin City” and “Volcano Bond” have gone nowhere.

Don’t trust, as Bitcoiners love to say. Verify. 👀

The controversial crypto firm Prometheum announced the launch of custodial services for Ether, a move that legal experts say could force the SEC to finally decide on Ether's security status. (Fortune)

A New York judge ruled that Ripple Labs would have to provide financial statements to the SEC on the institutional sales of its token, XRP, as part of an ongoing lawsuit. (CoinDesk)

Fireblocks, a leading crypto custody provider, announced layoffs of 3% of its workforce amid broader industry cutbacks. (Bloomberg)

The SEC expanded its definition of a "dealer" to include more types of financial institutions, including different crypto firms like automated market makers. (CoinDesk)

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen repeated her call for new legislation to plug regulatory gaps in spot crypto markets and for stablecoins. (The Block)

#NayibBukele

#Bitcoin

#crypto

#ElSalvador

(Read the original article)

RADWIMPS Asian Tour 2023 in Kuala Lumpur

General sale begins Thursday, April 13th at 10am.

KUALA LUMPUR, 11th April 2023 — Renowned Japanese rock band RADWIMPS are thrilled to announce an exclusive Asian tour this summer, following the news of a sold-out US tour and the announcement of a European leg. The Asian tour kicks off in Seoul, Korea and will see the band bring their high-octane live experience to Taipei, Taiwan, Bangkok, Thailand, Jakarta, Indonesia and including Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the first time!

Promoted by InTour Live and Sozo, tickets to RADWIMPS Asian Tour 2023 in Kuala Lumpur are priced from MYR368 (excluding MYR4 booking fee). Tickets will go on sale at 10AM local time on Thursday, April 13 via www.ticketcharge.com.my

Lead singer Yojiro Noda says: "I don't even know how to express my excitement. It's been three years and we're all three years older. But our music has matured, too. I will come see you as if you're a lover I was longing to reunite with, so be ready! Can't wait to see you all in person.” Bass player Yusuke Takeda adds: “It's been a while since we played a concert where the audience could scream and shout, so I want to have as much fun as we possibly can.”

RADWIMPS have also recently teamed up with highly acclaimed film music composer Kazuma Jinnouchi to create the perfect soundtrack and score for award-winning auteur director Makoto Shinkai’s latest film “Suzume” now showing in theatres across Asia.

"Suzume” is the story about a young girl traveling through various ruins across Japan while closing doors causing disaster. “Suzume” opened in Japan on Nov. 11, 2022. It was #1 for 3 consecutive weeks with a gross of over 14.22 billion Yen at the box office to date! The international rollout started on March 2nd in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau and Suzume has opened to number one in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Vietnam so far with over 2 million people have seen the film. The film just opened in one of the biggest markets in the world -China- on March 24th and it sold 70 million yuan (US$10.17 million) in pre-sale tickets ahead of its release, making it the highest number of pre-sales for an animated film in China ever. The soundtrack by RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi also recently received “Best Music” at 46th Japan Academy Award.

Formed in 2001, Japanese 4-piece band RADWIMPS made their major label debut in 2005. Soon after, they garnered a broad fan base, with the younger generation at the core. The band has released nine studio albums thus far. The band's creation of music for Shinkai’s previous record-breaking animated feature films "Your Name." and "Weathering with You" led to recognitions at the Japanese Academy Award for Best Original Score. Their musical activities go far beyond Japan, including touring extensively around the world.

In Nov. 2021, the band released their latest studio album “FOREVER DAZE” and went on the road for a nationwide Japanese tour to support the album. “FOREVER DAZE” was written and recorded throughout the pandemic and speaks to the musical challenges the guys faced, their hopes moving forward and features a diverse group of collaborators and experimental elements. The album welcomed guest artists including the famous actor/singer Masaki Suda, as well as two of the most up-and-coming artists, Awich and iri.

RADWIMPS ASIAN TOUR 2023 IN KUALA LUMPUR

Date: July 25, 2023, Tuesday

Venue: ZEPP Kuala Lumpur

Ticket Prices: MYR408 / MYR398 / MYR368 (excluding MYR4 booking fee)

Ticketing: www.ticketcharge.com.my

Hotline: +603-92228811 * All prices exclude RM4 booking fee. * Each transaction is limited to 4 tickets only.

New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/a-disastrous-year-that-saw-few-winners-among-a-sea-of-losers/

A disastrous year that saw few winners among a sea of losers

2022 was supposed to be the year crypto went mainstream, with a significant chunk of traditional venture capital firms betting heavily on the ecosystem in 2021. However, with one disaster after another, 2022 turned out to be a catastrophic year for the nascent crypto ecosystem. Some of the biggest names touted as pivotal to taking the crypto ecosystem forward turned out to be the orchestrators of its worst year in recent memory.

That said, quite a few protagonists rose to the occasion. These winners proved that crypto is not just about a few select individuals and companies but a vibrant ecosystem that can survive significant setbacks.

Let’s start with some of the biggest winners of the crypto ecosystem in 2022. The list includes individuals, companies and anonymous groups working for the betterment of the industry.

The winners

In a year that saw the multibillion-dollar collapses of the Terra ecosystem, FTX and Three Arrows Capital, it’s hard to pick winners. However, crypto has faced adversaries before, and 2022 was no different. Several positives came out of the year despite the collapse of several centralized entities.

Ledger and Trezor

When Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin (BTC), a core idea was to give people financial sovereignty that made them less dependent on centralized intermediaries.

Click “Collect” below the illustration at the top of the page or follow this link.

With offers of lucrative interest rates on yield products and derivatives trading services, most crypto users preferred to keep their crypto assets on centralized exchanges. However, these lucrative offerings become a nightmare when millions of customers lose their funds in the wake of a centralized exchange collapse.

In the rubble of the FTX collapse, crypto investors lost trust in centralized exchanges. Hardware wallet providers like Ledger and Trezor have benefitted from investors shifting their behavior toward self-custody.

In direct response to the failure of FTX, #Bitcoin investors, of all wallet cohorts, have made a distinct behavioural shift towards self-custody.

From Shrimp, to Whales, #Bitcoin onchain balances are on the rise

Read more in The Week On-chainhttps://t.co/cVUE7QHbtQ pic.twitter.com/uIxUIcI46a

— glassnode (@glassnode) November 14, 2022

By December, self-custody services and hardware wallets became the preferred choice of many. After the collapse of FTX, Trezor saw a 300% surge in sales and revenue and Ledger saw its biggest sale day ever.

White hat hackers

The crypto ecosystem is relatively new, and several use cases like decentralized finance (DeFi) are in early development. This makes it prone to bugs and exploits. According to DefiLlama, DeFi protocols were exploited for nearly $5.93 billion in 2022

Total value hacked (USD) from DeFi protocols in 2022. Source: DefiLlama

However, the figures would have been much higher if not for white hat hackers. These white hats returned millions of dollars in stolen funds and flagged security bugs that could have led to more exploits. Security service provider Immunefi claims to have prevented the theft of $20 billion worth of crypto assets alone through its bug bounty program for white hat hackers..

While many projects tend to ignore white hats, 2022 showed that it’s better to pay out millions in bug bounties than lose billions in exploits.

Tether

Amid the chaos of 2022, the Tether (USDT) stablecoin has successfully manoeuvred its way through the wreckage of both the Terra and FTX collapses.

USDT price and volume on a 1-year chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

The centralized stablecoin has been at the forefront of critics’ commentary for as long as it has existed. When Terra’s native stablecoin depegged, there were rumors about Tether’s exposure to the doomed ecosystem.

However, USDT managed to overcome the scare, and throughout 2022, it has significantly decreased its volatile exposure. The firm also pledged to stop lending out funds from its reserves and put a full stop to all the fear, uncertainty and doubt, or FUD.

Related: Xmas dinner table: What to tell your family about what happened in crypto this year

Tether has become more transparent over time, with 82% of its reserves in liquid assets. The firm had total assets of $68.06 billion at the end of the third quarter, exceeding its total liabilities of $67.8 billion.

The losers

The crypto ecosystem saw many losers in 2022, with Sam Bankman-Fried the first to earn a mention. The former CEO of crypto exchange FTX started 2022 with a $20 billion net worth. In less than a year, that net worth disappeared and Bankman-Fried is now out on bail for allegedly stealing customers’ funds and committing securities fraud. Terra’s co-founder Do Kwon, whose last known location was Serbia, also makes the list.

TerraUSD

Algorithmic stablecoins were a novel, promising concept during the bull market. The Terra ecosystem rose to new highs based on this hype. However, the flawed design of TerraUSD (UST), now known as TerraClassicUSD (USTC), aided by the reckless decision-making of Kwon, led to its eventual downfall. The failure of Terra’s native stablecoin also tainted the concept of algorithmic stablecoins, with regulators warning against them.

The collapse of UST obliterated $40 billion of investor capital and caused a contagion that claimed nearly half a dozen other crypto firms with exposure to Terra. While many firms and individuals could qualify in the losers list, Terra’s UST implosion was the catalyst that precipitated more upheaval in 2022.

Alameda Research, FTX and centralized exchanges

At the start of 2022, FTX was valued at $32 billion, while its sister company Alameda Research boasted a several-billion-dollar valuation of its own. However, the November bank run on FTX soon turned into bankruptcy. As more details emerged, it turned out FTX and Alameda Research were not as independent as they claimed. Even FTX US, which was supposed to be a separate entity regulated under United States law, was found to be embroiled in the complex saga.

According to the authorities, FTX and Alameda funneled funds to each other, and the two firms were also involved in the embezzlement of customers’ funds. Alameda used FTX funds to loan billions of dollars to other firms. FTX, on the other hand, used nonexistent in-house projects with inflated valuations as collateral to take out significant loans. The whole Ponzi came crashing down in November.

Related: Top five crypto winners (and losers) of 2022

The downfall of FTX and Alameda created more contagion in the crypto ecosystem and single-handedly erased trust in centralized exchanges and the broader crypto ecosystem practically overnight.

Crypto investors

Among all the chaos and downfall of many crypto exchanges and leading venture capital firms, the biggest losers are crypto investors. If the burn of the bear market was not enough, millions of crypto investors who had their funds on FTX lost their life savings overnight.

Terra was once a $40 billion ecosystem. Its native token, LUNA — now known as Terra Classic (LUNC) — was one of the top five biggest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. With millions of customers invested in the ecosystem, the collapse brought their investment to zero within hours. After the Terra collapse, crypto investors lost their funds on a series of centralized exchanges and staking platforms like Celsius, BlockFi and Hodlnaut. Crypto investors also lost significantly in the nonfungible token market, with the price of many popular collections down by 70%. Overall, crypto investors are among the biggest losers of the year.

2022 will go down in crypto history as an annus horribilis. Crypto investors will want to forget the year and start fresh. Venture capital firms and investors in crypto projects are reevaluating their investment strategies. After such a tumultuous year in crypto, a likely outcome will be the acceleration of regulations in the industry throughout the coming year. This may restore some of the lost confidence in the industry.

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#Blockchain #BTC #CryptoNews

Chinas Xi to open twentieth Communist Celebration Congress By Reuters

3/3 © Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Guests stroll previous a display screen displaying Chinese language President Xi Jinping on the Museum of the Communist Celebration of China in Beijing, China October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo 2/3 BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese language President Xi Jinping is to open the twentieth Communist Celebration Congress on Sunday, a week-long occasion the place he’s broadly anticipated to win a 3rd management time period and cement his place because the nation’s strongest ruler since Mao Zedong. The gathering of roughly 2,300 delegates from across the nation is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) within the huge Nice Corridor of the Folks on the west aspect of Tiananmen Sq.. The congress will probably open with Xi, 69, studying a prolonged report in a televised speech that opinions the get together’s achievements of latest years and descriptions broad-brush priorities for the following 5 years. Analysts usually don’t count on any vital change in coverage path. In his decade in energy, Xi has set China on an more and more authoritarian path that has prioritised safety, state management of the economic system within the identify of “widespread prosperity”, a extra assertive diplomacy, a stronger navy and intensifying strain to grab Taiwan. Specifically, China has in latest days repeatedly emphasised its dedication to Xi’s zero-COVID technique, dashing hopes amongst numerous Chinese language residents in addition to buyers that Beijing may start exiting anytime quickly a coverage that has brought on widespread frustration and financial harm. “We see no cause for him to vary course or make substantial changes to the elemental ideas and techniques he has cultivated over the previous decade,” Saxo Financial institution market strategist Redmond Wong wrote in a Friday be aware. Xi’s energy seems undiminished by the tumult of a yr that has seen China’s economic system sluggish dramatically, dragged down by the COVID coverage’s frequent lockdowns, a disaster within the property sector and the influence of his 2021 crackdown on the once-freewheeling “platform economic system”, in addition to international headwinds. China’s relations with the West have deteriorated sharply, worsened by Xi’s assist of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. REVOLUTIONARY’S SON The son of a Communist Celebration revolutionary, Xi has reinvigorated a celebration that had grown deeply corrupt and more and more irrelevant, increasing its presence throughout all elements of China, with Xi formally its “core”. Xi did away with presidential time period limits in 2018, clearing the way in which for him to interrupt with the precedent of latest a long time and rule for a 3rd five-year time period, or longer. The twice-a-decade congress is anticipated to reconfirm Xi as get together normal secretary, China’s strongest publish, in addition to chairman of the Central Navy Fee. Xi’s presidency is up for renewal in March on the annual session of China’s parliament. The day after the congress ends on Saturday, Xi is anticipated to introduce his new Politburo Standing Committee, a seven-person management crew. It can embrace the one who will exchange Li Keqiang as premier when Li steps down from that publish in March after serving the utmost two phrases. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

Boyfriends and Birthday Balloons

For my internet father, @unknownunseenunheard, who introduced me to TimKonBart around this time last year. Love you Da! I also wanted to thank my siblings @absolute-0zero and @queerbutstillhere, and my kiddo @dysfunctionalbatfam for helping organize this event. Love you guys too :)

Note that there aren't actually any balloons involved in this so the title was a lie, but titles are hard so shush. I didn't edit it, so please excuse formatting, spelling, and grammatical errors. No beta we die like Jason Todd and Wally West uwu

**Find it on AO3 here:** (X)

When Bart first came out, his biggest fear was getting judged for being gay. If not that, then for being polyamorous. Homosexuality was welcomed, but even in the 30th century, when he came from, polygamy still wasn’t fully accepted. Bart assumed he wouldn’t be fully accepted, but no. His biggest obstacle was that nobody actually knew what polyamory was. Not even poor Max, who Bart had to explain the concept to about seventy times before he finally got it. Max, who was originally skeptical, but thankfully supportive in the end of Bart’s sexuality. Max, who raised him. He loved Max so much. The only people that compared to Max, in fact, were Meloni, Cassie, Tim, and Kon.

    Tim and Kon. His lovely boyfriends. Those two little adorable fraggers. Their relationship, like most poly ones, started out... slowly. When he first asked out Kon, he happily agreed. Crash! This might be easier than he thought! Only later did he learn that Kon had no idea what polyamorous meant... having heard it twice in the song ‘Cult of Dionysus,’ he assumed it was a synonym for ‘funky.’ Funky ... Kon said he wanted to be funky with Bart… Yeah, Kon was a disaster.

    Tim was a completely different story. He actually did know what polygamy was, and even supported it. The problem, though, was that when he asked, Tim didn’t answer right away. Bart was facing away because he didn’t have the courage to ask Tim to his face. He was quiet for a few minutes, which to a speedster, felt like a lifetime. Bart began to wonder if he made a mistake- that he misread Tim. Or maybe Tim hadn’t heard him at all. Either way, he felt moded as hell.

    When Bart turned around to ask again, he could see Tim’s gears turning. He had definitely heard. Bart opened his mouth to apologize, but Tim cut him off to explain that he would love to, but Batman would never allow it.

    Nevertheless, and after a LOT of convincing, promises to, and shovel talk from various members of the Wayne and Kent families, he began to date both Tim and Kon at the same time- though Bart didn’t think he’d ever not be scared by Bruce’s disapproving glares.

    Another thing about his boyfriends was that they were both incredibly thoughtful. It was the morning of his birthday, and being a notoriously light sleeper, Bart knew something was off before he even opened his eyes. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt a presence and knew he was being watched. He immediately ruled out the possibility of it being Max or Wally because he expressed the only things he wanted for his birthday were a one, a superspeed puppy like Krypto that he could run with, and two, to be allowed the pleasure of sleeping in and not having to worry about his chores for the day. He took a quick breath before his eyes darted open, and sure enough, he wasn’t alone.

    Bart let out a small shriek when he saw Kon floating in the air next to his bed at eye-level no more than two feet away.

    “Happy birthday gorgeous,” Kon whispered.

    His muscles instantly relaxed. Tim and Kon climbing through his window in the middle of the night on weekends wasn’t a tremendously common occurrence, but it happened enough that Bart wasn’t surprised. It took him a few seconds to register what the half-Kryptonian actually said. Oh God, Kon didn’t do anything stupid, did he? Bart stretched before sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. After staring into the distance for a few seconds, he looked over to Kon.

    “Morning,” he paused. “Tell me you didn’t do anything too drastic please.”

    Kon only smiled and told Bart to get dressed and meet him at Wayne Manor whenever he felt ready before sliding out the window.

    About thirty minutes later, Bart jogged through the front gate of the manor only to see… Damian? The gremlin child was staring straight at Bart and speaking into a walkie-walkie from an upstairs window. Bart waved but the younger boy just turned around.

    When he rang the doorbell, he was greeted and wished a happy birthday by Alfred, and to his surprise, Dick, Cassandra, and Bruce as well. Alfred informed him that Tim and Kon were awaiting his arrival in the botanical gardens out back. The very same botanical gardens that Bart considered one of his favorite places because of how pretty it was. Bruce was quite the collector of exotic flowers and trees.

    As he neared the botanical gardens, he heard a sound that made his heart sing. Under a willow tree, Tim was laughing at something Kon said. They were both sitting on a red and white checkered picnic blanket. In the middle of the blanket sat several bags of what looked to be Big Belly Burger that were set next to some plates, napkins, and silverware. Tim was leaning back on his hands with his back turned to Bart and Kon lie directly across from him with a smile on his face.

    “Timmyyy,” Bart cried as he dove to hug Tim from behind.

    The sudden attack startled Tim and caused him to noticeably jump, which earned a laugh from both Bart and Kon.

    “Hey, handsome. Happy birthday,” Tim chuckled before leaning back to kiss Bart’s forehead.

    Bart hugged Tim and planted a kiss on his hand then crawled around to give Kon a kiss on the cheek before sitting down cross-legged on the blanket with his back against the trunk of the willow.

    “So. What’s all of this?”

    Tim explained that after a lot of thought, he and Kon settled on ordering Bart’s favorite sandwiches from Big Belly Burger and buying an assortment of cupcakes from the bakery downtown.

    “We would have MADE you the cupcakes, but we had absolutely no idea what we were doing,” Kon beamed.

    “Well I think we made up for that,” Tim continued. “The bakery has good ratings… but anyways, instead of having Alfred make some fancy bubbly fruit water because… well we’re fruity and it’s good… Kon reminded me that your favorite drink is chocolate milk so-“

    Bart cut him off with an “OHMYGOD YOU GOT ME CHOCCY MILK?!”

    It turns out the food and the blessing of being in Tim and Kon’s presence weren’t even the tips of the iceberg. No- they decided that Bart deserved gifts as well- a sentiment that made his heart melt. There were two gifts- one was a set of custom-made cookie cutters shaped like the signature Flashfam lighting bolt from Tim, which was sick. A little-known fact about Bart- he actually loves to bake._ I’m definitely going to teach these boys to bake._ The other gift was a stack of comic books (to appease Bart’s inner nerd) from Kon that Bart could read out loud while the three of them snuggled.

 Apparently there was going to be something else but Tim’s hand shot out to cover Kon’s mouth before he could finish his sentence and refused to tell Bart anything else.

    Bart would never know, but that thing was a puppy. Kon almost bought a puppy, but Tim luckily called him in time to prevent that disaster.

    “Yeah… okay,” Kon said before hanging up with what was probably the most dejected look on his face that he had ever made.

    Before Bart could even open his mouth to thank them, Kon, without hesitation, chimed in: “It’s your birthday, but we’re the ones that should be celebrating the most. Our favorite person in the universe was born on this day.”

    “Yeah,” Tim nodded. “Though one day a year isn’t enough to celebrate someone as special as you.”

    Bart couldn’t help but cry a little bit. Sure things were a bit difficult sometimes. Sure Kon and Bart would argue over whether sushi is good or not. Sure Tim and Bart would argue about who got to sleep in the middle at sleepovers. Sure they’d often lecture each other about putting themselves in unnecessary danger. Still, Bart was dating his two best friends, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

@core-disaster-week-2021

@core-disaster-week-2021 here's my entry for day one.

3 Most Common Worldbuilding Mistakes for Writers and How to Fix Them

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. World Anvil, a 2021 NaNoWriMo sponsor, helps you develop and organize your characters, plot, and world setting. Today, World Anvil founder Janet Forbes is here to share some pro tips for worldbuilding. Don’t forget to check out the offer to NaNoWriMo writers for 30% off a World Anvil membership!

I talk to hundreds of writers every week, in our World Anvil Q&A live streams, our World Anvil writing challenges, and meetings with our professional authors. And mostly, they’re encountering the same few worldbuilding problems! Here are the 3 most common worldbuilding mistakes, and how you can fix them:

1. Mary-Sue Worldbuilding

You’re probably familiar with the Mary-Sue—a flawless, artificial-feeling main character. Mary Sue Worldbuilding follows in the same vein. If everything in your setting is directly related to your main character, it feels like the world revolves around them. It’s too convenient and artificial. That’s Mary-Sue worldbuilding.

Mary-Sue worldbuilding is usually caused by worldbuilding exclusively around your plot. Introducing larger-scale conflict in the backdrop of your setting, current affairs like civil or religious movements, war, disasters, or technological breakthroughs, can help expand the world beyond just your main character. 

Your main character might interact with these elements, or more usually, with problems caused by them. For example, they might help some refugees from “that war over there”. But your character should not be at the core of everything—they’re not the cause of the war. Other things are happening outside of your story, in the background. (Pro-tip: this is a great way to reinforce your genre and themes, and make your world feel alive and expansive, too!). 

Fixing Mary-Sue Worldbuilding Of course you’ll need a series bible like World Anvil to help you keep these current affairs organized, connect them together, and make sure you don’t lose your notes! Use World Anvil’s worldbuilding templates to get inspired for your big conflicts, and remember - you only need to write a few bullet points to start with! You can always expand more later (we’ll talk more about that in a moment).

World Anvil’s Worldbuilding Templates are custom-made by experts to help inspire and guide your creativity—and you can customize your own templates too!

2. Mosaic Worldbuilding

You know those computer game worlds where each area feels like a self-contained zone? Where the “desert” region and the “forest” region have no trade, communication, or overlap between them? That, in a nutshell, is Mosaic worldbuilding. It ruins suspension of disbelief, makes your novel setting feel false, and can pull your readers out of your story! 

Fixing Mosaic Worldbuilding

The best way to avoid Mosaic Worldbuilding is to make sure that you have a clear overview of your world early on, with each major region and concept penned out in just a sentence or two. That way, each region will feel like a connected aspect of your seamless setting, not a tile shoved on the side. 

On World Anvil, each world setting has a “Worldbuilding Meta” section to help you detail the 10,000 foot overview—the big stuff. And not just your physical world and its people, but your genre, your motivations, and your themes. This invaluable reference tool helps you expand your setting and add more detail, and will also help you sense-check what you’re adding!

Once you have a clear picture of your meta, and know the overview of your world, it’ll be easy to make use of cultural aspects like imports and travellers, cultural diasporas and geographical transition zones to make your world seem more connected and less artificially divided! And you’ll be able to do it without spending too much extra time worldbuilding. Which brings me to my final common worldbuilding mistake…

World Anvil’s Worldbuilding Meta tool helps you focus, streamline and sense-check your world setting! It’s full of guides to create an excellent overview for your worldbuilding project. This is the view mode of Manifold Sky by B.C.G. Wurth.

3. Worldbuilder’s Disease

Sounds nasty, right? Well, Worldbuilder’s Disease is a very common problem—a compulsion to continue worldbuilding things which aren’t actually useful. Here’s my favorite example—the “elven shoes”:

In your world you have elves. They wear shoes. So far, so good. Maybe there’s a plot-point where an imposter’s revealed because they’re wearing the wrong shoes. So you fill in a few details on your series bible. But if you find yourself writing a 5,000 word treatise on elven shoes through the ages… honey, you have worldbuilder’s disease.

I use shoes as an example, but it could be anything. It might be detailing three centuries of monarchy, or expanding unvisited areas in excruciating detail. Sure, it can be fun, but all that time spent on unnecessary parts of your setting isn’t helping you polish the core parts—or get your novel written! It’s distracting you from your primary goal. 

Curing Worldbuilder’s Disease

There are three major causes of worldbuilders disease: 

Lack of perspective

Lovers of prose

Fear of losing your ideas

1. Lack of perspective

Lack of perspective can often lead down a worldbuilding rabbit hole. Keep clarity on what’s important in your setting with tools like World Anvil’s Worldbuilding Meta. This helps you define your active worldbuilding area - not just geographical but thematic areas—which helps  streamline your world and your project, so you can be sure you’re spending your time where it counts!

Also, be clear with yourself WHY you’re worldbuilding the element you’re working on. Keep clear notes in your series bible about how this new element fits into your novel. If it’s little more than set dressing, you only need a few words. For a core concept, you might need more.

2. Lovers of Prose

As writers, we love to write (duh)! But for most of us, writing in prose in our series bible can cause serious problems. Not only does it mean that you write MORE than we should (your get in flow, words happen!), it’s also harder to reference your ideas quickly later on. Stick to short, organized articles in note form. Make sure the salient information is there, and link in anything relevant. You can always expand to prose later if you need to.

Keep your series bible in brief notes with clear headers! This character article took 5 minutes using World Anvil’s character template which automatically adds the headers. The linked articles help me easily reference related people and places as I’m writing.

3. Fear of losing our ideas

Fear of losing our ideas is actually one of the most common reasons for worldbuilder’s disease—that we’ll forget or lose our notes if we don’t write them out in vast detail. To combat this, make sure you have somewhere to keep your world details safe, organized, tagged and searchable. Then you can reassure yourself that you can go back and develop more later if you need it. 

Obviously, World Anvil is custom made for this, backing up everything in one place and linking everything together, so you can easily search, reference and update your series bible whilst writing your manuscript and not have to worry about losing things!

Anything here ring true for you? Or maybe you’re struggling with another worldbuilding mistake or problem? You can always hop into our live streamed Q&A sessions on our Twitch channel and ask us directly! We go live three times a week to answer questions about writing and worldbuilding, as well as helping our community with World Anvil queries too! Maybe we’ll see you there. And happy worldbuilding :)

Janet Forbes is a published fantasy author and RPG writer, whose recent credits include the Dark Crystal RPG with the Henson Company (coming 2021). In 2017, she and her husband created World Anvil, the ultimate worldbuilding and novel writing platform. World Anvil helps you organize, store and develop your worldbuilding and series bible privately, and market your books to the world too! The inbuilt novel writing software, accessible from anywhere, integrates seamlessly with your worldbuilding. And when it’s time to publish, you can export, or publish directly on the World Anvil platform and monetize YOUR way! Check it out at World Anvil.

Core Disatser week 2021 Day 2: Soulmates/Red String

Another piece I was able to churn out for Core Disaster week! I love soulmate au’s of all kinds, so I couldn’t resist throwing a little something together for the concept-last year I used the idea of soulmate tattoo’s/identifying marks, but I thought I’d stay classic for this one and do the strings!

Hope y’all like it! 😊 🙏

Rewind, Rinse, Repeat Chapter 1

For Invisobang Minibang 2021

Ao3 Link

Chapters: 3 finished, 12 total Rating: T+ Warnings: Major and Minor Character Death- all temporary, Implied Child Abuse/Neglect, Strong Language, Mild Body Horror, Mild Injury. Other warnings listed by chapter Characters: Clockwork, Danny Fenton, Pariah Dark, Levi | Leviathan (OC), Mal (OC), Observants, Mentions of other characters Ships: Lost Time, Dark Ages, CW & OC child, CW & Levi | Leviathan (OC) Genre/Tropes: Human AU, Magic AU, Found Family, Character Origin, Hurt/Comfort, Original Magic System and Lore Additional Tags: Existentialism & Existential Angst, Memory Loss & Amnesia, Corruption, Clockwork Centric, They/Them Pronouns for Clockwork, The Fenton's A+ Parenting, Obersvant Bashing

Summary

“Clockwork can I ask you something? How did you become a ghost?”

The tale surrounding the mystery of Clockwork's existence; a world where magic is common and ghosts are not. A world where one lonely, average mage tries with all their might to save what means most to them. A world where things need to be remade into something better.

Shout out to my betas @bibliophilea and @moonlights-shadow-warrior for keeping me sane, @13thdoodle for letting me use their OC, Levi, @dailudannos and @sailor-toni for providing art for later chapters, and all the folks over at @invisobang for being awesome!!!!

Chapter One below the Cut. The rest is available on my Ao3 account because tumblr linking/posting is hella broken.

Chapter 1: An Inquiry

“Hey, Clockwork? Can I ask you something?”

Clockwork looks over from the mirror they were watching intently.  “You already have, Daniel,” they reply, offering the other a smirk.

“Oh, ha ha.  You've never said that to me before.”  The reply is filled to the brim with sarcasm, as per usual.  Danny rolls his eyes, but a small smile gracing his lips betrays the fact he isn't annoyed in the least.  “Seriously, though.  It’s something that's been on my mind like... every day for the last two weeks!!"  He raises his hands towards the sky, flopping back in the air dramatically.  "But... it's kinda, y'know.  Personal-”  Danny trails off, slightly embarrassed.

Of course.  Clockwork finds themself smiling fondly- Danny thought he’d said something he shouldn't have- an inquiry that could make his guardian upset (as if it's even possible to upset Clockwork like that).  A question is a question, and this is a worrying habit of his that the Time Master is trying to help break, even if it's still somewhat endearing to them.

“I uh, I mean... it’s personal about- to you, not to me. That’s what I meant!!” Danny continued.

Clockwork stares at him, unblinking.  An idea (or thousands) of what he may ask flashes through their mind’s eye.  With a single, calming pulse to their Core, Clockwork pushes the involuntary slideshow of timelines aside as if they're no more than curtains.  They need to focus on the window in front of them; the here and now, not the temporal drapery.

It's a habit they are trying to overcome for Daniel’s sake.  To ensure their ward's growth, they need to stop peering into the near future as often- not discourage his asking of questions.  After all, what is a child if not but a well of endless curiosity?  Cutting Danny off is also sure to disallow the development of any trust or patience Clockwork needs to build within their young ward.  They wouldn’t receive either of those things if they assume what he wanted to ask.

It's common decency to not assume, lest it ‘make an ass out of you and me’, according to Daniel.

It is going to be a tough habit to break, but by the (other) Ancients, they're trying their best.  Their ward deserves the infinitesimal choices all other children have when asking things of their guardians, so even if they do glimpse to the future, they will not mention it to him.  Clockwork refuses and will continue to refuse to take their ward’s agency away; to not have a choice in things is a fate worse than fading.

The boy has been quiet, stuck deep within his own thoughts even after an impressive five minutes and thirty-seven and a half seconds of silence (uncharacteristic of the boy, Clockwork notes).

Now that just won't do- he must have lost his train of thought.  Clockwork gestures at the ghost boy, motioning for him to continue.  It works- Danny adverting his eyes and clearing his throat, "Well, it’s just like- you know so much about me- like, how I died, the whole Ghost Zone Prince business, that entire disaster doomed timeline with Dan... I just keep thinking- no- realizing, that I barely know anything about you!!”  He throws his arms up in thinly veiled frustration.

Clockwork smirks. “You had another question, did you not?”  They place a hand along the edge of the closest Temporal Mirror, turning to face the mirror- still halfway facing Danny.  They can see his inner debate clearly written on the boy's face- the mirror reflecting as if it were an ordinary object (for now).  They turn towards it fully and watch Daniel's reaction from behind them, acting as if they aren't finding joy in their ward's hesitation.  It's always adorable when he tries not to offend Clockwork. "I may be able to work with time, but that doesn't mean I wish to float here waiting for an answer all day."

Danny blinks a few times, rolling his eyes again in response.  Clockwork is certain that if they weren’t secured to his skull by human musculature they’d fall out and roll away.  “Well, I’m sorry for trying not to be rude and like, asking outright... but since it’s you I have to always be super direct!!  Jeeze you’re frustrating sometimes!”  He floats towards his mentor, crossing his arms.

Danny often forgets Clockwork isn't easily upset over trivial things such as questions.  Most questions are about things they already know the answers to, anyways.  And the few things that they don’t know when asked, they figure out soon after.  Such is the duty of the Master of Time- to be a step ahead of everyone and everything else always.  Besides, in most timelines (68.3% of them, to round up) the question Daniel wishes to ask is along the lines of ‘What was your past like?’ Another small fraction (a little under 20%) the question is ‘How did you get so strong?’ .  And even in the remaining timelines, the question would be along the lines of ‘How do your time powers work?’

They are each things Clockwork expects Daniel to ask them at some point or other, as it were.  There isn’t really anything Daniel can ask that could be too shockin-

“Clockwork, I was wondering… how exactly did you become a ghost?”

They... did not see that coming… in any of the timelines they’d glimpsed.  Clockwork stills for only a fraction of a moment, but it’s long enough for Danny to flinch, feeling as if he’s crossed a line.  They hear more than see Daniel shrinking in on himself as they look off into nothing, buried memories waking slowly in their mind.

Clockwork is brought from their introspection by a mumbled curse.  “Shit!  I mean... uh crap??"   They just stare at Danny as they are brought back to the present.  "Never mind just... sorry for asking...  Oh man!  Did I offend you somehow?  Ancients dammit, this is what I was worried about!!”  They watch him curiously, soft whirring coming from their ward's anxious core.  “We can just forget about it if-”  Daniel’s hands wring together nervously, shoulders tense with worry and face full of guilt.

Right- facial expressions are also important for a young ghost's emotional communication and development.  Sometimes the Time Master wonders if their isolation in Long Now affected their social behavior (it did).  Their face is carefully blank most times, so they set to fix it- they offer a small grin, hand coming to rest on Daniel’s shoulder.  “It is more than fine, Daniel.  You asked if you could ask a question- which is in fact, two questions, I should note- but I gave you consent to ask it of me.”  They squeeze his shoulder to placate the worry.

“It’s about time I told you this story, as it were.  I just did not foresee it being told at this very moment."  Clockwork floats slowly, turning away from their Mirrors.  "Come along- it’s best we sit for this.  I’ll have one of your friends bring us some tea.”

Danny floats after his mentor, looking around the room the two normally use to study history of the Realms.  “So, uh… is it a long story or...?”

“Oh, it is very long, indeed.”  They fly through an ornate door and over to their favored 'chair'- a stack of comfortable cushions in violets and blues, both impossibly cool and warm at the same time.  They recall Daniel discovering the room, eyes full of wonder and posture relaxed.  Clockwork chuckles- the first time their boy had wandered in here he'd decided to take a running dive into the pile, jumping up in surprise when it was cold as ice, yet warm as fresh laundry.  The expression on their ward’s face is one of their fondest memories; a happy moment amongst all the tedium of watching time.

“It may take a while to tell this tale proper. But, it is a story that ought to be told.”  Daniel makes himself comfortable on his chair of choice- an unholy combination of 'borrowed' pillows and what appears to be a more modern gaming chair- complete with an obnoxiously bright green-black color scheme.  Clockwork has to hide another smile as Danny wiggles himself deep into the pile.  “So, Daniel- what do you know of the phrase ‘Totems of Power’?”

“I thought I was getting a story, not a pop quiz!  Unfair!!”  His disdain for schooling makes Clockwork laugh fondly before the boy continues.  “But they’re like… hmm how do I explain this?  Well, there’s the universe right?  Like every timeline and every result of every timeline all at the same time kind of ties into the main universe thingy- but there's still a main timeline, and that's kinda like... Main Street, and the other possible timelines are uh... like side streets with dead ends?  But there's other forces that like, aren't time and… uhhh...”

He hums, crossing his arms deep in thought.  Clockwork takes the time to purr-sing-hum at one of the many blobs floating in and out of their lair; Daniel had asked them to keep some around as pets and the Time Master was happy to oblige.  They were unable to deny something so beneficial to the young Prince, after all.  The one deemed ‘Mr. Pants’ by one of Daniel’s friends answers their call.  Clockwork buzzes to it a quiet request- ‘bring Daniel's favorite tea and mugs for two, please.’  The little thing chirrups and zips off through the walls- eager to serve the Lair’s owner and be (potentially) rewarded with pats (from Daniel).

The Time Master brings their undivided attention back toward a grumbling ghost boy, lost in thought.  “Daniel if you need to ask for help I’m glad to-”

Danny snaps his fingers, coming to a realization before his mentor can finish.  “I got it!!  The best way to explain it is ‘The Universe needs to run smoothly, so there’s certain forces- like Time or Space- that are upheld by a powerful entity, like a person or like… the avatar of that concept?  Yeah, something like that, but they ensure the aspect they represent is properly cared for so the universe doesn’t completely like, die.’”  Danny nods to himself.  "It's why you stepped in to stop Dan, to make sure the world didn't end like that."

“That is correct- it is my job to ensure this universe of ghosts and reality doesn't crumble prematurely.  Now, do you have a recollection of any other Totems you may have encountered?”

“Well, yeah!  We call them ‘Ancients’, though- so like… Pandora is the one for war and history, and Nocturn is for like… dreams?  The Void or something, maybe?  And then there’s old man Pariah who isn’t one, but he said there’s a Leadership Ancient somewhere, and then-”  Danny pauses, blinking at Clockwork in realization.  “Wait, you asked that for a reason, didn’t you?”

“That I did.  Becoming the Totem, or Ancient of Time is where this story starts.”  Clockwork hums, seeing Mr. Pants fly back towards the two- nearly spilling scalding tea all over the ground.  “Now then.  We have drinks.  We are sitting comfortably.  I believe it’s time I spin my tale for you.”  They take a sip, closing their eyes in bliss.

They open them once more and see Daniel sitting, eyes full of stars and eager- Eager to hear, eager to fire off a question a minute.  It makes a chuckle bubble up in their throat, to see their favorite person so excited to learn.

“Once upon a time, there was a human; average in most ways, a simple person living a simple life.  They would get up in the morning, perform their daily tasks, and go to sleep at night.  Day in, and day out- a boring, but fulfilling existence.

“However, where this story differs from what we recognize as reality, is that in this realm, humans who could control magic were the norm.  Think as if it were like one of those fantasy games you and Tucker play together- mages, healers… all of those and more were commonplace when I was alive.  Yes, humans can wield magic now, but it is nowhere near as frequent as they could in our tale.”

They pause, seeing that Danny was about to interrupt.  “Wait wait- this realm?  Like- this is a completely different reality?? And people can wield magic now???  Are you messing with me?  Like… I thought it was all just-”  The boy stops, his train of thought drifting off the tracks as it tends to now and then.

“Yes, first, this is a completely different realm from either the Mortal Plane or the Ghost Zone.  Second, Daniel- tell me... have you not noticed the magic of those you have encountered?  Blood blossoms… a reality warping gauntlet?  The existence that is ‘Freakshow’ in general should be a red flag, seeing as his talents were… strangely non-ghostly in origin.  Not to mention objects such as the Infi-map...”

“Man, I wish I could forget about Freakshow… who mind controls ghosts???  He was the worst!” Their young ward crossed his arms and grumbles.

“If you’re done sulking about your past misadventures and former foes, I was in the middle of telling a story, if I recall correctly.  One you asked I tell you…”  Clockwork simply stares, unblinking as steam wafts from their slowly cooling tea.

All is well, they knew Danny would only take approximately 4.85 seconds to snap his attention back to their story.  Clockwork sips their tea, waiting.

Danny snaps out of his thoughts only a millisecond off of Clockwork's prediction. “Sorry... it’s just super weird to think that magic actually… still exists?  Like ghosts are real and all but magic being a thing feels a bit far fetched, don’t ya think?”  He pouts, brow furrowed.

The Master of Time finally closes their eyes, removing the hood from their head.  White hair floats gracefully behind them, settling just past their shoulders.   Clockwork opens their eyes again- a serious, yet warm expression directed at their ward.  “Magic is simply defined as reality altering acts using both energy and the willpower of a sentient being, if that helps.”  Another sip.  Mr. Pants made a wonderful batch of tea, as always.  They smile wider when they notice Danny’s expression- the boy has never seen them without a hood, and they know doing this will (in 99.78% of all possible timelines) convince the boy to take what they said seriously.   ”Just as ghosts can be defined as ‘ectoplasm given form and consciousness’, forces beyond humanity and the physical realm can be explained with scientific terminology if you know where to look.”

“So like... what all did magic have to do with this ‘simple human’ version of you?  Did you ever have the power to shoot lightning??  Could I shoot lightning if I tried?  Like were you some sorta time wizard?  Is that why you’re all… timey-wimey and powerful?”  Danny wiggles his fingers with a look of confusion on his face.

Clockwork always finds their Core warming when their boy acts his age.  He's abnormally prone to shoulder the destiny of the world on himself and often forgets he's just a kid.  “You could continue asking questions one at a time, or you could allow me to tell my story.  The choice is yours, Daniel.”  They smirk, watching as Danny purses his lips, his steady flow of questions stopping short.  The best answer.  “Perfect- all is as I thought it would be.”

They close their eyes and reminisce as they continue.  “Now- to answer your last question… Yes.  You could say magic is how I came to be the Master of Time in both the Infinite Realms and the mortal plane, but there is much more to the story than that.  Other players, situations, and pure circumstances.  The universe in its infinite chances and possibilities brought myself, as well as many others to the situations they face here and now.”  Clockwork pauses, taking the moment to stare straight through Danny’s soul.  “Even yourself.”

The boy shudders, an appropriate response.  “Wait... me?  Did you… do something in the past to like… a past version of someone we know??  Can that even happen???”  Danny is already enraptured by the story, eyes twinkling as his mentor opens up about themself.  The boy is obviously thinking about everything that has happened, everything that could possibly have happened, and everything that Clockwork could possibly drop on him.

They feel Daniel cautiously tug on loose strands of time to see if he could possibly scope out what is about to be said, quickly failing to do much else beside give himself a small headache.  “Time stuff is still really confusing, Clockwork…”

“You could say that.  You could even say that trying to mess with time in the inner sanctum of Long Now is the most confusing ‘time stuff’ one could do if they were not myself.”  They grin- a Temporal Mirror appearing behind them with a thought.

“What’s the mirror for?”  Danny catches sight of himself and looks away, embarrassed that he’s been literally glowing with power after trying to do something so simple with his developing powers.  The glow is something he’s been working on suppressing recently.  After all, it would be a shame if other ghosts could see the boy powering up by aura alone.

The Master of Time smirks, bringing tea to their lips again.  “I thought it would be fun to attempt braiding my hair and doing my makeup for once.  It has been an awfully long time since I’ve done either.”

They stare at Danny who just bursts into laughter.  “Did you just use sarcasm???  Man, I didn’t know you could lighten up, Clockwork!”  The boy laughs harder, sinking deeper into his nest of pillows.  After a few minutes he was finally wiping tears from his eyes.  “But no.  Seriously… what’s the mirror for??”

“Why, what they are always for, Daniel- seeing through time and space.”  Clockwork waves their hand.  The mirrors show an image of a human with dark hair and burgundy eyes.  They have a large, hooked nose and medium brown skin- and Danny finds himself having a hard time guessing their gender.  The human sits at a desk, paused in time with the delicate gears of a clock sprawled along the desk surface, tools in hand.

Behind Clockwork, the image changes, showing the human living through an average day- images play in small spurts, never showing the whole story.  “Do you understand what’s being seen?”  The young boy nods, grabbing Mr. Pants out of the air as the blob drifts between the two.  Good, he will probably need the companionship, especially towards the end.

This isn’t the easiest story to tell, nor is it easy to listen to, but with a sip of their tea, Clockwork continues.

Core Disaster Week 2021 Prompts are now out!

13th aka Day One: Bart's Birthday | First Kiss

14th aka Day Two: Soul Mates/Red String | Childhood Friends to Lovers

15th aka Day Three: Hanahaki | Future/Established Relationship

16th aka Day Four: Historical/Pirates | Sci-Fi/Space

17th aka Day Five: Hogwarts | Coming Out

18th aka Day Six: Power Swap | Stray!Tim

19th aka Day Seven: Coffee Shop AU | Time Travel | Free Choice

core disaster week day six: power swap (kinda)

give👏🏼bart👏🏼a👏🏼knife👏🏼

@core-disaster-week-2021

@core-disaster-week-2021 - Hogwarts AU

I made a digital artwork? And it's good?? Somewhat. Don't expect anything like this outta me again any time soon 😅 This took a lot outta me. I think I may be better off doing traditional work and touching it up digitally.

Originally this was going to be a comic(ish) page. They were going to be sitting on a comic panel box made to look like the typical outdoor stone structure at Hogwarts, and in the box would be the shadow of the back of their heads looking out to the courtyard where Harry and Draco are having an explosive argument 😂

                    Mock up of the book. Cover design not finalized.

Coyote and Crow is a tabletop role playing game set in an alternate future of the Americas where colonization never occurred. Instead, advanced civilizations arose over hundreds of years after a massive climate disaster changed the history of the planet. You'll play as adventurers starting out in the city of Cahokia, a bustling, diverse metropolis along the Mississippi River. It's a world of science and spirituality where the future of technology and legends of the past will collide.

The game is created and led by a team of Native Americans representing more than a dozen tribes and we've built a game that both Natives and non-Natives will thrill to explore and build upon.

More than 700 years ago, a bright purple streak shot across the night sky. Over the coming weeks, the Earth fell into a deep winter, the seas raged and ash rained from the sky. The event became known as the Awis. As resources dwindled, winter became longer and summer shorter, people struggled to survive. Wars erupted, people starved, some fleeing their ancestral homes before creeping ice sheets.

But people survived. Tribes adapted. And in the wake, people began to notice a strange purple mark appearing on people, plants and animals alike. It became known as the Adahnehdi, the Gift, and many took it as a sign that the Great Spirit had not given up on them.

Eventually, the weather began to ease, the Earth began to heal, and new nations arose. New sciences and technologies, born out of necessity, led to a discovery about the Adahnehdi. It wasn't just a mark, it was a path to abilities and powers, beyond normal human limits.

                       The long walk home. Art by Jennifer Lange

Now, 700 years after the world was brought to the brink, a new chapter has begun. Your characters enter a world that is healing but is no less dangerous. The ice sheets are retreating and the seas are calming, but what lay out beyond your borders? The treaties and alliances that made so much sense during the long winters are now eroding and old grudges between nations are not so easily forgotten. New technologies arise almost every day and the rate of change is frightening for some. And then there are the stories. Talk of spirits, monsters, beings of legend. For so many they were just tales to be told around the fire. But now there is talk that these legends may be far more literal than you may have previously believed. Has something awakened them?

                                the northern continent of Makasing.

Coyote and Crow is an original role playing system built around the exclusive use of D12 dice. Outside of the core rule book, all you'll need to play the game is some pencil and paper and some twelve-sided dice. While there is some complexity to the game, we are striving to present a system that will allow players to refer to the rule book during play as little as possible, keeping most or all of the critical information on your character sheet.

           Mock up of the front of a character sheet. Design not finalized.

The basic rule system is centered around collecting a Dice Pool, usually around 5-7 D12s and rolling them to determine either Success or Failure and degree of effect. For example "8" might be the number your Character needs to attempt to do something and every 8 or higher they rolled would be a Success. The more 8's, the more successful they are.

While combat is a part of Coyote and Crow, the game is actually built around the idea of fighting being only one road to story resolution. The game encourages dialogue, building bridges and finding unique solutions to problems that are not always clearly defined by good and evil.

Your Characters have Stats like Strength and Spirit and Skills like Investigation and Charm that are modified by their Stats. In addition, when you create your Character, you choose a Path. That Path determines both certain Stat bonuses you receive as well as which Abilities you have access to. Abilities are powers beyond normal human capability, but not at a level where characters would be comparable to superheroes. There are 15 Paths in the core rule book available. In addition, you'll choose an Archetype (Whisperer, Healer, Scout, among others) that will give you Stat and Skill bonuses and a general idea of your character's profession, but will not force your Character too deeply down a specific progression.

Then you'll choose Gifts and Burdens. These allow you to give your Characters specific bonuses or drawbacks and will help you flesh them out in a way that is flavorful and realistic. It's important to note that the rulebook does not dictate whether something is a burden or a gift for a Player. For example, a Player might choose to give their Character a sister. That might be a Burden or a Gift (or both!) depending on how the Player wants their Character to see that relationship.

Sample pages from the equipment chapter. Layouts and content not finalized.

There are no experience points in Coyote and Crow. Instead, it is built on the Legends system. Your Character will have Short Term Goals, which will increase various numbers on your Character sheets or give them new Skills. But you and your group will also have Long Term Goals. When those are completed your legend will grow. You'll write a short story about your adventures, the kind that can be told around the fire for generations to come. These can change your Gifts and Burdens, give you access to new Abilities and more. As you complete more Long Term Goals, your Character's legend will precede them and your stories will spread.

ARCHETYPES

There are six Archetypes in the game, each acting as a starting point for Character development but not constricting their possibilities. Each Archetype has its own symbol. Here are a few of them.

            The icons for the Tinkerer, Warrior and Whisperer Archetypes

PATHS

In addition to Archetypes, Players choose Paths for their Characters, which are permanent associations they make with an animal and help define what extra human Abilities they'll be able to choose from, among other effects. There are fifteen basic Paths in the core rulebook.

                       The Path of the Badger, the Stag and the Spider

While this game was created by a Native-led team, this game is for everyone. We've taken great care to craft a game that Natives and non-Natives alike will be able to engage in and find themselves immersed in.

For Natives, we've crafted both story and game mechanics that will allow you to integrate your own tribal customs into your play. For those who aren't Native, you'll have a wealth of options to choose from as well as clear guidelines for understanding the differences between this world and our real one.

The game is designed to be your first role playing game or your latest. The core rule book will walk players through every step of how to play Coyote and Crow, but also how to play role playing games in general, including advice on safety and inclusion as well as suggestions on where to find tools outside of the rule book to make your game both easier and more enjoyable.

Everyone involved in Coyote and Crow is deeply passionate about our game and we felt that it was time for Indigenous folks to have a game that didn't see them as secondary, as adversaries, or intertwined with colonialism.

Coyote and Crow is not set in a dystopia. The world went through a dark chapter, but the people of these nations rose to the challenge. There's good food and water, education and meaningful work for almost everyone in Makasing.

But this world isn't a utopia either. It's place that's growing, where old alliances are strained and past slights are not always forgotten. New technology is putting pressure on old traditions. And with the climate becoming milder, there is a whole world of unknowns out there. On top of all of that, there are rumors that some of the old stories about monsters and spirits might just be a little more real than some originally believed. This is a game where science and the unexplained live side by side and sometimes clash.

                              The Wanderer. Art by Kyle Charles.

THE CORE RULE BOOK

We are producing a beautiful 300+ page hardbound book, loaded with illustrations and containing all of the rules you'll need to play Coyote and Crow. Included in the book (and PDF) will be:

Detailed history of this alternate world

Descriptions of daily life and culture in Cahokia, the capital of the Free Lands

Rules for creating and advancing your characters, including 6 Archetypes, 15 Paths and 27 Abilities for a massive variety of options

Descriptions and stats for mythical creatures, infamous spirits, shadowy organizations and dangerous cults that can challenge players endlessly

A group of pre-generated characters if you want to jump right into playing the game

A starter adventure, Encounter at Station 54, that can act as a stand alone adventure or as the start of a larger campaign

So much more!

                              It still hungers. Art by Jeffrey Veregge

We have a diverse team of folks working on this game, most of whom are Native. Additionally, we are striving to bring in other marginalized voices whenever possible. Our team features people from across the LGBTQIA spectrum, including two spirit folks. It's not even a question that this game is political. If you have a problem with a game where there are no people of European descent represented, than this game is probably not for you. That said, we've truly built this game to be played by everyone. It might seem like a big leap, but don't worry, we're going to hold your hand the whole way through and you'll be so happy you stepped off the edge into this vibrant fresh world.

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Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, April 2 2021 3:00 AM BST

Website: [Coyote and Crow] [instagram]