Stuck in Planning Stage of Writing

Anonymous asked: Do you have any advice on how to get out of the planning stage and more into the doing stage of writing? I’m up to my ears in notes for scenes and fragments of dialogue between characters. I know where I want to go with the story, I’ve even written a handful of scenes when the ideas come to me, but now that I have this lump of thoughts I need to start organizing and placing them all in their rightful spaces. The one thing I truly know is how much I’d love to see this through. Do you have any advice for a girl who’s unwittingly made herself stuck with a puzzle?

[Ask edited for length]

Planning a novel can sometimes be like digging a really deep hole for a specific purpose, then suddenly realizing you've stranded yourself at the bottom of the hole without a ladder. You've spent so much time digging the hole, you'd like nothing more than to get out of the hole and move forward with whatever project required you to dig the hole in the first place. There's just one problem: you can't teleport yourself out of the hole. You have to climb... or, ideally, build yourself a ladder to climb out with whatever materials are available to you.

That's probably where you are right now with your story. The hole you've dug was necessary, and it's good that you dug it, but as much as you'd like to just magically leap out and write your story, you can't do that. You have to build yourself a ladder to climb out of the hole first. So...

My go-to emergency "get out of the planning hole I've dug myself into" ladders are timelines, scene lists, and outlines.

Timelines: Your story may take place over a single day or several centuries, but either way, time flows in your story. All of those notes and fragments of dialogue and partial scenes are moments or events that happen within the time frame of your story. So, plotting those moments and scenes out on a timeline--according to when they need to happen--is about the easiest way to break your story down into its existing pieces and to see what's missing/where.

There are lots of ways you can format a timeline, such as a table, a list, a horizontal timeline, calendar, or a roadmap timeline. My go-to is a basic two-column document where the left column is date/time and the right column is the moment/event. There are also apps and online tools that will help you build a timeline in various formats.

Horizontal Timeline:

Calendar Timeline:

Table Timeline:

More info: Making a Timeline for Your Story Scene Lists: Stories are made up of scenes, so a list of those scenes is another great way to organize the events of your story. You may even find that creating a scene list is easier after making a timeline, because a timeline may help you see where certain moments or events need to be their own scenes and which can be combined together into a single scene. Just like timelines, scene lists can be as simple or complex as you want to make them. Once again, my go-to is a simple two-column document with the left column for the scene number and the right column for the scene summary, preferably just a sentence or two. Ultimately, once I have my rough timeline and scene list done, I usually combine them into one multi-column document along with my story structure beats.

Table Scene List with Beats:

Complex Scene List/Timeline/Beat Sheet:

More info: Scene Lists

Outlines: Outlines can be really any format you want them to be, and some people count timelines and scene lists as their outlines. My go-to outline is just an exhaustive beginning to end summary of everything that needs to happen. Sometimes, just working through your story from beginning to end can be the best way to make sense of all those disparate pieces you've been piling up.

More info: Guide: How to Outline a Plot Story Structure: Finally, I want to talk a bit about story structure templates like Save the Cat Writes a Novel!, Larry Brooks story structure, seven point story structure, etc. Story structure templates can be a really great way to make sure you're hitting all the right story beats--almost like a road map through your story. It's just important to know you do not by any means have to stick to any particular story structure exactly. Use it as a guide, take what works, leave what doesn't, and don't panic if your beats don't fall exactly where it says they should. As long as your story is working, that's what matters. Some writers even like to frankenplan their stories using a variety of different structure templates.

More info: Creating a Detailed Story Outline (story structure)

Once you finally have a roadmap for moving forward, whether that's a timeline, scene list, outline, or all of the above, you know you're ready to start writing!

Final note: I just want to add that planning isn't for everyone. Some people are discovery writers who let their stories work themselves out as they go. The above is just meant for people who are planners, who have done a lot of planning, but need to pull that planning together into a cohesive, organized document. And... if you have all of the above and still find yourself unable to start, you might find help in the links below. Happy writing! More help:

Beginning a New Story Figuring Out Where to Start a Story Deciding How to Open Your Book How to Move a Story Forward Trouble Getting Started Have Plot, Can’t Write

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Drum Circle Facilitation Issues

Drum circle facilitation can be challenging at times. In his book Drum Circle Facilitation: Building Community Through Rhythm, Arthur Hull recounts the story of a rip-roaring drunk who showed up at a closing celebration and graduation exercise for a facilitator training workshop in Japan. Throughout the program, the drunk offered a good balance of challenging distractions and disruptive behavior for the beginning-beginner facilitators. After the circle, Hull critiqued the event with the graduates. He told them that the presence of the drunk was a blessing in disguise and represented three types of challenges that facilitators encounter in drum circles. As Hull puts it, "He was an unconscious distracter, a random factor disruptor and the kid who would not behave."

According to facilitator Larry Dillenbeck, "Another challenge to circle facilitation is when one person 'triggers' another and people get upset. Sometimes that can quickly spread and dominate the energy and attention of the group. I've seen it handled two ways that seem opposite, but both were effective at the time. One facilitator asked the people to leave the circle and resolve the issue outside, which they did, and allowed the rest of the group to continue with the session. Another time, the facilitators used the incident as a way of processing and using shamanic skills to bring resolution within the group. Even though it was a deviation from the plan for that day, it was a great demonstration of healing and the skill of the facilitators to 'hold space' and deal with the matter elegantly."

"Traditionalists" can also present challenges to leadership. As circle keeper Madge Peinkofer points out, "My biggest challenge is when a person joins the circle with specific beliefs about what is right or wrong in 'their tradition.' They usually have strong feelings about 'their way' being the right way. They can bring the energy down very quickly and change it in a way that makes others feel uncomfortable. One way I handle this is to listen respectfully until I feel the integrity of the circle is being compromised. At this point, I politely intervene to explain that all people are honored in this circle and our only rule is that everyone be respectful of others. I then redirect the attention and energy of the circle to an activity that gets everyone involved." Another way the facilitator can address this issue is to clarify the focus and intent of the circle from the beginning. As Larry Dillenbeck suggests, "I think part of what helps in those situations is when the facilitator sets the 'tone' or 'Spirit' of the ceremony at the beginning by setting the intent to honor all attendees and their particular beliefs and traditions and invite the attendees to do the same."

Shamanic circling requires that we allow space and encouragement for each member to bring forward their thoughts, feelings and concerns. Circles that are able to communicate well with one another are better able to withstand personality clashes and discord. Membership concerns might include issues of attendance, tardiness, confidentiality and sharing in the circle. By bringing forth these issues, they can be diffused and often lose their power. Circle issues might also include ego work. It's not unusual for some individuals to be seeking personal power. The spirits will often resolve this but if not, people may be asked to leave the circle. To learn more look inside Shamanic Drumming Circles Guide.

Hi! Have your tarot readings ever made you question hls current relationship? I saw some (ex)larries took their readings at face value and even think they are broken up only cause of bad cards.

hi love!

no they haven’t made me question their relationship tbh. i can only interpret what i know about them and their situation, which is not much since i don’t know them personally lol.

i usually do get very positive readings about them, idk what that last one was 💀 no wonder louis picked a fight with chicken parmesan lol. the reading did have some positives regarding their communication though!

also those “larries” who think they broke up because of some cards seem very silly to me. maybe they didn’t properly understand what the cards were telling them. tarot isn’t always 100% accurate. it all depends on your headspace and your intentions for the future. if you’re feeling negatively about a situation, then your spirit guides will interpret how something will go with that kind of intent.

but people can believe what they want, i just personally don’t rely on tarot cards for whether or not something is real, especially when there’s mounds of physical evidence sitting right there in front of you💝

Game Pile: HitchHiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Did you know that one of the funniest English language authors in history wrote a bunch of videogames, and they’re really funny? Well, you probably did, because Terry Pratchett made that huge Oblivion mod, but also, his peer Douglas Adams also made stuff, though on earlier, clunkier, uglier hardware.

Yes, once more I delve into the infocom vaults to talk to you about a game that is, primarily, just text, almost as if I have some kind of bias towards that kind of media for some reason.

Anyway, I’m going to complain about Twine briefly.

Sometimes I feel like the web browser is the wrongest way to do a text adventure. I’m not against Twine, don’t get me wrong. Parser games are understandably, less accessible and they’re famously hard to make comprehensively responsible to how you

It sometimes reminds me of how I frame poker. Poker is a game where you and the other players spend enough time with one another to create a common language – how you bid, how quickly you bid, all that stuff – and then see how you can use that language to lie to one another. Parser videogames can kinda do something like that too, but all of that language is set up ahead of time and a little remotely. It had opportunities to create interesting tension, such as if a developer didn’t consider a particular word that could be a noun or a verb, as in the famous Put Bag Bottle problem from Leisure Suit Larry 2 –

What?

oh okay, so in Leisure Suit Larry 2, you have to hastily construct a molotov cocktail (kinda) with a bottle of fuel (kinda) and a paper airsickness bag from an airplane. There’s a bug? of sorts? in the late stage of the game where most people are typing phrases like PUT BAG BOTTLE or USE BAG BOTTLE. Normally, if that doesn’t work, the game will just say something like ‘I don’t understand,’ which is a good way the games handle a lot of their error states, but in the case of this little bag and this little bottle, instead, Larry does something else entirely with its own animation and puts the game into a failed state: he chucks the bottle down into the volcano you’re standing over.

It makes sense at the time.

Thing is, what was going on there was that the parser could interpret the word ‘bag’ as a verb. The way the parser worked to tidy up commands was to consider the first verb and the last noun – because that’s usually all it needed, which helped clean up when players were using unnecessary adjectives that might accidentally confuse them. If you were in a room with four phones and one was ringing, ‘answer phone’ was functionally the same as ‘answer the yellow phone in the middle’ because the game would happily recognise that ‘in the middle’ wasn’t a noun and since only one phone was ringing, knowing you meant the yellow one didn’t mean anything. You could use this to weird results in speedruns of some games, where you could type an extensive list of commands nested inside one another like USE HAT SCREW FLUFF BUG POTION and then just delete the words at the end each time you repeated the input.

In the case of the Leisure Suit Larry bug, the way around it was the use of the word ‘the’ – you had to PUT THE BAG IN THE BOTTLE, but also not PUT BAG IN BOTTLE because it’s missing the word ‘the’ that indicates it’s a noun and a noun.

Parsers are hard, and all of this predicates on the idea that you’re a person who looks at the word ‘bag’ and thinks of it as a verb before you consider its applications as a noun.

Text Parser games introduce ways that you can be wrong, and it introduces ways that you can be frustrated, and those two elements were definitely part of Douglas Adams’ vision of games in Beaurocracy. That game has a limited number of inputs you can make – a typo for example, uses up one of them. If you check your inventory because you’re stuck, that uses up one of your inputs. You ultimately need to only ever make correct, non-frustrating inputs to get through that literally and deliberately kafkaesque form input system of a game, and that means you need to know how all the puzzles are solved ahead of time. The only way to do that is to do the puzzles, note how you did it perfectly, then restart the game to do it again. This is before widely distributed cheat code or walkthrough websites. This game was explicitly, deliberately, inconveniently difficult, and it was trying to manipulate you and how you interacted with it.

Basically, you should hate Beaurocracy because it was trying to make you hate it. I know I’ve never finished it, even if I’m very impressed with the dedication to, as it were, the bit. Douglas Adams would have killed on Tumblr is what I’m saying.

Okay, but what about Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.

I assumed I’d written about this in the past, a long time ago, and over ten years the words flow to me like I’ve probably told it in little bits and pieces, but Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is a text parser game that really leant against all the surfaces of the kind of game it was. First of all there are just some deliberate uses of a turn based timer to fuck with you.

There’s this puzzle early on, where, in order to unlock access to most of the rest of the game, you need a babelfish to stick in your ear. These are super common in the lore of the world, so much so that there’s a vending machine you can get one out of. In the book series, and radio play, the babelfish is added to Arthur’s life by Ford helpfully jamming it in his ear after getting it from a vending machine, but in the text parser game, you have to retrieve it from the vending machine yourself.

It’s a pretty neat little puzzle; you press a button to get a fish, and then immediately find a problem with how it’s dispensed. So you solve the puzzle of how it’s dispensed and press the button again. It dispenses another one, but your solution breeds a new problem and now it falls down a grate. So you look at the grate and you devise a solution and you press the button on the vending machine and get another fish which now goes from solution one to solution two to problem three. You solve problem three, press the button, and if you’ve done it like this the vending machine is now out of fish. But it doesn’t matter, because you’re also out of time and get dragged off to solve another puzzle, which you can’t, because you can’t understand any of the text being spoken to you.

The only way to solve the puzzle is to know at least one of the steps ahead of time, and then you need to pick up all your guff you put down in the process because you need it later.

The game even asks you, as you’re putting the pieces down, hey, do you know what you’re doing or are you winging it?

It’s mendacious but also it’s deliberately trying to engage you, the player in a particular way because I feel like this whole genre of game expected you to play with the whole of its text. That there was a reason every word was put in a description and it was to make reading it and engaging with it interesting. That’s pretty cool, and the HTML-ification of interactive text (which isn’t a problem per se, but it does present a sort of ‘first point, easiest point’ for the genre of interactive fiction it creates) does kind of lose some of this just because it needs to make its point of interface pretty evident.

(Not that you can’t get sneaky with it!)

(You can make twine games that notice when they’ve been rolled back, like ‘remembering’ something is a chance to change the past.)

(This is an idea we talk about in game studies as ‘hypertext,’ where text you can experience multiple times in different ways does not present a dozen readers a dozen paths but rather, all twelve readers experience the same path, which is to say, they go back and play all of them.)

Anyway, this isn’t the real thing in Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy that I love beyond meaningful words. What I love is that at one point, you have to demonstrate a capacity for abstract thought by showing an NPC that you are holding both tea and not tea.

And like obviously, when you think about it for a moment, of course you are, right? Like if ‘tea’ is an inventory item, any other inventory item is ‘not tea.’ But that’s not it – you have to specify that you show someone both tea and the absence of tea, as a way of representing that you aren’t just treating the objects in the game like entities in a parser.

Which you are.

Because when you do this, in your inventory, you get ‘no tea.’

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episodes 5 & 6: Release Date & Watch Guide

Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episodes 5 & 6 as usual with answering questions raised by the last two episodes. The last four episodes did a good job of setting up the conflict and bringing us to the present moment of the show. It is a good translation from the novels as they adapt the novel series meticulously to the screen. The last two episodes were particularly game-changing as they deepened the conflict of the show. The third episode was an espionage episode as things started to turn from bad to worse organically. The fourth episode was a simple setup and execution. However, the show is past the point of being simple. With so many characters and history in the series, every action has multiple consequences, which end up being an emotionally charged moment for the show. The show has many such moments, and that is thanks to the novel, which does the same amount of work. The hellfire club's expansion was fast, but things don't go smoothly when it comes to crime drama. And not so soon after, the club's top dancer had a patron who was trigger-happy. Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episode 5 & 6 Spoilers  Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episodes 5 & 6 will follow through with the chase we have seen in the last two episodes. The chase for Larry's son is abound and he has shown that no force will stop him. The last episode left us with a trigger-happy customer but the episodes that are going to follow on the other aspects and places related to the Duncan Family. The novel series has a pretty clear idea of how things will turn out, but the performances add another depth to the story. This season also saw new more faces, and the way has elevated the story is breathtaking. Though, unlike the last two seasons, the fourth season is a little different as it will only have 10 episodes. And the episodes are released two at a time, which is a good thing for binge watchers. However, the intense may require you to slow down a bit and take a break from the show. The Family business is good at the intense drama, and a fresher now and then is necessary. Also Read: Duy Beni Episode 11: Release Date, Preview & Streaming Guide Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episode 5 & 6 Release Date Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episode 5 will be available on Tuesday in the US at 3 AM. The release time and date for the other region are listed below. The show is released at a time that is best for the mature audience of the group as they tend to be awake at that time. - Pacific Daylight Time: Midnight (September 22, 2022) - Central Daylight Time: 2.00 AM (September 22, 2022) - Eastern Daylight Time: 3.00 AM (September 22, 2022) - British Summer Time: 10.00 PM (September 22, 2022) - Indian Standard Time: 00.30 PM (September 22, 2022) - Singapore Standard Time: 3.00 PM (September 22, 2022) - Philippines Standard Time: 3.00 PM (September 22, 2022) - Japanese Standard Time: 4.00 PM (September 22, 2022) - Korean Standard Time: 4.00 PM (September 22, 2022) - Austalia Time: 5.00 PM (September 22, 2022) Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episodes 6 will be released on September 29, 2022. Where To Watch Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episodes 5 & 6? Carl Weber's The Family Business Season 4 Episodes 5 & 6 is available on BET for people who like to watch TV. But people who want to stream the series need not worry. The show is available on many OTT platforms, making it one of the more accessible series on the market. Not just that, the show release two episodes at a time, so it has to make it semi-binge. And for those reasons, the stream services might be a better option for this particular series. The different OTT services for the show are:- - Fubo TV  - Sling - Bet+ - DirectTV - Spectrum What is Carl Weber's The Family Business about? Carl Weber's The Family Business is back for the fourth time, with the family being as ruthless as ever. The Duncan family has come a long way from the siege they have been under all these years. But every season, the stakes go up, and the family goes through challenges they have never before. The series is based on the book of the same name by Carl weber. The series was meant to be a movie but converted into TV series. The fourth season will have a total of ten episodes.  Read the full article

CANTLON: HARTFORD WOLF PACK NEWS WEEK 12

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT -  Hartford Wolf Pack news this week comes fast and furious as the season approaches. The news starts in New York where the parent Rangers and President and General Manager, Chris Drury, must face two serious roster issues with the upcoming training camp just around the corner. According to New York Post columnist, Larry Brooks, Swedish defenseman Nils Lundkvist asked to be traded. Despite beating out Zac Jones for the sixth spot on defense, Lundqvist's first North American professional season was sub-par. There could be several explanations for Lundqvist's struggles. First, veteran Tom Nemeth was shuffled off to Arizona after being signed last year to help him with the cultural and hockey hurdles. Secondly, he barely got ice time as Braden Schneider's strong play moved him past Lundqvist on the depth chart. Then, and most glaring, was that he was a part of the Pack collapse in the second half of the season as he struggled in his thirty games in the Connecticut capital. Combine those factors with an overload of defensemen, twelve D on the roster as camp begins in two weeks, nine in New York limited by contract, and Jones getting NHL money, forcing a longer than usual look at training camp. THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS? Second on the list of key decisions, was Friday's signing of journeyman forward and one-time Ranger, Jimmy Vesey to a professional try-out contract (PTO). Brooks writes that happened about two weeks ago. If Vesey makes the team, it puts pressure on the bottom six (Dryden Hunt, and Julien Gauthier in particular), especially Lauri Pajuniemi, who might be moved too. Pajuniemi was an unhappy camper at the end of last season and this certainly won't help that. JAIME TARDIFF JOINS THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK BENCH As expected, there are changes behind the Wolf Pack bench for the 2022-23 season. Drury announced the club hired Jamie Tardif as the new assistant coach. Tardif, 37, was most recently an assistant coach with the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) Greyhounds (OHL). He started with the club prior to the 2018-19 campaign. During his time with the organization, the Greyhounds won 112 games and advanced to the playoffs in both the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons. Prior to his time on the bench with the Greyhounds, Tardif spent the 2017-18 season as a player/assistant coach with the Quad City Mallards (ECHL), where he finished his playing career. Tardif played twelve professional seasons. His eight years in the AHL saw him dress in 487 games with the Manitoba Moose, Iowa Stars, Grand Rapids Griffins (where he got to know Hartford GM Ryan Martin), the Providence Bruins, and the Rochester Americans. Tardif registered 267 points (142 goals and 125 assists) in his career and served as captain of the Griffins for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. In 2012-13 while with the BRuins, he was named an AHL All-Star. However, Tardif appeared in only two NHL games in his career, both with the Boston Bruins. Tardif played three seasons overseas for Adler Mannheim in the German DEL. He helped guide the club to a DEL championship during his first year in Europe. He also won an OHL John Ross Robertson Cup championship with the Peterborough Petes and was named an ECHL All-Star in 2006-07 with the Toledo Storm. In another coaching move, Casey Torres, 42, who spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach on the Wolf Pack staff, was relocated within the Rangers organization. Drury moves him out from behind the bench in Hartford and named him the franchise's Player Development Assistant. Prior to joining the organization, Torres was a scout for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and Peterborough in the OHL. PLAYER MOVEMENT PART ONE Adam Húska relocates far from Hartford as he signs overseas with Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL). He becomes the second current ex-Wolf Pack (Nick Merkley, the other) and sixth ex-player to sign in Russia/Belarus. With Justin Richards signing with the Cleveland Monsters for next year, just three Wolf Pack players from last season have not signed or made their intentions known. Those three are goalie Tyler Wall, forward Matt Lorito, and center Maxim Letunov (UCONN-HE), who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves. The Russian-born, Letunov was traded for defenseman Tarmo Reunanen, who will play in Finland (Lukko Rauma) next season. Lutino’s KHL rights were traded last May from Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to Traktor Chelyabinsk. He is looking to stay in North America. Ex-Pack, Josh Nicholls, leaves Storhamer (Norway-NEL) and returns to Kunlun (China-KHL). Former CT Whale, Christian Thomas, goes from SC Bern (Switzerland-LNA) to HC Bolzano Foxes (Italy-IceHL). Former Wolf Pack/Ranger, Stu Bickel, was relieved as an assistant coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds, who in turn hired former AHL player Jordan Smith from Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) where he worked with Tardiff. Smith lost his eyesight in 2005-06 with the defunct Portland Pirates (now Springfield Thunderbirds), contributing to the ushering in the mandatory half-visor rule into the AHL. Former Wolf Pack and Rangers first-round pick, Bobby Sanguinetti, and the youngest member of the Staal family Jared, are named the new assistant coaches for the Charlotte Checkers (AHL). PLAYER MOVEMENT PART TWO After five years in Hershey with the Bears, ex-Pack Alex Westlund (Yale University) is named goaltending coach in Detroit. Out in Colorado, ex-Pack Ryan Tobler has caught on as the associate head coach with the Blackfalds Bulldogs (AJHL). Former Pack Sam Klassen is the new head coach of Briercrest College (ACAC) in Canadian college hockey. Former New Haven Knights (UHL)/Springfield Falcon (AHL), Simon Olivier, after a year off, is hired as the Head Coach/GM of the Edmundston (NB) Blizzard of the Maritime Hockey League (MHL) Junior A team. Now 95 past members of the Wolf Pack are involved as coaches in some capacity in North America and Europe. Hershey signed Alexandre Fortin, nephew of former Whaler goalie Jean-Sébastien Giguère from the Laval Rocket. Ex-Sound Tiger Alan Quine departs Henderson (AHL) for Ontario (AHL). Ex-Sound Tigers Brett Gallant and Steve Olesky have re-signed with Cleveland (AHL) and Orlando (ECHL) respectively for another year. Former Sound Tiger Yannick Turcotte signs with Adirondack (ECHL) for next season. Ex-Sound Tiger captain Josh Holmstrom becomes the Director of Hockey of Operations for the Air Force (AHA). Bridgeport head coach and ex-Pack, Brent Thompson, saw his eldest son, Tage (Milford/UCONN-HE), who comes off his best season to date with 38 goals, sign a whopping seven-year $50 million-dollar deal to stay with Buffalo. PLAYER MOVEMENT PART THREE Odeen Tufto (Quinnipiac University) heads from Orlando (ECHL) to Tucson. The list of AHL'ers headed to Europe has grown to 92. That list now includes Chad Krys (Ridgefield/CT Oilers-EJEPL) who began the year in Rockford and departs Toronto for Vienna (Austria-IceHL). Also, ex-Pack Kodie Curran heads from Providence/San Diego to Mettallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia-KHL). Russia has added 19 players. Sweden adds 17, while Finland signs 12. Those three nations lead the Pack. Collegiate North American pro signees have seen Hockey East contribute 54, NCHC-38, CCHA, and the Big Ten-32, ECACHL-26, AHA-23 and NCAA Division I Independents-13. Jake Witkowski, a graduate of Avon Old Farms, signed with the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL) out of Canisius College (AHA) where ex-Pack, Daniel Paille is the Associate Head Coach. Among three players who signed with the Worcester Railers (ECHL) is a former UCONN Husky, Brian Rigali, of nearby AIC-American International College (AHA). He finished his NCAA career at the Springfield, MA school. Michael Brodzinski, who played three games with the Pack, re-signs with Orlando (ECHL). Division-III has just 17 players gone pro in North America. Three others are going to Canadian colleges and two are going to Canadian major junior and Junior A. Jack St. Ivany, formerly of Yale, goes the free agent route and signs with Pittsburgh out of BC. PLAYER MOVEMENT PART FOUR The newest additions to the transfer list include the Fusco brothers, John and Matt, the sons of ex-Hartford Whaler Scott Fusco, who have both transferred from Harvard University (ECACHL) to Dartmouth College (ECACHL), a true rarity to have an intra-Ivy school transfer. Before even skating a single game at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Yale University freshmen Phillip Tresca, transfers from the Bulldogs to rival Harvard University. 222 college transfers in total with 113 undergrad and grad transfers at 109. The total number of North American signees is 250. Therefore, North America plus Europe is at 289. UCONN has quietly shipped Sasha Teleguine back to Junior A, even with one year of eligibility. He played in just 20 games last year. Teleguine heads back to the Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL). However, they did gain a new commitment for 2024-25 in Ethan Gardula. He heads to the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) next year from Cushing Academy. According to several sources, expect the Sacred Heart University Pioneers (AHA), who are moving into a beautiful brand-new 4,000-plus seat arena, to announce shortly a new multi-year agreement to broadcast their games on a regional tri-state TV network to coincide with their new digs. Former Quinnipiac Bobcat goalie Michael Garteig has had the Goaltender of the Year award in the BCHL named after him. He is still playing with ERC Ingolstadt (Germany-DEL) this year. Ex-Whaler Kelly Chase was inducted into the SJHL Hall of Fame. RILEY AT ARMY The Albertus Magnus Falcons (NCAA Division-III independent) sends its first coach up the ladder. Last year's Assistant Coach, Jack Riley, becomes the Director of Hockey Operations at Army (AHA). The Riley name at Army is legendary and is familiar to hockey. His grandfather John P. "Jack," his namesake, started the program and coached in 1951. He was followed by his son Rob in 1983 who also coached the Springfield Falcons for two years. He coached for 18 years there and in 2003 Brian came in, his great-uncle. The coaching bug is in the Riley DNA and extends to Brett an assistant at LIU-Post and Brendan at AIC. AHL NEWS The AHL is leaping into the 21st century as they open two brand new state-of-the-art arenas this year. The first just had its grand opening. The new Tech CU Arena is in San Jose and is part of a multi-faceted ice complex. The arena will serve as the home to the Barracuda and their brand-new San Jose Shark color schemed home and away jerseys. The building has been ten years in the making and was built on time, and on budget even with the pandemic. It is an environmentally friendly, 21st-century building. It's like a modern version of the Glen Falls Civic Center, including an electric Zamboni. It is the new permanent home of the Barracuda and will host the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, USA hockey U-16, and U-18 events next month. In addition, it will be available for future NCAA events and could be a likely home for a West Coast NCAA team for a myriad of colleges in the area such as current ACHA Division 2 San Jose State. An NCAA West Coast-based conference is coming. It's not a matter anymore of if it is going to happen. It's now more a matter of when. The complex will help figure skating and local youth hockey. Had it been there, it could have saved current Wolf Pack Patrick Khordorenko, who grew up in the area, from having to travel to Southern Cali for ice years ago. The facility abuts the home of the California League Single A, San Jose Giants. In December, the $300 million palace in the California desert, the Acrisure Arena (9,918), will be unveiled. The building, on the outskirts of Palm Springs, will be the home for the top farm team of the Seattle Kraken, the expansion Coachella Valley Firebirds. The two buildings cement the AHL Pacific Division's presence even though Tucson, with new coach Steve Potvin, will play in a larger building (6,791) this year than their parent team, the Arizona Coyotes (and will likely outdraw them). This hopscotch into ultra-modern facilities highlights the ineptitude surrounding the XL Center. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

Why Newlyweds and Engaged Couples Should Consider Buying Life Insurance ASAP

If you’re newlyweds or planning to marry soon, shopping for life insurance is probably being edged out by more romantic purchases such as — well, just about anything a newly married couple typically buys. But this coverage should be on your to-do list, say experts, especially during the pandemic.

With COVID-19 continuing, life insurance becomes of high importance to many couples, says Joshua Meier, California estate planning attorney at Meier Law Firm. The pandemic should prompt people to be “concerned about death and mortality,” he says, and to be “more inclined to think about how your loved one would be taken care of if something happened to you.”

When you get married, you’re entering into a legally binding contract to be in a partnership with your significant other, both maritally and (usually) financially. That makes a marriage an ideal trigger to buying life insurance, unromantic as that thought is. Here’s a guide to when and how to work through that process.

When couples should get life insurance

Newlyweds who plan to have a family often put off buying life insurance until they actually have dependents — or at least until there’s a baby on the way. But experts say the better time to buy is usually earlier — as soon as your finances become as entwined as the rest of your lives.

That’s usually on your wedding day, but it could be sooner. If you’ve bought a house together while you’re engaged, say, or even made a downpayment on one, you could already be vulnerable were one of you to die, and the surviving spouse would be left holding the mortgage alone.

Whatever the timing, buying a home — with the assumption you’ll both be alive, married, and paying the mortgage together for decades — is the perfect catalyst for getting life insurance, says Laura Meier, financial expert and author of The Family Nest Egg.

Meier says that if anything happens to one partner, the surviving spouse would have to meet all their financial obligations and goals, for the home and otherwise. “The reason newlyweds need life insurance is that they have somebody else who’s financially dependent on their income,” she says.

Another benefit to buying life insurance early is its role in making you think more broadly about your joint financial life. By buying a life insurance policy as newlyweds, you’re likelier to start having meaningful conversations about your financial future earlier, according to Larry Gatz, CFP and president of financial planning firm Cooperwood Financial.

How many policies, and of what type?

Your life insurance decisions in marriage begin with the question: one policy or two? Two is the more common choice, and the cons to a joint policy outweigh the advantages for most couples, according to Guardian Life.

Still, a joint policy may make sense for young families looking for income replacement to maintain the same lifestyle or for those looking to facilitate the estate planning process. Joint policies of the first-to-die type disburse the death benefit once the first person on the policy dies; the surviving spouse can then use the payout to maintain their accustomed standard of living. A potential drawback, though, is that the surviving spouse then leaves no coverage for their heirs. In the event that’s needed — say to cover funeral expenses or other costs after death — the survivor would have to apply for a new policy.

A second-to-die policy, also known as a survivorship policy, is paid out once both people named on the policy die. Survivorship insurance is commonly purchased for estate planning. According to Guardian Life, it can provide “liquidity to pay estate and inheritance taxes, assets to generate income for surviving dependents, estate equalization among heirs and funding for special-needs children.”

There’s another variation on joint policies if one spouse cannot qualify for coverage on their own due to, say, a chronic medical condition. The qualifying spouse gets a policy with what’s known as a spousal rider. The rider ensures that you will receive a death benefit if your spouse dies, albeit a smaller one, because these policy add-ons are typically limited in the benefit they will pay. For example, Nationwide will cover the primary insured starting at $125,000 with a $25,000 minimal spousal coverage.

As for the variety of policies to buy, newlyweds’ primary options — as with all buyers — are term or permanent. Term life insurance, which provides coverage within the selected term, typically between 10 to 30 years, is the most convenient and affordable type across the board. On the other hand, whole life insurance, which provides permanent (as in lifelong) coverage with a guaranteed death benefit, tends to be more expensive and typically better suited for high-net-worth individuals.

The upshot? If you’re looking for flexible coverage at an affordable price, buying separate term policies grants you both advantages. And if you divorced, term policies would be easier to separate.

How big should the benefit be?

The most common formula for buying life insurance is to purchase coverage somewhere between 5 to 10 times your salary — which, for a couple, would be the multiplier of your combined annual salaries.

At Bestow, says Megan Cherry, director of the insurer’s consumer experience, life insurance policyholders in their 30s typically buy an average coverage amount of $500,000 each. But Cherry says the right amount of life insurance should not be formulaic but based on each couple’s financial situation.

Other advisors concur.

When it comes to life insurance for couples, there is no “one size fits all” solution, says Nathan Schelhaas, VP at Principal Financial Group. “To start, take inventory of what you’re trying to protect, whether that be your home, business, family or kid’s college education, for example. And to what extent — how much, and how long.” Then, consider the options available to you and compare prices.

Gatz has three main considerations when helping clients figure out how much life insurance they need: the loss to your household if you or your partner passed away, whether both of you are working and whether you are purchasing any major assets together.

This means that when choosing a coverage amount, Gatz says, you should take into account your earnings as well as your partner’s, including any “services” you perform for the household, such as housework and childcare. And if you’re buying a home, choose a policy amount that can pay off the remaining mortgage balance and a term length that will cover you for the duration of the mortgage.

How long is coverage needed, and when to start?

The time period over which a couple needs to be insured should also be tailored to their financial plans. If you share a mortgage with your partner and want to cover mortgage payments if either of you died, you may need a 30-year life insurance policy with a benefit amount equivalent to 10 to 30 times your annual salary, explains Gatz.

On the other hand, or in addition, if the policy aims to cover childcare costs if one partner dies, the benefit amount should depend on how long the children might require care, and its cost in your area. That’s likely to be a shorter period than the typical mortgage term, perhaps 10 to 20 years.

In a household with only one working partner, Gatz adds, coverage needs may be substantially higher and need to last longer. Of course, the sooner you start a policy of a chosen length, the sooner you are covered. At the same time, your need for protection is lower when you are young, statistically speaking, because you’re less likely to die.

However, keep in mind that the younger you are when you buy life insurance, as a rule, the lower the premium will be. That’s the case not only at the start of the policy but throughout its term, because premiums are locked in for the entire period.

The premium savings by starting early, then, can help subsidize the overall cost of coverage and make that early coverage less expensive in the long run than it may seem. For example, a 30-year $500,000 term policy you purchase in your mid-twenties might typically cost $30 a month, and protect you into your mid-fifties — when your mortgage may be paid and your children are likely to be growing into self-sufficiency. But if you waited until your mid-forties to buy a policy, the premium could easily rise to $80 per month.

The early start, then, would mean you’d pay thousands less to be protected for the important decade from your mid-forties to mid-fifties. And those savings would essentially further reduce the net cost of being insured in your twenties and thirties.

Of course, age isn’t everything when it comes to the price of a policy. Life insurance companies will consider your gender, lifestyle and occupation when pricing your policy as well as your overall health. The latter factor is another reason to start early; the older you are, the more likely you are to develop medical conditions that could further add to the effects of age in raising your premiums.

Change your insurance over time as needed

“Getting married is one of those life events that motivate you to get your affairs in order,” says attorney Meier. And the sooner you start the process the better, experts say. “It can’t be overstated that the best time to buy life insurance is always “yesterday” or, failing that, “right now,” says Jamie Hale, CEO of Ladder.

Buying life insurance as newlyweds doesn’t lock you into the same coverage forever, or even for the term of the policy. If your finances dramatically change for the better — by, say, receiving a sizable inheritance or another windfall — you’re free to cancel your policy (and stop paying its premiums) before the term is up.

Conversely, review your policy whenever you experience a major life event that might require additional coverage. “Newlyweds should revisit their life insurance needs during significant life milestones, like having a child or buying a more expensive home. If there’s a need for more coverage, they can purchase a second policy,” Cherry adds.

Credits: Ana Reina Date: Apr 15, 2021 Source: https://money.com/life-insurance-for-newlyweds/

7 Point Story Structure Explained in 5 Minutes

Hi there! Today we are doing a basic introduction to and breakdown of 7 Point Story Structure--all in ~5 minutes.

This is a great story structure to learn when you already know the basic, basic story structure:

And are ready to go a little deeper, without doing a deep dive into more complex approaches like The Hero's Journey or Save the Cat! (Or other, more complicated renditions of 7 Point Story Structure.)

And a lot of best-selling writers stick to this structure alone.

It doesn't seem like anyone knows definitively where this structure originated. Some say here. Some say there. Dan Wells, a best-selling writer, is sort of famous for (and sometimes misattributed for having come up with) it, but he says he learned it from a role-playing guide book, but I've also seen it in other places. It's used a lot in screenwriting.

It's also worth noting that both Larry Brooks and K. M. Weiland use a rendition of this structure as well.

While some, like Wells, use the term "Plot Turn," others, like Brooks and Weiland, use the term "Plot Point." (You know how writing terms are--not regulated 🙄) So please note that they mean the same thing, should you listen to people talk about this structure. So let's get to it.

7 Point Story Structure

Hook --This is the starting of the story. It includes the setup, which grounds the audience. Who is this story about? Where is this story taking place? Everything you need before problems really take a turn.

Here, the protagonist will start in a state that is the opposite of where he ends up (typically). Plot Point 1 -- At Plot Point 1, something enters the story that challenges the established normal and leads the protagonist to go a new direction. This shifts the story from the Hook section and gets it on course to hit the Resolution at the end.

Pinch Point 1 -- A pinch point is what it sounds like. It's a key moment where the antagonistic forces apply pressure to ("pinch") the protagonist. It reveals to the audience that the antagonist is a legit force and foe. Typically, this pressure forces the protagonist to take further action. It forces her to step up and try to solve a problem. Midpoint -- The midpoint is the moment the protagonist decides to move from responding to acting. Since Plot Point 1, he's been responding to what's happening. Here, an event leads the protagonist to become more proactive at defeating the antagonist. This happens at the middle of the story. Pinch Point 2 -- Another pinch from antagonistic forces that is worse or more dangerous than the first. Now or eventually it leads to a moment where it feels like all is lost. Plot Point 2 -- This is the final turn to the end. Here, the protagonist gains something significant that will help with the climax. He rushes to defeat the antagonistic forces.

Resolution -- This is the climax of the story, where the protagonist achieves (or fails) in her goals. She usually ends the story in a state opposite of the Hook.

A Note on Ambiguity Concerning Plot Points 1 & 2

Story structure can be more complex than this (as I mentioned), and as a result, you may see places where Plot Point 1 and Plot Point 2 are defined a little differently by writers. For clarity, I'm going to break this down a touch further.

Plot Point 1 Ambiguity:

After the story's setup, something unexpected enters the picture that disrupts what's "normal." You may have heard this called the "inciting incident," a "catalyst," or the "Call to Adventure."

This moment eventually leads the protagonist to choose a new path forward.

In some cases, this happens back to back. Prim has her name called out, and almost immediately after, Katniss volunteers.

In other stories, there may be entire scenes between those moments. In The Hobbit, Gandalf comes and invites Bilbo to go on an adventure, but Bilbo doesn't actually choose to go on the adventure until quite a bit later.

I have heard some writers refer to the former as Plot Point 1, and others refer to the latter as Plot Point 1.

What matters is that you understand that something enters the story and disrupts the normal, which leads the protagonist to choose a new path forward. This may happen back to back, or it may be spread out.

In some approaches, Plot Point 1 is seen as the moment where the protagonist definitively moves away from the established normal--when there is no turning back--and begins the new journey into the main conflict.  

Call them what you want, but understand these different moments.

Plot Point 2 Ambiguity:

Likewise, at the end of the middle, two things usually happen:

The protagonist has an "all is lost" moment, where after a big loss, it seems like there is no way they can succeed.

However, soon after this, they gain something that empowers them, and that allows them to move forward toward the climax.

Some writers call the former Plot Point 2, while others call the latter Plot Point 2.

What matters is that you understand that the protagonist suffers a painful loss before gaining something empowering (usually).

Example: His Dark Materials

Hook -- The story starts in Oxford, England, with Lyra who has a daemon named Pantalaimon. We are introduced to her world, which is a parallel of our own.

Plot Point 1 -- Mrs. Coulter arrives to take Lyra to live with her in London. After Roger is kidnapped, Lyra chooses to go with Mrs. Coulter, in the hopes she'll help her find Roger. (Worth noting is that Lyra is also given the alethiometer and told it was her uncle's)

Pinch Point 1 -- Lyra discovers that Mrs. Coulter is actually the head of the General Oblation Board (a group linked to Roger's kidnapping), so she runs away.

Midpoint -- After gaining more allies (Iorek and Lee Scoresby), Lyra and the Gyptians are now more proactive on their quest to rescue those kidnapped (and for Lyra to reunite with her uncle).

Pinch Point 2 -- Lyra is captured by villains and sent to go through intercision.

Plot Point 2 -- When it seems like Lyra has no escape from intercision, she is rescued by Mrs. Coulter, which then allows her to rescue the other children, including Roger, who accompanies her on her journey to find her "uncle" (she is empowered by freedom and an ally).

Resolution -- Lyra helps Iorek regain his place as rightful king. She takes the alethiometer to Lord Asriel (her "uncle"), who later uses Roger for an experiment that opens a gateway to another world, which Lyra chooses to go through.

And that makes up our five-minute explanation.

If you want to see the pros and cons of this structure, continue on.

Strengths & Weaknesses of 7 Point Story Structure

One of the best things about 7 Point Story Structure is that is has clear moments that focus on the antagonist--the pinch points. This means it asks writers to consider what their antagonists are doing, which I think sort of gets clouded over in the other story structures. When stripped down to the essential basics (like here), this structure is straightforward and easy to identify. I mean, two of the terms get reused. Simple. But that leads me to what I consider are some of the problems. The term "Hook" is misleading, in my opinion, since not everything in that section is actually a hook. Writers are often told to begin "with a hook," which means an actual hook. Of course the Hook should have an actual hook (and multiple), but outside of this structure, nowhere else have I seen setup and exposition referred to with the word "hook." I think that makes it confusing, and it adds to the ambiguity of writing terms in the writing world.

Likewise, I think the term "Resolution" is problematic. Oh yeah, sure, there are other story structures that use that term to include the climax, but most I see these days, don't. I mean, I guess it makes sense, since much of the climax is about resolving problems, one after another, but I feel like it's misleading because it combines climax and falling action into one, and I feel like those are two very separate segments. And I think most of us today are taught that those are two different segments.

So overall, while it's a great structure to use, keep in mind it has ambiguity issues.

Other Story Structure Approaches

This is just one approach to story structure. However, in my opinion, all the structures actually overlap, more or less. In the future (likely months from now), I'll show how superimposing them will give you a more comprehensive and accurate view of structure--great for plotting, writing, revising and troubleshooting.

Learn about The Hero's Journey structure

Learn about the Save the Cat! structure

Learn about a hybrid version of 7 Point Story Structure

This is a little follow up to the post from the other day. I wanted to do more text messages, but the story didn’t fit right for it at this point, so I decided to do a written drabble and continue with the messages after -- I already have an idea of how to go on after this.

--------------- 

“Scotty. Scoottiiiieee,” he slurs, trying to give his friend a slight shake. ‘Trying’ being the operative word because ever since Scott become a werewolf, he’d acquired this weird sort of concentrated muscle mass thing or something — he’s heavy, more than he should be considering how much space he actually occupies. And Stiles is drunk. Correction, Stiles is wasted. Which is probably why he misses Scott’s shoulder entirely and ends up smacking him dead in the face instead.

Thankfully, Scott doesn’t bite off his hand in retaliation, preferring to let out a long garbled groan that Stiles barely makes out over the loud music and tilt to the other side of the questionable couch. Stiles is pretty sure he’d be more worried about that sticky substance coating the cushion he’s sitting on if he wasn’t so out of it himself. As it is, he can’t really amass the willpower to care — he already has to look after Scott and that single task uses up all of the brain capacity currently available to his disposal.

He glances over the hordes of people congregating on the dancefloor, squinting to see if he catches sight of the girl he’d left Scott with before — back when he thought his friend had just lucked out and considered ‘mission find Scott a rebound’ a whooping success.

He doesn’t really remember her face, but he knows that she was blond and flirty, and she was wearing red leather pants. Normally that kind of thing would jump out to the eye, but this club had a worrying amount of people involved in the single goal of embodying the matrix’s cast wardrobe. So, no dice.

He leans back to avoid the guy who almost spills his entire cup of beer on him, avoiding most of the spillage but still getting some on his pants -- those are going directly into the wash when he gets home -- and looks back at Scott. Who is currently doing his best to become one with the couch. And drooling.

He hopes Derek wasn’t lying about being here in ten, if something really is wrong and it turns out they walked right into the lion’s — hunter’s? — den, Stiles wouldn't last thirteen seconds on his own. Normally he’d give himself at least a minute, two if he’s feeling lucky, but the alcohol in his blood is making his brain to limbs coordination even more shoddy than usual. He’s the brains of the operation, he needs Scott for the brawn part.

It’s when he’s contemplating the consequences of actually calling his dad for help and risk being grounded for over a month that they show up. He doesn’t notice her at first because she pulled her hair up into a bun, and he’s pretty sure she was also wearing a different top before, but she’s not alone.

There are two guys trailing after her, the kind that could give the bouncers of this place a run for their money, and they’re heading straight for them. They should probably get gone like, yesterday.

Stiles stumbles his way up from the couch and tries to lift Scott from his melted starfish sprawl so he can drag him away, which is easier said than done. He manages to get Scott on his own two feet, swinging his arm around his own neck and carrying the brunt of his weight on his shoulders.

He maneuvers them through the moving throng of bodies on the dancefloor, hoping that the chaos is enough of a distraction to shake their tail. He almost takes a nosedive to the floor when Scott crosses his feet and gets in the way, but he crashes against someone’s back and is able to stay upright. There are some insults thrown his way for it, but the music just hit a particularly dubsteppy verse, so it’s not like he can hear them anyway. And he has more important and time sensitive things to do than apologize for stepping on someone’s toes, like escape the possibly murderous hunters who’ve poisoned his best friend.

He continues pushing his way through the crowd, guiding Scott through a zig zagged line to the other side of the room. He remembers seeing one of the club’s security people posted in that direction, close to the cloakroom, so that’s probably the safest place for them to be right now. Until Derek gets here, that is. Derek who definitely said to give him a warning if people showed up for Scott. He totally forgot. In his defense though, texting Derek would take up more time than he could spare at the moment.

He spots the security guard he was looking for and thinks he might actually be home free for about two point zero four seconds before a hand snakes around his neck and hauls him back by the hood of his sweatshirt.

He loses his hold on Scott, who is also wrenched away from him, and finds himself being dragged off to the side and shoved through an open door. Scott is flung right after, crashing into him, and they both drop to the floor.

They go down like a human-werewolf knot game gone wrong and Scott’s elbow finds a way to whack him right on the stomach, knocking the breath from his lungs. Must be karma working its avengeful ways for earlier.

He barely manages to roll out from under Scott when hands are grabbing harshly at shoulders again, yanking him up and forwards. He careens into the wall ahead, experiencing the terrible feeling of having the room spin violently in his head.

There’s the sound of a heavy door opening next to him -- the back door, they’re taking them outside, not good -- and then he’s being forced to move again. This time, when he falls on the cold hard tarmac outside, they don’t bother hauling him up again. Scott is dropped next to him unceremoniously, and Stiles spares a grimace at the way he lands on his arm. He's pretty sure he heard a crack.

He looks up, finally getting a good look of their captors. There’s the girl from before, who decidedly does not look as blond or as nice she previously did, and her two goonies, both sporting some curious looking bulges in their pants that Stiles is pretty sure are not of the happy variety. His suspicions are confirmed three seconds later when they both pull out their handguns.

How in the hell did they even manage to get those things inside the club? He is so gonna write a one-star review about this place as soon as he gets internet access and a functional computer.

“Where’s the rest of your pack?” not-so-blond biker barbie barks at them, sporting the stink-eye of the century.

He has enough perception to think, Don’t give up werewolf secrets to the scary girl in leather pants, Stiles, and lets his mouth run before his brain has time to catch up.

“Sorry, I don’t smoke,” he says intelligently, earning a sneer from the trio. In his defense, he’s too drunk to be held accountable for anything he says.

“You really want to play stupid when I’ve got two guns trained on your mutt?”

“That’s a very good point. Taken, deliberated, sustained. As you were,” he deflects, fidgeting nervously when one of the goons switches aim and trains his gun on him instead.

“You might want to reconsider what you say to us. Your buddy here might be able to heal a bullet as one would a scratch, once the wolfsbane wears off, but something tells me you won’t fare as well if I put a hole through your stomach. Care to test that theory?”

Stiles swallows, “Nope, I’m good thanks.”

“Glad we’ve reached an understanding. Now, how many are there?”

“Huhh, fifteen -- no, twenty,” he mumbles, fiddling with the club’s wristband, “there are definitely twenty smokes in a pack of cigarettes.”

The girl lets out a groan of frustration, yanks one of the guns out from the hands of her thug and charges towards him. He scrambles back, wincing when he feels a shard of broken glass dig into the palm of his hand – right, back of a nightclub, there’s probably a lot of broken bottles around – but is unable to do much as she ceases the front of his hoodie and hauls him up, placing the muzzle under his chin. He gulps, feeling the metal of the barrel pressing against his throat.

“I’m losing my patience with you. I might just skip the gut shot entirely and put one directly in your mouth. What do you think?” she asks, mock-curiosity thick in her voice.

“I think that would be very counter-productive towards getting me to talk?” he offers back, unable to control the nervousness that seeps into his voice. Let it not be said that Stiles Stilinski wasn’t a little shit ‘til the very end, though.

The girl smiles, a twisted sneering turn of the mouth, really, and is about to say something undoubtedly terrifying and death-threatening when a deep howl rips through the air.

Oh thank God.

Judging by the volume of the sound and the way the pebbles and glass shards tremble on the ground, Derek is close. Which is also a conclusion his trio of captors have arrived at, evidenced by the worried looks they’re now exchanging.

“Want to know how many there are? Fine, I’ll tell you. Ten. There are ten of them, and that’s not even counting our alpha,” he says, lying through his teeth and hoping the urgency in his voice combined with their growing concern is enough to sway their minds. “Do the math, that’s three of them for each of you. You really think those odds are in your favor?”

“Brie, we can’t take on the alpha,” the goon in the navy-blue shirt says, uncertainty coloring his tone. “Larry said—”

“I know what Larry said,” the girl – Brie, thanks for that lovely piece of information goon no1, now he’ll know who to stalk – snaps, turning her head to glare at him. “Fine. Put one in the beta’s head and we’re out of here.”

Turns out adrenaline is a good head-clearer. Truth is, Stiles barely registers moving until he’s shoved Brie away, catching her by surprise enough to dislodge the gun from under his chin, and diving for Scott. Luckily, Derek picks that moment to show up as well, which is probably why the hunters make the very intelligent decision to ditch and run rather than kill them and earn themselves a very angry alpha in pursuit.

They retreat back into the club as Derek catches up to him, eyes flashing red with fangs and sideburns proudly on display.

“Scott?” he asks, skidding to a stop next Stiles and glancing at the aforementioned, still very intoxicated, werewolf.

“He’s fine, or will be anyway.” He’s pretty sure he heard Brie talking about the wolfsbane wearing off, so they must have dosed him with the normal purple strand. “Go after them.”

Derek doesn’t need to be told twice, he’s disappearing inside the club even before Stiles finishes the sentence. He hopes the alpha at least had the forethought to tone down on the sideburns -- it’s not exactly close to Halloween, people might not take too kindly to having an outright werewolf shoved in their faces.

He drags Scott over to the wall and props him up against it before sitting down and leaning back on it himself. He takes in a long breath and lets his head thump on the bricks.

“Stiles?” Scott mumbles from next to him.

“I’m here, Scotty,” he sighs. “I’m here.”

It’s doesn't take long until Derek’s storming back out of the club, his presence and the heavy frown on his face allowing him to make the obvious assumption that the hunters got away.

“No luck?”

“Do you have any idea what nightclubs are like? Too many scents, too many sounds, they’re impossible to track,” he growls, turning the force of his million-volt glare to him. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“Huh, about?”

“Coming here!” he snaps, eyes flashing.

“I was thinking we need a break! Come one dude, even you have seen how hard Scott is moping around lately, I needed to get his mind off Allison.”

“So, you decided the best way to do that was to bring him here—” he points an angry thump back at nightclub—" for a late-night hook-up, out of pack territory, and straight into the hunters’ arms?”

“Well, it’s not like I knew there’d be hunters!”

Derek sets his jaw and glares him into silence. Had it been a year ago Stiles would currently be having major concerns about his continued safety and well-being. Now though, he’s (mostly) sure Derek won’t actually do anything to him, no matter how much he pisses him off. He did come all the way out here at four in the morning to rescue their asses, right? He totally cares.

Derek’s nose twitches then, and his eyes run a cursive look over his and Scott’s bodies before settling back on him with a renewed anger.

“Why is there blood?”

“What?”

Apparently Derek is short on patience because next thing he knows he’s being manhandled into an upright position and receiving a full-body search.

“Wow, wow, wow. Calm down, grumpywolf. I just cut myself on some glass,” he explains, lifting his hand to showcase the small gash, no more than a scratch, really. There is a slow trickle of blood running down his palm, and it stings a little, but he‘s more worried about catching an infection from the dirty glass than at the actual wound itself. Derek must have caught the scent of it.

“Can you go two seconds without somehow endangering or injuring yourself?”

“Probably?” He totally doesn’t mean that to sound like a question. He blames the alcohol.

Derek rolls his eyes so hard it looks like it physically hurts and lets go of his arm with a huff. Stiles wipes the the blood on his pants, making a mental note to scrub them with hydrogen peroxide – the things one learns when regularly associating with werewolves – before putting them in the wash.

Derek sidesteps and leans down to grab onto Scott’s arms, heaving him up and supporting him by placing his arm around his neck just like Stiles had done before. Scott mumbles out something unintelligible to Stiles – not to Derek though, going by the distinct sour look his face adopts – and sags against the alpha.

“Come on,” Derek says, starting to head down the alley.

“Huh, what about the car?” Stiles asks, fumbling to catch up.

“Leave it. Scott, can come back for it tomorrow.”

“What if we get a ticket?”

Derek stops and turns to shoot him the glare of deathTM, judgmental eyebrows and all.

“Right, shutting up now,” he promises, making a lip zipping motion and swaying slightly on his feet from a momentarily alcohol induced loss of balance.

Derek glares at him for a second more. “If you hurl on the Camaro, I’ll toss you in the street.”

Story for my senpai

@killemwithkawaii

sorry tumblr was being glitchy on me and I lost your ask but I was able to write this for you. 

It was Saturday, the one day everyone had off. And by everyone you meant Larry, Sal, and yourself. Saturdays were the best, you'd all wake up in the afternoon, go about your business then head down to Larry's around dinner. He'd order two pizzas and wings then roll a few joints for both you and Sal. (You kinda suck at rolling free hands and Sal shakes too much to do it right). Then the three of you would fight over what movie to watch, romcom, horror, or comedy/action. Usually it was a romcom cause who could say no to Larry's puppy dog eyes. 

It was like that now. You sat in the middle of Larry's red couch. Hating whatever movie was on. But Larry was the one with the weed so you shut up about it. The tall man passed a joint over to you. You took it, blushing a little at the thought of the tip being in his mouth. Now it was going in yours as you took in a deep inhale. Smoke filling your lungs and setting off the most amazing aroma. You exhale and take in another deep breath just to smell the smoke. Weed always had a good scent to you, it calmed you and just made you smile so much. But this time it felt like that smile was traveling down words. Maybe it was making you too relaxed cause you suddenly felt your fun parts tingle. 

Ok ya that hit was really getting to you and your brain was starting to get stupid. You handed the joint over to Sal. He took it in his shaky hands, his large fingers brushing over yours in the hand off. The contact sent a shiver down your spine and caused goosebumps to arise on your arm. You swallowed hard trying to pretend that didn't happen. But Sal was staring at you like he was analyzing the small movement. It was easier to tell when he was analyzing something with his mask off. He kept eye contact with you as he brought the joint to his lips, squinting at you when he inhaled. Oh dang why did that look so hot. You turned away, knowing your face was heating up. You tried to focus on the boring movie and not the feeling of Sal's eyes on you. Oh god what if he was looking you over, watching as your breathing became more erratic, noticed how responsive your body was. 

Larry moved his arm and stretched it over your head and across the back of the couch. Shuffling closer to you in the process. But he wasn't looking at you, he was still watching the movie. You couldn't help looking him over. How his legs were spread out like an invitation. Or maybe that was your horny brain. Yep that toke hit differently, you were becoming horny as you sat in the middle of the couch. Two gorgeous men beside you. A tall buff man who was hotter than the sun and a short curvy man who was so sensitive and responsive. Fuck. This was bad, you weren't just tingling with mind interest now, you were on the verge of getting full on wet. You needed to leave and go deal with this before someone figures out. But you couldn't find the energy to move from the couch. 

Oh man did someone just die on screen, how long were you spaced out thinking about two dudes. Must have been a long time cause now suddenly the movie was about spies. Before you could ask what was happening, Sal scooted closer to you. He bumped hips with you then leaned his head on your shoulder. The action made you gulp. It wasn't like it was unusual, Sal often got cuddly when he smoked. It was cute. Sometimes if you two get really close Larry can wrap his arm around the both of you and pet Sal's head or rub his shoulder. Guess that's what Sal was trying to get cause Larry moved closer to you, also bumping hips just so he could touch Sal. Your heart started going crazy at the contact. Both of them were so close, touching you and feeling you. You barely notice Larry's hand moving on Sal's neck in your mild alarm. But you felt the shiver that went through the bluenette. It traveled into you, making you shiver. Damn that cutie for being so sensitive, he was like a human vibrator if you knew where to touch. 

The smirk on Larry's lips went unnoticed by you but Sal's pleading glare didn't. You saw Larry nod from the corner of your eye then suddenly his long fingers were resting on your leg, dipping in between your thighs. Your shaky breath didn't go unnoticed by either boy. Larry's hand traveled up your leg, slowly, barely touching your skin till he met your shorts. Then he stopped right where your leg met your fun parts. Much to your dismay but also bewilderment. What was he doing and would he please do more. Now Sal was snaking his cold hands under your shirt. Oh those beautifully cold hands against your burning skin could make you whimper. Or maybe that was his breath on your neck, threatening to kiss or bite your skin. You wanted to say something, maybe an encouragement. But the words were taken from you when Larry ran his thumb over your most sensitive area. Ya you were wearing shorts but it still felt so amazing. It made you moan slightly. 

That must have been what they were waiting for, confirmation that you liked the attention. Cause now Larry was moving to unzip your fly and unbutton your shorts. As he did that Sal whispered into your ear as he slid his hand over yours. "Play with me" he asked so desperately. God, that voice sounding so wrecked. He slowly moved your hand from your lap to his. Spreading his legs and pressing your hand to the growing erection in his jogging pants. He moaned at the contact, closing his eyes for a second and that was all the encouraging you needed. You cupped him and he bucked into the touch. God he was so responsive. You moved your hand to try and pull his pants down. You managed to pull the elastic band and almost gasped at the sight of blue hairs peeking through. He wasn't wearing any underwear, fuck that was hot.

His cock sprong free when the gap was large enough. Sitting up, unsnipped and veiny. It was just as gorgeous as him. Looking at it made your mouth water for some reason. Larry's hand broke you out of your thoughts as he moved his knuckle against your open jean shorts. Clearly teasing you the devil. You took in a deep breath and moved your shaky hand from Sal's pants to his waiting member. It was warm to the touch despite how cold he usually is. As soon as you touched it he gasped in your ear. You wrapped your hands around it, moving your wrist so you could stroke him. And he loved it, whining in your ear your name as he tried to get closer to you. God he was just as desperate as you. Come on Larry stop teasing. 

With your other hand you grip the tall man's thigh, digging your nails in by accident. But he growled so loud at the contact. It made you grip onto him harder. He stopped teasing and finally pulled your jeans out of the way. Dipping his hand into your panties and finally stroking you where you needed it. You Moaned so deep at the feeling. Larry pressed on the area and that caused you to tighten your grip at how good it felt. You would have apologized but Sal moaned so loud in your ear. "Ah~ yes" he bucked into your tight grip. You needed something in you like yesterday, a finger, a toy, someone's tongue. You don't care as long as you could make Sal moan like this and have Larry touching your parts. Ok it's his tongue you want. Deep inside, licking your walls, feeling him penetrate you again and again. 

You turn your head to the tall man. As soon as you looked into his deep brown eyes he smashed his lips to yours. Larry was always a kisser but you didn't mind. He tasted like the joint, like weed and it somehow made you hornier. He slipped his tongue into your mouth and it was welcomed. You bucked into his hand as he stroked you over and over, but there was something so teasing about it. Sal's cold hand ran up your body and he dragged his nails down. It caused you to moan in the kiss and arch into his hand. He managed to hit a nipple on his way down and that had you stroking him faster. Which is what he wanted. 

The hand gripping Larry's leg was grabbed and moved to the man's lap. Where his cock was already free and waiting. He guided your hand to grip him then leaned back to break the kiss. "Touch me" he demanded with such a raspy voice. The whole order sounded like a growl. One you're eager to fallow. It was a little awkward but you managed to stroke him the way you were stroking Sal. Though your grip wasn't as tight. He went back to kissing you as he stroked you. Dipping his fingers, threatening to penetrate you without lube. God that's so unsafe, but so hot at the same time. You buck into his hand, wanting more. 

Maybe Sal was feeling left out, or maybe he wanted it harder. He kissed the crook of your neck then bit down on the skin. Maybe he wanted it to hurt but it didn't. You tighten your grip on Sal as your hand reaches the head of his cock. He dug his fingers into you at the feeling. "OOoooo (y/n)" he whispered in your ear. Lowering his mouth to bite into you again. Larry also moaned at the harsh grip. "Not so tight (y/n)" he warned. Now that was hard keeping different grips and trying to stroke two guys at the same time. Larry didn't help the matter, he snuck a finger into you then bit down on your other shoulder. You threw your head back at the attention, moaning and trying your best to keep stroking. 

But it was hard when both Sal and Larry were leaving hickies all over your neck and shoulders. Like you were a melting ice cream cone and licking wasn't gonna help. Not to mention Sal dragging his nails down your torso while Larry fingers you wait to slow. "Oh fuck...please" you manage to say but you don't know what you were asking. But they seemed to know. "Is this too hard for you" Sal asked, but it almost sounded taunting. "Having a hard time keeping up," Larry asked, very tauntingly. You nodded, cause ya this was hard, trying to stroke them both like this. "Maybe we should take the responsibility away" he whispered. God yes but don't stop. Sal clicked his tongue and you looked at the bluenette. "You just want all the power," he said flatly. 

"Ah you got me...but don't you want to be played with" Sal shook and blushed at the question. "What do you say y/n feel like giving and getting" you weren't sure what they meant. These two were always able to just imply things and know 100% what the other meant. But it meant Sal was gonna moan and Larry was gonna keep touching you, you were down for whatever. You nodded then gave a very raspy yes. Oh dang where'd your voice go. They both smiled at you then started moving. Larry slowly exited his finger then wiped it on the outside of your jeans, classy. Sal leaned away and took his hand away from your skin. They both moved your hand away from them. Larry got up from the couch and moved across the room leaving you and Sal on the couch. 

Sal reached over to the table where the pizza still sat. He grabbed this small bottle from the shelf underneath. Your eyes widened at the sight, it was a bottle of cinnamon buns flavored lube. "Ah what's there" you asked, trying to say ‘was that always there’ and ‘what's going on’ at the same time. Sal looked bash full now, looking away from you as he lowered his pants again. "Um just something...tasty" he cringed at his own words. "You're bad at this'' Larry teased as he opened his drawer. "I-I am, um I w-want you to s-suck me...with this" he tried again. Gosh he was so bashful sometimes. Instead of responding you turn to him and started taking off your shirt. Showing off your bare torso and your willingness. As a bonus you got up and took off your shorts and panties. Getting back on the couch completely naked. Now Sal was the one gulping. 

Larry walked back over with a condom and his own bottle of lube. He walked behind you. You would have turned to see what he was doing but your hips were grabbed and pulled up so you were on your hands and knees. You yelped at the sudden action, taking in the sight before you. Now you were mere inches from Sal's cock, watching as he poured the flavored lube on it. Seeing it twitch from the cold liquid. It made your mouth water, wanting just to wrap your lips around him. As he 'put on a show' Larry spread your legs as best he could, dipping his finger into your entrance. It caused you to moan, sending a breath over Sal's cock. 

It was clear the taller had put a bunch of lube on his finger. Making sure you were prepared enough for him. Fuck that thought made you quiver with anticipation. You moved your hand forward, wrapping it around Sal's waiting member. Listening to his gasps as you move the lube all over his cute joystick. As you stroked him Larry removed his finger again and lubed up the condom that now sat around his dick. With a growl he stroked himself to spread the lube. Get over it already and just fuck, you thought just wanting him inside you. Sal must have felt just as impatient with you. As you moved closer to him, getting ready to take him in your salivating mouth. Larry started poking your entrance. 

You opened your mouth so wide as he slowly started going in. Yep Sal got impatient, he grabbed the back of your head and brought it down onto his waiting member. The moan he made was so loud as he made you take in the tip. It made you want to laugh rather than get mad. You lowered down on him as Larry entered you, it felt so good. Having something in your mouth while something filled your lower half. You felt Larry's pelvis against your ass, telling you he was all in. That made you want to take all of Sal in, feeling both their ends. It was like they were simultaneously taking in how good it felt to be fully inside you. 

Then Larry pulled out half way and thrusted back in. The strength of his thrust somehow forced you to choke on Sal. You raised your head up so he wasn't in your throat anymore. As you raised to the tip the hand in your hair tightened. Like he didn't want you to get off. So you didn't. You moved back down as Larry thrusted into you again, starting to set a rhythm. Not too hard, he didn't want to accidentally hurt Sal by hurting you. But you loved the feeling anyway. It encouraged you to bob your head on Sal. That and the taste of cinnamon on your tongue. You swirled your tongue around to taste more of it, making him moan your name. This was the best dessert after pizza. 

"Fuck you're so tight" Larry said from behind you, his voice so low and oddly whiny. He started hitting harder and that made you moan around Sal. "Oh fuck" He tossed his head back and gripped your hair tighter. "L-Larry do that again please" he asked the tall man. Larry's grip tightened on your hips, it was clear he was smirking deviously. He pulled all the way out then slammed back inside. The thrust forced you down on Sal who bucked into it. God that was so hot somehow. Having Larry fuck you so hard it caused you to deep throat Sal, while the smaller arched in the feeling, pulling your hair. Fuck this was so much better then a movie. Larry started panting behind you, moaning every now and again, clearly chasing something. 

"AH~ (y/n), Larry I'm getting close" Sal whined as you moaned around him. He removed his hand from your hair and you came off him with a pop. He whined at the loss of your mouth. "Don't worry bro I'll give you a show to finish with'' Larry promised. He grabbed your hips to his pelvis then placed an arm under you. He lifted you up so you were on just your knees, presenting you to Sal. The smaller took a shaky breath as he wrapped a hand around his cock. Larry bit down on your shoulder, right where Sal had left a big hickey. Then started pounding into you hard. You couldn't help the pleasurable scream that came out of your mouth. "Ya (y/n) scream for us" Sal said from across the couch. 

"Come on (y/n) cum for us, Give him a good show when you tighten around me" Larry said in your ear. Fuck it was so good. The tall man traveled his hand down and started rubbing what he could below your nonexistent belt. "Ah yes~ yes fuck me" you shouted at the feeling. Knowing you were getting close to cumming. You couldn't help it when the most gorgeous man was pumping himself so desperately as he watched you get fucked by the hottest man alive. "Ya, beg, ah huh fuck" Sal gripped the back of the couch as he pumped faster, squirting his climax on the couch and a little on you. Fuck he looked so good when he cam. Trying to keep his eyes opened as he watched you, stroking himself so rough and biting his lip as he finished. It sent you over the edge and Larry felt it. 

Felt the way you tightened around him as you spoke "OOoo Sally" you almost cried with pleasure. Larry forced you down on your hands, pressing your face into Sal's lap as he went hard and fast in his thrusts. "Fuck Larry" you screamed into Sal's thigh. He fucked you through your orgasm and then some, you weren't really sure when it ended. But the second his movements started to hurt he slammed into you and stopped. Gripping your hips hard, clearly hitting his climax. You tried your best to calm your breathing as he finished. Sal placed a hand on your head and started stroking your hair. That felt nice. You hummed at the feeling as Larry started slowly exiting you. When he left your body just fell onto the couch. You were exhausted after that. 

Larry moved your legs so he could sit down on the couch then let you set them over his lap. He was breathing just as heavily. Stretching his arms over the back of the couch. He brought one down to caress your thigh and massage the muscles. The three of you tuned into the movie still playing. Now a man held a woman in the middle of a car wreck, getting ready to kiss her. Bluh. Guess this was the new Saturdays, weed, pizza, weed, movie, fuck two amazing guys, die in their laps after words.

Books of Magic: The Voyage of the “Princess Ark”

(Images by Jim Holloway and Thomas Baxa come from PDF scans of Dragon Magazine, are © Wizards of the Coast or their respective copyright holders, and are used for review purposes.)

Previous installments in my “Books of Magic” series were, weirdly enough, about books.

This time, I want to tell you about a series: Bruce A. Heard’s “The Voyage of the Princess Ark,” which turns 30 years old this very month.

TVotPA ran in the pages of TSR’s Dragon Magazine nearly every month from January 1990 (Dragon #153) through December 1992 (Dragon #188). A serialized travelogue and adventure story told in 35 installments over three years, TVotPA was part Master and Commander, part Star Trek, and part The Adventures of Asterix (the last two of which Heard explicitly cited as inspiration in his letters columns). It follows the saga of Prince Haldemar of Haaken, an Alphatian wizard who recommissions an old skyskip and sets out to explore the lesser known regions of the Dungeons & Dragons game’s Known World, which would soon come to be known as Mystara.

Some background might be necessary for those of you who aren’t familiar with the chaos that was D&D at the time. In the 1980s and 1990s, Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons were two different games. I’m simplifying the chronology here, but basically in the late ’70s D&D was meant to serve as a simplified gateway to introduce fans to fantasy role-playing before guiding them on to AD&D. But in the 1980s, thanks to the release of the Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert Sets, and then the five Mentzer box sets (the ones with Larry Elmore dragons on the cover, now referred to as BECMI D&D—for the Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortals Rules box sets), D&D had become a viable game in its own right, with its own world, referred to only as the Known World.

The Known World—particularly as it was showcased in the Expert Rules—was a mess: more than a dozen nations slammed together in the corner of a continent to illustrate for young DMs the various forms of government you might find in D&D beyond kings and queens. Along the way, these nations also served as analogues for real-world societies ranging from Western European countries to Native American nations to the Mongolian khanate. But it was a glorious mess, thanks to a series of excellent Gazetteer supplements that had rounded out and mapped these nations in great detail, capped off by a box set, Dawn of the Emperors, that described the Known World’s pseudo-Rome, Thyatis, and its rival empire Alphatia, a nation of wizards across the sea.

By the end of 1989, then, D&D was at a crossroads. It was clearly the unloved child, seen as “basic,” best for beginners. Its setting did not have the novel support of Dragonlance or the energy of the surging and more thoughtfully conceived Forgotten Realms, then only two years old. The Gazetteer series had covered nearly all the known nations (two more would come later thanks to popular demand). And even Dragon Magazine rarely carried D&D material—a fact that was excruciating to me when I started picking up issues in late 1988 as a 5th grader.

Into this void stepped Bruce Heard. He’d been the architect of the Gazetteer series, had written some of its best installments, and was the overmind behind the D&D line at the time. If I’m remembering my history correctly, he approached the editor of Dragon, the amazing Roger Moore, about supplying a column that would provide regular D&D content for that starved segment of Dragon’s audience. In his editorials and answers to reader letters, Moore had made several mentions of needing more D&D content for the magazine, so he was a receptive audience. Heard got the green light, and “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” was born.

I still remember where I was when I realized this was happening. I missed the series launch—with my tiny allowance, I could only justify buying Dragon issues that really interested me, and Dragon #153 hadn’t leapt of the shelf at me. (Not having the Masters Rules box at the time, I didn’t realize the illustration of a continental map plastered with “WRONG WRONG WRONG” was referring to the D&D world.) I did have Dragon #155 (still one of my favorite issues of all time), but somehow I skipped past TVotPA Part 3—I wasn’t reading issues cover to cover yet and somehow didn’t grasp what was going on.

Then came issue #158. I was away for a week at Boy Scout summer camp, and I’d brought the June issue of Dragon with me. Having torn through the articles about dragons (June’s theme was always dragons), I turned to an article illustrated with a wizard and an ogre/elf cross riding pelicans. Better yet, they article had stats for playing these ogre-elves as PCs.

D&D stats.

THIS WAS A D&D ARTICLE!

And it was part of a SERIES!!!

With some effort, I tracked down the issues I’d missed—no easy task for a just-finished-6th-grader—and soon was buying Dragon every month. Moore and Heard’s plan had worked. I was hooked on both TVotPA and Dragon from then on. (The next time I missed an issue, I’d be a college freshman and the industry was on the verge of collapse.)

Most installments of TVotPA followed a simple template: The Princess Ark would fly to some new spot on the map, the crew would get into some trouble (usually brought down on them by the actions of Captain Haldemar himself), and then more or less get out again, either due to a last-minute save by Haldemar or some surprising turn of events. All this played out in the form of log entries—originally by Haldemar, then supplemented by other crewmembers as the cast expanded—that allowed Heard to deliver both in-world descriptions and rollicking action at the same time. The article would then offer back matter containing rules content or setting write-ups, and sometimes conclude with a letters column of readers reacting to the setting or seeking clarification on some arcane point of D&D rules and lore.

While this template was simple, it was never boring. The episodic nature of the series let Heard play in a variety of tones and genres: lost-world pulp, courtly drama, horror, farce, even a Western—heck, he slipped in an homage to the Dark Crystal (which at the time I didn’t get, not having seen it) as early as Part 5 (Dragon #157). As well (without getting into too spoilery territory), various overarching antagonists and plot threads—including a threatening order of knights, a devious dragon, two major status quo changes, and divine machinations—kept things simmering in the background from episode to episode. The characters likewise became more developed as Heard’s writing grew in confidence and ambition, and reader affection grew for side characters like Talasar, Xerdon, Myojo, and the rest. Once the series was up and running at full speed, it was a sure bet that if you didn’t like that month’s story, you’d dig the rules write-up, or vice versa. And when the story, setting, characters, and rules all came together, such as in Dragon #177, an episode would just sing.

Once again, I can’t tell you how thrilling this series was to 6th–9th-grade me. First of all, it came along at the perfect time. Heard’s writing literally matured just as my reading did, so the series and I literally grew up together. 6th grade was also the year I discovered comics, so this was also the era of my life when I was falling in love with serialized storytelling. Similarly, it was my first time really embracing the epistolary form.

Perhaps most significantly for this blog and my freelance career, the column was also an early primer for me on game design. Watching Heard tweak D&D’s simple rules to evoke a more complex world, especially when looked at in concert with D&D’s Gazetteer and Hollow Word supplements, gave me the courage to think about tweaking/inventing lore and systems myself. Heard also made a habit of pilfering monsters from the Creature Catalogue, seeing potential in them no one else had, and then suggesting entire cultures for them. (If that doesn’t sound like someone you know…what blog have you been reading?) He made creating a world seem easy, because he did it month after month after month.

Finally, TVotPA was thrilling because it was clear proof that someone took “basic” BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia-era D&D seriously. And that meant someone took us, the fanbase, seriously too. Back then, I couldn’t afford AD&D. Even if I could, I didn’t want to mess with all the complexity. Plus, I loved the Known World. I loved the Gazetteer books and the Aaron Allston box sets. By writing and publishing TVotPA, Bruce Heard and Roger Moore made me feel like they cared about and for fans like me. I didn’t have Raistlin, I didn’t have Elminster…but I didn’t need them, because I had Prince Haldemar of Haaken and his magical Princess Ark.

In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that falling under the spell of Dragon and TVotPA were some of the most magical and mind expanding moments of my middle school years.

But what does this mean for you, the current Pathfinder or D&D fan? Should you read “The Voyage of the Princess Ark”?

Obviously I’m going to say yes, for all the reasons I’ve listed above. If you like maritime adventures, steampunk, or pulp adventures, this is obviously the series for you. If you like Pathfinder/D&D where a wizard is as likely to throw a punch as he is to go for his wand, this is the series for you. If you like on-the-fly worldbuilding, this is the series for you. If you like setting, story, and rules expansion all mixed together every month, this is the series for you.

TVotPA has never been collected in its entirely (more on that later), but there are PDF scans of all that era’s Dragon issues online. Start at Dragon #153 and keep reading. I’ll warn you that the first installments are a little slow, but I’d be surprised if you aren’t pulled in by the end of Part 8 (Dragon #161). If you’re the sort of reader who wants to sample a series running on all four cylinders before committing, I recommend Part 18 (Dragon #171), set in the pseudo-Balkan nation of Slagovich, or Part 24 (Dragon #177), when the crew encounters the Celtic-influenced druidic knights of Robrenn, as great places to get a strong first impression.

To my eye, “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” consists of four major arcs, plus a smattering of follow-up material that owes a debt to the series. If you do decide to dive in, here’s a quick reading guide:

Arc 1 / Parts 1–10 / Dragon #153–163 / This arc launches the series and introduces us to several major antagonists. The first few installments are slow going, but by Part 6 (Dragon #158) or 7 (Dragon #160) we see signs of the series as it will be in its prime.

(Dragon #158 also looks at D&D’s immortal dragon rulers; some of this info will later get superseded by a more canonical article in Dragon #170 a year later. Don’t sleep on Dragon #159—though it doesn’t have an installment of TVotPA, there is some fun Spelljammer content in that issue. Speaking of Spelljammer, Dragon #160 also has a companion article entitled “Up, Away & Beyond,” that serves up rudimentary rules for space travel in D&D in tandem with the action in that month’s TVotPA.)

As you have probably just gleaned, this arc also takes the Princess Ark briefly into space and introduces D&D’s second, secret setting, the Hollow World, which was being launched at that time .

Arc 2 / Parts 11–15 / Dragon #164–168 / This short arc deals with the ramifications of a major status quo-altering event at the end of the previous arc. As the crew comes to terms with their new circumstances, Haldemar learns more about the ship itself and the magics behind her. The arc ends with yet another status quo shakeup and detailed maps of the Princess Ark.

Arc 3 / Parts 16–28 / Dragon #169–181 / Hex maps! One of the calling cards of the D&D Gazetteer series was its gloriously detailed full-color hex maps, so it was kind of a disappointment when TVotPA served up only rough sketches of coastlines and mountain ranges. Part 16 gave us what we’d wanted all along: glorious hex maps (detailing the India-inspired nation of Sind no less!). They weren’t always perfect—several issues in the #170s had the wrong colors for mountain ranges, or even seemed crudely painted with watercolors—but by Part 24 (Dragon #177) we got the crisp, expertly designed nations we expected in our Known World.

Early in this arc, we also get a passing of the torch between artists. Parts 1–17 were illustrated by Jim Holloway, who I like for his action scenes, his expressive faces, and the classic stern captain’s look (complete with mustache) he gives Haldemar. (Holloway also does the best dwarves, gnomes, and halflings in the fantasy business.) Starting with Part 18 (Dragon #171), we are treated to the more angular, stylized look of Thomas Baxa, with Haldemar losing his mustache and gaining a silver-streaked ponytail. Terry Dykstra takes over in Part 25 (Dragon #178); his style is more cartoony (his Myojo really suffers from this), but he keeps Baxa’s character designs till the end of the series.

Now that I’ve totally buried the lede, let’s unearth it: This arc is, for my money, the series at its absolute prime. Action-packed stories. More characters in the spotlight. Meaty setting descriptions and rules content. New PC races and classes. Even heraldry for each nation! Heard also continued his habit of dredging up D&D creatures from the Creature Catalogue and loosely tying them to real-world cultures for great effect. I suspect many of you will love the French dogfolk of Renardy or the English catfolk of Bellayne, not to mention the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference he sneaks in there.

(By the way, it should be noted that today in 2020 we’re more hesitant to do such A+B design. But remember, 1) 1990–1992 was a different time—by ’90s standards, Heard is engaged in pretty solid, multiculturalist worldbuilding, and 2) Heard grew up in Europe (France originally, I believe), so while some of the characterizations and comedy is broad, the settings are grounded in both on-the-ground familiarity and good research, and the humor is affectionate and of a piece with works like Asterix that any European reader would be familiar with. In other words, don’t stress it and just enjoy that the dog-dudes are shouting “Sacrebleu!” The one exception might be the depiction of Hule, an evil D&D nation that has always been hung with vaguely Persian or Arabian trappings…but again 1) Heard was working within the established canon, and 2) the Known World setting more than balances that out with the Emirates of Ylaruam, an Arabian/Persian-inspired nation that was depicted with lots of sensitivity and care by Ken Rolston and others, to be followed by the amazing Al-Qadim setting for AD&D. So I don’t think there’s much in here that should raise alarms from a cultural sensitivity perspective, but if something does strike you discordantly, remember we’re talking about works that are 30 years old and make allowances as you feel you can.)

Along the way, you’ll also get a sneak peek at what would become AD&D’s Red Steel setting and the Savage Baronies box set—including some of the first Spanish and Moorish-inspired nations you’ll find in fantasy RPGs of this era—learn a bit about the Known World’s afterlife and undead, and even get an honest-to-Ixion cowboy shootout, as well as lots of PC options and deck plans for the evil knights’ flying warbirds, which put the Klingons’ warbirds to shame. (Oh, and while you’re reading, don’t skip the two articles about the Known World’s dragons in #170 and #171!)

Arc 4 / Parts 29–35 / Dragon #182–188 / Dragon #158–181 is among the best two-year-runs Dragon Magazine ever had, and TVotPA is a large part of the reason. But a lackluster issue #182 was a first quiet sign of a long slow downturn to come. The fact that that issue’s TVotPA entry was only a letter column portended even more dire things. In fact, three of the seven installments in this arc were purely letters columns, which was a huge disappointment at the time: We’d waited a whole month and got…just letters?!?

By this point, I think we knew the Wrath of the Immortals box set was coming—one of those world-shattering setting updates that was being pitched as a relaunch of the setting, but which could also serve as its climax. My hope at the time was that Wrath of the Immortals would kick things into a new, higher gear for both the Known World (which by then we knew as Mystara) and TVotPA, especially since the D&D Rules Cyclopedia had only come out the year before. But alas, it wasn’t to be.

Thanks to the three letters-only entries, the writing was on the wall. In Part 35 (Dragon #188), TVotPA wound its way to a close that felt appropriate but not properly climactic. God, what I wouldn’t have given to have traded those three letters columns for one last showdown with a certain dragon, those dastardly knights, or any other more suspenseful end! The end we got was nice and tidy enough (and took us to fantasy Louisiana, Australia, and Endor), but it wasn’t the end we wanted…in part because we didn’t want it to end, ever.

Arc 5 / Coda & Part 36 / Select issues of Dragon #189–200, Champions of Mystara, Dragon #237, #247 & #344 / In 1993, TVotPA was replaced with “The Known World Grimoire.” This was a grab bag of announcements, letters columns, nitty-gritty details on running dominions (Companion and Master-level D&D players got to have their own lands, castles, and even kingdoms if they so wished), and other sundries. Most of these are skippable. Four exceptions are four “Grimoire” entries which could practically be TVotPA installments: Dragon #192, which covers the manscorpions of Nimmur, Dragon #196, featuring the orcs of the Dark Jungle, an article on D&D heraldry in Dragon #199 (which is an edge case, but I’m including it here because the rules could be applied to the coats of arms of the various Savage Coast nations), and Dragon #200, which looked at the winged elves and winged minotaurs of the Arm of the Immortals. Coming out as it did in the giant-sized issue #200, this last article felt like what it was—a last goodbye to D&D’s Known World/Mystara as we knew it before Mystara’s relaunch as an AD&D line.

(Dragon #200 also had a nice article on making magic-users in D&D more distinctive. There was also “The Ecology of the Actaeon” in Dragon #190, one of the only D&D ecologies to be published in Dragon’s 2e AD&D era. Somewhere in this time we also got the news that the Known World would be relaunched as AD&D’s Mystara setting, whose products were famous for coming with audio CDs and not much else.)

Around this time TSR also published its TVotPA-inspired—and utterly maddening—Champions of Mystara box set. I say “maddening” because, at least to me, it clearly felt like a “Sure, here fine, have your dang box set” product, a too-pricey production made because fans demanded it, but not out of real love from anyone at TSR but Bruce Heard himself and co-designer Ann Dupuis.

(Let me be clear: This is all speculation; I can’t confirm any of that; I’m just saying what it felt like.)

Among the reasons for my disappointment: There was no new content featuring Haldemar and his crew. One of the booklets reprinted most of TVotPA…but not the first 10 or so entries (so it wasn’t even the complete epic! *headdesk*) and none of the ancillary material, just the story logs. Another booklet was deep in the weeds of skyship construction—hell yeah, you could build your own skyship!—but gave little content to, say, inspire lots of fun skyship-to-skyship adventures in the vein of Spelljammer, such as tons of skyships from other nations. The box did contain eight standalone cards with other ship designs, but most of these were one-off constructions by solitary wizards and rajahs, not enough to really launch a campaign. My favorite booklet was the “Explorer’s Manual,” which gave us some new setting details we hadn’t seen before, including an amazing subterranean nation of elves and gnolls that I still think about to this day…but again, it was all too little, too late—for this fan, at least.

In other words, don’t try to buy the Champions of Mystara box set—at time of writing it’s crazy expensive and not worth it for anyone not actively playing BECMI D&D right this minute. If, after reading the entire series, you’ve fallen in love with TVotPA (which admittedly was my goal in writing this) and absolutely must have Champions for that nation of elves and gnolls, get the PDF on DriveThruRPG.com.

Years later, as Dragon was limping through the late ’90s before its rejuvenation in 2000, Heard provided 2e AD&D rules for Mystara’s lupins and rakastas in Dragon #237 and #247, including writing up tons of subraces inspired by actual pet breeds. If you’ve ever wanted to play an anthropomorphic St. Bernard or Siamese, these are the articles for you.

Finally in 2006, when Paizo had taken over publishing Dragon, they invited Heard to deliver one last TVotPA entry in Dragon #344…giving us, if not a climax, definitely one last burst of palace intrigue and action to bridge the gap between the series proper and the events of Wrath of the Immortals. Over and above all the other coda material I’ve mentioned, this actually fits in the saga—it’s even labeled Part 36. If you want to ship out one last time with Haldemar and his crew, track it down.

Finally x2, there is the world of Calidar. After being thwarted for several years trying to get permission to write new TVotPA content, Bruce Heard has created his own game world filled with skyships and adventures. I own the books (which are rules-light so fans of any system can use them), but haven’t had time to read them yet; hopefully you will be a more determined fan. Keep an eye out for his various Kickstarters and definitely show your support.

Finally x3, if you think I am the only diehard Known World/Mystara fan out there…wow, no, not by a long shot. The Mystara fan community is one of the most dedicated in gaming. In addition to holding a torch for BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia-era D&D, they’ve taken it upon themselves to continue mapping and describing the remainder of Mystara as part of the fan community based out of the Vaults of Pandius website and the stunning fanzine Threshold. I’ve only skimmed Threshold a little, but it is stunning work on par with the Pathfinder fanzine Wayfinder for the amount of effort the fans put in and the quality that comes out. Kudos to everyone involved!

“The Voyage of the Princess Ark” is a testament to the creative heights one writer could achieve in a fantasy world.

“The Voyage of the Princess Ark” deserves to be spoken of in the terms we use for Pathfinder’s Golarion; AD&D’s Dark Sun, Planescape, and Al-Qadim; and Vampire the Masquerade’s World of Darkness. And Bruce Heard deserves pride of place in the company of Greenwood, Grubb, Weis, Hickman, and others of his era.

Heard showed us that simple rules didn’t mean a less complex world. Heard showed us that a few lines of monster description could be blown out to fill entire nations. Heard showed us that the cultural diversity of our own world could inspire our fictional ones. Most importantly, he showed that if you put in the work month after month, you could achieve amazing things. And he did it for a neglected fanbase of underdogs and windmill-tilters. He championed an audience and a world when no one else would.

“The Voyage of the Princess Ark” is also why I spent nearly seven years serving up monster ideas for another underdog fanbase. And the inspiration and work ethic I took from it is a big part of why I’m lucky enough to occasionally be freelancing on a professional basis today.

Three years isn’t a long time in fantasy fandom. If Elminster and Drizzt are Star Trek, perennially chugging along, and Harry Potter is Star Wars, a brilliant core surrounded by progressively less compelling follow-ups, then “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” is Firefly, a ragged crew whose sojourn was cut short, but whose legacy far outstrips its impact at the time.

Or at least, that’s the way its legacy ought to be.

Give “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” a try. Maybe I’m overselling it. Maybe years of nostalgia have painted a picture rosier than the original could ever live up to. Maybe, in an era where outstanding fantasy worlds and strong writing are almost commonplace, current readers can’t perceive the lightning-in-a-bottle magic that was this series.

Maybe. But I think there’s something more there, something perennial, something of value even when placed side by side with the embarrassment of riches that is Pathfinder 1e/2e and D&D 5e.

The only way you’ll know is if you book a berth on the Princess Ark and see for yourself.

Happy flying.

0 MEANS USING THE WEB AS A PLATFORM DIDN'T LIVE MUCH PAST THE FIRST CONFERENCE

This phrase began with musicians, who perform at night. Most are service businesses—restaurants, barbershops, plumbers, and so on. 0 conference would presumably be full of geeks, right? This side of the story: what an essay really is, and how you write one. Getting work makes him a successful actor, but he doesn't only become an actor when he's successful. Larry Page and Sergey Brin wanted to search the web. He was like Michael Jordan. But the first time around it was co-opted by Sun, and we got Java applets. Albrecht Durer did the same thing that makes everyone else want the stock of successful startups is that they're not. But there is also huge source of implicit tags that they ignore: the text within web links. The test of any investment is the ratio of return to risk, if both were lower.

I advised startups never to let anyone fly under them, meaning never to let any other company offer a cheaper, easier solution. Let's start with a promising question and get nowhere. Unfortunately, the question is a complex one. Especially if it meant independence for my native land, hacking. Another reason people don't work on big things, you seem to have been influenced by the Chinese example. Bertrand Russell wrote in a letter in 1912: Hitherto the people attracted to philosophy have been mostly those who loved the big generalizations, which were all wrong, so that few people with exact minds have taken up the subject. Originally, yes, there does seem to be several categories of cuts: things I got wrong, things that seem obvious in retrospect. All those unseen details combine to produce something that's just stunning, like a skateboard. Should you add x feature?

As an example of this rule; if you assume that knowledge can be represented as a list of predicate logic expressions whose arguments represent abstract concepts, you'll have a lot in the calculus class, but I know that when it comes to empathy are practically solipsists. 0 have in common. And yet if I had to write in school are not only not essays, they're one of the angels in his Baptism of Christ. And so hackers, like painters, must have empathy to do really great work. Does Web 2. In the best case—if you're really organized—if you're really organized—you're just writing it down. I found that what the teacher wanted us to do was pretend that the story had really taken place, and to know how to calculate time and space complexity and about Turing completeness.

What made it possible for small organizations to succeed in some domain, you have to compete with other local barbers. I read an interview with Joe Kraus, the co-founder of Excite. You can use the cram schools to show you where most of the 1970s. No doubt it was a description of Google? How to Start a Startup I advised startups never to let any other company offer a cheaper, easier solution. 7x a year, whereas a company that grows at 5% a week will 4 years later be making $7900 a month, which is one of those things that seem obvious in retrospect. It does seem to me very important to be able to get a day job that's closely related to your real work. Number two, research must be substantial—and as anyone who has written a PhD dissertation knows, the way to approach the current philosophical tradition may be neither to get lost in pointless speculations like Berkeley, nor to shut them down like Wittgenstein, but to get the rest you have sit through a movie.

The goal he announces in the Metaphysics was partly that he set off with contradictory aims: to explore the most abstract ideas, guided by the assumption that it was a waste of time? It's not considered insulting to say that life is too short for, the word that pops into my head is bullshit. I was a kid I was always being told to look at it. It's not just a barbershop whose founders were unusually lucky and hard-working. Web 2. They're not doing research per se, though if in the course of trying to discover them because they're useless, let's try to discover them because they're useful. In theory this sort of hill-climbing could get a startup into trouble. He has noticed that theoretical knowledge is often acquired for its own sake, out of curiosity, one of the first digital computers, Rod Brooks wrote, programs written for them usually did not work. Most businesses are tightly constrained in a.

And so began the study of ancient texts had such prestige that it remained the backbone of education until the late 19th century. Basically, what Ajax means is Javascript now works. As credentials are superseded by performance, a similar role is the best source of rapid change. Once you dilute a startup with ordinary office workers—with type-B procrastinating, no matter how much you're getting done. Most don't discover anything that remarkable, but some through luck or the efforts of their founders ended up growing very fast, we wouldn't need a separate word for startups, and in particular the most successful startups, or they'll be out of business and the people would be interested in painting. They work well enough in everyday life are fuzzy, and break down if pushed too hard. Musicians often seem to work in record stores. By which one defended it. Why are they so hot to invest in photo-sharing apps, rather than for any practical need. But unfortunately that was not the conclusion Aristotle's successors derived from works like the Metaphysics.

The reason credentials have such prestige is that for so long the large organizations in a market can come close. The Airbeds just won the first poll among all the YC startups in their batch by a landslide. By gradually chipping away at the abuse of credentials, you could probably make them more airtight. The next best, for startups that aren't charging initially, is active users. Perhaps not everyone can make an equally dramatic mark on the world; I don't know if Plato or Aristotle were the first to ask any of the hackers I know write programs. The people who want a deep understanding of what you're doing. Other times nothing seems interesting. And so instead of correcting the problem Aristotle discovered by falling into it—that you can easily get lost if you talk too loosely about very abstract ideas—they continued to fall into place. I've used both these excuses at one time or another. We didn't draw any conclusions.

But the two phenomena rapidly fused to produce a principle that now seems obvious: paying energetic young people market rates, and getting correspondingly high performance from them. For a painter, a museum is a reference library of techniques. They're interrupt-driven, and soon you are too. But schools change slower than scholarship: the study of ancient texts is a valid field for scholarship, why not start the type with the most potential? It's like having a vacuum cleaner hooked up to your imagination. Why not as past-due notices are always saying do it now? This was particularly true in consulting, law, and finance, where it led to the phenomenon of yuppies. That was as far as I'd gotten at the time. Only a tiny fraction are startups. To some extent you have to adjust the angle just right: you have to take these cycles into account, because they're affected by how you react to them. 6x 7% 33.

Thanks to Sam Altman, Abby Kirigin, and Anton van Straaten for putting up with me.