Worldbuilding: Gods (Part 2)
Narcissus by Italian Baroque master Caravaggio,
This has been in the works for a while in the background. With a rough total of 1550 questions (God Speed), this master list of questions should hopefully be useful to those of you wanting to build your own religions and gods in your work.
Before we begin, I must remind you, these guides are NOT designed for you to answer every single question.
Pick and choose what is most relevant to your work and build from there. Not all questions will apply to you and/or your world, that is intentional. These are meant to be open and broad in design, for you to skim and take from. It took me about 4 months of working in the background to put together this list. If it takes that long to just type out questions, imagine how long answering all of them with all of your gods would be. Don't do that to yourself.
Notable Highlights include:
Mortality, Weakness, and the Death of Gods
Corruption, Madness, and Fallen Divinity
Apotheosis and Becoming Divine
Forgotten, Hidden, and Dormant Gods
Multiple Pantheons and Competing Cosmologies
Divine War and Cosmic Conflict
Religion Versus Objective Reality
Philosophy and Ethics of Divinity
Divinity Across Cultures and Civilizations
The Historical Evolution of Gods
The Future of Divine Beings
Ultimate Questions About Divinity
Mortality, Weakness, and the Death of Gods
Can gods perish, and what becomes of divinity when immortal beings face weakness, decline, or death?
What does death mean for an immortal being?
Are all gods equally vulnerable?
Can some gods never die under any circumstances?
Is mortality inherent to divinity or imposed from outside?
Can another god kill a deity?
Can a god destroy itself?
Can reality itself reject a god?
Do gods possess physical weaknesses?
Do they possess psychological weaknesses?
Can divine pride become a fatal flaw?
Can love become a weakness?
Can compassion endanger a god?
Can a god weaken through isolation?
Can loneliness diminish divine power?
Does neglect weaken immortals?
Can forgotten gods slowly fade away?
Can disbelief kill a god?
Are there divine diseases?
Can divine minds deteriorate?
Can gods suffer physical decay?
Are immortal bodies truly permanent?
Do divine wounds heal naturally?
Can wounds become permanent?
Are scars meaningful to immortals?
Can a god become crippled?
Do gods lose strength with age?
Is aging different from weakening?
Can gods become exhausted?
Can they permanently lose power?
What causes divine decline?
Can civilizations accidentally weaken their patrons?
Are there cycles of divine growth and decline?
Can gods hibernate to preserve themselves?
Can they willingly surrender portions of their divinity?
Can divine power be consumed?
Can immortals sacrifice themselves permanently?
What happens when a creator god dies?
Does creation survive its creator?
What happens to a divine domain after its owner's death?
Can another god inherit abandoned responsibilities?
Can multiple successors divide one portfolio?
Does a dead god leave behind echoes?
Can divine corpses remain powerful?
Can civilizations build upon the remains of dead gods?
Can divine blood permanently alter landscapes?
Can the death of a god reshape reality?
Do mortals remember dead gods accurately?
Can resurrection restore the same individual?
Does resurrection fundamentally change a god?
Can a god choose oblivion instead?
Is permanent death considered tragic or natural among immortals?
What emotional impact does witnessing divine death have upon other gods?
Are funerals held for immortals?
Who mourns forgotten gods?
Does eternity make loss easier or harder?
Can gods fear death despite immortality?
Is fear of death necessary for wisdom?
Can divine mortality inspire compassion?
Does the possibility of death make gods more responsible?
What would happen if every god suddenly became mortal?
What survives after divinity dies?
What does the death of a god ultimately reveal about existence itself?
Corruption, Madness, and Fallen Divinity
How can divine beings become corrupted, lose themselves, or fall from the ideals they once represented?
What defines a fallen god?
Can any god become corrupted?
Is corruption gradual or instantaneous?
What is the first sign of divine corruption?
Can immense power encourage corruption?
Can absolute authority distort morality?
Does immortality encourage arrogance?
Can endless worship inflate a god's ego?
Can grief transform divinity?
Can love become obsession?
Can justice become tyranny?
Can mercy become weakness?
Can order become oppression?
Can freedom become chaos?
Can noble intentions produce monstrous outcomes?
Can divine domains influence corruption?
Can gods become prisoners of their own concepts?
Can a god outgrow its original purpose?
Can reality itself corrupt gods?
Are there corrupting artifacts?
Can forbidden knowledge destroy divine sanity?
Does omniscience carry psychological risks?
Can seeing every possible future break a mind?
Can gods become paranoid?
Can immortals lose touch with reality?
Can divine memories become unbearable?
Can personalities fragment over eternity?
Can one god become multiple conflicting identities?
Can gods develop compulsions?
Can divine beings become addicted to conflict?
Can they become addicted to creation?
Can they become addicted to destruction?
Are there divine mental illnesses?
How do immortals define insanity?
Can fallen gods recognize their own corruption?
Can corruption be reversed?
Who attempts to redeem fallen gods?
Are fallen gods feared more than evil gods?
Can a benevolent god accidentally become monstrous?
Can evil gods sincerely seek redemption?
Does forgiveness exist among immortals?
Can divine exile prevent further corruption?
Are corrupted gods imprisoned?
Are some gods permanently beyond redemption?
Can civilizations redeem their patron deity?
Can worship accelerate corruption?
Can disbelief heal a god?
Are fallen gods remembered honestly?
Do myths exaggerate divine corruption?
Can corrupted gods inspire new religions?
Can divine madness become contagious?
Can corrupted divinity spread between gods?
What happens when multiple gods fall simultaneously?
Can an entire pantheon become corrupted?
Can universal order survive divine madness?
What does the fall of a god reveal about the limits of perfection?
Apotheosis and Becoming Divine
How can a being transcend mortality and ascend into true divinity, and what does that transformation ultimately require?
Must ascension be earned?
Can technology achieve godhood?
Can science replicate divinity?
Can artificial intelligence ascend?
Can nonliving entities become divine?
Can entire civilizations become gods?
Can ideas themselves become divine?
What is the first step toward godhood?
Must someone abandon mortality?
What must be surrendered forever?
What happens to failed candidates?
Can someone survive an incomplete ascension?
Are there visible stages of transformation?
How long does ascension require?
Does ascension alter personality?
Can memories survive apotheosis?
Can relationships survive ascension?
Do newly ascended beings remain emotionally mortal?
Can ascended gods regret becoming divine?
Are ascended beings accepted by older gods?
Do ancient gods distrust newcomers?
Must new gods prove themselves?
Can gods refuse a new deity entry into their pantheon?
Are there legal requirements for becoming divine?
Can apotheosis destabilize reality?
Does every new god require a new domain?
Can ascended beings inherit abandoned portfolios?
Can multiple mortals ascend simultaneously?
What happens when too many gods exist?
Is there an upper limit to divinity?
Can a god voluntarily return to mortality?
Can apotheosis be reversed?
Is immortality always desirable?
Does becoming divine solve suffering?
What new burdens replace mortal struggles?
Does godhood eliminate freedom?
Can ascended beings still change and grow?
What responsibilities accompany ascension?
Does greater power require greater restraint?
Can an ascended god reject worship?
What obligations exist toward one's former people?
Should ascended beings remain impartial?
Can former loyalties bias a new god?
What happens when mortals begin pursuing apotheosis as a profession?
Does easy ascension cheapen divinity?
What separates an immortal from a true god?
What does becoming divine ultimately require one to cease being?
Forgotten, Hidden, and Dormant Gods
What becomes of gods that are forgotten, concealed, imprisoned, or no longer active within the world?
What causes a god to become forgotten?
Can a forgotten god remain fully divine?
Does obscurity weaken a deity?
Can forgotten gods lose their identity?
Do forgotten gods remember themselves?
Can a god forget its own name?
What happens when the last believer dies?
Does memory itself sustain divinity?
Can history erase a god more effectively than death?
Are forgotten gods aware they have been abandoned?
Can they observe the world while forgotten?
Do forgotten gods attempt to regain followers?
Are forgotten gods capable of communicating with mortals?
Why would a god willingly hide?
Can a deity fake its own disappearance?
Do some gods abandon civilization intentionally?
Can divine beings retire?
Are dormant gods asleep or merely inactive?
What distinguishes dormancy from death?
Can those dreams influence reality?
What awakens a dormant deity?
Can civilizations accidentally awaken forgotten gods?
Are some gods sealed away against their will?
Who possesses the authority to imprison a god?
Can divine prisons deteriorate?
Can forgotten gods communicate through relics?
Can dreams preserve knowledge of hidden gods?
How do myths evolve after a god disappears?
Can another deity assume the forgotten god's identity?
Can history mistake two different gods for one?
Can a forgotten god become myth rather than religion?
What emotions do forgotten gods experience?
Can resentment accumulate over millennia?
Do hidden gods still fulfill their responsibilities?
Can reality function without them?
Are forgotten domains left unattended?
Can hidden gods secretly influence history?
Why would a god refuse worship?
Can anonymity become a divine virtue?
Are there gods whose existence is intentionally censored?
Who benefits from suppressing divine knowledge?
Can divine conspiracies erase gods from history?
Are some gods too dangerous to remember?
Can merely speaking a forgotten god's name awaken it?
Can names themselves preserve divinity?
What happens when forgotten languages disappear?
Can entire pantheons vanish collectively?
How do archaeologists interpret forgotten religions?
Can false reconstructions accidentally recreate divine power?
Are hidden gods observing one another?
Can forgotten deities form their own secret societies?
Does obscurity change a god's personality?
Can forgotten gods become wiser through isolation?
Can loneliness fundamentally alter divinity?
What responsibilities remain after worship ends?
Is obscurity freedom or imprisonment?
Can a forgotten god willingly return?
What survives after every trace of a deity has vanished?
What does forgotten divinity reveal about memory, history, and existence?
Multiple Pantheons and Competing Cosmologies
How can multiple divine systems coexist, and what happens when their truths contradict one another?
Can multiple pantheons coexist objectively?
Do different pantheons govern different regions?
Can multiple creation stories all be true?
Do competing cosmologies describe different aspects of reality?
Can reality accommodate contradictory truths?
Are gods aware of foreign pantheons?
Have different pantheons always coexisted?
Did separate pantheons emerge independently?
Can civilizations unknowingly worship the same gods under different names?
How do divine beings recognize one another?
Do pantheons possess national identities?
Can gods immigrate between pantheons?
Can a deity defect to another divine society?
Can gods possess dual citizenship between pantheons?
Are there international divine laws?
How are disputes between pantheons negotiated?
Are neutral cosmic territories recognized?
Can two pantheons jointly govern the same world?
What happens when divine jurisdictions overlap?
Can different gods claim authority over identical concepts?
How is ownership of domains determined?
Can rival gods peacefully share responsibility?
Are divine borders fixed?
Can pantheons expand territorially?
How do mortals perceive competing religions?
Can one civilization honor multiple pantheons equally?
Are syncretic religions accepted by the gods?
Can mixed worship create entirely new deities?
Can cultural exchange reshape divine identity?
Are some pantheons older than reality itself?
Can younger pantheons surpass ancient ones?
How do divine cultures stereotype one another?
Are there diplomatic marriages between pantheons?
Can divine children inherit multiple cosmologies?
How are conflicting moral systems reconciled?
Can incompatible afterlives coexist?
What happens when followers of different gods die?
Can multiple heavens overlap?
Can multiple underworlds exist simultaneously?
Who governs souls claimed by several deities?
Can cosmological maps contradict each other without error?
Are universes themselves divided among pantheons?
Can rival creation myths describe separate epochs?
Can divine truths change across dimensions?
What happens when one pantheon proves another wrong?
Can gods debate philosophy without warfare?
Is objective truth less important than belief?
Can all religions be simultaneously incomplete?
What unifies otherwise incompatible pantheons?
What does the existence of multiple cosmologies reveal about reality itself?
Divine War and Cosmic Conflict
Why do divine beings wage war, and how do conflicts among gods reshape existence itself?
Are divine wars inevitable?
What distinguishes a divine war from mortal conflict?
What events most commonly trigger celestial wars?
Can ideology alone justify conflict?
Can misunderstandings begin cosmic wars?
Are divine wars formally declared?
Who possesses the authority to declare them?
Are there rules governing divine warfare?
Can those rules be broken?
Who enforces wartime conduct?
Are civilians protected during divine conflicts?
Do gods distinguish between combatants and innocents?
Can mortals become unwilling participants?
Are civilizations used as proxies?
How do religions respond to divine wars?
Can followers unknowingly fight for opposing gods?
How are alliances formed during wartime?
Can neutral gods remain uninvolved?
What strategies do immortal generals employ?
How does eternity influence military planning?
Are battles measured in years or millennia?
Can wars last longer than civilizations?
What weapons can harm divine beings?
Can concepts themselves become weapons?
Can memories be weaponized?
Can belief become ammunition?
Can history itself be rewritten through warfare?
Can divine conflicts alter physical laws?
Do stars, planets, or galaxies become battlefields?
Can universes be damaged by war?
What scars remain after cosmic battles?
Can reality permanently heal?
What environmental consequences follow divine conflict?
Can ecosystems survive celestial warfare?
Are dimensions created through battle?
Can wars accidentally create new gods?
Can divine conflicts erase concepts from existence?
Can wars eliminate entire afterlives?
What constitutes victory?
Is total annihilation ever desirable?
Can compromise preserve reality?
How are peace treaties negotiated?
Do immortals forgive ancient enemies?
Can reconciliation occur after millions of years?
How are victorious gods remembered?
What responsibilities accompany victory?
What does divine warfare ultimately reveal about the nature of power?
What lessons does the universe itself learn from wars among its creators?
Religion Versus Objective Reality
How does religious belief relate to objective truth, and what happens when faith and reality disagree?
Does objective truth about the gods exist?
Can religions be simultaneously true and incomplete?
Can every religion contain part of the truth?
What separates belief from fact?
Can faith exist without evidence?
Does evidence eliminate faith?
Can a religion remain meaningful even if it is objectively incorrect?
How accurately do religions portray their gods?
Do gods intentionally allow false beliefs?
Why would divine beings tolerate misunderstanding?
Can gods encourage conflicting interpretations?
Do divine beings benefit from ambiguity?
Are myths literal, symbolic, or both?
How often does recorded doctrine disagree with divine reality?
Can prophets misunderstand divine messages?
Can scriptures preserve historical errors?
Do gods correct inaccurate teachings?
Why might they remain silent?
Can divine silence strengthen belief?
Can certainty weaken faith?
How do scholars distinguish revelation from mythology?
Can archaeology disprove sacred traditions?
If evidence contradicts religion, which prevails?
Can religions adapt to new discoveries?
Can objective truth destroy civilizations?
Should forbidden truths remain hidden?
Can reality itself be unknowable?
Are mortals capable of fully understanding divinity?
Do gods intentionally limit mortal understanding?
Can truth itself become dangerous?
Are divine beings obligated to be truthful?
Can gods deceive for benevolent reasons?
Can miracles produce false conclusions?
Can unrelated events become sacred myths?
How do legends become accepted history?
Can history become holier than truth?
How do political powers reshape religious narratives?
Can governments create official theology?
Can religious institutions outlive the truths they were founded upon?
Can a religion become independent of its deity?
Can worship continue after a god dies?
Can objective reality change while religions remain static?
What happens when gods publicly contradict their own religions?
How do believers react when doctrine changes?
Can divine beings disagree with their own clergy?
Is religious certainty ever justified?
What role does doubt play in discovering truth?
Is objective reality ultimately accessible to mortals?
Does belief shape reality, or merely interpret it?
What does the conflict between faith and objective truth ultimately reveal about existence?
Philosophy and Ethics of Divinity
What ethical responsibilities accompany godhood, and what philosophical questions arise from the existence of divine beings?
What moral obligations do gods possess?
Does greater power require greater responsibility?
Can absolute power remain morally accountable?
Are gods morally superior to mortals?
Should gods be held to higher ethical standards?
Who judges divine morality?
Can morality exist independently of the gods?
Are gods the source of morality or merely its guardians?
Can divine commands be immoral?
Should mortals obey unethical gods?
Is obedience always virtuous?
Can rebellion against a god be morally justified?
Can divine authority become tyranny?
What distinguishes leadership from domination?
Are gods obligated to prevent suffering?
Why does suffering exist if benevolent gods do?
Can hardship possess moral value?
Is suffering necessary for growth?
Can perfect happiness become harmful?
Does free will justify divine inaction?
Should gods interfere with mortal choices?
How much intervention becomes oppression?
Is noninterference itself an ethical choice?
Can indifference be immoral?
Should gods reveal themselves openly?
Does hiddenness preserve freedom?
Can faith exist without uncertainty?
What responsibilities do creators owe their creations?
Can creators abandon their creations ethically?
Do gods owe explanations to mortals?
Are divine punishments proportional?
Can eternal punishment ever be justified?
Is forgiveness more powerful than justice?
Can mercy undermine accountability?
Can justice exist without compassion?
Should gods forgive every offense?
What makes a sin unforgivable?
Are intentions more important than outcomes?
Can good intentions justify harmful consequences?
Do mortals possess rights against the gods?
Can gods violate the dignity of intelligent life?
Is worship a duty or a gift?
Can forced devotion possess moral value?
Does immortality change ethical priorities?
Are divine beings responsible for future generations?
What virtues should define an ideal god?
Can perfection itself become morally flawed?
What does true goodness require from an immortal being?
What does the existence of gods ultimately reveal about morality itself?
Divinity Across Cultures and Civilizations
How do different peoples understand, worship, reinterpret, and coexist with the divine throughout history?
How does geography influence religion?
How does climate shape concepts of divinity?
Why do neighboring civilizations often imagine different gods?
Can identical divine beings be interpreted differently?
How do languages alter religious ideas?
Do translations change theology?
Can names influence a god's identity?
Why do cultures emphasize different divine attributes?
How do political systems shape worship?
How do economic systems influence religion?
How do social classes experience the gods differently?
Do rulers worship differently than common citizens?
How do isolated communities preserve ancient beliefs?
How does urbanization reshape religion?
How do frontier societies worship differently?
Can nomadic peoples develop fundamentally different pantheons?
How do maritime cultures understand divinity?
How do mountain civilizations perceive heaven?
How do desert cultures interpret divine providence?
How do forest societies define sacred spaces?
How do cultures explain foreign gods?
Are foreign deities viewed as rivals, allies, or impostors?
Can civilizations adopt foreign gods peacefully?
What causes religious syncretism?
Can conquered peoples preserve their deities?
Do conquering civilizations absorb local gods?
How do empires standardize religion?
Can local traditions survive official doctrine?
How do minority religions endure persecution?
Can diaspora communities preserve divine traditions?
How do migration and trade spread religions?
How do missionaries reshape indigenous beliefs?
Can one civilization export its gods?
Do gods change while crossing cultures?
Can one deity develop entirely different personalities in separate civilizations?
How do artistic traditions reshape divine imagery?
Why do sacred symbols evolve?
Can architecture influence theology?
How does music shape worship?
How do festivals preserve religious identity?
How do civilizations remember extinct religions?
Can forgotten religions influence modern belief?
How do scholars reconstruct ancient pantheons?
What misconceptions arise when interpreting foreign religions?
Can multiple civilizations unknowingly worship the same divine being?
What cultural values survive after religions disappear?
How do religions become part of national identity?
What remains constant across every civilization's understanding of divinity?
What changes most dramatically between cultures?
What does humanity's diverse understanding of the divine ultimately reveal about civilization itself?
The Historical Evolution of Gods
How do gods change across history, and how does the passage of time reshape divinity itself?
Do gods experience history differently than mortals?
How does a million years alter a divine perspective?
Were the first gods fundamentally different from modern ones?
Have gods evolved alongside civilization?
Can divinity adapt to changing worlds?
What historical event most transformed the gods?
Have gods ever regretted shaping history?
Can gods rewrite their own past?
How accurately do gods remember ancient eras?
Can immortal memory become unreliable?
Are divine histories intentionally edited?
Who records the history of the gods?
Can divine civilizations lose historical knowledge?
How do forgotten eras influence modern pantheons?
Have entire generations of gods disappeared?
Can divine lineages become extinct?
Do gods inherit the mistakes of their predecessors?
Can divine traditions become obsolete?
How do gods preserve ancient customs?
Are immortals resistant to cultural change?
What causes divine reform movements?
Can revolutions occur among immortal societies?
How do technological civilizations influence gods?
Can industrialization reshape divine responsibilities?
How do gods react to scientific progress?
Can new knowledge obsolete ancient deities?
Have gods ever willingly retired?
Can old gods mentor new ones?
Do younger gods challenge established traditions?
What generational conflicts exist among immortals?
Can ancient wisdom become a liability?
Does age always produce wisdom?
How does immortality affect innovation?
Can gods become intellectually stagnant?
What causes divine renaissances?
Can forgotten philosophies return?
How do catastrophic events permanently change pantheons?
Can gods recover from historical trauma?
Do divine societies romanticize the past?
Can nostalgia distort divine decision-making?
Have moral standards among gods changed over time?
Can concepts of justice evolve?
Can divine responsibilities expand with civilization?
Have gods abandoned obsolete domains?
Can entirely new forms of divinity emerge?
Does history gradually reshape the meaning of godhood?
Can gods become prisoners of tradition?
What survives unchanged across every age?
What does history ultimately teach immortal beings?
What does the evolution of the gods reveal about the evolution of reality itself?
The Future of Divine Beings
What future awaits divinity, and how might gods continue to evolve alongside existence itself?
Can gods foresee their own future?
Is the future predetermined for divine beings?
Will the number of gods continue to grow?
Can divinity become overcrowded?
Will older gods eventually disappear?
Can all gods become obsolete?
How does advancing civilization affect divine relevance?
Will technology replace certain divine functions?
Can artificial intelligence become divine?
Can synthetic life create its own gods?
How will spacefaring civilizations reshape religion?
Can interstellar societies maintain unified pantheons?
Will new worlds produce new gods?
Can entirely alien concepts generate unfamiliar divinities?
How do gods respond to expanding universes?
Can divine jurisdictions expand infinitely?
Is there a limit to cosmic administration?
Can reality outgrow its creators?
Will gods eventually require successors?
Can immortals retire permanently?
What responsibilities should future gods inherit?
Can future civilizations reject divinity entirely?
If worship disappears, what remains of godhood?
Can objective divinity survive universal atheism?
Will divine societies become more democratic over time?
Can celestial governments modernize?
How will communication technologies affect worship?
Will miracles lose significance if they become predictable?
Can divine mystery survive complete scientific understanding?
Will gods become observers rather than rulers?
Can mortals eventually equal the gods?
What happens when humanity surpasses its creators?
Can gods continue learning forever?
Will immortality eventually produce perfect wisdom?
Can eternity become unbearable?
What existential challenges await immortal minds?
Is there an ultimate purpose beyond godhood?
Will divine conflict eventually end?
Can universal peace truly exist?
Is the future optimistic or tragic for divinity?
Can the universe exist after the last god dies?
What legacy should immortal beings leave behind?
Can future generations judge the gods?
What responsibilities do gods owe to the distant future?
What becomes of divinity after the end of time?
Can gods survive the death of the universe?
Is there a future beyond existence itself?
What final destiny awaits every divine being?
What does the future ultimately suggest about the purpose of divinity?
Ultimate Questions About Divinity
What are the deepest unanswered questions about gods, existence, and the meaning of divinity itself?
Why does anything divine exist at all?
Why is there something rather than nothing?
Is divinity necessary for existence?
Would reality function without gods?
Are gods discovering reality or creating it?
Does truth exist independently of divinity?
Can a god discover something genuinely new?
Is absolute knowledge possible?
Can omniscience contain uncertainty?
Are there questions even gods cannot answer?
Does mystery possess intrinsic value?
Is ignorance sometimes necessary?
Can infinite knowledge coexist with wonder?
What is the relationship between truth and belief?
Does consciousness precede existence?
Can existence precede consciousness?
Is reality fundamentally mental or physical?
What makes existence meaningful?
Does meaning require observers?
Can purpose exist objectively?
Do ideas exist before minds perceive them?
Can morality exist without conscious beings?
Does evil possess independent existence?
Can perfection truly exist?
Does imperfection give creation value?
Is change essential to existence?
Can eternity remain meaningful without change?
Does immortality diminish purpose?
Can endings be necessary?
What makes life valuable?
Is mortality a flaw or a gift?
Can suffering possess meaning?
Does joy require hardship?
Are gods happier than mortals?
Can infinite power satisfy the soul?
Does freedom require limitation?
Can absolute freedom exist?
Is destiny compatible with free will?
Can every possibility exist simultaneously?
Is reality singular or infinite?
Does creation have a final destination?
Will existence ever be complete?
What lies beyond the end of the universe?
Is there a creator beyond every creator?
Can divinity itself be transcended?
What is the one truth every god seeks but has never found?
What does divinity ultimately reveal about existence itself?
If you guys want more in-depth and detailed guides like these, please like and reblog. It's the only way I can really gauge if people are interested in this type of work. It takes a long time to put these together, so every little bit helps.
