#fantasy application development solutions

[thinkstartpl]

31 Top On-Demand Service Apps Ideas 2021-22.

The world is always evolving at a breakneck pace. Mobile apps are gaining popularity as users want speed, convenience, and simplicity. Do you want to know what types of apps are popular? Looking for some new and trending on-demand services app ideas to skyrocket your business in Los Angeles, California? We have got 31 top ideas you for, give us a read to know more.

[dinoustecch]

Top Fantasy Sports App Development Company in India

The advent of fantasy sports has revolutionized the fan experience of their beloved games, making passive watchers into active players. In India, the emergence of cricket leagues, football competitions, and many other sports events has led to huge demands for fantasy sports software. Companies are now focusing on developing sophisticated apps that provide a live gaming experience, secure payment gateway, and intuitive user interface. The selection of a suitable fantasy sports app development agency is thus essential.

Increasing Demand for Fantasy Sports Software in India

India is emerging as one of the biggest markets for fantasy sports owing to high smartphone ownership rates, easy availability of internet facilities, and a young tech-savvy populace. Everyday, millions of users take part in fantasy leagues, resulting in a vibrant environment where companies can flourish. As the legal scenario gets clearer and users gain more confidence, startups and large companies want to develop unique software. A leading fantasy sports software development company can leverage such trends in the market.

Features of a Good Fantasy Sports Application

The best fantasy sports application not only provides basic features but strives to ensure a secure and entertaining user experience. The ability to integrate real-time data allows users to receive updates on their match and score correctly. An intuitive UI and UX will enable users to form their teams and compete in different leagues. Security measures such as payments through gateways, different contest types, leaderboards, and notifications are some ways to engage users. Using advanced technologies such as AI and analytics can also significantly increase user retention and personalization.

Why You Need a Good Development Company

Finding a trustworthy company that offers a fantasy sports application development service is critical for creating a scalable solution. A competent team of developers will be able to develop applications that work well under any circumstances. Moreover, they will be able to incorporate APIs, handle millions of users, and comply with regulatory requirements. It is essential to choose companies that provide all services related to software development, from initial concept creation to final support.

The Role of Innovation and Technology in Fantasy Sports App Development

The process of innovation and technology plays an important role in successful fantasy sports apps. Thanks to innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing, developers can create efficient and effective applications. The former may be used to track and analyze player statistics and provide useful information to customers, whereas the latter ensures scalability when demand increases. In addition, blockchain technology gains popularity due to its ability to increase transparency and safety in financial operations. The best fantasy sports app development company uses all these innovations in order to deliver the ultimate product.

Why Should Companies Entrust Experienced Developers?

Having experience is an advantage in fantasy sports app development. Experienced professionals understand all the peculiarities associated with this type of game and can predict certain problems. Moreover, they stick to industry standards in programming and software testing, which helps to improve the overall quality of applications. Choosing experienced developers, companies can minimize risks and speed up the release of products. For example, Dinoustech has a lot of experience in creating customized fantasy apps.

Customization and Scalability for Future Growth

There are certain criteria that each and every fantasy sports application needs to meet according to its target market and nature. Customization helps to distinguish one application from others through various special features, themes, etc., while scalability ensures that the platform is able to accommodate growing numbers of users without any reduction in speed. Top-rated companies for fantasy sports app development ensure that their products have scalable architectures. For example, one such company is Dinoustech, which concentrates on developing scalable solutions to changing demands of the market.

Improving User Engagement and Retention

A successful fantasy sports application can be achieved only through user engagement. Live chat options, referral programs, rewards, social media integration, etc., help to retain users and engage them into activities regularly. Gamification aspects also contribute to enhancing user engagement. Some of the elements include points, badges, contests, etc., while frequent updating of the application also plays an important role in keeping the users engaged in the platform.

Considerations for Security and Compliance

Security is one of the important things that developers have to consider while developing a fantasy sports app, especially when money transfer will be done within the platform. It becomes necessary to use appropriate security protocols that include encryption techniques, payment gateways, and other mechanisms that will detect any suspicious activities on the platform. Moreover, compliance with the local regulations will enable the company to develop and run the platform without any problems associated with laws. Professional development companies make sure that data protection and user privacy are considered while creating apps.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, the fantasy sports industry in India is constantly growing, which makes it a perfect choice for startups to invest in and generate profits. In order to succeed in such a dynamic environment, it becomes extremely important to collaborate with the best fantasy sports app development companies that are capable of developing and launching efficient platforms. With unique features and advanced technologies used by companies like Dinoustech, businesses can launch their products easily and enjoy success.

[egomerit]

Perchance AI: The Ultimate Guide to This Powerful AI Content Generator

In the vast and rapidly expanding universe of artificial intelligence tools, few platforms offer the unique blend of simplicity, versatility, and sheer creative freedom quite like Perchance AI. For anyone who has ever faced the blank page, struggled with writer's block, needed a spark of inspiration, or desired to generate unique data on the fly, Perchance AI isn't just another AI; it's a dynamic, customizable engine for random generation that solves real-world creative and organizational problems. This guide will serve as your ultimate companion to Perchance AI, demystifying its core functionalities, explaining why it has become an indispensable tool for countless users, and demonstrating how it provides practical solutions across a myriad of applications. We’ll dive into its unique client-side approach, explore its diverse range of generators (from character creation to story prompts), and offer actionable advice on how to harness its full potential. Whether you're a writer, game developer, artist, educator, or simply someone curious about the power of AI-driven randomness, prepare to discover how Perchance AI can transform your creative process and help you overcome digital hurdles. What Exactly is Perchance AI? The Engine of Randomness At its heart, Perchance AI (often accessed via perchance.org) is an innovative online platform designed to build and host random text and image generators. Unlike many other AI tools that rely on complex server-side computations and proprietary models, Perchance stands out due to its unique, browser-based, client-side approach. This means that once a generator is loaded in your browser, the magic happens directly on your device, offering instant results, enhanced privacy, and remarkable flexibility. Here's a closer look at what defines Perchance AI: - A Generator-Building Platform: Perchance isn't just a single AI tool; it's an ecosystem for creating other AI-powered random generators. Users can design their own generators using a simple, intuitive coding language (or even by just listing items), defining variables, lists, and logic to produce randomized outputs. This democratic approach allows anyone, regardless of coding experience, to become a creator of AI tools. - Client-Side Operation: This is a cornerstone of Perchance AI's philosophy. When you visit a Perchance generator, the code for that generator is downloaded to your web browser. All the generation processes, from shuffling lists to applying complex rules, occur locally on your computer. - Privacy: Your inputs and outputs are not sent to a remote server, ensuring a high degree of privacy. This is a significant advantage for users dealing with sensitive ideas or who simply prefer their creative explorations to remain private. - Speed: Since there's no server-to-client communication for each generation, the results are virtually instantaneous, offering a seamless user experience. - Offline Functionality: Once a generator is loaded in your browser, it can often continue to function even if your internet connection is lost, as long as the browser tab remains open. - Versatile Content Generation: While it started primarily with text generation, Perchance AI has expanded significantly. Its capabilities now include: - Text Generators: This is its most common application, from name generators (fantasy, sci-fi, modern), story prompts, character descriptions, dialogue snippets, item descriptions, and much more. - Image Generators: Leveraging models like Stable Diffusion, Perchance allows users to create image generators from text prompts, producing unique visuals for various creative projects. - AI Chat/Role-Playing: Some community-built generators incorporate AI models (often through integrated APIs, though the core Perchance engine remains client-side) to facilitate interactive conversations and role-playing scenarios with AI characters. - Community-Driven and Open-Ended: Perchance thrives on its community. Users can create, share, and even remix existing generators. This collaborative environment has led to a vast library of public generators catering to an incredibly diverse range of needs and niches. The platform's open-ended nature means its applications are limited only by the creativity of its users. - Free and Accessible: A key benefit of Perchance AI is its accessibility. It's generally free to use, and you typically don't need an account or registration to use existing generators or even to create your own. This low barrier to entry makes it incredibly appealing to hobbyists, students, and professionals alike. In essence, Perchance AI is not a monolithic, black-box AI. Instead, it's a powerful, flexible, and private framework that empowers anyone to design and utilize custom random generators, transforming abstract ideas into concrete, immediate results. Why Perchance AI Matters: Solving Creative Blocks and Streamlining Processes In the modern creative and technical landscape, the demand for quick ideation, personalized content, and efficient data generation is constantly growing. Perchance AI steps into this space as a powerful, user-friendly solution, addressing several key challenges that individuals and small teams frequently encounter. 1. Overcoming Creative Blocks and Inspiring New Ideas For writers, artists, game designers, and content creators, the "blank page" syndrome is a notorious hurdle. Perchance AI serves as a potent antidote to this creative inertia. - Instant Inspiration: Instead of staring at a blinking cursor, users can generate a random plot twist, a unique character name, an unexpected setting, or a fresh artistic concept with a single click. This immediate influx of ideas can break through mental barriers and kickstart the creative process. For example, a fantasy writer struggling with a character's backstory could use a Perchance AI character generator to randomly combine traits like "reclusive elf," "former knight," and "obsessed with ancient runes," providing a springboard for a new narrative. - Exploring Novel Combinations: The random nature of Perchance allows for the discovery of unforeseen combinations of elements. These serendipitous juxtapositions can lead to entirely original ideas that might not have emerged through linear brainstorming. Imagine a designer using a Perchance AI color palette generator that unexpected pairs "deep indigo" with "rusty orange" – a combination that, while unconventional, might spark a brilliant new design direction. - Iterative Ideation: Perchance encourages rapid iteration. If one generated idea isn't quite right, another click provides a new one, allowing for quick exploration of many possibilities without significant time investment. 2. Streamlining Content and Data Generation Beyond pure inspiration, Perchance AI excels at automating the creation of structured or semi-structured content and data, which is invaluable for various practical applications. - Game Development: For indie game developers or Dungeon Masters (DMs) running tabletop RPGs, generating consistent and unique elements can be time-consuming. Perchance AI is a godsend for creating: - NPC (Non-Player Character) profiles: Names, personalities, quirks, motivations. - Quest ideas: Objectives, rewards, challenges. - Item descriptions: Magical artifacts, mundane objects, potion effects. - Location details: Village names, tavern names, dungeon features. This saves immense preparation time, allowing creators to focus on gameplay and storytelling rather than tedious data entry. - Educational Resources: Teachers can use Perchance AI to generate: - Writing prompts: Unique story starters for creative writing exercises. - Quiz questions: Randomize questions from a pool for practice tests. - Vocabulary lists: Generate random words for spelling bees or language learning. - Marketing and Branding: - Slogan Generators: Brainstorm catchy slogans or taglines. - Product Name Ideas: Generate unique names for new products or services. - Social Media Content Ideas: Create prompts for engaging posts. - Data Simulation: For rudimentary data simulation or testing scenarios, a Perchance AI generator can produce randomized data sets (e.g., fictional customer profiles, event logs) for quick prototyping or testing. 3. Accessibility and Empowerment Many advanced AI tools come with steep learning curves, high costs, or restrictive usage policies. Perchance AI offers a refreshing alternative: - Free and Account-Free: The core platform is free to use and doesn't require registration, removing financial and privacy barriers. This makes it accessible to students, hobbyists, and anyone on a budget. - User-Friendly Customization: While it supports complex logic for advanced users, creating a basic generator is as simple as listing items. This empowers users with minimal technical skills to build their own custom tools, fostering a sense of ownership and creative control. - Privacy-First Approach: The client-side execution means user data (prompts and generated content) remains on their device, which is a significant draw for privacy-conscious individuals. In essence, Perchance AI matters because it democratizes the power of AI-driven randomness. It's a tool that doesn't just entertain; it provides practical value by accelerating ideation, automating repetitive content generation tasks, and empowering users to create custom solutions without needing advanced technical expertise or significant financial investment. It transforms the daunting task of creation into an iterative, inspired, and often delightful process. Deep Dive: How Perchance AI Works – The Client-Side Magic Understanding the technical foundation of Perchance AI is key to appreciating its unique benefits, particularly its speed and privacy. Unlike most large language models (LLMs) or image generation AI services that operate on powerful remote servers, Perchance employs a "client-side JavaScript approach." The Client-Side Paradigm Explained When you interact with a website, your computer (the "client") sends requests to a web server. The server then sends back files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.) that your browser interprets and displays. In the context of typical AI services: - You enter a prompt into a web interface. - Your browser sends this prompt to the AI provider's remote server. - The server's powerful GPUs and AI models process your prompt. - The server sends the generated text or image back to your browser. With Perchance AI, the process is fundamentally different for its core functionality: - Generator Code Download: When you open a Perchance AI generator in your browser (e.g., perchance.org/fantasy-name-generator), the entire code for that specific generator (written in Perchance's custom syntax, which compiles to JavaScript) is downloaded to your browser. - Local Execution: When you click "Generate" or the page automatically reloads, your browser's JavaScript engine executes that downloaded code on your own computer. - Instantaneous Output: The randomization, logic processing, and string concatenation (for text) or image generation (if the generator integrates a client-side model or a tiny local proxy to a public API like Stable Diffusion if configured by the generator creator) all happen locally. The result is then immediately displayed in your browser. The Perchance Language: A Simple Yet Powerful Syntax At the heart of creating custom generators on Perchance AI is its unique, user-friendly markup language. It's designed to be approachable even for those without prior coding experience, but powerful enough for complex logic. Let's break down some basic elements: - Lists: The most fundamental building block. You define lists of items, and Perchance randomly selects one from that list.heroName Sir Reginald Lady Evangeline Captain Kael When you reference , Perchance will randomly pick one of these. - Weights: You can assign weights to items in a list to influence their probability of being chosen.rarity 100% common 20% uncommon 5% rare Here, 'common' is much more likely to be selected. - Nested Lists: You can embed lists within other lists, allowing for complex, multi-layered generation.character A . adjective brave mysterious wizened young race human elf dwarf orc profession warrior wizard rogue bard Generating might produce "A brave human warrior." - Conditionals and Logic: For more advanced generators, you can introduce if/else statements, loops, and other programming constructs to create dynamic and context-aware outputs. For example, generating a specific weapon type only if the character is a "warrior." - Output Formatting (HTML/Text): You can structure the output using simple text, or even basic HTML to apply formatting, links, or images. How Perchance Handles AI Image Generation While the core generation engine is client-side, direct, high-quality AI image generation (like Stable Diffusion) typically requires significant computational power (GPUs) that most local browsers don't possess for real-time, high-fidelity results. Therefore, Perchance AI image generators usually work by: - Client-Side Prompt Construction: The Perchance code on your browser assembles a detailed text prompt based on your selections and the generator's internal logic. - API Call (Optional, Configured by Creator): This sophisticated prompt is then sent via a discreet API call to a third-party image generation service (e.g., a self-hosted Stable Diffusion instance, or a public API that charges per use). It's important to note that Perchance itself isn't running the large image models directly on your browser; it's orchestrating the interaction. - Image Return: The third-party service generates the image and returns it to your browser, which then displays it. The key distinction is that while the logic for constructing the prompt is entirely client-side on Perchance, the actual image rendering often relies on an external service. However, the privacy benefits of Perchance mean that your initial selections and the internal workings of the generator remain private on your device. This client-side architecture is what gives Perchance AI its unique flavour: it’s fast, private, and incredibly empowering, allowing users to build and run complex generative tools directly within their web browser. Practical Applications of Perchance AI: Examples in Action The beauty of Perchance AI lies in its adaptability. Its core function – randomized generation based on user-defined rules – makes it a powerful tool across a wide spectrum of fields. Let’s explore some concrete examples of how Perchance AI is being used to solve real-world problems and enhance creative workflows. 1. For Writers and Storytellers - Character Generators: This is one of the most popular uses. A writer can generate countless unique characters, each with a name, personality traits, a unique quirk, a backstory snippet, and even a physical description. - Problem Solved: Writer's block when developing new characters; need for diverse and unique NPCs in a novel or script. - Example: A generator might combine who is and secretly . E.g., "A grizzled Dwarven blacksmith who is fiercely loyal and secretly longs to write poetry." - Plot Twist Generators: Randomly combine elements like "A sudden betrayal by a trusted ally," "Discovery of an ancient prophecy," or "A seemingly minor character holds the key." - Problem Solved: Overcoming plot stagnation; introducing unexpected elements to keep a story fresh. - Setting & Environment Descriptions: Generate vivid descriptions of fantastical cities, alien landscapes, or historical locales. - Problem Solved: Adding detail and immersion to narrative settings; avoiding repetitive descriptions. - Dialogue Prompts: Generate short, randomized dialogue snippets to kickstart conversations between characters. - Problem Solved: Developing natural-sounding dialogue; overcoming dialogue writer's block. 2. For Game Developers and Dungeon Masters (TTRPGs) - Quest Generators: Beyond simple prompts, generate full quest outlines with a main objective, side quests, NPCs involved, potential obstacles, and rewards. - Problem Solved: Rapidly creating content for tabletop RPG campaigns; ensuring unique and engaging quests for players without extensive manual preparation. - Magic Item Generators: Create unique magical artifacts with randomized properties, curses, and lore. - Problem Solved: Populating game worlds with interesting loot; avoiding generic magical items. - Dungeon/Encounter Generators: Generate room descriptions, monster encounters, traps, and treasure for a dungeon crawl. - Problem Solved: Streamlining dungeon creation; surprising players (and the DM!) with unforeseen challenges. - Fantasy Name Generators: Specialized generators for specific races (e.g., Elven, Orcish, Draconic) or cultures. - Problem Solved: Creating consistent and thematic names for characters and locations within a game world. 3. For Artists and Designers - Art Prompt Generators: Randomly combine subjects, styles, moods, and color palettes to spark new artistic ideas for paintings, digital art, or sketches. - Problem Solved: Overcoming creative ruts; exploring new visual concepts. - Example: "A cyberpunk cityscape at dawn, rendered in a watercolor style with a melancholic mood, dominated by neon greens and purples." - Character Art Prompts (with Image AI Integration): Some Perchance generators are specifically designed to construct detailed prompts for external AI image generators (like Stable Diffusion or Midjourney). You select parameters in Perchance, and it outputs a highly specific prompt ready for another AI tool. - Problem Solved: Guiding powerful image AIs to produce more precise and desired results; streamlining prompt engineering. - Color Palette Generators: Generate harmonious or contrasting color combinations. - Problem Solved: Discovering new aesthetic pairings for design projects; ensuring color consistency. 4. For Educators and Students - Writing Prompt Generators: Teachers can create generators for daily journal entries, essay topics, or creative writing assignments, ensuring each student gets a unique starting point. - Problem Solved: Providing diverse and engaging prompts; fostering creativity. - Vocabulary/Spelling Test Generators: Create generators that pull random words from a defined list for practice. - Problem Solved: Quick generation of practice materials; personalized learning. - Role-Play Scenario Generators: Generate scenarios for language learning, drama classes, or social studies. - Problem Solved: Creating dynamic and spontaneous learning environments. 5. For Everyday Use and Fun - Random Fact Generators: Generate a random fun fact, quote, or idiom. - Decision Makers: Create a simple generator to randomly choose an option when you're indecisive (e.g., "What to eat for dinner?"). - Joke/Punchline Generators: While AI humor can be hit-or-miss, some generators attempt to create randomized jokes. Read the full article

[smiling-crock]

Unlocking the Future with Metasurface Tractor Beams: The Quest to Minimize Biopsy Trauma

Imagine a world where medical procedures like biopsies become almost painless, thanks to technology straight out of science fiction. Hello, that's this world now, Welcome to the realm of metasurface tractor beams, where researchers are harnessing the power of light to revolutionize healthcare. Let's dive into this fascinating journey and explore how these innovative beams could change our approach to medical procedures forever.

The Sci-Fi Roots of Tractor Beams

If you’ve ever watched Star Trek, you’re likely familiar with the concept of tractor beams—those invisible rays that can pull objects toward a spaceship with ease. While we may not yet have spaceships equipped with tractor beams, this new research brings us one step closer to harnessing similar technology for practical applications. In sci-fi narratives, tractor beams are often depicted as tools for exploration and rescue missions in space. They allow characters to retrieve lost items or even save ships from disaster. In our reality, these solenoid beams could be used in various medical procedures, particularly biopsies.

These concepts often seem like fantasy but now stand at the threshold of becoming reality thanks to cutting-edge research at TMOS, the ARC Center of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems at the University of Melbourne. Researchers here have made significant strides by developing metasurface-enabled tractor beams that can manipulate particles with unprecedented precision and efficiency. These beams aren't just fictional anymore; they're being crafted from layers of nanopatterned silicon that are thinner than the width of a human hair—about 1/2000th of a millimeter thick.

How the real life Tractor Beams Work

A Brief Dive into Light Physics

Before we delve deeper into solenoid beams, let’s take a moment to understand light itself. Light is an electromagnetic wave that travels in straight lines until it encounters an object or medium. In basic terms, it can push or pull particles depending on how it’s manipulated. Typically, light exerts a pushing force—think of it like trying to blow away leaves with a gust of wind. However, solenoid beams are a different beast altogether. These beams can pull particles toward their source, much like how a black hole draws in everything around it. Imagine using this principle to gently extract cells from your body without any invasive procedures— really sounds like something out of Star Trek, doesn’t it?

The Magic of Metasurfaces

Now that we’ve set the stage with some light physics, let’s introduce metasurfaces. These are ultra-thin layers made up of tiny patterns that can manipulate light in extraordinary ways. Researchers at the ARC Center of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems have developed a metasurface made from silicon that is only about 1/2000th of a millimeter thick! This incredible technology allows for the creation of solenoid beams without the bulky equipment typically required.

The team’s breakthrough came from mapping out the phase hologram of the desired beam and fabricating the metasurface using advanced techniques like electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. This means that instead of needing heavy special light modulators (SLMs), which are cumbersome and impractical for handheld devices, they’ve created a compact solution that could fit right in your pocket!

What Are Solenoid Beams?

To understand how these beams work, let's break it down into simpler terms. Imagine holding a drill and watching wood shavings get pulled up towards you as you turn on the machine. This pulling action is similar to what solenoid beams do but with light instead of physical force. In traditional light beams, particles tend to move away from them because light exerts pressure outward. However, solenoid beams operate differently—they draw objects towards themselves much like how those drill shavings get sucked up into its bite.

Here’s how this works technically: The researchers create these special beams by mapping phase holograms onto silicon metasurfaces using advanced techniques like electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. When input beams pass through these patterned surfaces, most of them get converted into solenoid-type rays that bend away from unconverted light sources. This process allows scientists to work with highly efficient and compact devices that could potentially transform various fields including medicine by reducing invasive procedures' impact on tissues during biopsies or other treatments.

Biopsies:

The Current State

Currently, biopsies involve physically removing tissue samples from the body using tools like forceps or needles. These methods can cause trauma to surrounding tissues and lead to pain during recovery. Imagine if we could use light instead—no needles, no incisions, just a gentle pull from a beam of light!

How Solenoid Beams Could Revolutionize Biopsies

The primary goal behind developing these solenoid beams is to minimize patient discomfort during medical procedures. Lead researcher Maryam Setareh emphasizes that their compact size and efficiency could lead to innovative applications in medicine. By using light to pull tissue samples non-invasively, we could significantly reduce pain and recovery time for patients.

Experimental Demonstrations Ahead

As exciting as this research is, it's still in its early stages. The next steps involve experimentally demonstrating the beam's ability to pull particles effectively. Chief Investigator Ken Crozier expresses enthusiasm about sharing future results that will shed more light on this groundbreaking technology.

As we stand on the brink of this exciting new frontier in medical technology, it's essential to remember that every great leap forward begins with curiosity and imagination. Just as science fiction has inspired generations to dream big about space travel and advanced technologies, today's researchers are turning those dreams into reality.

The development of solenoid beams represents not just an innovative approach to biopsies but also a glimpse into a future where medical procedures are less invasive and more patient-friendly. As we continue exploring the possibilities that light offers us through these remarkable technologies, who knows what other sci-fi concepts may soon become part of our everyday lives? So keep your eyes on the stars—and perhaps one day soon—in your doctor's office too! With advancements like these on the horizon, we might just be stepping into a new era where science fiction becomes science fact.

This blog serves as an introduction to an exciting field at the intersection of optics and medicine—a place where innovation meets imagination! If you want to stay updated on future developments in this area or have any questions about how these technologies work, feel free to reach out!

[slightlyaweeb]

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THE BASICS

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Name:

Nicknames:

Gender:

Age:

Birth Date:

Birth Place:

Currently Living In:

Species:

Ethnicity / Race:

Citizenship:

Religion / Beliefs:

Astrology Sign:

Chinese Animal / Zodiac Year:

Blood Type:

Chinese Element:

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PHYSICAL FEATURES:

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Height:

Weight:

Frame / Build:

Hair length:

Hair color:

Eye shape:

Eye color:

Complexion:

Face size (broad, narrow, etc.):

Voice type:

Foot size:

Tattoo(s):

Scar(s):

Other notable accessories:

Any other identifying mark(s):

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INTERESTS

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Favorite Food(s):

Favorite Sport(s):

Favorite Book(s):

Favorite Show(s):

Favorite Music:

Favorite Color(s):

Clothing Style / Preferences:

Hobbies:

Role Model(s):

Likes:

Dislikes:

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PERSONALITY

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Good Qualities / Trait(s):

Vices / Negative Trait(s):

Habits / Idiosyncrasies / Quirks:

Phobia / Fears:

Select one personality type below that best describes your character:

PROTECTORS

[] Overseer (ESTJ) – Thrives on facts and details. Has a clear set of standards and beliefs. They are hardworking, responsible, and self-confident. They rely on experiences rather than speculation, and make decisions based on these. Very good at enforcing laws and rules. Loyal and hard-working. Like to be in charge. Very organized, tends to be a stickler for the rules.

[] Supporter (ESFJ) – Popular, and most sociable of all the types. Respects authority and values traditions. Has a strong desire to be liked, and therefore tends to want to serve others’ needs, sometimes at the expense of their own.

[] Examiner (ISTJ) – A very keen sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. Responsible especially in their field of expertise, devoted and punctual. Very thorough, and tends to put duty before pleasure. They are very thorough, honest, and seek to accomplish anything they put their minds to. Follows the rules and does not tend to be adventurous. Likes conformity. Can sometimes have a surprising offbeat sense of humor.

[] Defender (ISFJ) – Puts the needs of others before themselves, to a point where they tend to give more than they receive. Quiet and conscientious. Modest and tends to be a spectator. They do what is expected of them without attracting attention to themselves. Sensitive to the feelings of others, and has a very good memory, especially when it comes to observing other people. Can be easily hurt. Very painstaking when it comes to detail.

CREATORS

[] Persuader (ESTP) – Realists. Enthusiastic people of action who like to explore and use their senses to explore the world. Likes sports and are risk-takers. They live in the (preferably) fast-paced here and now, and thrive on problems and crises. Often fearless and dominates conversations. Unafraid of criticism. Blunt and very straightforward. Does not necessarily follow the law if it gets in the way of what they want.

[] Entertainer (ESFP) – Lively and cooperative, they like being the center of attention and do not like being alone. They like exciting things and new adventures. Often likes to play the host, and understand how to motivate people to get a job done. They are efficient workers and make good problem solvers, and they generally get along with most people.

[] Crafstman (ISTP) – Independent and adventurous, they like figuring out how things work. Great mechanical and technical skills, they are often the troubleshooters. They are adventurous and like living for the moment. Sometimes unemotional, have simple desires, and prefer intellectual pursuits. Do not often like to follow rules, preferring to do things their way. Quiet and reserved.

[] Artist (ISFP) – Creative, quiet, serious, loyal and sensitive. Do not like conflict. Takes great value in personal freedom. Private and prone to confusion. Gifted at creating and composing. Good appreciation for beauty. Not interested in leading or controlling others. Very original and creative especially in the arts. Can be trendsetters and into latest styles and art / fashion / etc.

INTELLECTUALS

[] Chief (ENTJ) – Natural leaders, strategic and very organized. Outspoken and decisive, and values competency and efficiency. Very resolute and has a knack for arguments / debates. Competitive, assertive and outspoken. Understands difficult problems and create quick and viable solutions for them. Intelligent and well-informed, they do not have much patience with inefficiency. Dominant and assertive, does not like to be bored.

[] Originator (ENFP) – Inventive and idea people. Love to argue to show off their skills and intelligence. Prefers the startup phase of a project where the risks and problems are greater, than turning over the lead to someone else once these are solved. Enthusiastic, idealistic, and creative. Great people skills. Excited by new ideas, but bored with details. Open-minded and flexible, and able to make others enthusiastic over their ideas and projects.

[] Engineer (INFP) – Quiet, logical, and idealistic. Not interested in calling attention to themselves unless their beliefs / principles are violated, where they will then become outspoken and argumentative. A thinker whose inner private world is governed by a logical structure. Analyze difficult problems and find patterns. Has a system-building approach to problems. Likes solitude and are rule breakers. Unemotional, often acts without consulting others.

[] Strategist (INTJ) – Introspective, analytical, has great leadership ability, independent, original, and determined. Does not mind other people’s leadership as long as they are competent. Can bring ideas from concept to reality. Expects perfection from themselves. Chessboard thinkers with contingency plans. Hard to impress and likes esoteric things. Independent individualists.

VISIONARIES

[] Mentor (ENFJ) – Positive, popular, altruistic, religious and sensitive, with excellent people skills. Can be good salesmen. Concerned for other people’s feelings. Focused on understanding and encouraging others. Does not like impersonal analysis. Can be image conscious. Often has very good charisma, and can easily convince others. Has a very positive personality. Excellent language skills, and would make for natural leaders.

[] Advocate (ENTP) – Often works for causes and can be very expressive regarding their views. They want to call attention to what they stand for. Spontaneous and social but can be disogranized and act without thinking. Excited and passionate about things, and motivate others to feel the same. Always want to make the most out of life. Best of all the personality types at social and emotional coping. Ranked 2nd of all the types in using cognitive resources. Places great importance in friendships, even at the risk of being taken advantage of.

[] Confidant (INFJ) – Intensely private and committed to their beliefs. Highly intuitive, emphatic and dedicated listeners. Quietly forceful and sensitive. The rarest personality type, especially with males. Focused on fantasy more than reality. Fears doing the wrong thing. Tend to work quietly behind the scenes and influence people than be leaders. Perservering, especially when it comes to doing the right thing. Very individualistic, rather than leading or following, but can work with groups to accomplish a goal.

[] Dreamer (INTP) – Tend to be very private, and does not let a lot of people get close. They are loners and tend to avoid conflicts. The act of creating can already be an accomplishment of instill a sense of satisfaction. Constantly search for values in life, and tend to use their intuition to do so. Logical, original, creative thinkers. Can become very excited about theories and ideas. Exceptionally capable and driven to turn theories into clear understandings. Want to be recognized and valued, but without attention. Never lose their sense of wonder.

=========================================

STORY DEVELOPMENT:

=========================================

CHARACTER ARCHETYPE: (Put an X on all applicable boxes)

[] Addict (Conspicuous Consumer, Glutton, Workaholic–see also Gambler)

[] Advocate (Attorney, Defender, Legislator, Lobbyist, Environmentalist)

[] Alchemist (Wizard, Magician, Scientist, Inventor–see also Visionary)

[] Angel (Fairy Godmother/Godfather)

[] Antagonist (Opposing View, not necessarily the Evil Bad — see also Villain)

[] Anti-Hero

[] Artist (Artisan, Craftsperson, Sculptor, Weaver)

[] Athlete (Olympian)

[] Avenger (Avenging Angel, Savior, Messiah)

[] Beggar (Homeless person/ Indigent)

[] Bully (Coward)

[] Catalyst

[] Child (Orphan, Wounded, Magical/Innocent, Nature, Divine, Puer/Puella Eternis, or Eternal Boy/Girl)

[] Clown (Court Jester, Fool, Dummling)

[] Companion (Friend, Sidekick, Right Arm, Consort)

[] Damsel (Princess)

[] Destroyer (Attila, Mad Scientist, Serial Killer, Spoiler)

[] Detective (Spy, Double Agent, Sleuth, Snoop, Sherlock Holmes, Private Investigator, Profiler–see also Warrior/Crime Fighter)

[] Dilettante (Amateur)

[] Don Juan (Casanova, Gigolo, Seducer, Sex Addict)

[] Engineer (Architect, Builder, Schemer)

[] Exorcist (Shaman)

[] Father (Patriarch, Progenitor)

[] Femme Fatale (Black Widow, Flirt, Siren, Circe, Seductress, Enchantress)

[] Gambler

[] God (Adonis, see also Hero)

[] Gossip (see also Networker)

[] Guide (Guru, Sage, Crone, Wise Woman, Spiritual Master, Evangelist, Preacher)

[] Healer (Wounded Healer, Intuitive Healer, Caregiver, Nurse, Therapist, Analyst, Counselor)

[] Hedonist (Bon Vivant, Chef, Gourmet, Gourmand, Sybarite–see also Mystic)

[] Hermit (see also Wise old Man)

[] Hero/Heroine (see also Knight, Warrior)

[] Judge (Critic, Examiner, Mediator, Arbitrator)

[] King (Emperor, Ruler, Leader, Chief — see also Politician)

[] Knight in SHining Armor

[] Liberator

[] Lover

[] Martyr

[] Mediator (Ambassador, Diplomat, Go-Between)

[] Mentor (Master, Counselor, Tutor)

[] Messiah (Redeemer, Savior)

[] Midas/Miser

[] Monk/Nun (Celibate)

[] Mother (Matriarch, Mother Nature)

[] Mystic (Renunciate, Anchorite, Hermit)

[] Networker (Messenger, Herald, Courier, Journalist, Communicator)

[] Pioneer (Explorer, Settler, Pilgrim, Innovator)

[] Poet

[] Politician (see also King)

[] Priest (Priestess, Minister, Rabbi, Evangelist)

[] Prince

[] Prostitute

[] Queen (Empress)

[] Rebel (Anarchist, Revolutionary, Political Protester, Nonconformist, Pirate)

[] Rescuer

[] Saboteur

[] Samaritan

[] Scribe (Copyist, Secretary, Accountant–see also Journalist)

[] Seeker (Wanderer, Vagabond, Nomad)

[] Servant (Indentured Servant)

[] Shape-shifter (Spell-caster–see also Trickster)

[] Slave

[] Spectre (Ghost / Apparition with Unresolved issues)

[] Storyteller (Minstrel, Narrator)

[] Student / Scholar (Disciple, Devotee, Follower, Apprentice)

[] Teacher (Instructor, see also Mentor)

[] Thief (Swindler, Con Artist, Pickpocket, Burglar, Robin Hood)

[] Threshold Guardian

[] Trickster (Puck, Provocateur)

[] Turncoat

[] Vampire

[] Victim

[] Villain / Shadow (Big Bad of the story; see also Antagonist)

[] Virgin (see also Celibate)

[] Visionary (Dreamer, Prophet, Seer–see also Guide, Alchemist)

[] Warrior (Soldier, Crime Fighter, Amazon, Mercenary, Soldier of Fortune, Gunslinger, Samurai)

[] Wise old Man (see also Hermit)

1. What are the motivations for the character’s actions?

2. What are the character’s goals / ambition / dreams?

3. What external conflicts would you wish for the character to overcome?

3a. What are the obstacles in the character’s path that might make this difficult?

4. What inner conflicts would you wish for the character to overcome?

4a. What are the obstacles in the character’s path that might make this difficult?

=========================================

ABILITIES

=========================================

Powers / special abilities:

Other skills:

Weaknesses / Kryptonite:

[self-loving-vampire]

Ultima VII: The Black Gate (1992)

Ultima 7 was pretty much my introduction to RPGs, and I could not have asked for a better pair of games to ignite a lifelong passion into that genre. There is a real reason why this is still considered one of the best RPGs ever made.

While Ultima 7 is often discussed as a singular entity, it is actually two separate full-length games with one expansion each. For this post I will focus on the first one, Ultima VII: The Black Gate, as well as its expansion: Forge of Virtue.

I recommend playing the game using Exult, which adds some quality of life features (such as a feeding hotkey and a “use all keys” hotkey) as well as the option to use higher quality audio packs, implement bug fixes, and change the font into something easier on the eyes.

Summary

The protagonist of the Ultima series is “the Avatar”, a blank slate isekai protagonist from our world who has previously travelled to the world of Britannia several times and saved it from many threats, also becoming the shining paragon of the virtues meant to guide its people.

In this game, you once again cross the portal to Britannia to save it from a new and mysterious extradimensional threat. As soon as you arrive, you immediately discover two things:

1- A violent ritualistic murder has just taken place.

2- There is suspicious new organization called “The Fellowship” gaining adherents throughout the land.

It is up to you to investigate these developments.

Freedom

In terms of freedom, the Black Gate has plenty overall but there are areas where it is not quite there.

Once you can manage to get the password to get out of the locked-down town of Trinsic you are free to go nearly anywhere in the game right away and have multiple means of transportation to accomplish this, such as moongates or ships.

And there are some very real rewards to exploring like this as well, such as various treasure caches and other interesting findings. 

The world is actually very small by modern standards, especially when settlements occupy so much of it, but both the towns and the wilderness areas are dense with content.

Notably, the game also allows you to perform various activities. From stealing to making a honest living by baking bread (which is something you can do thanks to how interactive the environment is) or gathering eggs at a farm.

Where it falls short is in terms of having multiple possible solutions for quests. Generally there is only one correct option for how to complete them.

That said, there is a bad ending you might be able to find in addition to the canonical good ending.

Character Creation/Customization

This is one of the big minuses of the game. While you can select your name and gender (and with Exult also have a wider selection of portraits) that is about it for character creation.

All characters will start with the same stats and there are no character classes. You can develop your stats through training and specialize through your choice of equipment, but by the end of the Forge of Virtue expansion you will have maxed stats and the best weapon in the game (a sword) regardless, and you will definitely need to cast a few spells to progress the main quest as well.

This can make every playthrough feel much like the last, as there isn’t that much of a way to vary how your character develops or what abilities they’ll end up having. You will always be a master of absolutely everything in the end unless you go out of your way to avoid doing the Forge of Virtue expansion.

Story/Setting

While the game is a bit too obvious and heavy-handed about its villains, there are still many interesting storylines in the game that deal with mature subjects that remain relevant today, such as cults, drug abuse, workplace exploitation, and xenophobia.

However, the setting as a whole is greater than any individual storyline taking place within. With the exception of most guards and bandits, every single NPC in the game is an individual with a name, schedule, living space, and defined personality. This was not the norm in 1992 and even today there’s not many games that really implement this well. The world is also very detailed in terms of things like the services available to you, the general interactivity of the game world, and the sheer amount of things that populate every corner of it.

The initial murder is not only a strong hook for investigation but also a shocking scene in its own right. The Guardian also proves to have a significant presence as a villain, using a mental link to remotely taunt you based on the context of what is happening. For example, if your companions die he may offer you some exaggerated, mocking pity.

Immersion

There is something very interesting and comfortable about just watching the various inhabitants of a town just go about their daily lives. They work during the day, eat at certain times (either at home or at one of the many taverns in the land), and sleep at night. They don’t just strangely repeat one single action during the day either, they may do things like open windows when the weather is nice or turn candles and streetlamps on at night.

In terms of immersion, Ultima 7 is my primary example of a game that does an excellent job of it even if there’s some weirdness going on with the setting. Even after having played so many more games throughout my life, only a few are on the same level as either part of Ultima 7 when it comes to immersion.

Gameplay

There are three broad aspects to the gameplay here that I want to discuss.

The first is combat. It is actually simple enough that you can call it almost entirely automatic. You simply enable combat mode by pressing C and your party will automatically go and fight nearby hostile enemies based on whatever combat orders you have selected for them (by default, attacking the closest enemy).

This is certainly better than having an outright bad or annoying combat system as the whole process is simple and painless, but I still wish there was more depth to it. Your stats, and especially your equipment, still play a role but other than things like pausing to use items or cast spells the whole process is very uninvolved.

I kind of wish there was more depth to it, but at least the other two areas of the gameplay are reasonably good.

The next aspect of gameplay is dialogue, which uses dialogue trees for the first time in the series. Previously, it required typing in keywords, which are retained but as dialogue options you can just click on rather than remember and type.

While the keywords are not really written as natural language most of the time (requiring some imagination to determine the specifics of your dialogue), the system is very easy to use regardless. It definitely lacks depth compared to something like Fallout: New Vegas, but so do most games.

The third and most notable thing is the way you interact with the world in general. It is both extremely simple and very immersive at the same time.

Ultima 7 is a game that can be played entirely with the mouse (though keyboard hotkeys make everything much more comfortable). You can right click a space to walk there, you can left click something to identify what it is, and you can use double left click to interact.

For example, double left click over an NPC to talk to them (or attack them, if combat mode is enabled), double left click a door to open it, double left click a loaf of bread to feed it to someone, and so on.

But there is more. By holding your click over an item and dragging it, you can move it. This has various applications beyond just being how you pick things up and add them to your inventory. For example, sometimes objects may be hidden beneath other objects, or objects may need to be placed in a specific location.

There are some downsides to this system. Particularly, the issue that keeping your inventory organized can be time-consuming when it has to be done by manually dragging objects around, and this can also make looting relatively slow.

Despite this, I think this kind of interaction system has a lot of potential. It just has some clunky aspects to be ironed out.

Aesthetics

Ultima 7 was very good-looking for its time, and although modern players will not be very impressed by how it looks or sounds, it still remains easily legible in a way that some other old games are not. That, and the ability to identify anything with just a left click, makes this a very easy game to make out at the very least.

Some of the music of this game is very distinctive too, and will likely stay with you after a full playthrough.

In terms of style, the Black Gate does have a bit of an identity while still having a very familiar medieval fantasy setting with things like trolls, animated skeletons, dragons, and liches. While there are aspects that help the setting distinguish itself a bit, they are relatively subtle.

If I had to describe the feeling of playing this, I’d call it “open and laid back”. While the main quest deals with a looming threat to the entire world, the game does not follow this overly closely at first, letting you deal with it at your own pace and without having your exploration options limited by the story.

In fact, when I was young I often just ignored that and went to live in a creepy ruin in the swamp.

(Don’t expect many pictures in these reviews, but have one of my “childhood home.”)

I’d say that Ultima 7′s second part (Serpent Isle) has a much stronger and also darker and more isolating atmosphere overall and that has a lot of appeal to me in particular, but the Black Gate is definitely more open and less linear, and I also appreciate that.

Accessibility

It pleases me to say that Ultima 7 remains extremely easy to pick up and play. Even setting up Exult is not complicated in the least.

The gameplay is intuitive and simple, the UI is minimal, stats are basic (and not even that important), and the combat is automatic. I expect that this is not only the easiest point of entry into the Ultima series as a whole but also likely even easier to get into than many modern RPGs!

It does have some aspects that may be a bit clunky, like all the inventory-related dragging, but it’s definitely not obscure or complicated even to someone who has not read the manual (though I’d still recommend doing that). I literally played this game as a tiny child who could barely read or understand English and still got really into it.

The one thing I’d like to point out is that the game uses a type of copy protection where at a couple of story points (including an extremely early one to leave the first town) you will be asked some questions that require using the manual and external map to answer. You can just google the answers for these.

Conclusion

As I write more of these reviews there will be many games that are interesting, but deeply flawed. Games that are worth trying out but maybe not finishing, as well as games that had interesting ideas but that I can’t entirely recommend due to serious problems that will easily put people off.

But I do not think the Black Gate is such a game. I can easily recommend it with no qualifiers despite the fact that it is almost 30 years old. This is really a game that all RPG fans should at the very least try for a few hours, and not only for its historical significance. It is genuinely a good game worthy of its praise.

I will review its sequel, Ultima VII Part 2: Serpent Isle, next.

[phidippuss]

I just wanna make a quick post about interacting with kids, because people on here seem to not know how kids work. (quick note before I start though: this is all spoken from my experience in working with kids--I do not have children of my own. I volunteer every year at an elementary school, working closely with younger kids who are struggling with learning certain subjects but don’t necessarily qualify for special ed (COVID has put a pause on this but I fully intent to resume as soon as it is safe to do so.) I am also a facilitator for a support group through a nonprofit--I’m part of the team in charge of facilitating the middle school group (ages 11/12-14). I didn’t really want to make this post because a lot of people get offended by these viewpoints, but the more I observe how kids are being treated by the adults in their life, the more I realise I need to say something.)

***I encourage you to reblog and add your own thoughts: I want to have an open discussion about this. 

Ok, first of all: Kids are a LOT smarter than you think they are. 

The problem is, they don’t know how to communicate and apply this yet. Calling them dumb and treating them as if they have nothing to offer conversations doesn’t support their development at all; in fact, it is one of the easiest ways to discourage a kid. This doesn’t mean turn off your filter and talk to kids the same way you’d talk to your friends. It just means, genuinely listen to their perspective and allow them to be part of intelligent conversations. Kids can’t learn responsible, mature ways to communicate if you don’t give them the opportunity to try it. 

One city in Colorado did a project that got kids involved in city development. In fact, this project was so successful that they are still continuing it! The classroom I volunteer in did a project inspired by this a few years ago. The first grade classroom was tasked with creating a city that could be applicable to real life. Their only restrictions were that they had to include four things: recreation, housing, jobs, and education. How they did that and what else they included was up to them. They were allowed to be as creative as they’d like. 

The teacher, other volunteer and I expected the city they made to be something out of a fantasy world. What we saw, though, was absolutely incredible. 

The kids created a detailed park complete with a pond for wildlife, a pool for recreation, walking trails, parking, wheelchair ramps, disability accessible bathrooms, community gardens, playgrounds designed specifically for younger kids, and another for older ones. They included apartment buildings and bus stations. They added traffic lights to intersections and lowered speed limits nearby their school. They made several large public schools, as well as a college (which they insisted, unprompted, was low-income accessible. They made a hospital and a fire station. 

Their instructions were only to create a city with only four boxes to check. They weren’t required to do any more than build the layout of it. But when we asked them to give us a tour of their city, they not only told us what each building was: they described laws that protected minorities. They told us about what roles people would have in their city, including the roles of kids.

No, it wasn’t to the great detail and precision that an adult could. Yes, there were many holes in their creation that would cause problems in the real world. They obviously weren’t thinking in terms of budget or government restrictions. But in a way, that made their ideas so much better. They weren’t tied down by the expectations adults had. They added features that we’ve been fighting for for years, such as basic accessibility, both physical and financial (such as their insistence about free college education).

Kids’ lack of experience doesn’t make them stupid. In fact, I believe it’s part of what makes them so smart. They observe the world around them and aren’t seeing things in terms of criticism and limits. They see something that needs to change, and they aren’t afraid to come up with creative ideas to make that change.

Talking at kids doesn’t do shit.

Telling a kid to do something or not to do it is probably the quickest way to encourage them to do the exact opposite.

But you know what I’ve found works almost every time? TWO WAY CONVERSATIONS!

Saying “don’t talk to people like that” is a very easy way to not change behaviour. Rather, help them understand why they shouldn’t talk a certain way. 

When working with young children, I usually start off with saying “When you said [x], my feelings were hurt because...” And then they usually figure it out for themselves that they said the wrong thing. 

This works so much better because:

1) the kid doesn’t get defensive. When you scold them for misbehaving, they quickly learn to guard themselves from that. When you can calmly explain to them what was wrong about that situation, they’re less likely to try to protect themselves from your words: because they won’t need to.

2) They learn exactly what was wrong about what they said. When you just tell them they’re wrong but refuse to talk to them about how or why they did something hurtful, they can’t always take it the right way. When a kid says “you look dirty” and you tell them that’s rude, they don’t understand why. In their heads, that may have been them trying to say you have mud smeared on your pants, or you have food spilled on your shirt: they may have just been trying to help you. When you explain to them exactly what about that statement was hurtful, and perhaps offer a kinder way to say it, they’ll recognise their mistake much quicker and remember it better.

3) They’ll learn how to express their own feelings in a much more healthy way. Kids learn from their surroundings. When you snap at them for making a mistake, you teach them to do the same. Then, later on down the road, you may hurt their feelings, and they may lash out at you. When you teach them to communicate more openly, they’ll learn how to address their problems in a productive manner.

4) It gives them the opportunity to problem solve. When you say “this hurt because” instead of “you’re wrong”, it allows them to come to the conclusion that they made a mistake on their own. It’s basically the child-equivalent of providing someone with sources to try to disprove them. Except when it’s taught from a young age, they’ll learn to accept the criticism instead of attack it.

On a related note, when you see a problem coming up repeatedly, or a child is growing upset about something: Share your feelings about the situation, ask them to share theirs, and then help them come up with solutions.  

Mistakes are healthy

Stopping a young person from making a mistake isn’t always helpful. Obviously, if they’re about to hurt themselves or others, stop them. But if it’s a little mistake, let them make it. And then talk to them about it. Help them come up with ways to first fix this mistake and then to avoid making the mistake again in the future.

It conveys the message of “you’re human and mistakes are normal: I’m here for you.” instead of the message of “You can’t do anything right, just let me do it for you.”

You can’t learn and grow as a person if you’re never allowed to put yourself out there and make mistakes. Give young people the chance to try things themselves: but make it clear you’re here for them when they need support. 

Listen to them.

This piggybacks off of a lot of what I said above, but listening to kids is important. 

When a teenager says they need help, it’s far more effective to ask them how you can help them than it is to tell them why they’re struggling and then refuse to help them solve it. I can’t tell you how many kids I’ve had reach out to me saying they feel alone because of this. They’ll come to me saying that they went to their parent to say they feel depressed (or even are on the brink of hurting themselves in some way), only to be met with “well you should think about how I feel” or “you’re just being dramatic.”

When a kid says something hurt them, LISTEN TO THEM. Kids’ feelings are every bit as complex as those of an adult. You don’t turn 18 and suddenly have a real brain with real emotions. You have that your whole life; humanity doesn’t come with age. experience based decisions do.

And, spoiler alert: kids know themselves better than you do. No, this doesn’t mean when your 11 year old refuses to eat vegetables or brush their teeth, you can shrug and say “well they know themselves best”. This means when they try to share how they’re feeling (ESPECIALLY when they’re sharing a feeling about something you did), listen to them and try to compromise when it’s reasonable to do so. If you hurt their feelings--apologise. If they feel like they deserve more freedom, offer up ideas for how they can earn your trust. 

TL;DR: Kids aren’t brainless creatures you can ignore and wonder why they aren’t becoming functional adults. They don’t lack intelligence: they lack a method to communicate that intelligence

Treating kids like adults (in an age-appropriate way) gives them the opportunity to learn the skills needed to act like adults when they’re thrown into the real world. You can’t treat them like they’re dumb their whole life and then ask why they’re not succeeding.

[wiseabsol]

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? 6. Favorite character you’ve written? 14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?) 15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing? 19. How do you cope with writer’s block? 24. Do you remember the moment you decided to become a writer/author? 33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like? 34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions?

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? 

My favorite part is when you make discoveries about your world and your characters as you write the story down, and when you write something and go, “Oh, there we go, there’s the solution to this problem that was going to come up later.” For example, I recently had an evil mentor toying with a magical item while giving a lecture to his pupils. The magical item was mundane--essentially, just putty that you could mold into whatever shape you wanted, then solidify, then switch back to putty to reshape. And as I was writing that down, I went, “Oh, THAT’S what my protagonist is going to knock him out with down the line. That’s way better than her using a lamp. Excellent.” 

My least favorite part about writing is getting started. Once I’ve cleared the hurtle of the blank page, writing becomes much easier and more exciting. But getting myself to start has become much harder since I developed my editor/critic’s brain.  

6. Favorite character you’ve written? 

In one of the text-based rps I’m writing with my best friend, I’m playing a shapeshifter named Sparrow, who is charming, funny, flirty, politically-savvy, and super vain about his appearance (think a courtesan-type character). He also has one of the most gut-wrenching backstories of any character I’ve ever written, and is struggling with triggers from that backstory. His romance with my best friend’s character is also my favorite romance that I’ve written with her, and it came as a surprise to both of us, since we were just testing out the characters at the time.   

14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?) 

I do a lot of brainstorming and outlining, though my outlines aren’t plot-related ones so much as very detailed character summaries. I’ve honestly been struggling with plot lately, but I’ve been doing better character work, so I’m winging it more now. While I usually have a general idea of how the story goes, the actual writing of it clarifies the details and makes changes to my plans. On the bright side, the results are less stilted than my old work, since they’re not chained to plot outlines, but stem from the characters more organically.  

15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing?

I’ve started telling myself, “Fuck it, let it be messy, I’ll fix it later.” Letting go of perfectionism is hard for me, but doing so has been helping.   

19. How do you cope with writer’s block? 

Honestly, the best way to cope with writer’s block is to just try something and see if it sticks, or leave yourself a note and skip ahead in the story to something you want to write. However, as I mentioned in an earlier ask, I haven’t been able to do much writing lately. And that’s hard, because I feel guilty for not writing, and I know if I just do it, I’ll feel better. Which is a bad mindframe to be in, especially because this year has been awful. I’ve been telling other writers to be gentle on themselves, because it’s hard to be creative when you’re stressed, but I struggle to take my own advice. So right now, I’m trying to give myself permission not to write, and to instead focus on other things. Editing. Reading. Playing videogames. Baking. Doing house/yardwork. Something to still ticks things off of my to do list, but also things that I can look at and see, “Yes, you did get something done.” It’s not a perfect system, and it does fall into the productivity trap, but it’s what I’m trying. When the stress passes, maybe then I can dive back into writing.  

24. Do you remember the moment you decided to become a writer/author? 

I think it was when I was applying for undergraduate college. I wrote in my application essay that I wanted to write stories that would show my readers that things can get better for them. I was writing as a hobby before then, but I think that’s when I decided that yeah, I wanted making stories to be a part of my future, and I wanted to write stories that I could publish someday. 

33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like? 

Mostly I end up rewriting the chapter or story in question. Draft one is for realizing and getting down the idea of the thing. Draft two is refining it to that thing and losing all of the flab that the story doesn’t need. Often I have another file on the side where I paste in what I’ve cut out, in case I change my mind and want to add it back in later, or in case I can use it in another project. I also save the original messy draft and do the cutting in a copied file. That way, I can reassure myself that the original still exists for me, and I can reread it when I’m feeling self-indulgent, but I’m also only giving the best version to my readers.  

34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions?

-- Writing every day is a good idea, and does work well for the writing process, but it’s an unrealistic standard to hold yourself to, especially if you have a day job, kids, and other adult responsibilities. Don’t feel guilty if you can’t write every day. The guilt is just going to make you freeze up instead of returning to the work. Be gentle with your expectations for yourself.  

-- If you’re including triggering or sensitive subjects in your work, and are planning to share that work with others (and ESPECIALLY if you’re planning to profit from that work), you should be doing your research about those subjects, portraying them as accurately as possible, and asking yourself if your story really needs that content to work. It is also a good idea to employ sensitivity screeners for that content, especially if you’re writing from a place of privilege and/or don’t have personal experience with the issues that you’re depicting.

-- Once the work is out there, no one has the right to ban it. They can be critical of it, yes. But not ban it.  

-- Writers of privilege must include diversity within their work, even if they’re scared of getting their depictions of people from other genders, races, classes, religions, and so on wrong. And they will get it wrong. When that happens, just apologize and try to do better in the future. But staying in your lane is a bad idea, for three reasons: 1.) You should be striving to have empathy for others, and you can’t do that if you’re only writing about people who are similar to you. 2.) Writers of privilege have an easier time getting their work published, and so should be trying to push the market/publishing industry into a more diverse direction. And 3.) You should be showing readers of privilege that the world is a diverse one, rather than catering to their narrow worldview.

-- Getting defensive when someone is critical of your work is perfectly natural, but it’s also dumb. It’s so, so dumb. You have made a product, and no product made by human hands is perfect, and every writer has blind spots. So when someone is critical of your work, try to keep this in mind: this is not an attack on you. Let yourself feel the hurt in private, and eat lots of ice cream, and when you’re feeling better, look at the criticism and ask yourself: What led the reader to this conclusion? How can I fix it? What can I learn from this? This is assuming that the critic is working with you in good faith, by the way; sometimes they’re completely off of the mark, or are upset because you didn’t give them the story that they wanted. But if someone is going, “Hey, this is a little racist/sexist/homophobic/ableist/etc.,” sit up and listen. And for the love of god, don’t fight them over it. You’ll make yourself look like an ass. 

-- Don’t workshop your story too early. Try to get a full draft down before you submit something for consideration. For one thing, you’re still figuring out what your story actually is. For another, writing workshops, while useful, have a tendency to pull your work to the middle / make it more acceptable to a general audience. Sometimes this will soften and even kill your bravest writing. Instead, use writing workshops as an opportunity to find writers who understand the themes you’re aiming for and the subjects that you’re discussing. Their input will be what you need.  

-- With the current laws about copyright infringement, getting paid for your fanfic is a bad idea. If you want that to change, then fight to make the laws more lenient. As if it, you’re risking screwing over other fanfic writers by doing that. Does that suck? Yeah. But that’s also the reality we live in right now, and you’re not going to have a good time if a corporation like Disney slams you with lawsuits.

-- Genres like fantasy, science fiction, horror, romance/erotica, and murder mysteries are real literature. Saying they’re not has its roots in classism. 

-- There is no such thing as apolitical writing. 

-- Poets are underrated. Support them. Most of the time, they’re doing braver and more socially-important work than you are, and they’re doing it concisely, too.     

-- Your first draft is going to suck. This is a good thing. You learn a lot more from bad prose than from good prose, more often than not. 

-- Having your work rejected by publishers really is nothing personal. Sometimes it just wasn’t a good fit for them at that moment in time. If they’re interested in seeing more from you in the future, though, keep them on your list and send them something else during their next screening period. They don’t say that unless they mean it.