#week 4 update

[uroboros-if]

Update Post - Week 4, November 14, 2022

Whoops... forgot it was Sunday yesterday! Time is a circle.

The demo continues to be written. Right now I am about 4k in words, but the bulk of my time has gone to handling code and going over some design layouts with a close friend. I expected the prologue to be short and sweet, but I decided to be completely extra about the character customization and additional details by adding some cool effects and other tomfoolery. Oh, I want to share them for proof that I've been working hours everyday at this WIP... but I'll leave it as a surprise for now!

I'm also experimenting with a cool feature. This is very tentative, but clicking on certain links in the text (of which will be a different color than a regular link that lets you proceed) will have you "look" at an object, person or place. This will bring up additional description or information on them, and this info will be added to your codex (will be implemented in the future). Looking at certain things may influence the story, indirectly (if you forget something, you may not be able to look it up if you didn't interact with it) or directly (characters noticing you looking). I might make this optional, and I'm still wondering whether to add it, but I think it'll be cool! Please let me know your thoughts on it!

Worked more on the lore and worldbuilding. I'm very comforted by the fact that I've figured out more about my world, and I'm excited to continue exploring it today and in the future! This'll allow me to better answer lore questions and give the world a better feel. This seems pretty minor, but trust me when I say I'm super happy with it because it'll really let the setting come to life.

I'm thrilled about the progress I'm making after clawing my way out of my emergency. Now that I'm of good health and mind again, I can throw myself at writing and coding happily.

There are so many minor adjustments I'm so excited to share, but I'll keep them all a secret for now... Can't show my entire hand yet!

Closing this, a question for all of you guys: since the pantheon of gods are so extensive and you guys loved MCs' parents (the enthusiasm is insane! I've gotten so many asks about them and even more in my inbox still), how many of you guys would be interested in a weekly (or somehow regularly scheduled) spotlight of the other minor side characters? This'll cover all Twelve gods and their children briefly!

I thought of this because I want to keep you guys entertained while the demo is still in the works, and I'm delighted that people are just as invested in the side characters. I hope to introduce you guys to more of them and test the waters for their reception!

Thank you so much for reading and for your patience ♥️

[romioneficfest]

Week 4 Update

Good afternoon ladies, gentlemen, and esteemed distinguished Folkx! That’s a wrap for Week #4 of the Romione Fic Fest and we have so many wonderful entries for appreciation. So go offer some Ogden’s Double Distilled for those of age, Pumpkin Pasties, your favourite flavour of Butterbeer, your Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, and some Bacon Butties for your content creators, who have done a bang on job writing for the fest. A Quick Mod Note, that the deadline for entries is 22 June 2020 at 1pm GMT (give or take an hour for me to get going) so you have 8 days left to get any entries in for consideration of the grand prize. I will be editing for another tomorrow and once that is done, I will update the Story masterlist with links and also start a page showing the current brackets for the voting consideration. It won't go live until the 24th but that is a Mod post for another time. Currently we have 56 entries up for consideration and I'm blown away with the rousing content creation happening for this fest. My scales are off to everyone who is spending their time contributing, reading, reviewing, and enjoying the festivities.

So, for those who are fashionably late to the Party, here’s the link for the Week #1 wrap-up: Link Link Link And for those who need the Week 2 wrap-up: Link Link Link For those who need the Week 3 Wrap-up: Linky Link Midway Digest

A BUN IN THE OVEN (Day 12: Hermione is pregnant with Rose)   Rating: PG Brief summary: Ron alleviates Hermione’s worries about being a mother. Any possible triggering/warning tags: None. HERE NOW   (Day 7 : Anything Goes)  Rating K+ Brief Summary: A nightmare leads to some candid confessions between them. Triggers: Insecurities PROMISE   (Day 8 : Date (Night)) Rating: K+ Brief summary: While down in the Chamber of Secrets Ron makes a promise. Trigger(s): None TRUTH OR DARE  (Day: Bank Holiday (kisses))  Rating: K Brief summary: It’s the last night of sleepaway camp, and the boys of Cabin 4 are all playing truth or dare. But when Ron declines to kiss his friend Hermes as a dare, he finds he can’t get the thought out of his mind until he actually does it. (All-boys Muggle summer camp AU) Content Warning: Just a couple of 14-year-olds awakening to their feelings, but nothing beyond kissing :) SOMETHING TO COME BACK TO  (Day 14: Ron leaves for a mission)  Rating: T /PG-13 Brief summary: Before Ron leaves for a long Auror mission, Hermione gives him a reminder of what he will be coming back to Any possible triggering/warning tags: None. 

With scaly black hearted appreciation, Mod Dragon

[atravelling-dream-blog]

New Zealand Adventures: Week 4

Dear Friends,

In Leigh, we stayed at the University of Auckland’s marine-based campus, conveniently located on the world’s first ever marine reserve. A marine reserve is a marine area conserved and protected to be used as a control in scientific studies. The rules are that you can’t touch or take, meaning that there’s no fishing, dredging, or farming of any kind allowed in the area. However, you can look as much as you want, and these areas are often the most sought out snorkeling & scuba diving spots since they have been preserved in their natural states and are full of fun sea creatures! The few days we spent in Leigh were pretty overcast and drizzly, and visibility in the reserve wasn’t pristine in the mornings, so we also explored a nearby estuary that wasn’t part of a reserve. The estuary was shallow, but the water was so clear that it felt like I was floating above the sand and shells on the bottom instead of swimming. We eventually swam over a drop-off swarmed with fish, plants, and shellfish as far as the eye could see, and it was so cool to explore that my snorkel buddy and I ended up getting separated from the rest of the group and our professors had to herd us back towards them. But I’m glad that was the case, because on our way to catch up, an eagle ray about 1 meter wide swam past me, and it was one of the most magically beautiful things ever. I was so excited when I saw it that I actually got water in my snorkel and started choking, then followed it until it outswam me a minute later. It was probably the coolest thing I saw all week. We eventually caught up with the rest of our group and got to snorkel through a mangrove forest, which was a really interesting experience. I mean, how many people can say that they’ve snorkeled through a live forest? After we got back to campus, we suited up in our snorkel gear again and went out into the marine reserve. It was covered in kelp (which was a little terrifying because I hate any type of seaweed), but we went on a mission to find kina (sea urchins) and got to see some really cool fish, like snappers, red moki, leatherjackets, blue cod, parore, and kelpfish!

Our guest speakers were pretty cool too! The first speaker we had was Steve Hathaway, an underwater cameraman (who actually took a lot of footage for the documentary Blackfish). We also had Bill Ballantyne, the man who worked on making the Leigh marine reserve a reality for over 15 years, Dr. Roger Grace, a marine scientist and underwater photographer, and last but not least, Wade Doak, a real life treasure hunter/underwater cameraman, and probably the coolest presenter I’ve seen in my whole life.

Dr. Roger Grace joined our group again as we left Leigh to journey up to Tutukawa to visit the Poor Knights Islands. The Poor Knights are an off-shore marine reserve and one of the best places in the world for snorkeling. However, it is completely forbidden to step on the actual island, as it is tapu (sacred) to Maori people (Ask me about the full story if you’re interested!). We took an hour long boat ride out to the islands and got to snorkel at 3 different spots around them. Snorkeling in New Zealand is just like looking through a window into a whole new world. If you just look at the surface, you’ll see nothing, but once you dive in and open your eyes, you see it all – the surface straight to the sand with everything alive in between. The first spot we went to was about 14 meters deep and crystal clear. I saw tons of fish, but my favorites were the Sandager’s Parrotfish and the Red Pigfish. The second snorkeling spot was located in the world’s largest sea cave, known as RikoRiko cave. RikoRiko was the result of a bubble that formed in hardening lava, and since its bubble shaped, it has acoustics better than those in the Sydney Opera House (that’s a tested fact!). I didn’t snorkel at this site because I realllly didn’t want to put back on my wetsuit, but I got to spend some time looking all around the cave, and it was really cool. Our third and final snorkel spot of the week was in this little cove on the side of the island. It was encased by these huge rock walls covered in tiny red, purple & white anemones and all these different types of seaweed. There were urchins all over the place and we even found a speckled moray eel hanging out in a hole in the wall. It was really just a beautiful place and a beautiful day, and it was wonderful to be able to get in the water and just observe the world around me instead of performing a specific school assignment once I got in.

I literally spent the week snorkeling for class credit; I have the coolest life ever.

Lots of love, Lauren

*Disclaimer: as cool as snorkeling is, wetsuits are the clothing of the devil. They’re fine once they’re on, but putting them on still wet is completely awful. Don’t do that, you will thank me later.