So, after the body horror show that is Medieval and Renaissance angel iconography, why don't we chat about something nicer, eh?

I'm finally writing new stuff again and it feels great. With all the editing and worrying about betas lately, it's nice to take my mind off all that and create something new. Hopefully I'll have it done soon and be able to put it up here on the blog for you guys to enjoy.  And yes, it is the short story I've been teasing for a while. 

I want to talk a little bit about that. Not so much the story, because I'm going to post the actual story, but about writing it. See, the short stories I've posted here on the blog have been cannon to my story, but utilizing one character in each that didn't belong to me. They were commissions, if you will. It was really fun to play with someone else's toys for a little bit, and yet still be able to expand and explore my own world. Coming together is super fun and, of course, getting some killer artwork in exchange doesn't hurt either. 

I think the funnest part of the new short story, though, is the research. See, I've had to to a LOT of research for The Paladin, and so when I wrote the first two short stories (Wolves and Wild Roses & Val's Blog) I didn't really have to look into a lot. Except for a few cool things about Theodore Roosevelt, but still. This new work is not cannon to my story and, in fact, has absolutely nothing to do with The Paladin. So I'm working in a new world, with new characters. I'm researching the characters I'm playing with, the world, the magical rules, the layouts, and how to write this particular genre properly. There's SO much going into this that I'm honestly a little overwhelmed. 

That's not to say it's harder than writing The Paladin, but it's harder than I expected for a short story. Honestly, I was a little cocky and figured this would be a week-long job, but it's been a couple months now and I'm only one and half chapters in. I'm thinking it'll be somewhere around 20 chapters, but that's a rough estimate. Hopefully I'll have it nice and streamlined while still maintaining an entertaining and engaging story. 

On that note, I'm really trying to ramp up my drive for Beta Readers! Yes, if YOU want to read The Paladin before it's published, this is your chance. If you're reading this blog, you obviously have SOME interest in my novel, so why not give it a shot? It's super easy; just read the novel and give me your feedback. No worries about editing or checking for grammar. Just read. 

And remember folks...
​Be Excellent To Each Other.

Okay peoples, so I've learned a lot while researching for a novel about secret agent priests that police monsters and ghosts. Sometimes they're about cars. Sometimes they're about Icelandic mythologies. Sometimes they're about Boo Berry. Today I'm sharing with you a brief sample of what I learn about angels.

Now the tricky thing is that Christian and Hebrew mythos has been so altered and twisted around since inception that today's views are nowhere near where they sources started them. For instance, the word angel itself is tricky, because it both refers to the servants of God in general AND a specific rank amongst the choirs of Heaven. So let me give you a little primer on angels, starting with the most misconstrued and my personal favorite.

You know what those are? Someone out there is bound to say Cherub. Or Cherubs. Or Cherubim. Congratulations on knowing the name, but that's not what these are. These, my friend, are putto (be careful how you pronounce that around my Mexican family). You want to know what a Cherub looks like? Well... let's see. They have the face of a man... and an ox... and an eagle... and a lion... and wings covered in eyes... and... well, let's just take a look at this nightmare fuel.

Four heads, several pairs of wings, straight legs and feet like bulls. One (or more) of these things guarded the gates of the Garden of Eden. They're nothing to mess around with. And they're not even the top of the Heavenly Choir.

The top three are, the aforementioned Cherubim, along with Thrones below them, and Seraphim above. 

Thrones were occasionally called Ophanim or Erelim and, just as weird looking as Cherubim. Imagine a wheel off a carriage. Now put that inside another wheel. Now put eyes all over the wheels. Truth be told, I'm going with the weirdest interpretation, because there is a (boring) version that has them just appear like old men, but this is one I'm sharing. 

Incidentally, the game Bayonetta has really interesting take on these guys. But, I digress. The blog is getting long and I still have the rest of the choir to get to.

Ah, the Seraphim. Highest choir of angels. Six wings: two to cover their faces, two to cover their bodies, and two to fly. Caretaker's of God's throne. You've likely seen them. Probably heard of them. After the other two, they're not that impressive looking, but they're certainly intriguing. I highly recommend checking out Devil May Cry's interpretation. Creepy as all get out.

The rest of the choir goes down from there. Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and then Angels. None of them really look all that cool, they're all pretty much like you expect, but they do have interesting duties. 

Dominions lead over the lower angels and have glowing orbs on their scepters or swords. Virtues present signs and miracles to the world. Powers ensure the movies of the cosmos remain orderly. Principalities guide and protect nations. 

Archangels are weird. Sometimes they refer to the second-lowest order of angels, and sometimes to the highest. Michael is both a Seraph and an Archangel. So, with a lowercase "a," archangel is simply a stronger angel, where uppercase "A," is the highest choir of angels, including Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, and a few others.

And... it kind of feels anticlimactic, but the final and lowest order is simply Angel. They work with people. The show up all the time in Biblical lore. Nothing too special. They're kind of what you think of.


Well, that was a whole lot of lore dropped all at once. I hope it helps or at least entertains someone out there. Until tomorrow...
Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

Ah, RWBY. I've been a big fan of Monty Oum since I stumbled on his Dead Fantasy fan series years ago. I loved his work, his fight choreography, and his story telling. So, obviously, when I heard he was making his own original series I had two thoughts: First, "aw man, no more Dead Fantasy," and second "This should be cool!" I was right. RWBY's been an awesome series that has gone beyond what a simple internet show should. And one of the things that makes it so incredible is the music.

This particular song, I Burn, caught me from the first time I heard it. It's hard hitting, it gets your blood pumping, and it's the only song on my playlist that mentions Super Saiyans. 

It builds a very specific feel for the character. Trust me, I've listened to it several times for scenes involving some of my characters. It's perfect for writing an intense character, preferably female, but either way, someone who's confident in their abilities, more than a little cocky, and who doesn't share the spotlight.

So, sit back and enjoy I Burn from the RWBY Soundtrack, by Jeff Williams.

​DFTBA

First thing first, if you haven't read my official review of Omensight over at dlh.net, click here to check it out!

Now, that said, let me give my extended review of Omensight.

Omensight tries to do something new and kind of neat. It's a murder mystery wrapped in a hack n' slash platformer. That means you mostly go around beating up villains and jumping from place to place, but it's all in service of solving a mystery. Here' s the big quirk, though: you get to repeat the same day over and over again, like a video game version of Groundhog's Day. Here's the rundown.

You are the Harbinger, a sort of ethereal warrior spirit that is summoned to prevent the end of the world. You, however, were summoned far too late, for whatever reason. A dark spirit is threatening to devour the entire world and as you step into your first day, you have no chance of winning. You encounter two souls, one dead, the other dying, and are able to form a bond with them. But right after that, the world ends. 

The combat is fun, though the camera is a little annoying. You have almost no control over it, save for token nudges to the left or right. This isn't usually a problem, but the occasional fireball from offscreen or misjudged jump can interrupt your fun. Fortunately, the game includes a noticeable shadow for the Harbinger to help with the platforming. Along with this, you'll gain experience at the end of every day which can be used to increase your abilities and even the abilities of the comrades.

Let's go over what I like about the game. The combat is actually pretty fun. I love getting new abilities and learning to incorporate them into my attacks. Some of the abilities are real game changers and mastering them makes you  feel like a total badass.

The music is absolutely gorgeous. Most especially Ratika's song, which I haven't found an official version of, so I can only refer to it as "Mouse in a Cage." It is beautiful, enchanting, and feels perfect for the setting. I'm still singing "a cage is a cage" to myself.

Next, the characters. Oh my god, the characters in this game are SO good. I love their looks, their personalities, and their actors. I get attached to them. I'm just sad that the Harbinger is completely silent, so she doesn't really further anyone's backstory. You have three main ones, plus one that's sort of a surprise... so I won't mention that one. But trust me, you'll see it coming a mile away.

You've got Ratika, the mouse bard, Draga, the warrior cat, and Ludomir, the drunk bear. Okay, he's really strong, but he gets drunk and everyone knows it. They're all enjoyable characters with rich stories that you can unlock through memory shards and by altering their days. How do you do that? Very simple... Omensights.

Along your path through the game days, you'll occasionally learn how to unlock seals. Once you know how to unlock them, you can go back to days you've been through and change things by unlocking hidden rooms or alternate paths. Sometimes these lead to Omensights. That's when the Harbinger enters a place where something important happened. The Harbinger will see the event play out and now have new information that they can share with characters... and that's where we get to my least favorite parts.

Now once you have these Omensights, you can show them to the characters. Did I say can? Sorry, I meant you MUST show them to the characters. This is where the biggest problem comes. 

See, I like the story. It's pretty good, even if the mystery aspect slowly melts away as you go. By the end of the game, you're not really solving anything anymore, just punching the next set of villains (who change depending on which side of the war you follow) to get to the next reveal. There's no chance of accusing an innocent or losing a trail. You just have to keep going until the game reveals the next part. And this is part of what plays into that big problem.

I want more of the story. But if I grab an Omensight, I HAVE to use it. So if I haven't played a character's day through without showing them the Omensight, I lose access to everything that day could've given me. Treasure. Plot. Memory shards. It's all gone. Ratika, one of my favorite characters, was the victim of this in my first playthrough. She decides, for whatever reason, to become a dark entity of evil power. You see it during other characters' days and even get to fight her. But since I got the first Omensight before I tried out her day, I never got to play her unaltered day. So I never got to figure out WHY she was a dark creature of evil. When you show her the Omensight, she doesn't go down that path. She stays normal Ratika the whole way. I go play another person's day, BOOM! Dark Ratika. No way to change which Omensight I show, no way to recover the plot and treasures I'm locked out from.

This game does a lot right. It's fun to play, but it punishes you for playing it in the wrong order. That's a simple mistake that shouldn't have made it into the game. Furthermore, the ending... is very disappointing. Disappointing enough that I assumed I had done something wrong. I played and replayed, scoured online sources, and no... the game only has the one ending. It's dark, it's miserable, and it's a little heartbreaking. I don't say this to spoil the plot, just to warn you. When you finish, no, you didn't do anything wrong. That's really how it ends.

I do recommend this game. There's a lot of room for improvement, but if you have the spare cash or it goes on sale, please consider it. Not for what the game is, but to support the people who put together such a beautiful world. There's so much hinted at that needs to be expanded on and I think it would be a shame if the studio, who has done another game in this world, stopped here.

It tries something new. I went out on a limb to push the limits of what the genre usually does. It's beautiful. It's intriguing. But it's still too restrictive for what it's trying to do. I'll let Ratika take it from here.

Be Excellent to Each Other.

Sorry for the late post. We had our RPG campaign today, and it's been a while so I might have let it go a little long. Still, I'm here and ready to hit you with my thoughts about another topic I enjoy.

Spoiler Warning: Today I'm going to muse a bit about Wander Over Yonder, a cartoon from Disney about a little orange, Muppet-like character who literally wanders the cosmos trying to make friends with everyone while his friend/steed keeps him from being killed. Be forewarned, I'm giving away a major plot spoiler for this series so I can break it down.

Now, I've said before that I feel like subverting tropes has, itself almost become a trope. Tropes aren't a bad thing (cliches are), they're just common ideas and themes that pop up from time to time in fiction. Lately, it feels like every movie, game, or story has to have a twist ending, something that zigs when the viewer/reader thinks it will zag. And that's where I want to look at Wander Over Yonder.

In the second season we meet a villain known as Lord Dominator. This character is huge, has a deep booming voice, armor over everything, horns on the helmet, and shoots lava from their hands. This character plays into one trope (an oddly specific one that Overly Sarcastic Productions actually mentioned very recently)  and subverts another... sort of. It's done well, I think. The first is the twist. Lord Dominator who looks like this...

Turns out to actually look like this normally...

Yes, she's a girl. That's the first subversion. Sorta. See, it's become a trope now (you clicked that link earlier, right?) to bait and switch the maniacal, warlord of all doom that has a deep, booming voice and muscles without end, with a female. Now, Dominator is by no means any less dangerous in this latter form. The big armor is basically a disguise. But that's not really the trope I'm interested in. It's her motivations. 

See, for the longest time, villains were just villains. The Devil was a common villain because he didn't need a motive. Why would the Devil try to burn down an orphanage? Because he's the Devil! No more need be said. But then we matured as a culture and needed more depth from our villains. If you doubt me, go watch Avengers: Infinity War. They are trying their hardest to make Thanos a sympathetic villain. That's the current trend, in my opinion. Our villains have to have a good reason. Maybe it's for the greater good? Maybe they were abused as children? Who knows? But the trope is clear, the villain is either relatable or, on occasion, was right all along.

But not Dominator. In her signature song, it's revealed what her true motive is. As all the other space villains are conquering worlds for power, she's amassing power for one reason. Destruction. She doesn't want to conquer anything. She wants it all destroyed. She leans into the old trope of the Devil. 

Was she abused as a child? No. Is she doing it for a greater good? Not at all. She just, very clearly and without question, wants to annihilate all life and all planets from existence. That's all. She finds it fun.

And you know what? I respect that as a character motive. It acknowledges what it's doing because all the other villains are different from her. They want to rule. Enslave. Conquer. Dominator just wants to watch the world burn. It's subverting expectations... but acknowledging that expectations have shifted... and leaning back into the original trope. I like it.

Also, her song is freakin' awesome. 

DFTBA

Today I decided to watch Final Fantasy Advent Children again. It's a weird little movie with the most rabid of fan bases behind it. Seriously, people love them some Final Fantasy 7. So with great trepidation I step forward to say that... man, I don't know if I really like this film or not.

Square Enix, the people behind the film and the game it was based on, have made some incredible games over the year. I'll admit that I didn't play Final Fantasy 7 myself, but I'm roughly familiar with the plot (or as familiar as one can get with the incredibly over-complicated story they have in that game). I really enjoyed Final Fantasy 10 and was okay with it's direct sequel. They know how to tell an engaging, moving story. But man... they get complicated.

So back on track here, let's take a brief look at Advent Children. It takes place after the events of the game and their first issue, from my point of view, is that it is clearly made for fans of the game and not to bring in new fans. My first time watching it I had no earthly idea what was going on. In fact, I recall there being a special feature on the DVD that gave you a primer on the game's story so you could follow the movie. It didn't work.

The next big issue is that, and this is confirmed from the producers, they chose coolness over logic. Fight scenes (and I'm assuming anything else that seemed cool) were given carte blanche to do whatever. That's really nothing new in anime, but man, does it ever make it hard to figure out what characters are capable of. Is this person REALLY that strong or was it just cool?

​Things don't really follow logical paths in this movie to begin with, and then the story has a habit of holding back information. Talking with people that have played and LOVE the game, even some of them are a little vague on the hows and whys of this movie. So... really... I never had chance.

So, from a writing standpoint, I have to deduct points for being very exclusive. It's like a club that's members only. Now, they released a "complete" version later that fills in some gaps (which is what I watched today) and even with that, I just don't think I can appreciate the movie with the same spirit that players of the game can. There are locations that I'm sure press the nostalgia button pretty hard, characters that go through emotional arcs that I just don't have attachment to, and all the special moves and magic, I know that had to blow fans' minds. But... I just thought it was kinda cool looking.

I think this may be the polar opposite of what most fans deal with when their favorite works come to the big screen. People always say the book is better. That the movies never stick to the original plot. I wonder if this is the reason why. I get the impression that Advent Children stuck to the original plot so closely that it excluded anyone not familiar with the source material. Like this might as well have been another game than a movie. At least then, people would've thought "Eh, I should probably play the first one before I play this." Instead, I think myself and others like me just say down with our overexcited friends and thought "Wow, I have no idea who that is or why I should be excited. Wait... is that Cloud? I thought he had a different sword. Wait, who are these three guys?"

Don't get me wrong, the graphics are phenomenal, the music amazing, and the overall experience is enjoyable, but I just can't help that think I was not and will never be the intended market for this movie.

DFTBA

PS. If YOU would like to figure out what the heck is happening in that game / movie, please enjoy this lovely explanation from Starbomb.

I'm on a roll this week. I have yet another game review up on dlh.net, this time the quirky little game Omensight for PS4. Click here to check it out and I'll have my extended review including suggestions for any potential player coming up soon.

In the mean time, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on what I'm doing at the moment. In a nutshell, outlining. I'm trying to push forward with this short story I have (technically a commission, but still something I WANT to write) and it's turned out to be a bit more complicated than I expected. I've had to put it on hold multiple times now and, as much as I just wanted to bang it out and have it up for you all to read, I need to take some time with it and do it right.

On that note, I'm curious: to any writers out there who may stumble across my humble blog, are you plotters or pantsers? Yes, I absolutely hate those names, but for whatever reason the community uses them, so... whatcha going to do? For those who don't know, plotters are, well, people who plot out their story. Pantsers, people who write by the seat of their pants, just sit down and write and maybe it'll make sense in the end. I've talked to a lot of people who claim they fall somewhere in the middle, and while I'm not sure I believe that, I can understand it. In case you're wondering, those people are called plantsers. Yes. It's even dumber.

​Be Excellent To Each Other.

You know, since I started writing The Paladin I've come across a lot of things I just wasn't expecting. I knew I'd have to write. I knew I'd have to rewrite. But so many other things just came out of left field, so I thought today I'd share some of the surprises of writing and marketing that I've learned so far.

I've mentioned this before, but it certainly bares repeating: editing is expensive. And it's not like you can just get away without doing it. At some point before publishing, you'll have to get your book edited, hopefully on the dime of your publisher, but if not, you'll have to shell out the cash.  Most basic editors charge from 3 to 7 cents per word, which doesn't sound like much, but if you do the math for a book like mine... let's see... carry the nine... divide by pi... it would cost me $4080 to edit mine. On the low end. And that's just a basic edit. You're expected to do at least two basic edits, plus continuity edits, plus format edits, plus sensitivity edits... it goes on and on.

And don't think you can just have your mom look at it and it'll be fine. I'm on my FIFTH edit. FIVE TIMES I've combed through this manuscript and my last beta found over 200 minor grammatical and format mistakes. 

Whether you decide to self-publish or traditionally publish, you'll have to do a lot of your own marketing, if not all of it. The biggest part of that is, well, what I'm doing right now. Social media. Building an author platform. Getting your name out there. If you are ready to publish tomorrow, it's too late to build your author platform. People need to know who you are BEFORE you publish. There needs to be some excitement and buzz about what you're doing before it's available. 

You have to submit your stuff to reviewers ahead of publication. You should try to get short stories published, get some awards attached to your name, and then you have to start that damn social media game.

Before I became a videographer in Las Vegas, my Twitter account was largely untouched. I had, maybe 5 followers. I didn't even WANT a Twitter account. But I knew I'd need it as a writer, so while I was in Vegas, I started tweeting like a madman. Film an accident? Tweet it! Charity carwash? Tweet it! Blizzard tournament? You bet your bippy I tweeted it! I utilized my connected with my news station to put my name in front of more people, to get more followers. But it wasn't enough.

Now I'm having to up my social media game. Twitter? Check. Facebook?Check. Instagram? Check. I should be doing more Snapchat, maybe some Tumblr stuff, but I'm just one man. The amount of tweets I'm expected to put out a day has skyrocketed from 1-2 as a videographer to 10-15 as a writer! I'm nowhere near that!

Everyone's out to make a buck and as a writer, you have to be very careful. You're stepping into a new world of website scammers and vanity presses. I get at least one call a week (it was one a day before I fought back) from companies overseas offering to optimize my website. They promised I'd sell SO MUCH STUFF. Except I'm not selling anything yet. Like, at all. Didn't matter. They kept calling, no matter how many times I said no, they wanted to optimize my site, build it from the ground up, and they all assured me it was all very affordable.

Oh, and let's look at the people who are at least somewhere near what I'm looking for. Vanity presses. If you're not familiar with them, they're somewhere between self-publishing and traditional publishing. They bill themselves like a traditional publisher. You'll get your stuff in book stores, copies for yourself to get away, help with editing, all the perks! But you have to pay. Lots. 

Understand this: Publishers pay YOU. Publishers pay you for your story. Vanity presses are looking for people who don't know what they're doing. If you want to self-publish, there's a lot of other options. Look to Amazon and their e-book and physical copy services. There are so many better options.



I could keep going, but I think I'll save that for another blog post. If you liked this, leave me a comment. Are you considering publishing your own book? What are you curious about?

DFTBA

Hey there, boys and girls, it's time once again for Uncle Matias' Vidya Game Review! Today I'm taking a look at the survival city builder, Frostpunk. But do me solid, will you, please visit dlh.net and check out my official review for them HERE. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you're done.

Good? Well, let's take a deeper look at this game.

Frostpunk is what you get if you combine SimCity with Fallout. The world has gone to (frozen) hell and you command one of the last groups of humans left alive. All the world has been covered with snow by a never-ending storm referred to as The Frost. It's your job to set up camp at a furnace and survive. Keep the heat going. Keep the people alive. Deal with civil unrest. Explore the wasteland. Scavenge and mine for supplies. But first and foremost, DON'T FREEZE.

Of course you need to gather resources. Coal to keep the heat up. Wood and steel to build new buildings. Food to... well, eat. And the temperature just keeps dropping. Coal amounts that served you well yesterday will run dry today if you want to keep people alive. And don't forget about the sick and injured. They still eat and take up space even if they're not pitching in.

And on top of all this, you have to monitor the two big stats, Hope and Discontent. If Hope falls to zero, you'll be kicked out and exiled to the tundra alone. Discontent rising means more chances of your people revolting. While managing everything else, you have to decide how you'll keep an eye on these two big stats. Will you open bars so people can drink their worries away? Maybe a whorehouse? Or will you focus on faith and spirituality? Maybe just crackdown with tougher laws and prisons for those that disobey?

As you go, you can research new tech to make your heaters more efficient, gain automatons that will work 24 hours a day without the need to heat a workshop, and of course, explore the wilderness for resources and more survivors. But... will you take in new survivors? Will you have the space, heat, and resources to accommodate them? Difficult moral dilemmas lie around every corner in this game.

What did I love and what did I hate?

First off, I love the story. While you're busy running your town and trying to survive, little elements will pop up, like a man deciding to leave the settlement to chase after his daughter or a child who's parent has died. They're uplifting at times, heartbreaking at others, but they always serve to make the world you're building feel real.

You can click on any of the people wandering through your city and learn their name, their job, their health condition, and who else they're related to in the city. You can see that some have strong work ethics and refuse to go to the medic unless you relieve them of duty. Others will stir up trouble and try to divide the city. Each one of them feels unique and distinct.

​The game's art and story is fantastic. The music sits quietly in the background, faintly there, but waiting like a predator to strike when the tension needs to ramp up. The gameplay is fun and easy to figure out, but there's so many ways to go about any given goal that you're never locked in to one play style.

There are downsides, however. If you're not one for steep learning curves, this game may not be for you. It is unforgiving. Don't expect to win on your first go. Furthermore, don't expect to know what you're doing either.

The game has a tutorial screen, but it's not intuitive. When given a goal, it's not always clear how you're supposed to accomplish it. What certain buildings do and where you should place them aren't well explained. Trial and error is the name of the game and sometimes, that makes the game frustrating. 

The worst offense, however, is the User Interface itself. Screens have red "x"s in the corner. These aren't for closing that window, they're for irreversibly deleting that automaton or building. No warning screen to ask if you "really want to destroy" a facility. Just gone. Furthermore, once you have a city with lots of buildings and tons of steam and smoke coming out, you can't tell what buildings are what anymore. So being told you need to fix the heat in the hot house or add more workers to the hunters hut can be useless information when I can't figure out which building that's supposed to be!

Overall, I highly recommend this game. It's fun, it's addictive, and it really challenges you to think outside the box and multi-task. If you can stand the challenge, give Frostpunk a try. Just make sure to pack a sweater.

Be Excellent To Each Other.

I love my betas. I have a particularly active beta reader who's been giving me a bit of anxiety, because I'm nervous at what they'll think, but has also made me freakin' die laughing. They've had some insightful comments, picked out some Easter eggs I hid throughout the work, and of course, found every little error that made it through my last edit.

But that's just part of it. The best part is seeing new people peek in and check out the work. Hearing someone mention their favorite character. Listening as someone says they didn't expect the ending that came up. That just jazzes me and makes me feel like "you know, maybe I CAN do this author thing."

But I still need more eyes. If anyone out there reading this wants to get in on the Beta Reading, hey, I'm always recruiting new betas. I have a Contact Page
where you can sign up to become a Beta, you can leave a comment in any of my blog posts, or you can hit me up on social media.

Hopefully, I'll get even more great betas, because right now, it's tough to beat the comments I've been getting. I'll leave you with my favorite comment so far. 

​DFTBA