![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebe
We decided we needed a chill weekend, so that is what we had. There was a lunch date with Stripes and Antlers, and Yeenpup came over for an episode of "30 Coins", but that was it. I had every intention of working a bit of overtime or cleaning up the burrow a little bit, but it just didn't happen.
We re-watched S2 of "The Legend of Vox Machina" before diving into S3, and Grog's story was this delightfully-unexpected emotional gut punch. The season as a whole was a big step up from the first; it made me fall in love with Dungeons and Dragons all over again. There really is nothing like that magical moment when one (or more) of your party members get that shine, and there are so many moment in that show, big and small. It inspires me to be a better player at the table, and a better DM for my game.
The Unlicensed Adventures game didn't go as well as I'd hoped on Friday. When I'm writing the game, I keep falling into this trap of trying to punch up the intrigue and the "What makes a hero, really?" type social dilemmas when the table has told me repeatedly that's just not what they're interested in. They're a staunchly chaotic-good party; they will not opt-in to the power structures they're presented with, and they're only interested in doing the Good Thing that's in front of them. This is a team of *action*, so it's much better if I hang my hat on building around THAT. Instead of using meetings in shadowy backrooms to seed the plot, those seeds will need to be planted as consequences for the actions they've taken -- and NPCs will need to pay much more attention to what the group is doing -- not their alliances or promises.
Focusing on action to move the plot forward is one of those Writing 101 things that I still haven't taken to heart -- or at least, absorbed into my personal style. Using the game as a way to remedy that is a pretty good opportunity, I must say, and I'm looking forward to building the next "dungeon" with that in mind.
The next game isn't until 22 Nov, so I have a bit of time to set things up and write ahead. I know who the "big bad boss" will be, and I have a fairly solid handle on the sub-bosses; the tricky bit is figuring out how to get the information that the players need into their hands in a way they can act on. That...typically hasn't been my strong suit, but it might be something as simple as "we're all in this shit now, and here's the things we've learned to help us survive". We'll see.
I didn't write at all over the weekend, which is OK. The plan is to pick up the pen starting today. As much as I'm chomping at the bit to work on two projects at once, I think it's better if I start small and take on more once I feel comfortable. That means working on Unlicensed Adventures for a bit until I feel comfortable with the next arc for a few sessions, then pivoting to a short story or two. If possible I want to use this month to develop consistent focus for one project, learn the joy of completion, then move on to the next one. We'll see how it goes.
I'd also like to take this month to really pull things together at the day job. I still haven't quite managed a consistent rate of work. There are a few things that have blocked me so far, but I'd really like to make it so I'm pulling my weight regardless. I think that means identifying when something's stalled, then moving on to the next thing to make sure my numbers are where they should be. I'll also need to be more consistent about following up on those stalled issues; too many tickets and orders fall by the wayside because I'm too busy focusing on something else. Note-taking and organization is going to have to step up a little bit so I don't let things slip through the cracks.
I did vape quite a bit over the weekend, my second after the long t-break. I can definitely tell how much harder it is to do things when you're high; at least, I tend to go a lot more slowly because -- whoa, I'm high. It's a fun state of mind to be in, for sure, but if I hope to be productive it's not one I can be in as much as I have been. It's...a bit of a relief to have that realization, that I prefer being not high for a lot of things. I had gotten into an unhealthy relationship with it, and abusing it made it easy for me to disappear, remove myself from the world entirely. As overwhelming and stressful as the world can be, it's still something I want to be engaged with.
This week is Election Week here in the United States, so the anxiety levels online will be at an all-time high. I hope for the best: a clear and decisive Harris victory, Democrats re-taking the House of Representatives, and (best case) even holding a slim majority in the Senate. But even getting two out of three ain't bad. A decisive Harris victory gives the Right a lot less ammunition to contest the election with, and hopefully gives the Biden Administration much more confidence to stop and prosecute the domestic terrorism that's been happening around voting. I know we have a long way to go before we're out of this mess with the GOP, but an unambiguous rejection of their whole deal at the ballot box would be the best first step we could take.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on the things (and people) that make me happy. I'll do my best to reach out to folks so that we all feel less alone. And I'll do my best to keep the communal mood a bit more even. Emotions will be running high this week, and as a global citizen one of the best things I can do is manage mine.
We re-watched S2 of "The Legend of Vox Machina" before diving into S3, and Grog's story was this delightfully-unexpected emotional gut punch. The season as a whole was a big step up from the first; it made me fall in love with Dungeons and Dragons all over again. There really is nothing like that magical moment when one (or more) of your party members get that shine, and there are so many moment in that show, big and small. It inspires me to be a better player at the table, and a better DM for my game.
The Unlicensed Adventures game didn't go as well as I'd hoped on Friday. When I'm writing the game, I keep falling into this trap of trying to punch up the intrigue and the "What makes a hero, really?" type social dilemmas when the table has told me repeatedly that's just not what they're interested in. They're a staunchly chaotic-good party; they will not opt-in to the power structures they're presented with, and they're only interested in doing the Good Thing that's in front of them. This is a team of *action*, so it's much better if I hang my hat on building around THAT. Instead of using meetings in shadowy backrooms to seed the plot, those seeds will need to be planted as consequences for the actions they've taken -- and NPCs will need to pay much more attention to what the group is doing -- not their alliances or promises.
Focusing on action to move the plot forward is one of those Writing 101 things that I still haven't taken to heart -- or at least, absorbed into my personal style. Using the game as a way to remedy that is a pretty good opportunity, I must say, and I'm looking forward to building the next "dungeon" with that in mind.
The next game isn't until 22 Nov, so I have a bit of time to set things up and write ahead. I know who the "big bad boss" will be, and I have a fairly solid handle on the sub-bosses; the tricky bit is figuring out how to get the information that the players need into their hands in a way they can act on. That...typically hasn't been my strong suit, but it might be something as simple as "we're all in this shit now, and here's the things we've learned to help us survive". We'll see.
I didn't write at all over the weekend, which is OK. The plan is to pick up the pen starting today. As much as I'm chomping at the bit to work on two projects at once, I think it's better if I start small and take on more once I feel comfortable. That means working on Unlicensed Adventures for a bit until I feel comfortable with the next arc for a few sessions, then pivoting to a short story or two. If possible I want to use this month to develop consistent focus for one project, learn the joy of completion, then move on to the next one. We'll see how it goes.
I'd also like to take this month to really pull things together at the day job. I still haven't quite managed a consistent rate of work. There are a few things that have blocked me so far, but I'd really like to make it so I'm pulling my weight regardless. I think that means identifying when something's stalled, then moving on to the next thing to make sure my numbers are where they should be. I'll also need to be more consistent about following up on those stalled issues; too many tickets and orders fall by the wayside because I'm too busy focusing on something else. Note-taking and organization is going to have to step up a little bit so I don't let things slip through the cracks.
I did vape quite a bit over the weekend, my second after the long t-break. I can definitely tell how much harder it is to do things when you're high; at least, I tend to go a lot more slowly because -- whoa, I'm high. It's a fun state of mind to be in, for sure, but if I hope to be productive it's not one I can be in as much as I have been. It's...a bit of a relief to have that realization, that I prefer being not high for a lot of things. I had gotten into an unhealthy relationship with it, and abusing it made it easy for me to disappear, remove myself from the world entirely. As overwhelming and stressful as the world can be, it's still something I want to be engaged with.
This week is Election Week here in the United States, so the anxiety levels online will be at an all-time high. I hope for the best: a clear and decisive Harris victory, Democrats re-taking the House of Representatives, and (best case) even holding a slim majority in the Senate. But even getting two out of three ain't bad. A decisive Harris victory gives the Right a lot less ammunition to contest the election with, and hopefully gives the Biden Administration much more confidence to stop and prosecute the domestic terrorism that's been happening around voting. I know we have a long way to go before we're out of this mess with the GOP, but an unambiguous rejection of their whole deal at the ballot box would be the best first step we could take.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on the things (and people) that make me happy. I'll do my best to reach out to folks so that we all feel less alone. And I'll do my best to keep the communal mood a bit more even. Emotions will be running high this week, and as a global citizen one of the best things I can do is manage mine.
