tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54904458032915988342024-02-18T22:26:34.194-08:00Neostriker BlogA blog designed to promote Neostriker series by J. D. Nyle and give details about future Neostriker projectsJ. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-65778126742621434782023-02-10T23:50:00.000-08:002023-02-10T23:50:01.329-08:00On Mega Man Battle Network's Advertising<p>It sure has been a while since I've posted here. Don't worry as Neostriker SABRE is still ongoing. I even got some progress in the direction to go, which I was struggling for a long time. I had this theme I wanted to explore, but even though it was fun, it didn't click and added problems. The new solution is nice because it builds up on prior themes ad sets the stage for further dynamics.</p><p>Now I just need to make the time to actually write those missing stories.</p><p>Speaking of missing stories, I've had a nice heartwarming one ready since earlier last year. Just still waiting on a cover art. Likely I'll need to need artists again.</p><p>Now for the main reason for this post. As Mega Man Battle network was a major help in me refining my battle system, I'm excited for the upcoming collection, but I have thoughts on the advertising. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I see the advertisements for Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, I’m reminded of how my impressions of advertising 20 years ago was boring. This was my thoughts until a friend lent me the game for a while and then I was hooked. This brings into perspective that the advertising was mostly effective for people who had already played the game and enjoyed the core mechanics. But when shown in a gameplay trailer where you slowly do damage against a boss, yeah it makes it look boring.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">So why are so many people excited about these games? Were they actually fun? Yes! So here is my introduction to games that were great fun.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A Great Blend of Turn Based, Tactical, and Real Time Action</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The core gameplay is the battle system. With variations in each game, the core is at the start of each turn, you get to pick from a selection of programs called battle chips to use in real time combat. Set traps, limit enemy movement, activate counters, change the terrain, even use rocks for massive damage. Use them and your default weapon wisely for effective combinations. Get the right mix and you can even do program advances for great effects.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Customize According to Your Play Style</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You are free to build your deck as you like. Later games even reward you with modifications you can swap in and out. Some are more permanent while others you have to decide which to utilize. And if you want to be risky, you can even add a bug to get an added boost while suffering a defect.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Story leads to different mechanics</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won’t spoil the stories, but it is a complete series with no cliffhangers. And each story beat will place you to solve different puzzles and mechanics such as firefighting or position based tactics. </span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Different enemies and bosses are their own little puzzle</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some battle chips are more effective against different enemies. Some battle chips can give the crucial advantage to defeating a challenging boss.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Discover and Earn More Powerful Battle Chips</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some rare battle chips are hidden throughout the world. Many are obtainable by performing well in combat. Can you defeat a boss within 30 seconds to unlock their power?</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Take on challenging bosses in post-game content</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not much more to say there. When you fight Bass in post-game, it’ll likely take a few tries before you will win.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Battle and Trade With Others</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Playing against friends, comparing libraries, and trading chips is a great experience that can make even the weakest entries fun to come back to.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Main Theme is great</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I often would turn on my Game Boy Advance and just let it sit on the opening screen. Love that song</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">My Personal Ranking</span></h4><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 is my favorite. The removal of 1 style change slot is annoying, but the Navi customizer is great. Being able to raise viruses to level up chips was also fun. I also enjoyed the story.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 is also a great game with people enjoying the mechanics and story.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">6 ends on a pretty good note in terms of mechanics and story is fine.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 Double Team is great improvement to Team Colonel and Team Protoman but that was a DS game. If they sneak in those mechanics, then I’ll be pleasantly surprised. I actually replayed it a few times because it had 2 save slots.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 I don’t remember much about.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 has some great ideas but unfortunately also some real bad ones that ruin the experience. That being said, there is fun to have if you can withstand going through some annoying parts at least 3 times. PSA: Use a guide to make sure you get all of the chips you need before doing the next playthrough. Though the global trading network might help relieve that issue now.</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-18023184931242011942022-07-15T05:22:00.006-07:002022-07-16T16:55:36.959-07:00To helping our friendsI am giving the royalties of the Neostriker book sales to a struggling mother of two. Sales from now for a short period of time as follows. 100% of first $1,000. Then 50% until can I give $10,000 or end of the period. <br /><br />I recalled a friend from college who was struggling. So I reached out and listened to how she lost her home multiple times while raising her two kids. Because I care, I want to help. By giving her the royalties, my hope is this can help her catch up on rent and some debts. If can get her out of the bad neighborhood, even better. <br /><br />How you can help is any combination of the 4.<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Spread the word</li><li>Buy the books or gift the books (donating to local libraries also can help).</li><li>Review the books. After a certain number of reviews, Amazon will promote it.</li><li>Read the books on Kindle Unlimited. Amazon still pays royalties based upon the number of pages read. </li></ol><br />These are the books:<br /><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqV1-2IKtv5wRo5VEA6Dca0asxhNAfdybsCy1gQFLZo0uIEkpV0lse0oD1Z7Q0gIXcyfw-kqHIn4H23l-nHCNrhiZRDjC8PPT-o8gRZhmPUEALxUw48VzpgXlsJl-lsffCOEN8Bg3k5a2ulhtLA2VyTpoisBvHtkhUeHV4se49Q-23u6xMfAbhL5yOTQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1601" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqV1-2IKtv5wRo5VEA6Dca0asxhNAfdybsCy1gQFLZo0uIEkpV0lse0oD1Z7Q0gIXcyfw-kqHIn4H23l-nHCNrhiZRDjC8PPT-o8gRZhmPUEALxUw48VzpgXlsJl-lsffCOEN8Bg3k5a2ulhtLA2VyTpoisBvHtkhUeHV4se49Q-23u6xMfAbhL5yOTQ=w99-h158" width="99" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-ltOZgZ80JPRdxqZHU-mpd3qP0YICM4g1T2N-tRFONJUyyWCk_R876Hft056Fivdt07GnwVKtxVdIFrtzkeiWvQhX5Y0pJM_FXV5DET-A9M-OVB0wRN_rgzCsCu6FGwpfkWXwOsd5MVnFnjekqdVav1O0iWoNOQTaOi-cdWfLB2GmVw4v06zxtLhYTA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="818" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-ltOZgZ80JPRdxqZHU-mpd3qP0YICM4g1T2N-tRFONJUyyWCk_R876Hft056Fivdt07GnwVKtxVdIFrtzkeiWvQhX5Y0pJM_FXV5DET-A9M-OVB0wRN_rgzCsCu6FGwpfkWXwOsd5MVnFnjekqdVav1O0iWoNOQTaOi-cdWfLB2GmVw4v06zxtLhYTA=w119-h159" width="119" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7afE9IWhAE19GOHBOWebs4dSE8gLcrYbcg8ZuWyG44xZ77EEKnCOY08xb2Ifuaq8-52nnKmhGLo99F0qkOerv33mgb9C7h805pRpFUg8T39brYi-8x-tOFozTAcfdJZXs-y2C_WlUuL1IxPq2ckhNlBQrF8ZPUFnBD27A8g7jll-QbfEjrfqoakq0zg" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="453" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7afE9IWhAE19GOHBOWebs4dSE8gLcrYbcg8ZuWyG44xZ77EEKnCOY08xb2Ifuaq8-52nnKmhGLo99F0qkOerv33mgb9C7h805pRpFUg8T39brYi-8x-tOFozTAcfdJZXs-y2C_WlUuL1IxPq2ckhNlBQrF8ZPUFnBD27A8g7jll-QbfEjrfqoakq0zg=w108-h159" width="108" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Vixen-Neostriker-SABRE-story-ebook/dp/B07SSFHZF5/">The Vixen</a><div><div><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ML1FG23" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Intent to Join</a></div><div><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KDD1NBN" rel="nofollow" style="outline-width: 0px !important; user-select: auto !important;" target="_blank">Neostriker: Shining (the first collection of short stories)</a></div></div></div><br />I would appreciate your help in raising money for my friend. I recall the story of how my grandfather showed my cousin some bills and said simply, "Take what you need" to help with his college tuition. Yes, it's good to donate to charity, but we also know people who need help and I think that's important as it reminds them that their friends do in fact care and that they are not talking into the void.<br /><br />With Love,<br />J. D. Nyle</div>J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-20878494902516689492022-05-02T21:00:00.004-07:002022-05-03T06:05:00.041-07:00 The shaping of my worldview<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello Future Me shared a video about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFKbzfEgTqY" target="_blank">seven stories that changed his life</a> and that triggered a retrospective in my own life again. I have thought about the topic a few times but perhaps it's time to write it down and share how my personal worldview developed.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4a36e899-7fff-d9e8-1e0c-b6a0e8bde31e"><div style="text-align: center;"><span>----</span></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Media has had an interesting relationship with my family. Around the time I was five or six, the TV was taken away and our video library donated. Similarly, even though I had a Game Boy, that too was taken from me. I say it's interesting because we did still watch TV and play games. Either when guests came to stay, playing with friends, or visit grandparents. We still got to watch Saturday cartoons and had movie nights. So in reality, it was just limited, not really gone.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is important because it meant that during the week, I couldn't play video games nor watch TV. However, I still had exposure. As a result, I had plenty of time to recreate the various stories though often would only have partial exposure of it was a TV series like Gundam or <i>Dragon Ball Z</i>.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The partial exposure is likely key because it meant I almost always had to fill in the blanks what happened between episodes or next. This would me I would see an idea and play multiple paths with me or my friends. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I probably missed the main storyline of <i>Gundam Wing</i>, but I did see a few arcs that got me thinking. For example, how do you act when the people you are fighting for turn against you. And while my parents almost never watched the cartoons we watched, my dad would on occasion comment on what he saw. I recall one time while watching <i>Gundam Wing</i> that my dad came in and pointed out how the logic on acting on emotion was flawed. Perhaps that was the point of the episode, but the way it was structured at the end would be easy for a kid to take the other way, <a href="https://youtu.be/qXERC76sHW8">especially important considering it involved suicide</a>. I often think of those experiences as key to guiding me towards thinking critically about what I consumed. This is why I include the letters from George's father in my latest stories, especially when I realize some people don't have fathers like mine.</span></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUlKfL1229oW5ABuv_jcJj5F5l0iztKPB5SdLFq987wGkGllLvFp2ng3dFmpUH07VOPIANQ6r1bC3IrLS1SyfhBnSx0LTqJRP5O58xOnFnvi2xz6bB_xVkFZWWd8PRGyst_Y2-wpX9VVlVoEUYsazbF0pmMhgcWpx2HhFygHU-vxo-foXeoI99zgontA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The woman who stepped in to prevent suicide speaks to the guy who planted the idea in Gundam Wing" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUlKfL1229oW5ABuv_jcJj5F5l0iztKPB5SdLFq987wGkGllLvFp2ng3dFmpUH07VOPIANQ6r1bC3IrLS1SyfhBnSx0LTqJRP5O58xOnFnvi2xz6bB_xVkFZWWd8PRGyst_Y2-wpX9VVlVoEUYsazbF0pmMhgcWpx2HhFygHU-vxo-foXeoI99zgontA=w320-h180" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One thing that wasn't restricted for me was a radio drama. I knew my parents sent messages the producers about some episodes which they objected to, but they didn't listen to everything. Of that drama, there is one good takeaway and one that I needed to correct later.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the one that needed to be corrected, it was one on the nature of man. It was not a good episode and it posited that the nature of man is evil. That notion was corrected for me when I watched Secondhand Lions. That exposure and asking the question about whether God creates evil solidified that the drama was wrong.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keeping this in mind, the other movie that had a huge influence on me was <i>Spider-Man 2</i>, which shouldn't be a surprise to those who read the episode notes in the back of <i>Neostriker: Shining</i>. The core theme and Aunt May's speech about being a hero stuck with me. Combining this with one episode about heroes in the aforementioned radio drama sets the stage for the epiphany while playing Okami.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kCd6HLNW3MQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="kCd6HLNW3MQ"></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the first section of the game, you come across a statue of the local village's hero. This made me think about how universal it is to have devotions towards heroes in order to try to imitate them and that if Jesus is the greatest hero, then going to Church often is the right thing to do. It is also at this time that I connected two phrases. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When people say, "Don't be a hero," it's often to say don't do the right thing. Conversely, there is the other phrase, "Be a man. Do the right thing." Putting these together would mean that to be a man is "to be a hero." This was my defining philosophy and it hasn't gone away. It has only enhanced as further reading guided me towards the next logical step.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My parents often wanted us to read about saints but I never really cared for that. In part, this is because they were often about priests or nuns, which often felt like condemning living life as a regular person as wrong (the pope has acknowledged this and written to address this tendency). That being said, later in life, I started the habit of reading a book that had readings from the Bible everyday and meditations. In the book, there were one page summaries about saints and there was a theme I was starting to pick up on. Similarly, the readings at the time were from the Sermon on the Mount where something finally clicked.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus says, "Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect." What is this command about? "Love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you." Perfection is about being Love. The Bible says that "God is Love" and Genesis says that God made man in his image. So the real nature of man is to love. This is backed up by the way we judge morality is with Love.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I often feel like the mainstream Christianity doesn't make this connection. Sure parts of it are there, but never in the converting manner it should have. For example, I originally opposed the death penalty due to mistrust in those who wield it. However, this realization about the nature of man changed my view as I come to see the meaning of life to be to grow towards perfect love in order to be with God. To end one's life, especially in the state of a criminal, is as far away as we can get from that and the Sermon on the Mount.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God says, "I do not delight in the death of the wicked but rather his conversion." The Gospel never promises being good would mean you will live in peace and prosperity. Rather the Gospel is that the kingdom of heaven is not on Earth and to place your treasure in Heaven. If Jesus, the prophets, and the early Christians died gruesome deaths, why should modern Christians act like this life is the point?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People ask why would a living God allow suffering, but the perspective is wrong. The gospel peaches the point of life is to love God and neighbor and that life is to prepare us for paradise. Life here is not for the good, but rather it's the sinners who need it the most.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many people speak against helping the homeless and the poor, acting like giving support sets up for abuse. The Gospel and epistles have harsh condemnation for this attitude. How many times do we sin and yet pray for forgiveness? We should act likewise to others. If I am to die due to an act of love, then I have reached my perfection and hope my example inspires others.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do we not love in</span><i style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Les </i><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Misérables</i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> where the bishop converts Jean Val Jean through his continued mercy and love despite how he abused his generosity? So shall we be, though I still have a long way to go in that regard. A good test for this is the point of the story of the prodigal son. It wasn't told for the converted sinners but rather the Pharisees who were acting like the older brother. If we were to reach paradise and see people like Hitler or Stalin there, would we go in? If we can say yes, then I think we can say we are on the right path.</span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a scene in Detective Conan where Kudo Shinichi saves the life of a murderer, one who was even going to kill his love. When the murderer asks why, he responds along the line, "I don't need a reason to save a life. People give reasons for killing." That interaction stuck with me and found its evolution in, "You said she did nothing wrong. So we need reasons to not care for people, not the other way around." Again, Love is the true nature of man.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wNtW8dmS8B0" width="320" youtube-src-id="wNtW8dmS8B0"></iframe></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know people might read my writings and say I am either Liberal or Conservative. The truth is I do not associate myself with either or with any political party. For half my life, my motto on the topic has been "Liberals killed the prophets while Conservatives crucified Christ." I learned from looking at other countries that the terms are purely relative and most often used to blindly polarize people so I try to remove them from my vocabulary. I noticed that both can have valid points and the labels just stop people from listening. For example, I believe one crucial step from pro-life that is largely missing is support for those mothers. If all the money that went into pro-life vs pro-choice instead went into mother support and medical research, we could solve so many issues. Similarly, I often find myself confused how we have so many orphan heroes in our stories and yet so little support and consideration is given to our orphans. Even more so when I consider those who grew up to be important figures in history.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One more key to my philosophy that I was missing while in college is the paradox of self-love. While love asks to sacrifice oneself, the goal is for self which can appear as the complete opposite. The five love languages from Dr. Gary Chapman helped me realize that self-love is not condemned but necessary to love others. If you don't feel loved, it is hard to love others. Love your neighbor as yourself requires that you in fact care for yourself. If we don't care for ourselves, then we make our tank empty. What I realized is that many of the saints tap into God as an infinite source for filling their love tanks. We must love ourselves in order to receive love and that keeps us going.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now for the topic of whether God exists or not, that was shaped by my role as a storyteller and a programmer. Considering how both of these roles create from nothing according to the perspective of the created, I cannot deny the possibility of God, even if he's not our next level up. And considering how well core Christianity makes sense and works, as proven by how much the saints have contributed to society, I have faith.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So while the Church will continue to have scandals, especially whenever it acts to protect itself instead of trusting in God, I find the core teaching of Christianity to be true and right. Most hate I see of God is actually for the corruption in institutions, but we should remember that even while Peter was the head of the early Church, he was rebuked by God and Paul. Human institutions will always have corruption or leaders making mistakes, but the teachings can still be true. I will continue to make mistakes but just as part of the appeal of Spider-Man is that he does not give up despite so much going wrong, so shall I continue to work towards that perfection. If I were to die and learn God is not real, I would not regret as I see the teachings as guiding me towards perfection, and that is to be good and to love.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With Love,</span></p>J. D. Nyle<br /><br /></span><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>P. S. Want to see how this worldview plays out in my stories? Read my stories. They are available to read on Amazon and currently can be read in any order.<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Neostriker-Shining-J-D-Nyle-ebook/dp/B07KDD1NBN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank">The original novel about a boy who grows towards this realization.</a> Available on Kindle and Paperback</span></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ML1FG23" target="_blank">The short story about how this philosophy shapes what it means to be a parent</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SSFHZF5" target="_blank">The short story collection including more letters from a father and how it impacts his children</a></li></ol></span></div><div><span>P. S. S. I don't write my stories in the "evangelist" approach like C. S. Lewis. My stories are more like Tolkien in that they are influenced by my worldview. Maybe I will share more about why I don't like the idea of being a "Christian writer" in another post.</span></div>J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-63559207300090367102021-10-09T03:20:00.007-07:002021-10-09T03:20:56.036-07:00Snippet Story: Helene's Torment<p>I'm surprised to see I haven't updated this blog page for so long. I thought I would have at least posted for when I had a story coming up. However, due to the seriousness of the topic, I wanted to be absolutely sure it wouldn't be triggering for a certain crowd, which would be the opposite effect I intend. As a result, it's waiting in beta-reading purgatory. I did get a suggestion of posting where I could get more attention, however, when I checked the terms and service, I didn't see information I was looking for. I got some positive feedback, but I still need to do another round of editing.</p><p>So let me make it up by sharing this very short story focused on Helene, giving a deeper insight into her mind. I originally planned for it to be longer, but I feel this is actually a good length. Let me know what you think and if you want more on Helene, check out <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SSFHZF5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1" target="_blank">The Vixen</a>.</p><p>I hope you enjoy and remember to dream on,</p><p>J. D. Nyle</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">------------------------------------------------------------</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Beep! Beep! Ring-a-ding! Cling!</i></p><p>Cars passed by on the street alongside the park as kids ran with laughter and excitement. Bikes stood in the open area as kids played tag. Helene watched quietly as she sat in her swing. Suddenly, a big push from behind sent her flying in the air as she let out a gasp of joy. Crows feet planted firmly in her eyes as she could not wipe the smile. As she fell back, the strong firm hands that she loved gave another push. </p><p>“Higher!” she cried in her 10-year-old high-pitched voice! “Higher, papa!”</p><p>“Sure thing, my sweet little angel,” her soft baritone father said as he abided by the request.</p><p>As Helene swung in the air, her father stood back with content on his face. He cleared his voice and began to sing.</p><p><i>Swing low! Sweet chariot! Comin’ for to carry me home!</i></p><p>Helene frowned and shouted from her swing in her teenage voice, “No! No singing! Especially that one! Stay with me!”</p><p>But her father simply smiled and continued.</p><p><i>Swing loooow! Sweet chariot! Coming’ for to carry me home!</i></p><p><i>When I looked over Jordan and what did I see? Comin’ for to carry me home?</i></p><p>“STOP IT!”</p><p>Helene’s swing would not stop. As she tried to plant her feet, the ground ebbed away. Then she heard a bugle playing notes. G.....G...C…..</p><p>“NO! NO! NO!”</p><p>G…..C...E…..</p><p>Helene wept and sobbed, helpless in her swing as it swayed to and fro. She looked down at her legs only to see a folded flag in her lap. Her face crinkled and tears fell upon the stars.</p><p>"Stay strong, my little angel."</p><p>Helene opened her eyes, but the tears still clouded them in the dark room. She sniffed as she got out of her bed and walked over to a drawer and pulled it open.</p><p><i>Creeeeak!</i></p><p>There it was; that nightmarish flag. Still in it’s neat triangular fold. At least it was neat until Helene’s fist pounded it, rattling the contents of the shelf.</p><p>She let out a deep breath and then proceeded to pat out the wrinkles once again, still huffing and trying to dam the river flowing from her eyes.</p><p>“Papa…” she muttered before falling to her knees.</p><p>----</p><p><i>Waaaah!</i></p><p>Helene wept for perhaps half-an-hour in the dark when she heard a scream from her neighboring room. She wiped the tears from her red-eyes and walked out calmly. She knocked on the door saying, “Jack?”</p><p>She opened and saw the five-year old crying with anguish in his face.</p><p>“It’s dark!” he bellowed.</p><p>Helene looked around but could not see the light from the bunny that typically illuminated her little brother’s room. Though as she had been awake for quite a while, she could clearly see her brother. She glided to his bedside and reassuringly said, “It’s okay. I’m here. Your mother is here too. Shall I get her?”</p><p>“No! Stay with me!”</p><p>Helene pursed her lips and gazed into her brother’s face. She gave him a bear hug.</p><p>“Of course I’ll stay. No one is as precious as my little Davy.”</p><p>Jack sniffed and pointed towards the desk that held the bunny-lamp. “Can you fix it?”</p><p>“I have a better idea. Come with me and you can sleep in my room with me.</p><p>Davy held Helene’s hand tightly as they returned to Helene’s room. She grabbed her watch and went to bed next to Davy. She activated a bunny hologram. Davy's breathing regulated as he embraced Helene. Soon, he was quiet and peaceful and not much later, she was too.</p><div><br /></div>J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-1958626967866634102020-12-26T22:12:00.000-08:002020-12-26T22:12:24.462-08:00December 2020 Update<p>Wow! It's been a while since I last posted. During that time, I updated The Vixen ebook to include two more short stories and one "snippet" story (since it's a lot shorter than the short stories). I also made progress in making my video game. I even made a quick karuta game for my kids. I spent a lot of hours watching GameMaker Studio tutorials by Shaun Spalding on Youtube. It's been pretty good to learn the tools and some logic for development. I've also interspersed with some engineering and storyelling videos that have given me material for my books. That's good because after testing one book with my alpha readers, I found I really do need one set beforehand to set the stage.</p><p>Since then, things have slowed down as I recovered from injuries, played some games in my backlog, and spend time with the family. Now that my kid is getting big enough, we've played through Kirby's Epic Yarn, Yoshi's Crafted World, and now on Yoshi's Woolly World. It's a bit interesting to see a kid learn how to play video games for the first time. At the same time, I enjoy seeing the creativity and how it can inspire to do crafts and such. Hopefully my stories can inspire something similar.</p><p>Perhaps the funniest thing I've learned is from watching a documentary on Batman Beyond. I never knew it before but it's set in 2039, 20 years after Batman retired. That means 2020 was always to be a bad year since Batman retired in 2019.</p><p>Joking aside, this year has granted me quite a few blessings as well, especially with the increased time I got to spend with my kids.</p><p>That's all I have for this year. So until next time. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!</p><p>J. D. Nye</p>J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-36395267036600106032020-08-21T18:14:00.001-07:002020-08-21T18:14:00.331-07:00August 2020 update<p> A while back, I said that I had follow ups for "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SSFHZF5" target="_blank">The Vixen</a>" almost ready to publish. They are still in that state. Why? Because for each new draft, I like to get some fresh beta readers and this time something clicked from the fresh feedback which I think helped understand an older feedback I was ignoring.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BtjNmVUIgUZcmCNj9-cko5WdJqCDmc-SokQGBEvnDrNqlAdxMdCXi6RLMqDc96YeQ0nqt7DakgKHfhMI2bIRn7RoUayBCnSptpWGNCot7UWWlhRLLKWSEyCzNJ3g9x60Vl5Dbd8D0HkS/s1024/Vixen_Twitter_announcement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BtjNmVUIgUZcmCNj9-cko5WdJqCDmc-SokQGBEvnDrNqlAdxMdCXi6RLMqDc96YeQ0nqt7DakgKHfhMI2bIRn7RoUayBCnSptpWGNCot7UWWlhRLLKWSEyCzNJ3g9x60Vl5Dbd8D0HkS/w410-h205/Vixen_Twitter_announcement.png" width="410" /></a></div><p><br />In this case, the older feedback said something felt missing. The new feedback said there was too much of something. That too much of one thing, in my opinion, is what caused the feeling of absence. Why? Because of the concept of "broken/unfulfilled promises". I recently watched Brandon Sanderson's series of lectures on creative writing and he relayed a similar experience where beta reader's feedback helped guide him to what went wrong and what promises he had failed to live up to. These promises are not always intentionally made, but a reader can pick up on them and if not handled properly, can make or break an ending.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-6HOdHEeosc" width="320" youtube-src-id="-6HOdHEeosc"></iframe></div><p>In other news, the beta reading process has helped me observe that the immediate follow-up, while technically has enough information to serve as an intro, works better when read with the Vixen. In combination with me experimenting with something, I feel like in order to not make the wrong promises to new readers, I should not release it as a standalone. What this means is there will be a Second Edition of "The Vixen" with 3 short stories. </p><p>What does this mean for people who have already bought or downloaded the first edition? As thank you to everyone who supported me early, the two short stories appended to "The Vixen" at no extra cost. Just make sure your Kindle/App updates. And when the update goes live, I will also raise the cost to $3 to maintain the $1 per short story ratio.</p><p>When will the updates go live? I hope in September but that also depends upon another thing I want to try and that is illustrations. If you recall from <a href="https://neostrikershining.blogspot.com/2018/02/making-cover-art.html" target="_blank">my post on cover art</a>, there was a piece that felt very comic-book and I am in talks to see about having that artist contribute some illustrations for "The Vixen" Second Edition. Depending upon how that goes, it may take a bit longer.</p><p>Until then, dream on!</p><p>J. D. Nyle</p>J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-69577391698072886392020-06-13T22:02:00.003-07:002020-06-30T20:34:38.890-07:00About the lettersI am aware the inclusion of letters at the end of my stories (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ML1FG23" target="_blank">Intent to Join</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SSFHZF5" target="_blank">The Vixen</a>) are a bit confusing. I've seen plenty of feedback from beta-readers expressing that even though they tend to also enjoy the letters. So I guess it's fair to explain the many reasons I have for their inclusion and placement.<br />
<br />
From a storytelling perspective, I generally consider them optional and that's why they are detached. However, I also decided the letters would be a nice new take on the mentorship trope. The mentor is dead already, but he prepared guidance beforehand. Similarly, it did not make sense that the right letter would appear in a given story nor that they would read it in a given situation. Instead, I decided the characters would have read a bunch of letters and the one attached at the end would be just one that addressed one of the themes.<br />
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I know some people do not like being told the theme of a story, but as mentioned before, they are optional in my opinion. The personal reason for their inclusion is for children, particularly my own. I fear that I would be dead before I could convey these lessons to my children. I do not intend to write-down to an age-group, so I instead include the letter to help younger readers digest.<br />
<br />
When I was growing up, one thing I appreciated was my dad calling out objectionable things in movies and shows. This helped develop my moral compass and counter issues that were implicitly promoted, particularly lying in hero stories.<br />
<br />
As I was watching a series that did a fantastic job of establishing the emotional and psychological motivation for why someone would commit murder, I felt sad that there was no investigation of how to navigate the emotional turmoil in a positive way, only the condemnation of the murder. As I recognized some events in the series could be triggering, I decided I had an obligation to provide some guidance if I were to do the same.<br />
<br />
Now in one of my WIPs, I touched lightly on racism. As this can be triggering for some people, especially for the black community who do not have parents, I think it’s right for me to also address it. So here is an early draft of a letter that I intend to include as a bonus in that story.<br />
<br />
<br />
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Letter from Sera's father: On Dehumanization<br />
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My precious children,<br />
<br />
It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter for the topic saddens me deeply. While the racism I suffered in high school pales to that of many people, I know it hurts. It took me a long time to realize the underlying reason why, but it hurts nonetheless. It felt so unfair. There appeared to be no reason. Why say such horrible things?<br />
<br />
I cannot stop the pain. I cannot prevent you from feeling the pain, though my parents did a good job of that until I entered high school. In my travels, I have seen racism is not exclusive to any nation; that unjust discrimination is not exclusive to any thing, time, or place. But maybe I can help you understand the pain and various causes and by doing this, provide the building blocks to dealing with it.<br />
<br />
I realized that racism, sexism, etc. are tightly coupled with bullying. If you ask me for a definition, it’s that racism is the bullying of a people.Looking closely, racism is often merely part of bullying. So what is bullying? In most cases, it’s the dehumanization of a person. So racism is the dehumanization of a people based upon ethnicity. Sexism is the dehumanization of a person based upon sex.<br />
<br />
When we realize that racism is bullying, then we can recognize how the causes of bullying are also causes of racism. Things like fear, ignorance, spite, revenge, jealousy, lies, corruption. These all feed into the cycle and as history has shown, some races can eventually get out of it. Whites were racist against Whites in the early US. It wasn’t until other ethnicities became competition for jobs that they reconciled. However, some races don’t have that luxury due to how the system is against them, and neither political party gives what they need.<br />
<br />
Consider the racist notion in the US that Black people are uneducated. This is because the school districts are drawn to their disadvantage, placing them in poor schools with little funding. This makes it harder for them to get into prestigious schools, which businesses are biased towards selecting for jobs. Add in that some of these schools have unjust discrimination in their application process and we can see that it’s hard for Black people to get into better communities. Similarly, wealthy neighborhoods don’t want the uneducated in their district so they work to keep them out by manipulating the school district lines, which never gets fixed no matter the party in power, and therefore perpetuating this cycle. School choice helps overcome these barriers when paired with subsidies. Tricky thing about subsidies is that it makes others jealous as it feels unfair, just as it always does among siblings. For that, we need to correct the perception that most rich kids did not earn their tuition money, it was given by someone else who had money, their parents. However, that only addresses one cause of racism, to really handle all of them, we need to look to a specific hero.<br />
<br />
Daryl Davis was a Black musician who, over the course of years, swayed a high ranking member of the KKK to leave his racist organization. He would talk with him and even attend KKK rallies. In his talk about the events, he commented on fear as a major cause. He called out his big size and quick reaction as something that evoked fear and potentially death. But his main point that won his enemy over was respect.<br />
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The antidote for dehumanization is respect. Daryl Davis and the KKK member both called it out that respect is the key. When you respect someone, you do not see them as a monster, a spoiled brat, etc. Instead, you see someone as a person. Dehumanzation is when we try to deconstruct someone as a person like yourself. Respect is when you see someone as a person like yourself.<br />
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This is a hard teaching put into practice as we feel justified attacking those who hurt us. But like with bullying, we sometimes target people who don’t actually target us or sometimes are unaware of their actions. We try to vilify anyone who dares even listen to the enemy. We often dehumanize racists, which only perpetuates the cycle further. Racists, sexists, and all other are people; people who are suffering in their own way and have valid concerns that we try to ignore because we consider them to be monsters, not human. And this in turn leads us to justify our vilification by any means possible, even corrupting religion to do so.<br />
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Christianity preaches to love your enemies and do good to those who hurt you. Christ preached respect not only because it was good, but also because it heals. You do not have to like someone to love them; simply care for and respect them. When we do this, the scars will heal. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll walk out of it with not a bully, but a friend. And a friend is another self.<br />
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With love,<br />
Your father<br />
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P.S. You can watch Daryl Davis' talk on youtube<br />
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J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-18573836147115067442020-05-30T00:41:00.004-07:002020-05-30T00:41:49.616-07:00May 2020 UpdateWow! It feels like it's been so long since I've written an update. It has sure been a busy year so far. I've found a few new authors that interest me, got a new cover for <i>The Vixen</i>, and drafted a few more WIPs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5WA79OHH9n6NlK1mk_2-0MndpybTaeGg5HQpusuNV0kD9TUoXZQsGdN1Kr0eUjreS6eE_K_3fsaDN2Fb8ZzpQeGuTuqlg6d6jjafNssfQC6faf-Mf5EDvI0ujBIRs3HzR_ZOcIIS8q3X/s1600/Vixen_Twitter_announcement.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5WA79OHH9n6NlK1mk_2-0MndpybTaeGg5HQpusuNV0kD9TUoXZQsGdN1Kr0eUjreS6eE_K_3fsaDN2Fb8ZzpQeGuTuqlg6d6jjafNssfQC6faf-Mf5EDvI0ujBIRs3HzR_ZOcIIS8q3X/s320/Vixen_Twitter_announcement.png" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
I also discovered a series of lectures from Brandon Sanderson on Youtube so I've been watching those and gleaning good tips for writing. Hopefully we can see some results from that in the near futureJ. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-49701462887211379932020-01-05T19:49:00.002-08:002020-01-05T19:49:51.821-08:00January 2020 updateSo I ran into some issues for the story I was hoping to get out. This is perhaps the curse of writing stories out of order in that you can be locked into certain key events happening. I have some ideas how to address them, but it's going to take some more musing.<div>
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In other news, I finished a first draft of part 1 of the bridge between Shining and SABRE. It's a bit interesting because it actually could stand as a complete story on its own. So I might have beta readers check that out while I muse on the remaining 4 parts. Considering that it might be a while before I get to those four parts, it might make sense to do that anyway.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Why? Because in addition to everything that happens in life, I'm also considering foraying into non-fiction. One is to take the letters idea from SABRE and simply publish a collection of philosophical letters. For people who prefer for the ideas to be conveyed via story, SABRE will still do that, but others might want just the philosophy without the story. Another idea is a blog series on storytelling. Similar to the philosophy letters, it'd be a series of opinions where I try to add something new to the table. I think I'll do that in my Writing Corner blog so this blog might be inactive for a while. However, I'm still somewhat active on Twitter so you can find me there.</div>
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Until next time,</div>
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J. D. Nyle</div>
J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-53028050950087088912019-11-26T13:46:00.002-08:002019-11-26T13:46:29.326-08:00November 2019 UpdateIt has sure been a while since my last blog post. It has also been a long time since I did writing. Taking care of family combined with my computer breaking down a month ago, there was no time to write. Alas, I finally see some opportunities to write. So hopefully we can expect a "new" short story by the end of the year.J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-69379515847258779062019-09-10T17:26:00.002-07:002019-09-10T17:26:32.773-07:00Letter on LonelinessFor suicide prevention day, I decided I should share this letter that was written for the first story in Neostriker SABRE. I hope that this helps anyone struggling with depression, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts<br /><br />
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My dear child,<br />
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There are some evils I wish I could protect you from, among them is depression from loneliness. I pray that when you encounter this that you have the strength to continue on and live. Remember your mother's words: there will always be someone who loves you.<br />
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Loneliness is a strange phenomenon in that you can feel lonely even while surrounded by people. The reason for this is because loneliness truly describes the state when we don't feel loved at all. When we feel loved, we can endure the hardships of life still smiling. However, when we feel lonely, we can lose all motivation, losing even our will to live.<br />
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I ask you to continue to fight, my child. Fight the feelings and know that they are simply feelings. Remember that there will always be someone who loves you. If you can persist past these feelings, that would give me pride.<br />
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It is certainly a task easier said than done. To help you overcome this trial, it might help to understand the nature of loneliness. Here are my thoughts on the topic.<br />
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Loneliness is caused by not feeling loved. Therefore we must remember what can make people feel loved. People want to be cared for, admired, liked, and wanted. These in turn are filled by the love languages. If you can figure out which tank is empty and your primary love languages, that can help a great deal in recovering.<br />
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Now if you were to encounter someone who is suffering this fate, I would entreat you to help them. I can easily believe that this kind of depression is cause of most suicides. If you can help these people, then you will be a great hero.<br />
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With love,<br />
<br />
Your fatherJ. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-44797015866181986482019-08-23T19:00:00.000-07:002020-05-30T02:40:07.055-07:00On the Cast of SABREA major reason why it took me so long to start writing SABRE even when <i>Shining </i>was first written over 10 years ago was due to characters. I had attempted to write multiple times, but I was having trouble with the characters in that I could not make then feel distinct. Not only were they clones of the cast of <i>Shining</i>, but I even had clones of the clones. As a result, I knew I could not do a good job at the time.<br />
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This changed when I started work on the proof of concept and figured how to make the rival interesting. From there, the individual characteristics, motivations, and ideologies started to form for my main cast. They have become distinguishable and also, in my opinion, relatable to various degrees.<br />
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<i>Shining </i>was focused primarily on David with a small focus on Jenny. This was intentional as I was writing David's story. However, one thing I liked about Digimon, one of the major influences for Neostriker, was how each member of the team developed in their own character arc. And so for SABRE, I wanted to try that as well.<br />
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With the release of <i>The Vixen</i>, my initial main cast is complete. While I do not intend that every story would focus on only these five characters, they do form the primary cast I wish to develop in the series.<br />
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<br />
The five main characters are as follows (descriptions are based off what is shown in the currently published stories):<br />
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George (Ryon): the primary protagonist. Orphaned at a young age, he tries to live up to the philosophy of his father conveyed through the many letters written before his death.<br />
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Sera: George's younger sister. She works in SABRE as an operator, often partnering with either her brother or Danny.<br />
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Danny: George's best friend and fellow Neostriker for SABRE. Can be impulsive and likes to joke around. He has a crush on Sera.<br />
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Sophia: She is a fellow student that George once rescued from a suicide attempt. The big sister of the group who cares deeply for everyone, she has recently joined SABRE.<br />
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Helene: Beautiful and tactically-minded. She started dating George after being betrayed by her ex-boyfriend. Initially having a negative bias towards SABRE, she has started to realize that she might have been mistaken after a personal encounter.J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-18630719789353543642019-05-15T03:38:00.002-07:002019-05-15T16:51:38.832-07:00Concerning Clichés and Tropes in Storytelling<br />
Here's perhaps a controversial opinion: people don't really hate cliches. <br />
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<br />
Ready to hear me out? The definition of cliche is "a very predictable or unoriginal thing or person." Now when we read a story once, we can predict everything during the second read, but good stories hold up after many readings. Similarly, people like to be able to predict something, and writers like to use foreshadowing. Lastly, people are more upset if things don't go as they should or hyped for. Therefore predictability is not really an issue.<br />
<br />
How about originality? Surely we value original stories, right? "There is nothing new under the sun" is the common phrase. Writers often base off experiences, thoughts, or even other works. Sure, the stigma of being a clone hurt the original Digimon anime, but I never see anyone claim and successfully defend that the first season was inferior to the first season of Pokemon, even though half of the each of the later episodes are recycled animation. And recently, people more often claim that Pokemon copies from Digimon. Unoriginality is actually mostly just an obstacle for starting to consume a work if not a copyright infringement. Therefore unoriginality is not an issue either.<br />
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The real issue that readers and critics hate is lazy writing. When people encounter lazy writing, this is when they lament cliches and tropes. The reason for this is because as time goes on, we recognize issues with them and we become tired of seeing these imperfections, which in turn make us think the writer is lazy. This is even worse if the reader can think of a better way of accomplishing the same thing, as can be the case when very familiar with the stereotypes.<br />
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I was beta reading one story and it started off really well. The first half of the first chapter was utterly fantastic, but the second half was written in a manner to advance the plot and used cliche after cliche to do so. Not every one annoyed me, but some did. In addition, I was able to think of ways that, in my opinion, would be more interesting and character-driven. As a result, I greatly disliked the second half of that chapter.<br />
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So how should we write cliches? In part, it depends upon our story. Tales of Symphonia is a game filled with them, but I still enjoyed the story when I played it years ago, perhaps because it was a mixture of satire and for comedic effect in my opinion. If we think about that, then we can realize the key is to be intelligent with them.<br />
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When I started writing Neostriker: Shining, I was well aware of cliches in anime at the time and one of my goals was to make sure they all made sense. The prologue starts with stereotypical world building only to provide the first twist that also explains everything; the world is the character's fantasy. The first scene has the character self-aware of the it and expresses trying to do better. It is a common theme throughout the book to either question a cliche, use it as a platform for a joke, or actually discuss it.<br />
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All that being said, I will admit that there is a danger. When something is predictable for a long period of time, it's easy for the reader to gloss over and potentially never return. If we have important facts in the middle of these, they risk being missed and the reader will be frustrated later on.<br />
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What do you think? Any points that I miss on either side? Sound off in the comments below or <a href="https://twitter.com/JDNyle/status/1128610426265133056">engage with the tweet</a> this will be shared with.<br />
<br />J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-30109538721111382672019-04-10T03:35:00.001-07:002019-04-10T03:38:20.191-07:00Writing as a full-time working parent<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's fairly common for people to ask, “how do you find time to write while parenting/working full-time?” My answer: most often, you don't, but that's okay.</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-ef5e9cdb-7fff-03f3-8b99-b3ee90133538" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite a very supportive wife and a fairly good work environment, it's hard to find time to write. I often utilize my train commute to write, but that means everything is written using my phone, which also means lots of cases of “auto-wrong” messing things up. To be fair, it's still better than not writing at all, but even after getting great technical feedback from <a href="https://twitter.com/WilmariClaasen" target="_blank">@WilmariClaasan</a>, finding the time to go back for solid editing is a difficult task thanks to life in general.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love my children and would never wish to go back to a time before them, but between parenting and working, there is maybe 1 hour and a half of free time for me, assuming commute counts as free time. For writing, that might be enough time if completely dedicated, but we are human and have many needs, chief among is rest and leisure.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After working 9 hours on a computer and holding babies, the hands and eyes need to rest. I learned this the painful way so be sure to stretch and rest. The warning that came with the game boy saying not to play when tired is valid. Doing so tires the eyes and do it repeatedly enough and I ended up with one of the worst headaches ever.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beyond the need for rest, we also need to partake in the social world. Spouses need to date. People need to meet with friends. We need to enjoy the arts. We need to exercise and have fun. All of these are needed to maintain a healthy and happy mind. Yes, I sometimes want to write, but if we ignore everything else for too long, everything comes crashing down sooner or later.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok. Now that I made that case, here are tips to help with actual writing despite limited time.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li>Use Swype, Gboard, or something similar for writing on mobile.</li>
<ol>
<li>It can be annoying to correct the mistakes, but it's way faster than tapping every key. Write too slowly and you may lose the flow or find it too difficult to write at all.</li>
</ol>
<li>Consider writing serialized short stories instead of full novels</li>
<li>Take public transportation to enable extra writing time.</li>
<li>Have a notebook to write down thoughts before bed. Organize by date and create an index in the back for easy reference</li>
<ol>
<li>This also helps with falling asleep when you have an active imagination</li>
</ol>
<li>Get a used Kindle or e-reader </li>
<ol>
<li>so you can read on the go</li>
<li>You can load PDFs and docs for reading</li>
</ol>
<ol>
</ol>
<li>Chat with other writers and readers for feedback and inspiration</li>
<li>Enjoy life to keep your mind fresh</li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dream on,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">. D. Nyle</span></div>
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J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-25696548489459890292019-03-07T05:03:00.001-08:002019-03-07T05:03:38.419-08:00Observations to include in Writing<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't remember where I read it, but a sound advice given for writing characters is to pay attention to real people. It's not only good for personal growth, but also for writing compelling stories and realistic dialogue. Here are a few things I have noticed that I think are good to incorporate into writing.</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-e52021d6-7fff-a16b-cf77-02fe188118f1" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People often do not know when they have offended</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A common flaw is actually a person's strength applied in the wrong situation</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People can have more than one emotion at a time and they may not know how to cope</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People carry emotions from other things longer than we give them credit for. This is why we think they are overreacting and maybe even bi-polar</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We often don't fully develop or understand or philosophy until we see a challenge</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some focus more on logic while others focus more on the emotion</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s normal to fall in love based off physical attraction</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some people are more interested in loving than being loved. And others are more focused on being loved than giving love.</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quick Theory: Those who have been in many relationships might be more interested in being loved because they have been broken multiple times. Those who have not been in a relationship on the other hand may be more inclined towards loving</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What observations have you noticed that should be on this list? Share in the comments and if I notice something, I'll update the list.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">J. D. Nyle</span></div>
J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-42770195382857701062019-02-07T05:18:00.000-08:002019-02-07T05:18:39.903-08:00My approach toward writingI like telling stories. My guess is you like telling stories too or at least like consuming them. Will any of our stories be perfect? That's a relative question in which the answer is always no or potentially yes. If you mean everyone loves it and it's a textbook example of what to do, no. If it's something that can be enjoyed, then that's very much possible. For this essay, I'm going to focus on the latter and how I think is a good way to go about writing.<br />
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Step 1: What do you want to tell?<br />
If we don't have a story to tell, then we will undoubtedly encounter writer's block. At the same time, it will be hard to convince people to consume our story of we cannot give a reason for telling it.<br />
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Step 2: flexibly plot<br />
Some people write going with the flow and others plot everything. I think the best approach is down the middle. Related to step one, we need to have a reason to tell your story and having a plot helps us identify it. If we just go with the flow of sounds good at the moment, we may end up like The Last Jedi where it's emotionally good and had some great scenes, but also is very incoherent and messes up the Star Wars universe.<br />
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However, if we plot everything, then we can fall into the trap where we write around the plot and not what should happen naturally. The Last Jedi also failed here with some scenes, but perhaps not as bad as the Star Wars prequel trilogy. For example, we knew Anakin had to convert to the dark side, but it was not convincing why he did what he did. Why kill children without hesitation instead of having the join him? At the same time, perhaps what critics really attack is the dialogue does not feel real.<br />
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Step 3: feel the right emotion<br />
A good storyteller makes the story feel alive. A good writer best enables the storyteller in the mind of the reader.<br />
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We need to remember that for characters to feel alive, we need to focus on the emotions and the moment. This is perhaps the core of “show more, tell less.” If people simply wanted to know what happened, they would be satisfied with SparkNotes or Wikipedia. People want stories for the emotions. Therefore it's important that the reader feels part of the story. In some cases, it's fine to summarize a series of events, but in general, engagement is key.<br />
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An important way to engage the reader is through our word choice. Words have emotional pull and that is what poetry hinges on. Certain words can trigger certain emotions. At the same time, words can also reflect our current emotions. If you are bored while writing, you might write boringly and then the reader will likely be bored when reading. However, if you are excited while writing an action scene, the reader will likely feel the same.<br />
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Step 4: repeat steps 2 and 3 until completion<br />
We are likely to encounter situations where we cannot naturally progress to our plot points. In these cases, we may want to try a few tactics. Rearrange the plot points; remove some scenes; tell the story from a different perspective. Just make sure we continue this all the way through the ending because that’s the sentiment that the audience leaves with.<br />
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Also feel free to work on a different story. The creative process we work there can help us progress in our current story. Sometimes we just need to change our focus to find inspiration.<br />
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Step 5: read the story on a different device<br />
A read on a Kindle can help us catch many typos or other weird things. I bought my Kindle used for $20 and it had worked out nicely. We can email docs and PDFs directly to the Kindle device, and if we use Kindle Direct Publishing, we can even send a Kindle formatted version.<br />
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Step 6: find proofreaders<br />
These people can help us catch more typos and mistakes. At the same time, they can provide feedback about how it reads. An issue with editing is we sometimes remove critical information. This is a chance to catch those absences. Also pay attention if they received the correct impression we were aiming for. If you provided important information inside a large paragraph, it was probably missed.<br />
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I have found some beta readers using the #betareaders and #writingcommunity on Twitter. Friends and family members can also give good feedback.<br />
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If we have a publisher willing to pay for a professional editor, that would be good to utilize as well. If we are self-publishing, then I have yet to justify the price I paid createspace for their services. It was helpful, but not more than my friends and father.<br />
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Step 7: edit and repeat until ready to stop.<br />
At some point, we need to stop for our own sanity. Our creative will always think of ways to “improve” but at some point, we'll start making things worse and hate our creation. I think it's fair to accept a good state and save the new ideas for adaptations or new stories.<br />
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Step Anytime: ask others how to grow your audience<br />
Considering my Twitter follower count only just reached 100, I am not the person to ask for growing audience.<br />
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Happy writing,<br />
J. D. Nyle<br />
<br />J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-34607825784423151712019-01-16T03:26:00.005-08:002019-02-07T05:17:03.319-08:00Examining Deaths in Star Wars<span style="color: #202124; font-family: roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've seen some posts talking about writing death scenes. Some tips sound good like, go ahead if it advances the plot or motivates others. These are good things to keep in mind, but I think perhaps most important is this: the death needs to have the emotional weight corresponding to the audience's investment in the character. To explore this idea, let's look at some deaths in Star Wars. Good and Bad ones. (Obviously spoiler alert for various Star Wars movies)
Let's start with a good example. What was our investment in Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movie? When he dies, Luke shouts out "No!" which was an appropriate response for him. However, the audience's reaction was not like Luke's in this scene. Instead, we are more like Darth Vader because our investment in Obi-Wan was in his mystery. His death scene corresponds perfectly to this investment as not only are his final words mysterious, but then he disappears! Darth Vader is confused like we are. This is further reinforced when we hear Obi-Wan speak to Luke in the final scenes.
To be fair, if we watched the prequel trilogy first, we might have different emotions, but for storytelling, the way it was done in the original movie was good.
Now let's compare with a bad example. Han Solo in The Force Awakens. What is our investment of the character? Not that of a father, and the movie does nothing to seriously reconcile that issue as it tries to make him a mentor instead. However, we were already heavily invested in him as a war hero and a friend. It would be more fitting for him to go down either in a ship in action, or as someone saving someone we know he is close to. Since there was no investment in the relationship with his son, his death did not carry the right weight. Even if it was saving Rey or Finn, that would have worked. But for him to try to emotionally save his son that he spent no time with on screen? No. And it did not help that his death was telegraphed for so long, filling the audience more with dread than with the proper emotion.
Finally, let's look at Luke in The Last Jedi. This one the audience probably expected due to The Force Awakens, but it was beautifully done. Sure, we would have liked to see Luke be an epic action star, but what was our real investment in the character both throughout the series and in the movie? He was not a great lightsaber duelist but more like a pacifist. Instead we wanted to see him restore the Jedi order. While we did not see that directly, we see him show off an awesome new force technique and restore hope. Not only that, but his death scene mirrors one of the first scenes we see him in, including the beautiful music. We see him in peace after seeing him suffer for so long. Finally, he vanishes like his mentor (Did you notice the lightsaber strike being roughly the same position as well?). While we would have liked to see more from him alive, his death as a Jedi was perfectly fitting.
I hope that helps with better understanding how to write good death scenes. It has at least helped me finally understand why I hated The Force Awakens death scene but loved The Last Jedi's ending. It also has provided me some new things to seriously consider when writing the death scenes for Neostriker.
J. D. Nyle</span></span>J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-68700096467230027492019-01-02T17:29:00.003-08:002019-01-02T17:29:26.855-08:00Plan for Neostriker Sabre<div style="text-align: left;">
Happy New Year!</div>
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Over the course of the New Year holidays, I published my short story <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ML1FG23" target="_blank">Intent to Join </a></i>on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. It's approximately a 30 minute read and only $1. While it's not the first story I wrote for SABRE, it was one that I felt like was in good shape and a good story that would convey my intentions for the series. (Sample with first scene below)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="550" src="https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?asin=B07ML1FG23&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_7JvlCb3WPSY3R" style="max-width: 100%;" type="text/html" width="336"></iframe>
SABRE is indeed set after <i>Neostriker: Shining</i>, but I'm also trying to make it not necessary to read the novel. This is helped by the facts that the main cast is not the same and it's set in the future.<br />
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One thing I wanted to do with Shining is to make each episode like an episode of the TV shows I grew up watching. Arguably this was before arcs started to be a main thing. What I liked was this meant each episode pretty much stood on its own with only a quick explanation about maybe an event or character required. This was also important because I would miss a lot of episodes and reruns were not always in order. At the same time, I liked being able to know which episode I liked so that I could re-watch it as much as I liked. As my son has been watching <i>Thomas and Friends</i>, I have greatly grown to appreciate this stand-alone structure more.<br />
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In the end, I made partial success in my goal for <i>Shining</i>. Each episode was pretty much unique and could be enjoyed at least partially if not mostly on its own. This is in part because <i>Shining </i>is a complete story and a novel. SABRE, on the other hand, was always intended to be serialized like Sherlock Holmes stories. I did plan a couple of novels to bookend SABRE, but I think I'll toss that out. As a result, SABRE may resemble more like <i>Detective Conan</i> where many episodes and cases are stand-alone, but there are a few arcs scattered around.<br />
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Now let me explain the tone idea I have for SABRE. The way I view Shining is that it's like the original Star Wars movie. It's mostly light-hearted and fun, establishes the core of Neostriker, and I think can be enjoyed by a large age range. My youngest reader was in middle school and oldest non-biased reader is late-twenties/early thirties. If it was animated or in comic form, I think even 4 year-olds would have fun, just like they would with the original <i>Digimon </i>series.<br />
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In contrast, I intend SABRE to be more like <i>Empire Strikes Back</i> and the 90's <i>Batman the Animated Series </i>and the <i>Spectacular Spider-man</i> TV series. What I hope this means is that it can be enjoyed by younger audiences, but I also don't intend to talk down. Occasionally there may be a dark scene or episode that covers more mature topics, but I plan for the stories to be more of platforms for allowing kids to talk to their parents about them and potentially propose a solution to dealing with an issue. To that end, I think <i>Intent to Join</i> is a fair representation of how I plan to go about.<br />
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I hope you take a look at <i>Intent to Join</i> and enjoy it. I'm also trying out a few new things and storytelling tactics so I would love to get some feedback. And if you enjoy that, I hope you would also take a look at <i>Neostriker: Shining</i>.<br />
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Dream on!</div>
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J. D. Nyle</div>
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<br />J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-5556932034586087822018-12-04T00:58:00.001-08:002018-12-04T00:58:52.308-08:00What is NeostrikerWhat if combat was based off the combatants' spirits? This is the core of Neostriker.<br />
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Neostriker is a series where combatants wear an armor-representation of their spirit. As a result, this creates a dynamic where the fights are generally for art and fun while the story may focus on character growth or be philosophical.<br />
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How this dynamic plays out is based off the story. For example, in <i>Neostriker: Shining</i>, it is primarily for fun but ideas and light discussions are naturally woven throughout the story such as why men may refuse fighting women.<br />
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If I were to place it in a genre, I guess since I would classify <i>Digimon </i>and superhero comics as fantasy, Neostriker would be fantasy as well. You may not see elves, wizards, orcs, etc., but there are elements of fantasy such as special powers, monsters, and idealogies.<br />
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Core to the philosophy of the Neostriker stories is promoting good such as honor, respect, friendship, justice, and love. At the same time, I will try my best to not dehumanize my villains who are also human. Since Neostriker is about inner growth, my evil archetypes can simply be evil spirits which means I have flexibility to focus that the human "oppositions" have more complex motives that can still be clearly wrong, but understandable.<br />
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I hope to have your support as I write these stories. I foresee it will be a long journey, but I hope that not only will we have fun and enjoy the results, but also that we will grow to be better human beings. These are the kind of stories I would like my children to enjoy.<br />
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Dream on!<br />
J. D. NyleJ. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-55639779799927660422018-11-10T00:44:00.001-08:002018-11-10T00:44:26.208-08:00eBook version coming soon!Greetings!<br />
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I am pleased to announce that it looks like Neostriker: Shining will be able to get a kindle version after all! While there are some complications, it looks doable and possibly can release within the month. This will be great since it also opens the possibility of reaching markets beyond what I had access to before.<br />
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It's a bit confusing for me, but what this means is a few things. First, the earlier draft I had uploaded four years ago needed to be taken down, though the first chapter can still be available. This is to satisfy the exclusivity requirements. Second, the cover I used for the printed copy wasn't compatible for Kindle so there is a difference in covers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpar2Swz8VwBEoVQUrxgF_JkcSGCDTAzpLOX01ipH3i6roJebPskBVCczG4A8LPjnHuLx3nMDbIufhDtKnW-0_WOKKbcS1mgESCz85ZtDMjoXyHSnnI5AK0GBbM3lr2ESkW-iqib1db36/s1600/kindle_cover1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="398" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpar2Swz8VwBEoVQUrxgF_JkcSGCDTAzpLOX01ipH3i6roJebPskBVCczG4A8LPjnHuLx3nMDbIufhDtKnW-0_WOKKbcS1mgESCz85ZtDMjoXyHSnnI5AK0GBbM3lr2ESkW-iqib1db36/s320/kindle_cover1.PNG" width="201" /></a></div>
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Now for pricing: I currently intend to hold at the target $10 price as promised before. However, to celebrate the launch, I intend to discount it to $7 for a period of time. At the same time, from how I understand the model, I'll also make the eBook version free for those who buy the physical copy for a while. I hope this action also works retroactively and allows those who bought the printed copy within the last year to also redeem a free kindle version.<br />
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I hope you all will use this opportunity to read my novel.<br />
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Dream On!<br />J. D. Nyle</div>
J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-48314118360165235292018-10-12T17:55:00.000-07:002018-10-13T04:22:17.505-07:00What Neostriker is aboutWhat is Neostriker about? It's been awhile since I last posted an update concerning the stories, but I just got inspired for my next story after watching the first episode of <i>24</i>. I don't know when I will get to write it, but I think it'd be good to address a topic that it may raise.<br />
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The theme of this story would be peer pressure. While I will likely write multiple stories on this topic, in this case I want to cover where sexual attraction is a main force. However, this will mean that the main fight will end up being between a boy and a girl, something seemingly in our media culture only allowed if the girl wins. My guess for this restriction is prevent violence against women. This topic is briefly addressed in <i>Shining </i>as the theme for one episode and that is where I think we can see established what Neostriker is about.<br />
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In that episode, David said he would not fight a girl but duels Emily anyway. When asked about this, he says that it's okay due to the nature of Neostriker. That nature is that Neostriker is not about violence. The combat is for art and fun and where injury is very uncommon, but the underlying nature of Neostriker is spirit, particularly in the realm of logic and ideals. The focus is not to care about the gender of the combatants, but rather the debates they have or the inner growth of a character. When it comes to the rules of philosophical debates, gender plays no role and that is what David was referring to. I certainly oppose violence against women, but since the underlying focus of Neostriker is on debate and ideals, there is no reason to segregate.<br />
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Neostriker was of course originally developed with an action mindset, but like all good things, it grew to have depth as well, similar to the TV shows, movies, and games that inspired it. The action and character design were hooks, but there was real value to glean as well. I hope that Neostriker is seen that way as well, especially in the realm of heroes. It should always promote good values and propose how to properly deal with some situations. I have learned that this is important when there came a trial for me, but I was inspired to make the good choice by David in a similar situation I had in my earlier drafts.<br />
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As far as I can recall, Neostriker has almost always had philosophical elements to it. And once I decided that the central force of Neostriker was spirit, it began to take center stage. <i>Shining </i>was the turning point where the action and philosophy were about equal in content though arguably slightly more on the philosophical side. And even though I don't plan to include a story in the game I'm working on, a driving force of it is the philosophical idea that games should be fun and not frustrating, as opposed to many mobile games where they frustrate to the point you might pay. </div>
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I hope this blog post helps explain my ideals behind Neostriker and I certainly hope to have your support in growing it.<br />
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Dream on!</div>
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J. D. Nyle</div>
J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-9880961796132554222018-09-12T06:12:00.000-07:002018-09-12T06:12:03.467-07:00September UpdateI've decided to take another chance in making a Neostriker game. I've had a concept for a tactical game for a few years, by few, I mean perhaps 14 years. Yes, the game concept greatly predates <i>Shining </i>as it's based off a board game I designed to allow my friends and me to play Neostriker when we could not play outside. The concept has evolved, but the base is the same. <br /><br />Part of what took so long was the search for a game engine. The most popular ones for Indies seem to be Unity and Unreal engine. However, I found programming a 2D tactical game for them to be too difficult for my level of experience. I took a look at RPG maker, but it looked too tedious and would require a lot of heavy customization. Things changed though when I heard the news of Nintendo Switch supporting Gamemaker Studio. I read reviews on Steam of the engine and saw some saying the community support was strong. I then opened YouTube and found Sergeant Indie's tutorial series. While my game will still require a lot of changes, the base he presented was what I needed to get started.<br /><br />That being said, I have a few intentions for how I want to design this game.<br />1) Be easily replayable.<br />2) Keep grinding to a minimum.<br />3) Allow for player freedom and customization<br />4) Hide a few secrets<br />5) Allow for enjoyment of discovering mechanics<br /><br />At the moment, I do not expect to have great graphics and music as my budget is pretty low and I'm already spending a bit with little prospect of getting a return. I'll try my best at providing what I can, but my hope is that the gameplay will be good enough to obtain funding to polish up, add multiplayer, and support consoles. <br /><br />There is certainly a lot of work ahead of me, but I look forward it. Creating, when you have the right tools, is fun and so is the result. I hope you will enjoy the result of my work.<br /><br />Dream on,<br />J. D. Nyle<br /><br />P.s. if you are interested in learning about turn-based strategy and an intro into GameMaker Studio, I highly recommend Sergeant Indie's series. If you just want to learn about pathfinding, he has a video on that in the series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFAuv8mcArkU5QeQv6qec5BKbZYdaWBjbJ. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-54477629703954434482018-08-10T17:14:00.001-07:002018-08-10T17:14:36.628-07:00Does the Lord of the Rings promote Magic?<div>
While I wait for more feedback on my latest short story Intent to Join (which is <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/602880274-neostriker-sabre-drafts-intent-to-join-draft-1" target="_blank">viewable on wattpad </a>at the moment), I wrote a small thought piece after seeing people ask why some people give Tolkien and C. S. Lewis a pass on magic, but not other authors. This is my theory on the answer by looking at the One Ring</div>
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<br />If there is one thing people like to play with the most in storytelling, I'd wager it is magic. It's a fascinating subject, but if not handled properly, can lead to questionable morals. And as we cannot discuss magic in storytelling without bringing up Tolkien, whom many authors credit for inspiration, it would be good to analyze what his thoughts were. <br /><br />Tolkien can be a bit confusing since he appears to use magic everywhere. It's even acknowledged in the <i>Fellowship of the Ring</i> when the hobbits meet with some elves. In this case, it's probably best to say he applied it to whatever could not be comprehended from a purely human and real world perspective. However, if we consider the <a href="https://neostrikershining.blogspot.com/2015/11/magic-confusion-lotr-and-shining.html" target="_blank">reasons why magic is evil</a> (grasping, evil source, and possession), then we can reason that he did indeed consider that magic to be evil. And this is all exemplified by the One Ring.<br /><br /><b>Grasping</b><br /><br />To assume the One Ring only makes its wearer invisible is a critical misunderstanding. Instead, it was an amplifier. This is how everyone saw it and responded to it. Everyone who wanted the Ring was grasping for power. Even it's crafting was for the thirst of power. That is why it was given to the weak for safe-keeping. <br /><br />Recall that Sauron was not invisible when he wore the Ring, but he became more powerful. Hobbits, on the other hand, were described as naturally good at hiding, so invisibility is an amplification of that power. So rather than just an invisibility tool, it's rather an amplifier. <br /><br /><b>Power source</b><br />To assume the One Ring is simply a tool that can be used and mastered by anyone would make the Lord of the Rings books confusing. Why not simply give it to the noblest and purest of heart? <br /><br />Gandalf gives a brief statement that he could not accept the Ring even though he would initially desire to use it for good. He warned that with the Ring he would become possibly even worse than Sauron. And yet it is said he also bears one of the other rings while being a powerful wizard. To us, those would be two characteristics of magic and power. Why the discrimination? The answer is that his sources of power were good, but the Ring was forged by evil and was evil itself.<br /><br /><b>Possession</b><br /><br />Recall that the Ring is not just a Ring, but it was in fact Sauron. The magic part of the magic ring is arguably that it was Sauron. Sauron had poured his essence into the Ring. Therefore anyone who used the Ring was actually using Sauron for power. When considering the idea that Sauron was essentially the devil, this is the textbook case of magic. And at the same time, the longer one had the Ring, the more susceptible to evil they became. We can even argue the character of Gollum to be a case of possession rather than split personality, but that's would be a separate debate.<br /><br /><br /><b>Conclusion</b><div>
<br />Tolkien may have a variety of magic in his books, but he does present the core ideas of magic as evil. Grasping for power is evil; Power sourced from evil is also evil, even if the intent is good; It is evil to allow possession by evil. These ideas are perfectly portrayed in the One Ring as it is not only a symbol of evil, but also of magic.</div>
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J. D. Nyle<br /><br /><br />Disclaimer: My knowledge of Lord of the Rings comes mostly from watching the films and reading the books and attending a class on the subject. I am not Christopher Tolkien or Stephen Colbert and must defer to their expertise if they say otherwise.</div>
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J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-20515179560082158122018-07-06T22:57:00.001-07:002020-01-05T20:08:52.826-08:00Quick Analysis of a Great Opening SceneWhen you are trying to write a new story or even make a game, perhaps one of the most important tasks is making a good starting experience. Now if you were to ask me what would be a good example of a solid opening, the first answer will probably always be <i>How to Train Your Dragon</i>.<br />
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While the video I shared above cuts off the very beginning, the rest of it is pretty much solid. If you were not interested after watching the first well-done 10 minutes of the movie, then I'm not sure what will impress you. The music, transitions, choreography, monologue and dialogue, and action are excellent. It also serves as a good preview on what the rest of the film will be like. I theorize that if you make a good opening, you shouldn't need a spoiler-filled trailer to build up hype.<br />
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You have a quick introduction that is timed perfectly with fantastic music. In fact, I often listen to the soundtrack and reflect on well-done it was. <i>How to Train Your Dragon</i> does fantastic job by starting with a nice mellow but vikingish tune and scene but quickly turns to humor and epicness. Within the first 10 minutes, almost all of the themes that will be apart are covered. You are subconsciously told that there will moments of reflection, humor, epic encounters, romance, and a few twists. The only theme missing that is the core to the whole movie which is friendship.<br />
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As sort of a proof of how well the opening follows the movie, consider which characters get developed in the film. There are three: Hiccup, Stoic, and Astrid. They not only appear in that order, but their development and time spent as the focus of the movie corresponds to their time as the focus within the first few minutes. Even though Gobber is present, he's never the real focus. You know this because Gobber is used to tell us more about Hiccup (and later about Stoic or dragons) but never about himself. However, Stoic has a few scenes where he is the star of the scene and Astrid has one moment in the opening as well where she's the star. Now if you argue there's a fourth character, I would agree if you mean all of dragons. This is because they also take the focus as Hiccup informs us about a few of them which happens quite a bit throughout the film but at a good pace.</div>
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While it may take 10 minutes to present this solid picture, the fact that it is pleasant, entertaining, and well executed makes you forget about the time. I kept thinking it was 5 minutes only because of the time on the soundtrack, but when I actually analyzed, I found it was close to 10. I think it's safe to say that if we can make the audience forget about the time, then we have done a good job with our art. And if the audience is pleased after finishing the whole thing, then we did a fantastic work of art.</div>
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Dream On,</div>
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J. D. Nyle</div>
J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490445803291598834.post-35764069903199710102018-06-13T06:02:00.000-07:002018-06-13T06:02:49.285-07:00Mature StoriesSociety has a weird relationship with mature stories. I would argue that the intended audience for most mature rated content is actually the immature and there is no intention to actually maturing them. It is mostly the fantasies of the immature that are shown, and that depresses me because that is not how it should be. A good mature story is one that sets up the growth of the audience rather than the appeasement of immature fantasies.<br /><br />If you watch <i>Empire Strikes Back</i> and then <i>Return of the Jedi</i>, you can see the former is truly a more mature story while the latter is pretending to be mature in the first half. The former is a true classic, but the latter really isn't so great and was even criticized when it first came out. As an aspiring storyteller, I've grown to dislike <i>Return of the Jedi</i> more and more as I grow older, while <i>Empire Strikes Back</i> gets better and better, and I used to hate that movie.<br /><br />You don't need to show mature content in order to talk about it. For example, does a long and vivid sex scene provide any necessary information about the effects of an affair? No. You can fully and effectively discuss a topic without necessarily showing it. In fact, if you show it, then you probably will actually distract from the topic.<br /><br />My intent for Neostriker is that there will occasionally be mature stories, but not inappropriate content. There will be no sex scenes and even foul language will be in check. Even if there is language, I will likely use fictional words instead in order to bring attention to the underlying psychology and not promote use of actual bad language.<br /><br />Why this self-censoring? Because as storytellers, we also hold responsibility for promoting good, but not even all good things are appropriate for all ages. Just as honey is dangerous for an infant, so too some concepts are dangerous for those who are not yet mature enough. As you can see from the <a href="https://neostrikershining.blogspot.com/2018/04/short-story-assisting-suicidal.html" target="_blank">short story on preventing suicide</a>, there will be darker themes popping up now and then. I consider these fair topics as they are something a youth will encounter and I hope to provide a good model for then. As a result, I plan to mark the more mature stories so that it's encouraged for those too young to discuss the story with their parents. However, I do intend to continue to encourage thinking in all the stories, like is seen throughout <i>Shining</i>.<div>
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Will my new stories always be dark and mature? Not according to what I have in mind. I plan to write according to the stories I have in mind, and some series will lean towards certain levels of maturity. Though I think a good age to strive for is ones that adolescents will appreciate. If you consider that as the target group for <i>Empire Strikes Back </i>or <i>Spider-Man 2</i>, then you realize that you can actually make good stories while still being mature.</div>
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Hope you look forward to the new stories.</div>
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Dream On,</div>
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J. D. Nyle</div>
J. D. Nylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550441175042233203noreply@blogger.com0