I've Been Binge Watching

[liralen]

I've been binge watching The King's Avatar on Netflix. It's based on Chinese graphic novels which, in turn, I believe, were based on serial novels, and it's been fascinating seeing so much of what it was like to be on a competitive team. And old friend of mine recommended it and I've been really grateful for the distraction.

It's been a balm after

Comments

[2metaldog]

It's always good to hear of a religious organization that actually does good and not just lip service to the good they should be doing. That's probably my biggest bone to pick with a large number of the evangelical mega churches out there. They appear to simply take the money donated to them by their members and it never goes any further than the upper echelons of the church to maintain the lifestyle they've become accustomed to.

I consider myself spiritual but not religious. I am Pagan and while there are some Pagan groups and churches out there, most follow different deities than I do. Because of long time persecution (and some places still have "witchcraft" as an illegal activity on the books) we also tend to be somewhat secretive about meeting in groups or allowing someone new into a group. I tell people when asked directly but other than that I keep my beliefs to myself and am a solitary practitioner. Oddly enough, one of my best friends follows the same gods as me although her patron is different and another very good friend also follows the same gods, but her patron is different from me and my other friend.

I think my views on gods is what makes me enjoy writing my Divine Worship stories so much. The gods in the stories are divine beings, yes, but they also suffer from many of the things that ordinary humans do like jealousy, anger, arrogance, confusion, ignorance, love, etc. Usually those feelings are the result of the mortal who will become the love of their immortal lives.

Ondraeden is a ton of fun to write. He's an Elder God (a god who has simply existed since before time was even a thing) and the God of Fear & Nightmares. All fear that every living thing feels comes from him. He is fear itself. Because of that, he doesn't have a lot of interaction with other beings (fellow gods included) because literally everything feels fear from/around him to some degree. Except Valerian. With Valerian he's feeling emotions he knew about but had never personally experienced like jealousy, guilt, remorse and romantic love. He's arrogant (he is an Elder God) and dominating but also sweetly awkward and caring.

I'm currently trying to finish a different story than The Dire Heart (Ondraeden/Valerian). Wish Fulfillment is Kulfi/Rhyia/Akusuo (Akusuo is the God of Secrets, Wishes & Dreams) and I'm currently a bit over 141K into the story and Akusuo hasn't shown up yet and likely won't for several more chapters yet. Six other gods have popped in as secondary characters much to Kulfi's annoyance. I'm eager to get to Akusuo since he's going to throw Kulfi for a real loop and messing with my boys is my favourite game *muwahahahahah*.

[liralen]

I'm glad you've figured out a way that works for you!! And it's fun seeing how that informs your writing as well. Thank you so much.

I really appreciate knowing more about why you're working on what you're working on as well. So neat... and it's always fun to mess with the characters.