#I fudged the history a little for my agendas

[moviemunchies]

How the fudge do I even begin talking about this movie? I kept seeing that this movie was amazing, and so I figured I’d try watching it while it was on Netflix. And let’s be straightforward here, it IS amazing, but it’s also insane to think about.

So I don’t know how to start, but I’m going to give it a try.

RRR is an Indian film in Telugu (though Netflix doesn’t have it in that language) featuring real-life Indian heroes Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem as best friends fighting against the British Raj in the 1920’s. Director S.S. Rajamouli wondered what it would be like if the two of them knew each other, and fought together in their efforts to make India independent of the English. The result is an action movie with such amazing and ridiculous over-the-top action sequences (including a dance number!) which cares less about historical accuracy and more about making the most awesome movie imaginable.

And it works???

I’ve been turning this over in my head days after I saw it, because let’s face it: this is nationalist propaganda. I’m trying to figure out why this doesn’t bother me as much as something like Ip Man, which is also transparently nationalist propaganda–part of the Plot of that movie is proving that a Chinese martial art is better than a Japanese martial art. That’s a bit excusable in that instance because it takes place in World War II and the Japanese were not kind to the people they colonized. But it felt really off that the movie’s ending implies that China defeated Japan on their own (they very much didn’t) and China today is more and more happy to oppress its people in pursuing its own nationalist agenda.

[Also Ip Man is still a pretty good movie overall so don’t take this as me hating that movie. But I have problems with it.]

Which is not to say that Indian nationalism can’t be problematic! Oh, it can. But this movie is less ‘We’re better than the colonizer nation’ as much as “We’re awesome, they shouldn’t be oppressing us, we’re not taking credit for winning wars we didn’t win.” Also, it’s worth noting that the Koh-i-Noor is still a part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

It’s also worth noting that while both Ip Man and RRR are about real-life historical figures, it’s not as if you’ll watch RRR and think of it as being remotely accurate to the true history of things. Look, when characters are able to punch out tigers, I like to think that the audience can realize that some artistic liberties have been taken.

Or maybe I’m just massively overthinking this. It is a movie in which one of the characters is introduced hunting a tiger by leading a wolf to it.

This is a three-hour film, but you are not going to get bored with it. Yes, there are scenes that are not over-the-top action scenes, but they’re all interesting. I wouldn’t say that everything is overdramatic, because that implies something like a tedious soap opera drama. But it is definitely playing into a style of storytelling that plays up the dramatic elements to ensure that every single scene is memorable.

It’s a big, loud, action movie, and its battle scenes are utterly ridiculous in many ways. Raju and Bheem are each a one man army that can curb stomp any enemies that come up against them with very little effort. It’s absurd but it’s oddly satisfying to watch. If you’re a fan of those kinds of fight scenes you’ll find a lot to like here. If you haven’t been exposed to it, you may find yourself becoming a fan.

It’s just darn, fun, man! Which is odd to expect in a movie about fighting colonialism. Maybe that’s more common in India, but in the US our movies tend to make those things into much darker films.

Like I said, there is no way on Netflix to watch it in the original language. It’s also weird because the English character speak in English, but the subtitles don’t always exactly match their dialogue? Maybe that’s something about the Hindi dub, which is what I watched.

There was also a notice before the film began that almost all of the animals in the movie are CGI. It’s pretty obvious with some of them, like the wolves and the tigers. That doesn’t bother me too much, because it seems like making realistic animals was not always the goal–this is a mythic story, so of course the creatures are larger than life.

If you can accept an upbeat, turned-up-to-eleven, three-hour action film in which two Indian bros loosely based off of real-life heroes fight English imperialism, you’ll love this movie. If you can’t, then you might see this movie as too silly for its own good. But once you get into it, it’s loads of fun and an unforgettable film.

[loveatfirstwriteblog]

A Complete Analysis of Harry Potter

Like a lot of kids, we probably grew up on Harry potter. We were obsessed and rightly so. The universe created in the world of Harry Potter was, and is, a hugely successful one because of the fact it gave kids a world where magic exists! It seemed to be a great world to live in and it made even better with the fact that it included elements of empowerment, Whether it be showing girls can be just as successful if not more in various pursuits(Hermione), or the fact that even if you have a history of bad events, you can have a good heart(Hagrid), Harry Potter teaches us a lot.

JKR has written a mind-blowing plot in a world of magic, wizards, witches, wands, potions, friendship, love. Our inner-five-year olds--and actually most of our young adult selves too--jumps around excitedly at the beautifully penned words that creates an exit out of this world and into one where magic does exist. 

As you get older, though, you begin to think of Harry Potter in a more critical fashion. The thought of “oh my god, it’s magic” no longer completely overrides my mind, but more of “but what are the laws regarding this? Can people just do this whenever they want? Are there no ethics?” 

No matter how much we’re going to expose the flaws and plot holes in HP now, we’ll always love the books--we grew up on them! But some things just niggle you as you get older, and that’s what we’re going to be focusing on in this post.

Something I adore about the HP books is that everyone, including the “good guys”, has flaws. Harry has a “save the world alone, do first, think later” complex, a driving force that makes him go save Sirius, Ron is very, very insecure to a point where he ditches Harry twice, probably when Harry needed him the most, Hermione is a judgemental, narrow-minded nag (her thoughts on Luna, divination, Trelawney, basically anything that doesn’t fit her black and white world), Molly Weasley is misogynistic and blatantly favourites her children—probably being one of the main factors behind Ron’s insecurities, Arthur is condescending towards Muggles and makes several comments you cringe at while reading the books as a young adult/adult, Sirius, Snape, and Lupin still haven’t let go of their childhood grudges and hatred, etc etc etc. 

These flaws are what make these characters so three-dimensional, so layered, so human. But the problem was, most of these flaws are never intentionally acknowledged. And honestly, that could have been such a good character arc, because the main characters are mostly students. No student is the same through their teenage years—they change, they evolve, they get over their flaws, they try to better themselves. I would have loved to see Ron becoming his own person, Hermione opening her mind up a little, etc. 

Neville is not one of my favourites, but I love his growth and development, from someone who was scared of his potions professor to a man who faced down Lord Voldemort. Ginny Weasley could have had character development, from the trauma she went through in second year, but that was never written in.  She went through this terrifying ordeal when she was only twelve years old, and jump to a year or two later and she’s absolutely fine, with no transition from her trauma whatsoever.

Some of JKR’s characters are brilliantly written and fleshed out, but some of her others lack the structure and complexity that usually comes with being vital to the plot—Ginny Weasley for one. Her internalised misogyny also plays a huge part in the way her female characters are written. We see this again in the case of how she wrote the character of Ginny. 

Ginny Weasley is not a favourite of ours (if you don’t know that by now). She feels a lot like a convenient male daydream—when she waits for Harry to notice her by dating other guys, gets annoyed by Hermione “not knowing quidditch”, etc etc—and fits the “not like other girls” archetype too much, almost like she was made for it (hint hint). She’s portrayed to be strong-willed, spunky, and independent, and I love the idea, but I really don’t see it. To me, she’s a very shallow character, the least fleshed out one. 

Just like James Potter wasn’t necessarily redeemed just because JKR said he was, and Ginny isn’t interesting just because JKR writes that she is. 

Hermione also fits the archetype, but she’s JKR’s self-insert, so we really can’t say much about that. 

To make things worse, Ginny and Hermione are pitted against each other in a very subtle way. Ginny is the sporty, pretty, flirty girl who’s never single from book 4. Hermione is the not-conventionally-attractive, nerdy girl who’s had a few dates here and there but never a relationship. They’re very different characters (the only thing they have in common is the archetype) but they’re against each other in the defence of Harry. 

Another place where JKR’s misogyny shows up is the way other girls are written. Lavender Brown is shown as vapid and immature, just because she likes clothes and boys and didn’t know how to handle her first relationship. Cho Chang is perceived as shallow because she’s emotional. Pansy Parkinson is seen to be throwing herself at Draco Malfoy. The Weasleys hated Fleur because she was beautiful and sexy and French, and that was ever really resolved in the end (Molly accepted her, but we never got Ginny’s and Hermione’s opinions again). You see where we’re getting at? The typical “girly girls” are portrayed as insipid, shallow, emotional, and boring, while girls like Hermione and Ginny are seen to be fun and multilayered. 

The problems with Harry Potter don’t just stop with non-fleshed out characters. There are plot devices that go unacknowledged, issues like blood purity—which is the basis of Voldemort’s tyranny—are never really resolved, huge Chekhov’s guns that aren’t fired. 

A common misconception, which if cleared up could probably expose a load of problems in wizarding society by itself, is that the wizarding world is racist. It’s not racist. Muggles and Muggleborns are not a different race, they’re a different class, at least according to pureblood wizards. Mudblood is a classist insult (a direct reference to nobility blueblood and aristocracy).

Another factor that wasn’t talked about but made the HP world so complex and realistic is the inherent classism in every single pureblooded wizard, including the Weasleys.

 The “Light” wizards all operate on the notion “at least I don’t kill or torture Muggles”. The Weasleys refuse to talk about Molly’s squib cousin who’s an accountant, the Longbottoms were so desperate for Neville to not be a squib they nearly killed him trying to force magic out of him, Ron makes fun of Filch for being a squib, thinks house-elves are beneath him, and confounds his driving instructor in his mid-thirties, the ministry workers kept obliviating that muggle at the quidditch World Cup, etc. 

This could have been a metaphor for how small prejudices and microaggressions (kind of the wizarding equivalent of white privilege) enable discrimination and murder, if JKR had actually acknowledged it. 

The parallel to Nazi Germany is very twisted and definitely shouldn’t be taken too far, but the Nazi ideology grew on the basis of everyday antisemitism, “that’s not that bad” little things. Voldemort’s circle and army grew because the wizard superiority complex festered and blew up in some people, egged on by a deeply classist society. 

Ultimately, Harry Potter has very, very shoddy worldbuilding, the kind of worldbuilding that’s obsessed with answering the “what” of the wizarding world, rather than the “how” or the “why”, which is strange, considering that fantasy or dystopian-era novels’ driving plots and conflicts are usually answering the questions the worldbuilding raises--The Hunger Games and The Shadowhunter Chronicles are two of the best examples of brilliantly written YA fantasy and dystopian novels. 

In HP, however, the main plot just avoids the questions the worldbuilding brings up like the bubonic plague. 

Voldemort’s agenda is built on prejudice towards Muggles and Muggleborns, but the plot just validates the negative perception of them—at the end of the day, being a wizard is what’s special. The Statute of Secrecy is the foundation of the main concept—blood supremacists believe wizards shouldn’t be hidden away—but only vague, barely-there answers are given to why it exists (a Chekhov’s gun that was never fired). 

There are love potions that function like date rape drugs (even Harry was given one by a girl who wanted him to ask her out), potions that force people to tell the truth, potions that literally let you disguise yourself as another person, but the ethics are never talked about, and the laws are so lax that three twelve-year-olds broke them and were never caught. 

But at the same time, the worldbuilding is so authentic, because it transforms the wizarding world into straight-up fridge horror. The everyday horrors are just accepted and rolled with. A corrupt government, constant obliviation of Muggles, slavery that isn’t even talked about. These things aren’t obvious to us as readers, or to the wizards as characters, because they match up to the real world, which is filled with things that are horrifying if you dig deeper. The multiple, normalised forms of abuse, police brutality, the violence in prisons that nothing is done about, the glaringly obvious cultural problems we have with consent, etc. 

The abusive authoritative figures in HP, like Rufus Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge, Dumbledore, Umbridge, etc, are so authentic because real-life politicians and people in high places of power behave that way, and their abuse is excused. 

The wizarding world is just like the real world. Corrupt, prejudiced, messed up, but if you’re privileged, or at least have certain privileges, you’re probably not going to notice. The ultimate problem is that the plot doesn’t acknowledge a lot of fridge horror things are messed up either, which is why it miserably fails. 

[sextonsharpwinhalstead]

Chicago Med Review 4x03 Heavy Is the Head

It looks like Chicago Med is back to following it’s every other episode pattern. Last episode was the crossover, and, in my opinion, it was weaker than the premiere. This episode did NOT disappoint.

On One Chicago Day Brian Tee hinted that this was his favorite episode for Ethan to date and honestly, I can understand why. I wasn’t sure how they were going to play out the gun/dad hostage situation and truthfully, I was worried Med was entering bootleg John Q territory but the climax to that resolution was shocking! Like Med WENT there. They showed that guy blowing his brains out to save his son’s life, because profits matter more than patients (I’ll get back to that a minute). Every step, every decision, Ethan made he had to wonder if he was making the right call, handling things the only way he knows how. And he wasn’t without his critics.

April did not want him to immediately call the police and I can understand why. But he did, and the situation unfolded in a way he didn’t count on. To add insult to injury for whatever reason the writers have decided to make Emily mentally challenged cause some how she has no idea how to work a microwave and burned something which cause Ethan to fly-off the handle and yell at her. A move April caught and judged him on too. (Real quick are these two together? On a break? Or broken up?) I’m confused and so is Ethan. He snapped on her and to be honest, it was a valid assessment of the situation. April clams up when she is angry and frustrated instead of voicing her feelings about why she feels the way she does. But to be fair; that’s the writers’ fault. April has lacked agency since this show began. We don’t really know who she is. We know she’s stubborn, soft hearted, naturally nurturing, and bends over backwards for others but that’s not personality. Not really, it robs her of intellect, so we never get a rebuttal to Choi and we won’t; because they have no idea why April does what April does. Their inconsistencies don’t lend her to be a woman with nuanced thought who understands that every situation does not require the same response. That could be an answer to Choi. But like I said; it won’t.

In the end we got the same tired ass dynamics of her comforting him and us not knowing her motives or feelings about ALSO witnessing someone blow his brains out in front of them. Med do better by your women!

Let’s talk about the women in this episode because this was a heavily feminized episode if you didn’t notice. (Not necessarily executed in respect but women outnumbered the men 2:1).

First let’s start with Sharon and Gwen.

Did anyone else wonder when Stohl’s contract was up? He was gone two episodes later and in a sad new way that Med’s been doing lately his departure wasn’t even announced. In steps Dr. Lanik and out steps all protocol and common decency. I get the Lanik is Gwen’s “man” but when the hell does the COO start making the decisions she was making? The whole situation reeked and in my opinion a hospital would start asking why they needed Sharon’s position at all when nothing was put through her. Gwen is shaping up to be the Robert Haywood shaped hole in my canonical villain life. Cause she’s going to bounce out of this tragedy like it’s any other day and keep her on agenda. Watch. Lanik…I don’t know. He was shook. And to be honest he doesn’t come across nearly villainous enough to continue fostering the current climate in the ED.

Natalie, Elsa, and Daniel.

First things first. I was raised Christian for the first twenty years of my life. I don’t practice the faith anymore but when I did I never met any Christians as disillusioned as the ones Med writes. To be honest it’s ridiculous. There are few modern women, who are trying to have babies, who aren’t privy to what an ectopic pregnancy is. They are always fatal to the baby and almost always fatal to the mother if left untreated. There is no new way to be re-planted into the uterus and thus the pregnancy is not viable. I know Catholics who know and honor this too. So why they felt the need to go all the way there was lazy and took away from what could’ve been an even more impactful and frankly frightening story. Did Elsa misuse the machine, so she could fudge the test results and save the mother’s life? I’m leaning towards probably. Does Daniel have a fucking leg to stand when it comes to being manipulative when trying to control the outcome of situation? Y’all already know the answer to that question. The fact is that she didn’t bow down to the sage knowledge of Daniel Charles when he approached her in the dining hall. He assessed she was an intelligent woman who really didn’t care about patient medicine and already had her future mapped out. What Med still won’t do is allow her to be truly aloof about it. Elsa wouldn’t care if the patient decided to basically die instead of getting the surgery, she would’ve pulled an Okafor, shrugged her shoulders and walked out to find the next case. Natalie was there to play up the narrative of why what Elsa was doing and HOW she was doing it was wrong but, in all honesty, when the fuck has anyone on this show gave the patients the respect of their autonomy? Especially Natalie, but maybe she’s learned from past? If she had than they should have had her mention it (like with the orthorexic mom).

But this isn’t about that; this is about making sure that no woman on Med dares to be the smartest one in the room and it will punish any of them that attempts to own it too. The men on the show play God all the time and aside from Will none of them have gotten the jilting or stern wake-up call to cool it like the women have. Too many of the women’s arcs on this show prove they are either frauds, or indecisive. I don’t think Elsa is either, and it’ll be hard for Dr. Charles to find mistakes she’s made because her personality type is A, and those types don’t make mistakes.

The last woman I’m going to mention is Ava. Oh, how the mighty have been dragged to the ground. Did anyone else catch the way her eyes slightly watered with rage when she talked about advocating for Connor for the hybrid surgery room. Yeah…I’m calling it, she fucked his dad. All so he could kick her out of the OR. This is not what I wanted out of this character and it’s a disservice if they want her to be a fully-fleshed out lead (which they don’t). Ava is a prop for Connor and it’s an unfair and sexist storyline I’m frankly tired of. Also, how is going from an OR scrub nurse to a Charge nurse a demotion? I did appreciate the little Maggie tidbit of history. Maybe that’s how she and Sharon became close. Anyway, this story was secondary only to the growing size of Connor’s ego. Boy I miss season one Connor. This douchebag is the worst.

Finally, was the Halsteads story. I enjoyed it for several reasons; mainly leaving the hospital. I loved all the little Irish bits of history and culture weaved into the memorial. That saying “May you be in heaven a half-hour before the devil knows your dead” still runs a chill down by my spine. But they brought a light-heartedness to it that I appreciated. I personally do not see Will giving up the venue for the wedding and it’ll end up being some messy crossover event that’ll split the Halstead brothers further…only time will tell.

I will say this; the episode was good but I’m not sure who is wearing the crown that holds the weight.

[so-honey-sing]

ice cream asks: answer all of them :)

jeez you really wanna make this hard for me ugh this is about to be really long so im making it read more

chocolate: when was your first kiss?- I think I told you this, it was at 11 with a boy a year older who i thought was coolish and my friends kinda pressured me into dating

french vanilla: How old are you?- I’m 19, its in my bio and im the same age as you

Cotton Candy: three places you wish to travel to- I want to go to Paris, Barcelona, and Prague are up there. I wanna go everywhere tbh

Strawberry: A language you wish you could speak- I think i really need to learn spanish, and ive got a couple on the go that im trying to learn like italian and norwegian

Coffee: Favorite cosmetic brands- I love rimmel london, bourgious, and a couple other like drugstore brands. i really wanna try fenty beauty but im super broke

mint chocolate chip: indoors or outdoors?- depends on the day, but i do like being outside

cookie dough: do you play any instruments?_ piano a little, ukulele a little, guitar a little

rocky road: favorite songs at the moment?- Kiss the Boy- Keiynan Lonsdale, anything by Hayley Kiyoko, make me feel- Janelle Monae. can you tell im gay by my music taste?

butter pecan: favorite songs for life?- Girls Like Girls-Hayley Kiyoko definitely, Party in the USA, Take a Hint from Victorious is practically my anthem at this point ;)

cheesecake: what’s your zodiac sign?- Leo

toasted coconut: the beach or the pool?- the beach definitely

chocolate chip: what’s your most popular post?- I have no idea and im not gonna check. maybe one of the ones about being gay

bubblegum: books or movies?- both

pistachio: manga or anime?- anime i guess

salted caramel: favorite movies?- Pride and prejudice (2005) is amazing and I will argue with anyone about this

birthday cake: favorite books?- Matilda will always be my favorite book, but i love the Harry Potter books, simon vs the homosapiens agenda and the upside of unrequited are fantastic

moose tracks: favorites for manga?- i used to read the cardcaptor sakura mangas so them i guess

orange sherbet: favorites for anime?- yuri on ice of course, cardcaptor sakura. i dont really watch anime

peanut butter: favorite academic subject?- history. if i didnt wwant to be an elementary school teacher id be a history teacher

black raspberry: do you have any pets?- nope

mango: when and why did you start your blog?- last year, because i deleted my old, great one.

mocha: ideal weather conditions?- just warm enough with plenty of sunshine, and rain

black cherry: four words that describe you?- compassionate, opinionated, gay, stressed

neapolitan: things that stress you out?- everything lmao. mostly school

raspberry truffle: favorite kind of music?- basically anything, i dont have a preference

chocolate marshmallow: favorite brands of candy?- cadburys, haribo, anything sweet lol

toffee: a card game that you’re good at?- none. im crap at cards

lemon custard: do you eat breakfast?- nope never

dark chocolate: turn ons?- people who are passionate about things, people who care, neck kisses, being emotionally intimate

fudge: turn offs?- if my partner isnt feeling comfortable and happy, men

peach: how do you relax?- mostly tumblr, reading, face masks, writing, mindless comedy tv

praline: a popular book you haven’t read yet?- okay youre gonna judge me along with every other american kid but i never read the giving tree as a kid

superman: do you like sweaters?- fuck yes

cherry: do you drink tea or coffee?- both

dulce de leche: an instrument you wish you could play?- piano better, violin, and guitar better. i wish i could sing too if that counts

blackberry: have you ever laughed so hard you cried?- yep, i laugh a lot so its bound to happen

ginger: a new feature you wish tumblr could have?- hmmm just being functional and better in general lmao

blueberry lemon: favorite blogs?- you, evanhcnsen, i have a couple more that i cant think of rn bc its very late

almond: favorite mean girls quote?- on wednesdays we wear pink. duh.

butterscotch: what color are your nails right now?- two different shades of pink. Ballet slippers by essie, and room for two by opi

cinnamon: have you ever been confessed to?- yes i think?

blue moon: have you ever had a crush on someone?- hmm have i? would you say that i have a crush on someone right now? ;)

cappuccino crunch: do you take naps?- not on purpose lol

mint: the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?- oh jeez. spilling that drink earlier was pretty embarrassing. idk what else

brownie batter: do you like sushi?- yes i do

key lime: where do you want to be right now?- is with you an option? that or bed

red velvet: do you wear prescription glasses?- nope, 20/20 vision yall 

green tea: favorite flavors of ice cream?- chocolate, cookie dough, dulce de leche

[jreynoldsward]

Sense of place in the Goddess’s Honor Series

I've been wanting to write this blog for a while, but every time I sit down to write about this subject my thinking points go careening off into the glaciated (well, these days not-so-glaciated) peaks of the Wallowas and I decide that maybe it's a better use of my time to go ride the horse and then sew a quilt or work on a book. So I do that instead of writing the blog. Then, later, as I'm drowsing off, the points come galloping back, demanding my attention. Granted, the sense of place in writing isn't the only blog topic that wakes me up when I'm trying to drop off into sleep (or mugs me in the middle of a road ride), but sense of place in writing the topic I grabbed on today. My recent visit to Portland slammed home hard that awareness of how I use sense of place when we went skiing. These days I don't get up on the Mountain much, except to visit with my friend Phyllis or the occasional ski trip during the spring ski season. We've been holding out for the much less expensive spring ski passes the last couple of years, the ones that pay for themselves after two visits. Some years we go over Hood at least once during the summer to go back to Enterprise, or visit people in Bend before going to Enterprise, but last year wasn't one of those times. So when we drove up the Mountain and we got into the big cedars near Tollgate Campground, I immediately had the flash of "This is Medvara" when I drove through that grove of old cedars around the rocky point protruding into the Zigzag River. Ever since I started working in the Goddess's Honor world, that little section on Mount Hood has always been in the back of my mind when writing the Medvara sequences in the Goddess's Honor books, just like the big Ponderosa pine forests bordering the great grassy ridgetop flats and deep river canyons of Wallowa country inspire the Keldara and Clenda settings. That cedar grove has always meant Medvara, even when the nation had a different name. Alicira had a major confrontation with her nemesis Zauril there, nothing that's been put into the books (yet). Further down the river is where Rekaré kills her father Zauril and becomes Medvara's new Leader. Even though the grove had no influence or appearance in the new Goddess's Honor book, Challenges of Honor, it's still an influence. Of course no one real-world inspiration of a fantasy world setting maps 100% on that fantasy world. Even authors working in realistic fiction with real-life settings will fudge small details of a location to make the story work, though less so than someone working in fantastic fiction. I'm no exception to that rule, though my sense of place can be a bit bizarre and weird when I'm putting together a story. While most of the settings in the first part of Pledges of Honor are drawn first from Northeastern Oregon/Southeastern Washington Wallowa/Palouse country, there's one section with a hot spring that comes from a real-life hot spring visit in Southern Oregon many years ago, in similar rugged country. And the Dry Line is more than visible when you drive westward on Interstate 84 toward Portland, as you enter The Dalles. The mosaic of place in the new Goddess's Honor book, Challenges of Honor, is much more fragmented. While Challenges has some scenes in Keldara and Clenda, most of the action takes place in Medvara and then in the southern reaches of the Saubral lands between Medvara and Keldara. But most of the story takes place in Medvare-the-city, a location shaped not so much by places I've been as much as pictures. The Leader's House in Medvara is a rambling edifice made of wood, with several wings and courtyards that probably owe something to McMenamin's Edgefield Manor as much as anything else, perhaps with a nod to another McMenamin's property, the Kennedy School. It has gardens (hello, Rose Test Garden and the Ladd's Addition rose garden) and shrines as well as a Great Hall. Because it's on the confluence of the Saktrin and Chellana Rivers, and Challenges is a summer book, it is hot, muggy, and smoky from forest fires (and I should have emphasized that element more but alas, I just don't write summer settings well). Then events take another swing, and we end up in a horseback pursuit through the sagebrush desert, culminating in a battle fought in a small river meadow at the bottom of a steep canyon. I recently made a trip down to the area that inspired that setting, and got several pictures of some of the settings as they would look in the spring. That said, I also found more settings that will be playing roles in future writings--not just in Goddess's Honor but in my Oregon Country and other weird/alt-history Western fantasies. I've tried to find an appropriate label for what I'm wanting to do with this world, because it's definitely not classic faux-European setting. Ruling structures are one thing that I don't want to play around with too much simply because those changes don't fit the story I'm wanting to write. The settings, however, are flexible and fascinate me. I've been collecting settings and site impressions for years. They may not always come across in my writing, but I can travel somewhere that's inspired a story and had that sudden sense of place--this is Medvara--flash across my awareness like driving through that grove the other day did. Of all my works, I'd have to say that Goddess's Honor is the one most driven by place impressions, with the Netwalk series running a close second (at least the early books). We'll see what the books to come bring to the table. I don't know. What do you think? Apologies for the shameless shilling below, but I've got more work coming out soon and book babies need pretty new covers! Like my work and want to buy me a coffee? Ko-Fi link here: <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ko-fi.com/widgets/widget_2.js'></script><script type='text/javascript'>kofiwidget2.init('Buy Me a Coffee', '#46b798', 'I2I69R9Z');kofiwidget2.draw();</script>  New Releases Currently Available: Fantasy: Challenges of Honor: Change is coming eleven years after the events that transformed Katerin Healer into Katerin ea Miteal and catapulted Rekaré ea Miteal to the Leadership of Medvara. Katerin’s daughter Witmara grows stronger in magic while studying under Alicira, Katerin’s cousin and Rekaré’s mother. Rekaré struggles with her mixed feelings toward her leadership and her daughter Melarae. When a challenge to Rekaré arises from a recent Daran Empire exile, Chiral, as Alicira’s health fails, Katerin must choose between remaining obscure, or fully claim her role as a Miteal. The Seven Crowned Gods have their own agenda. What are the consequences of thwarting Chiral’s schemes, and why are the Gods meddling now? Katerin and Rekaré are faced with many challenging choices but not all are honorable—or wise. Books to Read Universal Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/3L9PN7 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYZZMSQ Science Fiction: Netwalk's Children: NEW EDITION WITH NEW COVER! The mysterious war machine device known as the Gizmo is getting restless and trying to use Melanie’s daughter Bess and her nephew Richard as a means of escape from its confinement. Meanwhile, problems arise with potential rogue Netwalkers tied not just to Melanie’s past but to her parents and the original capture of the Gizmo. Can Melanie work with her estranged Netwalker grandmother Sarah as well as Bess to stop the Gizmo and deal with past shadows that threaten to dominate Bess’s future? Books to Read Universal Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/b5nw63 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017UZE03A Learning in Space: Bess and Alex: Bess Fielding and Alex Jeffreys are committed to a future in space with Bess’s family company, Do It Right. But that future comes with a steep learning curve in a place where the simplest mistake can be deadly…and not all those mistakes are naturally caused. Being a leader in new space technologies doesn’t stop sabotage from happening, however. As one of the leading production companies in space, Do It Right can be a target for the disgruntled and the ambitious. Nonetheless, Bess and Alex learn more about space and each other, until…good times come to an end…. Books to Read Universal Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/38gYVL Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077HDTPHP