Summer Camp Prep 2025

1.6.25

- So it begins

I'm dealing with a lot in my life right now and I'm not certain I'll have the mental capacity to participate in Summer Camp this year, but the way I figure it right now if I act as though I can't then it's guaranteed to fail, but if I commit to putting in my best effort I'll manage something. If nothing else, right now i need to live with some damn hope so let's do this.

I'm committing to Gold this year and I'm thinking I'll put the work for this round in Isesda, but who knows. If I think of something that fits better in NDA then I'll put it there. I'm not gonna be too harsh on that. My reasoning for focusing on Isesda is that NDA is already so close to the real world that I don't have a good idea for how to mix in the theme of nourishment without coming across as arbitrary, and I'd really like NDA's worldbuilding to remain focused on things that would be relevant. Well, either that or I write 50 articles about Vampires again and I'm pretty sure that would be annoying at best. So yeah, Isesda's got more open canvas to work with.

My pledge doc is filled and I'm clearly thinking. As for outdated articles that need revision, we'll see what I can do. For now, this is more than nothing and that's what I'm really aiming for.

13.6.25

- Digging my roots

I originally created the first small section of Isesda somewhere around '99, centering around the kingdom of Atreus and the northern edge of Larathorn. I think it's high time I really focused in and revised what I've created for that region. There's a lot of crap that's piled up over the years and while I'm a fan of letting worldbuilding organically grow as a form of enabling the unreliable narrator vibe I do believe there's value in the occasional spring cleaning.

Now, what appears here is far from the first form of that content, but my explorations of the world have wandered far from that original scope for better or worse and I'd like to really dig into it and see what's worth keeping, what needs polishing, and what merits expansion.

I'll also, as the prompt suggests, find some time today or tomorrow to review Isesda's homepage. I've never been fully satisfied with it so this is a good opportunity to re-center.

As for the state of personal life matters, I think I'll leave that to a journal post later.

23.6.25

- Still here, knocking out weeks 3 and 4 together

Life continues and so do I. Looking at the changes my world has gone through, it's been relatively quiet in recent years with the major players remaining relatively unchanged. I think what I really need to do is summarize the major timeline events and geopolitical powers that make them up. That should help me get a better handle on what I've got now. I recently enjoyed the audiobook for M. L. Wang's Blood Over Bright Haven and I have to say it was refreshing. While I absolutely love the urban fantasy kick I've been on lately, an enjoyable necessity for my work on NDA, it's nice to step back into a fully fantasy world (even if the themes do hit oh so close to home).

Beyond this, I decided to fall back into the Elder Scrolls iceberg since I can listen to lore videos on my phone while I job hunt. I've always loved the unreliable narrator and while I wish Elder Scrolls did a bit more to differentiate the cultures from the fantasy races, something I'm trying to do with my own work and which is deeply important to me as an anthropologist, the depth of creativity presented here is jaw dropping. There's a reason I've sunk so many hours of my life into the world of these often deeply silly games.

I've read a few articles when I've had a few minutes, and I've gotta say I'm always so impressed by you lovely people. The worlds folks here build and the dedication shown are simply wonderful. As I've said before, I'm not sure how much time I'll reasonably be able to put toward worldbuilding this year with everything else going on, but the continuous work and improvement I see from you all is inspiring.

Jumping into the final week assignments, I'm faced with something of a dilemma. I've not really thought about what's next for this world as I'm still looking to revise and improve what I've already been created so the timeline at least feels consistent. I want the world to feel more alive and real, not in a statistical way but in an immersive way. I want to illustrate what daily life is like in the various regions and how the myriad cultures blend and interact. I know the major political tensions between Atreus, Vel, Axia, and Derathain, but there's got to be more to it than that. There's got to be the mundane existence of regular folk. Their work, their homes, their art, music, food. That's what I feel I need to really flesh out. Once I've got that, I think I'll have a much clearer image of what's likely to happen next.

Now, as for how I get there, I have no idea. I'm going to try to put 30 minutes each morning after I first check my inbox to write before I delve back into the nightmare that is the June 2025 job market, but I think that will be heavily dependent on other pressures that arise. I'm not homeless yet, so that's good, and it looks like we'll make it into August if we're careful, but it makes it difficult to say what I can put into this endeavor that is ultimately something I do because it's in me and needs an outlet rather than something which puts food in the pantry. I know normally I'd bounce ideas off my beloved spouse, but with everything else weighing on us right now that feels like a poor choice. I don't know, but what I can promise is a non-zero number of words written. More than that is hope.

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks.

28.6.25

- Today's the day

Just popping one last note in here to wish everyone the best of luck with your Summer Camp runs. Let's do our best.