May 2020 Writing Challenges: Week 3

I knew taking on so many challenges meant there would be some missed prompts but y'all! I've been struggling so much just to even get one writing/reading challenge response out there. What a crazy couple of months it's been!
Another worry is that our state is not really complying well to the stay-at-home order and they're talking about opening up more group facilities at 25% capacity. I have to wonder if a group of people who can't seem to grasp the importance of following a simple set of rules will be able to process the responsibility placed on them when dealing with additions to those rules. Our covid-19 numbers aren't improving yet (at least, not from what we read on the updates...they're increasing, actually, since things have opened up more) so how is it possible they think we can open things up even more? I'm quite happy to stay home a bit longer if it means my children and I can avoid that awfully invasive test. (Another question is, if it's so contagious and you can get it so easily, how come you have to have a q-tip tickling your brain to get results? Anyone else wondering about the validity of that? Just curious...)
Argh! It's too heavy for me to dwell on. I'm just going to go ahead and share these challenge responses with you.

#1WordPromptChallenge Days 15 - 21

I love aesthetic boards. And since I haven't done many during the last few challenges, I've been taking the opportunity to create more. I hope you enjoy these.

• Day 15 - Experience - Left to right the inspiration photos I used for Serafin, Ammir Kol Udota, Zashi Outh'n Durr, Zashi Binya, Zashi Se Lyn Abel, and Guard Eiva Di'Amo. Each of these characters have far more experience than my MC and all play their part in helping her on her journey.
• Day 16 - Dodge - The first series of training scenes in Surge were so fun to write. They were also hard because choreography isn't so easy for me to visualize, much less write down. Anyway, I hope you'll find something enjoyable or intriguing in the line I shared for this prompt. You can find it below.
• Day 17 - Allow - No post
• Day 18 - Mature - No post
• Day 19 - Young - This is a collage I made on Polyvore several years ago. It wasn't for this MC but it fits her pretty well. It's set off to one side because I was still learning how to use the app. My MC is young but not as young as a 16-year-old in our universe. Y'Dahnndryan years are longer than ours. She is, however, the youngest of my characters.
  
• Day 20 - Broken - The Myrr are the collective group of guards on Yacan. They are broken into three groups: 'ya, 'li, and 'vo. (More info under the episodic lines challenge.)
• Day 21 - Fixed - No post

Day 16 - Dodge - By the end of the day, she was able to dodge, slam, swipe, spin, roll, pounce, and jump-kick an opponent.

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#CandleLoversMay20 / #MindfulnessMay Days 15 - 21

• Day 15 - Pets - "The Kingfisher Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia" and "The Encyclopedia of Awesome Animals" entertained and educated our kids about all kinds of animals, including some kept as pets. The workbook, whose cover you can see clearly, is a pet care guide focused on dogs which we picked up at the 4-H office years ago. Our son loved 4-H when we lived in Texas. Then when we moved to Louisiana, there was so much paperwork involved, he hated it. 🙃 We kept the books, though, since the information is still helpful.
• Day 16 - Compliments - What book could be better for the prompt #compliments than a book about etiquette? I love that I found Emily Post's book on etiquette during a library book haul last autumn. The flowers are from my Mother's Day bouquet. They've been lasting really well! And the tea is red raspberry leaf.
  

I didn't have any posts for the rest of the prompts. I just ran out of time in my day.

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#WIPSoundtrack2020 Days 15 - 21

• Day 15 - The Conflict - My MC's biggest conflict is within herself. She must overcome everything that hinder her, from a fear of total darkness to fear of water and beyond if she's going to take her rightful place. Feral Spirit - Paelowolf
  
• Day 16 - The Hero - I had a hard time with this one. My MC wouldn't consider herself a hero, and most heroes who are true heroes (at least in my experiece) do the same. As this book dwells most on her training to reach a certain goal, it was hard to pinpoint a 'hero' for this book. I decided on Edrea. She's the last of her kind, the ancient race of I'ia called the Terreilia. She gave all she had to help humanity during the Great Cataclysm and barely survived. Though alone, the Creator gave her a choice - stay and continue to help humanity or follow her fellow Terreilia into their eternal rest. She chose to stay and it wasn't the easiest decision. Because she chose others rather than self, the Creator blessed her with extra abilities and a way to extend her life on Y'Dahnndrya. Though the last of her kind, because of the bond she shares with those who come to Yacan and the stronger bond she shares with Serafin, she's never truly alone. Botania - Paleowolf
  
• Day 17 - The Villain - Eiva Di'Amo isn't your average villain. She's arrogant, proud, and envious, though, and it drives her to act in a way which leaves her on the outside of Yacan's society. Outh'n Durr is the only one who is close to her, but does he even know what goes on in her mind? She's not one to reveal much of herself to any other living soul. You'll have to wait and see what happens to this guard. (Also, just so there's no confusion, I chose this picture of a lovely woman with gorgeous hair because she came closest to my idea of what Eiva might look like. Since Eiva is of Genzet Clan, they are very different in appearance to the other clans. In addition to their monochromatic, colorful genetics, they are usually taller and more muscular than the others inhabitants of Y'Dahnndrya. A small Genzetti woman would probably be equal in height to a tall M'Neshunnayan man. So please, please don't thing this was a race issue. I have several lovely friends of varying cultural ancestry and they are dear to me.) Les Matins - Oskar Schuster
  
• Day 18 - Love Theme - Ah, love! Except, I want more of the focus to be on my MC's quest, rather than on her interests in forming a bond with someone. Love scenes are hard for me to write because I feel that what a couple shares is precious and private. And while I know my characters are fiction, I still want to treat any scenes about love with a careful selection of words to maintain the beauty of a godly, loving relationship. So instead of focusing on a romantic relationship for this theme, I chose to focus on the love shared between friends. This evoked a thought of cheerful times. What fits better for that than a song you can dance crazily to? Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
  
• Day 19 - Tragedy - To be honest, there's tragedy in Yacan, but it's not at the forefront of this story. My MC is separated from her loving family, though she did make this choice willingly. Everyone on Yacan is an outcast, from those falsely accused of a crime to those who've simply been shunned. No one living outside Yacan realizes this except for the clan Guardians and leaders. So most of the tragedy in Surge is backstory, and there are several mentioned. Fryderyk - Oskar Shuster
  
• Day 20 - Tense Moment - I think my favorite tense moment is when my MC and Outh'n meet for the second time. Direwolf - Paleowolf
  
• Day 21 - Unexpected - There are a couple of unexpected things which occur during the story. I hope readers will like the ones I leave in the manuscript. :) Pteris - Paleowolf
  

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#EpisodicLines Days 15 - 21

• Day 15 - War - Serafin is Guardian of Yacan, more of a spiritual guide than anything else. Make no mistake, though. She can definitely hold her own in battle. The Ammir keeps law and order, aided by the Zashi who each lead one of the three sections of Yacan: 'Ya - floor; 'Li - roots; and 'Vo - canopy. They train for war and to protect Edrea, the last of her kind, the ancient race of I'ia called the Terreilia. These characters don't go looking for trouble, but if trouble comes, they're ready to take it on.
• Day 16 - Peace - Each character in this collage helps to maintain peace in their own clans. Except Yetsye (center photo). She's carrying her message to any place she can get to, since she's the only one who can speak for the Creator's children who don't have a voice of their own.
• Day 17 - Defining Colors - I shared two collages for this prompt because the colors for my world are different than the colors for Surge. I know why creators tend to group clans by colors. It's just been done for so long and it makes a people easier to identify. So each of my clans has one particular color identified with them. Genzet - Deep blue; Shinnoah - Violet; D'Koruyi - rich, bright green; M'neshunnaya - brilliant orange; Bot'ha - vibrant golden yellow; and Ikhel'dur -  bright, fiery red. But if I'm choosing colors for Surge, I'm looking at the various parts of Yacan - earthy tones of green, brown, blue, and cream.
• Day 18 - Author Strength - I love world building, though I don't know that it's my greatest strength as an author. Also in the photo for this prompt is Day 4's prompt - MC's weapon. Her weapon of choice is a kifi, which is a small throwing dagger. She doesn't get to use her kifi because she's not allowed to keep any of her belongings from her old life. Plus, she's being trained to use whatever weapons are on hand whether she's carried them into a battle or a battle is forced upon her.
• Day 19 - Author Struggle - Editing and blogging. I still can't afford an editor so this is a constant worry for me. I'm always wondering if I missed something, left a typo behind, forgot to change a section to the right POV... I'm thankful for the Under the Willow forum and for Elzevera's editing course. (Click the links to check them out if you're interested. I'm not an affiliate, just trying to help others out.) The other thing I'm struggling with is this blog, mostly because of site issues. It's becoming increasingly harder to get my posts prepped since I have a hard time getting the site to load. So I'm considering moving my site to another host. I'll keep you posted.
• Day 20 - Twitter Theme: Safety - Safety really is an illusion. Safety doesn't account for the unknown variable. You can plan as much as you like, but you still have to consider that the unknown variable will likely throw the biggest monkey wrench into everything you worked so hard to plan and protect. So I chose to talk about the Myrr. The responsibility of keeping the population of Yacan safe falls on their shoulders. The Myrr are shifter guards who patrol the island.
• Day 21 - Danger - I missed the first 'danger' prompt so I'm glad this one showed up twice. Yacan isn't the most safe place. There are many dangers one has to remember and many reasons to stay alert. The jimla (JEEM lah) is loosely based on jellyfish and squid. Their tentacles, which they use for exploration, are extremely poisonous. The draconisi (drah koh NEE see) are sea serpents loosely based on Chinese dragons and some of the more scary-looking eels of the deep, like the deep sea dragon fish and the viper fish. They're majestic and inspire lots of artwork created on Y'Dahnndrya. They have round eyes like squid but instead of two they have several. Males have a red stripe running the length of their spines on either side of a wicked set of spines. Females also have the spines, but no red stripe. The kreili (KRAY lee) makes an appearance in The Tale of Outh'n Durr, but not in Surge. It's a stealth hunter based largely on the creature from the black lagoon, but also large, aquatic reptiles. While the first two dangerous creatures live in the fresh or salt water, the kreili prefers the stagnant pools on Yacan. Edrea's blossoms are huge and based on the calla lily, trumpet vine blossom, and hibiscus. They're sweetly scented, but deadly to touch.
  

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As you can see, I wasn't able to even load all the photos I wanted to share with you. I ended up linking the ones I couldn't share within the text. I did the same for the YouTube videos that will allow you to hear the songs I shared for the soundtrack challenge.
This is yet another frustration to add to my increasing list where Weebly is concerned. And while I pay for my site, I apparently do not pay enough for live chat support. So I'm looking into transferring my site. When that happens, I'll post a final announcement here. I hope to be finished with the whole process by the end of the summer. (Update: We managed to find a signal booster and it's helped a bit. I was able to update this post with the photos and info that were missing.)
From this point on, my posts will probably be restricted to one or two photos and simple text. I just don't have enough time in my day. Surge keeps getting pushed aside so I can tackle this blog. I love blogging but this can't continue.
So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers this summer as I tackle a website move and try to simultaneously refine Surge & The Tale of Outh'n Durr to prepare them for publication.
Until next time...