The Paragon Path Towards An Epic Destiny

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
I suddenly realized my Cleric got some character development today, during D&D. I was not expecting it, but after the GM let us know that there'll be an indefinite Downtime for a while after the session ended, I was left with thought about what to do next. Already knew that she wanted to get a house for herself, but never understood why. It's only a little bit ago that I realized why. Thankfully he didn't rush us for it, and told us to sent him a text if we wanted to put more details upon it, especially because he won't be GM next session. I will.

I'll try a different method for prepping this week: I'll be doing it the brainstorming on paper, and then start putting all of the text on a Markdown file, especially the read aloud text, like quotes from unearthed Lore coming from the new rare artifacts that I introduced since the beginning of this particular campaign; artifacts that detail a whole chunk of story from the world that they've never known, and I have a lot to put on it, because I realized last session from that campaign that I'm not only closing one thread, but actually all the loose ends that were left after our first campaign ended, like what is it that got our Druid to have the Cursed One background, what happened with the Wizard and his girlfriend during the time they suddenly vanished and came back with modern clothes and technology, what happened to 75% of the original party, who ended up dead by the time the campaign ended, with two of those three characters dying during the Final Boss encounter, why is it that the Gods are saying that boss isn't actually dead, what ARE those artifacts, and why are we finding even more powerful and unstable artifacts that seemed to contain even more confusing information, to the point that is getting into hard science-fiction territory, with a lot of concepts taken from many different religious cultures. What even is that strange god that we never mentioned, but it seems far much more worse than the god we fought at the end, how gods even originate, and why the hell whatever consciousness within the artifacts is completely confused about a mortal ascending into godhood sometime in history that we've never got to experience. I never packed a lot of knowledge into this, and every single time I make something this bloated, and yet make it so streamlined and that it makes sense, it feels like I am good at my job. I mean, it all started as four people meeting on a tavern, only to somehow find out that we are all related because our ancestors fought the same fight millenia ago, and now 75% of the original heroes are dead, acting as proxies in Planescape only to finally put an end to the fight once and for all. And even then, there's still loose ends that I'll put on with the next campaign.

But first, I have to recover my cancelled campaign; the all-Tiefling campaign. I did the recap after our session today, and now everyone's up to speed. Once I end the campaign that I am currently running, I'll be back to that, and finally finish it, or at least the main story, and leave some room for the characters to keep growing IF we haven't reached the estimated 12th level cap. For the next campaign using Pathfinder I'll also be putting a 12th level cap. I already built my character around it, and with some lessons learned, I already have a story ready, including a BBEG, and events that are based on a nightmare that I had a while ago. Yes, I'm doing the Robert Louis Stevenson method of pulling stuff up from my dreams! I mean, that was a horrible nightmare, and I'm glad I woke up from it, but the story that happened in there was so cool for a campaign that I just had to find a right place to put it, and found it.

So yeah, it was a fun day, even though I had some troubles with my throat. Just took a walk; Burpees before D&D, and now just thinking about TTRPGs for a little before starting to audit my week. I'll let you know that microjournaling is addictive. Very addictive. I am considering keep going, even though this just has been for this week. I don't know. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'll start seeing what worked, what not, how I spend my hours, and then start dividing all the things that I want into it; prioritizing them good. I already know I can divide my days in themes for drawings, because I have four different subjects; one of which is only to recover my technique. As for my GM prep, I think I can squeeze an hour daily for it before putting my actual prep work on Saturday... Whatever. That's what tonight's for.

January 21st, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 146


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 2 Minutes W-extensions +EC
Count: 1361 - 1357 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 8 Sit-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:x: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:x: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 16

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 21 +Full Burpees
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:x: Nope, not today
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
Man, I am behind my journal. The powercut killed me today. Had I not been sick, nor the heat been so bad, I would've finished it a while back. Still, I just finished auditing my stuff, and came up with a plan that, first, I thought it was too rigid, but then I realized I can move things around, and left quite a lot of open spaces to allow myself for replacements and get other things. I still don't know how to start, but at least I know what to do. I can get out of the algorithm by replacing a few things, because I get sucked on the algorithm of YouTube and Facebook shitposts very easily, even when there's actually good stuff that I consume, and not mere time wasters. However, what's good on getting knowledge or good information if I can't use it? I don't need to get distracted when I can use my own distractions to my own advantage.

I also asigned each day a theme. I only have four subjects for drawings, so two of them repeat during the week, while one day is my day off because it's Sunday, and Sundays are TTRPG days. I also asigned Mondays for one thing I'm interested in, Wednesdays for another, and Fridays for another one. The rest are just new routines I'll put in place. I even came up with a solution for powercuts, so when they come, I am not left on the dust. I still need to do more things in the morning, even incorporating some extra flexibility workouts, even though I can also incorporate those to my normal workout routine, so... I can play with it, and tune with it. Nevertheless, here's the new training plan. Consider Day 1 as Mondays:
  • Day 1 - Full Body Strength Workout
  • Day 2 - Full Body Strength Workout
  • Day 3 - Combat Workout
  • Day 4 - Rest / Balance and Flexibility Workout
  • Day 5 - Combat Workout
  • Day 6 - High Burn / HIIT Workout
  • Day 7 - Rest / Balance and Flexibility Workout
Balance and Flexibility is Pole prep, which can also incorporate Yoga and Qi Gong, even more since the last Qi Gong routines we did involved a lot of Balance. Because the themes have some commonality, I'll be researching more about it on Wednesdays and Fridays.

I'll be updating my journal and start this new routine tomorrow, from now on. I have to remind myself that I shouldn't be too strict about it and allow myself for failure. I must give 70% of me, not 100%. The goal this year is to not fall for perfectionism. Perfectionism should be a tool for quality control, not my driver.

January 22nd, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 146


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 40 Lunge Twists +EC
Count: 1362 - 1358 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: WoD: I Just Need to be Faster than You - LVL SS +No rest between sets
:v: Monday +EC
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:v: 100/50 Strength: 1 Round
:v: DAREdice: 4 Jumping Jacks
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:x: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 16

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 22
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:x: Journaling
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
Nope. I am noping my way out of editing today because this sickness is annoying me to no end. I can't help but get distracted by my nose clogging up every single time I feel I am entering the zone, so everything reboots, and...

Yeah, I don't like being sick. I thought it was short-lived, but only being bedridden was. What I'm noticing is that my right wrist is hurting less, and it started to hurt last week. Did the bug cause it, or was it a coincidence? I don't know, and I don't care. I just want to be able to breathe, to not have to blow my nose every two minutes, or stand up and walk just so that I can breathe. Seriously, two nights ago, I almost asphyxiated, and woke up in the middle of the night with a nasty sore throat that felt like I swallowed an entire volcano in my sleep.

I just can't wait until this is over... I will consider a pause until I am able to BREATHE™ like a normal person!

Anyway, I improved my wall. Added a couple of index cards for permanent reminders: to aim at progress and not at 100%, Nora Robert's quote, and a list of all my daily tasks, which include a breakdown of my writing duties, but done in such a way that I can just spread them out throughout the day and pick them up as I want instead of doing them all in a single sitting. Since today was the day I started to put this up, there wasn't much done when it comes with checkmarks, and I know there won't be a lot of checkmarks as I go through. Still, once again, I am not aiming at 100%. I am only aiming at progress.

I am posting right now, after spending... I don't know, ten minutes writing 112 words, and the other... 50 minutes fighting against my nose so that I can BREATHE™? Don't even get me started with the router screwing over again.

I'm finishing the day right now, and I'll carry on tomorrow. I'll seek to it that I wake up early so that I can do my things quickly in the morning, because there might be a powercut happening in the afternoon. Then again, they can change the schedule on a whim if they want to.

January 23rd, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 146


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 30 Seconds Knee-to-elbows +EC
Count: 1363 - 1359 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Apex
:v: 30 Knee-to-elbow Crunches because I misread the Daily Dare
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:v: 100/50 Strength: 1 Round
:v: DAREdice: 10 Lunges
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:x: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 16

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 23
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:v: Rewriting thanks to editing. Little progress, but I guess it's progress?
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
I will spend a few hours writing right now. I'm starting my draft over because I found out it was boring, and after switching one thing, I switched another... it's a whole different story now. I haven't gotten myself to do the deed because, well... I'm still sick, easily distracted, can't come up with anything once I stare at what's been written, powercut...

It's a mess. The biggest one is not being able to breathe, but at least it isn't as bad as last night. I'm taking more measures tonight because the nights are turning chillier, which means maybe el niño's effects are weakening. The days are still hot, but colder nights means better sleep. I noticed there was a chill in the air tonight, after walking by the balcony. No wonder we're sick. I am not the only one, and it seems plenty of people in the area are sick as well.

At least I tried to be better today. Played the guitar during the powercut. I could've drawn, but I felt a bit sleepy, and it was hot enough to be sweating into the paper. Once the power came back, I only played videogames before taking a walk and working out.

Then, I wasted my time. I'll try to make up for it tonight, but I have no high hopes for it.

E: I couldn't finish. I'll force myself to it on a speedrun tomorrow.

January 24th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 147


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 60 Seconds Knee-to-elbows +EC
Count: 1364 - 1360 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Still Here, Still Kicking - LVL III +EC +Rest between levels
:v: 7 Extra Full Burpees
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength: 1 Round
:v: DAREdice: 8 Full Burpees
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 16

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 24 +Full Burpees
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:v: 930 Words. Take it or leave it, because my perfectionism got in the way this time.
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
Guitar practice
 
Last edited:

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
Congrats on everything!
But that last little thing, I can totally relate, I haven't touched my guitars in ages... so double congrats for this! :approve:

There was a time in which I was completely burned out on music, so I didn't play any instrument for what it felt like an entire year, and maybe even more. I only picked them up sporadically. It's been only a few years ago that I actually started to be more disciplined with the guitar, but I am being more responsible because I am working as a guitar teacher now. Don't get me wrong, I like playing the guitar, the issue is that my relationship with music is the same relationship of a divorce marriage with kids in the middle. I may dislike my ex wife, but I don't hate the kid that I have with her, which in this case is teaching others. I think I wrote down the whole story a while back, in one of the previous logs on the old Hive. In any case, there's a missing key from that story: ADHD also played a role in my frustrations with music. I hate to practice; it has made hate some of the songs I enjoy, and I really hate doing one thing over and over, only to get the same result until I don't. Music always felt like a wall on my creativity, especially since I was trained from an orchestral and very orthodox way, so it puts a wall on my creativity. Besides, here, the music community is very competitive and it can be quite elitist and intimidating, so I never had a shot in a musical career. The fact that the city I live at is the dormitory city of the musical capital of Venezuela should tell you enough.

Still, I have a responsability to teach, so I must practice my lessons. I might not be as good as people wanted me to be, but it's fine! I am better at writing anyway, and I am way more grateful for it than with music.
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
3916 words divided between Pathfinder prep, and my story, which I started over because it was too boring. All I have left is to edit, but what I did not expect was to make that session in an hour. I set myself up to do TTRPG session prep on a daily basis for an hour (if I had the time), so that I can use two hours on Fridays and three hours on Saturdays to prep, especially because I am picking back up the campaign that I canned. I just wasn't expecting the final session to be prepped so quickly, especially after putting important lore pieces that the other GM requires because (and this is me fully hating on him in spite the fact that it is very flattering that he liked my universe much better than any other campaign setting already existing in D&D) he decided to use my universe and forced me to develop plenty of things that did not exist before! The reason I expanded that whole thing in a forced matter to include a bunch of cultures that were not supposed to be part of the plan was because of him including those.

Anyway, that campaign is finally over so that I can carry on with the Tieflings until its main story is over, and we'll only go back to it whenever we want to in order to reach 12th-level cap. For now, I freed quite a lot of time, so I can use it better this weekend. It's still pressuring the matter of editing the story. I started with a speedrun this morning, and I guess I can do another tonight just to get started.

January 25th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 147


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 60 Seconds One Arm Plank Hold +EC
Count: 1365 - 1361 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Ideogram Qi Gong
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 12 Push-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 16

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 25
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:v: 3916 words divided between Pathfinder session prep, and my story
:v: 1500 Get!
:v: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
300 Burpees, 2493 words. Those were my numbers for today, and I've written my entire thing through speedruns: three speedruns of 20 minutes each, with the rest of the writing coming up in a couple of chunks: one of 5 minutes before the power went out, and another one of 10 minutes. Thankfully, I saved my progress, so there wasn't any loss. If any, I actually made it better after losing the power. The story is much better than the previous one, and while I am late for publishing, I have time to edit it and even make another one.

Doing the 20-minute speedruns are helping, even if what I do is something that I can't stop doing it once the timer goes off, or else I lose my immersion, but I did allow myself a 10-minute break for playing Tetris tonight, and once I came back to the story, I finished it in the next 20 minutes. Maybe I should lower my Pomodoro timer from 40 minutes to 20. 40 minutes is good, but I seem to work faster on 20 minutes, and I produce better quality stuff.

I still believe I can save my previous story. I just put so much to it because I didn't know what to do with it, but I can simplify things by cutting up everything... perhaps restoring it to its original state, or combining the original state to the new state, or make a two-parter and be done with it.

...you know what? Making it two-parts sounds better than putting all it up in a single one. I will check my drafts and see how I can combine them to release them part by part.

I'll keep producing. I already have another outline done with Mythic. Yeah, this story was also done with Mythic, but since it wasn't really chaotic, I didn't roll any dice with it. I just followed the blurbs. The next one I just outlined, and it also don't require dice rolls. Both of them are closed enough that don't allow for things to move, unlike the first one I did using Mythic's way of making adventures. Because I have nothing to do for the weekend, as I finished my prep yesterday, I can keep producing. My goal is to cut, at least, three to six months worth of weekly shorts, leaving first drafts in the archive, and edit them for release as time goes on, while I use my focus to work on my book.

Oh, the 300 Burpees were also an accident. Yes, I did my 150, but then I picked Monkey! as my combat workout, and... you know what this workout has, don't you?



Yeah, let's add a Push-up to those Burpees. 70 Burpees more? Nope; 100 Burpees more! I did it at level SS -- 10 Sets, as shown on the workout above. The 50 Burpees that followed were done on a whim. I rolled a D20 and got an 18, so I considered it a Yes to do them because it was above 10, and that's a Yes on the Solo Adventurer's Toolbox's Oracles. 300 Burpees today, once again!

AND I STILL WANTED TO DO MORE!

Don't make this Burpee party to stop! I still have more Burpees to go tomorrow.

January 26th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 148


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 40 Side-to-side Jumps +EC
Count: 1366 - 1362 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: WoD: Glutes Over Quads +EC
:v: Monkey! - LVL SS +EC +Rest between levels +Full Burpees
:v: 50 Full Burpees (2 Sets x 25 Reps)
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 8 Jumping Jacks
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:x: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 16

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 26
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:v: 2493 words for a story
:v: 1500 Get!
:v: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
I spent the entire day Worldbuilding to recover my campaign. I noticed the big mistake that I made is to not make the playground on paper as I should have, and now I am coming up with a bunch of adventure seeds, adventuring locations, and potential NPCs that I'll bring them up on the table whenever they are needed. However, since I am focusing on what's been unlocked, and where I plan to go next, I am not writing everything out, but leave some stuff open and later come up with it. I'll finish doing most of these tomorrow, after Pathfinder. I'll be doing these same processes on the upcoming campaign that will use the Pathfinder system too, and also leave it as a sandbox, but it still has a main story to go to, and that story will intermingle with the sidequests that the party goes to.

I like city campaigns, honestly: there's a lesser amount of rules to worry from, like travelling, wilderness survival, keeping track of food and water reserves... Cities are smaller, and also offer just as much adventure as regular sandboxes. Some DMs don't carry a main storyline, but TES taught me that I can carry a main storyline and, through the use of clever narrative techniques, I can pause it to make way for the quests. There's no need to keep pressuring the party to follow the main story when we are travelling through a playground. This current story, after all, is all about the consequences of a regicide that we comitted right at the beginning, and even though there's a threat looming at the horizon, that threat is paused because we're dealing with the unrest that caused the regicide. In other words, it's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but instead we are on the side of the Mythic Dawn rather than the side of the Empire.

Already let the party know that if they don't follow the plot hooks, I'll can that campaign again, and for good. I am giving them the choice of what they want to play. Besides, I'm going to make it customary to write 10 rumors in a 2D6 table (the last number will be a "roll twice to pick to rumors, pick a rumor of your choosing, or reroll" type of result) to give them more plot hooks, things to look for, clues, effects of their action, and even useless information, red herrings, or blatant lies. I'm actually thinking about making one of those tables filled with lies just to torture them. But, since we won't be playing that campaign until two weeks later, I'll save my fun for later.

January 27th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 148


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 60 Side Kicks +EC
Count: 1367 - 1363 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 12 Sit-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:v: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 17

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 27 +Full Burpees
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:v: 2832 words spent on Worldbuilding
:v: 1500 Get!
:v: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
And we couldn't play. The place wasn't available, so we ended up not playing, but simply hanging out. Instead, we just played Mario Party and Smash Brothers before the other GM asked me about my character's downtime. That's the only D&D we played: resolve our characters' downtimes, and he is being very generous by giving us eight months. I already had a list of things, but I kept one to myself for a bit longer. All we did was spend some gold, make some rolls, and take notes for roleplaying a few things because he wanted to roleplay them instead of resolving them quickly.

On the other hand, I committed myself to build a three-session arc for ICRPG: Vigilante City. Why three sessions? Because one of our players will be missing for three sessions. He recently got a job, and he will be missing the next three Sundays, which gives both of us plenty of time to keep preparing for our sessions, since they will be big. Besides, ICRPG is very easy and quick to prepare, and I'm very tempted of moving my Urban Arcana campaign into ICRPG so that we can actually keep playing with those characters without being limited with 5e's biggest problem: overpowered characters. The reason I am stingy with levels in our Urban Arcana campaign is because characters start breaking once they start approaching 8th level, and by the time they are 10th or 12th level, they are way too overpowered. 5e's CR system only works against the GM, and I have to do a huge lot of hacking monsters and homebrewing in order to keep the monsters at the same level of the players. Besides, our characters have features that aren't written in the books (like our Artificer having a Steel Defender that doubles as her motorcycle, or our Warlock / Monk having a rogue AI for a patron that does a much better job at hacking than our Artificer, but is really, really, really hard to work with, and one of my NPCs being a City Cleric that, pretty much, has control over the entire city through supernatural means). If anything, I can just homebrew every ability as loot. I'd like to discuss this with my players, because this came up when I started to prepare for Vigilante City. The only writing I did today, so far, was creating two player characters that will be NPCs to compensate the party, if needed, and to have as allies. I still have other NPCs to make, but they'll be simple. I am recycling characters from a superhero comic book I wanted to make, but never did.

I guess they can shine better on Vigilante City. I was about to make my own city instead of using the one from ICRPG, but decided to not do that at the last second, and leave it as is. Though I have a few characters in my head, right now, my concern is the next adventure. I'll be writing the arc throughout the week.

I don't think I'll be able to write tonight, as it is a bit late.

January 28th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 148


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 30 Prone Reverse Flys +EC
Count: 1368 - 1364 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 4 Lunges
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 17

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: Day 28
Bucket List:
Epic Abs


Writing progress:
:v: Created two new characters for ICRPG: Vigilanty City for party support and NPC companions
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"


I am not strong enough to keep my entire body hanging off the floor on that tucked position for an entire second. :phew:

Once again, I am feeling slightly discouraged from taking the pole, but I am not giving up that easy. I'll keep trying, even if it takes me my whole life.
 

Laura Rainbow Dragon

Moderator
Moderator
Bard from Canada
Posts: 2,137
"Striving to be the change."
I am not strong enough to keep my entire body hanging off the floor on that tucked position for an entire second. :phew:
If you are almost there, you can give yourself a boost by placing your hands on yoga blocks (or thick books). Once your abs and hip flexors are strong enough, you will be able to keep your feet off the ground without the blocks/books. But it can be helpful when you're starting out to use them.

Also: you can still train the position, even if your heels are still on the ground. So long as you are trying to lift your feet, and keep the weight on them as light as possible, you are getting the training benefit of doing the full pose.

I think mentally it can be a bit easier to use the blocks. When your feet are fully off the ground you feel like you're doing the full pose. Plus it's easier to benchmark because you know whether or not your heels are touching the ground, whereas "my heels are light v. lightish v. kinda sorta in the ballpark of light" is harder to judge. But in terms of physical benefit, both methods will help you to improve.

I am not giving up that easy. I'll keep trying, even if it takes me my whole life.
:approve:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
@Laura Rainbow Dragon I'll try with books then. It's awkward to put them on the floor, but these are very sturdy and can handle me. I did manage to get my butt off the floor, but my feet remained fully flat, so I don't know if that's a good sign.



I'll edit for some twenty minutes tonight. The only writing that I did was during a boring shift at the community center. I came up with a story arc through Runehammer's Circle Method, picked up two antagonists from the book, and added two more, one of which was the only supervillain I did back in the day. The powers are a bit eh, but I can write them better. I don't plan to have the party facing them soon, but at least I want to introduce the stakes for that episodic campaign that, hopefully, will remain ongoing without having broken players, forcing me to homebrew potential enemies that are either way too powerful, or way too weak.

I also finished the Daily HIIT challenge. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow, so I totaled for 200 Burpees today. The powercut today lasted two hours, which was very strange. Still, ADHD won today's battle, but I won't let it win tonight. As I said, I'll edit for twenty minutes, and then go to bed. I'll try again tomorrow, as well as keep doing the L-sit prep. If anything, it'll open the gates for me to follow the Strength Protocol later. I may have to consider Dead Hangs and Pull-ups, yet I still need to protect my hands, or just let them bleed. Decisions, decisions...

Why did I chose music and opted for teaching music anyway. Then again, I didn't know I'd be able to finally do one stupid Push-up seven years later; let alone freaking +150 Burpees in a day, to the point of reaching 300 in a day fourteen years later! Twice in the same month!

Of course I'm not f*cking giving up, not after coming this far! I deserve those badges in my profile! I worked way too hard for them! And I am taking another one today!

E: Huh. Tomorrow's Workout of the Day is very fitting with the way I ended this entry:



Thanks for the sprinkle of motivation, I still need to reassure that part of me that doesn't want to pursue this. In fact, I might be setting myself up way too much, but I am going to pick my go-to songs for dancing. I haven't done that with shuffle dance, yet I do have some for belly dance, strangely enough...

January 29th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 148


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 60 Seconds Wall-sit +EC
Count: 1369 - 1365 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: WoD: Courage
:v: Monday +EC
:v: L-sit Prep
:v: 38 Side Kicks
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:v: 100/50 Strength: 1 Round
:v: DAREdice: 12 Full Burpees
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 17

Challenges:
:v: Daily HIIT: :completed: Day 29 | Day 30 +Full Burpees :star:
Up Next:Epic Abs
Bucket List:

Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: Managed to come out with a story arc for Vigilante City, plus two antagonists
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:x: Casino Royale - 0%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
@Anek @Mamatigerj @MadamMeow Thank you! :welcome:



Speedrun #1 for editing: 408 words. Speedrun #2: 800 words. I did them back to back, with a 10-minute break to play Tetris. Even though there was no powercut today, I finished my work at that point because I woke up a bit later than usual, and I had to prepare for class, so I rehearsed the lessons I was going to give before lunch. Ended up having a late lunch, then my class, then my workout... and once I was done with my training, I did Speedrun #3 for editing: 880 words more, and I was almost done with editing. I only had an hour left, so I figured why not, and decided to spend it by going after those 20 minutes and... ended up rewriting 1356 words, leaving for a whopping total of 3444 words. That story was shorter than that! Then again, I produced it fueled with an hyperfocus provoked by 20-minute Speedruns for writing just to get the thing done, but now that I did the first edit... I mean, the first draft already looked good, but as soon as I fixed those mistakes and went deeper on my prose... Hell, I even made a better ending than what I previously had in mind! It even makes more sense!

I am not done with writing just yet. I just finished doing some TTRPG prep; mostly transcribing what I did yesterday on my notebook, and also doing some worldbuilding for another campaign, trying to fix the Gygax 75 pitch and do the weekly work attached to it. I guess I am done with the first task now, and I still need to prepare for the first session for Vigilante City, but that'll happen tomorrow. For the new universe, I added 909 words to the pitch; some of it was copied and pasted, but I ended up with an excellent pitch to pitch the forum for, plus it gives me a general idea on what to worldbuild upon. Since it is also a forum, I will try to see if others would like to collaborate on me with the worldbuilding efforts, so that we can have our own universe to make our stories up, which is almost how SCP started up like. There's a writing community there, and an interest to a PbP game, and since I cut some time, I think I can be a DM for them. PbP takes time anyway, so I don't feel a lot of pressure.

So yeah, 4353 words today, to which I say this is me when I'm at my best. I learned to sacrifice a few things today, and I decided to take a giant step. I didn't remove it, because I don't want to delete it just yet, but I removed Facebook from my phone's screen, so that I can only access it by going to the apps. Then, I put the icon of Librera Reader in the space that Facebook left free, and put a book on it so that I start to pick back up reading. Already seeing the results: instead of endlessly scrolling through memes, or watching videos on Facebook, I ended up reading Casino Royale while I did the elbow plank. It's a short book, so I went through 2% of it, but this is a step in the right direction. I also switched places with Obsidian and X, and while I only use X for business, it makes me feel much better knowing that Obsidian is in a more accessible place than X because it forces me to microjournal if I end up opening it with muscle memory. Like I said, it's a big step on the right direction. I am back at consuming books, and I already have a backlog to read, from ADHD-friendly productivity books to Fiction books that I've been putting off for a long time. Casino Royale is also important to me because I've been interested in writing an espionage story for a while, so I decided to start with the most popular one before exploring on other kinds of espionage stories. It's James Bond. Who doesn't like James Bond?

As for the L-sit, I'm still working through it. I did some research on my own too, and decided to do the tuck sit next time on my tiptoes. Maybe this would help me to build more core strength, because that's definitely what I'm lacking. I don't have the core strength to hold my body like that, but thankfully, that's something that can be trained. I'll put a pin on this on my journal tomorrow to read my log again first, because I may need to refocus my training once again. Flexibility is still on the list, but maybe I should add some extra core training.

Hey, Epic Abs and Epic Cardio are my next challenges, so that'll help.

January 30th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 148


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 50 Alt Arm / Leg Raises +EC
Count: 1370 - 1366 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: WoD: Get Back Up - LVL III +EC +Rest between levels
:v: L-sit Prep
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:v: 100/50 Strength: 1 Round
:v: DAREdice: 4 Sit-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 17

Challenges:
:x: Epic Abs: Awaiting for the "next month."
:x: Epic Cardio: Awaiting for the "next month."
Up Next:
Empty list, for now...
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: 4353 words written today, scattered between TTRPG prep and editing/rewriting.
:v: 1500 Get!
:v: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: Casino Royale - 2%

Other Victories:
Played the guitar.
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
@Ereshkigal Thanks! :welcome:



There were no words written today, or at least I didn't count them. See, all I did was to continue the Gygax 75 for that campaign I mentioned yesterday, and I was going to work tonight... but some jackass at the power company decided it was a good idea to cut the power TWICE at the most critical times of the day: the first right after noon, the second almost at the brink of midnight. Why do I say that those were the most critical times of the day? BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN SUCH AN EXTREMELY HOT DAY THAT I HAD TO GO OUT AND BUY SOMETHING COLD! I don't usually do that unless I really need it. I was doing nothing, and I was sweating almost as bad as if I was working out. That's how horrible it was today. So yeah, why not? Why not cut the power and leave people to dehydrate themselves?

I am really angry. The cut in the evening was just the thing that frustrated my entire day. I started to edit my manuscript, and as soon as I finished fixing the first paragraph, they cut the power again... Twice! Once for thirty seconds, and then the other one for yet another three hours!

Had it not been for me removing Facebook from the apps, and replacing it with Librera, my phone would be dead by now. I definitely made the right choice. Not only I am picking reading back up, but I also almost finished Casino Royale today. I thought I was going to, but ended up jumping from 2% to 73% of progress in those six hours of doing nothing but bathe in my own sweat. I'll say it right away: today was a failure of a day, but at least the failures of today weren't my fault entirely. I could've edited earlier, or edited instead of doing worldbuilding, but I woke up already so late, and I'm still recovering from this cold that came back on Monday, and... yeah, I could've done it earlier. I could've done it as soon as the power came back, but then I would have to sacrifice my training. In any case, I couldn't have forseen this, because, even if it doesn't look like it, the powercuts are always randomized, unnanounced, and there's always a margin of error. More than once they cut the power because they made a mistake on their schedules, because they do have a schedule, but they don't release it, and it's always changing. They cut the power on Monday at 11 AM, but today they did it at 1:30 PM. Monday was only for 2 hours, today was for 3 hours (BOTH TIMES, so it should be 6 hours instead!)... there was that one random night where we were supposed to have water, but they cut the power for thirty hours that night, and only put the power back on because they figured it was a mistake... you'd get the idea by now.

What a way to end the first month of the year. I am not editing tonight. I'm way too frustrated to even look at Ghostwriter, and I lost the paragraph I fixed because I was about to press CTRL + S right when the power was cut. Mind you, I have all my autosave features in all my word processors set to 60 seconds, which is the minimum I'm allowed to. Even the strict autosave, always enabled, didn't save me this time.

January 31st, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 149


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 40 Squat Hold Calf Raises +EC
Count: 1371 - 1367 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: WoD: Hightail - LVL III +No rest between sets
:v: One Kick (Side Kick) - LVL III +EC
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 4 Full Burpees w/Jump Knee-tuck
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 17

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 1 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 1 +No rest
Up Next:
Empty list, for now...
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:x: Not much thanks to TWO 3-hour long powercuts in an EXTREMELY HOT DAY
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: Casino Royale - 73%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
Fun fact: I was about to write "January 32nd" in the date.

Anyway, it was a... chaotic day. I'm still with the cold, but I guess I am almost over it now. Give me a couple of days more and I'll be at my 100% once again. Speaking of percentages, I am almost done with Casino Royale. I didn't carve much time to read, and spent most of it editing my manuscript, then working out, and researching my novel. I was going to edit more, but I remembered my commitment to worldbuild, so I did that instead, and it took me longer than I anticipated because, well, I didn't have a post ready to post. Now it's live, and one of the users is eager to start worldbuilding, which is cool.

The day was better than yesterday, and I liked that this was the Workout of the Day:



It wasn't a good day, but it wasn't bad either. It was just chaotic. My time was sapped, and I skipped Qi Gong because I can't breathe properly without having to blow my nose after a minute. Now I guess I am going to bed, because I have no idea what to do tonight. I am not tired, I am just slightly bored. I hope tomorrow improves a little. There might be a powercut tomorrow, so I am mentally preparing. I know I won't get up earlier, but I do have books ready to spend the time. If the day is cool, then I get to draw something.

February 1st, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 149


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 60 Seconds Split Jacks +EC
Count: 1372 - 1368 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: WoD: No More Bad Days - LVL III +Rest between levels
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 16 Sit-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 17

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 2 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 2 +No rest
Up Next:
Empty list, for now...
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: A 3.4K story turned into a 3.5K after removing stuff. Don't ask me why I remove in negative numbers; that's just the way I work, and I don't want to remove more words from it because it is perfect the way it is.
:v: 1500 Get!
:v: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: Casino Royale - 85%

Other Victories:
 

Deadoks

Well-known member
Viking from Belgium
Posts: 707
"Berserker"
It wasn't a good day, but it wasn't bad either. It was just chaotic. My time was sapped, and I skipped Qi Gong because I can't breathe properly without having to blow my nose after a minute. Now I guess I am going to bed, because I have no idea what to do tonight. I am not tired, I am just slightly bored. I hope tomorrow improves a little. There might be a powercut tomorrow, so I am mentally preparing. I know I won't get up earlier, but I do have books ready to spend the time. If the day is cool, then I get to draw something.
I hope you'll feel better soon and get the "bored" mood away :yas:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
I fought way too long and hard copywriting my story. It took me longer than the final edit, but I sent it now. I also fought against ADHD today, and I won this time.

It wasn't my best, but it was a day of progress. I didn't write at all, but only made my efforts in carrying on with Gygax 75, plus preparing for the Sunday game. I had to stop preparing at one point because I found myself stuck, but after rolling the dice, I unstuck myself. I'm still saving it for tomorrow though, because I require to make some interpretations from the dice, plus I'm at the point of the session where there's no longer the need to railroad my players. I am not treating Vigilante City as linear, for I already have an enemy, and wrote the entire plot for the three sessions, and I did it in a way that it can be done in less session if such case matters that we might need to cancel.

I'll finish it tomorrow. I already started it, and I don't have much left to do. Setting up ICRPG is way simpler.

February 2nd, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 150


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 20 Jumping Lunges +EC
Count: 1373 - 1369 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Fight Like a Girl - LVL III +EC +Rest between levels
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 16 Sit-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 17

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 3 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 3 +No rest
Up Next:
Empty list, for now...
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: 1077. Not much, but it is something. I didn't prepare my entire Vigilante City session, but I left it out in the open a bit
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: Casino Royale - 100%
:v: The Colour of Magic - 4%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
Long day. Too many chores, and I spent most of my writing time doing my ICRPG session for nothing, because once again, cancelled. I feel like the group will disolve sooner or later.

Still, I freed up some time tomorrow to do... I don't know. I can do plenty of things, like some journaling exercises, keep writing, start sewing... I actually thought about some sewing projects now, and I'm really motivated. I went through some clothes that are starting to get damaged, and others that I don't use anymore and there's not too much emotional attachment to them, so... why not giving them a new purpose? I can use the fabric to make something else. I'll see what I can do about it tomorrow.

In fact, I'll see what I can do about many things tomorrow. I was planning to do some worldbuilding tonight, but I'm feeling a bit sleepy, so I'll just fall asleep and try better tomorrow. I allowed myself to check on Facebook tonight instead of reading, which was... interesting. I'm not sure if it's the Internet, or the app is glitching out, but I guess it is a good sign? I mean, Librera works perfectly, and even though I didn't read much today, I still used it more than Facebook. It's The Colour of Magic, after all, and when it comes to Pratchett, I just have to really savour the fun of it.

February 3rd, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 150


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 30 Climber Taps +EC
Count: 1374 - 1370 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 8 Push-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:v: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 18

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 4 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 4 +No rest
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: Session prep, some stat blocks... I could've added worldbuilding, but didn't do any of it
:x: 1500 Get!
:v: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: The Colour of Magic - 7%

Other Victories:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
No writing today. At least not what I thought I would. Just a little bit of worldbuilding, a lot of relaxing, and a lot of learning.

Yeah, that's the day. I guess next week will present some changes.

I did some drawings. I guess they count? I took a couple of sheets and made a calendar for both this and the next month. My girlfriend grilled me for putting the Elder Scrolls weekdays instead of the regular days, and calling the months by the same name I call my months in my D&D campaign setting instead of using the regular Gregorian months. I couldn't hear the end of her playful grilling, and I just love how she becomes so lovingly because of my nerdyness. We're both nerds, it's just that I want to make my environment and my productivity tools more comfortable and more... inspiring. A stupid boring calendar that says February is not enough, but one that at least has a doodle, and the name of a fantasy month written in cool handwriting, and weekdays from a fantasy videogame? That's more my style.

I'm also considering to start a solo campaign to practice before doing other ones. I'm even willing to set aside a notebook to use as a journal for one of my two characters while I treat the other one as an NPC. The reason for it is that I can practice some journaling exercises in-character before applying them to myself. I just want to get the idea whether some of them can be useful for me or not, plus I'll get to write and play something fun in the meantime.

My only writings for today were, other than putting some extra words in my worldbuilding, an entry in my microjournal where I put down the idea I will work on this week. I'll spend the entirety of tomorrow developing that first draft, because I like it, and I want to have it ready by Friday. So it'll be 139 words today. Better than nothing.

I'm also feeling a little more flexible. I mentioned a while ago that I could reach my toes in one yoga workout on one side, but now I can reach my toes on both side doing the hamstring stretch where you put your foot on something high (like a tree) and bend down over it. I also felt I went further down on my straddle stretch and my side splits today. Things are definitely progressing.

I'm also liking that I'm reading more.

February 4th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 150


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 40 Leg Raises +EC
Count: 1375 - 1371 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: DAREdice: 8 Sit-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 18

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 5 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 5 +No rest
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: 139 words, plus a few more that I didn't count
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: The Colour of Magic - 17%

Other Victories:
I drew two calendars
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
Well, I did a drawing this morning that I didn't finish. I am taking on an advice to draw the same thing for an entire year, and I chose pin-up girls because that's what I used to do. I could've gone with pigeons because they are dumb and funny, or iguanas, or even geckos, but I decided to go with pin-ups to kill two birds with one stone... though I don't think that's a saying I'm comfortable using it after mentioning drawing pigeons, but I guess it works?

I didn't do much writing. I thought I would, but I didn't. It was... a long day, I guess. I slept through the powercut, even after the power coming back, I still kept sleeping. Still, I feel good about drawing this morning. The lesson didn't came out good, and I wasn't finished because I had to go on with my duties, but drawing 30 minutes after waking up and doing my morning routine, before breakfast... it felt like a victory. You know that advice that people say that you should always make your bed so that you start your day with a victory? It felt like that.

Reading The Colour of Magic is motivating me to spice up my worldbuilding efforts and play some solo one-shots as a way to kickstart a metaplot in any of those worlds. I don't know if I'll have the time do so such thing, but I am thinking about it.

Even though today was not a productive day, it felt good, like a rest. Still, I kept going. I made an outline, or maybe I should say, an adventure outline. It's this week's story. I thought it was going to be too long, so I split it up in three episodes. I only had the first part figured out, so I properly used Mythic in the way I was supposed to, and ended up with everything. Seriously, Mythic just accelerated my writing efforts to the point that I don't really need to plan out things anymore. No more intrinsic outlines, just a bland flowchart with very few details, and figure out the kinks while I write.

E: I actually forgot to mention that I discovered an Unearthed Arcana article from 2015 that has instructions on how to bring back 3e's Prestige Classes into 5e. After reading it, my brain simply exploded. It opened up my mind into a lot of things I could do with 5e's SRD, how 5e's still remains an unexplored rabbit hole that my table, even if we switch to other systems from time to time (though it's primarily 5e), can exploit in many ways (were not due to their insistence of using an app instead of relying with good old pen and paper). With the SRD in Creative Commons, I can just do my stuff in ways I couldn't imagine. Why I didn't find that article before is beyond me, but I really liked the Prestige Classes from 3e. Pathfinder brings them up with the Archetypes, and my group really likes playing with Archetypes, myself included. It was thanks to a variant rule in the GMG to have the Fighter as a Dual Class, and the Bastion Archetype, that allowed me to build my Bard into the concept that was meant to be. Hell, if it was in my universe, I could even create a Shieldmaiden Prestige Class for Valor Bards, Fighters, and Barbarians to take. A Hacker Prestige Class would've worked in my Urban Arcana game far much better than simply relying on Computers and Hacking Tools proficiencies, and it would've worked for more classes than just the Artificer.

E2: Well, I should strike through all of it. Suddenly, an idea struck on my head, and I had to write it. It started as one line that I thought it was an incredible line to start my novel with, and suddenly I ended up developing 209 words of text that set the dark and intriguing mood that I wanted to set for it. I was not expecting to progress on my WIP so suddenly, but I just couldn't go to bed and wait until tomorrow to write it. It had to be done right now, fresh from the oven!

February 5th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 150


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 50 Side Bends +EC
Count: 1376 - 1372 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Monday +EC
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:v: 100/50 Strength: 1 Round
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: DAREdice: 8 Push-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:x: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 18

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 6 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 6 +No rest
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: Nothing on the word count, but I did do an outline for a story that got split in three parts. I'll start writing tomorrow. 209 words written late at night, because inspiration struck and, all of the sudden, I found the exact words on how I wanted my novel to begin.
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: The Colour of Magic - 35%

Other Victories:
Did a drawing this morning!
 
Last edited:

Laura Rainbow Dragon

Moderator
Moderator
Bard from Canada
Posts: 2,137
"Striving to be the change."
E2: Well, I should strike through all of it. Suddenly, an idea struck on my head, and I had to write it. It started as one line that I thought it was an incredible line to start my novel with, and suddenly I ended up developing 209 words of text that set the dark and intriguing mood that I wanted to set for it. I was not expecting to progress on my WIP so suddenly, but I just couldn't go to bed and wait until tomorrow to write it. It had to be done right now, fresh from the oven!
:yes::happy:
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"
625 words... Is not much, but I got that done in 20 minutes, and suddenly I am very confident. I mean, perfectionism hit me hard today, and it is still hitting me hard, but! I did a thing, and it is going somewhere! I am following the flowchart, and all I feel that I got this! Not tonight, though, but I got this.

Now, I will carry on with it tomorrow, and try to finish it tomorrow too. The issue is that I had a situation today. I had a very poor sleep last night, ended up waking far too late today, and my time was squeezed out completely. I tried to draw in the morning, but perfectionism took over so that I just took the paper and curled it all up into a ball. My girlfriend asked me to see it, and grilled me for it again. I was actually going good, and how could I expect to improve if I get rid of my mistakes like that? That's when I knew perfectionism took over. So, before I could even sit down to write, I tried it again for 30 minutes, and guess what? I ended up doing better. Now, I didn't finish any of these drawings because I'm just doing them for 30 minutes, but that exercise alone helped me to silence my perfectionism. I only had a few moments to write tonight, so I squeezed my 20 minutes as much as I could.

625 words was the result. Not much, but at least it is leading up to something, and I think I can squeeze that for quite a lot. The first draft is always the bad one, but this draft in particular... I can make it work in little time. There will be a powercut tomorrow, so I'll wake up early and move the drawing for when the powercut happens. Even if I end up breaking a good amount of sweat I shall not fear, for I have the handkerchief with me. I am not ruining the paper this time!

February 6th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 150


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 2 Minutes Side Leg Swings +EC
Count: 1377 - 1373 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: WoD: Touch Down - LVL III +No rest between sets
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:v: 100/50 Strength: 1 Round
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: DAREdice: 16 Sit-ups
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 18

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 7 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 7 +No rest
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: 625 is not much, but it is progress!
:x: 1500 Get!
:x: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: The Colour of Magic - 49%

Other Victories:
Guitar class.
Yet another drawing done today! Twice!
 

Sólveig

Well-known member
Pirate from Cabudare - Venezuela
Pronouns: She/Her
Posts: 2,063
"ᚨ Ars longa, vita brevis"

I am starting my post with this, because this is the advice I've been following for the last three days, and since I went back to caricatures, I decided to skip them and actually go to the real thing that I drew the most: pin-up babes. So yeah, I am grabbing once again Thierry Beaudenon's book on Drawing Pin-up, and started to follow the lessons, drawing by drawing. I failed twice on the first one, but I did it twice yesterday and it came out better the second time. In today's drawing I actually started to see some progress. It is pretty awful to my standards, but it was better, and I think I did it in less time too.

I did write this morning to finish up my story, and I'll start editing it tomorrow. There was a powercut, and I was going to draw earlier, but ended up tooking a nap. Cursed be the rain, for it started at night instead of in the middle of the powercut, else the heat wouldn't be so unbearable.

250 Burpees today. I also went a little further down on my side splits during the Straddle Stretch. I don't know which one was harder, but I'm sensing some progress.

Time to write a little more and then go to bed.

February 7th, 2024
Kickboxing: Day 151


Morning Routine:
:v: The Right Side + 10 Decline Push-ups
:v: Sól Salutation - LVL I +EC
:v: 20-Seconds Legs
:v: Daily Dare: 10 Tricep Extensions +EC
Count: 1378 - 1374 +EC

Night Routine:
:v: Mani Salutation - 1 Set
:v: Five Rites
:v: Virasana Meditation
:v: Daily Gratitude
:v: Counting Victories

Programs:
Homebrew Training Plan (Valkyrie and Fighter combo inspired)
Bucket List:
Shadebound


Workouts:
:v: 150 Burpees +EC
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
30 Full Burpees
:v: Monkey! - LVL SS +EC +Rest between levels +Full Burpees
:v: 30 Seconds Side Splits
:v: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings & Calves
:x: 100/50 Strength
:v: Pole Dance Stretches
:v: DAREdice: 20 Lunges
:v: 1 minute Uttanasana w/Toe Reach
:v: 2-Minute Elbow Plank
:v: Daily Walk
:x: Shuffle Dance! (#1, #2, #3, H.A.T.E.R.)
:x: Belly Dance
Dancing Days: 18

Challenges:
:v: Epic Cardio: Day 8 +No rest
:v: Epic Abs: Day 8 +No rest
:v: Drawing Pin-up Girls Every Day for a Year: Day 3/365
Bucket List:
Empty, for now

Writing progress:
:v: More writing done!
:v: 1500 Get!
:v: Daily 1500

Reading progress:
:v: The Colour of Magic - 55%

Other Victories:
 
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