Why Mystical Themes Are Trending So Hard Right Now

July 4, 2018 jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

We’ve always had an affinity for mystery. It’s one of the best things that makes us humans, is that we want to know more about the things we don’t understand. That’s why we’re pulled and swain by mystical fantasy. This is partly because we wish we could live in such a world, where magic and beasts like flying dragons soar above in the sky. No matter how old we get, the fantasy genre in novels, movies and now video games never gets old along with us. It’s a never-ending world of possibilities. We played these sorts of games with our friends in the school playground. The adult world makes fantasy even more intriguing because now you can insert kingdoms and war against good and evil. Politics and romance are the two subjects that get the most attention. You would think that since society is getting more and more advanced, that Sci-Fi would be holding the top spot in our interests. However, there are some very good reasons why mystical stories are making a huge comeback.

TV is back!

If you haven’t heard of this next show, then perhaps that’s why you’re out of the loop. Game of Thrones on HBO has sent the masses into a mystical frenzy. A story about warring factions, broken hearts, family issues and of course, dragons. It may have single-handedly brought back mystical themes into the limelight. The season 7 finale that was aired in August 2017, was watched by 16.5 million people. In today’s modern standards where there are so many other distractions and ways to occupy our lives, this is a substantial achievement. Some credit must go Netflix which airs the show on its online watch-whenever platform. There are so many characters with different special abilities and civilizations. Everyone can side with who they feel reflect more of themselves.

Credit BagoGames

Mysterious strategies

Strategy games have always been a niche that unfortunately never made it into the mainstream. It’s kind of like chess. Everyone knows that it takes skill to be good at it, but it takes too much time to learn and perhaps the pull of the game wears off when you’re not advanced in the tactics. However, smartphones have done fantasy strategy games a great service as games like Final Fantasy 15 have injected the power of the story. The characters, their mission and what lies at stake are gripping and intense. The world is in chaos but only one faction and kingdom can put order back in its rightful place. This game is an MMO which means massively multiplayer online. You can explore an entire world in your smartphone, interact with other people from around the globe and team up or declare those that don’t stand with you, your enemies. The combat mechanics are just button mashing either, they require skill to use and learning each character will put you ahead of everyone else.

Whether you want to be a queen or king of a far-away land and lead your clan to a better tomorrow, the fantasy genre supplies you with gripping stories and entertainment value. The last great mystical epic was the Lord of the Rings movies but with Game of Thrones and great games to play, a new era is upon us.

This is a collaborative post.

Go and Take A Seat!…Tuesday Thoughts

March 20, 2018March 20, 2018 jacquelineobyikocha10 Comments

Working can be a deceptive form of procrastination. Tidying, cleaning, answering emails, surfing the net, planning meetings, attending meetings, grocery shopping and every chore that you can think of.

Sometimes they appear far more appealing and easier than facing the task of sitting down and writing or tackling and tapping into our innate creativity.

Our 24/7 constantly on the go culture of a hamster, literally makes it impossible for people to simply be and to just keep still. Take a good look around you. At every juncture, people are fiddling with their phones – even when they are driving, which I find alarming and sad.

Some believe they’ve acquired the superpowers of texting, driving, drinking coffee and chatting all at the same time. I’m actually doubtful if we are really more productive with this hyper trend.

This hyperactive culture creates the impression and belief that being busy with futile activities is better than doing nothing. It’s almost as if there no end to these so-called useful tasks.

Listen up. To make inroads into your work you just have to stop yourself and simply do nothing. Unfolded clothes for a couple of days never killed anyone.

Allow your thoughts to gather and settle. You might be on edge and find it difficult to sit still for a bit. Just be patient.

The ideas will steal in when you create some calm. The solutions, the writing lines will come to you. They are there waiting to be dug out, instead, each day’s mundane activities are piled on them and they get buried under the heap.

Life · Poetry/Poems · Social Issues

GET OUT ALIVE!

November 21, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha5 Comments

when she heard his voice
her heart leapt;
not for the joy of his presence,
but for fear
that his presence brought.

Jacqueline

‘Don’t die in silence. Domestic abuse should never be condoned. Get out alive.’

Staggering statistics show the rise in domestic violence. This could be your neighbour, your best friend, your coworker, your sibling, and so on. Don’t ignore it.

Popular Culture · Reading · Writing

4 Genres You Have Never Heard Of, But Promise To Be Entertaining

October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

Image Source

The world has gone so absolutely bonkers and reality TV-ish that just picking up the newspaper today and reading the latest story about President Trump is akin to picking up a political-thriller, which makes the world of reading novels worryingly redundant.

Okay, maybe that last statement was a stretch too far, but you kind of get the drift. It is what led Matthew Quirk to construct his wonderfully sculpted article.

Luckily, there has been the emergence of some new genres over recent years that could re-establish novels as the go-to medium when it comes to people wanting to escape. We have to warn you, though, some of these genres are totally bonkers, while others are proof that the human race will never be short of creative ideas.

Image source

1. First Off, Bizarro

If you have never heard of Bizarro Fiction, then the only way we can really describe it is, well, being totally weird for the sake of being totally weird. The aim of the game is basically to entertain the reader, but how the author gets to that stage is completely up to them and could see their literature delve into all things funny, gross, graphic, absurd or just madcap.

You may think this is totally niche and will never make it, but David Wong has totally proven that theory wrong. He even had one of his books made into a film. Crazy.

2. Next on the list, Literary Role Playing Games

That is right, Literary Role Playing Games are a thing. It is kind of hard to wrap your head around at first because books in the LitRPG Reads genre tend to describe a protagonist’s adventure with the context of a computer game, meaning there are added mechanics like
experience points, stats and the chance to level up.

However, as mental as this sounds, the chance to read about different quests and see achievements is a great way to read about the adventure from a whole new standpoint.

3. What About ‘Mannerpunk’?

Now you may be thinking that is just another genre that plays on all things punk – why wouldn’t you – but it is actually a genre that is based on the fantasy of manners.

Hear us out, but is basically the other side of the coin that is Steampunk. You see, Steampunk tends to focus on things like the weapons, tech and aesthetics of a particular age, whereas Mannerpunk prefers to focus on the etiquette, manners and social politeness of the era instead.

Of course, there is the punk element to it, in which its most famous title is probably Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a real twist on the Jane Austen classic.

4. Last But Not Least, Microblogging Novels

With the rise of certain social media sites, namely Twitter and Facebook, the world of communication kind of got flipped and squashed and squeezed and altered.

A number of words we use when it comes to online communication became limited and that meant the ideas had to be made concise.

Well, this concept and approach has seen some authors create entire worlds, stories, plots and characters within the confines of these status boxes, known as Microblogging Novels. Say what you want, readers get the chance to read entire chapters the moment they are finished, which is cool.

This is a guest post

Wordless Wednesday

We Don’t Talk Anymore – Wordless Wednesday

September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha27 Comments

What happened to good old-fashioned chatting?

Fiction · Short Stories

Some Day…

August 14, 2017August 14, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

Little stabs of jealousy struck Cody as he stood at the corner and watched Josh and Sam cycle their latest acquisition around the neighbourhood park with such glee,

He envied how they always got the latest and best toys and momentarily, he felt sad and angry that poverty kept his mama from buying any of such things for him. He was tired of their scrounging for food, for hand-me-downs and their broken television.

From past experience, he knew not to ask them if he could join them because they would only laugh and make fun of him. Last time when they were flying a kite and he came closer to watch, Sam made fun of his ill-fitting clothes and oversized trainers and he had walked away red in the face and ashamed.

He really wanted to fit in and he was tired of feeling out of place, but what could a ten-year old do? Maybe if his dad hadn’t died, they wouldn’t be so poor with his mother juggling several jobs. He hoped mama was right in saying that things would get better some day.

Thank you, Dorothy, for the photo prompt and PJ for hosting.

Good Ideas · romance

Unique Proposal Ideas That Are Sure To Work

July 18, 2017July 18, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha3 Comments

Proposing to your partner is probably one of the scariest things that you’ll ever do. It’s also one of the most special nights of your life so getting it right is vital, if you mess it up too badly then they might not say yes! There are plenty of great romantic proposal ideas but so many of them have been done a thousand times before. It’ll still be nice but you have to go the extra mile to truly make it special. If you’re stuck for inspiration, why not consider one of these inventive proposal ideas?

Image From Pixabay

The Ring

Getting the right ring is very important. It is a symbol of your love that will be in your family for generations to come. It can be tempting to go for something traditional to play it safe, but your partner isn’t likely to be that impressed by it. You need to go for something more personal to them, it will make the whole proposal that bit more special. If you’re looking for something a bit more out there, you can get Tacori engagement rings here. They’ll be able to give you something far more unique than a bog standard engagement ring. Once you’ve got the ring sorted, you need to work out exactly how you are going to pop the question.

Scavenger Hunt

If your partner loves puzzles, a scavenger hunt is the perfect way to propose to them. Set out a series of clues, getting more difficult as they progress, and wait at the end ready to propose. One way of making it even more romantic is to base the scavenger hunt around places that are special to you. Perhaps your favorite restaurant or the place where you first met. They might start to work out what is going on halfway through, but that will just make it all the better when they finally reach the end.

Jigsaw Puzzle

You can get custom jigsaw puzzles made online these days and they’re the perfect way to propose. Have one made up that says ‘will you marry me?’ on it somewhere. Don’t make it too large otherwise they’ll be able to tell before they solve it. Getting a puzzle with a thousand pieces is also a pretty bad idea because your partner might get bored before they’ve finished solving it and they’ll be pretty suspicious if you are insistent that they need to finish it.

Restaurants

Restaurants are one of the most popular places to propose, but doing it front of all of those people might not be ideal for them. A good proposal should be a personal thing between you, not something that you share with a bunch of strangers. Instead, you should take them to their favorite restaurant and hire the entire place out just for the two of you. Try booking the restaurant fairly early, or on a weekday so they won’t get too suspicious when you arrive and nobody else is in there. They’ll never see it coming when you get the ring out and pop the question. For an extra special touch, have a string quartet come and play some romantic background music.

Social critic

Just A Thought

May 21, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha19 Comments

Today, we live in a culture where we horde Instagram followers, Twitter followers, YouTube Followers, Facebook likers, etc. It does seem as if the perception of our real lives being anything less than perfect has become a daunting notion for most.

The glossy instagrammizing and Facebookification of our lives can create a dangerous facade of success that harms those who fall prey to such peripheral endorsements.

Someone I know well has been telling fibs on Facebook about their lives. Hmm!

Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

Spell it Out! #SoCS

April 23, 2017April 24, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

The ‘spell’ prompt that Linda gave us makes me think of a two-pronged approach. I automatically thought of my spelling which seems to get dodgier by the day and the need for people to communicate properly.

I am not a mind-reader,
I can’t tell what you think,
so, why don’t you spell it out?

Say what you mean,
mean what you say,
just simply spell it out.

I don’t like guessing games
I prefer to communicate in clear terms,
for heaven’s sake, please spell it out.

Spelling errors! Quel horreur! I used to be a buzzing bee in spelling and read dictionaries as one would read a book. These days – I don’t know if it’s accountable to ageing, to being too busy, or the fault of the auto-correct that simply jumps to offer a helping hand and provides us with the correct options – my spellings are no longer of the Spelling Bee Champion category.

I have found lots of misplaced e’s and undotted double i’s with crooked t’s and what have you turning up at odd places and some days when I re-read an old article and find myself totally embarrassed to find silly little spelling mistakes here.

Somewhere in my mind lies the correct spelling but my fingers jump ahead of themselves to type something else. Maybe, it’s time again to start taking the dictionary to bed and yes, I shall blame all the spelling faults on auto correct. I think it has cast a spell on people and we now depend far too much on it.

Like most things in our digital lives these days, everything is going autopilot, everything has an app, and the spelling of the younger generation sucks. They don’t even bother to spell fully anymore. Full sentences are broken down into abbreviated jargon and trying to read it simply gives me a headache that most times, I spell out what is written to make any sense of it.