• James Cameron says Avatar was inspired by his dreams.
• Our dreams are one of the most potent sources of inspiration.
• There are many techniques we can use to tap into our dreams for inspiration.

Shakespeare said the “very substance of the ambitious is but a shadow of a dream.”

When our conscious minds close off, when we fall asleep, the deeper parts of our psyche come out to play. It’s here we can tap into the primary source of inspiration: the subconscious mind. This is an excellent way to find inspiration for writing novels, screenplays, designing games… whatever create project you’re working on.

Dreams are sequences of ideas, emotions, and images that arise from the subconscious and play out before us in our sleep.

Many of the world’s best artists, writers and directors have been inspired by their dreams.

• They include:
• Christopher Nolan’s Inception
• Stephen King’s “Dreamcatcher”
• Salvador Dalí’s Persistence of Memory
• The Beatles’ “Yesterday”
• Edgar Allan Poe’s Poetry.
• Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life”
• Carl Jung’s “The Red Book”
• And James Cameron’s Avatar, the highest grossing movie of all time.

James Cameron is one of the most commercially successful directors ever. He’s inspired billions of people around the world with the likes of Avatar, Titanic, Aliens, and Terminator 2. And when Avatar 2 hits it will likely break even James Cameron’s own records.

Recently, Cameron has been speaking about his inspiration for Avatar 2. And his revelation is a real eye-opener, because his inspiration didn’t come from some divinity or some superhuman talent. It came from his dreams.

It’s said that talented artists are few and far between, that talent is something you either have or you don’t have.

Horse crap.

Talent is something absolutely anyone can achieve. Why? Because the human mind comes pre-loaded with all the talented you could ever desire. The question is: How do you tap into that talent?

For James Cameron, the answer came from his dreams.

When conceptualising his movies, James Cameron says he would be inspired by his dreams.

“The Terminator came from a dream of a kind of death figure, a chrome skeleton emerging from a fire. A lot of the root imagery I had in Avatar came from dreams I had when I was still in college of a bioluminescent forest,” Cameron told FemaleFirst.

Cameron’s wide range of movies and genres come from a diverse dreaming mind. His alien movies were inspired by nightmares. In an interview on the Terminator Blu-Ray Cameron says that Terminator was inspired while he was feeling dissociated from humanity and was sick in bed, drifting from sleep to deep thoughts.

These deep thoughts and subconscious visions are chief sources of inspiration. And we all get them.

So why do some people struggle to find inspiration?

In Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less,  Alex Soojung-Kim Pang says that most people’s minds are simply too busy and too stressed to be creative. Creativity requires flexibility. To be creative, the mind must be free to explore different angles, to look at the picture from a different angle. That’s why many of the best creative ideas come when we’re taking a long walk or engaging in some other relaxing activity.

When we are relaxed, inspiration comes easy.

So how can we relax the mind so we can start to use our subconscious and our dreams for inspiration.

One way to make the mind more creative is with meditation.

Exercises like meditation give the mind a way to relax so that our deeper thoughts and subconscious, dream-imagery comes to the surface.

Ideas like Avatar come from the deeper parts of the mind. And for those ideas to come out, the mind needs to be relaxed.

This is something even the most stressed-out person can achieve. We can all train our minds to relax. And when we do we will naturally be more creative, and we will find that we naturally create inspiration in our dreams.

Here are 5 ways to relax the mind so you can be inspired by your dreams like James Cameron.

5 Keys To Relaxing The Mind So We Can Be Inspired By Our Dreams

1. Indulge in the other people’s creativity

All creative works—whether a book, movie, game or anything else—are inspired by other creative works simply because the mind cannot work in a vacuum.

As original as Avatar is, it’s easy to see how it was inspired by outside sources like the works of Edward Rice Burroughs (John Carter, Moon, Tarzan) as well a Hinduism and Buddhism.

(This article reveals the surprising inspirations behind Avatar)

Indulging in other creative work is both relaxing and inspiring. So read, watch, play, visit art galleries, and indulge in other people’s creativity. This will stir the imagination while also relaxing the mind.

Ultimately, a love for creative works leads to a healthy, Zen-like flow of creative ideas perfect for when you’re writing a novel, directing a movie, designing a video game or whatever creative work you’re currently working on.

2. Let Go So Those Dream-Visions Flow

Speaking to Fast Company, James Cameron said, “It sometimes takes me three or four days to get into a head space where I can [get flowing creatively].  If I get interrupted at any point I have to start over.”.

While we need inspiration in order to come up with creative ideas, the mind needs space and a relaxing atmosphere in order to release those deeply-held dream visions.

To be inspired by your dreams, always make sure that your mind is relaxed enough to actually let go. Otherwise those creative ideas will stay stuck in your unconscious where you will not be able to access them.

3. Try Meditation Or Yoga An Hour Before Bed

One of the best ways to let your subconscious ideas out is to relax your conscious mind. And two of the best ways of doing that are yoga and meditation.

Simply focusing on your breathing for twenty minutes, or practicing a few yoga Asana (poses that are used in yoga, such as “Downward Dog” and “Warrior”), will deeply relax your mind so that your dream ideas can come out and inspire you.

Read my guide to using Yoga for creativity on THE DAILY MEDITATION to learn more about this.

4. Do these 2 things when you go to bed

When you go to bed at night, make sure to leave a notebook by your side. That way you can immediately write down your dream ideas when you wake-up. Also make sure that to tell yourself that you are going to remember your dreams. The conscious intent of deciding to remember your dreams makes a big difference. So, tell yourself you will remember your dreams.

5. Use this secret dream technique

What many people don’t know is that actors and writers use dream work to intentionally influence their dreams. This can be a powerful way of communicating with your subconscious. So how do you do it?

I learned this technique while learning acting at drama school. It’s called “Dream Work”. In this technique we intentionally focus on very specific imagery that is related to the dream we wish to have. If, for instance, we’re writing a sci-fi novel we might like to have a dream in our fantasy world. To do this we meditate on imagery from that world before going to bed. This guides our dreams towards our chosen subject, so we can then experience a dream as though we were in that fantasy world or (for actors) as though we are the character we are writing.

These 5 techniques are powerful ways of influencing the subconscious mind so that we can be inspired by our dreams.

For motivation, check out this video of the best art to ever be inspired by dreams.

The Best Movies Inspired By Dreams

The post How To Be Inspired By Dreams Like James Cameron (Avatar) appeared first on Fiction Earth.

Dean Ambrose, The Miz, and Maryse put on a great promo. This rivalry is already looking good after only two episodes of WWE RAW.

Chris Jericho With Tom… or Mike? Chris Jericho forgets whether it’s Tom or Mike.

King Neville declines Austin Aries offer of a banana. And then Neville and Austin Aries get involved in the match-up between TJ Perkins and Gentleman Jack Gallagher.

Fatal Fourway Shows Off WWE RAW’s Women’s Division: A great match between Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, Mickie James and Alexa Bliss show how much talent there is in the WWE RAW Women’s Division.

Finn Balor hype Is Building: Finn Balor is back on WWE RAW and his hype is building. How long before we see Demon King Finn Balor?

Braun Strowman superplexes The Big Show from the top rope: and the WWE RAW ring implodes. Braun Strowman really is the monster of WWE.

The post Highlights From WWE RAW 17 4 2017 appeared first on Fiction Earth.

The first life simulation games, which came out in the early 1980s, when this old man writer was just a wee ickle baby. And there have been many good life simulation games since then.

In this list of life simulation games we’re looking at only the very best. And we welcome your input on this article.

F you know a good life simulation game to add to the list, get in touch via a comment, or on Facebook / Twitter. I’ll gladly add your suggestions to the list (if the game is good enough, of course).

Let’s do this.

The absolute best life simulation games of all time.

See the current top Life Sim Games on Amazon. 

The Sims Series

Platforms: Xbox, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Macintosh operating systems, Nintendo DS, Linux, GameCube

The Sims series are the most popular life simulation games of all time. Believe it or not, The Sims series has sold over 200 million copies since 200. That makes it one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, right up there with Grand Theft Auto and Mario.

If you have never played The Sims, you will still be familiar with it. It’s the quintessential isometric life simulator. It created the template for life sim games.

There are tons of games in the Sims series. So you might also want to look at:

The Sims:

Livin’ Large

House Party

Hot Date

Vacation

Unleashed

Superstar

Makin’ Magic

Bustin’ Out

The Urbz: Sims in the City

The Sims Online[edit]

The Sims 2:

University

Nightlife

Open for Business

Pets

Seasons

Bon Voyage

FreeTime

Apartment Life

The Sims 3

World Adventures

Ambitions

Late Night

Generations

Pets

Showtime

Supernatural

Seasons

University Life

Island Paradise

Into the Future

The Sims Medieval

The Sims Social

The Sims 4

Get to Work

City Living

Outdoor Retreat

Spa Day

Dine Out

Vampires

Luxury Party Stuff

Perfect Patio Stuff

Cool Kitchen Stuff

Spooky Stuff

Movie Hangout Stuff

Romantic Garden Stuff

Kids Room Stuff

Backyard Stuff

Vintage Glamour Stuff

Holiday Celebration Pack

 Spore 

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems, iOS

One of the best things about life sim games is that they are so diverse. Where The Sims gives you a modern, urban life simulator, Spore does something altogether different.

In Spore you get to develop a microscopic organism right from the time that it’s a little single celled organism to when it becomes an evolved and complex animal. It doesn’t get much more “life sim” than that.

If The Sims is a game about people Spore is a game about evolution. You get to take complete control the evolution of an entire species.

Animal Crossing 

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

A moment ago we were discussing how life simulation games are very versatile. Case in point: Animal Crossing. This is one of the cutest life simulation games ever. And it is yet another take on this most popular genre.

Animal Crossing is actually a lot like The Sims. You play out the life of a character. The main difference is in the style. Where The Sims is generally modern urban and takes a realistic cartoon look, Animal Crossing is cute and fantastical. And for anyone watching from the UK, it may well remind you of the classic show Button Moon (which I don’t believe ever hit North America…. If I’m wrong, let me know in a comment).

>> See more games like Animal Crossing here. 

Harvest Moon Series 

Platforms: Wii, Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Harvest Moon is very similar to Anima Crossing. No surprise, both are SNES games.

In Harvest moon you get to play out the life of a boy running a farm. Your mission is to make the farm successful while your father is away. To do that you choose how to divide up your tasks, like farming and fishing.

Harvest moon is incredibly popular in Japan, and it has become a cult classic in the West. A lot of casual gamers aren’t aware of Harvest Moon, which is a shame, because it’s one of the best life simulators ever.

Tomodachi Collection (Tomodachi Life)

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

If you prefer your life simulation games on handheld devices you might want to check out Tomodachi Collection. It’s available on the Nintendo 3DS and is a lot like a cross between The Sims and Animal Crossing.

In Tomodachi Collection you use Miis to interact, to make friends, to complete tasks, and to generally go about living the life of a Mii. As you play you level-up your Miis, which gives you access to different rewards.

One of the best things about Tomodachi Collection is that it is flipping nuts. If you love Japanese life simulation games then you really must play Tomodachi Life.

>> see more games like Tomodach Life.

WolfQuest  

Platform: Online

Here is yet another game that proves how versatile the Life Simulator genre is. In WolfQuest you play as… you guess it, a wolf. \

WolfQuest is a 3D wildlife simulation game by Minnesota Zoo and Eduweb. Notice the “Edu” part of “Eduweb”. Wolfquest is an educational life simulation game in which you learn about wolves and how they interact with the world around them. Specifically, you learn about the wild wolf and their ecology in Yellowstone national Park.

There are lots of other games like WolfQuest too. In fact, the realistic animal simulation genre is becoming very popular at the moment.

>> More games like Wolfquest.

Princess Maker 2

Platforms: Windows, MS Dos, Playstation 2, TurboGrafx-16, Sega Saturn, PC-9800, FM Towns, 3D0, Macintosh, GP32, DOS,

Princess Maker 2 is one of the best life simulation games of the 90s. And it really deserved a lot more attention than it got back in the day. Not many people knew about Princess Maker 2 when it was first released. But thanks to the online gaming community and emulators, Princess Maker 2 is now quite popular.

In Princess Maker 2 you play as a war hero who is now raising a little girl. Your raise her to the age of 18, and the decisions you make along the way will affect her adult life. Make poor decisions as a parent and your daughter will suffer. Make the right decisions and she will be set for life.

Alter Ego (1986)

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web browser, Commodore 64, Macintosh operating systems, Wii, DOS, MS-DOS, Apple II, Windows Mobile

And now to go back in time to 1986, the same year Aliens, Top Gun, and Crocodile Dundee were release. And the year the next game on our list was released: Alter Ego.

Alter Ego is a role playing game / life simulator by Activision and was released for Commodore 64, MS Dos, Apple II, and Apple Macintosh (you remember when Macs actually used the name “Macintosh”? Good old days).

In Alter Ego you take control of an imaginary person and make decisions that will affect the course of their life. So in that respect, it really isn’t too different to most other life simulators. What separated it from the pack is now just that it was one of the first life sim games but also that it used psychological science to determine the affect of your decisions.

Anyone with an appreciation for retro games should definitely take a look at Alter Ego. It is arguably the most influential game on this list.

>> More games like Alter Ego.

SimAnt

Platforms: Amiga, MS-DOS, Super NES, Windows 3.x, Macintosh, NEC PC-9801, (Emulator)

You can sim anything. Proof: Sim Ant.

There are no prizes for guessing that in SimAnt you play as an ant. You take control of a colony of ants and must fight to eliminate the red ants in different locations, each of which has different hazards. The purpose is to spread your own ant colony around the garden and house in order to drive out the enemy ants and the humans.   

SimAnt has one of the best premises (core ideas) of any life simulation game.

Kudos

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems

Kudos is a game by Positech Games, who also made Democracy (the game, not the political system). Kudos is a game like The Sims, with very similar gameplay.  The idea is that you control a virtual life character between their twentieth and thirtieth birthday. The game plays out in turns, which represent individual days. And on each turn you choose to perform certain activities. This develops your character’s life and affects their mind, mood, and body.

A sequel, Kudos: Rock Legend, improved on the original with better gameplay and art.

Viva Pinata

Platforms: Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS

Rare’s 2006 Viva Pinata is a life simulation game with a twist. You tend to a garden that is overrun with weeds. Your mission is to breed different colour Pinatas in order to stop the weeds from spreading.

Viva Pinata has beautiful, bright and colourful graphics and vibrant presentation, but it does suffer a bit of a hiccough in the form of a frequent autosave. Definitely not the number one life simulation game of all time, but worth a spot on this list mostly because it offers something different to the genre.

Fantasy Life

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Fantasy Life is an RPG game with life simulation elements. It was released in Japan on July 25 2013.

As you’ve probably guessed, Fantasy Life is set in a fantasy world (Reveria) which is full of cities, mountains and various landscapes. The rulers of Reveria preside over the regions and guide the citizens in their lives. But a meteorite hits the players house and sets off a chain of events (epic plot, no?).  The king asks you to investigate. And it’s here the life simulation begins.

As you investigate the situation you must complete tasks and helps the citizens. Fighting monsters will give you points, too, which you can use to level up. And as you play you gain access to different characters too.

Fantasy Life is the best life simulation game for anyone who also enjoys RPGs.

Little Computer People (1985)

Platforms: PC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, ( Emulator )

Little Computer People (A.K.A house On A Disk) is an Activision game from 1985. Like a lot of retro games from the 1980s, Little Computer People has only one setting, which is a sideways view of a home, occupied by a character. You play that character, and you must interact with them to go about completing their everyday business.

Youtubers Life

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, iOS, Linux, macOS

You guess it; in Youtubers Life you play as a Youtuber. This is a business simulation game that was released in May 2016.    It is definitely more life simulation than business sim, though, so don’t worry if you don’t like deep simulation games, because you will easily be able to play this one.

In Youtubers Life you play as a character trying to create a successful Youtube channel. You must choose the right videos to crate as well as managing your character’s life and education.

If you love life sim games and love Youtube, this is a no-brainer.

Disney Magical Worlds

Platforms: Nintendo 3DS

Here’s a game you can’t help but love, the Disney life simulation game. It’s called Disney Magical World and it’s available on Nintendo 3DS.

In Disney Magical World you use your Mii to complete quests in the town of Castleton. You’ll get to go fishing, to do card collecting, to make clothes, to decorate a café… and as you play you will receive stickers that you can use to level up.

With plots taking place in Cinderella’s world, Wonderland, Hundred Acre Wood and Agrabah (my favorite is Agrobah) you will get to visit all the Disney worlds you know and love.

Second Life 

Platform: Online

You probably already know about Second Life. When it was originally released it became a real talking point. News outlets talked about how people were being pulled into a virtual life on the internet where they were losing their grip on reality. LOL. News.

Second Life is one of the most serious life simulation games that there is. You literally do everything you do in real life. In the game. You can even get married and make money which is worth actual, real money that you can spend in real store (though you will be very hard pushed to make much of it).

>> more games like Second Life.

Imvu  

Platform: Online

IMVU is one of the most popular virtual world games. Compared to other virtual world games like Second Life, it is very basic. You’re in a room playing as an avatar, and there is another person in the same room with their own avatar. And you can do whatever you want to do. So, use your imagination.

Cute Knight 

Platforms: Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems, Linux

Cute Knight is a more casual life simulation game that has multiple endings based on the decisions you make.

In Cute Knight you play Michiko, a female character between the ages of 18 and 21. Different stats are used to determine how successfully you complete different tasks. And the better you perform your tasks the higher the job you get.

The best thing about Cute knight is the cutesy graphics. It uses hand-drawn pictures to tell the story. And the story is whacky and wonderful. This game is a total charmer.

MORE GAMES FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

Tamagotchi Connection  

My Baby

Singles Series

Monster Rancher

Little King’s Story 

So in short, there are a lot of good life simulation games. 

There are so many life simulation games. The genre has been popular since the mid 1980s, and since then there have been tons of different types of life sims. There are life sims about animals, about Disney, about princesses and knights, even about a garden full of weeds. Whatever type of life sim game you like, you’re really spoilt for choice.

This list has covered the best life sim games. And I invite you to share your opinion. If there is a game you would like to see added to the list, let me know.

Leave a comment.

The post The Best Life Simulation Games Of All Time appeared first on Fiction Earth.

The Last Jedi trailer was just released, and we are all buzzing with energy about it. (I’ve included the trailer below in case you missed it).

This trailer is so deep. And so many critics have missed the actual point of it.

Truth is, this trailer means far more than we realised. It is the evolution of the Jedi (not the end). It is the harmonising of the light and dark side of the force. And it is one of the most spiritually significant trailers ever.

Let’s take an in-depth look at what The Last Jedi trailer really means.  

The first thing you will notice about The Last Jedi trailer is that it is very obviously spiritual.

The trailer begins with a meditation session in which Luke Skywalker is telling Rey to just breathe. He is basically giving Rey a lesson in Anapanasati meditation (which is basically a breathing meditation).

Anapansati is one of the oldest and most important types of meditation technique in the world. And it is used to clear the mind.

When Luke tells Rey to breathe, he is actually helping Rey to clear her mind. This is even mirrored in the cinematography. The way the clouds part to a clear sun at 0:27 is symbolical. It is showing the cloud clearing from Rey’s mind so she can see clearly (the sun representing clarity of sight).

According to Buddhist tradition, clearing the mind like this will open you up to insight. And again, the cinematography reflects this. When Rey is standing at the shore at 0:37 it is as though she’s standing at the edge of the ocean. The ocean has long been a representation of the subconscious mind.

So far, Rey has meditated on her breath to clear her mind, and she has seen the ocean (her innermost mind).

According to Buddhist tradition, Anapanasati  (breathing meditation, which Rey did at the beginning of the trailer) leads to purity of mind. And this in turn leads to Vipassana. Vipassana is another type of meditation, and it can be translated to mean “Insight”.

Lo and behold, Rey soon discovers insight.

“What do you see?” Luke asks. And of course, he is not asking what Rey sees with her eyes (“Your eyes deceive you, do not trust them,” said Obi Wan Kenobi in A New Hope). He is asking what she sees with her mind’s eye. In other words, what is her insight (Vipassana)?

This is where things get really interesting.

Rey says she sees light. And of course she does, because she is going to be a Jedi… isn’t she?

But then she says “Darkness.” And we all think, wait, she could be a sith…?

But what matters is that Rey sees both light and dark.

And then the single most important word of the entire trailer, “Balance”.

When Rey says that she sees “Light. Darkness. And balance” she reveals the entire premise of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Star Wars has always been based on Eastern philosophy (mostly Buddhism and Taoism). One of the most important rules in those philosophies is that there is no good and bad. There just is.

Buddhism teaches not to think in terms of good and bad. Instead, simply see what is. The moment you think in terms of what is good you inevitably have what is bad (because anything that is not good must logically be bad). And the moment you have good and bad you have conflict, conflict which leads to suffering (which Buddhist’s call Dukkha).

To stop suffering it is necessary to stop the conflict between good and bad. And the only way to stop good and bad is to simply accept things as they are. Accepting things as they are is the heart of Buddhism. And finding harmony (the harmony between good and bad, between “light” and “dark”, for instance), is the heart of Taoism.

Next, Luke says “It’s so much bigger”?

What is so much bigger? The answer is: The universe is so much bigger when it is not perceived through the delusional concept of good and bad.

When we let go of the idea of what is good and what is bad. When we let go of our delusional states of mind, we come to see the entirety of existence.

That is what the line means, spiritually.

What it means in terms of Star Wars is that the force is so much bigger than anyone had realised.

By cleaving the Force in two between light and dark, we only have two halves. We can only see the fullness of The Force when we have harmony. And this also mirrors spiritual philosophy, as The Force is based on The Lifeforce, or Qi, or Chi… Nearly every religion and spirituality has it’s own concept of The Force, and nearly all of them agree that when you simply accept life as it is and open your mind to the fullness of existence, you allow that Qi / Chi / Lifeforce / The Force to flow freely through you (even Yoda says, “Let the force flow through you” and the only way to do that is to stop impeding it).

When we let go of good and bad (yin and yang, light and dark), when we let those two forces exist in harmony, we achieve the highest point of being.

And this has a significance on Star Wars. Why? Because Rey will not be either light or dark.

Rey will not become a Jedi. Luke Skywalker is The Last Jedi. He does not want Rey to become a Jedi (in the trailer he says, “It’s time for the Jedi to end”).

Of course, when Luke says “It’s time for the Jedi to end” everyone thinks he is literally talking about the end of the Jedi, which is mind-boggling because Luke himself is a Jedi.

But Luke is not talking about the actual end of the Jedi. He is talking about the evolution of the Jedi.

Luke has seen the evil that comes from the dark side, because of his father, Darth Vader. But, vitally, he has also seen the evil that can come from the light side, which is half of the conflict, and which has led to the suffering of his followers (which Han Solo talks about in The Force Awakens).

Luke now knows that both “Light” and “Dark” lead to suffering because they are two opposites, two energies in conflict, and whenever there are two energies in conflict there will inevitably be war and suffering.

So where does this leave Rey?

Rey is both the dark and the light. She is the Jedi and the Sith. She is harmony. She sees both light and dark because she is both light and dark. And by bringing harmony to The Force she will bring peace, just as the Buddhist and Taoist codes speak of harmony leading to peace.

Incidentally, Star Wars fans will note that this also references the prophecy that Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Mace Windu talk about in Revenge of the Sith. Anakin was supposed to “Bring balance to the Force”. But Yoda says the prophecy could have been misread.

Rey represents the fulfilling of the prophecy, the harmonising of light and dark, the end of the Jedi and the Sith, and the beginning of a new type of Force.

The Last Jedi Explained

Leave a comment..

The post What The Last Jedi Trailer Actually Means appeared first on Fiction Earth.

And it does not take long for WWE to get to the point as Kevin Owens immediately comes to the ring looking dapper as hell in a new suit. Talks the trash, speaking in French Canadian, which the audience seems to hate.

Baron Corbin comes out and immediately we know that Fight Owens Fight will be having a rivalry with Baron Corbin. Clearly WWE is intent on pushing Baron Corbin, which is smart given that he has one of the best developed characters on the show, even this early into his WWE career.

Then Sami Zayn’s music pops and he comes to the ring grinning. Sami Zayn makes perfect sense on Smackdown. The lad’s style is blue through and through. And this probably means that the Kevin Owens / Sami Zayn rivalry is back, but with the addition of Baron Corbin and…

A.J Styles (legend).

As A.J Styles comes to the ring it’s pretty clear that there’s already a four-way rivalry between four extremely talented WWE superstars. And the audience loves it, cheering “This is awesome” and “A.J. Styles”.

A match is set between Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens for the United States Championship. And another match between A.J Styles, Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn. Probably A.J Styles will win but we will see.

After a break, the freakish Eric Rowan comes to the ring looking like a monster from Uncharted. “Voices” plays and Randy Orton comes to the ring. A match with a seemingly obvious victor: Randy Orton, unless there is interference.

Lo and behold. Bray Wyatt comes out from his… layer… just like he did on RAW. He laughs his ass off about the House of Horror’s match at WWE Payback. And the distraction gives Eric Rowan the opportunity  to his Randy Orton with the steel stairs.

Shawn Michae’s movie trailer plays.

Oh. The pain. That’s what I feel when I watch Shawn Michael’s The Resurrection Of Gavin Stone trailer. I mean… wut?!

Smackdown comes back with a tag-team match between the Usos and American Alpha. And even though The Usos are rocking it with their new urban look, part of me misses the more-theatrical New Zealand Haka entrance and their more flamboyant personas. It was great having that culture representation.

The Usos VS American Alpha ends up being a great tag-team match. And afterwards Primo and Epico come “from outta nowhere” to join the awesome tag-team division on Smackdown.  Still, the Smackdown Live tag-team division is nowhere near at stacked as the Raw tag-team division.

Mojo Riley comes out after his shocking win in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal to step up against Jinder Mahal.

The fact that Jinder Mahal is getting pushed so much is fantastic. His physique is insane. But the question is, will WWE Creative make him a typical heel (like most other Eastern wrestlers; The Iron Sheik, for example).

Of course, Jinder Mahal is from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but WWE will probably sell him as a Middle Easterner and a heel. Especially given the need for more heels right now.

Not surprisingly, WWE make the foreigner lose to the American, as though this is still the mid 1980s, as though such brazen prejudice were permissible in today.

There’s a subtle little moment of media genius as the commentators say that we will be seeing the Smackdown women next, and then Shane McMahon comes out. Questions of whether Shane McMahon is secretly a woman. Instead he says he’s about to reveal the new Smackdown female superstar. He introduces the entire Smackdown female roster to the stage. Who the hell is Shane about to introduce that deserves this much hypes?

The entire crowd thinks that Charlotte Flair is coming. And then POW!, Tamina (daughter of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka) comes to the ring. The crowd’s not interested though. Charlotte comes out. But there’s a total mess-up in the programming. Charlotte Flair is introduced to Smackdown and is made to look like the big deal she is. But the show cuts to a break before Charlotte can even speak. Disrespectful much?

So basically, Charlotte got swapped for Alexa Bliss. Who got the better deal? Leave a comment.

Next up, time for the audience to chant, “Who are you?” It’s Aiden English, singing in an Andrew Lloyd Webber way. But it’s cool because, thank God, legend Tye Dillinger interrupts him. And here comes an obvious win for the Perfect 10.

To be fair to Aiden English, his shtick is legit. Stopping in a match to sing a random Aria is hilarious. But despite being possessed by the spirit by Pavarotti, Aiden English loses to Tye Dillinger.

It’s about time WWE got Tye Dillnger’s real rivalry set and start pushing him for real. Any good writer knows, one of the keys to telling a good story is immediately creating conflict the second you introduce a character. Tye Dillinger has just been introduced. He needs conflict now.

Dolph Ziggler comes to the ring, but no one remembers what his whole deal is as his story has lacked any major plot points for a while now. However, it seems he’s about to get his moment in the sun, the Japanese sun, because Shinsuke Nakamura comes to the ring. A new rivalry is made between Shinsuke Nakamura and Dolph Ziggler. And it couold very well be the best story of Dolph Ziggler’s career. 

Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin and A.J. Styles come to the ring. And Baron Corbin’s entrance is now darker than ever (making sense, given that the commentators were just taking about how Baron Corbin has the darkest mind in the WWE).

Seeing A.J Styles, Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin in the ring together, this new rivalry makes perfect sense. All three of them represent the blue collar worker in different ways. Sami Zayn is the honest blue collar guy with integrity. A.J Styles is that stylish blue collar guy. Baron Corbin the hardcore, loner one, the sort of dude in the factory who always seems to be in a dark corner looking at you through the corner of their eyes like they’re going to stab you. In fact, given the characters of these three superstars this match could easily take place in a factory. Blue collar boys. Do it with their hands muddied.

Turns out A.J. Styles is the toughest blue collar as he wins the match and becomes number one contender.

And that’s Smackdown done. Lot of great new rivalries to look forward to this year.

What do you make of the new changes to the rosters? Leave a comment.

The post Smackdown Review With Live Updates appeared first on Fiction Earth.

Everyone knows I am a huge fan of storytelling, in general and particularly in wrestling. And the WWE Shakeup on Raw was a very important time for the development of WWE stories. The WWE Shakeup is an opportunity to end old storylines and begin new ones. And it’s here we see where the WWE is headed in the future.

Miz and Maryse opened the 10 / 4 / 2017 episode of WWE Raw. And it’s funny how Miz and Maryse have found their best moments since they started ripping off John Cena and Nikki Bella. Miz and Maryse are basicall John Cena and Nikki Bella Version 2, so Miz and Maryse are basically mocking themselves here. But oh boy is it working. Mocking Cena has actually made The Miz popular, and as this episode of RAW made clear, Miz is going to get a lot of screen time because of it.

Dean Ambrose then came to the ring pretending he didn’t realise it was Miz and Maryse. And as usual, Dean’s sold his spot well, especially at the end when he realise it was really Miz and immediately punched him.

So it seems Miz and Dean Ambrose are going to have a rivalry. Weird. Because Miz and Ambrose could have had their rivalry on Smackdown, so why wait until after the WWE Shakeup to make it happen?

Next, the brilliant Kurt Angle (who has the most sparkly eyes ever) booked a match between Miz and Sammy Zayn. So within five minutes of being on RAW Miz has two rivalries. And he is going to get a lot of screen time out of those rivalries.

Next, New Day came to the ring looking amazing in their new colours with new gloves and wristbands. And their new rivalry against The Revival looks like a good booking.

Technically speaking, whenever you write a rivalry (in wrestling, in a novel, in a movie, in anything) it’s best to have characters who clash. Luke Skywalker VS Darth Vader. Frodo VS Sauron. A good fight is between two equal but opposites.

New Day and The Revival are both equal and opposite. Of course, they are both good teams in the ring, but their characters clash too, New Day with that over-the-top theatricality, and The Revival with that old school, man’s man style. The fact that New Day lost also helps the story, because New Day could use a setback. They’ve been sitting on high too long. And conflict is one of the keys to a good story. So this one is set-up nicely.

Also, The Revival and New Day attract totally different fans. The Revival are popular among hardcore wrestling fans. New Day are popular among kids and people who love the more theatrical elements of wrestling. That means that every New Day and The Revival fight some fans will be cheering for New Day and some for The Revival, which is great for atmosphere.

Then, Neville, Austin Aries and T.J Perkins have their spot.

This spot achieved a hell of a lot. Neville is obviously a god and one of the most talented people in WWE. His character is sublime, in the ring, on the mic, even on commentary as he was in this episode of RAW. Austin Aries is similarly good, though he did get his Wrestlemania spot a little easily. T.J Perkins, however, needs reinvention.

Neville manipulated T.J Perkins into attacking Austin Aries after the match. And this achieved a lot. It took T.J Perkin’s character in a new direction as he may now turn heel. It set Austin Aries back, and he has needed more conflict recently. And it made Neville look more powerful and more influential, the way he manipulated T.J Perkins into turning heel.

Seth Freaking Rollins came to the ring next. Man, Seth Rollins. He’s just come back from injury, and it looks like the Cross-fit Jesus is going to get resurrected in time for Easter.

Kurt Angle came to the ring and told Seth Rollins that he was a fan of his, and that he wanted him on Raw. This will set-up the upcoming rivalry between Kurt Angle and The Authority, and it also carries Seth Rollins’ character in a new direction by aligning him with a new ally. Allies, after all, are one of the most important parts of any character (what would Frodo be without Sam?).

One of the more surprising moments of the 11 / 4 / 2017 episode of WWE Raw was Charlotte VS Nia Jax. Before Wrestlemania, if I had had to pick one female wrestler who would be moved down a peg it would not be Charlotte. She has it all. She’s arguably the most talented woman in the history of WWE. But she’s on a losing streak.

As with New Day, Charlotte’s loss is not actually going to be a real setback. In any story, characters need losses. One of the most important moments in the entire Star Wars series is when Luke loses his fight against Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back. Why? Because losses make characters more human. And they also create viewer sympathy. Charlotte is gaining our sympathy right now because she is losing. And sympathy is one of the most important parts of a Face (a popular character). So if WWE Creative are choosing to make Charlotte lose, it is possible they are trying to make use feel sympathy for Charlotte, which would suggest they want to make her a face for the first time in a long while.

Nia Jax, meanwhile, is on a rampage. But damn do WWE need to develop her character. Nix Jax has so much potential. But WWE are selling her on the fact that is big and powerful, and only on that. That’s a problem.

Trust me, no one’s happier to see a plus size model in WWE than I am. But being plus size in itself is not enough of a character. We need to see Nia Jax’s background. Who is she? What is she about? We know so much about Sasha, Bayley and Charlotte. We need to know more about Nia Jax. Come on, WWE, make it happen.

Jinder Mahal VS Finn Balor was next. Not much to say about this one. Jinder Mahal is a great talent and needs to be pushed. Finn Balor is exceptional and will become champion again. The match, however, was forgettable. But then something godlike happened.

Bray Wyatt came on the Titantorn and told Finn Balor, essentially, that he needed to watch out. And if this is a rivalry that WWE Creative is going to push then damn it is good. These two characters, who are similar but different, could create an absolutely brilliant story. Undertaker VS Mankind was great in 1998 because they were similar characters (satanic, occultist) but different. Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt would be a similar set-up.

And then there was even more Miz and Maryse…

Roman Reigns’ interview with Michael Cole did absolutely nothing. “Do you regret…” said Cole, to which Roman Reigns kinda ummed and ahhhed. Pointless. Terrible interview. “Thank you, Strowman,” for interrupting and absolutely destroying Roman Reigns.

It should have been Braun Strowman who beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. It would have really cemeneted Braun Strowman as a beast (and a rivalry with Brock Lesnar could have followed). We didn’t get that. But we did get Braun Strowman beating up Roman Reigns on Raw and pushing the ambulance over. And that was pretty darned godlike. The fans were on the top of their game too, chanting “You deserve it” when Roman Reigns was being decimated. Damn I love WWE fans.

Shamus & Cesaro then teamed with Matt & Jeff to face Gallows & Anderson and The Shining Stars. An entertaining match, but it did little in terms of story-development.

Next up, Sasha Banks came to the ring looking “Shucky Ducky Quack Quack”. Sasha introduce Bayley. And at the beginning there was a clear moment when these two came across as best friends in a way they never have before. That’s because there was no rivalry going on here, it was just Bayley and Sasha being friends.

Until… Sasha asked Bayley for a title match. And Bam, the friendship is (probably) going to be over. But not before Alexa Bliss got involved.

Little Miss Bliss, one of the single most talented women in wrestling, belongs on Raw. Her branding is perfect for RAW. And the rivalry between Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks and Bayley is going to be amazing.

Whether or not Mickie James belongs in this picture is up for debate. The self-professed best WWE Women’s Champion of all time is back on RAW (and with a new look).

Bayley, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss all have a similar style and would make for a great rivalry. While Nia Jaz is like a wrecking ball head at a bunch of bowling pins. What Mickie James adds to this set-up is a mystery to me (leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on this).

And finally, we get Dean Ambrose VS. Kevin Owens. But I will have to write that up tomorrow morning, so, check back for updates.

The post Shakeup On WWE Raw Pushes The Story In A New Direction appeared first on Fiction Earth.

A Finnish production company called Gutsy Animations are going to bring your favorite cartoon, the Moomins, to new viewers.

The original Moomins were created by Tove Jannsson way back in 1945. Tove Jannsson was born in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. She wrote The Little Trolls, which is the book that the Moomins is based on.

The Moomins went on to become Finlands biggest cultural export, and still are. So clearly the Moomins are very important to Finland. And you will be pleased to hear that the Moomins are staying in Finland, because animation studio Gutsy Animations are based in Helsinki, the same place Tove Jannsson was born.

The Moomins have a proud TV history. In the late 1970s the Moomins stop-animation was created. Then in 1990 the cartoon came out. An animated Moomin film was released in 2015. And that has led to this, the new Moomins TV showing coming out in 2019.

The new Moomin show is going to appeal to both fans of the original show and new viewers and will use both 2D and 3D animation. The environments will be 2D and the Moomin characters themselves will be 3D.

If you love the Moomins, you will be pleased to hear that the team working on the new project is highly experienced and very highly regarded. Steve Box will direct, and he had worked on the much-loved Wallace and Gromit.

There is a crowdfunding page that is aiming at a target of $200,000. If you donate you will receive special perks, including personal postcards and a trip to Moominworld theme park in Finland.

Take a look at this gorgeous concept art. We can’t wait to watch this show in 2019.

The post  You Remember The Moomins TV Show? Get Ready To Watch The All New Animated Series appeared first on Fiction Earth.

I love the creativity of indie authors. There are many fantastic indie novels on the market. But there is one area where indie writers could stand to improve: their ebook covers.

Ebook covers are very important. In fact they are one of the most important parts of self marketing an ebook.  Simply put, you have to get your cover right.

There is no excuse for a badly designed ebook cover in this day and age, it is so easy to design a good cover for an ebook. There are online design tools, including fully-functional ebook cover makers. There’s Photoshop. There’s free online versions of Photoshop like Pixlr…

If your novel cover looks bad, just breathe.

Go ahead and take a deep breath.

I am about to become your bestest friend in the whole wide world.

I am about to show you how to design a book cover online for free. Yes, for completely free.

And I know what you’re thinking.

“I have no design skills. I am pants at graphics”.

Doesn’t matter.

This tutorial on designing a book cover is going to make it so easy my nan could do it. And, God bless her, she was laid to rest three years ago (love you, nan).

In order to do this tutorial I am going to create a book cover from scratch.

And right now I don’t even know what book the cover is for.

So, I am going to create an idea for  a novel. And then I’m going to use that for my example of cover design.

I write fantasy so I will go with that idea. And I also write spiritual articles, so I’ll use that. And earlier today I actually wrote an article about meditation. So….

Brain working…

Okay, my book is going to be a young adult fantasy (my genre) in which a teenage martial artist ­­learns to control magic using meditation.

Weird idea but I’m going to run with it, after all, even if the premise isn’t perfect it is good enough to use for an example.

We are now ready to launch into this tutorial.

Step 1: The Basics Of Book Design

The first thing we need to do is to find the right formats and sizes for our cover.

So, based on what Amazon’s ebook cover specifications.

File Types

Amazon recommends that we create our book covers in JPEG or TIFF format.

Dimensions

Cover art should have a ratio of 1:6:1. This means that if we create a width of 1000, the height should be 1600 precisely. However, Amazon also recommends a cover be 2500 pixels tall, which means the width would be 1600.

These are the cover sizes we will use for this tutorial. You might like to note this information in WORD. We’ll put this aside for now, but it will be important to refer to.

Step 2: Analyse Your Book. Covers are all about the story. 

The first step to creating a good ebook cover is to write down what your book is about.

You need to write down:

• Your book’s title.
• Premise.
• Genre.
• Description of lead character (and other characters if they are to be on the cover).
• Mood / Emotion of the book (this will be reflected in the cover).

My story is a young adult fantasy that has a young female teenage martial artist as the protagonist. She learns to control magic by using meditation. And let’s say that the entire point in the story is that the character learns that all the power she needs is inside her, once she learns to control her own mind.

I’m going to use the example title Magic And The Martial Mind (this is just something I came up with on the spot and not actually the title of a book I’m writing).

So here is the vital information for my book. 

Title: Magic And The Martial Mind

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Protagonist:  Teenage girl, martial artist, meditator, magician

Premise: A teenage female martial artist discovers she has the power to conjure magic using her mind

Mood  / Emotion: exciting / adventure

I recommend that you open a Word document and write these points down. 

Step 2: Knowing the conventions for book designs in your genre

We are going to try to stick to conventions as we design this book cover. Why? Because psychologically, shoppers use pattern recognition to decide what to buy. You have to make the book look familiar so your reader knows what it’s about the moment they look at it. You have to tell your readers that your book is right for them. And you have to do that in a split second (because that is all the time you will get).

By the way, I absolutely hate conventions and clichés. I love creativity. However, I have learned something in my years. I’ve learned that because I am so creative, even when I try to write to-genre I will still deviate. That’s important. It means that you can do what other successful authors have done and trust that your natural creativity will make your work unique. Of course that is, if you truly are creative. Which you are, because you are an author… right?

So, we need to stick to conventions.

The conventions depend on your genre.

The genre for our book, “Magic And The Martial Mind” is Young Adult Fantasy. So we’re going to use the conventions of that genre.

The easiest way to find the conventions of your genre is to hop over to Amazon and browse your genre’s bookshelf.

While you’re browsing Amazon, make a list of all the similarities between books.

Browsing the YA Fantasy section, the vast majority of book covers share the following features:

• A character or two on the cover
• The character is sexy
• The character takes up about a third of the cover space horizontally, and two third vertically
• The font is a very angular font for the title (Baskerville is a popular choice)
• Most of the title fonts use background shading to make them stand out
• Triad colour schemes are very popular
• Usually the colours and shapes are smudged into a black background.

These are just some very quick notes I took about the genre we’re working in for our example.

When you make your notes consider:

• What fonts are used?
• What size of font?
• Are the fonts for the author’s name and the book title the same or different?
• What colours are used for the font / character / background?
• Where are the characters on the page?
• How busy are the graphics?
• How many colour schemes are used? What specific colour schemes?
• Any similarities in layouts between books?

Again, just write these down for now, and then put them beneath the other notes you have in your word document.

Step 3: Combine The Conventions With Your Story

This is a recap stage to let us know where we are so far.

Simply go through the notes you already have in mind and begin to get ideas on how you might combine the conventions with your own novel notes to create a visual design.

For our example book cover, we have the following notes and conventions.

Title: Magic And The Martial Mind

Genre of book:  YA Fantasy

Protagonist:  Teenage girl, martial artist, meditator, magician

Premise: A teenage female martial artist discovers she has the power to conjure magic using her mind.

And our conventions:

• A character or two on the cover
• The character is sexy
• The character takes up about a third of the cover space horizontally, and two third vertically
• The font is a very angular font for the title (gothic sans fonts are very popular)
• Most of the title fonts use background shading to make them stand out
• Triad colour schemes are very popular
• Usually the colours and shapes are smudged into a black background.

Step 4: The Basics Of Good Cover Design 

As well as understanding the conventions of our genre, it is also good to know about the basics of design.

There are some essentials that go into good cover design. They are:

Less is more: You want the reader to immediately be drawn to the important details. You do not want them to be looking at superfluities. Remember, you have to make the book cover work in a split second. And to do that you need to focus on the details and remove anything unnecessary.

Emotion: This is actually something most book covers lack, even the good ones. You want your reader to get a sense of the primary emotion of the book. And to do that you need your character to be experiencing that emotion in the visual. Or, if you are not using a character on your cover, you need to communicate emotion using iconography (we all get a strong feeling from the image of a leafless tree blowing in the wind, for instance).

Create a mood: You want to choose a key mood and make everything reflect that. You want the font, the colours, the image, and the title to all carry the same mood so that you get one very strong mood rather than a hodge podge of different ones.

Make the font stand out: You need your font to be big enough and clear enough to stand out in the thumbnail images that you see on Amazon.

Rule of Thirds: The “Rule of Thirds” is a concept in graphics that a page should be divided into thirds. The image below shows you how this works.

Above, the page is divided into thirds by two evenly space lines up the page, and two evenly spaced lines across the page. The focal points are then placed at the cross-section of those lines. Horizontal elements (e.g. the horizon) and vertical elements (the line of the character’s body) should be on or near the horizontal or vertical lines.

Cover Design Studio tells us,

“The premise of the Rule of Thirds is that when key elements or objects (such as horizon lines) cross the page at a division of thirds, rather than in half, the image is more appealing. By using the Rule of Thirds as the basis of your layouts, you can design visually appealing book covers with little time or effort.”

Note, there are times when professional book designers will break the rule of thirds. But because this is beginners tutorial, it is best to stick to this convention.

When you put those points together, it comes down to this. You need your book cover to:

• Be clear
• Have one powerful mood and emotion
• Have harmony between the different elements
• Use the rule of thirds.

5. Now we are ready to create our book cover

We now have a strong idea of how our book cover should work. It’s time to get down to the nitty gritty.

When it comes to actually creating a book cover, we will require some or all of the following:

• A layout
• A font
• A background image
• An image of the character
• Perhaps some additional special-effect elements.
• any logos or icons (for instance if you have a publishing house logo, you will need that graphic before you start designing your book cover).

Let’s go through each of these in turn.

6. How To Get Fonts For A Book Cover. And Which Fonts To Use

One of the most important parts of your book cover is your font choice.

Typeography is a very deep subject. InDesignSkill.com says,

“Typography can make or break a book cover design. The extensive variety of typography on covers is mind-boggling – from conservative serifs to charmingly handwritten typefaces. Book cover typography has never looked so good.”

Thankfully, there are lots of online font generators that are free to use. My personal favorite is DaFont. DaFont has tons of default fonts, and there are user-generated fonts too. You will even find the fonts used for Harry Potter, Star Wars and other fan favorite movies, books and games.

Because we have done our research on genre conventions, we know that we want a Baskerville font. So we can hop over to DaFont and find a suitable font.

Later we will be putting this all together using a free online book creator called Canva and your choice of either Photoshop, GIMP, or Pixlr (which are all image-editing software). These services have their own font options. But I find that for the best fonts you should use a free online font creator that is dedicated exclusively to font. (Note: I actually ended up using Pixlr’s Baskerville font for the book cover. But it is definitely worth taking a look at DaFont and other font websites).

So, grab your fonts from DaFont or any other font service.

• In order to use the font you can either download it and use it in a program like Photoshop. Or you can just take a screenshot, open it in Photoshop, GIMP (which is a free alternative to Photoshop) or Pixlr, which is a free online Photoshop-style service. If you do not know how to do this, don’t worry, you can use the free font from Canva, which we will be using later on.

7. Next, we need to find some free image that we can use for our cover

There are lots of different ways to get free graphics. You can:

• Create your own.
• Ask an artist to create them for you.
• Use Google Advanced Search to find images that have been designated as copyright-free.
• Use free-image repositories like Pixabay.
• Or if you want to pay a minimal fee, you can use Shutterstock and other stock photography websites.

The aim of this tutorial is to show you how to create a book cover for free. So I am going to use the quick and free option that is  Google’s Advanced Image Search tool.

Go to  Google.com > Image Search > Settings > Advanced Search > Usage Rights > Free To Use, Share, Or Modify, Even Commercially.

The images that Google shows will now be free to use. So search around and find the best images you can.

I managed to find the following images which were listed on Google as being free to use.

This picture will be used for my character

This is a special effect I will use for the magic.

This sai, which will be cool in the foreground.

And this is a background image.

Find the images that you will use. And make sure they are copyright free.

So we now have a font, and images. Next, we need to put it all together and come up with a layout.

6. Creating a design layout for our book cover

For the next step we are going to use the fantastic free online book creator service Canva.

Canva has its own guide. And it also has lots of templates you can use to create your book cover.

To create our cover, we’re going to go to Canva.com and then select “Ebook Cover”. This will launch the ebook cover creator.

Take your time to take a look around the book creator and to get used to it. There is also the Help section.

So, we’re going to start making our book cover using a blank template.

Click UPLOAD and upload the images we’ve gathered from the steps above.

Once they are uploaded, simply drag and drop the image onto the page and arrange them so they look correct (remember to use the “Rule of Third”, which we looked at above).

When you design your own cover, drag and drop your elements where you like. But make sure that:

• There is clear distinction between background and foreground.
• You use the rule of thirds (which we discussed above).
• The cover does not get too crowded (less is more).

Our example book cover now looks like this.

It’s starting to look pretty good.

7. Now we need to add the title and author name to our book cover

The next step is to add the writing, the author name and the book title. To do this, you can either use the fonts that we created earlier, or you can use the font option in Canva / Photoshop / GIMP / Pixlr. Remember, Canva has its own fonts, but a dedicated font service like DaFont.com will have more options.

When we add the writing, we want it to also follow the rule of thirds.

Once the writing has been added, all focal points on the page should fall on one of the intersections of the Rule Of Third lines. You can see this below.

As you can see from the image, the author name and book title are within their own Rule Of Thirds area, and the character’s face, which is the focal point, falls on an intersection. Using the rule of thirds in this way helps us to decide where the elements should be.

7. The Book Cover Review

It is very unusual that you will create a book cover that immediately looks right. More likely, you will end up with a book cover that you like some parts of and dislike other parts of. That’s great. It gives us room for improvement.

Now we need to go back and compare what we have against what is on the market.

So let’s take two of the most popular young adult fantasy books and compare our cover to them.

Above, you can see the book covers for Harry Potter And The Sorceror’s Stone and Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief. So let’s compare these two covers to ours.

What differences do you see?

• The backgrounds are more open and have more of a scene.
• The fonts do not have their own individual background, they are directly on top of the scene.
• They use bright colours with a limited colour palette.
• They have more depth, and they achieve this by having clearly defined objects in the foreground, mid-ground, and background.

8. Redo our cover with these point in mind

The next phase is a series of iterations as we gradually improve our book cover.

Everything we do here is a direct extension of what we’ve already done.

I went through the steps above a second time bearing these points in mind. Again, I got more images from the sources we discussed above. And I compiled them using the techniques we have already looked at.

The one thing that I did differently was that I remove the background behind the fonts, and instead used the stroke option, which you will find in Photoshop / GIMP / PIXLR.

This is the end result I came up with after revision.

Conclusion

There are lots of fantastic free tools for designing book covers. These tools make it possible to design a book cover for free and make it actually look decent. Of course, we re not aiming for a book cover award here. For that we need to hire a professional book cover designer. But what we have achieved is a good looking book cover that will sell our fiction. And we’ve done it for free in about an hour. Not bad.

If you would like me to design your book cover for you, get in touch.

Leave a comment.

The post How To Design A Book Cover For Free And Make It Look Good appeared first on Fiction Earth.

I missed 1980s Computer Bismark, the first war strategy game.

I was too young to play 1983’s Reach for the Stars, the first space-based 4X strategy game.

1983’s grand strategy war game, Ambition? Missed it. I was too busy crawling around on the floor and trying not to vomit on myself.

I was just beginning to walk when Lords of Midnight came out (1984).

But I was alive when the ultimate strategy game of all time came out, 1989’s Herzog Zwei (and I later got to interview the game’s developer for GamesTM).

Herzog Zwei was the first real time strategy game. And was later followed by Dune II (1992).

Between those two games, Herzog Zwei and Dune II, you have the foundations of the strategy genre. It was entirely thanks to those two amazing games that RTS games became so popular, and why I, and other shockingly old people, fell in love with the strategy genre.

Sure, Total War did a lot to reinvent the genre, but make no mistake about it, Herzog Zwei and Dune II built the foundations on which the house of strategy is built.

We’re about to discuss the best strategy games ever, in one of those list-style articles that you guys seem to love so very much. But when we get into the list, always remember, that Herzog Zwei and Dune II are the absolute most important strategy games ever. Respect those two titles, people, because without them, you wouldn’t have your Command & Conquer, your Banished, or your Rome: Total War (Pants VS Zombies is another story. More on that later).

Now that I’ve done my “back in my day…” speech, let’s flash forward today and look at:

The Best Strategy Games That Are Being Played Today

That title is a disclaimer, by the way. Because I can’t include absolutely every great strategy game ever in this list. There’s just too many of them. So instead, I’m going to discuss the best strategy games that are still being played in significant numbers today. That includes new games as well as retro games that are still played today.

Oh, one more thing, these games are not listed best-to-worst. Why? Because once you get to a game that’s as good as Total War or Banished, everything becomes entirely subjective, so the idea of a best / worst is entirely redundant.

I noticed when I was researching this article that the vast majority of online articles that discuss the best strategy games only ever discuss PC strategy games. That seems silly to me, mate. Because there are lots of brilliant strategy games on other consoles.

In my list I’ve included PC strategy games as well as Mac, iOS, Android, PS4, XBox One, PS Vita and even N64 games. So be sure to look out for that token-N64 title.

Now, let’s get this baby started, shall we?

The Best Strategy Games Of All Time

Banished (PC)

Themes: historical / medieval

Style: city-building, survival

In Banished you take control of a remote community of outcasts. Your mission is to govern your city and make it strong. You’ll have to manage the people of your city by assigning them positions and jobs, which range from fishing to construction. But you won’t just manage those citizens, you’ll have to satisfy them too by making sure that they’ve got food and comfort.

So, Banished is a city building survival strategy game. One of the best, despite what critics might have thought.

When Shining Rock Software released Banished in 2014 they were received with mixed reviews. PC Gamer gave it 70%, and its MetaCritic is 73%. But critics are often wrong. And this is one of those cases.

Critics stated that Banished lacked progression and that there wasn’t enough survival in it (Banished is a survival strategy game).

But take a look at Banished user scores on Metacritic and Steam and you’ll see that gamers love it. It has 90% and 8.2% respectively. So even though critics weren’t convinced, gamers are. And because of that, Banished is still popular today.

What’s so great about games like Forge of Empire is that they combine survival with strategy. Without the survival elements, Banished would just be another strategy game, but by combining survival, strategy and city building it becomes its own beast.

 > See games similar to Banished

Forge of Empires (Windows, Max, iOS, Android)

Themes: historical, medieval

Style: city-building,

Did you think I was only going to include serious strategy games in this list?

Lots of the best strategy games are not serious but just fun. Not every title has to be a Total War Rome or a Civilization type game. Some games, like Forge Of Empires, is great just because it’s fun.

Forge Of Empires is similar to other strategy games. You get to construct your own city in the Stone Age and take it up to the Arctic Future, so you get to see your own city in a variety of different times. You also get control of an army and enter battles.  As your city gets stronger you will take on other cities to build your empire across the map.

Games like Forge of Empires show that a game can be both strategic and fun.

> see other games like FOE

Caesar (Windows)

Themes: Historical, Rome, political

Style: city-building

Caesar is precisely the game that it sound like. You take control of your own province in the Roman Empire and advanced towards becoming a political leader on the level of Caesar. As you progress through the game you take full control of your province and get access to finances, defences, city planning. Overall there are plenty of different aspects to the gameplay to create a really deep strategy.

Caesar games have been around for more than a decade and have gradually evolved over that time.  What makes these games so good, in my opinion, is that there is so much depth and you get to control every aspect of your province. Though some Steam users seem to strongly dislike this title, in my experience it is one of the most rewarding city building strategy games out set in ancient Rome.

The best thing about games like Caesar is that they are the most realistic strategy games and have lots of depth.

>> check out these other games, which are similar to Caesar

Throne rush (Android, iOS)

 Themes: Historical, Medieval

Style: casual, tower defense

Throne Rush is one of the most fun strategy games of all time. Games like Throne Rush show that you can do strategy while also having fun as you create your own kingdom in a fantasy world.

There’s not a lot that’s original about Throne Rush. Games like this aren’t supposed to reinvent the wheel. They’re more about taking what is already there and polishing it / making it more fun. So you get everything you would expect. There’s city building, fortifications, various classes (including knights and archers), quests, campaigns… everything you could want.

> If you like Throne Rush, you’ll love these games too.

Starcraft (Windows, Mac, N64)

Themes: sci-fi, fantasy, military,

Style: RTS

I told you I was going to include all different types of strategy games in this list. We’ve just looked at a few fun games. Now time for a very serious one.

The best competitive strategy game is Starcraft. Believe it or not, Starcraft is the national sport in Korea, and it is one of the most popular esports games too, with tons of tournaments taking place on Twitch and Youtube every month.

Starcraft is a science fiction strategy game in which you build fortifications and use minions to defeat another player. It is played offline in tournaments against other human players, though you can also play against the computer.

Starcraft is the deepest strategy game in the world (except for Chess). So, if you love games that make you think, you definitely need to play it.

> Check out these other games like Starcraft.

Boom Beach / Clash of Clans (iOS, Android)

Themes: medieval, military

Style: casual, real-time strategy (RTS)

Boom Beach (and other games like Boom Beach, for instance Clash of Clans) take the strategy element down a notch in order to make the game much more fun. And it works because of it.

Where games like Total War and Age of Empires are about realistic strategy, Boom Beach is about have a laugh online.

One of the real-time strategy games made by Supercell, Boom Beach was released in 2013 for iOS and Android. In the game you attack both other players and CPU bases. Ait’s set in a tropical archipelago. You build your base on your island, and use fortifications and troops to defend your base while attacking enemy bases.

Now, to clarify, Boom Beach and Clash of Clans are not the most serious strategy games. They’re not supposed to be grueling matches. They’re a blast and anyone can play them. And that’s why I’ve included them in this list.

>> There are more Boom Beach-style games here.

Advance wars (Gameboy Advanced, Nintendo DS)

Themes: military,

Style: turn-based tactics

Advance Wars is arguably the most unique strategy game on this list and definitely one of the best Nintendo strategy games.

A turn based strategy game by Intelligent Systems, Advanced Wars is one of those games that exists in its own little bubble. There really is nothing else like Advance Wars. Or at least, there wasn’t at the time. Now, thanks to a horde of rip-offs there are games like Advance Wars for PC, iOS, and Android, but most of them are rip-offs, as I mentioned.

Advanced Wars tells the story of the Orange Star Army as it fights to defeat the armies of other countries.   You will fight to defeat the opponent’s enemy by destroying every one of their units on the map. And you may also engage in other objectives, like capturing cities.

Advance Wars is one of the best Gameboy Advanced games and a truly exceptional TBS. The best thing about it, and other games like Advance Wars, is that it is very accessible and you can get into it in no time at all. Plus, there are free games like Advance Wars online, so you don’t even need a GBA to play it.

Dungeon Keeper (Windows, Mac)

Themes: dungeon, fantasy,

Style: real-time strategy (RTS), god game, management

When you started reading this list, you probably knew that certain games would be in it, right? You knew that Starcraft would be here. And Dune II. And you probably new that Dungeons Keeper would be on the list as well.

No question about it, Dungeon Keeper is one of the best strategy games of all time. Bullfrog’s masterpiece was released in 1997 on PC and it quickly became the must-play strategy game.

In Dungeon Keeper you build and protect a dungeon from invading hero characters (because you play the ‘bad guys’). Those pesky heroes are going to steal your treasure, kill your minions, and destroy your dungeon. And you just cannot allow that, no sir.

There really are no words that do Dungeon Keeper justice. It is one of the best strategy games of all time. A deep strategy game for those of us who like to use our brains.

>> see our list of games like Dungeon Keeper if you love this type of game.

Game of Dwarves (PC, PS3)

Themes: dwarves, fantasy,

Style: real-time strategy (RTS) management, dungeon,

Do you like deep strategy games? I mean really, really, really deep strategy games? Then you absolutely must play Game of Dwarfs, the game so deep you’ll either love it or top yourself as you desperately try to understand just what the heck is going on.

Game of Dwarfs is one of the any games like Dungeon Keeper, but… with dwarfs.

So, if you like Dungeon Keeper and you have the love and respect for dwarves that you know you should have, then you definitely should play this.

Now let me just say, some people hate Game of Dwarfs. But it’s because they’re pansies. That’s right, pansies.

People who do not like deep strategy games usually hate games like Game of Dwarfs. So I guess it’s a love / hate thing.

Age of Empires / Age of Mythology  (Windows, Mac, Mobile)

Themes:  mythology, historical, political, realistic

Style: real-time strategy (RTS)

Age of Empires is one of the best RTS games of all time. Released in 1997 it is still played today. So what makes it so popular and so enduring (other than a string of sequels, I mean)?

Age of Empire is a game like Civilization (the ultimate RTS game). It focuses on political events across the globe at various historical moments. There are games in the classical period, some in Rome, some in Asia, some in Europe…

Must like similar games, you take control of a town and built it up, and you have to govern your people and your army. So, it is a game that will be immediately familiar to people who have not played it. And the gameplay seems classic now, though it was innovative at the time.

What else might you like to know about this?

How many Age of Empire games are there? Seven. Which is the best? Age of Empires 2. Though it is a close call.   real-time strategy games. They competed with another popular strategy series, Civilization. Which is better? Leave a comment below.

>> See more games like Age of Empires

Civilization (PC, Mac)

Themes: political, historical, realistic,

Style: turn-based strategy, 4X,

Civilization is basically the godfather of all turn-based strategy games. Without this, there really would not have been a lot of what followed.

Released in 1991, Sid Meier’s Civilization is the first in the series, and one of the first turn based 4X strategy games. The objective, no doubt familiar, is to build an empire to stand the test of time.

You begin playing in 4000 BC and must develop your civilization to expand across the globe, building a mighty empire. You start with a number of settler units and must build your empire to compete against a number of other civilizations. As you would expect, the gameplay is mostly based around the decision you make to advance your civilization.

>> By the way, if you like Civilization, you’ll like these games too.

Empire Earth (Windows)

Themes: historical, realistic

Style: RTS

Stainless Steel Studios’ 2001 Empire Earth is another of the best real-time strategy games of all time.

In Empire Earth you gather resources and construct your city, building an army to wipe out enemy civilizations. One of the most amazing things about it is that it spans over 500,000 years of world history that begin in the middle ages and progress to the nano age. It was followed with an expansion pack, Empire Earth: The Art Of Conquest (remember that one, OGs?).

A historical strategy game, Empire Earth is a game like Age of Empires, by which I mean it is a realistic historical RTS game. However, Empire Earth is 3D and so it looks considerably different to Age of Empire despite the similarity in gameplay.

Gameplay wise, this is pure RTS and has everything you would expect, like units, resource gathering, and so on. What makes Empire Earth so good is that it is deep and the graphics were fantastic for the time of release.

Total War (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Themes: realistic, historical, mythological,

Style: turn-based strategy, real-time tactics

Total War is a masterpiece of the turn-based strategy / real-time tactics genre (a “real-time tactics” game, by the way, is basically an RTS that doesn’t have micromanagement).

The Total War series started in June 2000 and has subsequently grown to gargantuan proportions, it’s latest release being Total War: Warhammer in May 2016.

The series began with Shogun: Total War, which was set in feudal Japan. In It you are shown different interactive videos that represent the different decisions you can make, like converting to Christianity. This was a cult classic game and it would give birth to one of the biggest strategy game series of all time.

Total War then went on through… how many?… nine sequels, meaning there are ten Total War games in all.

The full list of Total War games:

• Shogun: Total War
• Medieval: Total War
• Rome: Total War
• Medieval II: Total War
• Empire: Total War
• Napoleon: Total War
• Total War: Shogun 2
• Total War: Rome 2
• Total War: Atlanta
• Total War: Warhammer.

I’ve put together a list of Total War-type games. So, if you’re a fan, check it out.

Command & Conquer (Mac, N64, PlayStation, PC, Sega Saturn, PSP, Xbox 360, PS3)

Themes: military, realistic,

Style: RTS,

When Command & Conquer was first released (in 1995) it instantly became the top competitive strategy game for local multiplayer offline matches.

Made by the same people who made Dune II (the sublime Westwood Studios), Command & Conquer was born to be the best strategy game ever and it succeeded at that. Command & Conquer is one of the most realistic strategy games of all time.

In C&C you take control of an army and must defeat other armies in order to progress on your conquest. To do that, you gather resources, construct buildings of different types so that your base has all it needs to operate, and use troops to attack your enemy.

For anyone who loves some LAN based strategy games, and particularly real-time strategy games, C&C was an absolute must-play.

AtWar (online)  

* FREE

Themes: military,

Style: simulation, turn-based tactics

AtWar is one of the best free online strategy games. In it you take control of an army and must fight other people in order to achieve world domination.

AtWar is a multiplayer Risk-type game for PC that uses simultaneous turn-based strategy tactics with free range movement. You can play with up to 20 taking simultaneous turns, which makes for amazing action. And on top of that there’s the fantastic bonus of a Map Editor so you can create your own maps.

Age of Civilizations (Android)

Themes: World War I / World War II

Style: board-game, Risk-type,

Age of Civilizations is an Android strategy game not available on iOS. It’s something like a board games spliced with traditional strategy game mechanics. In it, your objective is to dominate the world. To do that you will need to take over enemy territories.

This is a Risk-type game in which you get to visit a variety of historical locales, including World War I and II and some modern scenarios as well. And on top of that you are able to create your own scenarios.

What makes Age of Civilizations on of the best Risk-type strategy games is a combination of complexity, depth, and a generous amount of content. Games like Age of Civilization are making the Android strategy scene a real treat.

Call of Champions (iOS, Android )

Themes:  fantasy,

Style: MOBA,

Call of Champions is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) in which you and two other players fight three online opponents. Your mission is to get the brilliantly named Orb Of Death to the enemy tower in order to defeat them.

As you can probably tell by the description, this is a more fun, easy strategy game. It only takes about five minutes to play a game so it is perfect for quick matches. That said, there is more than enough strategy to make you get into it.  And you can keep playing for free.

Overall, one of the best Android strategy games.

Chess Free (Android)

Themes: Chess

Style: board-game,

Seems obvious looking back, that when it comes to creating a list of the best strategy games, Chess has to be on it. And indeed it is, thanks to AI Factory’s Chess Free.

Chess Free is the best Android Chess game out. What makes it so good is that it just gives you what you want: Chess with absolutely no added gimmicks. This is the pure Chess experience. The difficulty levels and the tutorial are fantastic too.

Personally, I love it when a games developer just gives you what you want with absolutely no malarkey. And that’s what AI Factory do. This is pure Chess, unadulterated.

Clash Royale (Android, iOS)

Themes: fantasy,

Style: card dueling

Ah, at last we come to the best card dueling strategy games. And to kick it off we have the fantastic Clash Royale, in which you build a deck and duel with other players. It’s an online card based strategy game in which you have to use your brain to beat your opponent.

Clash Royale gives you a starter deck and as you play you unlock additional cards to level up your deck. Win matches and you’ll get trophies that will improve your online ranking.

Hearthstone (Android, iOS, Mac, Windows)

Themes: fantasy

Style:  card dueling

The second of two card duelling strategy games on this list, Hearthstone is one of the most popular esports strategy games.

A game similar to Clash Royale, you’re given a starter deck, and as you play you unlock new cards so that your deck gets stronger. A nice little bonus of this game is that it has cross-platform support, so you are able to play people on different devices. That accessibility is part of the reason why Hearthstone has become so popular in esports, because you can play people on other devices.

Plus, Blizzard keeps putting out new Hearthstone expansions, so the game always feels fresh.

If you love this type of games, take a look at our list of the games most similar to Hearthstone.

Great Big War Game (Androis, iOS, Windows)

Themes: war, military,

Style: turn-based

Great Big War Game is one of the most fun war strategy games on Android. It’s the type of game that you can get into easily with no fuss.

A 3D turn-based strategy game, in Great Big War Game you use your troops to fight different battle across 50 missions and also in online multiplayer battles. Oh, and there’s also a great local multiplayer which is a fantastic little bonus.

Great Big War Game doesn’t take itself too seriously. This is pure fun. As is attested to by the goofy story.

Kairosoft (iOS, Android, PC)

Themes: various

Style: retro, management

Kairosoft is not a game but rather a developer of strategy games. Their Japanese-style games were very popular in the mid-90s, and titles like Ninja Village and Game Dev Story are popular today.

Kairosoft was founded in 1996 and was ranked as one of Pock Gamer’s Top 50 Developers of 2012.  Their first games were simulations on Windows, and they later started getting into more strategy-style video games.  In 2012 they released Game Dev Story for iOS, which became a major hit. A definite worthy addition to this list.

 >> see more games like Kairosoft.

Kingdom Rush Origins (iOS, Android, Windows, Flash)

Themes: fantasy,

Style: tower defense

Kingdom Rush Origins is one of the many games in the Kingdom Rush series. With a score of 83% on Metacritic, this is one of the top tower defense strategy games on Android.

In Kingdom Rus Origins you build towers and take control of heroes in order to defeat incoming waves of enemies. It’s a simple game that is very easy to get into. If you love tower defence games you definitely have to play Kingdom Rush Origins.

Out There (Android, Window, iOS, Mac, Linux)

Themes: sci-fi, space,

Style: adventure, roguelike

One of the best survival strategy games, with roguelike gameplay, Out There was released in 2014. It received critical acclaim and won numerous awards, all of them well deserved.

In Out There you play as a character who awakens from cryo-sleep and must survive outer space. To do so you will need to manage your oxygen levels and other resources and repair your spaceship.

Out There is a challenging strategy game that makes you use your brain. And you’ll be rewarded for your intelligence in the form of Google Play Achievements.

Plague Inc (Android, iOS, Windows Phone)

Themes: virus

Style: RTS, simulation,

One of the most popular strategy games of all time, in Plague Inc you have to infect the entire world with a disease. In order to do that you will have to evolve the illness to make it powerful enough to infect everyone. There are 12 different disease types and the game has tons of depth, so you will probably be playing it for months to come.

I personally love the premise of Plague Inc. I mean really, infecting the world with a virus… genius premise.

Rymdkapsel (Android, iOS, Windows, PS Vita, Mac, Linux)

Themes: space,

Style:   minimalist, RTS,

No, that isn’t a typo, this game is actually called Rymdkapsel, a word which looks like a random mish-mash of letters. Rymdkapsel actually means “space capsule” in Swedish.

In Rymdkapsel you build a base and defend it from attackers. Actually, that makes it sound like a tower defence game, which is not accurate. Rymkapsel is a unique game with retro style graphics  that look like they came out of the 1980s though it was actually released in 2013.

It’s hard to define Rymdkspel. It’s a Tetris-style strategy game where you fit pieces together to create a base.

This game reminds me why I love European game developers (and European art and culture in general). They put out so many unique games.

Vainglory (Android, iOS)

Themes: fantasy

Style:  MOBA,

Vainglory is a MOBA strategy game that was released in 2014 and which is popular today. A game like Call of Champions, Vainglory also uses 3v3 battles. The battles last for up to 20 minutes, so they’re good to play during a break.

Vainglory has good graphics, boasting 60fps and a sub-30ms control response. That might not sound important to causal gamers, but if you are a hardcore strategy game fan you’ll know how important that response time is.

XCOM Enemy Within (Windows, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360, Linux, iOS, Android, PS Vita)

Themes: sci-fi, fantasy

Style: turn-based tactics

You knew that this game was going to be on the list at some point, right? XCOM Enemy Within is one of the most popular turn-based tactical strategy games in the world. It plays out on a Chess-style board and you must kill the bad guys. As you play you get to recruit new characters and to upgrade your characters, abilities, and gear. It also features an excellent multiplayer.

Crusader Kings II (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Themes: middle ages, medieval,

Style: open-ended, Grand War

Paradox Development Studio’s Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy game set in the middle ages. Released in 2012 on Mac and 2014 on Windows, Crusader Kings II is the developers second most popular game.

In Crusader Kings II you control a Medieval dynasty from 1066 to 1453. And there is also a DLC called The Old Gods, which lets you play from 867 to 769. The game involved a complex system of marriages, war, and assassinations as you lead your dynasty to conquest.

One of the best parts of Crusader Kings II is that it is open-ended and you are completely in control of how the game progresses.

Plants VS Zombies (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android)

Themes: casual, zombies,

Style: tower defense

Plants VS Zombies is one of the most popular indie games ever. It was made by PopCap Games and released in 2009 for Windows and Mac, and then later for iOS and Android. And it has become immensely popular and has received critical acclaim.

In Plants VS Zombies you play as a homeowner who must use different plants in order to fend off a horde of incoming zombies.

Plants VS Zombies is one of the most accessible and fun strategy games of all time and an absolute must-play. Trust me, Plants VS Zombies will make you fall in love with its craziness

>> Also consider these other games like Plants VS Zombies.

Conclusion

The strategy genre is one of the best genres of video games and has been for over three decades. Year on year game developers are taking the strategy genre in new directions, and it’s exciting to think of where the genre might go next.

Now over to you. What is your favorite strategy game? What did you like about it? Leave a comment.

The post Are These The Best Strategy Games Ever? Probably, Yeah appeared first on Fiction Earth.

Now that the World Of Avatar attractions are being opened in Disney parks, and we are all packing our bags to head out to virtual-Pandora, it seems like the perfect time to explain Avatar.

Avatar is full of spiritual and mythological references. If you really want Avatar explained to you, you’ve got to understand where all the ideas, characters, and creatures come from. And that is precisely what we’ll look at in this article.

So, let’s get into these ten amazing facts about Avatar.

The Top 10 Most Amazing Facts About Avatar, Explained

1. We could have Avatar bodies in the future.

One of the most amazing facts about Avatar is that we could soon have Avatar bodies.

A Russian billionaire is working on an avatar project. He plans to upload his brain into a digital body in order to become immortal.

The project, “2045 Initiative”, aims to allow humans to upload their brains into an avatar body. And just as the avatars offer a new lease in life for Jake Sully in Avatar, they may end up doing the same thing for we people on Earth.

In Avatar, Jake Sully is in a wheelchair. When he is given an Avatar body it is as though he has been given a new lease on life. And the 2045 avatars could do the same thing, by giving those with disabilities access to robotic body parts, or even entire bodies, that they can control with their brain.

So scientifically, it seems the Avatar concept is entirely plausible.

The idea of an “Avatar” comes from Hinduism

Another interesting fact about Avatar is that it is heavily based on Hinduism. In fact, to explain Avatar, you really need to understand what an “Avatar” is.

Avatars come from Hinduism.

James Cameron’s movies are often full of spiritual references, and nowhere is that more true than in Avatar.

In Hinduism, an avatar is a god that has taken the form of a human to live on Earth and to restore peace and righteousness. There is a similar concept in Christianity: Docetism. This is the belief that Jesus Christ was not a human but rather adopted human form to live among people and restore righteousness and belief in God.

This helps to explain Avatar.

A Hindu avatar takes the for of a human to lead humans to act per faith. In Avatar, the movie, Jake Sully takes the form of the Navi in order to make the Navi live according to human rules. So, there is an obvious parallel here.

But when Jake Sully meets the Navi he learns that, actually, they are the more enlightened ones. So, if Jake Sully represents the gods, and he learns that, actually, the primitive lifeforms are the enlightened ones, then what does that say about the gods?

So that is the concept of the avatar explained.

3. Avatar advocates the worship of nature and pantheism.

As you’ve seen, you really cannot explain Avatar without looking at spirituality.

One aspect of the spirituality in Avatar is nature worship and pantheism. James Cameron himself tell us that he, “tried to make a film that would touch people’s spirituality across the broad spectrum.”

One of the most important spiritual aspects of Avatar is the way it depicts nature. Christianity, of course, states that God created nature. But James Cameron’s Avatar tells a different creation story. It depicts nature as being created by one energy that exists in all of Pandora.

There is a scene in which Grace (Sigourney Weaver) is telling Parker Selfridge (Giovani Ribisi) why Pandora is so important. She explains that all life on Pandora is connected through synapses that pass an energy, like Chi, around the planet. This, and other scenes, advocate the importance of nature and are pantheist (they suggest that all of nature is interconnected and that nature and God are the same thing).

4. The life energy in Avatar is based on Chi

One of the best facts about Avatar is that the energy of Pandora is based on Chi.

The idea of “Chi” is one of the oldest beliefs in the world, and may also be backed by science.

Chi is the life energy that flows throughout all life. It is an energy that is vital in numerous belief systems, and especially Taoism.

In Avatar, there is an energy said to flow through all living beings and plant-life on the planet Pandora. When Jake visits Pandora he learns about how this energy connects all beings on the planet.

In Avatar, this energy is explained to be important for health and healing. And in Eastern medicine, Chi is likewise vital to healing. Many exercise and healing systems use Chi, most notable Tai Chi, which is slow and flowing movements that move chi around your body.

So now we’ve got the concept of chi in Avatar explained, what’s next?

5. Avatar is against capitalism

One of the very clearly statements that James Cameron makes in Avatar is that he is very much against capitalism.

In Avatar, the humans (and especially Parker Selfridge and Colonel Miles Quaritch) are willing to destroy Pandora for profit. This Is how James Cameron feels about capitalism, that people are willing to destroy the Earth just for profit.

6.  The end of Avatar, explained at last

A lot of people have asked to have the ending of Avatar explained. So, let’s do it.

We’ve already discussed how in Hindu mythology Avatars are human bodies that Gods use to enter Earth. This is important in explaining the end of Avatar.

At the end of Avatar Jake Sully’s human boy lies on the ground next to his Avatar body. The Navi stand around Jake performing a ceremony. This ceremony does two things. It directs the energy on the planet into Jake Sully, and it also awakens Eywa, Avatar’s “All-Mother”.

This scene combines many different spiritualities. For starters, the ritual that the Navi perform resembles native American healing practices and is very similar to a Voodoo healing ceremony. It also uses the Norse mythological idea of the “All mother”, which is the life energy that flows through all living things and sustains life. And it uses the tree of souls from Judaism.

James Cameron combines these different spiritual ideas to create one symbolic moment. The ending of Avatar is about leaving ignorance behind (Jake was ignorant before meeting the Navi, he is now enlightened). He awakens into the spiritual world (the world of the Navi). He connects with Eywa, which is essential for him to become a true living part of Pandora. And he is also reincarnated (his human form dies and he is born again).

This is a scene in which very many mythologies and spiritualties come together. But it ultimately means this: When we escape our usual, ignorant, human ways we transcend to a higher plane, become enlightened, and connect to the divine energy of the world.

And that’s is the end scene of Avatar, explained.

But to explain the ending of Avatar further, we must consider the Tree of Souls.

7. The Tree of Souls is based on Judaism

The “Tree of Souls” is a classic term that is used to describe the main belief system of Judaism.

In Avatar, the Tree of Souls contains the life-force of all the Navi who have gone before, and all the knowledge of the Navi. It serves as the central connection between the current Navi and those who have gone before. And it is a key part of their central beliefs. And so it is in Judaism. The Tree of Souls is the book that brings together all the beliefs and teachings of the Judaist belief system.

8. The Tree of Souls is also in other sci-fi and fantasy stories

As explained above, the Tree of Souls in Avatar comes from Judaism. But the Tree of Souls is also found in other sci-fi and fantasy movies and novels.

I personally write fantasy novels and often come across reference to the Tree of Souls in my reading. However, the idea of the tree of souls has evolved over the years.

One of the most famous examples of a Tree of Souls is in the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. In the series, there is a tree that is made up of the minds of the dead. The tree is sacred to the native inhabitants who will do anything to protect it.

9. Avatar’s Eywa is based on Norse mythology

One of the most important parts of Avatar is Eywa. Eywa is the mother energy that flows through all energy on Pandora. And at the end of Avatar Eywa awakens and saves Jake Sully, Natiri and the Navi from certain death, wiping out Colonel Miles Quaritch and his men).

Eywa in Avatar comes from Norse mythology. In Norse mythology, there is an “All-Mother” deity that is the personification of the Earth. There is a similar belief in Native American religions.

So, that also explains the ending of Avatar.

10. Avatar’s “Unobtainium” refers to a very well-known ter. In the aerospace industry.

“Unobtainium” refers to a material that is perfect for application but, unfortunately, does not actually exist, or is highly volatile and explosive and is thereby unable to be used. This “Unobtainium” also has its own chemical code, “Uo”.

Unobtanium has been used in lots of different sci-fi movies and is a very well known term in the scientific community.

In sci-fi, Unobtainium is usually an item that is desperately needed for the central plot of the movie. In The Core (2003), the vessel that digs down into the centre of the Earth is fueled by Unobtainium. Isn’t that a fascinating Avatar fact?

There you are. Ten amazing facts about Avatar. These Avatar facts show the inspiration behind Avatar, how James Cameron came up with ideas, and all the different mythologies and spiritualities that are in the movie.

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