Ranger June 23, 2023 June 23, 2023 (edited) This is what I have for a wonderland guide I'm working on. It's in limbo now, mostly because I screwed myself and I created a guide chain: This guide depends on another guide (Visualization warm up) that depends on another guide (visualizing in 3d). So until then, here's the scratch of what I have so far. Cheers. ================= ~~ The brain dump ~~ ================= This is more or less an unintentional sequel of sorts to Gray's guide. I got the idea by talking to other people in the Aphantasia Meow server. Help, my wonderland feels fake I have no motivation to wonderland but I want to learn how I tried prompts and story ideas but it's still not working for me Why do people think wonderlanding is so easy? Are all of the questions we have struggled with for some time. Despite our concerns with NPCs staying NPCs resolved, there's still that fear, that discomfort, that lack of satisfaction. It's probably overthinking, but knowing that by itself doesn't help. ====== This guide assumes you have read some visualization guides on immersion. You don't have to be good at visualizing, but it is expected you can visualize to some extent. Links: (lol not in this draft) Gray's guide (How to Refocus on Your Wonderland) (Other Immersion guides) (Go read other visualization guides, it builds character) Visualization warm-up (WIP) I don't know if I'll move forward with this idea but it's definitely interesting (Yes, yes I did, hence WIP) Spoiler Imagine a sphere. Blah blah blah. If you can visualize the sphere at least to some extent, that's good enough for this guide. The goal is to build on your skills, not to start off as an expert. However, if you're struggling with the sphere, I highly recommend practicing this exercise with different simple objects and description questions (cube, 2d triangle, etc.) or consulting other visualization guides Spoiler ======= Focus on immersion instead of what to do or the plot My theory is when you're properly immersed, you won't sit there wondering if something makes sense or if you're having any fun or not. When you're focused on your environment, you'll also be more open to rolling with whatever your mind throws at you. Don't worry about having no ideas. That doesn't matter right now. Focus on developing your surroundings and your environment. The sticky air, the cool breeze that comes through, the smell of sap, the wet leaves sloshing under your feet, and so on. It's okay if you don't get every detail. You won't get every detail, just like how you don't pay attention to how many blades of grass there are in your neighbor's yard or how many strands of fabric are in your coat. The people who do focus on those details probably don't need this guide. You visualized your scene, but you're starting to get bored. It's only been five minutes. I would give your new wonderland a couple more tries. Sometimes you can simply be having a bad day and it's not a good first impression. Maybe you simply need more practice retaining an immersive state. Keeping time and high scores Let's say you get tired after a few minutes and you really need a break. That's okay, go ahead and rest. Keep note of that "high score" and see if you can perform at that time or better next time. I don't (know why I didn't finish this thought and I can't be bothered to right now) ======== 4/20/22 I realized "no ideas" makes more sense on the plot and what specific things to visualize. I think having a really basic prompt can help. For example, imagine a jungle. You may think about the trees, the animals, the heat, etc. If you get lost on what to visualize, focus on yourself and ask what you're supposed to be experiencing right now. If you look up, what do you see? What are you feeling right now? / / / While Gray was trying this, he imagined an indoor place with donkeys where there was grass intentionally allowed to grow in between the squishy floor in a systematic way. He then wondered who would come up with such a strange place While developing if you come up with something unusual or out of place, go ahead and roll with it! Unusual objects in a setting create a sense of mystery and now need an explanation. I don't recommend forcing yourself to think of something unusual to inject in your wonderland. Let your mind surprise you by throwing in something unexpected. Even if your mind doesn't throw in anything unexpected or unusual, you may be ready to start asking the bigger questions. World building Now that you have a developed place to look at and think about, you can start asking questions about the meaning and intentions behind the place. What is this place? Does this place have a name or is it undiscovered land? What part if the world are you in, or are you on an alien planet? I have mixed feelings about this part… You may also want to ask why are you there. Obviously you're here because you're imagining this place, but for a second pretend this is a real place and you are a character interacting with this world. Are you here because you are on a mission? Are (you hoping for a finished thought? psych!) ==== 7/17/22 I got Gray to wonderland with me! Using this guide did help lead to success, and here are a few other things worth adding: Set aside time for wonderlanding. What helped us was setting aside time and then only allowing the options of wonderland or sleep. This was surprisingly helpful for Gray and he actually tried out the other ideas in this rough draft. For some, it may help to think of it as a personal dare- try to wonderland for at least x minutes. Slowly and gradually build up from there Artificial constraints- sometimes doing things like teleporting to the end of the maze or automatically solving problems takes out both some immersion and fun. However, this will vary a lot on a case-by-case basis, so don't beat yourself up for cutting corners when you want to. The goal is to consider taking the time to work through a problem instead of skipping it, not to make wonderlanding work Random Events- People are bad at randomness, but when you're wonderlanding, who cares. The key is it needs to feel random, not that it needs to actually be random. While you are more than welcome to use a real die ir random number generator, I personally think it's better to roll a wonderland die. If the number feels random, you're more likely to believe it's random, and that should help satisfy a need for randomness. Gray was playing Mario bros wii, so we were in a castle. After immersing himself, we went to the desert at night. We faced off with evil Kahos with purple fire eyes from Skylanders who was trying to attack us. It's possible we were in the "Mario" dimension. After night we Minecraft style advanced to morning, went to an oasis, Gray didn't like the atmosphere so we took a public bus to a diner, to then randomly intervene some trolls and then once outside, talk to a spontaneous skeleton dragon that offered a handsome reward for going on a quest to a golden city in the sky. After that Gray was really too frustrated to continue so I told him we could stop. Gray wasn't too motivated to develop the plot, he was also grumpy for most of the experience. I'm not sure what's bothering him, hopefully we'll figure it out soon. At the very least, I think this is the first time I can comfortably say we legitimately wonderlanded, and I'm excited we made this much progress. [Gray] I couldn't help but feel I was trapped, I didn't want to be here. I want to help Ranger and my system but something feels wrong. I struggled with that feeling, but I want to ask myself - why? Why don't I want to wonderland? It could be I would rather story craft, but I wasn't thinking that. It could be that I was expecting something, but I'm not sure. I tried to keep my mind off how I was feeling, but I don't feel anxious I feel… angry. I feel like the "random" DnD die helps because I can think "okay, I rolled a 5, what does that mean?" and come up with something. I hope it's not some personal problem I have with Ranger. I don't know if I want to talk to her, but something tells me it's something else. I don't know what I'm angry about… === 7/18/22 (Copied from our Discord log) Here's a thought- I wonder if the expectation "this is imaginary" is ruining the experience of wonderlanding. It could be similar to anxiety about anxiety in that worrying about it just makes it worse. +++ The wonderland is imaginary - you're not wrong. However, I think focusing on "this isn't real" detracts from the wonderlanding experience. Wonderlanding can be done for multiple reasons, but a few include having experiences you have never had - including sensory experiences. It's okay if your initial experiences are weak, with time they will get more intense. If you feel stuck on "this isn't real", think about the sensory experiences you are having. Immersion is the first step because it helps you focus on the sensory aspect, but I don't think it quite becomes a true experience until you can comfortably claim it as yours. Think about how you feel about what you see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. How does your environment make you feel? +++ I do worry that this approach could agitate the problem, but it's worth a try === I do want to emphasize that you shouldn't reject your feelings. It's okay to feel this way. I don't want people to think they have to throw their feelings out. I hope that I can convey even though yes, the wonderland is imaginary, your experiences are still real. The time and effort you are putting in certainly is, and your reactions to the wonderland are at minimum as real as reacting to a movie. Idk about at minimum? I may need to work on the wording… [Gray] Actually that was it. That was the key We danced in wonderland together, like it was at a dance party. That moment Ranger took off my earphones, I feel like that one touched me deeply. I was first greeted to Gangnam style, really loud Gangnam style. And then it morphed into an autistic-friendly environment. Ranger wanted to dance, and when… yeah. After that she showed me a space room for fun and then after that we were at a beach. I then saw some intruder thoughts, and then Dream appeared to congratulate us and say "Welcome to the wonderland". I think Ranger should clean up and publish this. There's a lot of good stuff in here. [Ranger] Another idea- If someone struggles with how they feel (the wonder is fake), maybe have them do mindfulness? Mindfulness in real life -> Mindfulness in wonderland -> Now do that and ask how you feel about what you observe For example, name 3 things you see in your room… then name three things you see in your wonderlanding… then tell me how those things you saw make you feel. I think the goal is to help someone focus on their environment rather than what they're thinking. Breaking it down like this may help? Another edit: think or feel. Also, real life first, then wonderland. I think it would be helpful to break this down. We tested it on Gray and it was successful. === 10/13/22 Alrighty what do I have so far: Immersion Randomness (allow intrusive thoughts to sculpt wonderland) Random events (imagine rolling a D20 or something) "Learn" about your surroundings Embrace how you feel Apply mindfulness skills to your wonderland Maybe it should be more like a videogame? Some wonderlands have a plot Going on a quest could be good or bad depending on how much structure you have. More structure: you know there will be multiple encounters to come Less structure: anything goes Maybe the issue for Gray is it's too overwhelming? I wonder if the key is Gray just wants to explore the Gray Dimension? ~Finding your lore~ Quest- do you have an objective? Problem- does this location have a problem? Is the problem between people, a problem you are facing, or a nature problem? Do you already have lore? One problem that we faced was our wonderland was too functional- we have a lot of symbolism we use for self-awareness purposes. However, I think it is important to take a break from that and relax! 10/29/22 I believe that was the problem- We wanted to go home, and we wanted to wonderland. I think I have enough to put together a working guide now. =================== ~~ The rough outline ~~ =================== How to Enjoy Your Wonderland Intro Problems people have Immersion Refocus on your wonderland skills How to warm up your visualization “Mindfulness in wonderland” Focus on how you feel Why focusing on immersion can take you far Immersion Tips: Set aside dedicated time to wonderland. If you’re stressed, it will be difficult to immerse yourself in your wonderland Immersion is similar enough to meditation or hypnosis it may be tiring to do long sessions at first. If you’re feeling tired go ahead and take breaks Basic Plot and Environment Sample settings Beach scene jungle Spontaneous generation let impulsive thoughts and odd ideas shape the place World building “Discover” or “learn” your wonderland The basic who/what/when/where/why questions Problemes/quests/objectives While it’s obvious you are creating the wonderland and know everything about it, you don’t know what you have written down as lore until you create it If you already have a wonderland, use that! If it’s too built up, you can always add an extra room or “for fun” zones to your wonderland Sample plots Tips for wonderlanding Artificial constraints Don’t teleport when you can walk RNG using a die No, your NPCs won’t turn into cobuds. If you entertain the idea they could be cobuds, ask if you really want more cobuds right now. If not, then don’t worry about it I feel like the environment and plot section kind of goes under the immersion section I may need to rethink my categories here… ==================== ~~ The first rough draft ~~ ==================== Introduction One commonly reported problem in the broader community is a lack of enjoyment from wonderlanding. The general majority of people I spend time with rarely wonderland, if at all. Generally, when asked about wonderlands, mancers explain that wonderlands are optional but can be easily crafted however you like. For those that struggle with crafting an enjoyable wonderland on their own however, there is not much guide content out there. While there are numerous guides on how to develop the visuals of a wonderland and go over immersion, very little is out there on how to make wonderlanding fun. I believe it is this issue that may be related to why some mancers struggle to enjoy their wonderlands. Given our struggles wonderlanding, I dug deeper and found numerous issues we struggled with. Immersion was one of our issues, but also world building, and numerous key mindsets that overall made a large difference in our wonderlanding experience. For those who are struggling to wonderland, these tips and tricks may come in handy. I hate that sentence but I can’t think of something better right now. I thought about adding a “common reasons” section, but eh I don’t think I’ll need it. My “requirements” section just became my “Immersion” section lol. Immersion Immersion is a critical part of enjoying your wonderland. To be immersed is to be engaged with your wonderland and forgetting about the outside world. Without achieving immersion, it can be extremely difficult to sit down and wonderland for very long. Visualization is an important part of immersion, but there are other mindsets that can impact immersion as well. While having visualization skills are necessary for creating and enjoying a wonderland, your visualization skills do not have to be spectacular to have a good time. If you feel frustrated with your visualization skills, I highly recommend going over some visualization guides and trying out my host’s guide, “How to Refocus on Your Wonderland”. However, I will also briefly go over the visualization skills we use. When visualizing something, you want to think about the details about the object you are trying to imagine. I think it’s easy to start off with general basic facts and go from there: Imagine a sphere. Let’s say this sphere is a white golf ball. That means it’s small, likely smaller than the palm of your hand or possibly hoof or paw. It’s also hard, likely cool to the touch, and has several sight divots all over it. It’s glossy given the coating on it, and it has a small black ink label on it saying “Cobud Gold Co.” If you drop this golf ball on a hard floor, it will bounce a few times before vibrating and setting on the ground. Once you have your golf ball, you can continue with a more complex object. If you’re struggling to wonderland, it helps to roll with spontaneous ideas your mind comes up with. Remember that last part when I mentioned a hard floor? I just slipped that in there out of nowhere, it just came to me. But now I have a new thing to visualize, and I can start to develop my wonderland a bit more: The hard floors below are brittle and cheap tiles. They are thicker than your average kitchen tile given what they’re trying to be- a cheap alternative to hardwood floors. The strips of tile are decently long, about a meter or three feet in length, but thin (roughly 3 centimeters or an inch and a half). When walked on, they make an unsatisfying creaking noise, revealing how shallow of a product it really is. The color of the supposed grain is light with a mix of brown streaks and specs, but the barbie-eque nature of it seems to be lacking the blemishes of true wooden tiles and overly shiny and glossy. I’m going to stray from my outline because talking about spontaneous world generation now feels fitting. Also I’m dead thinking about turning my example into the continuing example of this guide. Immersion is not just about visualizing objects in a space- it’s about getting sucked into the world and being enchanted (or disenchanted) by your creations. If you’re spending time worrying about the visuals or thinking about unrelated things, you are not immersed. If you are struggling to visualize much of anything, you may want to spend more time developing the visuals and practicing your visualization skills. If you’re struggling because you’re unhappy with how unrealistic your visuals are, it may help to switch to a different style. Realism can be difficult to visualize, cartoons, anime, a 5th grader’s notebook doodles, stick figures, clay, and so on are all different styles you can play with. Otherwise, you can also gain inspiration from other sources in real life- for the hardwood floors- I was thinking about minigolf places my host went to. However, immersion is not just about visuals. Immersion also relates to the other senses you can experience. Immersion is more powerful than a video or a movie on a tv screen- you can focus on what you hear, touch, smell, taste, or any other sensations you can think of. When describing the golf ball and hardwood floors, I described other sensory information- how it would feel if you touched it, what it sounds like to walk on it. But you don’t have to stop there. You can make your golf ball smell like that weird office-plasticy smell that always seems to come from new plastic things. The hard woods may not smell like much until you bend down and smell the cleaning products used to clean the floors. Is the floor sticky too? Do you dare lick the golf ball? Imagining something is not just about what it looks like- by adding other sensory information including texture, your sense of balance, your sense of where you are standing in relation to other objects, temperature, how bright it is, and so on can make your construction all the more engaging. However, the quality of the visuals is not the only reason a cocreator may struggle with immersion. How you feel about your objects and environment greatly matters as well. Did you feel that the description of the hardwood floor I gave was negative? Usually people don’t like things that are cheap. While I don’t recommend creating things in your wonderland you hate, I think adding details that may make something undesirable can make it more interesting to engage with and it can be a nice contrast to the objects that are wonderful. While I could segway into mindfulness here, I think it may actually help to focus on developing the wonderland a little more first. Connecting your feelings to the objects in your wonderland and focusing on how you feel can also add more context to the items in question and contribute as world building to your wonderland. The hardwoods are cheap because they were put down by a business, therefore I am standing inside a business. Given this white golf ball, I must be at a minigolf place. I don’t like crowded areas, so that means this must be at a time where it’s quiet and there isn’t much foot traffic if any at all. Ah, it’s a cloudy day, that’s why there aren’t any other people here. Mini Golfing on a cloudy and chilly day kind of sucks, but at least I have a coat and I’m nice and warm. If you are struggling with feeling your wonderland isn’t real or you’re feeling distracted, it may help to take a moment to do a little mindfulness. Not in your wonderland, go ahead and take a look around your surroundings. Name three things you see. Think about how those objects make you feel. After that, then move onto your wonderland and do the same thing. This can be adjusted however you want, if you want to visualize more or less things that’s up to you. Section on developing your wonderland? This is where I’ll go over plot, having problems, world building, list out some plot ideas, and the “learning about your wonderland” concept I think the immersion section isn’t bringing too much new information to the table. However, I think the rest of the guide will make it different from your stand alone wonderland guide. At some point I’ll have to add a note on NPCs and reassure them that one can keep them NPCs. (!) Oh! I forgot about the advice to focus on immersion at first and not worry about the plot. Edit 10/28/24: Edited to use cobud language instead. I bothered to edit this draft because there won't be a revised version posted here. Edited October 28, 2024 by Ranger Note: I'm hit-or-miss activity-wise on this account. I may not respond to PMs for awhile. I'm Ranger, GrayTheCat's cobud (tulpa), and I love hippos! I also like cake and chatting about stuff. I go by Rosalin or Ronan sometimes. You can call me Roz but please don't call me Ron. My other headmates have their own account now, but it's outdated and I can't be bothered to update it If I missed seeing your art, please PM/DM me! Bre Translator | Cobud Carrd | Art Thread | Old Blogs 1 2 | Switching Log | Tumblr | Yay!
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