Mike Carss

The current maximum for the series cover image is 848x121. Would it be possible to allow for a taller image? It would give a lot more flexibility in creating a banner that has more detail. For example, even changing it to 848x200 would be helpful. If keeping filesize down is a priority, I think narrowing the width would be a fine alternative. 510x200 is a similar pixel count. Would this be something you'd consider?

You can edit the story details by going here: Under the "Step 2" tab, you have the ability to change the copyright info to whatever you like. For example, my username is mcarss, but I use my actual name in the copyright area.

I'll be participating in the Creature Feature anthology as well, although the "creature" will only play a minor role. @Valkyrie said, "Don't worry if you think your entry has only a tangential link to the theme," so I'm heeding their advice. 😉

Have you tried contacting Vivo directly about this? Chances are that's going to be your best bet in solving the issue. I don't think the GA team can do much from their end. If I was to guess, it's possible GA's IP address was inadvertently included in a series of IP addresses blocked for one reason or another -- piracy being a likely culprit. For example, according to this article from 2023, Vivo is known to block The Pirate Bay: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/claro-oi-tim-e-vivo-bloqueiam-the-pirate-bay-no-brasil-apos-operacao-404/ That's not to say TPB and GA have similar IP addresses, but it's possible other pirate sites do. Brazil is well known for being very LGTBQ+ friendly, so I highly doubt the site was blocked for GA being a gay-centric site. Since your tests of tunnelling through a server in Canada have been successful, have you tried using a VPN service to access GA using Vivo? Proton VPN works well, is trustworthy, and their free option would work fine that purpose. If you do find a solution that works, take the time to share your findings (as you already have) so others can learn from it. Good luck! ❤️

Maybe just a wee bit. 😉

While Callum's heart is in the right place returning home, that naivety can only bring him harm now. It's time to accept the truth, Callum.

History repeats itself. Probably never.

Yup. Dehumanizing our enemy makes them easier to hate and kill. War propaganda played a big part in this.

While no specific war is attributed to my story, the Vietnam war certainly played a role in my wanting to tell it. What a terrible time in history.

@Parker Owens reached out to confirm he wrote the review. Thanks again, Parker. To repeat what I told him: You've done a beautiful job in summarizing the story and providing insight without spoiling anything. No small feat. 😉

It's always a bonus to find a story that's completed so you don't need to wait for more chapters, right? 😉 I hope you enjoy!

I am greatly humbled by this review, @wildone and Parker. Thank you for sharing it with everyone! 💗 I only have one question: who is Parker? There are a few Parker's that appear when I attempt to tag them.

I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks. Adding to @drpaladin's comment, the lived experience of each person is unique and deeply personal. Throughout the story I wanted to show that humans all tend toward blind hate of the pactrid race as a whole. The pactrids, in turn, are much more levelheaded in how they view each human they encounter. They tend to not let prejudices colour their opinion. The hatred Eudald has for humans is a rare thing among the pactrids. The only other pactrid Callum encountered who was somewhat aggressive was Ettor. He begrudgingly acted as a guide to Brookside. But that anger toward Callum wasn't because he was human, it was only because he wanted to stay with his fellow troops. He saw the task as a waste of time. Regardless, over the course of their short trip together, he mellowed out and grew to like Callum. He did show trust issues upon arriving at Brookside. Despite his bluster, humans frighten him -- rightfully so -- but had he taken the chance to enter the village, he would've saw that these humans were the same as Callum. The others in the vanguard have seen firsthand that Callum isn't a monster and outright accept him despite everything. As humans ourselves, this might be hard to comprehend, but that's the point. Pactrids aren't human.

Oh, you didn't see "The End" at the bottom of this chapter? I kid, I kid. 😋

One benefit of being "late to the party" is that you don't need to wait on new chapters. You can read the novel at your pleasure. 😁

Haha! It's becoming increasing clear that I'll need to continue their story. 😉

Yeah, I realize that in a way, Callum and Rym's story has only begun at the end of this novel. The idea of continuing their tale has definitely crossed my mind and I'm not opposed to it, but for now, I'm happy where they are. If you've read my previous stories, you might note a running theme of two men (one big, one small) travelling together. The series I plan on starting very shortly will continue that trend, featuring a young man living in an isolated village and a mysteriously private knight-errant (he refuses to show his face to anyone). The first book will tell how they meet and what tragic event unfolds, resulting in the man joining the knight on his journey. I expect to start posting chapters in the second half of 2025. Until then, happy reading. 💗

I can certainly appreciate that experience. I found myself in a similar predicament hiking (also in a snowy forest) that I wasn't entirely familiar with. At once point, I got turned around and lost my sense of direction without realizing it -- heading deeper in when I thought I was walking toward my destination. By the time I realized my mistake, the sun was near setting. I found my way out via GPS, and the forest wasn't terribly treacherous, so I was able to beeline it back. Like you, I wasn't terribly worried, but it was a little scary.

By first light, the vanguard was raring to move. While nobody spoke it outright, they knew that by day’s end—for better or for worse—their tenday journey would be over. And if the compass was to be trusted, they’d travelled farther west than expected, making an early start a prudent choice. Once Callum had everything prepared to leave, he approached the scout, Tulenk. “How’s your leg?” he asked. Tulenk hopped from one foot to another, showing no pain. “It’s well. Thank you, medic

Rym has been pretty tight-lipped about what he does or doesn't know, but your first question will be answered soon. Your comment about transporters is never answered specifically in the story, but even though Rym wasn't aware of them doesn't mean all pactrids are ignorant of their existence.

The physics of the moon was brought up in an earlier chapter. I will admit, how the moon travels across the sky is very bizarre -- essentially impossible in real life. And I'm pretty sure a moon of that size would tear a planet apart from gravitational forces. The fact the seas can be pulled around the globe shows how strong that pull is. If this was a "hard sci-fi" story, I'd be angering A LOT of readers. 😅 Luckily, this is a fantasy story, and the only limit is one's imagination. I could've used magic or some kind of strange artifact to pull the seas around the planet, but I decided to use a moon since I have an affinity with our own moon. ❤️ The only benefit of using magic is that readers would likely accept it without questioning it. I don't mind you (or anyone) asking questions, though. That you took the time to ask tells me you care about the story. As a writer, that means a lot. 😄 Thank you.

Drpaladin is correct. While the concept of using the stars for navigation isn't alien to them, they don't appear to have the tools or knowledge to use them properly. To quote Rym from chapter 11: "The sun and the stars are our trustworthy guides, but even they can prove tricky since they’re always moving."

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with your suggestions. There's many things they could've done to make this a safer migration. Even Cior said in chapter 14, "I must admit, the process is all quite disorganised." The sane thing to do would be to map the sea floor properly before they started sending people off. The fact they still have cartographers trying to fill in the blanks is crazy when you really consider it. Again, this was to show their desperation to leave. Your comments lead me to believe I didn't emphasize that well enough in the story. (I'm always learning, so I appreciate it.)

These vanguard groups understand the risk they've taken in making this journey. They wouldn't want others be lost to the sea in attempting to save them. It also goes to show how desperate they are to get away from the Anberans.

Haha! While writing, I was hoping it would be long enough since the last mention of the compass that most readers would've forgotten about it. 😉