World Building
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Words of light and texture: the secret language of the Kopri
The Kopri don’t use voices like humans do. Instead, they communicate through rapid changes in skin color and texture—a living language woven across their bodies. Now, you don’t need to have all this background to understand Tide Song, but since people have asked, I thought I’d give you some details to help make the world
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Lessons from Quicksand: Courage and Adaptation
When I was growing up, Tarzan was huge—TV shows, movies, even animated features. And in every single one of them, some hapless minion always got sucked into quicksand. But never Tarzan. Not the hero. To a twelve-year-old, that was pretty cool. And if the hero did fall in, you knew he’d grab a vine or
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Why Do the Powerful Always Just Take What They Want?
In Tide Song: Melody of the Deep, the Koru-Kah Empire’s conflict with the Kopri illustrates a common trait of powerful people and empires: they take what they want without regard for the rights of others. The Koru-Kah, driven by greed and a desire for control, see the ocean and its creatures—like the intelligent, non-human Kopri—as
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Why Sailors Climb Crow’s Nests: Survival Insights
Ever wonder why sailors risked life and limb to climb a swaying mast?In Tide Song: Melody of the Deep, Koru-Kah sailors don’t just climb for drama—they climb for survival. The crow’s nest isn’t just a storytelling trope. It’s a lifeline built on math, physics, and the need to see danger before it sees you. If
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What If Octopuses Had a Language We Could Learn?
Imagine swimming through clear blue water when suddenly a shimmer of color flashes across a nearby gigantic octopus—rippling patterns like words, sentences, or even laughter. That was one of the earliest questions that sparked the creation of Tide Song: Melody of the Deep. Octopuses are some of the most intelligent creatures on Earth. They solve