What If: Enter the Underworld

This week, Derrick and Xtina discuss underground civilizations and confess their derivative work.

Derrick's Top Secret Project #1 has been revealed! Ten Levels Down is part of the 2023 Inkfort Press Publishing Derby. A list of this year's published titles can be found here. This sarcastic, nerdtastic, GameLIT novella can be found on Amazon or elsewhere!

Derrick is a working photographer and author of the Crimson Prophecy series, consisting of The Trials of Tiarsus, Berylis, Qetran Odyssey, and Qetran Revival. He can be found at his website www.DerrickHallAuthor.com.

Christina "Xtina" Lefebvre is an assemblage artist and author currently writing her first novel 'Cogs & Claws' and can be found at www.UniquelyXtina.com.     

Transcript

Derrick Hall: Hello and welcome to Episode 31 of the What If South is Up podcast where we talk about the ups and downs of creating worlds from scratch and all the misadventures we experience along the way. In a nutshell, how to wing it like an author. My name is Derek Hall. I'm creator of the Crimson Prophecy and Horizon GameLIT series' available on Amazon, Barnes Noble, Kobo and just about everywhere else. And I am here with my tired

C. X. Lefebvre: Right?

Derrick Hall: but oddly perky

C. X. Lefebvre: I

Derrick Hall: cohost Christina

C. X. Lefebvre: think.

Derrick Hall: Lefebvre

C. X. Lefebvre: Hello. I'm in the middle of building my first world. A magical parallel earth. But colonization never happened in the Americas. And we work in my first novel with a working title of COGS and Claws. So we're both tired. But

Derrick Hall: We are.

C. X. Lefebvre: that being said, what are you drinking tonight, Mr. Derek?

Derrick Hall: In the very tired,

C. X. Lefebvre: I.

Derrick Hall: festive, seasonal spirit. I have eggnog spiked with bourbon.

C. X. Lefebvre: Is it a homemade eggnog

Derrick Hall: Unfortunately,

C. X. Lefebvre: or

Derrick Hall: no.

C. X. Lefebvre: no? Sometimes it's the better ones.

Derrick Hall: The Southern Comfort branded eggnog that you get in a store is frickin amazing.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah. Oh, it is. You are not wrong.

Derrick Hall: That's

C. X. Lefebvre: Yes.

Derrick Hall: my favorite.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah.

Derrick Hall: It's expensive, but it's worth it.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah. You are not wrong there. Oh,

Derrick Hall: What do you have?

C. X. Lefebvre: it's something I'm calling berries and cream. It's whipped vanilla vodka and wild berry seltzer. And

Derrick Hall: Oh,

C. X. Lefebvre: it's hitting the spot. Yep.

Derrick Hall: see, that sounds like a summer drink.

C. X. Lefebvre: It totally is. But it's something that it's in. It was in my cabinet. It was there. So

Derrick Hall: Hey, whatever works.

C. X. Lefebvre: it's the time of the year. By the time this comes out, the time would have the deadline would have passed. But it's that time of year when you have to re sign up for your health insurance. And

Derrick Hall: Yup.

C. X. Lefebvre: and there's only a couple of days left. And I. So instead of going to the store, doing whatever I want to do, I've been. Wading through questions and. Plans and blah,

Derrick Hall: Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: blah, blah.

Derrick Hall: Yep. Yep.

C. X. Lefebvre: So I didn't have time to go to the store to get something more seasonal.

Derrick Hall: Seasonally appropriate.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yes.

Derrick Hall: That's fine. We like being inappropriate around here.

C. X. Lefebvre: Well, I don't know if we like it as much as we just do it naturally.

Derrick Hall: It just happens.

C. X. Lefebvre: It just happens.

Derrick Hall: A dark sense of humor never

C. X. Lefebvre: You

Derrick Hall: let me wrong.

C. X. Lefebvre: never.

Derrick Hall: So what have you been reading or watching since our last episode?

C. X. Lefebvre: Well, I just want to circle back on our last episode when I said that. So this stuff I'm experiencing isn't people don't really want to know, but I just want to say it's important and it is for writers to be reading. I do have narcolepsy and I'm working hard

Derrick Hall: And.

C. X. Lefebvre: to get treatment for it, so I just want to know anyone else out there that is also struggling with narcolepsy or any other thing that's kind of similar. Keep following. I'll let you know on my progress and the eventual success of getting the proper treatment. But in the meantime, I just got to say, as long as I'm also playing video games, I can watch TV shows without falling asleep. And that's how I successfully consume stories.

Derrick Hall: I mean, there you go.

C. X. Lefebvre: I just started watching The Artful Dodger on Hulu. Have you heard of this?

Derrick Hall: I have not.

C. X. Lefebvre: I'm hooked. So it is the Dodger from Oliver Twist. He is an adult now and

Derrick Hall: Hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: living and working in Australia.

Derrick Hall: Oh, fun.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yes. And he is a doctor.

Derrick Hall: Hmm. Very cool. I'll have to check that out. I hadn't heard of that one.

C. X. Lefebvre: And so not only is the story fascinating, you know, just what? He's going through, you know, and.

Derrick Hall: Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: But the. Hmm. The method of medicine back then or the level of medicine back then. It's

Derrick Hall: Oh,

C. X. Lefebvre: absolutely

Derrick Hall: yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: horrifying. It is absolutely horrifying. And,

Derrick Hall: It's a special

C. X. Lefebvre: you know,

Derrick Hall: level of scary.

C. X. Lefebvre: oh, wow. What they didn't know what they didn't understand, what they did believe. Oh,

Derrick Hall: Mm

C. X. Lefebvre: yeah.

Derrick Hall: hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: So that's weaved into the whole story, you know, just another but just something else that makes it pretty interesting.

Derrick Hall: Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. I'll have to check that one out.

C. X. Lefebvre: And what are you reading or watching?

Derrick Hall: I'm still trying to tie up Cradle. I'm almost there, but

C. X. Lefebvre: Oh, good.

Derrick Hall: been watching a few more Christmas movies and actually a fair amount of military movies, both revolving around World War Two and more recently, over the weekend because I wasn't good for much this weekend revolving around the Iraq, Afghanistan wars, the war on

C. X. Lefebvre: Put.

Derrick Hall: terror I guess. So. It's interesting to me because like I have a bunch of friends that were involved in that in the military and deployed and like some of my friends were in these places and did these things and went through this stuff and some of them barely got out right before it all went to hell and things like that. And it's just interesting for me.

C. X. Lefebvre: Well, it's a definite oxymoron to your Christmas. I mean,

Derrick Hall: It

C. X. Lefebvre: can't

Derrick Hall: really

C. X. Lefebvre: be too

Derrick Hall: is.

C. X. Lefebvre: jolly.

Derrick Hall: But

C. X. Lefebvre: You can't be too jolly.

Derrick Hall: I can't. I can't do it too. Too much jolly. I need blood and bullets to counteract the jolly. Yeah, I've been doing that. I have a thing for history, and even if it's a Hollywood version of history, I can take that and use it as a springboard and go, okay, here's what really happened. And I enjoy that sort of thing. So. That's where I'm at.

C. X. Lefebvre: Well, good. That sounds interesting. So what other problems have you encountered and or solved since our last episode?

Derrick Hall: Well, I started a new day job, which I'm not going to talk about, but my time is a little more limited than it has been. I've been reading back over the manuscript of Book three, what I have of it, and rather than actually making progress on it like I should be doing, I've been rereading it and trying to tweak and modify things to sort of untie the knot in my brain and unblock the block.

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm hmm.

Derrick Hall: I think it's working maybe. My main issue right now is that I need to work out the details of the time transition and decide if it even needs to happen at all. Or if I could just start after the fact and fill in the gaps later, which has been recommended to me by several people. But I really don't want to do it because that's a lot of work that I'd just be throwing out. And I hate doing that. But.

C. X. Lefebvre: At a this. I've thrown out at least 70,000 words on this novel, so

Derrick Hall: You

C. X. Lefebvre: I.

Derrick Hall: know,

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah,

Derrick Hall: I

C. X. Lefebvre: you know

Derrick Hall: don't

C. X. Lefebvre: what?

Derrick Hall: do that. I don't do it. That's just

C. X. Lefebvre: Don't. Never

Derrick Hall: not something

C. X. Lefebvre: say never.

Derrick Hall: that I

C. X. Lefebvre: Never

Derrick Hall: do. I

C. X. Lefebvre: say

Derrick Hall: know.

C. X. Lefebvre: never.

Derrick Hall: I'm

C. X. Lefebvre: Never

Derrick Hall: not saying

C. X. Lefebvre: say

Derrick Hall: never.

C. X. Lefebvre: never.

Derrick Hall: I'm just saying it goes against the grain of my

C. X. Lefebvre: Is.

Derrick Hall: being to throw out that much work.

C. X. Lefebvre: All I got to say is that what I have today is so much better than what I had three years ago or

Derrick Hall: That's

C. X. Lefebvre: two years

Derrick Hall: fair.

C. X. Lefebvre: ago. It

Derrick Hall: Well,

C. X. Lefebvre: is.

Derrick Hall: this better

C. X. Lefebvre: It's.

Derrick Hall: not take three years.

C. X. Lefebvre: Understood. But I'm just saying it is better than what it was. Absolutely. And reading back over through your work, making decisions, making those tweaks. That's

Derrick Hall: Mm

C. X. Lefebvre: still

Derrick Hall: hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: work. That's

Derrick Hall: I've been

C. X. Lefebvre: still

Derrick Hall: away

C. X. Lefebvre: work.

Derrick Hall: from it for long enough that I've forgotten some of what is in it,

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm

Derrick Hall: which is

C. X. Lefebvre: hmm.

Derrick Hall: why I'm rereading it and just trying to look at it fresh. Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: Well. Good for you. Good

Derrick Hall: Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: for you.

Derrick Hall: What you've been doing. What's your problem?

C. X. Lefebvre: So I've been trying to pin down how time is tracked in my story, so I find it very interesting. How how we track time. And I've decided that I don't want to use ours. I don't want to use ours because, well, how we track time works for trains. Actually, our clocks were invented for train schedules. I don't know if you know this,

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: but they were the whole Eastern Standard Time and the, you know, world. All of that was invented so that everyone could catch the train on time.

Derrick Hall: It was standardized

C. X. Lefebvre: So you.

Derrick Hall: for trains.

C. X. Lefebvre: It was standardized for change. So you didn't get to one train station and you had to reset your watch based on the town clock.

Derrick Hall: Mm

C. X. Lefebvre: So

Derrick Hall: hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: which was great for trains,

Derrick Hall: Not so much anymore.

C. X. Lefebvre: not so much for humans. So

Derrick Hall: Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: it doesn't make sense when you start thinking about how many hours of daylight are in the year and how that changes throughout the year. And I wanted to since my world is focusing on nature as natural things, I wanted to focus on the daylight, right? That's

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: what I wanted to focus on. So I've created a time time methodology, a measurement where the clocks and the watches, the timepieces, the timepieces are programed to measure how much time is how much daylight is left throughout the day. And then how much night is left until daylight research resumes.

Derrick Hall: So it's a glorified sundial.

C. X. Lefebvre: It's a glorified sundial because it works at night too. But yes, but a glorified sundial actually works kind of like a clock. And it tells you what time in the day it is, but it doesn't really give you a countdown of how much time you have left unless you do the math in your head.

Derrick Hall: Right?

C. X. Lefebvre: So

Derrick Hall: Right.

C. X. Lefebvre: it's my time. My time is really focusing on daylight. So that's what I've been working on.

Derrick Hall: I mean, your world is so naturalistic that that seems like a good fit.

C. X. Lefebvre: Right. I just think it's really an interesting

Derrick Hall: It.

C. X. Lefebvre: concept to wake up every morning and have your watch look different because it's a different amount of daylight.

Derrick Hall: Yeah. Yeah. From my point of view, I didn't go that deep into the world building. I felt like it would overcomplicate things and

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm

Derrick Hall: it wasn't

C. X. Lefebvre: hmm.

Derrick Hall: completely necessary. Like, I don't have. I have years, but they don't

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm

Derrick Hall: have

C. X. Lefebvre: hmm.

Derrick Hall: numbers. I have. Like days and hours and weeks and that sort of thing. But like the months are not defined. They don't have names. It's very open ended, but it's a familiar enough system that you just kind of go with it, which

C. X. Lefebvre: So.

Derrick Hall: was a very purposeful choice.

C. X. Lefebvre: I'm kind of doing what? Oh, I can't think of his name at the moment. Name of the wind. What? What he said that he did was that he really dug down and built layers deep into his world. He doesn't show all that, but he. So what he did was he he he knew he that he developed different levels so that when he told the story, it could seem rich and deep. And so I they never talk about how my time is shown on a watch or how what the names of those times of the day are. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. But

Derrick Hall: Mm

C. X. Lefebvre: the fact

Derrick Hall: hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: that I've developed, the fact of my developing, um, right now allows me to have a lot of depth.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm. And that makes sense.

C. X. Lefebvre: You.

Derrick Hall: It gives you the knowledge to be able to build around a detail without having to reveal the detail if you don't want to.

C. X. Lefebvre: Exactly right. Exactly. And it all came down because I didn't really want to call a watch. A watch.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: I didn't want to call it a watch because when you say the word watch, you think of more like 1950s and beyond, you know? You don't think of pre-industrial. And while my world is not pre-industrial, I did not want it to feel capitalistic in any way. And I thought the word watch it evoked too much of modern sensibilities.

Derrick Hall: Well, let's see. The first pocket watch was invented in 1510.

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm hmm.

Derrick Hall: So that's

C. X. Lefebvre: That

Derrick Hall: pretty.

C. X. Lefebvre: that is.

Derrick Hall: That's right. In the zone. I

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah.

Derrick Hall: hesitate to call it pre-industrial, but yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: Well, it's

Derrick Hall: The

C. X. Lefebvre: still

Derrick Hall: first

C. X. Lefebvre: whether

Derrick Hall: wristwatch

C. X. Lefebvre: it was invented.

Derrick Hall: was made in 1571.

C. X. Lefebvre: Whether it was pre-industrial or not.

Derrick Hall: Yeah,

C. X. Lefebvre: Today's readers, when they hear the word

Derrick Hall: yeah,

C. X. Lefebvre: watch, they're not going to think of the 1500s.

Derrick Hall: yeah. You're going to go straight to probably a Victorian sort of image.

C. X. Lefebvre: Which is right where I am, kind of. Sort

Derrick Hall: Mhm.

C. X. Lefebvre: of. But I just thought it just was just too it just felt too modern for the moment in the story. So.

Derrick Hall: Fair enough.

C. X. Lefebvre: So yeah, that's what I was working on. Anyways, that was a long, convoluted answer.

Derrick Hall: No. You're good. You're good. Every week we like to share one sentence from our current works in progress. A single sentence? No context. Stina, are you ready?

C. X. Lefebvre: Sure I'm ready.

Derrick Hall: What

C. X. Lefebvre: You

Derrick Hall: do

C. X. Lefebvre: ready?

Derrick Hall: you got? I'm ready as I'm going to get.

C. X. Lefebvre: All right, I'll go first. The thing about thunder, it knows its true power

Derrick Hall: You

C. X. Lefebvre: and its worth.

Derrick Hall: feel like you've written an onion. There's lots of layers there.

C. X. Lefebvre: I hope so.

Derrick Hall: There are a lot

C. X. Lefebvre: Thank

Derrick Hall: of layers

C. X. Lefebvre: you for

Derrick Hall: there.

C. X. Lefebvre: thank you for saying so.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: But.

Derrick Hall: That's a good one. And

C. X. Lefebvre: Thank

Derrick Hall: it's

C. X. Lefebvre: you.

Derrick Hall: dead, isn't it?

C. X. Lefebvre: Maybe.

Derrick Hall: Oh.

C. X. Lefebvre: I

Derrick Hall: Bending

C. X. Lefebvre: know it's supposed

Derrick Hall: your own

C. X. Lefebvre: to

Derrick Hall: rules,

C. X. Lefebvre: be.

Derrick Hall: now, are we?

C. X. Lefebvre: No, no, no. I know it's supposed to be dead, but I'm looking at it going. Hmm. Yeah.

Derrick Hall: We'll put that on on the bench and maybe call it up later.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah. So what about you? What do you got?

Derrick Hall: I have another bench rider Whether we believe our actions to be just the opposite or somewhere in between, none judge us so harshly as we judge ourselves.

C. X. Lefebvre: You know, our quotes are in line with each other.

Derrick Hall: They are?

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah.

Derrick Hall: Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: That's pretty interesting.

Derrick Hall: The coincidence.

C. X. Lefebvre: Coach, we did not plan this, folks.

Derrick Hall: We did not.

C. X. Lefebvre: We did not.

Derrick Hall: We did not.

C. X. Lefebvre: Okay. Now onto the point of the show and our favorite game. Each week we roll a d20, which helps us randomly choose from our perpetual list of 20 scenarios,

Derrick Hall: You.

C. X. Lefebvre: and then we

Derrick Hall: Just

C. X. Lefebvre: talk about how that scenario

Derrick Hall: you.

C. X. Lefebvre: would affect are made up ad hoc worlds. Our current works in progress. Are you ready, Derek? It's

Derrick Hall: And

C. X. Lefebvre: your turn to roll.

Derrick Hall: yeah. Ready now seems to be the pattern tonight. Let's see. Number two what if a self-contained underground world were discovered

C. X. Lefebvre: How far? Underground.

Derrick Hall: far enough to be self-contained and undiscovered?

C. X. Lefebvre: You know what? So

Derrick Hall: I don't know.

C. X. Lefebvre: did.

Derrick Hall: Far. What do you want from me?

C. X. Lefebvre: At the deepest point on the face of the earth, the deepest point on the surface of the Earth

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: is five miles down. Marianas Trench.

Derrick Hall: Right.

C. X. Lefebvre: Might be six miles down.

Derrick Hall: Now five or six.

C. X. Lefebvre: That's not that far. I mean, six miles along the surface gets me through the next town. But that's not that far. I could drive there. So. I'm wondering, you know,

Derrick Hall: I

C. X. Lefebvre: you

Derrick Hall: could

C. X. Lefebvre: could

Derrick Hall: walk

C. X. Lefebvre: you could

Derrick Hall: that.

C. X. Lefebvre: you could be a mile underground and have a fully thriving. Society that nobody would know about.

Derrick Hall: Oh, yeah, for sure. And so just shy of 36,000 feet.

C. X. Lefebvre: The Marianas Trench.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah. So what if a self-contained underground world was discovered? I find this interesting because a lot of I wouldn't say a lot, but there are Native American stories that center around the fact that the people, humans came up from caves, came up from the underworld.

Derrick Hall: Yes.

C. X. Lefebvre: So in my world, wouldn't it be interesting if

Derrick Hall: Was.

C. X. Lefebvre: an election were to fall upon? A. Tunnel,

Derrick Hall: Okay.

C. X. Lefebvre: pass, cavern, whatever. To a world of her ancestors. I mean, her prehistoric ancestors. That could be really, really fascinating. And that could

Derrick Hall: We

C. X. Lefebvre: add

Derrick Hall: can

C. X. Lefebvre: such

Derrick Hall: be.

C. X. Lefebvre: a whole other level. To society and how they progressed and where they came from.

Derrick Hall: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: I mean, if you look at Tolkien, you know, the the dwarves lived underground forever before they didn't.

Derrick Hall: Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: But they weren't hidden when they did live underground.

Derrick Hall: But they encountered things that were.

C. X. Lefebvre: So I think that something like this could be plausible in my world. I think it could work really well in my world. I think it'd be easy for me to write a story to encompass this in my world. I think it would actually add layers and depth to the mythology, the stories, the tellings, the history of my world. I think it could be really fascinating.

Derrick Hall: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think it would be a little bit harder to work it into my world. But I don't think it would be impossible.

C. X. Lefebvre: I don't think it'd be impossible either. I mean, it'd be interesting for you to come up with a classic slash, traditional, mythical creature that you could have living underneath the whole world this time and.

Derrick Hall: The bap

C. X. Lefebvre: Affecting

Derrick Hall: bap bap.

C. X. Lefebvre: your world.

Derrick Hall: Bap, bap, bap. Bap. Spoilers.

C. X. Lefebvre: Spoilers.

Derrick Hall: So just kind of

C. X. Lefebvre: Okay.

Derrick Hall: 2 seconds of brainstorming here. I do have. For those that have read book one Qetran Odyssey I do have and you'll probably remember the

C. X. Lefebvre: Uh

Derrick Hall: eye

C. X. Lefebvre: huh.

Derrick Hall: of Iorr which is a very large lake with a whirlpool in the middle of it.

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm hmm.

Derrick Hall: Now water has to go somewhere.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yep.

Derrick Hall: Just saying.

C. X. Lefebvre: You are not wrong.

Derrick Hall: Just saying.

C. X. Lefebvre: So

Derrick Hall: But.

C. X. Lefebvre: if

Derrick Hall: Yeah.

C. X. Lefebvre: there was a whole other population that lived. Under the you know, underneath

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: they have. I mean, if they're breathing oxygen, they're exhaling nitrogen, that has to go somewhere. You

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: know what I mean? Their waste has the methane has to go somewhere.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: It can't go deeper into the earth. So

Derrick Hall: It could.

C. X. Lefebvre: it. It would be really fascinating to figure out how this society's been hidden or stayed hidden, maybe purposefully or not.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: But how they stayed hidden this long.

Derrick Hall: Yeah. It's it would be an interesting logistical challenge.

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm hmm.

Derrick Hall: In a world like mine, I feel like it would be a lot easier to stay hidden because of the technology level and things like that. Just because if you're remote enough, nobody's going to find you.

C. X. Lefebvre: Mm hmm.

Derrick Hall: But. The more modern the setting gets, the more complicated it gets to hide.

C. X. Lefebvre: The more modern the setting or the more dense the population.

Derrick Hall: Both.

C. X. Lefebvre: I feel like if you're if your technology was not advanced any further, but the population quadrupled or,

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: you know, because, you know, a zillion times quadrupled,

Derrick Hall: You know.

C. X. Lefebvre: you know, it'd be hard to hide. Still

Derrick Hall: It's always.

C. X. Lefebvre: I.

Derrick Hall: Well, I mean. Yeah, that that's that's a whole new set of weeds. I'm not going to go there. But anyways.

C. X. Lefebvre: But so then there's the other option of you creating a society or people or a creature or whatever that doesn't breathe the same way we do that doesn't have the same

Derrick Hall: Mm

C. X. Lefebvre: waste.

Derrick Hall: hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: So that

Derrick Hall: Maybe

C. X. Lefebvre: would be.

Derrick Hall: you're dealing with an Atlantis situation and they live underwater. In a cave somewhere

C. X. Lefebvre: Hmm.

Derrick Hall: with bioluminescent coral or something to see by. There's a lot of options, and you could do that. You could do a journey to the center of the earth. Jules. Jules Verne. I think that was Jules Verne.

C. X. Lefebvre: It's Jules Verne. Yeah.

Derrick Hall: could be a journey to the center of the earth situation where it's, you know, volcanic chambers that were sealed off and, you know, things like that. It could be. In Atlanta's situation. Like I mentioned, it could be any number of things. It could be that there's, you know, goblins living in the tunnels left by giant worms or whatever. Like, you don't have to put humans underground. It could be literally anything.

C. X. Lefebvre: Well, it could be anything. And I'm thinking of. What was that movie with Vin Diesel? Was it Redick where

Derrick Hall: Riddick.

C. X. Lefebvre: he

Derrick Hall: Yeah,

C. X. Lefebvre: went? Yeah, we went under

Derrick Hall: she.

C. X. Lefebvre: and everything was black and dark. They didn't live in light.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: I don't think that my world would do that. I don't think I'd want to create a world that was all black with no light. I don't think I'd want to. That doesn't sound any fun.

Derrick Hall: Yeah, I'm not. I don't know how that would work.

C. X. Lefebvre: I

Derrick Hall: Like,

C. X. Lefebvre: don't

Derrick Hall: I

C. X. Lefebvre: think

Derrick Hall: have

C. X. Lefebvre: I'd

Derrick Hall: several

C. X. Lefebvre: like.

Derrick Hall: sort of hidden societies in my world. I mean, different races and things like that, but none of them are. Like self-contained and underground. One of them is underground. But it is not. It's not self. It's self-contained, but it's not limited to being self-contained underground. There are aboveground entities attached to it.

C. X. Lefebvre: I

Derrick Hall: So.

C. X. Lefebvre: like the idea of underground tunnels that get you from one place

Derrick Hall: I.

C. X. Lefebvre: on earth to another and a, you know, a quick amount

Derrick Hall: Great.

C. X. Lefebvre: of time.

Derrick Hall: Great all.

C. X. Lefebvre: So to be able to travel under the oceans instead of through

Derrick Hall: Read

C. X. Lefebvre: them.

Derrick Hall: Great    

C. X. Lefebvre: Yeah. So I love the fact that my ideas have already been written about. Great.

Derrick Hall: There is nothing new anymore. It's just how

C. X. Lefebvre: There's

Derrick Hall: you

C. X. Lefebvre: nothing

Derrick Hall: do it.

C. X. Lefebvre: new. There's

Derrick Hall: It's

C. X. Lefebvre: nothing

Derrick Hall: just how

C. X. Lefebvre: new.

Derrick Hall: you do it.

C. X. Lefebvre: But I like I. And there's a difference between being derivative, derivative and writing

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: something that isn't new. You know, so.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm. I mean, elves are a Tolkien thing.

C. X. Lefebvre: Okay?

Derrick Hall: But my elves

C. X. Lefebvre: Yes.

Derrick Hall: are nothing like Tolkien.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yep.

Derrick Hall: My elves are

C. X. Lefebvre: No.

Derrick Hall: completely different. But he started it.

C. X. Lefebvre: He started it.

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm.

C. X. Lefebvre: I'm sorry. My, my, my, my favorite elf is Spock.

Derrick Hall: You're not wrong. No. But he's a little more Tolkien than you would think. Like if you stop and think about the Vulcan, they're very technologically up, jumped Tolkien Elves

C. X. Lefebvre: No. True. Yep.

Derrick Hall: Hmm. True story, bro.

C. X. Lefebvre: they live long?

Derrick Hall: Mm hmm. And prosper.

C. X. Lefebvre: Yep. I was going to say it.

Derrick Hall: You didn't have to me. All right.

C. X. Lefebvre: At.

Derrick Hall: Anything else to add? I

C. X. Lefebvre: I

Derrick Hall: think

C. X. Lefebvre: don't

Derrick Hall: we're falling

C. X. Lefebvre: think

Derrick Hall: apart.

C. X. Lefebvre: are. I think we're falling apart. I don't think there's anything to add. Is it? Except that it would be interesting. I think that this is something I could take away and write and do something interesting with in a future novel.

Derrick Hall: Oh, yeah, for sure. I could

C. X. Lefebvre: I

Derrick Hall: do.

C. X. Lefebvre: think it could. I think it could fit into my world. And it could be fun. Yeah. Yeah.

Derrick Hall: Well, that was fun, and it sounds like it might create some fun in the future

C. X. Lefebvre: Yes.

Derrick Hall: if you're a world builder, newbie or not, and would like to be on our show, we would love to have you. That includes Dungeons and Dragons, tabletop

C. X. Lefebvre: That.

Derrick Hall: RPGs, Pathfinder game masters writers, authors, game developers, anyone who creates worlds. You can let us know by going to our website what if South is up.com and leaving us a message, Or you can reach us through our Facebook page.

C. X. Lefebvre: Also, we're always interested in what if questions to add to our list. If your world has something interesting and you'd like to pose it to us, there could be some interesting, very interesting. Kind of interesting. Little bit interesting. More than interesting. Don't matter. Pose it to us. We'll see how it plays out in our world. We'd love to hear from you. So, Mr. Derrick, how can folks find you on the interwebs?

Derrick Hall: My website is Derrick Hall author dot com but you can find me as D Hall author on the clock app and just about anywhere else. What about you?

C. X. Lefebvre: I am uniquely xtina.com and I can be found on all the socials, hopefully as uniquely Xtina and I, mostly on Facebook and the Clock app myself. And this is our near Christmas release, so I wish everyone a happy holiday. Hope you're celebrating in the best way. You know how and you're enjoying everything the holiday gives you.

Derrick Hall: We're going to have the best Christmas since Bing Crosby dance with Danny fucking Kaye. But. Abbey

C. X. Lefebvre: Happy

Derrick Hall: holidays,

C. X. Lefebvre: holidays.

Derrick Hall: everybody.

C. X. Lefebvre: Happy

Derrick Hall: We will catch

C. X. Lefebvre: holidays.

Derrick Hall: you. Do we have another episode before the end of the year?

C. X. Lefebvre: Before the end of the year. Yes, we do.

Derrick Hall: We? And we don't.

C. X. Lefebvre: We do not. Are

Derrick Hall: Really

C. X. Lefebvre: you

Derrick Hall: do

C. X. Lefebvre: sure?

Derrick Hall: not. I am sure

C. X. Lefebvre: I think.

Derrick Hall: this one releases on the 20th and the next one's on the third.

C. X. Lefebvre: Oh, wow. So we'll see you next year.

Derrick Hall: See you guys next year.

C. X. Lefebvre: Whew.

Derrick Hall: But.

C. X. Lefebvre: 20, 20, 25. Oh, no.

Derrick Hall: You skipped a year.

C. X. Lefebvre: Oh, okay. 2024. Oh, no.

Derrick Hall: Justina. You're getting ahead of yourself. Stop.

C. X. Lefebvre: I always do. I always do.

Derrick Hall: Goodbye, everybody.

C. X. Lefebvre: Goodbye. Bye bye.