#i can imagine a lot of societal worldbuilding in this one

[allusiontomemes]

My Soulmate Can’t Be This Fucking Awful

(this is for that ask prompt where i write a summary for a random fic title)

There was no way. He knew he wasn't the greatest member of society, he wasn't some high society philanthropist by any stretch of the imagination. Grian was a villain, after all, ever since the day he'd found mushrooms growing out of his hair. Perhaps it was only fair, that he'd be trapped in a world where the only way he could go was down.

After all, what kind of cruel fate would bind him to the fucking mayor of all things?

#aka 'fuck cops!' the fic #i can imagine a lot of societal worldbuilding in this one #super powers and super villains perhaps? #also yes this is season 7 mycellium resistance #fake fic summary #hermitcraft

[youhideastar]

Fit for Purpose Deleted Scenes IV: Rut

Today's deleted scenes from Fit for Purpose deal with the question of LWJ's rut/a beta's ability to satisfy a rut or heat in general in this universe - a question to which I gave waaaaaay too much thought haha. Other deleted scenes posts are linked in the masterpost. NSFW text. I hope you enjoy!

Okay, so. WWX says several times during Fit for Purpose that, as a beta, he can’t satisfy an alpha’s rut or an omega’s heat. It’s not clear in the story whether that is literal, i.e., there’s a biological incompatibility, or just societal, i.e., “can’t” because it would be scandalous or otherwise transgress social norms. Originally, I figured it would be the latter, which gave rise to this scene:

“It’s kind of too bad you can’t take my rut,” the bold girl says, afterward. She’s breathing hard, still. Sweat gleams in the valley between her breasts. “You’re so good at that, da-shixiong.”

Wei Wuxian props himself up on his elbow. He’s eighteen now, and he’s done a lot of things, but he hasn’t done that, and now that he thinks of it, he’s not sure why. “I could, if you want,” he offers.

He knows right away that it’s a mistake.

She looks like she’s smelled something bad. “That’s for—don’t joke about that. Rut is for your mate. It’s not—” She shivers.

Wei Wuxian smiles, ingratiating. “Ah, forgive this one, shijie – how would I know about mates, ah?”

She laughs. “Good point. Well. Ruts and heats are for your mate, da-shixiong. Serious, you know? Not just for fun. Not like this.”

That would then be followed by this scene:

LWJ’s rut happens during Sunshot. WWX hovers around outside Lan Zhan’s tent. Thinks about how he can’t help Lan Zhan.

Afterward, Lan Zhan asks him why he was hovering.

“How—”

“Scent,” Lan Zhan says succinctly.

“I don’t… I don’t have a scent.” That’s the whole point.

“You do. Now.” A negative.

“And what do I smell like? Now?”

Lan Zhan hesitates.

“Tell me.” Rasp.

“Like death.”

Beat.

“Ah.”

That would have been way too bleak for the finished fic, so I cut it quite a while ago. But I kept ruminating on the topic, and I changed my mind: I wanted the source of the problem to be a supposed biological difficulty (just like the lack of fertility backs up the “no kids” and the lack of a scent gland backs up the “no claim”), because the societal take above was just too bullshitty. It didn’t seem like something that would prevent WWX from believing he could be LWJ’s mate. There needed to be at least a grain of truth to it.

“But Dea,” I hear you say, “did this question need to be answered in the story in the first place?” Well, I ultimately decided the answer was no, and the final posted fic leaves the question open:

“I can’t—” satisfy your rut, Wei Wuxian almost says, parroting what he’s been told his whole life. But those same voices told him he couldn’t have a mate. Or a son.

So instead, he takes a deep breath and says, “Yeah. I’d like that.”

But for, like, a month, I was convinced that if I left this worldbuilding thread unresolved, readers would not find the story satisfying. They’d be left wondering whether WWX and LWJ’s relationship is about to fall apart the first time LWJ goes into rut. Explaining it like this, it sounds so irrational. But I really worried about this! I was sure I needed to get into the nitty-gritty. So I wrote stuff like this:

“Lan Zhan.”

“Mn.”

“It’s all right if you want to spend your ruts with someone else.”

“No.”

“Lan Zhan—”

Kiss in the dark.

“If Wei Ying does not wish to share my ruts, I will continue to suppress them. At my level of cultivation, the techniques to do so are not harmful.”

Beat.

“If Wei Ying would wish to share my ruts. It would—that would bring me joy.”

Beat. WWX swallows. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I can’t. I can’t—” he’s blushing. “I can’t take your knot.”

Lan Zhan’s hand slips between his legs; his fingertips circle WWX’s hole. He sounds almost amused when he says, “Wei Ying imagines his body can stretch no farther than this?”

“Lan Zhan.” WWX’s cheeks flaming.

“You can take more,” Lan Zhan says, with perfect unconcern. “With careful and patient preparation. But only if you wish to.”

This kind of worldbuilding nerdery is so fun for me. (And I flatter myself that this scene is hot.) But this is SO in the weeds, and it was making the final sex scene SO long, when really, that scene needs to be as short as possible so as not to compete with the actual climax of the fic. In fact, I ultimately did not include any sex in the final sex scene at all, for that very reason!

So then I tried an abbreviated version that would answer the basic question during the sex itself:

“I—I’m sorry I can’t do this for you in your rut.” WWX all apologetic.

“Why not?”

“I can’t—you know. Take your knot. Physically.”

Lan Zhan raises an eyebrow. He twists his fingers inside Wei Wuxian; tugs at Wei Wuxian’s rim with his thumb, making him gasp. “Wei Ying’s body stretches no further than this?”

“Lan Zhan!” Blushing furiously. He has to admit, “I… don’t know. Maybe it does.” Everybody says—but then again, everyone says all kinds of stupid things. Maybe he can satisfy an alpha’s rut. Lan Zhan’s rut. Maybe he could have all along.

But (a) like I said, I was starting to realize that I didn’t need to write the sex itself and (b) this bit doesn’t actually resolve the question (although it suggests an answer) and if I’m not going to answer the question anyway, then I might as well just set the question aside super briefly, which is what I eventually did in the two lines of the finished fic quoted above.

I hope this was interesting! Tomorrow, we’ll go through all my failed attempts at getting Jiang Cheng to talk about his feelings. 🤣

#the untamed #deleted scene #my writing #wangxian #fit for purpose #wangxian a/b/o bingo

[saintsenara]

For the tag game can you tell us more about First Do No Harm :)

thank you very much, anon! first do no harm is an excellent choice from the work in progress tag game list.

provided you don't mind a bit of harrymort, with a snake-faced voldemort, rather than a hot one, that is.

[although - just as a pre-warning - i don't advise reading any further if you have health anxiety...]

i spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about the worldbuilding around wizarding medicine - and, in particular, how societal attitudes to illness and disability are changed by the fact that, canonically, magic can treat, cure, or render meaningless things which would, in our world, be considered permanent, chronic, life-limiting, or fatal.

[spoiler alert: i hate the fact that the series thinks this, since it pretty much justifies the blood-supremacist position that wizards and muggles are essentially different species... but that's a conversation for another day...]

the exception to the series' rule that wizards are more durable than muggles is its attitude towards brain injury and cognitive disability. the loss of cognitive function - which is implied to have a debilitating, irreversible impact on magical ability - is something the series finds uniquely horrifying. think of the brutal torture of frank and alice longbottom, the mind-altering power of the dementors, the fear of being placed under the imperius curse, and so on.

and i've been playing around a lot recently with how these thoughts could be used in fic - and, especially, how they could be used in a way which wasn't just me reeling off my notes from uni. not least because i don't know where those are.

and, obviously, how they could be tied into my actual favourite thing to write about...

harry potter and lord voldemort being forced to engage with the concept of love.

there is - of course - a very famous trope which medicalises love: hanahaki disease. and my original idea for first do no harm was to write something using this.

of real world diseases, hanahaki most closely resembles tuberculosis [a comparison which has been made in numerous fics, including a lovely bit of tomarry - consumption by @laeveteinn]. and i can understand why something tuberculosis-like grabs fic writers' imagination... after all, tb was considered incredibly glamorous in the victorian era - it makes you fashionably pale! it gives you big shiny eyes! it makes you look fragile and feminine and delicate! it makes you gives you an attractive flush on the cheekbones! it makes you cough blood delicately into a handkerchief! it consumes you from the inside out!

and it kills you.

[and it's getting harder to treat.]

and, sure, it makes a great metaphor for unrequited love. but for unrequited love which is sad, rather than terrifying and unwanted... and this fic is about love which is terrifying and unwanted.

which is where talking about the brain comes in...

when asked to name diseases which frighten them, most people would - and, indeed, should! - say rabies. and i do think there's something to be said for this humble virus - which can be transmitted by a tiny, unnoticeable bite from something as small as a bat; which has guaranteed its target is going to die in horrendous circumstances by the time they've even started to suspect that something's wrong - as a metaphor for love taking root without its host realising, and for how disorienting and overpowering love can be when it gets going.

rabies kills a bit too quickly for my purposes though...

lucky there's something just as horrifying lurking out there. a subset of neurodegenerative diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. or prion diseases.

most people have very probably heard of at least one prion disease: bovine spongiform encephalopathy [mad cow disease - i.e. reveal you're a european millennial without saying you're a european millenial]; creutzfeld-jacob disease; kuru [famously transmitted via cannibalism]; and the one which has made me feel vaguely terrified since i first discovered it existed...

fatal familial insomnia. in which the prion-induced degeneration of the brain causes holes to appear in the thalamus - the area of the brain which regulates sleep - until it resembles a sponge.

and the patient can literally never sleep again.

for the rest of their life - usually within eighteen months of the disease's onset - they are held in hypnagogia [pre-sleep limbo, the state between wakefulness and sleeping]. they are disoriented, panicking, hallucinating, forgetful, losing control over their body, losing control over their entire sense of self...

[the face of prion diseases is the astonishing scientist sonia vallabh, who is trying to make as much progress towards a cure for fatal insomnia as she can before it kills her.]

you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy.

well, maybe you would. if you didn't know that a bit of your worst enemy's soul lived inside your greatest weapon, or that your greatest weapon's blood kept your worst enemy's heart beating, or that they are most vulnerable to each other as their connected minds linger on the threshold of dreaming and waking...

how lucky that - unlike muggles, who just have to die from neurodegenerative diseases - this curse could be lifted from dear old harry and poor old snake-face voldemort if they put in a bit of effort and fall in love with each other...

ah.

shit.

[the title - first do no harm - is a bioethical phrase which is often misattributed as being part of the hippocratic oath. it is also just a generally sound philosophy to have in life. eh, albus?]

#work in progress ask game #asenora fics #first do no harm #tomarrymort #harrymort #harry potter #lord voldemort #me and the brain are in our enemies to lovers era

[amielbjacobs]

One thing that bugs me in sci-fi/fantasy worldbuilding (I swear, SF/F is most of what I read, I'm just on a historical kick right now) is that societal standards surrounding queer people are almost always either:

A) queer people are significantly oppressed as a group, typically in a way resembling the US in the 1950s.

or

B) queer people are totally free and treated exactly in line with the ideals of modern queer activists.

Like, neither of those are bad options, unless you're using A as an excuse just to never depict queer people in your writing, but they're very . . . binary. And a lot of our human cultures in our own history have ascribed to neither A nor B, but have had their own very specific ideas about queer people which are neither utopian nor dystopian. Why wouldn't alien cultures, or fantasy cultures, also have weird and specific ideas which don't fit into these two options?

The defense of option B is that people want fiction to be an escape, they want to be able to imagine a world where queer people don't have to worry about any strictures. And that's totally valid, option B should exist, but escapism and utopianism are not the only valid goals for fiction. Option B should exist, but it shouldn't be the only option.

Surely we can imagine a world that is broader and more interesting than utopia or dystopia.

#science fiction #fantasy #writeblr

[card-queen]

Story Craft: Worldbuilding Basics

First off: know when to delve deeper and when to keep it simple.

There are many times in a story, but especially around worldbuilding when someone will just go too far with curiosity and it crosses over into some kind of pedantic interrogation. Try and see if the complaints are valid or aren't relevant. You might not know immediately, we writers can tend to get a bit defensive and protective about the integrity of our work, but have a moment and think: "Would this take me out of the story?"

People can really lack imagination when it comes to new worlds or concepts, especially ones that don't have scientific backing (not that it would satisfy many of the complaints), so you really just have to be sure of your own judgement. And for God's sake, don't let someone else's lack of imagination stifle your own creative vision. Sometimes islands just float, sometimes rivers turn to ice mid-stream, sometimes mushrooms make you hiccup bubbles -- don't let the dour nitpickers ruin your creativity. Be imaginative.

Okay, now let's get down to the nitty-gritty...

Worldbuilding is more than just places, magic and history. Worldbuilding in a very technical sense is: the rules of this world, with regional variants for each race, county or culture. The setting in stories often gets the short end of the stick. It's something that MUST be in the background and you can't go into too much detail or that's INFODUMPING... and that is true and fair... to a degree. The truth of the matter is that you have to disguise your worldbuilding exposition, for that is what it is. I'll get into that more in a bit.

Why?

One of the first questions you want to figure out is why? Why create or invent a whole new setting? The obvious answers are: >To be an outlet for creativity and imagination, full of what-if's and wonder. >To use the world as another player in my story, creating all new opportunities for horror, wonder, invention, mystery, etc. >To shed light or tackle real-world issues in a new, unfamiliar setting to encourage a different look or fresh eyes on the problem. >To embody elements of your story's theme in a subtle, background manner. ... and other reasons too. One or more of those usually does the trick for me, but you might have other reasons and that's excellent really!

Now what?

So, you know that you want to create a new world for your story. It could be a completely new world, like many sci-fi & fantasy, or it could be something lighter like an urban fantasy or alternate universe story. While all of this can and probably does seem overwhelming at times, all you really have to do is go back to one question: "How can I use my world to enhance the story I want to tell"

That helpful line comes from the Brandon Sanderson lectures on storytelling. I must've watched these lectures 3 or 4 times now. If you've got time to kill or want something in the background to listen to, I couldn't recommend them highly enough:

It's good to keep coming back to your main story, character and themes, but to really effectively get the most bang from your buck... you need to know the tools you're working with...

The Tools

Much like the worldbuilding part of the lectures, I'm going to divide our tools into two categories: Physical & Cultural.

Physical means things like the land, terrain, weather, climate, wildlife, vegetation, magic, species, races, etc.

Cultural means things like religion, governments, laws, economics, languages, social norms, taboos, fashion, cuisine, arts, history, societal roles, hierarchies, etc.

A lot of these elements have knock-on effects for other elements too. If your world is set on floating islands with airships, then this will affect the terrain, wildlife, vegetation, possibly weather, possibly climate, laws, economics, possibly cuisine, etc.

Nothing really exists in a vacuum, everything has a kind of cause and effect, even if it's a small change. Look over each of the elements (and please, add your own to the mix) and think... how can I use this to get more juice out of my story? Let's say you have a fantasy war story... How can you twist the land to get more from your story? Does the land shift and change, as if on sand, making border disputes almost impossible to solve? Is the land almost nothing and the world is mostly in the air or sea? Is the land poisonous in some way but vital to survival? Is the land dying or transforming in some way, making the war more about survival than conquest?

It can be really easy to start brainstorming like crazy. Either with purpose or just for fun! Once you have a solid idea of what you're working with, you know the rules of your world.

The Rules

Each element you choose to work with for your worldbuilding comes with its own pitfalls and advantages.

Whatever you introduce will do a job but it may create problems, or as I like to call them: opportunities. Chances are, whatever you create to do a job in your world is gonna step on the toes of something else that exists in our world or invents new issues that need to be taken care of. This is where you can get really, really interesting.

Let's say that your world is one where magic is as common as language, that it's something that people can study and master. If magic is commonplace and mage is a life path one can take, then ... >Could water magic be used to make crops grow? Could magic be used to eliminate famine and bad harvest? If yes, is there a catch? Is this a refined magic skill or does it become a mundane job for the poor and feeble? If no, why not? Does magic also do something else to the crops? >Is magic viewed as an academic pursuit worthy or respect? A frivolous and old-fashioned pursuit compared to other things like technology? A conflict pursuit akin to acting or music, that anyone can do but only the top tier make it, leaving everyone else to do menial work or teach.

These kinds of scenarios are born from you teasing out the "problems" of your world and dreaming up possibilities, solutions and societal issues that you can use to your story's advantage. If a problem gets you excited to find possible solutions, you know you're onto a winner!

Exposition Protection

Right, so let's get to the point where you've been working forever and a day on your world and it sparkles! You're so proud of the world you've done and you can't wait to show it off--you can't.

I'm really sorry, but people just aren't interested in hearing the magical farming techniques you've come up with and how they've evolved over the ages. Some people are and you should compile a little notebook (with doodles if you can manage) for a kind of behind-the-scenes handbook. People go crazy for supplementary material like that. I know this because that person is me.

But onto how you deal with this issue of exposition in-story. I have two angles, but there are probably more, but these ones work for me!

Method One: The Representative Method

People tend to relate to people more than concepts. So, sometimes I find it better to assign a character to represent a part of my world. The obvious examples are of religious characters. You can share or show off the beliefs, rules, laws and understanding of a religion but have a character be devout. This can apply to many other aspects of the world though: characters can have jobs intrinsically tied to aspects of the world: sky-fishing, water farmer, sand reader, etc. They could have issues that cause problems in their day-to-day life caused by aspects of the world: sky-fish poaching, magic regulations, new laws about sky travel, a newly formed fungus as the result of magical exposure, etc. This doesn't mean that every character should become a talking point for aspects of your world. Please use this method with care and remember that no amount of exposition should come at the expense of a character.

Method Two: The Conundrum Method

Sometimes I wrap my exposition in the form of a problem. The characters can discuss the issue at hand and drop in dialogue that signals to the reader that this is the norm. If you present the audience with a mystery, then they tend to look at the situation and try and figure out how things get uses. By carefully slipping in aspects of the world and how they weren't used or were used ineffectively, the audience can pick up on aspects of your world whilst being engaged in the events of the story.

For example, if your characters are dealing with a murder, they could be looking over the body. One could not that the dead man has his Soulstone with him but no one got his call, concluding that he must have known his attacker. (The audience can infer that this Soulstone can send out some kind of distress signal, possibly other messages). The main character can touch the Soulstone and declare it's cold, meaning the dead man probably didn't even have a chance to use it (while the audience picks up that these things get hot when used, maybe they're powered by magic or some other kind of energy).

In conclusion

You can get a lot of your world shown off by wrapping them in something else that we, the audience, care about; be it a character we love seeing, a mystery we're getting invested in, brilliant battlefield tactics or something else entirely.

It's a lot of work but can be really, really fun to get invested in!

Happy creating!

Want more writing advice? Check out this post!

#story talk #world building #writing #setting talk #it's tricky to get started #almost impossible to stop #and a whole lot of fun once you get going #I never thought I'd enjoy worldbuilding and lore #But here we are

[neoyi]

I've finally achieved my goal to check out the infamous Digger webcomic that's been lying in my firefox bookmark for an embarrassingly amount of years. Critically acclaimed as it were, I was baffled on how a story about a wombat could wow even the hardiest of critics.

Then I read it, and I recall some bit of skepticism. Within the span of a chapter or two, the titular Digger runs into Ganesha, his worshipers, a shadowy child with zero comprehension of general principles and morals, hyena people, dead gods, and oh, and an oracular slug.

They seemed so widely disconnected that I couldn't imagine how Ursula Vernon could connect them seamlessly to its world. Turns out, she didn't have to try pretty hard. And to be fair, Digger didn't give enough credit to this magic-infused world. ...At first.

This is the expression she gives off on a frequent basis, because she's surrounded by well-meaning chosen one monks who is a tad mad after seeing a horrifying god figure, compassionate gods who understand her frustration yet require so much of her, ethical dilemmas and too many questions with little answers, a dude with a deer head brought upon himself through sheer dumbassery, lizard people whose honor and culture revolves around the skins they cut off from people (and they do not necessarily have to be corpses), and so forth.

And I think a combination of Digger pointing out the absurdity of the world blends all these seemingly random elements into a cohesive whole. A lot of this is owed to the creator's anthropologist background: her knowledge of human culture and religion shines and she treats every single element equally and with great care.

Digger is great because it stars a wombat who is disdainful of Godly figures and is quick to rationalize what others take for granted, but is just as often an eccentric byproduct of her culture (her behavior is just in the nature of wombat society; it's a world of proper planning, architecture/geology, and loads of paperwork.) She desperately wants to go home, but eventually grows attached to the people around her and learns to respect them, be they be a Monk or a prophetic slug because she, ultimately, wants to do the right thing. And they, in turn, treat her in equal measure.

It's a comic where philosophical, cultural, and ethical differences mean these characters can discuss and debate about the individual world they live in, but also unite and understand each other. And that's really the beauty of Digger; we are all empathetic and willing to listen to another, even if our lives are different and maybe contradictory to one another. Ultimately, they're all good people trying to rationalize the world they live, be it through logic or faith or whatever. And they can all act as one to stop something far more damning.

Digger is a wordy comic, but it was actually a breeze to read. I think Ursula Vernon's magic with lengthy text boxes is owe to how she utilizes it. With dialogue, they're often short and manageable. Whenever Digger narrates though, the giant text box is often superimposed over looming backdrops of nature and towns that the character is currently in. The simplicity of the background (further helped by its generous use of chiaroscuro) means it affords a space to breathe in spite of any ongoing blabbering.

I'm kicking myself for not reading this further, because now I'd love to own the omnibus, but it's been out of stock for a while (though the individual volumes are still up for sale.) I'm sure this comic has been compared to another particular graphic novel before, so I'm very sorry for being tedious, but it reminds me of BONE so damn much. Maybe that's also why I liked it.

Man, I'm so glad I read this. Digger is so friggin' good at mixing ethical, religious, cultural, and societal discussion and worldbuilding without the pretentiousness that often comes with it. I feel very enlightened having read this, but also find it engaging, funny (using foot notes to humorously describe wombat culture was a treat), open-minded, and hopeful. It's a great demonstration of the marks we have left on this planet for thousands of years, and how it carries on through out descendants. We can make of it however we can.

#digger #webcomic #comic #neoyi talks

[bonesandthebees]

Okay, so I am actually going to continue with chapter 21, because I really want to do the worldbuilding and then I’ll probably skip over everything else and slot the last scene into the guilt section of chapter 22, because those boys have a lot of guilt. Hot damn.

Anyway, let’s start with the sort of official image of the Pythia because that’s a very cool concept. Like of course, they don’t want anyone to know what the Pythia looks like. So a general appearance of the Pythia is a good solution. Like every for making movies it’s nice because of course you won’t get the actual Pythia in it. I am surprised that they are allowed to make movies about the Pythia, but it’s probably similar to making movies about Jesus. They need to spread the message.

And apparently advertisements campaigns. Is that a recent thing, or has it always been that way? Because it definitely shows how little Schlatt and his government actually care about Clara and the Pythia. They don’t respect what She is and what She stands for. It’s just a way to make money and control the public. A means to further their own ends.

Then we’ve already talked about Mr Beast, but it says a lot about the world and the broken healthcare system that that’s where the bills are for. The people are very desperate to get those paid off. It also ties into how prosthetics are often easier or less expensive than decent health care, but those things probably still cost a lot. Generally, very fucked up image of the city.

There’s also how many people are still out and about at this time of night(?). Clearly a big and busy city. And of course, there’s the cops and their total dominion over the country. It’s incredibly hard to lose them once they have their eyes on Wilbur and Tommy. Also, the face that they can just scan your face and know everything about you is very fucked up.

-🌲

yeah it's not like there's an 'official' image of the pythia but like the stereotypical one that gets presented in movies and tv shows. also i've said this before, but the pythia is less like jesus and more like the pope. a religious leader figure, but not the actual one being worshipped. and yes you do see the pope being used in tv shows and all that (like that show the young pope). so that's kind of the idea there. the stereotypical image of the pythia is usually a young, attractive woman who might pop up in movies or tv shows who either offers the characters Wise Guidance for their journey or there's a stereotypical damsel in distress kind of sideplot with her. but then also the pythia's 'image' can be used in ads as well because nothing is safe from capitalism :) also the pythia has always been used in ads, it's not a new thing with schlatt's government. it's gotten more common over the decades because of how pervasive and overbearing advertisement has become in the glass universe, but it was never 'illegal' per se. it was just considered a social taboo for a while before it slowly became more acceptable. again, the pythia isn't like jesus. the pythia is more like the pope.

also it's not necessarily about spreading the message. clara is worshipped throughout the entire country of manberg. it's more like... just the pervasiveness of religion in everyday lives? but also turning anything and everything into a commodity. even spirituality and religion can be sold to you these days. use it as a tool for entertainment, use it as a tool for marketing. nothing is sacred. it's all free game. I included those bits as more of an economic and societal commentary than a religious propaganda standpoint although it definitely functions as religious propaganda as well, just not as much.

lol yeah the city is fucked up. man imagine not being able to afford healthcare. glad that's not true in one of the biggest and wealthiest countries in the world hahahaahaha (help me)

oh yeah it's a very active city. also it was a friday night. things were popping off.

facial identification is fucking terrifying!! that's literally the direction we're heading in at this point irl so yeah a lot of the worldbuilding in glass contains a lot of my fears for what our future is going to look like very soon

#ask #spruce anon #glass general #glass ch 21 #through a glass divine

[zevranunderstander]

i think it’s so important to read a lot of different books and stories when you are a writer, like, just to see that there is not a *standard* way to write a story.

the question you should ask yourself when writing is “what do *I* care about? what do *I* want want to write about?”. If you don’t want to, you don’t need to give detailed explainations for every piece of worldbuilding in your book - welcome to night vale doesn’t do that either. BUT you can also give insanely long, detailed paragraphs of explaination to every piece of worldbuilding and feature whole chapters that tell in-world myths and legends in full length - like patrick rothfuss does.

for example, everytime i read jane austen I am so inspired to write, bc she has such a diffrent writing style than the standard novel you’ll imagine in your head. she often gives omniscient commentary about the characters in the story and wants you to understand their thought patterns and behaviour, rather than wanting you to guess their intentions. she focusses on commenting on human character and societal values and she isn’t afraid to skip ahead in time a few days or just write out one small interaction that happened on one day. her focus is on small moments and interactions, instead of interconnected actions and reactions. sometimes, characters just discuss a topic for several pages - like whether it is a good or bad character trait to be talked into staying in your lodgings longer than you anticipated by a friend - and you get to see the views of various characters on the matter. there are rarely high stakes to her writing and generally, there isn’t a “plot relevance” to a lot of moments she writes, but her stories feel more like analyzing the characters together with the author while you are having tea together

the general consensus on social media about writing seems to be “do x to tell a good story”, “don’t use [word] when describing something”, “if a scene is not plot relevant, cut it”, “don’t do exposition” etc. but i think it’s really important to remember that the writing that probably sucks most is the writing for a scene that the author didn’t want to write. you didn’t care for the exposition you wrote? neither will the audience. but if you cannot *wait* to give exposition on a part of you story, the audience usually will also like it. don’t be afraid to break conventions and write what you want to write about

#myposts #writing #like. if you hate doing lots of research. write the story in a fantasy setting where you can make up your own rules for stuff #if you don't care about the dialogue two characters have in a scene #then dont write it #like easy as that

[gayspock]

guys im peckish

something that always kinda.... i dont wanna say it frustrates me, bc i understand WHY its the case & i know its the better choice for most works... but i suppose, kind of? itches at me??? is the way AI in sooo much fiction is solely ever used with regards to comparing it to Humanness. and tht makes total sense- its not always abt exploring AI conceptually in of itself, but moreso using that as a means to explore deeper Human themes and again sometimes thats just better to leave it as that

but nonetheless it itchessss sometimes, yknow, from like a worldbuilding perspective to me. & also just... i dont know. when i hear ppls conception of what AI is in general- and in all fairness, AI in of itself is such a nebulous term - i get well. frowny. bc again its always such a ... human lense.... and idk maybe im being #autistic #compsci girlie but it sometimes just feels so... LIMITING and detrimental, and kind of misunderstanding like- when it comes down to it, ai? its math... ITS MATH. you know that right? all the way top to bottom its just freaking mathematics, its algorithms...

but anyway it just feels like. its HOLES in the fictional world sometimes. like- the actual sophistication behind developing something that's intelligent enough, and ON PAR with a thinking, feeling, freaking person... and for that to become, like, a widespread THING... like it sooo rarely ever lines up with the rest of the technology within the world they set it in?? bc theyy clearly on ever thought- mmhm mhmm (nods) thinking machines. they just programmed people immediately. went from A to B. and sometimes there's like in-universe reasons for things but like other times its crazzzyy like...

bc before we'd ever get to THAT point so many other, complex things would already have commonplace AI applications does that make sense. one billion specialised problems that could have been solved ten times over. or well maybe solved is the wrong word but it would have changed the face of technology soooo much... and i guess sometimes there IS in-universe reasoning for it- it could be a limitation of resources, it could be an issue of knowledge and understanding, it could be other societal influences that stop it, things such as policies that prevent it from being totally pervasive- but thats literally kind of what i mean, like... bc those are GOOD points but not always present . and they could be rlly interesting points of discussion and contention just there that kinda gets neglected

like im watching BSG and i keep thinking abt the only reason the galactica survived is because its more "out of date". and its like if eel like theyre always so vague about what technology theyre actually compromising on, here. or like... hell what technology did all of humanity compromise on after thefirst war... wheres the lines? is it JUST cylons? or were there compromises on everything? and how did they reel shit back?

like im thinking even just roslin and her cancer. already, like... in real life... ai has a LOT of medical applications. idk-i still kinda want to do a PHD in some sort of bioinformatics one day, LOL, if i'd ever get there but like... whilst i guess its mostly diagnosis and screening rn, my point is, i cant imagine how much more medicine could have advanced??? surely ir'd be unrecognisable. even just in terms of developing drugs, and medicine- genomics being sooooooo data dense, there's leaps and bounds that can be done with AI, or even research facilitated by ai. like if you have the capabilities of programming something as sophisticated as human consciousness, with that level of logic and reasoning....

LIKE ... its like again sth very human. this human idea of intelligence and what that means, and thinking of ai in a totally human capacity when its like. idk how to describe ittttt. i guess its like- there are so many tasks that a human cannot do that a machine could do, BUT it would be easier to have a machine implement those tasks, THAN achieving sentience with a machine??? like... no. a person could not piece together a human genome from data BUT a machine could quite easily.

and even just that like- squitns. i think im talking in circles my WHOLEEEE point is just... AGAIN. worldbuilding wise i feel like sooo much drops the ball there like bc writers dont rlly understand the full applications of artifical intelligence and what it can do and wahgh... im sniff... im just rambling arent i [goes into a corner embarassedddd]

#Egg.txt

[sobriquett]

Dear Trick or Treat Author,

Dearest potential author,

What a wonderful time of year!

If you're looking at this thinking, "what's trick or treat?" then I refer you to the Dreamwidth info post here, the AO3 page here, and if you're seriously considering it then you 100% have to look at the requests app here. But, in short, it's a low stress fic/art exchange with a 300-word minimum in which you both give at least one trick (horror, occult, supernatural, scary, etc) or treat (sweet, sexy, fluffy, etc) fanwork to your recipient and receive one or more in return.

Back to the letter!

There isn't much in here that isn't in my signup, but you can have a look at all my previous letters using the tags! Every letter going back seven years is under dear author letter, and specific fandoms and some pretty pretty gif sets under the fandom tags.

Thank you very much for thinking of writing for me. I hope you have a lot of fun doing it. I will be delighted with the result no matter what!

If you would like to write Halloween-flavoured fic, I would ask that it be canonically appropriate. (They're probably not trick-or-treating in costume with carved pumpkins in ninth/tenth century England, but All Hallows' Eve would be a great place to start. On the other hand, I can see Thor really loving a modern Halloween.) Some Halloween prompts are given for some fandoms. All prompts are only suggestions, please write whatever sparks creative joy for you! If you want to dance close to one of my DNWs, I might be open to it so by all means get in touch through the mods. I would just like to avoid gifts that focus on any of these things.

Likes:

5 Times | 5+1 Times | Alternate Ending | Angst | Babies & Children | Backstory | Banter/Bickering | Bittersweet | Canon Compliant | Canon Divergence | Character Death | Character Death Aftermath | Character Study | Class Distinction | Coming of Age | Competence | Complicated Sibling Relationships | Cultural Differences | Dark Fic | Domesticity | Different Worldviews | Enemies to Lovers | Epistolary | Examining Societal Issues | First Meetings | First Time | Fix-It | Fluff | Found Family | Friends to Enemies | Grief/Mourning | Grumpy Character/Sunshine Character | Historical Details | Humour | Hurt/Comfort | Last Time | Laws of Magic | Long-Distance Friendship | Marriage of Convenience | Miscommunication | Missing Moment | Obeying Canonical Boundaries (Social/Cultural/Moral) | Outsider POV | Pining | Platonic Intimacy | Poor Life Choices | Post-Canon | Power Dynamics | Pre-Canon | Presumed Dead | Protectiveness | Redemption | Religious Elements | Reunion | Romance | Sad Endings | Secret Relationships | Sobbing Hopelessly Into My Pillow | Uneven Power Dynamics | Unexpected Friendship | Unlikely Friendship | Unreliable Narrators | Wanderers | Whump | Worldbuilding

DNWs:

A/B/O Dynamics | Bestiality | Body Horror | Gore | Graphic Depiction of Torture | Modern/Mundane AU | Mpreg | Non-Con | Out of Context AU (e.g. coffee shop, college AU) | Scat | Vore (Exception: anything canon or canon-compliant is fine, i.e. description of or reference to canonical injury, reference to canonical torture/non-con/other.)

--

Fandoms & Prompts:

1. The Last Kingdom (TV)

Aelswith & Uthred of Bebbanburg Aethelflaed Lady of Mercia/Uhtred of Bebbanberg Aethelstan & Osferth Alfred the Great & Uhtred of Bebbanberg Aelswith Aethelflaed Lady of Mercia Aethelstan Alfred the Great Beocca Finan Osferth Sihtric Uhtred of Bebbanburg

I asked Netflix to “Surprise Me” this summer and watched the first few minutes of this. Then the first episode. Then the first season. Then I’d devoured the whole thing in a fortnight, couldn’t pick what to watch next and started again. And I’m reading the books. (Halfway through Sword Song as of this morning.) This series caught my imagination in unexpected ways.

I really enjoy the way different characters think/plot, their diverse values and worldviews. How Danes view death (unafraid of death but not keen on the waste of men/expecting to die with their sword in hand) and how Saxons do (a preference for dying peacefully in bed with priest/family by their side), how their religion and gods influence them, the idea of destiny. Death is a constant presence in this world, in a way it’s not in ours. Stiorra says something to her father about death coming for her mother too quickly for Gisela to see, and so Stiorra was ready and unafraid. (Terrible paraphrasing.) But death is always there, a hair’s breadth away (the snipping of a thread by the spinners) whether by violence or disease or childbirth or misadventure. Destiny is all/fate is inexorable.

I was going to split into trick prompts or treat prompts but so many could go either way. Uhtred and friends walk the line between genius and disaster so often. I am also open to the appearance of any other characters at the author’s pleasure.

My likes of missing moments, banter/bickering, character death fic, found family, unlikely friendships and outsider POV all seem extra relevant here.

- Life after Osferth? - Osferth and Aethelstan “living the bastard life” (and the wider group having a new baby monk to tease instead of Osferth). - Shadowwalkers? - One of Uhtred’s plans goes wrong. - Aethelflaed chooses a different path (with Erik, with Uhtred, anything away from her destiny as Alfred’s daughter). Does it go right or does it go wrong? - A missing moment for Uhtred and Aethelflaed. Does she ever break her oath, or come close to it? - Separately or additionally: Aethelflaed is caught breaking her oath. - How does Aelswith enjoy her room with a sea view? Does she continue to harangue Uhtred? She’s hated him for so long, he’s not fond of her, and that flips. Or does it? S5 Aelswith is so fun. My thanks to whoever nominated this ship. - Alfred’s perspective on some of Uhtred’s nonsense? Alfred’s reflections on his deathbed? I haven’t requested the / ship, but I did request the characters and I could read it, or just a one-sided version or foolish moment. Love, hate, madness, loyalty, obligation, respect, scorn – they’re one messy tangle of thorns for these two. - I enjoy fics featuring character death or its aftermath and every tagged character loses someone or is lost themselves. - I could read more of Beocca and young Uhtred. (Osbert!) What did Uhtred learn from Beocca rather than Ragnar? - Is Uhtred ever haunted by his ghosts? - HALLOWEEN: Its origins are in a time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints and all faithful departed Christians. How is this observed or endured?

2. North and South (UK TV)

Margaret Hale/John Thornton Margaret Hale John Thornton Hannah Thornton Nicholas Higgins

I’ve requested this more times than I can count, because it’s one of my favourite baby fandoms. I love the conflict between the three worlds in this novel/series (Margaret’s, John and Hannah’s, Nicholas’) and how they come to understand each other better by the end of the story. And it’s pretty hard not to ship Margaret/John. Also, I have such incredibly strong train scene feelings because that’s so horribly unlikely, the PDA, an unmarried woman travelling to the other end of the country from her family with a single man! Shocking. So I absolutely adore post-canon fic here.

There’s so much pride in all these characters, in different ways. All look down on each other too. I could read more about that.

- Post-canon train scene consequences, for good or ill. - What if Margaret (or John) was seriously injured in the riot? - We don’t see a second/successful proposal on the show. Does one happen? Does the first go differently? - Something about John and Hannah’s backstory, the failure and death of John’s father, pulling him out of school and repaying the debts? - John, Hannah and Nicholas have tasted poverty – or at least true difficulty. Margaret might think she has, but she has not. Is there conflict there? - What if Frederick Hale came to post-canon Milton? Do any of these characters visit him in Spain? - Margaret finding her place in post-canon Milton? At home, in the mill, in town. - Any more flavour/colour of life in Milton.

3. The Witcher (TV)

Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier Calanthe Fiona Riannon Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon Geralt of Rivia Jaskier Mousesack Yennefer of Vengerberg

I have also played Witcher 3 (the main story, I’m half way through Hearts of Stone, not played Blood and Wine yet) and started the books (although I didn’t get on with them). So if you want to throw in other canon references, I’m probably going to be quietly delighted in a self-satisfied “ooh, I get that!” kind of way.

I’ve tagged the characters I’m most interested in, but there are none I wouldn’t want to see. I also prefer Geralt & Jaskier to Geralt/Jaskier but I am happy reading both. I would prefer to avoid shipping Ciri romantically with any of these characters, but otherwise anything else goes.

Again, many of these prompts could go for tricks or treats. Pile the bodies high and make them suffer or wrap them in thick blankets and keep them warm and cosy by a good fire, both are excellent!

- Non-human Jaskier - Emotional support bard Jaskier! - Anything with music and singing - Truth spells/compulsions - Platonic intimacy - Life on the path - Magic gone wrong/the laws of magic/someone has unexpected magic - Canon divergence – Ciri finds someone else first during/after S1, not Geralt (Jaskier, Yennefer, another character) - Post-canon for S2 - Mousesack lives! - Missing moment/pre-canon for Ciri & Calanthe & Mousesack (& Eist?) - Geralt and Jaskier have an adventure - Any two or more characters have an adventure! - Facing a monster from the canon’s bestiary/fulfilling a contract – either a short incident or a longer odyssey. - Character comes back wrong! - The nature of destiny. - Exploration of Geralt’s wish and its consequences - HALLOWEEN: is there a Halloween equivalent on the continent? How is it celebrated? How do these characters mark it? There are real monsters and terrors and ghosts in this world.

4. Downton Abbey

Edith Crawley & Mary Crawley Edith Crawley/Anthony Strallan Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley Thomas Barrow/Guy Dexter Anna Bates Beryl Patmore Cora Crawley Daisy Mason Edith Crawley Gwen Dawson Mary Crawley Mrs Hughes Sybil Crawley Thomas Barrow

- Did anyone else hear Guy Dexter’s offer to Barrow and think “what the fuck that is too good to be true run Thomas run”? Because I did. There are a thousand ways that could go horribly, terribly wrong, and almost none in which it could go right. (Period-typical homophobia, and classism, they’re doubly fucked.) But Thomas can be a romantic and is open to taking risks and definitely isn’t happy in service even as butler, so maybe he’d take the offer. I’d be open to reading any outcome of that decision. - Either Bates (or later Anna) is convicted for murder! And hanged, no miracles! What happens then? - How did Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore first meet? Were they both in their senior roles at the top of their departments then, or did they work their way up together? - What if the Kemal Pamuk episode went differently? For Mary, for Thomas, or for Anna. - Any missing moments. - How do the downstairs staff keep in touch with their families, with only one half day off each week? - The inevitable passage of time, upstairs and downstairs. - How did Cora feel when she first arrived in England? Happy or horrified?

5. Marvel Cinematic Universe

Darcy Lewis/Loki Darcy Lewis Loki Love Morgan Stark Sif Thor Valkyrie

I would enjoy fic at any point in the MCU timeline, not just Phase Four.

Alright, so this is pretty Thor heavy. I think it’s because I’ve only recently seen Love and Thunder and still have feelings, and once upon a time got hit over the head with a really, really excellent Darcy/Loki fic and I’ve been craving more ever since.

The outlier here is Morgan Stark, because I wonder how she copes after her father’s death, how she grows up. I mean, the dead dads club is definitely a thing – if you know, you know – but what’s it like to be a member so young? And she comes from an exceptional background, and Tony’s relationship with his father scarred him. How does Morgan’s relationship with her father – even if that relationship is absence and grief – scar her? Or go fluffy, where other characters support and raise her because it takes a village.

But back to the Thor characters:

What is it like to be ordinary amongst superheroes? Genuinely ordinary. How do these characters live up to (or down to) others’ expectations? Anything, anything at all, for Darcy Lewis/Loki. Idfic, magical accident, punishment/imprisonment, at any point in canon. “Nobody else can kill you, that’s my job” kind of protectiveness? Cancer fic for Jane? The movie somehow ignored its psychological effect on her. I would like to see more of Love, for good or ill, and this odd new family and role to play. How do the worldview and perspective of the Asgardian characters compare to the humans around them? Does that lead to happiness or heartache, favour or disaster? HALLOWEEN: Any of these characters celebrate Halloween, in either an Asgardian way or in the way we would. Do they take it to the absurd?

6. Bridgerton (TV)

Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sharma Anthony Bridgerton Benedict Bridgerton Daphne Bridgerton Edwina Sharma Eloise Bridgerton Kate Sharma Lady Danbury Penelope Featherington Violet Bridgerton

Okay, so, S2 was not quite what I was expecting, and it wasn’t a terribly close adaptation of the book, but it was still a lot of fun. I was very, very “what the fuck” from the end of episode four right through to the end of the season, peaking in episode six with some what the actual FUCK, and basically watched it in one sitting on release day and into the night. So, please, play with that.

I have read books 1-4 but noped the fuck out after the end of book four because some of the writing was so poor – it was idfic to a degree that I couldn’t tolerate in a “professional” novel. That said, I am 100% there for idfic in fandom.

Unwanted consequences from the night in the gazebo Kate leaves for India Lady Danbury’s backstory Violet Bridgerton is displaced as Countess and from her family home Eloise and Penelope’s friendship and falling out Benedict Bridgerton gets at the tea again Anthony and Edwina get married and have immediate regret! (There’s no easy way out!) The charmed life breaks for one or more of the characters and they have an unpleasant brush with the real world

7. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre & Adele Varens Jane Eyre/Edward Rochester Adèle Varens Edward Rochester Jane Eyre

This is my favourite classic novel, that I’ve reread every few years since reading an abridged version as a girl, most recently for Yuletide 2020. And my understanding and perception has changed so dramatically as I’ve seen more of the world myself. Rochester is more bad guy than good guy and that Jane Eyre lies as a narrator and is as prejudiced and superior as those she crititcises for the same qualities. But I still love her, and that she says she got a happy ending. That doesn’t mean it has to stay happy!

What if the Thornfield wedding isn’t interrupted? (I'm writing this myself too, very slowly.) Does Jane come to see Rochester as a villain? Does she find herself corrupted, tarnished or lessened in his eyes in some way when he comes to marry/possess her and the sharper, darker side of his character turns on her once she’s off her pedestal? Does Jane resent being Rochester’s carer, his eyes and hands? If they have children, what does that do to Adele’s place in the family? Is she beloved sister or unwanted burden? (Any POV here – hers, Rochester’s, an outsider. I can’t see Jane considering her a burden but I could perhaps see Jane being torn in too many directions and having no time left for Adele, leaving her bereft.) What if Adele’s mother returned to collect her, or for some other (nefarious) purpose? Post-canon happiness? Post-canon unhappiness? A missing moment between the interrupted wedding and Jane fleeing Thornfield? How does Rochester discover she’s missing? How does Adele find out? How do they both react? What is that day like?

8. The Godfather (Movies)

Michael Corleone/Apollonia Vitelli Apollonia Vitelli Kay Adams Michael Corleone

Apollonia and the American dream: what does she actually want? Is Michael a way to get it? (Children, comfort, fortune, adventure, love, other?) What does Kay want? Compare the women, be thoughtful or go dark. I’m always intrigued by Kay’s Catholicism, especially in the book. The movie’s ending happens too, but then Kay goes to church with Mama Corleone and prays for Michael’s soul. Michael’s grief at losing both women in his life, in very different ways. A missing happy moment for any of these characters or either couple. A contrast between weddings – Connie’s, Apollonia’s, Kay’s, others. What if Apollonia had lived, and met Kay? What if Apollonia lives? I feel like Kay makes a “better” American wife for Michael, in the world he wants to move in. Would the path have unfolded differently with a different woman at his side? Does the ghost of Apollonia haunt Michael at later points in his life?

9. The West Wing

Ainsley Hayes Charlie Young CJ Cregg Donna Moss Evelyn Baker Lang Jed Bartlet Josh Lyman Leo McGarry Sam Seaborn Toby Ziegler

Okay, so, I ship Josh/Donna pretty hard and otherwise tend to read canon relationships and gen here, but I’ll read anything I can believe. And this is a 300 word minimum exchange (I know, my prompts don’t always seem to reflect that!) so just a moment of another non-canon ship would be fun.

Gaza angst! Why did Ainsley leave? What if the S1 shooting went down differently? A missing moment with any combination of characters. Platonic intimacy! Pre-canon scenes or first meetings for any of the characters that we don’t see on screen. Or post-canon – what happens next for different characters? Reflecting on the passage of time. Treating one another like family HALLOWEEN: Do they mark Halloween in the West Wing? Even informally? Or does someone try, but it's difficult to do while still being taken seriously as a professional. Or do they celebrate Halloween in the Santos administration?

10. Stardew Valley

Emily Grandpa Krobus Marlon Maru Player Robin Sandy Sebastian Shane Witch Wizard

I first played this game within days of its release and I’ve played it through at least once a year ever since. I’m currently challenging myself to complete the Community Center in Y1, max points on Grandpa’s Evaluation in Year 2, and 100% Perfection by the end of Year 3. I’m on track so far, around Spring 14 Y2. It’s given me lots of fresh ideas and questions. Mild preference for female player, but only mild. - “My name’s not really Sandy, you know. It’s just good for business.” WHAT? - “The elemental wars have long since finished,” says Wizard. What were they? - And what about the current war with the Gotoro Empire, that Kent fought in? Does it come to Stardew Valley? Does it touch the villagers’ lives? The farmer’s? Has anyone won the Stardew Hero award before? - Clint is such a “nice guy” he tells us. I like Clint, but there’s fun to be had there for an author. He clearly adores Emily, but he’s awkward and unsure. What’s Emily’s side of it? For good or ill. - Marnie and Lewis sitting in a tree (or that truck outside Lewis’ house), K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Do they get caught in the act? By whom? Does their secret come out? What about the lucky purple shorts? Does Lewis lose his job? (Is he even elected anyway? Opposed in any way?) Or do people take Marnie’s side, that there’s nothing to hide, why is he such an arse? Does he have other secrets? Why is he ashamed of Marnie? - You know, I think that farmer used to have kids. What happened to them?? And now the farmer’s divorced but their ex doesn’t remember them at all? And the ex doesn’t remember the kids? All is not right on the farm, and villagers worry. - Witch/Wizard: what’s their history? How did it start/end? How does it impact the town? Do Caroline and Abigail have something to do with it? Grandpa? - Actually, what the hell was going on with Caroline and the Wizard? - I could enjoy a story about unexpected friendships between any of these characters. - What was the story with Sebastian’s dad, and how Robin came to be with Demetrius in the valley? Did Sebastian’s dad live in the valley? (Was Sebastian’s dad Grandpa and he’s the player’s uncle?) - Does anyone ever leave the town? Or are they forever cursed to remain and not age, a bit like the town in Once Upon a Time? - I could always read more about Shane and his struggles, for good or ill. - Sebastian has his issues too. Does he come to any harm in his solitary emo sulking around stormy beaches and atop mountains? Or do good things happen to him? - Do Sebastian and the farmer, or any other character, go on any more bike rides? - Some angst or hurt/comfort around a wounded farmer? Lost and trapped in the mines, or found and nursed back to health? Stranded/shipwrecked on Ginger Island? - HALLOWEEN: Shenanigans or supernatural occurrences at the Spirit's Eve festival. Do any of the monsters in the mines come to the surface and roam the mountain or desert? Trick or treating in Pelican town? Or any number of other things, sweet, sexy or black.

--

Thanks very much of thinking for writing for me, dear author. I hope it brings you joy!

Sobriquett

#trick or treat exchange #dear author letter #the last kingdom #north and south #the witcher tv #downton abbey #mcu #bridgerton #jane eyre #the godfather #the west wing #stardew valley

[29pageshomestuckeveryday]

Homestuck, page 3,473

==>

Author commentary: Ancestral lore is one of those categories where Homestuck probably starts skirting the edge of "lore overload," so it may be reasonable to speculate this was all just shoehorned into this perilously ballooning plot in kind of an irresponsible or whimsical way. Wow, a BOLD CLAIM, if that's what you think, and can I just say, how dare you? Now that our grievances have been formally registered with each other, I will just insist that actually the origin of this story element came about in a pretty organic way. There's a very logical paper trail to the thought process, which went something like this. We saw that Sburb through its predestination mechanics supplied Earth with our four kid heroes and their parents, all at once. That established a convention for how the game seeds a planet with its own players and guardians. Next, we focus on a new race of kids, which played the exact same game as tailored to their species. It follows the same conventions we know of, but we also learned trolls are very different, and don't have parents or guardians in the same way humans do. Monsters raise them. So if the same pattern holds, where Sgrub creates its own heroes as well as twelve genetically similar alt-trolls to send even further back in time to live as adults, then how does that actually work? What societal structure can this idea fit into, if the trolls don't have parents or families? In other words, we need some cultural conventions that allow for adult trolls to have some kind of relevant relation to kid trolls in a way that's compatible with all of the societal constructs that have already been established. Not only do the trolls not have parents, there aren't even any adults on their planet, and there haven't been for centuries. So if any alt-trolls were sent back by Sgrub to live as adults, they would have to be sent back hundreds of years ago, which already begins to frame their relation to the players as necessarily ancestral rather than parental. And if these people are actually going to have any relevance to the kids, that means their culture needs to place some sort of fundamental importance on the idea of having ancestors, in a way that is compatible with their a-familial procreation system. It's more about being linked to certain figures of historical legend who share a lot of traits with you (like sign, caste, and genetic similarities) than it is about directly traceable lineage like it is for humans. Vriska basically spells it all out here. In other words, this isn't a rabbit getting pulled out of a hat, it's an answer to some questions that were implicitly being asked by the story, and the answer was already kind of boxed in by a lot of pre-established lore. This is pretty much how worldbuilding in general works. You build a world, then the world keeps seeming to ask these implicit questions, and many of the answers are shaped and confined by the facts already spread out on the table. This process leads to results which are: interesting! Arguably more interesting than if you just pulled some ideas like this out of thin air. These ideas arose naturally and logically from a continuously emergent framework, which makes it all feel more sturdy, and perhaps explains why this facet of the story was very successful in capturing people's imaginations.

#pesterlog

[wordsnstuff]

Guide to Writing Fantasy

PLEASE REBLOG | Tumblr suppresses posts with links :/

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

–

How Much World Building?

World building is highly subjective, and at the end of the day, to each is his/her own. However, as with anything, there should be balance. Even the most dense, infamously complicated fantasy worlds are accompanied with characters and conflicts that are just as rich and thoughtful. The amount of world building should be proportional to the amount of development you provide to your characters and plot. Otherwise, you’ve just made up an imaginary kingdom and inserted some of your friends with misspelled names riding horses. 

Basing In Reality/History

Almost all fantasy has some basis or inspiration drawn from real historical periods or culture. It’s a good jumping off point, and there’s a lot of room to work with historical periods that we have few or no firsthand record of. If you’re going to take this route, it’s important that you distinguish between taking creative liberties and giving history the middle finger. If you’re basing your fantasy novel in 1300′s Scotland, there’s something to be said for taking the culture, politics, and technological advancements of that time into account. If you’re going to turn around and decide that’s not the era for your story, just base it in Scotland. Basically, the limitations on the elements of your story that is “based in” historical periods lay in your hands. However, if you market your story as “set in 12th century Scotland”, you’d better be writing 12th century Scotland. 

Approaching Constructed Language

Conlangs are a popular facet to a lot of popular Fantasy/Science Fiction media, specifically those that are adapted to film and television. Although Science Fiction work is typically more invested in constructed languages, Fantasy has a lot of conlangs in the fashion of semi-developed conlangs that are created solely for the purpose of creating diversity within worlds. Game of Thrones and Lord of The Rings are both prime examples of this, although they have, over time, developed their constructed languages into fully learnable/functional dialects in fan service. If you wish to approach this topic, it’s easy to begin by researching basic linguistics, the anatomy of a language, and drawing inspiration from the commonalities between languages of the cultures that inspire your fictional groups.  

Basic World Building Must-Haves

It’s important that when you’re building a world, either from scratch or on the foundation of an existent inspiration, you consider the following elements that make your world three-dimensional and rich:

Politics

Geography

Language

Culture

Expression

Belief Systems

Class

Resources

Values

Power

Creating Magic Systems

This is complicated and nuanced as it gets. When inserting magic into any world, it’s worthy to note how it affects individuals, groups, and large-scale structure. I’ve got more on this in several other posts, so I’ve put my more comprehensive resources here:

Tips on Creating Magic Systems

Putting Limitations On Your Fictional World

Common Struggles

~ Where do I start researching for a story inspired by another culture?... Learn about the culture in depth before taking inspiration. Unfortunately, when most artists “take inspiration” from other cultures, it results in the lazy regurgitation of stereotypes. If you’re going to take inspiration from a culture, especially one that is heavily marginalized by the culture you identify with, come at it from an educated standpoint and work from there. Do not start with a stereotypical version of that culture and then find facts to back up whatever you’ve imagined as you go. Approach it as you would any other topic, with respect and a genuine desire to provide an accurate portrayal in your story. 

~ How do I outline a story that spans multiple books?... Simple. Make the conflict more nuanced and difficult to resolve. Game of Thrones, for example, is a relatively simple concept (several families and powerful figures fighting to rule over the seven kingdoms) made complicated and high-stakes by the addition of several critical aspects, such as the relationships between said families/figures, the commentary on several societal issues such as class, the nature of power, and the human cost of the battle for power, and finally, complicating the politics and geography of the world to foster more obstacles for the key players. 

~ How do I use world building to develop characters?... All characters are a product of their environment, which includes the geographical consequences, the political climate, and the human trends that result from cultural developments over time. All of these aspects come together to form a vibrant, three-dimensional world in which they explore their conflict. Establishing these factors through revealing the consequences they’ve had for the characters is effective (i.e. Game of Thrones), as is developing the characters through exposing them to the specific experience of living in the world you’ve created (i.e. Harry Potter). 

~ How can I avoid harmful cultural appropriation?... Research thoroughly and seek the help of sensitivity readers. People who are specifically qualified to read your work in the search of harmful aspects you may miss are crucial in writing fiction and non-fiction works alike. Start with a good basis of knowledge and background on the subject(s) addressed in your writing, and then get a few outside opinions from people who well and truly know what they’re talking about. 

~ How to make fight scenes between magic users exciting and dynamic... Choreograph stage business effectively and make sure that the flashiness of your description has a purpose. People’s movements in fast-paced, high-stakes action are very telling of their personalities, motivations, and a culmination of their idiosyncrasies. Learn this language of non-verbal communication, the language of the body, and use that to send a subtextual message to your readers. These scenes should be character driven, or they’re just filler for the sake of calling your fantasy novel an action/adventure. 

Other Resources

Guide To Writing Historical Fiction | Part II

Guide To Political World Building

Resources For Worldbuilding

Where To Start With World Building

Tackling Subplots

Tips on Planning A Series

Creating Diverse Otherworld Characters

Tips on Introducing Political Backstory

World Building In Historical Fiction

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : High Middle Ages & Renaissance

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1600s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1700s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1800s

Resources For Fantasy/Mythology Writers

20 Mistakes To Avoid in Fantasy

How To Make The Journey Interesting

General Tips on Chase Scenes

Tips on Writing Fight Scenes

Tips on Writing Chase Scenes

Guide To Writing Forbidden Love

Finding And Fixing Plot Holes

Ultimate Guide To Symbolism

Tips on Balancing Development

Writing Intense Scenes

–

Masterlist | WIP Blog

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon, where I offer early access and exclusive benefits for only $5/month.

Shoutout to my $15+ patrons, Jade Ashley and Douglas S.!

#writing #fantasy #writeblr #writespo #writing resources #resources for writers #how to write #writing advice #writing help #writing tips #writing inspiration #resources #writer #writblr

[northern-passage]

I love everything so far, and the fact no one in the main cast is cishet is so refreshing. One thing on your previous ask, you said no transphobia exists in your game, and while I’m glad, it does make me wonder why would any of them feel the need to physically transition. A lot of dysphoria is based off of societal perceptions on physical gender markers, but in a world where everyone is accepted for who they are, what kind of market does that make hormone replacement and surgeries? I’m not critiquing, by the way, more speculation on how the world operates! I’m guessing it’s very lax, and the attitude towards it would be like any other body modification?

i'm no expert by any means, but in my experience people are just.. different? some people do pursue gender affirming surgery, and some people don't. some people experience gender dysphoria, and some people don't. there is no single trans experience, it's different for everyone, and i imagine it would be the same even in an accepting society.

also outside of worldbuilding i just want to have characters that readers can directly relate to, and so i admit i have restricted it slightly to more parallel our world, obviously with hormones and surgeries, but that way people can play a character that looks like them, see characters with surgery scars like them or who take hormones just like them! and are accepted and treated with respect. i tried my best to keep character customization more vague so that players can have hunters that are trans but also have never had surgery, or don't take hormones, because those people exist too.

and i'm always open for feedback from trans readers on how to make things feel more inclusive. i've reached out to a lot of people who very generously have helped me a lot but obviously this is still a wip so it's one thing to explain something to someone over a DM and something else entirely to actually put it down narratively in the game.

#ask #anonymous

[onewomancitadel]

I don't dislike RWBY at all-- I'm not the kind of person where if I dislike something, I keep watching it. I really like the designs, and the concepts, and the characters-- I like watching how they interact together and what that means for them, and I can turn off the social science parts of my brain that go "that's not how terrorism works, there should be like a dozen splinter cells by now" to appreciate how it exists and why. I do a lot of terror-related/radicalization/foreign policy stuff, so when I see some of the simplistic lenses that it's really often examined through it gets on my nerves even when the story by itself is good. I imagine it's something a bit like how engineers feel when they watch giant robot anime or something.

The 'born evil' thing is one of those tropes that annoys me and I really don't want to see play out, because I think it's way more interesting to examine more how Remnant was a society that maintained the peace but at a steep societal cost and how in some ways it's correct to look at that and say "actually, this needs to go like, now." And the idea of disillusionment with a 'fairytale society'-- I love the idea of Cinder and Ruby as these two opposite takes on how society and the myths it has should operate, with Ruby believing that those fairytales should be made into reality and embodied while Cinder believes all of it is a filthy lie and needs to be torn down-- both to make her feel safe personally and as a sort of moral imperative in response to her specific trauma. It really reflects some of my very stupid opinions when I was younger, and that I think a lot of people deal with that perspective in general. Remnant was always going to produce people like Cinder, and the powers that were under Oz viewed that as acceptable so long as the world stayed quiet.

In short I love it I just really wish one of the writers had a social science degree hahaha

Oh okay no worries XD and for the record no worries if you didn't XD just making sure we were on the same page.

I do a lot of terror-related/radicalization/foreign policy stuff, so when I see some of the simplistic lenses that it's really often examined through it gets on my nerves even when the story by itself is good.

Yeah no that makes a lot of sense, and I can also immediately tell that when we both discuss worldbuilding mine is on chaotic individual social variation and you are probably way more on the sociopolitical angle, I now understand your perspective on Atlas much better (you also sound much more professionally serious than me, so plz forgive if at any point it sounded like I spoke down to you, I really hope that wasn't the case, I didn't know your background, although even if you didn't have a background in it I also hope I didn't come off condescending, hopefully my posts were just conveying my different approach to RWBY).

Ftr on the Altas front, I do think objectivism is being toyed with - credit to my Best Mate for noticing this - because the Glass Unicorn is Art Nouveau themed, and, well, Atlas. I don't think 'Atlas' in Atlas refers to the Atlas who holds up the heavens! I think that's only relevant because Ironwood wants to ascend there, the 'true' allusion is a very very selfish ideology.

Atlas might be the most literarily influenced of RWBY worlds actually, because The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (Omelas is Salem, O. backwards - that’s a link to a post I made on it before) bizarrely fits Cinder's situation.

So on that objectivism front: to a degree it helps me read the politics through a more 'fantastical' lens, because Rand is kind of inherently silly. On the Atlas front I also feel that there is genrebending, in the sense that Ironwood is the hero of a military anime, but like, this is a magical girls anime, either you talk about your feelings with us and hold hands or you're BUST.

while Cinder believes all of it is a filthy lie and needs to be torn down-- both to make her feel safe personally and as a sort of moral imperative in response to her specific trauma.

Yes and to some degree she is correct. That's how I read her actions anyway, both through twinning, and the fact Atlas is rotten to the core and she's victorious over Ironwood. Am I not supposed to think her triumphant??? I mean it's not like I celebrate drowning cities, but in the story if I read 'enslaved character frees herself, and then tears down the city that made her like this' I find it hard not to be sympathetic. There's also the symbolic element that fire is destructive as well as creative. Things have to be destroyed to be reborn. By the same stroke I think that as much as destruction she's capable of she's capable of equal or greater creation.

And yeah you're absolutely spot on about Cinder and Ruby twinning. I mean I think the answer is the middle road between the two of them, which is why I view them as tempering answers for each other and to Salem's nihilism. It's kind of why I like Knightfall lol (sorry to make this about my silly ship), but Jaune as a Prince Charming is a very unusual Prince Charming, I mean, Knightfall is kind of very fairytale but then on the gender front and their respective characters (Byronic heroine fallen to evil, whose trauma didn't make her better, it made her hurt more) it’s very unusual. You get fairytale magic, but then there is also some grounding reality to it that makes it interesting.

Also on the Ruby front, I mean, if her mummy is actually some sort of a Grimm banshee, that's kind of like 'my fairytale wish but absolutely fucking horrible', so I wonder if they're going to take that angle with it.

Remnant was always going to produce people like Cinder, and the powers that were under Oz viewed that as acceptable so long as the world stayed quiet.

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remove the fantastical backdrop, and Cinder still suffers. Cinder is a Problem for Everybody.

#seraphina's asks #user: gulagorkestar #cinder fall sadsack tag

[fictionadventurer]

☕️ your Arateph universe?

I've been waiting to answer this until I had both the time for this post and the attention-span for thinking about this universe, because I have a lot of thoughts to unload. I apologize in advance (the 99.9% of you who have no frame of reference for this are encouraged to ignore this post).

This universe is so easy and so hard to write in.

It's easy because:

The vaguely futuristic setting allows me to write with a voice and viewpoint that's more-or-less 21st-century

I can throw in a weird piece of technology whenever I need to facilitate a desired plot point

It's firmly focused on one particular planet, so I get to know that spaceships exist without ever having to describe these spaceships or have the slightest understanding of how they work

I just get to mash up all the things that I like--cultural worldbuilding, historical romance, science fiction, fairy tales, political intrigue, grounded stories of daily life--and it all fits together.

I like this setting and the conflicts I get to explore.

But it's very hard because:

This universe was designed for one purpose: to allow me to retell "Sleeping Beauty" on another planet. I threw in only the worldbuilding details that facilitated this and allowed everything else to remain vague background material. Trying to set other stories in this universe highlights just how paper-thin this worldbuilding is.

Anything set after Auren wakes up has to explain Auren's stasis experiences, and thus bombard the reader with a crash-course in tephan history.

(And anything set in this universe that avoids tackling the Auren issue feels extremely peripheral).

Anything set before the revolution risks feeling like a historical romance rather than science fiction. It's very hard to get across "these people are aliens" when they have only minor differences from humans and don't even know that humans exist.

Any story that more thoroughly explores tephan culture highlights the fact that these aren't really aliens. They're humans that I call aliens so they can make funny comments about how weird humans are, but whose societal structures and cultural conflicts are basically the same as those faced in 19th and 20th century Europe, and I feel like a fraud with no imagination.

I've established that human technology is overall vastly superior to tephan technology. Yet some of the most prominent pieces of sci-fi technology are tephan in origin. It's hard for me (especially in stories set pre-human-contact) to decide just how advanced each type of technology should be for a given race in a given era. (And how to make pre-contact stories feel like sci-fi when I need to limit most technology to mid-20th-century levels).

The Problem of Auren. I love this boy. But his usual function in this world makes him more of a symbol than a character. I can't give him too many doubts or have him make too many mistakes without risking his status as Virtue Prince. He's not so much a character as an idea for other characters to react to. Any story I make has to revolve around him, and such stories usually have a similar structure: someone has a mistaken idea about themselves and/or Auren, they meet Auren, and he sparks some kind of character arc. Which can work if the character arcs he sparks are different, but I fear that several of the ones I've considered have largely the same beats and themes.

The Auren problem is compounded by the fact that he was designed for the "Sleeping Beauty" story, so his traits were developed in opposition to Tanza's. Put him with different characters, in a different situation, and it's more difficult to understand who he is. What does he like to do in his spare time? Does he ever react to a situation with anything more interesting than bland good-humor? What are his interests, desires, hopes and dreams, beyond the Savior of Arateph role that's been cast on him since birth? Can he be anything other than an Ethics Lecturer or a Humorous Fish-Out-of-Water? Within the confines of his life and the story structures that work in this universe, it's difficult to say.

It's so hard to write post-reform Tanza and make her still feel like Tanza. One of her key character traits is her cynicism and self-serving nature. Take that away, and it's easy to reduce her to a self-conscious and self-doubting introvert, the bland college student of a thousand half-baked literary novels. Especially since I can't quite decide where life takes her, or how she can continue to fit into Auren's life when they take very different paths.

I prefer to keep to smaller scale stories. But with so many Very Big Things happening in the background, it's easy to feel like we're missing out on the true stories and just getting these little flakes of detail instead. (This is more of a problem with post-human stories than pre-human ones).

tl;dr: Don't design a universe for one fairy tale and then try to set other fairy tales in the same universe. It's a bad idea.

#adventures in writing #isfjmel-phleg #sorry for unloading #arateph

[kanohivolitakk]

Fixing Bionicles Species Problem Part 2: The Copycats

(This post is part of a headcanon series where I try to tackle Bionicles issues regarding how the series is rather infuriatingly vague with its worldbuilding surrounding most non Matoran and non Makuta species in the Matoran Universe by expanding the lore of those other species. The introduction to the series is here, while the masterlist for every post in this project is found here) 

So originally I planned to make part 2 of this series tackling the species of The Shadowed One and Ancient, the two founders of Dark Hunters. But as I tried to tackle these two I came to a realization: finetuning their species is going to take a while due to how interesting yet messy their lore is. I love both TSO and Ancient as characters and find their species among the most fascinating. I also know that these two have the most speculated species, their species is to species headcanonists what making Lariska and Toa Nidhiki designs is to Mocists (aka theres A LOT of ideas and it shows) so I want to do their species as much justice as I can both for myself and for others. However brainstorming and writing takes time, especially with long headcanons that I may have to divide into multiple parts.

So instead of making you wait for a species headcanon post til the one regarding fanfavorite (?) leader of Dark Hunters and his right hand man is done, I decided to give you a few other species while I’m working on the two. And I thought a perfect place to start is connecting two rather obscure Dark Hunters with each other: those being Trigalax and Mimic.

Trigalax and Mimic are rather minor characters, with the former being mentioned in Time Trapped and showing up in a few flashback stories, and the latter being a contest-winner who only showed up in the Dark Hunters members guidebook. However, I noticed that these two have similar powersets: Mimic is capable of learning any skillset in an instant by well, mimicking what he sees, while Trigalax is capable of shapeshifting into anything and anyone as if he was a freaking Makuta. The similarities between the twos skillset revolving emulating other things made me imagine the two may be part of the same species. So here we are.

Mimic and Trigalax belong to a species that I’m going to refer as “copycats”. This species was created with a very specific trait: capability of emulate or replicate things. The purpose the Great Beings created the Copycats was to act as a ““failsafe”“ of sorts: if there was a place that needed a specific task to be done and no one capable of doing that task was there for whatever reason. Copycats were also created in case a task or something needed more helping hands than were present. Because of their purpose, the copycats don’t really have an island they call their own, instead living all over the Matoran Universe.

Not every copycat has the exact same powerset. Theres is of variation of what a copycat can copy and how it does it.Some copycats are like Mimic, learning actions by watching others do them. Other copycats can emulate voices or sounds. A select few can outright shapeshift. This is because these copycats are an evolved variation, one that came in contact with the Antidremis substance (either during their creation process or while they already lived) and as such gained shapeshifting powers not unlike a Makuta.

Appereance wise, Copycats are a rather diverse group. They vary in size, although generally speaking they are on the smaller side. While they can be much taller than a toa, they often dwarf in comparison to of the tallest species such as the Steltian Rulers or the Vortrixx. They are humanoidish and often with gold, red or white colors, but other than that their appearance can vary wildly.

Due to copycats not really having any homeland, they don’t have a culture or societal structure and as such, not really common personality traits or characteristics. Due to their powers, some of them do struggle with identity and self-worth issues as well as finding a place to belong. Some of them also can be chameleons, not really having a personality but rather adapting to the situation and world around them. Some shapeshifters also adapt to the society, disguising themselves as another species and live alongside them, no one suspecting their true nature.

Copycats are overall verstaile and such find themselves in numerous works all across the Matoran Universe. They can be soldiers, workers, salesmen and pretty much anything else. Some of them work in important positions or in major factions with power. Mimic and Trigalax are two such examples, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a copycat who worked with an important figure such a diplomat or a warlord or a faction like (more) Dark Hunters or Order of Mata Nui. While copycats often work for others, some have made their own work and are their own bosses. These copycats are rare however, and there isn’t any copycat that is a leader or influental figure.....at least one that is a known copycat anyway.

I cannot think of any known members of this species besides Trigalax and Mimic. If you guys have any ideas who else could be part of their species I would love to hear as I try not to do too much of the Greg thing where only one/two characters belong to one species (I know that I have made at least one other new species with only one character as its member so haha I have become the thing I swore to destroy).

Thank you for reading. Feel free to add comments or feedback if you have any.

#Kirika Talks #Kirikas headcanons #Kirikas Bionicle Meta #Fixing Bionicles species problem #Bionicle #Bionicle Meta