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digital-chance · 8 months

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i wanted to send people asks about their wips and ocs more often. not only to promote them but also because everyone makes really cool stories. the sheer amount of detail and work that people put into their projects is amazing but often gets untold. and i wanted to start learning about them and trying to promote it to the best of my ability.

i sent out a bunch of asks yesterday and i want to do more. i dont want to intrude or be weird though so i wanted to get a list of people who would like asks.

reblog this if you would like to recieve asks about your wips/ocs a couple times throughout the week.

or you can comment to be put on the list.

CLOSED AS OF 8/16 8:30AM. any more requests/reblogs will be appreciated but ignored.

#writing #writeblr #ask game #writing help #fiction writing #creative writing #oc development #worldbuilding #wip #writers of tumblr #writersociety #worldbuilding questions #oc questions #writing prompt #writing support #author

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questionprompts · 11 days

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1. If your OC could live anywhere they wanted, where would they choose?

1a. If their ideal location is not where they currently reside, what is preventing them from moving there? Is it financial, situational, scientifically impossible, etc.?

1b. Have they ever been to this location before? If not, is it a real place they've read about/seen pictures of, or is it a hypothetical place they daydream about?

2. If your OC does not have any particular place in which they'd like to stay, do they prefer life on the road?

2a. If so, is that a lifestyle they currently enjoy, or are they stuck somewhere and wish they could take up traveling?

2b. If not, what is their preferred living situation?

2c. If they travel for work/obligation but don't enjoy it, would they enjoy it more if the traveling was on their own terms or through a different mode of transportation?

2d. When traveling, does your OC have any favorite spots they like to revisit when they can?

3. What mode of travel would/does your OC prefer? (Ex: RV, spaceship, hiking, train, etc.)

3a. How common is it for their setting? How would someone make arrangements to travel by this method (is it expensive, cheap, free, exclusive to a contract, etc.)?

4. How many times, if any, has your OC moved [to live somewhere else]?

4a. What were the circumstances?

4b. What is the longest they have ever lived in the same place? If they have lived in the same place their whole life, how old are they?

4c. If applicable, what is the shortest amount of time they've stayed at a place?

5. When moving or traveling, how many belongings does your OC typically take with them? What do they consider essential?

5a. Who else, if anyone, is with them? Are they agreeable traveling/living companions, or do they not get along? Do they travel together often or rarely?

5b. Who else, if anyone, would your OC prefer to have as a traveling/living companion?

#oc questions #writing prompts #character development #worldbuilding #writeblr #which oc

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plotandelegy · 6 months

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The Deep Wells of Magic: Drawing from Timeless and Novel Sources

Hello, and welcome to another one of my incredibly overdue writing guides. Where does the magic pulse from in your fictional world? What energy does your magic user draw forth to complete their spells? Here is a list of classical and somewhat unique magical sources you might use to craft your supernatural system. Remember, the key to originality is being a little twisty and the ability to mash concepts. Okay, maybe the first isn't a determining factor.

Sources:

Geographical landmarks

Celestial Events

Memories

Mythical creatures

Seasonal events

Ancestors

Secrets

Mirrors

Shadows

Dreams

Movements

Heartbeats

Ocean currents

Moonlight

Fragmented thoughts

Music

Echoes

Crystals

Wishes

Mana

Mystical ingredients

Special words

Color

Divine intervention

Relics

Chants

Symbols

Candles

Talismans

Meditation or trance

Sounds and silences

Emotions

Elemental forces

Sacred sites

Amulets

Magic dust

Energy residue

Wind

Weather

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onlyanotherusername · 8 months

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Okay, so we have the love triangle

We have the love corner..

I present ~~The Love Corners~~ This has most likely been done before Person A can't decide between Person B and C Person B can't decide between Person A and C Person C can't decide between Person A and B

- They're all confused, they're all in the love corner. Bonus: It ends in polyamory

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h0medstuck · 1 year

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I've been art blocked for a very long time but I think things are looking up! Thank you all for enjoying my older work. It makes me really happy to look back on all these fully colored and shaded pieces and knowing I have the potential to work back up to that level. You're all really epic.

#im pretty bad with taking requests but if you want you can send me prompts of homestuck characters to draw XD #i actually havent drawn homestuck fanart in a long time. funny considering i still roleplay characters from it #anyway... im pretty into splatoon now and this developing videogame worship #never played a rougelike but the worldbuilding so far is looking swaggy #also yknow. the guys in it look kinda like carapacians (funny)#ive posted some fanart of ot here before!#bleh but thats enough from me #thats all for h0medstuck news

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prokopetz · 11 months

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The thing I like about the Blood Moon mechanic in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom is how it affords game-mechanical transparency to the player.

Like, we all know the reason it exists is because, like any complex open-world game, BotW and TotK periodically need to hit the reset button on all non-trivial changes to the world state; in games that don't, your save file has unbounded growth due to the need to keep track of every little thing you've ever done, and eventually the system runs out of memory, save/load performance goes to shit, or both. It's basic software engineering constraints dictating the shape of play.

The thing is, most open world games try to do this subtly, perhaps by setting individual timers for the consequences of different actions to expire, or by linking world-state cleanup to proximity to the player character, but in practice it never works – trying to be sneaky about it paradoxically makes it more obtrusive to the player by rendering it opaque and unpredictable, often prompting the development of superstitious gameplay rituals to work around it.

BotW and TotK take precisely the opposite tack and make it 100% transparent and 100% predictable. Once a week, at exactly the same time of day, there's a spooky cutscene and an evil wizard undoes every change you've made to the world that doesn't have an associated quest log entry. Why everything at once, and always on the same schedule? A wizard did it. Why exactly and only those changes that don't have quest logs attached? See again: a wizard did it.

And this isn't just a gameplay conceit. Everybody knows about the evil wizard! The fact that the evil wizard keeps resetting everybody's efforts to fix the befuckening of the world is a central plot point. There are organisations whose chartered purpose is to go around redoing stuff that's been undone by the wizard.

It makes me wonder what other potential synergies between fantasy worldbuilding and mechanical transparency are going unexploited.

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myladyofsilver · 1 year

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Tag List

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esoteric-goblin · 3 months

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on worldbuilding, and what people think is going on

there is one facet of fantasy worldbuilding that is, to me, the most interesting and essential but i don't see it come up in worldbuilding guides or writing prompts or anything, and that is the question of:

what do the inhabitants of your world believe about how the world works, and how are they wrong? a lot of fantasy media will set up their cosmology, gods, magic systems, planar systems, concepts of the afterlife, &c., and proceed as though the inhabitants of the world know and understand them.

from someone whose entire academic career is focused on studying human culture in various regions and time periods, with a focus on belief systems (religion, occultism, mythology, folklore): that sort of worldbuilding is unrealistic and missing out on so much fun.

people are always seeking new understanding about how the world works, and they are mostly wrong. how many models of the solar system were proposed before we reached our current one? look at the long, turbulent history of medicine and our various bizarre models for understanding the human body and how to fix it. so many religions and occult/magical traditions arise from people disagreeing with or adapting various models of the world based on new ideas, methods, technologies. many of them are wrong, but all of them are interesting and reflect a lot about the culture, beliefs, values, and fears of the people creating/practising them.

there is so much more to the story of what people believe about the world than just what is true.

to be clear: i think it's fine and important for the author to have a coherent explanation for where magic comes from or who the gods are, so they can maintain consistency in their story. but they should also be asking what people in the world (especially different people, in different regions/nations and different times) think is happening when they do magic, or say a prayer, or practise medicine, or grieve their dead. it is a rich vein for conflict between individuals and nations alike when two models of the world disagree. it is fascinating how different magic systems might develop according to different underlying beliefs.

personally, i think it is the most fun to spawn many diverse models of the world, but give none of them the 'right' answer.

(bonus points if you also have a thriving academic system in the world with its own theory, research, and discourse between factions! as an academic, it is very fun to imagine fictional academic debate over the topics i'm worldbuilding. sometimes i will be working out details for some underlying mechanic of the world and start imagining the papers being written by scholars researching it)

#worldbuilding #world building #writing #creative writing #writeblr #on writing #fantasy worldbuilding

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heywriters · 1 month

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This site looks wonderful? Copied their link list below for anyone who'd rather stay on Tumblr to preview what they offer.

Starting writing

Blank Page Blueprint

5-Minute Freewrite

More than a Muse

A Field Guide to Your Imagination

Write-alongs

Idea Help

100 Story Ideas

100 Flash Fiction Prompts

52 Romance Story Ideas

30 Scene Ideas for Plot Development

30 Scene Ideas for Character Development

30 Scene Ideas for World Development

Idea generator

Story Building Tarot Spread

Genre Help

Choosing a genre

Genre mindmaps

Plotting Help

How to use a Plot Formula

How to write a novella

One Page Novel Plot Formula

The Fool’s Journey

Escaping a tight spot

Plot hole worksheet

Plot twist worksheet

Ticking clock

Mini-quests

Try/fail cycles

Increasing conflict

Adding action

Creating suspense

Writing Help

How to finish your novel

Opening scenes

Creating mood

Creating metaphors and similes

Generating title ideas

Deciding point of view

Scene writing

Dialogue help

Writing a synopsis

Creative writing reading list

Blogging while writing

Novel in a month notebook

Google Docs for writers

Creative writing toolkit

How to export your Scrivener timeline

Character Help

Quick character creator

30 scene ideas for characters

Character quirks

Killing characters

Love your antagonist

Character motivation

Making trouble for characters

Couples worksheet

Naming characters

Choosing a narrator

Writing emotions

Expressing thoughts

Creating villains

Making decisions

Character occupations

Worldbuilding Help

City building

Technology worksheet

Creating magic systems

Politics

Rites and rituals

World history

World geography

Setting

Writer Help

Becoming a writer

Differentiating yourself

Creative writer worksheets

Creative writing syllabus

Writer’s self assessment

Getting unstuck

#toolbox #masterlist #writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writing links #writing resources #writing tips #writing advice #og

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writingwithfolklore · 1 year

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Writing With Folklore Blog Directory

Looking for something specific? Find every post I've made through these collections:

Characterization/Development

Plotting

Outlining

Worldbuilding

Theory

Misc. Writing Advice

Prompts

Folklore

NaNoWriMo

Inspiration

Think something is missing or want me to cover a topic I haven't yet? Let me know in my ask box (anonymous available)!

#writing #writers #writing tips #writing advice #writing inspiration #creative writing #writing community #books #film #filmmaking #screenwriting #novel writing #fanfiction #Blog directory #link list #pinned post #writing with folklore

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dailyadventureprompts · 6 months

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Thinking about d&d from a brand manager perspective : So much of the previous lore is at least partially salvageable if you just take the gygax mandated biological determinism out of it.

Saying drow are these naturally seductive backstabbing manhaters is fucking wild but I as a fantasy reader could accept that the city of Menzoberranzan was like that™️ because it was a stronghold for the cult of lolth, completely different than this OTHER drow city featured in this other adventure path with its own themes and worldbuilding for gamemasters/players to use in their campaign.

Doubling and then redoubling down on the "All X are Y" attitude is how you get books like Volo's that just give stripped down summations of lore from previous editions that are all freely available online, and aren't much more in depth than what a first time DM can come up with through improv.

Sell something new and the people will buy it, that's what's worked with magic the gathering and their worldbuilding and mechanics developing team is right next door. Backwards engineer some of the older MTG sets and you can not only save on art and worldbuilding but also have a built in crossover audience.

Yeknow what, just to show that I can, I'm going to do an entire week of prompts based off a set I haven't even played. Chime in with what you think it's going to be.

#dapper digresses

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charlesoberonn · 1 year

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People often praise me for my story ideas so I figured: Why not try to monetize that skill?

Would you pay for me to help you develop an OC/novel outline/worldbuilding project/etc?

We would sit together (figuratively, via Discord or email) to help you:

Think through details

Streamline your ideas

Flesh out your world and characters

Identify and fix problems and plot holes

Create outlines and prompts as a starting point

For pricing I think

OCs: $15

Worldbuilding: $30

Novel outline: $50

Though I'm very flexible on pricing.

#writing #writblr #commissions

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theresattrpgforthat · 7 months

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Any TTRPGs where 'Genderfuckery' (i.e. playing around with gender in some form - trans characters, nb characters, in-game genderbending, crossdressing, etc etc - anything that 'fucks around' with gender and conventional ideas of gender) is a central mechanic or thematic element in some form?

Heaven is Here, by Rae Nedjadi.

This is a game that is deeply stepped in magical surrealism, it is desperately mundane, it is laughter in a coffee shop, and sacrifices made to the moon. It is friendship bound up in art, in gender, and what it means to be human.

This game uses the Belonging Outside Belonging system, which encourages collaborative storytelling with simple rules. You are artists, people made of many layers caught up in entanglements with one another. You are magical beings, because to create art is to create magic. Art is expression and creation, tied intimately with who you are and who you wish to be. Discover what inspires you and what holds you back. What does your art mean to you? How do you feel about the art others create? What new forms of inspiration will you uncover?

Rae describes gender in this game as ever shifting. As artists, your gender is connected to your art and what you love. It is a game about big questions in mundane scenarios, called Moments. Currently there are four playbooks and four Moments, as the game is still in development, so it is likely best experienced in a smaller group.

Giant Metal Bodies, by TheGiftofGabes.

You have a Giant Metal Body. If you run out of juice, you’ll probably die, but you might just flee to die another day. If you survive at the end of your mission, it doesn’t matter. The war will continue to try and kill you another time. If you die, it doesn’t matter. The war doesn’t care about your sacrifice.

Giant Metal Bodies is a game about what it means to be a Giant Metal Body in a war much bigger than you, that doesn't care about you, and which will destroy you no matter what.

I know that there’s been a lot of talk about trans allegories in mech stories, so this game feels like a very fitting way to talk about the trans experience using tragic themes. It was also submitted to the Trans Fucking Rage Jam on Itch a year or so back, which likely has a number of submissions that you might find interesting!

Expanse, by TheTrueToad.

Expanse" is a short solo-RPG made for pondering and expressing one's own gender. Create an expansive map of values, colors, and textures for the landscape of your gender.

I love the example aspects that you can choose from in this game. You have your traditional genders, such as Masculine, Feminine, and Androgynous, but you also have options such as Purple, Timid, Voidlike and Witty. You will map out a landscape that represents your gender by drawing from a regular deck of playing cards, and reading the associated prompts. Each house in the deck responds to a different categories of aspects. I definitely am interested in how this game can provide alternate ways to think about gender; and you can create a lovely map along the way!

This game was made for the Trans Joy Jam, the counterpart for the Trans Rage Jam.

Elf Genders, by Lucian Kahn.

Elf Genders is a worldbuilding tool for creating your own new systems of fantasy genders. Most humans are women, men, or nonbinary, but maybe elves are… something else? Elf Genders helps you decide what!

This is not an rpg, but if you want to fuck with the genders of your fantasy game, this is a great place to start. This is a game session (or sessions, if you get really into it) to help you establish a setting and lore details of your elven folk, and what gender means for an elf. If you or your game group already have a game in mind, this is definitely worth looking at.

AetherNet, by Legendary Vermin.

The Internet as we know it ceased to exist after The Incursion, and in its place the sprawling Virtual Hyperreality of the Æthernet stretches horrible and festering in every direction. Plumb its depths in search of riches, miracles and ruins that the keepers of the mundane world will pay heartily for, just beware of the Daemons and UNGODS waiting for you in its depths, hoping to bend and shape your flesh to their own ends.

Make a character in seconds, ruin them for hours. The Player Book contains the minimum essential rules and setting information, and the Ref's Handbook fills in the other rules and tables you need to run the game.

The game itself takes place in a dystopian cyberpunk future where magic and technology are connected - and dangerous. There is actually a section in AetherNet titled “Genders” that asks you to roll 1d2 (or flip a coin) and roll a d6. This will give you one out of 12 options for your gender, which include options such as “a daemon bound you into a pact” or “once, you were a ship or space station and its crew”. Your Gender can also be changed or corrupted as you play, gaining qualities such as “without fear” or “too persuasive.” This is the most wild example of gender I’ve seen in a game so far, and I definitely recommend you check it out.

Sleepaway, by Possum Creek Games.

Sleepaway gives us long hazy days, chilled summer nights, kids screaming and chasing fireflies, crackling campfires, and a gaunt, cruel monstrosity forever hiding just out of sight, always asking, “What do you do next?”

In Sleepaway, you play as a group of camp counselors at a not-so-ordinary summer camp besieged by a strange and ominous cryptid, the monstrous Lindworm. It is a GMless horror game for 3-6 players, which uses the Belonging Outside Belonging system created by Avery Alder and Ben Rosenbaum. In it, players take control of not only their characters (which include archetypes like the Lifeguard, the Songleader, the Crafter, or the Athlete) but also the world around them, picking up Setting Elements to react to their friend's decisions. As the game goes on, the players also invite the Lindworm to play with them, causing horrific events to callously occur throughout the place space.

A Belonging Outside Belonging game, Sleepaway is a game that can be played without a GM, because each player will pick up a setting element sheet and be responsible for it throughout game play. This is the closest to what I was looking for when it came to gender, because your characters have gender options such as “A Robin,” and “A Particular Colour.” The game itself is a great setting to explore danger and liminal spaces, as summer camps are excellent places for self-discovery, as they take place away from your typical surroundings. Also, Possum Creek Games has a well-deserved reputation for making games that play well and make you feel something. You should definitely check it out.

Games I've Recommended in the Past

Women are Werewolves, by 9th Level Games.

Wanderhome, by Possum Creek Games.

Blood Feud, by Bläckfisk Publishing.

Gay Crime, Sapphics Against Capital, by Evey Lockhart.

Here, There Be Monsters! by wendi yu.

Dream Askew / Dream Apart, by Buried Without Ceremony.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #gender

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aeor-is-for-reccing · 4 months

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Have some extra time? Want to dive into something deep, or maybe stay up until 5am reading shadowgast fanfiction? Well, this week, we've got thirteen series for you! Check them out underneath the cut, and please comment and kudos if you liked them!

Clock Hands by royalgreen (62504, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Alternate take on canon where Essek and Caleb start a relationship, leading into an alternate Rumblecusp arc

Reccer says: Great pining, sweet fluffy bois, fantastic worldbuilding, and a mystery

Touching Sentiments by Chanse (SpottedEnchants) (239244, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

This slice-of-life, interconnected collection of premises explores, among many things, the concept of Essek as both touch-averse and touch-starved, and how this might affect his relationships with the Mighty Nein.

Reccer says: I love how the author handles Essek's conflicting needs, and his relationship with all of the Nein (especially Caleb). It's so soft.

Wild Magic Surges by literalfuckinggarbage (10385, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Character studies of each wizard turning into a child version of themself through a wild magic surge in Aeor.

Reccer says: They are so sweet and precious as children! And all of the Nein’s voices are perfect

Among the Tattered Ruins by Cardinal_Daughter (33320, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Post canon getting together in Aeor, being domestic/sexy in Caleb’s house and meeting family.

Reccer says: I liked it!

Essek Thelyss' Lingerie Collection by CircaTheKnowledgeable (19490, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek Thelyss is given his first set of lingerie and finds a confidence in it that he has not had in a long time. Caleb loves it too.

Reccer says: Hot!

Shadowgast Omegaverse by firefright (54283, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Omegaverse

alpha!Caleb and omega!Essek fall into a relationship right before the peace talks. This explores that and continues on

Reccer says: It's always wonderful to find a good a/b/o series, and this fits that beautifully

Catch A Falling Star (Critical Role) by RainyDayDecaf (32921, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Graphic Depictions of Violence

The Mighty Nein find more than a Beacon in the sewers of Zadash. They also find a drow wizard and prisoner of war.

Reccer says: Mostly pre-relationship, the slow build is lovely! Heart wrenching at times and amusing at others.

birds of prey by TheKnittingJedi (102785, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

A Scourger!Bren AU that has Bren and Essek playing cat-and-mouse in political intrigue, spy games, and increasingly complicated emotions

Reccer says: I liked it!

the tusk love cinematic universe by kaeda (168202, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

While in Aeor, Essek and Caleb are transported to what seems to be the world of Tusk Love.

Reccer says: Kaeda is able to take such a crack premise and make it deeply compelling and heartwarming

reflections and other illusions of control by atlasarcana (84220, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Essek and Caleb have bedroom issues and summon an echo. The Echo is from a timeline where Bren remained a Volstrucker. They make things work.

Reccer says: This fic series focuses on relationship dynamics, intimacy, repression, and vulnerability. Caleb's journey into accepting a Dom role has to do with healing from a lot of trauma, and it's wonderful watching him be taught by Bren, who inadvertently is also healing from trauma by doing so. Plus, there's cross-timeline matchmaking for Bren and his own timeline's evil Shadowhand.

Aeor is for Lovers: Prompt Fills by LessAttitudeMoreAltitude (17979, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek and Caleb in Aeor, their relationship developing over a series of whumpy incidents

Reccer says: For a whump based series, it's surprisingly soft and sweet

Ages Past Ages Hence Cinematic Universe by Athenavine (30355, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Slice of life romance fics that capture the fulness of the love blooming between two wizards in exandria

Reccer says: athenavine really captures the characters voices, and the pace the romance moves at is just delicious. the descriptions are visceral and immersive and the fic updates very reliably and regularly. the series is emotionally compelling and spicy and exciting and it takes place over a span of time that feels like i really get a peek into all the important moments between my two favorite exandrian wizards. 10/10, will scream for anybody to read it, highly reccommend

And then we have two recs for this last one!

Field On Fire (Not the Actual Events) by Defiler_Wyrm (60535, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes, Contains a couple of monsterfucking scenes, but it’s still Shadowgast

From the depths of Aeor to a peace beyond, Caleb and Essek come together and explore their relationship—and each other—thoroughly.

Reccer 1 says: I’m entirely biased, but I like the balance of fluff and smut with a bit of humor and a pinch of angst, and how no two sex scenes are truly the same. Reccer 2 says: Top quality smut, Essek being competent as hell, Caleb being super slutty, I love all of it

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we’ll be back with Sports/Athletes AUs! Let's make the noodly wizards move!

#shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #critical role #cr fic recs #fan fiction rec list #Fan Fic Series #Longfic

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onlyanotherusername · 6 days

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You know how we've all had that one bullheaded phase, where we wouldn't take anybody's advice? (I say this as an artist)

That but for spellcasters.

*Beginner spellcaster casts a fireball.*

"you do know that casting it at the base of the hand instead of the tips makes it easier to control, right?" A suggests

"It's just my technique..!" B retorts defensively.

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nellywrisource · 2 months

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Worldbuilding through cultural anthropology series – #1 Race, ethnicity and groups

Let's begin with the understanding that in anthropology, race, and ethnicity are distinct concepts, although variations of them exist in numerous cultures.

Race and racism

The concept of race is entirely cultural and lacks scientific evidence supporting the establishment of objective criteria for defining one or multiple races within the human species. In fact, the entire human species has a similar DNA (Cavalli-Sforza, 2001) and genetic divergence and consequent somatic differences, due to migrations, are a relatively recent phenomenon in human history.

When world-building, it's worth considering the timing and causes of migrations, often influenced by climatic factors (such as the early Germanic invasions along the limes — borders — of the Roman Empire in the III century BC). This understanding can provide insights into the extent of somatic differences and help grasp the development and diversification of languages — which we'll delve into further later on.

Regarding the topic at hand, the idea of race is predominantly shaped by cultural factors, including prejudices, political ideologies, xenophobia, and societal norms. Therefore, if you're contemplating incorporating dynamics of racism into your fictional culture, it's essential to recognize that its conception and underlying principles vary significantly across different cultures.

An illustrative example of this contrast can be drawn from anthropological studies comparing the perspectives on race between Brazil and the United States (Marvin Harris, 1980), emphasizing our discussion within the anthropological framework:

In the United States, emphasis is placed on descent, with the concept of bloodline passing down from one generation to the next.

In Brazil, however, physical appearance holds greater significance. The Brazilian population encompasses approximately a dozen racial categories, which can encompass various traits such as eye color, hair texture, and skin tone. Moreover, these categories are fluid, with no single category being entirely distinct from the others.

Ethnicity

The old concept of ethnicity, once prevalent, defined a human group based on shared language, customs, territory, and culture. However, this concept faced criticism for its essentialist and rigid nature, prompting revision in the 20th century. The equation “culture = language = territory” implied a natural connection between culture and lineage or “race” (Barth, 1969), which is not accurate.

Contemporary anthropology views ethnicity more as an “ethnic sentiment” — a primordial feeling of belonging to a culturally, linguistically, and territorially defined group. However, this sentiment does not imply uniform desires among group members.

In essence, while ethnicity, in the anthropological sense, may not exist, ethnic identity or sentiment does.

To provide a clearer definition of ethnicity, it can be seen as a human way of perceiving both one's own and others' identities within a social context and historical period. Often, this perception emerges within social situations involving comparisons between different groups, such as in “ethnic conflicts” — which I can further elaborate on if desired, just ask.

In certain circumstances, the concept of ethnicity is propagated by external agents such as political ideologies, colonizers, or multinational corporations, rather than emerging solely from within the group itself.

And so?

So, if race and ethnicity are not considered, what criteria can I use to define the diverse groups of people in my fictional world?

Firstly, let's consider groups, which in sociology are understood as a gathering of individuals linked by a common objective or a shared self-identified identity, acknowledged by either the individuals or an external observer.

In line with the scale, ranging from largest to smallest, we can consider (I'm simplifying greatly):

Cultural groups: when crafting a fictional culture, defining the different groups of individuals involved becomes essential. These groups consist of people who share learned behaviors and beliefs. They can manifest within a nation, state, or continent. Later, we'll delve into the distinctions between hegemonic culture and subordinate culture.

Primary groups: these are small communities, often based on domestic and kinship ties. Examples range from «nomadic hunter bands in the Bolivian rainforest to medieval English or Swedish villages […] Sudanese cattle herding communities […] Persian shepherd tribes […] and present-day hamlets in Provence or Missouri» (Redfield, 1956).

Domestic and kinship groups: going deeper, we encounter domestic and kinship units, where the former may encompass the latter. These are collections of individuals, some related, who live together and cooperate in managing resources crucial for their physical survival and emotional fulfillment.

This hierarchy offers layers for different cultures, with intersecting boundaries and varying flexibility. Alternatively, one could focus on just one or two levels, depending on the story scope.

Exploring different types of boundaries

It's important to note that there are other types of groups, which intersect with those previously mentioned, particularly 'social' groups (e.g., castes in India, Marxist social classes, etc.) — here, we are referring to social stratification.

Building on the anthropological axiom that in environments marked by heightened competition and conflict, where human interactions are more frequent, boundaries tend to multiply. Groups essentially arise from the delineation of boundaries, with appearance and distinction serving as complementary factors.

The distinction between “us” and “them” can manifest in different ways within simple or complex societies (as per anthropological definitions):

Simple societies (with lower levels of social stratification) may simply exclude the “other” or include both “us” and “them” reciprocally.

Complex societies (with higher levels of social stratification) tend to internalize this distinction within the same social framework (e.g., Indian castes, Marxist social classes, Australian totemism).

We will discuss social stratification further later on.

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