#[we] have the sun in common

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[sun-e-chips]

Turns out when you own a waterpark you can bend your own rules

Y/N found out the hard way

[separatist-apologist]

work rant

I work with a man who likes to argue EVERYTHING I say because he thinks I'm young, which makes me dumb. I have been trying to find a way to explain this to people because it's exceptionally frustrating but every example always ends with people like, "well, I kind of see his point" which is infuriating, first of all.

But TODAY. TODAY I had to spend TEN MINUTES listening to him argue with me what constituted a "work week". Here I was, young and naive and brainless, thinking it was Sat-Sun. 40 hours within that window, each week.

Thank god he was here to argue passionately its actually PAY weeks and we need to be adjusting weeks every PAY CYCLE to see if staff are meeting their hours.

Why make something simple and easy to understand when we can make it overly complicated and convoluted just so he can be right????

[choices-binglebonkus]

What are some tropes you guys dislike in Choices?

I personally don’t enjoy the Chosen One trope where the MC is powerful and special for the sake of being powerful and special. Wasn’t super fond of it in Hero, but I think that’s just because we never got any further lore or clarification on the MC’s origins since the series ended abruptly.

Loathed it in The Elementalists, though.

[foreverxdaydreaming]

x

[thedrotter]

filler doodles about how i comedically whitewashed myself as a child (despite also being the darkest i had and still have ever been in my entire life) because i cannot wrap my head around it

[5mcsinatrenchcoat]

Karlach and Sera are the "they put us in different universes because they knew we would be unstoppable as best friends" kinda characters, methinks

[filmografo]

series intro - BIRTHPLACE

genre: space opera, sci-fi, litfic (a bit)

status: drafting / “outlining” book 2/3.

pov: third person limited, present tense.

tropes / themes: the unbearable weight of mortality, the terrifying realization of Want, space lesbians, growing up / apart / back, lgbtq+, exes to rivals to whatever it is austrakit are currently, found family, finding oneself, (space) war era, ambiguity, subjectivity, capital p Pining (+ more tba)

summary: After finding out her ex-girlfriend is training a ten men crew for what is essentially a suicide mission to map a planet Earth that’s been left behind, Kit Nikon desperately tries to give her life a new meaning.

tags (more TBA): #: birthplace #[we] have the sun in common

Space station gardens, neon green & blue, roots taking place, the smell of damp earth, bright unflickering lights, starfighters, healing bruises, hands against cold metal, sea water, warm sunshine, home in the valley of someone else’s ribs.

characters:

nalkita “kit” nikon (23 - she/her?) | 🌱

emigrate, novo amor

de selby (part 1), hozier

glossover, afternoon bike ride / lowswimmer

strangers, ethel cain

austra andante (23 - she/her) | 🌊

repeat until death, novo amor

i wouldn’t ask you, clairo

the end of love, florence + the machine

there’s nothing left for you, mitski

excerpt:

To know something is to be in constant battle with it: the plaguing of a garden, trying to disinfect a never-healing wound. Being near Austra, hands dripping with blood that never belonged to either of their bodies, means Nalkita has to fight against her own humanity, fight against desire. Close up her throat so the words I wish you would, Lieutenant don’t come out, raw and real. Kit understands so little about herself and knows Austra so much — the feeling of her expressive eyebrows against a fingertip, the weight of every responsibility she carries. Who is she to add another sandbag to Austra’s already aching shoulders but a soldier, a sinning one, at that? Refusing to give up on something that was never hers to begin with.

rambles / more about the series under the cut! :D

this was born from a fanfic/short story i wrote 2 years ago when i wasn’t ready to face what came after the events of what is now book 1 of the birthplace series. i took inspiration from novo amor’s birthplace album, which re-enlightened me about the meaning of “home”. i still hold it extremely close to my heart and will forever.

for book 1 of this, “astro-garden”, the journey kit goes on is extremely personal, quite lonely, quite difficult. titles never meant something to her until austra got one. there’s not much i can say except kit is a firecracker of a person and she’s going to need a lot of luck (she’s strong, she’ll manage)!

book 2 “roots in infertile soil” is as chaotic as i can possibly make a book. there’s more pining (for reasons...), more action, more drama... the characters are all a joy to write and flesh out, and the mercury ii crew are the type of found family that i’ve always loved to read about <3 i’ll introduce each and every one of them with tags in the near future so stay tuned for that!!! :)

book 3 is still in its early earlyyy development stages but hopefully i’ll have something cool to say about it sooner rather than later !

feel free to ask me about anything birthplace-related seeing as this is the only project i am currently (actively) working on!!! i would love love loooove to chat more about secondary characters, locations (the spaceships are Alive), discuss the plot / themes more in depth, etc!

i will be making a taglist with everyone who wants to get updates from this (i'll post more abt that later!) so send me an ask if you’d like to join it :D !

thank you for reading this (kinda long?) intro post for my silly little still unwritten novels hehe! i hope to hear more from u soon

[5-htagonist]

if i head the words "jesus" "sacrifice" and "himself" in a sentence again ill scream.

[sunshineram]

for letting him talk about all his trinkets theyve gifted you one of em :) @brosif40

[handsomethrowrug]

Why do people love you?

Tagged by: Not 'tagged', but @rolliesmuses' comment if he gets ' because your their sun ' it's rigged made me laugh really hard and I had to test it.

Tagging: Look, I think it's safe to say we're all stealing it from each other.

because you're their anchor

how lucky are your friends, to have you- a beacon and an anchor? you're the person who can keep them grounded, who can make sure they are safe and sound. people love you because they feel like they can trust you, because you're reliable and sincere. you take care of them in a way that makes them all tingly and warm inside; in the darkness of the night, you're the blinding light that brings them to shore. i'm sorry if sometimes they take you for granted. if you were a drop in the ocean, i'd spend two eternities just to find you and choose you.

[enekorre]

How do i find lesbians

Like i really want a partner but I'm shit at dating apps and i feel like im too weird for normies. I'm great at making friends with guys which means occasionally one of them will make moves on me but like. Im not into dudes i dont think? So i need to make friends with lesbians. Specifically livestock lesbians, bc i want to live on essentially a farm. Like i want chickens and goats and i wouldn't mind a horse.

I feel like im stuck bc i want to get a house in the near future but i dont want to live alone. And none of my friends would want to live with me. So i need a partner (or two). But how do i even start to find them...

[murphywilling]

Has someone done a post yet, comparing Benoit Blanc to Sherlock Holmes?

You know, how they both "lose it" between cases, have a "certain primness of dress", how they are kind to people who genuinely need their help, how they revile the cruel, how they know justice is not always the law and will act accordingly...

(...also how they use last names with their partners... )

And of course, the connection between the two universes through Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...

Yes, if there's a post about that, point me to it.

[little-sw33tie]

Hello, Toni!! <3 what is this Y/N the third AU that you speak of? I don't think I hear of it.

0w0GI!!!! Okokok so basically it’s an AU I came up with based on Lupin the 3rd!!!

Y/N is Lupin, Sun is Jigen, Moon is Goemon, Eclipse is Fujiko and Vanessa is Inspector Zenigata!!! Vanny is here too in place of Moneta (who is Zenigata but. He went villain mode for a sec)

Also I’m not good at describing personalities please bear with me</3

Y/N is a wealthy, cunning, master of disguise, violence enjoying thief, stealing mainly for the thrill of it! But they have a heart of gold when it counts! Also goofy, they are goofy!!! They’re also stubborn and reckless. Over confident to the point where it puts other in harms way.

Sun is loyal, caring and easily entertained! But he does have a streak of cynicism. Over all though she’s just as intelligent and sensible! Also more professional than Y/N, but still goofy. He’s slow to anger, but his anger is as powerful as his namesake.

Moon is very prideful, and mostly collected. He feels emotions very strongly, but keeps a fair amount of the extent internally. He’s strict yet compassionate and exceedingly patient. Though, during a mission he can and will lose what composure he has to go gremlin mode (they do out outside of missions too, especially to fuck with Sun (Y/N usually joins Moon in these shenanigans)) He can be overly strict and close minded, things should be done his way, follow what he was taught. Be strictly aligned to tradition. He will exercise what he needs to for that to happen. There have been times where his virtue turns to sin, much to his regret.

Eclipse at his core has a heart of gold, though it’s rarely seen. She is a very cautious character with herself, with her moments of greed and some over-excitement. She’s frivolous and care-free all the same. He’s independent, determined and a trickster. She’ll lie as much as she needs to get where he needs to be, or get what he needs, she uses what she has to an advantage at the cost of having trouble trusting people. He’s not above being a little two-faced either.

Vanessa is clumsy and sensitive, but with a strong heart and resolve. Determined and impulsive, she’s outspoken. Her need for justice is what drives her. She’s calculated and competitive. Her borderline obsession with justice has put strain on her relationships, making her more or less alone. The people she works with admire her determination, her ethics and strength but with her focus on capturing Y/N, she would do anything for that to happen. Even a deal with the devil.

Overall I don’t really have a clear clear story in my head but it’s slowly coming together!

@basyacriptid MORE YN 3RD STUFF!!!!

Bonus doodle of Y/N and Vanessa!

[clueless1995]

so i know i never ever talk about it ever but i grew up on a flower farm and it is so funny how people react when i tell them that. some people are surprised that flower farms are even a thing?? like im sorry did you think the florists have big secret meadows full of wildflowers with one big but inviting tree on the top of a small hill that they frolick through every morning, singing and letting butterflies land in their hair???? and honestly even people who aren’t shocked about the sheer existence of them sometimes gets a look where i can tell they’re Definitely imagining that meadow scene skdjksjd

[idkimnotreal]

now i just wait 4 months for summer to end. (sensory overload)