#ALSO THANK YOU FOR THE KIND WORDS ON MY WORLDBUILDING AND CHARACTER STUFF... it is what I live for

[chocodile]

Found your work through desperate searches for sylvanian family customisation or recolour resources and WOW your art/characters/worldbuilding are also astoundingly good... gonna be scrolling here a while. Out of curiosity do you do custom/commissioned sylvanian figures or do you have a tutorial/materials list someplace? Thanks for reading!!

Aw gosh, thank you, Anon!

I did one custom commission as an experiment (which I'm sure you've seen if you looked through the tag) and it was pretty fun, but man are these things a time suck! I tried to do too many dolls in too short of a time, got kind of burned out on them, and haven't touched them in months... I'm currently trying to work up motivation to get back into it and finish the projects I have materials for. If I do, I'll take pictures this time and put together a proper tutorial.

Unfortunately I can't take any commissions right now, but I'd be happy to share a materials list! It's under the cut:

The paint used is basic acrylic paint, like the kind you can get from Walmart or craft stores for under two bucks. There's a bit of a trick to painting them without making the fur clumpy, I described the painting process here!

For the hair, you'll want doll hair ("My Little Pony" size is way more than sufficient), a hair rooting tool/kit, and either a heat gun or blow dryer. I wrote some notes on hair rooting Sylvanian Family dolls here.

For the clothes, you can use a number of different fabrics, but you want it to be very, very thin. That super cheap, thin cotton fabric you can find at Joann Fabrics is pretty perfect and comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns, though some stuff like doll-sized flannel you might have to look online for (or DIY--you can use acrylic paint on fabric, it just makes it stiffer). I use ribbon for trim. Other accessories like jewelry, buttons, chains, crystals, and belts can be sourced from craft stores, too... I usually just bring my WIP doll with me in my pocket and hold it up next to anything I'm interested in buying to check if the sizing is right (the lady at the fabric cutting station was incredibly charmed by them, hah). For more specialty items, like tiny hats and replica firearms, you will probably need to look online.

If you can't find a specific accessory, or need to sculpt something like armor, you can try making it out of epoxy clay and painting it with the same acrylic paint you used for the figure. Mod Podge will help seal it and give it a nice glossy finish. (Do not use Mod Podge on Sculpey--it makes it sticky!)

Tails are generally pipe cleaners or occasionally pom poms. Cut the original tail off with wire cutters, digging out as much of it as you can, and super glue the new tail in the hole.

Horns are done with epoxy clay. For big horns on the head, I use wire cutters to cut the pointy part off a pin, embed that in the clay horn, and then stick the end of the pin into the plastic head to more securely anchor it.

Bat and dragon wings are done with leather sheets you can buy from a craft store.

Other essentials: Super glue, sewing kit, Dritz fray check. Super glue is essential for both tails/horns/etc and clothing (it's often better for ultra-fine detail than sewing). Sewing kit is needed for clothing. You will not have much success with clothing without Dritz fray check. It keeps the edges of the fabric from disintegrating, which is a major concern when working on such a tiny scale.

Also this isn't a material so much as a tip: I often use the pointy end of a pin to do fine detail painting. It's also useful for sculpting miniatures.

Hope that helps! Good luck on your customization ventures, and feel free to ask if you have any more questions!

[ask-indigo-park-swapped]

hello person behind the curtain!! the curtain master if you will :) i'm not like super cool and all but i just wanted to say ur doing great with this ask blog and i can't wait to see more of it!! this blog has indirectly (or directly?? who knows) made mollie my fav character!! if we're allowed to ask questions, i do have a few..! 1. what are your pronouns

2. do you have another blog or socials just for like. ur art. i like a lot :]

3. who's ur fav indigo park character in the game and in this au!! i hope u have a banger day/night and ur don't forget ur super awesome and touched loads of ppl (me) with ur work!! oh and have this: You've obtained a self-sustaining pocket sized cat! please take good care of it and i hope it helps improve ur mood when u ever feeling blue okay this was long um bye bye!!!! *runs away*

<naw im sure youre cool in your own way!! youre plenty sweet anyway, thank you for being so invested in my silly little au :DD!!>

<pronouns are funny little things :33c i generally do not care and in fact am encouraging yall to go wild with what pronouns you use for me. check out the pronoun closet if you need ideas for neopronouns to go wild with> <thank you for liking my art!!! im @niftukkun both on here (tumblr) and furaffinity!! i generally tag my art as [#my art] but if youre hoping for more indigo park look somewhere else lmao i dont draw it as much outside of this askblog> <salem for both!! very gender i love them lots. also i have a particular fondness for both potionmakers and shopkeepers so like of course shes favourite>

<again youre very sweet thank you!! ill keep my awesomeness in mind, and i will cherish this lil cat friend. thank you for your curiousity and kindness!!>

[cabi-leodrann]

sincerely hope you don't mind the continuous likes I just gave over the past uh...I actually have no idea how long I've been looking at your blog 😭 I really love your story and characters :D I'm very very excited for the update, I kid you not when I say I have been WAITING. I really really enjoy it I spent ages tracking it back down one day bc I couldn't remember your blog name

also READING ABOUT THE LANGUAGE. The language I really like your language for THaB... I feel very inspired to make languages for my own projects now!!! I actually remember vaguely conceptualizing one for an alien race but I digress. Irrelevant!

I'm curious to know by the way, do you and your co-writer share the universe? or is it more of just them helping you with the logistics and worldbuilding so you don't like..unintentionally make nonsense or something?? for lack of better wording LOL

I'm wondering (spontaneously) as well if you have any sort of unique cultural things for toohlegs and/or specific species of animal? praying I spelt that right UH. Yeah!! I don't know Im just very curious,, this is also my first time sending anyone an ask about lore and such, I think mainly because it's the first time I've been invested enough in a cotl au to actively crave knowledge on a regular basis. Genuinely captivating I am hypnotized !!!

okay that's all I think I'll go hide away in a corner now

I absolutely don't mind the wall of likes! On the contrary, makes me happy to see I grabbed someone onto the brain rot =D I am so glad you were able to find the blog and that you're enjoying the AU this much! I'm also a bit sorry you have to wait this long for the next update- the bonus that comes with it kind of got way bigger than the update itself ='3 But we're getting there! For your language: I recommend you the game "Chant of Sennaar"! I understood a lot about language with it, and it's pretty much the base I used to make Lamb's language! There are so many more variables, but I think Sennaar is a good start at understanding some aspect of what you are doing! *Give mic to @wowhy-s-silly-doodles*

"Then I got some idea that I proposed to them, and slowly I started proposing more stuff. One thing to know is that I spend a looooot of time using the cotl wiki, checking everything single detail and flavor text. I ended up stepping on something BIG and went to Cabi with an idea for it and we both constructed a major plot point in the story. Ever since we've both been very implicated into the creation of the story and it' hard to know which part is mine and which is theirs."

*Take the mic back* I'm glad that you asked about the Toohlegs =D The culture we are developing with Wowhy concerns more the cult of the Lamb specifically, as we don't really know how things goes in other communities outside the one of Lamb.

So yeah, most of the adult in the cult have their memento planned. Nobody really gets to live old for many reasons. Those rituals weren't always there, so the first followers were buried, and crypts were created.

But there's another category of Toohleg, and they are called the Mystics =D

And there's more than just those categories, but, you know, classifying a spectrum is kind of an endless task. One last thing. If you ever do a dish with a Toohleg egg, EVERYONE will know. The yolk is red, and egg whites have a particular shimmer to it, created from a sort of dust mixed in it, and this shimmer will be visible in your dish. Eggs can be broken, for an infinity amount of reasons. But, even if it goes against the zero-waste-philosophy, nobody wants to eat the egg, and the followers will kind of hate you for what you've tried to do. And I think that's it so far! I understand the anxiety of sending an ask, (especially when the answer takes a while to come) but you did well to send it! Wowhy and I will never pass a chance to ramble about THaB =D Thank you again for the ask, and have a nice day✨

[kingdoms-and-empires]

Hello there! I want to say, I LOVE your story! Fantastic world, fantastic characters, and plot. I can't wait for more (please, give us plebs some food! I mean more chapters and updates.) And by the way, I am happy to hear you are back on your feet. I noticed something in the RO options: Why does the M!MC have 1 Gay romance and the F!MC 1 Lesbian and 1 Bi? Don't you think that is a bit limiting? Is there a narrative reason? Thank you, and I wish you the best. :D Good Day!

It's supposed to be a surprise, but since im close to releasing the public update... in the Great Rewrite, all the ROs are playersexual now. They're open to be romanced no matter what!

Im telling you since your words made me smile <3 and cause i cant hold it in anymore!

I'm aiming for a more grounded romantasy feeling for KaE since romance will be very important to the story. Especially the whole potential-

-problems that'll happen once a certain point is reached.

(I recently rewatched the Revenge of the Sith in the recent rerun lmao)

I've always thought of my work as being inspired by

Homeric Epics (i was always a fan of Greek and Roman myths and stuff since i was young.)

Nordic Sagas but mostly Beowulf (only got into them cause of Vikings the show lololol, but I found myself increasingly engrossed by the Sagas)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires on the Xbox 360 introduced me to the series and ive been in love since lol)

And because of the above, the game series Nobunaga's Ambition.

Plus isekai and reincarnation manga/anime in general!

I feel like what makes worlds and stories interesting isn't the worldbuilding (though that helps alot, and is without a doubt my crutch atm) but the human emotions that can cause characters to act out, crash out, and do the things they do that can throw a wrench in any well-laid plan.

The new version is far more character driven than before as a result, and I love it. And what's more emotional than love?

The geopolitics, intrigue, war, kingdom building, and the rest of what makes KaE KaE is remaining, of course! Hell, I'd say there's even MORE now, as some of my Patreons would most likely agree with.

It's just that romance is being elevated to be more important to me.

I made this decision a while back because I felt the narrative and restrictive reasons of before no longer hold up with the rewrite changes I made to the world and story.

Cause I changed ALOT.

And we never really even met a majority of the ROs in previous versions so... it's not like im doing something like changing characters yall know and romanced lol, which btw, is ironically a bonus with all the rewrites and time ive taken to find my bearings with this story ;-;

Who helped me reach this decision a while back?

Why...

@when-life-gives-you-lemons-if thank you for putting up with me!!!!!

@leiatalon also helped me reach this decision (also thanks for putting up with me)!!!!!

Both are published authors with multiple titles below their belt that focus on romance, so they definitely had my rapt attention. They were especially kind enough to share their experiences and some advice when it comes to that area with me, and its thanks to their encouragement that I felt this was the right decision.

Please, check out their Tumblr blogs and look at the games they've released! They might interest you!!

What may also interest you?

You can actually see all the progress reports ive given on Patreon! They're free, and you can start from oldest to newest. Plus other articles that detail what im adding to the new version that's soon to release to the public. After all, this upcoming update is the last one that ends our childhood! And it'll be the one that finally makes it so everyone of you can read what I've worked on.

Once my Patreons test out the epilogue for the arc and give me the all clear, the public will get it!

That's all from me for now. Im still busy at work with the epilogue!

[mliter]

Zenless Zone Zero.

This is the third game to come out of post-2020 Hoyoverse.

This game spent a lot of time being teased and marketed before it's release. With me, a game to really grab my attention is character design. This company already puts out solid stuff, but it's the aesthetic that doesn't get me. Star Rail and Genshin Impact's detailed lean into fantasy, while executed well, doesn't really get me.

You're put in the shoes of two siblings, Wise and Belle, on their journey to uncover what happened in the past, and clear a loved one's name. That's so freaking cool! They're even doing illegal shit on the down-low! That's so freaking cool!

Then comes along ZZZ. It's setting allowed for more of a grindfiction (i hope i used that word right) look. I saw people describing this as Jet Set Genshin Impact, hilariously.

For one, this game's character designs are top notch. They're not quite as busy as the previous two games I mentioned. They're fun and relatively simple. Clean color schemes, big shapes, differing species and unique silhouettes can be found across the roster. (Still no black people though. At this point, I shouldn't expect it.)

Continuing on with the characters, like any gacha game, they're the stars of the show. The team puts special care into each of them.

There's a serious sense of community between a large chunk of the cast. Everybody knows somebody, somehow. Either through a shared interest, a job together, school, or childhood. Everybody's got their own thing going on, and the writers show each of them the love they deserve. Thanks to this, it is very exciting to see two characters we know well meet for the first time.

While having their own presence in the world and lore, they can also be the main character of an update, out of the blue. Either through the main story, a special episode, an event, or an agent story. What's an agent story? An agent story is a story made for that specific character. They're usually released by the update. Everything that happens within them are canon, and they flesh out the character to a satisfying degree. (most of the time.) characters grow from the point that they were before the agent story, like Anby wearing her silver squad uniform in the most recent story chapter.

So what's this one about? Surprising most people today, this is a post apocalyptic story. This takes place in a earth where 90% of humanity has been wiped out by a mysterious force that produces monsters. A majority of the game takes place in New Eridu.

The more you read into the story, the more you learn this event's effect on society, and the drastic measures that have been taken because of it. Through the lenses of two siblings, you learn that It's everywhere. In the storytelling, in the characters, and in the environment.

ZZZ's gameplay is modeled after action games. Fast paced, flashy and exciting. You can tell that the developers grew up on titles like Tekken, Street Fighter, DMC and so on There's an attack button, a special button, a dodge button, and an ultimate button. Each character has their own passive system that can be activated through any of these buttons, keeping gameplay unique. Some of them aren't even activated by these buttons, they just work in the back!

There's a lot of things the player can do to maximize unit performance. W-Engines, disks, stat watching... It's pretty well made actually. It's just that in my case, it makes my head spin. Much to both my friends & followers's dismay. Luckily i have them to help me out with the number crunching and basic common sense.

My favorite bit from it is the parry animation. Special care was put into it. A cool camera angle, satisfying sound, and an exciting visual makes for an awesome experience. There is so much love put into this game.

Now that we have that out of the way, presentation. For me, it's the best part of the game. ZZZ takes a specific kind of care in its worldbuilding, aesthetic and character design that rivals Splatoon, actually. From the marketing, to the animation, to the options menu, there’s style to be found all around. Story beats are presented with AAA artwork in the style of an animated comic book. Casual conversations have a stylish transition to another screen where every character has their own animation. Character trailers are AAA productions in the style of... well, anything. They can, and will do anything. I see it as a celebration of creativity and art. There's a lot of professionals out there working in positions that don't let them to get this radical with what they're working on. I'd imagine any creative would enjoy working on a product like this.

Speaking of art, one thing i really like is when hand-drawn art is heavily incorporated in a videogame. ZZZ does this so well. I think my favorite example of this is the mindscape cinema. This works in stages, a piece of art of the character fully clothed. As the player whales out and rolls for more versions of the unit, a greyscale version of that art will be revealed to the player, more and more. Then, a final version of the character missing some articles of clothing is revealed. With how this game goes about suggestive content, you'd expect this to be crazy, but they're actually pretty tact about it. Regardless, it's a really cool display.

Zenless Zone Zero is one of the strongest titles to ever hit the scene for me. From the art direction, to the art itself, to the presentation, to the look, to the art, to the world, to the music, to the characters... I could keep going. Whereas I'm not too good at the game, i get my fun out of it by being lost in the world, the stories told within it, and the characters this story is about.

With a dev team that seems somewhat different from what hoyoverse is given trouble for... I hope more people play this game. It's a serious gem. I'm having so much fun with this game. And i can tell these guys are having just as much fun making it. Maybe even more.

[hollow-lime-green]

I have just DEVOURED the last chap of 2scorc and what can I say.

WHAT CAN I SAY.

I'm in love. I have been screaming about it nonstop with my friend because this fic is just so good.

The foreshadowing. THE FUCKING META FORESHADOWING. I die.

Legit crying in the club during satoru's phone call. Poor boy.

Also I love how you write dialogues both in terms of words and in terms of layout. Extremely pleasant to read, chef's kiss.

I will leave a comment once a)I become more coherent and b)I'll finish re-reading the whole thing

Just fyi I'm now addicted to this verse and I cannot wait to see what you have in store for part 3, your jujutsu world building and lore is immaculate.

I'm in tears and broken by your writing, 10/10 would recommend (I have never forwarded a fanfic so fast in my life)

aaaaaa thank you so much <3

there's so many little breadcrumbs in previous chapters that lead to the hansel and gretel style witch cottage that is this nightmare of an ending (for Satoru, anyway :) )

the formatting has been particularly fun in this fic, and i wanted to pull back the curtain a little bit. the text alignment in this chapter in particular is a way to represent where the thoughts are coming from, for Satoru. so when you see a right-align, whether it's dialogue or an intrusive thought of his, it's kind of meant to signal hostility. center-aligns are complicated and unsure. and then left-aligns are standard character stuff. it's a similar thing for Suguru's dreams in previous chapters.

i've yapped a little bit about it here, but this is another inspiration i took from Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. (the other inspiration being the mission formatting in ch. 12).

when i write stuff like this, there's always a little voice in the back of my head going like 'oh god is this cringe' and 'will they think i'm taking myself way too seriously' etc etc. but.

a.) fanfiction is exactly the place for this semi-cheesy meta poem-prose fusion bullshit. b.) i hope no one is at risk of thinking that the twilight-rebecca black friday-minecraft parody song fanfic takes itself too seriously.

anyway! i am so glad you liked it, and it always super tickles me to hear about you guys talking about it with your friends :) I talk about writing this fanfic to my irl friends with the same energy of spraying an unsuspecting sunbather with a high-powered SuperSoaker™. and i get about the response that you'd expect, but I think they prefer it to me explaining the specific details of vore (more complicated than you would think).

i've got so much left for part 3, especially hyperspecfic jujutsu worldbuilding bullshit that we've been building up to since domains. in particular, we're gonna get really into Suguru's technique, barrier techniques, and RCT. we're gonna see clan politics, higher-ups, and of course, Satoru's taste in fanfiction.

[jesncin]

I really enjoyed your excellent deep dive examination of Ma'alefa'ak and the underlying attitudes of ableism present in the writing. It's an aspect of the character that has always disappointed me and, honestly, combined with the hoary old cliche of an Evil Twin just left me cold. (Ma'al also began the trend of DC defining too many Post-Crisis stories around the reveal of YET ANOTHER Martian survivor, only for them to be bad news. Whilst that isn't strictly his fault, he certainly opened that door and no one's gotten around to shutting it yet.) Your remarks about J'onn's beliefs being too ill-defined also ring true. In his original appearance he had a science background, by the Bronze Age this had shifted into a military VIP, before finally doubling back and codifying Manhunter (re: cop) as his profession Post-Crisis. He's all over the fucking map about what his views are, what motivates him, and why, which persists even into the current comics. That's a roundabout way of me getting to my ultimate point: I've become quite fond of your reinvention of Ma'alefa'ak. Initially I was sceptical because I saw little reason to revisit the character, but you won me over by using Ma'al to remedy multiple shortcomings in the MM status quo. Rehabilitating Ma'al grants J'onn a direct foil, expands his (sorely undernourished) supporting cast, and most importantly allows J'onn to define himself by putting his beliefs into action. He's willing to give up his station, his privilege, and his life on Mars to defend his brother's right to live. That conveys so much to the audience and provides us with greater understanding of what makes him tick. Ma'al getting to be more than just despicably EVIL also gifts us with an overtly disabled character who is allowed to express themselves and help bolster the strongest themes of the Martian corner of the DCU. Apolgies for the wall of text. Thanks for all your creative work and I'm looking forward to more!

asdfasf!! oh my gosh thank you so much for all these kind words!! Gosh like I know a good bunch of how I play around with Martian worldbuilding will probably fly over most people's heads since J'onn's lore is not common knowledge to even DC fans, but it's when someone knows the material I'm pulling from and can see exactly how my choices are informed that I get really!! Happy! Emotional! Thank you 😭😭 more martian talk below asdfasf

in short: YES TO ALL THIS! I agree that while Ma'al had a whole history before he came to Earth as A Surviving Member Of An Extinct Race Turns Out To Be Bad News, he still absolutely kicked off that trend of rogues for J'onn. Kind of similar to how M'gann really shifted Martian lore away from ableism and more towards racism and civil war.

Right! I think the fact that J'onn's occupation changes so much (where he's even reimagined as a sort of renaissance man with how many Martian jobs he had) before settling on "generally a cop" makes J'onn's ideals all the more ill defined. Clark is a working class investigative journalist and that informs his heroism! He has the themes of hope, marginalization and survival to inform it too. How does any of J'onn's occupations inform his heroism in any specific way? Especially when modern versions of J'onn reimagine him as both a Black man and a cop (when paired with Martian racism it's even worse) 😭 this stuff needs to be thought through! Most of the time, J'onn's just saving people because it's his job. He's a cop because that's the closest analog to what being a manhunter is on Mars, but then what? Why does he care?

And lastly once more! Thank you so much on the kind words about my version of Ma'al and J'onn! It means so much to me when I can take a "but why him tho" character out of obscurity and get people to understand just how much this change can really benefit not just Ma'al, but J'onn and Martian lore as a whole. I truly believe Ma'al is the key to revitalizing Martian Manhunter as a superhero, and your response perfectly describes why.

It was important for us to still have J'onn grapple with some sort of grief (since that's such a prominent theme for him) but have him actively demonstrate his ideals when put under pressure and show what he truly believes in. J'onn is usually pitched as "Batman meets Superman" because he's an alien detective, but the result is J'onn being redundant of both. We thought, since Bruce and Clark didn't have a choice in the inciting incidents that started their origins, why not make it so J'onn has an active choice in his? We shifted his ideals from his vague "I'm protecting my new home so it won't suffer the way Mars did" to "No one fights harder for what they love than J'onn J'onzz". Shifting the trajectory of the character from grief to radical love.

In the process of re-interpreting Ma'al from being allegorically/coded as disabled to being an explicitly disabled character, Martian ableism can be more properly discussed as the strongest theme to Martian lore (that functions way better than the shapeshifter racism). And in turn, we got to deconstruct the inherit authority-protecting respectability of J'onn's canon heroism.

I like the green guys a whole lot

[fountainpenguin]

hello! I've been reading your fop fanfics for around a week now, and I wanna say that your worldbuilding has some of the most impressive ones I've ever seen for a preexisting IP. you made excel sheets, charts, indepth character bios including species and timelines and etc etc ITS SO GOOD Ive been going crazy over them. also as someone who's been enjoying the pixies recently and planning stuff with them with my own oc story, your worldbuilding with them is so awesome. so good. I really really like it MOSTLY BECAUSE IM PIXIE-HEADED RIGHT NOW BUT YOUR FICS OF THEM AND EXPLANATIONS AND SPECIES BIO KEEPS ROTATING IN MY MIND I LOVE IT. I LOVE THE PIXIES!!!!! I LOVE THOSE SILLY BLOCK CREATURES to the point I've been rereading your class overview of them three times. I love you pixies. also I may have taken inspirations from your species bio or have it in my mind subconsciously while writing my own pixie oc (and more yet to come) like their defining character traits, how they do relationships, etc etc. nothing too big ofc but it's really great that it imprinted on my brain

I'm still a newcomer here and yet to know more in-depth about your universe, but with the amount of posts you have made, I believe I'll be sticking around for more :) thank you!

Thank you!!! I'm glad you like my 'fics and posts. Many, many, many hours of work have gone into my worldbuilding over the last 9 years and I appreciate your appreciation!

I'm glad the Pixies are getting more acknowledgement these days! They're my favorites... I'm happy to see them get a boost in love even though they didn't make it into New Wish Season 1 <3

Here's a Sigfried for you- I like his tie clip :)

I like his fancy crown hat too.

Thanks again for your kind words!

Links for anyone interested in checking out my FOP work & trying to find their preferred way to explore:

#FAIRIES! - My blog tag for FOP content

📕 Easy AO3 Series Navigation - Customize your reading by subscribing to the arcs / characters you like

✨ Worldbuilding Sideblog Masterpost - Lore galore!

🟪 Class Overview: Pixies - Mentioned in this ask

☁️ Cloudlands AU Guide

🌃 City Lights AU Guide

🗄️ Reedfilter Rules AU Guide

🌈 'Fic summaries page

🚂 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash summaries page

[sorrowful-hyacinth]

Tag Game: Author Ask Tag

Thank you @melpomenelamusa for tagging me! I'm going to use "Voyagers" just because it's the one fresh in my mind right now.

1. What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

Honestly, my stories rarely ever have a message behind them. They're very self-indulgent. I just like seeing my boys suffer. I'm also just a big stickler for whumper-turned-whumpee tropes and this was a good story to try. If I had to guess a theme or a message that might come out through the story later, it might just be as simple as learning to be more humble. Maybe learn to be more kind, you know, the whole "karma is a bitch" thing, well just don't be a bitch. Lol

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

Probably "Pirates of the Caribbean", especially for the setting, attire, and slang. Also siren folklore, but putting my own creative spin on it along the way. Like Caspians lack of a siren voice traded off with godly powers that very few royals in a generation are born with.

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness or help the reader grow as a person?

There was nothing to teach with this story, just trying to put more whump into the community so we can all have a good time making silly blorbos suffer. It's also a little interesting, choosing who the main character is because in my head both Malik and Caspian are the main characters of the whole story. They'll both be the most fleshed out characters and interacting with each other, but I think in my head I'm leaning towards the ending being with Malik, so for now let's just consider him the main character. He's just trying to have a full-filling and meaningful life. building a legacy for pirates of generations to look to for inspiration. His ruthlessness and daring personality are what have gotten him out of his dead-end life and become the captain he is. By the end, I guess we'd expect a lesson from him being to appreciate whats been in front of you and understand that kindness goes a long way.

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

I have no idea. A million if I could, lmao. It'll basically end whenever I feel the story is conclusive enough, but that also doesn't include side stories, AU's, or prompts that might become canon.

5. Is it fan fiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original work! I'm not a big fan fic person when it comes to writing because I always feel like I can't get into the character. Like, I don't know what quips they'd have, what their internal thoughts would be, stuff like that. So original characters make me feel more confident since I know them, I made them. I only ever post here on Tumblr, I do have an AO3 account so maybe I'll post there too one day.

6. When did you start writing?

For this story specifically, it was around Fall 2024. In general, since forever, but for shits and giggles. Never serious, fleshed out stories with characters that have actual backstories.

7. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

I don't think I have a lot of advice to give, let alone super insightful advice. I will say that I've seen a lot of writers struggling with feeling obligated to put out something for their audience under a deadline and the pressure builds up. Don't feel pressured. Write when you want to, when it comes to you, when you love what you're writing. The people who actually appreciate your work will wait patiently and be there when you publish your work. There will always be someone nagging you and saying how you should put out more faster. Everyone works at a different pace and life gets in the way. Don't stress. The only ones who need to suffer here are our characters because we love them :)

I don't know who's been tagged already sooo I hope I don't repeat too many people: @turn-the-tables-on-them @whumpsday @paperprinxe @skittles-the-whumpee @gala1981 @hollowgast1 @darkthingshappen

[m0r1bund]

hello! I was catching up on reading NAKAQUOI! and the essay from the most recent entry was such an inspiring method of storytelling. enough so to make me reach out and ask about your website in general (if you're comfortable answering!). what is it like running a lore/gallery site for your work? how and why did you get started? and lastly, what about it keeps you going?

thank you, cheers! -Winn

😭 Thank you so much for the kind words, this means a lot to me. I really enjoyed writing that little essay.

This is going to be a weird and vulnerable sidebar, but I promise I’m going somewhere with it. Honestly, it blows my mind that anyone reads them. I think it’s because I’m still operating on the assumption that this form of storytelling is for n=1 (yours truly) and other people are merely tolerating it, LOL. I used to be way more sensitive about sharing my characters / stories / worlds, because the forms of storytelling that came naturally to me were often received as incomprehensible, dense, and unintuitive by other people. At a certain point I decided that I just had to accept this and become my own hype man. People could enjoy the pretty pictures out of context, and they could be a vehicle for me to journal about the pretend people who live in my head. Good compromise 👍

for someone who talks big about making weird art and finding the 6 people in the audience who truly get it, I don’t think I realized that this could include my deranged essays about things that aren’t real. And yet. AND YET!!!! I think this desire to present my work in a way that’s “more” than just pretty pictures with text attached to them has been simmering for a long time, even though I dismissed it and was kind of embarrassed about it. Which is wild. Because I grew up on bestiaries and warrior cats lore compendiums and video game wikis and morrowind. There was clearly a precedent. And Yet.

Anyway, this desire started rubbing shoulders with the technical limitations of blogs and gallery websites, and also a general disillusionment with social media during the enshittification of the internet. Like, yeah it sucked that my whole body of work could vanish overnight. But mostly I had worldbuilding neuroses that made me want to scratch at the walls, and I knew just enough html + css to be dangerous. In 2018, I had also finished some longer works that made me more confident in my ability to deliver a cohesive Moribund, and these works weren’t intuitive to share on social media… So… I guess that gave me the impetus to stop flirting with the idea of getting my own website and start actually working on it.

M0R1BUND.com used to be a pure html + css + js website hosted on Neocities. It was ideal and I miss it in a lot of ways, because yeah, that IS the most unadulterated control you can have over your webspace. Had a blast with it, experimented a lot, learned a lot, hosted galleries and twines and webfiction and digital collages and ARPG stuff and interactive maps and a webcomic. And it was mine as much as it was the work of kind people sharing sample code on stackexchange, LOL.

Eventually, I felt the growing pains of managing this by hand. Updating ate hours out of my day. There are definitely more intuitive ways to build and maintain a pure html + css + js website, but I was working with what I knew. I started learning wordpress for basedt.net with the hopes of automating certain operations, like posting art to a gallery or pages to a webcomic. It felt intuitive enough that I later rebuilt M0R1BUND.com in wordpress.

It took a long time and a lot of work, like almost a year? And I still haven’t mirrored everything. Wordpress has made things easier to maintain, but I learned the hard way that it doesn't avoid the pitfalls of simpler website-builders… which is to say… whatever it does to make life easier will also make life incredibly difficult if you decide you want to do something manually. And it’s never the stuff you expect.

These days there’s also the baggage of Automattic’s nonsense. Wordpress is open source, so I don’t think it will go anywhere, but it’s still the corporate clownery that I wanted to escape by making my own website. Blech.

Really though, I love running M0R1BUND and it’s the closest thing I have to an ideal “home” for my work. Going to a dedicated website is unintuitive and out of the way for a lot of people, but (indicates generally) what have we just learned about me. This one’s for n=1 and the, like, 6 people who pop in and say hello. You are my people...

Looking forward, things cook at the rate of 2937728839 irons in the fire, and they are all getting done, but they are all getting done sooooo slowly… I’m having fun. Besides having a general compulsion to make art and tell stories and be Understood, I think that’s what carries me thru this. I want to have fun. and I want to trick people into caring about my characters and also the Sonoran Desert. And as Bjork says, I have to get the wiggles out or else the dark times will come.

It’s getting late and I don’t have a denouement for this. Thank you for your kind words! Thank you for asking! hope this answers? hope this helps (???) take the best and leave the rest.

[paula-in-dreamland]

Fanfic writer interview

Thank you @errruvande for the tag!! :))

My AO3

How many work do u have on AO3?

Officially 3 - 1 in-progress multichapter, 2 "one-shots" (cause I'll probs expand eventually)

What's your total AO3 word count?

~42k (estimate cause some the stuff being counted towards the word count are from nav pages in the fic)

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes

I mean if we included ff.net in this...that would be completely different. But we are not. So it's literally the three I've posted:

1. A Game of Revenge and Loyalty (HG AU, Sigtryggr x Stiorra centric) 2. Some News Isn't Meant To Be Shared (Canon Universe, canon divergence, Sigtryggr x Stiorra) 3. Vorres Lille Dukke (Vampire AU, Sigtryggr x Stiorra x Reader)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, or at least I try too! I think it's important to engage with your readers when possible to not only thank them but also because engaging with someone about you work is fun! I've been dying to talk to people about my fics so you better believe I am going to take the opportunity when it comes! It's why I post them in the first place!

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Maybe Some News Isn't Meant to Be Shared ?? Cause it is fluff, but if you read between the lines and think about what transpires in S5 after that moment...yeah. Angsty/Whumpy as fuck. Other than that, I have yet to write something with a truly angsty ending. Unless you include one of abandoned WIPs on ff.net.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I have a bunch of WIPs with truly happy endings that I'll eventually write/post. Very romcom. Very sweet. As for current? LOL I guess Vorres Lille Dukke ...

Do you write crossovers?

A true crossover where characters from two different fandoms interact? No. But, I have done crossover AUs by putting TLK characters in those universes (a la my Hunger Games fic). And, I guess, you consider some of my fics crossovers in that I draw from Vikings and TLK when worldbuilding. Like Sigtryggr (and Stiorra but we ignore that in modern aus) is descended from Ragnar Lothbrok. So, I tend to draw from that show for depictions of those characters.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not on AO3. But, on ff.net over ten years ago. Broke me. I was 14, 15? Posted my first multi chapter fic. Within the prose, I had littered ANs throughout it rather than keeping it to the beginning and end. Why did I do that? Because I'd see a few other fics in the fandom do it so I figured it was the norm as I was a newbie to writing/fic writing. I think they also had a few other things to say. I end up eventually taking the fic down, and now I think it's fully gone as I don't have it on my laptop anywhere :/ But yeah. Be nice to fic writers. English could be their second/third/fourth language. They could be a preteen or a teenager. They could just be starting out.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

HA. HAHAHAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Yes. It's mostly M/F. Just recently M/F/F for the first time. As I work through my WIPs, also exploring kinks a bit more. So, more on the vanilla side.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope. Don't think so.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I think someone reached out to me on ff.net to translate one of my fics from ages ago? Have had people ask to print them out before! But not on AO3 (yet)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Okay I VAGUELY remember maybe doing it, or starting to do it 10+ years ago? But I also use to be an avid RPer on here, so uh...yeah we co-wrote a lot of fics that way ;)

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oh fuck you can't ask me that. *pulls open junk closet door and gets covered in characters/ships* *Proceeds to grab one at random, then sticks arm out from pile* UH!?!?! THIS ONE?! *holds up Rosalie and Emmett from Twilight*

No, but like in all seriousness: 1. Rosalie/Emmett 2. Stiorra/Sigtryggr 3. Padme/Anakin 4. Kim/Tommy 5. Caroline/Klaus & loads more.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

So, I am really hoping I get to all my WIPs for Sigtryggr/Stiorra because I love them and want to put them in all the scenarios. As for past fandoms/dormant fandoms, I don't think there are any that I want to finish, more so ones that I wish I had given more time too? And now it's too late cause I did not leave myself detailed enough plot notes to trigger my memory? Nor got that far in the first place?

What are your writing strengths?

I think I write some kickass dialogue. I also think I'm decent at writing scenery.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Introspection. is. so. hard. And being concise. And you know...allowing subtext to speak for itself instead of telling the reader directly.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think it's awesome! But, it can make reading hard if you're not familiar with the language as you have to scroll down to find out what the hell they are saying if it's more than a few words. I also personally think you should stick to languages you actually know/have studied unless it's like a tiny little phrase/nickname. Or, ask someone who actually speaks the language. Because google translate is not reliable lol.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

None currently. But did consider writing a reader fic for Bleach at one point lmao.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

I don't have a favorite because the one that would probably be my fave isn't written yet ;) But, I tend to like all of my fics even the poorly written ones from when I was 14/15.

Tagging: @azriona @holy3cake @ladyaldhelm @whitedarkmoonflower @gemini-mama and anyone else who writes :)

[locatebiome]

HELLO. Your Herobrine headcanons are like, so beautiful I could cry. Like OKAY POP OFF I DIDN'T KNOW PEOPLE STILL FELT THE SAME WAY ABOUT HIM AS I DID IN THESE "EVERYTHING IS CRINGE" TIMES. YOU WRITE SO GOOD I HAD TO ZONE OUT TO REALLY LET IT SINK IN. That's actual insanity to me, cuz you totally paint him out to be the same way I do despite most media on him going like "ooo evilllll, that's all he is". No, HE'S THAT ONE GAME LEGEND BUT HE'S ALSO CHILL LIKE THAT I ADORE ITTTT. You really put in some thought in a cube game, that's for sure

Usually I don't like OC x character (who I am viciously infatuated with, because, jealousy let's be honest here) stories but now I HAVE TO there's no way I have to check out ur other stuff now I need MOAR 👹👹

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA That's it. Ty ty, and sorreyz if this is cluttering ur inbox, consider that my love letter. Please do share your view on the character likeeee I'm always lurking and I'll take your word for it (øø)

THIS IS SO SWEET 🥺🥺 THANK YOUUU I APPRECIATE THIS MESSAGE SO MUCH <333

I'm glad I can give you a Herobrine to your tastes!! it's so wonderful hearing that people like my own specific interpretation/ideas as much as I do!!! 💖💕💕

now I HAVE TO there's no way I have to check out ur other stuff now I need MOAR

YES YES YES THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!!! I think you already know because you brought up OC x character, but yes, the most information about my Herobrine would be in We Are The Daylight!

It’s a story about one desperate individual (Casey) summoning and cutting a deal with Herobrine to accomplish xir goals at any cost, which leads the two of them on all kinds of adventures and into all kinds of trouble. While I write Casey as a self-insert for none other than me, it’s my hope that xe is a character readers can connect with and project onto, and enjoy the story alongside. idk how to describe it. we are all the daylight <3

If that interests you, be advised that the vast majority of it was written when I was 15 and suffers the pitfalls you would expect. (Though I must admit, even in this form it's still very special to me and I still regularly reread what I consider to be the best couple chapters.) HOWEVER, if that’d be a dealbreaker, in a few months the worst offenders (mostly earlier chapters) will undergo some major renovations! My aim isn't to get the entire thing up to the quality I would now expect, but just to represent the characters better and keep worldbuilding internally consistent for future updates :)

if you do end up reading it someday, you GOTTA talk to me about it please please please p

In case all that seems like a bit of commitment, you can also give the watd tag a quick scroll and attempt to piece together its plot and themes from that. The tag's real purpose is to make people go "what the fuck is WATD even about" until they have to read it out of curiosity 😌 I would also love to hear someone's thoughts on that LOL (though I'm not sure how many questions I can answer without spoilers)

I'm assuming you came from the romantic partner headcanons, so in case you haven't seen the ones I posted before that, you might enjoy the Herobrine headcanons here, there, and here! And just for kicks, take a few We Are The Daylight doodles with some fun characterization/interactions too.

never apologize anon, you are never cluttering my inbox. I cherish feedback on my ideas and art so much ❤️❤️ I remember getting back into Minecraft in 2019 and seeing people on mineblr talking about/drawing Herobrine and realizing I was "allowed" to care about him again and how amazing it felt, and I'm honored to be passing that feeling on now :] 🫶 🫶 🫶

Bonus:

You really put in some thought in a cube game, that's for sure

you think this is some thought? you should see my ideas for the Minecraft industrial revolution (breakthroughs in and widespread adoption of redstone technology), economy, infrastructure, medicine, warfare, population distribution, and water treatment !

[cherr1best]

hiii! this post iz gonna be alllll abt me so BUCKLE UP ૮꒰ ྀི >⸝⸝⸝< ྀི꒱ა

you can call me cherri, this is my silly little intro post!

˚ ༘✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷

💬 heads up: i'm bi and neurodivergent. while my boundaries aren’t crazy strict, i draw the line at disrespecting any communities, including the ones i’m part of. pls dni if you are racist, ableist, transphobic, homophobic, or anyone who believes certain people shouldn’t be accepted. anyone of any interests, appearance, or disability are welcome here, and those who don’t accept them are not. thank u!

💬 see also: i’m not sure if i will or not yet, but sometimes i find myself on the horny side of tumblr and may repost content of that sort. please mdni or avoid those posts — it won’t be often, but do not interact.

🎀﹒BASICS → name: cherri → age: 19 → pronouns: she/her → cis fem with chaotic bi energy — i love dudes but girls are goddesses i can’t tear my eyes away from, ever → neurodivergent with adhd and (not a self-diagnosis) some bpd traits → current mood: obsessed with fictional men 😛 → love language: quality time + words of affirmation! i love talking and spending time w others — drop a nice little message in my inbox anytime 💌 → i’m a huge nerd — the energetic kind

﹒🌷﹒INTERESTS & FAVES → ocs, worldbuilding, writing, linguistics, art, painting, character designing, and LOTS of daydreaming (i treat tumblr like my diary) → i adore foxes — not just aesthetically but spiritually. i heavily identify with the fox as a spirit/twin animal, and honestly, i act like one too → i love monster high and old barbie movies → fnaf (and fnaf fan games), gloomy bear, junji ito, indie horror, pokémon, mha, soul eater (my fav anime/manga), saiki k, dr stone, gachiakuta, and uzumaki (recently read, still my top manga ever) → i watch: hello kitty, jjk, mob psycho 100, death note. ouran, danganronpa, and creators like coryxkenshin, markiplier, caseoh, jarvis johnson, rebal d, kurtis conner, danny gonzalez, drew gooden, not even emily, chad chad, courtreezy, dorisxchi, 3fs, deb smikle, matpat, etc → games: minecraft, cooking mama, the remains of edith finch, that’s not my neighbor → music: alt rock (punk + indie), soft sad girl vibes, edm, j-pop, hyper cutegore, vocaloid → favorite band: serani poji → favorite indie artist: temachii → kawaii kei fashion + pinterest moodboards own me

🧸﹒HOBBIES → writing (always) → doodling + painting → character designing (especially for ocs + self-inserts) → making moodboards → procrastinating schoolwork like a champ

﹒📖﹒WRITING & PROJECTS → mostly original stuff with lots of ocs → genres i write: psychological horror with intense gore, character-driven romances, and sometimes poetry/haikus → current project: worldbuilding a hybrid-creating government experiment from the seventies called HALO that spiraled ethically out of control + was shut down in ’09 after protests → i don’t write much fanfic, but i love reading + reblogging it → might post drabbles, character rambles, or longer WIPs — feel free to ask about my babies <3

🌸﹒STUDYING & LEARNING → studying language, asian culture, neuroscience, and philosophy → not the smartest cookie but i love learning → deadlines hate me → i have adhd and hyperfixate hard — i’ll either spam my blog or vanish for 2 months, no in-between

﹒💌﹒BOUNDARIES → be kind, respectful, and normal about my ocs → no nsfw if you’re under 18 → dni: bigotry, drama chasers, ai repost blogs, weird vibes → you can dm or ask things — just don’t be weird 💕

i like to daydream and i do it a lot. i’m random lol, get over it. hope you enjoyed getting to know me! again, feel free to send a message/ask my way, just remember to be kind and respectful :p!

[trayoftrinkets]

I think it is about time I sell my soul to Brothers Without A Tomorrow because I really do not know how else to thank them for consistently putting out such amazing works— yes, I finally caught up with Dear Zero and am currently experiencing the worst existential crisis of the year so far.

Like I want to throw myself off a cliff so bad because how can something so perfect just exist? It should be kept in a temple and worshipped because oh. my. fucking. god.

The concept? Mindblowing.

The worldbuilding? Jawdropping.

The story so far? Impeccable.

The characters? My new obsession.

The art? Should be worshipped by all of humanity for all the years to come.

I'm happy that this precious piece of media is my introduction to guideverse, a genre that I've been meaning to explore for quite sometime now but did not know from where to begin. But now that I've gotten a taste of this hidden fruit, I think I will be digging through the darkest corners of the internet to find more. But before all that, let's go back to bwat because this is a bwat appreciation post and I need to yap about them.

To say that I'm obsessed with their writing and their art would be an understatement. I will forever be grateful to the stars that allowed me to be alive at the same time as this person and I'm not even being dramatic, I really do owe them my life.

I was first introduced to their works by my best friend, who had asked me to read Taming the Tiger. And when I tell you I felt my world shift.. l mean it in the way that I finally unlocked a door that would let me experience some of the strongest feelings I've ever felt while engaging with any form of media. Like, you know I absolutely love pretty art and amazing stories, right?

So when the two blended in such a seamless way that ticked every one of my boxes, how can you expect me to not vibrate at the frequency of light and erupt into flames? I MEAN LOOK AT THIS. LOOK AT THEM.

Not to mention how some of the illustrations reminded me so much of ranwan. You know it's serious when my brain connects something to ranwan. I really was fighting for my life out here. And those side stories? Oh, I was sobbing into my pillow, alright.

A few months later, after I was finally able to take in all of Taming the Tiger, I decided it was time to read Miscreants and Mayhem. It was a spur of the moment kind of decision, but oh boy did it spur me to jump off the nearest cliff because Juicy. Fucking. Citrus.

Pleek do mind the tags on this one if you haven't read it yet and/or are planning on reading.

It was a total surprise. In all sense of the word. If you've known me long enough, you know I am always on the hunt for stories with subversive tropes, morally grey black characters and, well, downright the most problematic shit you could imagine. And this manhwa managed to tick some of those boxes. I did have an issue with some stuff but in the grand scheme of things, it was all fine.

I started Smyrna and Capri quite recently (well, almost three months ago but I've been busy so I'm still stuck in the 40s). I was not expecting to like it but to my surprise, it quickly became a favourite.

Absolutely love the chibis in this one, and the little spirits. Oh, they bring me so much joy. I also like the humour and the awkwardness. Got me giggling, kicking my feet in the air. And I kinda dig the whole concept here even if I'm not that into mpreg stuff (buzzer goes wee woo wee woo, lights turn red, a voice speaks into the mic: that is incorr—), so yeah, I hope I can pick it back up and get back to reading soon!

Another work of theirs I've been eyeing to read is Blood Link. It looks tempting, I'll be starting it once I'm done with Smyrna and Capri.

Now, all that being said, some of the main reasons why I love Brothers Without A Tomorrow is not just because of the writing and the art, not just because of the multilayered stories and complex characters, but also because of how they break the established norm in BL Manhwas. Dark skinned characters and masculine bottoms? I will be at the scene of crime!

(pc: pinterest)

[numanumbra]

Man. I’ve been wanting to be more active + draw more lately, but for the past few weeks I had been in the process of moving! Still unpacking things and figuring out some other stuff in the meantime, but I’m hoping to have more time to sit down and draw.

On that note…

My laptop that I’ve been using to make digital art is on the verge of exploding (the battery has been long dead and can’t hold a charge - it has to be plugged in or it’ll shut off immediately) and showing some warning signs for that. I can’t say when I can return to that medium comfortably, but it’s on my agenda to get a new computer suitable for art + gaming soon.

I can focus more and practice on traditional art in the meantime! It’s still difficult to take pictures of the art that make it look great, and the colors aren’t always accurate when shown on the screen, but it’s something. Could be a good excuse to focus on monochromatic pieces, too!

Might still be busy a while longer - currently in the process of looking for a job - but I can at least focus on the ideas I want to draw and develop them more.

I can also start posting more text posts for story-oriented things/worldbuilding for projects I have going, such as the Naga TFA AU or my “bizarro” clones of Mega Man X characters, or even squishies/sphinxes!

Still trying to improve my mental health little by little where I can as the stress of the past few months have taken a toll on me, but I appreciate everyone’s kind words and attention on my work so far. Thank you all, it really means a lot to me. 💖

[venomouschocolate]

Why Do They Talk Like That: a stream of consciousness

Fantasy linguistics are so hard like where do you draw the line... I mean none of my characters are referencing major theistic religions or using real life loanwords or expletives but then there's quote-unquote fun stuff like "sadism" or "lunatic" or "sinister". i.e the Marquis de Sade does not exist in this world, but the concept of pleasure from cruelty does... Latin is not a language there, but I, personally, am writing in English, which has much of its etymology rooted in Latin (as well as pretty much every other language ever), even if there is no hate for left-handed people or indeed the left in this world, so "sinister" is inexplicable in itself now (odd how the left has historically been demonised and that it's also the socialist side of the political spectrum. not that odd really. thank you robert walpole?). The same with "lunatic": the moon is literally worshipped in some areas of my world, but it's still a term characters use, despite the moon having positive connotations.

Where Do You Draw The Line... I can't write in a conlang because a) I am not masochistic but b) I want my work to actually be read. You can imply different languages with accents and word choice and compound words, but ultimately I am writing in the same language for all (despite being bilingual, go me!) and ultimately that language is one that exists only in our world and not in the one that I've created.

While we're here, let's talk about swearing (cursing if you're american?) in fantasy settings. I don't mean "oh my god/s", that's arguably blasphemy and certainly not explicit; I don't mean "bloody" (not really explicit either) because frankly that does tend to fit a fantasy vibe with the type of characters likely to use it (considering the real world stereotypes and thus the archetypes an author will write using it). I mean expletives like "fuck", "bitch", "shit": STOP USING THEM. you absolute buffoons.

Recently I read a fantasy novel which included a whole magic system and several countries with absolute monarchies, etc, and they kept using expletives and it just did not work, and it never does. A step back: I believe that using expletives when writing in a real world setting (provided it's period-believable, of course) can work, and often (not always, not even mostly) works - I do it myself. However, believable expletives and exclamations and intensifiers can and sometimes do make or break worldbuilding, at least for me. The worldbuilding in the novel was fine, good even! But every time the (twenty-eight-year-old) mc used "fucking" or "bitch", I was immediately yanked out of the story and into reality. It was like reading a period piece (say, in the 19th-early 20th century) and seeing "bitch" in the expletive (slur) sense. I don't care whether it would be used: I don't BELIEVE that it would be.

Suspension of disbelief is everything, which (as a theatre kid...) is, I suspect, why musical films don't work: we're primed for a more true-to-life piece, whereas in a theatre, we're prepared to cast a lot more aside. We KNOW they're actors, we know bursting into song is unrealistic, but it's the stage! We believe it anyway. Seeing a fantasy character, particularly one that was meant to be a minor royal, consistently THINK in expletives (and not just exclaim them!) felt to me like watching Mean Girls The Musical The Movie. I did not believe the magic (which was a major plot point so it kind of sucked). I did not believe that the characters saying "bitch" and "fuck" would say those words, especially since those characters were almost exclusively limited to the middle-aged queen, an almost thirty-year-old established to be groomed into mild-mannered obedience, the former queen's guard and a (bastard) prince. I did not believe that the characters whose thoughts I was reading would think them, and thus I did not believe in the story.

If you're going to create a prose-based world intended to be separate from our own in terms of religion/history/sociopolitical structure/magic/etc, you NEED to think about the linguistics. I'm not saying think HARD or be super mega creative: in my sky-worship country, a common exclamation is "stars-be", short for "stars-be-dimmed", ditto "skies-be" and "skies-be-felled". My sun-based little sillies go "be-set" as in "sun-be-set"; the only country in a technological revolution (also the only country with guns): "I'm not wired that way"; "he's gearing for a fight"; "I was shooting for you". Furthermore, when explaining their culture in other languages, they struggle for words, because, for example, a train is a monolingual concept (one falters when about to describe someone as a "train wreck" and just goes "sorry"). It's not clever, it's not particularly original, but, in my opinion, it makes the language, and by extension the world, more believable.

While I'm mid-rant: there's a marked difference between characters of different class and upbringing. My more religious, self-righteous queen of skycountry says "my stars": she rules the country, she is a little crazy insane, she feels that she owns the sky, too. A less-educated character uses slang like "lunar", "feared", "heartfulness" where his posh boy counterpart says "insane", "afraid" and "empathy". And yes, I am totally neurodivergent, and I think about details, and I also study the development of the English language and want to continue to do so at university, so of course I am more drawn to it, but at the end of the day if you're writing prose then the words are really bloody important.

TLDR: worldbuilding is hard; do your high fantasy (or even low fantasy) characters NEED to say "fuck"?