#goes for writers too

[aethersea]

another thing fantasy writers should keep track of is how much of their worldbuilding is aesthetic-based. it's not unlike the sci-fi hardness scale, which measures how closely a story holds to known, real principles of science. The Martian is extremely hard sci-fi, with nearly every detail being grounded in realistic fact as we know it; Star Trek is extremely soft sci-fi, with a vaguely plausible "space travel and no resource scarcity" premise used as a foundation for the wildest ideas the writers' room could come up with. and much as Star Trek fuckin rules, there's nothing wrong with aesthetic-based fantasy worldbuilding!

(sidenote we're not calling this 'soft fantasy' bc there's already a hard/soft divide in fantasy: hard magic follows consistent rules, like "earthbenders can always and only bend earth", and soft magic follows vague rules that often just ~feel right~, like the Force. this frankly kinda maps, but I'm not talking about just the magic, I'm talking about the worldbuilding as a whole.

actually for the purposes of this post we're calling it grounded vs airy fantasy, bc that's succinct and sounds cool.)

a great example of grounded fantasy is Dungeon Meshi: the dungeon ecosystem is meticulously thought out, the plot is driven by the very realistic need to eat well while adventuring, the story touches on both social and psychological effects of the whole 'no one dies forever down here' situation, the list goes on. the worldbuilding wants to be engaged with on a mechanical level and it rewards that engagement.

deliberately airy fantasy is less common, because in a funny way it's much harder to do. people tend to like explanations. it takes skill to pull off "the world is this way because I said so." Narnia manages: these kids fall into a magic world through the back of a wardrobe, befriend talking beavers who drink tea, get weapons from Santa Claus, dance with Bacchus and his maenads, and sail to the edge of the world, without ever breaking suspension of disbelief. it works because every new thing that happens fits the vibes. it's all just vibes! engaging with the worldbuilding on a mechanical level wouldn't just be futile, it'd be missing the point entirely.

the reason I started off calling this aesthetic-based is that an airy story will usually lean hard on an existing aesthetic, ideally one that's widely known by the target audience. Lewis was drawing on fables, fairy tales, myths, children's stories, and the vague idea of ~medieval europe~ that is to this day our most generic fantasy setting. when a prince falls in love with a fallen star, when there are giants who welcome lost children warmly and fatten them up for the feast, it all fits because these are things we'd expect to find in this story. none of this jars against what we've already seen.

and the point of it is to be wondrous and whimsical, to set the tone for the story Lewis wants to tell. and it does a great job! the airy worldbuilding serves the purposes of the story, and it's no less elegant than Ryōko Kui's elaborately grounded dungeon. neither kind of worldbuilding is better than the other.

however.

you do have to know which one you're doing.

the whole reason I'm writing this is that I saw yet another long, entertaining post dragging GRRM for absolute filth. asoiaf is a fun one because on some axes it's pretty grounded (political fuck-around-and-find-out, rumors spread farther than fact, fastest way to lose a war is to let your people starve, etc), but on others it's entirely airy (some people have magic Just Cause, the various peoples are each based on an aesthetic/stereotype/cliché with no real thought to how they influence each other as neighbors, the super-long seasons have no effect on ecology, etc).

and again! none of this is actually bad! (well ok some of those stereotypes are quite bigoted. but other than that this isn't bad.) there's nothing wrong with the season thing being there to highlight how the nobles are focused on short-sighted wars for power instead of storing up resources for the extremely dangerous and inevitable winter, that's a nice allegory, and the looming threat of many harsh years set the narrative tone. and you can always mix and match airy and grounded worldbuilding – everyone does it, frankly it's a necessity, because sooner or later the answer to every worldbuilding question is "because the author wanted it to be that way." the only completely grounded writing is nonfiction.

the problem is when you pretend that your entirely airy worldbuilding is actually super duper grounded. like, for instance, claiming that your vibes-based depiction of Medieval Europe (Gritty Edition) is completely historical, and then never even showing anyone spinning. or sniffing dismissively at Tolkien for not detailing Aragorn's tax policy, and then never addressing how a pre-industrial grain-based agricultural society is going years without harvesting any crops. (stored grain goes bad! you can't even mouse-proof your silos, how are you going to deal with mold?) and the list goes on.

the man went up on national television and invited us to engage with his worldbuilding mechanically, and then if you actually do that, it shatters like spun sugar under the pressure. doesn't he realize that's not the part of the story that's load-bearing! he should've directed our focus to the political machinations and extensive trope deconstruction, not the handwavey bit.

point is, as a fantasy writer there will always be some amount of your worldbuilding that boils down to 'because I said so,' and there's nothing wrong with that. nor is there anything wrong with making that your whole thing – airy worldbuilding can be beautiful and inspiring. but you have to be aware of what you're doing, because if you ask your readers to engage with the worldbuilding in gritty mechanical detail, you had better have some actual mechanics to show them.

[bixels]

The Ryoko Kui interview's reception is such a disaster over a pretty normal (yet still flawed) interview between a non-Japanese fan and Japanese artistic. This is discourse for discourse's sake, and it's no surprise that almost every Twitter user I've looked at who's using this interview to parade Kui around as a goated mangaka standing strong against Western ideology is anti-trans.

Like, I do think the interview was kinda wonky with its focus on fandom culture, which Kui clearly didn't have much interest in. But sometimes that happens. Sometimes interactions between two people, especially a fan and a creator, two people who view and interact with a piece of media in completely opposite perspectives, don't click. Does this really need to get blown up into a "West vs. East culture war" issue.

Anyways, Kui saying "I don't consider my audience's interpretations when writing. I leave it to their imaginations, but I have my own read on things too" is the healthiest, most normal thing an artist/writer who wants a non-parasocial audience could say. Artists and writers use this line all the time. If Kui didn't enjoy autistic Laius or Farcille headcanons, she would have probably voiced/signalled her discomfort, like she did on the topic of Senshi fanservice. Overall, Kui handled the interview really well. Props to her to sticking to her guns and keeping a healthy disconnect from the fandom. While I think the interviewer could've/should've been more tactful and restrained, the flaws in their questions is not a symptom of the woke mind virus trying to wriggle its way into the pure Japanese psyche. It's the sign of an over-eager fan who sees a piece of fiction differently than its creator.

[lokh]

modern au where shuro is enamoured with a writer only known as touden. he loves their off beat humour, the startlingly poignant insights into the nature of people, the look into western culture and behaviour it offers him and the in depth niche knowledge. when he meets laios and co he's convinced touden must be falin, because who else could it be?? her bumbling brother that gets a little too excited when he talks about monsters and cryptids???? that dreaminess, the appreciation for the strange, her compassion, it MUST be her right? it's laios.

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

I have walked away after reading the news, made a cup of tea, and have returned more calm with a fresh meme and hot take for y’all

[mayhemspreadingguy]

I did these illustrations for @beholdingthegaytimes 's fic 'It's Only Forever, Not Long At All' which is a part of The Endless Big Bang 2023.

[inklore]

i love people who write for underrated characters and fandoms. i love people who barely get 100 notes and keep posting. keep writing. keep doing what they love and not letting lack of interaction completely hinder their enjoyment on here. you’re strong. you’re valid. you’re literally the backbone of the writing community on here!!!!

[sophiphi]

Guys. GUYS. listen to me- kate carter is a natural brunette. no i’m not just saying that because daisy edgar jones has brown hair naturally, there’s a picture of young kate and her mom that is shown in the scene where she comes back home. I caught it on my second rewatch. I mean ofc you could chalk up her darker roots to it just being a dirty blonde but no, she really is a brunette.

Which brings me to this thought- I wonder what Tyler’s reaction (along with the others ofc) would be when they see Kate with brown hair. Let’s say her blonde dye was growing out enough for her to decide to dye it back. Maybe she does it when she went back to NY for a bit before going back to Oklahoma. Will there be chaos? Definitely. Will Tyler Owens get a heart attack? Duh. Like, imagine the possibilities guys, hellooo

[charmac]

This is still so funny to me... in like, a sweet way lol

[arowyn-m]

I’ve probably said this before but I will be a tiny bit disappointed if we don’t get a flashback to late-teens Viktor…I want to see him meeting Heimer and sneaking into the academy and other shenanigans—we’re missing the sass development between the kid that ran from Singed’s lair and Act 1 Viktor fr

[cloudysarts]

this show would be good if literally everything about it was different

[stolen-glass-bottle]

Shoutout ao3, nothing particular happened, I just feel it needed to be said

[strawberrycakeeanon69]

Hot take: Anyone who writes a problematic fic to get their rocks off is a disgusting piece of shit who needs to touch grass and/or go to therapy:

Like I have NO PROBLEM with kinks, mental illness, injuries, abuse, SA, incest, or a general big sad story IF WRITTEN WITH RESPECT AND GRACE TO VICTIMS OF BAD THINGS OR KINK LOVERS INSTEAD OF ROMANTICIZING THE BAD STUFF OR DEROGATING KINK CULTURE TO FIT YOUR DISGUSTING WHIMS!!

Like can’t we all be SEMI NORMAL and write a NON PROBLEMATIC and HEALTHY schlatt x reader.

Please?

And on top of that, can we PLEASE stop being CREEPY towards schlatt, like bro doesn’t even leave his HOUSE because of you crazy fucks!

God, some of y’all deserve to go to super tumblr hell (derogatory). ~🍰🍓

[bixels]

What did/do you like about Pharah?

Uh, gameplay-wise, I really love characters in shooters who rely on three-dimensional movement techs. Chaining together hover and jump to stay in the air for as long as possible and keep momentum is so satisfying, and picking enemies off from the sky made me feel like a bird of prey. I was a good Pharah main.

Story-wise, there unfortunately isn't much to canonically go off because Pharah is so underutilized and neglected. Her personality's pretty boilerplate "heroic hero" (she's literally inspired by Captain America).

But it's the crumbs/bits and pieces that I really latched onto. Pharah's a confirmed lesbian; her short story with Baptiste implies she harbors a crush on Mercy (fucking thank you.). She's biracial Egyptian/First Nations. She has major mommy issues, having grown up both admiring and resenting Ana. She's the bridge between Old Overwatch, inspired by the idealized heroes who surrounded her childhood, and New Overwatch. She's one of the only inter-generational characters in the cast; someone whose experiences span the gap, which is why I seriously believe Pharah would make a great main character.

There isn't much to go off of, though; she's a very uncomplicated character (she's a soldier for a private military corporation, lol.). But that just means she's a blank slate character, so I've seen fanfic writers run wild and create some really interesting takes on her. My favorite interpretation of her's a dense, herbo gym-bro type (a lot of her liens are about work outs, exercising, and playing sports) who's easily excitable under her seemingly self-serious, armored visage. We see how she tends to gloat and hype herself up when she's on a streak too, so Pharah definitely has a competitive and boastful side under her more professional and militant performance.

Now Mercy? Mercy is a real complex character.

[cleverheroine]

Kyoshi: okay so I can take over you and wipe out all these firebenders on my island.

Aang: cool!

Kyoshi: any avatar can do it so long as you're in their shrine!

Aang: hey cool! So...so does every single avatar have a shrine built to them or do you guys just keep reconstructing the only local shrine you have to represent the most recent avatar of your element in the cycle or--

Kyoshi: shut up. Now let me take over in an awesome display of power. You never need to work for any battle again!

Aang: okay!

*later*

Aang: hey kuruk, since this is your shrine, can you take over and get rid of these fire benders?

Kuruk: no!?

Aang: but avatar kyoshi said ---

Kuruk: avatar kyoshi is a lying hoe!!!!

Aang: but she literally --

Kuruk: I can't because I have past trauma.

Aang: I'm starting to think you all do, but Kyoshi --

Kuruk: so much trauma

Aang: my people are all dead, kuruk.

Kuruk: don't cry for me Argentina.....anyway fuck you and goodbye.

---

Yue: so did kuruk help?

Aang: I don't know wtf just happened...it's almost as if someone wrote themselves into a corner by establishing a new superpower I could use...realized too late what the implications were...and rather than retcon it they want to gaslight me about it....

[vellichorom]

" As they made it to the end they practically skidded along the floor and came to a halt in the Zen room, only to freeze up. 

Thierry, who they hadn’t seen in a while, was sitting there, looking at the lights before he turned to look at [YN] with wide eyes.

The colors of the room were strangely different. Instead of its normal bright yellow, blue, orange, and green, The room was casted in pink hues and the patterns in the room were clusters of pink hearts. 

They stared at each other.

Thierry was silent, as though struggling to find the words to speak. The lights in the room seemed to oddly reflect in his eyes. Like he had actually absorbed the colors. Beautiful swirling colors.... "

///

lowkey brainrotting over @ihazmunchies91's The Narrative Parable, A FANDOM NARRATOR X READER - WHICH YOU CAN START READING RIGHT HERE! something i'm so very lucky to not only enjoy, but to really be apart of!

-- HERE'S TO CHAPTER 7 & ONWARD! ( where hopefully someday i can catch up on all the fanart i want to make here )

[slightly-gay-pogohammer]

this post is about riverdale and sabrina and winx club and velma and the powerpuff girls but right now it’s mostly about velma