#i'm going to keep worldbuilding and drawing my babies in this

[moossings]

drawn in

the f1 mafia au that no one asked for and won't leave my brain at all. mainly charlos, but featuring most of the grid and ex drivers. i've been worldbuilding with @5ainz (bless for bearing with me) and in between drawings and character sheets, i ventured to write this tiny snippet to hype myself (and be less scared of writing). if you read this, thank you and enjoy! ✨

-

“You shouldn't be here.”

Carlos’ eyes don’t move from the painting. The Death of the Virgin, by Caravaggio. He smiles to himself, shaking his head. He wouldn’t expect less from the Rosso Corsa, always proud and ready to show off their legacy. Come to think about it, everything in his life was linked to red somehow. And at the same time, inevitably, to the wounds it left.

“Are you going to kick me out, altezza reale? Like a bad behaved dog?” He does turn his head then. His tone is supposed to be mocking, but the moment brown eyes meet green, his resolution falters.

Charles Leclerc, composed as ever, stands on the door, as if he had just closed it. Carlos swears he hears the lock turn as well, but his mind is rather busy tracking every single hair out of place, from the top of his head to the strands scattering on his forehead. His gun feels heavy where it rests in its holster under his jacket.

“And aren’t you the most loyal one? Fernando must be proud.” Charles leaves the door to stand next to Carlos, shoulders almost brushing but not close enough. It’s their thing, throw knives and dodge, push and pull. The Inspector’s little prince and the right hand of the Spanish Samurai.

The silence between them is not awkward, but it feels tense in the same way the air is charged right before a storm. They look at the painting, but the details they recollect are not the brushstrokes or perspective of the piece. It’s the subtle hints of cologne coming off Charles’ skin when he tilts his head, following the lines of the old wood on the frame instead of the ones of Carlos’ perfectly tailored suit. It’s the flex on Carlos’ clenched fists as his mind repeats over and over how very not good it would be to reach and find out how Charles’ hands feel with their fingers laced.

“Did you know,” Carlos says, his voice almost a whisper. “This painting was rejected by the patron who commissioned it. No one had ever painted the actual death of the Virgin, it was a dogma, and Caravaggio depicted her as mortal: pale, bloated and devoid of spirit.” He sighs and looks sideways at Charles, from under his lashes. “It is also said that Caravggio painted her after a prostitute, so maybe that was the real reason.”

Charles tries to school his features, to stop the smile from being evident, but those sweet dimples betray him. Time to stop pretending, it seems. “I didn’t know you were interested in art.” He turns to face Carlos fully, carefully studying the strong features he usually only catches in glimpses. He is setting the ground for truce, building the bridge.

Carlos chuckles, and it sounds tired. “Really? Don’t tell me Sebastian didn’t include it in my file. He used to be more thorough with his research, he is starting to slip.” But he still faces Charles, willing to meet him halfway. “There is a lot more that you couldn’t possibly know.”

“What if I wanted to find out? What would it take?” Charles takes a step forward. Carlos lets him.

“Stupidity. Recklessness. Naivety.” He counts with his fingers, brows furrowed but playful smirk. Charles can’t really tell which one he actually means. “Trust.”

“That sounds like a challenge, Sainz.” And Charles has never backed up from one. Today is not the day he’ll start.

He extends his hand and, in seconds, a warm bigger one takes it in a firm but soft grip.

“It’s Carlos.” A smirk draws up the corners of his full lips. “You are in for a ride, cariño.”

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

Amelia's Zelda Calamity Quintet Resource List

Hi there, I'm Amelia (she/they). You may also know me as Hart or Echo (my old handle was echosound). This is a master post of links for my works as well as all the tags I use on this blog. This post will be pinned on the blog and I will update it as needed so check back if there's something new.

You can find my profiles here: AO3 - Wattpad

Expanding Hyrule Community Discord (16+)

Quick FAQs

Is this a main blog? This is a side blog, my main is @amelias-hart.

Can I draw fanart of your characters? Yes, absolutely. I should clarify. You are more than welcome to draw art based on the descriptions in my fics and the resources I put out for them. I work with other artists though for most of my character art. If you are going to use those designs, make sure you're familiar with their opinions on fanart.

What kinds of LoZ fics to you write? All of my fics are fully original legend and long form stories. My average chapter length is 3k and the shortest of my fics (not in a series) is currently drafting to be like 100 chapters.

How adult/mature are they? It ranges, but typically it's pretty tame. I don't really handle gore and explicit scenes, and I'm not a fan of dark fantasy generally as a writer. If fics are rated adult/mature, it's typically because the characters are largely adults.

Is there romance? We're on that Zelink train, absolutely! There are no explicit scenes, again, so the range here is fluff (GoS, RA) to some more mature flirting with some innuendo being about the most serious content (DAD). Maybe a more intense kissing scene once the slow burn gets through to that (MoaH).

How do you write so much? Autism baby. Got that clinical hyperfocus going.

Do I need to read your fics in a certain order? No, all of them are stand alone but they do share a linked timeline in the following: GoS -> MoaH -> RA -> CoL -> DAD (And honestly it's really just GoS and MoaH with any "serious" timeline lore connections)

What's the Convergence? To the previous point, it's referring to GoS any time it comes up. Really only a thing in MoaH and MoaH does try to explain it within the text.

Will add more as they come up. If it's not here, it's probably below. If not, send it as a reply or an ask and I'll add it!

Other Custom Tags List

#originallegends/#lozoriginallegends - Pending community tag for Legend of Zelda fics about original iterations of Hyrule. Check out @expanding-hyrule for more details.

#moahmemes - This is for memes and quotes redone with the MoaH cast for fun, mostly for character exploration and cause it's funny.

#moah worldbuilding - In character worbuilding snippets about various topics for the MoaH era of Hyrule.

Open Ask List

I'm always open to asks, but I have a few prompts I figured I'd throw out if y'all want ideas.

Web: Asks for an update to the MoaH Obsidian web

WIPWednesdays: I'll post a snippet of MoaH, very likely will contain spoilers for a later part/book than is out.

Star: I'll give ya a random factoid about something in one of my fics, you can add fic tags if you'd like a specific.

Character asks: I don't have art, but you can absolutely send in character asks for the cast. I love these, they're great character voice practice. Please keep to one question per ask, but you're welcome to send as many as you like.

Fic List

Goddess of Secrecy (Complete on Wattpad, New Edited Chapters On Wednesdays & Saturdays To Both) - #goddessofsecrecy, #gos, #gosspoilers

Hyrule has only ever dreamt of an end to the resurrection of Demise. With the returning of an ancient power, that dream could finally be fulfilled. Can the Hero of the Fourth Goddess save Hyrule once and for all?

Fic Links: AO3 - Wattpad

Mark of a Hero (Updates on Tuesdays & Fridays, 1 of 9) - #markofahero, #moah, #moahspoilers

Hyrule is at peace, or so the Royal Family would have its people believe. Something is afoot in the kingdom, and someone needs to do something about it. Least likely would be Marksmen Link Sayre- a mercenary and monster hunter doing his best to get by. Until a job goes wrong, and he gets roped into the secret plans of Hyrule's princess. Now Link must play the part of the Hero to dive deeper into the mystery, and maybe stumble into a legend of his own.

Fic Links:

Book 1: AO3 - Wattpad

Book 2:

Book 3:

Book 4:

Book 5:

Book 6:

Book 7:

Book 8:

Book 9:

Series Link: AO3

Arc Progress & Spoiler Reference

Character Reference Page

General Setting Resources Page

Restoration Age (Hiatus) - #restorationage

Hyrule has grown. The fairy tale kingdom that has endured for eons is no more. And while historians argue over what history needs to be preserved, Hyrule endures and thrives in the modern age. With the proverbial guide book gone, where will the kingdom go now? And what would a Hero mean for a country that no longer needs a Hero?

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

Cinders of Life (Hiatus) - #cindersoflife

Hyrule has burned. No more is the vibrant kingdom that was once protected by the Hero. Now is the reign of evil, an evil without end. Hope is a word used without meaning, and hero is all but lost. Could one even stand if the people of Hyrule don't even know what they would be calling on?

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

Day After Destiny (Hiatus) - #dayafterdestiny

Hyrule is beginning its new golden age. The king and queen prepare to hand their crowns to their daughter and her husband. It is a union out of legend, though legend is far from anyone's mind in Hyrule. For who would call upon ancient war heroes in a time of peace? The wars for Hyrule have been won.

Fic Link: Wattpad - Not yet imported to AO3

[captainjonnitkessler]

hey you're the only person whose atheism takes i actually like AND you share some fandoms with me so i wanna ask how you'd approach this cause i'm short on ideas

i'm a big fan of fantasy gods and religion (zelda, final fantasy, dnd, etc) but it always boils down to "The Gods are de facto real and good so we worship them" or "There are some Good and some Evil Gods" but I'm kinda religious-traumatized so every time I try to work with the setting (and don't get me wrong, I like it as fantasy worldbuilding!) I accidently don't know where to go except angst and cult-stuff

but I was wondering if you had some other ideas for an antitheist depicting fantasy gods that doesn't feel like opening old scars or staring into the abyss, or if you know any resources i can look at

I love this ask, religion in fantasy is something that does fascinate me! Because as you say, a lot of works have a pretty generic "these are the Good gods the good guys worship and these are the Bad gods that the bad guys worship", which is, y'know. Honestly fine, if religion isn't a big theme in the work, but is also overlooking a ton of potential.

I think in something like dnd, where the gods are demonstrably real and there's little to no argument about who they are and what they want, the debate shifts from "is this true?" to "this is true, but why should I care?" Do people think gods are inherently worthy of worship, or do they expect to get something in return? What do the gods have to offer their worshipers? What do they demand in return, and why? In what way does worshiping or not worshiping a god impact your average peasant's day to day life? What would draw someone to one god over another? Dnd gods usually aren't all-powerful, so in what ways are they limited and how do they deal with that? Are the gods trying to achieve some sort of goal, and if so why? If your protagonist is worshiping someone, is it important to them or is it something they just do out of habit/family tradition?

I'm also a fan of the Terry Pratchett method of "the gods are real and are mostly minor annoyances". I mean sure, they're there, but you don't go around believing in them, because it would be like believing in a table. I think this is a funny option when you want to keep the gods around as part of the setting, but don't really want to do any religious narrative stuff. (Although as Pterry proves in Small Gods, you can also use this setup for a very powerful narrative if you so choose.)

And for my own part, I mostly ignore religion when I'm writing for the same reason I ignore romance: I simply don't care about it and don't want to write about it so I pretend it doesn't exist. My world now baby!!

As far as resources go - I haven't listened to much of the Writing Excuses podcast so I can't guarantee quality, but they do have a few episodes focusing on writing different types of religion in fantasy that might be worth checking out.

Anyway I'm opening this up to the floor because I would genuinely love to hear other people's takes on this. There's SO much potential for fantasy religious worldbuilding that I think gets overlooked in favor of "good vs evil pantheon" or "catholic church with the serial number filed off".

[bureaumantic]

sad that i won't be able to work on worldbuilding and drawing and stuff because i've been putting off my duties in my JROTC battalion and i'm the battalion publicist and Sergeant Major Responsibility has come a-knockin on my door to deliver my signed death warrant. in simple terms i have to do my job T-T

that is to say, stuff i was working on will be halted for like a few days lol. i'm sure you all would be devastated if any of you knew what my dastardly machinations were in the first place (all of my worldbuilding plans are currently hidden away in an ancient mountainous lair that reeks of centuries of rotting corpses and mysterious forms of life.

as you cautiously feel your way through the cavern---large enough that the torch in your hand cannot illuminate the roof nor further walls of the cavern so you cannot truly know the size of the mountain lair and cold enough for the wind to bite through your thick adventurer's coat---you hear the crunch of bones. not yours---thankfully. but something is in here with you.

you shiver---partly from fear and partly from the cold. you aren't used to this kind of weather nor environment. but you aren't here for the joy of exploration. you're here to uncover the strange and unpredictable goals of a madman. vile goals so spontaneous that not even their creator knows the next step.

months---years? or had it only been days... or mere seconds..?---ago, the lunatic had unabashedly released the location of his terrible plans on his tumblr blog. you've managed to reach the location, but you're having second thoughts now that you're in the heart of evil.

CRUNCH!

There it is again! You spin around in the direction of the sound as fast as you can---but there's nothing. And now you're lost. You've strayed far enough from the entrance that you can't find it anymore. You're sure it's over some bend or incline the cave you went down earlier, but you can't find it anymore. The spin's taken you off course too. You do your best to turn around and face the way you were going. Now there's nothing you can do but press on.

Your eyes nervously scan the imposing, choking darkness. The lick of the flames---such a small and lonely source of warmth---the steady drip, drip, drip of water off of stalagmites, and the wind blowing through the cavern are all you can hear.

You feel your left foot fall into something fleshy. You shriek---don't try to deny it! You did!---and jump backwards. Looking down, you find a boot-shaped impression on a carcass of human flesh. The skull---picked clean---smiles at you. Despite its rather bony appearance, there's quite a bit there... It seems rather new...

Shaking, you continue on. You walk for what seems like days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia, ages, eons, eras, periods, epochs, lifetimes of the universe, from explosive starts to whimpering ends, you walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk and

suddenly, you stop. Before you is a chest. Like a classic, basic treasure chest. You know the one---brown planks framed with gold and somewhat ornate but not at all too ornate or---God forbid---hard to draw or model. Stooping down suspiciously, you see a paper note pinned into the top by a dagger. It reads, "yeahhh this is nerdexer's bin where he keeps all his important stuff yeahhhhh this is it baby it's all right here"

Too tired to feel excitement, you squat down and inspect the chest. It has a keyhole, so there must be a key. Looking back at the note for any hint of a hint, you notice that the text has changed. It now reads "the key is under the chest by the way"

Lifting the surprisingly light chest, you find a key that seems to match the chest. It's a suitably nondescript key, made from the same gold-like material as the frame of the chest. The bow of the key is a stereotypical circle, the shaft is not ornate at all, and it has two rectangles that could not possibly be effective bits in any key. You lifelessly insert the key into the chest and turn it.

You hear a click and the chest magically pops open. You're startled by the unexpected movement, but you don't have time to react when a blinding light shines from the chest and bright, cheery music begins blasting at you from what seems like inside your own head.

You fall to the ground, overwhelmed, when you hear a few snaps---barely audible under the music. Then you hear a voice from the same direction saying, "Hey, hey, hey. Cut that music out. And that light too. What am I? Made of money?"

The music stops and the light fades out. The only things visible is the floor under you, your hands, and the torch.

...That torch... how come it hasn't gone out? Surely the time you've spent carrying it would have extinguished it, if not the recent drop. What... what is this place..? This isn't normal... is it..?

"Hi! Terribly sorry about that." you hear that voice again. "I haven't gotten around to uninstalling that yet... I really should, huh?" You feel their hand on your shoulder and spin to get a look at them.

It's nerdexer, hazy as ever. He says, "You're probably here for my plans, right? That's the wrong chest."

"Oh," is all you can muster. "W... where's the plan chest?"

"Look behind you."

Turning around, you see that an identical chest has appeared next to the first one. Stumbling up to the note pinned to the identical chest by an identical dagger, you read "this one is the plan chest"

"C-can I look inside..?" you ask tentatively.

"Oh sure!" says nerdexer.

Exchanging the key from keyhole to identical keyhole, the chest pops open. No fanfare this time, but inside, your trembling hands grasp one piece of paper. Written on it were the following words:

"nerdexer's PLANS!!

"

"Yeah... I never really got around to them," he says from behind your back. "Oh well, what the hell!" He rubs his neck and looks around at everything but you.

Silence fills the cavern for a moment. Then nerdexer says, "Oh I'm sorry, I know you were anticipating something more than a blank piece of paper, but really! I never did get around to it! Being battalion publicist is a lot of work when you don't do any work, you know!"

You stare back at him.

"Okay, how about this," he says with earnestness. "If you want something really dramatic, then how about this? Good luck leaving this place... alive!!" He melodramatically extends his arms out to his sides as a menacing tune on an organ plays in your mind.

As you stand there staring at him, he looks around and snaps his fingers. The menacing tune on the organ plays again. But actually, it turns out that the first menacing tune wasn't actually finished and was just in a dramatic silence so now there's two menacing tunes on an organ playing in your head at the same time playing different parts.

Looking around again, he dramatically grabs at the darkness around him and shrouds himself in it. But he accidentally grabs too much of the darkness and then you can see everything again. A bright red emergency exit door is visible right behind him.

"So......" you say, "can I go?"

"Oh yeah sure," nerdexer says. "The exit's... uhhh.. you know..." He started trying to give you directions to the exit but you already saw it and started walking towards it before he started talking, so now he awkwardly stands there gesturing towards the exit door and stammering while you do the same thing and shuffle past him.

And then you leave.)

[arabellameyer]

AN INTRODUCTION TO ME (plus side blogs/other places you can find me)

Hello everyone! How are you? I'm Arabella, and I love to worldbuild, learn about nature, draw, and a bunch of other stuff. If you have any questions about my worlduilding, let me know! Please keep conversations appropriate (no sexting or asking extremely personal questions). Here there will be reblogs of/art of some stuff you might find disturbing (body horror/gore), but I will label it as such (gore, blood, tw, nsfw, etc). It's part of my worldbuilding as you'll see here over time. But it isn't the only part of my worldbuilding, so don't worry about missing out on much. I do not tolerate any porn so none will be here. I've heard too many stories of people dealing with porn addictions and how debilitating it is, so I'm not even going to chance looking at it, lead alone reblogging it.

Filing system down below v

When I reblog stuff, I'll put it in a file system that is similar to my pinterest pinning system (same titles and such). Here's how it'll go...

(btw if any of these tags are of no interest to you, then feel free to block them)

Art:

Animal reference

Animal pose

Animal behavior

Art reference

Human pose

Guide or Art Guide

Landscape

Procreate

Ibispaint

Aesthetic/pattern:

It just looks pretty - I like it because it looks nice :)

Storytelling or Cinematic - the way it sends a message is interesting, and I'd like to use it as inspiration

Worldbuilding:

(BTW level 1 animals are animals found irl)

Level 2 - Like irl animals that have one little thing changed about them, like their color or number of eyes.

Level 3 - Mix of 2 or more animals that is hard to distinguish what the original animal is (like a cat/snake mix, was it originally a cat or originally a snake).

Level 4 - A change in the original species causes a majority of people to fear it, like deep fear it. Creepy

Level 5 - Like levels 2-4, but with a horror aspect to it (like snakes that look like intestines).

I've made guides for my leveling system and I'll post them soon, so don't worry if you're confused ;)

Dragons

Elementals

Hybrid

Scene idea - idea for a plot point or fun story in my world

Characters:

Characters - catch-all

Johann the discoverer

Damien

Mama nova

Void deer

(I'll add more as time goes on)

Memes:

Memes - general tag

Remember - has some relevance to it, whether or not it's a meme (just sorta a catch-all for anything that I want to remember. You'll see what I mean if you search through there.)

Scenario - meme that describes a scene, and I don't know where else to put it

Food for the funnies - this is where I put the stuff I actually laugh at. Not just a breath out of my nose, but a true laugh.

Derpy - •u•

Fever dream - lol those memes that make no sense or come out of left field

And that's how babies are made - I'm not even going to explain this one lol

Stay flexy - exercise ideas

Cute:

Cute - catch-all for anything adorable :3

Cute animal - specifically cute animals

Cute plant - specifically cute plants

Misc:

Recommend or Recommendation - smth I should check out (to buy or look @ again)

Pins or Enamel pins - enamel pins I like the look of.

Watch later - if I like the look of it but don't have the mental energy to completely peruse it, then I'll put it here.

Ok so that is my filing system lol. I know it's pretty long but I plan on using the references and stuff I find here.

I know I said this before, but I love talking (raging extrovert), so if you wanna chat or dump a writing idea or creature idea on me, then go for it! Heck, my commissions are also open (not getting them done immediately, tho) if you're interested (no guarantee on the quality. Just know I am still learning the fundamentals of art). Anyways, if you're reading this far, then you're one of the real ones (also, what's your favorite color? Mine is blue, but I like them all tbh) 💪. Thanks so much for reading this. I'll have a side blog here shortly where I'll post only my art so that you don't have to go through all my reblogs, lol. Anyways, thanks so much, and have a blessed day <3

P.S. this is my art-only side blog and deviantart. Here, have a mouse 🫴🐁

[llycaons]

Hello, anon!

Are you there? Last week you asked about fics that I would like to see as real books (and also for high-quality recs), and I'm able to answer you now! I wrote a lot so it's going under the cut

Honestly I mostly rbed that post out of a brief amusement over a hypothetical bc I don't think fanfic and original stories really scratch the same itch or even draw on the same skills so I am happy to keep them separated. And if I love a work for being about wx, I don't think I'd like it if it was revamped to be about original characters. I don't think most fanfic authors (who are primarily hobbyists) have the writing skill to craft really good original fiction, and that's fine! I do know for a fact at least one writer whose fics are in my rec list IS a published author and I know that her book sucks. it has got to suck with prose like that

BUT. if there was one who DID write well enough that their work could be published. Glyphic of See You Yesterday fame I have absolute faith in. The worldbuilding, while based off canon, is complex and well-developed, the plot is drawn-out but absolutely riveting, the character work is rich enough that I can see them creating compelling original characters, and the prose is gut-wrenching. If that author released a real book with a premise I had interest in, I would buy it and expect it to be good bc that fic is so delicious and I have complete faith in their ability to create original content. and it would be a finished product so I could FINISH IT without FALLING INTO DESPAIR unlike my current relationship with syy

And yes it is in my fic rec list! Each fic has a little summary and I usually say whether it's decent quality or not, plus my favorites are starred. I'd say check out Section One for all the best wangxian stuff, but See you Yesterday's entry is in Section Four

But for specifically high-quality wx/excellent writing, here are the highlights. Please keep in mind I prefer happy endings but I do tend to gravitate towards dark content since I think it captures canon themes the best, so many of these comes with hefty trigger warnings that you can see under their entries on my rec page. ALL of these are wx unless specified otherwise

From Section One:

*second person* by theherocomplex - gorgeous writing, cool concepts, lots of coming to terms with stuff. wx more at the end but really good

*fish & wild geese* by impossibletruths - little forest AU so perhaps not the most original but BEAUTIFULLY written lwj pov and a very sweet romance

empty as the sky by incendir - a casefic where wwx is transported to a universe where he still has his mother, his sister, social status, and his gc, but never fell in love with lwj. really lovely wx even tho lwj is mostly not present

*feast and famine by luckymarrow - extremely high-quality writing, including wx writing, but huge tw for sexual assault. like. that's the plot of the fic

*places under the sky by narie - lots of wwx family backstory! it hurt me so bad is all and I can never read it again

*总有一天; a place to hide (can’t find one near)* by yiqie - shaky and corny writing here and there, but overall a lovely story with some geniunely riveting passages. one of my older faves. tw for suicide attempt

*As a Shadow, As a Dream* by balmandbitterness - some creepy magic post-nghtless city keeps lwj and wwx in contact. spooky, but tender and comforting even so. and I love the ending

*somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply by perilously - spooky! let's get this married couple some therapy

the low sky, raining over by chibilwj (thelogicoftaste) - very unusual fic, this one. postcanon kidfic but the kid is maybe cursed

*Close Your Soft Eyes* by timetoboldlygo - just REALLY lovely and mature wx

Where the Lonely Ones Go by CSHfic, VSfic - really cute postcanon casefic with a haunted baby girl wx sort of adopt

From Section Two:

his hands keep turning to birds and flying away from him (him being you) by zerodignity - the first part of a series where wwx isn't cis but also doesn't have the words to describe himself. the wx in the second work in this series rules

From Section Four:

*hide fox, and all after* by blackfeather (oogenesis) - not wx, but I AM in love with the worldbuilding and I think the attention given to a tertiary character (mxy) shows a strength in original writing that you wouldn't necessarily see if someone was only writing main characters who already have personalities, backstories, etc.

*a tide in two seas by occultings (microcomets) - this one was wild

counterpart by queensmooting - similar concept to the above. also wild

*strangers on the shore by seularen - spy fic but not a bootlicking kind, just really well-researched and tense and elaborate

From Section Five:

*To Love Mountains* by HerenorThereNearnorFar - not wx, but the backstories of all the parents is SO fascinating I love you cssr

*Marital Prospects* by Vamillepudding - not particularly high-quality writing in any sense except for the fact that this author has posted some of the funniest things I have ever read and that's got to count for something. see also The Shape of Your Love (is Horny) (found in section six)

From Section Six (heed warnings abt the authors!)

*A Lot of Edges Called Perhaps* by hansbekhart - honest to god obsessed with the wx in this one

*Out of the darkness, into the day by ilip13 - a long postcanon get-together. fantastic wx

*all the depths of us* by northofallmusic (tofsla) - also great wx!

*here’s to upright men by isozyme - an nhs postcanon study

The Good That Won’t Come Out by raisedbyhyenas - postcanon wx angst/dealing with stuff. neat worldbuilding and compelling original characters

*Vagabond by xantissa - quite frankly this fic was insane to read. the wx blew my mind

*grave goods* by luckymarrow - less focused on wx and more on death and grieving. really well-done tho, and the wx IS there and important

[rainy-circle]

Tell me more about your lore/worldbuilding for the Zora! I love that you have whole family trees for them that you know you won't really fit into the story, but they *exist*! How about some of these background Zora like Torfeau and Laflat? Do you have an "extended" Domain in your mind or do you stick to the in-game version?

HOOOOOHHH MY GOD LET ME SEE if I can try to keep things relatively succinct here.

(Also in the process of writing this post I have decided it might just be easier to go ahead and NAME ALL THE DAMN ZORAS so uh. I don't know, if this is a thing y'all want to see more of. Maybe I will actually like. Expand on the family trees a bit and post them or something!! Idk!!)

- For the Domain itself, there are a couple of 'extended' locations, but I generally try to stick close to the in-game version. The big one is I imagine that there are the 'royal apartments', which is  a structure I imagine would be about here on the map:

It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like - a separate structure that contains the personal chambers of the royal family. One of Mipha's quests in Age of Calamity mentions her using Luminous Stone to decorate her "living quarters", so I sorta assume she and her family wouldn't sleep in the communal sleeping pools we see in the game. Plus. How in the world would Dorephan fit there. HOW DOES HE MOVE ANYWHERE REALLY, but I digress. It's connected to the throne room by a big staircase and looks down over the Domain.

I also imagine that there is a library underneath the Sheikah Shrine, so the main circular structure goes: throne room, sleeping pools, Sheikah Shrine room, library. AND I imagine the area underneath the Doamin, where in-game there's just some like, rocky platforms and some treasure chests, used to be more geared towards tourists, perhaps with an extra store down there and a restaurant! These are gone by the time of the game after the Calamity put an understandable halt to touristry slfjlsef Annnnd finally I do imagine there's some like... aquatic plantlife grown and farmed underneath the lake surface that we don't get to see.

FAMILY TREE TIME

I'll do Laflat first because Torfeau is one of the main characters travelling with Sidon in the fic and I've thought about her a lot more! Laflat is honestly one of the characters whose dialogue made me laugh out loud though, I love her SO MUCH.

- Actually before we go into that, both Torfeau and Laflat's family trees include two of the Domain's nonbinary Zoras! They are also some of the only young adults in the Domain who have both parents still alive by the time Link wakes up. - Laflat mentions in a bit of dialogue that her father "had to close his armor shop" after a decrease in Hylian tourists when handing over the Zora Greaves. Considering that Dento is still in business, I take this to mean her father is a separate armorer we don't get to meet. Her nonbinary parent (which I have sort of gone with calling a 'zizi', inspired by this article I read about nonbinary parent terms) is a researcher who works closely with Ledo's mom, and the two of them research insects/butterflies/dragonflies and the effects they have on cooking! - it's only briefly touched upon in chapter 1, but one of Tula's grandmothers (Marosa, Jiahto's wife) mentions that she's a retired cook and that she worked in a restaurant - one of Laflat's grandmothers worked with her there! - Laflat also has a younger sister, Tubi, who is a kind of seamstress. Zora's don't often wear cloth garments, but Tubi knows how to make them for the odd occasion a Zora does need that sort of thing!

- I'll stick with just Torfeau's immediate family because this is long haha. First off, Torfeau is Tottika's older sister! I originally headcanon'd them as twins, but upon replaying and seeking out each of Sidon's pre-Inogo-Bridge friends and talking to them, Tottika struck me as the definite baby of the bunch. And honestly I'm glad I made that decision because that way I get to draw parallels between the two of them and Mipha and Sidon - the older, responsible, introverted sister, and the younger, more naive, extroverted brother. - Torfeau and Tottika's mother is one of the only other Zoras who rivals Sidon in height! I don't really have like, a particular headcanon explanation as to why some Zoras are just GIGANTIC other than "sometimes it runs in the family" and "GENETICS ARE WEIRD, especially with fantasy fish people". She is a jeweler, which is an important job anyway because BotW establishes that gemstones contain elemental magic, but is especially important to Zoras for reasons that'll be explained in-fic. (specifically chapter 3) - their zizi is actually a close friend of King Dorephan! when Dorephan was still a prince, he went off on his own journey outside the Domain to update their maps of the Lanayru region, and their zizi was the cartographer! They're still just a cartographer, but they also ended up getting really good with a bow during the journey.

[dearaliya]

Fourth Wing: We're so back!!

Dear Aliya...

OH MY GOD!!

I know I was the one to put you onto this book, and I know you devoured it long before I was able to, but now I have come to the end and I have many many thoughts! With the next book in the series due soon, I'll have to get them all to you soon!

I'll be honest, it had been a while since I'd read a proper book. I'm talking paper, turning a page, needing a light source of some description, the whole shebang! I'm delighted to say that this is a very easy book to read and a terrific pathway back into demolishing books like the good old days.

The worldbuilding is decently rounded out and the plot points are relatively paint by numbers and predictable (which I'll get to).

Shall we dot point? Thank god I'm not spoiling this for you!

Violet Sorrengail She's got all the traits of a YA fantasy heroine and then some! However special she might end up being, there wasn't once a time I thought that things were just a bit too easy for her, which sometimes takes the fun away. Don't get me wrong, she is very special with her two dragons and duel-toned hairstyle and legacy family, but it never felt like it was getting to the point of complete absurdity which is a fine line to walk.

Her disability (Ehlers Danlos, though it isn't called that in the book) was extremely well written, naturally due to the author's experience. It's a part of her, one that she's fully come to terms with and handles on the daily, no song and dance drawing all the attention to this one big thing making it her entire personality. Rare!

It provided great growth for her as well, accepting that sometimes she isn't like everyone else (not in that way) and sometimes she needs that little bit of a helping hand was a great big step! It's a struggle to accept that sometimes you need accommodations, everyone wants independence and to concede it certainly hurts.

Xaden Riorson Speaking of independence, let's discuss my- everyone's- favourite character! Now, is he my favourite because I think that he is a very good boy who treated Violet very well and did everything he could to prepare her for the realities of fighting a war so she wouldn't have to rely on anyone?

Obviously not, she thought he was going to kill her and I swooned!

Call me predictable, my head will turn xx

I think, beyond me having a crush on him, Xaden was quite genuinely an interesting character to follow. None of the mysteries are particularly deep, but I'm hardly Sherlock Holmes and they were more than enough to keep my attention. Bit by bit, he went from generic bad boy number whatever to an actual person with thoughts and a world-formed view. He's lived in this world, before the events of the book, and you can tell from his actions, sublime!

Dain Aetos Broooooski I was foaming at the mouth. Forgive my language, but brother was on my nerves and FKN stayed there!! Look, to have someone who wants to protect is one thing, but to do that by implying incapability? Violet better than me for real, I might have told him to stick it.

Every party needs a pooper and that's why we invited Dain.

DRAGONS What's this? The biggest draw in of the book? I think so!!!

Ever since I've had eyes I too have loved shiny things and Andarnaurram is right there in my heart with all the other sparklies. She is highly baby and if anything ever happens to her you will find me face down, ugly sobbing, inconsolable.

But enough about me!

I was a fan of all the dragons and how they interacted with their riders. Everyone had fun and interesting personalities that bounced well off their human counterparts. Otherworldly? Yes. Just buddies in big scaley skins? Also yes! The different colours were cool, but the different tail endings were cooler, it's a way of differentiation I'd not seen before but you're welcome to correct me.

Other, more spoilery thoughts By other, I mean some gripes. Now, I'm a picky bitch so these aren't experience ruiners but more nitpicks.

You remember how I said paint by numbers? A LOT of the plot points were telegraphed mere moments before they occurred. Violet bonding to Tairn and Andarna, Jack's allergy to oranges and the book of fables all come to mind as clumsily dropped into sentences or entire chapters. It felt a little tooooooo hand holdy, I almost expected a kiss on the forehead once we got to where the foreshadowing wanted me.

Murder was just a little too easy to get away with. Jack was straight evil to begin with, there's no way he should have remained in the fighter quadrant. I understand the explanation, strongest prevail, yadayada, at some point maybe you should kick the dude practically HALVING your cadet pool out of the quadrant? Sure, he got scolded for killing someone in a sparring match, but any leader with half a brain would have known that numbers in a fight also matter.

Nothing more comes to mind, so I appreciate you listening to my thoughts. I'll see you next time, stay well!

Hannah xx

[verycharismaticdragon]

Got tagged by @thatlittlemouse to list 9 books I intend to read in 2022 (like a month ago but lets not dwell on that)

tagging uhhhhhh @seeorseem @danhoemei @izumiphoenix @fairandfatalasfair @snailcomicz if any of you guys want to give it a go!

MDZS - the only of MXTX's I didn't read before it went official, so I got an ebook version instead of physical copies like the other two. Stars however haven't been in position for me to start it yet.

Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov - so my bestie's Dostoevsky has been living on my bookshelf for... ten years?ish? and I figure someday I gotta actually get to reading it. I loved C&P when I was in high school, so I have some hopes.

A Sword of Frost by Yu Xiao Lan Shan - this is the only wuxia/gufeng novel of YXLS I've yet to read. Since YXLS tends towards lighter texts - like, her 'drama' (Tong Gui) is less heavy than pipi's 'easy' (You Yi) - I'm keeping this one for propping up my mental health next time I get tired of knifey stuff.

Character Design - my friends got me this baby for my bday last summer, but I've only read like three sections because studies take a lot out of me. I do want to work my way through it this year though.

Tai Sui - so we all know how I feel about priest (read 8 of her novels by now), and I've decided I wanna see her final form. Fully expect this one to rearrange me on a molecular level.

Drawing Hands & Feet by Giovanni Civardi - yet another book that has been living in my room, unread, for years. Idk where it came from actually? But anyway: while I'm pretty satisfied w/ the way I draw hands, I'm utterly plagued by leg trouble. Will it help? Who knows? I'd actually have to open it to find out though, which seems just unreasonable.

Qian Qiu - @izumiphoenix hiiiiiiii! Anyway, I've been recced this from all sides, and I've started it, but it's been slow going so far because uh. worldbuilding! politics! i wish i was getting all this info less densely!.. I assume I will eat this up as soon as the plot & character stuff picks up tho who knows.

(abridged version of) Journey to the West - I've read this one a while ago, but I'm very curious how I will see it after absorbing some cultural info from (modern) cnovels. I have considered trying the full version but reason won so far. And reading physical is easier on the eyes too, which is a huge plus for me...

Wushuang - due to my QQ troubles, I wonder if I should just start from the second book. Hey, that worked for me this far! (I've read TYK before Qi Ye and You Yi after nearly dropping ZJLY. Both times The Clowns have proven to be an easier entry point, and good motivation for finishing the other one.)

+bonus: ~Mystery Novels~ (1) an untranslated danmei novel that I've started but haven't finished yet, which will either be extremely good or I will regret ever picking it up. The plot twist that I've largely seen coming still managed to take me out at kneecaps, so it's promising! At the same time, I'm deeply afraid of the author failing to stick the landing on all of the (potentially) amazing stuff they've set up so far. The reason I'm not naming names here is that I want to be able to pretend I never picked it up if it turns out shite. (2) a novel by Mu Su Li - haven't decided which yet, but I loved Copper Coins, so I wanna read more by this author. Panguan seems like the most popular choice and was recced to me before; I'm also curious about Heitian, I've seen someone read it very tastily. (3) a novel by Cyan Wings - same as previous, I loved one of their novels (Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know) and want to read more. I know there are two translated by e.danglars, so perhaps I'll start with one of those.

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 8: nonhumans

this is easily the geekiest part of the series. and it's a Very geeky series. because sapkowski's worldbuilding is waaay more extensive than i have the time, ability, or desire to convey, i'm sticking with races both sentient and important

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

series masterpost

dopplers

dopplers, also known as vexlings, shifters, mimics, doubles, imitators, or pavrats, are a nonhuman race that can take on the appearance of nearly anyone they encounter

before mass migrations of humans, dopplers primarily inhabited the forests and plateaus around the city of novigrad, where they would transform into wolves and pack animals to hunt

their abilities are pretty impressive, dopplers can not only mimic appearance but also voice, personality, skills, behaviours, and knowledge. dopplers can even turn parts of their bodies into pieces of clothing or other objects

however, there are some limitations

dopplers can't transform into someone/thing with dramatically more mass than they have, are burned by silver, and can't drop anything they created (if they did it would kind of turn into a fleshy goop)

we've already met a doppler in twn, this sexy sexy man

BUT

it is important to note that this doppler is a huge deviation from sapkowski's lore. dopplers are pretty much always exceptionally kind and gentle. a lot of times they use their abilities to appear threatening (big teeth, sharp claws etc) because they really don't want to hurt anyone.

when dopplers aren't mimicking another form, they aren't exactly pretty. they're bald, short, have beady yellow eyes, and kinda look like they're made from soft clay

here's the hexer doppler

the most notable doppler is dudu biberveldt, who i mentioned as the halfling dainty biberveldt's fake cousin. dudu's actual name is tellico lunngrevink letorte, but dainty decided to help dudu live in novigrad by adopting him as his fake cousin.

dragons

dragons are fucking awesome. you know it, i know it, and zerrikanians know it. witcher dragons are especially awesome

they are the only being, other than cats, that can naturally harness and absorb the force of chaos

there are multiple subtypes, but most dragons fall into one of four: black dragons, green dragons, red dragons, and white dragons.

black dragons are the largest, and primarily live in swamps and wetlands where they bathe in mud. they have extremely hard scales and don't breathe fire, but an acid that causes burns similar to those from mustard gas.

green dragons (right there) are the most prominent yet smallest species of dragon, mainly living in forested areas and breathe highly flammable chlorine gas.

red dragons mainly live in hills and mountain caves and can breathe fire hot enough to melt metal

white dragons are one of the rarest species and live in the far north, and can breathe frost

however, if you watched the witcher netflix as i assume you did, you may remember golden dragons. these dragons are so rare and exceptional that they are not usually included with other species. they breathe steam and fire and can shapeshift into any living being

all dragons communicate through telepathy, although golden dragons can speak when they are in the form of a species that can speak

humans are pretty divided on the topic of dragons, with zerrikanians worshiping them and nordlings hating them.

because they are incredibly intelligent and emotional, witchers (generally) refuse to hunt them

borkh three jackdaws, also known as villentrenmerth, is the only golden dragon we know. there he is right there.

ASSASSINS OF KINGS SPOILERS NEXT TWO BULLET POINTS

the other dragon from twn was a green dragon named myrgtabrakke, borkh's mate. their daughter is named saesenthessis, also known as saskia the dragonslayer (an alias she took to explain her extensive knowledge of dragons) and the virgin of aedirn

because saskia is part golden dragon, she can shapeshift, although is much more limited than her father. she can basically only be a human looking woman with blonde hair or a huge dragon.

cut because this part is getting REALLY long

godlings

ah godlings. i love them so much. they're adorable and precious. they usually look somewhat like a human child, but with blue skin and large amber or green eyes. they don't wear much clothes, their focus is in accessories like jewelry, flowers, or tattoos

that's johnny, a holding in wild hunt.

godlings are incredibly rare, and are easily confused with young goblins. they primarily live in swamps near drowners, but aren't afraid of them.

they're quite mischievous but kind hearted, many have happy go lucky personalities and love just having fun. i adore godlings. i've said it once and i'll say it again.

higher vampires

definitely the most important group on this list, higher vampires are incredibly powerful and intelligent. they can shapeshift within certain limits, generally either looking like a human or a large terrifying bat. they also have some telepathic abilities - they can basically make you fall asleep and forget stuff

scary wooo

higher vampires do not need to drink blood to survive. some don't drink blood at all. when they do, it's like a human drinking alcohol. on full moons, groups of higher vampires go out partying and get white girl wasted

although all higher vampires have the same basic abilities, each individual has one skill they are exceptional in.

most find humans harmless but annoying, like mosquitos. they don't really like interacting with humans, which works out pretty well as higher vampires can blend in very well, even a witcher's medallion can't detect one

higher vampires also have three distinct cultures, the tdet in the far east, the ammurun across the great sea, and the gharasham in the northern realms

they are really really hard (or impossible, depending on canon) to kill. based on the books, you basically need to disintegrate them. based on the games, only higher vampires can kill other higher vampires, but humans can get close

we only meet one in the books, emiel regis rohellec terzieff-godefroy. he goes by regis for short. regis was an "alcoholic" in his youth, and has since abstained from blood or any other substance. he's incredibly old, by the end of twn season 1 he'd be 425 years old. as for regis' "special ability", he's just kind. he's an incredibly gentle and loving person. that's it. i love him.

merpeople

probably one you're already familiar with! merpeople are intelligent humanoids that inhabit the great sea. mermaids are notably gorgeous, having green hair and tails, and their scales are prized alchemy ingredients

sapkowski's mermaids can breathe above water, but the sun burns their skin so they don't stay at the surface for very long.

merpeople are incredibly powerful, they can summon krakens and the sea-dragon like race of vodyanoy respect their authority

they use their own language that's quite similar to hen llinge, but more lyrical sounding.

nymphs

nymphs are a humanoid race primarily based around nature. they have 5 subspecies, dryads (including hamadryads), leimoniad, naiad, nereid, and oread.

dryads, called eerie wives by humans and aen woedbeanna by elves, are the most prevalent, primarily living in the brokilon forest. some have human skin with olive undertones, but others are green. they usually have dark brown or green hair which is usually worn in dreadlocks (breaking my promise of not being overtly and annoyingly political in this series yet again - the dryads, especially in the netflix adaptation, are classic magical n*gress stereotypes. but more on that later.)

this is a lore-accurate one that i LOVE

dryads have incredibly strong connections with nature and magic, although it is really rare for a dryad to be a source. dryads are able to draw energy from trees, but rarely do because they don't want to hurt the trees. support dryads and take the bus.

all dryads are women. all of them. they make babies by basically luring men into the forest and doing the adult hokey pokey. also why dryads aren't really a fan of witchers, who don't make the baby butter (i am so sorry)

however, dryads can also turn a girl of another race into one of their own through the use of magic. the water of brokilon has some mutating quality that makes young girls forget their human past and physically turn into dryads, although it is less effective as the girls are older. the dryads tried to do this to ciri, but given that she's a source, nothing happened. generally, this process is done to girls who wander into brokilon, but some dryads will abduct peasants from outside the forest if they need more dryads.

here's twn dryads... yikes

this is where i think the whole racism thing becomes a bit too obvious. "uncivilized" women who live in the forest and have dreadlocks and abduct young girls from "civilized" areas?? in twn they leaned even further into this, having one of the two black women they cast be a dryad and replacing the usual bows and arrows with spears, a less sophisticated weapon. again, this series is about the lore, not the political implications of it, but it is important to keep in mind

dryads are excellent at archery, shooting anyone who comes within 80 metres of the forest. through their connection with nature, they have highly advanced medicine and use glowing fungi as a source of light.

hamadryads are a specific type of dryad that is incredibly connected with her tree. because of this connection they have exceptionally strong magical and healing capabilities, but will also go insane and die if their tree dies.

like merpeople, dryads use a more melodic dialect of hen llinge

leimoniads are a type of nymph that lived exclusively in meadows, but are practically extinct due to wars with humans

naiads, also called rusalki, are nymphs that live in lakes and rivers, although a few live with the dryads in brokilon. naiads are very similar to dryads, although they tend to have very light skin with very dark hair, webbed hands, and can dry out on land

naiads rarely speak common, live in small groups, and have highly developed telepathic abilities

nereids are nymphs that inhabit the great sea, often living closely with merpeople. they usually have blueish skin with either blue or white hair and have some telepathic abilities, though not to the extent of naiads.

oreads are nymphs of the mountains, which, like leimoniads, are nearly extinct due to human conquests.

succubi/incubi

succubi (female) and incubi (male) are creatures which look like incredibly attractive humans but with horns and goat legs. they seduce humans, first in dreams and then physically, using their prey's energy to sustain themselves, often to the point of the human's exhaustion or death

our man eskel has a soft spot for them...

sylvans

sylvans, another race we already met, are exceptionally rare. like, practically extinct. they live mainly in the woodlands of the northern realms and have goat-like faces with yellow eyes, horns, cloven hooves, and tails

my man torque is quite possibly one of the last sylvans on the continent

they are distantly related to elves, and the two races tend to coexist quite well

generally quite mischievous and merry, highly enjoying pranks and parties. they can use simple spells and are mainly herbivores

sylvans live around 100 years and are highly sought after by dryads for their... ahem... reproductive capabilities

unicorns

yep, we got unicorns! i fucking love unicorns and still kinda think they're real. camels are real and those lumpy fuckers are way weirder than a horse with a spike on its head.

anyways

unicorns are highly advanced beings, they can travel between worlds and use telepathy. they don't really like the "less advanced" races, mostly staying around to observe them. they have distinct societies led by a council of elders and tend to avoid evil

these unicorns are badasses

unicorns strongly despise the use of the force but encourage the power of destiny. in the context of pavetta's betrothal feast, a unicorn would not be happy with pavetta's little source hurricane thing, but would encourage geralt to follow the law of surprise

in of the witcher, unicorns are very important because of their world-hopping capabilities. the aen elle, unfortunately, realized this and began enslaving unicorns to help them plunder other worlds. this turned into a massive conflict between the unicorns and elves.

[transcendentcacophony]

Thoughts on Worldbuilding: Storytelling with Geography: Lunar Lakes

So I've been thinking about worldbuilding for awhile, and one of the things that I like about certain worlds is that they tell a story with their geography. I think Lunar Lakes is one of these worlds.

Image: An overview of Lunar Lakes from Sims 3

All Lunar Lake images will be from here

This is going to draw from James C. Scott's The Art of Not Being Governed and the concept of Zomia

So one of the central concepts behind Zomia and The Art is the idea that not everybody wants to be a part of centralized governments or nation-states.

Traditionally, most academic fields have held that as societies centralize around agricultural centers that evolve into urban centers, they draw everybody to them through some kind of unexplained magnetism as they gradually expand. It's usually held that this is because the centralizing power of agriculture allows for population booms not supported by hunting-and-gathering. At least one philosopher <cough> Daniel Quinn <cough>1 this is a result of these populations controlling access to food. Not just surpluses of food, but access to food at all, forcing those within their borders to join the system or die.

This idea that agricultural societies are somehow fundamentally better. We see this reflected in different cultural evolution models (all of which are horribly racist but still manage to hang on in weird places, particularly developmental models). As such, the shift from hunting-and-gathering to sedentary agriculture tends to be heralded as a good thing in most history text books and is pretty much always seen as a step towards "modernization.2" But what if you don't want that? What if you have zero interest in joining the agricultural community and implied state control?3 What options do you have then?

You, then, may be interested in Zomia or one of the other extra-territorial spaces that function similarly.

Image: A village in the mountains

So what is Zomia? Zomia encompasses a large territory that ranges across Southeast Asia up into Tibet. Its primary defining feature is its rugged terrain and various populations that have no interest in different state-sponsored "civilizing" projects. While different agricultural centers expand outward to fill the lowland regions seeking to bully those they encounter along the way into joining, various people along the way say "f*ck it" and go up into the mountains. Why? Because the rugged terrain makes it harder for their valley-based neighbors to control them while providing plenty of hiding places push back against their expansion.

Image: A map of the Zomia area highlighting the Southeast Asian and Himalayan Massifs, areas encompassing the geography of Zomia itself.

Agriculture tends to lock people into place and makes them easier to control, therefore nation-states interested in keeping track of large populations have a vested interest in convincing people to farm. Buggering off into the mountains offsets this. Agriculture isn't necessarily harder in these mountainous areas4, but you do have different crops as a result of altitudinal zonation and a fair amount of people choose to engage in animal husbandry instead because the high altitudes impact calorie consumption as your body spends more energy keeping you warm.

This impacts cultures in these regions as well. People may choose to define themselves in opposition to the lowland culture they are avoiding. They may hybridize with cultures already in the mountains, create new languages, or define themselves by the fact they are there for political or semi-political reasons and expressly avoiding the control of an outside party, even if that outside party is the nation-state they are legally considered a part of. There is also a tendency of these cultures to discard literacy for orality, in part because orality is easier to carry around and in part because it marks them as Other compared to their lowland counterparts. It also gives you a since of control over your culture itself, as orality can't be shared unless you want it to whereas almost anyone can learn a writing system and open a book.

So what's this got to do with Lunar Lakes? Let's look at LL more closely, shall we?

Image: The downtown region from Lunar Lakes

The most densely developed part of Lunar Lakes is easily this "downtown" district in the lowlands region. This area contains most of the community lots for the world, and, most tellingly, City Hall and the Perigee, which we're told in the original blurb brought the (human) sims to Lunar Lakes to begin with.

Image: The Rim

There is a little bleed over of rabbitholes from the city center onto the Rim, a slightly elevated area just above it, but these are no where near as "mountainous" as the craters we'll get to in a minute.

Image: The Canals

Another defining feature of the lowland central area are these canals. As these canals do not extend to a beach or other waterway, they can't be for trade, thereby lending themselves to the idea that they are intended for agricultural uses. They could, of course, predate the colony, but that doesn't change the intent.

Image: The Crystal Mine, the Outpost, and the Depot

On the backside of the craters, we have the Crystal Mine, the Outpost, and the Depot. We're told in the original backstory blurb for the world on the Store page that the residents had to harness the crystals to to make their colony sustainable, but it feels abandoned now. Given the importance of the mine in the early days of the colony, it makes sense they'd have a transport depot here for the workers and an outpost, possibly for the military, to protect it, especially if the world was inhabited and the indigenous people wanted nothing to do with them or actively apposed them.

Image: The Craters from Lunar Lakes

Which brings us finally to the craters themselves. Here's where Zomia comes in. If Lunar Lakes was inhabited and if the native population had no interest in joining the colonists or being exploited by them, where would they go? The craters, of course! This would also hold true for anyone who didn't want to fall in line with the colonial leadership among the human sims themselves. We know the Louie family, for example, had to move to the craters after they were exiled by Patricia Cross, the current colonial leader. It therefore stands to reason that, even if the people who live here are colonists, this is where they are expected to go if they are exiled or want to get away from the political milieu of the central powers in the downtown district.

Image: Suburban Subspace lot from Lunar Lakes

And, of course, architecturally, this is where we got those distinctive mushroom houses, which again, suggests an alternative development of this region compared to the lowlands even if the people here are exiled colonists, deviants, etc.

Regardless, we end up with a setting that is rife for internal worldbuilding and storytelling based on its geography. If you add an alien population seeking to escape SimEarth colonization by fleeing to the craters, it establishes a political backdrop for stories, making the world feel more lived in and providing a ready-made backstory. This is one of the things I think is drastically missing in the Sims 4 with their itty-bitty neighborhoods and lack of connecting spaces.

Anyways, these are the things I think about when worldbuilding myself. What story does my world tell geographically? Does it have a built in backstory represented by its geography? Are the different regions/neighborhoods connected in a way that makes cohesive sense? Are their other worlds you think do a good job of storytelling with their designs?

If you build worlds, do you take into account the storytelling potential of your geography? Why or why not? If you play in worlds like Lunar Lakes, does the geography inform your storytelling? Does it help build a metadiscourse around your game? Are there other worlds that inspire your gameplay with their layouts?

Edited in response to @nornities excellent feedback.

1) This is not meant as an endorsement of all of Quinn's arguments; he's got a weird overpopulation theory built into his writing that's a little too close to Malthusian for my liking, but I'm not one to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as it were.

2) Ever notice how "modernization" and "development" are always fundamentally anchored in how Europe moved from feudalism to imperialism to democracy etc.? Yeah, that's the remnants of that "cultural evolution" model I'm talking about. "You're not successful until you look like us!" "Take these developmental loans from the World Bank or the IMF! We promise the strings attached are for your benefit too!" "What do you mean you want to skip industrialization and natural resource extraction and invest in your environment, happiness, and long-term sustainability? You'll never be like us that way! You're a failed state! Ignore the coup in the background we swear we had nothing to do with!"

3) This is the section that was edited after @nornities pointed out that it could be read to imply that non-agricultural societies don't have taxes, class warfare, epidemics, subjugation, slavery, conscription, etc. That was not the intention, although it is clearly stated in Scott's original work that he considers these and other negative societal effects to be the direct result of such "civilizing projects." It was not my intent to perpetuate that idea as these things do happen in non-agricultural societies, so I have changed the original wording. Thank you, @nornities

4) I also forgot to mention the clear exception to this: the Incan Empire. Unlike most empire models, the Inca engaged in a top-down society (literally) that was based in the mountains and expanded downward and outward over time. They were predated by two earlier Andean civilizations.

[majesticnerdynerd]

Hi!!! For the ask game, I have 2 questions to ask you. First, #28. What is your favorite story or chapter title you came up with this year? And secondly, #34.What's the weirdest thing you researched for a fic? Love your work, hope you have a great 2022!

Hi!! :D

#28. What is your favorite story or chapter title you came up with this year? This is a good question, because there were quite a few things that I've published in 2021, hm... superwholock or potterlock don't count because those have been here since 2020. For ~story~ it belongs to the Sherlock fandom - I really like Where the North Wind Meets the Sea because it is a Frozen reference that fits with the in-universe worldbuilding I'm kind of planning, even if a little changed :D it is merfolk/landfolk AU which was new for me since I've only ever read snippets, so I am completely going off of myself here with the magic and sea/land shenanigans, it is a breath of fresh air because I don'tbeat myself up with posting like with my other fics, and that is a nice change For ~chapter title~ the prize goes to the Supernatural fandom because I started publishing and writing the Take It or Leaf It series, which, from the very first installment, consists of flower puns! It is so much fun to build that separate and fluffy destiel flowershop AU world, seriously. I saw that 'fuck you bouquet' prompt, reserached flower puns and bookmarked a lot of sites and got to plotting. The separate parts could be technically considered chapters in a big scheme, so I'll take that and say that my FAVE so far of them 4 is You Can Poppy-n Anytime, simply because I mentally keep singing it to the tune of Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears :D

#34.What's the weirdest thing you researched for a fic? okay okay okay listen this is a very amazing question because there is so much I could talk about BUT I'll try not to write an essay (tho I love writing essays ask my former english lit professor - hi Nick! jk he doesnt have tumblr I hope)

So if I had to answer like what's the weirdest thing I've researched so far for a fic, I think it would be the thing of how baby centaurs look (for an unrelated, scrapped fic dialogue that was hilarious but also so unsuitable at the time) and there is a tumblr post and drawings around there somewhere

FOR A FIC THIS YEAR THOUGH. Listen. My dear listen :D I dunno if you read Reichenbach Falls, but if you do, you are in on the Nicolas Cage cameos/appearances, right? Well. That's the consequences of my own actions! I unironically enjoy writing in Nicolas Cage. He was supposed to be a one-off but he became so obnoxious I just had to include him (and is he really gone? we'll see) and along with that came an idea to put his cursed pictures into the notes/chapters

And the SINGLE. MOST.CURSED. PICTURE. is the one where he got photoshopped onto a weeping angel. That was SHEER COINCIDENCE that I found it, I was like hey I'll give it a try if not I'll just tell people to use their imagination and --- somebody did it. At this point I'm asking myself if it's weirder of me thinking to google it, or actually finding that somebody had already thought of it before me :'D My search history looked something like: 'nicolas cage weeper' 'nicolas cage weeping angel' 'dr who nicolas cage angel' 'angel nicolas cage' (that one has a movie attached to it smt like angel city?? I made a promise to binge his movies this summer for future references in the fic) 'nic cage photoshop' 'nicolas cage photoshop weird' 'puppet nicolas cage' (<- he has an animatronic movie too??)

So. Yeah. Nicolas Cage and his many abominable faces such as Queen of England or cats made it to the weirdest search history for my FBI agent Fred, I bet :D Here's barbie nicolas cage for anyone else randomly scrolling by:

THANK YOU for asking these wonderful questions :D And Happy 2022 for you as well Rainyavenue I hope it's great for you <3 :3 if anyone has more qs, feel free to ask :D

[odogaronfang]

Oh, for that "coin flip au," would the characters' personalities also be flipped? If I'm understanding this right, Hyrule would be a kind of dystopia. So I'm also wondering if the Links would fight for the kingdom out of loyalty to the beliefs and the princess, or would it be a sort of blind loyalty/naivity?

so bearing in mind that right now this au is in its VERY EARLY developmental stage, nothing like the botw au that i’ve been ruminating on for ages,

to get this out of the way first, hyrule isn’t necessarily a dystopia. are their ideals pertaining to foreigners dystopian? yes! absolutely! but would you walk into hyrule and think “wow, this is a dystopia”? no, probably not. it’s same old hyrule, on the surface. same hyrule castle, same hyrule field, same death mountain, same lost forest, etc. it’s the people that’ve changed, really.

and my thoughts didn’t necessarily go to “flipped personalities” for the links. like, think about it: flip vio and you’ll get blue, and vice versa, flip red and you’d get either blue or shadow, depending on how you’re looking at it. role reversal didn’t equate to personality reversal in my head. and thinking on this, i’m not sure whether i want to make the links all stem from one person, like in the manga, or make them four separate individuals coming together for a common cause. depending on which i do may kind of influence the second part of your question, about their motivations. either way, though, i think blind loyalty plays a BIG part in it, as well as ignorance. i’m honestly coming up with things as i write, so let me try and get some stuff down here.

-zelda, as a young, naive girl grieving the loss of her parents, new to her throne and her crown, isn’t actually the one who started the whole “exterminate the dark world vermin” campaign. and the dark world isn’t actually named the dark world, it’s lorule. see, her advisors, knowing a prime time to take advantage of her when they saw it, got the ball rolling, convinced her of it. though her mother died as a result of disease, her father was killed by an assassin of unknown origin; the advisors jump on that “unknown origin”, that key little phrase, turn around and say that they’ve just discovered that it was someone from lorule who killed him (completely false, by the way). and they use her grief and her anger to turn her against lorulians, to a degree, publicize the concept of a campaign against those “dirty” “barbaric” lorulians, and the overwhelming supportive feedback is the push that young angry zelda needs to give them the go-ahead. they coin lorule the “dark world”, as a way of alienating and othering them; could anyone of decent stock come from a place like that? deep down, zelda knows it isn’t right, but she’s young, and scared, and sad and angry and neck-deep in grief, and she uses her father’s death as a way to justify it to herself- and how could it be wrong with so many people in approval, right?

-green is probably the most naive-loyal one out of all of them. he’s had personal ties with the royal family and zelda since he was a baby, really, with his father in the guard and all. they’ve been playmates since they were toddlers, known each other since birth, grown up alongside one another- if zelda says something should be done, green trusts her wholeheartedly, and he’ll throw his whole soul and then some into getting it done.

-the rest are mostly dependent on them being separate people rather than from one, but let’s see;

-red is probably the most morals-aligned one, and maybe even the most religious (or maybe the religious title goes to green). he sees all this propaganda about how awful the “dark-worlders” are; wars over trivialities, infanticide, widespread famine, corrupt government, a cruel and apathetic god- you name it, someone’s used it to slander lorule, and it’s 100% false, and red 100% believes it. it’s been fed to him since he was little, as it was to everyone else. and he thinks, i have to go and fix this, this is terrible, these barbarians. you know the “benevolent master” slaveowner concept so prominent in the deep south, back in pre-civil-war times? that is, more or less, red’s stance on it. he thinks he’s helping them.

-vio could, honestly, care less about the people’s state of affairs. his concern is resources, plain and simple. that should be our land, think of what we could do there, with all that’s available. if they want to run around killing babies and worshipping satan and bribing government officials, so be it- just go do it somewhere else.

-blue’s motivation is primarily military-related. they’re a threat, this land of magic-users and war-people, blood-crazed devotees to the gods of slaughter (or so they’ve been told). blue wants to keep hyrule safe, doesn’t want any of those terrible people coming into hyrule and spreading their ways- and meeting shadow only exacerbates that. because shadow is so POWERFUL. they’ve never seen a lorule magic-caster up close and personal. and seeing what shadow can do, seeing what he’s like, deludes blue into thinking that ALL lorulians are like that.

-and shadow, our wonderful protagonist, is lorule’s chosen defender. these hylians are just waltzing in and killing our people, taking our lands, declaring war with no provocation; it calls for an anti-hero, as it were, to go forth and keep the would-be heroes from toppling them. he’s an illegitimate son of the king, ganon: all the raw power that comes with the bloodline, plus a little extra chalked up to luck of the draw, but without the official status of heir that would otherwise make him too important to risk. he’s very, very bitter about that last part. he’s ganon’s SON and everyone KNOWS it, but no one will acknowledge it- but ganon is willing to forgo tradition and accept him as his heir, if he succeeds against the hylian conquests. so, with nothing better to do, in immediate danger and with a very nice light at the end of the tunnel, he accepts, is given an unofficial status at the top of the military ranks and access to everything he might need, and he goes off to defend his home.

anyway, there’s some preliminary worldbuilding on this au (which i need a better name for, btw). if anyone has anything else to ask about this please do!!! i need prompting to properly develop things tbh