#worldbuilding a to z

[timeclipsed]

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 ― a memory involving a family member.

🐝  *  ―  𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑲 𝑫𝑶𝑾𝑵 𝑴𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑹𝒀 𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑬.  (  send in a symbol to receive a drabble or meta about one of my muses’ memory.  ) (status — closed!)

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 ― a memory involving a family member.

Sent last weekend for Sonic Sunday, so these will be from his POV!

There's a brief scene with a mild descriptor of child abuse, so you don't have to read if you don't want to!

— ;; RAUCOUS MELODIES CLIMB THROUGH VAST hallways and chambers, reaching the unwitting ears of any hired help that happens to be wandering the grounds that morning. Some simply shake their heads or chuckle, maybe even hum along, but for a choral few, the homemade music comes off as nothing but earsplitting recalcitrance.

❝Can't find my way around,when the sun comes up, I'm down!❞

❝Hey!❞ ❝Hey!❞ ❝I feel fine!❞

— ;; GLOVED, SLENDER FINGERS BELONGING TO his triplet sister caress the ivory of her keyboard, following in tandem with his own digits that strum spindly cords of his guitar, both keeping in tune with their trizygotic brother's drumming.

Cobalt quills sway alongside a bobbing head, chartreuse eyes gleaming with excitement when gazing upon their mutual harmony. In spite of their innumerable outtakes from the last few days, the song they'd written seems to finally be coming together.

❝Hey!❞ ❝Hey!❞ ❝I feel fine!❞

— ;; INTERLUDING INSTRUMENTALS DISUNITE AT SLAMMING doors, coming to an unceremonious, grating halt, followed by brisk footsteps clicking towards them. Lady Windermere, the head maid of the castle. Judging by the irascible expression plastered on her face, she's not happy.

❝Eloise Matilda! Augustus Magnus! Ogilvie Maurice! Why aren't you doing what I told you to do?! Stop doing that! Just stop it! How many times do I have to remind you how unbecoming it is to be playing with those toys?!❞ Tirade reaching a boiling point rather swiftly, Lady Windermere stomps over, making a show of confiscating their instruments. ❝The royal triplets couldn't set a worse example for our kingdom if they tried! Slovenly, contumacious brats, all of you!❞

— ;; GLANCING BETWIXT ONE ANOTHER RATHER anxiously, hot tears of ignominy bead at Eloise's eyes whilst Augustus attempts to sputter out an apology, but fails. Eldest by a good 7 minutes and 13 seconds exactly, Ogilvie is the one to speak up, stepping in front of his siblings.

❝C'mon, Lady Windermere! Can'tcha just chill out for once?! We weren't doing anything! We were just...❞ Squeezing his eyes shut tight, he shakes his head, allowing his emotional outburst to fly free. ❝Having a nice time! We never get to when you're around 'cause you're such a... such a bitch sometimes!❞

— ;; PROMPT GASPS FROM EACH PERSON in the room chorus in unison, including Ogilvie himself, who slaps his hands over his mouth. Normally, he'd never stoop to saying anything of the sort. But times have given him nothing but detestation for this life, for the people in it who frenetically control him, winding 'round his world with their puppet strings. Music with his siblings has been the only escapism from it all, and now they're losing that too?

Nothing around here is fair.

Raising an arm and launching down, knuckles collide suddenly with Ogilvie's face in a backhanded slap, sending him spiraling across the room against his sister's colossal wardrobe. The impact dizzies his senses, stars flittering amongst his peripheral and his head spinning with a lucid loss of senses that temporarily dull the rampant ache pounding against the back of his head.

❝Ogilvie!❞ Both his siblings call out, rushing to his aid immediately.

❝Well! If that's how you three wish to act, you can just stay in here until you learn how to speak properly and respectfully! Just you wait until Queen Aleena hears about this!❞ Huffing, storming out with the slam of the door, a subsequent click! from the other side is enough to tell them all they need to know. Another day, another cruel punishment.

Quick to rush after, Augustus pulls at the knob and kicks at the door, fruitlessly attempting to break the wooded barrier separating them from the world. ❝She locked us in again!❞

— ;; HELPING OGILVIE RECOVER INTO A seated position, Eloise sniffles, wrapping his arms around him. Shoulders dropping, Augustus strides back across the room, sitting down on his knees next to them.

❝Bro... you okay? Can you hear us?❞

❝Do you need a doctor?!❞

— ;; UTTERING A DEEP, PAINED GROAN through clenched teeth, he attempts to soothe his affliction, rubbing his palm against the spot between his eyes.

❝Fine... 'm fine. Did she hurt you guys?❞ Seeing both his siblings shake their heads, he relaxes somewhat. ❝Good. Guess I was askin' for it, though, heh... callin' her a bitch and stuff.❞

❝I still can't believe you did that!❞ Eloise exclaims incredulously, ❝do you think mother will believe her?!❞

❝Nahhh, no chance. Mom isn't around enough to know what happens as it is, she wouldn't believe one of us would say—❞ Pause, a dramatic gasp to enunciate, ❝—a swear word!❞

❝You sure gave her the what's for, Ogilvie,❞ Augustus comments, failing to hide his snickers, ❝I mean, did'ja see her face?!❞

❝She looked like Sleet at age 90 after sucking on a lemon,❞ Ogilvie answers, prompting his brother to burst into loud laughter.

❝Oh!❞ Eloise giggles through those tears of strenuous apprehension, cupping a hand over her mouth to hide her amusement, ❝you two, we shouldn't be...! Hehehe...!❞

— ;; PAINTING HIS FACE, THAT SMUG grin that his siblings love so much shows itself from ear-to-ear, and within seconds, all three of them are laughing uncontrollably, snuggled together to further whisper insults about their castle staff.

Although their stomachs ache and pang with hunger, and the dry-mouthed taste soon creeps in, they keep each other close. None of them had asked to be born into a life of opulence and affluence, but things might just turn out bearable so long as they knew they'd have each other like this. Now and forever.

Right?

[thegreatsaiya-z]

I am gonna get back to fun outfits soon buuut. What if the consequence of taking the Satan's devil/demon theming to the endpoint conclusion (...yes also initially inspired by @smuby giving Hercule fake pointy ears and fangs)

Lore under the cut

Also! I feel like people can be a bit too mean about Hercule sometimes (because okay. the bit about claiming ki techniques as tricks is one thing, and like. I get where people come from in him taking the credit for Cell but also come on. Gohan would not want to be famous pls) AND I feel like the presence of animal people and other weird stuff on earth drops off as the series progresses, which out of universe is because of the change in tone but in universe is like. That has implications.

So. Concept of Hercule as yes, a bit (or a lot of) a glory hound and a showboat but also as someone who uses that influence to, like, champion the rights for the various non-human sapient Earthlings particularly as they start to get pushed to the sidelines of urbanization. (And, you know, given I make the Ox King an actual ruler in my au, and I have the Ox Kingdom as one of the larger/more prominent kingdoms with the rare majority of non-human sapients, also potential for earlier interaction between Gohan and Videl <3)

[bruciemilf]

Haunted by gladiator! Bruce and consort Clark/Talia thoughts

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

All in all, there were twelve cell blocks with leaders.  That meant that there were eleven leaders with eleven lieutenants arriving.  Acidbath, Galvanate, Teacher, Lab Rat and Gavel were leaders of the cell blocks on the men’s side of the prison.  Lustrum, Black Kaze, Glaistig Uaine, String Theory, Crane and Ingenue were the female leaders.  There were other cell blocks, but twelve was generally agreed on as a good number.  It left room for discussion without too much chaos, and it left enough cell blocks leaderless that they had elbow room to do business elsewhere.

How exactly do they enforce none of the other cell blocks getting leaders?

This feels… more like Wildbow just didn't want to name more leaders, which... I mean, fair, but I feel like there are better ways to do that?

This is something that seems to have emerged in other aspects of Worm, from what I gather, and from my reading of the wiki, where like - (for instance, IIRC. There are other instances of this) there's only one superhero team for all of Germany and like, obviously the details of what's happening in Germany in Worm are... largely irrelevant, so you don't need to go into detail and really only need to reference the one team if that, but like... I mean yes, Germany smaller than the US so it's not gonna have as many cape teams as the US, but still, seems like more than one might be needed?

Or the way the big meeting at Cauldron has this dearth of capes from certain parts of the world?

Like, if you don't want to name or detail stuff in other parts of the world of your setting, that's fine, don't. Just don't name the one or two things and then act as though that's... all?

It's like how Rowling expects us to accept there's one wizarding school for all of North America, one for like, all of Africa, etc. It's easy enough to avoid just say 'X is the most respected and prestigious wizard school in Africa, but there are others' and then not name them.

(I reference Rowling specifically because her worldbuilding is so famously shit the second it leaves that damp, soggy island where what I am legally required to call her brain resides)

So like, if he only wanted 12 here, that's fine, but just say 'the 12 most powerful' or 'the only 12 Marquis cared to invite' or literally anything else. Because it seems absolutely nuts that what, the other cell blocks are just... forced to not have leaders? How does that work? Does anyone who tries to take over one of those cell blocks by force (since that's how it would work, more or less, in the Birdcage, one images) do the 12 go and kill the person?

This just feels... no. Big no.

[forestofdragons]

I’ve decided to give that wof a-z character challenge thing a whirl! But Im starting at z to give some attention to the ones on the bottom of the list lol

These were fun to do so i’m going to ramble under the cut

Zelkova

My fav! I just love how her colors turned out, and her leaves and horns. I didn’t mean for her crown to be crooked, I just forgot I wanted to add it until after I got her leaves how I wanted lol.

Decided to give her a second set of horns. It just seemed empty there but I didn’t want the first bigger so made another.

My only complaint with her would be the transition from scale to leaf is weird. It didn’t look as weird in the sketch and then I wasn’t sure how to fix.

Yellowjacket

I quite like how sharp and simple she turned out. Did mess up with the designs on her neck. There was supposed to be more black but I did the line-art wrong lol

Xenica

Originally I was going to have her be pale/white for various reasons but decided to base her palette on the butterfly that’s her namesake. Which I am glad I went with, it’s nice!

And I feel I really nailed her head shape and scale pattern. Though I don’t plan for these all to be perfectly in line with the canon drawings, she really is in line with that and I like it.

[radiomonkeys2]

Human vs Saiyajin: Horatio vs Yulaan, courtesy of Salvamakoto

Taken directly from Hokuto no Ken, during Kenshiro's fistfight with Raoh.

Something of a follow-up to 

1965 Bering Sea, near Mekoryuk, Alaska

Sol Yulaan and a fellow sailor named Billy Davis have a nice, calm discussion about who was Western history's greatest war hero

Horatio in the back there doesn't think Yulaan is being considerate of Billy's opinion that Davy Crockett is better than Leonidas and Achilles. 

And don't worry, folks— Billy survives and the two settle their differences over alcohol (which does little for a Yaban but it'd be rude to not celebrate a good fight discussion).

Admittedly, Billy might've initially disregarded Yulaan for being a dame, and she may have had to politely remind him she's a bolloi, but it all worked out

On that trip through the northwest seas, Horatio is one of those men who gets tickled by the prospect of fighting Yulaan. But you see, especially in the 1960s, a male fighting a female in direct physical combat is utterly verboten— at least in public. Even with the arrival of Yabans on Earth, the idea of men fighting bollois just is not palatable despite the clear differences bollois present vs human women. And bollois, at least those well integrated into Earth culture, know better than to publicly challenge men to fights for a similar reason: the whole "men mustn't fight ladies" isn't just due to pure chivalry but also due to the potential humiliation and shame if a man were to lose. It's sort of a double standard: men can't let women win honestly because to be a man bested by a woman is to be utterly emasculated and seen as pathetic and weak, but a man can't let a woman lose because how dare a man strike a lady in battle! So best to just not let the two fight at all to avoid that contradiction— better for a man and a lady to do the other f-word with each other. And for bollois, who nevertheless still carry the form and tag of ladies for two, ahem, very obvious reasons, this can get frustrating seeing as their blood screams for battle and challenge. Hence why they do often fight in private instead, as for men interested, the sheer strength and ability of bollois is second to none, and said private battles don't carry the potential for social stigma or humiliation. These will likely never be televised until some future more liberal age comes to pass, and most people know these go down behind the walls of society, but at least at this point in time, few make a big deal out of it. It's a similar phenomenon to courtesans and prostitution when you think about, except for the obvious differences.

This is what gets Horatio to try this chances against Yulaan, though as just himself, he wouldn't stand much of a chance, so Yulaan gathers a chi multiplier for him to exploit: one which boosts his human abilities enough to actually give her a secular challenge. By this point in time, the other men of the King Salmon know what Yulaan's about, so this is an impromptu shadow-duel. 

[ru5t]

(Tech's Annotated) Map of The Zones

There is an official/presumably canon map that was created and circulated around the time of the music videos (viewable here). However, after playing around in this sandbox it quickly feels deeply and entirely too small (the city only around 3 miles across, and then around 15 miles from the city to the edge of the zones — it's simply not enough space) for all of the madness going on inside of it. So here's the headcanon/blog canon version of things!

The zones of the west coast center over Battery City, and are roughly 300 miles in diameter, making for over 30,000 square miles of potentially habitable ground.

Note: "Old world" locations visible purely for irl reference, the city names wouldn't still be in wide use or marked on an official map. The annotations are approximations in some cases, based on info I got from people who made up the locations — if it belongs to you and you're thinking 'hey that's not where that is' please let me know! I will scooch. I absolutely recommend opening this in another tab for better viewing, as it is massive and maybe slightly unreadable at tumblr dimensions. (Oops.)

The roads -some old, some new- are generally passable, but many are very rough. Detours are common as the desert, and killjoys, shift obstacles around. Moving straight east from the city, it would take a person about 5 days to get to the edge of zone 06 on foot, 1-2 days on a bike, 6-8 hours by motorized vehicle, and less than 2 hours by helicopter. Since Better Living patrols are almost never moving in a direct line unless they're hunting specific quarry, they tend to pack heavy, and take multi-day or multi-week patrols that sweep the zones, looking for 'rescues' to make and hostile settlements to squash. There are also a number of Better Living outposts in the inner zones: permanent encampments where employees are left to watch over particularly desirable or troublesome locations, such as the robotic dumping grounds in southern zone 02, and the borders of the annex.

A lot of the livable area is characterized as desert or steppe, partly due to the regions natural inclinations, partly due to the environmental devastation wrought by the wars. To the west and south, the old coastline now marks the start of the salt flats: empty stretches of ground that end at the current coastline some miles out from where it once was, turning the former channel islands into a spattering of rocky, mountain-esqe outcrops surrounded by hard, packed earth too salty to bear much life. Many settlements and travelers prefer the north and east, where the terrain protected some of the valleys and so echoes of the forests and other natural resources remain — as well as echoes of the wildlife. To the south(east), conditions start dry and get drier, providing massive challenge to anyone who doesn't know the way to carve out safety and make use of the weather.

BATTERY CITY

Ten miles in diameter, closed off by a barrier wall with fixed entry points, all of which are heavily monitored.

Battery City is a self-contained and somewhat* self-sufficient city. In the early days -before they built the walls- the plan was always to expand, crawl outward and establish a new world from the rubble of the old. However, conflict with early rebels led to the division of city from 'zones', and the heads of the corporation at the time chose a ten mile diameter to lock behind their main wall. Largely prevented from expanding and lacking the room for urban sprawl, the city has gone vertical to keep up with the demands of its population. Buildings and entire block levels extend both up and down, in sky scrapers as well as some subterranean levels (the latter of which are mostly used for synthetic farming and detainment.) Rather than divide by production, the city is designed so that, in the event of failure or invasion, no one zone of it can be commandeered to cut off the rest. Factories and power plants are interspersed with dwellings and other means of production, and the divides dictate the city's class system more than occupation. The outer wall is dozens of feet thick; the only roads in and out are tunnels guarded around the clock by S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W task force. For more detailed city notes [I will make another post which I will come back and link here.]

It can be easy for things to seem small, with the city so dwarfed by the zones as it is on this map, but the city inside the wall alone covers roughly 320 square miles of land [compared to L.A. (503), New York (469) or Chicago (234)] and hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people live in Battery City. Many of them are descendant of people who never left, and the walls went up around them; many others migrated there, in out of the wild and destruction. Of the three remaining (official) settlements in the US, Battery City has the largest civilian population.

*Battery City does do its own farming, but is supplemented by resources from Fort FISK and the Fishery, another Better Living establishment in the southern US. In a crisis situation where FISK was unable to send supplies, the city could sustain without lifestyle changes for approximately five years.

ZONE 01

Ten mile wide band around the city, marked and separated from the other zones by a series of border walls and fences. Regularly patrolled.

There are many buildings, most of them crumbling, that were once urban sprawl and the suburbs. Thanks to the city's tampering with the weather, zone 01 shares most of the benefits, and can rely on slightly lower temperatures, regular safe rainfall, and even a four-season year (while the outer zones tend to have more like two seasons, dry and wet.)

Despite the city's attempts to section it off from the other zones, 01's borders aren't secure, and a small number of killjoys regularly move through the wreckage of the area. These are the most hostile and often least recognized killjoys — extremists even by the standards of arguably violent killjoy culture. They launch attacks on the city, the walls and patrols and citizens alike, and keep the rubble of the suburbs too unstable for the city to continue to expand. Many die young and unrecognized.

Zone 01 also contains the city's two expansions, as acquired in 2020: the Neon District and the Annex. The Annex is largely agricultural in nature, a proto-version of the much smaller greenhouses the city tried to establish in later years. The Neon District is an expansion of the outer city, mostly containing civilian dwelling. Where once the slums and Neon were the same, now the slums are at least inside the main wall, and Neon has become adjacent to the city. Neon houses almost exclusively registered neutrals, many of whom commute into the city to do undesirable jobs for low pay. On BL/ind paperwork, the Neon District is both a neighborhood in the zones and the expanded dwelling, but among citizens, the Neon District "Slums" of the city and the district's expansion, "Neon", are different places entirely. [Also more details for this in the city post.]

ZONE 02

Fifteen mile wide band around zone 01, marked off in some places by (often unmaintained) border fences. Regularly patrolled.

As in zone 01, what remains of the old world's sprawling boroughs make up most of the landmarks, though here in zone 02 they're less stable. More spread out, and prone to one day shaking apart for no entirely clear reason. The landscape begins to shift in the north and northeast, turning hilly. The city's weather control effects taper off within this zone, so that the inside mirrors a lot of zone 01's weather, while the outer sections reflect more of the desert. Overall, the two often clash, and weather in zone 02 changes at the drop of a hat. It's rarely dangerous in and of itself (typically no acid rain or poisonous fogs) but the speed and frequency of the changes make attempts to travel through and settle in zone 02.... interesting.

Scattered around zone 02, amidst the crumbling infrastructure, there are both Better Living outposts, where patrols sent out from the city stop or bed down, as well as some more permanent installments. The unlucky are sometimes shipped out for a few weeks at a time to man these watch points, such as the Better Living building that overlooks the robotics dumping ground south of the city, just beyond the old coastline. Just as equally, there are killjoy encampments dotted across the zone, populated like a forward front, often taking in anyone who manages to escape the city, and serving as an early warning system to the rest of the zones. Zone 02 is often considered a "buffer" zone: too chaotic for the city to really want it, but too valuable to leave untouched — too controlled and close for the killjoys to claim it, but too dangerous to let it be absorbed. Thusly, it sits as something of a no-man's land, and is arguably the most dangerous part of crossing the zones in either direction.

That is, it's the most likely place to get killed by a person in the name of the grand conflict, anyhow.

ZONE 03

Twenty mile wide band around zone 02. Occasionally patrolled.

Many of the old buildings are gone, dusted away by the bombs of the wars or scorched up by the fires or crumbled away in the time since. Those left are the most sturdy, or else the ones rebuilt by dedicated zone dwellers. There's a few old neighborhoods, but mostly things aren't so closely or neatly laid out as the old-world neighborhoods used to be. Weather takes a turn for heat and dust and desperation: desert standard from here out.

As the beginning of proper killjoy territory, zone 03 is the most densely populated, and what most people think of when they're imagining the chaos of large groups and the vibrant party scene. Despite a decent number of permanent settlements, Better Living patrols don't sweep though very often, in part because they almost never find any actual killjoys, only the signs of life. (The rest, because it's simply too large and push back is too strong for the company to dedicate the resources to trying to lock it down.) Rebels living in 03 are heavily interconnected, and experts at avoiding patrols. With a whole system of bells and whistles and warning phrases, entire trading grounds empty in minutes ahead of patrol warnings only to go right back to their dealings the moment the coast is clear.

Popular destinations include Tommy Chow Mein's place, an old motel repurposed into a trading market in the east, Regal Riotess's Battlegrounds, a sparring and entertainment venue in the north, and the Hyper Thrust, a club and musical venue to the south. The Sun Sandbox, a music and event venue famous for its reflective quality, shines out in the west here. Many other traders center themselves in 03, coordinating into pop-up markets or setting up more permanent locations -such as the Wind Stop on the fence to the northeast- as killjoy movements across the zone support or demand.

ZONE 04

Twenty-five mile wide band around zone 03. Rarely patrolled.

Another fairly populated zone, though things spread out as the terrain and crumbling structures demand and groups become more distinguished. Drier, often flatter terrain means dust storms pick up in frequency here, and, though rainfall is typically sparse, flash floods run the risk of sweeping straight over things without much obstacle when they pour down out of the ridges in the northwest.

As opposed to the tight-knit nest network of zone 03, groups in zone 04 tend to be more distinct from and less trusting of each other. Turf disputes aren't entirely uncommon, though conflicting groups usually prefer boxing rings (one 'champion' from either crew battling it out) over all out brawls. Growing distances between settlements means radio contact becomes more important. It's thought, though it hasn't been proven, that Dr. Death runs the WKIL out of zone 04. Better Living patrols only ever cross into zone 04 if they're on the hunt for a specific target, and as such they're usually more hunting parties (colloquial "murders") than route 'patrol' parties.

04 houses a diverse mix of groups and locations: the infamous Fabulous Four's Diner sits to the north, while in the east a neutral settlement, Jasper, has planted their roots into an old lake bed. There's a little less of the party scene here, but it includes the Fuck You!!!! House, an establishment that promises bloodshed every evening, one way or another, and out in the flats there's Electric Starlight, part bar for their regulars who dwell around the old Channel Islands, part destination venue for the massive rave-like parties and shows that take place there as often as can be put together by the owner.

ZONE 05

Thirty mile wide band around zone 04. No patrol schedule.

Ambient radiation levels are a touch higher in zone 05, and pockets of danger exist that travelers and those trying to tame the outer zones should be wary of. Rainfall also takes a turn for the worst, as it becomes more common for it to be toxic to consume and/or cause burns to exposed skin from this point further (a happening not impossible but more rare, in the inner zones.)

To go with growing environmental dangers, there's a sharp drop-off in cooperation around this zone too. Groups tend to be less generous with their supplies, and while the waves remain a vital tool for communication and keeping ahead of things, crews that come face to face aren't likely to trust each other very much, if at all. The stakes are simply too high, the margin for error too narrow. Bad news is all too common: contract killers and more radical groups are easier to find, and easier to bump into.

Somewhere near or perhaps even within the Dead Zone to the northeast, a particularly vile and violent group of DESTROYA worshipers has set up permanent residence. They journey out from whatever base they have to attack others, city and zones alike, without prejudice. They're known to descend on churches or shrines of other desert deities with greater regularity and more demonstrative end results, but won't say no to fucking anyone up just for fun. The wise give them a wide berth, and heavily vet individuals who might only be posing as lost and looking for help...

ZONE 06

Thirty-five mile wide band around zone 05. No patrol schedule.

Sights include sprawling vistas of desert skies and plenty of odd happenings, but not much else goes on in 06 on the regular. The terrain gets tougher, less tame and more churned apart by the wars and the rattling of the ground since. Radiation ticks up a little higher, and the places where it really clings will have an unwary journeyer dizzy and good-as-dead before they can even guess what's going on. It's easy to stumble into a gruesome death, out here.

Many zone dwellers don't go this far. Those who do are often the spiritual (or crazy) type, drawn by the odd sightings and phenomena such as lights in the sky, voices in the air, and landmarks that move. Any of it may or may not be real, depending on which story gets told and who is doing the telling. The other dustkids who travel through 06 are typically only there to pass along messages:

Several churches to various zone deities are tucked away here and there, ready to welcome the lost or, in the case of the unmanned shrines, offerings to the likes of Papa Sol and the Phoenix Witch. The mailbox sits in a little valley due east, and marks the outside border of the zones — "the end of the world".

ZONE 07

Isolated location also called The Anomaly located in the western quadrant.

Plopped down on the coast like something that crawled up out of the ocean and gave up on trying to walk across the flats, 07 is a mystery of a thing. It is consistently drenched in heavy fog no matter the surrounding weather. On approach, the ground quickly gives way to a soggy, sticky mess typically found in bogs or marshes, and it's presumed the ground within the fog cloud is the same.

Presumed, because no one goes into 07. No one who wants to return, anyway. Even Better Living has stopped sending investigative probes, manned or otherwise. The readings never make it out, and the people only rarely do, and only do so greatly changed. Often, reduced to vague shadows of their former selves, or else entirely delusional, sometimes even violent.

The superstitious types often refer to zone 07 as 'the mist', 'the veil', or 'the thin place', believing it to be a location where the world of the dead comes into contact with the living. This rumor is largely fueled by the human-like shadows often seen in the mist. Whether they are spirits or simply shadows or something else entirely, no one can say.

Pursuing answers in the matter of what, exactly, 07 is never ends well.

ZONE SEVEN

An approximate 'safe' band of 5-10 miles around zone six.

So named because the city had already designated the anomaly on the coast as "zone 07", meaning that killjoys could refer to something by that name and it wouldn't immediately set off any alarms. This zone seven is mapped almost exclusively by word of mouth, it does not feature on Better Living maps ((it's only on this one for visual aid)), and is rarely written down by killjoys to better guard their knowledge of things that just might begin to be out of the city's reach.

A hostile terrain pitted with unstable ravines, there is little shelter, even less water than the established zones, and further threats of radiation spikes, electrical & sand storms, and a variety of hostile wildlife drawn in from the wilds by the potential for someone to eat. Even those that know the landmarks, where to find shelter and make use of what little water can be found, take risks going out into this area. So they tend not to, unless things are bad enough.

As things are now, The Haven is the only known establishment of any kind within zone seven. It is, technically, a lighthouse, a location that will offer aid to anyone who finds their way to it, but as you can imagine they don't typically get a lot of outside traffic. (In other words: it was absolutely bananas cage mad behavior to set up a permanent encampment of this size out here. Anyone who doesn't know the Haven for trade reasons probably only hears rumors and thinks they're all insane for trying.)

THE EMPTY ZONE

Officially, anything beyond the edge of zone 06: which is to say, “nothing.”

The perfect truth is that the lines aren't so rigid as is convenient to mark on a map, and there's all of seven to account for, with more gradually being explored, word of more safety spread as it's found. But it's dangerous work. Unforgiving work. Few people dare to push the limits of the outer edge, believing instead that the way to true freedom lies in dismantling Better Living, not running from it. As things are, the empty zone beyond the end of the world, the untamed wilds, really is nothing but nothing. In theory there are livable lands, ways to cross the old cities, looting or building, striking out. In theory there could even be settlements that don't and never did belong to BL/ind, people who survived and continue to scrape their way along, or maybe even thrive. In practice, there's no guides and no guarantees, no promise of anything. In practice, to push beyond zone seven is all but certain suicide. Very few dare try it. Even fewer return, and it's been many years since anyone attempted a major excursion.

Even Better Living goes under the earth to cross the distances between their cities.

[fandom-trash-xl]

Some wordbuildy ki notes I scribbled down last night

(I basically wrote down some notes to expand the concept of ki into some fancy manipulation varieties.)

Ki can be manifested at will from various extremities, most often the hands and fingers, and can be sent off as a projectile or simply left to float. When no longer attached to the person, it no longer depends on their steady energy reserve to maintain it but, in turn, the amount of energy expended into it- used to adjust factors such as strength and size- can not be increased or reduced.

Ki naturally gives off a certain amount of heat, which can be increased at will. It can be heated to the point of being able to ignite flammable objects such as candles, firewood, or tobacco; those who are particularly "artsy" can shape this hot ki in to a crackling woodless fire.

Ki can be sorted into multiple types:

Combative Ki

The most commonly seen ki type, formed with the intent to cause damage. It's often formed into beam, shot, and ball attacks.

Light Ki

This ki variety is more of a "trick" type with no damaging capabilities and is often taught to small children as a starter lesson in manipulation. It causes no more damage than the hot feeling of touching a lit lightbulb. The amount of energy expended to produce it determines the brightness. Due to its non-combative nature, it is most often used for heat sources.

(For style reference: see Owl House light glyphs)

Blade Ki

This damaging ki is formed with sharp edges with the intent to cut like a razor or knife. It is often manifested around the hand like a glove as a beam sword or into razor discs like the Kienzan.

Fluid Ki

The ki is wobbly and almost liquid-like. While it is often a sign of ki issues or inexperience, one can train to use this type at will and have their ki become malleable. Fluid ki can also be separated into droplets. It's often seen as impractical or showoff-ish, being used mainly as a parlor trick.

Enveloping Ki

This ki form is most often found in auras and is also used for flight and telekinetic abilities, wrapping around the body or target object. It can also be used as a safety cushion to reduce impact damage and can be localized into certain parts. Those not capable of direct telekinesis can manipulate a wrapping-like bubble to direct towards an object to grab. An aura can also be directly heated to self-warm, but the amount of energy expended may cause fatigue and counteract the effort. This type of ki can also be infused in held weapons to power them up.

String/Cord Ki

Access to this ki form is usually discovered by accident and is rare to possess overall. It often springs forward similarly to Spider-Man web fluid or spray cheese. It's often considered a shortcoming or flaw due to its difficulty to master and use practically. With control, a user may be able to touch the produced string directly without pain in order to more easily bend it to their needs.

[cat-appreciator]

I’ve been idly batting around an alien species idea for a week or so, because essentially the fandom dial in my brain got turned to Homestuck (in this, the Year of our Trashfire 2024. Embarrassing.) and the OC-generating parts of my brain decided to make my own aliens, with blackjack and hookers fusion as a metaphor for queer intimacy, because I am a sucker for fusion as a metaphor for queer intimacy. It’s the old question of “do I want to be with her, or do I want to be with her?” except you get to have your cake and eat it too because the answer is “yes”.

Y’know, after you spin a cocoon around the two of you and then mutually vivisect and autocannibalise each other until only a single hybrid organism remains. (This is basically the Presger Translators from Ann Leckie’s Translation State. Or possibly some versions of Lyctorhood from The Locked Tomb.)

Where this idea falls down is the limitation it has that, say, Crystal Gems from Steven Universe or Saiyans from Dragonball Z don’t have; since fusion is permanent, out of any population n the number of possible hybrid entities will always be 0.5n. Which works perfectly well biologically, it’s basically the same reproductive strategy as any exclusively monogamous species on Earth. But exclusive monogamy is leaving options on the table. If n=100 then exclusive monogamy makes 50 hybrids. But with serial monogamy (this is how a human do, mostly) the number of possible hybridisations out of those 100 individuals is 4,950 (according to this calculator I found) (also assuming that each individual is hermaphroditic). That’s a rate of genetic diversity that’s higher by orders of magnitude!

(This is why exclusively monogamous species tend to be ones where the chance of coming across another mate in the wild is lower - when the field is empty, it doesn’t make sense to play the field)

For a social species (which I’d argue any sapient species we could theoretically talk to would have to be) exclusive monogamy doesn’t make sense from a genetic perspective.

But it’s also leaving options on the table in a Doylist sense: sure I could have individuals A and B fuse to form hybrid AB, C and D fuse to form CD and so forth (the total number of possible characters is n+0.5n), but if individuals can fuse more than once then I can have A, B, C, D, AB, CD, AC, AD, BC, BD (I think the calculation is (half of n^2)-0.5n but don’t quote me on the math). My potential pool of characters is much larger, things can get messier, it’s more fun overall.

The problem is that once individuals A and B have consensually devoured each other to build hybrid AB, how the heck do I split them in half again? It works in Steven Universe and DBZ because the situation there is basically magic, but the process I’ve envisioned is much more biological. It’s more like trying to stuff a moth back into the cocoon hoping you can revert it back to being a caterpillar. Actually, it’s worse than that, because IIRC some species of jellyfish actually can revert from adulthood to a juvenile state. It’s like trying to crack an egg in the hopes of getting the parent birds out of it.

I could have serial fusion with fused individuals - so AB could fuse with C to form hybrid ABC, or with hybrid CD to form hybrid ABCD (IIRC Presger Translators do something like this in Translation State, where an older translator fuses with a younger one for a form of immortality). That could work biologically. I’m not sure that it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, since while AB has two sets of DNA and is producing lots of little AB larval clones, ABC has three sets of DNA but is only producing ABC clones at the same rate as AB. It might make sense if resources are scarce and can’t support all the population? But also that’s three individuals stuffed into one body, and I imagine the higher the number of fused individuals the higher the chance that some part of the fusion will cause crippling psychological issues (There’s a comparison here to Vernon Vinge’s A Fire Upon The Deep, where more than eight or so Tines in a hive-mind basically makes the hive-mind subsapient).

How, then, am I to uncrack the egg and enable serial monogamy? Or do I stick with what I’ve got, given that Lyctors in TLT manage to make perfectly compelling characters with what is (essentially) exclusive monogamy?

And if you vote for reversible fusion, please let me know how you think I could make it at all biologically plausible.

[bogkeep]

i saw the hunger games prequel movie last night! i haven't read the book for it but i thought it was pretty good, especially the first part. i have a lot of fond memories from the heyday of the hunger games trilogy, so it was exciting and nostalgic to have a new experience.

that said 2 hours and 37 minutes is a RIDICULOUS runtime. remember when movies used to be 90 minutes

[screechingsandwichhologram]

My OCs and what universe they are in

i kinda have a lot and they don't all exist together so.

MY DSMP WORLDBUILDING (exactly what it sounds like)

eros / war of love / love

erebus / the savior

z / the savior

the god of blood, flesh, and bone / the blood god / starwarriorbody / war of blood

hysteria / war of power

cressida / bloomshield / goldblood

oberon / strangetwist / mindwarp /woodtwist / vineheart / mindtwist

cirrus / mother sky

khaos / Void

helen / the one of the deep / Thing in the Sea

fire that flows through them / nether empress

the wild

florian / harvest

PARAGNOSTIC (a paranormal mystery turned found family set in a super dystopian society)

ripley

elise / henri

charlotte

warren

thaddeus / teddy

howard

eula

gladiolus / gloria

maris

gale

ASTEROID CITY HOUSE OF PIZZA (ACHOP) (alien / space pizza shop! its just very silly and fun)

attitcus

naught

centauri

proxima

emery

boss

THE ADVENTURES OF GRACE (regular au except theres kinda supernatural beings going on so. anyways its found family)

grace

argos

lucifer / luci

if i create more or change anything then i will edit this.

[timeclipsed]

🌑

🐝  *  ―  𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑲 𝑫𝑶𝑾𝑵 𝑴𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑹𝒀 𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑬.  (  send in a symbol to receive a drabble or meta about one of my muses’ memory.  ) (status — closed!)

🌑 ― a fading memory.

Sent last weekend for Sonic Sunday, so these will be from his POV!

Aside from a very brief allusion to children being underfed, no warnings apply this time!

❝Ogie?❞

— ;; PAUSING, CLASPING SLEEK OAK BANISTER lining the stairs en route to his bedroom, he turns to face his sister upon her calling of his name. Quickly hoofing it up after him, she and their other brother join in his trek towards their sleeping quarters. Dinner's dismissal had been a little later these days, what with their recent 13th birthday, which, admittedly, was nice— but the servings still hardly filled.

❝What's up, El?❞ Landing eyes remain glued to her, noting the particularly loose-fitting style of her pink hair today. Eloise, ever-refined and conciliatory Eloise, had begun rebelling against the upheld "code" of perfection and demure as well. Not exactly a good thing, factors considered.

❝August and I were gonna sneak out,❞ she answers in a whisper, head tilting to the side as to gesture back towards the dining hall, ❝this totally rad movie just hit the theater downtown! The Man in The Moon! You wanna come with?❞

Scoffing, Augustus cuts her off halfway, piping up with his own two cents on the movie choice. ❝Dude, no. I'm not seeing some stupid romance movie when the Bill & Ted sequel is out! I'll DIE if I don't see it, El!❞

❝Don't be dramatic!❞ Eloise cries, ❝besides, we always see what movie you want! Can't we go to one I like for once?❞

— ;; ABSENTMINDEDLY GLANCING BETWEEN HIS SIBLINGS as they launch into a quiet argument over their evening plans, Ogilvie's focus is already a hallway and several doors down, on the fancy leather backpack hidden beneath his bed, half-stuffed to completion with the little amount of belongings he'd actually felt a spark towards.

❝El's right,❞ Ogilvie admits, silencing his brother and sister as they look at him, stunned, ❝we're always voting against her, maybe we should give her movie a try? Just this once, eh?❞

Placing his hand over his chest, Augustus feigns betrayed heartbreak. ❝Brogie...❞

❝Thank you!❞ Eloise exclaims, hands thrown overhead, ❝so, are we going or not? We're losing time!❞

— ;; NODDING, TRAILING AFTER HIS SIBLINGS, they slip into the deceptive regal of Eloise's bedroom, retrieving their "disguises"— in air quotes, when really they're just some baggy street clothes and half-convincing belongings with fake IDs— from the little box beneath her grand piano.

Sneaking out, per usual, proves easy and fruitful, although the movie itself had been a blur to Ogilvie. Contents had been entirely lost on him by the time they climb back through the window at around 11 PM, bidding each other their usual evening goodnights.

Standing over each of his siblings' beds, he gives their hair a gentle pet, staring for a long while, before ultimately turning tail with the straps of his bag in hand, making his way through the darkness of the sleeping castle and back out into the vastness of the world; only this time, he knows deep down he's not going to be returning to walk them. Guilt pits in his stomach, triggering a horrible bout of nausea.

What a shitty brother he is.

[minecraft-fanfiction-house]

My minecrafty rolly chair scraped every art from latest to popular- (I can still find more, Yay!)

The dopamine is fed from my own horrendus persnal work that i love making. As you can tell from my Obsidian notes,

and agretious titles. It is drenched with scrambled chapters (Attempt to be in order), lores, in-story mods, culture, history and percieved history, multiple fanfiction ideas(Not include the ones in my tumblr drafts that i should move to obsidian oneshots), Character ideas, besides the photo book of tumblr and inspiratinal stuff with a word of the day for name ideas.

Loading screen title is literally what i planned on changing, because 'Minecraft Legends' right, that was on a diffrent game, meaning, to me at least. It would be like BCE(Before Common Era) aNd the loading screen history checkmarks would be CE(Common Era)...

History lessons arnt going to go into that much detail, im just rambling something id change, to make sense.. .

I guess thats it, uhhhh, i have drafts about it, and about random stuff and faes you know. And illager whichs. (Cool story irignater with the faes)

also ask me about the titles of my folder, just know some are misleading like my cults in civiliaztion. Technically, the main character knows a lot about history and past civilization- they just end up getting into a lot of cults from a single kidnapping non-cult related... You know what i take it back, the titles fitting.

Anytime they try talking on why their like that, which can be as simple or as cute or violent as an action, end up being off-putting information to others. I MEAN! Just ask me about the lore of the continent they live in, I will give the pin point of why the illager soceity they live in is known as a crossed sword heirarchy.

(Their are other neighboring illager, ones a small pirate island off coast those are usally diverse with all types pf criminals, and we talk that much about villagers]

Im telling yeah, i havnt made a map. Oh yeah and that im deranged about this lore. Plus i love heirarchies, i just wished they were shaped diffrently from a pyramid, so I had the cross swords that were a carpet pattern. I am quite happy with it, not gonna lie. It was originally a double edged sword of feral children, 'oh you want me to be violet so bad' but that could be for another illager soceity. I just love complications ^^

This was a longer ramble than i initated, have a lovely day. Understanding of what im sayning or not. ♥︎

[se7ens-oc-heaven]

Wait shit

I just realized I was going to build other missing people into Legendkeepers

Specifically I wanted Xavier, my XY trainer, to have lost one of his friends to a rift, and I was going to have it be a sort-of parallel to Rex, where Rex is So Sure Ritsu's alive while Xavier is Positive his friend is dead and has given up on her (even if he's saved a gift pokemon for her Just In Case)

AND NOW THE SECOND LEGENDS GAME WE'RE GETTING IS FOR KALOS

I could USE this for my story....... 👀

[sekhmetpaws]

Begging someone to explain to tiktok generation that a plot twist is not just a new information you add to the end. Most times, just "not seem it comming" does mot mean "good storytelling". The plot twist needs to make sense when you look back at the rest of the story. All the clues were there and you missed them or one of the characters lied or the narrator was unreliable or the truth makes it insaner or funnier.

I am tired of stories where the building leads the viewer to an ending, just to end with something like "actually the side character that showed up for 5 min at the beginning was evil all along" whe it adds NOTHING to the narrative. Please.

[journeytojaburo]

(writing this down)