#worldbuilding examples

[daisywords]

One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.

Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.

It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?

Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.

[stars-obsession-pit]

…Dannny Phantom fics often talk about Amity being chill with ghosts and whatnot, yet I don’t think I’ve ever really seen the logical conclusion of that:

Dying but just… keeping going.

A kid at Casper High dies in an accident and comes back in for class a few days later. Moves the memorial off their desk to make room for their notebook.

An elderly book club member shows up to the new meeting semi-transparent. They laugh off any concern with something along the lines of “At least my back pain’s gone!”

Someone calls in to their job like, “Hey, uh, I died. Does… does that mean I get the day off?”

No one quite knows how to react. Phantom shows up the first few times to ask if everything’s alright, but then starts to leave them be.

It’s… fine?

At first, people very carefully walk on eggshells around the topic of death, but it gradually fades into the background. People just treat it as a new rule of polite conversation. The world goes on. It’s still just Amity Park, the most haunted city in America.

They’ll have to address it eventually, they know. It’s far too big not to. But for the moment, things just keep going as they were.

[taraxippos]

I think people tend to assume that any criticism of worldbuilding is ultimately a demand for a story to grind itself to a halt and give the reader 20 paragraphs of exposition, and like. Most of the time good-faith criticism of this nature is coming from a core aspect of the story not being grounded in the setting in a way that outright detracts from the story's quality. You fix it not by Explaining but by Showing it passively in the makeup of the world.

Like the last instance I saw this critique in was like 'you can't expect an author to stop and exposit the nuances of gender roles/Queerness in a fictional society' and it's like yeah I don't, and in fact this is actually one of the easiest things to show in the text without exposition. If a society has gender norms to begin with you'll see aspects of these norms baked into EVERYTHING. You'll see it in its stories, its religion, its taboos, its etiquette, its clothing, its family structures, its language, its insults, its labor, its leadership, etc. It will have massive impacts on how characters interact with one another and how they perceive themselves. It will help Shape your characters.

If you do this legwork to begin with for the core facets of your story, you will find very natural places for these concepts to be demonstrated without derailing the plot and with little to no exposition. THAT sort of thing is what's being asked of you.

[canisalbus]

For your gay little dogs

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[marciaillust]

I added some colours to her :)

[filurig]

new little silly, eernah... she's a hooftender from a settlement not super far away from vätterunda, but seperate from Ehrumnen, Gahuurn. Moar little things about stuff i have thought about in relation to her below

a hooftender is a hrumeh (bäckahäst...ian) occupation that like the name implies takes care of hoof maintenance. some do take care of hoof maintenance on their own but the convenience of hooftenders is appreciated, especially during seasons of accelerated hoof growth, as well for hruma who cannot take care of them on their own due to things like old age, disability, etc. hooftenders also will take care of medical issues related to the hooves, so generally they tend to have a medical education as well specifically concerning hooves/feet.

reason why she will pop up in pareidolia despite not being from the most relevant hruma settlement in pareidolia (ehrumnen) is because during every hrumeh spring festival, hruma from different settlements will often gather to mingle and find potential partners. most festivals are set up in one area, often a grove, seperate from the settlements which young hruma make a journey to for the duration of the festival. and the festival Happens in pareidolia which selma goes to

Yes she is trans and i have pondered how hruma culture treats trans ppl and its a bit complicated, a bit negative (although there are probably some cultures who arent as negative but the ones im talking about are ehrumnen, gahuurn and adjacent settlements). ill just paste a discord screenshot for the general idea of their family/gender dynamics;

but yes this is also all very prefaced by the fact that most hruma societies percieve gender and sex to be very correlated if not one in the same and it doesnt only affect trans hruma but also gender nonconforming hruma. being a stag who wants to be more present in his children's lives than what is "normal" is seen as a bit overbearing, emasculating and also condescending to his hinds. a hind that wants work even after having had fawns (and before they are independent) is seen as irresponsible and weak. a trans hruma who lives in a different way of what is expected of their sex, while not treated with as much violence as is typical for humans, are shunned socially often in a bit of a condescending way - like they are what they are out of immaturity and an inability to accept what role they are best fit for in society. ive still gotta ponder this more and there might be religious overtones to the reasons as to why this stuff is quite established culturally to many hruma but yea

[ranticore]

how did you start writing books that had themes? i’ve been writing since i was 7 years old and i’ve always wanted to write a whole book one day, but i don’t feel like i write with enough intention for any of my stories to keep my interest long enough to write a novel. i love building worlds and characters, and i often understand the themes that i want to explore in a given piece, but i always feel like worldbuilding gets in the way of actually writing a plot or having something to say, or that i’m too interested in stuff that doesn’t matter as opposed to actually telling a story. that or i feel like my stuff is too derivative.

So I did the same as you from a very early age, a lot of writing that was kind of directionless, lacking overarching structures. I don't want to say it was immature but in the way of kids playing imagination games, it just kinda.. went on and on with no resolution just pure interaction where any random thing could happen because it seemed like the next step. But for that kind of writing, "the next step" was based off the one directly previous to it. To make the jump to what you describe as books with themes, "the next step" can't be based off the one directly previous to it. "The next step" has to be the extension of every single previous step, including the very first, because the entire story is built from the ground up to be a single unified whole.

I think the jump from the directionless writing to writing A Novel (with all attendant structural conventions - different to fanfic, tv writing, screenplays etc) is that the novel is approached holistically with every single event considered at the same time, instead of each little part examined as a discrete unit that links to the next at the end of the chapter/scene/etc.

What I did was write my entire series out - all three books - in rough draft format, changing it and retconning it freely as I went. the continuity in these drafts sucked and the themes are all over the place but when I was finished with these three book drafts I had every tool at my disposal. at the end of my book 3 rough draft I had worked out all my themes and my events sequence etc. which meant that when I went on to start writing what would become the final draft of stbh (complete rewrites from the ground up, no reusing rough draft prose), I knew from the very beginning exactly how the story would end and it gave me so much freedom and space to approach the full story as a whole, add foreshadowing that wasn't there before, coded hints to how the last book would end (nobody's spotted them yet... as far as I know), and so on

As for themes vs worldbuilding, and what details matter more, ultimately it's for you to decide what you want to focus on. But you also need to understand when a particular element needs to be cut to serve the narrative. If it's something you really really need to include, then you need to restructure the narrative around it (the rough draft -> rewritten first draft method helps a lot with this). There's plenty of plotlines I really liked which I axed in the end because, cool as they were, they broke the causal chain and therefore had to go.

When choosing themes you can approach it not as "what do I like" but "what do I want to say". This should clarify a lot of things. Sometimes what you want to say is "wouldn't that be fucked up or what", it isn't always some deep commentary on the world. For the imimata story I went at it with the initial core of "I am talking about dehumanisation, abuse, and celebrity culture". So I have to wrap my worldbuilding around that, rather than start without direction. The fact that the situation for imimata is so dire is a result of this theme. And so on.

Finally for worldbuilding it is possible to overdo it. I personally get turned off a story very quickly if I'm hit with eighteen walls of exposition and detail unrelated to characters, because I only want one thing and it's disgusting (character interaction), so I'm happy with a very loose canon setting. Not everyone's the same. When you do reveal world building details, link them to your theme. Let's say in Inver my theme was poverty and I want to talk about my worldbuilding around diets. I narrate that through a character who grew up in poverty reminiscing about having to go collect whelks in the bay mud. That teaches us about the physical geography of the city, what the view out to sea looks like, the coastal habitats, the types of food gathered by the poor, and also something about that character as well. Additionally, you might know one billion facts and figures about your setting but do your characters have that knowledge?

Also your own interests vs others' - write for yourself first or you'll be miserable. And if it's derivative or not - idk I mean I just avoid pulling inspiration without twisting it into what I want (and I also avoid pulling inspiration from ppl on my tumblr dash because that's how things get stale). I am a contrary bitch first and foremost and I approach a lot of stuff like "everyone's doing this? well I'm doing the opposite" ... ymmv

[alumthedragon]

Worldbuilding Wednesday Prompt 3:

Talk about a dragon in your clan who isn't a dragon. What kind of creature are they? What kinds of relationships do they have with the actual dragons in your clan?

[catermeow]

Taking a break in the End for some fresh air

[cleaverqueer]

what do robots have for like. an equivalent to drugs.

im guessing like??? something electrical, maybe just straight up fork in socket style. but more portable and less conspicuous then idk licking a battery.

or maybe magnets

[beedreamscape]

This has to be the last thing I say on C3 finale because otherwise, I will not stop, it simply baffles me in its mediocrity. And obviously, this will be negative, if you loved it, good for you, this is my takeaway as someone who loved this campaign and was severely let down.

This finale changes everything that came before and not for good, better yet, it emphasizes all the faults in the structure of what c3 tried to be, it made most of the campaign feel like a true exercise in futility — How far can we go in a campaign that is meandering and unsatisfying? How long can we have the same discussion over and over and over again despite everyone knowing how this will end? How long can we drag out characters that don't change without anyone noticing? (spoiler everyone noticed)

Can't say I was emotionally invested in the finale because I tapped out back in the 70s, came back for Aeor/Downfall shenanigans, and left again. But in experiencing the finale something became clear to me:

THIS STORY NEEDED TO BE SHORTER.

WITH ANOTHER PARTY AT THE HELM.

If the objective from the very conception of C3 was to wipe out the gods, that had to be clear from the very start. And it wasn't clear, at all — not in the characters, not in the starting city, not in theme. This was a completely different campaign at the start! That clarity was what made Calamity so great, it was short and precise, and every pc SERVICED THE THEME, filled with hubris and contempt, not to mention the setting.

Even Ludinus went in circles for convenience of the campaign length and became a weaker opponent for it, more of a nuisance than a villain. The threat he posed at episode 50 was much stronger than now at 120 something. The battle against Otohan was more nail-biting and emotionally engaging than fighting Ludinus and Predathos, a god eater!!!!

This campaign would've benefited from three to four acts instead of one overarching objective like the past campaigns because urgency is the name of the game and we can't carry urgency for 70 episodes straight (and they didn't).

The constant inclusion of the other parties made it clear how easy it was to detach BH from the story, how easy and fun it was for them to tell it through another party's eyes (one of the main reasons why I walked away back when I did, but that's more of a personal preference).

Which is not to say Bells Hell's didn't deserve a long story! They could very well have existed in a more intimate campaign which these characters were clearly built for! Their premises begged for closer looks in slow moments, something tragicomical, exploration of the inner world while developing MARQUET and its microcosm of injustice and politics which was left in the dust mid-campaign (pun intended).

And I'm not suggesting this just for our enjoyment, I know it's them playing and their enjoyment comes first blah blah, though this is a multi-million company therefore their jobs but this would contribute to their enjoyment! You could see several moments in the campaign how tapped out they felt and acted. I doubt it was "fun" discussing the gods situation ad naseaum, trudging through landscapes they barely cared about, with empty arcs.

I could nitpick every fault I see in the finale but it would be pointless, these issues have been dragged from ages ago and poor character matching, and now this is a culmination of everything and it barely fazes me anymore.

(And yeah it's their game and it's "free", but that doesn't undermine its weight as a story, stories were made be analyzed, and it was a poorly structured one no matter how much I still like and admire them as people.)

WHICH is not to say I had no fun at all ever, I did! several times! and that's what makes me upset, it could've been great instead is just meh.

[absolutechaosss]

My favorite growing fantasy and sci fi trend is earrings or jewelry that indicate pronoun preference. 10x sexier than pronoun pins.

[house-thing]

 “…And that’s why I use GuRex™ Toothpaste!”

The actor says in that practiced, faux-excitement, holds up the tube of toothpaste in its gloves to the camera - as if the motion has been practiced a thousand times - and flashes that perfect, soulless smile.

You know the one – the too-big smile, the smile with teeth too white to be real, their eyes bulging like they’re silently begging for help.

“CUT! Perfect line read, as usual.”

As people begin to shuffle off, the actor lingers in place for a moment, looking over at the director.

“Oh- uh, you're finished for today, you can go now.” The director makes a shooing motion with his hand as he got up.

The actor silently nods, setting the toothpaste gingerly back down beside it, and walks off set.

Weaving a practiced dance through the winding backstage, through stagehands packing up, deliberate, delicate, designed not to touch another soul, the actor finally reaches the dressing room, shutting the door, locking it tight.

No time is wasted before the gloved hands are grabbing its face, and pushing, squashing, stretching, squeezing.

Its sculpted smile is wiped away, facial features shed, layers of makeup washed off, leaving only smooth, featureless clay.

Only once its false face is gone, that damned smile wiped clean, leaving it devoid of anything resembling personhood -

Only then has the doll really finished acting.

[forevergoldgame]

Like with real animal husbandry, "Is it possible to..." and "is it a good idea to..." yields two different answers!

Is it possible? Hares are working animals. Sometimes it's necessary that a hare be trained to behave in the field around things it thinks of as prey. (Carriage hares can't be snapping up pursedogs as a mid-day snack, after all.)

The success of such endeavors depends on how good a trainer the hare's bonded person is, as well as the temperament of the individual animal. So yes, it's possible.

But is it a good idea? Only if you're willing to take the risk of Fido mysteriously going missing.

[valrayne-faeu]

I was visiting some old posts and you mentioned going from Spring Court to Winter Court isnt good for mortals. Is there any big reason behind that (like an accident?) or is it just because the weather change can be too much for someone?

it's a magical reason! it has to do with the Courts being related to the seasons; Spring comes after Winter, so to travel from Spring back into Winter is considered travelling backwards by the realm and it doesn't like it. all sorts of things can go wrong if you travel through the Courts in the wrong order, and only well-travelled/knowledgeable fae can do so safely.

there isn't one specific incident to point to as the cause of it, it's just how things are; it's one of the weird 'rules' that dictate the realm.

in the interest of keeping things otherworldly/unexplainable/incomprehensible, we won't give a concrete answer for what exactly will happen. we will say that there are many different things that can happen; some benign, some confounding, and some dangerous. just know that travelling that way is like "going back in time" in a realm that isn't dictated by our familiar laws of reality. there's no telling what will happen but it's not worth gambling with it.

(for the sake of some examples, though; you could end up in a completely different area of the court with no explanation how you travelled that far or right back where you started; you could end up in the past; you could end up in the future, the journey having taken significantly longer than it should've; you could find that you've aged or even de-aged; you could end your journey finding that you no longer speak the same language as those around you; losing time from your life; shortening the amount of time you can safely stay in the realm by an unknown amount etc)

[someone-save-vlad-king]

Appears with more Harperin (Harper's Rin) propaganda.

A lil more lighthearted this time I think

He trans <3

Most of the class isn't aware though (at least not at the start of the year) because he got a fair bit of grief for it in junior high, and he passes quite well now, so going into U.A. with a blank slate of sorts he wanted to live and be perceived as himself ykyk? Just be *a guy.* Didn't want to be seen or treated any differently

Some staff members like the principal and Vlad are aware since I'm sure his assigned gender at birth is on paperwork. He had to ask them for permission to wear the male uniform instead in advance, and in my little hc, he also has permission to use a separate bath/changing room from the other guys to keep his identity secret.

He starts off telling a select few close friends much later into their first year but it takes him a while before he's comfortable telling *everybody*

Oof. Good thing the staff are so accepting. Do you think he cut his hair as short as Kaibara's before realizing he liked it long?

I'm guessing he'd tell the other CSK first. TBH I think that'd be it for a while. Maybe one of the girls so he has someone to go to for pads. And then everyone else slowly over the course of the next two years. Possibly five.