#ym: worldbuilding

[yellingmetatron]

How exactly do you relate to the rest of the angelic hierarchy? I see so many angels who are supposed to be 'the most powerful angel', it's confusing.

"IT'S ONLY CONFUSING BECAUSE YOU'RE STUCK SEEING IN ONLY FOUR DIMENSIONS, TOPS, AND ALSO 'POWER' IS FUCKIN' RELATIVE.

"I AM THE ARCHCHANCELLOR OF HEAVEN. THEORETICALLY THIS PUTS ME AT THE TOP OF THE SHITPILE, BUT IN PRACTICE ALL I CAN REALLY DO IS RELAY G-D'S WILL TO THE REST OF THE HOST IF HE DOESN'T FEEL LIKE TALKING TO THEM PERSONALLY-- WHICH HAPPENS MORE THAN YOU'D THINK. I USED TO TAKE A MORE... ACTIVE ROLE IN AFFAIRS BOTH DIVINE AND MUNDANE. IT DIDN'T FUCKING WORK OUT WELL FOR ANYONE.

"THE BIG THREE-- MIKE, GABE, AND RAPH-- WOULD THEORETICALLY ANSWER TO ME ONLY IF I HAD A DIVINE MANDATE. WITHOUT THAT, I'M STUCK WITH THE THREE SAME FUCKING SHITTY PREROGATIVES AS THE BRITISH MONARCHY-- THE RIGHT TO BE CONSULTED, THE RIGHT TO ENCOURAGE, AND THE RIGHT TO WARN. SAME GOES FOR HOWEVER MANY ARCHANGELS THERE ARE RULING IN WHATEVER FUCKING FACET OF THE MULTIVERSE YOU PERCEIVE.

"AND YES, DESPITE MY POSITION, IN MOST ITERATIONS OF CREATION, LUCE WAS ALWAYS DAD'S FAVORITE. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THAT GENUINELY NEVER MATTERED TO ME. IT WAS JUST NICE THAT THEY WERE... HAPPY IN EACH OTHER. FOR A TIME.

"ANYWAY, THIS IS ALL A GROSS FUCKING OVERSIMPLIFICATION. HOW I RELATE TO MY SIBS DEPENDS ON WHICH ITERATIONS OF THEM I'M INTERACTING WITH. PERCEIVING MULTIPLES REALITIES SIMULTANEOUSLY IS KIND OF A FUCKING MENTAL SHITSTORM."

[unloneliest]

i really do want to start posting more again about my writing i'm starting to think more about my characters but lately it's alllllll about an au where everything is worse because my specialest doomed little guy lives instead of being fed to the narrative

[foundationhq]

ACCESS GRANTED TO SITE-φ.

Welcome, 𝑍𝑈𝑁. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 is pleased to handpick you for the role of [𝐺𝐴𝑅𝐷𝐸𝑁 𝑉𝐴𝑅𝐼𝐸𝑇𝑌].

With roots running wonderfully wild through lore you've not only deeply drawn from, but built on, Kel is a truly original, outstanding character — your creativity and attention to detail are absolutely mindboggling! Their perspective on not only their duties but the weirdness of our world was such fun to read, a genuinely unique point of view blooming from the splendidly odd earth of Inverness-shire. We appreciated how you went above and beyond in his background, mannerisms, and even the thermos. He brings an earnest, incandescent energy to the ethical grappling of his position; how do we decide what's "good" for society, and where do we draw our lines as we strive to further that noble purpose? What will their garden grow, here in MTF Chi-00? We are so incredibly happy to invite you into the Foundation.

Please refer to our checklist for primary onboarding, and have your account ready in 24 hours. The flight to Site-φ leaves on the dot. And 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 doesn't like to be kept waiting.

[scalamore]

Men in YM

The Manhwa version of YM has a unique plot point I don’t see in other romantic fantasy stories of it’s genre: the fact that undesirable men keep on chasing after our female lead.

To recall, YM’s worldbuilding revolves around a corrupt society that is very misogynist and patriarchal, where women are treated as objects to be possessed and have no rights of their own.

Despite being the female lead, Lari is not immune to that plot point, where being a single, unmarried woman is seen as dangerous for her. In season 3 and 4, there are 3 men who are vying for her attention: Rupert, Lehan, and Fernando. Lari, being a very nice and pretty person, gets a lot of unwanted attention from men. The thing is, Lari had grown up sheltered in TL1 and had been mostly around Rupert in TL2 (who didn’t compliment her at all while they were together), so she had no idea how pretty she really was. She truly thought she was average looking. Our first real hint at how attractive Lari was was during the debutante arc, where Rupert’s POV showed us how he actually thought she was super pretty, the prettiest girl around, and that he was feeling jealous and threatened by all the other handsome young men there because of course they would fall in love with her, and she might fall in love in return with one of them and want to leave the palace.

FERNANDO:

Fernando is such a man: he fell in love because he was convinced Lari liked him because she was nice to him, without him realizing that Lari is a friendly person who is nice to everyone.

He’s so convinced that she liked him back, that he spread rumors in the village that he and Lari will marry soon, and he was so excited to think about their future kids, and how great of a mother she’ll be. He’s not rich, but they’ll manage a family somehow. He’s so delusional, that he never considered the possibility that Lari didn’t like him back, and felt threatened when he saw Lehan and Rupert around. That was enough for him to stalk her, and kidnap her one early morning when no one was around. In the basement, he planned to beat her into submission until she agreed to marry him, heavily implied in the manhwa that he was about to assault her too.

Despite Lari clearly rejecting all his advances both verbally and by running away, he even told her to stop playing hard to get, and to accept him. To him, Lari’s consent means nothing. He wants her, and he will stoop low to poisoning and kidnapping in order to possess her.

LEHAN:

Lehan as well, fell in love with Lari at an early age because she’s nice and pretty. He was upset that she only thought of him as a younger brother, but pretended to act like one (even though he liked her as a woman), because he enjoyed how she worried and cared for him as her brother. He wanted her to see him as a man, but never had the balls to speak up because if he did, he knew she wouldn’t treat him the same as before. So he kept up the lie for years, even though he really wanted her to see him as a man.

He found his opportunity after her suicide attempt, she said she no longer thought of him as her brother, he was now a stranger to her, and she wanted nothing more from him. IF anything, after some thought, he was actually happy that she didn’t see him anymore. If they had no more brother-sister bond, and he’s a stranger to him, this was his chance to start anew and gain her affection. He’s actually convinced and excited that he’ll succeed in her loving him back. After all, he dedicated his whole life to become a knight to protect her, so she’ll appreciate him right?

Actually, not at all. Lari clearly told him that she never wanted his protection, she never even asked for it. She’s not some princess that he has a duty to protect, and when she broke off that brother-sister bond, that also included his desire to protect her. He can continue if he wants since he said that protecting her was his reason for living, but she won’t accept it. She doesn’t want or need it.

Her wishes fall on deaf ears. No matter how many times she tells him she doesn’t want him to write letters to her, or visit her, or give her gifts, he thinks she’s playing hard to get and he ignores her wishes, and continues to write letters/visit/give even more fancy gifts. He’s utterly convinced that soon, she’ll see his sincerity and feelings, lower her guard against him, accept him as a man who loves her, and returns his feelings. He may be on a mission to Willetan right now, but he’s looking forward to returning and seeing Lari again and wooing her with more gifts…the gifts that Lari clearly said she didn’t want or need.

Just like Fernando, Lehan doesn’t respect Lari’s wishes. He doesn’t care that Lari doesn’t like him that way, and just continues to barge in her life despite her saying no every time. He actually think it’s cute when she gets agitated, because that tells him he’s able to get some sort of response from her. He is convinced that with enough time and effort, she’ll love him back. He doesn’t think of the possibility she’ll never like him back, and will only think of him as a “former brother who lied to her her entire life”. Lari’s rejection is not even a possibility.

Lehan and Fernando act like the typical Vellnelnian man: Who don’t care about the feelings or wants of the woman they like, and obsessively pursue her despite the clearly unreciprocated love. They are CONVINCED they will obtain Lari at some point, as if she’s some trophy.

RUPERT, on the other hand, is completely different.

Because of his past, where he saw what obsession and possessiveness can do to a person, he knows that he can’t do that to Lari. He’s happiest seeing Lari smile and laugh, and he knows very well that if he were to force her to do something against her will, she’ll be sad, upset, unable to smile, and slowly die inside. He loves Lari too much to do that to her.

When Lari told him that she never wanted to see him again, he found a loophole: she had said SHE didn’t want to see him again, not that HE couldn’t see him again. When he revealed himself to her, he apologized immediately and said it wouldn’t happen again. At that time, Lari had thought that yes, she should be upset at him and tell him not to seek her again - but he apologized first and said he would stop first - so she couldn’t be upset. He also knew she didn’t want anything from him, so he resisted the urge to give her gifts as well. He knew the things that she hated, so he avoided all of them.

Even when she was back at the palace, he said he wouldn’t ever do anything she hated, and he would never force her to do anything. The only thing he wanted, for her to stay beside him. She will be the one to define their relationship, she can be anyone she wanted to be - he will support her no matter what. Because he’s just grateful for her for choosing him, out of everyone in the world.

As he said, he wants nothing from her. He has no expectations. He's simply grateful for her choosing to remain by his side. Never for a moment, did he feel entitled to her feelings or emotions. He was actually convinced that she would never love him in return, she would continue to hate and fear him. He only dared to have the slightest hope that she *might* start to like him back if he was sincere with his feelings + tried to seduce her, but with his seduction seemingly upsetting her more than enrapturing her, he wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do either ^^;

Among the many reasons why Lari chose Rupert, the simple fact is that he allowed her to keep her bodily autonomy and her freedom, even as the Emperor - the man who can force anyone to do anything - is astronomical. Rupert will never force Lari to do anything, and will not limit her actions. That is the most generous gift possible for Lari: a guarantee of her happiness and freedom of her future.

Rupert is the only one who can offer that to her, as well as support her in whatever she wanted to do. He’s also the only one who cherishes her so much…. Lari knows fully well how much she means to him and how important she is to him - and how important his happiness is to her as well - so it just makes sense for her to choose him in the end.

[mildlylesbian]

You want asks? Uhhhh...

I'm starting to brainstorm for a sci-fi Hermitcraft AU! So far, I just have some basic worldbuilding ideas, but I'm hoping to have some fun with it!

Gur, you cannot send me this and then not tell me all about your ideas????

/not forced but like, kicking ym feet and twirling my hair I'd love to hear about your ideas

[foxtriestobiteandmaimandkilland]

I think smth i love abt minecraft roleplay is the suspension of disbelief. Like. Bc its so abstract bc its all fuckin cubes u can literally just like. Idk. Interpreting things is fun. During dsmp days it felt like my imagination was a lot stronger than it is now bc it was like. Heres some vagueish shapes of places and worldbuilding. Do with that what u will. And. Like. Yea. I loved watching scenarios and imagining the animatics as i watched it. Like. Um. God imtoo sick for this rn. I have mabu msny thoughts but like. Miencrafy roleplay is. Good. Because. Suspension of disbelief is rlly fun. And awesome. And imaginwtion is. Fun. And i miss it when i could picture things bettwr. Altho ive founr smth thats fun to do is. In jrwi. I remember starting the liquidis arc and being like. Ok. When grizzly explains this location. Im actually gonna focus on what he says and use my hands to motion to where i see things in my mind. So i can establish a good image of what hes describing. And rhat liek. Worked. Like w a buncha other arcs where i wasnt rlly paying much attention, the images r very vague n shit. But. Liquidis is very clear. In ym head. Bc. Hands

[cotyledonal]

okay. Okay. I'm gonna break this down real quick

[Sur] = Recondite/Mysterious

[Rro] = Breath

[Han] = Egg™/Life/Gift Of Life. Originally I had it as Hana all together, and then later realized that [A] already had a fucking meaning and they should not overlap, by god

[A] = State of Being. But!! that would make it a VERB and nOT a name!!

however I cannot call him Surrohan!! NO I refuse it!!

SO I decided these royal bitches are so high off their own hype that they add -a to the end of all their names bc they're just so close to Tia, who is the main deity. now I have to remember names like Kirallankimina and it's all my own damn fault.

also for what the rest of the name means--"Surro" only makes sense if you know that it's a chopped-off part of Susurro--[Su] = Water; [Su²] = Wave [Sur] = Recondite [Rro] = Breath--which is the word for the ocean, bc everyone here is hopped up on cosmic horror and the Terrible And Beautiful Nature Of Our Mother The Sea (O Woe!)

[Rro] is also directly associated w physicality, which fits this guy specifically, bc he has two ice axes and absolutely no aversion to confrontation

[Han] is the other bullshit part of this name, but that fits a lot more naturally into the pre-existing worldbuilding: his family is super into "continuing their family line" while also having like... .5 births per hundred years. so they looked at this guy, a small child at the time of his naming ceremony, like "ohhhh yeah we're gonna arrange-marry you sooo good you're going to have sooo many kids" (he's also trans btw. and no he does not have a good time whenever he visits his family.)

he's also called Kirsusu on occasion, which was his baby/childhood/pre-ability-to-speak (which is when kids are given first names here) nickname, which means Riptide--[Kir] = Fang/Rip [Su²] = Wave--and there's kind of a joke here about how what he was called when everyone around him was like. "What is this toddler's PROBLEM." is still way more accurate to his personality that whatever highbrow nonsense they came up with later

and his name is Surrohana and I am ATTACHED I cannot change it no matter how stupid or confusing it is. and his full name is Surrohana Osoa-li ym Yanyailun, with the titles Orsi (Lord), Ti'orhisi (Holy General), Orpeikdansi (Glacier-Walker), and he's my special little guyyy

funniest thing I as a conlang girlie do is get sooooo attached to the Look and Mouthfeel of a certain word/spelling that I bend the other rules around it bc I want it That Specific Way so bad. "Surrohana" changed the naming rules for one whole nation

[moonshine-nightlight]

True or False

You easily write stories from the perspectives of different characters (monsters, gender, sexuality, etc).

True

I think its fun and challenging getting into different perspectives and that's a big part of why reading, writing, and stories are fun. However, i think a key to that is that no matter how different a character is from me (based on the above, life experiences, etc) there is still something I have in common with them. Sometimes there's a lot of overlap and sometimes there's not much, but there is always something that I can relate to because i think that's true for everyone in real life and I think that's always what makes writing a character with a perspective not my own click for me. Some characters take more time to get there with, but its always worth it. Enjoying the process definitely makes it feel easier, no matter the time it takes.

[catboyloghain]

ym’s interlude in words of radiance is my favorite. the brief exchange “if i make your life better, i make my own better” “that’s crazy talk, i think you’re just a nice person” makes me feel things

[krakenator]

You read Magical Relations too, huh? I'm still so messed up over the fact that it pulled that gutpunch and then...hasn't updated since. I live in hope of long-belated continuation because how the hell else am I supposed to cope.

(The approach to Parseltongue as an actual language in that series is still probably my favorite in the fandom, too.)

If it was a DIFFERENT incredibly memorable character death...uh, fic rec swap? :þ

SAI

IM GRABBING YOU AND IM LOOKING YOU IN THE EYES SO LOVINGLY

I REMEMBER MY BESTEST BOY ANTHONY GOLDSTEIN WITH SUCH LOVE IN YM HEART BUT I CAN NEVER REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE DAMN SERIES so now i can go reread it

And yeah, the parseltongue worldbuilding in this was stand-out too! And wow, HUH I forgot this is also a magical Dudley series too

The author really did pull that and stop updating, yeah. F to abandoned fics including my own, it happens, but also WHAT powermove on their part

I'm 99% sure Magical Relations is what we're both thinking about, but fic swap anyway- Cunning and Ambition by MinaAndChao has my favorite Pansy Parkinson. Also abandoned late game unfortunately, but the final chapter is an FAQ covering the remaining outline.

[55thinkertinker55]

Religion in Stormlight Archive

One thing I've really appreciated about this series is the wide spectrum of religious beliefs throughout this book. Jasnah is an atheist, Shallan holds onto the tradition of religion. Most of the characters believe and follow the Almighty. Other cultures have their own beliefs.

Szeths culture believes rocks are holy and the Alethi use rocks as a tool in just about every aspect of their lives.

In Words of Radiance, the characters Ym has a conversation with a local boy about religion. He claims, "Iriali need no preaching, only experience." He believes people came from one consciousness and live seperate lives that will be reunited later on.

Brandon Sanderson himself is a Mormon but he poses realistic debates about if there is a God, and other perspectives on religion. These conversations aren't the author screaming their opinions, it's realistic worldbuilding. I've read some books that either don't touch religion in their worlds, or force their worldviews on the reader every other page.

The debates and practices of religion in these books seems very realistic to me and I've loved learning about them.

[yellingmetatron]

Hellaverse Metatron

Dunno if there's ever gonna be a canon version of Metatron in the shows. If that does end up being the case... it will influence absolutely nothing of my portrayal of this character when interacting with other Hellaverse muses. So let's just get it out of the way to call him canon divergent.

A history in brief: Metatron was instrumental in the creation of reality-- not just Earth, which the angels created together, but Heaven and even Hell. However, his contribution was... mixed. In an event known in Lurianic Kabbalah as Shevirat HaKeilim (Shattering of the Vessels), Metatron's near-infinite creative energy fractured reality. It's hard to describe exactly what went wrong in human terms, but it emotionally scarred Metatron irreparably and left him deeply afraid of his own essence.

Thus, even though Metatron was appointed Chancellor of Heaven, he was extremely reluctant to exercise any real power, and gladly surrendered any effective authority to the Council of Heaven-- conditionally. That condition was that the Council would always make informed decisions together, free from deception and coercion. Content that his siblings would do their best democratically, Metatron largely withdrew to his Library whenever he didn't need to relate direct messages from The Almighty.

Lucifer's fall was a huge blow, particularly because Metatron was uncomfortably reminded of his own mistakes. He could have intervened... but he didn't. And once the verdict was in, he was not capable of overturning it. Paradoxically, the sheer scope of Metatron's power made him vehemently opposed to using it. Too easily he could become a tyrant. His own fear of overawing free will meant he didn't support its greatest proponents, the second of his major regrets.

As time passed, direct messages from his Father grew fewer and fewer, and Metatron lost his main source of solace to counteract his growing cynicism with humanity. He became feared for his violent temper and alien mindset; where once he had been patient with other beings' lack of perspective-- Metatron having levels of consciousness and perception that could only be called "ineffable"-- he increasingly resorted to the very overawing he once rejected.

This would lead to the third of his major regrets-- but that's another story.

But while Metatron threw his weight around on Earth, and intimidated any angels who disturbed his contemplation, never once did he challenge the authority of his siblings on the Council. And eventually, he stopped paying attention to the politics of Heaven all together. This would be his fourth major regrets, as soon as he learned about the annual exterminations in Hell.

Metatron was conflicted; He vehemently opposed the exterminations on principle but still fearful of the full scope of his own power, and bound by his own oaths, he could not simply stop them by fiat. However, nothing stood in the way of more... indirect actions.

And then he learned about a project headed by his niece, Charlie Morningstar...

[remade3940580486940568]

Before passing out, or... I think in my sleep? I think I was sleeping. But I was thinking about Mima and me and our names. Apparently Ym means Dawn and the je(ye) /te sound means Dusk??? Or also dawn but in a different dialect? Wtf

But ym means God. Dawn... Is God? Makes sense.

Is Mima's name YUH-MIMA (dialect of ymira?) or TEI-IMUH? I don't get it wtf

I think one of them is a pun-nickname? TEI-IMUH means something. Something light? Our light?

I worldbuild in my sleep and it rarely makes sense and yet it felt real

[remnantglow]

4, 27, 31

4. Do you have a DeviantArt, personal website, or art blog?

absolutely not we cram everything onto one blog like idiots. i had a deviantart when i was around 13, i tried to find it but apparently i terminated it at some point 😢

27. For digital artists: how many layers does a typical piece require?

oh ym god so many...... so many. i’m the sorta person who likes to have every second line on a separate layer so more complex fully shaded pieces like my last secret santa drawing can be up to like 150 layers djghdf 

31.  Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

god this is going under the fucking cut. my oldest digital art i have on this laptop, from 3yrs ago 💀💀💀

god this is fanart for this one fantasy series i loved at like 14-15 which uhh. from what i recall had rly fascinating worldbuilding but was lowkey sexist @past me are u ok is the sexism rly worth putting up with for cool worldbuilding (it wasnt i ended up never reading the last book in the series fgjhdfjg). i cant remember the got dam. title rn

[scalamore]

MAP of the world of YM I love the worldbuilding for this series. For fun, here's a map. From what I noticed from the series, most, not all of these territories were mentioned, and here are some neat details:

Champagne, the Capital City, is split in half by a river (We can see RupeLali crossing it at the end of the kidnapping arc, when they back to the palace)

Morgan Barony - Riche was engaged to Baron Morgan in TL1 (unknown in TL2). Mariqus Gorten set it up as a political marriage, and Riche was not pleased. Despite being "only" a baron, he had tremendous political benefits since he occupied the area next to Champagne.

Auberine County - Count Auberine was one of the potential marriage candidates for Lari in TL2. Rupert took one look and identified him as a lame pervert lol.

Belois County actually has a lot of land, and has as much wealth and prestige as the Gorten Marquessate, whom has multiple mines. Belois also has a ton of knights in their personal army.

Count Vincent had a brief alliance with Marquis Gorten to de-stabilize Count Belois' power/authority (kidnapping arc). But that alliance fizzled (not much information) and the Vincent County didn't gain power as they hoped for.

The Hamel Viscountcy is kinda quiet. Their daughter, Sasha, attended Lari's bday party at the start and isn't mentioned again.

In terms of distance: on a good day, from Champagne to Belois is perhaps about a day a way, from Champagne to Lorraine is about half a day when in a rush (roughly)

The subcontinent of Vellnelni is mostly barren land except for the area where Champagne is - that's the center of commerce. It has long cold winters.

St Volgorwad is the holy city, has a nice blue lake there. The last few generations of the royal family (including RupeLali) aren't religious, so the power of the temple has really decreased. But the records of the "law of the land" are archived there, so they re-establish their bond with the temple, because more allies is always good, and they help Lari achieve power as Chief High Justice. But there very much is a separation of religion + state as before.

Surprisingly, Ardel isn't the capital of Willetan - Baha is.

In Willetan, we have the Miramonte Duchy - the ones who plotted to send Eva over as a slave with the Blue Eagle

Ardel is the area of commerce; it's also where Schlavi's (the magician's tower) is. Willetans are more open to using both Alchemy and Magic.

Eva was first sent to the Western Colonies as a slave/prisoner of war, where she met the Crazy War Hero, who fell in love with her at first sight.

Lari used up all her savings and purchased a small island/land off the Republic of Hirel as an emergency getaway for House Belois. This is also where Nigelle is said to have escaped to.