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Fictional worldbuilding

I have this list I compiled of topics for developing of countries, whether fantasy based or not, and it seems to be a useful resource to share. Feel free to use this list to develop your own lore, but DO NOT claim it as your own or repost. It's pretty long, but I think it covers a lot of relevant topics for worldbuilding.

General

∎ Country name - Etymology if possible - Reasons for the name ∎ Does it take inspiration for a historical time period, aesthetic, or culture ∎ What sort of government is it

Important Places

∎ Main cities - Layout of the city - Economic or historical importance ∎ Other cities and places of importance - Ports - Mine cities - Scholarly cities ∎ Seasonal or turistic places

Climate and Terrain

∎ Important lakes, rivers, mountain chains or other geographically relevant places ∎ Seasons ∎ Climate in general ∎ How does the terrain affect daily habits ∎ Important plants - Agriculture - Crops for export ∎ Important animals - Livestock

Government

∎ System of government - Nobility/aristocracy -- Titles and inheritance/eligibility of titles - Merchant class ∎ Current and past rulers

Social customs

∎ Entertainment - Common forms of entertainment - Games - Cultural/social forms of enterteinment (go to parties/go to the movies/go out to eat/etc) ∎ Seasonal entertainment - Vacations - Seasonal high class customs ∎ Customs regarding reading and books ∎ Customs towards addictive substances - Alcohol - Tobacco - Opioids - Other stuffs ∎ Education and educational system ∎ Houses - Home layouts - Common things in houses ∎ Rites of passage - Age to be presented as adult to the society and customs regarding it ∎ Manners and behaviour in public ∎ Religion - Possible gods - Holidays - Festivals ∎ Customs regarding music - Musical instruments

Notions of family

∎ Inheritance laws ∎ Marriage and concepts of marriage - Marriage rituals - Who is allowed to wed who - Divorce - Customs toward conjugal and domestic violence - Polygamy -- Extraconjugal affairs --- Bastards ∎ Adoption ∎ Division of domestic labor and roles

Economy

∎ Coin and values ∎ Important internal products ∎ Main imports ∎ Main exports ∎ Important commercial relations

Fashion

∎ Common feminine fashion ∎ Common masculine fashion ∎ Concepts about clothing - What is seen as vulgar - What is seen as desirable ∎ Fashion and rites of passage ∎ Hairstyles and adornments

Names and language

∎ Base language ∎ Linguistic influences ∎ Working of names - Family names -- Patronymic and matronymic - Personal names

Magic and technology

∎ Magic - Practice of magic - Permissions within magic - Common and uncommon forms of magic ∎ Magic creatures of importance ∎ Level of technology ∎ Daily uses of technology

[wolfesjournal]

A character arc where the character who did terrible things and regrets them is forced to live, to put one foot in front of the other and find healing, who chooses to pour goodness into the world and make the world a better place

Is more satisfying to me than a character arc where the character who did terrible things and regrets them is redeemed through death

99.9% of the time.

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Whale Shark Gliding Through Bioluminiscent Algae _ Mike Nulty

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Hey, hey! Friendly reminder to make sure your supposedly “fearless” character gets their darkest fear revealed in the worst way possible so they break down into a vulnerable shaking mess in front of all the people they care about 

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Maralyne Artian, Ex-Courier and Herald of the Spirits

The markings on her arms are not tattoos, they are runes, carefully etched into her skin to give her the power of the Couriers: the ability to traverse great distances in a fraction of the time that it would take to travel on foot.

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Considering changing the world of Dayflight to something a little more magic-based, in order to round out the vague connection between Trita and Kaperne. The problem I’m having is that I don’t want to ruin the whole “this is an idyllic, mundane world and Arell is a complete outlier here” vibes. A magically-influenced world would mean that the inhabitants are probably aware of the celestial spirits in some manner, and I don’t want a low-fantasy vibe either. Hrm.

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Painting by Jon Dunham.

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Tenebrism Plotting

The Shade is hiding on the Athans’ property when the Prince arrives. Mr. Athans is a biologist by trade and observes the ecosystem of their large pond in his free time. Four-year-old Bethany accompanies him daily. However, for several days the two observe the wildlife avoiding the pond, creating a eerie atmosphere. It feels as though they are being watched from all sides. Then one day while they are checking up on everything, the Shade strikes, killing Tobias Athans. This is when the Prince reveals himself, attacking the Shade and inadvertently deafening young Bethany in the process. The Shade wounds the Prince, fleeing into the night. Tobias and Bethany are found several hours later by Natalia and the police are called in to investigate. It is eventually ‘determined’ that a wild animal attacked and killed Tobias and injured Bethany. Never let it be said that fictional police officers know what they’re doing. It is curious, though, that a stalwart environmentalist such as Toby Athans should have been keeping a school of butterfly koi in their pond…

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Death of a Narrator

Upon overhearing the last command of one afflicted by Narratorism, you may be privy to a most curious spectacle, for when a Narrator’s skin is finally completely covered by his or her long and obnoxiously visible chain of Narrations, he or she is prone to explode. 

Keep reading

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((Adding this to the pile of “weird things I have painted on my body at night”. This is a sort of proof of concept for “The Narrator”, a character that will eventually feature in some of my YouTube short stories. She usually has a scarf up to her chin but I thought I might design her “Rash” as well. It’s not as impressive as it will be when I actually spend time on it (or make a giant temporary tattoo) but it gives you a good idea as to what it looks like!))

“As a person suffering from Narration this is the most prominent symptom, while benign and painless the bruise-y and injury-mimicking Rash is more symbolic than anything. It is the red letter of many afflicted people, the nonsensical words appearing to drip from the throat to coil around the trunk of the body. If Narration goes untreated for long enough the Rash can come to envelop the entire torso, and may even in extreme cases start spreading down one’s limbs.

In order to avoid contracting the illness it is suggested that you avoid social contact with those already suffering from Narration, though physical and proximal contact is still acceptable. If any of the affected Narrator’s Ideas take root in your mind, you are likely already infected. If you suspect that you have contracted Narration, please avoid any and all help and lock yourself away until the Rash and Voice have faded from your mind. Home remedies include reality TV binges, Buzzfeed articles, alcohol, and Not Thinking.”

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Haleniinf

In the Dayflight universe, Haleniinf is the cloud festival celebrated planetwide. While each Ark has different means of celebration, the common theme is the act of dressing up as their ancestors, who, it is believed, join the clouds upon death. Because of this belief and because of the uninhabitable conditions outside of the Arks, water is considered sacred and a gift from the long dead. The festival spans the three months in which the monsoon season may begin and officially commences on the first natural, outdoors rainfall of the year. During those three months the days before the first rain are some of the most tense. If water doesn't fall within those three months to adequately fill the Ark's reservoirs than the Ark may be doomed and the festival is not celebrated. This time is filled with fervent prayer and rain-calling, a type of singing and dancing routine. The festivals typically take place in the medians between the outside and the Ark interiors. The ventilation panels are flipped up and covered with fabrics for shade and shielding from the downpours and tents and vending areas are erected beneath them. Common games include "tar" in which a contestant is covered in mud and sand and timed to see how long it takes him or her to get all of the paste off in the rain, and very old games like garden-variety "tug-of-war "and "tag" out in the rain. The festival ends when the downpours become too dangerous. Most Arks are build on the highest, best-draining areas, but even so, after a few days or weeks flooding will reach the flood markers and the festival will come to an end. Some parts of Threash experience violent lightning storms during this time so their Haleniinf celebrations are typically carried out within their Arks and in the artificial rain, but still commence and end similarly. Various drinks and foods are commonplace, such as chocolate and cinnamon treats made to resemble mud and candied flower petals to remind everyone of what the rain will bring for the coming year. Common sales include small bottles of alcoholic drinks, which are used by the spoonful as medicine and believed to bring vitality, luck, and intelligence (most alcohol is uncommon in the arks as the cool and dark areas in which to ferment the liquids are far and few between), as well as toys made with water and colored oils inside of them, waxed paper umbrellas, and wooden boats (most of which are subsequently lost).

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I just caught myself considering removing Natalia Athans from the story entirely before remembering why she was important… I’d better get the whole of the beginning plot written down before I start forgetting even more important things…

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WHAT IF: Orb of Night Re-Plotting

Tobias Athans was not studying a fallen star but instead Diinch, a massive serpent who has been marooned in a lake for centuries. He seemed harmless and was even friendly at first but was slowly becoming corrupted by his overabundant powers. He had long been killed and stripped of his power limiters, so he was still in control of his thoughts and actions at first. Bethany Athans began visiting Diinch as a slightly older child, perhaps eight or nine. (Two or three was never logical anyways.) Meanwhile, a relatively young Arell has long lost his brother to an unknown event and is required to step into the role of Celha centuries earlier than expected. He chooses an heir, Misae. Just a few years later (remarkably quickly, for the celestial courts) Misae is murdered at the quiet outpost where she is sometimes stationed to learn the ins and outs of maintaining the star-system. Arell is blamed. While Arell is generally well-respected, the actual argument for his guilt is something along the lines of "he knew where he placed her was dangerous but he put her there anyway" and also "the killer was a Shade" and further "he is too inexperienced to maintain such a large territory". Of course, the Judge is at least partially wise to the ploy and does not allow his territory to be divided between the angry masses, however, Arell is demoted to a single planet "in order to pay penitence," though the Judge's true intent was to give him a quiet place to mourn. As is customary in cases of banishment the rest of the stars come to an agreement on where to station him and choose a small planet they call Khashsiin, but that the locals call Trita. Little does anyone know that this little blue speck is perhaps the best and simultaneously worst place that Arell could have been banished to. Elsewhere, Emil Perceval seems to be having troubles of his own. Rejected by the group of men he had come to consider his brothers and still shunned by most of his family, he finally decides to build himself a business and settle down as a bartender. But what's with the strange glowing orb he had to build his basement around...?

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General Tags, Before I Forget Them

Stories ✧Starnerds✧ ⇸Narrators⇷ 🎼Keys🎼 ◌Dayflight◌ Misc.

Meta -Worldbuilding -Self-explanatory -Reference -Used for any reblogs of relevant or interesting material -Planning -Used for things like title discussion -Plotting -Used for plot discussion -Drabble -Used for my own writing alongside a story tag -Character -Used for character art and/or analysis alongside a story tag -Housekeeping -Blog organization

Visuals -Sketch -Used for rough sketches -Concept -Used for early concept art, usually backgrounds and early character designs -Design -Used for more finalized character designs, also probably building layouts and maps -Art -Used as the general art tag -Page -Used for actual pages of comics, usually reblogged from their respective blogs

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Alternate Name Ideas for Orb of Night

Clair-Obscur Chiaroscuro Tenebrism All three of these are terms used in relation to art, the first two being the same word and referring simply to an interplay between dark and light, and the last referring to a much harsher form of Chiaroscuro in which the darkness becomes just as much a part of the picture than the spotlight-like sections of light. At the moment I prefer the first. There is of course also the option of calling it "Stars and Shades", which would be fine but for the fact that I have a completely unrelated story called "Sticks and Stones" and the similar names seem kind of silly.