#I think worldbuilders would really like that method

[elphael]

i think reframing 'writing a campaign' or 'writing a plot' as writing beats has dramatically changed the quality of my dming. for me personally, i work best when i have a world with pieces that would be moving (regardless of whether the players would be there but obviously, you put the players in the crosshairs to effect change) and plan each 2-4 sessions as its own small story and i've developed a method that really works for me that i use for oneshots, mini campaigns, and in arcs for longer games.

[ID: a screenshot of a bullet point list with template headers: Location, Framing Plot (subheaders Social, Exploration, and Combat), Key NPCS, World Plot Progression, Player Hooks (subheaders repeating Player to be replaced with a PC's name)]

to further explain:

Location(s) — where the sessions will likely take place, so I have a manageable list of places to develop further in terms of worldbuilding.

Framing Plot — What is happening, what is the inciting the incident and what are the things the players cannot control. Then the subheaders are the three tiers of play. I think it's important to have an idea to tap into all of them or lean heavier into what your party is interested in but consider all of them for fun and exciting Mechanical gameplay as well as story and roleplay.

Key NPCS — Who are the NPCS that are going to be important to the framing and to the players. This is usually just a handful.

World Plot Progression — How does / how will the events of this scenario push forward what your players are working towards?

Player Hooks — Specific thoughts for how to connect the framing plot to each player character and make each player feel invested and like their choices matter.

and that's what I do to plot out my games. It's never "this is how things will resolve" it is, "this is what the situation is and this is how i want to connect my players to it and see what they do"

#liza.txt #trying to do a better job w/ ids apologies if it's trash #my d&d posts #personal d&d tag #dm tag

[headspace-hotel]

@that-gay-jedi requested that i talk some about material conditions and their effect on worldbuilding so here's something I'm thinking about

One area where the conditions of day to day life never seem to be fully considered in their impacts on the worldbuilding: magic systems.

I'd have to do more research to support this theory, but I think that this is one of the major ways that D&D has shaped how we Do Worldbuilding in fantasy. Most magic systems, in the way they are shown to us, have a lot of very combat-focused applications. Even if it's not all fireballs, lightning bolts, and more classic D&D wizard type stuff, physical/elemental type magic is explored from the angle of "how do I hurt/kill people with this" or "how do I destroy things with this"

But. If you're in a roughly pre-industrial fantasy world, and a portion of the population that's at all significant has magic, or can learn magic, that affects the natural world, the oldest and most widespread type of magic or method of using magic likely isn't going to be for warfare, and even when writers question the combat-centered magic, they usually go for like, exploring how magic is incorporated into the arts or something

Which is great. But in most pre-industrial societies, like 90% of the population is rural farmers. What I'm saying is, where is the farm magic.

The first spells to be developed, the oldest and most well-known spells, should really be like this:

banish slug

repel frost

corral

loosen dirt

uproot

magic scythe

separate chaff

repair horse

castrate bull

deworm

summon scarecrow

peel sheep

direct moisture

What farmer even today wouldn't find loads of uses for magic? Charms that keep patches of ground above freezing. Magical explosions that disseminate seeds instantly all over your fields. Shade spells to protect your plants from beating sun.

If magic can summon demons or familiars or make constructs to do stuff for you, you bet your ass that stuff was used by farmers long before it was ever used for fighting. The most culturally important use of necromancers isn't creating soldiers to form undead armies, it's reanimating your dead mule so he can still pull your plow. Farmer warlocks will summon demons from hell to haul manure for them.

If you have wizards in a fancy wizard private school learning how to create a shield of frost, that knowledge had to come from somewhere, and the answer is probably thousands of years of farmer wizards learning how to magically protect their crops from extreme heat and cold.

I want to see side notes in worldbuilding about how every spell used for combat is basically a repurposed farming spell.

This spell for summoning a magical suit of spectral armor that shatters weapons? Yeah, that was originally developed for chickens so foxes would shatter their teeth when they tried to bite them. It was used for centuries before someone thought of trying it on a person.

#worldbuilding #magic #writing #magic systems

[friendlybowlofsoup]

Another Update

Hello Friends,

I have a rather long (but optimistic!) update to share with you all today. As many of you are probably tired of reading these kind of posts, I have a TL;DR here, but I did want to share what has been on my mind in that past half-year that I haven't been here.

It has been rough, and busy as always, but I think I'm finally facing myself and my project for the first time in a very long time.

TL;DR (it's actually long, I have a lot to say (*_ _)人)

I soul-searched and decided to stop compromising on my own feelings with regards to this project. I gave in to everything I wanted to do.

Plot changes, which means some character changes, which means some of the demo is outdated.

GotRM will be switching over to Twine.

----

OH MAN DID I SUFFER THE LAST FEW MONTHS

After my previous update, I hunkered down and really analyzed how I wanted to proceed with GotRM as a project. Because even prior to that post, I had already been going through long periods of hiatuses (which you are all aware of), and while I didn't lie about school taking up my time, I was also harboring a growing dissatisfaction with my own writing that really killed my progress for a long time.

So after everything had settled, I sat down and forced myself to peel apart my work. I know I said I would answer asks, but I uninstalled all of my social media and put aside this blog to focus. I made a note of all the things I liked and didn't like, and I made a list of things I wanted to change or improve on. The biggest point was that I also looked at my efficiency during actual writing sessions: how much of my time was spent writing vs. fighting with code? How could I change that?

And after a lot of deliberation, I figured there were a few things I had to change from the ground up, summed up in four points:

My working style was super incompatible with grad school. I can't spend 20-30 minutes scrolling up and down CSIDE checking code or looking for narratives while also jumping between chapters to make sure events line up. As this story grows, the more difficult it becomes to keep track of all the branches, so I needed an alternative working method, which I am adhering to now, and it prioritizes efficiency.

I hated the way I was tracking and coding stats in-game. I have griped so much about coding stats, and I have adhered to such a rigid style that I really felt trapped whenever I was confronted with balancing them out. So I'm throwing that to the wind and redoing how I utilize and convey them. Player-side, this decision doesn't change much since I never fully utilized stats in the demo anyway, and the stats page with indicators will still exist, but I'm getting rid of stat bars and how I treat stat checks.

The story I want to write now is different from the one I started out with. I've known for a while that GotRM was becoming far more than the tiny, wishful novella that I wrote as a teenager. I held onto that old story for a long time, but there's just so much I want to change that I realized I'd been clinging to a story I no longer enjoyed writing. So I spent the majority of the last few months rewriting GotRM from scratch. I redid some worldbuilding, I changed a lot of plot points, and I fixed a lot of characters' backstories accordingly. This meant scrapping stuff from even the demo, but that turned out to not be the biggest issue because:

I wanted to branch away from ChoiceScript. Honestly, I never really cared about getting officially published, but the camaraderie in the forums and on Tumblr were why I committed to CS and CoG. However, ultimately, I really want the functionality that other tools can offer GotRM, and so after a long internal debate, I will be switching over to Twine. Fortunately, since I was rewriting everything anyways, this has been relatively painless, and passage mapping has made everything so much neater. I am trying my best to make it up to chapter 2 before I release the new demo, so please look forwards to that!

And so yes, I am still here, chugging along.

I love this game and this story: it's been my creative escape for as long as I could remember, and you can imagine how frustrated I was when I realized I was starting to dread working on it.

I am forever learning more about myself and my writing style, and this is simply more of that journey. Thank you everyone for sticking around, for joining the discord, and for checking up on me--that I have all of you has truly been a dream.

Hopefully more updates to come soon! I understand that there may be questions about these new changes, so please ask away! I will (try) to release some asks that I've been working on in the drafts too, but I will wait until at least tomorrow to release them so that this post doesn't get drowned out immediately.

And as always, with a lot of love,

FriendlyBowlofSoup (Mei)

#writing update

[homunculus-argument]

I'm honestly not opposed to the People Of Hats sort of culture worldbuilding if it's done well. Sure, it's easy to get lazy with "this specific people are defined by exactly one or two features, and their whole culture revolves around being these two things", but it can be a fun exercise if you think about what that would actually look like, realistically.

Like you could have a whole culture of people whose Whole Thing is mining a specific ore and being masterful blacksmiths. They would have songs about smithing, different forging songs whose rythm is matched to the correct timing of striking the hammer down. All their folk tales have some part where the hero forges themselves a weapon or a tool that they need, and only seek the aid of a real master blacksmith when something they need is beyond the skills of what "everyone" should be able to do on their own.

Their language has vast amounts of words for different phases of forging, different methods and different variations of them. Many of their words for different colours are ones that are used to describe the shade of the metal at different temperatures. These are also used in sayings and figures of speech, children learn that quenching a pale-yellow blade ruins the work because they hear it as a figure of speech - saying that someone "quenched a pale-yellow blade" means that someone ruined their chanches of achieving something by acting too early.

A completely common layman coming from a people who are all about metallurgy probably wouldn't go around talking about how they, personally, are a master blacksmith and nobody else around them knows jack shit compared to them. They would be saying shit like "oh, I can't forge at all, I'm an embarrassment really, I can only make passable hooks and hatchets", and be astonished that nobody else here thinks that those are obvious skills that could be expected of an average 12-year-old.

[yuri-is-online]

Back with some more thought experiments! This time, let’s talk about the actual worldbuilding of Twisted Wonderland. I mean, this is a completely separate world where fairytales and fantastical things actually exist. It’s functionally impossible for Twisted Wonderland to just be Earth plus some Disney sprinkled on top.

The biggest point that really gets me is that fact that methods to foresee the future exist. Astrology is a valid class in NRC and Yuu suffers from plot convenient prophetic visions. The mere idea that the future can be foreseen should have huge ramifications on how businesses and governments operate. Imagine knowing the effect of a deal or policy before it even happens. Or minimizing crisis by knowing about it before it strikes.

Magic should also affect technological development. We know that there was an age before magic was widespread among humans, thanks to Trein in GloMas. In that sense, I can see how up to a point technological development may be similar… but post-magic the technology should be different due to a different set of limitations.

Language is also an interesting topic. Setting aside things that humans probably can’t event speak like the Fae languages seen in game, what of the languages used in Twisted Wonderland? Would they be similar to Earth as a result of the Disney movies used to create its history? Does that explain why Rook speaks French?

This isn’t accounting for religion either. The Age of the Gods is a thing, drawing from the Hercules movie. That would mean that the Greek gods actually exist in Twisted Wonderland. So how did they fall out of worship? I mean, only Hades seems to be recognized anymore due to the Great Seven, and not even in a religious way.

Look, I’m going to hit the character count if I keep trying to list all of my questions. This is just all so fascinating! And true to my fixation on Yuu, this is all great content for exploring just how alien Twisted Wonderland must feel. Like, Yuu should honestly ask more questions. I don’t buy how easily they adapted in the game.

- 🦐

*cracks knuckles* Shrimp you have brought up stuff I've been thinking about for a hot second, I'm so glad you have come into my inbox ( ๑ ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ♡

I agree that I don't think Yuu would have adjusted as easily as they are depicted to in game, but this is a mobile app gacha game licensed by Disney so it's not going to focus as much on stuff like that. Luckily that's what we're here to do anyway~ I am going to go through these points one by one.

Point One: Astrology

The most we learn about how fortune telling works in game is from the Scalding Sands hometown event. There is an exchange between Cater, Trey, and Jamil about using coffee grinds to tell fortunes, and Trey specifically says something I think is interesting: we get two really interesting lines:

From what's said here we can tell two things: A) there is a distinct difference between types of fortunes and B) a distinct difference in the quality of fortune tellers. Someone like Cater is correct most of the time with his divination, but not everyone will be making actively relying on it for major decisions. I could absolutely see older kingdoms having a seer employed who a ruler could call on for supernatural advice, but I don't think that would be common practice in modern day Wonderland outside of maybe Briar Valley. Besides, just because you know something bad will happen doesn't mean you will be able to efficiently mobilize your forces in time to make a meaningful difference.

Speaking of which, not to touch on spoilers too much but Leven seems to be implied to posses the ability to actually clearly see the future, and as for Yuu's visions...

Well Lilia says he thought they might have a curse like Silver's (not that he knew why they were dizzy)... and the ability to see the future IS often handed out in Greek Myths as a curse, but well. Make of that what you will.

Point Two: Magi-Tech

The way technology works in Twisted Wonderland is a bit vague. From how Idia talks, I think there is a distinct difference between technology and magitechnology, with Idia specifically specializes in the latter. I actually went a really long time thinking that since Yuu hadn't a single trace of magic on them they wouldn't be able to ride a magi-wheel because of how Deuce talks about it syncing with your own magic and what not. Even magicless people in Twisted Wonderland don't seem to be completely magicless, they just don't have enough of a mana pool to actually cast a spell.

I think it would make sense to suggest magic and magitechnology probably affected Twisted Wonderland's development in the same way the silicone chip did ours, but the key difference would be that if you put too much magic into a device most humans can't use it. That would bring up a completely separate set of setbacks and issues... while there might not be a difference in the type of things built their internal construction would definitely be wildly different.

Part Three: Language

I think the easiest answer to this is yes. We know there is a "common" language that most places now use... I like to headcannon that language as being unique to Twisted Wonderland but I have seen some people think it is probably English. Which brings out my scrunchy face because the prevalence of English in our world is because of the British Empire... which never existed in Twisted Wonderland.

Rook speaks French because one of his favorite plays is set in Fleur City/the Shaftlands... which as a side note. In his Vampire card vignette he names the play that made him like Neige so much: Kingsroad~ The Sword to Become King!~ which is literally the Sword in the Stone based off of the little song he sings from it. I have been going crazy since GloMas thinking about if this suggests that King Arthur is french in Twisted Wonderland or if Rook is referring to another play... personally I think he's from Sage's Island but that's a crack for another post

Part Four: Greek Myths and Religion

There doesn't really seem to be any religious presence in Twisted Wonderland at all. It's unclear if Hades was ever worshiped or if he was just referred to as a god due to his perceived immortality and power. Given that there is something called the Jupiter group... and the Shrouds are a branch of the Jupiter family... AND that the Titans you fight in Chapter 6 are yelling about getting to and killing Jupiter... I think that it's highly likely there are events in Twisted Wonderland's history that correlate to the stories of the Great Seven, but didn't necessarily involve the Great Seven themselves. It's just that those events are remembered as having been done by them... for some unknown reason. Not to be conspiratorial... but do we have any proof they ever actually lived in Twisted Wonderland at all? (━＿━)ゝSure there are relics and things, and there are apparently paintings in the Land of Dawning Meusuem, but where did they come from? How old are they? I don't need sleep I need answers, is this a primary or a secondary source about the Queen of Hearts Riddle?

The End

I also wish Yuu would ask more questions, but I get why they don't :/ this is a gacha game blah blah blah but also. I don't think Yuu knows what questions to ask, there's a lot of stuff about life you don't think about as being abnormal until someone looks at you funny and I think Yuu realistically does a lot of that, but if you put every single instance of that into a game it would get very exposition heavy very fast. Luckily you, I, and everyone reading this have massive brains and can talk to each other about it!!!

#<3 asks #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst yuu #twst theories

[sere-ness-ima]

Arguments against giving personifications a universal language (or another method of communicating with each other immediately and without any problem)

(Ok, this was a little clickbaity. First of all, I absolutely don’t intend to say that whoever does it is wrong. Like everything in Hetalia worldbuilding, it’s a matter of personal preference and goals we set for our story. Additionally I absolutely think that heavy focus on this matter would be detrimental for the story and unapproachable by audience other than a couple of crazy linguists.

Unfortunately I happen to be a crazy linguist, so here’s what I actually mean by this post:)

Fun linguistic things to consider in the context of Hetalia :D

Now, personally, I feel like the universal language takes away from the naturality of their relationships, *especially* so-called “first contact”, but not only that. Language is an enormous part of international relationships through the ages and removing this part from the equation results in the personifications not experiencing this side of their people’s history.

Sometimes in a story you don’t want two nations to understand each other. It happens. I’d much rather have choice than create a rule that takes this possibility from me.

The question of “which languages these two characters share” is interesting; it silently reminds of their history and points to cultural circles they belong to, as a subtle storytelling tool. (Other than that, deciding that is insanely fun, but this might be a linguist thing?)

Languages can be symbolic for other details of relationships. Think Lithuania speaking outdated Polish, from 19th century at best, because he didn’t have many opportunities to catch-up with the living language after that, now they’re not together with Poland anymore. [/personal hc, but even if they were, I think he’d still lag behind].

Another case, think a weaker country speaking the language of the stronger country, never the other way around, indicating a power imbalance between them.

Think a weaker country [personally I’m thinking a friend’s Serbia] absolutely refusing to speak the language of the stronger country, forcing them to seek compromises or use an interpreter or more drastic measures.

The lingua franca, whatever it would be, automatically carries a huge cultural and social influence with it. I believe the personifications should be prone to it too.

Another linguist thing, but I find communication struggles fascinating and endearing. There’s so much cultural exchange to be drawn from a second language user: which parts of learning are difficult for them, which are easy; what mistakes they make and how are these influenced by their native speech; what words do they choose to use, what do they think a chair’s gender is, do they sound soft or harsh or have an accent? If two Slavs talk to each other in English, is it correct English or do they use Slavic pronunciation and grammar to make it easier for themselves, causing a distress for each anglophone that hears them?

Another linguist thing, but a lot of pairs of countries that technically don’t have a common language can probably communicate with ease anyway. I want to see them go wild. I want to see them make a mixtape out of their French and Latin to talk to an Italian, I want distant Asian countries to talk to each other in English that no actual English person would understand, I want to see Latin America NOT understanding each other despite theoretically all speaking Spanish. And I want to see two distant countries find out that their only common language is something completely unexpected they’ve studied out of boredom.

I want to see the poor couple of nations without decent linguistic skills SUFFER.

Some of you speak like not having a common language was an unconquerable obstacle that would destroy all the fun and be a giant problem in the storyline. But I don’t really see how? Our ancestors did it. They travelled, they met other nations and they had to learn how to communicate with them. Some of them saw the opposite thing happen: they used to understand their neighbours without problem, but as the nations found themselves under different influences, the languages drifted away from each other until the similarities became unrecognizable. People across the ages have been learning languages, travelling and communicating. There are teachers, translators (my friend Laurynas says he’d like to see translators acknowledged), interpreters, etymology, lingua franca and body language all for them to use. I am not 25 yet and I speak 4, with a certain pain I can communicate in 6, and I could probably visit 100 countries of the world without worrying about the language issue at all. My nations are 100 years old. I just don’t think they need additional help. They'll slay :D

There were a couple ideas I’ve seen pro-universal language that I liked, so thought I’d share:

One, as beetroot said, being able to communicate with one personification doesn’t mean the countries wouldn’t have to learn languages, as the rest of the society wouldn’t be able to understand it. Therefore, most of these “fun linguist things” would appear anyway, just not between personifications. For me it’s a bummer, although acceptable. For someone else it can be more than enough.

Two, a quote from my friend Huku:

“Universal language is also a thing that helps them identify each other, which is a cool trick. It explains why, upon finding a personification in a swamp, the nation knows that this child is a personification and not some random mortal. Besides, nations from distant cultures also find it hard to communicate initially, because maybe the language is universal, but the context is foreign, the metaphors unreadable, the wording strange.”

Three, at first I didn't like morgenlich’s version that the language “can’t be written down because of magic”, but after seeing a suggestion that it wouldn’t be an actual language, just a mysterious way of understanding each other, the idea sounds more approachable to me. Cheers!

#hetalia #hetalia headcanons #historical hetalia #hetalia worldbuilding #nation lore #ness cinematic universe #nessay #if i've ever seen one

[shewhopats]

Overwatch characters watching your kid

I've been thinking about writing some silly short stories about OW characters getting stuck watching someone's kid, but I figured I would make this guide for my headcannon for the kind of babysitter each of them would be.

Brigitte and Reinhardt would make you the most nervous with their methods. Lots of rough-housing, throwing them around and into the air, giving your kid sugar, letting them climb things, and overall just encouraging mayhem and rule-breaking. "You mom/dad doesn't let you do this at home? Well, they're not here, are they?" Your kid will come home thoroughly exhausted, but bitter about you not being as fun as they are.

Orisa would make the same mistakes as Brigitte and Reinhardt, but more out of ignorance and inexperience. Like letting your kid stay up too late, because she doesn't understand why going to bed at a decent time is important, or feeding them something that makes them sick because that's what they said they wanted to eat. Unintentionally lets your kid walk all over her, but once you teach her how it's done, she'll be your go-to option when you need a break.

Zenyatta would be so intrigued by the natural imagination and curiosity of children. He'd provide lots of different toys, art supplies, and time for unrestricted and uninstructed play. A one-man enrichment program. Just don't try to tell him there are boy toys and girls toys. Your kid will be allowed to play with whatever they want. He would also unironically have a blast playing pretend with dolls or action figures. I'm talking a 25-part narrative with backstories, lore, worldbuilding, and an Endgame-style final conflict.

Genji, Kiriko, Tracer, and B.O.B would be the kings and queens of "don't tell your parents." Extra screen-time, taking them out for ice cream, staying up a little later then their normal bedtime, etc. What I would call "a healthy amount of rule-breaking." They have everyone else convinced they are Responsible™ but you can't help noticing that your kid is always excited to hangout with them.

Ana and Torbjorn could be depended on the same way you can trust grandma and grandpa. They've had kids, so they know all the tips, tricks, and games to keep your kid clean, fed, safe, and happy. Just don't tell them some dumb shit like "organic, non-gmo fruits only." Your kid will be eating bananas from the supermarket like everyone else. But for more sensible rules, even the ones they don't agree with, they will follow them.

Echo will make you fill out a 200-question survey and write an essay on how you want your kid cared for. She will follow every instruction down to the letter, and send you updates every 30 minutes. If your kid sneezes, she will call you to ask about it. The downside is your kid will probably hate her for being such a rules monger.

Baptiste, Illari, Lucio, and Sojourn would try so hard to be responsible and follow your instructions, but puppy-eyes work on them 80% of the time. Your home will look like a warzone when you get back, but they'll help you clean up.

Lifeweaver, Pharah, Mei, and Zarya would get a whiff of that specific smell babies have that makes your DNA scream at you to make one yourself. They would be the sweetest, most gentle caretakers on this list. They'll spend most of the time snuggling on the couch, watching T.V. and drinking hot coco. Would let your kid give them a makeover, paint their nails, and play with their hair. Would read to and rock them to sleep, tuck them in really snug. They'd probably look forward to seeing your kid again, and every time you happen upon one of them, they'll only ask what's going on with the kiddo.

Sombra, Symmetra, and Widowmaker would rather be water-boarded then spend five minutes with those sticky-fingered cunt goblins you call kids.

Ashe, Hanzo, and Winston would happily agree to babysit for you, thinking they will be serviceable at it. How hard could it be? Then an hour later they call you, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and beg you to come back, because your kid is crying or throwing a tantrum. They definitely have the potential to be great caretakers, but they would need someone to walk them through it at first.

Bastion and Sigma definitely WANT to give babysitting a try, but they understand why that's probably not a safe idea. They would question your intelligence if you asked them.

Cassidy and D.va would take your kid to McDonalds or somewhere else with else with a play-place, and let them go wild while they sit on a bench nearby. They will do the bare minimum amount of work to keep your kid alive, because they have better things to do. Would only babysit as a favor for you if no one else is available.

Mercy is married to her work, and Ramattra is dedicated to his mission. If you somehow convince them to watch your kid for even a single hour, they'll set-up a playpen with whatever toys they like, toss in a sippy cup and snack every now and then, and ignore their existence while they do their usual business.

Doomfist, Moira, Reaper, and Soldier: 76 would tape your kid to a chair the first time it annoys them. I know there's the fandom joke of S76 being the dad of the team, but he's always come off as grumpy and impatient to me.

Your kid would love the junkers (Junker Queen, Junkrat, Roadhog, Wrecking Ball) for all the wrong reasons. They would teach your kid how to make a grenade launcher out of plastic bottles and rubber bands, 37 new swear words, and how to punch people in the throat. Unless you want to get a call from the school about your kid blowing up the chemistry room, I would choose literally anyone else to babysit.

Mauga would use your kids to get dates. He'll take your daughter to a dance class and talk to any single parents about how much of a family man he is and how difficult being a single dad. He'll take your son to play catch in a park so he has an excuse to take his shirt off and flex his muscles. He'll coach your kid to walk up to someone and say, "my uncle thinks your pretty, so maybe you can play with us."

#overwatch #overwatch hcs #overwatch headcannon #brigitte lindholm #reinhardt #overwatch fanfiction #overwatch orisa #zenyatta #genji shimada #kiriko #kiriko overwatch #tracer overwatch #lena oxton #ow2 #ana overwatch #torbjorn #echo overwatch #baptiste #baptiste overwatch #illari #illari overwatch #lucio overwatch #lucio #sombra #sombra overwatch #symmetra #symmetra overwatch #ashe and bob #ashe overwatch #hanzo shimada

[altraviolet]

Hello! I'm not sure if its okay to send asks rn. I'm sorry if they aren't open. I was curious about something small and was hoping to ask you. (If it isnt, pls feel free to ignore me and im sorry again).

I was re-reading some chapters of The Echo Garden and Rodimus mentioned learning Soundwave's Cybertronian so they can have a secret language. (So cute!) I was wondering if they were going to do that? And also, are there any details you could share about the differences between 001 dimension cybertronian and Soundwave's Cybertronian? Also also, the explanations you have for 2938 Cybertronian are very fun to read about.

Hi! It's totally ok to send asks :) I open anon asks every once in a while for people who are nervous about asking not-anon. But asks are always open to people who are signed in.

>if they were going to do that?

Oh yeah... they should, shouldn't they? ;) Good reminder.

>any details you could share about the differences between 001 dimension cybertronian and Soundwave's Cybertronian?

I don't have any really hard and fast rules in mind. Sometimes with worldbuilding you can get away with making general statements without having details sorted out, and that's the case here. If I think about it for a lil bit I can give you this:

-I imagine the LL's NeoCybex has more influence from human language than Soundwave's, due to those mechs being wayyyy more open to conversing with organics, as well as the influence of Movie Night and the movies that they get from Thundercrackers as they travel

-in terms of grammar and structure, I think of the two methods of speech as truly being accents. they can absolutely understand each other. the biggest difference is found in writing. An Earth example would be something like: Urdu and Hindi are mutually understandable via speech, but they each use a different alphabet. 0001 and 3244 have different slang, and the body-based aspects of their language use (field pulses and biolight signaling) are quite different.

I didn't have the time or points of view to get into it in TEG, but every time an alt dimensioner boards the LL, at least a tiny bit of their culture gets absorbed. You've seen it via the 2938 "glittering polymorphy" in Ch 45. I honestly don't have Ambulon or Trailbreaker's influences fleshed out. Those would be interesting to think about and either touch on in this fic, or perhaps in a sequel or related story. This is inspired by the phenomenon that happens in the real world- cultures meeting and swapping ideas/fashion/food/language/etc.

>the explanations you have for 2938 Cybertronian are very fun to read about.

Thank you! After the fic is done, I'mma have an Afterword with a FAQ, and I'll explain the inspiration for that (it's the same as the 'meaning of Soundwave' thing).

This does give me a chance to do something I've been thinking about for a few months: visually representing the way they speak in an economical manner. I wish there was a way to represent in text how the 2938 mechs spoke, while keeping the text accessible to screen readers. If I knew a way to do it, I would've done it throughout the fic in a way that looks something like this:

That would probably be exhausting and annoying to read, but 2938 Megatron is exhausting to comprehend. I didn't play around much with opacity in the examples here, but if there was an accessible way to do this, I'd love to do it with color and shape and tilt and opacity. Make it as otherworldly as possible.

The only way I know to do this on AO3 would be through images, but they would really stick out against whatever default formatting any particular reader might have. (there's mouse overs as well, but eh, doesn't give the spatial property)

If the fic were being read aloud, you could whisper those words around their 'root' words. But, here we deal in pixels ;)

Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed that little trip into my brain! I love languages and culture and all the good things. Thanks for the ask! :)

#mrowsters #ask #echo garden related #language #2938 speech #echo garden reference #how do I tag this so I can find it again in the future xD #2938 Megatron #long post #worldbuilding

[octoshott]

So. Side Order, huh?

I've been chewing on my thoughts over this for a good few days now. Want to spit them out somewhere. Vague-ish spoilers ahead.

I want to preface this with saying that I love Splatoon, I've been playing it since 1, really dropped off near the end of 2. Nintendo made Octo Expansion for me, they released it on my birthday and I love it so fucking much.

Side Order is fun, but lacking criminally in content.

You can argue Roguelites are like this in general, its the core princible to replay them over and over again and as someone who enjoys Roguelites, I agree!

However, a key thing that good roguelites do is continously give you a reason to keep playing- whether that be addictive gameplay or, usually, good story and lacing that in with difficulty that becomes the players goal to lessen- It rewards the player for being curious, experimental and above all else persistant.

I am fully aware that difficulty, due to Splatoon's target audience, in something like a roguelite was never going to be an easy thing to balance let alone pull off but having the main plot resolve itself once you hit the top of the tower was, in my opinion, the first of its blunders.

I feel as if the Splatoon developers know how much the lore and worldbuilding of these games matter to players. Side Order was advertised in very similar veins to Octo Expansion. The trailers had mystery and intrigue with clear connections to the well recieved and loved Octo Expansion to the point of having the same protagonist among other simularities.

They were clearly teasing this to be a successor of SOME capacity to Octo Expansion. And even as I went into this expecting it to be nothing like OE in terms of it's personal weight, I wasn't expecting something so short.

Classically, in roguelites that focus on story, you would gain story beats the more you replay. And techincally you gain this with the keys gathered from each fully cleared palette. But usually your story rewards in roguelites come from clearing or attempting runs and rewards:

With Side Order's story being resolved the MOMENT you step onto floor 30 with no real context unless you've intentionally avoided the top or have genuinely been slowed by its difficult (which I assume is what the devs intended) makes it's climax feel fast paced and lackluster- undeserved, even.

And, yes, I am fully aware that when you climb the tower agani after the credits role, you begin gain more lore about whats going on. But with the actual, main threat neutralized in every possible way it feels as if this lore should've been offered to us much sooner and much more spread out for a better pay off.

It's story feels like its being told out of order and, in my personal opinion, the themes and actual telling methods of Side Order we're a largely missed opportunity to tell something a bit more indepth. Climbing a tower that gives you essentially nothing until you reach floor 30 (which in my experience takes about 35-40 minutes) only to recieve about two scentences of lore is incredibly tiring and feels dissastifying when the main plot is already over.

It's lack of variation in level design, tasks and chips doesn't help with the climb each time if you're looking for the lore or just to 100% either. And you can argue this is a roguelite problem, but Splatoon's scenario's for a tower climb are pitifully small and you will start to seem repeat almost immediatly on your second or third run.

I also feel like it relies far too heavily on the player knowing and caring about Octo Expansion. I'm not saying that I think it was a bad idea to have most of what's going on in Side Order happening because of Octo Expansion's events. Hell, I was happy when they were very blatently showing this early on.

But it does very little with its ties to Octo Expansion, making Side Order feel like its constantly struggling to be its own thing away from the original DLC.

I think I can almost see what they wanted to go for here, and its frustrating, it felt close to something at least telling a decent story.

Every single little beat I've gotten has helped me understand more and more what they were going for, but since the main conflict is already resolved I find it hard to be excited and more frustrated that I wasn't given these during my initial playthrough.

I feel as though the roguelite formula was an interesting idea that they polished the best of their ability and to make work both for casual and experience players- but I think thats where the problem comes in.

With Side Order being the same price as Octo Expansion and offering very little in terms of replayability and most especially for me, story, the whole thing ends up feeling like a muddled mess that would've worked better had the roguelite aspect perhaps been dropped in general for a general tower climb.

Missed opportunies feel like they decorate Side Order in a way that leaves me fairly disappointed.

I think, overall, Side Order is a fun time that can be enjoyed but the way it was implimented into the gameplay formula was largely a mistake, especially coupled with the marketing of this being something more indepth with its story when it's not, and I can absolutely understand why I'm seeing a lot of disappointment for it.

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #splatoon side order #side order #splatoon spoilers #side order spoilers #i just wanted to spit my thoughts out somewhere #i could've gone more into my grievances with the plot but i wanted to generalize this and its already too long #but i definitely feel mismarketed too #i say this as someone whos enjoying it despite its lack of content #i am DEFINITELY let down in terms of what they seemed to be implying in trailers #and if you enjoy side order thats fine all the more power to you #salutes #scrolls.txt

[deception-united]

The WIP Questionnaire

Thanks to @modernwritercraft for tagging me! Filling this out for my current WIP, cowriting with @leisureflame.

1. What was the first part of your WIP that you created?

The plot and worldbuilding drastically evolved in leaps and bounds quite a few times. The first part of the first version of this WIP that we wrote was an excerpt from somewhere near the end—but for the current version, we started with the initial meeting of the MC and the future love interest.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Runaway by AURORA—the lyrics about escape and freedom fit well with the theme.

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

Blad. He's a bald black chicken and the MC's brother's adopted son. He is majestic. You wish you were him.

Another favourite is Finneas, the MC's love interest. He's tall and blond and a loser, and we love him.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

Fans of novels similar to Red Queen, or really any other dystopian novel, would likely (hopefully) enjoy it.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

The chapter outline. We've been stuck on it for the longest time—we know a number of plot points, but really fleshing it out and figuring out every little detail has been challenging.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Yes. Blad.

7. How do your characters get around? (e.g., trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

We haven't put too much thought into this just yet, but seeing as the novel is dystopian and set in the future, the methods of transport are likely futuristic as well. I'll update once we figure that out.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on rn?

Like I said, the chapter outline. We're struggling.

Aside from that, there are a couple characters we have to finish developing, and a few others whose exact role we've yet to ascertain.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your WIP do you think will draw people in?

Betrayal, opposites attract, slow burn romance, reluctant acquaintances to friends to ALMOST LOVERS to enemies, grumpy x sunshine, lovers in denial, love/hate.

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

Getting it published. And assembling a fandom. Every writer's dream, isn't it?

Tagging @paranoia-art, @replayjay, @writingwithfolklore, and @celestialwrites. (Accidentally posted this once before I finished editing; ignore previous mention)

#writeblr #writing #wip questionnaire #wip ask game #writer games #tag game #creative writing

[nardo-headcanons]

I wanted a headcanon about Konohagakure so bad!! you are very talented.

thank you so much, dear! Since so much is known about Konoha already, I hope these are what you're looking for

Konohagakure Worldbuilding Headcanon

People

Generally speaking, people from Konoha are seen as polite and even outgoing, but sometimes a little obnoxious when it comes to their rampant patriotism. As the first shinobi village of its kind, there is only so much propaganda a Konoha shinobi can handle before turning a little cocky. Konoha citizens love gossip and are often looking for the newest gossip to furthen their sense of unity. They are a rather collectivist society with everyone having to do their part, and the public court of opinion is often times brutal, men especially are often expected to just 'suck it up' and 'act like a man'.

Politics

The hokage is seen as the highest authority figure in the village, unlike in some villages the general population's trust in the village leader is high. The hokage's decisions aren't really allowed to be questioned, and unlike Kiri citizens who do it behind closed doors, Konoha citizens don't even dare to do that. Konoha has a mixed economy with quite a lot of the shinobi income going directly to the village. There is some basic healthcare, but only covers the bare necessities, and better, high quality treatments have to be paid out of pocket. The laguage spoken in Konoha and the fire country (Japanese) is the most spoken language and taught in the other villages as the standard foreign language. It is also the reason why the Kage offices in the different villages have the kanji for the different elements in front of them - to make it easier to find for foreigners. As a second foreign language, people often choose the Kumo language.

Flora

Konoha -and the fire country in general- typically have very bright, warm weather. In the south, there are agonizingly hot summers - snowy winters being a rarity. Konoha is surrounded by dense, lush mixed forest land which serves as a habitat for a wide range of plants and herbs - some of them even having medicinal uses. Although mushrooms are commonly found in the Konoha forests, most of them are poisonous and should not be eaten.

Fauna

The forests are filled to the brim with many different animals, the most commonly found ones being wolves, eagles, deer, boar, pheasants and wild cats. Deer are often hunted and their meat is exported into different coutries as a delicacy. On the rarer side, tigers and bears can be found as well, but they typically stick to themselves. Ever since Konoha has been growing in population, some animals have been pushed out of their habitat and started to coexist with the citizens.

Food

Meat To secure dinner in Kiri, you can just go fishing. And to secure dinner in Konoha, you can just go hunting. Seriously. Meat, especially venison, is the preferred protein source of Konoha shinobi. However, if you ask a Konoha shinobi what they think of Sungakure and their habit of turning any meat they find into jerky, they would be horrified. Grilling meat is the most preferred method of preparing meat, closely followed by frying it.

Ramen Due to cultural influences from Uzushiogakure, ramen, including instant ramen, have grown in popularity over the decades. Next to rice, wheat is the preferred source of carbs here. Funnily enough, most Konoha shinobi prefer whole grain over white flour. To each their own, I guess.

Baked goods and confectionary

Konoha has quite a few café's and bakeries that offer many little desserts. But I have to warn you: "Buttercream" in Konoha often just means whipped cream - very different compared to the thick and buttery goodness Kumo shinobi are used to. The most popular baked good in Konoha is the Baumkuchen, frequently enjoyed by sweet tooths such as Itachi Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga and Ibiki Morino.

#naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto headcanons #naruto scenarios #naruto imagines #naruto fanfiction #konoha #hidden leaf village #naruto worldbuilding #naruto meta

[codenamesazanka]

it's somewhat related to Sazanka, but personally, I like to wonder about what would have happened to Tenko if decay had manifested without bloodshed, and I really like the idea that he would have turned vigilante even if Kotaro had changed his mind about heroes. or maybe he would have turned vigilante also if AFO had never found him on the street? i just generally find the fact that the Sazanka concept was vigilante super interesting, and his whole stick of "i'll carry out hero work on my own terms" while being extreme about his methods still sounds quite Shigaraki to me.

Sorry to derail your ask for a bit, but I LOVE wondering about what would happen to Tenko if Decay had manifested in different ways. I'm a slut for AUs, and I'm a slut for worldbuilding, and so it's such a rich area to explore.

Plus, like, there are are so many moments inbetween the first ever manifestation of Decay (the ball Tenko was playing with cracking) and when everything official goes to hell (Mon-chan dies) for things to reach a different outcome.

If you want the AU where Decay manifested without bloodshed, it would be the family realizing Tenko finally got his quirk after the ball disintegrates a bit. (Which is interesting, because it means Decay first manifested when Tenko was experiencing happiness - realizing he had a Hero for a grandmother, at feeling like he could take on the world - contrary to all those theories about how Decay is from Tenko feeling bad and hating things.) Maybe it would've distracted Kotarou from his anger at the moment. Maybe not.

I've got an AU where Decay manifested partly as Kotarou gears up for the second slap. Tenko throws up his hand to protect himself, and Kotarou's arm get disintegrated. Kotarou survives minus one arm, but there's a lot of screaming and blood.

AU in which Mon-chan still dies, but Hana managed to get away. Or, AU in which Hana still gets killed, but not Nao and the grandparents (nor Kotarou). Fun thought exercise: if this is because a Hero heard screams and managed to get to the scene on time, how traumatizing to Tenko would it be if one of his formative experiences is a Hero saving people from him?

@stillness-in-green managed to come up with the horrifying 'what-if' of 'only the grandparents and Kotarou' survive, so that Tenko loses his mom and sister, his two main supporters; and we've also come up with the AU where Kotarou manages to knock out Tenko, so that only he and his son lives (and still fall under AFO's sway).

Putting side the first AU - these are all on like, varying levels of stigma and fear Tenko would suffer due to the incident (kid who mutilated his dad with his quirk < kid who killed his dog < kid who killed his sister < kid who killed multiple members of his family), but I think there's no doubt that he would've gone through life being shunned and with rumors swirling all around him, no matter how much everyone knows it was an accident/how much information about the incident is suppressed. Not to mention how strained the Shimura household would be.

At the root of everything, though, is 'Decay'.

It's a powerful quirk - it can easily hurt people (and damage property). Those traits can be said to be true for lots of other quirks! And people with those quirks have turned out more or less fine.

Where Decay differs though, from what I can tell, is that 1) there's only one power level, so to speak, and it's the highest one: it can kill a person in seconds with no way of stopping the decay chain unless they're willing to undergo an immediate amputation (and that's if the origin point is somewhere that can be amputated), plus in it's original form, the disintegration can even spread beyond the object; and 2) it can be easily and involuntarily activated. Even if Decay had manifested without bloodshed, I think it's a quirk that would've made people fear it (and along with it, Tenko).

For a quirk like that, it's not hard to imagine Tenko being directed to quirk counseling - especially if his scratching is seen as a symptom of Decay. "The itch is the user wanting to use their quirk" + Tenko is always itchy = Tenko seems to constantly subconsciously want to use his quirk? That's no good - let's get that behavior straightened out.

(Bonus: since it's a mutation that suddenly pop up in the bloodline with no precedent, the Shimuras might need to take Tenko to see a quirk specialist. And because the Shimuras can afford it, why not see the best quirk specialist available?)

I want to say, this isn't me trying to come up with the worst scenarios to give to Tenko. I'm not purposefully trying to torture the poor kid - I don't think I am. I'm deriving a lot of these ideas from things that we already know happens to other people in the manga - being singled out for having a 'villainous' quirk, being shunned for having been involved in a crime, being forced to attend quirk counseling, etc. And I do think that it's fortunate that the Shimura family is wealthy, because maybe that money might be able to help Tenko out - Kotarou can straight up move the family to a new area for fresh starts, keeping ahead of any rumors; or he can pay for support items, if those can be of any help.

But I think 'Decay' would've given Tenko trouble without even bloodshed at its manifestation. I've talked about him being ostracized, I've talked about possible quirk counseling, but there's other stuff too - like having to wear gloves, which I know is a popular headcanon, but I think could lead to it's own issues. What if he's told he should make himself useful and go into waste management (with the implication that he needs to "make up" for having such a dangerous quirk)? A minor thing by itself, but it will start to irk a person if they're told this by every well-meaning teacher they meet.

Even if a more glamorous profession like 'Rescue Hero' is suggested, it's still a subtle narrowing of options for his life, it's still trying to fit him into a category that he might not want to be in. You can say finding fault with stuff like this is bratty and selfish - but if it makes someone chafe, it makes them chafe.

You will notice lot of these things isn't because of 'Decay' itself, but because of how the world will react to Tenko having this quirk! This is why I'm wary of blaming AFO for everything and saying only Heroes saved Tenko, then everything would've been/will be fine. Things probably wouldn't have escalated to 'Shigaraki tries to decay Mt. Fuji', but things likely also wouldn't have been fine.

(and even if AFO gave Tenko 'Decay', the fact that this quirk exists and someone out there had it, means all this things would've happened for them, and that is also not acceptable. No one should go through such shunning? (inb4 it turns out 'Decay' was an artificial quirk created by AFO for nefarious purposes))

Especially because Tenko might very well be someone who ends up being similar to Shigaraki Tomura - bratty and selfish and hates having to chafe against the rules society puts on him. In which case - heck yeah, turning to vigilantism. Becoming 'Sazanka', in even this version of HeroAcaLand.

To reply to points in your ask:

even if Kotaro had changed his mind about heroes

Personally, I think Kotarou would be the kind of insensitive ass who, after Tenko manifests 'Decay' even without bloodshed, would say something (perhaps not to Tenko, but definitely something that would be overheard by the kids) like, 'Well, at least he can't be a Hero now, with such a dangerous quirk.'

And I think Tenko should be spiteful against that, forever.

his whole stick of "i'll carry out hero work on my own terms" while being extreme about his methods still sounds quite Shigaraki to me.

It is, isn't it??? <333 It has all of Shigaraki's signature traits - extremist/black-and-white thinking, doing whatever he wants, but at the base of it, trying to help out, in his own way.

Though I'm unsure what exactly Tenko would be a vigilante against. Is he going to hate and target Heroes who can't "hold up" their end of the social contract, much like how he hates All Might for smiling as if there's no one he can't save? Is he going to carve out an area of the city as his own territory and peacekeep it, like Koichi in Vigilantes? Unite the troublemakers and punks, end up forming a League, and protect his own? Or maybe he can go and kill CRC remnants and other non-Villain villains.

And finally, let me recommend @robotlesbianjavert's AU fanfic about vigilante Sazanka, featuring Spinner, Nana, and porcelain gnomes.

Thanks for the ask!

#ask #asked #answered #anon #anonymous #Sazanka #Shigaraki Tomura #Shimura Tenko #nalslastworkingbraincell

[ask-obt]

Do you regret starting an ask blog, and/or would you have rather done q+a's every so often? Would you recommend doing a blog to other people?

// nah, if I regretted it I could just close up that ask box any time and wrap things up, or even just close it temporarily. I actually really enjoy it! it's a nice way to interact with fans and play around with ideas I normally wouldn't think of otherwise.

as for whether I'd recommend it to other creators, i think it depends on your preferred method of artistic communication, if that makes sense. for me I have a tendency to overthink literally every aspect of my comic's worldbuilding- which, while cool in concept, is hard to execute when comics inherently take a lot of time and effort. I can't reasonably have the characters always drop everything and turn to the screen to explain how the exact ideal conditions for growing potatoes would be well-irrigated without leaving the soil muddy, propagating them by cutting them in halves or quarters, and how they source bone meal fertilizer from local butchers and oh god oh no that explanation already took 12 pages-- so having the ask blog is great because I can dump one million words down without impacting the flow of the main comic. it also has helped me quell my buzzing brain when writing the script, which helps me keep everything concise and tight! if I start overthinking a scene, I can reassure myself that I can write my 10,000 word thesis on sewing techniques for exploration-grade bags on the ask blog, and just save the important "they're engineered to resist tearing" part for the main comic. but I also try my best to make sure the ask blog isn't required reading to enjoy the main comic, sort of like OBT dlc. just as how it helps quell the buzzing in my brain, it's also an additional source of content for readers whose brains buzz in a similar way.

that said, if you don't have the brain buzzes and don't spend a lot of mental energy on your project (which is totally fine if that's the case! I hear that among others, the fabled "neurotypical" person apparently doesn't think about their fan fiction 24/7), you might not get a lot of personal mileage out of an ask blog. it just depends!

#on borrowed time comic #ask-obt #ooc

[floof-ghostie]

casually leans on wall and hands you a microphone. how was the spiderverse experience i want all the deets (ive already watched it dw about spoilers👍🏾)

Ohhhh Strap in we're gonna be here for a while (Imma do this in point form for this, because so many thoughts, no energy for real paragraphs

Okay the animation. THE ANIMATION MEDIUMS. So many cool methods. I loved the colour changes in Gwen's universe. HOBIE'S ENTIRE THING, THE WAY HE'S ANIMATED OMG

Mumbattan is such a cool city, I love mashing irl cities to make one cool megacity so much it's such a lil fave worldbuilding thing of mine

Pavitr is so great, I love him, idek how to talk about him I just like him a lot. Him and his gf make such a cute pair too!

Also him saying "I don't use product, just coconut oil, prayer, and good genetics". I love him

The chai tea scene. God he's so great

THe character design is amazing and sososososo cool!! I love that we see the characters change (Gwen's hair growing longer and pinker, Miles' growth spurt, Peter B.'s bathrobe, MAYDAY's LIL SPIDER HAT THAT MJ PROLLY MADE FOR HER).

I love Pravitr's costume glowup. Thank you to whoever arranged for that.

Also, Hobie??? His lace coded boots?? His locs??? HIS FUCKING PIERCINGSSS??? HOW HE COMPARED A FUCKING VOID TO CAPITALISM??? Him taking a liking to Mayday, and straight up SHOWING MILES HOW TO GET OUT OF THE FORCE FIELD WITH A LIL SMIRK?!!! I need him. Need his gender. I love his anarchist ass.

His design really calls back to the punk scene in England, and I love the way he reminds me of old newspapers

Speaking of Hobie, holy shit that guy was flirting with Miles. I know what you are (pls Hobie do u like enbies?)

"I hate the AM, I hate the PM (prime minister probably, idk for sure) AND I HATE LABELS" I love you

Daniel Kaluuya, thank you for your service.

Also Hobie and Gwen make such a funny friendship. But I don't ship them.

The themes of growing up, and Miles' parents being worried about Miles and the people he's with...I nearly cried in the theatre, and I don't normally cry during stuff.

You can just tell that black people were making the big decisions for this movie. Aaron and Rio asking Miles why he took the braids out. Jeff and Rio being like "On time means 5 minutes early", I felt so at home watching this movie. I'm not even from Brooklyn but I just felt so at home at all the interactions Miles had with his neighbors. Even the random storeowner.

Like ppl were speaking aave, using patois, Hobie's accent. And none of that was played for laughs (except for Hobie's lingo but that's a little different bc he's British)

I love how Miles' Ganke is so different from Peter Parker's Ganke. It's such a fun detail how Miles' Ganke was like "I'm not gonna be your guy in the chair".

I love that despite the general "Canon" for Spider Man, there are some differences! I love those intricate details!

And the way the lady in the office was so hasty to force the narrative of them "struggling" when that really wasn't the case? Hit real close to home. I just love the Davis-Morales family

I love the way that the Spot isn't like a general "mildly bad" villain like I originally assumed. I really thought he'd be kind of a "setup" villain, or something that they'd have to clean up and THEN Miles would take care of Miguel and them.

I especially love the way that The Spot is someone from the first movie, who we don't even know until his backstory is brought up.

His voice is also perfect too. He sounds like a complete loser.

Miguel O'Hara. Meet me outside, I just wanna talk

No For real though, he talks a lot of shit about Miles being "The Original anomaly" when his ass needs to inject himself with some kinda spider-fluid to maintain his powers??? Mind you, he tried to force himself into a reality that wasn't his.

This guy is just an A-class hater. What do you have against Miles, honestly???

On the subject of the Spider Verse I think it's so cool how there were so many callbacks to the original canon of Spiderman! I loved seeing the og live action Spider Men in the film too!

And the easter eggs! I couldn't keep up with them all!

Also, wtf was Childish Gambino there. I mean I'm not mad, I actually found Miles' staring at him really funny

I love Issa Rae's voice! But Jessica, queen, please don't fight, you is PREGNANT

Also idk why but for some reason I thought Jessica and Miguel were married in the beginning. Not completely sure.

Gwen being like "Can you adopt me?" when first meeting Jessica...She's so real

Also Gwen is so sososososo so so trans. It's so great

THE ENDING FUCKING DESTROYED ME ARE YOU KIDDING???? 42-Miles being the Prowler?? I'M NOT OKAY BUT I'M SO EXCITED to see what happens!!

But in all seriousness, all the feelings in the movie talked about and the the things left unresolved for the next movie is just. You can tell this was such a labour of love and all the animators were so happy and excited to work on it. I cannot wait for Beyond the Spider Verse!! I'm still buzzing!!

#ask #atsv spoilers #across the spiderverse

[bitsbug]

i have a ton of question/suggestions for slug sign: 1. how do you indicate emotion in SS? my best guess is using cycles but talking about smth like sadness cant really be done that way 2. is there a specific way youre supposed to type out SS in english? 3. SS seems pretty heavy on context adding a kind of adjective system may help to fix issues with specification as well as free up room for more words. an example would be making words for "cycle", "food", "region", and "direction" and then changing the current word for "cycle" into "specify" so you could say [cycle] [<specification>] to talk about the specific cycle and plan or [direction] [<specification>] to talk about a specific direction and where you may want to go.. etc. words without specification still work but use context. 4. is there a way to explain advanced movement in SS, stuff like a flip or roll. 4.5. if not id suggest adding words for stuff like "sprint" or "crouch" and to go with it "then" to explain stuff for example [jump] [then] [crouch] [forward] would be a way to explain sliding

5. did you ever have concepts for a written version?

hooh momma! thank you for all the questions!

1)

Slugsign has a few emotion indicators, but not all of them are signs. We hop around a lot and dance and flip when we're happy; hopping in place is kind of a "this is good!" while hopping sporadically is "I'm excited!"

Using "loser" repeatedly or shaking on the spot expresses frustration, alongside signing "no" a lot and hitting eachother with rocks. Also insulting whatever you're mad at, we love to insult things.

Recently we've started using "peace" as a way of saying sorry, which wasn't even intentional it just developed during a play session. Sadness is characterized by a lot of "sorry" and crouching without movement and trying to shove yourself into corners. [Me] [loser] is used to express guilt.

2)

Oh hey, you actually use the exact method we use in this ask. We transcribe signs by placing them in brackets, for example: [give?] [Moon] [quantity-lots] [scav][object]. There's no official way you're "supposed" to though, that's just what we do.

3)

What you propose sounds like an interesting idea, but idk how much it'd be utilized. I mean for direction you can just.. point in the way you want to go. And "cycle" in reference to a day is considered the current one by default- you'd use "later" to specify a future one. I think what you're wanting is an abstracted "this" sign? which yeahh WOULD be nice actually..

I've thrown out the idea of having a grammatical word order thing, like [cycle] [food] and [food] [cycle] having different meanings, but Phen's worried that'll be really hard to memorize and cause confusion. Idk I still think it's cool and would add a lot of nuance, I'm gonna try to convince her on it.

4)

We probably could add those signs if y'all really want? I know people use it for their own co-op now, but in me and Phen's sessions we both already know the movement tech. It sounds really funny to teach someone about rainworld using slugsign though, I like that.

I could see condensing all those into a single "movement" or "example" sign: you use the sign and then do the action you're demonstrating. So a backflip would be like.. [example-run] [example-turn] [fast] [example-jump].? Could probably use some workshopping.

5)

..no not really!! I'm not a linguist or a language hobbyist, me and Phen are just winging this shit according to need, and I have NO idea how I'd go about making a written variant beyond transcripts. Besides idk if we'd really.. use it? That sounds super good for the worldbuilding aspect, but we already have the legend to reference. Anyone else who wants to take on the idea, by my guest.

#ask #slugsign #obligatory talk tag #long post #genuinely thank you I LOVE to explain things in needless depth

[moonshine-nightlight]

Hi, I'm always very impressed by your world building skills, even in shorter stories! Do you have any advice for aspiring writers on how to build their fantasy world?

So i drafted a response to this in between working just far too much and then my computer crashed and i lost it. Then i was even busier so i never got around to writing it again but i am making some time this weekend, so worldbuilding post - take 2

My main, high level worldbuilding tips are:

Rule of Cool: worldbuild things you think are fun and interesting. not only is that the best way to get ideas you like and are motivated to write about, but other people will also think they're interesting too. have fun with it.

Iceberg theory: know more about the world than ever makes it into the story. people can sense when worldbuilding is shallow, so even if they never see the true depths of the world they can often sense it's there. plus if u know the whole picture, everything the readers do see will seem more coherent

Integration: i heavily integrate the world i'm building into the story i'm telling--so dig into the plot and characters and make sure that the world and the story serve each other well. your world is there to contribute to the story so make sure its fulfilling that purpose

For more specifics about how i personally world build and for some examples from my stories of the above guidelines, see below.

So firstly, i love worldbuilding. i just think its a ton of fun and could easily spend hours just thinking about worlds in my head. (i mean what else is there to do when ur commuting to work, amiright?) i think that does make it easier for me to take the time to do it right and makes the world come through more vividly in my writing. it can get annoying or tedious or be more challenging at times, but since i like it/find world building interesting, i'm more willing to put in the time and effort to whip it into shape and i get less frustrated with that part of the process in general.

i'm also always thinking about world building to some degree in the back of my mind. picking up interesting information, facts, snatches of cool ideas or images or whatever. then i throw all that in like a junk drawer in my brain so when i sit down to more officially write or flesh out a world, i already have spare parts at my finger tips to use or drawn on.

Reading and consuming other art and worlds also makes it easier to make your own, just lik reading is a key part of writing practice. i don't just mean fiction, but just anything about the actual world makes it much easier to make up your own--that can manifest as awe at the fireflies that actually exist or spite that dragons dont. Whether that's random youtube video essays about the history of musicals or drinks or fashion to books and articles and documentaries or just my friend's niche interests (or their regular jobs). i'm always taking worldbuilding notes in the back of my mind.

For a more writing specific example, i read this short guide '50 Ways to Kill a Mermaid' (its locked for AO3 so u hav to sign in to read it) and it was super fun and cool to read that info from a writer who had studied marine biology. then when i was fleshing out Don't Shoot the Messenger a year later, the problem of Satrasi being a sea demon in a fresh water pool and bloating came to my mind because i'd stored that tidbit from the article away for later use.

My personal method for worldbuilding and plot outlining is sort a brainstorming/Q&A i have with myself (i hope this makes sense when i'm done writing this all out lol).

I've mentioned this before but the prompt that inspired Dale was: "You’re pretty sure your boyfriend was replaced by an eldritch being that can barely emulate being human. Weirdly, you enjoy a better relationship with them than your actual boyfriend."

So when that idea grabbed me, i started brainstorming about the world and asking myself questions. Why is the reader with the boyfriend if they don't really like them? What would make someone stay in a relationship like that? Do i want to make this a dark story? And i did not, i wanted it to be fun, so the arranged marriage angle came to mind. And if that's the premise then when is the story? is this our 'past' or another world entirely? diff world means more freedom so i automatically leaned in that direction.

Can the reader tell the 'boyfriend' has been replaced? Are demons a thing people know about? does the reader know that's an option? which is more fun? if the reader is worried about Dale getting caught, that's more room for hijinks so then yes, demons are known, but not common otherwise too many people would notice.

So my plot and worldbuilding are evolving in tandem and informing each other, based on the type of story i want to tell and how the characters i have in mind will react etc.

i run through a lot of ideas and turn them over in my head--trying out diff pieces to see if they fit--and am always willing to drop an idea or save it for another story if i don't think its working for the current one

For iceberg theory, i mentioned above for Dale would be the religions in that world. When i decided to introduce a priest like character (for discovery danger) i knew i needed to focus more on the religions than i previously had noted. the majority of what i came up with isn't int he story, but i think the fact that i know it helps me write when did end up in there, helped make it consistent, and means i can more easily work in allusions to it without having to work so hard those singular times.

For example, i'd decided to call the demon realm "the Depths" early on, which to me already invokes deep water and darkness, so i followed that through to sort height and air and light as being perceived more positively. fire and light are important symbols in this world and they primarily burn their dead--to bury someone below ground would be seen as almost condemning them and someone drowning is also seen as like, not good for their soul because what if it is 'pulled down' rather than 'ascending'. some of this was alluded to in the chapter, but most of it is not. this also helped me come up with the various "by the light" "dawn's ire" and other similar little 'religious' phrases and exclamations different characters use at times.

Meanwhile, in Sacrifice, the people living their are relatively non-religious--thats why they both don't pray to any other deities and it takes 5 years of problems to even bother trying an old god. it's not sacrilege because they're desperate people trying a long shot, not violating or abandoning a different belief. because i wanted the reader's main problem with it all to just be that they didn't think it work.

And why is she a translator? because i wanted to use the idea from that one post that goes around about how ridiculous it is in movies when their translated prophecies rhyme in english. why are they arguing about the translation? because its a dead language so no one really speaks it, that means the people who came up with it were here a century ago or longer. why aren't they here anymore? nomadic so they left and ended up staying away because of a natural disaster elsewhere. why is this town here now? a particular export/resource in this area became valuable enough for people to try to live here. the fact that its a lumber town due to some rare wood native to the area doesn't come up in the story, but i know it and i think that i know that about the town helps it feel more real, makes it easier for me to reach for new details when i need them

and going back to anything can be inspiration, let's talk about the doorlock in the very beginning of Finally Woken. its literally just a magical keypad/number pad but with different colored tiles instead of numbers because i wanted the reader to be able to get in, but i felt it didnt make sense for them to hav a physical key. and i thought it would look cool in Heshi's door and it went well with the fact that he's a glassblower . also, why is Heshi a glassblower? because i frickin' lov blown glass - i just think its so cool and pretty. that helped lead into the sort of artisan economy feel that world has.

Each of these stories has an outline and notes doc at a minimum. the notes doc is where i throw lik pics, inspiration posts, random worldbuilding ideas etc. only much shorter stories or stories that are heavily based in 'modern' world don't hav extensive random notes.

my Dale folder has subfolders for characters and the setting, as well as random worldbuilding files such as "demon summoning/magic" "spiritual belief and org" "fashion - feminine" and so on. Even excluding the plot outline and chapter notes (and not counting pics) i've got like, over 4k of random notes saved. dale is the one i hav the most of that for, but all my fics have some little section with stuff like that jotted down

in the end, i think the best way to sum up all that is with my three original rules of: put stuff u think is cool in your world, known more than you tell to help everything fit together and seem deep, and build your world around your plot and characters because they should all be working together to tell the story you want to tell.

honestly, i could ramble about worldbuilding all day so if anyone has any questions or wants more examples, just let me know ^^

#asks #writing asks #story asks #man did i apparently really want to talk about anything that isn't work or what? #this is why 'rambling' is in my other tumblr username #worldbuilding #fantasy world building #world building #i really do enjoy world building a lot #writing #i rly hope this made some sense #sorry for the delay in answering #i'm still kinda salty my original answer got eaten by my computer #look sometimes ur worldbuilding is because you learned a lot about operetta in a documentary #sometimes its because the idea of a secret corset busk knife is cool #ur guess as to what's gonna show up in dale next #but one of them will and yes that is a threat