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YALL. Holly Black has a list of resources she's used for writing her books on the fair folk. I'm OBSESSED. I love her work and world building. it's so true to the heart of faeries

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World-Building Guide to Deserts

A desert is a vast biome that is known for its extreme temperature. Deserts can either run hot or cold and are usually difficult to inhabit. But deserts are harsh places but they are visually stunning and make for an impressive backdrop to any story.

What is it like in the Desert?

Like I said, deserts are hot or cold. The temperatures are extreme which limits the amount of vegetation which in turn limits the coverage one can get in a desert, leaving the area very exposed to the elements. Rainfall is limited, well below average which means only very durable vegetation and wildlife can survive. It is a harsh landscape but it has its own beauty. The desert can often be very quiet with the limited wildlife and people around.

Hot Deserts

Features of Hot Deserts

Sand Dunes: These are hills made of sand, shaped by the extreme winds.

Plateaus: These are flat areas, usually of rock that have very little vegetation or cover.

Salt Flats: Large areas of salt deposits

Playa Lakes: Temporary lakes that appear during heavy rainfall

Oases: Small areas within the desert that have fertile soil and flourish with vegetation due to a water source.

Canyons: Are deep valleys of rock formed from rivers long dried up or greatly reduced.

Sedimentary Layering: Striped rock that shows off the different layers of rock giving the desert a striped appearance.

Mesas: A mesa is flat elevation of steep sides.

Inselbergs: Isolated rock formations that jut up from the desert floor, formed out of soft rock.

Yardangs: Ridges of rock formed by wind erosion

Mushroom Rocks: Pillars of rock formed over time with bigger heads than their bases

Rocks Commonly Found in Hot Deserts

Quartz: Clear/white/pink and usually smoky or clouded. Quartz feels very smooth like glass and may look like crystal.

Sandstone: Tan/red/yellow/brown-ish in colour. Made of compacted sand, it feels very coarse.

Limestone: Grey/white. Rough to touch and often featuring fossils.

Gypsum: White/Clear/Pink/Grey. Soft with chalk-like texture.

Salt Crystals: White/Clear. Crystal-like.

Meteorites: Often found in deserts. Usually black/grey. Can be both rough or smooth to touch.

Common Plants in Deserts

Prickly Pear Cactus: Greed, waxy pad-like cacti with spins. They grow red/yellow fruit that are edible.

Mesquite Trees: Small twisting trees. The pods are edible.

Agave: A thick-leafed succulent, shaped like a rose full of nectar and water.

Oleander: A shrub with pink or white flowers. Not edible, poisonous.

Chia Seeds: Tiny seeds that are edible.

Date Palms: Tall with long sweeping fronds. The dates are edible.

Jojoba: A shrub that's seeds are edible.

Desert Mallow: Flowering plant of pink blossoms. The leaves and flowers are edible.

Peyote: Small round cactus. Do not eat.

Creosote Bush: A shrub with waxy leaves that can be eaten.

Common Wildlife in a Hot Desert

Snakes

Small rodents

Foxes

Raptors (the birds of prey not the fun kind)

Beetles

Scorpions

Locusts

Coyotes

Camels

Lizards

Tortoises

Surviving a Hot Desert

Shelter: It is imperative to stay out of the direct sun if possible to conserve energy.

Keep an eye out: In the shade, there are other creatures who want to get out of the sun. Venomous snakes, scorpions and other critters could be lying in wait so it is best to make sure your shelter isn't already occupied.

Travel: Moving when it is sunrise or sunset or night is best as it isn't as hot and you waste less energy.

Water: Limit water intake in case your character doesn't reach a water source soon. If there are cactus around, your character may find water within it.

Know your plants: Your character might feel the urge to eat any vegetation they come across if they are hungry and weary. There are edible plants in the desert but there are also poison ones. Your character shouldn't eat any strange plant without knowing what it is.

Getting help: Signalling using something reflective or creating a large symbol might signal for help from above.

Clothes: A character should remember that the desert is hot and dress accordingly. Light, loose clothing is best but the nights in a desert are extremely cold. If your character is modifying their clothes, make sure they remember this.

Cold Deserts

Features of Cold Deserts

Ice Sheets: Unbroken sheets of permanent ice.

Glaciers: Immense sheets of moving ice.

Permafrost: The ground that remains frozen all year round. It is barren and nothing can grow here.

Icebergs: Vast lumps of ice that break off from larger sheets of ice to float in the ocean (and kill Leonardo DiCaprio)

Rocky Outcrops: Exposed rock formations.

Crevasses: Deep cracks in ice sheets and glaciers, very dangerous.

Seracs: Ice formations created where multiple crevasses meet.

Erratics: Large rocks deposited by glaciers seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Rocks Commonly found in Ice Deserts

Basalt: Grey/Black. Smooth.

Granite: Grey/Pink/White. Coarse to the touch.

Shale: Grey/Black. Smooth and brittle.

Gneiss: Striped with greys/pinks/white. Rough texture.

Schist: Silvery-green. Flaky and layered.

Till: Of many colours. Rough.

Common Vegetation found in Ice Deserts

Lichens: Crusty spots that grow on ice and rocks. Can be edible.

Mosses: Soft green plants that grow in the damp. Some kinds are ok to eat.

Arctic Willow: A shrub. Edible.

Saxifrages: Flowering plants growing in rocky areas. Some are edible.

Bearberry: A shrub. The berries are edible.

Grasses: Grow in tundra areas. Edible.

Wildlife Commonly Found in the Ice Desert

Bears

Foxes

Wolves

Deer

Elk

Walrus

Moose

Reindeer

Seals

Whales

Ice worms (the spice must flow....)

Rodents

Surviving in an Ice Desert

Clothing: Wearing layers is crucial. Base layer, insulation and a waterproof layer. Boots and gloves are a must. But you should dress to be sweating, it is a waste of energy. Stay dry always.

Shelter: You can find or build shelter, especially if the winds are high. If sleeping on the ground, use insulation.

Food/Water: Melting snow and ice is fine, eating snow is bad because it will lower your core temp. The best food to eat in this weather is high in fat to keep your body working to keep warm.

Keeping an eye out: Ice fields can break apart easily, crevasses are lethal.

Flag for help if lost: Flares or fires can attract help so always carry something to spark up a flame or two.

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Fantasy Guide to Cults and Cult Leaders

Cults are a terrifying concept. The idea of a group of people under the control of a singular figure or belief that is isolated from what one knows or understands is unsettling. Cults are interesting because at their heart, they are complex dynamics which highlight some of the most unsavoury parts of human nature and the damage imposed from the imposition of certain lifestyles and beliefs upon a group of, sometimes, vulnerable people.

If it Quacks like a Cult, it probably is a Cult

A cult is a group of people who share a certain belief in how they must live their lives. Cults are usually closed communities, very often separating themselves from the mainstream society in order to protect their way of life and live in the bubble of their beliefs. Cults control, usually everything from what you might eat to who you can speak to. It ingrains in every aspect of your life, it takes over the way you live, the way you think and it draws you in like a mouth to the flame.

How a Cult Operates

A Cult doesn't have to use violence in order to control their members.

Isolation is the biggest weapon a cult has to impose their values and take control. If you prevent any outside intervention or prevention, you can impose control better. Cults typically either physically isolate their members from society, friends and family or emotionally isolate them, by telling them what they want to hear and speaking ill of the outside world. The thought of 'us vs them' is a feature that always has centre stage in a cult.

Indoctrination is used to impress certain ideas upon somebody else through repetition. Any outside thought or contradiction is explained away or discouraged. Only the ideas that the group has are right, anything else is either wrong or close to sinful. It isn't exactly that people in a cult are gullible, its that cult leaders understand their weaknesses and prey on them. They focus on things that the group mistrusts and offers protection from it.

Peer Pressure is also used. The group as a whole, armed with the beliefs of the leader, are often a weapon deployed against other members. Think about it, if you were alone in a group of people and they began to isolate you or make your life unpleasant and you had no escape, you would probably conform by the end. Human nature seeks approval, especially in a group setting.

Control over almost every aspect of life is also used. Cults usually follow strict rules. Members will have to live their lives along certain rules, how they act, what they say, who they speak to, what they believe, what they do at certain times etc. The The Peoples Temple implemented sleep deprivation on its members. The Heaven's Gate Cult had a strict vegan diet. The Aum Shinrikyo Cult bathed in the blood of their leader.

Punishment would be used to correct members who step out of line or stray from the teachings. This can be anything to social stigma and isolation to physical abuse. Sometimes even the fear of punishment is enough to keep the members in line.

Cult Leaders

Cult leaders are charismatic. They draw people in due to their knowledge and instinct of what people want and they know how to make them believe that they are the one person to deliver it. Leaders will prey on the fears of their followers, making themselves seem understanding of the member's fears and plight. They will form control around the group by presenting themselves as the answer or the salvation or the path in which the members can find it. They will manipulate relationships between members, playing them off against one another or fostering close relationships to foster competition between members. They will exploit the group for whatever they can be it money or other favours; it is not uncommon for the leaders of cults to form intimate relationships with members.

Why People Join Cults

Cults offer answers. They might be whacky answers like UFOs but it is an answer. People crave something to believe in, they want something to live for. It's a mixture of desperation, desire to be apart of something larger and a need for approval and social connection. People need something bigger than themselves and they will look for that, even in the worst of places.

Escaping a Cult and Life Beyond

People can and have escaped cults. Finding the strength to question what the cult teaches you and then the strength to abandon the life you have built in the community, takes a lot out a person. First, the person will begin to become disillusioned by the ideals and dynamics in the community, this can be due to their treatment or the fact that the cult has yet to deliver the promise they made at the beginning. They may even become liberated by an outside influence and realise the situation they are in. Leaving a cult may be dangerous so it is up to your character to plan an escape. Some cult survivors used help from outside to free themselves but an escape first comes from gradual separation from aspects of the cult. But even when somebody escapes a cult physically, the emotional and mental toll can still leave scars. They may still live in fear of the leader and the community exacting retribution, they may still internalise some of the teachings of the cult, they may have a hard time adjusting to mainstream society. They will have a long road in unlearning the harmful practises and thoughts of the cult. They will need a good support system to rebuild their lives and rebuild their relationships with friends and family.

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Fantasy Guide to Political Structures

A Horse! A Horse! My X for a Horse!

Let's be honest, fantasy authors love their kingdoms and empires. You can throw a rock in a bookshop or a library in the fantasy section and you will 99.99999% hit a fantasy book that will be set in or mention either of those structures. But what are they really? What's the difference between them all? Are there any more examples of structures that would suit your WIP better? Are you using the right terms? Let's have a closer look.

Duchy

A Duchy is a small territory ruled by a Duke/Duchess. While Duchies can be found in kingdoms, some duchies were sovereign states in their own right. Duchies are usually small by land mass but some duchies such as Burgundy were extremely powerful and influential. Independent Duchies were usually apart of a kingdom but grew so powerful that they eventually broke away to become a sovereign state in their own right. An example would be modern day Luxembourg, historic Milan and Burgundy.

Principality

A principality is territory ruled by a Prince/Princess. A principality is typically smaller than a kingdom and in some instances, can be apart of a larger kingdom or be a sovereign state. Principalities have a history of having broken away from a larger kingdom or eventually becoming apart of a kingdom. A principality within a kingdom is ruled by a Prince/Princess, usually an heir of the monarch and can be used to train them up to assume the throne in the future. Examples include Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra.

Kingdom

A sovereign state/country that is ruled by ruling King or a Queen. A kingdom is much larger and more powerful than a principality. Kingdoms can be feudal, meaning they are ruled in a strict hierarchy or an autocracy where the monarch rules alone with minimal input from the government or constitutional where the monarch is more of a figurehead and the government has a good chunk of control. Examples include England, Thailand and modern day Spain.

Commonwealth

A Commonwealth isn't a popular choice in fantasy but it is an interesting structure. A Commonwealth in its most basic form is a collection of states that are linked by either a shared culture or history. A Commonwealth can be a politically power or an economic power, with every state allowed to participate as much as they like. Not one state leads the others, it is all one group of equals. A Commonwealth can be a good idea for a group of nations that are more powerful together with them keeping their own independence.

Federation

A Federation is a political structure that is made up of united states or countries that are under a single government but each state is still independent and rules itself. Each state can have different laws, different cultures and economies but they all answer to the single government. Examples include the United States of America.

Republic

A Republic is a territory that is ruled by leaders and heads of state that have been elected on merit and by choice of the people. Republics are not just countries but can also be much smaller areas such as cities. Republics are democratic in nature, with the people having a say in who leads them in accordance to a constitution. There are many kinds of Republic: presidential, parliamentary, federal, theocratic, unitary. Examples of Republics include the Republic of Ireland and the city of Florence.

Protectorate

A Protectorate is a country/region/territory that is independent but relies on a larger, more powerful state for protection either in a military or diplomatic sense. A Protectorate was often used by Empires in order to maintain control over an area without annexing it. There are many reasons a larger state and the protectorate would agree to this, mainly the protectorate is much smaller meaning it is far more vulnerable to attack or it has very little power when compared to other states. A Protectorate allows the territory some power to rule itself but the larger state may feel the need or desire to interfere in the dealings of the territory. Examples of protectorates include the client kingdoms of the Roman Empire like Egypt before its annexation and Puerto Rico.

Empire

An Empire is a collection of nations that are united under one sovereign head of state or government. An Empire is formed by one nation steadily taking control of other nations, either through straight invasion and colonization or acquiring them through marriage and other less violent ways. An Empire is powerful mainly because it can drum up more resources, more influence and more military power. An Empire might impose the traditions, beliefs and culture of its principal nation - the nation that started it all - onto its colonies for better control and feeling of uniformity. Empires never last, that is something to always remember. Empires will eventually fragment due to the vast size and sometimes revolt among the conquered states. Examples of empires include the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire.

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The Fallen Angel (1847) by Alexandre Cabanel vs Anakin Skywalker: Revenge of the Sith (2005) Dir. George Lucas

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some alternative eras of lady normalgirl and her eunuch <3

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HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN as ANAKIN SKYWALKER Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 2005, dir. George Lucas

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Art by Chloe’s arts

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pro-tip: don't ever use the sentence "thousands of years" in your worldbuilding unless you really know what a thousand years is like

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love when fictional men are so devoted to their partner it makes them dangerous and insane. very slutty behavior keep it up king

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Part 1 of 2

Do you really think that after 20 years worth of near death experiences, survival, and torture Odysseus would still have moments where he'd rely on instinct? I mean common, too many problems arose when he's in a vulnerable state like sleep, and was forced to stay with a goddess that wanted to climb his bed. He might be safe now, but his nerves find "safety" foreign at this point.

Anyways, there's a second part to this. This one just got too long for me to finish in one sitting.

PART 2

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Eury working his way up from poverty to become Odys second in command and wooing Ctimene is my roman empire all over again

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Young king of Argos 🫦