deathbringerdragon

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"a motion-blurred photo of you as a kid"

looks just as stupid unblurred

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🍖 How to Build a Culture Without Just Inventing Spices and Necklaces

(a worldbuilding roast. with love.)

So. You’re building a fantasy world, and you’ve just invented: → Three types of ceremonial jewelry → A spice that tastes like cinnamon if it were bitter and cursed → A holiday where everyone wears gold and screams at dawn

Cute. But that’s not culture. That’s aesthetics.

And if your worldbuilding is all outfits, dances, and spice blends with vaguely mystical names, your story’s probably going to feel like a cosplay convention held inside a Pinterest board.

Here’s how to fix that—aka: how to build a real, functioning culture that shapes your story, not just its vibes.

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🔗 Culture Is Built on Power, Not Just Style

Ask yourself: → Who’s in charge, and why? → Who has land? Who doesn’t? → What’s considered taboo, sacred, or punishable by death?

Culture is shaped by who gets to make the rules and who gets crushed by them. That’s where things like religion, family structure, class divisions, gender roles, and social expectations actually come from.

Start there. Not at the embroidery.

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2.🪓 Culture Comes From Conflict

Did this society evolve peacefully? Was it colonized? Did it colonize? Was it rebuilt after a war? Is it still in one?

→ What was destroyed and mythologized? → What do the survivors still whisper about? → What do children get taught in school that’s… suspiciously sanitized?

No culture is neutral. Every tradition has a history, and that history should taste like blood, loss, or propaganda.

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3.🧠 Belief Systems > Customs Lists

Sure, rituals and holidays are cool. But what do people believe about: → Death? → Love? → Time? → The natural world? → Justice?

Example: A society that believes time is cyclical vs. one that sees time as linear will approach everything—from prison sentences to grief—completely differently.

You don’t need to invent 80 gods. You need to know what those gods mean to the people who pray to them.

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4.🫀 Culture Controls Behavior (Quietly)

Culture shows up in: → What people apologize for → What insults cut deepest → What people are embarrassed about → What’s praised publicly vs. what’s hidden privately

For instance: → A culture obsessed with stoicism won’t say “I love you.” They’ll say “Have you eaten?” → A culture built on legacy might prioritize ancestor veneration, archival writing, name inheritance.

This stuff? Way more immersive than giving everyone matching earrings.

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5. 🏠 Culture = Daily Life, Not Just Festivals

Sure, your MC might attend a funeral where people paint their faces blue. But what about: → Breakfast routines? → How people greet each other on the street? → Who cooks, and who eats first? → What’s considered “clean” or “proper”? → How is parenting handled? Divorce?

Culture is what happens between plot points. It should shape your character’s assumptions, language, fears, and habits—whether or not a festival is going on.

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6. 💬 Let Your Characters Disagree With Their Own Culture

A culture isn’t a monolith.

Even in deeply traditional societies, people: → Rebel → Question → Break rules → Misinterpret laws → Mock sacred things → Act hypocritically → Weaponize or resist what’s expected

Let your characters wrestle with the culture around them. That’s where realism (and tension) lives.

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7.🧼 Beware the “Pretty = Good” Trap

Worldbuilding gets boring fast when: → The protagonist’s homeland is beautiful and pure → The enemy’s culture is dark and “barbaric” → Every detail just reinforces who the reader should like

You can—and should—challenge the aesthetic hierarchy. → Let ugly things be beloved. → Let beautiful things be corrupt. → Let your MC romanticize their culture and then get disillusioned by it later.

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📍 TL;DR (but like, spicy): → Culture is not food and jewelry. → Culture is power, fear, memory, contradiction. → Stop inventing spices until you know who starved last winter. → Let your world feel lived in, not curated.

The best cultural worldbuilding doesn’t look like a list. It feels like a system. A pressure. A presence your characters can’t escape—even if they try.

Now go. Build something real. (You can add spices later.)

—rin t. // writing advice for worldbuilders with rage and range // thewriteadviceforwriters

Sometimes the problem isn’t your plot. It’s your first 5 pages. Fix it here → 🖤 Free eBook: 5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making:

🕯️ download the pack & write something cursed:

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Fireworks on the Pokémon shore

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In progress...

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Listen, I think D&D goblins as lil bat-like folk accurately captures everything that people really like about them while avoiding some of the troubling implications.

Lives in a cave or an otherwise dim setting? Check, bats do that.

Eats beetles and things? Check, bats do that.

Big, mobile ears? Yep, bat feature.

Sharp teeth for biting? Also a bat feature!

Bats live in big groups and scientists have found they “argue” a lot. Also sounds like fantasy goblin stuff!

Bonus? FLUFFYE.

tldr; BAT-GOBLINS

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Ranua, Finland

jarcce

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Kestrel-dad not sure how to dad but he’s trying his best.

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Uuuuuh I never post on here but here's a wild Guzma today 🙌🏻

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As far as I’m concerned, pokemon villain writing peaked with Guzma. Legitimately worried about the erosion of culture due to hyper-tourism surrounding their sacred rites and practices. Abused as a child, ran away from home to start his countries only youth hostel for similarly troubled kids, and funds it with crime. Bug type specialist, with an ace that is mostly known for its first stage being cowardly. Cultivates a big scary persona as a defense mechanism to protect himself and his members, no one can beat big bad Guzma, so they don’t have to be afraid anymore. His grunts trust him enough to ask him for help when they screw up, despite the fact that they all come from troubled homes. Was so significant that pokemon switched from having cartoonishly evil bad guys and teams to the current model of “sympathetic and understandable antagonist that has some very good points, even as they oppose the protagonist, and is in some way actively doing good in their community by supporting those who are the most in need of assistance, due to some legitimate failing of the current system.” There is a cartoon villain looming behind him, but they’re a twist and not the main team presented. Everyone wants to be him, but they can never replicate the perfection that is this man.

Thank you for your service Guzma

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Shout out to that angsty mega Grimace comic I ended up not drawing because it came out to over 237 drawings across like 4 parts 🤙🤙 (Everyone lives dw😅)

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art by Aliya Chen\chenalii

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Inspired by

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OOOHH I FORGOT I EVEN ASKED THOSE LAST TIME THE ASK BOX WAS OPEN

OOOOOOO IM SO EXCITED THESE WERE ANSWERED

I know I already asked a question but there's so many jumping around in my mind that I need to know if we'll at least get answers in future episodes.

1. Can osteons dye the color of their flames, sorta like how irl there's minerals you can toss in fire to change its colors.

2. Can osteons cross with other alien species?

3. This is coming from a fellow character designer, not related to in lore reasons. Why did you make Beebs head square, when it seems others of his kind don't have square heads. What was the design choice behind that? I'm quite curious.

4. Can you tell us the heights and ages of all of the characters we've seen in the show so far?

5. I'm guessing there's gonna be some lore reasons we see at some point for what shrike meant when he said "I'm not going back under the knife" in reference to why he's still wearing a red suit. Implying that he had to go through a surgery of sorts for it to be put on. Am I right?

Yes they can~

Only their BONES (if they have any.)

Secret~

No.

Find out in September!

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OOOOHHOHOHOHO OH BOY

THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING

OOOOOOOOHHHHH THIS GIVES ME SO MANY IDEAS FOR SOME FAN MADE STUFF HEHEE

I absolutely love this show so much, ive been trying to get everyone i know to watch it. Ive already trapped two people in the Fandom XDD

I have just a couple questions

1: How do the space bikes work? Theyre open to space like normal moter bikes. Do they have a special barrier around it?

2: what kind of base do the Scythelords have?

2 1/2: do they even Have a base? Id assume theyve got Some kind of central station or ship to go to when they arent out pirating or harassing casinos.

3: if they do have one, will we see the Scythelords' base?

4: are there any undiscovered planets in the galaxy? Even with all of the aliens and the size of LAW, seeing how vast the galaxy is id assume at least a Couple planets would slip past notice.

Or are there any Unexplored planets?

1: I originally wanted to have a more realistic space flight system with orbits, escape trajectories and such but upon execution it wasn't that exciting, so we've gone with a more poppy sci fi flight system like in Star Trek and the like with our own twist.

2: Some dank basement somewhere out there.

3: Not for a good while.

4: I'm sure there's plenty still left out there~

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au where piers and marnie are spawns of darkrai. just spawned in one day. nightmare creatures.

random related shit under the cut :D

convo w/ @/orphees-corner !!

infodump:

piers is more accepting of his other form than marnie is so he can take it a bit further.

piers can cause nightmare AND active hallucinations (he tends to use these during concerts because. its just easier than hiring a tech crew :skull:), whereas marnie can just give nightmares and put people to sleep

piers has always kind of been aware of what he is, but he didnt tell marnie until later on

piers CAN change forms whenever he wants, but they are sometimes triggered beyond his control by extreme anger. marnie can only switch with strong emotions

piers' more beastly form is completely emotion triggers too

they can both use their powers in both forms but theyre stronger in their darkrai forms

i am insane but i am having fun

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I turn to Ares.

Thanks to Tyler Miles Lockett who allowed me to draw inspiration from his ARES piece for page 2! Look at his etsy page it's SICK

⚔️ If you want to read some queer retelling of arturian legends have a look at my webtoon