oz-cocoa

[oz-cocoa]

I love me a pseudo-historical arranged marriage au but it always nudges my suspension of disbelief when the author has to dance around the implicit expectation that an arranged marriage should lead to children, which a cis gay couple can't provide.

I know for a lot of people that's irrelevant to what they want from an Arranged Marriage plot, but personally I like playing in the weird and uncomfortable implications.

So, I've been thinking about how you would justify an obviously barren marriage in That Kind of fantasy world, and I thought it'd be interesting if gay marriage in Ye Old Fantasy Land was a form of soft disinheritance/abdication.

Like, "Oh, God, I don't want to be in this position of power please just find me a boy to marry", or, "I know you should inherit after you father passes but as your stepmother/legal guardian I think it'd make more sense if my kids got everything, so maybe consider lesbianism?", or "Look, we both know neither of our families has enough money to support that many grandkids, so let's just pair some spares and save both our treasuries the trouble".

Obviously this brings in some very different dynamics that I know not everyone would be pinged by, but I just think it'd be neat.

[oz-cocoa]

Writers, here’s your reminder that you should be doing warm-ups!

Athletes need to warm up. Musicians need to warm up. Artists need to warm up. Heck, I even have to play a few matches in video games before I get into a groove every day.

Warm-ups help you get into the right headspace, give you more control of your actions and word choice, get you comfortable in your physical setting (eg: with your keyboard, notebook, tablet, or whatever you're writing with), and spark creativity.

Even if you don’t think you have spoons to write, sit down and do a couple warm-ups. If you still don’t want to, that’s alright. But. I think you’ll be surprised how often they help break that ice.

5-15 minutes is all you need. I personally set a timer for ten minutes each time and do not stop writing until the time is up. Your warm-up can be anything at all so long as it gets you writing and starts nudging those creative juices.

Here's some common warm-ups:

Journaling. Just jot down some notes about your day. Feel free to really lean into something that you noticed. We're going for description and details -- try to avoid settling into a spiral or focusing on something negative that will upset your creativity.

Short story prompts. Type that into Pinterest and pick the most ridiculous, cliche thing you can. Write a little scene, story summary, or even a rant about why you do or don't like the prompt. Just write.

Vocab challenge. If you like a bit more critical thinking to get you in the zone, have a random vocabulary word generator spit out five or so words. Check their meanings and jot down a little story or thought that includes all five. You get more familiar with beautiful and descriptive language, and it gives you a much narrowed prompt (which is lovely if you're like me and suffer each time there's an open-ended task assigned).

Character moments. Try putting your character into a generic setting and write down almost meticulously what their thought process would be. Follow them realizing they've just stepped in mud or dreading the start of the day. Pick a mundane thing and describe them working through it. This will not only get your writing going, but it will wake up the character's voice in your head.

Ongoing storytelling. Did you know that Whinnie the Poo was A.A. Milne's warm up story? He would jot down a quick little story with those very basic characters and did so every day. Whatever came to mind. He kept writing little tidbits on the same characters and eventually it turned into a series. Having that ongoing plot with isolated scenes and simple characters can help you feel more motivated to sit down and write.

Get-to-know-you-questions. Google a list of basic first-date questions (there are a million out there) and answer one yourself. Go into specifics. Where do you most want to travel and why? Let yourself ramble until the question is fully answered.

Writer's block blues. This is a favorite of mine. If you're truly stuck, write about being stuck. Eg: 'I'm supposed to write for ten minutse, but that feels so stupid and impossible. No one is goign to read this anyway. I have no ideas and the page is so overwhelming when its blank. I used to be able to write on and on and nothing could stop me. it was like breathing. but now I have nothign and do nothing and I can't even do a stupid prompt-' Even the rambling and ranting got me writing. It made things easier. It made writing this post easier. Also -- notice the typos? Yeah, don't fix those. You're in writing mode, not editing mode when you're doing this. If you edit while you write, you're forcing yourself to stay in your executive and calculating headspace rather than falling fully into creativity and dream. Ignore the mistakes. That's for future you to handle.

I've officially rambled far too much, but I hope that helps even a little bit. Live well and write often, my friends. Best of luck to you <3

[oz-cocoa]

Let's Talk About Sex Scenes

This isn't going to get particularly graphic, but I know there are a lot of people who follow me who might not want to read about this, so this is my warning right now that this post will be a fairly blunt discussion of writing sex scenes and (some of) my thoughts on how to make them sexy.

Writing sex scenes can be complicated and awkward, and lots of people have lots of feelings on what makes a good sex scene (or sexy scene) in a story. Here are a few of my thoughts on them.

Figure out how graphic you want to make the scene. Sex in books can range anywhere from closed door (it's just implied that they had sex) to fully explicit detailed descriptions of what's happening, and everything in between.

But even if you don't want to write closed door, you can write fairly sexy/sensual scenes without actually mentioning most body parts. This is where you want to rely on a combination of senses and emotions. You can describe what a character is feeling, seeing, tasting, etc. and their emotions without every describing at Tab A into Slot B situation.

Avoid overly technical language unless that is your goal. One thing that can make sex scenes feel awkward or stilted is when they fall into very technical descriptions of what's going on. Some of this comes down to the language you use for specific body parts ("cock" is often seen as sexier than "penis," for example) but it can also be about the level of description you go into for how they're moving. If you start describing every time they shift a body part or change position, it can start feeling more like a list of actions than a sexy or sensual moment. It also feels extremely in the character's head to the point where it can feel like overthinking as opposed to being more of an indulgent or fun experience.

Sometimes, though, the point of a sex scene is actually about the technical aspect of it. This may be one character teaching another about sex, about characters exploring sex after a trauma or other reluctance, or about a kink exploration. In those cases, having more technical details can make it feel more real and grounded and can give you a way to provide clear insight into a character's experience with it. It allows you to show that this touch is the good or bad one, as opposed to the general experience of having sex.

Pick a couple of words for things and stick to them. You don't need seven euphemisms for a body part. You can leave "throbbing manhood" behind. If you stick to one to two words for each thing, it can help the word fade to the background in the same way that a dialogue tag does, making it easier for the reader for focus on the emotions or experience you're trying to describe, rather than being jarred every time a new euphemism for clitoris pops up.

Know how you're approaching consent. This is not to say that every sex scene needs to start with a negotiation or even an explicit yes, but you as the author should know whether the characters have consented to the sex, what it means if they haven't, and what impacts that might have. And if a sex scene is consensual or nonconsensual, we as the reader should be able to tell.

For example, I've read a ton of sex scenes where one of the characters (usually a female character) will say no at the start, sometimes more than once. But the other character(s) progresses with the sex they've initiated, and in the end, nobody seems to remember that it started with a no. Often it leaves me wondering whether I'm supposed to take that as having been consensual sex. And it leaves me wondering if the author thinks it was consensual sex.

Characters can be messy, and we don't need perfect characters who are perfect at consent. But at least for me personally, I find it really hard to root for a romance where it feels like one of the characters has sexually assaulted the other one.

So if you're writing sexual assault, you should know that you're writing sexual assault--and do it on purpose.

If you want to write kinky stuff, you should read kinky stuff. Real kinky stuff. Sometimes I read sex in stories, where it feels like Baby's First Foray Into Kink--but the author has clearly only read kink in other stories that were also Baby's First Foray Into Kink. It will be random spanking that's never really addressed, or he will choke her and then never talk about it (please for the love of everything that is good do not do this in real life), or she will inexplicably call him Daddy once. It will often feel either random and disjointed or extremely unnegoatiated (or both). And again, your characters don't need to Be Good At Kink, but if you want to write kink, you should at least know what you're intentionally leaving out. And to do that, you need to read things by actual kinky people.

Be specific. One of the biggest pitfalls that I see in a lot of sex scenes, especially but in no way exclusively in straight romances, is that they feel very generic. We are cycling through the same five pieces of dirty talk that every one of these stories uses, with the same three mild kinks. Someone says "say you're mine." She calls him Daddy. He spanks her. He comments on her mouth when she says a a sexual word.

But consider what these characters are into. Characters shouldn't lose their personality or interests simply because they're having sex, and they shouldn't all be the same. Are they interested in touching? Being touched? What body parts are they into on other people, and what of theirs do they like being focused on? Is there anything they're not into?

Do they make jokes during sex? Are they competitive? Do they want it slow? Fast? Are there toys that they like? Scents? Music? Do they make noise or are they quiet?

How would they talk? You don't need to default to Daddy/good girl if you're writing M/F romance. How do they feel about someone commenting on their body during sex?

How long have they been together? Sex between people who have been together for twenty years will look and feel different than a first-time hookup.

Are their restrictions (self-imposed or otherwise) on how they can have sex? How does that change how they talk to each other?

Sex scenes will always be better if you approach them thinking "how would these characters have sex" than "what is The Sexy Way To Write A Sex Scene."

[oz-cocoa]

When your Character...

Gets into: A Fight ⚜ ...Another Fight ⚜ ...Yet Another Fight

Hates Someone ⚜ Kisses Someone ⚜ Falls in Love

Calls Someone they Love ⚜ Dies / Cheats Death ⚜ Drowns

is...

A Child ⚜ Interacting with a Baby/Child ⚜ A Genius ⚜ A Lawyer

Beautiful ⚜ Dangerous ⚜ Drunk ⚜ Injured ⚜ Shy

needs...

A Magical Item ⚜ An Aphrodisiac ⚜ A Fictional Poison

To be Killed Off ⚜ To Become Likable ⚜ To Clean a Wound

To Find the Right Word, but Can't ⚜ To Say No ⚜ A Drink

loves...

Astronomy ⚜ Baking ⚜ Cooking ⚜ Cocktails ⚜ Food ⚜ Oils

Dancing ⚜ Fashion ⚜ Gems ⚜ Mythology ⚜ Numbers

Roses ⚜ Sweets ⚜ To Fight ⚜ Wine ⚜ Wine-Tasting ⚜ Yoga

has/experiences...

Allergies ⚜ Amnesia ⚜ Bereavement ⚜ Bites & Stings ⚜ Bruises

Caffeine ⚜ CO Poisoning ⚜ Color Blindness ⚜ Food Poisoning

Injuries ⚜ Jet Lag ⚜ Mutism ⚜ Pain ⚜ Poisoning

More Pain & Violence ⚜ Viruses ⚜ Wounds

[these are just quick references. more research may be needed to write your story...]

[oz-cocoa]

I have a question, do you have any tips on CSS/HTML stylesheet's for Twine? I'm trying to make my own story, and I'm a big newbie

I'm no expert myself, but I think I can at least give you some tips on the basics. If you have anything concrete you want to know, feel free to ask follow-up questions!

First, let me share some useful resources with you. It's probably a good idea to start by looking through the Twine Cookbook if you haven't yet.

When it comes to using CSS and HTML, it depends on the story format you are using. Twine has several. I am using SugarCube 2.36.1 (which isn't the newest version, but I don't feel like updating it while I'm in the middle of working in it). If you plan on using SugarCube 2 as well, here's the documentation for it, which pretty much has all the information you need to get started.

There are a lot of guides and tutorials out there. I recommend checking out the one by Adam Hammond, which covers the basics well enough.

Some general tips from me:

Feel free to look at other style sheets/templates and just copy what they are doing. Not only will it get you an idea of what is possible, but it saves you the time of having to figure everything out yourself from scratch.

When it comes to the stylesheet, a lot of it is trial and error. You just try something, realise it looks awful, and then try something else. It is easy to get frustrated when things don't work like you want them to, so just take it one step at a time.

Take notes somewhere! I don't code a lot, so even if I know how to do something now, I'm likely to forget it again. For that reason, I made myself a document with all of the functions, macros, etc., so I have them all in one place and in a way that I can easily find again.

Get the basic stuff done first. Proper formatting, readable fonts, etc. take precedent over adding a dark mode and so on. You can always add more stuff later, so get the most important aspects down first.

I hope that helps at least somewhat!

[oz-cocoa]

Masterlist for Coding

Don't mind me, just getting this coding master list ready ahead of time to make it easier to keep this blog organized! I've already got a few ideas on some things I want to share :) Come across something incorrect? Let me know, please!

Oh - if you got tagged in this list, just ignore me, and sorry for the bother!

Getting Started

Pros & Cons: ChoiceScript vs Twine - coming soon :)

Introduction to CScript

Introduction to ChoiceScript

Commands for ChoiceScript

Text Editor Recommendations - coming soon :)

How to Hide a Choice Based on a Variable

Variables

Setting up Variables for Character Creation (name, pronouns, hair, eyes, etc) - coming soon :)

Introduction to Twine

Twine Cookbook

Twine for Brower (Chromebook) or Desktop Download

Sugarcube Documenation

How to Approach Character Creation - coming soon :)

Templates (I believe all of these are for SugarCube)

Twine Template (mobile friendly) by Vahnya, @outoftheblue-if

Twine Template II by Vahnya, @outoftheblue-if

Sugarcube Template by @nyehilismwriting

Twine Sugarcube Template by @nyehilismwriting

A Quick Guide to Character Pages by @gamesbyalbie

Twine Sugarcube Template by @cerberus-writes

100% Good Twine Sugarcube Template @manonamora-if

Twine Sugarcube 2 Template by a.w. morgan

Variables and Choices

Setting up Variables - coming soon :)

Coding Cycling Choices (where the player clicks to change an option) - coming soon :)

UI, CSS, and Theme-Related Things

How to Add Images to Twine (local and online) - coming soon :)

CSS Chart and Keywords (great to reference when changing colors in your UI)

Google Fonts (download a free font to match your game's theme and/or for accessibility)

Canva - has free and paid assets that you can use

IF Authors / Writers / Coders (AKA Wizard Guru Extraordinaires)

Vahnya - @outoftheblue-if

Cerberus Writes - @cerberus-writes

Nyehilism- @nyehilismwriting

Albie - @gamesbyalbie

Manon - @manonamora-if

idrellegames - @idrellegames

[oz-cocoa]

SORRY I SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPECIFIC

the settings option, where you change the font size and the theme! Howwww

I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH DETAIL YOU WANT BUT I'LL TRY

How to change themes in Twine — a ✨ tutorial ✨:

Edit: Realised you also asked for font-size and font-family? Added that to the bottom ✌🏼

You can find everything related Settings in Twine here, but I'll try to explain as much as I can

SO first you'll have to navigate into the Story JavaScript:

This is the code we'll use (I'll try to explain line by line what the code does):

Line 1. - We're creating a variable that's going to hold the names of the different themes how we want them displayed in Settings. Mine are Light Theme, Dark Theme and Black Theme (or Nyx' Theme)

Line 3. - We're creating a variable to set the theme when the user selects an option. This variable will hold a function to do the work for us.

Line 4. - We're creating a variable that selects the <html> tag in your html file, which is the element that will hold the different classes to style the theme

This is the normal <html> tag:

This is how the <html> tag will look when the "dark" theme is selected:

Line 5 and 6. - We're making sure that whenever the "default" theme is set, which in this case is the Light Theme, the "dark" theme class and the "black" theme class is removed from the <html> tag

Line 8. - We're using the JavaScript switch statement to switch between themes, you don't really need to understand how this works, just copy it, but make sure that each case is called the corresponding name as the name in line 1

Line 10 - We're telling the <html> tag to add a class called "dark" if the Dark Theme is selected

Line 14 - We're telling the <html> tag to add a class called "black" if the Black Theme is selected

Line 19 - We're using Twine's Setting.addList() method to make these settings appear in the Settings dialog box, 

Line 20 - We're typing in what we want the label to be for this particular setting

Line 21 - We're telling Twine what list of theme names to display in the dropdown in Settings, which is the list we stored in the variable settingThemeNames on line 1

Line 22 and 23 - We're telling Twine what function to run when something is changed, which is the function we stored in the variable setTheme on line 3

-

Now all you have to do is change the CSS for the respective themes by using html.dark for the "dark theme" for every element you want to change in the Dark Theme, and html.black for every element you want to change in the Black Theme:

In the above example I've changed the font colour of every h1 heading in the "dark" theme to brown and every h1 heading in the "black" theme to black. These will override the styles you have for your default <html> tag

-

How to do font-family and font-size settings: 

Basically the same thing, except this time with fonts!

The only real difference here, as you can see above, is the name of the variables, ie. settingFontFamily to set the names you want to display in your Settings dropdown. setFont to hold the function. 

On line 29 we create a variable called passages that selects the <div id=“passages”> element in your html, which is the one that holds all your passages (obviously):

Then we do the exact same thing as before with the switch statement, except on line 32 and 37 we use the passages variable to change the inline fontFamily style of the <div id=“passages”> element to whichever font we want to use. 

In the above photo you can see that the inline style is currently set to ‘Poppins’, sans-serif

Then we do the same as before with the Setting.addList() method, except this time with the corresponding info.

-

With font-size it’s basically the same again, except this time with font-size:

Only difference here is that we have more cases under the switch statement. We’re still using the same passages variable to target the same <div id=“passages”> element, but this time we’re changing the inline font-size style to different pixels (you can use other units as well, like rem, em etc.)

And... I think that's it! Let me know if you have more questions or if something was unclear ✨

Hope that helps ✨🤎

[oz-cocoa]

Is it alright to ask how you style the save to disk, lead from disk and delete all buttons? I'm having trouble figuring out how to do that 😅

Ok, sorry this is late, anon! I decided to answer this one in a video, because it's so much easier than me having to type everything out and do screenshots, especially since tumblr only allows for 10 images per post, so please bare with my face and voice for a little bit, yikes.

✨ How you can use Developer Tools to help you with coding in Twine — a tutorial ✨

P.S. - I never knew I had a lisp until I went through the torture of editing this video lmao! Good to know. I'm so sorry in advance for my speech, I hope this is helpful ✨🤎

[oz-cocoa]

hi vahnya! i'm trying twine (sugarcube) for the first time and my tiny brain refuses to understand how codes work :'( could you please share with us how to do a character creation passage that includes name, gender, pronouns, appearance, etc? how do we make twine remember this? sending much love to you and your big brain <3

Hi there! ✨ Absolutely, I'll do my best to explain. I'm not sure of you meant that you wanted one single passage to set all of the character creations, or if you meant spread out over several passages as most games do, but it doesn't really matter. You can definitely have the entire character creator on one single page.

Also, thank you for calling my brain big, I think it spurred on the creation of a new brain cell, so now I have 3 lmao!! 🙏🏻

✨ Twine Variables/Character Creation - a tutorial ✨

So, Twine has two types of variables, a temporary variable and a story variable. Temporary variables are declared with an _, and can only be used within one single passage to store information, so if you attempt to use a temporary variable in another passage, Twine will no longer remember the information you put in it.

So you'll mostly be using the story variables in Twine, which are declared using the $, as Twine carries the information in those throughout the entire story. And for characteristics for MC, you'll obviously want to use those as well.

There are several ways of setting variables in Twine using various Macros, so I'll try to cover some of the most regular ones. You can use any of these ways to set variables for anything.

Name:

So for setting names, most games have a list of suggestions, as well as the option to type in your own name, like this:

For suggestions, you only need to have a regular link that sets a variable, which can be done either by using the [[]] link syntax or the <<link>><</link>> macro, like I have done here:

So for the first four names above, I've used the [[]] syntax to set the $firstname variable:

In the first part of the syntax, I write what I want to display in my link, which in the first example is the name Emma, then after the | I have the name of the passage that I want the link to take the player to next, which most logically would be the passage to set the last name (just an example, of course). Then I tell the syntax which variable to set whenever the player clicks on Emma, which is $firstname, as well as what information to store in that variable, which is Emma. So we're basically telling Twine to set $firstname to "Emma", so that whenever we write $firstname in our story, it will show up as Emma after this.

-

For the next four names, I've done the exact same as above, just by using the <<link>><</link>> syntax. These two are legitimately the same, but sometimes it's better to use one over the other for coding purposes.

in <<link>> between the first two "" I've again put the name I want the link to display for the user, then in the next "" I've put the next passage, but this time we have to use the <<set>> macro between the <<link>> and the <</link>> to set the variable. So we're doing exactly the same thing as above, telling Twine to set $firstname to "Tobias" if the user clicks Tobias.

Sidenote: Whether you use the = sign to set variables or the word to, doesn't matter. It's all preference, they do the exact same thing. Also the * that I have in front of the links is simply to make the name suggestions an unordered list with list items, for styling purposes.

-

Now for the player to type in their own name, you will use the <<textbox>> macro and do basically the same as above:

Inside the first "" we'll tell Twine which variable we want to set, which is $firstname, then in the next "" we tell Twine what value the textbox should hold by default. You can use this to tell the player what the textbox is for, ie. "Type your own name here", or you can put a name suggestion in there if you want. Then in the last "" we're telling Twine which passage to take the player to next, as soon as the enter button is hit. You don't have to include this if you'd rather the user had to navigate to the passage some other way, like a button.

When the player goes to the next passage, Twine will fetch the value inside the textbox and save it inside the $firstname variable.

Other ways to set variables

Generally, you can the [[]] syntax or the <<link>><</link>> macro to set any variables, whether it be name, gender, pronouns or appearance, like I have used it here to set the $gender variable:

I basically just use one of those for setting most variable, and I think most games do too, but I'll still cover some other ways of setting variables to show you how they work..

Radiobutton / <<radiobutton>>

Let's say we want to use Radio Buttons to set $gender like we did above. This will will look like this in Twine:

This result is achieved by this code:

Again, in between the first "" we're telling Twine which variable to set, which is $gender, then which information we want that variable to store, depending on which radio button is selected, then you have the option to tell Twine if you want a button to be autocheck-ed, which means that Twine will automatically check which value $gender currently holds and check that option, but in our case $gender has no value, so none is checked. The other option is to set one radio button to checked by default.

So, if the player checks of the Woman option, whenever they click through to the next passage, the $gender variable will set to "Woman".

Listbox / <<listbox>>

Let's say we're setting $haircolour by using Listbox. How it will look in game + code:

Inside of <<listbox>>'s first "" we're telling Twine which variable to set, in this case it's $hairColour.

Then we have a selection of <<options>> where the first "" will be the text that is displayed to the player, and the second "" is the value that the variable will actually hold. So in the first example, the player will see Blonde hair in the selection menu, and when selected, $hairColour will be set to "blonde".

Cycle link / <<cycle>>

This one is quite popular to use in Twine, it's the link that will function like this:

And is achieved by this code:

We use the <<cycle>> macro, and inside <<cycle>>'s "" we'll tell Twine which variable we want to set, in this case it will be $eyeColour, then between <<cycle>> and <</cycle>> we will once again use the <<option>> macro to set the selection of options the player can chose from, like we did above with the <<listbox>>

Protip:

If you wanted to set more than one variable with one single link, there's a simple way to do so. Let's use pronouns as an example, since you specifically asked for that. How it looks in game + code:

So above, we're doing the exact same thing as we did in the first example at the top of this post using the [[]] link or the <<link>><</link>> to set variables with a link, except we're setting several variables at the same time simply by separating them with a ;

So in the first example, if She/Her is clicked, we're setting $they to "she", $them to "her", $their to "her", etc. — all within the same link.

-

I think that covers the most basic and most popular ways of setting variables in Twine. I've linked all the macros as well, if you want to read more about them.

I really hope this was understandable and helpful! Feel free to ask if something was unclear or you need help with anything ✨🤎

[oz-cocoa]

The Punk-Factor of Punkpunk Genre

So, when I posted my history of Solarpunk, someone (probably not in good faith) asked: “So, what about the punk in all the other punk genres?!” towards my request to put the punk back into Solarpunk. And given that my autistic brain obviously cannot just let that stand… You know what? Let me talk about the other punk genre and in how far they are “punk”. I tried to be as exhaustive as possible, though there is a good chance, that I might have missed some of the punkpunk genre. So feel free to add.

Trying to judge the punkiness I do not assume punk as simple counter culture, but a specific ideology. Quote from Wikipedia:

[Punk ideology] is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, hierarchy, white supremacy, authoritarianism, anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, imperialism, conservatism, anti-globalization, gentrification, anti-racism, anti-sexism, class and classism, gender equality, racial equality, eugenics, animal rights, free-thought and non-conformity

Most of the artwork here has been taken from concept art of either of the examples listed.

Sorted from most futuristic to pre(historic). Yes, the list is long.

Cyberpunk

We start with the OG punk genre, the one after which all other punk genre were named. Yes, you could argue that in fact the two genre following are more futuristic – but Cyberpunk kinda just had to start the list.

As a genre: Given that Cyberpunk had its start completely in literature it is the best defined in this regard. Taking place in a late stage capitalist dystopian world in which most is owned by megacorps who don’t follow anyone’s laws but their own, the protagonists usually are social outcasts fighting against their own oppression, trying to keep themselves alive in a world hostile to them. With cybernetics always being a core of the genre, it also tends to deal with the question of humanity in a “ship of Theseus” sort of way. How much can the human body be altered, before the human vanishes?

As an aesthetic: Cyberpunk is the most punk in terms of aesthetics, really. There is a lot of punk and grunge going on in terms of character design. Neon hair colors, fishnets and thorn up jeans jackets can be found here. As well as of course cybernetics on the characters. The world usually is a megacity with a stark divide between rich and poor, tons of neon signs, a slight Japanese influence, flying cars and somehow a constant downpour of rain.

Punk-Factor: Cyberpunk is the one punk genre, where the “punk” was chosen very knowingly as a name. Usually the protagonists are “punks” fighting for their place in the world against a suppressive capitalist system. (Also, they usually fit the punk aesthetic, if they don’t wear leather dusters.) It should be noted however, that especially in newer western Cyberpunk often the punkiness vanishes more and more – for the same reason we have so little Solarpunk: media that outright confronts the problems of capitalism is just less supported.

Examples: Neuromancer (1984), Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (1986), Snow Crash (1992), The Matrix (1999), Dredd (2012)

Biopunk

As a genre: As a genre biopunk is still fairly ill defined, as it mostly shows up as a subsection of Cyberpunk. Rather than the characters having cybernetic implants (or additionally to it) they are augmented on a genetic level. This can be all sorts of augmentations, changing anything from appearance to giving characters higher strength and agility, giving them claws or night vision, or in some cases even “magic” powers. Usually the genre tends to be set in worlds similar to Cyberpunk. In fact it might well be set in a cyberpunk world, only that characters with bioaugmentations exist parallel to those with cybernetics. Additionally, though, there is a subsection of this genre, that concerns reproductive rights.

As an aesthetic: Ironically biopunk is even less defined as an aesthetic. There is not a lot of biopunk art out there and most that exists can go in different directions. As such it often mixes elements from other punk aesthetics – like Cyberpunk, Steampunk or Dieselpunk – with an assortment of bodyhorror elements.

Punk-Factor: It is hard to define the “punkiness” of a genre, that barely exists for the most part. Usually, when it is set against a Cyberpunk backdrop, it might be very punky, but in other settings those punk elements vanish.

Examples: Ribofunk (1995), Altered Carbon (2002), Bioshock (2007), The Windup Girl (2009)

Nanopunk

As a genre: Like Biopunk Nanopunk mostly exists as a subsubgenre to Cyberpunk, often being set in a mostly Cyberpunk world, only that instead of or additionally to Cybernetics, the technology used to alter the human body is nanites. These serve the same function as the genetic manipulation in Biopunk, giving the human in question more strength and agility and at times more or less magical abilities. There is one common plot that comes up again and again, with an AI or megacorp turning the nanites against the people they inhabit or trying to control them.

As an aesthetic: Aesthetically Nanopunk does not have much in terms of its own identity. Most artworks relating to Nanopunk feature a similar aesthetic to Cyberpunk, with megacities and lots of neon.

Punk-Factor: This genre is so small, that it is kinda hard to judge the exact punkiness.

Examples: The Diamond Age (1995), Prey (2002)

Solarpunk

As a genre: Being another genre, that started as such, Solarpunk is a bit better defined. Solarpunk usually takes place in a world post-strive. It is post-capitalist and decolonial in its settings, usually featuring a world that has either formed against the backdrop of preventing climate collapse or in the aftermath of it. A lot of it features people rebuilding – or alternatively building communities. It always features elements about living in harmony with nature or trying to do so. So far, the genre is mostly defined by short stories, partly because there is still disagreements within the movement, how far a conflict can be taken to still qualify as Solarpunk.

As an aesthetic: Solarpunk has a very strong aesthetic definition, mostly featuring all sorts of cities and urban areas, that incorporate natural elements into the urbanity, with greenery growing on roofs and concrete car-centric streets being replaced with more natural, walkable areas. The character design aesthetic is not quite as clearly defined, but usually features natural materials and patterns usually seen within indigenous art.

Punk-Factor: Contrary to what many say, Solarpunk is fairly punk, as it very much embraces the entire anti-hierarchical, anti-capitalist mentality. With the big difference, that the punk mentality is no longer counter culture, but the mainstream culture.

Examples: The Dispossessed (1974), Nausicaä (1984), Laputa – Castle in the Sky (1986), Princess Mononoke (1997), The Summer Prince (2013)

Lunarpunk

As a genre: Lunarpunk is pretty much a subsubgenre of Solarpunk, just as Nanopunk and Biopunk are sprung off from Cyberpunk. It is so far ill-defined as a genre, but the general consensus is, that it is set in solarpunk-esque worlds, but with a heavier focus on mysticism or spiritualism, at times outright including magic. It also tends to feature a lot darker places, being set in underwater or underground settings – or alternatively at night.

As an aesthetic: Lunarpunk is far more of an aesthetic than a genre so far. It features dark places, often with bioluminescent elements in it. Often featuring a mixture of black and dark blue with lighter blue, violet or light green elements shining in the middle of it. Mushrooms – especially glowing mushrooms – feature repeatedly in artwork.

Punk-Factor: Given that Lunarpunk is barely defined as a genre it is hard to estimate the punkiness in it. If it gets more stories, will those still feature the anti-capitalist and anti-hierarchical messaging we see in Solarpunk? This should be the defining factor. Some of the artworks use little aesthetics from the punk scene, but nothing much more.

Examples: Bioluminescent: A Lunarpunk Anthology (2023)

Hopepunk

Honestly, I had no idea where to put this one, given that it might technically be set at any time and place.

As a genre: Hopepunk is very much a genre, not an aesthetic. It has been defined as the opposite of grimdark by its “inventor/name-giver” Alexandra Rowland. The basic idea is to create fiction that instead of taking a dystopian, defeatist and violent approach, takes one defined by hope and to some degree pacifism. As such the genre can be set in any setting, real or fantastic. It mostly is defined by the protagonists taking opposition to cruelty and violence, fighting for a better world and, crucially, also partly archiving it. Other than in usual Cyberpunk, where the best possible ending, tends to be, that the protagonists get to live a somewhat better life themselves, Hopepunk aims to better the life at least for groups of people.

As an aesthetic: Being fully a genre, Hopepunk has no aesthetic associated with it.

Punk-Factor: Hopepunk is punk less in the sense of the protagonists or things happening within the story, which might or might not be punk, but was named such rather because it is considered counter cultural towards the gross of media at the moment, that often strives for a “realistic, gritty, grimdark” outlook on the world. Basically it is saying: “Hope is punk.” I will not make any judgement on whether or not this is true.

Examples: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2014), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Good Place (2016)

Mythpunk

As a genre: Another one, that does not really fit into a temporal sorting system, because once again it can be set anywhere between the stone age and the far future. The basic idea is, that the story interweaves postmodern storytelling with elements from mythology or folklore. This can mean mythological, genre-traversing retellings, but it can also mean, that mythology seeps into any given story bit by bit. As such the genre with probably the most media in the subgenre is Urban Fantasy, which often borrows from mythology and incorporates these elements.

As an aesthetic: Mythpunk as an aesthetic is a bit strange. There is definitely a mythpunk aesthetic that exists, often mixing familiar elements with elements from mythology and folklore (at times also including quasi-folkloric works of literature, such as Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz). Often just a bit dark and twisted.

Punk-Factor: To be perfectly frank, for the most part, there is not a lot of punk to be found in this genre. While there have been definitely punky stories told within the genre, this is more a story decision than something inherent to the genre.

Examples: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Over the Garden Wall (2014), Inscryption (2016)

Dustpunk / Rustpunk / Desertpunk

As a genre: Kinda grouping those above all together, because people argue about what they might entail and in some interpretations they kinda are similar: Post-apocalyptic stories set in a world of sand and rust. Often featuring a loner character, having to go up against everyone to ensure his own survival – and at times being forced to learn, that the lonerness might not win him (and most often it is a him) anything.

As an aesthetic: Aesthetically this tends to be very much post-apocalyptic, maybe in some cases with some more classical punk elements added to characters and surroundings.

Punk-Factor: Given that there is neither a system to rage against – nor a new, less hierarchical system – usually there is not that much punk outside of some aesthetic choices. Neither tend those stories go into constructing worlds of mutual aid or working against oppression.

Examples: Anything Mad Max should count for this.

Atompunk

As a genre: Atompunk usually deals with themes connected to the cold war – in some cases directly, in some indirectly. Often it overplays the American ideals that were pushed for during the cold war era and portrays scenarios in which American Exceptionalism slowly reveals itself as the dystopia most punks already know it to be. Outside of this vague idea for the setting, the genre is less described, as there is less of a clear script an Atompunk story might follow. So, little description of who might be the protagonist and what their role is.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Atompunk borrows heavily from the Raygun Gothic aesthetic. So, futurism, as it was imagined in the 1950s and 1960s, with heavy influences from late pulp age science fiction art.

Punk-Factor: The aesthetic in this is definitely not punk. The stories often have some vague punk ideas of recognizing how fucked up the world has become, but given the genre is fairly wide in terms of stories, it is hard to give a definite answer to how “punk” it is. One can definitely tell punk stories within this genre, though.

Examples: Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (1978), Fallout (1997), Futurama (1999)

Dieselpunk

As a genre: Dieselpunk is once again an example of “strong aesthetic, but no clear genre identity”. Generally, Dieselpunk is concerned with the interwar period, but might cover either of the world wars. In some cases the genre features alternate timelines, in which one war happened and not the other, or in which another faction won, with the technological development being influenced by this as well. But as a genre it is not much defined. A lot of stories building on Lovecraft’s legacy feature Dieselpunk in some regards. And there is definitely a subsection of Dieselpunk stories centered around “what if Nazis won” or “what if Nazis somehow went underground and did their own technological development after the war”. Also, there are a lot of stories about pilots of war planes in this genre.

As an aesthetic: As an aesthetic Dieselpunk is more clearly defined. A lot of bare metal and the sorts of technology you would expect from this era, often with retro-futurist and art noveau elements in between. A lot of the fashion within the genre is defined by pilot and military clothing of the times, but at times also dipping into “roaring 20s” fashion styles.

Punk-Factor: In this genre I would generally say: “If the story involves punching Nazis, you might get a couple punk points – but otherwise this is not really punk.”

Examples: The Iron Dream (1972), Brazil (1985), Dark City (1998), Iron Sky (2012), Bitter Seeds (2010)

Teslapunk

As a genre: Yet another one of these, that exists mostly as a vague idea, with no clear definition. The basic idea is a world, that works on Tesla’s inventions. And as those of you, who watched Doctor Who, might know, Tesla sorta, kinda already invented the internet or had an idea of what it could be and how it could work. So a Teslapunk world is based in an alternate timeline, but might in fact go into light futurism. There is not much in this genre though with a unique thematic identity, as stories that use Teslapunk as a backdrop rarely have coherent themes.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Teslapunk is basically “Steampunk, but with Tesla-coils and electricity”. Which is not a big surprise given that Tesla came from the same era that would also be the inspiration for Steampunk. So, we have a lot of Victorian fashion, maybe some light augmentation, airships, and – again – all the tesla coils you can muster.

Punk-Factor: As, again, I think punk is more about themes than aesthetic, this is once more not really possible to judge, because there do not seem coherent themes within the genre so far.

Examples: The Prestige (2006), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), Bioshock Infinite (2013)

Arcanepunk

Another one of those that do not neatly fit into the timeline…

As a genre: Arcanepunk takes place in a world, where both magic and technology have developed. In some cases both developed side by side, in others, we might have a technological world, that suddenly discovers magic by some happenstance. The fact is, though, that both exist parallel to each other or might at times be intertwined, with technology being powered by magic. This can exist at different technological stages, usually featuring settings inspired by the late 19th or early 20th century. But usually futuristic stuff that includes magic might be considered Arcanepunk, just as might stories that mix 18th century technology with magic. While also a vague genre, there is a repeating theme of magic being hoarded by those in powers and the poor and downtrodden finding ways to still use it in their own advantage.

As an aesthetic: Given that Arcanepunk’s setting is defined by the co-existence of magic and technology, rather than a specific technology, Arcanepunk has less of a defined aesthetic. Never the less, we have a part of punk aesthetics that often come up, as a surprising amount of Arcanepunk features characters with neon colored hair.

Punk-Factor: Another genre that is rather thin, yet, there is a surprising amount of stories featuring some punk ideas of fighting against an oppressive system and being counter culture to a main culture build around suppression.

Examples: Too Many Magicians (1966), Shadowrun (1989), Bartimaeus (2003), Arcane (2021) duh

Steampunk

Steampunk was the second genre to pick up the “punk” suffix and hence is as much responsible for the punk-punk as Cyberpunk as the originator.

As a genre: Being named as early as it has been, Steampunk kinda suffers the same issue as Cyberpunk itself. There is a lot of ideas there, but some are only vaguely defined. In general, though Steampunk always takes place in a world where the steam engine became the defining technology and was never replaced with the combustion engine. As such cultural aspects from the steam era, especially Victorian England and the Belle Epoche, still carry over for longer, than they did. So often we will see noble households based around similar values as the puritan Victorian English families, while the very poor are made to work in workhouses. At times we might also see themes of colonialism here. In some cases magic might exist in these worlds, as might electricity for some aspects. There is often a heavy inspiration from Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Though it is still hard to define the “stereotypical steampunk story”, given that Steampunk offers a wide variety of stories, from adventure stories and romances, over to stories where people rise up against the Victorian-esque society.

As an aesthetic: Steampunk as an aesthetic is very much influenced by Victorian aesthetics and the time period of the late 19th century, mostly in the USA, Great Britain and France. But as all other punk genres it knows very well: “If it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing,” so steam-related elements are added to everything. Could

Punk-Factor: In the original idea for Steampunk was a lot of punk. “What if we took Cyberpunks ‘rage against the unjust system’ and made it 19th century” they asked. But given that the genre branched out so much, it is not necessarily there in all the stories. There is a ton of stories where people rage against that steam powered Victorian machine – but also a ton in which the Victorian world gets idealized and romanticized.

Examples: Thief (1998), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999), Wild Wild West (1999), Clockwork Century (2008) – also half of all Sherlock Holmes adaption made after 2000 in any medium usually use Steampunk elements

Silkpunk

As a genre: Silkpunk is hard to define, despite there being a clear definition. The reason for this is, that the person who coined the term – Ken Liu – had a very specific idea in mind. He explains that the idea is of a world that has technology as language. In which form is as important as function, is made to speak a language all of its own. Inspired by ideas from W. Brian Arthur and Chinese philosophy. However, what the wider Science Fiction and Fantasy community made from it was “Steampunk but East Asian!” But given he coined the term (and also the alternative feels vaguely racist) I am going to go with Ken Liu for this. While Silkpunk will usually be set in an East Asian inspired world, the central idea is about the duality of technology, which will also be addressed within the stories.

As an aesthetic: As said above, the idea Liu had for it was a world that features some technology, but technology that is as much about form and communication through it, as it is about function. So the technology here has strong visual ideas. At least that was, how Liu intended it. Once again, the wider community made “Steampunk, but East Asian” out of it.

Punk-Factor: There is not a lot of stuff in this genre for now – however so far I do not manage to see a lot of punk ideas in it, even though some of Liu’s stories definitely feature the concept of challenging a higher power.

Examples: Dandelion Dynasty (2015), The Black Tides of Heaven (2018), The Tea Master and the Detective (2019)

Clockpunk

As a genre: Once again storytelling in this genre is not really defined, but the worlds diverge a bit before the wide adaption of steam, instead featuring mechanical devices powered by coils and springs and somehow kept alive, often at least implied through some form of arcane magic that gives “live” to these mechanical inventions. Most examples of Clockpunk, however, tend to show up as settings for parts of fantasy stories. Any fantasy world might have this “Clockpunk” area, where protagonists might travel. Especially games tend to feature this. While there is definitely a trope of the “mad inventor” often going along with this, few other tropes stand out.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Clockpunk tends to take some inspiration from the early 19th century, but tends to add a lot of gears to everything, with even city wide gear constructions keeping things working. We often will find mechatronic characters, such as wind up soldiers or wind up dancers.

Punk-Factor: Once more, there are so few stories told, that it is kinda hard to speak about how punk this is. Most stories told so far, however, do not feature punk elements.

Examples: The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Hugo (2011), Clockwork Planet (2017)

Whalepunk

Please note: This is one of those genre, I would love to see more in, though so far it is barely explored.

As a genre: And you might ask: “Why do you even name those genre, that exist mostly in theory?”, to which I might answer: “Because I am a nerd.” As all these retrofuturists genre, Whalepunk imagines mostly an alternate historical timeline, where the technology that became defining was based around whale oil. This means that in Whalepunk often whalers or harbors play a big role, though as the genre is again very thinly spread, it is hard to say what “THE whalepunk” formular is. It seems there is a tendency, to mix some mysticism or magic into the genre, though, as the idea of hunting sea monsters often plays into it as well. Good chance that it could at some point merge with Cthulupunk (which I did not name separately, because most of it is either covered in Whalepunk or Dieselpunk).

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Whalepunk is basically “Steampunk, but with more sailors, ships and sea monsters”. There is definitely a bit of Oceanpunk mixed into it as well, with some aesthetics being somewhere between Steampunk and Dieselpunk. (Which is kinda ironic, because whale oil was mostly used in the early 19th century.)

Punk-Factor: And again. There so far is not a lot of connective thematic tissue within that genre, so exploring themes is kinda hard.

Examples: Dishonored (2012), Dredge (2023)

Oceanpunk / Piratepunk

As a genre: It really is hard to divide the Piratepunk out of the Oceanpunk, though some might call it different. The idea here is that this genre features stories mostly set on the ocean and often more heavily leaning into fantasy, than science fiction. While the worlds might feature technological elements, they will almost certainly feature magical elements of some sort. The characters will usually be seafaring one way or another and stories might involve any sort of adventure. There might be a storyline, though, about one company or nation trying to control the seas – often times through magical means – with the characters often unwillingly being made to oppose them. This genre might also take place in a post-apocalyptic setting with a flooded planet.

As an aesthetic: While the aesthetic is not clearly defined, there is a good chance that it borrows heavily from the late 17th and early 18th century and the golden age of piracy, when it comes to both ships and fashion sensibilities.

Punk-Factor: Pirates, at least as far as modern media imagines them, tend to be very punk, as they tend to inherently oppose any sort of government and what not. While the punk is not there in all of the stories, a lot of the most popular stories from the genre will feature at least lightly punky elements.

Examples: One Piece (1997), Pirates of the Caribbean (2003), Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)

Dungeonpunk

As a genre: So, the idea of the genre is basically “What if Cyberpunk, but Dungeons & Dragons?” Usually set in a vaguely medieval world, this world still shows the same corporate corruption as your usual Cyberpunk world. Adventurers are just another resource to be exploited by the system, their day job involving going on yet another dungeon crawl. For this there might be some technology entirely powered by magic, with those magic items taking over the same functions technology might have in a Cyberpunk world. And yes, indeed some brave dwarf, elf or halfling might rise up and challenge the corporate dungeon syndicate. (As you might sense: Yes, this genre tends to be at least partly a bit of a parody of the punkpunk idea. Though it also can be played straight as “Cyberpunk conflicts, just that all technology is somehow magic.”)

As an aesthetic: This is once again one of the examples, where there is a clear idea behind it – but absolutely no clear aesthetic, as this genre might cover anything from medieval settings to a lot more modern stuff.

Punk-Factor: The base idea, being heavily inspired by the base idea of Cyberpunk, just from a very different perspective. But too many people read the genre as “Magic Technology, yay”, in which case, no, it is not punk.

Examples: Dungeons & Dragons can be played this way, also Final Fantasy VI – XIII definitely counts.

Sandalpunk

As a genre: I mostly include this for the sake of it, because this genre tends to boil down to “fantasy set in ancient Greece or Rome, but with vaguely anachronistic elements”. It might also include alternate history stories (even going so far as Science Fiction) based on the idea “What if Ancient Rome/Ancient Greece never fell?” There is no real overarching themes, even though I could imagine some interesting way one could build those up. So far, though, it is mostly a vague gesture towards: “SciFi Fantasy, but with more ancient civilizations.”

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic is usually just Ancient Rome or Ancient Greece, but with more magic or anachronistic elements.

Punk-Factor: Given the super vague nature of the genre and the fact that it seems more like a genre of hindsight (with most media being declared this having been released even before 2000)… Nobody wrote those stories to be punk. The one punk thing I can see about several of these stories is people challenging Gods, but… That’s about it.Examples: Hercules: Legendary Journeys (1995), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), God of War (2005)

Stonepunk

As a genre: The basic idea of Stonepunk is, that it is set in a stone age world, but with the technology being pressed towards a very anachronistic end, which is often played for laughs. Basically it gives stone age people a modern seeming world, though not really. Often enough this is used to make a point about the modern world and parody it in some regard. An argument can be made for stories, that feature stone age technology people being somehow subjected to modern technology (for example through time travel or space travel) also possibly falling into this genre.

As an aesthetic: Usually the aesthetic of Stonepunk is one of an overplayed stone age setting. The clothing characters might wear are not what we know is historically more accurate but really just “everyone wears a pelt around their shoulders”. Meanwhile stone age tools get spun to be used as all sorts of modern technologies.

Punk-Factor: The genre does usually not feature punk themes. However, the nature of parodying and challenging the modern world tends to be punk in its own merit, I assume?

Examples: The Flintstones (1960), The Croods (2013), Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017)

That's it. That's the list.

Feel free to add to it.

[oz-cocoa]

The BBC is releasing over 16,000 sound effects for free download

[oz-cocoa]

This is a dangerous sentiment for me to express, as an editor who spends most of my working life telling writers to knock it off with the 45-word sentences and the adverbs and tortured metaphors, but I do think we're living through a period of weird pragmatic puritanism in mainstream literary taste.

e.g. I keep seeing people talk about 'purple prose' when they actually mean 'the writer uses vivid and/or metaphorical descriptive language'. I've seen people who present themselves as educators offer some of the best genre writing in western canon as examples of 'purple prose' because it engages strategically in prose-poetry to evoke mood and I guess that's sheer decadence when you could instead say "it was dark and scary outside". But that's not what purple prose means. Purple means the construction of the prose itself gets in the way of conveying meaning. mid-00s horse RPers know what I'm talking about. Cerulean orbs flash'd fire as they turn'd 'pon rollforth land, yonder horizonways. <= if I had to read this when I was 12, you don't get to call Ray Bradbury's prose 'purple'.

I griped on here recently about the prepossession with fictional characters in fictional narratives behaving 'rationally' and 'realistically' as if the sole purpose of a made-up story is to convince you it could have happened. No wonder the epistolary form is having a tumblr renaissance. One million billion arguments and thought experiments about The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas that almost all evade the point of the story: that you can't wriggle out of it. The narrator is telling you how it was, is and will be, and you must confront the dissonances it evokes and digest your discomfort. 'Realistic' begins on the author's terms, that's what gives them the power to reach into your brain and fiddle about until sparks happen. You kind of have to trust the process a little bit.

This ultra-orthodox attitude to writing shares a lot of common ground with the tight, tight commodification of art in online spaces. And I mean commodification in the truest sense - the reconstruction of the thing to maximise its capacity to interface with markets. Form and function are overwhelmingly privileged over cloudy ideas like meaning, intent and possibility, because you can apply a sliding value scale to the material aspects of a work. But you can't charge extra for 'more challenging conceptual response to the milieu' in a commission drive. So that shit becomes vestigial. It isn't valued, it isn't taught, so eventually it isn't sought out. At best it's mystified as part of a given writer/artist's 'talent', but either way it grows incumbent on the individual to care enough about that kind of skill to cultivate it.

And it's risky, because unmeasurables come with the possibility of rejection or failure. Drop in too many allegorical descriptions of the rose garden and someone will decide your prose is 'purple' and unserious. A lot of online audiences seem to be terrified of being considered pretentious in their tastes. That creates a real unwillingness to step out into discursive spaces where you 🫵 are expected to develop and explore a personal relationship with each element of a work. No guard rails, no right answers. Word of god is shit to us out here. But fear of getting that kind of analysis wrong makes people hove to work that slavishly explains itself on every page. And I'm left wondering, what's the point of art that leads every single participant to the same conclusion? See Spot run. Run, Spot, run. Down the rollforth land, yonder horizonways. I just want to read more weird stuff.

[oz-cocoa]

With the, uh... Intriguing 🤣 updates about Genshin Impact I've been witnessing from outside of the club, this would be an excellent time to share with your peers how to more intentionally and thoughtfully create Black characters!

Another great way to learn how to better draw Black characters is to follow Black artists!!

[oz-cocoa]

i'm AWARE this is a stupid hill to die on, but like. trope vs theme vs cliché vs motif vs archetype MATTERS. it matters to Me and i will die on this hill no matter how much others decide it's pointless. words mean things

[oz-cocoa]

Welcome!

I'm going to update this list as I post more. So make sure to check periodically!

Anon Office Hours: W-F 12:30-6:30 give or take

Feedback Rules

FAQs!

Lesson 1: "White Man Painted Black"?

Lesson 1.5: "Hair for Thought"- how visualizing affects your writing

Lesson 2: “That One Hairstyle? RETIRE IT!” Black Hair is an Art (pt.1)

Lesson 2.1: Addendum to Hair pt 1

Lesson 2: "It Takes HOW LONG?" Black Hair is an Art (pt.2)

Application! Ice's Lazy Loc Wash Routine

Application! How to: Simplified Braid

Lesson 3: "Defying the Default"- Skin Tones and the Presence of Black Characters

Application! What are Black fans looking for in Commissions?

Lesson 4: "Do Black People Blush?" Bringing brown complexions to life

Lesson 5: "The Same Place As the Music" Lighting & Color

Lesson 6: "Let's Have A Talk, First" Stereotypes, pt 1

Lesson 6: “Why’s she so rude?” (She’s Not)- Stereotypes, pt 2

Lesson 6: "Is He the Threat (Or Are You?)"- Stereotypes, pt 3

[oz-cocoa]

Oh my gosh. I just found this website that walks you though creating a believable society. It breaks each facet down into individual questions and makes it so simple! It seems really helpful for worldbuilding!

[oz-cocoa]

A Timeline of Women’s Fashion from 1784-1970 (source: http://kottke.org/17/07/a-timeline-of-womens-fashion-from-1784-1970)