#of course i spend a lotta time with worldbuilding

[ell-dordo]

Know what? I'm gonna post some of my worldbuilding. Y'all will see every monster shape available, how to tell if a shape is a hero, where heroes come from, where furshapes and furmonsters come from, and a ton of other stuff. Let me know what y'all wanna see in the ask blog!

You guys can also ask me about stuff that isn't jsab too!

[the-laridian]

100 Days of Writing, Day 89

How do you research for your worldbuilding?

Source at @the-wip-project

I mean, I read a whole lotta nonfiction. If it's something I'm super into (like when I was doing the Cold War era cowriting with @porkwithbones) then I'll spend time on Wikipedia, on other sites, get books from library or ILL. At times I'm very much "I need to know exactly what was available for breakfast foods in Vladivostok in spring of '76".

Other times I can just write "They discussed it over breakfast" and move on.

Wiki is a good start, but there are a lot of good, actual print books, particularly from recent historical periods, that afaik don't get scanned into websites. And of course it helps to just read everything. Watching old TV/movies and listening to old radio shows gives you an ear for the dialog. Slang and language change, too; it can be important in a period piece to know whether that word or phrase even existed yet.

Oh, there are some good writer-help blogs out there (on Tumblr and elsewhere) about how to write combat, or medicine/injury, too. (Among other things, it's very important to know that modern media (movies, TV, a lot of the last 20 years of YA type books, etc) have created so many false ideas about guns, injuries, fighting, etc and if that's what you're basing your information on, you really do need to research before you write.)

Nonfiction reading is a very good help for science and everyday details, too. The more information you have, the better your "database" in your brain of what you can write.

[puppetmaster55]

Thoughts on the s3-s6 Storyline

So.

Yeah.

I’ve already spoken about my thoughts on the clone storyline (back when it was a theory) and on how s3 and s4 connect as a singular storyline (they do not), and on how I feel about s6, what I believe Lotor’s true endgame was, how Naxzela was absolutely a trap Haggar wanted Kuron to lead everyone into, how Acxa knew about Sam Holt, and so now comes my thoughts on all of it. All twenty-six episodes that make up s3-s6.

These twenty-six episodes were more geared toward being Lotor’s storyline while Voltron took a backseat to his arc. The war was ended, I guess, when Lotor took the throne bc we don’t see any rebel force fighting the empire after that. Heck, during the Kral Zera both Haggar and Sendak proclaim the empire is no more.

I dunno. I think the writers wanted to have the war die with Zarkon, or something. It’s very unclear, until we see the aftereffects of all of this in the next season.

I don’t think I can divide this post from how I feel about clone theory, now clone storyline. Because that whole thing was just… one clusterfuck of a mess, and one that we will never see explained. Everyone’s come forward to say that the clone storyline is done, and even watching the show I could tell that we are never going to get an explanation. Nothing about Operation Kuron is ever going to be explained.

We saw the clone reveal, and with it came… zero explanation. Every single clone is now dead. The whole operation was destroyed. OG Shiro is back and with presumably more holes in his memory than he had before, depending on how you view it. The clone served his narrative purpose and now we’ll never know or understand the in-universe reasons for there even being clones outside of speculation and fanon.

And there’s no build-up to the clone thing. All we have ever had to go on has been the vague flashes seen when he appears and as someone who doesn’t recognize clone tropes when they’re being used, I didn’t catch that they were a buncha hints that he was a clone.

Honestly, there was just… so much build-up to it being mind control (which it kinda was) than to there being clones. From Narti to the Hoktril to Haggar using the mind control to look into Zarkon’s mind (and see through Narti’s eyes), it all felt like a whole lotta build-up to the reveal that “clone” was a red herring and it was real shiro all along, just mind controlled there at the end.

But instead it was a clone, whose reveal as a clone was purely for shock value and given zero explanation for why Haggar would clone Shiro.

I still don’t like Keith as the leader, because I’ve barely seen him make tactically sound decisions that weren’t in the heat of the moment and weren’t explained to the team. Even worse, that he left the team, stopped being a paladin, for almost three years on his timeline, and he comes back and fits right in like he never left. Nobody is the same person they were after spending two years without social interaction outside of your family and a dog you raised (even if you get flashes of your whole life story in those two years).

Over the course of these four seasons I grew less and less interested in Keith, to the point where I was zoning out for entire scenes he was centered around (I… honestly will have to watch The Black Paladins several times before I can even get drawn into it and remember what happened there). Do I have anything against Keith? No. I just have nothing toward Keith either. I feel nothing for him, because there’s nothing about him that I can really relate to.

Keith has never wanted to be the Black Paladin and frankly neither do I. He’s not someone who inspires others, or can stand as a beacon of hope, or any number of things that makes him anywhere qualified to be the guy calling the shots.

To say little of the fact that Keith, just like when he was first introduced, swooped in to save Shiro when Lance had all that build-up. I do not think, at this point in the story, that that is ever going to change.

I love Krolia to bits, though. She’s amazing and I desperately hope she isn’t killed off.

These 26 episodes have felt more like they were devoted to telling Lotor’s story than to telling the continuation of Voltron’s story, or the war of the Coalition against the galra empire. The last we see of the Coalition is the opening of s5, where they’ve regained a whole third of the empire and it seems like that’s it.

There’s so much story that happens off-screen too, like when s5 opens with the minor timejump all for the audience surprise of “the generals have Sam Holt”. Or… whatever that past Lotor has with Acxa.

Really, I could stand to have an episode of Acxa’s backstory so we can understand just what in the hell the point of the s4 finale betrayal was if she was always on his side all along, as we learn in the s6 finale. Because nothing about her turning against Haggar for Lotor makes any sort of sense otherwise.  

Thata’s the crux of it, ultimately. The s3-s6 storyline was like an iceberg: we were, at any given point in time, only given ten percent of the story. Even now that it’s done a lot of us, I think, are still scrabbling to uncover just what that other 90 percent of the story we weren’t shown or explicitly told was.

Compare this to s1-s2 storyline, where by the end of s2 we understood everything that happened and everything that was going on, because it was all clearly told to us.

Ultimately, I feel like Lotor made more strides in his arc than anyone else. Allura now knows how to use the powers she discovered at the end of s2, and Lance now has a sword and a more long-range weapon, and yeah Pidge now has found her entire family but… it doesn’t feel like anyone else is at a different place than they were when they began. Unless we count the continued groundwork of the future “Lance quitting the team” arc.

I’m still not sure if I should count Lance as having an arc, considering that he went from having a lion he was super bonded to (Blue) to having a lion that he just… flew and completely failed to stop Lotor or realize the full extent of what was wrong with Shiro.

This set wasn’t great for a number of reasons, least of all the muddled storyline. Lotor’s storyline was enough for 26 episodes, while the war was enough for 26 episodes, and… we had two separate storylines that were enough for 52 episodes condensed into half that amount. Lotor had no bearing upon the war whatsoever, that when we jumped back into it in s4 it felt jarring. Almost entirely because it was a sudden timeskip.

I siad it before and I’ll say it again here: the decision to split the 13-episode seasons into smaller seasons was a major saving grace, with how little s4 follows the events of s3… for the Voltron side of things.

Because, again, Lotor had a much clearer storyline for these 26 episodes than anyone or anything else.

There were things I loved about this season set (Sven, Lance getting a sword and sniper feature, the worldbuilding among the Galra, all the new characters, THE OG PALADINS THEY HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY INTO MY HEART BLAYTZ ESPECIALLY) and some things I didn’t (clone storyline, oh my god I was so against it the moment I heard it as a theory bc I knew the show couldn’t pull it off and by god did they not pull it off).

And oh my god, Lotor. I love Lotor, so incredibly much. He was so genuine but his pragmatism and the way he bent morals to do what needed to be done made him a fantastic villain. It makes me almost wish he had been someone genuinely good who kept getting pushed into looking like the villain because of his parents. Almost.

God but I dearly hope we’re not done with Lotor, because he went full Azula and to see him undergo a redemption arc at that point would be so stunning.

Everything in these past 26 episodes went from being clear-cut to being a mess. We have the Coalition, Rebels, and Blade working to destroy the empire, the empire falling apart into a civil war, and Voltron jumping sides as they find new people to ally themselves with. Everything is going in so many different directions now, that I feel like I need a flowchart to understand it all. I can only hope that, moving forward, the dust can begin to settle so we can see where everyone stands. I can only hope that the plot finally slows down enough for both audience and characters to get their bearings.

...also I am unashamedly stating that s5 sits as one of my top three favorite seasons of the show so far, purely because of how much it focused on the interaction and relationship with Shiro and Lance. Also, Monsters and Mana is the filler episode we’ve been begging for all along. Please let us get more like it.

[poorquentyn]

Hi! What are your opinion's on how the Rickon-on-Skagos plotline is going to go down? Do you think Skagos will just be like beyond the wall with the wildlings? What do you suppose will make Skagos unique, the society, atmosphere, skinchangers, cannibals, unicorns, etc?

Skagos has certainly been set up as the most prominent new setting in TWOW (along with the Starfall/High Hermitage area), as Highgarden and Casterly Rock seem likely to wait for the next book given where the POV characters are located. I doubt we spend more than two or three chapters there, so I would imagine they'll be working overtime on worldbuilding much in the manner of, yes indeed, Mance's camp and march early on in ASOS. This is where a Stark has been spending their time, just beyond the page, so I think there's going to be the grandeur of a long-closed curtain suddenly being swept open, multiple books' worth of story upon which to catch up. None of which is to suggest it necessarily goes or ends well, just that the initial impact has a lotta potential. As for what that worldbuilding looks like, I think the stories of the Skagosi will turn out to be distorted exaggerations, though not totally inaccurate. Given the rich manner in which the author folded the struggle of the Manderlys into Davos' story in ADWD, I'd be very curious to see how the onion knight interacts with his hosts. (After they imprison him, of course, because that's just how it works with Davos.)

[folatefangirl]

The Powers of the Earth: Ch. 1-10 Snarky Summaries 

Ch. 1

We start off on the anarcho-capitalist Aristillus Moon colony, with worldbuilding made possible thanks to decades of taxpayer funded NASA research. You’re welcome, Travis J.I. Corcoran. 

We meet our glorious anarcho-capitalist hero, Mike Martin. Mike is a whiny dick, as we will learn over the course of this 641-page novel. He is the CEO of Morlock Engineering.

We also meet Javier Borda, his old friend. 

We open to our hero shooting off a Big Damn Gun because he’s from Texas.

Some As You Know Bob exposition occurs, but in a gist, Earth Government is bad and is taking the property of hard-working capitalists, which is why Mike decided to make a moon colony even though he’s paranoid of the government waltzing in and taking everything from him. Ok.

Mike’s girlfriend Darcy Grau arrives on a shiny spaceship. 

Javier tells Mike to be a better boyfriend and that his paranoia is more than a bit unwarranted and also that Mike’s kinda-sorta isolationism and lack of allies is a problem should Earth ever actually invade Aristillus. I like Javier; he actually seems to have a bit of sense.

Ch. 2 behind the cut:

New POV: Senator Linda Haig

Setting: Literally the West Wing of the White House

We meet President Johnson who is “legendary” for her moods. I mean, I’d be pretty moody, too, if I had to be the misogynistic representation of Democrats in an anarcho-capitalist’s political propaganda. *ahem*

There are some problems with socialized farming and President Johnson is dismissive of the concerns. Actually, she dismisses a lot of concerns, including currency inflation, and is described as “insane” and dictatorial and oh-so-controlling of those poor, poor manufacturers and business folks. Woohoo, women with political power are terrible! /s

Linda and Themba Johnson talk about data leaks in a limo.

Ch. 3

Aristillus again:

New POV again. This time a young guy named Allan who wants to impress girls and who doesn’t believe them when they say they already have a boyfriend. Bad move, dude.

Hoo boy. Allan tries to hit on a girl using a White Savior Complex story about his study abroad experience in Kenya. And not to be satisfied with just one girl, he’s trying to play multiple bc he can’t let his friend “win” them because his friend is not thin and conventionally attractive like Allan. Looks like we got ourselves a racist and douchey two-for-one discount today! 

Douchebag tries to show off and cracks his nose and helmet and there’s a lotta blood rewarding him for his recklessness then—cliffhanger!

Ch. 4

Setting: Meggers Crater, still on the moon

POV: Blue, who is apparently an “uplifted” Dog? (Idk what that even means)

There’s a hiker named John who is apparently homeless on the moon but he has robo-dogs and you know what? I can kinda get behind that lifestyle.

Max and Blue are apparently survivors of the Culling, when labs of some sort on Dogs were shut down and all the Dogs that John couldn’t save were euthanized. What’s that about, I gotta wonder?

Ch. 5

Setting: Andrews Air Force Base

POV: If you guessed it would be a new POV, you’re goddamn right. Meet General Restivo, who is part of the High Sprawl investigation mentioned at the end of Ch. 2. 

President Johnson demands updates on the expat moon colony aka Aristillus and doesn’t like his “non-PC” language. She also is wondering how she can get tax money back from the tax-evading capitalists. BIG MOOD, Themba!

Apparently President Johnson is very worried about getting enough votes for her re-election while there are shortages on food, fuel, and aid but is content to spend money on lavish cars and fly fuel-consuming planes to go to secret meetings and insist on redecorated government buildings? (Sound familiar?)

Ch. 6

Setting: Aristillus

POV: YES, A NEW POV. AGAIN. This time it’s Hugh, apparently the dude Allan the Douchebag was insulting in Ch. 3. Apparently Allan died thanks to messing around in his space suit. Play foolish games, win foolish prizes, Allan. 

Hugh blames Allan’s death on his suit (which was NOT made for climbing! they even warned him!) and is every retail employee’s greatest nightmare. 

Ch. 7

Setting: Aristillus

POV: all around me are unfamiliar faces... Leroy Fournier, another business guy. French Canadian, in case you needed to know that. 

Leroy is calling his dad on Earthside because he needs money. Leroy gets annoyed that his father doesn’t take the anarcho-capitalist moon colony seriously enough. Leroy’s father also warns him that President Johnson is pressuring Canada to get involved in the Aristillus investigation and that he should maybe hit up his little brother for money. (Leroy: haha no.)

It turns out that Leroy is Mike Martin’s competitor and he’s falling behind and misses being the richest boy in the sandbox.  

Leroy hires a private investigator to dish up some dirt on Martin. 

Ch. 8

Setting: A train to Florida (this is basically Atlas Shrugged in space. ofc there’s gonna be trains in this book)

POV: *peeks at the front page* *breathes a sigh of relief* It’s General Restivo again! Thank fuck.

Restivo is very patriotic and a little disconcerted by how broken America seems, but also very ra-ra Amercian military. 

Restivo goes for a run with the young Captain Dewitt and prides himself on being able to keep up with old US Military standards instead of the new ones that were revised to accommodate all genders and “Alternatively Abled Soldiers”. 

Holy fuck, the sheer amount of ableism and sexism compressed into one tiny paragraph of this book (pg 35 if you’re on the kindle desktop edition). 

A couple pages later and we’re treated to even more ableist language! How charming. 

Dewitt is being sent to the moon via NASA, presumably as part of the High Sprawl investigation.

Ch. 9

Setting: Aristillus

POV: the character who’s supposed to be our protag, Mike Martin

Mike finds a problem with his team in the construction zone, as the equipment broke into a tunnel that they weren’t supposed to break into.

Leroy calls him and informs him that in fact, they broke into one of his tunnels and you can practically hear him smirking into his glass of brandy.

Ch. 10

Setting: Aristillus

POV: Mike! Corcoran CAN write the same POV back to back. Shocking.

Lotsa casual racism and orientalism in this chapter as Mike investigates the tunnel problem. 

We meet Kevin Bultman who is apprehensive of Mike’s accusations that other CEOs are conspiring against him and his construction plans. 

Okay, and then there’s like BLATANT racism of the accent and language variety. WTF. Mike Martin is apparently much loved by immigrants and something of a celebrity. Of course he is. 

Mike gets Kevin to explain how the lunar registries work and how Fournier and some dude named Aaronson might have forged stuff to attack his business because Mike got a lawyer to advise him to be careful and reasonable about challenging their claims.

But of course, this is MIKE we’re talking about, so he’s gonna break the rules and most likely get away with it. #YOLO