#they help streamline the process of worldbuilding

[dyad-of-fate]

Are Thorne and Kestrel's character designs done yet?

You have... no idea how hard this made us laugh, thank you X'D

And for the most part Kestrel is done, yes~ The only thing left for them is a few tattoos, and those will just evolve as I get to them. But since these are on Kestrel's back (most likely), I'm just calling them done. Really the only big thing I want to draw is Kestrel with their hair down but I know what that looks like.

Now Thorne's design may just continue to evolve and change until we get further in the story- or maybe it will just have small changes until we actually finish haha. But this is the most up to date version and there are key features that are locked in place: long and lanky, delicate, lil snaggle tooth fang poking from his mouth, monochrome pallet with dark skin, kinky-curly hair, heterochromia with one dark eye and a light eye, and freckles. His patterning may change a few more times, tattoos are a hope but those aren't designed, we knoe he has a few accessories but not sure what exactly yet, he has family scarification (cultural thing) but those aren't designed yet- we want to do our research and make sure we don't use a real culture's practices incorrectly... but yeah! Yarne is pleased with what his face and body type looks like. And he actually looks like his mom and dad's kid now, so that's a nice bonus.

Here, enjoy their canon height difference. For context, Kestrel's about 6 feet tall (183 cm). Which means their dog half is about the size of a large pony. Thorne's actually not terribly short for a wolf :)

Oh I guess that one thing will be redrawn on Kestrel, now that I'm looking at this. That shirt is not in line with the fashion of the Wall, so they probably wouldn't wear that unless they made it... overall fashion in story is more like 1920's meets 1940's - 50's era (from various places around the world). Clothing design isn't a strong suit though, so I just draw them in whatever my heart desires at the time XD

Thorne's jacket is canon though, it's his dad's old coat.

[campbyler]

my friend and i are going to write a long fanfic together, neither of us really have any experience with anything more then a one shot, any advice?

hellooooo that’s so exciting we are wishing you and your friend the best of luck!! i would sayyyyy the number one thing that helped us streamline the process of writing a long fic together was probably outlining like fiends!! it’s not the first time we have mentioned this, but we have always had a very thorough outline even though we had to make multiple versions of it over time to make it easier to read and use once it started getting cluttered and busy. i’d recommend breaking down each of your chapters into the main goals you’d like to accomplish in each one — for example, for ch04 it was the tension of isolation culminating in a kiss and for ch05 it was them navigating and full sending their casual thing for the summer and ch06 was the entirety of camp games and ch07 was wilderness week (will’s worst enemy) and will learning to enjoy it with mike there and so on and so forth. definitely recommend breaking each chapter down further into scenes for each one and what you’d like to happen in each scene. for acswy, we also like to balance some more fun and low-stakes filler scenes (think scenes with a lot of the party present or a shamelessly fun kiss scene or interactions with co-counselors/campers/etc) vs ones where it is very clearly about mike and will having a moment and moving their relationship and story forward. so having an outline that both of us can access and update in real time has definitely been super helpful for organizing not only writing, but the overarching story of the acswy universe as a whole :-)

i think my other biggest piece of advice (coming from someone who also mostly writes oneshots. granted very long oneshots at times but still oneshots) is to be mindful of pacing! i don’t write a lot of chaptered stories, so when i do, i find myself really impatient at times to get to the juicy parts of the story or wanting to skip ahead. i think for a longer fic especially, a solid exposition and thorough foundation for your universe is super important for worldbuilding and making things stay clear and well-defined down the line, so i’d say definitely spend the time and energy to flesh that out for sure!

hope this helped! i know both pieces of advice were kind of vague but they are probably the biggest things we have kept in mind while writing, so hopefully you and your friend get some use out of them. we are also happy to help if you guys need advice on more specific parts of writing or planning once you get there! i will say it also helps to be insane about the universe you created and to be thinking about it all the time and therefore be worldbuilding and adding lore off screen constantly. good luck!! 🫡

[se7ens-oc-heaven]

Fun tip from your local oc hoarder: if you have old ocs or concepts that never went anywhere, didn't quite grab you, just didn't quite work - re-insert them into the world as the npcs. The background character. The side cast.

And here's why, in a nutshell - it'll help your world feel more cohesive, to you and to anyone seeing it.

Yeah, sure, you can hastily slap together a bland shopkeep during a shopping scene, or slip in generic fan designs at a concert. But if you have someone Established, specific, someone who doesn't Have to reoccur, buuuuut... maybe the main characters always go into the store during so-and-so's friday shifts, or maybe you have concert scenes frequently enough that you'd start picking out the same fans who always attend for their favorite band... Adds to how natural it all feels, you know?

Does it have to be an old oc? Can't it be someone made to fit, I hear you ask? Well, sure! And obviously if you only have one or two ocs that aren't active, you'll have to anyways. But it's a two birds with one stone exercise - because now you've streamlined your process for having an established npc. You already have an idea of how that old oc looks, or talks, or acts. You may already know what setting they'd likely frequent, or even miscellany like what music they like or hobbies they have. Your generic npc doesn't have to have speaking lines or relevance - but if they needed to or you wanted them to, now they can. They'll have substance that keeps things from feeling too flat.

And idk, obviously some people don't pay much attention to things like that - but I've found that it makes a huge difference to me even when I hadn't realized it. It adds some extra depth to the world in small ways, that you may or may not ever use, but that way it's already built in. No scrambling or extra work to project traits onto some faceless character who talks to your protag about musicians for one scene.

This is also helpful for subverting "kill your darlings" a bit, for those who struggle a lot with that concept in their writing and worldbuilding - because for me, my problem tends to be that it's not that the darling is Entirely Pointless, it's just that they aren't a good fit. Killing a really good idea and banishing it to the drafts forever can suck. But learning how to Recycle the darling helps keep it in relevance, but by plugging it in to a better purpose than the original draft. That makes it easier to cut ideas out of my writing - because I can rest easy knowing I have it in reserve for its time to shine elsewhere.

I'd imagine this won't work for everyone, but I've found as I work on my hero story that it's added a lot of joy. Characters who fell to the sidelines or into obscurity simply because they weren't cut out for hero business now have time to shine in other small ways.

I have a girl who realistically will end up just being a background jogger. But she's also on a track team, and likes handmaking pottery in her spare time. I have a guy with weather powers, but he's focused pursuing being a talented violinist, with minimal active involvement in the hero business beyond happening to have heroes who are fans of his work.

Heck, one of my favorite characters is a duo of guys sharing a body that are just waiters at the local diner. One of them can reverse gravity or even practically rewind time with the snap of his finger if he so chose. These are powers that he studies endlessly for so he can hone and refine them better. But all he cares about is protecting his family and friends, so all you typically see him use his powers for is preventing glasses from being broken or saving his crush from tripping.

It makes me happy to see my kids just going about their day, filling a role in the background. Will they be more relevant? It's possible! But even if they aren't, there will always be glimpses - of the redhead jogging down the street, of someone in the middle of listening to a track from a classical violinist, of a waiter effortlessly stopping plates from being dropped in the middle of taking an order - all in the backdrop of whatever panel or scene or what have you that comes up.

It helps it all feel more like a world everyone belongs in, rather than a staged play. You know? And it's a very fulfilling feeling for me, both as author and as reader.

So yeah. Don't be afraid to recycle those old ocs. Tweak or streamline them if you need, but if you hold them even a little dear to your heart and can get them to click, I promise you won't regret it.

[mnkeethewriter]

Mapmaking through Words

With the prevalence of bestselling fantasy worlds like Middle-earth, Westeros, and Hogwarts flooding the mainstream media, building a world from scratch can seem like a daunting task. Where does one even begin creating such a masterpiece, and how do you make it stand out from the hundreds already out there? Lucky for you, I live and breathe worldbuilding. I’m here to help you streamline the process and get your creativity flowing through prompt questions and guided brainstorming. Worldbuilding doesn’t have to be this impossible task. With the right building blocks, you’ll be making the dream in your head a reality on paper in no time.

With today's topic, let’s start from the ground up, literally. The most fundamental aspect of worldbuilding is, well, building the world. You can’t create a map without topography, just like you can’t write a story without a physical setting to drop your characters into. Nature is the very foundation that you will build everything off of, and it will ultimately affect the trajectory of your story. Imagine how different a story written in a bountiful farmland would be compared to one written in a desolate wasteland. With that in mind, I want to highlight and discuss our first prompt question.

What biomes are your world composed of? According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a biome can be defined as “a major community of plants and animals with similar life forms and environmental conditions.” 

There’s much debate on how broad or narrow to categorize these communities, so remember the list I’ve provided below is just a fraction of the diversity this world, and hopefully yours too, offers.

Tropical Rainforest

Hot and humid

High rainfall with no dry season (50 to 260 inches yearly)

Greatest biodiversity in the world

Mostly composed of evergreen plants

Temperate Forest

Mild climate with four distinct seasons

Coniferous and/or deciduous trees

Taiga (Boreal Forest)

Largest terrestrial biome

Coniferous trees

Long, cold winters with little daylight (9 months below freezing)

Short summers (1-3 months) with up to mild temperatures (19 to 70°F) 

Desert

Hottest biome

Extreme temperature swings from day to night (-40 to 120°F)

Little to no precipitation (Less than 20 inches yearly)

Tundra

Year-round permafrost allowing only low plants to grow

Dry climate (6 to 10 inches of rainfall yearly)

Below freezing except during short summers (37 to 54°F)

Little to no daylight in winter

Grassland

Transitional biome between forests and deserts

Various names/kinds dependent on location (plains, prairies, steppes, etc.)

Short and/or tall grasses with little to no trees

Savanna

Transitional biome between forests and deserts

Tree-studded grasslands

Warm climate with wet and dry seasons

Freshwater

Low salt concentration

Further categorized as streams/rivers, lakes/ponds, wetlands 

Ever-changing biome

Marine

High salt concentration

Largest biome in the world

5 major oceans covering 70% of the Earth

References

1. Augustyn, A. (2023, January 13). biome. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/biome

2. Moeller, K. (2013, July 19). Boundless Biomes. ASU - Ask A Biologist. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/biomes

[bbygirl-aemond]

i want to write an hotd fanfic so bad… i’m watching the early GOT show too as well to try and wrap my head around the lore but i fear that my fic will still be very amateur and show that i don’t really have that big of a grasp on the lore and worldbuilding and language around me.. can you give any advice onto how to tackle this? any specific ways i should research or how to remember every little thing to make the story as accurate and correct as possible?

hi and welcome! don't worry, i have been through this exact process within this fandom haha. i was the queen of sparknoting my way through my lit classes in college when i didn't have other time, so i think i've kind of perfected the art of making it seem like you've deeply read something, even if you haven't.

let me give my usual disclaimer that i don't recommend reading fanfic to get a sense of characters or worldbuilding in a new fandom. that's because to a fresh eye, it's impossible to tell what is the author's invention/headcanon (which may be incorrect/ooc) and what is actual canon. fanfic writing should be about indulging yourself and your creativity, not about trying to cater to the most popular opinions even if you don't agree with them. so i really do recommend sticking to canon as much as possible, and being very deliberate about where and when you use fanon as a reference.

i create a tumblr blog for every fandom that i'm planning to write in to serve as a repository for my research and notes. this blog is unusual in that i forgot to make it private and then had too much fun engaging with y'all to go back. but my first posts were all specifically for stormbreak purposes. if you're nervous about putting things out there, you can password-lock your blog, so you're the only one with access. being able to sort with tags for characters, houses, etc. will be super helpful. another good idea is to take notes in google drive, since you can also search for things there and use the outline feature to navigate. the goal is to have one or two places where you compile all of your work that are easily navigable.

a really good starting place for research is this particular asoiaf wiki. i do not recommend any of the others, especially the ones based on individual shows, because those often do not include details that are in the books. i genuinely cannot tell you how many hours i've spent on this wiki. start your research here- look for dates, places, events, houses, relationships, appearances, etc.

meta analysis is also a really good idea to gain knowledge. tumblr or reddit are the places to go for this. it's really important to seek out posts that are both sympathetic and unsympathetic towards characters or houses. the goal is to get a sense of the different opinions within fandom, and decide which ones make sense to you. on tumblr, you can search a term, select for text posts, and scroll until you find big walls of text. (as an aside: if you're doing this, blocking tags related to fanfiction, imagines, xreader, etc. will help streamline your search and filter out headcanons in favor of meta)

lastly, and be careful with this one since it is fanon but not canon: memes! twitter and tiktok are great for these. they're great for getting a sense of vibes, but not for actual canon facts about a character. remember, fanon can sometimes be very distant from or even contradictory with canon, so take these with a grain of salt. i do still find them useful for forming opinions about personalities, mannerisms, and attitudes of different characters.

if you want more info about how i actually planned out stormbreak, i've answered an ask about it here!

[sirensorisons]

ok. a lot of people smarter than me have expounded upon the many flaws of the h*rry p*tter series. but my pet peeve is the fact that wands, a major foundation of the worldbuilding, make no fucking sense.

like, ok. it makes sense that a wizard would have a bond with the conduit for their magic, and that they might be better suited to certain kinds of wands over others. but wizards can use wands that weren't specifically bonded to them without much trouble, like ron with the hand-me-down wand from his brother charlie. it may not be as streamlined, but it's probably not going to blow up in your face unless it's broken. so why does everyone put so much effort put into the selection process to buy them new if, technically, any old wand would do (at least to learn on)? why isn't there a market for used wands? especially for lower-income families or muggleborns coming into the wizarding world for the first time?? why shouldn't new wands be considered a luxury for the upper class like the latest model of broom?

you could maybe argue that they don't resell wands because it would make it easy for those convicted and stripped of their wands by the ministry of magic to get their hands on one again. but as far as we know, there's nothing stopping them from walking into a store and buying one brand new, or else stealing one. people don't need wand licenses. so if there's no formal registration process, how can the ministry regulate the use of wands?

we know that minors have the trace on them, but that's lifted once they reach the age of majority. we could infer that maybe, once stripped of their wand, a convict could have the trace put back on them... but hagrid was able to use his disguised wand on the dursleys without the ministry getting involved, and sirius was able to use magic straight out of azkaban without being traced either, so this seems unlikely.

i also don't understand why removing the use of one's wand is considered a wise punishment. like... children are capable of uncontrolled acts of wandless magic from the time they're young. they're given wands to help them channel their magic more intentionally, which makes sense when taken at face value. but wandless magic is also considered an advanced magical skill. so, when the ministry takes someone's wand, aren't they just ensuring that convicts start attempting wandless magic? that could be dangerous if the incidences of magic are uncontrolled, or if they're controlled with malicious intent.

furthermore, we know that other beings like house elves are capable of not only wandless magic, but also nonverbal spells-- another skill that wizards consider advanced. but house elves, centaurs, etc. are not allowed the use of a wand. so the ministry is ensuring that the slave race learns to perform magic silently, and without the use of an implement they can trace and control. extremely rare w for the house elves, and honestly good for them. but is the ministry stupid? is joanne? (yes and yes.)

this all makes it seem like wands are wizard training wheels, and-- tinfoil hat on now-- the ministry of magic, if not all wizarding governments, should have a vested interest in pushing wands as a means to control their populace. by making it seem like wandless magic and nonverbal spells are advanced skills, they convince the average wizard that they are not capable of such a feat. this maintains the illusion-- at least within wizarding society-- that the wand is the tool of the everyman rather than the tool of the oppressor. the fish never sees beyond its bowl. the prisoner cannot see beyond their bars. the wizarding world of h*rry p*tter is shackled to archaic wand culture to the sole benefit of its ruling class.

YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR CHAINS! RISE! RISE AND OVERTHROW YOUR MASTERS!

[elendsessor]

tbh i don’t know when or if i’ll get back to playing desu2–strategy games are particularly draining for me when i feel as if they’re pushing too long without justification and that’s a problem i’m facing with 2.

i do want to inevitably talk about a couple more things desu2 put out there i appreciate it for over other megatens since there’s so much potential here. it’s by no means a bad game!!! it’s just too much. it’s heavily flawed. and though i see why people love it, those flaws still need to be acknowledged.

yes the gameplay improvements are amazing. yes i do think more time and effort was put into 2 than the first game presentation-wise, some of the battle improvements are much better, there are concepts no megaten would ever dare to even try and tackle at least in the pre-established format mainline is famous for, and though the writing is generally messy and contradictory, it’s genuinely entertaining at points… until day 8. we do not need a day 8 unless it’s post-game content like what overclocked did.

the problem stems the most from an identity crisis affecting the way it plays. of course it mainly struggles from its nge inspiration, but the biggest part of the identity crisis is one based in a criticism no megaten fan likes. hate to do it but imma do it—devil survivor 2 is one of atlus’s first attempts at persona-ifying the rest of the franchise. it’s a problem i want to touch on in the future so imma keep this brief.

desu2 clearly wants to be modern persona the most, judging by the fate system and how it does the cast, however a strategy game can’t pull this off without jumping major hoops. fire emblem does the social aspect better because the process is streamlined and the characters you’re made to care about usually tend to be written well unless your name is fates. (anything that has the word “fate” in the title should be enough of a red flag for either garbage fandom or garbage product just saying lol.) however, with what success persona got beginning with 3, the dev team was tasked with replicating parts of modernsona to help it be some way to capture mainstream audiences. after all, most people’s introductions to megaten will be persona, and as we all know with how journalists were with smt 5 and likely applies to the rest of the franchise due to how different it is, anything megaten that isn’t persona has no heart. with shit like the fate system being forced in, the pacing further deteriorates.

both desu1 and 2 are easy for the most part but require an ungodly amount of grinding just to build your team because money is scarce and everything is overpriced, be it in the auction or the compendium. you need demons with a certain skill and resistances? get grinding. and with what little ways to actually play around with the fusing without grinding because of the stupid add ons and expensive fusion chains and how exp you can get for demons gets significantly harder to obtain, you’re already at a strategic disadvantage. you can’t fuse mitamas without unlocking it after fucking beating the game, and even if you can, fusing elements and mitamas has a fee. this already takes up most of the experience, as this forces most battles to be either free or dlc battles for the sake of resources which ends in being over leveled, and since the ai for enemies and bosses aren’t the best, you’re already at far too great an advantage, so the mandatory combat goes by fast. then the socializing comes in. desu1 is definitely better since it cuts out the bullshit and makes so most of what you’re hearing contributes to the plot, worldbuilding, or actual development for the characters. in 2, the fate ranks affect nothing save for unlocks and maybe the occasional story relevance. you can’t skip this, as most of the options are either free battles, waste 30 in game minutes viewing an event that doesn’t affect any other function, talk with teammates that you swore you’ve seen their archetype done better before, be given info about said character that may or may not actually mean shit based on when you talk to them, have a chance to up their fate rank, and that’s it. not like you have the threat of being unable to. you can prevent anyone in death videos from dying, and there’s no consequences for choosing a route since you can re-recruit everyone except a certain alignment rep if you oppose them, not counting daichi. all that changes is the ending and if an alignment rep dies again not counting daichi. this is all the game is, rinse and repeat.

i’ve never had something simultaneously be worse and better all due to anime tropes and inspiration. it fucking hurts me. 2’s a good game, just way too big and way too focused on capitalizing on persona, neither of which i can fault the team behind it for since it was clearly an issue of ideas and expectations being thrown onto them. maybe one day i’ll power through the final day, but right now, it completely lost me.

if you want to make your game’s main campaign long, justify why it’s that way. if it’s long because of padding without a way to grip the player, your product serves as a way to waste time and money that could’ve been spent on something else.

[manuscript0123]

Best Ways To Craft Compelling Stories With Book Writing Online Software.

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A gripping narrative is the foundation of any excellent work of writing. The ability to grab readers and evoke emotions distinguishes outstanding writing, regardless of genre. With its wealth of resources and insights, Manuscript AI enables authors to develop stories that captivate readers and increase engagement with the help of Book Writing Online Software. 

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[project-rising-hearts]

Project: Rising Hearts

Hi, and welcome to my game development blog for Project: Rising Hearts. In this JRPG-styled experience inspired by games like Grandia, Arc the Lad, Final Fantasy, and other PSX-era games, you assume the role of a girl named Turk Montagne, a 19-year-old Chaser, (a sort of jack-of-all trades adventurer) as she uncovers the mysteries of the lost nation of ancient Arethusa.

I won’t lie: I’m a bit of an amateur hobbyist at best. While I would like to make this game in something like Unity, chances are I will be using an RPG Maker VX Ace build to produce this game, as many of the features I’m looking to implement have already been implemented into a prototyped version of the game in that program (quest system, a usage-based skill system, 8-way pixel movement, etc.).

In this blog I’ll be exploring, discussing, and building on various gameplay, story, and worldbuilding elements. And, with the advent of AI Image Generation, I’ll have images that I can use that will help convey my ideas more clearly.

These images were made using Dall-E 2

Now, a little background on my beliefs regarding AI Generated Imagery: first, I don’t really consider it Art (hence why I use the term “AI Generated Imagery”), nor do I consider it stealing from artists. That said, I also do not believe that AI Generated Imagery has a place in any final product in and of itself. I consider it a tool for artists with actual skills, a way of streamlining the conception process. At most, I believe that AI Image Generation can be used to produce stock assets for backgrounds, although that might pushing it, ethically.

If you have any questions, concerns, or criticisms, feel free to send them, and I will gladly, obligingly, or reluctantly respond depending on which of those you send. Please keep criticisms constructive.

[charseraph]

You’ve probably answered this before, but do you have any advice for anyone wanting to make their own spec bio species? I tried making my own but I feel like they’re too humanoid of designs but that’s also what I’m most comfortable with😔

Don’t worry, I’m happy to answer! 🤲🏼

I found that finding a shape, even the most ‘unusable,’ ‘un-animal-able’ shape around you, and then replicating that shape as accurately as you can in a sinch (no streamlining! Shaky messed up lines are ENCOURAGED, living things are all imperfect squiggles, so minimize your erases and undos!) can help with silhouette ideas.

(The reason for that is that instead of deleting a ‘bad’ drawing outright, you can start anew or copy only the parts you liked, and then boom! You’ve got one drawing you’re happy with and another you’ll more likely than not return to in the future, however far.)

(A dozen fast, improvised designs can beat out a single painstakingly planned one. It seems counterintuitive that quantity can be better than quality, but that’s only if you know the quality ahead of time! When it comes to concept art, more is better at the very beginning.)

Once you’ve replicated a handful of shapes, don’t add eyes and ears. In fact, don’t draw anything you’d think of as something an animal would have. The frequent fallbacks are tails, claws, paws, toes, ears, horns, fur, wings, joints, teeth, snouts, and hexapedal, quadrupedal, and bipedal bodies with heads in the front. These things are not universal, they are just our earthly scope of our closest relatives.

Modeling an alien species after insects, birds, reptiles, or sea life will make your alien nonhuman, but still earthling. These categories won’t necessarily arise in an alien world. Evolution doesn’t produce birds as we know them, evolution takes the most convenient source material and produces something to fill the niches birds occupy, and birds happened to be that source material.

I like to think about building a species like building a robot. How does a robot know where it’s going? Light sensors, maybe. Those don’t need to be orbs, or even at the front. How do some robots move? They don’t necessarily need spines or toes or claws or tails. How is fuel acquired? Lots of earth animals happen to have a hole in the front that sucks it in and breaks it up for refinement. Does it only have to be this way?

The more you separate life from Earth and relate it more to processes, means to the goal of continuing one’s design’s existence, creating more and more alien but still feasibly alive creatures becomes easier.

Above all, it should be fun. Researching biological precedent and basis from actual animals isn’t absolutely required, because those processes are based on logic—through which you can invent (or accidentally independently replicate) your own symbioses, organs, life cycles, and body chemistries.

Earth nature is like a template: working too closely from it can make you something that’s feasible, but could be recognizably earthly. Imagination is like raw resources: difficult to refine into something that makes total sense at first (from a lack of reference and guidance), but, with the right balance of templates and shots in the dark—you can make something positively, confidently alien!

You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to of course! It’s not a rule set, and you aren’t doing anything wrong if you don’t do them. The ultimate goal is to enjoy creating, not just the end result. Your aliens should be fun for you to draw. The amount of worldbuilding you want to do is your choice alone and no one else’s. Stopping at a single species, culture, planet is perfectly OK. Don’t let guides or other worlds pressure you into making more than you’re craving to.

If you ever make any drafts, however small, I’d love to see them. I’m always down to hear about people’s alien ideas, I sometimes throw in some fan art to help out. I wish you the best of luck, fun, and ease.

[nanowrimo]

How to Start Worldbuilding?

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. World Anvil, a 2021 NaNoWriMo sponsor, helps you develop and organize your characters, plot, and world setting. Today, World Anvil is here to share some pro tips for worldbuilding basics!

How do I start worldbuilding? It’s one of the most commonly asked questions in our community, and one which even seasoned professionals ask! After all, creating epic settings like those of The Expanse, Game of Thrones, or Mistborn can seem like an overwhelming task—but they all start from the same place: the fragment of an idea, carefully grown into something extraordinary. The good news is that you can easily create your own rich, unique setting, and in this post I’ll tell you how to start!

Getting inspiration!

Let’s start at the beginning—that flash of inspiration. Brandon Sanderson describes a drive in foggy weather as his inspiration for Mistborn. Sometimes a setting idea can come from a dream, flash fiction, a TV show or game, a character, or from a magic system you’ve been toying with. The desire to dig into a new genre—sci fi, steampunk or epic fantasy—is also a great place to start. And occasionally, a plot walks into your brain with a setting—or a least a few fragments of one—attached.

Keeping a writing notebook is a great way to hold onto inspiration until you’re ready to take the next step. And reading back over your old thoughts is sometimes enough to inspire you for a brand new setting! But once you have your inspiration—what on earth are you supposed to do with it?

Worldbuilding Meta

Ideas are all well and good, but writing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. So how do you develop the taste of an idea into an entire setting for a novel or series? Well, bring on the Worldbuilding Meta!

A Worldbuilding Meta document is the big stuff, the most critical DNA of your setting. It helps you keep track of the overarching themes and components as you build your world, and to make logical choices. If you already have a setting, it helps you prioritize and streamline which elements are most important, and to avoid bloat or over-complexity. Later in the writing process, it inspires new ideas and even helps you pitch your setting to others! And if you’re writing with others, it’s critical to keep you on the same page.

The Worldbuilding Meta is divided into short sections of questions to help you flesh out your world logically. Each section helps you establish critical information, and those answers will inform the next ones. This creates a dynamic and cohesive world setting. 

Scope: Deciding why you’re building your setting is often the foundation for all your other choices!

What is your motivation for building this world?

What is the hook or unique selling point of your setting? What makes it different?

Theme: Genres, mood and tone, as well as the recurring themes and motifs you use to reinforce them, are excellent ways to start defining your setting.

What's the genre of your world?

What is your world’s mood? How does the world feel (character/reader experience)?

What are the recurring themes which reinforce the genre, mood and feel of your world?

Focus: You can’t build EVERYTHING in your setting, or you’ll never write that novel! Focus helps you pick which areas you want to build in more detail (we suggest about five). You might allude to a few others without expanding on them, and some issues won’t be relevant to your story at all. Here are some examples (there are even more on the meta page in World Anvil!)

Military Influence

Religious Influence

Technology Influence

Arts and Culture Influence

Wealth Distribution

Agriculture And Trade

Race Relations

Class Relations

Gender Relations

Drama sets your world in motion, creating a dynamic setting through current affairs. A couple might directly relate to your plot, but others are there to make your world feel expansive and dynamic, and to reinforce your genre and tone. Examples might include:

A blight which has been decimating crops, creating food shortages

A nearby country is on the brink of civil war 

Rumors of a breakthrough in transportation technology are circling

A mysterious, new religion has been sweeping through the upper echelons of society

Scene gets specific, nailing down the physical properties of your world (especially if different from our own Earth). Magic, flying islands, ice worlds, extra-long winters etc. can all be mentioned here.

What are the fundamental differences in the natural laws of your world compared to Earth?

What does the geography of your world look like? Does it have special properties or features?

What is the initial scale of your active storytelling space? A city, a continent, or a galaxy, for example?

The People section helps you describe the inhabitants in broad strokes, and also sows more seeds of conflict in your world. Discovering their needs gives them a dynamic relationship and you some great threads for your plot and story!

Who used to live here, and what’s their history?

Which species/cultures live here now and what’s their history?

What do they need, and what do they need from each other?

Two really important things to remember about creating your worldbuilding meta are:

Only write single sentences or paragraphs! This is just the overview, and the longer you make it, the harder it will be to parse through later. Every idea can be expanded as much (or as little) as you want in worldbuilding templates later, interconnected and completely searchable. 

You don’t need to fill it in order (although I do recommend starting with Scope - it’s incredibly useful for helping you make other decisions!)

Getting Started

The full worldbuilding meta document with all the prompts is available (for free, of course!) on World Anvil as part of your world setting. You can also find additional prompts and explanations for each question, to help inspire you and guide you in the right direction!

If you’re looking for a good series bible to help you develop your worldbuilding, and keep your setting safe and organized, World Anvil was tailor made by professional writers exactly for this task, and the integrated novel writing software and its marketing capabilities make it an ideal choice for any writer!

Ready to start worldbuilding? Go make a free account on World Anvil to get started right now!

Otherwise, check out the three most common worldbuilding mistakes and how to incorporate worldbuilding into your novel writing method.

[avatar-news]

Netflix officially confirms cast + authentic adaptation

A bit under a week after my initial report, Netflix officially confirmed the main cast of the live-action adaptation of ATLA. The announcement included some new information as well:

Albert Kim, previously already reported as showrunner/executive producer, will also be a writer on the series.

Michael Goi, previously already reported as a director, will also be an executive producer.

Roseanne Liang, previously already reported as a director, will also be a co-executive producer.

Jabbar Raisani is a newly announced director on the series! More on him in my next post.

Rideback was also announced as the production company, and from it Dan Lin and Lindsey Liberatore as executive producers (all previously already reported).

Lastly, a pretty extensive mission statement of sorts written by showrunner Albert Kim was released. The main thing is that it “confirms” that the show won’t be modernized or changed fundamentally from the original, probably addressing the assorted viral fake news that has been going on for years. If you follow Avatar News, you’ve already seen me debunk this ten thousand times, and never report it in the first place. :) Well, now it’s OFFICIAL official.

Key takeaways:

They’re confident about the bending VFX.

The story will be more streamlined and expanded compared to the original episodic format.

The worldbuilding will be expanded.

Concerning the following three pillars, it will be an “authentic” adaptation: story, characters, and cultural influences.

They’re specifically using that word “authentic”, and “authenticity”, a lot.

Here’s the full thing (bolding mine), as well as official descriptions of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko after it (no surprises there):

“This is all my daughter’s fault. She’s the one who got me hooked.

When Avatar: The Last Airbender first aired on Nickelodeon, she wasn’t quite old enough to fully track the narrative. Yet I’d still find her glued to the TV every week, captivated by the adventures of Aang and his friends (who would quickly become her friends).

I began watching along with her with the thought of helping her understand what was going on. But my Dad-splainy duties quickly fell by the wayside as I found myself sucked into the world and characters, and soon we were watching side by side, both of us swept away by the singular mix of action, humor, and epic storytelling.

It also wasn’t lost on me that this was a world that drew from Asian cultures and legend, which is a rarity to this day and something I appreciated as an Asian-American father. That my daughter was able to see characters who looked like her on screen was more than just entertaining. It was a gift.

Flash forward 15 years. Netflix offers me the opportunity to develop a live-action remake of Avatar. My first thought was, “Why? What is there I could do or say with the story that wasn’t done or said in the original?” A:TLA had only grown in popularity and acclaim over the last decade and a half, which is a testament to how complete and resonant a narrative experience it had been. So if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. VFX technology has advanced to the point where a live-action version can not only faithfully translate what had been done in animation — it can bring a rich new visual dimension to a fantastic world. We’ll be able to see bending in a real and visceral way we’ve never seen before.

Also, Netflix’s format meant we had an opportunity to reimagine a story that had originally been told in self-contained half-hour episodes as an ongoing serialized narrative. That meant story points and emotional arcs we’d loved in the original could be given even more room to breathe and grow.

Finally, a live-action version would establish a new benchmark in representation and bring in a whole new generation of fans. This was a chance to showcase Asian and Indigenous characters as living, breathing people. Not just in a cartoon, but in a world that truly exists, very similar to the one we live in.

I also knew what I didn’t want to do. I didn’t want to change things for the sake of change. I didn’t want to modernize the story, or twist it to fit current trends. Aang is not going to be a gritty antihero. Katara is not going to get curtain bangs. (I was briefly tempted to give Sokka a TikTok account though. Think of the possibilities.)

Don’t get me wrong. We’ll be expanding and growing the world, and there will be surprises for existing fans and those new to the tale. But throughout this process, our byword has been “authenticity.” To the story. To the characters. To the cultural influences. Authenticity is what keeps us going, both in front of the camera and behind it, which is why we’ve assembled a team unlike any seen before—a group of talented and passionate artists who are working around the clock to bring this rich and incredibly beautiful world to life.  

But in the end, the reason I decided to do this came down to one thing:

Somewhere out there, a young kid is sitting glued to their TV, waiting to be taken on an incredible journey. And I want to take them on it.

I hope you’ll come along too.”

Character descriptions:

“GORDON CORMIER (he/him) is AANG (12), a fearless and fun-loving twelve-year-old who just happens to be the Avatar, master of all four elements and the keeper of balance and peace in the world. An airbending prodigy, Aang is a reluctant hero, struggling to deal with the burden of his duties while still holding on to his adventurous and playful nature.

KIAWENTIIO (she/her) is KATARA (14), a determined and hopeful waterbender, the last in her small village. Though only fourteen, she’s already endured great personal tragedy, which has held her back from rising to her true potential, though it’s never dimmed her warm and caring spirit.

IAN OUSLEY (he/him) is SOKKA (16), Katara’s sardonic and resourceful 16-year-old brother. Outwardly confident, even brash, he takes his responsibility as the leader of his tribe seriously, despite his inner doubts over his warrior skills… doubts that he masks with his wit and deadpan sense of humor.

DALLAS LIU (he/him) is ZUKO (17), a skilled firebender and the intense and guarded Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Currently roaming the world in exile, he’s on an obsessive quest to capture the Avatar because he believes that is the only way to reclaim his life and live up to the demands of his cruel and controlling father, the Fire Lord.”

Source: Netflix

[the-writer-muse]

Developing a Plot

Credit: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-master-the-art-of-plot-development#what-are-the-elements-of-a-good-plot

Introduction

Plot, also known as the bane of writers everywhere. How are you supposed to keep your readers entertained when there are so many other things they could be doing? How can you stretch out the events enough to cover tens or hundreds of pages? There is no one way to approach plotting, but there are ways to make it easier. In the end, the best way to plot is to practice!

Sketch out a plot outline

Mapping out your plot ideas can streamline your fiction writing process and help you through periods of writer’s block. The extent to which a writer outline varies, but plotters, plantsers, and pantsers alike can pick and choose which of these tips to use!

One way is to start with a freewriting session. Brainstorm scene ideas, story points, and character information. Next, organize your basic ideas into an outline to get your basic plot structure down. Place your major beats into your outline, and then create the scenes between these beats to create continuity in your storyline.

Start with the action

Your exposition--or the background information and worldbuilding for your book--has several important duties. It identifies the main character, establishes the setting and the themes of your story, and launches the plot. You need to write all this in a way that hooks the reader and engages them through the entire novel. One way to do that is by diving right into the action, dropping your reader into the scene in medias res, or Latin for “in the midst of things.” This sets the pace from the beginning and creates a strong open that engages a reader.

Lay the groundwork for the climax during the rising action

Now that you’ve set the stage, the rising action is where you really build the plot of your story, develop characters, and propel the tension towards the climax--the most active and dramatic part of the book. Over the course of the rising action, drop reminders of the conflict that’s driving the plot. Accomplish this by raising the stakes with plot points--dramatic turning points that force the protagonist to make crucial decisions that send the story in new directions. Adding these surprising plot twists keeps the momentum moving. Plot points also help deepen character development by revealing their strengths and flaws.

Create a rich narrative with subplots

A good story has several plotlines running through the narrative. Write subplots to weave in and out of your main plot. A subplot is a shorter side-story that introduces secondary characters, provides a backstory that informs a character's actions and motivations, and supports the themes established in the main plot. A common subplot is romance, but there are so many more options.

Leave your readers satisfied

When the tension has reached its peak, it’s time for the climax to resolve the conflict. If you have great exposition and dramatic rising action, then this final face-off between the protagonist and antagonist should be a big payoff. Finally, write an ending that ties up loose ends and closes out character arcs--this can happen in either a final chapter or an epilogue (as a reader, though, I prefer the epilogue). Readers will be glad they followed the story through to this satisfying resolution!

Read other authors

All great writers employ their own writing style and creative process to develop a plot with the five structural elements. If you want to refine the writing process and learn how to develop a great plot, read from writers similar to you. You might pick a bestseller, like a Rick Riordan book, and study it as an example of how plot and humor work together to play well to a large audience. Determine which authors you want to observe and which authors are like you. 

This also comes in handy later, when you want to make comparisons between other works and authors and your book. For example, I’d describe my own WIP as “An Ember in the Ashes meets The Poppy War.”

[vylequinnewriting]

Telvan Worldbuilding #5: Chrominè

Hello, and here’s week 5! This time, we’re covering the last of the major races, the (mostly) draconic Chrominè. You can find last weeks post here.

History of the Chrominè

The Chrominè were created by Lumox, the god of Order in order to have more worshippers and thus more power. Created roughly around the start of the Age of the Thief. Initially, the blame was put on them for the 9 Year Night, an event started by Lumox that removed the sun from the skies and had a drastic effect on the ecosystem and people of Telvan. Fortunately, a Chrominè was credited for helping the Thief Herald on their journey and ultimately solving the event, so Chrominè were slowly accepted into the world after that.

Anatomy

Each Chrominè has a unique body that can wildly differ from another. A Chrominè can have traits found in non-mammalian animals, such as the scaly skin of reptiles, multiple limbs like insects, and even occasionally the wings of birds. These traits are carried genetically and reptilian and amphibian traits tend to be expressed much more frequently than others, owing to their draconic reputation. Two things can identify a Chrominè no matter what their form is. That is skin the same color of their domain and an organ that processes anima found near their lungs.

Anima and Chrominè

Chrominè have an organ that processes and contains anima. While they don’t have a rich of history of spellcasting, Chrominè are capable of minor spellcasting by using the anima in said organ. However, they are only able to use spells of their innate domain. Lumox’s blessing gives them slight control over anima of their domain, but only their domain.

After a certain amount of anima is absorbed, a Chrominè’s body may molt, and be altered in a way they prefer. The molting can remove some minor traits but mostly changes their form into a one the Chrominè prefers.

Notable Variants

Since Chrominè process only their domain’s anima and at quite an efficient rate, no variants are known. However, due to Lumox’s blessing and anima’s natural properties, domains influence a Chrominè’s personality and physical traits.

Red (Change): Belligerent and passionate. Expresses mostly “draconic” traits. Likes fire.

Yellow (Order): Domineering and leader-like. Expresses exclusively reptilian traits. Likes lightning and light.

Green (Gift): Naïve and generous. Expresses mostly amphibian and insect traits. Likes nature.

Blue (Exchange): Aloof and pensive. Expresses streamlined and aerodynamic traits. Likes water.

Purple (Loss): Grim and serious. Expresses traits of animals linked with death. Likes the macabre.

Orange (Creation): Stubborn and steadfast. Expresses traits of defensive animals. Likes making things.

Silver (Motivation): Manipulative and calculating. Expresses traits of smaller, faster animals. Likes to influence others.

Taglist below the cut. Ask or otherwise let me know if you’d like to be added! Next week I’ll be starting on the gods and their domains!

Muse’s Band Taglist: @avian-writes, @ashen-crest, @fourteenzero, @cometworks

Making a Killing Taglist: @vivian-is-writing, @kittensartswriting, @maryhdz05, @blindthewind

General Taglist:  @ecwrenn, @lyrium

[foxtophat]

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JANUARY EVERYONE yeah i know ~nothing is fixed~ but whatever, fuck you, have some fanfic

so anyway i’ve been planning this for a while, i’m kinda shocked tho b/c i finished writing it in like less than 3 days??? (aside from editing)  usually it takes me longer to at least figure out how to wrap things up, but at least this one was easy money. i’m sure none of the other ones will be so kind to me

this one takes place a month or so after the last one; it’s set in spring 2028 (omfg finally on a new year!!!!) and it has a little something to do with carmina finally getting some chickens!!!!  one thing about new dawn that i think was really lacking is the explanation of how life... restarted before the highwaymen.  i definitely remember a few houses having chicken coops, too, so i know i’m not crazy putting these feathered friends in.  to me, chickens are the most sensible post-apocalyptic pet outside of a dog; easy to care for, provide food while alive AND after death, and they can reproduce easily enough if you’ve got a rooster on hand.  i can imagine a family making quite a life for themselves as a poultry farm in the apocalypse!

ugh idk what else to say so i’ll just say it: thank you so much for all of your comments and kudos on this series. i am so stoked to know that my self-indulgent trash is delicious to more than just my possum ass!  i’ve had a lot of fun worldbuilding in ubisoft’s playground, and i hope to continue doing more fun stuff that other people will enjoy too!!!

with all that said, i hope you enjoy the fic :) i’ll put it below the cut for you if you don’t wanna leave tumblr, but ao3 looks so much better. anyway, thank you and have a great jan 20th!!!!

Winter melts away the same way it does every year, leaving in its path wet dirt and green buds of spring growth. John, nursing what's likely the last cup of coffee they can wring from this batch of grounds, stares out over the back yard and idly marvels at how quickly the snow had disappeared. Montana had been his first experience with white winters; even though he's gotten used to the changing seasons in theory, though, he can't help but be distracted by it year after year.

Across the yard, situated just in sight by the hangar, John can plainly see Carmina's new chickens looking for breakfast. They're the newest addition to the homestead, but so far John has only had to watch from afar as the Ryes worked to adjust them to their new home. He's not sure who's raising chickens out here, but at least they were willing to barter. Fresh eggs are going to mean a lot more than the dwindling supplies out of Jacob's cache.

The misty-gray of early morning has almost evaporated in the rising sunlight, and still the chickens haven't been fed. John watches them from where he stands, their frustration leading to subdued crows as they scratch at the dirt. He doesn't know who's noisier — them, or Nick and Kim arguing at the table behind him. Thank Christ the wet end of winter is over; John doesn't think he can tolerate much more of their married nagging. On some level, he's glad they don't make a habit of yelling at him instead of each other, but Jesus, he can't wait for them to both get some space from one another.

"This is why we said we weren't gonna do pets, remember?" Nick says. "Because if she got a pet, we would end up taking care of it. Remember?"

"Yes, Nick, I remember."

"Yeah, and here we are!"

Kim sighs. John doesn't have to look to see the exasperated eye-roll that comes with it. "It wasn't me who kept her up late last night! Which one of us was egging her on when she should have been asleep?"

This is exactly why John has never owned a pet. They're more trouble than they're worth, and the only thing they seem to be good for is teaching shitty life lessons to kids who don't care enough to learn. The only good thing about the chickens is that they provide something in return other than obnoxious crowing.

Carmina thumps around upstairs. John isn't looking forward to having to listen to Kim lecture her on responsibility, but he's not thrilled to listen to much more of this bickering, either. If his choices are to stay inside and fester or go out into the first nice day of the year — well, that's not much of a choice, is it?

"Fine," John sighs before either of the Ryes can set their sights on him, "I'll do it."

"Nobody's asking you to do it," Kim replies. "It's Carmina's responsibility."

John shakes his head. "Of course it is. Where's the feed?"

Nick points out a white plastic container sitting on the pass-through to the kitchen. "Not gonna wait for us to boss you around?" he asks.

John picks up the container and rattles it to make sure it's full. "I'm streamlining the process," he replies. "Unless you enjoy giving me orders."

Sure enough, implying Nick might like being a bossy piece of shit is enough to get him to shut up. He sighs with a deep frown at John, who ignores him as he heads out to the coop. It's a petty satisfaction to take the rug out from under Nick's feet, but John's not above it. Not by a long shot.

Some of it might be compensating for the disintegrating peace that had come with winter. Before the blizzard set in, they'd had enough on their collective plates as they prepared for the worst of the season. Afterward, the snow had prevented them from doing much more than what was necessary to survive, and the resulting downtime had settled like a comfortable blanket. Even now, with a few weeks of grating interpersonal interactions, John feels more focused, more rested than he can ever remember feeling. Living underground for eight years, he'd naively thought that he'd gotten enough rest to last him a lifetime — but he'd been strung out on Bliss and trying not to suffocate, and he hadn't known what he was doing. He's starting to suspect that the Bliss might've had a worse effect on him than the myriad other drugs he'd ingested. Hell, he's not sure he's clean even now — but he's managing, and that's what matters.

It's only once he's halfway across the yard that John realizes Kim forgot to argue about him going off on his own. Sure, he's only going as far as the hangar, but it's become something of a pleasantry she uses whenever John pretends to have the freedom to go where he pleases. Her irritation at Carmina and Nick probably made her forget. She's gotten so used to trusting John that she's finally found other things to take up her attention.

Weirdly enough, the casual disregard for his potential backslide irritates him. It really shouldn't. He should be thrilled that he can finally disappear from view for an hour without somebody calling out a search party. He's more than earned it, he thinks, but their trust highlights their naivety. Luckily for them, John means it when he says he's changed — but it's a line they're going to hear time and again from people far less genuine than he's been. They're so willing to help everyone and anyone that they don't even realize how much of a target they're making themselves. John's had to hold his tongue whenever Nick gives free supplies to shifty-eyed tweakers who are "just passing through," and while he trusts Kim not to let anyone obviously suspicious into the house, he doesn't trust her to recognize a cunning liar.

The last thing John needs is for the Ryes to put their trust in the wrong reformed psychopath. At least he's capable of picking up their slack. After all, John has his time at law school and years of psychological abuse under his belt — plenty of real-world experience dealing with unrepentant garbage. He'll notice it when somebody cases the hangar or acts too erratically, and hopefully the Ryes will listen to him if he gets the nerve to voice his concerns.

Not for the first time since summer, John is struck with a newfound respect for Jacob and the role he'd inhabited in the Project. It used to be his job to look out for insurrectionists, and he'd taken on that burden even when John and Joseph would openly dismiss his concerns. John can't imagine how many fires Jacob must've put out while the rest of the family was distracted by the Bliss. Looking back on it now, it's honestly a surprise they maintained their operation as long as they did, considering only one of the four of them was ever sober.

The chickens are hopping at his arrival, scuttling around the dirt and crowing as John reaches the pen. They don't notice him so much as the bin he rattles on approach, full of vegetable cuttings and strange white worms that come out whenever it rains. John doesn't mind one lick — he's never been much of an animal person, and he certainly doesn't care if Carmina's so-called pets notice his existence. Of course, knowing Carmina, she's going to use this as an excuse to shift breakfast duty to John full-time, and John won't have much of a say in the matter.

Well, that's not strictly true, but if Carmina asked, he knows he would do it, if only to give his day more structure. Truthfully, he's grown to depend on routine, when before it was impossible to keep to a schedule that didn't involve other people's expectations of him. There's probably a metaphor to be made about trains on and off the tracks, but John has never been particularly interested in locomotives.

John shakes the dead bugs and scraps out into the pen, watching the hens as they race to be the first to eat. They're perfectly happy now that they've been fed, cooing and clucking as they peck the dirt. They certainly seem content with safety and food — not entirely unlike the survivors living day-to-day in the town and beyond. Sure, John might not always be satisfied by bare sustenance, and one day he'll chafe under the grind of surviving week to week, but for now, he might as well be a dumb chicken crowing in the morning sun.

He throws some more feed into the pen, watching the three hens waddle after their meal. One of them lingers by the fence, freezing for a moment as her head swivels back and forth. She pecks at the dirt away from the feed before hustling after her two companions. John watches as she stops again; when he tosses a few worms in her direction, she pecks briefly at them before lifting her head to survey her surroundings.

The primal sensation of something being wrong nearly overtakes John's reasoning, before he manages to remind himself that a chicken's predators aren't exactly his to worry about. Still, he rattles the container to bring the hens scuttling towards him; all three are easily distracted by food now, but John can't shake the feeling that he'd missed something they hadn't. A fox, maybe? A snake? Anything could be lurking in the woods on the other side of the wash. Not a whole lot that could hurt him , of course, but he's not about to be blamed for Carmina's chickens being eaten by a wild dog.

The fence-line is... nebulous past the hangar, sure, but John's positive Kim doesn't consider the rest of the old airport off-limits. Then again, she might be in the mood to lecture him once she gets through with Carmina. It's a risk he's not sure he's willing to take.

Two chickens continue to eat as one keeps watch, their heads bobbing up and down as they switch off. Their unease mirrors his own, and John can imagine Faith giggling at him for being swayed by some dumb birds.

"Very well, ladies," he sighs, shaking the remainder of their breakfast onto the ground. "Don't let them say I don't care."

The chickens don't give three shits about John's motivations, of course; they watch him go, pecking at the food with increasing carelessness as the distance grows. John rolls his eyes at their sudden fearlessness, half-convinced to let whatever animal is lurking eat them out of spite.

There's a wide swath of dirt behind the hangar, separating it from the mostly-overgrown remnants of Rye Aviation that couldn't be saved. John can see the edge of the chicken pen from here, but the hangar is blocking him from the house. Even though he knows the Ryes trust him not to run off, he still feels distinctly uneasy going somewhere where they can't see him. At this point, Nick would probably only tease him for it, but John's not about to linger out here and risk turning Kim's irritation on himself.

To the right of the derelict hangars is a sparse wedge of trees that have grown in uninterrupted. John knows there's a path cut between the trunks, one he'd made himself while hauling the tire-planters for Kim last year, and there's a long stretch of unused runway beyond it. It isn't a great place for anything bigger than a fox to lurk in. That doesn't explain the feeling of being watched that comes over him as he stops halfway across the empty dirt lot; he looks around, but there's no place for anything to hide out here. The overgrowth on the old hangars can't be more than two feet high, and the bushes in the copse are brambly and sparse. The only place anything could hide would be in the trees, which is why John approaches them with more caution than they're worth.

The thinned underbrush is easy to explore, but John goes carefully as he picks through the trees and bushes. He doesn't know exactly what he's looking for — some sign of predators, whatever those might be — but he doesn't find much. There are some hoof-prints clear in the dirt, curving sharply away from the Rye homestead and back out to the airstrip, which tells John that the goddamn deer are back, probably looking to eat their hard-grown crops. Other than that, there's no sign of anything that might be stalking the hen-house. The ground is still somewhat soft from the rain a few nights ago, but it barely takes the imprint of John's boots as he explores the small grove.

That's why it's such a shock to see the tread of a narrow boot in the dirt by the trunk of one of the trees, well off the beaten path. It's an old print, he thinks — but he doesn't remember the last time any one of them had been out this way. Certainly not since the last time it rained.

An electric shock conducts itself down his spine. Somebody had been out here, hiding here in the trees, and it's only been two, three days since the last rain. John turns, and from his vantage point, he can clearly see the coop and the back of the hangar, but not the house. For that, he'd have to move out of the trees, into direct view of the porch.

It has to be Grace's boot. She's the only one he could imagine creeping around the property with good intentions. But even that explanation doesn't settle the anxious flip of his stomach; he tries not to let it show as he marches from the trees, intent on dragging Nick over and proving to him once and for all that they need to be more goddamn careful about who they let around the property. Somebody is going to want the copper fixtures they've salvaged, even if there's nobody to sell the metal to these days.

John gets halfway back to the coop when he catches something in his peripheral vision. Terrible, primal terror grips him as he fixes his gaze on the trick of the light that had scared him, ready to catch Grace peering at him over the abandoned hangars, or maybe a pack of wild dogs. What he sees instead turns his blood to ice, caught like a deer in headlights as the low-hanging shrubbery and thick vines shift and part for a rising mass of dark brown fur. The shape that rises from the underbrush is a tall, dark smudge against the blue sky, and John nearly swallows his tongue when he sees its face — or the horrifying absence of one, replaced with white, flaking skin and two huge, empty eye-sockets that are fixed on John's position.

It doesn't move. Neither does John, frozen to the spot as the chickens begin to crow and fuss. He can't fathom what he's looking at — a bear, a person, a fucking mutant? — but whatever it is, he suspects it's infected with Bliss. Who knows how many angels ended up underground after the Collapse? What might've happened to them in the years since? All John knows about them is that they're dangerous to everybody but Faith, and Faith died a decade ago. If this is an angel — God, there'll be no stopping it. And if it isn't — then what the hell is it ?

There's no way for John to get from here to the house without the thing chasing him. The hangar is blocking his brutal oncoming murder from the two people who might actually be able to do something about it. He doesn't have to look to know the distance from here to the house is insurmountable.

The creature lifts its arm, and the situation that couldn't get any worse takes an even more horrifying turn as it reveals its weapon of choice: a crudely fashioned bow, the same kind of handmade weaponry that Joseph's followers have been seen with.

All at once, Nick's voice is ringing in John's ears, warning him of what's going to happen if this gargoyle takes him away. The things John hadn't considered before — the Ryes' reputation, Carmina's safety, the hard-won trust John's gained from the survivors — it's all in jeopardy. The situation barrels into him all at once — the realization that whatever Joseph did to create this thing , he won't hesitate to turn on John.

He tries to shout a warning, but his breath is caught in his throat. Faith's voice, faint on the breeze, laughs and whispers sing-song into his ear:

They've found you!

The monster barrels down the slope of the hill as if prodded into action by a hot poker. Its gait is wide, bringing it towards John at speeds impossible to outrun. This time, John's shout comes out clear as a bell, panic screaming through him as he turns and bolts for the house. He nearly clips himself on the pen as he hangs a sharp right turn, the porch coming into full sight —

Something snags the back of John's shirt, and his momentum briefly chokes him. A thick arm bears down across his neck before he can rip free, the creature grunting in exertion as it yanks him backward. John feels his boots scrape on the dirt as he's dragged towards the trees, away from the safety that's plain in sight.

Animal instinct kicks in. John gnashes his teeth but there's nothing to bite, so he kicks out his feet instead, first in front of him and then harshly backward until he can hook his shin behind his assailant's and trip them both to the ground. The creature goes down with a surprised grunt; John does his best to roll away, only to be yanked back by his hair. He's distantly aware that he's spitting like a cat in a sack, clawing and biting, the two of them rolling in the dirt as John screams profanities and heresy at the monster trying to pin him down, anything to convince the universe to take mercy on him for once in his fucking life!

The creature manages to grab him by the shoulder, throwing him into the dirt before backhanding him violently across the face. It's enough to daze him; for one horrible second, he's unable to do anything as the monster begins to drag him across the dirt by the legs.

There's a commotion coming from the house. For a split second, the creature looks up, and John realizes his opening at the same time the monster realizes its mistake. It looks down just in time for John to kick it square in its barky, hollow-eyed face, sending a split down the wooden facade.

" John !"

The monster reels backward as if burned, grabbing at the mask as it falls away. John catches sight of a single dark, wild eye behind the broken wood before he kicks out again, sending both boots into his assailant's chest. As soon as the creature staggers back, John bolts, scrambling towards Kim as she races toward him with the rifle drawn. Nick is hot behind her; he grabs John's shoulder and drags him partway back to the house. John doesn't need the escort, and so Nick quickly leaves him to scramble up the porch as he goes after his wife.

John gets all the way to the stairs inside before he realizes there's no safe place to hide. He'd found out this winter just how flimsy the prisoner story had been; if somebody wants to take him, all they have to do is climb onto the roof and jimmy the lock on the nearest window. Whether it's through the broken window in his room or a gap in the roof leading to the attic, the Project will find him. He can't possibly outrun them forever. He'd be stupid to even try. God, he'd been a fool for thinking Joseph wouldn't send someone looking for him, that he wouldn't want to snatch John back from the clutches of apostasy. There's no way Joseph will leave a loose end like him untied.

John sinks to the bottom steps in his mounting despair, only to realize for a second time that he's being watched. The realization is less of a shock as Carmina peers at him around the kitchen archway; she jumps at the distant rapport of gunfire, staring owl-eyed at John as though she expects him to do something.

"Stay down," John hisses, setting an example as he keeps low on his way into the kitchen.

"What happened?" Carmina asks, frantic, "Is mom gonna be okay?"

"Yes," John replies, although he can't possibly know that for sure. He waits a beat, listening for more gunshots, then carefully lifts his head to check out the window when none come. He lets out the breath he'd been holding when he sees Nick standing with his hands on his hips, staring at Kim further down the yard. Whatever the danger had been, it's not pressing enough to warrant immediate action.

"Seriously," Carmina whines, as if that could hide her fear. "What was it? Was it a bear? Grace says there are bears in the woods but I've never seen —"

John sinks to the ground, his mind reeling even as the panic passes, leaving him numb. "It wasn't a bear."

Carmina chews on her lower lip, looking up towards the window as though she might try looking for herself. "Are the chickens okay?" she asks.

"They're fine," he sighs. He pushes his hair from his face, only to realize that his hands have started to tremble with run-off adrenaline.

"Are... you okay?" she asks, frowning as though she can't decide whether or not his wellbeing is her problem to deal with.

Goodwill must be genetic, John laments. "I'm fine," he tells her. She gives his shaking hands a hard look; he sighs and reiterates, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"I'm not," Carmina huffs. Apparently, Nick's attempts to teach Carmina how to bluff haven't worked out.

John is saved from needing to reassure her as Nick abruptly appears in the kitchen arch, out of breath and red-faced. His shock gives way to relief at the sight of the two of them huddled by the counter. He's out of breath and visibly bewildered.

"Shit, John, you okay?"

"I'm fine," he says, although he doubts Nick will believe it any more than Carmina had. His foot jogs uselessly against the floor. "Kim — did she...?"

Nick shakes his head. "She tried," he says, "But it was too fast. What the fuck was it ?"

"Somebody from the Project."

"No shit. But — look, it wasn't an angel , was it?"

John shakes his head. "I don't know."

Kim storms into view, making her way to the pass-through from the living room side. She sets the rifle down on the counter, catching John's eye with a glare. John hurries to explain himself, as if he could possibly apologize for bringing the cult back to her doorstep.

"I was checking for foxes," he tells her, "I didn't think it — if I'd known what it was, I wouldn't have gone on my own."

Despite the fury in her eyes and the hard edge to her voice, Kim seems to mean it when she replies, "As long as nobody's hurt."

But the damage is done, and John can't help but babble on uselessly. "I wasn't looking in the right place. But I shouted as soon as I saw it. I just — couldn't outrun it. I wasn't fast enough. And I wasn't — it was stronger than I expected, stronger than..." Even he can hear the panic edging into his voice, cutting himself off with one last worried question. "Do you think it's gone?"

"It better be, if it knows what's good for it," Kim replies. "Are you sure you're okay?"

At any other time, John would be irritated to have to reassure every single Rye individually that he isn't in the throes of a panic attack. Right now, he's only grateful to realize that Kim doesn't blame him for the thing's appearance.

"I am," he says. "Thank you."

Nick groans, covering his eyes with one hand as he leans against the counter. "So much for it being safe to go out alone. Damn it, we got too comfortable."

" I got too comfortable," John says. "It wouldn't have cared about either of you."

"What about the chickens?" Carmina asks, "Are they safe there?"

Kim crosses her arms. "What I want to know is what the hell the Project is doing out here."

Her question is the only one John has any insight into, although he doesn't know how realistic his theory is. "They might be hunting deer," he says. "The only thing I saw, other than — than that , were deer tracks."

"All the way out here?" Kim asks skeptically.

"The hunting can't be any good in that swamp they're hiding in," Nick points out, frowning as he considers the idea. "And there are more survivors around the river these days. I'd bet that'd make for slim pickings."

"I doubt we'd even know they come out this far if I hadn't been the one out there. At least we've confirmed they're actively searching for resources beyond their compound — and they're relying on traditional methods to do so. Most likely because the armory was destroyed."

"Thank God for the Deputy," Nick sighs. "Okay. We're just gonna have to... I dunno, be willing to shoot, I guess." He doesn't sound so sure about it, and he quickly softens the intention. "At least a couple more warning shots. Once they remember guns outstrip arrows every way but sustainability, they'll probably keep back."

"We can push the fence-line out, too," Kim says. "It won't necessarily stop them, but at least it'll give them a line to cross. They're not cavemen — they remember property laws and how those get enforced around here."

"We'll have to start checking the traps more often. They might be living like bloodthirsty Mennonites right now, but that doesn't mean they aren't willing to steal to survive."

"They'll justify it one way or another," John sighs.

"So I guess we don't have to move the chickens after all," Nick says, "So long as we establish a perimeter. Sound good, Carmina?"

Carmina must have slipped out at some point during the conversation because she's nowhere to be found in the kitchen. Nick glances over John's head and out the window, swearing loudly.

"What the hell is she doing out there?"

John gets to his feet as Nick and Kim take off. He watches them through the window as they chase after Carmina, who's stopped to look around partway towards the coop. Either she's dumber than she seems, or she's inherited both of her parents' reckless streaks. Either way, she's going to leave herself open the same way John had. She's too confident that nobody wants to hurt her. The only way John knows how to teach that lesson, though, is not one that Kim or Nick would approve of — and so he sidelines his worries in favor of sticking with whoever is more armed than he is.

By the time John comes outside, Kim is knee-deep in the middle of a heated lecture about safety and responsibility. Carmina scowls at her feet, her face turning red as she's scolded. John ignores them, passing them by in favor of catching up with Nick, who's come to a stop a few yards past the coop. He's staring out into the unoccupied land — land that used to be his property, once. Now Nick is as much a stranger here as John is.

"Check it out," Nick says, holding out a thin, white-barked piece of wood. John takes it and recognizes it immediately as part of the mask he'd broken in two. The hole for the eye is a roughly cut gouge in the soft wood, and the bark flakes as he wipes his thumb across it.

"I hadn't even considered a mask," John admits. "I thought it was a monster."

"You and me both," Nick replies. He heaves a sigh. "Still waiting for the mutants to crawl out of the sewers, I guess. But I think we can handle a couple of jackasses with arrows."

John squints across the clearing, as if maybe his assailant has hung around waiting for them to reappear. "Next time, it might be Joseph," he points out grimly. "That hunter recognized me immediately. They'll tell him I'm here, and he'll want to find me."

"Come on. Like Joseph's gonna risk crossing enemy territory on foot. I'd be more worried about those goddamn hunting parties you used to send out."

John unconsciously reaches up to rub his throat. "Yeah," he says. "You're right. One of them clearly wasn't enough, but if Joseph decides I'm worthwhile, they'll come as a pack. If he's still manufacturing Bliss somehow, it would be easy to subdue me. And then..."

He's surprised out of his would-be reverie as Nick slaps his shoulder with a heavy hand. "We're not gonna let that happen," he says. "As long as you put up the same fight you did today, Kim and I are gonna come running."

Despite the reality of hidden archers and surprise ambushes, John allows himself to be reassured by the sentiment. At the very least, he pretends for Nick's sake. "I suppose you two were quick to the rescue," he drawls. "But if they get me to the tree-line, I'd rather you just put me down before I get dragged all the way back to the compound."

Nick chuckles. "We'll try to avoid that for now."

Looking over his shoulder, John catches Kim crouched down in front of Carmina, hands on her shoulders. Whatever she's saying, it's too quiet for John to hear, but Carmina's sniffles are a loud precursor to a lot of tears.

"I guess she believed you when you said the Project wouldn't care about us," Nick sighs. "At this rate, we're gonna have to put a bell on her."

"I could tell her about the child soldiers from the summer camp, if that would prove the gravity of the situation."

Just the mention of it makes Nick look a little queasy, and John immediately regrets bringing it up. "I don't want to scare her that badly," Nick says. "She's a good kid, she means well. She just needs to stop going off half-cocked, is all." He rubs his hand across his forehead and complains, "I thought we taught her to be smarter than this."

"She's still your kid," John says. Nick gives him a sour look, but it's the truth no matter how bitter Nick might feel about it. "You can't expect her to be utterly obedient, given her genetics."

"I guess ." He sighs, shaking his head. "At any rate, it's time we stop sugar-coating the cult for her benefit. She's obviously not taking it seriously."

John looks again and sees Kim embracing Carmina tightly. He can't help but worry about what might happen if the hunters come back. When he'd been with the Project, he'd understood Joseph's motivations — at least superficially — but now he's completely in the dark. They used to fill their ranks with abducted children and their desperate parents. He has no idea if Joseph is in a position to expand his flock, but if he is... John does not doubt that they'll start with the young and impressionable. Carmina, being young but not as impressionable as they'd like, probably wouldn't make it back to the compound before she got herself killed. He can't imagine anyone having enough patience to break her.

"You... uh, think we should be worried?" Nick asks after a brief stretch of silence.

"Not yet," John replies grimly. After all, the Ryes have a bargaining chip like no other, in case their daughter is ever taken. John can see to it that she's left alone, but it will only work once — and after that, who knows which brother will be sending hunters after her.

"Good thing we got ourselves a couple of extra guns," Nick says. "You and her are gonna have to start carrying pretty much everywhere."

"I'm sure people will love that."

"Fuck people, man, did you see the size of that fucking guy?"

John can't help a wry smile. "They weren't so big. If I were a couple of years younger, I would have taken them."

"Yeah, sure. "

The lecture must be over with for now, as Carmina's attention has turned back to her chickens. Kim watches her from a distance; John can't read her expression from here, but her posture is tense and defensive. John can't blame her — he doesn't have a parental bone in his body, but the stress of raising a child in these conditions isn't lost on him. Trying to instill a sense of fear into somebody who lived their formative years without a threat in sight can't be easy. Doubly so, considering Carmina can no doubt outgun the rudimentary weaponry the Project is utilizing. Hell, maybe they really are only a threat to him. Maybe it doesn't matter if Carmina sneaks out of the house.

"She won't leave unnoticed again," John decides, because it's the only promise he can genuinely keep.

"Oh yeah? You're gonna eat those words when she's a teenager."

"I'd hope she would be smart enough to bring back up by then."

"Me too." Nick exhales loudly enough to get Kim's attention, stretching one arm over his chest, then the other. "Well, I guess we better get started if we want to have anything to show for it by nightfall."

Even so, it takes Nick another moment before he brings himself to move. John lingers behind, unable to help himself as he eyes the trees distrustfully. There's nothing saying that hunter isn't still out there, watching them from a safe distance. If Jacob had a hand in training them, it's unlikely that John will ever see them coming again. He's likely lost the one chance at a level playing field, and he hadn't even realized it was something he could lose.

Fuck it. It doesn't matter. John has adapted time and again to every disaster in his life, and there's something to be said for the person who he's become. If this is the next catastrophe that he'll have to weather, then so be it. If he isn't capable of dealing with Joseph by now, then it's likely he never will be — and if that turns out to be the case, he can only hope that Kim is as quick on the trigger as she seemed to be today.

[lee-jinkis-ponytail]

It's been so interesting handwriting one of my current WIPs instead of typing it. It's an epistolary novel, so I figured writing the rough draft by hand would give my protagonist a more organic letter-writing voice/style, and also help me notice if/when a letter is getting unrealistically long given that the character didn't type it.

It also SIGNIFICANTLY slows down my thought process as I'm writing, which I feel is helping me write in a much more streamlined way; I have to think carefully about what I want to physically write down and what is superfluous, and so I don't go on for pages and pages about backstory or worldbuilding. I'm sure a large part of this is because I'm writing as one character directly to another, so I'm able to perceive the audience not as the book's reader, but as the friend that the protagonist is writing to. So she obviously wouldn't go on a huge rant about backstory because her friend already knows what there is to know about her background. So that's nice, because I tend to info dump in my typed rough drafts, maybe because I can type just about as quickly as thoughts come to me. If that makes sense. :p

How about you? Has anyone else noticed the ways handwriting a story changes your process in significant and/or subtle ways?