#this is the type of stuff that makes me want to turn the dystopia WIP into a graphic novel

[bluberimufim]

Hi, and happy WBW to you! (as usual I am @writeblr-of-my-own) Sorry that I missed last Saturday ask, but it was a busy week and stuff happened!

So, for today's question something a bit easier and relaxing: tell me a piece of worldbuilding you are extremely proud of! Go on, blabber about it as much as you like!

Happy (late) WBW!!!

I'm sorry I took so long to answer! I got distracted. For 2 days.

You are about to read one of the nerdiest things you've ever seen.

The dystopia WIP (bc of course this is about the dystopia WIP) is set in a world very different from our own in terms of general philosophy. My inicial concept for it was basically "Hey remember the period in between the two World Wars where people were weirdly obsessed with industry and thought machines were the Best Thing Ever? What if it just never stopped being like that?". If you're thinking "wtf?? I don't remember that???", allow me to exemplify by mentioning that Le Corbusier, the architect poster-boy (man??) of modernism, referred to houses as "Machines for Living" (as in, the house is a machine designed for you to live in it).

But I digress.

And from this idea, I developed a sort of... mainstream art movement, I guess, for the world of the dystopia WIP. It's kind of a mix between two real-life art movements: Futurism and Baroque.

Futurism is all about striving for improvement and technological progress above all else, and actively eliminating all history behind you. The quote that basically became Futurism's slogan is, I think, "a car is sexier than any woman", meaning that industry and progress is the most important thing in the world. The futurists were also obsessed with war and thought that countries should constatntly be at war because it breeds inovation. There were fascist undertones, as you might guess. 'Twas pre-WW2 Italy, after all.

Baroque is all about taking the canons of classical tradition and altering them to fit your style, while displaying mastery over them. It's basically about innovating and expanding on Renaissance-era art. The general idea most people have of Baroque art is the drama and pathos of it all, with oblique compositions and tons of light-dark contrast. It technically started off as catholic propaganda and is regarded by many as the origin/prototype of totalitarian architecture (think Nazi Germany or Soviet Union government buildings).

What would the combination of these two be called? Baroque-Futurism? Futuristic-Baroque? I don't know. And I honestly don't think I will ever need to name it in the story, so I just leave it.

In terms of how this would manifest visually, I've kinda drawn some ideas but nothing too final. I remember making a prototype of a variation on the solomonic column, a staple of the Baroque period.

And this shapes the way the characters see the world. There's a scene (the only scene I wrote, I don't even know where it would be set in the timeline) where two characters are discussing the night sky and they say that a starless sky is beautiful because it means humanity's power (expressed through light pollution in this case) is so great that they can blot out the cosmos itself. There's even a city in this world, called the Humming City, that is considered beautiful and awe-inspiring because there are so many machines and technological equipments running at the same time that they create an audible hum, like the one you hear from home appliances at night when everyone is asleep, but much, much louder.

I literally sound insane. But I had a lot of fun!

[mysticstarlightduck]

Supernova Initiative - WIP Intro/WIP Someday Tag

I wasn't tagged for this recently, but I wanted to make a WIP Intro/WIP Someday post for this story in the style of my previous post for Song of Thorns (here). So here we go😅! Feel free to make your own version of this Tag for one of your WIPs, if you'd like!

By the way, if you like this, please reblog, it helps a lot 💕

And tell me if you'd like to be added to any future taglists of this WIP!

Rules: Pick a WIP. Post something about it. On a Wednesday. Or whenever! It can be literally anything! (:

WIP INTRO - Supernova Initiative

Title: Supernova Initiative

Genre: Science Fiction/Space Opera/Adventure & Mystery/Whump

Tags: #wip supernova initiative #supernova initiative

Synopsis/What Is It About?

Jack Tithus, a young and charming intergalactic thief, along with his crew - Vesper Foxx, a feared cyborg assassin; Cassiopeia Tithus, his younger sister who is also a genius engineer; Aleks Keldora, a master in the art of temporary identity theft; and Artemis Zreeth, their edgy new recruit - are the most wanted criminals in this quadrant of the galaxy. Never once caught, the team defies their galaxy's oppressive government by using their combined talents to steal from the government as their own act of rebellion.

However, their luck takes an unexpected turn for the worst when they find themselves set up and arrested after a botched heist. Taken to the most secure facility in the whole Junction, the group expects nothing but problems in the coming future - instead, they are offered a strange deal: if they agree to work for the Junction and retrieve some highly classified files that were lost in a hostile planetary system, they will be spared from execution. With few other options, the group begrudgingly accepts to carry out this heist for the government they spent their lives trying to undermine.

Meanwhile, Jack finds himself trapped in a horrifying web of unethical experiments and illegal bioengineering when, while still having to carry out the heist along with his crew, he is secretly forced to become a test subject to the fearsome Director, head of the Junction's division of sciences, unbeknownst to his crew.

The team will need to count on the help of old allies-turned-rivals such as the cold-blooded mercenary and sniper Deimos Soll, their former crewmate, and the secret agent assigned to oversee their mission, an uptight and by-the-book young man called Noctus - if they wish to complete the most dangerous heist of their lives, and get their freedoms back.

Tropes and Nice Stuff! (Or, a.k.a. What you can expect in this book!)

Found Family/Team as Family!

Space adventure, exploration of unique, uncanny, beautiful, and outlandish alien planets, all the good science fiction stuff!

Robots, cyborgs, and sarcastically friendly AI!

A terrifyingly strict aspiring utopian regime that promises progress and freedom but is actually an unethical dystopia in disguise, with many bloodied skeletons in the closet, if you will.

Intergalactic politics, multiple alien cultures, and a bubbling interplanetary conflict about to explode between vastly different civilizations, each seeking either revenge or power.

Sibling bonds! A lot of this story centers around the siblings Jack and Cassiopeia Tithus, and the struggles they go through to keep each other safe and live another day, among some other notable siblings throughout the book.

Laboratory whump - A LOT OF IT. Also expect a crazy, unethical scientist/politician as a villain who is willing to do absolutely horrid things in the name of progress, even if it means human experimentation.

A suspicious, morally grey antihero with a reputation for being a cold-blooded killer, whom you'd expect is going to betray the group sooner or later, but is actually one of their most loyal allies and HAS A REDEMPTION ARC aaaaaa

Heists! Heists! Heists! And all the good stuff that comes along with this trope!

An edgy rogue-type character who is super impulsive and does not always make the best decisions, who only recently joined the group but would defend them with his life.

Traumatized - and hot - cyborg assassin lady on the path to have revenge on the people who destroyed her life in the past, and who is going to get said revenge in ✨style✨

A conformist secret agent who has always been "the perfect soldier" and follows rules like his life depends on it has an existential crisis and learns that his government has lied to him

A subplot that follows a young cadet from the Junction's Void Program, who discovers a dark secret about their government and starts investigating, but who needs to escape (and ends up meeting the MCs) after the government makes an attempt on his life + his war hero (adoptive) older brother who is a fighter pilot and really just needs a break and was tasked by their parents with trying to keep Pax from getting into even more trouble, but fails successfully.

Outcasts and society's "rejects" decide to make a better future together and it is great

Angst, team dynamics, and a lot of action-packed fight scenes!

And more! ✨

Meet The Main Cast! (The good guys)

Jack Tithus

A charming and rebellious intergalactic thief, Jack always sought a better life for himself and his younger sister, Cassiopeia, his only family - and he finally got his chance many years ago by joining a famous space pirate crew and leaving the dusty mining settlement moon he grew up in behind. After that, he took on a solo career - along with his sister and a few friends they had made along the way - and became the most wanted thief in the galaxy. He only steals from the government and seeks to help people who are oppressed or neglected by the system. He has a kind heart and a free spirit, and despite being a thief has a stronger moral compass than most, believing in breaking the rules to do what is truly right.

Cassiopeia Tithus

Cassiopeia - or Cassie, as she is usually called - is a brilliant robot engineer and inventor, able to build even the most complex machines from little more than scraps. She built her first robot when she was a child and has had a passion for mechanics ever since. A part of her older brother's outlaw team, Cassie uses her tech to aid in the heists and allow them to be mostly undetected. Most times. A lively young girl with a fiery personality, Cassiopeia has a lot of passion for what she does and is the glue that keeps their little team of misfits together.

Aleks Keldora

Raised by his two mothers on a struggling planet on the edge of the system, Aleks always wanted to help his family financially and give his mothers the life they deserved. However, struggling with self-esteem issues and often feeling discarded by society, Aleks knew what it meant to be invisible in the eyes of the world around him - with his family being the only ones who ever saw him for who he was. Tired of feeling left out by the world, and wanting to help his mothers - whose business was about to go bankrupt - Aleks decided to take a stand after winning a high-tech device in an underworld completion, a mask that allowed him to shapeshift into anyone he'd like. With the help of this mask and his other talents, Aleks completed his first heist in secret and was able to use the funds to help keep his family's business afloat, though they never knew the truth about how he got the money. After that, finally able to use his feeling of being invisible to his advantage, Aleks became more and more bold, eventually leaving his home planet in search of better heists to be able to continue to support his family.

Vesper Foxx

Traumatized by the day her home planet was raided by a ruthless group of mercenaries - who were hired by the neighboring galaxy's government to establish a Junction colony in Khosmonian territory - Vesper was kidnapped by the soldiers along with her oldest brother, Atheris, after their mother was killed in the raids. After witnessing him be tortured and killed, which scarred for life, Vesper was able to flee in an escape pod, being reunited with her little sister, Lysia, and their cousin, Deya, with whom she left their destroyed homeland behind. Despite settling down in another planetary system with the family she had left, the girl was never able to let go of the past, yearning for justice and revenge. Eventually, she left behind her sister and her cousin to pursue the deaths of the mercenaries who destroyed her life, using cyborg implants and upgrades to turn herself into the deadliest assassin in either galaxy.

Artemis Zreeth

The son of a renowned bounty hunter, Artemis never thought he would ever join their galaxy's criminal underworld, but after his father was betrayed by the crew he trusted the most, Artemis was left to fend for himself. Feeling betrayed by the system he trusted and lacking a purpose in life, Artemis survived by doing some gigs as a mercenary and pirate, a gun for hire in the criminal underworld. After winning a race and accidentally meeting the main cast, Artemis joins the group thinking this would just be another job to pay the bills, but as they spend more and more time together, the teenager finds that this group of outcasts might be the closest thing he's had to a family in a long while.

Pax Stellaryn

A genius young cadet, on his way to becoming the youngest cadet to ever graduate from the Junction's Void Program, Pax always wanted to make his beloved adoptive family proud, feeling oftentimes like a fish out of the water. After discovering a terrifying government intrigue by accident, Pax finds a chance to prove that he too can be a hero, and sets off to investigate more about this and seek a way to prevent the Junction's wretched plan from coming to fruition, after realizing his life too is in danger. However, he may have overestimated his ability to get out of this mess alone.

Deimos Soll

A cold-blooded and practical sniper, Deimos was Jack and Cassie's childhood best friend and their first crewmate. The trio split ways years ago due to conflicting beliefs and a few bad misunderstandings and ended up becoming rivals and competition when it comes to stealing from the Junction. Years later, however, after a harrowing encounter with a cruel and sadistic woman who sought to enslave him in order to force him to join her army, Deimos ends up fleeing to the only people he ever trusted - which unfortunately means having to confront his past and face Jack and Cassie again, who is very confused about his return to the crew - while being hunted down by the insane general he seeks to escape from.

Noctus

Though his full name is classified and unknown to the cast, his reputation precedes him. He is the single most successful special forces secret agent currently in the employ of the Junction - he has never failed a mission, never missed a target. And he always follows orders, always obeys the rules. However, is everything about him what it seems? A forgotten and suppressed part of his memory may prove that the system he fought so dearly to uphold may have actually made him into their perfect living weapon, and there may be many other lies yet to be uncovered

Ethean Mirannir

Pax's adoptive older brother, Ethean is a fighter pilot who has made a name for himself as a war hero and has always been the perfect soldier. Unexpectedly, he finds himself having to choose between his duty to the government and keeping his family safe when Pax discovers a secret that even he had no idea existed.

A few Plot Points, chaotically described🙃 (A.k.a - Badly Summarized WIP Tag but different)

Celebrating a successful heist on a space diner with the homies

I don't know why but I have a feeling this is going suspiciously well for our standards... Are we being set up? Hmm. Nah, I must be thinking too much into it-

Yep. Yes, we were being set up.

🎶Hell to the no, to the no, no, no🎶 WHAT IN THE DYSTOPIAN BULLCRAP EVEN IS THIS PLACE?

"Making shady deals with psycho government officers and bargaining for our freedom - with a bonus of Trauma✨"

THIS JUST-IN: 20-something agent totally done with everything must babysit this group of reckless space pirates that refuse to obey the rules

Cue the most uncomfy space travel in the whole galaxy~

"Hey guys, so yeah, this wasn't my plan either -" Promptly passes out, and everyone has more questions than answers.

Preparing to steal important files lost✨IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE✨ with a plan with came up with at 2AM with three bottles of energy drinks and a dash of improv

Operation "Let's Try Not To Die In Less than 20 Mins" begins and goes about as well as you'd expect

Losing communications with any backup we might have had and having a bit of group therapy because why not~

Things get Oh, so much worse, Special Edition - a.k.a - a not-so-nice crash landing on the worst possible planet ever

Let's improvise again Pt.2

Questionable problem-solving and emergency hot chocolate bottles

Cyborg Girl and Sniper Dude absolutely do not get along for a whole week and make it everyone else's problem

This is nice! Finally, something goes according to plan in this mess. I'm honestly surprised we got this far. Bravo to us!

(POV Shift) "Hi, yes, you're probably wondering how I even got into this mess. Let's start from the beginning."

This isn't a regular doctor's appointment, is it? What is that needle?! What are you doing -

Political drama, espionage, and manipulative teachers

And The Whump Begins

Well, well, well if it isn't the Consequences of my actions striking back at last. I probably should've mentioned this teeny tiny major problem sooner though. Yeah, my bad...

This is either the single most adorable little alien or the most concerningly ugly thing I've ever seen and now I'm confused

Cue existential crisis - "So no one was gonna tell me my whole life was a lie? Cool. Cool. Just checking... WTF"

HEIST! BADASSERY! BAD LIFE CHOICES!

Two tired older brothers try to keep their respective gremlin younger siblings from encouraging chaos and fail miserably

Insane Femme Fatale makes everyone hate her in less than 2 seconds and is so proud of it

Midnight Talks and Crispy Snacks

Things just got serious, Oh No.

How To Keep Two Rival Civilizations from Destroying Each Other 101 - We're still trying to figure it out

Hm. This plan wasn't half bad. Except it was. It was oh, so bad, OMG

To be Continued...

Playlist

Antigravity - Runaground

Superhero - Simon Curtis

Die For You - Valorant

Notorious - NEONI

Fighter - The Score

Glitter and Gold - Barns Courtney

Tagging (gently): @sleepy-night-child, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @smol-feralgremlin, @oh-no-another-idea, @littleladymab,

@winterandwords, @cowboybrunch, @eccaiia, @sarahlizziewrites, @illarian-rambling

@agirlandherquill, @anoelleart

@leave-her-a-tome, @writernopal, @anyablackwood, @unstablewifiaccess, @forthesanityofstorytellers

@i-can-even-burn-salad, @cakeinthevoid

@lassiesandiego, @thepeculiarbird, @clairelsonao3, @memento-morri-writes, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams

@the-golden-comet, @urnumber1star, @ominous-feychild, @anyablackwood, @amaiguri, @lyutenw @finickyfelix @elshells

@thecomfywriter

And OPEN TAG