#ur guess as to what's gonna show up in dale next

[moonshine-nightlight]

Hi, I'm always very impressed by your world building skills, even in shorter stories! Do you have any advice for aspiring writers on how to build their fantasy world?

So i drafted a response to this in between working just far too much and then my computer crashed and i lost it. Then i was even busier so i never got around to writing it again but i am making some time this weekend, so worldbuilding post - take 2

My main, high level worldbuilding tips are:

Rule of Cool: worldbuild things you think are fun and interesting. not only is that the best way to get ideas you like and are motivated to write about, but other people will also think they're interesting too. have fun with it.

Iceberg theory: know more about the world than ever makes it into the story. people can sense when worldbuilding is shallow, so even if they never see the true depths of the world they can often sense it's there. plus if u know the whole picture, everything the readers do see will seem more coherent

Integration: i heavily integrate the world i'm building into the story i'm telling--so dig into the plot and characters and make sure that the world and the story serve each other well. your world is there to contribute to the story so make sure its fulfilling that purpose

For more specifics about how i personally world build and for some examples from my stories of the above guidelines, see below.

So firstly, i love worldbuilding. i just think its a ton of fun and could easily spend hours just thinking about worlds in my head. (i mean what else is there to do when ur commuting to work, amiright?) i think that does make it easier for me to take the time to do it right and makes the world come through more vividly in my writing. it can get annoying or tedious or be more challenging at times, but since i like it/find world building interesting, i'm more willing to put in the time and effort to whip it into shape and i get less frustrated with that part of the process in general.

i'm also always thinking about world building to some degree in the back of my mind. picking up interesting information, facts, snatches of cool ideas or images or whatever. then i throw all that in like a junk drawer in my brain so when i sit down to more officially write or flesh out a world, i already have spare parts at my finger tips to use or drawn on.

Reading and consuming other art and worlds also makes it easier to make your own, just lik reading is a key part of writing practice. i don't just mean fiction, but just anything about the actual world makes it much easier to make up your own--that can manifest as awe at the fireflies that actually exist or spite that dragons dont. Whether that's random youtube video essays about the history of musicals or drinks or fashion to books and articles and documentaries or just my friend's niche interests (or their regular jobs). i'm always taking worldbuilding notes in the back of my mind.

For a more writing specific example, i read this short guide '50 Ways to Kill a Mermaid' (its locked for AO3 so u hav to sign in to read it) and it was super fun and cool to read that info from a writer who had studied marine biology. then when i was fleshing out Don't Shoot the Messenger a year later, the problem of Satrasi being a sea demon in a fresh water pool and bloating came to my mind because i'd stored that tidbit from the article away for later use.

My personal method for worldbuilding and plot outlining is sort a brainstorming/Q&A i have with myself (i hope this makes sense when i'm done writing this all out lol).

I've mentioned this before but the prompt that inspired Dale was: "You’re pretty sure your boyfriend was replaced by an eldritch being that can barely emulate being human. Weirdly, you enjoy a better relationship with them than your actual boyfriend."

So when that idea grabbed me, i started brainstorming about the world and asking myself questions. Why is the reader with the boyfriend if they don't really like them? What would make someone stay in a relationship like that? Do i want to make this a dark story? And i did not, i wanted it to be fun, so the arranged marriage angle came to mind. And if that's the premise then when is the story? is this our 'past' or another world entirely? diff world means more freedom so i automatically leaned in that direction.

Can the reader tell the 'boyfriend' has been replaced? Are demons a thing people know about? does the reader know that's an option? which is more fun? if the reader is worried about Dale getting caught, that's more room for hijinks so then yes, demons are known, but not common otherwise too many people would notice.

So my plot and worldbuilding are evolving in tandem and informing each other, based on the type of story i want to tell and how the characters i have in mind will react etc.

i run through a lot of ideas and turn them over in my head--trying out diff pieces to see if they fit--and am always willing to drop an idea or save it for another story if i don't think its working for the current one

For iceberg theory, i mentioned above for Dale would be the religions in that world. When i decided to introduce a priest like character (for discovery danger) i knew i needed to focus more on the religions than i previously had noted. the majority of what i came up with isn't int he story, but i think the fact that i know it helps me write when did end up in there, helped make it consistent, and means i can more easily work in allusions to it without having to work so hard those singular times.

For example, i'd decided to call the demon realm "the Depths" early on, which to me already invokes deep water and darkness, so i followed that through to sort height and air and light as being perceived more positively. fire and light are important symbols in this world and they primarily burn their dead--to bury someone below ground would be seen as almost condemning them and someone drowning is also seen as like, not good for their soul because what if it is 'pulled down' rather than 'ascending'. some of this was alluded to in the chapter, but most of it is not. this also helped me come up with the various "by the light" "dawn's ire" and other similar little 'religious' phrases and exclamations different characters use at times.

Meanwhile, in Sacrifice, the people living their are relatively non-religious--thats why they both don't pray to any other deities and it takes 5 years of problems to even bother trying an old god. it's not sacrilege because they're desperate people trying a long shot, not violating or abandoning a different belief. because i wanted the reader's main problem with it all to just be that they didn't think it work.

And why is she a translator? because i wanted to use the idea from that one post that goes around about how ridiculous it is in movies when their translated prophecies rhyme in english. why are they arguing about the translation? because its a dead language so no one really speaks it, that means the people who came up with it were here a century ago or longer. why aren't they here anymore? nomadic so they left and ended up staying away because of a natural disaster elsewhere. why is this town here now? a particular export/resource in this area became valuable enough for people to try to live here. the fact that its a lumber town due to some rare wood native to the area doesn't come up in the story, but i know it and i think that i know that about the town helps it feel more real, makes it easier for me to reach for new details when i need them

and going back to anything can be inspiration, let's talk about the doorlock in the very beginning of Finally Woken. its literally just a magical keypad/number pad but with different colored tiles instead of numbers because i wanted the reader to be able to get in, but i felt it didnt make sense for them to hav a physical key. and i thought it would look cool in Heshi's door and it went well with the fact that he's a glassblower . also, why is Heshi a glassblower? because i frickin' lov blown glass - i just think its so cool and pretty. that helped lead into the sort of artisan economy feel that world has.

Each of these stories has an outline and notes doc at a minimum. the notes doc is where i throw lik pics, inspiration posts, random worldbuilding ideas etc. only much shorter stories or stories that are heavily based in 'modern' world don't hav extensive random notes.

my Dale folder has subfolders for characters and the setting, as well as random worldbuilding files such as "demon summoning/magic" "spiritual belief and org" "fashion - feminine" and so on. Even excluding the plot outline and chapter notes (and not counting pics) i've got like, over 4k of random notes saved. dale is the one i hav the most of that for, but all my fics have some little section with stuff like that jotted down

in the end, i think the best way to sum up all that is with my three original rules of: put stuff u think is cool in your world, known more than you tell to help everything fit together and seem deep, and build your world around your plot and characters because they should all be working together to tell the story you want to tell.

honestly, i could ramble about worldbuilding all day so if anyone has any questions or wants more examples, just let me know ^^

[themanicgalaxy]

SPN 1X17 Hell House

one episode this time around let’s see where this goes

so many of these start with people going where they aRE NOT ALLOWED

WHY

GUYS AT LEAST DO IT IN THE MORNING OR SOMETHING WHY GO AT NIGHT

yes go be macho there’s nothing that can go wrong here

also i meant to say this last episode but Dean’s machismo+self-sacrifice for his dad someone please give him a hug p le a s e 

at least they don’t die

Sam being passed out completely backwards bahahahaha

Dean takes picture because yes, sibling prerogative

Damn and Dean’s having his fun with the music and the pranks

NAIR IN THE SHAMPOO DEAN WHAT THE FUCK 

Sam using the word “misogynistic” in like 2005 threw me, damn this kid rly did go to a College didn’t he

this little montage of everyone having a different story? good perfect shit, good vibes

“hot...in a dead sort of way” “hoh..k” pfft

Lmfao and his name is Craig

DEAN IS HOLDING A KANSAS VINYL HES HOLDING THE VINYL

“only kills women” well good thing they’re both MEN absolutely NO conflict here

god I wish this show had a woman goddamn

leftover note: god i wish some of the actually cool female characters showed up again and not like...just the demon

the ghost hunterssssss

lmao Dean’s disgust at the business card

AMATEURS AHAHAHAHAHAHA

“emf?” Sam buddy oh my god

This is like that one scene in criminal minds where the girls pretend they don’t work at the fbi

does...does it erase people? whatever the monster is

PFFT PRANK WAR

I’m sure this won’t come back to bit them no sir

Jill going for the ghost instead of the pasty-ass gross motherfucker fine ok at least you have some sense

Not a lot because ur gonna get fucking murdered, ur not white or a male, sorry them’s the rules

this show....like i expected this but

I feel like the non-plot episodes are more pure Vibe, and the plot episodes aren’t as fun, but they have examination i guess?

AND SHE HAD A FULL RIDE TO UT AND A STRAIGHT A STUDENT COME ON

“Who you gonna call” ha

Sam’s fucking face when they get the ghost hunters, Sam cmon you like this at least a little bit

AT LEAST ADMIT YOU LOVE YOUR BROTHER A LITTLE BIT

WHEN IT SLOWLY CREPT UP BEHIND THEM FUCK

THAT WASN’T EVEN A JUMP SCARE THAT WAS REAL SUSPENSE

the smug face Dean pulled? good, good, liked that

BLUE OYESTER CULT LOGO OF FUCKING COURSE DEAN RECOGNIZED IT

Smug Dean is very funny, good content

...ok yeah I’m starting to see where at least some people started with the wincest thing, however it’s CLEARLY BECAUSE OF THE PRANK I HATE THIS

LMFAO THEY JUST SAID “Here you go Jensen” HAAH

the belief turns into something real oooo

THEOLOGY TEXTBOOK TURNS INTO CONCENTRATED THOUGHT TURNS INTO THE MORDECHAI MYTH THAT KEEPS GETTING SHIFTED THAT IS S O COOL

“how are we supposed to kill an idea” oooo sounds vaguely philosophy like

WHAT WOULD BUFFY DO BAHAHAHA

HEY LOOK A MONSTER HUNTING FEMALE PROTAGONIST WHY DON’T WE HAVE SOME OF THOSE

THEY’RE SO SHORT COMPARED TO THE LITERALLY 6 FOOT TALL MAIN CHARACTERS AHAHAHAHA

MAIN CHARACTERS GET 6 FEET HEIGHT

these fuckers really do put on a double act throughout the midwest

THE VERY SPECIFIC PISTOL FEAR TO HELP THEM KILL IT BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Is...Is dean trying to get Sam to relax and be like...kinda normal? Is that the reason behind the prank war????

ONE NORMAL WAY OF EMOTING IM B E G G IN G YOU

Fuckign glues his hand to his beer ha ha Sam

Did these fuckers just steal the laughing animatronic to lure the cops?? really??

and they nearly fucking shoot the ghost boys hahahahaha

*so anyway I started blasting WITH BOTH FUCKING PISTOLS*

Goes for the Camera

Do the guys?? know what’s up??

the micro expressions in the “great” (smile to quiver to serious mode)? holy hell

Sam you self sacrificial bastard

Dean workshops a fucking flamethrower

ayy he did the axe/baseball swing thing i love that

solution: set house on fire

Excellent, nice job Dean

I mean it works

“how many things survived cuz people believed in them” with the fire house? nice line, I like that line

Sam: calls them and tells them he’s a producer

Dean: puts a dead fish in their backseat

and they both laugh and call truce that makes me happy

hey the prank war thing was just...a prank war. no foreshadowing, just character relationships? that’s new

yippie kayak it’s wrap-up time:

1. Ok, the style and vibe of this episode? so good, so fun, so interesting. Lore is really cool, they leave it open-ended, all good. Like the sheer power of myth and people’s belief? ooo good shit

I have just realized that sounds like vague foreshadowing for the ~future~

however, I think this is built kinda like avatar where you build the characters in terms of a large goal, and tbh, I really like how it’s being done

2. actually speaking of: non-plot episodes, where both get a chance to shine, are fun, interesting, and honestly quite cool, while plot episodes are a bit more heavy, loaded and exposition-y. I hope that changes in the future tbh. The bible river dale energy is quite possibly the thing I’m not as hyped about, although that might be because I thankfully don’t have any religious trauma

the church scares me

3. Sam and Dean? good great, excellent bonding time. You have to wonder if the prank war was just Dean’s way of trying to reach out to his little brother, and tbh, it did kinda work. Anyway, they were both really fun this episode, both got good moments, 10/10 love these characters

4. The fact that they slipped and called Dean jensen makes me wonder how much the budget actually was. Like I saw on pinterest it was 20,000 entirely(which isn’t even minimum wage) and I could not find any kind of sources, so I’m inclined to believe that was very very fake. However, it’s definitely low budget(wikipedia says that no one wanted to take kripke up on this) and the fact that they managed to make something this good is a testament to the skill of the entire team working on this season. I cannot speak for the later seasons tho, as I have obviously not seen them.

5. Please. A girl character. Something. I’m begging you. 

I know damn well it doesn’t happen and that makes me sad

Damn I had some thoughts this time around, that’s pretty fun. till next time~ i guess. Time to go put mom’s bday cake back into the fridge and sleep.