Dungeon Meshi...AH! Dungeon Meshi!

o7

TODAY IS ACTUAL INDEPENDENCE DAY..... ERET’S BETRAYAL, THE TOMMY/DREAM DUEL, TOMMY GIVING UP THE DISCS..... CAN EVERYONE PLEASE GET THE FUCK UP

MADOKA MAGICA ☆ WALPURGIS NO KAITEN

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something that i really like about blue eye samurai, now that im thinking about it, is that it discusses violence against women without becoming torture porn. like, in a lot of media that portrays women's issues, they show you that scene. like they give you this extended visual of a woman experiencing something traumatic and then laud themselves as feminist for doing so.

blue eye samurai doesn't do that. the whole show is set in a world that is extremely antagonistic toward women, and it makes a point to tell you that being a woman right now sucks, because they are property and are used sexually. but even though it doesn't shy away from this, it doesn't show you the violence itself, which you would almost expect it to because of how graphic the rest of the show is.

im thinking specifically of kinuyo. they very well could have shown us a scene of her being abused, but they didn't. they didn't show the abuse itself, but they did show how it affected her. they showed her seeing a doctor for her sores. they could have made this incredibly traumatic and grotesque scene a spectacle, showing us exactly how powerless she is and how powerful he is. they could have shown us this incredibly triggering event in full detail for our entertainment, but they didn't. they chose not to. and i think that's how it should be.

it is not necessary to have an extended visual and auditory reenactment of violence against women. we the audience understood the gravity of the situation and were able to empathize without needing that scene. having that scene would have completely detracted from the point they are trying to make. it would have turned something completely reprehensible that women everywhere fear because it's a very real issue into entertainment.

More often than not I’ll crack into a sprawling fantasy series and, while I appreciate the luscious descriptions of furniture, landscapes, and clothing, all I’m focused on is that I don’t actually know how this world works. I only know what it looks like.  

Including some functionality to your universe can add to immersion and give your reader a strong foundation on which to build their mental model of your universe. 

You certainly don’t need to use all of these questions! In fact, I recommend against that, as all of these certainly won’t make it into your final draft. I personally find that starting my worldbuilding off with 5 to 10 functional questions helps pave the way for glittery and elaborate aesthetic development later on.

How is the healthcare funded in your world?

How does healthcare functionally differ between the wealthy and the poor? (i.e. can only the wealthy go to hospitals? do poor families often have to rely on back-alley procedures?)

Where are health centers (i.e. hospitals, small clinics, etc.) organized in your cities?

Does it differ in smaller towns?

How does this affect people’s ability to get healthcare?

Is healthcare magical, and if it is, how does that affect the healthcare system? 

If healing is instantaneous, how does that affect people’s views on injury, illness, and chronic ailments?

If you have both magical and physical healthcare, which one is deemed superior and how does that affect society? 

What illnesses are common in your world? 

How does this affect daily life? 

What do the people in your world think illnesses are? 

Is it a miasma theory? 

Humor theory? 

Demons? 

Do they know about biological viruses and bacteria? 

How does this affect healthcare?

How do people get water? 

Is the water sanitary and if not, how do they sanitize it?

How does agriculture work? 

Is it large corporations or individual farms?

What sort of agricultural technology exists in your world and how does it affect food production?

Are farmers wealthy or poor?

What sort of natural resources does your world/country(ies) have and how are they obtained?

How does this affect the average wealth of the country?

How does this wealth affect the culture? 

What livestock or beasts of burden are most valued? Least valued? Why?

What is considered a luxury good vs. a regular good?

What forms of transportation does your world have?

What classes use what forms of transportation?

How far has the average citizen traveled, given your transportation limitations?

Which cities are the most accessible and which are the least? Why?

How do popular transportation methods change how cities/towns are laid out?

Does your world have public transportation? What is it?

Is there a coming-of-age aspect to travel?

Describe your world’s postal system or whatever equivalent there is. 

Who pays for it? 

How reliable is it? 

Are there emergency methods for transporting information?

How does your world keep time (i.e. watches, sundials, water clock, etc.)?

Does your world have a currency system, barter system, or something else? 

If you have multiple countries, do different currencies have different values across said countries?

How does this affect travel?

Do you have banks in your world and if so, how are they run?

Who owns the banks? Government? Wealthy? How does this affect the economy and/or class system?

How does credit operate in your universe?

Does your world operate more on big corporations or small business? Something in between?

How are workers/labourers treated in your world? 

Are there workers unions and if so, what are common views on unions? 

Describe your tax system. If you don’t have a tax system, explain why and how your world is affected by that. 

Can certain social classes not own property, certain livestock, certain businesses, etc.? Why?

How are business records kept? Are business records kept?

If your world has technology, does your world prioritize developing entertainment tech, communications tech, transportation tech or something else entirely?

What does this say about your world?

How does this affect your economy?

To the closest approximation, what type of government does your world have? 

How are rulers/presidents/nobles put in place? 

How much power does an individual ruler have? 

Is there a veto process? 

If you have multiple countries, do they have different types of rulers?

Describe any large-scale alliances (i.e. countries, factions, etc.) that are present in your world. 

How did they come about and how are they maintained? 

Are they strained or peaceful? 

How does it affect the greater politics of your world?

Describe how wars are fought both internationally and nationally. 

Do methods of war differ between countries/races? 

What about philosophies about war?

If there is a military, what is its hierarchy structure?

How does the military recruit?

Is the military looked upon favourably in your society?

What weapons are used by each country/type of people during warfare, and how does that affect war strategies?

Describe the sentencing system of your world. 

Is your accused innocent until proven guilty, or guilty until proven innocent?

How are lawbreakers punished? 

If you have prisons, describe how they are organized and run, and who owns them. 

Does differing ownership change how the prisons operate?

What are the major ways in which laws between countries vary? 

Do laws between cities vary? If so, how and why?

How does citizenship work in your world? What rights and privileges do citizens have that others do not? 

Can certain classes or races not become citizens?

Are there certain taboo subjects or opinions that artist/authors/musicians are not allowed to depict (i.e. portraying the official religion in a negative light, explicit sexual material, etc.)? What does this say about your society?

How do people get around these censorship laws?

What is the official hierarchy of duty in your world? (i.e. is family the most important, or patriotism? What about clan?)

How many languages are there in your world, and how many languages share a common origin? 

How many people are multilingual? 

Which language is the most common?

How is multilingualism viewed?

How are different languages viewed? (i.e. is one language ugly/barbaric while another is romantic and sensual?)

Feel free to add your own questions in reblogs or in comments!

very practical use for those arms :P

KO-FI | PATREON

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6k Followers Raffle!!! 🎉

Wow! This is a crazy number. Thank you all so much for giving this blog a follow ❤ To celebrate, I thought we could do a raffle! 

The prizes:

A short story featuring your Romanus and a character of your choice — must be SFW, and if it’s romantic in nature it has to be with the official ROs only.

You pick one snippet in the Patreon tag, and I’ll send you the whole story!

You pick one snippet from the Ko-fi tag, and I’ll send you the entire commission!

The first winner gets the first pick of the three prizes, the second winner chooses between the two left, and the third gets the last.

Rules:

Must be following me.

Reblogs count as 2 entries — but only one reblog is valid, so please don’t spam your followers’ dashes with the post! 😄

Likes count as one entry.

On the 12th of May, I’ll put all entries in a random number generator and get the winners! Please have your messages open, so I can contact you :)

I hope this will be fun, I’ve never done anything like this. Thank you, again, for all the support, it only motivates me to work harder and pick up the pen even on days when it seems to weigh a ton.

I know I’ve been quiet regarding Book Two’s progress, but that’s only because I want to get to a specific part before I make any sort of announcements. But I hope you find comfort in knowing that I’m working on it almost every day — and the days I’m not, I’m thinking about it constantly. It won’t be very long before I invite you to step back into the world of the Rose.

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

And may you have an amazing Friday. 🌹

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modern vi terrible middle school crush

WWC - General Topics

A collection of WWC posts that deal with more general writing advice, character creation and diversity topics applicable to most marginalized people, particularly People of Color and some more specific ethnic and religious groups.

Tools

Writing Research and Google Search Tips

WWC Research & Resources Guides (Compilation)

Character of Color Research Tracking Chart (Google Sheet)

Writing Characters of Color: The Generals

On White Authors “Getting it Right”

The Do’s of Writing People of Color

Writing POC with Little Experience

Properly Coded: Creating Characters of Color 

On “Overthinking” Writing Characters of Color

On White Writers Writing Characters of Color (I, II, III)

Researching PoC + Supporting Writers of Color

Description 

Words for Skin Tone

Words to Describe Hair

Describing Asian Eyes

Describing Wide Noses

Praising Beauty Without Fetishizing

Describing PoC and Avoiding Caricatures

Featured Description Guides (Compilation)

Diversity & Representation

To Write (or not write) with Diversity

So You Want To Save The World From Bad Representation 

Diversity vs. Exploiting Cultures

Diversifying a Predominately-White Cast

On “Diversity Quotas”

On Excluding Diversity Out of Fear

Different Heritage POV’s in a Story

Including Realistic Diversity Naturally

White-Dominant Rural Areas and Diversity

White Privilege, Publishing, and Diversity Quotas

Writing: Making Efforts in Diversity

Characters - Creation & Culture

More on Assigning Race after Writing

Tradition and Culture vs. Stereotype

Showing Culture Writing Advice

Character Creation: Culture or Character first?

Character Design and Assigning Race and Ethnicity

Characters’ Races Added Last During Development 

Determining your Characters’ Race and/or Ethnicity 

Stereotyped vs Nuanced & Audience Perception

Writing Powerful Women of Multiple Races

Characters - Cultural Disconnect & Erasure

A Discussion on Culture and Erasure

Western Neutral Characters

‘Whitewashed’ Character of Color?

“Culturing” Culturally-disengaged PoC

Characters of Color with “No Culture”

Mixed Race + Disconnect from Culture

Reconnecting to Culture After Assimilation Attempts

Fantasy & Coding

Defining Coding (& Islam-coded Fantasy)

Denoting Race in Fantasy Setting

Fairy Tale Retellings with POC

Fairies of Color & Cultural Fairy Concepts

Fantasy Races Based off of People of Color

Naming People and Places, Avoiding Explicit Coding

Racially-coding Aliens

Real Religions in a Fantasy World

Religion in Fiction & Fantasy

South Asian-Coded Fantasy Caste System

Whitewashing in a Fantasy Setting

Including Racism in Fantasy

World-building: A Fantasy World without Racism

Representing PoC in Fantasy When Their Country/Continent Doesn’t Exist

Race Allegories / Symbolic Racism

Avoiding Racism Allegories

Blue eyed people enslaved in story

Half Human as Allegory for Mixed Race Struggles

Avoiding Half-Human Allegory for the “Mixed Race Experience”

Eye Color Discrimination as Racism: Story Concept

Racism, Micro-Aggressions & Slurs

Everyday Racism, Friendship and White Allies

Incorporating Micro-Aggressions in Writing

Racist Characters + Including Racism in Stories Not “About” Racism

The Pitfalls of Racist Character Redemption Arcs

PoC Educating White Privileged Friend (Context: Black Characters)

On “Normalizing” Protagonists of Color: Writing Stories Where Racism Isn’t in the Plot 

Racial Slurs & Offensive Terms

Slur use in stories

Racial Slurs and Webcomics

Portraying Racist Characters without Racial Slurs 

Offensive Terminology and Historical Accuracy 

Stereotypes & Tropes

Stereotypes & Tropes Navigation 

Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience Perception

Useful Non-WWC Posts

When Diversity Is Bad by tropesaretools

Diversity Exists in the Real World by shiraglassman

How to Write WOC and MOC if you are White by kaylapocalypse

“I feel pressured to be inclusive in my writing!” by nimblesnotebook

On White Fear & Creating Diverse Transformative Works by saathi1013

Villains / Anti-heroes 

Villains of Color

Family of Villains (Black)

Predominately White Villains

PoC Villains, Anti-Villains and Anti-Heroes

PoC in Crime Families & Black/Native Boss

Writing Flawed Black Characters is Okay

Dark and Light-skinned Characters, Black Villain and Avoiding Colorism

Worldbuilding

Black & White Symbolism: a look at that trope

Homogenization, Cultural Appropriation

How To Blend Cultures (Without Making Impossible Mixes)

Research:Large to Small Scale, Avoiding Homogenizing East Asian Cultures, & Paralleling Regions Appropriately

White Saviors, White  - POC Interactions

Interracial Relationships: Romantic | Writing Interracial Friendships

How to Avoid Glorifying White Characters

Handling a White Female Savior in story

White Character Adopts Black Child in Apocalypse

White Villainous Cult Leader Uses Fascism to “Correct” Colonialism

How to write bigoted villains without coming off as a bigot yourself

Infantilization of white characters (At PoC’s expense)

Solving World Hunger: Changing Skin to Fantasy Color to Avoid the White Savior

Writing About Your Own Culture (Ownvoices)

Misrepresenting Your Own Culture

Why Insiders Can Write Their Experience

Writing Authentic Black Characters (as a Black writer)

Representing yourself in stories when “yourself” isn’t white

Braving Diversity: How to Write Yourself (and others) out of your Story

Building a Community for Fellow Sci-Fi/Fantasy [Black] Writers of Color 

Writing Authentically From Your Own Experiences When They Don’t Match Stereotypes 

Writing Sensitive & Controversial Topics

White Authors and Topics to Avoid/Tread Carefully

Do I Need Permission to Write About Marginalized People?

Writing a Genocide to which you have No Personal Connection

On Outsider-Written Stories About Issues Of Another Group

Writing About Diverse Cops (Cops of Color,  LGBTQA+)

Outsider-Written Stories, Issues of other Groups, Speculative Situation

Writing about Prejudice between People of Color

Reclaiming negative, dehumanizing stereotypes outside the group

Representing yourself when “yourself” isn’t white

Why do you need to tell this story right now? (Muslim monster focus)

Writing About PoC Trials and Tribulations

When Am I Writing an Identity Story?

To Write or Not to Write: Tackling The “Struggle Novel” as an outsider

–WWC

god forbid women have hobbies like braiding their dead best friends hair to cover up that she’s missing an ear or putting makeup on her corpse to make her look less necrotic or hallucinating a bacchanal feast while cannibalizing her

Arcane is fun in part because most of the men are like "I am so weak and feeble. I will get my way by using my cunning deception and my dastardly wiles" while most of the women are like "Kill you with violence. Kill you with my bombs kill you with my fists kill you with my mecha arm. I get my way because I kill you."

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