"Too many major or popular IPs have holes in them bigger than moon craters!" #writing #booksky #worldbuilding #fantasy #scifi

"What’s your magic system? I never had a good answer. Because The Shift of Times doesn’t have one — not in the traditional sense. No rules for spellcasting. No hierarchy of powers. No chosen ones with abilities they didn’t ask for." #NoPaywall #writing #booksky #worldbuilding #fantasy

"If you’ve existed on the internet for any length of time, you’ll be aware of Rule 34, but just in case you’re new here¹ or are particularly innocent, Rule 34 is basically this: If it exists, someone online has turned it into smut." #NoPaywall #gaming medium.com/theuglymonst...

Happy Wednesday! ✨ We've got some exciting new developments cooking at Worldbuilding Wednesday! 👀 #writing #booksky #worldbuilding #fantasy #scifi

"... it’s probably no surprise that early hominids, i.e., those ancestors who had yet to fully move from ape to man, have a long history as fantasy villains." #writing #booksky #worldbuilding #fantasy

Kirill Yeskov’s paraquel The Last Ringbearer turns Mordor into Silicon Valley and Gondor into a regressive, totalitarian cabal.

Happy Wednesday, bitches! ✨ #writing #booksky #worldbuilding #scifi #fantasy

Book two, Broken Dove, released earlier this month, but I haven't seen the same kind of big marketing push enjoyed by Silver Elite. Could the controversy have led to a more lowkey launch? 🤔

"...Engaged To The Unidentified (2009) and Mysterious Girlfriend X (2004), are now suddenly more interesting than they had been because they used variations on the now common conventions of the genre even before those conventions were set in stone." #anime #romantasy #writing #romantasytropes

"​Every great sci-fi writer is using this tool, whether they know the academic term for it or not. It is the ultimate storytelling power-up. And once you see it, you will never look at a “worldbuilding bible” the same way again."

"This sets up what I think was Narita's initial concept for the troublemakers: they are the real-world equivalent of DnD style fantasy adventurers, within an urban fantasy universe." #anime #worldbuilding #urbanfantasy #writing

"‘AKAKIRI’ only has a runtime of around 10 minutes, but through shading, lighting, and fluid-yet-simple animation so much emotion is expressed..." #MayThe4thBeWithYou #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...

"...three stories about three COMPLETELY DIFFERENT Punisher #1s. Comics are weird." #FreeComicBookDay #NoPaywall #GiftArticle #Medium medium.com/theuglymonst...

Worldbuilders! Need to make a family tree? Want to dive into horrors of the cyberpunk genre? Need a rec for your next read? All this and more in this month's newsletter! ✨ #writing #booksky #scifi #fantasy #worldbuilding

"The mention of 'biting the bullet' in a world without guns, a dragon roars like a freight train when there aren’t any steam engines to speak of are anachronisms that might make a reader pause and question the writer." #writing #booksky #fourthwing #worldbuilding #fantasy

"Even in the most magical, fae-touched realms and the most advanced, far-flung science fiction futures disability will still exist." #writing #booksky #fantasy #scifi #witchhatatelier #worldbuilding

"There are pros and cons to writing in the epistolary style. It can be more immersive, but also somewhat limiting. Writing in this style can really challenge the “show, don’t tell” golden rule of writing." #booksky #writing #fantasy #scifi #worldbuilding

"On top of its unique, illustrative style and whimsical, compelling story, Witch Hat Atelier has a stand out feature that any fantasy worldbuilder can find interest in — its magic system." #writing #witchhatatelier #anime #worldbuilding #magic #fantasy

"Almost all of the most iconic characters in fiction are orphans. ...Why can’t protagonists have parents?" #writing #booksky #worldbuilding #fantasy #scifi

"Speculative fiction allows for writers to explore the furthest reaches of our imagination. This goes beyond just technology and magic. The genre offers the opportunity to rethink and recreate social systems like caste and gender." #writing #worldbuilding #scifi #fantasy #booksky

"This isn’t to suggest that the original anime is subpar — but even diehard fans can recognize the shortcomings of the madcap production schedule that endeavored to keep up with the manga." #OnePiece #writing #Medium medium.com/theuglymonst...

"As a kid, I classified The Terminator and The Matrix as something else entirely: horror in which the monster was a machine." #writing #cyberpunk #scifi #horror #anime

"Which novels speak to the current mood, post-Easter haze? My answer might surprise you — they are genre picks that I don’t think anyone but the deep geeks would know." #booksky #fantasy #christianity #writing

“We know that the morphology of the aliens of Star Trek were largely limited to the practical effects of the time. But the written word, and your worldbuilding, need not be constrained by such considerations.” #writing #scifi #booksky #worldbuilding #ProjectHailMary

"But — and I’m telling on myself here — I think as writers, we frequently approach royalty and its hierarchy through vibes. We consult what we’ve watched and read previously, rather than read dissertations about how monarchies and lines of succession really work." #writing #booksky #worldbuilding

"As worldbuilders, we need to keep in mind that while we might really care about the tiny details, our audience might not." #writing #fantasy #worldbuilding #booksky #starwars

"For the longest time, I thought the very idea of a teenage superhero was lame, but honestly, I just didn’t connect with the Spider-Man format. Then I discovered Devilman." #writing #booksky #anime #devilmancrybaby #spider-man

Our March newsletter is out with new seeds of inspiration to sow this spring ☘️🌱 #writing #writingcommunity #booksky #fantasy #scifi

"But there is a thing that ups the ante when it comes to tropes--when writers not only actively lean into them but actually take a dig at them." #writing #booksky #fantasy

"I venture that as fantasy writers most of us are going down this path and not the one where historical accuracy is king. ...what are the essential flavours of the 19th century and what can be sacrificed?" #fantasy #writing #historicalfiction #booksky medium.com/worldbuildin...

"Conspiracy theories that the book was possible written by AI have accumulated online. Perhaps Dani Francis isn’t a person at all, but a LLM that had been fed Fourth Wing and The Hunger Games and a dash of Reylo fanfics." #writing #booksky #scifi #dystopian #NoPaywall

"As a fantasy writer, you don’t need to break down the unknowable into the explicable… but you do need to answer some questions, namely questions that your readers will have while enjoying your story. Leaving them without answers might lead to confusion and frustration." #writing #fantasy #booksky

"Remember when you were a little kid and you imagined up a world of your own to adventure in? That’s a paracosm. Many worlds have started out as a child’s daydreams, somewhere to mentally dive into when bored or scared or sad." #writing #booksky #fantasy #booktok #NoPaywall

"Science fiction imagines possibilities. Science fantasy imagines possibilities AND impossibilities. It’s a powerful hybrid, as is evident with some of the most successful examples of the genre." #sciencefiction #scifi #fantasy #sciencefantasy #writing #booksky

"It would be hard to argue that authors like Travis Deverell (He Who Fights With Monsters) and/or Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl) weren’t somewhat inspired by “I’ve been transported into a video game” stories that are so prevalent within the isekai genre." #litrpg #writing #booksky #fantasy

"A monster is a story in that the writing describing it unravels a tale — a mystery or a tragedy or a warning. Each entry in a great bestiary is a standalone piece of fiction that draws us in to read to its conclusion." #DungeonsAndDragons #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...

"The humble hobbit is much more relatable to humble human readers than Tolkien’s ethereal elves, the rough and tumble dwarves, and even the “modern” men of Middle-earth." #writing #booksky #fantasy #tolkien #NoPaywall

"There are stories out there that share Pokémon‘s appreciation for the bond between a supernatural creature and a plucky protagonist as well as explore the concept of borrowing a creature’s power to do battle." #booksky #Pokémon #writing #fantasy

It's another wonderful Wednesday! Fellow #writers what are you working on?

"Well, most science fiction stories are certainly critical of capitalism. Worldbuilders like Gene Roddenberry and Martha Wells take capitalism to, what they perhaps see as, the economic system’s eventual conclusion. In space." #scifi #writing #booksky #startrek #NoPaywall

"To see a woman step into the role of knight, in spite of resistance and traditional expectations, speaks to courage far beyond the willingness to do battle. Also they’re really, really cool." #fantasy #ladyknights #booksky #writing #scifi

"In fantasy, we’re required to trust the words on the page to understand this new world we have been thrown into. We are beholden to the author’s choice of words to understand what might not be directly said." #writingcommunity #NoPaywall #booksky #fantasy

"The idea behind this comfy subgenre is telling fantasy stories that slow down and linger in settings like The Shire rather than moving on to world-saving quests and perilous journeys to Mordor." #booksky #writingcommunity #NoPaywall #cozyfantasy

"Perhaps in time medieval Europe won’t be be synonymous with fantasy and instead the genre will be defined by magic and monsters rather than castles and chivalric orders of knights." #booksky #writing #NoPaywall #fantasy

"But then there are those who are doing the wrong things for what they believe is the right reason. These are the characters that are, in their own internal monologues, the heroes brave enough to do what no one else would." #writing #booksky #NoPaywall

This is by no means a comprehensive list of worldbuilding resources. I intend to add to it periodically. If you notice a helpful resource missing, please let me know in the comments and I’ll add it right away! #booksky #writing #worldbuilding #writingcommunity

"When we start to see more mediocre stuff by marginalized writers writing in non-European setting, then we will have arrived. It’s not when the best can get published, it’s when the mediocre could get published." #booksky #BlackHistoryMonth #writing

"It’s not that I dislike tropes — I love fanfiction! It was the fertile soil in which I sowed by nascent writing skills! — but the increasing overreliance upon them is… boring." #booksky #writing #writingcommunity

"Typically, when readers and writers are referring to romantasy, they are referring to the increasingly popular subgenre of fantasy books that have romance stories at their core. Or are they romance books with fantasy settings?" #booksky #writing #romantasy

"Once Upon A Time was Disney’s first and best attempt at a fairy tale shared universe and a darker, slightly more adult take on the genre, and yet it failed miserably." #writing #anime #disney #NoPaywall