reminder to worldbuilders: don't get caught up in things that aren't important to the story you're writing, like plot and characters! instead, try to focus on what readers actually care about: detailed plate tectonics
Why is the mountain range square. How did the mountain range form. Why is there one singular volcano in the center. Why does it act like a composite volcano but have magma that acts like itâs from a shield. If itâs hotspot based volcanic activity why is there only one volcano.
And then the misty mountains!!!! Why isnât there a rain shadow!! And why is there a FOREST where the rain shadow should be!!!!!!!!
Wind blows clouds in from the sea, but mountains are so tall the clouds can't get past 'em, so you get deserts on the windward side of mountain ranges because clouds can't get there to water the land, or do so only very rarely.
May I recommend my new favorite tool: Mapgen4. You start with a random seed and then add mountains, valleys, shallow water, or oceans as you like. You can adjust the wind direction to make wind shadows off the mountains fall where you want. You can adjust overall raininess to make the rivers larger or smaller, or have more or fewer tributaries. It works best for small, isolated landmasses (think islands more than continents) but as thereâs no scale bar and itâs all slightly abstracted anyway you can do whatever you want with it. Iâve only just started playing with it but itâs SO FUN.
I do think this could be useful for writers! ...Caveat, if you're going to use this for making a map for anything published (digital or paper, even if it's only in a fanfic archive or whatever), please, please credit the creator and their program as how you made that map! The more ways information like this gets out there, the more useful it'll be to other writers, roleplaying game DMs/GMs, creators, etc.
One of my favourites for mapping plates, biomes, etc is Tectonics.js. If you're familiar with how tectonics shape a planet, you can guess where the features go by toggling plates, crust thickness, etc. Between Mapgen4 and Tectonics.js, we've got some pretty sweet tools at our disposal.
European Geosciences Union Blog â Beyond Tectonics: Building fictional worlds to better understand our own
Reshaping Reality's Worldbuilding Tips
Worldbuilding pasta's series, An Apple Pie from Scratch also check their resources page!
R/worldbuilding's Reading List. Also check out their collected resources link. This basic geology guide from 11 years ago is still nice.
Creating an Earth-Like Planet, and The Climate Cookbook (aka Geoff's Climate Cookbook) technically the climate cookbook is a part of Creating an Earth like Planet I think.
Related: Worldbuilding Workshop's "Working Out Climates Using Geoffâs Climate Cookbook." Which goes through using the resource in order to map make. Also just the Worldbuilding Workshop in General.
Madeline James Writes's Worldbuilding Guide
Worldbuilding 101 (this links to the Biomes section but there's like...everything.)
Also I would recommend looking into Landscape Archaeology as well! That's because Landscape archeology is basically adding the social/cultural layer on top of all that geology and geography. Environments change when communities live in them, and communities likewise adapt to various environments.
This is a short free introduction to the concept: "Notes on Landscape Archaeology." To summarize, Landscape archaeology sort of like...studies the relation of people to places/spaces (that is, landscapes) in time.
Also this paper [An Archeology of Landscapes] breaks down/introduces the key concepts that I learned which is first that you can form the "construct paradigm" of a landscape from settlement ecology,
ritual landscapes, and ethnic landscapes.
And then the highlights of their summary of what constitutes defining a landscape:
Landscapes are not synonymous with natural environments. Landscapes
are synthetic (Jackson, 1984, p. 156), with cultural systems structuring and
organizing peoplesâ interactions with their natural environments ...
Landscapes are worlds of cultural product ... Through their daily activities, beliefs, and values, communities transform
physical spaces into meaningful places. ...
Landscapes are the arena for all of a communityâs activities. Thus landscapes not only are constructs of human populations but they also are the
milieu in which those populations survive and sustain themselves. A landscapeâs domain involves patterning in both within-place and between-place
contexts ...
Landscapes are dynamic constructions, with each community and each
generation imposing its own cognitive map on an anthropogenic world of interconnected morphology, arrangement, and coherent meaning ...
Basically a "landscape" is made by a community living in an environment. Once you have a geological environment that makes sense, landscape archaeology is like... Basically how I feel confident knowing where trade routes would be on a map, where there are areas of continual high conflict, what kinds of agriculture exists where, etc. once the geological stuff is hammered out, it's like...I know how that would influence the local cultures and vice versa. At that point, it's easy to start marking the natural borders, settlements, trade/port cities, and even strategic fortresses. If you have properly put rivers on a map, then marking your port cities is effortless, basically.
Also:
This course syllabus for a Landscape Archaeology class is freely accessible. It includes an online resources page.
Place, Landscape, and Environment: Anthropological Archaeology in 2009
(Landscape Biographies is open access, as is Landscape Archaeology between Art and Science: From a Multi- to an Interdisciplinary Approach. But I wouldn't try to read every essay.)
If you are like me and find it helpful to have video reference for a process/activity in addition to a written guide, Artifexian is a YouTube channel that does a LOT of world building stuff and specifically he's in the process of creating a world following a lot of Worldbuilding Pasta's methodology!
Been enjoying your musings on fanfic ecosystems and thought I'd just share some of my own small observations.
Fandom "migrations" are definitely a thing, where artists and writers move from fandom to fandom based on what's new and exciting like a herd searching for new growth to feed on. There are some fandoms I've been in where you can definitely see something like a population cycle, with a baseline of more permanent fans and more "seasonal" fans that wax and wane.
I'm not really into the MCU movies at all but it's interesting to hear it described as a post-apocylptic wreckage when I think it's doing okay for itself despite the mass extinction. But that's just me whining because smaller fandoms can be desolate and I'd LOVE for some of them to have as much fandom activity as MCU. I think of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones as being similar-ish ecosystems, in that they're big budget mainstream productions that gained enough critical mass to somewhat sustain themselves but nonetheless suffered mass die-off when their main series ended, and in response the IP holders attempt to prop up interest with new spin-offs.
Also, I think the type of content or "canon" has an effect on the type of fandom that grows and what kind of population cycles occur (if any). Some creators have a pretty contentious relationship with fans of their stuff while others I think, deliberately construct their stories in a way to encourage the flourishing of a fandom ecosystem. And a single one-and-done story is going to have a different ecosystem than an ongoing franchise.
I can't remember if you posted it on your blog at some point but there was a chart going around tumblr hypothesizing the sweet spot for a massive fandom to bloom. It has to be just good enough to be compelling, but not so good that all the emotional loose ends are tied up. There needs to be SPACE for that new growth. Related, I remember people observing that fluffy lighthearted source material tends to inspire angst, and dark stories end up with a disproportionate amount of fluff and fix-it fics.
I love all these thoughts. Fandom ecology!
There's a decent amount of activity in MCU fandom comparatively, but I would estimate it's collapsed by over 90% since the days of Avengers Endgame... well within the threshold to qualify for a mass extinction!
But there was so much content and so many fans, the primary productivity of the fandom ecosystem was incredibly high. think like a tropical ecosystem with high precipitation sustaining lots of plant growth and lots of energy to go around on all trophic levels...
Other fandom ecosystems might be like deep underground caves, or high alpine slopes, or deserts that receive moisture only through fog... processes are happening slower, nutrients and essentials of life are more limited
It's an interesting thought... what represents the primary energy source (in our world, sunlight) in this analogy? is it the media itself the fandom is based off of?
No...I think the sunlight must be the love and passion of the fans. The media itself might be the primary producers or maybe the rocks and water of the land...
Hi! Can you explain what really the power of foresight was with Faramir? I read the books earlier this year and I don't really quite understand it. He could predict the future? Like he would see it in his dreams? But how did he found out from Gollum that he was taking frodo and sam to cirith ungol and that he had committed murder before?
No problem, it's one of my favorite topics!
The concise explanation: I think Faramir's foresight/aftersight in terms of visions is a largely separate "power" from his ability to bring his strength of mind and will to bear on other people and animals, and to resist outside influence. The visions seem more a matter of broad sensitivity, something Faramir doesn't appear to have much if any control over. The second power is (in our terms) essentially a form of direct telepathy, limited in some ways but still very powerful, and I think this second ability is what Faramir is using with Gollum.
The really long version:
In my opinion, Faramir (or Denethor, Aragorn, etc) doesn't necessarily read thoughts like a book, particularly not with a mind as resistant as Gollum's. Faramir describes Gollum's mind in particular as dark and closed, it seems unusually soâ
"There are locked doors and closed windows in your mind, and dark rooms behind them," said Faramir.
Still, Gollum is unable to entirely block Faramir's abilities. In LOTR, it does not seem that Gollum can fully block powerful mental abilities such as Faramir's, though his toughness and hostility does limit what Faramir can see. (Unfinished Tales, incidentally, suggests iirc that Denethor's combination of "great mental powers" and his right to use the Anor-stone allowed him to telepathically get the better of Saruman through their palantĂri, a similar but greater feat.) I imagine that this is roughly similar to, but scaled down from, Galadriel's telepathic inquiries of even someone as reluctant to have her in his mind as Boromir, given that Faramir is able to still see some things in Gollum's mind, if with more difficulty than usual.
(WRT Boromir ... ngl, if I was the human buffer between Denethor and Faramir, I would also not be thrilled about sudden telepathic intrusions from basically anyone, much less someone I had little reason to trust.)
Disclaimer: a few years after LOTR's publication, Tolkien tried to systematize how this vague mystical telepathy stuff really works. One idea he had among many, iirc, was that no unwilling person's mind could be "read" the ways that Gollum's is throughout LOTR. IMO that can't really be reconciled w/ numerous significant interactions in LOTR where resistance to mental intrusion or domination is clearly variable between individuals and affected by personal qualities like strength of will, basic resilience, the effort put into opposition, supernatural powers, etc. And these attempts at resistance are unsuccessful or only partially successful on many occasions in LOTR (the Mouth of Sauron, for one example, is a NĂșmenĂłrean sorcerer in the book who can't really contend with Aragorn on a telepathic level).
So I, personally, tend to avoid using the terminology and rationales from that later systematized explanation when discussing LOTR. And in general, I think Tolkien's later attempts to convert the mystical, mysterious wonder of Middle-earth into something more "hard magic" or even scientific was a failed idea on a par with Teleporno. Others differ!
In any case, when Gollum "unwillingly" looks at Faramir while being questioned, the creepy light drains from his eyes and he shrinks back while Faramir concludes he's being honest on that specific occasion. Gollum experiences physical pain when he does try to lie to Faramirâ
"It is called Cirith Ungol." Gollum hissed sharply and began muttering to himself. "Is not that its name?" said Faramir turning to him.
"No!" said Gollum, and then he squealed, as if something had stabbed him.
I don't think this is a deliberate punishment from Faramirâthat wouldn't be like him at allâand I don't think it's the Ring, but simply a natural consequence of what Faramir is. Later, Gandalf says of Faramir's father:
"He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men ... It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try."
So, IMO, Faramir's quick realization that Gollum is a murderer doesn't come from any vision of the future or past involving Gollumâthat is, it's not a deduction from some event he's seen. Faramir does not literally foresee Gollum's trick at Cirith Ungol. His warning would be more specific in that case, I think. What he sees seems to be less detailed but more direct and, well, mystical. Faramir likely doesn't know who exactly Gollum murdered or why or what any of the circumstances were. Rather, Gollum's murderousness and malice are visible conditions of his soul to Faramir's sight. Faramir doesn't foresee the particulars of Gollum's betrayalâbut he can see in Gollum's mind that he is keeping something back. Faramir says of Gollum:
"I do not think you are holden to go to Cirith Ungol, of which he has told you less than he knows. That much I perceived clearly in his mind."
Meanwhile, in a letter written shortly before the publication of LOTR, Tolkien said of Faramir's ancestors:
They became thus in appearance, and even in powers of mind, hardly distinguishable from the Elves
So these abilities aren't that strange in that context. Faramir by chance (or "chance") is, like his father, almost purely an ancient NĂșmenĂłrean type despite living millennia after the destruction of NĂșmenor (that destruction is the main reason "NĂșmenĂłreanness" is fading throughout the age Faramir lives in). Even less ultra-NĂșmenĂłrean members of Denethor's family are still consistently inheriting characteristics from their distant ancestor Elros, Elrond's brother, while Faramir and Denethor independently strike Sam and Pippin as peculiarly akin to Gandalf, a literal Maia like their ancestress Melian:
âAh well, sir,â said Sam, âyou [Faramir] said my master had an elvish air; and that was good and true. But I can say this: you have an air too, sir, that reminds me of, ofâwell, Gandalf, of wizards.â
He [Denethor] turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame.
Meanwhile, Faramir's mother's family is believed to be part Elvish, a belief immediately confirmed when Legolas meets Faramir's maternal uncle:
At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed was one who had elven-blood in his veins.
"Hail, lord!" he [Legolas] said. "It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of LĂłrien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from Amrothâs haven west over water."
In addition to that, Faramir's men believe he's under some specific personal blessing or charm as well as the NĂșmenĂłrean/Elvish/Maia throwback qualities. It's also mentioned by different groups of soldiers that Faramir can exercise some power of command over animals as well as people. Beregond describes Faramir getting his horse to run towards five NazgĂ»l in real time:
"They will make the Gate. No! the horses are running mad. Look! the men are thrown; they are running on foot. No, one is still up, but he rides back to the others. That will be the Captain [Faramir]: he can master both beasts and men."
Then, during the later retreat of Faramir's men across the Pelennor:
At last, less than a mile from the City, a more ordered mass of men came into view, marching not running, still holding together.
The watchers held their breath. "Faramir must be there," they said. "He can govern man and beast."
Tolkien said of the ancient NĂșmenĂłreans:
But nearly all women could ride horses, treating them honourably, and housing them more nobly than any other of their domestic animals. The stables of a great man were often as large and as fair to look upon as his own house. Both men and women rode horses for pleasure ⊠and in ceremony of state both men and women of rank, even queens, would ride, on horseback amid their escorts or retinues ⊠The NĂșmenĂłreans trained their horses to hear and understand calls (by voice or whistling) from great distances; and also, where there was great love between men or women and their favorite steeds, they could (or so it is said in ancient tales) summon them at need by their thought alone.
So it was also with their dogs.
Likely the same NĂșmenĂłrean abilities were used for evil by Queen BerĂșthiel against her cats. In an interview with Daphne Castell, Tolkien said:
She [BerĂșthiel] was one of these people who loathe cats, but cats will jump on them and follow them aboutâyou know how sometimes they pursue people who hate them? I have a friend like that. Iâm afraid she took to torturing them for amusement, but she kept some and used themâtrained them to go on evil errands by night, to spy on her enemies or terrify them.
The more formal version of the BerĂșthiel lore recurs in Unfinished Tales:
She had nine black cats and one white, her slaves, with whom she conversed, or read their memories, setting them to discover all the dark secrets of Gondor, so that she knew those things "that men wish most to keep hidden," setting the white cat to spy upon the black, and tormenting them.
Faramir, by contrast, has a strong aversion to harming/killing animals for any reason other than genuine need, but apparently quite similar basic abilities. He typically uses these abilities to try to compassionately understand other people or gather necessary information, rather than for domination or provoking fear. Even so, Faramir does seem to use his mental powers pretty much all the time with no attempt to conceal what he's doingâhe says some pretty outlandish things to Frodo and Sam as if they're very ordinary, but it doesn't seem that most people he knows can do all these things. This stuff is ordinary to him because it flows out of his fundamental being, not because it's common.
It's not clear how much fine control he has, interestingly. This is more headcanon perhaps, but I don't feel like it's completely under his control, even while it's much more controlled than things like Faramir's vision of Boromir's funeral boat, his frequent, repeated dreams of NĂșmenor's destruction, the Ring riddle dream he received multiple times, or even his suspiciously specific "guess" of what passed between Galadriel and Boromir in LothlĂłrien. Yet his more everyday mental powers do seem to involve some measure of deliberate effort in a lot of the instances we see, given the differing degrees of difficulty and strain we see with the powers he and Denethor exhibit more frequently and consistently.
This is is also interesting wrt Ăowyn, because Tolkien describes Faramir's perception of her as "clear sight" (which I suspect is just Tolkien's preferred parlance for "clairvoyance"). Faramir perceives a lot more of what's going on with Ăowyn than I think he had materially observable evidence forâbut does not see everything that's going on with her by any means. He seems to understand basically everything about her feelings for Aragorn, more than Ăowyn herself does, but does not know if she loves him [Faramir].
I'm guessing that it's more difficult to "see" this way when it's directly personal (one of the tragedies of his and Denethor's relationship is that their shared mental powers do not enable either to realize how much they love each other). But it also doesn't seem like he's trying to overcome Ăowyn's mental resistance the way he was with Gollum, and possibly Frodo and Samâhe does handle it a bit differently when it's not a matter of critical military urgency. With Ăowyn, he sees what his abilities make clear to him, is interested enough to seek out Merry (and also perceive more than Merry says, because Faramir has never been a normal person one day in his life) but doesn't seem to really push either of them.
So I tend to imagine that with someone like Faramir, Denethor, Aragorn etc, we're usually seeing a relatively passive, natural form of low-grade telepathy that simply derives from their fundamental nature and personalities (as we see in Faramir with Ăowyn, possibly Faramir with Aragorn). That can be kicked up to more powerful, forceful telepathy via active exertion of the will (as described by Gandalf wrt Denethor's ability to "bend[] his will thither" to see what passes in others' minds, and seen with Faramir vs Gollum, Aragorn vs the Mouth of Sauron, more subtly Faramir vs Denethor). At a high point of strain this can be done very aggressively or defensively (Denethor vs Gandalf, Denethor vs Saruman, Denethor vs Sauron seriously is there a Maia that man won't fight, Faramir vs the Black Breath given his completely unique symptoms that Aragorn attributes to his "staunch will", possibly Aragorn vs the Black Breath in a healing capacity...).
Anyway, I hope these massive walls of text are helpful or interesting! Thanks for the ask :)
#oh good post#great post actually (via @emyn-arnens)
Belatedly, thank you very much! This reply was stranded in drafts for some reason, but it was fun to put all my thoughts together and further my psionic cryptid Faramir agenda :D
I'm rereading 'Dragonsinger' to my eldest. It's a Dragonriders of Pern book, but part of a young adult side trilogy. Really good trilogy, perfect for isolated teens who feel that the world isn't fair. My teenager has been getting a lot out of it, but this time I've been focused on the disability rep.
Camo is a mentally disabled man who works in the kitchens. There are a lot of things about his portrayal that could bother modern readers - the book was published in 1977, and is purposefully creating a fantasy vibe by using outdated language, so the terms used to describe him are ... NOT politically correct. He doesn't get much of a character arc, or any deep looks into his life. One of his friends uses him to score more food regularly, or uses other people's kindness towards Camo for his own gain. People often have an air of tired tolerance and mild exasperation while they direct him at his job, and there's supposed to be a bit of humour in how much work it can be to keep him on task. And the story doesn't highlight any of these as cruelty - they're just an accepted and normal part of life.
But he's one of around a half-dozen supporting characters that are seen as the 'good guys', and he's on the page a LOT. He has friends and a life outside of the main story. He has interests, and other people adapt things to allow him to engage in those interests. He's been integrated into daily life, and found a niche where he's valuable enough in his job that they struggle when he's gone. We get to see him in multiple different contexts, relating to different people, and enjoying himself and the people he's with. He frequently lifts the main character's mood just by being himself, and she sees him as a friend.
(And that kid who uses him? The 10 year old scamp who manipulates everyone? He genuinely likes Camo, and isn't treating him any differently than he treats his other friends! He manipulates other people for Camo's benefit, as well! He's a sweet kid. Just also a brat.)
It's really nice to see a mentally disabled character this integrated into a story. There's no moral lesson built into his character - he's just there because disabled people exist, and the story works better with a disabled character in that role. While there are some scenes where the humour is borderline at his expense, he isn't a joke character. He offers a way for the writer to showcase her worldbuilding in areas the main character might not otherwise point out, and brings interest to scenes that might otherwise be mechanical. He's someone for us to connect with - we agree, Camo, the fire lizards ARE so pretty! We agree, feeding them is MUCH more interesting than cutting that cheese! We agree, those pies sound DELICIOUS, and we want to enjoy them with you!
There's nothing revolutionary happening here. If this book had come out in the early 2000s, it would have had its main character mocked mercilessly for how much of a Mary Sue she is, so he REALLY isn't the focus.Âč But he's HERE. Casually. Part of the warp the story is woven around. Enriching it.
I don't get to see mentally disabled characters a lot. And adult mentally disabled characters with jobs, a life, and a variety of relationships? Who are free to make their own decisions, and aren't constantly under supervision? I'm really glad to be seeing this one.
-
Âč And she SHOULD be a Mary Sue! You should SEE how excited my eldest gets when characters start telling her how great she is! When her noble sacrifices are noticed and validated. When she's the best, and the coolest. He is loving every second of it and it is feeding a deep need.
Been on an ancient Egypt kick lately after listening to way too many lectures and it got me thinking about Pern again (if I had a nickel for every time I thought about Ancient Egypt and Pern together- see my post on papyrus as the perfect plant for pernese needs)
We have all been making fun of the society of Pern barely changing for 2500 years, but from what I could gather, especially in terms of art and culture, ancient Egyptian society also remained more or less the same for some 3000 years - apparently because unlike in our current society, change and progress wasn't seen as desirable but rather as an agent of chaos threatening the concept of divine balance of Ma'at. Life in ancient Egypt was very cyclical, centered around the regular flooding of the Nile, and disruptions to the cycle was a cause of great concern since insufficient or extreme flooding would be a cause of famines. Life on Pern is also very cyclical, though with much longer cycles of Passes and Intervals, and though deadly, burnt and drowned Thread is the strongest fertilizer. There is already a precedent laid by the colonists to resist progress to avoid war, and other people have already talked plenty about Harpers limiting the spread of information and approving/forbidding new inventions, and I'm just thinking about the potential of connecting it to the Red Star/Thread in some way. Idk.
More fountain pen bird sketches I've done recently while feeling kinda bad about art. I REALLY love birds that have a lot of texture in them, like the wrinkles in the skin of their bald heads, or fun feather shapes. And I LOVE a large bill.
The problem with studying the deep ocean is that humans need light to look at things, the depths of the ocean are extremely dark, and what lives there is accustomed to spending most of its time in that darkness. So when we go down there with submersibles and turn on Big Lights to see, we invariably and dramatically alter what's going on, in the same way that it's generally difficult to observe the natural behaviors of terrestrial animals if you whip out a megaphone and shout HEY GUYS WHAT ARE YOU DOING at them first.
I put this in the comments but feel it needs a reblog- Check out some of Dr Edith Widderâs work on light in the deep sea! Among other things, she used the bioluminescence of stoplight fish to deduce wavelengths which most deep sea animals canât perceive and used that to create light filters to be able to film with minimal disturbance! And thatâs how we got 25 minutes of giant squid footage!!!!
i got these knockoff boots online and instead of the brand name on the tag they have the name of an apparently nonexistent martin scorsese movie??? what the fuck
this post led to a series of events that had martin scorsese himself reacting to his alleged movie goncharov and it has less than 400k notes almost 3 years later?
So I do 3D modeling and printing as a hobby, and a few weeks ago I designed wheel guards meant to prevent office chairs from running over cables and clothes... or your pet's tail.
I got the idea from cowcatchers old locomotives used to have.
Anyways, yesterday I uploaded the model to Thingiverse, and just hours after uploading it, the Community Relationship Manager of the whole website left a comment suggesting I enter the model into a competition that's currently being held on the site.
So I did... and now it's in third place not even a day later. First place is $500, but the competition still has a month to go.
Then the Community Manager contacted me again, telling me they want to feature my model in an upcoming design promotion.
Just, what is happening? I mostly made this thing for myself in, like, an hour, and now it's suddenly super popular? This is all a little bit overwhelming đ”âđ«
Other models I worked on for weeks didn't get nearly as popular. I swear, it's impossible to predict what people will like.
Anyways, if you want to print the wheel guards yourself, you can get the model here or here.
I also made a quiet version you can stick furniture felt pads on.
