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 itās from a shield. If itās hotspot based volcanic activity why is there only one volcano.
And then the misty mountains!!!! Why isnāt 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 thereās no scale bar and itās all slightly abstracted anyway you can do whatever you want with it. Iāve only just started playing with it but itās 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 ā 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 Geoffās 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 peoplesā 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 communityās 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 landscapeās 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!
Romeo brings the boys to meet Aurora, unknown to her, and tries to butter her up with a good fuck before surprising her with her long-lost children.
also, sheās just really hot and he canāt help himself.
heavilyĀ nsfw -- graphic smut and shit -- youāve been warned, etc.Ā
----
Romeo had let himself in.
He figured thatās what Aurora would have expected, considering she had given him a very specific time to be there and she didnāt seem to be in her own apartment. So, he let himself in and he waited, sitting on the couch in her barely-decorated home with his stomach in knots.
Sheād been so mad the last time heād been here, and he couldnāt help but be nervous about seeing her again. But he yearned for her, and she obviously wanted to see him again, too. He kept having to remind himself that this was her idea. But, then, in the back of his mind he knew that even if she wanted to see him, she definitely did not want what he had in store for her afterwards.
The man breathed out, leaning back against the couch and trying to calm himself down. His mind was full of worry but he didnāt have to focus on those thoughts for long, soon hearing footsteps outside and hearing the sound of the door lock undone. Suddenly, he was sitting straight up again, heart speeding up.
It felt like slow motion as the door swung open. But soon, there she was, standing in the doorway. So tall that the top of her hair almost brushed against the frame as she entered. A few steps inside and she saw him, eyes meeting for a second, and Aurora paused to look at him then. But too soon she tore those eyes away and continued inside, quickly closing the door behind her.
She didnāt look at him as she made her way around the edge of the room, but Romeoās eyes w
ere glued to her. The outfit she was wearing was something he recognized. Not a reef armor, but a formal sort of outfit that only high-ranking soldiers wore. Adorned and made for something like a meeting instead of going out to battle. The kind of thing heād seen a lot of back in the days of being a liaison.
Only, Aurora wasnāt high-ranking back then. She was a simple soldier with a dream of working her way up. And now, looking at her, he knew that she had made it. The purple coat adorned with gold, long buttons on the front that kept it tight against her body. He could easily see every strong curve of her form outlined by the outfit.
Aurora set the few belongings she had carried in down on a table nearby, letting out an audible huff before she cast a glance back at him. But Romeo barely registered it, eyes still tracing her body.
āYouāre gawking, Romeo.ā She spoke in reeftongue, voice cutting through his thoughts. He realized his mouth had fallen open and Romeo quickly shut it, forcing his eyes upwards to her face. Aurora shook her head, mumbling quietly. āYou always were prone to gawking.ā
The man leaned forward slowly, a small hesitance in his chest as he replied. āItās hard not to.ā A compliment, testing the waters and trying to figure out where the two of them currently stood. When it wasnāt meant with a negative reaction, he added on. āThe outfit looks great. It really suits you.ā
Another huff, a click of the tongue, acting like she was annoyed by the compliment. But he swore he saw the smallest curl of her lips before her face turned out of view completely. A success, heād say. Romeo grew a little bit braver.
He slid off of the couch, coming to stand and approach her slowly. Everything was always calculated when it came to Aurora ā all those years ago, and especially now. She had been so mad the last time theyād seen each other and he was sure that anger wasnāt completely gone, even if sheād summoned him here.
āIām glad you asked me to come.ā He said to her once he got closer. In the back of his mind he felt like she had asked him here for a very specific reason from the way the message had been worded. Still, Romeo didnāt want to make assumptions and get ahead of himself.
He got close enough to Aurora that he could touch her and she didnāt seem to move away. Or, move at all, really, but still. Her form towered over his, not only in height ā though she was only a few inches taller ā but in mass. The woman had a solid, thick, almost titan-like body. Even stronger than it had been in the past, unless he was misremembering.
Cautiously, he dared reach out and touch her, putting his hands on her shoulder blades and beginning to rub his thumbs in circles like the tiniest massage. Under his fingers, her muscles felt just as tight and strong as heād expected.
āIād love to catch up with you, Aurora.ā He said to her, letting his voice quiet to a hush. āIām sure thereās a lot that youād like to tell me, after all these āā
Suddenly, she moved. Like an animal that sprang, Aurora whipped around to face him. Right away, Romeoās body crumbled in submission to the action, shoulders and head lowering under those piercing eyes. He half expected the woman to hurt him, maybe this whole thing was a trap because she was still pissed, but she just put her hands on her hips and loomed over him.
āI think you and I both know that I didnāt call you here to talk, Romeo.ā She said, pretty much confirming the suspicions that Romeo had for her call. āAfter last time? Iād be happy if we never talked about anything ever again.ā
Hurtful, maybe a little bit, but Aurora always did have a tendency to be harsh. The thought was quickly dismissed, though, the idea of what she was implying exciting him.
His kids were literally waiting ā he knew he probably shouldnāt be doing this. But, God, was he ever going to have that chance again? Especially after she met them?
āYeah?ā He breathed, growing bold again as he let his hands reach out towards her chest. Reaching up, his fingers traced the first button of her uniform in a small circle before he took it in between his fingers, undoing it while looking up at her face for any signs that his actions werenāt allowed. But her gaze was straight and stone-cold, unreadable in that moment even for him.
And yet, she hadnāt stopped him. So, he moved down to the next button. And the next. Getting about four undone before the opening was wide enough to pull the fabric apart and see the curve of her breasts. His eyes moved down, savoring the muscles of her shoulders that he could see as his hands moved to try and unbutton her more.
But, suddenly, she did move. The next thing Romeo knew, sheād grabbed both of his wrists in her iron grip, pulling them away from her. Eyes flicked back up to her face, confused when it had been going so well.
āIāve been at training and meetings all day.ā She told him. āIām going to go wash.ā
There was a flicker of disappointment from her words, a burning already settling in the pit of Romeoās stomach. But he could think fast, even with her holding his wrists tightly. He leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss on her blue skin that heād uncovered. In the small gesture, he could taste the salt of her skin, the proof of her hard day, but it didnāt deter her at all.
āI donāt think thatās necessary.ā He purred at her, kissing her again, tasting her skin. āIāll gladly take you as you are right now, my goddess.ā
He didnāt look up at her after he said that, remaining where he was with his lips only an inch away. A long pause settled over them, and then suddenly, he felt her strong arms begin to push him. The gesture was obeyed, moving the direction she wanted him to go until he felt the couch brush against the back of his legs.
āStay.ā She ordered as she released his arms, finally, and she pulled away. Romeo watched curiously as she moved to the center of the room again and began to finish unbuttoning the rest of her top, pulling it open. Beginning to undress right in front of him. And though he wished that he could be the one taking her clothes off, he continued to listen, staying in place as her clothes came off.
And then, Aurora was naked in front of him. Not wasting any time, or playing any games. Romeoās eyes scoured every dip and curve and scar that he could find on her hard body.
āKneel.ā The word wasnāt a suggestion, but an order, one given by a woman who knew the power she held.
He didnāt dare disobey, the man dropping to his knees on the floor in front of the couch without much hesitation at all. She continued to approach until she came to stop right in front of him.
āIf you insist on plaguing my thoughts.ā Auroraās tone was accusing, as if he actually, purposely made her think of him. Still, the man took it as a compliment. Suddenly, she moved, swinging one of her legs up and onto the couch on one side of him, exposing herself with the action. āThen make yourself useful.ā
It was a bit of a change from how it used to be, where he had to slowly and carefully touch her to even earn the privilege of more. But now, she was cutting right to the chase, telling him what he would do. Still, no complaints were made. Heād do practically anything for her.
He placed a hand on the raised leg, touching the underside of her thigh as he leaned forward. Kissing near her knee and then trailing upwards towards her core with his mouth. His lips fluttered over Auroraās skin with a calculated sense of hunger, the sweat on her skin only making him want her more.
As he reached the center, he heard her inhale above him and he paused, waiting to see if she was about to speak. But she didnāt, and instead he felt her hand touch the back of his head, threading into his hair and giving him a slight push forward as if to say ā continue.
And continue he did, Romeo moving forward with a flick of his tongue against her. Just a small taste at first, a couple more following, but he couldnāt continue teasing her for long as her grip tightened and he knew she wanted more.
Romeo shifted his body, lowering his stance and twisting himself into a position that would be easier for him. As he leaned forward again, he wrapped an arm around her leg that was still on the ground, other hand continuing to rest on her thigh.
One big, full swipe of his tongue and he heard her breath hitch. He tasted all of her, surprised by how ready she was despite the fact that there had been very little foreplay. She must have really wanted him, as if that hadnāt been obvious by the fact sheād called him to come across the solar system and please her.
It had been years since theyād been together, but everything clicked into place. In the back of his mind he slowly remembered how heād pleased Aurora before. The way she had liked it when she was younger, and now, it seemed to be the same. His tongue flicked and danced just like old times and it wasnāt long before he could tell the woman was coming close.
Her grip was so tight, pressing him forward almost to the point where he couldnāt breathe. And yet, Romeo continued, focusing on nothing other than the sounds that the woman towering above him made, the control sheād had melting away into desperate panting. Her body shifted forward, using the couch as support as her hips rolled against his tongue.
And then, with a stifled whimper, she released. Romeoās grip on her tightening as well in response, lapping his tongue desperately against all of her sweet spots. He could feel the tensing of her muscles as his tongue worked, not stopping as she rode it out against his face for a long moment. And then, with a huff of breath, she pushed his head back away.
And for a long moment, he looked up at Aurora. Her bright eyes staring at his as her shoulders heaved with breath. Her mouth hung open as she gazed down at him, composure all but lost for a long minute before suddenly seemed to return. That spark in her eyes was back and her mouth shut, lips tightening.
She pulled back a step, and though sheād seemed to try and compose herself, Aurora also seemed to hesitate. Still looking down at Romeo on the floor. He didnāt dare move ā not until she told him it was okay.
Nostrils flared as she moved forward, raising a foot and suddenly pressing her heel in between Romeoās legs. He gasped, the feeling sudden but pleasant ā he had gotten rather hard while he was pleasing her. She applied the pressure for a few long seconds, her foot grinding against him before she pulled it back.
For a moment, Romeo was uncertain if he was going to get anything out of this. If heād done enough to earn it in her eyes, or if she would just let him suffer. He wouldnāt be surprised if she did, especially with her anger towards him sheād had before.
But luck was on his side as Aurora raised her hand, pointing a finger towards the door close to them.
āMy bedroom.ā She ordered, and he quickly shifted forward, crawling out from under her shadow before coming to stand. āUndress yourself.ā
āAs you wish, darling.ā
Even Romeoās usually controlled tone dripped with a small sense of excitement, quickly scurrying his way into the womanās bedroom and beginning to undress himself. He was glad in that moment that heād opted for more casual clothing than his hunter armor.
Heād barely gotten his clothes all the way off when he felt Aurora push him towards the bed. His back hit the blankets and she was on top of him, straddling, wasting no time at all. Romeoās hands found themselves on the womanās hips, moving up and down. Her weight pressed him down against the bed in the best way.
Auroraās face twisted and her teeth gritted, one hand grabbing Romeoās chin and holding his head in place.
āYou stupid lightfilth.ā She growled at him. āI should hate you.ā
Pushing against her grasp, he twisted his head so he could kiss one of her fingers gently, not responding out loud. She scoffed at the gesture and tightened her grip on his face, genuinely looking furious at him as she leaned in.
But, when she kissed him, it was a different story. Forceful, but in a different way, a familiar way. It caught Romeo off guard for a second, but when she kissed him a second time, he returned it. His arms moved up her body and Auroraās grip on his face disappeared.
Her hand trailed down his chest as the kiss deepened. And in that moment, eyes closed as they touched each other, it almost felt like how it used to be. Almost ā but not exactly ā his fingers tracing the harder muscles and the new scars in her skin that werenāt there before.
Auroraās hand made it all the way down his chest and she grabbed him, stroking his length slowly as they shared a few more slow, somewhat-sloppy kisses. Suddenly, she squeezed him, and he gasped quietly into her mouth. And that was when she pulled away from the kisses completely, the smallest hint of a smirk on her lips as she left him breathing heavy against the pillow.
The woman sat back a bit, shifting her weight so that she could position herself. Time seemed to slow down, his tip pressing against her entrance for what seemed like the longest second of his life. But Aurora pressed herself down onto him in one quick motion, and Romeo made a quiet noise in the back of his throat.
His hands grabbed at her hips again, grip almost desperate, and she began to move. Riding him in a slow rhythm, one that he quickly matched with his own movements as much as he could. Her thighs around his body kept him in place and made it hard for him to move that much.
But ā shit ā it felt so good. Romeoās fingers dug into her legs and he gasped, unsure of how he could possibly last very long.
Aurora leaned forward again, continuing to rock her body as she brought her face close to his. He pushed up on his elbows a bit so he could kiss her, slow and gentle, and it was returned.
āYouāre so gorgeous.ā He breathed against her lips. Words meant to flatter, but ones he completely meant all the same. Even through all the years, heād never met a woman that had taken his breath away the way Aurora did.
The only response he got was a quiet mmm against his lips as she kissed him again, her pace quickening and his doing the same. The bed rocked with their motions, his arms coming to wrap around her completely. The kisses became harder to focus on, every ounce of Romeoās attention focused on his approaching climax.
And he could tell that Aurora was getting close, too, the way her breathing against his mouth came in huffs. Ā Small sounds against his lips here and there, something that she only did when her focus was torn from keeping her composure. Romeo kissed her one more time, just a little peck, and he whispered to her.
āOne more time.ā With every motion, he tried to bury himself in her, but she was still in control for the most part. āOne more time, love.ā
A muffled noise came from the woman, her motions becoming less timed, sloppier, more desperate as they grew close together.
Another sound from her mouth, a muffled āRā. And then her lips fell open completely, and she breathed his name out loud.
āRomeo.ā The first time was barely a whisper, a slew of reef obscenities following afterwards, and then, louder. āOh ā Romeo. Fuck ā fuck you.ā
And then, a gasp as Aurora came, her thighs tightening around him and squeezing his body as it shook her. The feeling of it and the sound of her pleasure was too much for Romeo to handle, too, and within a few more small motions of his own hips he was releasing as well.
The moment was blinding and white hot, his fingers aching from how hard his hands dug into her hard body. But as Romeo came down from the high, he let his eyes open, their gazes meeting one more time. Blurry eyes focused, seeing the tiredness that Auroraās face now held from the event.
They stayed like that for a long few seconds, sweat beaded on her forehead. Romeo smiled at her, a gentle smile, and that seemed to snap her out of it.
She rolled off of him, the bed creaking as she let her weight fall onto it. Romeo shifted, too, turning towards her and watching her chest heave with breath. In that moment, her guard was down, her features softer than heād seen since they had met again. And all he wished was that he could bury his head against her neck like old times and they could rest after being intimate.
He almost dared move closer to her, but he didnāt want to risk making her angry. Instead, he let his hand move towards her only and he touched her arm. Gently tracing a heart with his fingertip and wishing things could be different.
But, no, in the back of his mind he knew that he couldnāt let this moment linger nearly as much as he wanted to. The boys had come to meet their mother, and soon enough, Romeo was sure Auroraās anger would return.
āAurora. Darling.ā He said, shifting just a little bit closer but still not touching her. Her eyes flicked to him, not speaking, and he continued. āThereās something Iād like to show you.ā
set in the early timeline -- years before, when Aurora was young and before Diego and Andreas were born.
-----------
The transmission ended, and Romeo tilted his head to cast an apologetic smile towards Aurora. But sheād already turned her head away, the slight softness of her features that heād been graced with moments before gone as her face hardened back to itās normal state.
āYouāre leaving, arenāt you?ā She stated more than she asked. Though she probably couldnāt have understood the words of Romeo and the other Guardian speaking back and forth, his tone as heād tried to argue was one of disappointment. Aurora was intelligent enough to pick up on that.
Romeo let out a breath, wishing that he didnāt have to tell her the truth as he answered in her tongue. āTheyāre calling us back to the city early, since the negotiations went by more quickly than they expected.ā
She nodded, once. Throwing her legs over the side of her bed and coming to sit up straight and proper. He reached out and touched her shoulder with his fingertips, chest aching. Theyād only been able to spend a single night together when there was supposed to be three more to come. But the reef diplomats had been surprisingly generous with the meeting and Romeoās small team of liaisons had finished their job early.
āIām sorry, my darling.ā He breathed out, and she finally looked at him again, eyes sharp as she simply said.
āDonāt.ā
And Romeo pressed his lips together, but he didnāt take his hand away. As their eye contact lingered, the daggers began to fade from her gaze. An exhale, nostrils flaring, and he could swear she was physically trying to hold her composure in that moment.
āDonāt apologize to me. Itās just how things are.ā She finally said, less sharp, voice quieter. Romeoās fingertips made small circles on her skin and he wished that it didnāt have to be. Trying not to linger on the thought, he pulled his hand away completely. He had plans that were messed up, now, from having to leave early. But he could at least improvise.
Gently, quietly, he brought his hands together, twisting at a ring that he had been wearing on his pointer finger until it came off.
āAurora.ā He said her name to catch her attention again as sheād looked away during the silence. When she did glance his way, he reached out to take her hand and bring it closer to him. Wordlessly, he took the ring and slid it onto her finger instead.
āWhat are you doing?ā She asked, jerking her hand back a little late and bringing the ring up to her face, studying it. āWhat is this?ā
āSomething to remember me by.ā Romeo told her, and she looked at him almost with suspicion. He reached out to take her hand once more, in between his own, running a thumb over her hand gently as he looked down at the ring.
It seemed simple. A silver ring with a rather large, black stone set into it. Both plain and flashy at the same time.
āI couldnāt possibly wear this. Itās not practical.ā She said to him, and he let out a small huff of laughter. It seemed typical of her to say something like that.
āYou donāt have to wear it if you donāt want. But please, my goddess, keep it.ā He said. āI only bought it because it reminded me of you.ā
āHowā¦?ā Her brows were furrowed with confusion, and he smirked just slightly. The question that heād been hoping that Aurora would ask him.
āBecause āā
He cupped the hand so he could bring it up to his face, pressing his lips against the stone for a long few seconds, longer than a simple kiss needed to be. But when he pulled away, again, the reasoning was clear. The heat from his mouth had changed the stone, the black fading where his lips had been and revealing the stoneās hidden color.
A beautiful shade of blue, sparkling and gleaming for a second before the cold of the room began to fade it back to black.
āIt reminded me of your beautiful skin the moment I saw it.ā
āRomeoā¦ā She said his name, trying to sound annoyed, but he took note of the slightest darkening of her face as she pulled her hand away from his, closing it into a fist. But her thumb touched at the stone gently and he felt like, even if she wouldnāt admit it to him, she would keep the ring as he wanted. āYou should go, before they begin to search for you.ā
A sigh. āProbably so.ā He said, but he didnāt move to get up right away. Instead, he shifted to close the gap between them, touching Auroraās face. Leaning in, he intended to kiss her, but her lips met his before he had even leaned in that far as Aurora took control of the moment.
The kiss was long and full, both of them slow as they moved. Words implied that couldnāt be spoken out of fear and duty, an aching that was mutual and not fair for either of them. Star-crossed lovers from across the solar system. He always hated to leave her, and their time together was always much too brief.
Eventually, the kisses had to come to an end as well, Puck beeping quietly to him only to signal that the others were calling him again. He pulled away, tapping her open lips with his index finger twice and offering what he could of a smile, despite the ache in his chest.
āIāll be back.ā He promised, and she nodded again, just once, as he pulled away.
pixelskylines
origamiaround
gummygunk
baratheonpilled
titsay
2087
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
