#original worlds

[leandre-heart]

beacon

1/3

[deadbaguette]

I’ve received some of the most jaw dropping art this art fight of my two singular ocs that have a fleshed out design that I care about… figured I should post their designs here guys u might actually make me care about my ocs😭

[moardin-arcanis]

Describing Settings - Cities

As much as you love your characters like children, make sure you treat your setting like a home! Your setting is the home you provide to your characters. Cities are a special type of setting, it's developed and well worn. Cities are central hubs for civilization. A city can have just as much character as...well...the characters!

Transit - No matter where you are, characters will need a way to get around. Transit can say many things about a city. A well-developed city may have trains and tram lines, while smaller ones may only have busses. What about the quality of roads? Are they repaved often or full of cracks? What material; cobble roads in modern settings tells you that the city has a lot of history, but a dirt road says you're in the middle of nowhere. In other settings, cobble streets could mean you're in the capital and dirt roads are the norm!

The Smell - Every city has a smell, and I'm not just talking about litter or sewage. Cities close to the water may have an ocean breeze passing though, or maybe the smell of the mountains nearby. It could also correlate to common foods or trades. Not to mention different neighborhoods and districts. The area around factories may smell like grease and metal, but there could a large park that carries the scent of fruits and flowers. The smell of the city will change depending on what is there.

Districts - Get specific! Where in the city do your characters live? Where does the plot live? If your story is a nice part of town, maybe there's smooth sidewalks, or a marvelous view from someone's apartment. If not, maybe people have to worry about rodents crawling about, or slipping on litter. There're districts in cities so give each of them their own identity. If you travel from one part of the city to another, how does the environment change?

Sounds - Cities are usually pretty loud, but it can vary in how. Is there a lot of traffic? In a fantasy setting there may be the clopping of horse hooves or the clatter of a smith's hammer on an anvil. What about a train passing over someone's shitty apartment that, let's be honest, is probably way too close to the tracks to be legal. Then there's the people. If the city is uneasy, maybe people just whisper. If there's a festival, people sing and shout; the air alive with music!

Culture - I'll keep this short as culture deserves its own list one day. Cities are like mini nations and have their own cultural identities. This could be entirely unique, or a hodgepodge of the lands around it and those who trade there. Think about art, food, architecture, music, etc. These all contribute to the feel of the city.

[kingoftheu]

Did you like Project Hail Mary?

Are you craving First Contact stories?

Want to see cross-species cooperation and collaboration?

Do you need more Alien Crabs In Your Life?

How do you feel about epistolary fiction?

Check out my original work, Shades of Life are Ringing. Already completed and ready for your reading pleasure.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[lianshap]

Vaniel - The Hidden Heir

“I didn’t betray them. I just stopped pretending they were right.”

---Rough sketch[Karionian appereance]---

---Rendered version---

Meet Vaniel', the secret heir to the Karion Empire who chose to leave a throne behind to become a shadow in the stars. Now operating under the alias "Vi," she serves as the elite sniper for the Eclipse M-76 squad.

✦ Profile

[IDENTIFICATION: Vaniel' (au) Aethelion]

Name from Act One: Violet Nox(Vi Nox)

Status: Princess in the Shadows

Nicknames: The Hidden Heir / Sniper of Eclipse M-76

Gender: cis Female

Race/Species: Karionian

Age: ~450 years

Specialisation: Long-range precision & shapeshifting

Temperament type: Phlegmatic-melancholic

✦ The Concept: Identity & The Mask

Vaniel is a princess-fugitive who lost herself playing the roles of others. Unlike her cold and cruel kin, she is empathetic and altruistic—traits that serve as both her greatest strength and her most painful weakness.

She possesses a "cursed" ability: she can perfectly mimic the form, voice, and even partial memories of anyone she kills. But every time she wears a new face, her true self drifts further away.

Sometimes she catches herself using a voice that isn’t hers. She doesn’t correct it anymore.

✦ The Appearance (Karionian Form)

Palette: Cold, unearthly beauty. Pale skin with a faint violet tint and metallic texture.

Eyes: Deep indigo with orange glowing irises and elongated pupils.

Distinctions: Unique "crack" markings under her eyes and a small mole beneath her right eye.

Aesthetic: Glowing purple neural lines that pulse through her skin and sharp, hidden fangs revealed only when she smiles. (Still working on a concept lol)

✦ The Struggle

She hesitates before every shot. Not because she might miss—but because she won’t.

Vaniel lives in a constant state of internal conflict. She betrayed her Empire to save her soul, but she carries the guilt of not being able to protect her brother, Maiwen, from exile. While she seeks harmony in the world, she must often deal death from a distance to achieve it.

Every mission brings her closer to the truth. And further from herself.

Primary quote:

“Doing the right thing doesn’t make it hurt less.” Quote to her brother: "Sometimes, to save someone, you have to know how to let go."

See her playlist on Spotify⬇️

Thanks all for reading🫶

[sagerinothethird]

Lowkey want to post about my own universe,,, my little alien world I made,,, would yall be interested in that 🥀🥀 I’ll give a sneak peek by showing the aliens I turned my friends into under the cut & an line up of one species for the regional variation

Left to right: tropical, desert, grassland, jungle, tundra

[duckinpink]

Finally trying to put together my own world

I even have up a language for them, yet I still don't know how to properly organise them....and I don't have the name yet....

So this is just reasons for them covering them hair up for now.