...AKA red apricots were in the grocery store, nom.
Apricots are one of many, many things that made it from China to Rome and Europe by way of the Silk Road. And not by accident. What traveled across continents came by human will and tenacity, yes - but also because of the realities of human evolution. This shows up most dramatically in spices, fruits, and... well, silk is the classic, but really anything light and shiny.
The quest for spices (of the seasoning variety, not the trade meaning of āsmall, light, and valuableā) is a quest to make things taste different in an appealing way. And yes, this goes back to evolution. No oneās entirely sure if the baseline mammal ancestor was a plain omnivore or a mostly-insectivorous beastie, but our branch of the mammal line falls squarely into the omnivore bin. We come from an ancestry that had an incredibly broad tolerance for what constituted āedibleā, and ate to match. Seriously, we eat alliums. Those can flat-out kill carnivores that get too much of a nibble. Their livers canāt detoxify onion relatives. While humans, and probably the whole hominid line went, āooo... spicy grass. Nom.ā
Fruits have been a quest of humans since before there were humans as well. Primates have full color vision, unlike most mammals, and itās believed one of the reasons that evolved was for us to find ripe fruit to eat. Sugars, other good vitamins yay; unripe fruits can be toxic, or at least Not Good for you digestion-wise. We eat so much fruit, in fact, that primates are one of the few mammal groups that canāt synthesize our own vitamin C. No, really. Unless something goes drastically wrong, dogs and cows and other such critters will never get scurvy. Humans? Go without fresh fruit and veggies a while, and itās bad.
Shiny things like silk... that we think goes back to possibly the first hominids in savannah environments. One of the most critical things for a hominid to find on the savannah? Rippling, shiny, sparkly water. We are drawn to Shiny. For survival.
People seeking trade have logical goals of profit and loss, of course. But all trade is based on wants as well as needs. And we often want what evolution says is āyes, more of this to live, thanksā.
So if youāre setting up a situation in which people want things, consider these. Especially if youāre setting up a situation where people who are not human want things. What did their evolution select for? What is their āyes, more of this please?ā A red dragon might want things that evoke the heat and sulfur of a volcanic vent; a ki-rin, the calm of a secluded valley. An alien race? Something their ancestral ecology had as a critical resource.
I know the "disabled villain" trope isn't good representation but y'know. I DO kind of get it. Sometimes my whole body hurts so bad that I could probably make an evil death laser. Sometimes things claim to be wheelchair accessible and are so incredibly inaccessible that I consider world domination just to fuckin fix it. I can see the appeal of becoming Evil And Scary to stop the stares. I am tired of being Polite and (ironically) Accommodating, answering "what's wrong with you?" over and over. Having minions would also be quite helpful.
Sometimes youāre inspired. Sometimes you have to follow Jack Londonās advice and light out after inspiration with a club. Either way, there are things you can set up that will help you take full advantage of inspiration, however you grab it. So, in no particular order....
Drinking water. Thereās nothing quite as uncooperative with the wordsmithing as a dehydrated brain.
Sleep. (I am notoriously bad at getting enough when Iāve peopled too much.)
Box of tissues. If you hit a heart-rending moment with your characters, Heroic Sacrifices are a classic, you will need them. Go ahead and cry. Sniffle and keep writing.
Chocolate or other mild stimulants/caffeine/sugar. Thereās little more frustrating that getting half a page in and having your brainās fuel gauge suddenly ping empty.
Decent meals. Protein and veggies are a must to keep the brain in good condition.
Regular mild exercise. Yes, getting up and pacing as you work out an action scene is good for this.
Favorite pens/pencils/writing implements of destruction. Your favorite things to use are often what you can write with quickest, and anything that helps you get words on the page faster will help you maximize that breath of inspiration.
A library card. Libraries donāt just give you access to physical books. (Which are awesome!) They also potentially give you access to other databases for book research. Note that especially with small libraries, the number of people using them affects their funding; and you want more people to have places to get your books!
Materials for a more physical hobby. Sometimes your hands need to work to get your brain unsnarled. And sometimes just knowing you have other options can let you buckle down to the writing.
Time off. Not just time off to write. Time off from writing, in which youāre free to do other things; like check out that new vampire detective book you ran across. Nothing burns out bunnies into a three-year-oldās tantrum faster than, āYou have to do this.ā
(Iām also very bad at this. Partly because the workload of my day job changed. Used to be there were legit bits of free time I could scribble half or even a whole post in. Now to do the same job thereās more equipment to manage and a lot more peopleing. Sigh.)
And last but not least, a dictionary. You donāt want to drop your hero into shenanigans without being sure what that means.
Note: While Websterās Third International Dictionary lists that wordās origin as āunknownā, a 1920s Irish-English dictionary traced it back to an Irish Gaelic saying, sionnachuighim, translated as āI play the foxā, or more loosely, āfox tricksā. So if you can imagine a playful, or daring kitsune pulling it off? Thatās literally a shenanigan.
A lot of writers want their heroes to be underdogs. Thatās fine, if you donāt overdo it; a character has to have some good in their lives to be properly heroic. But consider how you weight the odds against your hero. Lack of funds? Common, though curious readers may wonder why the hero doesnāt just get a better job. Family troubles? Oh boy everyone can tell stories. Physically disabled, by war wound or otherwise? Challenging, but something a hero can usually overcome.
Which may result in your hero solving their problem... and that either tends to end the series, or push it toward a greater focus on outside enemies. Some stories do okay with that. Some really donāt.
But if youāre looking for an ongoing, if sometimes merely background cause to be an underdog? There are some problems even the most heroic character canāt work hard enough to fix. Especially when the problem is how their brain interprets the world. No, you donāt have to go hard into mental illness. There are far less serious - but potentially almost as damaging - problems to have.
One example? Face blindness.
Youāve probably heard of the most extreme cases; where the affected person canāt recognize their own wife/child/relatives. That is indeed a daunting handicap. But it also shows up in lesser forms. People who need to see and interact with the same person lots of times before they can reliably even get a sense of familiarity, much less, āOh, thatās Bob.ā
It doesnāt sound like a hardship. But given how social we human beings are, it is crippling. Your average person expects you to at least know their face (even if you forget their name) and interact with them socially as an acquaintance after you meet them once.
And the faceblind person canāt.
This is a stranger acting like they have the right to be in your personal space. To ask you personal questions. To expect to walk in your blindspot and into your work area without consequences.
Generally speaking, this does not go well.
And it doesnāt go well from the time the character is old enough to be expected to recognize people as individuals. As we all know, Kids Are Cruel. If they realize you canāt be sure who stole your homework, or pushed you on the playground, or called you nasty names... to have faceblindness is to grow up constantly wary of people, because you often canāt tell if theyāre someone you can trust. Or someone you know you shouldnāt trust.
Note, faceblindness doesnāt mean that you canāt see and describe a person in front of you. You can see them just fine. Itās just the details of the face do not easily cohere into, āOh, thatās Bob, I know Bob.ā A faceblind person has to resort to other ways to identify friends and foes. Recognizing voices. The way a person moves. A characteristic outfit. A faceblind person might, for example, hear someone give their phone number and realize, āOh, thatās X guy who I had a good/bad interaction with. Resetting social defenses accordingly.ā
There are lots of ways to give your characters a hard time dealing with the world. This is one that would touch everything your hero has ever done and ever will.
...You might want to go for the war wound instead. Depends on how tough a character you mean to write!
When youāre writing a story, you have to keep track of where your characters are when, and why. Or you end up with that bit played for humor in The Emperorās New Groove: āWait. How did we get here before them?ā
On a more background scale, though, you also have to keep track of where objects are, and why, and if or when they move. Thatās part of your story continuity, and readers will be left with a nagging sense of something Not Right if you ignore it. Itās also part of your worldbuilding, because a lot of things move because people move them. And that tells you a lot about the culture, the history, and day to day life. Fishing boats move with the tide, or the sea and land breezes, or both. Or donāt move, if thereās a bad storm coming. Or rush out of the harbor in a near-tangle of rigging when a rich schoolās been spotted.
Objects moving is the heart of trade, and trade shapes (and is shaped by) the cultures trading. If your characterās cooking with a calamansi (a distinctly southeast Asian/Philippines citrus) when the local grocery storeās in the USA, thatās going to take some explaining. Likewise if your characterās in Japan and orders fries - and gets them hot with ketchup instead of cold with mayo. And never forget the Great Sāmores Controversy, when a famous chef described that legendary campfire dessert as āsomething like a meringue with ganache between two digestivesā.
...Britain, you see, has neglected to import graham crackers. And from that woeful failure horrible misunderstandings have flowed.
Ahem.
Point being, whateverās going on in your story, a lot of whatās going on in your world will Ā be the ongoing background movement of Wanted Things to people who want them and are willing to pay the costs of transport. This gives you wonderful opportunities!
Your main characterās coffeehouse is out of their favorite bean. He staggers into the next store decaffeinated, and promptly stumbles over a body. Cue the mystery.
The Great Demon Lord has awakened, and can only be slain by a sword forged from star-metal! ...We think a meteorite may have landed in the Howling Wastes. Quick, retrieve it before the Demon Horde can!
Your heroes are up against a Ticking Clock to rescue an innocent, theyāre going to make it just under the wire-!
On the harbor bridge in front of them, a freak waterspout turns over an Amazon truck, causing immediate traffic jams and who knows how many lost packages. Now what? (Yes, this has actually happened.)
And donāt neglect bits that can give your world awesome backstory. Like the breast ornament of Tutankhamen, made of beads of Baltic amber; meaning trade between the Baltic Sea and Ancient Egypt happened, even if we donāt know how long any step took. Which in turn means that if you want an ancient Egyptian artifact to have been hidden ābeyond the ends of the earthā - maybe your heroes should try looking north!
More people need to learn history. Itās amazing, there are so many nooks and crannies thereās going to be something of interest for everyone, and it is great fodder for worldbuilding and story ideas. The problem is that the way schools teach it is boring. If you donāt have a strong family tradition of āand hereās what our relatives were doing at X timeā to get you personally connected to history, how do you get intrigued enough to dig deeper?
Well, this is an off-the-wall suggestion.
Historical Hitpoints
A trading card game as a way to teach history? Why not?
Also, people need more exposure to the idea that while people are people, no matter what year or culture, what people find attractive does differ depending on where or when you are.
13th century thirst traps
...Though I have to admit, a lot of that would still work on me....
Ahem. Speaking of things that work - skill versus style. Skill wins.
Beryl VS Allucia & Spur
As some of the comments about this anime have noted, itās interesting to see both fantasy and real sword fighting given their due in the same story. Like Rock, Paper, Scissors; real sword fighting is meant to be used against humans, it beats fantasy-swordplay. The anime techniques are in turn meant to be used against monsters, so all those wild tactics and magic beat them. While monsters in turn are aimed at killing humans, meaning a real swordfighter is at a disadvantage!
And when it comes to magic and disadvantages... this is just funny.
The DM Said "Are You Sure?"
Yep. Those are three words you never want to hear!
The people of Tian Shi Yuan, called the Celestial Empire, are known for their love of silk, their love of poetry... and their love of beautiful, deadly, incredibly explosive fire magic.
Through bribery, threats, spies, and more, the Khan has unlocked many of these fiery secrets. But not all.
Yet that is not the Empireās greatest secret.
Even more than the Khan wants the knowledge of the fire-lances, he wants to take Diaoyucheng.
When the full might of the Horde became clear decades ago, the Horde-Defying Fortresses were built; twenty-four forts with all the advantages of terrain, and disadvantages to horsemen, the Empire could find or build. Twenty-four forts, to hold the heart of the southern Empire and defy the Horde to the last.
Twenty-three have fallen.
Sea-washed, river-shielded, Diaoyucheng stands. Through flood, through fire, through two decades of the worst Horde armies could bring to their gates, Diaoyucheng stands. Through plague, through treachery, the Emperorās banner ever flying - Diaoyucheng stands.
The Khan has taken measures to remedy this.
He has bribed pirates to take the port, and cut their supply line.
(Fleets of ships have vanished in serpentine coils. Daifang, loyal but tiny ally to the Empire, could not send soldiers. But their shamans could persuade an imugi that Diaoyuchengās estuary was as good a place as any to wait for a dragon pearl. The imugi is nine hundred years old and more than willing to take out all nine centuries of cranky on pirates.)
He has forcibly moved the Mansion of Fireflies to Horde-held territory near Diaoyucheng, to treat all illnesses among his men.
(In that he succeeded. But the Mansion of Fireflies is its own story, and the Khan has regrets.)
He has, in one narrow-eyed moment, poisoned the very river leading to the sea.
(That went... badly. And made clear Diaoyucheng, the Fish Fortress, is thronged with river-keepers and sea-wardens aplenty, all furious at the destruction of their people.)
The fortress stands. But no other kingdom has resisted the Horde. The fall of Diaoyucheng is only a matter of time.
...Yet while it stands, it holds the greatest secret of all.
The Emperor is not there.
And so long as the Son of Heaven lives unconquered, Tian Shi Yuan cannot fall.
White Catās Bluff Lore Drop: Emperor Across the Waves
There are rumors of a land across the Eastern Ocean. Ridiculous, of course. A land beyond the farthest coast of Tian Shi Yuan, beyond the wild isles of Fusou and Mizuho? Everyone knows thereās nothing out there but seabirds, deep dragons, and a slow death by starvation as the Dark Current bears you to doom.
And if you did survive on the Dark Current long enough to find lands beyond the realms of mortal ken, youād never get back. The storms are too strong, the current, never-failing. Youād have to find a completely different path of wind and water, and hope it brought you back to a port with food and water before the whole crew succumbed to privation.
(Or before a cranky deep dragon or hook-tailed whale ate you. Odds are the monsters would get you first.)
And if you sailed off, and somehow got back, with lore of a new harbor burning on your tongue - sailors would talk. Sailors always talk.
...True, the Horde doesnāt have much use for sailors, or ships, or anyone who can suddenly decide to vanish where no deadly horse-archers can ride. And true, a lot of fishing villages are actually hard to find from dry land; their fleets pulling into more profitable harbors to deliver fresh or prepared fish before they sail for home.
And itās certainly true that many former fishing villages of Tian Shi Yuan have vanished. Whether into the maws of evil guai, the nets of slavers, or the lesser isles off the coasts, none would dare to say.
(The rumors fly, though. Oh, do they fly.)
So the odd fruits and herbs and rumors of odder creatures must simply come from sorcery gone somewhat right. Itās happened before, after all. The golden rice that grants better night-sight. The jade cabbage that strengthens aging bones. The amethyst sea-bramble that, er, restores proper manliness. In case youāre ever caught in the Emperorās harem and have to survive the night.
(So rumors say. Those in actual knowledge of the Rear Palace know that the concubines wouldnāt kill you. The ladiesā maids would do the job - and theyād make it hurt.)
The pearl limes, the spinach-millet, the earth-apples; they must simply be more useful magical accidents. After all, the phoenix fruits! Obviously the collaboration of a fire mage and a hungover druid.
...And those rumors of giant freshwater eels that can control lightning are just silly. What water creature uses lightning magic?
(Dragons donāt count.)
Really, if any of these were real, sailors would talk.
It is odd, though, that some Celestial noble clans are neither counted among the dead nor the enslaved. Including the young prince most favored to be the Emperorās heir.
Very odd.
But there couldnāt be a settlement of Tian Shi Yuan in the Uttermost East... could there?
If you need a reason in your story for characters to do something completely weird and oddball, without actually being oddballs, consider the worldbuilding aspect of people trying to get lucky.
...No, not that kind of lucky.
Well, alright, that too - but itās not the main focus.
Throughout history, no matter how well you plan, how smart you are, or how hard you work, people have attributed a lot of success or failure to luck. (Sometimes correctly.) And the efforts of people to grab good luck and ward off bad luck can take you down some very strange rabbit-holes.
I mean, most people have heard about tossing a pinch of spilled salt over your shoulder, or rival football universities kidnapping the other guysā mascots.
(Or, nastier, in one case poisoning a grove of beloved trees. Wasnāt just the Alabama football fans outraged over that one.)
But hereās an actual exchange that (almost) could take place in Korean history.
Jason: āOkay, Ha-neul, what are we doing out here in the dark?ā
Ha-neul, as they hide in the darkness outside Chaeās house walls: āWhat do you think? Itās the fourteenth night of the first month!ā
Jason: āI know what day it is. Again, what are we doing?ā
Ha-neul: (Deep sigh.) āGuarding Grandmother Chaeās yard from soil thieves.ā
Jason: ā...What.ā
Ha-neul: āSheās lucky. So... people are going to try and steal soil from her yard to steal her luck and add it to their cooking fire tomorrow.ā
Jason: (Facepalms.)
Ha-neul: āDidnāt Lee Cheong tell you about this? His fatherās yangban, they have to post guards this night.... Stealing the soil of fortune. Your people donāt do that?ā
Jason: ā...No, though some of my relatives have done different things with stolen soil that would curl your hair. So, Chae would think she lost some of her luck?ā
Ha-neul: āNo, Chae doesnāt believe that. Heathen Wuyu, what can you say? But people here believe it. And if they think sheās lost her luck, our job gets harder. Not to mention....ā
An unearthly cackle echoes on the night breeze.
Ha-neul: ā...What happens if she catches someone before we do...!ā
(Jason is referring to brick dust and graveyard soil, which can be used in quite a few traditions to bring ill-luck, indeed.)
jbbartram-illu
vaporwave
prguitarman
ellievsbear
blakekathryn
annaxmalina
germansingergirl
janainaart
