I’ve been watching people react to the new Witch Hat Atelier anime, and I just realized that people who are new to the series are not ready for the all the things that happen later on lmao
I SAW PROJECT HAIL MARY IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!!! AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE!!!!!
I gave it a 10/10 :]
my brother also gave it a 10/10
my dad gave it 8/10, he felt they could have shortened the movie a little bit and maybe speed up some scenes a little, but other than that, he enjoyed the movie. :D
my mom gave it 7.5/10. Shes not super interested in science fiction, and also gave the same reasons as my dad, but she still liked the movie!
🍖 How to Build a Culture Without Just Inventing Spices and Necklaces
(a worldbuilding roast. with love.)
So. You’re building a fantasy world, and you’ve just invented:
→ Three types of ceremonial jewelry
→ A spice that tastes like cinnamon if it were bitter and cursed
→ A holiday where everyone wears gold and screams at dawn
Cute. But that’s not culture. That’s aesthetics.
And if your worldbuilding is all outfits, dances, and spice blends with vaguely mystical names, your story’s probably going to feel like a cosplay convention held inside a Pinterest board.
Here’s how to fix that—aka: how to build a real, functioning culture that shapes your story, not just its vibes.
─────── ✦ ───────
🔗 Culture Is Built on Power, Not Just Style
Ask yourself:
→ Who’s in charge, and why?
→ Who has land? Who doesn’t?
→ What’s considered taboo, sacred, or punishable by death?
Culture is shaped by who gets to make the rules and who gets crushed by them. That’s where things like religion, family structure, class divisions, gender roles, and social expectations actually come from.
Start there. Not at the embroidery.
─────── ✦ ───────
2.🪓 Culture Comes From Conflict
Did this society evolve peacefully? Was it colonized? Did it colonize? Was it rebuilt after a war? Is it still in one?
→ What was destroyed and mythologized?
→ What do the survivors still whisper about?
→ What do children get taught in school that’s… suspiciously sanitized?
No culture is neutral. Every tradition has a history, and that history should taste like blood, loss, or propaganda.
─────── ✦ ───────
3.🧠 Belief Systems > Customs Lists
Sure, rituals and holidays are cool. But what do people believe about:
→ Death?
→ Love?
→ Time?
→ The natural world?
→ Justice?
Example: A society that believes time is cyclical vs. one that sees time as linear will approach everything—from prison sentences to grief—completely differently.
You don’t need to invent 80 gods. You need to know what those gods mean to the people who pray to them.
─────── ✦ ───────
4.🫀 Culture Controls Behavior (Quietly)
Culture shows up in:
→ What people apologize for
→ What insults cut deepest
→ What people are embarrassed about
→ What’s praised publicly vs. what’s hidden privately
For instance:
→ A culture obsessed with stoicism won’t say “I love you.” They’ll say “Have you eaten?”
→ A culture built on legacy might prioritize ancestor veneration, archival writing, name inheritance.
This stuff? Way more immersive than giving everyone matching earrings.
─────── ✦ ───────
5. 🏠 Culture = Daily Life, Not Just Festivals
Sure, your MC might attend a funeral where people paint their faces blue. But what about:
→ Breakfast routines?
→ How people greet each other on the street?
→ Who cooks, and who eats first?
→ What’s considered “clean” or “proper”?
→ How is parenting handled? Divorce?
Culture is what happens between plot points. It should shape your character’s assumptions, language, fears, and habits—whether or not a festival is going on.
─────── ✦ ───────
6. 💬 Let Your Characters Disagree With Their Own Culture
A culture isn’t a monolith.
Even in deeply traditional societies, people:
→ Rebel
→ Question
→ Break rules
→ Misinterpret laws
→ Mock sacred things
→ Act hypocritically
→ Weaponize or resist what’s expected
Let your characters wrestle with the culture around them. That’s where realism (and tension) lives.
─────── ✦ ───────
7.🧼 Beware the “Pretty = Good” Trap
Worldbuilding gets boring fast when:
→ The protagonist’s homeland is beautiful and pure
→ The enemy’s culture is dark and “barbaric”
→ Every detail just reinforces who the reader should like
You can—and should—challenge the aesthetic hierarchy.
→ Let ugly things be beloved.
→ Let beautiful things be corrupt.
→ Let your MC romanticize their culture and then get disillusioned by it later.
─────── ✦ ───────
📍 TL;DR (but like, spicy):
→ Culture is not food and jewelry.
→ Culture is power, fear, memory, contradiction.
→ Stop inventing spices until you know who starved last winter.
→ Let your world feel lived in, not curated.
The best cultural worldbuilding doesn’t look like a list.
It feels like a system. A pressure. A presence your characters can’t escape—even if they try.
Now go. Build something real. (You can add spices later.)
—rin t.
// writing advice for worldbuilders with rage and range
// thewriteadviceforwriters
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New TF skybound came out!!! My short opinion blurb below :]
I definitely understand why people have mixed feelings on what happened in it, but for me, I’m not too bothered by it. I will miss seeing Optimus prime (I hope and pray he does get the matrix back at some point tho-), but I’m pretty interested to see what they do with Elita Prime, even though I never really cared for her. :p
(I never really found her super interesting idk why)
i really liked it! i wish they explored Odo having to deal with being human more, but alright. Oh, i should also add my dad was quite relieved that they didn't keep Odo human for the rest of the series, he said he would have been very disappointed if they didn't change him back. (tbh, i would be a bit disappointed as well if they did that.)
anyway, here are my favorite episodes from season 5:
The Assignment- I actually love how they made O’Brien a pretty competent guy in this episode, it was fun seeing him beat the pah-wraith at its own game. :]
Trials and Tribble-ations- it was a fun episode! I love how self aware the episode was with different things about the original series lol. The editing for the episode was impressive as well, they did an incredible job blending the DS9 cast with the TOS setting!
Things past- i loved the mystery in the episode and that they never went back in time at all! It was fun to watch the episode explore Odo’s Guilt during the occupation. :]
The Ascent- I actually have no idea how to word my thoughts on the episode other than that I just LOVE the situation ship Odo and Quark have.
The Begotten- it adorable was seeing Odo being a father to a puddle of goo, and mend his relationship with Dr. Mora. It was also nice to see him get his shapeshifting back! (Also, I could care less about the Kira surrogacy sub plot. I just found it weird.)
In Purgatory’s Shadow and By Inferno’s Light- it was awesome seeing Worf, Garak, Martok, and the real Bashir escape the Domination prison camp! I also loved the Garak lore drop with Tain. :]
Dr. Bashir, I Presume- honestly I was happy to see Dr. Zimmerman again (I saw Voyager before DS9 for those who don’t know), and it was fun to see how Bashir’s secret was exposed. (Sadly, I already knew Julian was augmented because of the Q conflict comic, but that’s fine :’]]])
Ties of Blood and Water- Kira and Ghemor’s father and daughter relationship is so adorable ashsjducydhd. Ghemor Is definitely one of my favorite background characters. :]
Empok Nor- an O’Brien episode where he doesn’t suffer horribly- YIPPEE!!! I love that they bring back the fact that he used to be a soldier and is still a very good one as well!
Call to Arms- it was a very exciting episode, and loved all the action! It made me very excited to see how the take over of Deep space 9 would be resolved!
Definitely one of my favorite seasons of Ds9 so far, and probably one of more exciting ones! I’m already a little over halfway through season 6, and it’s been pretty exciting so far. The next episode we have next is In the Pale Moonlight. :]
Wrapped up season 4 of DS9, and began season 5! Apocalypse Rising and The Ship were very good! :D
I really liked a lot of the episodes in season 4! here are some of my favorite episodes from season 4:
The Way of the Warrior- Definitely one of the best episodes of the series so far! Its a great intro to Worf joining the series and how he has to decide were his loyalties lie.
Indiscretion- I like it mostly for Kira kinda bullying Dukat a bit lol, it was an amusing and engaging story. :]
Our Man Bashir- the episode was absolutely hilarious! it was amusing to see Garak being dragged around a Bond parody with Bashir lol. the whole episode is great tbh. :D
Homefront and Paradise lost- it was interesting to see how the Federation deals with a changeling threat and Sisko stopping Leyton from taking over the Federation! it was a great two parter. :D
Crossfire- I just love the Odo episodes, the writers always do a great job with him. It was fun to see how Odo deals with his jealousy and unrequited love for Kira. poor guy :[
Accession- Bajoran lore drop! :0 thats the main reason I enjoyed the episode, besides Sisko stepping up a bit more into his role as emissary.
Rules of Engagement- It was a fun court room drama episode! i found the editing style they used when witnesses testified interesting and unique! though, my dad and i agreed Sisko was a little to hard on Worf in his dressing down over his actions, but other that, it was a good episode!
Hard Time- An O'Brien must suffer episode that actually made me shed some tears. it was a great episode, and it was sad to O'Brien having to deal with trauma from his torture. (though, my dad and i were also a bit disappointed to see and resolution with the aliens that tortured him. oh well.)
The Muse- the plot line with Odo and Lwaxana Troi was the best part of the episode, it was nice to see Odo help Lwaxana and see their friendship. The Jake plot line was uh...less good. i found it a bit more icky.
For The Cause- just a great story with some interesting Sisko angst! I didn’t expect Eddington to be a traitor :0
To the Death- it was pretty fun to see a Dominion and Federation joint mission :D it’s a good, simple and fun episode! :]
The Quickening- I loved this episode! It had me rooting for Bashir and feel sorry for him at the same time, making the bitter sweet ending made work well. :’]
Body Parts- a very good Quark episode! I mostly liked the ending, it gave me Its a Wonderful Life vibes. :]
Broken Link- They were definitely cooking with the Odo angst! It’s interesting that they made him a solid. My dad also liked this episode but he wasn’t that much of a fan on Odo becoming a solid, but in my opinion, kinda makes sense. (I mean, you can’t kill him off but they had to resolve the whole killing a fellow changeling to protect you friends thing.)
anyway, this list ended up a bit longer than I thought lol. It had a ton of good episodes! Can’t wait to see more of season 5. :]
started season 4 of DS9! It’s looking pretty good.
season 3 was great! My family and I liked a lot of the episodes! Here a few of my favorites:
The Search 1 and 2- the introduction to the Founders was great! It was a throughly entertaining 2 parter! The plot line with Odo finding his people only to discover they are racist, genocidal bigots was VERY entertaining.
Second Skin- my first thought that I had when I saw this episode is that it’s was that it was DS9’s version of TNG’s Face on the enemy, but my family and I loved all the twists in the episode! I love how the cardassian legate( is he a legate? I kinda forgot-) wasn’t the bad guy and genuinely thought Kira was his daughter.
Civil Defense- It’s was fun to see Dukat get stuck on the station after he beamed on to gloat, plus it was a fun episode. :]
( also for some reason, the episode makes me think of Die Hard, idk why-)
Visionary- ah yes, the good ol’ O’Brien must suffer episode. I really liked the story! It’s interesting that they made the other characters be able to see future O’Brien rather than just O’Brien only being able to see himself. (idk how to feel about future O’Brien switching with present O’Brien at the end though)
Improbable Cause and The Die is Cast- one of my favorite Garek episodes! It’s nice to see more stuff about him. It’s also pretty cool to see how the Dominion managed to completely destroy the Obsidian order and Tal Shiar in one go. The only thing that my family and I were a little iffy about was that Garek and Odo still remained friends dispite Garek torturing him, but we let it slide.
Shakaar- I can sum up the reason why I like this episode in 4 words: screw you Kai Winn. :]
Facets- definitely the funniest episode I’ve seen so far! Curzon!Odo was an absolute blast to watch, especially when he started messing with Quark! :D
The Adversary- it was pretty crazy to see Odo break the most sacred law of his people, that’s for sure! It was a really fun episode, and a great way to end season 3. :]
My family really liked this season! I can’t wait to what else is coming up for DS9!
Started DS9 season 3! The Search parts 1 and 2 were really good, it was fun watching Odo to finally find others of his kind… >:]
I also really liked season 2! I think these are my favorite episodes of season 2:
The Alternate- The daddy issues are strong with this one, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Probably my favorite Odo-centric episode in Ds9 so far!
Armageddon Game- honestly, I enjoyed it for the interesting story… and watching O’Brien having to deal with Bashir again lol. My mom liked the twist at the end where it turned out that O’Brien did drink coffee in the afternoon. She found it very amusing, and I absolutely agree with her. :]
The Maquis 1 and 2- I really enjoyed it! The story was great, and Sisko and Dukat’s interactions are always incredibly funny lol. It was fun dissecting the episode with my dad after we finished it (actually we do it with almost every Star Trek episode- it’s a lot of fun :D).
Tribunal- It was just fun to see more Star Trek world building! it has a fun story and was pretty cool to see more stuff about the Cardassians. :D
My other favorite episodes include: The Wire, Shadowplay, Blood Oath, Crossover (although, I was not a fan of Mirror!Kira being infatuated with Kira. I am NOT a fan of selfcest. I just find it really, REALLY icky-), and The Collaborator.
Anyway, I can’t wait to see what the rest of season 3 has in store! :D
finished watching the 3-parter for the beginning of season 2 of DS9 with my family! :DDD
season one was pretty good, I think my favorite episodes were Q-less (mostly because I love Q, he’s so silly :3) and Duet. God that was a good episode.
I liked the 3-parter episodes, it was fun! Hopefully season 2 has a bit more interesting character stuff tho! :D
Watched the first episode of DS9 for the first time with my family yesterday. It was pretty good. :]
We actually saw part 1 one a few years ago, but we didn’t find it as interesting the first time. I suspect we were too locked in on Voyager at the time to get into it yet-
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