I Had This Problem Too, So Instead Of Suffering, I Created A Capitalistic Hellscape For Them To Run Around

100 visitors of the archives!!

holy shit, the archives has gotten to 100 followers!!!

i am beyond grateful, it's so amazing to see so many people pass through, reading the stories, engaging with tag games, and simply existing here. i am so touched and incredibly thankful, this feeling is really beyond compare. you are all amazing <3

i won't tag everyone this time, because that is a lot of people and i haven't slept properly in three weeks, but just know i am so happy you've stopped by, even for just a moment.

thank you so much everyone.

every time i see someone call kirk and spock the oldest ship, i'm filled with the urge to go "hmm actually the holmes and watson girlies have been here for a hundred years now", and i refrain because i know the natural conclusion of this game is gilgamesh and enkidu

dudes watch brokeback mountain

“The characters in my novels are my own unrealised possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by them. Each one has crossed a border that I myself have circumvented.”

— Milan Kundera

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! Where in your setting would you most like to visit, and where would you avoid at all costs? 😉

I may have to start celebrating Worldbuilding Wednesday. (I'll probably participate in Lexember this year, though.)

Mixed feelings about most of the places in Meiste, but there are a couple I'd really want to go to, and a few I'd desperately want to stay out of.

The runner-up place to go in Meiste is...

Ytos and Itaush: The Twin Duchies

In addition to the inhabitants of Ytos and Itaush having a history of hospitability, Ytos and Itaush both occupy the North Pole of Meiste. My ideal trip would start in Ytos City, to see the Hero's Landing, then make my way North to hike to the North pole. It could also be cool to do an arctic cruise (or something like it) around the coast, but most importantly, I'd want to see the thousand-year old architecture in Itaush city. (Oh, pretty important aspect: The Ytos and Itaush have a history of treating queer people as equals in ways that most of the rest of the world really doesn't because it's in the Zenestosphere.)

(One last thing: Itaush left the Confederacy in a velvet divorce, but Itaush maintains an open border with Ytos.)

And the winner is:

The Principality of Atepsi

Atepsi is in the Zenestosphere, but they're queer-friendly as Ytos, especially outside the capital city, Atepsi City. (However, since Princess In Taguchif is out as a lesbian, and also wildly popular, that sentiment is changing.)

The climate of Atepsi is hot and humid, since the whole country straddles the equator. In fact, Atepsi city is in the middle of a jungle, deep in the headwaters of the Atepsi river.

First, I'm going to Atepsi city. Open-air markets, historic places, friendly people, extravagant architecture, public transportation, etc. Easily the best city in all of Meiste. It's not even close.

Then I'm taking a boat up the headwaters of the Atepsi river and into the mountains. They say the snakes are benign in Meiste. Definitely looking for cool snakes.

Then, I'm backpacking through the rest of the mountains to get to the Straits of Odapir to find Meiste. (I definitely won't.)

Finally, I'm taking a boat through the Straits of Odapir to the islands of L'meistek. L'meistek is an island halfway between Odapir and Atepsi which is said to be at the center of Meiste and where magic is strongest. But mostly there's a dormant(?) volcano there I want to hike up lol.

Atepsi also controls the Nendisfsho desert to the South, so if I came back, I'd love to see the sand dunes and dry rainforest.

Stay Away From:

Zeneste: Ir Nouzonif

Capitalistic hellscape. This is the capitalistic, authoritarian hellscape I talk about in previous post. Many people in the province of Ir Nouzonif are also brainwashed into hating Odapir and Odpairian citizens as a means of control. In a convoluted, twisted way, the farming economy of (Southern) Ir Nouzonif is entirely dependent on migrant workers from Odapir.

After the Fall of Ir Nouzonif (in Part 4 of Meiste), the city of Ir Nouzonif becomes fair game, since it's also a religious center and Hota and Lozef completely overhaul the government, yet xenophobic tendencies remain, especially in Southern Ir Nouzonif State.

Odapir: Odapir City

Odapir is an authoritarian surveillance/police state, and Odapir City is the place the police have the most eyes. (Not to say Ir Nouzonif isn't a police state.) Many in Odapir, too, are brainwashed into hating Zenestians as scapegoats. Not a great place to be, and many in Odapir City are xenophobic as a result (much like Ir Nouzonif.)

Outside of Odapir City, and especially in the Southeastern corner (where there are no cameras) you may find the Hero of Life, good beaches, and good hikes.

Zeneste: Tolftorrijv and Zenée

Ok, maybe you can get away with going to the cities of Tolftorrijv and Obizoe, but beyond that, don't even try. The cities themselves aren't really worth visiting, and many Zenestians beyond the cities are xenophobic, in addition to there not being anything to do beyond the cities.

This has been a massive excuse for me to yap, so I hope people enjoy this lol.

Usual Suspects: @oldfashionedidiot @quillswriting

If you'd like to be added to one of my taglists, please see this post, or DM me!

Day 45 (1:21) of rewriting my novel

No piece of writing of mine would ever be complete without the 4-legged table theorem. So, I added it in today in the 1200 words I wrote. And I'm still not done with Part Three (but getting closer!)

Speaking of Part Three, I'm getting close two being done, I think. I have a couple gaps left to fill, but that's about it. I'm surprised I haven't managed to write the actually important last scene (that being, the meeting with Governor Bunthun.

I still feel bad about romanizing her name, but nobody (except people who read Cherokee in its romanized form) would figure out that it's pronounced [ˈbə̃.ˌθə̃] and romanized as bvthv. So, preying on the fact that English speakers (mostly) nasalize their vowels and <u> can represent the "strut" vowel, so [ˈbʌ̃n̪.ˌθə̃n] will have to do. It's close enough.

Meanwhile, outlining Part Four looms on the horizon, nebulous as it was before. I know how I want it to end, and the major points in between, but that's about it. Somehow, Part Five seems to be more fleshed-out in my mind than Part Four.

I still have to derive Modern North Zeneth, whose closest living relative is supposed to be Low Zeneth. It's derived from a northern dialect of Old High Zeneth that split away from Old High Zeneth about 800-600 years ago. Maybe then I'll have a better name for Bvthv, but it wouldn't make sense for Governor Luwbefê to call her anything other than Bvthv.

Character names are hard.

The Usual Suspects: @oldfashionedidiot @quillswriting

If you'd like to be added to my taglist, please respond to this post or DM me.

Hello, this is a longshot saving life call, I am Imonje from Gaza. I am here to request for your support to help get my insulin, just an injection for today to save my life please I beg. I was diagnosed with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes and due to the current situation in Gaza I'm unable to get my insulin injection as a result I'm here begging for little financial support to help me purchase insulin for this week. My donation link is attached in the pinned post, I might have sent this ask to you earlier but kindly consider donating and sharing. This is the only option I have at the moment to save my life from going into a coma.

Go support Imonje!

I swear these prompts always get me thinking about the most meta stuff.

Like, I don't think we talk enough about how the human brain is engineered for language acquisition? Most people will start developing the ability to process questions by the time they're 8 months old. They can't even speak by that point because their mouths are not fully developed enough.

Second language acquisition, like first language acquisition, requires thousands of hours of input, a thing many people in the U.S. may never get because of how much English is spoken here. Also, actually speaking a second language terrifies many adults into not using it at all.

All that to say, if I were an alien, dragging my human around, and they started speaking my language, I wouldn't be surprised.

I think, also, that an alien phonology would have sounds humans wouldn't be able to pronounce (duh, but I'm assuming their mouth shapes are different, which makes it literally impossible.) I feel like humans would have to approximate some alien sounds.

This post has become longer than I anticipated, but yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if a pet human acquired an alien language from thousands of hours of contact with it.

After feeding your pet human, you are shocked when it says “thank you” in your language.

Heads up, Seven up!

Thanks from @authorcoledipalo for the tag!

Take these seven lines of dialogue from Part Three:

"She killed her ... in front of us. In front of me." "Izi ... I'm not doing this because you can't, I'm doing this because you can." “When you get back in power, make it so the train is free.” "Too late...you're cooked." “Obviously not! The layers of deception with her go so deep it’s not even funny anymore.” "Do you even know how you feel?" "We're going to get our mother back and beat the shit out of her for lying to us."

Plus seven tags:

@theothersideofthewoods, @oldfashionedidiot, @flurrysahin, @the-letterbox-archives, @eternalwritingstudent, @koinotfish, and @moonsbetween

As Promised

I filled out one of these character sheets I found for In Iziser, Hero of Cognition and Emperor of Zeneste, as a writing warm-up.

General Info

Name: In Iziser

Nicknames:

• Most prominent: Nuwrrite Emeete, "Hero of Cognition," Nuwrrite sis Nistemiks pijn.

Called Izi by all his friends.

Pronouns: he/him

Age: 18

Gender: Cis Man

Sexuality: Pan

Species: Human

Place Of Birth: Outside of Ir Nouzonif, Zeneste

Current Home: Ir Nouzonif, Zeneste

Big spoilers ahead of here, be warned!

Appearance

Izi has short, brown hair and brown skin and a flat-ish nose. His eyes are green, and he stands at around 5' 6" (167 cm). He doesn't appear particularly fit or trim, but the mass on his bones is definitely muscle from tilling and harvesting rice fields.

Normally, he'll be seen wearing jeans and long-sleeves, even in >100 F (37 C) heat-indexes, since Ir Nouzonif is a very humid place. He's no stickler for colors matching, and often his clothes are permanently stained with dirt.

Personality

Though mostly cheery, he can becomes aggravated easier than normal. Moreover, he can be overzealous and overconfident. He's very openly trusting, although he keeps his early history close to his chest. He's not altogether too proud, though he hates to receive charity, even when he's down on his luck. He looks up to his father, and remembers his words a lot.

Likes:

• Rice bowls. They're his favorite food because they're a) easy to make, b) versatile, and c) filling with the right ingredients. He mostly just adds a couple of fried eggs to his rice bowls.

• Spending time with Hotautebz, the Hero of Mind. Since there's no point in holding back from Hota, Izi feels most like himself when he's with them. Hota's not too judgemental, thankfully.

• His local general store. It's the place where he does most of his shopping, since he knows the price is relatively cheap for the quality of clothing and other daily goods.

Dislikes:

• His authority being questioned. Though he's very insecure about being a leader (in more ways than one), he wouldn't give up the title for his life. He often finds ways to reassert his own authority in that way.

• Lounging around. Izi is restless and likes to me moving about. He likes to rest when he's tired, but he doesn't stay stagnant for too long.

• Burned rice. He believes rice is one of the easiest things to cook, and one of the hardest things to mess up, since it's so versatile.

Known Abilities

Cognition Magic

Cognition magic is the magic of the Irrealis-that which is not real, or cannot be known. Quantum physics lends itself really well to this, as well as knowledge of magic, itself. At a base level, Izi can teleport, become "ghost-like," and sense another person's magic.

Besides that, his skill with the scythe and sickle have been honed for the years since he worked in the rice fields.

Relationships

Family:

• (Mother) Ihine Dolgof, Hero of Life. (Not present during his upbringing.) (See! I told you there would be big spoilers.)

(Father) Äs Xajas. Raised Izi alone. Deceased

(Sister) In Taguchif, Hero of Redacted. Raised by her mother (Ihine Dolgof) in Atepsi to become the Princess of Atepsi.

Friends/Allies:

• Vimir, roommate and best friend. Worked in the rice fields together. Complete airhead.

Eheste Lozerief, Hero of Earth. Simultaneously an ally and enemy.

Hotautebz Az, Hero of Mind. Izi and Hota fit together like the first two tunes in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Songs.

Enemies:

President Sluwfa of Zeneste. The big bad.

Eheste Lozerief. Marginally less bad.

In Taguchif. Even less bad.

Backstory

Izi was born the second of two to the Hero of Life and Xajas. Deciding she couldn't raise two children, Ihine Dolgof forced Xajas to divorce and split their children, since Taguchif was just two, and Izi had just been born. As a result, Izi was raised alone.

He went through elementary school in the rural area outside of Ir Nouzonif until his father died in the hospital with stage four lung cancer. After that, the lawyers who were supposed to transcribe his inheritance and set up a fund, based on his father's will, stole it all for themselves, leaving the, now twelve years old, Iziser to find work for himself.

Fun Facts

• Izi's accent of Ipol has the voiceless uvular fricative, [χ], as the realization of the voiced uvular trill, [ʀ] phonemically /ʀ/. Additionally, his /s/ is realized as [h] in most contexts. In summary, he speaks like a farmer.

• Izi has a big fat crush on Hota for most of the novel. That's really all there is to say on the matter.

• Izi never quite realizes why the lemon tree is so significant for Dolgof and Lozerief.