Tessera

This is why I love reading historical fiction, but would likely never write it. The dedicated readership seems really intense at times and I know I would be focused on one set of data, and the readership a wholly different set, for that is ever the case with me. 1/4 #WritingCommunity

A meme with a screen-cap from Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" comparing the uniforms as depicted in the film vs the very different uniforms historical data indicates.

PJC Cahill@pjccahill.bsky.social · 2d ago

live footage of my writing process "And if you characters don't respect my authority (pronounced uh-thor-i-TIE) then screw you guys, I'm goin' home."

live footage of my writing process

Nicole "Ashrah" Hidalgo 😈🧄@sayaashrah.bsky.social · yesterday

No cheating. Post your lock screen. Stock standard "Gay dude who has cats" lock-screen. 😻

Cellphone lock screen image of my cat Kuru was hims was a baby.

No cheating. Post your lock screen. Could've posted the screenshot I shared months ago, but to prove it's still the same...

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · 2d ago

#CartAugust This was the easiest way for me to explain how/why the island is the way it is. 😶😅 It's intended to be a rough terrain/biome equivalent for counterpart Eurasian zones as they were during Earth's Miocene. 🧵1/3 #WritingCommunity

Image depicting the Northern Enclosure island that contemplates the Eurasian landmass. This image includes exaggerated elevation maps of Europe and Asia in order to draw lines of equivalency from Earth-side areas to their corresponding Enclosure-side locations. There is also an inset showing that a narrow isthmus to the northwest of the island appears to have been artificially dug through to effectively disconnect a peninsula from the rest of the island.

You shall not pass! Hey #CartAugust crew, time to dive in and really start looking at your maps. Today, we're talking elevation: highs, lows, and if you have neither, barriers to movement. Tell me about the geology, the history, famous explorers who lost their lives there... What do I need to know?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Natural features: Day 4, Barriers.
Talk to me about elevation changes in your world. Mountains, canyons, caves. Which is most interesting and why?

𝑾𝒓𝒆𝒚 🇵🇷@wreybies.bsky.social · 2d ago

#AnthropologyAugust Maosa (Denisovans) present the largest phenotype in the Enclosure, but not by as much as popular culture would have one believe. Preindustrial anatomically modern sapiens, aka AMS (you, me, us) were generally far shorter than post-industrial iterations. 1/3 #writingcomunity

MYSTIC@mystic888wizard.bsky.social · 2d ago

#AnthropologyAugust We have talked about the rarest, and the most plentiful but now let’s talk about the biggest. Do you have any intelligent species that could be considered megafauna? Or even larger that might be kaiju sized? #promptgame #prompt #writesky #writingcomunity

What is the largest intelligent species in your setting?

𝑾𝒓𝒆𝒚 🇵🇷@wreybies.bsky.social · 2d ago

#CartAugust Yes, they would be different. Enclosure’s initial presentation is as a pristine, idyllic, ruggedly natural world. It is neither idyllic nor natural. The Village (pictured here in symbolic form using assets at hand) is a place where its two natures intersect. 1/2 #WritingCommunity

Screen-cap of small section of Enclosure map showing the location called Village at the eastern edge of the Central Plain, at the foothills of mountains. The Village complex is depicted as ruins and there's a round depression that indicates the entry-point location. Forests run north and south from the Village, hugging the foothills. There are purple trees that represent ballfruit, the Enclosure's supplemental nutrition system.

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · 3d ago

#G'day #CartAugust crew! Today, we're living dangerously, brushing up close against the demon Spoilers. The question: if you made two maps, a prologue and an epilogue, would they be the same? And if not, how have the events of the story changed this world?

#CartAugust: a prompt game for map nerds by @mcburnell.bsky.com
Intro: Day 3, A world in flux.
If you were to make two maps, one true to the first chapter of your story, one true to the last, would they be different? In what ways?
(how to treat potential spoilers is entirely up to you)
** Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to inlcude in images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

MYSTIC@mystic888wizard.bsky.social · 3d ago

#AnthropologyAugust The H. heidelbergensis gestalt that lives on the South American landmass and is the closest the Steward has come to a hominin paradigm able to help it run the Enclosure world. But close is not close enough. They number only 10, all in permanent underground brumation. #writesky

#AnthropologyAugust Yesterday we talked about the most common intelligent species, whether that be the most well spread or the highest population. Today let’s talk about the opposite What is the rarest intelligent species? How did they become so few? Are any near extinction? #promtgame #writesky

Day 2 : What is the least common or rarest intelligent species in your world? Was this always the case?

MYSTIC@mystic888wizard.bsky.social · 4d ago

#AnthropologyAugust Tukhé (Neanderthals) make up ≈60% of the north island population. These are comprised nearly wholly of Classical Neanderthals. Especially in the first narrative, they are the population we primarily engage within the Red Brother communities to the southeast. #writesky

#AnthropologyAugust Ok let’s get this going with day 1! What is the most common intelligent sapient species in your fantasy world? That can either be the one with the highest population, or just the one that is spread around the most. What makes them so common? #writesky #promptgame #prompt

DD Ward ..."Sapphic Dr. DOOM"@ddwardiswriting.bsky.social · 3d ago

Downplay a book or movie: The Committee of Mildly Interesting Gentlemen

Downplay a book or movie: Upset Max: Irritated Road

When a random remodel video that talks about taking up the lino over old wooden floors shuttles your mind to an old Tricky song. (liquid lino was the hook that made the connection)

Ponderosa

YouTube video by Tricky - Topic

youtube.com

Belated #Caturday from Monty el Gato. 🐈

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · 4d ago

#CartAugust For the whole of the first story, only the northern island that contemplates the Eurasian landmass is known to the cast. The "South America" has a small roll as the location where the Steward ensconced a partially successful attempt to uplift hominins, and... 1/2

The three islands with Earth Enclosure that respectively contemplate Eurasia, Africa, and South America.

Hey #CartAugust crew! Still just broad-brushing the basics today. Tell me about the mysterious, unknown, and unexplored. Where in your world is giving cartographers horror vacui? Don't forget to share your map! Check out one another's worlds!

#Cartaugust: a prompt game for map nerds by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Intro: Day 2, Terra incognita
Does your world stretch beyond the margins of the map? Are parts of your world unexplored?
** Don't forget alt text. I know it's hard to know what to include with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

𝑾𝒓𝒆𝒚 🇵🇷@wreybies.bsky.social · 4d ago

The low pony tail. I've had to restrain myself from doling them out once I realizes I was indeed doling them out, leading to a bunch of Neanderthal and Denisovan fellahs who look like they're cosplaying the American Revolution (or Georgian commoners for those in Old Blighty). 😶 #WritingCommunity

Susan Savage Lee@susansavagelee.bsky.social · 4d ago

What’s a physical trait you’ve started using more in your stories? For whatever reason, there are a lot of mustaches popping up on my background characters 😂 #writingq #WritingCommunity

𝑾𝒓𝒆𝒚 🇵🇷@wreybies.bsky.social · 4d ago

#Cartaugust GIMP & Wonderdraft are my primary tools. Everything made by me. 😊 The planet doesn't really have an in-universe name, but since the 40 enclosure biomes are the primary feature, I think of it as Enclosure. The narrative takes place within the only enclosure still operating - Earth. 1/2

The world of Enclosure. A single, blue terrestrial world with a moon floating in space. The Enclosure biomes are clearly visible from orbit as naked-eye objects.

Map of the Northern Landmass within Earth Enclosure.

Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd@mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · 5d ago

Hey hey everyone, welcome to our awesome new map game! We're here to celebrate our love for fictional maps all month long! Before we start poring over details, let's start with the basics: tell us who you are and a little bit about your world. And don't forget to share your map! #Cartaugust 🪐 📚️

The background is an image of maps on a rack heavily colored by sepia.
#Cartaugust
a prompt game for map nerds! by @mcburnellauthor.bsky.com
Intro: Da1, Say Hello
Introduce us to yourself and your world. Don't be shy, share your map! What's it called? Who created the art?
**Don't forget the alt text. I know it's hard to know what to inlcide with images that are really info-dense, but do your best.

🌱🫜 Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta 🦊🪻@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 5d ago

#AwesomeCharacters Kaila the Scribe, lead scribe in Jobón's longhouse, besties with Colmo, Jobón's partner. Though she plays it cool, Kaila is immediately smitten with Angie. Through her, Angie gets a different, external pov regarding her friends who turn out to be slightly famous.

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters Welcome to the Intermittent Character Award Ceremonies!👏 Amongst all your characters, who gets the superlative? Today's award goes to: The Sweetest! Who's your cinnamon roll? Please award them! 🥇 #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Susan Savage Lee@susansavagelee.bsky.social · 5d ago

Lost Colony Trope❣️ McCaffrey's 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒏, Niven's 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 and the 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔, Le Guin's 𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑺𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, and as shockingly problematic as MZB turned out to be, I can't pretend I didn't read every single 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 novel before learning what I learned. 😕 Why Lost Colony? #writingq 1/2

Writers, what’s a trope you will never get tired of? Why? #writingq #WritingCommunity

Esteban 🚲🐶@echolimamike.bsky.social · 6d ago

The Law is a pricing schedule. Attorneys and magistrates are just highly specialized accountants.

🎯

DD Ward ..."Sapphic Dr. DOOM"@ddwardiswriting.bsky.social · 5d ago

#JulyInterviewFic Angie speaking to Earth - end of Book 1: "You are an Ice Age species that belongs to an Ice Age genus that is about to exit the Quaternary Glacial Cycle for the first time in over 3 million years. The climate era that molded you is coming to a close. Find a way to cooperate."

#JulyInterviewFic. (Answer in character as your OC) Question 31. Okay. Last question. If you could magically put a message in front of everyone worldwide, what would that message be?

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 6d ago

#JulyWorldbuilders "How to revive and streamline an old Mac Mini so it can run the map-making software that your brand new Mac Mini keeps warning you will not run on an upcoming OS update." That. 😕

#JulyWorldbuilders, hello! What are you currently researching for your worldbuilding? Or, what have you most recently searched for your stories?

MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card
#JulyWorldbuilders
Hosted by Kira of the Wind
Extra Days
31. What are you researching currently for your worldbuilding?

The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.

#SFFChat I'm still finding Angie's inner narrative voice... 😶

Sayan stood three steps to her left, as still as one of the trees. He even seemed to sway in time with them. Completely silent. Completely naked except for the narrow strip of leather tied at his waist, covering his privates.
The loincloth.
She noticed it again, even now out of the corner of her eye.
He only wore it because of her.
The first time she’d gone hunting with him he hadn’t worn anything at all, which had sent her brain into a spiraling mix of embarrassment, anthropological fascination, and the inconvenient reflexes of a modern American, reflexes that constantly punked her and illuminated that she was far more conservative than she would like to believe. It had taken her some time to sit with that thought. If nothing else, the event had dispelled any lingering doubt she’d had about Sayan’s age. He, Tourr’di, and Nikho - the three of them were hard to place, but Sayan seemed the youngest. She’d known people like that before, people who could fall anywhere between a rough thirty and a privileged fifty. Nikho and Tourr’di had their own specific reasons for being hard to place, but Sayan - simply because he was so small and smooth of face. His cheery smile gave him further youth. That first day Nikho had agreed Angie could join the hunt, Sayan had been so excited, he’d skipped past down the path from the cave with nothing but a spear-thrower and darts in hand making it clear - small, lean, remarkably wiry, but definitely a grown man.
It was the only time. He’d taken her discomfort seriously after. Quietly, without teasing.
Now he wore the strip of hide when they hunted together.
It was considerate.
Ridiculous, but considerate.

#SFFChat Q4: Share a description of bodies/the body/a specific character from your work!

Text the same as both! Image features a muscular fairy man superimposed over a skeleton and its shadow.

#SFFChat Nikho, who is maosa, swaps with Sayan, his husband who is adaimag. The first thing Sayan would note is that he can see tumpa. Imagine your visible spectrum suddenly including a new channel that flows and pulses with its own light. For the first time he sees his own tumpa. 1/4

#SFFChat Q3: Two of your characters (antagonist and protagonist, two friends, lovers--whatever you like!) swap bodies--how do they react?

#SFFChat - Angie, who serves the narrative as a modern POV, notes a certain physical idealization in the people she meets, and she comes to note this about herself much later in the narrative, once she's been within Enclosure long enough for it to work its magic on her. 1/2

#SFFChat Q2: How do your characters relate to their bodies? Are they confident or self-conscious? Do they treat their bodies well or not? Do they feel limited or supported by their bodies? Interpret however you like!

#SFFChat : 3 primary body-types. Neanderthal (tukhé), Denisovan (maosa), and Sapiens (adaimag). To adaimag eyes, tukhé and maosa are very much the same. Shorter than us, and far stronger. They were built for a different type of hunting strategy. 🧵 1/7

#SFFChat Q1: How are bodies treated/thought about in your world(s)? And/or is there anything unusual about bodies in your world? For instance, are bodies considered lesser in a comparison between body/mind (or spirit)? Is the mind considered part of the body? Maybe there are ideal body types, etc

#SFFChat : Name's Wrey and I write Science Fiction staring PaleoPeople. This week in the Caribbean, avocados are in full swing and I have numerous trees that give excellent fruit. It's been a week of harvesting, distributing, and finding creative ways to use them for meals. Waste not - want not.

#SFFChat Intro: Introduce yourself & share something that happened to you or that you did this week (it can be boring if you like!)

🌱🫜 Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta 🦊🪻@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 6d ago

#AwesomeCharacters The Steward is the primary antagonist, and it knows the ensemble down to their messenger RNA. Molecule by molecule, it has been upgrading the brains of both Tourr'di & Nikho, but not Sayan for reasons I don't wish to spoil. It absolutely knows them.

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters Antagonist day! How well does your antagonist know your protagonist? We're they close? Have they studied them? Or are they a stranger standing in the way of their plans? Does that change? #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts