#4402 brainrot

getting inspiration

i have a private discord server where i write down everything that inspires me in the moment. i also havw a google doc full of ideas. "inspiration" is a word that seems so much bigger than its actual meaning because it can be as simple as a keyword, a line of dialogue, a picture, a texture or sensation, literally anything thay gets the brain going

WRITE THESE DOWN. you will not remember them later. trust me bro

and more importantly it gives you a clue on what you'd like to write. yes, the scene you can't wait to write is included here

the ideas ur most invested in is the core of everything else in the story including the world. the world is built to relate to that core. whether the world supports it (ex. a prophesy hero empowered by the magic system), opposes it (ex. a protagonist with a taboo secret) or otherwise, the world will always have an effect on how the characters or plot moves forward

visualization, imagery, and aesthetics

(update) tone, mood and physics

i can't believe i forgot to mention this!!! this is one of the first things i decide on when i'm writing a new world!!

the way i see it, tone is the way you (as a writer) want to tell the story. as a writer you can bias how a character feels because of perspective. if you've ever had a moment where you're reading an x reader fanfic and you go "hey wtf, that's cute but i'd never do what reader's doing," that's an instance where you can see the tone! i think i have a few fics where the narrative tone affects the story, i think this zali sickfic + secret confession fic is a decent example. bc the pov is focused on zali, the reader's internal thoughts aren't mentioned. zali doesn't know reader's true feelings so the fic has this nervous pining tone to it

meanwhile mood is how the characters or reader receives info and their reactions to it. you might recognize this in rom coms or some types of dubcon/cnc fanfic where something creepy irl is treated as endearing (mood), since the author wants to make it appealing (tone). if you read lovecraftian horror you can also see it in how the author will describe something as mundane as a door creaking but the actual prose makes it sound menacing af. in these instances this is how you can make basic actions (door opening, surprise confessions, etc) have a different emotional/detail weight that helps your world feel more in line with what you'd like to bring out

so using these in worldbuilding. i'm a big prose/syntax geek so i like to use tone and mood, which are usually associated as narrative devices, as a way to emphasize major parts of your world. for example, a character can be blasé or passionate about an aspect of their society, which can contrast the importance of that aspect on the character vs. the importance of that aspect on the society

one of the most important things in any world at all is PHYSICS and it sounds so much more menacing than it actually is. i literally just ask myself if physics are realistic or cartoony.

realistic physic settings are just like irl: people die with one good slash by sword, people can only jump a little into the air, etc. it's totally possible to have fantasy, sci fi, supernatural, etc. elements here but they usually come with a justification. if you've ever heard of those dragon designs where they have a specific organ in their mouth that shoots a flammable substance and lights it to creage fire breath, that's an example of realistic physics. i think attsck on titan and a lot of comics like batman fall into this type as well as any other realistic fiction like horimiya, a silent voice, etc

meanwhile cartoony physics will casually break realistic physics and we as readers accept that. characters have feats of superhuman abilities thay don't go explained or their explanations don't apply to real world expectations, that sort of thing. because wacky physics are common and treated as normal the readers will accept this. some good examples are cartoons (duh) like looney tunes, mario games, sonny brisko's lore video, etc

ofc there's different sides to the spectrum but imo, you gotta define the expectation of physics in your world as early as you can. if it's a story with lighthearted physics and reasoning behind feats THEN YOU DON'T NEED TO EXPLAIN YOURSELFFFFFFF.

like!! you can just say "here's a demon fruit that gives you wacky powers when you eat it but eating a second one Will make you pass away, have fun" and then you don't have to figure out how your body accomodates to having wacky stretchy limbs nor how your body recognizes it should keel over and die when you eat a second fruit. (i've never seen 1 piece.) we just accept that because one piece is weird as fuck but in-verse, these things are so normal!!

but make sure to balance your pace with avoiding exhaustion. just because a world follows realistic logic, you don't need to write down every single anatomical fact of how abilities are formed and whatever. if you've ever seen transformers, the robots can naturally shapeshift into machines like cars and this is because they're made up of all these different mechanical parts that can adjust as needed. however, the writers really don't need to write down every single part of a transformer and what other parts its connected to, that's just exhausting. and keeping it ambiguous is cool af. because then you can say a robot can turn into cars, boomboxes, guns, toasters...

similarly in cartoony settings, getting thoughtful about real world application of abilities can give you some really cool, creative stuff. take avatar the last airbender waterbending; most people would assume waterbending only covers rivers, rain, oceans, etc. but adept waterbenders can use their own sweat as a resource. this is all dope as hell but the same warning about overexertion applies, if you spend too much time thinking about what qualifies under the setting that can cut into the energy you have for writing

figuring out all three of these is huge for any part of the world. physics is the basis of any magic, superpower, etc. system. whenever i start a ttrpg campaign with other folx (group storytelling!) i always ask the game master the tone or vibe of the campaign. usually they'll say how jokey or serious the story is, how dark they expect it to get, content warnings if needed... these all contribute to how the players should behave. aka, how the characters should behave in a world! and this goes for writers, too: these questions and answers can fuel the likelihood or severity of character injury/death, how much room there is for humor and if/when it should pause for emotional moments, and so forth

i'm a really visual person! so this tip is geared towards visual learners! moodboards are super helpful when you're getting the basics of a world down because they give you an idea of the tone, mood, motivations and more just on how the world looks, feels, sounds, etc. key to note though: this includes all senses!! a gothic castle in a zombie story hits completely different than a gothic castle in a royal romance. chances are you're imagining

the zombie castle: smells like rot, little to no food or resources in the castle, unable to keep the weather out, if you touch anything it's likely to be covered in grime or dirt, empty and lonely

the romance castle: well-kept and clean, might have the scent of gourmet food or novelties like flowers, well lit, expensive textures like luxury rugs or smooth hardwood

based on these descriptors we can already imagine what life is like outside of the gothic castle. the zombie castle is probably in a dark wasteland where everything is dirty, wild and disorganized because its inhabitants are more focused on survival (that's ur plot!). meanwhile the gothic romantic royal castle suggests that the luxury associated with the castle is exceptional compared to everything around it, but still has an air of mystery unique to the castle (which influences how its inhabitants form opinions on the castle!)

justifications

this is the most important thing i follow: the reason for the world to be the way it is will alter the characters' perceptions. we consider magic an impossible fantasy irl, but in a world where magic is normalized, i would be much more surprised to see wizards than a citizen of a normalized magical world. perhaps your magic system requires resources—this means people may be in competition or cooperation with each other for the resources. would the characters of your story try to preserve their resources and by how much? would they expend it freely? where and how are resources generated? ask yourself questions. when you think of an answer, you get a launching point for the world's nature, culture, physics/magic systems, laws and street smarts, politics, and so forth... you can explore these topics and more as needed.

more in depth, a world where magic is possible but forbiden could include covert magicians, possible tensions between magical people and the authority that forbids it, etc. from that, you can consider what types of people use magic, how they access it, and why they use it. you can also ask why it's banned, the consequences for using magic, and the societal opinion on magic. is magic dangerous—what kinds are violent and what kinds are harmless, and how can you make a harmless spell menacing?

the point is, justification is identifying cause and effect. your worldbuilding acts as the cause and your characters feel its effects.

so these are general pointers i have on worldbuilding. as for how i integrate them into my own writing style: since i write a lot of short x reader fics, i have very limited time to set up a world for the reader

i think a decent example would be trading a heart. it may be one of my longest unit 4402 fics, but in comparison to other world-heavy fiction it's really short! even though there are a few explanatory moments, understanding the setting is very dependent on passing details that the characters mention or acknowledge in their daily life.

in terms of visuals, senses, and other imagery, i was very inspired by modern day witchcraft's use of tarot cards, crystals and herbs, etc. of course there were dramatics involved like candles flickering and going out, but i liked how real life rituals are just kinda... nothing really happens noticably. there's gotta be a better word for it

obviously that's very different from shu as a sorcerer, with flames and curses and stuff. so how does this modern witch reader compare to shu's tangible magic?

it came naturally to me that if the reader's magic is based on divination irl, then they would be thoughtful, analytical, and intuitive. shu sees things in extremes, just like his magic. his need for clear conclusions becomes his flaw in that fic. meanwhile, reader understanding that things are complex becomes the solution for the both of them.

i kind of worked in reverse for this fic. the prompt for that fic already gave me an end goal, so deciding the character motivations and attitudes (shu's take-it-or-leave-it thing and reader's insight) was based on reaching that eventual goal. from that, i took note of what was canon to shu (his fire and shikigami) and thought of ways to contrast to his magic. subtle magic like divination came to mind. which led me down a whole rabbit hole of how irl people divine things and that led to the reader being an analytic person because irl fortune telling is basically self reflection, but, like, spooky

so that's how the magic system kind of works! it serves to develop the difference between the two spellcasters, in both how they practice magic and how they see the world! that's the justification!

and of course there's other smaller aspects that make the imagery of the world more clear. you can imagine it's a modern with magic world since you can just... online shop for weird magic ingredients like hearts and stuff. and they have those clickbaity amazon titles so clearly it isn't a rare occurrence to go shopping for that stuff. it's also an accepted pracfice in the society shu and reader live in, ince they both have successful careers as magicians, and reader mentions a variety of average people as clients like university students and stay-at-home moms.

i hope this helps! there's no specific formula to creating your world and i'm not very strict with my process, but i tried thinking of the things that've helped me the most over time. feel free to get creative and wacky, some of my favorite world choices come from times where i stopped rejecting my ideas that seemed too weird, outlandish, stupid, etc. you'll find that if it makes you excited and interested, you can connect it to your story somehow and it'll make your story all the more unique!