Ipol (Conlang) Synopsis

There's something about Wen Ning kneeling to apologize for everything that went wrong, and Wei Wuxian kneeling down with him as if to say nothing is your fault that isn't also my fault. Either we'll stand together or we'll kneel together.

They are the secret third thing.

The only good thing from all of this is that now I have an in-depth understanding of the dynamics that create this kind of situation, which is kind-of a must for Evil Government TM. Easily the worst way to get an in-depth understanding of that but...

I have a foolproof strategy for worldbuilding these days (as an American):

Step 1: Wait for Trump/MAGA to do something stupid and perform insane levels of Orwellian double-think to justify it.

Step 2: Write it down and change the names around.

Day 42 (1:15) of rewriting my novel

Today, I wrote Izi's address to the city of Tolftorrijv.

Sidenote: I realized that all my translations for place names are super inconsistent. Tolftorrijv, for example, is named in Ipol, but Ir Nouzonif is named in Classical Zispoel. Zenée is (probably) named in Zeneth? Then Odapir, Atepsi, Ytos, and Itaush are all named in Classical Zispoel, too.

Anyways, one of Izi's character traits is that, despite being relatively shy and stage-scared, he's still very charismatic and popular with most Zenestians. I suspect he'd be a major political force in the chaos that is post-novel canon.

Sidenote 2: I realized that, in post-novel canon (actually, during the duration of Part 5, too, which includes the aftermath of the fall of Ir Nouzonif) Izi doesn't have to relinquish control of the Coalition's armies, due to some weird wording in the Coalition's founding document. Would this potentially lead to a united Zenesto-Odapirian macro-state? Possibly? That's a tale for another day, probably.

Vocabulary • Synonyms

Laughter

words to use to avoid adverbs!

✽

➸ bellow

➸ bluster

➸ boom

➸ burst

➸ cackle

➸ cachiannate

➸ caw

➸ chortle

➸ chuckle

➸ clamor

➸ crack up

➸ crow

➸ elate

➸ exult

➸ giggle

➸ grin

➸ gruffaw

➸ holler

➸ hoot

➸ howl

➸ jubilate

➸ mock

➸ muse

➸ rejoice

➸ riant

➸ roar

➸ shout

➸ shriek

➸ smile

➸ smirk

➸ sneer

➸ snicker

➸ snigger

➸ snort

➸ squall

➸ squawk

➸ titter

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

This is an interesting question! And a really rough one, haha.

For one, it would definitely vary in the time period / exact moment in time regardless of the location, haha. But I'll pick from overall time periods! (And assume I can easily speak the native language.)

For those who don't know the countries in my world, check this out!

MOST ENJOY VISITING:

Haha, sooooo I technically have a tie here??? And both technically wouldn't work for one reason or another. 😂😅

MINOGUA (during RFtA)

Minogua is a country that's drawn a lot of inspiration from Latin America + Hawaii and, uh... well previously had a lot of themes of colonialism. That's why it feels a little rough to want to go there as a kinda tourist, haha.

But! Shortly before the time of RFtA, they evicted the direct authority from the colonizing countries! So by the time the story comes around, they've had a few decades of trying to turn their country into what they want it to be / what it was before they were invaded!

I grew up both in Texas (there's a LOT of Mexican people and influences there!) and Florida (near-tropical and has a lot of Puerto Rican people / influences!). I may not be Latina, but two of my closest friends are (and one is now my gf 😂) and I have a lot of positive experiences relating to the culture. I think that's a huge reason for my fondness for Minogua and Tzakah, haha.

Besides that, as I (hopefully) alluded to, Minogua is also a tropical country! It's got a rich, surprisingly friendly culture and I'd absolutely love visiting it on holiday. It just... would feel wrong due to the whole "colonization" history, haha. 😅

To be fair, I don't think a majority of them would mind it. But it's only been a few decades since they got rid of the direct authority of the colonizing country, so other people exploiting their history for their own "entertainment" would definitely not rub some of them the right way!

TZAKAH

The real place I'd most like to go... if I'd even be able to remember the experience!!! 😭😭😭

So, the problem with Tzakah is that they're kinda hidden! They're actually a massive city built into a seaside cliff in Cirrane's rainforest as well as an isolationist "country" (read: city-state) with no connection to the rest of the world!

See, there's two ways to go if you'd like to leave or enter Tzakah: through the forest or by the sea. Only... there's a couple problems with that.

Go by sea, and there's practically endless storms raging off the coast. And not just your average nasty equatorial storms--but hurricane-type stuff! Not close enough to bother Tzakans, and actually not even permanent! But any time anyone goes near that approximate area of the world, knowingly or not, storms begin to barrage them until it destroys their ship or they (wisely) flee the area.

Many around the world refer to that area "the Gods' Land", theorizing that the gods' home is past the storms and the storms themselves are meant to keep out all but those who are worthy.

Making the storms "the Gods' Trials", of course.

Tzakah is lucky to just barely be at the edge of the Gods' Land, managing to avoid the Trials even when they go out to sea for fish. Besides that, they don't travel much further--they learned a long time ago of the dangers associated with it.

On the other side, they have the rainforest. And, somehow, it's worse.

Beyond the usual dangers of wild nature, Cirrane's rainforest is known to be haunted by malicious spirits--theorized to both be faerie in origin and those of deceased victims--that kill all who encroach on their territory.

Those who wander too far into the forest are known to never come back. Most--the Cirranians on the other side of the rainforest--don't know exactly why people who wander into the forest disappear. Again, they just theorize it's spirits--they don't know for sure. All they do is that they should never go past a certain landmark in the forest... lest they never be heard of again.

Those of Tzakah, however, know of the "spirits" by name.

The Melijé.

Merciless hunters they're locked into perpetual war with, and will be forever until the end of time... or until one finishes the other off.

Why?

Well, for the horrible crime of having left the Melijé centuries ago!

OH, YEAH, BUDDY, IT GETS DEEP! I LOVE TZAKAH!

Anyway, yeah! Tzakah is a safe haven hidden in-between the Gods' Trials and the Melijé haunting the forests of {insert forest name here, probably sounding vaguely like "Melijé"}. Uh, I've definitely named the forest, don't worry! I'm just too lazy to look it up! Yeah...

Tzakah was formed by refugees who fled from the Melijé long ago. They're a peaceful people--descended from those who hated the Melijé's violent and hateful ways--and have created a completely pacifistic utopian society for themselves... outside of a select group of warriors who've trained under Torcaiz (their god of Protection) to repel any Melijé attacks. However, they're all warned of the struggles and pain associated with it beforehand, and accept the burden.

The people of Tzakah are isolationists due to the whole "actually kinda separated from the rest of the world" thing, and... another piece of their history that makes them see the rest of the world as a much darker place than their utopia. (Which obviously is fair. I mean, have you seen most of my worldbuilding??? It's bad.)

However... that Very Purposely Ambiguous "Piece Of History™" has also made Tzakans cautious of the very few outsiders that do make it there. (There's a few ways, but it's mostly them rescuing people who got lost in the rainforest before the Melijé kills them... or idiots who try to sail through the Gods' Trials, thinking they're "worthy".)

Instead of welcoming outsiders in with open arms like they'd want to (but they pretty much still do--), they're more cautious of and careful with them. Outsiders tend to get questioned by one of Tzakah's gods--usually Torcaiz alongside one of the others to keep him from deeming them all "unworthy" 🤣--to verify they don't have any ulterior motives.

And then, if and when they leave... they're stripped of their memories of their time there.

Yeah. Another one of the Tzakan gods--Marmorin--is able to completely remove people's memories. Except... he doesn't 99% of the time. Instead, he messes with the memories to "repress" them--leaving the effects of their time in Tzakah, but making it so, at best, they'll remember it as a dream.

Soooooo... if I were to ever visit Tzakah, I'd first have to put my life at risk and then be forced to lose my memory of my time there, anyway!

Haha, definitely not worth it, unfortunately.

In spite of all of that, Tzakah is an awesome place to visit. Like Cirrane (which the Melijé was once associated with) and Minogua, Tzakah has strong Latin American influence! They're in the middle of a rainforest, but obviously completely locked within the "city" itself!

(There's always at least one Melijé huntress patrolling the woods outside of Tzakah. Their rivalry is bitter, harbored and continued mostly by the Melijé, and one of Torcaiz's jobs as their god of Protection is maintaining a barrier that keeps the Melijé out.)

Again, their culture is very utopian, with most everyone being incredibly supportive of one another and each others' problems. The few who don't feel that way are instead given space and patience to do whatever they wish. Many of which eventually become (or already were) Warriors and develop a solidarity with the others, or leave Tzakah under the watchful eye of another god...

BUT YEAH, I LOVE TZAKAH AND WOULD LOVE TO VISIT IT IF I COULD REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT THE VISIT!!!

(To anyone wondering, the Melijé aren't any sort of "native peoples are inherently violent" thing or whatever. They're actually in the minority being that way in my story! Most of the time--like with Minogua--it's the opposite. Native peoples just want to be left alone. The Melijé's history actually separates them from most indigenous groups, tbh. Send an ask if you want to know more about them or Tzakah in general! Though please specify what specifically you want to know more about...)

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!

CIRRANE

Aaaand on the other end of the rainforest is CIRRANE! (Somehow there happens to be both a utopia and dystopia separated by nothing but a rainforest, some magical nonsense, and a ravaging cult bent on destruction of all others and growing their own power...)

I've spoken about Cirrane before, but it's definitely scattered across posts, haha. Long story short? Since this post has been LONG--

Cirrane is an incredibly impoverished nation with a massive wage gap and next to no middle class. Their way of "solving" that?

Bread and circuses!

... no, I mean it. Almost literally--

Context! The origin of the term "bread and circuses" to placate the masses is actually from Ancient Rome, where they'd use food ("bread") and entertainment ("circuses", which originally referred to what are now called coliseums)!

So... want to guess what Cirrane does?

Yeah, so, basically people have the option to risk their lives by fighting in arenas / coliseums to raise their status. Likewise, it's incredibly cheap to buy into and watch them! Lowkey, their entire economy is based around the arenas and the whole "political structure" around them.

Even the current monarch has fought in the coliseums before!

(In order to display their sheer magical prowess to the masses and intimidate them into falling in line.)

Similarly, Cirrane is known to be a debt-trap country, which will often try to entice people (but especially outsiders) into gambling... and using that to hook them into the many available vices.

I'm sure you can see why Cirrane is the "AVOID AT ALL COSTS" country.

Oh, and btw? It's VERY relevant in Rising From the Ashes! 🥰

Yeah, so, you'd really think it would've been Glavnran, but no. Somehow, as bad as Glavnran is, Cirrane is worse.

(PS: "Melijé" is pronounced "Mehl-ee-hey")

Worldbuilding tag list: @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @paeliae-occasionally (Ask and ye shall be added)

Please hold while I consult the Book of Odes. I read a poem about death in there once I think. Lots of Chinese cultural shit going on in it but it was pretty cool though.

Hey, guys, I cometh with a question.

Do you guys know any poetic words, phrases, terms, etc, referring to death? Stuff that's more neutral, or melancholic, something that acknowledges death as a necessity of life and deems it almost beautiful.

It can be from any language, so long as it carries the meaning.

For complete transparency: this is for the name of a faerie character who personifies death.

They describe themself as: "the leaf that is evicted from the tree. {T}he ageing bones of a feeble grandmother. {T}he rot that gathers on a dead animal, the bugs that feed on its carcass, and the entire process of death.

"In short, I am Dying."

But uh—that'd be a temporary name for her. I'm trying to figure out his "real name" so to speak. They're someone who takes joy in their reaper-like role and finds mortality (and mortals' attempts to escape it) entertaining. They find their own domain fascinating, but clearly a cause for others' suffering.

Just not hers.

Anyone have a word/name that carries those kinda connotations? Again: it can be from any language!

(i'd appreciate a reblog for visibility)

EMERGENCY COMMISIONS

EDITING SERVICES

Hello! Barlowe here; I've run into a really rough place in my life and desperately need money. So, as a writer of over ten years who's been editing my own writing for most of it, I'm offering up editing paid editing services for anyone!

Only $1 USD per 100 words (aka 1¢ per word), for basic editing, and $3 USD per 100 words (3¢/word) for in-depth line-editing which I will actively converse with you on the story's contents to expand upon the writing and make it much, much better!

(Prices for line editing can be negotiated lower for things that require less edits!)

(examples below "read more")

Before and After Examples:

Here's a sneak peek of "Iridensia: the Aspect War" by @falco-underscore-77!

Basic editing ($1 / 100 words):

(original to the left, edited to the right)

Line editing ($3 / 100 words):

and the kind of notes I might leave as I work with you on the editing:

Personal Writing Examples:

Narrative/Basic:

Action/Emotional:

reblogs are appreciated for visibility!

fancy silver divider by @saradika

Find the Words Tag Game

Thanks to @authorcoledipalo for the tag!

My words: ache, slash, bounce, wink

Your words:

Ache

Tears blurred my vision. My head raged with a headache like no other while I choked on my sobs. Mucus stained my tongue with salt while I struggled to keep my head up. He loved me. He loved me unconditionally, up until his dying breath. No, he still loved me. Even in death, his immortal love remained deep inside of me. My head finally fell.

Slash

"No," I decided. "It's-" A foul stench slashed at my nose, popping my eyes open. "What the hell?"

Bounce

I laughed, flying along the ceiling so that I could see the inside of the crystal chandelier. The crystals bounced light from electric bulbs around the center of the chandelier. I stuck my hand through it, seeing if my hand would glisten.

Wink

"The Emperor's request," chef Siz added, sending me a grin with a wink.

Paging @foxgloves-garden, @ominous-feychild, and @oldfashionedidiot, +open tag. Feel free to ignore as wanted.

Side note: Does anyone else use "bounce" as a transitive verb? I.e. "I bounce the ball" where "bounce" takes an object. (An intransitive verb is a verb which doesn't take an object: "I bounce." Is perfectly grammatical.) I feel like the transitive form feels... old? Archaic?

I’ve got to find my worst-spelled words sometimes, but yeah, the more tired I get, the worse I spell, too. Reblogging so I can find this post in a pinch lol.

I have made a discovery.

Apparently, the more tired I am, the more poorly I spell.

Fun fact: I'm actually garbage at spelling. A lot of people (both IRL and otherwise) think I'm really good at it just because I know how to spell most everything off the top of my head, but that's just because I've learned them over time from writing so much. Without knowing... I spell extremely poorly.

Why do I mention all this?

I tried spelling "structured" as "struckured".

And that's just the beginning.