The Quick Questions About World Building Thread

You could always classify them by whether small arms work on them, whether it takes anti-tank measures, or whether you have to go straight for the nuclear option.
And in parallel by how common the type is (like the endangered species classifications) and something like safe, timid, and xenocidal for its behavior.

My own question. What event ^note assuming such a thing exists could leave a rather elevated radiation level in the environment such that:

• people won't kill over immediately or turn into tentacle-laden, green space flies, but
• the people who live there certainly experience health effects (what kind is another question), and
• the wildlife seems fine, but eating too much of it without precautions (or just one with too much bio-accumulation) can kill you—even quicker than everything else in that world.

I know of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (and had it in mind), but I can find nothing helpful on it or the people that live there, at least helpful to a person who got his physics education on the Other Wiki.
Working theory: There's alot wrong with the verse, but in this case, the main faction was very nearly exterminated by salted/neutron bombs in the recent past ^note  a part of the backstory regardless of whether its the root source of their home's peculiar radioactivity, and they, and their emigrants, cling to the place.

Neutron activation and the "salt" depending on its type can form long-lasting radioactivity issues.

Maybe take some inspiration from the Goiânia accident?

edited 5th Feb '17 8:27:10 AM by Victin

IIRC the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is like the first two points as far as I know. I don't know about the third. The animals have an elevated level of mutations, but I don't know how unsafe it would be to eat them. There is poaching, so I suppose it isn't acutely dangerous. I imagine the risk would be bio-accumulation in yourself if you eat them regularly.

I think that bones may be a problem. Of the "Big Bad Two" one of them (Strontium-90) accumulates in bones and can cause leukemia and bone marrow disorders through radiation damage. So eating bones would definitively be unsafe. And mushrooms, if memory serves they tend to accumulate the other one (Cesium-137)

I've got two broad questions for the thread.

First, I'm wondering how would society, the government and private institutions react to an individual who can mind control others. Assuming it's a world where other people with a variety of other powers exist. Age, gender, ethnicity of the individual can vary, as well as assumptions about the culture of the place in question. I see most people falling into either indifference, denial, paranoia, or approval, with overlap between the groups.

Second, I'm thinking if there are any traditional or common Quranic names. Of course a Muslim person could come from a variety of backgrounds, but like a Christian person can give their children a Biblical name, regardless of their own ascendancy, so could a Muslim person. In certain cultures Biblical names even become common among a non-Christian population. I might be using Christian as a placeholder for similar, in lore, Abrahamic religions, and I even would suppose that there might be an overlap between Biblical and Quranic names, but I would appreciate an answer from someone more knowledgeable than myself.

Additionally, I was wondering if Muslims, in general, have any preference for physical greetings and farewells. I know some diatopic - or perhaps national - variations, but I was wondering if there were some specific religious variation as well. For example, Brazilians in general are very accustomed to physical contact (personal anxieties aside). I don't remember off the top of my head of any religious differences for other religions, but I don't want to assume they don't exist.

I'm asking this second question mostly because I'm planning to write the viewpoint character of a story narrating befriending someone without giving much attention to that tertiary character. However, I realized I could briefly mention something like "[the unnamed character] adjusted her hijab" somewhere just because I can. That character is likely staying tertiary or quaternary or whatever, but I don't have any Muslim characters and maybe this kind of research might end up with me having a few down the line.

Cesium-137 was the element of the Goiânia accident.

• One: Thanks for the feedback above
• Two: Even if powers are completely normal, mind-alteration is in a category of its own. (After all, how do you defend against it?) How she's seen by the public will certainly depend on her powers, public image, and role.
  • If she's say, abducted by FBI as a child and trained as an asset, when the story breaks, she'll probably get a mix of sympathy and fear.
  • A mind-controller who has continental range and no line-of-sight or touch-to-work limitations could well be a god-empress to her subjects (and the antichrist to everyone else).
  • If she's somewhat limited and yet aggressive, society might even see her as a peculiar kind of criminal or nuisance (think Kilgrave from Jessica Jones.)
  • If she's rather famous, playful-sadistic, and delights in showing off, she can play up being creepy but awe-inspiring and gain legions of followers while traveling around the world in an endless exhibition/circus act, which would also have the effect of people overlooking her potential threat level if they associate her with entertainment. (a la Nyarlathotep).
  • If she's limited and benign, society might adapt rather quickly. Job offers will be flooding in from law enforcement (in which case you get sci-fi ethics questions like: is forcing someone to tell the truth a violation of their rights) to press outlets. Internally, everything consent related from job interviews to sexual encounters might be questionable to herself and the world at large, and she'll have to constantly prove she's not mojoing someone to get her way. Even in this scenario, she'll be a magnet for kill/capture missions by everyone from secret organizations to nutjobs who think she's Slaanesh come to spread chaos. For daily life, she might deal with NIMB Ys who don't want her living near them to having to register like a sex-offender just in case the authorities need an early warning for sudden outbreaks of weird behavior.
• Three
  • There are Quranic names (they're related to the biblical), but I cannot ID them offhand. However, you can get a list of names popular in Muslim-majority states here: Behind the Name
  • On the same logic, you can find varying national customs here: Countries and Their Cultures

@Century Eye: You're welcome. And thank you for feedback!

NIMBYS? What is that?

My original idea for the character was, indeed, "what if you had a good-natured Kilgrave?" I decided she, whose placeholder name is Alice, would be extremely insecure about her friends because she is constantly wondering whether or not she's unconsciously mind-controling them. Now, recently, I decided instead to write about Alice just when she decides to become a superheroine. Despite her powers, she's an extremely passive, human doormat stuck in a vicious cycle of not actively interacting with people because she doesn't trust her self-control, and not having self-control because she doesn't use her powers. In highschool, she was mostly bossed around by Queen Bee wannabees. Now that high school is over, her lack of confidence in getting any normal career and lack of social "fix" finally lead her to don a cape (metaphorically, because capes are dangerous).

I'm thinking Alice starts after the superhero registry has been put into place, but since I decided to have criminal groups abound and seeking superpowered humans to work, or "work", for them, I'm not sure how "public" I want her existence to be. I mean, if at any point a character goes "how come you've never had to deal with criminals?" she could always answer "I said please." But maybe it'd make sense to have her hidden. I'd need to have a better idea of how her abilities triggered in the first place. Certainly not while she's a toddler - I don't think she'd be alive otherwise.

I considered making it a rather traumatic event, but that feels a little... cheap? I even thought of alternatives, like "what are the effects of constant exposure to mind control over the years?" but I don't think I want to go with them, even if I want to foreshadow how strong her power is. I also haven't decided strictly the limits of her powers disregarding self-confidence. I want her to be strong, but too powerful and it'd be boring - or annoying for the reader who can clearly see how she could better use her power. In contrast, I want her foil to be a villain who has a more limited form of mind control.

Regarding names: well, I knew about Behind the Name, but I was expecting to maybe start an interesting conversation Didn't know about the other website, tho, will take a look

NIMBY = not in my backyard (sure build affordable housing but not near me; sure we need that waste treatment facility, just put it by someone else; etc...)

With those facts, her power can just be a suped-up version of "speaking with authority." When she speaks with the assured self-confidence, her power greatly strengthens the effect. When she squeaks or puts no force behind her words, then nothing happens.

JJ handwaved Kilgrave's power with microbes, but it doesn't have to be one thing. Interactions are harder to sustain, especially under stress of confrontation. Something like: she doesn't have to just be heard or speak without stammering, she has to: speak with conviction, utterly believe in her cause so as to release the right endorphins in her own brain (or some other handwavium), and speak in a way that inspires instinctive obedience in the first place.

This has built-in limitations. (Would anyone older than her be ready to follow her no matter how official she sounded? Especially if she was a child at the time?) And one could track her power development through the years (high in elementary if she was an arrogant child—though adults would only ever see a popular student, low in later years as she withdrew and questioned her every move.) The on/off condition would also be indecipherable without introspection.

Doing the map now to include the fictional landmass near Oman/Yemen.

My question is do I need to be super accurate (provide locations of geographic stuff like mountains) aside from providing locations of the cities for the fictional country. Still haven't given the country a name yet, but I'm close to getting a meaningful one.

I'd say that's completely up to you. I just used a map to help me visualize the geographical area I'm covering. It all depends on the importance to your story.

It doesn't need to be the Mercator Projection, just don't go putting Mount Everest in the Empty Quarter. And, on that note, the area your describing isn't all desert. Yemen, in particular, has quite a few lush oases. (I know nothing of Oman).
Also, if said country has firm borders, that's an indication of significant power, because currently not Yemen (even before the recent events) nor Oman nor Saudi Arabia can enforce their boundaries against tribes in the area (which is why their borders are segmented lines on a map).

@Century Eye: That's an interesting suggestion, but one that would need me reevaluating the character to work. Doable, but I'd need to rework what I have in mind, because then her personality would be very different, and her internal struggle wouldn't quite be the same. Furthermore, it wouldn't invoke the same reaction as someone who has a stronger form of mind control. With Kilgrave, it's easy to go "just kill him! He's evil!" because, well, he is. But someone who isn't "objectively evil" yet has powers some people could consider "objectively evil", not that I think is interesting.

I saw Alice's powers working as grabbing other people's brains and forcing them to do what you want them to do (metaphorically speaking). Meanwhile, the brains would start coming up with plausible reasons as for why they're doing what she asked them to do (making stuff up is a phenomenom that already happens in real life!). What I was specifically thinking about when talking about limits was whether she needs to talk to a person for her powers to work (or is she a telepath?) and whether or not the person needs to understand her (or could they work on people who don't speak English?).

@Ominae: Be as detailed as you need to be. Think about the story, yourself and the readers.

Thanks for the info.

And I've been doing more research to Al Mahrah (Yemen) and Dhofar (Oman). The latter has the same thing in terms of not being made entirely of deserts.

Having the story set there in the late 80s/early 90s would be ideal for the foreign legion unit to be stationed near the border areas and hunt down communist/old government revolutionaries.

Quick question on suggestions:

Done the map for my story mostly... Just need some opinion on which map makes sense or not, with some input from you guys.

Maps 1/3 are influenced by Bahrain and as such, tried to depict as an island. Of course, this'll mean that Yemen'll lose a couple of fishing villages at most and I'll have to rewrite them, possibly as border towns.

http://postimg.org/image/4pa2svcqd/ (Map 1)

http://postimg.org/image/ebk25x2zt/ (Map 3)

Map 2 is the fictional nation sandwiched between eastern Yemen and southwestern Oman. Yemen'll lose a border town, but that can easily be fixed.

http://postimg.org/image/hcwez954d/ (Map 2)

Well, you have some fertile land in map 2, but you mostly capture mountains and incompletely. The place is also rather remote (i.e. logistically difficult to get to or from), so keep that in mind for whatever adventures your country gets up to.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

It seems that I'll stick with a fictional landmass that connects to parts of Yemen and Oman or parts of Yemen/Oman.

What would be the problems associated with a human colony on a very large comet the size of Texas, Alaska, Wyoming and Missouri combined.

Low gravity and that the surface of a comet is loose and often covered with gas vents.

what's with the matriarchy threads?

ignore that, is it alright to have a different interpretation of a certain mythology whilst still retaining what it was?

Like keeping the pantheon and changing their aspects? Apologies that question is a little unclear.

And of course its all right. Your story. But, mythology nerds (*cough* not me of course) who bother to notice the change may just enjoy a creative explantion. (e.g. if you're doing ancient Greek, Pluto was the god of wealth as much as death, hence "plutocracy." And Inanna/Ishtar was goddess of love and War, but began adding so many aspects as ancient Akkad went on that she might have become the region's national goddess if Christianity hadn't intervened). ^note She would've had to out-compete Assur in Assyria and Marduk in Babylon, but it would be doable. The goddess Isis more or less out-competed the rest of the Egyptian pantheon and even some of the Roman gods.

edited 14th Mar '17 6:18:42 PM by CenturyEye

This might not be a quick question, but I'll try anyways: how does one write Slice of Life? I want to use Slice of Life to develop the characters and setting, but I have no idea how to do it interestingly. I think bringing together fantastic and mundane elements can not only make the fantastic more wondrous but the mundane extraordinary.

I've seen Slice of Life done well, but I haven't read Slice of Life except maybe in Brazilian crônicas and a handful of online short stories. If it's helpful, it's a kind of superhero setting. It isn't over the top, but it isn't grim and gritty either.

I believe the essence of Slice of Life lies in the mundane, no matter how extraordinary the world the story takes place in is. I believe you mentioned superheroes? For instance, don't portray Superdan fighting Dankcid to save planet Earl, show Superdan's elderly foster-parents as they tend to the farm at home, calmly and peacefully contemplating their role (or lack thereof) in the great scheme of things. I'm not sure if I'm getting this right, but that sounds like Slice of Life to me.

You also mentioned that you've seen Slice of Life done well, so perhaps you could try to make out what you liked about those stories? Or do you feel their merits just wouldn't translate that well to a written medium?

Edit: On more of a Worldbuilding note, I've been working on a pantheon, and was wondering what aspects I should cover.

edited 20th Mar '17 7:03:11 PM by ilili

I think Slice of Life can be a good way of both worldbuilding and introducing the characters and themes of the story to the public. I only recently noticed that's what I've been trying to do, and failing. So, to use your metaphor, Superdan wakes up, does his groceries shopping early, runs back home, and then gets ready for his fight with Dankcid.

The show that made me realize that was Steven Universe. Now, I agree it's very debatable exactly how well the show does Slice of Life. However, I think the earlier seasons have at least a few great examples, and I also think I could explain why they're great in worldbuilding and introducing ideas.

Again, I did ask for more examples. But my main concern is with translating Slice of Life into the textual medium. I'd say both making the subject matter interesting to read about, and pacing, I'd learn better reading examples rather than watching them.

@Pantheon: Is this the pantheon of the world, or a pantheon of the world? (if I don't answer in the next 24 hours, I went to sleep :<)