Category: Writing – Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/20/24: Dog Magic

Since I’ve been doing dog breeds for the past two weeks, how about Dog Magic? The first dog magic, of course, was the human domestication of dogs. From what I’ve read, the first dog was a now-extinct subspecies of wolf similar to the present-day Arabian Wolf, which roams the Middle East. In other words, a …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/13/24: Toy Dog Breeds, Part 2

More Toy Dog breeds.   Toy Dog Breeds Mostado-Michu Tricolor dog (white, black, brown – think beagle) with a strongly arched tail. It has drooping ears covered with soft, silky fur and its body fur is also soft to the touch, with no rough undercoat. Gentle and sensitive, they were prized by upper class townsfolk …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/6/24: Toy Dog Breeds, Part 1

Toy Dogs are a show class of the American Kennel Club referencing small, cuddly canines whose chief job is human companionship. They can be of various breeds — spaniels and terriers for example —  or shrunk-down versions of larger dogs like poodles. The one thing they all have in common is their diminutive size, which …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/30/24: Mummies

The 1930s and 1940s were a golden age for horror movies AND graphic design for horror movie posters. Look at the color, the composition,  the pleasing mix of typefaces in the poster above! It’s gorgeous. Which brings me to the subject of mummies. Mummies are part of the rarefied classic movie monster club that includes …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/23/24: Horror Movie Antagonists

As it’s turning towards Halloween, I thought I’d do a post on second and third-tier horror movie antagonists. The human kind, not monsters. There are many versions of Dracula, The Wolfman, and Mummy and even more imitators. From the get-go, the Silent Movie era spawned Count Orlok (Nosferatu, 1922) an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/16/24: Birds of Prey

When the average person thinks of “birds of prey” or “raptors” eagles, hawks, and falcons come to mind. Owls are raptors too, despite their physical differences from these species. But there’s much more to this family — vultures, condors, buzzards, harriers, kites. I was surprised to discover in doing research for this post that there …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/2/24: Paintings by Velázquez

Diego Velázquez is regarded as one of the most prominent painters of the 17th century and a forerunner of realism. So said my art history professors. Los Meninas was considered by them to be the height of his innovation, as it depicts him, the artist, sitting and painting a portrait of the Spanish court life …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 9/25/24: Elvis!

  When Elvis died in 1977, no one could dream that he’d become an American icon on the level of Mickey Mouse or Marilyn Monroe. See even a crudely drawn figure with a pompadour, a guitar, and a lopsided posture, it’s impossible NOT to think “Elvis.” Or one of his many impersonators, also an American …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 9/18/24: The Best of Twittersnips (Maritime Magic)

Are you or your adventurers embarking on an ocean voyage? Here’s some magic to help you out.   Maritime Magic Magic Items Clover of the Sea: A rare ocean plant that looks like an oversized, dark green, 4-leafed clover. It grows in sandy, shallow inlets and is used as a component in luck spells. Figurehead …

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/28/24: Narnian Apples (Narnia LVI)

Since there was an apple orchard at Cair Paravel (as detailed in Prince Caspian) there must have been Narnian varieties of apples, right?   Narnian Apple Varieties Ruby of Tash Named for the Calorman deity (not that the Narnians really believe in him) this apple is large, bright red, sweet, and juicy, and the flesh …

Continue reading