New Year's Resolution 2024

Challenges

I know I am setting the bar high after my previous failure (Lexember 2023) but I am hoping to complete CoWriMo, Translapril, Comicon, and Lexember. In the meantime I will try to complete any World Anvil challenges I can. I do not know how many that will be because I have college but I will try my best. I can not be any more specific because I do not actually know what all the World Anvil challenges are since I am new to the website.

Personal Worldbuilding Goals

Ëxëtlalë

I would like to hopefully finish up the Jalan verbal paradigm. The problem is that tweaking grammar does not count towards my AC requirements in most cases.

Shadow World

It would be nice if I could finish my world map. I am currently working on the continents (ḧagylö /ɦɑɢʊʟ̠ɤ/) and I have a lot of the major ones done. The problem is that the boundaries of a ḧagylö are denoted by where oceans are on Earth meaning that every island is its own continent. As a result some of the continents are not named on maps of Earth.

CSS

I would like to get better at using CSS. Specifically I have a custom theme in mind for Shadow World that I would like to implement.

Organization

I have more worldbuilding content that is tucked away in pdfs of notes than I have actually published. The problem is I always end up generating more before I can process it into a presentable format. This year I plan to stop for a bit and get my notes ready for presentation.

Articles

Crkija (Elizabread)

I appreciate that this article uses IPA to define the pronunciation of words. It's really hard to figure out what people mean when they use English approximations. I was already going to do this but it is good to know that people on World Anvil know how to read IPA.

Emperor of Evil and Terror (Alex (TheDumbOwl))

Honestly I like Vertinall as a whole and wish I could put every article on this list but since I have to pick one I pick EOEAT because I think it has a cute premise. Before Vertinall, I thought all my worldbuilding had to be serious but now I understand I can make silly worlds (it sounds stupid but it's true).

Xsoura (spleen)

This article is special to me because it helped me solve an immediate problem. You see, I have been having a hard time notating the orthography on my phonology tables. I would use <> and they would disappear when I saved the table. After reading this article I realized that I could just use parentheses. Aside from that it is a detailed article and I like the idea of using emotions as a morpheme.

Arcana (Vincent Winqvist and Nathalia Books)

I originally wanted to pick the map but maps do not have comment sections so I couldn't comment on it and I wasn't sure if they counted as articles.

There are very few horror-related worlds on WA that I like. This is more so the fault of my tastes than of the people who make them. I do not like D&D-related, fantasy horror and that is 99% of the horror content on WA. That being said, Thick of Thorns is a rare case. It is a unique world that I do like. It has a unique idea and some nice css. It also has similar themes to a certain world I made. I do not think the map counts as an article so I picked the Arcana article. You see, there are three things I look for in a magic system:

It should have a tangible effect
It should have severe drawbacks if it goes wrong
It should have underlying mechanics

The magic in Thick of Thorns has all these things:

“Those who know what they're doing can accomplish feats that shake worlds. Sometimes literally.”
“Careless, selfish, or outright malicious use has created catastrophes, mass hysteria, or widespread death. and the arcane practitioner is often the first victim.”
“There are many different words used to describe the different ways one can influence reality. Those familiar with the Thicket of Thorns often refer to them as Branches”

When I implement a magic system I will keep these principles in mind.

Witch Brew (R. Dylon Elder)

I love the formatting of this one! The extra interaction makes it feel like a choose-your-own-adventure game (even though it's not one). It’s even got a cute story to go along with it! I think what I’m going to take away from this is that I should think of more creative ways to present my articles.

BESTIARY: CREATURES OF VREATHE (Chrispy_0)

Honestly this one just made me laugh. I have a soft spot for satire and this is a pretty good satire of AI writing which is a pertinent issue. I like how the satire is dropped on you at the end. I actually planned to make a satire world at some point but now I know I can really go crazy with it.

The Book of the Unquiet Dead (drunkenpanda951)

Another comedic article. I like this one because it is made clear in the article that the book is a living document in a creative and interesting way. I think this would be a cool thing to implement in my worlds.

Plague of Dreams (Qurilion)

"Humans are the real monsters" is basically a cliché at this point but it is a cliché that holds a special place in my heart. Another thing that holds a special place in my heart is the Mandela Catalogue. I just think the idea of horror based on not being able to trust other people is a cool concept. Plague of Dreams combines these two ideas by creating a scenario where humans become the real monsters™️ because they no longer know who to trust. I think these would be cool ideas to explore in my worldbuilding.

Brictaelgican Luni changing year calendar (Blue Fairy 74)

I think this is a pretty solid example of an article on a calendar. It has not just the calendar but also explanations of all the different periods of time. On top of that it has explanations of the holidays and best of all the calendar looks nice. When I eventually make a calendar (I'll do it one day, I promise) I want it to be like this one.

Vivopage (Han)

Okay okay! This is like the third comedy article I've put on here! This one is sarcastic in a way that really appeals to me personally. I also really love the banner with the name of the article on it. In general the styling is extremely coherent in a satisfying way. I will try to make my custom themes look like that when i make them.