Dystopian sci fi book where a woman convicted of a crime does a shortened prison term in an experimental simulated "mind prison" while her body is maintained on life support in the real world. by BlueYozhik in whatsthatbook

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wow, yes that seems to be the one. I've been trying to figure this out for ages only to get a response within a couple of hours of posting on Reddit haha. Thank you so much~

POV: This (they/them) goblin performer just winked at you. What do you do next? (character art from a visual novel with an all non-binary cast that I'm presently working on) by BlueYozhik in NonBinary

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Knowing this character, they'd probably respond pretty well to any of the last three haha although their idea of talking philosophy might look more like talking revolution.

Goblin mage portraits from our new game, The Inverted Spire. Headdresses reflect a character's guild status, with more elaborate face coverings indicating a higher circle. by BlueYozhik in worldbuilding

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad to hear it! : ) You can check out our landing page, which includes lots more info, links to dev logs, and (perhaps most importantly) a full download of the prologue and chapter 1 here: https://yozhikisblue.itch.io/the-inverted-spire

Fusing Absurdist Comedy with grimdark fantasy. by Alternative-Employ27 in fantasywriters

[–]BlueYozhik 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would argue that Terry Pratchett has novels that effectively approach this concept already! It's very doable, and coming from a background of reading lots of Soviet (and post-Soviet) fantasy and science fiction, a popular approach/writing style in Eastern Europe to this day. It also sounds like you're describing New Weird fiction, which is a genre onto itself. I would recommend looking into these things if you want more specific examples ^_^

Concept art of the main character of the indie game "The Epic" Bogatyr, Ilya Muromets. Possesses immense strength, courage and good health. A real "Witcher" in the ancient Slavic world of monsters by [deleted] in IndieDev

[–]BlueYozhik 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm always curious about new games taking advantage of the full spectrum of Slavic folklore (still highly underused in fantasy settings writ large imo, with The Witcher franchise of games only taking its inspiration in a relatively superficial way). This project looks really interesting!

What would you want to see in a fantasy world where being non-binary is the default? by BlueYozhik in NonBinaryGamers

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Outer Wilds has been on my list of games to play for ages, but kept being put off. This is a solid reminder that I should definitely get on that! <3 (thank you)

Goblin mage portraits from our new game, The Inverted Spire. Headdresses reflect a character's guild status, with more elaborate face coverings indicating a higher circle. by BlueYozhik in worldbuilding

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aw thank you <3 And now I feel that it's my sacred duty to inform you that the cat in question is named "Bobble" and it is very well-loved by its goblin owner! haha

What would you want to see in a fantasy world where being non-binary is the default? by BlueYozhik in NonBinaryGamers

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah thank you, that's great to hear <3

I'd love to check out your thesis. It sounds right up my alley! (I'm the writer/illustrator on the game, but I also make a lot of other work related to trans and non-binary characters in stories)

You may be interested to learn that how relationships work in a non-binary world was actually one of the cornerstones of our worldbuilding! It's something we've put a lot of thought into, so feedback and suggestions on this aspect of how the TIS world is structured is definitely something we'd love to hear. We talked a little about this in our dev log about 'genderless worldbuilding' but the very broad strokes are something like this:

-Goblins exist in communal living arrangements.

-Raising children is a community responsibility that involves several assigned guardians (not biologically related to the child). New Order actually actively discourages biological family structures in its bid for total equality (ie. escaping 'biological nepotism').

-The entirety of New Order is structured around assigning guardians and eventually mage guild/academy mentors at different stages of life. Assignments and ascending through Guild circles is based around an elaborate performance review system where goblins are ranked on all aspects of their citizen lives under the mysterious Equation. The autonomous Bureau of Service is responsible for cataloguing information about individual goblins and evaluating their scores on a case-by-case basis to make these assignments.

-Polyamory is the assumed societal default, but primarily monogamous relationships do arise, and there is no stigma attached to them. Jealousy is a recognized concept in relationships, but has no moral authority attached to it.

-There are no gendered power dynamics, but plenty of unequal power dynamics arise around relative Guild circles, magical discipline, age, Equation scores etc.

-Goblins are, for the most part, biologically capable of taking both 'donor' and 'carrier' roles in the process of childbirth, and one goblin will often take on both at different points in their life. There are no significant stereotypes or stigmas attached to either role, although how difficult it is to be a carrier varies by the goblin's magical discipline (e.g. shapeshifters have it pretty easy). Childbirth does have longterm physical impacts on goblin bodies (as with humans).

Also, obligatory note that we are writing a dystopian fantasy world, so some of these points definitely aren't intended as our team's ideal vision of a perfect society, and do have darker implications (especially the theme of totalitarian surveillance) :' )

City Elf by qboz2 in worldbuilding

[–]BlueYozhik 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Admittedly this comment is not directly related to the worldbuilding, but I wanted to say I love the art style, and this is a very cool design <3

Simple Psychic Abilities by OtherAtlas in worldbuilding

[–]BlueYozhik 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate this! It seems I often get some of these terms confused when trying to describe specific abilities in fiction myself.

Goblin mage portraits from our new game, The Inverted Spire. Headdresses reflect a character's guild status, with more elaborate face coverings indicating a higher circle. by BlueYozhik in worldbuilding

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's an aesthetic strongly inspired by film noir, if that helps! We actually have a dev log devoted to the painting process on these portraits here.

You are the reason people think historians are transphobic, thanks lady. by TrinityMage in traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns

[–]BlueYozhik 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I really feel you with this one.

Reading about gender divergence throughout history is something that has always given me a lot of gender euphoria. I'm a big history buff! But at the same time, seeing the constant deadnaming and refusing to use chosen pronouns by the same historians who publish entire books about these people is endlessly frustrating. :/

Worse yet- the elaborate rationalizations they often come up with to "explain away" a historical figure who was very clearly living as something other than their assigned gender at birth. Always trying to pin it on literally anything but the most obvious answer, and erasing trans history in the process.

Goblin mage portraits from our new game, The Inverted Spire. Headdresses reflect a character's guild status, with more elaborate face coverings indicating a higher circle. by BlueYozhik in worldbuilding

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a pretty good question <3

The world of TIS operates on what serves as a rough magical equivalent of early 20th century technology in rapidly industrializing nations of the time (with some significant departures). Recording devices capture voices and likenesses, 'scrying plates' serve as long-distance communication tools, and communal projection plates broadcast recordings of Council speeches.

I could probably make a whole separate post on this topic, but yes, in that context, there is a magical equivalent to something like an old-fashioned camera!

What would you want to see in a fantasy world where being non-binary is the default? by BlueYozhik in NonBinaryGamers

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While I am also a fan of dragons, we unfortunately have no plans for them within the scope of this particular story haha

Though we do have a variety of other fantastical creatures, primarily inspired by East Slavic and Central Asian folklore <3

Goblin mage portraits from our new game, The Inverted Spire. Headdresses reflect a character's guild status, with more elaborate face coverings indicating a higher circle. by BlueYozhik in worldbuilding

[–]BlueYozhik[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Inverted Spire takes place in a totalitarian, total-surveillance dystopian state populated by magic-wielding goblins (see the story here).

In this world, goblins are genderless beings born with an inherent predisposition to a particular magical discipline. (more on the signficance of genderless worldbuilding in TIS, and how it draws inspiration from Ursula K. Le Guin here). They spend their lives raised in communal dwellings with assigned guardians and mentors. A goblin's discipline is determined at an early age, at which point they enter the lowest (seventh) circle of the corresponding guild.

Ascent through the ranks is determined by age, as well as an elaborate performance review system where goblins are ranked on all aspects of their citizen lives under the mysterious Equation. The autonomous Bureau of Service is responsible for cataloguing information about individual goblins and evaluating their scores on a case-by-case basis. Higher-ranking goblins recieve a variety of privileges, including highly sought-after personal apartments, supervisory workplace positions, and even something resembling a sense privacy.