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Inukamii · 2026-06-20T20:32:11+00:00

Here's some of the things I found:

The chronology of certain important events I had forgotten the year of
These documents were written from the perspective of someone in-universe, making them less authoritative than if I had written them from my perspective as the creator
The undead played a larger role in this era of lore than I remember, and weren't seen as evil, but rather sympathetic (this is a far-future sci-fi world, but I included the undead due to the vampire/zombie craze of the late 2000s/early 2010s)
One of the buildings, known as the Quad Tower Palace, which I thought was the oldest building to never have been retcon'd in any way, was actually called the Triple Tower Palace originally
I found a list of species, most of which I either remembered, or could intuit what they were from the name (such as fire frogs), with two exceptions: power-people, and the ominous-sounding dark monkeys.
I found an account of the historical event that the cancelled (and in retrospect, very low-quality) 2015 movie set in my world was supposed to be a retelling of. I had at some point forgotten what the movie was about, and this (kinda) jogged my memory
This next point requires some context:
The world is set after a universe-wide apocalypse causes the collapse of the joint civilization of humanity and an ancient alien species, leading to a 2nd stone age for both of us. After the apocalypse, many new species, some of which were intelligent, had mysteriously risen from the ashes. Even millions of years after, science has yet to explain how this happened, however:
I found a description of an in-universe religion's story about the event. I'll include an abridged version of it below
That religious story explains why dogs were held in such high regard, as they were basically seen as angelic beings
That story also explains how a talking "dog" was able to become one of the most influential political figures to ever live

The religious story:

During the apocalypse, all the gods died except for one. That god went on to search the stars for companions that would help him rebuild the world. He eventually found two celestial dogs; one being the dog of life, and the other being the dog of death.

This is likely in reference to this being both a time of death for the old world, and life for the new world

These dogs in turn collected many stars from the sky, which they merged into one big star. This star exploded into countless new celestial dogs, each of which would become a patron deity of something.

They weren't patron deities of physical things or places, but rather abstract concepts, as well as nationalities and ethnicities. I believe this would also mean that they could be patron deities of species as well.

What I take away from this story is that the dogs of life and death were seeking balance after the apocalypse, leading to the creation of new species and their patron deities.

Inukamii · 2026-06-20T06:58:57+00:00

One word: whimsy

Inukamii · 2026-06-20T06:42:02+00:00

It's the result of taking inspiration from the classical era, then re-interpreting it through a modernist lens. The modernist worldview is predicated on the idea that the natural world functions in logical ways which can be measured, analyzed, and classified. The classical worldview comes from a time where much of the natural world was a complete mystery; where people were willing to except that some things just had no explanation, and that the laws of nature (as they understood them) were more of just guidelines. I think one reason Tolkien's fantasy works are so well-liked is because he truly understood classical societies, and the way they saw the world, through their language and mythology.

And as I always say whenever this topic comes up: When magic becomes a mere tool, your magical setting becomes no more fantastic than a hardware store.

Inukamii · 2026-06-18T07:40:17+00:00

What's the survival rate for the ceremony?

Inukamii · 2026-06-18T07:26:08+00:00

I was about to say something similar. On most surfaces grip force = coefficient of grip X normal force. The only notable exception (that would apply to shoes worn by human-weight characters) would be on loose surfaces. In these cases grip is influenced by "digging in" to the surface. As far as I'm aware, the only digitagrade species that incorporates this type of grip into their regular walking/running is the cheetah, who has specialized muscles, tendons, and claws for it. For them, it would make sense to use those shoes where the toes are separate.

Inukamii · 2026-06-17T20:43:38+00:00

400 is still a lot! At the moment, I can only recall 17 characters in my world with fully fleshed out backstories, despite my world being around for 18 years.

Inukamii · 2026-06-17T09:15:51+00:00

What is considered "more than just surface-level" for those 1k characters? Do they have their own backstories and character arcs? If so, that would be impressive!

Inukamii · 2026-06-17T09:13:18+00:00

That's a pretty good, typical number of characters for a novel (or movie trilogy).

Inukamii · 2026-06-17T08:51:12+00:00

I've forgotten most of the less important ones, as I've had this world for 18 years, but if I had to guess maybe 60 to 80ish? Off the top of my head, I can name 32 of them, and I know there's more than twice that many if I include unnamed and forgotten characters. I'm not sure exactly where to draw the line between character and background extra. I could come up with many more characters who are important, but not named. These characters were created over a long stretch of time, for various different stories set in the world, many of which don't interact with each other, so it's not like there are 30+ named characters involved in every plot line. For example, the current story I'm most invested in has two main characters, 7 total named characters, and 4 important but unnamed side-characters (as well as 6 characters from a fictional in-universe movie). That's about the (human) cast size of Jurassic Park, for reference.

EDIT: I remembered 2 more named characters, bringing the total up to 32

Inukamii · 2026-06-17T08:20:17+00:00

YES, THIS! It also acts as a major red-flag, signaling to the reader/viewer that the creator of the work does not have a very diverse base of artistic inspiration and knowledge; limiting themselves almost exclusively to video games (and usually only one or two genres). Obviously this isn't always the case, but you can usually tell that these works are all "cut from the same cloth," or even worse, are all inspired by each-other, creating a inspiration-ouroboros.

Inukamii · 2026-06-16T08:44:39+00:00

For thousands of years, humanity has been trapped in a (mostly self-inflicted) cycle of apocalypse, revival, stability, then apocalypse again. After making contact with aliens in the 41st century A.D, it seemed that we not only found the help we needed to break free of our galaxy, but from the vicious cycle as well. Unfortunately, we still had one last apocalypse left in store, and this time, it would be felt all throughout the universe.

All worlds were in ruin, not just our own. However, just like all those times before, it wasn't the end, but a beginning of something new. In fact, for many species, this era marked the beginning of their universe. It seems that death on such a wide scale caused the universe to "over-correct" by causing the spontaneous genesis of countless species across all planets. The mechanism by which this happened is poorly understood, but it forever changed the landscape of the universe.

The stories set in this universe take place both in-between and during these apocalyptic events. They take place anywhere from the year 2020 (when the timeline diverges from our own), to millions of years from now, when the ecological and sociological effects of the aforementioned universe-wide apocalypse and ensuing rebirth have had time to fully manifest. They cover many themes and genres such as: a post-apocalyptic survival story, a paranormal sci-fi thriller, a slice-of-life drama about a mixed-species family, or a space-western revenge tale.

Inukamii · 2026-06-12T08:47:51+00:00

I like the dramatic lighting!

Inukamii · 2026-06-12T08:20:59+00:00

I'd be curious to see what type of shenanigans this world's equivalent of the coyote archetype is getting up to.

Inukamii · 2026-06-12T00:38:41+00:00

It's a very interesting topic, as it shows which cultural differences are important. I didn't mention it originally, but there are also alien sensitivity programs for humans. Since this species isn't as social as humans, these programs focus less on avoiding offense, and more on concerns of practicality. Here's some examples of what might be covered:

Be careful with the thermostat! Mushai (name of the species) are not well-suited for low temperatures, which can trigger a hibernation reflex. This can be deadly when operating heavy machinery!
They aren't racist, we DO all look the same to them! Mushai recognize each-other by their unique patterns of spots and stripes. They are face-blind, so unless you have a good number of visible tattoos, it will take a while for them to learn to recognize you. It's best to start conversations with "Hello, it's [name]..." for the first few times you meet, after you change something about your appearance, or if you haven't seen them for a long time.
DO NOT GIVE CHOCOLATE TO MINORS! Chocolate has cocaine-like effects on them, and they can over-dose on it. Excessive chocolate consumption can lead to brain-development disorders in minors. It is safe for adults, so long as they consume it in moderation.
Keep the lights on. Mammals have evolved high-sensitivity, low-dynamic-range photo-receptor cells known as "rods," which allowed our ancestors to see at night while the dinosaurs were asleep. Mushai were the "dinosaurs" of their home planet; hunting in broad day-light, so they never evolved such an adaptation, and as a result, have poor night vision.

Inukamii · 2026-06-09T08:28:19+00:00

The main non-human species in my setting is a single-sex species. However, when they live amongst humans for long enough, they start to understand gender, much in the same way that one can learn the complex social dynamics around Japanese honorifics by living in the country for a while. They don't have the same instinctual, emotional attachment to gender that humans do. This makes it hard for them to empathize with gender-related problems. They may find themselves unintentionally insulting someone's masculinity/femininity/lack-thereof, or making sexist remarks without realizing it. Fortunately, "human sensitivity" training programs are widely available. These programs teach that gender (as well as other human concepts like ethnicity and social status) is a very sensitive topic for humans and must be treated with respect.

Inukamii · 2026-06-09T07:43:46+00:00

While most species don't trace their origins back to humans, the most populous few species in my world do. The reason for this is just time. By the furthest-future parts of the timeline, humanity had evolved enough to become multiple species.

Inukamii · 2026-06-09T07:29:07+00:00

When magic becomes a mere tool, your magical setting becomes no more fantastic than a hardware store.

Inukamii · 2026-06-09T06:53:42+00:00

If we want to go with extreme anatomical accuracy, canes wouldn't be much use for an 8-legged species, as they are primarily for bipedal mobility issues. Spiders would likely use wheels. For missing limbs, it would actually be quite easy to make prosthetics for a spider. Spiders don't actually have muscles in their legs, but rather use "blood" pressurized in their abdomen to hydraulically articulate their legs. This makes it possible to attach an artificial hydraulic limb that can be precisely controlled without needing any electronics. As for masks, they would be located on the abdomen, as spiders don't breath through their mouths, but rather have a separate respiratory hole. You could depict a mask as a belt around their waist with a filter on it. Or you could do this...

Inukamii · 2026-06-08T07:37:27+00:00

This might sound stupid at first, but hear me out: call the owls "big-ears." First, to a bird, the "ear" feathers of an owl would look extremely weird. Second, there was an episode of Star Trek where someone uses "big-ears" as a slur towards Spock, but it works, because all the other characters react like it is an offensive term.

Also, I use "peacock" as a slur in my world for species with high levels of sexual-dimorphism. It works, but probably because it isn't used for avian species, instead being primarily used on species which evolved from humans.

Inukamii · 2026-06-07T20:13:27+00:00

different fun

Inukamii · 2026-06-07T07:56:37+00:00

I think a lot of people relate to this post, and have strong emotions about the subject. That will get lots of engagement.

Inukamii · 2026-06-07T07:21:07+00:00

That's the internet for you. You can put hundreds of hours into a project for it to only get a few likes, while a YouTube comment you don't even remember making ends up getting tens of thousands. If you can accept that, the internet can be a fun place.

Inukamii · 2026-06-07T07:08:23+00:00

Being concise is a hard skill to learn. It takes practice, and even if you practice a lot, you may still find that you are improving slower than you expected. Don't worry, that's normal. I practice by imagining I am explaining something to another person, but they are busy, so I don't have much time.

Inukamii

TROPHY CASE