New Year's Resolutions 2023

Happy New Year WorldAnvil!

My name is Hemlock Fang and I'm gonna list the 10 articles I read and what caught my attention and what I liked. Then I'll talk about my goals for the year.

Hemlock's Reads

The first article I wanted to look at was Symbiosis by Nnie for the world Solaris. I thought it was really interesting and just this one article got me really curious about the rest of the world. It talked about how Neptune was the reason people started grafting things to themselves and if you only read the main body of the article you wouldn't see that in this realm, the entirety of the solar system was habitable, not just Earth. Which made me really interested to understand how it worked.
I think fantasy/sci-fi conditions are really cool and I want to create some this year so to get more ideas I looked at Blue-Tongue Madness. Blue-Tongue Madness is a really interesting condition created by TJ Trewin. It originated from a different plane in his world and closely resembles harmless edible mint. It's also interesting to me because I think the reason mint is kind of tingly in real life is that it's supposed to deter things from eating it but humans being humans like it, so the idea of a mint-adjacent plant being actually harmful but retaining the "Humans are weird and eat things that most things can't" was super neat.
After that I looked at A Brief Introduction to Witchcraft by AP.A Brief Introduction to Witchcraft by AP. It got my attention because in the real world, I'm quite interested in witchcraft and find it rather fascinating. So many books dedicated to the subject line my shelves. I loved all the little blurbs on the different kinds of magic. The Kitchen Witchery and Leafology in particular sound intriguing. I think I'd love to learn them. One thing I found particularly intriguing was that the recipes used by Kitchen Witches are a closely guarded secret. It reminded me of how people can be really protective of family recipes.
Next I looked at Kin from the world of Vazdimet from the minds of M H Biscup and E V Turnbull and boy howdy is this one of the coolest things I have ever read. I'm still pretty new to this site and this is one of the best things I've seen so far. The amount of world building is so impressive and I hope that I can achieve that level of detail some day. I really appreciated the amount of thought that went into the Kin and their place in the universe. I think I'll have to revisit Vazdimet for some more articles later in this one. But before that I'll be looking at:
The Emperor's Fist - Lagash's Legions from the world of Ithekshem created by Qurilion. The name reminded me of Warhammer 40k which I thought was really cool. I don't know a lot about the game just that it tends to have really epic sounding names so it definitely caught my attention. Reading through it I noticed that while there wasn't a lot of focus on the military hierarchy, the world-building surrounding it was brilliant. Qurilion touched on how different legions have different specialties, specifically highlighting the Sewer Rats who don't use heavy armor and specialize in marsh, swamp, and sewer fighting. Lagash's Legions also touches on a couple of the tactics used by the legions including the "suicide charge."
Next we're looking at Crying Bulb Soup created by Naelin. Crying Bulb Soup, which seems to be equivalent to an onion soup. It's one of the most favored comfort foods and making the soup when you're sad will make you feel better by forcing you to cry and release your pent up feelings. I may actually try to find a good onion soup recipe to make when I'm having feelings in real life. Crying Bulb Soup is also a bit unique in that crying bulbs aren't actually that common as a main feature in dishes of the Trade Islands. They're usually used as a supporting ingredient if used at all. I'd be interested to see how crying bulbs are cultivated and if they have any more similarities to onions. I also really liked that the article was supposed to be written from the perspective of a renowned chef name Alue, I thought it was a very nice touch.
Tea Balls from the Yonderverse by Mochimanoban. A bittersweet emotionally but physically delicious treat created by Mochimanoban for the planet Cilvarth in the Yonderverse. Tea Balls, while sharing a name with real world equivalents, are unique in that rather than being a bundle of leaves dropped into hot water to make tea, they are a fried treat that is often connected with mothers. The cilvarthians don't live long after bearing young so the mothers make tea balls with their young to bond with them before they pass on. As a result tea balls are a beloved treat filled with much emotion. There are also competitions for who can make the biggest one with the current record being a meter in diameter. I think it's a lovely if slightly sad concept and I'd love to know what are some of the most popular flavors. I read in a comment that each family has a particular flavor of tea ball that is connected with them but I think it would be interesting to see if there are any common flavors that while not directly connected to family, still serve as a popular but less emotionally charged treat.

Behold the Jorrael. Masters of bending plants and trees to their will to create great cities. The Jorrael make their home on the planet of Janikk in the world of Vazdimet. I thought the Jorrael was a super cool concept. I had heard of cities in the trees but never a city made of trees. I think it's a really clever idea and if it were feasible in real life it could be a good way to live more harmoniously with our natural environment as it would require us to care for the trees for our own survival. Alas it will likely never be. The Vemajorrael practice something called Zokinesis and are actually able to graft plants onto people. Which reminds me a bit of Symbiosis from Nnie. Vemajorrael seem to be distinct in their methods though as it appears to be more magical than scientific. Astounding nonetheless.
Newborn Gold is a tradition in Crienia where when a child is born, they are presented to the community and given coins of varying value to help the family with child care expenses. It's also said to bring good fortune to the little one. I thought Newborn Gold was interesting because it shows a community coming together to support a family with a new child. It seems like a really nice idea and like it would really help. Kind of similar to a baby shower but rather than buying things you're just giving the money to.
Last but not least we examine the Rune Deer from the Yonderverse. The Rune Deer is an immense giraffe like creature with massive horns and intriguing psychic abilities. While the Rune Deer show some similarity to deer and giraffes of Earth, it's far larger and powerful than any Earth counterpart. Elder Rune Deer boast some telekinetic ability and are able to hurl rocks and even trees at their predators. I think Rune Deer are really cool and it got my attention because I like deer. It is different than I imagined, I was thinking of a glowing deer with rune like markings on its pelt. But the Rune Deer of the Yonderverse totally subverted my expectations and I think that's far more entertaining. Hunted by three tailed white tigers and massive hawks reminiscent of roks from tales of old, the Rune Deer don't have it easy. While looking at the images and reading about Rune Deer is fun, I'd probably be terrified of them if I were to actually encounter one.

Hemlock's Goals

And now that brings us to my goals for the new year. I'm not fully sure how Oxerune will turn out as I work on it. But I'd like to try and make 10 articles this year for it. I want to create four towns, two important figures, and write down my ideas for monsters. The Diomwul, the Monlyky, and the Griolko are ones I've previously drawn and I'd like to flesh out a bit more. I also want to work on a pantheon of gods for Oxerune and I think I want to publish at least 5 articles. Ideally 10, but I want to publish 5 and get a good start on 10 with images and paragraphs. If I can I'll publish drafts for the community to see and help hold me to my goals.
Happy New Year WorldAnvil, and thanks for the inspiration this year.