Magic systems are fantasy physics. Worldbuilding is what happens when you let history, culture, ecology, and power grind on those physics for a few thousand years.
Each galdress armed with an arc-gand is accompanied by a wealess. She carries backup coils, batteries, and offers support. But she’s not unarmed, she carries a repeating 12-shot wheellock carbine that can pump out an insane amount of damage on its own. A galdress and wealess together are pure chaos.
Sisterweals come in four types: here we see the light. A light-gand carries an ax and a ton of batteries. She is a saboteur, causing as much disruption as possible to the enemy. Her job is to make life hell. Her small-gand fires short bursts of wheelfire and she carries other explosive weaponry.
Light Galdress First-class, Sisterweal of Troop 56 of the Army of the United Commonweal, IX 46.
Probably Frédéric Bastiat in the 1840s, but it is very important to note he was a disciple of Adam Smith. He was the one who recontextualized Smith from moral philosopher to moral economist.
It’s been almost 20 years since I read Wealth of Nations, but as I recall Smith doesn’t once call himself an economist. He always refers to himself as a moral philosophy. He believed that a market heavily by a government motivated by moral ethics is the most efficient way of transferring prosperity.
Money Isn’t Coins
Most worlds treat money like D&D props. This is absurd.
Real economies run on trust, credit, debt, and fear.
Coins are just the costume.
If your world has gold but no IOUs, it’s unfinished.
#worldbuilding #economics
The Taxation Test
The fastest way to break a fake kingdom: ask how it collects taxes.
If the answer is “uh, the crown demands tribute,” congratulations — you’ve built a cosplay.
Real power is boring, and bureaucratic.
#worldbuilding #economics
Your world’s politics aren’t defined by kings or councils.
They’re defined by who can feed 10,000 people without collapsing.
If you don’t know that answer, you don’t have a state — you have a vibe.
#worldbuilding #politics
Kanye can apologize as much as he wants, and should, but I’m forever going to hate him because every time I’m humming along to I Got a Woman, “we want prenups” pops up in my head. Fuck you. #kanyewestismold
Thinking of starting a recurring clinic:
dissecting worldbuilding errors, fixing them live.
Want in? Drop a ☆ and tell me your favorite world-building sin.
#worldbuildingclinic
Magic ≠ Metaphysics
Stop calling it a magic system.
Magic is theology, politics, and physics all at once.
If you can diagram it like plumbing, it’s not magic — it’s tech support.
#worldbuilding #writingadvice
Every fake world collapses in its calendar.
Miss one leap-day and your harvest festival drifts into mid-winter.
A civilization that can’t keep time can’t keep faith. When people ask me what’s the first place to start with a new worldbuilding project, I say the calendar
#worldbuilding #mythology
Honsel
I tear down bad worldbuilding and build alternatives
Each week I’ll drop things like
Why invented languages collapse in two generations
Why calendars matter
How myth + politics fuse in functioning civilizations
Comment with ☆ if you see a worldbuilder who still uses “magic-system” as a crutch
Happy Veterans Day. In 05 at the height of the Iraq War I enrolled to be an infantry officer. I hated the war, I opposed it in all forms. I wanted to be the sane, responsible grown up who could bring some peace. Also I was suicidal from repressing being trans. Asthma kicked me out.
