Conworld - Blog Posts
Day 34 (1:04 in my extended base 30/7) of rewriting my novel
Today I bring back the side character who really won't get enough love: Vimir.
Vimir's a clutz, thick and through. He's easygoing and hard not to love. He spends his time working, but when he's not working he's either making mead to drink later, or drinking his mead now.
Vimir is probably Izi's second-most loyal ally, but definitely his most loyal ally when the story begins. For years, he would spot Izi cash to be able to afford his own place. Izi's always felt guilty, but has never had a way to repay him.
Day 33 (1:03 in extended base 30/7) of re-writing my novel
I hit 40,000 words today!
I am also still chugging along and building up Taguchif's character as I go in this first draft, since she's the second least developed Hero. (The least developed Hero being the Hero of Language, Pagjom.)
I am, unfortunately, very prepared for Part Three to drag on and on for all eternity, since there's so much that needs to happen for the next really big event (that is, Lozerief returns, begging for forgiveness.) It may get to a point where I start writing backwards from that point while I trudge through the boring.
Well, I don't think it's boring, it's mostly just full of characterization of Izi and Hota that they won't get anywhere else. Not only is it for my own sake (because they're easily my favorite couple to write of my OCs: see also, Lozerief and Tev; Yessei and Stardust) but it's also for the sake of recovering from the end of Part Two.
Day 32 (1:02 in extended-base 30-7) of re-writing my novel
Yeah ok today I couldn't help myself and I cut to the chase: introducing Taguchif, the Hero of Doom, and easily the character who would beat all the others in a full-blown battle.
(Also, I never answer it anywhere, but Zenestian surnames are always first: In, Ihine, and Eheste are the most common surnames I write about.)
In Taguchif
19 year old Taguchif (nick. Tagif) is the Princess of Atepsi and the Sixth Hero, and therefore the last one needed to save Meiste. Due to other circumstances, her Realization isn't what sets Meiste's return to normalcy in motion. That will come later. She's Izi's sister, tech god, and explosive (in a literal sense).
She's about 5' 10", and goes around wearing her metal chestplate with gauntlets, wearing gray sweat pants and sneakers. Her midriff is usually exposed, as well as her arms up to her elbow. Her skin is darker than Izi's (whose is already pretty dark), and she has green eyes with long, wavy hair.
Backstory
Taguchif and Iziser were separated once Izi was born, and Taguchif was raised with her mother in Atepsi city as an only child. She was never aware her mother, Ihine Dolgof, was the Hero of Life.
As a child, she gained a knack for working with technology, and she came up with her best invention, termed the 'technoplate.' It's a chestplate and gauntlets designed initially to harness magic, but later designed to suppress it.
Speaking of suppressing magic, Doom can be a volatile magic, and Taguchif's Realization is no different. When she turned fifteen, she started seeing signs, but it got progressively worse until her final Realization when she's with Izi and Hota.
In addition to being Hero of Doom, though, she's also the Princess of Atepsi, and a very influential figurehead, though powerless under the Atepsi Constitution.
Abilities
Fire is one of the key symbols of Doom. She breathes fire out of her mouth and her eyes glow orange.
But also there's poison skin, so don't touch her unless she says it's okay.
She can also shapeshift, but it takes a lot of energy, especially to get a lot larger.
Those are the main three for now.
Quotes
"Too late...you're cooked."
"Huh...nice."
"Oh! You want to hear about the holograms!" Yaps for 30 mins uninterrupted.
Day 31 (1:01 in extended base 30 base 7) of rewriting my conlang.
Poll at the end!
Groups of thirty days are easier to count than pure groups of seven days, so I will now be implementing an extended base 30 where the first digit will go up to 42 (30 in base 10) and the next digit will count in base 12. A complicated way of approximating the number of years:months:weeks-days I've been writing.
Today I remembered that I'm writing my novel and can do what I want, so I added a pretty direct form of foreshadowing by mentioning that Mostijv was going to find a huge lava monster (named Tev) who would help her rebel against the oppressive, Odapir government and form the White Army.
Today, I fleshed out more of the Western Zenestian languages, but I'm not done with sound changes and grammar yet, so be on the lookout for that.
Also,
OC Open Tag Questionaire
Open tag from @fantasy-things-and-such
I'll do this with three of my main OCs: Iziser, Hotautebz, and Lozerief.
1) Are you a night owl or a morning lark
Izi: Normally, I hear the phrase as "night owl or morning star." I sleep in too late to be a morning star, though.
Hota: Izi thinks he sleeps in late? 10 AM? Rookie numbers.
Lozerief: I don't sleep. I once went a period of two weeks without sleeping before my body had enough and I slept on the floor. My sleep schedule is so irreconcilably bad that I can't, in good conscience, answer this question.
2) what is/would be your favorite kind of cheese
Izi: I'm lactose intolerant! I hear they make good brie in the highlands, though.
Hota: I feel bad for Izi. He's missing out on the wonders of mozzarella.
Lozerief: I grew up on a dairy farm. I had a brief stint selling cheese. I can't stand the stuff anymore-cheese, milk, butter, you name it! I guess my favorite at the time was well-aged gouda. I put my heart and soul into making gouda, let me tell you.
3) whats your favorite letter?*
Izi: This question is terribly unspecific! What language? Because my favorite "normal" letter is "rr." It looks like this: 工.
Hota: Again, poor Izi doesn't know the horrors of trying to learn to write Ytos. That being said, my favorite letter is the regular "r" in Ipol, which looks like this: 口.
Lozerief: Depends on the language, mostly, and script. Like, I'm old enough to remember the Classical Zispoel abugida that Pagjom invented, like, nine hundred years ago! It's hard to choose a favorite, especially in modern Ipol, which simplified the old abugida tremendously, down into an abjad. But, "f" is my favorite letter: Π.
*Sidenote: these are relative approximations of the actual characters in the Ipol Abjad, which I may later make a post on.
I tag @theothersideofthewoods @oldfashionedidiot and @authorcoledipalo + open tag. Your questions are:
What's your favorite restaurant? If you don't have one, what's your favorite food?
How many languages do you speak? Do you speak English? How many forms of those languages do you speak?
What does magic mean for you?
Day 30 (42 in base 7) of rewriting my novel
Today I explored Tolftorrijv and Zenée. Both are very important places in Zenestian history, as they linguistically diverged from Ir Nouzonif in radically different ways. Culturally, while they're still pretty similar, the linguistic differences instigated a large, cultural divide which broke out into civil war.
Tolftorrijv (language unnamed), Zãth, and Zenée are all members of the Western Zenestian languages, characterized by nasal vowels and round, front vowels as well as an increasingly analytical grammar (contrasting with the fusional grammar of Ipol.)
Day 29 (41 in base 7) of re-writing my novel
Yeah today everyone remembers that, all the way back in Part One, Lozerief offhandedly said that Izi could render the Constitution of Zeneste completely void if he said so. I find this very amusing for several reasons.
The President is (effectively) the Emperor after she removes Iziser as Emperor.
If Iziser renders the Constitution void, the President and the two houses can write a new constitution which doesn't include the Emperor as a role, or any connection to the Hero of Life.
Furthermore, they can write the role of Vice President out entirely and hold special "elections" (mass voter fraud/suppression) and oust Lozerief, the only sane politician left, while she's isolated from the other two (three) Heroes.
This is a rather Orwellian (see 1984) take on how this will turn out, but President Sluwfa has to then convince the masses that a) this is what the Hero of Life would've wanted, and b) In Iziser, the rice farmer who became Emperor, was actually an enemy of the state the whole time. As a result, policing in Ir Nouzonif (both the city and the state) increases drastically, but (as you may already know from my previous posts,) many remain sympathetic to In Iziser, anyways.
From a worldbuilding perspective, putting a ball in a bin/hoop/etc... seems like the most basic form of entertainment, and I support it. (Consider literally every game that includes a ball-most literally have ball in the name!)
Maybe ball is what unites us all lmao.
The Transformers, episode 32 “The Master Builders”
Foreshadowing is so fun! Even though I'm still on draft one of my novel, I may list which of these elements I've incorporated so far below.
Lozerief knows stuff she shouldn't. How did she know Izi's dad? If she knew his dad, did she know his mom? (Spoilers, yes, she did, duh.)
Colors. Everywhere. Lozerief wears black, foreshadowing her role as Hero of Earth. Izi wears white, foreshadowing his role as Hero of Cognition and her antithesis. Hota wears teal for their role as Hero of Mind.
I (mostly) know how this will end.
Not a Checkhov's gun but I repeatedly bring up Izi's old home for more reasons than just trauma.
I keep track of what I put in languages that I create so that only I (and the characters who speak those languages) know what they're saying. (I foreshadow the rise of the White Army this way.)
Names with meanings is a big one for Lozerief...
I realize only now that Lozerief is the character who hides the most, and it's amazing she doesn't spoil it all right away. Maybe she's bound by some old agreement...?
subtle ways to include foreshadowing
one character knowing something offhandedly that they shouldn't, isn't addressed until later
the crow rhyme
colours!! esp if like, blue is evil in your world and the mc's best friend is always noted to wear blue...betrayal?
write with the ending in mind
use patterns from tragic past events to warn of the future
keep the characters distracted! run it in the background until the grand reveal
WEATHER.
do some research into Chekhov's gun
mention something that the mc dismisses over and over
KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU PUT. don't leave things hanging.
unreliable characters giving information that turn out to be true
flowers and names with meanings
anything with meanings actually
metaphors. if one character describes another as "a real demon" and the other turns out to be the bad guy, you're kind of like...ohhh yeahhh
anyways add anything else in the tags
Day 28 (40 in base 7) of re-writing my novel ft. The Great Coalition
Four weeks officially! This is so exciting!
Part Three is coming along greatly and I'm still so excited for its completion. As a follow-up to my post earlier today, let's talk about the Great Coalition.
The Great Coalition
The only change to the flag was the black background on the right being added as symbolism for the Hero of Earth.
With the sole goal of recapturing Ir Nouzonif, Zenée, Tolftorrijv, Atepsi, Ytos, and Itaush all form the Great Coalition.
The Recapture of Ir Nouzonif
The White Army and Atepsi stage their armies at the Odapir border. Rebel groups in Pisteeks stage the Tolftijv army, and in Sedrosteks the Zenée army will set up on the border with Ir Nouzonif.
The Hero of Earth revealed that the President stole her technology to put an anti-magic barrier around Ir Nouzonif, so nobody will have their Gift once inside the city limits.
Ytos, Itaush, and the Atepsi navy are sent to guard the Eastern Sea and ensure that the President doesn't escape that way. Everyone knows her goal is to escape with the magic and the Heros of Life and Language's bodies. None of the four remaining Heroes can let that happen.
The Coalition
This most is mostly an info-dump about a part of Part Three (and Part Four) that I'm working on, but if you'd like, keep reading for spoilers!
The Western Zenestian Coalition
The Western Zenestian Coalition was founded with the sole purpose of recapturing Ir Nouzonif. The founding document dictates that, though it itself is not a governed nation, all states that participate must agree to build a militia, refuse to fight amidst themselves, and plan to recapture Ir Nouzonif under the leadership of the Three Heroes (Iziser, Taguchif, and Hota.) The founding member states were the state of Zenée and Tolftorrijv.
The white symbolizes Cognition (and, later, the White Army of Odapir.) The yellow symbolizes Doom, and the teal symbolizes Mind. These are the colors of the Three Heroes.
Speaking of the White Army, they seceded from Odapir before the coalition was founded, but they later join once they secure control of the border with Ir Nouzonif province. Another state is allowed to join with the approval of a simple majority of current member states.
The founding document also dictates that, upon the capture of Ir Nouzonif, all member states will be independent and recognized by all others. This is mostly for Zenée and Tolftorrijv, since they are states of Zeneste, and the White Army, who seceded from Odapir.
The Great Coalition
After the Hero of Earth joins the coalition in leadership, the states of Ytos, Itaush, and Atepsi, as well as the rebellion group in Pisteeks, the coalition grows into being most of the world, all with the goal of capturing Ir Nouzonif. Maybe I'll make a follow-up post about the Great Coalition.
Day 27 (36 in base 7) of re-writing my novel
I started Part Three today. Progress still in progress.
Part Three will be particularly hard to write because of how loosey-goosey it is right now, but I'm nailing the plan down. At least the first several thousand words should be planned-out, for now. This part may be very long, like 30-40,000 words.
But it starts off in a particularly dark place. Spoilers ahead, for anyone who cares.
Part Three begins with Iziser reconsidering why he ever trusted Lozerief to begin with, and why she would turn on them. He initially believes its his fault. He also jogs a memory from being back in the only place he ever called "home," and he realizes Lozerief was fighting for him on the sidelines all the while. Why, now, would she go and take his magic?
But Lozerief comes around out of necessity in the end of Part Three. Will I use Lozerief to answer every question? Definitely not, there's still one more Part! And she doesn't have all the answers, only most of them. Including some of the biggest ones that she keeps hidden away from everyone...
Day 26 (35 in base 7) of re-writing my novel
I finished Part Two today! I will celebrate tomorrow (somehow). It is ~21,000 words.
The very end of Part Two explores what it is like to exist as a body without magic. Check out the following excerpt. Keep in mind, there are a TON of spoilers right here.
I blinked again, and Dolgof was on the ground.
I staggered back, clawing for Hota's arm, pulling them back as well as I stared at the Hero of Life's limp body, laying up against the lemon tree. Behind her stood the Hero of Earth. She gripped a syringe with white knuckles.
"What did you do," I shouted, "you killed her!"
Fangs bared, she kicked the Hero of Life. "Go on, tell him your dirty lie," she growled.
"Come," Dolgof whispered. "She won't hurt you."
Against my better judgment, I knelt down beside her. Her breathing slowed. Her hand laid over her stomach. Her cheeks drooped with fatigue. She was barely alive now, and she wouldn't be for much longer.
"I hid so much from you," she continued. "I hid myself from you for eighteen years. Only now-" she coughed "-only now do I tell you that, In Iziser."
She struggled for a breath. I lifted her head up. "What, what," I cried. My body shook, tears forming behind my eyes. "What is it?"
"You're my son."
No.
"I'm your mother, Izi."
I gasped and staggered back, hands covering my mouth until I fell hard on the ground. Hota picked me up. Still wielding her syringe, I begged the Hero of Earth, "what did you do to her?""I took her magic," she snarled. "I took the Hero of Language's, too. I'm going to combine them all, myself, and save Meiste. That's the easiest-no, only-way."
A body without magic is, too, aimless and stumbling through existence. An existence without the magic that fundamentally makes people people in Meiste is a painful one. Dolgof, once the Hero of Life, will remain a vegetable until the end of the novel, once they're able to reunite her and her magic.
Day 25 (34 in base 7) of re-writing my novel
Today I explored one of two very important concepts in my novel: what does magic look like without a body to bind to it? Read ahead to learn more, but there are technically spoilers here.
"No," I decided. "It's-" A foul stench slashed at my nose, popping my eyes open. "What the hell?" I stood and plugged my nose, sticking out my hand. "I don't smell it." Hota stood beside me, hands in their pockets while they looked around. From the forest came a rotting buck the size of a semi truck. I could see its skull from beneath the skin that had fallen away, and only one eye remained on it. "I don't see that." Hota gulped and stood behind me. The buck wasn't real, I realized. The buck was made of magic. This was the consequence of failing to restore magical balance quickly enough. This putrid thing, made from unguided magic, wandering aimlessly in a world where it couldn't interact. Had I failed? Would Meiste soon perish?
Magic without a body is aimless. It is undead. It has no will nor way, rhyme nor reason, nothing like that. In fact, the perception of that magic is what caused it to take a form in the first place. It is only putrid-smelling because Izi perceived it that way, and it only looks like a rotting deer because that's what Izi saw.
Day 24 (33 in base 7) of re-writing my novel
Since google docs (my primary writing tool, accompanied by my note-taking journal) doesn't quite accurately describe my true word count, today I will celebrate 30,000 words like I promised yesterday, because it's close enough to be within a 5% error.
I wrote more today, including getting deep in the weeds with the relationship between Izi, Hero of Cognition, and Dolgof, the Hero of Life. Without sharing very many spoilers, they're in very similar situations. Or, have been.
Izi, the current Emperor of Zeneste, has never been in a position of power before, nor has he been a proper leader. Dolgof had been in his position during the drafting of the Constitution of Zeneste, but she never became a good leader.
I like this dynamic between them. Not only does Izi have someone to discuss what being a leader means with, he also has someone to juxtapose himself against, however unhealthy that may be.
Day 23 (32 in base 7) of Rewriting my Novel
I was on a plane again today, so I wrote a bunch. If I didn't crack 30,000 today, I'll crack 30,000 tomorrow. Yay!
I finally got around to writing an introduction for this blog, which was long overdue. I'm definitely not only shouting off into the void of binary while I continue to write.
Neither Odapir nor Ipol are to a point where I would feel comfortable publishing a dictionary, but they're to a point where I can translate as I need to and derive words on the fly. If I ever get to a point where I have 1,500-2,000 words, I'll publish a dictionary, then. Probably online.
A Proper Introduction
It only now occurs to me that I haven't properly introduced myself (or this blog!) Welcome. I'm happy to have y'all. I'm Lex (they/them) (18+), your local siren, programmer, writer, worldbuilder, conlanger, composer, and gardener. I speak with a bit of a Southern accent.
This is my main (and only, for now) blog, where I mostly post about my writing endeavors and worldbuilding "woes" (I make myself suffer for fun.) In the future, I may make blogs devoted to specific conlangs or concultures, but I will probably make a website for that, first. If that happens, I will post it here. I follow other blogs I like ad nauseam.
Additionally, I'm always taking translation suggestions for any of my conlangs in any of my WIPs. At the moment, I only have two WIPs, which I'll list below, but I'm really only working on one right now.
My WIPs are:
It Will Hurt: And There Will be no Fire - (On hold) A story about a vegan big-V Vampire, her sister, her cofee bar, and a lot of people who want her power for themselves.
Meiste - (Current) A story about several Heroes running around and trying to restore "magical balance" while also navigating political and economic strife.
Moreover, current conlangs I'm accepting translation ideas for:
Ipol (and Sinezo 'speer)
Odapir
Atepsi
Kwalinu and Kwaleynnũ
Ytos and Itaush
Katla-Khi
Bumpe Nende
Knál Bnú and Kanál Banáu
I'm normally down for connecting with writing buddies, so if you're interested, feel free to DM me! I am also willing to proofread/edit others' works, in addition to helping however I can. I can make websites, make languages, and make music lol.
I promise I wrote today, so there will also be an update following this. Take care, y'all.
Day 22 (31 in base 7) of rewriting my novel
Today I wrote some more and did some more plotting.
While we're on the topic of plotting, let's talk about the newest character (referenced yesterday) whose name is Mostijv in Ipol and Heja'umak (/hɛ.jə.u.mək/) in Odapir.
Her character has suddenly become very important for the fate of Odapir. She, along with local, lesbian, giant lava monster, Tev, are introduced by Dolgof. They both decide to team up to overthrow the tyrannical, Odapirian dictatorship, but it becomes a hard-fought, very long battle. One that extends past the novel's canon. (I.e. the "White Army" of Tev and Mostijv and the "Purple Army" of the Odapirian dictatorship are still fighting when the novel ends.)
Mostijv and Izi butt heads a lot, but they're fundamentally allies through mutual respect. Hota, since they're constantly trying to keep the peace, gets along fine with Mostijv.
Mostijv's magic is Doom, specifically some basic fire-making.
As Promised
I filled out one of these character sheets I found for In Iziser, Hero of Cognition and Emperor of Zeneste, as a writing warm-up.
General Info
Name: In Iziser
Nicknames:
• Most prominent: Nuwrrite Emeete, "Hero of Cognition," Nuwrrite sis Nistemiks pijn.
Called Izi by all his friends.
Pronouns: he/him
Age: 18
Gender: Cis Man
Sexuality: Pan
Species: Human
Place Of Birth: Outside of Ir Nouzonif, Zeneste
Current Home: Ir Nouzonif, Zeneste
Big spoilers ahead of here, be warned!
Appearance
Izi has short, brown hair and brown skin and a flat-ish nose. His eyes are green, and he stands at around 5' 6" (167 cm). He doesn't appear particularly fit or trim, but the mass on his bones is definitely muscle from tilling and harvesting rice fields.
Normally, he'll be seen wearing jeans and long-sleeves, even in >100 F (37 C) heat-indexes, since Ir Nouzonif is a very humid place. He's no stickler for colors matching, and often his clothes are permanently stained with dirt.
Personality
Though mostly cheery, he can becomes aggravated easier than normal. Moreover, he can be overzealous and overconfident. He's very openly trusting, although he keeps his early history close to his chest. He's not altogether too proud, though he hates to receive charity, even when he's down on his luck. He looks up to his father, and remembers his words a lot.
Likes:
• Rice bowls. They're his favorite food because they're a) easy to make, b) versatile, and c) filling with the right ingredients. He mostly just adds a couple of fried eggs to his rice bowls.
• Spending time with Hotautebz, the Hero of Mind. Since there's no point in holding back from Hota, Izi feels most like himself when he's with them. Hota's not too judgemental, thankfully.
• His local general store. It's the place where he does most of his shopping, since he knows the price is relatively cheap for the quality of clothing and other daily goods.
Dislikes:
• His authority being questioned. Though he's very insecure about being a leader (in more ways than one), he wouldn't give up the title for his life. He often finds ways to reassert his own authority in that way.
• Lounging around. Izi is restless and likes to me moving about. He likes to rest when he's tired, but he doesn't stay stagnant for too long.
• Burned rice. He believes rice is one of the easiest things to cook, and one of the hardest things to mess up, since it's so versatile.
Known Abilities
Cognition Magic
Cognition magic is the magic of the Irrealis-that which is not real, or cannot be known. Quantum physics lends itself really well to this, as well as knowledge of magic, itself. At a base level, Izi can teleport, become "ghost-like," and sense another person's magic.
Besides that, his skill with the scythe and sickle have been honed for the years since he worked in the rice fields.
Relationships
Family:
• (Mother) Ihine Dolgof, Hero of Life. (Not present during his upbringing.) (See! I told you there would be big spoilers.)
(Father) Äs Xajas. Raised Izi alone. Deceased
(Sister) In Taguchif, Hero of Redacted. Raised by her mother (Ihine Dolgof) in Atepsi to become the Princess of Atepsi.
Friends/Allies:
• Vimir, roommate and best friend. Worked in the rice fields together. Complete airhead.
Eheste Lozerief, Hero of Earth. Simultaneously an ally and enemy.
Hotautebz Az, Hero of Mind. Izi and Hota fit together like the first two tunes in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Songs.
Enemies:
President Sluwfa of Zeneste. The big bad.
Eheste Lozerief. Marginally less bad.
In Taguchif. Even less bad.
Backstory
Izi was born the second of two to the Hero of Life and Xajas. Deciding she couldn't raise two children, Ihine Dolgof forced Xajas to divorce and split their children, since Taguchif was just two, and Izi had just been born. As a result, Izi was raised alone.
He went through elementary school in the rural area outside of Ir Nouzonif until his father died in the hospital with stage four lung cancer. After that, the lawyers who were supposed to transcribe his inheritance and set up a fund, based on his father's will, stole it all for themselves, leaving the, now twelve years old, Iziser to find work for himself.
Fun Facts
• Izi's accent of Ipol has the voiceless uvular fricative, [χ], as the realization of the voiced uvular trill, [ʀ] phonemically /ʀ/. Additionally, his /s/ is realized as [h] in most contexts. In summary, he speaks like a farmer.
• Izi has a big fat crush on Hota for most of the novel. That's really all there is to say on the matter.
• Izi never quite realizes why the lemon tree is so significant for Dolgof and Lozerief.
Day 21 (30 in base 7) of re-writing my novel.
Wow, three weeks and ~27,000 words. Time flies.
Today I added double my normal word count to Part Two. I finally started writing the Hero of Life into this nonsense.
I will also provide an Odapir translation for today, used in canon:
Omoi odáo o tavishy ko. Wá áso asiren omoi táotsoi ko. Ymaktaviji tá taviji umak.
The translation is "Arriving in Tavishy. Take care when exiting the train. Ymaktaviji is the next stop."
Bold What Applies to your OCs!
Thank you @theothersideofthewoods for the tag.
I'll do this exercise with the three most-important characters for Parts One and Two. Since this would be relatively uninteresting otherwise (for two characters), this will be post-novel canon.
In Iziser: Hero of Cognition, Emeistezon
Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders| Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone| Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love | Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle
Hotautebz Az: Hero of Mind, Ezispoerizon
Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them| Eaten An Insect| Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone| Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love | Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle
Eheste Lozerief: Hero of Earth, Meistezon
Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect| Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love | Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle
In hindsight, this would've been just as interesting as if I had just done this pre-novel canon. Oh well.
Here, I tag: @the-letterbox-archives and @moonsbetween
Day 20 (26 in base 7) of rewriting my novel.
I did a lot of planning today, but I didn’t add any words to the novel today.
Also, a new character just kinda… popped out of nowhere yesterday while I was writing?
Day 19 (25 in base 7) of rewriting my novel.
I wrote another 1,000 words ish. I've been adding roughly 1,000 words per day, and as a result, I'm somewhere along the order of 24,000 or so words total.
Today, I also completed a grambank table for Ipol! A while ago, @dedalvs created a grambank spreadsheet for conlangs that has been very helpful for documenting my conlangs' grammars (so I don't forget them,) and today I finished a "draft" of a finalized one for Ipol.
I will link it here:
Submit any questions about it that you might have, or submit translations! I'm always looking to expand the lexicon.
That's all for now.
EDIT: I mistakenly credited David J. Peterson with creating this spreadsheet, but he's just who I heard it from! It is actually by Jessie Peterson.
Edit 2: I knew David Peterson and Jesse Peterson were married, but I didn’t piece together that it was Jesse Peterson who created the grambank spreadsheet.
Day 18 (24 in base 7) of rewriting my novel
Today I spent more time writing Part Two, which I am probably nearing about 60% done with, and I'm at 12,000 words with, so it will probably be about 20,000 when I'm done with it.
I was able to pull some experiences from my dad's trip to Yugoslavia in summer 1992, and that should give you an idea of what Odapir, as a country, is (or was) like. Odapir is an authoritarian country with constant surveillance that, much like the PRC, convinced people that they were practicing actual communism and not just an authoritarian regime built to harvest their labor regardless. Oh well, at least high speed rail tickets are free in Odapir.
Day 17 (23 in base 7) of writing my novel again
Today I will drop some Modern Odapir translations because they're actually kinda ridiculous and I'm really proud of what I was able to accomplish with this damn language.
Phonology
Stops: p, b, t, d, k, g
Nasal stops: m, n
Fricatives: (f) (v) (s) h
Approximants: w, j
Tap: r
Vowels: i, y, e, a [ə], á [a], o, u
Diphthongs: ai [əɪ̯], oi [ɔɪ̯], au [əʊ̯], áu [aʊ̯]
As you can see, phonemic vowel length was lost, as well as a lot of diphthongs, and all of the affricates. Non-glottal fricatives remain as allophones of stops between vowels, i.e. p, b, t > f, v, s / V_V.
Translations
Wá maji áso ná moi ten ko! - Watch where you're going! (Lit. using where you're going, do a warning!)
Omoi moimaji ko - Halt. (Lit. do a stop.)
Majy jamá ná ymak moimaji. - Why are you out after dark? (Lit. Why exist you after dark.)
I really like the (o)moi N ko grammar I created, because it serves several functions all in one. It literally means "to do a N," but it's actually just a light verb construction.
Day 16 (22 in base 7) of rewriting my conlang
While not lagging behind in terms of written content, I am definitely lagging behind in creating Modern Odapir, which is rather important for the story!
Now, there exists one word in Modern Odapir. One word. Tavishy, although this is an anglicism of the actual word. It came from Middle Odapir tabishu:, which meant 'safety, tranquility,' but also meant 'hide, conceal' when used as a verb. I haven't decided how it will be semantically changed yet.
Modern Odapir's vowels will be very cursed btw. Middle Odapir's vowels are already like... super cursed (see last post.) I'm thinking palatal sounds (j, sh, c) turn u > y, and then "disappear." (Like, j > lost, sh > h, and c > ts > s.)
Yeah and I'm gonna try to get rid of the affricates in the modern language. It creates some fun allophonic variation for the stops (e.g. p > f / [+vowel] _ [+vowel], elsewhere p, etc...) I may also have f, s > h / [+vowel] _ [+vowel].
That's all for now, amɜdáhō! (That's middle Odapir for both goodbye and hello!)
Day 15 (21 in base 7) of rewriting my novel.
I hit 20,000 words today! I'm so excited. This also means that I am just over 9,000 words on Part Two, which also makes me proud.
Today I also really focused on fleshing out Odapir as a conlang, and I have a little ways to go before I finish deriving Modern Odapir from Middle Odapir.
Fun fact, by the way, Odapir is an exonym, since Odeineikō is the endonym in Middle Odapir.
As a treat for reading this far into my blog, have a description of Middle Odapir phonology:
Middle Odapir Phonology
Stops: p, b, t, d, k, g
Nasal Stops: m, n
Affricates: pf, ts, c (palatal affricate)
Fricatives: f, s, sh (palatal fricative), h
Liquids: w, j (palatal approximant)
Tap: r (alveolar tap)
Vowels
High: ī, u, ū
Mid-high: o, ō
Mid-low: e, ɜ
Low: a, ā
Diphthongs: əi, ei, əu, au, ou
That's all for now. Stay tuned for tomorrow's update!
Day 14 (20 in base 7) of writing my novel again
Woohoo! I'm at two weeks of consistent progress!
I expanded Part Two to around 7,500 words today, which makes the whole thing around the 19,000 word count. I don't know what my original estimates for this thing were, but my newest estimates for how long this thing will be are between 70,000 and 100,000, since I'm probably only 20% of the way through and I'm already almost breaking 20,000. Definitely not a bad thing, it's just how the story I'm trying to tell is coming out.
Tomorrow will be national Odapir day (I decree it!) because I need to flesh the language and culture out. While there's already a substantial mass to work with, it's not ready to be translating anything, and I need translations.
That's all for now. Stay tuned!
Day 13 (16 in base 7) of writing my novel again.
Today, in addition to adding about 700 words to Part Two, I also made a bunch of translations into Modern Ipol. I probably translated about two hundred words of English into Ipol, and I will post one snippit of it here:
Pijteshijv sispeen pijte sis Nistemiks sis Nurrif sis Leerf pifijz. Pijteshijv losr shise tismostijv sispeenes pijte sis leerfine sis koleerf pite, Ir Nusnijv, spuw's sis spine, por sisla's pijte sju sis koleerf ejr sotenaks sis Nistemiks piste.
Ipol is the language of the Hero of Life's Confederacy of Zeneste. It started as the dialect of the capital, Ir Nouzonif, where it diffused, becoming a standard language for Zeneste. It replaced Classical Zispoel as the language of government and official business one-hundred and fifty years ago.
A couple notes:
ij and uw are symbols for long i and long u respectively.
j before a vowel is the palatal glide /j/.
Nistemiks literally means "the states" but it's also the most natural translation for 'Zeneste.'
Maybe at a later date, I'll do a post that breaks down this translation, but that's all for now!
Day 12 (15 in base 7) of writing my novel again
Today I wrote a lot more of Part Two. It's officially >5,000 words, so the whole thing is >16,000 words now. Nice.
Have another 'bagnin'' line from my alpha-reader:
Sinezo 'na asispijenen sineen Nuwrrite piste, I thought, repeating the words of the chef in my mind. When a rice farmer has become the Emperor.
Mau sispijnen, I finished. Anything can happen.
I don't know if I've already posted this translation or not, but have at it.
My alpha reader pointed out how wonky the pacing is in the first 1,000 words. And how much of an underwriter I am. Maybe once I finish Part Two, or Three, I'll go and review the whole thing.
I still haven't figured out how to deal with the ending of the story yet, but yeah.