Worldember 2024
Welcome to Solaris, traveller! This is a slower-than-light science fantasy set in our own solar system.
About Solaris | Guide to Solaris | Prologue
About Solaris | Guide to Solaris | Prologue
Worldember is one of the most fun events of the year, and I feel like I have a lot to live up to. Last Worldember Solaris won Best Body of Work. I was, and am, so honored by that. Skye joined me in attempting Worldember, and it was so fun to work alongside my now-fiancée. We hope to attempt it again this year.
2024 has been a hard year. There has been a scary political shift. The writing has been on the wall about that shift, but I am always hopeful that my instincts will be proven wrong. I am safe and sound, and I hope that you are too. In times like this I cannot help but get introspective. How do I help, what can I do? It is easy to feel powerless today, and there are powerful forces that want you to feel that way. I hope that you can find your own ways of making the world a bit better. I truly believe that every act of good we do, from donations, demonstrations, building up your local network, to picking trash, buying local, to going vegetarian or vegan, all contribute to a better world. Find the things that resonnate with you. The evils of our world are all interwoven, and anywhere we begin to unpick those threads help.
One of the goods I am doing is finding ways to be generous with myself. By taking care of myself, I can be there for those I love. Putting an expectation on myself that I must and should exceed what I was able to do last year wouldn't be generous. Instead I will write, share, and see where that takes me.
I am already part of one of the greatest communities here on the internet. The challenge community of World Anvil is such a supportive and fun bunch to create alongside. This year I hope to maybe share some of my best work on bluesky as well, since I've been able to get quite a healthy following over there. Feel free to follow me on Bluesky, and you'll see some of my thoughts and musings as the embers light up.
I hope to continue Comment Carolling this year as well. Feel free to join the Comment Carollers by adding the badge to your signature and leaving some comments this Worldember.
Week 1
I know I'm not the most wordy nor the fastest writer, so my word goal will be 10k. To be kind to myself, I'll be making a scrapbook article where I'll add all the new worldbuilding I add to pre-existing articles, timelines and anything that isn't a new-for-WE article. I will also create a bunch of empty generic articles in case I have any new ideas during WE that I just can't resist making that shouldn't count towards the word count.Area of Focus
I'd really like to get Solaris to a point where it is "ready" for the public. Mostly that means that I want to have written about each planet and some moons, each of the signature people with enough information for people to create their own original characters, and that I've written about each of the keystones and their roles. I think it'd be nice to work on more timelines and maybe even some maps too.Key: to be written | stub article | to be reviewed | revision needed | complete
Inner World
Mercury
- Mercury
- Kara
- Mori
- Keystone of Mercury
- Mzia the Martyr
- Art curator
Venus
Tellus
- Tellus
- Luna
- Keystone of Tellus
- Keystone of Luna
- Sofi Casabella
Mars
- Mars
- Lysa (WIP)
- Robots
- Keystone of Mars
Outer World
Jupiter
Saturn
- Saturn
- Aurae
- Bacchai
- Ward of Saturn
- Svetluzca Morana
- Quo
- Gatt Divus-Piceni
Uranus
- Uranus
- Harpid
- Sirenes
- Keystone of Uranus
- Prince
- Elisheva
Appendix
Technology
Cosmology
- Who were the greek/roman gods?
Economy
Meta Review
I'm a big fan of meta documents and other ways of planning and structuring your worldbuilding. I think World Anvil's native meta document is a really good guide for setting up an interesting world. I finished mine in preparation for the Worldbuilding Awards 2022 (where Solaris won "Most Beautiful New World!") I would love to rework this after Worldember.Week 2
I am always learning new ways to improve my world and make it more accessible and fun for new readers.Homepage
The Solaris homepage was overhauled recently after a sage seminar about homepages. I'm pretty happy with where it is at. Everything can always be improved, but it is satisfactory. I'm especially happy with the "explore solaris" section, which I think invites people to just get reading.- Add a worldember button to my navigation bar
Primer/Introduction
The Guide to Solaris was written during Worldember 2022. I want to revisit it at some point. I would like to have a stronger narrator in the document. I believe there are also more links I could add that didn't exist when I first wrote this article. I think it would do me more good to revise this after or during Worldember. It would be nice to review and see if I have any more fun milestones to add to About SolarisCommunity Tools
I have added some neat new community features the last few months, like the ability to tailor which notifications you get from Solaris. I'm going to review and refresh my authors profile on World Anvil because it has shown up on our Worldember pages in previous years, and is a useful way to access the world.CSS Witchcraft
As a CSS Witch, there is always lots to do. I have been working on some overviews of my widgets that I would like to have ready by Worldember. Do feel welcome to help yourself to code in the Solaris CSS repositories, or the free Formatting CSS Bundle for Masters.- Fix worldember banners
- Make navbar taller
Week 3
Inspiration
Like I imagine many of you did, I recently watched Arcane and played Dragon Age: the Veilguard. Both were really inspiring to me in terms of presentation. I got a copy of the Veilguard artbook, and I've been pouring over what they say about stylizing. I've long wanted to dig deeper into mythology and history. To that end I've got a copy of "How to Fit all of Ancient Greece in an Elevator" by my bedside table. Poetry is also a huge part of my inspiration diet for Solaris, and I would like to make room for reading more of it.Moodboard
Imagery is a key part of how I develop anything in Solaris. I like to draw sketches of anything I'm writing about to explore what it might look like. I keep my trusty Solaris sketchbook close by whenever I am working on this project, and it is full of things I cannot wait to show you. Pinterest is great fuel for developing interesting imagery. I collect a lot of pictures from old movies, retro comics, high fashion runways and creatives on instagram or working with magazines.Playlist
Last year I listened to 070 Shake's Modus Vivendi and FKA Twig's MAGDALENE while writing. There was some classical music and kpop thrown in too as the mood hit. I believe last years playlists will work well this year too.Week 4
Community
Writing Schedule
With disability scheduling becomes both harder, and more vital than ever. My most productive period is in the morning, so that will be the time I dedicate to writing. I will not force myself to write, if I need to rest, I will.Fresh Air
As of writing this, there are about four more days of November. Some of these days will be spent with family, the others will be spent resting, getting my ducks in a row, and finishing the work I set out in this prep document.Much love, Annie.
PS: I hope you also have an excellent Worldember!
Notice: This article is a stub. It may be expanded later!
Oh my, so much stuff to write!! I'm excited to read them all! Good luck and have fun <3 And, since you asked, here are my plans for my first Worldember ^^
CoolG's WorldEmber 2024 Prep
Thank you, we'll see what we get done! Best of luck with your worldember too!
Solaris | Camp Chill | Summer Camp
Thanks Nnie <3