EDIT

Dear World builders,

This is just an update to let everyone know that Build Me a Universe has not died. It was been due to a bad timing of events from all acting parties of the groups leadership that has caused the very sudden and prolonged absence of authority. We are still here, we have just had very little chance to do anything. Hopefully, that will be changing in the very near future.

Thank you,
Afterfield.

(Haha, that sounded so professional)


EDIT


Hey, world-builders! It's spectacular to see all the work going on with your worlds so far! Our tiny universe is expanding beautifully! =)

Sorry about the lateness of this weekly blog! A bit of  trouble has sprung up in real life, but that’s why I love getting things ready beforehand.

One major announcement before our interview:

We still need some more contest entries in order to decide on a winner! Please participate if possible and spread the word! Our prizes and features by affiliates are still standing – we just need you guys to participate! buildmeauniverse.deviantart.co…

And with that important reminder, here's the part we've all been waiting for:

:spotlight-left:Interview with kaboomduck:spotlight-right:


Kaboomduck’s planet, the ever-so-uniquely-named Frank, is –quite frankly– an extremely interesting world in our growing universe. Divided into two basic, identical halves and having sentient plant-life, Frank makes up for its homely name by its inhabitants and their conflicts.

1. What inspired you to make Frank, and give it its awesome name? About the name- I don’t mean just naming it after Frank Billings!

Well…Frankly, there was no inspiration! Really, Frank was created out of thin air when I was bored and decided to make a story. So when BMAU came into notice, I decided to extend that random idea and name the planet. It wouldn’t be possible though without all the sci-fi movies and games I’ve been playing for years. I guess that Frank was inspired by movies like Starship Troopers, the Riddick series and Titan A.E. and games like Star Wars, Dark Void and Killzone, all of which I’ve recently watched or played.

The name, on the other hand, was purely and truly a product of randomness I was doodling a picture of the planet (a tiny circle), and was frustrated because I needed to label it so it would actually look like something important. Without much thinking, I just scribbled the first name that came to mind – Frank.  I showed it to a friend, she loved it, and the rest is at it goes  

2. How long have you been writing?

Not that long, apparently. In fact, I just started writing a year-and-a-half ago, after finding out the joy of writing in a project that didn’t work. I didn’t like reading novels either, but decided to write and read more when I read a horror novel that was just too awesome to put down. I’ve been writing and reading ever since, though eighty-percent of novels still bore me to sleep.

3. What’s your favorite part of making Frank so far?

That would definitely be the history between Frank and Earth, along with the basic geography of Frank. Involving the human race into the creation of Frank really made things easier and more amusing, especially when it comes to naming places in Frank (since everything was based on the humans’ perspective). You get to make two sides of the story – the humans’ story and Frank’s side of the story. And that, is fun.  

4. Do you like curry?

Sure! But it depends on what kind of curry though. I like the usual Japanese and Indonesian curry, but I LOVE and I mean LOVE Indian curry.  

5. Frank is unique in how it is divided – one side is in light and the other is perpetually dark. Was Frank’s design always the same, or did you have to work on it?

The design never changed as far as the light/dark concept is concerned. When Frank was first created, there was only the Dark and Sunny side, without the Gray area. But then I started doubting whether the concept would actually be plausible, especially when people tend to be so critical nowadays. After some few thinking moments and research, the Gray area was born while the Dark and Sunny Side remained as it is.

6. If you have a favorite color, is there a significant reason it’s your favorite?

I pretty much like all types of colors, but if you’re insisting…I would have to go with blue.

Aside from that being my childhood favorite, I love the feeling the color gives, especially the atmosphere it creates in a picture. It has something to do with the rainy or ‘bluesy’ mood, I guess, and a blue-toned image also makes for nice wallpapers! The blue/black combination doesn’t blast out of the screen and hurt your eyes or cause blindness in a dark or dimly-lit room. And then...I might sound childish, but I still like the idea that blue represents friendship, and that’s something I honor and take seriously.  

7. What do you think is the hardest part of world-building?

That would be the process of solidifying Frank’s geography and concept. As I mentioned before, people tend to take things too seriously. I have trouble trying to make things realistic (life in the dark and light side and all), but found that ‘realistic’ meant ‘limitations’ and ‘troublesome’, restricting a lot of creative ideas that I had in mind.

Other than that, I find that creating the government and society is quite annoying. Trying to make a planet very, very different from Earth isn’t that easy, I guess, especially when its inhabitants are capable of thought and speech like humans are. I don’t see the folks from Star Trek, Stargate SG-1 and Star Wars or Avatar doing such a good job either.

8. Do you feel that you are an optimist, pessimist, or realist?

Hmmm…an optimist! Despite all the sarcasms and not-so-amusing-to-other-people humor I give, I don’t mean them at all. I just find everything that’s wrong in the world hilarious and take them without much seriousness or concern, since I believe in ‘going with the flow’.

Quote, from the game Uncharted 2, “I don’t fumble, I improvise. I’m uh, adaptable.” That’s just how I am, I suppose. Or maybe I’m too lazy to be a pessimist. And a realist? Come on, I’m a fiction writer! How are you going to make whacky ideas and worlds if you’re so stuck to this side of the universe?!  

9. Which side of Frank do you prefer, or do you like the in-between area the best?

The Dark Side is my favorite, indeed, since that was the starting point of the whole planet’s idea. I mean, look at the possibilities! Fully nocturnal animals, fishes, alien plants, caves, glowing thingies, underground resistance groups and whatnot!!! There is just so much to do, and I have a lot of things lined up for the Dark Side, particularly with its relationship with the Sunny Side and Earth.

10. If you meet any one person from any time, who would you meet, and what would you do with them?

Hmmm…this might sound clichéd, but Walt Disney’s the man. That is, if I wanted a purposeful meeting (I got a thousand others that I just want to ‘meet’ for the sake of meeting; I’m sure that we all have them too). Imagine the things you’ll learn from Walt, not to mention that he’s a great guy with great personality, well at least that’s what I’ve read and heard about him.

Or...maybe I’d want to meet Hitler, just so that I can laugh at his face. That’s like laughing in the face of Death himself.

:bulletred::bulletgreen::bulletorange::bulletblue::bulletyellow::bulletpurple:


Be sure to check out kaboomduck’s page, and their world! buildmeauniverse.deviantart.co… Not only is Frank interesting, but Kaboom is a talented writer outside of their world as well!

Want to be interviewed? Keep up the work on your worlds, and we’ll be sure to get you as well! =D

Creazione è la felicità,
a-fiery-boom
Hello, BMAU! I am thrilled to present to you all the first, one of many, Claire’s Corner! This will be a Chat recap so all of you who missed out won’t, well, miss out! The questions in bold were ones asked at the previous chat and the italics are what our members answered.

   This month’s chat was on Society, one of my favorite topics in the entire universe. By definition, society is “a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Society is also one of the most important things you will deal with when building a world. It affects individual characters, communities, and the relationships between various groups.  Be creative and have fun with it! Otherwise, you’ll risk boring us.
   Every society is made up of five major elements. These elements are the political, economic, social, religious, and intellectual or artistic aspects of a community. I thought this was a good guideline for building our societies here at BMAU. Let’s get started, shall we?

:bulletpurple: Political :bulletpurple:

   This is mostly how the community is governed.  You could have a monarchy, oligarchy, democracy or maybe even an anarchy, no government at all. Also consider a theocracy, or a system ruled by one or more gods that goes along with another form of government. When making your government, remember the roles it has. Be sure you have a system to make and enforce the laws and a way to judge and punish those who do not follow them.
   When creating a realistic society, you must realize that every system has flaws. There is simply no way to get around that. But intentionally adding flaws to a society, especially a government, gives it more structure to be a story later on. It allows for the community to grow as a whole over time. And when you make your characters, they can form their own opinions based on or against what their people believe. Rebels and outcasts are going to be everywhere!
   I personally find politics here on Earth to be a total snooze but I’m confident that won’t be the case at BMAU!

:bulletpurple: Economic :bulletpurple:

   The economy is what allows the people in a society to survive and prosper. An economy is divided into three main sectors: primary, secondary, and tertiary. These different sectors give you an idea of what kind of roles people have to make a successful community.
   The primary sector involves taking natural resources and turning it into the simplest form of a good. Some examples for Earth would be industries such as agriculture, mining, fishing or forestry. Try to think of how your people (and I use the term “people” loosely here) are to use local resources and how they are to obtain more foreign ones.
   The secondary sector of an economy is the industrial sector. This sector is what turns those raw materials from the primary sector into goods that are available to the public. How and by who will these products be distributed? In more developed societies, these major manufacturers supply many of the jobs for the middle class.
   And that brings us to the third and final sector, the service industry. This sector is more the production of services rather than of products. Some examples would be education, healthcare, hospitality, and banking.
   Money makes the world go ‘round, right? When creating your race, consider making some sort of currency for them. If it isn’t paper or coins or what have you, then perhaps it is services or honors. Or you could do neither and be really creative!

:star: Awesome Fact :star:

Before the Inuit Indians met the white man, they had no concept of stealing. They also have as many words for snow as we do money. (That’s over 60!) A good way to tell how much a society values something is to look at how often it pops up in their language. A little sad, isn’t it?


:bulletpurple: Social :bulletpurple:

   The social portion is what deals with the customs, education, and different groups within a society. Think about what sort of things in their daily life makes them different from other races. How would you greet someone you had just met? What subjects are considered off limits when speaking? What sort of things would someone take offense to? Etiquette is extremely important.
   All “people” go through certain ceremonies and rites of passage that can be separate from their religion. Things like birth, puberty, marriage, and death are not always viewed the same way amongst different cultures.
   Education affects a lot of things and should be thought about carefully. Keep in mind what children learn affects how they act as adults. Also think about how much your society values education and how necessary it is for them.
   Every society is naturally divided into sections, whether it be social classes, clans, tribes, or just families. When creating a functional society, you will need to decide which groups play what role in the community.
   Discrimination is one of the most unfortunate parts of our societies here on Earth. But that feeling of superiority towards another group can be all over the universe. Consider how your society feels towards other religions, races, sexual orientations, genders, marital statuses, anything. (But please remember we do have a rule at BMAU against being prejudice towards obvious groups on Earth.)  

How is your society divided? Are there things like a caste system or social classes? What is expected of each group? Do different groups have different rights or laws?

“Our society is divided by our location, some countries must make their means when they cannot. For example, the country of Musisong is strictly dependant on its neighboring country of Shishu making their people friendly in contrast our most isolated people in Aquaoyal. As to a caste system, no we don’t have one. However, social class does exist. Each country is equal depending on their own government. Nevertheless, we do have our over-all government that regulates equality and opportunity.” Yatagarasu-san

“In the main part of the empire, the social classes are fairly similar to those in middle ages Europe - small aristocracy and middle class, and many poor farmers. In the colony, the aristocracy, is fairly similar but many of the lower class colonists have rose to middle class because more of the farm work is being done by enslave natives. Native people are lower than those from the empire in general, but it’s possible for a specific native to be higher in rank than a specific colonists. This usually occurs when nobles keep native as concubines. Rank within a noble household has its own system. All children have the same rank until they turn five, and at that age, the male head of the househould decides their rank. Race usually comes into play - mixed race children nearly always become servant class.” mare-of-night

What is considered a normal family unit? How important are family connections and responsibilities?

“It is rare for Dann families to have more than two children - an ancient custom that has turned into a great biologically misfortune for the race. Due to this, families are tightly-knit and the death of a family member is often mourned ferociously for a week. Responsibilities tend to shy away from children until they reach adulthood. From there they are expected to play a reasonable role.” Aquitius

:bulletpurple: Religious :bulletpurple:

   When you deal with society, you deal with religion. Sometimes many aspects of a society is based around a religion when the majority of the population share beliefs. Take the time to learn about other religions and the beliefs you could possibly base a religion off of. Though all religions are very different from one another, they have a few things in common. Each is a belief system that  has a code of ethics and a philosophy for life. They all require some form of practice in order to grow in one’s faith and believe that our temporary material life is very much different from our permanent spirituality.
   I won’t go too much into that for now. BMAU will focus more specifically on religion later. So stay tuned!

What are the controversial subjects in this culture? (Some examples would be abortion, sexual orientation, body art, etc.)

“Having no religious beliefs is dangerous in Alaria, especially if the individual uses magic. Magic is typically given through religion (Daoksin is considered the true religion), and those using magic but not religious use destructive magic, which ends up producing Loys and generally causing mayhem. Also, it is taboo to have much (if any) contact with humans. A disaster in history with the humans attacking Alarians led to this, and the Alarians still hate humans even though humans have no remembrance of it whatsoever. People with psychological issues are looked down upon as desecrated individuals, and it is up to the individual’s family to support them. Most afflicted people are the poverty-stricken in Alaria, as in the afflicted that’s family doesn’t wish to deal with them. The latter two are ongoing issues Venwei and Mondoc are trying to help Alaria with(for a long time), but Alaria isn’t cooperating well.” a-fiery-boom

:bulletpurple: Intellectual/Artistic :bulletpurple:

   Intellectual comes from the Latin term intellego, meaning I understand or I perceive. This particular aspect of a society is what dignifies how a group of people attempt to understand what is morally right. What is the correct way to live? Who is shunned and for what reasons?
   Art, on the other hand, is derived from the Latin word ars which means fitting things together. This part is how society perceives what is beautiful, the satisfying something that happens when you fit certain elements together just right. Think about how a society views visual arts, drama, dance, music, and literature. Also decide the traits someone could have that would be considered beautiful by the over-all public.

What is the standard for beauty for individuals?

“For this particular race, their skeleton very much resembles a humans but everything is more square-shaped and they are much taller. Their pupils are squares as well. Because they are so isolated, the more exotic a person looks, the more beautiful they are considered. They’re interested in things outside their own parts and believe there’s a reason someone would look so different. It makes that person special.
   They also have these iridescent sort of tattoos covering their skin. You can tell how old someone is by how many marks they have. The marks appear as a person matures and different symbols mean different things. It’s like having your life story written in hieroglyphics all over your body. Knowledge and experience is greatly valued in their culture, so having more markings is a very good thing!”
Aieles

There you have it! It was a lengthy one. Believe me, I know. See you all next month!

Happy world-building,
Claire
CHAT going on in T minus ten minutes - chat.deviantart.com/chat/BMAU

As mentioned in the previous blog, the monthly chat is on June 17th, 10 p.m. CDT. That's also known as GMT-5.

There were some concerns about the time in the last blog, so let me calm your fears - since we do not all live in the same relative time zones, the admins are going to have chats at different times so that everyone can attend some without having to be up all night. Easy? I hope that calms everyone down! =D

And now, what you have been waiting for... the topic for discussion is... society! We'll be talking all about it and the many aspects that society brings with it, such as how societies in your worlds operate, social classes, authority, etc. And of course, going off-topic! We're great about that. :lol:

We hope to see a lot of you there! :eager:
Hey everyone! As part of the revamp, we also decided to do a blog post a week… so here’s the first “real" post – our group news and event blog, the Event Horizon!

Since we did the revamp, we’ve cleaned out people who hadn’t commented on the closing blog in the two weeks we were reorganzing. Now, we have about twenty members as opposed to the nearly two hundred we had before. ^^; For anyone who was kicked out and wants to rejoin, it’s perfectly fine, just read the rules. In fact, everyone should read the rules even if you survived the purge.

We have some advertisement plans in the making, but promotion on our members’ parts will be wonderful as well! A mention in your signature, journal, or even slight mentions in your comments can go a long way! And we’re also open to other suggestions as well!

As far as real group news goes – so far the admins are really impressed with all the submissions and requests so far! Soon we’ll have so many pretty folders to display the beautiful planets that make up this group! It’s all looking wonderful, so please continue on!

We do have a new member – everyone, go bombard weasilish with greetings! Just look at her avatar – it’s amazing! :iconweasilish:

Typically in the Event Horizon, I’ll be announcing the monthly chat. We decided to move it to next Friday (for a variety of reasons), at 10pm CDT. The blog on Tuesday will contain the chat’s topic, but we don’t want you guys thinking about it too long before the actual chat! ;)

If anyone is facing difficulty somehow with their world, please note the group so we can help! We’ll gladly offer you help or put up a notice about it in blogs so that others can assist. Making friends is just as important as making worlds, after all!

On a last note, please check the right-hand area of the blog tab for what’s going on with our affiliates! Their news will be announced in one of the blogs each month, but the Affiliate Happenings area will always be up-to-date! We’re also always ready for new affiliates!

That’s all for this post! Please comment or note us with any questions or concerns!

Creazione è la felicità,
a-fiery-boom
Welcome back, everybody! I hope everyone enjoyed the nice break from the group! Now, we’re back, and better than ever!

So, what can you guys expect now that we’re up again? We’ll be having weekly blogs (instead of that huge biweekly thing), a monthly chat, activities, and even a few contests!

Also, please do work on a little piece for our mascot contest! It ends next week, and it would be a pity if we didn’t get a mascot, or our winner won because they were the only one who entered. This blog   has all the information you need to know about the contest! =D

To get the group going again, I’m going in-depth with our new rules. The rules will always be posted on the front page, but here’s some explanation to them:

:star:Joining:star:

Please read through the rules before joining. All applications for memberships must include a introduction of yourself, why you want to join, and contain the secret password hidden in the rules. We have implemented a password to make sure you are really reading the rules before you join.

As part of joining, we expect some level of activity, whether submitting, having discussions in chats or blogs, or commenting on others’ worlds.

If you are reading this and did not comment on the last blog, you will need to go through the new application process as well!

:star:Submitting:star:

Unlimited deviation submissions each week!

We have certain galleries set up already: Featured (Admin only), Tutorials, and Pending Worlds.

We will be giving every member a separate folder for their world. This means all your world’s information, maps, art, and literature will go into your own unique folder. How do you get this folder?

You have to earn it! We have a screening process to go through: everyone must have at least three deviations, with different aspects of their world. We do not want just three maps, or just three literature submissions about the same race. We want varied information in your three pieces, so that we can see the wonderful world you have created!

Until you have the three deviations, you will put your work in the Pending Worlds folder. When you have your three and want to get your own folder, note the group with links to the deviations and the name you want your planet to go by. If approved at the biweekly admin meetings, you will receive an acceptance note and your shiny new folder. The admins will also move your pieces from the Pending folder to your own personal one after your world has been accepted.

:star:Submission Guidelines:star:

:bulletred: must be of good quality (does not mean it has to be professional-looking, just not scrappy)
:bulletorange: If not already in English, an English version must be included with a link in the Author’s Comments. Proof-reading will be offered to anyone who needs it.
:bulletyellow: no fan-fiction or fan-art
:bulletgreen: original art only. Unless it is a deviation someone did for you about some aspect of your world, we will not accept it.
:bulletblue: Anything containing out-of-context or deliberate prejudice or discrimination against real life races, genders, beliefs, sexualities and so on is prohibited.

If the admins reject a submission, it’s probably because it doesn’t agree with the guidelines. Feel free to resubmit it when it does, as we certainly encourage improvement!

:star:Member Conduct:star:


Along with this, a few words on the conduct of members:

We expect everyone to be uplifting. Constructive criticism is encouraged, but any disrespectful or hateful comments will not be tolerated. This group is a troll-free, anti-dArama zone.

BMaU members leaving hateful or rude comments may be reported through notes to the group. The note must include commenter’s username, link to deviation that was commented on, and a screenshot of the comment. Admins will act as they see fit.

:bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack::bulletblack:


If there are questions, concerns, suggestions, or anything else, please note the group! Thank you for being such wonderful members, and enjoy BuildMeAUniverse, version 2.0!

- BuildMeAUniverse staff

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