Fuel for Rebirth: Decay in Worldbuilding
It's Throwback Thursday and Haly is digging through the compost heap with a call-back to her Summer Camp series on Decay! Revitalize your world with corrosion, rot, and decomposition.
Everything Old is New Again!
The idea of rebirth requires that there first be a birth. Something is ‘born’ or ‘created’ or ‘new’, and then it dies, or it falls to disrepair, or it otherwise gets old. Then, something happens, and it is reborn, recreated, or renewed.
That middle process in there, between birth and rebirth? That part is called ‘decay’ — sometimes known as ‘entropy’ — and it’s the vital essence that puts the re in rebirth.
Decay was one of the four weekly themes during Summer Camp 2024, and one of the earliest topics that I wrote about. As an old-school goth kid who’s all grown up, decay is a topic where I’m not only comfortable, I absolutely shine!
Thursday Throwbacks
This was one of my first attempts at writing worldbuilding prompts for y’all! People were struggling to come up with unique angles on decay, and so I sat down with my Story Engine .pdfs and brainstormed beyond skeletons and mushrooms.
I was even inspired to do a little worldbuilding of my own with them!
A brief piece that does as it says on the tin! When I’m not doing much of anything, I’m worldbuilding. Or else I’m thinking about worldbuilding. And that includes when I get my hair cut.
This piece hosts some great examples of decay in pop culture such as movies, television, video games, and comics. It also features links to several old notes where I rhapsodize about decay. Amusing and informative!
Coming This Week:
Feature Friday: Polishing for Competition; following the example of
and , I’ll be going LIVE with for a 2x2 chat on Friday, January 17th at 8pm Eastern/5 pm Pacific. Available exclusively in the Substack App!!
Saturday Quick Six: Rebirth
Sunday: Weekly Digest
