Soft Gestures For Comfort

Whumper dialogue

“Darling, if you still believe in a god, get on your hands and knees and pray. Because if you’re lucky, and They decide you deserve it, They are the last person who can save you now”

World Building Tips:  Empires and Power Structures

World building is important in any setting. There are places, such as fantasy literature where it can become the difference between a believable world and an unbelievable one. Suspension of disbelief is often a critical part to stories. 

Many fantasy books take place during times of war, or revolution or even a fall of a corrupt empire.  I love reading these sorts of stories, as many people do.  Power structures can be complex.  They can be used to create tension and drama between characters - take for instance the hero versus the corrupt government troupe in fiction such as The Hunger Games, Harry Potter or even more traditional fantasies such as Tigana ( by Guy Gavriel Kay) or The Wheel of Time series (by Robert Jordan).   As a reader it can be compelling to follow these stories.  For writers though, it can seem daunting to go into the details of shaping a believable power structure.  Here are some basic tips for creating one.  

There are four crucial factors to any power structure.  These are as follows:

1. Military - this includes the size of the army, the types of technology used (guns or swords? navy or land army?), the basic structure of the army (is it highly regimented like the Romans? What are the different groups within the army? How are they divided - by technology, skills or social status?). Another important question here is why has the military developed in this way? The Roman military, for example, grew out of competition with other Italian states. The opposition is equally important here - who were/are they within your story? Apply the above questions just as much to them, because empires and other structures are influenced by the world around them. The military can be the reason an empire begins in the first place.  The military should also play a role in sustaining the power structure/empire.  It doesn’t have to be the strongest factor by any means.  It may even become the downfall of the structure in the end.

2. Economy - How is your power structure or empire funded? Does this change over time? Does your empire take part in internal or external trade? Is trade important to the running of the empire? Resources such as crops, fertile land or people are also a part of this and influences the larger actions (such as conquest) your structure takes towards other countries. Trade can be a form of control and influence as well, even outside of the structure’s territory. In terms of story, a lot of decisions that are made involve trade or economic reasons - no one wants to get on the wrong side of someone who controls valuable resources or trade with other entities. The British Empire was based mainly on trade and this insured a global influence even as it declined in actual power.

3. Administration: The system of government and the way it manages itself is important to know. Is it a traditional monarchy or a democracy? How is leadership decided? How is power delegated throughout the larger administration? Hierarchy? One person can’t do or know everything. In terms of empire and conquest this is equally important. Does the empire recruit the local elites from conquered areas to administer to the general public, like the Romans? If your story is set in the outskirts of your empire, this could effect the outcome of the story - local elites might enjoy the power they have gained through an alliance with the larger empire and thus be unwilling to revolt against it. What other ways does your power structure control its territory? Does it use culture, or a set language to spread out into new territory? What kind of empire is your empire? Is it land based (only conquering territories linked by land) or maritime (navy focused with overseas territory)?

4. Culture: How does your power structure interact with its subjects? Even in a small area, different ethnic groups exist, so what unites all of them together? Are they all united, or is there groups of people the power structure leaves out? Have they always been left out deliberately or have these groups formed over time?How does the the government and the people from inside the empire view outsiders and their culture? Does this influence your story or characters? Do negative stereotypes or different language create a barrier between your character and others? In newly conquered areas is the empire’s language, laws and social ideals endorsed to locals or is it forced upon them? Is religion important to how the empire works or interacts? For example, before war do the gods need to show approval for the empire’s commanders? What about clashes of religion with other areas? Where do cultures intersect? Is your empire influenced by an older power or a hard past? What is seen as integral to your structure’s culture - art, literature, music etc? Are allies connected with your structure through culture, a shared distant history?

Most power structures rely on all of these factors - but none are ever equal in importance. Your government will identify one or two of these areas as important and focus on them. This can impact how the structure comes together and eventually falls apart - the greatest strength becomes a weakness, or something is overlooked until it is too late.

This is a long post - so I’m going to leave it here for now. If you guys have any questions, feel free to use the Ask feature to contact me.

Stay Quiet (Gaz/Price)

Day 3 of Gaz Week. NSFW part now with the prompt Stuck In A Small Space! More PriceGaz

Warnings: Hand Jobs, smut, Gaz calls Price "Captain" during sex

Word Count: 2k

"Stay quiet."

"I am quiet!" Gaz snapped under his breath, frustration growing. He was pressed back against a shelf, the harsh wood digging into his back. He couldn't move forward, because that's where Price was.

It was meant to be a simple mission, just a simple mission to retrieve intel from a small Ultranationalist hideout. He and Price were the only ones sent in. There wasn't meant to be any fighting and, even if there way, it was just a small hideout anyways...right?

Except that it wasn't. Both he and Price knew that their intel had been off the moment that they got to the hideout. The place was huge and certainly not something that Gaz would call a "small hideout." It had left him and Price to wonder if they'd been purposefully mislead, or if their informant Yuri genuinely thought that this was a "small hideout." Gaz wasn't sure which would  be the better option.

They had a decision to make though. Did they want to continue on by themselves or retreat and come back with the entire team for a better chance if they were caught? It was a hard choice to make and, ultimately, the decision fell on Price. They decided to continue forward with the plan.

It was only the two of them, so they moved as slowly as they possibly could through the area. It was a matter of stealth and trust. They both had to be quiet, quick when need be, and slow when need be. But that also had to trust the other. They had to trust that the other was giving them correct call outs, that they could stay quiet and not get them caught. Gaz trusted Price and Price trusted him.

All had been going perfectly well until they'd reached the computer room where they were meant to plug into the system and allow Laswell access. It was a simple thing, just a thumb drive then five minutes of protecting it while Laswell's software scraped the computer for anything important.

Of course it couldn't be an easy five minutes for them and, during the last minute, they received word from Laswell that someone had caught on to her scraping and that a group of ultranationalist soldiers were headed their way.

They managed to hold out for the last minute of the clock, but by the time Gaz yanked the thumb drive out of the computer, they could hear the soldier faster approaching them and they didn't have anywhere to go.

Price had acted quickly, grabbing Gaz's hand and dragging him over to a small compute closet in the room. The threw the door open and shoved Gaz inside before squeezing himself in after. He'd given quick and quiet word to Laswell that they were going dark before flipping off his communications and reaching over to do the same for Gaz.

So now they were here, crammed in a tiny computer closet together, trying to wait out the men that they could hear so clearly on the other side of the door.

It was difficult to keep quiet, especially with Price so close to him. The man was pressed right against his body and, due to the lack of space, one of his thighs was pressed firmly between Gaz's legs, brushing against his cock with any move from the other man. It was overwhelming and Gaz was trying his hardest not to focus on it. The last thing he wanted or needed was to get hard from this.

Of course, that wasn't exactly something he could stop from happening. Especially when Price was jolting forward to press his ear up against the door. The movement caused his thigh to push forward, grinding against Gaz's cock and pulling a short gasp from his lips. It felt too fucking good and he needed to get a hold of himself.

"You good, Gaz?" Price asked him carefully, turning to peer at his face through the darkness of the closet. Gaz was grateful for the darkness as it meant that Price, hopefully, couldn't see the flush of his skin or the way that he was practically panting through slightly parted lips.

He nodded his head rapidly, "Perfectly fine, Captain." He winced a bit at how high his voice sounded to his own ears. Price seemed to pick up on his sudden change in tone.

Price leaned toward him, concern clear on his face even through the darkness. The move caused his leg to grind against Gaz once again and a squeaked-out moan escaped his lips at the feeling, freezing Price in place. There was a long moment of silence and Gaz wanted to throw himself into the sun. He'd just fucking moaned in his Captain's face and now he was sure he was going to be in trouble for not controlling himself better.

After a long second of pause, Price moved, shifting his leg forward again to grind against Gaz's quickly filling cock. "Sir," Gaz managed to choke out, his own desperation filling his words, "Wait, don't- oh god." His head tilted back against the shelf as Price moved his leg against him again. Surely his Captain understood what was happening by now? But surely his captain wasn't doing it on purpose.

Price hummed and brought a finger up to his mouth, motioning for Gaz to stay quiet. They were still on a mission. His leg bounced up again and Gaz jerked forward, grabbing tight to Price and using the man's vest to muffle his moans. Price didn't stop moving his leg, he just kept bouncing it in steady movements, grinding it slowly against Gaz's clothed cock.

It wasn't long until Gaz was a panting and whining mess against him, gripping tight to his vest for some sort of support as his hips jerked down to meet Price's leg. His skin felt hot and the air in the little closet was stifling to him as pleasure started to build in him slowly, creating a low buzz under his skin.

"Price," He pressed closer to the man, desperate for more. Desperate for anything that the man would give to him. A hand landed roughly on his chin and, with a tight grip, Price pulled him forward to slam their mouths together.

"Stay quiet," Price growled against him, still working his leg over him in slow massaging movements. Gaz whimpered at the words, but the sound was muffled by Price's lips slamming back against his mouth.

Gaz wasn't exactly sure what was happening and part of him wondered if he was dreaming. Perhaps there wasn't enough air in the room and his mind was providing him a fantasy for comfort as he slowly suffocated. Or maybe there was some sort of gas slowly seeping into the room, making his mind hazy.

Either way, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Gaz felt good. So fucking good. The steady pressure against his cock was delicious and the feel of Price's hands moving down his body, squeezing and groping as they went...it was almost too much for his hazy mind to handle. If this was a dream, he didn't think that he wanted to wake up.

Eventually, Price's hands found their way to the front of his pants and, with a quick flick of his thumb and twist of his wrist, Gaz's pants were undone and a hand was roughly shoving its way past the waistband of his pants and underwear.

Price pulled away from Gaz's mouth and encouraged him to bury his face into his shoulder with a hand on the back of his head. "You have to stay quiet for me, okay? Think you can do that?"

"Yes," Gaz whined at the feeling of Price's hand wrapping around his cock.

"Sorry," Price gave a few torturous slow strokes of his hand, "Yes what?"

His hand tightened and the slow strokes were replaced with fasts jerks of his wrist that had Gaz's legs going weak and his mouth latching on to Price's shoulder to disguise his whines. "Yes! Yes, Captain!" He managed to get out finally, "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, please- oh god!" He muttered curses into Price's shoulder, trying to keep himself quiet.

Price gave a low chuckle, still stroking over his cock at a quick speed, hurtling him quickly toward his end. "So good for me, Kyle, so fucking good. You like this? Like my hand on your cock?"

Gaz gave a whimper before nodding his head, "Yes, yes Captain, love it. Oh- please, sir!" His hips started moving, meeting Price's hand with every move.

"Do you," Price pressed a kiss to his cheek before slowly moving lower, littering every piece of skin with nips and kisses, "know how long I've wanted to do this?" Gaz shook his head wildly, trying to take in deep breaths as his might grew hazy and his air grew sparse with the never-ending moans and pleas. "I've wanted you since the very beginning, you're just too fucking tempting. I managed to hold out, but this? You grinding against my leg like a dog in heat? I can only handle so much."

"You," Gaz gasped as Price ran his thumb over the head of his cock, stroking along his slit for a moment before continuing his quick jerking movements, "oh god- you should have said something. Could have fucked me sooner."

Those words pulled a low growl from Price and soon Gaz found a hand shoved under his shirt and vest to tweak at his nipples, sending his hips jolting forward with a desperate whine.

"You just wait," Price growled low in his ear, "as soon as I get you alone," he kissed his neck, "and into a proper bed? You won't be able to walk properly when I finish with you."

Price continued muttering filthy words into his ear as his hand stroked along his cock. It was quick and filthy and Gaz was fighting down every part of him that just wanted to moan out the man's name and let everyone in the nearby vicinity know how well his Captain was treating him.

"Fuck, Captain," he muttered after a long moment, his voice high and his hips stuttering in the other man's hand. Price seemed to understand what the words meant, even if he didn't say them.

"Gonna come? Gonna finish in my hand like a good boy?" Gaz nodded his head rapidly, gasping as the pleasure in him built higher and higher until he was right on that edge. "Go on then, come for your captain."

And just like that Gaz was spilling into Price's hand, his eyes rolling back as Price worked him through it, running his fist over his cock in ever-slowing strokes. The pleasure of it all was enough to have Gaz's knees weak and, later, he would come to the conclusion that the only reason he hadn't fallen was because of Price's body pressed against his own.

When he managed to slowly pull away from Price's shoulder, confident that he'd no longer make any noises, he met the older man's eyes. "Alright?" Price asked carefully, watching his face for any sign of discomfort.

"I'm good, Captain," Gaz answered him quietly, still mindful of the possible men outside of the room. He waited until Price had pulled his hands out of his pants and started to redo them for him before speaking again, "How much longer do you think we'll have to wait?"

Price gave a low hum, his lips quirking up as he did, "As long as you think it will take you to recover. The men outside left around the time that we started."

Gaz blinked wide at him, a flush slowly going over his face. "So you- we-?"

Price chuckled at his reaction, "Sorry, I just couldn't help myself." he leaned forward to press a kiss to Gaz's cheek and whisper in his ear, "Being this fucking close to you, I don't know how anyone would be able to keep themselves from it."

Gaz was fairly certain that he was still blushing bright red by the time they made it back to the base.

Resources For Worldbuilding

Culture & Society

Creating Fictional Holidays

Music For Your Fantasy World

Creating Religions & Belief Systems

How to Design Your Diabolical Cult

Historically Accurate Sexism in Fantasy: Let’s Unpack That

Debate with the Squirrels: Sexism in Fantasy

Feudalism

Using Politics In Fantasy Fiction

Mythic Justice – Crime and Punishment in Your Fantasy World

Government Worldbuilding

Realistic Political Strife

A Politics Of Worldbuilding

Language

Creating a Language

The Language Construction Kit

The International Phonetic Alphabet – Audio Illustrations

Fantasy Name Generator

Geographic Names

Medieval Names Archive 

Squid Name Generator 

Model Languages

Xenolinguistics 

History

Prehistory

Mythos

History

Today

Myths, Creatures, and Folklore

Encyclopedia Mythica

The Ancient History Encyclopedia

Using History as Inspiration for Fantasy

Victorian Era Family Day Life in England

Peasant Life in the Middle Ages

Everyday Life in the Middle Ages

English Monarchs

Feudal Japan

The Story and Structure of the Iroquois Confederacy

Science + Geography

Dimensions

Solar Bodies

Climatology

Planetary Geography

Water Geography

Cartography, Maps, Star Charts, and Writing

Fundamentals of Physical Geography

Dating of Middle-earth events, using Precession of the Equinoxes and Tidal Friction

Orbital Operations in Science Fiction

Planet Designer

Artificial gravity calculator

Natural gravity calculator

Selden’s Catalogs of Objects for Celestia

Medieval Technology

Defining the Source, Effects, and Cost of Magic

How to Create a Rational Magic System

Miscellaneous

/r/worldbuilding

Fantasy World Generator

SciFi World Generator

Focused Ambiguity: Using Metaphor in Fantasy Writing

Space Engine

Terragen

The Five foundations of Worldbuilding

Setting the Fantastic in the Everyday World

Support Wordsnstuff!

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee.

Request Resources, Tips, Playlists, or Prompt Lists

Instagram // Twitter //Facebook //#wordsnstuff

FAQ //monthly writing challenges // Masterlist

Mel Medarda was NOT the User in their Relationship. Jayce Was [CC]

Here’s an invaluable writing resource for you.

nimble, a border collie-papillon mix, wins the 12” class in the 2024 masters agility championship. the first time a mixed breed has won at westminster ever.

casual affection

covering the other with a blanket when they fall asleep on the couch

making playlists/mixtapes/cassettes for the other

showing the other a meme/video that reminds them of them

smiling at each other from across the room

teasing each other good-naturedly

laying their hand on the other’s leg

embracing them from behind

talking about how much they love the other to their friends/family

giving the other the comfy seat in the car/kitchen/living room/etc.

plugging in the other’s phone when they fall asleep

bringing the other leftovers

rubbing the other’s back when it hurts

looking in each other’s eyes during a conversation

taking a photo of the other smiling or in their element

doing the other’s hair

doing the other’s laundry/dishes

changing the lyrics of a song so it says the other’s name

buying the other something small they mentioned they wanted

winking at the other

putting an arm around the other’s shoulder

letting the other have the umbrella/hoodie

bumping the other’s shoulder when they say something funny

ruffling their hair

laying their head on the other’s shoulder

squeezing the other’s shoulder

fixing the other’s clothes

cleaning the house when the other is at work

leaving cute notes for the other on the fridge

asking the other how their day was

hyping the other up before they do something big

~ MORE THAN FRIENDS ~ FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS PROMPTS

requested by: anonymous

Feel free to use and reblog!

secret eye contact when others are around

having a long history of being best friends

having certain things that trigger the romantic side of their relationship

being 'just' friendly most of the time until it culminates into a steamy romance session every so often

*heavily breathing* "But we're just friends, right?"

not telling their other friends because they don't want destroy the harmony of their friend group

staying behind purposefully to have one-on-one time with the other

"Do you think they can tell?" "No. Why would they? We're being totally normal." (bonus: they're not being normal at all)

making promises about their friendship but not about their romance

"Of course, I'll be there for you forever!" "As a friend?" "Yes, as a friend."

struggling to explain their relationship to others

"No! We're NOT dating!"

feeling like only the other understands every aspect of them

avoiding to think about the future

valuing their friendship too high to risk it for a serious relationship

"Do you ever wish for something else?" "No, it's perfect."

never having been on a date together but knowing each other inside out

"I love you. As a friend!"

^^ in response: *mockingly* "Yeah. Or are you falling for me?"

being scared to make the next move because everything is fine the way it is