Kind of a weird question I know, but let me explain. I’m not talking about your themes or messages, but the general feeling someone looking into your world or imagining themselves in it might get about the situation, when the world is not in conflict. Basically, you know how when you watch a franchise like Star Trek, it has certain recurrent moods and feelings, like the tranquility of flying through space, the bittersweet isolation of being on a ship in deep space, where you are close to your crewmates but far from everything else you know, and the general professional but still sufficiently jovial atmosphere that they seem to go for? Or with Pokemon when it’s very adventure driven and based around meeting everyone you come across and making friends both with other humans and also with these magical creatures! I’m sure you can think of descriptions like these for your favourite franchises. We’ve all imagined ourselves in these worlds or imagined ourselves as characters in these worlds right? What were some of the vibes or feelings you imagined when you imagined your world? Or I guess another way of putting it is what would a slice of life exploration of your world be like?
One of the very first conceptions of Azuaveria was “the beach episode of Redwall in an urban setting.” So I imagined a sort of tropical-punk with a furry reimagining of the romantic aspects of San Francisco. As I’ve built up the world, it’s taken on a slightly different character, but that core attitude is still intact, I think.
Azuaveria is much more bright than dark. I hope readers think of Makoto Shinkai’s blue skies with enormous white clouds. The weather is actually pretty good almost all the time, but because this universe takes place in the eye of a gigantic hurricane (!) there is danger and peril if you seek it. The edges of the Storm Wall are way beyond the horizon for almost all denizens, though, so it’s easy to ignore. Nobeast WANTS to stay so close to the edge.
I’ve introduced a lot of mythology to the world over the years. Different cultures have different explanations for why the world is the way it is. But the main thing I focus on, as an author, is diversity. There are lots of different species, different walks of life, and as a result, different explanations for things. I’ve introduced more political intrigue over the years, as well. Hopefully this gives the world more nuance, and a more adult target audience, but the bright and sunny vibe is what prevails.