World-Building
Where Snow Doesn’t Fall takes place across a few worlds, each with its own history, societies, and ways of life. Some of their biggest mysteries are easy to miss beneath the jokes and adventures, so this is where you can explore the places, ideas, organizations, and little details that make the world what it is.
⚠️ Contains lore and potential spoilers for the series.
[ PRONE TO BE UPDATED / EDITED ]
Edyn and Idyll
SOCIETY
What is it actually like to live here?
[ This applies to Idyll’s society as well, but stated as just Edyn for writing convenience ]
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“A happy society should not be something people have to fight for. A good society is one where people have the freedom, security, and connection to live meaningful lives.”
Edyn believes happiness is a societal responsibility. This means that in practice, if someone is starving, unsafe, isolated, sick, or without opportunities, society can’t just say “well, you should just try to be happier.” Community is a huge thing as well. Everyone should participate in helping each other out.
Freedom matters to determine what happiness means to the individual, not what happiness is ‘supposed to look like.’ This means that everyone deserves the opportunity to build a life that feels right to them.
Connection is key. Edyn believes people are meant to belong together. When rivalries, enemies, and fighting exists, essential things are lost. Choosing to work together, despite differences, is important to build something much bigger than a moment of heated dispute.
Crime prevention. Because freedom is important, but happiness is subjective, it is also very crucial to understand what is harmful, and what is alright. It’s possible for an individual to find joy in a form of destruction or insolence. This does not mean every circumstance deserves punishment, it simply asks, ‘why did this happen, can we prevent it, and can we repair the harm?’ This is to ultimately insure that the future will be better than the past was.
Examples;
The individual likes to blast extremely loud music at night. They genuinely enjoy doing so, but everyone around them loses sleep.
Hunting / collecting animals purely for entertainment. They enjoy the activity, but animals are harmed unnecessarily. (Hence it can only be done in moderation, or as a career to benefit people and the environment.)
Publicly embarrassing people for entertainment. The person loves making an audience laugh at someone else’s expense.
Graffiti. The creator enjoys making art, but someone else has to deal with damage to their property.
Competitive sports where the person enjoys intentionally hurting opponents. They like the aggression rather than the sport itself.
Stealing. Thief gets excitement, while someone else loses something.
Pranking someone who doesn’t enjoy being pranked. Prankster finds it hilarious, other person may feel humiliated or frightened. (Hence why the Meme Squad are technically illegal. While most pranks are harmless, it can still be debatedly bad in the eyes of the law.)
Ultimately, the question at the end of the day is simple.
“Can you have the same fun without making someone else suffer for it?”
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Typically a good life, from birth to death, is a generally content, happy one. You’re born, treated with care, have a decent family and social standing. You go to school, think about the hobbies, passions, career, or things you want to do in life, and you get easily accessible routes to get that life.
Which is because HELTH provides for every citizen. That gives them the opportunity to take practically any path in life that they desire. As long as it makes them happy, and doesn’t harm anyone else, that is perfectly fine.
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Society maintains peace by actively marketing, teaching, and providing examples on how to contribute to a safe and happy community. That way, everybody knows a consistent amount about kindness and politeness.
Note - this can be seen as people-pleasing depending on context, but Edyn has proven that it’s normal to care about each other’s well-being.
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Citizens of Edyn and Idyll are expected to care for the well-being of others and the world they share, from helping those close to them, to showing basic consideration towards strangers, and keeping their surroundings clean. In return, they are encouraged to live freely and happily, provided their choices do not unnecessarily harm others.
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A law is established by a combination of HELTH representatives, specialists, and citizen input. Before it’s implemented, it has to consider:
Does it protect people’s wellbeing?
Does it unnecessarily restrict someone’s freedom?
Does it prevent meaningful harm?
Is there a less restrictive solution?
Does it apply fairly to everyone?
Most importantly, laws can be challenged and changed.
When a law is broken, HELTH distinguishes between whether it was accidental / minor, or repeated / intentional. If accidental / minor, there would be an explanation, a warning, a correction, or some form of community service. If repeated / intentional, there will be intervention, restrictions, rehabilitation, or other consequences.
For genuinely dangerous crimes, Edyn doesn’t suddenly abandon its philosophy. Someone who poses an immediate danger would likely be temporarily sperated from society for everyone’s safety, but the goal remains rehabilitation and eventual reintegration whenever possible. In the case scenario where a person remains dangerous, they are typically sentenced for life.
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Mood monitoring. In Edyn and Idyll, thermal cameras are able to detect and review changes of a person’s mood, which is completely ordinary to their citizens.
It is used for safety and wellbeing rather than punishment.
Typically only HELTH Officers have access to such information.
Scary stories are extremely rare, niche, and prohibited.
Scary media is censored COMPLETELY, as is vulgar profanity and hate speech.
Getting a costume of the grim reaper, for example, would be illegal. You’d only be able to find it on the dark web or make it yourself and only wear it within the comforts of home (or possibly a convention where everyone agrees they enjoy scary media)
Happiness checks. They are typically very short and can come in surveys or teacher / boss assistance (usually to occur during school or the workplace) and can be opted out of. Overall, just there to check if any help is needed with anything in life.
Healthcare is relatively quick and accessible, and funded by HELTH. People don’t wait till they’re really sick before receiving care.
It’s pretty clean. You likely won’t find trash laying around.
People casually help strangers, which is culturally normal.
Low tolerance for deliberately harming someone or something.
Children have significant freedom to explore independently and make their own choices. Still highly recommended to ensure child safety though, like being aware of surroundings and consequences.
Disagreements are usually avoided or not made a big deal of.
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Summarized, society struggles with endless debate over privacy, surveillance, risky activities, harmful entertainment, dangerous technology, environmental responsibility, parenting, education, medical decisions, punishment, freedom of speech, experimentation, and so much more. Both sides are likely to have reasonable arguments, so the struggle is finding the middle ground.
Again, privacy can be a big one. Though in book 2, the Future Prime Minister does make a notion to update insulation in public and residential places to lower the amount of monitoring to an acceptable amount.
The pressure to be happy. Someone eventually comes to the conclusion that ‘they are not happy right now, and don’t want to be.’ That they don’t need anyone to fix their feelings.
In a society built around joy can sometimes result in the belief that negative emotions are a failure, which can become an issue at times.
Hence it is taught (not nearly enough unfortunately) that sadness, anger, frustration, grief, boredome, and disappointment are still a part of being alive. This is usually seen when a person is grieving the loss of a close one. It is acceptable to be upset, but typically the goal is to, at a considerate rate, bring this grieving individual back to a content state of being.
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Despite technological advancements such as portal tech and thermal sensors, both universes aren’t very much advanced as one would expect.
For example, holographic phones / screens aren't in everyday use. There’s no cyberware, biotech, neural interfaces (for the most part) at all. If ever hinted at technology, it’s used in a practical sense for everyday use, but never extremely advanced or flashy.
People in their society are relatively similar to our own, just more focused on the expression of joy.
Geography + Result of it
What does the world look like and how does it affect it?
[ This applies to Idyll’s society as well, but stated as just Edyn for writing convenience ]
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They’ve been controlling the weather for over 3,000 years, way before Edyn and Idyll conjoined. They do so with weather-technology, which controls the atmosphere and input of weather phenomenas.
Weather itself is defined as the general condition at the time of the year. In ‘winter,’ it can be around 72°F (~22°C), and during summer, it can be 80°F (~27°C). For people there, that’s hot and cold.
Fun fact, the coldest place in Edyn and Idyll, other than freezers, are hockey / ice skating stadiums.
Edyn and Idyll have one consistent climate with varied terrain. The temperature is around 75°F (~24°C) year-round with major environments such as coastal/beach, grasslands, and mountains.
With the average climate temperature, there is also lower percentages of humidity (commonly only found near bodies of waters, such as the ocean), very little wind, and no rainfall.
Terrain is typically affected by people and nature, not weathering or erosion. HELTH makes sure to take care of the terrain by having programs and organizations that keep it in balance.
Absent environments in their worlds are places such as deserts, jungles, snow regions, etc., anything with a wildly different temperature, humidity, or general difference in weather.
The most interesting thing about the terrain is the variation of forests. Though not commonly talked about, Edyn and Idyll have a wide variety of forests and tree-types.
Underground water is quite abundant, hence why grasslands exist so freely. Yes there’s a lot of manmade sprinklers and streams of water as well, however the supercontinent takes care of water on its own as well. Plants are also extremely efficient with water.
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Both Edyn and Idyll, being parallel universes, have the same supercontinent. This means everything is connected and essentially makes travel and trade very easy compared to a world where the continents are separated.
The rest of the world though is primarily ocean and islands. It can be rather expensive though to travel overseas.
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Basically, Pangea Theory is my inspiration for how the supercontinent looks like.
Although not to get it confused with it being “in the past” or anything. Edyn and Idyll technically follow a similar timeline to our own (Earth’s), which would be the 2000’s, but haha, to avoid making it seem either futuristic or old-fashioned, I tend to not specify the exact year.
The world being a supercontinent is also a subtle symbolism for unity. Not that big of a deal, but it’s obvious if they’re all connected, instead of being separated by water.
Before weather control, which is probably important to mention, the supercontinent DID have dramatically different climates. Modern day people are descendants of populations that once lived across different climates, so they genetically have physical traits that their ancestors had due to those environments. Such as skin color, face shapes, hair types, etc.
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Animals are common, but are protected by the wild life foundations and don’t always interact with people. Specifically dangerous animals, such as boars or wolves. However, some species are actually extinct- such as mosquitos, for example. Any animals that hunt for predators, such as alligators and lions, are not necessarily extinct, but are kept in controlled environments and aren’t typically common knowledge, unless you’re genuinely an animal enthusiast.
The world has an abundance of plants and fruits because of the ideal growing condition. Although plants such as cactus, aloe, agave, and plants that rely on extreme temperatures, don’t exist there, they likely have plants that don’t exist in other worlds because they just evolved.
Even on the highest mountains, 72°F (~22°C) is the average temperature range, which gives plants a different way to evolve. Factors like the planet’s atmospheric pressure or overall environmental system changes how the plants evolved.
Because fruits, vegetables, and other crops are available year-round, so they are not very rare or pricey. However, some crops are geographical, so it might raise prices for transportation.
Also, this means things like leaves falling off a tree or changing from green to orange is very rare, and likely to not happen at all unless a tree is dying or it evolved to be a different color, as some trees can be.
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Buildings don’t need to be designed around extreme seasonal temperatures, giving designers room to get really creative with architecture. Such as;
Large windows
Common screen doors
Lots of patios, courtyards and balconies
Homes designed to catch natural breeze
Less emphasis on fireplaces and heavy insulation
Buildings designed more for shade and ventilation
Balconies connected directly to bedrooms
Outdoor kitchens
Gardens growing through buildings
Rooms with one entire wall that opens
Ridiculous and aesthetic buildings that never need to survive winds or storms, so it can look like practically anything.
2. Another thing is that architecture can become really fun because no one’s relying on “how do we keep people warm/cool?” and instead is asking “how do we make living here enjoyable?”
3. Anything is possible to be honest.
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Being outdoors has a bigger part of daily life since it’s actually bearable to be outside. Events aren’t strictly restricted to particular seasons. For example, you can go to the beach in winter, or wear coats in the summer.
Sports - not categorized as summer/winter sports, but as indoor sports, mountain sports, beach sports, etc.
Clothing - typically all about style rather than protection or survival. Warm clothes such as huge coats have only ever been made for fashion. Most people wear very light clothes, such as shirts, shorts, thin sweaters, sandals, etc.
Clothing is also an easy expression of identity. You don’t need to worry about anything other than dressing to impress. There would also naturally be a lot of colorful / complex clothing, depending on what your style is.
Even people who wear things like giant fluffy jackets, which would be something made for cold weather, could still be worn primarily because it “looks cool” instead of it serving an actual function. It looking cool or making you happy is reason enough.
Another thing, there’s less of a “spring” or “fall” fashion, and more of a “festival, school, beach, camping, formal fashion” type vibe.
The Culture
What do they value?
[ This applies to Idyll’s society as well, but stated as just Edyn for writing convenience ]
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Pursuit of happiness, community, freedom, and abundance.
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There are likely so many genres of art, music, and talents, considering the environment is perfect for opportunities. When the world isn’t actively facing conflicts, there’s a lot of free-time, hence new things. Some examples are as such;
Visual art, environmental art, illusions, kinetic sculptures, living sculptures, etc.
Performance art, such as live theaters, immersive theaters (very interactive ones like getting splashed with water, feeling blasts of wind, tasting food, etc.), acrobatics, dance, comedy performances, street performances, acting, etc.
Hundreds of music genres and strange instruments, like ones that change pitch based on movement. Also, I’d mention that because the media censors negativity, songs rarely express negative feelings. It’s a bit restrictive at times, but because of it, there can be a lot of interesting lyric wordplay.
And there can be tons of talents as well, like tea-making, magic tricks, astronomy, etc.
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There are 51 languages in the entire world.
Depending on which region you are born in, you learn that language, although there is one common language. It’s not necessarily ‘English,’ though Where Snow Doesn’t Fall is formerly written in English. The main language is just described as the ‘common language,’ and not specified on what that exactly is.
The small number of languages was primarily agreed on not only because everyone is practically neighbors on the supercontinent, but because it is easier and more convenient to communicate. Which is naturally going to make people happier and give a stronger sense of community.
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Typical stuff, like:
Rock paper scissors
Hop scotch
Video games (like Battle Hotspot and CrashKitz)
The Game ;)
Thumb war
Hide and seek
Duck Duck Goose
Capture the Flag
Freeze tag / Tag
Board / card games of any kind
I spy
Would you rather / truth or dare
Musical Chairs
Hot Potato
Etc.
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The most common holidays are considered the Summer and Winter Solstice.
Summer Solstice - commonly associated with celebration, finishing the school year, hanging out with friends and family, and it’s a very ‘let’s go do something’ kinda holiday.
It’s primarily to share and create joy.
Similar to ‘summer vacation’ as it begins the months of no-school and less work days (depending on the job)
Since the Summer Solstice is the longest day, there would be all-day festivals, lots of music, outdoor games, community picnics, sunrise-to-sunset celebrations, etc.
Winter Solstice - less about celebration, more about welcoming and keeping joy, still hanging out with family and friends, but is more of a ‘let’s stay at home’ kinda holiday.
Made to acknowledge the joy that already exists.
Also similar to most winter holidays, such as Christmas for one example. Very likely different for each culture, but generally with festive lights and decoration.
Winter Solstice is the longest night, but that is why it is where everyone comes together to make sure that night, nobody is alone. People likely stay indoors, have lots of candles and lights, tell stories, play games, eat together, stay awake late, etc.
New Years. Self-explanatory I think, but yes, they do celebrate new years. It’s about making plans and wishes for the next year, to recollect memories of the previous year, have community/family meals, and just enjoy life for what it was and what it can be.
A ‘unity day’ where everyone celebrates the overall fact that they’re united. Basically every other holiday vibe, but more culturally expressive.
There’s quite a few food festivals and nature festivals, even like ‘Edyn Day’ or ‘Idyll Day.’ Not as commonly talked about or participated in, but basically just there to celebrate something.
“Masquerade Day.” Edyn and Idyll’s version of ‘Halloween.’ At the end of October, they celebrate a day where you can dress-up as any fictional or historical character, each other, animals, and well basically anything creative, even like dressing up as a water bottle.
Important to note, there is NO scary costumes whatsoever on Masquerade-Day. Even though Halloween was originally created to ward off evil, dressing up creepily is not desirable not matter the circumstance and not even considered in their society.
As for ‘trick-or-treating,’ this has also NOT been something normalized in Edyn or Idyll. Not that it’s bad, but they just happened to go down the route where it’s intended to be more community-like, as in all kinds of food and treats at libraries, museums, schools, parks, fire and police stations, etc.
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Fruits, vegtables, grains, nuts and seeds, seafood, meat, and desserts.
Well, basically food is as diverse as it gets, other than ingredients that can only be made in very hot/cold environments. Also, food is processed but it’s relatively healthier than it needs to be.
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Polite:
Smiling at passerby (especially after eye-contact) though it’s not necessary
Holding door for someone
Laughing at someone’s joke, even if it wasn’t funny. (XDD, also doesn’t have to be fake laughter, just gives them a chance to recover.)
Complimenting someone’s outfit, even if strange or unconventional, especially if they clearly put effort into it.
Warning people before saying a potentially sad story or phrase. Example - “I’ma say something about the cookie situation, and you’re probably not gonna like it, so warning you right now. But yep, the cookies are gone.”
Helping clean, cook, and overall helping altogether.
Inviting the quiet person into the conversation (or overall just including everyone)
Sharing cool discoveries (why keep something cool to only yourself? Lol)
Offering someone a better seat / view
Giving someone credit for their invention, joke, idea, etc.
Sharing food (hard to do sometimes)
Letting someone change their mind without teasing or making fun of them
If someone gets hurt, make sure they’re okay firstly, and then if they’re comfortable about laughing with you about what happened
If someone cooks for you, try it before deciding you don’t like it, and be kind about their cooking skills.
And so on
Rude:
Ruining someone’s fun
Embarrassing someone for enjoying or not enjoying something
Turning a harmless prank into something genuinely hurtful
Interrupting someone’s game ‘cause you don’t like it
Making fun of someone’s hobby / passion
Purposely excluding someone
Taking someone’s lemon tea without asking
Messing with someone’s food / personal items
Spoiling a surprise (with negative intent)
Refusing a rematch after losing Rcok Paper Scissors
Calling someone “boring”
Pretending you didn’t hear someone, especially if you make them repeat themselves
Claiming credit for something you did not do
Frowning at someone (especially when they did literally nothing to you)
Ignoring a greeting
Walking away when someone’s talking to you
Leaving someone out of a group photo when they’re literally right there
Talking loudly in a place where other people are also trying to have a conversation
Spreading rumors
Pessimism
Etc.
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Saying “don’t think about it” instead of “don’t worry about it” is a popular one.
“That’s unfortunate” turns into “that’s unexpected”
“Don’t be scared” -> “You’re safe”
“I failed” -> “That didn’t work”
“What’s wrong?” -> “What’s going on?”
“Be careful” -> “take care”
“Watch out!” -> “heads up!”
“Don’t overthink the future” -> “Leave room for surprise.”
“Make it a memory” is a popular phrase that means that even if something is difficult, find something meaningful in experiencing it.
“There’s always another way” is to change a person’s mindset around failure and get them to believe in possibility, rather than letting the first failure define the situation.
“Bold choice” is a common playful joke to tease about a terrible or silly decision. Meant in a light-hearted way.
“Don’t make a problem out of a feeling.” You can be angry, you can be scared, you can be sad, but it’s not the emotion itself that’s the problem. What matters is what you do with it.
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Assumption of what an Escapist / Escapism is.
Edyn is more familiar with the term and uses it freely. They like drama more than Idyll because it’s ‘entertaining’ and funny.’
Idyll rarely uses the terms and prefers to call them ‘trouble-makers.’ They are more focused on community-like ‘drama’ or stories, and they don’t watch the news very often either. It’s more word-of-mouth.
Media
Edyn loves the media, such as the News, Shows, Movies, radio talks, etc. and loves being nosey. In the most fun and respectful way possible, of course.
Idyll prefers word-of-mouth like “no way, did you hear what happened here and here?” but doesn’t typically read or watch the News as much. Of course there’s still shows and movies, but they’re a bit more interested in live performances, like going to concerts, stadiums, sports games, etc.
Overall, Idyll is calmer than Edyn, and Edyn is more chatty than Idyll.
Technology + Science
How does this universe actually work?
[ This applies to Idyll’s society as well, but stated as just Edyn for writing convenience ]
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The first way portals are made are by using frequency. I don’t actually know step-by-step how they make a gadget that creates the specific kind of frequency and out of it creates a portal gate-way.
This is specifically found in Edyn and Idyll, mostly through HELTH’s technology. There are more portal-making throughout the series, but not all of them use frequency as the activation. Look down below and you’ll find the other ways.
The next way to create a portal is with electromagnetism. However, it’s not a visible portal; instead, it looks like a form of teleportation. The person (or object being teleported) with merely blur the moment it’s leaving, before disappearing completely.
Characters such as Yin, Mr. Finch, and even Wiki have been seen using electromagnetism so far.
The explanation for how it works is summed up to using points in the electromagnetic field and connecting them.
Fun fact - this is the easiest form of portal-ing because most people and objects are connected to the electromagnetic field, so when you intend to travel to a place that’s already familiar with the device, you can simply go there without inserting the location.
Then, there are portals made from ‘possibility,’ ‘chance’ to be more particular. It’s another form of physics that entertains the idea of “what if you can select a position in the possibility field and create a portal from that?”
Not much information will be provided yet since this is further developed in volume 3 and 4. Until then, here’s a little more about the concept:
The universe has a ‘possibility field,’ which means for example, “this bottle has a (0.0000001%) chance to land on the bottle-cap. That is one possibility.
How will this relate to portals? → It will be that the character can create, with the understanding of how this field works, portals from patterns, quantum states, wave functions, and probability distributions.
To sum it up, complex game of chance.
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They move through portals that are created with frequencies. Although another common way for citizens to pass through worlds is a portal airport. Usually the safest way to travel is taking a plane and flying through a portal, from Edyn to Idyll and vice versa.
Another way is electromagnetism, though this is something more developed from Yin and Mr. Finch’s side. While HELTH is aware of it, it’s not necessarily the most suitable way to travel between worlds. However, it is a suitable way to travel within one world. Although portals are way safer and more reliable.
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Edyn and Idyll are not necessarily advanced despite having portal technology and AI (though that’s something only Mr. Finch in the series has.)
Their society is actually maybe a little underdeveloped compared to our own (Earth’s) because of a few things:
No war = no nukes, no mass produced weapons (other than for hunting animals), no life-ending inventions, etc.
Fast and advanced aerotechnology is NOT very common. Although aerobatics is a sport, and is the common use for airplanes and helicopters. Also obviously planes are created to move around. But it’s not used for stealth, warfare, or conflict.
To add onto aerotechnology, yes, they have gone to the moon in a rocket/space ship, but is only mentioned once whereas the character known as ‘Wiki’ (who has done every possible thing) has claimed to have gone to the moon.
Because resources are abundant, they don’t really have to worry about making tech for fuel efficiency, cheap disposal, artificial substitutes, etc.
Same with environmental technology, it’s way less developed because they never have major pollution, climate changes, deforesation, resource depletion, storms, etc. There is a small amount of climat engineering specifically for these kinds of problems.
However it is also advanced because:
Transportation. That includes portals obviously, but why also have global high-speed trains, subways, trams, and boats. Cars are also very effective as well and has a very low crash-rate with its built-in features. While all of this is not necessarily advanced, it’s common for these kinds of things ALL over the world, not just in highly populated areas or wealthier areas.
Universe Technology. They LITERALLY conjoined with a parallel universe.
(Parallel universes exist on its own and typically alongside our reality, but they don’t ever interact with each other. Usually they have different rules, physics, or histories, but Edyn and Idyll were exact replicas of each other. An alternate universe shares the same point of origin or common history with each other until a specific event causes the timeline to branch. They both can technically apply depending on context and timeline. But they start off parallel, technically turn alternate, and are still called parallel timelines.)
Another note to that, is that funnily enough, there were copies of people. Fun fact, some families can be related to others in either world. But after thousands of years, and people traveling to either-world, generations of families have diversified, ultimately creating Edyn and Idyll “the same” (as in one collective humanity) and not “replicas” (two humanities) of each other. Although, that said, it’s rare, but possible, to have person A be the descendant to person B’s counterpart. Interesting concept, even though I don’t really touch on it.
I wouldn’t say this is more “advanced,” but I would say it has a generally equal standing of technology and that’s surveillance. Most of which is used to see who is happy and who is not. So thermal tech is used for wellness, and also used for tracking, facial-recognition, security, police-like surveillance, etc.
Despite environmental technology being less developed, they DO have something more fascinating (and likely similar to our world) which would be weather control itself. In a way, like their whole motto, it’s to prevent storms in the first place. They do have precautions for if it happened, but it hasn’t been used or practicted commonly. Other than that, weather control is one of their strongest technologies, since it covers the ENTIRE supercontinent, not just certain areas. But it’s used to maintain the environment, not repair an ecological catastrophe.
Emergency technology. It is similar to Earth’s tech, however, imagine emergency teleportation. There’s an entire unit that will portal to the scene in order to help the injured person, and they can even do things such as mountain and ocean rescues.
The last big thing in my opinion, is that every technology is water-proof. It’s just built in like that.
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Phone, computer, TV, radio, bluetooth devices, vacuum, washing machine, etc. Not very different from Earth’s society.
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TECS (Thermal Emotional Contact Sensors) - used to identify the emotional state of a person.
Chips - which would come out of a chip shooter. Typically meant to hit the back of the neck. It targets the amygdala and neutralizes emotions. Used for Escapists to get them to easily comply, or for people who have a difficult time adjusting to negative emotions.
H.Portal - This is a portal device, plainly put. It is possible to obtain an H.Portal for civilian use, but would require meeting quite a few conditions. Typically, it’s meant for HELTH Officers to capture Escapists or get to the scene of distress (like a car crash or a fire) as quick as possible.
Basic History
What happened, and what was the world like?
[ This applies to Idyll’s society as well, but stated as just Edyn for writing convenience ]
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When was this?
Over 5 thousand years ago was a totally different society than it is now.
What was the world like?
The world, over 5 thousand years ago, had many more conflicts, negative feelings, and trouble. The weather wasn’t controlled either. Communities were way smaller, and people would argue over land, resources, beliefs, etc.
What problems existed?
Survival - cold, hot, stormy climates were common and dangerous.
Regular disagreements between people
Big battles / war-like situations
What led people to want to change?
The realization that society, and the future, could be better if they work together.
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Unnamed groups of people came together from different regions to analyze the best course of actions they can take. This is where common language became popular, and was about 4 thousand years from the present.
The goal was to make life easy, effective, and joyful.
Their first objective however was focusing on the first conflict- and that was weather and survival.
So now, 3000 years from the present, they created entire systems to control the weather, climate, and phenomenons.
Basically over time, weather became less important since it was not an issue anymore, and by the time it’s 1093 thousand years away from the present, portal technology was extremely prominent and valuable. It was used for all modes of transportation and at some point, it became a fascination. This led to a major surprise- it can be used to go to other worlds. The first ever world both Edyn and Idyll went to, at the same time, was each other’s. By coincidence, or fate, doing so made their timelines essentially “merge” though still are seperate places, but their societies are kind-of known as one.
90 years later, 1,003 years ago, an organization everyone knows as HELTH was created for both Edyn and Idyll. Reason being = “let’s make our lives even better.”
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This era is basically everything summed up from society, technology, HELTH, and geography. Life is paradise.
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What happens from book 1 to 12 (to be updated)
HELTH
Escapism and the Interesting Stuff
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And Escapist is primarily defined as this, “Somebody who creates chaos or disorder, unlike what is ordinary. Typically a negative person, but not bound to it.”
Diving deeper into that, it describes someone who intentionally harms, confuses, upsets, excessively surprises, angers, or hurts anyone in any way.
This also means that the person doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative, or bad, person. Maybe they enjoy the thrill, or maybe they don’t understand they’re harming someone. Typically, however, most Escapists are aware of the fact and repeat their actions despite knowing they’re not lawful. So even the happiest chud could be an Escapist because they’re genuinely confusing the crap out of everyone and it’s too annoying/upsetting.
Escapism is primarily defined as this, “A practice or habit that is harmful to those around them.”
When a person intentionally knows what they are doing is harmful or upsetting to the people around them, it is called Escapism. And even after this knowledge, since some Escapism is unintentional at first, some will continue their habit even after being offered better solutions.
Most Escapism has a bad reputation because Escapists in the past have been relatively bad people. Or at the very least, were okay with harming others in one way or another.
The Meme Squad’s version of Escapist and Escapism.
Don’t like how Escapism has a bad-rep amongst people? Look no further, because the Meme Squad gave it a new meaning.
“To be an Escapist is not only to prank people, but include them in our fun, and make sure everyone’s laughing at the end of the story.”
Technically, the Meme Squad still go under the definition of what it really is to be an Escapist, since not everyone enjoys a good harmless prank. They’re having fun too, but knowingly continue pranking people even though it’s illegal, which further makes them true Escapists.
“But what does it matter if we can share a good taco after a successful prank with our victims?”
The Meme Squad are typically very good at making friends, even with the people they prank or the people who want them in jail.
So to be an Escapist, and practice Escapism, it’s actually an expression of how happy they can be and and how friends can be made no matter the situation. THAT’s what they believe should be written in the books. Now it’s up to the audience's interpretation to agree with them. After all, who doesn’t love a good wholesome prank? ;)
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To be honest, it doesn’t affect society as much as it lets on. This is because awareness of oneself is more important and taught early on. Being unaffected by negative patterns of others is important to ensure self-happiness, rather than depending on other people to be happy.
In Idyll specifically, ‘Escapist’ and ‘Escapism’ is not typically referred to as common practice. Idyll will likely call that person a trouble-maker, or criminal to be more extreme. Citizens of Idyll shy around the word Escapist because it can bring a negative outlook of the person when it’s not necessary.
In Edyn, which is full of entertainment, media, and melodrama, Escapist can be a popular term because to be honest, the citizens of Edyn are more prone to finding entertainment in ‘what’s new.’
However, in both worlds Escapism affects society by teaching people what is acceptable and what is not. It gives them the opportunity to understand how their actions affect others, and what makes themselves and others happier.
It also is a good example of social behavior. Because Escapism exists, people strive to be ‘good citizens’ and help others. The societal expectation of helping the community out is higher because it’s what is natural and anticipated.
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HELTH overall deals with both to ensure that Escapism is unlikely, and that people are aware of their actions and behavior.
Typically an Escapist isn’t shunned on unless they are genuinely, and repeatedly, showing negative behavior and purposefully harming others. Otherwise, they are still treated with respect and kindness, and are given many chances at rehab, to change their behavior, and to find something that will fulfill them as a compromise to not acting negatively.
Stories such as Achoo are made to show people the effect of negativity and over-consumption of negative feelings. It prevents people from going down that path. (The story will be explained below.)
Negative media will be censored drastically so as to not spread negativity. You will NOT find hate-speech, scary stories, or creepy art on social media in Edyn or Idyll. It’s so normalized that people don’t even think about posting something like that.
Kids are taught early how to express their feelings and to understand them. Yes, they ARE allowed to feel negative feelings, it’s not shamed on. But also yes, it’s expected to learn how to regulate your feelings. This is common for most people, but some have a more difficult time than others.
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There are instances in history where the system has failed people. One of those cases happens to be an individual known as ‘Jaki.’ She was wrongfully accused of being an Escapist, so much so, she ended up living in paranoia for a while before the case had been settled.
Another moment was with Baxter himself. Baxter Esther, also known as the brother of Bill Esther, whom is the Prime Minister of Edyn and Idyll. Although it was primarily Baxter’s choice to become an Escapist, it was peer-pressure and tricky situations that led him to making that choice.
More instances have been obscured but not forgotten. Every mistake is a lesson for HELTH to learn, and they aim to never make the same mistake twice.
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One of the biggest secrets of all time is that HELTH has been controlling the weather for centuries. It has been so long that frankly, someone mentioning ‘rain’ would think you’re talking about a shower or sprinkler. Meaning: rain doesn’t exist.
The reason why they control the weather is firstly, they learned how to, and secondly, why deal with tornados, hurricanes, droughts, blizzards, and all kinds of crazy weather when you can just make it 75 F / 24 C degrees year round?
That’s why you’ll probably find a sprinkler everywhere though.
Also controlling weather all over the planet is only difficult if it’s over the oceans, hence why it’s more common to find five clouds at the shore, and one cloud every other week inland.
Disclaimer - weather and weather physics are not meant to be totally accurate, because WSDF is a comedy.
HELTH is aware that other universes exist outside of Edyn and Idyll. There’s no way around this one other than the fact they just aren’t personally very interested in other worlds, since they’re not really ‘great.’ That’s why the public isn’t aware that there are other worlds. (Happiness and community is NOT always normal or commonly accepted in other worlds, which is the explanation for it not being ‘great’ or interesting.)
Other than that, there aren’t really any other secrets, but it’s prone to being updated.
Origins
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HELTH was officially created 1,003 years from the present of 20XX (exact year not specified due to author preference). This was approximately 90 years after Edyn and Idyll connected together (which will be explained a little more in the Technology + Science column on this page.)
HELTH was created because both Edyn and Idyll had a common philosophy; a happy society is a progressive society.
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The governments of both Edyn and Idyll of their time. They united as one to build a better future.
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Happy, Euphoric, and Libertly Talented Humans
Structure
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Bill Esther, the Prime Minister, is currently in charge and governs both Edyn and Idyll. He is the face of HELTH, but there are multiple branches under him that control different aspects of the Organization.
Sol will be Prime Minister when he gets older. Right now, he is just learning how to be one and how to handle situations.
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HP (HELTH Program) Medical and Biological Science
HP Technological Science
SOS - they track Escapists, investigate them, coordinate arrests, etc.
High-Risk Criminal Division - HELTH enforcement that deals with extremely violent criminals, Escapists, groups, and individuals.
Agriculture and Environmental Management
Climate and Atmospheric Control
Imagined scenario -> “this region is 2 degrees too warm” “oh yeah? Let’s fix that.”
Infrastructure and Urban Development
Environmental Preservation
Education and Development
Psychological and Social Wellbeing
Justice and Civil Affairs
Public Safety
Scientific Research
Interworld / Spatial Relations
Communications
Population and Social Planning
Records and Information
Internal Oversight
Probably more, but it’s not very important to the series as of now.
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As polite and cheery as you’d expect.
Extra Stuff
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They make programs (such as SOS - Social Outcast Solutions) to deal with problems. It’s not always running after and catching Escapists- it’s also checking on the well-being of a person, typically in public spaces, and finding ways to cheer them up.
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The Story
Firstly, the story is called Achoo because it’s a reference to a sneeze, and just like sickness, it can spread quickly. (Although being sick is actually very rare for people in Edyn and Idyll, both because weather change is rare, and the food given out is always made sure to be healthy at all times.)
Achoo takes place in ‘another world’ where there are beings called ‘Achoo Spirits.’ They are people who give into negativity, from being angry a lot, to being sad or resentful. Their feelings, because excessive and unresolved, begin affecting others who were originally happy, and then those negative feelings spread.
If not taken care of, society as a whole can take a turn for the worst. So to prevent this collapse, society agrees to deal with the problem before it becomes a bigger issue.
Just like a sickness, Achoo shows how prevention is better than dealing with bigger consequences later on.
It’s not necessarily meant to be scary, but because this is the scariest story that exists in their society, it is a bit spooky. But it’s commonly understood as a lesson, not as a fear-mongering story.
As for how the ‘spirits’ look like, they are typically seen as shadow-people with glowing purple eyes, occasionally red. Purple is a color commonly associated with fear, or distress, due to TECS (Thermal Emotional Contact Sensors, cameras that can detect the emotional state of a person.) Red is seen more for anger or frustration.
The world is also described to be gloomy and dark, a sun-less sky and shady atmosphere. More to emphasize the emotional state rather than appear scary.
The Lesson
The lesson of Achoo is firstly, to not let pessimism and gloom to spread. Being negative is seen as a choice in Edyn and Idyll, and they encourage you to choose happiness.
Secondly, it’s to show people, especially kids, how your actions and behavior can affect those around you. It encourages them to understand what it means to be sincere.
Feelings can spread without being intentional. Not every Achoo Spirit is a ‘bad person,’ because some become ‘Achoo Spirits’ because unresolved emotions. It’s just saying that unresolved negativity can affect more than just the person experiencing it.
It teaches society that problems are easier to address before they become a crisis. Leaving someone to their emotional state isn’t healthy for anyone, so it becomes a social responsibility to help now, instead of ignoring the problem until it’s catastrophic.
Prevention isn’t the same as punishment. Achoo Spirits aren’t treated as monsters. It is just an example of what can happen when they don’t take care of something soon enough.
The Impact
No one really wants to be an Achoo Spirit. It sucks. And that’s the intention.
People can understand what it looks like to fall into negativity, and learn how to prevent this.
Occasionally, kids get fearful of the story, but most teachers and adult-figures make sure to soothe their worries before even reading them the story. Again, prevent negativity before it can appear.
The jokes; not everyone jokes about it, but some do, like the main characters, the Meme Squad. They’ll act like it’s super dramatic, make references to the story, try to scare each other purposely to get a laugh, or say things like “bro’s purple,” “I dunno man I think you need to keep your distance, you remind me of an Achoo Spirit right now,” or dress up as an Achoo Spirit with a home-made costume to jumpscare each other. It’s not treated very seriously with them, although occasionally, it does frighten them still, even as teenagers. If something at night creeks a bit too loudly, the first thing they’re going to do is blame an Achoo Spirit and hide.
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What does HELTH believe its purpose is?
To keep society healthy, safe, and happy.
How much does it prioritize its people?
Very much. Everything they do is for a better society.
Gimania
WAIT FOR IT TO BE UPDATEDDD
Which will be in a while
(The universe in volume 3 and 4)
Drawing ideas for all of Edyn-Idyll lore;
thermal, someone holding up two thumbs and with a very positive thermal, and then next to them someone holding a thumbs down and purple-red thermal - idea for HELTH
‘Scary stories are prohibited’ and putting all scary, negative, ‘bad’ media in the trash/dumpster and kinda make it like a poster then like one sticker on it saying “be KIND” xd also this idea is for Society
geograph - world map duh, and maybe the most exotic fruit (like in high altitude)
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