#it just goes to show that the writers and producers lay their focus absolutely wrong

[jeanmoreaux]

also can we pls acknowledge how insane it is of the sabs2 writers to rush their gay couple for literally no narrative reason while completely ignoring a canon lesbian couple that’s right there for them to work with

[persephonesnow]

That worldbuilding thing

Below a cut because holy crap this thing is nine pages long. 

The very point of worldbuilding is to create a cohesive arena for your story to take place. Think of it as the background of a painting. You’ve got a subject that’s intended to be the focus of the piece, but that subject isn’t going to stand out if the background makes no sense and distracts the viewer. Worldbuilding is the thing that will make or break a story. That goes for original fic and fanfic both.

The most daunting is by far original fic. The easiest place to start is with, well, the place. The literal landscape of your story can have a huge impact. Is it mountainous? Forested? Rich and fertile? Cold? Hot? Dry? Are there settlements? What kind? Cities? Villages? Have no idea where to start? Start in the real world.

(We’re going to stick with stories centered on human characters, simply because they are the overwhelming majority and where worldbuilding tends to most often fail. And full disclosure: I am one of those writers who has written encyclopedias for the worlds I create. It makes things so much easier.)

I’m serious. If you think you want to write about a desert world, look into what real-world desert life is like. Even if you’re writing something sci-fi and need to account for currently impossible tech, look at the real world. How has the desert shaped the history of the people who live there? What have been the challenges they’ve faced from the environment and how has that changed them?

And pro-tip: if you’re writing a world with lots of direct sunlight, any human character native to this world is highly, highly unlikely to be white or overly fair-skinned. If you’re writing a snow-covered or water-filled world, you’re more than likely talking about a native population with both tanned skin and likely monolid eyes. When I say look at the real world, I don’t just mean the culture and history. I mean look at how people have evolved to survive in the given environment. Y’all may not realize this, but things like (light) skin colours and eye shapes are adaptations that evolved to allow humans to live in places very different than where our species first turned up.

(All bets are mostly off for any aliens. But if your aliens are humanoid and can pass for one of us, that means that they can pass for one of us, and will be bound by any physical adaptations humans in their given region would have.)

Worldbuilding is about 99% research. That’s it. It’s reading lots of random and weird things because the strangest things will have an impact. Environment and climate impact each other. Both impact what edibles are available and if the local population is going to be mostly hunters, fishermen, or farmers. Or even a combination, but given what humanity has been like, once we start trending agrarian we largely stay agrarian. Similarly, if your main settlement has little in the way of agriculture, then it’s not going to be much of a settlement and is more likely a waystation for nomads. Agriculture is the backbone upon which civilization is built. And agriculture doesn’t necessarily mean plants. Ranching is a thing, people, and you can farm fish.

There are other things, of course. If your world has few trees, your buildings won’t be wood, which changes what shapes they can take and their overall appearance. It also changes how the buildings hold heat or if they stay cool year-round.

IS THERE WINTER?

Okay, this point. Is there a winter in your world? Nothing, absolutely nothing will have a bigger impact on your growing world than the existence or nonexistence of winter. Don’t believe me? Go take a look through human history and the various mythos we’ve created. How vital is spring and the growth that come with it? How much is the winter, with the lack of growth and migration of game featured in those stories? How much is the concern of the lean times, of the time when diseases are more common (flu season, anyone?), of when children of all species are less likely to be born and less likely to survive if they do present?

No winter? Guess what, that has an impact too! You know all those plants you love to look at? All the ones you eat? Most of those require a winter to grow. Some plants need their seeds frozen and held at a freezing temperature for a length of time in order to properly germinate. Some need the inverse, of course, and will not grow unless they’ve quite literally been torched.

No winter also changes bug populations. Which can have an impact on the spread of disease. Which very definitely changes any population. Is there a monsoon season in place of the frozen winter that’s often featured? My good dudes, water is dangerous in all forms. Rivers will flood. Hurricanes and monsoons will happen. Floods will happen. No place is perfect. If you’re imagining an idyllic world where nothing is wrong, you’ve done something wrong and you’re missing something.

Worldbuilding requires a lot of really weird details, in order to do it properly. If you’re keeping your story small and focused on something small (a person, a family, something of interpersonal nature) then you can probably stop here and go write your story.

If you’re wanting to write and epic a la Harry Potter or A Song of Fire and Ice? Buckle up, kids, you’ve got a lot more think about.

Worldbuilding isn’t just your landscape. It’s your culture and everything in that. You imagine your characters wearing furs? Okay, then what kind of animals are lurking about for hunters? Go look at real fur, at real game, and think very seriously about what kind of skins your people are likely to have access to. Things like bear and other big carnivores aren’t likely to show up on normal people. Those will be, as they have been in the real world, expensive af. Predators tend to be rare, even places with lots of prey. There is in fact a set ratio for populations of predators to prey that researchers have discovered in the real world. Go look it up. Look up requirements for large predators, because they tend to have insanely large ranges and are often solitary, which makes them rare for hunters.

You have deer? Okay. Look at what a normal deer population looks like and what their behaviors look like in any given environment. Not all deer are as big as the white-tail. Some are bigger. Some are infinitely harder to catch. Some are isolated, some form herds. Some are aggressive. White-tail are what’s lurking where I live, and they’re mostly blind and rely heavily on their hearing. You know the classic deer in headlights look with the ears straight up? Yeah, they can see the light and something big moving towards them, but they can’t identify it so they’re listening.

Think all of this is unnecessary because you’re not writing a hunter? Nope, sorry. This shit impacts not only what your people are eating but also what they are wearing. Not a problem because your people have cattle? Not so fast, sweetheart. Cattle evolved from aurochs, officially in Turkey (I remember coming across a study that thinks aurochs might have evolved into cattle more than once, but don’t remember I found it). Cattle are also not the end-all of bovines. There’s multiple forms and then there’s also things bison and all their forms, oxen and their brethren. All are different. All have different environmental requirements and sometimes very different requirements for farming. Not all can be used for milk and not all are good eating. Same goes for sheep and goats. You’ll have to think about how humans have altered whatever species has been domesticated in your world, because it’s unlikely you’ll be writing at a time when domestication is just starting.

Poultry? Chicken come from a jungle fowl native to southeast Asia. Ducks and geese have different stories. They’re also largely useless for clothing, bar decoration and we’re not to that yet.

(On birds: all females will produce eggs, male present or not. It’s a natural process and just happens. Never seen a pet bird lay an egg? That’s because birds sold in the pet trade are almost exclusively males. If you’ve got egg-laying birds and no male around, you’re not going to get any new birds from those eggs. They’re unfertilized and will never develop because there is no embryo.)

Food is the traditional ground on which the divisions between rich and poor are drawn. Humans are a naturally greedy species, so you need to account for this and where your MC fits into this picture. Food availability and quality can change everything from general population health to culture and how people interact with one another, but also how families interact with each other. If food or other resources are at any time scarce, then whichever child has been designated heir will get preferential treatment because that’s the child that needs to survive to adulthood to carry on the family legacy. If your chosen MC is from a wealthier background where food, clothing, and shelter were never a concern, then where do they fit in? Are they the heir? Guess what. No adventures across the world for them. Your best bet will be an extra child who isn’t in line for anything and is mostly just expected to not cause problems. Determined to have an heir be the MC? Go read up on your history. Research, research, research. That’s going to come with some very unique challenges that will change how your MC interacts with the world around them and how the people in that world interact with them.

Clothing is a thing that divides us, mostly because it is an outward marker of wealth but also because clothing can restrict us. Clothing requires people to make said clothing, and your world will be restricted by materials. Textiles require looms and huge amounts of resources. Leather requires critters and tanning is a whole other can of worms. It’s smelly and can be done different ways. Leatherworking is also very, very different from sewing in any form. You’ll need to think of cobblers and what resources they’ll have. There’s a saying in the vintage community that your shoes will make or break your outfit and that’s true. Shoes have been a revolutionary thing in history. Not only do they protect our feet but we can use them for other things. Heels originally evolved on men’s cavalry shoes, where the heel was used to sort of latch onto the stirrup, allowing the rider more security when trying to stay in the saddle.

Utility matters, but humans will decorate themselves too. Accessorizing isn’t a new thing and it’s taken many forms across the ages and cultures. Hair is a surprisingly complex matter too. Curly hair has very different needs and behaviors than straight hair and colour can dictate what you can and can’t do to your hair (some ingredients will stain/discolour lighter hair). Bleaching is not a new phenomena. Dyes in general are not a new phenomena. Think carefully about beauty standards. No one is immune to them and they can and do change whole societies.

Other things that can change a society are work animals. Like dogs. No, I’m not talking about your cute pet. Go take a good, hard look at the history of dogs. One, as a species they are a hell of a lot older than you probably think they are. Second, precious few of them evolved with the intent to be companions. Most were created for a job and that job was often killing things. Some breeds are also significantly younger than others. The Labrador Retriever, the ultimate utility dog (seriously, it can be trained to do just about anything and it’s perfectly happy being a companion. There’s a reason it’s been the most popular dog in America for as long as it has been), was created only about 150-200 years ago and was meant to be a more manageable form of the Newfoundland. Given the thousands of years that dogs have existed, that’s brand new.

For me, personally, the absence of dogs will destroy any attempt at worldbuilding faster than anything else. Y’all trying to tell me you’ve got wolves, foxes, and other canines but you don’t have dogs? Not how that works. Canines have a notoriously slippery genome, which is how you get everything from wolves and foxes to Chihuahuas and Great Danes. Humans have had dogs for thousands and thousands of years. Their very existence has altered everything from how our ancestors hunted to our fashions (see: how the poodle went from respected retriever to a fashion icon). Take a look at a region similar to your world and look at the dogs found in that region. What purpose have they traditionally served? Were they hunters? What kind? Were they a pack animal? Livestock guardian? Shepherd? Mouser? Because oh, yes, dogs are mousers and rat catchers. They don’t call it a Rat Terrier for nothing.

Terriers in general have been created solely for the purpose of hunting small game and pest control. Cats, in comparison, are only semi-domesticated. Your “ancient” cat breeds? They’re what’s called a landrace in dogs. Humans have only recently started messing with cat breeding. A pet cat will not be a mouser unless they want to be, and chances are they’re going to go for easier prey. A cat’s purpose is solely to be cute. That’s it. That’s all it’s ever been and all it will ever be. Don’t believe me? The first known dog of what we now call the Rat Terrier was a set of remains found on a shipwreck, where it was being used to control pests.

Hounds also change things. Beagles were largely used for hunting hares, though they’ve been used for other small critters. Foxes? My dear, that’s the aptly named Foxhound, a similar looking dog that is quite a bit larger than the Beagle. Foxes are a mid-sized predator, like the coyote. They’re not super small and they are vicious little bastards. Dogs are older than you probably think but trust me when I say the dogs you think of as being the oldest breeds probably aren’t.

Two of the oldest dog breeds in the world are what we today know as the Afghan Hound and the Saluki. The Basenji is also extremely old. Notice a trend there? Some of the oldest depictions of dogs in human art show something that looks like what we today call the sighthounds, the most famous member of which would likely be the Greyhound. The hardy northern dogs (Huskies, Malamutes, etc…) still have that wolfish appearance, yes, but they’re nowhere near as old as things like the Carolina dog and other wild dog-adjacent breeds. Because yes, wild dogs exist. You do know what a dingo is, don’t you? A hyena? The vast majority of modern dogs came from these wild dogs and the wild dog endemic to a given region is going to determine what kind of modern dog you’ve got.

(In other news, the Mabari of Dragon Age gets a hard side eye from me, because it’s modelled on a relatively new modern dog and we’re given no evidence of the many breeds that went into creating that dog. Not to mention, as dog crazy as Ferelden is supposed to be, there’s a surprising lack of canines around. It doesn’t fully destroy the worldbuilding for me; the presence of the Mabari kind of saves it. Mind you, the worldbuilding actually crashes, for me, in the human noblewoman origin of Origins. What it doesn’t recover from, however, is what we’re getting to in this next bit.)

Horses are another major point in societal evolution. Cars? Guess what, they’re not only a hell of a lot older than you think, but they became as popular as they are as fast as they did (in the US, at least) in response to how difficult keeping horses and other large cart-pulling creatures in an urban environment was proving to be.

Horses in history look a wee bit different from what you’re thinking. Those pretty little runners who are so popular these days weren’t super popular in history. Their legs are too weak. I’m serious. If you’re writing something that features people in armor, they’re riding what we now call a draft horse. With the exception of one draft that was bred for farm work from retired war horses, draft horses are traditionally war horses because they’re the only horse with legs that wouldn’t break under the weight of a knight in full armor. They’re also relatively mild-mannered and often easier to train than their smaller cousins. But they’re not the kind of horse you’d want for a long-distance journey. Assuming the horse isn’t pulling anything and you want endurance over speed and strength, then you’re looking at a cutter horse. Just like dogs, different horses have different purposes. Do your research and please for the love of all that is good, do not overlook horses and other modes of transportation.

I mentioned Dragon Age above, and they’re probably going to be the series I talk about the most in this next bit because they not only excel as one of the few fantasy series to address technology in any way, but because they also utterly fail at building infrastructure. It is a video game and it has been restricted by that medium and it has made attempts to address some of the weaknesses I’ll be discussing, so I do trust the writers behind it to have thought of most of this. Witcher 3 had the budget and the engine to account for horses and ships and conveniently was based on a series of books that prominently featured portals in addition to both of these. The Witcher books are also something DA owes a lot to, so expect the odd reference to it (the books. I’ll rarely mention the games).

One of the things both series do well is establish that technology and magic can exist at the same time. Fantasy and sci-fi are not the same genre and do not deserve to be lumped together as they often are. Genres do blend, and these two do have a tendency to blend more than others because they are quite complementary to each other. But y’all have a tendency to not think it through. Fancy sci-fi tech is nice, yeah, but remember how much agriculture can change a society? Industry and tech are the two that follow on that list of variables. Agriculture has in fact been the single largest source of industry and tech in human history.

Remember textiles? Most of the plants used for that are labor intensive not only to grow and harvest but also to process into something weavers can use, assuming you have a climate that can produce them or have friendly trade going on with someone who does. If I’m not mistaken, the only thing more resource heavy than cotton is silk. Spidersilk is nice, yeah, but spiders don’t actually produce a lot of usable silk. There’s some great research on that and how to make it usable, but we’re not there yet. And holy crap don’t get me started on bamboo and linen. Do you realize how difficult flax can be to produce and how radically different the process for turning it into linen is from cotton? There are reasons why today, cotton is king.

Handwaving and going *~magic~* will only get you so far. And unless everyone can do that magic, you’re going to have some kind of innovation going on for those who can’t. Even then, magic in stories only really works if there’s a price to that magic, so you’re still going to have innovation. Don’t think so? Okay, let’s talk about food again.

One of the things I absolutely loved about DA:I was something found in Orlais that is a logical progression of something the series has established from the start. To recap this, there is a race in Dragon Age that most fantasy fans will recognize. Dwarves, specifically those that live underground, famous for their beards and tempers, and renowned as the best miners and smiths in the world. It’s this last point that I want to draw attention to, because the existence of dwarves is a super popular fantasy trope and DA  is the only one to have done it right so far. Within DA the dwarves have Paragons; dwarves who have made such significant innovations to dwarven society that they are regarded as effectively being living gods. One of them is Branka, who got the distinction for the invention of smokeless coal.

Let that sink in. Smokeless coal. Do you realize how beneficial that would be? You’re talking about a people who still need to breathe, who can succumb to black lung as easily as any other air-breathing being. And the technological innovations of DA’s dwarves doesn’t end there. There’s something that sounds suspiciously like a thresher among the surface dwarves, which in the real world was one of the most significant agricultural innovations in the world. And it has been a while, but I seem to recall Bianca Davri’s machine being described as something akin to a Whitney gin. Not to mention the existence of the crossbow Bianca.

So imagine a fantasy world with magic and dragons and all sorts of amazing things. And you go into the kitchen of an upper class home and there’s an oven. It’s a little thing, but it firmly establishes the coexistence of technology and magic. And it’s believable, because there is this group of people who are widely considered the best smiths in the world, and by extension we are given the means to believe they are also considered the best inventors. And oven makes perfect sense in this context. So do threshers and gins and every other bit of agricultural tech that would 1000% be beneficial to a group of people who canonically are no taller than maybe 4’ and still need to eat.

Cooking over a campfire is restrictive. You’ll mostly be cooking over/under the embers of a dying fire or a good distance away from a healthy fire. You will likely never be putting anything directly on the flame unless you like eating ash. You’ll have next to no temperature control. Which severely limits what you can do. Goodbye, baking, you don’t exist in this world. Except for some quick breads. Some soda breads were traditionally made by being buried in the cooling embers. But fancy cakes and breads are out.

The oven changed the world. It allowed for cooks to be as creative as they wanted and as a result we have a whole host of sweets and baked goods. Modern ranges allow for temperature control and spawned huge industries manufacturing tools to use with them. Pans and whatnot largely evolved after the oven, which is itself a bit older than you’d think. DA:I was just a big deal because it was a thoroughly modern range in a thoroughly old world. Do look at the history of the kitchen, because it doesn’t really mean anything for your characters to have access to certain ingredients if they don’t have the tools to make anything with them. And I trust most of you have heard at least some of the noise made about the links between nutrition and health.

Which brings us around to the thing that completely destroys DA’s worldbuilding: infrastructure. Specifically how people and things move. Few, if any societies are capable of being fully self-sustaining. Even if they are, people always want more and no society will be able to produce everything they want. Enter trade. The odds that you can create a grand epic and not include any other group than the culture you’ve started with is slim to none. Look at any large landmass. You’ll always have variations in people and beliefs because isolation breeds uniqueness. This is where trade comes in and fills in the gaps, bridging the distances between different groups. But how does the trade happen? I’m assuming you’ve thought of horses and ships, and any other mode of transportation that might exist in your world. That’s all well and good, but how long does it take for those things to happen? Looking at you, DA, with your assertion that DA:I took place in about two-three years. They have horses. That’s nice. They also have an official map with an official key to understanding distances. You can probably see where I’m going with this.

Travel times can alter everything. Not only how long your story can take to complete, assuming there is some kind of long physical journey involved, but also trade. How long does it take for goods to move from one place to another? How risky is the journey? How does that change the value of the goods and thus the availability? Your readers may never need to know the details but odds are you will because the weirdest shit will turn out to be necessary for your storytelling. Travel and isolation impact everything from food to medicine, which in turn can limit almost every aspect of life in a region.

Which brings me to a surprisingly oft-overlooked aspect of worldbuilding: continuity. Did a character have a certain job in one part and then are doing something completely different in another with zero explanation (my copies of Harry Potter state that James Potter was a Chaser for Gryffindor, until the later books when suddenly he was a Seeker. Little me was very confused). Consistent internal rules are an important thing. Not only does this apply to things like physics and seasons (do you have seasons? Do you have variations in day and night? Oh boy I can go on about that one and ATLA), but it applies to things like the stuff society needs to keep working. Do yourself a favor and write out a timeline and stick to it. If you have any changes, change it and review everything you have written to bring everything in line with that change. Someone will always notice a mistake and those mistakes can break the illusion that holds a reader in a story. Continuity is everything. If it’ll help, and it probably will, keep a notebook or something that’s exclusively for the notes about any complicated storylines you’ve got. Be it how characters are related to each other or how religion works, even notes about food and clothing (which is important. Everything from the textiles used to the styling can say so much about the manufacturing of the world and about a specific character’s socioeconomic status).

Long story short: research everything and keep copious notes and reference those notes when writing. Please reference your research. I’m not talking about citations in text. Just don’t completely wing it when writing. A story that has been well-plotted and actually thought out with care is going to stand head and shoulders above something written by someone just making it up and not bothering to check to make sure it actually works. You’re welcome to make it up as you go, but please make sure it works and stays cohesive. A story falling apart at the seams is going to distract readers from whatever it is you’re wanting them to pay attention to. Read your own work. Repeatedly. As someone else to read it to make sure it works if you can’t decide.

Above all, just write it. Most of this is just little things that can be fixed in editing. Unless there is a solid story at the heart of it, you’ve got nothing but a bunch of words. Worldbuilding makes no sense without a story to tie it all together. Worldbuilding can be added in after the first draft, and after you know your characters a bit better.

(Think none of this applies to fanfic? Oh boy, you’re wrong. You’re dead wrong. Fanfic is actually harder because you have to do all of this while colouring inside the lines someone else drew.)

[tobns]

in regards to my fics.

i hope that y’all know how much i absolutely loathe making these posts. because i do. i hate making them so much.

i’ve put off making this post for awhile because i really, truly, genuinely thought i wasn’t going to have to, that everything would work itself out somehow. but for the last two months or so, i’ve kinda known this in the back of my mind and didn’t really wanna act on it or anything? because it is one of my biggest grievances that i have with myself and my fic-writing: i wait too long to start a project, life comes barreling in the minute i start it and i just fade out, so fast, whenever i start something. i don’t know why, i don’t know if i’ll ever understand why i am so fucking incapable of finishing a story - maybe i just aim too high, maybe i overestimate things, maybe i’m writing it for the wrong reasons, i don’t know. i feel like it’s a combination of all those things.

for those of you who read cdg, for anyone who even remotely heard me talk about it, that story is my pride and joy, truly. i did so much research for cdg, i mapped it out several times, it was something i flung myself into and to me, it really felt like the departure of me just writing la-di-da contemporary stuff. i legit felt like this was the most mature, in depth thing i’d ever taken on and i was so proud of it. i think i screwed up by planning it to be so lengthy (even though i still stand by the fact that the length was necessary due to the fact i was covering two separate timelines) and then once i got back from california, it was hard for me to hop back in the swing of things. i got preoccupied with other things and cdg fell to the wayside. i thought that all it would take was a few new episodes of grey’s to really kick me back into gear, what with megan coming back and that storyline being a source of inspiration, but then they wrapped up the arc in 5 minutes and i just severely disliked the direction of grey’s after (i stopped watching after the megan/nathan episode and haven’t watched any since) and that took another whack to me and my wanting to write it. i love cdg, i love mark and lexie so much, but i just...can’t write that story. and it pisses me off that i can’t bring myself to finish it. i know throwing out excuses is moot for me at this point but i feel awful whenever i do this and let another story waltz into abandonment. i legit feel like a failure of a writer when i do this, but i wanted it off my chest: i don’t know if i will ever finish cdg, if it will just haunt me or if i’ll do something with it should the inspiration ever find me. but for now, cdg’s done. i just needed to say that, bc not addressing it is giving me more grief than anything. i love cdg, but i can’t do it anymore. i’ll be removing it from my fic list in the next few days. to anyone who read this story and supported it, more so than i ever would have imagined for a dead ship for nearly 5 years, i am so sorry, but thank you and i love you. if i find the time and the muse for it, i will continue it, but for now, it’s over. ( the same goes for grey’s fics; the show is so far left and out of character that i don’t even want to watch it or write for it. burned out on yet another fandom, good job emily!! )

the other thing that’s bothering me is cataclysm, and it’s the same sort of gist. i’ve had the story planned for two years now, i’ve been working on this saga since 2013??? and while verrrryyyyy few people still read it (hi amy) i am emotionally attached to what i’ve created. if, for some reason, you’re still out there and you read it, thanks for being patient with me. it’s a story i hope i will see through, but can’t right now due to being inspired with other things as well as just not having the muse for it. i’ve got my fingers crossed that maybe infinity wars will kick my ass into gear, but if it doesn’t, i can make my peace with leaving that story to lay at rest. i wrote so much for it, i dedicated so much of my teen years to that story, and if it doesn’t get seen through, i know in my heart where those characters end up. plus, i don’t think many of you really care all that much anyways about it, so that certainly helps, lmao

finally, seven mile december. here’s your good news: i’m not abandoning it, it’s just taking a little longer than i’d like and that’s okay. school is dragging me along, and that’s out of my control. but i’m writing, and it’s going okay. it’ll see an update on march 11, march 12, solely depending upon what’s finished by then. i’m just trying out a new approach to updating my fics, to see if it helps remedy my epidemic of abandonment. i’ve also got a thg cast oneshot that i’d love to write/see through as well, but for now, i just wanna focus on smd, and get as far with it as i can.

with the upcoming introduction of ruby hale to agents of shield, i know that there’s going to be a lot of my desire to write fic for her and daisy, cileme and i already have a collab in the works (god only knows where that’ll go but we’re pumped) and i’m sure i’ll have plenty of solo fics to bear. it’s why i’m trying to map out my schedule for the next little bit, so i can actually finish things and not feel like garbage when i don’t. hopefully i will continue writing for the hunger games (cast and fiction) as well, and finish those things. i’ve got an original story i’ve got ideas for at the moment, that i’d really love to start, and i want to start back to work at a novel, and perhaps this is where some of you see the issue: i spread myself out so thin, it’s no wonder i don’t get anything done! pacing. i’m trying to get better at it with this new approach to updating - i schedule a period where i write solely nothing but that one project and i don’t update until the scheduled day, and hopefully it produces a lot more content.  

fic writing was not something i ever meant to feel like a chore, but somewhere along the line it has begun to feel that way. it was my hobby and my passion and i don’t ever want that to change, but i’ve got to do some serious work with me and my writing habits. for those of you who follow me because of my fics, thank you so so so so so so so so much for bearing with me and being much kinder on me than i’ve ever been on myself when it comes to updates. i’ve mentioned it before, the battle i have with trying to keep an audience as well as make sure i’m still having fun and not treating this like a job, and i am STILL struggling so much with that. writing this post gives me so many conflicting emotions, because part of me feels like yes, i can sit down and start writing chapter 14/15 of cdg and get it done, accomplish something, but the other part of me just knows i would be miserable the whole time. do other fic writers beat themselves up as much as i do??? i have no idea. but i beat myself up a lotttt. 

basically, stuff is coming. if you wanna read me in the meantime, check out my blog. thank you for not coming after me with pitchforks. i’m trying to get better, and i’m trying to get back to a place where i genuinely enjoy writing (whether it’s fic or original stuff) so much that i don’t have to make these stupid posts feeling like i have to explain myself or apologize, i can just...do it and not feel like a human dumpster. if you’ve read til here, you’re a legend. ily. xx

[chocolate-brownies]

There are a lot of ways to define wellness. Renowned yoga teacher Elena Brower defines it as “your ability to respond rather than to react;” Dr. Mark Hyman says it’s the integrated care of every aspect of ourselves: Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational. Wellness activist Kerri Kelly believes that “wellness is the culture of how we take care of ourselves and one another.”

However you define it, one thing is certain: Around the world, people are becoming increasingly interested in what it means to be well. And while we wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that wellness necessitates consumerism—you do not need expensive cushions, treatments, or infused juices to be well—a not-so-deep dive into social media reveals that superfood smoothie bowls, cupping marks, and guided meditations are definitely having a moment. Wellness, that is, is trending. And it’s not just in the US: Around the world, teachers, practitioners, and consumers are redefining mindful living through buying choices they make every day.

In celebration of Passport—your ticket to an unlimited number of the 50+ Wanderlust events around the world—we’re taking a deeper-than-social-media dive into worldwide wellness trends looking toward 2019. Journey with us as we stretch our scope and explore both the similarities and differences in our global community.

This week: What’s trending in wellness throughout Western Europe.

Bringing Women Together

Creating safe and sacred spaces for women to come together, support, and empower one another is undoubtedly less of a trend and more of necessity. Thankfully, it’s a necessity the world at large is realizing, responding to, and bring to reality across the globe.

Red Tents are just one display of how women from all ages and walks of life are being brought under one roof to authentically be, together, in various forms. As explained on Red Tent Temple Movement, these gatherings offer an “opportunity to tell our stories, share our wisdom, cry and laugh and rest inside a place that we collectively create to honor our place in society.” The idea of Red Tents was introduced to many through a novel written in the 90s by Anita Diamant. It has since blossomed into an incredible community worldwide. Noemie Fontelle, a devoted yogi, and UK-transplant by way of Poland, told us that this sisterhood community gives women a space to gather, share, and create. Red Tents are popping up all throughout the UK, as well as much of Western Europe—you can find one nearest you here.

Free-From Foods

In Western Europe, there’s been a broadening focus on making healthier choices at meal time. In particular, ‘free-from’ foods are at the top of the list in terms of what consumers are looking to spend their hard-earned dollars on most. What are they free from? The trending items are free from dairy/lactose, allergens, gluten, and meat, according to EuroMonitor International’s Monthly Health Series. While these free-from products initially derived out of a need to accommodate food intolerances in consumers’ diets, they’ve since become more popular as a means to make more healthy, mindful dietary choices.

An increase in desire for more natural, unprocessed foods has led to the rise in popularity of “free from” products and packaged meals. When heading to the market, it turns out that Western Europeans are looking for, and most attracted to, labels that include a list of ingredients that they recognize—ingredients that they’d find in their own cupboards. That is to say, simplified products with wholesome ingredients that are comparable with what we’d create ourselves at home are what’s in demand now.

Photo by Miika Laaksonen

Living Sober

With the rise of drink-free months, like Dry July (and January, too!), and Ocsober, sober living seems to be having a moment, but in the UK it’s becoming more and more apparent that you don’t have to wait for a specific month to make sobriety a priority. With the appearance of alcohol-free bars, sober living is becoming a more accessible, and sustainable choice.

In 2017, UK native (and Wanderlust presenter!) Ruby Warrington launched a mindful drinking movement with Club Soda, which has created an exhaustive guide that highlights bars and pubs throughout the UK with alcohol-free or low-alcohol offerings. According to The Guardian, “young adults in the UK are more likely to be teetotallers than their older counterparts.” The article continued to state that, “more than a quarter of 16- to 24-year-olds do not drink.”

The new sober social scene offers up a pub-like atmosphere—lively, fun, and bursting with good vibes—with a health-conscious, sober-friendly menu of mocktails proving that you don’t have to indulge in alcohol to have a good time. Redemption may be one of the most buzzed about locales to catch an alcohol-free buzz, serving up non-alcoholic beer, sparkling wine, and shots (turmeric and ginger, anyone?) but it’s certainly not the only option available.

Embracing Silence

Regardless of what hemisphere of the globe you’re in, you’ve likely heard this age old adage, “Silence is golden.” Across Western Europe a wellness trend is emerging that’s taking that saying and putting it into action in expected spaces like spas, and salons, and some unexpected, like restaurants, and even airports.

Practicing silence often goes hand in hand with thoughts of mindfulness practices like meditation, forest bathing, yoga, and the like—silent dining is likely not one of the first things that comes to mind.

When you think about it, though, without the distraction of overpowering background music, or constant conversation, one might have the opportunity to really experience a meal in every facet. The flavors, the textures, the smells, the colors, even. A 2017 Global Wellness Summit highlighted eating in silence, noting that in some Western European spas’ programs in Austria and Germany the mindfulness practice is “an absolute pillar.”

  The Ambiance of Wellness

Certain images come to mind when thinking of zen spaces, right? Candles, maybe, soft lighting, cozy, tactile textures, warm color tones… We’re feeling relaxed just imaging these soothing elements. In Western Europe, it appears that ambiances that support and promote wellness are trending, and there’s a heavy focus on lighting and its subsequent effects.

Trend Watching put the spotlight (pun intended) on this trend. Dubbed “ambient wellness,” both Starbucks and Qatar Airways have made changes keeping the effect that lighting has on people’s moods and overall wellbeing top of mind.

In the Netherlands, Trend Watching reported that various Starbucks brought in Phillips EnergyUP lamps to positively enhance the overall vibe of the cafes. “The lamps are designed to have a mood-lifting, revitalizing effect after around 20 minutes of use; Philips say they produce this effect by mimicking natural daylight.”

Spas are putting an updated, and more experiential focus on lighting, too. By using lighting in treatments, combined with other mood-affecting elements, spas are able to offer in-depth sensory experiences. According to Global Wellness Summit’s exploration of wellness trends, Toscana Therme Spas in Germany and Austria offer a next-level bath experience that involves floating “in warm salt water, gently manipulated by therapists, with over-water light shows and underwater music turning the pool into a mind-melting concert hall.”

Mad For Mud

Loved playing, and lying, in mud as a child? You may have been onto something there. Western Europeans are very much in favor of a muddy day of fun, or a more refined day of rejuvenation and relaxation.

For fun? A walk along the mud flats of the Wadden Sea during low tide offers up a free, nature-surrounded, mud bath to indulge in. Its status as a UNESCO site keeps it protected for both locals and visitors alike to enjoy it for years to come.

For rejuvenation and relaxation? Spas around the region use mud from thermal baths/spring in their treatments, but Italy could arguably be the destination for a mud bath. This isn’t just your run-of-the-mill mud, either, fango, or mud, from Italy is rich in minerals and has a host of wellness benefits, too. According to ELLE, the “sulfur and iodine-rich water and clay” have “skin smoothing and sore-muscle relieving properties”

From women’s gatherings to tuning in to silence, and every (muddy) moment in between, Western Europe seems to explore wellness through sensory experiences and building community. Can’t make it to Western Europe? Get creative, and inventive. Find ways to bring trends from around the world that inspire you to where you are. Introduce them to your community. Experiment, and explore new wellness initiatives.

Wellness is a state of being and a way of living. For some, a wellness practice could be laying in a hammock, listening to a podcast, watching the clouds roll by; for others it’s bounding up a 14,000-foot summit, blood pumping, adrenaline screaming. There’s no wrong path to take on the journey to mind-body wellness, and there are countless interesting and inspiring trends within the wellness world to get you there. 

We hope this series will bring new practices, new experiences, and new thoughts around wellness, and how to find the perfect recipe of what works for you—wherever you are in your wellness journey, and wherever you are in the world.

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Maggie Peikon is a New York native, writer, and sufferer of insatiable wanderlust. An avid endorphin seeker she has a constant need to be moving, seeking adventure in all she does. She is a lover of travel, daydreaming, fitness, thunderstorms, and her dog, Finley. Despite the fact that she has to take medication daily due to a thyroidectomy, Maggie still believes that laughter will always be the best medicine. Follow her musings on Instagram and Twitter.

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