Summercamp Debrief
Personal Reflections on Summercamp
I made it! A pretty full month of world building later and I have a pretty fleshed out idea of what Costrus is looking and feeling like. It feels great to have put in more effort this year and most of the prompts were pretty easy to get through for me. I wasn't sure where I would end up with this challenge, I came in with no real goals or aspirations but I'm happy to say I'm mostly happy with every article I managed to put out.
Purpose of this Debrief
I will be updating this as I read through articles. I'd like to get through as many as I can, so I won't be capping myself at 9. So check back and see where I'm at! I'll also be posting my goals at the bottom of all this.
by RandoScorpio via MidJourney
The Reading List
I want to start by choosing two prompts that I did, and one that I didn't choose to do for my reading. Of the two that I have articles for I'm going to pick one that I like my end result for and one that I wasn't pleased with. The one that I don't have an article for was chosen by a random number generator.
Cuisine...
...from a Sparse, barren or remote region in your world.
by: G.M. Catalano (The Pirate Queen)
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I like the parallels to real-life cuisine. We often have varying tastes and the fruit in this article reminded me of durian here on earth. Sometimes that novelty can be profitable for others and it can also divide people on whether or not it can be considered good. Another detail that I enjoyed was the little interaction that was written with a couple of characters who both agreed on the taste and were surprised by the price for what they considered a less-than-appetizing fruit.
by: Travakh
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This one made me giggle! Mostly because I've been hungry enough to eat almost anything and it really is the key ingredient to choking down anything off-putting under normal circumstances. The story to go with it was fun as well. I was intimidated by the length at first but found it very engaging and enjoyable.
by RandoScorpio via MidJourney
by: eldknighterrant
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This made me think of a bread bowl. Using food to cook other food is always a win in my books, I like that considerations were made for the meat from inside the animals and the instructions for preparation seem easy enough to follow. I wonder if the people of the steppes have ever considered the pit cooking method? I also appreciated the content warning, because while I'm not squimish about the butchering process I know others can be and this is a good way to let them know before they are shocked in the article.
Cuisine Thoughts
I noticed that most people chose a single recipe for this challenge. I went a different direction and chose to do a menu approach and describe some of the broader points of the local cuisine. While it would have been interesting to describe the cooking process of fried swamptopus I found it far more fun to explore the versatility of an ingredient list found in the area and providing a small menu. It was also fun to figure out what animals might call my marshes home and how the people have adapted to eat them and learn about the life and harvest cycles of items that someone not from the area would never know. The emphasis on how separate the culture in this area is from the rest of the kingdom was really part of the appeal of the prompt for me.
Overall, I'm still incredibly happy with how this article turned out and feel proud to have put it together. Food was definitely one of my favourite prompts this year. Thank you Kitoypoy for sponsering it!
Popular Summer Tradition...
that involves art and creativity.
by:Weyersba
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One of the best parts of summer camp reading homework is getting to read things based in cultures that I'm not familiar with. I love the look and feel of this article and it all flows really well. The progression and additions to the festival also seemed to flow organically and make a lot of sense.
by: Mochimanoban
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What an awesome celebration! It's the best case of making the best of something necessary. Who doesn't love a bonfire at a party?! I like that there are a lot of related articles to help get familiar with the world, but as a stand-alone the Fire Festival makes sense and only really needs the article as context.
by: StardustScrapper
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This article has no option to leave a comment! However, I found it informative even though it wasn't very long. The different interpretations were nice to see as well, including other cultures that simply celebrated because parties are fun and not for the religious reasons others did!
by RandoScorpio via MidJourney
Festival Thoughts
This was one of my shorter entries. For that reason, and the feeling that it wasn't very original I didn't love it. Reading through other articles really brought home that it doesn't need to be a long or super involved article to bring value to my world. It's enough to get it down in the world and see where it goes from there, and have it available as a plot point for my novel. Thank you Sh4d0wPh03n1x for sponsering this prompt that helped push me to do something different!
Historical Culture...
...whose influence is still felt today.
by: Lia Felis
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The article was short, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything information-wise. I would love to see quotes of anyone studying dwarven culture, or a look into the forges of the Bena elves. Something to really make tangible the struggle with keeping a dying art alive. Overall a solid article!
by: RPGDinosaurBob
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I'm really glad to have stumbled onto this article. The way the Past Singers were brought up made me think more on my own cultures in Costrus (the world I chose for summer camp), and how their culture grew from a more ancient way of life. The rise and fall of nations is an interesting history to look at and I really enjoyed reading about your Taxlatl and their history.
by RandoScorpio via MidJourney
by: Hanhula
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What a beautiful and in-depth article. All the aspects of the culture, and the lasting effect on the world like the influence the Feidísfolk still have on the craftspeople of Istralar. The research put into why they are no longer present and the questions it leads to. Indeed, I could have spent more time thinking about the complex history of some of my groups of people. Thank you for your beautiful article!
Historical Culture Reflections
I'm glad I looked into this prompt. It really got my gears turning and thinking of different things that initially, I overlooked. While I didn't do this prompt for summer camp, I may look at delving into the histories of the cultures and people of Costrus a little deeper. I could have done something on the first mages, the pre-human era of the yildae, or done one of the first human kingdoms in the land. There were so many possibilities that I just didn't see until going through these articles.
World Building Goals
This summer camp was hugely productive. Not only in the sense I got 32 articles completed and a foundation built for Costrus, but it got me emotionally and mentally hyped for NaNoWriMo. This world will need a little more fleshing out before I tackle NaNo this year and attempt to avoid burnout. Which means my world building goals will be to flesh out the rest of Costrus, and begin outlining my novel. This includes possibly writing a few short stories but in the end the goal is to not burn out, pace myself, and give myself the room to fall short or change goals.
Extra Reading
by: Krayvuk
Prompt: historical culture whose influence is still felt today
ReflectionsI think the Greymarsh Menu was my largest article, and reading through this one really made me think on article length. I'm not a fan of making super chonky articles but perhaps they could benefit from extra information here and there. This article really had a lot of detail and thought put into it.
by RandoScorpio via MidJourney
All Articles
If you're looking for something to help round out your reading list this August, please feel free to browse my entries. I love feedback and would be totally open to reading something of yours too!
Costrus
The world I chose to work on was one that has sat empty for the longest time. But, summercamp finally gave me the motivation to write some articles to fill it up! I'm well on my way to being able to write my novel set in this world. I'm hoping to add a few more articles before November, but right now I have enough to get me started!
Costrus is a world that has been evolving in my head since 2006/2007. It started as a very angsty writing project when I was in high school and I have been changing and adjusting it as I learn new things and the ethnicities, main conflicts, and geography do not resemble my initial idea any more. However, I'm much happier with the direction it's headed.
Thank you so much for choosing one of my articles! <3
No problem. Your articles are always fun to read!