Fantasy Calendars: Worldbuilding Fictional Holidays
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- Опубликовано: 14 ноя 2022
- Holidays can be stressful, and fictional ones are no different. Let's discuss how to use holidays in your stories as worldbuilding or plot devices. Plus, some tips for creating your own fictional holidays for your fantasy and science fiction stories.
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//VIDEO CREDITS//
Script and audio by Adam Bassett: / adamcbassett
Animation and illustration by Cole Field: / acolefield
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Holidays in Fantasy Fiction: fantasy-faction.com/2016/holid...
Forgotten Realms Holidays To Incorporate In A Campaign: gamerant.com/dungeons-dragons...
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I'm worldbuilding a culture that lives on a rugged, rocky coastline and gets much of their food by gathering what is revealed at low tide. When there is a storm, the storm would wash food and other resources ashore. The day after a storm, this culture spends the day celebrating the Storm's Bounty by collecting what is washed up, dividing it evenly amongst the villages, and enjoying a feast together. It's not the kind of holiday that comes regularly with a calendar, but I like it.
My fantasy has a replenishing festival holiday which is where the magic users replenish the environmental resources they've depleted for their end of year succession battles. According to my MC, it's the one day her people stop fighting among themselves long enough to act as one, even if it's fake. Great video, Adam :-)
Love this. Thanks, Avi! ❤️
I have a holiday that acts as an amalgamation of the first day of spring and Valentine's Day. One of my main characters hates it as it reminds her how lonely she is, which informs the reader of her insecurities, desires, and depression, even though she puts on a facade of strength.
I read to escape Single's Awareness Day, not indulge in it. 😅
(But no that's a great idea to combine a couple of existing ideas into one new holiday!)
In my world travel can happen only during certain times of the year, and even then it's extremely dangerous. As such in this particular town they celebrate during the last days the roads are open, as soon as the caravans arrive bringing goods from afar. The MC is generally excited and has mixed feelings about whether she wants to be a part of the caravans and explore or keep living safely within the walls of her town.
Ah, that's such a neat take on a holiday! I love it.
For context: my world is essentially an alternate universe where fantasy creatures and magic once co exhisted with humanity during times long before the times in history that we were taught in school.
I must admit, I don’t have any holidays that are completely original in mind... but I do have an explanation as to why goblins became associated with what eventually became Halloween.
During these times, humans would often have they’re villages get raided by goblins, in scary looking masks and the most common way to keep they’re homes in tact would be to leave out various treats.
So far I had this idea we’re, My protagonist and her band of adventures wind up defending a village against a goblin raid (because the village had a bad harvest and couldn’t make any goblin treats).
I was inspired by the idea that historically Halloween’s trick or treat was originally a threat. “Give me a treat or I’ll wreck your property..” is what it meant from my memory.
My world is rooted in how the real world got its holidays. It keeps eight major holidays according to the seasons (two solstices, two equinoxes and the midpoints between them) and one for each fullmoon and each newmoon as well as regional minor holidays.
Sometimes major holidays coincide, as when a fullmoon falls on a solstice or equinox, like the biggest holiday for magic users, when a newmoon falls on the spring equinox, which only happens every fifty-something years. Major holidays tend to be very similar throughout all cultures and faiths, even if celebrated and interpreted differently and might have some slight variations on the days (celebrating the day when the harvest begins instead of fall equinox, etc..).
The regional, or national, holidays, which are unique to each country, celebrate specific events in the country's history (founding day, kind's coronation day, victory day, etc). This causes some nations to have a holiday almost every week, or sometimes even several in a single week.
Due to the number of holidays that are observed, they are not inherently "no work" days but rather times of special rituals and observances.
In my world, there is a celebration in one of the largest cities celebrating the arrival of the monsoon season. The suzerain, a local ruler, decides when the festival begins based on weather patterns and it ends when it begins to rain in the city.
We run into two major holidays in the first book of my YA fantasy series, which has a medieval setting. The first one celebrates the beginning of the hunting season, as their society depends heavily on deer and boar hunts through the winter seasons. As such, it features a hunting competition to test the prowess of the hunters in training, with the results of the first hunt becoming a feast for the whole town. The second is their new year celebration, which coincides with the beginning of spring as per their calendar. The climate has some pretty cold winters, so the new year marks the return of life to the world as winter fades and a new spring begins. Some of the celebrations on both holidays feature pretty heavily in the storyline, and I'm pretty happy with how meaningful they wound up being for the plot.
I have a very fun and interesting one, if I do say so myself, basically every year a massive blizzard will sweap over the continent which has resulted in a number of different reactions. The Kaolish reacted with warmth and good will. Knowing the storm was basically guarenteed to come every year it became a time to focus on aiding others and preparing. Those with large homes and manors as well as the Straznik's keep would be opened to those who may not be able to weather the storm alone. As well because of the clean up neccesary to remove all the snow after it also acts as a sort of "civil service appreciation day" where before the workers have to go out and clear everything they are celebrated with food and drinks and often gifts of new warm clothes. This event is known as Shutter Night after the fact you have to shutter yourselves inside.
Mechanically within the story it gets to act as either a ticking time bomb forcing the characters to make it to shelter in time, it forces them to wait adding tension yet also a chance to breath, or it gives them an in to the Straznik's keep. I haven't decided which of these will be relevant as drafts are drafts.
My main character thinks fondly on the holiday but has been in self-imposed exile for quite some time because of a curse. They would love nothing more than to find a big ol tavern thats housing a party and sit around singing old folk songs and eating pierogi, but as long as he has that curse he'd be terrified to be in such a crowded place.
I always love a video that talks about Firefly
I'm inadvertently getting practice writing holidays bc of a project I've recently started-- I'm working with the irl American holidays, but finding something for my grumpy mad scientist to be upset about for each one is amusing, anyway. And made me realize just how many holidays there are, even "big" ones, in modern society-- about once a month, rather than once a season, like it feels like they used to be. (Not within my lifetime, obvs, but historically.) Increased commercialization, perhaps? Feels like the number of holidays itself can be a world building aspect-- more might either mean a wealthier society with more ability to have leisure time, or a government struggling to distract the populace with the circuses half of bread & circuses. Or both, tbh.
For sure! Holidays were historically used as a way to appease the masses, more or less, but that has shifted a lot in recent years as you said. It could be really interesting to see a setting where they're actually doing the opposite-rejecting materialism and the culture is shifting back. Of course that invites the question *why* is the change happening? Might not necessarily be a good cause for the change.
My elves celebrate the Solstices and equinoxes based on the triumph of Light over Darkness, as well as the First Flower (roughly March 1), which is their New Year. I'm considering making a few other holidays based upon history, like a day to remember when the Elves fell, a day to celebrate their victory over the Dark elves, etc.
The people in my fictional country of Ezhdal celebrate 'Vordakhev" (Slave's day) on the 20th of Malisvin (2nd month). In the year 1820, the Ezhdal civil war came to a close, ending in the freeing of slaves imported from the recently discovered continent of Ha'i (Khai in Ezhdal) and the start of the current democratic system with a symbolic monarchy. This day is celebrated as the day "Ezhdal woke up" and slaves were given their rights back and integrated into society. It is a day of great patriotism for all in Ezhdal, and military parades flock the streets of the main city. All workers get a day off, and it is customary for those in every neighbourhood to hold communal feasts.
A re-telling of the story of the day happens in the capital of Rastorte Vin, the "Dontrid phe Dakhte ed Loskrite" (march of slaves and soldiers) was where the democratic soldiers and slaves alike marched through the capital to the royal palace, pillaged it, and forced the monarchs to hand over control. Nowadays it's more of a parade, where actors will clothe themselves in rags and chains to the palace, playing ominous and serious music. They are then greeted by the two Queens, and victorious music plays as the actors throw their chains off and the festival begins down the main streets.
In my first book a near future Sci-fi epic I don't think I mentioned any holiday as it just didn't come up but in the side material(A pixel art piece with a very short story.) surrounding the events of the book I do on devanart I almost always do holidays and all but 1 is pretty much how the heroes celebrate real world holidays etheir their faction version of it or a current one... But that completely fictional one is a major World Holiday by 2040 and the main celebration is a massive globe spanning wargame showing the Unity of Nations(The successor of the United Nations and massive military and economic alliance.) Forces' readiness for WW4 while also testing their strength against G&B the much smaller hero faction that has never lost the annual wargame. It came about in universe as a way of remembering the hardship of the third World war and celebrating the triumphs that came of it... Also to prepare for a potential WW4. But yea in one of the books I am working on taking place in WW3 the forth of July and Christmas should come up and be big so thanks for reminding me to start thinking about them now.
Festivus and Chrimbus for me
My Drows, most of their holidays are religious holidays of self-flagellation. But honestly, to Drows, flagellation is the default reaction to the joys and sorrows of life:
"We need punishment: let's get flogged
-Yeah !"
"I am bored, let's get flogged
-Yeah !"
"We must celebrate this rite of passage, let's get flogged !
-Yeah !"
And, of course: "Time to have fun with the boys, let's get flogged
-Yeay !'
Most drows would expose themselves to the risk of torture, and actual torture, on a whim, so their self-flagellating holidays aren't that deep.