#also I don't expect anyone to actually be keeping track of my fictional countries or whatever

[puddingvalkyrie]

Reading massively improved my mental health and I want to talk about it in case it can help others!

Y'all, I think we all need to read more books.

I know I'm an author so I WOULD say that and in fact, I DO say that to children at every opportunity (my dyslexia would be a LOT worse if I hadn't read so much as a kid) but hear me out.

So back in ...March/April I was pretty miserable and it was partly because Norwegian winter will do that to an unprepared foreigner but also because it was the anniversary of The Bad Thing so I felt miserable and alone.

I had no way to really remedy the situation.

But one thing I did do was... Finally crack. See, I'd been DYING to reread my Discworld books, but they are in a different country and I can't afford to go get them or have them sent to me. I have a few paper books here though - I mainly took my fairytale collections, because what did you expect? Actually I guess hardly anyone on Tumblr knows me - Alicia does two things. Vampires. And Fairytales. Didn't bring my vampire encyclopedia, too big and heavy. Anyway.

I have a part time job with an hour on the train each way. I started taking my paper books, my fairytale collections. They were full of short things I could finish easily in a train journey.

Some info. I had managed to sour reading for myself some years previously... I mainly read for research purposes, hardly picking up anything just for the fun of it. PSA: Don't do this. Do not do this. Don't. Do NOT.

And then I reread one of the few paper fiction books I had with me. I enjoy fairytales but they do still fall under 'sort of work' for me. This did not. This was a book I am eagerly awaiting the finale to.

Anyway, I finished it quickly, reading it both on and off the train. You know. For fun. Not just fill time I was stuck somewhere.

Finishing it annoyed me. I wanted more stories. I wanted more than fairytales. And so I cracked. I bought Equal Rites as an ebook. See, I'd previously decided I would not buy anything I already owned in paperback as an ebook because... Well, waste of money, something I don't have enough of. To buy my entire discworld collection in ebook format would cost as much as getting on a plane and bringing my paper ones back.

But just ONE book would be alright, wouldn't it?

So anyway I finished the book.

Of course I'm not going to read just ONE discworld book.

So I carefully ration myself ebooks, making a condition for myself that they are mainly for the train, but I am allowed to read them at home too.

And gradually... The fog lifted. Nothing much has changed besides that I'm reading books regularly again. I still have the same problems that were upsetting me in March. I was also HORRIBLY BURNED OUT until last week. But my mood is MASSIVELY improved. Like, hugely improved. And yeah, yeah, it's summer now, so the weather will have helped also. But I can pinpoint my recovery to when I started reading regularly again. And that is to say that while I was burned out, I wasn't ALSO sad.

So from now on I will be making an effort to keep reading books for fun.

It's kind of crazy that I had stopped for so long. I mean. I write books people are supposed to read for fun. Kinda hypocritical of me to like.. not do that.

I think maybe I have created this problem for myself with many of my hobbies. I tried to make drawing into a business, tried to do too much too fast, and since then I've barely drawn. I love cartoons so I watch them in Norwegian to help me learn - means I was never just relaxing while watching a cartoon for a few years. Recently started just watching cartoons in English/Japanese if I darn well feel like it.

...enough tangent, back to Why Reading Is Good.

Don't quote me on this, I am just scribbling down thoughts I've been meaning to write down for a month, therefore, am too lazy to track down any sources, but I'm pretty sure reading books is actually scientifically proven to help your brain?? I seem to remember reading your hippocampus shrinks if you don't exercise your brain enough and reading long stories does that. And a shrinking hippocampus causes depression?? I don't know anything much about brains and psychology so I must have read that somewhere.

I think a hippocampus is also like... A horse mermaid.

Again, no source, might be thinking of something from Mermaid Melody.

I'mma go read more of my current book now. It's a history book this time.

Yay books!

[daisywords]

Are there any rare minerals or gems in your world? Who are they valuable to? What are they used for? - What is the level of technological advancement in your world? Does everyone have equal access or do some people have more access than others? - What does the average family look like in your world?

hhh…I haven’t thought abt minerals/gems at all tbh except based on the world’s internal logic, there would be several main indicators of value that would intersect: 

simplest structure/easiest for Ciaric folks to work with, (something like olivine, perhaps) (for context, I’m talking abt a magic system)

properties like hardness, softness, conductivity, etc that can be useful

rarity (ofc)

difficulty to work with (a finished product made of a complex material would be more expensive than one made of an easier material, especially because the reason you would make that is because of #2)

and of course all this is related to technological advancement. 

How the Ciaric magic system translates the most into functional use is pretty much super good manufacturing skills, so folks in Ciar/Daenar generally have the most access to the best tech. (two countries, same race.) However, it’s more complicated than that. 

Both Ciar And Daenar engage in a lot of trade w/ Tarrian (bigger region w/ ppl who can’t do magic,) but of course that’s uneven bc Tarrian isn’t very centralized. But Tarrian provides a lot of raw materials for Ciar and Daenar, and imports a lot of their goods, so in places w/ a lot of trade, Ciaric goods are pretty accessible. Breidon is the biggest Tarrish trading city, and if you’re a rich person in Breidon, you’ll probably have a better standard of living/higher tech than if you’re a Midrian living in Daenar (bc you’re basically a second class citizen/not even allowed to be a citizen but ANYway)

congrats if you got through that paragraph w/ me just throwing my lingo everywhere

in terms of actual level of tech…it’s kinda hard to explain/some of it is still up in the air. They don’t really use steam or combustion engines (I don’t think) but they do have train-style transport on track systems, which originally had something to do w/ electromagnetism but now I’m not sure… and they do use electricity but not quite in the same way we do

so anyway in Ciar, you’ll see electric lighting and free public transport and running water and temperature control and all that jazz

in rural parts of Tarrian, you’ll see oil lamps and people traveling on horses/carts/on foot and going out to the well for water and stuff like that

OK and then abt families…

back in ye olde days, extended families were super important in Ciar, and things got pretty out of hand w/ family allegiances and feuds and tribalism (is that the right word?) a la Romeo and Juliet and everything was basically controlled by a few Ciaric High Families and things got so out of control that they basically revolutionized their society and swung things really far in the opposite direction. (This is also around the same time that a lot of people left for the mainland and voila that was the beginning of Daenar but there was multiple reasons for that)

So anyway nowadays things are different. Family names were abolished, and so everyone gets addressed by their first name (you have a second name for legal/administrative purposes but those aren’t inherited; they’re assigned when you reach legal adulthood.) The only legally recognized family bonds are spouse/spouse and parent/child. (aka you’re not legally related to your sibling/grandparent/aunt etc.) And community is supposed to take precedence over family ties. It’s seen as kinda unpatriotic and sketchy to be super tight w/ your extended family. 

So in Ciar, people generally “live” with just their spouse and non-adult kids if they have them. Doesn’t this get lonely? No. This ties into the fact that most of Ciar is technically one giant building. People don’t have houses, they have rooms, basically. They’re tight w/ their neighbors bc functionally they do pretty much live together. The concept of a “family unit” is pretty loose and almost doesn’t exist. 

Daenar is kind of like this but not as extreme. They still don’t have family names and all that, but they do have separate houses. (and lots of apartments but anyway.) But it’s much more common in Daenar for a few different couples to live together, or a group of friends or whatever. 

The Midrians are…pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum. Family and extended family is super super important, as is genealogy and respect for ancestors. (This ties into the midrian magic system a lot.) This is a huge reason that Daenic ppl don’t like the Midrians, bc Ciaric/Daenic culture sees family allegiance as primitive and their own way of life as more civilized. 

Midrians will often live together as extended families, with grandparents or great-grandparents as the patriarch and matriarch. Of course, because of forced assimilation, a lot of them don’t anymore… esp those who are more well off and live outside fo the Midrian districts, as the way to do that is pretty much to be a solo/traveling worker and maybe shack up w/ a few friends. 

Tarrish families will vary a lot based on socioeconomic status, and urban/rural divides but they’re more in-between: maybe something like a “nuclear family” with a grandparent or uncle or something thrown in. And they’re like allowed to ya know, hang out w/ their cousins or something without it being weird. 

wow anyway this got really long but these are really good questions! thanks for the ask!