#even nonIndigenous ppls i just like to incorporate various idk. peoples

[ao3dorian-gay]

i do think being ndn, and specifically being ndn learning more about history, has really impacted how i approach my writing. i mostly write fanfic but like. when I do, I ask, how can i incorporate Indigenous peoples & themes in this fictional setting.

like. story not set on our world or with earth world cultures? ok! what are the relationships between different peoples in this world? looking at all borders on the map and trying to create a history for why they were chosen, asking how that was “decided," imagining all the peoples who were split from drawing that border. or what about shared cultures that split for civil war, and never reunited? stuff like that.

who were the people whose lands got included under those borders, even if they were a separate people? did the borders use to be fluid and overlapping, with seasonal nomadic patterns, until permanent settlements and printed maps forced uniformity?

idk i feel like it adds depth to the world as well as a context to create original characters in, too. i think its good for me because otherwise there are very few Indigenous characters that are in my fandoms, but i do think it’s really helped me frame my approach to worldbuilding/development in my writing, for better and for worse.