Category: Book Blog

Cultures always have their own foods. For inspiration, we can easily leverage Earth analogues. What do we think of with Chinese, Indian, and Italian foods to name a few? Even a city like New Orleans has associated dishes. There’s New Read More …

There’s an etiquette to dining, which means there are values that lead to expectations. Does this culture value savagery and baseness (like lust and gluttony) or rising above animalistic instincts to one degree or another? This leads to a general Read More …

This article talks about swear words, expressions, and other aspects of how language is influenced by and can reveal culture.

The Words Analogues are useful when inventing greetings and farewells, but first, a few observations. There’s often a word that means “hello” and a more casual version like “hi.” We can wish pleasant times on them, such “Good morning” and Read More …

One way to distinguish a culture is their greetings and farewells, but what all cultures have in common is the willingness to do them because it’s a hallmark of goodwill, respect and civility. We can surmise that in a truly Read More …

This sections talks about how accessories can be customized to be part of a culture, with certain items expected for types of people or species.

Concentrating on specific clothing styles is time consuming; we’re after a general sense of style. For example, the existence of buttons as a fastener, rather than as decoration. We take those for granted, but they didn’t exist until the 1300s. Read More …

A sampling of gestures from Earth can give world builders ideas on what to leverage or invent; as long as we have a rationale, we can make up new ones or repurpose existing ones. Gestures that are a part of Read More …

Regardless of type, all body modifications might take place before, during, or after an important ceremony or event, such as a wedding, childbirth, or age milestone. They therefore signify a rite of passage having taken place, and the absence of Read More …

The way in which hair is worn often symbolizes the social group to which one belongs. As fashions change, these associations can come and go; therefore, it is best to determine the fashion of a time rather than the past Read More …