Spacer
This article is an entry to World Anvil Summer Camp 2022.
It answered the prompt: "Α culture who lives by, near or within an ocean, desert or other expanse."
Spacers are unique in the fact that they do not reside on a planet, instead living within the vast expanses of space. These people are the few that take up homes on space stations, generation ships, or even Dyson spheres. They are seen as strange by those who live planet-side because of their extreme survivalist views and utilitarian tendencies.It answered the prompt: "Α culture who lives by, near or within an ocean, desert or other expanse."
Naming Traditions
Family names
Spacers do not take surnames unless they are vital to distinguishing one person from another. As their home territories are typically quite small, this occurrence is rare. When Spacers do take surnames, they usually refer to a physical attribute of the bearer.
Other names
Spacers have no accepted naming traditions and, as citizen records are generally nonexistent off-planet, names can change many times throughout a Spacer's life. It is not unheard of to have upwards of a dozen names, nicknames, and epithets assigned to a Spacer over the years. Despite their being no accepted tradition though, most Spacers have taken on the name of their profession or an object they relate themselves to as their personal name.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Although almost every Spacer speaks some form of Intergalactic Common Tongue, the dialects used vary from place to place. Two stations in a single solar system might even be unintelligible to each other due to the lack of contact most Spacers have with others. Spacer dialects are almost never considered their own language thanks to the frequency of loan words and the standard of Intergalactic Common Tongue.
Art & Architecture
The art enjoyed by Spacers is typically made of rigid forms and sharp angles, as living, growing things with more organic lines are rarities outside the gardens of a station, ship, Dyson sphere, or colony.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Spacers do not bury their dead. This is considered non-negotiable to most, as they simply do not have the spare materials for a coffin nor the spare dirt to bury with. Most of the Spacers' dead are cremated, although some are turned into fertilizer or used for organ donations upon request.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Individuality is an extremely important trait to Spacers, and as such, fashion trends are practically non-existent. Spacers like what they like unabashedly, and find beauty in nearly everything from grungy work uniforms to extravagant gowns. Beauty as a whole is generally dictated by personal preference and by one's confidence in their own self.
Comments