Summer Camp 2026

Welcome, readers! This article is a hub for all things Summer Camp 2026 within the world of Babikiye. It will grow throughout the months of June and July. This June, I completed the homework, which you can read below now!
July is where things really get interesting, though. During Summer Camp, we receive four waves of ten worldbuilding prompts. Every Saturday, this hub will get an update with every prompt. Steadily throughout the month, I will also add each of my entries. I can't promise that I'll finish every prompt, but I know what I aim for - that shiny Diamond badge - and I'll move my whole schedule around to achieve it if I must!
What's the point in finishing every prompt? Every worldbuilder is different, but for me, events like Summer Camp act as major productivity motivators. I never get more writing done than when I'm participating is some sort of challenge or special event. So, I tend to approach them like a particularly excitable pup.
I may be a firm member of Camp Feral, but I'm not expecting miracles during a month long challenge! Even if I don't achieve my most important goals for Babikiye, even if the articles aren't the most polished and pretty, I will have explored and expounded upon the world in more depth than before I participated, and that is enough for me.

Feral Camper Badge by Strixxline

World Focus

Babikiye

Badge Goal

Diamond

Personal Goal

Comment on more of the articles I read. I want to spread the hype and develop a habit! This goal is secondary to my sanity and my badge goal.

Week One: Love

Week One Entries

A celebrity loved by all

A tradition celebrating love

An item associated with a common hobby

A famous love story

A natural phenomenon associated with fertility

A faction that employs questionable methods for the love of their people

A job many children aspire to

The language of love in a culture of your world

A useful substance known for its sticky properties

A mysterious work of fiction that's spawned conspiracy theories

Week One Prep: Love & Goals

This year, I pledge to answer enough prompts to qualify for the diamond badge. Real life left me wrong-footed last year, but I'm back and ready to knock it out of the park for my fourth summer camp! I only have one world, Babikiye, so that decision is the easiest part. The part that isn't so easy is deciding on a focus area, which as it happens actually became the theme of the Week 2 homework but I did some of it ahead of time.
For this week, I mostly ignored the hopscotch because I know the prep drill already. I reviewed and updated my homepage. I'm much happier with the introductory statement by the in-universe author, now, it sounds more like Ezeki. I also made small but meaningful-to-me changes to my CSS. I still have a laundry list of tasks to tackle before summer camp, but all things in good time. My June is busier than my July this year, so I'm not too bothered if loose threads aren't neatly woven in.
I confess, I'm not as interested in Love when the theme could've been Spring. There is more variety to that season than meets the eye. Tornado season inspired prompt, anybody? Don't get me wrong, love is a great theme, but love as a theme doesn't inspire me to prep or brainstorm.

It's June! That means Summer Camp is only one month away... and the homework has arrived! I'm in the middle of a move, but I won't let that stop me from preparing.

Week One Hopscotch

Create goal & choose world to focus on
Update your homepage and world primer.
Update your world CSS and layout, OR
Update your maps and timelines
Update your world's meta document.
Update old articles from your world, OR
Create some articles to get a feel for your world. * So many of the red x's are a case of 'yes I should do this, no I won't complete it in time.'

2026 Badge: To Be Discovered!

Week Two: Growth

Week Two Entries

A Body of Water that Hides Secrets in its Depths

Week Two Prep: Growth & Focus

The theme this week is growth, inspired by the summertime, and the assignments are all based around developing a focus. This year, I have decided to focus on the Fas species. The Fas are a short-lived sophont species born from the excess spiritual energy produced by the magitechnologically advanced civilization with whom the Fas must share a planet. Fas individuals and their cultures are broadly marginalized, overlooked and undervalued by their long-lived cousins.
They have also been overlooked by me, their author, despite their unique perspective on the world! I'm in the process of developing a Fas character and it has made me realize just how little I've even thought of them beyond a footnote. I should probably place more emphasis on the significance and implications of their existence. I hope to change that by following the prompts this summer!

Currently Existing Articles

I have a few woefully out of date or under-detailed articles about the Fas, mostly the little bit I wrote about the Mapek Fas during Summer Camp last year. So, I am functionally starting with a blank slate, which will hopefully help more than hinder me.
I'm beginning to think I should seriously update my primer instead of sitting on the world changes, which I was content to do last week. Whelp! Time to get at least a few ducks in a row! Eventually! Hopefully!

Concepts to Explore

Besides the foundational articles, the character part of my focus will determine the direction in which I focus my articles. I already know a lot about him and his story in general, and it would help if I went ahead and wrote something up for him, but I'm cautious about writing anything down now when there could be a prompt to bend later.
To do: brainstorm major Fas cultures, historical moments, and a small cast of Fas characters bring it more to life.

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Week Two Hopscotch

Choose an area of focus and describe it.
Why did you choose this area of focus? Why is it fun to write?
Make a list of related articles you already have and consider expanding them, OR
Make a list of concepts you'd like to explore.
How does your area of focus interact with the rest of the world?
Plan the category structure for your area of focus, OR
Create an article about your area of focus.

Week Three: Loss

Week Three Entries

Week Three Prep: Loss & Planning

Loss is a theme I could sink my teeth into right now. Besides the obvious things, like death (which I am in 0 mood to think about), the first thing that came to mind was the phrase "one door closes, another opens." I quit a job I loved (until, of course, I didn't), which was a loss. It was a loss of income, a loss of a daily schedule, and a loss of purpose in the location I'd tried to settle in. I'm still technically unemployed, but without quitting, I never would've been able to move 12.5 hours away to help my friend and her mom on their farm. I both feel like I've lost a lot, and gained the potential for a lot more. Now if only my car door handle didn't fall off right before I was supposed to have a safety inspection, which if you squint is also a loss, but I digress.
My creative routine is already haphazard as it is, and I don't foresee that changing significantly. It mainly involves sitting in front of my laptop with Scrivener open, typing away... at prose, for the most part, rather than articles. Additionally, I have no idea what my daily schedule is going to look like moving forward. I do know that I will have plenty of time to write, though! I have noticed two things about me: I write most in the mornings, and the words flow best when I write with a pen and paper. I'll try to use knowledge of both of those things to my advantage.

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Week Three Hopscotch

Plan your writing time! Which days and for how long will you be able to write?
Gather music or other media to inspire you
Read a book to inspire you
Read an article (or more) from other Anvilites
Go for a walk
Spend time in your favorite fictional world
What is your typical creative process/routine?

All my respect and admiration to my fellow Anvilites, but I'm going to skip the inspiration homework. I read all the time, but I organize my stuff rarely, so I'm focused on that instead.

Week Four: Growth

Week Four Entries

Week Four: Family & Personal Goals

Family is a fantastic theme to match with the winter season, since a great deal of the major holidays in the northern hemisphere occur at that time of the year. I'll have to wait and see until I see the prompts for this theme, but so far, I'm finding it more intriguing than the others. I will laugh if we're asked to create a language family during the last week of Summer Camp, though.

Why Worldbuilding

At the risk of sounding facetious, my goal as a worldbuilder is to build my world. Babikiye is a dearly beloved creative project of mine born from a paracosm which started in my childhood and since then has evolved alongside me. Whether I publish articles on WorldAnvil, write a book, or something else entirely is tangential to my desire to immerse myself in the project. I do want to present my best foot forward, or I wouldn't be so anxious about the WIP state of my articles, but... yeah, that about sums up why I worldbuild in general terms!

Why WorldAnvil

If you're asking 'why WorldAnvil' that's a little bit different. I first joined WorldAnvil because I wanted a space to organize my worldbuilding. I remember doing a lot of research into how I could create something wiki-like for my project in December 2022. I signed up and immediately got a guild membership because I was terrified of the concept of anything public facing, and then... Summer Camp 2023 happened! I made my world public, discovered some amazing writers, and now I've fallen down this well and I refuse to come out. Whether my worldbuilding is organized or not yet is solely my own fault.

Why Summer Camp

More like why not?! The energy is infectious and the community is delightful! Also, I have difficulties with consistently worldbuilding throughout the year, and I'm grateful for the big two events (Summer Camp and WorldEmber) for 'waking me up' regularly. That is help enough, in my opinion, but it also helps me focus to an extent as well.

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Week Four Hopscotch

What is your goal as a worldbuilder? How will Summer Camp help you?
Which articles do you need to achieve your creative goal?
Find a community
Find an accountability buddy
Take a break and re-energize before Summer Camp begins!
Prepare your writing space
Prepare your worldbuilding playlist

Needed Articles

There are articles I need to achieve my creative goals, and there are articles I write for Summer Camp. When the line blurs, I am blessed. When they don't, oh well! The most important part of Summer Camp for me is to write for the fun of it.

My Writing Space

I have limited space, but I have it set up nearly perfectly. I even have my kettle only a few steps away. I did use prep as an excuse to go out and purchase a large whiteboard, which I immediately filled the moment I got home. It's usefulness will be determined by my willingness to erase things...