diff --git a/src/content/ContentLoader.cpp b/src/content/ContentLoader.cpp
index 3e4bacfc..ff77e76a 100644
--- a/src/content/ContentLoader.cpp
+++ b/src/content/ContentLoader.cpp
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ void ContentLoader::fixPackIndices() {
     if (fs::is_regular_file(indexFile)) {
         root = files::read_json(indexFile);
     } else {
-        root = std::make_shared<dynamic::Map>();
+        root = dynamic::create_map();
     }
 
     bool modified = false;
diff --git a/src/data/dynamic.cpp b/src/data/dynamic.cpp
index 3649480b..228e044a 100644
--- a/src/data/dynamic.cpp
+++ b/src/data/dynamic.cpp
@@ -77,13 +77,13 @@ List& List::put(const Value& value) {
 }
 
 List& List::putList() {
-    auto arr = std::make_shared<List>();
+    auto arr = create_list();
     put(arr);
     return *arr;
 }
 
 Map& List::putMap() {
-    auto map = std::make_shared<Map>();
+    auto map = create_map();
     put(map);
     return *map;
 }
@@ -209,13 +209,13 @@ void Map::remove(const std::string& key) {
 }
 
 List& Map::putList(std::string key) {
-    auto arr = std::make_shared<List>();
+    auto arr = create_list();
     put(key, arr);
     return *arr;
 }
 
 Map& Map::putMap(std::string key) {
-    auto obj = std::make_shared<Map>();
+    auto obj = create_map();
     put(key, obj);
     return *obj;
 }
@@ -227,3 +227,11 @@ bool Map::has(const std::string& key) const {
 size_t Map::size() const {
     return values.size();
 }
+
+List_sptr dynamic::create_list(std::initializer_list<Value> values) {
+    return std::make_shared<List>(values);
+}
+
+Map_sptr dynamic::create_map(std::initializer_list<std::pair<const std::string, Value>> entries) {
+    return std::make_shared<Map>(entries);
+}
diff --git a/src/data/dynamic.hpp b/src/data/dynamic.hpp
index e1a019dd..3fa49d8b 100644
--- a/src/data/dynamic.hpp
+++ b/src/data/dynamic.hpp
@@ -35,10 +35,16 @@ namespace dynamic {
         integer_t
     >;
 
+    List_sptr create_list(std::initializer_list<Value> values={});
+    Map_sptr create_map(std::initializer_list<std::pair<const std::string, Value>> entries={});
+
     class List {
     public:
         std::vector<Value> values;
 
+        List() {}
+        List(std::vector<Value> values) : values(std::move(values)) {}
+
         std::string str(size_t index) const;
         number_t num(size_t index) const;
         integer_t integer(size_t index) const;
@@ -74,6 +80,10 @@ namespace dynamic {
     public:
         std::unordered_map<std::string, Value> values;
 
+        Map() {}
+        Map(std::unordered_map<std::string, Value> values) 
+        : values(std::move(values)) {};
+
         template<typename T>
         T get(const std::string& key) const {
             if (!has(key)) {
diff --git a/src/frontend/menu.cpp b/src/frontend/menu.cpp
index 3796f88c..06b805c2 100644
--- a/src/frontend/menu.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend/menu.cpp
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ gui::page_loader_func menus::create_page_loader(Engine* engine) {
             auto argstr = query.substr(index+1);
             name = query.substr(0, index);
             
-            auto map = std::make_shared<Map>();
+            auto map = create_map();
             auto filename = "query for "+name;
             BasicParser parser(filename, argstr);
             while (parser.hasNext()) {
diff --git a/src/logic/EngineController.cpp b/src/logic/EngineController.cpp
index 6681942a..20776f0a 100644
--- a/src/logic/EngineController.cpp
+++ b/src/logic/EngineController.cpp
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static void show_content_missing(
     std::shared_ptr<ContentLUT> lut
 ) {
     using namespace dynamic;
-    auto root = std::make_shared<Map>();
+    auto root = create_map();
     auto& contentEntries = root->putList("content");
     for (auto& entry : lut->getMissingContent()) {
         std::string contentName = contenttype_name(entry.type);
diff --git a/src/logic/scripting/lua/LuaState.cpp b/src/logic/scripting/lua/LuaState.cpp
index df24d65c..d35120a5 100644
--- a/src/logic/scripting/lua/LuaState.cpp
+++ b/src/logic/scripting/lua/LuaState.cpp
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ dynamic::Value lua::LuaState::tovalue(int idx) {
             int len = lua_objlen(L, idx);
             if (len) {
                 // array
-                auto list = std::make_shared<List>();
+                auto list = create_list();
                 for (int i = 1; i <= len; i++) {
                     lua_rawgeti(L, idx, i);
                     list->put(tovalue(-1));
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ dynamic::Value lua::LuaState::tovalue(int idx) {
                 return list;
             } else {
                 // table
-                auto map = std::make_shared<Map>();
+                auto map = create_map();
                 lua_pushvalue(L, idx);
                 lua_pushnil(L);
                 while (lua_next(L, -2)) {