#Post Colonial Fantasy

[domwitch]

I need to be a vicious evil warlord and he's my precious spoils of war that I scantily dress and drape over my lap so I can grope him easily during my council meetings >:)

[brw]

Something with Krakoa that I keep thinking about is the way fans seek to justify it by saying that Krakoa couldn't be colonial because there's no actual colonised groups that the mutants oppressed by founding Krakoa, and this feels like such a Watsonian perspective that it really irks me. Just because the writers of Krakoa (who by and large were cishet white American men) chose to erase the consequences of colonialism from Krakoa's narrative does not magically mean that the act of a predominantly white cast of characters settling in a tropical island and forming a government that acts with impunity any less colonial. Fantasy and science fiction refusing to acknowledge the consequences of colonial behaviours and colonial exploits doesn't mean that those actions stop being colonial, it simply means that the writers think that those behaviours are fine and justified so long as no actual people are involved. I keep coming back to this, but you cannot in good faith claim that Krakoa was not a colonial project when Charles dressed up as an 19th century jungle explorer in one of the first issues of HoXPoX, when Emma called herself the East India Trading Company of mutantdom, and all the other egregious things I could rattle off. Not even getting into Magneto's history of founding ethnostates as a character whose fan-favourite characterisation is based on a Zionist, which is always conveniently left out of the "mutants keep making damn ethnostates" conversation.

[sacred-algae]

Magic, Witchcraft, and Classism in Modern Fantasy Settings (or any fantasy settings):

a really casual essay that’s really more a braindump that’s scholarly cosplay because I have actual scholarly bullshit to do

This thought appears in my brain every once in a while when I imagine Mollymauk Tealeaf in any modern AU such as highschool, college, coffee shop, bookshop—you name it. You don’t have to have any knowledge of C2 or even Critical Role to understand this post, don’t worry; this is just the intro to the topic. I myself haven’t seen C2 and my understanding of the character comes from my place in the greater Critical Role fandom, watching hour long compilations of Molly moments, and playing the character in Widomauk RP’s with my best friend. (also, the whole post isn't even about D&D, though it does start out with a lot of examples before I move on.)

The thing is, that in a wholesome modern AU Molly’s class (for those unfamiliar with D&D, this is not applicable to classism as we will be discussing, it's like an occupation) as a Bloodhunter doesn’t really translate all too well. Sure, if it were a modern AU where the Nein still does their job, that’s one thing, but there’s often no reason for Molly to be a Bloodhunter in highschool, college, or a coffee shop. The class is pretty dark, and I won’t get into too many details because it’s unnecessary.

What is necessary to know is that they read tarot and they were adopted into the circus. And for that reason, I think the character pretty heavily relies on the witchcraft aesthetic when being translated into a wholesome modern setting. And when I say that, you have to think of Magic and Witchcraft as two entirely separate entities. It wouldn’t be the same if he were a wizard, or a sorcerer, no. There is a shiftiness, a craftiness, and an all-around rejection of society that comes with the character of Molly. With any of Taliesin Jaffe’s characters, actually—the man is a goth. Mollymauk Tealeaf is a character that screams ACAB at the top of his lungs while wearing a skirt with celestial motifs on it and throwing Molotov cocktails made extra special with red chilies, belladonna, and graveyard dirt.

This is where the thesis comes in: In a society where magic exists and is studied much like academia, a classist division between Magic and Witchcraft will rise, discounting the legitimacy of "the lesser."

Still here? Awesome. This is gonna be fun. *Rolls up sleeves.*

Defining "Magic" and "Witchcraft"

So what is the difference anyway? When we think of witchcraft, we acknowledge that it is magic. Of course it's magic, but I would argue that in a fantasy setting, the craft part would be the part with an emphasis when defining the difference.

Magic: The study, practice, and execution of arcane energy for otherworldly outcomes.

Witchcraft: The use of magic with a distinctly "at home"/"DIY" energy to it. Components are easily found if you know where to look, and through the social focus on pure arcane magic with bigger and more immediate effects, these common ways have been forgotten—There is no big show of lights, no sounds, no *POOF* to let you know that it worked like there would be with a more traditional form of magic; it is a matter of waiting. Often, it is a more chaotic and unpredictable form as if it was a wish fulfilled by a djin. Witchcraft spells have their limits, but you can get creative if you want a certain psychological effect.

Basically, I'm talking real-world folk magic put into a fantasy setting.

Magic, Materials, and Academia

Dungeons and Dragons is a great example of this, because oh boy, as a Dungeon Master, I can tell you how inherently fucked up this game is. Drows and Goblins (and other races) are actually naturally evil-aligned and have heavy racial biases coded into them. The difference between a Cleric and a Warlock is that Clerics are coded to be Good because they made a deal with a god, and Warlocks are Bad because they made a deal with something that isn't godly. Even if you don't play them like that, more nuanced in a way like Shadowheart from Baldur's Gate 3, (we aren't talking about Wyll, Wyll has his own problematic writing separate to this point) Clerics deal radiant damage, and Warlocks deal necrotic. And there is a classic divide between Sorcerers and Wizards, with Sorcerors having inherent power, often bullying the weaker Wizards who came into it through hours of dedication to study and practice.

However, the biggest problem, and the problem I'm going to be using as an example, is material spell components.

When you are casting a spell in D&D, you have three types of components you need to cast a spell. Verbal (spoken), Somatic (gestures), and Material (exactly what it sounds like). A spell can be cast with any combination of these three, and material spell components are something that I despise (apologies to any non-D&D players for what I'm about to say next, it gets confusing).

Of course, there are more inexpensive spell components that do not need to be repurchased, or you can opt for a focus in its place, but if a spell specifies a material cost, the material is needed to cast the spell. A common material spell component is literally diamonds. A good example of this is Chromatic Orb, a level 1 spell that requires a diamond worth 50gp to cast. Most players start out with 10-20gp at level 1. Now, this is a component that isn't consumed for Chromatic Orb (though a lot of spells requiring diamonds do consume it), meaning it can be reusable for this spell or another one and thus, would probably be found in a component pouch.

See, I understand their function within the game as a mechanic to keep tension, however, the problem arises when you think about the implications: Imagine you're a sorcerer in a small town. You were born with magic in you, but you were also born poor. Unfortunately, there are some spells that need materials to cast, materials you cannot afford. You're kept away from certain kinds of magic. And a wizard? Well, unless you have access to books or a mentor, you can't learn magic at all. Wizards are either born into the middle or upper class, or have to fight their way up from poverty to fulfill their goals.

Accessibility vs. Academia

I think The Owl House portrays this thought process the best. Arcane/League of Legends is another big one, but the theme is literally everywhere in media all throughout the history of storytelling with characters like Ripley in Critical Role/The Legend of Vox Machina, Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke, or Batman or Iron Man or literally every story about technology (or magic), and discovery ever. Hell, it goes back to fucking Jason and the Golden Fleece. Further, even. But The Owl House has got to be my favorite when it comes to this topic because it's not about a latent lust for power, it's purely about accessibility.

I'll be entirely honest up front, but I never finished The Owl House, and don't remember much, but I can tell you with confidence this is pretty much exactly what I'm talking about.

Luz is a human. Meaning that she can't produce magic because it's not in her, it's something that she can't do. But she finds a way anyway by devoting time and patience to studying what happens when her magical peers do magic. Through it, she's able to discover these glyphs as shown in the gif above, and by drawing them, she can replicate their power. They function much like spell scrolls in D&D, but they're much more hands-on and don't require the knowledge of a scholar to make them.

There's this great video on Medieval Stasis in fantasy by Perseus Grim on YouTube. It's half an hour and I highly recommend that every fantasy writer or game master should watch it, and if you aren't a writer and just an enjoyer, you should check it out too. Even if you don't care about medieval aesthetic fantasy, it discusses magic, technology, and power dynamics, which is what we're talking about here! Basically, he argues a lot better than I can, that since magic = power > power = influence > influence = control > control = corruption, the 1% is going to do everything within their power to control who uses magic. How many stories have you heard where a wizard gets a taste of power and decides they need more? I can think of many within the sources being discussed. Academia in real life is incredibly limited, because knowledge is power. There may be a person who is self-taught at their trade that may be so much better than a person with a degree, but who is going to get the job?

The same thing goes for magic and witchcraft, and we'll get back to that in a second.

The Gender of Witchcraft: Misogyny and Christo-Colonialism

Whooboy, long section title.

Now let me make this perfectly clear. It is now more relevant than ever with WitchTok, Wicca, and New Age, that we assert the fact that historical witches weren't fucking doing anything. They were innocent women (oftentimes women of color, Jewish women, Roma women, or disabled women) who had nothing to do with witchcraft. If I have to hear one more person say "We are the witches they couldn't burn" or any modern witch try to claim the Witch Tartan for anything other than purely advocacy for women's rights I'm going fucking to throw something.

HOWEVER. Modern practice of witchcraft is inherently feminine because of it. Gender is a construct, yes, but just because it's constructed doesn't mean it's not real. It was made real when it was constructed. Gender roles are guidelines no one has to adhere to, but it is going to be hundreds and hundreds of years before every single person on this planet forgets everything they ever knew all throughout history about masculine and feminine energy. People are affirmed in their genders by practicing "feminine" and "masculine" things. Like it or not, we all have gendered perceptions of things, and that's okay so long as we don't abuse them and we recognize that it's not a one size fits all. Gender is a buffet, babydoll. Pick and choose what you want and indulge.

But like I said, because of the history of witches, witchcraft, and misogyny, there is something inherently feminine about the way we use witchcraft today.

Before Christian-Colonialism, what we consider today to be "witchcraft" or "magic" were just facts of life. Rituals done every day by everyday people. It was tradition, medicine, food, art, you name it. But the most prominent practices we think of today were magics of the hearth and home. Herbs, candles, potions—feminine. And it was that way throughout history too. And as witchcraft is reclaimed in the wake of American Christian Extremism (because think about it, most modern witches that reclaim it were Americans raised in American Christian Extremism), we'll continue to think of it that way because of the same Christian thinking we are trying to avoid. Part of that is social conditioning...

But part of that is a pushback against Christian Colonialism that wiped out indigenous folk practices all throughout the world, and the misogyny faced in the face of what is considered "proper" forms of faith. When the people who call witchcraft a cult are the same people who centuries ago burnt the witches, they think of witchcraft as feminine. So what do you do? You get more feminine to push back. It's like hyperfeminity!

So if witchcraft is feminine... it's feared.

But back to "proper forms of faith", post-Christian-Colonialism, witchcraft in the West is a pick and choose. Mixing up some herbs and rolling an oiled candle in them before burning it so that you get a job? Witchcraft. A member of the church blessing some water and pouring it over the top of the head of a newborn baby so they don't end up in Hell if they die early? Not witchcraft. Much like gender, the idea of witchcraft is a construct. This is because of power division. They want to keep themselves pure by not associating with the unpure witchcraft because if people knew they were doing witchcraft, they would lose faith. And conversely, if they're seen as doing witchcraft, witchcraft now has legitimacy. They don't want witchcraft to have legitimacy, because if it does, they don't have a monopoly on power.

So put the ideas of feminism, fear, and power monopoly together and you suddenly get a motive for the gatekeeping of magic.

Freedom in the "Hocus Pocus"

So like... what's real magic, then?

I find the politics of what's considered to be "real magic" and what's hocus-pocus woo-woo in a fantasy world really interesting. Like, you believe in magic but there's limits on what's real? You have access to divination, but tarot and astrology is bullshit? Things like plants and herbs, honeycomb, incense, gemstones, and even glass are material components in D&D, but combining those ingredients in a different way isn't magic? By all logic, it should work considering those ingredients are magical. Maybe there just isn't a massive flash of light, a booming sound, and an immediate effect.

So... who's to say that all the courtly magicians and professors and all the people relying on their magic to keep their social power didn't... just... say some of it isn't magic? It gets dismissed as hocus-pocus woo-woo so that "real magic" is held for only the people they want to have it. Because if there is a different, more accessible form of magic out there, the class divide is gone. It just makes sense.

And if the legitimacy of witchcraft as a form of magic is acknowledged, they’d be like “Yeah it’s real, but why even bother when you can get something better and more effective.” There's something to be explored in fantasy here and I want to see it used. Is it unknown and unharnessed? Is it underground and passes through generations? Is it known and just not cared about? Is it persecuted? How is it persecuted? Is it seen as weird? Is it feared? Is it outlawed?

Anyways I just think it's really fucking cool. If you made it this far on this massive, unedited braindump, you're also really fucking cool.

[memberofthejazzclub]

In my small relatively liberal southwest University town, MAGAs are are shouting “The mass deportations are coming!” to **any** person they see as Latinx or Mexican or immigrant. In the U.S. we know that the discourse of “go home, wetback” has never gone away. (Thank you, Chicano Studies.) This is exactly what T**** means by “make amerikkka great again.” Be safe out there but remember, this is nothing new, don’t get rattled, we’ve been fighting colonial violence all along and we have histories of solidarity. How is this a Libertines post? My band has never stopped supporting anti-racism on their side of the pond. Cranking up the speakers to drown out the maga noise.

[totallynotafurry]

Unnamed Cat Colony Project: Introduction

Website post:

I recommend reading this as I explain… well, everything. But for those who refuse, here’s the TLDR.

Fed up with Warrior Cats’ mediocrity and numerous problems, I decided to create my own kitty cat soap opera using Warriors as a base. I took Warriors and removed the stuff I disliked such as the supernatural nonsense, the religious stuff, the incest, the disregard for cat science, and the faceless background characters. In their place, I changed the environment, the naming system, and the colony structure whilst adding more predators, rules, festivals, and more.

I also have a now outdated rough draft of the first half of chapter one on that post. Go read it. It’s bad but read it anyway.

Blog vs Website

I’ve been flip flopping if I want to do long form posts on the website or on here. I finally decided to do long form posts where I discuss my thought process on the website and small updates, Q&As, and lore stuff here.

Feel free to ask questions.

[olowan-waphiya]

down with cottagecore, hobbitcore is where it's at.

why be a colonialist fantasy when you can be about living in a cute hole in the ground???

[darkwood-hollows]

booktubers: trying to reinvent magical realism into "curio fantasy"

latinos:

[springtimeabyss]

The intimacy of sharing a world with someone

I was told I was dramatic for saying stuff like this today by my behavioral specialist who checks in with me weekly, but I really feel like roleplay is as important to me as romance, sex, and kink and yet separate from all of those things. I could roleplay with someone who I'm not in a romantic relationship with, never have sex with them, and never listen to a single kink command they tell me.

The world I'm trying to create is heavily influenced by fantastical versions of the parts of myself that I don't tell a lot of people. If you can see those parts of myself and not run away. And still love me and care about me as a friend, then I will love you forever.

Because of how seriously I take this stuff, I won't be saying any of the stuff that's that intimate, but I will give you the stuff I will tell people who aren't my partner.

I want to tell very anti colonialist high magic stories about characters who feel like people, and might become real people in my brain due to their believability and my hyper empathy.

I often get obsessed with the idea of class roles and groups of 3-5 due to my miserable experiences with D&D and Pathfinder. However, I've moved past that enough that I think I'm ready for roleplay without mechanics and still think calling a character a 'Rogue' is kinda cute and fun! The fantasy of a Rogue is so iconic still tbh. My favorite classes to think about are Rogue, then Barbarian, then Wizard, then Cleric, then Bard. However, I consider myself a highly dissociated mind Wizard multiclassing support Bard inspiring my friends, cheering them on!

I don't see the point in large paragraphs and in fact prefer vc to text, but will still text rp.

I will empathize with EVERY. SINGLE. LIVING. THING. and thing that used to be living.

I think it'd be cool if dungeons were living ecosystems with a symbiotic relationship with adventurers.

[badcolonyclothing]

[totallynotafurry]

Unnamed Cat Colony Project: Names, Titles and Family Trees

Look at my family tree! I am not making the same mistake the Erins made.

My cats have a first name and a last name comprised of their parents’ names. The prefix is the mother’s name and the suffix is the father’s name. So Winter SilverFang is a cat’s full name. If the father is unknown, the kittens are given the generic suffix “-Seed.” The mother is usually always known, but if the mother is not, the kittens are not given a last name. This is how nurses keep track of family lines. For example, Winter’s mother is Silver SandCloud. Silver has a sister named Dawn SandCloud. Dawn has a daughter named Rain DawnSeed. By tracing the names back, the cats know that Rain and Winter are cousins. My cats are intelligent enough to understand that inbreeding is gross and wrong and fucks up the genes so they created this to prevent inbreeding. Warriors has a serious incest problem and I wanted to mitigate that as much as possible.

Since they have last names and I’m going for a more militaristic feel, the cats have titles denoting rank. Pine Colony’s commander, Winter SilverFang, is addressed as Commander SilverFang. All the ranks work this way. I like how it sounds.

[wuhoh]

My fantasy coffee beans come from the moon :D

👀

[mesetacadre]

107 years ago today an organized group of workers in the Russian Empire decided they had had enough of war, misery, the oppression of women, and of a corrupt democracy that had promised much and changed nothing, the Tsar still in his palaces, the workers still giving their life for a cause foreign to the working class of Europe and the world. Most bolsheviks were industrial workers, with an insufficient formal education, precarious salaries and conditions. The working class in the Russian Empire had tried liberal democracy, had seen its hipocrisy in the months following the election of the provisional government, and understood their historic goal of progressing further beyond the democracy of the landowner, businessman and aristocrat. It wasn't the first time the proletariat had attempted to take power, both worldwide and in the Russian Empire, but this time they were ready, educated, an organized enough.

The armies of 14 imperialist powers combined could not stop the will of a mass of workers that had realized their worth, their potential, and most importantly, their dignity. They no longer had to bow down to paternalism, electoralism, and the capitalists to whom they sold their labor, no armed intervention, no amount of propaganda, no adventurist distraction, could take away from that fact. This isn't a fantasy, it isn't idealistic, it's a historical fact, that revolutions are possible, have happened, succeeded, and that the opportunity presents itself sooner than most expect. The only task at hand is to organize towards it. Agitation, education, an actual dual power structure predicated on a unified will, not on voluntarism and horizontalism.

I understand the topic at hand for the last 2 days and many more to come will be the results of the US election. But the US is not the only liberal democracy that increasingly creates disappointment among the social majority. After all the posting about the various liberals that make up the US electoral environment, it is imperious that nobody falls into despair. Not in a self-care way, not in the way most left-liberals have been talking about, referring to an abstract sense of "preparing", but because of the simple necessity for this election to further erode any popular faith in reformism, whether it's Trump's reforms, Harris' reforms, Bernie's reforms, or Stein's reforms. Wallowing in despair is as useful as placing yet more stake into whoever is wheeled out next to promise even less, in what will most certainly be also called the most important elections of our lifetimes.

Return to the working class of the Russian Empire, of a fractured and hungry China, to the colony of Indochina, to the plantation island that was Cuba. And I urge you to exercise some perspective. These masses of people had suffered more than you for longer than you. Nobody's asking you to feel guilty about your economic position in the world, we're asking you to realize that, for as long as there have been modes of production predicated on the exploitation, division and discrimination of a producing class, there have always been options, better options than sinking into despondent depression. They have managed to cast off their yoke and build towards a society not based on exploitation. They're not utopias, and mistakes have been and will be committed, but they all realized and understood that it's better to commit our own mistakes, than to toil under the rational oppression by another class for any longer.

[kyliafanfiction]

Colonies and Imperialism in Fantasy Fiction

tl;dr - Depiction is not endorsement, and (fictional) colonies in fantasy fiction - in entirely fictional settings) is something I think can make for a very interesting story, and the interplay between colonizer, settler, collaborator and resistor makes for very interesting worlds and very interesting stories especially. I include these sorts of dynamics in my fiction that I write not because I endorse colonies or colonialism, but because I find the dynamics that they create in worldbuilding to be fascinating. Anyone who knows much about the original fantasy worldbuilding that I do, either for the heck of it, or for stories that I write with an eventual eye for publishing (and this is a very small number because I don’t tend to talk about this stuff that often) knows that colonies show up a lot in my settings. Empires too.

Now, these Empires are not always monarchies, though sometimes they are. What they often are, however, is inspired by the flavor of the British Empire, drawing from bits and pieces in the span from 1700 to 1890 in an anarchromism stew. Also, because I’m American, there’s a lot of America in there, and occasionally a dash of the Ancient Roman Republic because I’m a big Rome nerd.

Regardless, these countries, which are usually but not always the ‘protagonist country’ (in the sense that the stories I want to tell tend to focus on them, I give them the most worldbuilding attention, and most significant characters - especially POV  characters - tend to be from them), are not categorically and universally painted as perfect, flawless and right. They are painted as being better in some important respects than many of the alternative powers of the setting, but they’re usually host to steep wealth inequalities, severe poverty for the lowest classes, political corruption that runs deep and wide, and often political systems that are prone to stagnation and infighting over sometimes the pettiest of bullshit. While they may present themselves as doing Imperialism because it’s moral (i.e. a fictional variation on the White Man’s Burden) the stories also make it clear that it’s as much or more just greed and power politics, or so is the intent. Of course, that moral imperative they claim may also inspire them, because some people who think their civilization and culture is the Best One™ are going to genuinely think being part of it is good and right and forcing people to do so is good and right.

These Empires then often have colonies.

These colonies are in distant parts of the world, across some great ocean or sea, linked back to the metropole by naval travel and trade, and sometimes by magical communication (rarely magical teleportation, which does not tend to lend itself to the stories I want to tell). These colonies are generally partially settler colonies, but often continue to have extensive native populations, and even existing native power structures continuing to function to varying degrees. Sometimes these colonies are glorified trading outposts ala the Portuguese feitorias that wield significant influence over local leaders without formally annexing the region, akin to the Residency systems practiced by various European empires (and other non-European empires have engaged in similar practices in the past as well), though the actual level of influence can vary and sometimes shift with the political winds.

For Example:

In the world of the Kantriverse, one such setting of mine, the Kingdom of Kantrias (very much the 'protagonist' country, as per the definition above) exists on the pseudo-Europe (and Middle East/North Africa) continent of Bayetz. There is, to the southwest, and partially in the tropics of the planet, a continent called Guayas. This continent is loosely - sometimes very loosely - inspired by India, Southeast Asia and China. More accurately, it is based on certain specific elements of certain specific periods thrown together into anachronistic stews to fit the stories I want to tell. There is certainly room to discuss the merits or problematicness of this sort of cultural chop suey as a tool for worldbuilding, either in general or how I do it, but that's neither here nor there for this conversation. On Guayas, for centuries, there has been a long-standing cold war between the two largest and most potent nations, the Kingdom of Kharash and the Telvir Ascendency. Because of the geography of the continent, neither nation tends to fight the other directly, even when open war breaks out, and instead, they may fight on the seas, or through their proxy vassal states. Because large swaths of the continent are home to small states, sometimes kingdoms, sometimes not, that both Kharash and Telvir seek to influence, extra tribute from, and use to weaken their rival. By this point, this rivalry has had extensive influence on the internal politics of these smaller states, and existing internal political divides tend to get played out in the various powershifts - one state, Irido, even maintains two royal dynasties, or two distinct branches of one royal dynasty, depending on how you look at it, one that is more partisan to the Telvir and one to the Kharash. The divisions are not always so deliberately artificial, but in each country, wherever you find a two-sided political dispute, one side tends to lean Telvir,  the other Kharash. Which ideology aligns to which power is not always consistent from small state to small state. Gauyas, being the continent from which tea, coffee, sugar and many desirable spices originate, is of course of great interest to Kantrias, which, being British-inspired, sure would like to control the trade in those valuable commodities. Kantrias certainly has products to export, and there is demand for the products Bayetz can produce in some parts of Guayas (for instance, Kantrian wine is considered quite tasty by many in the small Kingdom of Vacca), and Kantrias did - sorta - have a technological edge, as their gunpowder technology was superior when they first started seeking to meddle in Guayas (Gunpowder was invented on Bayetz by the priesthood of a deity that is now literally most often known as 'The Gunpowder God' and while the secret quickly spread, it did take longer to reach Guayas). But that edge was hardly enough to allow them to curbstomp anyone, especially with the distances and logistics involved, and while Kantrias certainly could out-muscle any of one or two of the smaller states, the Telvir Ascendancy and the Kingdom of Kharash both represent enough power to make conquest and colonization impossible. In pure video game 'numbers', Kantrias may have Telvir or Kharash beat, may, but of course, empire and warfare does not work like that. As such, when Kantrian desires to force favorable and lopsided trade agreements on local rulers ran into the reality of the situation, Kantrias adapted. For reasons not worth going into in detail, relations between Kantrias and Kharash were better, due in large part to certain shared cultural values, and the internal politics of the Telvir at the time. As such, Kantrias inserted itself into the existing cold war, on the side of Kharash. And thus, brings it's economic, magical, diplomatic and military weight to bear on the smaller states, swaying more to Kharash's side, and thus... theirs. Because basically part of the terms of the Alliance between Kharash and Kantrias is that Kharashian 'vassals' (even if that term is not often used and only partially accurate) should agree to favorable trade deals with Kantrias, or otherwise give Kantrias some sort of 'favored' status for trading, allowing them the space to build local trading towns/outposts that follow Kantrian law, station ships and troops there (in small numbers, not enough to occupy) to protect their business interests, etc. And with that in place, Kantrias has it's 'Empire' in Guayas (they do have a more conventional settler colony elsewhere, but this post is getting waaaaaay too long and I'm not even to the main point of my post). With their in, they are mostly content, as trade and money is the goal here, but of course, their alliance with Kharash is far from perfect, sometimes they lose out a lot of money when a small state turns Telvir (allying with Kharash does mean pissing the Telvir off more, of course) and that can spark a small war or not. But they do sometimes try to cultivate fully 'Kantrian' factions at the courts or in the populations of the smaller states, rather than just try to work with existing pro-Kharash factions. Because of course, even with most divides splitting between Telvir and the Kharash, some people and demographics get left out in the cold, or maybe Kantrias just has more to offer in some cases.

All of that example is simply to illustrate one set of scenarios that go into the empires and colonialism I write, and the ways I use it to tell what I think are interesting stories. Because I do think colonies lend themselves to some very interesting stories.  Because, let's imagine a fictional colony - Colony X. X is a region that is geographically defined, but was neither culturally nor politicall unified when Empire 1 came along. Empire 1 used a combination of diplomacy, threats, bribery and outright conquest to take over the whole region, unified it under one administrative unit (Colony X) and sent settlers. In this specifiic scenario, Empire 1 had some sort of advantage over Colony X's inhabitants. Probably several. It was larger and more unified, and thus able to take the local political components one by one. Maybe it had superior tech, or superior magic, or a better organized society that allowed them to mobilize more manpower, more resources, more material faster. Maybe Colony X had a big war recently, or major internal tensions,e tc, that were exploited. Who knows. The point is, you now have, let's say a century on, a lot of competing forces in the colony. You have the metropole (Empire 1), which may or may not be unified in what they want from or what they want to do to the colony. You have the settlers, not all of whom may be fully onboard with Empire 1. Some may just not like being taxed and dictated to by a government hundreds or thousands of miles of ocean away, some may descent from dissidents of some sort (political, religious, cultural, etc), some, of course, will be onboard with Empire 1. Some may see the native peoples, or some of them, as potential allies against Empire 1, someone to make common cause with, some may hate them as much as Empire 1 and want to oppress them the same (or even more) and some may be more afraid of them than Empire 1, and see Empire 1 as their defense against them. Meanwhile, in the native population, you may have some groups - local elites, certain mercantile interests, maybe a previously oppressed or maligned cast or ethnic group that Empire 1 lifted up specifically because they were previously oppressed or maligned or mistreated (and thus would be more loyal to Empire 1), maybe just one ethnic group in general is favored over others, etc - who might generally be in favor of Empire 1's continued presence. Then you have another group of collaborators, who might see themselves as just pragamtically accepting the world they live in now, and accepting Empire 1 is in charge because kicking them out is currently seen as impossible. And then there's collaborators who want to try to mitigate Empire 1's damage, or maybe want to learn their ways and techniques and so on to eventually use them against Empire 1 (but of course, have to prove themselves in the meantime). And all of these groups will have their own ideas about the settlers. Then you have people who aren't collaborating, but aren't actively opposing the Empire. And then you have the resistance - some may be native peoples who still see that Empire 1 had advantages, and we should copy those advantages. Some may want to return to old political divisions within the region, so may want unity. Some may want unity on their terms. Some may think that any borrowing of the ideas, techniques, technology or tactics of Empire 1 is horrible and vile and verboten and blasphemous or w/e. Some may want to drive all the foreigners from their shores, some may want to work with settlers willing to work with them. Some may not want to really get independence (because they might be worried about uncontrolled fallout from that) but want better terms or local home rule or whatever. And then you have other nations entirely - say, Empire 2, or Smaller Nation (But Still More Powerful than Colony X) Alpha. Empire 2 or Smaller Nation Alpha may have an interest in Colony X. Maybe they want to take it over, and try to offer (sincerely or not) a better deal to the settlers, the natives, whoever, to get them to jump ship. Maybe they just want to conquer it outright, no need to talk. Maybe they just want to weaken Empire 1, and don't really care how it happens, and cynically arm anyone willing to fight but without any intention of helping them more - it's just about bleeding Empire 1. Maybe there is a genuine anti-Imperialism in Smaller Nation Alpha's governing ideology. Maybe Empire 2 or Smaller Nation Alpha don't want to take over Colony X once it's independent, but they wouldn't mind having economic hegemony or strong influence over the region afterwards. Maybe it's many of these things at once. You take all of these groups, and all of these interests, and even if you tell a story that just a simple 'rebels overthrowing Empire 1's rule over them' narrative, with rebels as good guys and Empire 1 as bad guys - which you by no means have to do, as gray, nuance and complexity makes for a more interesting story generally - there's still a lot of room for cross-purposes, well-intentioned good people fighting one another, disagreement, drama, intrigue. Colonies tell really interesting stories. They're not the only way or place to tell interesting stories, god no, but I have found that for the kinds of stories I want to tell, with the worldbuilding I like to do, colonies and imperialism lend themselves well to it. In the real world, colonialism and Imperialism are, to be blunt, bad, for the colonized people. Sometimes they're great for some specific demographics within the colonized region, but usually not even then forever. They're usually pretty damn good for the Colonizer, but even then, Empire can sometimes come with a  poisoned pill domestically. And that too, is often fascinating and can make for really interesting stories. In fiction, you can sometimes get away with making colonization not entirely bad for the colonized, but usually not, and it's not a great idea to try unless you're sure of what you're doing. On the other hand, depiction is not endorsement. Even when the 'protagonist' does it. Even if the 'bad guy' (protagonist or otherwise) wins at the end of the story. Even if the Empire still controls the colony at the end of the story, or the rebels cross all sorts of moral lines and do things just as bad as the Empire. You're endorsing Imperialism to include it in a story, and every story doesn't have to end with Empire ending. Because, every kind of story you can tell with colonies will often, will almost always be, very, very interesting. Because colonies lend themselves to some really interesting narratives.

[gatheringbones]

[“It’s a vision of unpatriotic masculinity soothed into submission by uniformed womanhood—at least, womanhood with a badge. The colonial vision of social work it conjures is armed, yet sensitive.

Our culture is saturated with these social workers: weary, gun-toting heroines of carceral gender progress, glamorous avatars of the thin blue line. From Charlie’s Angels to Cagney & Lacey, from Decoy to The Silence of the Lambs, not to mention Prime Suspect, Top of the Lake, Killing Eve, Jessica Jones, The Fall, Mare of Easttown, and literally hundreds more dramas and procedurals featuring various kinds of armed female civil servants, we are conscripted in our millions every day to pay our respects to the lady cop. She is allowed to be “imperfect.” (Sociologists have found that, in real life, policewomen often employ emotionally flat, macho, dehumanizing speech patterns in their dealings with civilian women.) Feminism means cutting the lady cop some slack. Even if she’s “an imperfect protagonist,” the trail of women’s empowerment she’s on is blazed by weapons with state-backed legitimacy. Her feminism is a disciplinary saviorism, a fantasy of a benevolently undemocratic route to sisterhood. Feminist progress, for the cop feminist, is something she can impose from above, compassionately, but also, if need be, coercively. What is she here for? To rescue all of society, and sometimes (especially) to use her womanly instincts to rescue other women—even from themselves.

In the past, as we shall see, feminist Freikorps were often a bit of a laughingstock and became something of a nuisance to the government. Nowadays, in contrast, the cop feminist typically treads the hallways of Harvard, the International Criminal Court, NYU, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, or the American Philosophical Society. Her arguments come in new and sophisticated flavors of self-described radicalism. And yet, cop feminism is sometimes part of a self-described revolutionary politics. A cop feminist may even understand on some level that the prison-industrial complex is a vast support system for white capitalist patriarchy, and yet nevertheless believe that female police officers don’t serve the interests of class power in quite the same way male cops do. For her, the sheer feminist force of the woman with a gun is not fatally diminished by the gun in question’s tie to the armed wing of the state. She feels pretty confident that women cops don’t murder unarmed Black people; that women cops don’t harass sexually active women on the street, nor post vile comments on police union message boards; that they have a positive effect on the community; that they serve as little girls’ best defense against sex traffickers and other predators; that they’re just what the police needs in these trying times, what with public trust in the institution being so eroded; that they simply care more; or that they look good in a uniform.”]

sophie lewis, from enemy feminisms: terfs, policewomen, and girlbosses against liberation, 2025

[papenathys]

If you've been on this site for some time hating on books, sooner or later you're accosted by booktok brained fans writing essays about how you're a colonialism apologist because you didn't like their favorite anti imperial fantasy or diverse found family cozy romance by token author of the month. Unfortunately, the flip side to this is getting accosted by stigmata cannibalism hannibal nbc dark gothic fiction blogs who will make the most bad faith arguments about your posts and call you a puritan if you so much as dare to say that their favorite queer literary slop misrepresents or mean spiritedly depicts a marginalized group that you belong to and that you're single handedly bringing back fascism for daring to suggest that sometimes the author's ideologies can indeed not be divorced from their body of work.

[wszczebrzyszynie]

can i hear more about the story & world building of your space mining characters it intrigues me so dearly

thats so sweet. im very happy to hear that! well its a bit hard to explain as it has started as an au for hermitcraft s8 + the life series but me and @makowcy (who co-created this au with me) liked it so much we wanted to make it its own thing? so that it wouldnt be tied to the source material, as we both drifted away from the original series a bit in the past year. So story wise i cannot say anything in much detail as were still unsure about what stays and what gets changed (we havent even thought out all the name changes and design changes yet). if you are really curious there is a year old now au explanation post with the plot timeline and other things that is our baseline, though it might get confusing without knowing the characters? it also might not because space mining always was heavily oc-fied. well any way the general timeline is pretty accurate to what we still have in mind, other things not so much. Well Either Way i did went a bit more in depth into the worldbuilding under the read more! hope its readable

First things first i need to say that its space fantasy, not really a sci fi, because there is very little logical science in it? its not meant to be scientifically accurate in any way; while it started as alternative history, we decided it woudlve been better if it were a differently working world entirely - its similar enough to think its alternative history at first, but the more you know the more you realize its something else! familiar and based on our reality but giving me more freedom and room to be vague

In short: people were able to colonize space in 60s or 70s, taking the cold war-like era divide of the world to the outerspace. the entire story is set about 120+ years after that, in a far away galaxy, in the former eastern colonies, about 20 years or so after the fall of the empire, and the setting is generally based on pre- and early post-1989 Poland (the fall of polish peoples republic and the transformation era); its a poor, heavily corrupted part of the galaxy. Its not really lawless, but it could as well be. but its also very cowboy bebop-y, with more fun retrofuturistic elements and the general bounty hunting aspect of it. bounty hunting itself can be "centralized" (done by the police force) or done by individual, unaffiliated bounty hunters and bounty hunting groups; though everything is in a very grey area. The only other life in the universe has been discovered fairly recently; an unassuming rock-like structure, long dead in its most commonly found form, and more fungi alike when alive. Its hidden deep under different planets surface, and is considered to be the most important discovery of recent era, becoming the most sought-after item in the galaxy, despite how little is still known about it and its potential uses

In more... long; because of the crushing debt towards what can be called "the west" (in a political sense; its space, and even though people have left earth behind, that terminology is still in use) and, hm, interesting politics (introduction of capitalism in a socialist state), the poverty was the highest its been since the post-war, which, mixed with poor politics on many sectors and the terror, ultimately causes the fall of what has been up to that point considered simply "eastern colonies" (i imagine the name to be simple; Srebro or Srebro-Kolonia (Silver/Silver-Colony), as mining is an important aspect of space colonization), creating a new space-state (now called -Kraj (country), not colony, though its unofficial names are many); generally considered "lawless" (though it isnt) and corrupted, whose society was left feeling mostly disillusioned, and who has given up. While the circumstances are very much based on real polish history, in the world space mining there was no real... fanfare, no feeling of winning, because i imagine that worlds space to be... generally "slow and cold" - changes happen slowly, and everything is so vast and big, it takes so much time to organise and even send information, that everything is just kind of... made to be slighly disfunctional all the time. Well either way it all paints a picture of the general society both holding a grudge towards and being wary of the govnerment (past and current), and the west, and everyone else; the feeling of being cheated is everpresent, but life goes on, even if it isnt great, and everyone has to adapt to it.

Its no coincidence that mining is even in the name; it became something culturally important, a meaningful pillar not only of the space-world as a whole, but of this silver state especially. Its kind of bound to happen when its such a big and important sector. Thats also why a lot of the characters, both minor and major, were or are miners, or worked in the industry (the main character is, after all, a mining engineer by education). Its a dangerous job, but also something people take natural pride in.

there are different "levels" to space mining - not all mining colonies and stations are equal (in difficulty, in gear needed, in safety - both because of the planets, but due to inside factors as well; the rise of workplace injury, money cuts, loopholes and pay inequality all predate the fall of the old colony. the politics really were poor), so not all miners experiences are the same, especially since the discovery of whats commonly called in the story a "gwiazdnica" (its normal name being Staryt or more english suited Starite); a rock-like structure in its dead form (and a more plant, maybe fungi-like when alive, though thats a bit of a secret). its very... well hidden, deep inside planets and moons, and very hard to extract, requiring special gear (small mining mechs! the only usage of mechs in the world is for mining). it has been the only living organism found in space. Its... usefulness is still unclear - the giant interest in it lies mostly in its sheer uniqueness as well another living organism, but also in its beautiful appearnance. It looks like the starry sky itself, hence the name.

Since there is no real plant life in space (its either ice, sand, or rock when it comes to "livable" ones) and no natural source of oxygen, people live under domes - some small, more "temporary", usually tied to mining or research work, some giant, almost self sustainable, interconnected on the planets surface. They all can look very different depending on the planet, reason for its construction, age, and all the other factors; some more fleshed-out ones are what me and Aku simply call "sad" ("the orchard"; home planet to some of the characters, known for its giant orchard domes, and therefore the fruits. quite a beautiful place! though that is definitely not its actual name), the "old rosa", (known mostly for its size and its many domes; lots of people live there, and its filled with communal housing - the panelaks, blocks, plattenbau, whatever to call it. Few characters live there! right side of the picture below), the living planet (left side of the picture below; a very important setting in the story. Its an unspecified desert planet, with its only notable construction being an old, long abandoned and very small mining station with a broken dome. It would make it generally unlivable without many costly repairs, if it wasnt for the fact that it naturally has thin but breathable air due to it actually being a starite planet), and, obviously, the earth - similar to ours, but different, the origin of human race, and the planet left behind. Its often talked by spacians in past forms, even though its still alive and there are still people on it (many of them in the character cast as well!); earthians generally tend to recognize each other because of the accent, as space colonies have generally standardized language (think esperanto, or interslavic; a constructed, invented language, typical to the eastern colonies, with little deviations in phonetics; mostly in vocabulary), as well as through one another, as earthians are generally very community-oriented.

Due to the lack of natural plant life, and as a "cultural leftover" from the early days of space colonization, when space travel was still new, scary and extremely hard, people living in space have a different diet from those raised on earth; it mostly consists of various (and i do mean various) pickled foods and dishes made from them, sweet sour and spicy, mushrooms, vegetables like potatoes and beets, and as for meat - mostly pork and poultry.

Some people live on spaceships and space stations instead - either beause of work, lifestyle, or circumstance. Living like this can be a lifelong choice or something temporary, though it is something that requires a lot of work and maintance - i mentioned before that space is "slow and cold", and that coldness factor is an especially dangerous one. Its different from coldness as just a temperature feeling or a state - in the world of space mining, "coldness" is more like an energy, a mass, something more tangible and everpersent, that slowly breaks everything down, including the ships and stations. It feels like it "sinks" into the objects and people, and that coldness takes some getting used to. These space stations are usually pretty well maintained and pretty self sufficient, often being tied to mining industry again, as some on-planet stations arent suitable for living and proper colony creation. Id say the most important characters to the story live on the space ships? Including the main character (space ship below). though that thing is more like... living in the car kind of thing.

Another big and important part of the general culture and life is the "bounty hunting" - as before it predates the fall of the colonies, and exists in two forms, the "centralized" (done by police force) and the independent, individual (done by, well, individuals, and independent bounty hunting groups). Its obviously a political tool, especially with the corruption, though it really can pay well sometimes, and some people do make it their main job. That bounty hunting is an all-universe thing, very much not specific to former eastern colonies. Its generally hard to become a bounty hunter, as it requires a lot of knowledge and work and gear maintance, so the centralized form is much more common. On a similar note - a lot of criminal characters are called "terrorists", even though not all of them have commited actual acts of terrorism. its a political tool again

Well thats a bit long. almost 2k words! hope its all understandable. I tried to keep it to the most interesting/important parts, so there are few things i havent mentioned, especially ones that are less important to the world and more to the story itself. Well either way. peace and love