#distopian novel

[mailmiocuoredipietratremaancora]

[Secrets are lies/Sharing is caring/Privacy is theft]

WAR IS PEACE.

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

The (inverted) Orwellian quote is obvious; after all, there is no dystopian novel that does not owe a debt to 1984. But is The Circle really a dystopian novel? In 2013 it probably seemed infinitely more so than it might today: reading it (only) 10 years later has an entirely different effect, so much that it made me think it was much more recent. “Much” because today 10 years means something different than twenty or thirty years ago: the speed of technology swallows time and space, swallows us, more and faster than we would like.

What Dave Eggers paints is a dystopian but painfully real world: it doesn’t generate fear, as 1984 or Brave New World could have. No. It generates disturbance, discomfort, anguish, for something that is already here and for something that is getting closer and closer and that we silently ignore, knowing (convinced?) that we cannot stop it. The protagonist, Mae, is one of us much more than Mercer or Ty/Kalden are; Eggers is very good at conveying alienation and hallucination, very good at making us feel repulsion for his protagonist, with whom we cannot identify perhaps precisely because she represents a part of us that does not yet exist but which we know could exist.

The novel is about so many things, so many themes, dangers, temptations and deviances that this is not the space to discuss them. It certainly speaks of a reality and a dystopian (in-)humanity closer than it has ever been. I would like to believe that it could speak to all of us: the Western, wealthy advanced and developed world, but I would betray the very spirit of the novel if I endorsed such a simple and pure hope.

[cherries-in-wine]

A good dystopian novel is one that makes you reflect on your own society and I think Suzanne Collins understood that very well. Everyone has become so desensitized to war, every "free palestine" comment I see on Instagram has a "womp womp" or "just stfu no one cares" reply to it. It's so disgusting and uncomfortable to see celebrities at a charity event (the met Gala) dressed like people from the Capitol when there's currently a genocide going on. Books like the hunger games and 1984 feel almost like a prophecy now, everyone is so indifferent to what's going on around them, so many countries are funding a fucking genocide, people trying to spread awareness getting shut down by a "it not affecting me why would I care" ass attitude.

[pumpkinrootbeer]

Not to rant about thg but to rant abt thg something that has always bothered me with all the hunger games dupes in the 2010s is the way they hollowly take aspects and apply them on a blanket level onto their world. Like a big critique of the ya genre is "why is it always teenagers in these situations" when thg had this clear explicit reason as to why the age range was teenagers and what that said about this society Suzanne Collins was trying to set up. A fictional society she was pretty explicitly using as a critique of real world american culture. Like it is not subtle!

And yes obviously ya novels use primarily 12-18 yr olds in their stories is because that age rage is typically the most marketable and the hunger games isn't this like radical exception to that, but what makes it stand out to me is that she had a narrative reason for that trope that isn't just "highschool kids meddling"

Just like how so many take the idea of "oppression government" and "being grouped into different divisions of society" at completely face value and don't try to add any meaningful depth. Even the love triangle, an aspect of those books I see torn to shreds constantly, was used as a device to analyze Katniss's character and motivations AND a way to explore that even her relationships are under control of this government. It all had purpose.

[litandlifequotes]

Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.

1984 by George Orwell

[alexandria-lib]

A memoir of the past decade (2014-2024) would be a dystopian sci-fi novel in any time before that.

[helpimstuckposting]

Bro what god do I have to straight up murder to get these awful makeover game ads out of my eyesight forever

[writer-logbook]

My story doesn't have a villain, so what ?

Does a story really need a villain ? What is a stake where there's none ? How can the protagonist evolve when they've got no one to face ?

In which I explain how the conflict can lie elsewhere - and it's a bit more challenging yet sometimes more interesting.

The world, and society in general. They are often a good starting point to create tension in your novel (because everything is most certainly wrong everywhere lol). For example : what happens if you don't share the beliefs of your city ? What choices can make you defy the current order and break the status quo ? It's a convenient way to plot distopian books, but it's not yet a cliché because of to the complexity of the trope and the different aspects you can explore as it is broad.

The complexity of your characters : the personal quest. The famous "You are your own worst ennemy" is a actually very effective in this case - but any other significant event, trauma, fear etc. can be consistent enough to be the core of a novel. I believe the journey is more important than the "plot" or the ending itself. The path of finding answers, healing and overcoming a traumatic event is easy to suggest, harder to write about, yet somehow always powerfull. I think it's hard to be cliché with 'personal quest' trope because everyone deals with their suffering in such different ways that you can't be exploring it twice. (Or it can be something lighter, like the pursuit of an artistic dream).

Various characters, same event. Multiple POVs are a great way of exploring all the aspects of the issue, based on the different beliefs and perceptions that drive your character. For this to be really effective, you need to have characters who do not share the same opinion on the subject. It doesn't have to be a difficult idea to come up with. For instance: in a futuristic world, you can choose what to do with your memories: keep them or erase them. Some people will argue in favour of the process (because you can erase a traumatic event), others will argue against it, saying that memory is what makes a person. In that kind of scenario, morality plays a huge role.

A destabilising event, much bigger than ourselves or a discovery that could shape the future. A destabilizing event, much bigger than ourselves or a discovery that can shape the futur. Think of that sci-fi novel where the end of the world is brought about by an incoming asteroid. It's the same thing. Either you try to avoid it, or you try to accept it, or you try to fight it. Each way is valuable to a story, if you create some consistent characters.

To conclude : we have to think a bit more about what is at stake when no one actually treathen the peace of the community. There's no manichaeism, we have to go beyond good and evil ; the solution isn't clear - sometimes there's none at all. And that's okay.

Thanks for all the kudos and reblogs, I feel relieved to see that my posts are of some help ! ❤

If it's a bit fuzzy for you, let me quickly explain what my story is about, because that's what motivates me to write this essay.

My MC is a priest in a religious town that is suddenly plagued by an unknown and incurable disease. She tries to get used to it, until her family contracts it. She manages to acquire the power of the goddess and, doing so, shakes the foundations of her entire city and society, believing that she is now able to act. There's no villain whatsoever, just a poor girl trying not to see her family dies and who has to face the consequences of her own actions.

[fandoomrants]

So I have this love-hate thing for the whole Hunger Games because while I've seen the movies and read the books and I've been hyped and I've waited for each movie, gone to see it, etc, and I usually don't like First POV in books yet everything in them is so brilliant... It gives me chills. Because I can't say the writing itself is a masterpiece in terms of language used, although it's brilliant because it fits the perspective of a teenage girl, it's raw and doesn't sugarcoat anything, the way everything is presented is amazing and that's the whole appeal actually.

The Capitol, for example. They're shown almost as the bad guys, not just Snow but all the citizens because they find the games interesting and don't do anything to stop them. And District 13, which was believed to be destroyed and then we find out it's not and in the beginning this is like some light in the tunnel but then we slowly realise that Coin and Snow aren't too different and they're both power hungry and cruel in their own ways while at the same time we meet people from the Capitol who aren't bad and genuinely want to help and change this reality. And all the layers that get revealed until we reach these conclusions along with Katniss...

But what really scares me is that... This isn't entirely unlikely to happen in the future. Like, we already have distopian novels that have influenced real reality shows and we have way too many shows about survival and all of that, the only difference is that people aren't dying there (but you know what, there have been death cases in some! They cancelled one season or Survivor in my country years ago because someone died) so really, the line here is thin. And if it's not really about the games really happening, then there's the political situation. That's even more likely to happen one day. These thoughts have always been holding me from truly getting in this fandom.

And now revisiting it when I'm much older, I see other sides of it. And I think I dislike some things even more but at the same time... I can't help but find some understanding of the Capitol citizens. And no, has nothing to do with TBOSAS and young Snow. If anything, this scares me even more because what do we see there? A character we already know and despise that suddenly people start liking him because he looks good (no judgement here. I admit he looks good. I just can't simp), and people finding the games boring in the book/movie itself and then also people seeing the movie complaining about the same part with the games because it wasn't as interesting as the ones in the OG trilogy? The Capitol is basically the same as almost every one of us.

And let's face it - we see the Capitol and its citizens as bad because we get to see it in the OG trilogy through Katniss's eyes, a girl which was brought up in poverty and knows what real hunger and dealing with this life is but this is almost like comparing a third world country to... Almost every other country. Because the Capitol is loud, it's obsessed with crazy things, shows, fashion trends, etc but this is not too far from our own lives. And we as an audience are shocked by them just because we see them compared to the Districts and their life but in fact, we're living in a world which is so much closer to the Capitol than it is to any of the districts. And it's the same thing happening with Snow. He's charming and uses it to his advantage, and is played by a good-looking actor and people like him just the way people like Snow in TBOSAS.

And another thing I've already seen people commenting on but I still wanna add is that we have these movies which I believe are good adaptations but most of the characters are played by older actors. Like, go look at some actual teenagers and imagine them in these scenes where children are killing and dying... (When's the last time y'all saw a 14yo? Imagine this being an actual victor of these games...)

So yeah, these things really make me think how it's a brilliant story but the concepts we see there are so messed... (And a good proof is how I have way too many thoughts of the games and their making and wanna know more despite how wrong they are...)

[gurokichi]

I could never become bored of you, not that easily, at least! You are my Bon, you can't get rid of me that easily <3

Yeah, I got 2 kitties! Both of them are boys, and their names are Pickle and Bean! Maybe one day you'll get to see pictures of them! I also have a dog, snails, isopod, beetles, chickens, and hermit crabs! Got a bit of a zoo around here!

I'll definitely watch some of your suggestions, and I will be sure to tell you my thoughts! Just another excuse to talk to you!

I will hopefully be posting on my blog again soon, and I am so excited to now that I know you will be watching my blog (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)

I mainly read fiction, distopian, and horror/gore. But also, like when books have lgbt+ characters, and have read a few Manga! I just borrowed a book from a friend called "The Corpse Queen" by Heather M. Herrman, I strongly suggest it, I've also just started reading a GL Manga series called "Whisper Me a Love Song" and so far have been really enjoying it!!! I like plants in many ways, I learn about plants, I grow both indoor and outdoor plants, and I have a fascination with all living or once living things,,, and they happen to fit in that category too!!! I don't think I could pick just one flower as my favorite, but I do enjoy Asters a lot! Bleeding hearts? awe, it makes sense that a sweetie like you would love a poisonous flower!

What video games do you like to play? I'd love to hear all about your current favorite game! What part of history do you like so much? Oh and you collect things too! I would love to hear all about your little hoards 💕

-Dolly

I’M YOUR BON?? ASJHFSHBHKHGSGHFHJKSHLJS (＞＜)

Okay. Anyways. Sorry, got a lil excited there... I’m your Bon, and you’re my Doll!! All mine!!! I’m glad to hear that you wouldn’t get bored and leave. I’d do anything to make sure my precious doll stays with me!

AWH, they sound so darling. You have so many… how do you keep up with all of them??That’s really cool, though! You definitely have some uncommon pets.

I’m excited to hear your thoughts (๑>◡<๑)

I will definitely be watching my doll’s blog! How could I not? Anyone would find it hard to take their eyes off you. Besides, I’d love to see more of your posts when you decide to go back to it.

Ah, those are all good genres! Thank you for the recommendation, and I’ll check out the manga you mentioned later. Asters are gorgeous; my doll has great taste in flowers!!

I usually prefer games with long stories. I like RPGs and visual novels the most! I find pixel art really nice to look at, so a lot of my favorite games feature that. I’ve been playing through a farming sim called Fields of Mistria lately; it’s been really enjoyable so far! The best way I could describe it is as a mix of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. As for my current favorite games, they’re probably… Minecraft, Danganronpa, Persona 5 Royal, and Identity V. I’m not finished playing through P5R, but I like it so far. I’m currently replaying and trying to get all achievements in every Danganronpa game! I’ve finished Trigger Happy Havoc, and I’m now working on Goodbye Despair. Having a bit of trouble though, because I have a friend I’m sharing my Steam library with who is ALSO playing through the Danganronpa games. I can’t play the games until they get off, bleh. AH, I also started a playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2. I suck ass at it. I ended up punching my horse when trying to get on it. I also drew my gun on it multiple times. So sorry to my horse, it did not deserve that. It took me like 10 minutes and frantic googling to figure out how to get back on my horse after I accidentally got off (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

Do you play any videogames? If you do, I’d love to hear about what you like to play.

Ah, I just like history in general. I love to learn about things. Some things that caught my interest for awhile in the past though are torture/execution methods, the Chernobyl disaster, the Carrington event, WW2, old medical treatments, and Greek mythology. I haven’t been into history as much lately.. so I probably couldn’t explain anything here well.

I do collect stuff! I have a collection of various plushies, figurines, keychains, and knickknacks stored in my room. I think my favorite things that I own are probably my jar of uranium glass and this stunning piece of bismuth I got just a couple weeks ago. I’d like to start a full on collection of uranium glass, but that’s expensive, and I have no idea where I’d put it. Uranium glass is absolutely gorgeous, though! I hope to at least get a couple more pieces in the future.

[fdrsamericanflagduckfloaty]

YOU ARE LIVING A SLIGHTLY DISTOPIAN NOVEL LIFE I STG

yeah

yeah i know

it gives me fanfic ideas tho!!!!!!!! why do u think i wrote the last chapter of please say you love me so well

[izartn]

Thinking about the setting of CFC again, and I know I said on my first post after reading the book that Meatbun should have just gone urban fantasy to get her kick with the more out there elements more plausibly, the scifi plot elements were the weakest on the book but...

You can tell she really wanted to go full on scifi, bc thinking about it, I think going full on 100-200 years on the future with he technology (no aliens or space travel super avaible except for like, maybe the moon or Mars) would have really aided both what she wanted to explore re:technology and the ways we use and abuse it, and her commentary on arts and fictional worlds.

Plus the pseudo superpowered He Yu and Xie Qingcheng and their resulting mental illness and infection by RN-13 would have fit better; maybe even targeting the way humanity has started to openly play with modifying genes and neuroplasticity.

Mandela as an ideology widespread and having to fight it. Making the matrix plan much more scary and plausible.

Like. The distopian sci-fi film noir of it all would have fit like a glove to what she's trying to do in the novel, and to her protags.

Come on, distopian scifi serves to amplify the worst and the best the same way historical fantasy does, and Meatbun loves to go to extremes from what we've read of her.

He Yu being raised by robot nannies that he loves until he realises/is explained they're just unfeeling programs and getting a bit of that real human connection with Xie Qingcheng? Poor wire monkey kid.

Realising "nobody" "real" cares for him would hit weirder here, if not harder. Getting a complex about having to program his own behaviour if he wants to fit and be loved by others! Pushing himself to master coding (he's a hacker in canon! Tie that even tighter to setting and plot and his emotional journey dammit), almost falling but then ruthlessly dismissing the false fantasies created by technology! In the way he does by the end of the book but hitting harder in this setting bc that unreality it's an element that's been there from the beginning.

He Yu having to deal with his hallucinations when he's on his lower moments in this version would also be even more also even more oomph, given people giving in to the technological ghosts would be something he's used to seeing. And then realising his own brain is creating that trap when he thought he was above deluding himself. Like he does in canon but you know. Tying it with the plot and setting better, which makes it hit harder.

You also just know the elite He Yu is born feom are on some hunger games almost capitol bullshit. HY deciding to study cinematography and arts in this kind of culture. Meatbun ripping apart the abuse of AI, tying in with her criticism of the lower common denominator re:fluffy simple stories.

Compare that to a Xie Chengqing even more determined that science has everything studied about human behaviour and emotions are just silly hormones that can robe one of control. At the same time rejecting the frivolous use of technology; finding unsuspecting common ground with He Yu despite it all. Mmm. His brand of condescending old fashioned machismo and general internalised homophobia (and He Yu's if we're talking about it) (although in He Yu case it could just be denial of XQC in specific though which would be hilarous/sad considering. all of the story) would be maybe more difficult to translate but honestly humanity is such a shit show that I would buy we having regressed and then progressed again on the human rights front. Anyway it's more about his unhealthy repression, controlling tendencies, and trying to be good at being human by societal standards, for his sister and master/prpfessor/adopted father. That can be explored perfectly on this setting regardless.

Maybe it's the aftermath of a conflict and that's why people are so crazy about Mandela! Collective trauma around incomprehensible loss. Human nature at his most basic need for love and companionship vs survival, like Meatbun likes.

The more I think about this the more I like it. Mmm. Did censure prevent Meatbun of going all out with the scifi? Because it really really fits.

[hannahbowl]

Right now I am really craving a stereotypical ya distopian romance novel where they are sorted into factions and there is some ridiculous love triangle, but it's Santa's elves. Does this exist? Any thoughts?

[louisendsposts]

nostalgia is a disease!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Friday the 13th in the year 2020 I was still 16, turning 17 and was on my last year as a Junior High School student. Life wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't that bad either. I was the class monitor of our section and I made sure everybody knew by threatening people (some of the loud guys in our class) with an absent mark if they dared to piss me off. It was a running joke and they would tease me for being too hot headed.

Our class wasn't anything special. We were just normal high school kids who had way too much free time in their hands. Back then, we could all still afford to not take life seriously. The boys would often play games on their phones during vacant periods as ML (Mobile Legends) was on the top of mobile gaming apps at the time. Some girls joined them, while some were busy feeding and grooming their cats as they waited for their husbands to come home in the game called adorable home. I couldn't really play or do anything at that time like the others because my phone wasn't as updated and cool as theirs. And to be honest? I was too embarrassed to bring it to school so I would just sit there and would find some people to talk to. My close friends were the first people I would approach. Most of the time they were down to talk about anything under the sun, but then there were also times when I would choose to sleep instead.

At 16, you never really know what you want to do in life. I wasn't serious about anything except for my hyperfixations which mostly included YA/Distopian novels and K-pop. Me and my friends were loud loud when we talked about our shared interests with each other, not caring if others would hear us, which I doubt they did as we were all loud with our own circle (of friends).

Looking back, I think I never really got over that period in my life. I think some part of me is still stuck, waiting for Monday to come as normally as it would. I imagine myself going to school late and then paying the the 10 peso fine just so I could go past the gate, which the student council and the junior police officers heavily guarded. I would submit the attendance sheet I had for last week at the office on the third floor, and then get a new one for the new week that was about to come. I would starve not even 15 minutes into the first period of class even though I had proper breakfast, then ask my best friend to come with me to the canteen in the pretense of going to the CR. We would eat like we haven't been fed for the past 24-hours and go back to class with a full stomach, feeling sleepy when the post snack haze hits. Maybe we'd have a quiz and i wouldn't have a paper to write on because of the unpreparedness that came with being on your last year of junior high. Maybe we'd talk about prom and what we'll wear. Maybe I'd ask my friend if they would like to skip afternoon classes. We'll both say we will, but we would end up seeing each other at the classroom anyways. Maybe I'd steal glances at the person I liked and would call it a day if they looked back. I could go on and on, but it still wouldn't change the fact high school is over. I'm now 21 and I'm on the last semester of my 2nd year in college. And yet, somehow I'm still

[safetynot9uaranteed]

Brave New World is a very good distopian novel that shows us how a world of "intellectual" degenerates would be miserable and pathetic. But now reddit exists so you you don't need to read the book.

[am-molloy]

Book Review: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

I was not expecting this to be a companion to The Giver. Barely anything was similar to the first book. I know it's a companion, and it's another village, but a little callback to book one would have been nice. (Although it's implied right at the end Jonas is alive and with the MCs dad). But this could be a brand new world and I wouldn't have known it. I'm not sure how this is part of the series.

That being said, there was some great world building once again in this book. You can for sure tell it's a distopian future with a distinct culture. I don't think this world was as interesting as the one in The Giver but it was still cool to read about it.

While this story was interesting, I don't think it was as interesting as the previous novel. I think I was expecting more since the first one was so great. I was also a little shocked to see no mention or tie ins (that I know of) to The Giver, be it it's characters, or greywashed world. I don't mind a companion book to have compleatly new characters. In fact, I expect it. It's just this is part of a series and so I thought there would be more of a tie in raher than feeling like a completly fresh book. Perhaps they will all blend together more in the next two books.

I still enjoyed it, however. As mentioned, it wasn't as interesting but it was still a compelling enough read. I will admit that I didn't care for how most of the characters talked, however. It was a bit hard to read. I mean, it helped built the world and such, but like I said, a bit hard to read. But that is a mino nitpick.

All in all it was still a decent book to read.

[bitbybitwrites]

Fruit ask ♡: 🫐🍍🍑 

Thanks for asking @datshitrandom 💖💖💖

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

OMG - A ship that I never knew existed, and never would I ever thought would have worked or that I ever would have wanted . . but once I read some stuff for it - I'm so there: Sebastian Smythe/Adam Crawford. If you haven't read any of these, give them a try because they sold me on this pairing ( esp the first series listed below):

I so want more with these boys together and one day I'm going to write something for these two. 💖💖

****

🍍 What kind of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with?

I'm pretty openminded about AUs as a writer - I really love them, to be honest. I think I've written mostly in AUs . . maybe I have written only one fic thats closest to Glee canon - with the kids all in highschool . .etc.

As a reader: I was just thinking about it ( and of my bookmarks) and I love College/University AUs, Fantasy/Sci Fi AUs, D/s Aus, Historical Fiction AUs, Supernatural AUs, Musician fics, Fireman fics, Restaurant/CoffeeHouse fics, BadBoy fics (wait, are some of these more tropes than AUs? 😂😂.) I wouldn't say I hate, but I don't tend to read many distopian AUs . . but then, I don't tend to read to read those types of stories IRL either. So I probably wouldn't take a stab at writing them.

****

🍑 If you could make a connection between your favorite character and another work you care about (whether a crossover/fusion or a wonderfully “pretentious” literary reference) what would it be? How would it work?

Haven't thought of it before . . but oh my goodness (when I saw "pretentious literary reference" )- please tell me someone has written a Klaine/Jane Eyre crossover AU or something or other.

Can't you picture it:

Blaine as the dark, brooding Mr Rochester type character - master of Dalton Hall.

Kurt being hired as Jane Eyre was to be a tutor for Blaine's ward(s) - the child (ren) of his diseased brother Cooper.

But Blaine is hiding a secret who knows what that is . . . a mad husband locked in the attic like in the novel ( Sebastian? Eli?)

Make it all gothic romance and everything - I think that would be pretty awesome, right? I'd read it!

****

This was fun! Thanks again for the asks!

For anyone else who may want to play . . . the fruit emoji ask game.