#should go without saying i take an explicitly pro communist stance so the state building part is not a tragedy

[handweavers]

YOU’RE WRITING A NOVEL????? Can I hear about it.

it's pseudo-historical fiction set in a made up version of 1880s-1920s eurasia examining the development of imperialism in this era + industrialization + the rise of communism. this is done primarily through the lens of a boy who was born a literal bear and violently forced into the role of a human prince of one of the imperial powers as part of the colonization of his homeland, is woefully mistreated by everyone and used as a pawn and so he becomes a class traitor (positive) and joins the revolution in his homeland and then marries this world's version of lenin who is a mongolian trans woman who can form soul bonds with animals & merge consciousness with them 🫶🏼 its both an examination of these various historical-material forces and a love story at its heart.

they are lifelong friends and her story weaves in and out of his until finally coming together as they transition from being revolutionaries to building a socialist state, and i'm exploring how as they fall in love and their senses of self tangle and merge the limited third person pov expands to include her awareness. in this version of the world my "lenin" (she is not literally lenin, i'm taking inspiration from several historical figures for her, but her role in the history of this world is effectively that of lenin) lives far longer than 1924

the main regions/locations of focus are the eurasian steppe, the ottoman empire, and the british empire, with the russian empire and late qing china/warlord era roc as peripheries - albeit fantasy equivalents of all of the above as i'm taking liberties with some things lol. but i have been doing a lot of historical research on all of the above and having a great time with it. in this version of the world the first socialist state is not in russia but elsewhere in the steppe, and so i'm examining the material conditions that could have caused that to happen and forming the world around that + playing with the political economies of these made up countries

some things i'm exploring through the main characters' personal narratives issues like gender and sexuality including intersexism, class struggle and the role of the state in revolution and what is required not only to start a communist revolution but to maintain it against counter-revolutionary forces, the collapse of monarchism and how the world reached the crisis of imperialism that was ww1, anti-communist nationalism in the early 20th century, childhood abuse and the manufactured powerlessness of childhood as an allegory for being an imperialized subject, imperial and class collaboration vs resistance, and a bunch of other things. it spans 40 years of their lives so there's a lot to cover and many 'periods' of their lives

the world is heavily set in reality with only minor fantastical elements that fly under the radar, like the main character having been born a bear is not really the point of the story but exists to aid the themes. in this world the fact that sometimes animals can turn into humans and humans can share consciousness with other forms of life exists very much in the background. a lot of the story is focused on character development and the personal relationships between characters, set while all of the above is happening. balancing all of this and writing it in a way that the entire thing doesn't feel like a fever dream or a textbook is my ongoing struggle that i am sincerely enjoying