#we still have to maintain a certain social dignity even when we want to assassinate our respective loved ones

[fanatic-freakshow]

Please excuse me while I go commit murder.

[persimmononroll]

“The Harlan isn’t accepting visitors at this time,” comes the nasally voice on the other side of the intercom. “You’ll have to come back another time.”

Neht does not curse because she refuses to display any sign of weakness in her husband’s domain (she loves him dearly, really, but there is still a part of her that wants to destroy that man completely and utterly, especially when he hides behind his assassins when he doesn’t want to deal with something, which is often) but she does pointedly glare at the microphone as she leans out of the window closer to the speaker.

"I hardly need to make an appointment to see my own husband,” she says, perhaps a little too coldly considering that it’s hardly the Italian’s fault that her husband is an absolute trainwreck. “You will open these gates and I will talk to the Harlan and there is nothing he can do about it.”

“Hi, Uncle Stefy!” exclaims the pudgy little girl in the backseat, Jodie’s ears perking up at the familiar voice. She hasn’t been maintaining the distinction between cat and vampire very well lately and Neht frets terribly about that because however will he send her off to school if she turns back into a cat mid-lesson? He’s homeschooled her so far but he thinks she’d thrive better with more socialization.

"Oh, the baby is here! Hey, babe, wake up! The baby is here! Babe? Oh, he’s really conked out, wow. Hiiii, Jodie-Podie~” says the assassin, sing-song, before he remembers his job. “Look, ma’am, the boss is the one signing my paychecks. I’m just doing what he tells me to do. If he says no visitors, then no visitors.”

“Yes, and you’re doing a marvelous job, Stefano, I really do appreciate the work you two do for him, but...Jodie, would you be a dear and put your headphones on? Listen to a very fun song, whatever you like. Mommy and Daddy must discuss very boring things meant only for adults to hear and you won’t like it much.”

Jodie, bless her, never likes being told what to do but even still, she shifts back into a more vampiric ear configuration and slips her headphones on to listen to one of the little boy bands the children like these days.

“Harlan, I know you’re listening, you wretched old bat,” Neht hisses once he’s certain their daughter isn’t listening. He speaks in Vampiric -and not only that but the dialect of Anachrom that’s near-incomprehensible to those neither well-studied on ancient tongues or raised in the heart of the Egregorical wastelands- but even still, he's not certain how much of the language his daughter had picked up. The assassin will, of course, be spoken to in English as he only speaks their ancestral tongue as a third language at best and certainly not the variant spoken now.

“If you do not open the doors this instant, I will personally see to it that all of your holdings come to ruin, that none shall ever speak of you ever again, that your forest burns and your land is salted. I will rip out your heart with my own teeth and devour it raw. I will not give your body the dignity of the flames. I will cast your bones out for the vultures to pick over. Do not test me. Stefano, open the gates.”

"No. Absolutely not. Stefano will do no such thing. I permit only Jodie to enter,” comes the imperious voice of his husband, the former ambassador of the Daughters of Egregori to the other, less enlightened families before the great upheaval eliminated his position and rendered all his years of conditioning and training completely meaningless.

“And I’d like to see you try. You haven’t killed me yet. What makes you so certain you can do it now? Yours is the coward’s way. Fight me in righteous combat and we shall see who triumphs here.”

“Do not forget you are permitted to live under my will only. The only reason I have not driven my blade through your heart is because it pleases me to see what you’ve become. Stefano, be a dear and open the gates or I will open them for you,” growls Neht.

"...Boss, I feel like I’m getting in the middle of your marital issues. Hey, do you think I could just take a little break and maybe get a snack or something while you two figure this predicament out? A little snicky-snack? Please?”

“Our marriage holds strong and it would do you well to follow our example, Stefano. A beast tends to the needs of his base needs of his belly when the adversary beats down his door. Are you a man? Or are you a beast?”

“Stefano may enjoy a snack if he so wishes, Harlan. Stefano, my poor and sweet darling, make yourself a hot cup of spiced blood just as you like it.”

“He doesn’t need a snack. He had enough at lunch,” his husband declares. “Angel, you will not bring that thing inside. Put it back where it came from. I don’t want to look at it. Don’t leave it here.”

“...Aw, man, can we stop discussing my eating habits? I’m just trying to do my job, Boss.”

“Open the gates and I’ll fund a trip to Fisney Land, Stefano,” Neht says even though she definitely doesn’t have the money for that.

“Stefano doesn’t want to go to Fisney Land. He would like to go to the World of Fisney, which I will fund when he does not open the gates so that he may go to the second, fake Italy to be amongst his own kind.”

“Oh, oh geeze, would you look at that? Would you just look at that? It looks like there’s a threat over there somewhere. I better go investigate that. Byyyyye!”

“Stefano, you worthless scum, get back here at once and defend me! Fine. Be that way. Useless. Pointless. Ought to dock your pay. I’m going to take you back to Italy and let the Christians point crosses at you or whatever they do. Stefano! Do you hear me? You are scum. Scum. Not even fit to clean my floors.”

Jodie shrugs her headphones off, frustrated that this is taking so long.

“Mommy hates Jodie? Daddy hates her? They are cruel? They do not love her? Daddy does not let her inside? Mommy does wickedness and makes her, a baby, be in the car with not even any snacks?”

She sniffles a little for dramatic effect, though her eyes are suspiciously dry, Neht’s daughter through and through.

“My child, we do not have snacks because we have already eaten the snacks. Come on, let’s have none of that, dear girl, we-”

“Jodetha,” his Harlan interrupts because he’s a rude creature. “You are the triumph of my line and the crowning jewel of all the ancestors who came before you, radiant in your glory. Before the Fall, a child such as you would be raised in fine splendor by the strictest of tutors so that you might grow up to be the voice and will incarnate of Anachrom itself -no, why stop at that, you would speak for all that are and all that were, certainly- but sadly you must be raised by flawed creatures such as us and be denied your proper station in life. All that I can offer now is a feast. Stefano! Come back at once! Why aren’t you opening the gates for my daughter and my angel? Do you expect me to press this button myself? It has germs on it. I will not die of illness.”

Neht sighs because the thought of his child growing up to become a thoughtless tool like her father is a terrible thing (and his Harlan comes so close to realizing that at times before he abruptly shuts off that line of thought because he may be elderly now and he may be a lot better than how he used to be but that doesn’t mean he’s shrugged off all his indoctrination; everything about the man makes so much sense when you remember a cult raised him in a tower) and it’s very, very good indeed that her husband’s former position has been eliminated (because the Egregori do not communicate with other Families anymore and therefore no longer raise a non-infected child to become a carefully monitored mouthpiece, cut off from most aspects of society) but it isn’t proper to argue about such things when Jodie is paying attention, so she pulls through the gates to park in the garage of the little beige house.

Her husband doesn’t live there, of course, though his assassins maintain the decoy house and have really fixed up the place splendidly. The Harlan lives in the secret underground bunker so enemies that no longer exist won’t come after him. That might’ve included her once upon a time but considering they married, she supposes she won’t kill him after all despite all their not-very-serious threats. She could, of course. It wouldn’t even be hard. You could just push him over, honestly. She wouldn’t even have to draw her sword or even poison his tea. Really, a stiff breeze could knock the man over and she’d get all of his life insurance money.

“Jodie, can you be a very helpful girl and carry the diaper bag for me so that everyone sees how strong you are?” she asks as she helps her out of the car. She’s getting a lot bigger but even still, she seems so tiny. She wonders if that’s normal but there’s probably no normal when your daughter is a cat. She never felt like she knew what she was doing with Jesseth and she certainly feels out of her element with her youngest.

“I am mighty,” Jodie says solemnly as she accepts her burden.

Neht struggles with the car seat for a bit but then they go in at last: witch, cat, and the baby she technically kidnapped.

[arisaint]

SOME ITEMS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN CREATING A TOTALITARIANISM FOR YOUR STORY

Is your story a dystopian universe but you don’t know how to begin? Are there some things missing or you feel your totalitarian government is not 1984-ish enough?

Well! I am here to give some tips based on my own experience living under a regime of this kind and reading about these systems. These are some tips for writers and roleplayers who want to create their own totalitarian worlds. So, here we go!

IDEOLOGY & PILLARS

The ideology is the base of the new order of a totalitarianism. Depending on the beliefs of the regime, the way they see the world and how it works, the nation will transform differently.

That’s why in A Brave New World, which pillar is genetics engineering, is built as a society divided in different genetical castes; or the reason why The Handmaid’s Tale world is based in a radical religious ideology that dominates women and punishes those who sin; or why The Man In The High Castle follows the nazi’s philosophy on superior races and idolizes Hitler’s figure; or why Fahrenheit 451’s books prohibition influences the roles of firefighters.

There are plenty of fictional and real (unfortunately) examples. An ideology usually has rules and laws, perspectives, a determined political and social system, a deity or figure it admires and an official truth.

OFFICIAL TRUTH

One of the main goals of a totalitarian system is changing completely the reality as it is known. For this reason, the absolute truth of certain events is a threat for the system.

For a totalitarian government, the truth expressed by the “official sources” is the only and absolute truth. Anything that comes from another voice is a lie or even a delusion. Working hard on building their own reality is the reason why they take over media and spread their own version of a story just to make the rest of the versions look fake.

An innocent man was killed by the system because he was protesting against the crisis? According to the government, “the person was killed because he was a menace to the people, he was an assassin and was trying to foster anarchy within the country. That’s why the brave authorities were obligated to shoot him”. With this version, the government is seen as the hero, conveniently. Because yes, conveniently, the official truth never soils the reputation of those in power. It usually spreads hatred on its enemies (those who oppose the totalitarianism ). The official truth’s goal and function is to change reality completely in order to achieve the absolute anchorage of the people on power. Take this always in mind because it’s probably the most important thing a totalitarianism does to stay in power. The stakes are too high to let people know the truth.

CHANGING THE PAST

As a consequence of the official truth, spreading the painted version of a current event is not enough. It’s also necessary to change the past and rewrite history. And, of course, with the same and convenient goal: making the system on power look like a hero and savior. So, any symbol, event or element that says the contrary or represents a confusion of this understanding, is erased from history books, removed from town squares (statues and sculptures are victims of the government if they don’t fulfill the new order’s values) and are eventually forgotten by future generations. Everything that belongs to the past and threats the totalitarianism ideology, even the slightest littleness, will be erased from the collective consciousness to reconfigure the thoughts of society about the past.  

Is there a hero from the past of the nation who doesn’t follow the ideology of the regime? Their name will be erased from history books and their statues will be replaced by a more convenient hero that follows the government thoughts. Eventually, the first hero is forgotten and never named again.

NEW LANGUAGE

Words are powerful weapons and totalitarianisms well know that. For this reason, they’ll always opt on adopting the “new language” that will be part of the new order with the objective of killing the unnecessary past and controlling the society even in the way they speak and what they hear.

As it’s perfectly and clearly stated in Orwell’s 1984, the Newspeak replaces the Oldspeak so the regime can dominate people’s thought. When creating a totalitarianism, it’s important to have that in mind: they will always want to control what their people say, do and think. Because that’s the safe way to stay in power, if nobody thinks different, nothing different will happen.

The new language, in many regimes, is shown as a war one. Always using words such as fight, battle, soldier, comrade, brigade or troop to make their people believe there’s a constant war, that peace can only be found through battles and that those who think different are enemies.  

BIG BROTHER

The totalitarianism needs to show a face, the face of a savior who will replace God or any other idol of the people. Even if it’s real or not, dead or alive, it’s the face of the government and its’s an obligation to pay respects to it. Propaganda fuels the omnipresence of this character, even if it’s human, they make sure the people think otherwise: that it is a deity, the hero of the society. The ideology of the regime seeks for the exaltation of this leader and make it be loved by people.  

PROPAGANDA

The official truth, the new order and the exaltation of the Big Brother of the system is diffused exclusively through propaganda. It is the precious tool of every totalitarianism and is always used to the point of being abusive and invasive. It will be on billboards, television, newspaper (if there are), bulletins, everywhere. And of course, this propaganda is designed with the new language of its governors. It’s supposed to have the same personality of the whole system. And the goal is evident: brainwashing. The propaganda of a totalitarianism has one or several messages to send to the people, and eventually, make them repeat it and believe it.

For example, the famous 1984’s phrases “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength” are meant to send that precise message to their people and make them believe these statements are actually true (official truth).

SECRET POLICE

This kind of governments eventually create their own police. And the goals of this service is not to protect people even if that’s the “official truth”. The reality of this agency is to safeguard the system and get rid of anyone who means a threat to it.

Murders will be covered as accidents or suicides, prison will be filled with protestants and detractors, there will be torture centers to make people confess valuable information for the police. This is how they act. They are hitmen, feared by the people because, sooner or later, society learns the real function of that police. Being a cop of this service turns you into the guard dog of the government, and of course, betrayal is also punished within the members of the secret police.

The Gestapo, KGB and Thinkpol are clear examples of how the secret police of a totalitarianism work. Of course, it’s not an ethical duty. On the contrary; they only care about those who order and pay them, not the people. For example, the Thinkpol’s duty wasn’t to protect the citizens of Oceania, but arresting those who attempted against the Inner Party.

CENSORSHIP

In order to spread only, but only the messages the totalitarianism needs, there has to be a censorship of the media and people. This kind of regimes will aim on media because of its influence on people. They’ll take newspapers, TV channels and radio stations and regulate what they say. There’s usually an official (TV or radio) channel from the government that announces bulletins of news and the propaganda of the regime.

Not all totalitarian governments have total control of media, some clandestine and rebel mass media outwit the regulations and censorship. But, of course, depending on how effective is the secret police, those acts will have consequences.

Regarding political parties, the definition of totalitarianism doesn’t allow the existence of opposition parties, for there can be only one, the unique political party.

BRAINWASHING & INDOCTRINATION

A totalitarian regime always needs to maintain the sheep inside the farm, and it doesn’t want questioner sheep. That’s why they recur to brainwashing, to avoid any risk that could overthrow their government.

The main reason of propaganda and censorship is precisely brainwashing. Propaganda exists to spread what the government wants their people to think and censorship exists to eliminate any tergiversation and “lie” that could confuse them. If the totalitarianism is well established, their people will be completely brainwashed.

Another way this kind of regime use to indoctrinate is schools. Spreading the messages to the youth when they still haven’t built their own opinions it’s a key strategy for totalitarianisms. This is how they secure the brainwashing of new generations.

There are many ways to indoctrinate a society, and it’s always a priority for the regime. Because people who think, will eventually oppose you. They can’t let that happen.  

OPPRESSED SOCIETY

How does a society under a totalitarian system behaves? It all depends on how strict is the system, what they promote through their new order and laws and how established are they on people (brainwashing). What we have to understand it’s that these regimes do not recognize human dignity and the person as an individual. They are just tools for their system and objectives. And, for this society, freedom doesn’t exist.

In a totalitarianism, the people blend with the rest of the collective, becoming idiot masses that just repeat the propaganda they consume. They are a collective, a mass, a medium for the government. They have no rights, they are just instruments with no dignity nor individuality. That’s why the duty of the society it’s to obey and never complain.

Do not limit yourself on making one kind of society, they all react differently to these regimes. Depending on how well established is the new order, it will be harder for people to think by themselves, and become slaves of the system, obeying the regime.

Nevertheless, if you want to create a conflict, there’s always exceptions: citizens who still think for themselves, understand there’s something wrong with the system and will fight it.

RESISTANCE MOVEMENT

And that conclusion bring us here: the main conflict of a totalitarianism it’s a —usually clandestine— group of resistance. Even the toughest totalitarianism has a resistance counterpart, because that’s how human nature is: always looking for a little hole to freedom even in the deepest caves.

Again, the size and quality of the resistance movement depends of how strict it’s the totalitarianism and how efficient it’s their secret police. However, there’s always, ALWAYS, someone who thinks differently and becomes the enemy of the regime. If you want a conflict for the government, there needs to be a resistance group, even if it is small. Also, there are many types of groups, they can be violent, pacifistss, anarchists, etc.

If your story doesn’t involve a coup against the totalitarianism, I suggest you to equally include this group, because they always tend to exist. Besides, a totalitarianism feeds itself from the drama of having enemies, so even if there’s not a big resistance group, they’ll create their own fictional enemy and blame all their problems on them. 

As a final suggestion, if you want to get involved into dystopian worlds and totalitarianisms, read a lot about them, especially I recommend you to read George Orwell’s 1984, for he portrayed a totalitarianism perfectly clear and it’s probably the most emblematic example. Also read a lot of history and real totalitarian regimes! Learn a lot from reality! It’s more akin to 1984 than you think.

Reminder: use this knowledge and write stories to always condemn totalitarianisms! Because we need to use power of literature to fight against what’s unfair. And believe me, as a person who lives in a regime like this, it’s not funny to see a story glorifying a totalitarianism.

Hope these tips are helpful for your stories!