#worldbuilding for masochists

[crowns-of-violets-and-roses]

One of the many oddities in this year Hugo nominations is how many works have low point totals compared to their number of nominations.

For those not familiar with the Hugo nominations the basics are that "First, the total number of nominations (the number of ballots on which each nominee appears) from all eligible ballots shall be tallied for each remaining nominee. Next, a single “point” shall be assigned to each nomination ballot. That point shall be divided equally among all remaining nominees on that ballot. Finally, all points from all nomination ballots shall be totaled for each nominee in that category."

Nominees are then eliminated and points reassigned until the finalists are determined. While I haven't seen anything mathematically impossible there has been a lot of discussion of works points total being unusually low compared to nominations.

One interesting example is the fancast Worldbuilding for Masochists which has been nominated for three years running. In 2021 it had 34 nominations and 26.83 points on the final round or 0.789 votes per nomination.

In 2022 it had 42 nominations and 30.87 points on the final round or 0.735 points per nomination.

This year in 2023 it had 56 nominations and 11.30 points an average of 0.2017 points per nomination. The theoretical minimum number of points it could have gotten was 11.20 (56*0.2).

This is some quick math below so feel free to correct me if I've gotten anything wrong.

If 55 people voted for Worldbuilding for Masochists and had all 4 or there nominees in the final round and a single person only voted for Worldbuilding for Masochists it would have gotten more points than that.

If 54 people voted for it and had 4 other of their nominees still in the last round and 2 voted for it and had 3 of their other nominees in the last round it would have the 11.30 points shown ((54 * 0.2)+(20 * 0.25)).

I think at most two voters could have voted for Worldbuilding for Masochists and not had 4 other of there nominees still in the final round.

I know I have some Hugo voters following me and I'm sure there's more on tumblr. I'm curious if any of you nominated Worldbuilding for Masochists and didn't nominate four of the five below works:

Hugos There

Octothorpe

Hugo Girl

Coode Street Podcast

Kalanadi

FANAC Fan History Videos

[whalleyrulz]

i am not connected to this but i am really excited about it, worldbuilding for masochists is a great podcast and this is a GREAT collection of authors, and hell yeah it would be great to get them good cash for stories

[fionnemrys]

"Arthuriana is so beautiful to me because it is a bunch of fan fiction in a trenchcoat pretending to be literature."

[iloivar]

I am stoked for this book.

I hope it gets fully funded in time!!

[not-poignant]

Sex with a peak alpha is sounding like a horrible experience lol. Poor Efnisien. Are all peak alphas like that?

Many peak alphas are worse - why do you think they have the reputation that they have? Many don't care about using Stretch at all. Many don't ask for consent and don't use safewords and just bulldoze with alpha persuasion.

And yeah, sex with a peak alpha is pretty much an entire event.

In the very first mention of peak alphas, we have this:

If you were a rare peak alpha, you got whatever you wanted, your genes pushed you all the way to the top.

And Gwyn says this:

‘Most of the peak alphas are ruling the world, you know. We’re not very nice people.’

Incidentally, Gwyn as a peak alpha would be one of the ones who didn't bother with Stretch and would use alpha persuasion and pheromones to get his way with a partner.

Peak alphas can pretty much put whoever they want in the hospital with impunity, because no one can really prosecute successfully against them (how are you going to keep someone who can use directives against everyone except other peak alphas in jail?)

Being kind is a choice, because peak alphas are entirely above the law in a way that no one else is in this universe.

When Efnisien meets Gary, he literally thinks it's a physiological impossibility for peak alphas to feel strong emotion and apologise, and he says that they're an aberration - and Gary agrees with him. Peak alphas run a cruel world, and Temsen and Gary are unusual in the choices they've made to be softer (and they are at an extreme, they have to go against a lot of instincts to be this way).

[effervescentnonsense]

Alright Book Lovers

I have a series recommendation for all of you.

If you like:

- Second World fantasy (as in, not our world)

- Magic

- Edwardian/Victorian aesthetics

- Complex stories that will have you cracking out the Red String Board

- Canonically/explicitly Queer characters (including Shield Lesbians, Ace detectives, Bisexual retired spies, healthy polyamorous relationships involving 7 or more people, and even trans characters!)

- So many female characters that one of the books even fails the Reverse Bechdel Test

- a wide array of sub-genres

Then may I present to you,

The Maradaine Saga

The Maradaine Saga is 14 core books that take place in the city of Maradaine, plus two novellas and one full length novel taking place in other parts of the same world. AND COUNTING (this series is still ongoing!)

The core 14 books contain Four main casts and their respective genres:

The Thorn of Dentonhill stars Veranix Calbert, magic student by day, vigilante hero by night, determined to rid his neighbourhood of efitte, the toxic drug sold by crime lord Willem Fenmere, who killed Veranix's father, and deliberately overdosed his mother. Aided by Kaiana, whose father also succumbed to efitte, and Delmin, his fellow magic student, and his cousin Colin, the street gang member.

A Murder of Mages follows Minox Welling, an inspector for the Maradaine Constabulary, a genius, if socially awkward, and considered a jinx around the station, because he is secretly an untrained mage. Assigned to be his partner is Satrine Rainey, mother of two, struggling to make ends meet with her husband who was gravely injured in the line of duty. Formerly of Druth Intelligence, she is 15 years out from her time as a spy, and forges her paperwork to get the only job she can do that will pay the bills- becoming the first woman inspector on the force.

The Holver Alley Crew- when Holver Alley goes up in flames, killing dozens of people and destroying the homes and businesses of many more, brothers Asti and Verci Rynax discover it was arson, and are determined to use their skills as thieves to track down who destroyed their neighbourhood. Asti, a former spy for Druth Intelligence, retired because of his recent escape from an enemy prison where he was tortured until it broke his mind, and Verci, husband and father and inventor of all sorts of gadgets. Recruiting old friends and new, they set to perform daring heists to make the arsonists pay.

The Way of the Shield- Dayne Heldrin is easy to spot in a crowd- towering at 7ft tall, and in his blue Tarian Uniform- he is a veritable Knight of the Modern era. He is a candidate in the Tarian order, a historic organization upholding values of Chivalry and Defending the Innocent, Shield on arm. He has just returned from being overseas, where his mentor was killed by the Gearbox Killer, a maniacal murderer who builds elaborate clockwork contraptions, designed to kill. Dayne barely survived, and his advancement to an Adept Tarian is in doubt. He befriends a young Initiate, Jerinne, and begins to mentor her, pushing her to be stronger, and uphold the values of the Tarians. Political Conspiracy is afoot, however, as a shadowy organization has fashioned themselves after the Grand 10, ten historic figures that helped turn the country of Druthal into what it is today.

All of these books take place in the same city, at the same time, and as the series goes on, recurring characters and crossovers begin to appear as these ragtag bunch of do-gooders find allies in each other.

I cannot stop talking about this series, its so good! The worldbuilding is immaculate (after all, the author, Marshall Ryan Maresca, is one of the hosts of the podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists), the pacing will keep you gripping your seat for dear life!

[transingthoseformers]

So, one particular aspect of the aligned continuity I noticed was just how easy transplants are. Like, Bumblebee's T-Cog was legit shot and all fucked up looking and Ratchet was not only able to repair it, but put it back into Bumblebee with little to no consequence. Megatron had the Decepticons dig up an ancient ass prime, cut off the arm, cut off his arm, and put on this desiccated looking thing Just so that he could use the powers of the forge hammer. Optimus Prime was able to scan Rex, a technoorganic animatronic that was consistently looking all torn up in the series and likely had all sorts of nasties, and gained a dinobot altmode (like, at least the rescue bots scanned mostly inanimate animatronics that hadn't been running around exposed to the elements) Megatron's mind was literally bouncing around in Bumblebee's head in "Out of his head" yes I'm considering that a transplant.

Like ik ik I've brought this up a lot but our immune systems are nuts, it barely tolerates having eyes. Human bodies have a very low tolerance for foriegn substances, which is very useful for murdering pathogens but less so when you want to bring a PB&J to school. From what I can see, Cybertronians have far more lenient immune systems (which would explain how Optimus's case of plague progressed so quickly) which allows them to scan an altmode using foreign data. But. There must be consequences to this. well, ig there is in a way considering how easily the tyrannosaurus programming overtook Optimus's processor in Rescue Bots. It definitely puts Cybertronians at a higher risk for viral threats and contaminants. It also allows for an IMMENSE amount of bullshit to happen with their frames, for better and for worse.

Cylas... is quite literally a 3/4ths dead human in the place of a dead mech's spark which I STILL HAVE OPINIONS ON. This should have been more of a disaster, especially in regard to how they managed to splice two shattered bodies of a Homo sapiens and a Cybertronus cybertronii together. I don't think that wouldn't have worked at ALL if Cybertronian biology was less messy

[rayne-the-neutrois-nerd]

Anyways uh guess who found a podcast all about getting into the nitty gritty with every aspect of worldbuilding and am gonna binge this asap

[skyeslittlecorner]

About Two Stars...

I like to compile my feelings about events into one post, but this time I've been sitting for an hour and staring at the keyboard with an empty brain. This is probably the best proof of how strong this event was. Dense plot. Lots of emotions. Tons of worldbuilding and news. Oh lord.

i warn you, this will be VERY chaotic

Spoilers below cut

Gamigin is. He is. Is anyone surprised that Lucy just adopted him? I would do it too? He's sweet and silly steals the little dragon and puts him in a pocket he's mine now

...not that he was adopted right away, although it makes it all even funnier

They're affectionate. Both. This is just a family that found each other, I love this trope, and these are so heartbreaking-

I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING HERE, BUT I'M HAPPY HE CAME! With other kings, I would be a little afraid, but it's Satan. I trust him. And rightly so, as it turned out.

Leaving it here just because satan and sitri

Sorry. I missed him. This idiot is willing to throw himself under a laser to protect the guy he tried to kill three seconds ago because he knows it would trigger Armageddon. I love you when you're smart, don't get close to MC, it overheats your brain.

BACK TO THE POINT

The fact that Luci fell from the sky himself is extraordinary. He ripped off his own wings. I LOVE IT. He is as delulu as angels are, but in a different way, because he sees pain and is able to face it.

But I think what impressed me the most was his relationship with the Seraphs. I thought they would act like brats and hate each others, and guess what, they do behave like a spoiled little brats, but in love with their older brother. So. Sweet. I'm so freaking biased about Michael and I cried like an idiot. They loved Luci. Luci loved them. In fact, the whole scene at the end, maybe it's my imagination, but Luci sounded like he wanted Michael to stay there with him instead of living an illusion in heaven. He could gouge out his eye as punishment, but he couldn't hurt him when he ordered other angels to die. In fact, he explained to him as if he were a younger brother… Aghhh! My heart! There is so much love and suffering between them. Of course, Michael, I'd gouge out your other eye for dragons, but ughhh

And we learned a very important thing that Michael is a little masochist.

And the whole thing was best summed up by Leraye

Me to puppy, me too

[cer-rata]

I will say, one of the really neat things about comic fandom is having friends who all are completely obsessed with different parts of the universe. Someone is really into the Batfamily and someone loves Wonder Woman, and a particularly masochistic person has kept up with everything editorial has done to Billy Batson--

It's lovely because while I'd LIKE to read everything, ain't nobody got that kind of time, and it's nice to have pocket experts to point you in the right directions, especially when you want to write something that really leans into the greater worldbuilding but really can't read though 100+ issues to find a scan for a weird niche interaction.

Friends kind of slap tbh. Maybe fandom is supposed to be a social thing?

[doctorweebmd]

Helloo! I was wondering what are ur top bkdk fics? You write bkdk so beautifuily, the angst hurts so good‼️ A litany of love and loss and zero-sum game are so beautiful its crazy! I'm tweaking haha I literally cannot stop thinking abt them. All of ur fics r so good in a way thats magical. This might sound weird and kinda alot, im so sorry if it is but I really do hope I remember ur fics for a really long time.

lksajdfl;kasdfj omg don't you THINK i haven't noticed you going through this blog lmao i adore that thank you so much!!! and thank you for reading that hardcore angst you masochist lmao

BUT. thats a super hard question. okay keep in mind that a.) i haven't really kept up with bkdk stuff in >1 year so most of these are older, b.) many of these are, unfortunately, unfinished. it doesn't take away from how amazing these stories are to ME, but i know its a preference for many, so keep that in mind AND c.) every single one of these authors have MANY excellent fics, but these are the ones that have stuck with me. And I'm totally gonna forget some notable people so apologies in advance.

These are in no particular order:

The Space Between by kanae_vr - gorgeous and absolutely devastating work. One of those fics I stayed up all night reading and probably one of the first if not THE first that I commented on. Broke my heart.

In your dreams, nerd! by sapphicflower - Rani's whole portfolio of work is TOP NOTCH (can't recommend the art of falling and love was never easy with you, but since when did we like easy? enough.) but in your dreams, nerd! is still my favorite. The writing has such a magical, dreamy, otherwordly feel to it. Just beautiful.

[KILL GOD] by majjale - majjale is another author that you can read anything they've written and have your mind BLOWN. KILL GOD really stood out to me, though. This is probably THE only villain Deku fic worth reading. The worldbuilding, the reveals, the raw emotion - god, this reads like a novel and I'm simply awed.

To see you alive by overcastjpg - pain. PAIN. Cloddy writes some of the most gut-wrenching angst I've ever had the privilege of reading. And its not just painful interpersonal drama, its also a fascinating and dark plot that makes you feel like you've stepped into a gritty noir novel. Its like stepping into a story where its always cloudy and raining, but in the best way possible.

Undercover by Greyfrey - another author that has a portfolio of top-notch, professional-level bkdk writing. Undercover really holds a special place in my heart, though. The story is absolutely compelling, the character development is handled carefully and elegantly, and it just. It hurts. So, SO good.

Mirror Image by Eleke - this is just a very fun one; so absolutely creative and such an interesting way of imagining BKDK's dynamic in so many different worlds. The structure of the story and the POV changes are also SUPER artistic. Fantastic read.

Bonnie & Klein by surveycorpsjean - i won't belabor the point; this fic, along with everything surveycorpsjean writes, deserves all the hype and MORE. the yearning in it was physically painful and the sex was artistic, emotional, and most importantly, hot.

Doppleganger by waketosanity - another painful and gorgeous read. The pining and self-destruction Katsuki's going through this entire fic is honestly devastating. Its an indirect but powerful character study and, full disclosure, it hurts a lot. But its worth it.

Looking forward to being there by underwickedsky - This author's aura is very foreboding and they tend to write about very dark themes. Like any good mystery or horror, what looks benign on the surface dives into something terrifying. Honestly, this fic has not been updated in 3 years and is only, what, 4 chapters in? But every single one of them is captivating.

i think i found a place for us by dommymommy - sigh. god. i can't even explain it. its gorgeous. it hurts. intimacy is instantly replaced by loss. you ache during the entire story. katsuki's characterization in particular is... he's so skittish, and in denial, and afraid, and lonely. tbh i hope they dont follow me on here because out of every fic on this list and any other list beyond, seeing an update on THIS one would make me drop everything and start reading bkdk again. sorry.

mundane crimes by sifl - last but certainly not least. i dont know how sifl does it, honestly. their work is, in one word, haunting. the tone and cadence and sheer poetry of each and every single one of their works is just - its like they live in a completely different world. i'm obsessed with their style and have re-read this fic too many times to count. should be the AUTHORITY on writing katsuki.

Jeez and there's SO MANY MORE. Like I couldn't just choose one by katyastark, i love ALL their work. and iciclebeanbags and heartsinhay. and there's probably people i can't think of right now. there's SO MANY amazing talented writers we are SO lucky as bkdks

[lurkinginnernarrator]

ARE YOU WATCHING FMA FOR THE FIRST TIME?? HOW FAR ARE YOU, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS TELL US EVERYTHING PLEASE .. ITS THE GREASTEST ANIME OF ALL TIME

I AMMMMM. IM AT EP 30!!! HOLY FUCKKK KKK ITS INSANE. THE PLOT TWISTS THE ANIMATION THE MUSIC THE WORLDBUILDING THE CHARACTER DESIGN

HUGHES 😭😭😭😭 AND NINA AND EVERYONE ITS SO TERRIBLY WONDERFUL, THE SAD BACKSTORIES AHHHHHHHHH

I genuinely am so glad that I'm watching it

I adore the world that's been built, and the interwoven web of characters. Each episode has a special type of pain, but if anything, this show has made me a masochist for it.

Every single. Every single individual story is so exquisitely, incredibly compelling, from protagonist to side character.

I'll be honest, going in, I was just expecting a 'neat' anime. I'd heard of fmab before but nothing concrete so I wasn't sure what to expect besides the fact that my older sibling recommended it to me.

Blown away. No words.

What fascinates me is the concept of 'sin' is so heavy in this show... The taboo, even to the antagonists' names. Atrocities and horrors and how that affects people.

I mean, all stories are about people. There isn't a story without someone. But this is truly a story about people. I can't find the words to explain it.

What is more real than the pain and desperation of children? Mourning the loss of a mother, abandoned by father?

The visceral need to keep what little family you have with you?

The pain in fmab is so compelling.

It's people striving for things, for the sake of the people they love. How, how human. And for that reason I love it.

Fmab thy name be heartache.

So, so anticipatory, I am so excited to watch the story come to fruition.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 48 – Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

I will be honest, I read this book because it was nominated for a Hugo award and I have a mildly masochistic personal commitment to read every nominee I can (and so remain at least slightly aware of the genre at large). Otherwise, I’m quite certain I never would have touched it – everything about the pitch and marketing made it seem like something I would hate. I’ll try to be fair and approach the book on its own terms but, well it wasn’t exactly painful I wouldn’t say my initial impression was wrong either.

The book follows Viv, an orcish adventurer in a generic D&D fantasy sort of world, as she decides to retire from the dungeon-delving/monster-slaying game with her last big score – a magical stone that, when buried, is supposed to bring ‘the ring of fortune’ to whatever you do above it. She opens the city’s first and only coffee shop. The book follows her collecting a cast of lovable misfit friends/employees (Calamity the hobgoblin carpenter, Tandri the succubus barista/eventual love interest, Thimble the ratfolk baking savant, a bard whose name I’m blanking on, Amity the dire shop cat/security) as they run the business and develop it into what by complete coincidence will end up looking very familiar to the a cute quirky modern indie coffeeshop. There is theoretically some conflict happening, first with the local mob boss and then with one of Viv’s old adventuring companions, but they both feel pretty perfunctory and like they’re only included out of a sense of obligation.

The actual meat of the book is basically focused on Viv instantly becoming fast friends with all her employees/coworkers and how endearing they are, and also the step-by-step of the coffeeshop's development. First in renovating the property into her vision, then in the branding and marketing, and then the gradual addition of menu items and live music. Through it all Viv and Tandri have a developing romance that (rather appropriately) feels like a coffeeshop AU fanfic where the author decided the slowburn tag meant ‘every other character will just assume they’re already dating by the halfway point but they’ll act like flustered teenagers and refuse to actually discuss their feelings until they kiss on the literal last page’.

So, the book is ‘cozy fantasy’ which as far as I’m aware does basically means ‘no tension slice of life fanfic but with original characters’ (alternatively, ‘2000s ‘cute girls doing cute things’ anime but with a moderately more diverse cast and in sf/f book form’). The only other books in the genre I’ve read are Becky Chambers’ stuff which, while I didn’t particularly love them, I now feel I was being way too harsh on. Those have legitimately impressive worldbuilding and coherent themes and at least gestures at real compelling character arcs and dilemmas. This, well, what you see is what you get? Like, there’s zero false marketing, the entire book is entirely dedicated to hitting the exact broad emotional beats you would expect it to. There’s not really any interest in the world beyond the cafe, it is in fact a plot point that Viv attracts a found family she clicks perfectly with and their relationships are all uniformly positive, and there is exactly one point where she suffers any sort of real reversal – which lasts for about five pages before everyone comes together and rebuilds things even better than ever. There is a wizened gnome whose clearly living time backwards who takes the time to pat Viv on the should and reassure her that everything turns out alright, in about as many words. There's clearly a market for this, and I am not it.

Morality in the book is basically synonymous with niceness. If someone is friendly or at least polite to Viv then even if they seem like an obvious problem in the end they’ll turn out to have their heart in the right place and only want the best – as, for example, the local crime boss proves to be a nice old lady who accepts an order of cinnamon buns every week as ‘protection money’ and donates several shipments of materials to rebuilding the place without any expectation of payment or stake in return. The only two characters in the book who are rude assholes to someone in the cafe are also coincidentally the only real villains there are.

All of this is stuff that on some level I more or less expected opening into the book. The thing that actually disappointed me is that this fluffy book about opening a coffee shop doesn’t actually care about coffee. If you’re going to make it the centrepiece of your whole book, I expect some exultation and appreciation of the stuff! Give me self-indulgent passages going into detail about the smell and taste and smell and experience of it. Make me put down the thing actually craving a latte!

But the book’s mostly interested in the, like, trappings and signifiers associated with a cafe, not (despite Viv’s theoretical obsession with it) the actual coffee. This feels like a point that generalizes. (There actually is a decent amount of detail spent on the baked goods their genius baker invents, which just makes the lack feel stranger.)

As an aside, and I know this is very clearly not a book that expects you to care about the worldbuilding, but it’s kind of strange that coffee is presented as this new exotic novelty to a vaguely European fantasy metropolis that is explicitly already familiar and comfortable with tea? Like obviously the historical analogues aren’t worth getting into – Viv is creating a cute neighberhood coffeehouse by a college campus, no a 17th century Venetian cafe – but it’s not the first place I’ve seen the same portrayal of the two drinks and it’s, odd? Like it’s not like tea is any less foreign to Europe, or arrived particularly earlier.

But anyway, yeah, didn’t enjoy this but can’t say I was misled. It is in fact a book that you can entirely judge by its cover and not be surprised one bit.

[lincolnchristie]

*waves hand in the air like a beauty queen* Just Hello.*

Welcome to my professional tumblr. I’m Lincoln, and I’m a fantasy/science fiction author. I’m fond of murder mysteries, powers that come with a price, and mythology.

Most of you will probably know me already, actually, as tumblr user @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels. *jazz hands* Surprise, ‘tis I!

For a long time I resisted the idea of self-publishing. I didn’t want to start from the ground-up in building an audience because I’m not great at this whole social media thing and I hated that idea. However, I finally grew too frustrated with how the traditional publishing world treats its authors and said screw it. We’re gonna try doing this on my own.

And, uh, I’ve come to realize, I actually do have an audience. My lovely fanfiction readers.

My hope is that, since you all enjoy my fanfiction, you’ll want to check out my original writing, too. I will say up front that there are some differences such as a darker tone, heavier subjects, romance is not the main plot, etc. But, if you like my more plot-centric and serious fanfics, then I think you’ll like these original works of mine. I like to play around with themes and worlds similar to the ones found in those stories.

*vibrates with excitement* Which is why I'm launching my Patreon!!!

I have also, shocker of shockers to myself more than anyone, written a poetry collection. It's titled Manifesto of a Blossoming Supervillain and you can purchase it here on my website (I have a website!!!) in e-book with paperback coming in the next few days.

But my Patreon is where I'll be posting, chapter by chapter, my fantasy murder mystery novel A Masque of Shadows.

When the controversial regent of the city-state of Serenissima is murdered on the first night of Masquerade, Captain Matthias has to sort through spurned lovers, murderous family members, and scheming nobles to prevent war from breaking out. It's Murder on the Orient Express meets Game of Thrones starring a very tired autistic bisexual who's just trying to get through the holiday season.

What can I say, I want to see if you all can solve the mystery in real time. ;)

My Patreon is also where you'll get lots of sneak peak info about my other novels such as character art and playlists, worldbuilding info, deleted and bonus scenes, character backstory, and director's commentary.

The first novel that I plan to release in full is Pestilence, the first in my Horsemen Quartet:

When four women raised in a dead world come back to life, they find they're no longer entirely human... and the undead are no longer the worst threat they have to face in the wasteland.

It's currently with my sensitivity and beta readers, and the hope is to publish it in September (because I'm a masochist, I guess).

You also get pictures of my cats, Mr. Fluffernutter and Cuddlebug!

(They like to sit in the window and judge people.)

The audience I’ve built up with my fanfiction was rather like falling asleep. It happened slowly, and then all at once. I’m still blown away every day by the number of people who’ve read and enjoyed my stories on Ao3. I hope, if you are one of those people, that you will consider supporting me and join my Patreon to support my original work. These stories are near and dear to my heart, and I deeply love the characters in them. I hope that you all will, too.

*no I could not resist a MsScribe reference, sorry not sorry

[topazadine]

Writing Research Notes: Politics

Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Politics. They are horrible and everyone hates them. That's why I have an MA in International Relations.

Maybe you, like me, have decided to torment yourself by representing politics in your book. You may even be an extreme masochist and decide to have international politics.

Well, firstly, I'm sorry for your loss, and secondly, let's do a birds-eye view of what politics really is and how to represent it in your book.

This isn't perfect and it's not Political Theory 101, just some ideas for political representation geared toward writers. Alas, I cannot cram my entire MA into a post.

It's highly unlikely that you will need to elaborate all of this in your book, unless you are writing a purely political novel.

Please do not put all of this in your book. This is all about worldbuilding and can hum along in the background to create depth without boring everyone to tears.

Remember, you do not need to put every single thing that you create for your world into your book; a lot of it is just to help guide you. A few hints here and there can do a lot of work but not overwhelm the reader with things they don't care about.

And if you are writing a purely political novel, I would hope you would not need this little overview.

Basic theories of politics

Politics is, at its very essence, about balances and transfers of power.

This is true of every political system; the power is just distributed in different ways.

I know Wikipedia's not an academic resource, but this page lists all the many types of government structures to give you an overview of possible systems to use. Many of these can be mixed and matched; for example, you can have a representative democratic system that also has a monarch as a figurehead, like Great Britain.

Or you can have a "shadow" theocracy where a religious community has the greatest influence over government, even as the government claims to be a republic with representation from each region of the country.

Power shifts can come from a variety of sources, both internal and external.

If you're looking at international relations, the power balance inside one country is easily impacted by the balances in other countries, especially if that other country has greater influence.

For example, assume one government has decided to wage war against another country, but they're getting their asses kicked. Because war is expensive and people may have had to send their beloved children off to fight in another country, a government that can't get the job done quickly and easily is very vulnerable to a popular uprising.

Revolutions can also be contagious, even in an era without social media. If a neighboring country has an uprising, unless all countries are totally cut off from one another, citizens of other countries will see what's happening and take a good hard look at their own conditions. Then they may overthrow their own government and look to examples of others nearby to see what to do next.

Political decisions are about satisficing.

Satisficing means choosing the most optimal solution from an array of choices, most of which will involve some loss. No solution is perfect, and all require sacrifice.

A good leader must decide how much loss they are willing to take and what will lead to the least amount of harm for their people.

And what appears to be the optimal solution may have unforeseen side effects that could cause even greater harm.

For example, appeasing an aggressive nation right now might stop potential war, but it could also allow the enemy to become emboldened and strike later with greater force.

Government Systems

Government systems represent the history of a nation as much as the present.

Much as it would be fantastic if government systems kept up with the times cough cough America cough cough, in many ways, they are a time capsule of what a country used to be rather than what it is now.

This is because most governments have checks and balances in place to prevent rapid change and protect the equilibrium of the system; otherwise, they are vulnerable to coups and can be wiped away in an instant.

They also grow out of certain necessities and are shaped by their culture. So, for example, in my own world, Breme is a republic that has representatives from the different provinces and the tribespeople that make up part of the country. This is because the country started as a collection of disparate tribes that were forced out of their homeland and had to coexist in the smaller space they now controlled.

Tribal leaders would meet to discuss the welfare of their tribes and, as the centuries passed, this coalesced into a large council with sorta-representative figureheads for each area of the country.

Geography also plays a role in a government system.

Smaller countries are more likely to have a highly centralized power system because, well, it's easier and simpler. When most of the populace is close to the capital, you don't need a lot of goverment mouthpieces spread out through the region, and it wastes precious money and resources to do so.

A large, spread-out country is going to need a more elaborate system of government representatives in each region, which is how you get republics with intricate local governments.

Large-scale representative and democratic governments are a relatively new invention.

Now, it is true that there are small historical societies, mostly tribes, that did practice forms of democracy, but these were small.

Democracy as we know it now has only come about in the last 300ish years. So if you have a medieval society, it's very unlikely that you'd have a democracy.

If you want to figure out how to make it that work in a fantasy novel, go off, but it might be challenging depending on the history of your world; for example, is most of society functionally illiterate? Very unlikely that you'll have powerful people willing to let the masses participate.

International Relations

A good international system relies on sovereignty.

Note that I say a good international system, not necessarily the one that we have in our modern world.

Sovereignty basically means that each government has the right to self-administer within reason. Of course, if they turn machine guns on their citizens and violate human rights, then it is a moral imperative to intervene.

If they are not doing that, then other countries (theoretically) do not have the right to force regime change just because they don't like it. This does not mean that certain countries cough cough America cough cough don't do that, simply that they are not supposed to.

International relations requires a blend of cooperation, aggression, and deterrence.

Even in a system where it appears that the girls are fightingggg, there is still some cooperation going on with someone because warfare is expensive. (We will put aside the United States post WWII for the moment because that is a whole other issue.)

When two countries have no diplomatic relations, they are still cooperating with someone to get messages through. We see that with the US and North Korea; the US relies on Sweden and some other states as a mediator when dealing with North Korea. There's many of these triangulations that occur, particularly in regions with a lot of hostility.

A well-functioning country must decide when to use the carrot, when to use the stick, and when to sit back and hope no one bombs them during tense situations. The world is an interconnected system, so it behooves a government to improve trade relations, protect their borders, and ensure no one invades their sovereignty.

Governments use both hard and soft power to control their own people and shift international balances in their favor.

Hard power is exactly what you would expect: your ability to bankrupt another country or bomb them into oblivion. That includes some of the following elements.

Police forces

Military investments

Blockades or outright warfare

Provision or withdrawal of trade agreements

Trade embargoes

Directly manipulating the economic system of another country through investments or removal of investments

Soft power is about persuasion rather than coercion: building a positive reputation for your country and making people want to work with you. This often involves cultural exchanges, media, and "philanthropy" on behalf of the country, such as the following.

Entertainment industries, including literature, movies, and music

State-funded study abroad scholarships (both inside and outside the country)

Tourism

Work visas

Cultural exchanges, like state-funded dance troops traveling the world

Philanthropy

Conferences and consortiums

In the Olden Dayes, marriages between nobles or royals to create greater political alliances

While hard power is more obvious, and therefore more discussed, soft power is more diffuse and more prevalent.

For example, what do you think of when you think about China? It's probably not their government system unless you live there or have been directly impacted by their political choices. You probably think of Chinese food, ancient culture, dances, pretty bridges, the Great Wall, etc. Those are the first things to come to mind, even if you know more about the country.

That's a conscious choice by the Chinese government to fund certain cultural schemes, influencing how people see their country and what they associate with it.

Every country does this. The Nordic countries represent themselves as a clean, peace-loving people; Japan represents itself as a forward-thinking yet traditional society that has massive technological innovation. And those things can certainly be true, but they have also been pushed as the narrative for said country, with more unpleasant things swept under the rug.

Soft power has become much more difficult for countries to manage now in the world of social media, but it still holds an important role, and it certainly would be more powerful in certain eras, particularly before people could instantly get information from anywhere in the world on their phones.

Politics Gone Bad

Political theory is based on rational actors, which does not always reflect reality.

If you've ever wondered why Trump took everyone by surprise, it's because of this idea of rational actors. This is an almost delusionally optimistic belief that every politician or government will do things that are based on pragmatic decision-making.

These decisions may not necessarily be the best ones, but with a rational actor, those decisions will be reasonable and based on a solid thought processs.

The underpinnings of this decision could be self-interest on the part of the leader, national defense, expansionism, public welfare, or staying neutral during a war. But it's a reasonable decision based on the information the leader had at the time.

As such, when an irrational actor joins the system, this assumption goes out the window, and now no one knows what the hell to do anymore. Dangerous and scary.

Alas, I think we're going to see far more irrational actors with the creeping age of politicians, especially in the United States. Someone with dementia is not going to make rational decisions because they can't anymore.

What a government claims to be and what it really is are not always the same thing.

The label slapped onto a given government system does not always reflect how power actually works in the country. This can be due for a variety of reasons:

Rampant (and sometimes government-sanctioned) corruption has overtaken the system

The goverment was set up in such a way that it cannot be easily changed, leading to archaic structures that no longer reflect reality

Migration patterns or demographic changes mean that the government no longer reflects its populace

In an autocracy, an uprising has made the current leader unpopular and though they continue to cling to power, the real political work is done beyond their purview

The government was made to reflect an ideal that is not being played out in the actual system

There are more potential reasons, of course. You have a lot to play around with here.

Corruption is present in all governments; it is the form and prevalence that matters.

Governments are made of people, and people can be shitty. A good government has systems in place to equalize power and prevent bad actors from taking over, but it can never fully eradicate corruption.

Situations outside of government, such as poverty or famine, can also worsen corruption even in systems that have robust anti-corruption safeguards.

The Paradox of Intolerance is a crucial consideration for governments and politicians.

Essentially, the Paradox of Intolerance says that you cannot tolerate intolerance and must do what you can to eliminate it if you want a well-functioning system that benefits all constituents.

As soon as you get lazy, intolerant people will begin to infiltrate and make decisions to the detriment of the populace.

This has gotten hideously long now, so I'll shut myself up because I could go on for several more pages of this palaver. I hope this helped, and if you have any questions, you can ask in the replies to this post and I'll do my best to answer.

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[therealvinelle]

Why do you dislike that there “singers” in Twilight? How could something resembling canon happen if singers don’t exist? If Bella just smells nice but is not this overpowering thing could Edward still develop his obsession just in a different way?

I don't dislike singers as they are presented in canon, which is a human whose blood is so finetuned to a vampire's appetite that most lose their control and kill them instantly, the exception is Edward who is a masochist with insanely good control.

It's great angst fodder, and fits well with the worldbuilding: the most special you can hope to be to a vampire is a particularly good meal.

What I dislike, or find strange, is how romanticised it is, where the word "singer" is essentially taken to mean "soulmate", and you get this whole persistent trend where the male vampire of choice comes across his singer, immediately leaves his wife if he has one, because now he has a truer mate. Or people assume Esme must have been Carlisle's singer or Emmett Rosalie's because why else turn them? It goes on. Obviously people can have the shippy headcanons they want, what gets me is that the singer = love interest connection is so persistent.

The entire point of a singer is, the vampire just wants to kill them. When Edward tells Carlisle he's encountered a singer, Carlisle doesn't think twice about Edward leaving the country immediately to get as far away as possible and as much as Aro doesn't understand Edward, he seems to envy his good luck in having found such a delectable treat. Singers in canon are food, Bella became something more to Edward because he defied all the odds and did the opposite of everybody else.

So, that's my problem: singers are treated by fandom, and apparently Meyer in the Guide, as destiny telling you you're meant for a person, but this runs contrary to what we see in canon.