[WB] Dystopias

[Arkwright]

You have the right to make comments like this that are strongly put. People have the right to disagree with you, the presentation and the attitude.

And that's just fine with me, Maiden, as long as my attitude is mirrored:

I have to fundamentally disagree with the poster above.

All in the name of civil discussion

But our attitudes weren't mirrored. The person in question already admitted that they got 'snide,' 'passive-aggressive,' and decided to 'take shots' because he presumed I was targeting Shivers. But Shivers is O.K. I know-so because I've PM'ed them: their feelings were never hurt, and we were on the brink of turning the conversation around, as the post history shows.

Once someone admits to unnecessary behaviour, I'm out. It sucks that he got offended, but I tried to reach out to him too, and got a pretty mild message in response.

 

[GemStoneBride]

I actually base my dystopian settings on the apartment complex that I used to live in. It actually works out.

 

[RedRose]

hahahha

 

[Curious Endeavors]

The "Orwell vs Huxley" divide is something that's definitely been commented on before in the world of Dystopian fiction! Whether it's more compelling/realistic/interesting to imagine a dystopia where humanity's subjugation is through violence and fear, or pacification and numbness.

Personally I always thought the Huxley version seemed more plausible, but recent events in global affairs have shown how frighteningly prescient Orwell was in predicting the ease with which a bully government can promote doublethink and simply negate the power of facts and evidence.

In terms of other authors, highly recommend Margaret Atwood's dystopias. The Handmaid's Tale has had a renaissance thanks to the show, but I also strongly recommend Oryx and Crake for a compelling vision of a bleak but totally plausible corporate-dominated, consumer-mad, and economically disparate world.

So hi, I'm commenting on another one of your comments.

I clicked on the forum to bring up Oryx and Crake, both for the compelling narrative and how profoundly unsexy it all was given that I was looking for inspiration. I guess that's the problem with good 'ol Margie, she shows us what things really are, all the way down to the bone. The only way to make that book jacket appealing would be with a thiiiiiiick Rule 34 paste, and even then I wouldn't search it out. Never before has the 'slavegirl' fantasy been so utterly and completely shredded as an erotic concept, so much so that I don't think I've written an erotic story with that as the premise since. This stuff all seems so harmless and fluffy when you're just typing up stories, but stories require friction, and societal problems are the best way to generate that from the ground up, and suddenly you're writing about a dystopia and worrying somebody might find it and think you espouse that coming to be. It's important that we reference reality at least some of the time, of course. It sort of provokes the larger issue for me of what is okay or healthy to write/fantasize about. I think that ALL fantasy is that way - we fantasize about almost anything because we know it just doesn't fit in the real world and we wouldn't necessarily want it to. I struggle with finding a sexy/compelling difficult situation/the horror of the big picture I'm painting.

 

[Shiver]

So hi, I'm commenting on another one of your comments.

I clicked on the forum to bring up Oryx and Crake, both for the compelling narrative and how profoundly unsexy it all was given that I was looking for inspiration. I guess that's the problem with good 'ol Margie, she shows us what things really are, all the way down to the bone. The only way to make that book jacket appealing would be with a thiiiiiiick Rule 34 paste, and even then I wouldn't search it out. Never before has the 'slavegirl' fantasy been so utterly and completely shredded as an erotic concept, so much so that I don't think I've written an erotic story with that as the premise since. This stuff all seems so harmless and fluffy when you're just typing up stories, but stories require friction, and societal problems are the best way to generate that from the ground up, and suddenly you're writing about a dystopia and worrying somebody might find it and think you espouse that coming to be. It's important that we reference reality at least some of the time, of course. It sort of provokes the larger issue for me of what is okay or healthy to write/fantasize about. I think that ALL fantasy is that way - we fantasize about almost anything because we know it just doesn't fit in the real world and we wouldn't necessarily want it to. I struggle with finding a sexy/compelling difficult situation/the horror of the big picture I'm painting.

I'm sure Atwood would enjoy knowing that she's made you reflect on the realness of it all. I think more than anything, she uses fiction to draw attention to very non-fictional things. She's said many times that nothing in Handmaid's Tale, for example, hasn't happened somewhere.

That being said, I don't think she was trying to spoil your fantasies I certainly am still on board with the whole slavegirl thing.

 

[Kiki]

As a dystopian fan I think it largely depends on what you want the social/philosophical focus of your world to be. I wrote a small short-story that basically was a tech dystopia that had elements from Huxley, Plato's republic, Azimov's Profession, with themes and elements of Johnny Mnemonic and They Live. the hook was the the story was centralized around information Tech that is basically just a more extreme extension of the text we have today.

Basically, Dystopia, it depends on what questions you want your setting to bring up. I still Love Warhammer 40K because what theme and ideas DON'T they address in that universe. and large most of their history is just our history, but in space, so you know the pettiness of the humans is not exaggerated of overly misanthropic.

 

[Lady Irony]

I like exploring the idea of people who are considered "Oppressed" in our world take over or perhaps always had power and are just as bad or even worse than their "oppressors" in our world.

One idea I have is about a society where women rule. Only women get to hold any positions of power or prestige, husbands are seen as chattel, better looking men work in the sex industry etc The idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely.