I LIKE Reading About Happy Families, Okay?

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Been wanting to write some of Kuen’s books, in the American Girl Central Series format because I AM A GIANT NERD.* Kuen’s my redheaded sprite doll—you can see her here—an original character who goes back years in my head. I figured it’d be fun to showcase her world the way the AG books do with their historical characters.

The problem is, Kuen lives in a shameless utopia.

See, when I get all pushed out of shape about larger societal problems, yeah, I try to fix what I can, but my escape is to retreat into designing my own utopia. Yeah, yeah, I know, nobody likes utopia in stories, but I think that’s largely because an author’s idea of what makes a wonderful society reflects a lot of the author’s opinions and crazy biases. But by god it sure is therapeutic to sit around designing a world where things went right the first time. And I see nothing wrong with aspiring for utopia. First we just have to all agree on what that is.

Anyway, I try to work at it. Sure, I cheated and made Kuen’s people inhuman, so I can gloss over any possible objections of unrealism by pointing out that Sprites’ Brains Are Different From Humans’. But I also try my damndest to give them a working infrastructure—yes, I worked out the plumbing and the power grid and the government and whatnot. And I also made it so that not everyone is deliriously happy all the time—utopia’s more just my attempt to fix all the completely out-of-whack systems our own world has in place. These people are on their own for being happy within their system.**

But it’ll be interesting to see if I can keep that up when I write the stories—it’s like trying to run a simulation. We’ll just have to see if I can pull out a functioning, interesting story in a world of sunshine and bunny rabbits. Wish me luck!


*More nerdiness: I also have picked a color and a symbol for each of my dolls, as per the AG standard. To reiterate: I AM A DOLL NERD.

**Also, sprites’ brains being Different From Humans’ isn’t always an advantage. You get the odd supervillain much more frequently.

Comments

[beccastareyes]

Well, to some extent, a utopia won't resolve all interpersonal conflicts or even personal ones. I don't know how aliens sprites are, but there's probably going to be jerks or 'I want to do A and B, but limited resources* makes that difficult'.

* Even if it's just time.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Exactly! They're still people, and they're still going through the travails of being people and being alive and being together, but there's less ... I don't know, baggage. You still have to work out compromises and put up with assholes, though.

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

I think it's an interesting challenge. Writing about a utopian society and still making it interesting. It can be done, I'm sure. Without resorting to what I've seen in a few books, where either it turns out that the utopia isn't as great as it seemed, or there's a distopia next door making trouble. I can't think of anything I've read that featured a utopian society without one of those issues.

I do get sick of the depressing societies featured in too much SF/Fantasy. I like happy people, too! Happy doesn't have to mean happy all the time, and it doesn't mean everything's perfect. But it's far more hopeful than a lot of what seems to be popular right now. Not mentioning any GRRM names.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I guess it's an experiment to see if cooperative problem-solving can make as interesting a story as competitive problem-solving. OH GOD I SOUND LIKE A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER.

I get really sick of dystopias. I think their popularity is due to a false correlation: happiness is shallow, suffering is deep. Hell, the Something Is Rotten In Utopia trope also illustrates it pretty literally--happy utopia is only a facade concealing the misery that is the TRUE state of humanity, or something. Dammit, I am an optimist, and I think it's possible for deep, purposeful happiness to exist without making someone else miserable.

I guess a lot of it is a matter of taste, though--and my tastes run toward the happy. I love flawed, but not dystopic, fictional societies. I just wish there wasn't such a stigma on the really utopian ones.

[gryfindormia.livejournal.com]

Are you also fucking mad that AG killed the complete furniture lines for their dolls? I told myself as a kid that when I was a rich grown-up I would get all of Samantha's accessories and furniture, and now it's only a bed and some clothes, if that. >:(

[gryfindormia.livejournal.com]

Oh, and of course Samantha, Kristen, and Felicity are gone. Felicity and Samantha, I thought, had the most gorgeous collections.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I can understand the "archiving," though it's sad to see them go. But I am indeed bummed at the sparse furniture lately. I was especially sorry when they got rid of the school desks--glad I managed to snag Molly's before it vanished.

You could probably get by with Rebecca's stuff for Samantha, if you're still interested. BUT IT'S NOT THE SAME.

[gryfindormia.livejournal.com]

But what is archiving if it goes away completely? I wonder if you can call and see if they still have stock they'd sell to you. Not that I'm in any position to buy right now, or the room for the stuff at the moment.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

They call it archiving, but it's really retiring everything but the books.

I haven't checked on Samantha's gear, but you can generally do a search online for retired things and find them on the secondary market--I just don't know how much Samantha's things run for at this point. You can check out their full collections here.

[gryfindormia.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, I've seen that site, well organized, and I know that collectors will charge a hefty fortune for the complete collections now that they're gone.

It's more a fantasy at this point; I have other expenses first, and other wants before this.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Ah, well, one can always dream.

[gryfindormia.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

My folks still get the magazine in my name to this day at their house, which I signed up for as soon as we moved to the States. My grandmother used to send me care packages to Saudi and would include the catalogs for me to look through. I don't have the heart to stop the subscription.

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah, I know, nobody likes utopia in stories, but I think that’s largely because an author’s idea of what makes a wonderful society reflects a lot of the author’s opinions and crazy biases.

Made me think of reading Oath of Fealty, by Niven & Pournelle. Their Utopia was essentially a giant mall with condos and a 1984-level constant surveillance system by the management. I couldn't keep from coming back to the same thought constantly: "Guys, even if I accepted that your whacked out Über Libertarianism would work, your Utopia SUCKS!"

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

Richard Adams pulled out a functional, interesting story in a world of bunny rabbits.

Not that much sunshine though.