I LIKE Reading About Happy Families, Okay?
Sep. 5th, 2011 06:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bloodyrosemccoyBeen 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.
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.
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 05:38 am (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 05:41 am (UTC)It's more a fantasy at this point; I have other expenses first, and other wants before this.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 05:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 05:44 am (UTC)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.