How do I break out of those weird tropes but still write something with gnomes and shit? What does it look like when wizards control the means of production?
How do I break out of those weird tropes but still write something with gnomes and shit? What does it look like when wizards control the means of production?
Unfortunately in real life there seldom are super clean lines between classes like that. Sure, most people on either side are clearly on one or the other, but the lines themselves are blurry and diffuse. And there are “good people” on both sides, too.
Somehow, I know a lot of people that know a George W Bush personally (grew up in Raytheon Acres, VA) and they are always eager to jump to his defense because he’s such a “nice guy” in person. Well guess what, when a “nice guy” (btw I don’t actually think he’s a nice guy, he’s a gladhanding politician) is piloting an imperial death machine, it doesn’t matter how nice a guy he is, because the machine runs on blood.
Anyway, what I’m saying here is that it’s okay to humanize your antagonists. In the real world, all the villains are people too. Just make sure you illustrate what happens when a “good person” takes part in an evil imperial system.
I'm not going to sit here and write weird shit about refusing to humanize antagonists or anything like that. I generally hold the view that all people are redeemable in some fashion and deserve the opportunity to do so. Think I was just being a little edgy with my first comment lol my b
I just didn't want to fall into the camp of lending too much sympathetic language to this crumbling empire and the things that the people do to keep it held together. I just think there needs to be clear lines drawn when it comes to writing these things, especially in fantasy where truly wondrous things can occur and change the world on some grand scale.
I definitely agree with your last line. I'm really proud of this protagonist I wrote that comes from said empire and I wrote them specifically for this reason.
Well, I hope you finish the story, or others in the future, because I’d love to read it. :)