lazinesswrites

[lazinesswrites]

Fantasy Guide to Political Structures

A Horse! A Horse! My X for a Horse!

Let's be honest, fantasy authors love their kingdoms and empires. You can throw a rock in a bookshop or a library in the fantasy section and you will 99.99999% hit a fantasy book that will be set in or mention either of those structures. But what are they really? What's the difference between them all? Are there any more examples of structures that would suit your WIP better? Are you using the right terms? Let's have a closer look.

Duchy

A Duchy is a small territory ruled by a Duke/Duchess. While Duchies can be found in kingdoms, some duchies were sovereign states in their own right. Duchies are usually small by land mass but some duchies such as Burgundy were extremely powerful and influential. Independent Duchies were usually apart of a kingdom but grew so powerful that they eventually broke away to become a sovereign state in their own right. An example would be modern day Luxembourg, historic Milan and Burgundy.

Principality

A principality is territory ruled by a Prince/Princess. A principality is typically smaller than a kingdom and in some instances, can be apart of a larger kingdom or be a sovereign state. Principalities have a history of having broken away from a larger kingdom or eventually becoming apart of a kingdom. A principality within a kingdom is ruled by a Prince/Princess, usually an heir of the monarch and can be used to train them up to assume the throne in the future. Examples include Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra.

Kingdom

A sovereign state/country that is ruled by ruling King or a Queen. A kingdom is much larger and more powerful than a principality. Kingdoms can be feudal, meaning they are ruled in a strict hierarchy or an autocracy where the monarch rules alone with minimal input from the government or constitutional where the monarch is more of a figurehead and the government has a good chunk of control. Examples include England, Thailand and modern day Spain.

Commonwealth

A Commonwealth isn't a popular choice in fantasy but it is an interesting structure. A Commonwealth in its most basic form is a collection of states that are linked by either a shared culture or history. A Commonwealth can be a politically power or an economic power, with every state allowed to participate as much as they like. Not one state leads the others, it is all one group of equals. A Commonwealth can be a good idea for a group of nations that are more powerful together with them keeping their own independence.

Federation

A Federation is a political structure that is made up of united states or countries that are under a single government but each state is still independent and rules itself. Each state can have different laws, different cultures and economies but they all answer to the single government. Examples include the United States of America.

Republic

A Republic is a territory that is ruled by leaders and heads of state that have been elected on merit and by choice of the people. Republics are not just countries but can also be much smaller areas such as cities. Republics are democratic in nature, with the people having a say in who leads them in accordance to a constitution. There are many kinds of Republic: presidential, parliamentary, federal, theocratic, unitary. Examples of Republics include the Republic of Ireland and the city of Florence.

Protectorate

A Protectorate is a country/region/territory that is independent but relies on a larger, more powerful state for protection either in a military or diplomatic sense. A Protectorate was often used by Empires in order to maintain control over an area without annexing it. There are many reasons a larger state and the protectorate would agree to this, mainly the protectorate is much smaller meaning it is far more vulnerable to attack or it has very little power when compared to other states. A Protectorate allows the territory some power to rule itself but the larger state may feel the need or desire to interfere in the dealings of the territory. Examples of protectorates include the client kingdoms of the Roman Empire like Egypt before its annexation and Puerto Rico.

Empire

An Empire is a collection of nations that are united under one sovereign head of state or government. An Empire is formed by one nation steadily taking control of other nations, either through straight invasion and colonization or acquiring them through marriage and other less violent ways. An Empire is powerful mainly because it can drum up more resources, more influence and more military power. An Empire might impose the traditions, beliefs and culture of its principal nation - the nation that started it all - onto its colonies for better control and feeling of uniformity. Empires never last, that is something to always remember. Empires will eventually fragment due to the vast size and sometimes revolt among the conquered states. Examples of empires include the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire.

[lazinesswrites]

Writing advice #?: Have your characters wash the dishes while they talk.

This is one of my favorite tricks, picked up from E.M. Forester and filtered through my own domestic-homebody lens.  Forester says that you should never ever tell us how a character feels; instead, show us what those emotions are doing to a character’s posture and tone and expression.  This makes “I felt sadness” into “my shoulders hunched and I sighed heavily, staring at the ground as my eyes filled with tears.”  Those emotions-as-motions are called objective correlatives.  Honestly, fic writers have gotten the memo on objective correlatives, but sometimes struggle with how to use them.

Objective correlatives can quickly become a) repetitive or b) melodramatic.  On the repetitive end, long scenes of dialogue can quickly turn into “he sighed” and “she nodded” so many times that he starts to feel like a window fan and she like a bobblehead.  On the melodramatic end, a debate about where to eat dinner can start to feel like an episode of Jerry Springer because “he shrieked” while “she clenched her fists” and they both “ground their teeth.”  If you leave the objective correlatives out entirely, then you have what’s known as “floating” dialogue — we get the words themselves but no idea how they’re being said, and feel completely disconnected from the scene.  If you try to get meaning across by telling us the characters’ thoughts instead, this quickly drifts into purple prose.

Instead, have them wash the dishes while they talk.

To be clear: it doesn’t have to be dishes.  They could be folding laundry or sweeping the floor or cooking a meal or making a bed or changing a lightbulb.  The point is to engage your characters in some meaningless, everyday household task that does not directly relate to the subject of the conversation.

This trick gives you a whole wealth of objective correlatives.  If your character is angry, then the way they scrub a bowl will be very different from how they’ll be scrubbing while happy.  If your character is taking a moment to think, then they might splash suds around for a few seconds.  A character who is not that invested in the conversation will be looking at the sink not paying much attention.  A character moderately invested will be looking at the speaker while continuing to scrub a pot.  If the character is suddenly very invested in the conversation, you can convey this by having them set the pot down entirely and give their full attention to the speaker.

A demonstration:

1

“I’m leaving,” Anastasia said.

“What?”  Drizella continued dropping forks into the dishwasher.

2

“I’m leaving,” Anastasia said.

Drizella paused midway through slotting a fork into the dishwasher.  “What?”

3

“I’m leaving,” Anastasia said.

Drizella laughed, not looking up from where she was arranging forks in the dishwasher.  “What?”

4

“I’m leaving,” Anastasia said.

The forks slipped out of Drizella’s hand and clattered onto the floor of the dishwasher.  “What?”

5

“I’m leaving,” Anastasia said.

“What?”  Drizella shoved several forks into the dishwasher with unnecessary force, not seeming to notice when several bounced back out of the silverware rack.

See how cheaply and easily we can get across Drizella’s five different emotions about Anastasia leaving, all by telling the reader how she’s doing the dishes?  And all the while no heads were nodded, no teeth were clenched.

The reason I recommend having it be one of these boring domestic chores instead of, say, scaling a building or picking a lock, is that chores add a sense of realism and are low-stakes enough not to be distracting.  If you add a concurrent task that’s high-stakes, then potentially your readers are going to be so focused on the question of whether your characters will pick the lock in time that they don’t catch the dialogue.  But no one’s going to be on the edge of their seat wondering whether Drizella’s going to have enough clean forks for tomorrow.

And chores are a cheap-n-easy way to add a lot of realism to your story.  So much of the appeal of contemporary superhero stories comes from Spider-Man having to wash his costume in a Queens laundromat or Green Arrow cheating at darts, because those details are fun and interesting and make a story feel “real.”  Actually ask the question of what dishes or clothing or furniture your character owns and how often that stuff gets washed.  That’s how you avoid reality-breaking continuity errors like stating in Chapter 3 that all of your character’s worldly possessions fit in a single backpack and in Chapter 7 having your character find a pair of pants he forgot he owns.  You don’t have to tell the reader what dishes your character owns (please don’t; it’s already bad enough when Tolkien does it) but you should ideally know for yourself.

Anyway: objective correlatives are your friends.  They get emotion across, but for low-energy scenes can become repetitive and for high-energy scenes can become melodramatic.  The solution is to give your characters something relatively mundane to do while the conversation is going on, and domestic chores are not a bad starting place.

[lazinesswrites]

Took a little unscheduled break from writing these last... two weeks? ish. Because I wasn't really having fun writing, it felt more like a chore than anything, and I wasn't really getting all that much actually written anyway. So I've been focusing more on some more physical/analog stuff, and reading, and just generally doing Other Things. And I think it's working! Today, I have written 600+ words, and edited a little bit, and it was fun! Basically no stress at all beyond the usual 'but how do I start this' and a little bit of 'what the hell is that word in English and why is the internet not being helpful'. So. Tentative yay! We'll see how it goes. I do also have some kind of Big Life Things happening right now and in the near future, so that's probably gonna take some Brain Capacity away from writing, but we'll see. It might (will, hopefully) also give me back some more Brain Capacity in the long run, for writing and for everything.

[lazinesswrites]

No pictures to add today but I just want everyone to know I’m doing actual real math for this thing. Like. Geometry. Is a thing that is happening here.

“I’m not building another model,” I said. “The spaceship was trouble enough,” I said. “I’m not gonna build a model of an entire two-plan house,” I said. “I’ll just make the floor plans and maybe some sketches.”

.

.

.

.

.

Goddammit.

I’m gonna go to bed now, but here’s the top floor of the house I’m making the Batch on Pabu, for my WIP Cross doesn’t kill the Lt. (and possibly CrossRex, and any other fic where it might be relevant).

That’s Crosshair’s room on the left, Hunter’s on the bottom right, and Tech’s on the top right. There’s a staircase leading downstairs between Crosshair’s room and the tiny ‘fresher. Downstairs has Omega and Wrecker’s rooms, a bigger ‘fresher, the kitchen/dining/living space and a sort of ‘lounge’ corner (it’s bigger than the top floor - the terrace sketched here also marks the footprint).

[lazinesswrites]

🎬 Behind-the-Scenes Fic Asks 🎬

Send me the title of one of my fics, and one (or more) of the following:

How long did it take you to write this fic?

What program did you use to write this fic (Word, Google Docs, etc)? Is that the program you use for all your fics?

How did you find the visuals for this fic? Is there a method you have?

What programs did you use to edit the visuals for this fic?

Where did you write this fic? Is that your favorite spot to write?

What do you need to write? Is there anything special you need to do/have to help your creative flow?

What inspired the idea for the plot?

What inspired the title for this fic? Is that usually how you choose titles?

Was there anything from canon that you pulled for this fic?

Share a screenshot of the original outline (if you dareee😈)

Was there a scene that you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

Was there a scene you wished you could have included? Why didn't it fit in?

My favorite line of dialogue from this fic was [xyz]. What inspired it?

My favorite line from this fic was [xyz]. What inspired it?

Was there anything you had to research for this fic? Do you usually do a lot of research?

What was the easiest scene to write?

What was the hardest scene to write?

How would you describe your writing style for this fic, if you can?

Is this one of your personal favorite fics? Why or why not?

What is something you wish more people noticed about this fic?

What is something you didn't expect people to notice or gravitate towards in this fic?

Does personal experience ever inspire your fics? What about this particular fic?

Did you have a beta reader(s) for this fic? How did they help you during the writing process?

Did you write every scene in order? What was the first scene you wrote, and what was the last?

Is there anything you would change now about this fic? Why or why not?

Wild Card! I'll tell you a fun fact about this fic!

[lazinesswrites]

Some more process pictures - top floor’s coming along nicely! I think, once I’m done, I’ll try to very carefully take it off the manifold and give it a proper ‘floor’, probably including the terrace (meaning… I’ll need to build the terrace too… though maybe just the floor, oven, and wall. Not sure how I’d make the awning-thingy, or the table, or the deck-chairs…). And then of course on to the first floor, and possibly the roof…. Anyway. Process pictures!

Who the hell decided to have no straight angles in this goddamn house?!

“I’m not building another model,” I said. “The spaceship was trouble enough,” I said. “I’m not gonna build a model of an entire two-plan house,” I said. “I’ll just make the floor plans and maybe some sketches.”

.

.

.

.

.

Goddammit.

I’m gonna go to bed now, but here’s the top floor of the house I’m making the Batch on Pabu, for my WIP Cross doesn’t kill the Lt. (and possibly CrossRex, and any other fic where it might be relevant).

That’s Crosshair’s room on the left, Hunter’s on the bottom right, and Tech’s on the top right. There’s a staircase leading downstairs between Crosshair’s room and the tiny ‘fresher. Downstairs has Omega and Wrecker’s rooms, a bigger ‘fresher, the kitchen/dining/living space and a sort of ‘lounge’ corner (it’s bigger than the top floor - the terrace sketched here also marks the footprint).

[lazinesswrites]

Are you tired of seeing creatives begging you to reblog stuff? On this, the reblogging site?

Not as tired as they are of having to ask. I promise you that.

This post probably isn't going to be saying anything new and other people have definitely said it better but I'm going to reiterate it for you anyway.

Likes do nothing on this platform. Tumblr is not Instagram. Sure, it's nice to know that you liked the art, or the fic, or whatever it may be. But do you understand how disheartening it is when you share something you made and less than half of the people that liked it actually liked it enough to share it? Less than a third, really, because I know for myself at least almost every piece of art I post ends up with a 1:2 ratio if I'm lucky, and a good chunk of those reblogs are usually my own, trying to boost them so that they'll actually get seen. Because they won't otherwise.

Posts that don't get reblogged just get buried until they disappear entirely, and I've seen it happen to some amazing works, from far more talented creators than me.

Reblogging takes a second. You don't even have to leave a comment in the tags or anything (although it's obviously always very lovely when you do). Just...share the things you like. Help them get seen. It's a vital part of the ecosystem here and without it, you're liable to wind up with a lot fewer fanworks to enjoy.

[lazinesswrites]

This is the floor plan I made that I’m working off of btw:

Selected details:

Can you guess who that second room belongs to? 😅

“I’m not building another model,” I said. “The spaceship was trouble enough,” I said. “I’m not gonna build a model of an entire two-plan house,” I said. “I’ll just make the floor plans and maybe some sketches.”

.

.

.

.

.

Goddammit.

I’m gonna go to bed now, but here’s the top floor of the house I’m making the Batch on Pabu, for my WIP Cross doesn’t kill the Lt. (and possibly CrossRex, and any other fic where it might be relevant).

That’s Crosshair’s room on the left, Hunter’s on the bottom right, and Tech’s on the top right. There’s a staircase leading downstairs between Crosshair’s room and the tiny ‘fresher. Downstairs has Omega and Wrecker’s rooms, a bigger ‘fresher, the kitchen/dining/living space and a sort of ‘lounge’ corner (it’s bigger than the top floor - the terrace sketched here also marks the footprint).

[lazinesswrites]

“I’m not building another model,” I said. “The spaceship was trouble enough,” I said. “I’m not gonna build a model of an entire two-plan house,” I said. “I’ll just make the floor plans and maybe some sketches.”

.

.

.

.

.

Goddammit.

I’m gonna go to bed now, but here’s the top floor of the house I’m making the Batch on Pabu, for my WIP Cross doesn’t kill the Lt. (and possibly CrossRex, and any other fic where it might be relevant).

That’s Crosshair’s room on the left, Hunter’s on the bottom right, and Tech’s on the top right. There’s a staircase leading downstairs between Crosshair’s room and the tiny ‘fresher. Downstairs has Omega and Wrecker’s rooms, a bigger ‘fresher, the kitchen/dining/living space and a sort of ‘lounge’ corner (it’s bigger than the top floor - the terrace sketched here also marks the footprint).

[lazinesswrites]

Writing Patterns

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

I was tagged by @auburnlaughter a little while ago; thank you! ❤

I'm doing the latest 10 fics I've posted to Ao3, oldest first, and I'll include links because... every excuse to self-promote? Everything here is Star Wars, most of it Bad Batch (from before s3, save the last two), and most of that is more or less Crosshair-centric.

Sunrise Caf (TCW post-war AU, pre-CodyWan, 1k, G)

“Do you still prefer your caf black, now that you have access to more options?” Obi-Wan asks as Cody sits down at the small kitchen table in Obi-Wan’s new apartment.

Labor of love is ours to endure (TBB s1 finale AU-CD, 4.6k, T)

Wrecker watches as Hunter talks to Crosshair about chances; watches as Omega says her piece too.

To feel your heart as it's keeping time (TBB, Batch twins, 3.3k, G)

Since Crosshair’s recent and long-awaited return to their squad, Tech has found that treating him like one would a feral tooka has been relatively successful in getting the sniper to relax around him.

Don't You Doubt (TBB, Cross & Hunter, 2.5k, T, part of a series)

Pabu is very quiet at night.

And please be there; I can barely hang on (But oh I wait 'til I break) (TBB, h/c, 3.8k, T) (this one's in Russian too!)

Crosshair didn't know they'd be here.

Mirjahaal (TBB, pre-show, 2.1k, G)

Echo doesn’t know what Crosshair’s problem is.

Breakthrough on Bracca (TBB, AU-CD, 4.6k, T)

Crosshair wakes to a face on fire and a clear mind.

Change of Heart, Change of Plans (TBB, AU-CD, 5.6k, G)

A flash of white armor in his periphery, accompanied by the sound of familiar voices – or rather, one familiar voice from multiple people – has Hunter diverting from their route, leading his siblings into a dark and dank alley, waiting for the troopers to pass.

We're Still What's Left (TBB s3e4 cont., grief, 1.7k, T)

“But… how did you escape?” Hunter asks the kid, and Crosshair figures that’s his cue, even if he’s not sure he’s quite ready for whatever awaits him out there.

Homecoming Heroes (TBB, sequel to above, 2.8k, T)

Pabu is… nice.

Thoughts and tags below the cut:

So... Patterns? I was gonna say something about fairly long sentences, but then half of them turned out to be pretty short, actually 😅

I guess I try to set the scene: Who's there, what are they doing, what's the Problem (if the characters know, yet) etc. Try to make clear what canon scene we've jumped into, when relevant (I.e. in Labor of love, which picks up towards the end of Kamino Lost, when Hunter has just said something like 'you gave us a chance Crosshair; this is yours' and Omega has said 'they're still your brothers, Crosshair. You're my brother too.', which is what Wrecker's thoughts are referring to.)

I also tend to start right in the middle of Something, especially in the more action-filled ones. This is both because I then avoid losing people to "boring" exposition or world-building or descriptions right out of the gate, and also because beginnings are Hard, so the way I typically start writing a fic (or anything, really) is to start with whatever scene I've got in mind that sparked the idea for the rest of the fic, regardless of when it actually takes place, and then build the rest around it. Or by writing notes/something like an outline if I don't have a specific scene in mind but more just a sort of general feeling or plot or theme or something I want to write about, and then expand those into text-text. This approach means I often end up explaining the things that need explaining throughout the fic, so there's no need to put it all at the beginning. And also - it's fanfic. By far most of my readers will already be familiar with the characters and general setting; I just need to make clear where and how we might deviate from that.

That's all, I think. But hey! if you got this far and you noticed something I didn't, why don't you tell me? (please be nice, though, I'm not looking for critique; just curious)

NPTs: @whimsicalmeerkat @hxad-ovxr-hxart @spacemagicandlaserswords @battlekilt

[lazinesswrites]

WIP Wednesday Words With:

Cross doesn't kill the Lt.

Here you go! ❤❤❤

“I’ll be there,” Echo repeats and they end the call, leaving Echo staring into space where the holoprojection of Rex was just a moment ago. He meant what he said: He does want to help Rex with this mission. He just also doesn’t want to leave Pabu, not while Crosshair is still… Well.

[lazinesswrites]

"Cross doesn't kill the Lt", if I can still sneak an ask in?

Hi! Sorry about the wait, my brain has Not been cooperating with this fic this week. But here you go:

»Echo,« Rex sighs across the holocall, »I know how much your squad means to you, and I don’t want to take you away from them, especially when you’re all still… adjusting. But we need your help.« “I know,” Echo tells him, “I want to help. Send me the coordinates; I’ll be there.” »Thank you. You’re a good man, Echo. Take your time; rendezvous is in two standard rotations.«

[lazinesswrites]

"CrossRex" please!

Yes! Here you go! ❤

“Havoc-4, this is Havoc-5. Do you copy?” Omega asks into her comlink, and Tech does not need Hunter’s enhanced senses to notice the way Crosshair snaps his attention to first Omega, then Hunter, though he does not immediately speak up. “Echo? Are you there?” “He’s too long-range,” Hunter tells her, “Echo won’t pick up our signal.” “Especially since he disabled his communication device,” Tech adds, deciding to ignore Crosshair’s ire for now. Sometimes it is best to let him stew until he figures out how to properly formulate what is bothering him. Or decides whether whatever it is bothers him enough to complain about it, but not so much to make him feel too vulnerable to bring attention to it. It is often easier to wait him out than trying to guess at any rate.

Find the rules and titles for this week's WIP Wednesday ask game here.

[lazinesswrites]

Requesting some CrossRex for WIP Wednesday please!

Here you go! ❤❤❤

“That storm’s changing course,” Wrecker tells them as they step out of the mine. He’s right, it seems much closer to them than it was before, despite moving away from them at the time. It sounds much closer too, but they should have plenty of time to get back on the ship and off the planet before it becomes a problem. “The weather patterns on this planet are most irregular,” Tech confirms, having already moved past his argument with Crosshair, it seems. At least that makes one of them, Hunter thinks, with Crosshair still acting like a little storm cloud of his own.

Find the rules and titles for this week's WIP Wednesday ask game here.

[lazinesswrites]

CrossRex for WIP Wednesday this week please

Here you go! Thank you for the ask ❤

“You already can’t rely on her!” Crosshair hisses, “Do you think she would not sell you out to the Empire or any of her other ‘contacts’, for the right price? She only hasn’t so far because it’s more beneficial for her to keep you around for now, but do you really think—” “Knock it off, both of you,” Hunter interrupts, “We’re taking the vials back to Cid; it’s not up for debate.”

Find the rules and titles for this week's WIP Wednesday ask game here.

[lazinesswrites]

CrossRex, please!

Certainly! You shall have some sibling banter!

“This amount of ipsium is worth more than the total amount of fuel it takes for the Marauder to get from Ord Mantell to here and back again,” Tech claims. “Mm-hmm, and after Cid has taken her cut?” “There will be significantly less credits left for us then, yes,” Tech concedes, only somewhat reluctantly.

Find the rules and titles for this week's WIP Wednesday ask game here.

[lazinesswrites]

"CrossRex" for WIP Wednesday please!

Of course ❤

“Well, this has been rewarding,” Crosshair remarks as they head back towards the exit, sarcasm so thick Hunter can almost taste it in the air. “That will just about cover the fuel. But at least the kid proves useful.” Hunter bristles and is about to turn on Crosshair with some choice words about ‘usefulness’ and loyalty and family, but Tech beats him to it, though his focus is on a different part of what Crosshair said.

Find the rules and titles for this week's WIP Wednesday ask game here.