"Who are you? Are you on Plantain?"

Late in the night a dream. A person trying to survive who is on the edge.... The next night another dream about the same person. The next day I take a short nap at lunchtime and she tells me

What are the "afflictions"? Constantly seeing the suffering. The death all around. The desolation and emptiness. Seeing the lizard brain beneath. Elfin amongst the orcs. Socialist vegan amongst the capitalist omni's. Is that both of their afflictions? That they are remnants of a dying race mixed in amongst a vile species? Half orcs whom were the products of rape. The half orcs raped again until there is nothing left of the original race except some orcs with a bit of their ancestry.

But whatever. They see. Why are the miserable? And how miserable? Alone. Consumed with the sense of wrongness around them. (Smothered Hope-SP-everybody knows it's wrong) I suppose primarily about food.

Orc society. Factory farming descriptions.

He sees into their minds. Locked in small enclosures. Standing in their own shit. Fed food that makes their stomach ache. Down an assembly line one by one to their deaths. They're bipedal and sentient.

Every meal has meat in it. The baby is killed, the mother is locked in a small chamber and her milk is taken. The baby is cooked in her milk. Every meal they eat it. Grease seeps from the pores of their skin constantly. The alpha males have sex with about 4 women on average while the other men take turns with prostitutes, hoping they'll one day become an alpha.

No male may be with a "respectable" woman alone. Because what could occur but sex?

Yesmen surround those with power. Fear is constant. Those who fear let off steam by making others fear. Fun is about the shit rolling down hill. Fun is abusing a prostitute. Fun is rape. They really want it anyway. Otherwise there is a steady supply of alcohol, gambling, blood sport. No one reads. Virtually no one makes music. Cept maybe some simplistic rap.

Dystopia. Stuck in it. That is a misery. Not the only one. But a good one, I suppose.

One needn't overdo dytopia though. Need not be orcs and constant rape. Reality can work fine for a "properly sensitive" mind.

And such a mind, sensitive enough to eventually develop a telepathic link, such a level of dystopia may be a bit much.

Nah, it's fine.

This setting must be told within a plot. And personally I dislike when characters dreams are shared in a story. Does the sensitivity only float to the top while sleeping? What is he thinking while awake? His actions must conform in order to survive. How do we know how miserable he is in such a world? What can we show? His revulsion at the food. His refusal to take part in the rape. His dislike of the bloodsports. He is made fun of for being so moopy and for being "weird". For not taking part in the usual fun. But ultimately left alone because, although not heavy, he is very large and fights well.

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What are the bloodsports?
What creatures are eaten?
Prostitution is illegal. It can't be easily readily available. Because the non-alphas must have a carrot. A very very few women in trying to not starve to death will sell themselves for next to nothing. Often end up killed as a result. The vast majority of women are dressed in burkas. And sit at home. Their opinions silenced. These few women have angered some alpha and been kicked out. They rarely survive for long. Officially rape is wrong. But generally if alone, even policemen will rape. Everyone is lying. They all pretend to something.

Rape is wrong. But rampantly committed always because she really wanted it. A woman alone? She wanted it. But if rape is that rampant then no need for prostitution and is their sufficient carrot to become an alpha male?????

This absurdity is the stuff for better or worse.


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But is this beautiful? Is there anything about all this that would make me personally want to come back to it day after day as I try to write it?

No!!!

Not remotely. There is nothing positive here.

And that of course, is the problem with dystopia. It's not just somehow making it readable. It's even personally being able to stand spending so much time there one's self.

I need a world that has beauty. That I'd like to actually go to. At the same time that it has strife....