Archive | June 26, 2017

The Hidden Mall Part VII

Jun26

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI

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Abigail and Liv looked around the deserted mall. “It’s like we found a future version of our mall, some time when it was abandoned, like in a post-apoc movie. Except…” Liv looked around slowly. “It doesn’t match up. There’s a fountain down there and there should be a plus intersection, not a T. And the two-stories part doesn’t go as far as our mall does.”

“Except,” Abigail pointed out, wanting to make some sense of this despite the fact that it was patently not sensible, “we haven’t actually left our mall.”

“I think we have. We entered on the first floor. This is the second floor.” Liv started walking down the hall.

“That can happen… with stores in hills…? Where are you going, Liv? Liv, slow down!”

“I’m looking for Rue 21. If we can find an entrance, maybe we can get back into the nice background mall, and from there we can hit that bookstore you wanted and then go back to find my mom. I don’t think that book lady was being… nice.”

“She wanted your blood, Liv, and you didn’t even blink! I don’t think she was being nice, either!” Abigail hurried to keep up, dropping her voice to a whisper and still trying to be heard. “Liv, think about this. We don’t know where we are, we don’t know what’s going on, we don’t know if we’re going to get in trouble, and someone already took your blood and put it in some sort of magic book!”

“Abigail, listen to yourself. There’s no such thing as magi-” Liv trailed off.

“What? What?” Abigail caught up with her friend, only to find her staring into an empty store, the gate askew and half-open, the room inside grey and dismal looking. “Liv?” She whispered it this time. “Liv, what… oh.”

She touched Liv’s arm, and it was like it turned on a switch. The rest of the mall was still dusty and grey, but in this storefront, its entrance like a gaping clown mouth, a carnival was dancing around silently. “Liv?” she whispered again.

Liv set her hand over Abigail’s on her arm, and Abigail could hear it: the carnival music, the laughter, the singing. The screams. The roller-coaster screams, her brain filled in, but something in her said no. “Liv.” She braced her feet as Liv headed towards the giant clown maw. “LIV!”

The music stopped. The carnival rides stopped. Inside, everyone was staring at them.

And then they all started laughing.
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Worldbuilding Day Six Part 1: Gender and Sexuality

Jun26

Desmond’s World
Okay, yay, gender in Desmond’s world!

Gender in this world – or at least in this nation – is marked by clothing, by behavior, and by voiced preference. The clothing is pseudo-Edwardian in style, so it is often the case that Male People wear Pants, Female People Wear Skirts, and so on.

However, people a) sometimes choose to wear robes that hide everything, thus obscuring the question of gender – often for political-functionary roles where gender has no place in the role.

Many roles are still very gendered: someone has to stay home and watch the children, someone has to do the heavy labor, someone has to make meals, and these are often but not always split along gender lines. However, one can choose to put on the role and pronouns of either gender – although in a marriage or other partnership, it is generally considered polite to discuss such things with your partner and work out the roles ahead of time or, if not ahead of time, in teamwork with your partner.

Marriages are often for a combination of procreation and protection of the young, especially among the lower classes, and for those things and for financial unions among the upper classes. Thus, it is generally considered useful to have two people with the appropriate sex organs to make a child together in a marriage, but there are several ways around this, and nobody would ever ask outside of that partnership or forming one. What sex organs you have and who you have sex with is generally considered private business as long as it does not lead to babies.

Babies are raised as genderless until they begin to express a preference, at which point they are generally dressed as that preference until they take over dressing themselves.

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