Sex and the single ferret
Apr. 5th, 2005 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythRandom worldbuilding speculation here.
So, what kinds of effects would prevalent magic have on things like social institutions, sex, and inheritance? In general, I try and keep Fors's world fairly "realistic" in that it's mostly based off how life actually was in the medieval/renissance/industrial revolution (that is to say, mostly sucky), but with lots of change going on. Which lets me be all metaphorical and also lets me have lots of room for exciting things.
Maybe I should start of simpler, though. Terry Pratchett's first few Discworld books were more basic fantasy parody, then things grew.
But, back to sex, because most of the people on my friendslist are hormonal somethings. I'd imagine wizards could or would come up with some kind of contraceptive (or more than one), and also could come up with fertility spells. And let's not forget the gods, they can make plenty of trouble. Imagine the arguments between the God(ess)s of Love, Chastity, and Fertility. Even if they're not that subdivided, those would probably be parts of other gods "portfolios". The god(ess) of Pleasure or Hedonism or something, the god(ess) of No Fun, that sort of thing. And while they can't really intervene directly for many reasons (one of the important ones being it makes stories get messy real quickly), they wouldn't be above giving the ideas to mortals. If they thought of it, whether the gods can have original thoughts is another subject for whenever I get around to figuring more on the nature of magic, religion, and gods.
There could be herbal mixtures, a common method in some authors' books (I'm looking at you, Mercedes Lackey) to allow more "modern" sex and relationships, or magic, of course, the question is more what works, makes sense, and allows for more dramatic tension. Or makes life simpler. If I wanted simplicity, I could just make contraception fairly widespread and common knowledge, except among groups that either don't communicate or don't like it for whatever reasons. That would keep it out of the question more and allow more modern-style relationships and family structure (in some ways). But it'd also not be true to the era things are loosely based on, and be a cop-out of sorts. If I wanted to make things even more turbulent, make it new. Then there's yet another thing throwing society into change, but piling too many things up could stretch credulity and whatnot.
Or I could make it a bit of both. It could be common in some places, and unknown others. A lot of the major changes going on in Fors's world are because of communication, and it's been going on for a while. You can magic something to another continent. it'll be expensive, and maybe somewhat unreliable, but fast. Things have been moving out of the Dark Ages style feudalism and factionalism to more peaceful and trade-based stuff, like in the Renaissance. And the improved mobility and trade allow for more inventions. And the exploits of "adventurers" going deep into the unknown, carving up their own kingdoms, looting ruins, etc, is bringing more stuff in.
So, what would happen to feudalistic land inheritance arranged marriages when contraception becomes common, and wealth moves away from land and to money and trade. And people move to cities and travel more.
Hmm. Lots of things, really. So I figure for now the easiest thing is just to leave it up in the air, because I can easily justify all sorts of attitudes and availabilities of things. Feel free to comment, though.
Tags: Writing, Mindscribbles, Mindscribbles, Worldbuilding, Forsyth, SCIENCE!, Sex
So, what kinds of effects would prevalent magic have on things like social institutions, sex, and inheritance? In general, I try and keep Fors's world fairly "realistic" in that it's mostly based off how life actually was in the medieval/renissance/industrial revolution (that is to say, mostly sucky), but with lots of change going on. Which lets me be all metaphorical and also lets me have lots of room for exciting things.
Maybe I should start of simpler, though. Terry Pratchett's first few Discworld books were more basic fantasy parody, then things grew.
But, back to sex, because most of the people on my friendslist are hormonal somethings. I'd imagine wizards could or would come up with some kind of contraceptive (or more than one), and also could come up with fertility spells. And let's not forget the gods, they can make plenty of trouble. Imagine the arguments between the God(ess)s of Love, Chastity, and Fertility. Even if they're not that subdivided, those would probably be parts of other gods "portfolios". The god(ess) of Pleasure or Hedonism or something, the god(ess) of No Fun, that sort of thing. And while they can't really intervene directly for many reasons (one of the important ones being it makes stories get messy real quickly), they wouldn't be above giving the ideas to mortals. If they thought of it, whether the gods can have original thoughts is another subject for whenever I get around to figuring more on the nature of magic, religion, and gods.
There could be herbal mixtures, a common method in some authors' books (I'm looking at you, Mercedes Lackey) to allow more "modern" sex and relationships, or magic, of course, the question is more what works, makes sense, and allows for more dramatic tension. Or makes life simpler. If I wanted simplicity, I could just make contraception fairly widespread and common knowledge, except among groups that either don't communicate or don't like it for whatever reasons. That would keep it out of the question more and allow more modern-style relationships and family structure (in some ways). But it'd also not be true to the era things are loosely based on, and be a cop-out of sorts. If I wanted to make things even more turbulent, make it new. Then there's yet another thing throwing society into change, but piling too many things up could stretch credulity and whatnot.
Or I could make it a bit of both. It could be common in some places, and unknown others. A lot of the major changes going on in Fors's world are because of communication, and it's been going on for a while. You can magic something to another continent. it'll be expensive, and maybe somewhat unreliable, but fast. Things have been moving out of the Dark Ages style feudalism and factionalism to more peaceful and trade-based stuff, like in the Renaissance. And the improved mobility and trade allow for more inventions. And the exploits of "adventurers" going deep into the unknown, carving up their own kingdoms, looting ruins, etc, is bringing more stuff in.
So, what would happen to feudalistic land inheritance arranged marriages when contraception becomes common, and wealth moves away from land and to money and trade. And people move to cities and travel more.
Hmm. Lots of things, really. So I figure for now the easiest thing is just to leave it up in the air, because I can easily justify all sorts of attitudes and availabilities of things. Feel free to comment, though.
Tags: Writing, Mindscribbles, Mindscribbles, Worldbuilding, Forsyth, SCIENCE!, Sex
