Certified Freak

TRA here means "transracial adoptee" fyi, just in case you're used to seeing that in another context

no one says big mood anymore. no one even says mood. no one says anything. all thats left is a dry wind, that scours my face until i bleed

One thing I love putting in my fantasy and scifi that so many stories I read don't have is superstitions that are just wrong. Astrology type shit. Wizards being assigned an elemental type that's supposed to determine their personality just because that's how it's been done for centuries because ages ago people believed in it and these days people are like "no of course it's a silly superstition haha" but still glance knowingly at your metal type tattoo when you're being headstrong. Societies who believe that the stars determine your destiny because see, this kid was born under the star that indicated intelligence so we pushed her in school and got her special tutors so she could live up to her potential and look, she IS more academically successful than her peers born under other stars! People talking about their religion in the far future and all the side characters are like "that sounds like fucking nonsense" and they're like "no it's TRUE" and the audience is like 'no that's nonsense'. I love inventing shit for characters to just be totally wrong about.

I also love making them wrong about the past but that's just a fun thing that most far future scifi gets to do.

This is also a useful tactic for reminding readers not to trust characters' perspective too much. Like, yeah, that person did just give a very smart-sounding detailed analysis on the current situation and predicted to the month how long it will be before war breaks out, but they also believe (incorrectly) that the ghosts of previous captains live on in the hull of the ship and think humans invented dolphins by combining human and whale DNA, so don't be too surprised if they turn out to be wrong. The narrator said it's "the biggest spaceship ever built" but she's six years old and just learned what a sheep is, so. Might have a limited perspective.

the kids in hsm2 shouldve unionized that country club

you should obsess over that rarepair right neow