#and also how they intersect with broader galactic politics

[miralines]

One thing I think is interesting/useful to note about the Rose Red book is that it is a book that was published in the OUATIS galaxy a little under ten years after the war, and that it has an in-story author— and, crucially, that author is not necessarily an entirely reliable narrator.

More rambling about this under the cut

The author, Althea, is a normcivilian with an unusual amount of sympathy for the now-decommissioned Rose Reds. This is not a popular position, and between:

A) her rhetorical goal of changing the minds of people actively against the Rose Reds being allowed to survive

B) the constraints of mainstream publishers, who are under social/political pressure to not threaten the new government, requiring her to be both neutral and not too challenging,

C) her own corresponding bias in believing that neutrality is both possible and desirable,

and D) her limited viewpoint as a normcivilian (not a Rose Red) from a privileged background,

There are quite a lot of places where events, people, and viewpoints are presented in ways that are somewhat misleading. Althea has a degree in journalism, but she does not live in an entirely free society, and both external forces and her own biases do color the narrative she presents throughout the book.

In short, she’s the equivalent of a left-leaning ally to a marginalized group who’s a bit more centrist than one might hope and is presenting herself as even more centrist in order to be published at all through mainstream channels and taken seriously by people who are biased against her cause.

#my fic #one thousand and three #rose red book #I figure she’s willing to bargain the constraints of traditional publishing for the reach they offer #in service of her greater goal of humanizing the rose reds to other norms #this is a compromise she can make. I think many rose reds would feel differently #including several she interviews #it would also fundamentally be a different book if it were written for rose reds #Althea’s biggest flaw in approaching this is attempting to be palatable to an audience who is hostile to the people she writes about #and this creates some. problematic dynamics in how she handles some of the issues she’s discussing as an outsider #I have. a lot of thoughts about the politics of the book #and also how they intersect with broader galactic politics #(especially when it comes to freedom of ideas and censorship) #anyway thanks to anyone who’s read all this meta rambling about rhetoric and narrative in this project #hope you enjoy the book itself lmao