Hello, friends! Despite my best efforts, I could not figure out a way to illustrate the bureaucratic processes I discuss in this week's installments, so it is with some sense of irony that I present to you pictures of words without pictures:

This time I wanted to talk a little about the wider world of the Risen Waters, and how Atasiar deals with foreign entities larger than the individuals who come to its shores, whether to migrate or merely to visit or trade.  While the setting is very much a hope-punk post-apocalypse, there's just no escaping bureaucracy even in this far-future milieu. And why? Because bureaucracy is often good actually.

I came to describing the OCPS because I know that most people seek out connection, even in a world of islands. And while it's perfectly possible to get lost on purpose, for the more cautious travelers, it's nice to have a service that will help put up an alert should they go missing. Since I'm a pragmatist, I also needed to describe how this essential service is funded. Taxes are, after all, one of the most important tools of the collective. Relatedly, I like the idea of cities where if you don't like something, you can literally leave, at least more easily than you can in real life, tho I do have dim views of people who greet all agitation to improve conditions with a "well, if you don't like it" etc. Like, grow up.  You don't just leave a non-abusive relationship without communicating and trying to work things out first.

The second page emphasizes once more Atasiar's  Malaysian but also multi-cultural roots.  Atasiar is, in many ways, my ideal of a Malaysia that is constantly working towards its better self. I suppose that at some point I'll have to explore its natural opposite, but that's something for a far future installment.