The Mind's World

When I was still cute enough for random family friends to give me candy, I thought fantasy was like a universe that kept all of real life's awesome and none of its nasty boring complications. Like law. And taxes. Yes, back then I thought those were worse than Azog the Defiler.
As it turns out, writing fantasy is difficult.

People can write fantasy by

1. Taking the real world and transplanting ludicrous stuff into it, like dementors and flying broomsticks.
2. Taking the real world and transplanting it into a ludicrous universe, like on top of a giant space turtle with radioactive magic waves.
3. Copying a generally accepted fantasy setting, i.e. a King Arthur-esque figure fighting dragons with an enchanted sword.
4. Basing a parallel universe off of a historical time period, except with - you know - magic.
5. Being J. R. R. Tolkien.
6. Doing whatever the fudge you want.

I got a little ambitious and quite delusional and chose number four. With the Industrial Revolution.

How is that not steampunk I have no idea, but anyways, I started building cities and social structures and popular myths and fire-breathing beetles and mountains cloaked in smog, and one character ended up being a blatant ripoff of the whole anime genre (pretty girl, albino, nuff said), and then my artist friend comes along and asks for artistic inspiration. So I give her the first chapter of the story.

     Friend: reads.

     Friend: "What's she wearing?"

     Me: "A, uh...a cloak, kind of?"

     "A cloak? What kind of cloak?"

     "I dunno, like a red riding hood cloak? Except it's brown, and coarse."

     "Please don't tell me that's all she's wearing."

     "No, no, she's got like a tank top and jeans and boots underneath."

     "...A cloak over a tank top?"

     "..."

     "Where is this set, exactly? Mordor?"

     "No, it's like if the Industrial Revolution miraculously went on for a couple hundred years. Which isn't nearly long enough for fire-breathing beetles to evolve, but whatevs."

     "Wait, girls always had to wear dresses in the Industrial Revolution. What is she, a cross-dresser?"

     Me: "..."

     Me: "Bwuh."

     Me: "Baahhhhhhh."

     Me: "Being historically accurate sucks."

And thus ended number four.

Then I realized that number six also requires clothes that actually make sense, so I have to completely revamp that character's appearance, anyways. Who would've known - entire worlds can crumble because of fashion issues.