Story genres and settings

Genres

• adventure: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• Age of Sail fiction, maritime fiction, and naval fiction: Waterman.
• alternate history: The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman.
• crime fiction: The Three Lands, Princeling, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman.
• domestic fiction: The Eternal Dungeon, Waterman.
• fantasy: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• friendship fiction: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain.
• historical fantasy: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations.
• lgbtq fiction: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Master/Other.
• military fiction and war fiction: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, Spy Hill (Life Prison), Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain.
• queerplatonic (platonic companionship) fiction: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain.
• romance: The Eternal Dungeon (gay), Dungeon Guards (gay and asexual), Waterman (gay), Master/Other (gay). Romantic subplots appear within The Three Lands (heterosexual), The Thousand Nations (gay and heterosexual), Life Prison (gay), Michael's House (gay), Darkling Plain (heterosexual), Master/Other (gay).
• school stories: Waterman.
• science fiction: Waterman (retrofuture SF).
• spy fiction: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, Life Prison, Princeling.

Time periods

Time periods listed below consist of imaginary or alternative settings inspired by historical time periods.

• Late Antiquity / The Dark Ages: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations.
• Middle Ages: Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• 1870s: The Eternal Dungeon.
• 1880s: The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards.
• 1890s: Life Prison.
• 1910s: Michael's House, Waterman.
• 1960s: Waterman.
• The Future: Waterman.

Locations

United States locations listed below consist of alternative-universe settings based upon locations in our world.

• afterlife: Bard of Pain (The Three Lands), Transformation (The Eternal Dungeon), Eternally Divided (Master/Other).
• Maryland: Life Prison [Frederick County and Washington County], Waterman [Calvert County, Dorchester County, and Prince George's County].
• Pennsylvania: Rebirth (The Eternal Dungeon), The Balance (The Eternal Dungeon), Michael's House [Pittsburgh].
• Virginia: The Eternal Dungeon [Luray], Dungeon Guards.
• West Virginia: Transformation (The Eternal Dungeon), Mercy's Prisoner (Life Prison).
• wholly imaginary location: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, and The Thousand Nations, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• See also Race and ethnicity.

---

Diversities of character

Ages

• children (under age 13): Blood Vow (The Three Lands), Transformation (The Eternal Dungeon),  On Guard (The Eternal Dungeon), Waterman, Darkling Plain.
• younger adolescent characters (13-17): The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, Sweet Blood (The Eternal Dungeon), Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain.
• new adult characters (18-25): The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• middle-aged characters (26-55): The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• senior-aged characters (56 and up): Crossing Worlds, Law of Vengeance (The Three Lands), The Thousand Nations, Mystery (The Three Lands), Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain.

Disabilities

• cognitively disabled characters: Darkling Plain, Sweet Blood (The Eternal Dungeon), Dungeon Guards.
• emotionally disabled characters: Empty Dagger Hand (The Three Lands), Bard of Pain (The Three Lands), The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House.
• mentally disabled ("mentally ill") characters: Breached Boundaries (The Three Lands), The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman.
• physically disabled characters: Princeling, Darkling Plain.

Genders

These categories may overlap because of multiple gender identities held by the characters.

• female: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Hell's Messenger (Life Prison), Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain.
• male: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• nonbinary or third gender: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Balance (The Eternal Dungeon), Forge (The Eternal Dungeon).
• female protagonist: Breached Boundaries (The Three Lands), Darkling Plain, Never (The Eternal Dungeon), Prison Food and Fondness (The Eternal Dungeon), Ma'am (The Eternal Dungeon), Waterman.
• male protagonist: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• nonbinary or third gender protagonist: Blood Vow (The Three Lands), Breached Boundaries (The Three Lands), Crossing Worlds, The Balance (The Eternal Dungeon), Forge (The Eternal Dungeon).

Orientations (romantic and sexual)

In both the Great Peninsula universe and the Toughs universe, the concepts of romantic orientation and sexual orientation do not exist. Instead, those societies hold to the classical belief that (as The Art of Manliness puts it) men's "attraction to, and sexual activity with other men was thought of as something you did, not something you were." (Women's attractions tended not to be thought about at all.) At most, the decision by a man whether to have sex with a man or a woman – or nobody – might be regarded as a strong preference. I've translated these "preferences" into the modern equivalents of orientation. Unfortunately, I've had to leave "aromantic," "heteroromantic," and "homoromantic" off the list because the borderline between friendship and romance is so fuzzy in these universes, by the standards of our world. However, I've included "queerplatonic" to indicate characters in platonic companionships who might be considered either romantic or aromantic, depending on one's perspective.

• asexual or permanently celibate male: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, AI (Waterman), Darkling Plain.
• bisexual male: In the Toughs universe, society assumes that male characters are attracted to both sexes and that most males will act on their attraction to other males at some point in their lives. The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Master/Other.
• gay male: Empty Dagger Hand (The Three Lands), The Thousand Nations, Life Prison, Waterman, Master/Other.
• heterosexual female: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, Princeling, Darkling Plain, The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Waterman.
• heterosexual male: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain.
• queerplatonic male (oriented toward females): The Eternal Dungeon.
• queerplatonic male (oriented toward males): The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, AI (Waterman).
• See also Genders.

Race and ethnicity

Racial and ethnic identities in the Three Lands and Toughs universes do not correspond exactly to identities in our world. In the list that follows, I've done my best to provide the closest equivalents in our world. All of the Toughs characters live in their equivalent of the Mid-Atlantic region of the UnitedStates.

• African ancestry: Transformation (The Eternal Dungeon), Sweet Blood (The Eternal Dungeon), Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman.
• Asian ancestry: Hell's Messenger (Life Prison).
• English ancestry: The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman.
• Hispanic/Latino ancestry: Hell's Messenger (Life Prison).
• Italian ancestry: The Eternal Dungeon, Michael's House, Life Prison, Eternally Divided (Master/Other).
• Middle Eastern ancestry: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, and The Thousand Nations (Koretians, Daxions, and eastern mainland inhabitants).
• Native American ancestry: Life Prison.
• Northern European ancestry (region unspecified): The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, and The Thousand Nations (Emorians and northern mainland inhabitants); Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• mixed race/ethnicity: The Three Lands, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman.
• mixed national identity: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Michael's House, Waterman.
• immigrants and foreigners: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman.

Social classes

• homeless and formerly homeless characters: The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Michael's House, Master/Other.
• lower-class and commoner characters: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.
• middle-class characters: The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison.
• upper-class and nobility characters: The Three Lands, Crossing Worlds, The Thousand Nations, The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Michael's House, Waterman, Princeling, Darkling Plain, Master/Other.

Spiritual beliefs and skepticisms

• agnosticism: The Three Lands (Emor). See also Reincarnation for agnostics who hold a belief in reincarnation.
• atheism: The Three Lands (Emor).
• incarnation: The Three Lands.
• monolatrism (see definition): The Three Lands (Daxis).
• pluriform monotheism (see definition): The Three Lands (later stories, after the fall of the Three Lands).
• polytheism: The Three Lands  and The Thousand Nations (Koretia),The Eternal Dungeon, Life Prison, Michael's House.
• reincarnation: Darkling Plain, The Eternal Dungeon, Dungeon Guards, Life Prison, Waterman.
• veneration of ancestors: Life Prison.
• veneration of emperor: The Three Lands, and The Thousand Nations (Emor).
• veneration of nature: Life Prison.
• See also Locations for stories set in the afterlife.