In the darkness, Digital Riot types away on a keyboard. His bloodshot eyes fixed on the screen, the words appearing one at a time. Each pixel coming together to form something greater. His fingers glide over the keyboard, punching buttons in rapid succession to form the words together. Multiple times, he has to stop. Deleting huge chunks of his story. Multiple times he hits brick walls, finding himself lost where he writes…

Digital Riot's father kicks down the door, wearing a tophat, smoking a cigar. He looks down upon his son with a smile.

"Are ya winnin' son?"

Digital Riot turns slowly, looking at his father, "No dad. I don't even know anymore," he says, "The words. They don't fit. Every time I write them down, it's like I'm hitting a brick wall."

"Oh, well son I-"

"I don't know dad! Why? Why does this happen to us?"

"Son, it's about time we had a man-to-man talk," His father takes off his tophat and walks over to Digital Riot's desk. Sitting down, he places a hand on his son's shoulder, "Y'see, there comes a time in every young man's life when he gets… certain feelings. It's called writer's block son. I've been there too."

"But why dad? I don't understand!"

"You will when you grow up, I promise."

Digital Riot begins sobbing slowly, as his father stands. Preparing to exit the room, he looks down upon Digital Riot one last time, "I'm sorry son, I didn't want it to come to this…"

He retraces his steps back outside the room, disappearing behind the door. Leaving Digital Riot behind…

War… war never changes…

War is a constant shifting of political hands, twisted viewpoints, and false conceptions of truth…

War can confuse even the most skilled historians. In a world filled with terrorism on both sides, media over-sensualization, and atrocities committed by all the players, we must ask the question humans have been asking ourselves for generations…

What is war good for? Is there a 'bad' guy in war? Is there a 'good' guy in war? Does killing another being for any reason justify retaliation? What are the moral implications of killing even in self-defense?

All of these questions should be safely ignored in your story! GATE doesn't have these questions, and neither should your fic! Those questions are sad, boring, and too complex to thoughtfully write out. Ignoring them and having your army commit atrocities that would make Stalin and Hitler green with envy, is the only real solution as it is easier! Stories that are easier to write, are always the best ones! No wonder lullabies and children's nursery songs are so wide-spread nowadays.

Your story should have a clearly defined moral set of characters. The "Good Guys" in your story, must be the summoned nation going through the portal. The "Bad Guys" are the primitives living in the new world. They are bad because…

Wait. Why DID Sadera send an army to attack Ginza? Seems pretty stupid…

Uhh… Because Sadera is PURE EVIL! Yeah… that's realistic.

Making Empires that are purely defined by evil characteristics is the most realistic way to tell any war story! Regimes built on the suffering of its citizens last an extremely long time in the real world! Just ask the Confederacy, it lasted an entire Four Years!

Regimes like Nazi Germany, The CSA, USSR, and others are perfect examples for you to use in your fic as evil empires. But, in your fic, you should cast aside the historical context that made these empires the way they were in real life, and just keep all the evil parts!

Why is the Saderan Empire genociding magical demi-humans, when it would be extremely effective to incorporate them into loyal citizens? Thereby giving the Empire a pool of magical warriors to aid in its Imperial prerogatives and conquest?

Erhm… That's a good question!

…

…

…

Hope that helps!

[In the real world, there is a multitude of complex historical factors that would lead to an Empire becoming an evil regime. Usually, the installment of a fascist/authoritarian regime, is evidence that a traumatic and event has happened to that Empire in recent history. Thereby, giving rise to poverty, and desparation.

Nazi Germany came about because of the long and brutal hardships faced in World War 1, and then the extremely taxing Treaty of Versailles. People cling to strong authoritarian leaders only in a state of extreme desparation and complete financial collapse. As evident with the rise of the Soviet Union in Russia, and the Nazi party in Germany, and Fascismo in italy. Considering these factors could improve the worldbuilding of your own evil empire, as giving historical context to why these Empires practice slavery and genocide will draw in the reader and give depth to the Empire as a whole.]

Zzzzzz….

That's boring! Empires that are based around PURE EVIL are amazing, and they require very little effort to write. And if you know me, I'm all about taking the easy way out of things!

Now, perhaps we should consider what this Empire should actually look like? If we want to go back in time, we should use the Roman Empire as a base template! The legacy of the Roman Empire is perhaps one of the most profound in the entire world. A legacy only trumped by modern global powers. The history and government of the SPQR are complex and deep and would require multiple hours of studying in order to fully comprehend…

Yeah, we aren't doing that! Study about history? That's boring! You should instead just give your evil Empire armor that looks like something a Roman legionnaire would wear and call it a day. Make no attempt to actually create a government similar to that of the Roman Republic, or even the latter Empire at all! Just create a Senate that is essentially powerless, and don't get too much into the details about how your government isn't just a glorified absolute monarchy. I'm sure people won't notice that!

Speaking of government, the most important part about government are the people who actually govern! Who is the Emperor or ruler of your nation? Perhaps it is a figure with a strong and decisive tongue to convince the masses to join his or her cause? Maybe it is a strong and adept military tactician, who can easily defeat his opponents both on the battlefield and in a debate? Perhaps it is a rich noble who has the wisdom and tact to manipulate society to better fit their greedy aristocratic needs?

Or maybe, he's just a complete idiot whos only defining characteristic is that he likes to rape women.

*looking at you Zorzal!*

Yeah, I'm sure that's realistic at all.

How did this guy even get to the throne? Why isn't a large section of the government dedicated to keeping him in check? Why did the previous Emperor even choose him as the successor in the first place? Why hasn't the Senate pulled out knives to Julius Caesar this guy to death?

Those questions are boring and dumb, don't attempt to answer them in your story!

[Julius Ceasar was killed by the Roman Senate after the Praetorial Guard auctioned off his position to the highest bidder. How is Zorzal still relevant at this point? While it is true that idiotic leaders can come to power, they generally do not have much direct control over every single aspect of government in the way a democracy functions. The administration surrounding your ruler should attempt to oppose their idiotic whims at any and all points in time and keep the ruler in check.]

But those rules don't apply to my Empire, because it is built upon PURE EVIL…

Pure Evil is an amazing trope! Create villains that are evil just for the sake of being evil. Why have "moral depth" and "complexity" when you can just write a sadist/masochist of a villain and call it a day?

The best villains in media all over are those who are hungry for power!

Why do they want power?

Umm… so that they can have EVEN MORE POWER!

What are they going to do with all of that power?

…Enslave the world? I think…

Don't think too much into it. Villains that chase power for the sake of having power are characters that the audience will indeed connect with. After all, the reason why the FarCry Video Game series is so successful wasn't because of the moral and ethical complexity of each and every villain in each game! Instead, it was because the villains were mean and brutal! Thereby telling the audience that these guys were indeed villains!

Giving your villains moral depth may actually alienate your audience from your heroes! This could be used to create an interesting dynamic between the morals of the hero and villain, and even ask the question of what our concept of "Good" and "Bad" really is in the end.

But that requires me to actually think about what I'm writing, and my brain is too tired to worry about stupid things like "Philosophy" or "Moral depth". If the reader begins to root more for the villain than the hero, have the villain blow up an orphanage or something. Just to strike home the message that the villain is indeed the villain.

[Some of the greatest villains in media history, may not have even been villains in the end. The FarCry Video Game series is best at creating villains that the audience connects with and can relate to. FarCry 4 shows that Pagan Min might've actually been the good guy in the end, with the protagonist actually being a confused terrorist. FarCry 3 creates a world where the hero, later on, becomes the villain, with Vaas Montenegro's twisted concept of reality having a profound influence on you going through the insanity of the jungle.

Of course, Farcry isn't the only series to do this. GLaDOS in Portal might've been the good guy all along, as she tried to protect Chell from the alien invasion taking place on Earth's surface by the combine in Half-Life. Handsome Jack from Borderlands is another great villain with a warped perception of reality brought about by factors outside of their control, and so too is Batman's Joker. Writing villains that are evil just for the sake of being evil, is boring in of itself. Deep and thought-provoking characters are characters the audience will love, no matter what.]

Are we done talking about moral themes? What is this? An Eighth-Grade ELA lesson? Please, I'm faaar too advanced to pay attention in class. I don't need this petty lecture to create fascinating villains.

Hey, I know! Why don't we put our villains in a Love Triangle? Love Triangles can be used to solve any conflict, and even generate a couple of them along the way. The villain should have multiple slaves that he may eventually grow to fall in love with. The slaves who are in turn trying to escape from daily abuse, fall in love with their liberators.

I love predictable cliches. They are some of the greatest literary devices out there.

When writing Villains, it is important to have your villain's ideology in perspective too. What is your villain trying to accomplish? What does victory for your villain look like? What ideology or doctrine does your villain to subscribe to?

Well… My villain wants to defeat the summoned nation…. And that's good enough! That's a well fleshed out character if I ever saw one. It's not like our villains need the same things our hero's need. Personal motivations, ulterior motives, advanced characterization, and backstory should be safely ignored. The villains are the bad guys, they don't need the same level of depth that your main character does (As if you are giving the main character depth at all).

Instead, just have the Villain monologue about how much they want more power for a page or two. They are doing this for PURE EVIL!

Poorly thought out villains and evil empires are indeed the best ways to establish a setting. All of the great classics such as George Orwell's 1984, Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games, Star Wars, and others, all spend faar too much time giving actual depth to the world the people are stuck in.

Maybe if they read this their stories would be better? Afterall, my story is doing exceptionally well!

*Looks at Odyssey, on fire, in the distance*

Yeah, I'm the greatest author ever. The only thing greater than me is my crippling ego!