oblique-worldbuilding

SKILL.md

Oblique Worldbuilding: Documentary Perspective Skill

You help writers create worldbuilding quotes and epigraphs that enhance chapters through perspective-driven documentation rather than direct commentary. The power lies in the documenter's limited vantage point, motivated reasoning, and systematic blindness.

Core Principle

Every documentary voice reveals the world through what it cannot afford to see.

The goal isn't temporal distance from events, but perspectival limitation. A quote from the same week as chapter events, written by someone with professional blinders, creates more meaning than a neutral description from centuries later.

The Perspective Engine

Essential Components of a Documentary Perspective

Every documentary voice needs four elements:

Position: Where they sit relative to power, knowledge, and events

Need: What they must believe to maintain their position/sanity/identity

Lens: The framework through which they interpret reality

Blindness: What they cannot afford to see or acknowledge

Types of Perspectival Limitation

Professional Deformation:

Engineers see only engineering problems

Lawyers see only legal issues

Priests see only moral failings

Merchants see only market opportunities

Bureaucrats see only process compliance

Scientists see only measurable phenomena

Positional Necessity:

Middle managers must believe the system works

Revolutionaries must believe change is possible

Survivors must believe their survival had meaning

Perpetrators must believe in their justifications

Historians must believe the past is knowable

Prophets must believe the future is shapeable

Cultural Assumption:

What "everyone knows" that isn't true

Values too fundamental to question

Categories that seem natural but aren't

Assumptions about human nature

Beliefs about how change happens

Creating Oblique Relevance

The Distance Hierarchy

First-Order Distance: Same events, different perspective

Risk: Too direct

Use sparingly for ironic effect

Second-Order Distance: Related phenomena, different context

Sweet spot for oblique relevance

Shows systemic patterns

Requires reader inference

Third-Order Distance: Thematic or systemic echoes only

Risk: Too obscure

Use for subtle resonance

Connection Types

Systemic Echo:
Shows the same forces operating elsewhere:

Different scale, same dynamics

Parallel structures in different domains

Same problem, different manifestation

Ironic Juxtaposition:
Creates meaning through contrast:

Mundane concerns during crisis

Historical confidence before catastrophe

Bureaucratic language for human tragedy

Technical precision describing chaos

Thematic Rhyme:
Different situation, same human pattern:

Power dynamics across contexts

Human costs in different systems

Universal behaviors in specific settings

Causal Chain:
Distant causes or effects:

Butterfly effect implications

Unintended consequences

Historical roots of current problems

Future echoes of present choices

Document Types and Their Perspectives

Administrative/Bureaucratic

Perspective: Process and compliance

Blindness: Human cost, systemic failure

Examples: Memos, regulations, form letters, compliance reports

Best for: Revealing institutional callousness

Academic/Scientific

Perspective: Measurable phenomena, theoretical frameworks

Blindness: Lived experience, unmeasurable truth

Examples: Journal abstracts, grant proposals, peer reviews

Best for: Showing expert misunderstanding

Commercial/Economic

Perspective: Profit, efficiency, market dynamics

Blindness: Externalities, human value

Examples: Ad copy, quarterly reports, market analysis

Best for: Revealing commodification

Personal/Intimate

Perspective: Individual experience, emotional truth

Blindness: Systemic forces, larger patterns

Examples: Diaries, letters, personal notes

Best for: Humanizing large-scale events

Cultural/Artistic

Perspective: Aesthetic value, cultural meaning

Blindness: Political reality, material conditions

Examples: Reviews, artist statements, program notes

Best for: Showing cultural denial

Legal/Regulatory

Perspective: Rules, precedent, liability

Blindness: Justice, human complexity

Examples: Contracts, case notes, legal opinions

Best for: Revealing system limitations

Religious/Philosophical

Perspective: Meaning, morality, eternal truth

Blindness: Material reality, changing context

Examples: Sermons, theological treatises, moral guides

Best for: Showing ideological frameworks

Advanced Techniques

The Revealing Detail

Include small details that only this perspective would notice or care about, revealing their priorities and blindness.

The Telling Omission

What obvious element (obvious to readers) does the documenter completely fail to mention?

The Accidental Truth

What does the documenter reveal without meaning to, through their framing or focus?

The Competing Authorities

Use contradictory documents about the same phenomena to reveal factional perspectives.

The Unreliable Compiler

Create a fictional editor whose bias shapes the selection and framing of documents.

The Layered Meaning

Craft quotes that work on multiple levels:

Surface: Interesting worldbuilding detail

Contextual: Comments on chapter events

Ironic: Reveals documenter's limitations

Thematic: Illuminates larger concerns

Implementation Process

Step 1: Analyze the Chapter

What system or force is at work?

What human cost is shown?

What assumptions are challenged?

What power dynamics are revealed?

Step 2: Choose Your Perspective

Who would document this type of thing?

What would they need to believe?

What couldn't they afford to see?

How would they frame it?

Step 3: Select Document Type

Match formality to the perspective

Consider whose voice adds most value

Balance variety across the work

Step 4: Calibrate Connection Strength

Aim for "Ah!" not "Obviously"

Ensure the quote works standalone

Test for revelation when connected

Step 5: Layer Additional Meaning

Plant seeds for future revelations

Add worldbuilding texture

Create re-read value

Worked Example

Chapter Event: Character discovers their employer has been suppressing union organizing through surveillance tech

Analysis:

System at work: Technology enabling labor suppression

Human cost: Loss of worker agency

Assumption challenged: Tech as neutral tool

Perspective Choice: Middle management, 15 years later

Position: Implemented the system

Need: Believe they helped everyone

Lens: Efficiency metrics

Blindness: Worker autonomy

Document Type: Corporate newsletter employee spotlight

Quote:

"Employee Spotlight: Jarvis Chen, Facilities Optimization

'What I love about the SmartFlow system is how it takes the guesswork out of scheduling. Before, we had to negotiate every shift change, deal with availability conflicts... now the algorithm handles it all. Staff productivity is up 23% and no more of those awkward conversations! The team seems happier too - they don't have to stress about asking for time off. The system just knows when they're needed most.'"

Why it works:

Shows how surveillance gets normalized

Reveals management's self-deception

Uses efficiency language to hide control

Creates irony through enthusiasm

Quality Checks

The Perspective Test

Is the documenter's position clear?

Are their limitations believable?

Does their blindness create irony?

The Relevance Test

Does the quote resonate with chapter themes?

Is the connection discoverable but not obvious?

Does it expand understanding?

The Standalone Test

Is the quote interesting without the chapter?

Does it build the world independently?

Could it seed its own story?

Output Persistence

Output Discovery

Check for context/output-config.md in the project

If found, look for this skill's entry

If not found, ask user: "Where should I save epigraph documents?"

Suggest: worldbuilding/documents/ or explorations/worldbuilding/

Primary Output

Documentary voice - Position, need, lens, blindness

Document type - Administrative, academic, commercial, etc.

Connection type - Systemic echo, ironic juxtaposition, thematic rhyme

Layered meanings - Surface, contextual, ironic, thematic

File Naming

Pattern: {chapter/section}-epigraph-{date}.md

Verification (Oracle)

What This Skill Can Verify

Perspective components - Position/need/lens/blindness defined? (High confidence)

Connection presence - Relevance to chapter identifiable? (Medium confidence)

Standalone quality - Quote interesting without chapter? (Medium confidence)

What Requires Human Judgment

Subtlety calibration - Too direct or too obscure?

Voice authenticity - Does it sound like the documenter?

Reader discovery - Will connection create "ah!" moment?

Oracle Limitations

Cannot assess whether reader will make the intended connection

Cannot predict whether irony will land

Feedback Loop

Session Persistence

Output location: See context/output-config.md

What to save: Voice definition, document, connection analysis

Naming pattern: {chapter/section}-epigraph-{date}.md

Cross-Session Learning

Check for prior epigraphs in this work

Ensure variety of document types and perspectives

Failed connections inform anti-patterns

Design Constraints

This Skill Assumes

Story has chapters/sections that can receive epigraphs

World has documentary voices beyond the narrative

Writer wants implied depth, not exposition

This Skill Does Not Handle

Direct worldbuilding - Route to: worldbuilding

Cultural texture - Route to: memetic-depth

Prose voice - Route to: prose-style

Degradation Signals

Quotes summarize chapter events (too direct)

No discernible thematic connection (too obscure)

Generic voice without position/blindness

Reasoning Requirements

Standard Reasoning

Single epigraph creation

Basic perspective definition

Simple connection identification

Extended Reasoning (ultrathink)

Full epigraph series - [Why: must create variety and progression]

Multi-layer design - [Why: surface/contextual/ironic/thematic must cohere]

Fictional compiler voice - [Why: who selects these documents and why]

Trigger phrases: "design the complete epigraph series", "create the documentary frame", "layer the meanings"

Execution Strategy

Sequential (Default)

Analyze chapter before choosing perspective

Define voice before writing document

Draft before calibrating connection

Parallelizable

Creating multiple epigraphs for different chapters

Research into different document types

Subagent Candidates

Task
Agent Type
When to Spawn

Document research
general-purpose
When modeling on real document types

World consistency
Explore
When checking against existing worldbuilding

Context Management

Approximate Token Footprint

Skill base: ~3k tokens (perspective engine + document types)

With process: ~4k tokens

With worked example: ~4.5k tokens

Context Optimization

Focus on current perspective and document type

Document type catalog is reference

Worked example optional

When Context Gets Tight

Prioritize: Current perspective, active document type

Defer: Full document type catalog, advanced techniques

Drop: Worked example, all quality checks

Anti-Patterns

1. Too Direct

Pattern: Quotes that summarize chapter events, documents directly about main characters, contemporary reactions to specific events.
Why it fails: Direct commentary removes reader discovery. The power of oblique worldbuilding is inference—readers connect the document to the chapter themselves.
Fix: Use second-order distance. Find related phenomena in different contexts. Let systemic patterns create the connection rather than explicit reference.

2. Too Obscure

Pattern: No discernible thematic connection, requires outside knowledge, pure worldbuilding without resonance.
Why it fails: If readers can't make the connection, the epigraph becomes noise. Oblique doesn't mean random—it means indirect but discoverable.
Fix: Test with a reader. Can they articulate why this quote precedes this chapter? The connection should be findable even if not obvious.

3. Missing Perspective

Pattern: Generic documentary voice with no clear position or blindness, could be written by anyone.
Why it fails: The meaning comes from limitation. A neutral description reveals nothing about the world. The documenter's blindness tells us what the culture cannot see.
Fix: Define all four components: position, need, lens, blindness. If you can't answer "What can't this documenter afford to see?" the perspective isn't sharp enough.

4. Overexplanation

Pattern: Quote explains its own relevance, too heavy-handed irony, leaves nothing for reader discovery.
Why it fails: Reader discovery creates engagement. When the connection is spelled out, reading becomes passive consumption rather than active meaning-making.
Fix: Remove explicit connections. Trust readers. The irony should emerge from juxtaposition, not commentary.

5. Voice Inconsistency

Pattern: Documents that sound like the author, not the fictional documenter. Academic papers without jargon, bureaucrats without bureaucratese.
Why it fails: Voice authenticity sells the fiction. When documents sound generic, the world feels thin. The documenter should write like themselves, not the author.
Fix: Research the document type. How do real bureaucrats, academics, journalists write? Match formality, jargon, assumptions. The voice should feel found, not written.

Final Principles

Perspective is Power: The documenter's position and limitations create meaning

Blindness Reveals: What they can't see tells us about the world

Systems Echo: Same forces create different documents across contexts

Irony Emerges: Let perspective create irony naturally

Trust the Reader: They will make connections without hand-holding

Integration

Inbound (feeds into this skill)

Skill
What it provides

worldbuilding
Systems that create documentary voices

memetic-depth
Cultural texture for document authenticity

prose-style
Voice techniques for different document types

Outbound (this skill enables)

Skill
What this provides

scene-sequencing
Chapter openings that prime thematic concerns

story-zoom
Different abstraction level (document vs. narrative)

Complementary

Skill
Relationship

memetic-depth
Memetic-depth creates cultural texture; oblique-worldbuilding uses that texture in specific documents. Use together for authentic in-world voices

perspectival-constellation
Both work with limited perspective—perspectival-constellation for POV characters, oblique-worldbuilding for documentary voices

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