How do you want them to have taken it over? That’s sort of an open ended question, you have to consider the context of your story. Did they buy it out? Conquer it with mercenaries? Insinuate agents into city government? There’s a ton of options.
They should have sent a poet.
Thanks for replying! In the original, they fly in on airships that they own. The ships kind of have weaponry attached that's threatening. It was pretty easy then, they were just intimidating with their technology. Obviously now I want this to be more realistic—if any of you have suggestions, I would appreciate it!
This is very interesting! In real life, there existed “company towns” where a single private company has complete control over everything in that space. They owned all the shops, houses, ultitlies and jobs. They even had there own money that you could only use at that town. Needless to say, they were not fun to live in. These towns never had an official government so I think the most realistic way of a corporate takeover is that there is no government at that city. Once a government is established in a city, it’s basically impossible for a corporation to take over.
I mean, the thing you always have to keep in mind is that realism in fiction is a moving target. We’re talking about a flying city and people with wings here, after all.
A corporation taking over a government by force isn’t something that’s uncommon in fiction. Neither are any of the other scenarios I mentioned. It doesn’t have to be fully realistic for it to work in the context of a story. Like I said, you have to think about what works for your story. Are the people in the city being terrorized by armed thugs in the streets, creating more of a dystopian/YA vibe where the heroes have to sneak around and evade the authorities? If the government has been infiltrated, maybe it’s more of a conspiracy flavor where the city is going about its business but the heroes have to dig up dirt and root out spies. What story are you trying to tell here? Work from there.
They should have sent a poet.
Artisan of Auspicious Artifacts
You could have the City being in crippling debt and the Company buy all the debt. This would theoretically give the Company all sorts of power over the City by theatening to call in their debt.
This...doesn't really work IRL since you can't repossess the government but it's plausible for a secret city with limited resources.
I've been trying to rewrite a novel I wrote in high school, but this time actually have it make (some) sense. Basically there's a decently sized company in the novel that takes over a city in the clouds. How do I make this at least somewhat realistic when the city does have a police force and a council that is competent? How do I show the company is transforming the city's government, lifestyle, etc. I don't want the citizens to be treated very well. The company's main goal is to make the city a tourist attraction because it's hidden in the sky and all of the citizens have given themselves wings.
Thanks!