#kratocracy

[shotbyshe]

Words of the Day

begat / beget / begot:

Begat is the simple past of beget.

An element of a lineage, especially of a lineage given in the Bible.

To produce (offspring) by sexual reproduction. Used especially of a man.

To cause to exist or occur; produce.

To procreate, as a father or sire; to generate; -- commonly said of the father.

aspersion:

A false or damaging accusation or insinuation.

The act of slandering or libeling; defaming.

A sprinkling, especially with holy water.

An attack on somebody's reputation or good name, often in the phrase to 'cast aspersions upon'.

An abusive attack on a person's character or good name.

cui bono:

Utility, advantage, or self-interest considered as the determinant of value or motivation.

The principle that the ultimate initiator of an action is likely he who stands to gain from the action.

Layman: who stands, or stood, to gain (from a crime, and so might have been responsible for it)?

carte blanche:

Unrestricted power to act at one's own discretion; unconditional authority.

Unlimited discretionary power to act; unrestricted authority.

Complete freedom or authority to act.

à la carte:

With a separate price for each item on the menu.

Allowing selection from a fixed list of individually priced options shown on the menu.

(of a restaurant meal) having unlimited choices with a separate price for each item.

kratocracy:

Might makes right

"Might makes right" or "Might is right" is an aphorism on the origin of morality, with both descriptive and prescriptive senses. Descriptively, it asserts that a society's view of right and wrong is determined by those in power, with a meaning similar to "History is written by the victors".

Kratocracy, (from the Greek κρατερός krateros, meaning "strong"), is [...] government by those who are strong enough to seize power through force.

~~~

I discovered a retired YouTuber this week. She clearly gave up on the site (like I want to do). I'm glad that she was there though (which is part of the reason I haven't left). {I still feel like there are people who look forward to my content. They never talk to me though, so if I left I still wouldn't feel that bad.} Anyway, the retired YouTuber made EXCEPTIONAL short films about black woman empowerment (BWE) -- apparently this is a thing on YouTube. Now that I am back there I'm noticing how different and segregated it is now -- and I wish she was still around.

Women in the BWE space use these words to describe black men's behavior in romantic relationships. This is not something I've ever been a part of because I don't do those things, however, listening to these women and their stories, viewpoint, etc is very entertaining. Aside from validating why I was never in that space to begin with, I find it fascinating that they use these French and Latin words to describe these men's actions. Instead of simply saying "these men just do whatever they want, with no consequences" they say:

"They go about their marriage 'carte blanche' and pick women 'a la carte'"

"If they ran the government it wouldn't be a republic or a democracy, it would be a 'kratocrazy'" (I would call it a kakistocracy, but that's me)

"Everywhere they go, whether with black woman or their preference, they 'beget' another kid that they refuse to support"

"When they create all these broken homes, 'cui bono?' Not their kids, not their wives, not even them, but they don't see it that way".

It's quite alluring.

At least to a word nerd like me.

~~~

"You don't gotta cast 'aspersions' at me, guy". I love Casey Affleck's voice.

[witchofthesouls]

I’d image that Girl Dad! Megatron (mostly MTMTE/IDW) would do some ‘baby proofing’ after his daughter is born, not only the form of hiding sharp objects and putting extra alarms on doors, but also in cleaning up the Decepticon ranks, the first to go being the Phase Sixers or at the minimum Overlord 😳

The ultimate sparkling/hybrid child proofing mechanism and parent-child bonding: his personal sparkling hold.

Frames that deal with immense and wild environmental changes, like miners, submarines, and shuttles, have something like an internal kangaroo pouch.

The structure is located deep within their frames, near if not settled next to their spark chambers. Within the dark hold that mimics similar conditions to a gestational chamber, it's cozily warm, well-protected, and well-fed behind tons of thick plating and nozzles connected to the mecha's fuel systems. There are specialized mechanics that refine the fuel directly from the main tank and their circulation to pull out vital nutrients and initial firewalls to create a dense, creamy sparkling fuel.

Adults unused to having a newspark within them will eventually figure out how to keep their hold still as the bitty bounces and rolls inside them. (Imagine the leader of the Decepticons at the meeting, and his subordinates are hanging onto his subtle changes, thinking the results are not up to adequacy. Meanwhile, his daughter has decided to smush herself to the side that's closest to his spark. I'm here! Yes, he knows.)

Fresh newsparks typically stay inside those holds until they reach the phase where they can toddle on their own as their plating has settled into a more appropriate density and hardness, the milky film has worn off, and they gained a significant amount of weight.

IDW Megatron doesn't strike as a mech that would get rid of the Phase Sixers or other dangerous elements. The violent and brutal kratocracy that became the Decepticon movement is a testament to the cruelties implemented by Functionist-held Cybertron as well as a twisted mockery and reflection of his own self and journey and spiral from "Decepticons to uplift the masses" to "Megatron's Decepticons."

If anything, he would keep the kid under wraps where only a handful of mechs ever known their existence, especially if he sired a techno-organic child.

[ghostopossumlives]

Cannibal Kings and Witches

A strong cultural taboo in Tortog society is cannibalism. Of course, species in which cannibalism *isn't* taboo are generally the outlier, but for Tortogs it is a more focused fear. Tortog religion has official rites of ritual suicide for situations where starvation seems imminent.

This stems from an era deep in Tortog history, long before they even came close to space travel. The dark age of the Cannibal Kings. Tyrannical warlord giants that ruled the ancient Tortog people through cruelty and fear.

As has been described in my previous posts detailing Tortogs, they have a seven stage lifecycle, and remarkable regenerative abilities that eventually kill them from organ stress. Their regenerative abilities stem from special cells that cluster in and around their heart.

There is, or more accurately, was, a method of extending the Tortog lifespan and intensifying the regenerative power of the Tortog body that involved eating the hearts of other Tortogs. Some research indicates it may not have been "eating" per say, but rather some form of self-surgery that compounded the regeneration, and the eating of hearts may have simply been a mix of visual shorthand, or/and a ritualistic threat display towards the peasantry. Whatever the specifics, biological and archeological evidence firmly shows that it is historical fact that these ancient warlords practiced cannibalism, lived to be up to 400 years old (with an unknown upper limit, due to all deaths of these warlords having resulted from purposeful destruction), and grew to be up to eighteen feet tall. This process has not been rediscovered, and attempting to rediscover it is illegal and blasphemous.

The cannibal kings had an elongated, emaciated appearance, regardless of their resources, and were said to eat almost perpetually if able, but didn't starve to death any faster than a typical Tortog. There exists no record of any societies that lived under, nor adjacent to these warlords expressing positive impressions of their appearance, demeanor, behavior, or leadership once they came to power. Those that served these beings had nothing pleasant to write of them, with the cannibal kings seeming to never compel flattery from their servants, instead overseeing a culture of uncensored kratocracy, and often deliberate kakistocracy. What remains of their writings and reputation shows an ideology that believed that strength was born of suffering, and so the priority of the old was to maximize the suffering of the young to strengthen them.

The modern Tortog religion teaches that theirs' was born of a global rebellion against this ideology, which is broadly supported by evidence. However, the conservative branches of the modern Tortog religion also teach that the Cannibal Kings ruled through this ideology for all of Tortog existence prior to this, which has many more holes as a theory. Secular consensus is that the Cannibal Kings rose as an extremist sect of an older religion, filling in the power vacuum resulting from a revolutionary wave that destabilized that civilization. The previous culture did have some focus on testing the young against hardship, but was vastly less, for lack of a more scientific term, "completely insane".

It is difficult to study this earlier society in depth because it is clear that the Cannibal Kings put in a concerted effort to destroy all record of it. Later, as the new religion rose, they too destroyed what the Cannibal Kings missed due to its potential connection to them.

What little evidence has been recovered of the predecessor culture indicates that the Cannibal Kings-proper only dominated Tortog civilization for under a century (*Though several cannibal kings clocked in at up to 400 years old, they had not held power during that whole lifespan. Some were rogue cannibal warriors that had lived in the wilderness *before* coming back to capitalize on the chaos, and others lived much of that time *after* their fall from power, being hunted through the wilderness by the crusaders of the new religion.). The predecessor culture was warlike and authoritarian, using strength-through-suffering to justify a rigid and increasingly abusive hierarchy based on age, as well as a culture of conquest, but was not *deliberately* dysfunctional like the Cannibal Kings. They possessed knowledge of heart-eating, but it seems to have been used only for creating elite warriors who would be ritualistically incinerated and mixed into molten iron at the end of their service to bless the weapons of the armies. A revolutionary wave against that hierarchy wiped out many older Tortogs, causing a period of debilitating technological regression, famine, and war. This allowed an extremist reactionary sect (one which came to include many rogue cannibal warriors) to take control and run Tortog civilization even further into the ground.

This entire previous civilization came to be called The Cannibal Kings, despite it not all having been that. Artifacts from that era were destroyed as cannibal abominations for the next millennium, before secular archeology was finally able to begin.

Former Cannibal Kings, who came to be called Cannibal Witches, were driven into the wilderness after their fall to the new religion. Individuals were hunted and caught sporadically for the next two centuries. Rumors and alleged encounters persist into the modern day, but it is extremely unlikely that any actually still live after 1600 years. That doesn't stop cases of mass hysteria from sweeping through Tortog communities, leading to paranoia and hunting parties being formed in rural areas from time to time.

Because of the seven stages of Tortog life, and the seven elements in their metaphysical beliefs, Tortogs associate Cannibal Witches and dark magic with the number eight, and consider it an evil number in popular superstition.

There is a symbol, based on an upside down Tortog "Community" elemental symbol, which is associated with Witches and Cannibalism, looking somewhat like an exposed Tortog organ block with a missing heart. This symbol regularly appears in alleged "grimoires" and "Witch caves".

The symbol is a modern invention and has no connection to the historical Cannibal Kings nor their predecessor culture. The earliest "grimoire" it appeared in has long been confirmed to have been printed on Thill grasspaper soaked in tea, but this has not stopped it from being the subject of moral panics amongst Tortogs.

[bittrlys]

So, dragon society is basically a kratocracy, right?

There's 0 explanation why dragons suddenly decided they needed a king despite living without one for a presumed while but I imagine it went something like this:

SOL REGEM: I am your king. EVERYONE: Well, we didn't vote for you. SOL REGEM: You don't vote for kings. Now do you want to repeat that to the dragon that can bite your face off?

So now dragons have a king, hurrah! But oh no, humans have done a naughty!

LUNA TENEBRIS: I am your queen. HUMANS: Well, we didn't vote for you. LUNA TENEBRIS: You don't vote for queens. Now get the fuck out of my country before this dragon bites your face off.

We know Thunder just straight up brawled for the right to take the throne because LT didn't leave an heir. (Royal bloodlines matter a lot to dragons, don't you know. They're just like us!) Zubeia, my useless angel, can still bring herself to let out the occasional mighty roar or lightning flash to scare others into line. EVERYONE has to listen to these violent lizards who just said "OBEY ME."

Remarkably, we're also supposed to see the dragon monarchy as a good thing that should continue, despite it providing very little benefits as far as I can tell. Most elven societies are self-sustaining and have their own rulers. Dragons are undeserving emperors who -- what? Keep other dragons in line? I haven't seen much evidence of that yet. They also fail to protect drakes from elves, which seems fucked up to me, but hey. The social stratification of that which may loosely all be called dragonkind is not for me to comment on, as it seems like the writers didn't think about it at all.

With all this in mind, when Ezran steps up to ask a bunch of dragons do to do him a solid, are they obeying him simply because the show wants to pretend Xadians have no issue with humans? Because they see the threat as more important than their pride or prejudice? Or because Zubeia is a wrathful queen who shares her husband's propensity for an iron fist, and she's hulking menacingly behind Ezran? Are dragons, Ezran's horrific weapon turned against his own people in season 3, representative of the unquestionable power granted by the divine right of kingship, and thus when he acts in authority, even when intending to be 'diplomatic' and 'peaceful', it is always with implicit threat of violence? Makes ya think!

[verdantachillean]

What if there was like a fashion society, a society made up of exclusively fashion, and your place in society would exclusively depend on how much you’re trending,

And it would be like a kratocracy, but with fashion and popularity, a trendocracy if you will,

But it would also kinda be a theocracy because their place in society would depend on how they are favored by cosmic horrors beyond their comprehension, and new ones are born all the fucking time,

The most recent group of cosmic horrors being dubbed generation alpha

Anywho, it’s also a pretty discriminatory society by default because how you were born (the materials you were made with) MAJORLY affect where you are in the social hierarchy,

And the leaders of like revolution groups are like the oldest and most out of style,

However these cosmic horrors keep on thwarting protests and efforts for a better society because these old fashions kept on getting picked up again so the leaders of the fight keep on getting into high positions of power

And benefitting from stopping that uprising

[fantasyinvader]

It kinda gets me that after all the time that has passed, people still don’t understand what kind of world McGillis wanted to create. “Tekkadan and McGillis changed things, so even though they lost they won” just shows how little people actually paid attention to what they were saying.

McGillis wanted to create a world where people are free to simply take what they want, the only restriction is that they need to be strong enough to actually take it. So, if I wanted to steal something and was able to assert my power in order to take it, then by rights it would then belong to me. He talks about people rediscovering their fangs and whatnot, meaning that his system would push people to gain power through whatever means are available to them. This isn’t the democracy Rustal installed in Gjallarhorn, this is a pure kratocracy.

As for Tekkadan, McGillis was willing to install them as kings of Mars. However, going by his ideals this would mean that if anyone were to want that position for themselves, they’d be able to challenge Tekkadan for it. Tekkadan would not be able to quit fighting, but this would also that their rule is based simply on their strength as a military organization. Tekkadan’s ability to use violence is their right to rule.

Tekkadan were close to becoming fascists. And this fits with their history of taking the law into their own hands whenever they feel someone has wronged them. Newsflash people, mercenaries don’t get to go around murdering folks just because their guys died. Hell, considering that Tekkadan are all child soldiers legally Orga’s the one who would be held responsible for the deaths (and be considered a war criminal IRL for recruiting and exploiting kids). Even in-universe, the usage of child soldiers by Tekkadan was shocking and meant to be a wake-up call to the people of Earth over how bad things are on Mars before people went “wow, look at what they did. Maybe we should use kids as well.” And this led to wars breaking out for the first time in centuries, wars McGillis used to bolster his reputation in prep for his coup.

But people don't like to think about those things. Easier to make Tekkadan out to be simply victims who didn't know what they were doing, but not actually criticize their actions.

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

Would you call the drukhari a kratocracy (strength rules), or a meritocracy (success rules)?

Meritocracy! Any avenue that leads to success (including strength) is viable and valid in the Dark City. You can be a bloodthirsty warlord in your own little regime. You can be a political mastermind or a backstabbing cretin. If it works, and you win, then you win. The loser should have been better.

Asdrubael Vect, the supreme overlord of Commorragh, is very much the embodiment of utilising any and every avenue to go from rags to riches.

[ideologyfairy]

Current status of the realicide fantasy creature au

Realistic realist: Shapeshifter

Inverse: banshee (?)

Boring mole: ?

Moralism: deer-taur

Orwellian: ?

Grej: shapeshifter

Egoism: Fairy

Ingsoc: giant

Darwinism: werewolf

Communalism: Vampire

Ahospice: ?

Censurist: ?

Postie: ?

Utopiary: ?

Avaritionism: ?

Hive mind: ?

Soulism: Naga

Kratocracy: ?

Feel free to give suggestions on what the undecided characters should be

[writer59january13]

They got the whole world in their hands

Worth north of a trillion dollars, (plus or minus a billion dollars here and there), the unnamed obscenely rich, (which top 15 billionaires projected to become trillionaires can be located on the computer courtesy typing Top 15 billionaires projected to become trillionaires into the Google search bar and clicking EuroNews tab) will possess more money than the GDP (gross domestic product = the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period) of many countries, including Switzerland and most African countries: many talking heads bet their bottom dollar and float the name of Elon Musk who leads the list could become the first trillionaire by 2027, with a net worth value "growing at an average rate of 109.88 percent every year." A plutocracy (from Ancient Greek πλοῦτος (ploûtos) 'wealth' and κράτος (krátos) 'power') or plutarchy is a society ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income, whose indiscriminate whim "Rule by might" often called "kratocracy" which comes from the Greek word "kratos" meaning "power" and essentially describes a government where those with the most strength or power are able to rule, often through force or coercion; the phrase "might makes right" encapsulates this concept. I fear a dystopian future providing sinister combination regarding concentration of immense wealth linkedin with excessive might spells (in my simple mind) absolute zero freedom for those who elected said coterie, whereby filthy rich power hungry consort fostering closest approximation of immortality

videre licet thru seeds of life and white lily (self declare) themselves titans banish constitutional and democratic freedoms to dictate enslavement of the hoi polloi, especially those reduced to near pennilessness (case in point - yours truly or me) will be at the beck and call (twenty four seven) forced to labor to sustain the means of production in exchange (where robots serve as cruel taskmasters) for basic survival on meager rations living social in shoddy constructed collective (abominable) barrack type accommodations lacking modern amenities such as plumbing for washing and heating, nipping in the bud any predilection to indulge scant spare moments already spoken - for domestic upkeep of spartan shelter against the sheltering sky, (not even measurable in hours) particularly reading or writing, which luxuries banned replaced by forcibly attending mandatory group think workshops delineating paying homage to those who wielded the reins of power and banking courtesy cryptocurrency pittance doled out and only usable at so called government decreed canteens, and should any discovered evidence reveal black market antics, would be immediate cause for execution at the hands of randomly chosen jury comprising men and women among the masses. Bidding wars among the top tier commandeered, lorded over, and regulated the level of countless plutocrats twenty first contemporaries disproportionately wealthy among the rat pack regarding those monetarily endowed (inherited or bullied) true blue titans of American industry ranked next in line incorporated olde monied class, and nouveau riche which closest entity to bourgeoisie analogous to robber barons among populace of yesteryear) ruled over déclassé indigent outliers wherein I grovel along until death do me part.

[ellipsismark]

Random Lore Dump GO!

In The World of Demi-Humans there's an organization knows as "The Brotherhood of Mutant".

Their "culture" is based primarily on gang culture but they are in fact a fully recognized state governing over Mutant-kind. They are borderless and nationless since mutants can pop up anywhere.

They are a kratocracy. They have 13 heads of government that meet and decide on things. Each of these seats can be usurped by anyone at anytime by over powering the current holder.

Other than that, decisions are often made by majority vote of the patriarchs.

Oh yeah, another thing is the "family motif" they use. Members of equal rank in the same chapter as you are your "brothers and sisters", with senior members being "big brother and big sister" and "little brother and little sister" for the reverse. Leaders are "father and mother" with higher ranks being "grand father and grand mother" and of course "son and daughter" for the reverse.

The Brotherhood maintain this aesthetic born from a time when mutants were often rejected by their blood family. They would find each other and make new families. Relying and supporting one another. Over time the found family became more structured until became the gang/organization it is known as today.

It still wasn't a state but it was essential when the Mutant Revolution started! When mutants being actively hunted down in a genocide. The Brotherhood maintained a place of security for many young mutants. Those who fought those trialing time try to hold a sense of remembrance, even as the new generation grows up without the udder dread of a world against them. But what can they do other than remind that through it all

The Brotherhood Stands.

[jimothy-g-brooks]

Pokemon Idea (Evil Teams)

So, an idea I had for a Pokemon game that I talked about elsewhere before. Someone brought up the idea of, instead of Gyms, you have to go around defeating Evil Teams that have taken over towns throughout the region, freeing the town before you're allowed to progress.

I modified that idea: Normal game, normal gyms, normal Elite Four. Post Game+: You're informed that there is a neighboring region that has been taken over by warring Teams/Gangs and the the League officials of that region have placed a request for aid towards your region. Everyone else is too busy to help, for various and possibly related reasons, but as the new Regional Champion, you qualify to step over there and start taking names.

Team Black: Psychic / Ghost / Dark specialists. One of the smallest teams, based in what looks like an expy of Gen1 Lavender Town, being a bunch of Hex Maniac types and other various occultists and supernatural enthusiasts. Their primary threat is that their leader has some crackpot plan to summon three type appropriate Legendaries (Hoopla, Giratina, Darkrai) to steal their powers to become god. The plan is doomed to fail, but in such a way as to place the region is danger.

Team Yellow: Electric / Bug / Poison specialists. One of the smallest teams, based in what looks like an expy of Cinnabar Island, being a bunch of Scientist and other techie types. Their primary threat is that their leader has some crackpot plan to clone three type appropriate Legendaries (Zeraora, Genesect, Eternamax) and use their powers to become the preeminent super power in the region, almost like unto gods. The plan is doomed to fail, but in such a way as to place the region in danger.

Team White: Steel / Fairy / Dragon specialists. A bunch of Rennaisance Faire cosplayers who would really like to turn the region into a feudal state under their direct control, please and thank you. They are one of the largest teams, having a city and 1-2 outlying towns under their control. They are led by a regal White Queen and have a tenuous alliance with Team Blue.

Team Red: Fighting / Rock / Fire specialists. A bunch of Mad Max cosplayers who would really like to turn the region into a faux-anarchic kratocracy under their loose control, please and thank you. They are one of the largest teams, occupying a city and 1-2 outlying towns. They are led by a mighty Red Boss and have a tenuous alliance with Team Green.

Team Blue: Flying / Ice / Water specialists. Sky pirates floating in sky ships. While they don't directly occupy any towns or cities, as they have little interest in the surface except as a place to exploit, their presence is felt throughout the entire region and there is at least one city that is unofficially considered their territory.

Team Green: Grass / Ground / Normal specialists. Anarcho primitivists living in the woods. While they don't directly occupy any towns or cities, as they have little interest in civilization except as places to be destroyed, their presence is felt throughout the entire region and there is at least one city that is unofficially considered their territory.

...

Champio Trio+1: After, or during, Team Black & Yellow's similar but separate disastrous attempts to harness the power of Legendaries to oust the other Teams from the regions, the other four teams began cooking up ideas to get some Legendary level Pokepower of their own. Separately, Team White and Team Red, with Team Blue's wide ranging resources or Team Green's bio-ecological know-how respectively, begin a program to breed their own super Pokemon. After the smoke clears on their Legendary disasters, Team Black and Team Yellow realizes they're now the ones lagging behind on the Legendary arms race and team-up to take their own crack at it.

Team White and Team Blue create Quazyados, a creature obviously descendant from Gyrados but bred to resemble Rayquaza. It had its Magicarp and Water type bred out and somehow inserted Dragon. It is a haughty creature that rules the skies and demands tribute from all things below it. It starts on the White Queen's team, escapes, ends up on the Blue Captain's team and then escapes into the wild indefinitely.

Team Red and Team Green breed Goldon. Descendant of the Golem line but bred to resemble Groudon, with its previous evolutions bred out and its Fire type bred in. It is a bullying, boorish brute with no manners that destroys anything it doesn't like and beats up anyone that gets in its way. It starts on the Red Boss's team, escapes, ends up on the Green Chief's team and then escapes into the wild indefinitely.

These breeding experiments are not without mistakes, however. These rejects are abandoned by their uncaring masters and left to die in the wild. A kindly Daycare Center took a pair of these creatures in and this pair had a child before they passed on from the world. Mafable, a Fighting/Fairy that somehow combines the humanoid features of Machop with the pink puffball that is Clefable to create something wholly unique, resembling a Sentai Henshin crossed with a Magical Girl. This creature is a friend to all living things- all it wants to do is make peace and help the helpless, but it will fight to protect the weak if it has to.

Abmam is a Poison/Dark type based on the Arbok line created by genetic engineering and occult practices, given both a Dark type and arms. The Black Lady & Yellow President lose control over it almost immediately. It believes itself to be Mafable's archenemy and will often challenge the other legendary Pokemon to battle. If Mafable is in the middle of something, like saving creatures that are in peril or stopping the other Champion Trio from bullying others, Abmam will help out so that the two of them can get to their battle.

Obviously, Mafable does not consider Abmam an enemy and thinks the other legendary as its best friend who is always by its side and driving it to become stronger.

[ladymirdan]

Fools! Did you really belive I could be swayed by the petty opinions by the masses?! My blog is a Kratocracy, only might will prevail.

🚧IRON WITHIN. IRON WITHOUT!🚧

But I will compromise and make a small squad of chaos:y sisters so the Iron Boys can have friends. Very tempted to use my Valkia the Bloodied as a kitbashed leader for them. And maybe put a Mortifier/penitent engine in there as well. Go ham on the body horror :3

[witchofthesouls]

Nickel could and would 100% kill the half high command and, assuming she didn't start with him, Tarn would just be "it's not that big a deal she's just having a bad day 🥰" as she's covered in the entrails of the Trine

Nickel is absolutely dangerous. Not just in the "medics can be vicious" sentiment, but in the way that she's not hung up on their traditions and culturalisms.

In some ways, Nickel could have been Megatron's worst enemy. (Or for any of High Command...)

She won't give into the underlying homoerotic tension that would still her hand against action. Her very identity hasn't been groomed nor intensely shaped by Megatron's direct guidance or by the immense influence of his works as a mecha on a Functionist-held Cybertron. Nickel doesn't have an obsession with the guy.

She loathes organics, but it's understandable since the Black Block Consortia attacked her home planet, and she was the only survivor left.

I'm curious about Prion's culture as well since she doesn't have any troubles with the gratuitous violence that's the D.J.D.'s standand method. In anything, she's more annoyed and irritated by the mess and the lack of consistent good hygiene behavior. Shoot, she interrupted Tarn. Multiple times.

I'm also wondering if there's some sort of cultural misunderstanding going on with Nickel's role among them. She's not a full Decepticon. She probably falls under a "claimed spoils" category since the Decepticons is basically a kratocracy and developed culture of taking.

The Justice Division is treating rather kindly because she doesn't push against their worldview.

She's a trained medic who not only utilizes her full skillet upon them, she actively works with them. Her complaints aren't about their operations. It's about their own care and treatment and how it impacts them. Nickel's a quad-changer from a Lost Colony. She doesn't have the hangups that a classically-trained medic from Cybertron would have. If anything, she probably has tricks of Prion's trade to help out some of their issues.

She's loud, vicious, and isn't afraid to get in their faces as she can back up her considerable threats. The Justice Division can't help but adore their little acquisition.

Now, if Nickel had tried to leave them prior to Megatron's defection, that would be a different story...

[fantasyinvader]

I recently read up on a 2 book light novel adaptation of Pokemon, Pocket Monsters the Animation. It's infamous for it's darker nature to the original games. In the past, I've joked that the Pokemon world exists as a kratocracy, where people's ability to travel the region is restricted based on their aptitude in Pokemon battles, but there were some things that stood out to me when reading about the books.

Pallet Town is a poor place, where there is no work and people turn to the Pokemon League to support themselves. Failing that, many young men turn to crime.

Gym leaders are known to bribe trainers to lose, since if they lose 4 matches in a row they are fired. Considering how shitty the infrastructure is in Pokemon games and how those badges are needed to use moves for traversal, this system keeps people from being freely able to move around the region. It's not a test to be licensed to use the move, it's a test where at least 1/4 of the applicants are supposed to fail.

To get to the third gym, you need to board the SS Anne in order to get Cut. You have to board a luxury cruise liner, one that will be leaving Kanto for a year to boot, in order to get a skill to progress through your journey after starting from the region's slums. If Bill didn't give you the ticket, you'd be fucked.

Speaking of money, a bike costs a million Poke-dollars, more than the player can carry (and beating the league champ only nets over 6k. There's an entire road in Kanto for bike-use only. Once again, if the player wasn't given a ticket in order to get a luxury item like a bike, they wouldn't be able to access this road.

Pallet town, again supposedly a poor place, has the the weakest Pokemon in the region outside it's gates. As you progress through Kanto in the intended order, the Pokemon get stronger. And as such, as the journey continues your prize money for each battle and the quality of the goods available in shops increases. RPG-mechanics at play, or do the people live where their are Pokemon that are supposedly at their level?

This would also mean it's harder to train in areas like Pallet town, due to lack of resources and weak pokemon. Likewise, badges also limit your ability to control traded pokemon meaning you can't just give someone a strong Pokemon to help them out.

Considering the life of crime aspect, is this why everyone challenges the player when they supposedly make eye contact? I mean, you're walking down the road and some kid challenges you to a battle you can't say no to, Until gen 4, you would lose half of your money on hand when you lost and are transported to the Pokemon center. Are these kids robbing you, or is that the charge for transporting you there? The other guys don't black out when they lose, and the protagonist in Legends doesn't either unless they're hit with enough Pokemon attacks... yeah, you're being robbed.

Kids are considered adults at age 10 and when they leave home for their journey, it's them cutting ties with their home for good. These are kids with no real education to do any other job, going out to live in the wild and aren't supposed to return to living with their parents if they fail.

Suddenly, living in Gotham seems like the better option. Thankfully, the novels aren't canon.

[ideologyfairy]

We Completed realicide fantasy creature au list!

There's a theme of the auths being giant and the anarchists being tiny :3

Realistic realist: Shapeshifter

Inverse: banshee

Boring mole: just some human guy who's blind so he doesn't realize all his buddies are mythical creatures

Moralism: deer-taur

Orwellian: were-rat (?)

Grej: shapeshifter

Egoism: Fairy

Ingsoc: giant

Darwinism: werewolf

Communalism: Vampire

Ahospice: were-dog

Censurist: giant octopus mermaid

Postie: borrower

Utopiary: jiangshi

Avaritionism: imp

Hive mind: 3 headed giant

Soulism: Naga but like, small

Kratocracy: Cyclops

[fancyfade]

following up to this post i made over 6 years ago when i was special-interesting swtor in college...

my interpretation/analysis of thew ith empire in the above post is also like. very unsubtly present in game

Zash's dialogue, if it's hard to read:

Yes "there is only passion". but do not forget -- "through passion, I gain strength; through strength, power." Passion is the method, power is the end.

like the game is not subtle about the empire being a fascist kratocracy. it sucks to be a sith (link) because they are constantly backstabbing each other. 3/4 of the imp side plots involve some type of backstabbing (bounty hunter being immune), normally master trying to kill apprentice (after having their apprentice dispatch threats they themselves could not deal with i think @badsithnocookie had a neat post analyzing this). Sith are constantly vying against each other for power, and there are various situations in which it's totally permissible for a sith to kill other imperials (so I guess sucks to be in the empire works better :P)

and like the game is, at least in vanilla, very aware of this fact! in various instances, the characters acknowledge that each sith who currently is in charge of the player also has their own master, who will do whatever they please, including using the chains/shackles rhetoric from the sith code (first linked post).

and while the fandom rhetoric often portrays the jedi as emotionally repressed and the sith as very free, the text of swtor does not really support this. Sith are not forbidden attachments -- but attachments are a weakness, that can and will be used against you by other sith (link)

relevant bit from that post:

that some of the passion stuff seemed weak with the Sith - like they clearly only encourage certain passions, and at least familial love is not one of them, seeing how many many Sith family relationships work - Beeltzit and Lady Grathan okay with sending you to off Lord Grathan, who she only married because it was advantageous… Whatshisface in BH plotline sending you after his daughter…

and note: Beeltzit, Gratham's son, was a secret from all the other sith because Gratham knew the other sith would try to use his son against him (and that is what Baras tells the player to do). Eskella goes to kill Tremel if the player doesn't, because him surviving and fleeing is embarrassing, and then he kills her if she finds him. Raina kills her own father for trying to protect her from the Sith Academy when she thinks she has to to keep the secret that she's force sensitive. Andru's ghost tells the player to drown children at birth because he's salty he got poisoned by his daughter, though if his daughter was also his apprentice this is par for the course -- thanaton assures the player (though he's about to try to kill them anyway so he doesn't really care what hey think) that its natural to want to kill your master when it appears player has killed zash. There is so much parent/child, master/apprentice murder in sith world, and in most cases it isn't even the bug - its the system. children are either a threat to power directly or something that could be used to threaten you, parents are a threat to power or something you will not be able to surpass without murder. the sith empire is just constantly eating itself.

I’m trying to transfer my brain mood from SWTOR to English class, so I can work on my midterm, and that reminded me when I was reading 1984, our assigned book, O’Brien’s rhetoric about Oceania’s structure reminded me of how I have Lycaea and her dad interpret Sith society structure (which u know… is definitely a huge chunk of how I interpret it)

For Lycaea: link. relevant line “Peace is a lie, there is only –” “Power. Power is the only thing that matters. Passion… freedom… that’s all dressing. Until you understand that you will never be able to fight as a Sith”

For O’Brien: “Why should [the Party] want power?” “You are ruling us for our own good…” “I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this: The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power. … We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end…. The object of power is power.”

anyway I can’t tell if comparing my shit to the “classics” is pretentious, but this *is* making the book more interesting for me and succeeding in getting me in the mood for my midterm so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯