#oligarchy - rule by the 1%

[millionmovieproject]

[filosofablogger]

Wake Me When This Nightmare Is Over!

I was beyond disgusted yesterday when reading about Felon Trump’s plan to sell a “gold card” visa to wealthy Russians for $5 million because he says it will attract many wealthy people to the U.S. and thereby make the country somehow “better”. “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think…

[bunnwich]

Devourer👑(Scar!Leona x Yuu) 01

Leona got everything he wanted, except for one thing. After 7 long years of being king, Yuu comes back into his life. As Yuu finds themselves in his nightmare, will they be able to "find " Leona and wake him? Or will they both be devoured?

Characters: Leona Kingscholar x Yuu!Reader (GN. No physical description for Yuu. They/Them pronouns. Yuu majors in alchemy at NRC.)

Words: 5k, 3rd person Notes: A darker AU based on Leona’s Chapter 7 Dream. Part 1 of ??? Not sure if I will continue this AU but it was fun as an exercise to write a bit of more of a darker and sinister Leona for once. LMK if you like this sorta thing?

CW: Murder, Slight Dark themes??, Pushing of physical boundaries.

Tagging: I will be tagging in comments!

--

From the moment he took the throne after his brother’s death, whispers filled the kingdom, unease and ridicule trailing him like a shadow. He remained in the heart of the people as a scar of a prince on the divine oligarchy’s legacy. A black stain of spilled ink over the Sunset Savanna’s entire proud history. Once seen as a prince with little promise, he had sat as a king for seven long years now, ruling with an iron fist and a sharp tongue.

The “when” was foggy now, a few months, a year ago? Leona, as they used to know him, had personally recruited them to head an experimental “agricultural development program,” aimed at alleviating the famine gripping the kingdom. Yuu supposed he found out about their internship and majors sometime after they graduated. The years after Night Raven College had been hard and their old school life seemed almost idyllic compared to the world outside. After their friends scattered to the winds to start their own lives, Yuu had been left behind to pick up the pieces of a shattered life. Alchemy, the study of magical plants, was one of the only ways to make them feel competent in a world surrounded by people often more powerful than themself.  They had gotten quite good at it, but it felt surreal to be bestowed such an “honor” from a king after so many years. 

They hadn't seen Leona Kingscholar in nearly a decade after all. --

It was rounding the third hour of a meeting, and the afternoon heat was blistering. Yuu was slumped in their stone chair, mind starting to wander, eyes lulling dangerously closed. After a brief silence, a single voice broke the once-quiet discussion of the royal budget, and their trance.

“Your Highness! We cannot afford to execute this plan! This…aid program to provide outreach to the Outlands.” The council member never even bothered to look over at Yuu themselves. Even when he was implying their very existence at this council was an unwelcome one.

Seated around the oval table, each other council member avoided Leona’s piercing gaze. However, Yuu’s eyes flicked to the man seated next to them. The king was draped lazily across his chair, his expression one of equal parts calculation and boredom.

Oh? Their eyes widened, the elders rarely stood their ground with him.

“Hm? And why not?” Leona’s voice was low and menacing as his emerald eyes narrowed, deep voice cracking through the entire throne room. He was dressed in his standard black dashiki suit, its sleek fabric adorned with shimmering gold accents that seemed to catch the light with his every movement. The suit’s high collar stood proud, a dark canvas for the multiple beaded and gold necklaces that dripped over his chest.

"Your Majesty, diverting even more of our time and resources to the coastal neighborhoods is a mistake.” Councilman Griza, a giraffe beastman, braver than the rest, spoke again, his voice shaking only slightly. “Those…people have shown time and time again they are a threat to the capital. Offering aid will only embolden them, send mixed messages. Especially with how things have been as of late..." His malice made him braver it seemed, his resentment of the outlanders barely concealed.

“How convenient.” Leona sneered, slouching forward. His voice was a slow rumble, dangerous and intentional. “Of course, they’ve been aggressive. Anyone would be if they were historically treated like pests—starved, shunned, discarded.” He stood, palms slapping against the table, his claws scraping the stone discordantly. “They’ve been cornered, can't expect them not to bite.”

Each of his movements was a steady prowl as he circled the long table, his brown sash flowing across his shoulder. The councilman flinched as Leona suddenly stopped behind him, looming like a dark cloud over the man. “I think sometimes you all forget, I know what it’s like to be cast aside. And…to hunger for something denied.” His eyes scanned the table’s occupants and Yuu made sure to look down before he could make eye contact with them. 

They knew their place, as the youngest and arguably least qualified…they tended to keep their mouth shut unless their opinion was asked.

He went on. “...Starve someone long enough, treat them like the dirt beneath your feet, and then when they lash out, suddenly they’re the problem? How noble of you to twist the narrative, Griza.”

Another councilman, Lord Danga, a zebra beastman, cleared his throat nervously. “With all due respect, my King, our resources are already stretched so thin this year. The Sunrise City’s people must come first, our people. Surely you can see that?”

Leona leaned forward, his sharp green eyes locking onto the man, his claws still tapping rhythmically against the back of Griza’s stone chair. “ Oh? Our people?” His voice was low and venomous. “Tell me something…Lord Danga. When you hoarded grain last season for your own settlements and let three nearby jackal villages go hungry, were those not ‘our people’? Or did they suddenly stop counting?” He shrugged.

“I—”

Leona cut him off with a sharp glare. “...And now you all want to sit here and preach to me about where my mercy should begin and end?”

An elephant beastman, emboldened by frustration, stood up. "It’s not about your mercy, Your Majesty. It’s about strategy! Strength! If we appear weak to those in the Outlands, those people will take advantage of us and our generosity as they have been the past few dry seasons!” He slammed his fist on the table.

Leona scoffed, his voice dripping with contempt. “Do you know what really makes a kingdom weak?” He leaned more of his weight against Griza’s chair, the legs scraping loudly across the stone floor, as he suddenly pulled the old man and his seat backwards.

The giraffe beastman in question froze and nobody spoke, even breathed. Yuu found themself barely able to swallow.

“Fear.” Leona hissed.

“Short-sighted, foolish, hypocrites who think power means hoarding everything for themselves.” He spoke slowly, his voice lowering with menace. “You all aren’t protecting this kingdom. You’re choking it.”

Griza stiffened below him, hazel eyes downcasted. Beneath his breath, he muttered something Yuu couldn’t hear. 

“What was that?” Leona’s voice was sharp enough to cut.

“Hmph.” He tried to keep his lip stiff. “I... I only meant that... your father would have-”

“Go on. Finish that sentence…” Leona’s growling tone was dark, and dangerous, and his eyes glowed with a barely restrained fury.

The councilman’s lips quivered openly now, but he remained silent.

“...”

“I see. A lesson needs to be learned.” Leona exhaled sharply, his patience visibly thinning. “I don’t need comparisons, and I certainly don’t need your approval to do what’s right for my people—all of them.”

The room fell silent. Leona’s soft chuckle echoed through the room, cold and mocking. “Weak, huh?” He laid both hands on Griza’s shoulder, digging his claws into his white council member robes.

The man squealed like a stuck pig, trembling under Leona’s hand. There was no escape.

“Let me show you what real weakness looks like.”

Before any of the councilmen or Yuu could react, Leona’s fingers clenched and his knuckles turned white. He muttered a familiar incantation and the man stilled in his grip, before his body seized violently. Sand spilled from Leona’s fingertips, snaking around the old man’s face, frozen in fear as his panicked eyes darted to his peers. 

It was over in seconds, he didn’t even have time to scream. No one did.

“You see,” Leona said, his tone casual as “Griza” crumbled into a lifeless heap of sand in the pulled-out chair. “True weakness is being so afraid of the past that it gets in the way of the progress of the future.” His hand made an exaggerated flourish.

He turned to the remaining council members, clapping the sand from his palms. “You call yourselves leaders, yet you sit here staring at me with your mouths agape…like frightened prey.”

He cleared his throat, sliding his claws through his dark hair casually as he paced back toward his seat. “…The coastal neighborhoods will continue to be eligible in our restoration project through the dry season.”

No one dared speak, except to echo one word.

“Yes…”

Leona nodded with finality. “Good.” He moved toward the throne’s platform, the weight of his authority filling the room as he climbed the steps, taking his rightful seat. “You’re all dismissed.” He waved.

The council members scrambled to bow before filing out, leaving Yuu alone with their new king, too stupid to move. They always heard you shouldn’t run from a predator. 

While Leona stared satisfied at the pile of sand drifting from the empty chair, they forced their weak legs to work again, finally sliding from their seat at the table and retreating toward the throne’s steps. As Yuu stood rigid at the edge of the dais, their hands clasped tightly in front of them, palms sweating as they tried to still the faint tremor that betrayed their nerves. 

The room felt impossibly quiet now, the air heavy with humidity and the unspoken aftermath of what had just transpired. A few feet away lay the remains of what was once Councilman Griza—a man whose leering gaze and oily words had made Yuu’s skin crawl on more than one occasion.

Now, there was nothing left of him but dust.

Their time assisting in infirmaries for their college internship taught them that death usually smelled like something: decay, burning flesh, blood but...here a man lay, as if he had been ripped from existence.

Nothing. 

Yuu couldn’t bring themselves to look away from the dusty remains, though bile churned in their stomach anyway. They should have felt horror. Or grief. Anything other than this cold, detached emptiness and macabre curiosity. But Griza had been a contemptible man, a social-climbing parasite who had delighted in undermining Leona at every opportunity. Was it so wrong not to mourn him?

The silence stretched, broken only by the distant echo of footsteps as the council members continued to flee the room, their fear a tangible presence in the air. Yuu couldn’t blame them.

Their fingers tightened on the fabric of their own white robes, trembling creeping back into their hands. Drawing on every ounce of composure, they dipped into a shallow bow at the steps, the fabric of their clothing brushing against their knees. "Is there... anything else you require of me, Your Majesty?" Yuu finally asked, their voice soft but steady. Their gaze dropped to the floor as they clutched the folds of their robe like a lifeline. 

Heart pounding in their chest, each beat was a sobering reminder that they were still alive—still here, unlike Griza.

Seeing them still there, Leona’s low chuckle rippled through the room, smooth as silk yet sharp enough to cut their composure.

They straightened cautiously, their gaze lifting just in time to see the king rise from his throne. When he moved, it was slow and deliberate, his footsteps echoing against the polished stone floor as he approached them.

"Anything I require?" he drawled, amusement coloring his voice. "How polite of you."

Before Yuu could respond, his clawed fingers curled under their chin, tilting their face upward. The warmth of his touch seared against their skin, forcing them to meet his piercing green gaze. Yuu’s breath hitched, their composure slipping for the briefest moment as his smirk deepened.

"You saw what happened just now," he murmured, his voice deceptively soft, almost a purr. "And this is your response?" His sharp black nail tapped on their chin, thumbing the divot below their bottom lip.

Yuu swallowed hard, trying not to think that this was the same touch that just turned a man to ash. The weight of his scrutiny pressed down on them like a physical force. His eyes searched theirs, sharp and unrelenting, as though he could strip away every carefully constructed defense they’d built. He studied their face like a puzzle he intended to solve, his smirk deepening when his eyes flicked to their hands, still pulling at the fabric of their robes tight.

“Tell me.” he started, leaning closer, the warmth of his palm seeping into their skin, a stark contrast to the cold knot forming in their stomach. "What do you really think?"

Yuu’s pulse thundered in their ears, their mind racing as they searched his face for some trace of the man they once knew. Wishful thinking. His proximity was suffocating, his presence an overwhelming force that left them no room to breathe.

No, this wasn’t the Leona they remembered—the lazy boy who had once scoffed at the pomp and circumstance of royal life.

The man before them now was a king, his sharp edges honed to a deadly point by years of bitterness and isolation. He wore his title like impenetrable armor, his every movement, and word laced with the weight of his new authority.

“I—” They looked up at him.

His hair, once unkempt and free-falling, was slicked back from his forehead, threaded with faint spirals of grey that hadn’t been there in his youth. The heavy makeup around his eyes only deepened the shadows beneath them, giving him a look far older than even his thirty-three years. His gaze seemed to be shadowed with exhaustion that no amount of sleep could cure.

Yuu swallowed hard, their throat dry. They wanted to laugh, to make some cutting remark about personal space or his newly acquired dramatic flair. But those days were long gone. They were no one of consequence to him anymore, just another servant standing before a terrifying king. One who could crush them as easily as he had Griza.

Still, they couldn’t bring themselves to lie outright. They forced a weak, bitter laugh, the sound surprising even them. “Well…sir. I can’t say I ever shed any tears for Councilman Griza," they admitted, their voice quieter than they intended. "And I suppose I'm a little biased on the success of the restoration plan." They shrugged.

Leona’s chuckle was low and rich, sending a shiver down Yuu’s spine. His grip on their chin loosened, his hand falling away only to settle on their shoulder, still leaving char marks on their jaw. His claws lightly grazed the fabric of their clothing as he prodded them toward the throne.

"No one would," he said, his tone tinged with amusement. "The man was a perverted old bastard."

Yuu allowed themselves to be led further by their king, their steps measured as though they were walking a tightrope with him. The weight of his hand on their shoulder was impossible to ignore, a silent reminder of their wildly unbalanced power dynamic.

He stepped back, gesturing for Yuu to follow as he made his way to the throne. With a lazy grace, he dropped into the large seat, his arms draped languidly over one of the armrests as though the events of the day had taken no toll on him at all.

"C’mere." he said as casually as he might have back in school, motioning to the small space beside him. "Sit. I won't bite."

Yuu hesitated, their stomach twisting as their gaze flicked between him and the space left on the cushioned seat. 

Leona’s gaze never left them, the weight of his command impossible to ignore. Slowly, they moved over, beaded sandals echoing in the large empty room. They started to lower themselves onto the left side of the throne, their hands gripping the armrest as if anchoring themselves to reality.

There was barely room for the both of them. Yuu sat down cautiously, making sure to leave at least a few inches between both their legs. They looked down at the colorful beaded bangles on their wrists and adjusted them as they settled in.

Leona leaned forward slightly, his smirk sharp. "Now," he said, his voice low, "No bullshitting. Tell me what you truly think of what I did."

Yuu’s breath caught, their pulse pounding in their throat. They met his gaze, their own expression carefully guarded, They inhaled deeply, steeling themselves. They knew the wrong answer could cost them, and so could the truth. It was a dangerous game, and they were far from certain they could win against him. 

One thing was clear—there was no turning back now. He intended to play with them.

The answer was simple. He wanted them all to witness it. That’s why he did it.

"I think…" Yuu began, their voice measured, "You’re trying to prove something. To the council. To the kingdom. To yourself." The truth left their lips easier than they thought possible.

Leona’s eyes narrowed slightly, though his smirk didn’t falter. "And what, exactly, do you think I’m trying to prove?"

Yuu hesitated, the weight of his question pressing down on them. They chose their next words carefully, heart racing as they stared into his sharp green eyes.

"That you’re…strong enough to lead," they said finally. "That you deserve to be here."

For a moment, the air between them was charged with unspoken tension. Then, Leona leaned back, his smirk softening into something that almost resembled a genuine smile.

"Interesting theory," he said, his tone unreadable.

Yuu couldn’t tell if that was a good thing—or if they’d just sealed their fate. They took a steadying breath, relieved that Leona seemed somewhat satisfied with their response. His sharp gaze, however, told them the conversation was far from over.

“One more thing,” he said, his tone deceptively casual. “There’s something else I want to know your thoughts about.” One of his brows quirked upward.

Yuu straightened slightly in their corner of the throne, their posture still cautious. “Your Majesty?”

“You seem restless, little mouse. Tell me…what else is on your mind?” His voice was low, almost a purr, but the demand was razor-edged. “No sugarcoating it either. No filter. Honest thoughts about everything.” He held a palm in the air between them, but it felt like a trap.

Leona’s eyes tracked Yuu’s every move as they absorbed his words, seeming to just notice how they sat slightly off-center, leaving space between them and his leg.

 As if any physical distance could ever shield them from his intense scrutiny.

Yuu exhaled a breathy laugh, the sound strained. Their head spun from the abruptness of his request. In the time since their arrival at Leona’s behest, he had spoken to them so sparingly, and never this directly. It was almost as if they were strangers all over again.

“Everything?” they asked, stalling for time. “That’s a lot to cover.” They hesitated before adding, softly, “I mean-” They struggled on where to begin. “It’s… good to see you, Leona. I mean…Your Majesty.” The correction felt clumsy, a verbal stumble that reminded Yuu just how much had changed. The man sitting beside them was not the same person they’d once known. The thought tugged painfully at their chest.

“Not to be uh- rude but…you do look tired…” they ventured cautiously. “I heard the Sunrise City folk have been organizing more protests. Challenging the authority of the palace.” Their voice softened. “It can’t be easy to deal with.” They diverted his question slightly, bringing up recent events.

“I mean…” Yuu’s gaze drifted to the pile of sand that had once been Griza, then back to Leona. The question tumbled out before they could stop themselves. “H-how are you…feeling?”

Leona’s expression remained impassive as he studied them and their words. No doubt he noticed how their eyes lingered on him, searching for traces of the man they’d once known. 

A man he himself knew no longer existed.

He let out an irritated huff, his eyes flicking briefly to the pile of sand too. “It’s becoming more of an annoyance than an actual threat,” he said, his tone dismissive. Then his gaze returned to Yuu, sharp and unyielding. “...You really want to know how I’m feeling?” 

Yuu’s ears perked up at the question, hearing the doubt in his tone. It was the most candid he’d been since their arrival. His guardedness, the impenetrable walls he’d built around himself, seemed to crack, if only slightly.

“Oh.” Yuu blinked, startled. “Yes, Your Majesty. Of course! You can… talk to me about anything.” Their words were soft, formal, yet tinged with sincerity as they nodded.

Leona scoffed bitterly, the sound carrying a weight of frustration. “...Ever since I became king, everything I had before is gone. No more days of slacking off, no more carefree moments of not giving a damn. Now, it’s just this—” He gestured lazily around the grand but empty throne room. “—the kingdom and its endless turmoil.” He paused, his expression unchanged, but his emerald eyes burned with emotions left unspoken.

“And now, I don’t even have the one thing I truly wanted.”

Yuu’s breath hitched as they watched him watching them from the corner of their vision, their carefully maintained mask slipping. “But…Your Majesty, isn’t this what you wanted?” They gestured to the ornate throne room too, its vastness a testament to his new status. “To be king?” They relaxed slightly as they spoke, a whisper of the old melancholic Leona slipping through in his words. For a fleeting moment, he felt less distant.

Leona’s lips curled into a faint, sardonic smile, wrinkles creasing around his darkened eyes. “What I wanted? What I really want…” He leaned closer, his voice low but searing. “...is to go back to when I was free to do whatever the hell I wanted. When I wasn’t stuck in this…damn throne room, surrounded by…traitors and sycophants. No one I can trust or talk to, to…be by my side.”

The honesty in his tone made Yuu’s chest tighten. 

“You of all people should know that,” he said, his gaze piercing as a crooked smile tugged at his mouth.

They had wanted to keep their distance, but Leona's words landed heavy in the silence between them, the soft weight of his confession pulling their heartstrings. There was a rawness to his tone that unsettled them. As if their prior words had stirred something deep inside him, memories they had once shared, secrets only they both knew.

Leona’s broken smile felt like a ghost, haunting them both.   

“I’m sorry…” Yuu looked down, their voice barely above a whisper. They wanted to…to empathize with him, but the memory of Griza’s death still hung heavy in the air, a grim reminder of the man he had become. “I do know, Leo-” The name slipped from their lips again before they could stop themselves. “I mean…Your Majesty.”

Leona’s scoff was softer this time, almost wistful. 

"I guess...things were simpler back then, huh?" Yuu gave him a nostalgic smile as the coolness of the back of the throne soaked into their robes. The few inches between the two of them felt like a cavern now. “I…don’t envy you. Being king must be…” They struggled to find the word, a tightness in their own chest. “...lonely.” Their voice dropped. 

Yuu hesitated before speaking again, the silence between them like still, uncharted waters. “...What can I do to help, Your Majesty?” They dared to ask again, creating a ripple they weren’t sure if they wanted to cause. As they met his gaze, they knew they could no longer hide the sadness they felt for him, for both of them, at how things turned ended up.

He breathed out.

“I never asked for this. I never really wanted this, ya know.” Leona said, his voice flat yet laced with an unmistakable pain.  

“I know…”  Yuu felt the full weight of his gaze settle on them, searching, pressing his grief onto them. His eyes flicked over their face, taking in every subtle shift of their expression, the sadness they thought they had hidden beneath a veil of stoic composure. He saw them. And they knew he saw them—mourning for what both their lives once were.

It was a silent accusation, a subtle reminder that the walls they had worked so hard to erect were not as impenetrable as they thought. And yet, there was an unsettling tenderness in his eyes that made Yuu’s breath catch, slipping like a dagger under their ribs.

“But, there’s nothing you can do, even if I wanted ya to…” he said, his voice quiet but firm, the words weighted with resignation. The tension in the air only thickened, a heavy silence; screams muffled with years of unspoken words and unhealed wounds.  

Yuu’s eyes burned. They felt the sting of tears gathering, but they blinked and fought to keep them at bay, clawing at their bracelets on their wrist once more. They were unraveling at the edges, and for a fleeting moment, they feared the years of their trained professionalism would slip if they sat next to the miserable king any longer. 

They couldn't break character.  

"You're right, I’m sorry," Yuu confessed, wiping at their eyes with a hasty swipe of their arm. Their voice cracked as they spoke, an unintended tremor in the words. “I guess I should go, continue my work then, sir?” They stood, hoping to escape the suffocating intensity of this moment between them. “Your Majesty…” They bowed again, then stood there, waiting. 

But, Leona didn’t dismiss them.  

Before they could take another step, the king’s arm shot out like a whip, taking their wrist with surprising force. His touch was firm but desperate, pulling them back down onto the throne with him.  

Yuu’s breath was taken from them, and before they could even process what was happening, they found themselves falling and plummeting—straight into his lap. The impact left them breathless, their heart pounding wildly against their ribs. Leona shifted his body, catching them easily and wrapping his arms tightly around their waist, pulling them flush to him, their back pressed to his chest. His chin came to rest on their shoulder, his breath warm and shaky against their skin. Without words, he buried his face in the crook of their neck, nose tip tracing their pulse point. 

His smell was the same from all those years ago, cinnamon, citrus, star anise. Yuu could practically feel it, the tension and desperation pouring off him like an electric current. It was all they could do not to scream, for both of them.

“S-stay,” he murmured, his voice hoarse, crackling with emotion. “I don’t want cha to go.”  

Yuu’s body went rigid, heart hammering; a frantic rhythm in their ears. The warmth of his body, the weight of his arms around them. It was all so achingly familiar, yet the desperation in his grip felt foreign. This wasn’t the Leona they had once known. His loneliness clung like a heavy shroud, smothering them both in the savanna heat. There was something darker, more urgent beneath it all now, more intense than anything they remembered—a weight, a suffocating pressure. His loneliness seeped into them, and it clung to their chest like an immovable boulder. 

They couldn’t breathe. They couldn’t even move.  

“Your M-majesty?” Their voice trembled, a flicker of uncertainty breaking through the facade they had carefully crafted. They froze, unsure how to react, caged in the snare of his arms like a helpless animal. 

“I thought…” Yuu stuttered, still breathless, their voice barely a whisper. Their sweat caused their clothes to stick to multiple points on their body. “I thought there was nothing I could do t-to help?” Their body reacted to his touch against their neck, sending involuntary shivers down their spine. The tingles ran from their chest into their legs, and they couldn’t suppress the way their body burned under his invasive touch.  

Leona’s grip tightened, pulling them even closer to him. He inhaled deeply near their ear, his breath shaky against the curve of their neck. They knew he could feel how stiff they were in his arms, the way their body quivered with a mixture of confusion, fear, and something else. 

They knew he could feel their hesitance, but still, they stayed. 

And that seemed to be enough for him. 

“...You’re the only person in this fucking place that makes me feel like….myself,” he murmured, his voice soft, almost pleading. He whispered it as if it was the world’s most important secret. “That’s how you can help.”  

Yuu’s chest ached. They wanted to empathize with him, comfort him, and understand. But, there was another weight in the room that couldn’t be ignored. A man’s remains still lay near, a grim reminder of what Leona had become in their years apart. 

A king broken by his choices, a man who had spilled blood. Devoured his own remorse and morals long ago. And yet here he was, like a child clinging to their robes, desperate for the comfort of a bit of human touch. 

Yuu closed their eyes, torn. Every fiber of their being screamed to pull away, to remember the man he had killed with their own eyes. But the ache in their chest grew, the heaviness of his loneliness, clawing at them. It was too much to resist indulging in. They knew it was wrong, toxic even but—

The desperation he felt for them was...intoxicating. 

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they whispered, head light, their voice barely a breath. They closed their eyes, bracing for whatever would come next, but still, they waited, unsure if they had just stepped into a trap they would never escape from.

Leona’s body stiffened at their passive response, and a soft, almost satisfied hum escaped him. 

Oh? So, he hadn’t expected them to stay on his lap, to offer any kind of comfort, but here they were—allowing him to have what he apparently so desperately wanted.  

Slowly, Leona tilted his head, the outline of his lips grazing the skin of Yuu’s neck with the gentlest of touches. His grip remained tight, as though trying to anchor them both to this fleeting moment, afraid it would slip away if he didn’t. 

“Say my name,” he whispered, his voice low and full of something almost frantic.  

Yuu gasped, their body relaxing despite themselves. It somewhat disgusted them that they wanted to give in to him. The tension in their limbs began to loosen, and they instinctively pressed themselves closer to him, their body betraying all those emotional boundaries they had worked so hard to build.

"Leona," they murmured, their voice barely audible, a trembling whisper, just for him. 

"Leona..." They repeated it as if saying his name was the only thing that could ground them both in this chaotic and messy moment.  

They sensed his body react at the sound of his name, reverberating in the space around them. His chest shuddered behind their back, his grip on Yuu’s waist tightening. His claws gripped their robes to almost discomfort, trapping them even closer to him.  

As he exhaled shakily, it was as if a sense of relief washed over him. Yuu felt the tension in the rest of his body release beneath them. “Again,” he whispered, broad nose tracing the shell of their ear. His voice was croaky, almost pleading.  

Yuu’s heart raced, the warmth of his thighs soaking into theirs. Their breath quickened, caught somewhere between fear and longing, sweat beading on their forehead. They didn’t know how they had ended up here, sitting in the lap of the damn king after he murdered someone before their eyes. Then, offering him comfort with nothing but his name, and the weight of their body. 

But here they were, and there was no turning back.  

“...Leona,” they whispered a third time, sealing their fate. The name escaped their lips like a prayer, a desperate plea for the boy they once knew, the boy they had once admired, to come back. To claw his way through the cruel king he had become.

--

[zedecksiew]

How To Play The Revolution

So: I do not like the idea of TTRPGs making formal mechanics designed to incentivise ethical play.

But, to be honest, I do not like the idea of any single game pushing any particular formal mechanics about ethical play at all.

So here I am, trying to think through the reasons why, and proposing a solution. (Sort of. A procedure, really.)

+

Assumptions:

1.

Some genres of game resist ethical play. A grand strategy game dehumanises people into census data. The fun of a shooter is violence. This is truest in videogames, but applies to tabletop games also.

Games can question their own ethics, to an extent. Terra Nil is an anti-city-builder. But it is a management game at heart, so may elide critiques of "efficiency = virtue".

Not all games should try to design for ethical play. I believe games that incentivise "bad" behaviour have a lot to teach us about those behaviours, if you approach them with eyes open.

2.

The systems that currently govern our real lives are terrible: oligarchy, profit motive; patriarchy, nation-states, ethno-centrisms. They fuel our problems: class and sectarian strife, destruction of climate and people, spiritual desertification.

They are so total that the aspiration to ethical behaviour is subsumed by their logics. See: social enterprise; corpos and occupying forces flying rainbow flags; etc.

Nowadays, when I hear "ethical", I don't hear "we remember to be decent". I hear "we must work to be better". Good ethics is radical transformation.

3.

If a videogame shooter crosses a line for you, your only real response is to stop playing. This is true for other mechanically-bounded games, like CCGs or boardgames.

In TTRPGs, players have the innate capability to act as their own referees. (even in GM-ed games adjudications are / should be by consensus.) If you don't like certain aspects of a game, you could avoid it---but also you could change it.

Only in TTRPGs can you ditch basic rules of the game and keep playing.

+

So:

D&D's rules are an engine for accumulation: more levels, more power, more stuff, more numbers going up.

If you build a subsystem in D&D for egalitarian action, but have to quantify it in ways legible to the game's other mechanical parts---what does that mean? Is your radical aspiration feeding into / providing cover for the game's underlying logics of accumulation?

At the very least it feels unsatisfactory---"non-representative of what critique / revolution entails as a rupture," to quote Marcia, in conversations we've been having around this subject, over on Discord.

How do we imagine and represent rupture, to the extent that the word "revolution" evokes?

My proposal: we rupture the game.

+++

How To Play The Revolution

Over the course of play, your player-characters have decided to begin a revolution:

An armed struggle against an invader; overturning a feudal hierarchy; a community-wide decision to abandon the silver standard.

So:

Toss out your rule book and sheets.

And then:

Keep playing.

You already know who your characters are: how they prefer to act; what they are capable of; how well they might do at certain tasks; what their context is. You and your group are quite capable of improv-ing what happens next.

Of course, this might be unsatisfactory; you are here to play a TTRPG, after all. Structures are fun. Therefore:

Decide what the rules of your game will be, going forward.

Which rules you want to keep. Which you want to discard. Jury-rig different bits from different games. Shoe-horn a tarot deck into a map-making game---play that. Be as comprehensive or as freeform as you like. Patchwork and house-rule the mechanics of your new reality.

The god designer will not lead you to the revolution. You broke the tyranny of their design. You will lead yourself. You, as a group, together. The revolution is DIY.

+++

Notes:

This is mostly a thought experiment into a personal obsession. I am genuinely tempted to write a ruleset just so I can stick the above bit into it as a codified procedure.

I am tickled to imagine how the way this works may mirror the ways revolutions have played out in history.

A group might already have alternative ruleset in mind, that they want to replace the old ruleset with wholesale. A vanguard for their preferred system.

Things could happen piecemeal, progressively. Abandon fiat currency and a game's equipment price list. Adopt pacifism and replace the combat system with an alternative resolution mechanic. As contradictions pile up, do you continue, or revert?

Discover that the shift is too uncomfortable, too unpredictable, and default back to more familiar rules. The old order reacting, reasserting itself.

+

I keep returning to this damn idea, of players crossing thresholds between rulesets through the course of play. The Revolution is a rupture of ethical reality like Faerie or the Zone is a rupture in geography.

But writing all this down is primarily spurred by this post from Sofinho talking about his game PARIAH and the idea that "switching games/systems mid-session" is an opportunity to explore different lives and ethics:

Granted this is not an original conceit (I'm not claiming to have done anything not already explored by Plato or Zhuangzi) but I think it's a fun possibility to present to your players: dropping into a parallel nightmare realm where their characters can lead different lives and chase different goals.

+

Jay Dragon tells me she is already exploring this idea in a new game, Seven Part Pact:

"the game mechanics are downright oppressive but also present the capacity to sunder them utterly, so the only way to behave ethically is to reject the rules of the game and build something new."

VINDICATION! If other designers are also thinking along these lines this means the idea isn't dumb and I'm not alone!

+++

( Images:

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/victoria-3-dev-diary-23-fronts-and-generals.1497106/

https://www.thestranger.com/race/2017/04/05/25059127/if-you-give-a-cop-a-pepsi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames

https://nobonzo.com/

https://pangroksulap.com/about/ )

[shirecorn]

Really enjoy your work! Do you have any thoughts on sex/gender in pony society? Since in canon there are very few male characters there's some fan theories they have a different sex ratio. Or in the more speculative biology space they could just not have the same level/kind of dimorphism as humans.

Sex ratio is an interesting phenomenon! Deer can be anywhere from equal to twice as many females. Female horses throw more fillies as they get older. And Pegasus are made up.

Since my "ponies" are 3 different species, they all have different biological histories, including sex ratios. But at this point in time, the ratios are about 1:1, equally "Mares" and "Stallions" Stallions tend to be more physically powerful than mares, but not to the point of looking particularly different.

POLITICS, however, is still very much affected by gender.

In Skyscraper Gods Equestria, society is currently equalizing to be more open and flexible after centuries of matriarchal rule. Mares are seen as more fit to rule because they are closer to the feminine goddesses, and Equestria is a theocracy with rulers (often female) appointed by god. Smaller governments and towns who elect and appoint officials tend towards mares as well, with stallion mayors still being the first of their kind in some places.

Though it hasn't happened yet (that society knows of) there is nothing that prevents a stallion from being eligible for godhood. Rather, it is something that goddesses have only chosen to bestow on mares so far. This is a self-perpetuating system, as less stallions being in leadership positions means less candidates for the gods to pick from, and less stallion leaders make society think they are less capable than mares.

Equestria is the favored land of the Gods that control the sun, moon, love, and friendship, but they are not the only gods in the world (though nationalism will try to convince you otherwise)

Outside Equestria, species other than ponies dominate. They have their own systems of governments (theocracy, monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, plutocracy, etc) that are not based on Equestrian Goddess' will or genders. Many populations of griffons are male-dominated, rooted in sexual dimorphism.

The Crystal Empire vanished before the rise of the Goddesses Sun and Moon. When they came back with thousand-year-old citizens, they were immediately annexed by modern-day Equestria, which installed their own ruler (The Princess of Love) into the power vacuum left by King Sombra. She serves Equestrian interests, but will one day be convinced to step down by the Princess of Friendship in favor crystal pony officials elected by their own people.

TLDR: male and female ponies occur at the same rate, but females are more prominent due Equestria's matriarchy (which itself is due to the known gods being feminine)

[master-jarrus]

It's so frustrating that people are so determined to fight each other

And like I know it's from decades of propaganda

But it's still like when I list things that I want everyone goes oh so you're on my side of the political spectrum

Not everyone's political goals align but I think if we could focus on the ones that match enough we could get some shit done

Here is some stuff that I know all sides want based on conversations

Keep national parks protected

Regulate insurance companies

Things being produced and bought locally (yes there are nuances but both sides do want it we just worry about different nuances)

Bringing back and protecting traditional skills (leather crafting, fabric making, sewing, theres way more but I know about these specifically)

Literacy (we both agree literacy is important we just argue about the books that people should be allowed to read but like lets get people able to read with actual media literacy first)

Owning livestock and gardening (we all want to be less dependent on big box stores and corporations)

The right to hunt responsibly (I have even met vegans who agree with this they just prefer the meat goes to other animals rather than humans, but that off topic)

Good and free public transportation (Everyone I have met hates having to deal with idiots on the road and would be happy with public transportation if it was on time, clean and free)

Tax breaks for local businesses rather than big corporations

Kids should be kids (crazy that this is a political topic. If you don't know schools have been pressured to do less learning through play and removing play all together from curriculum for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Which is crazy detrimental to behavior health and will lead to the kids being unable to focus and disregulated emotional outbursts that can be completely avoided with some educational play, also ipad kids are a problem)

These are just what I can think of off the top of my head. I know there's more but I just can't think of it

But this is already ten things. Ten goals we could all work towards together before we get into the things we disagree on

And what I have found is a lot of the stuff we disagree on is just symptoms of some of these issues so working on these goals could help other issues at least loosen up their tangles so we can work through it with compromise

Remember we're all in the same class and the ruling class has just full on admitted that we are an oligarchy with the 1% in charge by charging Mangione with terrorism

The only way we can defend ourselves from tyranny is working together

[robertreich]

Why We Need to Ban College Legacy Admissions

Children of the super rich are more than twice as likely to get into America’s most elite universities as middle-class students with the exact same test scores. This fast-tracks them to become the next generation of CEOs and lawmakers, and helps keep wealth and power in the hands of people who started out wealthy and powerful.

A big reason rich kids have such an advantage is so-called “legacy admissions” — the preference elite schools give to family members of alumni.

The vast majority of Americans, across the political spectrum, think this is unfair. An astounding 68% of all voters support banning legacy admissions outright. This is the strongest bipartisan agreement I think I’ve ever seen on an issue that boils down to who gets special privileges in America.

Now I went  to an Ivy League school (Dartmouth), followed by Oxford, and Yale Law. I wasn’t rich. My father ran a clothing store.

That was a half-century ago — before inequalities of income and wealth exploded in America, before the middle class began shrinking, before the American oligarchy began corrupting American politics with a flood of big money donations. Today, it’s much harder for a middle-class kid to get the same opportunities that I had.

New research conducted at Harvard (ironically) looked at 16 years of admissions data from the Ivy League schools, plus Stanford, Duke, MIT, and the University of Chicago.

The research reveals that one in six students at these prestigious schools comes from the richest 1% of American families.  

Why are so many rich kids getting in? It’s not because they’re better students.

Children from the top 1% were 34% more likely to be admitted than middle-class students with the same SAT or ACT scores.

Those from the top ONE TENTH OF ONE PERCENT were more than twice as likely to get in.

Legacy admissions are one of the biggest reasons. Nearly 30% of Harvard’s Class of 2023 were legacies.

It's a vicious cycle that consolidates wealth and power in the hands of a few.

Less than 1% of Americans get into one of these top schools, but their graduates account for 12% of the Fortune 500 CEOs,  a quarter of all U.S. senators, and more than a third of all Americans with a net worth over $100 million.

And because these graduates are in the winner's circle, their children have every advantage in the world — even before they get legacy preferences into the same prestigious universities, which in turn hand them even more advantages.

You see how this entrenches an American aristocracy? Concentrated wealth at the top leads to even more and more wealth concentration with each new generation.

It also perpetuates racial discrimination. Since non-white students were barred from most colleges for much of America’s history, legacy students are by definition more likely to be white.

The Ivy League’s legacy policies were introduced during the Jim Crow era, with the specific intent of limiting the number of students of color and Jewish students who could be admitted.

To this day, about 70% of Harvard’s legacy admissions are white, which is why the U.S. Department of Education is now investigating Harvard for potential violation of civil rights.

And with the Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action, this systemic racism is likely to get worse. The Court is pretending to make college admissions "race-blind," while preserving systems that advance wealthy white students over all others.

It’s time for the government to ban legacy admissions.

[misfitwashere]

Does anyone need more proof that Trump is fronting for the oligarchs and doesn't give a shite about workers?

ROBERT REICH

JAN 29

Friends,

In his ongoing rampage against the laws of the land, Trump yesterday fired National Labor Relations Board acting chair Gwynne Wilcox — despite her congressional appointment not being up until 2028.

Wilcox’s firing closes down the NLRB because it’s left with just two members, and the Supreme Court has ruled that the Board needs at least three to issue any rulings.

Trump also fired NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, leaving Board attorneys who investigate employee and employer complaints without any guidance. 

Presto — American workers are no longer protected from illegal firings or unfair labor practices by their employers. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 is effectively gone. Employers can now reek havoc on their workers. 

Of course, most employers are already doing this, but at least the threat of unionization kept some from blatant bullying.

The backstory here is about power. 

Score another one for the oligarchs. 

Across America big corporations are treating their hourly workers like shite. Unions are about the only countervailing economic force and one of the last remaining political forces pushing for worker health and safety. 

But the latest data (out Tuesday) shows that unionized workers continue to lose ground — now down to under 10 percent of the workforce. 

This suits the American oligarchy just fine. As I’ve noted, Trump their frontman.

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and key Trump advisor — who over the years has compiled a truck load of violations from the N.L.R.B., including firing workers who tried to form a union, and who kept his Tesla plant open during the pandemic in violation of state law — says he’s “opposed to the idea of unions.” 

Billionaire oligarch Jeff Bezos, the second-richest person in America, who also stood prominently before Trump when he was sworn in January 20, has been waging an unrelenting war on Amazon’s warehouse workers. (When workers in a Quebec warehouse recently voted to unionize, Bezos responded by having the company order the closure of every Amazon warehouse in the province.)

Amazon owns Whole Foods. On Monday, workers in a Philadelphia Whole Foods market voted to unionize. Bezos is already taking aim. 

An overwhelming majority of working-class people — especially men without college degrees, who form the bulk of hourly workers in Musk’s Tesla and Bezos’s Amazon — voted for Trump on November 5. 

There are really two questions here: 

(1) How much more proof does the American working class need that Trump is not on their side but on the side of the oligarchs, who are siphoning more and more of the nation’s wealth from working people to themselves? 

(2) When will Democrats have the backbone to tell this to working-class Americans, and come down firmly against the oligarchy?

[theanalyzerguy]

Project 2025 is a plan to, in the words of project Director Paul Dans, "...march into office and bring a new army of aligned, trained, and essentially weaponized conservatives ready to do battle against the Deep State".It is organized by the Heritage Foundation, to "muzzle woke propaganda at every level of government", "gut the administrative state" (HUD, FEMA, DOJ, DHS, the Federal Reserve, CDC, FDA, EPA, etc.) and concentrate power into the hands of the President (Leeja Miller, in a video that is linked below, goes into detail on how this would work).Their claim is that "Only through the implementation of specific action plans at each agency will the next conservative presidential Administration be successful".The plan includes a [180 Day Playbook](https://www.project2025.org/playbook/), described as "...a comprehensive, concrete transition plan for each federal agency."

The plan is "the conservative movement's unified effort to be ready for the next conservative administration to govern at 12:00 noon, January 20, 2025".Project 2025 promises to "rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left" and to "unite the conservative movement and the American people against elite rule and woke culture warriors".Project 2025 lists problems with America such as:* The breakdown of the family* Immigration* The "totalitarian cult known today as The Great Awokening"* The erosion of constitutional accountability in Washington* Children suffering the "toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries"* An "overseas, totalitarian Communist dictatorship" that is "not a strategic partner or fair competitor" and is "engaged in a strategic, cultural and economic Cold War against America's interests, values and people"* "Low-income communities" that are "drowning in addiction and government dependence"* "America's elites have betrayed the American People"* The left using climate change "to scare the American public into accepting their ineffective, liberty crushing regulations"They believe that "These are problems not of technocratic efficiency, but of national sovereignty and constitutional governance. We solve them not by trimming and reshaping the leaves, but by ripping out the trees -- root and branch."

Their broad goals are to:1. Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life, and protect our children2. Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people3. Defend our nation's sovereignty, borders and bounty against global threats4. Secure our God-given individual rights to live freely - what our constitution calls "the Blessings of Liberty"Dans states that "The long march of Cultural Marxism through our institutions has come to pass. The federal government is a behemoth, weaponized against American citizens and conservative values, with freedom and liberty under siege as never before".Project 2025 is, in my words, a distinctly terrifying and highly detailed roadmap for:* Installing a Chriso-fascist oligarchy* Rolling back civil and human rights* Removing bodily autonomy from women and transgender individuals* The systematic eradication of minorities and other vulnerable groupsI don't use the words "systematic eradication" lightly or with hyperbole.

They obviously don't come right out and say it, but they state that:* Pornography should be outlawed* The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned* Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders* Telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shutteredThe real problem with the above, apart from the obvious, is that they label the existence of LGBTQIA+ people as "inherently pornographic". They say that pornography is “manifested today through the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology".They say that the fix "starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity ('SOGI'), diversity, equity and inclusion ('DEI'), gender, gender equality, gender awareness, gender sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists".They also state that "The president should direct agencies to rescind regulations interpreting sex discrimination provisions as prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, sex characteristics, etc."

They want to "maintain a biblically based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family" which would remove protections for same-sex marriage.Leeja Miller helpfully points out that the above language does not simply include transgender individuals, it includes cis women as well. I'd argue that removing the DEI language also allows them to target anyone that isn't a white, cis, heterosexual, evangelical (or other approved flavor of Christianity) male.Some other points of note:* They want to eliminate the Department of Education* They want to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory* They want to bring back the practice of impounding funds

**References*** A direct link to a PDF copy of the project's Policy Agenda, aka their "Mandate for Leadership": [https://thf\_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025\_MandateForLeadership\_FULL.pdf](https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf), this can be found on the Policy page of the Project 2025 website.* A video from Leeja Miller: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k3UvaC5m7o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k3UvaC5m7o)* An NPR article focusing on the climate policy aspect: [https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192634090/if-republicans-win-the-white-house-in-2024-climate-policy-will-likely-change](https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192634090/if-republicans-win-the-white-house-in-2024-climate-policy-will-likely-change)* A UC Berkeley write up: [https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2023/11/17/project-2025-democratic-doomsday/](https://bpr.berkeley.edu/2023/11/17/project-2025-democratic-doomsday/)* An article from the NECC Observer: [http://observer.necc.mass.edu/blog/2023/11/20/the-danger-of-project-2025/](http://observer.necc.mass.edu/blog/2023/11/20/the-danger-of-project-2025/)* An article from PBS: [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/conservatives-aim-to-restructure-u-s-government-and-replace-it-with-trumps-vision](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/conservatives-aim-to-restructure-u-s-government-and-replace-it-with-trumps-vision)

[grisguapo]

Seeing the inauguration really set everything in stone; America is becoming an oligarchy. The 1% rule us working class citizens and are working towards tearing down everything we've ever worked for.

Fuck the rich. Billionaires aren't on your side, and they never will be. You are not immune to propaganda, and your anger mustn't redirect. Be pissed off at the billionaires who will try to brainwash you.

Trump did not save tiktok - he wrote the bill to ban in all the way back in 2020. This is a stunt to win the youth over, do not fall for it. Trump is not "for you", he is for who will make him richer and more powerful.

He's also a felon and a rapist, no need to censor it or water it down. He raped a woman and has swept it under the rug. How? Because he has the money and influence to do so.

The billionaires of America will never be on your side, do not let them fool you; no matter how much you believe you can withstand.

I don't care if this ends up as one of those "leftist meltdowns because they hate a better nation", there will be no nation once Donald Trump is done. But yeah, all for lower gas and grocery prices, right? Wrong, tariffs for imported goods will only mean higher and higher prices. Again, they do not care for working class citizens. We are unimportant to the 1% - we are the grains of sand in comparison to the sand castles.

[mariacallous]

How does Elon Musk use the word "fraud" to dismantle the US federal government?

The term is not as an attempt to describe the world, but to change it. It is a political tool, used by a politician to justify a political action: regime change to oligarchy.

The word "fraud" operates in six ways.

1. The bait and switch. When Musk says "fraud," people who benefit from government programs are supposed to think "that applies to others, but not to me." The idea of "fraud" creates a sense of us-and-them. I am a normal citizen just receiving Social Security or Medicare or other benefits. But other people are abusing the system. Naturally, I am against those people and in favor of Elon Musk, the person who will halt their abuses. In this way, the idea of "fraud" creates political cover. When the benefits themselves cease, when institutions cease to function, people are confused. But that was always the point.

2. The linguistic inflation. At first, the idea was that there are incidents of "fraud" within government programs. This shifts very quickly, though, to the idea that "fraud" is so widespread that the program or institution itself must be eliminated, as has happened with foreign aid and consumer protection. At a certain point, which we have reached, the association with "fraud" becomes the justification for cutting popular programs by way of legislation. It becomes the rationale that Republicans in Congress use to justify attacking Social Security or Medicare.

3. The state of exception. The notion that there is widespread "fraud" inside government is supposed to suggest that all previous rules no longer apply. Promises made to constituents no longer matter, for example. Congress has to cut things because the situation is somehow so dramatic. Entirely new tools are necessary, such as a group of private citizens led by Elon Musk marching through government departments, taking personal control of key systems, and collecting the data of all Americans for themselves. We need a strongman to cut through the mess. And so on.

4. The slander of civil servants. The explicit policy of Musk-Trump, as described by the head of the Office of Management and Budget, is to traumatize federal workers. We see this in the decapitation of their institutions, the choice of obviously unqualified people to run those institutions, in the firings, and in the abuse. If there is "fraud," then we should understand civil servants as its perpetrators and they should understand themselves as such. The idea is to break bonds of trust between citizens and civil servants and to make the latter feel hopeless and alone. When the departure of civil servants reaches a certain threshold, then government ceases to function. And that is the goal.

5. The delegitimation of government as such. The word "fraud" becomes the main way that government is discussed. No one in or around DOGE, or in or around the White House, is talking about the good things that government does for people, how government can ease lives, how government can liberate. No one speaks about the benefits of workplace safety or consumer protection or disease control or public schools or public highways or health care or pensions. "Fraud" becomes a paradigm, undermining the sense of having a government. The implication is that only a lone oligarch can be pure and uncorrupt. The opposite, of course, is the case.

6. The ennoblement of oligarchy. If government is dirty, we are meant to think, then the oligarch is pure. Only a centibillionaire can carry out the necessary cleansing, the happy purge. The insistence on government "fraud" by the oligarch himself is meant to suggest that a new form of politics, oligarchy, must be the answer.

Musk's "fraud" rhetoric is presented as an anti-politics, as something fresh and exciting. But it is in fact a politics, a very old sort, the politics of oligarchy. As he himself has made clear himself, Musk is a politician with a program. It is to disable the rule of law, leaving no barriers to his oligarchical power. In this scheme, the only parts of government meant to function are the ones used to silence people who point out this obvious truth.

[friendlydungeonmanager]

The Hierarchies of Calorum’s Kingdoms

Each kingdom in Calorum has a distinct political structure, shaped by its cultural traditions and the resources that define its power. Below are the ruling systems, key figures, and major political factions of each nation.

The Kingdom of Candia (Monarchical Theocracy of Sweets & Honor)

A kingdom built on chivalry, noble bloodlines, and divine right, where knights and rulers swear fealty to the sacred traditions of Castle Candy.

Hierarchy & Leadership:

1. The Sovereign of Sweets – The absolute monarch, ruling by divine right.

Current Ruler: King Bertrand Biscotti III – A pious and aging king known for his unwavering devotion to The Great Oven.

He rules from Castle Candy, where he upholds strict knightly traditions but is losing political control due to factional infighting.

2. The Sugar Council – A body of high-ranking noble families, each representing a different confectionery industry (Chocolate, Caramel, Nougat, etc.).

The Council often undermines the king, using its economic power to control trade and taxation.

Notable Councilors:

Duchess Praline Truffle (Chocolate Trade)

Lord Toffee Macaron (Caramel & Taffy Exports)

Countess Peppermint Snaps (Candy Cane Military Supply)

3. The Grand Confectioner (High Priest of The Great Oven)

The spiritual leader of Candia, oversees both the faith and the coronation of kings.

Current Grand Confectioner: Archbishop Doughan the Pious

4. The Knights of the Lollipop Lance – The elite military order, sworn to defend Candia’s traditions and monarchy.

Led by Sir Custard Velour, a fiercely loyal but aging knight, torn between his oath to the king and loyalty to the Sugar Council.

Political Conflicts:

The Sugar Council seeks to replace the King with a puppet ruler under their control.

Religious tensions grow between traditionalists and reformists within The Great Oven’s faith.

A secret rebellion brews among the lower classes, demanding an end to feudal control of food production.

---

The Dairy Islands (Merchant Republic of Cheese & Naval Power)

A seafaring confederation of merchant-princes, ruled by trade guilds and religious zealots.

Hierarchy & Leadership:

1. The High Creamlord (Elected Trade Monarch)

Current Ruler: High Creamlord Ricotta Fontina – A cunning, manipulative leader who balances diplomacy and naval dominance.

Elected by the Guild Council, ruling from the capital Fondueford.

2. The Guild Council (Oligarchy of Dairy Trade Lords)

A council of twelve merchant-princes, each controlling a major export of dairy products.

Notable Guild Leaders:

Count Brie Vacherin (Soft Cheese & Spices)

Dame Gouda Manchego (Aged Cheese & Military Provisions)

Commodore Blue Stilton (Naval Warfare & Dairy Protection)

3. The Holy Cream Order (Religious Enforcers of Mother Milk)

A militant clergy enforcing religious law and trade purity.

Grand Priestess Butterbelle Lactessa leads this faction, demanding stricter religious control over exports.

4. The Corsair Admiralty (Dairy Privateer Fleet)

Dairy Islands rely on privateers and pirates to defend their waters and disrupt rivals.

Captain Havarti Blackflag leads the Cheese Raider Armada, secretly working with smugglers.

Political Conflicts:

The Guild Council clashes with religious zealots, who seek to enforce divine control over dairy trade.

Pirates and smugglers grow bolder, challenging the High Creamlord’s authority.

A cheese embargo threatens war with Candia and the Grain Kingdom.

---

The Meat Lands (Warlord Kingdom of Strength & Feasting)

A brutal land where only the strongest rule, and disputes are settled in blood-soaked arenas.

Hierarchy & Leadership:

1. The Carnal King (Warlord of the Throne)

Current Ruler: King Gorgo Beefhammer – A ruthless but charismatic warrior-king, crowned after killing his predecessor in single combat.

Rules from Meatchunk Keep, maintaining control through fear, feasts, and public executions.

2. The Bloodgrill Council (Warrior Chieftains & Clansmen)

A council of five warlords, each controlling a different clan of the Meat Lands.

Notable Warlords:

Lady Marrow Bonebreaker (Tactician & Siege Warfare)

Lord Rind Ironspit (Raider & Pirate Lord)

Baron Chorizo Sausagefist (Feastmaster & Gladiatorial Leader)

3. The Flesh Priests of The Butcher Saint

A religious sect that sanctifies battle and war through ritual bloodletting.

High Bloodpriest Flankus the Merciless promotes holy war against the weak.

Political Conflicts:

The warlords secretly plot against King Beefhammer, seeking to claim his throne.

A religious schism emerges between the Flesh Priests and military generals.

The Meat Lands prepare for war against Vegetania, claiming "greens corrupt the warrior’s soul."

---

Vegetania (Theocracy of Druids & Agricultural Scholars)

A druidic nation dedicated to balance, growth, and the cycle of life.

Hierarchy & Leadership:

1. The Verdant Sovereign (Divine Arbiter of Nature)

Current Ruler: High Druid Celeryn Rootbinder – A wise but reclusive ruler, more focused on preserving balance than wielding power.

Mediates disputes from the sacred city of Greenhold.

2. The Council of Roots (Druidic Circles & Agricultural Masters)

A democratic council of elders, farmers, and druids, who vote on major policy decisions.

Notable Members:

Elder Kumato Brightvine (Fruit Farmers & Diplomacy)

Sage Rutabaga Thornroot (Druidic Guardians of the Wild)

Professor Chicory Greenseed (Botanical Scholars & Medicine)

3. The Avocado Order (Sacred Guardians of the Orchard)

A sect of mystic monks and druids who believe the first fruit holds divine secrets.

Grand Monk Persimmon the Wise leads them, searching for the "Seed of Creation."

Political Conflicts:

Radical druids seek to wage war on the Meat Lands, viewing carnivores as enemies of nature.

Scholars and mystics clash over the truth of the first fruit and divine wisdom.

Internal corruption spreads, as a rogue druid faction experiments with forbidden plant alchemy.

---

The Grain & Starch Dominions (Merchant Kingdom of Bread, Rice & Pasta)

A land ruled by wealth, trade routes, and powerful merchant houses rather than kings.

Hierarchy & Leadership:

1. The Bread Baron (Elected Leader of the Merchants)

Current Ruler: Baron Ciabatta Crustworth III – A corrupt, cunning ruler, who plays factions against each other to maintain power.

2. The Five Flour Guilds (Economic Powerhouses of Trade & Infrastructure)

Each guild controls a different staple food export, competing for dominance.

Political Conflicts:

Merchant guilds conspire to overthrow the Baron.

Breadforged rebellion threatens to collapse the industry.

The Grain Dominions may be forced to choose between war and trade with Candia.

---

[filosofablogger]

Burning It To The Ground

Hit after hit after hit.  Everything that the most devious minds could dream of is happening here in the former United States of America.  We no longer actually have a government … at least not one “of the people, by the people, and for the people” as President Abraham Lincoln called it in his Gettysburg Address in 1863.  We have, instead, a group of uber-wealthy people, led by a raving maniac,…

[writingtips-resources]

Worldbuilding--------Part 1

This is How You Can Write Societies-Politics, Power, and Prejudice

Societies are like messy group projects—someone’s always in charge (or thinks they are), someone’s doing all the work, and someone’s just here to benefit without lifting a finger.

This Same thing should be in your fictional world

So today, let’s talk about the backbone of any great worldbuilding

Politics, Power, and Prejudice.

These three things in your fictional society sometimes drive your characters, and fuel your story’s drama.

Politics........

This isn’t just what the king says or who sits in the council chambers. It’s about how rules are made, who makes them, and how people feel about those rules. It’s everywhere, from the throne room to the town square.

In simple words......

It is the way rules, decisions, and power are organized and enforced in your society.

It’s in everyday stuff—like who decides what’s cool, who makes the rules (written or unwritten), and who’s quietly ignoring them.

Just think about-Who’s really in control?

It might not be the obvious leader—it could be the advisor, the rich merchant, or the nosy grandma who knows everyone’s secrets.

Maybe it’s the priest whispering in the ruler’s ear, the captain of the guard deciding which laws are actually enforced, or the old scholar who shapes minds and ideas through books.

Sometimes, the real power isn’t held by a person at all, but by money, religion, tradition, or fear.

How’s power passed around?

Is it earned through skill or intelligence?

Bought with gold and favors?

Stolen through deception, betrayal, or violence?

Or simply handed down like a family heirloom no one really wants but has to take?

Maybe there’s a process—elections, appointments, bloodlines. Or maybe the whole system is a lie, and the real decisions happen in the shadows.

Power could shift in an instant if the right person is bribed, threatened, or taken out of the picture.

What do people think about their system?

Are they cool with it? Genuinely supportive, indifferent, or just pretending to be?

Are they grumbling quietly, working around the rules, or outright rebelling?

Are they sharpening their pitchforks, whispering conspiracies in dark corners, or waiting for the right moment to turn the tide?

Even in the most stable societies, there’s always someone who benefits and someone who doesn’t. Some people might be perfectly fine with the way things are, while others are just one bad law away from taking drastic action.

Politics in your world doesn’t need to be grand.

Not every story needs kings, wars, and grand revolutions. Politics exists everywhere, even in the smallest spaces:

---A tiny village where two families feud over who should lead.

---A merchant guild deciding who gets the best market stalls.

---A school where students and teachers clash over new rules.

---A noble house where siblings fight over an inheritance.

---A small-town PTA with rival parents battling for control over school policies.

So you can consider these amazing faces of politics

Small-town rivalries: Who runs the town fair? Who decides which business gets the best spot in the market?

Workplace dynamics: Is the boss really in charge, or does the secretary who controls the schedule have more influence?

Family politics: Who makes the decisions in a household? The head of the family, the wealthiest member, or the one who knows all the family secrets?

Religious influence: Do religious leaders have a say in government decisions? Are they a stabilizing force or a source of conflict?

Criminal underworld: Is there an unofficial power structure run by smugglers, gang leaders, or spies?

But what about the bigger picture?

Every society has its own system of governance, whether it’s a monarchy, democracy, oligarchy, or tribal system. These political systems shape the way power flows, who holds authority, and how laws are made. They impact everything, from resource allocation to the way conflicts are resolved.

Understanding how political systems work—both in your fictional world and the real one—is key to writing a believable and engaging society. click here to download the brochure I created, covering various political systems with a world map to give you a clearer perspective.

Download Now to print it out

Free resources | 45 days KDP publishing Series

[bloghrexach]

From Prof. Timothy Snyder -- The MUMP OLIGARCHY -- A summary of the Glossary!

1. Mump regime -- Musk plus Trump. Mu...mp. The real centibillionaire and the fake rich person in the proper order.

2. Mump oligarchy -- The regime is an oligarchy, rule by the wealthy few.

3. Mump as illness -- Physical illness: we are made sick and scammed blind (think of RFK Jr and Ramaswamy).

4. In Mumptopia, Americans spend our time in front of screens, instructed whom to hate and worship by algorithms curated by immigrant software engineers.

5. Mump not MAGA -- The MAGA folks somehow did not realize that they were giving power to a an illegal immigrant South African centibillionaire.

6. Mumpers -- South Africans, Russians, and others close to power.

7. Mumpery -- Behavior typical of the Mump regime.

8. Mumpets -- Those who choose to submit to Musk.

9. To mumpify -- To become a mumpet.

10. Mumpy, or mumpish-- People influenced by the Mump regime, or actions that tend towards a mumpified world.

FULL ARTICLE:

The Mump Oligarchy -- A Glossary - by Timothy Snyder

[chaoskirin]

Civilization Collapse.

Yesterday I looked into a phenomenon called civilization collapse.

It's really the seven stages of civilization, and it's more like a cycle, but it's pretty much what's happening through the world right now. And the United States has made itself one of the pillars of the world, which means if the US collapses, a lot of other people are going to feel it.

This has been well-documented through history, and was published as early as 1918 or earlier.

Stage 0 is the rise of a new civilization and is characterized by courage and hope.

Stage 1 is stability.

Phase 2 is growth.

Phase 3 is prosperity, in which the civilization has essentially reached its peak potential, and most of the citizens are happy, productive, and content.

Phase 4 is called "Overshoot," in which resources are overused, and a moneyed ruling class rises above the rest of the citizenry to create unnecessary income gaps. Greed and the rising oligarchy telling the rest of the civilization that they don't have any options leads to complacency.

Phase 5 is Hubris, in which the oligarchy narrows, and conveys to the population that they know best. Citizens are afraid to rock the boat for fear of losing what they have. The gap between the ruling class and those in poverty widens. There are people who try to help, but those who actually have the power to do so are self-interested and do nothing.

Phase 6 is totalitarianism. And... we're at the beginning of it. It's when those in power assume full control, censorship and propaganda become normalized, which all leads to civil uprising. It's my opinion that we will not see civil uprising for many years, as the self-interest has to be de-programmed, and those who are "well enough" have to be radicalized... But it will probably occur in the next decade. If you plan to leave the United States, you should probably do so within the next 2-3 years. This phase is characterized by fear, nihilism, and fanaticism (IE idol worship of those in charge.)

Phase 6 has also come EXTREMELY FAST for a civilization. The average time any one civilization lasts is 390-ish years. This is because fascism usually creeps a lot more slowly than it has, and does a much better job at keeping the middle class--those who usually drive the nation--happy. Had Kamala Harris won the election, we would probably remain in stage 5--the Hubris stage--for many more years. That isn't GOOD. The gap between the wealthy and the poor would only spend that time increasing, but the middle class would be fairly content.

I feel like the "hubris" stage is also characterized by showy changes which ultimately do nothing. That is, the people who can affect change (our representatives) doing things they know will ultimately fail to make much of a difference. These changes do cause small improvements, but the ability to produce sweeping change is hampered by those who favor totalitarianism.

Examples of these small changes include the Affordable Care Act, which would have cause huge benefits had the mandate that everyone had to pay into it not been struck down.

What's weird about our phase 5 compared to others is how short it was, and how it stopped attempting to romance the middle class right around 2016. In fact, we were in an in-between phase from Trump's first presidency until now, where we probably could have gone back to phase 5 comfortably for a while. (And I say 'comfortably' in that we wouldn't have been so close to collapse.)

Anyway.

Phase 7 ties right back to phase 0. The civilization collapses, but at the same time, a new civilization rises.

This page (my main source) also shows a flow chart that outlines where the United States is in this process, and what years each phase took place: https://medium.com/society4/the-cycle-of-civilization-9f96b9453c89