#this is cause i canne be there irl

[geminanvaju]

The Monsterverse Alpha System

Ever since its introduction in KOTM, the Alpha System has caused an untold amount of debate and confusion amongst fans. And one of the main reasons for it is just how little we actually know about it. We know that it exists, and that it is the reason why the other Titans follow Godzilla's orders and don't rampage at random, but that's about it. We don't know the specifics of it, or why it is set in place to being with, and that can be quite problematic if one wishes to discuss it in detail, or use it to explain why a Titan acts a certain way.

And after a lot of research on Monsterverse lore, and IRL literature and philosophy, I believe I may have cracked the code on what the Alpha System actually entails. Bear with me for a second, this is gonna be a long one.

So, in KOTM, we get it explained to us by Mark that the other Titans follow an Alpha. With him specifically citing wolves and killer whales as examples. The problem is that, in the real world, the whole Alpha Wolf stuff has been debunked for decades now (by the same guy who came up with it in first place, may I add), and we now know that reason why wolves and killers whales work in such a way, is because they're all big family units. And I don't need to tell you this, but likelihood of any of those Titans being actually related in any way, shape, or form is very unlikely that would allow for a similar dynamic. However, in spite of that, the rather crude explanation given by Mark does seem to hold some form of weight to it. But, in order to truly understand it, we need to dig deeper.

Godzilla: Dominion gives us by far the best showcase of the Alpha System at work, and it's not nearly as cut and dry as KOTM made it seem. For one, the other Titans are now very much operating on their own accord, not as unified force. And second, they can all still challenge Godzilla directly, even those who we saw bow down to him at the end of KOTM.

You may ask yourself "How come they can just do that? We didn't see them do that when Ghidorah was in charge." And the probable answer for that comes from Godzilla himself, when he describes Ghidorah's control over the other Titans as a "spell". Implying that whatever means they used to control the Titans to do their bidding was, in some way, unnatural, and not something that every Alpha can do.

The actual alpha system, one that exits devoid of Ghidorah's influence tampering it, seems to be a lot more transacional than it may initially seem.

In Dominion, we see Godzilla going around the world, fighting other Titans and protecting the "Balance of Nature", but one of those interactions is particularly interesting, because it offers some insight into how Godzilla rationalizes the conflicts before engaging.

The conflict between Behemoth and Amhuluk is very much a territorial dispute. With Amhuluk being the agressor and vying to claim Behemoth's territory and resources for himself. Godzilla comes in just as Amhuluk lands a critical blow to Behemoth and breaks one of his tusks. But, rather than immediately engaging and stopping the fight, he instead just watches it go down for a little while. With him rationalizing not only why the battle is happening, but more importantly, who should actually claim the spoils from said battle. And he only intervenes after coming to the conclusion that Behemoth should still be the one to rule over that territory, in spite of having clearly lost the battle. The reason? Because Behemoth would still be more beneficial for the land than Amhuluk, and would actually nurture it rather than destroy it for fun. So he pushes Amhuluk off, tells him to leave, and he does it.

This interaction offers us the best showcase of what the Alpha System actually entails, and it's actually not too dissimilar from some systems humanity had back in the old days. Namely, a very particular brand of feudalism.

As we know, Godzilla considers the whole world to be his territory, but he also probably knows that he cannot be everywhere all at once. And thus, I believe he and the other Titans entered what we might as well call a social pact. In return for their loyalty, each Titan would be allowed a cut of the pie from Godzilla's territory, aka. the whole surface, and would be tasked with protecting and maintaining said territory in his stead. You can think of them as his vassals. And in return, Godzilla will come to their aid, should they request it, and deal with any conflict that comes their way, be they Titan or Human.

And though some Titans still wish to claim more for themselves, even if at the expense of others, Godzilla is still the final judge on whether or not they will get to keep their rewards, as we saw with Behemoth vs Amhuluk. And regardless of their nature, be they Destroyer or Protector (according to Monarch) Godzilla is still keen on coming to their aid should they request it, so long they play by the rules and respect his authority.

This leads me to what I believe might be the main inspiration for it, from a philosophical standpoint, and that would be the ideas presented by Thomas Hobbes in his book titled "The Leviathan". In it, he claims that, in the times prior to governments and institutions, humanity lived in a natural state of all-out war and anarchy, where suffering was generalized, lives were short and violent, and everyone was miserable. He claimed that in order to escape that natural state, mankind had to make a social pact, giving up some of their freedoms in exchange for protection. This social pact would generate an absolute state, with all the power being held by a sovereign ruler (usually A King, Queen, or both.) who would then use their power to keep everyone else in line, and presumably prevent them from spiraling back into the natural state of anarchy.

And the reason why Thomas Hobbes picked the Leviathan specifically to represent his idea of an absolute state is because of what it represents in the bible itself.

In the Bible, the Leviathan is described as a sea monster, with impenetrable scales and the ability shoot beams of light/fire from it's mouth. It's power dwarfs that of mankind, and only the divine power of God can quell it. Thomas Hobbes specifically chose the Leviathan to represent the absolute state precisely because it represents something beyond the power of mankind, something that is bordering on the divine.

Godzilla does fit the physical description for the Leviathan somewhat, and the text above went into detail on how he also fits the description for Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan with how acts.

This leads me to the conclusion that Godzilla is not just meant to represent Nature in the Monsterverse, but he is also meant to represent Absolute Power and Sovereign Authority. He is the Leviathan, for Men and Gods alike. And without him, some Titans would take the opportunity to try and claim as much territory as they could, and the ones who didn't would be forced to defend themselves. And eventually, the world would spiral into what might as well be a Titan civil war, with humanity caught in the middle. And in order to prevent such a cataclysm from coming to pass, Godzilla is evidently entirely willing to utilize violence as a means to an end, especially against those who are persistent in their defiance of him and his authority.

TL;DR: Godzilla gives the Titans protection, and in return, they do as he says and abide by his rules.

[slugterra-twisted-ends]

Are there any other interesting things about surface bound surface and Slugterra?

Well the Surface copies from our world quite a lot cause I'm hella lazy. I barely have bands made up for my original Slugterra AU which would translate to local bands/popular bands topside XD Guess I'll list those off for fun; In the 99/Darefield and Frostbite area: Mashing Mechas - A heavy metal band made up of three members; Crash the singer/bassist, Zep the guitarist and Sandman the drummer Unnamed Band (I haven't picked name) - A mixed genre band made up of six members; Mike the singer, Peony Jennings and Tabby Oak as the guitarists, Scrawny the bassist, Edurado the drummer and Rocky the keyboard player In the European Caverns/Royal Academy area: The Beetles - A parody band of molenoids with similar names to the Beetles; Johno, Paulio, Greggo and Ringo Dead5lug - A dj artists who is mute Atomic Tormato - a band based off the irl band Atomic Rooster with Josh Du Cann the singer/guitarist and Vincent Scale the keyboard player (they have a drummer too, yet to made/named but he'll be based on Carl Palmer)

But yeah; pretty much almost one to one of what we know, but I'm certain I'll figure out more as I slowly figure more unique worldbuilding

[toomanyfamdom]

Kiss me until I’m speechless

For a certain @dannixy on her birthday...

Also, big up @thenameisnoone and @all-my-love-cathy for helping me out big time at the end cause I’m a babey.

TW: None as far as I’m aware

They weren't exactly sure how or why it happened but the queens knew something was up when the survivor found it difficult to hear at times and a certain beheaded queen was almost impossible to hold conversations with.

After a long process of appointments and consultations, the pair were diagnosed as legally deaf. Cathy as mildly deaf, Anne as severely deaf.

Their hearing aids were life savers in their opinion making communicating with their fellow queens so much easier. But as to not be caught out, the pair regularly attended sign language classes.

There were difficulties, they'll admit. Trying to get in ear monitors that would double up as hearing aids was difficult. That being said, when the monitors died on stage, the queens, ladies-in-waiting, alternates and crew were all very helpful. They even went as far as to practically begging the duo to teach them how to sign, making communicating on and off stage easier.

It was also much easier to keep Cathy and Anne's relationship a secret. The couple had been spending so much time with each other and had eventually developed feelings as a result of their 24/7 hangouts. Though, nobody really noticed. They had plans to come out to the queens but they just hadn't gotten to a point where they felt comfortable yet.

That all changed one night at stage door.

It was the end of a long two show day. Anne's in ears had died halfway through the first show, Joan's keyboard just stopped working suddenly, Kat, Jane and Cathy had all missed their 5 minute call, due to taking too long to take some goddamn picture, and Aragon had slipped on the confetti during the megasix and had fallen into Anna. Causing everyone in the audience to laugh thankfully.

Stage door went amazingly. The fans were as enthusiastic as ever and admittedly, the energy was infectious. The girls went from fan to fan, talking, laughing, taking pictures and signing programs. Everyone was lovely but they all agreed there was one interaction that stuck out.

Anne and Cathy had stuck together, Cathy interpreting for Anne at times (not that they liked when she had to because it meant that they couldn't hold hands). No one was surprised, as they had both been very vocal about being deaf and were pleased to see more and more of the queendom becoming able to hold basic conversations with them in BSL.

As they reached the end of the line - one mother and child duo - they knew it was going to be an interesting time. The child looked no older than eight and shrunk into their mothers side when anyone approached. The conversation started of as normal, asking their names, if they enjoyed the show, etc. But still, the kid never spoke. 

The mother, Joanne, caught on to their confusion at this and said, "Oh I’m sorry, my Alex doesn't normally speak to strangers, they're deaf."

The duo brightened considerably and Anne was quick to kneel down in front of them.

"Hello," she signed, not even looking at anyone else around them. "My name is Anne," and she did her sign name, a 'B' sign over her choker, "and this is Cathy," and Cathy's sign name, 'writer'. 

They seemed to respond to her signing, turning towards Anne slightly and studying the pair. Seeming satisfied with what they had observed, they signed "Alex," and their sign name. Palms flat facing the ceiling that closed into a fist as they brought their hands to their chest. Accepted. 

"That's a lovely name," Cathy was quick to compliment, "can I ask your pronouns?" Anne was sure what her girlfriend was doing but wouldn't of asked herself.

Alex, on the other hand, beamed and turned away from their mother and toward the girls as they happily signed that they used they/them pronouns. The pure joy on Alex's face and the link to their sign name made Anne and Cathy's hearts melt and they couldn't help but grin back at them.

"Well then Alex, did you enjoy the show?" Anne smirked.

Alex nodded vigorously, "I loved it! I loved how much of your songs you tried to sign and I loved feeling the vibrations of the music, the bass especially." Joanne looked down at them smiling, happy that her child was being accepted for who they were by the people they looked up to without question.

A shout drew their attention away and Cathy sighed when she saw that Catherine was calling her. "I'll be back as soon as possible," Cathy promised Alex, "make sure Anne doesn't get up to mischief while I'm away will you?" This was said/signed with a cheeky grin but Anne Boleyn being Anne Boleyn had to play with it.

"Me? The great Anne Boleyn? Cause mischievous? Never," They were very glad to see the family of two laughing at their antics, Cathy giving Anne what looked like a rock hand sign.

“Are you two together?” Alex signed as Cathy walked to her godmother.

“Alex!” Joanne exclaimed, “You can’t just ask people if they’re together or not!”

“It’s alright,” Anne laughingly reassured, catching Cathy’s eye over Catherine’s shoulder who agreed with her silent question.  “To anyone else in this room, no. But between us,” Anne winked.

“Wait what?” Anna appeared at Anne’s shoulder, “Since when were you two together?” Anne relaxed at Anna’s grin.

“WHAT?” Ah, they got Kat’s attention.

Cathy slid her arm around Anne’s waist and lay her head on her shoulder.

“Unexpected but cute,” Jane smiled the pair.

Catherine appeared in front of the pair face stern, studying the worried but content faces staring back at her. Any worry alleviate when Catherine just smiled and shook her head, chuckling.

Cathy and Anne turned to each other and wrapped their arms around the others waist.

“Well, looks like we don’t need to hide anymore,” Cathy smirked, eyes sparkling, “what do you think about that?”

Anne grinned, her grip tightening around the shorter girl’s waist, pulling her closer. The mischievous gleam in her eyes made Cathy’s cheeks flush crimson. 

“Oh, I think it’s perfect.” The green queen mumbled, leaning forward and resting her forehead against Cathy’s. 

Both grinned, eyes fluttering closed as the pair of lips met in the middle, moving softly in their own rhythm. The kiss lasted longer than both of the queens planned before Cathy pulled away. Their lips parting with a soft smack, making the blue queen giggle. Her hands caressed Anne’s neck and jaw before moving down to grab her girlfriend’s hands, squeezing softly. 

“I think that was perfect.” Cathy stole a quick kiss before turning to face the other queens with a wide smile beaming in happiness. 

"Oi! Not in front of-" the woman that shouted was cut off by Anne.

"Sorry," she said, reaching up to switch off her hearing aids, Cathy mimicking her actions, "We can't hear you."

The lady probably continued to yell, but Anne didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was the girl right in front of her. Cathy. She turned to look at her girlfriend, who had the warmest smile spread across her face. With a small nod in confirmation, Anne cupped Cathy’s face and leaned forward, gently connecting their lips once again. Cathy happily returned the kiss, carefully caressing Anne’s back as she smiled into the kiss.

It didn’t matter their hearing, gender, or who they were in front o, only that they were together Both knew put this into their kiss as they move their lips in sync.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but for them time was stilled. Anne then pulled back with a dorky grin. She then held up her hand that had her thumb, pinky and pointer finger up high and proud. The simple sign they have done multiple times before, but this time it felt different. It was more meaningful as they were finally not holding anything back. It was simplistic, yet at the same time almost brought Parr to tears whenever she saw Anne sign. It was the sign that put their feelings into words. 

Parr happily mimicked the sign as she kissed Anne on the cheek. 

“I love you too,” she signed.

***

Tag list: @augurey-forest @annabanana2401 @thenameisnoone

[existentialintrovert]

.