#you cannot govern territory at that expanse from that small a base without being an empire

[lightdancer1]

Russia has been an empire since the Grand Principality of Moscow made itself one:

This is not a discussion, this is not a premise up for debate, or interpretation. The Grand Principality of Moscow is and has been an imperial engine of conquest with few equals in world history. The logic of Putin's wars from Chechnya to Ukraine is the rebuilding of the fallen empire of the USSR and the Tsars before them.

A principled anti-imperialist stand would include the vast expanse of the Russian Empire in its eyes, and would note that Russia remains the last European empire still mostly intact.

[noneatnonedotcom]

concept: humans on remnant would be utterly different to humans on earth. they would be less aggressive and more communal/traditional.

now, to make a long story short, grimm come around negative emotions, humans that are arctivly competing with each other will inspire negative emotions and thus will draw grimm. this means that the humans who co-operate better with each other will survive more and will have kids thus making the aggressive traits that were necessary for humans in our world die out.

pretty simple right? so lets break down what that actually means for a society

so since humans on remnant are encouraged to be so communal you would think that this would make them communistic. the answer is no actually they're less likely to fight to change things so families that claim leadership of a group likely continue to do so for as long as the area they inhabit remains. so an aristocracy rises pretty much everywhere on remnant and remains forever. without the worst impulses of humanity the lot of the small folk never really gets bad either societal pressure to conform remains and organizational structures are based in the same way herds are. bloodless tussles between the dominant members establish hierarchy.

so aura users fight each other and the Grimm. only the Grimm need to be killed most of the time. the grimm swarm anyone who causes problems so since humanity isn't the strongest thing around good morals are enforced.

to gamify their society government:

Imperial: Imperial governments are similar to dictatorial ones (ruled by a single individual for life that wields absolute control over the state.), except that the throne is always inherited by a designated successor upon the ruler's death.

ethics: Fanatic Authoritarian, Spiritualist

+10% Monthly unity

−10% Edict cost

−10% Edict upkeep

Can use the Veneration of Saints edict

+1 Monthly influence

+10% Worker output

Can use the Information Quarantine edict

but breaking down the government into civics Feudal Society: This society is organized in a feudal manner, with a monarch whose rule relies on powerful vassals that govern their territories with considerable autonomy.

+1 Unity per Governor level

−50% Leader Cost

+1 Monthly Loyalty from Subjects

Leaders have no upkeep

No Loyalty loss from multiple subjects

Cannot dismiss leaders

Cannot give Expansion Prohibited terms of agreement

Cannot give Limited Diplomacy terms of agreement

so basic idea is that the king has very little control of his subjects they are bound together instead by contracts and oaths. this goes all the way down with the grimm pretty much enforcing the oaths as oathbreakers will upset their small folk and bring the grimm down on them.

Philosopher King: It is not enough to simply rule. The Ship of State must be guided by a king that wields enough wisdom and knowledge to steer it true.

+2 Ruler level cap

Ruler and Governor leaders can't gain negative traits from leveling up

the nature of the world though means that leaders who exhibit bad traits are removed meaning the only leaders who exist are the firytale true kings and lords. ones who are truly noble in deed not just in name

Aristocratic Elite: This society has an entrenched nobility that occupies the upper echelons of society.

+1 Governor Level Cap

Can construct Noble Estates buildings

Can construct Noble Chateaus holdings

Capital Buildings replace some Politician jobs with Noble jobs

though it's still an un-equal society, it's not something that would fly in our world through our own innate desire to compete with each other for a better life facilitating adaptation. in this world humans have taken a far different course of action. but all this focus on the people at the top actually makes sure that they're the best of the best as I tried to show with the leader caps being buffed so much and the cost being lowered to maintain them. plus they can't physically get negative traits for leadership.

this society as i said could never work in our world. not just because the normal people would not accept being ruled over like that but also because such a system would be rampent with corruption and the like. but because the grimm exist adaptation to the new rules would be humanities main method of survival. and the best way to avoid the preditors that are the grimm are to simply not be around them and to not feel negative things or inspire them in others. so the people who are better at co-operation survive and have kids while the people who compete and look out for their own interests die.

of course the goverment structure is one thing even with the civics better explaining it. the main issue is how did the people of remmant evolve and how does this facilitate their society?

traits: positive

Conformists,+30% Governing Ethics Attraction

Traditional, +10% Unity from Jobs

Communal, −10% Pop Housing Usage

in layman's terms, they are a highly social species that typically just follows along with what they see others do and what their ancestors do. they're used to living together within the walls so they don't mind little privacy and the only populations of them left are the ones who don't cause problems for each other.

traits: negetive

Sedentary, −15% Pop growth from immigration +25% Resettlement Cost

Nonadaptive, they don't change well

Fleeting,−10 years Leader Lifespan

the downsides to this is that they never change, they expand on occasion with new villages and trade via ship on occasion but for the most part nothing ever changes in their world. and of course with the grimm around no matter how strong you are as a lord (aura user) your life will always be cut short. they never get to die in their beds. always in battle with the grimm.

so this means that almost all of remnant's history is the same. dense communities of people living under the yoke of nobles who do their best for them. the life of your great great grandfather is the same as yours and you're happy with that. there's no bulling, no crime, and the worst you deal with from others is the nomads who show up on occasion and cause problems for you till your lord makes them move along.

that is until the great war.

it doesn't happen all at once. about two generations back some minstral people landed on your continent and made a village. but one village became 5, with became 10, this couldn't stand. the king asks them politely to leave, but they refuse. they barely survived the trip over here and they have nothing to go back to now, this is their home. and they won't move now that they're here.

this means that the lords are called up on their oaths. but the kings made oaths with each other. so now all the families of the world are called in and they start to fight.

the first generation is a stalemate as some lords win and others lose. no real progress is made. it's all honor duels or small skirmishes.

the next couple of generations sees more fighting with the nobles .

and then the next.

and the next

until suddenly the battles are huge.

so huge it draws the grimm, and suddenly the old way of life isn't viable anymore because all the old families are gone. it's the end of the world the world is a scary place. to feel safe people start making weapons. then they start making armies to send at each other. it's all the otherguy's fault and if you could just make them leave you alone then things could go back to the way they were before!

this fear draws the grimm and things enter into a dark age. but ozma is there to pick up the pieces. the kingdoms agree that vale lost the least in the war and so gets to dictate terms. to prevent another war citizenship is now based on where you live not your previous oaths. the technology used to kill each other is now used to bring you all closer together.

and that's where we enter in the RWBY series. a world just coming out of a dark age looking to return to how things were.

so things that are different in this version of things faunas aren't oppressed, slavery was never a thing and while people are still getting used to the new arrivals from menagerie there are no real issues beyond them doing strange things that the locals don't understand and visa-versa adam is still evil inexplicably, literally for no reason other than to be a villain. something something witch's curse, something something freedom in death ruby is from a line of nobles but is one of the last of the noble families. she's brought to beacon to try and facilitate the return of nobility so the kingdoms can stop with this silly democracy stuff. aura is rare because most people don't want the responsibility of being a noble. beacon is created to try and train a new group of noble families jaune is actually trained in combat, he's still a huge goofball and has big goldenretriver energy cardin isn't a bully. instead, his issue is that he's obsessed with serving jaune as his family was the arc's vassals his arc will focus around him finally taking a few steps outside jaune's shadow to help others rather than having to be told. weiss is from a new family of nobles and doesn't have the people's support because of it. her goal is to find a well liked husband to remidy this. Pyrrha is so used to hero worship as one of the last nikos and the strongest noble left in minstral that she's desperate for some normal friends. bandits are replaced with nomadic tribes that just generally don't mesh well with the kingdoms but they aren't malicious. Grimm are the main enemy but they're terrifying. 1 or 20 is fine, but grimm swarms appear in response to negativity and form out of nothing. they come in thousands and a true swarm takes almost everything to deal with. the entire story is about fairytales trying to get back on track after a great war fucks up the plot for everyone. salem is still a thing but she works only with grimm. though the grimm do get intelligence and sapience after thousands of years so they're characters in their own right, they're just out to kill humanity cause that's what they do. still follow monster rules though since the entire world works on fairytale logic. monogamy is strictly enforced, not because of any logical reason. but because true love is a thing here and ya know, fairytales. @howlingday @weatherman667 thoughts?

[blehbleehhhh]

A Princess and a Barbarian Cheiftain ft. EreMika❣️

Hey, Braveheart anon! 💕 I see you! I hope you like it. I'm sorry it took forever to write .-. I pictured Mikasa as a warrior princess so I hope you don’t mind that lol. Please send in more requests! Also, an interesting fact from all the research I did for this one - the word "barbarian" did not have a negative meaning for everyone in the Roman Empire. It was actually used to refer to the people immigrating into their territory and not at all meant to be derogatory. I went back and forth with using historically accurate Barbarian Tribe names and writing in the Roman Empire but then I'd really have a restriction so ehhh, whatever. That's who I'm referring to when I say the "Empire'. Hope you enjoy because this damn thing took ages to fucking write! Shout out to my hubby for helping me with this! This is also a good time for me to introduce a new thing I’d like to try if people actually like it, add a drawing to my fics. Ever since I started writing this one I had a vision of Eren sitting in a chair like that with them both decked out in armor idk, I’m pretty rusty, it’s been a MINUTE since I’ve picked up my pencils, lol. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys. Yes, there’s smut, there’s angst, don’t think I have to actually put a warning in but someone complained .-.

It's a cold, frigid December morning and Princess Mikasa is on the back of her young horse with sights set on a local barbarian village because her father is finally responding to the violence done by their chieftain, a fierce and talented warrior. Emperor Ackerman wants to establish some sort of a peace treaty with him in the hopes of preventing such acts from ever occurring again, at least attacks that would be under his direction and blessing. The village is hidden behind a tall wall made from wood and what an impressive sight on the other side of the gate - a large, expansive crop field being tiled by farmers, crop animals being maintained for food and wool conveniently located near a tannery, where the hides are made into clothing then sold to villagers, and of course, a stables with a large grazing field for their horses. Mikasa was surprised to see a black smithery where one smith was currently molding a dagger out of scalding hot iron, his shop displaying many goods ranging from weapons to lock keys to horseshoes, all of the items she's seen the smiths make around her hometown. Villagers were minding their own business for the most part and working their trades, some grooming animals, some sweeping the dust out of their shops while children were running around a large tree in the center of town surrounded with dead leaves, giggling as they played tag and tossed such vegetation in the air. The princess gave her trusty steed's meaty neck a rewarding pat down by his shoulders, making his fluffy, dark ears perk up with interest, standing perfectly still as she carefully dismounted to put her stirrups back up into the saddle. Someone she recognized as being one of her father's previous subjects approached and copied Mikasa's smile when he was handed the reins. "Your Elegancy." The elderly man moved to bow respectfully and was stopped with a gentle, kind hand on the shoulder, looking up to meet her eyes with a confused expression.

"Please, that really isn't necessary, but thank you for being so respectful. Just take care of my horse for me, sir, that's all I ask."

"Of course! Some of the best hay in the area!" He turned with a smile to guide the twelve hundred pound animal into a temporary stall, where he carefully removed it's bridle and bit before locking him in behind a short, wooden stall door, allowing the horse to graze on some of their hay. Just like her Uncle Levi has taught her over the years he's been mentoring his young niece, she took in a deep breath to center herself with the advice he'd given her before she left this morning; You cannot make good decisions without a clear mind. Something that he's always insisted and Mikasa has definitely found that to be the case. And so one last time she thought through the steps Levi has constantly hounded into her head, since her parents were always too busy to raise their own child and teach these lessons themselves - the most important being to not let emotions get in the way of negotiations. The largest hut is the one she assumes to be reserved for the chieftain and it's guarded by two barbarian brutes that are definitely not intimidating at least to her, which is why she simply nodded as she opened the old, wooden door. It was difficult to maintain her trademark blank expression when she saw him - someone who doesn't even come close to resembling the stereotype that follows barbarian chieftains. There he sat upon a wooden throne boosted up on three stone slab steps and clearly missing the anticipated grisly bear of a beard in favor of a cleanly shaven, surprisingly handsome face that's framed with pushed back shoulder length, chocolate brown hair, his skin sun kissed from always being outside, and eyes so green that she swore her heart skipped a beat. What was just as surprising to her is that he appears to be about her young age of twenty four, something she didn't expect to be possible given such an impressive reputation. "Eren Jaeger?" Mikasa could feel herself blush when he responded with what she loathes to admit is quite a sexy smirk, her cheeks red already from being in the cold, and she watched his eyes as they clearly sized her up. The young man sat taller in his seat and was genuinely unsure if his eyes were in fact deceiving him because surely one of the princesses wouldn't be a warrior, but based on the armor she's wearing, it's obvious that this ravishing creature fights for the empire.

"Ah, your Elegancy. What can I do for you?"

"This destruction has gone on for long enough and it has to stop, so I've been sent here to negotiate peace."

"Why would the empire give a damn about what we do?"

"We assume that you're the one responsible for that local town being decimated? You know," Mikasa sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "The fifth one this year?" He simply gave her a slow nod and pulled his hair back into a small, low ponytail at the nape of his neck, now flashing an amused grin that she's counting things out for added effect. "Okay, we'll continue. How about all of those castles that have been destroyed? The crop fields bunt? The countless Lords and knights you've killed? I realize someone else could have done this, but you're our most problematic tribe." Eren smiled and nodded his head, leaning his cheek on his fist because she’s simply alluring.

"Oh no, that was most definitely me."

"Why? You have killed so many people! Why?"

"I've been doing it for years now. Why would you get involved now?"

"Because you're out of control! What is the meaning of this?"

"You aristocrats and your stupid government have some laws that tend to be harmful to my people and I simply cannot have that. I refuse to tolerate injustices of any kind when there's something that can be done about it!" Eren leaned forward in his throne as his fists slammed into the wooden arm rests and was surprised when she didn't cower, it seems he won't be getting his way with this one. "Besides, I tend to attack other tribes that fuck me over and I could care less what your father thinks of me."

She simply rolled her eyes.

"What could those people have possibly done to warrant such extreme violence?"

"The most recent village happened after I had attempted to establish a peace treaty with their leader, so I sent one of my best men over. Only his head returned three days later hanging off the horse's saddle."

"I'm sorry about your loss," And then her expression fell sympathetic when she pictured a sight so horrific. "I really can't imagine." His face softened as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yeah, well, I know you're not here to give your condolences. You want peace with me?"

"That, and I would love to actually give the families of Lords and knights some kind of closure instead of just staring at them blankly -" She paused to take a deep breath when she remembered that day in battle, where a very dear friend was ruthlessly murdered. Nobody could have done anything to stop the blitz attack, because the one who killed him rode past on their horse so quickly that there wasn't any time to respond. And suddenly her face grew as fierce as before. "One of my Uncle's best legionnaires was killed in battle last year with your men. I was there when he was decapitated, Eren, and the killer looked an awful lot like you." In a second his eyes screamed irritation and he sat forward in his throne almost growling.

"Yeah, I know exactly who you're talking about. That asshole was responsible for wiping out half of my men with your Uncle's assistance! Those people had families!"

"He left behind a wife and two little boys!"

"And should you aristocrats decide not to feed these people when they inevitably become poor," Eren smirked as he cracked his knuckles because he knows that his words have made her angry and he finds it extremely amusing. "I'm happy to take them in as I so often do when they wander away from the city. Those two morons back there were originally a part of your father's empire." The girl knit her brows together and growled under her breath because she's all too aware of the empire’s failings when it comes to caring for its people who aren't wealthy. She snarled under her breath and allowed her hands to curl into fists at her sides.

"Why, you gargantuan piece of -!" Mikasa paused and took a deep breath to collect herself. "I'll have you know that he was a very good man and someone you probably could have taken some pointers from!" Those words immediately changed the room's atmosphere and both of them felt it as they tried to intimidate the other with their increasingly heated exchange.

"So what," He rose from his throne tall and definitely commanded the room with such an intimidating presence, smelling of ale and nature. "Because I'm brutal with my enemies, I can't be a gentleman?" The fur pelt around his neck swayed as he slowly walked down the slab steps, their eyes watching each other with mutually fierce expressions. Now, this woman is stunning. Until the princess waltzed in, Eren has never really felt tempted enough to bother with something as distracting as being in some kind of relationship, but she's definitely worth the effort. There truly isn't anything he finds sexier than a woman this passionate, actually cares, and actively pursues justice, hell, the fact that she's so attractive is nothing more than icing on the cake. Her eyes are a beautiful gray-blue and they go so well with long, silky black hair that frames such a slim and angelic face, matching perfectly with her fair skin. Yes, Mikasa certainly is every bit as breathtaking as he's so often heard her described from others that had the privilege of being graced with her presence. But he can tell from her body language that his usual intimidation tactics haven't managed to get things straightened so far and with a glance behind her, he nodded at the two men standing guard at the building's entrance. "You two. Out. Now." His eyes flickered down to hers once more as he reached for a water canteen and brought it to his lips, finishing whatever was left in a large gulp before setting the empty container down on the table. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed deeply.

"You certainly don't behave like a gentleman."

"Aw, that isn't a very nice way to negotiate, princess."

"I hate being called that. And I'm only behaving this way because you're being an ass. How dare you speak to me that way!"

"Respect is earned, princess," Eren smirked as he slipped his hands into his fur lined pockets, eyes giving her a second once over. "And I have no respect for the empire. You have a failing economy, the taxes are much too high, and you're so lazy that you literally use barbarian tribes to guard your fucking borders! Just what kind of an army is your Uncle running?"

"Well, it's better than a bunch of assholes who rape women, murder innocent people and destroy lands!"

"This tribe doesn't rape women. I've actually had quite a few of my own men executed for doing that. And I don't have people executed unless I think it's called for." Because he was just as passionate about this response, Mikasa reasoned that she's being told the truth when he insists such behaviors aren't tolerated here. "But I won't deny destroying lands, crops, killing Lords and knights, because I did all of that to protect my people. We're fighting for our lives just like everyone else." She briefly looked away with a sigh and pushed her fingers through her hair when she met his eyes once more with a considerably softened expression.

"I appreciate that, Eren, I really do, but if you don't it knock off the brutality, I'll be forced to have you and your men executed."

"Oooh," The young man smirked as he took a few steps closer to her and was surprised when she didn't back away, only flashed a genuine smile he finds to be extremely beautiful, pressing her fists into her sides. How cute. "Is that a threat?"

"No, actually, it's a promise," Mikasa smiled and bit her lower lip as they intently studied each other's eyes, an amused grin teasing his lips because he's never felt so attracted to someone before and boy does he want her. "I already have permission to have you all killed. Hell, I'll decapitate you myself."

"A princess that yields a sword? You are as impressive as I've heard."

"I have a collection." She flashed a devilish grin and cocked an eyebrow, very aware that his eyes are drawn to her lips and she was extremely flattered. Little did she know that smirk he wears is because he's ashamed to have already wondered briefly if she's this playful in bed.

"What's in it for me if I cooperate?"

"You mean besides living?"

"I think you know exactly what I meant." Eren brought a hand to his mouth, itching the corner with his finger as he briefly looked away because he's extremely amused, especially now that she has taken a few steps closer with her eyes still glued on his. They flickered down to his lips, her rational mind quickly being over powered since she's giving some serious consideration to defying Levi's instruction and giving in to this undeniable, magnetic spark between them that neither are really willing to resist. Love at first sight indeed.

"You won't be invaded and we won't destroy your crops."

"While that is appreciated, I'm afraid it's just not enough."

"Any tribes that you struggle with?"

"Yeah," He crossed his arms over his chest as they got closer and smiled at just how much he's truly enjoying this fire she has. "There are a few. Unfortunately, we aren't quite strong enough to deal with them on our own now thanks to your Uncle, since they're many in number and much larger than the ones I've already taken care of." The young woman bit her lower lip as she studied his face, so chiseled and handsome. Even the man she's been engaged to since she was four doesn't look at her like this.

"We can help you fight them."

"You also have a few of my people in custody that I'd really like back."

"Okay," Mikasa smiled as she pushed her fingers through her hair, the strands slowly falling before her eyes. "I can get them out of jail and talk with my father about maybe getting their charges dropped." He just slowly nodded his head in agreement and smirked as he closed the small gap that remained between them, an action that made her cheeks a little rosy.

"Now, that is an interesting offer."

"Well, wait a second, you need to hold up your end," She hesitantly placed a hand on his chest and was relieved when he simply smiled instead of backing away. "All we want is your cooperation if we have to fight other tribes. We may have a large military, but there's only so much border and territory we can cover on our own. The empire has grown quickly and continues to do so." Her eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips, waiting patiently for what she hopes will be good news. So much for not letting my emotions get involved..

"Fine." Eren smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed his hands on her hips, leaning in slowly to kiss the lips he's admittedly been eying since she walked in. But the door suddenly opened, and they rushed to pull away as one of his men stuck his head in the room to deliver a message having unknowingly interrupted their first kiss. "What is it?" He hissed out of frustration because he was finally about to kiss her after bickering back and forth with palpable sexual tension for almost an hour. Mikasa bites her lip, clasping her hands together behind her back as she impatiently watches him speak with one of his men.

"Sir, our scouts have returned. They determined that the new nearby tribe isn't a threat."

"Yeah, okay, thank you." Eren was already moving to grab her by the waist as soon as the door closed with a mutually playful smirk. "So, like, do you always negotiate peace treaties with yourself? Or am I just lucky enough to be the first one?"

"Luck had nothing to with what's about to happen," Mikasa smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him closer until their lips were almost touching. "I want you so badly.." She whispered, letting out the softest moan when he finally kissed her, a moment so magnetic, so magical that it truly seemed as if they were the only two people in the world and nothing else mattered but them. The encounter left them both feeling dizzy and that lingered long after he pulled away, her nose slowly rubbing alongside his.

"Maybe we should find somewhere more private?" He breathed to her smile and smirked when she backed away enough for him to see her biting her lip, and he was more than happy to drag her by the hand out the back door so his people don't see them leaving together for the chieftain's private living quarters. Their hearts were already racing once they got on the other side of the door and the tension had reached a new high as she started removing her armor to reveal basic cold weather clothing; several tunics, wool leggings and socks with her tall leather boots. Mikasa chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her waist with a smirk and pulled her into his solid form, sliding her hands along his fur cape to lift it over his head, tossing it on the floor. She crashed her lips against his and jumped up to capture his waist with her legs as they slowly wandered to his bed together, exchanging frantic kisses and carefully laying her on her back. Large hands slide beneath multiple, wool tunics and she was disappointed when their lips had momentarily parted so he could tug them over her head, revealing an insanely slim and beautifully toned body that he was already very drawn to.

"You're fucking gorgeous."

"Thank you.." She blushed as he grabbed onto one of her legs, smiling and watching her eyes while he pulls off her boots, then leggings and socks. Mikasa sat up on the edge of the bed as she reached for his layers of warm tunics and slid them up his body with her hands, which encouraged him to remove them and toss the bundle aside. Her cheeks immediately grew red at the best set of abs she's ever seen as he reached behind her back to loosen her corset until she was able to remove it still in shock - slim, slender, absolutely ripped. "Wow, and you say my body is incredible?"

"That's because it is. At the risk of sounding crass, I've been with quite a few women, and you're just top notch gorgeous. And a tough as hell. Which is even hotter."

"Were any of them good at giving head?" Mikasa grinned as she placed a gentle hand on his bulge and slowly slid it up to tuck her fingers behind his wool pants and sheepskin underpants. "Because I've been told I do.." He smirked as she dropped everything to his ankles and proceeded to gently curve her fingers around the thickness, her tongue lapping at the tiny amount of goo oozing from the sensitive tip. With a low groan he carefully gathered her hair away from her face and watched as she opened her mouth, leaning in slowly to control how quickly she swallows his long length, nuzzling her nose at the base in soft brown hair.

"Fuck, you are good..." Eren chuckled with a simultaneous moan as she gently pulled back with her cheeks sucked in, just enough to add her hand back into the mix so she can stroke with gentle twists of his shaft. She suddenly picked up her pace as she stroked and sucked him in tandem, making his hips jerk with his slightly louder groans and moans. But she was prepared and swallowed his length eagerly once more, content with him slowly pumping into her mouth. "You are literally the perfect girl, holy shit -" He paused when she moaned softly around him and slowly released his length from her mouth with an audible pop, biting her lower lip as she lay back on his bed so he can climb on top. "I realize now what I said just came across that you're only the perfect girl because you give amazing head, but I didn't mean for it to." She giggled just loud enough for him to hear as he began to tug down on her underpants, his eyes watching hers for any sign of hesitation only to find nothing but pure lust.

"You were fine, but thank you anyway.."

"Of course," Eren smirked as he leaned in to kiss her and tossed her underpants aside, their lips only parting so his can wander agonizingly slow down her body. "Now, where were we?" She grinned, blushing furiously as her hips are hoisted up over his shoulders so he can drag his tongue along her glistening slit and she grasped onto both of her breasts, watched him munch away at her sweet spot from above while her body dangles off of his.

"Erenn...." She squeezed her breasts as he stretched his arm down to touch one of her breasts, surrendering control over how hard he squeezes to her. His lips sealed around her clit, suckling in just the right way that caused an almost immediate climax and inspired him to playfully pop his hand on her ass, making Mikasa giggled as squeals with delight, struggling endlessly not to grind against his mouth because he's holding her so tight. "Ohh! Please, please!" She pleaded through her helpless moans and blushed a shade darker when he opened his eyes to hers, slowly pulling his lips off to plant a kiss over the pink skin. He smiled as he carefully lay her down on the bed and leaned in to kiss her, his hand wandering down so he position himself at her entrance. They both moaned into their increasingly passionate smooch as he carefully slipped deep inside the heat, lingering here to let her body get used to him being in there. Suddenly, he was thrusting into her so quickly, that it forced her to tear her lips away, watching his eyes as he absolutely railed her. "Eren! Eren! Eren!" With a most pleasurable cry she clawed at his back, letting out the occasional whimper amidst her helpless moans. And the sight of her clearly feeling satisfied made him smirk, something that she's certain will always make her heart skip a beat. "What?"

"Nothing, you're just ridiculously sexy," He paused when her eyes rolled back in pure bliss and she came hard, slowing his thrusts significantly since he's not quite ready to finish yet. "Seriously, I knew I had to have you as soon as you walked in." Those beautiful eyes opened to his and he offered a heartwarming grin as he leaned in to kiss her once more, thrusting into her deep and slow. She sighed into his mouth, reciprocating his thrusts as she pulled her lips away with a moan and giggled softly, placing a gentle hand on his cheek to touch the prominent dimples she's already loves.

"You look nothing like what I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"You're ridiculously hot.." She grinned as he suddenly took off and slammed into her, his smirk making her belly burn with desire as he stops again, sliding his hands beneath her back to encourage her to roll onto her stomach and she did so slowly, giggling small giggles as he gently pulls her up on all fours by the hips.

"I am?" Eren whispered in her ear as she eagerly spreads her legs for him, his cock still nestled deeply inside. "I'm ridiculously hot?"

"The only other cheif I've met wasn't even close to being attractive. But you are just..." Mikasa grinned when she felt his hands warm hands curve around her slender hips, his kisses slow on her spine and a smirk evident against her skin. "...the complete opposite."

"Last thing I expected when I woke up this morning was a sexy warrior princess to shiw up.” His husky voice whispered to her as he kissed up her back, making the entirety of her fair skin blush a light shade of pink. She moaned at the sound if his voice and pushed herself back against him, making her moan in such a way that he couldn't help but do the same.

"I should have guessed someone as stubborn as you would be a tease.." She purred immediate, pleasurable sounds when he took off and thrusted into her so quickly that neither  could think a coherent thought. She slowly slid her arms out until she could rest the side of her face on a pillow, clawing at the sheets and moaning loud whimpers. "Eren! Eren! Eren!"

"Mikasa.." He whispers breathlessly in her ear as she moaned through her climax, slowly pulling her hips back into his and pushing them forward. "I'll help protect your borders if you let me see you again. I assume you're like most princesses and are already engaged or married to another man, but to be honest, I really don't fucking care."

"I don't either, my fiancé is already cheating on me anyway. He even has a kid with her. Wait, you know I'm engaged to someone else, yet you still want to see me again?"

"I'm sorry," Eren's voice was genuine, soft and husky in her ear. "He sounds like an ass. Why are you so surprised that I want to see you again?"

"I didn't think you felt anything between - ah! aha! ah!" She squealed with delight when he suddenly took off and absolutely drilled into her and she loved it. "Oohhh!" Her hips started to tremble and she whimpered pleasurably, white knuckling the sheets as she bounces her hips back against his.

"I can't get enough of you already! Fuck! You're like a drug!" He moaned with her as he dug his fingers into her hips and guided her faster, sending his lover into an equally euphoric state. "I'm gonna cum!" In one swift movement he quickly pulled out at the perfect time and exploded all over her back with countless groans, hisses, and low moans. Eren held onto her tightly as they collapsed together on their sides and made her the little spoon, both hearts thumping hard against their rib cages. She sighed happily and yawned as she reached her hand up to push her damp hair back, already feeling sleepy from the most incredible sex she's ever had. “Damn, you’re incredible.”

"Mmm," Mikasa hummed with a smile and stretched back against him as he kissed any skin he could readily reach. "We need to figure out how to sneak you into my bedchamber.." His embrace is warm and welcoming as they settle beneath the blankets, basking in the heat coming from the fireplace that's giving the now dark room an orange glow. It's safe to assume that an unspoken agreement has been made between the two and that at least this tribe will no longer be of concern, all thanks to the negotiations between a barbarian chieftain and a princess.

[copiosis]

When Bernie Sanders Marries Ayn Rand

By Writer KJ McElrath

If there is a silver lining to the current coronavirus pandemic, it is that it has exposed fundamental weaknesses in the current capitalist free-market economic system that most of us have taken for granted our entire lives. People in low-wage service jobs, food-service workers, education support personnel, private tutors and instructors and others with jobs that frequently bring them into contact with the general public have been hit especially hard. Most of these workplaces –  restaurants, lounges, schools and even libraries –  are closed for the duration.

Today conservative leaders, who typically expect most people – including those they claim to represent – to fend for themselves, actually support massive financial aid programs...that's how bad it is. The Trump Administration's $2 trillion dollar stimulus package perplexes my imagination. That a conservative administration would offer such a thing boggles the mind.

Other governments around the world are following suit. For example, the U.K. government recently announced that it will pay 80 percent of worker salaries up to £2500 per month ($2900 USD) for 12 weeks, while offering tax breaks and interest-free business loans. Across the Channel, France is preparing to nationalize several industries while suspending tax, rent, and utility payments for small companies.

The problem is we, as a global, tightly interconnected economic society, now are in uncharted territory. Our economics can't handle much more of this and for two fundamental reasons:

One, our economics depends on endless growth and expansion. Coronavirus has stopped that dead in its tracks.

Two, our economics finances endless growth through debt cycles, which fall apart when debtors can't pay creditors. Debtors can't pay if they can't work.

If there was ever a time to think outside the box, it is now. Our immediate solution is for government to throw money  —  cash payments, low interest rates, subsidized loans or grants, etc at the problem. In the short term, this is indeed necessary as most of us have not slack in our finances to weather such storms.

But such actions treat the symptoms while ignoring the underlying disease. Biologically, coronavirus is most dangerous to those who have other health problems, such as compromised immune function. Economically, it appears to have a similar effect on unhealthy financial systems.

Socialism is not the answer

Would the type of socialism offered by once-presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders save us? For awhile, it could — but like government stimulus programs, it would be a stopgap solution. The problem here is that socialism can't spur innovations that benefit society.

Second, the idea that people should receive free anything — including housing, food, health care and education — is anathema to those who espouse unbridled, free market capitalism. Yet, lack of these basic survival needs, or even the threat of losing them, is at the root of virtually every problem society suffers today.

People can live without jet skis or the latest and greatest smart phones. They cannot live without food, clean water, shelter and medical care when needed. Without some degree of education, they cannot be productive members of society. Yet, our economies demand that all of these things be commodified and profit their providers.

Meanwhile, those very same providers must pay labor, cover raw materials costs, pay taxes, legal and other operational expenses.

To suggest that "necessities" should be “free” may rightfully evoke hard resistance from free market supporters, yet the stress from putting price tags on necessities creates crime, disease (mental and physical), environmental degradation and more — adding hugely to the cost of running society.

Perversely, money spent addressing these problems contributes to a nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Ergo, someone who contracts cancer living near a factory producing toxic waste actually contributes to GDP when they (or someone else) pays for their treatment. Law enforcement officers pursuing criminals become part of the GDP as well. Divorcing couples contribute to GDP through lawyer and court fee costs.

Is there a better way? Some visionaries believe so — and are working to bring it about.

A better way...

These visionaries recognize a major part of the problem is not capitalism, but rather the way the exchange of goods and services happen  — i.e., money, or currency. Whether it is tangible cash, an amount recorded in a bank ledger or other account, or invested in securities, money can be transferred easily. That is a definite advantage, but there are downsides; money can be lost, stolen, taxed away (directly and indirectly), devalued and manipulated, and withheld when someone is prevented from earning or receiving it — as is happening in today's coronavirus pandemic. The consequences can be devastating.

Barter comes to many people’s minds as an alternative, but there are reasons why money replaced trading livestock, handicrafts, produce, etc. Unless people have many different productive skills and abilities others need, or offer wide ranges of services, the barter system can't alleviate poverty and inequality. Barter also involves material things that can be lost, stolen or destroyed (and even taxed, as many have discovered).

Imagine an alternative:

a means of exchange representing actions benefiting society and the planet, that cannot possibly be stolen, taxed or otherwise transferred away from owners

a system guaranteeing everyone access to housing, food, medical services and education without incurring long-term debt servitude or worry about a paycheck

a system based on free market principles that encourage innovation

a system in which only actions benefitting people and/or the environment in some way are rewarded

Such innovations are already underway, and have been for some time. They are made possible by rapid technology advances. As more working people suddenly find themselves idle for the long term, some are finding interesting innovations that onced looked ridiculous, but today are not so.

Humanity: where great ideas come from

Dr. Albert Einstein reportedly said, “Imagination is more important than Knowledge.” In light of Dr. Abraham Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs (a review and explanation for the uninitiated is available here), imagine what humans might achieve if they were liberated from the need to “earn a living,” but still expected and motivated to strive for more by simply making choices and acting in ways that serve the greater good.

We all see it happening now, with the popularity of “humanely raised” eggs, poultry and meat, recycling and repurposing, reducing one’s ecological footprint, roadside miniature lending libraries, community tool and vehicle share programs and more.

In Portland, Oregon, homeowners are being offered incentives to provide shelters for homeless people on their property. Some small businesses specialize in making new products from existing and/or previously used components. Entrepreneurial individuals are creating solutions for environmental problems.

Admittedly, so-called “Utopian” societies have failed in the past. As floundering and corrupt as American capitalism has gotten over the past four decades, it has not yet become the total and abject failure that was the late U.S.S.R.’s Socialist Worker’s State.

That said, western capitalism is nonetheless a very large, unwieldy vessel sailing at a high rate of speed — one that needs to change its course fairly soon, if it is to survive.

As the Captain Edward Smith of the R.M.S. Titanic discovered too late, such sudden course changes are difficult at best.

Perhaps what needs to be changed is not so much the system itself, but rather the means of exchange. Such change must happen so nobody goes homeless, hungry, without medical and dental care, and everyone has access to education in any field. At the same time, the new system must encourage industry and innovation while respecting private property rights. Nothing would be confiscatory or redistributive, nor would taxes be assessed.

It sounds almost like “Bernie Sanders Meets Ayn Rand” or "Bernie Sanders and Ayn Rand have a baby". This has been one of the primary issues in recent elections: do we want or need the State to own and operate everything, distributing “to each according to their needs” while taxing “from each, according to their abilities”?

Or do we want to do away with government and regulation altogether, and allow individuals and organizations to become as wealthy and powerful as possible, regardless of any harm in done the process?

What if a society could have the best of both? What if one fed the other? What if, through Bernie-style socialist programs, more people were unleashed from having to have “jobs” simply to pay the bills in order to survive, and instead were free to pursue their passions, such as science, research, technology, engineering and invention as well culture, humanities and the arts? Can one imagine the new Renaissance that might come about?

Such a system has the potential of generating wealth and well-being in a private, free-market system beyond Rand’s wildest dreams.

You don’t have to look very far back to find examples. Would the world have had the genius of Leonardo da Vinci without the patronage of the Medicis? Would we have heard the music of Franz Josef Haydn without Prince Esterhazy?

Now, multiply those two examples by a few billion.

Passions can create our future

Would everyone throw themselves into their “passions”? No. Many may not even know what their passions are. For them, there are educational opportunities (which would bring their own rewards), or they may decide to sit on the beach all day — and as long as they do no harm, that’s fine. If they ever want something more, they’ll find ways to make the world a better place.

If not — at least they won’t go hungry and homeless. But really, earning that “something more” would not be difficult under such a system. In fact, it would be more difficult not to contribute in some way.

If the 1933 Harold Arlen — Yip Harburg song Paper Moon comes to mind, you’re not alone. Indeed, some skepticism is warranted. Nonetheless, two communities, one in California and the other in Oregon, tested out such a comprehensive economic system, with success. A devoted group in Portland continues exploring it over the last six years, and it has generated significant attention around the world.

This group’s website recently came online, where one can go to learn more about this alternative economic system in which there are no losers, and winners’ victories do not come at the expense of someone else. Under such a system, disparities of wealth will certainly still exist, but the kind of grinding poverty that causes hunger, disease, crime and other problems will not.

Meanwhile, the barriers to people who want to accumulate more will largely go away; there will be equal access to opportunity and tools to improve one’s material lot in life for those who choose to do so.

Greed will still exist, but in this new system it's harnessed and channeled into positive outcomes for everyone.

Now that so many of us are under lockdown or quarantine and are starting to clearly see problems existing in the current system, it is as good a time as ever to consider alternatives.

Learn more here.

[libertariantaoist]

I can understand why the ruling elite, broadly conceived to include the intel bureaucracy and military-industrial complex, has an interest in positing Russia as our enemy. The reasons are obvious enough. What I can’t understand is why common Americans would fall for it. They have everything to lose and nothing to gain from swallowing this line.

After all, the stakes are extremely high. The United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads pointed at each other, and their forces are in close proximity in Syria. Yet major bipartisan elements of the U.S. government, including the intelligence bureaucracy, persist in aggravating tensions. The public is led to believe that the reason for the problems is the Russian attempt to interfere in the presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump. But that remains an allegation for which no evidence has been produced. It also doesn’t pass the smell test. For example, it is said that the diabolically clever Russians left their digital fingerprints all over the crime scene. It has also been “reported” that Russian President Vladimir Putin expected Hillary Clinton to win the election, but he interfered anyway so he could damage her presidency as payback for her having impugned the legitimacy of his own election. Think about that for a few minutes.

The absurdity of the election story has not stopped American politicians from recklessly charging the Russians with an “act of war.” Do these people realize what they are saying? (Considering the U.S. government’s record of interfering with other countries’ political systems, the politicians’ self-righteousness is downright laughable.)

Not coincidentally, Trump made cooperation with Russia a campaign theme. Such cooperation, of course, would be costly for civilian and military bureaucrats and government contractors. Yet even if Trump has corrupt business motives for favoring detente, it is still a good idea for the American people and the world.

So, are we witnessing what is being called a “soft coup” against the Trump administration? The thought is not so outlandish. Nor would it be the first time the intelligence bureaucracy has tried to interfere with East-West detente.

At the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union, a spokesman for Mikhail Gorbachev told some reporters from the West, “We have done the cruelest thing to you that we could possibly have done. We have deprived you of an enemy.” That insight explains a lot of what has happened ever since the Warsaw Pact dissolved in 1989 and the Soviet Union closed shop in 1991. It explains why, despite the historic collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, American presidents expanded NATO to Russia’s border, interfered with its political-economic system, and meddled in neighboring countries politically and militarily. America has 60,000 troops in Europe and it is placing military equipment on Russia’s border, while German and other NATO troops engage in war simulations. (Such actions were decried by George Kennan, the Russia scholar and diplomat, and Jack F. Matlock Jr., who was ambassador to the Soviet Union under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.)

I found that quote from Gennadi Gerasimov in an extraordinary 2016 article by conservative English journalist Peter Hitchens, “The Cold War Is Over.” It’s an article that ought to be read by all Americans, especially those who give any credence to what their (mis)leaders, (mis)representatives, and public (self-)servants — not to mention the news media — tell them daily. (I had the pleasure in the 1990s of dining with Hitchens at the Washington, D.C. home of his late brother, Christopher.)

Peter Hitchens was posted to Moscow for two years beginning in 1990, so he witnessed the remarkable transition toward normalcy. He is no fan of Vladimir Putin, and no advocate of a police state. He writes:

I view him [Putin] as a sinister tyrant. The rule of law is more or less absent under his rule. He operates a cunning and cynical policy toward the press. Criticism of the government is perfectly possible in small-circulation magazines and obscure radio stations, but quashed whenever it threatens the state and its controlled media. Several of the most serious allegations against Putin — alleged murders of journalists and politicians — have not been proven. Yet crimes like the death in prison (from horrible neglect) of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer and auditor who charged Russian officials with corruption, can be traced directly to Putin’s government, and are appalling enough by themselves.

His distaste for the police state, including armed cops, is displayed in his blog post “The First Casualty of Terrorism is Thought,” which he wrote in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in London. To wit: “Here we go again, responding to events with emotion rather than reason. UKIP [UK Independent Party] chieftains talk of internment. Columnists suggest the closing of mosques. Yet at the same time we praise ourselves for not panicking. Well, one or the other, but not both.” And: “It is still my view that unarmed officers, patrolling alone, always did and would now do more in the long run to protect us from crime and disorder of all kinds happening in the first place, than phalanxes of armed and armoured officers, loaded with weapons.”

So Hitchens’s advice about how to regard Russia can be taken seriously without suspecting an affinity for Putin or a Trump-style police state. He is simply someone who knows the difference between Russia and the Soviet Union and sees no point in a new Cold War.

About the West’s attitude toward Putin, Hitchens says what needs to be said over and over:

Western diplomats, politicians, and media are highly selective about tyranny. Boris Yeltsin’s state was not much superior to Vladimir Putin’s. Yeltsin used tanks to shell his own parliament. He waged a barbaric war in Chechnya. He blatantly rigged his own re-election with the aid of foreign cash. He practically sold the entire country. Russians, accustomed to corruption as a way of life, gasped at its extent under Yeltsin’s rule. Yet he was counted a friend of the West, and went largely uncriticized. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who locks up many more journalists than does Mr. Putin, who kills his own people when they demonstrate against him, and who has described democracy as a tram which you ride as far as you can get on it before getting off, has for many years enjoyed the warm endorsement of the West. His country’s illegal occupation of northern Cyprus, which has many parallels to Russia’s occupation of Crimea, goes unpunished. Turkey remains a member of NATO, wooed by the E.U.

As for Saudi Arabia and China, countries much fawned upon by the Western nations, the failure to criticize these for their internal despotism is so enormous that the mind simply refuses to take it in. But I need not go on. The current attitude toward the Putin state is selective and cynical, not based upon any real principle.

Selective, indeed. Hitchens could have gone just a bit further back in history and found many more examples of American and British enabling of bloody tyrants. But, some will say, those other tyrants were not expansionists like Putin and therefore a threat to the West. Let’s see what Hitchens has to say about that.

The experience of living in that sad and handsome place brought me to love Russia and its stoical people, to learn some of what they had suffered [under Soviet rule] and see what they had regained. And so, as all around me rage against the supposed aggression and wickedness of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, I cannot join in. Despite the fact that Moscow has abandoned control of immense areas of Europe and Asia, self-appointed experts insist that Russia is an expansionist power. Oddly, this “expansion” only seems to be occurring in zones that Moscow once controlled, into which the E.U. and NATO, supported by the U.S., have sought to extend their influence.

The comparison of today’s Russia to yesterday’s U.S.S.R. is baseless. I know this, and rage inwardly at my inability to convey my understanding to others….

He then drives the point home.

Nobody who has seen these things [I have seen] could possibly compare the old Soviet Union with the new Russia. The trouble is, almost nobody has seen them. Nor, it seems, has anyone noticed the withdrawal of Moscow’s power from 700,000 square miles of territory which it once held down with boots and tanks and secret policemen. Somehow or other this unprecedented peaceful withdrawal of a power undefeated in war is being portrayed as “expansionism.” Nobody who understands history, geography, or, come to that, arithmetic can possibly accept this portrayal. There is much to criticize in Russia’s foreign policy, especially if one is a Ukrainian nationalist, but the repossession of Crimea does not signal a revival of the Warsaw Pact. It is instead a limited and minor action in the context of this conquered and reconquered stretch of soil, the ugly but unexceptional act of a regional power.

Hitchens winds down by reminding us that “Russia is invaded all the time — by the Tatars, the Poles, the Lithuanians, the Swedes, the French, us British, the Germans, the Japanese, the Germans again: They keep coming. Nor are these invasions remote history.” He then asks Americans to imagine how they would feel if just a small fraction of what the West has been doing to Russia were happening on America’s borders: “I cannot see the U.S. sitting about doing nothing, especially if it had repeatedly warned in major diplomatic forums against this expansion of Russian power on its frontiers, and been repeatedly ignored over fifteen years or so.”

He closes with a plea for understanding and a concern for peace: “Out of utopian misery has come the prospect of rebirth. It is as yet incipient. But I see great possibilities in it, in the many once-blighted churches now open and loved and full again, in the reappearance of symbols of pre-Bolshevik Russia, in the growth of a generation not stunted and pitted by poisoned air and food, nor twisted by Communist ethics….. Why then, when so much of what we hoped for in the long Soviet period has come to pass, do we so actively seek their enmity?”

[razieltwelve]

Deliberation (Final Rose)

News of the battle that had taken place on the other side of the gateway - in anther galaxy - had been swiftly relayed to the Empire and the Alliance. Naturally, opinions on what to do next were divided.

“I say we conquer them all.” The Dia-Farron representative cackled evilly and rubbed his hands together in glee. “Based on the reports we’ve received, we’re clearly far more advanced than them on a technological basis. We can wipe out these Reaper things and move on from there.”

Empress Averia VII sighed. “We’re not going to be conquering anybody.” She paused. “Yet.” As crazy as it sounded, she wasn’t going to rule out anything at this point. “But you know standard Imperial policy when encountering new sentients, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do, Your Majesty.” The Dia-Farron huffed. “But we’d be doing them a favour. The files we’ve received indicate that they’re ruled by a bunch of indecisive fools. And their technology - that Element Zero of theirs is certainly useful and we’ll definitely be taking a closer look at it, but it seems to have stunted their technological development significantly. They use it for everything, and it gives them tunnel vision.”

“Not everyone can be as imaginative as a Dia-Farron,” Averia replied. She nodded at one of her other advisors, the Minister Without Portfolio. He was from the Line of Anna. “Your thoughts, Snow?”

Snow took a moment to consider his words. “Although I’m not endorsing invasion, we can certainly turn this to our advantage. In exchange for our help against the Reapers, I’m sure they’d be willing to make concessions. If our analysis of their technology is correct, their faster-than-light travel systems are considerably inferior to ours. Indeed, most of their large-scale travel seems to be conducted through the Mass Relays, limiting their travel to areas connected to the relay system. There are thus significant volumes of their galaxy that they cannot easily access…”

“And we’d be asking for these in exchange for our help?” Averia asked. Her lips curled up into a grin at the completely innocent look her cousin - many times removed - gave her. “Not a bad idea. We’d be able to secure territory without having to attack these sentients, and they wouldn’t feel particularly put out by it either.”

“I still say we should conquer them.”

“Oh, stop it.” Averia nodded at her other advisors. “I’d like to hear what each of you have to say.”

One by one, her advisors offered their opinions. They didn’t all agree, but she didn’t want or need them to. It was their job to present her with varying points of view, and it was her job to determine the best course of action for the Empire. She was certain that Weiss was in a similar meeting with her advisors amongst the Alliance.

“Jahne,” Averia said at last. “What do you think?”

The bearer of Ragnarok grinned toothily. “I think I’d rather be over there than here. These Reapers remind me of the Grimm. It’s got me itching for a fight.” She paused. “But I happen to agree with Snow. Our technology is advanced enough that even if the systems we’re given aren’t ideal, we’ll be able to terraforms worlds as necessary and mine asteroid belts and the like for further resources. However, you’ve seen the readings. Their galaxy lacks Dust, and their citizens lack Aura.”

There was a low murmur of unease from the people in the meeting chamber. Averia gestured for calm. They had never before encountered advanced life forms lacking in Aura other than the Grimm. Even cats and dogs had Aura, albeit usually much less than a person. It was a part of whom they were.

“I believe we can explain that,” the Dia-Farron said. “One of our scientific research teams went down to the surface of the planet the Reapers were attacking. It is Silent.”

“Are you certain?” Averia asked.

“Their data was clear. The planet was Silent. If all of their planets are Silent, then their lack of Aura is not surprising.”

Averia frowned and thought carefully over her advisor’s words. The source of Dust had been discovered during the Age of Heroes after a team led by Professor Dia and Diana Yun-Farron had uncovered an ancient ruin that led deep beneath Remnant’s surface. 

The planet was alive. Dust was nothing less than the crystallisation of the Planet’s Aura. It was why it stopped working when it was too far from the Planet. Expansion to other worlds had revealed that many of them were alive too, and all of them had possessed Dust. Silent planets were not alive in the same way. They had no ambient Aura and no Dust. It was exactly as the Cetra of old had said although no one had believed the ancient writings until then.

So far, they had yet to discover advanced lifeforms on planets that were Silent. That wasn’t to say something had to be born on a living planet to have Aura - many of the Empire’s citizens were born in space - but it appeared to be necessary to have descended from beings that were born on a living planet.

Of course, just because a planet was alive didn’t mean it could be spoken to although there had been several successful attempts over the years, always involving people with trace amounts of Cetran ancestry. Indeed, the only ones who could do it consistently were the Cetrans themselves although they were a rare sight outside of their systems. Averia smiled faintly. That had been lucky turn of events. Several thousand Cetran had survived on a lost stasis ship, which Remnant’s civilisation had discovered roughly one thousand years after they had begun to explore the galaxy.

They owed the Cetrans a great debt, for the Cetrans had themselves fled to Remnant before being all but wiped out there after arming the populace and teaching them many things. As such, the Cetrans were given systems of their own and left largely to their own devices as they sought to rebuild their shattered race. To date, they had kept to themselves with only small numbers of them venturing into Imperial space.

Still, Averia’s ancestors had learned how to terraform worlds and, more importantly, how to bring them to life. Remnant was a living world, and apart from the Dust it produced, it made… seeds was the best way to call them. They could be carried to another world and implanted there, to grow and eventually bring a world to life. Advances in understanding how seeds and a planet’s Aura worked had allowed Dust to be useable in space for centuries.

“Can we plant seeds on their worlds?” Averia asked.

“We plan to try once we know which worlds we can expect to hold for an extended period of time,” the Dia-Farron said.

“Good. I like Snow’s suggestion. I would like to pursue it, and I will get into contact with Weiss to see what the Alliance thinks.” Averia paused. “But for now, we wait. We’ve allowed ourselves to be seen. It won’t be long before one of the governments over there contacts us.”

X     X     X

A galaxy away…

Jane Shepard stared at the wall. Earth was gone. They’d lost Earth to the Reapers. This… She swallowed thickly. She would give anything for this to be a dream, but it was real. It was far, far too real. She was tugged back to the present by a message.

“Commander.” It was Miranda. “I… I have something you should see. It was forwarded to me by one of my contacts along the frontier.”

“What?” Jane growled. “What is it?”

Miranda’s voice was… hesitant over the comm channel. “Just… look.”

A file was uploaded onto her omnitool, and Jane watched it with growing amazement. It was a colony along the frontier under siege by the Reapers, most likely thanks to the Mass Relay in that system. And then… out of nowhere, another force had attacked the Reapers, obliterating the ones in orbit around the planet while landing additional forces to devastate the ones on the surface.

The most incredible thing was that it had only taken two ships. Two ships to wipe out dozens of Reaper vessels, and they hadn’t taken any noticeable damage while doing so. That was insane.

“Is this real?” Jane asked.

“I think so,” Miranda said. “According to my contact, the ships have maintained orbit over the planet, and their forces have wiped out the Reaper forces on the surface.”

“They’re huge…” Jane’s brows furrowed. “They’re more than double the size of the Reapers. They don’t look familiar at all. Who are they?”

“We don’t know.” Miranda paused. “But there’s more. They are broadcasting a message on several frequencies. It’s, well… it says ‘take me to your leader’.”

“An invitation, huh?” Jane took a deep breath. “I don’t know who they are, but if this is real and they have the firepower to take out the Reapers, we need to meet them.”

[inherentsleep-blog]

On vertical integration in the past and future.

The first question I should probably answer is ‘what is vertical integration?’ Vertical integration is when a company takes over all levels of the supply chain and production for a product. It’s not a new concept by any means. In the history of corporations, older examples like the VOC (Dutch East India company), United Fruit Company and even the nominally non-profit (and utterly evil) Association Internationale Africaine are all examples of this in the largest possible form of action. It started even with Italian merchant companies in the 1200s, and it’s an idea older then capitalism as a real institution. It is also, as can be seen by the kind of notoriety of these places, a very scary concept.

These are just some of the most high-profile examples, usually for the fact that their ‘vertical supply chains’ or otherwise corporate run nations can be quite terrible. They are corporate states, where a single corporation becomes a monopoly on a region of land. These companies in particular are imperialistic, not just in the ‘doing bad things’ use of the word, but in the sense that the home or headquarters of the company is not based within the company territory that makes up the de-facto state. Sometimes, like with the United Fruit Company, locals are left in power under a puppet government. Other times, like with the ‘Congo Free State’, a lax overarching and non-corporate government is put in place as a political tool but the government is run by the company and sometimes the company takes and administers lands in the name of a home country (like with the VOC and the Netherlands.)

Some companies are less total in their efforts to manage their supply chain, and don’t really seek political control. The reasoning is simple: bribes, administration and infrastructure (among other tools of control) are expensive.

Why then might a company choose to ‘go vertical?’

It is the only way to fully implement total control, total quality standards and manage resources in places that otherwise would not be able to host a company of that style. When done wrong, it tends to be a total failure, as many colonial companies ended up where the expensive. Why do it then?

Because when you do it right, it’s very, very profitable.

From small examples like mining and mill towns that built fortunes during the industrial age and on past the gilded age, there is profit in both monopoly and vertical growth. Even back to the largest company of all time (The VOC) you can see the potential benefits, with companies of a large enough size and power able to bring forth military support. The United Fruit Company and their Great White Fleet grew profits by six times over in seven years (1913 to 1920) and helped build the very term ‘banana republic’ when they became a true vertical company. Coups, underhanded negotiations and bulling tactics are all valid ground for a company too large to stop.

The disadvantage is that more specialised companies may be better at some aspects of production when compared to a vertical company. The advantage lies in control and quality, and therefor is naturally more beneficial when a monopoly can be maintained.

What about companies who operate in their own country? One famous case, that of Standard Oil, was hit with the anti-trust push of the gilded age. Company towns, built for shipping and mining and milling have long histories within North America of being dangerous organisations for their workers.

Some are seen as beneficial, especially the ones that built and developed infrastructure or education, but by-and-large they are not particularly beneficial for the state they intertwine with.

What happened to them then?

In the modern era, tax laws and competitive markets have seen a general decline in the vertical companies, with monopoly and anti-trust laws lurking in the background to dissuade new expansion. Both the economic and social conditions are generally resistant to their formation.

Yet we still imagine them. Why?

What of futuristic and imagined corporate states and powers? We impose things that we imagine and things from our history into our fiction, and corporate states are no different. In Sci-fi, space-based ‘mega corps’ are a mainstay, with corporate towns and cities re-imagined as entire corporate planets and systems (as space sci-fi often does, lacking the scope to present meaningful differences from world to world, but instead treating planets as cities in a new age of discovery and sail.)

Space, science fiction and the interrelation as (often unintended) commentary on the ages of colonisation, sail, empire and both the Victorian and guilded age interrelated our history and an imagined future based on our experience. Corporations, corporate nations and vertical companies operating in places without the ability to control them all are apart of that.

Closer to our modern world, different kinds of dystopian fiction imagine a world ruled by corporations, with impossible power and strength. Genres of fiction born at the dawn of the information age, most notably cyberpunk, imagine different kinds of corporate futures, some vertical and some simply with massive power.

What then, amid a need for great villains and the un-nuanced world of storytelling and the literary nature of the excesses of science fiction, might a true future ‘corporate state’ look like?

I think you have to go to the only true vertical company left, one that still runs its own towns, influences government and tries to monopolise its trade with impunity.

Saudi-Aramco is the largest company in the world. It is held privately, partly by the actual Saudi government and partly by the Saudi crown. It is probably the last true vertical corporation that exists today, and operates mostly within its own country under the control of its government, which enables it a local monopoly.

It also understands that oil cannot sustain it forever. The company is planning a small (five percent, perhaps) IPO. It may offer up to ten percent.

This is still, at minimum, a 170 billion dollar offering. For a company from a country with a general GDP of about 650 billion, that’s stunningly massive.

The company is also growing in power. The reforms within the country, the push to modernize business and attract trade, and most of all the Saudi 2030 plan all have the hallmarks of the company, and its growing influence. It is a personal estimation that by 2040 Saudi Arabia will be being run behind the scenes by the company at the behest of the royal family. Direct power will be replaced with indirect power as the company diversifies and tries to build itself into a larger company. Saudi Arabia, strangely, might very well be the first cyberpunk style ‘mega corp’ of the next era. With the power of traditionalist and draconian laws to crush opposition and a monopoly on economic might, it will be unrivaled within its nation. It already does much of the construction, why not the education and administration too? While costly, the ownership of the company and that of the country are one in the same, and the company profits are used to fund those things through taxes and then re-distributed.

Who will one day have more power, the owner of Aramco or the king?

Why couldn’t they be the same man.

When the country and the company come up against one another, why not support the beast that lets you profit more deeply? It has all happened before.

There are other ways, partly by the same model, that another company might grow in much the same style. As smaller nations in Africa and Asia really strike the development curb and start to protect themselves from the diseases ravaging their country (perhaps reliant on western medical advancement, but something that I imagine happening nonetheless, a company wishing to create a new ‘banana republic’ with a new kind of good that can benefit from African conditions, be it vast, cheep labour, good climate or weak regulations and a willingness to protect its own may very well emerge.

I think it more likely then not that such a company will show up in the next eighty years. Both international ability to enforce regulations and anti-trust laws are growing more and more toothless as western governments fail to adapt to new technological changes fast enough. Vertical integration, monopolies and a new gilded age, one where information is the new oil (and oil is the old oil, for a while longer at least) are something I can’t help but imagine in the future. Like all things, this is nuanced and not so clear cut as I might make it sound, but I think it’s something to consider.

[hollywoodjuliorivas]

Ryan promises to replace Obamacare 'this year,' but implementation could take longer Play Video1:32   "We hope to get this done as fast as possible," he said. (Reuters) For weeks now, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has struggled to convince his colleagues of the benefits of the border adjustment tax. If his reasons seem unsound and unconservative (Why should the government dictate which suppliers you use?), it’s because he is not being honest about the motivation behind the plan to tax imports. The one and only reason behind the push centers on the massive deficit the rest of the GOP tax plan would create. (Take a fiscally irresponsible tax plan and add in a counterproductive border tax adjustment!) In short, his tax plan needs the infusion of cash that a tax passed on to U.S. consumers would raise. Libertarian economist Veronique de Rugy blasts Ryan for intellectual dishonesty in claiming that the “United States was at a disadvantage because other countries’ exports are exempted from taxes while U.S. goods aren’t.” This is wrong: For instance, he claims that Japanese exports are exempt from taxes. No, Japanese products exported to the U.S. are exempt from the Japanese VAT but the Japanese company is still paying U.S. corporate tax on its U.S. profits. And you know what? In that sense, the Japanese export is treated exactly like the U.S. goods sold in the U.S. In other words, the playing field is even! I repeat: Japanese goods in the U.S. are taxed like U.S. goods in the U.S. How about U.S. exports in Japan? Well, it gets hit by the Japanese VAT in Japan and by the Japanese corporate tax but so are Japanese goods sold in Japan. Again, the only disadvantage faced by U.S. companies selling tape recorders abroad comes from the U.S. tax system, which requires that income earned in Japan be taxed by Uncle Sam at 35 percent after benefiting from a tax credit for tax paid in Japan. If the U.S. company decides to keep its Japanese income outside the U.S., the U.S. rate won’t apply. The plan will raise the cost of consumer goods. (Not even Fed Chairman Janet Yellen buys into the notion that the U.S. dollar will instantly and sufficiently rise in value to offset higher prices.) And it will hurt a whole bunch of businesses that rely on imports, whether they are sold directly to U.S. consumers or, in many cases, incorporated into U.S.-manufactured goods. Read These Comments The best conversations on The Washington Post Sign up [Congressional Republicans, do your job or get out of the way] De Rugy concludes: “The way to fix the U.S. disadvantage is not to create a new expansive tax that would penalize imports in the U.S. — including imports for the benefit of U.S. domestic companies — and would penalize U.S. consumers. The solution is to reform our corporate-tax rate by lowering the rate and moving to an origin-based territorial-tax regime.” The problem is that such an approach won’t raise sufficient revenue to offset revenue losses from Ryan’s underlying tax plan, raising the question as to whether the tax plan is the real culprit here. (Maybe a smaller tax cut, or one that does not reward upper-income taxpayers at all, would be wiser? Nah, that would rain on the parade of the right wing, which for years has been pining for a huge Ronald Reagan-style tax cut, although our current debt, tax code and economic situation bear no resemblance to the factors Reagan faced in the 1980s.) This is no small or esoteric policy debate. Without the border adjustment tax, the GOP tax plan will be (rightly) excoriated for blasting an enormous hole in the budget. However, with the border adjustment tax, the Senate and a great many House Republicans will not vote for it. Keep Reading Retailers have organized against the border adjustment tax. In particular, small businesses — the darling of Democrats and Republicans alike — foresee disaster. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that small businesses “typically have less ability to negotiate better deals with suppliers or push through price increases to customers or spend time and money modeling tax changes. More than 95% of U.S. importers have fewer than 250 employees, according to 2014 U.S. Census data.” Richard Woldenberg, chief executive of Learning Resources, is marshaling some interesting data to defeat the plan. He told the Journal that “a border-adjusted tax would increase Learning Resources’s tax bill by four- to fivefold, even with a lower corporate rate. That would force his company to raise prices by as much as 15%, which he fears could cause sales to drop by 20% or more.” He pointed out that it is not as though there are domestic suppliers readily available. (“Learning Resources tried in 2013 to find a U.S. molder to produce simple plastic counting toys it could sell at mass-market retailers with a ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ label. Just one firm bid on the job. ‘They gave us a terrible quote,’ Mr. Woldenberg said.”) For this very reason, many of President Trump’s products are made outside the country and imported. Woldenberg is also amassing some politically potent data. On his website, he writes: Rep. Kevin Brady [R-Tex.] is a big cheerleader for the BAT as Ryan’s designee and Chair of Ways and Means. He has said publicly on numerous occasions that he will go forward with this provision at all costs. Thus far, despite lots of bad press and organized opposition that will endanger his Republican majority in the House, he has refused to relent. Notably, Brady’s own district is full of importers. . . . According to my research in a public database, there have been 24,402 import entries associated with zip codes either wholly or partially within Brady’s district over 2015-16.  The total importer count is 2430 in this two-year period, including many individuals (let’s call them “voters”).  They will all have to pay up in Brady’s BAT … Brady may be in a GOP safe seat, but he is not immune to a primary challenge. [At CPAC, conservatism betrayed] Trump and arrogant lawmakers can swear up and down that protesters in their districts are paid phonies. What they cannot ignore are the legions of small businesses, importers, retailers and consumers who will surely conclude that they’ll be worse off than they are now with the border adjustment tax. It is the sort of issue (tax cuts for the rich! price hikes at Walmart!) that can set off a wave election. Ryan might persist with the border tax adjustment gimmick, but it likely will mean the end of his tax reform effort. That would be some economic karma if a non-conservative, distortional tax grab knocked the legs out from under a GOP that has decided to discard its fiscally responsible free-market positions.