Thoughts of Something or Other

koboldfacedlie:

maggotmaster:

baronessvonbullshit:

how is the healthcare system funded in pokemon, they must either have some sort of state which taxes the little shops which sell you ether and repel and shit or it’s some gigantic mutualist utopia or something

in pokemon black and white pokemon walmart and pokemon hospital are in the same building making it very clear they take place in america

the pokemon world’s economy is eccentric, but there are clear signs towards the existence of state power: ie, the fact that there are police. imo, all signs point to a utopian post-capitalist society that has only operated under its current mode for perhaps two generations. this reorganization of society was not precipitated by any revolution or even conscious political action, but rather the natural result of reforming the pokemon leagues and the systematic cataloging of pokemon and their capabilities thanks to professor oak’s pokedex.

throughout pokemon world’s history, pokemon have been used by humans to achieve things that they couldn’t do personally. indeed, as per Klink, Voltorb, Trubbish et al, new pokemon species will develop sympathetically to human society. however, forming a Bond between human and pokemon was significantly more difficult and required either the long-term taming of a pokemon raised from its juvenile evolutions or (more recently, within the last 700 years) the use of apricorn pokeballs, which were difficult to obtain due to the difficulty of cultivating apricorn trees. add to this the fact that pokemon at higher evolutionary tiers are less disposed to obey humans unless they’ve somehow proved their worth, and the vast majority of human owned pokemon would be placid, domesticated types and otherwise low power species. more powerful species and legendaries would only attach themselves to humans in dominant positions: kings, warlords, and so forth, and these pokemon would be bloody engines of war (see: pokemon conquest).

this feudal society evolved into a capitalist one thanks to the inception of the leagues. initially little more than the equivalent of a village cock-fighting ring. particularly adept trainers would find themselves able to make a living betting on the results of pokemon battles however, and would travel from village to village, challenging the best the locals could muster. eventually, they would make enough to retire, and many founded pokemon “gyms”, schools and dojos where people could pay to learn from them and perhaps even challenge them for status. the influence and wealth and gym leaders became such that they de facto controlled their town. this obviously drew the ire of the nobility, who attempted to crack down, but the gyms formed together into leagues and mounted a successful defense. the nobles were forced to play ball with the league, or else were replaced by them.

the resultant society was perhaps more “fair”, it operated under a meritocracy of a sort. anyone who was able to tame or catch a decent selection of pokemon, and challenge the league to make themselves known, could achieve high status and wealth. becoming league champion is, in its way, just as arbitrary an achievement as winning a war: enough to satisfy powerful pokemon’s desire for a competent master. a broader array of pokemon entered “common” use and could be directly leveraged to fulfil the requirements of a larger, more egalitarian dominant social strata, specifically in terms of construction and manufactory. this spurred the equivalent of the pokemon world’s industrial revolution. 

it wasn’t really fair of course, the children of gym leaders and former nobles, those who possessed land to hunt pokemon on. These people all tended to have better access to pokemon, and the money to buy apricorns. but there was no mass movement in the pokemon world equivalent to socialism. the majority of pokemon world’s people were still largely agrarian, the use of pokemon made the patterns of land enclosure and mass employment as laborers seen in our world unnecessary. 

the world carried on much as before until about 60-70 years ago (i’m basing this timing on the fact that some older trainers, such as Draden, suggest that they tamed their original pokemon rather than catching them) when Silph Co invented the mechanical pokeball. they could be manufactured in massive numbers and, more importantly, it could be done very cheaply. suddenly everyone could have pokemon, lots of pokemon. not just a couple of Flaafy that you trained over your entire life, but dozens of the damn things, of every conceivable type, even ones previously considered dangerous like Arcanine and Dragonite. 

suffice to say, this shook things up some. the leagues adapted quickly though, incorporating increased democratization and overhauling their structures to fit with the new paradigm. it may perhaps seem odd that the leagues acquiesced in most respects to popular political demand, but we  have to bear in mind that these were compromise measures: any nation that didn’t adopt the mechanical pokeball was going to fall behind, as mass pokeball ownership exponentially increased industrial capacity, and it was better that than face a real uprising from one of the new dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations who were able to quickly gain power by stealing pokemon (previously virtually impossible). the founding of the International Police around this time shows how seriously the leagues took the threat from Teams.

the new economy has, since then, gradually become divorced from capitalism. power, food, technology and consumer goods are all easily produced with the assistance of pokemon. they have become so cheap to produce that they may as well be free. the only form of poverty exists among the sick and disabled, who can’t catch or train pokemon, and that’s why social safety nets like nationalized healthcare have been broadly adopted. they are paid for by heavy taxes on “pokemon products” (potions, pokeballs, etc) which remain the only goods with any real cost outside of really specialized luxury goods. this is why in black 2 you don’t get paid money for starring in movies; you instead get rare items and pokemon products from your fans. 

most money probably doesn’t even come from jobs, since you need very little of it to keep yourself comfortable. money is kept in circulation mostly through pokemon battles, since trainers are the only ones that really need it (this is what allows Veterans to make a living as trainers also). this isn’t to say that access to resources is equal, far from it! certain old families still have more at their disposal (and more potent pokemon breeding stock). thus rich boys and ladies.

efficiency is only increasing since the development of the pokedex. while most pokemon species were discovered already, the pokedex allows detailed demographic information to be collected, making it easier for people to catch the pokemon they really want. it’s also led to stronger understanding of type interactions, see: the discover of dark and steel types (fairy type is still in peer review). since the pokedex was invented the world has been hyper-modernized, and now teleporters, maglev trains and the like are a reality. this is not a coincidence.

your average citizen in pokemon world is schooled until age 10-12 or so, and then begins a pokemon journey. they bond with various pokemon, and those pokemon determine what career they will have, by social convention. some jobs don’t require pokemon, but these are probably less prestigious outside of management roles. most of them will challenge and beat at least a few gyms. the gym leaders maintain several rosters to provide an appropriate challenge depending on the number of badges their opponent already has. their own personal team will see next to no use in an official context. 

not many people challenge the elite four, the top trainers that are part of the league, but doing so is considered very impressive. again, the elite four don’t use their best teams, they’re mostly battling children here. becoming a region “champion” will qualify a person for a gym leader position or a role in something like the battle institute, with membership in the elite four or even as the sitting champion themselves being a remote possibility for the future. the actual champion champion, the one you challenge, is determined by the elite four fighting among themselves and appointing the winner. they then replace the empty slot from among the gyms. 

yes, it’s possible to essentially join the government of a pokemon world nation by being really good at cockfighting. don’t forget, it’s widely believed (apparently sincerely) that a person who is a good trainer also necessarily has other positive attributes, so this isn’t that weird. and it seems plausible that the league trainers are supported by a larger bureaucracy that handles much of the day to day administration.  

in conclusion: jesus christ i hate myself

(Source: babustation)

I think Mistress Deirdry Noll wanted to be known.

For all that she uses the name of the Shadow Snake, and for all that she uses Yates and his crew, she’s still sort of obvious.

She’s a baker, doing hard, messy work- kneading flour and bending over ovens and presumably when she was younger doing more of the lifting- and yet she wears pretties like necklaces. We never hear how many, but it’s enough that it can clearly still be spoken of in plural even with some of them low enough to be covered by her clothes. Those would get in the way, or get flour all over them and need cleaning, or make her seem like a show-off by wearing them all the time.

And at least three of those items, the lily pendant and the curse charm and the pearl earrings, are ones she claimed as the Snake. The lily is one that hangs below her neckline apparently, but I know from experience that jewelry tends to show itself, especially if you’re moving around like what she would have to for her legitimate work.

Add to that that she holds grudges against the people (mostly children) that stole from her, “We worked like slaves to get out, and that brat took coin from my pocket. Every time she’d robbed me… I’d not gain a copper on business that was meant to put me and mine ahead in the world” (page 546). She wanted out, and she hated those that kept her from doing so. She hated the shows that others made of the little treasures they came by, like Mistress Painter’s pendulum.

So she claimed those treasures, and used them to get ahead, and kept some as trophies for herself. And then she displayed those. The ones that had once thought she was insignificant, an easy mark, could see not to mess with her, and no one would ever delay her rising in the world again. They would know she was and what she could do, and what she could be pushed to do. After all, a nightmare like that’s only powerful if people know of its existence (see Mistress Painter as the first case not believing it was real), and if they come to know its identity as someone no one would’ve considered… That just makes it all the more frightening, and makes more people want to bow to her will.

heartsyhawk:

swan2swan:

Any thoughts on the final outcome of the relationships? People gripe about that a lot, but I feel like the ending was actually decent- not what I preferred, but something that came out realistically. Society changed, and so did Katniss. You?

 

 

 

*looks at the camera in “of course” look*

Sorry. Yeah, okay, well, relationship-wise, I was surprised that I wasn’t that spoiled on the final standing (though I kind of worked it out, I guess, but it still caught me somewhat by surprise in the book…actually hold on, REWRITE).

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For the record I love how this is literally ALWAYS the first question that gets asked…

That said, I thought the relationship outcome stands as pretty solid.

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Haha, sorry, I just like asking that one first not for shipping purposes, but because people seem to miss the point so much. “Katniss didn’t hold to her values by having kids, she got shoehorned!” “Peeta hated her by the end!” Plus the typical ship war stuff. So I just wanted to see where Swan fell on all that.

I appreciate both of you commenting. My view of it is that of course she went with Peeta, because he went through most of what she did (both Arenas, the final go through the Capitol) and worse because of the hijacking. But even with that they created supports for each other- which I feel is kind of plainly stated in the epilogue- and again, society changed. No more Hunger Games, Katniss has no reason to be paranoid about having kids. Sure, she might not have specifically wanted them and it might be more of a “we have no reason in particular to prevent it so if it happens it happens” (my headcanon, especially with how passive the two seemed once they could settle), but her overall views shifted because of the changes she brought about. And of course she can’t go with Gale after everything with Prim- even if he didn’t cause the attack, he built the tools for it, and it’d take a lot to get past that. So I feel part of her decision is made out of respect to her little sister.

dollhouse headcanon involving topher and priya/sierra:

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so….

warriors of kyoshi
suki says “we use our opponent’s force and strength against them”

which i think is a very airbender thing to say for being from (1) a native earthbending avatar who (2) doesn’t take shit

so i have a headcanon now that kyoshi started the kyoshi warriors as like a self-defense thing for the gals because not everyone is lucky enough to be built like her and then realized they were better at fighting than anyone else on the island so was like “okay you guys are in charge now”

belle used to be some kind of soldier

she’s way too accepting of having to pick more lives over those of someone she (somewhat grudgingly) cares about, like she’s been through this before

huh

forgot about the whole wazuki-is-lynx thing

(a little overdone but oh well)

so, headcanon!

serge was deathly afraid of cats after the panther attacked him when he was 3

he later (mostly) got over this fear

i figure him getting over it was from having wazuki-lynx caring for him on the way from chronopolis back to arni

an act of love overcoming a traumatizing event

man little me (8-13ish) was really oblivious

I WOULD COMPLETELY IGNORE STATED PRONOUNS IN GAMES (although sometimes I prefer my read-in because damn my mind was sort of automatically slightly inclusive for being a kid with no idea of gender identity stuff?)

like, just going through Chrono Cross, I thought:

Van was a girl

Sprigg was a guy

Grobyc was a girl who presented male due to a programming glitch

Nikki was a flat-chested girl cross-crossdressing because Miki had issues with overeager fans and Nikki posed as her boyfriend

Pierre was a boy that got spelled into a girl’s body and was actually enjoying acting extra flamboyant to go along with the new looks

Pip was agender and developed traits based on which evolution route you gave them

i mean srsly where did I come up with these? And now I kinda want fic for Nikki and Grobyc (although Grobyc’s would probs be really really angsty)

They could only bend whatever they were born into. Then, the second one could do what the first could plus their own element, and so on for each of the first four.

Just because each Avatar is stronger than the last because they draw on their past lives; the first ones could only develop the skills as the Avatar spirit learned them over multiple lifetimes.

avatarsnowy:

benditlikebolin:

ok snowy’s fic put an interesting thought in my head

what if one day katara and aang do decide to do that and y’know they’re and totally making out/groping each other so they’re super distracted

so they go into the throne room will full intentions of fucking on zuko’s chair

only to see that mai and zuko are already there

then cue awkward eye contact and explanations and IDK I JUST THINK IT’S FUNNY OKAY

THIS HAPPENED

THIS IS CANON

NOTHING IN ANY PART OF THE UNIVERSE WILL CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE

So not only does this happen, but it also repeats itself at the Jasmine Dragon at one point.

And then at some point later, everyone is staying at the Fire Nation Palace. The kids all go to find somewhere out of the way to play, and not only do they walk in on Aang and Katara going at it in a private sitting room sort of thing, but they then walk in on Zuko and Mai doing the same in the throne room.

(Repeat for as many pairings you like and however much you want the kids to be horrified)

This makes Mai and Zuko’s kids realize that they can actually make a fair amount of money by taking Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin’s idea of a “you two are shameless” jar and then intentionally seeking out their parents. Zuko and Mai didn’t realize that second part and went along with it because oh hey, “we’re not ~public~ that often and even if we are the palace is huge.”

They actually wound up putting in more money than Iroh spent on tea on a monthly basis quite often.

(Source: ladycatsa)

Every time the cycle comes back around, that Avatar is born as the opposite sex from their group’s last one.

So female air, male water, female earth, male fire, male air, female water, using the pattern we know (Yangchen, Kuruk, Kyoshi, Roku, Aang, Korra).

The issue is the fire Avatar before Roku is also shown as male (s2, e1)… Except they’re trans*, born female but not identifying as such (which still leaves open identifying as agender but wanting to present as male or anything else).

A thought that’s incredibly obvious but that didn’t occur to me before. >.<

i think i figured it out

snowy

is the atla fandom version

of

joss whedon

(or maybe whedon is the general version of snows EITHER WAY)

Relevant lyric:

And who, in case she doesn’t hang, can say she started with a bang?

After the Fire Nation took over Smellerbee’s village and kicked everyone out so they could make a factory on the land, she got separated from everyone in the middle of a storm while they were crossing a river. She only had her close friend Lyss with her. They wandered through the woods, and wound up stumbling upon a bunch of Fire Nation troops headed through the area.

Before they realized that it was just two young girls, one of the soldiers sent a blast of fire at them. It was a bit much, and started a forest fire. The soldiers fled, and Smellerbee and Lyss also ran for it. However, a tree caught on fire near them and fell, trapping Lyss. Bee couldn’t get her out, and had to slit her own friend’s throat to give her a quick death instead of a slow one by burning.

A few days later, the Freedom Fighters found her by almost tripping over her while she slept, exhausted and covered in dirt, blood on her hands and a large burn on her shoulder, which she still has the scar from.

She never told them that the blood didn’t come from a Fire Nation soldier.

The Southern Air Temple (shown to be where Aang spent a lot of time) was for training in Airbending or simply meditating on your spiritual state, as was the Eastern Air Temple (where Guru Pathik taught Aang about chakras).

The Northern Air Temple (which Aang says should have depictions of the Nomads’ history) and Western Air Temple (built upside-down!) were places for pursuit of knowledge. They hosted a great many more books/scrolls, and those who wanted to exercise their minds more than their spirits went there.