Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest

[King crimson]

Man it's been a while since I did a proper scheduling thing. The vote's looking very one sided as of now and there's very little discussion of it so I'll be closing it today at 10 pm PST unless I get a plea to extend it for longer. Got nothing real solid lined up in the immediate but I'm going to try and get something up later today as well. Is there anything in particular people want to hear me ramble about or some part of the DCQU people want me to explore?

 

[Kir the Wizard]

Man it's been a while since I did a proper scheduling thing. The vote's looking very one sided as of now and there's very little discussion of it so I'll be closing it today at 10 pm PST unless I get a plea to extend it for longer. Got nothing real solid lined up in the immediate but I'm going to try and get something up later today as well. Is there anything in particular people want to hear me ramble about or some part of the DCQU people want me to explore?

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Depiction of countries outside the U.S. in DC and in the game universe

 

[Ugolino]

1. ...OMACs?
2. Ground level or government research into the downright bizarre fictional history/cosmology/nature of reality in the DC Universe?
3. Earth being vulnerable to a lot more extinction events and the pressing need for, say, some sort of offworld bomb shelter that makes "asteroid impact risk" look charmingly quaint by comparison.

 

[King crimson]

1. ...OMACs?

Click to shrink...

OMACs are super interesting historically within DC in and of themselves as the term "OMAC" can refer to a lot of different things. Initially OMAC stood for "One Man Army Corps" and had to do with future stuff but the more modern incarnation of OMAC stands for "Omni Mind And Community" (which I think is a stupid acronym and something like "Overwritten Machine Anthropological Controllers" makes much more sense but I'm not being hired by DC to do acronyms any time soon). There's also been the term Observational Metahuman Activity Construct thrown around. Then there are the OWAC's and the ReMAC's and just a bunch of stuff going on with the terms.

I'll admit that I personally will more likely use the more modern take on OMACs than the older time travel-esque one, even if I don't think I want to go with the vaccine distribution method (in the DCU if I remember correctly the nanotechnology to make people into OMACs was distributed through vaccines), but the acronym is fairly free to use right now.

I can't talk too much about them in quest because they haven't solidly formed quite yet so a lot of this topic would be about the history and use of the term and I'm not sure how much that interests people.

 

[Ugolino]

OMACs are super interesting historically within DC in and of themselves as the term "OMAC" can refer to a lot of different things. Initially OMAC stood for "One Man Army Corps" and had to do with future stuff but the more modern incarnation of OMAC stands for "Omni Mind And Community" (which I think is a stupid acronym and something like "Overwritten Machine Anthropological Controllers" makes much more sense but I'm not being hired by DC to do acronyms any time soon). There's also been the term Observational Metahuman Activity Construct thrown around. Then there are the OWAC's and the ReMAC's and just a bunch of stuff going on with the terms.

I'll admit that I personally will more likely use the more modern take on OMACs than the older time travel-esque one, even if I don't think I want to go with the vaccine distribution method (in the DCU if I remember correctly the nanotechnology to make people into OMACs was distributed through vaccines), but the acronym is fairly free to use right now.

I can't talk too much about them in quest because they haven't solidly formed quite yet so a lot of this topic would be about the history and use of the term and I'm not sure how much that interests people.

Click to shrink...

Outerworld Monitor and Auto Containment?

And yeah DCUO gave me a fondness for the cape-killer nanotech version...

Spoiler

Especially since Brainiac helped Brother Eye turn it into a full-on plague very briefly, as Batman found out the hard way...

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dcuo/images/0/09/84817_DC_con_icnChar_OMAC_fig_color.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110225011932

 

[King crimson]

I'm going to close the vote now. The next update should be up by the weekend.

 

[King crimson]

Welp I figured people would enjoy hearing my thoughts on this subject matter so here you go. Fair warning some things said here likely will be politically charged to some degree or another. I am doing my best to not be offensive and to represent places somewhat fairly but this is a matter that will almost certainly touch on some political elements as planned depictions of countries can get very charged very quickly. I hope people like this as I'm not sure how well it ultimately turned out but I thought it would be neat.

King Crimson Rambles About International Elements in Comics and in Quest
A Bit of Background
Before discussing international elements in comic books and in quest I think it's fair to lay some cards on the table regarding my own status. I am both a US citizen and a citizen of Israel. While I currently live in California, I have lived in other places and I am broadly aware of other countries. That being said I am by no means an expert on anything. I am fairly well traveled in my opinion but I have not been everywhere nor have I seen everything.

I do my best to try and portray other places fairly and in an interesting manner even if I do run into issues of not knowing much about the subject matter (I've never been to Australia or Maryland yet I have used them as locations in Quest). Generally speaking I think that you ought to try and capture a sense of wonder in each location that's being used and delved in.

Another little quirk I've tried to pick up over the years is phasing the word "American" out of my personal lexicon. I'm not the most successful at it but "American" is a nonsense in accurate term that mostly came about due to foreshortening. The United States of America is not "America" even if it can be referred to as such and certain characters in universe should 100% refer to it as such. Even ignoring the fact that there is a North and South America, Canada and Mexico are both pointedly on the North American continent. While it's not really something that's necessary due to offending anyone I feel that making that distinction is important.

None of this is really super important to the perspective I'm going to give on comics and the international elements placed within but I do want to paint a bit of a picture of what kind of person I am so that my own fundamental biases come to light at least a little bit when discussing this subject matter.

Other Countries in comics
I think it's fair to say that traditionally other countries are not spectacularly well portrayed in comics. This holds true for both Marvel and DC Comics for the most part but due to their tendency towards strong USA-centrism and their origins as existing almost entirely within those countries the USA is probably one of the most well explored and fleshed out areas in the entire DCU. Other countries aren't quite so lucky.

I'm willing to bet that there are more German characters who are Nazi's then German characters who are not Nazi's, Russia is composed of almost entirely Soviets and spies and Japan and China have an uncomfortable number of characters who look like racist caricatures. Smaller countries like Uruguay, Finland and Laos get next to nothing and then you have countries like Australia and India who are major world powers but have an incredibly low number of named characters from them and very little focus on them in comics. I don't see this as a huge blackmark on comics as they have gotten better and they do have good non-USA characters. I just think it's fair to point out that comics generally not the most even handed with their depiction of other countries historically.

Comics also have a tendency to invent locations for characters to be from so they can tell whatever story they want with whatever sort of set up they want without offending people or delving too far into an alternate history. And since their intended audience appears to be people from the United States who don't know much about the world they don't have to get into it too much. Even really great pieces of DC media like the DCAU don't really deal with real world countries that often.

Part of the reason why comic writers do this is because writing about a people and a place you are unfamiliar with is really really hard. It's inherently difficult to liken the mundane aspects of that setting and to ground characters in that culture and world if you're not part of it yourself.

My Approach to Writing International Elements
I'm not as beholden to playing it safe as comics media generally is and I'm going full on alt-history in this quest, even if those elements are for the most part not constantly loud and in your face, so I have a lot more flexibility in how I can depict other countries. That being said I do want to be respectful to other people and other countries so I try to portray them evenly and fairly as best I can. I do feel confident enough in portraying countries as actors on the world stage in this quest.

I will say that I think the best way to portray countries is to give them multiple perspectives within each country and to not have the characters of a certain ethnicity be defined by their ethnicity. A country ought to have multiple characters who all disagree with each other to some degree or another even if they all share some elements and are more aware of one another than they might otherwise be. I want to try and give each country it's own unique in-universe feeling and standards and then have characters warp and react to those standards and challenge or oppose or accept them in matters that make them distinct and interesting if I want to explore that element of who they are.

I do think it's fair to note that I will not be attempting to translate dialect. There are regional dialects and stereotypes associated with them but I do not want to try and bring that into a foreign character's presented words. I write almost everything in English, thus I'd need to effectively translate a dialect into an equivalent English one and making things more confusing and losing stuff in translation. Below are a bunch of my thoughts on how to portray various countries in the quest. Keep in mind that all of the stuff listed below is subject to change and isn't by any means the final word on the subject and that things can change.

Russia
Russia is inherently tricky for me because it's very tempting to just give in to the stereotypical portrayal of Russia as a whole because it's easy and because a lot of characters lend themselves to that. Still I'd like to do much better than that.

I think the most critical thing to my depiction of Russia in quest is that they're fundamentally divided and shattered now. The Soviet Union fell relatively recently in quest (I don't think a full decade has passed) and so while there are various remnants of other groups out and around there's no real unity. As such Russia is struggling to redefine and reconstitute itself and is leaning on certain super-elements to do so. However because of the amount of time since the Cold War the US and countries allied with them will push back.

Out of the chaos of Russia's general state you get things like Polkolistan forming their own country and the KGBeast showing up in the USA having slipped the leash. There are still people loyal to the idea of the Russia of old but the country is for the most part moving forward and trying to find their footing on the international stage.

China
I don't have a particularly pleasant portrayal of China. I probably would characterize the quest's China as selfish, secretive and constantly seeking to assert superiority. China is a country with a strong central authoritative government and one that seeks to elevate itself to being a world power. China hasn't made any big moves yet because they're still building up.

Admittedly there are a lot more martial artists in quest China, as you've got character like Lady Shiva and her sister who are from the country and there is a martial arts tradition there but while the country does somewhat retain them it is more interested in moving forward.

China's likely going to be incredibly obstructionist to foreign individuals who they view as a potential threat and they'll almost certainly have strong authoritarian leanings. The government will almost certainly be incredibly unpleasant even if the people themselves and the heroes of the country will not necessarily be.

Germany
Germany is interesting because there's a strong temptation to just take the easy way out and make Germany the Nazi capital of the world but that feels incredibly lazy to me. I'd rather make Nazi's a problem for the whole world instead of just Germany.

I instead would prefer to depict Germany as in the middle of a sort of schism. There are some radical individuals who want to return back to 1939 but for the most part Germany is incredibly anti-Nazi and is generally pretty good on the human rights type of stuff. They have a lot of care for law and the rule of law and human rights.

Germany in general does have a small superheroics scene and they have issues with a lot of idiots with delusions of Nazihood coming into the country which causes them problems but for the most part Germany is uninterested in entering any sort of superhero arms race. They are attempting to instead develop a suit for their police force/military on par with what the US and Russia have to more effectively regulate things. Germany is quietly ambitious and industrious but at the same time highly opinionated on certain subjects. Germany would likely be amongst the first to condemn Count Vertigo for his rule of Vlatava.

Japan
Japan is interesting for me since I feel that the depiction I'm going with is somewhat unique. In quest Japan has a strong focus on honor, loyalty and social obligation. They are generally fairly conservative and the power in the nation is concentrated in a few key hands. They are still democratic even if they have been making a turn towards more authoritarian measures.

Japan also has a highly corrupt legal and police force. The push towards convicting no matter what has lead to people being incentivized to not think twice about who they are locking up and why. That being said Japan's super-teams are likely going to have idol/celebrity culture elements mixed in. I also think it's worth noting that the various yakuza groups of Japan generally manage to slip the net of government authority and crackdowns and in more rural areas they can effectively contest and pass whatever they want.

Japan is primarily interested in modernizing and while they don't want to abandon their past and their history, the country as a whole is generally interested in securing a strong foothold in the ever changing future.

Mexico
I won't say too much about Mexico save that Mexico has a lot of problems dealing with various cartels and syndicates which is only made worse by the presence of individuals like Duran who hate absolutely everyone. Mexico's official government is generally pretty friendly and open to working with others but the various criminal elements present in Mexico are fairly difficult to stamp out and regularly cause them problems.

Canada
Canada is likely to be depicted as a more liberal country than the USA. They're not nearly as aggressive or interested in competing on the world stage and are generally content improving things for themselves. Canada has no real interest in making the first big leaps and generally likes to wait to see what other countries do before adopting measures themselves.

There should be some degree of difference in French and English Canadians but not huge ones.

Israel
Israel is probably going to get a grey depiction in quest. They're almost certainly going to militarize any technology they can as well as any metahumans willingly working for them but at the same time they are going to be constantly pressed by attacks from different sides. Israel is generally willing to work with other nations but some of the principles zealots within the nation cripple their ability to get things done diplomatically and they likely won't be great at actually working with others.

Israel will likely never be front and center in the quest but I'm likely generally going to depict them more positively than negatively.

England
England is interesting. England isn't really a country as far as I'm aware (The UK is though) and the various factions within England all have their own distinct opinions and positions. Generally though they're going to be content doing their own thing and remaining separate from the rest of the world when possible. They'll generally side with the US on various matters and there are no real hot button issues there for the most part just yet.

They do have an absolutely massive magic scene as well as a thriving superhero and villain community. Per square mile England might actually have the most enhanced individuals than any other country but because of that a lot of these extranormal elements have their own cultures and rules as opposed to the US or other countries which tend to be less largely organized.

France
France is likely going to be portrayed for the most part pretty positively. The government itself is very pro-democracy and will generally be relatively hands-off. They're not interested in being the absolute best so much as they are in staying relevant and near the top.

France does have a developed superhero and villain community. The Brain is French and a lot of his musings on philosophy are inspired by French philosophers. The Brain is by no means a patriotic Frenchman and he actually has a lot of issues with the country and indeed the world at large. Part of that is due to being a gay man in the 60s but he actually distinctly disdains the French government for not actually living up to what he thinks more egalitarian ideals would look like in practice.

 

[silvershark]

So, (likely dumb) question, does Snowflame exist in this world? And if so, is he a drug lord in Columbia, or Isla Nevada?

 

[King crimson]

So, (likely dumb) question, does Snowflame exist in this world? And if so, is he a drug lord in Columbia, or Isla Nevada?

Click to shrink...

Yes Snowflame does exist in quest. He's been in Columbia and I've been rolling for him.

 

[DeleteWolf]

I like your description of Germany, so if you need help with something concerning it, I, someone with an very rudimentary grasp on both its culture and language, courtesy of living in it for 17 years, will gladly help

 

[Negation]

Germany is interesting because there's a strong temptation to just take the easy way out and make Germany the Nazi capital of the world but that feels incredibly lazy to me. I'd rather make Nazi's a problem for the whole world instead of just Germany.

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No man. All the Nazis left Germany after WW2 so as not to aasociate with "surrender monkeys".

Nazi Hideaway Found Deep Within Argentinian Jungle

A site composed out of some three compact-walled lookouts and suspected to be a Nazi hideaway was discovered by a team from the University of Buenos Aires

www.warhistoryonline.com

They all moved to Argentina. Most probably Cândido Godói though it is disputed.

 

[DeleteWolf]

No man. All the Nazis left Germany after WW2 so as not to aasociate with "surrender monkeys".

Nazi Hideaway Found Deep Within Argentinian Jungle

A site composed out of some three compact-walled lookouts and suspected to be a Nazi hideaway was discovered by a team from the University of Buenos Aires

www.warhistoryonline.com

They all moved to Argentina. Most probably Cândido Godói though it is disputed.

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Yeah, all high officials, so all "intellegent" nazis, but that doesnt mean there are no more nazis, Germany would not have functioned anymore
My grand-uncle fought in the war as a combat-medic and after it ended he could go back home with almost no consequences, and at this point no one knew his wife smuggled their Jewish friends out of the country, because they couldn't afford to lose the only doctor in a very large radius, but yeah, many hardcore nazis aren't present anymore
But the world doesn't know that, so every wannabe nazi in the whole western world streams to the worlds "Nazis Capital" not knowing their unwelcome
Also the wall wall fell not to long ago, so that's its own can of worms

 

[King crimson]

No man. All the Nazis left Germany after WW2 so as not to aasociate with "surrender monkeys".

Nazi Hideaway Found Deep Within Argentinian Jungle

A site composed out of some three compact-walled lookouts and suspected to be a Nazi hideaway was discovered by a team from the University of Buenos Aires

www.warhistoryonline.com

They all moved to Argentina. Most probably Cândido Godói though it is disputed.

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In comics there are a lot of German Nazis who stayed in the country.

Regardless the idea that all the Nazis left Germany is blatantly wrong. People like Martin Heidegger with very strong ties to the Nazi's stayed in Germany and died there. According to certain studies over half the West German government's Judgement Ministry from 1949 to 1973 was made up of people who had been members of the Nazi party including some members who had been part of the SA. Denazification of Germany was a thing that was attempted after WW2 in Germany and most people gave up on it. I'm not arguing that Germany still has a lot of Nazis in it or that there's something wrong with the country (from what I know they're actually pretty on top of that) but the idea that all Nazis left Germany as soon as the war was over is absolutely laughable.

The idea that they all moved to Argentina is also laughable. The ratlines primarily funneled to Latin America with Argentina being destination number 1 for notable Nazis to escape to but at the same time Nazis also fled to Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Guatemala, the USA, Spain, Switzerland and more. And then there are also things like Operation Paperclip which actively brought people who were members of the Nazi Party like Werner von Braun into the United States.

The information you've stated is just straight up incorrect. Nazis remained in Germany and Nazis fled to more than just Argentina. While a lot of the Nazi leadership was decapitated and removed from Germany the 8.5 million people in the party in 1945 didn't just go away and disappear. They likely weren't all hardcore believers but they were Nazis.

Edit: People in Germany at this time grew up and learned of their parents involvement with the Nazis and then had to grapple with that issue. In my opinion, part of why Germany is probably more anti-Nazi than most other countries is that they didn't get to forget about the realities of the Nazi Party after a few decades.

Edit#2: For a more famous member of the Nazi party who died in Germany you can look at Hugo Boss who literally designed the SS uniforms. His company is still around and still has its headquarters in Germany.

 

[DeleteWolf]

For the real world issue of nazis in Germany after ww2 read about the Denazification HERE: Denazification - Wikipedia

 

[Negation]

Then again it does open up several plotlines for "Secret Nazi supersoldier/occult labs" littered all over the Southern Americas. That as well as the Arctic & Antarctica.

And early in the Cold War, the Soviets seizing those labs in the Arctic and NATO seizing those in Antarctica.

 

[DeleteWolf]

Edit: People in Germany at this time grew up and learned of their parents involvement with the Nazis and then had to grapple with that issue. In my opinion, part of why Germany is probably more anti-Nazi than most other countries is that they didn't get to forget about the realities of the Nazi Party after a few decades.

Click to shrink...

Yes and No

We learned what they did and sometimes even visited sites like concentration camps or the "Drückeberger Gasse" while being told its significance, but hey never get in your face and shout "NAZIS ARE BAD" like America tries to do, you should come to that conclusion on your own, what they teach instead is a general distaste for racism and *¹ equality in general

Nazis aren't really a really relevant part of society in germany other than the AFD (Alternative for Germany) who is a very right-wing party, having people with nazi and other racist connections in it,but seeing as we have around 10 parties, that isnt as significant as you think and they are more of an "Make Germany great again" party who wants do stuff like bring back the Mark a Germany exclusive currency, but they are more racist that nazis, they even have a person of color from Africa as prominent member not to excuse them, they are very much hated and deserve it absolutely, but that's the extent of racism i am aware of

For every fashist rally we have counter rally, so you can have a better mental picture

Edit:
*¹: support for

 

[Torgamous]

Then again it does open up several plotlines for "Secret Nazi supersoldier/occult labs" littered all over the Southern Americas. That as well as the Arctic & Antarctica.

And early in the Cold War, the Soviets seizing those labs in the Arctic and NATO seizing those in Antarctica.

Click to shrink...

Also of note is that America actively recruited Nazi scientists, so you don't really even need to leave home to find a secret Nazi supersoldier lab.

 

[Eldritch Echo]

Japan

Japan also has a highly corrupt legal and police force.

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Im as a Russian, incredibly saddened that the Russian police are not known to the world as the most corrupt!

 

[King crimson]

Yes and No

We learned what they did and sometimes even visited sites like concentration camps or the "Drückeberger Gasse" while being told its significance, but hey never get in your face and shout "NAZIS ARE BAD" like America tries to do, you should come to that conclusion on your own, what they teach instead is a general distaste for racism and *¹ equality in general

Nazis aren't really a really relevant part of society in germany other than the AFD (Alternative for Germany) who is a very right-wing party, having people with nazi and other racist connections in it,but seeing as we have around 10 parties, that isnt as significant as you think and they are more of an "Make Germany great again" party who wants do stuff like bring back the Mark a Germany exclusive currency, but they are more racist that nazis, they even have a person of color from Africa as prominent member not to excuse them, they are very much hated and deserve it absolutely, but that's the extent of racism i am aware of

For every fashist rally we have counter rally, so you can have a better mental picture

Edit:
*¹: support for

Click to shrink...

As someone who graduated from an American High School, while I cannot speak for everyone, I can tell you that the Nazi's are not at all strongly focused on in education. WW2 is loosely taught but a lot of the focus is on the United States role in it. The USA's education system does not shout "NAZI'S ARE BAD" and does very little to explain what they actually did. Lebensraum is a term that I remember being taught in my high school history class while "holocaust" was not.

I've not been to Germany or gone through its public education system but I can say that the simple fact that you learned what Nazis did already makes you wildly different than the US in terms of how teaching about WW2 works where I imagine you get framing of "people in Germany did these horrible things" whereas the US generally gets WW2 framed like it's Lord of the Rings and the US had to smite a bunch of generically evil people after Europe cocked it up (this is not at all true but that's generally how it's taught).

I'd argue that even by your own standards Nazis are way more relevant to the culture of Germany than they are to places like the USA. After all if every fascist rally gets a counter rally in response then the people are a lot more vigilant about such things than a lot of other countries. Again I believe that a lot of this is simply due to being unable to forget what the Nazis did and who they were and what occurred. The Nazis are not in power anymore in any meaningful fashion and they're not dominant in society but they are immensely culturally relevant due to being reviled and known to the people at large. People in the US can and will do dumb stuff like draw swastikas near elementary schools (this happened where I lived) or high schoolers will yell out "Seig Heil" at a graduation party. I imagine Germany is a lot more hostile to similar acts and thus people can't do so "casually" if they do so at all.

Edit: Keep in mind I'm talking about people drawing swastikas on public property near children or using Nazi salutes in California which is a notoriously liberal state in the USA. There are naturally differences everywhere you go but I think that its safe to say that the US is a lot more lenient and open to people making use of Nazis and their symbolism than Germany is.

Im as a Russian, incredibly saddened that the Russian police are not known to the world as the most corrupt!

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I mean "most corrupt" would probably be a country like Somalia if I remember correctly. Russia from what I know is pretty bad but they're not the absolute worst.

Although if it makes you feel any better, while I'm not portraying the Russian police as "corrupt" per se that's mostly because I'm generally portraying them as immensely disorganized and constantly working at cross-purposes with each other. They haven't stabilized enough to really solidly become "corrupt" since people are all doing wildly different things and so corruption is naturally going to be rife once the nations various forces solidify into a single entity.

 

[Sirrocco]

I think it's fair to say that traditionally other countries are not spectacularly well portrayed in comics. This holds true for both Marvel and DC Comics for the most part but due to their tendency towards strong USA-centrism and their origins as existing almost entirely within those countries the USA is probably one of the most well explored and fleshed out areas in the entire DCU. Other countries aren't quite so lucky.

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Yeah. Marvel, man... when the rightful ruler of an African nation is spending a significant percentage of his time fighting street crime in New York City as a costumed vigilante....

Oh, uh... Hi, Mari. Didn't see you standing there.

 

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah. Marvel, man... when the rightful ruler of an African nation is spending a significant percentage of his time fighting street crime in New York City as a costumed vigilante....

Oh, uh... Hi, Mari. Didn't see you standing there.

Click to shrink...

Is Mari the rightful ruler? I forget if her dad was a monarch or an elected politician.

And at this point, of course, her home country's monarchy would be pretty much a dead letter even if it was a monarchy. At some point, it's like surviving scions of the Romanov family who fled with the Whites just finding something else to do with their lives.

 

[Sirrocco]

Is Mari the rightful ruler? I forget if her dad was a monarch or an elected politician.

And at this point, of course, her home country's monarchy would be pretty much a dead letter even if it was a monarchy. At some point, it's like surviving scions of the Romanov family who fled with the Whites just finding something else to do with their lives.

Click to shrink...

Well... her father was president, before he was murdered by her uncle (who then became president in a coup) and I'd thought that there was some actual legitimacy associated with the Tantu totem, but I admit that I might have been overselling that one a little.

 

[King crimson]

So I figured it was unnecessary to respond to what was clearly a joke but I will clarify on the matter. Mari's not really a legitimate political figure in any meaningful sense. Her father was a president that was elected democratically. He was then killed by his brother who launched a coup.

Mari did escape Zambesi with the Tantu totem but that's actually an artifact that was technically passed down from her mother's side of the family (the titular Tantu is an ancestor on her mother's side) and has nothing to do with kingship or legitimacy in the modern day (even if there are legends about it and its power). Her father was an elected politician and didn't have anything to do with the Tantu totem. The joke isn't really accurate to the state of things because she's not really the rightful ruler by most metrics even if you could create the narrative of her being the daughter of the last "rightful ruler" of Zambesi come to take her father's place and restore order to the country. That makes her have a good narrative but it isn't some sort of inherent political legitimacy.

 

[King crimson]

So I figured people would like a status update on how things are going. The update should be out tomorrow and I've got something lined up for you guys today but whether or not it comes out is dependent on how work runs for me. Thank you all for your patience.

 

[Swedish15]

Regarding Nazis in Germany... wow, let's talk about a grenade. IRL?
* There are Nazi groups active in Germany, compare the NSU, who are probably the most prolific terrorists in Germany of the past ten years.
* Our extremely right-wing party, the AfD, has taken 10% during the last general elections. Now, they are not entirely comprised of racists, *but* there are racist undertones.
* At the same time, there's a strong denounciation of Naziism through most parties.

But eh, if you want to know more, I know something of the current political situation in Germany.