Link Round-Up: Dragons Love Ashen, MJ’s a Mutant

After the hosts wrestle with combat, the house dragon of the 2gms 1mic podcast gives Ashen Stars two wings up.

Impossible Mary Jane pose, mocked by wags.

Korad: Ideology Vote Redux

Okay, the process by which we vote by liking comments clearly isn’t panning out. It requires people to remember to give a blog post a second look. When I put it that way, the flaw inherent in the system becomes obvious. So, one last time, let’s review the choices and vote with a poll over on the old mothership.

One of these ideologies will grow from obscurity to change Korad. Two others will do likewise to test the mettle of the eventual victor. I have taken the liberty of renaming some of the choices into handy -ism forn. They are:

Candlism. “The Candle in the Darkness” is a stoic path that blurs the line between religion and philosophy. The Candle in the Darkness is a school of thought that focuses on sharp rationality and observed phenomena. Gods are discussed in the same tone as ghosts and chivari apes - to be studied and respected exactly as much as direct observation suggests is necessary. While not, strictly speaking, an atheist movement, The Candle in the Darkness has the scorn and hatred of the religious organizations for the way it denounces faith and prayer.

Gentility. The Gentle Prince, a warrior demiurge, turned his back on the strife and violence associated with the Black Goat of the Fens and built a land of peace and ease. All who accept his path have a place prepared for them there. The Gentle Prince teaches loving submission to those greater than yourself and forgiveness for all who ask it. Surrendering to the will of the Gentle Prince (and his clergy) guarantee a place in paradise after death, and protection from the violent and hateful ways of the Black Goat and her angry children.

Nonism: Based on the teachings of nine masters who have since elevated to divinity through perfection of their philosophical purity. Themes include grace, beauty, and aesthetic excellence in one's duties. The Glorious Nine teach that a useful thing is wonderful, but a thing that is useful and beautiful brings us closer to unity with the godhead, and that a joyful heart is as important as a clever mind.

Satirism: Koradian freedman culture is often overlooked, largely because of the permanent second-class, yet not actually oppressive, citizenship that it imposes. Still, it was probably inevitable that certain of its members would turn to magic (the traditional pastime of slightly disreputable social classes everywhere); and it was probably also likely that said magic would break a mainstream Koradian taboo (in this case, the one against frivolity). Needing to keep said frivolity hidden from obvious discovery meant that its practitioners needed to grow adept at hidden meanings of texts and subtle shadings of speech: a Satirist spell is typically a well-disguised mockery of an existing artistic form, with a direct ratio between the power of the spell and the subtlety of the mockery. It is said that a true adept can transmit a blessing or a curse in a simple "Good morning." And then it was discovered that the spell for ensuring the sex of a child was easily within the powers of the adepts... provided that the woman who was the target of the spell accepted the central teaching of the Satirists: "Life is absurdly good." Which sounds a lot more transgressive in the original.

Symbotomism combines anti-Aesigil views with extreme devolutionism. They believe that the Aesigils have had undue influence on the development of human civilization and culture, and it is now necessary to expunge all symbols used to adorn bodies, clothing, architecture... even going so far as to advocate the destruction of all written records and language itself. Humans will become perfect when they develop their own thoughts and language without Aesigil influence.

Head over to LJ to vote for your favorites.