VIDEO: @LOKIOFASGARD (with @beloved)

[selfimage]

Well, hello!

[ it's Loki, decked out in his civvies, green hoodie and fingerless gloves, working his magitek like he's trying to take a selfie. behind him is the backdrop of the middle levels, dimly lit in the dreary evening. there's a flash of a half smile to Team Ophelia, and when he speaks again it's in a wistful, casual tone. ]

It seems that we've landed ourselves a doozy, hm? The poor souls in Rost are are ready for a little revolution, but haven't a solid plan for the rest. [ he makes vague, spread-finger gesture, and his expression says that he's excited about the prospect of an uprooting. ] But like every ready and willing revolution, there should—hm, well ... probably be some longer term changes following it, right?

It's not exactly in the mission specs, which is wringing out the corruption and all ... nor is solidity my specialty, buu-uu-ut!

[ the camera angle changes, as Ahad reaches into the frame and adjusts Loki's arm. they've managed to squish together so that they're both easily viewable, from Loki's magitek. ]

But it would be irresponsible, to leave without ensuring that they have a plan for for governance post-mission. While the ultimate solution should be left up to the people of Drakstaden, [ he says, as if this is a foregone conclusion that requires no debate, ] perhaps we could offer suggestions? What has been successful, in your own worlds?

[ Loki's head is half obscured by the video while he changes the angle to put a pair of wiggly rabbit ears behind Ahad's head. ] That means the suggestion box is open! Let's get a team effort, hm?


[ Note: there will be Loki & Ahad out! they might be nosy in eachother's threads. feel free to thread hop if that's a thing you wanna do!! we encourage it. ]

Comments

voice; @cyclops

[evenslimmer]

If it's the people in charge and not the system they most object to, then I'm sure they have their own ideas about who they would want in replacement. In which case, we should make it possible for them to have an open dialogue about that and break the surveillance and propaganda stranglehold.

If it's the system specifically, then right now it's not clear to me whether or not they're maintaining power because of blackmail, resource disparity and strength of personality, and/or how much they've changed law and customs to maintain control. It's important to know how much their government still possesses the institutional mechanisms to oust unwanted leadership, and if they could function if we could hand the remaining players with integrity sufficient information and space to get the process moving. I'm in favor of checks and balances, but I admit it's not a perfect solution either.

un: urahara

[predomination]

Considering the dossier says we're meant to deal with the corrupt officials and leave it alone, we may have to just place it in their hands, but I'm not comfortable leaving that entirely up to Rost. My, my... This is a situation. We have a lot of royalty among us, but not a lot of people familiar with this kind of government to weed through all that red tape.

[evenslimmer]

[ There's a considerable number of people familiar with a specific type of government, it's true. ]

I don't see that addressing the corruption problem must logically end in a solution that leaves the decision of what comes next solely in the hands of Rost, or ends with them in power. I'm not even certain how many of them think they should be the ones in power. I just think they're angry and desperate.

[ Scott also thinks they're the wrong people to lead right now, but that doesn't make them bad people. Or people with bad ideas. Or people who can't be trusted to participate in the solution. ]

[predomination]

Oh of course. I didn't mean to imply they shouldn't. And we really should get their perspective on it before we get attached to any one idea, but seeing their hideout was very disquieting. They're prepared to do what it takes, which is admirable because anything less than a full commitment to something like this is pointless.

However... It can also be easy to lose sight of the goal when people get angry and desperate and start tasting victory. At the very least, we should keep them in check, no matter what suggestions we offer up.

[evenslimmer]

[ He wants to probe at a lot of that, but Scott's going to start someplace that's most likely to be productive. ]

What about their hideout was so disquieting to you?

[predomination]

Well, to turn a phrase, they're very clearly hammers for a job that requires a screwdriver.

[evenslimmer]

That I can agree with. But if we could find the disappeared dissidents and get them back in the picture, that might give them more flexibility in terms of planning and leadership.

[ It just might require...shifting the politics somewhat. ]

[predomination]

And it might console them a bit. It's hard to be level-headed when you think your allies could be dead or in danger.

[evenslimmer]

It might be the best PR Rost could ever get. "We've returned your loved ones to you!" That'd be a big move. Or at least giving them closure could buy a lot of goodwill.

@falcon

[forcevisions]

[ This makes her realize— ]

If we don't take care of the propaganda convincing them that this government takes care of them, the people will resist Rost's rebellion. [ like stormtroopers protecting the first order that abuses them. ] We need a way to help Rost wake them up to how bad things are here.

[evenslimmer]

Exactly. Right now we can't even be certain how many people actually believe and support the Prime Minister or how many people are just afraid to express it.

[ Scott's learned the hard way how easy it is to make false truths and malicious information go viral. Social media is a plague. It'd only be worse if people could only ever use Twitter. ]

We'd also have to find a sufficiently trustworthy vehicle to get the actual story to the people. We could hijack the broadcasting station, but I don't know whether or not they'd have sufficient faith in Rost to believe a leak from a rebel organization. Or how many people even know who Rost are.

[forcevisions]

We don't have to convince everyone if we can just convince a few who will persuade the rest. If we can find sympathizers and bring them down to the lower levels, they'll see it for themselves.

[evenslimmer]

But we don't have anyone to fill that role right now. I'm not sure Rost, as it is, has enough social clout to really get people on their side. It's not like any of them have had a significant amount of experience with politicking and public speaking.

[forcevisions]

But we have plenty. If we get them up onto the upper levels to meet the right people, they might be able to persuade someone.

[evenslimmer]

Who, Rost? Or do you mean us?

[forcevisions]

If we got our negotiators to the upper levels, in the right circumstances, they might be able to turn some of the citizens up there into sympathizers who would then happily work with Rost to undermine the propaganda's effects.

[evenslimmer]

If we could find the right people to approach, if we had the slightest idea who might be sympathetic to Rost's causes. If we could be certain we could approach them without endangering them or turning them into a potential example about treachery against the Prime Minister. If we sent the right negotiators who could effectively speak the language and make a compelling case.

[dailydouble]

I agree; if the propaganda and surveillance are not ended, none of this will matter. Change cannot happen, if those currently in charge continue to poison the minds of their people.

There likely is no perfect solution, but understanding their current method of governance would likely help determine how we should act.

[ It's almost a relief, that someone is both taking this seriously and is willing to calmly engage in discussion. ]

god allyson I'm so sorry monologuing forever

[evenslimmer]

[ Scott is not here to smear his personal baggage all over a public forum like some hot-headed shounen protagonist. ]

I think shutting down the propaganda and surveillance networks should be our first priority, and getting real information into the hands of the public should be second. We'll have a better chance of accomplishing effective change if we can make them aware of the extent to which they've been disadvantaged, and if we can get them talking, we can expand our options for what to do next. Additionally, we should try to find out what happened to the previously arrested dissidents and see if they're still alive somewhere. Right now we're dealing with a small faction of rebels. Maybe that faction isn't the best choice to lead after we remove the prime minister and his cronies, so expanding the options would be helpful there.

The problem would be accomplishing this while mitigating the possibility of a military crackdown in response. I would expect them to try to tighten or regain their control through force. Talking about coups and information warfare is one thing, but I don't have a viable solution at the moment for what to do about the Vakdir. They're players in this situation too.

[dailydouble]

There is another problem. Even after ending the propaganda, there is a strong possibility that the public may believe we bring more of the same.

[ Everything else sounds very logical and thought out. It's still a pleasant surprise. ]

[evenslimmer]

I know.

[ It's on Scott's list of logistical problems he hasn't any viable solutions to just yet. At least, viable from his perspective. ]

If this were your city, and you had someone like Rost come to you, telling you the government had its boot to the back of your neck...would you believe them?

[dailydouble]

That entirely depends on factors that are difficult to predict.

[ He'll sigh here. ] Even so, it may come down to who benefits most from the current system. Those of the lowest levels may already be aware, but feel there is no possibility of fighting. The highest levels may not want to know what their government is doing. It's difficult to predict.

[evenslimmer]

We don't know any of the players intimately enough to be able to fully predict what might happen. I'm sure there's probably a number of small, subtle moves we could make to put our thumb on the scale and tip things in a new direction, but I don't think I could even begin to tell you what they are.

[ Which leaves them acting as a blunt instrument, rather than a scalpel. Scott doesn't feel very comfortable about that right now. ]

How much do you think the upper class outside of the prime minister's inner circle are really benefiting from this? If he's holding their livelihoods ransom or blackmailing them, they might be open to turning on him at the first sign of blood in the water.

[dailydouble]

Certain members of the upper class waiting to rebel is as likely as anything else here. If it appears that the prime minister is failing, he will be abandoned by those he holds in thrall.

[ What Ahad doesn't say is that he'll likely be abandoned by those looking to become the next prime minister and power-brokers, as well. The difficulty always lies in trying not to simply replicate the same system. ]

[evenslimmer]

[ He doesn't need to say it. Scott can think it. He's not the paranoid plotter he's destined to become, but he's not naive, either. ]

It would be good to have a plan in place for convincing them that a regime-change that favors the rest of the city favors them too. Something better than an appeal to straight logic, because like it or not, that rarely works.

[ A hesitation, and then— ]

It feels like to do this well, we'd need a plan with more moving parts than we might be able to coordinate. [ As they are, right now, as a team. ] But the simplest conceivable solutions definitely won't effectively solve the problem.