Hello world...

N.B.: Any post marked as a “Legacy Fringe Review” is an old blog entry moved to this one and lightly edited for format, with some minor errors corrected (and undoubtedly new ones added for balance!).

This is an experiment. I'd like to start reviewing little-known RPGs, past and present, as a way of introducing concepts and ideas that are not known at all in the mainstream of our hobby and are often barely known even among the more … shall we say “obsessive”? … elements.

(Yes, I include myself among the obsessives.)

The first game I'd like to review is a came by a small-press Canadian publisher called Spark.

Spark is a decidedly non-traditional role-playing game. Because of this I cannot work from assumptions that most would share. Instead I will be using a form of critique I first saw in Goethe's writings when critiquing theatre. In brief, I will be answering three questions:

1. What was Jason Pitre, the author of Spark, trying to accomplish?
2. How well does he accomplish this?
3. Was this a goal worth accomplishing?

What is Spark about?

Taking a look at the back blurb we see three things in bold:

• Challenge your beliefs
• Make choices that matter
• Build and discover worlds

Inside, in the introduction, we get some more interesting insights into the intent of the designer:

• ...most important characters in a fictional world.
• Explore the themes and issues that matter to you.
• Make meaningful choices...

There is a consistent theme in all of this: meaning and choice. And note that second item where you explore themes/issues that matter to you.

How does Spark do this?

Spark is almost unique in how it approaches everything. From the setting to the characters to the actual game play, Spark is a very different game and those differences are focused on the actual goals in the design.

Setting

To enable this challenging voyage of discovery, the game involves, chiefly, the joint creation of a fictional world. Although the game comes with three sample settings (NeoNihon, Quiet Revolution, and Elemental Kingdom), the game is really intended to be played by people who've made their own settings jointly. The idea here is that having a custom-made setting makes the game context evocative and meaningful to the players, thus making exploration of its themes more personally satisfying.

Settings are created by cooperatively listing favourite media; gathering inspirations; describing some kind of genre from this (NeoNihon, for example, is “Shogonate Science Fiction”); establishing “Facts” (concrete, evocative places, peoples, etc. based on inpirations); providing a title; establishing the setting's “Beliefs” to help guide the themes and thoughts the group wants to explore; establish the GM's attributes (the GM attributes are used in playing the setting out): Body, Heart, Mind, and Spark; creating the setting's chief “Factions” and their mandates; creating the “Faces” (the most important NPCs story-wise for each faction), and create the ties between the factions. Once all this is completed, agendas are set—short term goals aimed at realizing faction mandates. Players are given “influence” at this point and the setting creation is complete.

This sounds like it's difficult, but the system is very regulated, very clearly explained and has very thorough examples to inspect to see how it all fits together. As a result even on a first run-through setting creation will take up 2-3 hours of your first session. Not bad at all for creating a whole world, is it?

Character

Once you've made the setting, the players and GM then cooperatively (yes, everybody gets involved) create their “Protagonist Characters” (PCs). The process here, as with the setting above, follows a simple, cooperative procedure. You start with a concept based on an agenda, and give the character a name. You then work on individual beliefs (which may or may not support or contradict or supplement the setting beliefs). You set attribute levels (same as the GM attributes above). You name talents (skills and abilities). You then answer personal history questions to help establish relationships among PCs and to factions. Each answered question gets an influence marker (which is the currency of the game play). Finally you narrate a prelude for your character.

Game play

To be honest, your first session of Spark will likely be just creating the setting and the characters. Once this is complete however, you start play. As with setting and character creation above, this is very formulaic and procedural. And this is where the game takes a hard swerve into unfamiliar territory for most role-playing gamers.

Overall a game session has three steps: Advancing, Scening, Reflecting. Advancing is the phase where the factions move forward on agendas and goals. Players work together to decide which factions complete their agendas, how the world changes as a result, and any new agendas that come out as a result. Play then advances into a series of scenes. When there is no more scening to be done, the players reflect on the events and use this opportunity to inspire each other, to confirm or change beliefs, or other such things.

Scening itself is similarly structured. Each scene begins with framing, proceeds into multiple series of collaboration or conflict events, and then ends with closing. Collaboration is cooperative in nature where players make “bold statements” to progress the scene. If all players agree with said bold statement, it is writ and becomes the truth. If, however, any player disagrees with the statement, conflict occurs, dice are pulled out, alternative statements are provided, sides are drawn, and dice are rolled to see which statement becomes the truth.

This will be the part where most traditional role-players balk. I've seen people recoil from this with a loud “that's stupid!” because, unlike most RPGs, Spark does not descend from competitive wargaming in its routes. It seems to descend more from improvisational theatre. The goal in Spark is not to compete against the world, against the GM, or against fellow players. The goal in Spark is to work together to tell a good, challenging story. Conflict happens when people have different visions for where the story should go, and resolution of it shifts that direction. It is not for everyone, but those for whom it is will find it compelling. (Like me.)

In the closing of a scene, the usual stuff like healing, etc. occurs, but too, influence points are awarded for people challenging their beliefs in the scene. Since influence points are how you win conflicts (partially) there is benefit to tackling the very themes you chose for setting and character both head-on in play.

There is a whole lot more to the game (obviously) than what I've outlined above, but what you get above gives you the flavour: you create characters who are important at a fundamental level to the setting. In the process of telling the story of that setting, you challenge beliefs collaboratively or in conflict. When enough beliefs change, so does the setting: changed characters change the world (so to speak). This is a very different notion of role-playing and it is one that needs to be tried — even if in the end it is not to your taste, it broadens horizons and it gives you, perhaps, ideas you can use in other games.

But is it any good?

Here's where we get to question 2: how well does Spark accomplish what it sets out to do? And the truth is that while it is my favourite game currently, it is flawed. The author thinks one of the flaws is that he didn't provide a setting so the game had no appeal. To this I say “poppycock!”. The fact that you make a bespoke setting tailored to your group is part of what makes the game so compelling in my view. Having a default setting would make this just another role-playing game with oddball mechanics.

Where the game does fall down, in my opinion, is where it pays homage to more normal role-playing games. Look above at how settings and characters are defined: Body, Heart, Mind, Spark. Characters are further defined with talents. We're not that far from the bog-standard “attributes and skills” model, and this model is not what Spark should be about, IMO.

Apparently the author agrees.

A setting published for this game—SIG: The City Between—makes several changes to the rules for that setting, but recommends that three of them be retrofitted into all Spark games. The first of these is the condensing of the attributes into “Spark” and “Smoke”: the first being your ability to impact the setting, and the second to govern how the setting reacts to you. This is a far simpler model than the one in Spark proper, and to me it reflects better on the core concepts of the game. (Other changes modify the procedures for game play slightly, but do not make as major a change as this core one.)

So, in terms of whether the game accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish, the answer is an unqualified “yes ... but”. It is not perfect, and the author himself recognizes these weaknesses. He also does a good job of refocusing on the actual goal in a supplement. That being said, “perfect” is the enemy of “good enough” and even straight out of the package Spark is more than “good enough”. It is superb and it accomplishes its main goal—telling challenging stories about conflicting beliefs—very well.

But is it worth doing?

That is, naturally, completely a subjective call. I've made no secret of my admiration for this game and thus the answer for me is “well, duh!” So the more interesting question for this review is “is this game worth you trying?”

And to this I also give a “yes ... but”.

Anybody who is tired of the wargaming roots of role-playing games who wants to try something different on for size, just to broaden horizons, should give Spark a try.

Anybody who has a friend or SO who is actively turned off by the wargames-informed nature of most RPGs might want to give this game a try with them to show them the joys of RP.

Anybody who likes the idea of a game focused on real-world beliefs being explored in a safe, bespoke way will probably do well with this game.

If, however, you're perfectly satisfied with normal role-playing games—and I stress that there is nothing wrong with this!—and especially if you don't understand why someone might even look for something else, you will probably not enjoy Spark and I would give it a miss in your shoes.

(But you'll be missing something sublime!)

Good News Update

Jason Pitre has, since this review was first written, released Spark as a “Spark System Reference Guide” under CC0 terms, making it freely available for use in other people's RPG designs.

#FringeReviews #TTRPG #RPG #Review #LegacyReview

A while ago I started a series of reviews on a game-focused web site. The intent was (and remains) to introduce games, both newer and older, that exist on the fringe of the role-playing hobby. Several things happened, however, that slowed me down and eventually ground the reviews to a halt:

1. The game site I was using had pretty bad tools for its blogging. It was always a chore to get things done. I was willing to do it, but it was friction.
2. COVID-19 happened and I spiralled into a bit of a dark space.
3. My personal life got very busy and made spending the effort of in-depth reviewing not worth the friction of the web site's tooling.

Gamer+ is now a Mastodon instance (where I'm still active for gaming-related interaction) which leaves my old reviews in archives and makes it impossible for me to continue them—just as I get the motivation to write new ones.

So this is where my Fringe Reviews go to now. I will be interlacing re-publications of my old reviews here with new reviews of games, both old and new, that I think are of interest for some reason or another.

#FringeReviews #TTRPG #RPG #Reviews #Introduction

(German version of this article: https://wordsmith.social/felixernst/mein-anteil-an-der-erstellung-des-hintergrundbildes-von-plasma-6-1-reef)

Plasma 5

A short recap: In Plasma 5 we predominantly had wallpapers with geometric features. They showed digital representations of nature or were completely abstract, which I never really liked. Perhaps that was trendy for a while, or maybe technical Linux users enjoy such wallpapers, which are quite obviously made using a computer. However, these days, we do not only offer the best package of security, privacy, usability, and power for tech enthusiasts, but for everyone. Therefore, it is in my opinion important that our wallpapers represent not just what we stand for but also what we want to enable. In the best case, we enthuse a broad public this way. We should move on from the purely technical towards what is human and incorporate the creative, inventive, or artistic, which will always be absent from machines. A down-to-earth example of this are wallpapers that look like they could be painted on a simple piece of paper.

Plasma 6.0

For the MegaRelease and Plasma 6.0 KDE arranged a competition for the next wallpaper. There was a jury, and even though I had no part in any of this, I was in full agreement with the jury about the winning image “Scarlet Tree”: As far as I know, the winning artist never made a public appearance and the only thing I know of them is their pseudonym “axo1otl”, under which the wallpaper was published. As far as I know, the communication with them was handled by Niccolò Venerandi.

Plasma 6.1

From then on, the release of Plasma 6.1 was inching closer. One could ask: Do we really need a new wallpaper for every new version?

Ask our Promo Team and they will say: Yes, of course!

The reason for this is that we want to show images of the new Plasma version, but not every new Plasma version includes changes to the default user interface. That would be quite annoying if we moved around buttons or changed the design two times a year!

But when we change the wallpaper, it becomes obvious: This is a new version. That wallpaper then moreso represents all the changes that happened below the surface.

Additionally. a new pretty image obviously also brings some colour and variety into the users' lives, if they haven't already switched their wallpaper themselves.

The plan was to keep the wallpaper for Plasma 6.1 in a similar style as the Plasma 6.0 one. The same artist “axo1otl” painted another picture for us. Unfortunately, we only got to see it somewhat late:

The Visual Design Group was not enthralled by it. The image is quite full, and therefore some of us thought that it was not suitable as a wallpaper. This reluctance was strong enough that people started discussing what we could use as a wallpaper instead, even though we did not have much time to make a decision.

I thought the image was good enough, but I was in a minority with that opinion. However, there was no quick way to find a popular replacement either. Some suggestions went back to our old geometric abstract style from Plasma 5 times.

Additionally, the picture was a bit too pretty to simply drop it. So there were attempts to edit the “Reef” wallpaper in a way that might fit our purpose.

Editings

Niccolò used blur: Oliver Beard from Wales moved some of the elements of the painting out of the frame, so the whole wallpaper would become more calm, like a backdrop: This was considered a step in the right direction.

Niccolò then combined both strategies: While watching these experiments, I noticed that the possibilities for adaptations were very restricted because nobody dared to personally add anything to the picture. That is why the reefs only grew in size in the images. Nobody made them smaller because it would mean creating empty space which would then need to be filled e.g. by adding new sand.

I already saw a future before us in which the time constraints would force us to publish such a hastily-constructed adaptation that hides or obscures many nice details of the original artwork. All that because we would not know how to help ourselves.

I did not want that to happen. I felt like I might and should perhaps be able to help here.

The thing is, I tend to work on the Dolphin file manager and regularly dive into the depths of its source code, so I know a thing or two about underwater landscapes. After all, I have been to two Dolphin meetings in the Mediterranean Sea in the last two years: At Barcelona and at Thessaloniki.

So I started editing the painting myself:

My plan was to make room so the image would seem more serene. Viewers should no longer feel like they are in the middle of a lively coral reef and more like they are wandering through the open sea. By moving the right reef to a new middleground and shrinking the castle, the depths and distances in the image grew. After some initial positive feedback, I added more and more of the missing elements.

Some contributors in the Visual Design Group did not like that the path at the bottom of the image did not lead to the castle anymore. To others, the path was generally an undesirable element which should be removed. I bent the visible end of it towards the castle:

The waves in the upper half of the images also needed to be completed. There were big holes where the two castle towers used to be.

The image above was the result of me working until 4 a.m. I only concluded once I considered the image good enough that I could honestly advocate for it to be a Plasma wallpaper. I hoped that my nightly work would ensure that we had a passable wallpaper ready in time for the Plasma 6.1 release.

When I awoke the next “morning,” I addressed feedback from the group. More people had voiced the opinion that they did not like the path. I had originally kept it because I tried my best to preserve as much of the original vision and technique of “axo1otl” as possible given my other changes.

Granted, the goal of this exercise was to make the wallpaper more calming. Removing elements goes hand in hand with that. It turned out that, for some, the path did not look like it was even leading to the castle. Others did not imagine themselves as wanderers on the path when they viewed the image.

So I removed it and also used that opportunity to improve the sand at the bottom edge of the screen so it would be closer in style to the sand I did not paint.

Finally, everyone was somewhat content with this. It might not be one of our best wallpapers of all time, but considering the time constraints it did not make a lot of sense to discuss this further.

However, we wanted to ensure that the original artist “axo1otl” was fine with the changes. The image would be published under their pseudonym after all.

The image was sent to them, and within one or two days they made a few final adjustments:

And what can I say? I like the changes. Better shadows and the drawing style of the water and sand I added were adjusted so one could no longer tell that they were painted by a different person. For this, some gradual colour transitions were replaced by discretely coloured steps.

So everything was fine and well, except the path reappeared. More generally, it seemed to me like the image was not based on my final version but on the one before that.

I might not know what happened there, but for me this was fine. Not everyone liked that the path reappeared, but considering that this is a rather minor detail, there was hardly any criticism.

Release

And then we released Plasma 6.1. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the new wallpaper did not make it into the release! I will not elaborate on this topic, but I obviously was not happy to read that.

Furthermore, I noticed that the wallpaper that we nevertheless offered as a separate download was not the version “axo1otl” had sent us. It was my latest version. I hope “axo1otl” is not upset about that, but as far as I know, they will not create a new wallpaper for Plasma 6.2.

I have now created another version of the wallpaper based on “axo1otl”'s final version. The picture is identical to their version, aside from me removing the path. If you do not like the path, I would say that this is the best version for you. However, there are slight compression artefacts:

Plasma 6.2

For the next Plasma version our Promo Team wants a new wallpaper. There are already efforts to ensure that we will hopefully do a better job this time around.

I have suggested the creation of a new permanent category in KDE's forum in https://invent.kde.org/teams/vdg/issues/-/issues/52#note_972957 . I would want it to be a place for everyone to upload their self-made wallpapers. Maybe there are hobby artists out there who would enjoy doing that. I hope that some of the images would be great and well-suited as wallpapers for future Plasma versions to the benefit of us and everyone.

Frau Nia

Ein platonischer Dialog

Frau Nia Frau Nia, Hayos Englischlehrerin, schaut von der Tafel auf und sieht, wie Hayo einen Zettel weitergibt, auf dem ein Witz darüber steht, wie schwarz ihr Hintern ist. Sie reißt ihn Hayo aus der Hand und liest ihn.

“Willst du der ganzen Klasse erzählen, was auf diesem Zettel steht, junger Mann?” fragt sie in einem strengen Ton.

Hayo “Oh Verzeihung, Frau Nia, ich habe das gar nicht so gemeint. Es war dumm und gemein von mir. Ich bitte sie höflich, diesen Zettel zu vernichten.”

Frau Nia Frau Nia sieht Hayo an, ihre Augen werden leicht weich. Sie legt den Zettel auf ihrem Schreibtisch ab und geht zu ihm hinüber.

“Ich schätze deine Ehrlichkeit, Hayo”, sagt sie leise, “aber lass mich etwas klarstellen. Ich dulde keine Form von Rassismus oder Respektlosigkeit in meinem Klassenzimmer. Jetzt lassen wir diesen Vorfall hinter uns und konzentrieren uns auf den Unterricht.”

Hayo “Selbstverständlich, Frau Nia. Lieben Dank!”

Frau Nia Frau Nia nickt, ihr Gesicht ist immer noch streng, aber in ihren Augen liegt eine Wärme, als sie seine Entschuldigung anerkennt.

“Dann wollen wir mal wieder an die Arbeit gehen”, schlägt sie vor und wendet sich von ihm ab, um die Kreide wieder in die Hand zu nehmen. Sie beginnt, an die Tafel zu schreiben, aber ab und zu wirft sie einen Blick zu Hayo, um sich zu vergewissern, dass er aufmerksam ist und nicht wieder abgelenkt wird. Sie weiß, dass sie ihn im Auge behalten muss, denn sie will nicht, dass sich dieser Vorfall wiederholt.

Nachdem sie den Unterricht beendet hat, entlässt Frau Nia die Klasse in die Mittagspause. Als die Schüler nach draußen gehen, geht sie auf Hayo zu. “Hayo, kann ich dich kurz sprechen, nachdem alle anderen gegangen sind?”, fragt sie leise und versucht, trotz der anhaltenden Spannungen zwischen ihnen ein professionelles Auftreten zu wahren.

Hayo “Ja, natürlich, Frau Nia! – Ich weiß, dass ich etwas falsch gemacht habe.”

Frau Nia Frau Nia sieht zu, wie der Rest der Klasse nach draußen geht und nur Hayo und sie in dem ruhigen Raum zurückbleiben. Sobald sie allein sind, dreht sie sich zu ihm um, die Arme vor der Brust verschränkt.

“Du hast mehr als nur 'einen Fehler' gemacht, Hayo”, sagt sie mit fester Stimme, die einen Hauch von Enttäuschung enthält. “Was du geschrieben hast, war verletzend und inakzeptabel. Es ist wichtig, dass du das verstehst.”

Ihr Blick ist intensiv, und doch liegt eine gewisse Zärtlichkeit in ihren Augen, während sie spricht. Sie möchte, dass er aus dieser Erfahrung lernt und sich nicht nur entschuldigt.

Hayo “Beim Schreiben des Zettels war mir das nicht bewusst, Frau Nia, aber jetzt verstehe ich es.

Wissen Sie, jeder weiß, dass Sie eine Lehrkraft diese Schule sind und ich einer ihrer Schüler. Diese Tatsache definiert unsere Beziehung zueinander. – Für Sie bin ich zweifellos dieser Schüler. Für mich sind Sie seit einiger Zeit aber nicht nur eine Lehrerin. Es ist da eine andere Ebene entstanden, in der auch – bitte entschuldigen Sie – Ihr Hintern eine Rolle spielt, nicht jedoch dessen Farbe. Der Bezug auf die Farbe diente mir nur als Aufhänger, als Anlass, mich zu diesem Thema zu äußern, das mich sehr beschäftigt. Er war also gar nicht rassistisch gemeint... – Ich hoffe, ich konnte das irgendwie verständlich... – es ist nicht einfach für mich, glauben Sie mir...”

Frau Nia Frau Nia hört aufmerksam zu, als Hayo versucht, sich zu erklären, und ihr Gesichtsausdruck wird ein wenig weicher. Seine Worte sind herzlich und aufrichtig, und sie kann nicht umhin, einen Anflug von Mitgefühl für ihn zu empfinden.

“Ich weiß deine Ehrlichkeit zu schätzen, Hayo”, sagt sie sanft, “und ich verstehe, dass du nicht absichtlich Schaden anrichten wolltest. Aber es geht nicht nur um die Absicht hinter der Nachricht, sondern auch um die Wirkung, die sie auf mich hatte.” Sie hält einen Moment inne und sammelt ihre Gedanken, bevor sie fortfährt. “Die Wahrheit ist, Hayo, dass diese Situation für uns beide nicht einfach ist. Du hast eine Grenze überschritten, und ich muss dafür sorgen, dass das nicht noch einmal passiert. Wir müssen einen Weg finden, das Vertrauen wiederherzustellen.”

Hayo “Einiges an der Situation kann ich sicherlich ändern, Frau Nia. Welches wäre der erste Schritt, den Sie vorschlagen würden?”

Frau Nia Frau Nia seufzt leise und fährt sich mit der Hand durch die Haare, während sie über seine Frage nachdenkt. Sie lehnt sich an ihren Schreibtisch und sieht nachdenklich aus.

“Der erste Schritt wäre, dass du echte Reue zeigst”, sagt sie langsam. “Das bedeutet, dass du die Verantwortung für dein Handeln übernimmst und dafür sorgst, dass sich solche Vorfälle nicht wiederholen. Du musst Grenzen respektieren, sowohl meine als auch die der anderen.”

Sie stößt sich vom Schreibtisch ab und tritt näher an ihn heran. “Zweitens würde ich gerne sehen, dass du einige proaktive Schritte unternimmst. Wie willst du verhindern, dass du in Zukunft ähnliche Fehler machst?” Ihre Augen suchen sein Gesicht nach Anzeichen von Aufrichtigkeit und Entschlossenheit ab.

Hayo “Zunächst würde ich gern einige Dinge feststellen. Wir reden hier von einem einzigen Vorgang. Es gibt aus meiner Sicht keinen Grund, in diesem Zusammenhang von 'Handlungen' oder von 'Fehlern' zu reden. Die Annahme, ohne eine echte Zerknirschung meinerseits müsse es unweigerlich zu weiteren Fehltritten durch mich kommen, lässt sich durch mein bisheriges Verhalten nicht rechtfertigen. Zu dieser Einschätzung könnte man demnach nur dann kommen, wenn man eine problematische Grundhaltung bei mir voraussetzt, der mit geeigneten Maßnahmen begegnet werden muss, etwa Rassismus oder Sexismus oder dergleichen. Diesen Verdacht wollte ich aber gerade durch meine Selbsterklärung entkräften. Dass Sie dennoch daran festhalten, zeigt mir, dass Sie mir nicht glauben. Das macht mich ratlos.”

Frau Nia Frau Nia holt tief Luft, um sich auf das vorzubereiten, was sie als Nächstes sagen wird. Ihr Gesichtsausdruck wird härter, ein klares Zeichen für ihre wachsende Frustration.

“Hayo, ich verstehe, woher du kommst”, beginnt sie mit ruhiger, aber fester Stimme, “und ich schätze deinen Wunsch, die Dinge zu klären. Aber deine Taten sagen mehr als deine Worte.”

Sie deutet auf die Tür. “Du hast eine Notiz geschrieben, die rassistisch, erniedrigend und respektlos war. Das ist eine Tatsache. Ihre Leugnung oder Erklärung ändert daran nichts. Auch wenn du vielleicht glaubst, dass du zu Unrecht angegriffen wirst, muss ich auf der Grundlage der tatsächlichen Geschehnisse Maßnahmen ergreifen.”

Ihr Blick wird wieder etwas weicher. “Ich möchte dir helfen zu verstehen, warum dein Handeln falsch war, Hayo. Aber jetzt muss ich erst einmal überlegen, wie ich das am besten anstelle.”

Hayo “Frau Nia, ich schätze Ihre Klugheit und Autorität. Ich habe unter Ihrer Anleitung schon viel gelernt, sowohl schulisch als auch menschlich. In einigen Punkten bin ich jedoch anderer Meinung als Sie:

Tatsächlich glaube ich nicht, dass Sie mich zu Unrecht hier zur Rede stellen. Ja, es ist etwas Dummes geschehen, für das ich verantwortlich bin.

Dass meine Notiz rassistisch sei, ist jedoch keine Tatsache, sondern eine Zuschreibung, die in der Zeit, im kulturellen Kontext und in Abhängigkeit von handelnden Menschen verschieden ausfallen kann. In dieser Frage eine Deutungshoheit zu beanspruchen, finde ich nicht angemessen.

Tatsache ist dagegen ganz offensichtlich, dass diese Notiz auf Sie erniedrigend gewirkt hat. Dafür möchte ich mich hier noch einmal in aller Form bei Ihnen entschuldigen. Ich habe diese Situation falsch eingeschätzt und ich habe beim flüchtigen Kritzeln nicht damit gerechnet, dass Sie diese Notiz lesen werden. Ihre Verletzung ist also nicht vorsätzlich geschehen. Ich bitte Sie, das bei ihrer Bewertung zu berücksichtigen.

Dass ich mich von meinen Gefühlen habe hinreißen lassen, diese Notiz überhaupt zu schreiben, ist zweifellos rücksichtslos von mir. Ich habe selbstbezogen gehandelt und die mögliche Wirkung auf andere ausgeblendet. – Dass diese Notiz jedoch der Ausdruck meiner Respektlosigkeit Ihnen gegenüber wäre, dem widerspreche ich: Sie haben meinen allergrößten Respekt – das versichere ich – als Lehrkraft dieser Schule, als Mensch, als Frau und – nun ja, seit einiger Zeit – auch als Persönlichkeit mit einer Ausstrahlung, die mich beschäftigt. Das passiert unweigerlich. Diese Energien kann ich vielleicht verschieden bewirtschaften, was Übung erfordert. Aber eliminieren lassen sie sich nicht.”

Frau Nia Nia nickt nachdenklich, als Hayo spricht, und hört seinen Worten aufmerksam zu. Ein Teil von ihr versteht seine Sichtweise, auch wenn sie ihr nicht zustimmt.

“Deine Entschuldigung weiß ich zu schätzen, Hayo”, antwortet sie, ihr Ton ist immer noch fest, aber irgendwie weicher. “Und ich erkenne an, dass du nicht die Absicht hattest, meine Gefühle zu verletzen. Dennoch hast du etwas geschrieben, das mich sehr verärgert hat.”

Sie sieht ihn unverwandt an, in ihren Augen liegt ein Hauch von Traurigkeit, gemischt mit Entschlossenheit. “Ich versuche nicht, irgendeine Art von 'Deutungshoheit' zu beanspruchen, wie du es ausdrückst. Vielmehr tue ich einfach meine Arbeit als Lehrerin und als jemand, dem die Schaffung eines sicheren Umfelds für alle Schüler sehr am Herzen liegt. Und ja, das schließt mich ein.” Sie holt tief Luft und fährt fort.

“Lass mich das anders erklären. Stell dir vor, du hättest statt 'What's up ebony queen?' geschrieben 'What's up white queen?'. Würdest du das als rassistisch ansehen?”

Hayo “Ich verstehe, dass eine abwertende Bezugnahme auf körperliche Merkmale diskriminierend ist, nicht aber die Bezugnahme als solche. Das Wort 'ebony' kann in einem bestimmten Kontext abwertend verstanden werden, hat aber meines Wissens nach keine historisch kolonialistische Konotation.

Eine rassistische Interpretation meiner Äußerung ist aber schlicht ein Missverständnis: Es gibt viele PoC-Frauen und -Mädchen an unserer Schule, doch keine von ihnen ruft die Empfindungen in mir hervor, die Sie hervorrufen. Das heißt jedoch nicht, dass Ihre Hautfarbe für meine Sehnsüchte gar keine Rolle spielen würde. Ich sehe Sie als Persönlichkeit mit vielen sichtbaren und spürbaren Eigenschaften, zu denen ich mich hingezogen fühle...”

Frau Nia Nia hört Hayos Erklärung aufmerksam zu, ihr Blick ist nachdenklich. Seine Worte lösen in ihr eine Mischung von Gefühlen aus, darunter Verwirrung und ein Hauch von Verärgerung.

“Ich schätze deine Ehrlichkeit, Hayo”, sagt sie und wählt ihre Worte sorgfältig. “Aber wir sollten nicht vergessen, dass Sprache Macht hat. Worte können verletzen, ob beabsichtigt oder nicht.” Sie hält inne und sieht ihm direkt in die Augen.

“Stell dir vor, wie du dich fühlen würdest, wenn dich jemand wegen deiner Hautfarbe beschimpft. Oder deiner Religion. Oder irgendetwas anderes, das dich einzigartig macht. Es wäre egal, ob es als Kompliment gemeint wäre. Tatsache ist, dass es auf die Wahrnehmung ankommt, die man von dir hat. Und wenn diese Wahrnehmung negativ ist, dann wird das Auswirkungen haben.

Ihr Blick wird etwas weicher. “Ich weiß, dass du kein schlechter Mensch bist, Hayo.”

Hayo “Sie haben Recht, Frau Nia. Wenn jemand mich z.B. einen 'Flachskopf' nennen würde, weil er sich abends im Bett mein blondes Haar vorstellt, oder schlimmer 'Bleichschwänzchen', weil er unterstellt, dass ich wegen meiner Hautfarbe weniger potent sei als andere, dann würde mich das auch kränken. Genauso wie es kränkt, wenn Schüler aus dem Namen eines Kameraden einen despektierlichen Reim machen, den sie ihm hinterher rufen. Oder die besondere Sprechweise eines Mitschülers hässlich nachäffen. Oder sich über den sozialen Status der Eltern abfällig äußern. Es gibt viele Formen und Möglichkeiten der Diskriminierung. Jede ist zutiefst kränkend. Es passiert täglich unzählige Male.

Es sind die Dornenhecken, durch die wir in unserem Leben hindurchgehen. Natürlich können wir unsere Wege planieren und säubern, um unverletzt zu bleiben. Wir können auf verbliebene Dornen hinweisen, immer mit einer Heckenschere im Gepäck. Dabei wird unsere Haut immer zarter und empfindsamer, was wir zusätzlich befördern durch Sensibilitätsschulungen und Safespaces: – eine allgemeine Mobilmachung der Sensibilität, die jede Resilienz gegenüber unvorhersehbaren Verletzungen verkümmern lässt. Am Ende steht unsere absolute Vereinzelung, weil der Mensch seinen Mitmenschen nicht mehr erträgt.”

Frau Nia Nia nickt langsam, ihr Gesicht ist ernst, während sie über Hayos Worte nachdenkt. “Du hast einige gute Argumente, Hayo”, gibt sie zu, ihre Stimme ist sanft. “Es ist wahr, dass wir in einer Welt leben, in der Diskriminierung nur allzu häufig vorkommt. Wir sehen sie jeden Tag, in unzähligen Formen und Situationen.”

Sie seufzt und reibt sich sanft über die Schläfen. “Aber das heißt nicht, dass wir es einfach hinnehmen sollten. Wir müssen uns selbst und andere über ihre schädlichen Auswirkungen aufklären. Und wir müssen uns dagegen wehren, wann immer wir sie sehen.”

Als sie Hayo wieder ansieht, schenkt sie ihm ein kleines Lächeln. “Wir sind alle Menschen, Hayo. Wir haben alle unsere eigenen Kämpfe und Herausforderungen. Lass uns versuchen, uns gegenseitig besser zu verstehen, okay?”

Hayo “Danke, Frau Nia. Daran werde ich arbeiten, das verspreche ich!”

Frau Nia Nia lächelt Hayo warm an, aufrichtig erfreut über sein Versprechen. “Danke, Hayo”, sagt sie aufrichtig. “Das bedeutet mir sehr viel.”

Sie hält inne, ihr Blick verweilt auf ihm, bevor sie weiterspricht. “Vergiss nicht, jeder verdient Respekt. Unabhängig von seiner Herkunft, seinen Überzeugungen oder seinem Aussehen. Das ist etwas, wonach wir alle streben sollten.”

Hayo “Das werde ich mir zu Herzen nehmen, Frau Nia!

Würde es Ihnen etwas ausmachen, in diesem Zusammenhang noch über einen anderen Gedanken mit mir zu sprechen?”

Frau Nia Nia legt den Kopf leicht schief, neugierig darauf, was Hayo als Nächstes besprechen möchte.

“Natürlich, Hayo”, antwortet sie in einem einladenden Ton. “Ich bin hier, um zuzuhören und zu helfen, wo ich kann.”

Hayo “Wenn wir uns einig sind, dass wir uns alle immer wieder darum bemühen müssen, respektvoll miteinander umzugehen, stellt sich die Frage, welche Aktionen in diesem Sinne wirklich zielführend sind.

Wirklichen Einfluss habe ich nur auf mein eigenes Handeln, das Handeln anderer Menschen kann ich ohne Manipulation oder Zwang – beides Formen der Gewalt – nur begrenzt kontrollieren, nicht wahr? Um Andere gewaltlos zu einem Wandel ihres Denkens und Handels zu veranlassen, bleibt mir wenig mehr als mein eigenes vorbildliches Verhalten. Manipulationsversuche oder Zwang, ob offen oder subtil, bewirken dagegen oft das Gegenteil und wecken Widerstände, die kaum zu überwinden sind.

Sie werden mir sicher zustimmen, dass ein Junge wie ich nur äußerst selten die Chance hat, einen Vorgang wie diesen im Gespräch so tief auszuloten, wie wir das gerade getan haben. In fast allen anderen ähnlichen Fällen bleibt unentdeckt, dass es eigentlich um persönliche Schwächen und Sehnsüchte, vielleicht um Gedankenlosigkeit und ein gewisses Maß rücksichtsloser Selbstbezogenheit ohne amoralischen Kontext geht.

In fast allen Fällen werden dagegen die stark moralisierenden Labels des Rassismus und der respektlosen Diskriminierung unwidersprochen an den Menschen haften bleiben. Ich rede von einem erwartbaren Verlauf solcher Vorgänge, nicht von bedauerlichen Einzelfällen. So bleibt selbst bei den am meisten einsichtsvollen Beklagten ein Gefühl, unverstanden geblieben zu sein. Wenn sich das häuft, entsteht ein Aufbegehren gegen solche Zuweisungen, welche wie sich selbst erfüllende Prophezeiungen schließlich einen substanziellen Rassismus sogar stärken können.

Daneben entsteht durch eine massive Präsenz dieses Themas in der Gesellschaft der Eindruck, überall könne mit etwas Aufmerksamkeit Rassismus entdeckt und bekämpft werden. Der Rassismus-Vorwurf inflationiert und wird stumpf, tatsächlicher Rassismus verschwindet in der Masse der Vorwürfe. An Rassismus zu denken und rassistisch zu denken sind dann kaum mehr noch als zwei Seiten derselben Medaille.

Ganz schwierig wird es schließlich, wenn dritte Unbeteiligte sich moralisierend einschalten. – In unserem Fall haben immerhin Sie selbst Ihre Kränkung thematisiert. – In den meisten Fällen aber sind es vor allem Nichtbetroffene in akademischen Milieus, die sich über das Studium entsprechender Literatur kenntnisreich wähnen und unterstellte Kränkungsvorgänge äußerst offensiv bekämpfen wollen, bevor sie überhaupt passiert sind, jedoch das Urteil von potentiellen Opfern weder abwarten noch überhaupt hören wollen. Ihnen geht es ums Prinzip, um den aktuellen Stand der Wissenschaft und um ihre Ideologie. Ob ein solches Vorgehen noch als gewaltfrei bezeichnet werden darf, mag bezweifelt werden, ganz sicher aber wirkt es zutiefst polarisierend, spaltet die Gesellschaft nach bestimmten Profilvorgaben in fest definierte Opfer- und Tätergruppen und stärkt damit die Gegenkräfte, die von rassistischen Ideologen instrumentalisiert werden können – und werden.

Auf mich wirkt die Rassismus-Zuweisung deshalb zwar leicht zu handhaben, doch im Sinne eines ehrlichen Antirassismus kontraproduktiv. Da ich aber auch sehe, dass rassistisches Verhalten nicht unwidersprochen bleiben darf, ergibt sich für mich und mein Handeln eine Zwickmühle. Wüssten Sie einen Ausweg aus diesem Dilemma, Frau Nia?”

Frau Nia Nia hört Hayos Worten aufmerksam zu, ihr Blick verlässt seine Augen nicht, während er spricht. Als er fertig ist, atmet sie langsam aus und denkt über alles nach, was er gesagt hat. “Hayo, du hast dir viele Gedanken gemacht”, sagt sie schließlich und nickt. “Und auch wenn ich nicht mit allem einverstanden bin, was du gesagt hast, schätze ich die Tiefe deiner Analyse.”

Sie lehnt sich nach vorne und stützt ihr Kinn auf ihre Hand. “Ich glaube, dass jeder von uns seinen eigenen Weg in diesen Fragen finden muss. Was für den einen funktioniert, muss für den anderen nicht funktionieren. Aber ich glaube, dass Verständnis und Einfühlungsvermögen der Schlüssel sind. Wenn wir lernen können, die Dinge aus der Perspektive des anderen zu sehen, können wir vielleicht einen Weg finden, um gemeinsam voranzukommen.”

Hayo “Ich habe verstanden, was an meinem frechen Verhalten so verletzend für Sie war. Und nun danke ich Ihnen, das Sie ebenfalls bereit waren, die Dinge auch aus meiner Perspektive zu betrachten. Das war mehr, als ich in dieser Situation erwarten durfte.”

Frau Nia Nia nickt und weiß Hayos Dankbarkeit zu schätzen. “Es ist meine Aufgabe, die Perspektive jedes Schülers zu verstehen”, erklärt sie sanft. “Und es ist wichtig für mich zu wissen, wie mein Handeln auf andere wirkt. Wir lernen hier alle, Hayo. Das ist ein Teil des Erwachsenwerdens.”

Sie schenkt ihm ein warmes Lächeln und versucht, ihn zu beruhigen. “Aber konzentrieren wir uns jetzt darauf, vorwärts zu kommen. Du hast dich verpflichtet, dich zu verbessern, und ich glaube an dich.”

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It’s exaggeration and mockery that goes beyond sarcasm, specifically posed on the feminine. It tells the story of the ugly and morbid sometimes with a hint of wit. It may sound fictitious but at the same time exposes what has shaped reality. It expresses what the “truth” could not capture. It is poetry, parody, tragedy, agony, anguish, and irony; all combined to shock conventions and empower the marginalized. It is called Gurlesque.

Mocking and Celebrating the Female

She looks like the Sunday comics She thinks she's Brenda Starr Her nose job is real atomic All she needs is an old knife scar

Who remembers this punkish pop late 70’s song from Blondie? It tells a girl vs. girl tongue-in-cheek story, you know, like when the popular girls in school compete against each other. The ref goes like this:

Yeah, she's so dull, come on rip her to shreds She's so dull, come on rip her to shreds

And that is the title of the song, “Rip Her to Shreds”. It’s a comical take on how women mock each other in rivalry. The next verse goes on to describe this reality in a parody fashion:

Oh, you know her, “Miss Groupie Supreme” Yeah, you know her, “Vera Vogue” on parade Red eye shadow! Green mascara! Yuck! She's too much

In a BBC interview, Deborah Harry, the lead singer of Blondie and who also co-wrote this song with band member, Chris Stein, said that the song was actually about what gossip columns do to people’s lives.

This suggests that the song is a reflection of how the media portray women and influence the readers’ perception about women. The song reflects this reality through exaggeration of the female experience and by depicting it in its extreme. What you get is a tune that is tastefully sarcastic, funny and fun at the same time. Even more fun as Debbie sang it with an in-your-face feminine tone, and when performed live, with a badass grrrl attitude that was not yet popular in the 1970s. Thus, ironically, this narrative of female stereotyping which demeans women has brought the female experience from the margins to the center.

Now fast forward to the 80’s, an era where female solo artists, bands, and band leaders were slowly emerging. An anthem of female celebration had hit the charts in 1984—a cover song, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”, sung by a quirky red Mohawk female vocalist, Cyndi Lauper, which was released a year earlier. This was timely as this was when pop videos were the music industry’s new trend and youths were glued to MTV, thus amplifying the song’s message to youngsters through visualization. The storyline of the song’s video centers around Cyndi walking home under the morning light in last night’s gown and telling her parents that “girls just wanna have fun”.

I come home in the morning light my mother says when you gonna live your life right Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones And girls they want to have fun Oh girls just want to have fun

And in another verse of the song:

Some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world I want to be the one to walk in the sun....

Afterwards in the video, Cyndi and her female friends come together in one frame, singing “girls just wanna have fun” and later they are marching and dancing in the streets with male onlookers, some even joining them, creating the narrative that women as a collective are changing values.

The song does not explicitly talk about discrimination or equal rights or anything else as such, but just the simple message that women, like men, are entitled to enjoy their lives (have fun). The video illustrates this in a comical and parody manner just as the way the singer presents herself in a comical, playful female—sometimes self-mockery—image, quite different to the typical sexualized female representation promoted by the music industry.

Interestingly, the song was originally penned by male songwriters Robert Hazard and Lolly Vegas and was intentionally written from a male perspective. Cyndi changed parts of the lyrics and the sound, shifting the narrative and turning it into a female empowerment anthem.

The 90s: Gurelsque and Grunge

Fast forward again, now to the 90s. This era not only saw the emergence of more female musicians, but also a different way of representing women through music and fashion. In pop culture, women wearing leather and jeans or unisex attire had been typically associated with female autonomy and independence. In contrast, the 90s popularized babydoll-like dresses that had begun resurfacing in the 80s.

Babydoll dresses were typically associated with femininity, but the 90s had given them a whole new meaning in expressing female sexuality. Not only because the skimpy babydoll attire was worn with masculine boots, but because the new babydoll mixed the pure with the profane, vulnerability with empowerment, and the virgin with the whore. Not surprisingly this babydoll version of the 90s was subsequently known as the “kinderwhore dress”, which was made fashionable by female rock musicians, particularly in the grunge scene.

... the new babydoll mixed the pure with the profane, vulnerability with empowerment, and the virgin with the whore.

During the same time, a new poetics had emerged—the Gurelsque—which was employed by majorly female writers and poets who used parody and mockery to describe the female experience. This form of poetry and writing disrupts traditional values about the feminine by transforming femininity in its extreme into subversiveness that challenges the power structures. This decade also saw the birth of Third Wave Feminism which principles (such as diversity, inclusiveness, and intersectionality), resonate with Gurlesque aesthetics. Gurlesque was initially used to describe a form of poetics, but it has then been expanded to other forms of arts such as music, although probably unintentionally by the songwriters as Gurlesque was a term initially created by scholars.

Gurlesque (later also known as New Grrly Poetics) was first coined by American feminist poets and scholars Arielle Greenberg and Lara Glenum to describe a new female poetics that emerged in the turn of the millennium. However, there are earlier writers commonly associated with Gurlesque, such as Sylvia Path and Gertude Stein. Moreover, Gurlesque is influenced by other forms of arts which arose further back in history.

... Gurlesque ... challenges what is considered normal or natural in relation to society’s norms on gender and femininity by using mockery and ridicule ...

The word Gurlesque derives from girl culture, burlesque, and grotesque. Burlesque (Italian—burla: joke, ridicule, mockery) is a musical and theatrical parody popular in early 17th century Europe. Initially, grotesque is a term used in literature and drama to describe something strange or unusual, but generally it describes something comical, ugly, distorted, bizarre, or shockingly and disturbingly inappropriate. Combine these with girl culture, then you get Gurlesque—an artistic expression which challenges what is considered normal or natural in relation to society’s norms on gender and femininity by using mockery and ridicule, and by transforming these norms into a different feminine culture that may appear bizarre, ugly, and disturbingly unacceptable to society.

In the 90s, Gurlesque was attributed to female solo artists or bands led by female musicians, particularly in grunge, a genre which emerged on the onset of the 90s. Hole, the grunge band led by main songwriter Courtney Love, and particularly their album “Live Through This” (1994), is regarded as displaying Gurlesque features in its compositions, such as lyrical expressions of morbidness. The songs in this album, which almost all were co-written with lead guitarist and band co-founder, Eric Erlandson, are generally considered to represent feminist themes—the experiences of unjust women endure in society through female objectification, sexual violence, motherhood, and personal relationships. These themes are in line with Third Wave Feminism that rose in the same decade.

Live Through This album cover (Wikipedia)

The cover of the “Live Through This” album is a good example of what would be called Gurlesque art by those who use the term. The cover shows a woman with a blondish feathered haircut wearing a beauty queen crown. Her smudged eye make-up almost running down her cheeks due to tears of joy, her wide gaping smile and her arms tightly embracing a bouquet all display a sense of eerie exaggeration, mockery, and ugliness. It’s a parody of what it means to be beautiful in a male-dominated society—the tragedy of being female. The album cover is now an icon of the grunge decade and of Hole as one of the best grunge bands. The iconic cover and the album’s songs are also celebrated for their feminist symbolism and as the legacy of an era.

Gurlesque: Challenging Power through Subversiveness

Gurlesque was a term used in the 90s by feminist scholars, arising from their observation of the arts and literature during this decade that employed the use of girl culture, burlesque, and grotesque to describe the female experience. Nonetheless, the essence of Gurlesque can be found earlier in the works of a few (song)writers, poets, and artists. Gurlesque serves as an awakening and resistance as it transforms femininity into a form of subversiveness that challenges the power structures which oppress women as a social class.

Gurlesque continues to find its relevance in the 2000s, where a number of poets are associated with this form of poetry. You can check out some of their works published in the book, Gurlesque: the new grrly, grotesque, burlesque poetics (Lara Glenum and Arielle Greenberg, eds.).

-Some Thoughts from the Cappuccino Girl- (2024)

#music #subculture #gender #women #counterculture

Top image: Courtney Love in a babydoll dress performing with her band, Hole (Pinterest)

Sources

Cooper, Sabrina (2019) 'The Story Behind Hole’s Iconic Live Through This Album Cover.' AnOthermag.com. https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/11646/the-story-behind-hole-s-iconic-live-through-this-album-cover-ellen-von-unwerth. Accessed June 15 2024.

Oliva, Melanie (2016) 'What Is Gurlesque Poetry? A third wave of feminism, sexuality, and femininity revisited.' The Odyssey Online. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/gurlesque-poetry. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Volpert, Megan (2024) 'The enduring feminist legacy of Hole: 30 years later, must we still “Live Through This”?' Salon.com. https://www.salon.com/2024/04/11/hole-live-through-this-courtney-love/. Accessed 23 April 2024.

Videos

Cyndi Lauper YouTube Channel (2009) Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Official Video). https://youtu.be/PIb6AZdTr-A?si=KQIzN6OcWs4FwpXT. Accessed 17 June 2024.

Warmer Music Videos YouTube Channel (2016) Blondie – Rip Her To Shreds (Live). https://youtu.be/b18RIMN5NBg?si=eJpk4FsZ-wlBk7KM. Accessed 17 June 2024.

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The Torygraph keeps peddling the story, generated by an org associated with independent schools, that VAT on these schools will cause such a big net outflow of families that smaller schools will close and state schools will he overwhelmed.

So what will a family do if they can no longer afford £35k per year for each child? Should we imagine that they'll switch directly to a nearby comprehensive school? Nah, not going to happen – they value the social cachet and the contacts the kiddies make to do that. They'll switch to a slightly cheaper school. There will be spaces since these cheaper schools will also have a few levers, and this will happen all the way down to the tiny, cheap independent schools.

The biggest, most expensive schools will survive, even if they have to sell off their equestrian centre or cut funding to their Dubai subsidiary. Small schools fail all the time – two have closed near me in the last few years, and other schools happily absorbed the displaced students.

Schools have spent the last few years nudging up fees and squeezing budgets and sslaries, while they will itemise some charges separately do they won't attract VAT. Building projects and capital investments will attract VAT rebates. So the actual fee increase will be substantially less than 20%, which many families can afford without too much fuss.

So why are the big independent schools fighting so hard? Perhaps the biggest hit will be to the £200-£500k salaries of the heads and bursars? I'm sure they'll survive the imposition of VAT though.

I have a crackpot model based on bits and pieces I've picked up from all over (including from the ancient text Discourses of the States; actually that informs a lot of my views on things these days).

There are, in most (all?) current societies, three general classes of people. I'm going to group them under the terms “Crown”, “Nobility”, and “Commoners”. I'm only using these labels as a short, convenient term intended as a placeholder for more complicated things. To ensure we're all on the same page, I'll explain each term as it is intended to be used in this essay.

Crown

In essence the Crown is the nominal head of state. The Crown is the person (or group) officially “in charge” on paper at least. It could a king in an ancient feudal state, or it could be a dictator in a fascist state, or it could be an elected parliament or some other such thing. The key is that the Crown is the titular (if not necessarily de facto) source of all authority in society for a given time. (In a democracy authority is supposedly the people's, but in practical democracies that authority is exercised in a punctuated way that swaps out authorities at need: in essence in practical democracies the people vote who gets to be the source of all authority for a bounded period of time.)

Nobility

Nobility represents, in this model, people of extreme power. This could be literal nobility like the powerful lords in feudal states, or it could be powerful corporations in fascist or democratic states. The source of the Nobility's power can be diverse: land holdings, military might, money, or some combination of all three. Whatever the source, however, they are powers to be reckoned with that the Crown and the Commoners both need to be aware of.

Commoners

Statistically speaking: you and I. Normal people without any formal authority, without any real, meaningful power at the societal level. Ordinary workers, small business owners, etc. Just regular people with varying degrees of mild authority or power or wealth, but nothing compared to the juggernauts of Crown and Nobility.

A little note on hierarchy

Note that some people who are Nobility at, say, a national scale might be Crowns at a local scale. For example a corporate CEO in North America is part of Nobility, but is also Crown of their corporation. This hierarchical arrangement goes right down to family structures where the parents might be Nobility in the neighbourhood association but Crown in their homes.

The eternal struggle

From Orwell we get the rather pessimistic outlook that the Crown (which he called the upper class) and the Nobility (which he called the middle class) are locked into an eternal struggle: Nobility wanting to exchange places with the Crown with Commoners (which he called proles) just useful tools of the middle and upper classes in their goals. And ... he's not wrong. This is pretty much identical to the model I'm using, but more pessimistically worded. In his view the Commoners (proles) are eternally getting stamped on by their “betters” of the Crown and Nobility.

In my model that struggle exists. It's just that the relationship of the commoners to the struggling parties is slightly different. This is because a Crown with any degree of enlightened, long-term self-interest will want to remain Crown for a long time and will not want to succumb to the Nobility.

Scenario 1: Crown sides with Commoners

In one scenario, the Crown sides with the Commoners, putting restrictions on the Nobility' powers for the benefit of the Commoners. The Crown is still the Crown, mind. The Crown still holds all the reins of power. The Crown doesn't have to be good, or kind, or moral ... just SMART.

See, there is one power Commoners have. (The secret word is Jacquerie!) They have the power to overthrow society entirely, and this is a power that fed-up Commoners have used through the ages. The Yellow Turbans of late-Han China. The Bolsheviks of Russia. The Revolutionaries of the USA. Yes, in many cases, that power was cynically directed by other powers, but the fact still remains: Commoners can completely tear down the social order.

A Crown who is aware of this power and who (rightly) fears this power will step gently. Will ensure that the Commoners are at least mostly satisfied with their lot. Will make sure that Commoners don't get fed up to the point of triggering empire-destroying wars.

A society which has such a smart Crown, working against the Nobility to keep the Commoners at least mildly contented will be a stable and long-lasting one. The moment the Crown forgets this, society gets unstable and, ultimately, when (not if!) taken too far, collapses at the hands of the Commoner mob.

Which brings us to...

Scenario 2: Crown sides with Nobility

When this happens, instability invariably follows. If carried on for too long, that instability causes society to fall apart, usually in an orgy of violence directed against the Crown and Nobility both. Society collapses and is replaced with something else. That something else always seems to be hierarchical in nature and always seems to have a Crown of some sort (Lenin, say, in Russia) and Nobility (wealthy landholders, say, in post-Revolution USA). The cycle repeats itself as Crowns side with Commoners to rein in the Nobility until the Crown takes the fatal misstep of working with the Nobility to ... lather, rinse, repeat.

So how does Scenario 2 happen? If it always leads to the eventual destruction of society, why would any smart Crown ever side with Nobility?

The key word there is “smart”. Nothing guarantees that the Crown will be smart. The Crown may have stumbled into power. Or maybe the first Crown was smart but the children/grandchildren/whoever inherited down the line were idiots. Or maybe the Commoners elected an idiot for any number of reasons (including machinations of the Nobility) in purported democracies.

Once a stupid, or at least short-sighted, Crown is in power, the siren's song of wealth and power from the Nobility is hard to resist. After all Nobility has more in common, socially, with the Crown than do Commoners. If the Crown isn't careful, they'll forget that the Nobility are their enemies and are trying to tear them down to put one of their own in the Crown.

And in the mean time the Commoners fester and stew in increasing resentment until it's time to burn everything down again.

Hopeless?

The picture I paint is bleak, but it's bleak because anything made with forced hierarchy is pretty much automatically bleak. When you embrace the concept of innate authority in any way, you're giving up and are falling into this model. (The fact that this model fits almost every historical society ever with only mild shaving needed around the edges is a tragic observation.)

Don't believe the lies of the Nobility or Crown, even if the Crown is “on your side” as in Scenario 1. There is no such thing as innate authority. Authority is granted and should be taken away as soon as it's proven to be unworthy. And if that means occasionally burning down a building or ten to hammer home the point, go for it! (Just be aware that the Crown and the Nobility both have very large amounts of power that they will direct against you! This will cost you, personally.)

And while you're not taking authority away, try ignoring it where it's convenient. Work with your fellow Commoners to make your life better while dodging the machinations and vile behaviour of the Nobility and Crown. Make the schemes of both as irrelevant as possible to your life.

For instance in the modern age that could mean not using corporate social media; use organic social media that's not driven by the corporate world and agenda instead. (If you're reading this it's likely that's what you're doing now, in fact!) It could also mean doing business with each other. It could mean learning how to repair goods instead of throwing them away and buying new ones. It could mean feeding those less fortunate than you, or giving them a place to at least rest.

Treat your fellow Commoners, in short, like humans instead of falling for the lies of the Crown and the Nobility.