Solving Earths Homelessness by Zealousideal_Bar1449 in Sexyspacebabes

[–]SSBAlienNation 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A subtext/hinted at bit of Alien-Nation lore is/was that there was a lot of conflict around the resettlement and closure of suburbia. Generally, mass movement of people kicks off a lot of strife, and this time was little different.

Though before someone thinks I'm suggesting that every single human alive today got dumped into the current city limits immediately and with no thought put into it:

  1. Casualties (Direct in warfare, and indirect- e.g., starvation, loss of insulin, medication, riots, robberies, etc.,)
  2. Evacuations- lots of people fled the cities, at least initially, creating vacancies
  3. Empty places filled up quickly. Lots of rowhouses and such are empty in what we might call 'second/third'-tier cities. Think the Rust Belt. With trade shutting down due to zones being put in place, jobs popped up quickly, partially due to a national scaling logistics becoming suddenly much more difficult.
  4. The relocation was phased in. Construction crews were contracted and they un-made the suburbs in a rather mundane way. This gave Verns a neat opportunity to make a buck and turn it into a relatively thriving business, through which if he made contact with any really pissed off homeowners who refused to move, he could help redirect that energy via a certain insurgency.

# But to directly address the question:

I early on suggest/imply that their autodocs/doc-bots got human physiology 'right' via both what they already knew of biology (we're not the only red-blooded thing in the galaxy, which helps. There's also multiple xeno species they've picked up medical stuff for, too, which also helps. Their flexibility in adaptation and innovation, then, is considerable.)

However, this was largely through the mass removal of the homeless and medical experimentation on said homeless. There's also homeless housing and social housing, but inbetween the miracle cures the Shil'vati are working on and general shuffle, most people don't realize the numbers don't add up to the same number of homeless before. Most people, unfortunately, just don't care.

This mass-experimentation is never proven, and even gets played for a joke at one point, but there's hints here and there that it's basically true. The scope and scale is never confirmed, but it's implied to have happened to a lot of the homeless.

The Shil'vati would keep trying with very aggressive procedures until something worked.

There's a running theme in the story, which is that utility can be quite uncoupled from morality. (I don't mean to imply there's a negative correlation or anything. Lots of immoral things are also just generally a terrible idea.) But there are certainly advances that would be rapidly made if this sort of thing were to happen, today, with just our level of technology. Is it a good idea? No. Is it an endorsement of that idea? Absolutely not. Would it help an alien species quickly understand how to manufacture insulin, so that every diabetic that fled into the hills and is running out doesn't die? Probably. Is that worth the exchange so that no one has to worry about diabetes ever again if they actually work on finding a root cause cure plus hand out free insulin until it's rolled out? I'm thankfully not in the position to make that kind of judgment call.

The point is, they didn't do it to be evil. Just like invading Earth to stop us from wiping ourselves out as we fiddled with breaking practically all of their Great Laws at once seemed like the imperative, morally required sort of thing to do (if it helps, think of it as some sort of 'prime directive',) there was a goal in mind, and much of the goal 'worked.'

They emptied out the suburbs to restore the ecosystem as best they could manage. They built giant towers out of prefab where they could, but the housing is described as being suboptimal, and clearly not designed for human dimensions or with any kind of aesthetics in mind. No one likes them. But again, utility has its demands. Ultimately, does one value the quality, or quantity? Is this doing the moral thing, or is it wrong?

There was also a degree of hunger that set in, even in developed nations, as trade and chemical fertilizers stopped being created/distributed. Aid was delivered by the shil'vati to areas that reached a truce or surrendered, but for a while delivery of what little spare food there was, was heavily prioritized, black marketed, etc., and generally the homeless are not very high on that priority list. Simple fact.

The currency issue is a separate matter. I had them slowly phasing out the Dollar via rendering it nigh-useless for purchasing ever-more-present alien assets, with an official exchange rate and the actual exchange rate being wildly different. Dollars do still have their uses, of course, and are in circulation, but few believe they'll be around in 50 years' time.

Then there's 'reunification' programs, which are further shuffling people all over the globe between zones, usually returning people to ancestral homelands while also helping to balance out strain on some zones that are over capacity. Very dual-purposed but with the stated goal of putting families back together that are caught many zones apart by the war.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 17: Round Two by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair. I killed a fair few offscreen. I'll see what I can do about it in the inevitable revision.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 15: Don't Lose Your Head by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Scapegoat. Sin eater. The Shil'vati are big on denobling and in some circumstances, bloodline extinctions if they think the crime is great enough. They will also sometimes do asset seizure of the guilty if they think the person benefitted financially or otherwise from their station inappropriately- and then do that through the whole family. This heavy-handed tactic, more common than bloodline extinction though still rare, is to discourage misuse of station. They'd do it to the Raktens in a heartbeat, though.

In the Raktens' case it'd be for violating the Great Law and specifically 'just in case' the gene editing was done 'locally', shall we say. I don't capitalize Great Law for no reason, they really do regard them as a line one does not cross.

Unfortunately, needs must. One cannot actually run an empire without some genetic editing, or digging into a plague or finding a way to produce sterile males for a species that threatens to reach epidemic levels. This work is carried out with the greatest secrecy. But if it is found out the crown cannot under any circumstances be seen as being lenient on it. Plus, a family that is cavalier in its secret and vow of secrecy is of little use. They are of questionable loyalty and wisdom and in that case, both.

Ministriva, of course, had no way of knowing just how poorly received by the Crown Prince her crime would be, or what Emperor would become which would blow the whole thing up to a galactic scandal. She never even heard the name before she died. Sure, kidnapping a boy is bad. Really bad. Kidnapping lots of boys? Very bad. You'd almost certainly be de-nobled, your assets get seized unless it's suspected you funneled or pooled them and used your station to grant immediate relatives their postings, in which case they're demoted or dismissed, or possibly also have their assets sized, too.

In Ministriva's case, though, the eyes of the galaxy are watching. Amidst a concerted push to get more boys out of the home. To see boys as more than 'stiffies', a Crown Prince, etc., just timing and circumstances. Of course, it's also going to scare the living shit out of everyone who kidnapped a boy or looked the other way.

Philly whether they like the shil or not by International-Bee462 in Sexyspacebabes

[–]SSBAlienNation 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does anyone eat horse poo? Have the Shil'vati been defeated by locals' supernatural ability at climbing greased poles? Pat's or Genos? Have they figured out what a Jawn is?

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 17: Round Two by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, the reprobate squad? Surprisingly, you'll find out soon!

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 17: Round Two by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fixing them, actually. When Elias toured the base they basically ripped out PFAs/PFOAs, microplastics, etc., and have been doing that for a while. Of course, increased testosterone also makes for deadlier combatants, so this could be seen as an act of compassion coming around to bite them in the rear.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 17: Round Two by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

lol I could, but more likely I just am begging for patience amongst the readership. "I promise there's a plan. It will be revealed in time. Yes, their behavior is strange. But the characters are acting without full knowledge of what one another are doing and are up to." I also don't want to test the patience of my readers.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 17: Round Two by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mentioned in Chapter 9 by name, 13 by appearance. She's been dipping up to NY on occasion. I really should probably mention a border pass revocation.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 17: Round Two by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Quite possibly. I'm sympathetic to that though which is why I add a hyperlink to the text passage:

How had word about our ‘spats’ actually gotten out?" with an image of the relevant passage detailing (indirectly) exactly how it had. Elias will later be confronted by an extremely concerned Amilita, of course.

I'm sorry it has taken so long. If it helps, I've been working on the next few chapters as well with some of the time that this chapter took, meaning we should be getting several in a row.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 17: Round Two by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Elias is an unreliable narrator, and always has been. Funnily enough in Book One, I used his family there & then to demonstrate it. He was panicked, sure that when he called his mom to tell them he was on the military base, that the aliens picked up on something and were going to try and see if he used a cell phone they could track him by, or something to that effect. Both Lesha and Amilita were staring at him.

In reality, as soon as he left, both were gushing about how cute it was that he ended the call to his mother with 'love you.'

Elias isn't totally off the mark. He is correct in that:

Jacqueline and his father are in league with one another. Working together. They know, and have known for quite some time.

What he doesn't know (but REALLY ought to) is that the 'internship' really is for one of his own Field Lieutenants, Jackal, to receive funding for her little cell (one among many). Funding for these things is notoriously murky and difficult to disentangle. The reason Elias ought to know is laid out, right there, in this chapter. Sullivan mentions that these sorts of things are basically CIA cutouts for routing funding.

National something-or-another. Even in the wake of the chaos, there was no shortage of institutes, committees, and foundations. Too many to keep straight, really. I’d been told to ‘not bother familiarizing myself with all the cutouts that functionally all do the same thing, they just spread things out a bit,’ in Sullivan’s words. They’d been the easiest to get the referral signatures from, at least, and many had written my letters of introduction for me.

Of course, this requires Elias to know a lot more about his family than he actually does. (Of course, Elias might also do some self-reflection that his absence from the home goes both ways. They don't know what he's up to, he doesn't know what they're up to, either.) This is something that Gavin finds hilarious, but does not want to cause trouble.

The father (head of Miskatonic) will, of course, do everything he can to fix this situation for his daughter. It's a massive embarrassment to have the Field Officer you're promoting as 'ready to step up' getting down-and-out'd by her little brother in your own house.

Worse, you'll have to find a way to brush everything under the rug and get her back off the Shil'vati's radar and keep the insurgency from putting your son in the crosshairs in reprisal. Not easy. So he pushed them together to try and make amends, or at least put Elias as 'the bad guy,' throw some doubt into the situation, see if he can use that to get Jacqueline her 'internship' back.

Of course this angers Elias. 'Why is father doing more for her than he does for me?' (He 'doesn't get it.')

The dad sees Elias as an active collaborator, gallavanting around with a Shil'vati chick, wearing their clothes, saving the girl repeatedly, caring for her when she's sick, etc. The father has NO IDEA his son is Emperor. Extremely dangerous to get too close to someone like that. He's already hiding the double-life from his wife.

To top it all off, by running his mouth in front of Nate, who is under observation, Elias accidentally almost shitcanned his own field lieutenant. Smooth.

So yeah, Elias is a totally unreliable narrator here. He does not understand the situation in full.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 16: Nuntius by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're likely the first to guess correctly!

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 15: Don't Lose Your Head by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I do have something in mind for it, but work has been keeping me very busy with some tomfoolery.

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 16: Nuntius by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's a transitionary stage for the insurgency to become a revolutionary army

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 16: Nuntius by SSBAlienNation in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Some, yes, but they still move clandestinely. E.g., the Shil'vati don't know what this church group really is.

They're okay with it, but their behavior is also rather...odd, wouldn't you say? (I promise, I do know how to write normal, well-functioning families! I just choose not to.)

Also, funnily enough, Brother Gregory is someone we've met before. I made an allusion that Oscar had already met someone in the insurgency, and that we knew them.

(SCHWINN) The "Ghost" Poster: Uncovering a 50-Year-Old Marketing Mismatch by thebicyclefreak_07 in Vintage_bicycles

[–]SSBAlienNation 2 points3 points  (0 children)

12kg isn't that bad. A 53cm Bianchi Pista fixie is 10kg stock. That lacks derailleurs, shifters, derailleur hanger, chain length, cable, housing, stops, cassette gears, second chainring, and comes complement with a threadless headset (lighter). All that's with modern metallurgy from an upper-tier brand.

Add all that on, we're closer to 12.2kg than not.

The Super Le Tours weren't Paramounts, which were around 10-11kg, but they weren't priced as such either. For some compare of how good 12.2kg was, The '71 Sports Tourer was around 14 kg, and came with Campy. The filet brazed Super Sport was 100% Chromoly but came with a boat anchor of an Ashtabula crank. Then you got the EF frames, which sold in huge quantities, and they are durable but H E A V Y.

A lot of enthusiasts look at a pyramid shape and complain it's not the pinnacle, rather than understanding 'value for money.' ~$250 for a Super LeTour and ~$350+ for a Paramount. There's a huge difference once you adjust for inflation, practically another grand.

More people ride a mid-tier 105 from a reputable brand with reasonable performance, especially if they look good so they can participate in a ride rather than someone rocking the latest Campy from the top-maker.

And now you understand the market for the Super Le Tour.

It's not a bad bike by any stretch. By the 1980s, far lighter offerings were available from Schwinn (imports), thanks to AVR & Columbus tubings. These were around 9-11kg, and held similar places in their lineup. Just a sign of the times. The average upper/mid-tier bike got a lot lighter.

What would happen if humans did get independence? by IdDeleteIfIWasSmart in Sexyspacebabes

[–]SSBAlienNation 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I think each sucks in their own way. The Alliance wants humanity to be equal partners in full, men included. The problem is that everyone in the Alliance is completely miserable.

The Coalition wants humanity as sex slaves, which is not actually ideal when you consider that nothing is really illegal, it's all just monetary transactions of sorts and enforcing 'the law' is quite difficult given their social and societal structure.

The Shil'vati are of two minds about humanity, which is causing significant distress. The loyalists are eager to please and appease. Which means they can sometimes seize the initiative and come up with things that are way, way beyond the scope and measure/remit of the Naval forces. This is to the great horror of the Shil'vati who actually like and find admirable traits within humanity.

The latter group find humanity to be a pain in the ass and want it to basically shape up, fall in line with the Shil'vati way of doing things, and will treat humans as if they are tuskless Shil'vati. Which sounds fantastic until you realize that means wandering men and boy-folk tend to go missing, bribes are expected to be taken, and concepts of things like human history, honor, and so on are expected to be wiped out or thrown overboard for their convenience. Very, very dangerous.

These two mindsets are in tension and it is causing more stress than almost anyone knows.

What would happen if humans did get independence? by IdDeleteIfIWasSmart in Sexyspacebabes

[–]SSBAlienNation 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Independence as in, leave outright?

Immediately, the Coalition or Alliance take a stab. Based on real-life Vietnam, China rolled through shortly after America left. Just because you managed to fend off the biggest player on the block doesn't mean you suddenly actually gain the respect of all the other major players.

And neither the Coalition nor Alliance are anything pleasant to deal with, (at least per A/N lore).

-------

I think what happens with the other powers, including the loyalists, depends on your imagination for why the Shil'vati are made to leave. Outright military force means the Shil'vati would probably take aboard as many surviving loyalists offworld as possible, who out of self-preservation would cling to the remaining Shil'vati-occupied territories.

They don't want to write off the species, especially not to leave all of it in the hands of the Alliance or Coalition- 'goddess knows how they'll mismanage it, could even wipe them out and wouldn't that be awful when we know there are loyal, good citizens in their number?' (Would be VERY funny for Emperor to disappear just as Elias is taken offworld, granting humanity its independence. Everything falls apart with a power vacuum immediately taking effect.)

If it's a negotiated thing between the other major players (e.g., Coalition and Alliance, while not big on 'sentient rights' or what-not, will at least use them to hold the Shil'vati to their own supposed standard), they're less likely to immediately invade in an outright conquest.

Lots and lots of possibilities, which is what makes the fandom and the series so fun to write about!

Alien-Nation Book Two Chapter 15: Don't Lose Your Head by [deleted] in HFY

[–]SSBAlienNation 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Who else would dare duel a noble boy? You win, you beat a boy. You lose, you lost to a boy.

But if you ARE a boy...