Editing Judges of Tehom: Thematic Essays
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For the purposes of this essay, a "grimdark" is an adjective that describes a set of three genre expectations. First, The world is drab visually. It is associated with muted colors. Second, the setting is violent in a way that is generally constant, extreme, and destabilizing. Often, this violence takes the form of outright war. Safety is a rare luxury in grimdark settings, and threats are pervasive. This constant violence creates a destabilizing pressure on the social order, either creating a massively dysfunctional society or a society that is only kept together by an extremely authoritarian state. Third, a grimdark world is fatalist and pessimistic. There is little to believe in beyond one's own immediate self interest, and possibly the wellbeing of a loved one. | For the purposes of this essay, a "grimdark" is an adjective that describes a set of three genre expectations. First, The world is drab visually. It is associated with muted colors. Second, the setting is violent in a way that is generally constant, extreme, and destabilizing. Often, this violence takes the form of outright war. Safety is a rare luxury in grimdark settings, and threats are pervasive. This constant violence creates a destabilizing pressure on the social order, either creating a massively dysfunctional society or a society that is only kept together by an extremely authoritarian state. Third, a grimdark world is fatalist and pessimistic. There is little to believe in beyond one's own immediate self interest, and possibly the wellbeing of a loved one. | ||
− | =Tehom's | + | =Tehom: Optimistic and Elite-Oriented= |
− | + | The spirit of Lee's Maxim would not apply to Tehom, as the meaning of responsibility is radically different than Lee's understanding of it. The Few of Tehom would recoil at the obligations and egalitarianism embedded in Lee's Maxim. Tehom's culture of noblesse oblige gives the Few have the right and responsibility to shape and lead society. Where the Few go, the Many follow. | |
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− | + | *Tehom is a world where humanity defines itself by the heroic struggle to survive after the Garden's abandonment. Against all odds, it has not only survived, but has begun to thrive. This is not a pessimistic world, but an optimistic one where the population looks to its heroes and leaders, the Few. | |
− | + | *The generations of fast growth have created a general "newness" to the city states of Tehom which is reinforced by the Few's interest in creating beautiful agoras at the center of their cities as a form of cultural competition. For most of humanity, this is a world of bright lights, shining metal, and new concrete. The wilderness is likewise a place of terrible and awe-inspiring beauty: a world of alien seas lie beyond human controlled cities. | |
+ | *Tehom is not a world of war as we understand it. There is violence, yes, but not war. Despite the occasional attacks by Hadlaians and fluid conflicts between cosmopoli, the defining form of violence is archonic war: the contained, ritualized duel between champions of competing city-states. In stark contrast to the destabilizing consequences of constant warfare, archonic duels have been fully incorporated into the structure of society, culture, politics, and the economy. It is a known quantity, and it is even celebrated by adoring partisans who follow their favorite champions in online chatrooms, fueled by rumors fed to them by a paparazzi. | ||
==Tehom & Classical Analogs== | ==Tehom & Classical Analogs== |