Lamech wrote:Oberon wrote:I believe that Stanley knows the disbanding rules quite well.
Stanley thought Parson should have disbanded. So either Stanley doesn't understand disbanding all that well, Parson has some trick to avoid disbandment or both.
Um, no. I explained both why Parson escaped disbanding and why Stanley was flabbergasted that he hadn't disband. Neither involved either Stanley being ignorant of the disbanding rules, or Parson having "some trick" to avoid disbanding due to disobedience. You just chose to snip those portions of my post away and then ignore the position I represented via those portions. Shame, shame.
oslecamo2 wrote:Oberon wrote:I'm not in either camp. I dislike the idea that Parson is a hippymancer, and there is enough "Special" about Parson that just about any exception to any rule can be reasonably theorized. But I can't say that there isn't ample evidence which would allow someone to reasonably arrive at the conclusion that Janice called it correctly and that the portal therefore acted correctly.
Hamster is "special". So far, this included:
-Nobody can see his stats besides his level.
Why would the portal security system fare any better?-Erfworld's built-in global censorship collapsed when Hamster got really pissed off.
-He can interpret orders in multiple ways.
You are assuming quite a lot here. Parson has the word "special" attached to his stats, as relayed via a Stupid Meal. That is a fact, and we have no reason to doubt the Stupid Meals as being a source of reliable canon. It is
not a supportable fact that this "special" is the reason for any of the three bullet points you listed after citing that fact. You are free to speculate as to exactly what the "special" provides to Parson by way of exceptions to rules, etc. But this is
you speculating, and is not canon.
- The causes behind the unseeable stats is unknown, and is not tied to the "special" the Stupid Meal shared with us by anything at all within canon. Also remember that Stanley shouted at Wanda "I can't even see his points!", and not "I can't see all of his points!" The only record of Parson's "points" that we have comes from the Stupid Meal. There is no evidence that anything at all about Parson is visible to anyone else. Parson can't see his stats (points) in a mirror. It's a shame that Parson never said that he can or can't see
other unit's stats in a mirror, but this is a web comic and the amount of text is less than that of a novel as enforced by the format.
- The reason for the failure of the "boop" censure seems to be tied to the destruction of the Sword of Ruthlessness. Not to Parson being "really pissed off." Parson being Parson, I would expect that he would quickly figure out that "being pissed off" allowed him to break the rules. After that, we might reasonably expect to see a "really pissed off" Parson crowned king of all Erfworld.
- Here we agree. Parson can interpret orders in clever ways. He can, when told to not speak until ordered to, ask another unit other than Stanley to order him to speak. Any other Erf unit would probably be mute until Stanley rescinded that order. But I'm afraid that I don't see where this must be due to the "special" in his stats... It seems rather to be an innate capability which he has had his entire life, and has employed to make interesting gaming scenarios for himself and his friends, and lately to survive and prosper within the strange environs of Erfworld. In short, I do not see any tie between this aspect of Parson's personality and the "special" the Stupid Meal showed us.
ftl wrote:Remember the conversation between Maggie and Parson? When it turned out he'd never had sexual contact with the Archons, Maggie didn't think this was noble or high-minded of him; no, it was just weird.
If he ran a side like that, that's the reaction he'd get. "How strange." And that's it. You are mistakenly assuming that for some reason, the units in his side would he happier than the units in other sides. I think you're wrong about that; Erf units don't think like Earth people in many ways, *especially* ways relating to morality and authority. The logistics of planning a revolution or a disbandment strike are pointless when the units won't even *want* to get to where you think they want to get to.
I think that I unfortunately must agree. It is quite sad, but the Warlords in a "Don't abuse your position for sex" Side run by Parson would be rather naturally bummed out by this seemingly unnecessary restriction upon their privileges of rank.
Think about it:
On Earth, casual sex can cause pregnancy (including teen pregnancy, which is unknown on Erf since there are no teens, and otherwise possibly unwanted pregnancies) and STDs. Abusive sex can cause physical injury. Customs such as man/woman relations have real and biological support due to the reproductive aspects of sex, which has made homosexuality taboo in many cultures, and in some cultures any non-procreative sexual act (oral,etc) is similarly taboo.
On Erfworld, sex cannot cause pregnancy or STDs. There is no pregnancy. No teen pregnancy, no pregnancy which impedes a career, no pregnancy which is inconvenient, no child rearing, no rearing costs.
Simply. No. Pregnancy. This cannot be overstated as a significant difference between the two worlds. The more extreme sexual behavior (i.e. The BDSM between Wanda and Jillian which included beatings and whippings which drew blood) is completely healed at dawn. Since there is no reproductive function for sex, homosexual and/or non-reproductive sex acts should be viewed in the same light as any other sex act: Just for fun.
(disclaimer: I have nothing at all against our human childbearing biology. I am simply capable of imagining the ramifications of a universe which has different rules/biology.)
With this as the status queue, it is pretty easily understandable that a Ruler who ordered against such behavior would have units of low loyalty, as these would, in this world, be considered to be the perks of the job.
That said, it appears that Stanley does not order Wanda to drop to her knees and pleasure him every turn. And we haven't actually seen such behavior at all, from any unit. It is only Maggie who remarked on Parson's abstinence which gives us any view into the typical prerogatives of leadership.
build6 wrote:well, if everyone in Erfworld thought like that then yeah there'd be no room for that. But I dunno, is Wrigley really representative? Maybe in their line up waiting to get executed plenty of Wrigley's comrades were thinking ("i didn't even want to be a stabber").
While I feel that this is a valid line of questioning, I also believe that the limitations of the format would prevent the author from presenting to we, the readers, the odd case or the unusual individual without also providing us with some indication that these persons were indeed unusual in their thoughts and values. If Wrigley or Bea were not typical in their thoughts and actions, then this should be represented to the reader in some fashion. As an example, we have such representation in spades with Jillian, as plenty of other cast members have called her behavior and actions into question.
