Cyberpunk Avatar: Part 1

[clockwerkchaos]

Alright, so this was done on request, I mentionied this Idea to attacfish, who asked for a write-up. So here it is (sorry it took so long, ended up balooning to 11k words, and this was finals week.) To start off, this is not a fully designed universe, and it’s probably not going to ever get turned into a story, I have to much unfinished to start.

Comments

[gamiel]

It is fully possible that this is a bit to late and goes against how you are planning this but the way I think Ba Sing Se is a city controlled by the culture ministry. That means that anybody who are, wants to be, or think they are somebody in the city has to go to all the larger cultural events and to the theatre, opera or things like that at least every mouths, or better jet every week. Every new building in the Middle ring has to be made in traditional stile (or at least look like they were made in it) and then there are the “culturally important” buildings. To change anything on or in those building you will have to walk thru a smaller mountain of paperwork and permits, and they also effect how you haw to plane the buildings around them, after all the Cultural ministry can not allow the skyscrapers to shadow them all the day. Oh, and nearly all the houses and other structures in the Upper ring have the “culturally important” stamp. This should lead to that many corporations don’t build up, they build down. After all when you can use Earth-bender builders you can easy add ten or more floors under the ground floor.
Most cities has one or two levels of underground, Ba Sing Se has at least fifteen.

Since most countries in our world were the government controls the (official) culture life, tend to lead to that the culture became stagnated, I believe that all the culture that the government control, sponsors or just has an eye on (“The Dai Lee are there for your protection”), probably has a tick role book were everything that the Cultural ministry consider important for that art form is written down. And if it is not in the book it is not allowed, improvisation is looked down on and experimental ideas are downright blasphemy. All the costumes, masks and theatrical makeup that are used are replicas of the same once that have been used for the last 200 years. New plays are being produced but they all follow the rules. “It worked for your grandfather and his grandfather and it is going to work for you!”
Of cores there exist independent groups all over the city but they can forget to get state sponsorship, getting a local in any of the better parts of the city (no bar owner what’s to have the Dai Lee knock on his door and question him about his loyalty. “If you are not loyal to the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se, how can you be loyal to the city itself?”), or being treated with respect by the establishment.

All this leads to that all the real cultural development in Ba Sing Se takes place in the Lower and Fourth ring.