Dear Diary: Mood....Pissed Off

[niamh_r2a]

I'm sick and tired of people deciding they have the right to disrespect me, to ignore me. I've never been one that's fond of violence, but it appears as though I shall have to become fond of it. I mourn this day...Gone is the fun loving, care free Niamh..and in her place..Well, I'm not sure what will end up in her place by the time this is done

Comments

OOCly speaking:

[baksi_rta]

It raises an interesting question or maybe a paradox:

If Emrys and Kazimir are/were Alphas because they never lost a fight, and if they hold their power through their ability to thrash anybody who lifts a hand (or tooth) against them...

Why *should* wolves (if we are wolves - I've yet to see a single combat between any Weir that involved fur or teeth) simply accept a political hand-off of power? If the named Alpha (male or female) cannot enforce his or her authority through strength....wouldn't a new Alpha rise?

Mind you, I did a LOT of research into wolf pack dynamics when I started playing a Weir, and draw a lot of my concepts from the Patricia Briggs novels (and more recently, the Tanya Huff 'Blood' series), but Might Makes Right has always seemed to be the rule.

Are we moving to a different set of rules now? It seems to me better to agree on this OOC and IC than to have people frustrated OOC due to different concepts or expectations.

Last night there was a conflict where a Weir refused to acknowledge Niamh's authority. Realitically speaking, he was right: could she force him to surrender? No, she could not. And neither in the end could anybody else. He never *did* surrender, yield, bare his throat, or show any respect for authority. The question for me however comes to this: Was it a matter of consent? Is it differing concepts of how Weir authority is laid out? Did somebody just want to play a combat scene? What happens to the authority of the Alpha, or to the integrity of packs, when a Weir will not submit and is yet not killed?

I think there could be a lot of story in that. But we do have to agree on ground rules OOC, or we're going to have frustrated players making their weir act in ways that seem to make no sense.

Unless of course they're doing it deliberately to create conflict play. But then, we have to make sure the players whose weir they are revolting against, want to play endlessly trying to put down what looks like revolts. It could stop being fun in a hurry, otherwise.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[ms_sadie_frost]

The issue here, however, isn't alpha...it's Regency. Weir rules are getting snuggled IN there, because they have to...biology and culture...but what was handed off was a regency, not an alpha position.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[baksi_rta]

In that case, and drawing entirely from real wolf packs....

Who is the 'Beta' Weir? I would have said Kazimir, but he's gone missing. The Regency is a political role. Alpha is a dynamics role. Beta steps into the role of Alpha when the Alpha is killed or deposed.

I ask merely for curiosity, as the idea of having a social Beta is appealing to me.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[niamh_r2a]

It was less about wolf power struggle, and more about the fact that he snubbed a position. If he'd pulled that with anyone who was in a political position of power, the reaction would have been the same..if less wolf-like in nature.

It's a fine line.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[emma_rta]

Although I don't really know the situation well, it's my feeling that by snubbing Emrys' pick to look after things while he was away, the Weir who didn't acknowledge Niamh will certainly answer to Emrys upon his return.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[niamh_r2a]

Most likely.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[rae_r2a]

As Nia said, it's a very fine line. Weir are creatures that are a bit more than wolves, a bit more than human. While the wolf side can certainly look at a appointed 'Acting' Regent and say 'why should I listen to them, they are not Alpha to me', the human side can also realize that the person appointed is a representative of that power, of the person that put the other in charge.

I would call Kazimir the Beta Weir, Emrys's strong left paw. And while she isn't a true Alpha (yet), Rae has certainly been called his right hand by a few people. It's a dynamic that could be interesting to see played out, with Kazimir missing, if anyone tries to step into his role.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[baksi_rta]

There seem to be a number of wolves from various clans who consider themselves alpha in all but name. It might be very interesting to see a series of - well, 'tournaments' isn't the right term - but serious combats aimed at specifically sorting out a pecking order, you know, with +compare and everything. Due to the bits of randomness that are thrown in by the code, you might well end up with people losing and (for a time - we might say '1 RL month' or something) being ranked lower than the one who won. Ranking of this sort is very obvious in social-animal groups, and very important to it. When everyone knows their place (literally), fights, injuries, and internally-caused weakness to the pack are reduced.

('course, Weir heal pretty much overnight, which puts the kabosh on needing to worry about injuries, but there *is* something to be said for knowing one's place. This is why I play Omega: it's a deliberate choice, made to hilight a very specific and very real role in a pack. (Coincidentally, it spares me having to fiddle with combat code and conflict too much, which makes me happy.))

Of course, squabbles are always taking place even among true wolves, and any individual's rank will shift up or down based on their age, health, the sudden death of a higher-ranking animal, etc. Everything shakes up, and then the new ranking becomes the accepted norm.

Gee, do I love wolf documentaries? Yes, yes I do. I wouldn't see something like this as reducing Weir to wolf, but rather as overlaying the complexities of wolf society onto the complexities of human society. That could be *seriously* cool.

Re: OOCly speaking:

[ms_sadie_frost]

You have that backwards...Kaz would be the dexter, Rae would be the sinister ;)

Re: OOCly speaking:

[leto_rta]

Am I going to have to come back and teach all of you how to play nice. It's been a couple of days since I put my hide on the line. ;)