I will only call him Dalton.
15 Oct 2022Lily Flemmon
First things first, some short statements about other relevant people:Seo Jin-ae. Yes, she's working with Ram Tah and Ishmael Palin, and may not be too supportive of the xeno-peace movement, but we can't forget she's a victim of Azimuth- the penultimate victim of Azimuth.
Ram Tah. Asshole. Very talented and invaluable, but an insufferable asshole and self-supremacist. Not to the level that Caleb Wycherley was, but still. It's no surprise he has no close friends.
Ishmael Palin. The way this man seems to have been with Caleb Wycherley, it's literally like reading Moby Dick. Along for the ride on someone else's mission of revenge, and definitely getting hit with the waves of recklessness.
Caleb Wycherley. Basically Captain Ahab. Died the same way, too. Except instead of a whale it's the most advanced race in the galaxy. No respect for life, not even his own, despite his god complex.
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And now, on to the subject of Dalton. Gonna leave out his last name here, I've killed that name too thoroughly to bring it back. It's still awkward after three years to be seeing that name around for other people. But hey, it's a name people use, and that's fine. I'm just not gonna say it or write it if I don't have to.
The man is... pulling quite a political stunt. We'll see how his election goes, seeing how a squadron of Commanders operates where he governs, but the xeno-peace movement... Prof Lad had better be practicing good self-care. Gods know he's been getting pestered just like every other xeno expert of any liberal arts sort.
Phoebe Langer and I have parted ways after fighting together to defend the True Chapters against Hudson's latest Federal bullshit. We were cathartic for each other, honestly- pirates aren't necessarily bad people, and the crimes on her record were completely victimless. And I'm left hopping between Chilton Terminal and the Hecate's Rest, being a cog in the machine... I hate it. I hate this feeling of fighting as a part of a larger whole, of being a... being...
A soldier. Because I'm- I'm not. I never fucking was and I will say that as many times as I need to. Just because I'm basically fighting in a war doesn't mean... it doesn't...
Fuck. I've got some shit to work through.
Best of luck to you, Governor Dalton. You deserve it.
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Author's note:
In case it isn't crystal clear for all of you, Hudson represents the American right wing, and is by far the most allegorical powerplay character in Elite. I know a lot of gamers complain about politics being injected into videogames, but I also know this is no more political than games have always been- especially Elite. It's a space opera, it's basically politics and philosophy made into narrative content.
When given a no-consequences power fantasy in a game, such as being a Commander in Elite, people almost always play as their most authentic selves. And while Elite is fictional, it has several ways in which it mirrors and takes inspiration from the real world, and while Commanders are fictional, the players are real people. Elite is a game, but it's not just a game. People don't play Elite to the point of having an engineered Corvette because it's a well-made game without too many bugs. People play Elite because they get to be their authentic selves.
So when I see how much in-game support Zachary Hudson has, it terrifies me- because in the absence of consequences, that's 1:1 correspondence to real people supporting those same ideas in real life. And just one of those ideas is that people like me do not deserve to exist.
But it's not all dark clouds. I created CTAC to be "the best community in the galaxy to be part of for someone whose life is falling apart." And that idea, that community, has become far more real than I've admitted to myself until recently. I've logged startlingly few hours in Elite recently because of this. I'm becoming more and more able to be my authentic self IRL, and so have many others.
This is so much more than just a game.