Comic for August 10, 2019: Mind Manipulation

[AmigaDragon]

But then again, drinking alcohol real doesn't fit that as much. What's the benefit there? Higher tolerance to pain/poison?

That brings up an O.T. thought. I wonder if Keith's tolerance can drink Natani's size under the table or vice versa. How much of a difference does size or racial tolerance make?

[Ddraig]

But then again, drinking alcohol real doesn't fit that as much. What's the benefit there? Higher tolerance to pain/poison?

That brings up an O.T. thought. I wonder if Keith's tolerance can drink Natani's size under the table or vice versa. How much of a difference does size or racial tolerance make?

Judging purely off of the Daily Sketches, Keith can drink Nat under the table easily. iirc there was a couple of bar date ones and one immediately preceding the sketch of them both drunk in Trace's fountain

[Schrodinger]

I had one more thought on Maddie's reaction. Do (Eastern) basitins ever go to the beach for anything more than fishing or launching/landing boats... like sunbathing and swimming?

Probably not for leisure. Leisure doesn't seem to be a concept for Eastern Basitins. They probably patrol the beaches and oceans for potential threats, but that's about it.

Nah, I reckon Eastern Basitins definitely would engage in leisure. Like, they have taverns. We see Basitins drinking beer and playing cards. I would just imagine that their leisure is more on the organised and goal-oriented and "cultured" and "productive" side. Like I can easily imagine Basitins playing board games or sports or watching theatre, or even having chats with friends in the baths or at the tavern. What's less Basitin-like is "lazy" leisure or "chilled-out" leisure, like just lying at the beach for hours doing nothing but getting a tan.

Basitins aren't emotionless robots, they're based on real human societies like Spartans, as well as more aspergers/autistic-style mindsets which think and perceive the world much more in terms of organised rules rather than instinct and intuition and spontaneity. There are people in the real world who are like Basitins, as well as whole cultures which have existed which are similar to Basitin culture. Such people still engage in all sorts of the same things as "our" culture does, they are still human with the whole range of human emotions and experiences and wants and needs. They just have different cultural/social norms, and a different way of thinking/feeling about things.

So yeah, sure Eastern Basitins would socialise and have rest and relaxation and fun. The average Basitin just might do it in different ways than the average human.

That's more along the lines of what I was thinking anyway, they probably do fun things, but for the most part probably view them as extracurricular activities that can help make them better soldiers. I could definitely see them playing board games or sports, there's a lot of strategic value in mastering those activities that could translate on the battlefield.

But then again, drinking alcohol real doesn't fit that as much. What's the benefit there? Higher tolerance to pain/poison?

You seem stuck on the idea that all Basitins are on-duty all the time with no time for rest and relaxation. That simply isn't the case as shown above. While the culture does have obvious parallels to ancient Sparta (military culture, training from an early age) it pulls just as much from more contemporary sources since the practice of mandatory military training described sounds to me more like conscription than the Spartan practice of agoge. What I see is that every Eastern Basitin is conscripted into the armed forces and then takes a tour of duty after their training is complete. Once the tour is finished they might leave the military to become a butcher and feed the citizenry. In essence, every Basitin we've seen has been a soldier for some time, and though not in active service might still be doing their part to keep the wheels of the war machine spinning along. And added benefit would be an entire nation's worth of hive minded soldiers ready to arm themselves and fight with the utmost proficiency if their King were to ever call on them.

[Eclipse]

I had one more thought on Maddie's reaction. Do (Eastern) basitins ever go to the beach for anything more than fishing or launching/landing boats... like sunbathing and swimming?

Probably not for leisure. Leisure doesn't seem to be a concept for Eastern Basitins. They probably patrol the beaches and oceans for potential threats, but that's about it.

Nah, I reckon Eastern Basitins definitely would engage in leisure. Like, they have taverns. We see Basitins drinking beer and playing cards. I would just imagine that their leisure is more on the organised and goal-oriented and "cultured" and "productive" side. Like I can easily imagine Basitins playing board games or sports or watching theatre, or even having chats with friends in the baths or at the tavern. What's less Basitin-like is "lazy" leisure or "chilled-out" leisure, like just lying at the beach for hours doing nothing but getting a tan.

Basitins aren't emotionless robots, they're based on real human societies like Spartans, as well as more aspergers/autistic-style mindsets which think and perceive the world much more in terms of organised rules rather than instinct and intuition and spontaneity. There are people in the real world who are like Basitins, as well as whole cultures which have existed which are similar to Basitin culture. Such people still engage in all sorts of the same things as "our" culture does, they are still human with the whole range of human emotions and experiences and wants and needs. They just have different cultural/social norms, and a different way of thinking/feeling about things.

So yeah, sure Eastern Basitins would socialise and have rest and relaxation and fun. The average Basitin just might do it in different ways than the average human.

That's more along the lines of what I was thinking anyway, they probably do fun things, but for the most part probably view them as extracurricular activities that can help make them better soldiers. I could definitely see them playing board games or sports, there's a lot of strategic value in mastering those activities that could translate on the battlefield.

But then again, drinking alcohol real doesn't fit that as much. What's the benefit there? Higher tolerance to pain/poison?

You seem stuck on the idea that all Basitins are on-duty all the time with no time for rest and relaxation. That simply isn't the case as shown above. While the culture does have obvious parallels to ancient Sparta (military culture, training from an early age) it pulls just as much from more contemporary sources since the practice of mandatory military training described sounds to me more like conscription than the Spartan practice of agoge. What I see is that every Eastern Basitin is conscripted into the armed forces and then takes a tour of duty after their training is complete. Once the tour is finished they might leave the military to become a butcher and feed the citizenry. In essence, every Basitin we've seen has been a soldier for some time, and though not in active service might still be doing their part to keep the wheels of the war machine spinning along. And added benefit would be an entire nation's worth of hive minded soldiers ready to arm themselves and fight with the utmost proficiency if their King were to ever call on them.

Did you even read my post? No, I am not saying Basitins are always on duty. They're just warrior minded. They seem to view everything in their lives in terms of how, as you put it, they keep the wheels of the war machine spinning.That's not to say they're all work and no play, they just think of their play in terms of how it feeds back into their work.