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A few Scrapyard Station subcultures
Sep. 8th, 2023 03:17 amMetalheads: no, not music fans. These are Tinkers who replace a patch of their skull with metal. It’s meant to be a symbolic representation of the brain surgery Tinker soldiers require in order to fight Parasites, and it shows their support for the war effort. In practice, it also shows they hate everyone who isn’t a Tinker. Real-life equivalent: somewhere between people with “we support our troops” bumper stickers and people who wear replica Waffen SS pins.
Scraggles: Nomads who let their floof grow long and unkempt. They still do enough maintenance to avoid matting, but they don’t bother looking attractive or even presentable by Nomad standards. They encourage others to not worry about whether their fur looks bad and not put so much daily effort into being as prettified as possible. Real-life equivalent: you might think of women who don’t wear makeup, but since Nomads don’t have genders, they’re actually closer to old-fashioned punks.
Entitled: Steward religion doesn’t have a complete stranglehold over their species, and these folks openly and proudly reject it. Unfortunately, what they reject is the part about environmentalism. Since the Goddess never returned, she no longer has a claim on their world, and they declare their right to do anything they wish with what she left behind. These are also the only Stewards who want anything to do with cybernetics, though their compatibility isn’t nearly as good as Tinkers. Real-life equivalent: Richard Dawkins if he was the CEO of Exxon.
Plainsfolk: essentially, these are to Riders what the Pure are to Tinkers, but even more so. The Pure at least accept enough medical technology to keep from dying early, and enough transport and weapons technology to wage their crusade against Parasites. Plainsfolk don’t even want agriculture, let alone vaccines. On the plus side, they’re not sexist or homophobic like the Pure often are. Real-life equivalent: those tribes that kill anyone who tries to talk to them.
Scholar Warrens: most Scholars maintain an “unconnected” hive mind, with essentially the same personality and pre-death memories as their donor. But some embrace the potential for hives to join together into a single entity. The self matters less to them than the quest for knowledge, and it’s common for these mega-hives to split off an individual to have separate experiences and learn separate things before joining the collective again. (A “rogue” hive may decide not to rejoin the collective, but this is a minority of another minority in what’s already a minority race.) Real-life equivalent: maybe some kind of cult?
*Glopping sound*, *glapping sound*, *gloaping sound*: only Scrappers can remember the differences between these, but they’ll scrap with you if you confuse one for another. “How dare you! We’re nothing like those honorless *glupping sound*!” Real-life equivalent: an Armenian who’s just been told he’s “basically the same” as a Turk.
Scraggles: Nomads who let their floof grow long and unkempt. They still do enough maintenance to avoid matting, but they don’t bother looking attractive or even presentable by Nomad standards. They encourage others to not worry about whether their fur looks bad and not put so much daily effort into being as prettified as possible. Real-life equivalent: you might think of women who don’t wear makeup, but since Nomads don’t have genders, they’re actually closer to old-fashioned punks.
Entitled: Steward religion doesn’t have a complete stranglehold over their species, and these folks openly and proudly reject it. Unfortunately, what they reject is the part about environmentalism. Since the Goddess never returned, she no longer has a claim on their world, and they declare their right to do anything they wish with what she left behind. These are also the only Stewards who want anything to do with cybernetics, though their compatibility isn’t nearly as good as Tinkers. Real-life equivalent: Richard Dawkins if he was the CEO of Exxon.
Plainsfolk: essentially, these are to Riders what the Pure are to Tinkers, but even more so. The Pure at least accept enough medical technology to keep from dying early, and enough transport and weapons technology to wage their crusade against Parasites. Plainsfolk don’t even want agriculture, let alone vaccines. On the plus side, they’re not sexist or homophobic like the Pure often are. Real-life equivalent: those tribes that kill anyone who tries to talk to them.
Scholar Warrens: most Scholars maintain an “unconnected” hive mind, with essentially the same personality and pre-death memories as their donor. But some embrace the potential for hives to join together into a single entity. The self matters less to them than the quest for knowledge, and it’s common for these mega-hives to split off an individual to have separate experiences and learn separate things before joining the collective again. (A “rogue” hive may decide not to rejoin the collective, but this is a minority of another minority in what’s already a minority race.) Real-life equivalent: maybe some kind of cult?
*Glopping sound*, *glapping sound*, *gloaping sound*: only Scrappers can remember the differences between these, but they’ll scrap with you if you confuse one for another. “How dare you! We’re nothing like those honorless *glupping sound*!” Real-life equivalent: an Armenian who’s just been told he’s “basically the same” as a Turk.
