(sorry it took a while, I wanted to add some pictures!)
I'll be focusing on the AuthLeft quadrant and Posadist specifically, cuz it's what I've been thinking of most. I feel like compared to other quadrants, AuthLeft got least amount of screen time (and 97% of it was Commie lol). And I've got things to contribute!
So the one thing I mentioned was AuthLeft acting like a big ant colony/family. And they are, quite literally, a big ant family - they perceive each other as family members, and share certain traits, like family members would. It's something that is unique about their quadrant, being so concerned about "unity" above all else.
Now, that doesn't necessarily mean they're a picture-perfect family from a TV commercial. If you know a thing or two about ants, it becomes pretty obvious. Most if not all of their "family gatherings" result in ugly squabbles, everyone calling each other "fake Marxists", and Marxism himself pondering how it got to this point.
Marxist, obviously, acts as the family's patriarch and holds utmost authority, with everyone else desperately trying to make him proud and prove that they are the "true heir". Ironically, Marxism doesn't want to be proven anything. To him, they are all his children, grandchildren and so on; they are all "true" in his eyes, even if some pursue…unique ways of interpreting his teachings.
I'd call Marxism the "wise grandfather", someone whom you look for advice but also consolation.
Next in line would be the Communist (or Marxist-Leninist, or Stalinist…he's got a lot of names), and Trotskyist. Sibling rivalry through the roof, TONS of bad blood. If you know how Stalinists tend to talk about Trots, you understand.
I believe the reason we didn't get to see a glimpse of Trotskyism in canon is…well, they're kind of dead at this point. Or rather, in a condition close to being dead. Something like an ideology coma? And Commie is sort of kind of responsible. He believes it was a "necessary evil for the greater good" (like he always does), and he did it with a heavy heart, but still. Trotskyism is pretty much out of the picture. And this finally brings us to…
Posadist! Aka Trotskyist's son and Commie's nephew.
Now look, I LOVE the OG show, and I would love to say I don't wanna change a thing about it…BUT…I am kind of perplexed in regard to how well Commie and Posadist get along.
Posad is a Trot. Like, literally a branch of Trotskyism with an "eccentric" coat of painting. Shouldn't they be frenemies at best?
Yet in Centricide, Posadist seems to look up to Commie and pretty much admire him without question, and Commie acts fairly nice to them as well. No grudges, no visible disagreements, no nothing. Sorry, but I find that hard to believe XDD
I get bonding over common enemy, the enemy of my enemy is my friend yadda yadda, but I need more than that, and I need tension still present. And while I also don't think there's nothing but pure black hatred between the two (it is in their ant-like nature to care for one another, after all), their relationship is a lot messier in my headcanon.
To give you a quick rundown of my Posadist lore. They didn't start out the way they are in Centricide - they weren't always a "wackie". Sure, their views and sense of humor were rather…unorthodox right from the get-go ("let's blow up the planet to get rid of capitalists, us communists will survive this one trust"), but honestly, I've heard worse. And if you squint really-really hard and drink a bottle or two, it might even start to make some sense.
Posadist was always the eccentric one, that's for sure, so it was hard for him to find his place amongst the family.
Trotskyism was the cold and absent father, always sighing and shaking his head in disagreement. And when he were gone, that void of parental approval really started getting at them.
Commie (tasked by Marxism to look after Posad, in a horrible dramatic irony given that he was responsible for Trot's coma) tried his best to "strife them towards the right path", aka shape them into what he wanted, hurting them in the process.
Posadist had little to no Ws on the historical field, not without Commie's "help". Breaking their printing presses, actively driving them out of their bases. When the missile crisis got resolved, Posad was furious, the angriest he ever was. It felt like the hardest slap in the face. What was Commie's victory was their biggest loss.
And then…the aliens came in.
I think what happened here was a mix of two things.
First, feeling alienated (no pun intended) by their quadrant and wanting to seek some place where they would be welcomed as they are. And their eyes were always looking up above, at the infinite space.
Second, human influence. Ideologies are fun when you think about it; they hold undeniable power over our lives as human race, yet they are shaped and malformed by us. God-like entities whose entire line of thinking depends on those they rule over. It's a funny contradiction.
Remember when Commie was reading into stock market and began to have "ideas"? This sort of thing. Uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts. Voices that must be act upon. Except unlike Commie's case, this wasn't a one-time thing. And it was progressing.
Slowly but surely Posadist was starting to make less and less sense. All Marxist and the others could do was stand by and watch, cuz nothing they were capable of would make a difference. All Posadist could do was succumb, discarded as a lost cause.
He self-isolated, determined to find those Marxists from outer space, if only to finally put himself at rest. And…he succeeded! (lets make aliens a thing in Centriverse, I think Posad deserves this little Win). He did find them!
Or rather…they found him? It was very much in style of "The Whisperer in Darkness", and I imagine the aliens to be something close to Mi-Go. They tasked him with the important mission of "preparing" planet Earth for their arrival. And this is the part where the nukes come back into the scene.
After "getting enlightened", Posadist transformed into the alien-y mushroom cloud look I draw him most often in, and broke away from the regular AuthLefts, finally turning into a wackie ideology. And then he went on to create and organize the Wackie Council but that's a whole other story (and this post is already way too long).
Funny enough, I'd say becoming a wackie helped Posadist not follow suit after Trotskyism and instead grow in power significantly. Not many people would believe in nuclear annihilation as means of achieving utopia I imagine, but alien Marxists? Communicating with dolphins? Living underwater? Sign me tf up.
If you look at it one way, Posadist's fate was inevitable, determined by human society. But if you look at it the other way, Commie was, once again, kind of responsible.
To finish this off with some thoughts on his relationship with Commie. I think Posadist did truly look up to him at the beginning, and that's the tragedy of it all. They WANT to hate him, but they can't. He's still their tío. Posad's ant-like antennae make it clear - they'll always be part of the family, like it or not.
And Commie…oh Commie. The type who "inflicts good" without realizing most of the time. The way he treats AnCom in canon is pretty telling. Commie's always right and he always knows what's best for everyone and he only does the good thing. But we all know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
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