does Etheria have politics?
(going back and reading this, I realize how much of my writing is just stream of consciousness.)
I feel like by now everyone here knows that I spend way too much time thinking about unnecessary details when I should really be writing, but what else can I do to procrastinate other than spend time building the story.
This is going to be the more unhinged version of that previous post, since when I wrote it, I was feeling very academic after doing some anthropology in government homework, but now I'm just trying to pull things from memory.
Google has been extremely helpful in helping me clarify a lot of things, so some of the theories will be pulled from the wiki of the original 80's show, the reboot, and some of my own thoughts.
I know there's a post of the whole galactic hierarchy, but for the purposes of this post, I will be focusing on the politics of Etheria itself. I might also make a separate post about spiritual beliefs, but I make no promises.
So for history, not much is known (at least to me) about Angella's predecessors or how they came to be in power of Bright Moon, but as with everything that can't be explained, I'd like to chalk it up to magic and the connection to the Moonstone. Also, because Micah isn't a direct descendant of that line, I would see him as more of a Consort instead of acting monarch. I would believe he's a close political and strategical advisor, as we saw how much of a prevalent role he had in the beginning of the war, but that's about it. Although after the war, I believe he goes back to doing King things to give Glimmer some respite from having a whole kingdom on her shoulders.
Also, I know it's not cannon, but there is hot gossip in Etheria, and I'd like to believe that there's news reports for each village, and a worldwide newspaper. Is it called The Daily Etherian? Perhaps.
Down to the nitty gritty:
So I've kinda created a flow chart in my head about the people in power in Etheria. First, there's the planet as a whole, obviously, and unlike Earth, the separated countries, in my opinion work together. To relate it to something I know, I choose to think about the EU. I would also believe that Etheria kind of works in the way that the US does, but the EU is more international, so that's why I'm using that. Also, I wouldn't think that villages had presidents, I think the highest you should be able to go is Mayor or like Elder.
So basically there's kingdoms, regions, sects, and factions that all work together in the political system, with the only region known of is the Crimson Waste, which contains a faction of people who are outlaws/ex-horde/or chose to leave their kingdoms. For kingdoms, there are the standard Bright Moon, Plumeria, Salineas, Dryl, Mystacor, Kingdom of Snows, and the Scorpioni. But there are also some that aren't mentioned that hold Royalty such as the Star Siblings, Prince Peekablue, and Sweet Bee. Those kingdoms won't be considered too much in this analysis, but they are factored into the greater whole.
Side note: where does She-Ra live? Does she not get a kingdom? Where would she go if Adora didn't stay in Bright Moon? Is that all she's going to get, a spare room in Bright Moon? Is the Crystal Castle just a place for training and information or can it be used as an actual castle?
Also, is Madame Razz a part of a village or does she just live in the woods like Bow's parents? Are there a lot more like them, or is it just them? IDK
That then got me to thinking about the every day grievances that the townspeople may have. While it isn't mentioned, it is known that there are villages fairly close in relation to the kingdoms, so I'd like to believe that these villages are governed by the kingdoms they are closest to. We also know that there are Mayors and Elders, and most likely Shamans, and Spiritual Advisors in existence in Etheria, so I'd like to imagine they all work similarly for simplifying purposes.
Also, I'd like to say that each Princess may choose how involved they are with the surrounding kingdom. For example, Perfuma is very involved in her community, but the other Princesses remain in their respective Castles and don't interact with the people in the villages.
So for example, if a townsperson had a grievance, they probably wouldn't immediately go to Queen Angella for it to be solved. They'd most likely go to the Mayor of their village, then to the acting Princess/Prince/Queen/King of the surrounding Kingdom, then to Queen Angella. And that would be a totally different thing for the town in Bright Moon, they'd probably go directly to Queen Angella, or the towns representative.
If for no other reason than transportation purposes, I'd like to believe Etheria is smaller than your average planet. Maybe during the war, everyone stays in Bright Moon in their rooms, maybe they all travel extremely quickly. But how in the heck does it take them so quickly to get from place to place to village to village. Is it a short walk? Am I too reliant on Glimmer's teleportation devices? The world may never know.
Okay now for the laws. I'd assume there's a basic law that governs Etheria, kind of like the constitution, but then it'd also be broken up into different laws that are associated with different kingdoms/villages. For example, why would a landlocked village have a fishing ordinance? That would most likely work best in Salineas.
We also know that the biggest form of commerce in Etheria is trade. Plumeria probably provides textiles and crops, Salineas would be boats/the seafood market, etc. I believe that's how every kingdom keeps their pockets full. There might be different regulations in every kingdom about the different kinds of trade they have there. I know there is a monetary unit, and it's most likely coins, but I have no idea what each coin would equal and how valuable it is, given that most Etherians live humbly.
We know, according to like earth's standards, what the Horde is doing in the show is terrible. Like actually horrible. I'd generally just use the Geneva Convention's standards, because that is pretty much what a lot of us would go by. There is a wiki page on the different war crimes that the Horde, Glimmer and Horde Prime all had during the show, so that was pretty cool to look at. I'm just genuinely interested on how it wasn't stopped quicker and how it escalated to be such a big problem. But that's a post for an entirely different day.
How does Etheria have a trial?
So, similarly to the grievances scenario I had thought of, I'd assume that's how the court system would work as well. Also, what would the punishments be? Does Bright Moon even have a prison? Are there even police? How are civil disputes settled? Do people get divorced? Do people abuse? I'd assume they're capable of it, if what we saw from the Horde was anything to go by. Then again, that could have just been the influence of Hordak.
For little cases, I'm pretty sure that they can be settled among the village, but for big disasters such as what happened in Plumeria, they'd probably need the help from other Kingdoms or even just Queen Angella herself.
Big trials take place in Bright Moon, kind of like Supreme Court ones. Shadow Weaver’s will be a bit different though. For hers, it's not going to be much of a spoiler, but it's the explanation that I didn't know how to fit into the fic without making it sound like I'm forcing it in there. It's supposed to be common knowledge for everyone there, so they wouldn't think to explain it to an outside audience.
Especially for this, since it was directly associated with the Alliance, think of the Princess Alliance as a jury, but instead of jurors, they're treating it more as an election with representative democracy, with each Princess being the representative. Because Shadow Weaver is the last remaining head of the Horde besides Adora, who had no willing part in the Battle of the Whispering Woods, she will get a full tribunal.
That means there will be an audience, no "lawyers" or whatever the Etherian equivalent would be, and all of the Princesses will be there to give their input since her destruction affects their kingdoms, even though they aren't a part of the Princess Alliance. This is basically just a "we know you committed x, y, and z crimes, we're going to make you aware of them and decide what to do with you."
I was genuinely thinking about having the Horde become a prison, but I just don't think anyone would go for that. Having a condensed population of criminals in a place that just so happens to house the leading faction of people the rebellion we’re fighting against doesn’t sit right. Maybe each kingdom should have their own version of a jail. Would they need a jail? How many bad guys are there?
