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queenluaI could pretend this is meta but this is really just a massive excuse for me to talk about wolves.
So when I was younger I read an awful lot about wild wolf behavior, and probably one of the more interesting/informative books I read on the topic was one called Wolves at Our Door. It's the memoir of a guy who spent many years in Idaho filming documentaries about wolves. Prior to these documentaries, there just wasn't much good wolf footage, since wild wolves are notoriously flighty bastards and difficult to observe (there's a joke in the book about finding canis lupus minisculus, hee). The idea was, get a bunch of wild wolves together in a massive enclosure, try to let them live as naturally as possible, and observe the pack dynamics as they develop.
And those dynamics turned out to be really, really interesting. Contrary to popular belief, the pack alpha is not just a big, bad bully that rules by brute strength, the beta is not just a second-in-command that's forever nipping at the alpha's heels, and being omega isn't just about getting shat on all the time. Rather, there's a lot of subtle interplay and community feedback that guides these roles. The wolf who serves as alpha for the majority of the book, Kamots, is very physically strong—but it's also consistently noted that he tends to be more observant, more alert to threats, and often cleverer than the other wolves. And in a survival scenario, those are absolutely the traits that are going to keep your group alive longer than brute force.
And there's some other neat interactions. The beta, rather than just being a less-buff version of the alpha, more often serves a "peacekeeping" sort of role, interfacing between the alpha and the subordinates and helping to cool tempers when scuffles become too violent. And while it's undeniable that the omega frequently gets the shaft (last turn at feeding, often picked on by subordinates, etc), it's also undeniable that the omega is a member of the pack (there's a wolf that's basically driven out of the pack at one point in the book—that wolf is attacked brutally and forbidden to feed at carcasses, whereas the omega is never allowed to simply starve and is never seriously injured by others). Interestingly, the omega appeared to serve something of a "jester" role in the pack, as he was often the first to initiate play.
(I guess I should note here that something something this could just be anthropomorphizing but eh, it all seemed reasonably legit to me.)
I'm vaguely pretending this is relevant to FE because of the way laguz leadership is done. We're told that leaders are chosen roughly unanimously based on their strength—but the idea that this implies raw physical (or in the case of herons, magical) strength seems somewhat misguided. I imagine it's something closer to a blend of political positioning (the way rulership is done in beorc societies) and practical, proven prowess a lá a wolf pack. I'd really love to see more about how that kind of leadership is gained, challenged, won, maintained, etc—I dunno, I just find this aspect of laguz society sort of interesting and not touched on very often, and it'd be neat to see how, say, Nailah maintains her position based on both her political savvy and her proven (how is it proven to the kingdom at large?) keenness / alertness / acumen / physical strength that allows a wolf in the wild to implicitly hold power over their peers.
So when I was younger I read an awful lot about wild wolf behavior, and probably one of the more interesting/informative books I read on the topic was one called Wolves at Our Door. It's the memoir of a guy who spent many years in Idaho filming documentaries about wolves. Prior to these documentaries, there just wasn't much good wolf footage, since wild wolves are notoriously flighty bastards and difficult to observe (there's a joke in the book about finding canis lupus minisculus, hee). The idea was, get a bunch of wild wolves together in a massive enclosure, try to let them live as naturally as possible, and observe the pack dynamics as they develop.
And those dynamics turned out to be really, really interesting. Contrary to popular belief, the pack alpha is not just a big, bad bully that rules by brute strength, the beta is not just a second-in-command that's forever nipping at the alpha's heels, and being omega isn't just about getting shat on all the time. Rather, there's a lot of subtle interplay and community feedback that guides these roles. The wolf who serves as alpha for the majority of the book, Kamots, is very physically strong—but it's also consistently noted that he tends to be more observant, more alert to threats, and often cleverer than the other wolves. And in a survival scenario, those are absolutely the traits that are going to keep your group alive longer than brute force.
And there's some other neat interactions. The beta, rather than just being a less-buff version of the alpha, more often serves a "peacekeeping" sort of role, interfacing between the alpha and the subordinates and helping to cool tempers when scuffles become too violent. And while it's undeniable that the omega frequently gets the shaft (last turn at feeding, often picked on by subordinates, etc), it's also undeniable that the omega is a member of the pack (there's a wolf that's basically driven out of the pack at one point in the book—that wolf is attacked brutally and forbidden to feed at carcasses, whereas the omega is never allowed to simply starve and is never seriously injured by others). Interestingly, the omega appeared to serve something of a "jester" role in the pack, as he was often the first to initiate play.
(I guess I should note here that something something this could just be anthropomorphizing but eh, it all seemed reasonably legit to me.)
I'm vaguely pretending this is relevant to FE because of the way laguz leadership is done. We're told that leaders are chosen roughly unanimously based on their strength—but the idea that this implies raw physical (or in the case of herons, magical) strength seems somewhat misguided. I imagine it's something closer to a blend of political positioning (the way rulership is done in beorc societies) and practical, proven prowess a lá a wolf pack. I'd really love to see more about how that kind of leadership is gained, challenged, won, maintained, etc—I dunno, I just find this aspect of laguz society sort of interesting and not touched on very often, and it'd be neat to see how, say, Nailah maintains her position based on both her political savvy and her proven (how is it proven to the kingdom at large?) keenness / alertness / acumen / physical strength that allows a wolf in the wild to implicitly hold power over their peers.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 01:47 am (UTC)watch me fail at coherencyone of the more interesting/informative books I read on the topic was one called Wolves at Our Door.
!!! I've seen the documentary version of it. That's a great resource though, yes.
I imagine it's something closer to a blend of political positioning (the way rulership is done in beorc societies) and practical, proven prowess a lá a wolf pack.
Agreed! I always pondered that too. I wonder if each laguz tribe doesn't follow a specific sort of guidelines in terms of mental/physical strength like you mentioned -- but then there's the inclusion of royalty in past laguz leaders, specifically among the herons and the dragons, which seems to also have its place among choosing a laguz ruler. I wonder if this isn't more over a lineage thing though.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 07:18 pm (UTC)...and you know it occurs to me that, unlike when I was thirteen, I has the youtube
brb going to watch the shit out of that :D
no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 05:16 am (UTC)*shot shot*
But really, in positions that aren't easily dictated by heredity, you find that in human societies those who lead both exude Manliness(tm) and have secret social shrewdness.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 07:16 pm (UTC)AU where Nailah is the fast-talking businesswoman for her startup, which no one's ever heard of but somehow has millions in funding
(Volug is the much-beleaguered tech cofounder who often has to implement her ridiculous prototype ideas at the last minute)
(or something)
(actually if someone wrote a Tellius-as-Silicon-Valley fic I would read the shit out of it, no lie)
no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-26 06:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-26 07:13 am (UTC)but basically a wolf can get exiled for
1) being an incompatible ass. this was the case with one of the wolves in Wolves at Our Door; she was hugely domineering but also kinda useless and once the kiddos got big enough to not deal with her shit anymore, they were gonna be like "hit the road, sista" (they removed said asswolf before the situation could get quite so dire). note that in these situations, sometimes the wolf is just getting away with their life—like, sometimes these sorts of wolves just get killed by the alpha before they have the sense to leave.
2) "coming of age" and deciding to strike out on their own—oftentimes when wolves hit a year or two of age, the alpha will start moderately pressuring those wolves to get out of the pack—because young strong wolves in their prime are obviously going to be a threat to the position of an aging alpha. but if the younger wolves don't feel like they can properly challenge the alpha for his spot, or don't want to, then they may try and strike out on their own. it's fairly common for, say, a couple of male wolves to leave the pack and survive in a "loner band" for a while until someone can find a pretty lady wolf and start a new pack (or vice versa; a set of lady-wolves leaving to go find a dude) (or a mated pair leaving, whatever).
note that the "loner band" element is pretty important here—a wolf on their own is going to have drastically reduced odds of survival—unlike big cats or whatever, most of a wolf's hunting prowess comes from numbers and hunting formations. plus wolves are incredibly social animals, so no wolf really wants to be on his own for an extended period of time.
also finally I guess I'd just note that the wolves getting exiled are not necessarily the oldest/weakest/the omega or whatever. omegas occupy a low rung on the totem pole but the wolves who are getting kicked out generally occupy some subordinate role. and wolves generally take as good of care of their elders as possible; if a wolf gets old enough they sort of "age out" of the whole ranking system and no longer have to be involved in quarrels for rank or whatever. (there was actually an interesting story I read somewhere where they found a wild wolf's jawbone which indicated the jaw had been broken at some point, but also had healed back completely and the wolf had proceeded to live for another few years—which meant the rest of the pack must've been helping to feed him while the jaw healed, because otherwise he couldn't have survived. i don't know its veracity but it's a neat story anyway)
let me know if you have any other questions!