The Threat of Sugar <Beatfreak Forum>
In the modern age a persona is indistinguishable from a person. They magnify what is within us, and what we bring out within others. It is a shared delusion powerful enough to claim a life of its own.
The Threat of Sugar <Beatfreak Forum>
This thread has been flagged by a for deletion (Pali please stop starting Sugar flamewars on our forum)
Posted by: Pali Mile <PalMil124@Cognite>
When hypercorp executives have had too much to drink they tell each other tales of a boogeyman, a vapor of the Mesh who lives to destroy all they have built. Some stories begin with the arrival of a Scum barge, but most begin with a darkcast. Barges can be denied port but no security has ever been able to eliminate darkcasting to their habitat. The descriptions are similar, a paper-white Morph with sapphire hair and black nanotats, but no one can agree on a gender. The Morph is androgynous but some accounts of the ensuing debauchery suggest a woman while others, such as the the latest ‘sighting' on Gerðr, a man.
Oh yes, Sugar was on Gerðr. There is no other reason for the sudden rumors of the Planning Council breaking from the Jovian hegemony. This is what Sugar does. The music, the sex, the drugs, they are all just a mask for a ruthless anarchist agenda. Anarchist movements are typically easily quashed with a few media-ops and a little Direct Action but Sugar is different. Sugar is dangerous. There are even reports they have held multiple performances simultaneously across Sol to destabilize entire regions.
I called them performances, but they're really just crucibles for protests and riots. Not even riots really, they're too organized for that word, these are targeted attacks. The Republic has put the lockdown on Gerðr's Mesh so we don't know what was hit, but the previous riot was a front for a smash-and-grab on a Cognite facility. Stellar Intelligence has drilled down as hard as they can on the blogs with pattern analysis but only the most avid fans seem to know when and where the next attack will take place.
This is a cult of personality so calling them ‘fans' may be too generous. Perhaps even ‘human' is too charitable. It would explain antipathy between Sugar and Cognite if they or their fans were Lost. The sort of subconscious manipulation that seems to occur at these events is consistent with accounts by Futura project survivors of Watts-MacLeod infection. There are even records regarding a pair of fraternal twins w¿ERROR:
Reply by: Len Ueli <lovelylemonlimes@Beatfreak>
no async would risk getting caught by being so public
Reply by: Hjörtur Sigimund <Petal8andLights@TherasisTerraforming>
This is just the sort of bullshit I expect from a close-minded boffin. You've never gone to a rave, never experienced our culture. How could you possibly even try to understand what is going on at these events? How could you possibly even begin to understand Sugar? There is an energy at any rave that is a life of its own. It's the will of the crowd, that's why who Sugar is or was doesn't matter. Sugar refers to themselves as 'We' because they are all of us who want more than to live under the heel of the TTO or any other Corp. Sugar simply is capable of channeling the energy of the crowd like any good artist.
Reply by: Odalis Akira <TurnUpToDeath@Beatfreak>
Why is there is no record of Sugar without his tats and dye job? Have any of you ever been to a Sugar concert? Serious question. No? Probably cause Sugar. Is. Not. Real. He's like the Slenderman for ‘corp kids or the modern version of @Horse_ebooks, some sort of manufactured entity whose myth is perpetuated. Ask yourselves why. Legends cannot be killed or silenced. Anyone can wear their face. Whoever Sugar really is he has to be a media genius because he's playing a long game of social revolt though copycats.
Reply by: Len Ueli <lovelylemonlimes@Beatfreak>
simple explanation: sugar is more than one person
Reply by: Hjörtur Sigimund <Petal8andLights@TherasisTerraforming>
I've hear that 'Sugarcult' theory and I don't buy it, the sound is too consistent and too strange to be mimiced. Spinternet tried flooding the Mesh with fake tracks once and they were gone within hours.
Reply by: Faridoon Mayte <L1v3tehB347@Beatfreak>
We don't understand why people believe their theories are mutually exclusive.
Reply by: Kenneth Krystyn <OD3554@Beatfreak>
I have been there, a Sugar concert. Its indescribable.Sugar is an expert at harnessing the crowds energy but more than that she can direct it. Its an indescribable feeling to give yourself up to the beat and become part of something so much more than yourself. You stand shoulder to shoulder with other people and watch as together you can bring an office block to its knees.
L1v3tehB347 welcome to the forum, I see this is your first post. Who are you collaborating with?
Reply by: Hjörtur Sigimund <Petal8andLights@TherasisTerraforming>
Her lookup is throwing up errors saying the name is unregistered.
Reply by: Odalis Akira <TurnUpToDeath@Beatfreak>
This is why I love you Sugar. Welcome to Nightvale everyone.
Reply by: NoticeBot: This thread has been locked.
%*($Override Reply by: Faridoon Mayte <L1v3tehB347@Beatfreak>
Attachment: Sugar - Lockdown - 1 - Break Down the Lockdown.flac download
Hey guys I just found this forum thread, it's got the latest track.
Uugh, I'll be honest I've wasted way too much time reading through threads on Sugar trying to come up with something but I think L1v3tehB347 is right. The best I've got is that this all started with the twins Pali mentioned. There was a lot of death in the Futura project so I wouldn't be surprised if one of them lost their body and the two tried to live in the same morph and ended up merging egos. It would explain why they refer to themselves in the plural and the gender fluidity. They did what the Lost generation was meant to do: they thrived. They started making their music which attracted their async brothers and sisters to them. Spread asyncs throughout a crowd like at a rave and they can amplify the psychic waves Sugar is laying down and turn it into sort of an anarchist hive mind. They're not dumb though, like lovelylemonlimes pointed out being so high profile is super dangerous for an async which is why they are so interested in giving this persona its own life as a symbol of anarchist freedom. That way if they get caught they can either deny it or have someone else take up the mantle.
Who do you think Sugar is, if you even think Sugar is real and not a collective delusion?
Not Registered Yet? No problem.
Do you want Strolenati super powers? Registering. That's how you get super powers! These are just a couple powers you receive with more to come as you participate.
- Upvote and give XP to encourage useful comments.
- Work on submissions in private or flag them for assistance.
- Earn XP and gain levels that give you more site abilities (super powers).
- You should register. All your friends are doing it!
? Responses (9)
I want to vote this high because it's so damn original, but my brain hurts. I feel I'm missing something (everything?), and yet it's so intriguing! Will read through again tomorrow, and return to comment/vote.
Eclipse Phase FTW! I love it. Still hoping to play that game at some point, but this is a nice taste.
I think this is well done. It presents an interesting idea in an equally interesting way, leaving a lot of leeway for a GM to fit this into his own work. It has a sweet (pun intended) 'Stand Alone Complex' vibe I can see fitting in to any story set in a less-than-perfect future - which is all of them really.
The block quotes make the individual posts seem more forum-like, too.
There are a few typos, but they actually work perfectly here, because they're all in forum posts. Those are always riddled with errors. I'm not sure of you did it on purpose or not, but don't correct them. :P
My only beef is all the extra reading I had to do on the Eclipse Phase site. :P
I know, the links are sort of cheating. As I told MM in chat, I had a fantasy version of this character that just wasn't coming together so I scrapped it and put it in EP. It has worked out much better.
Yes the errors were intentional. I actually had to go back and add some more in to make certain people seem more consistent in style.
I'm glad people are actually getting the whole forum-post thing. I feel like it's appropriate for the setting. A lot of the fluff in EP is actually delivered in e-mails between people all of whom have a distinct voice.
Sweet use of the media. Modern. New. This is cool.
What exactly is EP?
Eclipse Phase, it's both a setting and a system. It's all OGL so most of the links go to the wiki which explain some things.
I have fun trying to understand this. Nicely written. Droll and dry and clever, and all that.
4.5 for artistry
This is wonderful. I love the way you presented the information. They style of presentation gave as much, or more, as the information in text itself. I can't give this enough praise for presentation alone.