#BUREAUCRAT

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Frazzled Editor

The pen is mightier than the sword.

Artist: Jim Pavelec TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[aeshnacyanea2000]

Six Beneficent Winds was Deputy District Administrator for the Langtang district, and good at a job which he rather enjoyed. He was not a wicked man. True, he had the same sense of humour as a chicken casserole. True, he played the accordion for amusement, and disliked cats intensely, and had a habit of dabbing his upper lip with his napkin after his tea ceremony in a way that had made Mrs Beneficent Winds commit murder in her mind on a regular basis over the years. And he kept his money in a small leather shovel purse, and counted it out very thoroughly whenever he made a purchase, especially if there was a queue behind him. But on the other hand, he was kind to animals and made small but regular contributions to charity. He frequently gave moderate sums to beggars in the street, although he made a note of this in the little notebook he always carried to remind him to visit them in his official capacity later on. And he never took away from people more money than they actually had.

-- Terry Pratchett - Interesting Times

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Bureaucrat Theme (Starfinder Theme)

(art by NeilEnk on DeviantArt)

When one thinks “Bureaucracy”, especially in American, one probably thinks of blatant obstructionism, where the layers of responsibility and obfuscation in place to make sure that things run smoothly except for the people that a system is ostensibly meant to help.

But it doesn’t have to be that. Despite how unglamorous the occupation is, there still have to be people whose job it is to make sure things get done in government and administrative work.

Given that Starfinder is a game of adventure and heroism, bureaucrat characters are pretty likely to be less “cogs in the machine” and more the sort of managers that fight to make sure that things get done, accumulating favors and politely but firmly reminding others to do their jobs, or even taking down seemingly unassailable figures of authority.

So whether they are elected officials that take matters literally into their own hands when bureaucracy fails, officials that mix admin work with their personal touch, or retired from any of the above, there are as many ways to play a character with this theme as there are governments and the positions within it.

Bureaucrats may have to be clever, intuitive, or charismatic depending on the role they fulfill. Beyond that, they also typically belong to an agency or bureau of the government they belong to, and as such have a decent amount of practical knowledge in certain skills and knowledges related to said agency. A medical agency might focus on life science, for example.

These figures know better than anyone the pitfalls and runarounds of any government, and know how to avoid most, getting important answers much faster than others.

Any competent official is familiar with the intricacies of their agency’s area of expertise, and can use that familiarity to ingratiate themselves to others in a similar field… or intimidate them with knowledge of how the punitive systems of their own agency works.

Finally, master bureaucrats can often secure appointments with political figures with ease, and they even regain resolve by utilizing their own skills to maneuver or utilize their own bureaucratic process.

More likely in medical agencies like those that monitor disease, biohackers can make a name for themselves as high-ranking medical experts.

Envoys, on the other hand, are natural picks for this theme with their social skills.

Evolutionist may be a strange pick for this theme, but depending on the path they are going down, their expertise can be invaluable, such as an ever-mutating doctor of medicine, a half-machine engineer, or a quasi-celestial chaplain, and so on.

Plenty of government agencies have to do with architecture and mechanical engineering for public works or just to keep important facilities and assets running, so mechanic is a good choice. Meanwhile others may simply be enthusiastic tinkers and have a protocol drone following them around.

With their wisdom and familiarity with the connections between all things, mystics are also good to have on the payroll in the upper echelons.

Nanocytes are another weird choice, but can fulfill similar engineering roles as the mechanic… or simply have nanomachines outside of their social role.

It may seem at first like operative is an odd choice for anything other than clandestine black ops agencies, but remembering that plenty of operatives are quite social or good with computers, and things tend to make more sense, even if they take a more hands-on approach.

Much like mystics, precogs and witchwarpers are a natural choice for administration with their preternatural senses.

Solarian may seem odd, but a balanced mind can be quite useful.

You’ll mostly see soldiers and other combat classes in military positions, though their physical skills likely mean they chafe behind a desk and yearn for field work, which is probably why they go adventuring.

Technomancers fulfil a similar role to both mechanics and other mages when it comes to being bureaucrats, and they can come up with elegant solutions to problems… albeit ones that require a guidebook for any successor to understand.

Tough as they are, vanguards seem an odd choice for administration, but having someone who can stop a careening piece of equipment with their bare hands can be shockingly useful in pinch, and there are actually some social options for them.

Bureaucrats are needed to run any sort of government, but they’re maybe not always suited for a backstory for an adventurer. Frontier exploration and star-hopping gig work may see little interaction with planetary governments, for example. Still, they can absolutely give a leg up when local authorities are among the obstacles that the party has to navigate.

And that does it for this today. Have a great weekend folks and tune in next week for more entries and specials!

[edit: I forgot to put in the image! d'oh!]

[postcard-from-the-past]

Hova bureaucrat from Madagascar

French vintage postcard

[adhdo5]

Get O5vered

[earthling-wolf]

Delta Types

Delta types are those with Fi-Te & Ne-Si as their oscillation pairs. We have seen that among all delta types run themes of quirkiness and nerdiness. Whether it’s in the form of the eccentric nerd, the walking encyclopedia, the unsocial yet sensitive seelie, the tinkering collector, or the fantastical entrepreneur – all share the qualities of independence and off-beat spontaneity. They are imaginative but not always to any conventional means. They are efficient and productive but also quite scattered and roundabout; expending energies in novel directions with signs of promise or resonance with deep personal conviction.

Like the alpha types, deltas will have a higher level of leniency toward human failure and weakness. They will aspire to create an arrangement that allows for privacy, freedom and functional support. At their best, delta types will be keenly sensitive to the most ethically sound position, however obscure or unconventional, and find novel ways to organize their life to suit that ethical sense. They may also pioneer a new field of study, trailblazing into uncharted territory with the empiricism and mentality of a researcher and the heart of a child.

In their worst form, their nerdiness can manifest a rather autistic persona and mechanically-minded detachment from people. A father may be an expert at tennis, with halls of trophies in his house and a CEO position, but have an aloofness toward his children; a lacking parental touch. The emotionally oblivious delta type can remedy this by turning their attention within. A connection with their own private world is necessary for this quadrant to avoid the desensitizing steel of capitalism and allow for a convergence of life and work.

Te+Si Bureaucrat

The Te+Si function combination merges together Te's understanding of mechanical dynamics, with Si's understanding of discrete local contexts, producing an understanding of life as an assortment of discrete mechanical operations. Each of these operations requires tailored solutions to its own situation, giving rise to a multitude of separate protocols. This inclines the Te+Si towards a style of legalistic reasoning, whether the laws are man-made bureaucracies or the laws of nature. The Te+Si combination has a natural aptitude for scientific reasoning on one hand, but it also has an inclination towards over-systematizing things on the other.

Fi+Ne Etherealist

The Fi+Ne function combination produces an experience where life is percieved by Ne impressionisitically and suspended from actuality, while Fi aims to embody its raw, uninhibited nature through those impressions. Fi carries an essential core it wishes to radiate out, but that core has no definite form of expression; only a spectral Ne range that takes many forms. This leads Fi+Ne to have an ethereal embodiment; felt as real, but ungraspable and beyond. When applied to creativity, this can produce a magical effect��on one hand, or a nerdy quirkiness on the other.

Te+Ne Inventor

The Te+Ne function combination merges Te's mechanistic causality with Ne's imaginative potential, creating a dynamic, inventive cognition. This cognitive union combines logistical strategies with creative possibilities, creating a scientific yet unconventional approach to problem-solving. Outside of science, this approach also produces an inventive approach towards human interaction, leading to witty, off-the-wall humor. The Te+Ne combination can lead to a strong innovative spirit on one hand, or to a scatterbrained tinkerer on the other.

Fi+Si Druidist

The Fi+Si combination produces a spiritual approach, created by Si’s connection to discrete local details and Fi’s attunement to the animate energies embedded in those localities. What results is a method of self-reflection that grounds itself in the spiritual energies (Fi) of local beings or environments (Si). One example of this approach is found in the Druidist tradition, which holds a deep veneration for nature, seeing the natural world as a manifestation of the divine. The Fi+Si combination can lead towards a merging with the innate energies of local landscapes on one hand, or it can lead to a conservative technological retrogression on the other.

[takmiblog]

(https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/kasumigaseki/article/article_190315.html)

眠らない官僚

NHK NEWS WEB

[fieriframes]

[The bureaucrat fell from the sky.]

[shortnasties]

2640. The Bureaucrat At The Opera

This is called “The Bureaucrat At The Opera.” It’s another song to feel sleepy to. 

The opera was interrupted by obscene sense last night. Everything seemed stricken by it. Nobody knew how to proceed. The fat lady stood drenched in extravagant bafflement... 

    The smeared and lathered clown shrugged...   

     A bureaucrat in the audience went home and enjoyed the rest of his Monday night. 

     He sipped a stolid night cap while his wife slept fretfully in the next room.  

     Nobody tells you how to be lonely. They just expect you to open your life to it one day.   

[cartogaffe]

Rhino Bureaucrat

[tenth-sentence]

For instance, there is no hint that Linear B was used or understood by any Mycenaean Greek beyond small cadres of palace bureaucrats.

"Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years" - Jared Diamond

[mishalogic]

Talking to a Bureaucrat!

One would do better going into the gardenl

sitting down, and talking to a cabbage! ... cabbage man advice

[decaffynated]

Comic of this here.

[truegeorge]

Evading the T-Rex

A Saturday evening at the second gig, since things are not so busy, and my work partner is manning the medication room, yours truly is also doing remote overtime catching up on some bureaucratic work for the government agency where I make my daily bread as a supervising government bureaucrat.   While performing the duties of the second gig, and the government agency, I decided to take a meal…

[mercoglianotrueblog]

Readers are soldiers of propaganda

#West,many see #war like a game of football btw 2 teams playing by mutual agreed rules,referred by an #LBTQ-affirming bureaucrat in #Brussels

#Israeli Defense drops leaflets warning civilians to flee before attacks,its soldiers ask by phone to evacuate

https://salvatoremercogliano.blogspot.com/2023/11/readers-are-soldiers-of-propaganda.html?spref=tw

[sw5w]

Over the Battleship

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:26:35

In this shot, in one of the portside hangar arm's open inner wall hangars, you can see an unidentified vessel.