Poisoned Minds
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| Poisoned Minds
<tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: 6; text-align: center;">Image:Norman Gates.jpg | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Alan Foreman |
| Website | http://www.poisonedminds.com/
<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff; white-space: nowrap;">Update schedule</th><td>M, Tu, Th, F updates</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff; white-space: nowrap;">Launch date</th><td>26 September, 1998 [1]</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff; white-space: nowrap;">Genre</th><td>Comedy/Furry/Sci-fi</td></tr> |
Poisoned Minds, also known as S.S.D.D. and S.S.D.F. is a humorous, furry, British webcomic created by Alan Foreman. It is based around the lives of four anthropomorphic animals that are completely unaware that they are at the centre of a series of bizarre conspiracies taking place in the future. It started on 26 September 1998, is updated every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and is hosted by the online comic syndicate Keenspot. The comic contains a lot of adult content, including very strong language, strong sexual references, violence and drug usage. It also uses some computer animation.
Contents |
[edit] Scenario
In the town of Littlehampton, West Sussex, four twenty-something animals live in a small boarding house. They include Richard Edwards and Anne Winters, two foxes with a strong sexual relationship, Kingston, a hare who spends most of his time on drugs, and most notably, ultra-violent anarchist rabbit Norman Gates. Norman spends all his time causing destruction, breaking the law, rebelling against the law.
Although they are completely unaware of it as yet, Norman will eventually overthrow the British government, and set up The Collective of Anarchist States (CAS), although he is really working for an AI called The Oracle. As a result, he will form an anarchical government, that will spread all over the world and that will plan also to control the universe. Several people have tried to resist him, including the Maytec Corporation and the crew of the Space Station E11. They include raccoon scientist Dr. Jeremiah Cook, cat Commander Adams, technical cat Michael Tucker, robot rabbit Tin-Head, robot fox Sticks, and her owner Tessa Edwards, the probable descendant of Richard and Anne. Together, they travelled back in time to prevent Norman setting up the CAS, trying to use Norman’s housemates as unsuspecting puppets. This is not helped by the arrival of arachist solicitor Gary Heart, probable ancestor of Captain Jack Heart, Norman’s second-in-command on his space ship The Inglorious. Gary is Norman's soliciter and their friendship spells trouble for Cook and the others trying to stop him.
In the comic, all of the characters are anthropomorphic animals, living in an identical version of the real world at present. They only human that appears is the comic’s creator Alan Foreman, but only in one-off strips. There is also Sticky the Stick Man, who appears whenever there is no real storyline. Sticky appears more heavily in another webcomic named after him. Alan appears more heavily in the spin-off strip The Church of Poisoned Minds. Another webcomic, The Products of Poisoned Minds started in October 2006, which features animated strips.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Major Characters
- Norman Gates – A male rabbit, who is incredibly violent, an anarchist and possesses a pair of oversized teeth. He causes trouble for his fellow housemates by causing so much destruction. If he is not blowing something up, he is trying to kill something. He often plans to blow something big up on Bonfire Night, and always succeeds (eventually). After the collapse of the British government, hee will later become the First Advisor to The Collective of Anarchist States (CAS). His name likely comes from the character Norman Bates from the film Psycho.
- Richard Edwards – A male fox who lives with Norman. Richard spends most of his time at home, waiting for Anne to come home. Once she has, they are straight to bed. Richard and Anne have frequently indulged in several exotic sexual practices, often raising the ire of their sleep-deprived roommates. When he was 18, he lived with a lesbian couple, Red and Crystal. After having a threesome, Red fell in love with Richard, but the argument lead to them leaving each other.
- Anne Winters – A female fox and Richard’s girlfriend. Anne is known for her sexual relationship with Richard. She is also known amongst her housemates for her drinking large quantities of vodka and being terrible at cooking; her homemade wine is known to dissolve porcelain. She works for Cook Enterprises in HR, unaware that they are involved in the plot to stop Norman.
- Neil Kingston – A male hare that spends nearly all of his time being stoned. When not obtaining drugs from feline friend Stretch, he stays in the house hallucinating.
- Tessa Edwards – A female fox and a probable descendant of Richard and Anne. She was forced into the Core army. She once ended up as a POW, but Tin-Head helped her escape. After playing a prank on one of her superiors, she was later moved to the remote and isolated Space Station E11 which orbited around Uranus. She has been subject to medical experiments, thus making her perfect for most of the work ordered by Cook Enterprises to stop Norman. She has a sexual relationship with her boyfriend and robot Sticks. She is also haunted by dreams of a man with a clipboard, presumed to be Chris Reed, and a former comrade named Julian.
- Sticks – A model ST1-X robotic male fox that Tessa won in a poker game, most likely from Maytec board member Julie Waterman. Although he was at first boring, Tessa removed certain blocks in his memory to make him more interesting and allow him to develop a personality of his own. They now have a strong romantic and sexual relationship, with Sticks claiming that he has 25 different attachements and knows 285 different positions. He often comes to Tessa's aid in her missions, sometimes saving her life.
- Tin-Head – A robotic male rabbit working on the Space Station E11, and later for Cook Enterprises. He was built by a sister company to Maytec and used by the anachrists, but defected to the Core after rescuing Tessa from a POW camp. Although he is designed for loading things, his technology is considered useful by the others, though some find him more annoying than he is worth.
- Dr. Jeremiah Cook – A male French-Canadian raccoon and the head of Cook Enterprises. He is a former Maytec board member and head of development. He is the man behind the design of the time travel machine "The Wildfire" also known as the "Philadelphia Project" that let him and the others come back and stop Norman. He has set up Cook Enterprises as both a cover for their operations and to make a fortune by "inventing" devices from their time which do not exist in the 21st century. Tessa considers him to be becoming "More like a Bond villain everyday."
- Commander Adams aka Commander Smith – A male cat and the former commander of Space Station E11. Since it was destroyed by Norman, he has found himself working for Cook Enterprises, often doubting Dr. Cook’s abilities.
- Michael Tucker – A male cat, Michael is an expert in 21st century technology. He is hired by Cook for his experience, preventing anyone from the outside world knowing that they are from the future.
- The Oracle – An Artificial Intelligence created by Chris Reed of Bishop International, which is now controlling almost everything in the CAS. Norman often talks to him to plan their new move, but he really pulls the strings. He is powered by dead spirit of Chris. It was designed to predict the future and to protect itself.
- Chris Reed - A male rat and former employee of Bishop International who learned a lot about The Oracle. He was run over and killed, and his ashes later became the AI behind The Oracle. He often shows up in Tessa's dreams, holding a clipboard.
- Gary Heart - A male weasel who was forced to become a solicitor by his father, whom he has a deep loathing of. Due to his father's love of golf, he takes great pleasure in blow up golf courses. He is also an anarchist, and Norman's soliciter.
- Captain Jack Heart – A male weasel, probable descendant of Gary Heart and the second-in-command of The Inglorious. He is also a great solider, having a bronze statue erected of himself in Trafalgar Square. Norman is his godfather.
- Ed Bishop – A male fox and the owner of Bishop International, London. The company, which involves in developing technologies used by the British government, will eventually collapse in 2008, causing Black April and the start of the CAS. Ed is rather mean, and wants to control everything in his business, namely seeing Naps out.
- Kevin – A male rat and employee of Bishop International. His decision to keep Naps working at the company was unpopular with Ed, and he has long wanted to take the ashes of Chris out of the office.
- Nathan “Naps” Goodwin – A male cat and employee of Bishop International, whose attempts to understand more about the Oracle lead him both into trouble with Ed, but also into the paws of Red whom he meets at the hospital.
- Dr. Ruby “Red” Scarlet – A female fox, Red is a bisexual who had a threesome with her thengirlfriend Crystal and their 18-year-old roommate Richard. After the relationship ended badly, she lost touch with both of them; it is suggested that she later had a brief relationship with Anne, as both make reference to lesbian relationships that end similarly. She is now in a relationship with Naps.
- Julian - A Irish male fox, Julian was one of the first members of the Core Tessa met. He was her roommate, and a fellow subject to scientific tests. From Tessa's flashbacks, it is known that Julian died in a horrible accident, but no details are known yet.
- Lee Jenkin - A male dog, Lee was one of the first members of the Core Tessa met. He was cloned from a stolen CAS cloning vat by the Core and was brought up as one of them. He has only recently managed to feel pain, thus he often wants to hurt himself.
[edit] Minor Characters
- Stretch – A male cat and drug dealer who supplies Kingston with his many drugs.
- Sgt. Vic Simons – A male police dog who often ends up arresting Norman.
- Crystal – A female fox and Red’s former girlfriend, but they fell out of love after they had a threesome with Richard.
- Julie Waterman - A female cat, Maytec board member and wife of CEO Henry. Has not as yet "appeared", but a few strips have entries from her diary. She is the most sympathetic to the CAS. She at least 56 years old, but life prolonging implants make her look like she is in her 20's.
- Dwight Garner A male rat and Maytec board member. Has not yet appeared in the strip, but is mentioned by both Maytec and CAS members. He was once described "a Texan, a far-right Christian and a complete arsehole." He hates the CAS, and is hated by the other Maytec board members. 56 years old, but life prolonging implants make him look like he is in his 20's.
[edit] The future according to Poisoned Minds
According to Poisoned Minds, Norman, with the help of The Oracle, start to change elections, so that the people become increasingly rebellious. They also bring down several businesses, such as Enron. The collapse of Bishop International in 2008 lead to the economic collapse known as Black April, and the start of the CAS. Norman became First Advisor, the closest thing the CAS has to a leader. Also, instead of dying, he was cryogenically frozen.
In America, the lack of control from Washington DC led to the states of New York and California to from splinter states, which later grew in number. Later, right wing Christian fundamentalists to control of part of Eastern Texas, who planned to reunite America as one country again, but West Texas tried to stop them. New Texas as it is called spread towards the East. California, Washington and Oregon declared independence and became California OW; Florida also became independent.
The Eastern rogue states joined the CAS; the New Texans also formed their own country, consisting of all of Texas and several other states. California OW eventually came under the control of Maytec. The CAS took over Washington DC, and later the Core was set up from the remains of NATO to counter the CAS. North and South Carolina became independent and allied with the CAS. After some peace, New Texas allied with the Core; Florida remained neutral, as did California OW, but they sold arms to both sides.
After a mega tsunami destroyed New York City, the CAS moved troops up north, allowing New Texas to invade the Carolinas easily. This move was condemned by nearly everyone, and war was almost threatened, but never carried out.
The Core decided to see if Maytec were helping the CAS build a powerful weapon, the Babel Tower, but Maytec refused to tell anyone else what the parts were being used for. The staff, including Dr. Cook did not know it was being used for such a deadly weapon, but when it was discovered what the materials where used for, Maytec decided to back off from the CAS.
Tessa Edwards, as a punishment for antisocial behaviour and assault, was sentenced to two years national service in the Core Army. During her time in the Army she was subjected to medical tests, some nanorobots allowed her to heal quickly and uses telekinesis. She became a POW, but escaped with the help of Tin-Head. She later was moved to Space Station E11. It was visited by The Wildfire; a Maytec space ship capable of time travel with Dr. Cook on board. The reason for this was because an Anarchist AI was on board. The Space Station was later invaded by the CAS vessel The Inglorious by a reawakened Norman Gates, The Oracle, and second-in-command Captain Jack Heart. The crew escaped and travelled back in time to the early 21st century, to try and stop Norman before he starts. However, Heart also travelled back in time to stop the Core and help Norman.
For more information, see The Tower of Babel storyline.<ref>Poisoned Minds 2 February 2006 "The Tower of Babel"</ref>
[edit] The Collective of Anarchist States
On 20 May 2005, Alan Foreman posted an overview of The Collective of Anarchist States (CAS), which described the basics of the CAS.<ref>Poisoned Minds 20 May 2005 "CAS Overview"</ref>
[edit] The system of government
The overview states that, “The Collective of Anarchist States, or CAS for short, has to have one of the oddest political systems of all time. In fact mentioning that the CAS is a political system at all will anger most CAS citizens, but there is undeniably one present. The CAS is a meritocracy in one of its most acme forms and any attempt to gain a position in power via political ends (or as the CAS founder, Norman Gates put it: “being devious little arse kissers”) is met with extreme prejudice.
[edit] Advisors
Unlike most forms of government, it states that in order to get a high ranking office in the government, you have to earn it. Although this is somewhat odd. This is because, according to the overview, “What makes the CAS even stranger is that positions of power, officially at least, have no power attached to them. The advisors, like the title suggests, can only “advise” underlings in that particular field.” This often leads to positions of power often not being secure. The overview states, “Of course it’s usually in the underlings best interest to take the “advice” if they know what’s good for them. However they can become an advisor themselves by not taking said advice and doing what they feel best. If it works and the task is high profile enough, then they can move up the unofficial career ladder, often ousting their former “boss” who then found themselves “back on the floor” taking directions from someone that was once below them.
It also states that, “This environment leads to high levels of stress in the “ruling” classes as their position is always under constant threat. This has caused a few advisors to hold or advance their positions using political means such as a smear campaign on a rival. After Black April and the collapse of society, the CAS have an intense loathing of such tactics that destroyed the known world and will carry out capital punishments on anyone so much as suspected of doing so.” However, it mentions that, “Due to the levels of stress put on advisors, only the most gifted and driven survive. You underestimate a high-ranking advisor at your peril.”
[edit] The CAS System
The overview says “There are no elections or political parties in the CAS system, just the meritocracy. The “First Advisor” would have worked their way from the bottom just like all the others before them and proved themselves worthy of the title. A title which is in fact, honouree. Their true title is “Acting First Advisor.” The only true “First Advisor” was the CAS founder, Norman Gates, who still retains his title although being long dead.”
It goes on, “This system is used for almost all aspects of management except the military, which follows a more standard hierarchy. The “Volunteer Force” is however a rather haphazard organisation due to their members political beliefs and their reluctance to take orders. Hence its heavy reliance on AI controlled military automatons such as Inlays (a popular, and rather creepy looking range of fighting machines originally designed by the US military but later high jacked by the CAS). However, the perks involved given to those who serve with the Volunteer Force are usually enough of an incentive to maintain at least the appearance of discipline.”
It also states the importance of The Oracle. “It appears that the only thing keeping the CAS system together is the reliance on the AI going by the name of “The Oracle.” This AI has unprecedented control over many aspect of life in the CAS and is unequalled in size and intelligence in the world today. Nobody is quite sure about the origins of The Oracle. Theories range from an Mod that has been improved over many years to that it was built by space aliens. Whoever built The Oracle that “big brother” nature of this AI over matters such as law and order seem to be lost on the population of the CAS.”
[edit] Law and Order
According to the CAS overview, “The legal system is also interesting. Again stating that one even exists will anger anyone from the CAS and again there is one if you look hard enough. The notion of “The Two Laws” is an obvious fudge. The first law states: “You may not by action or inaction, profit at another’s member’s expense.” The second law states: “There are no more laws!” Of course these two laws are deliberately vague. The first law can apply to anything from murder to theft to pretty vandalism and the second law doesn’t say that the first law can sub-sections. Interpreting these laws is the responsibility of the Oracle and high advisors.”
However it does state that, “There are also “advisories”. These are laws and rules you don’t HAVE to follow, but it’s a good idea that you go. While it’s not against the law to play on railway, it’s advised that you don’t because being run over by trains tends to be bad for your health. It is an interesting piece of social engineering because when people are told not to do something, they want to do it, no matter how stupid and dangerous it is. Being just told “You can but it’s not a good idea” seems to be more affective. This is because a lot of people are stupid.”
[edit] The Economy and Trade
The CAS overview claims that, “Economically the CAS is essentiality capitalist. The CAS has no problems with individuals making money, but IS opposed to the money being used to gain power. You can buy the biggest house and the fastest skimmer in your street, but you cannot buy shares in a company. To gain control of a company, you have to start from the bottom and become an advisor.
Also, “The CAS is open to trade but to those that do have to be pretty sharp. The first law does NOT apply to those outside the CAS and is almost encouraged to rob outsiders. This is why you always ask for cash up front whenever dealing with them. However as the CAS is one of the systems largest factions there is money to be made if you’re sharp enough.
[edit] Religion
The overview states that, “The entire populace of the CAS are (officially at least) agnostic. Unofficially you can have any belief you like. However, trying to inflict your beliefs onto others invokes the first law and is severely punished! This has come about due to Norman Gates’ beliefs (who ironically they practically worship) against organised religion. He had nothing against religion per se, just ORGANISED religion. He saw it was all laws and laws are bad. However, he never discounted the fact that there may be or may not be a god and was agnostic himself.
[edit] Diplomacy
The overview says that, “The CAS became so large not by military conquest by almost by default. After Black April many states descended into anarchy and thus automatically became part of the CAS. This lead to the break up of the United States into divided nations with most of the left wing states along the shores siding with the anarchists.”
It also says that, “Due to their nature the CAS don’t directly attack others but often antagonise opponents into attacking them before they launch an all out assault. The CAS rarely occupies land where it’s not already welcome, but instead employs a burnt earth policy to cripple and humiliate opponents. A propaganda campaign is then started on the people of the defeated foe, spouting the benefits of joining the CAS. If it works then they roll in and take control of that area.
[edit] References
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