I've been using it as an author myself, since I'm a woman. It's been very helpful with writing relationships between the different male characters and to think in terms of how they perceive each other's ranks and whether or not those ranks are default or situational.
As an amateur game developer the SSH has been immensely useful for character writing. When you understand a given male character's profile you can communicate a lot about them very quickly. Too many visual novels devolve into 100-hour long walls of text to say very little about anything.
Speaking of Gamma Officials. Near the end of the Song Dynasty there were likely those of the Gamma personality type that falsely accused Yue Fei a Chinese War Hero of treason. Having both him and his followers executed:
The SSH isn't grounded in fake crap. This is testing the SSH model against certain artificial data points.
The point of interest here is that literature is faked from the author's knowledge and experiences, and appeals to readers by its ability to resonate with their experience of reality. Yes, it's fake, but it is sold on its resonance with truth.
What are the behavioral types of men that authors in different time periods and cultures write? Do those men act in realistic ways to us? How do we judge their character and what kind of behavioral patterns do we expect them to exhibit?
Once women get ahold of the SSH, they’ll not only expand it into an intricate taxonomy but also spin it into a dazzling line of romance novels exploring every rank with vivid emotional depth. Barnes & Noble might even have to pay royalties to Vox when they start outright labeling these categories on the bookshelves.
Alpha - The desire to be the one who stands out above all other women.
Bravo - The dream of building family and community with the guy who only has eyes for you.
Delta - True romance blossoms here, where you can love with all your heart and be loved just as deeply.
Gamma - The rank that feels overlooked and underappreciated, stuck picking up the pieces after Alphas and Sigmas leave their mark. Yet, this frustration might fuel the most creative potential of all.
Sigma - Like a cat that won’t come when called, but somehow you’re still enchanted by That Darn Sigma!
Nobody likes hierarchies more than women—at least in fiction. Meanwhile, the men will do something perfectly respectable—like analyzing every ancient battle through the lens of SSH ranks or some other higher-status activity.
That said, Delta might end up being the most realistic category for women to find true romance. Alpha and Sigma are obvious attractions, but Gamma could end up being the most explored—and misunderstood—category. Women are fascinated by complex Gamma characters like Astarion (Baldur’s Gate), Seymour (FFX), and even Kefka (FFVI). However, the appeal of these characters often comes with buffers—like physical attractiveness or added depth—to make their flaws more bearable. In fiction, these characters allow women to engage with difficult truths about relationships, such as dealing with manipulation, resentment, or unbalanced dynamics, in a way that feels safer.
Imagine, though, being the woman married to the Gamma who ordered that man’s death—the shogunal commander in that story. Once married, he’s your man for life, and you have no choice but to deal with his cowardice, pettiness, and failures. Romance novels reflect these struggles, offering women a way to explore and cope with relational hardships, much like how Memoirs of a Geisha teaches the art of ‘being like water.’ So they're not all just about wish fulfillment but a way to navigate the unpleasant realities of real relationships.
The Gamma's wife will just lie to herself in perpetuity about the man's failures. Fully buying into the reality distortion bubble the Gamma relies on to survive. I've seen so many examples of this, it defies comprehension that people don't understand this.
"When a person is directly confronted by a violent end, he has no choice but to yield to that fate." This sums the frame control and such a person is admired by both men and women.
Mumhkar from Xenoblade Chronicles strikes me as King Gamma of All Gammas. The dude is jealousy personified.
I'm interested in where Leon from Resident Evil stands. He has a bad case of oneitis for Ada but otherwise exudes high status. The president's daughter not very subtly offers to sleep with him the minute they're out of danger.
So unpopular opinion maybe it’s wrong …Leon may be more delta. Very technically accurate and proficient yes he’s handsome but that’s not a prerequisite , many gammas are handsome. also doesn’t seem to ooze rizz like other alphas. Kratos - def Alpha. Sam Fisher splinter cell — delta. Max Payne - fallen / vengeful alpha.
Someone else will prob say I’m wrong though on these.
I think Leon being a Bravo is a safe bet now that I've thought on it, and factored in events from the 6th game. Taking orders directly from POTUS and confronting Chris "Boulder Puncher" Redfield with his head still on his shoulders is likely a cut above a delta's lot.
FFX would be interesting. There's some fluidity in the characters, but the two obvious standouts are Auron as the ultimate Sigma and Seymour as King Gamma, although I do feel bad for Seymour with his rough childhood and his signature aeon being the soul of his dead mother and all, that's gotta be a nasty reminder of your youth, no wonder he wanted revenge on all of Spira.
Agreed, Tidus was fucking annoying and dressed like a K-Pop star I wonder if he would be Gamma as well and since he had daddy issues. Although Yunas attraction to him seems almost like a Gamma wrote it since he was the fruitiest one out of them all.
His dad Jecht would be an alpha. The other characters the blue cat man and blitz ball guy would be deltas.
Auron was prob my favorite and yes Sigma.
I was wondering if Vox could cover KOTOR or Fallout series but it’s hard when the protagonist can make whatever decisions they want. Are they petty gammas? Noble alpha? Just after money / greed?
I don’t know if Vox hates anime but dragon ball Z would be an interesting read as well.
I'm curious about the medium of computer games. Will we see romances depicted in ways that are at least vaguely congruent to reality? Or would that be just too depressing for the mostly delta and gamma audience for such games (e.g. Baldur's gate, the various pathfinder games like Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous)? I'd think that a reasonable mechanic would have separate metrics for attraction and comfort, and there'd be nearly zero crosstalk between those two for women and a small to moderate amount for men. No amount of support and kindness will make a woman attracted to you if she isn't, but being sweet and supportive can make an 8 competitive with a 10 that isn't for many men, although a 6 or 7 can't make this work unless she's literally the only woman in the world.
It's certainly possible and easier to do with shorter games light on story, larger games are made to reward long-term time investment with advancement, which is anathema to real world inter-sexual relations. It's hard to make narratively convincing while also being rewarding to our monkey brains and factoring in changes in circumstance from player input.
It's an interesting challenge, and one I intend to take on in the near future.
Good to hear it. Thing is, a typical RPG involves gaining levels and status, which the real world rarely does. Someone who becomes a conqueror or a mighty warrior over time might find, as Londo said, that women would come to find him attractive. So the monkey brains can be rewarded in a way that is credible.
I never got super into it but I quite like the premise of Kenshi; you start off as an unskilled nobody, and while you can become a big powerful warlord, you're just as likely to end up a crippled slave
I don't think video game romances are going to be changed any time soon. Games are primarily aimed at Deltas and Gammas, and romances are tailored around the delusion of the (usually male) Main Character being universally attractive to females (and, increasingly, other males) of every race and personality, no matter how that character behaves or appears. Baldur's Gate is a hilarious example of that: you can romance a shadow cleric elf, a completely alien githyanki, and a tiefling (half demon), all at the same time until you actually "pull the trigger" so to speak, and that's even when you act like a total buffoon the entire game and you spent three hours in the character creator making your hero look like a burn victim with palsy, but it's ok because his charisma score of 18 just means "he's really funny and charming to make up for it".
Games are not intended to be realistic, they're meant to be an escape from reality. Actual SSH reality would be counterproductive to that goal. Could you imagine the outcry if Baldur's Gate locked you out of certain romances depending on what race or gender you chose? (or "presented as", may God scour my tongue for using that phrase)
They do cater to the delusion that you can build up good boyfriend points or good husband points and spend them to get the things you want. They also tend to cater to the delusion that the diplomatic model of normal humans is an integrator (add up all favors given and subtract slights, injuries or insults and apply a window function to weigh more recent stuff first). That model would work if humans were just selfish and NOT ungrateful, but it doesn't work on normal humans. It might actually work for dwarves though, they're less ungrateful than humans in most fiction.
The 18 charisma thing though is probably legit---if you have an 18 charisma or higher, you're almost certainly an alpha or a sigma, and alphas and sigmas don't have to be good looking to have women panting after them. A realistic model would probably consider your charisma, your level, and your permanent social class to compute attraction. Female characters would probably have 'you must be at least this tall' sorts of features in determining who they were attracted to. A female fighter, for instance, would be exceedingly unlikely to be attracted to any man who couldn't clean her clock, and pretty much no woman would be attracted to any man who wasn't at least her peer in terms of power, preferably her superior. And yes, a realistic model would at least soft lock you out of a lot of romances based on gender and race.
The thing is, you could have interesting gameplay and possibly even appeal to the crowd that likes romance novels by realistically playing out what happens when you have significant positive attraction but significantly negative comfort scores. You can also get relationships that feel vaguely reasonable.
A realistic take on fantasy would not have female fighters, unless the magic system makes up the difference.
The Goblin Slayer manga/anime uses its first episode to show women fighters as rape bait. Realistically, demoralization would remove the rest. See military deployment pregnancies.
Women aren't going to adopt the adventuring lifestyle unless it's safe, but adventuring can't be safe.
Fantasy includes all sorts of wonky stuff like amazons and supernatural strength. You could be a respectable female fighter even in 1st edition D&D, so it's been feasible, just a bit disadvantaged even long before woke times. But you're right they're going to get pregnant a lot, fighting and adrenaline surges from post combat promote that sort of thing.
Fantasy has accumulated a lot of Gamma wish fulfillment.
If you want to create fantasy fiction that correctly reflects realistic human interactions, you can't just stop at the ladies forming an automatic harem around the Secret King.
You also have to think twice about the egalitarian adventuring parties where men and women are interchangeable cogs. A fantasy universe built with egalitarianism between men and women undermines realistic romantic pairings which is dependent on the strengths and weakness of each sex.
Have a few thoughts that are poorly organized to share. A D&D male character can actually improve their SSH standing in ways that very few deltas or gammas can in this world. They can gain levels and become something more than just human. They can also gain social standing considerably more easily. They can even in some cases directly gain charisma. Charisma in D&D-ish terms probably maps pretty direct onto SSH. Deltas in the 8-12 region, Bravos in the 13-16 range, Alphas or Sigmas in the 17-18 range. Omegas and Gammas below 8. Back in 1st and 2nd edition, if you drew the Throne card from the deck of many things, you got an instant 18 charisma. I had a character do this, going from an 8 to an 18, and looking at it in retrospect, yeah he more or less did a delta to alpha transition in the way he acted and the way the world viewed him.
Looking from the perspective of Delta gamers, there's a definite opportunity for wish fulfillment. Yeah they're not going to get wonky Secret King romances, but they can become akin to Conan, where their advances are received way more favorably like in the classic Tom Brady vs office geek meme on sexual harassment. And while good boyfriend points won't get them there, experience points will because they reflect a sort of status that a woman's brain IS designed to recognize, the capability of exerting massive social and/or violent power. Also they'd be able to play in something like a Conan novel rather than a woketard fantasy. Female gamers would be able to play in a bodice ripper, which is probably the most popular genre in terms of sales. Everybody should be happy except the gammas and cultural destroyers, and the art would be vastly better, for it would be connected to truth and perhaps Truth as well.
Hah, they'd never form a harem around a Secret King. Around an adventurer starting to become a conqueror with aspirations of King, definitely.
The example of the female fighter is pulled from Red Sonja---she wouldn't have anything to do with any man who couldn't beat her. That's a callback if I recall also to the Amazons and Heracles---while normally not into men, a mighty man was quite another matter entirely.
1st edition in D&D IMO captured the genre best, the egalitarianism inherent in editions beyond that makes the simulation of how the world works culturally way too alien. Readers and gamers will forgive magical stuff, dragons, and so forth, but they won't forgive NPCs that don't act like people. That's the real leading cause of murder-hoboism.
Reading about the shogunal commander made me think about surrender, retreat, and the officers that call for them.
When prudence weighs the scales and finds fighting disadvantageous, the virtuous will not engage. The Gamma, on the other hand, surrenders and retreats out of cowardice, when prudence and justice demand he advance.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
I'm curious to know if anyone has read or seen Othello performed? The character of Iago appears to be a gramma, and I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.
The proper application of the SSH in fiction and non-fiction is going to make these “how to be a Sigma” clowns want to become as invisible as Milton and his precious red stapler.
This made me remember the behavior of General George McClellan. He liked playing the leader on the drill field. However, he wouldn't engage or get his hands bloody. Gamma
I don't think I'd call McClellan a Gamma. He has significant faults as a general, but his troops loved him and he loved them in return. I've never seen that dynamic with a Gamma. My gut is, that man's a Delta.
To be fair, the Union's bench wasn't very good at that until later in the war. McClellan was very expensive for Lee to eject from Virginia from an attrition perspective. The 7 Days campaigns showed that neither army had really gotten itself very well coordinated yet. Both sides missed serious opportunities.
Is that one of those times that the writer tells more about himself than the characters? Giving the guy smart boy skepticism about the concept is a real tell.
It was as bad as someone declaring their alpha-ness out loud. I don't think there will ever be a context in which explicitly stating one's real or desired rank won't have that effect.
Your quote is relevant to the social status aspect of the SSH. While high status people can accurately describe their own status, there is a general tendency towards inflation and inaccuracy. Claims of high status deserve skepticism and invite challenge.
I think that is more a consequence of the novel's genre which appears to be Urban Fantasy. I struggle to enjoy that genre because of the frequent pop culture references and modern slang that abound.
I'm mostly thinking in terms of a gamma realizing that the reason he doesn't like a reasonable SSH taxonomy is because of where he's purported to fall within it. Gammas and self-awareness rarely go together. Although I suppose he is being smacked in the face by reality in the form of a manifestly and obviously alpha male.
It's kind of like one of Tolkien's digressions about a character that usually end with 'Save Feanor Only'. But I haven't read the rest of this author's works to see if he's got the chops to get away with such things like Tolkein does.
I've been using it as an author myself, since I'm a woman. It's been very helpful with writing relationships between the different male characters and to think in terms of how they perceive each other's ranks and whether or not those ranks are default or situational.
As an amateur game developer the SSH has been immensely useful for character writing. When you understand a given male character's profile you can communicate a lot about them very quickly. Too many visual novels devolve into 100-hour long walls of text to say very little about anything.
Speaking of Gamma Officials. Near the end of the Song Dynasty there were likely those of the Gamma personality type that falsely accused Yue Fei a Chinese War Hero of treason. Having both him and his followers executed:
https://infogalactic.com/info/Yue_Fei
Despite his crucial role in defeating the Jurchens.
Literature is fake. So this is the same mistake as women who think the Handmaid's Tale is real. Its a massive mistake to ground the SSH in fake crap.
The SSH isn't grounded in fake crap. This is testing the SSH model against certain artificial data points.
The point of interest here is that literature is faked from the author's knowledge and experiences, and appeals to readers by its ability to resonate with their experience of reality. Yes, it's fake, but it is sold on its resonance with truth.
What are the behavioral types of men that authors in different time periods and cultures write? Do those men act in realistic ways to us? How do we judge their character and what kind of behavioral patterns do we expect them to exhibit?
Once women get ahold of the SSH, they’ll not only expand it into an intricate taxonomy but also spin it into a dazzling line of romance novels exploring every rank with vivid emotional depth. Barnes & Noble might even have to pay royalties to Vox when they start outright labeling these categories on the bookshelves.
Alpha - The desire to be the one who stands out above all other women.
Bravo - The dream of building family and community with the guy who only has eyes for you.
Delta - True romance blossoms here, where you can love with all your heart and be loved just as deeply.
Gamma - The rank that feels overlooked and underappreciated, stuck picking up the pieces after Alphas and Sigmas leave their mark. Yet, this frustration might fuel the most creative potential of all.
Sigma - Like a cat that won’t come when called, but somehow you’re still enchanted by That Darn Sigma!
Nobody likes hierarchies more than women—at least in fiction. Meanwhile, the men will do something perfectly respectable—like analyzing every ancient battle through the lens of SSH ranks or some other higher-status activity.
That said, Delta might end up being the most realistic category for women to find true romance. Alpha and Sigma are obvious attractions, but Gamma could end up being the most explored—and misunderstood—category. Women are fascinated by complex Gamma characters like Astarion (Baldur’s Gate), Seymour (FFX), and even Kefka (FFVI). However, the appeal of these characters often comes with buffers—like physical attractiveness or added depth—to make their flaws more bearable. In fiction, these characters allow women to engage with difficult truths about relationships, such as dealing with manipulation, resentment, or unbalanced dynamics, in a way that feels safer.
Imagine, though, being the woman married to the Gamma who ordered that man’s death—the shogunal commander in that story. Once married, he’s your man for life, and you have no choice but to deal with his cowardice, pettiness, and failures. Romance novels reflect these struggles, offering women a way to explore and cope with relational hardships, much like how Memoirs of a Geisha teaches the art of ‘being like water.’ So they're not all just about wish fulfillment but a way to navigate the unpleasant realities of real relationships.
The Gamma's wife will just lie to herself in perpetuity about the man's failures. Fully buying into the reality distortion bubble the Gamma relies on to survive. I've seen so many examples of this, it defies comprehension that people don't understand this.
"That Darn Sigma!" Friday nights at 8:30, right after "Perfect Strangers." Don't miss it!
This is the destiny of all things created by men.
"When a person is directly confronted by a violent end, he has no choice but to yield to that fate." This sums the frame control and such a person is admired by both men and women.
I want to see SSH in gaming next: Final Fantasy X, Red Dead Redemption I and II, Bioshock, God of War (analysis of the villains too), GTA 5
Mumhkar from Xenoblade Chronicles strikes me as King Gamma of All Gammas. The dude is jealousy personified.
I'm interested in where Leon from Resident Evil stands. He has a bad case of oneitis for Ada but otherwise exudes high status. The president's daughter not very subtly offers to sleep with him the minute they're out of danger.
So unpopular opinion maybe it’s wrong …Leon may be more delta. Very technically accurate and proficient yes he’s handsome but that’s not a prerequisite , many gammas are handsome. also doesn’t seem to ooze rizz like other alphas. Kratos - def Alpha. Sam Fisher splinter cell — delta. Max Payne - fallen / vengeful alpha.
Someone else will prob say I’m wrong though on these.
I think Leon being a Bravo is a safe bet now that I've thought on it, and factored in events from the 6th game. Taking orders directly from POTUS and confronting Chris "Boulder Puncher" Redfield with his head still on his shoulders is likely a cut above a delta's lot.
But I think you’re right… after all next step up from delta is the bravo. In that case Sam fisher from splinter cell would prob be that as well.
Never played the sequel just RE4
There's a temptation to elevate the hero of the story as the top rank.
Unless they become King, they aren't Alpha. If other men don't instinctively look to them for leadership, they're not at the top of the hierarchy.
If they're good at what they do as a door-kicker following orders, they're Delta.
Master chief - delta
FFX would be interesting. There's some fluidity in the characters, but the two obvious standouts are Auron as the ultimate Sigma and Seymour as King Gamma, although I do feel bad for Seymour with his rough childhood and his signature aeon being the soul of his dead mother and all, that's gotta be a nasty reminder of your youth, no wonder he wanted revenge on all of Spira.
Agreed, Tidus was fucking annoying and dressed like a K-Pop star I wonder if he would be Gamma as well and since he had daddy issues. Although Yunas attraction to him seems almost like a Gamma wrote it since he was the fruitiest one out of them all.
His dad Jecht would be an alpha. The other characters the blue cat man and blitz ball guy would be deltas.
Auron was prob my favorite and yes Sigma.
I was wondering if Vox could cover KOTOR or Fallout series but it’s hard when the protagonist can make whatever decisions they want. Are they petty gammas? Noble alpha? Just after money / greed?
I don’t know if Vox hates anime but dragon ball Z would be an interesting read as well.
The round table of the knights of the SSH wouldn't last a day.
I'm curious about the medium of computer games. Will we see romances depicted in ways that are at least vaguely congruent to reality? Or would that be just too depressing for the mostly delta and gamma audience for such games (e.g. Baldur's gate, the various pathfinder games like Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous)? I'd think that a reasonable mechanic would have separate metrics for attraction and comfort, and there'd be nearly zero crosstalk between those two for women and a small to moderate amount for men. No amount of support and kindness will make a woman attracted to you if she isn't, but being sweet and supportive can make an 8 competitive with a 10 that isn't for many men, although a 6 or 7 can't make this work unless she's literally the only woman in the world.
It's certainly possible and easier to do with shorter games light on story, larger games are made to reward long-term time investment with advancement, which is anathema to real world inter-sexual relations. It's hard to make narratively convincing while also being rewarding to our monkey brains and factoring in changes in circumstance from player input.
It's an interesting challenge, and one I intend to take on in the near future.
Good to hear it. Thing is, a typical RPG involves gaining levels and status, which the real world rarely does. Someone who becomes a conqueror or a mighty warrior over time might find, as Londo said, that women would come to find him attractive. So the monkey brains can be rewarded in a way that is credible.
I never got super into it but I quite like the premise of Kenshi; you start off as an unskilled nobody, and while you can become a big powerful warlord, you're just as likely to end up a crippled slave
I don't think video game romances are going to be changed any time soon. Games are primarily aimed at Deltas and Gammas, and romances are tailored around the delusion of the (usually male) Main Character being universally attractive to females (and, increasingly, other males) of every race and personality, no matter how that character behaves or appears. Baldur's Gate is a hilarious example of that: you can romance a shadow cleric elf, a completely alien githyanki, and a tiefling (half demon), all at the same time until you actually "pull the trigger" so to speak, and that's even when you act like a total buffoon the entire game and you spent three hours in the character creator making your hero look like a burn victim with palsy, but it's ok because his charisma score of 18 just means "he's really funny and charming to make up for it".
Games are not intended to be realistic, they're meant to be an escape from reality. Actual SSH reality would be counterproductive to that goal. Could you imagine the outcry if Baldur's Gate locked you out of certain romances depending on what race or gender you chose? (or "presented as", may God scour my tongue for using that phrase)
They do cater to the delusion that you can build up good boyfriend points or good husband points and spend them to get the things you want. They also tend to cater to the delusion that the diplomatic model of normal humans is an integrator (add up all favors given and subtract slights, injuries or insults and apply a window function to weigh more recent stuff first). That model would work if humans were just selfish and NOT ungrateful, but it doesn't work on normal humans. It might actually work for dwarves though, they're less ungrateful than humans in most fiction.
The 18 charisma thing though is probably legit---if you have an 18 charisma or higher, you're almost certainly an alpha or a sigma, and alphas and sigmas don't have to be good looking to have women panting after them. A realistic model would probably consider your charisma, your level, and your permanent social class to compute attraction. Female characters would probably have 'you must be at least this tall' sorts of features in determining who they were attracted to. A female fighter, for instance, would be exceedingly unlikely to be attracted to any man who couldn't clean her clock, and pretty much no woman would be attracted to any man who wasn't at least her peer in terms of power, preferably her superior. And yes, a realistic model would at least soft lock you out of a lot of romances based on gender and race.
The thing is, you could have interesting gameplay and possibly even appeal to the crowd that likes romance novels by realistically playing out what happens when you have significant positive attraction but significantly negative comfort scores. You can also get relationships that feel vaguely reasonable.
"A female fighter, for instance"
A realistic take on fantasy would not have female fighters, unless the magic system makes up the difference.
The Goblin Slayer manga/anime uses its first episode to show women fighters as rape bait. Realistically, demoralization would remove the rest. See military deployment pregnancies.
Women aren't going to adopt the adventuring lifestyle unless it's safe, but adventuring can't be safe.
Fantasy includes all sorts of wonky stuff like amazons and supernatural strength. You could be a respectable female fighter even in 1st edition D&D, so it's been feasible, just a bit disadvantaged even long before woke times. But you're right they're going to get pregnant a lot, fighting and adrenaline surges from post combat promote that sort of thing.
Fantasy has accumulated a lot of Gamma wish fulfillment.
If you want to create fantasy fiction that correctly reflects realistic human interactions, you can't just stop at the ladies forming an automatic harem around the Secret King.
You also have to think twice about the egalitarian adventuring parties where men and women are interchangeable cogs. A fantasy universe built with egalitarianism between men and women undermines realistic romantic pairings which is dependent on the strengths and weakness of each sex.
Have a few thoughts that are poorly organized to share. A D&D male character can actually improve their SSH standing in ways that very few deltas or gammas can in this world. They can gain levels and become something more than just human. They can also gain social standing considerably more easily. They can even in some cases directly gain charisma. Charisma in D&D-ish terms probably maps pretty direct onto SSH. Deltas in the 8-12 region, Bravos in the 13-16 range, Alphas or Sigmas in the 17-18 range. Omegas and Gammas below 8. Back in 1st and 2nd edition, if you drew the Throne card from the deck of many things, you got an instant 18 charisma. I had a character do this, going from an 8 to an 18, and looking at it in retrospect, yeah he more or less did a delta to alpha transition in the way he acted and the way the world viewed him.
Looking from the perspective of Delta gamers, there's a definite opportunity for wish fulfillment. Yeah they're not going to get wonky Secret King romances, but they can become akin to Conan, where their advances are received way more favorably like in the classic Tom Brady vs office geek meme on sexual harassment. And while good boyfriend points won't get them there, experience points will because they reflect a sort of status that a woman's brain IS designed to recognize, the capability of exerting massive social and/or violent power. Also they'd be able to play in something like a Conan novel rather than a woketard fantasy. Female gamers would be able to play in a bodice ripper, which is probably the most popular genre in terms of sales. Everybody should be happy except the gammas and cultural destroyers, and the art would be vastly better, for it would be connected to truth and perhaps Truth as well.
Hah, they'd never form a harem around a Secret King. Around an adventurer starting to become a conqueror with aspirations of King, definitely.
The example of the female fighter is pulled from Red Sonja---she wouldn't have anything to do with any man who couldn't beat her. That's a callback if I recall also to the Amazons and Heracles---while normally not into men, a mighty man was quite another matter entirely.
1st edition in D&D IMO captured the genre best, the egalitarianism inherent in editions beyond that makes the simulation of how the world works culturally way too alien. Readers and gamers will forgive magical stuff, dragons, and so forth, but they won't forgive NPCs that don't act like people. That's the real leading cause of murder-hoboism.
Reading about the shogunal commander made me think about surrender, retreat, and the officers that call for them.
When prudence weighs the scales and finds fighting disadvantageous, the virtuous will not engage. The Gamma, on the other hand, surrenders and retreats out of cowardice, when prudence and justice demand he advance.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Correct. There are two things a man cannot fake that is sex and violence. This is where gammas double down on their delusional bubble.
Can't wordcel their way out of coming blades and arrows.
Are you saying katanas aren't deadly sharp, and aren't easily concealed in a trenchcoat?
Fedora makes the rest of the things work by adding mystery and sex appeal. The complete package.
Neckbeards have a +2 to Hiding, because who wants to notice that?
Also, they serve as camouflage among tumbleweeds. Set your shogunate in the old west and you're set.
A katana AND a trenchcoat? Oh my! *fans self*
If M'Lady doth require any assistance in fanning: https://i.imgflip.com/9az35r.jpg
I love how all your jokes are perfectly visualisable. You see them and think ''this was a panel in hypergamouse, right?''
I'm curious to know if anyone has read or seen Othello performed? The character of Iago appears to be a gramma, and I wonder if anyone else has noticed this.
The proper application of the SSH in fiction and non-fiction is going to make these “how to be a Sigma” clowns want to become as invisible as Milton and his precious red stapler.
How to be a Gamma: Write your own "How to be a Sigma" book
This made me remember the behavior of General George McClellan. He liked playing the leader on the drill field. However, he wouldn't engage or get his hands bloody. Gamma
I don't think I'd call McClellan a Gamma. He has significant faults as a general, but his troops loved him and he loved them in return. I've never seen that dynamic with a Gamma. My gut is, that man's a Delta.
No group of men has ever liked a Gamma in charge.
Agree -- McClellan was very good at what he was good at: logistics and training, but not as a fighting general.
Basically an ideal bureaucrat. But no general.
A Scholar-Official.
To be fair, the Union's bench wasn't very good at that until later in the war. McClellan was very expensive for Lee to eject from Virginia from an attrition perspective. The 7 Days campaigns showed that neither army had really gotten itself very well coordinated yet. Both sides missed serious opportunities.
Actually reading the words "alpha male" and "gamma male" in a passage of fiction made me cringe.
Is that one of those times that the writer tells more about himself than the characters? Giving the guy smart boy skepticism about the concept is a real tell.
Yes, it’s too on the nose. It’s telling without showing
"Am I the Gamma? No. It is the children who are Gammas."
In historical/fantasy fiction, it is violating the setting when a character uses modern terminology that he shouldn't have any concept of.
Like a medieval peasant speaking in Japanese or using Internet lingo.
It didn't bother me too much, but I can see why it would be more grating for other readers.
Yes, that kind of thing always throws me right out of the story.
"Hack the planet!"
It was as bad as someone declaring their alpha-ness out loud. I don't think there will ever be a context in which explicitly stating one's real or desired rank won't have that effect.
British politician Margret Thatcher:
“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.”
(She was both! I'm new to this - can you say she was an alpha female?
No, the SSH is a taxonomy of men only. Women no doubt form their own hierarchies, but they are much more intricate than the SSH taxonomy.
Whoops! That's what comes of jumping in with both feet without doing basic research!
Can someone please point me to a primer or FAQ sheet so I can learn a bit before making a fool of myself again?
This stack has a post defining the SSH ranks of men.
https://sigmagame.substack.com/p/the-socio-sexual-hierarchy
Your quote is relevant to the social status aspect of the SSH. While high status people can accurately describe their own status, there is a general tendency towards inflation and inaccuracy. Claims of high status deserve skepticism and invite challenge.
It does seem overly self-aware doesn't it? Like a breaking of the 4th wall almost.
I think that is more a consequence of the novel's genre which appears to be Urban Fantasy. I struggle to enjoy that genre because of the frequent pop culture references and modern slang that abound.
I'm mostly thinking in terms of a gamma realizing that the reason he doesn't like a reasonable SSH taxonomy is because of where he's purported to fall within it. Gammas and self-awareness rarely go together. Although I suppose he is being smacked in the face by reality in the form of a manifestly and obviously alpha male.
It also violates the "show, don't tell" principle rather hard. The combination, I think, is what does it.
It's kind of like one of Tolkien's digressions about a character that usually end with 'Save Feanor Only'. But I haven't read the rest of this author's works to see if he's got the chops to get away with such things like Tolkein does.
Agreed.
Nuttall is an excellent and prolific writer. I haven't read this one, but I strongly second the recommendation.
It has been interesting and useful to go back to stories and novels I know well and apply SSH taxonomy to different characters.
It is encouraging to see explicit use of SSH in new literature. I have been seeing more oblique references for a few years now.