@IsDaGany Kidnapping is a very involved process. It takes a lot of preparation and intention to plan and follow through with a kidnapping, and it's something that's typically done either for immediate personal benefit, or pursuant to cultural norms.

For a while, the Philippines had a pretty big issue with kidnapping for ransom, often with the FBI hostage negotiation team getting involved.

In the realm of cultural motives, it's plausible for people to try to kidnap someone if they think that person is misguided or is acting strongly against social norms.

For example, in societies that practice arranged marriages, if a woman rejects an arranged marriage, it's possible that her own family might kidnap her to force her to marry the person she'd been arranged to wed.

If all the victims of the kidnapping are queer in some way, that could itself be an answer to the motivation of the kidnappers.

What are the deeply-held social values that the Arch Dukes hold? How do queer people go against these deeply-held social values? What good do they think they're accomplishing by kidnapping queer people?

In the united states, there's some history with people being kidnapped and held for extended periods by anti-drug inpatient programs, and also a great deal of history with anti-gay conversion therapy camps doing something similar to queer adults and teenagers.

Often, the families of these queer adults and teenagers believe that this is for the benefit of the individuals, and will aid in the kidnapping.

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1r6uye8/til_fred_collins_went_to_visit_his_brother_at_the/

@katanova The Arch Dukes, many of whom are ex military or police—or in the main antagonist Farley’s case, a national guard guy who wants to join the Dukes—basically have the whole “might is right” mentality. Farley believes that strength is the only thing that matters, that empathy is weakness, peace is only brought by destroying america’s enemies (basically anyone who’s not american, or if they are, not nationalistic enough), and that queer people are weak by nature, and therefore enemies of america.

The Dukes think that anyone who’s queer MUST have ties to the Korps. Maybe it could be a sort of McCarthy-an “confess your membership and give us names or we make you disappear permanently” kind of thing?

@IsDaGany Patterns of abuse like this tend to radicalize people. What I like to say is that we make the world into the way we believe it is.

It seems like a group of these kinds of guys kidnapping queer people and assuming they're a part of the korps would push people towards joining the korps, in a kind of self-fulfilling cycle.

@katanova True, that’s a good point!

That’s actually what starts Caden’s story. The first kidnapping goes wrong and an outspoken ally dies. Shaken up, he takes time off work, and during this time, goes to a concert where he unknowingly meets a Korps agent.

As the kidnappings resume, he eventually realizes she and the Korps may be the only ones who can protect him, and/or stop this. Heroes and cops aren’t doing jack, and he learns just how dangerous Farley really is, to others and himself.

@IsDaGany So what is it that these Arch Dukes think they're saving or protecting the world from? People's beliefs don't arise from nothing, so then what is the connection to reality that their beliefs arise out of?

What actual thing happened that's connected to what the Arch Dukes think they're protecting the world from?

@katanova They think that the world as it is, is perfect because it allows power hungry shits like them to be able to destroy “the freaks.”

The Korps seek to depose repressive state-based hierarchies, which groups like the Dukes see as unamerican and “destroying our freedoms.” Lots of crazy, untrue conspiracies get spread about the Korps, and unfortunately, too many believe those conspiracies.

@IsDaGany No one is the villain in their own story. People have a story that they tell themselves about why they're good and what other people are doing is evil.

Where do they get their stories about why they're actually the good guys?

Committing violence against people erodes our humanity, and it takes a constant input from some motivating force to keep people committing violence. What motivates these people to keep committing violence? How do they cope with the erosion of their humanity that results from committing violence?

@katanova They get their “we’re actually the good guys” shtick from military and religious propaganda, along with all the “we’re the greatest country in the world so we’re above everyone else’s ideas of morality” crap. They’re perfectly ok with the erosion of their humanity because they see having empathy as weakness.

I actually work with someone who says stuff like this out loud on the job, and truly believes it. Much of this is based on things he’s told me about himself.