It also made me wonder, what is the governmental situation of the Inklings?
I know the Octorians appear to run on a very tight stringent to avoid waste considering how little materials they have to work with, but the Inklings seem more free in general.
I wonder if it's like a city state with Inkopolis as the hub with the other surrounding islands connected via extension, but with their own autocracy?
Considering that Inklings are enormously hedonistic, I'd presume that their governmental structure would more closely resemble post-Augustus republican Rome - essentially a combination of panem et circenses to placate the proles, ruled over by a selection of representative aristocracy (Yes, I understand that's effectively an oxymoron, roll with it).
Sure, it's a free-ish society, but it would probably come down hard on anyone trying to make waves that don't contribute to the current status quo.
...ruled over by a selection of representative aristocracy (Yes, I understand that's effectively an oxymoron, roll with it).
It's not an oxymoron at all - it's just saying that only people with the right bloodlines are eligible to run for office, but the common oiks still get to choose which blue-blood actually gets to be in office at any given time.
It's only marginally worse than a system where, say, money rather than bloodline is the determining factor for who gets to run for office. Y'know, hypothetically. /sarcasm
