#statue of unity making

[clubconsent]

So, in Gideon the Ninth, a cavalier comes to Canaan House. Our cavalier is largely uninterested in necromancy, on account of being a huge jock with too many muscles who would rather be playing with swords or talking about playing with swords, and frequently mocks the weirdos who get worked up about things that aren't swords.

Our cavalier has a rocky relationship with their necromancer, who, it must be said, is kind of a terrible person. But by the end of the book, they've achieved true unity, just as Jod intended.

It's surprising to me that up to my most recent read, I hadn't realized how much Babs is clearly meant as a foil for Gideon, down to the sense of humor. Gideon loves Magnus's puns, but "anyone goes missing, we assume they're having a nap in the incinerator" is the kind of thing you can actually imagine Gideon saying.

So their differences become really interesting. His reflexive insistence on being called Prince Tern whenever his ego is threatened throws Gideon's indentured servant status into sharp relief. His shock and anger when rules are broken contrasts with her experience of rules as threats she has to manage. And while they both instinctively dislike most people, she rapidly makes a surprising number of friends. He looks down on everyone too much for that. (She distrusts. He disdains.)

And, of course, in the end, she chooses her fate, while he gets lyctored in the back.

The contrast between them definitely works with the themes of the book, but I think I missed it because it speaks even more to the the larger series: how cozy are you with power and privilege? How do you decide to navigate your bonds with others in a world that turns human relationships to horrible ends? For what cause are you willing to work with the systemic violence that animates everything around you?

Gideon makes her choices with open eyes. Babs turns away into a warm cocoon that turns out to be a bag over his head.

[syxnewt]

super pissed at unity

[halidays]

How to Plan a Perfect Trip to the Statue of Unity, the World’s Tallest Statue

Did you also know that the Statue of Unity is the tallest statue in the world at 182 meters i.e. 597 feet. This statue is almost twice the height of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The Statue of Unity is a giant statue of Indian politician and freedom activist Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel i.e. Iron Man of India. He was the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of independent India. Visit…

[wh0reforcoriolanussnow]

It Couple || Young!Coriolanus Snow x Capitol!reader

GIF by @youremyvioleta and divider by @firefly-graphics

Summary: just you and Coryo being the it couple at the academy 🤭

Warnings: fem!reader, idk if there’s anything else

Wc: 691

A/n: pls send thru fic requests for Tom!!!!

In the bustling halls of the Academy, you, the epitome of popularity, gracefully navigate the sea of admiring glances. You weren't particularly sure what factor of you made you so popular, maybe it was your kindness, looks, money, name? Whatever the reason may be you liked to bask in it, not in the cocky manner.

Your perfectly coordinated and confident demeanor were enough to turn any mundane day into a spectacle worth watching. Coriolanus Snow, the charming heartthrob of the academy, with his disheveled yet effortlessly handsome appearance, awaited you by your locker.

As he caught sight of you, a charming smile graced his lips, and he fell into step beside you. "Good morning, my love," Coryo said, his voice a velvet murmur that sent shivers down your spine. "Good morning, Coryo," your replied with a playful smirk, your eyes meeting his as you exchange a knowing look.

The chemistry between you was undeniable, and it added an extra layer of glamour to the 'it couple' status you both held. The title for it really came from a joke by Clemmie at the cafeteria as fellow students from younger years would shamelessly stare at you and Coryo doing such simple things, which in that case, was simply walking to your table.

From that day forward, the title flourished and spread around the academy. Instead of referring to you and Coryo in the context of you being together, they referred the two of you as the 'it couple'. It was quite undisputed, turning heads and sparking envy among your peers.

As you and Coriolanus walk side by side through the halls of the academy, whispers of admiration trail in your wake. Your relationship with Snow was the talk of the academy, maybe even the Capitol due to your high statuses. The two of you becoming a symbol of perfection, setting the standard for others to emulate.

"Snow and Y/l/n, they're practically royalty around here,' a hushed voice echoed from a cluster of students, "I wish I could be in their group for projects, It's like a ticket to instant success,' another voice chimed in.

Meanwhile, Coriolanus slid his arm around you waist, pulling you in a little closer with a smirk on his lips. "Do you see the way everyone's looking at us," he remarked, his eyes glinting with a mixture of pride and mischief.

It was undeniable that Coryo loved the attention. Even before the two of you started dating he would get attention, but now, it was different. "You just love the attention, don't you?" You teased, leaning into his touch.

He chuckled, a low, melodic sound that resonated through the hallway. "Guilty as charged. But it's even better when I get to share it with you, dove." Coryo purrs, his grip on your waist tightening as you giggle.

~

The day unfolded with the usual whirlwind of the classes, but it was during the partnered projects that your unity truly shone. In the lab, you and Coriolanus blended intellect and charm seamlessly, leaving your classmates in awe.

"How do they nail it every time," Io Jasper sighs making those around her chuckle, as they agree after seeing the elaborate model you and Coriolanus crafted. Coriolanus, known for his silver-tongued wit, had a way of making even the most tedious assignments feel like a delightful escapade.

~

Most, if not, all of the Academy's social events became your stage without you giving it much thought, and you and Coriolanus were the headline act. A grand ball celebrating the academy's founding anniversary was the the definition of lavish.

Dressed in a gorgeous dress that rivaled the stars, you walk into Heavensbee hall, your arm linked with Coriolanus. People around the entrance elicit gasps as the spotlight found the two of you.

Arachne rolls her eyes, observing the two of you with a group of friends. "How do they manage to look flawless all the time?" she comments, shaking her head. "It's nauseating." She finishes, tilting her head back to savor a sip of posca. Clemensia chuckles softly, "Well, there's a reason they're known as the 'it couple,'" she says, shrugging casually.

[astrodice]

PAC: Insights on your future family with FS

take what resonates and leave what doesn't

Pile 1

Firstly, your family will experience significant financial prosperity. Some of you may even establish a family business with your spouse. Together, you and your spouse can achieve a high social status. The family will be large, either due to numerous relatives (your and your spouse's siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.), or because there is a strong possibility of having many children (2-4) in the future.

Secondly, there is a significant emphasis on some sort of separation, relocation or travel, which may lead to disagreements. It is possible that you or your spouse will frequently travel for business. The lack of communication and physical presence due to separation could be challenging for both of you. At some point, you or your spouse may have to make a choice between prioritizing family time or focusing on work.

Also, for some of you this could be your spouse's second marriage. Their previous marriage lacked harmony and peace, which led to the divorce.

Pile 2

What I am sensing is that your spouse, who was previously very attentive, caring, and romantic before marriage or engagement, suddenly becomes apathetic and manipulative. This change makes you feel heartbroken and confused, it is also something that is difficult to accept. You may hold onto hope that things will return to how they were, leading you to staying in the relationship.

Since it's a general reading, I see two potential outcomes for this situation. The first is that you decide to leave your partner. In this scenario, you heal and become stronger than ever, ready for a new beginning. You will have plenty of suitors trying to get with you and the memories of your ex spouse will feel like a fever dream.

The second outcome involves you staying in the relationship because your spouse once again changes their behavior. This transformation will not happen quickly; it will require considerable time and cooperation, possibly involving family therapy for both of you. If your spouse is able to make positive changes and you are ready to accept them, I see you creating a happy family.

Pile 3

I see your family being very energetic. Game night can become your tradition, as well as playing sports together (something active like football or basketball). If you will have kids then they will likely be a girl and a boy, both of them will be very smart and curious, they will like to read or even write something of their own. You will have a deep sense of pride when it comes to them, and they will cherish your love and support. 

Moreover, you and your spouse will also create a safe and nurturing environment for each other. This mutual support will create a strong sense of security and unity within your family. All of you will be really happy (as you should).

Some of you can even become an owner of an exotic pet in the future, like a parrot or Maine Coon cat (not exotic, but definitely different from most of the domestic cats)

[giritina]

Lately I've been dipping my toe into the mess that is transandrophobia discourse, and in the process I've been presented with one question in many forms:

"Do trans men experience misogyny?"

My initial answer was "these terms are all theoretical frameworks for a vast range of human experiences, why would you choose to frame your pre-transition experiences as that of a woman?" This makes sense to me, but clearly isn't satisfactory to many of the people sending me anons. As much as I might want to use my own life as a case study, I can't very well tell these people in my asks box "no, you've never experienced something that could be categorized as misogyny." Still, the question bothers me.

I think that's because the question obfuscates the actual debate. It's clear to me the question we are debating is not one of "experience" but "authority." That is:

"Do (binary) trans men understand what it's like to be a woman?"

My answer? No.

How can I justify that when we have, since birth, been raised as women? Well, because we also have, since birth, been trans men. If we cast aside the idea of transness as a modern social contagion or anything other than an innate, sociobiological reality, this has to be true. Even before you ever came out to yourself, you were transgender. Transphobia has dictated every moment of your life. Your idea of what "womanhood" is is not at all the same as a woman's, be it cis or trans. Why? Because a woman does not react to "being a woman" with the dysphoria, dissociation, and profound sense of wrongness that you do. [If you do not experience these things, a cis or trans woman, at the very least, does not identify as a binary trans man.] A woman sincerely identifies as a woman, and identity plays a pivotal role in how we absorb societal messaging.

Let's take homophobia as an example. While any queer person has probably experienced targeted episodes of bigotry, the majority of bigotry we experience must necessarily be broad and social. Boys learn to fear becoming a faggot as a group, but the boy who is a faggot will internalize those messages in a completely different way to the boys who only need learn to assert the heterosexual identity already inherent in them through violence. All of them are suffering to some extent, but their experiences are not at all equivalent. This is despite the fact that they've all absorbed the same message, maybe even at the same moment, through the same events. Still, we don't say that a straight boy knows what it is like to be a gay boy. Similarly, cis women do not know what it is like to be a trans man despite being fed the same transphobic messaging in a superficially identical context. It isn't a stretch to say the same can apply to misogyny.

Because I can't speak for you, I'll use myself as an example for a moment. I'll give my bonafides: I am a gender-nonconforming, T4T queer, white, binary trans man. I am on T, and I have recently come out to my family. I do not pass. My career as a comic writer is tied to my identity as a trans man. I can confidently say I have never been impacted by misogyny the same way as my friends who actually identify as women. This manifested early on as finding it easy to shrug off the messaging that I needed to be X or Y way to be a woman. In fact, most gender roles slid off my back expressly because breaking them gave me euphoria. I was punished in many ways for this, but being this sort of cis woman did help me somewhat. It's easy to be "one of the guys" in a social climbing sense if you really do feel more comfortable as a man. It also helped me disregard misogyny aimed at me or others because it seemed like an shallow form of bigotry. It was something you could shrug off, but it was important for building "unity" among women. I thought this must be the case for all women, that we all viewed misogyny as a sort of "surface level" bigotry. However, for whatever conditional status I gained in this role, there was a clear message that if I did "become" a man, every non-conformist trait about me would just become a grotesque and parodic masculinity.

That was the threat that was crushing me, destroying my identity and self esteem. That was what I knew intimately through systemic, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. I could express my nonconformity as a cis woman, but if I took it so far as to transition to male? I would be a pathetic traitor, a social outcast. I truly believe that throughout my life people were able to see that I was not just a failed woman, but an emasculated man.

I do partly feel that the sticking point for many is the idea that the sexual abuse suffered by trans men is inherent to womanhood, and therefore inexplicable if trans men are men from birth. While this disregards the long history of sexual abuse of young boys, especially minority boys, I do see the emotional core. I'll offer that the sexual abuse I suffered was intrinsically linked to my emmasculation, my boyishness, despite the fact that I was not out to myself or anyone else. I believe many trans men have suffered being the proxy for cis women's desire for retribution against cis men, or for cis men and women's desire for an eternally nubile young boy. I also believe they have suffered corrective assault that attempts to push them back into womanhood, which in itself is an experience unique to transness rather than actual womanhood.

I'll note quickly that many, many trans men cannot relate to the idea of feeling confident and above it all when it comes to womanhood. Many of you probably tried desperately to conform, working every moment to convince yourself you were a woman and to perfectly inhabit that identity. I definitely experienced this as well (though for me it was specifically attempting to conform to butchness) but I can concede many of you experienced it more than I did. I still believe that this desperate play-acting is also not equivalent to true womanhood. It is a uniquely transgender experience, one that shares much more in common with trans women desperately attempting to conform to manhood than with true womanhood.

One key theme running through the above paragraphs is the idea that "womanhood" is synonymous with "suffering." A trans man must know what it is like to be a woman because he suffers like one. It should be noted that actual womanhood is not a long stretch of suffering. It often involves joy, euphoria, sisterhood, a general love and happiness at being a woman. It wasn't until I admitted to myself I had never been a woman that I was able to see how the women in my life were not women out of obligation, but because they simply were. The idea that you are a woman because you suffer is more alligned with radfem theory than any reality of womanhood.

When I admitted my identity to myself I was truly faced with the ways that my ability to stand up to misogyny did not equate to being anti-misogynist. I was giddy to finally be able to admit to being a man, and suddenly all that messaging that "slid off my back" was a useful tool in my arsenal. Much like cis gay men feel compelled to assert their disgust for vaginas and women after a life of being compelled towards heterosexuality, I felt disgust and aversion to discussions of womanhood as an identity. I didn't even want to engage with female fictional characters. I viewed other people's sincere expressions of their own womanhood as a coded dismissal of my identity. Like many people before and after, I made women into the rhetorical device that had oppressed me. Not patriarchy, not transphobia, but womanhood and women broadly. It wasn't explicit bigotry, but the effects were the same. I had to unlearn this with the help of my bigender partner, who felt unsettled and hurt by the way I could so easily turn "woman" into nothing but a theoretical category which represented my personal suffering.

This brings me to another point: I sometimes receive messages from nonbinary trans mascs telling me that it's absurd to think they don't understand womanhood and identify with misogyny in a deeper way. I would agree that, if you sincerely identify in some capacity as a woman, you are surely impacted by misogyny in a way I am not. However, why are you coming to the defense of binary trans men like me? Less charitably, why are you projecting a female identity on us? Perhaps my experience frustrates you so deeply because we simply do not have the same experience at all. Perhaps we are not all that united by our agab, by our supposed female socialization.

So, no. I do not believe that binary trans men know what it's like to be women. I don't believe we are authorities on womanhood. I do not believe that when a trans woman endeavors to talk about transmisogyny, your counterargument about your own experiences of misogyny is useful. I ESPECIALLY do not believe that it is in any way valid to say that you are less misogynist, less prone to being misogynist, or-- god forbid-- INCAPABLE of misogyny because you were raised as a girl. I also don't believe your misogyny is equivalent to that of a woman's internalized misogyny in form or impact.

For as much as members of the transandrophobia movement downplay privilege as merely "conditional," those conditions do exist. They do place you firmly in the context of the rest of the world. Zoom out and look at the history of oppressed men, and you'll find the same reactionary movement repeated over and over. Attacking the women in your community for not being soft enough, nice enough, patient enough, rather than fighting the powers that be. Why do I believe your identity is more alligned with cis manhood than any form of womanhood? Because this song and dance has been done a hundred times before by men of every stripe. Transphobia is real, and your life experience has been uniquely defined by it since birth. This is a thing to rally around, to fight against, but you all have fallen for a (trans)misogynistic phantasm in your efforts at self-actualization. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. Get out of this pipeline before it's too late.

[sashi-ya]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑹𝑰𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑼𝑵ㅤㅤ january free requestsㅤ ㅤ trafalgar law x f! reader

🕊️ request: @leftladyluminary ⋆｡˚ Hello ( ^ω^ ) I was wondering if I could request a Law x fem!reader exploring a temple together that turns out to be a uh “procreation” temple the strongly affects those who enter? Please and thank you~ （╹◡╹）♡ 🕊️ tw: mdni. raw, rough sex. vaginal. nipple play. pregnancy ideas implied. cream pie. wc: 1650 🕊️ masterlist

Zou is a humid place, very muddy as well. Your boots are dirty, and your clothing soaking wet. Those “Eruption Rains” become pretty inconvenient throughout the day, but they are necessary.

“I shouldn’t have worn a white shirt…” you tell Law, crossing your arms over your breasts.

“I would say you shouldn’t have worn it without a bra, (Name)-ya” Law says, squeezing and twisting his hat to drain it from the excess of water.

You sit down on a rock. Was it really necessary to say such thing? At best he should be a little bit happy to see your body through semi see through fabrics. What Law has just said felt painful to you, to say the least.

“You are right, I’m sorry” you mumble, walking away to find a proper place to hide and change your clothes. You are sure the ones in your backpack are as wet as your current ones, but something darker will do to cover up.

When the rivers formed in what are usually trails on top of Zuneesha’s back are finally dried, you find a very interesting construction ahead. Curious, as always, you come closer to discover it is a shrine.

“What a beautiful place” you comment in awe. Law seems to be anywhere else. He is probably near, but not close to you.

Curious, you put a step inside the shrine. It isn’t necessarily different from the rest of the temples you have attended in this long journey of piracy. However, somehow in the aura feels unusual to you.

The scent of incense smells more flowery, sweet, maybe even a little bit spicy. The Vitreaux windows create incredible depictions of Orchids on the ground, as the sun filters its rains through them. And the altar has a very distinctive little statue that calls for your hand to touch.

“I wonder what’s this shrine about? What god is meant to be built for?  In fact, do Minks have gods?” you ask yourself, making mental notes to ask Wanda once you are back from your expedition.

Your eyes scan the golden sculpture, it looks like two creatures tangled into each other. You would lie if you said you didn’t think of them having sex, and in fact you giggle for your “witty” thoughts.

There isn’t much to discover besides what you have just seen, but a little sign engraved in an old piece of wood.

“you shall keep your blood flowing; the warriors of the Sun must never disappear; they will fight for freedom and unity during this dark night”

You smile; and immediately after reading you remember Luffy. Even Law recognizes he is as shiny as the Sun itself. You don’t really think much of the true meaning of the sign, and soon after find Law looking at you from the very entrance.

“I turned around and you were gone, I didn’t know where you were” he asks, still soaking wet like a cat left out in the rain and looking a little bit mad at you for disappearing.

You could have picked a fight; you probably could have just brushed it off. But neither of those were your reaction, and unconsciously you lift your arms to stretch. The white shirt, still soaking wet, kept the transparency and with that the show off of your hard nipples presented to Law in its full beauty.

“I’m sorry, I was looking for a place to change” you tell him, with a rather sexy tone.

Law’s sun burnt cheeks turn red, golden eyes widening, pupils getting bigger. The little hints of black eyeliner smudge on his already dark tinted under eyes, the juicy pale lips of your captain slowly separating.

“You thought of changing on a shrine? Getting naked on a temple, (Name)-ya?” he asks, coming closer to you as he lets his yellow bag fall on the floor. Law walks like a snow leopard, slowly, menacing, sexily…

You swallow. That’s not his usual self, not at least with you. He looks like he is about to fight you, or even hurt you.

“L-Law, I wanted to put on a shirt over this one so that my breasts won-“ you shut up, as he strikes you and pins you against the altar.

You put your arms back to get a grip of something as you lose balance. Your hand reaches something cold and tiny and immediately after, his warm inked hand falls on top of yours.

Both, at the same time, touch the little statue behind and it feels like a new energy begins to run through your veins. It doesn’t take you long to finally succumb into a lustful, inappropriate kiss. His hands, all over your waist, lift the wet shirt that’s begun to get hot and too heavy on your skin.

“I have no idea what force is making me do this, but believe me I am not mad about it, (Name)-ya” Law whispers, in between panting and with his lips grazing yours.

“I have no idea either, but don’t you dare stop…”

The Surgeon of Death attacks your lips once again, this time while freeing you completely from your wet coverings… even if, something else in you was getting wetter by the moment.

Maybe it was the force of doing something so incorrect, so unholy on a sacred place… or maybe it was your love? Or even, both? Who knows, perhaps it was something else but the more you kiss, the more your bodies slide down until your back hits the red carpet covered floor.

Law’s tattooed hands squeeze and play with your breasts, almost like a beast ready to engulf his prey. “You wanted me to do this, don’t you?” he asks, reaching for one of your hard nipples, kissing the erected surface and then trapping it with his lips.

“Honestly, yes. I missed your touch…” you moan, realizing you are finally able to indulge in sex. It’s been long enough since you could touch each other, since you could be this intimate.

“I know, I’m sorry…” he whispers, planting a soft kiss on your chest.

You know there is nothing to forgive, and immediately after you notice his stitched arm holding the weight of his body on top of you.

“Law… can I be on top this time?” you ask, kissing the scar of his biceps.

His golden eyes shine brightly, apparently he loved the question and nods energetically, even if he felt embarrassed seconds after for doing so.

Soon, you take his place, undressing him faster and straddling your hips on his lap. He is hard, and the grey underwear completely soaked let nothing to the imagination. Deliciously tempting, you feel the impulse to your use your mouth before anything else, but the need of having him inside you is stronger… something invisible is making you desire his seed would fill your womb on and on and on.

You lift your ass from his lap, just a little for your hand to pass through your moved to the side panties and his hardness.

Law gasps when he understands you are not there to waist time on any other type of pleasure that his dick deep inside you.

“Now? but I don’t- I don’t have prot-“ he stutters, fighting in between the need of fucking you rough and reproduction health matters.

“You don’t really need it, I want you raw and rough in me…” you purr, guiding his sex towards your dripping entrance.

Your labia devours his tip, engulfing it with a warm slippery sensation. Law’s neck muscles tense, his head gets thrown back, a moan escapes his lips that resonates all over the shrine.

You do the same as you let yourself fall on top of him for his shaft to be finally entirely inside you. A whine so loud that mixes with his, and it becomes never ending as you start to hump on top of him.

Your hips move up and down, back, and forth and also in circles. Law’s fingers carve marks on the side of your hips and sometimes travel to the small of your back to press you against him with divine force. His hips, who up until now where immobile as pleasure struck him harder than he could ever expected, begin to move too.

“Nggh… let me fuck you faster…” he moans, using all of his strength coming from his core to impale you harder and synchronized to the rhythm of your jumps. The sound of wet sweaty skin slapping against the other become a sacred melody all around, while your nails carve marks as you grip from his heart tattooed pecs.

It doesn’t take you longer for your climaxes to arrive, and while your fingers intertwined with Law’s, your spasming walls milk him so violently… so needy, desperate for his release…

His frown intensifies, he even bites his lower lip but his eyes never shut as his pupils only fix into yours. As if his gaze was trying to anticipate something both knew, willingly to do whatever it takes to make his seed plant on you… deep, inside, of you.

“Fill me up…” “Keep it all inside…”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ...

“Wanda, may I ask you something?” you tap on her soft furry shoulder.

“Yes, honey. Tell me, what is it? Are you ok? You look very tired” the mink says, curious and perhaps a little worried about your state… truth Law wasn’t satisfied with just one round.

“So, I found a Shrine on the forest. It had a little statue; I didn’t get exactly what it was representing. But I remember reading a sign that said something about the warriors of the sun should prevail” you explain.

Wanda giggles. “Well, now I know why you are that tired… you went there with Trafalgar, didn’t you? it’s the procreation shrine, ruled by the sun lovers. That’s where we go to pray when we wanna bear children.. it said to be special forces that help us get pregnant”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ“Oh…”

[theoxenia]

Prayers to the Theoi in light of the U.S Inauguration

May Father Zeus judge the actions of the United States and see those who abuse their status as leaders brought to justice. May He protect the vulnerable; may Zeus, patron of foreigners, stand guard over all those threatened by deportation and xenophobic violence. May tragedy fall on those who do not treat each foreigner as if they were a god in disguise, who violate the holy law of xenia. May He give us all the strength to resist injustice however possible. May He empower those underneath the boot of American imperialism and raise them up to freedom. Zeus loves the compassionate, generous, honest, humble leaders, and He despises the vicious, greedy, deceitful, and hubristic leaders.

May Lady Athena raise up the people, that they may govern themselves. May She cast her shining eyes on this government and, when it is found lacking, may it be transformed by Her. May Athena, the Maiden, strike down all those who seek to control women and those they see as women. May Athena bless all those who fight for justice. May She make them clever, brave, bold when needed and peaceful when possible. May She guide us to true wisdom, and give her favor to the people who seek deep knowledge and critical thought. May Athena tear down lies, deception, and all forms of trickery that seek to disguise vice as virtue.

May Lord Apollo see those who bring chaos and violence and take aim at them with His arrows. May Apollo, the Averter of Evil, defend the meek and oppressed. May he protect the elderly, disabled, and sick from disease, and may He inflict it on the corrupt and greedy. May Apollo, who helps those in distress, enact His justice on the healthcare companies that cause untold suffering. May Apollo, protector of fugitives, guard the imprisoned who are used as slaves, as well as the refugees who are met by hostility from every corner; may He guide them to safety.

May Lady Aphrodite foster unity amongst the people. May she fill the cities with love for one's neighbor, love which inspires noble actions. May Aphrodite bless the tongues of those who speak on behalf of love. May She, patron of sex workers, protect all those who will suffer from whorephobic laws. May Aphrodite punish greatly all those who seek to diminish Her domain, and in their hubris make claims about who can love who. May Aphroditos protect all of the transgender, intersex, and gender-non-conforming people, especially the children. May S/He cast her vengeance over all those who seek to diminish His/Her domain, and restrict the expression of the body and the mind. Aphrodite Pandemos blesses us through our relationships with one another. She gives Her favor to those who devote themselves to their communities and seek unity through love.

Feel free to add your own prayers for this incoming time.

[gingerdusk]

You're big on Zelda, so I'm curious. How would you rewrite TOTK, if given the writer's room?

Fun question! *cracks knuckles* Let's answer it.

I've answered about the disconnect between BotW and TotK before, so I'm going to take some of those ideas and run with them here.

I'm taking the intended route, for the sake of keeping coherence rather than just making up an entirely new Hyrule from scratch. Link and Zelda are the same as they are in BotW.

To start off, I like the Zonai.

I like that they're an entirely new race of people in Hyrule. I love how weird-looking they are. I love that they're not human race #87.

I also love their bastard not-Zonai lovechild thing. If we saw more examples of Zonai, I would love for this funky lil dude to be part of them, kind of like how the Zora have a ton of variation between them.

So why don't we do that? Why don't we give them a kingdom?

And why don't we put some meat on the bones of what was already built?

There are Zonai-esque ruins all over the Depths, mostly in mines for Zonaite.

Their color palette matches. Rauru's braids and Sonia's earrings match brightblooms.

And the three dragons, who have Zonai features (segmented, color-edged hair, long ears, blunt muzzles, scale beard mouths), could have been a catalyst.

A catalyst for what, though?

It starts with the Depths themselves, and the dragons breaking free.

See, in TotK, the three elemental dragons all dive in and out of the Depths chasms. There's no explanation as to why, and the only explanation we have for the chasms forming is that it was like...geysers of Gloom.

However, the dragons in BotW are confirmed to have carved these canyons:

So let's go back in time a little.

The Zonai live in the Depths. They're underground, away from all the chaos that Hyrule has ever had to endure. They worship the bargainer statues as gods, they collect the souls of those above that drip down into the world below.

They have a rich mining industry, and coliseums for their greatest warriors to test their mettle against captured monsters.

They have their Secret Stones, and the one who's allowed to hang onto those is their leader.

That'd be young Prince Rauru.

The elemental dragons, Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh, are testaments to why no one can be allowed to have the Secret Stones. They were consumed by their power, literally.

One day, they break free, as if summoned by an unknown force. They tunnel through the ground and into the sky, connecting the world below to the one above.

The Hylians cautiously venture below, or the Zonai above. Prince Rauru, keeper of the Secret Stones, and Sonia, High Priestess of Hylia, meet.

They fall in love.

They marry.

Their marriage marks a unity between the Surface and the Depths.

(Maybe throw in a lil Skyward Sword continuity, mention that while Hylia sent the humans to the sky, the Zonai fled underground to avoid Demise, to keep the Secret Stones out of his grasp. You don't even have to name drop him, just say they went down to avoid destruction.)

Suddenly, Hyrule (the center part of the map, based around the Great Plateau, not the whole sub-kingdom conglomerate it exists as in BotW) undergoes a technological boom. Ganondorf, neighboring leader of the Gerudo, is interested. He talks trade with now-king Rauru, but there's the sub-plot of trying to get his secrets, which he steadily grows obsessed with.

Meanwhile, the Gerudo make their own expedition into the Depths.

There. The stage is set.

Now Zelda falls into the past.

She's found by Rauru and Sonia. Adopted as their daughter, more or less.

Also, the two of them have a small child. Nintendo, you CAN'T set them up as "they're her ancestors" and then kill them childless, descendants don't work like that. Zelda's immediately endeared to the kid, who reminds her of Link. Lil half-Zonai girl with a wooden sword who swings it at anything that moves. There are memories, it's cute.

In the past, Zelda witnesses, real time, Ganondorf going mad with power. They get along well at first, he's cordial, polite, a model diplomat. But she finds his troops in places they shouldn't be, confronts him about it and gets brushed off.

She tells Rauru, he's unwilling to throw suspicion onto Ganondorf. They're semi-friends and diplomacy is important! He's got to run this kingdom right. He can't fail, this is the biggest thing he's ever done!

(Sprinkle in a parallel to BotW Zel's fear of failure)

Some of the memories fill in gaps about Rauru's power, also. He's got what Link can do, minus Recall. Ultrahand and Fuse mainly, but Rauru's been experimenting with Ascend, excited because it'll make passage between the Depths and the Surface so much easier, and we see where Zel gets her scientific excitement from. Regardless of how different they look, they ARE family.

Ganondorf and Rauru get into a fight one day. A BAD fight. Maybe because Zelda tipped Rauru off, and despite telling her no, Rauru looked into it anyways. Regardless, they march out in opposite directions, and Zelda overheard it in the hallway. As Ganondorf leaves, he gives her the most SCATHING glare.

He then declares war on Hyrule.

Rauru makes a bid for allies, trying to get enough manpower to fight Ganondorf's impressive military. It's a struggle at first, but Zelda steps in, being the leader she's skilled at being and telling the others how crucial it is that they help. Ganondorf, meanwhile, turns to forbidden arts in his rage against Rauru, gets infected by Gloom/Malice, becomes scarily powerful. First Blood Moon. The Gerudo are kind of unnerved by him.

We see Zelda and Sonia helping with the war. Sonia's got light powers, Zelda's are stronger, together they can destroy entire ARMIES of monsters, saving their warriors on the battlefield. A few instances of Little Princess trying to be involved like the grown-ups are, getting huffy when she's told no.

In the aftermath of each fight, Rauru runs around, sealing away the monsters' latent energy with green spirals. That's where the Shrines come from, though in the past, they're Luminous Stones—it's all faded by present day, the light bled out of them.

Sonia is on the battlefield against Ganondorf one fateful night, Little Princess wanders onto the field, both the girls panic about it, and Sonia tries to run away with her while Zelda affords them cover. THAT'S when Ganondorf strikes her—he's fast like a ninja, rushes past Zelda, strikes Sonia.

She falls. Little Princess tumbles.

Zelda races to Little Princess's side, picks her up to run away with her as Ganondorf gets Sonia's stone, and he transforms into the Demon King. He raises his army. Little Princess screams, and we see an uncontrolled blast of Hylia's power, like an erratic attempt at what Zelda did at the end of BotW.

It fritzes, Zelda hugs her tight and ducks down to shield her, and the power cascades across the battlefield, affecting monsters AND people alike. The war is in shambles. Ganondorf stares at the child and her guardian, and retreats in a hurry.

Cue Rauru running to their side.

He grieves his wife. Little Princess is kept safe by Zelda. The Gerudo shun Ganondorf and join Rauru's side, and everyone involved in the war dedicates everything to one final assault against Ganondorf, one trap to finally END him, to force him into the Depths and fight him on the Zonai's own turf. The Secret Stones are distributed. Rauru knows what he has to do, and at the climax of the final battle, he uses his Secret Stone to amplify his sealing magic, knowing it'll kill him in the process and locking Ganondorf away in the Depths.

Except, it's not that simple.

Gloom bursts out of the newly trapped Ganondorf's chest, flooding the Depths, eliminating everyone in its path. That includes the Sages, the assaulting army, and the VAST majority of the Zonai. Its sole purpose is to gather enough strength over time for Ganondorf to break his shackles, because the Gloom wants OUT.

(Subtly implied that the Gloom is the first iteration of Demise's curse of hatred, maybe.)

And Zelda is alone. Trapped in the past, stuck with Little Princess, her Secret Stone, and the last of Mineru's notes.

Gloom continues to fume out of the Depths, so they're sealed off. The Blood Moon keeps spawning new monsters, so Little Princess and the remainders of the construct caretakers are sent up to the sky, for her protection. Zelda's the one that orchestrates it. Her people once hailed from the sky, and it's always been known as a place of safety for them.

Is this self-referential to the history she's building, or a Skyward Sword reference? Who knows.

They go skyward.

Then the Master Sword appears, and Zelda knows what she has to do. It's compounded, of course, by crushing guilt over the fact that Sonia's death happened on her watch. She tells Little Princess to look out for the world ahead, tells her to be strong, and brave, and everything she wishes her dad had told her. Then ends it with a final message.

"I'm leaving you something very important. Take good care of it."

Then she goes off alone to become a dragon.

Present day.

Link's not guided by Rauru, he's guided by a strange, beautiful woman who looks kind of like Zelda (albeit with Zonai hair, eyes, and long claws), who has a deep regret for the world below and who knows the lonely world above like the back of her hand. She teaches him the basics of his powers as he visits the shrines.

The Great Sky Island is otherwise normal.

You go to Hyrule. The Light Dragon's the one that breaks the cloud barrier, and as she does so, she sheds a single tear. By the time you get to the tear's location, it's spread a mural of the memory it contains around it.

Whenever you Recall a tear, the Light Dragon sheds a new one somewhere else, and it's up to you to follow.

You're chasing Zelda, twice over.

Besides that, Hyrule's Surface is...largely unchanged. I'm still upset that the pirates assaulting Lurelin weren't ACTUAL pirates, so guess what, they are now. Splinter faction of Yiga. Also, River Zora take over Lake Hylia, there's a spat between them and the Sea Zora, and Yona is the princess of the Rivers.

Then you've got the Depths.

That's where you find the ruins of the Zonai civilization, and you start piecing together the world it contains on your own. You aren't told, you're SHOWN.

Rauru's ghost finds and guides you here. He has a moment of "hey, isn't that MY arm?", upgrades your abilities or shows you how to use them more efficiently (ups your build limit, shows you how to un-Fuse, teaches you DEscend, gives you Autobuild, things like that), then DIES-dies. You escort his poe soul to a Bargainer statue.

The biggest change to the Depths, though, is that under the Gerudo Desert, you find PEOPLE.

So remember how the Gerudo launched their own expedition into the Depths in the past? How the Gloom killed almost everyone and the world below was sealed off?

There were a sparse few survivors of the Zonai, and some unfortunate Gerudo researchers that also got trapped. The people down there now are descendants of both. They're not Zonai anymore, though.

They're Lomei. They evolved like how the Rito evolved from the Zora in Wind Waker. Their tribe name comes from the Zonai word for "loneliness."

Regardless, they're initially inhospitable to Surfacers, because Surfacers are how they ended up how they did. If you sneak into their city, you're captured, like a few unfortunate Zonai Survey Team members that have wandered in, only YOU can escape via Ascend. OoT Gerudo parallel.

You can earn the Lomei's trust by doing things for them (maybe beating all three labyrinths as a rite of passage?), and then they let you into their cities. They've got their own brand of tech based off of old Zonai designs. One of the Lomei scientists is working on a mechsuit—that'll be the sage that Mineru passes her stone down to. And it fits doubly, both because the Lomei ARE the descendants of the Zonai and because the Lomei technician and Mineru are both scientists.

The Lomei people give you more pieces to the complicated Zonai-Hylian puzzle, and they're the ones that first tell you the legend of the dragons-from-Secret-Stones. So you can either learn it from them OR get it revealed in Zel's later memories.

Besides that, the present plot is pretty much as normal. Still the same bosses. Still the same sages-help-with-everything, though each sage you rescue gives you another piece of what really happened at the final fight (rather than the same cutscene over and over), telling you about how Rauru sacrificed himself and the effect it had on the rest of the Depths.

I will change where the Ganondorf's Army fight takes place, though. It's ACTUALLY very hidden, like the game was trying to imply it to be when you chase around Kohga. You do still have to do that, but he accidentally directs you to a place that's hidden in the tiniest crevice near Hyrule Castle, one that's very easy to miss and sitting in a veritable sea of Gloom. Once you finish the Kohga quest, a poe hovers outside of the crevice, which leads into an even deeper chasm that leads to the Underdepths.

The poe's your help to get through the maze there, and wherever it goes, Sundelions bloom at the corners. If you go early, before getting everything done, you have to navigate that place yourself, and it's a nightmare.

But you do it. You get to where everything started, and you beat the army, then Ganondorf, then he shoves his fist down his throat and goes dragon.

As he breaks through the ground and curls around Hyrule Castle, he SHATTERS it. The building crumbles to smithereens, crashing into the Depths below.

You beat Demon Dragon, Zelda catches you on her nose, it's over. You're in the spirit realm over sleeping Zelda.

The poe appears over your shoulder, drifts away from you, then materializes into Sonia. She says nothing, just activates Recall, turns Zelda back to normal, then cradles her in her arms. She gives her a kiss on the forehead, looks at you, then says the same line Zelda said to Little Princess ages ago, with the single change of one word.

"I'm leaving you something very important. Take good care of her."

She fades, as does the Spirit World.

You're falling.

Zelda's falling.

You catch her.

She wakes up, sees you, then hugs you and sobs into your shoulder.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Roll credits.

Bonus for the memory completionists, the True Ending has Zelda meeting the grown Little Princess up at the Great Sky Island, reconciling with her, both of them saying how proud they are of each other. Then Little Princess turns into a poe, and Zelda promises to take her to the Depths so she can be with her parents again. As they walk away, Sonia's poe tails after them.

And THAT is a way longer post than I expected to write. Whew.

[artisticprocrastionator]

🎶[See the sky and all the land together again]

[See the way the earth can stay below]

[Who do we think we are?]

[Everything plays a part]

[There are some things we are never meant to know.]🎶

____

Little about me, I’m a big fan of Tally Hall! I especially love their Album Good & Evil (def should go listen to it!)

Never Meant to Know became one of my favorite songs when I first listen to the album, and even more when I started playing Block Tales. I just feel this song represents Cruel King perfectly, and I really wanted to do a post on this.

Below this is me going into a lyrical analysis of the entire song and how they relate to Cruel King.

Why did this song make me think of Cruel King???

I see this song as Cruel King’s reflection of the events that transpired. He points out his flaws and how they led to his downfall. This song, from how I interpret it, is Cruel King coming to terms with his death and understanding that there are some things he is never meant to know.

______

Lyric Analysis:

(If it helps to follow along with the song, go right ahead!)

[Woke up today with the lay of the land. Feather in cap and the sun in the sand. It was easy, it was easy to understand]

This is before Cruel King’s became influence by the dagger.

He saw himself as a righteous King that was proud of his Kingdom and himself for his accomplishments.

This was a period where everything made sense and everything was perfect. He wakes up every day knowing this and it was a routine he fell into.

[Everything suddenly falls out of sight. Every attachment is made of the light. That you offered, you have offered to give me life]

This now takes place to kinda the present of the events of Block Tales. Player breaking in, attacking his guards, and ultimately leading to Cruel King’s downfall.

However, he is now reflecting back on this as a sign that player was the salvation to his problem that offer to help him out of his darkness, but Cruel King refused player’s light and continued to go down his dark path.

[See the sky and all the land together again. See the way the earth can stay below.]

All Cruel King wanted was to protect his people and to see everything in harmony. The sky and land coming together represent unity which is what Cruel King wanted. It was something he wanted to see.

The earth line I kinda perceive as his status. He is the king and looks over everything so the earth to him always seems beneath him. This can probably mean Cruel King not worrying about a potential threat that can harm his kingdom or that he so high above everyone else he never sees anyone strong enough to bring him down.

[Who do we think we are? Everything plays a part. There are some things we are never meant to know]

Cruel King now understands he had no power in stopping fate. Even him, a king, a guardian of the ice dagger, was inevitably to the outcome of his kingdom and himself.

Even though he may not understand why it happened to him, it is just something he will never have an answer for and have to be content with that thought as everything happens for a reason.

He hopes his reflection will reach other people and prevent the same thing happening to them

[Having enjoyed all the meat from the bone. Is perfectly equal to being alone. It was even, but you breathe and I turn to stone]

Even though he was wealthy and was granted with anything he could have, he still felt empty inside as he had no one to share his wealth. Being king was just the same of being alone, and later Cruel King admitted he wished he had connections to talk to.

However, at this time, being alone was something he was okay with because it would kept everything in balance and avoid any possible trouble for his kingdom.

That was until player would enter and attack his palace. Seeing Player terrified Cruel King as his worst nightmares became true and that the Player was here to take down Blackrock and him.

[Everything suddenly looks like a sign. Easy to see from the outermost clime. I believe in what I leave in the way behind]

This is Cruel King acknowledging his spiral into madness and paranoia due to the ice dagger’s influence. Everyone and everything seems like a sign to Blackrock’s demise.

It was clear to everyone on the outside that nothing was going to happen and it was just Cruel King’s own delusions and paranoia.

This would ultimately make Cruel King to make irrational decisions to stopping this upcoming threat (such as exiling Banished Knight and imprisoning prisoners who question him as potential examples).

[And all the parts combine to one. And all of us around the sun. Everything will fall away. To order from the disarray]

I interpret this part when Cruel King is in possession of the Ice dagger. He feels it all aligning again as he saw that the Ice dagger can help stop the fall of his kingdom.

Everything would be perfect again and he would be able to rewrite history to prevent its fall with the Ice Dagger.

[See the sun, the shadows cast. From all the times I floated past. See the ocean spinning out. With all the hope and all the doubt]

However, he is not aware that the powers of the ice dagger is actually harming his kingdom and his people with them being the forefront of the disasters he will unintentionally inflict on them.

Though he is seen as “the sun” that brings light to his people, his sun is unintentionally putting them into darkness that prevent them from seeing his light.

His people are hopeful that the King will solve these issues and try to believe the King has nothing to do about it, however, there is doubt.

[See the sky and all the land together again. See the way the earth can stay below. Who do we think we are? Everything plays a part. There are some things we don't understand. Reasons on the other hand. There are some things we are never meant to know]

This restates the chorus again, but I feel these last few lines tie up Cruel King’s overall thoughts (almost like this is him talking to us).

Even after his death and the (potential) fall of his kingdom, the world keeps moving on unbothered. Everything is still in order dispute Cruel King’s believing that everything was in shambles.

Cruel King’s understand that he had no power in stopping fate and as painful as it is to come to terms with that, everything happens for a reason. That reason is not in his grasp and something he’ll have to deal with. Now that he is dead, he has to accept the fact that Blackrock will fall and he’ll never have a reason why his kingdom would fall, but sometimes, there are some things that he is never meant to know.

_______

Extra notes:

Here are song other songs on the album that I like a lot!

&

You and Me

Who You Are ⭐️

Hymn for Scarecrow⭐️

Turn the Lights Off

Misery Fell

[centrally-unplanned]

Guess I should throw out some Gaza Ceasefire Thoughts - from a political history perspective it certainly is interesting:

-- As for the deal itself, it is pretty much "the best one could realistically hope for", though funnily enough the details aren't that surprising. Israel for some time has had very little strategy in Gaza (beyond "release the hostages or we keep blowing up random blocks"), and so them agreeing to these terms is the expected outcome. Hamas also lacked any real strategic options, but in the summer you could at least argue "the status quo of radicalizing the population and shredding Israeli reputation is beneficial", so you can see why both sides really weren't committing to anything before in the summer. Things have changed since then, though.

-- The straight-up-humiliating defeat of Hezbollah in the fall was a complete game-changer for the strategic situation. As much as Hamas had a strategy it was "wait for Hezbollah/Iran to carry the weight of the fight", and that was going not-awfully through the summer. Then Israel absolutely shattered Hezbollah to the point where their ability to control Lebanese politics is up-for-grabs, and any real threat to Israel is temporarily gone. Meanwhile Iran stacked that defeat with the revolution in Syria and their own military capacity losses, and while there is real tension in Iran between realist & radicalist factions, the current winds are blowing towards retreat. Combine that with the death of Sinwar, and the new Hamas leadership had no cards left to play. By the same token, Israel has few fights left to win.

-- This is why negotiations resumed in earnest in October/November, and right now you are seeing some pretty heavy exaggeration of the role of the Trump administration in this deal. It has been being hashed out for months, you can easily point to articles about progress throughout both of those months (example) and the Biden administration was heavily involved in the Doha talks. These things just take time, and both sides had a dramatic incentive shift recently. That is carrying the most weight here - talks were "90% complete" before any Trump reps arrived on the scene.

-- But the election certainly did play a role here, primarily because it was inducing uncertainty and changing incentives in the US. While it was going on you can see how both sides could "hope" that new administrations might let them gain an advantage, and understood that commitments from the Biden administration in August just weren't very meaningful. Additionally, while not very important the war was "an issue" in the election, and so the "action space" of politicians was shaped by that. Why not just...wait, and see how things go, right? Now there is no more reason to wait, you know what you got.

--I don't want to take all credit away from Trump on this, though. A theme I will continue to harp on, the "Imperial Presidency" has advantages. Biden was a perpetual faction appeaser, and you could credibly call his bluff on any decision around the war by going "you won't take the heat from your own party on this" from the left or the right. Trump can much more credibly claim "I don't give a fuck what I 'said on the campaign trail', I say what goes, make a deal or I will absolutely spite you". This is not a great strategy in a lot of contexts, but in foreign policy you need this sometimes. Dems really do need to take notes here, more unity in either direction and more strong brinksmanship from Biden would have been better.

--Now let's walk that back a bit - it is way easier for the Trump administration to play hardball. Elections make hard decisions much more difficult to pull off, as political factions can punish you more easily. The Dems have an asymmetric disadvantage here - they are inherently the "dove" party facing a topic where the median American voter is generally hawkish, and they are the party that contains a notable split within itself on the issue. Meanwhile Republicans all agree. No longer facing electoral pressure, it is much easier for Republicans to play a "Nixon goes to China" card and credibly browbeat Israel. No one will really think the Republicans are anti-Israel even if they do that, and Dems can't accuse them effectively of foul play because the party itself is split on the topic. This is "unfair" in a certain sense, for sure, but such is politics.

--I would be assigning way less credulity to the complaints amoung the Israeli far-right about Trump or Netanyahu "betraying" them. The far-right in Israeli is a powerful force, for sure, but by no means do they command the majority. They want to annex the West Bank and all that, but most Israelis disagree, the military isn't on board, it would jeopardize US/Arab ties, etc. Never say never but that was not really in the cards - if it was they would have done it already. Slow-roll settlement expansion is the plan, that will continue, but meanwhile there is nothing left to do in Gaza. Netanyahu is of course going to say publicly "oh boo hoo my hands were tied by the Americans I'm so sorry" while he gets almost all of his realistic goals. This is politics 101 stuff - though if the approval vote on Thursday goes sour then I am wrong on this, part of why I am posting it today. (Also another reason to not assign too much credit to the Trump admin - easy to "bully" someone who wants to be bullied)

Okay done - hopefully the ceasefire sticks, obviously this has been a disastrous war for almost all involved, never look the imperfect status quo horse in the mouth. It isn't the world one would want but it is better than the one we have right now.

[ebbyhell]

One of the things we have been seen on the recent events of the Kings is 'what happens if you go overbord with an sin?", with Mammon event and that Satan event right now (the main point of depression of Sitri is his anger to himself for not been able to save his comaredes, frustation is an form of anger), SO imagine what whould happen if you got overbod with lust!!!

Asmodeus lust is scary because he embodies desire in the most raw and carnal form, all the other Kings sins focous on more wants and needs but the thing is they all get influencied by desire!!! The fact even the most lazy King has Philia shows that nobody in real is imune of desire so imagine to be able to feel such desire and joy from simple presence or smell of somebody that how much powerfull Asmodeus is!!!

But getting adicted to Asmodeus is so cruel also, because you forget yourself as an living thing (i really think the motive people have forgot about much of the stuff that happens while having sex with Asmodeus is because they become an living sex doll and forget they were somebody), and live to only be desired by Asmodeus and he can not only desire you he is the King of lust after all, so you go trought the emotions of withdraw the sadness, the anger, and the overwhelming lust with no ends, how whold that destroy and devil person??? The event of Sitri now shows how an 1 negative emotion can affect an devil IMAGINE 5 OR 10 EMOTIONS!

It goes along with the fact that Asmodeus is an EFFECT UNITY in the gameplay, it show no matter the status, build, elemental trait, you will be affected by desire!

It also kind sad because while Asmodeus can desire and make people 'fall in love' with him he only loved 2 people before of MC (Solomon and an Witch Woman that was his wife).

[weirdrtvscomments]

in case anyone is struggling with deciding who they want to vote for in the RTVStan/RTVS Nation/RTVSia/RTVS Topia/RTVS Topia-Ville presidential election, i have compiled a list:

Log

Representing the Ethernet Party: “A people with 5 ping to the main server is a people that prospers.”

Will change the name to RTVS Nation

Comic books are a part of the platform

Everybody gets a free moat

Eyes that are twice as big for everyone that wants them

Offload cost to Wifi users

Working on a battery charged snack

Hypnotist is a protected class

Robloxia war veteran

Defenses are proven

Will take your ants and import more

Endorsed by: Soulja Boy, Ken Masters, Stitch 

Signature move when President: Snake Trick (no weaknesses)

Punishment for other candidates: Follow him out & about like an RPG party

Mike

Representing the Sweets & Treats Party: “I was just outside eating a sandwich.”

Orange creamsicles will be available in every store

Free Steam Deck for every American citizen

Will lower tariffs and imports on all types of sweets and treats from Canada, while raising tariffs on everything else

Most important snack is Wasabi Peas

Not very good against zoners

Why are ants so bad?

Endorsed by: 2 (anonymous), Trap Snax

Signature gimmick when President: Whenever he eats a yummy piece of candy he gets an install, which gets its own theme

Special move when President: A cool punch like Marissa from Street Fighter 6

Punishment for other candidates: Have to reach into a bin of Bean Boozled that's 90% gross ones and eat it in public in front of cameras and the press. After, push into the alligator moat. Also, Mira’s idea

Mira

Representing the Drinks & Eats party: “I was rooting around in a dumpster out back.”

Will change the name to RTVSia

One of every food and drink, free of charge

Will develop a chemical compound called “Ketracel White,” will genetically engineer ants to be dependent on it 

Endorsed by: IceFrog, Yoshi, Yoshi (from Mario), baby Yoshi (might be one and the same), Chun Lee

Signature move(s) when President: Level up system (up to 3), if she gets knocked down she loses a charge of it, gets it when she does some power up move (or something), negative edge inputs (landmine, fireball, that one thing Bison does in Street Fighter 5), install where she gets a command grab, 8-way air dash, guard impact, levels reset between rounds, invincible super (can do it on wakeup)

Punishment for other candidates: Detractors rounded up and taken into woods where they are given a knife, camera, and laptop to make a Youtube channel of them living in the woods (Ethernet in the trees)

Trog

Representing the People’s Choice Freedom Integrity Liberty Justice Prosperity Sovereign Citizen’s Ethical Governance Democratic Renewal Global Sustainability Citizens for Unity (may be part of the Lego Star Wars Party): “We’re all part of God’s nation in my eyes.”

All breakfast restaurants have to be open for lunch & dinner in addition to breakfast

THEY HAVE TO GIVE YOU A LARGE WATER WHEN YOU ASK FOR IT

Desegregate PornHub and GayTube

Everybody gets a free castle

Immediately cease all snack exports 

Will start war with Canada

Will mail a bomb if you want him to

Will double your ants and give them to the next guy OR will turn them all into 1 big ant

New category on PornHub for ants

Will build death robots and a spaceship

Will be inventing gorgons, griffins, vampires, Frankenstiens, zombies, mummies, insects, gorgon ants (small)

Endorsed by: The Sims, Captain Video, Half Life 2: Lost Coast (demo), Tobuscus

Super move when President: 1 Sphinx on every tile surrounding, +1 food, +1 culture (if next to a river, +2 food, +2 culture instead)

Theme song: Steppin’ Out by Joe Jackson

Punishment for other candidates: All other candidates have to do an embarrassing pose and gaze into Medusa’s eyes, which will turn them into stone. The statues will be put in front of the White House, where during a nation-wide celebration they will be knocked down with a wrecking ball/individually destroyed with dirty bombs

Wayneradiotv/Wayne John 

Representing the California Milk Processors Board: “Enjoy DOGh.”

Every gallon of milk will have $2,000 in it

Free PornHub premium

Any dairy product you want whenever you want it

Will attract more ants

Will rename it to Milk Nation

Pig milk Iron Fist

Endorsed by: Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rhianna, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Shaquille O’Neal, Harrison Ford (all branded with Permanent Milk Mustache & committed their eternal lives), Batman, Mario, Spongebob

Signature move when President: Cow army that walks on their hind legs and shoot milk as projectiles

Punishment for other candidates: Mulched into feed for his cows

Things you need to rememer for the ONLY ELECTION THAT MATTERS!!!!

[hrizantemy]

Morrigan’s desire to become a Valkyrie seems misplaced, especially when considering how she’s treated Nesta. Throughout their interactions, Morrigan has done nothing but show disdain and condescension toward Nesta, making it clear she doesn’t like or respect her. The Valkyries are not just a group to join for status or power—it’s about the bond that Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn have forged through their shared struggles, hard work, and trauma. They’re the ones who dedicated themselves to reviving the Valkyries’ legacy, and their achievements should be respected.

For Morrigan to step in after all that effort feels like an intrusion, as if she wants to take away something that rightfully belongs to Nesta and her chosen family. It reflects a broader issue with the Inner Circle, who often seem to dismiss Nesta’s accomplishments and try to diminish her in some way once she finds something of her own. This constant undermining of Nesta’s hard-earned progress is infuriating, and Morrigan’s desire to join the Valkyries feels like another attempt to strip Nesta of what she’s worked so hard to rebuild.

I wouldn’t have an issue with Morrigan joining the Valkyries if it felt authentic and wasn’t just used as a plot device. If she and Nesta actually had a positive relationship—where they could support each other, grow together, and overcome their past tensions—it could be something worthwhile. But that’s far from the case.

Morrigan has never shown any genuine kindness toward Nesta. In fact, she went as far as to say that Nesta belonged in a place filled with known abusers and victims of abuse. That kind of statement shows a deep misunderstanding of who Nesta is and what she’s been through. How can someone who has expressed such a damaging sentiment be part of something as sacred as the Valkyries, especially when Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn have dedicated themselves to restoring that legacy? For Morrigan to join without having acknowledged or atoned for her words and actions would feel wrong and would devalue everything Nesta has fought for.

The Valkyries represent strong women who uplift and support each other through their shared struggles and triumphs. They forge bonds through trust, mutual respect, and the willingness to help one another grow. Morrigan has done none of that where women in general are concerned.

Morrigan is supposedly regarded as a queen in Hewn City, yet there’s no evidence of her using her position to better the lives of the women there. If she truly wanted to embody the ideals of the Valkyries—helping other women rise up—she would have already made efforts in her own realm. The Valkyries stand for unity and strength through compassion, qualities that Morrigan has yet to demonstrate to anyone besides who she deems acceptable.

[psychotrenny]

While "Leftism" is a useful enough shorthand to describe a general tendency within a specific political context, it means absolutely nothing on it's own. Like you can use it when you want to quickly and broadly place something as "progressive", advocating more rapid and radical social changes in order to progress society away from its current set of contradictions. This has meaning when you can contrast it with "rightists", who could (depending on the specific context) seek more incremental change, preservation of the status quo or a retreat to a more entrenched version of it.

There are a number of ways in which one could employ these terms too. Like you could use it to describe those who exhibit these tendencies within a broader group or organisation, such as calling Bernie Sanders part of the "left wing" of the contemporary US DP while Leon Trotsky was a "leftist" within the CPSU of the mid 1920s. It could also describe individuals or organisations within a broader milieu (such as a nation's political scene); Noam Chomsky and Michael Parenti are both broadly "leftist" thinkers of the 21st century USA while the GPUS and PSL are both "leftist" parties within the same context.

As you can see from these wildly varying examples, terms like "leftists" are inherently vague and not always useful. A lot of examples of what people call "leftist infighting" are groups with inherently irreconcilable ideologies that just happen to fall, under current conditions, within the same broad political tendency; it makes no sense to talk as though that sort of "left unity" is inherently desirable or even possible. And "Leftism" certainly isn't an ideology in of itself, but merely a way of classifying them. Your ideology can make you a "Leftist", but "Leftism" cannot be your ideology.

[anartingkey]

Many thoughts on Madeleine cookie (part 1)

1. Angelic design A fairly obvious one. I really enjoy how his design takes the shapes of madeleines and repurposes them as wings in some aspects (such as with his headpiece, or his shields taking on the shapes of wings).

But the most interesting part for me is that such an obviously angelically designed character has a personality that does not fit the image it gives. With the whites, the golds, and the blue accents, and being a paladin I'd expect Madeleine to fit the justice-driven, golden child, loving and compassionate stereotype but he's perfectly incompetent. He's self-centered, prideful, isn't ready to tarnish his reputation unless someone he explicitly cares about (Espresso) drives him to do so (by complimenting him, funnily enough) and isn't shown to care for others on anything other than a superficial level (Espresso excluded), such as when Financier was shown bringing in food for orphans and all he thought of he himself doing for them was to "be a role model" for them. No action, all words, which makes his development at the end of the Odyssey, when he starts taking action for himself, quite satisfying. If anything, Madeleine's personality is more befitting a demonic figure, despite it mostly being driven from ignorance. Pure to a fault, in a way (somewhat). Although I'm intending on making a longer post about this, Espresso and Madeleine were likely designed as a duo and their designs and personality reflect this angel/demon aspect to me. Espresso is designed and built in a way that makes him scary, even demonic, (with the eye motif and dark colors for example) while Madeleine is designed in a way that should make him the approachable, kind character. But Espresso is more befitting an angel with his wish to protect cookiekind with his scientific research while Madeleine is more befitting a demon with his self-centeredness and thoughtless speech. The Crimson Knight costume plays into the angel/demon theme he seems to have going on for him. Which, once more, I love. Madeleines are also shaped like shells which ties in to the Crème Republic itself with the Vanillian as well as sea heritage ! There is so much more I could say about this but I'll keep it as that for now.

2. Vanillian descent This is just a detail I've noticed that I really enjoy about Mansion Madeleine.

As you can see below the blue-pink-purple-yellow shape found in the Solarium of Unity and Council meeting room of the Vanilla Kingdom is almost the same as the stained glass of Mansion Madeleine. The only real difference is the shape and the colors being tilted to the left. And there are also the blue shapes on either side of the stained glass resembling Pure Vanilla's Soul Jam ! Elements of Vanillian descent being so present in the Madeleine mansion is such a good way of reminding where their heritage lies.

3. Potential French references A bit of a tangent on Grand Madeleine. This is likely a stretch but personally, the statue of Grand Madeleine present at Mansion Madeleine reminds me of the romantic french painting by Eugène Delacroix, La Liberté guidant le peuple (1830).

Once more, I'm going to stretch things quite a bit but this painting being associated with the French Revolution makes me believe that Grand Madeleine may have played a role in establishing the Republic. Not founding it, seeing as House Madeleine isn't one of the Great Houses and she isn't in the Council of Elders.

Then there's also, more obviously, the origin of the madeleine, which takes its roots in northeastern France, if I remember correctly. The royal blue color being the color which appears to be symbolical of the Madeleine house in the Crème Republic, seeing as no other Elder or house has nearly as much of it, also reminds me of french royalty. More generally, it seems to me that the Crème Republic has French inspirations (such as recurring fleur de lis designs, the name itself being taken from the word "cream" in French) as well as other European (English for example, with House Scone), Greek and Latin inspirations (notably with the architecture and the way the Council of Elders work).

Grand Madeleine's attitude regarding the Elders, the Republic's tendency for shaming anyone that 'steps out of line' in general, and the mention of her likely having been a great paladin with awards and such makes me believe she is well-respected and well-known enough to go against the Elders and still keep a pristine reputation. Notably with her encouraging Light Cream and inviting her over despite the fact that House Scone has fallen from grace. I'm straying from the main topic here, but the fact that Madeleine also seems to have inherited some of Grand Madeleine's accessories (such as her shield) points to the fact that House Madeleine may have a bloodline of paladins. The mansion resembling a church (notably with the stained glass and huge windows) also showcases their strong tie to religion and the Light/Divine in my opinion.

4. The Light's favorite (?) Despite Madeleine's less than compassionate attitude, he still is blessed by the Light and was chosen to become a paladin. This, as well as his angel design, the angel wings he's shown to have when activating his skill in Cookie Run: Ovensmash, and his shields taking on the shapes of wings when activating his skill in Cookie Run Kingdom makes me believe that, for some reason, Madeleine is the Divine's favorite.

The way people praise him despite his lack of competence also stirs me this way, although I have a lot more to say about that point in particular, which I'll develop in a later post. Not even Financier, who is a much more competent, compassionate and willing to learn paladin has a design that reflects any favoritism from the Light, or any angelic features bestowed by the Light. Kouign-Amann is in the same situation, being a much better paladin but nowhere shown as favored. I also like how his self-centered personality is shown through his skill with healing himself only and how the Light grants a shield to him and only him, whereas Financier shields someone with her. He so is the favorite. I wonder why.

(Note that Madeleine's Power of the Light is his Magic Candy buffed skill, whereas Financier's is her basic skill).

Anyways he's a Devsisters favorite as well as mine, so I'm happy and well-fed.

Closing thoughts, I really hope he appears again in a story. As you can probably figure out, the Odyssey is my favorite CRK story (which I sadly wasn't able to experience) and I love how much lore was given on my favorite cookies. Since Espresso appears on many official arts near the cookies of darkness, as well as his association to Butter Roll, I do kinda hope we get more of him and Madeleine on opposing teams. It'd be very interesting, especially since it's been shown time and time again how Madeleine wants to stay close to Espresso or earn his validation. I could go on for much longer but this is the longest post I've ever written, so I may make another 'analysis' post like this someday ! I have a lot more to say about him so you will probably see me in these tags again.