#The Mad Monarchist

[francy-sketches]

'umm ackchually team green and team black is about which side you support politically not which characters you like more 🙄' oh my god shut the fuck up they're not real political parties none of this is real touch grass PLEASE

[anglerflsh]

it may not be technically "fair" for me to blame my problems on Comte but yet again the thing comes up and yet again whose fault is it? Auguste's. The day I fall into the pits of hell I shall ask to be put in the same circle as him so as to ensure his suffering worsens tenfold for the rest of eternity

[altblock-tm]

behind the scenes beef in our production of Alice in Wonderland is insane

[hedge-rambles]

On 2: Like ok there were multiple branches of the family and there are still extant ones I think but I honestly feel like if your argument for divinely ordained rulers is based on bloodline, the absolute last ones to choose should be the fucking Hapsburgs.

Y'know, because of the whole "a major branch of the family extincted itself through inbreeding" thing. Maybe that's the point though, sure everyone has some of the blood of King David, but the Hapsburgs really got around to concentrating that shit.

Okay a couple things

1. @cuntwrap--supreme your username is incredible

2. I'm fucking horrifascinated by this. I. The HAPSBURGS???? Was Guntram the Rich special???? Somehow one count had the blood of King David and no one else in the area did??Baffling.

[omarcitoloves]

simon has lost everything that made wille fall in love with him and wille doesn't even notice.

it's a heartbreaking story to watch but in a brilliant way i'm fixated on it. and not in a simon deserves better than wille way but in a they both need to find themselves again in order to be happy.

simon is proud of his morals and who he is as a person, he's never been apologetic of it and wants people to know because it is deeply important to him to have a strong self identity in a world where he comes from a broken home, where he's gay, where he's lower socioeconomic class, where he's poc in a hugely white community, and where he has leftist ideals in a monarchist country. when wille tells him he can't post on socials because it reflects on something the crown can't have a position on, he feels he's losing his voice. and all wille can see is trying to minimize a headache.

singing has been simon's lifeline throughout the show, and something thats important to him because it is one of the good memories he has with his dad. when wille sees he posted himself singing all he can see is simon drawing more attention, it needs to be deleted. he doesn't even comment on simon's singing or let alone the lyrics which they make it seem he clocks what simon is saying this season as apposed to last but he's too focused on himself.

and then when simon admits to wille outside he feels he's losing his voice and confidence, everything has become too much. he can't enjoy singing, he's not pursuing a solo this season for the first time and he can hardly string together his song. but it goes over wille's head, he can't even notice the gravity of what simon is trying to say to him

at the sit in simon initially stands his ground and calls out all of their hypocrisy and rightfully points out wille only takes a stand when its low risk for him, but he caves lated because he doesn't want to disappoint wille and doesnt want wille to be mad at him. and despite wille saying he likes that they learn from the other's perspective, he doesn't make a move to understand any of simon's pov.

simon had to throw up a white flag in ep 5 becuase not only had simon shriveled into a shell of himself and wille not noticed, this change of simon was enabling the way the monarchy breaks wille. previously, and in glimpses this season we have seen simon show wille where the monarchy goes wrong and tries to pull wille into safety a bit but wille can not see past the status quo this season. he got simon so why should he worry right? but this is not the simon he loves, there is no point to this simon. if this is the guy you wanted to love you could've found anyone who was ok with a private relationship why go after the proud boy who is the antithesis to you?

this gives me hope for ep 6. i think wille needed a rude awakening desperately because he was depriving simon of the oxygen he needs to flourish and letting himself drown at the same time. wille needs to see why he fought so hard for simon, why simon was so important to them. they are so special, wille needs to get past the weight of the crown

[snovyda]

Watched a documentary about the (now legendary) football games between the national teams of russia and Ukraine in 1998 and 1999. The sheer levels of imperialistic fascism the russians were displaying leading up to those games is just typical. And yes, both those games took place before putin came to power, russians have just always been like that.

Patches and pins "russian invasion of Ukraine 1998" were popular among the russian fans leading up to the first game in Kyiv:

The rhetoric in the russian media about Ukraine not really being a separate country intensified.

For the record, russia lost that game 3:2.

But all of this is nothing compared to the second game, in Moscow in 1999. Russia needed only to win in order to move on in the tournament. Ukraine could settle with a draw. And that is when the true madness unfolded.

Probably the best known episode was this headline in one of the biggest sports newspapers in russia:

You see, they had a player with the last name "Khokhlov". So, on the surface level, the headline says, "Kick, Khokhlov, save Russia!" However, if you read out the headline, it also says "Kick [slur word for Ukrainians], save russia!". The slogan is a paraphrase of one of the main slogans of the russian Black Hundreds (ultra-reactionary, ultra-nationalist pogromist monarchist movement in the russian empire in early 20th century), only in the original versions there was the slur for Jews there instead. The russians were very proud of that pun. It was everywhere at the time.

Vladimir Putin, who was the russian prime minister at the time, was present at the game. The way the russian commentators already went out of their way to keep singing his praises for no reason is a good indicator how russians tend to make a cult of personality around everyone who happens to be a figure of authority.

And then the game finished with a draw 1:1 after an unbeliavable goal by Andriy Shevchenko (and due to a mistake from russia's goalkeeper):

Putin got really upset. He stopped showing up at such sporting events for years after this.

The bus with the Ukrainian national team got attacked on its way to the stadium before the game (according to Shevchenko, russians threw bottles at it) and especially after the game (with all sorts of objects being thrown at it, from beer bottles to rocks).

Absolutely typical. And one of the clearest views of ruscism.

[storyranger]

Just tell us the King has butt cancer and get it over with! It's 2024 we all know royals have butts!

Don't get me wrong, I don't give two shits about the English Royal Family, but this PR crisis they're in right now is just wild. Every time you think they're done digging themselves deeper, they haul another bucket of shit up from the bottom of the well they're in.

[loving-n0t-heyting]

Stumbled upon this rattish academic philosopher(?) with a substack complaining about how the "far left" are not willing to try and persuade ppl of their points of view on contentious topics like palestine and instead rely on purely emotional histrionics, citing as evidence that he spent 20min(!?) trying to confront random student protesters about their opposition to israel. Me fuming about this is maaaaybe a version of unproductive hunting for a guy online to get mad at but this is definitely a sentiment i have heard before, that the far left in particular is disinclined to argument and persuasion

My instinct every time someone says this shit is to ask, Have you ever flipped open a copy of jacobin? There are plenty of ppl on the "far left" willing to make this that or the other "case" for their pov if you actually seek out those arguments in the venues typical of lengthy political arguments. The domain of "arguments for why israel is bad and was a mistake" is famously about as richly inhabited as any on any topic. And if you want further left than jacobin (which has an editorial line that would absolutely still qualify as far left from this guys perspective), leninist pamphleteers and anarchist zine-writers are notoriously happy to provide. Some random university encampment foot soldiers arent likely going to be the ones doing that for the same reason the median participant at a hillary rally is not going to be the most eloquent apologist for centrist-wing democrats and an arbitrarily selected guy with a ron paul bumper sticker will not be particularly compelling when speaking on behalf of a return to the gold standard, theres nothing special about the student activists position on the political spectrum here other than thst ppl seem disproportionately likely to expect every "purple-haired androgynous man wearing a shirt that says [queers] for Palestine" to do the job of a professional editorialist for their faction while allowing for intellectual division of labour on others

If you talk to a Curtis Yarvin-type monarchist about the optimal government, they’ll argue about it for hours on end. Neoreactionaries were famous for writing absurdly long articles going back and forth with those who disagreed with them. Because they were fringe, because most people disagreed with them, they didn’t have the presumption that challenging them was gauche or indicative of moral failing. They were willing to get down dirty and argue.

No, man, mencius moldbug was "famous for writing absurdly long articles going back and forth with those who disagreed with" him. I remember the neoreactionary randos when that fad was still ongoing, and they spent most opportunities for debate instead being loudly self pitying. Which is not even really that much of a dig bc "highly articulate propagandist" will be an extreme minority in any political movt larger than a small friend circle of curious eccentrics, that is the whole point! You have to compare apples to apples, and instead of even looking for any you are deliberately hunting down the aisle for oranges and shaking yr head in disapproval

[prideprejudce]

Anyone else interprets the entire Song of Ice and Fire saga as an anti-monarchist story? I mean, there is a theme of people being driven to madness and destruction while chasing the power of the Iron Throne, and limitless power only leading to indiscriminate death among the innocent and the guilty. The Dance of Dragons specifically was a destructive and pointless war, fought by two unfit rulers (at least that was what I thought when I read the book), that only led to their family’s own destruction. In retrospect, I shouldn’t be surprised by the way the fandom adopted both teams narratives of a “rightful heir” (HBO’s marketing leaned strongly on that direction, as well as the way people were with Game of Thrones). I hope that, if they adapt the Conquerors’ story, they at least address that part - there is no such thing as rightful heirs and usurpers; only power, politics and conquest by force.

one reason that I sincerely hope that they adapt an aegon the conqueror prequel is so that they can specifically go after the rumor that aenys I wasn't even aegons actual child and was instead a bastard of rhaenys and another lover she was rumored to have. this would basically mean that aegons' direct lineage ceased after maegor died.

this would make the centuries and centuries of targaryens fighting over a birthright to rule based on their "direct line to aegon the conqueror" not even be real in the first place. which would be both ironic and absolutely hilarious

[marvelousmop]

The King in Yellow and the War Over the Mind

I think one of the most powerful aspects of Robert W. Chambers's The King in Yellow, and one which sets it apart from a lot of later Weird Fiction about academics who become too invested in the world of the arcane, is the idea that there just isn't anything explainably wrong with the play. People know there's something wrong with it, especially once you get to the second act... but if you just looked at the text itself, you wouldn't find anything.

'No definite principles had been violated in those wicked pages, no doctrine promulgated, no convictions outraged. It could not be judged by any known standard, yet, although it was acknowledged that the supreme note of art had been struck in The King in Yellow, all felt that human nature could not bear the strain, nor thrive on words in which the essence of purest poison lurked.' ~ The Repairer of Reputations

Despite how central it is, I completely missed it on my first reading (mainly because I was young and grappling with a particularly bad printing of it which made the text really small). I only started to grasp it when I listened to the concept album The King in Yellow by experimental post-rock band "Ah Pook, the Destroyer".

This album is largely inspired by Chamber's work, using that premise - an idea that you can't see but can still cause genuine harm - to talk about the current political climate. Songs touch on a wide array of cults and conspiracies - from the modern-day antisemitic ramblings of Qanon and Lizard People conspiracies to the strong figureheads and interpersonal conflicts of cults like Heaven's Gate. They even find time to touch on the Time Cube somehow, all under the framework of the King in Yellow propagating harmful ideas and bringing about the New Age of Madness.

But it's not as simple as just looking at these people and calling them mad. Okay, sometimes it is that (best exemplified in the gospel stylings of "The Tribulation of Alex Jones"), but there are cases where the characters are presented with genuine empathy, such as in "The Road to Carcosa" where we hear about the life of a man who, through exposure to the Yellow Sign (which here is attached to Right-Wing conspiracy theories) ends up destroying his relationship with his family. The singer gets a moment of lucidity in the refrain "The fall of my life came after; And all of my mind was scattered", though this fades away as we hear the end of this story: Him living alone in a gun-filled squalor.

Another thing that elevates this album is how it turns it all back on the listener. There's obviously a specific audience of Left-leaning listeners a project like this would attract, and those people are very unlikely to also share the beliefs of the average Qanon-minded person, but (much like in the book) it constantly emphasises that the actual specific beliefs don't matter as much as the spread of ideas. This is most visible in the refrain heard throughout the album:

The fall you believe Is not far as it seems And the deep can not be so alive The blithe poison meme That you did not believe But you saw and it entered your mind

Belief doesn't matter. Sheer exposure to these toxic ideas means that, in a way, you've already been harmed no matter what you take away from it. This idea is also present in the book, most directly in the story "The Yellow Sign".

In it, Mr. Scott is fully aware of the King in Yellow, but has actively tried to avoid its influence, partially due to the unfortunate fate of Hildred Castaigne (who featured in the story "The Repairer of Reputations" and at the very least wanted to do a monarchist coup of America that would place him as King - all after reading The King in Yellow). By all means, he should be doing the right thing - he has no interest in The King in Yellow and is actively avoiding the play... and it's not like anyone's staging it anymore, so he should be fine... and yet, after strange dreams, an erie watchman, and other bizarre events, he and his model, Tessie, are driven to read it. This is also a story the album quotes right at the start:

'Then, as I fell, I heard Tessie’s soft cry and her spirit fled: and even while falling I longed to follow her, for I knew that the King in Yellow had opened his tattered mantle and there was only God to cry to now.' ~ The Yellow Sign & Beautitudes

It's an idea I think is also evoked in the structure of the anthology. While the first 4 stories directly feature the King in Yellow in one way or another, the rest are tragic, sometimes supernatural romances with seemingly no connection to the title character, to the point where some reprints just do the first 4 and ignore the rest... though I feel it's deliberate when keeping this idea in mind. While the King is absent, Yellow is a recurring motif throughout the book, often emphasising death or danger, and reminding the reader of that titular presence. You have been exposed to the King in Yellow, and now your mind is his domain.

[spann-stann]

I miss the Mad Monarchist

[road-kill-eater]

what do you think of people making their own tonitrui characters? I love your work, the faces are super nice to look at, teeth and all

i dont mind at all! tonitrui are very close to my heart as theyre by far my oldest original species/headworld, but ive yet to actually do anything with them and dont really have much motivation to do so. the tonitrui i primarily draw are ocs from another story entirely which is fundamentally a human story, but i vastly prefer drawing the weird goats over humans.

i suppose this is also as good a time as any to "officially" describe tonitrui.

there are some rules that come with them since they are designed to inhabit a specific setting and play a certain role within their world. but at the same time i dont really care much, and have always enjoyed seeing other peoples takes on the species in the past, even if they break some rules

theyre a primarily carnivorous species which is on average 2 feet taller than the average human, ranging between 6-8 feet in height. this great size, along with their diet has forced the southern portion of their population to rely heavily upon fishing and animal agriculture to support a substantial population/military, and to eschew many of the superfluous aspects of their historical culture. as a result tonitrui are generally very utilitarian, what few festivals and art they have is generally related to bloodsports and ritual combat. they are a race strongly influenced by the pressures surrounding them, this primarily being other equally sapient but different races which they compete with for land and resources. unlike other races they have no allies, and either conquer or destroy their foes, however their colonial and expansionist tendencies can't keep up with a dwindling population, subseptibility to disease, civil war, corruption, and general hubris.

as for religion, monarchist tonitrui have a historical theistic framework that they have mostly abandoned, for good reason. many generations prior (to the general timeline) their corresponding creator god (each race was created by an individual god, the many civilizations acting as a living chess game, this is not known to the mortals below, they dont know they exist to better the social reputation of another entity entirely) walked among them as a god king. this was of course seen as blatant foul play by the fellow players so they locked it in that mortal form, and being confronted by mortality drove it mad. the specifics of whether or not the god king killed itself, or was murdered by his own subjects is widely disputed, but the impact of that betrayal has turned much of the kingdom off theism entirely. luck and chance are the spirits that tonitrui pray to now, even if ever since, their civilization has begun to crumble from within and without. their every enterprise fails, their wars of conquest fold back in on their own territory, plague strikes them endlessly.

the northern population is technically part of the southern kingdom, however their way of life (more nomadic, hunter-gatherer based) has typically set them apart. there is still free trade and travel between them, and they still pay taxes and obey military conscription, however there is increasing resistance to these, and governmental authority weakens as the northern population becomes more preoccupied with their own struggles.

in terms of morphology, tonitrui have two sets of flat incisors much like a horse, prominent canines which can occassionally stick out between their lips, and canine-like carnassials and molars. their faces are rather stiff for the most part and they primarily emote through their eyes, the corners of their mouths, their ears, and the tilt and posture of their big heads. they can just barely lift their top lip, and the muscles that control snarling and snout wrinkling in mammals are quite reduced or nonexistent in tonitrui, they compensate for this by opening their jaws very wide as an aggressive signal, and sometimes slamming their lower jaw shut to clack their teeth, but the latter is super rude, its basically a death threat.

their horns are primarily for display purposes, with a huge amount of variety that distinguishes individuals and family lines. generally their horns are relatively small when compared to those of existing ungulates, and particularly large horns are seen as ungainly and may be trimmed down in order to keep appearances and prevent them from being used against them in combat. young tonitrui naturally have the desire to ram their nubby horns against things, much to their parents exasperation, and everything breakable has to be well hidden in the household. though this is considered a childish and unrefined form of combat by the mainstream population, some more isolated villages still hold contests of strength where one must push their opponent past a line with only their horns.

their feet have no distinct nails and the toes are progressively keratinized until they are quite hard at the very tip, useful for gripping a variety of surfaces. in appearance they sort of resemble a blend of claws and hooves, clooves if you will.

tonitrui are generally covered in a short, peach fuzz fur that thickens around their head, neck and down the length of their spines, and this is generally accompanied by a dorsal stripe of darker fur and lighter patterning on their chest and bellies. their patterning is usually very basic, darkened extremities tend to be more common in northern populations, and piebaldism pops up a lot in the south. their colors range from white to gray to black, to tan to gold to brown. northern tonitrui generally have shorter, broader snouts, smaller ears, and a mane that covers the entire circumference of their neck rather than just the top ridge. however the two populations have mixed to the point that these traits can be found across their entire range.

tonitrui always get their tails docked as infants, and if it isnt done by their families for some reason, individuals will often have the procedure done later in life to prevent the associated social rejection. tails are considered an unnecessary extravagance and liability, especially given how long and thin they are by nature. in a duel or battle they are easily broken, or used to pull an enemy off balance. back during the formation of their kingdom and the conquering of atomized clans into one entity, soldiers would often cut the tails off the locals and whip them with them as punishment for crimes real and imagined, so docking became a practice of integration, and preemptively avoided such humiliation. and whatever practice is compulsory in the military quickly becomes unofficially expected in the rest of the population.

in terms of gender norms, tonitrui arent beholden to anything resembling the human concept. they arent even mammals, and while they have the two typical sexes, they have far less sexual dimorphism than humans, and both sexes have the capacity to feed their young via specialized glands in their throats. females are on average smaller and slighter than males, but this remains the primary difference, and as a result social norms and gender roles are far reduced in tonitrui culture. personal wealth does tend to accumulate with the matriarch of a family because they are more likely not to die in battle. historically females have never been conscripted in the military, although there was no rule against them signing up until relatively recently, due to the powers that be realizing that males are far less crucial to the longevity of a society, especially one with a dwindling population.

[horizon-verizon]

TG be like “we don’t care about bloodlines, nobody won the war, but Aemond’s bastard founded House Whent, the Stark children are Aemond’s descendants via Catelyn’s mother, and Daenaera should be replaced by Jaehaera and become the Blackfyres’ ancestor.”

You don’t get to spew endless vitriol about children born outside of marriage and write how they shouldn’t have any rights, and then claim that Jaehaera should be Daemon Blackfyre’s grandmother.

You don’t get to say the most misogynistic, heinous and disgusting things about women having sex outside marriage and call them “sluts”, “whores”, “spoiled” and then claim that Jaehaera should be Elaena’s and Daena’s mother.

And imagine if Jaehaera was Daena’s mother, Daena must DEEPLY despise her if she admired Daemon and named her son after the man who traumatized her mother, ordered the murder of her twin brother, and drove Daena’s grandmother to madness & suicide. (To be clear, I FULLY support Blood & Cheese, they were just anti-monarchists working class men trying to feed their children #team smallfolk).

Absolutely yes to all of this. Unless it was dry sarcasm, I don't know about the very last sentence. Pretty sure it was, but just in case for others: Lower classed men don't have to sell out their morals or integrity by murdering under-10s (not that 10 and ups aren't kids but we should understand what I mean) and to feed their families. If they are at war, the same holds true that killing children is a heinous act.

Even if they are the psychologically degraded and fearful, Unsullied would never/most likely never choose to participate in much of the violence they have been forced into doing--while being dehumanized since literal childhood--such things if their very lives and body parts weren't on the line from the moment they were socially objectified through chattel slavery. The Unsullied are a part of a systematic institution of politics and official kidnappings of children for the express purpose of protecting slavers' interests and the slavers broke them down into being on their fear instinct for years, again, since childhood. They were forced to kill animals they raised themselves until they killed actual slave infants or be subjected to inhumane murders themselves.

Blood was a freaking goldcloak who beat a woman to death. Overall, Blood and Cheese were not chattel slaves. They were not under terrible duress to accept this mission, and they went out of their ways to become assassins. Essentially, they had some level of choice and they decided to use non-discriminating murder for hire as their profession, or make it a part of their "skill set".

Anyway, the double standards many in both the asoiaf and hotd fandoms towards some motivations of villains versus morally grey or morally positive characters is astounding. This series was made to be read by the American public, and I mean though I'm sure GRRM doesn't care if black/Hindi/trans people read and enjoy his books (might even be grateful for it for his liberal views) and like most places in the world where Europeans fucked people shit up to placed racial and EU class hierarchies/ideologies make for idiot bigots with strong double standards. and tbh, GRRM sorta still encourages it by giving up his material to incompetent, bigoted, condescending writers, not really going in through his story in a more feminist and anti-SA lens, AND not clearing shit up against racists, misogynists, etc strategically.

[burr-ell]

💖and 💞 for three houses on the ask meme!!!!

💖: What is your biggest unpopular opinion about the series?

This is related to that post I reblogged from you, but I think a lot of the worst discourse about this game stems from the fact that it started a huge newbie boom who either inadvertently or willfully did not understand that some of the issues they had with the setting or characters or themes simply were not relevant to what the game was actually trying to do. I do agree that the turbokingdom ending is dumb and feels especially forced on Azure Moon (like, Claude just gives Dimitri the Leicester Alliance because the game said he has to); I understand where people are coming from in not wanting their avatar to be so bound to the church; I get why people wanted to believe that a "world for humanity" would be a better one.

But a) all of that kind of ignores a lot of the actual text of the game anyway, and b) every single entry in this series is about being in an army that fights for good kingdoms and good dragons against evil empires and cults and bad dragons. One of the thematic premises of Fire Emblem is that if you are given a position of power, whether you asked for it or not, it is your duty to use it wisely and for the benefit of the people. If you're looking for something to validate a specific kind of lefty politics, which is perfectly okay to want, this simply isn't the game for you. And honestly, this applies to people who want that and people who have turned a more critical eye to the game in the wake of the absolute madness of the fandom—I've seen people praising 3H and people criticizing it for things it wasn't trying to do in the first place. If you're playing another entry in the "benevolent rulers are good" games, you're gonna have to be a monarchist for a few hours.

💕: What is an unpopular ship that you like?

Leonie/Lorenz! I love their support chain and their various task dialogues about understanding and respecting one another and how they help each other grow; I love that the parallels of them as mounted units, one a commoner and one a noble (you could write a dopeass Leorenz fic with horse girl motifs); I love how their relationship is borne out of a real genuine friendship you can see grow and change onscreen; I love how their ending is so good for both of them and turns them into the gnc power couple of all time. They're amazing and one of my favorite ships in the game 💜🧡

unpopular opinions asks

[oakappleday]

I think it's pretty funny that Australian monarchists are mad about politicians not attending events for the state visit this week when the actual royals are like "We're just happy to be there :)"

[shakesthewizard]

I think it's really funny when people take my knights radiant quiz and get skybreaker and get mad about it

like yeah I might be mad too, on principle - ew gross, the ones that are all about laws. icky. Like it makes sense

But then you remember that the only skybreaker who has gotten POV in the books so far is Szeth "the laws of my land have done nothing but cause death and anguish so I must find a better understanding of justice and fairness by surrounding myself with more just and kind people" Son-Honor, and that the rest of the order has been led severely astray from their original ideals by a mad god, and suddenly things look pretty different

Like I'm not gonna say that Brando's politics aren't present in the ideals of the skybreakers. It's kind of gross that among the ten orders of Cool Guys Who Are Nice, one of them are aligned with Lawkeeping. What I am gonna say is that if we can cut some slack to, say, hyper-monarchist war criminal Dalinar Kholin, or "I'll protect this cowardly despot even though I can't justify his place on the throne" Kaladin, we can maybe employ our critical thinking hats about an order of knights themed around justice and equality.