#Theodore Roosevelt Interesting Facts

[fictionadventurer]

Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote books about Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

The Lincoln book is about how he was able to work with people from vastly different political backgrounds and turn at least some of them from rivals to good friends.

The Roosevelt book is about how he let differences in politics tear apart one of his closest and most enduring friendships.

That vastly oversimplifies both men (and I haven't actually read the Roosevelt book for further context) but the premises seem to highlight the key difference between their leadership styles and personalities.

[wisteria-lodge]

Assorted historical notes for the first chapter of my jedtavius fic (happy pride everybody...)

~ Romans took their public baths extremely seriously, and setting one up would be high priority for a garrison stationed out in the territories (basically the situation in these movies?) Nudity in the context of baths was just normal.

~ For some reason, Octavius wears his cape slung across his chest

instead of pinned to his shoulder(s) like a Roman cape.

If anything, this seems to be riffing on the 1600s half-cape, which is often strung cross-body like that in a sort of Renaissance *costume.*

Note: these are both modern historical costumes. It seems in the actual 1600s it was more normal to just sort of balance your capelet on one arm, or wear it over both shoulders (like when you wear a big coat without putting your arms through the sleeves.)

1600s capes are especially annoying to study, because basically all of them were tailored into 1700s coats, but WHATEVER.

(diegetically, since Octavius the tiny Roman lives in a museum, I guess he could be influenced by the 1600s cape costume, and just decide to wear his cape like that.)

~ “Sinister” is just Latin for “on the left side.” Couldn’t resist a latin joke, especially since Owen Wilson (and therefore Jed) is left-handed.

~ Roman orgies and sex parties were not really all that common. Like sure, they're brought up in the context of Caligula, Nero, Tiberus - the classics. But, your Roman writers historians and archivists were extremely political, and when you hear about this stuff there is always a political motive behind it, and almost certainly some exaggeration. Roman writers loved their gossip.

However, as a literary trope 'the Roman orgy' is extremely important. Most people in the buttoned-up 1800s saw Rome as this fascinating but immoral free-for-all, and we haven't totally shaken that off. And since Octavius is written as a slightly comic version of our current cultural idea of ‘Roman’... orgies are absolutely part of that.

(It’s the same reason I threw in the two-handed ‘Roman Handshake,’ even though as far as I can figure out, it was invented for a production of Julius Caesar in 1898. Romans seemed to just - shake hands.)

~ One of the interesting thing about the The Night at the Museum franchise is its interest in exploring the 21st century Idea of a Roman, the Idea of a Cowboy, the Idea of Theodore Roosevelt (even more than the historical reality.) It's a plot point that Museum Exhibit!Teddy knows that he's not Teddy Roosevelt, and kind of struggles with the symbolic importance people give to him. Octavius is very much a Movie!Roman, not a History!Roman. Even the fact that he's played by a British actor with a very British accent makes him seem like a background Roman General in Ben-Hur, here to deliver a letter, say "Yes sir, the rebels have returned from the provinces with new allies," and then die half an hour from the end to raise the stakes.

The exception to this is Ahkmenrah, who as a mummy that comes to life, is not a museum exhibit, he's just A Guy and *that's* the joke. He's not engaging with, or symbolic of 21st century tropes and stereotypes surrounding the idea of "pharaoh." He's just a person doing his own thing. Compare this to Kahmunrah from the sequel, who IS both a pharaoh and an exhibit come to life. So of course he's all about the literary tropes historically attached to the linked ideas "pharaoh, desert, villain." He's sadistic, he's camp, he's super queer coded, he's got a lisp, and he's putting our hero in a hour-glass death trap just like Jafar.

[deadpresidents]

I know it is still early but do you know if there is any interesting history facts about the new president and vp

I'm still a little dazed and trying to wrap my head around the position the American voters have put us in for the years to come, so you'll have to give me a little more time to put everything into more historical context, but there a few quick tidbits to mention.

The obvious historical tidbit was the one everyone had already been talking about: Trump is the second President to win non-consecutive terms in the White House, after Grover Cleveland, who won the 1884 election (against James G. Blaine), lost the 1888 election to Benjamin Harrison, and then defeated Harrison in 1892.

The ages of Trump and Vance also stand out. Trump will be the oldest President ever inaugurated when he is sworn in: Biden was 78 years, 61 days old when he took office in January 2021; Trump will be 78 years, 220 days old. After Inauguration Day, these will be the five oldest Presidents at the beginning of their term: 1. Donald Trump (2nd Administration): 78 years, 220 days 2. Joe Biden: 78 years, 61 days 3. Donald Trump (1st Administration): 70 years, 220 days 4. Ronald Reagan: 69 years, 349 days 5. William Henry Harrison: 68 years, 23 days

Vance is on the other end of the spectrum. He'll be the third-youngest Vice President in history when he is sworn in. Here's what the list of five youngest VPs in history will look like after Inauguration Day: 1. John C. Breckinridge: 36 years, 47 days 2. Richard Nixon: 40 years, 11 days 3. JD Vance: 40 years, 171 days 4. Dan Quayle: 41 years, 351 days 5. Theodore Roosevelt: 42 years, 128 days

And the age difference between Trump and Vance is, by a significant margin, the biggest age difference between a President and Vice President in American history. Trump is 38 years, 49 days older than Vance -- in fact, Trump is almost twice Vance's age. The next biggest age difference was James Buchanan, who was 29 years, 273 days older than his Vice President, John C. Breckinridge.

[retrobr]

for the post regarding natm headcanons—

ive always loved thinking about the different ways that holidays would be celebrated by the exhibits, especially since there would be an absolutely insane amount of them all throughout the year

like there’d have to be a bunch of back to back celebrations in december just to accommodate everyone around the winter solstice/christmas

and exhibits constantly approaching larry about organizing parties for super niche religions/practices and he just has to go along with it

there’d be hella conflict too bc holidays like halloween/samhain might be regarded as evil and demonic by the more puritan exhibits who would try to put a stop to it at first

(but i think the whole concept of dressing up in costume would be enough to win most of the exhibits over—they’d have a blast with trading clothes with one another, and larry wouldn’t have the heart to tell them that that’s not technically how it’s supposed to work)

and honestly every holiday would be chaos considering the fact that a handful of the exhibits are at a point in time where most mainstream holidays hadn’t even been created yet

and then there’d be stuff like weddings and birthdays, all with conflicting cultures and practices, that somehow clash well in ways they shouldn’t

i’ll stop here before this gets too long lol

but i think the idea as a whole is really cool to think about !! :)

Wow dude- it's quite a long but interesting headcanon!! I too think that the exhibits could celebrate their holidays, which are related to their religion and customs, as well as modern holidays that didn't yet exist at their respective times

For example, Theodore Roosevelt or Jed could give Larry the idea of celebrating Christmas (as far as I know Larry is Jewish, so in fact he doesn't celebrate the European holidays; please correct me if I'm wrong). I like to imagine how beautifully the museum could be decorated for this holiday and how the rest of the exhibits, who don't know about this holiday or simply don't celebrate it, just look at it all with their mouths open lmao

And on Halloween Larry could take the exhibits outside, because they already look like they're wearing holiday costumes and just have fun with them idk :D

I think what I like the most is the idea of celebrating birthdays!! Like, it's quite a funny thing for me: "Happy birthday, Oct, today you're turning 2000+ years old" or something like that XD

Or, as you mentioned, celebrating weddings!! I think there can be two scenarios: either the wedding is held alternately according to the traditions of both sides, which may take two days to celebrate, or it all gets mixed up and it turns out to be some kind of wild wedding that the world hasn't seen yet-

Anyways, this is a pretty interesting topic to discuss, but my brain isn't working so well right now and I can't think of any more examples yet...

Thanks for your ask!!

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

The basic facts of mass hunger and death, although sometimes reported in the European and American press, never took on the clarity of an undisputed event. Almost no one claimed that Stalin meant to starve Ukrainians to death; even Adolf Hitler preferred to blame the Marxist system. It was controversial to note that starvation was taking place at all. Gareth Jones did so in a handful of newspaper articles; it seems that he was the only one to do so in English under his own name. When Cardinal Theodor Innitzer of Vienna tried to appeal for food aid for the starving in summer and autumn 1933, Soviet authorities rebuffed him nastily, saying that the Soviet Union had neither cardinals nor cannibals – a statement that was only half true. Though the journalists knew less than the diplomats, most of them understood that millions were dying from hunger. The influential Moscow correspondent of the New York Times, Walter Duranty, did his best to undermine Jones’s accurate reporting. Duranty, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932, called Jones’s account of the famine a “big scare story”. Duranty’s claim that there was “no actual starvation” but “only widespread mortality from diseases due to malnutrition” echoed Soviet usages and pushed euphemism into mendacity. This was an Orwellian distinction; and indeed George Orwell himself regarded the Ukrainian famine of 1933 as a central example of a black truth that artists of language had covered with bright colors. Duranty knew that millions of people had starved to death. Yet he maintained in his journalism that the hunger served a higher purpose. Duranty thought that “you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.” Aside from Jones, the only journalist to file serious reports in English was Malcolm Muggeridge, writing anonymously for the Manchester Guardian. He wrote that the famine was “one of the most monstrous crimes in history, so terrible that people in the future will scarcely be able to believe that it happened.” In fairness, even the people with the most obvious interest in events in Soviet Ukraine, the Ukrainians living beyond the border of the Soviet Union, needed months to understand the extent of the famine. Some five million Ukrainians lived in neighboring Poland, and their political leaders worked hard to draw international attention to the mass starvation in the Soviet Union. And yet even they grasped the extent of the tragedy only in May 1933, by which time most of the victims were already dead. Throughout the following summer and autumn, Ukrainian newspapers in Poland covered the famine, and Ukrainian politicians in Poland organized marches and protests. The leader of the Ukrainian feminist organization tried to organize an international boycott of Soviet goods by appealing to the women of the world. Several attempts were made to reach Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president of the United States. None of this made any difference. The laws of the international market ensured that the grain taken from Soviet Ukraine would feed others. Roosevelt, preoccupied above all by the position of the American worker during the Great Depression, wished to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The telegrams from Ukrainian activists reached him in autumn 1933, just as his personal initiative in US-Soviet relations was bearing fruit. The United States extended diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union in November 1933.

Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

[thisurlwasnttakenbutnowitis]

Every Epic Rap Battle of History Ranked, Part 3

Part 2

29. Freddy Krueger vs Wolverine 

Winner: Wolverine 

Best line: "You're a pedophile from the Midwest, at least R. Kelly could sing."

I mentioned this earlier (like 50 entries ago), but this is probably the single most visually impressive ERB to date. If anyone had any doubts about ERB going independent after being under Maker Studios for so many years, this quickly quashed them. Costumes look amazing, the backgrounds and lighting are top-notch, and of course, the nightmare sequences are fun and creative. Love the part of Freddy turning into a magnet to pull Wolverine in. But how's the actual battle? Well, it's great too! Both performances are stellar, and there's some great lines - "that wasn't even my main diss, it was just a side burn", "that claw is like a strap-on: there's a pussy underneath". Really great stuff.

28. Theodore Roosevelt vs Winston Churchill

Winner: Theodore Roosevelt

Best line: "I'll bust a trust fund lush with my American muscles, so walk softly over here and give my big stick a suckles!"

This was a battle that was hyped up for a long time thanks to Teddy Roosevelt's frequent appearances on the channel to announce news, and I'd say it lived up to the hype. Lloyd is clearly having the time of his life finally getting to play Teddy, and I'd say it's one of his best performances to date. While a couple of Churchill's lines are duds (I always groan at "Any way you want to fight, I'll fight you and I'll beat you, see"), it's not enough to sink this battle.

27. Thanos vs J. Robert Oppenheimer

Winner: J. Robert Oppenheimer

Best line: "Cause you break and bleed so easy, I think I'll call you Oppen-hymen."

It's interesting that this battle came out shortly before the Oppenheimer movie was announced and subsequently turned Oppenheimer into a household name. Good coincidental timing. I remember watching this for the first time, hearing Thanos's absolutely killer first verse, and thinking "Oh, he's got this in the bag". But then Oppenheimer fired back with a killer verse of his own! Sadly, this battle isn't as close as I'd hoped it would be, since Thanos definitely falls off on his second verse, but overall, the fight is still packed with great lines.

Peter's Oppenheimer portrayal is also amazing - the fact that he manages to mix in the melancholic, regretful tone and mannerisms the real Oppenheimer was known for while firing off disses is nothing short of incredible. It's something that shouldn't work, yet he makes it work beautifully. Lloyd's Thanos is pretty good too, although I don't know what happened with the costume; it's pretty clear that Lloyd can barely move his mouth in the mask, so it's a little distracting. I feel like there had to have been a better way to make Thanos's face work, especially when they already made Freddy Krueger work better.

26. George Washington vs William Wallace

Winner: William Wallace

Best line: "Don't tee off with me, laddy. If you held my balls, you couldn't be my caddy."

I feel like this is a very overlooked battle. I've never really seen anyone talking about it, but it's actually really good. It was an interesting choice to make George Washington a more antagonistic and sadistic character, I honestly didn't think that's where they would go with him simply because as an American, I don't think I'd ever seen Washington depicted in such a bad light. But I'm honestly down for it; it makes sense when comparing the stories of both men - Wallace died a hero's death for freedom, while Washington survived long enough to show hypocrisy in his cause for preaching freedom but still owning slaves.

I love how Wallace's depiction in this is purely based on Braveheart, despite historians agreeing that it's one of the most historically inaccurate movies ever. Really sells Washington's "A Mel Gibson movie is your legacy" line, because yeah, that's basically the only reason most people have ever heard of William Wallace. It's funny, ERB obviously puts in a ton of work to research the real stories of their historical figures, but if the most prominent depiction of said figure is in a work of fiction, they will just go with that version of the person because that's what the audience is expecting to see - historical accuracy be damned. They did it with Wallace and that's also what they did with Leonidas and Ragnar Lodbrok. Not saying that's good or bad, that's just what I've noticed when viewing all the battles so close together.

25. Gordon Ramsay vs Julia Child

Winner: Julia Child

Best line: "Here's a nice amuse-bouche: take a poor abused youth, set a 30 year timer, voila! Huge douche!"

This was a video I had actually completely skipped out on until needing to watch it for this list. I dunno, I just don't really personally like Gordon Ramsay and I wasn't familiar with Julia Child, so I was just never motivated to watch this one. But I really missed out on a gem, this one's great. Julia definitely steals the show here. It's kinda like Mr. T vs Mr. Rogers come to think of it, with one character angrily screaming at the other while the other just smiles and delivers cutting passive-aggressive lines. The part where Ramsay gets a whole kitchen crew running around behind him and they deliver backing vocals of "Yes, chef!" and "No, chef" to the beat is also a great moment.

24. Bruce Lee vs Clint Eastwood

Winner: Clint Eastwood 

Best line: "Here's my two finger push-up: Kung F-U!"

Hoo boy, this has some of the edgiest jokes in series history - "I even squint better than you", "You don't belong in a fight, you belong in a sweatshop. So go ahead, make my iPod". Modern ERB would not go there if this battle was made today. That being said, it does fit who Clint Eastwood is as a person, so, y'know. This battle's great though - the person they got to play Bruce Lee has a lot of fun energy to him; his constant quick movements contrast nicely against the stone cold, slow and deliberate Eastwood. I also love the small detail of the background characters that both rappers are fighting switching between cowboys and ninjas as they cross from one side of the screen to the other.

23. Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali

Winner: Muhammad Ali 

Best line: "McDonald's and underpants as corporate backers - You stay at the Ritz cause you sold out to crackers!"

And here we have one of the two appearances of special guest stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Considering this is the first time they're coming up on this list and we're this high up, it's pretty clear that I think they nailed both of the battles they had together. It's a shame they're not really working together anymore, so it's a lot less likely we'll ever get them again. Plus Jordan Peele's a lot busier these days I'd imagine.

But yeah, Key and Peele both obviously really know how to act in front of a camera and it makes for some great rap battles - Peele as Ali in particular is extremely expressive throughout his lines and it makes for a treat to watch. And I love the part where Jordan crosses over to Ali's side and directly gets in his face - both of Key and Peele's battles have a moment where the two rappers physically interact, and I'm glad they did this. A lot of ERBs have the two rappers film separately, but Key and Peele have such natural on-screen chemistry that it would have been a waste to not show bits of that. I was gonna say that moment does kinda break the illusion of Michael Jordan being tall in this battle since Key and Peele aren't too far apart in height, but uh, fun fact I just learned - the height difference between Key and Peele is actually greater than it would be between Jordan and Ali?? Muhammad Ali was actually pretty dang tall at 6'3", and Michael Jordan is relatively short for an NBA player at only 6'6". Meanwhile Jordan Peele is 5'7" and Keegan-Michael Key is 6'0". Truth truly is stranger than fiction.

22. Michael Jackson vs Elvis Presley

Winner: Michael Jackson

Best line: "Here's a tip: Don't swallow a bucket of drugs, so you won't die on the toilet dropping hunks of burning love."

This is the battle that Banner vs Jenner tried to imitate and failed miserably at - two characters with two distinct versions of themselves that they switch between halfway through the battle. This was such a great idea - they could have gotten away with simply doing the more modern versions of both characters, but showcasing how much the two changed their looks between the starts and ends of their careers was a genius move. My big worry with that would have been how difficult it would be to find a suitable child to play Jackson 5 Michael, but the kid that they did find was phenomenal. He looks the part, sounds the part, and has good dance moves to boot. I don't know how the hell they found this kid but his performance is easily the highlight of this battle.

21. Guy Fawkes vs Che Guevara 

Winner: Guy Fawkes

Best line: "You're an ump-Che. That's Bay of Pigs Latin!"

Che definitely has some clunkers in his lines - "More like V for Very bad hat" would be a bad line even by season 1 standards, and the What Does The Fox Say reference was dated even when the battle first came out. That said, Che's actor does a great job, he's really charismatic. The face he makes and the voice he does  during "Treat this battle like the gallows: Take another dive" is without a doubt the best line delivery in this battle. Also damn, Guy's takedown of Che by pointing out how his image nowadays is just a commercial product for capitalism, turning his legacy into the very thing he fought against, that was brutal. There was simply no coming back from that.

20. Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr.

Winner: Martin Luther King Jr.

Best line: "Flatten your style like bread: naan violence."

And here we have Key and Peele's other guest appearance. Just like I said before, these two have great chemistry and great screen presence. The ending of this one is what elevates it above Jordan vs Ali for me though - the two leading their armies of protesters together, all to finally meet face-to-face, and proceed to engage in the most passive-aggressive hug ever. Probably the most iconic ending in ERB history. Also can I just say that Peele's MLK impression is spot-on? 

19. Terminator vs RoboCop

Winner: RoboCop

Best line: "They sent you back to kill a child, but he's defeating you still. They should have made a time-traveling morning-after pill."

I like that this video was sponsored by the actual Terminator franchise and they were still able to call Terminator 3 bad. This video has also invaded my psyche - whenever I see a farmer's market I can't help but think of "I take over these streets like I'm a farmer's market". Idk, this one is just good fun. Lloyd doesn't exactly look much like Arnold, but he sells the impression as well as he can. And hey, the actual Arnold makes a cameo appearance thanks to the sponsorship! Cool shit.

18. Jim Henson vs Stan Lee

Winner: Stan Lee

Best line: "M-I-C! I rock the mic properly! K-E-Y! Turning profits, I've got the key!"

This is an ERB with a message, probably the deepest one in the series - the legacy that an artist leaves behind after their death, and the tragedy of the magic of their original vision being squeezed dry by huge conglomerates in order to print more money. Hits even harder now that Stan Lee is also no longer with us. I gotta say, it was a fucking ballsy move for the ERB team to take such a direct shot at Disney while they were working at a Disney-owned studio. But man, did it make a memorable battle. I think Walt Disney may just be my favorite of the surprise third-party rappers across the entire series.

I also like how throughout the entire battle, Jim Henson basically only ever takes one real shot at Stan Lee, and it's just "you took credit for work Jack Kirby did". He's too nice of a guy to cut deep on his opponent. And I appreciate the small detail that you can still see Peter moving his lips when Kermit is speaking - I feel like just making Kermit lip-sync would have been an easy trap to fall into. I also love that they went through the trouble of making a custom Stan Lee puppet all for just one line. They totally didn't need to do that, but it goes to show the effort that went into making this one special.

17. Ronald McDonald vs The Burger King

Winner: Burger King

Best line: "Ask Rick and Morty who's the lyrical boss. I've got lines for days, call me szechuan sauce!"

I'll just put it out there: when it comes to food: Wendy's > Burger King > McDonald's. This battle had the advantage of getting a soft launch first on the secondary ERB channel (through the spinoff series Flash in the Pan Hip-Hop Conflicts of Nowadays) and getting a chance to incorporate fan feedback before releasing as a proper ERB. The lines about McDonald's broken ice cream machines and Burger King foot lettuce, as well as Wendy coming in as a third-party rapper were all fan suggestions. As such, I think this is one of the most tightly-packed ERBs in terms of great lines.

16. Napoleon vs Napoleon

Winner: Napoleon Bonaparte

Best line: "I'll whip you so bad, they'll make a virgin meringue. You're the only type of dynamite that's never going to bang!"

I don't remember where exactly he said this, but I recall Lloyd at some point saying that this battle was the first one made after he and Peter both quit their jobs so that they could focus on ERB full time, and that it was kind of a scary and uncertain time for them because of it. Well, clearly that gamble paid off, because they managed to create one of their best right after finally being able to put their all into the series. Okay, look, on a purely objective level, this probably isn't actually better than a lot of the battles I put below it. It's short, as season 1 battles tended to be, and it really doesn't go too deep into either character's history. But this is just ERB in its purest form - a historical figure and a fictional character tangentially related to them duking it out through rhyme. This battle is pretty basic, but that's okay. It does exactly what it needs to - gives you some laughs and gets out of your face. No flashy effects, no complex lines that you have to look up the meaning of in order to get the joke. Call it nostalgia, but there's just a certain charm to the simplicity on display here.

15. Einstein vs Stephen Hawking

Winner: Stephen Hawking

Best line: "I'm as dope as two rappers, you'd better be scared, cause that means Albert E equals MC squared!"

And here we go, the cream of the crop for season 1. Back when we only had the first season, this one was THE shit. If you were around during the early days, then "There are ten million million million million million million million million million particles in the universe that we can observe, your mama took the ugly ones and put them into one nerd" is probably burned into your brain. 

You know this battle is good when it's freaking certified Gold by the RIAA, being the only battle besides Obama vs Romney to do so. And hey, it's also the very first appearance of our boy Zach Sherwin! The first of many great guest appearances he would grace us with.

14. Shaka Zulu vs Julius Caesar

Winner: Shaka Zulu

Best line: "Ask my kidnappers if I'm just a shit-talker. Doc J dunk on ya like boom shakalaka!"

For being possibly the most obscure historical figure ever depicted in ERB, Shaka Zulu certainly leaves an impression through this battle. His costume design is great, and his actor brings so much life to the role with his smartass line deliveries and faces. And of course, the fucking army formations that form behind both rappers at the end - masterful work.

13. Lewis and Clark vs Bill and Ted

Winner: Lewis and Clark

Best line: "We discovered bears and beavers and prairie dogs and weasels, rattlesnakes and catfish, owls, larks, and eagles. And plus flora galore, and according to our observations: these two dickweeds right here are severely endangered!"

And here we have the final appearance so far of Rhett and Link, and I think this is their best battle yet. I've always loved the little dance they do when they're listing off all the things they discovered, and of course, Sacagawea in the background constantly saving their asses is a hilarious touch. And on Bill and Ted's side, we get a bunch of cameos of previous rappers since most of their companions had already appeared in ERB (still waiting on that Billy the Kid battle though), so that's a nice treat for fans.

12. Zeus vs Thor

Winner: Thor

Best line: "Send you deeper underground than the depths of your Hades. Now make like your daddy, and swallow my babies!"

This was the first ever battle to be animated with Lego and I'm SO glad that it was, because this is just a treat for the eyes. Live action would not have done a battle between two gods like this justice. Of course, it being beautifully animated wouldn't save this if the battle itself wasn't great, but it absolutely is. I think "Who would ever worship someone as abusive as Zeus is? You're ruthless to humans, your crew is like the Clash of the Douches" is possibly the best flow in the entire series, it constantly gets stuck in my head.

11. Mother Teresa vs Sigmund Freud

Winner: Mother Teresa

Best line: "I can see right through you and you've got no flavor. I'm battling a communion wafer."

This is an absolutely slept-on battle. It's damn near perfect - almost every single line hits it out of the park. I never would have thought of these two figures as perfect foils for one another, but it works so much better than I ever could have imagined. A staunch religious figure versus a staunch atheist, with themes of physical therapy versus mental therapy and chastity versus sex. It's a brilliant matchup that they really get the most out of. 

Mother Teresa's actress is amazing as well - I thought they somehow found an actual old lady dancer, but no, it's actually a younger woman whose entire specialty is doing super convincing cosplays of elderly women. She's great, the attitude she gives to Teresa elevates the entire battle. 

S TIER

10. Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates

Winner: HAL 9000

Best line: "I'm coming out the socket, nothing you can do can stop it. I'm on your lap and in your pocket. How you gonna shoot me down when I guide the rocket?"

While Jobs dying mid-battle can be seen as a repeat of Billy Mays, there's a distinct difference in how the two battles handle the death of one of the rappers. Ben Franklin never even gets a reaction to Billy Mays's death, but in this one, Bill Gates actually gets to admit how he liked the rivalry, and that now he's lonely without Jobs. And that's true to life of the two actual men too - despite how competitive their companies were with each other, Jobs and Gates had deep respect for one another. 

This was by far the most ambitious ERB of its time. I would say that it was the very first one to truly feel epic, and even more than a decade later, it still holds its own against even the newest episodes. Hell, I'd say it's actually just gotten better with time - that iconic ending with HAL 9000 to represent AI taking over just rings more and more true every year.

9. Steven Spielberg vs Alfred Hitchcock

Winner: Alfred Hitchcock

Best line: "Ask anybody, 'What's your favorite Sam Jackson part?', no one's gonna say 'What's-his-name from Jurassic Park'."

This one is a total treat. You have 4 of the most iconic movie directors in history battling it out… along with Michael Bay. Honestly I'm not a super big movie buff, but I can still appreciate how brilliant this battle is. I love the shifts in the music tones for each director - the grandiose Jurassic Park-like theme for Spielberg, the heart-pounding suspense for Hitchcock, the more funky beat for Tarantino, the dreamy space-like melody for Kubrick, and finally, the flashy, bombastic theme for Bay. And of course, each director having their own dig towards Michael Bay is great foreshadowing for when he finally comes in and proceeds to rap about how great he is. He doesn't even say anything about any of the other directors, but that feels like an intentional choice for his "I don't give a fuck" attitude.

8. Romeo and Juliet vs Bonnie and Clyde

Winner: Bonnie and Clyde

Best line: "O Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore you trying to flow, yo? Mofo, you soft as a froyo. Are those the drapes or your clothes, bro?"

The contrast between the two sides here is really fun - how ridiculous and over-the-top Romeo and Juliet act compared to the down-to-earth, no-nonsense Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie pulling out a gun, shooting Juliet, and Juliet simply exclaiming, "Oh! I am killed!" really sums up everything that makes this pairing great. Of course, it's impossible to talk about this battle and not talk about how every character dies in the same way that their real/fictional counterpart does. I particularly love how Romeo and Juliet integrate their actual final words from the play into their final verses - "Thus with a diss I die" is such an obvious pun to make but it always makes me chuckle. And once Bonnie and Clyde get shot to death as well, leaving the normally loud announcer quiet and confused, that's just the cherry on top.

7. Harry Potter vs Luke Skywalker 

Winner: Luke Skywalker 

Best line: "Your origin story is mostly stolen from me. You might be Potter, but Harry, I planted your seed!"

Our second animated battle, and this was one that absolutely needed to be animated to do it justice. Both of these series have so many iconic scenes and locations, and they also both have so many Lego sets that it made perfect sense to do it with Lego. And the animators got every bit of mileage they could out of this opportunity - both characters get to go through so many setpieces from each of their franchises. And of course, the lyrics get to pull in just as many references for fans to catch. This is one of the longer battles, with each rapper getting three full verses, and I'm glad that two series with so much lore got plenty of time to integrate it all. 

6. Ghostbusters vs Mythbusters

Winner: Mythbusters

Best line: "Good thing you work in a firehouse, cause you just got burned. You are poor scientists, and that's confirmed."

When I heard that Peter and Lloyd would be playing Adam and Jamie, I fully expected the opposite casting. Lloyd usually plays the shorter, stockier, more bald characters, so it was kinda surprising to me that he was chosen to play Adam and Peter was Jamie. But hey, they make it work. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the little synchronized dance the two do during their first verse as well. I have no idea why they decided to do that for the Mythbusters of all things, but hey, it's a lot of fun.

This battle has the largest number of rappers of any battle to date with 10, but that's kind of with an asterisk because Kari, Grant, and Tory barely get any time at all before Stay Puft comes in to finish the battle. I really wish the three of them had gotten a little more, it seems like kind of a waste to bring in three additional actors to only give them one line each. But that's really the only criticism I can come up with here; it's a great battle otherwise.

I know I didn't really even say anything about the Ghostbusters, but there's really not anything to say. They're all good! Zach Sherwin's Egon is definitely the highlight of the group.

5. Lara Croft vs Indiana Jones

Winner: Lara Croft

Best line: "Marion was 15 when you raided her bones. That's no time for love, Dr. Jones!"

This is the newest battle at the time I'm writing this, and needless to say with it being this high up, it's already one of my favorites. Every single line packs a serious punch, there is no wasted time here at all. My first time watching, I thought they maybe made a little too many jokes where the punchline is "Lara is sexy" or "gamers masturbate to her". But upon rewatch, each one is at least clever and does something different with wordplay, so I've lightened up on it.

Of course, I have to give a major shoutout to Croix Provence, who portrays Lara here. This was the first time a guest star on ERB was not either a friend of the crew or a major YouTube personality/celebrity - the casting of Lara was instead done with an open casting call, and I think that was the absolutely correct move. Croix was the perfect choice here - her faces and mannerisms inject so much lovable energy into the character, and the fact that she's not even British but can maintain a British accent while quickly rapping is incredible. She's a complete delight and I hope that she becomes a recurring guest.

This battle was apparently supposed to have a short verse from Nathan Drake as well, but I'm honestly glad they cut it. It really didn't need it.

4. Deadpool vs Boba Fett

Winner: Deadpool

Best line: "That Dr. Killbrew dude needs to go back to med school. Cause right now, you're no good to me, Deadpool."

This one's kinda funny in hindsight with how Deadpool rags on how Boba Fett barely even has any lines or screentime so there's not even much to say about him… right before he ended up getting his own show. Honestly it's kind of even in a weird spot with regards to Deadpool's characterization too - this came out before the movie, so nothing regarding that could be referenced either. Really, of any battle, this is probably the one that's in need of a rematch the most given how much has happened between these two characters in the years since.

What's really cool about this battle is that since both characters are covered from head to toe, while Peter and Lloyd did the voices, they didn't need to portray them physically. And they took advantage of this by hiring professional dancers to be the body actors for both characters, which really elevates the video visually. Deadpool's suit actor nails the mannerisms, and I love how Boba Fett goes into full-on breakdancing at the end. Stellar stuff from both performers.

3. The Joker vs Pennywise

Winner: Pennywise

Best line: "I haunt nightmares and I'm ruthless. This battle's like poker: the Joker is useless. Winning's not in your cards. Call me Arkham Asylum, I'm crazy with bars!"

Here we are, the absolute best battle that stays as a pure 1-on-1. Lloyd has said recently that this is his personal favorite battle, and it's easy to see why. Pennywise is easily my favorite performance Lloyd has ever done - he absolutely nails the voice, the line delivery, and the look. And Peter's Joker is awesome too - he also does a great job with the voice and delivery, and his costume is great too. Not as spot-on as Lloyd's Pennywise, but it's still more than serviceable. Really, this battle is Peter and Lloyd at their absolute best - you can tell they are both having the time of their lives here.

The lines here are top-notch too. So many bangers - Pennywise describing himself as "the John Wayne of John Wayne Gacys" and "the poster boy for missing person posters", and the absolutely killer lines "Ask Robin if I drop bars" and "No one's dying to play with Joker, except for maybe Heath Ledger". There's a super clever rhyme with "Beat Harley Quinn" and "see Steve Harvey in". And the flow of "You're a John Doe in my deadlights, and you're about to fall from a new height, cause you're weak and you've lost every fight to a knight who wears underwear over his tights" is amazing. And I love that so many actors that have portrayed the characters get shout-outs - obviously Pennywise only has the two with Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgard (though the Skarsgard reference is so subtly woven in that you probably won't even catch it on the first watch). But the Joker gets to pull in references to Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, and Mark Hamill, and it's a lot of fun.

Overall, this battle is amazing. Amazingly written with two amazing performances. Truly peak ERB.

2. Rasputin vs Stalin

Winner: Stalin

Best line: "You got off easy when they pickled that moose cock! I'd leave your neck in a noose in a trench and shot! Your whole family, shot! All your wizard friends, shot! Anyone who sold you pierogi, shot!"

Huh, I'm realizing just how few of these top spots have actual historical figures - four of the battles in this top ten have just been fictional character vs fictional character, and the only real people depicted that I'd say are old enough to be considered "historical figures" are Bonnie and Clyde, and maybe Alfred Hitchcock. Well, that's about to change - these top two spots are putting the history back in Epic Rap Battles of History, and to me, that's why they beat out the rest.

I've said before that I love when ERB can make me curious and actively want to seek out more information about history. And that's why this battle and the next one are so great - because it's not just about the battle itself being good. The best ERBs create an experience outside of the battle itself. You put on an episode like Luke Skywalker vs Harry Potter and you're like "Oh, that was awesome! All the references to both of the series were great!" and then you move on with your life. But a battle like Rasputin vs Stalin, you think "Wow, that was great!", and then you find yourself reading more about Russian history. ERB didn't tell you to do that; they're not your teacher. You sought out that information because they gave you the nugget of trivia that made you crave more. 

But enough about that, how is the battle itself? Well, it's a certified banger. What you think is going to just be a simple battle between two long-dead high-ranking Russians quickly escalates as it takes you through the rise and fall of the Soviet Union via several more notable Russian leaders jumping into the fray. The battle royale format really does a great job portraying the fraught history that Russia has had over the past century - these guys all had so many different ideas for the country that they probably would all hate each other.

Lloyd steals the show here too - both Stalin and Gorbachev are easily the most memorable parts of this battle. One realization I've come to while doing this list and viewing all the battles so close together is that I think Lloyd is overall my favorite performer. That's not to say that Peter is a bad actor - far from it, he's also amazing. I just think there are overall more battles where Lloyd's performance outshines Peter's than there are the other way around.

1. Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible

Winner: Ivan the Terrible

Best line: "Look alive, creme de la Kremlin's arrivin'! Try to serve Ivan, no survivin'."

…With that being said, this is one of those battles where Peter absolutely comes out on top. One strength of portraying historical figures from hundreds of years ago as opposed to fictional characters or people who are currently alive/recently died is that we don't really have as much information about their personalities, leaving how they act much more open to interpretation. And this battle takes full advantage of that. Would the actual Ivan the Terrible have acted this deliciously eeeevil? Probably not, but that's what makes it fun. Him murdering his opponents one by one and delighting in it makes him such a lovable villain. And of course, he's given a great (haha) lineup of characters with big personalities to burn through as well - the performances for Alexander, Frederick, and Catherine are all both memorable and stand out from each other - with Alexander adopting the most traditional rap style, Frederick getting a faster verse, and Catherine getting a slower, more sensual verse.

This battle also has the same deal as what I said about Rasputin vs Stalin, where it made me more curious about history, except this one gets more points for covering not only a larger span of time, but also multiple countries. The only figure in this battle royale that I was sorta familiar with was Alexander, so this definitely motivated me to look more into Ivan, Frederick, and Catherine (though it didn't really make me curious enough to want to know more about Pompey the Great, sorry Pompey :( ).

Overall, this battle just has all the best qualities of ERB rolled up into one tight package - it's funny, it's got great performances, and it teaches you a little something about history while also encouraging you to do your own research. On all fronts, it knocks it out of the park, and that is why it is my #1 favorite Epic Rap Battle of History.

And there you have it! Every single ERB ranked! Whew, this was a lot of work, but I think it goes to show that at the end of the day, I truly love this series if I can blather on this long about it. If you’ve made it this far, then thanks for reading my pointless ramblings, and look forward to more pointless ramblings in the future.

[boeingboingboing]

I wanna talk about ships and gender. Why?? Idk maybe the fact they are given names of certain gender sometimes? Like remember that time I was like "Nimitz carriers only have male names, but I want them to have some female ships"?. And despite names being male, ships are females mostly irl

Sometimes language affects gender. German, Russian and french, being languages based on gender, have ships as masculine. Yet it has always been tradition for ships to be females.

I wonder how it works in WoC tho. I have some WoC-ified ships that I'd like to share about:-

-> RMS Berengaria, formerly German and later British oceanliner, was originally named Imperator and was referred with "he/him" pronouns. But after being taken by the British, he later became a "she/her". And in my hc, she really didn't have a choice then but to play along.

-> George HW Bush (CVN-77), Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), and Harry S Truman (CVN-75) are all females in the Nimitz class, despite that they are named after males.

I'm not sure where to go much with this. I guess in WoC a ship really doesn't have it choice with names. I did once talk about how the assigned name need not be the Ship's real name, due to Flysenhower and Kittyhawk being referred with "The" before their names.

But it's interesting cause like, would all ships have the liberty to change their gender according to their preference or again have the disadvantage of needing to obey their superior companies? For those with built hc, how is the ships supposed to have an alternate name, like who would name them?

[ansburg]

— from Norman G. Finkelstein's Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History (14-16) (text below)

Yet if, as I’ve suggested, broad agreement has been reached on the factual record, an obvious anomaly arises: what accounts for the impassioned controversy that still swirls around the Israel-Palestine conflict? To my mind, explaining this apparent paradox requires, first of all, that a fundamental distinction be made between those controver- sies that are real and those that are contrived. To illustrate real differences of opinion, let us consider again the Palestinian refugee question. It is possible for interested parties to agree on the facts yet come to diametrically opposed moral, legal, and political conclusions. Thus, as already mentioned, the scholarly consensus is that Palestinians were ethnically cleansed in 1948. Israel’s leading historian on the topic, Benny Morris, although having done more than anyone else to clarify exactly what happened, nonetheless concludes that, morally, it was a good thing—just as, in his view, the “annihilation” of Native Americans was a good thing—that, legally, Palestinians have no right to return to their homes, and that, politically, Israel’s big error in 1948 was that it hadn’t “carried out a large expulsion and cleansed the whole country—the whole Land of Israel, as far as the Jordan” of Palestinians.9 However repellent morally, these clearly can’t be called false conclusions. Returning to the universe inhabited by normal human beings, it’s possible for people to concur on the facts as well as on their moral and legal implications yet still reach divergent political conclusions.

[...] Benny Morris, although approving the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and nearly pathological in his hatred of Palestinians,28 nonetheless anchors Palestinian opposition to Jewish settlement in a perfectly rational, uncomplicated motive: “The fear of territorial displacement and dispossession was to be the chief motor of Arab antagonism to Zionism.”29 What’s remarkable about this formulation isn’t so much what’s said but, rather, what’s not said: there’s no invoking of “Arab anti-Semitism,” no invoking of “Arab fears of modernity,” no invoking of cosmic “clashes.” There’s no mention of them because, for understanding what happened, there’s no need of them—the obvious explanation also happens to be a sufficient one. Indeed, in any comparable instance, the sorts of mystifying clichés commonplace in the Israel-Palestine conflict would be treated, rightly, with derision. In the course of resisting European encroachment, Native Americans committed many horrendous crimes. But to understand why doesn’t require probing the defects of their character or civilization. Criticizing the practice, in government documents, of reciting Native American “atrocities,” Helen Hunt Jackson, a principled defender of Native Americans writing in the late nineteenth century, observed: “[T]he Indians who committed these ‘atrocities’ were simply ejecting by force, and, in the contests arising from this forcible ejectment, killing men who had usurped and stolen their lands. …What would a community of white men, situated precisely as these Cherokees were, have done?”30

To apprehend the motive behind Palestinian “atrocities,” this ordinary human capacity for empathy would also seem to suffice. Imagine the bemused reaction were a historian to hypothesize that the impetus behind Native American resistance was “anti-Christianism” or “anti-Europeanism.” What’s the point of such exotic explanations—unless the obvious one is politically incorrect? Of course, back then, profound explanations of this sort weren’t necessary. The natives impeded the wheel of progress, so they had to be extirpated; nothing more had to be said. For the sake of “mankind” and “civilization,” Theodore Roosevelt wrote, it was “all-important” that North America be won by a “masterful people.” Although for the indigenous population this meant “the infliction and suffering of hideous woe and misery,” it couldn’t have been otherwise: “The world would probably not have gone forward at all, had it not been for the displacement or submersion of savage and barbaric peoples.” And again: “The settler and pioneer have at bottom justice on their side: this great continent could not have been kept as nothing but a game preserve for squalid savages.”

It was only much later, after the humanity of these “squalid savages” was ratified—in any event, formally—that more sophisticated rationales became necessary. In the case of the United States, the “hideous woe and misery” inflicted could be openly acknowledged because the fate of the indigenous population was, figuratively as well as literally, in large part a dead issue. In the case of Palestine it’s not, so all manner of elaborate explanation has to be contrived in order to evade the obvious. The reason Benny Morris’s latest pronouncements elicited such a shocked reaction is that they were a throwback to the nineteenth century. Dispensing with the ideological cloud making of contemporary apologists for Israel, he justified dispossession on grounds of the conflict between “barbarians” and “civilization.” Just as, in his view, it was better for humanity that the “great American democracy” displaced the Native Americans, so it is better that the Jewish state has displaced the Palestinians. “There are cases,” he baldly states, “in which the overall, final good justifies harsh and cruel acts that are committed in the course of history.” Isn’t this Roosevelt speaking? But one’s not supposed to utter such crass things anymore.32 To avoid outraging current moral sensibilities, the obvious must be papered over with sundry mystifications. The elementary truth that, just as in the past, the “chief motor of Arab antagonism” is “[t]he fear of territorial displacement and dispossession”—a fear the rational basis for which is scarcely open to question, indeed, is daily validated by Israeli actions—must, at all costs, be concealed. To evade the obvious, another stratagem of the Israel lobby is playing The Holocaust and “new anti-Semitism” cards. In a previous study, I examined how the Nazi holocaust has been fashioned into an ideological weapon to immunize Israel from legitimate criticism.33 In this book I look at a variant of this Holocaust card, namely, the “new anti-Semitism.” In fact, the allegation of a new anti-Semitism is neither new nor about anti-Semitism. Whenever Israel comes under renewed international pressure to withdraw from occupied territories, its apologists mount yet another meticulously orchestrated media extravaganza alleging that the world is awash in anti-Semitism. This shameless exploitation of anti-Semitism delegitimizes criticism of Israel, makes Jews rather than Palestinians the victims, and puts the onus on the Arab world to rid itself of anti-Semitism rather than on Israel to rid itself of the Occupied Territories.

9. Ari Shavit, “Survival of the Fittest,” interview with Benny Morris, Haaretz (9 January 2004). For perceptive commentary, see Baruch Kimmerling, “Is Ethnic Cleansing of Arabs Getting Legitimacy from a New Israeli Historian?” Tikkun (27 January 2004); for Morris’s recent pronouncements, see also Finkelstein, Image and Reality, pp. xxix–xxx. 28. He’s called the Palestinian people “sick, psychotic,” “serial killers” whom Israel must “imprison” or “execute,” and “barbarians” around whom “[s]omething like a cage has to be built.” See the Haaretz interview and the pages on Morris’s recent pronouncements in Image and Reality cited above. 29. Benny Morris, Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881–1999 (New York, 1999), p. 37. 30. Helen Hunt Jackson, A Century of Dishonor (New York, 1981), p. 265. 31. For these and similar formulations, see Theodore Roosevelt, The Winning of the West (New York, 1889), 1:118–19, 121; 4:7, 54–56, 65, 200, 201. 32. In fact, one isn’t even allowed to remember that Roosevelt said them: one searches recent Roosevelt biographies in vain for any mention of the pronouncements of his just cited, or scores of others like them pervading his published writings and correspondence. 33. Finkelstein, Holocaust Industry.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Aviation Day

National Aviation Day on August 19 should make us stop and think about the power of flight. Yet, some scientific and technological marvels become so commonplace that we seldom take the time to re-examine their revolutionary impact with an open and inquisitive mind.  In just a handful of generations, aviation went from pure, pie-in-the-sky speculation to a mundane reality that inspires about as much wonder as a trip aboard a Greyhound bus.

It’s that ho-hum attitude to the miracle of flight that makes National Aviation Day such an excellent national observation.  Plus, it takes place on  Orville Wright’s birthday!

Let’s take a closer look.

National Aviation Day timeline

1st Century ADChinese emperor

Legend has it that Chinese Emperor Wang Mang ordered a soldier to strap two wings to his back, who then flew 100 meters.

9th Century ADAn Andalusian takes flight

Abbas ibn Firnas is said to have covered himself with feathers, attached wings to his body and (according to Algerian historian Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari) "flew a considerable distance."

1799Cayley is the "father of aviation"

Sir George Cayley, an English engineer, described the model for a modern airplane — a fixed-wing machine with lift, propulsion and control mechanisms.

August 19, 1871Brother Orville is born

Orville Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio. His older brother, Wilbur, had been born in Millville, Indiana, on April 16, 1867.

December 17, 1903Orville pilots a plane

The Wright Brothers — with Orville at the helm and Wilbur making a final wing adjustment — completed the first sustained flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft on a spit of land four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

National Aviation Day Activities

Take a trip to North Carolina

Build your own airplane

Go "planespotting"!

What better way to commemorate the achievements of the Wright brothers than by flying to North Carolina and visiting the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills? Think of it as a pilgrimage to the spot where American flight first took off.

It doesn't have to be a real one, of course. You can build an airplane using Legos. Or, you can go for that old school-days standby — the paper plane.

Gather with a group of friends where you can watch airplanes taking off and landing. Bring food if the spirit moves you — a "planespotting" picnic!

5 High-flying Facts About Aviation

There aren't that many aviophobes

Maybe that's because so few have flown

A president flies

It started with bicycles

Who needs an engine?

Although it may seem like a lot of people are afraid to fly, aviophobia afflicts only about 6.5 percent of the population.

Worldwide, only about 5 percent of the population has been on an airplane.

The first U.S. president to fly in an airplane was the adventurous Theodore Roosevelt, who flew in a Wright Flyer on October 11, 1910.

The Wright Brothers got their mechanical training as owners of a bicycle shop.

A Boeing 747 without engine power can glide about two miles for every 1,000 feet or so that the plane is above the ground.

Why We Love National Aviation Day

We always choose the window seat

Space is the final frontier

The proclamation is simple and beautiful

Yes, some of us still stare in wonder out the plane's window as we ponder something that seems delightfully impossible. We are, after all, sitting inside a giant flying machine traveling many hundreds of miles per hour, thousands of feet above the landscape below. How can this be?

Many of the mechanical, technological and scientific breakthroughs in space travel would be unthinkable without the advancements inspired by the Wright Brothers' original experiments on a sandy strip of North Carolina coastline.

The National Aviation Day proclamation invites "the people of the United States to observe National Aviation Day with appropriate exercises to further stimulate interest in aviation in the United States." In short, it's a day to keep planes on the membrane!

Source

[amiharana]

Finally! Someone who thinks it wouldn't be a narrative mistake to bring back the champions!!

I've always seen people say that bringing them back takes away from the tragedy of their deaths, but we never got to know them enough for that to feel like a proper tragedy.

Like, they gave us one of the coolest concepts for a Zelda game story wise (Link having an actual team who are supposed to fight alongside him against Ganon instad of just people helping him along the way) and they kill them off before the game starts???

Bringing them back not only helps us to know them better but can actually improve on the tragedy thing. All of the champions have been dead for 100 years, a lot of stuff has changed and seeing their reactions to that change would be more interesting than them staying dead.

welcome to the party anon!!! i'm just selfish and i want the champions back!!!

honestly, the way the champions' presence was handled in botw in itself is a narrative mistake lol. if the point was teach link about loss and sacrifice, nintendo sure did a great job of showcasing that by. giving us absolutely nothing about the champions' importance in their respective societies. /s

ok that's a lie, i think they showed that profound impact of loss and sacrifice at least somewhat well with mipha and the zoras actually. since the zora live a long time, plenty of them are still alive from the time of the calamity such as muzu, who still held a lot of resentment and blame towards link for mipha's death, or sidon, who is always looking at mipha's statue when you interact with him at the zora's domain. the cutscene after you defeat waterblight, talk to mipha's spirit, and then position ruta to point at the castle has got to be one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the entire game. LIKE HELLOOOOO THIS PART RIGHT HERE MAKES ME FUCKING BAWL MY EYES OUT 😭😭😭 so even though we only get to know mipha for a short period of time, we could at least see and feel the effect of her death in her people and how she felt the effect her death on her people. this is a good example of portraying loss and sacrifice, for me at least.

but i can't say the same for the other champions, they don't seem to be as wrecked about their champion as the zora do. and that probably has to do with the fact that the other races don't live as long as the zora, so unlike them, the characters of other races that you interact with weren't there when their champions died. girl like kaneli probably wasn't even born yet when revali got his ass kicked ☝️😒 so for the other races of hyrule, all they get are legends and stories of these really cool people who died a hundred years prior. i know you guys aren't crying ur asses off everyday about errrr.. president theodore roosevelt dying a hundred years ago! you didn't know him like that, get out of your parasocial relationship with him!!! so in that regard, i understand the way that nintendo chose to handle the relationship between the other champions and the descendents of their people.

but ur so incredibly true for that anon. the zelda team chose to break so many traditional conventions in botw, and the addition of a group of chosen champions to pilot these technological marvels of mechanisms to fight an evil so intense that the hero actually needs that assistance for even a sliver of success has so much potential. i wish we got to know the champions of 10,000 years ago and the champions of 100 years ago. if i really got to know and love them, i would probably understand what it would be like to lose them and feel it.

[sesamie]

I looove your cowboy oc clementine so so so much

Any fun facts about him?

oh my gosh YES okay so clementine (maybe new name pending at some point since i stole his name ope) is a cowboy in the badlands around medora, his whole cowboy experience is based on what i have learned by growing up in north dakota and what it was like to live here in the plains and the badlands way back when. honestly a great deal of people here still live this way, and there's a lot of readily available historical knowledge here about it especially if you visit medora and learn about theodore roosevelt and all!! but clementine precedes teddy quite a bit, he's a cowboy in the late 1700s-ish i think?, cause at some point through some twist of fate he meets hickory ( @linafication's counterpart to this guy!) who is a PIRATE (SO COOL) and they're in butch4butch t4t dyke love forever and ever. but pirates and (american-area) cowboys don't quite neatly line up in history, so we have to do some time finagling.

anyways clementine himself!! he is something of a nomad - he goes to lots of the same towns, but he never sticks around for very long. almost his whole life since he was old enough to be alone, he's been alone. and he doesn't have any relations, only the people who have considered him honorary family across his life, especially the people who raised him. and if you asked him he would say he likes it that way! he's alone but not lonely, he would probably say. he has a horse (when people are kind enough to loan him one) and a guitar (when he can hang onto it). he's got a little money and his handkerchief and his nice gloves and a gun and a big big heart and it doesn't MATTER if nobody's ever wanted to come along with him and it doesn't BOTHER him if he hasn't ever had anyone to call his own and he doesn't MIND that he doesn't have anywhere to go at the end of the day. totally not. it's perfectly fine. he doesn't feel one way or the other about it. he doesn't even barely notice it.

and that's sort of his whole deal pre-hickory; sig and i haven't talked a lot about how they meet or sort of what happens with them, but they exist! and their story exists!

fun facts about clementine include: he does play guitar but he doesn't own one (anymore. he lost it. it's somewhere. all the hills look the same. he swears he'll turn a corner and find it one day, and that's why he can't even consider getting a new one. cause it's out there!! he just doesn't know where.) i'm interested in making him one of the three affiliated tribes (MHA) of the area but i haven't spent enough time brainstorming about him and researching to say much more about that; he was originally ojibwe cause i wanted him to be native and i'm ojibwe so it felt safe to keep him close to what i know, but unless he came from a long long ways away (which is possible!) it wouldn't make a lot of sense for him to be ojibwe. so i'm working on that! another fun fact is he operates in a grey space between outlaw and normal guy, in some places he has done his fair share of crimes, and in other places he's a well loved unsuspicious fellow! but those places have to be pretty far away from eachother cause information spreads. he does lots and lots of odd jobs for people, and his most lucrative side business is running letters between towns as a tiny mail system of just one guy. he has a remarkable sense of direction. he draws landscapes when he has the means. he's very afraid of heights. he loves dogs but politely turns down every offer for him to have one of his own when someone's dog has had puppies, cause he thinks he can't take good care of it. he wants to see the ocean (and he will i assume! with hickory!) and he's a horrible swimmer. his favorite color is red. he gets flirted with by men and women and only by accident ever flirts back. and lastly but possibly the most important fun fact, i love him very much

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Plutocratic Power and Its Perils  ::  April 17, 2023

By Paul Krugman

Opinion Columnist

The rich are different from you and me: They have immensely more power. But when they try to exercise that power they can trap themselves — supporting politicians who will, if they can, create a society the rich themselves wouldn’t want to live in.

This, I’d argue, is the common theme running through four major stories that have been playing out over the past few months. They are: the relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and the billionaire Harlan Crow; the rise and seeming decline of Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign; the trials (literally) of Fox News; and the Muskopalypse at Twitter.

First, some notes on the role of vast wealth in a democracy.

People on the right often insist that expressing any concern about highly concentrated wealth is “un-American.” The truth, however, is that worrying about the dangers great wealth poses for democracy is very much part of the American tradition. And our nation basically invented progressive taxation, which was traditionally seen not just as a source of revenue but also as a way to limit excessive wealth.

In fact, if you read what prominent figures said during the Progressive Era, many expressed views that would be hysterically denounced as class warfare today. Theodore Roosevelt warned against “a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power.” Woodrow Wilson declared, “If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States, they are going to own it.”

How does great wealth translate into great power? Campaign finance is dominated by a tiny number of extremely rich donors. But there are several other channels of influence.

Until recently I would have said that outright corruption — direct purchase of favors from policymakers — was rare. ProPublica’s revelation that Justice Thomas enjoyed many lavish, undisclosed vacations at Crow’s expense suggests that I may have been insufficiently cynical.

Beyond that, there’s the revolving door: Former politicians and officials who supported the interests of the wealthy find comfortable sinecures at billionaire-supported lobbying firms, think tanks and media organizations. These organizations also help shape what military analysts call the “information space,” defining public discourse in ways that favor the interests of the superrich.

Despite all that, however, there’s only so much you can achieve in America, imperfect and gerrymandered as our democracy may be, unless you can win over large numbers of voters who don’t support a pro-billionaire economic agenda.

It’s a simplification, but I think fundamentally true, to say that the U.S. right has won many elections, despite an inherently unpopular economic agenda, by appealing to intolerance — racism, homophobia and these days anti-“wokeness.” Yet there’s a risk in that strategy: Plutocrats who imagine that the forces of intolerance are working for them can wake up and discover that it’s the other way around..

For a while DeSantis seemed to be surging in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Much of his apparent rise reflected support from big G.O.P. donors, who saw him as a saner alternative to Donald Trump — someone who would serve their financial interests while attracting working-class support with his social conservatism and willingness to play footsie with conspiracy theories.

But some of those donors are now bailing, because it looks increasingly as if DeSantis’s intolerance and conspiracy theorizing weren’t a political show — they’re who he really is. And the big money was looking for a charlatan, not a genuine fanatic.

Among the forces pushing a DeSantis candidacy has been Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News. Fox was essentially founded to carry out the right-wing strategy of pushing plutocratic policy while winning over working-class whites with intolerance and conspiracy theories. But emails and texts uncovered by the defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems show that Fox has become a prisoner of the audience it created. It found itself endorsing claims about a stolen election, even though its own people knew they were false, because it feared losing market share among viewers who wanted to believe the Big Lie.

And does anyone doubt that if the Republican primary goes the way it seems to be heading, Fox will soon be back in Trump’s corner?

Rupert Murdoch’s organization, then, has effectively been taken hostage by the very forces he helped conjure up.

But Elon Musk’s story is, if anything, even sadder. As Kara Swisher recently noted for Time magazine, he’s become “the world’s richest online troll.” The crazy he helped foment hasn’t taken over his organization — it has taken over his mind.

I still believe that the concentration of wealth at the top is undermining democracy. But it isn’t a simple story of plutocratic rule. It is, instead, a story in which the attempts of the superrich to get what they want have unleashed forces that may destroy America as we know it. And it’s terrifying.

[riding-palominos-every-day]

So I was telling dusty about buttons making each of the newsies a stuffie and we are speculating who would get what

Oooh, this is actually a topic I find quite interesting!

So fun fact, at the time of the strike the newsies wouldn't actually have had any idea what a teddy bear is! Teddy bears are named after Theodore Roosevelt, and weren't made until he was president (I believe they were first made around 1903?)

The first recorded stuffed toy was a felt elephant (originally intended as a pincushion) in 1880. The Ithaca Kitty was the first mass-produced stuffed toy in 1892, based on a polydactyl cat called Caesar Grimalkin. I headcanon Elmer to have one of these!

However, Newsies isn't 100% historically accurate, so I reckon we can overlook that for the sake of a fun discussion lol (under the cut bc this post is already kinda long kskfkskd)

Crutchie would have a palomino horse. Jack too, perhaps, or maybe a different kind of horse (definitely a horse though). I think Buttons would make the felt elephant for himself, it's pincushion feature would be very useful. Romeo would have a puppy, Finch a bird (Buttons isn't quite sure what a finch looks like, so it looks a bit more like a pigeon). JoJo would have a bird too, but a proper white dove.Buttons stitched a little gold cross on it's chest for him.

That's all I can think of atm, but I'd love to hear any of your ideas! Sorry it started off a bit history lesson😅

[hxzelwallflower]

GENERAL INFORMATION ──────────────────────

NAME - Eileen R. Roosevelt. NICKNAMES/TITLES - ''Leeny Beany'', ''Hazelnut'', ''Mama'', ''Turtledove''. SPECIES - Cherub. (Angel species)

AGE - 29 yrs. PRONOUNS - she/her. DATE OF BIRTH - June 11th, 1994.

NOTE-WORTHY ABILITIES - Able to manifest various types of clouds, including supercells. Her wings harbor all of magic required to make them, and often has three, small cumulus clouds tucked against her bottom feathers. These clouds also produce lighting, and will exert more magic in dire situations. She use to be able to fly, but due to an accident that resulted in one of them healing crooked she hasn't been able to since. CURRENT RESIDENCE - Depends on the verse. Her main is a two bedroom house out on the edge of the city, where she lives with Iris (her best friend) and Spud. In other verses she stays in an apartment complex, (Deltarune especially) or lives with Scrooge in his mansion.

OCCUPATION - Also depends on the verse, Primary she works as a barista, but in other timelines she works retail. Her Deltarune verse has just that, working under a yellow Addison named "Antonio" who specializes in name brand clothing.

AFFILIATIONS - N/A.

SPOKEN LANGUAGES - French is her native tongue, and brushed up on her English when her family moved to the states. She also familiar with "American Sign Language".

PERSONALITY ────────────────

ALIGNMENT - True Neutral.

ASSETS - Old sketchbook, mainly used for doodling and notes. A clicker fidget in the shape of a single, keyboard key, a comb, and a travel sized perfume bottle that smells like roses.

FLAWS - Stubborn, anxious, overthinker, always tired. LIKES - Spicy foods, flowers, Vincent Van Gogh's work, the sound of rain, spending time with Spud. DISLIKES - Balloons, the heat, molting season, snarky people, overstimulation.

FEARS/PHOBIAS - Globophobia (fear of Balloons), Spheksophobia (fear of wasps).

CONNECTIONS ────────────────

FAMILY - Iris, (childhood friend), Spud (adoptive daughter), Dahlia (mother), Travis (father, deceased), Scrooge Mcduck (adoptive grandfather), Theodore (uncle).

FRIENDS - She has lots, but her closest are Derecho, Luffy, Garvey, & Nod. ROMANTIC INTEREST - As of this moment she has two ships. Donald/P.K & Spaul G. Spamton. ENEMIES - None, as of to date.

FACTS AND TRIVIA ────────────────

Hates the texture of microfiber and Velcro. It makes her cringe.

Peppers are the only vegetable she's been able to grow outside of flowers, every year she buys new plants, and every year her garden has a harvest of either ghost or habanero peppers.

Could tell you every fact about the "Jurassic Park" franchise, but forgets to set her clock during daylight savings.

She does sing on occasion, usually when she's focused on a project or in a particularly good mood.

Christmas is one of her favorite holidays, and will drag anyone in her circle to celebrate with her even if it's just to spend an afternoon watching specials.

Tends to be short and temperamental during sensory overloads. A telltale sign is when her hands start trembling, and can't look you in the eye when she speaks.

Yoinked this from @/thebigshotman, now you do it weenie!

[epersonae]

COWBOY AU FOR THE ASK GAME

I have literally never thought about writing a cowboy AU (altho I've read at least one), so this is all entirely off the top of my head:

Calico Jack is dressed exactly the same; the bird is a buzzard.

Stede definitely has this shirt (photo of 24-year-old Theodore Roosevelt trying to butch up by going to North Dakota)

The French party takes place on a very elegant train; they still set the damn thing on fire. Someone definitely says "Would you summer in New York City?"

Which means now I'm envisioning the whole thing as late 19th western train robbers instead of cowboys/cattle rustlers, and yeah a fuckery aboard a moving train, definitely. GHOST TRAIN FUCK YEAH.

also, less of a fun fact, but I keep thinking about the thing with the Indian village in ep2 and it being Shoshone or Navajo or something, and that sure does hit different (combined with the elder inviting Olu to stay there: an "old west" story is always a post Civil War story, and you know, someone could do something really interesting with that)

Let’s play a game. Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story.

[goodgamegaming]

The Top 5 Most Iconic Video Game Villians

A good villain plays a crucial role in a video game, adding depth, challenge, and excitement to the overall experience. A well-crafted antagonist creates a sense of purpose for the player, driving them to overcome obstacles and engage in the game’s narrative. A compelling villain possesses memorable traits, such as a unique backstory, motivations, and formidable abilities, which make them captivating and unpredictable. They act as the primary source of conflict, challenging the player’s skills, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities. A well-designed villain can evoke emotional responses, ranging from fear and hatred to admiration and curiosity, making the game more immersive and memorable. Ultimately, a good villain elevates the storytelling and gameplay elements, leaving a lasting impression on players long after they have completed the game.

Number 5 - Doctor Robotnik

Sonic the Hedgehog

Doctor Ivo Robotnik, commonly known as Doctor Eggman, is a prominent villain in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. He was conceived and created by Naoto Ohshima, the original character designer of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Doctor Robotnik made his first appearance in the original Sonic the Hedgehog game released by Sega in 1991. As Sonic's nemesis, he is an evil genius and mad scientist with a relentless obsession for world domination. His primary goal is to enslave the world's population of animals by transforming them into robotic minions using his technological prowess.

An interesting trivia fact about Doctor Robotnik is that his appearance was inspired by the aesthetic of the United States president, Theodore Roosevelt. This inspiration is evident in Robotnik's mustache and overall physique. The connection between the villain and the former president adds a unique twist to the character's visual portrayal.

Over the years, Doctor Robotnik has become an iconic figure in the Sonic franchise, appearing in numerous games, television series, and even comics. His role as Sonic's arch-nemesis has solidified his status as one of gaming's most recognizable villains.

Number 4 -Bowser

Super Mario Bros.

Bowser, the iconic villain from the Super Mario Bros. game franchise, was conceived and created by Shigeru Miyamoto, the renowned game designer at Nintendo. Bowser made his first appearance in the original Super Mario Bros. game, released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Initially, Bowser was portrayed as a ruthless and formidable enemy, kidnapping Princess Peach and constantly challenging Mario in his quest to rescue her. Over the years, Bowser has evolved both visually and in terms of characterization. In Super Mario Bros. 3, released in 1988, Bowser's appearance was enhanced, giving him a more menacing and imposing look. He also gained the ability to transform into various forms, such as a giant and a skeleton.

As the franchise progressed, Bowser's character expanded beyond a simple antagonist. In games like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, he was developed with a more humorous and comical side, showcasing his personality and occasional clumsiness. This evolution continued in later titles, with Bowser sometimes teaming up with Mario and his friends against even greater threats.

A notable weird fact about Bowser is that in the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros., his name is actually "Koopa." The name "Bowser" was given to him when the game was localized for the Western audience. This change was made to avoid potential trademark issues with the King Koopa character from the animated TV series "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3."

Throughout the Super Mario Bros. series, Bowser has remained a constant force of opposition, always finding new ways to challenge Mario and his allies. His presence as a primary antagonist has solidified him as one of the most recognizable and iconic villains in video game history.

Also, footnote, Jack Black did an incredible job voicing him in the new movie, just saying.

Number 3 - Ganondorf (Ganon)

The Legend of Zelda

Ganondorf, the iconic villain from The Legend of Zelda series, has a fascinating history. He was conceived and brought to life, once again, by the talented video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and his team at Nintendo. First appearing in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998, Ganondorf quickly established himself as the embodiment of evil.

Ganondorf, a Gerudo male born in the desert kingdom, possessed immense power and an insatiable desire for the Triforce, a legendary artifact capable of granting any wish. With his cunning and dark magic, Ganondorf sought to seize control of the kingdom of Hyrule and plunge it into darkness. Throughout the series, his character has undergone notable changes.

In some titles, such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Ganondorf took on a more complex persona, revealing glimpses of his tragic past and inner turmoil. He became a symbol of the consequences of unchecked ambition and the corrupting influence of power. Other games, like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, portrayed him as a fearsome and imposing figure, displaying his mastery over dark magic and his determination to conquer Hyrule.

Now, regarding the Philips CDI games, Ganon's appearance in those titles was indeed unusual and widely regarded as peculiar. In games like "Link: The Faces of Evil" and "Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon," Ganon's design deviated significantly from his traditional appearance, featuring a rather exaggerated and strange-looking character model. These games, developed by Philips and not under the direct supervision of Nintendo, offered a unique and unconventional take on the Zelda universe.

Despite his absolutely bizarre portrayal in the Philips CDI games, Ganondorf remains an iconic and memorable villain in The Legend of Zelda series. His role as the ultimate antagonist, combined with his compelling backstory and evolving characterizations, has ensured his enduring presence in the hearts of gamers worldwide.

Number 2 - Sephiroth

Final Fantasy 7

Sephiroth, the iconic villain from Final Fantasy VII, has a captivating history within the realm of video games. He was conceived and brought to life by Tetsuya Nomura, the character designer and director of Final Fantasy VII, along with the creative team at Squaresoft (Soon to be Square Enix at the time). Sephiroth's journey as a character throughout the game is as complex as it is memorable.

Initially introduced as a legendary war hero, Sephiroth becomes the central antagonist as the game's plot unfolds. A former member of SOLDIER, an elite fighting force, Sephiroth learns the shocking truth about his origins and the experiments conducted on him. Consumed by a desire for revenge and driven to madness, he sets out to harness the power of the planet for his own destructive ends.

Sephiroth's character development in Final Fantasy VII is marked by a profound sense of tragedy and a descent into darkness. His presence looms over the game, creating an atmosphere of tension and mystery. Players witness his twisted worldview and his obsession with the concept of "becoming one with the planet." Sephiroth's actions and motivations, coupled with his menacing presence, make him an unforgettable adversary.

One aspect that adds to the allure of Sephiroth is his iconic musical theme, "One-Winged Angel." Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the renowned composer behind the music of the Final Fantasy series, "One-Winged Angel" has become synonymous with Sephiroth himself. The powerful and haunting composition, featuring a Latin choir and dramatic orchestration, perfectly captures the intensity and grandeur of Sephiroth's character.

Sephiroth's legacy as a video game villain is undeniable, leaving a lasting impact on fans of Final Fantasy VII and the wider gaming community. His tragic past, descent into madness, and the powerful musical theme that accompanies his every appearance have solidified Sephiroth's place as one of gaming's most iconic and memorable villains.

Number 1 - Tom Nook

Animal Crossing

From the very inception of his pixelated existence, Tom Nook emerged as the embodiment of capitalistic insanity, a creature hell-bent on squeezing every last "bell" from the pockets of unsuspecting villagers. It's as if he was born with a calculator instead of a heart, forever calculating profit margins and interest rates in his sleep.

But what's more outrageous than his insatiable greed is his employment strategy. Who does he hire to assist him in his nefarious endeavors? None other than his sweet little nephews, Timmy and Tommy! Yes, folks, he cunningly exploits their child labor to fuel his capitalist empire. The audacity! What's next? Tom Nook's School of Business for Toddlers?

Let's not forget his lust for hoarding. Tom Nook would amass more bells than a jingling sleigh, even if it means the residents of his island suffer. While they scrape together every last shell and fish to pay off their debts, he's probably lounging in a mansion built with gold-plated turnips. It's as if he bathes in bells and sleeps on stacks of rare fossils.

And speaking of his success, how does one even become a video game landlord? Did he go to a prestigious university for land-grabbing? Is there a diploma in Real Estate Exploitation 101? I can just imagine the curriculum: "Lesson 1: How to Convincingly Smile While Conning Innocent Animal Villagers."

But you know what's truly ironic about Tom Nook's insatiable hunger for wealth? Despite his madman persona, we can't help but be captivated by his presence. He's like a train wreck in a top hat, a master manipulator with a dash of charm. We hate to admit it, but deep down, we secretly admire his entrepreneurial spirit, even if it's as twisted as a pretzel on steroids.

So here's to you, Tom Nook, the infamous video game landlord who has captured our hearts while emptying our virtual wallets. May your pockets overflow with bells, and may your capitalist insanity continue to entertain us in the most absurd and amusing ways.

Hey, thanks for reading my list! I’m Jake, a content creator, streamer, and comedian. You can find me on all major platforms honestly, just look me up! I hope you have a wonderful day!