#an absolute ruler

[filmap]

Madame X - Eine absolute Herrscherin / Madame X - An Absolute Ruler Ulrike Ottinger. 1978

Josephine de College Universitätsstraße 10 Universität Konstanz, Ebene, A5, 78464 Konstanz, Germany See in map

See in imdb

[inkyrainstorms]

I saw this post and had a vision @aroace-get-out-of-my-face

This will end in horrible bloodshed I fear

Individuals under cut!

[kayatoastkkat]

crawls out of the darkness to present this

click for better quality i beg

hello!! so sorry for kinda going on an unofficial hiatus with my art, hehe, was busy for two months with exam preparation and then lost all my data on my iPad.. so I had to start from scratch again. also procrastinated on this.

this was meant to be a profile picture for the welcome bot in @leonenjoyer69's server! also his oc, Mind Jekyll (Mindkyll for short) and I encourage everyone to check out Leon's stuff, he's a really cool guy and his ocs are pretty silly :D

version with text below

Leon begged and cried and pleaded me to include the text from a wip sketch in the final version so here it is 🎉

[backpackingspace]

Okay no idea if tattoo's were a thing in ancient greece but regardless imagine penelope and odysseus having an olive branch tattoo around their hands that connects when they hold hands.

[lastofthe20thcenturygirls]

(ln8 spoilers) jinshi thinking except for my godly looks i am just average and then his smartass goes and kills around five birds with just one brand. someone whose status is so high that even his name can't be said by anyone except the emperor jinshi branded himself with the crest of the empress vowing loyalty to her assuring her he doesn't wants to take the place of her son. one-upping his "bro" with this who refuses to let him leave the line of succession wouldn't let him become a commoner doesn't wants to let him become a servant to the royal family. only slaves get branded and if this ever got out there will be chaos in the court. gyokuyou tho considers jinshi like a brother and he did swear loyalty to her but if she ever tried to cross his family her clan's brand on his body would be enough to prove her as an adultress which would be bad for her and her clan.

and jinshi did this in front of these two people and maomao so now she is the only one who can see him naked and the emperor cannot order him to marry anyone which was something that was definitely gonna happen had he not done what he did. as a bonus he gets to spend more time with maomao after a long time and he did all this while saying the exact words: empress gyokuyou, your enemy i shall never be in front of maomao reassuring her because she once muttered i don't want to be an enemy to empress gyokuyou and he had heard her but before he could tell her that he had no intention of doing that either he couldn't because of the lishu incident. one of the major reasons maomao hadn't accepted her own feelings for jinshi one of the obstacles he promised to remove for her. even though he doesn't even know that maomao's concerns about her becoming gyokuyou's enemy had to do with his birth secret his true status. that no matter what he is the rightful successor. something jinshi himself isn't even aware of and yet without knowing that he did this to deal with it all in a single way most preferable to him: masochism

[asha-mage]

"Sid Meier's Civilization is actually about a group of immortal god kings condemned to forever struggle against each other in a never ending cosmic game in which their empires and nations are but pawns" gets brought up as a funny 'ha ha' joke about Civ, but the thing is that is the most supported reading of the game's mechanics, writing, art direction, and even trailers.

But what's really funny is that each new installment leans harder into this idea then the last. With Civ 7 making it so that leaders aren't even tied down to their 'historic' civilizations (meaning you can't even argue the 'national personification' thing anymore) and since Civs can change while leaders can't, that means that leaders are also the only constant across an entire campaign.

This means, for example, in the universe of Civilization, the likes of Gaius Octavius, Hatshepsut, Napoleon, and even Gandhi are constantly reborn, take up leadership of a small singular village, live for uncountable eons (unless slain by another Leader or dethroned), rebuild the same nation, people, empire over and over and over again with only slight variations, until one achieves victory over the others (be it by sending their people into the stars, building a society that culturally subsumes all others, conquering the world, or otherwise somehow 'winning history' by the metrics they held dear in their mortal lives) and gains...nothing as far as we know.

We don't know if they wither to dust instantly Gothel style, or reign until the heat death of the universe, or begin aging and live out a mortal life for however long remains to them. All we know for certain is that they are right back there again at the stone age as soon as the next game starts, becoming chiefs of a tribe of thatched roved houses on some unrecognizable landmass, with nothing to do but start all over again from scratch. Build the same walls and monuments and wonders, fight the same endlessly shifting battles against the same rivals. Maybe this time Rome is stamped out in antiquity, and maybe this time is launches the first space colony. Maybe Egypt raises up the pyramids once more, and maybe they raise up the Colossus, or the Hanging Gardens, or Statue of Liberty, or the Sydney Opera House. Maybe Napoleon's France finally achieves perfect ideal democracy, or maybe his warring ways lead a coalition of Japan, China, the Gauls, and Sumerians facing off against him all over again. Maybe Gandhi decides mutually assured destruction is the only way to protect world peace. The names change, the lands and continents change, the ages change, eventually even the civilizations themselves change- Gaius finds himself the Emperor of Egypt and Hatsheput the Queen of the United States of America- but the only thing that doesn't change is the leaders. Their configurations vary and sometimes they face off against a newcomer they haven't before, but always it ultimately comes back to a group of immortal rulers- the great and the good, the wicked and the genius, the mad and the unlikely, and the just plain lucky that one and all ended up in the history books- who keep trying to take one more swing, one more run, one more turn at fulling the ambitions of their mortal life, and leading their people to glory.

Because the only way to break the cycle, to the end the game (both in universe and out) is to stop playing. Give up. Stop pushing that glowing little arrow button. Stop following the ambitions, the ideals, the dreams, the hopes that lead them here in the first place.

But just like Civ players and just like humans in general, they never do.

[hanakihan]

oh hey chat look who came home, a mysterious gentleman we meet during Vienna Singularity

LMFAO I nearly died rip me I massacred him as well as ‘fake’ screenshots because NNNNNGH didn’t manage to find this in HD

ANYWAY let’s pretend there’s Vienna related singularity and we got yeeted here and mysterious signore is really insistent on being called Kapellmeister and being our local guide as well as main support servant

also count his existence similarly to Monte Cristo’s, which makes Ruler Salieri closer to his ‘when I was alive’ but also not quite, it’s complicated in a way. Despite everything he STILL considers Caster Salieri being closest iteration of irl Salieri, while also with some bittersweetness acknowledging Avenger Salieri and never denying his existence and rather opposite welcoming him, he’s middle ground

[thecosmickight]

Ruler!Andre: How does it feel to be weaker than your creations.

AB!Jinchul: How does it feel to know you have become the tyrant I once was?

Ruler!Christopher: *Plays 'Emotional damage'*

Ruler!Go: Ah I see my disaster children are finally getting along.

DM!Cha: Sir, your 'children' are a Shadow Monarch and an Absolute Being. You should be just as scared as the rest of us.

*Screaming*

BM!Yoonho: I see Jinwoo got his memory back.

FM!Lennart: So it seems.

*Screaming stops and AB!Jinchul walks out of a room*

AB!Jinchul: *Smiling* He hasn't yet, but I have.

*MoB!Goto: You're about to make a stupid decision!

**MoA!Laura: every decision he makes is stupid.

Ruler!Zhigang: I'm not about to just make a stupid decision, I'm about to make an extremely stupid decision!

*-Monarch of Beginnings

**- Messenger of Angeles

[little-shadow-club]

Incorrect Monarchs (+others) Quotes

Just in case index:

Ashborn (Shadow Monarch) Antares (Destruction Monarch) Brightest (Brightest Fragnment of Brilliant Light) Queresha (Plague Monarch) Tarnak (Iron Body Monarch) Raikan (Beast Monarch) Sillad (Frost Monarch) Ammut (Tarnak's former teacher. SL Ragnarok character) Legia (Monarch of titab's beginning ) Yogummunt (Monarch of transfiguration) Absolute Being

Ammut (Former teacher of Tarnak, hc: father figure)

This is all just headcanon feel free to read at your own risk

Tarnak to Jinwoo: Ha! What are you gonna do? Stab me? Five minutes later Tarnak, calling 911: HELP, IVE BEEN STABBED.

-

Brightest: Forgive me Father, for I have sinny-sin-sinned.

-

Absolute Being: I assume you realize that this kind of idiocy will not be tolerated in this house. Brightest: Is there any kind of idiocy you would be more comfortable with?

-

Tarnak: finds half a watermelon at Whole Foods Tarnak, holding it up for everyone to see: LIES!

-

Brightest: You know what your problem is? Antares: I only have one?

-

Absolute Being: You know, people treat me like a god. Yogummunt: How? Absolute Being: They ignore my existence unless they need something.

-

Antares: I have yet to encounter a problem where a sword didn't factor into the solution at least in some way.

-

Yogummunt: Queresha… Queresha: I can tell by the tone of your voice that you are disappointed. Alas, I must further disappoint you by affirming how little I give a fuck.

-

Legia: Rules were made to be broken. Brightest: They were made to be followed. Nothing is made to be broken. Tarnak: Uh, piñatas. Ashborn: Glow sticks. Sillad: Karate boards. Yogummunt: Spaghetti when you have a small pot. Legia: Rules. Brightest:

-

Legia: Where the hell is Yogummunt? Tarnak: Well, it is raining outside… Maybe they melted? Raikan: Shall I look outside for a pointy hat?

-

Ashborn: Queresha, you need to react when people cry. Queresha: I did. I rolled my eyes.

-

Tarnak, on the phone: I better go…kay, call me later… byeeee! Ammut: Friend of Yours? Tarnak: Nope, wrong number. Ammut: ???

-

Tarnak: Are you alright? Ashborn: Short answer or long answer? Tarnak: Short? Ashborn: No. Tarnak: Long? Ashborn: Nooooooo.

-

Antares: What is wrong with you? Ashborn: Loaded question. Elaborate.

-

Queresha: Do you have a superpower? Ashborn: Hindsight. Queresha: …that’s not going to help us. Ashborn: Yes, I see that now.

-

Tarnak: I think it’s time I get my life in order. Sillad, narrating: But they did not get their life in order. In fact, they got drunk last night and fought a raccoon.

-

Tarnak: Can we go to a haunted house? Ashborn: What’s wrong with the one we live in? Tarnak: Wh-what? Ashborn: Goodnight, Tarnak.

-

Antares: You know, there’s only one person in this world who can tell you what you are. Raikan: Me. Antares: No. Antares: Me.

-

Queresha: What's the scariest horror movie you've ever watched? Yogummunt: IT. Legia: Annabelle. Raikan: Paranormal Activity. Ashborn: High School Musical. All throughout high school I was scared that everyone was gonna randomly get up and start singing and dancing, and I would be the only one who doesn't know the words.

-

Yogummunt: I am strong! I beat Raikan at arm wrestling! Ashborn: Anyone can beat Raikan at arm wrestling. Raikan: Hey-

-

Brightest: Here you go, Sillad, a nice hot cup of coffee! Sillad: It's cold. Brightest: A nice cup of coffee. Sillad: It's horrible! Brightest: Cup of coffee. Sillad: I'm not sure if this even IS coffee. Brightest: C U P.

-

Antares: If the Absolute Being is ever been mad at anything I’ve ever said, he hasn’t done shit about it. Antares: So he either doesn’t care or he’s a coward.

-

Yogummunt: Lol. Heads up if you try to make a magic-square candle with food coloring from deseased golems, the food coloring will just sink to the bottom of the glass, and when the inextinguishable flame eventually reaches the bottom all the food coloring will catch fire and become one giant tall flame that you cannot possibly blow out and the glass will start to crack and then you’ll throw your seven-colored-elixir tea on it in a panic and then the extremely hot food coloring will boil and sizzle horribly and then the glass will shatter. Please take my word on this. Ammut: What did you do Yogummunt? Yogummunt: a Mistake.

-

Raikan: I’m a reverse necromancer. Ashborn: Isn’t that just killing people? Raikan: Ah, technically.

-

Ashborn, after dealing with Baran and Raikan and taking a vacay for the emotional baggage that day: Hey. Queresha: pissed off You… complete …ASS, Ashborn! You show up here after WEEKS, and you say “hey”?!

-

Yogummunt: Today at 7 am, Antares poured a Monster energy drink in their coffee, said "I'm going to die" and drank the whole thing. Queresha: I watched Antares brew their coffee with Monster instead of water. Three cups in two hours. I think they ascended into the astral realm. Raikan: The survivability of the dragon race never fails to amaze me.

-

Rulers: Now, Ashborn, all of us are doing this because we care about life, okay? Absolute Being, ready to create a new monarch: Except for me. I just wanted to see the look on your face.

-

Queresha: What did you order this morning? Ashborn: What do you mean? Queresha: I heard you answer the door, and I sensed food.

-

Ashborn knowing he can't die: I think we should have glow stick juice injected in our bones when we're born, so if we break our bones, we get a fun little surprise. Raikan: What's the surprise? Antares: Blood poisoning.

-

[melongraph56]

hey remember that one sketch I mentioned the other day, well it’s here!! compared to the old banner on @askyogsundesirables I’m impressed how much I’ve improved. hopefully I’ll finish the banner up in a few weeks time and have it replace the old one

[palatinewolfsblog]

"We live in capitalism.

Its power seems inescapable.

So did the divine right of kings.

Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.

Resistance and change often begin in art,

and very often in our art, the art of words."

- Ursula K. Le Guin, US-american Author and "Activist of the Imagination".

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

If neither Théoden, Éomer or Éowyn had come back alive from the Pelennor fields, who do you think would have taken the crown of Rohan? 👑Who would you have supported? 🤔

Hmmmmm….. Well, I think they’d start with the direction given to them by Théoden himself when he said, “Théodred my son is slain. [THANK YOU for finally acknowledging that!] I name Éomer my sister-son to be my heir. If neither of us return, then choose a new lord as you will.”

Exactly how that choosing would work isn’t stated. But when a line of kings failed in real life olden times, often the highest ranking political and religious leaders would get together and fight a civil war come to some decision. So I assume that would happen here, too.

First choice would obviously be Éowyn, but she’s off the table. I guess they could look for Théoden’s next closest kin, but there’s no obvious contender there — we don’t know about a single other living member of the royal family. So that feels like a dead end, and since Théoden didn’t limit their choice that way, it’s better to just look instead at who was in a position to do the job well regardless of royal heritage.

Of the people in the text who were still alive at the end of the war, we’re really dealing with Erkenbrand and Elfhelm as candidates. They’re the two highest ranking known survivors and both proven leaders who were wise and broadly respected. You could make a fantastic case for either, but I think they’d pick Elfhelm.

Erkenbrand is a great lord of the Westfold, a hero of Helm’s Deep, a man of the highest character (see his mercy for the Dunlendings after that battle), and was selected to guard Rohan when everyone else went to war in Gondor. That’s a compelling resume! But Elfhelm is also a senior noble as commander of the Muster of Edoras, a hero of the battles of the Isen and the Pelennor Fields, and a man of great character (see his disregard of rigid gender roles by letting Éowyn ride to war in his éored!). Most relevant, though, he’s also been consistently closer to the crown. He spent YEARS acting in Théoden’s place as First Marshal, first during times of peace and then basically full time when Théoden got sick. After Théodred’s death, Théoden himself promoted Elfhelm to Marshal of the Mark, one of the 3 highest military offices in the land (and one Erkenbrand didn’t get until after the war!). And Éomer, as king, picked Elfhelm to command Rohan’s main army while he rode to the Morannon with a subset of their forces (presumably to die, from the premise of the question!). So Elfhelm has worked more closely with the king on a more regular basis, is already based in Edoras, and was repeatedly chosen for positions of higher authority by multiple kings. So I think that tips it in his favor!

As for who I’d support, I’d love a queen but there aren’t any textual women characters still confirmed alive ☹️ and picking an OC feels slightly self indulgent. With those constraints, I’d be perfectly happy with Elfhelm, who I ADORE. But if I go the self indulgent route, I think it’d be ironic if Tadiel, the only one of my semi-OC sisters of Théoden still living in 3019 and a perennially overlooked middle child who spent her whole life desperate for attention she never got, suddenly and unexpectedly found herself the queen of freakin’ Rohan.

What an interesting question!! Who would YOU pick????

[morrigan-sims]

Fashion Fit for an Empress

I saw the 5th dress in my game while trying to dress another sim and immediately dropped everything to put it on her. And then things spiraled a little bit, and she ended up with 12 new outfits.

[nicomoon69]

urgh angel devil brainworms but its js me thinking abt what other things from the christian canon would be as devils

[zahra-hydris]

thinking about post-game ammabel and heinrix lately (haven't been able to really play and pretty much on the cusp of the final act)

and I was thinking yesterday about how terrifying master of whispers heinrix would be for anyone who *isn't* ammabel

he's former inquisition (and how the fuck do you even become former inquisition). he's extra paranoid about inquisition agents and the risk that they'd seek to endanger ammabel to get to him. he's already commented (in his ambient dialogue on dargonus) on how unguarded her nobility are, saying things that he could easily construe into a heresy charge. he'd have an enormous network of spies and operatives reporting to him on every minor comment or action.

and - most of all - he's completely and utterly devoted to ammabel. he's exchanged his devotion to the imperium with that to her.

he really does become her bloodhound, sniffing out any possible (even vaguely possible) conspiracy to her or her dynasty. rip to the dynasty's subjects.

[eloquentsisyphianturmoil]

Dior (Tolkien) and Elsa (Frozen) have the same aesthetic