#empire. i think it had a really good connotation to it

[not-the-grave]

for what its worth i still like our old system name

[scudslut]

em's masterlist/guidelines

fluff - 𐙚 || smut - ♱ || angst - ✾

➳ Daryl Dixon

one-shots: sins and honey flavored sweetness 𐙚 ♱ ✾ heartsease 𐙚 ♱ a summer wasting 𐙚 midnight refreshments 𐙚 a new years surprise 𐙚 ♱ lazy mornings 𐙚 stay with me 𐙚 ✾ too sweet ♱

drabbles: taste me ♱ head w/ daryl 𐙚♱ daryl’s uncut ♱ s4 daryl 𐙚 ♱ ✾

cannock chase 𐙚

➳ Scud Frohmeyer

one-shots: take me however you want too ♱

drabbles: cockwarming w/ scud ♱ scuds a slut (canonically) ♱

➳ My Edits

normy's bday dhl burn, burn, burn new bottega

please send requests!

About Me!

em | 21 | gemini

hi everyone! this is so long awaited (i’m legit so lazy) but finally i have a masterlist/about me!

╰─▸ my names emma, i’m obviously in love w daryl dixon/norman reedus. i love to write and make edits — u guys should totally follow my tiktok account @mrsemmadixon or otherwise known as scudslut;)

i met norman jdkskajajs at the nyc comic con 2023, he signed the back of my phone case, i’ll actually die on a fucking hill. yes, he’s just as godly in person.

in my day to day life i work with animals 10 hours a day, they are my main passion aside from writing and whatnot, so if i post a photo of a really cute dog i met, that’s why lmao.

i have 2 cats right now, my baby lily i got last year and sophie who i’ve had since i was a kid. typically we rescue all our animals!

i deal with extreme anxiety and depression from a major accident that happened in my life a few years ago (so if i don’t respond or have trouble posting sometimes… that’s why and i really hope everyone understands.)

I love, love, love music. I play the piano and guitar, probably not very good but who cares. some of my all time favorite artists are.. and here we go on a rampage... deftones, cigsaftersex, wheezer, nirvana, mac, frank, lana, djo, catpower, the vines, dinosaur jr, labi siffre, the kills, tom odell, strokes, velvet underground, kendrick, norah jones, red hot chilies, the smiths, billy idol, the cure, no vacation, mazzy star, fleetwood, empire of the sun, pinegrove, otis redding, neil young, etta james, summer walker, motley crue, guns'n'roses, foo fighters, biggie, shady, nelly, jay-z, $uici$ide boys, gucci... and so much more, my music taste is actually bipolar.

on that note, i actually have a playlist for daryl + norman (music he reposts/i think he’d like) lmk if u want me so share them.

i’m canadian

my parents are both extreme alcoholics, so i suffer from a multitude of childhood traumas as well as current ones. we love it here!:) but id like to think i relate to daryl in some sense, if its the only comfort i get from it.

i could live off of pasta, watermelon and coffee alone

i spend my time either at my job, reading, writing, editing or spending time with some close friends.

and that’s pretty much me!:)

please feel free to ask me questions or request fics, i will absolutely love to do them! (as long as they follow guidelines) if your unsure, just message me to clarify!

My Guidelines:

absolutely no rape/SA/even slight connotations of it.

no incest.

hitting, slapping, or any extreme violence during play, is a no.

age play - i will dabble in this but nothing major where reader is barely an adult. the most i’ll do is early/mid 20’s and daryl is his canon age.

oh yes, and i will write for all norman reedus characters! if you want someone else, messsage/ask me!

gifs/dividers from @cafekitsune

© scudslut - all works are my own. please do not steal, copy, translate or modify any of my work!

[beelzebubsis]

something i'll never be able to get over with the bbh and dapper relationship is what dapper wrote in the laboratory journal:

"But if I am a sun for him, aren't stars suppose to burn either way?"

because only dapper could take bbh's incredibly sincere and loving phrase of endearment and see the negative connotations of it, not out of distrust or resentment but rather pure logical reason. that yeah the sun is a star and stars do burn and don't truly last forever (don't get me started on the fact that bbh is canonically immortal so there's another level of angst regarding dapper fearing not living as long as his dad). that this phrase capsulate the initial feelings that all the parents had towards the eggs. because at first all the parents really did see the eggs as a means to a end, that they were the latest task / challenge presented by the island. and its not like they weren't vocal about that fact to the eggs, they explicitly asked the eggs and bragged to them about raising them the best and talking about the "prize" for raising them.

i feel like dappers the only egg that's really touched on the fact that the eggs weren't really suppose to last. that he isn't afraid of death but rather his fathers reaction to it, because it was the parents attachment to the eggs that has kept them around. dapper has always been very transparent with his mortality and potential death but i feel like this quote is the first time his character has actually touched on dapper's feeling about dying. i think another level of this quote is also the connotations of "burn" because its really makes me think of the parents interest in the eggs "burning" away (burnout) because of all the parents bbh has been the one to log on everyday and care for both him and the other eggs. and its questioning when is his father investment in him going to burn away too, because its the parents attachment that kept them around but how long can the parents remain attached.

i dont know. i absolutely adore this quote. its just got some many levels and connotations and its adds so much depth to dapper's character. i love the server lore and etc but i wish we got more from the dapper secret labortory arc because it was such a interesting arc for dapper character. anyway this quote is my roman empire.

if you've got any other interpretations of the quote i'd love to hear them.

this tik tok is also good

[paradoxcase]

The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Chapter 1

Because it was such a good experience last time, I'm going to do this one the same way as the Locked Tomb, reading one chapter at a time and then writing up my thoughts before continuing

So, first I see that there are maps in the front of the book, which is awesome, but unfortunately they are of terrible quality and are almost completely unreadable, and even after reading Chapter 1, I'm not sure where we are positioned on them:

(I am once again reading an e-book on the Nook app.) Does anyone have a better quality version of these maps?

Anyway, I like this first chapter, because even though it's from the perspective of a child it gives a pretty good picture of where we are in relation to the rest of the world, locationally and politically. The part of me that craves worldbuilding is so ready for this kind of narration after reading the Locked Tomb where none of the narrators were both able and inclined to actually tell me How Things Are and I had to glean little bits and pieces of information out of like, Gideon's Cohort fantasies and things Harrow was only vaguely aware of happening on the Erebos and so forth. This is a great observation:

I'm not exactly sure how old Baru is supposed to be, here, it kind of sounds like she picked this up from Pinion, and then just says it, because she still has that little kid complete lack of tact

Some other thing that I'm noticing now on the second readthrough is that Baru thinks sheep are "made entirely of hair" but then readily identifies that Cairdine's records are written on sheepskin. Also, the Empire has enough of an ability to make paper to make paper money, but Cairdine is not using paper for taking notes. I'm not sure if this makes sense, but I'm also not sure that it doesn't

I like that Taranoke has normalized poly marriages, presumably not always MMF marriages, but I'm curious what the actual social norms are. But this seems like we might be mainly focusing on the Empire's opposition to poly marriage and same-sex marriage rather than on what's considered normative on Taranoke

Cormorant isn't a family name, it's kind of an epithet. We have some other second names of people on Taranoke: Pearldiver and Ashcoke, which seem likely to probably be related to those people's professions. Cairdine has a profession name as his second name too, but it's Farrier, which is definitely not his profession, even if he's only pretending to be a wool merchant. So possibly in the Empire people have second/last names that are more hereditary, whereas on Taranoke they are still primarily descriptive?

The Empire has some interesting school subjects:

I'm curious what is meant by "sin" here, since there hasn't been any talk of religion at all in the chapter, and all of the social norms that are being forced on the Taranoki children by the Empire seem to come from secular origins, as far as I can tell none of these guys are missionaries. So I'm hopeful that the Empire isn't going to turn out to be a basic rehash of Christian colonialist type stuff and is instead going to be fashy in a somewhat unique way

"Social failure" sounds like it might be a term they use for cultures that operate differently than them, which they deem to be a "failure" in some way

"Tribadist" seems to be a really rare word for "lesbian" that has a similar connotation to "sodomite" with a focus on the sexual aspect, so presumably they are not any happier about marriages involving two women, and also don't have the idea that used to be common IRL that women were not actually able to have sex with each other

"Scientific Society" is maybe like social science/anthropology, except probably the old racist kind?

"Incrasticism"/"Incrastic" has no hits that aren't about this series, so I'm guessing I'll learn more about what this means later on

"Social crime" seems to obviously indicate a transgression of the Empire's social norms. I think in most societies, that would simply be seen as like, anti-social or weird, it's interesting that the Empire specifically defines this as a crime

"Sanitary inheritance" is maybe related to the "strict limited inheritance" mentioned below, which seems to be monogamy/objection to poly marriage? The focus on the word "inheritance" makes me wonder if the objection actually stems from problems that same-sex marriage and poly marriage introduces to traditional Imperial inheritance laws rather than something about sexual morality, but we are also using the words "sodomite" and "tribadist", which have connotations of sexual perversion, so I don't know

Qualms are I guess rhyming mantras of some sort? I'm curious about what "revolutionary" means in "revolutionary philosophy", since this seems to be treated as a good thing. Some historical event in the Empire's past? "Manumission" means "release from slavery", so now I'm wondering if the Empire has some history of being conquered/enslaved/colonized by some other power before they assumed that position themselves

"Social heredity" just sounds super fashy

It's also super ominous that we open the story with them just offing a guy for being in a poly/gay marriage immediately after making their "treaty" with Taranoke. I guess this is what defining it as a "social crime" allows them to do, maybe?

I honestly do not think that's a given at all

[moonstrider9904]

No because Echo has become the definition of If that's where you feel your place is, then that's where you belong it's poetic

Hear me out. Over the past year, I've moved three times. When being somewhere didn't feel right anymore, I had this calling to be elsewhere. It wasn't permanent--I thought it was. Gosh, I could have sworn the second time I moved, nothing would get me outta there again. I am currently in the city I was a year ago but with completely different circumstances, different mindsets. (Totally not meaning to make this about me, just saying that Echo's character right about now hits hard and hits home)

This sort of thing can happen in real life because change is the most normal and most constant thing in life, and your willingness to change, your willingness to adapt... fuck, it's not easy, you know? You have this calling that won't leave you alone and you can't ignore no matter how daunting the idea of change is, so get up and move, say goodbye to your family for a while, say goodbye to the place you called your home for a while because you're off to do something bigger with your life.

Yes, that scene was painful, especially when you consider the parallel between that scene and the ending of s1 with Crosshair (though the circumstances were very different), but overall, we knew Echo's character was heading here. I probably would have liked to see some more "No, don't go!" angst besides what we got from Omega, for example, from Hunter or Tech, but at the same time...

I do like that they're supportive of him. I do like that Echo got up and said "I can do more good elsewhere" and everyone else was like "Yeah, we freaking know you can, and we won't stop you."

Because (for obvious reasons lol the batch don't condone the Empire and that's that), despite the fact that this wasn't there for Crosshair, it's here for Echo and I'm just happy to see that in this show.

Because I think that, in its beginnings, TBB was supposed to be about family. And, even if this family-supporting-family trope is... lacking... in some other aspects of the plot, I loved that we got to see it here. I love that we're seeing a parallel of something that happens very often in real life with a brighter, more optimistic, less tragic light on it as opposed to Crosshair splitting to follow his path. It also goes to show how one thing can have two entirely different connotations--but I think I'll leave a whole parallel analysis between these scenes for another post.

Right now, I really just want to applaud Echo. It's no wonder he's a favorite all around, and that phrase Rex told him back in TCW s7, that phrase that's rung in my ears every time I've moved in the past year

It hits entirely different

[vapaus-ystavyys-tasaarvo]

My Les Mis Letters annotations for 1.1.11! (I really hope next chapter won’t have this many... orz)

“a philosophical bishop,” or a “patriotic curé.”

I'm not sure about the philosophical here, but "patriotic" is often used in a revolutionary context in this era. The idea being to be loyal to your country rather than a king I guess? Or that's how I always understood it. I assume “philosophical“ has as similar connotation in context.

"baron of the Empire"

After declaring himself emperor, Napoleon started building up his own class of nobility, so you see these noble titles being granted. (Especially for military service but for other kinds of service to the Empire as well, as we see here with Myriel.)

As far as I understand, these titles came with land and certain ceremonial rights, but not the kinds of privileges that the old nobility had. No tax exemptions or anything.

Hugo doesn't talk about Myriel's reaction to the title here, but obviously royalists in general were not super into this concept, as we’ll see later.

The arrest of the Pope took place, as every one knows, on the night of the 5th to the 6th of July, 1809

All this stuff about the arrest of the pope and the synod and Cardinal Fesch.... I’m apparently not “every one” because don't know anything about it.

"I am only a poor peasant bishop.”

I hope it's become pretty evident by now that bishops, even “peasant bishops”, were not poor lol

Myriel is a very special case and even he is so purely voluntarily.

"it seems that he would have been found to be an ultramontane rather than a gallican"

Straight from Wikipedia: Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarch's or state's authority—over the Church is comparable to that of the Pope.

“The ideas of the century” might also be used with a more general meaning here, though? Encompassing all the various new ideologies that arose from the French Revolution? But idk.

"on his return from the island of Elba"

Elba is an island in the Mediterranean off the coast of Italy where Napoleon was originally exiled after his defeat in 1814. He escaped in February 1815 and returned to France on 1 March (another date Hugo likes to reference). He did indeed pass through Digne on his way back to Paris! And it is also true that in Province he wasn't quite so warmly received as elsewhere along his route (Province being very royalist in general.)

"a person whom one is desirous of allowing to escape"

This tension between Myriel and his general brother is a rather mild example of how politics could divide families in this era, something Hugo himself was very familiar with. We will see other examples later.

The French army was still harbouring a lot of sympathies for Napoleon. The troops sent to capture him ended up joining him instead, or I guess "pursuing" him in the aforementioned style. Louis XVIII gave up without a fight and fled before Napoleon made it to Paris, choosing to wait for an opportune moment to return. (Which he got about three months later.)

"as much of a Bonapartist as the eagle"

Eagle was one of Napoleon's imperial symbols, chosen as a reference to Roman legions. (The other one was bees. No, I'm not kidding.)

Bees.

“I will die,” he said, “rather than wear the three frogs upon my heart!”

Louis XVIII replaced the imperial eagle on the Cross of the Legion of Honour with three fleurs de lys. I guess this guy thought they looked like frogs? I don’t see it but okay

"the good and weakly flock who adored their emperor"

Napoleon really was wildly popular among the regular people of France. He was a very charismatic leader who had given them reasons to be proud to be French. I think that's mostly what it was? And for many people he still represented a kind of continuation of the Revolution that had enabled his rise to power, despite being another monarch.

Although I guess his legal code was pretty much just the legal code that had been in the works and mostly finished before he even came to power, with some changes from him (mostly bad changes from what I’ve heard tbh), so in a way he was, sort of, continuing at least something that the revolution had started. And although the Napoleonic Code, as it ended up getting called, was deeply flawed in many ways, it did codify the abolishment of the feudal system and its privileges.

I don’t know if it’s even that deep, though, people just thought he was cool and that he would bring glory to France. In any case his popularity lasted for a long time. Its ripple effects were enough to affect the course of history even decades after his death.

[snifflesthemouse]

Final Post before I go... to remind some of you exactly who this author is...

I am a recovering addict who has almost a decade clean and serene. I know, without a doubt, I am a HORRIBLE wretched human being. I lived with a narcissistic murder/psychopath before prison, and then I lived with all kinds of them IN PRISON. I walked past meaner, more dangerous people to go poop or shower than anyone behind a screen here. I have lived life. I'm nowhere near a narcissist. You have no idea who I actually am, you only see what I construct for you to see to protect my own identity.

Saying I am a narc because people are having trouble following my very long, drawn out posts is stupid. Clarification isn't indicative of being a narc. So literally every single YT channel or anyone wanting to find a different medium for further clarification is a narc then? I think not. I think most of you pick up words and repeat them without thinking of the true connotation of the word's meaning

Really, right now, I am just thinking out loud to myself about why I am attracting dumb people here all of a sudden.

Calling me names, calling any person like me names, only makes me laugh. It's cute to me. When people call me names or say things like they have some authority... it only shows me their water levels... and boy the drought is upon us!

When you've spent the first two decades of your life conning people and putting thousands of dollars up your nose or in a vein, you get to know people. Truly see the worst society has to offer. My cellie in prison stabbed her best friend 72 times. 72. We ate lunch every day together. She was a narc.

OH, FYI... A water level is someone's mental capacity in the con world. I embrace critically thinking people who can form a thought and express it without being like me deep down inside. If you are NOT like me, you are a good person. I am not a good person. DUH.

Deep down inside, I want to show my true colors. I want to be nasty. I want to skulldrag people sometimes. I don't though, because the old ways bring back the old me. I've worked too hard in the real world and I know my real world worth.

I don't owe anything to anyone. I try to be nice and not read the comments, or even my messages. But eff all that.

If you think for one second I am not aware of how terrible a person I was, you are stupid. I know better than you all could ever...

If you feel the need to say something rude, think twice. Please. I won't be held responsible for what comes off my keyboard next if you bring it to me first.

Let's just say I've said it all about myself at least 10x as bad before and 10x worse. I've said it MANY TIMES BEFORE but it seems people are too lazy to get a clue before commenting anymore.

I DON'T WANT YOU CRAPPY READERS AS BAD AS YOU CRAPPY READERS DON'T WANT THIS CRAPPY WRITER. So GTFOH.

That is all, folks.

Well, not really... Truth is I write things, I post them and walk off and live. I took my drug addiction and turned it into an empire where I am retired. I don't make money here. I've never once received shit, even though people quote my work all the fucking time. Funny. What's even funnier is how you can post real shit with real proof and people still be like "WhAt DoEs It MeAn?!?" They believe dumb shit about fucking reptiles but not common sense logic or real proof. I don't want fucking morons around me or on my page. If that statement bothers you... go ahead and block me. I don't block people because I don't ever read anything from hardly anyone else. I read a few blogs I Know and trust. But that's it.

I used to care that this blog was growing. That it had thousands of followers. That I still to this day haven't been able to follow everyone back because of the limits daily. I used to think being nice and just ignoring the rude people was the thing to do, because hey at least they read and you made them think... that's all an author wants. Readers to think... harder, differently, whatever. JUST FUCKING THINK.

SO yeah... do with that what you will. Because this author will continue to do whatever the fuck this mouse wants. This mouse isn't like some Yter or some blogger begging for cuppas and tips. I got cash, and I got ass. I don't get shit for shit. It is my hobby. I'd get it if one of yall paid a motherfucking bill sometime. I might listen. But I do bad all by myself.

DONE

[cheryls-blossomed]

did you watch the flash s9 premiere? what did you think?

Yes, I did, and I quite enjoyed it! I went it with no expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the subtleties and nuances in Barry and Iris's relationship were handled. The last really great episode of The Flash, to me, was 6x17, although there were episodes I very much enjoyed since then, but in terms of matching that intensity, that story-telling, that emotional pay-off... I just do not think the show can pull it off anymore. So, having said that, I did really like that 9x01 instead leaned into levity, while handling the connotations of free will versus fate in the context of Barry and Iris being stuck in the time-loop with nuance. I really liked the notion of Barry wanting to fallback on needing to know every detail of his and Iris's future and needing to follow it exactly, because of the trauma of their past, and Iris wanting to choose and not have to be beholden to specific choice, because of the trauma of their past. Their feelings and emotions are informed by the trauma they have experienced the last few years, when they were physically separated repeatedly, due to Crisis, mirror dimensions, and time sickness.

I was unsure at first about Barry and his book, because initially I worried that this a lesson that Barry seems to need to learn over and over again, but it wasn't what I feared. Barry was very much in the wrong with obsessing about the book and foisting this upon his and Iris's lives, and he needed to come to that realization himself, but I understood why he was obsessing about the book and feeling like he needed to plot out the entire future, because of what's happened to him and Iris and them constantly being physically separated the last few years.

I absolutely adored the material for Iris in the episode. It was some of the best Iris content we have gotten since forever, especially because she has been dealing with so much pain and trauma and had so much violence inflicted upon her in the previous three seasons over and over again, so it was really nice to see Iris struggle internally with wanting to be able to make her choices without being told that she has to do something, because the future says so. Also, I found that scene where she's just like, "fuck it, I'm not dealing with these absurd decisions that may or may not have to be informed by the future, I am going to stay in this time-loop and not have to have all this weighing on me and just have a cocktail and for once not have to worry about all of this," so, so, so relatable. That's just such a good scene, and it felt so real. It's rare that The Flash gives us such good, relatable character moments these days, and this was one of them.

I love that Barry and Iris come up with a solution together on how to end the time-loop, while making choices on their own terms. Iris proactively finding a way to expand CCC into the empire we know it to be through the Coast City Gazette, while turning down the CatCo offer, was wonderful. CHEFS KISS. I always say that CCC is Iris's baby, and so, getting to see her expand her media empire on her own terms was really, really great.

The Westallen content was really fun, as well. I love the rom-com time-loop where they kept waking up on February 1st over and over again. Peak comedy, lol. Also the tender early morning moment. The fireplace kiss was really lovely AND THAT WHOLE SCENE WAS JUST SO SWOON-WORTHY... the romantic lighting, the "Are you sure about this?" "I'm sure about you." GOD, I've missed this peak Westallen romance so much. The power couple energy of them working through the time-loop and saving the day and breaking the time-loop together, on their own terms. The peak best friends in love energy in the pool scene. The scene by the pier, "Okay. Okay. Okay." I just LOVE how the married best friends in love energy jumped out. SO GOOD. Getting to see Barry and Iris together and happy and in love is just... give me all of that content. I am glad that this seems to be a focus this season, and I hope that it carries throughout the season.

So yes, all in all, a really enjoyable hour. It's not equal to my all-time favorite episodes, but I was not expecting it to be. I really appreciated that the episode handled Barry, Iris, and the time-loop with real nuance in the episode and that we got to see some really good character moments, because I honestly cannot recall the last time the show has afforded us this kind of nuance and character introspection.

[scarletlizzard]

Precisely, glad to see you’re catching on.

Your manners are delicious - it’s so satisfying to watch you swallow your pride and behave, just to please me. Such an eager girl. Seeing as you asked so nicely, I’m 5’7 with hazel eyes, and do feel free to allow another few inches to that considering your ‘little Brit’ is nigh on constantly in heels.

Well, I haven’t punished you for your bratty behaviour, have I? A small admonishment has always been enough to have you fawning again. Though I admit I am inclined to be lenient in that aspect; I enjoy a pet with some personality - playfulness ought to be encouraged, but I warn you not to test the boundaries, darling.

I am glad to hear that you enjoy my manner of speech, I imagine it can be an acquired taste, particularly for other nationalities. I’m particularly gratified to see your response to being called a good girl, so very responsive.

Gosh, some nostalgic names in there! I really appreciate Hozier’s tone of voice, but in all honesty I don’t think I’ve listened to him since Take Me to Church was released! Suggest a couple of his songs to me, I’ll gladly try them. For me, Labrinth has such strong connotations of juvenile drinking at messy house parties, but it seems he has moved on from the days of ‘Earthquake’! I just listened to (and very much enjoyed) The Feels, so well done you. As for Leon Bridges, I adore him - in fact he was my most recently purchased vinyl. Excellent taste, darling. Having said that, I hadn’t heard Shy and (naturally) am now a huge fan. I currently have a Laufey song (Street by Street) on my playlist, but I think I may prefer this! Another wonderful addition to the playlist regardless.

I can tell that you worked hard, and you did such a good job, clever girl.

-🫖

BEFORE ANYONE SAYS ONE WORD TO ME. This was sent before all the asks last night. But I still want to answer because it's my blog and I most absolutely can do whatever I want!!

Yeah, this aged really well, don't you think? Pride? Swallowed. Behave? I'm sat! Something about you thinking my manners are delicious just makes me want to -

You're quite taller than me, and the heels 😳😩 but also like... you're my little Brit 😙

I have to admit those hazel eyes WILL be on my mind. Also will admit you being lenient about your punishments?? Not so sure that's true. And so what if I admit you calling me a good girl had me on my knees?

Anyways I'm DONE admitting things!! Y'all are just ruthless. You're not even supposed to be reading this unless your name is little Brit. Go away!

Hozier just released an EP called Unheard yesterday that's been on repeat for me. It's four songs, and they're all so good. I'm particularly addicted to Too Sweet and Empire now. Besides the EP I think you'll like his songs Movement and Eat Your Young 😊

I can't tell you how happy it makes me that you listened, and even enjoyed my recommendations! Also that you even already listen to them. The fact that I knew so well is even more gratifying 😋 I love vinyl! Although I imagine our collections are a bit different. I do have a few classical though if that gets me any points.

[shallowseeker]

Hey Shal, I have a question about your family diner meta. Mad respect, but in the Leviathan arc Biggerson's is made out to be a bad thing. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on that, since in the Cas tablet meta where Naomi attacks Cas, you talk about Biggerson's being bigger sons -> better than their fathers because of their bigger hearts is a good thing? Anyway, I'm hoping this comes across as a friendly question!

I tend to shy away from writing about some stuff from that season, because a lot of it seems very era-attenuated. Example: how an average librarian is referred to as "Chubby" and her beau as "Chub-chaser" in Repo Man. In general some of the mean despair over "fat people" in this season comes off Hollywood-seedy and thoughtless, but it's soooo of the times.

For a little while in this era, the documentary SuperSize Me reigned supreme in every bit of small-talk and in every classroom. Jessica Simpson was a frequent target of weight-shaming, including this hugely publicized fiasco from 2009, when she looked like a walking dream BTW.

In this way, SPN is like a time capsule. (Like how, if you were alive at the time during post-"war on terror," Torture was the big topic in every current events class, verging on a buzz word. This obsession with torture looms larger in early-mid SPN because ot it.)

///

Yes, Biggerson's is a BIG motif in season 7, and with negative connotations. It's a nod to SuperSize Me. It's especially damning for the punching-down attitudes in Hollywood.

I want to point out that although the name is cheeky, Biggerson's wasn't even inherently bad in-world.

The Leviathan was a rotten supplier to this family chain industry, dosing its food with additives, which mirrors a lot of the real-world chatter about trans-fats, partially hydrogenated oil, etc. People were working really hard to get them banned!

When you get down to it, the people inside Biggerson's were being actively preyed upon under the guise of family together-time.

///

What I think... I want to carefully pivot to, maybe...

is the dark side of humanity and family, that of consumerism and exploitation.

I think overall that the family diner itself is still a positive motif, but as with every motif, there's a shadow side--the uncharitable side, a side that can be carried to extremes.

And the "shadow self" of the family diner motif is excess and greed exploiting the family by ravaging its most basic requirement to survive: shelter and nourishment.

They are making humans into livestock.

This was also a rampant idea in the 2000s: about selectively breeding farm animals so that they get dumber and dumber, until they're easy to subjugate for meat, assembly-line style.

I think they briefly touch on this again in season 12...with the Moloch monster and family business of meat packaging.

Anyway, SPN was trying to loop this idea in, too.

///

So, yes. BIG erson's. Bigger Sons. Etc. Etc.

You want your kids to be better than you, with "bigger hearts" and more kindness. But bigger and stronger can have a heck of a downside, too.

But at its heart, the family diner also represents communion and community. It is, after all, the weak, vulnerable human family that Cas wants to protect in season 8.

It's both things at once.

(ASIDE//

And Cas becomes the ideal/idea/motif of the always-working dad/husband who wants to provide for you but doesn't indulge in happiness or nourishment for himself. At least... not until the family is safe/cared for.)

///

ASIDE 2//

Flagrant consumerism is a big part of Nephilim concept, too, and that's a very ancient story.

Theirs was an extensive appetite that so drained the world they had to be eradicated to save the world. In a very real symbolic sense, We are the Nephilim. (On the nose maybe, but we are empire: too tall, too strong, too wasteful, war-mongering, dominating etc. etc.)

And my point is, I think humans have always been aware of the tension and war that comes with the competition for finite resources. Resource-hogs. It's not just a modern, "American" concept.

In early days, our conceptualization of gods and demi-gods mimics the food chain. Ergo: If gods are above us, they're like other stronger animals...they want to eat us. Thus, sacrificing to them is a way to appease them. (Psychologically.)

Humanity and religion are historically oriented towards pooling our resources to survive. Many religions, even the big ones imho, are a clever family-extension devices, that's why it they’re so littered with parental components.

(It's used to bind people “under one roof” and funnel the resources appropriately.)

Certainly, that how Cults and Causes start; in meaningful ways they're all baby/early religions. And when enough time goes by, and the leaders die, etc etc...they devolve to myth and respectable religions proper.

The ultimate difference is just... time.

If angels are royal families, ancient knights-and-tribalism, then Leviathan were supreme capitalism.

It worked well in theory, even when the execution was sometimes lacking to too campy to get the satire across. Especially coming from, you know, Hollywood. And Biggerson's is a warped shadow of that appetite symbol.

[obsidiennes]

So the short version of my thoughts on what would happen to the Wandenreich Quincy post-TYBW is survivors would either flee Soul Society or be left in the Seireitei. As I've outlined before in the long version, I think a lot of Soldat and auxiliary personnel would've had little choice but to be part of the latter group; I think generally only really Sternritter stand a good chance of fleeing. As Bambietta's profile states, she's in the latter category too.

We know that Wandenreich is a successor to Lichtreich, but by drawing a comparison with the actual German Reich, we can note that:

Although commonly translated as "German Empire", the word Reich here better translates as "realm" or territorial "reach", in that the term does not in itself have monarchical connotations.

This assertion is validated by the fact that the German Reich did not have an Emperor for quite a lot of its existence (1919–1945). So, you might imagine that the surviving Wandenreich Quincy might still continue to simply refer to themselves as "Wandenreich" in the absence of former Emperor Yhwach, but this doesn't make sense for three reasons:

After Yhwach's final use of Auswählen, all the Wandenreich Quincy know he betrayed them and the state is kind of naturally defunct

The Wandenreich Quincy would no longer control any "realm" or "reach", but would merely be "national people" (Volk)

The symbols and imagery of Wandenreich would obviously be politically unsavory and not promote a harmonious coexistence with Shinigami while living alongside them

Accordingly, changing things would be in order.

This isn't without precedent in-universe, as we know that Lichtreicht had different iconography to Wandenreich from pictures of Hubert like this and this (a three-pointed one rather than a five-pointed one) and different uniforms. Likewise, we have an example of this in German history as well, with the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland).

I think that the word Bund, in the sense of "alliance" or "league" rather than "federal" (from "federation") is an apt descriptor of what they would have. You might call the resulting state the Bundesrepublik Quincy just for brevity rather than trying to be creative.

Whatever it's called, I imagine it'd have a new look and a new political organization. So I decided to recolor Bambietta's uniform along the lines of the Amestrian ones from Fullmetal Alchemist (with some twists) and stole the star from the Republic of Korea Air Force logo to replace the Wandenreich one. My feeling is these changes would be finalized sometime before 2013.

[the-firebird69]

Troll Eats Soldier | Netflix's Troll Movie Clip

He's big about 90 ft and yeah that is about eight stories tall it's the size of the buildings in Sarasota and the guy looks real small because he's not very big by comparison. People know who he is and he's gone after this it's serious because he's devoured and Uncle Phil is gone after the series and it's because of his open display of cannibalism anybody who does that is out eventually Ken does it and he's gone and he's in the serious attack on Titan it's after a lot of films and he's a useless blob and he doesn't do well and that's what happens to him this man is a gross pig as well as somewhat normal person. No not really. He's saying things to our son but they have a double meaning and it's very rude he's just an ass and he knows it and our son is going to have some money from his death and his people will come here and die very quickly and bja will see it and get angry at the trumps we think he might die this weekend and the funeral will be this week early this week or next week even though he's dead he has to shrink yeah he's not dead completely and he shrinks down as he's freaking he's asking what they're going to do and they say they're going to put you in a casket and put you in the dirt and keep saying I'm not going and it's the Trump store doing it and the trumps are doing it and people can hear hear and see what they're doing and they're going to get them back they say but he kills one of those trumpster higher up and he didn't really have to so it is what happens but Uncle Phil has had a long history of doing the wrong thing so they trick him down and they put him into the casket and there's a funeral probably would take a week and just no funerals for the December 5th incidents until December 15th and then they are around the Wake which is closed casket so they don't bother they do have a funeral instead around the 17th roughly usually the 16th but they're not into that

It's going to happen pretty quick on and around the 17th our son will be off the Prilosec and healing and people will connotate it to the death of the morlock including Trump and it's not true.

And he'll go to the casket and they'll be a funeral but if he dies on the 1st or so they'll have a week and a half or two weeks even to try and get a hold of our son and we're not really sure who would do that they might have Aunt Rose cuz he contacted her like last and it would be simple and she is pseudo Empire and they would try and implicate her and that sounds right and he probably show up somehow I think Dial A Ride he would take tylarizes Dial A Ride I don't know what that other word is you know we do know what it is so we're intercepting but here's the point we are going after them too but he's going to get called to go down there they'll have to come and pick him up

Thor Freya

We like that and we don't care because they're going to go at each other and it's part of the plan and he'll have some money not tons enough to go to the other funerals and yeah they were after us and harming us and trying to get us when Frank was away they're trying to get me to say he died so it's not very nice and they didn't tell Uncle rosaire and got rid of his character and Aunt Ella it was not Kathy and she's not one of us but she starts to bother them a lot she still is and she should what a bunch of jerks. So we are going to go ahead with this plan too

Sherry

And this is not fun but I guess I'll be there and show up and probably be rude to our friend here I'm usually kind of rude and he's going where's Uncle Phil so yeah

Frank

We going to get out of here anyways it's a nightmare we know where they are and he says kissineme and maybe well we did hear that you knew and it's somewhere near there Cape Coral or so it's not too far we both would pick him up he says good we'll be farting the whole way it is a nightmare with this kid he farts all the time he's going to be hungry during the funeral you know it's like a big child he says he's at 17 and that's where it is his muscles are getting bigger and people are saying it he's going to be huge and I'm going to be bothering him and getting her asses kicked and it's true. I think it's something to do and really we're deprived and depraved by you idiots it's not our fault you're forcing us to do it cuz you're stupid move and you probably all die

Sherry

You probably will I'm going to leave the Earth to you now this little monster guy maybe but we have to do it our way I guess and we suck

Trump

F*** you Trump

Bja

Olympus

[kingwren]

okay this is going to get really rambly but i promise i understand this topic.

the romans had a massive empire that stretched, at its height, completely around the mediterranean sea. they had a LOT of different populations under their rule, all with a bunch of different religious practices. as the romans knew well, difference of religion is a primary source of conflict, so they needed a religiously hegemonic empire. but at the same time, they knew that forcing people to worship something they didn't originally was ALSO a major cause for conflict.

so how do you solve that? well, luckily the romans were already polytheistic. their major gods had their basis in etruscan religion, as well as other local populations that had all sort of ended up agreeing about who the major gods were, which were all eventually melded into the "roman people". and it's much easier to accept new gods if you already have a few, so, the romans went to their conquered populations and told them "yo, cool god you have there! sure, you can be allowed to keep worshipping them! we're just gonna give them a roman name, and add them to our pantheon as a minor deity! that way we're all one group, you see?" and because these people's religions were essentially left alone except for a purely formal renaming, they largely didn't mind or care. the romans (likely) didn't end up worshipping most, if any, of these gods, they were just added to the pantheon to promote religious hegemony and to keep religious conflict at bay.

so what about the greeks? well, the greeks had a very well-documented pantheon that they all mostly agreed upon across the hellenic peninsula, and islands outside of it. partially, because greeks were good at writing down what they knew, and partially because greeks just had a habit of getting on a boat and plopping down somewhere new. (this is subject for an entirely different post, though.) so you can't very well tell them that "your gods are our gods now and you can be allowed to worship them as minor gods," like that just isn't gonna fly.

so what the romans did, especially in later centuries, was overlay their major gods with the greek ones, and create essentially a "shared" pantheon. this was to promote the idea to the greeks that they had a shared cultural ancestry, but also, to promote the idea to their own people that they were *definitely* as good as the elevated philosophers and scientists of greece, which many romans at the time had become infatuated with.

so they romanised a lot of the greek gods. some of them were equated to gods they already had (such as Zeus-Jupiter, Hera-Juno, and Demeter-Ceres,) while for others a new name and quintessentially roman designation would be created. (think for example Hestia, a relatively minor goddess in the sense that not many greeks believed her to be part of the main twelve even though she was worshipped in every household, becoming Vesta, the goddess believed to be the protector of the roman people, also the goddess with the longest surviving cult following after christianity became the religion of the roman empire, because of how important she was to the beliefs of the romans.)

the adoption of the greek pantheon, it has to be said, was more for the sake of the roman people than the hellenic peoples. the greeks didn't give a shit. it was the romans who wanted to be like the greeks.

also, the idea that someone can be "stealing" a god to worship is preposterous to me. if you want to worship something or someone, adopting those religious practices that are available for you to adopt is not evil, and attaching a word with a negative connotation such as "stealing" to that is just wrong. yes, the romans co-opted a lot of pagan objects of worship in the name of religious hegemony. no, they didn't "steal" gods or religious practices.

i hope that made sense!

please correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't the romans "steal" their gods/mythology from like... everyone? i was under the impression that it was sort of like "oh hey y'all have a god for this specific thing? that's awesome i do this specific thing i'll make some offerings to your guy, too. he's (buggs bunny meme) our guy now."

religious syncretism is a little more complicated than that in a way that im sure one of my followers could give more time and energy to explaining than i can. imperialism is a part of it but calling it "stealing" is an extreme simplification

[garden-ghoul]

happy gushiwensday FRIDAY let’s have a big fat poem from the gothmaster supreme, Li He!! It’s called The Song of the Departure of the Gold and Bronze Immortal.

the autumn wind brings young liu to the flourishing tomb. night hears his horse whinny but at dawn there's no trace of footprints.

he drew balconies around the hanging osmanthus, the scent of autumn--- thirty-six palaces now overgrown with jade-green moss.

a wei official escorts the carriage a thousand long miles through the eastern pass where a sour wind rushes into their eyes.

the sky leaves room for the Han moon rising over the palace gate; the clear memory of the emperor brings on tears like liquid lead.

fading orchids in white see off guests along the chang'an road--- if heaven cared at all it would be long grown old by now.

he leaves alone with the plate of dew under a desolate moon. chang'an grows distant and the river's voice small.

LOTS of notes under the cut this time.

《金铜仙人辞汉歌》

茂陵刘郎秋风客，夜闻马嘶晓无迹。

画栏桂树悬秋香，三十六宫土花碧。

魏官牵车指千里，东关酸风射眸子。

空将汉月出宫门，忆��清泪如铅水。

衰兰送客咸阳道，天若有情天亦老。

携盘独出月荒凉，渭城已远波声小。

So normally we don’t have time for all that much research, and there’s some REALLY good stuff---I wanted to write up some of what Laurence found. To appreciate how bonkers this poem is it requires a little background, some of which the poet himself provides in his foreword. Li He writes near the end of the Tang Dynasty---he KNOWS the end of the Tang Dynasty is near---about events during the Wei Dynasty, where Emperor Ming orders a statue to be removed from his palace and driven elsewhere. The statue, the eponymous immortal, is of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. So we have three layers of history in addition to the one where we’re reading it. Now let’s see some translation notes!

young liu --- Liu-lang is a staggeringly informal way to address Liu Che, Emperor Wu of Han. The tomb is his tomb, which he started constructing at age 16 according to Laurence’s researches; he’s already preparing to be buried. At this place his life and death, his past and future, are condensed to a single point. The flourishing tomb. In the next line we’ll see just how ephemeral he is.

he drew balconies --- here it says 画栏, “draw/paint railing.” They could be brightly colored painted railings to contrast the decay evident in the next line, but I liked it as another of Liu-lang’s big plans that’s eventually been overtaken by the weight of time.

a wei official --- now we’ve had our little flashback, the statue is leaving in a carriage, escorted by an official of the Wei Dynasty.

the sky leaves room --- some fascinating word choices in this line! This phrase is 空将, “sky/emptiness leads/invites.” Normally when you see 空 you’re on alert for Buddhist Connotations, but in this case I think Mr Li has a different reason for using it. Anyway, because of the word choice I kind of imagined the sky as a stage, and the moon as the player who’s about to step out.

the han moon --- according to Laurence, this is a phrase coined during the Three Kingdoms period (which broke up the Han Dynasty and was immediately followed by the Wei Dynasty!) to evoke the nostalgia of the undivided empire (Laurence’s words). And people would just call the moon that.

tears like liquid lead --- Baike claims that this means the tears and the heart that cried them are heavy, but molten lead also has the important characteristic of being hot enough to burn. The other interesting thing here is, who would cry metal tears? Why not a metal statue? I like the idea of the statue crying as it remembers the person it represents but isn’t identical with. Either way, the Han moon and the Han Emperor are practically one and the same here.

fading orchids in white --- 衰 is delicious because it can mean both declining/waning and mourning clothes depending on how you choose to pronounce it. So yes, the flowers of summer are withering because it’s autumn, but mortal lives are also withering---maybe they’re seeing people off from this life? I don’t know enough about whether funeral processions are a thing.

the chang’an road --- it actually says Xianyang road, but for clarity I’ve replaced the name of the road with the name of the place the road is in.

if heaven cared at all it would be long grown old by now --- a SUPER interesting line, and one much-cribbed. Literally reads something like “heaven like have emotions, heaven also old.” Here 天 stands in direct contrast to 空 from a couple lines ago. They’re both the sky, but 天 is also Heaven, the dispassionate arbiter of mortal fates. So we think Heaven is also being contrasted to the mortal orchids---they wither because they care. Feeling emotion is what kills us, and lacking it makes you immortal. Heaven is, of course, also the only dynasty that will not eventually fall. I couldn’t help thinking about that post about apocalyptic prophecies as an assurance that no empire lasts forever except Heaven’s. Li He looks into the past and predicts the imminent future of his own Tang Dynasty.

plate of dew --- a plate held by the statue, which is explained in the foreword. I believe it’s for holding dew from the clouds, which has some kind of valence of conferring immortality. So here it almost feels like the statue is the one who got up and walked out of the Wei palace of its own volition.

a desolate moon --- by way of contrast to the Han moon?

chang’an grows distant --- it actually says Wei City here, referring to the city on the Wei River (different spelling than the dynasty). But this is an interesting way to refer to the capital! Poets seem to hate calling Chang’an by its actual name (maybe all cities?) and it has quite the flourishing collection of epithets. Here the city is defined by the river, not by any human activities that take place there. The river will still be there when every earthly dynasty has fallen and Heaven is the only thing left to look down on it.

[conarcoin]

SMPEarth Fanfics

There really isn’t that much fic for SMPEarth so I decided to make a post with a bunch. Some of these are my own, but most aren’t. Long post, so under the cut. I haven’t read all of these myself yet.

MY FICS:

playing imitation games - JoshA20 character study, largely based on the ARGs of SMPEarth. (Oneshot)

and if they laugh at me, i’ll make your heart my home - In an AU where Deo is exiled from Business Bay and joins AE, he finds comfort in Wisp among his new cold & hostile home. (Oneshot)

i’m so sorry (returns) - Slightly canon divergent (just timeline changes, shifting events around). Wisp apologizes for abandoning Business Bay. Deo is upset. (Oneshot)

OTHERS’ FICS:

The Stars Still Love You (They Always Will) - c!Tommy gets sent back in time to SMPEarth. (40/?)

off with their head (wait, are you serious?) - Caught in the middle of the war between Business Bay and the Empire, Charlie has to face his friend, Wilbur, on the battlefield. (Oneshot)

To cure it of sorrow would destroy it - An immortal god, Deo, grows attached to a mortal named Tommy, and is devastated by his death at the hands of a traitor. (Oneshot)

we are the crossroads - Technoblade overworks himself on a particularly scary night at the Antarctic Empire. Phil helps. (Oneshot)

the criminal from korea - Charlie got banished from New Zealand, and lives alone in his country, Kpop. Jack, a leader of the island nation, pays him an unexpected visit to apologize, much to the dismay of the other two New Zealand Soots. (Oneshot)

step one, light me on fire - On Day 19 of Charlie's SMPEarth history, he was named the first and only criminal of New Zealand. (Oneshot)

Letters From Another Millennia - Tommy and his family move into a new house in a small village, it is said to have sheltered magical creatures hunderds— maybe even thousands of years ago. What happens when he finds old letters hidden underneath the floorboards and decides to write responses to them for fun, but ends up getting in touch with a certain someone from the past? (2/15)

Before We Get Older (Let’s Do Everything) - The happiest Deo has ever seen Tommy, he thinks, is right now, as he looks over at Tommy from where he’s lounging in the co-pilot’s seat. (Oneshot)

Misunderstood Emperor - The Antarctic Empire is a grand but isolated country. It plays by its own rules in the grand scheme of things, but one thing is for certain. They are powerful extremely powerful. Ruled by their Emperor Technoblade, who is a mystery to everyone. There are several legends that have told people stories about the great Emperor but none ever tell as much as people would have liked. As one of the immortals, he is a legend in that part. But it's something more for his people and the world. He is a god, The Blood God. He not human as he is above them. This is great and all but what happens when Antarctica is forced out of isolation and people really start to meet the ruler himself. Is he anything they thought him to be? And is being called a god as good as people imagine? We shall see... (2/?)

it’s just a waltz (i’d give you anything you wanted) - After a successful battle campaign across the globe, co-emperors Technoblade and Philza take a reprieve in their mountain palace they call home. A reprieve means a break. Avoiding work. Techno struggles with this, so Phil takes matters into his own hands, and orchestrates a simple, fun plan to help Techno loosen up. (Oneshot)

Moonglass - The Antarctic Empire has long since peacefully disbanded- really, there never was an Empire in the first place. A means to an end and nothing more, their work was done and they retreated back to where their simple work waited in the southern snow. That is, until one day, when Commander Philza Minecraft is nominated to be part of the first group of players to land on the moon. Just a simple trip to survey the land, to evaluate what could be built there one day.... The reports never mentioned the dragon. (7/7)

Snow Angel - The Angel Of Death, now more than ever, is faced with the prospect of eternity. He selfishly hopes he will not fly it alone. (21/21)

Earth and Its Connotations - If things were different, if time had been a little more fluid when her hands had set events into motion, then we might have watched a completely new story unfold from the start. Dream has a question to ask of one of his friends, and that friend has an answer. The butterfly beats its wings and a hurricane brews in the far reaches of the arctic north. (Oneshot)

The Cold Brings People Together - No one would question the bond between the leaders of the Antarctic Empire. Some would call them thick as thieves, birds of a feather, peas in a pod, bolder ones would even call them like a father and son, others would run in fear at the titles 'Blood god' and 'Angel of Death'. Everyone knew that to get to Techno you would have to go through Phil and to get to Phil you would have to go through Techno. The question on the more curious, more daring peoples' minds was, how did the two get so close? (Oneshot)

for dust thou art - The Antarctic Empire's civilization fell long ago, it's cities in ashes and it's kingdom fallen to dust. The ruins are precarious and no one dares trod to the arctic to pick them over. No one, that is, except for you. The ruins of an empire beckon at your mind like the claws of a beast. (Oneshot)

hell hath frozen over. - in a world where not one angel showed him warmth, techno finds life in the arctic thrall of Death. (Oneshot)

Why Did You Return. -  And even as Deo brought the feared Midas sword to hiss neck, he couldn't find himself to feel any fear. The only emotion he could feel was raw regret, and acceptance. He knew he would relinquish his life to a God-slayer, a renowned fearless being, who would stop at nothing to protect those who he considered family. He would lose his life to TimeDeo, once a brother, now an enemy, and Wisp could not bring himself to feel any fear, only the relief that it was someone he still deeply cared for taking the anger out on him in a way he deemed justified, and there was no fear. Only the cold accepting that this was the end. (Oneshot)

I Wear The Chain I Forged In Life - “Oh,” Doomsday says. “We’ve run out of time.” “Doomsday, please, just tell me how to stop this,” Tommy begs. Doomsday does not meet his eyes. “I wear the chain I forged in life, TommyInnit. I made it link by link, yard by yard. Let us hope you’ve done the same.” (Oneshot)

old friends, old scars (new starts) - After betraying him during SMPEarth, Wisp joins the Dream SMP to offer his alliance to Tommy once more. (Oneshot)

After What I Did, How Could You Not? - Nobody had heard from this world-conquering Empire in quite some time. It had been months since Phil or Techno had spoken out for their kingdom and even Newfoundland had been wondering where they’ve gone. Tommy seemed to know, but he didn’t seem keen on sharing. (Oneshot)

[fantasyinvader]

For the record, I sensed to block this guy early so I write this openly admitting that they can not see it. So, with that said, here I go.

Even then, the devs have said it’s not a matter of Divine Right of Kings, but rather the Mandate of Heaven. That is a major point of discussion here, as the dichotomy between the two sides of MoH was the basis of CF vs. AM.

Rather than saying that each route ends with someone ruling as their Goddess-given right, it’s more that the heavens put expectations on who rules the earth and lends their support to those found deserving (Oudou). On the other hand, it also says that those who don’t have or dynasties that have lost their mandate (Hadou) are unfit to rule and encourages rebellion and the establishment of a new ruler. If you want to a really basic version of it. This is usually signaled by the likes of natural disasters or famine, if the ruler is bad than the state of the land reflects it. Think every time a story paints an evil kings domain as a harsh place where very little grows or lives.

AM was said to reflect Oudou, the proper way to rule (and having positive connotations, basically saying it’s the correct way to do things) while CF is Hadou (which has negative connotations, and has a modern usage regarding the abuse of power.). The Devs are saying that Edelgard is not fit to rule using a phrase someone, trying to say the interview was “careful” not to make Edelgard appear as the bad guy, translated as “military rule” which is how Claude describes her rule in Verdant Wind.

And you can’t really write this off with Death of the Author, when the game has text that descibes her rule. Text such as:

1) How the common folks don’t support the war until Edelgard gives them an “information campaign” according to the Japanese text.

2)  An Edelgard-aligned Shez also says that her rule oppresses the common folk and props up the nobility who bend the knee to her. We even get Kingdom nobility joining her because Dimitri is trying to limit the nobility’s power while empowering the commoners, and no surprise these people are the same ones who assassinated Lambert for trying the same thing.

3) Commoners are being conscripted to fight under the penalty of death, and those back at home are starving because all the food is going to feed the Empire’s massive army.

4) Edelgard also does not assign commoners into positions of power because her allied nobles will see it as a threat. Dorothea’s status as an ex-diva exempts her from this, as the nobility see her as on their level. For the average Joe, they need to prove themselves worthy of being given the chance whereas nobility get those positions off the bat.

5) Hubert’s endings talk about spying on the public, putting down any “threats” to the Empire with the English text mentioning rebellions. The Constance/Byleth CF ending mentions using pilfered Slither tech in order to maintain order.

6) Edelgard and Dorothea’s ending depicts Edelgard censoring a play about her until Dorothea convinced her otherwise. Keep in mind, she banned the play without seeing it, while Ferdinand also mentions his materials being censored.

7) She creates a state-run Church after prosecuting the faithful.

8) in Hopes, she flat out says her goal is the conquest of Fodlan with mention of wiping out anyone who doesn’t “believe” in her or support her ideals. Combine this with point 7 and we have grounds to make this her holy war against the non-believers.

9) Nobles are depicted as being able to hand their positions over to their kids in CF’s endings.

And more!

This is in addition to also saying that Fodlan was designed to support Silver Snow’s story. The world was built to support the story where the Church of Seiros are the good guys and Edelgard is one of the bad guys they stop.

Crimson Flower, according to them, isn’t the Empire Route but the CONQUEST route. While SS/VW/AM had “the war fucks everything up so much Fodlan needs to reunify in order to not collapse,” Edelgard is the one waging the war in the name of CONQUEST. It was decided with Edelgard to give her the roles of conqueror and villain, in contrast to Fire Emblem’s past female antagonists though the text does heavily imply she’s been manipulated since the experimentation by TWSITD into starting this war.

Edelgard is not a good guy, a “hero” only in the tradition of the ancient Greeks where she accomplishes a great task regardless of morality. Like Kratos in God of War, someone who was also a villain protagonist.

I'm amazed that even after 3+ years we're still having people refusing to admit that the Ladle and by extension the Empire are the antagonists. She's not a mustache twirling villain like the Slithers are, but she's still doing and causing bad things. Like even if the game gives her a hefty amount of sympathy, it shouldn't be hard to deduce that conquering two countries over misguided information and revanchist nationalism and trying to extinct a race that had already suffered a genocide while spewing out racist rhetoric are not heroic at all.

Ah, but you see, that is not what people see. They see

She is saving the other nations from the control of the Church.

She is lying to protect people from the truth right now, because the truth would be too much for them to handle

There is no nationalism!

She doesn't actually want to kill Nabateans. She even spares Seteth and Flayn, and offers mercy to Rhea! See? She's not trying to kill anyone!

Etc.

As such, it becomes much easier to defend her unilateral grab of power and dictatorship.