#sds vivian

[the-face-in-the-mirror]

Been awhile since I've done one of these, and I have returned with Vivian! I debated on whether or not to do a redesign page for her, but since she's fairly relevant to Elizabeth in the rewrite I decided it was necessary.

As you'll notice, I got rid of Vivian's absolutely abysmal hairdo, and gave her actual bangs. I still let her keep the general shape of her hair since it suits her but with the goal of making her look a bit older than she does in canon. Considering she's supposed to be a grown ass woman lusting after Gil, Ifound it a little strange how young she looks in comparison to him (i.e. the baby face syndrome this show suffers from). Now she kind of looks more like a Karen, which... honestly suits her, all things considered.

Her new mage outfit is essentially just one of her Grand Cross designs with some minor tweaks, since I liked the armor with the bold red, black, and yellow. Vivian always seemed to wear very big, poofy dresses with poofy sleeves, as if to make herself appear bigger and more intimidating in comparison to how minuscule she actually looks with her helmet off. The helmet is relatively the same, with the exception of the added horns in mimicry of the Demon Clan, and the little Goddess Ambers hanging off of them. I do love me some irony.

In comparison to canon, Vivian now has a slightly more prominent role in Liones. Considering she was Merlin's student and arguably the best magic user they have, she's now the Royal Mage. Initially, she probably started as a Lady in Waiting for Queen Caroline, given that she was, at the very least, in her late teens 10 years ago when everything went down. Nowadays, she's still a Lady in Waiting, but holds a much higher position than the other Ladies in Waiting, partially because of seniority but also because she's the Royal Mage. In the first chapter, it will be established that she primarily attends to Elizabeth, managing her schedule and whatnot. This, in turn, makes Elizabeth trust her more and makes it a bit easier for Vivian to kidnap her rather than just appearing out of nowhere like she does in canon.

Vivian may be the worst, but she still knows how to serve when it counts.

That's all for now! I'm now going back to schoolwork and working on the comic, so I'll see you all later! And don't be afraid to ask any questions ;)

[thirstyokapi]

[dailymarshmallows]

VIVIAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY!!!

While not a huge take in the fandom I have seen people feeling bad for Vivian’s portrayal in 4kota mainly with her obsession with Gilthunder still being present, and of course the kidnapping of Chion. I have seen people give her sympathy seeing her as another Jericho situation where a character from the og series got worse character traits added than what makes sense (for Vivian obviously to a less extent)

But here’s the thing: VIVIAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CREEP!

I’m not talking yandere, I’m talking predator!

In sds her age is recorded as 29 and Gilthunder’s was 21. 8 year age gap.

The creepy part comes in when you remember that she has had a crush on Gil since he was a child. In the flashback scene of when Vivian places the curse on Margret and Gilthunder shortly after Zaratras’s death should have happened around 10 years before the start of sds.

Meaning Vivian has been obsessed with Gilthunder at least since he was 11 and she was 19!!!

So if anyone thinks that the whole Chion thing was major character regression, she has always been this way.

[seiyuucrossovers]

Mamoru Miyano and Kotobuki Minako

In a world where Vivian finally wins over Gilthunder

Anime: Seven Deadly Sins & Fuse: Memoirs of a Hunter Girl

Mamoru as Gilthunder & Shino

Ooyama as Vivian & Hamaji

[zeldriszezinho]

Chion tragic backstory - Part 1:

Chion, on behalf of everyone, we forgive you for everything that happened and that you said. I would also become the same person you currently are if I experienced what you did. From now on, you’re my baby and I will protect you from anything and anyone.

[sds-rewrite]

Here’s Vivian, aka the weird teleporting wizard lady that wanted to fuck an 8-year-old but waited until he was legal!

What I changed:

Gave her better hair… Because wtf were her bangs!?

Gave her a better helmet… Because it didn’t even have air holes, which would make her suffocate, and only having one eye hole would obstruct her vision-

Gave her a ribcage breastplate because I thought it would look cool

(though... I'm not the best at designing armor, so please forgive me)

Gave her Yang Sanpaku eyes, which is where there's more white above her iris than below, and it indicates a domineering personality and possible violent tendencies (which has never been proven, but it makes good foreshadowing)

Also… What was that lilac panel over her chest? It’s not her skin, because she literally has a human skin tone!

I also decided to not give Vivian ice powers in my rewrite since Jericho already has that covered... And honestly, it's just lazy to give two characters the same powers (unless there's an actually good reason they do... And in SDS, there isn't)

She doesn’t wanna fuck a 8-year-old, anymore (seriously, why are there so many damn pedophiles in this anime!?), but… She’s still a groomer

She's a sorta Mother Gothel crossed with Emperor Belos type of character: she can be both overly sweet and manipulative and conniving and ruthless at the same time

The end goal of grooming isn’t always to get a child into bed with you, it could also be to get someone to do something nefarious for them, like The Beldam from Coraline, who grooms Coraline into sewing buttons over her eyes so she can eat her

I won’t explain any more of the story, or else I’d be spoiling my rewrite-

You can find my AO3 account down here ↓

https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Enby_Geek/pseuds/The_Enby_Geek

[threbe]

Worreldane and merlin

So if the theory that Merlin in lions is true

Why not contact any of the other sins especially meliodas and Elizabeth

Maybe she that afraid of chaos,or maybe something else happened maybe Merlin got turn old by chaos or someone else like Worreldane

It been said that maybe Worreldane from merlins old home that the SD and Dk destroyed

Other think Worreldane and Merlin were students under demon clan/ of gowther

Other think she one of Merlin former students

Worreldane said to be an old mage ,so if that's true she could maybe be one of the 3 things I mentioned

If she upset with merlin do to 2 things ,Merlin getting there home destroyed,or her being a former student of Merlin she may hold a grudge against her like Vivian does

So I can see these two possibly fighting in the future and I'm sure we'll get more on the white witches backstory since she seems like such an important character who's linked to Merlin from what Elizabeth said and one of the recent chapters

She could possibly be an old friend of Merlin's or like I said a student and she could possibly cited with Arthur wanting to seek out Merlin and get revenge on her but I don't think she's letting the revenge part be known or she could just be seeking out Merlin for one other purpose and maybe that's why she cited with Arthur because they're both looking for Merlin

I actually hope we get to see more interactions between the two in the future

I especially think that Worreldane may have some hitting agenda we might not know about this is just me guessing at this point but she could be the character that could be a standing for Arthur's sister who's always appeared and aetherian legends Morgana or in some versions Morgan lafaye , Arthur's sometimes biological sister through uther penragon, and in some versions she's Arthur's half sister through his mother queen igdeg

Cuz I'm not sure if we'll see Morgan lafaye in 4 knights or not or maybe we will because in some versions of some stories like even in some of the green night stories and even in the green night movie we're going to lafaye was Gwaine mother instead of mordreds so we might not even see Mordred in this story

I would be shocked if we maybe see

Worreldane turn on Arthur and try to take him out is a way to get revenge on Merlin because if there's a possibility she wants revenge on Merlin what better way to get revenge on her then taking out something she takes so much pride in and put so much effort in for 3000 years Arthur and chaos itself

Even though we've only seen her only a little bit in the story I wouldn't be shocked if something like this happened I'm hoping we do get some twist like this where we end up finding out we have to fight her for some reason at some point in the future I think it'd be an interesting thing to see in the story but I'm also thinking some other things will happen with Worreldane down the line I don't think she going to die but will play a bigger role in the funeral especially if she ends up fighting Merlin in the future

We see that she's there along with Arthur and the other four evils but we also see in the cloud of smoke to the left a silhouette in the smoke that could possibly be Merlin

[misfitwashere]

November 12, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 13

The backdrop for today’s news is that Republicans in the Senate will vote by secret ballot tomorrow for a new Senate majority leader. That person will control the Senate calendar, deciding what measures will be taken up by the Senate for consideration and thus wielding power over Trump’s legislative plans. 

Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk, along with MAGA leaders and influencers, are backing Florida senator Rick Scott, who has signaled a willingness to do whatever Trump wants. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are also staunch party members but are not as closely associated with the MAGA faction of the party.

MAGA control of the Senate is at stake, and Trump and his team are pushing their extremist agenda so aggressively it will be impossible for Senate Republicans to pretend they didn’t know what was at stake if they vote to empower the MAGAs. 

Today the Trump transition team floated the idea that Trump could sign an executive order creating a board of retired senior military personnel that would review high-ranking officers and recommend removing any they deemed unfit for leadership. Vivian Salama, Nancy A. Youssef, and Lara Seligman reported in the Wall Street Journal that such a board would enable Trump to purge the military of the generals whom he considers insufficiently loyal to him. Generals who refused to carry out what they considered unconstitutional orders—including using the military against U.S. civilians—infuriated Trump during his first term.

The chairman of VoteVets, retired major general Paul Eaton, warned that such a plan would turn the U.S. military into Trump loyalists. Eaton also warned military personnel what that would mean for the troops, suggesting that folks should “take a look at Stalin’s officer purges in early WWII that resulted in the Soviet, now-Russian Army, enduring incompetence and the use of its rank-and-file troops as cannon meat. The American military is the envy of the world’s militaries, given its efficiency for military effect and stunningly low casualty count. Probably a good model to keep.”

Transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, “[T]he American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.” But Trump’s claims of a mandate are wrong. As vote counts continue to come in, it appears that Trump’s margin of victory was actually quite slim. 

Trump has also vowed to eliminate the Biden administration’s policies to address climate change, promising to “drill, baby, drill” and make the U.S. energy independent by increasing production of fossil fuels. In fact, the production of oil and gas hit an all-time high during the Biden administration and the U.S. exports those products, but so long as the U.S is tied to fossil fuels, it will likely always import them because the oil it exports is a different kind than it uses. 

It is not clear that even MAGA Republicans want to kill the green energy initiatives in the Inflation Reduction Act that have brought new factories and good jobs to more Republican-dominated states than Democratic-dominated states.

Today, chair and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil Darren Woods asked the incoming administration not to change Biden’s climate policy dramatically, saying that the lack of consistency on climate change is bad for the economy. “I don’t think the challenge or the need to address global emissions is going to go away,” he said. “Anything that happens in the short term would just make the longer term that much more challenging.”

Exxon has invested heavily in the carbon capture industry. In 2023, Woods predicted that the company’s low-carbon business could generate more money than its traditional oil and gas products in as little as a decade, telling investors he expects carbon capture to be a multitrillion-dollar business.

Trump and his team, apparently led by Elon Musk, have begun to float names for different administration posts, all of whom appear to be picked to replace nonpartisan federal experts with right-wing culture warriors.

For secretary of homeland security, Trump has proposed loyalist Kristi Noem, currently governor of South Dakota. Noem had been under consideration for vice president, but fell out of the running after boasting that she had shot her dog for misbehaving. Earlier this year, Noem appeared to suggest that Texas, which became a state in 1845, was one of the original signatories to the Constitution. She has been a Trump loyalist focusing on the border.

For U.S. ambassador to Israel, Trump has picked former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian who denies Palestinian rights to the West Bank, instead supporting Israeli settlements in that land and saying that “Israel has title deed” there, calling the area by the biblical name “Judea and Samaria.”  

For secretary of defense, Trump has tapped Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran and host of the weekend edition of Fox & Friends, a show Trump reportedly enjoys. As national security expert Tom Nichols points out, the Secretary of Defense has access to the nuclear command-and-control procedure. The secretary oversees about 1.3 million active-duty troops and another 1.4 million in the National Guard and employed in Reserves and civilian positions, as well as a budget of more than $800 billion.

Hegseth lobbied Trump to intervene in the cases of service members accused of war crimes, and he cheered on Trump’s January 6, 2021, rally. He became popularly known after accidentally hitting a man with an ax on the Fox & Friends show in 2015. Then, in 2019, he regained notoriety when he volunteered that he had not washed his hands in ten years because he does not believe germs are real. Hegseth has said women do not belong in combat and has been vocal about his opposition to the equity and inclusion measures in the military that he calls “woke.”

Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported that the news that Trump has tapped the inexperienced Hegseth to run the world’s largest and most powerful military “stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world.” While some Republicans say they look forward to getting to know him better, others appear to share the Pentagon’s concerns. 

But the news that Trump wants a Fox News Channel host in one of the most important positions in the United States government got overtaken quickly by Trump’s announcement that “the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy,” an entrepreneur who challenged Trump for the presidential nomination, will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” under his administration. Their advice will, Trump announced, “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” 

Their project is nicknamed “DOGE,” an apparent reference to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency and meme coin, known as “Dogecoin.” That cryptocurrency surged after the announcement of the new DOGE under Trump, adding to the gains of 153% since Election Day. 

By law, a president does not have the power to create a new department or agency, and participating in one would require Musk and Ramaswamy to get rid of their conflicts of interest.

Trump’s announcement said that Musk and Ramaswamy would “work together to liberate our Economy, and make the U.S. Government accountable to ‘WE THE PEOPLE.’ Their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026���a smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!” 

Trump appears to see himself as the founder of a new United States of America while, ironically, the real winners of the chaos he is ushering into the government will be Russia, China, and the other autocratic states eager to dismantle American democracy.

Trump’s demonstration of his plans just before Senate Republicans have to choose their leader seems an attempt to jam those who might stand against him into his camp. And yet, the Framers of the Constitution believed that the Senate would be the key guardrail to stop the rise of an autocrat who would destroy democracy and install himself as a king. They expected that the determination of senators to guard their own power would protect the nation. 

Almost two hundred and fifty years into their experiment, we’re about to find out if they were right.  

—

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Behold! :: David Rowe

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 12, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

The backdrop for today’s news is that Republicans in the Senate will vote by secret ballot tomorrow for a new Senate majority leader. That person will control the Senate calendar, deciding what measures will be taken up by the Senate for consideration and thus wielding power over Trump’s legislative plans. 

Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk, along with MAGA leaders and influencers, are backing Florida senator Rick Scott, who has signaled a willingness to do whatever Trump wants. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are also staunch party members but are not as closely associated with the MAGA faction of the party.

MAGA control of the Senate is at stake, and Trump and his team are pushing their extremist agenda so aggressively it will be impossible for Senate Republicans to pretend they didn’t know what was at stake if they vote to empower the MAGAs. 

Today the Trump transition team floated the idea that Trump could sign an executive order creating a board of retired senior military personnel that would review high-ranking officers and recommend removing any they deemed unfit for leadership. Vivian Salama, Nancy A. Youssef, and Lara Seligman reported in the Wall Street Journal that such a board would enable Trump to purge the military of the generals whom he considers insufficiently loyal to him. Generals who refused to carry out what they considered unconstitutional orders—including using the military against U.S. civilians—infuriated Trump during his first term.

The chairman of VoteVets, retired major general Paul Eaton, warned that such a plan would turn the U.S. military into Trump loyalists. Eaton also warned military personnel what that would mean for the troops, suggesting that folks should “take a look at Stalin’s officer purges in early WWII that resulted in the Soviet, now-Russian Army, enduring incompetence and the use of its rank-and-file troops as cannon meat. The American military is the envy of the world’s militaries, given its efficiency for military effect and stunningly low casualty count. Probably a good model to keep.”

Transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, “[T]he American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.” But Trump’s claims of a mandate are wrong. As vote counts continue to come in, it appears that Trump’s margin of victory was actually quite slim. 

Trump has also vowed to eliminate the Biden administration’s policies to address climate change, promising to “drill, baby, drill” and make the U.S. energy independent by increasing production of fossil fuels. In fact, the production of oil and gas hit an all-time high during the Biden administration and the U.S. exports those products, but so long as the U.S is tied to fossil fuels, it will likely always import them because the oil it exports is a different kind than it uses. 

It is not clear that even MAGA Republicans want to kill the green energy initiatives in the Inflation Reduction Act that have brought new factories and good jobs to more Republican-dominated states than Democratic-dominated states.

Today, chair and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil Darren Woods asked the incoming administration not to change Biden’s climate policy dramatically, saying that the lack of consistency on climate change is bad for the economy. “I don’t think the challenge or the need to address global emissions is going to go away,” he said. “Anything that happens in the short term would just make the longer term that much more challenging.”

Exxon has invested heavily in the carbon capture industry. In 2023, Woods predicted that the company’s low-carbon business could generate more money than its traditional oil and gas products in as little as a decade, telling investors he expects carbon capture to be a multitrillion-dollar business.

Trump and his team, apparently led by Elon Musk, have begun to float names for different administration posts, all of whom appear to be picked to replace nonpartisan federal experts with right-wing culture warriors.

For secretary of homeland security, Trump has proposed loyalist Kristi Noem, currently governor of South Dakota. Noem had been under consideration for vice president, but fell out of the running after boasting that she had shot her dog for misbehaving. Earlier this year, Noem appeared to suggest that Texas, which became a state in 1845, was one of the original signatories to the Constitution. She has been a Trump loyalist focusing on the border.

For U.S. ambassador to Israel, Trump has picked former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian who denies Palestinian rights to the West Bank, instead supporting Israeli settlements in that land and saying that “Israel has title deed” there, calling the area by the biblical name “Judea and Samaria.”  

For secretary of defense, Trump has tapped Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran and host of the weekend edition of Fox & Friends, a show Trump reportedly enjoys. As national security expert Tom Nichols points out, the Secretary of Defense has access to the nuclear command-and-control procedure. The secretary oversees about 1.3 million active-duty troops and another 1.4 million in the National Guard and employed in Reserves and civilian positions, as well as a budget of more than $800 billion.

Hegseth lobbied Trump to intervene in the cases of service members accused of war crimes, and he cheered on Trump’s January 6, 2021, rally. He became popularly known after accidentally hitting a man with an ax on the Fox & Friends show in 2015. Then, in 2019, he regained notoriety when he volunteered that he had not washed his hands in ten years because he does not believe germs are real. Hegseth has said women do not belong in combat and has been vocal about his opposition to the equity and inclusion measures in the military that he calls “woke.”

Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported that the news that Trump has tapped the inexperienced Hegseth to run the world’s largest and most powerful military “stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world.” While some Republicans say they look forward to getting to know him better, others appear to share the Pentagon’s concerns. 

But the news that Trump wants a Fox News Channel host in one of the most important positions in the United States government got overtaken quickly by Trump’s announcement that “the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy,” an entrepreneur who challenged Trump for the presidential nomination, will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” under his administration. Their advice will, Trump announced, “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” 

Their project is nicknamed “DOGE,” an apparent reference to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency and meme coin, known as “Dogecoin.” That cryptocurrency surged after the announcement of the new DOGE under Trump, adding to the gains of 153% since Election Day. 

By law, a president does not have the power to create a new department or agency, and participating in one would require Musk and Ramaswamy to get rid of their conflicts of interest.

Trump’s announcement said that Musk and Ramaswamy would “work together to liberate our Economy, and make the U.S. Government accountable to ‘WE THE PEOPLE.’ Their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026—a smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!” 

Trump appears to see himself as the founder of a new United States of America while, ironically, the real winners of the chaos he is ushering into the government will be Russia, China, and the other autocratic states eager to dismantle American democracy.

Trump’s demonstration of his plans just before Senate Republicans have to choose their leader seems an attempt to jam those who might stand against him into his camp. And yet, the Framers of the Constitution believed that the Senate would be the key guardrail to stop the rise of an autocrat who would destroy democracy and install himself as a king. They expected that the determination of senators to guard their own power would protect the nation. 

Almost two hundred and fifty years into their experiment, we’re about to find out if they were right.  

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[ramjam]

what are your favorite sds ships?

UHHHHHHH... I like a lot, but I'll try to narrow it down...

My favorite pairing is Jericho/Guila and it's been that way for almost a decade. For other F/F, I enjoy Merlin/Vivian and Isolde/Anne quite a lot. Gelda/Elizabeth is cute when I want to ignore canon. Gawain/Isolde has potential, but I think Gawain should cut her losses and get another girl, tbh. I'm curious if Nakaba might introduce one of Gawain (Arthurian)'s lovers, like the unnamed Lady from Sir Gawain & The Green Knight?

For M/F, my favorite pair is probably Gilthunder/Margaret. I like all three of the big main ships, too. Meliodas/Elizabeth is tricky because I loved it in the latter half of the series after he did a bunch of retcons to make it less weird, but it still has those problems when viewed as a whole. But King/Diane is my favorite from the big three ships. Also lowkey like Diane/Howzer, too.

Lancelot/Tristan and Dreyfus/Hendrickson are my favorite M/M pairings. Nasiens/Percy has also really grown on me while watching the anime. I mourn the loss of Gowther/Slader... and King/Ban was one of my first ships when I started watching the anime back in 2016. They're a guilty pleasure.

[equalhealerr]

any more w players that are weird towards cc?

Brittney Sykes, Diamond DeSheilds, SDS, Chennedy Carter, Victoria Vivians, DiJonai Carrington, Alyssa Thomas ect.

There's probably more that I just forgot but these are the main ones I remember

[yourreddancer]

Heather Cox Richardson 11.12.24

The backdrop for today’s news is that Republicans in the Senate will vote by secret ballot tomorrow for a new Senate majority leader. That person will control the Senate calendar, deciding what measures will be taken up by the Senate for consideration and thus wielding power over Trump’s legislative plans. (IT'S JOHN THUNE - )

Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk, along with MAGA leaders and influencers, are backing Florida senator Rick Scott, who has signaled a willingness to do whatever Trump wants. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are also staunch party members but are not as closely associated with the MAGA faction of the party.

MAGA control of the Senate is at stake, and Trump and his team are pushing their extremist agenda so aggressively it will be impossible for Senate Republicans to pretend they didn’t know what was at stake if they vote to empower the MAGAs. 

Today the Trump transition team floated the idea that Trump could sign an executive order creating a board of retired senior military personnel that would review high-ranking officers and recommend removing any they deemed unfit for leadership. Vivian Salama, Nancy A. Youssef, and Lara Seligman reported in the Wall Street Journal that such a board would enable Trump to purge the military of the generals whom he considers insufficiently loyal to him. Generals who refused to carry out what they considered unconstitutional orders—including using the military against U.S. civilians—infuriated Trump during his first term.

The chairman of VoteVets, retired major general Paul Eaton, warned that such a plan would turn the U.S. military into Trump loyalists. Eaton also warned military personnel what that would mean for the troops, suggesting that folks should “take a look at Stalin’s officer purges in early WWII that resulted in the Soviet, now-Russian Army, enduring incompetence and the use of its rank-and-file troops as cannon meat. The American military is the envy of the world’s militaries, given its efficiency for military effect and stunningly low casualty count. Probably a good model to keep.”

Transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, “[T]he American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.” But Trump’s claims of a mandate are wrong. As vote counts continue to come in, it appears that Trump’s margin of victory was actually quite slim. 

Trump has also vowed to eliminate the Biden administration’s policies to address climate change, promising to “drill, baby, drill” and make the U.S. energy independent by increasing production of fossil fuels. In fact, the production of oil and gas hit an all-time high during the Biden administration and the U.S. exports those products, but so long as the U.S is tied to fossil fuels, it will likely always import them because the oil it exports is a different kind than it uses. 

It is not clear that even MAGA Republicans want to kill the green energy initiatives in the Inflation Reduction Act that have brought new factories and good jobs to more Republican-dominated states than Democratic-dominated states.

Today, chair and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil Darren Woods asked the incoming administration not to change Biden’s climate policy dramatically, saying that the lack of consistency on climate change is bad for the economy. “I don’t think the challenge or the need to address global emissions is going to go away,” he said. “Anything that happens in the short term would just make the longer term that much more challenging.”

Exxon has invested heavily in the carbon capture industry. In 2023, Woods predicted that the company’s low-carbon business could generate more money than its traditional oil and gas products in as little as a decade, telling investors he expects carbon capture to be a multitrillion-dollar business.

Trump and his team, apparently led by Elon Musk, have begun to float names for different administration posts, all of whom appear to be picked to replace nonpartisan federal experts with right-wing culture warriors.

For secretary of homeland security, Trump has proposed loyalist Kristi Noem, currently governor of South Dakota. Noem had been under consideration for vice president, but fell out of the running after boasting that she had shot her dog for misbehaving. Earlier this year, Noem appeared to suggest that Texas, which became a state in 1845, was one of the original signatories to the Constitution. She has been a Trump loyalist focusing on the border.

For U.S. ambassador to Israel, Trump has picked former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian who denies Palestinian rights to the West Bank, instead supporting Israeli settlements in that land and saying that “Israel has title deed” there, calling the area by the biblical name “Judea and Samaria.”  

For secretary of defense, Trump has tapped Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran and host of the weekend edition of Fox & Friends, a show Trump reportedly enjoys. As national security expert Tom Nichols points out, the Secretary of Defense has access to the nuclear command-and-control procedure. The secretary oversees about 1.3 million active-duty troops and another 1.4 million in the National Guard and employed in Reserves and civilian positions, as well as a budget of more than $800 billion.

Hegseth lobbied Trump to intervene in the cases of service members accused of war crimes, and he cheered on Trump’s January 6, 2021, rally. He became popularly known after accidentally hitting a man with an ax on the Fox & Friends show in 2015. Then, in 2019, he regained notoriety when he volunteered that he had not washed his hands in ten years because he does not believe germs are real. Hegseth has said women do not belong in combat and has been vocal about his opposition to the equity and inclusion measures in the military that he calls “woke.”

Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported that the news that Trump has tapped the inexperienced Hegseth to run the world’s largest and most powerful military “stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world.” While some Republicans say they look forward to getting to know him better, others appear to share the Pentagon’s concerns. 

But the news that Trump wants a Fox News Channel host in one of the most important positions in the United States government got overtaken quickly by Trump’s announcement that “the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy,” an entrepreneur who challenged Trump for the presidential nomination, will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” under his administration. Their advice will, Trump announced, “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” 

Their project is nicknamed “DOGE,” an apparent reference to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency and meme coin, known as “Dogecoin.” That cryptocurrency surged after the announcement of the new DOGE under Trump, adding to the gains of 153% since Election Day. 

By law, a president does not have the power to create a new department or agency, and participating in one would require Musk and Ramaswamy to get rid of their conflicts of interest.

Trump’s announcement said that Musk and Ramaswamy would “work together to liberate our Economy, and make the U.S. Government accountable to ‘WE THE PEOPLE.’ Their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026—a smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!” 

Trump appears to see himself as the founder of a new United States of America while, ironically, the real winners of the chaos he is ushering into the government will be Russia, China, and the other autocratic states eager to dismantle American democracy.

Trump’s demonstration of his plans just before Senate Republicans have to choose their leader seems an attempt to jam those who might stand against him into his camp. And yet, the Framers of the Constitution believed that the Senate would be the key guardrail to stop the rise of an autocrat who would destroy democracy and install himself as a king. They expected that the determination of senators to guard their own power would protect the nation. 

Almost two hundred and fifty years into their experiment, we’re about to find out if they were right.  

[thirstyokapi]

Vivian from seven deadly sins because I wish she had gotten a redemption arc.

[batlleonafc]

I think the biggest problem with the storm is just their shooting. I'm pretty sure they are almost last in shooting percentage from the 3.both Jewell and SDS are shooting below their career 3p%. This is arguably the worst they've been in their careers. I just don't really think the superteam is working out. It's not like have no bench either. Jordan horston and Sami whitcombs r great bench players, even Vivians. I just don't really know what this team needs to be better. Do U reckon they just need more time. New York is a superteam and they gel much better than they did last yr.

Three point shooting was terrible but funnily enough Seattle scored more 3p than the Aces in this game. Nneka said in the presser that the team most likely will look very very different.

[mysticscrystalrevelation]

Game 28 Highlighted Tues, August 20 7:00pm EDT Seattle @ Washington

Starting: WASH: Atkins, Austin, Dolson, Sykes, Walker-Kimbrough (Samuelson knee injury) SEA: Diggins-Smith, Horston Loyd, Magbegor, Ogwumike

1st Quarter We're back in the loving embrace of Meghan McPeak and Christy Winters Scott! And it's an interesting time. It's trade deadline day and we just booted (career Mystic) Myisha Hines-Allen and DiDi Richards and acquired Sug Sutton. Karlie Samuelson is out still with injury. So Stef goes for 3. Then we let Seattle go on a 15-0 run. Things are physical and on the Mystics' part, sloppy. JVL hits from 3 on her second attempt. DC is fouling too much. There's a nice play—JVL to a cutting Shakira inside, but no finish. 17-26.

2nd Quarter Shakira is putting in work this quarter—rebounds, drives, floor spacing, taking fouls… Slim gets a block on Vic Vivians as revenge for her 1st quarter block on Austin. 24-28. Slim steals. Energy is back in the building. DC is getting some great second chances. We're running our offense well, but not finding net. 30-44.

3rd Quarter Earl hits back-to-back 3s to open the 2nd half. Credit to point forward Shakira Austin on that second one, who also has two D boards and now a foul line visit. Ogwumike blocks Shakira, Earl block SDS back. "Slim pickins," says Christy as Slim picks a pass and runs it out. "Moms have jokes, too." We're going to Austin inside on every play and she is shooting really poorly. We have the league's best 3-point shooter on the floor right now, can we mix in some plays for her? Meanwhile, we are still fouling too much. Atkins hits another 3. Defense has been good if not great. JVL scoops a pass way out to the perimeter to find Ariel. It's another 3. 4 of 4 this quarter. Hand on fire. With that we've roared back to 51-55. Austin makes it a 2-point game. Stef appeared to get fouled twice but no whistle. Seattle has stepped up their defensive intensity. JVL throws what looks like a mistake because it goes so high, but no, it's a classic St. Louis Arch shot. It's the kind of shot that needs slide whistle sound effects. Reverse Afternoon Delight style. Karlie's reaction is priceless. 57-61.

4th Quarter Nneka has been doing her thing all night, she gets it going to start things off. Twice now they've given Sykes space and she's put up great shots. She had a tough first half shooting wise so I love to see it. Uh oh I jinxed her as she misses everything. Atkins goes again. Good play on both sides, we benefit from some Storm misses, they benefit from some fouls. Now in a wild sequence, Slim fast breaks then cools it down, takes the shot and Engstler barely saves the rebound from going OB but it bounces to Magbegor then Austin rips it away, passes and Horston blocks the shot, she passes and Shatori steals, passes and Engstler couldn't get the scoop shot. Seattle takes a timeout and I feel like I need one, too. Stef steals a pass out of the timeout and Austin goes and-1. She now has 20, game within 2. Jewell dribbles the ball off her knee and we get a chance to take the lead. The officials had called it Seatlle ball and Eric reviewed and won, but had to sacrifice a timeout because of the ref's mistake. Next Seattle possession they immediately call Shatori on a light-if-any foul and she waves her hand, earning her a tech. Wow. Very stupid. She didn't even say anything. You don't allow reactions? Come on. Shatori serves up a driving assist to Shakira on the next play, and then Shakira steals. With 1 point separating things, Slim passes to Jewell who runs it out. 3 points down, we have 1 minute to fix it. Austin loses the ball out of a timeout. The final minute is frantic and fruitless at first, but then we finally settle down and Sykes hits a 3 with 10 seconds. Horston misses the first free throw, but makes the second for a 4-pt advantage, too much to overcome. At least we got some great basketball, especially in the second half. 77-83 final.

Ariel: 25 points Shakira: 24 points DC shooting percentage by quarter: 1st, 40%; 2nd, 26%; 3rd, 50%; 4th, 39%

[zeldriszezinho]

Chion tragic backstory - Part 2:

That’s also why Chion is so loyal and grateful towards his cousin. He saved him from that nightmare. Now I wonder what happened to that Vivian, did someone captured her? What happened?

(Anyway, Chion… you’re already 10x a better character than Jade could ever hope to be, I wasn’t wrong when I chose you as my favorite of the Tris platoon (Besides Tristan, of course)