#hcr

"How much difference will the No Kings Day protests, even as big as they were, make in the face of the administration’s attempt to get rid of our democratic political system and replace it with authoritarianism? What good is an inflatable frog against federal agents?

"Scholar of social movements Lisa Corrigan noted that large, fun marches full of art and music expand connections and make people more willing to take risks against growing state power. They build larger communities by creating new images that bring together recognizable images from the past in new ways, helping more people see themselves in such an opposition. The community and good feelings those gatherings develop help carry opposition through hard moments. Corrigan notes, too, that yesterday 'every single rally (including in the small towns) was bigger than the surrounding police force available. That kind of image event is VERY IMPORTANT if you’re…demonstrating social coherence AGAINST a fascist government and its makeshift gestapo.'

I've a few questions about the Crown Heir.

Is there a difference between SR!Trysten/Trysta and HR!Trysten/Trysta? From what I've seen in other posts the character seems to be different, as if they were two different person. SR! It is that sick person who considers themself the center of the world. However, I don't know what to think of HR! Seeing they reactions towards MC, such as regret and how they heart warms happily when they are with MC, along with some things like in an old post mentioning that they would marry MC and his sister, it makes me think that those are Trysten/Trysta's true feelings. In the post telling Yesenia's past, it is said that OH was originally meant to be with Trysten/Trysta, which would be the same as the bond that T has with Yesenia. But even when T was bonded, they still had strong feelings for OH, something that Yesenia tried to erase, even so, as it happened with the kiss that T gave OH at the party, it seems that those feelings are still there.

I would summarize T Hardcore Route in "there are things that are beautiful for the simple fact of not being able to possess them". They had OH's love for a while, but now they lost it, and now Trysten/Trysta is slowly falling for the MC, feeling things from someone who is in love.

T is still a piece of trash who deserves to rot in the depths of the abyss, but HR! it seems that something of the original Trysten/Trysta still exists, which could make them even a little more decent. It doesn't mean that they deserves to be with MC after what they did to OH, only the other RO have that right. They are cinnamon rolls.

What would the RO think when they see the events of the Original Timeline and how Yesenia ruined everything? Especially T seeing that Yesenia mentally manipulated them and Cadmus preparing all kinds of torture.

Anon, this took extra time, so I apologize! I felt like I needed to revisit a lot of plot points before attempting to answer your question properly. This will be a long one.

♡♡♡♡

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let me point out that in the past, Lady Anaya had a habit of sealing away the OH’s memories.

There’s a distinction between the Soft-Core Revenge (SCR) and Hard-Core Revenge (HCR) versions of T.

SCR T leans toward believing that the MC is playing hard to get, especially when they "coincidentally" bump into or try to avoid them—whether at school, in the cafeteria, or simply existing in Nasmar. This route is a mix of the Good Life and Hardcore Revenge paths—while T is just as insufferable as in the Good Life route, there's an added layer of obsession. HCR, on the other hand, is about making T suffer. The MC keeps them at arm’s length, refusing to take any crap from anyone. Because of this distance, T starts noticing small details about the MC—along with memories buried deep in their mind. Ultimately, the readers will decide what these details are, but let’s use a simple example: Say the MC is allergic to cucumbers. During a dinner before the big competition, T will notice that the MC has the exact same allergy as Yesenia. This realization will unsettle them, making them question things they never have before.(I use "MC" because the body now belongs to the PC.)

When the OH was younger, they noticed gaps in their memories—for instance, they might remember going flower picking one day, but not who they met or what happened afterward.

Even though this route is hardcore, T is still genuine toward the MC. However, expressing those emotions is difficult for them. And when they do manage to show vulnerability, they’re quickly reminded of their position in the relationship—that what exists between them is just a casual hookup.

By using sex as a guise, T gets to spend extra time with the MC. However, this only makes things worse—memories and flashbacks of their past with Yesenia begin resurfacing, but oddly, as these memories emerge, the face of Yesenia blurs and is replaced by the MC's face.

T carries deep regret and guilt. They’ve harmed the OH in many ways, yet, despite everything, they did their best to protect them. But someone is always interfering—T feels like a puppet, their strings pulled by others.

In the updated plotline, T and Yesenia are ill-fated, which is why, at the Ritual Union, [REDACTED].

What Yesenia doesn’t realize is that even if she strips away someone’s memories, the emotions tied to those moments never truly disappear. They linger, buried beneath the surface, waiting for the slightest tug or push to piece themselves back together.

No matter how much is erased or tampered with, T’s feelings for the MC will always remain. That is the root of their growing obsession—one that grows with every passing second.

And that kiss? It wasn’t child’s play. In the updated plot, T despises the idea of swapping spit with others—but with the PC, everything feels different.

And it’s because of this love that T will be driven down a path of no return, uncovering secrets about their family they were never meant to know.

♡♡♡♡

Honestly, Anon, I’m conflicted about a lot of things. The changes surrounding this RO are ones I believe will leave my readers completely shaken. But beneath it all, the only thing I can say for sure is that T is innocent in all of this.

…But still, I refuse to bend. I hate this character.

As for your final question—yes, something like this will happen at the end of Arc 1. Yesenia will cross an unforgivable line, realizing that everything she once held in her grasp is slipping away—T, the wealth of the ${surname2} household—and that realization will make her snap.

History will repeat itself. But this time, the hunter won’t stop at just 2,000 souls.

Everyone’s reaction falls into spoiler territory, but one thing is certain—Artilius knows everything. He even helped Yesenia orchestrate it.

......

Anyways… I can’t spill any more.

That should tie everything up for this ask. 🥴❤️

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON - JUN 11

Today President Donald J. Trump made it clear that the provocations he and his administration are escalating in Los Angeles and now elsewhere are using the issue of immigration to suppress dissent entirely.

In the Oval Office today, Trump said of the military parade scheduled for this Saturday: “If there’s any protester wants to come out, they will be met with very big force…. For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”

His statement comes after the administration instituted aggressive immigration sweeps in Los Angeles during which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) met the few hundred protesters with violence.

Then, over the protests of both Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and California governor Gavin Newsom, Trump federalized 4,000 members of California’s National Guard and ordered 700 Marines to Los Angeles. He and his advisors have repeatedly threatened to arrest anyone who does not cooperate with ICE, including Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom.

Trump has said he based his decision to federalize the National Guard on his insistence that Los Angeles is staggering under violent riots, but in fact the protests are largely peaceful and local officials maintain they can handle the situation.

Still, Trump described Los Angeles as “invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals,” and said “violent insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations.” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called Los Angeles a “city of criminals,” and other MAGA lawmakers have gotten into the act. Will Sommer of The Bulwark pointed out today that MAGA influencers are also pushing for more crackdowns and more cruelty in a feedback loop as they and White House officials push each other toward more and more cruelty toward immigrants.

But the narrative that L.A. is under siege is hard to make stick. Protesters have been filming the bands playing and people dancing at the protests, which remain small. They have also filmed the ICE agents shooting less-lethal bullets at individuals, including an Australian journalist who was speaking to a camera when she was shot from behind. The complaint against SEIU leader David Huerta, who has been charged with conspiring to impede an officer, says that he walked and sat on a public sidewalk in such a way that he blocked an ICE van before an officer pushed him to the ground and arrested him.

Economist Paul Krugman notes that “Los Angeles right now is probably as safe as it has ever been,” and Newsom has been meeting the claims of MAGA politicians that the city is a hellscape with actual statistics showing that California is safer than their own states. He reminded Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin that Oklahoma’s murder rate is 40% higher than California’s and, after Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville called for Newsom to be arrested, retorted: “Alabama has 3X the homicide rate of California. Its murder rate is ranked third in the entire country. Stick to football, bro.”

As Maria Sacchetti of the Washington Post noted today, California recently became the fourth largest economy in the world. It has the highest number of immigrants in the country—although many have moved in the past few years to more affordable states—and unemployment numbers are close to the national average.

But Trump has always managed his public affairs by projecting dominance in a fake world; his political instincts for keeping attention on himself have been compared to the kayfabe of professional wrestling.

This afternoon he upped the ante again. In a speech at the Army base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Trump delivered a fiercely partisan speech that sounded like it was written by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. In front of a crowd of enlisted personnel who journalist Jane Coaston reported had been carefully selected to be Trump supporters and “to be fit and not look fat,” Trump claimed the U.S. was under a “foreign invasion” because of “stupid people or radical Left people or sick people.” He goaded the personnel into booing Newsom and Bass.

Since the days of George Washington, the American armed forces have been strictly nonpartisan, declaring their allegiance to the U.S. Constitution itself rather than to any leader.

Simon Rosenberg of Hopium Chronicles noted that Trump is “turning the world’s powerful military away from its focus on Russia and China toward a new enemy—the American people themselves.” He mused: “I’ve been saying that I felt Trump’s dramatic escalation in recent days was driven in part by Musk’s emasculation of him last week. I also wonder whether it’s being driven by Zelensky’s profound humiliation of Putin, and Putin lashing out at Trump for not delivering Ukraine to him.”

Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times reported today that right-wing bots, trolls, conspiracy theorists, and MAGA influencers are flooding social media with messages designed to attack immigrants and Democrats and defend Trump. Many of those accounts are linked to Russia and Russian disinformation.

It certainly feels as if administration officials are going for broke in ways that benefit Russia. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard today released a video warning that the world is close to a nuclear war caused by a political elite that expects it can survive one in special bunkers. Gabbard has a history of parroting Russian propaganda, and famously, Russian president Vladimir Putin has used the threat of nuclear war to press his demands against Ukraine.

A YouGov poll out today shows that only 34% of American adults approve of Trump’s deployment of Marines to the Los Angeles area to respond to protests over the enforcement of immigration laws while 47% do not approve. Only 38% of American adults approve of Trump’s deployment of National Guard soldiers to L.A., while 45% disapprove. A strong majority—56%—of Americans think state and local officials should take the lead in responding to the L.A. protests, while only 25% think the federal government should.

Strikingly, 50% of adults disapprove of the administration's handling of deportations, while only 39% approve.

Those numbers were gathered before Pentagon comptroller Bryn MacDonnell told the House Defense Appropriations Committee today that the Pentagon estimates the cost of federalizing the National Guard and deploying the Marines to Los Angeles at $134 million.

Today the Department of Justice announced it was indicting Representative LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) on three counts of “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers” after a May 19 event in front of a Newark, New Jersey, ICE detention center. McIver was at the detention center with others as part of her oversight responsibilities, and a video shows her being jostled with a crowd that includes an ICE officer, but no one breaks stride. McIver called the charges “a brazen attempt at political intimidation.”

Tonight Governor Newsom delivered a prime-time address about the events of the past few days. He outlined the story of the ICE raids and Trump’s escalation of conflict. He urged protesters to exercise their First Amendment rights peacefully and warned that anyone participating in violence would be held accountable.

Then the governor launched into a wholesale condemnation of the Trump regime. He warned that “[i]f some of us can be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe. Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there.”

Newsom called Trump out for firing the government watchdogs that could hold him accountable for fraud, and for declaring war “on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases quite literally are vanishing. He’s delegitimizing news organizations and he’s assaulting the First Amendment…. [H]e’s dictating what universities themselves can teach. He’s targeting law firms and the judicial branch that are the foundations of an orderly and civil society. He’s calling for a sitting governor to be arrested for no other reason than…, in his own words, ‘for getting elected.’”

“[T]his isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles,” Newsom said. “When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next.”

“Democracy is under assault right before our eyes,” Newsom said. “This moment we have feared has arrived. He’s taking a wrecking ball…to our founding fathers’ historic project: three coequal branches of independent government.”

Newsom urged Americans to stand up for the country. “I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear,” he said. “But I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment,” Newsom said.

“Do not give in to him.”

—

Notes:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/10/troops-deployed-to-la-will-cost-134m-pentagon-official-says-00396632

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article308328060.html

Donald J. Trump, Truth Social post, June 8, 2025, 5:06 p.m.

Donald J. Trump, Truth Social post, June 10, 2025, 1:15 p.m.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/09/us/usa-v-huerta-complaint.html