Alicornutopia

<3 <3 <3 this conversation is bringing me such joy, I love everyone in this thread

Current status: waiting for the other shoe to drop wrt competent Valar.

Yeah, ever since they started looking for competent Valar that’s been my status.

So far they seem like about what I’d expect if an Elspeth came along before there were any other incarnates and, along with all the usual explanations, pointed out what it meant that Eru explicitly said he approved of Melkor’s behavior. And then they had more lessons on both incarnates and government than Elspeth alone usually provides. They seem like the best possible versions of themselves.

It seems unlikely that they are but I can’t think of any other shoes left which could match.

People have natural variation across worlds and these were explicitly selected for reasonableness. I think that's sufficient.

Watsonianly, yes.

Doylistically, Alicorn and Lintamande are the authors...

When a shoe takes too long to drop it's either nonexistent or coming all the way from the stratosphere at terminal velocity.

Sometime in the distant future, something really horrible is coming, and no one at all can stop it, because Eru has given up the power that could have done so.

I’m beginning to suspect that Alicorn and Lintamande are messing with their readers by *not* having another shoe.

I still think the stratosphere explanation is right.

Edit: He gave his omnipotence piecemeal to his people, apparently. The Valar and Eldar could get together and do it. Of course, perhaps he gave the relevant power to Melkor.

Omnipotence divided is not necessarily omnipotence. For example, if nobody has a whole piece that is Sue-like, they have to talk to each other.