Knights – Pinkie's Paradise

The Knights of the Pink Table: The Powerful Females in my Court

Hear Ye Hear Ye, Princess Pinkie is back with another post for all you loyal guests and subjects! A while ago I addressed the Powerful Female Tag created by the majestic lady Annie! After this had been done I was been tagged not once.. but two powerful females of WordPress. Meg and Mari, both ladies who I very much respect! I wanted to honour them by doing this tag… but I did it already and I felt I could not really redo it without invalidating my first picks! So.. I mutated it… I needed some knights in my court anyway. So this time..instead of doing a Powerful Female Tag, I do a Powerful female Recruition!

The Rule of the Pink Round Table

Large Rosette Flower Tablecloth Blush Blush and White | Etsy — ***Really cosey using this table with 6 others!***

So the original tag had some rules but since this is a bit of a quick repeat I decided to spin it a creative way. For the original rules please visit my original post, or visit the amazing posts of Mari, Meg or Annie. Since I tag people recently already I will also not be tagging people, however I invite people who already have been tagged and get tagged again to keep the spirit of the post alive by showing some creativity! I know it sometimes is hard to be tagged for something a lot of times, and when questions are not randomised it is hard to be fresh.. but clearly you have been tagged for a reason!. So if you don’t want to do just a single repeat.. consider yourself tagged to come up with a way to do the tag without doing the tag… or any other tag you have been recently double nominated for.

In the original post Annie made for Woman’s day we had to talk about a woman of great Intelligence, Great Strength, One who Endured a Lot, One who we would love to spend time with, one who inspires us and one who deserves a spotlight. To keep the spirit alive I will recruit women who embody those aspects. To keep it fresh though, I will this time really be looking from a perspective of who can be a knight . We will give them a virtue since I discovered I am part digimon and virtues is an important thing for their knights and all!
All virtues will be based on the official prompt.

The Knight of Knowledge: Samantha Carter

When I read Meg’s take on this post, I already had been tagged by Mari for a second go! I was working on an idea that could work for a second go around. When I read Meg had tagged Samatha as her first prompt “A Woman Known for her Intelligence” I got an idea! Because it is indeed true that Sam from Stargate SG1 and onwards is a very smart character, but she is also a competent leader, a great friend and a soldier. And since a soldier is kind of like a knight.. I think she would do well in that role as well. Of course her virtue would still be knowledge because that is where Sam shines. She actually compliments every other character really well. She compliments Daniel Jackson, she compliments O’Neill and she even compliments Teal’q. While she has also been put into a position of leadership for me Samatha’s strength always lies in how well she pairs with others thus making her a great knight.

I’d make her some very cool blue armor , that resembles her navy officer outfit and she would actually be second in command of my little army of knights! Paradise lies between reality and fiction and while it is not possible to be violent on Paradise Island.. Many people try to illegally cross realms and my knights will help me keep the balance. Samantha is even experienced in traveling to other worlds. Her designations would be PK-1-Gatekeeper. PK stands for Paradise Knight, the 1 a batch of honour and a call back to that team that brought this amazing woman into our lives. As a Weapon I’d give her some wrist operate crossbow guns. Which resemble pistols a lot! They seem to be Sam’s weapon of choice. Because Sam is so skilled in protecting against bogeys from other worlds.. her nickname will be gatekeeper!

The Knight of Strength : Erza Scarlet

The Knight of Strength would be my Barbarian type knight. Someone who could wear ridiculously huge weapons, like an Axe.. No A HUUUGGE Broadsword.. No big spear! Oh it would all be so cool! So why don’t I just take it all! When I look for a knight of Strength I want her to be able to wreck stuff.. so Anime is an obvious go too! These women are stronger than most, and very few are as badass as Erza! Taking on an entire tower filled with monsters and coming out on top! Besides how cool is it to have your Mage cast fist! She is an S class Mage, that in those stat magazine thingies scores the higest in almost every single category and only in intelligence scores 4 out of five. She is strong as an ox already and can even ENHANCE it on top of it! Besides that she is super versatile and can be super speedy as well.

If it is all the same to her I’d prefer her to be in her Armadura Fairy armor! Which is her pink armor! It is one of the strongest armors in her arcenal and allows her to do energy attacks as well , and you guys know how much I like Dragon Ball so energy attacks are hype! Plus she is probably one of the two knights I want to keep close. Probably my right hand knight! So it has to be in a colour the compliments my outfit! I don’t like crosses as a Symbol so her iconic Heart Kreuz Armor would not be the best. She can switch in her free time but when I am in court I think the cute armor looks best! Her nickname would be PK-2-Titania! Which is Erza’s nickname! She can’t hold her liquor well so I have to keep an eye on Kuro. But most of the others knights won’t drink a lot.. maybe the last one. I am kind of afraid that she will be kinda angry at me for making her wear her pink armor! But hey! A princess gotta do what a princess gotta do!

The Knight of Fortitude: Bastila Shan

I am a big Star Wars fan, mostly of the old republic, one of the characters that impressed me always was Bastila Shan, she is a Jedi KNIGHT, kinda, of the old republic who has endured a whole lot. The daughter of treasure hunter Helena Shan was “given” to the Jedi Order at a young age. Here it was found out she was exceptionally gifted in the force and she mastered a power called Battle Meditation. With this power she would defeat one of the most scary and iconic Darths in Star Wars Extended Universe Lore.. Darth Revan, whom she later would redeem, try and save the world with, only to be driven to the Darkside of the Force trough intense torture. She fell in love with Revan and that bond allowed her to be brought back and enabled the pair to save the galaxy and to finally get married. Only for Bastila to lose her husband two years later. Vanished into thin air. Yet even losing everything AGAIN she endured and became a respectable member of the Jedi Council and her great great great or something granddaughter would end up becoming Grand Master of the Jedi Order. That’s one strong knight and I want her on my team.

Bastilla isn’t a flawless character, she can be a bit stuck up and she is not that easy going, but that is what endears her to me! She isn’t the type of Jedi that is completely stoic and a near Vulcan, she is a human with her own struggles. Her Battle Meditation boosts her allies and hinders her enemies, one of the most powerful force abilities ever..which can also help keep the peace on my beautiful island. Because this requires a translike state, I will give her the handle PK3-Dreamer. An capable negotiator, with a pretty face, combat skills and the ability to boost her allies. Her mind has been forged in the irons.. tempered by making herself break! Nothing can touch her now! Her weapon would be a double sword. Much like her iconic yellow Saber Staff! And I really like her dress style as well!

The Knight of Kindness: Kaede “Maple” Honjou

Okay so.. I do not particularly care about the schoolgirl that is oblivious but quickly gets addicted to MMOs! When I will talk about her I will mostly talk about her alter ego, Maple! Not that Kaede isn’t any fun but as a knight Maple would just work a lot better. So let’s just assume we have the option available to us. The original prompt is people you’d want as your Roommate or Friend and Maple definitely has those qualities. She is all about being kind and making friends and just having friends. Despite being a guild leader she isn’t very much a leader and can follow really well as well. No dominant personality here which makes her a whole lot more compatible with me because I have big trouble with dominant energies, It makes me shut down. Maple seems an energy I can handle very well though…plus she is the tank! She protects.. so she goes on the other hand as Erza does. So my left hand?! I forgot which one I said earlier!

Maple would wear her iconic black armor and would bear the handle PK4-Pancakes. Now I would not come up with that name but she would. She named herself Maple, based on the translation of her name, and her pet Syrup.. which she would probably take along.. in fact I’d ask her! I wanna fly on a turtle as well! Either way Maple has the tendency for sugary names that in some shape, way or form have to do with maple.. and maybe syrup. Maple Syrup is good on Pancakes! With her defence capabilities Maple is quite scary.. but she is super funny as well! If I am in a life threatening situation and I am rolling on the floor laughing because demon Maple is Talking.. I know I picked my knight well.

The Knight of Courage: Jen Scotts

Jen Scotts, Pink Time Force Ranger - Morphin' Legacy

So this is most likely a character that not many people will know about! Jen Scotts is a power Ranger.. a Time Force Power Ranger from the year 3000 to be exact. She is the Pink Time Force Ranger..which already makes her an excellent candidate to be one of my knights.. but she is a very special pink ranger. You see in the world of Sentai, character traits are colour coded. With Red being the leader, the black or green ranger being the very supporty one, while the blue often works as a second in command or rival to red. There are some nuances there.. but a good written ranger shows their colour without even wearing matching clothing. I bring this up because Jen Scotts was a great Pink.. she would make an even better Red. She is a leader, and a pragmatic one. She has passion but can also set it aside to get the job done. Jen Scotts is one of THE best female rangers ever. While not my favourite one, she takes the number two spot! And since this tag originally was one to be a role model.. definitely beats out my favourite pink Ranger Kendrix out in this one.

I want to give Jen the chance to be the real leader, the recognised leader and allow her to take the reigns. Using the name Pk5-Timewalker she would do the red armor that also comes equipped with some goggles. Jen had to say goodbye to her love but did so, for the sake of her job! So it means she is loyal and she will make logical choices. Her job comes before herself at many times.. but she has this amazing strong character behind it. I do not like zeal in general ..but I will need someone like that to keep us focussed. Jen and me in some ways are too different to be friends, and maybe in some ways we are also too similar to be friends so I think of all the knights I’d get along with the least. Yet she would also be the knight I would rely on the most! She is a bit the opposite of me while having the same motivators.. and a sense of drive and spirit! A great role model that may look at things differently from me, but deserves to be called a role model anyway.

The Knight of Hope: Grell Sutcliff

By the laws of colour coding Grell should be a Red Knight..and maybe many will deny that she belongs on the list of strong females.. but the last item on the original list was a powerful woman that deserves a spot light. Grell fits that bill! Some may not agree Grell deserves to be on this list because Grell was born with some Y-Chromosomes.. but she calls herself a lady, wishing to bear children but knowing it is not possible since she was born a biological male. Still Grell dreams about dreams about having a sex change so she can have a sex in line with her gender. That already is something that makes her deserve a spotlight.. but there is more to it! Grell lives in 1888, this means the first sex change was over 40 years away. Making her choice and desire all the more inspirational. It doesn’t hurt that she is a very capable fighter as well and how cool is a knight with a chainsaw!

Grell would be my green knight… because if you haven’t figured out by now .. these knights all have Sentai colours and Grell is not a leader. Grell is the wild card, the sixth ranger that is a bit different but really cool. She is also everything that Paradise stands for! Being your own person, despite what words society may use. Not letting yourself be defined by the limited vision of others… you are the only person who knows yourself. So if Grell says she is a she… SHE is a she, simple as that.. and so she qualifies as a Powerful female! She might not be the most fit for the title of “knight” but her living in the 19th century is close enough to be one of the “last generation” of classic knights. She is pretty cooky but can play in a team and she would probably be the one who can help me do the V-Tuber think the most! I think very naturally she would understand the “bonk, go to horney jail’ thing. Grell is amazing and I already have a few loons in my staff! And one day I hope to be embraced by a Malkavian Vampire… so these things are not an issue. I really think she’ll be a good fit. My Green knight, PK6-Shinigami.

And so my tag has been completed yet again and some powerful women have come together for the same tag in a new way! Like I said no new tags for me! But feel free to join in the fun! Do you like my pick of knights? *Quack* let me know in the comments! Who would your knights be?! If you will pick up the tag, drop a comment as well so I can quack it out! Now my knights! It’s Morphin Time!… In Ye Olden days that should take them a few hours so I will go take a nap! Shine on loyal subjects and amazing guests! Oyasumi *Quack*

A Theme Park Fit for Geeks: Pinkie visits The Efteling

Once upon a time there was this little pink blog that had a story to tell about a park that is very close to her heart .Hello my sweet Island Guests, when writing this I have been away for the weekend. After receiving some bad news in my family, I felt a bit down. My gay best friend took this to heart and treat me to a nice little weekend. One of the things he did for me was take me out to theme park The Efteling. A fairytale and local folklore theme park near Kaatsheuvel in the Netherlands. Why would I talk about this park? Well because I think it is one of the best theme parks you could visit as a geek.

Robot girls and talking Trash Cans

So what exactly is the Efteling? Well it all began in 1952 , when the town of Loon op Zand tried to attract tourists to the region to make them less dependant on their shoe industry income. What a horrible age 1952 must have been if shoes weren’t that popular that you needed to attract tourists! No pink pumps?! Anyway I will spare you the rest of the details.
The park started out a stroll around the forest where you can encounter certain fairytales, nowadays it’s one of the Netherlands biggest , popular and most technically impressive theme parks. What’s even more impressive is that a lot of these still impressive animatronics stem from the 80’s and 90’s. Their animatronics are some of the best you have ever seen. Many put “It’s a small world to shame’. Not only can you still stroll through the forest to take a peek at your favorite fairy tales, like Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel, nowadays you can also visit one of the 5 (with the sixth reopening in spring this year) coasters, with many amazing dark rides, animatronic shows and classic rides stemming straight back from the 50’s. Like a steam powered carousel. Most iconic though is the fairytale forest and the talking trash cans named Holle Bolle Gijs (roughly translating as Hungry Tubby Guy). These round rosy cheeked fellows are scattered throughout the park. If you feed them your trash they will suck it up like you just fed them something delicious and will thank you.

You are the Hero

‘Pinkie, that all sounds like stuff for little kids, why is it that fun for geeks?’ Well of course in general I have found that geeks oftenly enjoy the old fairy tales a lot longer than our “normal” peers. So there is already the experience of seeing your favorite stories come to life right before your eyes, sure it might be catered to kids but there is just something magical about this theme park that resonates with my geek soul. The attention to detail, the way things are visually told to you. Regardless of language. You could visit the village of some people called the ‘laaf’ Laaf are a halfling like race, they are comparable to the hobbit. They live in somewhat hovel like homes and have their own customs and are little pranksters. Already we can take a step within a little fantasy world. Even though the village of the Laaf isn’t as lively as it used to be, I would recommend paying it a visit if you are somewhat geeky. With just a bit of imagination , this is the Shire of the Netherlands. There’s also stuff to visit like the great Knights show. These aren’t just your standard knights. In brightly coloured armors and with an entire fantasy novel themed around them they can feel between a mix between Power Rangers, Fantasy and Knightly roleplay. Such a delight to see.

What makes the efteling truly something special is in how many rides you a part of the story. In the ride of Villa Volta for example we are a group of people (everyone riding is a participant) visiting a former bandit who swore his loyalty to satan. These bandits have existed in Dutch History and Folklore and where known as the Bokkenrijders (Those who ride Goats) . Highwayman that were said to have demonic powers and who instead of horses rode Satan’s creature through the skies. In actuality they were all just regular highwaymen raiding churches but the goats sound cooler. History aside, in this ride you visit Hugo van den Loonsche Duynen. A former bandit who desecrated a church and now is cursed with immortality .. but not just of any kind. Hugo can not find any kind of rest ever. Only if one with a pure heart enters his homestead and preys the curse away can Hugo finally find rest and redemption. As you sit in one of the pews, the room around you starts to spin, ever faster, up becomes down forward becomes backward. But you are the one who has to help Hugo. In another ride you have to survive the legend of the flying Dutchman. In Joris and the Draak, a wooden coaster ride you and your band of fellow riders are a group of knights fighting a dragon, but there is also another group riding this coaster. Racing whoever finishes the coaster first is victorious. Still for a moment you are a group of knights! Racing in coasters is also incredibly fun and gives you the feeling of participating in some way shape or form. Symbolica , their newest darkride have you choose one of three routes through a fantasy castle. Through a context sensitive panel, you can influence this ride, make this happen … or not happen, yet again you feel like a hero. A lot of the animatronics throughout the park as well as those trash can guys interact with you directly so somehow, more than in most theme parks you can feel like a hero! A sentiment I’d think many geeks would like.

Pixies and Sugar

The entire park has a very distinct old timey feeling throughout. There are hardly are modern buildings through the park. Most of it feels like you are travel through very medieval worlds. The origins of the park are also kept intact, giving you an insight in classic dutch culture. A little island holds a bit of a classic middle eastern village which is home of one of my favorite dark rides. The Fata Morgana. In this ride you travel on a little boat trough an arabian town, following the path of a powerful sorcerer. Tigers, Camels and Crocodiles are alternate with seedy town filled with even shadier figures and even some mythical figures. My favorite dark ride however is a ride called the Droomvlucht (Dreamflight) we visit pixies and trolls as they dance around. We visit castles build on stars and other planets. We see a perfect world without strive. Pixies, trolls and whatever the green things are interacting together. Loving the animals of the forest. It’s a perfect little utopia there no one forgets to have fun. A really important lesson for us all to keep in mind. The Efteling also really caters to being super dutch, old/classic dutch to be exact. From the name and design of nearly all the stores and restaurants trough what you can find there, that old timey dutch feeling is woven throughout with just enough magic to surprise you every time. From classic stroopwafels to other famous dutch candies you can get it all here. There is something sweet for everyone. Maybe it’s a elf on a unicorn that does it for you, like me! Perhaps it’s one of the many dutch treats you want to try.

Princes and Princesses

This theme park commits to everything it does, it does everything well. Being one of the only theme parks in the entire Netherlands where you can get some solid food and have a meal that has character. You can spend an entire day here, and be completely content with the food on offer, as long as you are willing to pay theme park prices of course. If you like shows there is quite a few for you two visit. From life action jousting to an animatronic ghost show, that despite being 32 years old still looks impressive. If you do not like rides this still a nice place to visit, despite the fairly high admission cost. The coasters are all their own unique thing and all feel like their own distinct thrill ride. A wooden coaster, a dark coaster, a classic coaster, a coaster with holograms water effects and more, a hanging coaster with a a complete vertical drop 0/90 degrees.. I don’t know how to explain it so here is a capital /I …Like that! That’s a steep drop. The dark rides all vary a lot as well and add a great assortiment of mellow and swing rides to the mix and the Efteling is a theme park that is very suited for any kind of amusement park goer. That this park had to ban cosplaying already says something how popular it is among the geek community. (Mostly because of the large amount of disney characters showing up causing cues in inconvenient places and general saftey stuff) In this park you can walk trough a magical fantasy world, reminiscent of D&D, lord of the rings and those classic fairytales it is based on. It’s a park where you can be the hero or just stuff your face with sweets while sitting in little swan boats and old classic cars.
If you are a tourist in the Netherlands and geeky, this theme park is sure to please you. No matter if you want to be a hero or a lazy stroller, either way this park will offer you so much that you will feel like a prince or a princess. And as we know those always live happily ever after.