Laes N. Mad

Laes N. Mad
☁ Heartless Angel ☁
Species	Seal, Mascot, Magitek Knight
Full name	LADOGA "Laes" Natural Harmonia Gropius Maddington
Aliases	The Killer Kafkaesque Highly Disturbing Awesome Badass
Hobby	Armageddon
Enemies	{{{1}}}, Terra
Portrait
Inventory
Pronouns	He/It

She lived. She served. She died.

This article is dedicated to the late Kefka.
Fly high, sweet angel...

Not to be confused with Dancing Mad.

For the manufacturing company, see § Laes and Mad.

For the ghost kitchen, see § Laes N' Mad.

For the extinction event, see § Laes en Mad.

"Kefka (Final Fantasy VI)"

“

Such meaningless things... I'll destroy them all!

”

Laes N. Mad is the sole arbiter and mastermind of the apocalypse. He is known for being completely mad - a subtle nod to his last name. If you ever encounter him, you'd best be careful. He is the strongest of all seals and possesses the most destructive power - he is responsible for many of the ills and evils of the world. He is impervious to all damage and cannot be reasoned with. The only hope of escaping him is to either escape or outwit him.

History

Life in hell

Laes N. Mad spawned into hell at the dawn of creation. He was already evil; you could say he was equivalent to Lucifer except he was way worse and way more evil, considering he never even started in the other place. Being oh so evil, Laes craved chaos and confusion, but as a resident of hell, he found his needs difficult to satiate. After millennia spent growing bored of hell, Laes sought to leave the damn place behind him. One day he found out he could exit by "esc"-ing. Wow, if escaping so easy why don't sinners do it more? Idiots!
Laes N. Mad has escaped from the underworld!

"Dancing Mad - Movement I (Final Fantasy VI)"

AND SO, THE GATES OF HELL HAVE OPENED, BRINGING THE DEMONS TO THE EARTHLY PLANE. THE FALL OF MAN IS UPON US.

Life on the surface

After making his escape, Laes N. Mad reportedly had surfaced in the deserts of California. Travelers in the area that day reported seeing pillars of fire in the distance, a sight usually only seen in the urban areas of the state. Once Laes had settled down, he would begin to set his plans of causing chaos into motion. To do so, he created the seal in his image.

After a prototype was shown to investors at a Silicon Valley meeting, Laes received the funding needed to begin mass production.

Unsuspecting humans somehow did not realize or didn't care about the huge seal factories being built worldwide. Eventually, production began and seals were now being unleashed everywhere. However, humanity did not mind them, as they had not done any evil yet, since evil did not exist at the time. Some of Laes N. Mad's creations would even go on to be domesticated and beloved by humans, despite having defective hardware that gave them an unintended horrific appearance. It was only until years later that a mischevious wizard invented evil that Laes realized the destructive power his seals could be infused with. Internal documents showed designs for extracting evil and embedding it into seals during the early stages of manufacturing.

Life in prison

Laes N. Mad's plans were discovered before being able to be put into action, and Laes was arrested for conspiracy to commit unspecified crimes. Laes was subsequently sentenced to Like a month in prison. Despite his sentence, it was only jailed for 0.98754425346789607 milliseconds as he escaped quite easily by deleting the prison. By doing so, he also freed what would soon become the earliest instance of a loyal following. From this, Laes was able to expand his influence and used his newly created cult and pinniped army to continue committing crimes.

Despite his time in jail was only for a short time, he was quoted saying that he hated prison very much. He claims that being in a jail cell was "so freaking boring". For his imprisonment, Laes became mad at humanity, which was quite fitting. He would vow to eventually destroy Earth and everything on it by any means possible, and was very specific about how humans and their hopes are "meaningless things".

• 

  Total Seal Production

• 

  Total Seal Imprisonment

Laes and Mad

"Dancing Mad - Movement II (Final Fantasy VI)"

Laes and Mad is a family owned manufacturing company that exclusively specializes in sealants such as caulk and grout, and acts as the parent company to several other sealant products. The company was founded in the year 3 by the titular brothers Laesington and Madtholomew, when the two had invented and patented the world's first sealant technology by shoving mud into crevices with a stick. The technology was revolutionary and played a major role in the advancement of early civilization, as the only method of waterproofing until then was to build everything exclusively in the desert. Both brothers were tragically killed in 19 when, while atop the brim of a volcano testing their concept for a sealant made of magma, the two were struck by the broad wings of a passing pterodactyl and were dragged into the sun. Their sons, Laesington and Madtholomew Again, continued their legacy for many generations. By 1867, the business was one of the largest in the Colonial United States, but had began to fall off by the turn of the new millennium.

Competition

While the company thrived, it also had competition from rival business Sandmal Dae, owned by an annoying sole proprietor named Sandmal Dae. Sandmal Dae would prove to be particularly troublesome for Laes and Mad in modern times by stealing their market share, and were a factor in the brand's change in image.

Sandmal Dae went defunct in 2024 when Laes N. Mad indirectly ended them by causing Sandmal Dae to fall into a chunk error.

2004 Rebrand

To regain their market shares, the advertising department was tasked with rebranding their business to appeal to a younger demographic, in hopes of building a new generation of respectable adults who appreciated high quality waterproofing. Through public opinion surveys, the department found that the most commonly cited reason for choosing competitor brands was that the current mascot of Laes and Mad, a living pile of insulating foam, had become stale and uninteresting. With this information, the department would spend over 8 months and millions of dollars rebranding the mascot into an edgy and radical seal who swore to bring destruction to the world, which was the style of mascots at the time.

Critical response

Reception to the new mascot was overwhelmingly negative. Press officials reported that the mascot was "an unspeakable disgrace which haveth been brought upon thy otherwise holy sealant" and "fucking ugly." A 2005 episode of The Simpsons titled "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochy & Laes and Mad Show" was widely believed to have been subtly mocking the company's rebrand as well as serving as a criticism of edgy mascots as a whole. Sales for Laes and Mad branded products dropped by almost 800% overnight, with unsold inventory taking up shelf space in retailers across the nation. Excess of the company's famous product "100% Asbestos Paste" was often seen bundled together and used as a firewood substitute during the winter.

Prophecy

Unbeknownst to the company, their mascot's personality had coincidentally lined up one-to-one with that of Laes N. Mad, who had escaped the underworld years after the rebrand and brought destruction in his wake similar to what was described in advertising. Laes and Mad re-entered the eye of the general public, now being perceived as prophets, causing their product sales to rise once more. The company developed a niche postmortem cult following subculture in sealant circles, and are often described as "slept on" by dedicated fans.

Copyright dispute

Laes N. Mad would be represented by Albuquerque's finest.

Laes N. Mad, who had existed long before the rebrand, discovered the mascot of Laes and Mad and promptly took legal action. Laes claimed they had used its likeness in their advertising and sought over 100 million in damages. Laes N. Mad made the case public by announcing it on The Site Formerly Currently Known as Twitter.

I CANT FIT MY FULL NAME!! Twitter @LAESNMAD

My likeness, my image, MY VERY BEING! TAKEN FROM ME! WHAT A SICK JOKE! I just can't believe it! I will destroy everything of theirs if I don't receive my royalties!

July 23, 2009 

Laes N. Mad had brought compelling evidence to prove the uncanny similarities between the mascot of Laes and Mad and its own likeness, so much so that the case was almost settled unanimously in Laes N. Mad's favor. In the last hour of the case, however, evidence was brought in to show that Laes N. Mad's likeless had not been used at all. The evidence in question was a cartoon from the underground animation studio Disney titled Steamboat Laes that the west had mistakenly overlooked back in the year -40. The cartoon had been in the public domain for centuries at this point as nobody gaf about it, including Laes N. Mad. As the publishing date of -40 was earlier than the birth of creation (0), Laes and Mad won the case and did not have to pay royalties. Shortly after, Laes N. Mad opened a portal to Level 40 Wilderness underneath the offices of Laes and Mad, where they were promptly PK'd and sent back to Lumbridge.

Laes N' Mad

"Dancing Mad - Movement III (Final Fantasy VI)"

The thumbnail for the video promoting Laes N' Mad.

Laes N' Mad is a ghost kitchen chain founded by Laes N. Mad in 2021 as an effort to broaden his market and give back to his fans. Operating out of the kitchens of local eateries, the restaurants are branded around Laes N. Mad himself and serve food from its childhood growing up in the countryside of HELL. Promotion for his chain was done primarily through his YouTube channel and Site Formerly Known as Twitter account. Comments were also left by him on its YouTube videos giving away gift cards for the restaurant once it had opened to the public.

Laes N. Mad ✔ 2 weeks ago Wo◌w! A g!ft for myy Fans! ▶▶▶ G║ft Card here! bit.ly/Tjdvbkl 73k Reply

The first Laes N' Mad location was manifested in Los Angeles and announced through an upload to Laes N. Mad's channel titled "I Opened A Restaurant That Kills You If You Eat At It". The video received 20 million views within 24 hours, and the popularity subsequently caused the business to become flooded with customers, disrupting the flow of traffic in the area. Laes N. Mad would respond to this publicly on The Site Formerly Known as Twitter. The influx of customers also caused long wait times for customers and put strain on the chefs in the kitchen, starting a rumor that some meals were being served raw. Laes N. Mad would also frequently cut the often miles long line to order food for free. He would also respond to this on The Site Formerly Known as Twitter.

Controversy

Laes N. Mad would be represented by Albuquerque's finest again.

In July of 2021, a lawsuit was filed against Laes N. Mad alleging that the kitchen's "Smouldering Charcoal Bites" were actually a mixture of various minerals that do not constitute charcoal, yet have been blended together to imitate the appearance of charcoal, and therefore could not legally use the word "charcoal" in the product name. The case was originally meant to have Laes N. Mad pay 60 million in fees, but Laes N. Mad's lawyer negotiated a plea bargain where Laes N. Mad would instead only have to personally compensate everyone who had ever purchased the product, so long as they provided him the receipt. It later turned out that Laes N. Mad was only available to speak to in person atop his Tower of 10000 Floors, as he had proclaimed himself to be "living off the grid" shortly after negotiations. 47 people had attempted to scale his Tower and 12 managed to reach the top, being rewarded with a Megalixir.

Later in the year, leaked promotional material showed that the product was being silently renamed to "Carbon Bites or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Kill My Prosecutors."

Laes est Mad

"Dancing Mad - Omen"(Final Fantasy VI)"

I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate...

hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate

HATE YOU!!!

Laes est Mad is a solo combat minigame fought in the Abyssal Depths of the Darvaza gas crater. A weaker version of the fight initially happens at the end of the quest Total seal extinction, but after completion, Laes est Mad is unlocked as a minigame with an added drop table.

A thorough understanding of the combat triangle is important for completing this fight.

The minigame sees the return of Laes N. Mad after having been teleported back into Hell. Like in Total seal extinction, Laes N. Mad itself is not actually fought; the only combat done is with his army of seal constructs, which were summoned to prevent the Arceuus mages from casting the spell needed to banish him again. The player must defeat several waves of constructs before reaching the chambers of Laes N. Mad himself, who will become enraged that his army has been wiped out by a mere mortal once more.

In his fury, Laes N. Mad uses his remaining energy to summon three powerful spirits to fight as a last resort: Niko, Agu, and The Mischievous Wizard. Agu will attack with melee using his Excallusber, Niko will attack with ranged using his Twisted Bow, and The Mischievous Wizard will attack with magic using their Pipis. Once all three seals have been defeated, Laes N. Mad becomes exhausted, allowing the mages to open a portal beneath him. The loot will then appear at the center of the arena. Three drops are rolled for all non-unique drops.

The fight becomes unavailable for 10 minutes after completion, during which it is presumed that Laes N. Mad regains his energy to escape Hell once more.

A recording from the player TobaAquarium showcasing the Pipe Bug.

Strategy

1. Due to a bug, Niko's spawn is behind his favourite pipe - as long as you don't enter the westmost or eastmost part of the arena he won't be able to pathfind out of it.
2. Lure Agu to behind The Mischievous Wizard. Since Agu can only attack with melee, he won't be able to reach you if The Mischievous Wizard is in the way.
3. Defeat the seals in this order: (With protect from magic): Agu, The Mischievous Wizard, (With protect from Missiles): then Niko.

Equipment

Since the strategy for this fight involves safespots, it's best to use ranged, or a combination of ranged and magic. If using a hybrid strategy, magic equipment should only be used for defeating Agu. Boots with acidic immunity are also required to be able to move around the arena without taking any damage.

Seal constructs are famously weak to cement, so use cement-based weaponry if available.

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Slayer helmet (i) (if on task)	Ucket	Happiest Mask
	Plot armor	Siren Magicite	Zona Seeker Magicite
	Ava's Assembler	Zephyr Cloak	Edit Skillcape
	Minerva Bustier, "I'm With" Shirt	Behemoth Suit	Ben's Raincoat
	Wake of Vultures	Acid-proof Legwear (i)	Acid-proof Legwear
	Cement Blaster, Auto Crossbow (if using Tool)	Fixed Dice, California seal ion	Elemental Rod(s) (only if using Throw)
	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Cement reserves (only if using Cement Blaster), Crossbow bolts (c) (if using auto-crossbow)	Fuma Shuriken (if using Throw)	Master's Scroll (only with Genji Glove)
	Barrows Gloves	Guard Bracelet	Delicate Watch
	Boots of brimstone	Stone Boots	N/A
	Archer's Ring	Reflect Ring	Boomerang Token (if using throw)

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Slayer helmet (i) (if on task)	Hybrid Hood (full set only), Cat-Ear Hood	Circlet
	Siren Magicite	Monster Tooth	Kirin Magicite
	Zephyr Cloak	Edit Skillcape	Cape of Accomplishment
	Hybrid Robe Top (full set only)	Minerva Bustier	Ben's Raincoat
	Hybrid Robe Bottom (full set only)	Wake of Vultures	Acid-proof Legwear (i)
	Pipis Focus & Cement Blaster,	Fixed Dice/Magus Rod & Auto Crossbow (if using Tool)	Holy Rod & Death Tarot
	Aegis Shield	Genji Shield, Shieldon	Crystal Shield
	Cement reserves (only if using Cement Blaster)	Crossbow bolts (c) (if using auto-crossbow)	Flame Scroll (if using Throw)
	Hybrid Gloves (full set only)	Barrows Gloves	Delicate Watch
	Boots of brimstone	Stone Boots	N/A
	Celestriad	Soul of Thamasa	Hero's Ring

Drops

Always

Item		Quantity	Rarity	Price
	Unholy Ashes	3	Always	16,428

Runes

Item		Quantity	Rarity	Price
	Okin Rune	600-800	3 × 1/25	46,800-62,400
	Pipis Rune	100-150	3 × 1/25	17,600-26,400

Weapons and Armour

Item		Quantity	Rarity	Price
	Maple Shortbow	2,500 (unnoted)	3 × 1/150	477,500

Berries and Seeds

Item		Quantity	Rarity	Price
	Okinberry	30-50	3 × 1/25	82,890-138,150
	Pearberry	50-100	3 × 1/30	37,400-74,800
	Okin greenberries	40-50	3 × 1/50	27,480-34,350
	Okin glutenberries	30-50	3 × 1/90	21,540-35,900
	Pearberry Seeds	1-2	3 × 1/100	63,843-127,686
	Okin hardberries	25-35	3 × 1/125	32,325-45,255
	Okin chillberries	35-50	3 × 1/150	65,205-93,150
	Okin goldberries	40-60	3 × 1/200	1,120-1,680
	Okin damnberries	20-40	3 × 1/250	148,920-297,840
	Okin loveberries	25-35	3 × 1/300	253,375-354,725
	Okin gothberries	20-30	3 × 1/400	236,700-355,050
	Okin starberries	10-15	3 × 1/500	519,830-779,745
	Okin scaryberries	5-10	3 × 1/1,000	497,285-994,570
	Okin deepberries	5-10	3 × 1/1,500	1,114,575-2,229,150
	Aguberries	2-3	3 × 1/4,000	5,690,392-8,535,588

Bank items

Item		Quantity	Rarity	Price
	Nikoins	1310-4970	3 × 1/6	3,930-14,910
	Nutshell Token	3-6	3 × 1/12	30,015-60,030
	Boomerang Token	2-3	3 × 1/75	60,432-90,648
	Blessed Token	1-2	3 × 1/100	100,720-201,440

Other

Item		Quantity	Rarity	Price
	Teleport scroll to Darvaza gas crater	10	3 × 1/25	102,480
	Coins	10,000-100,000	3 × 1/50	10,000-100,000
	Prayer Potion(4)	4-8 (noted)	3 × 1/200	33,100-66,200

Tertiary
Only one unique drop may be obtained per fight, and they are only rolled for once unlike the rest of the drops.

Many of the tertiary drops are related to the cosmetic pet drop. The beer, cement, and pipis mutagens can be used on the plushie to get an Agu plushie, Niko plushie, or Spheal plushie respectively. Once a mutagen has been used, you may switch between different plushies using the Transform option.

Item		Quantity	Rarity	Price
	Excallusber	1	1/1024	57,734,666
	Twisted Bow	1	1/1024	1
	Pipis Focus	1	1/1024	104,349,393
	Beer Mutagen	1	1/1000	Not sold
	Cement Mutagen	1	1/1000	Not sold
	Pipis Mutagen	1	1/1000	Not sold
	Jar of Cement	1	1/2000	59,276
	Laes (Pet)	1	1/3000	Not sold

Laes en Mad

A prophetic rendition of the events that would soon come to unfold.

"Dancing Mad - Movement IV (Final Fantasy VI)"

“	Such meaningless things... I'll destroy them all!	”
	— Laes N. Mad, shortly before destroying them all.

On the morning of January 23rd 2024, Laes N. Mad would bring armageddon upon the world by exploiting knowledge exclusive to him.

As any creature raised in hell would know, a backdoor exploit infamously exists in reality on the surface, hidden behind the programming equivalent of coffee stains. This knowledge is almost meaningless to hell's population however, as creatures born in hell remain in hell. Laes N. Mad, being the only hellborn creature existing above the surface, was the only being who was both aware of the exploit and capable of accessing it. Laes had intended to access this backdoor from the moment of his arrival, but scheduled the event in advance to allow his other plans to occur first.

LAES @ WARRING TRIAD Twitter @LAESNMAD

Tch! Lousy humans! If you didn't want your reality destroyed, then maybe you should've hired better debuggers! Serves you right!

January 25, 2024 

Such meaningless things...

Why do you build, knowing destruction is inevitable? Why do you yearn to live, knowing all things must die?

Normally with an exploit of this kind, the person who abuses it would use it to manipulate the contents present within, leaving the system intact. Laes, however, is spiteful of existence itself and instead chose to exacerbate the exploit to bring as much chaotic destruction as possible. This corrupted reality in a manner only Laes understood and ended up giving it power comparable to that of a Divine being. The sudden creation of a malevolent entity as powerful as Laes would further break reality, with his presence alone distorting and ruining everything around him.

The cataclysms caused from Laes N. Mad's awakening triggered natural and artificial disasters globally. Hurricanes would begin to form in every ocean of the world, often hundreds of miles away from land. Hurricanes that never reached land would end up depositing their water into the sea, causing water levels to rise sharply overnight. Earthquakes occurred on areas far from fault lines and tore tectonic plates in half, giving several hellspawn the opportunity to climb their way up to the surface world. Laes would later personally shove each one back into the crevice they crawled from, but would make some exceptions to those who dedicated themselves to him.Civilizations had become unrecognizable. The structure of the world had forever been turned on its head, and the remaining populations were forced to adapt to the new world they found themselves in.

I'll destroy them all!

What remained of the world after the wrath of Laes was unleashed.

"Dark World (Final Fantasy VI)"

You're all nothing more than fleas compared to me now! Embrace your destruction... It is the fate of all things.

With the laws of the universe broken beyond understanding and Laes being the only one in control, Laes would proceeded to eliminate any powerful individuals that could potentially rival him. The strength of Laes would snowball exponentially as he would gain the properties and powers of any being he had slain. Within hours, Laes would have a palette of world ending abilities at its disposal, most notably the near fatal attack Heartless Angel and the destructive beam of Light of Judgement. Light of Judgement in particular was a favorite of Laes, and it used this ability at random or simply for fun, which only further destroyed the ruins of the world.

The fate of several fish after publicly criticizing Laes for being ugly.

Although intended as a weapon to scorch the surface of the planet with concentrated beams of light, Laes would sometimes use Light of Judgement to inscribe messages into the surface of the moon. A notable instance of this was when he attempted to begin searing the word "hi" on the lunar surface, but misjudged the beam width and accidentally blew off a chunk of the satellite into orbit.

Having become the strongest being on the planet, Laes constructed an even larger tower for him to inhabit, built from the rubble that remained of the world.

Cult of Laes

The tower's seemingly impressive height is mostly due to it being comprised of 76% staircases.

After the cataclysm from his rise to power, Laes N. Mad's following expanded into a dedicated cult and army that carry out any command from Laes. Composed of genuine fanatics and those seeking protection from Light of Judgement, the group obey Laes and do anything they can to ensure he remains in power. The organization takes base in a miniature recreation of Laes N. Mad's tower, and the more dedicated members in the group are often seen mindlessly wandering around the premises. Laes has also assigned every resident of the tower to guard his super secret treasure resting on the top floor with their lives.

LAES N MAD! Twitter @LAESNMAD

Do you think sucking up is going to make you fare any better? You're nothing but the dirt stuck to the bottom of my fins! Or the dirt stuck to the bottom of that dirt!

January 31, 2024 

Laes takes an unclear stance on his following. Laes has personally gifted his cult by casting a spell on their headquarters that makes it anyone inside (who is loyal to him) immune to harm. Members of the cult receive benefits such as dental insurance and pizza parties on weekends for their continued allegiance, alongside fully paid parental leave. Despite these, Laes can often be seen treating their lives as disposable, doing things such as using them as throwing darts in his game room and sending them to the incinerator for fun.

The floor of a newly refurbished seal factory. OSHA violations are highlighted to emphasize the dangers of working for Laes.

The most significant impact the cult has had was their role in restoring and managing the seal factories that were destroyed during armageddon. To do so, seals that remained from the old world had to be retrieved to reverse engineer their design. A majority of the world's seals were concentrated in Lake Baikal, as its extreme depths provided safety from the apocalypse. As humanity had been blasted back to the stone age, fishing had yet to be invented again, and cult members had to dive into the lake to manually retrieve individual seals. Many perished from being exposed to the ugly bastards.

Once the process for creating seals was rediscovered, the previously unused method to enfuse them with evil became a staple of each factory. Seal armies were used to subjugate the population and maintain their loyalty to Laes. Those that publicly oppose Laes are reported and then targeted by Light of Judgement.

2024 campaign

Laes is one of the candidates for the mascot of The Wiki Camp 2, running as a representative from The Mario Party. His method of securing votes is primarily through killing the people voting for the other guy, but this practice was reduced to killing their crops to ensure they only eat at Laes N' Mad branded kitchens. The campaign is focused on the promise that his voters might be spared from his Light of Judgement.

Remarks towards fellow candidates

During the primaries of the mascot campaigns, Laes would publicly oppose his rival candidates, giving his personal opinions on all of them. Most comments made by it are ad hominem arguments and are irrelevant to the position of mascot itself, sometimes even just being tangential commentary with little to say about the candidate.

Token:Zugemu Zr.

Beaten by currency? As if! Once I solve this maze, it'll all be over for you!

Miitomi

This is just dreadful! My greatest living legal rival is running against me!

If I didn't accidentally kill my lawyer this wouldn't be an issue!

The Wiki Camp 2:Road to Gehenna

We think this competitor is not so cutes after all!

You're not going to like this.

Beaten by currency? As if! Once I solve this maze, it'll all be over for you!

This thing

Such meaningless thing... I'll destroy it all!

Such meaningless thing... I'll destroy it all!

Gr!

Tuesday (character)

Tuesdays are the pits! The only thing I loathe more than Tuesdays are Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and nothing more!

The Chocolatier's Apprentice

In my new world, chocolate hasn't been invented again yet! The only recipes we have are for misery and pain!

Snacksuke

The rival to my food business? Gah! By the time I'm finished here all your factories will be running under my name!

Us Mascots 9:

...Eek! One entry... NINE candidates?! How is this allowed? Stupid!

Counter-play

It is theorized that the method of defeating Laes N. Mad and banishing him to hell involves silliness, snacks, or some other third thing.

Defeat

Trivia

• It's easy to assume Laes N. Mad is the first ever seal, however seals didn't exist before he created them. Therefore, he is the 0th seal.
• His favorite number is 5347 for no particular reason.
• Click here to know more about the political context of his work!