I suppose you're right- the gods still aren't really doing anything out of fondness for humans. But they're gods- they don't really have to change things at all, so I'd like to think some fondness for humans is coloring their logic.

no real spoilers, just rot13'd for hints about ink blots:

Vg'f n ernyyl sha gebcr! V thrff V'ir hfhnyyl frra vg cynlrq jvgu n funcrfuvsgvat fcl zbafgre va fpv-sv, ohg gur 'jub pna'g jr gehfg?' grafvba vf irel rkpvgvat, naq, sbe zr ng yrnfg, vg'f fb eryvrivat jura vg'f abg NPGHNYYL n fcl naq V qba'g unir gb srry orgenlrq naq uheg.

What's the fanfic you're referring to?

Re: your worldbuilding spoilers, with slight spoilers for the next Tortall series (and not-really-spoilers for later series? but they're rot13'd anyway.)

V ungr gb fnl vg, ohg V jbaqre vs gur gnhebfrf jrer perngrq sebz zber fvavfgre vzntvavatf bs uhznaf. Gur yvar gung nyjnlf fghpx jvgu zr sebz guvf puncgre tbrf fbzrguvat yvxr, "Gur fgbevrf jrer nyy gbb qrgnvyrq nobhg jung unccrarq gb jbzra jub jrer pnhtug ol gnhebfrf." Gurer'f fbzr nyyhfvba urer gb gur jnl fgbevrf bs encr vagrerfg fbzr crbcyr... V jbaqre vs vg'f whfg fbzr ryrzrag bs ernyvfz/Gnzzl nqqerffvat gur vffhr bs encr. Va gur arkg frevrf, jr unir Ivafba naq uvf zbirf ba Ynynfn, pbasrffvbaf nsgre gur Beqrny... V qba'g xabj ubj V srry nobhg nyy bs vg. Vg vf n guvat gung lbhat jbzra unir gb jbeel nobhg, be qrny jvgu rira vs vg qbrfa'g nssrpg gurz qverpgyl. V jbaqre vs vg'f whfg n fvta bs jura gur obbxf jrer jevggra, gung gurl nqqerff encr zber qverpgyl, orpnhfr Nyl naq Orxn'f obbxf znxr fbzr zragvba bs vg, gubhtu vg'f whfg gurz zragvbavat gung vg'f nabgure guvat gb cebgrpg ntnvafg.

Naljnl, gur gnhebf qrsvavgryl frrzf yvxr n avtugzner be fvpx snagnfl, naq what I see here is Tammy addressing that- why is there this ancient creature that has literally no other purpose than to rape women? If the gods are in control of something like that existing, than they should do something about that. And it seems like the gods acknowledge that error, and promise to do something about that, which seems like a positive twist on the standard tauros, which otherwise (IRL) seems like an excuse to write some really shocking stories.

ZNA V nz fb rkpvgrq sbe Znex gb svavfu guvf obbx, orpnhfr XRY.

I like how most of the comments involving nunning at a particular line... because after reading it, I was very sure that it was going to be the line to nun at.

Also, QNEXVATF. Vg vf fb zhpu sha gb jngpu Znex chmmyr gurfr bhg- vg'f orra fb ybat fvapr gurve angher jnf n fhecevfr gb zr gung vg'f ernjnxravat nyy fbegf bs srryvatf V'q sbetbggra nobhg

Also also, can we talk about how Daine is almost successfully getting gods to empathize with her? They're portrayed as kind of distant and not always the best with how they interact with humans, and here she is, sad but also making a really good point about tauroses naq yngre va gur obbx, Fgbezjvatf. Broad-foot and the other gods go from wondering why the heck she is crying to musing over how tauroses are in a pretty unfortunate situation.

I always kind of saw Weiryn as a character like (Star Trek TOS/movie kind-of spoilers) Fnerx (Fcbpx'f qnq), jub vf fhccbfrq gb or na harzbgvbany genqvgvbany Ihypna ohg nyfb zneevrq n uhzna, rira gubhtu uvf jnl bs rkcerffvat rzbgvba naq ybir vf bar gung zbfg uhznaf jbhyqa'g or fngvfsvrq jvgu. Znlor vg'f n svpgvba gebcr.

Lrf- zl urnqpnaba vaibyirf n ybg bs guvatf unccravat oruvaq gur fprarf (va gur znal jrrxf va orgjrra Rzcrebe Zntr/EbgT'f cebybthr/EbgT?) jurer Qnvar naq Ahznve'f eryngvbafuvc punatrf gb bar bs crref/rdhnyf jvgubhg n cbjre qlanzvp. Vg znxrf zr srry orggre nobhg gur jubyr guvat.

I am completely in agreement.

I am so happy to see this still & know this happened.