#counting the war of eras

[skeletons-eat]

Y'all depression is depressioning

[maokpinaok]

JoJo’s Napoleonic Adventures

[kelvinthegoatt]

The ace of spades (also known as the Spadille, Old Frizzle, and Death Card[1]) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards.

Gulps

😘

Thank you for the drawing material

[theblueboxscholar]

"The Doctor's mean now! Waa!"

Meanwhile throughout Classic Who The Doctor has straight up been beating the shit out of people with blunt objects, scientific gadgets, literal swords/guns, his own fists etc.

The Doctor has straight up killed people with a shovel and his bare hands. This man has committed moral and ethical crimes beyond imagining.

But Fifteen was "mean" and "amoral"

Yeah, welcome to Doctor Who. The Doctor isn't always right. He isn't always kind. He isn't always nice. And he isn't always good.

But also are you all forgetting he legit thought Belinda could be dead/she was harmed. The Doctor burned out a sun to say "goodbye" to Rose Tyler. And you think he isn't beyond torturing a man who harmed his friend? Really? Gtfo my face.

[vath-and-such-vinluv-s-stuff]

Star Wars : the Cheese Wars

(It came to me in a vision)

‪Abridged edit by @nimepeino ‬

[tiredstarcat]

I've started to rewatch old shows out of chronological episode order. It's really takes me back to wandering into the tv room and watching whatever is on at the moment. Do I know who these people are? Maybe, not really. Oh, they're the main characters? Huh. Neat! OoOoh! That's a funny bit, I wonder if it's reoccurring!

Anyway it's made old comfort shows more interesting.

[lady-lunaria]

For a bunch who claimed to hate Napoleon, Europeans really wanted to be topped by him...

(I suspect many still do)

[skeletons-eat]

Oh look! It's the one time travel fic I can't stop thinking about.

(Desert storm/rise and fall saga by @blue-sunshine-mauve-morning )

[swsapphics-ao3feed]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The High Republic: Phase III - Various Authors, Star Wars: The High Republic: Phase I - Various Authors Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lyssa Votz/Ru-Ru (High Republic), Lyssa Votz & Imri Cantaros, Ru-Ru & Viv'Nia Nia'Viv, Ru-Ru & Nima Allets Characters: Lyssa Votz, Ru-Ru (Star Wars), Viv'nia Nia'viv, Nima Allets Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Jedi Archives (Star Wars), High Republic Era (Star Wars), Pre: The Edge of Balance 4, Mentioned Lily Tora-Asi, Introspection, High Republic Phase 2 References, Planet Coruscant (Star Wars), Homesickness, Comfort, Fluff, Jedi Temple on Coruscant (Star Wars), Implied Sexual Content, Fluff and Angst Summary:

Two Jedi archivists find solace together.

[count-lero]

The latest reenactment also granted me a gift by the hands of an exceptionally talented person who made wonderful photos of me in the “historical” garments I wear at events as such.

I’m definitely not a big fan of military life-style and discipline in an actual reenactment camp. And since there aren’t much people in civilian attires from the respective time period (they are present nonetheless), I’m glad to participate and fill up the ranks! 🎩

Unfortunately, sewing skills were never my forte, so the most important pieces of the attire were made by a professional seamstress who has a lot of experience in historical clothings. The garments aren’t perfect - far from it: I myself couldn’t properly track all the things that had to be done or mended, so it is what it is. But the colours I chose seem not bad at all. 💙🩷

(And yes, when it came to camera angles, we took direct inspiration from Caspar David Friedrich - how could we not, when the scenery was perfect for that!)

***

There’re also these close-up photos I took spontaneously which I really like despite them being a bit messy and imperfect.

What a shame for a proper Austrian gentleman on duty among the French troops! 🤫

[kelvinthegoatt]

Art collab with @lansolot

[huh-1260]

Gave Spirit Tracks Link a pirate esthetic. This is totally not going to tie in into my Old man Wind propaganda I have written in my drafts where both teenager Wars and 30 fourty something Wind gets their ages fucked because Old man Wind took Wars with him after the War of Eras with Tetra's help. No I did not write this just because I wanted write a fic where Wars goes with Wind instead of baby Time.

[m4gp13]

@titan-army-week

Day 2: "A new golden age"

Ok I know the Proclaimers are pretty much just known as the 500 miles guys but fun fact they're still making music and it's actually not bad.

by which I mean the lyrics and themes remind me heavily of some of the og pjo themes, specifically their song The World That Was from the Dentures Out album. The theme of the album is how 'toothless' Britain has become (hence the dentures) in recent decades. Britian as a nation has been gradually declining in power and influence from the end of WWII and because of that, people tend to look back on the 'glory days' of the empire with rose-coloured glasses (as the Proclaimers put it). They idolise it and see a return to that old ideal as the solution to many of the problems Britain has today, ignoring all the negatives of that old era and the positives of today. As well as this, the prioritisation of returning to that old 'golden age' is blinding people to the potential solutions for Britain's problems that involve moving forward rather than backwards. Now what does that remind you of?

Also, the lyrics of that song go hard.

"The world that was has now become a cause / Inspiring simple souls all over / Who have a knack for always looking back"

Instead of the TA rallying behind the initial cause of making a fairer world for overlooked and exploited people like them, they have instead allowed the so-called 'golden age' that the Titans were said to have lived in to become their cause. When Luke first turns on Percy he talks about making a 'new' golden age, however as time goes on and Kronos' influence over Luke and the army grows, it becomes apparent that the army isn't making a new golden age, they're trying to restore the old one. This shift of priorities was inevitable and that can be seen even when Luke talks about the new golden age. The fact that he's using that era as his goal shows that he's already looking backwards, not forward. He's not trying to forge a new path or come up with any actual new solutions. He's just falling back on the myth of this old utopia that Kronos has promised him, maybe because it's easier or simpler than trying to forge a new path.

"Black and white, one truth they know / The modern world will have to go / The world that was draws memories of our past / Which seem a wee bit hazy / From what I see, the summary seems to be / More meat with extra gravy"

Because the characters are living in the modern world and face problems in the modern world, they associate that world with the problems and see getting rid of that world as the solution to their problems. As for the old world, they didn't experience that era so they don't know what it was like. All they have to go on is the propaganda stories from the Titans. They ruled during that era and were cast down after it, so naturally they place that era on a pedestal and idolise it as this perfect world. They're selling this inflated sense of perfection that only exists in relation to the harsh modern world the characters live in and want to escape. However, the modern world and the golden age do not exist in vacuums. They're related to each other with one directly stemming from the other. The problems in the modern world had their origin in the old world.

"And though I feel I'm a rational man / Sometimes I'm sorely tempted / But worship of a past that never was is totally demented"

This is the kicker. The propaganda surrounding the golden age of the Titans is just that: propaganda. Golden ages only exist in hindsight, as a contrast to what came after. Eras don't get called golden until after they pass and decay. The glorious Golden Age of the Titans didn't exist until after it ended. Luke and his army are fighting to restore a utopia that never existed, and so they're fighting for essentially nothing but the restoration of the Titans' own pride. After falling so far, it has left them very insecure of their own power and sense of importance so they look back on this idealised version of their past out of a refusal to cope with their modern reality. The demigods have just gotten dragged along for the ride and are being utilised as fodder to restore the Titans' pride.

The Titans have weaponised their nostalgia for their own glory days to galvanise this army of idealistic youths to fruitlessly try to return them to a utopia that never was, dooming all of them to never achieve any of their goals.

[currentlyonstandbi]

anyway some of my favourite excerpts from the fight against Dooku in the rots novelisation

'"Very well then," the Jedi said, and shot straight upward over Dooku's head so fast it seemed he'd vanished. And in the space where Kenobi's chest had been was now only the blue lightning of Skywalker's blade driving straight for Dooku's heart.'

'Now, as for Skywalker-- Which was as far as Dooku got, because by the time his attention returned to the younger Jedi, his vision was rather completely obstructed by the sole of a boot approaching his face with something resembling terminal velocity.'

'Realisation burst through Dooku's consciousness like the blossoming fireballs of dying ships outside: this pair of Jedi fools had somehow managed to become entirely dangerous. These clowns might - just possibly - actually be able to beat him.'

'When Count Dooku flies at him, blade flashing, Watto's fist cracks out from Anakin's childhood to knock the Sith Lord tumbling back.'

[josefavomjaaga]

Eugène harrasses a lady

What better way to spend the first day of Christmas than to search for the one incident of Eugène harrassing a woman that I had once come across and then (probably due to my subconsciousness refusing to cooperate) had such trouble to remember the details of that I could barely find it again. But I won, for what it’s worth 😋. I found it again, here's the translation.

For context: Countess Ludovica "Lulu" von Thürheim (1788 – 1864) belonged to a family of minor nobility in the Austrian Netherlands (today’s Belgium) with however some good connections to Austrian aristocracy. The French Revolution had forced her father to flee to the Austrian mainlands, which explains in itself why Lulu and all her family were no friends of the French. Lulu seems to have kept a diary from an early age on, and those diaries are the basis for the later publication entitled "Lebenserinnerungen" that however, according to her own wish, only happened 50 years after her death (well, almost fifty), in 1913. The first volume covers the years up to 1812. The original diaries have however undergone some heavy editing, first by the author herself in the 1840s, then by the publisher Philipp von Blittersdorf. It’s not always clear where the original diaries end and the later comment begins. I’ve come across a passage that seemed to come from the diary, yet referenced the memoirs of Marmont only published in the 1850s.

In 1809, during the Fifth coalition war, the Thürheim family lived in Klagenfurt and in late May witnessed the passage of the Army of Italy, under Eugène’s command, on its way to Vienna to support Napoleon after the defeat at Aspern-Essling. Lulu’s sister Isabella was married since 1807 to one count Goëß, who had been sent to Northern Italy by Archduke Johann on a special mission (inciting the inhabitants to riot against the French, which was labelled as espionage) and had been captured by the French in Padua. The Thürheims learned the details about this from archduke Johann himself who passed through Klagenfurt on his hasty retreat from the Italians pursuing him. Only two days later, the French were there, and a certain general Grouchy, (described by Lulu as seemingly "an evil man [...] despite his outward politeness") was briefly quartered for a night in the Thürheim’s house before the army moved on:

23 May: General Grouchy advised my sister to visit the Viceroy and ask him to exchange her husband. Beauharnais received her at first with the haughty air of a true parvenu. He was very harsh towards Count Goëß, calling him ‘un colporteur de libelles infames’. Then he continued: ‘Your husband must be treated as a prisoner of the state and I myself do not understand why he was not immediately executed. - But if I had known you before, Countess,’ he interjected cynically, ���I would have felt obliged to serve you in any way I could. But now everything rests in the hands of the great Napoleon. The Emperor is stern and will not allow himself to be insulted without punishment, and I fear the worst for Count Goëß. My personal wish, however, is to be of service to you. I pity you, it must be difficult to live as a widow so young and so beautiful for so long.’ A torrent of gallant phrases followed, until my sister began to weep bitterly. Only now did Beauharnais stop his silly importunity and poor Isabelle was able to withdraw. What a difference between this conversation and the one with Archduke Johann two days ago!

Isabelle told me that Beauharnais has a nice figure, beautiful eyes and false teeth. He is a bit high-backed, but nevertheless well-grown. His manners are by no means distinguished and his eyes have a false [i.e., deceitful] gaze.

Isabelle then went to General Charpentier, who received her with the perfect politeness of a man ‘de l'ancien regime’ and gave her the best hopes for her husband. The viceroy liked to frighten people, he said with a smile. - Nevertheless, we learnt much later that Napoleon was very angry with Goëß and really intended to have him shot.

The story briefly picks up some time later, in late July (? the chronology is not always clear to me), as Eugène, despite not having gotten any … favours from Isabelle, apparently still had talked to Napoleon about the fate of count Goëß.

Our stay in Vienna was not to last long. Through the mediation of Eugene Beauharnais, my sister finally obtained the exchange of her husband for some French general. Despite the service the viceroy rendered her, Isabella found him even less comme il faut at her audience than at the first interview. He told her a thousand absurdities, asked her if she loved her husband, and behaved as indecorously as in bad taste.

Which are indeed rather unusual accusations towards Eugène. But hey, here we go.

Eugène’s correspondence is understandably silent about this meeting. The only thing I can confirm is that either the date Lulu gives in her diary must be wrong (she may only have found the time to write the entry on the 23rd while things had happened earlier), or that Isabelle must have followed the marching army of Italy, which I doubt. Eugène had passed through Klagenfurt already on the 21st and on the 23rd was already 50 kms away.

Eugène to Auguste, Klagenfurt, 21 May 1809

Here I am at Klagenfurth with part of the army, my good Auguste, and already, four leagues further on, on the Marburg side, I have my light troops. We will probably march for seven or eight days without finding the enemy, because they are withdrawing in all haste, and I will manoeuvre to get closer to the Emperor. I was unable to write to you yesterday, as I worked a lot and slept very little; but I had Bataille write to Madame de Wurmbs. I receive your lovely little letters every day, and I hope you are thinking how much I enjoy them. It has rained excessively today, and I have no means of changing my clothes, as all my carriages are two days behind me, and I don't think they will join me until tomorrow; I am like a little Saint John, with only one garment on my body, as I have lost my topcoat. Those devilish bridges broken by the enemy have caused us a lot of trouble.

Eugène to Auguste, Sankt Veit, 22 May 1809

I am only writing you a word from here, my dear Auguste. I am in a hurry to get to the right of the Emperor with as many men as possible; you will see from the date of this letter the route I am taking; but I don't want anyone to know about it in Milan for a few days yet. So during the day I'll be putting in one or two articles from Klagenfurth, and yet in four days I'll be in Leoben.

Eugène to Napoleon, Friesach, 23 May 1809

Sire, I have the honour of reporting to Your Majesty that I am sending him, by the direct route from here to Vienna, my aide-de-camp, Captain Bataille, who will have an individual from Vienna protected by our posts, who has given an assurance, for his part, that he will have my aide-de-camp pass through, supposing that he should come across enemy posts. I did not wish, for greater safety, to give a dispatch to my aide-de-camp: but I have charged him with giving Your Majesty an account of everything that has happened in his army of Italy since I had the honour of writing to him. [...]

Well, giving dispatches to Bataille apparently was not even safe in peace times, so…

There’s also a very detailled letter by Eugène to Napoleon about Count Goëß and his seized papers, in which Eugène does try to downplay the effect the count’s actions had within the kingdom. It is from 27 May.

Lulu von Thürheim's "Lebenserinnerungen" can be found online:

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4