#War Time Intrigue

[natinalpartisan]

The Emerald Enigma: Unraveling Deadeye's Disguise - A Historic Civil War Mystery

In "The Emerald Enigma: Unraveling Deadeye's Disguise - A Historic Civil War Mystery," delves into the captivating world of Irish soldiers in the American Civil War. Amidst the chaos of battle, a peculiar figure emerges known as Deadeye, a skilled marksman with a secret past. As suspicions grow, an intrepid detective, driven by curiosity and justice, embarks on a perilous journey to expose Deadeye's true identity. Set against the backdrop of war-torn America, this enthralling historical mystery takes readers on a thrilling rollercoaster of intrigue, espionage, and unexpected alliances. Prepare to unravel the enigma of Deadeye's disguise as the past and present collide in a quest for truth.

[kraftykelpie]

Older doodle! Them again <3

[ziyechs]

“ja’marr, outside of the obvious—winning the national championship—do you have a best memory with joe? whether it’s on the field or off the field… do you have a best memory that you look back on with joe burrow?”

— “i’d probably say ole miss game when i put on some icy hot. it was pretty cold that game, i actually put some stuff on my arms and joe didn’t like it. he told me: ‘take it off’, cause i was getting the ball too slippery. so i’d probably say that was actually a funny moment for me cause i wasn’t expecting him to go off on me about that.”

anyway, here is him mentioning it again, four years later :)

[gingermintpepper]

Why did Apollo favor the trojans in the Illiad?

So, dear Anon, I've been thinking about how to answer this question since I got it a couple days ago and I think I kind of want to make something clear before I get into it.

The Iliad by itself as a poem only covers some of the events that occur in the final year of a long protracted conflict that had been brewing for at least two decades and was an active war for ten. Within the space of the Iliad itself, the motivations and affairs of the major players are often referenced but there are many, many parts of the story that are not there because they belong to a different story cycle that has been since lost or was never recorded with words. In the space of the Iliad Apollo's motivations are questioned a lot - his pride is questioned by Poseidon who thinks Apollo should be just as angry at the Trojans as he considering Apollo was treated equally as poorly by Laomedon while they worked together. His honour is questioned by Hera who chastises him for taking the Trojans' side when he'd proclaimed that Achilles would live a long life and prosper at Thetis and Peleus' wedding. His own sister calls him a coward for refusing to fight when Zeus gives permission for the gods to go wild on the battlefield. For all that there's this image of Apollo in the Iliad as some staunch and unwavering protector of the Trojans, believe it or not, I largely think of Apollo as neutral in the war.

Which, I suppose, comes back to the question - why did Apollo favour the Trojans? The truthful answer is that I don't know. The Iliad and all its connected stories isn't something I've done enough research on to have an answer or a reference to an answer off the top of my head. The reasoning I'm aware of is that Apollo was a Patron God of Troy and really a god doesn't need any reason besides that to protect his people but it's not like Apollo abandoned the Greeks either. Calchas is the biggest example of that I can point to - descended directly from a priest of Apollo and one who attributed his mantic power to the god, Calchas was pivotal in ensuring the Greeks even got to Troy in the first place.

From a personal perspective however, I think Apollo was more dedicated to the house of Priam than he was the city of Troy itself. Apollo's affection for that house and all its members ran deep - from his admiration of Hecuba and Hector to his love and attempted courtship of Cassandra to his blessings given to Helenus, Deiphobos, Cassandra, Troilus and even his partnership with Paris - Apollo loved the house of Priam. When you think about the times Apollo lashes out against the Greeks, it's generally because they've done some nonsense to earn his ire. The plague was caused by Agamemnon disrespecting his priest, his aid in the slaughter of Patroclus was because he didn't respect him, his minor grudge against Diomedes too was because he tried to test Apollo's mettle and well, the less said about Achilles the better. Apart from his obvious favouring of Hector in the skirmishes, Apollo doesn't really oppose the Greeks. He has a ton of reasons to by the time the Iliad rolls around, including avenging the death of two of his sons, but he remains mostly satisfied with conducting his father's business and overseeing the war from a somewhat professional perspective. To me, it's always been less about Apollo caring about the fate of Troy as a city itself and more about him just really wanting to protect the people in the city that he's come to love and respect.

Of course, I encourage you to take my words with a big tablespoon of salt - like I said, I don't really know enough about the facts in particular to give a solid, confident answer but I can give you my interpretation of it. Maybe consult someone like @littlesparklight for a more comprehensive and grounded response 🤔

[wonder-worker]

Wild how we know that Elizabeth Woodville was officially appointed to royal councils in her own right during her husband’s reign and fortified the Tower of London in preparation of a siege while 8-months pregnant and had forces gathering at Westminster “in the queen’s name” in 1483 – only for NONE of these things to be even included, let alone explored, in the vast majority of scholarship and historical novels involving her.

[morninkim]

As a show of good faith toward the remaining Decepticons at the beginning of a new, united Cybertron, newly appointed Senators Bumblebee and Soundwave allowed Shatter and Dropkick to enlist into Autobot City's Defense Team.

These two turned out to be... not the best choices.

The city may have fallen to Insurgent Decepticon occupation had it not been for young recruits Hot Rod and Arcee's accidental interception of Shatter's communication with the fugitive Starscream.

To replace the errant Defense Team members, Springer and Blurr were reassigned from Iacon to Autobot City in their stead.

[moth-tea-merchant]

this has been me with Isgarren in recent months after warming up to him in Janthy Wilds

he's grown on me...Sorry I jumped to conclusions on you sir yer actually pretty fun

[damthosefandoms]

can I be cruel tonight. vietnam vet soda who admired his dad for being a soldier for years bc as kids we’re blind to the truth of war and sacrifice and all he knew growing up was that his dad had to go fight in the korean war like weeks after he was born and didn’t come home until soda was at least eighteen months old. darrel sr. never talked about the war, he acts like it didn’t happen, except he wore his dogtags under his shirt every day for the rest of his life after—and then soda wears them when his dad dies because it’s like keeping a part of his dad with him, something he was proud of his dad for.

and then soda gets his own, when he’s eighteen and they send him that letter condemning him to the same fate he realizes that there was a story behind that blank expression his dad would have some nights, stories similar to the ones sod’s has now and he feels sick to his stomach. but he also feels closer to his dad than ever. and now sometimes if darry and pony can’t find soda they go to the cemetary and soda will be sitting on the ground in front of their parents’ graves and his fingers will be tangled in the chain of his dogtags as he just stares into the middle distance, like their dad used to, once upon a time

[hypodermicfroggy]

I really like Psychonauts and its writing, don't get me wrong, though after having read the very ancient Li-Po Backstory Document I do wish we could have gotten more from some of the concepts that had been in there.

Like the fact that Sasha's real struggle with his father wasn't just "lol he accidentally caught his father thinking about sex with his dead mom" (though don't get me wrong I love a good Freud joke and overcoming your traumatic intimacy issues for the one you love as much as the next person), but was in fact due to him having an existential crisis over the nature of the human mind and concept of a soul and that's also why he so doggedly went into scientific experimentation. Could also tie into his fascination with extraterrestrial life and wondering if they, too, qualify for his existential studies, or even given us interesting interactions with Camper Phoebe.

(Also, stopping a terrorist/bomber with the help of his father was a cool as fuck detail.)

Or the fact that Milla actually ended up moved from mental facility to mental facility before she was finally able to be helped with quieting down the nightmares and voices of the orphanage children (among others she was able to hear) through psychoisolation. Could have more insights on her extreme pyrophobia and how she manages to come to grips with the fact that Whispering Rock *does* in fact encourage pyrokinesis.

We could have had a chance to expand on Oleander's animal telepathy/empathy powers (post Psy1, it could have been some improved character development/showing he's at least trying to not be so warhawkish), especially since we know that's also a very strong power in the Booles and Sam Boole was assigned to him as an intern.

Or how about Truman being a distinctly "conservative" and extremely politically-motivated figure with regards to how he apparently rose to power as the Head of the Psychonauts? Sure, we see parts of the fatherly side with Lili, but we don't see the politics of the Psychonauts apart from glimpses through Hollis, and maybe a tiny bit with regards to poor Bob. Hell, that political-mindedness could have even contributed to the estrangement between Truman and Bob over Bob's addiction issues, and Lili's personal apathy as well since she's basically a 'prodigy' who has never been properly challenged *since* she's a Zanotto. It could even be part of why Oleander was even recruited in the first place. Animal empath or not, he's the militaristic type that a more openly political and conservative Truman would potentially want in the organization.

And of course I know the big one was how they changed the Aquato lore and backstory from the document, and again, I LOVE what they did with that writing in Psychonauts 2 with regards to Maligula and Ford. But at the same time the Galochio family rivalry would have been so FASCINATING. Zalto could even become a future villain to deal with, possibly tied to a Grulovian mission or arc since it was hinted at the end of Psy2 they'd have to go there anyway to recover Helmut's body. Raz back in his family's homeland! The Galochios reigniting the family feud! FINALLY GETTING PROPER WATER LEVELS! Insert a joke about "why is it always you?" with Raz's Protagonist Syndrome!

I also want literally ANYTHING else with regards to the camp and interns, too. Elka has an entire backstory that is not once remotely implied in the first game that her entire family has extreme powers of clairvoyance to the point an ancestor was basically a Norwegian prophet/soothsayer. Are you kidding me? That is cool as shit. And besides horrific traumatic events, how do you even figure out your kids are psychic? Like some families clearly show an aptitude for it (the Aquatos, the Booles, the Zanottos), but is it just a genetic quirk, is it through direct Psitanium exposure causing mutation, or is it just random chance? How do you qualify to be part of Psychonauts programs? Also does Loboto actually have a kid or was he just talking insane nonsense?

Maybe if we ever get a Psychonauts cartoon like I'm coping for we could get some of these ideas returned to and elaborated on.

[dairine-bonnet]

Canderous *after the battle with rakghouls on Taris*: Here, you shoot first, only then ask questions.

Amnesiac Revan: If I'd done that, you wouldn’t be giving me this advice now.

[andreai04]

‘The pathetic — ridiculous — attempts which people undertake to try to understand nature are typically termed philosophy. The results of such attempts are also considered philosophy. It's as though a cabbage tried to investigate the causes and effects of its existence, called the result of these reflections "an eternal and mysterious conflict between head and root", and considered rain an unfathomable causative power.’

'Set out on your chessboard,' said Geralt, 'the kings, queens, elephants and rooks, and don't worry about me, because I mean as much on your chessboard as the dust on it. It's not my game. You say I'll have to choose? I say you're wrong. I won't choose. I'll respond to events. I'll adapt to what others choose. That's what I've always done.'

'You're a fatalist.'

[sunbeetle]

briefly touched s.wtor with a stick today. its definitely dated. but its also s.tar wars. and an mmo. so there was really never going to be any winning in this scenario

[dont-let-me-eat-pears]

i mean, he killed jecki and yord, and now she's killed sol and they're both evil, but. i maybe? kinda? ship it?

[manuscript-or]

*kicking my legs and pounding my fists* i don't wanna write political intrigue, i don't wanna

[muse-write]

So many library books to read, so little time, and so much work to do for the end of the semester…

[snobwhimsicalityy]

hello chat i am going to be a hater in tags for a moment (jst finished natlan act IV)