#another call to end war

[ranticore]

secret early morning post for my gmt pals - the wyrms were the ones who introduced the crawling beasts of the earth.. these guys were originally ancient philosophers and alchemists trying to unlock the secret of immortality. they tapped into another dimension and these mindless creatures spilled out. they each blamed the others for causing the crisis, but only one of them managed to escape the blame (although they were far from blameless) by throwing everyone else under the bus in front of the ruler of the land. that traitor philosopher was given permission to harness this new extradimensional magic, and by order of the ruler, everyone responsible for the crisis was transformed into a symbol of evil, a wyrm, and banished forever. The other monsters (harpies, manticores etc) were what became of the minions and assistants of the philosophers - not responsible for the crisis, but blamed nonetheless. they were combined with animals (single species or many at once to make chimeras) and released from society. The idea was that everyone with the knowledge of how to replicate the crisis would be exiled or marked as evil (except for that one guy who escaped consequences)

Generations down the line, normal monsters have little knowledge of their origins. The wyrms all know and they are soooo fucking bitter about it.

[s0undsinmyhead]

I decided to reread The Hunger Games trilogy and I gotta say this trend of absolutely hating Gale and calling him a war criminal and selfish is such a miss.

Gale is by no means a perfect person. But none of the characters are. They all do bad or questionable things. They’re literally in the middle of a war. Even before it’s officially a war.

Yes Gale was jealous of Peeta and Katniss. Yes, there were significantly more important things going on. Gale knew that, he acknowledged that. But end of the day he’s still a teenager with emotions. Just like Peeta and Katniss who both also describe being jealous of Gale - Madge - Joanna. They also know it’s dumb given all the danger and death surrounding them. But surprisingly people still have emotions like love and jealousy during wartime - including teenagers.

As for the war criminal comments that’s a whole long discussion but let’s remember this is a world in which the government has been slaughtering children for entertainment and forcing all the districts that send their kids to watch them be murdered for the entirety of the main trios lives and long before them - it is all they have ever known.

Additionally, year round the capital treats the citizens like slaves and makes them produce whatever is necessary for the capital and then let’s them live in squalor starving to death. This is how Gale grew up. He was the oldest of 4 kids. His dad died when he was a kid and he was responsible for taking care of his mom and all his siblings. He had his name in the bowl for the reaping probably more than almost any boy in 12.

He watched his district and the men women and children he knew his whole life be burned alive while he had to lead as many to safety as he could. He watched his best friend be shoved into the hunger games twice knowing not only that he might lose her forever but that he would have 2 more people to care for and soon he would be forced into the mines full time with little opportunity to hunt.

So when a war breaks out to finally stop the abuses and murders by the capital of course Gale jumps in. Of course he plans to kill. It’s a war. And it’s nice to try and be a pacifist and say give peace a chance but how can you say that to your oppressors and expect anything to change. There had to be a war and there had to be death. Gale fought in the front lines and was willing to die to save his family and free the districts. It’s curious we never hear anyone call Beetee a war criminal when he made more weapons than anyone. Almost like it’s not the fact the Gale made weapons during a war, but that it was Gale.

[layla-carstairs]

The funniest thing (to me) to come out of Taylor and Joe possibly breaking up is the amount of people saying “oh they didn’t survive the Great War :(“ like that metaphor really went over so many people’s heads. They did in fact survive the Great War, it was World War Two that got them in the end I fear

[ladystoneboobs]

got prequels on the brain lately, and i think i can explain padme in rots, even if it might not be exactly what lucas was thinking of. see, it's not just that she loves her husband and wants to believe there must be still be some good in him, it's also that she is now not just anakin's wife, but the mother of his child(ren) too. like, literally about to pop right as obi-wan/yoda have decided anakin needs to be killed. she doesn't feel she can stay on coruscant anymore as a senator under the emperor's reign, she was already doubting doing that job as a working mom. then she learns the jedi have all been deemed traitors and their order outlawed, while she's carrying offspring very likely to be highly force sensitive since the force itself is pretty much the paternal grandfather there. so, she herself is a potential political target as someone who opposed palpatine's war efforts from the beginning in a more public way than bail organa or mon mothma, and her child(ren) would also be targeted just for existing as potential jedi before ever really using the force against the empire. being a single mom to outlawed and untrained but very powerful l'il jedi while the both of you are being targeted and hunted down on the run/in exile without the skills really needed to protect any jedi child, that's just a no-go. her only anti-palps and anti-anakin alternatives would have to include never being a mother after giving birth, whether going into exile alone somewhere or wearing a mask and playing the long game like bail organa. (even if he still adopted leia as in otl, how much time could she really spend with her without drawing more suspicion from palps? how painful would it be to watch someone else raise your child while possibly never even knowing if your other child is ok?) in that sense, knowing how wanted that unplanned pregnancy was, is it any wonder that she chose to make a last attempt to save their family instead? to run away with her husband, who happened to be the only man strong and powerful enough to protect them all from the empire, the only man she could trust and wanted to trust, with the safety of their whole unsplit secret little family. so it is only after he refuses to run away with her, when he insists that he's only interested in using his new dark powers to protect her, and when he reveals that his only idea of defying palpatine is to replace him, making padme into a new dark empress, a dictator rather than the public servant she once thought she could be, only then that she starts feeling he may just be lost to her after all. but when you've gone so far together already, brushing off his first massacre, marrying him mere days later, and then truly tying yourself to him permanently through pregnancy, it's really too late to ever go back to your ol' "normal" life either.

[finelythreadedsky]

i'm fundamentally opposed to book titles in translations of ancient epics ('beguilement on mount ida,' 'a hero's son awakens,' 'the olive tree bed,' 'camilla's finest hour,' 'juno served by a fury') bc it just seems like too much to me to presume you know what single thing the book is really about, but christopher logue is allowed to do it

[doctorweebmd]

look i think the thing people forget is that My Hero Academia is not a typical shounen. Its purposeful. Its well written. Horikoshi does not DO throw away plot-lines. He doesn't ignore plot holes. Over the past 10 years he has proven, time and time and TIME again that this is an incredibly thought out, narrative-driven brilliant story that has taken popular tropes and preconceptions and turned them on their head.

Have a little faith.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

My parents and I watched the season 3 finale of Star Wars: Rebels tonight and I can't believe my mom was the one who was like "WHY ARE THEY* ALL DYING?!" and I was the one being all, "don't worry I'm sure it will be fine." this is the most role reversal we have ever done.

(*to clarify I mean the rebels in general, the main cast was fine)

[bonefall]

Skystar and Mapleshade during a trial where a dark forest cat is needed as a witness, but makes them mad: "Turn up the heat, huh Firestar?"

Firestar: "Oh, sure." =3

Dark Forest Cat: *screams.*

_____

Also:

Tigerclawstar: "Runningnose, it's not fair! Firestar gets FIRE POWERS, and all I get is multiple legs!"

Runningnose: *actually likes Firestar but knows Tigerstar won't like anything that sounded like praise towards the ginger furred leader.* "....He sucks, I guess."

It's times like this where Runny really misses Brokenstar, because back then if he wanted to use up one of his "favor points" he could just say it and then hide behind his badger-sized bestie. Like,

"Hmm. Perhaps he got fire powers because, compared to you, he is simply cooler."

"WHAT?! I'LL MAKE YOU--" but when he turns to strike the little snotball he's perfectly nestled under Brokenstar's chin, purring affectionately, and Broken gives Tigerstar a little warning growl.

...But, sadly, Runningnose is pulled from the fantasy of having his Vengefully Manifested Force Of Nature by his side again, blinking it out of his mind before anyone notices he's smiling.

So, he sighs and nods along to Tigerstar's stupid, petty feud with the little orange twink. Even though Firestar is a better leader in almost every way.

He ponders for a brief moment if they ever did manage to resurrect SkyClan. Hopes that Brokenstar finally found his peace.

[laviexenrose-a]

* . ⊹ @honorhearted // continued from x

What better way than the thought of being in your arms?

Isabelle could not find fault in that. If she were being brutally honest, she would have told Ben that her dreams of the past were often of them tangled together in a warm embrace, loving each other as though it were their last night on Earth, the same way they’d just been but a short while ago.

Perhaps your father saw reason and has called off the duel...

“Yes, perhaps he has,” she accorded quietly, swallowing the small lump within her throat. As soon as the words had left her, she knew that was wishful thinking, and it was futile to even so much as get her hopes up. Although… Isabelle was still very much determined to have a private word with her father before the duel in one final, desperate attempt to persuade him to call it off. Even if she were unsuccessful, it was worth a try.

As she readied herself to stand, taking a hold of the sides of the tub, Ben instructed her to remain where she was. Leaning back, Isabelle nodded her head at him then watched helplessly as he left the room to answer the door. She heaved a small sigh before carefully getting out of the tub, unable to sit there with the suspense hanging over her head. At the very least, she had to know who was standing on the other side of the door.

With a bit of haste, she wrapped the sheets around her frame and walked towards the door, mindful that each step she took could potentially cause the floorboards to creak beneath her feet. Reaching the door, she cautiously placed her hand over the handle and cracked open the door just enough to eavesdrop on the conversation down the hall.

Josiah.

Letting out a light gasp, she took a step back. Josiah, of course. Ben had declared him as his second. With the duel fast approaching, him showing up on the doorstep unannounced wasn’t so out of the ordinary.

Once again, Isabelle listened in on their exchange, the thudding of her frantic heart beating wildly inside of her chest making it difficult to hear every word Josiah spoke, but she had managed to catch the gist of what he had said: he, too, wanted a duel with Ben…

[saviourkingslut]

watched netflix's im westen nichts neues with my dad and uhh. i dont think they could've missed the essence of the book any harder if they'd actively tried

[catilinas]

I kknow Lucan was cool before but you saying the Pharsalia was constructed to haunt the historical Julius Caesar is soooooo unbelievably sexy of him. What if the most persistent and devastating ghost in western history gets haunted himself huh. what about that??? oh how the turns have tabled

LITERALLY exactly precisely verily AND in sooth. i know i call the pharsalia the pharsalia (and also. I’m Right) but that is a Guess at its title and in manuscripts etc it is often titled bellum civile / de bello civile etc which is. the same title as caesar’s commentaries on the civil war…… the commentaries that hirtius (i think?) said were so much The Definitive Narrative of the civil war that why would anyone else bother writing another one? and then lucan is like. haunts you. haunts you. haunts you. with his insane fucked up evil epic poem that is not historically accurate but also not Claiming to be historically accurate and maybe even deliberately drawing attention to how No narrative can be the neutral text that caesar tries to present his commentaries as…… and then if Lucan’s PoemTM IS called the pharsalia. hey fun fact did you know caesar very conspicuously doesn’t actually name pharsalus / the battle of pharsalus Even Once in the whole text? not like it’s the definitive battle where he effectively won the civil war or anything. what would happen if suddenly there was another text on the sand subject that just absolutely will not shut up about pharsalus specifically. hashtag the future will read you AND me. OUR pharsalia will live on and WE will be condemned to darkness by no age

[sunfishsiestalah]

So, I saw in one of the tags that you had an AU, What's the AU about? Also, I like your drawings, they're cool

Hi, thank you so much for your kind words anon! I really appreciate that 🥰

TLDR version: I realized that I rarely draw anything these days, so to motivate myself to study and draw again I basically created an AU for the main purpose of using illustrations from early-to-mid 20th century as references and studies while doubling as ship art (by slapping the faces of those two dorks on them to encourage myself to make more)

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Long, in-depth explanation of the AU + shitpost art under the cut

The main premise of this AU is that in 1960, 'Perseus', who had just became the leader of Collective, found himself to be in over his head with this newfound responsibility and needed all the help he can get, so he invited his longtime friend most trusted confidante Bell (who isn't Bell in this AU) to became co-leader with him because he can (my headcanon is that every Perseus can make their own rules and the next one can amend or remove it to their pleasure).

Other basic infos about this AU:

They both are the same age (b. 1921)

Crossed paths with each other multiple times during WWII (different unit)

Only became friends after the war when they found themselves working together in the same building

Mainly focuses on period between 1950s up to 1980s

For more than a decade now, I've always been fascinated with artworks from the Golden Age of Illustration (1880's - 1920's) up until 1960's, thanks to Black Ops 1 ironically lmao. Back in 2010 when I was obsessed with the game I was always on the Internet searching and learning everything that is related to the game's time period (fashion, music, art, events etc.). During that time I was exposed to artists like Al Parker along with Coby Whitmore, and I immediately became obsessed with the art style.

So other than me making up a reason to trawl the Internet again for good old retro illustrations like the old days and to draw these two in intimate poses (not that kind of intimate, if you catch my drift), I also made the AU set at this specific time period as a convenience to myself so that I don't have to spend extra time researching fashion trends or hairstyles in 1950's etc., because the illustrations that I'll be using as studies were already from that era 😎

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Extra notes

At first, I wanted this to be a simple and self-indulgent AU complete with the usual slapstick comedy but I caught myself making it more complex and poignant through imagining both of them struggling to heal and navigate their lives together post-war + before & after de-Stalinization, so uhhh that's kinda cool and sad I guess

I even bought an art book hoping that it'll provide me with cool references and inspiration to draw them both along with making art of my mutuals' OCs

This AU already has a tag (duo au), haven't chose an official name for it yet but I here's a few that I made last month:

'Duumvirate' AU

'Local man too chicken to confess his feelings to his BFF, then panickly asked them to co-lead his secret spy club instead' AU

'Tryhard supervillains' AU

'Rule of Two' AU

'I've been waiting for you, Mr. Bond' AU

As a thank you for managing to understand my incoherent ramblings and saying my drawings are cool, please enjoy this pic of Officer's Uno Night at Lubyanka

[ragnarssons]

i love being chill in my little corner of the internet. like i honestly do not care about how filoni and favreau are gonna re-connect s3 to s2 when they reunited grogu and din on tbobf... i just honestly do not care, i just want to see them again.

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Me next?

Rest of My Life - Nickel Creek

[flintbian]

Just got out of yet another interview and they threw in a fun question which was "who's your favorite superhero" and I blanked and all I could think of were villains, rip 😭

[kirnet]

valkryia 4, for all of its flaws, did definitely get better as it went on (well, it got better, then way worse, then a lil better), and there were some moments that actually really shocked me and got me invested, especially when it came to kai and raz. and it improved upon a lot of gameplay elements from 1, so i’ll give it that.

however, as decent as the ending was, i just cant get into it the same way as 1. 1 ends with welkin and alicia married with a kid, yadda yadda, but the ending 1) promised change for the future and a shift in society to combat long-standing racism and bias within that society, and 2) was earned, with welkin’s brains and alicia’s abilities directly responsible for every victory. Gallia beat the Empire bc all of the characters were actively working towards that goal at all times.

but in valk 4, after half of the game is spent heading towards the capital of the empire to deploy a nuke, after the characters struggle and eventually decide that they have to detonate a nuke to end the war, right as claude is about to push the button... miraculously a ceasefire is called. the war just fuckin ends out of nowhere.

and claude reacts accordingly! he’s pissed that it took up until this horrible moment for this to happen, and i didn’t WANT him to detonate a nuke, but like... what was the point? what did this whole stunt accomplish? the ceasefire was called independently of his actions.