#child soldier

[coolfireguy73]

I remade them... yeah

Yeah, I didn't really like them. Well, I didn't really like my child Medic ref, he looked kinda weird :/

Also I said I had to replan everything about the comic. Yeah, I want to introduce more characters, so I needed to make a ref for them, so there they are, every character I'll need.

I did not give them precise ages, nor have I respected their canon age gap, but I've kept roughly who's the youngest and who's the oldest. Like, Demo would be a bit younger than everyone else, Medic a bit older etc...But just a bit, this is to avoid the weirdness of an 8 year old hanging out with a 20 year old.

This is also why Scout and Sniper aren't there, Scout... for obvious reasons and sniper because we would be much too young even with the arrangements I've made.

Also also Soldier looks a bit like Scout, but I have a few headcanons for him (nothing big but I DO have to make a comic so I have to have at least a little bit of context for each of them) and I didn't want to make him look exactly like how he is in the game.

Bonus:

[ohheyfullmetal]

Rex Salazar is truly the most character ever. He is an amnesiac 16 year old growing up in a government facility (that tried to/does experiment on him). He is a child soldier. He was the second son of the scientists who began the apocalypse in Mexico. He was a homeless criminal in Hong Kong. He got his powers after getting severely injured as a child and now can talk to machines and grow nanites and absorb them. He is the only cure for the apocalypse his parents helped create. His support system is comprised of a doctor with 3 PhD’s and the sixth most dangerous man in the world. He quite literally lived in an empty prison cell until he was needed to fight for years. When he loses his memories each time he wakes up asking for family in Spanish but has no idea who they are or even who he is. He only loses his memory when he’s about to die. Nobody knows how many times that’s been. He’s treated like a monster. He likes trigonometry. His older brother is actively trying to kill him most of the time. He’s the world’s only hope, but he’s also a teenager who loves to play basketball and watch telenovelas and go to school like other kids.

[nuttynutcycle]

Prompt 415

"I have not lived a long life," the teen said bitterly to their ragtag group of soldiers. Their gaze was steel, and their smile bloody. "But I will give what I have."

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Defense for Children International-Palestine writes:

Rafat Omar Ahmad Khamayseh, 15, was shot by Israeli special forces while leaving his grandfather’s house in Jenin refugee camp around 7:30 p.m. on September 19, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. As he left the house, Rafat saw Israeli special forces exiting three Palestinian licensed cars and surround the home of the father of a Palestinian man wanted for arrest. Rafat fled, yelling, “Special forces! Special forces!” One Israeli soldier chased Rafat and shot him in the abdomen from a distance of 10 meters (33 feet).    

While nearly all of the reports on the Jenin incident identify Khamayseh as being 22 years old, photos indicate that he probably really was 15.

And that he was not exactly an innocent child.

Yet even if we take DCI-P at their word that all he was doing was warning terrorists that the IDF was there, that makes him legally a militant and a legitimate military target.

The US Department of Defense Law of War Manual (revised July 2023) says that a civilian is considered to be taking a direct part in hostilities when he or she is "acting as a guide or lookout for combatants conducting military operations." 

The ICRC agrees. In its document "Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities Under International Humanitarian Law" it says,  "a person serving as one of several lookouts during an ambush would certainly be taking a direct part in hostilities although his contribution may not be indispensable to the causation of harm."

This is exactly what DCI-P is admitting that Khamayseh was doing. His warning endangered the Israeli forces and therefore he became a combatant and legitimate target, no matter what his age.

[she-could-never]

X

[seafoam-icecream]

“Fall back! That’s a direct order!”

“Sorry, but now you just make me want to do it even more. Send my love to everyone back home.”

[blackros78]

A Bosnian Teenager, 1993

[historyandarthijinks]

I can't imagine what it is like being a conscripted soldier of a country that is deservedly hated for its horrendous actions.

Imagine seeing the horror of war, fighting your neighbors who are your brothers. You face meeting the same fate as them if you defect or desert. You go online and see thousands calling for your death. There is footage of your brothers in arms dying. There is footage of the atrocities your brothers in arms are committing.

Comment sections are full of slurs, of death threats, of comedy about your situation.

You see the news that the war is causing hate overseas. You see the blood on your hands. You understand that everything your doing is wrong.

They say you should die for the greater good of your country. They say you should die for the greater good of your victims. They say you should die because you were drafted.

Imagine what it would be like.

Imagine not wanting any of this, and getting drafted still.

[kickis-conan-king]

Happy (belated) Birthday Pidge!!!

[khr-guilded-cage]

wHy nOBodY LIstEN To Me?

I don't want to be Vongola Decimo! I just want to be free!

[atangledfate]

The soft crunch of snow under her boots was the only company she had for hours now. Her fur blowing in the cool wind as she passed by the burned out old buildings. She paused near one of the old cabins, an old sign swaying back and forth reading Cafeteria. She could almost hear the sounds of laughter and jeers echoing from the old building. It almost made her smile, yet it was a fleeting one as her eyes traveled to the old Obstacle course. Her eyes parting to reveal her blue eyes--- filled with anger, rage and sadness.

This place was where she grew up, and yet it brought her no joy. Her memories were filled with the screams of her friends. People taken from there homes, or conned into signing over there lives. Forced into this camp and pushed beyond normal bounds until they would break or push past there limits. The fact she survived at all was a miracle, and yet some days she wished she hadn't.

She didn't linger long staring at that obstacle course, filled with old jagged blades, and machines that fired gouts of flame. She'd only been a little girl when they brought her here. She barely knew what war was, let alone the atrocity of what they were turning her into. It was a pain she could never escape, and one she forever lived with. The people that did this to her would never be forgiven--- and yet she had no idea where they even were today. She prayed they were long gone... but if they were not? She'd kill them should she ever find them... without hesitation.

She finally arrived at her destination, her arm dropping as she held onto it with her other arm. The flowers she heled drooped as they nearly touched the ground. The mural that rose upward filled with names etched upon it, each name a soul who perished in this horrid camp. A mural she and the Cutters had erected just before the war, as a show of respect to those who perished.

She reached out placing the flowers at the base of the mural, a large sign with GUN's logo on it. She motioned for purple to do what they came to do. The purple Wisp flew forward and used his Hyper Go On energy to carve the names of the Cutters into the mural. His hand writing was something to be desired but, that was less important then the act itself. She prayed this brought her some closure--- and maybe now she could truly forget this place...

and most of all... put it all behind her.

[revoltedstates]

Iowa drummer boy Jesse B. Murphy, who was nicknamed "Siss" by his fellow soldiers because he was often mistaken for a girl. Source: Iowa Civil War Images.

[homocidal-invader]

Some Tak in Emo Zim AU stuff. We haven’t seen CLASSIC Emo Zim in a while on this blog, lol.

[humanrightsconnected]

Did you know that it is estimated that there are between 250,000 and 300,000 child soldiers in the world today? On World Children's Day, check out our action guide to discover ways how you can get involved in ending the use of child soldiers!

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Palestinian armed groups announced on Tuesday afternoon that they intended to start a battle in Nablus last night. The reason? To stop Jews from performing "Talmudic prayers" at Joseph's Tomb. The IDF entered Nablus last night, not to arrest a wanted militant, or to frustrate a planned terror attack. Unlike most incursions, this one was known to all ahead of time. Because the terrorists knew that the Jewish pilgrims were visiting and they wanted to stop them from visiting, and that the IDF would be there to protect them. The terrorists - part of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is part of the Fatah group headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas - started shooting towards the worshipers. The IDF fired back. One of the attackers was apparently killed when the homemade bomb he was holding exploded before he could throw it to the IDF, although the specific circumstances are unclear - the IDF admits to shooting towards him. The dead terrorist was apparently 15 years old, although some Palestinian media say he was 17. Either way, he was a child soldier - another little fact that won't get mentioned by self-proclaimed progressives whose interest in such matters vanishes when it comes to Palestinian antisemites.

[myhusbandsasemni]

Writing snippet, bit of a long one today

Look at my space babies, featuring a confused Del, and a baby Travis who is in denial about his mother selling him.

Challenger 27: 3/29/23

“Hey, ah, do… do you think they’ll ever let me go?” Travis asked, sounding as though he was afraid to ask. “It’s been a few months, and I miss my mom.”

Asphodel looked at him, frowning. “How am I to know that? But…. I think that if I was removed from the facility, my creator would probably get me back, so that is like the case with your creator. They’re probably just borrowing you.”

Tension left Travis’s shoulders at her words. “Thank the Abyss. I was afraid I’d never get to see grass again.”

Asphodel filed away the words Abyss and grass to ask about later. “What made you worried about that.”

“Because…. Well, it almost seemed as though my mom sold me to them,” he said. “But they were probably just paying her to borrow me, like renting. I am pretty useful and my mom did need money. We’ve been having a hard time buying food.”

Money, buying. That sounded interesting. 

Asphodel quizzed him on each new word he said, filing away his explanations to keep and remember for herself. They talked for hours, and by the end, her throat hurt from talking. When the door opened, she was so dazed with all that she’d learned that she didn’t even glare at Dr. Lennon, who seemed quite pleased. 

Travis was taken down a different hall, looking very small as he glanced over his shoulder to where they were taking her. 

She was not dazed enough, however, to miss what Dr. Lennon said as they opened the door to her cell. 

“I told you. She just needed something to keep her occupied. There are some things that can only be taught to her by other children. I have to say, I am quite pleased with our purchase.”

Asphodel filed the word purchase away for the next time she would talk to Travis. It sounded like they would be meeting again, and she was quite pleased by that. 

Challenger 27: @my-cursed-prince

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