#or by renaissance era mercenaries and not actual knights

[eelproficiency]

the curse of doing historical research for art is that you’ll find stuff that looks sick as hell but from entirely the wrong time period/purpose. may god forgive me but i’m going to take Artistic Liberties

[nevesmose]

Can I ramble about vampires for a bit? There's a very good short story called One For The Road by Stephen King which is a sort of sequel to Salem's Lot, set several years later where it shows that following the events of the book the Lot has become a dilapidated ghost town that everyone in the local area is afraid of and knows to avoid.

and by "ghost town", haha, well. let's justr say. Their vampeanits

Without their leader the vampires don't really do anything, they just kind of exist from one day to the next and survive by hunting people who do happen to be unlucky or unaware enough to wander too close to town. Anyway the story is about two old guys in the next town over who encounter a man from New York whose car has broken down leaving his family stranded in the Lot...

"Mister," she said in a high, clear voice, as sweet as morning mist, "won't you help me find my mother? She's gone and I'm so cold—"

"Honey," I said, "honey, you better get in the truck. Your mother's—"

I broke off, and if there was ever a time in my life I was close to swooning, that was the moment. She was standing there, you see, but she was standing on top of the snow and there were no tracks, not in any direction.

I was reminded of this because I started thinking about Sylvania and the Vampire Counts in general. I really liked them in Warhammer Fantasy and maybe one day I'll try to figure out what their Age of Sigmar equivalents are, but... it's just not the same, ya know? Sylvania was what I liked. It was an interesting place to read about.

My favourite part was always the bits we'd find out about the humans who lived there and served the vampires because it's always interesting to think about their point of view and motivations and the weird codependent relationships they could form.

Like in the first Ulrika the Vampire book her mentor has a small group of human knights that are totally loyal to her and aware of what the deal is. What's their motivation? Are they all just simps blood-swains? I don't actually remember for them specifically because it's been a while since I read those books but, in a more general sense, it's an interesting question to ask.

I'm getting back into a vampires obsession just now anyway which will no doubt lead to me resuscitating that novel I've had on the go since 2015. But I could see my way clear to writing some related stuff on here/ao3 as well. Did you know there's a shocking lack of Vampire Griffith fics? (I might need to fix that sometime. No guarantees though.)

It just seems like if I file off some serial numbers a suitably inclined vampire could exist as the leader of a late medieval/renaissance era mercenary company whose inner circle are all inducted into The Terrible Secret forming a creepily obsessed cultlike atmosphere all centred around his endless desire for power. Wouldn't it be nifty if it was revealed that Vampfith has been doing this over and over for decades with an endlessly replaced cast of followers, failing every single time due to his own personal flaws that no amount of effort can fix? That would be tragic huh. 🤔

You know what, you deserve a reward for making it this far.

Ten thousand years ago the BBC used to cover various kinds of niche entertainment interests grouped under the Cult theme on its website - this for example was where Doctor Who used to be prior to the 2005 series. Anyway, vampires was one of them so here are some just about two decade old short stories.

[hello-robin-goodfellow]

THE DIFERENT CYCLES OF NOSTALGIA FILTER

Most of the nostalgia towards the past is based on Nostalgia Filter. The good stuff is remembered and the bad stuff ignored, forgotten or not even taken in account. When it's about a time period Two Decades Behind people will be nostalgic for it because they experienced it themselves, but from the viewpoint of a child or a teenager, when they didn't have to worry about all the adult stuff that depresses them nowadays, because the grownups took care of all that: taxes, work, bills, tragic news events,... If the nostalgia is about a time period people didn't directly experience themselves the romanticism is even more rampant. People will base their rosy posy image of that time period on stuff they have seen and read in books, comic strips, cartoons, TV series, films, old photos and/or fond memories of older family members. Usually they aren't aware that many things they now take for granted didn't always exist back then or were still considered highly controversial.

The glories of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome where the cradle of philosophy and science started, everyone is able to enlist in the army (well, if you weren't a woman or a slave, of course) and see the world while doing so. You can go and enjoy watching Olympic Games, a play in the theater or watch exciting gladiator battles in the arena, philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Virgil are respected as pillars of their societies, and people were opened to sex and LGBT as opposed to the close-minded Christians in later centuries. Not taken in account: class systems, people dying early of diseases we nowadays have proper treatment for, slavery, democracy only for rich upperclass males citizens, bloody battles, Roman military service had to be fulfilled several years! before you could retire and start a civilian life, women having no rights, not even allowed to watch sporting games, xenophobia was so prevalent that would make modern prejudices and bigotry look tame, scientific contributions were more based on superstitions and empirical and weren't always based on logic (see Plato's and Aristotle's works), pederasty was the only accepted form of homosexuality and it was punishable if a relationship did not fit in those criteria (also it was only tolerated in some city and states), Roman sexuality was still arguably patriarchal and not all sexual taboo was acceptable (ie. a wealthy man get away with his slaves while married women were expected to be faithful, oral sex was considered shameful).

The thousand years of Chinese dynasties up until Republic was the time where people dressed in beautiful colorful haifu with good etiquette and manners, scholars were appreciated, education was valued as opposed during the Cultural Revolution, the Tang Dynasty was the golden age of prosperity and where women has more rights than any other periods. Not taken in account: the Confucians were oppressive against the lower social classes, the caste system, education systems were corrupted with many scholars and students were promoted based on bribes rather than actual skills, women were still considered inferior in the Tang Dynasty, the royal court were so deadly and decadent that would make the place in wuxia media look tame, slavery, the rebellions and civil wars (ie. The Three Kingdoms, An Lushan Rebellion, Taiping Rebellion) that were very common that cost million of lives that went unheard of and resulted in many famine and diseases that led to cannibalism, footbinding was practiced since the Song Dynasty, xenophobia was prevalent including against their sister countries like Japan and Korea.

The Middle Ages are usually romanticized as a glorious past with chivalrous knights fighting for the honor of beautiful princesses, proving their worth in tournaments, stuffing themselves at royal buffets with the kind old king, and defending castles against malevolent invaders. Not taken in account: The Plague, wars, mercenaries and soldiers plundering farms and villages, filthy streets, people dying at a young age because of insufficient knowledge of diseases, the injustice of the feudal system, monarchs and the Catholic Church being oppressive towards people with other viewpoints, high illiteracy, people executed and tortured for audience's pleasure and often without anything resembling a fair trial, women considered being lesser in status than men, famine whenever harvests failed... Ironically, the part that was arguably good, the Byzantine Empire (with its extremely high literacy and such luxuries as running water) is usually overlooked or completely ignored.

The Renaissance and The Enlightenment are the time when society finally got out of the bleak, primitive and God fearing Dark Middle Ages and gained wisdom by discovering a lot of stuff. Kings and queens never looked more magnificent. Artists and sculptors painted the finest works and humanists, philosophers and Protestants learned humanity to think for themselves. You could enjoy a Shakespeare play, listen to baroque classical music or have a swashbuckling duel. Not taken in account: A lot of new thought and discoveries in the field of science were very slowly adapted into society. Mostly because a lot of royals, religious authorities and other government officials suppressed these "dangerous" new ideas. Compared to those "primitive" Middle Ages more people have been hanged or burned on the stake for their beliefs and/or on the assumption that they were witches during the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s than in the centuries before! The Reformation and Counter-Reformation divided Europe and caused many casualties. All the great books and art works created during this era were only enjoyed or experienced by the very rich. Wars still ravaged Europe, colonization exploited other continents, slavery became a real industry and absolutism made the monarchy and nobility so powerful and decadent that they didn't care about the lower classes. Duels weren't glorious at all, just a matter of killing off your opponent.

The Golden Age of Piracy is one big adventure where you could go on a boat trip with pirates and have fun attacking other ships, taking gold and bury or search for treasure on some Deserted Island. Men were real men with a Badass Beard and cool looking eye patches, hooks for hands and wooden legs. Not taken in account: scurvy, people forced to do what their captain told them, your ship being attacked by other ships and losing, keelhauling, loot just being spent instead of buried, anti-piracy laws could get you arrested and hanged, storms could destroy your ship, all the cool looking eye patches, hooks for hands and wooden legs were just practical solutions for grievous injuries suffered during fights, and the fact that most of the Caribbean economy was reliant on the slave trade. There were also plenty of brutal attacks on helpless villages, indigenous communities, plantations, civilian ships, and even colonial settlements. In addition to helping themselves to everything that wasn't tied down, pirates would also torture, murder, enslave, and/or rape men, women, and children indiscriminately just for their own sick pleasure.

America's Wild West is a fun era where you could roam the prairie on a horse, visit saloons and shoot outlaws and Indians. Not taken in account: slavery was not abolished until deep in the 19th century and still going on in many colonies or remote place in the American South, cowboys took care of cattle and didn't engage in gun fights, gun violence was just as illegal as it is nowadays and could get you arrested by local sheriffs, outlaws could actually remain on the loose for several years, Native Americans being massacred by white settlers and armies, black people having no basic human rights, The Ku Klux Klan was a respected organization...)

The mid-to-late 19th century and early 20th century were a classy time period where everybody was impeccably dressed and had good manners. You could take a coach ride or (later on) test the "horseless carriage", read some of the greatest novels in history, listen to the first records or even the great Caruso in person, admire the wonders of electricity and enjoy a world still untouched by modern industry. Life in the colonies was even more fun because you so many countries were still unexplored territory and the ideal place for adventure. Not taken in account: Victorian values were dominant, women couldn't vote, poor people couldn't vote, industrialization didn't have any health, safety or ethical rules to obey, child labor was rampant, workers had no rights, factories were very harmful to people's health and the environment, city rivers were open sewers, upper class had all the advantages upon the lower class, people could be sent to the poor house when they couldn't pay their debts, many novels were just pulp (think of it as the 19th century version of Internet) and music was strictly symphonic, the first automobiles were as dangerous as electricity, colonization was great for white Europeans but not as much for the oppressed native populations of Africa and Asia, animals were still hunted down as trophies, people who looked different were exploited in freak shows and circuses for spectators to Come to Gawk.

The Interbellum (1920s and 1930s): Between the two world wars, life was great. Everybody went to night clubs and/or revue theaters where they could enjoy great jazz music, girls and comedians. Movie theaters were a great place to be, because fantastic cinematic masterpieces were made. On the radio you could great music and serials, and newspapers published the best and most engaging comic strips ever printed. Not taken in account: From 1920 until 1933 alcohol was prohibited in the USA, so having an alcoholic drink was impossible without getting arrested or dying because of bad homemade brew. Crime was able to organize itself in a way that will probably never get untangled again. Many people got murdered in gangster violence. Jazz music was initially seen as "barbaric" just because it was made by blacks, and it had to be adapted to symphonic music to make it well-known. Hollywood in its early years was subject to more scandals than ever since, leading to a industry-wide censorship that lasted until the 1960s. The Great Depression between 1929 and 1940 caused major unemployment and poverty in many civilized countries, also forcing quite some people to start a life in crime. The "Dust Bowl" generated a desertification of the Midwest. Germany was particularly struck hard, because the country was still paying huge war debts to other countries, causing mass poverty and the ideal atmosphere for Nazism to gain voters. Many countries during this time period suffered under either Nazism, Fascism or Communism. From 1933 on Jewish, homosexual, Romani and left wing people were already persecuted in Nazi Germany, at the same time disagreeing in anything with Stalin meant a one-way ticket to Siberia. War was already brewing in Europe and the Far East, when Japan invaded China and South East Asia. Many countries were still colonies, which wasn't a great deal for the natives there. Afro-Americans were still second class citizens and the Ku Klux Klan was still quite powerful in many political circles.

The '40s and World War II, the time where the entire world was united against a common evil foe and soldiers could still fight a just cause. Everybody worked together to defeat the Nazis or Japanese, while enjoying great Hollywood films and jazz and big band records on the radio. Not taken in account: Not everyone was united against the Axis. Numerous people (even Lindbergh and Ford) didn't consider Nazism or Fascism anything bad or felt their country should stay neutral in the war. During the occupations many people on both sides were arrested, deported, and/or murdered. People couldn't trust anyone, because your neighbor might be a Nazi collaborator or a spy who would turn you in to the authorities. The Nazis banned American and English music and films in Europe, so you could get in big trouble if you tried. Also, you know, there was a big war on. Millions of young soldiers were drafted and died on the battlefield, cities were bombed and occupied by enemy armies, you could die any day, shortages were rife.

The '50s: The last truly great time period in history. Music, films, politicians were nice, clean and decent. There was a general optimistic feeling about the future, exemplified in sunny fashions, interiors and technology. The youth enjoyed some great rock 'n' roll on their transistor radios and the early TV shows show how happy and pleased everybody was. Not taken in account: the Cold War, the Red Scare, anti-communist witch hunts, the Korean War, the French Indochina War, many European countries tried violently oppressing the inevitable independence of their colonies, Afro-Americans were still second-rate citizens in the USA and had to fight for human rights, homosexuals were forced to keep their sexual identity silent in many countries, the traditional role of women as housewives was still encouraged in many Western countries, a lot of music in the hit parade was still the bland, square, formulaic and sappy crooner music popular since the 20s, adults were scared of early rock 'n' roll and actually did everything to suppress the youth from listening to it and becoming teenage delinquents, the TV shows and films of that decade were so escapist that they ignored every controversial element.

The '60s and The '70s, a great time when everybody was a beatnik or a hippie and enjoyed fantastic rock music, marijuana, LSD and free love. People chased bad guys with their own hands with cool funk and disco music playing in the background. The young demonstrated for more democratic rights and everything changed for the better. Not taken in account: the older generation looked down upon hippies, the Vietnam War cost many lives, The Cuba Missile Crisis nearly caused a nuclear war between the USA and USSR, Afro-Americans still had to fight for civil rights, just like today there were just as much idealistic but naïve demonstrators who merely wasted time smoking pot instead of actually doing something, drug casualties were just as rampant back then as they are today, people took the law on their hands because of the alarming crime rates, not helped by the extreme corruption of police forces, psychedelic rock, funk and disco are now confined to sit in the shadow of both rock-and-roll and modern pop music, to the point that for decades, these were considered as the most cheesy genres created by man, [[not all demonstrators were pacifistic in their approach and it's an open question whether everything actually changed for the better.

The '80s: Oh yes. A great decade for pop culture after the sordid '70s and before everything went to the gutter in the '90s: Everybody felt a bright future coming along, as demonstrated by good TV shows, groundbreaking technology, computers and videogames, colorful clothing, simple yet catchy pop music and finally a TV channel that showed your favorite bands 24/7. The Cold War came to an end, the Berlin Wall and Apartheid fell. Not taken in account: The early 1980s had many people fear the Cold War wasn't going to end well. The Latin American debt crisis. President Reagan wanted more nuclear missiles in Europe, envisioned the Star Wars defense system and the "Evil Empire" speech reflected the "Red Scare" at a time "the Bomb" was still making everybody nervous. The Cold War, Berlin Wall and Apartheid did fall, but only near the end of the decade. Unemployment and economic crisis were a huge problem in many Western countries in the early years of the decade and the high speculation led to a bubble which fatigued in 1987 and burst in 1989. AIDS caused many victims because governments were slow to inform the general public on this disease as most people at first dismissed as just a problem for blacks, gays and drug users. TV shows and movies were extremely escapist and PCs and video games were prohibitively expensive. MTV did bring music videos on TV, but the downside was that how a pop star looked and danced became more important than the music, which was now created by computers, becoming increasingly sappy and repetitive as samples became the norm, becoming a disadvantage for those who still wanted to use actual instruments, chords and tunes. Metal and rap were seen as crime-mongering and even "satanic" as a whole. Also drugs went artificial during this time, turning Florida into a Crapsaccharine World. The nuclear power plant explosion in Chernobyl caused another major fear among people about the dangers of nuclear power.

The '90s and The Aughts: Dude. The Cold War has ended, and though some pesky Arabs (and some nutcases in the West) will try to blow people up and some Central European countries will be at each other's throats, there is peace at last! Outsourcing has lifted the West from the heavy load of manual work for good and turn to technology, and anyways, isn't the Internet wonderful? Society and culture are now free to break all imposed boundaries: Music has become more authentic with the arrival of rap, hip-hop, grunge and pop-punk. TV and movies now address modern issues instead of being stuck in those stodgy 50s and 60s. Politicians at last agree on stuff and generally get along. Whatever. Not taken in account: While a couple of years in the late 1990s were quite peaceful, the years before were marked by the extremely chaotic rearrangement of the former Warsaw Pact nations and the decade after was dominated by the Iraq War and memories of 9/11. The "technological revolution" ultimately never became the boon it was supposed to be: Economically, the exodus of manufacturing jobs forced the middle class to live on debt, which would give way to an economic meltdown by the end of the 2000s while privacy would gradually become a major source of concern as personal data became readily accessible. During the 1990s, the Internet was very expensive and was the province of businessmen and geeks while during the following decade, online downloads and chatrooms became incendiary topics. Grunge and "gangsta rap" were better known at their peak for the demise of several of their stars than for the music while hip-hop and pop-punk would be regarded in retrospective as trashy as the bubblegum pop that dominated the late 90s. By increasingly appealing to the trendy set, TV and film became increasingly shallow. While ideological differences became a thing of the past, politics became more self-serving and conflicts became pettier. As a result, people began to feel a sense of disconnection, which eventually led to the rise of strongly ideological populist movements.

SOURCE:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe

EXTRA: IN THE DISTANT YEAR OF 2045.

The New '10s and New '20s : Remember that meme? Do you have a Harriet doll? I need her to complet my My Little Poney: Friendship is Magic and Equestria Girls collection. Do you want to exchange her for my Fluttershy doll? Oh, do you like Lady Gaga? Her music was so deep. “Oppan Gangnam style. Gangnam style. Op, op, op, op oppan Gangnam style. Gangnam style. Op, op, op, op oppan Gangnam style. Eh sexy lady. Op, op, op, op oppan Gangnam style. Ehh sexy lady, oh, oh. Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh”. Oh, i love your funko pop of Baby Groot!  “ Gotta get that. Gotta get that. Gotta get that. Gotta get that that that. Boom boom boom (Gotta get that). Boom boom boom (Gotta get that). Boom boom boom (Gotta get that). Boom boom boom. (Gotta get that) Boom boom boom. That boom boom boom. That boom boom boom. Boom boom boom”. Avengers Assemble! 

Not taken in account: The Syrian refugee crisis. The burning of the Amazon jungle. Donald Trump as the american president. Jair Bolsonaro as the brazilian president. The Covid-19 Pandemic. Navy oil in the beachs of the brazilian north east. The Brazilian Cinematheque getting closed. Height of murders of LGBTQ in Brazil. Disney monopolizing the american TV an Movie Industry.

@theroguefeminist @ardenrosegarden @witches-ofcolor @mademoiselle-princesse @butterflyslinky @anghraine @notangryenough @musicalhell @rollingthunder06 @graf-edel-weiss @princesssarisa @culturalrebel @irreplaceable-ecstasyy @im-captain-basch @iphisquandary @jonpertwee

[dolce-elegy]

WORLD BUILDING JUNE DAY 1: INTRODUCTIONS

Hey there, I've been wanting to do this for ages, but I've never been able to do this before unfortunately before today. But I want to change that so I'm going to actually try and complete a 30 day challenge for once in my flippin' life while at the same time get to blab about my old fantasy webcomic idea, Lost Resonant and finally get a semi-finalized plan for its worldbuilding. So shall we begin?

Starting off, Lost Resonant centers around a guild of four individuals by the name of Zachary Sanzeith, Ofelia Carmein, Wilton Drogo and Thomas Duncansson (pictured above clockwise from bottom) who are trying to survive fantasy capitalism on the continent of Adir by doing odd jobs and missions for people. Things might have not been so bad if they just didn't suck so much. Jesus Christ do this poor losers suck...Well anyways, they're trying to survive and also help keep Zachary's great uncle's old bookstore afloat too. Adir in general is difficult to describe in just one word, it has four countries but each one is more different than the last, along with a large variety of climate. It's an incredibly large continent and one of the largest on the planet where the story takes place. The continent's deeply varying climates and terrains, which range from tropical and desert-like climates, to mountainous and forrest-filled, also have given the chance for many different types of races and cultures to flourish on it. Some of these races are: Terreifs (humans), Zwercs (Dwarves), Horkos (Orcs), Ifreets (Dragon/Lizard people), Aoideans (Elf-Like “Sirens” that live on land), Cait Sidthe (Cat people), Albions (Actual Elves), Luche Sidthe (Mouse people), etc. Not to mention incredibly varying type of plants and animals. The four main countries of Adir are Chron, Virva, Sabrynag and Fauronos. To put it bluntly, each country is based around one specific fantasy aesthetic.

Chron, the country to east, is based around steampunk and is currently the most technologically advanced country. There is a huge focus on industry, the pursuit of knowledge (whether magickal or technological) and exceptionalism. It also has very Victorian and Edwardian-esque ideals. It truly is a horrible place to live. This country is also notable for its many sprawling cities and it's capitol city of Ordes, which is the most populated city on the continent (and probably the most polluted). It is also well-known for its various "guilds" or groups of people who are hired to complete different missions for people; mostly escort, excavation, extraction, etc. missions of the such and they basically function as jack-of-all-trades mercenaries.

Virva, the country to the south, is heavily influenced by Final Fantasy, most particularly the land of Spira from Final Fantasy X. It is a very tropical and sea-faring nation with a huge amount of island chains to the south of it, and a desert area in the north west. Though some of the islands are starting to push for independence from the mainland... It also is famous for its large concentration of Aoideans, a race who can manipulate sound itself and for being one of the only other country than Chron to utilize guilds. Also its capitol, Maris Aphronan is often regarded as one of the holiest cities on Adir. Well due to large number of shrines dedicated to the various Gods located within the city, with the most being dedicated to the chief Goddess Xephir

Sabrynag, the country to the west, is based around dieselpunk/the -1910s-1940s and while it was once a prosperous country known for its extensive precious mineral and jewel mines, a major economic disaster has caused it to fall into a bit of disarray. The gap between the rich and the poor has never been wider and while the elite stay in their glittering capitol city of Nephritopolis (well it's honestly more of a city state at this point), wanting to seem above it all, the rest of the common folk have to fight to survive in such a grim place. For the past ten years or so gangs have roamed the country trying to take as much territory as they can while getting into literal turf wars with rival gangs. This has gotten so bad, that there are various cities/towns that are entirely run by these gangs. Though in some cases, that might actually be a good thing since some of these gangs are the main reason why some towns even have protection, food, infrastructure, etc. The Grand Council of Nephritopolis keeps saying that they'll fix everything but let's be honest...they're in no hurry...

Fauronos, the country to the north, is heavily influenced by high fantasy/Lord of the Rings/Medieval and Renaissance eras, etc. with some early Final Fantasy as well (think FF I-VI). There is a great focus on military prowess with an even greater focus on chivalry, tradition and honor. There are numerous legends of daring knights based in Fauronos alone and while Chron may argue that they clearly have the superior libraries. It turns out that nothing can really compare to the expansive libraries run by the various Horkos tribes. Fauronos is also known for its many, many different walled cities either built into one of Fauronos' many forrests or fortified mountain ranges. The grandest of all of the cities being its capital, Rexhaven. Since the country is bordered by great mountain ranges (specifically the Great Eira Mountain Range), for the longest time Fauronos was essentially blocked off from the rest of Adir making trade and travel incredibly difficult. That is until the advent of air travel around 50 years or so ago. Now the country is open to the rest of Adir and it's easier to go back and forth without risking freezing to death hiking. 👌✨✨        

[mylifeatwar]

Book 2, Chapter 6, Page 4

Archived Text Follows:

Hey Everyone,

Christophe is many things, but he is almost always honest. As for the war and the battle… well, we’ll learn more about this soon enough.

For those wondering about the Royal Messenger, Christophe doesn’t carry a cell-phone with him while he’s training or instructing. It’s a distraction and thus unnecessary (most instructors feel this way). The communication scepters that Messengers carry have very well protected transmissions, far better than any cell phones. The scepter also acts as a badge of office. Interrupting or preventing a Royal Messenger from reaching their destination is considered a crime punishable by fines or imprisonment.

Thanks for reading,

– Luther out

Comment Text Follows:

Darkkismeth - What? We lost the biggest battle of the war? You are pretty calm about this. Oh man, that poor dude, where a certain animal after him or what? And the scepter is a nice touch. But i don’t think, the Marketeers will care that much about that, a Tango is a Tango. And the eyes of the boy at the realization, wonderful, as if he would see the doom of the others. And now, when i look at the white helmet of the Messenger, that looks like a mix from the old leather caps and those old, white wigs from the Renaissance era.

Radical Dreamer - I’ve always loved the little details and expressions in this comic and this page is no different. I think it dawned on him just how important he is in this whole thing. Before he was training because it was something that a man in his position had to do. It will be interesting to see if he grows or crumbles under the weight.

nweismuller - Unless other things have been happening that we’re not aware of, it’s difficult to imagine Element Shitkicker’s raid was the ‘biggest battle of the war’, after what we saw with the decisive defeat earlier. That said, if Element Shitkicker wasn’t the only raiding force to launch an attack simultaneously, there may have been a string of defeats all at once. I suppose we’ll have to see what Volteza Cavaignac has to say.

Darkkismeth - Did you forgot, that there was an Huge Attack as a distraction for Element Shitkicker? The Marketeers made a open battlefield to cover up the movement of Shitkicker behind the enemy lines. Me thinks, that the nobles had no more Limbs to fight on and had to order retreat.

SteelRaven - Plus the Shitkickers hit multiple bases, took out multiple Limbs while still in the hanger, killed one Prince and one other pilot who may or may not have been of significance…. even if the Shitkickers eventually got hammered at the end, they caused allot of damage for their numbers.

folti - They not necessarily lost all LIMBs, just enough that they can’t replace them easily. Logistics wise, I wouldn’t been surprised, if Dhuv LIMB production capability would be very limited, more along the way luxury car manufacturers operate in the real world (annual production runs from a handful to maybe a few hundred), versus the mass producing common car manufacturers(annual prod in the thousands, or tens of thousands per model). Heck, each LIMB might be hand produced for the noble family, the way knight’s armor has been during the Middle Ages. Compare it to the Free Marketeers losses of LIMBS. Remember how Dizzy lost three or four LIMBs during the last Dhuv attack, when their base has been overran, and the managements biggest problem was the monetary value of those LIMBs, not that they weren’t able to replace them.

Ragnarok101 - The ‘biggest battle’ may be the war of Public Opinion. AKA, either one of the other countries is interfering, or the Free Market decided to go nuts.

Radical Dreamer - She could literately mean the battle that was just fought but the way she says it implies that its the biggest battle of the war, period. Not just the biggest battle fought up until this point. I’m going to guess its the faith of the citizens in their government to protect them and win the fight. Shitkicker just killed a bunch of soldiers, some civies, and even a prince, tore up several bases, and destroyed a lot of equipment but more importantly they did a lot of that in a populated area. Up until now the fighting has been in rural areas where information is easier to control, losses minimized and wins exaggerated in typical propaganda fashion. News of this will get around. Lets not forget this is a war over a land deal the Dhuvs declared invalid. The combatants are not the Dhuvalians and the Free Market country as a whole but the Dhuvalians and Mega-Fun-Foods LLC, a Free Market corporation, who is hiring the 1st IRB and similar companies to represent them on the field. The 1st IRB only has to worry about the bottom line. The Dhuvs have to worry about not only the cost of the war but the opinions of their people and if they ever find out this all started over a busted land deal there are going to be some very upset citizens.

folti - The Dhuv government may not even acknowlegded it as a proper war, but some euphemism, like police action against some ragtag team of bandits or whatever derogatory term they came up for the Free Marketeers. Which would make their propaganda loss even worse now, that said enemy’s forces just rampaged through a town in the rear. Kinda like the Doolittle Raid, except with more actual damage.

Radical Dreamer - I could see that as being likely. I could be completely wrong about my assumptions but to me the Dhuv government seems to have a certain air of superiority about them. In other words the root of their power from their people may be derived from the idea that they are the best or even infallible. Its not an uncommon trait when you look at historical monarchies. Getting bloodied like they have would cut deep into that idea.

CaptEndo - Attacks on population centers often have the effect of stiffening popular support for the war effort. Please note air raids on English cities in both world wars.

folti - The UK population was psyched for war though, in an era where it tolerated thousands, or even more losses annually in nominal peacetime. Dhuvalia IIRC hadn’t had a proper war for a long time, being rather prosperous, to boot, so they might have a big shock. Though given how they apparently favour small groups of noble piloted LIMBs as the center of warfare, with their derision of unconventional warfare, a multi-front combined arms attack would be a great shock to them.

Penwriter - I am getting a “Other Side of the Hill” Fog of War vibe from this. From Shitkickers perspective: they were sent on a crazy mission behind enemy lines on a shoestring and limited intel, and only barely hit all three of their targets before running out of ammo and weapons. And are returning with no idea how their main force fared. From The Dhuvalia perspective: The Free Marketeers just infiltrated a spec ops unit to blow up vital supply bases right as their frontline troops were burning ammunition and Limbs against the bulk of the mercenary force. Even if they won the main battle (which this doesn’t sound like), they don’t have anywhere to immediately resupply from. And these turbo-limbs sound expensive to replace if their training is so ritualized. Well, I look forward to seeing the truth of both sides. Perhaps what cyborg-lady means is that they can’t field large forces anymore until they rebuild their FUSA’s? Also, I like the courier’s hat. Very nice artwork in this comic!

Deoxy - Considering her very different viewpoint on so many things, I wouldn’t be bit surprised if the “battle” she is referring to has little or nothing to do with any actual physical combat. Nice cliffhanger, darn you!

Bubblefish - Perhaps the prince decided not to use chemical weapons. That sounds more like something she would consider important for the entire war than a lost battle.