#the second war

[altar-ov-plagues]

Satans Sign of War – The Second War (1999)

[ooc-miqojak]

Year 6: The Burning of Quel'thalas

The Second War was well under way, and reports had begun to pour in from scouts in the south - the Horde had allied with the Amani, and the bloodlust of the Orcs and the Amani combined had over-run the borders of Quel'thalas. Civilians were advised to retreat to the city proper, to seek refuge before the brutish onslaught of enemies both old and new, as they defiled the sacred forests of the High Elves.

The Elves had sent aid to Lordaeron - the Orcs were never supposed to have come this far north. It was unfathomable, at first.

But it was never enough for the Horde - never enough blood, never enough terror; the Amani kept coming now, further emboldened by Orcs wielding necromancy, and orcs on dragon-back. She hadn't known, then, what a 'Death Knight' was - no one had, but Gul'dan - and even then, the twisted creations weren't what they would one day become; and yet, they were no less dangerous to the people of Quel'thalas than the monsters that would follow in similar footsteps years down the line, to further defile her home.

The young noblewoman had been forced to flee, alongside everyone else - forced to seek shelter within the magical barrier protecting Silvermoon, and put her faith in the Farstriders, the Magi of Dalaran, and the brave soldiers of the Alliance that faced down the bloodthirsty berserkers who had routed around from the west, putting pressure on the last Alliance outpost left standing.

Her aunt had warned her away from the walls of the city, but the plumes of smoke from the forest beyond weren't something that Lilliana could just ignore. She'd grown up chasing the gentle, whispering winds of Quel'thalas - she'd sat among the rustle of gilded leaves, doodled the Springpaws from afar, watched the Dragonhawks swoop and dive and perform intricate mating dances every spring.

And the Horde was burning it all.

The forests of her people.

The animals, and the people therein.

They'd enslaved the most noble of races to commit an atrocity that the young woman couldn't - no, wouldn't - look away from now, no matter how it ached to watch the flames encroach, or smell the smoke on every breeze; she would commit the desolation of her people and her home to memory now, and forever.

She would never forgive the Orcs - nor their barbaric Horde - for what they'd done, if she survived this siege.

[dispatchesfromtheclasswar]

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

[ddeck]

words cannot describe how much they mean to me

[eldridgecandell]

☮ - friendship headcanon

"For Stormwind!"

The warcry rallied among the mounted soldiers as they rode into the fray, their training evident as they pushed their steeds beyond compare at the warband of orcs and trolls. Steely eyed and legs gripping tight into their saddles, the company of ten would rise up and steady as they shouldered their rifles. Breaths taken, pulses slowed, and eyes trained for their targets as they had done for these last two years.

The volley was loosed into the mix of green flesh followed by the painful cries of the dying.

Eld lowered his rifle from his shoulder and held tight with one hand as he grasped the reins of his horse again to steer the frenzied beast beneath him. The first volley was enough to tear through the ranks, but hardly enough to take the orcs completely. Now was the time to use the momentum of their charge with the confused enemy. At least until the footmen could file in behind them to close the distance. They just needed time.

Heavy horse flesh barreled through the large monsters, as red eyes burned with fury to match the roar from tusked mouths. Eld would tuck in tight as he rode, his head bowed to the wind and vicious rebuttals of the enemy. Thick hands would reach out in hopes of grabbing hold of him but the stallion was as much enraged as it was terrified of the grunts as it ripped through and past back into open field.

It was like coming out of hurricane, much like when they had first sailed north toward Lordaeron and across the sea. The memory would always be burned into his mind of those wretched days and nights of escape from the Horde as they sacked his home. Of the many losses.

"Candell!" Came a cry from behind him as he wheeled his horse back around to see the warband rallying with their leaders, a division of blue soldiers charging along still beyond them at the red of the Horde. It was all so stark on this green field. His eyes and heart returned though as the other riders reached him, only seven after their initial charge. The one he cared for most though sent a wave of relief through.

Eld offered a grim smile to his friend, Reese who's grin did nothing to hide the fear in his eyes. He was sure his said the same. "Ya alright, Reese?"

"Never better," replied Langston as he was already moving with efficient speed in breaking open his musket and reloading from the saddle. Reese was a far better shot than Eld could ever imagine becoming, his friend's hands seeming made for the fancy dwarven instrument. "Best get to reloading."

"Right," Eld said as his own hands began to quickly to move powder and ball to the barrel of his rifle. "Who'd we lose?"

"Crab, Doyle," Langston spoke quickly as he let his hands down the thinking while his eyes scanned the other riders for faces. "Looks like Smarthe as well."

Candell would grunt as began to wrap up his reload, "Damn. Smarthe was a good guy."

"They all were," Langston was already done as he used his teeth to pull his powder bag close and tuck it away again. "Got yer saber?"

Eld was finishing as he slipped his powder away as well. "One more volley pass?"

"I reckon so, figure we'll wrap back around with the foot and finish em off," Reese was peering back as he gauged the distance of the footmen and the warband. There was already a few orcs trying to chase up to them despite the distance. "Norm, take that lead man off."

"Y'alrite," came the gruff reply of an Kul Tiran rider to their left as he lifted his rifle to aim and fire with an explosion of thunder. The lead greenskin went down in a heap.

Reese nodded, "Good shooting, hold your reload and stick behind us as we charge through for another go. We all good to go?"

A chorus of 'ayes' followed by the stamp of horse hooves. Reese would look to Eld who would nod to his best friend.

The seven would raise their voices again as they kicked in their heels to charge once more.

"For the Alliance!"

@damien-ward

[backofthebookshelf]

I know I'm a week late but I do think people are misunderstanding the point of the Anthony Bourdain quote about Kissinger

The point was never "Anthony Bourdain has good politics and is an unproblematic fave," the point is that even someone with mainstream liberalish politics who goes to Cambodia for a food tour - a, let's be honest, very bougie type of trip to be part of your job - and has a basic understanding of history and a bare minimum of human decency can come away from that bougie food tour wanting to murder Henry Kissinger with their bare hands. The point is that Henry Kissinger fucked up this country so bad the only reason he wasn't lynched decades ago is because it's on the opposite side of the world and the people who were in proximity to him never really saw what it was. The point is that if we could see firsthand what our First World politics do to the Third World we would understand that monsters walk among us and it's a cultural failing that we let them die at home at 100 years old surrounded by their friends and family.

[that-dumb-dinosaur]

look me in the eye and tell me this isn't one of the coolest shots in any star wars tv episode. and don't even get me started on when his voice overlapped with Vader's-

[sashketter]

Star Wars finally using the twin trope to its fullest advantage: mistaken identity, one good one evil, full-bodied telepathy, one impersonating the other, and having the same actor play both.

[stealingpotatoes]

i'll never get over Leia naming her son Ben like imagine naming a child after your absentee uncle's fake ID

[eggdrawsthings]

listen u can't tell me Tech saw Echo return w a droid arm and didn't try to give his brother a new one loaded with a bunch of ridiculous tools and stuff

[claraoswalds]

THE DOCTOR + first words

[notyoujamie]

[toweringclam]

Alternative responses to "I Love You," expanded Doctor Who edition:

[tyquu]

When the parallels are paralleling or something

[ahhrenata]

one more -> x