#ur-didact

[thelvadams]

HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY HALO 4 • November 6th 2012

Think of my acts as you will. But do not doubt the reality. The Reclamation has already begun. And we are hopeless to stop it.

[vibe-spartan-nostalgia]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALO 4!!

On this day, November 6 2012, Halo 4 released, forever changing the landscape of Halo

[ur-haruspis]

halo 4 // halo: epitaph

“Civilizations will rise in our stead, and our job as caretakers will at last bear fruit. Until then, I leave you here, my love. The only living thing in this galaxy, sealed safely away. Spend these ages ahead of you in meditation on your choices. When you wake, you will find the humans. I have ensured that they will grow strong and vibrant . . . They will be our rightful heirs. Their gene plan dictates that the galaxy will be theirs to care for by then. I beg of you . . .” She had left him a galactic cartographer, a key that showed the way to vast reserves of Forerunner technology so that he might use it to assist and guide humanity as they claimed the Mantle of Responsibility. “Find the strength to help them learn from our mistakes. And my husband? Let them teach you something. Please.” When he first heard them, he’d found those parting words intensely condescending. Found her hope that he’d be humanity’s teacher and champion utterly laughable. Yet, he failed to hear the devastation in her voice, the grief, and the raw longing she had for him to live, to continue on in the world, to one day be whole again. But the Domain would be burned by Halo. There would be no connection to its boundless stores of information, no ability to commune and heal and reflect. A thousand centuries would pass in silence. In the madness the Gravemind had created for him. And once the galaxy was reseeded, civilizations rose once more, and he woke to start the cycle of suffering all over again. He was awash in remorse, in the betrayal he had caused, the fury at having been violated and manipulated and used. . . . A pawn! He roared, slamming his fists against the rock with such force that it cracked the stone and left him stricken with sorrow. In the end, after all he had done, all the pain and suffering he had wrought . . . She had still chosen to save him.

[monitorchakas]

YOU GUYS!!!

First Chapter of Epitaph Leaked!!!!

[dougielombax]

Don’t awaken an ancient alien from an unending slumber!

We learnt this TWICE in 2012!

[eschatonjudge]

im so unfathomably excited for epitaph to come out

[bloodgulchblog]

The fucking Didact

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Hiiii ur writing is amazing:D

Soooo I saw this prompt and u were the first one to jump into my mind!

"Your hair is so soft..."

" stop it! You're making this harder, not letting me focus on killing you."

Hero x villain, where villain is sitting on hero's belly and holding a knife to their throat.

I was wondering if you could write something like this;)

“Your hair is so soft…”

The villain looked down at them, stared into the hero’s eyes as if the abysses of their pupils held any answers. They didn’t and the villain was fully aware of the pain and destruction they could cause in the next few seconds. With the hero’s hand — more fingers broken than healthy — in their hair, they felt quite breathless.

“Stop it,” the villain hissed. The knife in their hand felt heavy, out of place even. It was the first time in their life that a weapon conjured those feelings. “You’re making this harder. You’re distracting me.”

“Homo homini lupus, I get it,” the hero whispered. The villain let out a shaky breath and hardened their grip around the knife. “But it could’ve been so easy. You could’ve been mine and I could’ve been yours.”

“Self-realisation doesn’t include personal relationships. I need to fulfil my potential,” the villain said. Cutting the hero’s throat was supposed to be quick and painless, at least for the villain. But this drama had been going on for half an hour now. The villain didn’t know what to do with themselves, where to place themselves in this fight. Bleeding out was less painful than this and the villain would know. They’d almost bled out several times if it weren’t for the hero. “I need to get revenge. I need justice.”

The hero’s hand glided down the villain’s neck, grasping their biceps weakly. They were unbelievably gently, even in the face of death, even in their final moments.

“I didn’t kill your family.”

“But you’re standing in my way,” the villain said and they couldn’t deny how much their voice shook. “You’re holding me back. You would never let me kill them.”

“You know me too well,” the hero said. They took a deep breath, seemingly tired and overwhelmed. The villain couldn’t blame them, they were tired too. Unfortunately, the only way to end this was bloodshed. The villain was almost sure the hero would close their own hand around the handle of the knife to guide them. “And yet you choose selfishness.”

“I’m choosing destiny,” the villain said. “It is my destiny to do this.”

“What if I’m your destiny?”

“We both don’t really think that, do we?”

“It’s possible.”

“But very far from probable.”

“You’re being cruel.” The hero’s eyes were sharp, despite their physical state. It had something didactic, something authoritative and the villain felt horrible. They pressed the knife deeper into the hero’s soft neck, but there was no blood yet as if that would solve anything.

In their head, they cursed themselves but that disgusting part of their brain thought relentlessly about the right angle and pressure to apply to the cut.

“I’m being honest. We’re perfect for each other but we are not meant to be,” the villain said. Slowly, their eyes began to burn. Everything was hot and they couldn’t really breathe. God, they were killing their lover. The only person who had accepted their mistakes and their bad obsession with revenge.

They were killing them, oh god.

Although the villain knew them by heart, they looked at them as if they had to burn the image of their face into their brain.

“So, don’t make this harder. Be a hero and don’t let me suffer,” the villain begged. Their other hand pushed hair out of the hero’s face and by now, the villain’s tears started to gather in the corners of their eyes. Softly, they let their thumb brush over the hero’s bottom lip, leaning in. But they couldn’t bring themselves to kiss them.

They drew back, grip harsher than ever around the knife.

“You decide,” the hero said. “No one else.”

“Of course, my love. Homo homini lupus.”

They didn’t need to say more. Both knew what they were going to do.

[dykementality]

forgive me if you're not interested, but I'd actually love to hear more of your thoughts on the maroon arc, what you thought was/wasn't done well. would u like to share?

hii i didnt see this. im gonna apologize right away bc this is not gonna be organized i have talked soooo much today already and im tired lol.

for starters what i think was done best is flint and madis dynamic. its incredibly well played both as individual characters and as representatives of pirates and maroons in relation to empire. their chemistry is crazy and their dialogues are extremely didactic. i also find that flint not immediately viewing the maroons as natural allies but as tools to reach his own purposes and later deconstructing that after getting involved with them aggregates to his ongoing theme of progressive radicalization which i think is also a highlight of the maroon arc in the way it makes it explicit for good that his political stance has done a 360 and is now entirely discordant from the one he had as a lieutenant in every aspect that matters. freeing and partnering with the maroons is expected after that and i dont think theres anything special on that regard. then the shitty parts are essentially everything else. especially steinberg admitting he stalled to really explore the topic of slavery due to not being in his element as a white guy but still not putting black people on the team to do it. this reflects very obviously in the show and makes the entire arc feel rushed and reticent besides leaving a billion loose threads and missing opportunities to appropriately explore character dynamics that couldve been way more interesting (such as silver/julius/flint & madi/eme & madi/eleanor & eleanor/scott) and really engage confidently in the impact that flint and the pirates having canonically sold slaves would have had in their relationship. speaking of julius i also very much felt like it was a tragedy to hinder his presence and had they started it earlier or extended it longer his perspective on war vs. protecting his community as opposed to madi’s for example would have been probably my favorite part of the arc. i know the version in my head of it is. all in all its a vital arc for the story and everyone slayed really hard with with they had i just wish the creators hadnt shied away from all the implications of it. if i had the energy to go look for some posts for u i would bc my mutuals have definitely also discussed this before but alas. thanks for asking anyways feel free to add ur own thoughts or question mine further

[thelvadams]

HALO 5: GUARDIANS CONCEPT ART (2015) HALO EPITAPH (2024)

[halo-smashorpass]

My other maker uwu

[ur-haruspis]

SHIELD WORLD 0001 // REQUIEM

Only now does Requiem’s long-forgotten beauty greet me. Here, for thousands of kilometers on all sides, off into silvery-green haze, spreads a wide, high-ceilinged vista, illuminated by tiny sunlets flaring like brilliant green flowers. Sculptured mountain ranges sparkle with crystalline chunks of mineral-hard ice, awaiting heat to create another sanctuary for Lifeworker specimens. A stab of sharp pain at that sterile, unfinished landscape. But no Forerunners will be brought here. All that I push back into the depths of mind and memory. I have but one duty now, and that is to see my husband locked in his Cryptum, and all of his crimes with him.

[liamlawsonlesbian]

jo what’s ur favorite pratchett novel and why

oooooo excellent question!!!!!

my favorite Discworld novel is I Shall Wear Midnight!! I love that after three books of witch training of various kinds, Tiffany has to Be The Adult and it kind of sucks, because that feels so real. I also love that it brings so many characters together (the Witches, the Watch, Eskarina Smith from Equal Rites, etc). Tiffany Aching is an indelible Pratchett character to me, and I think I Shall Wear Midnight is her perfect book.

my favorite Pratchett novel, though, is Good Omens (even though it's half Gaiman). it's so fucking funny and clever on every page, but also somehow gets to the heart of What's Important without being didactic. (not to be the most annoying person at all times but i have to state for the record that i read it for the first time in 2008)

Honorable Mentions: Small Gods, Lords and Ladies, Thief of Time, Going Postal, and Thud!

[dougielombax]

Here we go again.

Parallels

Or

Seeing Patterns in Things that Aren’t There

Part 36

If I Had a Nickel (But I don’t): Rude Awakenings and Ancient Aliens.

1. Prometheus (2012). Self-explanatory. David awakens the last Engineer who promptly goes crazy and tries to kill everyone. Only to be stopped by the surviving crew of the titular ship sacrificing themselves.

2. Halo 4. (2012…again!) The Master Chief is accidentally tricked into awakening the Ur-Didact and only narrowly manages to stop his attempted invasion of Earth at great cost. (Cortana, EVERYONE on the Ivanoff station, and hundreds more)

So. Never awaken an ancient alien from an endless slumber! They’ll be PISSED!

[halopedia]

Lore Thursday — Vale Citadel

The Vale Citadel was a key location on the shield world of Requiem. The Forerunner known as the Librarian left an imprint of herself in the facility, allowing her to prepare John-117 to confront the Ur-Didact in 2557.

In 2558, Jul 'Mdama became interested in accessing the Librarian's imprint, though its interface only allowed Dr. Halsey to communicate with the Librarian. Halsey was given the Janus Key, which reveals the real-time location of every piece of Forerunner technology in the galaxy.

[wonderwafles]

Cruelty and Creativity: A Forerunner Saga Exchange SIGN-UP!

Attention, all ye ravenous fans of an obscure book series written as the deep lore backstory of a first-person shooter game that hit its peak popularity in the mid-Aughts, whom are present on Tumblr! The day has come! Utúlie'n aurë, the day has come! Er, sorry. Wrong fandom.

What I should say is, aya. You are what you dare. Do you dare to sign up for this fandom exchange, in defiance of the strictest laws laid down by the Master Builder and the Old Council? What's that? You want to hear what it's about first? And what you'll have to do?

Ugh, fine.

The Exchange: This works sort of like a Secret Santa. Reply to this post confirming you're interested in participating! Sign-ups will be open from today (October 21, 2023) until November 4, 2023.

For the most part this exchange will be conducted on Tumblr, but if there is a platform you'd prefer to receive or give your gift on let me know in your reply. Also indicate if you'd rather have your gift given to a different blog than the one you're replying with. (NOTE: I will be participating in this exchange and you may be asked to make a gift for me.)

Gifts: Once sign-ups are closed you'll be asked to write up your preferences for both giving and receiving a gift; i.e. if you'd prefer to make art or fic, as well as what you'd like to receive. Here you'll also be able to prompt your gifter with the subjects or areas of Forerunner lore you're interested in. The deadlines for that will be decided as we get closer to the 4th. (I'll create a form for this when the time comes. I think.)

The area to aim for with your gifts is a roughly 1000 word fic or a flat, colored piece of art. These are not strict minimums, but probably don't do too much less than that. And of course, feel free to go beyond if you like!

Guidelines: In general I will be pretty laissez-faire about the topics and themes of your gifts; if someone wants an Ur-Didact pinup far be it from me to say no! But this is the big one: This is a Forerunner Saga exchange, not a Halo one. Although I won't disallow references or scenes taking place in other areas of Halo canon, the main focus of your gift and your request should be on events or characters or OCs or concepts from the Forerunner Saga.

Oh, and make sure your gift aligns with what your giftee asks for. Naturally.

Deadline: The... currently stated... release date for Halo: Epitaph is February 27th, 2024. I hoped to time this exchange so that we are all receiving our gifts shortly before the novel is released, as a kind of celebration of the Ur-Didact's return. To that end, please post your gifts on or between February 24th and February 26th.

If the book is delayed again, the current plan is not to delay the exchange. I want there to be some stability in the dates for this thing... as much as we can manage, anyway. But also, if enough people want to delay it as a result, I'll think about that too :)

Let's keep our fingers crossed the book will come out on time, and our celebration of Shadow-Of-Sundered-Star proceeds as planned!

Is that it for now? I think so. Remember to reply to this post on or before November 4th if you're interested in participating! If you have a friend who's not on Tumblr but is interested in participating, let me know, and we can work something out.

(Fun fact: This is posted exactly one year to the day from when Halo: Epitaph was announced at Halo World Championship in 2022 :))