#Babylon is the real shit

[vitamin-zeeth]

For my English course this year I wrote an essay on the debate of fine art vs contemporary art and I haven't reread it since I sent it in I wanna see if I can find this shit cause I have no clue what I ended up stating as my opinion

[emperorcartagia]

do you understand. ive connected the dots

[inbabylontheywept]

i once accidentally dated someone for a few months. its very difficult to explain how this happened, but the gist is that i thought we were hanging out, and she thought we were on dates, and it was just a very painfully highschool thing.

she was a little bit confused that i hadnt tried to pull any moves, at all, even a little. like, didnt even try holding hands because, and i cannot emphasize this enough, i did not know we were dating.

so, halloween rolled around, and she thought, you know, why wait for destiny, when you can grab it? so she hit me with a clue by four.

babylon, she said. babylon. my mom's gonna be out of town on halloween, and im gonna have the house to myself, and it's going to be kind of lonely. would you like to come to my house and watch scary movies with me?

you know, kind of a netflix and chill thing. except, and i cannot emphasize this enough, i did not know we were dating. also autism. so i took it at face value and said: oh! yeah! thatd be fun! and she thought she got her point across, but she didnt and it was a mess.

skip forward to halloween: my family has a block party every year, right? and at that point i was too old to really trick or treat, but we still wore costumes for our role in the block party, which in my case, was handing out cotton candy. so i took the first shift, and my costume was this homemade abomination minion thing. i had full yellow body paint, and goggles, and a bald cap, and overalls. the kids who saw it were like, uh, hm. overly realistic minion. and adults were like, oh, some kind of hills have eyes hillbilly with jaundice. very scary.

(it was not my best costume.)

my little brother swapped me out for second shift, and i was getting ready to change out to head to her house when i was like: no, she'll get a real kick out of this. this is one of the worst things i have ever worn. so i kept it on and just brought a change of clothes thinking i could shower real quick and change at her place after she saw my nightmare getup.

so i left after that, got there, knocked on her door, and she said come on in. so i went in, and there was this very long hall with an abrupt right turn into her living room where the tv was, and i went down the hall, and i made the turn, and my field of view went from beige drywal to her, on the couch, naked. naked in the paint me like one of your french girls pose. super naked.

i panicked. this was my first time seeing a real person like, full on sex naked,which is a totally different beast from other kinds of naked. you see one kind of naked and you think yeah, im ready for all the kinds of naked, but you arent. i wasnt at least. i really wasn't.

so my brain crashed to BIOS. she also crashed to BIOS, but for different reasons. of all the ways this could have turned me, having me show up in yellow body paint and overalls was pretty pretty low down the list.

so we sat there a while, and you know, she wasn't getting any less naked, which really wasn't helping me get my brain sorted out. it really wasnt much of a surprise when she got her bearings first and started asking questions.

"babylon," she said. "babylon. what are you wearing?"

and i was like, kind of rebooted, but i was nowhere near full functionality, so symbolic language wasnt loaded in yet. i had nothing running but my trusty autism.exe, so i said

"overalls"

and she looked at me like i was the dumbest person in the entire world, and i looked at her like she was the first naked person i had seen in real life who got naked specifically for me, and my upper level cognitive process went: "listen man, we are not going to get our shit together as long as 80% of your brain power is devoted to not blinking. you gotta get out of here."

and if id communicated that, maybe things would have been less of a mess, but instead i just kind of turned around and walked back to my car. i figured i could drive a few loops around the block, get my brain in order, and figure out what the hell we were gonna do.

the only thing i had said to her since arriving was, again, overalls.

first loop around, i was like: oh god fucking damnit. oh shit. oh shit. shes gonna get like, an eating disorder from this. oh no.

second loop around i was like: oh NOOOOO oh WHAT THE FUCK oh SWEET JESUS PLEASE. i dont wanna go back man. i just wanna bury this and forget about it. please. please. let this bitter cup pass from my lips.

and after my third loop, i went and i knocked on her door again.

she answered it this time, and i counted my lucky stars that she'd changed into some pajamas. she was all teary eyed which was the saddest thing ever, and we sat down in her kitchen and talked. it was pretty bad - i figured out we'd been dating, and she figured out that trying to jump from home plate to 3rd base is considered ballsy in baseball, least of all dating. no real winners there. and i can remember after all that, we sat there a bit a bit longer, just steadying ourselves, and i was like "well, im actually really glad we figured that out. guess i'll see you at school tomorow' and she said "WAIT. wait."

"lets watch shrek 2."

so we did and it was horrible. we did not look at each other. we did not say a word. we just sat in stony silence, while shrek 2 played in the background, and when it was done we shook hands. i think we might have been able to salvage that as a friendship if it hadnt been for shrek. as it was she turned white as a sheet and ran away every time she even got a glimpse of me at school, and that summer she moved to a new state to live with her dad. all her friends said she moved just so she wouldn't have to go to school with me anymore, and i dont actually think they were lying.

every time i hear relationship counselors talk about how important communication is, and i'm tempted to roll my eyes, i look back and go, alright. alright. theres probably some poor bastard, somewhere in the world, who doesnt even know that hes married.

and god help him when he figures it out.

other bad dating story here.

[pagannatural]

2.18 Hollywood Babylon

- Sam walks so closely next to and slightly behind Dean that they are often touching, and then touches his arm as if to get his attention or emphasize a point (even though he’s already walking so closely behind him that they are touching. They would be farther apart if they just held hands).

Dean pointed out that he thought Sam may want to take a break after what happened with Madison, and Sam said working helps keep his mind off of things. By “working” he means “following Dean around and touching him and watching him and getting his attention.” He’s being very clingy and little brother.

- Dean likes being a PA because he likes to feel like he’s a part of something. He likes feeling useful. He’s also just very smart and I think learning something new is fun for him. He learns within a matter of hours how to be good at a job that can’t be easy, even learning about acting techniques. He quickly understands the relationships between the cast and crew members and is clearly in their confidences. He even uses his real feelings of admiration and nervousness to get information out of the actress witness. This is the same man afraid of losing his humanity, the same man who fears all he’s really suited for is killing, acting as a weapon.

Sam notices Dean fitting so seamlessly into this role with surprise and some confusion. He wants Dean to stop acting like his PA job is real and just focus on the case. It’s funny how Dean gets so much shit on this website for taking Sam away from his life and his friends and anyone outside of the two of them in the Impala, but Sam does the exact same thing. They both struggle with the isolation of their lifestyle.

- Dean loves horror movies and uses his knowledge of movies and horror lore throughout the episode. He’s such a nerd. His image of his father probably came in large part from the heroes of these movies, and in them he can still find what made monster-hunting so fun—because it is, also, fun for these two. Not all the time, but it’s what they want to be doing. Dean wants to hunt bad guys and be a part of something intriguing and badass and dangerous. He wants to feel like his actions matter, and he wants to help people.

- Sam doesn’t really even appear to have a fake PA job, but everyone thinks he’s cool because Dean is cool. This dynamic must have recurred throughout their childhood.

-Sam is visibly upset to see Dean emerge from the actress’s trailer

- Earlier this season Sam was still slightly amused by Dean’s promiscuity. Now he just seems like he’s not even trying to hide his jealousy or hurt feelings. I think he’s slowly been getting more and more possessive of Dean, because Dean still isn’t giving Sam the kind of love that he really needs and wants, and his need for Dean is only growing.

-Sam and Dean exit the episode walking off into the sunset together in the rain. Classic romance.

[atangledfate]

Continued from here [x]

She snorted softly listening to the Tenrec rant about how scary she was! Really was that her thing? Being intimidating? Well she did have that in spades, but after looking a black hole in the eye and fighting to Zombots and Zeti she wasn't so easily scared. She also wasn't stupid either. In terms of raw physical skills she could guess Surge would absolutely stomp her face into the ground. She didn't know much about her though, outside of the rumors that she and Sonic went toe to toe. Jet could take on Sonic she was sure, but he was a far stronger fighter then she was, and storm was to.

" Fair points, I'll concede on the grounds that everyone has a style... if that's what you like more power to you..."

She didn't think it was wise to continue to argue about style, but damn if she felt like Surge could do better for herself.

" Wouldn't have taken you for the Hero type... not with the shit i've heard people say. You made a real impact with your little brawl against the blue boy scout..."

She sighed as Surge Challenged her to a fight, it was to be expected. Honestly if she wasn't so cute, she'd have blown her off already. But this girls ego was as big as Jet's! and she knew how to manipulate that!

" A Fight? Here? in middle of Restoration HQ? no thanks i don't need Amy or that new Director breathing down my neck. As fun as that would be... I have a pretty good thing going with those losers. I don't need it ruined... i like the easy rings..."

She put on a displeased face and a decent counter argument as to why they shouldn't fight and level the place. But her plan was still far from enacted---she was so many steps ahead of surge!

" ... But hey how about this--- We Babylon's settle all of our disputes and arguments in tests of speed and skill. We Race... I've heard your fast so i'm curious ... how my latest gear stacks up to your lightning speed! "

She had a feeling Surge wasn't about to turn down a challenge like that.

" A Race ... you and me... Loser buys dinner for the winner... "

@universalzones

[wellcomeoneileen]

Why does Randy Harrison deserve compensation? What happened to him? You can DM me if it's not okay to be public

Hey! No it’s totally okay.

⚠️disclaimer - I am a NEW fan and so I am NOT the most informed at all. Other people like @brian-kinney-apologist like really know shit. I initially found things bc watching S4 made me go oh there is bts shit going on for sure and googled, and then when I got on tumblr I saw a bunch of posts talking about it, too.

Lots of older sources are harder to find now bc they didn’t do a digital preservation or the website is expired, but here is what I’ve found, from heated Advocate articles whilst the show aired and then from more measured reflections from podcasts around 2016.

Randy was young and it was his first TV show - when he started he didn’t even have an agent, and really didn’t know what he was getting into. He had done sex scenes on stage and thought that he was pretty prepared for what was to come.

However, he has stated he ended up feeling pretty objectified, such as hearing “we need more shots of Justin’s ass” regularly or expressing a desire to not to go-go dancing type scenes (King of Babylon upset him) and then even more go-go dancing being added (S2 Sap scenes). He was also told to act less gay by casting directors for the show, and to “try to be more butch because Justin isn’t out of the closet”

The show pre-dates intimacy coordinators and there have been allusions, including from the actresses Thea and Michelle, that the sex scenes could be uncomfortable to film.

There was BTS clashing, with producer Tony Jones !!reportedly!!! Saying that Randy was a bitch to work with and “showrunners” “reportedly” saying they would never work with Randy again. There are two interview clips, one from when the show was airing, and one from 2016, when CowLip say they wanted all actors to be comfortable on set, and in BOTH clips , like 15 years apart, Randy kinda like laugh/roll his eyes and Gale looks at him very bemusedly. They had bigger reactions in the ~2003 clip.

He was openly pretty angry as the show went on. He told the Advocate that he would never be friends with or respect Justin if real. He disapproved of the Britin relationship. He said he had to fight to include the scene of Justin topping Brian, which was very important to him. Leading into season 5 he stated he hoped Justin was killed off by getting hit by a truck (obviously being glib, but like he was mad lol)

He has said that lots of scenes needed to be reshot because he struggled to do them so much, like the Cody sexy gun scene that made him so uncomfortable, and then either he or Gale said S5 sex scenes were reshot a lot because they just couldn’t stop laughing at that point anymore.

Peter and Scott recently have said the only time anyone asked for actors’ opinions was right after season 1 ended, and to ME they sounded kinda cheeky about it, all these years later, so perhaps it was a cast sticking point? Unsure, and it wasn’t even Randy who said that. Fat grain of salt.

He has more recently reflected on this time period and expressed regret he went out the way he did, and he understands things better and honors his craft more (heavy paraphrasing!) bc he was mentally checked out by the end and wishes he had finished strong instead.

Also, the cast didn’t realize when signing on how isolated they would be from The Industry. Randy has spoken about this in an unrelated podcast, as have the actors who play Ted and Emmett. NYC or LA are where you want to be for networking, and then signing on to spend the majority of the year in Toronto negatively impacted their careers, they feel. Randy has said he had to start from scratch after the show ended, and Peter and Scott have said Showtime had no idea how to market the show nor their stars, and so they had to just watch as all the initial hype fizzled and nothing was done with them. They were contracted to work too much to seriously be involved elsewhere, while simultaneously not getting good exposure, which I IMAGINE created a dire sort of mood and morale on set. < personal interpretation and fictionalizing history.

Meaning, Randy probably at the very least FELT like he had spent five years on a show that didn’t respect him and it was largely for nothing. He has since stated he appreciates the opportunity and it is the reason he was finically secure, for which he is deeply grateful.

And then finally the fans! He had stalker(s?) and tons of creepy people and was heavily typecast and people would come up to him frequently, which made him uncomfy, and would furthermore act like he was actually Justin, which made him super uncomfy. He was kinda like Chappell Roan!! He was like hey I’m not Justin I’m a person and y’all are freaks. He has publicially declined to speak on the stalking issues, which given his vocal responses to other issues, indicates to ME that it’s pretty personal and upsetting (I mean it’s stalking it’s obviously horrible but you know what I mean). During the show he had a boyfriend that fans like tormented online and even on posters (that bit comes from Tumblr or another forum, so not like verified info on my part at all) because they shipped “Gandy” so hard. I know I’ve read on tumblr about the insane Gandy people but all I remember is they were intense and insane and negatively impacted Randy’s actual real life. Again, that’s info from fans that I haven’t read in article or heard from out of his mouth. Secondary source lol.

This point is PURE speculation, but early interviews with the whole cast were super excited, and they all talked about how excited they were for something ground breaking. By the end, people were angry or giving fluff responses, or in Peter’s case; calmly stating the show was a soap opera and that’s okay. I FEEL like everyone thought they were signing up for something more real/gritty/positive impact to society and then were like oh I’m here to look hot in this show that only moms watch to get them turned on to have sex with their husband. Cool.

Now, do I agree with that - no. But, the show audience was vastly different than expected, and the artistic direction might have been too, both of which might have really disappointed people. Esp Randy and maybe Gale. Randy was a capital T theatre person, and Gale was too and had lots of experimental work and like performance art. Randy has ALSO expressed displeasure with some theater work he did because he didn’t think it was fresh and the audience was only older wealthy white people, so we do know that this sort of thing does matter to his sense of fulfillment at work.

TLDR; had to shoot scenes he didn’t want to, several times, felt objectified on set, disagreed with his character’s direction, maybe felt like he wasn’t being listened to artistically, was cut off from other work opportunities, didn’t appear to get along with leadership, had bad fans, was young and in deep over his head, and at the very least *started* with no career or social support system.

Again!! Am not the most knowledgeable person !!! I do NOT want to spread misinformation so hopefully I’ve tagged where I’m reading into things vs actual quotes but also people who have actually been around pls feel free to say 🙋um actuallllyyyyy

[turtleoncrack]

Do you have any dianetti headcannons??

AH

YES, YES I DO

Here some major ones that I'd like to turn into fics but procrastination

1.

They bonded over shit talking Amy's nerdiness and Charles lack of life skills then started ''dating'' (literally just fucking every few nights) a few months after Rosa started working.

But Gina showed up unannounced one time in the middle of a panic attack and knocked down the freaking door to help her. From then on whenever Gina knew Rosa had a bad day at work or was having a depressive episode, she would show up and watch Nancy Myers with her.

Rosa: hey... thanks for, you know

Gina: Wow, appreciation from Rosa Diaz, thought I'd never see the day

Rosa: Shut up, I hate you

Rosa's left coffee on Gina's desk every time since then. But that doesn't stop Gina from frequently sipping from Rosa's cup

2.

Babylon was their official shit talking (and makeout) place with an angry unicorn as their official flag

Gina: LET IT GO, LET IT GO, I CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMORE

Rosa, who was silently watching, waits for the ending: the cold never bothered me anyway...

Gina, fully shocked: ROSA DIAZ SINGING?

Rosa: I was forced into watching it

And thus began secret Disney sing alongs that was 10% both of them actually singing and 90% Rosa watching Gina as if it was a live show

3.

Rosa notices Gina buying jewellery equipment in IKEA (I don't know if they sell jewellery making equipment in IKEA, but let's say they do) and the next day notices her making earrings which would be the perfect addition to her jewellery line

She goes up to her and fixes the edge with her bolt cutters

Rosa: There, now it won't poke your ear

Gina: ...thanks?

Then Gina starts working for Rosa's jewellery line and they have weekly shopping trips to IKEA.

4.

I think I read a fic about this but Gina finds Rosa's old ballet shoes and forces her to dance (she's amazing and beautiful) Then Gina tries and falls flat on her butt.

Rosa: Not so confident now are you Miss anyone-can-do-that

Gina: ...shut up and help me

Rosa teaches her how to do a pirouette and they have late night ballet lessons in which they continue to fall in love (and Gina falls on her face)

5.

Rosa is secretly an amazing cook but no one knows until Gina shows up unexpectedly and falls in love with her empanadas

Some bite sized headcannons for your enjoyment:

Gina hasn't paid for her own coffee in years

Rosa frequently knits hats and scarfs for Gina and Iggy

Gina's the big spoon (to no ones surprise)

Rosa had no pictures in her camera roll until she started dating Gina (all the pics are of her and Gina)

Rosa types the most random things in Gina's twitter drafts when she's drunk

Rosa loves resting her head on Gina's lap

Gina plays with Rosa's hair when she's nervous

#this was basically just me ranting about their love story #but thank you to whoever asked #dianetti is real #this is the hill I will die on

[paullovescomics]

Many moons ago, when (I think it was) the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was airing on TV, I decided it might be fun to join some mailing lists dedicated to the show, so I'd have more people to talk about the show with. (Mailing lists were pre-social media vehicles for fandom, somewhere between USENET and MySpace; imagine a chain of comments on a Tumblr post, but it's sent to you in email.) It definitely let me talk to more people about a show that I loved, but it also taught me that online fandom can take just as easily as it gives. [SPOILERS if you're just starting to watch the show, i think it might be having a minor resurgence atm.]

It wasn't a terribly negative experience. I didn't get bullied or even have my ideas shit on. That season had the show's typical mystery of what's the deal with this season's Big Bad and how are Buffy and the Scoobies going to defeat them, but it also had the mystery of Buffy's previously unseen sister, Dawn. Where did she come from? Howcome all the characters act like she's been there all along when she totally hasn't been? Et cetera, et cetera, et wtf.

There had been cryptic hints dropped in the previous season (Little Miss Muffet, counting down from 7-3-0), but they were very cryptic. Babylon 5 had concluded not too long ago, and HBO's mainstreaming of the "tv show as novel" concept had not quite kicked into gear yet, so nerdy fannish brains were hungry for a well-planned-out tv narrative to sink their teeth into. This mailing list was full of speculation, sometimes based on those aforementioned hints, sometimes based on the bits of Latin and German text seen in the opening credits (the show is full of mystical tomes), to all those sorts of background details and clever quips that supposedly have hidden meanings. You know how it can get.

Of course I had my own theories, which I do not remember. That's suspiciously convenient, because I do remember that they were wrong. (Good job, super ego. You saved me from an embarrassing memory for once. That doesn't mean we're okay about all the other stuff.) Whatever my wrong predictions were, it really bugged me when they turned out to be wrong. And before they were proved to be wrong, it also bugged me when I would watch the show and someone else's theory, usually one I didn't like so much, would pop into my head. Oh, that one character did that thing that supposedly proves that such-and-such will happen. There was a mention of that so-called clue that means Dawn will turn out to be whatever annoying thing that one poster said that I didn't like. My pet theory being wrong was just the stink on top of the turd pie.

So at the end of that season, I thought, this deeper involvement in fandom has made the show less fun to watch. And that sucked, because I really liked that show. I'd found it at the beginning, and my enjoyment of it had grown from a very simplistic "hey, there's an attractive lady kicking vampires" to a real appreciation of all the character growth and the good acting and the smart metaphors and the playing with tropes, all the stuff that makes a tv show good. And one of my best friends had recently gotten into the show, though they were still catching up via my obsessive video taping (a lost art, folks). All that enjoyment was diminished, if only a bit, by my participation is a particular aspect of fandom. I unsubbed from the mailing lists and decided I wouldn't go down that path again.

Obviously, I didn't completely give up on online fandom, because here I am. But I have tried to be much more careful in how I engage with that fandom. Speculation isn't for me. It might be for you. Digging into behind-the-scenes details, and examining statements that creators have made about a story is not for me. It might be for you. What is for me is finding those stories--whatever medium they may be told in--that appeal to me, taking them in, letting myself get lost in the details that catch my attention, talking about those things with friends, and occasionally posting something here. Similar vibes seem to attract each other here. Most of the interaction is just a like, which I can interpret as appreciation for the thing that I enjoy or maybe my rambling about it, and that's nice. When folks do reply with more than a like, it's almost always thoughtful and written in a chill, conversational way.

I reckon the moral is, it's worthwhile to notice how your interaction with fandom affects your enjoyment of the art that brought you there in the first place, and it can be helpful to tailor that interaction so that you get the most positive and the least negative out of it.

[pixelrushiguess]

Don't want to sound like a chode here, but: "Amy was never blindly obsessive" Have you played Sonic Heroes?? Or Sonic Battle?? Or Sonic Riders?? Or even Black Knight where she beats the shit out of him after the credits?? The only games she's not obsessive or sidelined in are the Adventure Games and *Sonic Shuffle*. I don't like what Ian is doing either, but come on man, be for real. :L

In Heroes she was helping Cream and Big. Yeah she wanted to find Sonic, but she put Cream and Big first. That scene with Team Sonic is always misinterpreted because it’s a call back to SA2 and she’s obviously just teasing him. She wants to prove herself to Sonic.

In Battle she’s certainly trying to impress Sonic by taking care of Emerl, but it’s also established that she’s got other things going on like teaching a class in self defence to young women. And even then she’s still protecting Emerl with her life.

In Sonic riders she joins the Grand Prix to get close to Sonic, which isn’t out of character. But she’s also the only one who directly tries to catch Eggman when he finds Babylon Garden. Like she’s not even really kidnapped by Eggman, she willingly chases after him.

And In Black Knight she gets stood up on a date by Sonic, boy had it coming.

Amy’s motivation is usually focused on Sonic, but reducing her solely to being obsessive is a disservice to her strength as a character. Amy is no different than Tails, she chases Sonic around because she admires him and strives to be like him, it’s just portrayed in a more traditionally feminine way. If Amy’s obsessive, then Tails has gotta be too. It’s a double standard.

And it’s fine to not like how Amy was or to prefer how she is now, but for me it feels like most of the flack Amy gets is misinformed and inaccurate.

[ooksaidthelibrarian]

Babylon 5 Rewatch S1E4: Infection

DUCKY

David McCallum is always enjoyable to watch

that security officer is at the same time too good and really bad at his job

I've always felt that this episode is the most Star Trek Babylon 5 gets

and I do like it that Stephen goes along with it. After some hesitation but he cannot resist this

the Martian warmachine joke never gets old to me

I adore Stephen's lab, with all the colourful bottles because SCIENCE!!

I don't agree with Stephen about the discovery being worth less because it's a shortcut, but I agree very much about not letting the corps get their hands on it

ooouuh that dolly zoom

'you're too young to experience that much pain' I love Ivanova so much

ah they've brought out the shit got real armour

wouldn't want to be the dude who has to give his weapon up for Sinclair

Sinclair gets to talk a kind of computer to death, and if that's not peak Star Trek then idk

I say that lovingly though

ok but I really do like the Ikaran war machine suit, it looks cool

good for you, Stephen

(are those electric toothbrushes in the background?)

I absolutely love Garibaldi's speech to Sinclair about looking for something to die for, and the fact that they can have that talk

aaand there goes the artifact

shoulda 'lost' it out of the airlock

the absolutely eclectic list of people Sinclair names at the end

but I do love the sentiment of that speech

[anonymous-dentist]

Inmate Crucifixion Day!!!

So it's no big surprise that the QSMP has some religious imagery going on, and today's supposed conclusion to the Prison Arc is no exception. Today, the inmates are going to be crucified, and we all know what that is.

Right?

Well, hi, I'm A.D., I'm a historian, and today I'm going to teach you all about crucifixion!

Now, crucifixion is a longstanding execution method that dates back way before Jesus was even thought of. We've got accounts of crucifixions dating back to the Persians under Darius I, and we've got even more accounts from all over the place in the ancient world.

Now, let's go over some history real quick, shall we?

~522 BCE: Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, is crucified postmortem by some pissed-off Persians. Maybe.

We don't actually know if this one happened or not, but we do know that he was assassinated. That much is true. The crucifixion part is what's up for debate, but, if it is true, then Polycrates here has the privilege of being the first ever victim of crucifixion. Lucky him!

~519 BCE: Darius I orders the crucifixion of something approximating 3,000 political opponents in Babylon

See, the thing about Persian crucifixions is that the prisoners weren't usually nailed to the cross shape we all know. Nah, they were tied up with their hands above their heads, strung up on a single pole. This way, their death would take a lot longer, and the prisoner would suffocate under their own weight. This would last for days, usually with the prisoner being left up to be humiliated even after their death.

~417 BCE: Persian general and tyrant Artaÿctes is crucified by Athenians in a rather uncharacteristic act

But also take this with a grain of salt because this account comes from Herodotus, and I don't trust that dude with much more than a fun story.

The Greeks didn't really think much of crucifixion. They were like, "We're above this. We are civilized", but also. They did not like the whole "Persian Invasion" thing, and so sometimes they ended up resorting to measures they weren't too happy with. Such is war!

~332 BCE: Speaking of war, Alexander the Great supposedly had 2,000 survivors of his siege of Tyre crucified.

The thing with Alexander is that a lot of what people say about him is probably bullshit.

~88 BCE: Ancient Judean king Alexander Jannaeus supposedly had 800 Pharisees-slash-rebels crucified in the middle of Jerusalem

And now we get to the Romans, who kinda perfected the whole thing. They were super into crucifixion. They were so into it that they had a bunch of different ways of doing it!

Getting impaled on a stake

Getting tied to a tree

Getting tied to a crux simplex (see image below)

Getting stuck to a cross

The whole crucifixion thing was seen as a way to deter people from doing the same crimes that the crucified people did. It was all about torture and humiliation. We have reports of people being crucified for days, and of people having to carry their own crucifixes (see: Jesus Christ.)

Sometimes people were tied to their crucifixes. Sometimes they were nailed to them. It varied by region and by criminal and by executor. Criminals were generally stripped completely naked (again, humiliation), though, again, the position depended on the region, criminal, and executor. The way Jewish people were executed was different than how, say, slaves or renegade gladiators were executed.

I'm not going to get into the whole process because that's very long and yucky. But I will repeat just how popular it was! Because MAN, the Romans LOVED it! Crassus ordered the crucifixion of at least 6,000 rebels and followers of Spartacus after the Third Servile War (but, then again, he was a piece of shit.)

Of course, we can't forget about the most famous crucifixion of all:

~32 CE: Jesus.

Jesus of Nazareth remains the most famous victim of crucifixion, and it's because of the nature of his particular crucifixion that everybody thinks of crucifixion as The Thing With The Cross.

And this is probably what everybody's thinking of when they're talking about the QSMP inmates being crucified today.

But he wasn't the only religious figure to be crucified!

Cut to:

Either 274 CE or 277 CE: Mani, the Parthian Prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, is crucified in a way super similar to Jesus

Tbh we don't know when he died, but his followers purposefully compared his death to Jesus' despite there possibly being literally no crucifixion involved at all.

But, you know what? Crucifixion happened all over the place!

Islamic territories had crucifixion going on simply because they lived where crucifixion had been taking place for centuries, and there was a lot of debate surrounding crucifixion in relation to the various rules and regulations surrounding criminality and the potential justification of execution.

Japan, interestingly enough, also has a pretty long history of crucifixion. Supposedly, it was introduced in the 15th century by pesky Christian missionaries, but the Japanese had had a similar tradition going on before that. But Japanese crucifixion, called haritsuke wasn't really like the kind we're familiar with. There was water crucifixion (mizuharitsuke) reserved for Christians, and there was upside-down crucifixion (sakasaharitsuke.) Fun!

(There is photo evidence of this even up on the Wikipedia page, but you can find that on your own. I'm not putting that on my blog, thanks.)

As the years continued, crucifixion became a bit less widespread, though there is photo evidence of its use in Japan up through the 19th century, and then reports of it being used in World War One by the Germans and then in World War Two against the Germans.

Unfortunately, it's still a practiced tradition in a few parts of the world. Saudi Arabia and Sudan still have crucifixion as an execution method, and it's still a reported method being used by certain extremist factions in Syria, Iran and Myanmar.

So... yeah! That's crucifixion for you! It's a truly terrible fate, but not an overtly religious one. It only really became religious when Jesus ended up getting killed, and, even then, it's only seen as such by groups of people steeped in Christian culture (such as many countries and cultures living in what people call "The West".)

I can only imagine that the religious aspect is what's going to come into play on the QSMP, because I doubt that this literal Minecraft Roleplay Series will employ actual literal torture and execution methods live on Twitch.

[inbabylontheywept]

Hey, so for context it's 3:45 AM where I am, and I'm stark awake at this hour because I had to take a nap yesterday due to eating a meal I really shouldn't have that is still wreacking havoc on my intestines. I'm definitely going to regret sending this ask HARD once the sun comes up, but I've been doing a lot of unadvisable shit on the internet over the past 3 days so why not add this to the pile.

I'm kind of having a weird emotional thing right now over your last post because it's just too ridiculous to be true, and I'm realizing the majority of your blog is probably all creative writing not intended to be taken seriously, but I've believed everything you've claimed to be a true story up until this point? And now I'm faced with either being a gullible fool, or an asshole for saying this if it IS all true, and I have to ask or I'll never know? I shouldn't be letting this get to me but it is.

So please, I ask sincerely and with no intention of being a jackass, are your life stories actually all true, or are they supposed to come across as obviously exaggerated or wholly fictional? I'm sure I could piece it together if I lay in bed and thought about it for an hour or two, but I think I'll just take the L and ask outright because fuck it.

But THEN if it truly is just a creative writing blog, would you keep the bit going and claim it's all real when it's not? Like, do you see why I'm going crazy? I am a very gullible, easily lied to person and that has lead me to be on high alert, but I almost always jump at the wrong things and come across as a distrustful asshole, so?? Will you assume this ask itself is LARP because of all the specific details I tacked on, which are intended to garner a sense of sincerity? I'm realizing I may have been playing checkers with someone playing chess all this time and I'm wigging out man

So, I'll start with the small stuff first:

The camp was in Prescott, AZ, in the mountains, over labor day weekend which is in late fall. I don't know the actual temperatures as numbers, but the people at the camp spent more time being cold than hot. The camp organizers also did bring a ludicrous amount of the pink sauce. I don't think the campsite itself was ever intended to provide potable water, just utility water for the showers and dishes and other non-for-direct-consumption tasks. So in that area, the camp people overprepared because Arizonans don't fuck around with dehydration.

I'm also pretty sure they had some water available, they were just very careful with it. I think there were a few diabetic kids, and they were making sure they wouldn't have to subsist on the weird gatorade like everyone else. Maybe. I don't honestly know.

But that's one story, and the thing that you're really asking is, are all these stories fake? Is it all just creative writing? And the answer to that is a soft no.

As a writer, I'm pretty strongly influenced by Patrick McManus. A lot of my stories are told in the American Tall Tale style - which is exaggerated, and dramaticized, but tells a story that is true nonetheless. I am going to keep the specifics of the exaggeration and dramatization between myself and God, but I would look at my stories and say that they're each more than 80% true. I hope that relieves some of your stress.

I wouldn't call what I do creative writing exercises. But I also wouldn't encourage you to take them 100% seriously. Both because I talk a big game, and because they are, at the end of the day, just funny stories. I certainly wouldn't want you to lose any more sleep over them.

You aren't a jackass for expressing incredulity. It's part of my style, and I welcome it. I also wouldn't call you a gullible fool for believing things in the past. We're good, you and I, and I've enjoyed having you as a reader. I hope you keep reading. Just, maybe not at 3:45 AM. Take care of yourself, Babylon

[gretchensinister]

Babylon 5 rewatch, S1 E1: Midnight on the Firing Line

This truly was formative, my base for solving the FTL problem is jumpgates.

Landoooooo

VIR

I don't remember the little Centauri fangs--I wonder if that was kept for later episodes

Okay okay okay. They made FIVE of these Babylon stations in TEN YEARS after the Earth-Minbari war. (Despite 4 of them being destroyed/disappearing in mysterious circumstances) The political will! The logistics! THIS IS A UTOPIA

The city I live in has approximately the same population as Babylon 5 which was always useful for me in terms of envisioning scale

Deleeeennnnn (spelling???)

G'Kaaaaaaar

Oh Sinclair you military head

Chin joke=bad

Now, I do think it's possible that an ambassador might not know about an attack, official or unofficial, but I'm not involved in politics

Spoo in the first episode

I love G'Kar's outfit.

I know the first episode doesn't get into the greater history but the Narn can do WHATEVER THEY WANT to the Centauri for real IMO.

I wonder how many details were planned out in advance re: the dream.

I'm so irritated ooh your nephew cool cool cool IT'S UNIMAGINABLE what the Centauri did to the Narn, it was NOT equal.

It's so fun to see the 90s influence even in the attempt to design a futuristic space

KOSH MY BELOVED

KOOOOOOOSH

I want to make that costume so bad I want to have that cosplay I just don't know hoooooooow

Vir what was the job description when you applied because I'm 100% sure it didn't account for this *gestures vaguely at everything*

Garibaldi don't do that

Of course they'll sell to anyone I bet Narn doesn't HAVE ANY MONEY after what the Centauri did, they're DESPERATE

It's very funny to see G'Kar and Sinclair before their character development/all the crazy shit that happens to them

Man I'm not paying much attention to the raiders; I don't think they end up continually important after this episode

Imagine putting on full face alien makeup for essentially an extra role

Oh so since the Centauri have had Ragesh 3 for a century they should just keep it now???? This situation sucks on all levels

The spaceships look fine when you watch them on a small screen like the 90s intended

So from this we can learn: 1) Ambassadors aren't supposed to have guns on Babylon 5 2) they will make sure to have a gun anyway

Sinclair you may be right and the Narn may be wrong in this case but I want to slap that smug look off Sinclair's face so bad

I didn't realize that we got Ivanova's backstory in the first episode

LMAO I want to know Delenn's thought process accepting Garibaldi's invitation. Love her being like "hmmm" about popcorn! Also okay this makes Garibaldi a sort of different guy than maybe the impression was supposed to be. Like in 1993 the Looney Tunes were ~40-year-old cartoons, and in the early 2000s they still aired on Cartoon Network. A guy who's into 40 year old stuff is like a regular nostalgic guy. Garibaldi's character, however, is into 300 YEAR OLD MEDIA. 300 YEAR OLD HUMOR is his (second) favorite thing in the whole world. That's a completely different kind of guy. Imagine a guy today obsessed with stuff from the 1720s. That's a completely different kind of weirdo.

"preserving Earth cultures in the face of non-Terran influences" warning, warning, danger will robinson! (and it's intended to alarm the audience, I know this)

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

I am starved

for interesting babylon rogue headcanons

feed me pls

youd' expect me to ask for just storm but no give me any they all need it

bestie do you know how little this narrows things down??? AH SHIT OKAY LET ME THINK OF SOMETHING <- instantly forgets all my lore

umm. you know, i focus a lot on all the way storm and wave bash heads, and most of that is based on my irl lore (i was raised with my cousins who are more like my brothers tbh, and while the one older than me is an insufferable smartass, that’s still my storm tbh) I NEED TO MOVE ON AND FOCUS ON THE WAYS IN WHICH STORM AND WAVE WORK TOGETHER.

for starters, jet is the most sheltered nepo baby of the three. storm grew up normally in society and wave has also gone outside at some point, but jet is a bit helpless. he tries, he really does, but the amount of dumb shit he’s sucked into makes wave and storm equally patronizing to a funny degree

like, jet has never taken a train before. he was invited to amy’s birthday and never showed because he thought the train would find him.

anyways, storm and wave when they’re working together will finish each other’s sentences. the problem is just them working together LMAO. if they’re with Jet, they can also communicate just with subtle facial expressions to completely screw him over and it’s really funny

one step further, wave will pretend to pull jet aside and tell him about a planned prank, but she’s actually just leading him to the real one. joke’s on her though, jet and storm conned her and now SHE’S the one getting pranked

the rogues sometimes go camping. they wanted an authentic, normal-person experience so wave got a trailer/van that was pre-owned and just fixed it herself without too many upgrades (to keep it authentic ofc). they drive to the middle of the woods sometimes and storm makes camp meals while they fish and climb trees and go offline (except for wave’s necklace she doesn’t take that off)

y’know, i’m starting to realize that i’m struggling because i’m trying to think of a hc list that is general and not specific to my lore, so if you don’t mind that just send me another ask and i’ll spam them if these aren’t enough lol

[fuzzy-oooze]

wait, they're adding civ switching to civ 7? what the fuck? why? why would they do that? I hated it in Humankind and I'd hate it there too, if I pick to play as Babylon, that's because I want to play as fucking Babylon, not switch to something else partway through. If I pick china but an era passes or whatever and I have to pick a new one you better have a fuckin' genus historian on your dev team who can list every central east Asian civilization or I'll be offered to switch to stupid shit like Greece, which I'd reject out of wanting to play as what I picked as in the beginning, but something tells me that a lot of civs won't have more "advanced" counterparts (such as, say, the celts or carthage) and I'd be FORCED to change civs, but I DON'T WANT THAT, I WANT TO BE PLAYING AS WHAT I CHOOSE TO PLAY IN THE BEGINNING, THAT'S WHY I PICKED IT

"Oh but no civilization lasts forever-" yeah yeah shut you're fuckin' mouth because

1)-they're keeping the immortal leaders and having them switch civs with you so Gilgamesh is going to become British and evil

2)-what you said is just plan Dead Wrong because, well, China's stayed itself forever, Japan's stayed itself forever, India, the Congo, Aboriginal Australia, fucking Greece, I get what you mean but No one has ever went to sleep and woke up as a FUCKING MONGOL. Civilizations change due to outside influence such as foreign invasion and not just time, time plays a part, yes, but not to nearly the extent I think people think.

why can't they just have it so that you're not playing as a real historical civilization and instead you pick and swap cultural traits as time passes so that by the end you've made your own storied culture and civilization? I feel like that's such a no-brainer but no one has done that and it feels like so much of an easier and more generally appealing idea to have than civ-switiching.

[rin-tezuka]

If god was real Israel would be having some Babylon shit done to them